This morning, let me invite you to take your copy of God's Word and open up to Revelation, chapter 12, verses one through six. If you are not familiar with the Bible, it's very easy to find Revelation because it is the last book. So if you go all the way to the end, you will find it there. If you don't have a copy of God's Word, you can find this text on page 1034 in the Bible in the seat rack in front of you. Hear now God's word. And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs and in the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon, seven heads and 10 horns, and on its head seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she bore her child, he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was caught up to God and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she, has a place prepared by God in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our God endures forever. Let us pray one more time. Father, this morning would you show us Jesus, and may you implant upon our hearts His victory. Amen. If you haven't noticed, it is Christmas. Or the Christmas season. I don't know what gave it away, whether the snow or the Decorations, I personally love Christmas. It's one of my favorite times of the years. And it's a favorite time in the Poulton household. And it's a favorite time for many because of all of the festivities and the activities and the traditions and the parties that accompany the season. And Christmas is usually so busy because there's usually so much to do. especially as you think about decorating your home and transforming it, forming it into something of a hallmark gift shop. So this Christmas, as you think about your homes, what decorations have you put up thus far? I'm guessing at minimum at this point you have a Christmas tree up with various decorations that you have gathered throughout the years and various ornaments on that tree. But then you have all the little Christmas knickknacks around the house. Some mistletoe, some wreaths, Christmas lights and more. And I bet at least one person here has set up in their homes a nativity set. Now, as you probably have guessed by this point, I have a lot of thoughts on lots of things, and I have two thoughts on nativity sets. First, I'm sorry to say this, but most of them are just complete scams. If you think about it, if you get the nice one, that little angel tree manger and that shepherd together usually cost something over like $200. Also, conversations with my children have revealed that nativity sets bring up interesting theological questions. Like what do you do with the second commandment and images of Jesus? Or quite practically, whether you actually put a little baby in that little manger in your set or you just leave it in the box. But if you have a nativity set at home, I wonder what images make up that scene. Of course you need Mary and Joseph, the earthly parents of Jesus. Maybe you have some barn animals, a cow, some sheep, sleeping peacefully around the manger. And then of course you need the special guests. You need the shepherds, you need the wise men, some angels, and whoever else Hallmark is trying to sell you on their clearance section this Christmas. But if you have a nativity set, I bet that you have one essential character who is missing. And this is a character that you're not gonna find at a Hobby Lobby, and you're not gonna find it at a Christian bookstore. For this character, you need to drive to your local Walmart, maybe your Meijer toy section, and you need to go in there, you need to find a large, fire-breathing dragon. And what you need to do is that you need to take those angels and move it over and move the shepherds over and even put Mary and Joseph and take them to the side and place that dragon right there, mouth open wide, in front of the manger. Now that may not exactly be how you and I imagined that first Christmas, but that's the exact image that the Apostle John has in his mind in our text this morning. This morning we're taking a trip off of the beaten path of traditional Christmas sermons, and we are considering the Bible's only apocalyptic Christmas story, and it's Revelation chapter 12. And this story is very important, for it reminds us of a detail that would be so easy for you and I to miss this Christmas and this holiday season. Because as we think about Christmas, it's so easy for us to focus on all of the highlights, all of the joy and the love and the hope and the peace that we feel. But what you and I cannot overlook is the central reason why we feel this way. And the central reason why Christmas occurred in the first place. Because first and foremost, our text reminds us that Christmas is the story of a battle, a war zone, a cosmic conflict that is coming to its conclusion. And this morning John wants to remind you and me that the joy and the hope and the peace that we feel at Christmas is because our conquering king has finally come. And Christmas reminds us that God will protect and deliver his people, you and me, from Satan because of Jesus' decisive victory over him. in his birth, in his life, in his death, in his resurrection. And that's why we celebrate Christmas. And that's the message that John's first audience, a persecuted church, needed to hear. And that is a message that today all of us need to hear and think about once more. And we're gonna do so by considering three points. First, an ancient enemy. Second, an ancient conflict. And third, an ancient king. Now as we begin this study of this section of Revelation, I think we need to stop and take an honest look at the content of our text. Because for all intents and purposes, Revelation is a strange book. And the reason why Revelation is strange is because it's filled with all sorts of dramatic imagery. Images of animals with many heads and many horns and many eyeballs. as well as images of dragons and fantastical beasts. But this morning, as Christians, we confess that what we see in our text is not the product of some drug-induced hallucination. Rather, the book of Revelation is scripture. It is therefore true. It is inerrant. It is infallible. And as we know, it is also profitable for our instruction as Christians. And as scripture, we also need to see that revelation is in the genre of apocalypse. Now, as we discussed in our sermon series on 1 John, the word apocalypse does not actually mean end times. The word apocalypse comes from the Greek word for uncover or to reveal. And that's what John is doing in Revelation. As the final book of scripture, The Holy Spirit is revealing to the Apostle John a vision that takes a step back and looks at all of redemptive history, including the end of time, and it uses dramatic and somewhat startling imagery to reveal to us as people today spiritual realities that are at work within the world as history is moving towards its consummation with the return of Christ. That's what Revelation is doing, it's trying to pull back the curtains so we can see the realities that are at work within the world today. As Christians take comfort and hope and look towards Christ's return. But one of the other things that you and I need to see about our text is how biblically saturated the book of Revelation truly is. Revelation has very few explicit citations of previous portions of the Bible, but every scene is absolutely dripping with allusions to the entire canon of Scripture, which is what makes it such a fitting conclusion for us at the end of our Bibles as we await the return of Christ. And so let's hop into our text this morning as we get our bearings and approach our first point. If you look down at verse one, verse one opens up with this dramatic scene of a radiant woman sitting in the heavens, verse one. And a great sign appeared in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars. If you look down at verse one, there are several details worth noting. First, this woman is quite literally radiant. She is being clothed with the sun. This woman is using the sun, the largest object in our solar system, as her garment. Her feet are resting upon the moon, and on her head is a crown with 12 stars. And as you consider the image in this text, you should immediately think about the word authority. To rest your foot upon something, to put your foot upon something, such as an enemy's neck, or a place of symbolic importance, is a picture of dominance, of having the upper hand. And so the fact that this woman, continuing on, is also crowned, reveals that she is a regal figure. She is one who is intended to rule. She has authority. Her feet are on the moon. She has this crown filled with the stars. And as we look at this scene, let us not overlook the scale of these images. This woman is a galactic figure. To this woman, the moon is nothing but a footstool. And the stars, which we know in their size, are only what is to adorn her brow. Her size reveals the grandeur of this scene. John here is not looking at a regional event, but cosmic realities that inform all of redemptive history, including our own lives. Now one of the main questions that people may have as they approach this text is this, who actually is this woman? Well, this text gives us several clues of the identity of this woman. And this woman represents the collective people of God, the visible church, Old Testament Israel. the New Testament church. And there are several good reasons for us to reach this conclusion. For one, it is common in both the Old and New Testament for the people of God to be referred to as a woman or as a bride, either bound to God by covenant, think of Hosea, or betrothed to Christ, Ephesians chapter five. And the image of the sun and the moon and 12 stars should provoke in our minds a vision given long ago to the patriarch Joseph, who imagined his father as the sun and his mother as the moon, and the 12 sons, 12 tribes of Israel represented as the 12 stars. That's one sign that this is the collective people of God, but also in Revelation 12, 17, This woman is not depicted as just having one child, but many children, many offspring that the dragon would pursue. A foretelling So bring reminder of the deadly persecution that was to befall the church in the days ahead. But also in verse two we see another sign that this is the collective people of God. For verse two tells us that this woman is pregnant. She is crying out as the agonies of giving birth overtake her. Now many people may naturally conclude then that this woman is Mary, the mother of Jesus. And of course she is included in this picture, but it is not just Mary, this is the people of God. In places such as Isaiah 26, 17 through 21, we see scripture ascribing to God's people their longing for salvation as labor pains. It's Isaiah 26, 17 through 21 if you want to look it up later. God's people longing for a desire like a woman longing to give birth when the desires and the inclination to bring the labor to completion comes upon her. So what do we see here? We see the people of God longing and desiring the coming of a Savior. And this longing and desire is depicted as a woman in labor. Now one of the main things that defines a woman in a state of labor is the word helpless. Childbirth can get quite dicey with the loss of blood and the potential complications. And in childbirth, there's not much to do but to just succumb to the natural processes of labor as the pregnancy reaches its conclusion. And that's why next in our text, the picture here is startling. Because as the pangs of birth come upon this woman, John reveals that she is in grave danger. As John writes in verse three, and another sign, in the heavens, in heaven, behold, a great red dragon. Point one, an ancient enemy. Now, as you and I think about a dragon, and the picture that's probably being depicted here in this text, you and I should not think of a Nordic or a Scandinavian fire-breathing dragon, like Smaug in Tolkien's The Hobbit. But rather, this biblical depiction of a dragon is most likely referring to a sea serpent, a long, scaly beast, the Leviathan, which is depicted in multiple places across the Old Testament, such as Job 41. And in this passage, we learn that like the woman being this larger than life figure, we also learn that this dragon is as well as large and imposing. And that's what makes it quite dangerous. In verse four, we see that his tail is long enough and it is strong enough to sweep out the stars of the heavens. like you at home with your duster, sweeping out the cobwebs in the corner of the rooms of your home. And like the woman, we also see that this dragon is depicted as having great power, great royalty, but of a different kind. For if you know your Bible, then you will know that this dragon is presented as a great and powerful beast. far greater than any of the enemies that God's people have faced up to this point. For if you just consider the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter eight, instead of one of the enemies of God's people having one horn or another one having two horns, this dragon has seven heads, 10 horns, seven crowns on his head. And note, seven and 10 being numbers of completion. 10 horns, complete power. Seven crowns, complete authority. If you know many stories, you know that many stories that include the battle between the forces of good and evil have a similar narrative. It's very often that the side of the good will encounter various minions and various servants of the evil side in the story, until at the end, as it's going towards its conclusion, the big bad guy is revealed, setting up the final confrontation. Friends, that's what's going on in our text this morning. If we look at all of redemptive history, behind every enemy of God's people, behind every foe that you and I encounter in this life, behind every demonic force at work in the world is this dragon, Satan, Lucifer, the morning star, a fallen angel. who long ago led a cosmic rebellion in the heavens and still ravages the people of God to this day. And so at this point, you and I must confront an interesting question. What is this dragon doing here? Why is there such evil in this heavenly delivery room? Why is it so important that this ancient evil does not just send a minion or a servant, but he himself is there to ensure that his wicked intentions are carried out. For that answer, we must visit our second point, an ancient conflict, an ancient conflict. It does not take long for us as we read our passage to realize that there is some deep animosity between the woman and the dragon in our passage. For those who regularly read the Bible, we cannot allow familiarity to keep us from recognizing how truly grotesque and graphic this picture is. Because as this woman is about to give birth, the dragon is getting in position, not to help the child enter the world, but to bite and to devour the child. And so why? Why is this here? Why is this conflict unfolding? Well, the rest of scripture confirms that this serpent's demonic intentions began long before this final encounter between the woman and the dragon. Truly, as Jesus says in John 10, the thief comes only to steal, to kill, and destroy. and has been doing so from the beginning. In verse four, if you look down at it, this reference to a serpent's tail, the dragon's tail sweeping down a third of the stars of the heavens is most likely a reference to a prophecy foretold in Daniel 8, 10. For Daniel 8 uses the language of throwing down the stars of heaven and trampling them. to foretell one of the greatest periods of persecution that God's people faced within the intertestamental period, that period between the Old and New Testament. This period is not often explored by Christians today, but those within John's day would have been very familiar with this reference, this prophecy, and the story of Antiochus Epiphanes. A pagan general, Antiochus Epiphanes, invaded and conquered Jerusalem in 168 BC. And after slaughtering many Jews with his conquest, moving in from the region of Assyria to Egypt, Antiochus does the unimaginable. He, an unclean Gentile, enters the temple. and he sacrifices upon the altar of the temple in Jerusalem, the house of God, and the symbol of God's presence among his people, an unclean pig. Antiochus desecrates the holiness of God, and something that is so searing, so tragic, so assaulting upon the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that God's people could only assign it. to Satan himself. But why? We still need to answer the question, why? Why this conflict? Why this hostility between the serpent and the people of God? For that question, we once more must return to the beginning of the Bible. For we see in Genesis chapter three that this dragon makes his first appearance as a crafty serpent. And you know the story. In Genesis chapter three we see this serpent tempting our first parents, Adam and Eve, to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan puts before our first parents the lie that by disobeying God's commandments they could become like God. Only if they ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And eat they did. eating of the fruit, and in doing so, our first parents brought sin and suffering and death into God's good and perfect world. Now it's important for us to avoid speculation. I am guessing, though, that when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree, I bet the serpent thought that he had won. He had destroyed God's plans. He had shattered man's relationship with God. He had ensured that man would forfeit his place as God's representative upon the earth. That man would have to be done with and no longer have fellowship with God. In tempting Adam and Eve, Satan was successful. He accomplished his purposes. In his mind, God's plans for the world and for man were ruined. But then God does the unexpected. To Adam and Eve, God speaks a word of grace. Yes, man would die spiritually. Yes, they would see the consequences of their sin. But man would still fulfill the original purpose that God had for the human race. So much so that Adam would call his wife Eve, meaning the mother of all living, after sin had entered the world in Genesis 3.20. And while God spoke to Adam and Eve a word of grace, God spoke to the serpent a word of judgment, of condemnation, and ultimately future defeat. For in Genesis 3.15, God reveals to Satan a plan. One day, a man would come who would destroy the works of the devil. And this man would restore the world to the way that it was supposed to be. And in doing so, he, this man, would destroy the serpent's plants. Defeating Satan once and for all by mortal combat. by crushing the serpent's head with his own foot. And in this passage, the Lord God gives to Satan a vision and a word that foretells how this would happen. This savior-conquering king would come in one particular way. He would be born of a woman. Genesis 3.15, once more, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. And so you have to recognize that for thousands of years, Satan has been brooding. He has been plodding. He has been waiting and waiting for the signs that would lead to the one who would be born who could actually defeat him. Because Satan was not allowed to let that happen, and not about to. For when the baby came, when the one who was foretold was ready to be born, he would be there, ready to strike. And this theological context makes a lot of sense of the birth narrative of Jesus. Because if you think about it, the birth of Jesus begins with such joy and exaltation, and immediately it goes into great fear and urgency. For Jesus and his parents would have to flee to Egypt to avoid the wrath of King Herod, Satan's puppet. But not only that, I actually think that this text explains a phenomenon that you and I see all around us today. If we are honest, our civilization just seems to hate women. Everywhere around us we look, people just hate women. Society coerces women to be promiscuous, and then feeds them the abortion pill as an easy and convenient plan B. The secular world says, well, if a man wants to be a woman, he can be. Just change your name, change your hormones. And then when it happens, it says, well, then why not? Why can't biological men enter into women's spaces, women's westerns? and win women's trophies. The secular world all around us oppresses the natural desires for motherhood. It fails to protect female modesty, and it encourages men to let loose their desires and wicked impulses, leaving countless women victims of abuse and mistreatment at the hands of men. Feminists all around us today would say that we need some grand revolution to fix civilization. But the Bible is the most pro-woman book out there. For the Bible argues that both men and women are created in God's image. They share equal dignity and value. And God has given to women the incredible gift and opportunity to be mothers. and matriarchs. And the Bible shows that this age-old hostility towards women is clearly explained in Genesis 3.15. Satan hates all women and mothers because he knows that one day a woman and a mother would be the source of his downfall. So like Pharaoh with the babies of Egypt and like Herod with the slaughter of the innocents, our ancient foe hates women and hates babies. And they're so often his collateral damage because he knows that a mother and a baby was his greatest threat and he hates it. For once this king was born, if he was born, then Satan's days were numbered. And for our third point, this passage points us to an ancient king. As we once more reflect upon the birth of our Savior this Christmas season, one of the things that should provoke awe and wonder is the multifaceted nature of Jesus' identity, as well as then all of the promises and all the prophecies that find their fulfillment in him. Friends, Jesus is not a one-dimensional figure. According to Isaiah 9.6, Jesus is wonderful counselor. He is mighty God, everlasting Father. prince of peace. Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah, the son of Abraham, the true and better Moses. He is Emmanuel, God with us. And as our confessional tradition reminds us, Jesus is the true prophet. He is the true priest. And he is also our king. And here's the question for us this morning. What do kings do? What is their role? What is their job? Well, as we think about it, kings do many things. But one of the main things that kings do is that kings rule. They have dominion. And when necessary, to maintain that dominion or to claim that dominion, they fight. They make war and they conquer. And that is the image that we see in our text concerning Jesus. For our text foregrounds the fact that Jesus comes into the world as a long-awaited king, foretold of in Genesis 3, who is here to take his kingdom back. As we see in Genesis 1 and 2, the world ultimately belongs to God. by virtue of being made by God and being his creation. But there's also a true sense in which Satan has a spiritual rule over the world. After Genesis 3, according to Ephesians 2, 1 through 2, those who are dead in their sins follow the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air. And when we are born again, Paul says that we are Colossians 1.13, delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of his beloved son. Truly, when Satan takes Jesus to the mountaintop in Matthew 4 and Luke 4 and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and tells Jesus, I will give this to you if you bow down and worship me. Friends, that was a legitimate offer. The world was Satan's to offer to Jesus. And Satan knows why Jesus had come. But friends, Jesus refused because Jesus did not come into the world to barter and negotiate with Satan. Jesus came into the world to defeat him and to destroy his kingdom. And we see this language in verse five. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was caught up to God and to his throne. Now as a quick aside comment, it's interesting for us to see that this verse just covered the entire life and ministry of Jesus, from his birth to ascension. It strikes us as odd possibly because John skips over a lot of important information such as Jesus's death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. But the reason why John skips that is that that's not the point he's trying to make here. John is making the point that Jesus is the rightful king of all the nations of the world and his reign and rule is inevitable. And to do so, John actually quotes from Psalm 2. And he references a prophecy that Jesus would rule all the nations with a rod of iron. If you know Psalm 2, then you know that Psalm 2 is a messianic psalm, one that looks to the coming king. And it's a psalm that begins with this picture of all of the nations of the world raging against God. in trying to thwart God's plans to set up his anointed king, his son, his Davidic king, to reign over the entire world. And as God sees this plan, it says that he sits in the heavens and laughs. In Psalm 2, verses seven through nine, the father foretells of a sure decree concerning his son. Psalm two, the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you, ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now as we come to a conclusion here, We need to ask ourselves a very important question. What is the main takeaway that John has for us in this passage? Because as we look at our text, the future that John is pointing towards here is both very promising and very foreboding. For our text is clear that this present world is not safe for Christians. If this woman is the collective people of God, than the people of God right now are in danger. We see that after Jesus' ascension in Revelation 12, six, that God's people must flee into the wilderness to hide from the serpent and his wrath. And friends, isn't that so often our experience? How often in this last week, this month, Are you reminded that this world is not your home? How often are you and I reminded that we have a larger than life enemy in Satan? How often are we reminded that the systems and rules of this world are under his sinful influence and control? Maybe this morning, as you think about your life, you are very aware of the fact of your weakness, like with Adam and Eve, in your battle against temptation. Maybe you are right now experiencing great persecution because of your faith. From coworkers, to neighbors, to friends, who mock you, who insult you, and try to harm you because of your faith in Jesus. Maybe right now your heart is breaking because you have loved ones who for all intents and purposes seem to be so under his control and are walking into darkness and destruction with no signs of turning back. Maybe this morning your legs feel like they are buckling because of the oppressive nature of secular society, where everywhere you look, you just see godlessness, sin, idolatry, to the point where your heart just cries out, how long? How long? Lord, how long until you return? How long until you make all things right? Brothers and sisters this morning, if that is you, then you need to remember the story of Christmas. Friends, Christmas is not just an opportunity for you and I to have another party and give presents and fill our houses up with stuff. It's not just a time when we feel warm and fuzzy feelings as we remember the birth of our Savior. No brothers and sisters, Christmas and Revelation 12 take all of our fears and our groanings and our pains and our longings and it tells us God sees them. And in Christmas our conquering King has come. He came to do battle against the evil one. He has overcome the enemy's temptations. He has, Colossians 2.15, disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, triumphing over them at the cross. And on that third day, Jesus's resurrected foot crushed the head of the serpent as he stepped out of that empty tomb. And so Christian, this Christmas do not lose heart because Christmas reminds you and me of this cosmic conflict that our King wins. If Jesus is to rule the nations, that not only tells us that right now at the right hand of the Father, Jesus is reigning, but one day Satan's reign will end. It'll be over. Our King came once, defeating Satan at the cross, and one day he will come again. And one day he will reign over all the nations with a rod of iron, and all of those who look to Christ by faith. trusting as they walk through this life, repenting of their sins and following their triumphant King will reign with him forever and ever. Let's pray. Father, this morning we pray how long. Help us to see the finished victory. the finished battle. We live in a war. Christ is the conquering King. Once more, this Christmas, may we sing and rejoice and say, hark, the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King. Amen.