Participants: Pr. David Asscherick
Series Code: DP
Program Code: DP000005
|
00:14 We have a lot of information to cover tonight,
00:17 and I'm not just whistling Dixie, does everyone have 00:21 the study guides, you're going to need that, 00:23 and do you have a pen? Okay, you might want 00:26 to flex your wrists and stretch your fingers, and do 00:28 all of that. If you didn't get a study guide 00:31 raise your hand and we'll have our ushers bring you one. 00:33 It should say Nr.5: The War Behind the Wars, Part 1. 00:37 We're going to being with a word of prayer, and we're 00:42 going to dive right in at top speed, let's begin. 00:45 Father in heaven, please, as we spend this time 00:49 together this evening, we are anticipating a blessing. 00:53 Not just because of a man, hardly Father, in fact 00:56 tonight we are asking that You will bless in spite of this man, 01:00 we ask that You will open our hearts as we open Your word, 01:03 and we may understand with clarity and with Biblical 01:07 accuracy the war that is taking place behind the wars. 01:11 We ask this in the name of our Saviour, Your Son, 01:14 Jesus Christ, let everyone say amen. 01:18 Let's go directly to our study guide, The War Behind the Wars. 01:23 It says, reading the first paragraph: We live in an age 01:27 in which, sadly, war is common. All war is ugly. 01:34 The loss of life and resources from war is inestimable. 01:38 Even so called "just wars" leave a trail of residual suffering 01:42 and death that extends beyond the punishment directed 01:45 towards the offender. The pain and despair created 01:48 stretches for years and decades into future generations. 01:52 In the last 150 years this planet has witnessed 01:55 the most deadly and terrible wars ever. 01:57 We spent a little time talking about that the other evening 02:01 in our signs of the times survey. It goes on: 02:04 Yet, as horrific as these wars were and are, they are 02:08 comparatively insignificant to the first war ever fought. 02:12 This first war had the most terrible ramifications 02:16 and consequences. In fact, all wars since that war 02:21 are the direct result of the first war. Worse yet, 02:26 that first war is still being fought and the battle 02:32 is intensifying, not abating. In order to understand 02:37 the book of Revelation was must grasp the profound significance 02:41 of this first war, it really sets the backdrop 02:45 for the entire book, this is exactly what we'll attempt 02:48 to do in this lesson. We will discover that we 02:51 are all very involved in this great war, the war behind 02:57 the wars. The last time we were 03:00 together we looked at this individual named Lucifer; 03:03 an exalted angel who, by his own choice, 03:08 became Satan, or "satan", the fallen foe. 03:12 You remember that the word "Satan" comes from 03:15 a transliteration of the Hebrew word "satan", it means 03:19 "enemy", or "adversary", "one who's is against". 03:22 We made that remarkable statement, it might have sounded 03:25 a little bit shocking to you, we said God did not create 03:29 Satan, rather, God created Lucifer, and Lucifer by his own 03:33 choice became Satan. 03:37 The book of Revelation, as we have already discussed, 03:41 contains: [text on screen] 03:49 That's more than 2 thirds, it means if we're 03:52 going to understand the book of Revelation, we have to 03:55 remember those keys that we learned in our opening 03:58 presentation. Key Nr.1- the book of Revelation 04:01 rests upon the broad foundation of the Old Testament. 04:08 And who is the focus of the book of Revelation? 04:12 It's a Revelation of Jesus Christ. 04:16 So tonight what we're going to try and do is understand 04:19 one of the most pivotal, important chapters in all 04:22 of Revelation. You might be saying: 04:25 "Wait a minute, we're studying the book of Revelation," 04:28 "we should start in chapter 1:1." 04:30 We've already said this but it probably bears repeating: 04:33 the book of Revelation is not organized chronologically, 04:36 there are chronological elements, but for the most 04:39 part the book of Revelation is organized thematically, 04:42 that is topically, or along themes, and many scholars 04:46 and commentators agree that probably the chapter more than 04:49 any other chapter that really sets the tone and the theme 04:53 of the book of Revelation is Revelation 12, and that's 04:56 why we're beginning there. So open your Bibles to 04:58 the last book of the New Testament, the wonderful, 05:01 sometimes mysterious book of Revelation. 05:04 You'll notice we're moving quite fast because we have 05:07 a lot of information to cover tonight, Revelation 12. 05:10 We're going to do something a little unusual, I'm going to 05:13 read the entire chapter through. The reason we're going 05:16 to do that is it's going to give us an airplane view 05:19 of what to expect in this chapter. There are 17 verses, 05:23 and as we read through it I want you to allow your mind 05:26 to try and grasp, use your imagination to try and grasp 05:31 the profoundness of the imagery, and the amazing, fantastic 05:35 images found there. We're in Revelation 12:1, 05:39 I will read quite quickly, but you can follow along. 05:42 It says: "Now a great sign appeared in heaven," 05:45 "a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under" 05:48 "her feet and on her head a garland of 12 stars." 05:52 Notice, the stars, the moon, and the stars, verse 2: 05:55 "Then she being with child cried out in labor and in pain" 05:58 "to give birth, and another sign appeared in heaven." 06:03 "Behold a great fiery, red, dragon having 7 heads" 06:07 "and 10 horns and 7 diadems on his heads." 06:10 "His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven" 06:12 "and threw them to the earth, and the dragon stood" 06:15 "before the woman, who was ready to give birth" 06:17 "to devour her child as soon as it was born." 06:20 "She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod" 06:23 "of iron, and her child was caught up to God," 06:26 "and to His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness," 06:29 "there she has a place prepared for her by God, that they" 06:32 "should feed her there 1260 days." Just very quickly, 06:36 that is one of the most important time elements in all 06:39 of the Bible, we'll spend more time on that later. 06:42 Verse 7: "And war broke out in heaven, Michael and His" 06:47 "angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels" 06:50 "fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place" 06:53 "found for them in heaven any longer." Verse 9, 06:56 Notice carefully there is 1 word that occurs 3 times in verse 9, 06:59 see if you can pick it up: "So the great dragon was" 07:02 "cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil, and Satan," 07:05 "who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth" 07:08 "and his angels were cast out with him." 07:10 Did you pick the word up? What is it? 07:11 Cast. Verse 10: "Then I heard a loud voice" 07:14 "saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength in the kingdom" 07:17 "of our God and the power of His Christ have come" 07:19 "for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before" 07:22 "our God day and night has been cast down", there it is 07:25 again, verse 11: "and they overcame him", - being Satan, 07:28 "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their" 07:30 "testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." 07:33 "Therefore rejoice O heavens, and you who dwell in them." 07:37 "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea," 07:39 "for the Devil has come down to you having great wrath" 07:42 "because he knows he has a short time." Verse 13: 07:45 "When the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth", 07:49 there it is 5 times, "he persecuted the woman" 07:51 "who gave birth to the male child, but the woman" 07:54 "was given 2 wings of a great eagle that she might fly" 07:56 "into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished" 07:59 "for a time, times, and half a time from the presence" 08:01 "of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his" 08:04 "mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might" 08:06 "cause her to be carried away by the flood," 08:09 "but the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened" 08:12 "its mouth and the swallowed the flood which the dragon" 08:15 "had spewed out of his mouth." Verse 17, the climax 08:18 of the entire chapter, "And the dragon was enraged" 08:21 "with the woman and went to make war with the rest" 08:25 "of her offspring who keep the commandments of God" 08:28 "and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." 08:32 A very powerful chapter. Look at your study guide, 08:36 and what we're going to discover here is that there are 08:38 essentially 5 major elements in Revelation 12, 08:42 that is 5 major elements that if we can understand 08:45 these elements, we can get our hands and our fingers 08:48 wrapped around what is being communicated in this 08:51 pivotal chapter. The first thing that we are 08:54 introduced to is the woman. Remember, she was standing 08:58 on the moon, she was clothed with the sun, and she had 09:01 a garland of stars upon her head. 09:03 What does a woman represent in Bible prophecy? 09:09 Well, there are several passages that we could look at, 09:11 just very quickly you can write these down, 09:14 I will quote them for you. 2 Corinthians 11:2, 09:17 the apostle Paul says: "I have espoused you as a" 09:20 "chased virgin to Christ", in other words the New Testament 09:23 church he says was a woman. In the Old Testament, 09:26 Jeremiah 16:2, the prophet Jeremiah says: 09:29 "I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely" 09:32 "and delicate woman." So in both, the Old Testament 09:36 and the New Testament, God's people were symbolized 09:40 by a woman. What we find in Revelation is 09:44 that a pure, chased woman would represent God's true people, 09:47 or God's true church, and a harlot woman would 09:51 represent an unfaithful or an untrue church. 09:55 We've already seen a powerful, pivotal interpretive mechanism, 10:00 an interpretive device, a woman represents 10:03 God's people, but we go on, the second element 10:06 is the wily dragon. Notice that this dragon 10:09 is described as being a hideous creature, having 7 heads, 10:13 and 10 horns, he's a hideous, grotesque creature, 10:17 contrasted with the beautiful chastity and sublimity 10:21 of the woman that we saw in verse 1. 10:24 The next element that we are introduced to, the dragon, 10:27 is Satan according to verse 9, you can read that 10:29 in Revelation 12:9, "so the great dragon was cast out," 10:33 "that serpent of old, called the Devil, and Satan." 10:37 The next element we are introduced to is the war. 10:40 Look at verse 7, this verse is almost hard to believe, 10:44 it's very difficult for us to understand, it says: 10:48 "and war broke out in Afghanistan". 10:52 That wouldn't be surprising at all, would it? 10:55 "And war broke out in Afghanistan", "war broke out" 10:58 "in the Middle East", [Yawns], yeah, we've heard that before, 11:01 but notice what it says: "There was war in heaven." 11:04 Of all places for there to be war, war in heaven. 11:08 Here is a critical point, I want you to make a note of this 11:11 on your study guide, notice that this war begins in heaven, 11:15 but this war finishes on earth. Did you notice that transition? 11:19 Verse 7 says war broke out in heaven, but then jump down 11:23 to verse 17: "The dragon was enraged with the woman", 11:26 who's the woman? It's God's people, the church, 11:28 "and went to make war with the rest of her offspring" 11:31 "who keep the commandments of God, and the testimony" 11:34 "of Jesus Christ." That is a critical point 11:37 that we will exploit further as we get into our study. 11:40 This war began in heaven, but this war will be finished 11:44 right here on earth. The third element is the war. 11:47 The 4th element is one that's not mentioned exactly 11:50 by name, but it is there. Look at verse 11, 11:53 how is it that God's faithful people overcome the dragon, 11:57 and overcome Satan? Verse 11: "...they overcame him" 12:00 "by the blood of the Lamb." Who's the Lamb? 12:04 Jesus Christ, "behold the Lamb of God that takes away" 12:07 "the sin of the world", that's what John the Baptist said 12:10 when he was standing up to the waist in the muddy waters 12:13 of the River Jordan, "behold the Lamb of God". 12:16 That word "Lamb" occurs 26 times in the book of Revelation, 12:19 and every time except 1 it refers to Jesus Christ, 12:22 that probably got your curiosity up, you're going 12:25 to go and try and find the one that doesn't refer to Jesus, 12:28 I'll give you a hint, it's in Revelation 13. 12:30 But the weapon by which we use to overcome Satan 12:33 is not our hands, it's not our strength, it's not our fists, 12:36 it's the blood of Jesus Christ. 12:39 Notice it says in the rest of that verse: "And by the word" 12:41 "of their testimony they did not love their lives to the death." 12:46 Revelation's weapon is the cross of Jesus Christ, 12:50 and the Christ of that cross, we'll spend more time on that 12:53 in our next lesson. The 5th element is the winners, 12:58 hallelujah, the Devil is not the victor in the final 13:01 analyses, there are many times today when the Devil 13:05 definitely gets the upper hand, there are many times today 13:07 when it appears as though the Devil wins the battle, 13:10 but here's the good news: though he may win a battle 13:13 here and there, he is not going to win the war. 13:18 God is going to finish what he started, you see 13:22 that in verse 17: "And the dragon was enraged", 13:27 the old King James says: "wroth", it means 13:30 "absolutely, totally furious with the woman", 13:33 that is the true people of God, "and he went to make war" 13:36 "with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments" 13:39 "of God and have the faith of Jesus". 13:41 Notice at the bottom of your study guide it says: 13:44 What does a woman represent in Bible prophecy, 13:46 you tell me what it is. It's a church, or if you 13:49 prefer it, the people of God. I sometimes don't say 13:51 the church, and the reason for that is a woman 13:54 was also a representative of God's people in 13:57 the Old Testament, but really, the church is more of a 14:00 New Testament phenomenon, I prefer to say "God's people". 14:03 The winners will be God's faithful people. 14:05 If we can understand these 5 elements, the woman, 14:08 who is she? The dragon, who is he? 14:11 The war, what's it all about? The weapon, how do we employ 14:14 that weapon? And the winners, who in 14:16 the final analyses will overcome? 14:19 This will really help us to get our fingers wrapped 14:22 around this monumental and pivotal chapter. 14:24 I'm on page 2 of the study guide, the 2 supporting 14:27 texts that you would write down are 2 Corinthians 11:2 14:30 and Jeremiah 6:2. Literally, we could give 14:33 another 20 texts to show that a woman in Bible prophecy 14:37 represents God's people on earth, but that should suffice. 14:40 According to verse 9, what does the dragon represent? 14:44 Satan. And more than any other chapter 14:46 in the book, Revelation 12 describes the great battle 14:50 that is waging between the forces of light and darkness, 14:54 good and evil. This chapter pulls back 14:56 the curtain the separates the seen from the unseen 15:00 and enables us to see what is going on behind the scenes. 15:03 In order to grasp Revelation as a whole, 15:05 we must understand this chapter, many scholars and commentators 15:10 agree that this chapter represents the focal point, 15:13 the pinnacle of the entire book of Revelation. 15:17 Now let us go to the "Eden to Eden" subheading. 15:20 In the beginning, as we've already discussed, 15:22 everything was good, very good. We spent time on that 15:26 our last time together, we looked at it and it says 15:31 7 times in Genesis 1, "God saw that it was good." 15:35 In the beginning it was very good, here's something 15:39 absolutely remarkable: if you take your Bible and hold it up 15:42 just like this, why don't you do that, hold your Bible 15:45 up just like this: [shows action]. 15:48 To the uninitiated, the Bible looks like a single book, 15:51 but it's not a single book, as a matter of fact, the Bible 15:55 is more like an encyclopaedia than a single book. 15:58 There are 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament, 16:02 27 in the New, here's something remarkable, this is 16:05 a very powerful, interpretive device. 16:09 If you go this side, that is the Genesis side, 16:12 the first 2 chapters of the Bible, Genesis 1 and 2, 16:17 we find a perfect God in perfect communion 16:20 with a perfect people in a perfect environment, 16:23 that's Genesis 1 and 2, before the entrance of sin. 16:26 Again, a perfect God in perfect communion with a perfect people 16:30 in a perfect environment, no sin, 16:33 but here's something that's absolutely remarkable 16:36 if you go to this side of your Bible, and you go 16:38 this direction, that is the Revelation side, 16:41 the last 2 chapters of the Bible depict the very same thing. 16:46 A perfect God in perfect communion with a perfect people 16:51 in a perfect environment. In other words, 16:55 on this side of the Bible you have Eden, 16:59 and on this side of the Bible you have Eden restored. 17:06 So in a very real way, these 2 Edens function 17:10 like book ends, you know how that is when you have 17:12 a whole line of books and you don't have a wall 17:15 or something to stack them up against, you have a book end 17:17 on this side and a book end on this side, 17:20 and that's what we find on either side of these 66 books 17:24 in the Bible, a perfect God in perfect communion 17:26 with a perfect people in a perfect environment, 17:29 and here on the Revelation side the very same thing: 17:32 a perfect God in perfect communion with a perfect people 17:34 in a perfect environment. 17:37 So everything in between these 2 Edens is God trying 17:43 to get His people from where they fell, they began there 17:47 and they will be restored there. Go to your study guide. 17:52 The Bible is more easily understood against the backdrop 17:56 of the original state of man and this planet, 18:00 that's what you write in there, 18:02 as contrasted with the fallen state of man and this planet. 18:09 In the beginning before the entrance of sin 18:12 we see a perfect couple in a perfect communion 18:15 with a perfect God, that's what you'd write in there. 18:19 This is described in Genesis 1 and 2, the couple lived 18:23 in the Garden of Eden, significantly when we move 18:26 from the first 2 chapters of the Bible to the last 2, 18:30 Revelation 21 and 22, we find the very same thing. 18:34 Namely, a perfect people in perfect communion with a 18:37 perfect God. The next paragraph says: 18:40 Note the following diagram. The left line, the left 18:44 vertical line would represent Eden, you can write that there. 18:50 The right vertical line would represent Eden restored. 18:56 So just as we have 2 on either side of the Bible, 18:59 we have Eden and Eden restored, so too on our diagram. 19:01 Eden on the left, Eden restored on the right. 19:05 The cross in the center symbolizes the death of Jesus 19:09 Christ that rescues believers from the downward spiral of sin. 19:15 Tracing a line downward towards the cross from the left 19:18 represents man's downward spiral into sin, selfishness and death; 19:23 tracing a line upwards from the cross to the top 19:26 of the right line symbolizes man's potential recovery, 19:31 if the salvation secured for him or her, on the cross is 19:36 personally received, that's what you'd write in there. 19:40 Beloved, never forget this, you will be saved as 19:44 an individual, you will be saved because of a personal 19:48 relationship with God. 19:53 You can't go to heaven on the coat tails of your spouse, 19:58 neither can you go to heaven on the coat tails of your family. 20:01 Sometimes I ask people, I'll say: "How long have you been" 20:04 "a Christian?" and they'll say: "I was raised a Christian." 20:07 You weren't raised a Christian, no one is raised a Christian, 20:10 in the sense that God does not have grandchildren, 20:13 God only has children, does that make sense? 20:17 We make our own decision, our personal choice to entrust 20:20 our case to Christ. so when Christ died on the 20:24 cross 2000 years ago, that is a historical event, 20:27 but we must accept that historical event personally 20:32 in order for it to benefit us in the ultimate sense. 20:35 We are not Universalists, the Bible does not teach 20:38 universalism, that everyone will be saved, hardly. 20:41 In fact, Jesus on one occasion said there's a great big, 20:43 wide way and many people are going that way 20:46 and it leads to destruction, and then there's a narrow way 20:48 and it leads to eternal life. 20:53 That's Eden to Eden restored. Go to the third page 20:58 of your study guide, this is awesome, hang in there. 21:02 This where things get really amazing, I'm reading 21:07 from the study guide: Not only are there 2 Edens, 21:10 like book ends on the entire Bible, there are also 21:14 2 battles that act very much the same way. 21:21 You can go ahead and fill in the blanks, I'll explain it 21:23 without looking at the study guide. 21:25 Just imagine with me for illustration's sake that 21:28 over here on this side of the stage, this is Genesis, 21:30 then we'd walk all the way through the Bible, 21:33 through Psalms, through Isaiah, 21:35 through the New Testament, and over here is Revelation. 21:38 So what's over here? Revelation. 21:40 And what's over here? Genesis. 21:43 So here we have Eden, and over here we have Eden restored. 21:46 Over here Eden is Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, a perfect God 21:50 in perfect communion with a perfect people in a perfect 21:53 environment. If I stepped 1 chapter this way 21:59 from Eden, what chapter would I be in? 22:03 Genesis 3. Open your Bible to the book 22:06 of Genesis 3. 22:15 Beginning in verse 1, a familiar story: "Now the serpent" 22:19 "was more cunning then any beast of the field" 22:21 "which the Lord God had made, and he said to the woman," 22:24 "Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree" 22:27 "of the garden?" Genesis 3:2: 22:31 "And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat" 22:34 "from the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree" 22:37 "which is in the midst of the garden, God has said" 22:39 "you shall not eat it, neither shall you touch it" 22:42 "lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman," 22:45 "You will not surely die." God had said: "In the day" 22:47 "though eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." 22:50 But Satan here inserts a word, doesn't he? 22:54 "Thou shalt not surely die". Verse 5: "For God knows" 22:58 "that in the day that you eat of it your eyes" 23:01 "will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good" 23:04 "and evil." The serpent basically says 23:07 to the woman: "God is keeping something away from you" 23:10 "that would be in your best interest to have." 23:12 Never forget this: that is the oldest lie in the book, 23:15 the Devil wants you to believe that God is a withholder, 23:18 but the Bible teaching is that God is a giver. 23:21 That's the first lie, he says: "No, God is keeping something" 23:24 "back from you", and this is frankly what keeps 23:27 many people out of making a full commitment to Christ, 23:30 a full commitment to God, a full commitment to the Bible, 23:33 they think: "Well, you know, I'm not sure," 23:36 "I'm afraid of what I'll have to give up." 23:38 Beloved, it's not about what you give up, it's about 23:41 what God gave up when He sent His Son. 23:43 The great truth of the Bible is not that God is a withholder, 23:46 He's not trying to keep thing back from you, 23:49 anything that is in your best interest to have 23:51 He will give to you, but Satan says no, "He knows that" 23:54 "you'll become as God's, knowing good and evil." 23:56 Verse 6: "When the woman saw that the tree was good" 23:59 "for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree" 24:02 "desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit" 24:05 "and she ate, she gave also to her husband with her" 24:07 "and he ate", you know the story. 24:10 Adam eats of the tree, Eve eats of the tree, 24:12 God comes down into the garden and we read verse 8: 24:15 "And they heard the sound of the Lord, God, walking" 24:18 "in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam" 24:21 "and his wife hid themselves from the presence" 24:24 "of the Lord, God, amongst the trees of the garden." 24:27 Where normally they would run to God to greet Him 24:30 as their Father, now they're running from God, 24:32 terrified in fear. God comes down into the garden 24:34 and there are 3 parties there. You have Adam, you have Eve 24:40 and you have the serpent. God turns His attention 24:43 to Adam, He asks him 3 questions: where are you? 24:46 Who told you that you were naked? 24:51 And why did you eat of the tree? 24:56 Then He turns to Eve and He asks her 1 question: 24:59 "What is this that thou has done?" 25:02 And then He turns to the serpent and he doesn't 25:05 ask any question, why? Because the serpent already 25:08 knew the answers, he preaches a sermon to the serpent. 25:12 Look at it in Genesis 3:14: "So the Lord, God, said" 25:16 "to the serpent, Because you have done this" 25:18 "you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than" 25:21 "every beast of the field, on your belly you will go" 25:24 "and you shall dust all the days of your life", 25:26 notice verse 15 because it's the first promise of Jesus 25:30 in all of the Bible, the first messianic prophecy, 25:34 verse 15, God speaking to the Devil: "I will put hatred" 25:38 "between you and the woman and between your seed" 25:41 "and her seed, he will bruise your head and you will bruise" 25:47 "his heel." Fascinating isn't it? 25:50 Basically what's happening is that Adam and Eve 25:55 had changed loyalties. God had said "in the day" 25:58 "that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die", 26:02 the Devil had said "you will not surely die", question: 26:05 who did Adam and Eve believe? They believed Satan, 26:10 and in believing the words of Satan over the words of God 26:13 they had effectively changed their loyalties and changed 26:17 their allegiance, so God comes down into the garden 26:20 and this is the picture I'll try to paint in your mind 26:22 so you can sort of understand it, 26:24 the Devil's got his arm around Eve, he's got his arm 26:26 around Adam, and they're just hanging out, good old buddies. 26:33 God comes into the garden and He asks Adam the 3 questions, 26:36 He asks Eve the 1 question, and then He looks 26:39 at the Devil and says: "You know what, you think you've" 26:42 "won the day. It looks as though My beautiful, dear children" 26:45 "are all your friends now, they believed you more than" 26:48 "believing Me, but I'll tell you what, a day is coming," 26:51 "I'm going to put enmity between you and this woman." 26:55 "You think she's your best bud now, you think" 26:58 "she's your best friend now, but I'm going to put enmity" 27:01 "between you and this woman, and that enmity is going" 27:04 "to crush your head, but you will bruise his heel." 27:06 That enmity, the promised enmity that would crush 27:09 the head of Satan is Jesus Christ Himself. 27:15 Naturally, every one of us in our own hearts, in our natural 27:19 condition, we are the friend of Satan and the enemy of God. 27:23 You're saying: "What?! Did he really just say that?" 27:26 That's exactly what I just said, when we are born 27:29 we have built into us an inward selfishness. 27:36 It's a carnality that's against the principles of God 27:40 and of His law, and of His love, this is easily illustrated. 27:44 I have 2 beautiful little boys in the room 27:47 just across the hallway. I love them very much 27:50 and they are innocent, but you know what I mean 27:52 when I say innocent, they're only relatively innocent. 27:55 Those little boys are as selfish as the day is long, 27:58 and they didn't learn it from their papa, 28:00 an they didn't learn it from their mamma, 28:03 they learned it from Adam. 28:05 Think about that, you might have had the best child 28:07 in the world, but what do you have to teach your children? 28:11 Do you have to teach them how to share, 28:13 or how to keep some back for themselves because they're 28:16 so busy giving everything away? [Audience laughs] 28:18 You have to teach them how to share, so you put little Sammy 28:21 in little Sally's crib, and if little Sally has a banana, 28:24 little Sammy, you don't have to teach him how to pick up 28:27 the tonka truck, hit her over the head and take the banana, 28:30 [audience laughs] that's right in the hard drive, 28:32 he knows that, that's part of what it means to be a child. 28:35 Well where did he get it from? The answer is: 28:38 he got it from his parents, who got it from his parents, 28:41 from his parents...all the way back to the first parents 28:44 who changed their allegiance and their nature 28:47 was basically transformed. To put it in the words 28:51 of the apostle Paul, he said "the carnal mind" 28:54 "is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law" 28:58 "of God, neither indeed, can be." In another place 29:03 the apostle Paul, Ephesians 2, he says that by nature 29:08 we're the children of wrath. That is to say when we're born 29:12 the most important thing in the world is me. 29:16 Does that make sense? I'm the most important thing 29:19 in the world, and is this world basically exists to serve me 29:24 and my desires and my purposes, that's what happened 29:27 in the Garden of Eden. There was a transformation 29:30 in the nature of man, so God comes into the garden 29:33 and He says: "You think that she's loyal to you Satan," 29:35 "you think that he's loyal to you Satan," 29:38 "but I'll tell you what, I'm going to put hatred" 29:41 "between you and the serpent, I'm going to put hatred" 29:44 "between the woman and the serpent and that hatred" 29:47 "will crush your head." 29:51 I want you to notice that this is the first battle 29:55 between Christ and Satan; the first battle on planet earth. 30:00 Now let's go back to our illustration, 30:02 remember here, what's on this side of the stage? 30:05 Genesis, Eden; and what's over here? 30:09 Revelation. So in Eden, Genesis 1 and 2, 30:12 if we step one chapter this way we're in Genesis 3, 30:17 and here we find the first battle between God and Satan 30:22 on planet earth. 30:27 What chapter would we be in if we stepped 1 chapter this way 30:30 from Revelation 21 and 22? Revelation 20. 30:34 Open your Bible to Revelation 20, 30:43 absolutely remarkable. Revelation 20. 30:51 It says in Revelation 20:9: "They went up on the breadth" 30:57 "of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints" 31:01 "and the beloved city. Fire came down from God" 31:05 "out of heaven and devoured them." Look at verse 10: 31:10 "The Devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire" 31:15 "and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are," 31:19 "and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever," 31:22 "thus ends the history of Satan." 31:25 Do you see it? It's so powerful. 31:28 Over here we have Eden, over here we have Eden restored, 31:32 these are like 2 book ends on the Bible, but if we come 31:37 just 1 chapter this way we have the first battle between 31:41 Christ and Satan, and if we come just 1 chapter this way 31:45 we have the last battle. So here we have a big picture 31:49 overview of how to understand the Bible. 31:52 [text on screen] 32:02 Everything in between is God trying to get His people back 32:11 to the Garden of Eden where He can live with them 32:15 in face to face communion. In fact, that's one 32:18 of the great promises in Revelation 21:4, it says: 32:21 "and they shall see His face." Powerful. 32:26 Living in face to face communion with God, 32:30 so we have Eden to Eden, but more than that, 32:33 there is this battle theme, and all through the Bible 32:37 we find this wrestling, not against flesh and blood 32:40 but against principalities and powers, against the rulers 32:43 of the darkness of this world, to quote Ephesians 6. 32:47 Go back to your study guide. Did you get all of those 32:50 blanks filled in there? Should be pretty easy. 32:53 Look with me at the 6 stages of Revelation's great battle. 32:59 I'm reading, now we will trace 6 distinct phases 33:04 of this great battle, and the eventual and promised victory 33:07 of Jesus Christ right through the entire Bible. 33:10 You will be amazed as you see this unfold right before 33:13 your eyes. This is no make believe battle, 33:17 it is as real as the chair you're sitting on, 33:20 write out the 6 stages and give the Bible references 33:23 for each one. 33:25 We'll do our very best to try and walk you through 33:29 the 6 stages. We've already said: 33:31 the Bible is best understood with the backdrop 33:34 of an Eden to Eden perspective, and with a first battle, 33:38 last battle perspective. I want to hear a resounding 33:41 "amen" if that makes sense. [Audience replies] Amen. 33:44 Okay, fantastic, then let's look at the 6 stages 33:47 of the great battle. Nr.1- the victory is declared. 33:51 The Scripture text we've already look at, Genesis 3:15. 33:55 The victory is declared, that's where God stepped there 33:59 into the garden and He says: "You have won the battle," 34:03 "but you will not win the war." So the first stage of the battle 34:09 is that the victory is declared. The second stage 34:15 is the victory is begun in the earthly ministry of Jesus. 34:21 Open your Bibles to Luke 11, third book of the New Testament, 34:27 Matthew, Mark, Luke. Luke 11. 34:32 There are several passages that could be cited, 34:34 we'll look at 1, Luke 11. 34:39 Luke 11:14: "And He was casting out a demon and it was mute," 34:46 "so it was, when the demon had gone out that the mute spoke" 34:52 "and the multitudes were amazed, but some of them said," 34:57 "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler" 35:00 "of the demons, others testing Him sought from Him" 35:03 "a sign from heaven, but He, knowing their thoughts" 35:06 "said to them", listen carefully to the words 35:09 of Jesus, this is incredible, verse 17: 35:11 "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation" 35:15 "and a house divided against a house falls." Verse 18: 35:19 "If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his" 35:23 "kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out" 35:25 "demons by Beelzebub, if I cast out demons by Beelzebub," 35:29 "by whom do your sons cast them out?" 35:32 "Therefore they will be your judges, but if I cast out" 35:36 "demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God" 35:39 "has come upon you", and then He tells a story, a parable, 35:43 verse 21: "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own" 35:48 "palace, his goods are in peace, but when a stronger than he" 35:54 "comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him" 35:57 "all his armor in which he has trusted, and he divides" 36:01 "his spoils." Do you follow Jesus' analogy? 36:05 Very simple, Jesus heals this boy who was demon possessed, 36:08 he was mute, he couldn't speak, and Jesus walks up 36:11 and He casts the demon out. People said: "Oh, you're doing" 36:13 "this in the name of Beelzebub, you're doing it by" 36:15 "Beelzebub's power." Jesus says: "You're not even thinking," 36:18 "think it through, if I was casting out demons" 36:21 "by Beelzebub, that would mean that the Devil is against" 36:24 "the Devil, and a house divided against itself can't stand." 36:27 He says: "When a strong man guards his house, his goods" 36:31 "are safe, but when a stronger than him comes" 36:34 "and overcomes him", what Jesus is saying is that the Devil 36:41 is being overcome. 36:45 So that's what we see in the earthly ministry of Jesus, 36:49 the victory which was promised in Eden is begun; 36:52 Jesus was healing the blind, Jesus was casting out demons, 36:56 Jesus was saying to the paralytic "rise, take up" 36:59 "your bed and walk", and what I see in my mind's eye 37:01 is a picture of Jesus reclaiming what was rightfully His. 37:07 In fact, we actually looked at this in Luke 13:10-16, 37:13 we don't have to look at the whole chapter, 37:16 the whole passage, because we've already read it. 37:19 Remember, Jesus heals that woman and the ruler of the synagogue 37:22 said: "What? There are 6 days on which mean aught to work," 37:24 "come and heal on one of those days, and not on the Sabbath", 37:27 then remember what Jesus said: "You hypocrite, does not" 37:30 "everyone of you lose your ox or your donkey" 37:33 "on the Sabbath? Aught not this woman being a daughter" 37:36 "of Abraham", do you remember those 4 words? 37:40 "Whom Satan has bound", "think of it", He says, 37:44 "Whom Satan has bound these many years, be loosed" 37:47 "from this burden on the Sabbath day." 37:49 So what we find in the earthly ministry of Jesus is that 37:53 the victory that was promised in Eden, Jesus is reclaiming 37:56 a brother, Jesus is reclaiming a woman, Jesus is reclaiming 37:59 a child. In John 11 He goes there 38:02 to Lazarus' tomb, He goes "Lazarus come forth", 38:05 He was reclaiming even from death. 38:08 The victory was begun in the earthly ministry of Jesus. 38:15 Jesus reclaiming His own, but the third stage of the victory 38:21 is that the victory was achieved on the cross. 38:28 Open your Bibles to the gospel of John 12. 38:36 The victory was declared in Eden, the victory was begun 38:40 in the earthly ministry of Jesus, and the victory was 38:43 achieved on the cross. 38:49 I'm in John 12:31. 38:54 Jesus speaking, He says: "Now is the judgement" 38:58 "of this world, now the ruler of this world will be cast out." 39:05 For you Bible students that are really paying attention, 39:08 you're saying: "Whoa, that's interesting, that sounds" 39:11 "just like Revelation 12", remember? 39:13 5 times "he's cast out". 39:16 [hits microphone] 39:20 Maybe I've got to move like that, I'll be careful 39:23 not go to here [Audience laughs] 39:26 Okay, so He's cast out, 5 time in Revelation 12, 39:29 notice what Jesus says here, look at it again, John 12. 39:31 You don't worry about me, I'll unbuckle my suit, 39:34 maybe that'll help so I'm not running into it [the microphone] 39:37 Does that help Joel? Okay, so John 12:31, 39:40 [hits microphone again] I'll hold still, 39:44 that's going to be very difficult, [audience laughs]. 39:46 Okay, Lord Jesus help me. "Now the ruler of this world..." 39:51 [hits microphone again] Bring me up that microphone 39:56 and I'll just use that thing, verse 32: 39:59 Jesus says: "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth" 40:04 "I will draw people's unto myself." 40:08 Nathan, you're a saint, look at that, okay. 40:11 We're good to go there, there we go, I feel 40:14 like I'm straitjacketed now, I've got something in my hand. 40:16 Okay, notice what He says: "Now is the judgement" 40:19 "of this world, right here right now, Satan is cast out", 40:24 and then He says in verse 32: "When I'm lifted up" 40:27 "on the cross, the Devil is judged, the Devil is cast out." 40:33 There are several passages that I could quote, 40:36 but just write these down very quickly, John 14:30, 40:43 and John 16:11, so all of them are in John, 40:48 John 14:20 and John 16:11. So notice, the victory was 40:52 declared in Eden, the victory was begun in the earthly 40:57 ministry of Jesus, the victory was achieved on the cross. 41:02 In fact, let me show you a text to that effect. 41:04 When Jesus cried out on the cross according to John 19:30, 41:08 He said: "It is finished." The victory was achieved. 41:15 At the cross, Satan was dealt a death blow. 41:19 We're going to be talking a lot more about that, in fact, 41:21 we're going to see something in Revelation 12 that is 41:23 so totally powerful, we'll see how much of it we can get into 41:27 tonight, and we'll finish up what we can't tomorrow night. 41:31 Look at this, Colossians 2:15, I really appreciate this 41:34 particular translation, Colossians 2:15, 41:38 notice what Paul says: [text on screen] 41:57 Is that powerful? The imagery is absolutely 42:00 incredible, basically what he's saying is, on the cross 42:03 Jesus made a fool out of the Devil. Powerful! 42:07 You say "How, what happened on the cross?" 42:11 Well let's try and unpack that, but before we do that 42:14 let's go to the rest of the 6 stages. 42:18 So the victory was declared in Eden, it was begun in 42:21 the earthly ministry of Jesus, it was achieved on the cross, 42:24 and the victory was proclaimed in the resurrection. 42:31 Go to Acts 2, you're in John it's the very next book. 42:37 Acts 2, here we find the apostle Peter, 42:43 what's his name? Peter, 42:45 and he's preaching on the day of Pentecost, the word 42:48 "pentecost" means "fifty", "fifty" days after 42:52 the crucifixion. We'll pick it up in verse 22, 42:55 Peter is preaching about the resurrection, he says: 43:01 Acts 2:22, "Men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth," 43:07 "a man attested by God to you, by miracles, wonders," 43:10 "and signs which God did through Him in your midst" 43:14 "as you yourselves know. Him being delivered" 43:17 "by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God," 43:20 "you have taken by lawless hands and have crucified" 43:23 "and put to death, Whom God raised up," 43:32 "having loosed the pains of death because it was not" 43:35 "possible that He should be held by it." 43:38 "For David says concerning Him", and now he quotes from David 43:41 in the Old Testament, "I foresaw the Lord always before my face" 43:44 "for He is at my right hand that I should not be shaken," 43:46 "therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad," 43:49 "moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope," 43:52 "for you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you" 43:55 "allow Your Holy One to see corruption, You have made known" 43:59 "to me the way of life, You will make me full of joy" 44:05 "in Your presence." Powerful. 44:08 Basically, Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost, 44:10 he begins to preach, "Yes, Jesus was crucified." 44:14 "Yes, He was buried, but God raised Him up." 44:18 Powerful, in fact, G.B. Hardy in his book "Countdown", 44:22 said this: "There are only 2 essential requirements." 44:26 "Nr.1- has anyone ever cheated death?" 44:29 "And Nr.2- is it available to me? Let us survey" 44:33 "the historical record: Buddha's tomb - occupied;" 44:37 "Confucius' tomb - occupied; Mohammed's tomb - occupied;" 44:42 "Jesus' tomb - empty!" And then he said: "Argue as you will," 44:47 "but for me and my purposes there is no point in following" 44:51 "a loser." When he said the word "loser" 44:54 he wasn't calling names, like "nanny nanny boo boo", 44:57 what he was saying is this: there's this great enemy 45:00 called "death", and we all will face it, and he wants to know 45:06 has anyone ever cheated death? When he says that Buddha 45:08 was a loser, and Confucius was a loser, he's saying 45:11 they lost the battle with death, but Jesus was victorious 45:16 over death, as Peter says, it was not possible 45:20 that death could hold on to Him, why? 45:22 Because He never sinned, so death had no rightful claim 45:25 to Him. Powerful! 45:28 So the victory was declared in the Garden of Eden, 45:31 He said: "One day I will crush your head." 45:35 The victory was begun in the earthly ministry of Jesus 45:38 when He, as a stronger man, began to take back 45:41 the goods that Satan claimed as his own. 45:43 Nr.3- the victory was achieved on the cross when He made 45:47 a fool out of the Devil. Nr.4- the victory was proclaimed 45:51 in the resurrection. 45:55 The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the victory proclaimed, 45:59 here's the 5th stage of the battle, the victory is continued 46:04 in the church, the victory is continued in God's church. 46:08 You're still there in Acts, go to Acts 26. 46:13 I know that you're trying to keep up with me, 46:17 do the best that you can, if I go too fast tonight 46:20 go out there and tell them I went too fast and get yourself 46:23 a free CD, okay? [Audience laughs] 46:26 You say: "I couldn't follow that message", no problem, 46:29 hey listen, I want you to understand this. 46:31 So if you don't get it, come back tomorrow night, 46:34 say: "Hey listen, he went too fast, I need a free CD", 46:37 they won't give you a hard time, they'll give you a free CD. 46:40 Acts 26:16, here's the apostle Paul is recounting 46:43 his conversion experience when he was on the road 46:46 to Damascus, he was knocked off his horse by Jesus 46:52 of Nazareth, Acts 26:15: "I said, Who are you Lord?" 46:58 "He said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting," 47:02 "but rise and stand on your feet for I have appeared" 47:05 "to you for this purpose Saul, to make you a minister" 47:08 "and a witness, both of the things which you have seen" 47:11 "and of the things which I will reveal to you." 47:14 "I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well" 47:17 "as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you." 47:20 Look at verse 18, this is the powerful verse: 47:22 "to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness" 47:26 "to light, and from the power of Satan to God." 47:30 Why? "So that they may receive" 47:32 "the forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those" 47:36 "who were sanctified by putting their faith in Me." 47:40 Isn't that powerful? You see what He's saying 47:43 He says: "Get up off your feet, I've got a plan for you." 47:46 "You're going to be a minister and a witness, I need you" 47:49 "to go tell these Gentile folks that I'm real," 47:51 "that I'm alive, that I'm raised, that I'm resurrected." 47:54 "Turn them from darkness to light, and from the power" 47:57 "of Satan to the power of God." 47:59 So the victory is continued in the church. 48:03 If I could be very, very frank with you, 48:09 the victory is to be continued in your life. 48:15 God has called you in the very same way as He called Paul, 48:18 God has called you to communicate the great good news 48:21 of the risen Christ to your co-workers, to your family 48:24 members, to your friends, to your grocer, to your banker, 48:28 to whoever! Let them know that Jesus 48:31 is alive. [Audience claps] 48:33 Victory declared, hallelujah. The victory was declared 48:37 in Eden, "I will crush your head." 48:40 The victory was begun in the earthly ministry of Jesus, 48:43 the victory was achieved on the cross, never forget that, 48:48 the victory achieved on the cross; the victory was 48:50 proclaimed in the resurrection, the victory is continued 48:55 in the church, and the victory is concluded 49:00 in Revelation, and we already read that, 49:05 when the Devil himself, is cast into the lake of fire. 49:11 There are the 6 stages of the great battle. 49:15 Powerful: [text on screen] 49:24 The end of Satan and the victory will be concluded. 49:27 You say: "We made it through", no, my timer says 49:29 I've got 7 and a half minutes left, so look at the last page. 49:34 You thought we were stopping and you were wrong. 49:37 Last page of your study guide. Buckle your safety belts, 49:40 here we go, back to Revelation 12. 49:45 I told you we had a lot to cover, but by the grace of God 49:49 you're going to understand it, you're going to like it 49:52 whether you like it or not. [Audience laughs] 49:56 Revelation 12, look at this, I'm reading directly 50:00 from the study guide: Did you catch the significance 50:03 of the 3rd stage? It is essential that you do, 50:08 remember Revelation 12:9, what word occurs 3 times? 50:13 "Cast" or "cast out", note also that the same word 50:17 appears in verse 10 and 13 as we've already said, 5 times, 50:22 clearly this is an important truth. 50:24 When did this event take place? We've already read that 50:29 in John 12:31,32, I'll quote it for you again. 50:34 Jesus said in John 12:31: "Now", what's that word? 50:40 "Now". Let me ask you just a quick 50:43 question so we can be clear on this: who wrote 50:45 the gospel of John? John, good for you. 50:48 Who wrote the book of Revelation? 50:51 - [Audience replies] John. - That's exactly right. 50:54 And if you read Revelation and you read the gospel of John 50:57 you'll see that there are many similarities in 51:00 the language, have you noticed that? 51:03 So notice this, here it says, John 12:31 51:06 "Now is the judgment of this world, now the prince" 51:09 "of this world will be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up" 51:13 "from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me." 51:17 Jesus says in the context of the cross, the Devil 51:21 was cast out of heaven. You say: "Wait a minute!" 51:25 "I thought he was cast out of heaven long before that." 51:28 Look at Revelation 12:9. 51:33 "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old" 51:37 "called the Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world." 51:42 "He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out" 51:46 "with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven," 51:49 what's the next word? "Now", same word, 51:53 "Now", what has come now? "Salvation." 51:56 Question: when did salvation come? 51:59 On the cross, of course, salvation comes to us 52:02 from the cross, he goes on to say: "Salvation," 52:05 "and strength, and the kingdom of God and the power" 52:09 "of His Christ have come." Think about it, 52:11 when did all of those things come: salvation, and strength 52:14 and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ. 52:17 Where were all of those things manifested? 52:20 On the cross, that's exactly right. 52:22 Salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God, and the power 52:25 of His Christ; it goes on to say "...have come" 52:28 "for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before" 52:31 "our God day and night, has been cast down." 52:34 Look at this, verse 11, "and they overcame him" 52:38 "by the blood of the Lamb." Where was the blood 52:41 of the Lamb shed? On the cross. 52:44 "And by the word of their testimony, and they did not" 52:47 "love their lives to the death." 52:50 Now, verse 12 begins with the word "therefore", 52:56 does everyone see that? Beloved, when you see 53:00 the word "therefore" in the Bible, ask yourself: 53:04 "Hey, what's that 'there for'?" [Audience laughs] 53:09 Did you get that? When you see the word 53:12 "therefore" say: "Hey what's that 'there for'?" 53:16 The word "therefore" is a concluding remark. 53:20 Think about it, if I say: "point Nr.1, point Nr.2, point Nr.3." 53:23 "Therefore", you know that what I say after that 53:26 is based on what I said before that. 53:30 So look at verse 12, what's the first word of verse 12? 53:33 "Therefore", watch this: "Rejoice!" 53:37 Be careful, don't rejoice yet, rejoice who according 53:42 to that verse? Whoa, 53:45 "Rejoice O heavens, and you who dwell in them", 53:49 "but woe to the inhabitants of the earth." 53:54 How many of the people here today live on earth? 53:57 - [Audience laughs] - Just raise your hand. 53:59 Okay, anybody here live in heaven? 54:02 I didn't say in heavenly places, I said "in heaven". 54:05 According to that verse then, should we be rejoicing, 54:08 or should we be saying: "whoa"? 54:10 According to that verse it says "Rejoice O Heavens," 54:13 "but woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea", why? 54:17 "Because the Devil has come down to you," 54:19 "having great wrath." Why? 54:22 "Because he knows he has a short time." 54:25 Question: how does he know that he has a short time? 54:29 Because of the cross. He died on the cross, 54:32 Jesus was raised, and he suddenly knows: 54:35 "Oh oh, this game is almost over." 54:40 Look in verse 13, powerful, it says: "Now when the dragon" 54:45 "saw", that is when the dragon perceived, "that he had been" 54:50 "cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman" 54:54 "who gave birth to the male child." 54:56 He went with all of his energy, with all his vigour, 55:00 with all of his enthusiasm after the church. 55:04 In verse 17 this Satanic attack reaches its logical 55:10 and pathetic climax: "And the dragon was enraged" 55:14 "with the woman, and went to make war with the rest" 55:18 "of her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God" 55:21 "and have the faith of Jesus." 55:26 Did you get all of the blanks filled in there 55:29 in the first paragraph? Look at the second paragraph. 55:33 I'll help you fill them in, it says: Because at the cross 55:36 perfect love and perfect hate stood face to face, 55:39 the holy character and nature of God stood in direct 55:42 contrast with the selfish character and nature 55:45 of Satan. Perfect love and perfect evil 55:48 had a stare down, and perfect love in the face 55:52 of Jesus Christ prevailed. Can you say amen? 55:55 Here's what we're going to do, we're going to pause, 55:59 you're going to say: "What? He can pause?" 56:01 Yeah, I can pause until tomorrow night. 56:04 We're going to hit the pause button because remember, 56:07 this is "The War Behind the Wars", what are those next 2 56:10 words? "Part 1", 56:12 and tomorrow night is "The War Behind the Wars, Part 2", 56:15 but beloved, let's be crystal clear on what we're saying 56:18 tonight. Nr.1- there is a great 56:20 cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan. 56:24 That war began in heaven and will be finished on earth. 56:28 We saw the Eden to Eden, and the battle to battle perspective 56:32 Then we looked at those 6 stages, but we're doing now 56:35 is we're honing in on that third stage, the victory 56:40 achieved on the cross. At the cross Satan was cast out. 56:44 You say: "Well, what does that mean for me today?" 56:46 Tomorrow we will unpack this still further, 56:50 and Revelation 12 will literally come alive, 56:53 but as for me tonight, I want to with Joshua: 56:57 "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". 57:01 [Audience claps and says amen]. 57:05 Let's pray together as we close. Father in heaven, 57:07 tonight you've been with us, it's been a high energy meeting, 57:12 but Father, we've made it through and many of us 57:14 have a clearer understanding of this great cosmic conflict 57:19 between Christ and Satan. We see that it's not some 57:22 manufactured battle, not some make believe battle. 57:26 It's a battle that we are right in the center of. 57:30 Father in heaven, we want to be victorious, and we believe 57:33 by faith in Jesus Christ that we will be victorious. 57:38 But Father, bring us back tomorrow so we can 57:40 understand still more thoroughly, more completely, 57:44 more Biblically, and more powerfully, just what this war 57:48 behind the wars entails. We ask it in the wonderful, 57:53 righteous, holy name of Jesus our Saviour, 57:57 Your Son, let all of the people say amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17