The Celebration PT-2 (Rev. 12:10-12)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/11/2015 10:13 AM

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus:  The Celebration PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Revelation 12:10-12

            Message of the verses:  “10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.   12 "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."”

            In verse eleven we see that the celebration had effects on earth as it mentions believers which are described by the word “overcomers” something we saw earlier from the 2^nd and 3^rd chapters of Revelation when we were looking at the seven churches.  The problem becomes more difficult for those who are on earth though as Satan and his demons will come to earth as seen in verse 12:  “Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."”  Let us look at Rev. 12:13-17 for a preview of this “13 And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. 17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

            Even though we see all of these terrible things happening on earth when Satan and his demons come to earth in the end they will be soundly defeated and put into the lake of fire, but while they are all on earth, the believers of Jesus Christ will have great trouble along with all of the Jews who may or may not be believers at this time.

            It is good to look at how the believers defeated Satan which is seen in verse eleven which I have highlighted above.  We can never defeat Satan on our own, as only Jesus Christ has done this through His birth, life, death and resurrection from the grave as defeated him.  Paul wrote the following to the believers in Corinth:  3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”

            John MacArthur writes “The apostle John gave the only basis for victory over Satan when he wrote, ‘You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).’  It is only through God’s power that any believer in any age can defeat Satan.  Accordingly, the Tribulation believers ‘overcame’ Satan first of all ‘because of the blood of the Lamb.’  Like their martyred brethren already in heaven, they ‘washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’ (Rev. 7:14).  ‘You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,’ wrote Peter ‘but with  precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ’ (1 Pet. 1:18-19).  These suffering believers knew the forgiveness that Paul wrote of in Romans 4:7-8 ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.’  The truth that ‘there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom. 8:1) applied to them.  No accusation against the suffering saints of the Great Tribulation will stand, just as no accusation against any believer in any age will stand, because the Lamb’s blood was shed for all their sins.  The first and most important key to defeating Satan’s assaults is to ‘take the helmet of salvation (Eph. 6:17; cf. 1 Thess. 5:8).  The unshakeable foundation of all spiritual victory is Christ’s purchase of redemption at Calvary.”

            Now we look at a second way that these Tribulation saints overcame Satan’s assaults and that was “and because of the word of their testimony.”  These Tribulation saints were similar to what Job went through as Job did not give up, and they will not give up either, for God will give them the strength they need to even die for the cause of Christ, and that is the last way that they defeated Satan “and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”  Many of the Tribulation saints will die for the cause of Christ for when you look at all of the people that will be killed during the Tribulation period only one out of four will be left alive at the end and some of those that are still alive will go into the lake of fire when Christ returns and separates the sheep from the goats as seen in “Mt 25:32  "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;  Mt 25:33  and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.”

            Now we will look at the last portion of these verses:  “"For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."”  What we see here is a joyous note followed by a sobering warning “Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."”  John MacArthur writes “Thumos (wrath) refers to a violent outburst of rage.  The word depicts a turbulent, emotional fury rather than a rational anger.  John Phillips wrote, ‘Satan is now like a caged lion, enraged beyond words by the limitations now placed upon his freedom.  He picks himself up from the dust of the earth, shakes his fist at the sky, and glares around, choking with fury for ways to vent his hatred and his spite upon humankind’ (Exploring Revelation).” His rage is all the more violent because as the text says “that he has only a short time."”    We know that he only has three and a half years for this is the time when antichrist reigns over the earth “There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him (Rev. 13:5).”

We conclude with the words of Martin Luther’s hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God:    

The Prince of Darkness grim,

We tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure,

For lo, his doom is sure;

One little word shall fell him.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  We are living in a world that is growing increasingly darker and darker.  John 3:36 says “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."”  John is saying that there are only two kinds of people on planet earth, those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and those who do not.  As the world grows increasingly darker the ones that do not believe in Jesus Christ are going to be more and more against those who do.  In the past we have seen that this separation of believers and those who are not do not always fight against each other, but now it seems that all around the world there is becoming less tolerance for those who name the name of Jesus Christ and because of this believers need to learn what we have been writing about in this section, knowing that one day the ‘ruler of this world’ will be put in the lake of fire.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Being very thankful for the fact that my 97 year old father-in-law got through his surgery yesterday, and also for my three year old grandson who is on the mend after breaking two bones in his arm.  God is good.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Give Caesar what belongs to him and give God what belongs to Him” (Matthew 22:15-22).”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times’?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/11/2015 11:07 AM

           

           

The Celebration in Heaven PT-1 (Rev. 12:10-12)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/10/2015 9:53 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  The Celebration in Heaven PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Revelation 12:10-12

            Message of the verses:  “10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.  12 "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."”

            When we read about this celebration we can understand why those who are in heaven will be rejoicing because of the removal of Satan and his demons from heaven.  There will be no more accusing of people in heaven by Satan and also there will be no more sinfulness in heaven due to Satan and his angels being there.

            The celebration begins with a “loud voice from heaven” but who this comes from is not revealed.  John MacArthur states that this is a collective voice as we see the word “our” which indicates that this comes from more than one person.  Perhaps this comes from those who have been redeemed and are not in heaven.  The first thing that these redeemed saints proclaim is that “the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come.”  MacArthur writes “Salvation is to be understood in its broadest sense.  It encompasses not on the redemption of individual believers, but also the deliverance of all creation from the ravages of sin’s curse and the power of Satan (cf. Rom 8:19-22).  ‘Power’ speaks of God’s omnipotence, His triumphant, sovereign power that crushes all opposition and will establish His ‘kingdom’ (cf.11:15).  They rejoice further that the ‘authority of…Christ has come (cf. 11:15).”  Now we can see some of the things that are happening in this section from the second Psalm, a Psalm that is a Messianic Psalm.  “’Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession Psalm 2:8).”  We have mentioned that when we read prophecies like this one that in the mind of God they have already happened, and even though this event that we are reading about in Revelation 12 have not yet happened during the Tribulation Period the people in heaven treat it as if it has already happened, for in a short time it will come about as we will see as we continue to study the book of Revelation.  Satan has not yet been thrown into the lake of fire along with his demons and the antichrist, and also the false prophet, but as we read this section we can see that the celebration shows that these things are about to happen. 

            This event has been predicted in the pages of Scripture for a long time and when it comes to past Jesus Christ will receive His kingdom on earth.  Think about what is known as the “Lord’s Prayer,” and one of the phrases is “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.”  In that phrase is the prayer that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ will come and it is seen in this section as happening.  This happens because of what has happened to Satan who is “the accuser of our brethren and has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”  As mentioned Satan accuses the brethren all of the time in heaven, but to no avail for all who have been truly born again have been washed in the blood of the Lord and have been forgiven of all of their sins.  We see an example of this accusation that goes on in heaven from the book of Job, and this is just a preview of what went and continues to go on in heaven, but once Satan is thrown out of heaven this stops and the saints are looking forward to when Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire and Christ’s kingdom will be the only kingdom on earth.  We will continue this section in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What is seen here is something that I can celebrate even at this time for as stated this will happen.  One of the pieces of Spiritual that I put on is the helmet of Salvation, and in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians he calls it “the helmet of the hope of salvation,” speaking of the return of Jesus Christ to the earth.  This is our hope as believers, and I look forward to it and think about it most every day.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To trust the Lord with all of the difficult situations that are going on in the life of my family at this time, trusting the Lord to work it out for our good and for His glory.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Sufferings” (Hebrews 2:10).

Today’s Bible question:  “How did Jesus answer those who asked if it was right for them to pay taxes to Cesar?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/10/2015 10:23 AM

The Victory (Rev. 12:9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/9/2015 11:04 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  The Victory

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 12:9

            Message of the verses:  “9  And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

            In my Spiritual Diary from 08-08-05 I wrote the following and in it you can see that there is a different reason for the beginning of this war in heaven: “These verses speak of a war in heaven between Michael and his angel’s waged war against Satan.  It may seem strange that Satan still has access in heaven, but he does as can be seen in the book of Job.  Satan is the accuser of the brethren and according to verse nine he also deceives the nations and the whole world.  One of the ways he deceives the nations is to making them think that believers are dangerous, deluded, and destructive, and the makings of this can surely be seen in this country even today.  At this point in the tribulation period Satan will be thrown out of heaven and not allowed to return there to accuse the brethren again.  Dr. Wiersbe states that the reason that Satan is kicked out of heaven at this time is because he becomes so angry after accusing the brethren at the judgment seat of Christ because the Church will be found not guilty to all of his accusations.  After this the war will begin and Satan will be kicked out.”

            We see once again that Satan is thrown out of heaven onto the earth and we looked at the first time this happened from what Isaiah wrote in 14:12 “"How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!”  Luke 10:18 also speaks of this when Jesus said “"I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.”  We see the term “great” in reference to Satan and that is because of his great power that he uses to inflict harm and to bring about disasters.  MacArthur writes “Earlier, he was described as having seven heads, seven crowns, and ten horns.  That description pictures Satan as the ruler of the world.”

            In this verse we see that Satan is also called the “devil” “Diabolos (devil) means ‘slander,’ ‘defamer,’ or ‘false accuser’—a fitting title for Satan, the ultimate false accuser (cf. v. 10).  He accuses men to God, God to men, and men to other men.  Satan is a malicious prosecutor of God’s people, constantly trying to arraign them before the bar of God’s holy justice” writes John MacArthur.  Even though he accuses believers before God we can read that this will do no good “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” writes Paul in Romans 8:1.  Paul goes on to write in Romans 8:31-34 “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”

            The Hebrew word for Satan means “adversary,” and this is a fitting name for him, but the shame of it all is that he was created as the most beautiful creature that God created, but as we learn from Ezekiel it was his beauty that caused him to become proud as Isaiah writes of and thus he sinned before God and fell.

            Next we see that the dragon is described as the one “who deceives the whole world.”  MacArthur says “Deceives translates the present participle of the very planao (‘to lead astray’, to mislead,’ or ‘to deceive’).  The use of the present tense indicates that this is Satan’s habitual, continual activity; as he constantly accuses believers, so also he ‘deceives the whole world.  Beginning with the Fall, Satan has duped the human race throughout its history.  He is, warned Jesus, ‘a liar and the father of lies’ (John 8:44).  Satan lures people to their destruction by causing them to pay ‘attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons’ (1 Tim. 4:1).  He seduces people to believe him and not God—to believe he tells the truth and God lies (cf. Gen. 3:4).”

            All of this deception and trickery will come to the highest point in the Tribulation Period for it is that time when Satan will have his man, the antichrist, ruling the world, along with the false prophet making up what has been called the unholy trinity.  One of the reasons for all of this to happen is because before the beginning of the Tribulation Period the Rapture will take all true believers out of the world, and another reason is that Satan and all of his demons will be thrown out of heaven and they all will be on the earth.  We have to believe that all of this is in the plan of God so that as we have said many times earlier that planet earth will return to complete control of God as Satan and all unbelievers will be thrown into the abyss at the end of the Tribulation Period and Christ will rule from His throne in Jerusalem and Israel will receive their promised kingdom.

            MacArthur concludes by writing “As they were cast out of heaven with Satan at his original rebellion (12:4), so also will his angels be thrown down with him after his final expulsion from heaven.  The arrival of the excommunicated demon host (and their evil commander) on earth will add immeasurably to the horror of the Tribulation.  They will join the innumerable demons already roaming the earth, the lately arrived demons belched forth from the abyss (9:1-3), and two hundred million other formerly bound demons (9:13-16) to create an unimaginable holocaust of evil.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “’Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth (Rev. 3:10.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to pursue living in the love of the Lord.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “A tiller of the ground” (Gen. 4:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “To what was the captain of our salvation made perfect?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/9/2015 11:42 AM

The Battle PT-3 (Rev. 12:7-8)

 

SPIRITAL DIARY FOR 6/8/2015 10:19 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                     Focus:  The Battle PT-3

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Revelation 12:7-8

            Message of the verses:  “7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.”

            We see in verse seven these words:  “The dragon and his angels waged war,” and what this shows us the truth of what Jesus said in Matthew 25:41 “"Then He will also say to those on His left, ’Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.”  There is a spiritual warfare going on and Satan is the head of those fallen angels and once they fell God prepared a place for them which we know as hell, but it will not only be occupied by them, but also those who do not believe that Jesus is the Christ and the only way for salvation. 

            We see the term “waging war,” and then we see “waged war,” and MacArthur says that this “emphasizes the force and fury of the battle; this will be no minor skirmish, but an all-out battle.  Satan will fight desperately to prevent Christ from establishing His millennial kingdom (just as he opposed Israel’s restoration from captivity and was rebuked for it; Zech. 3:2).  Thus, the supernatural war will reach a crescendo as the time for Christ to establish His earthly and eternal kingdom draws near.”

            God has won every battle fought against Satan and will win this one too as we read “they were not strong enough.”  Michael and his holy angels will win this battle and then Satan will not be allowed to be in heaven as he has had access in the past.  All of heaven will be searched and made sure that all of Satan’s demons are out, never to return and as he has to then go to the earth what we read in Ephesians 2:2 will end for Satan, for he will no longer be “the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2).”

            The cleansing of heaven will bring terror to the earth for Satan and his demons will have to come to earth and this causes him to be angry and so at this time he will come after the children of Israel, and also those who have come to know Christ as their Savior.  Revelation 12:12 says “"For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."”  John MacArthur writes “At exactly what point in the Tribulation Satan and the demons will be evicted from heaven is not revealed, nor is the duration of their battle with Michael and the holy angels.  All that can be said with certainty is that Satan and the demos will be case out of heaven, possibly at the Rapture, but no later than the midpoint of the Tribulation.  Verse 12 says that Satan and his forces have only a ‘short time’ after they leave heaven, supporting the view that they will have only the last three and a half years of the Tribulation to operate, rather than the full seven years.  They will not arrive on earth later than that, since they clearly are present during the terrible events of the last here and a half years, the Great Tribulation (cf. 9:1ff.).  During that last period, Satan’s full power will be directed at anyone belonging to God, especially Israel.”

            Well after all is said and one from the subject of what we have called the “battle” I am not sure when this will happen, and whether or not it will happen during the Rapture or at the mid-point of the Tribulation.  If I had to guess I would lean towards the mid-point of the Tribulation for that is when times on earth will be as bad as they have ever been or ever will be.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As we read and study the book of Revelation we cannot be sure as to the timetable of many of the things we find in it but one thing is sure and that is all the judgments that we are learning about will happen and the outcome will be that there will be a new heaven and a new earth and the awfulness of sin will once and for all be done with thanks to what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live in and to trust the love that the Lord has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Habakkuk.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What was Cain’s occupation?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/8/2015 10:50 AM

The Battle PT-2 (Rev. 12:7-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/7/2015 3:05 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                     Focus:  The Battle PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Revelation 12:7-8

            Message of the verses:  “7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.”

            Now we know that Revelation 12:7-8 speak of a battle, but we don’t know, at least the Bible does not tells us the reason for this battle, and as mentioned MacArthur has a theory that I have listened to from his sermon on why this battle takes place and that is what we will be looking at in this SD.’   

            John MacArthur writes “While it is impossible to be dogmatic, this ultimate battle may be triggered by the Rapture of the church.  Describing that event the apostle Paul wrote, ‘For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord’ (1Thess. 4:16-17).  Possibly, as the raptured believers pass through their realm, the prince of the power of the air and his demon hosts will try to hinder their passage.  That may trigger the battle with Michel and the holy angels.”

            We have seen Michael in action before when we looked at Daniel chapter ten where in answer to Daniel’s prayer a holy angel was sent to give Daniel an answer but was held up by a powerful demon who is said to be in control of the Persian Empire.  Michael had to rescue this angel as he was their fighting for three weeks.  We learn from this incident and others that Michael is seen in Scripture as the defender of God’s people against satanic destruction.  Let us look at Daniel 12:1 “"Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.”  This verse is speaking of the Tribulation Period, but in it we see Michael’s job as he “stands guard over the sons of you people.”  We have also mentioned Jude 9, but will look at it again:  “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"”  It was very important that no one find out where Moses was buried for if his body had been found there may have been many who wanted to worship it, so the Lord sent Michael to make sure this did not happen.  Now in this passage we see that Michael is described as an archangel and we also saw this term in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 where we read “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel.”  MacArthur writes “It is possible that the archangel in that passage is Michael and that he is shouting as he confronts Satan’s attempt to interfere with the Rapture.”  When one thinks about how the Rapture happens as described in Scripture it is not impossible to believe that all of the saints who are to be raptured may need some kind of protection for after all we are going to be going through the “air” which we have already learned is the domain of Satan and his demons. 

            We will try and finish this section in our next SD as it is Sunday and time to me is different on Sunday with the going to church and other things to do.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for the safety that God provides to me from Satan and his demon hosts, knowing that God is all powerful gives me comfort.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to make every effort to live in the love of Christ.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Daniel” (Daniel 2:27-29).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which prophet announced the downfall of Babylon after Judah had been overthrown by the Chaldeans?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/7/2015 3:34 PM

 

The Battle (Rev. 12:7-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/6/2015 10:06 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                             Focus:  The Battle

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                   Reference:  Rev. 12:7-8

            Message of the verses:  “7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.”

            Let’s begin with a few verses that show to us that there has been war in heaven since the fall of Satan:  Isaiah 14:12-14 “12 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! 13 “But you said in your heart, ’I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 ’I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”  “11 Again the word of the LORD came to me saying, 12  "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ’Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. 14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 “You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. 16 “By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire. 17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you. 18 “By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you. 19 “All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified And you will cease to be forever."’"”

            We looked yesterday at the fact that Satan still has access to God in heaven, but his real domain is the earth and the air around the earth.  “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4).”  “in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:2).”  “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12).”

            Satan and his angels have tried to actively oppose the holy angels along with the people of the earth.  There is a very interesting portion of Scripture in the book of Daniel chapter 10:12-13 that speaks of how Satan’s angel’s opposed God’s holy angels:  “12 Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. 13  "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.”  These two verses speak of a number of things including the unseen battles that go on in the air above the earth, and it also shows that there are demons who, spiritually speaking, are over different countries of the world.  We mentioned that battles between holy and unholy angels earlier and sited Jude 1:9  “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”  The following verses speak of what Satan is doing in our present age:  1 Pet. 5:8; Matt. 13:19, 37-39; Acts 13:10; Luke 13:10-16; Acts 10:38; Acts 5:1-11; 2 Cor. 2:11; Eph. 4:27; and James 4:7 which tells us to resist the devil and he will flee.

            The above paragraphs speak of what is and what has been going on in battles around the earth and also in heaven, but there will come a climax to these battles in the verses that we are looking at in today’s SD.  John MacArthur writes “The war raging between supernatural beings in the heavenly sphere will reach its peak during the Tribulation.  The future conflict will find ‘Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon.’  The grammatical construction of that phrase in the Greek text indicates that Satan (the dragon) will start this battle.  It could be translated ‘Michael and his angels had to fight the dragon.’  The Bible does not reveal how angels fight, nor does our limited knowledge of the heavenly realm permit us to speculate.  Henry Morris wrote:  ‘With what weapons and by what tactics this heavenly warfare will be waged is beyond our understanding.  Angels cannot be injured or slain with earthly weapons, and such physical forces as we know about are not able to move spiritual beings.  But these beings do operate in a physical universe, so there must exist powerful physic-spiritual energies of which we yet can have only vague intimations, energies which can propel angelic bodies at superlumianary velocities through space and which can move mountains and change planetary orbits.  It is with such energies and powers that this heavenly battle will be waged and the spectators in heaven (including John) will watch in awe.  When Michael finally prevails, and Satan is forced forever out of the heavens, a tremendous cry of thanksgiving will resound through the heavens.’”

            I mentioned in yesterday’s SD that I learned a theory that John MacArthur has to show why this battle will be fought, and we will look at that in our next SD as we continue to look at the battle which is described in Revelation 12:7-8.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Knowing more about the battles that are going on around the earth by demons and angels is something that perhaps we will get a better idea of after we leave this earth and go to heaven.  But now it is good to realize that this happens and that in the end the holy angels will be victorious because of Who side they are on.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to be a light in this ever darkening world that we are living in.  The darker the world the brighter the light can shine.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Egypt” (Mark. 2:13-14).

Who interpreted a famous dream for King Nebuchadnezzar?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/6/2015 10:48 AM

  

Introduction to the War of the Ages: War in Heaven (Revelation 12:7-12)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/5/2015 8:46 AM

My Worship Time                           Focus:  Introduction to the War of the Ages:  War in Heaven

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                        Reference:  Revelation 12:7-12

            Message of the verses:  “7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.  12 "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time."”

            As we begin this introduction on these six verses we need to be aware of a few things about Satan.  John MacArthur quotes C. S. Lewis from his book The Screwtape Letters where Lewis writes “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils.  One is to disbelieve in their existence.  The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.  They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”  This of course is also true of the leader of these demons, and that is Satan. 

            John MacArthur writes about something else that perhaps confuses people:  “One of the most pervasive and persistent popular myths about Satan pictures him (complete with pitchfork, horns, and tail) as being in charge of hell. In reality, Satan is not in hell; in fact; he has never been there.  He will not be sentenced to the lake of fire until after his final rebellion is crushed at the end of the Millennium (20:7-10).  And when he does enter hell, Satan will not be in charge; he will be the lowest inmate there, the one undergoing the most horrible punishment ever inflicted on any created being.”  Since we now see that Satan is not in hell where is he?  Well this section of Scripture tells us that he has access to heaven, but then there is a great war in heaven so that he and his demons are kicked out and that is what we will be looking at as we study this section. 

            Let’s look at some verses that talk about where Satan is at this time in human history.  First we will look at 1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  Let us now look at some verses from the book of Job:  “6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it."”  We see here that Satan has access both to heaven and to earth.  It was a long time ago while listening to a Pastor speak that he said that it was because of Satan’s access to heaven that this was one of the reasons that God would make a new heaven, and a new earth, and also a New Jerusalem.  The reason is because of the sinfulness of Satan contaminating heaven and earth.

            Satan, having access in heaven is said to be accusing the brethren and this is why Jesus Christ in our advocate in heaven. Since Jesus Christ has paid for all of our sins then there is little reason for Satan to do this, but he does continue to accuse the brethren.  I want at this time to quote something that I read in a book written by Warren Wiersbe entitled “The Strategy of Satan.”  “It is important that we learn to distinguish between Satan’s accusations and the Spirit’s conviction.  A feeling of guilt and shame is a good thing if it comes from the Spirit of God.  If we listen to the devil, it will only lead to regret and remorse and defeat.  When the Spirit of God convicts you, he uses the Word of God in love and seeks to bring you back into fellowship with your Father.  When Satan accuses you, he uses your own sins in a hateful way, and he seeks to make you feel helpless and hopeless.  Satan wants you to feel guilty.  He wants you to experience regret and remorse, but not repentance.”

John MacArthur writes the following about what Satan could do if he were able to do, and one of the points he makes he is completely brand new to me and we will speak of it a bit later on in more detail.  “Satan’s battle plan for the earthly phase of the war of the ages is brutally simple:  to eliminate all those who serve God.  If he could, he would kill them all.  If not that, he would destroy their faith, if that were possible.  Were he able to rid the earth of all those who serve God, the devil would achieve his goal of unifying the entire world under his rule.  It may be noted at this point that such a reality will occur when the believers on earth are raptured to heaven (John 14:1-6; 1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).  The Rapture will be followed by the Tribulation, in which Satan does gain the fullest rule of the planet he will ever have (13:4-10).  Satan longs to be permanently what he is only temporarily, the god of an unrighteous world (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4), and to be worshiped by everyone (cf. Mat. 4:9).  To achieve those goals, Satan desperately wants to prevent the Lord Jesus Christ from establishing His kingdom—both now spiritually in the hearts of men and in its future millennial and eternal forms.”

We know that his plans will not succeed for Jesus said in John 12:31 “"Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.’”  Now I mentioned in an earlier SD that it is difficult for me to understand what Jesus said in John 12:31 as I see all of the evil still going on upon the earth.  MacArthur answers this problem:  “Though Satan was defeated at the Cross, his sentence has not yet been fully carried out.  And though he understands his destiny as revealed in Scripture, Satan nevertheless relentlessly continue to fight his losing battle against God.  Thus, the war of the ages will continue until Satan is incarcerated temporarily in the abyss (20:1-3) and then permanently in hell (20:10).”

What we will see in this passage is the long supernatural war of Satan against God reach its climax. Now remember we are still looking at the sounding of the seventh trumpet as seen in 11:5-17 and this will anticipate Christ’s triumph over Satan even though the final battle does not take place until we reach the end of the Tribulation Period described in Revelation 19:11-21.  When we reach the 15^th chapter we will see the effects of the seventh trumpet are sounding.  Chapter 15 only has eight verses in it but is a very important chapter.   

MacArthur concludes his introduction by going back to what we just learned in verses 1-6 and then looks ahead to what we will learn in this chapter where he writes.  “Verses 7-12, which describe the war in heaven, may be divided into three sections:  the battle, the victory, and the celebration.”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is good to know what will happen in the future as the Bible makes this perfectly clear, but it is hard to be patient and wait for the good things to happen like the Rapture of the Church, something I am looking forward to as all believers should be.   

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To trust the Lord for His plans for what will go on with my father-in-law next Wednesday that His perfect will, will be accomplished.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jesus” (Luke 17:19).

Today’s Bible question:  “To what country did Joseph flee with Mary and the baby Jesus?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/5/2015 9:52 AM