Even at this very moment. There is spiritual warfare going on around us in our personal lives as a church. and in the world. Previously, Michael restrained himself from dealing with Satan over the body of Moses and said, The Lord deal with you. But now Michael's dealing with him.
and winning, incidentally. Another loss for Satan, and they stack up in scripture. He was wrong about Job. He was wrong about the Christ. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston.
Ricky is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Revelation chapter 12 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. If you look at some of the older commentators, they really allegorize everything.
And miss some of the literal implications that are here. Even though, you know, I like it. Haley's Bible handbook, but when it comes to the book of Revelation, I think he's way off. And we should know these kind of things and not be troubled by them. But now we're talking about get out and stay out for Satan.
He still has access, as I'm speaking to you right now. He and his angels still have access, and we'll talk about some of this. We can tell the story of God. by discussing Satan to lost souls. You wouldn't think so, right?
But if you brought up in a conversation leprechauns. You might get a chuckle or two. Nothing would really change. But if you were to bring up Satan, the mood does change. Uh and uh it's an interesting reality.
that we should be sensitive to. One question, and I think it is voiced even in uh uh Robinson Caruso's Story of survival when he's telling his companion Friday. about the devil, Friday responds, Why doesn't God kill the devil? And that's a good, you know, that'd be nice.
Well, God uses Satan. as an alternate choice between himself Or not. And it is to get to the bottom line. of people either loving on the Lord or rejecting him. And God wants to put people in heaven.
And he uses uh this Satan as a filter. And so he puts it to work. He didn't force Satan to rebel. But when he did, it didn't stop everything. God didn't say, okay, wait, let's just start everything again.
I messed up on creation. No, he plows forward. And God wants to put people in heaven, but not indiscriminately. there has to be this connection to him. And so, for example, we read in Deuteronomy thirteen where God is telling the Jewish people through Moses, there may arise a false prophet, and what he says might come true.
But if he's leading you from the word of God, He's a false prophet. which should have made the Pharisees and Sadducees understand Uh how Real Christ was because what he did was backed up by what he taught. He never deviated from the law of Moses, although they tried to spin things that way.
So there's an example of God telling mankind that. He is very interested. in how people respond to what he says. your eternal existence. Depends upon how you respond to this.
So obedience is what we are also talking about. measured in the presence of temptation, which Satan is the one that brings the temptation and the opposition. And thus God does not kill the devil, but he puts him to use. To discover where we would stand.
Now I should mention weakness. demonstrates that there is sin. that man has fallen short of the glory of God.
So as that's what sin does. But some sin is just weakness. Other sins are downright disobedience. Rejection of what God wants no faith and no love. And these things God's going to get to the bottom to and use the devil to do it.
So that's a brief overview of why we have to put up with these things. in this fallen world.
Well, we look at verse 7 and we're told war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with. The dragon and the dragon and his angels fought.
Well, we shouldn't be surprised. That wherever Satan is, there's going to be trouble at some point. He's gonna go off. And uh this is heaven. is where the first sin took place.
when Satan rebelled against God. I believe, looking at the evidence in Scripture, we don't have time to go into it, but I believe it was on the sixth day. I believe that uh Satan hated that God made man in his own image, and that um the the rebellion started there. based largely on Jesus saying, I saw Satan fall to the earth.
Well, there had to be an earth for that to take place, and so that's a time stamp. And and anyway, it's not an essential thing. But here he still has access to heaven and evidently his angels, or they're called to reinforce his eviction, And when he rebelled, of course, he drew a third of the angels with him. We're told that in verse 4. This is what happens when those not in love with Christ are allowed in heaven.
they're going to cause war. They're going to cause trouble.
So they're not going to be allowed again. After this eviction, heaven is purged of this kind of stuff. Satan Created as Lucifer. The anointed cherub. According to Isaiah 28 and Ezekiel 28, where we get some insight on who this character is, and should be warned.
Not all Bible theologians believe that. I don't see how they can miss it. I think the evidence is very clear that Ezekiel and Isaiah, and those sections of Scripture are not talking about a human being.
Some of it is about the human beings, but then it moves past that into the spiritual realm. His self-exaltation. It ruled his heart. And he lost his mind.
Well, that's what happened to Nebuchadnezzar. He was so filled with pride he went crazy. And God restored Nebuchadnezzar, but Satan's not getting restored. He was cast. out as a profane thing from the mountain of God.
Ezekiel 28. Verse 16. but he retains limited access. to the throne room of God. And the two places that quickly show up are, of course, Job chapter 1 and 2.
Where he is forced to report to God It's got to be humiliating for him. And it's informative to us. And then, when Jesus said to Peter, Satan has asked for you that he might sift you.
Well, he's still got access. And what's going to end? Just not yet.
Now it doesn't affect the believers that are in heaven. This seems to be limited as access To the throne room of God, I don't think he's poking around the cafeteria. I don't think there's a cafeteria in heaven. And any cafeteria on earth usually has an odd smell to it that's not very appealing, anyway. Anyway, uh this casting him out takes place midway through the Great Tribulation.
it enrages him. He's humiliated. He goes ballistic. And there's this surge in his activity to obliterate the Jewish people. and the converts to Christ on earth who aren't Jewish.
And the Jewish people, you can tell they're blessed by God.
Now you know who the Grim Reaper is. But the grim beeper was something God brought on the scene through the Jews. You know the story of the Hezbollah answering their beepers? And it was the Grim Beeper.
So, Yeah. This is the kind of stuff that infuriates Satan, and that's not going to make him win.
So we read: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. and the dragon and his angels fought.
Well This uh The he a the heavens the angels in heaven are going to be glad to see him no longer have access. But you notice that they're resisting, they're not cooperating.
Well, that's what evil does. doesn't mind crashing a party and it gets quite incensed when it's Evils are pointed out. How rude of you, Israel! to try to survive. How rude of you to Defeat your enemies.
Anyway, God granted to Michael uh the victory to uh dole out the beatdown on Satan and the fallen angels. And he's got the majority. A third of the angels fell.
So that means two-thirds are still right with heaven. And you know the story in 2 Kings when Elisha is surrounded by the Syrian army, and his servant is like, oh, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? And Isaiah says, you know, they're more with us than against us. And he prays to the Father or to God to open the eyes, 2 Kings 6, verse 16, do not fear for those who are with us or more than those who are with them.
And his eyes were opened when he prayed to God of the eyes of the servant, and he could see the chariots and that they had stronger numbers. He was a look into the spiritual warfare. That surrounds us. Even even at this very moment. There is spiritual warfare going on around us in our personal lives as a church.
And in the world. Previously, Michael restrained himself dealing with Satan over the body of Moses and said, The Lord deal with you. But now Michael's dealing with him and winning, incidentally. Another loss for Satan, and they stack up in Scripture. He was wrong about Job.
He was wrong about the Christ. He's defeated by Michael, and we're going to, in a little while, cover some of his defeats that are just in this chapter. Alone. And so the Lord turns Michael and archangel loose to evict. this dragon the great obstructionists of Creation.
Who never goes away easily. When James says, resist the devil and he shall flee, the implication is, continue to resist him. because he will come back again and he gets one lifetime to do this to us and no more. Satan's access to heaven again, in case you missed it. Has nothing to do with the believers in heaven.
He's not tempting them, he's not challenging them. And there are two falls recorded in Scripture of Satan to the earth. At the original rebellion in Isaiah 14:12, and then here the permanent. Uh eviction. This access To heaven shows him reporting to God.
He has to do these check-ins, like he has to do check-ins, hating God's great love for man and looking to sabotage anything God wants to do.
Well, that doesn't mean he gets to sabotage it. That's what the the one of the great beauties of prayer is. Is that it puts a shield around us, it protects us. Or else the church could never be successful, could never get anything done. We would be coward into paranoia.
Uh but that's not the case. We know what how He does business. We're not ignorant to His devices. And so we post centuries, we double the guard and we continue to serve the Lord. Bringing Satan up in the Bible, God's intention is not to terrorize us into inaction.
It is to make us wise to the countermeasures that we have to take. In verse 8, the story continues, again, this is history future. This has not yet happened.
So just to check on that. Verse 8. But they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
So they get the boot. They're kicked out. His access to the throne room of God is now revoked. It's mid-Trib tribulation when the third Jewish temple is built. Jesus, as I've been mentioning through this study in Revelation, that He warned the Jewish people through His teachings to the disciples.
That when you see the abomination of desolation that Daniel spoke of, then you better get out of. Israel and and many of them will. This is confirmed in verse 13.
Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to earth, He persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child, and that is Israel he's persecuting. We covered that last session in the first six verses of this chapter.
So the Jews will flee to the ancient lands of Moab, Amnon, and Edom for refuge. And uh another reminder that God and Satan are not equals. Satan is a created being. We just see Saul in this story. Michael put a beat down on him.
And there's another angel coming along, one of my favorite sections of scripture, and it should be yours too if it's mine. Revelation 20. Verses one through three, and I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. It's like, oh, you're going to get it now. And he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil, and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
And he cast He cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up. And set a seal over him. He's not this invincible being, but he is fierce. Verse 9: So the great dragon who was cast out, that serpent of old, and this is repeated in Revelation, so we don't have to guess. As to his identity, called the devil, which is The slanderer talks bad about people, lies.
And Satan Meaning the enemy? who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Uh this is the final rejection. And of course the evil forces of darkness Are engaged, they are resisting.
But there's nothing they can do about it. Except go on record as being defeated. Rejected, defeated, terminated. unwanted, beaten, cancelled. insulted, thrashed, doomed.
That's what's coming. For them. but their insanity of the insanity of of evil Won't let them do otherwise than what we are told in Scripture. The serpent of old called the devil, sly, deceitful, harmful, once Lucifer.
Now just insane.
So Scripture never portrays Satan as sovereign, because he's not. And the three defeats in this chapter, chapter twelve of Revelation, is his inability to snatch the child that came forth from the woman there in verse five, the child being Christ. The innocence paid for it, the innocence of the innocent children of Bethlehem, but. It couldn't get to the Christ. Then there's this eviction from heaven in verse 8.
That's the second defeat, just in this chapter. And then he will have make attempts in verses 15 and 16 to drown. The Jewish people who have sought refuge across Jordan and in the kingdom of Jordan, and he's going to fail in that too. He deceives the whole world.
Well You can't tell the world that. Unless the Their eyes are open to Christ. When John writes, the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one, they don't believe it. They accuse us of believing a myth, but it's them. They're the ones that believe in myths, things that aren't true.
And just because they don't believe in Zeus and Neptune doesn't mean they don't still believe in things that aren't true. They absolutely do invest themselves in the lies that come out of this hell. Uh you know When you are filled with the Spirit, you're very sensitive, you're very mindful of these things when you're moving around in the world. And I can tell you, ministry can take away some of that. Pastoral ministry can take some of that.
And I For one, I have to watch it. I remember before I became a pastor, I was very in tune with my neighbors and my surroundings as to why I'm here on earth. But after pastoring for several years, you just want to be a break. You're not pastoring. You're just like, I'm veggie out and going on my little world here.
And you got to catch that. And that can happen to anyone. I'm just sharing it from my perspective. It's nicer to Be sensitive. To these very things that God could open a door, And let you share them with somebody.
Be able to answer their questions about the devil and what's going on in life. You ever see somebody in Christ sensationalizing everything, trying to show you how much in the spirit they are? All they're doing is drawing attention from Jesus onto themselves. That's the kind of stunts that Satan pulls and gets away with it. It gets away with it on a large scale.
And if you go to a church and say, well, we want to try to not draw attention to ourselves, some Christians will classify you as being dead. That church is dead. Why? Because they're not showing off. Because they're trying to focus on the critical things.
Uh I if you in this church You can dance in this church if you have the Ark of the Covenant in front of you. That's the rule. Otherwise, go home and dance all you want. And if you're outside, just remember the satellites might pick you up.
So But you know, these things are foreign to many, and that's okay, but understand. Satan looks to interfere. Whether you are a student of the scripture or just a little, you know, emotional about. Things to a fault. He's still looking to bump you off.
Well, we come back to this. He was cast to the earth here in verse 9, and his angels were cast out with him. Again, good riddance to them And now comes The greatest period of spiritual warfare the world has ever known. And if you are a Gentile convert to Christ, you're going to die. And if you are Jewish, y uh you g and not one of the 144,000, you're going to have hardship.
A lot of hardship. This is what it's coming to. He's banished, he's doomed. He's expelled to the earth, verses 7 and 9. He's then put into the abyss, chapter 20, verses 1 through 3, as I read, and then finally he's cast into the lake of fire.
Created initially That lake of fire created initially for the devil and his angels. That's what Jesus said in Matthew 25:41. Hell wasn't made for people. It was made for Satan and the fallen angels. Which fell before man fell into sin there in the garden.
Verse 10, then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now, salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night. has been cast down.
Well, when he says he heard a loud voice in heaven and began to bellow out, now salvation is strength, that character, as with his colleagues, are delighted. At this next phase of Satan's demise, they are delighted that he's getting kicked out. They know it won't be long till he's put into the abyss. In fact, it'll be three and a half years before he's put into the abyss. And then in about a thousand years he'll be put into the lake of fire and that'll be it.
Well Continue. And anyway, the brethren of this one speaking is concerned with Satan's hatred, his accusations, and all the horror he's put. on the righteous over history, for the accuser of our brethren.
Well, he's he's not accusing those in heaven already. They're Salvation is sealed. It's those on earth that he's dealing with.
However, He's always done this. We have total record of this. the whole story with him in the Garden of Eden, him dealing with Job And him tempting Christ in the wilderness. He's always talking bad about somebody. and making his accusations, trying to lay guilt trips.
on us all the time, and many fall for that. Again, I make the joke.
Some people feel guilty for all the forest fires that have ever been. because they've been told only you can prevent forest fires. And as they're just so quick to pick guilt up. And you know, that it's that's not how God wants it to be. We are to rejoice in our faith.
So Don't be the Christian in the room. who in this way identifies with Satan and is an accuser of the brethren. There are many churchgoers. They can't wait to get to the parking lot before they start, criticizing the people, the pastor, anything they can. Don't be that guy in the room.
Uh Satan He has no need incidentally. to lie to God about us when He accuses us. Because we're sinners. But we're a step ahead of him. We know it.
And God is a step ahead of it all, he's made a way of escape. for the guilt that goes with it.
So it's this exercise That he is engaged in, we're not to be ignorant of, and we are. to fight back. through faith and adherence to the Scripture, And, you know, if it weren't for Satan, we wouldn't be in this mess. Just because he blew his relationship doesn't mean. We are obligated to blow ours with God because of Him.
Romans 8.33 Who shall bring charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies, and that's the cross of Christ. The cross of Christ speaks of God justifying the guilty who come to that cross. He says, Who accused them before God night and day? We won't shut up.
He's incessant, an incessant tattletale, but it's a serious stakes here. Um he's hard at work at doing what he does. you teens and adults too. As you go through these verse by verse teachings, If you're not familiar with the text beforehand, You have a higher chance of being bored and not keeping up. And so you're encouraged to be.
Students of the scripture. That's what a disciple. A disciple is a student. of Jesus Christ where you can You have to know the word to develop. as a student of Christ.
Uh This has been Cross Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston. This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand. Just visit us online at crossreference radio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings. While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube.
There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
Well, we hope you'll join us next time here on Cross Reference Radio. Hello. I didn't run up to the bottom of the city.
