Sunday, August 25,
2013, 7:44 a.m. – The Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Believe Him.” Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Revelation 12 (NIV 1984):
The
Woman and the Dragon
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 heads. 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.
The
Dragon
The
dragon is Satan, yet he has kings and kingdoms under his control, which do his
bidding. The dragon (Satan, the devil, Lucifer) was once a powerful angel in
heaven, but he wanted to be God, so he raised himself up against God, along with
his angels, and so God hurled him and his angels down to earth, where he now
leads the world astray. The dragon stands in direct opposition to Jesus Christ
and to his followers. He is the great accuser of Christ’s disciples, i.e. true
believers in Jesus. The dragon, Satan, is filled with fury against God and
against God’s children, the saints of Almighty God, and true followers of Jesus
Christ, yet he knows his time is short, which is why he is filled with fury.
The
woman is Israel. She gave birth to Jesus Christ and to the church, the woman’s
offspring. Jesus Christ came to the earth, was born as a baby, took on human
flesh, became a man, suffered as we suffer and was tempted as we are tempted,
yet without sin. He was crucified on a cross as a common criminal, even though
he had committed no wrong. They hung him on that cross because they hated him
for his life and his testimony. When Jesus died on the cross, he took upon
himself all our sins, so that our sins died with him and were buried with him.
Then, he arose from the grave, triumphing over death, hell, Satan and sin. He
returned to the Father in heaven, and he sent His Holy Spirit to indwell and to
empower the lives of his true followers. And, one day Jesus will return to the
earth to gather his bride and to rule the world with an iron scepter. His
saints will then reign with him on the earth.
The
dragon is in constant pursuit of the woman and her offspring, i.e. spiritual
Israel. Physical Israel is no longer God’s people because, as a nation, and as
a people as whole, they refused to believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah,
though there are many individual believing Jews today. Those who continue in
disbelief are numbered among the Gentiles, i.e. unbelievers. So, the woman, and
the offspring, that Satan is now pursuing is spiritual Israel, the church, the
only true Israel, according to scripture. Only true believers in Jesus Christ,
i.e. those who obey God’s commandments and hold to (embrace; incorporate;
accept; adopt; and welcome) the testimony of Jesus, stand as a threat to Satan
and his kingdom. They are the ones the dragon is after to try to destroy and
whom he is making war against.
For Refuge
So God has
given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because
it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge
can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. Heb. 6:18
NLT
The
Lord Jesus gave me an illustration this morning of how this passage in
Revelation 12, combined with this Hebrews passage, is being lived out in
actuality by many of his followers today. We, as the people of God, were once in
an intimate relationship with this sinful world, which is “married” to Satan.
Yet, many of us “divorced” our relationship with Satan and the world, and
instead we “married” Jesus Christ. This means we left our lives of sin and
living for self behind, we have been transformed into new creatures in Christ
Jesus by the Spirit of God, and we have fled (sin and self) to take hold of our
hope in Jesus Christ and to find our refuge, anchor for the soul, comfort,
support and salvation in him alone, forsaking all others. And, so Satan is
furious, because he wants us back for himself.
Those
who have come into relationship with Jesus Christ corporately make up what is
called the church, the body of Christ – not to be confused with the
institutional church, which gives a home (a place to meet together) to many of
Christ’s followers. Yet, we don’t “go” to church. We, the people of God are the
church - not the businesses and institutions of men which house the church. It
is important that we understand this. A building is just a building. The New
Testament church met daily, and from house to house and in the temple courts. So,
we are not confined to a place, day or time when we can meet with the family of
God. We can meet with God and his family anytime or place. Meeting with
Christians inside a building (institution of humankind) is not more sacred than
meeting in a marketplace.
Ok,
with that said, the illustration the Lord Jesus gave me this morning was of the
institutional church which houses the true church, the body of Christ, but
which also houses the world. Professing followers of Christ, who once were “married”
to Satan, but “divorced” him, and are now “married” to Jesus Christ have
invited their former “spouse” (Satan) back into the church, i.e. much of today’s
institutional church has invited Satan back into the meetings of the church,
i.e. they are on friendly terms with him once again. The vehicle (means) that
has brought Satan back into the church is in the form of games, amusement, and
entertainment; diversions to get us off track; and what is advantageous and
beneficial to the worldly human, i.e. humanistic philosophy, marketing schemes,
and doing what makes everyone comfortable, i.e. not offending them with the
gospel of Christ. So, going along with all this is a diluted gospel which “makes
nice” with the world instead of inviting the world to death of sin and self and
to a walk of faith and obedience to Jesus Christ.
So,
many who have “fled to take hold of the hope” they have in Jesus Christ have
seen (through Spiritual insight) this return of Satan to the institutional
church. Knowing that Satan is furious with them, is enraged against them, and
will do all he can to stop them from giving testimony to the truth of the
gospel, and has done so, they have fled for refuge in Jesus Christ, who is
their anchor for the soul. And, they have gone outside the walls of the
institutional church, but not outside the true church. And, in many cases, the
institutional church (government + church) and the world inside have been all
too eager to accommodate them and to even help them to depart, willingly
forfeiting those rejected servants’ witness for Christ and for his gospel, and the
fellowship they could have had with the parts of the body of Christ these
servants of Christ were assigned to do.
Yet,
even though we have a great and powerful enemy – Satan – God is over all things
and Satan and his kings and kingdoms are only given authority to do what they
do because God allows it for a time. So, we have no need to fear Satan or his
attempts to destroy us, because greater is He who is within us (true believers
in Jesus) than he who is in the world. There is no temptation or trial that we
go through but what God’s grace can handle it and He can bring us through
safely into His Kingdom. We are able to overcome Satan, the dragon, by the
blood of the Lamb, because of what Jesus did for us in conquering Satan and
sin, and through our faith in and testimony for Jesus Christ. This kind of
faith refuses to love our own lives more than we love Jesus, and is the kind of
faith that brings our old sinful natures to the cross of Christ and that leaves
our old lives behind and walks humbly before God in obedience to his commands.
This faith will die for Jesus Christ rather than deny Him.
Believe Him / An
Original Work / July 15, 2013
My heart cries: Lord,
won’t You hear me
Seeking You for the
answers
To my heartache and
questions
I have concerning my
life?
Speak, Lord, to me
right now.
“Oh, dear one, why
don’t you trust Me
With your life’s
circumstances?
Give your all on the
altar
In submission of your
will
To My purpose for you.
“Surrender your life
completely
To your Lord and your
Savior.
He has all things
planned for you
For His glory and
honor.
He’ll work all things
for good.
“Believe Him. He will
fulfill all
Of His promises to you
For your life and your
future.
Trust Him. Rest in His
love.
He’ll give you peace
from above.”
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