Well, I would invite you to grab your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Revelation, chapter 12, and we'll be in verses 7 through 12 tonight. And we began looking at this chapter by discussing how the Bible combats other ancient myths and other ancient Near Eastern religions. And this has been a battle that has raged from the very moment that the serpent slithered into the garden. And Adam and Eve, as our parents, and we as their descendants, believed his lies over the word of God. And so we have sought wisdom and knowledge and life by other means other than the very one who gives life and knowledge, who is God himself. Therefore, chapters 12 through 15 reveal this ancient warfare that has been going on since Genesis 3 and continues even to this day until Christ returns. But here's what we will see tonight. The devil knows that his days are limited. So he attacks the church, though he will not prevail. But in fact, the church, by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony, will overcome the serpent, even unto death. Because what do we know? Even in death, it's gain, because we get to be with the Lord. So last time we were together, we watched this war rage between the dragon and this pregnant woman who delivers Jesus. And we said, there's two layers of meaning here. One, it's speaking about Mary because she is the one who delivers Jesus into the world, but she is a type of Israel as she is the one who fulfills this promise to God that Israel brings the Messiah into the world. We are saved by a Jewish Savior. Jesus has the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Judah, and David running through his veins. He is the very offspring of Abraham. And last time, we briefly mentioned that not even the heavens, though, are free from conflict, and that's what we see tonight. And tonight, John reveals to us this war between Michael and the angels of heaven and Satan and his angels. But even as this war rages, we are told that Satan and his followers are defeated. and they are conquered by the shed blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. So with that, let us look at the text and we will read Revelation chapter 12, beginning in verse seven, and we will read through verse 17. Hear the word of the Lord. Now, war arose in heaven. Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. but he was defeated. And there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth. and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them by day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. For they loved not their lives, even unto death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short. And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. For the woman was given the two wings. of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness to the place where she is to be nourished for a time in the times and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with a flood. The earth came to the help of the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea, let us pray. O Lord, whom have we in heaven but you? And to whom shall we go? For you alone have the words of eternal life. Therefore, we come to your scriptures tonight seeking these words for our eternal life. And so we pray that you give us eyes to see and ears to hear, a mind to understand, a heart to believe, and your spirit to obey. Guide us with your counsel tonight, oh Lord. Amen. Now, this is one of those passages where we need to stop and ponder how are we to read the book of Revelation. It doesn't appear as though John is continuing a chronological theme as some suggest here, but rather, this seems to be a synonymous vision that is happening concurrently with the previous vision in chapters one and six. Or to put it another way, the vision reveals the significance of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection and his exaltation as a triumph over the devil and the crushing of his head as promised in Genesis 3.15. So last week, or last time we were together, we saw that in verses 1 through 6, and the results of it on earth. This is the result of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and his exaltation, and the results in heaven. And what are those results? The devil's kicked out, and he can't return any longer. So here in verses seven and eight, the significance of Christ's triumph is unveiled as we witness this war in heaven between Michael and his angels, which represents God's armies, and the devil and his angels, those who war against God. So if you would look at verses seven and eight, it says, now war arose in heaven. So notice, not even the heavens are free from conflict. But Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was defeated. And there was no longer any place for them in the heavens. I love how it's just a quick defeat. Quick, decisive, done. They were kicked out of heaven. Like, there was no question about it. We have this reality in our world where people think that God and the devil are equals. But notice, it's not even God fighting against him, it's his angels fighting against him. The devil is not the equal of God. God is sovereign over all, and the devil must give an account to God. We see this in the book of Job. The devil has to come before God and give an account for what he is doing on the earth. But it's a quick and decisive battle. There's no question. They win. Now, this contention between Michael and the devil has been raging for as long as the devil has been attempting to thwart God's plan. We read about this battle raging in the book of Daniel. In Daniel 10, Daniel is having a conversation with an angel sent by God. And this angel says to Daniel in Daniel 10 verses 12 and 14, then he said to me, fear not Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humble yourself before your God, that's a good line for what we do when we pray. Just a side note. Right? We set our heart to understand and humble ourselves before God. That's what we're doing when we pray. Your words have been heard. That's good news for praying people. If we would humble ourselves and set our hearts to understand God's will for our life, here's the good news. God hears our words. So we need to be a people who pray. for our words have been heard. And then listen to this, and I have come because of your words. The angel is a response from God to the prayer of Daniel. Daniel's praying, God sends his angel to answer his prayers. Can I give you some good news? God loves to answer prayers. But notice, again, how prayer is. We are setting ourselves to understand God's heart, God's will. Too many of us will use prayer as a means to get what we want, as though God's a genie in the sky, granting our every wish. But that's not what Daniel is seeking. Remember, Daniel is not in Jerusalem. Daniel is in the diaspora. He's in exile, and yet he's still seeking God's will. Why are we here? What are you doing? We trust in you. Tell us. He's aligning his heart with what God wants and wills for his life. But here's the important part to our text tonight. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. Now this is just language. Prince here refers to angels. This is kind of what we see in the beginning of the book of Revelation where messengers or angels stand as representatives of churches. So this Prince of Persia is a representative to the kingdom of Persia, and he's withstanding this angel sent by God to deliver this message for 21 days, for three weeks. I've been trying to come to you with this answer, but this one has been fighting against me. But Michael, One of the chief princes came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what has happened to your people in the latter days, for the vision is for days yet to come. So he's coming to give Daniel understanding, but his attempt is being thwarted by this Prince of Persia. But then what does God do? He sends Michael, this greater soldier, and Michael fights on his behalf. And he is free to come. So here we see these angelic messengers stopped by an evil angel associated with the Persian Empire. those who are against God's people and oppressing God's people, who is resisting God's plan and purpose, but this angel is freed by the arrival of Michael who fought on his behalf so that the angelic messenger could come and deliver this good news to Daniel. Then we go down a little bit further into verses 20 and 21, and the angel states, then he said, do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and I will go out. Behold, the prince of Greece will come. I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. There is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince." So notice there, he's saying, I'm going back. I have delivered the good news. I'm going back to fight. But there's this great little phrase in there. that it says, I tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. The book of truth refers to the plan of God and the plan that he has for both Israel and the world. He's telling him about the coming Messiah. We have seen this. Daniel 7, we have often gone there. We see that the son of man comes to the ancients of days and he receives a kingdom from him. What did we see in Revelation 4 and 5? The exact same thing. The ancient of days and Jesus coming and receiving a kingdom from his father. So it's this. plan that God has for Israel in the world. And though the devil rages against God's people, and he often does so through human adversaries, we are not destroyed because God continues to sustain and protect us through the strengthening ministry of his own angels. And this isn't anything that should seem weird to us, for we can go to the book of Hebrews. where the author says in Hebrews 1.14, are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? God sends out his angels to minister to us, to strengthen us in these times of trouble. Likewise, in Hebrews 1.14, The New Testament, certain New Testament authors give us an insight to the struggle that is going on even all the way back to the time of Moses. Jude 9, Jude is a really good book that you should go read. It's one chapter, 24 verses. You can read it tonight before you go to bed. And then you'll probably have weird dreams about angels. But Jude 9 says this. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, notice there's that war that we just read about in Revelation, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, the Lord rebuked you. So this is one of those great little verses that's just tucked away in the back of your Bible. But here we see that Michael is fighting with the devil about the body of Moses, which we're told that God is the one who buries the body of Moses. And they're contending. And you know what? Even this great archangel Michael does? He says, in the name of Jesus, in the name of the Lord, rebuke you. Even he relies upon the power of the Lord. So as we consider the significance of events here on earth, we must be mindful that these events are often influenced by what is taking place in the heavens. And that is what we see here. And often behind human events in history, there is this unseen realm where things are taking place. That we might not understand why certain things are happening in our lives, and yet they are happening because God wills it, and he is in control of it. Michael and his angels are in a heavenly battle against this dragon and his angels. But they defeat them. But his victory in heaven is based on Christ's triumph over the dragon on earth through his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. Now, as an interesting note, John doesn't linger on the details of this cosmic battle, probably to the chagrin of some people. He doesn't even really focus on the details at all, but instead he focuses on how the battle ends. The dragon and his minions are expelled from heaven forever. But what is interesting is that there are many who will devote much time to studying the mythology of angels and demons, when there's not a lot within scripture. In fact, I'm sure you could go on YouTube and see hours and hours, or go find blogs and see pages upon pages of material about the battle between Michael and his devil, and Michael and his adversary, the devil. However, John seems uninterested in describing the details of the battle. He just says, eh, they lost. It is over as quickly as it's introduced. Now, what John is concerned about is that the dragon and his angels were defeated by Michael and his angels of God, and they're kicked out of heaven forever. He's not concerned with how the battle goes, other than he says, yeah, they were defeated quickly. Now, this raises another important question that is often discussed and debated. When was Satan thrown out of heaven? Some identify it as happening before the fall. He rebels in heaven, he's kicked out, and he seeks revenge. So he goes and he corrupts Adam and Eve. I don't read that in Genesis 3, but that's often the interpretation given by some. While others argue that he is cast out at the end of history or somewhere in between. We could argue from the book of Job that even after the fall of man, Satan has some kind of access to heaven for he comes with the sons of God to give an account before God for his workings on the earth. We could go to Job 1 and 2 and read those, though I'm sure you're familiar with them since I point them out quite often. There are often, there are good arguments for both sides, whether he was kicked out before the fall of man, or he was kicked out after the fall of man. But to me, it seems that's a more probable interpretation that Satan is defeated and cast out of heaven at the death and resurrection of Jesus. At least that's what John is communicating here in Revelation 12. In Revelation 12.5, Jesus is caught up before the throne of God, and then the devil is kicked out of heaven. And as we'll see in a minute, the saints likewise conquer through the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. In verse 11. Likewise, the testimony in the Gospels declare that the ruler of this world is cast out because of the blood of Christ. Two instances, one we'll see in a few weeks and on Sunday, but John 12, 31, 32, it says this. Now is the judgment of the world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. So notice the connection there. Who is, the world is being judged. The ruler of this world is being cast out. Who is that? The devil. And then in verse 32, when is it connected to? When Jesus is lifted up upon the cross. Then he is drawing people unto himself. When he's lifted up. Luke 10, verses 17 through 20. We'll see this in a few weeks when we read about the 72 returning, but the 72 that Jesus sends out returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons, who would be who? The angels of Satan. Lord, even the demons are subjected to us in your name. So not only are they subjected to Jesus, but they're also subjected to the people of Jesus. What do we see in verse 11? They overcome the devil by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. What do we see here in Luke 10? That even the demons are subjected to us. And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. But notice, he's not really focused on us conquering the devil rather than us having life in him. That's his focus, is our life in him. But even notice this is a playing out of what we will see in verse 11 that we have overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. That is to say the decisive defeat of Satan is at the burial or the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It is there that the serpent is bound and kicked out of heaven. And even now the demons are subject to God's people because of the authority of Christ. But then we read in verse 9 the identification of this dragon and what happens to him. And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Now I find this passage quite fascinating because we see all the different identities that the devil has gone by throughout the history of scripture. If you go to seminary, if you go to a liberal seminary especially, or you read higher textual criticism upon the book of Job, people will like to point out, well, you know, the Satan isn't actually the devil, it's just this adversary. It means the adversary, the accuser. And then John comes along and just destroys that argumentation. He's just like, let me tell you every name of the devil goes by in the Bible. And it's all the same person. He pulls back the curtain and he's just the same guy wearing different masks. Which is why I love this passage, because it just makes it clear. Throughout the Old Testament, he is identified as the great dragon here in Revelation. And you can go to places in Psalms and in Isaiah, in the book of Job, and dragons are talked about. They're often called things like Leviathan, or sea monsters, or Rahab. Now, Rahab in Isaiah and in the book of Job and in Psalms refers to Egypt, but it also refers to this ancient deity, which is a sea monster. It's the splitting of the Red Sea. God is cutting the sea monster in half. It's the splitting of the River Jordan, cutting the snake in half. But here's this great dragon, this Leviathan or sea monster, and he's being identified as the one who seeks to destroy the people of God. What did Egypt seek to do? Destroy the people of God. So he's this ancient dragon. He's this ancient serpent, the one who came slithering into the garden to deceive Adam and Eve. So he's like, he's that guy too. He is also called the devil, which is the Greek word, which means slanderer, the one who slanders the people of God, the one who slanders God himself. Did God really say, oh, you won't die? God's lying to you. And Satan, which comes from Job, which means our adversary. So John essentially says to his reader, you know your enemy by all these names, but it's the same person. And he has been defeated by the cross of Christ. He is the one who came slithering into the garden, and he is the one to which God said, there is one coming who will crush your head. And Christ crushes his head upon the cross. Now before the cross of Christ, Satan could legitimately accuse believers before God and in his presence because of their sin. And we see that in the book of Job. We get a glimpse of that in the first two chapters of the book of Job, where Satan is called before God to give an account for his wanderings and works on the earth, which culminates in his persecution of Job. Now, I would point out that God is the one who points out Job. Have you considered my servant Job, who is upright? And then Satan begins to accuse him. But he's only upright and righteous because you bless him and give him all these things. All right, take him away. And then he takes everything away from him. And Job does not sin, but he worships God. And then he says, well, he only worships you because he's still healthy. All right, take it away. And he worships God and doesn't sin with his lips. We see that the Satan comes and persecutes the people of God. And yet, we also see there that God still protects us even in the midst of our persecution. The devil does not have the power to take Job's life. In fact, he doesn't have the power to take Job's possessions until God gives it to him. He doesn't have the power to take Job's health until God gives it to him. But now that our sins are cleansed and forgiven by the blood of the cross, he no longer has any grounds to accuse the elect, so he's kicked out for God no longer wants to hear his slithering words. Or as we read in Romans 8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He has lost his power. He has lost anything that he has to say against us. For all Christ must say is, I have died for those, Father. Therefore at the death and resurrection of Christ, the devil has been defeated and he and his angels are thrown to earth and removed from heaven forever, never to accuse God's elect again. And following the defeat of Satan, a voice rings out from heaven in verse 10. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. Now just a few key words in there. Salvation, power, kingdom of God. So notice all of that. The salvation of God has come, the power of God has come, the kingdom of God is here, and the authority of his Christ. Great commission. All authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. That is the kingdom of Christ going forth. But notice, Also, what does the devil do? He's an accuser of the brethren. But he's been thrown down. And yet he used to accuse us day and night before God. So this voice from heaven declares the defeat of Jesus and the coming of God's kingdom. What glorious words those are. The kingdom of God was inaugurated at the first advent of Christ. And its presence here on earth firmly established at Christ's death and resurrection. In this heavenly war, Christ's victory over sin and death powerfully declares that Jesus and his kingdom have invaded this present and evil age and will soon conquer. And we have talked about this throughout the book of Revelation. Jesus is coming as one to conquer this evil age and to subject it to his kingdom and all will bow to him. Whether they do so willfully as his subjects or they do so as a conquered army, they will bow to him. And since Satan has been expelled and cast down, he can no longer accuse believers. But the point of this text is more profound than Satan just being cast out and locked out of heaven. Rather, Satan no longer has any warrant or basis to accuse believers because of the blood of Christ. God no longer wants to hear the hissing words coming from the serpent's mouth, but instead he listens to the word of his son in whom he is well pleased. And this leads us to the words of verse 11 about the elect. and they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. For they loved not their lives, even unto death. Not only has Christ conquered the dragon, but we have conquered the dragon through Christ. As we have seen throughout the book of Revelation, the theme of conquering is central to John's revelation. But how do we conquer? Through Christ, being faithful to Christ. That is what we see in the letters to the seven churches, that we conquer by being faithful to Christ who is ever faithful to his people. So here John states that we conquer Satan by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Notice our triumph is not ascribed to any intrinsic virtue that we possess. Rather, we conquer by blood and through faith. So what Christ has done and what Christ has given us. Specifically here, our conquering is tied to the dragon's expulsion from heaven. His accusations no longer have standing because the blood of the lamb that covers us has freed us from the guilt of sin. Or we can take it back to the Exodus. The wrath of God passes over his people because of the blood of the lamb on the doorpost. Not because anything that we have done, but because of the one who covers us. So the atoning work of Jesus is foundational to the church conquering the dragon. We are more than conquerors in Christ. Now, John began his revelation by stating that he was imprisoned because of his testimony for Jesus in Revelation 1.9. He's on this island of Patmos where he receives the revelation because they tried to kill him and they couldn't, so they just sent him out to this prison island. Likewise, he stated in 6.11 that the martyrs were slain for their testimony. So notice, back what we read in verse 10, the devil accuses the brethren, and then he uses people, the world powers, to have us persecuted and killed. Think about Nero. Think about Domitian. Think about all the persecution that we have seen throughout the world. Why are we killed? For our faith in Christ. Our faith and commitment to the gospel is evident Even when we have, or is evident when we have a willingness to give up our lives to remain faithful to Christ. Even if we are slain, we continue to confess Jesus as Lord. This is why Jesus tells us, don't fear the one who can kill your body and do nothing else. Fear the one who can kill both body and soul by throwing it into hell. We don't fear death. In fact, death becomes our friend because of Christ. Because as Paul says, to live is Christ, but to die is gain. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. It's gain for us. You wanna kill me and send me to my savior and give me my reward? Do it! This is why Rome feared the Christian gospel that Paul preached. Because we can threaten them, we can threaten to crucify them, and yet they are joyful when we kill them. Or as Augustine once preached, quote, the earth has been filled with the blood of martyrs as with seed. and from that seed have sprung the crops of the church. They have asserted Christ's cause more effectively when dead than when they were alive. They assert it today. They preach him today. Their tongues are silent. Their deeds echo round the world. They were arrested, bound, imprisoned, brought to trial, tortured, burned at the stake, stoned to death, run through, fed to wild beasts, In all their kinds of death, they were jeered at as worthless, but precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, end quote. They have asserted Christ's cause more effectively when dead than when they were alive. They assert it today. They preach him today, though their tongues are silent. The blood of the martyrs is the seeds of the church. What kind of message must this be if they willfully and joyfully go to their deaths proclaiming Christ? For they love not their lives, even unto death, because we love Christ more, because Christ is life. Finally, in verse 12, we see this command to rejoice because of the Lamb's victory over Satan. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, in you who dwell in them. Now this is important because as we have read through the book of Revelation, we see the statement of those who dwell on the earth refers to those who rebel against God. But here we see, O heavens, in you who dwell in them. Who is that? The faithful brothers. The faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. We rejoice in heaven because we are freed from sin. This is that reality. The accuser has been thrown out. There is now life and peace in the heavens. So at the resurrection and exaltation of Christ, we rejoice because we have life and we are freed from the very presence of sin and the accuser by dwelling in the heavens with God. So therefore rejoice. That should cause us to rejoice. Oh heavens and you who dwell in them, but woe to you. Oh earth and sea. But the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short. Those who dwell in heaven rejoice because the devil has been cast out. However, the earth and the sea mourn because the devil has been thrust upon them. That is to say, while the devil has no standing in heaven, he still plays a role on the earth before the kingdom of Christ comes in full at his return. The devil still seeks to harm and kill God's people. And yet even in our death, we rejoice for we are with Christ. We see in verse 11 as Christians still die for their faith and their testimony. The devil knows that his time is short as his head has already been crushed by the death and resurrection and exaltation of Christ. there is no more thwarting the promises of God. For they have come in the full, in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ." So as we saw in verses 1 through 6, the devil hears about this coming one who's going to crush his head, and so what does he do? He has Cain kill Abel. He has Shem, or he has Ham, sin against his father and become this adversary to Shem and his offspring, who brings up Egypt and the Canaanites and all the enemies. We have Egypt, and then we have the exile to Babylon, and over and over again throughout the Old Testament, we see the devil trying to thwart the plans of God. But then Christ comes and he goes, I have one last chance. So he has Herod try to kill all the children in Bethlehem. And then the devil's like, finally, I got him upon the cross. But at the cross of Christ, the serpent's head is crushed. And we know that because the language used about the crushing of the serpent's head and the bruising of the son's heel is the same as the boxer when he beats the snot out of someone's face and his knuckles are bruised from beating the guy to death. The crushing of the serpent's head is what bruises his heel. So we look upon Christ upon the cross and we see a lamb standing as though slain. He's slain because he has conquered the serpent. He crushed his head in his death upon the cross and he raised victoriously from the grave. So at this point, there is no more forwarding. His time is nigh. He has been mortally wounded by Christ, and he is in his final death throes. So the devil's time is limited to this period between Christ's resurrection and his return. And his final defeat and destruction is near. It is only a matter of time before his influence ends entirely, and he is thrown into the lake of fire. And so he wants to destroy and ruin all that he can in the time that he has left. That's why we read in scripture that he would try to deceive the elect if he was able to. He's not able to. What we see on earth, John tells us, is not all there is to reality. There is a cosmic conflict, a heavenly war between angels and demons, between Satan and Michael. But the war is won in a most unusual way that we would never imagine, by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Though Christ appears defeated, he rises victoriously. Satan was expelled from heaven because of the blood of the lamb. What this means for those who belong to Christ is the removal of guilt. Satan no longer has any basis for accusing believers before God. We are free from our sins forever. Christ has freed us from the guilt. And we are free also from clinging to our own lives. We are willing to give our lives for the sake of Jesus Christ if we're called to do so. And in doing so, we gain our eternal reward, which is eternal life with Christ. Let's pray. Father, we know there is much more that goes on behind the scenes that we cannot see. And yet we know that we have victory in Christ, that he has crushed the serpent's head. And though Satan is in his death throes now, he will not succeed. but he will soon perish and the kingdom of Christ will be fully realized. And we will have life and peace eternal with him and with all his people. So Father, may we cling to the blood of Christ and the word of our testimony. And may we love him more than life itself. And though we may die for our testimony, may we rest in the reality that we will gain our just reward. which is eternal life because of Christ and eternal life with Christ. We pray all this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. Love you guys.