Truth Matters 11 25 21: Good News or Bad?

This is Truth Matters Daily Devotion with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Truth Matters is a ministry of The Truth Project whose mission is to empower men and women in the Christian faith to teach biblical truth in the culture and the marketplace of ideas, using the Bible as a sacred trust of truth in sharing the message of Jesus. Learn more about the ministry of The Truth Project at www.projecttruthmatters.com. Now, Satan has been thrown out of heaven. That's good news, but also bad news if we, as saints of God, don't learn how to do our part.

Hello, I'm Dr. Cheryl Davis and you are listening to Truth Matters. As a slanderer and a tempter, Satan is active in many ways in the New Testament to cause the people of God to fail and to fall. And we see that throughout the Bible, but just a couple examples are Matthew chapter 4 where Satan tries to seduce Jesus in the wilderness. John 13 2 and Luke 22 3 where Satan betrays Jesus in Judas's mind. In Luke 22 verse 31 it made Peter fail in his leadership role. And Acts 5 verse 3, Satan persuaded Ananias and Sapphira to lie. And there are many more examples.

Those are just a few. But a key verse, as I said before, that Satan is cast down and he is thrown out of heaven. So there are three key things that happen when Satan is thrown out of heaven. So verses 10 through 12 we see a song that is sung in heaven when Satan is cast down. And here we see the praise of heaven.

I heard a loud voice. Many believe the loud voice is the song of the martyrs described in Revelation 6 verses 9 through 10. He is singing in praise of the fact that Satan has been cast down, no longer able to accuse the brethren in heaven. And really this is good news and bad news. Good news is that he's leaving heaven so the martyrs and those that are in heaven are praising God.

But the bad news is that he's coming to earth. And the martyrs are praising because Satan has been overcome. Remember they were the souls underneath the altar and that they gave their lives for Jesus Christ. In verse 11 they overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and not loving their lives more than they loved God. And we know by loving God more they gave their life. They were willing to give their lives and die for their faith in Christ. We must overcome the same way the martyrs do in the early church and during this time.

And we overcome three ways. The first way is by the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7 verse 14 pictures the martyrs coming out of the tribulation with robes made white in the blood of the Lamb. When Jesus died on the cross Satan's defeat was made legal on that day.

Meaning that Satan has no grounds in which to accuse the repentant faithful believer. We overcome also by the word of our testimony. Martyrs are killed because they would not keep quiet about their faith. Those who are bold enough and faithful enough to testify for Christ will overcome the devil. And the third way that we overcome is by loving God more than life itself. Christ died to overcome our greatest fear which is the fear of death. The promise of eternal life means little to one who would fight to keep hold of his earthly life.

Some of us may not be confronted with death but it may be that we lower our status or things or our profession or our jobs etc. But it may be that we love those more. More of our friends.

More than Christ. We love our relationships. We love our jobs. We love our status. Right. It may not be that we have to give our lives or we'll be faced with giving our lives at this time.

I think at some point we may. But at this point it's about that we love our idols more than we love Christ. You've been listening to Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Truth Matters is a ministry of The Truth Project, a North Carolina based ministry dedicated to teaching biblical truth and sound theology to those inside and outside of the church. If you'd like to listen to these messages on demand go to projecttruthmatters.com and click on the podcast link. Dr. Davis is also available to speak to your ministry group or church function. She can be reached by email at cheryldavisatprojecttruthmatters.com or if you'd like to send a letter the address is Project Truth Matters Post Office Box 159, St. Paul's, North Carolina 28384. You can hear Truth Matters weekdays on this radio station at 8 20 a.m. and 5 20 p.m. with a full length teaching program on Saturday afternoon at 12 30. Until next time let's all work together to teach a biblical truth to assist, equip, edify, and encourage one another and bring the gospel to the world because truth matters.