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The War Behind The Wars Part 1

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. David Asscherick

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Series Code: DP

Program Code: DP000005


00:14 We have a lot of information to cover tonight,
00:17 and I'm not just whistling Dixie, does everyone have
00:21 the study guides, you're going to need that,
00:23 and do you have a pen? Okay, you might want
00:26 to flex your wrists and stretch your fingers, and do
00:28 all of that. If you didn't get a study guide
00:31 raise your hand and we'll have our ushers bring you one.
00:33 It should say Nr.5: The War Behind the Wars, Part 1.
00:37 We're going to being with a word of prayer, and we're
00:42 going to dive right in at top speed, let's begin.
00:45 Father in heaven, please, as we spend this time
00:49 together this evening, we are anticipating a blessing.
00:53 Not just because of a man, hardly Father, in fact
00:56 tonight we are asking that You will bless in spite of this man,
01:00 we ask that You will open our hearts as we open Your word,
01:03 and we may understand with clarity and with Biblical
01:07 accuracy the war that is taking place behind the wars.
01:11 We ask this in the name of our Saviour, Your Son,
01:14 Jesus Christ, let everyone say amen.
01:18 Let's go directly to our study guide, The War Behind the Wars.
01:23 It says, reading the first paragraph: We live in an age
01:27 in which, sadly, war is common. All war is ugly.
01:34 The loss of life and resources from war is inestimable.
01:38 Even so called "just wars" leave a trail of residual suffering
01:42 and death that extends beyond the punishment directed
01:45 towards the offender. The pain and despair created
01:48 stretches for years and decades into future generations.
01:52 In the last 150 years this planet has witnessed
01:55 the most deadly and terrible wars ever.
01:57 We spent a little time talking about that the other evening
02:01 in our signs of the times survey. It goes on:
02:04 Yet, as horrific as these wars were and are, they are
02:08 comparatively insignificant to the first war ever fought.
02:12 This first war had the most terrible ramifications
02:16 and consequences. In fact, all wars since that war
02:21 are the direct result of the first war. Worse yet,
02:26 that first war is still being fought and the battle
02:32 is intensifying, not abating. In order to understand
02:37 the book of Revelation was must grasp the profound significance
02:41 of this first war, it really sets the backdrop
02:45 for the entire book, this is exactly what we'll attempt
02:48 to do in this lesson. We will discover that we
02:51 are all very involved in this great war, the war behind
02:57 the wars. The last time we were
03:00 together we looked at this individual named Lucifer;
03:03 an exalted angel who, by his own choice,
03:08 became Satan, or "satan", the fallen foe.
03:12 You remember that the word "Satan" comes from
03:15 a transliteration of the Hebrew word "satan", it means
03:19 "enemy", or "adversary", "one who's is against".
03:22 We made that remarkable statement, it might have sounded
03:25 a little bit shocking to you, we said God did not create
03:29 Satan, rather, God created Lucifer, and Lucifer by his own
03:33 choice became Satan.
03:37 The book of Revelation, as we have already discussed,
03:41 contains: [text on screen]
03:49 That's more than 2 thirds, it means if we're
03:52 going to understand the book of Revelation, we have to
03:55 remember those keys that we learned in our opening
03:58 presentation. Key Nr.1- the book of Revelation
04:01 rests upon the broad foundation of the Old Testament.
04:08 And who is the focus of the book of Revelation?
04:12 It's a Revelation of Jesus Christ.
04:16 So tonight what we're going to try and do is understand
04:19 one of the most pivotal, important chapters in all
04:22 of Revelation. You might be saying:
04:25 "Wait a minute, we're studying the book of Revelation,"
04:28 "we should start in chapter 1:1."
04:30 We've already said this but it probably bears repeating:
04:33 the book of Revelation is not organized chronologically,
04:36 there are chronological elements, but for the most
04:39 part the book of Revelation is organized thematically,
04:42 that is topically, or along themes, and many scholars
04:46 and commentators agree that probably the chapter more than
04:49 any other chapter that really sets the tone and the theme
04:53 of the book of Revelation is Revelation 12, and that's
04:56 why we're beginning there. So open your Bibles to
04:58 the last book of the New Testament, the wonderful,
05:01 sometimes mysterious book of Revelation.
05:04 You'll notice we're moving quite fast because we have
05:07 a lot of information to cover tonight, Revelation 12.
05:10 We're going to do something a little unusual, I'm going to
05:13 read the entire chapter through. The reason we're going
05:16 to do that is it's going to give us an airplane view
05:19 of what to expect in this chapter. There are 17 verses,
05:23 and as we read through it I want you to allow your mind
05:26 to try and grasp, use your imagination to try and grasp
05:31 the profoundness of the imagery, and the amazing, fantastic
05:35 images found there. We're in Revelation 12:1,
05:39 I will read quite quickly, but you can follow along.
05:42 It says: "Now a great sign appeared in heaven,"
05:45 "a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under"
05:48 "her feet and on her head a garland of 12 stars."
05:52 Notice, the stars, the moon, and the stars, verse 2:
05:55 "Then she being with child cried out in labor and in pain"
05:58 "to give birth, and another sign appeared in heaven."
06:03 "Behold a great fiery, red, dragon having 7 heads"
06:07 "and 10 horns and 7 diadems on his heads."
06:10 "His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven"
06:12 "and threw them to the earth, and the dragon stood"
06:15 "before the woman, who was ready to give birth"
06:17 "to devour her child as soon as it was born."
06:20 "She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod"
06:23 "of iron, and her child was caught up to God,"
06:26 "and to His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness,"
06:29 "there she has a place prepared for her by God, that they"
06:32 "should feed her there 1260 days." Just very quickly,
06:36 that is one of the most important time elements in all
06:39 of the Bible, we'll spend more time on that later.
06:42 Verse 7: "And war broke out in heaven, Michael and His"
06:47 "angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels"
06:50 "fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place"
06:53 "found for them in heaven any longer." Verse 9,
06:56 Notice carefully there is 1 word that occurs 3 times in verse 9,
06:59 see if you can pick it up: "So the great dragon was"
07:02 "cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil, and Satan,"
07:05 "who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth"
07:08 "and his angels were cast out with him."
07:10 Did you pick the word up? What is it?
07:11 Cast. Verse 10: "Then I heard a loud voice"
07:14 "saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength in the kingdom"
07:17 "of our God and the power of His Christ have come"
07:19 "for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before"
07:22 "our God day and night has been cast down", there it is
07:25 again, verse 11: "and they overcame him", - being Satan,
07:28 "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their"
07:30 "testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."
07:33 "Therefore rejoice O heavens, and you who dwell in them."
07:37 "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea,"
07:39 "for the Devil has come down to you having great wrath"
07:42 "because he knows he has a short time." Verse 13:
07:45 "When the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth",
07:49 there it is 5 times, "he persecuted the woman"
07:51 "who gave birth to the male child, but the woman"
07:54 "was given 2 wings of a great eagle that she might fly"
07:56 "into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished"
07:59 "for a time, times, and half a time from the presence"
08:01 "of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his"
08:04 "mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might"
08:06 "cause her to be carried away by the flood,"
08:09 "but the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened"
08:12 "its mouth and the swallowed the flood which the dragon"
08:15 "had spewed out of his mouth." Verse 17, the climax
08:18 of the entire chapter, "And the dragon was enraged"
08:21 "with the woman and went to make war with the rest"
08:25 "of her offspring who keep the commandments of God"
08:28 "and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
08:32 A very powerful chapter. Look at your study guide,
08:36 and what we're going to discover here is that there are
08:38 essentially 5 major elements in Revelation 12,
08:42 that is 5 major elements that if we can understand
08:45 these elements, we can get our hands and our fingers
08:48 wrapped around what is being communicated in this
08:51 pivotal chapter. The first thing that we are
08:54 introduced to is the woman. Remember, she was standing
08:58 on the moon, she was clothed with the sun, and she had
09:01 a garland of stars upon her head.
09:03 What does a woman represent in Bible prophecy?
09:09 Well, there are several passages that we could look at,
09:11 just very quickly you can write these down,
09:14 I will quote them for you. 2 Corinthians 11:2,
09:17 the apostle Paul says: "I have espoused you as a"
09:20 "chased virgin to Christ", in other words the New Testament
09:23 church he says was a woman. In the Old Testament,
09:26 Jeremiah 16:2, the prophet Jeremiah says:
09:29 "I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely"
09:32 "and delicate woman." So in both, the Old Testament
09:36 and the New Testament, God's people were symbolized
09:40 by a woman. What we find in Revelation is
09:44 that a pure, chased woman would represent God's true people,
09:47 or God's true church, and a harlot woman would
09:51 represent an unfaithful or an untrue church.
09:55 We've already seen a powerful, pivotal interpretive mechanism,
10:00 an interpretive device, a woman represents
10:03 God's people, but we go on, the second element
10:06 is the wily dragon. Notice that this dragon
10:09 is described as being a hideous creature, having 7 heads,
10:13 and 10 horns, he's a hideous, grotesque creature,
10:17 contrasted with the beautiful chastity and sublimity
10:21 of the woman that we saw in verse 1.
10:24 The next element that we are introduced to, the dragon,
10:27 is Satan according to verse 9, you can read that
10:29 in Revelation 12:9, "so the great dragon was cast out,"
10:33 "that serpent of old, called the Devil, and Satan."
10:37 The next element we are introduced to is the war.
10:40 Look at verse 7, this verse is almost hard to believe,
10:44 it's very difficult for us to understand, it says:
10:48 "and war broke out in Afghanistan".
10:52 That wouldn't be surprising at all, would it?
10:55 "And war broke out in Afghanistan", "war broke out"
10:58 "in the Middle East", [Yawns], yeah, we've heard that before,
11:01 but notice what it says: "There was war in heaven."
11:04 Of all places for there to be war, war in heaven.
11:08 Here is a critical point, I want you to make a note of this
11:11 on your study guide, notice that this war begins in heaven,
11:15 but this war finishes on earth. Did you notice that transition?
11:19 Verse 7 says war broke out in heaven, but then jump down
11:23 to verse 17: "The dragon was enraged with the woman",
11:26 who's the woman? It's God's people, the church,
11:28 "and went to make war with the rest of her offspring"
11:31 "who keep the commandments of God, and the testimony"
11:34 "of Jesus Christ." That is a critical point
11:37 that we will exploit further as we get into our study.
11:40 This war began in heaven, but this war will be finished
11:44 right here on earth. The third element is the war.
11:47 The 4th element is one that's not mentioned exactly
11:50 by name, but it is there. Look at verse 11,
11:53 how is it that God's faithful people overcome the dragon,
11:57 and overcome Satan? Verse 11: "...they overcame him"
12:00 "by the blood of the Lamb." Who's the Lamb?
12:04 Jesus Christ, "behold the Lamb of God that takes away"
12:07 "the sin of the world", that's what John the Baptist said
12:10 when he was standing up to the waist in the muddy waters
12:13 of the River Jordan, "behold the Lamb of God".
12:16 That word "Lamb" occurs 26 times in the book of Revelation,
12:19 and every time except 1 it refers to Jesus Christ,
12:22 that probably got your curiosity up, you're going
12:25 to go and try and find the one that doesn't refer to Jesus,
12:28 I'll give you a hint, it's in Revelation 13.
12:30 But the weapon by which we use to overcome Satan
12:33 is not our hands, it's not our strength, it's not our fists,
12:36 it's the blood of Jesus Christ.
12:39 Notice it says in the rest of that verse: "And by the word"
12:41 "of their testimony they did not love their lives to the death."
12:46 Revelation's weapon is the cross of Jesus Christ,
12:50 and the Christ of that cross, we'll spend more time on that
12:53 in our next lesson. The 5th element is the winners,
12:58 hallelujah, the Devil is not the victor in the final
13:01 analyses, there are many times today when the Devil
13:05 definitely gets the upper hand, there are many times today
13:07 when it appears as though the Devil wins the battle,
13:10 but here's the good news: though he may win a battle
13:13 here and there, he is not going to win the war.
13:18 God is going to finish what he started, you see
13:22 that in verse 17: "And the dragon was enraged",
13:27 the old King James says: "wroth", it means
13:30 "absolutely, totally furious with the woman",
13:33 that is the true people of God, "and he went to make war"
13:36 "with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments"
13:39 "of God and have the faith of Jesus".
13:41 Notice at the bottom of your study guide it says:
13:44 What does a woman represent in Bible prophecy,
13:46 you tell me what it is. It's a church, or if you
13:49 prefer it, the people of God. I sometimes don't say
13:51 the church, and the reason for that is a woman
13:54 was also a representative of God's people in
13:57 the Old Testament, but really, the church is more of a
14:00 New Testament phenomenon, I prefer to say "God's people".
14:03 The winners will be God's faithful people.
14:05 If we can understand these 5 elements, the woman,
14:08 who is she? The dragon, who is he?
14:11 The war, what's it all about? The weapon, how do we employ
14:14 that weapon? And the winners, who in
14:16 the final analyses will overcome?
14:19 This will really help us to get our fingers wrapped
14:22 around this monumental and pivotal chapter.
14:24 I'm on page 2 of the study guide, the 2 supporting
14:27 texts that you would write down are 2 Corinthians 11:2
14:30 and Jeremiah 6:2. Literally, we could give
14:33 another 20 texts to show that a woman in Bible prophecy
14:37 represents God's people on earth, but that should suffice.
14:40 According to verse 9, what does the dragon represent?
14:44 Satan. And more than any other chapter
14:46 in the book, Revelation 12 describes the great battle
14:50 that is waging between the forces of light and darkness,
14:54 good and evil. This chapter pulls back
14:56 the curtain the separates the seen from the unseen
15:00 and enables us to see what is going on behind the scenes.
15:03 In order to grasp Revelation as a whole,
15:05 we must understand this chapter, many scholars and commentators
15:10 agree that this chapter represents the focal point,
15:13 the pinnacle of the entire book of Revelation.
15:17 Now let us go to the "Eden to Eden" subheading.
15:20 In the beginning, as we've already discussed,
15:22 everything was good, very good. We spent time on that
15:26 our last time together, we looked at it and it says
15:31 7 times in Genesis 1, "God saw that it was good."
15:35 In the beginning it was very good, here's something
15:39 absolutely remarkable: if you take your Bible and hold it up
15:42 just like this, why don't you do that, hold your Bible
15:45 up just like this: [shows action].
15:48 To the uninitiated, the Bible looks like a single book,
15:51 but it's not a single book, as a matter of fact, the Bible
15:55 is more like an encyclopaedia than a single book.
15:58 There are 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament,
16:02 27 in the New, here's something remarkable, this is
16:05 a very powerful, interpretive device.
16:09 If you go this side, that is the Genesis side,
16:12 the first 2 chapters of the Bible, Genesis 1 and 2,
16:17 we find a perfect God in perfect communion
16:20 with a perfect people in a perfect environment,
16:23 that's Genesis 1 and 2, before the entrance of sin.
16:26 Again, a perfect God in perfect communion with a perfect people
16:30 in a perfect environment, no sin,
16:33 but here's something that's absolutely remarkable
16:36 if you go to this side of your Bible, and you go
16:38 this direction, that is the Revelation side,
16:41 the last 2 chapters of the Bible depict the very same thing.
16:46 A perfect God in perfect communion with a perfect people
16:51 in a perfect environment. In other words,
16:55 on this side of the Bible you have Eden,
16:59 and on this side of the Bible you have Eden restored.
17:06 So in a very real way, these 2 Edens function
17:10 like book ends, you know how that is when you have
17:12 a whole line of books and you don't have a wall
17:15 or something to stack them up against, you have a book end
17:17 on this side and a book end on this side,
17:20 and that's what we find on either side of these 66 books
17:24 in the Bible, a perfect God in perfect communion
17:26 with a perfect people in a perfect environment,
17:29 and here on the Revelation side the very same thing:
17:32 a perfect God in perfect communion with a perfect people
17:34 in a perfect environment.
17:37 So everything in between these 2 Edens is God trying
17:43 to get His people from where they fell, they began there
17:47 and they will be restored there. Go to your study guide.
17:52 The Bible is more easily understood against the backdrop
17:56 of the original state of man and this planet,
18:00 that's what you write in there,
18:02 as contrasted with the fallen state of man and this planet.
18:09 In the beginning before the entrance of sin
18:12 we see a perfect couple in a perfect communion
18:15 with a perfect God, that's what you'd write in there.
18:19 This is described in Genesis 1 and 2, the couple lived
18:23 in the Garden of Eden, significantly when we move
18:26 from the first 2 chapters of the Bible to the last 2,
18:30 Revelation 21 and 22, we find the very same thing.
18:34 Namely, a perfect people in perfect communion with a
18:37 perfect God. The next paragraph says:
18:40 Note the following diagram. The left line, the left
18:44 vertical line would represent Eden, you can write that there.
18:50 The right vertical line would represent Eden restored.
18:56 So just as we have 2 on either side of the Bible,
18:59 we have Eden and Eden restored, so too on our diagram.
19:01 Eden on the left, Eden restored on the right.
19:05 The cross in the center symbolizes the death of Jesus
19:09 Christ that rescues believers from the downward spiral of sin.
19:15 Tracing a line downward towards the cross from the left
19:18 represents man's downward spiral into sin, selfishness and death;
19:23 tracing a line upwards from the cross to the top
19:26 of the right line symbolizes man's potential recovery,
19:31 if the salvation secured for him or her, on the cross is
19:36 personally received, that's what you'd write in there.
19:40 Beloved, never forget this, you will be saved as
19:44 an individual, you will be saved because of a personal
19:48 relationship with God.
19:53 You can't go to heaven on the coat tails of your spouse,
19:58 neither can you go to heaven on the coat tails of your family.
20:01 Sometimes I ask people, I'll say: "How long have you been"
20:04 "a Christian?" and they'll say: "I was raised a Christian."
20:07 You weren't raised a Christian, no one is raised a Christian,
20:10 in the sense that God does not have grandchildren,
20:13 God only has children, does that make sense?
20:17 We make our own decision, our personal choice to entrust
20:20 our case to Christ. so when Christ died on the
20:24 cross 2000 years ago, that is a historical event,
20:27 but we must accept that historical event personally
20:32 in order for it to benefit us in the ultimate sense.
20:35 We are not Universalists, the Bible does not teach
20:38 universalism, that everyone will be saved, hardly.
20:41 In fact, Jesus on one occasion said there's a great big,
20:43 wide way and many people are going that way
20:46 and it leads to destruction, and then there's a narrow way
20:48 and it leads to eternal life.
20:53 That's Eden to Eden restored. Go to the third page
20:58 of your study guide, this is awesome, hang in there.
21:02 This where things get really amazing, I'm reading
21:07 from the study guide: Not only are there 2 Edens,
21:10 like book ends on the entire Bible, there are also
21:14 2 battles that act very much the same way.
21:21 You can go ahead and fill in the blanks, I'll explain it
21:23 without looking at the study guide.
21:25 Just imagine with me for illustration's sake that
21:28 over here on this side of the stage, this is Genesis,
21:30 then we'd walk all the way through the Bible,
21:33 through Psalms, through Isaiah,
21:35 through the New Testament, and over here is Revelation.
21:38 So what's over here? Revelation.
21:40 And what's over here? Genesis.
21:43 So here we have Eden, and over here we have Eden restored.
21:46 Over here Eden is Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, a perfect God
21:50 in perfect communion with a perfect people in a perfect
21:53 environment. If I stepped 1 chapter this way
21:59 from Eden, what chapter would I be in?
22:03 Genesis 3. Open your Bible to the book
22:06 of Genesis 3.
22:15 Beginning in verse 1, a familiar story: "Now the serpent"
22:19 "was more cunning then any beast of the field"
22:21 "which the Lord God had made, and he said to the woman,"
22:24 "Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree"
22:27 "of the garden?" Genesis 3:2:
22:31 "And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat"
22:34 "from the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree"
22:37 "which is in the midst of the garden, God has said"
22:39 "you shall not eat it, neither shall you touch it"
22:42 "lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman,"
22:45 "You will not surely die." God had said: "In the day"
22:47 "though eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
22:50 But Satan here inserts a word, doesn't he?
22:54 "Thou shalt not surely die". Verse 5: "For God knows"
22:58 "that in the day that you eat of it your eyes"
23:01 "will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good"
23:04 "and evil." The serpent basically says
23:07 to the woman: "God is keeping something away from you"
23:10 "that would be in your best interest to have."
23:12 Never forget this: that is the oldest lie in the book,
23:15 the Devil wants you to believe that God is a withholder,
23:18 but the Bible teaching is that God is a giver.
23:21 That's the first lie, he says: "No, God is keeping something"
23:24 "back from you", and this is frankly what keeps
23:27 many people out of making a full commitment to Christ,
23:30 a full commitment to God, a full commitment to the Bible,
23:33 they think: "Well, you know, I'm not sure,"
23:36 "I'm afraid of what I'll have to give up."
23:38 Beloved, it's not about what you give up, it's about
23:41 what God gave up when He sent His Son.
23:43 The great truth of the Bible is not that God is a withholder,
23:46 He's not trying to keep thing back from you,
23:49 anything that is in your best interest to have
23:51 He will give to you, but Satan says no, "He knows that"
23:54 "you'll become as God's, knowing good and evil."
23:56 Verse 6: "When the woman saw that the tree was good"
23:59 "for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree"
24:02 "desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit"
24:05 "and she ate, she gave also to her husband with her"
24:07 "and he ate", you know the story.
24:10 Adam eats of the tree, Eve eats of the tree,
24:12 God comes down into the garden and we read verse 8:
24:15 "And they heard the sound of the Lord, God, walking"
24:18 "in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam"
24:21 "and his wife hid themselves from the presence"
24:24 "of the Lord, God, amongst the trees of the garden."
24:27 Where normally they would run to God to greet Him
24:30 as their Father, now they're running from God,
24:32 terrified in fear. God comes down into the garden
24:34 and there are 3 parties there. You have Adam, you have Eve
24:40 and you have the serpent. God turns His attention
24:43 to Adam, He asks him 3 questions: where are you?
24:46 Who told you that you were naked?
24:51 And why did you eat of the tree?
24:56 Then He turns to Eve and He asks her 1 question:
24:59 "What is this that thou has done?"
25:02 And then He turns to the serpent and he doesn't
25:05 ask any question, why? Because the serpent already
25:08 knew the answers, he preaches a sermon to the serpent.
25:12 Look at it in Genesis 3:14: "So the Lord, God, said"
25:16 "to the serpent, Because you have done this"
25:18 "you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than"
25:21 "every beast of the field, on your belly you will go"
25:24 "and you shall dust all the days of your life",
25:26 notice verse 15 because it's the first promise of Jesus
25:30 in all of the Bible, the first messianic prophecy,
25:34 verse 15, God speaking to the Devil: "I will put hatred"
25:38 "between you and the woman and between your seed"
25:41 "and her seed, he will bruise your head and you will bruise"
25:47 "his heel." Fascinating isn't it?
25:50 Basically what's happening is that Adam and Eve
25:55 had changed loyalties. God had said "in the day"
25:58 "that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die",
26:02 the Devil had said "you will not surely die", question:
26:05 who did Adam and Eve believe? They believed Satan,
26:10 and in believing the words of Satan over the words of God
26:13 they had effectively changed their loyalties and changed
26:17 their allegiance, so God comes down into the garden
26:20 and this is the picture I'll try to paint in your mind
26:22 so you can sort of understand it,
26:24 the Devil's got his arm around Eve, he's got his arm
26:26 around Adam, and they're just hanging out, good old buddies.
26:33 God comes into the garden and He asks Adam the 3 questions,
26:36 He asks Eve the 1 question, and then He looks
26:39 at the Devil and says: "You know what, you think you've"
26:42 "won the day. It looks as though My beautiful, dear children"
26:45 "are all your friends now, they believed you more than"
26:48 "believing Me, but I'll tell you what, a day is coming,"
26:51 "I'm going to put enmity between you and this woman."
26:55 "You think she's your best bud now, you think"
26:58 "she's your best friend now, but I'm going to put enmity"
27:01 "between you and this woman, and that enmity is going"
27:04 "to crush your head, but you will bruise his heel."
27:06 That enmity, the promised enmity that would crush
27:09 the head of Satan is Jesus Christ Himself.
27:15 Naturally, every one of us in our own hearts, in our natural
27:19 condition, we are the friend of Satan and the enemy of God.
27:23 You're saying: "What?! Did he really just say that?"
27:26 That's exactly what I just said, when we are born
27:29 we have built into us an inward selfishness.
27:36 It's a carnality that's against the principles of God
27:40 and of His law, and of His love, this is easily illustrated.
27:44 I have 2 beautiful little boys in the room
27:47 just across the hallway. I love them very much
27:50 and they are innocent, but you know what I mean
27:52 when I say innocent, they're only relatively innocent.
27:55 Those little boys are as selfish as the day is long,
27:58 and they didn't learn it from their papa,
28:00 an they didn't learn it from their mamma,
28:03 they learned it from Adam.
28:05 Think about that, you might have had the best child
28:07 in the world, but what do you have to teach your children?
28:11 Do you have to teach them how to share,
28:13 or how to keep some back for themselves because they're
28:16 so busy giving everything away? [Audience laughs]
28:18 You have to teach them how to share, so you put little Sammy
28:21 in little Sally's crib, and if little Sally has a banana,
28:24 little Sammy, you don't have to teach him how to pick up
28:27 the tonka truck, hit her over the head and take the banana,
28:30 [audience laughs] that's right in the hard drive,
28:32 he knows that, that's part of what it means to be a child.
28:35 Well where did he get it from? The answer is:
28:38 he got it from his parents, who got it from his parents,
28:41 from his parents...all the way back to the first parents
28:44 who changed their allegiance and their nature
28:47 was basically transformed. To put it in the words
28:51 of the apostle Paul, he said "the carnal mind"
28:54 "is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law"
28:58 "of God, neither indeed, can be." In another place
29:03 the apostle Paul, Ephesians 2, he says that by nature
29:08 we're the children of wrath. That is to say when we're born
29:12 the most important thing in the world is me.
29:16 Does that make sense? I'm the most important thing
29:19 in the world, and is this world basically exists to serve me
29:24 and my desires and my purposes, that's what happened
29:27 in the Garden of Eden. There was a transformation
29:30 in the nature of man, so God comes into the garden
29:33 and He says: "You think that she's loyal to you Satan,"
29:35 "you think that he's loyal to you Satan,"
29:38 "but I'll tell you what, I'm going to put hatred"
29:41 "between you and the serpent, I'm going to put hatred"
29:44 "between the woman and the serpent and that hatred"
29:47 "will crush your head."
29:51 I want you to notice that this is the first battle
29:55 between Christ and Satan; the first battle on planet earth.
30:00 Now let's go back to our illustration,
30:02 remember here, what's on this side of the stage?
30:05 Genesis, Eden; and what's over here?
30:09 Revelation. So in Eden, Genesis 1 and 2,
30:12 if we step one chapter this way we're in Genesis 3,
30:17 and here we find the first battle between God and Satan
30:22 on planet earth.
30:27 What chapter would we be in if we stepped 1 chapter this way
30:30 from Revelation 21 and 22? Revelation 20.
30:34 Open your Bible to Revelation 20,
30:43 absolutely remarkable. Revelation 20.
30:51 It says in Revelation 20:9: "They went up on the breadth"
30:57 "of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints"
31:01 "and the beloved city. Fire came down from God"
31:05 "out of heaven and devoured them." Look at verse 10:
31:10 "The Devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire"
31:15 "and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are,"
31:19 "and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever,"
31:22 "thus ends the history of Satan."
31:25 Do you see it? It's so powerful.
31:28 Over here we have Eden, over here we have Eden restored,
31:32 these are like 2 book ends on the Bible, but if we come
31:37 just 1 chapter this way we have the first battle between
31:41 Christ and Satan, and if we come just 1 chapter this way
31:45 we have the last battle. So here we have a big picture
31:49 overview of how to understand the Bible.
31:52 [text on screen]
32:02 Everything in between is God trying to get His people back
32:11 to the Garden of Eden where He can live with them
32:15 in face to face communion. In fact, that's one
32:18 of the great promises in Revelation 21:4, it says:
32:21 "and they shall see His face." Powerful.
32:26 Living in face to face communion with God,
32:30 so we have Eden to Eden, but more than that,
32:33 there is this battle theme, and all through the Bible
32:37 we find this wrestling, not against flesh and blood
32:40 but against principalities and powers, against the rulers
32:43 of the darkness of this world, to quote Ephesians 6.
32:47 Go back to your study guide. Did you get all of those
32:50 blanks filled in there? Should be pretty easy.
32:53 Look with me at the 6 stages of Revelation's great battle.
32:59 I'm reading, now we will trace 6 distinct phases
33:04 of this great battle, and the eventual and promised victory
33:07 of Jesus Christ right through the entire Bible.
33:10 You will be amazed as you see this unfold right before
33:13 your eyes. This is no make believe battle,
33:17 it is as real as the chair you're sitting on,
33:20 write out the 6 stages and give the Bible references
33:23 for each one.
33:25 We'll do our very best to try and walk you through
33:29 the 6 stages. We've already said:
33:31 the Bible is best understood with the backdrop
33:34 of an Eden to Eden perspective, and with a first battle,
33:38 last battle perspective. I want to hear a resounding
33:41 "amen" if that makes sense. [Audience replies] Amen.
33:44 Okay, fantastic, then let's look at the 6 stages
33:47 of the great battle. Nr.1- the victory is declared.
33:51 The Scripture text we've already look at, Genesis 3:15.
33:55 The victory is declared, that's where God stepped there
33:59 into the garden and He says: "You have won the battle,"
34:03 "but you will not win the war." So the first stage of the battle
34:09 is that the victory is declared. The second stage
34:15 is the victory is begun in the earthly ministry of Jesus.
34:21 Open your Bibles to Luke 11, third book of the New Testament,
34:27 Matthew, Mark, Luke. Luke 11.
34:32 There are several passages that could be cited,
34:34 we'll look at 1, Luke 11.
34:39 Luke 11:14: "And He was casting out a demon and it was mute,"
34:46 "so it was, when the demon had gone out that the mute spoke"
34:52 "and the multitudes were amazed, but some of them said,"
34:57 "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler"
35:00 "of the demons, others testing Him sought from Him"
35:03 "a sign from heaven, but He, knowing their thoughts"
35:06 "said to them", listen carefully to the words
35:09 of Jesus, this is incredible, verse 17:
35:11 "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation"
35:15 "and a house divided against a house falls." Verse 18:
35:19 "If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his"
35:23 "kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out"
35:25 "demons by Beelzebub, if I cast out demons by Beelzebub,"
35:29 "by whom do your sons cast them out?"
35:32 "Therefore they will be your judges, but if I cast out"
35:36 "demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God"
35:39 "has come upon you", and then He tells a story, a parable,
35:43 verse 21: "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own"
35:48 "palace, his goods are in peace, but when a stronger than he"
35:54 "comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him"
35:57 "all his armor in which he has trusted, and he divides"
36:01 "his spoils." Do you follow Jesus' analogy?
36:05 Very simple, Jesus heals this boy who was demon possessed,
36:08 he was mute, he couldn't speak, and Jesus walks up
36:11 and He casts the demon out. People said: "Oh, you're doing"
36:13 "this in the name of Beelzebub, you're doing it by"
36:15 "Beelzebub's power." Jesus says: "You're not even thinking,"
36:18 "think it through, if I was casting out demons"
36:21 "by Beelzebub, that would mean that the Devil is against"
36:24 "the Devil, and a house divided against itself can't stand."
36:27 He says: "When a strong man guards his house, his goods"
36:31 "are safe, but when a stronger than him comes"
36:34 "and overcomes him", what Jesus is saying is that the Devil
36:41 is being overcome.
36:45 So that's what we see in the earthly ministry of Jesus,
36:49 the victory which was promised in Eden is begun;
36:52 Jesus was healing the blind, Jesus was casting out demons,
36:56 Jesus was saying to the paralytic "rise, take up"
36:59 "your bed and walk", and what I see in my mind's eye
37:01 is a picture of Jesus reclaiming what was rightfully His.
37:07 In fact, we actually looked at this in Luke 13:10-16,
37:13 we don't have to look at the whole chapter,
37:16 the whole passage, because we've already read it.
37:19 Remember, Jesus heals that woman and the ruler of the synagogue
37:22 said: "What? There are 6 days on which mean aught to work,"
37:24 "come and heal on one of those days, and not on the Sabbath",
37:27 then remember what Jesus said: "You hypocrite, does not"
37:30 "everyone of you lose your ox or your donkey"
37:33 "on the Sabbath? Aught not this woman being a daughter"
37:36 "of Abraham", do you remember those 4 words?
37:40 "Whom Satan has bound", "think of it", He says,
37:44 "Whom Satan has bound these many years, be loosed"
37:47 "from this burden on the Sabbath day."
37:49 So what we find in the earthly ministry of Jesus is that
37:53 the victory that was promised in Eden, Jesus is reclaiming
37:56 a brother, Jesus is reclaiming a woman, Jesus is reclaiming
37:59 a child. In John 11 He goes there
38:02 to Lazarus' tomb, He goes "Lazarus come forth",
38:05 He was reclaiming even from death.
38:08 The victory was begun in the earthly ministry of Jesus.
38:15 Jesus reclaiming His own, but the third stage of the victory
38:21 is that the victory was achieved on the cross.
38:28 Open your Bibles to the gospel of John 12.
38:36 The victory was declared in Eden, the victory was begun
38:40 in the earthly ministry of Jesus, and the victory was
38:43 achieved on the cross.
38:49 I'm in John 12:31.
38:54 Jesus speaking, He says: "Now is the judgement"
38:58 "of this world, now the ruler of this world will be cast out."
39:05 For you Bible students that are really paying attention,
39:08 you're saying: "Whoa, that's interesting, that sounds"
39:11 "just like Revelation 12", remember?
39:13 5 times "he's cast out".
39:16 [hits microphone]
39:20 Maybe I've got to move like that, I'll be careful
39:23 not go to here [Audience laughs]
39:26 Okay, so He's cast out, 5 time in Revelation 12,
39:29 notice what Jesus says here, look at it again, John 12.
39:31 You don't worry about me, I'll unbuckle my suit,
39:34 maybe that'll help so I'm not running into it [the microphone]
39:37 Does that help Joel? Okay, so John 12:31,
39:40 [hits microphone again] I'll hold still,
39:44 that's going to be very difficult, [audience laughs].
39:46 Okay, Lord Jesus help me. "Now the ruler of this world..."
39:51 [hits microphone again] Bring me up that microphone
39:56 and I'll just use that thing, verse 32:
39:59 Jesus says: "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth"
40:04 "I will draw people's unto myself."
40:08 Nathan, you're a saint, look at that, okay.
40:11 We're good to go there, there we go, I feel
40:14 like I'm straitjacketed now, I've got something in my hand.
40:16 Okay, notice what He says: "Now is the judgement"
40:19 "of this world, right here right now, Satan is cast out",
40:24 and then He says in verse 32: "When I'm lifted up"
40:27 "on the cross, the Devil is judged, the Devil is cast out."
40:33 There are several passages that I could quote,
40:36 but just write these down very quickly, John 14:30,
40:43 and John 16:11, so all of them are in John,
40:48 John 14:20 and John 16:11. So notice, the victory was
40:52 declared in Eden, the victory was begun in the earthly
40:57 ministry of Jesus, the victory was achieved on the cross.
41:02 In fact, let me show you a text to that effect.
41:04 When Jesus cried out on the cross according to John 19:30,
41:08 He said: "It is finished." The victory was achieved.
41:15 At the cross, Satan was dealt a death blow.
41:19 We're going to be talking a lot more about that, in fact,
41:21 we're going to see something in Revelation 12 that is
41:23 so totally powerful, we'll see how much of it we can get into
41:27 tonight, and we'll finish up what we can't tomorrow night.
41:31 Look at this, Colossians 2:15, I really appreciate this
41:34 particular translation, Colossians 2:15,
41:38 notice what Paul says: [text on screen]
41:57 Is that powerful? The imagery is absolutely
42:00 incredible, basically what he's saying is, on the cross
42:03 Jesus made a fool out of the Devil. Powerful!
42:07 You say "How, what happened on the cross?"
42:11 Well let's try and unpack that, but before we do that
42:14 let's go to the rest of the 6 stages.
42:18 So the victory was declared in Eden, it was begun in
42:21 the earthly ministry of Jesus, it was achieved on the cross,
42:24 and the victory was proclaimed in the resurrection.
42:31 Go to Acts 2, you're in John it's the very next book.
42:37 Acts 2, here we find the apostle Peter,
42:43 what's his name? Peter,
42:45 and he's preaching on the day of Pentecost, the word
42:48 "pentecost" means "fifty", "fifty" days after
42:52 the crucifixion. We'll pick it up in verse 22,
42:55 Peter is preaching about the resurrection, he says:
43:01 Acts 2:22, "Men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth,"
43:07 "a man attested by God to you, by miracles, wonders,"
43:10 "and signs which God did through Him in your midst"
43:14 "as you yourselves know. Him being delivered"
43:17 "by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God,"
43:20 "you have taken by lawless hands and have crucified"
43:23 "and put to death, Whom God raised up,"
43:32 "having loosed the pains of death because it was not"
43:35 "possible that He should be held by it."
43:38 "For David says concerning Him", and now he quotes from David
43:41 in the Old Testament, "I foresaw the Lord always before my face"
43:44 "for He is at my right hand that I should not be shaken,"
43:46 "therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad,"
43:49 "moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope,"
43:52 "for you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you"
43:55 "allow Your Holy One to see corruption, You have made known"
43:59 "to me the way of life, You will make me full of joy"
44:05 "in Your presence." Powerful.
44:08 Basically, Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost,
44:10 he begins to preach, "Yes, Jesus was crucified."
44:14 "Yes, He was buried, but God raised Him up."
44:18 Powerful, in fact, G.B. Hardy in his book "Countdown",
44:22 said this: "There are only 2 essential requirements."
44:26 "Nr.1- has anyone ever cheated death?"
44:29 "And Nr.2- is it available to me? Let us survey"
44:33 "the historical record: Buddha's tomb - occupied;"
44:37 "Confucius' tomb - occupied; Mohammed's tomb - occupied;"
44:42 "Jesus' tomb - empty!" And then he said: "Argue as you will,"
44:47 "but for me and my purposes there is no point in following"
44:51 "a loser." When he said the word "loser"
44:54 he wasn't calling names, like "nanny nanny boo boo",
44:57 what he was saying is this: there's this great enemy
45:00 called "death", and we all will face it, and he wants to know
45:06 has anyone ever cheated death? When he says that Buddha
45:08 was a loser, and Confucius was a loser, he's saying
45:11 they lost the battle with death, but Jesus was victorious
45:16 over death, as Peter says, it was not possible
45:20 that death could hold on to Him, why?
45:22 Because He never sinned, so death had no rightful claim
45:25 to Him. Powerful!
45:28 So the victory was declared in the Garden of Eden,
45:31 He said: "One day I will crush your head."
45:35 The victory was begun in the earthly ministry of Jesus
45:38 when He, as a stronger man, began to take back
45:41 the goods that Satan claimed as his own.
45:43 Nr.3- the victory was achieved on the cross when He made
45:47 a fool out of the Devil. Nr.4- the victory was proclaimed
45:51 in the resurrection.
45:55 The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the victory proclaimed,
45:59 here's the 5th stage of the battle, the victory is continued
46:04 in the church, the victory is continued in God's church.
46:08 You're still there in Acts, go to Acts 26.
46:13 I know that you're trying to keep up with me,
46:17 do the best that you can, if I go too fast tonight
46:20 go out there and tell them I went too fast and get yourself
46:23 a free CD, okay? [Audience laughs]
46:26 You say: "I couldn't follow that message", no problem,
46:29 hey listen, I want you to understand this.
46:31 So if you don't get it, come back tomorrow night,
46:34 say: "Hey listen, he went too fast, I need a free CD",
46:37 they won't give you a hard time, they'll give you a free CD.
46:40 Acts 26:16, here's the apostle Paul is recounting
46:43 his conversion experience when he was on the road
46:46 to Damascus, he was knocked off his horse by Jesus
46:52 of Nazareth, Acts 26:15: "I said, Who are you Lord?"
46:58 "He said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,"
47:02 "but rise and stand on your feet for I have appeared"
47:05 "to you for this purpose Saul, to make you a minister"
47:08 "and a witness, both of the things which you have seen"
47:11 "and of the things which I will reveal to you."
47:14 "I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well"
47:17 "as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you."
47:20 Look at verse 18, this is the powerful verse:
47:22 "to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness"
47:26 "to light, and from the power of Satan to God."
47:30 Why? "So that they may receive"
47:32 "the forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those"
47:36 "who were sanctified by putting their faith in Me."
47:40 Isn't that powerful? You see what He's saying
47:43 He says: "Get up off your feet, I've got a plan for you."
47:46 "You're going to be a minister and a witness, I need you"
47:49 "to go tell these Gentile folks that I'm real,"
47:51 "that I'm alive, that I'm raised, that I'm resurrected."
47:54 "Turn them from darkness to light, and from the power"
47:57 "of Satan to the power of God."
47:59 So the victory is continued in the church.
48:03 If I could be very, very frank with you,
48:09 the victory is to be continued in your life.
48:15 God has called you in the very same way as He called Paul,
48:18 God has called you to communicate the great good news
48:21 of the risen Christ to your co-workers, to your family
48:24 members, to your friends, to your grocer, to your banker,
48:28 to whoever! Let them know that Jesus
48:31 is alive. [Audience claps]
48:33 Victory declared, hallelujah. The victory was declared
48:37 in Eden, "I will crush your head."
48:40 The victory was begun in the earthly ministry of Jesus,
48:43 the victory was achieved on the cross, never forget that,
48:48 the victory achieved on the cross; the victory was
48:50 proclaimed in the resurrection, the victory is continued
48:55 in the church, and the victory is concluded
49:00 in Revelation, and we already read that,
49:05 when the Devil himself, is cast into the lake of fire.
49:11 There are the 6 stages of the great battle.
49:15 Powerful: [text on screen]
49:24 The end of Satan and the victory will be concluded.
49:27 You say: "We made it through", no, my timer says
49:29 I've got 7 and a half minutes left, so look at the last page.
49:34 You thought we were stopping and you were wrong.
49:37 Last page of your study guide. Buckle your safety belts,
49:40 here we go, back to Revelation 12.
49:45 I told you we had a lot to cover, but by the grace of God
49:49 you're going to understand it, you're going to like it
49:52 whether you like it or not. [Audience laughs]
49:56 Revelation 12, look at this, I'm reading directly
50:00 from the study guide: Did you catch the significance
50:03 of the 3rd stage? It is essential that you do,
50:08 remember Revelation 12:9, what word occurs 3 times?
50:13 "Cast" or "cast out", note also that the same word
50:17 appears in verse 10 and 13 as we've already said, 5 times,
50:22 clearly this is an important truth.
50:24 When did this event take place? We've already read that
50:29 in John 12:31,32, I'll quote it for you again.
50:34 Jesus said in John 12:31: "Now", what's that word?
50:40 "Now". Let me ask you just a quick
50:43 question so we can be clear on this: who wrote
50:45 the gospel of John? John, good for you.
50:48 Who wrote the book of Revelation?
50:51 - [Audience replies] John. - That's exactly right.
50:54 And if you read Revelation and you read the gospel of John
50:57 you'll see that there are many similarities in
51:00 the language, have you noticed that?
51:03 So notice this, here it says, John 12:31
51:06 "Now is the judgment of this world, now the prince"
51:09 "of this world will be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up"
51:13 "from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me."
51:17 Jesus says in the context of the cross, the Devil
51:21 was cast out of heaven. You say: "Wait a minute!"
51:25 "I thought he was cast out of heaven long before that."
51:28 Look at Revelation 12:9.
51:33 "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old"
51:37 "called the Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world."
51:42 "He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out"
51:46 "with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,"
51:49 what's the next word? "Now", same word,
51:53 "Now", what has come now? "Salvation."
51:56 Question: when did salvation come?
51:59 On the cross, of course, salvation comes to us
52:02 from the cross, he goes on to say: "Salvation,"
52:05 "and strength, and the kingdom of God and the power"
52:09 "of His Christ have come." Think about it,
52:11 when did all of those things come: salvation, and strength
52:14 and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ.
52:17 Where were all of those things manifested?
52:20 On the cross, that's exactly right.
52:22 Salvation, strength, the kingdom of our God, and the power
52:25 of His Christ; it goes on to say "...have come"
52:28 "for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before"
52:31 "our God day and night, has been cast down."
52:34 Look at this, verse 11, "and they overcame him"
52:38 "by the blood of the Lamb." Where was the blood
52:41 of the Lamb shed? On the cross.
52:44 "And by the word of their testimony, and they did not"
52:47 "love their lives to the death."
52:50 Now, verse 12 begins with the word "therefore",
52:56 does everyone see that? Beloved, when you see
53:00 the word "therefore" in the Bible, ask yourself:
53:04 "Hey, what's that 'there for'?" [Audience laughs]
53:09 Did you get that? When you see the word
53:12 "therefore" say: "Hey what's that 'there for'?"
53:16 The word "therefore" is a concluding remark.
53:20 Think about it, if I say: "point Nr.1, point Nr.2, point Nr.3."
53:23 "Therefore", you know that what I say after that
53:26 is based on what I said before that.
53:30 So look at verse 12, what's the first word of verse 12?
53:33 "Therefore", watch this: "Rejoice!"
53:37 Be careful, don't rejoice yet, rejoice who according
53:42 to that verse? Whoa,
53:45 "Rejoice O heavens, and you who dwell in them",
53:49 "but woe to the inhabitants of the earth."
53:54 How many of the people here today live on earth?
53:57 - [Audience laughs] - Just raise your hand.
53:59 Okay, anybody here live in heaven?
54:02 I didn't say in heavenly places, I said "in heaven".
54:05 According to that verse then, should we be rejoicing,
54:08 or should we be saying: "whoa"?
54:10 According to that verse it says "Rejoice O Heavens,"
54:13 "but woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea", why?
54:17 "Because the Devil has come down to you,"
54:19 "having great wrath." Why?
54:22 "Because he knows he has a short time."
54:25 Question: how does he know that he has a short time?
54:29 Because of the cross. He died on the cross,
54:32 Jesus was raised, and he suddenly knows:
54:35 "Oh oh, this game is almost over."
54:40 Look in verse 13, powerful, it says: "Now when the dragon"
54:45 "saw", that is when the dragon perceived, "that he had been"
54:50 "cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman"
54:54 "who gave birth to the male child."
54:56 He went with all of his energy, with all his vigour,
55:00 with all of his enthusiasm after the church.
55:04 In verse 17 this Satanic attack reaches its logical
55:10 and pathetic climax: "And the dragon was enraged"
55:14 "with the woman, and went to make war with the rest"
55:18 "of her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God"
55:21 "and have the faith of Jesus."
55:26 Did you get all of the blanks filled in there
55:29 in the first paragraph? Look at the second paragraph.
55:33 I'll help you fill them in, it says: Because at the cross
55:36 perfect love and perfect hate stood face to face,
55:39 the holy character and nature of God stood in direct
55:42 contrast with the selfish character and nature
55:45 of Satan. Perfect love and perfect evil
55:48 had a stare down, and perfect love in the face
55:52 of Jesus Christ prevailed. Can you say amen?
55:55 Here's what we're going to do, we're going to pause,
55:59 you're going to say: "What? He can pause?"
56:01 Yeah, I can pause until tomorrow night.
56:04 We're going to hit the pause button because remember,
56:07 this is "The War Behind the Wars", what are those next 2
56:10 words? "Part 1",
56:12 and tomorrow night is "The War Behind the Wars, Part 2",
56:15 but beloved, let's be crystal clear on what we're saying
56:18 tonight. Nr.1- there is a great
56:20 cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan.
56:24 That war began in heaven and will be finished on earth.
56:28 We saw the Eden to Eden, and the battle to battle perspective
56:32 Then we looked at those 6 stages, but we're doing now
56:35 is we're honing in on that third stage, the victory
56:40 achieved on the cross. At the cross Satan was cast out.
56:44 You say: "Well, what does that mean for me today?"
56:46 Tomorrow we will unpack this still further,
56:50 and Revelation 12 will literally come alive,
56:53 but as for me tonight, I want to with Joshua:
56:57 "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".
57:01 [Audience claps and says amen].
57:05 Let's pray together as we close. Father in heaven,
57:07 tonight you've been with us, it's been a high energy meeting,
57:12 but Father, we've made it through and many of us
57:14 have a clearer understanding of this great cosmic conflict
57:19 between Christ and Satan. We see that it's not some
57:22 manufactured battle, not some make believe battle.
57:26 It's a battle that we are right in the center of.
57:30 Father in heaven, we want to be victorious, and we believe
57:33 by faith in Jesus Christ that we will be victorious.
57:38 But Father, bring us back tomorrow so we can
57:40 understand still more thoroughly, more completely,
57:44 more Biblically, and more powerfully, just what this war
57:48 behind the wars entails. We ask it in the wonderful,
57:53 righteous, holy name of Jesus our Saviour,
57:57 Your Son, let all of the people say amen.


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Revised 2014-12-17