A reading from a spiritual warfare passage, Revelation chapter 12, verses 7 through 12. We've read this enough times. Hopefully, this really important chapter will take root in our hearts. War was declared in heaven. Michael and his angels were to wage war with the dragon. So the dragon and his angels made war. But he was not strong enough. neither was there any place found for him in heaven anymore. So the great dragon was expelled, that ancient serpent who was called slanderer and Satan who deceives the whole inhabited world. He was thrown into the earth and his angels were expelled with him. And I heard a loud voice in the heaven saying, Now the salvation and the power have come, even the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accused them before our God day and night. And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not cherish their lives even up to death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, yes, you who are dwelling in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has little time. The devil has come down to you having great wrath, knowing that he has little time. Well, I'm not sure why that was doubled in there, but there's gotta be some reason. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this, the reading of your word, and it is our desire to honor you, to continue to worship you, to grow in our obedience to your word as we submit our hearts to it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the first 12 chapters of this book, we have seen that Satan and his demons have played a huge role in the problems of this world. I think we make a big mistake if the only time that we resist demons is when we see the very obvious, outward, occult manifestations of his work. You look at the demonic rulers, for example, that went out and influenced the empire in chapter 6, and there was one after another bringing wave after wave of demons into the Roman Empire. And you see that the demonic influence was pervasive throughout the culture. And you see the same thing in the first three chapters that deal with the churches. So the first 12 chapters show that demons stand behind wars, statism, international banking, cultural traditions, medical practices, sexual perversions, church politics, church divisions, socialism, family troubles, and a host of other things that puzzle us and trouble us. And we have seen that without Christ, there is no way that the church of Jesus Christ will have success in overturning those strongholds. I think that's the big problem in America is we have substituted the carnal weapons of the world for the weapons of Christ. And we cannot have success when we do that. It's as simple as that. Well, the two verses we're going to look at today, verses 10 through 11, powerfully display how everything in our spiritual warfare must flow from Christ. We're going to be seeing in verse 10 that even angels, get this, even perfect angels must apply Christ's salvation, His power, kingdom, and authority in their battles. Now, if angels need to do that, how much more so should we? So verse 11 points out that the only way we can triumph is if we utilize Christ's blood, Christ's word, and die to trust in ourselves and instead have faith in Christ's provision. Now, how important are these two verses? You know, we're making our way a little bit slowly through this chapter. Well, they are critically important verses, and even the structure of the book demonstrates that. Those of you who have gone through the structure know that the whole book's made as a chiasm. And then this chapter is the introduction to the heart of the book. And these two verses are the heart of this chiasm, so that we've pointed out in the pack, these two verses are the heart of the heart of this book. Very, very important verses. Now, verses 10 through 11 show a victory that has been achieved in heaven and on earth, but they illustrate that victory in a way that may seem puzzling to people who do not have eyes of faith. It might seem puzzling, first of all, to onlookers because it appears as if Satan is winning, yet it's declaring a victory on the part of the church. It seems like the church is getting annihilated. You know, if you're not looking at this through the eyes of faith, it seems like anything but victory. And it might seem puzzling. Secondly, because verses seven through nine attribute victory to Michael and his angels. And yet verse 11 attributes this victory to the saints on earth. In fact, the Greek is much stronger. The word they in verse 11 is an emphasized they that some versions have translated they themselves overcame him. It is attributing the stupendous victory of verses seven through nine to those weak saints on the earth. How could that be? One commentary. vividly describes the striking language this way. He says, that's the puzzle in this passage. Because a decisive victory has been won, but it seems that two quite different groups of people have been involved in winning it. There is war in heaven, an alarming enough concept. Michael, the great archangel of Daniel 10, summons all his angels to fight against the dragon and his angels. But wait a minute. The song of victory, which follows this great event, gives credit for the victory, not to Michael, but to God's people on earth. They conquered him says the loud voice from heaven by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, because they did not love their lives unto the death. Verse 11. So who defeated the dragon? Was it Michael or was it the martyrs? Well, in a sense it was both. The heavenly reality of the victorious battle is umbilically joined to the earthly reality of the martyr's death. What a vivid image. The commentary says it's like there's an umbilical cord that's connecting the angels in heaven with the saints who are on the earth and empowers both in their spiritual warfare. And we spent a fair bit of time in the last sermon and previous to that and other sermons showing that there is a relationship. How we don't know, but there is some relationship between, for example, our spiritual warfare prayers and the success of the warfare of angels. Both must be involved as spiritual warfare is to be one. So I like that image. It's almost as if there's an umbilical cord between the angels and humans on the earth. But it's not. Here is the other part of this puzzle. It's not that the angels empower the saints or that the saints empower the angels. It is that Christ empowers both. The umbilical cord really is connected to Christ. He's the source of 100% of their life and victory. So yes, verse 10 alludes to the angelic wars that are going on. They are battling hard. They're putting their all into this battle. But what was the means? What was the cause of their victory? Well, verse 10 says it's Christ's salvation, Christ's power, Christ's kingdom, Christ's authority. They could not have won this battle without those four things being present in their lives. Nor can we. Yes, verse 11 says that the believers on earth themselves overcame They're greatly involved in this spiritual battle, but how do they do it? They do it by the blood of the lamb, by Christ's word on their lips, and by dying to self and living solely for Christ. So ultimately, the warfare is Christ working through us. Angels could not have won this victory if they had not stood in the victory that Christ achieved in AD 30. Believers could not have won this victory without Christ's shed blood conquering Satan in A.D. 30. That's where the ultimate victory was achieved. And because the cross of Christ factors so heavily in these verses, some commentators have wrongly concluded that this battle actually was Christ's ascension in A.D. 30. Verses 7 through 11 they say happened in A.D. 30. Now I used to hold to that. And yet we already saw Michael is not Christ, even though Christ was working through him and the believers in verse 11 are not Christ, though Christ was working through them. I think it's better to see both of these armies as standing in the victory of AD 30. They stand in Christ's victory. But they themselves conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did that in battles that raged in 8066. So that's kind of a bird's eye view of these two verses. Even though we're going to settle the timing and we're going to settle some other controversies in this passage. Don't think of my trying to settle these things as being unimportant. It really spells the difference between Christ alone achieving a victory in 8030 and believers His creatures experiencing the victory of Christ in their own battles in AD 66. It's the application of Christ's victory that we are going to be speaking to. So it really is not an academic question. It's vital to our spiritual warfare. So we're gonna look at the angelic side of the warfare first. And this is actually where the first surprise occurs because we may have wrongly concluded that angels are perfect. They don't need salvation. They don't need Christ's redemption. Why would they need Christ? They are perfect. God made them without any needs, but nothing could be further from the truth. The battle of verses seven through nine was not just a tussle between two forces. It was an application of Christ's redemption to heaven itself. And I think this is so important to understand. Verse 10, and I heard a loud voice in the heaven saying, now the salvation and the power have come, even the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down who accused them before our God day and night. Now the location of this victory was in heaven. I heard a loud voice in the heaven saying, and commentators point out that verses 10 through 11 are pointing back to the battle of verses seven through nine. So, um, you know, that happened in heaven as well. So that's the location and the timing is given in the next verse. Now, When does that now occur? Well, everybody in the commentaries agree it occurs during the time that verses seven through nine is talking about Satan being cast out of heaven, but that's about as far as the agreement goes. There are basically four different opinions on the timing of this. The first opinion, is that of the dispensationalists who say that this happens sometime future to us. We don't know how distantly future to us, but sometime in the future and that we cannot experience this victory now. The reasoning is threefold and it's rather logical given their presuppositions. First, verse 11 says that the kingdom of God and the authority of Christ happens at exactly the same time as that now. And since their system believes that the kingdom and the authority of Christ happens and comes in the future, well, then the casting out of Satan has to happen in the future as well. Second, the context of verses 13 through 14 shows that Satan was cast out of heaven right before the great tribulation. And since they wrongly believe the great tribulation is in the future, well, the casting out of heaven has to be in the future as well. Makes logical sense. Third, verse 12 indicates that after Satan was kicked out of heaven, he would only have a short time left to fight on earth before he's bound in the pit. And the epistles indicate that Satan is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And their assumption is that that state is continued on into the present. So it's yet another reason why they put the battle in the future. So their exegesis is right. It's correct. It's just that their timing is wrong. The second position is held to by some omils and some post mills, and I used to hold to it myself. They say that the now must be referring to the ascension of Jesus. They point to the context of verse five, which says this, and she bore a son. a male who was about to shepherd all of the nations with the rod of iron, and her child was snatched up to God, even to his throne. So they say that the context for this great battle was the ascension of Jesus Christ to his throne. And their viewpoint actually has some very strong arguments in its favor. Those who hold to it appeal to Christ's statement in John 12, verse 31, which says this. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. Now in years past, I applied that phrase to this passage in Revelation chapter 12, and I said, okay, verses seven through nine has to take place immediately after the ascension. It's a bit awkward because it puts verse six out of context, but hey, at least it occurs after the ascension of verse five. Colossians 2.15 is another verse that they use. Paul uses the past tense in that verse to say that Jesus disarmed principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. And I took that to be at his ascension. So at least on the surface, those verses seem to fit. And they say, well, perhaps this is referring to exactly the same thing. Now let me give you three things that have made me change my mind and to take the third position that some people hold to. And that is that this declaration, this battle occurred immediately before the war against Jerusalem that's referred to in verse 14. It occurred right before that. In other words, this third position says that this all occurred in AD 66 when Jewish, Roman, and Christian historians say that everybody saw these battles in the heavenlies. They saw the angelic chariots. They saw these battles. Now, I've already mentioned that there are three reasons why I changed my view to this view. The first reason is that there is a difference between what Christ accomplished in his death, resurrection, and ascension, and how we creatures do battle in the strength of Christ's finished work. There's a big difference between those two. The two victories in Revelation 12, 10 through 11, are accomplished by creatures who act upon, who apply Christ's victory in history. And I'll talk about that a bit more. Second, every one of those passages that they appeal to, for an 80-30 fulfillment refers to the cross of Christ, not to the ascension of Christ. So even their interpretation does not fit the order in verses, the verses we're looking at in chapter 12, Revelation 12. Revelation 12 makes clear that the war had to take place after Christ's ascension, in verse 5, and before the Great Tribulation, or the Great War, in verse 14. And the verses about Christ's victory I just read, all of them are clearly rooted in the cross, not in the ascension. For example, Colossians 2.15 is crystal clear that it was on the cross that Jesus disarmed principalities and powers, made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it, the it referring to the cross. And it actually, the first time I recognized that this was a cross, I kept looking it up in commentaries, because I'd always applied that to the ascension. But no, it was through his weakness of blood, his death, that Satan was destroyed. It was through his shame and his exposure that he shames and exposes the enemies. He makes them powerless. As one commentary worded it, the cross on which Christ died is compared to the chariot in which the victor rode in triumph. Well, the cross comes 43 days before his ascension. It just does not fit the order of Revelation 12. John 12, 31, the other passage I quoted, indicates that it was as a result of Jesus being lifted up on the cross that he would judge the world and that he would cast Satan out. So that passage doesn't fit this context either. John 12 31 indicates that the cross was the legal victory that Jesus won. This chapter is discussing more than a legal victory. It is discussing actual warfare, actual application of Christ's legal victory to one specific event in history. And in doing so, I think what it does is it's teaching us how we need to stand in His victory in every age, every age. Third, the flow of Revelation 12 seems to indicate that the timing of this war was AD 66 as well. Take a look at verses five through six again. The first sentence of verse five deals with the birth of Jesus. And she bore a son, a male who was about to shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron. She bore a son. Okay, so that's referring to the birth of Christ. The second sentence of verse five jumps forward 33 and a half years to his ascension. from a birth to the ascension, and her child was snatched up to God, even to his throne. The next sentence in verse six is another jump forward, this time 36 years. And the woman fled into the wilderness to where she has a place prepared by God. Now that flight took place in 8066, just a few months before the three and a half year war against Jerusalem. And you might think, well, what about the last clause of verse six? Doesn't that push this all the way up to 8070? Doesn't that push it all the way up to after the three and a half year war? And I say, no, the last clause of verse six gives the purpose statement for fleeing to Pella. Okay, that place had been prepared in order, here's the purpose statement, to protect her during those 1,260 days, that's the first half of the war. But it's not until verse 14, that the purpose clause is actually lived out in history. And in verse 14, John makes it crystal clear that the three and a half year war took place when? Immediately after the heavenly war of verses seven through nine. There's a sequence there. So the last clause of verse six anticipates the war by giving the reason for the woman's flight But the flight itself happens in 8066, and that's where verse seven picks up. And actually that settles a fourth interpretation, that the war took place in 8070. I've seen a couple of preterists who have taken that position. So the third position is 8066, the fourth position is 8070. And if the only verses you read are the first nine verses, 8070 makes perfect sense, no contradiction. But verses 12 through 13 definitively show that the three and a half year war by the Romans against Jerusalem occurred after Satan had been cast out. That's why he's so ticked off. He's trying to go after the woman. He can't find the woman. You know, the land swallows up all of his venom that he spews out of his mouth. What's the land? That's Israel and the sea, Rome. So he's trying to go after the church and he ends up destroying his tools, Rome and Israel. So the order, I think, it's fairly certain that verses 7 through 9 occurs in 8066, not in 8030 or 70. Now, if you disagree, it's not the end of the world. 8030 is fine. That's when the legal basis for victory was achieved. But let me explain on my timing how even angels must apply the cross of Christ in history. Everything flows from the cross. There is no facet of the reversal of the fall that could happen apart from Christ's redemption. In other words, you need to not just be cross-centered in AD 30, you need to be cross-centered in everything else that happens in history. Now let's look first at the source of victory. The loud voice in heaven says, now the salvation and the power have come, even the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accused them before our God day and night. Now the salvation was already won by Christ on the cross, but now it has come. Now it has been applied to a specific event in history. The power of Christ's kingdom over the devil was demonstrated on the cross, but now it has powerfully come in a remarkable way. So it's a specific application of that redemptive power. The text also mentions the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God was already demonstrated long before his ascension. It was demonstrated in his ministry while he was here on earth, but now it has come in a powerful way to heaven. So the kingdom bought and sealed by Christ's death has an application with the casting out of Satan. And we're gonna see exactly what that looks like. It mentions the authority of Christ. And you might say, well, didn't Christ already have authority while he was here on earth? Yes, he did. And certainly his authority was vindicated in his death and resurrection and ascension, but it is now exercised in a way that reverses something that had been unchanged since the time of the fall. It reverses. So there's one historical manifestation of an already existing legal reality. As one commentary worded it, Michael the Archangel was enforcing the legal verdict that was already won on the cross. Okay. So that's, that's where we're going. I want us to look at each one of those words. He says, now the salvation has come. And again, you might've thought, Why would heaven need salvation? Why would angels need salvation? They did. Not salvation the way we need it, because we have to be saved from our own sins. But what is salvation anyway? Salvation is deliverance from sin and from Satan. And if sin and Satan is removed from heaven, they are delivered from the misery of having to be around those people. and to be around the demonic accusations. So let's look at that. Matthew 121 says Jesus came to save us from our sins and there are stages to that salvation. We have been meritoriously saved in the cross of Christ. You could say that's when we got saved at the cross. We were judicially saved from the penalty of sin in our justification. We are being progressively saved from the power of sin in our sanctification. And we will be saved. So a lot of scriptures that talk about the future, our future salvation, we will be saved from the presence of sin in our glorification. Okay. All of that is labeled salvation in scripture. Well, when you apply that concept of being delivered from sin, you can see how they would say salvation has come to heaven. Sin has been swept out. It's no longer present. Same for Satan. We're saved not just from sin, but from Satan. 1 John 3, 8 says, for the purpose, for this purpose, the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. So that verse is indicating that salvation not only involves saving us from the authority, penalty, power, and presence of sin, it also involves saving us from the authority, power, and presence of Satan and his demonic armies. So wherever you think that this passage occurred, 8030, 8070, off in the future, it was an application of salvation in its fullest sense. No longer would sinners like Satan have access to heaven. It was cleansed, it was saved from the presence of sin and Satan. And here's the takeaway I have. That foreshadows the trajectory for his kingdom. This is what's eventually going to happen on earth. Christ's purpose will not be finished on earth until earth is saved, delivered from the presence of sin and of Satan. There's coming a day when that's going to happen. It's going to be forever purged from the earth. Now what about the next word? Now the salvation and the power have come. You might say, well, Christ's power was already present. In what sense did his power come? Didn't he have power on earth? Yes, he did have supernatural powers demonstrated when he conquered death and his resurrection. It was demonstrated in his ascension, you know, above all principalities and powers. But it was, um, it was, there was something that came. of Christ's power through the angels. See, Michael and his angels were standing in the power of Christ in this war, and they're bringing that redemptive power to heaven. What Christ accomplished in his death, resurrection, and ascension, Michael the archangel was now applying in history. By the way, I do see the battles of heaven as being a part of history. It's not supra-history, it's a part of history. So heaven was modeling how we must war, Okay. We must receive his salvation, his power. And the next phrase says we must receive his kingdom as well. And in what sense did the kingdom of God come and the authority of Christ come in 80, 66, you know, the skeptic might ask, well, wasn't Jesus given all authority and heaven and on earth, uh, in, in 80 30. Well, yes, he was actually, he was given that before the Ascension. He said that before his Ascension, didn't he? All authority has been given. But he also assumed a position of authority at his ascension. And you might say, okay, well, yeah, he exercised authority in his ministry. He's got a position. How could you go any further than that? Well, the answer is that When it comes to creaturely application of Christ's benefits, Christ's kingdom comes more and more, and His authority is accomplished more and more, and the cleansing of heaven was one manifestation of His kingdom and authority having come. They operated in His authority just like we must. Here's how Beal's commentary words it. The victory won through Christ's blood must be the basis not only for the saint's earthly victory, but also for Michael's triumph in heaven. And what was the evidence of the victory? Verse 10 says, because The accuser of our brothers has been thrown down who accused them before our God day and night We looked at that some last week, so I won't dwell on that But what a marvelous victory it was in the Old Testament Job is one example Satan was constantly accusing people causing trouble before the court of heaven over their sins. He can't do that anymore in John Zechariah chapter 3 he's accusing Joshua the high priest, and he's actually hindering Joshua's ministry. I was going to read that passage because it's a marvelous passage, but I thought now there's not enough time for it. Look it up sometime. Zechariah chapter three, the accusations hindering the ministry of Joshua the high priest until Christ's redemption is provisionally applied in his life and he gains victory and Satan no longer has any access to him. So it's really hard for us to fathom the depth of privilege that we have with Satan being cast out of heaven and no longer able to bring any accusations against the throne. It's huge. It's awesome. Now John moves his focus then to the earthly participants in this victory and that the location is earth can be seen first by the last phrase of verse 10, that he was thrown down, not up, but down. Okay. And also by verse 12, which says, therefore rejoice. So heavens, yes, you are dwelling in them. Whoa, to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you having great wrath, knowing that he has little time. So two victories in these verses. There is the victory in heaven, which is complete and full, and there is the victory on earth, which is progressive and ongoing, but the two are somehow vitally linked. And the timing in verses 11 through 17 is clearly during a time when, wow, things look like anything but victory. The Jewish remnant was holed up in Pella. The Gentile remnant looked like it was ready to be completely extincted, that's not a word, extinguished on the verge of extinction. There we go. How could God say that these Christians who were being butchered were winning? It was a horrible time. But just as Michael the archangel began enforcing the legal verdict against Satan in heaven, the Christian remnant began to have the faith to enforce that same verdict on earth. By the way, Jesus questioned one time, will they indeed have faith when he comes? And he's referring to this coming here. Will they have faith? There was a question because there was such apostasy that happened in those last days of the old covenant that Jesus said if it was not for God's intervention All of them would have been wiped out. So the question is, will there be faith? Apparently there was faith to win the victory, says Revelation chapter 12. And heaven became the paradigm for earth. Here's how Vic Reisner words it. Paul wrote the Romans in AD 57 that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Romans 16 verse 20. The kingdom of God was replacing the kingdoms of this world. The heavenly saints would have to wait a little time longer, chapter six, verse 11, and then Satan would be bound as the church began to enforce the legal verdict on earth, which Michael enforced in heaven. So yes, these were tough times, but John was giving the beleaguered saints faith that their actions were winning the victory in time and in history, and that their labors in the Lord were not in vain. And because they believed John's eschatology of hope, they achieved the impossible. They believed that the Great Commission was possible. impossible in their own strength, but possible because God commanded it. Just like that paralytic, you know, Jesus came to him and he said, stretch forth your hand. He could have said, well, you gotta heal it first. No, Jesus commanded him to do the impossible by faith, and just as that paralytic stretched forth his hand, did the impossible by faith. God healed him at that moment. It's the same way. They, by faith, realized that they could do what God commands them to do and they could do it by his strength. And because they attempted the impossible by faith, they saw Rome converted within two lifetimes. If you study church history, it is phenomenal. They had something we don't have in those first centuries. They had faith in God's promises. They had an eschatology of hope. You read the church fathers from those early centuries, They had an invincible faith that God was going to win and the Great Commission was going to be fulfilled and every nation was going to be converted. I wish we had that faith again. They had a faith to expect great things from God and to attempt great things for him. Now in contrast, the various forms of pessimilennialism of today have insisted that faith and hope in the future is heresy. I'm not kidding. They actually say if you've got faith and hope in the future, you're a heretic. This is what the church has always had in the past. They've turned everything on its head. It appears that pessimism and defeat are to be the expected norm in their circles. One Amillennialist said this, the world is filled with sin and getting worse, a hopeless situation beyond repair and impossible to salvage. Wow, those are words to cheer on the troops. Okay? Amillennialists aren't the only ones, only pessimillennialists. One pessimistic dispensationalist said, without the hope of our Lord's return, what future do any of us have? So that's not the fighting spirit that John was trying to instill in the church. Joseph Balliott rightly points out, the church has been paralyzed by its false, short-term, pessimistic, predestined view of the future. The enthroned Christ, who has been given all power and authority and dominion, has stretched forth his mighty hand to the paralyzed cripple and said, arise, take up your mat, and walk. Now it takes faith for a paralyzed you know, paralytic to, okay, I'll pick up my mat and walk. It takes faith to do what he's always his whole life been told you can't do. Okay, but because Christ commanded it, he believed it and he arose. And it's my prayer that Christians who are defeated in our day and age would believe these words and overcome the evil one with the same faith. Now, what's the cure for pessimism? I think it's a renewed faith and confidence in three powerful tools that Christ has given to the church. Now granted, these tools look ridiculous to the world. They look utterly powerless to the world, but they really are powerful. First tool is the blood of Christ. And almost every hymn we've been singing in this worship service references the blood of Christ. Verse 11 says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. Now to the world that seems strange. In what ways does Christ's blood overcome Satan, overcome demons? Why must they flee when we apply the blood of Christ to our minds, to our bodies, to our families, and to our church? It's not just talking about getting saved. Obviously we have to apply the blood of Christ when we initially get saved, but this is talking about blood-bought, already saved people who are continuing to overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb. Let me show you four ways that Christ's blood gives us victory over demons. Christ's blood can be claimed to cleanse us from ongoing sins that might make us weak and vulnerable before Satan. Since Satan loves to accuse us by means of our sins, we can shut Satan's mouth by appealing to the blood of Christ, which cleanses us from all sins. not just the little sins, but all sin. First John 1 7 says, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sin. Now, who's he talking to? Not unbelievers. He's talking to us, he's talking to believers. Believers confess their sins, believers are cleansed from their sins by claiming his blood. But lack of forgiveness results in lack of power in prayer. 1 Peter 3 warns husbands to dwell with their wives with understanding, giving honor to the wife as the weaker vessel, lest your prayers be hindered. Sin against your wife can make you totally powerless in prayer. Psalm 66 verse 18 says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. Without prayer, we are powerless against Satan. And I can tell you story after story of men and women who had previously been able to cast out demons, suddenly becoming powerless and unable to do so, mystified, what is going on? Satan's completely overpowered me. And then the Holy Spirit convicts them because they have harbored bitterness in their heart, or they've harbored some other sin in their hearts. If you have secret sins that aren't cleansed in the blood of Christ, You have no victory. You have no power over Satan. It's impossible. But 1 John 5, 18 says, we know that whoever is born of God does not keep on sinning, but he was born of God guards himself and the wicked one does not touch him. So that's another reason why forgiveness by the blood of Christ enables us to have victory over Satan. And I think you need to examine yourselves. If you have not had victory in your life, ask yourself, are there any hidden sins I have not put under the blood of Christ? Or have I, in some other way, not applied the blood of Christ? So let me give you another way in which being forgiven and cleansed in the blood of Christ gives us power over Satan. Satan, frequently, as I've mentioned many times before, claim legal ground to afflict us, mess around with us. For example, 2 Corinthians 2, 10 through 11 says, when we fail to forgive each other, Satan can take advantage of us. So what Gary was talking about earlier, lack of forgiveness is foundational to our victory in Jesus. Hosea 6 says that when believers engage in idolatry, Satan can overcome them, even leading them into physical adultery. It's like, well, what did adultery have to do with the demonic? But yeah, the idolatry gave legal ground for Satan to start messing around in their lives, and they lost power. They lost discernment. Ended up in adultery. Ephesians 4.26. It says that when we do not resolve anger, we let the sun go down on our anger, we give an opportunity for Satan to get into our lives. Some translate the Greek word there, give Satan a foothold in our lives. Unconfessed sin gives Satan a foothold. It's a scary thing to not be cleansed of the blood of Christ moment by moment, but when we put our sins under the blood of Christ, Satan has nothing on us. He cannot get a foothold. Satan loves to bring fear and bondage, but 1 Peter 1 19 says that Christ's blood buys us back from fear and bondage Satan loves to torment our consciences, but Hebrews 9 14 says that Christ's blood frees us from a guilty conscience Any work that Satan might try to do to make us ineffective Christ's blood can wash away So when we appeal to the cleansing of Christ's blood, we're free cleanse conscience is a huge part of the victory that we can have over the satanic and And so that's the first way in which the blood of Christ helps us to overcome Satan. It removes sins that makes us weak. Second, Hebrews 9, 13 through 14 says that Christ's blood sanctifies us and gives us what we need in the Christian life. Think of this as the price paid. We can claim the price of Christ's blood for anything that we ask from the Father. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says Jesus has already purchased a huge bank account in heaven for us. We've been blessed with every spiritual blessing. So if you need wisdom, You claim the price of Christ's blood and you say, Lord, it's already purchased for me. Would you please give me the wisdom I need for this day? Do you lack power? First Corinthians 1 18 says the cross is the power of God for believers. All of the put ons can be claimed by faith. If we see Christ's blood as the password, so to speak for our online account, got to have a password to get access to that account, right? So his blood is that password. So the first benefit of the blood under forgiveness is is the put offs The second is the put ons the third benefit is protection from the attacks of demons And the demons have somehow we don't always know why but somehow gained access into our home and there have been times when demons have gained access to our home and I very literally walk around our house and anoint the doors of our house with oil and I say something along these lines. Lord, I dedicate this house to you. Just as the Israelites applied the blood of the lambs to their houses and to their doorways, I apply Christ's blood to this house and I give it unreservedly to Christ. Whatever sins have given demons access to this house, I put them under the blood of Christ. and I claim the protection of Christ's Passover blood. Please send your warrior angels to escort all demons out. They no longer have legal ground here. This is your house." We have the legal right to appeal to His blood when demons attack us. Christ's cross disarmed principalities and powers, according to Colossians 2.15. It was the basis for destroying all of the works of the devil, according to 1 John 3.8. So that's the defensive aspect of the blood. But lastly, those same scriptures indicate that every advancement of the kingdom flows from redemption as well. When we pray that God's kingdom would come, that His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven, One of the reasons that we can give to the Father as to why he should answer our prayer is that Christ has earned that. Okay, do this for the sake of your son, Lord. So blood is important. You almost never see preachers preaching on blood. I was actually at a, I won't tell you what denomination it was in, but it was a church in California that had grown from 50 people to I think over 2,000 people And all of the PCA people were flocking over to see how they grew their church. And they took the hook them and crook them kind of approach. And they said, in order to hook the men, you've got to take anything offensive out of the worship service. Well, guess what? One of the offensive things they took out of the worship service that would gross people out. They just wouldn't understand. We can talk about the blood on Wednesday, but on Sunday, there's no mention of blood. And I say that is horrific denial of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And yet this is a church that's a model. They took all kinds of other things that are at the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think you'd be startled if you knew what denomination this was a flagship for. But we fall into the same, the same problem when we do not avail ourselves of the blood of Christ in our battles. were really no different. And I was shocked over there. And yet, how many times have I had Satan taking advantage of me because I have not availed myself of the blood of Christ? In fact, I've had times where the demonic was so strong, I couldn't hardly breathe, could hardly get the words out. But as soon as I claimed the blood of Christ verbally and the word of Christ, the scriptures, I was released, let go. When you're on the front lines of the battlefield, Satan can come after you, but this is an incredibly powerful tool. Do not downplay the importance of the blood. Now, the authority of the word is the next tool. Second source of victory is the word of God that these saints had put upon their lips. They conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. Now, Beal and Lenski and many other commentaries point out that the way Revelation uses that phrase, The word of their testimony shows a personalization of the scriptures on the lips of the saints. Quoting scriptures against Satan is an absolutely critical part of our weaponry. Lenski says, a second reason is added because of the word of their testimony. This is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, chapter one, verse nine, of which chapter six, verse nine says, which they held. The blood is the expiatory cause, the word and testimony, the mediatory cause. Dia with the accusative, both times to express cause. It is their testimony as received and held, chapter six, verse nine, by faith. Christ made it, they held it. Now, how do we do this? Simple, just imitate Jesus. Jesus modeled for us. Every time he got tempted, what did he do? He said, get behind me, Satan, for it is written. And then he would quote a scripture pointed precisely to the opposite of what that temptation was. And what happened? Satan had to flee every time. You know, in James, it says, resist the devil, he will flee from you. How do we resist? We resist the way that Jesus did. We quote the scriptures. It's a powerful tool. And when wielded properly, they must flee. Uh, sometimes I have been confronted with a demon possessed people. Thankfully, not very often. And it's actually been a few years, but I have found authoritatively quoting Key scriptures about Christ's authority over demons has instantly calmed these people down to a rational point where I could talk with them and minister to them and explain the gospel to these people. I've shared many times how even in my own personal life, I have used the scriptures to resist Satan for purity of mind, for overcoming other temptations to get angry, to get bitter, whatever. but we need to hide God's word in our hearts so that it becomes so much a part of us that there is an instant recall of God's word that we can use against Satan. Until you've memorized and meditated upon scripture, it's not really your testimony, okay? God's word must become a part of us. Now, the third weak tool that gives us power is dying to self. What on earth does that mean? Well, it's really the flip side of the coin of faith. Dying to self is the flip side of the coin of faith. So on the opposite side of faith is repentance, dying to self, not trusting ourselves, but you can't have one without the other. So faith, repentance, dying to self, repentance are part of one coin. And verse 11, ends by saying they did not cherish their lives even up to the death. Now Beal points out that the grammar makes it very clear that this is not just applied to martyrs, this is applied to all God's people. The first part of the clause, they did not cherish their lives, points to a lifestyle of self-sacrifice for Christ. And the second phrase, even up to death, doesn't mean that they all do die, but they are willing to be self-sacrificial even to the point of death if God calls them to die. And when you've given everything to Christ in this way, you automatically start living by faith because having given everything to God, you have nothing but the resources of Christ to rely on. In Luke 14, 27, Jesus said, whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Wow, those are tough words. If you're not willing to bear your cross, follow him. That's dying to self. You can't be as a few verses later. He says, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. There was a cost to discipleship. There was a cost to victory in Matthew 16, verse 25, Jesus worded it this way for whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, we'll save it. So the bottom line principle is this, those who want power over the world of flesh and the devil must daily die to their own selfish desires and ask Christ to live his life through them. And it's when we lay down our own agendas and we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, that God adds to us life and meaning and purpose and power and everything else that we need for victory. So how do you embrace Christ's salvation, power, kingdom, and authority in verse 10? You do so by dying to your own methods of salvation and power and kingdom and authority. And again, it's the flip side of faith. One of the ironies of life is that when we selfishly seek first our own life and kingdom, God takes away even what we have. The life of victory and satisfaction only comes to those who are abandoned to self. And they seek Christ. Now, does that mean everything's going to be hunky dory? Everything's going to be roses and sugar. No, in fact, Satan is the most upset with those who are sold out to Christ. And the next verses show the fury of Satan unleashed upon the church after his loss in heaven. But those verses also show God's protection and his loving care for his elect. So the war is not over only the first battle. you know, has been won, but the war is not over. And next week, we're going to pick up on the intensity of that battle. But the bottom line is that verses 10 through 11 show that victory in time and history is achievable by every one of us. Even the weakest of us can have victory. This victory that we ourselves experience is somehow tightly connected with the warfare of angels. But most importantly, it is grounded in the victory that Jesus already achieved on the cross. The weakness of the cross becomes the power of God unto salvation. May every one of us stand in that power. Amen. Father, we thank you for your word. Even the difficult portions of your word contain nourishment for our souls. And I pray that you would help us to live out the cross in our day-by-day walk. Help us to learn to recognize the demonic, first of all, and to battle against it, to resist it with all of our might. and help us not to neglect that third triad of the world, the flesh, and the devil. And we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.