The Dragon's Heavenly Defeat

I ask that you turn with me this morning to Romans 12. Romans 12, once again, you recall that last week we considered the first third of the chapter. Today, the second third, the middle section, and the Lord willing, next Sunday morning, the last section of this chapter. Romans chapter 12. Let's read the entire chapter so we maintain the context here as well. A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven. A woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven. An enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his head. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that He might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to His throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down. That ancient serpent called the devil or Satan who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers who accuses them before our God day and night has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring, those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in connection with the first section of this chapter, we considered together last week, you recall, the true picture of Christ's birth. And that true picture is that there was a battle for His birth. You recall that Satan's goal was to prevent the birth of the Savior for reasons that really should not be surprising to us. And as we also notice, a review of Old Testament church history reveals that ever since God's announcement in the Garden of Eden that the woman's seed would crush the head of the serpent's seed, the dragon was constantly standing before the woman, figuratively speaking, to devour her child. The enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent has always been alive. That's what this chapter of Scripture shows us. We also know from last week that Revelation 12 speaks about the church. This woman symbolizes the church. And before the birth of the child, we said she is the Old Testament church. And after his birth, she is the New Testament church. And what is revealed about the church in this chapter is her struggle of the ages, both old and new. The text for this morning, verses 7-12, just like verses 1-6, talks about a battle. It's not a battle merely for power or position, but it is a battle for eternity. And with this text before us this morning, as we consider the church's struggle of the ages, we notice the dragon's heavenly defeat. And the Lord willing, next week, in connection with verses 13 through 17, we will consider the dragon's earthly revenge. But this morning, in connection with the dragon's heavenly defeat, we want to notice these things. First of all, the participation, I'm sorry, the participants of the spiritual battle. Secondly, the real objects of attack. And then finally, the justifiable outcome. Now again, you recall, as we said last week, that the book of Revelation is rich in symbolic language. We saw that with the first six verses. Verses 13 through 17 are the same. But now this text, verses 7 through 12, is talking about a literal battle. It was a spiritual battle, to be sure, not something that could be seen by the eyes of men, yet it was very real, taking place in heaven. Verse 7 says, When there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. And we are to understand that the dragon, the devil, Satan, was making war against Michael for what we hope to see in our second point, what he believed rightfully belonged to him. Now this war in heaven was a spiritual war between spiritual forces, between the forces of good and evil. And on the side of good, the text speaks of Michael. Who is he? Daniel's prophecy speaks of Michael a couple of times. And in chapter 12, verse 1, we read, At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. Jude, verse 9, says, Yet Michael, the archangel, in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke you. Scripture describes Michael as one of God's chief angels. He is great and powerful, the prince among the angels. As well, he is described as the leader and the defender of God's people. He stands for the people of God and in their defense in a time of great trouble when they are in great danger. He is the guardian of God's people, appointed by God to fight against the devil and to lead his holy angels against the devil's demons. And the fact that Michael is involved here points to another fact, and that is that God's people are involved. When Michael is involved, God's people are involved. And Michael's opponent is that most powerful bloodthirsty and fierce monster dragon which has terrible hatred in his heart for the woman's male child. We know who that is, don't we? Again, verse 9 gives a full description of him. The great dragon was hurled down, that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth and his angels with him. What a full, complete description. The dragon is the one who is strong, crafty and ugly. As the ancient serpent, we are reminded that he is cunning and deceptive. Devil means that he is the slanderer. He slanders God and God's people and their cause. Satan means adversary or false accuser. You see, he is anti-God, he is anti-God's Christ, and he is anti-God's people. And he deceives the whole world, the text says. How? Through that lie that says that the way of obedience makes men like God. And that blessing and glory can be achieved, can be gained through opposition and rebellion against God. Between these two forces, Michael and his angels, and the devil and his angels, there was a war in heaven. Now when was this war? When did it take place? Well, I submit to you that the time of this war runs parallel to, alongside of, the dragon's opposition to this woman as we considered it last week. And I believe that the text itself proves this. Now some say that this war took place at the very dawn of history when Satan first fell from his place as a glorious angel. And therefore, it was before he entered paradise to tempt Adam and Eve. But verse 10 talks about the salvation of our Lord's appearing. And it talks about Satan being the accuser of our brothers. And brothers, as we hope to see, is talking about the saved in Christ. And therefore, at the time of this battle, there were already those who were saved in Christ, as the text says, who fight through the blood of the Lamb, and who overcome, and who have not loved their lives so much as to shrink from death. But already, also, the devil already appears as the accuser who accuses the brothers before the face of God. I believe these things prove that the time of this war was not pre-Garden of Eden. But it is also not talking about the end of time. And we know this because the text says that the devil is thrown down to earth, and as verses 13 through 17 point out, the woman and her seed still remain. Running, as it were, from the dragon. And therefore, congregation, this battle is fought all throughout the Old Dispensation, all throughout the time of the Old Testament. You see, we pointed out last week that ever since God placed enmity between the woman and the serpent, that this dragon has symbolically stood before the woman waiting to devour her child. He has continued to try time and time again to cut off the line leading to Christ. And at the same time that the devil waits for the child to be born to devour him, at the very same time, he is waging war against Michael and the holy angels. Remember, Scripture points to the fact that the devil continued to have access to heaven even after his original fall. Something we can't understand, something that is indeed a mystery to us, but that's what Scripture teaches. Job 1, verse 6 says, Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And as we were reminded a few weeks ago with regard to Zechariah 3, Joshua, the high priest, standing before God, dressed in dirty garments, and Satan standing there to accuse Him. And then in John chapter 12, as Jesus predicts His death, as He looks forward to His death, He says in connection with His death, in verse 31, now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. We said that when verse 5 says, and her child was snatched up to God and to His throne, it's talking about Christ's resurrection and ascension, His coronation and rule. In other words, His exaltation. And this text this morning now lays before us the effect of Christ's exaltation against the devil and his fallen angels. But we must also notice the real objects of attack. This is necessary for us in order to understand the beauty of the dragon's defeat. We cannot truly understand that beauty unless we understand the objects of his attack. The objective of the devil in this war was not first of all to bring Michael and his angel army down. We said a few moments ago that when Michael is involved, then God's people must be involved. And true to Scripture's identification of Michael, he is there defending and fighting for the people of God. The object of Satan's wrath and attack are believers. The brothers. Verse 10, again, describes the devil as the accuser of the brothers. But then the question that we must naturally ask and answer is, which brothers? Well, since this battle coincides, runs parallel with the dragon's opposition to the woman, before the birth of the male child, the brothers referred to are the saints of the Old Testament. To be more specific, those who have already entered into glory, been delivered from this earth. Beloved, I believe that this battle was for the souls of those who entered glory before the suffering and exaltation of Christ. Yes, the Old Testament believers at death went to heaven into the presence of God. How? Based on the sure and certain promise of the Messiah. The promise of the Messiah. We know that throughout the period of the Old Testament, Christ had not yet come in. Historically speaking, and I want you to think in those terms, I'm going to push that hard, historically speaking, think in terms of the history of Revelation in time. Historically speaking, the debt of the sinner had not yet been paid. Oh, symbolically, through the blood of bulls and goats and pigeons and lambs, the sin of the Old Testament saints had been covered before the sight of God until Christ came. And at death, though, the sins of Abel and Enoch and Noah, the patriarchs, the prophets, and all believers during that time had not yet been officially atoned for. And therefore, beloved, historically speaking, they died in sin. In history. Jesus Christ had not yet crushed the serpent's head and had not yet been exalted to His position of dominion. And as far as the time frame of history goes, the devil will still control the nations of the earth and the whole world lay at His feet because of the sins of man. And yet, God's divine counsel and will had been decreed and had already been established of what Jesus Christ would do for His people. And therefore, since God's counsel is absolutely true and pure and unchangeable and God is not bound to time limits like you and I, the believers of the Old Testament didn't have to wait for their salvation. They didn't have to wait for heaven until all was actually historically finished. Because God had justified them based on His decree of the promise of the Messiah from all eternity, they entered into glory before the Savior had actually come and paid for their sins. But Satan didn't consider nor did he understand the divine counsel of God and therefore he fought against it. Now don't forget, this was a real spiritual war. And that means that swords and bayonets and cannons and guns were not used, boys and girls. That means that there were not any physically wounded or dead lying around on the battlefield. Instead, spiritual weapons were used. And these spiritual weapons include the weapons of intelligence and shrewdness and subtlety, but also the weapons of the law and righteousness. You and I as believers enjoy spiritual weapons even today, don't we? Paul speaks of them in Ephesians 6, the armor of God, as we are called to wear the belt of truth versus the lie. And also to wear the breastplate of righteousness versus unrighteousness. Our feet are to be fitted with the gospel of peace versus discord. We are to take up the shield of faith in our hand versus the darts of doubt. We ought to wear the helmet of salvation versus death and destruction. And the sword of the Spirit, the very Word of God, is to be taken up in our hand versus the lie and deception and slander. Satan's plan of attack was that of accusation. And therefore through deception he causes the disobedience of man falling away from the Lord and therefore he figured that he had a righteous claim against all the sinners who had entered into glory before Christ came. The text says in verse 10 that He accuses them before our God day and night. What is His accusation? Well, He knew full well what God's righteous requirement was and is. And knowing that all of mankind is sinful, therefore before the male child was born and exalted the devil's claim was that the brothers deserved to go to hell because their sins had not yet been atoned for. His accusation was that they had sinned against the Almighty and according to God's own just sentence, just as You said, O Lord, they were condemned to hell. His claim was that these sinners belonged to Him. He wants their souls. Just as he wanted Job's. Oh, leave him to himself, Satan says. And he will fall. But even though these brothers, these believers, lived and died according to the promise, as Hebrews 11 says, even though, as the text says, they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death, which means that they were not attached to this life more than their attachment to God, and instead they endured shame and mockery and persecution from the world in the old dispensation. Since their sins had not been atoned for, Satan claimed them for his own. They are mine, he says. And do you know what? Apart from the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ, he's right. And that goes for each and every one of us. Satan's accusation against you and me is correct apart from the work of the Savior. However, as we said earlier, already for the believers in the Old Testament, Christ's work was as good as completed. It was a done deal. Why? Because of the Word of God. And it's for that reason that God guards these souls through His servant Michael. Yet this particular war, battle, that we read about here came to an end. When? When Christ secured salvation for His people. And therefore, we may consider in the final place the justifiable outcome. At His exaltation, Christ's victory became clear also to the devil and his demons. And the loud voice from heaven in verse 10 explains this when it says, Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ. In other words, Jesus Christ has perfectly satisfied for the sins of His people. He has satisfied God's justice and He has endured the eternal judgment of God. And that loud voice symbolizes the truth which means that Satan has lost every excuse of justice for his accusations against believers of all ages. He doesn't have a leg to stand on anymore. And what's more, he has been disbarred from the courtroom of heaven. He can no longer go at will to accuse God's people before the throne of grace. To be sure, he still accuses. And now to our consciences. But you see, beloved, he can no longer point to the unaccomplished work of the Savior. Because all has been accomplished. Paul says in Colossians 2, verse 15 of Christ, having disarmed the principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. You see, Satan no longer has any justification for his accusations against believers, because believers are justified in the sight of God for the sake of the blood of Christ. And as the text says in verse 8, they lost their place in heaven. And therefore, as verse 9 says, the great dragon was hurled down to the earth, and his angels with him. This means that he was utterly and finally defeated in heaven. He cannot fight the battle for the church triumphant anymore, those who have been rescued from this life and already entered glory. He cannot fight for them because, as verse 11 says, they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. The brothers have been justified by the blood of the Lamb, they like believers today and since Christ came have been saved by grace through faith and their faith in the promise of the Messiah proved genuine by their perseverance even unto death and therefore is it any wonder as the text says that the world that the heavens and those who dwell therein are called to rejoice this is talking about those who dwell in the presence of God eternally the church triumphant you see has great reason to rejoice because Satan has been forever banished from heaven because Christ is victorious yet the devil has not yet been banished into the eternal lake of fire and as we hope to consider next week the church militant the church that continues on this earth to fight under the banner of the cross the church militant is now his target Satan knows from his defeat in heaven that his time is running out. He knows that he only has a short time. He knows that the final victory is near for his people, for the people of God. And that's why he has great fury and wrath, as verse 12 says. Therefore, he's working overtime. Don't kid yourself. Don't be deceived. He is still cunning and deceptive. He still slanders. He is still anti-God. He is still our adversary. And He still accuses us, only not at the throne of God. But He comes to each one of us and tries to deceptively accuse us directly. You're not good enough for God, He says. God could never love you. You're too much of a sinner. God could never forgive you. Yet by the grace of God, we know the truth. And in the strength of the Holy Spirit, we can face the devil and say, You're absolutely right about me, but you have forgotten my Savior. And we can point the devil to the cross of Christ and confess that God has removed my filthy rags and He has clothed me with the white robes of Christ's righteousness. And by faith, beloved, we can confess with Paul, therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And God no longer hears the accusations of the devil. But instead, He says, Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is He who condemns? In other words, no one can bring a charge against you and me that can stick. Beloved, the church has struggled throughout the ages, but she has never struggled alone. In fact, the battle has always been the Lord's. Yes, we live in a day when Satan's work is limited to earth and he shows no mercy. But for those who are in Christ Jesus, who believe in Him by grace through faith, we know that Satan's time is short and we have the confidence that just as the justification of the saints of old was certain based on the promise of Jesus Christ, so is the final defeat of the devil. It's certain. And we know that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, and that in Him we are more than conquerors. If you don't believe in Jesus Christ, if you don't embrace His saving sacrifice, then the devil's accusations against you are true, and there is no comfort because he claims your soul. It is only in Christ Jesus that Satan's claim is cut off completely and eternally. What does Christ's exaltation mean? It means, beloved, that heaven is restricted territory. And God's people are restricted property. Satan cannot touch God's people. Yet, as we will see next week, the Lord willing, he still tries. And he still affects the church militant. Yet he can never do any eternal damage. What comfort, huh? And may that be our comfort both now and forevermore. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, indeed, as we come before You once again in this morning hour, may our hearts be lifted on high to You as we give You thanksgiving and praise for the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. For we know, Father, that in and of ourselves and apart from Jesus Christ we are in the clutches of Satan. We are his property. But you have claimed us as your own. You have bought your people with the price of Christ's precious blood. A price that could not be matched. And we thank you and praise you for calling a people for yourself out of darkness into your marvelous light. Father, may your word continue to go forth. May even those who are here today who may not know You. Work in their heart and life, life, O Lord, and convince them, convict them of their sin and misery and their need for Jesus Christ and Him alone. Because it's only in Him. Because of Him, the Satan cannot accuse us before Your throne. And Father, we praise You that not only is the church restricted territory, but Your people our restricted property keep us ever and only always in your care in the name of Jesus Christ we pray these things Amen