Download Sermon PowerPoint

1. Conflict
Then war broke out in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon, and the dragon
and his angels fought back
Revelation 12:7 (NIV)
• The Church is called to
warfare.
• We travel in a battleship,
not a cruiser.
• Not a conflict we have
made, but one we
choose to enter.
• Waged in the heavenly
realm, but involving us
on earth.
“If they persecuted me,
they will also persecute
you.”
John 15:20
Satan seeks the downfall of Christians.
• Marginalisation
• Discrimination
• False accusation
• Persecution
• Imprisonment
• Martyrdom
• Secular humanism
• Legislation /
regulation
• Religious
ideologies
“For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark
world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly
realms.”
Ephesians 6:12
2. Combatants
Then war broke out in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon, and the dragon
and his angels fought back. But he
was not strong enough, and they
lost their place in heaven. The
great dragon was hurled down –
that ancient snake called the devil,
or Satan, who leads the whole
world astray. He was hurled to the
earth, and his angels with him.
Revelation 12:7-9 (NIV)
Satan the implacable
enemy of Christ:
• The slaughter of the
innocents
• The temptations in the
desert
• The seeming victory of
the crucifixion …
But in the resurrection,
Satan was defeated.
“Where, O death, is your
victory?” (1 Corinthians
15:55)
The battle continues until
Satan is cast into the fiery
lake (Revelation 20:10).
Michael, on behalf of the
people of God, fights
against Satan.
Satan, the implacable
enemy of Christians:
• The accuser
• The slanderer
• The deceiver
• The destroyer
• Perverting the good to
capture and use the willing
• Causing calamity and evil
The people of God face
persecution and hatred
simply because they are
followers of Christ.
3. Conquest
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven
say: ‘Now have come the salvation
and the power and the kingdom of our
God, and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and
sisters, who accuses them before our
God day and night, has been hurled
down. They triumphed over him by
the blood of the Lamb and by the
word of their testimony; they did not
love their lives so much as to shrink
from death.
Revelation 12:10-11 (NIV)
The victory won by
Christ Jesus:
“They triumphed over
him by the blood of the
Lamb and by the word
of their testimony”
Revelation 12:11
By enduring persecution,
the Church turns the
tables on Satan.
The victim becomes
victorious, through:
• the power, protection
and saving efficacy of
the blood of Jesus
• the faithful testimony of
Christians
• their willingness to give
up their lives for Christ
Jesus establishes a
new Kingdom:
• the Kingdom of God
on earth,
• a Kingdom of peace
and love
• under the authority of
the Messiah who rules
people, nations, even
Satan
4. Conclusion
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down
to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is
short.’
Revelation 12:12 (NIV)
Satan cast down to earth to wage
war on Christians
• He seeks to extend his power.
• His rage stems from frustration
and defeat.
• He creates havoc on earth.
• But his time is short.
• The victory of Christ and His
Church is assured.
The heavens rejoice (Revelation 7:11-17)
• Among the multitude before the throne
of God day and night, are those in
white robes, washed in the blood of
the Lamb.
• They have been through the
tribulation.
• They will hunger and thirst no more.
• The Lamb will guide them to springs of
the water of life.
• God will wipe every tear from their
eyes.
“The strife is o’er, the
battle done
The victory of life is
won;
The song of triumph
has begun.
Alleluia!”
Words: Symphonia Sirenum
Selectarum, 1695;
trans. Francis Pott (1832-1909)
barnabasfund.org
© Barnabas Fund 2016