Revelation: Day Satan Was Cast Out of Heaven

Revelation: Day Satan Was Cast Out of Heaven

There may be details in the last book of the Bible that we struggle to understand, but the message of Revelation chapter twelve so vividly describes, in figurative language, the conflict between heaven and hell and the battle between Satan and Christians. That message is so easy to understand. Take time to read this chapter, and let God assure you that there is no question we will win the battle.satan heaven

Verse four depicts Satan (described as a dragon) standing before the woman, who was in labor and ready to give birth to her son, as soon as he was born. Who was this son?

We know who this son is. The next verse tells us that he was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. The Bible leaves no doubt as to the identity of this child. Let God tell you who this son in the second psalm. “You are My Son, today I have begotten You…Ask of me and I will give You the nations…You shall break them with a rod of iron.” Acts 4:25-27 quotes this psalm and emphatically applies it to Jesus. Jesus is the child born in Revelation twelve whom Satan sought to destroy as soon he was born (Matt. 2).

The text says that “…the Child was caught up to God and His throne” (v. 5). What happened when He ascended into heaven? In figurative language, there was war in heaven with the armies of Satan fighting the armies of God. Satan was cast down to the earth. He “no longer” (v. 8) had access to the presence of God as he did when he brought accusation against Job. Note carefully that this war did not happen before the creation of Adam. It happened when Jesus ascended. When Satan was cast out he tried to destroy the saints—those “…who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (v. 17). The book of Acts describes this.

How was Satan defeated by the resurrected Jesus? Jesus became a mortal that through His death “…He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14-15). Jesus destroyed Satan. He did not annihilate him but took from him the fear of death that all men since Adam had struggled with. His open tomb released all mankind from that fearful bondage.

Jesus’ life and death brought a revelation of our immortality. “Now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 2:10).

When John saw Jesus on the island of Patmos, Jesus said, “I am He who lives, and was dead…and I have the keys of Hades and Death” (Rev. 1:18). Our Savior destroyed Satan when He took from him the keys to the grave!

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Signs of the End #3

Signs of the End #3

This is the third article on the signs of the end, and you are encouraged to read the first two as they form the background of this one. (They are readily available on the church’s website). Many are convinced that all that is happening right now points to the end, and Jesus will come very soon to bring the final judgment on the earth.

The details of these signs given by Jesus are found in the first three books of the New Testament in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Jesus spoke of the coming judge on the sinful Jewish nation (Matt. 23:34) and then told of the coming destruction of the temple. He then went to the Mount of Olives. Very few are aware of the audience when Jesus gave these signs. One will never understand these signs without recognizing those who heard about the signs.

Read Mark’s account very carefully. “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled’” (Mark 13:3-4). Four men were the ones who were given these signs. Why is this important? They were the ones who would see the signs!

Who did Jesus say would see these signs? Look at the text where I have capitalized the pronouns. Jesus said, “But when YOU hear of wars and commotions…for these things must come first…nation will rise against nation…there will be great earthquakes in various place, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. But before all these things, they will lay hands on YOU, and persecute YOU, delivering YOU up the synagogues…YOU will be brought before kings and rulers…YOU will be betrayed by parents and brothers…and they will put some of YOU to death…but when YOU see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near…so YOU also, when YOU see these things happening know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to YOU, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place” (Luke 21:9-32).

Let Jesus tell us who would see these signs. They were to be seen (all these signs) in that generation! Who was to see them? Peter, James, John and Andrew! Now if they saw all these signs and are all dead, these signs cannot point to WWI or WWII, or Korea, Vietnam, or the battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the threat of Russia or China in our day!

Read your Bible rather than books written by televangelists (who have made millions doing this). Read the Bible. Let the Bible explain the Bible. Let Jesus tell you who would see the signs. Next week, we will look at the great tribulation.

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Working with Problem People

Working with Problem People

If there is one clear teaching of the Bible, it is that people have problems – “for all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). The question is this: how do we work with these problem people? The Bible helps us out by categorizing them into two groups: those who are willing to repent, and those who are not (2 Corinthians 7:10). Those who are willing to repent must be accepted (Luke 5:32). Those who are not must be warned and eventually separated (Titus 3:10). Are we following this pattern in the church?problem people

Penitent people are people who acknowledge, confess their sins, and then seek to change, and they need help from others with the process of change. The only way they will get that help is by being accepted. This, however, means that we must be patient and forgiving with them as they work on making the needed changes in their lives. Unfortunately, some have little patience and forgiveness. They see the penitent as “problems” instead of “people.” Instead of practicing forgiveness and acceptance, they rid themselves of these “problem people,” and kick them out of the church.

The same often enable the divisive by accepting them instead of separating from them. Divisive people are impenitent people and do not change; hence, they don’t need help changing. They will mask themselves as faithful individuals who require little to no help. Then, they will secretly insinuate their teachings in the church appearing beneficent (2 Peter 2:1-3). Ultimately, the church will be divided because of the divisive’s pernicious ways and because members did not practice the pattern of accepting the penitent and warning the divisive.

Are we accepting the penitent and helping them change or are we enabling the divisive? May God help us to follow His pattern.

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More About Signs of the “End of the World”

More About Signs of the “End of the World”

Read last week’s bulletin for more about the signs Jesus gave which would precede the time when God brought judgment on the Jewish nation and took the kingdom from them. Jesus said it would happen in the generation then living and it did. The destruction of the temple, when not one stone was left upon another, brought a visible end to Judaism. Its destruction made it impossible for the Levitical priesthood to any longer be able to offer animal sacrifices for those who had been God’s chosen people.circle signs

However, some have struggled with what they thought the disciples asked when they spoke of the end of the world and the coming of Jesus. Because of their questions, some think the signs given are signs of the time when the earth will be destroyed when Jesus comes the second time to judge the world.

To fully understand this question, it is absolutely essential to note that they did not ask what will be the signs of the end of earth. Yet, we think that was what they were asking about because the King James Version uses the word “world.” Check almost every other translation and you will see the correct translation of the Greek word. That Greek word indicates the end of the age, not the end of the physical earth. There is an entirely different Greek word for earth and that is not the word Jesus used in Matthew 24. Jesus had just told them of the destruction of the temple, the focal point of Judaism, and they asked about the end of that Jewish age to be brought about by the destruction of the temple. Jesus said it was to end in that generation and they wanted signs which would precede the end of the age of the temple and Judaism.

Also note that prior to this event Jesus had said almost nothing about the end of the physical earth. It is only after this event that Jesus talks to the apostles about the time when Jesus would destroy the earth. How could these disciples be asking about the end of the earth, for how could they know about that end?

To see that there was a world (age) which ended in the first century, consider two other times the King James translates the word “age” using the word “world.” When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he looked back at the Old Testament events and said, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon who the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor. 10:11, KJV). He does not use the past or future tense. The ends of the world are coming on you.

Hebrews 9:26 speaks of Christ and says that “…now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Christ came at the end of world—not the earth, but the age. Let the Bible explain its words!

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Nice, but Not Loving in Pulpits

Nice, but Not Loving in Pulpits

Over the past 10-15 years I have witnessed a subtle shift being preached from pulpits all across the nation.

Oftentimes, these shifts are a result of pushing back against negative claims from our culture. Other times it is in response to a new “hobby horse” that is being circulated in Christian schools or schools of preaching. For instance, in years past, New Testament Christians were accused of not embracing the concept of grace—and so, pulpits rushed into overtime to prove we believed in grace.

Today, the shift has moved toward “love.” Christians have been accused of being unloving, confrontational, and sometimes mean-spirited in our “tolerate everything” culture.

In response, pulpits (and pens) have been working overtime to push an ideology of “loving your neighbor” at the center of everything. It’s all about showing love and being nice. Sadly, the pendulum has swung too far, and we no longer preach/teach strongly against sin.

It’s almost as though we believe we can literally love people into the baptistry by just being nice. Real repentance and conversion can only happen if there is godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10)—which means Christians have an obligation to point out sin. As Focus Press’s Jack Wilkie recently pointed out:

“The modern church would run Elijah and half the minor prophets out of town on a rail. Paul wouldn’t last long either. Not nice enough. We have no concept of when it’s time for direct speech and hard truths and when it’s time to soften our words. If your approach has no room for one or the other, it will prove useless when the time comes.”

Love is not a new concept—and it is most assuredly a biblical command. But this new emphasis of love is different from years past. This new emphasis on (misguidedly) loving our neighbor often has preachers pulling Scripture out of context so that we never confront anyone, never offend anyone, we never speak directly and boldly about sin, and that above all, we are viewed as “nice” by our lost neighbors.

Before I allow everyone to cling blindly to this concept of trying to love people into the baptistry and become silenced about sin, allow me to point out a few Truths:

  • God is love (1 John 4:8).
  • Sometimes love looks like punishing/cursing Cain and banishing him (Genesis 4:11-12).
  • Sometimes love looks like wiping out every human except 8, because their thoughts were on evil continually (Genesis 6:5-7).
  • Sometimes love looks like raining fire and brimstone and destroying cities because of immoral behavior (Genesis 19:24-25).
  • Sometimes love looks like God killing people for lying (Acts 5:3-5).
  • Sometimes love looks like turning over tables because of wickedness (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18).
  • Sometime love looks like calling people brood of vipers or hypocrites because they speak evil things and their hearts are wicked (Matthew 12:34; Matthew 23).
  • Sometimes love calling out specific unrighteous behaviors and informing people those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; see also Ephesians 5:3-5).
  • Sometimes love means calling out specific things God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19).
  • Sometimes love means calling out religious teachers and leaders for using religion for their own gain and keeping people in bondage (John 2:13-16; Mark 3:4-5).
  • Sometimes love means calling out immoral behavior (Hosea; Amos; 1 Corinthians 5)
  • Sometimes love looks like sending your Son to the cross for all of mankind (John 3:16)

Yes, God is love. So consider this:

  • The love of God is keeping His commandments (1 John 5:3; John 14:15)
  • Love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10)
  • In other words, love and reproof are NOT mutually exclusive.

To “love” is to do what God says to do in the way He says do it.

Paul wrote, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11). In other words, to be loving is to be lawful; to obey God’s commands.

Maybe instead of trying to “love” people into the baptistry, silencing Christians against confronting sin, and preaching “love, love, love,” we should spend a few weeks focusing on the full-portrait of God. Talk about His holiness. Talk about His wrath. Talk about His righteous judgment. Talk about the things He hates.

In doing so we just might prick some hearts with godly sorrow, and see repentance come back into our auditoriums.

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