Jesus vs Satan | Mark Finley (Earth's Final Conflict)

[Music] welcome and thank you for joining us for this Bible prophecy series titled three cosmic messages Earth's final conflict as we look around the world today we see uncertainty uncertainty in the economic markets political uncertainty uncertainty with the weather patterns and global warming we look around the world and we see pandemics epidemics natural disasters everywhere and we ask the question what does the future hold does God have a message for this generation that is tailor-made to prepare it for that which is coming upon the world as an overwhelming surprise the good news is the book of Revelation reveals God's endtime message for Humanity during this series we will study three cosmic messages messages that speak to us with relevance and meaning and purpose today let's pray as we open the Word of God and we delve right into this first subject in this series of three cosmic messages will you pray with me please father in heaven thank you so much that you have a message for this generation that the world has not been left in silence to wander around in confusion and darkness thank you that light from your word shines and that messages from heaven speak to us of hope insecurity and meaning we thank you for that in Jesus name Amen this first presentation looks at an introduction to the three angels messages now that title may be familiar to you or it may be a little confusing in the book of Revelation God gives to us three life-changing Universal eternal dramatic messages pictured as being care by three angels in Midheaven we call them three cosmic messages these messages deal with an intergalactic struggle they deal with a Star Wars controversy between good and evil they deal with Christ's final message for Humanity to understand those messages in their fullest sense it's necessary to understand the larger context of this controversy between good and evil in this first presentation we're going to take a look at Revelation the twelfth chapter which is an introduction to Revelation chapter 14 the theme of this chapter in Revelation 12 is Jesus wins and Satan loses the book of Revelation unraveled history it breaks Satan's code will you come with me for a few moments back in time to the Second World War Hitler's armies were attacking England and the naazy Panzer divisions were moving very rapidly across Europe just 20 miles across the English Channel Hitler was moving very quickly to destroy England the air raids were frequent almost every evening Winston Churchill was plotting how to counteract the attacks of Hitler in his underground war rooms you can still visit those underground war rooms in London today I've visited them on numerous occasions and they're in those underground war rooms the war strategy was being planned but not too far from that up the Thames River at Bletchley Park there were a group of people working called the code breakers their great desire was to break the German Enigma code recently Simon Singh has written a book called the codebook the secret history of codes and code breaking in that book he tells the store of the Bletchley Park codebreakers Hitler had a hundred and thirty hundred fifty nine million Enigma codes that needed to be broken and these code breakers studied the codes and there was one brilliant code breaker called Alan turning he was a mathematical genius he was a intelligence officer in crypto intelligence and he began studying those codes began trying to figure out how do I break the German codes as he did he came up with a method to break the German codes and at times they were able to track the German submarines in very real time other times they were able to tell the Allied forces where those German submarines were so they could be destroyed and where the Allied forces boats were so they could avoid those attack German submarines the code breakers were largely responsible for helping to shorten the war in fact Jack good one of the code breakers said this I won't say that what turning did made us win the war but I daresay we might have lost it without him code breakers were incredibly important in the Second World War to identify where the submarines were to enable the Allied forces to avoid them and to destroy those German submarines the book of Revelation is a Code Breaker it breaks the code of Satan it unmasks his plans and as you and I study these prophecies in the book of Revelation we will discover just how satan's code can be broken the book of Revelation unmasks the plans of the evil one it reveals the plans of God Revelation chapter 12 outlines this great conflict this great cosmic controversy this intergalactic struggle between good and evil the theme of Revelation 12 is Jesus wins and Satan loses there are four great episodes in the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation we're gonna look at every one of those episodes and these episodes will prepare us to understand the three cosmic messages in Revelation the 14th chapter in episode number 1 there's a battle for the throne come with me travel with me back over the millenniums of time travel with me to the very throne room of the universe travel with me to the epicenter of this conflict as it began Revelation chapter 12 verse 7 to 9 says and war broke out in heaven now that's a strange place for war isn't it war breaks out where in heaven Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon and the dragon and his angels fought but they did not prevail this text goes on nor is a place found for them in heaven any longer so the Great Dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives now notice the word deceives the whole world Satan is a deceiver he was cast into the earth and his angels were cast out with him every angel had to make a choice the Bible says the dragon in his angels fought and Michael and his angels fought so there was a conflict an intergalactic conflict a Star Wars battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil between Heaven's forces and what soon became the forces of the evil one the issue had to be allegiance the issue was who is worthy to rule this is a Star Wars controversy far beyond anything that you and I could ever imagine every angel had to make a choice there was no neutrality in that first conflict some time ago I read a fascinating story that illustrates this idea of neutrality in conflict in crisis there was a young college student and this young college student was looking at the want ads in the newspaper and he was studying his iPad to try to discover a job for the summer he was going to a Christian College and it quite a bit of money to go and so he needed to offset his costs and so he studied where can I work for the summer he found an ad on the iPad that indicated as he googled it that there was very good pay if he would go up and cut timber in the country of Canada go up and spend the summer in the forests and cut the timber there as he was looking at the ads he saw the hourly wage he saw what he might make for the summer it really was really excited about it so he decided to sign up and go up to Canada to cut timber his friends began to counsel with him and they said look if you go there those rough tough cursing swearing drinking foul-mouthed Lumberjacks are gonna tear you apart you're a thin young man who doesn't have much substance to you and they're just gonna break you in half once they find out you're a Christian they are gonna ridicule you you're gonna have a horrible summer he needed the money so he went when he came back after the summer his friend said to him well tell us how did you do working with those guys all summer he smiled and he said I did great I made a lot of money never had one problem at all you did great well why don't you do so great they never found out that I was a Christian neutrality neutrality they never found out that I was a Christian in that cosmic battle between good and evil every angel had to make a choice and these three cosmic messages that we are going to be studying in our final conflict in these last days of vers history in these days every human being is gonna have to make a decision there will be no neutrality no middle ground in this conflict between good and evil you see the freedom to choose is a fundamental principle of God's government God has created every one of us with conscience with reason with judgment every single one of us has that capacity that in eight capacity to choose in an Earth's final war the entire human race will be brought to that moment of destiny that choice in fact revelation ends in revelation 22 with the words he that is unjust let him be unjust still he that is holy let him be holy still either that's righteous let him be righteous still he that is unrighteous let him be unrighteous still every human being will have to make that decision has it gripped you yet maybe you're a little bit neutral maybe you're on the fence you haven't fully committed to Christ you haven't committed your life to him but yet there's that desire in your heart to be all out for Christ this is the time to make that decision we are living in a crisis time in Earth's history we're living in the final moments of Earth's history and the freedom to choose God is never going to force you but the freedom of choose is a fundamental principle of God's government a 19th century writer wrote with spiritual insight in a manuscript that she addressed in 1899 and she says this Christ shows that there can be no such thing as neutrality in his service no such thing is what neutrality the soul must not be satisfied with anything short of entire consecration consecration of thought voice spirit in every organ of mind and body Christ is appealing to us to be totally committed to him the statement goes on it's not enough that the vessel be emptied it must be filled with the grace of Christ Jesus longs to fill you with His grace he longs to fill you with his power he longs to fill you with His Holy Spirit he longs for you to be a powerful witness for him in a world of darkness shining as a light for his eternal Kingdom there is no neutrality in Earth's final war notice what the scripture says revelation 12 verse seven and eight the dragon that's the devil the Bible says the Dragons the devil in Revelation and his angels fought but they did not what they did not what prevail nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer I love the but their the dragon and the or the devil and his angels fought but but but but they did not what they did not prevail in that first battle between Christ and Satan Jesus wins and Satan loses Jesus is the mighty warrior Jesus is the conquering general Jesus is the victorious Lord Jesus is the triumphant king Jesus has never lost a battle with Satan yet and he will not lose a battle for your soul either my friend because he is the triumphant king when one-third of the angels according to revelation battled against Christ in heaven Jesus stood up and with all his power and might cast them out of heaven in Episode two Jesus wins and Satan loses millenniums pass Satan plans his next strategy Christ the Messiah is to come to earth Jesus is here to be born on earth and Satan plans to destroy the Christ child the Bible says in Revelation 12 verse four and five and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born now who's the dragon everybody who is that that's Satan and he's standing before the woman who's ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it's born who is this man child born of the woman none other than Jesus Christ the Bible says she bore male child who was to rule all nations with the rod of iron so Christ was to be born born of a virgin in Bethlehem's manger prophecy after prophecy in the Old Testament reveal the birth of Christ Micah chapter 5 verse 2 reveals he his birthplace they'd be born in Bethlehem Isaiah 7 verse 14 reveals that he would be born of a virgin and the Book of Numbers reveals that a star would lead the wise men to this Christ and to his birthplace his birth was predicted ahead of time Isaiah 60:1 predicts his life ahead of time the ministry of Christ Psalms 22 talks about the death of Christ and that he would be crucified and not be stoned the Bible in Zechariah talks about the fact and that he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver by a friend and not an enemy so Christ this male child born of the virgin was the living Christ the divine Christ Jesus was more than a good man more than an ethical philosopher more than a religious teacher he indeed was the Divine Son of God she bore a male child who eventually would rule all nations with the rod of iron now this is a very interesting expression this expression the rod of iron in the Bible a rod is a symbol of Dominion or rulership you remember Moses lifted the rod and the Red Sea opened in Israel came through that Red Sea probably 20 miles across over 130 feet deep a miracle that God worked as they came through in the Bible a rod as a symbol of Dominion or rulership you remember - Moses took his rod and he threw it down and in and the snakes of the Egyptians are eaten up by by that rod that became a snake for Moses Oh rod it's always a symbol of Dominion or power now what about this idea of iron the rod of iron a rod of iron is a symbol of unbreakable all-powerful invincible rulership so in Christ is born of the virgin although Satan tries to destroy him and Satan tries to take his life and at every step of Jesus life Satan tried to destroy him whether it was at his birth during his life whether it was in the wilderness of temptation on the cross of Calvary but Jesus would rule with a rod of iron Jesus is the unbreakable one Jesus is the all-powerful one Jesus is the invincible one this Christ who came in tabernacled in human flesh this Christ who died on Calvary's cross this Christ who rose from the dead this Christ is your Christ he is my Christ he is the Jesus of the book of Revelation Jesus faced every single temptation we faced and he came off as conqueror the theme of the book of Revelation is Jesus wins and Satan loses Satan failed to destroy him as a child he failed to defeat him in his life he failed to demolish him in his death and because Christ triumphed we can triumph in the crisis's that are coming upon this world that will break upon this world as an overwhelming surprise we are secure in Christ our life is anchored in Christ our life is definitely without any possibility of our being eternally lost in Christ if we are in Christ all of Satan's attacks cannot in any way destroy us the all-powerful risen Christ has defeated Satan in episode number 1 Satan's cast out of heaven Jesus wins Satan loses in episode number 2 Satan tries to destroy Jesus as a child but again Jesus wins Satan loses in revelation 12 verse 10 then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven what kind of a voice a loud voice why a loud voice because God want you to hear it I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now salvation and strength and the Kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come when Jesus is born what comes notice these things that come for things salvation comes in Christ strength comes in Christ the kingdom of God comes in Christ and power comes in Christ so when Jesus is born you and I have salvation you and I have strength you and I have the kingdom of God as calm in Christ we live within the glory of that kingdom of grace and the power of Christ has come the dying Christ declares us righteous through his blood and the living Christ makes us righteous through his intercession when Christ dies for us salvation is ours as a gift grace is ours pardon is ours mercy as ours when Christ dies but Jesus is not only the dying lamb Jesus is the living priest and this Christ that is alive this Jesus that is alive gives to us strength and grace and power notice what the Bible says in Revelation 12 verse 11 about our victory in Christ they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony now there are three things about this particular passage we want to look at first they overcame him what does it mean to overcome him the second thing we want to look at the passage is by the blood of the Lamb practically what does that mean and the third thing we want to look at is the word of their testimony the book of testimonies was written this is a book testimonies is a book that was written by Ellen White to the church testimonies of grace and testimonies of encouragement she wrote to a young man who had married a woman who was very sick and she wrote to this young man and said to him you have become extremely depressed and this what she wrote your life is now miserable full of evil forebodings gloomy pictures loom up before you dark unbelief has enclosed you yet no one can help you as well as yourself if you want faith talk faith talk hopefully talk cheerfully now remember what our text said in revelation 12 verse 11 they overcame him but by the blood of the Lamb and by what else the word of their what testimony so here Ellen White this woman of great spiritual insight Counsel's this young man and counsels this young woman she says if you want faith what do you do you talk faith if you want faith what do you do you talk hopefully you talk cheerfully in other words knowing that Christ is triumphed over the powers of Hell knowing that Jesus has overcome the principalities and powers of darkness we live in the victory of Christ we live in that victory because he has sustained it for us so no matter how we feel we may feel discouraged we may feel disappointed we may feel weak but we do not cry out in our weakness we cry out in faith grasping by faith the living reality of Christ living in the crisis of this earth history living in the closing hours of Earth's history darkness will surround us the situation in the world will become dire there'll be economic collapse there will be pandemics that sweep across our world there will be political disasters there will be war and famine and pestilence and if we look at those things we will be overwhelmed and depressed but looking beyond what is - what will be looking beyond what is - he who is so we do not look at what is we look at he who is in Jesus Christ the divine son of God is all-powerful he has overcome the evil one our faith grows as we accept Christ's victory as our own our faith will grow as we accept the victory of Jesus Christ in his life in his death in his resurrection in our behalf so we live in that victory Revelation 12:10 says then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now remember the text we've read it but we're unpacking it now salvation and strength and the Kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ has come salvation strength the kingdom of God the power of his Christ has come why for the accuser of our brethren that Satan who accused them day and night before our God is cast has been cast out so Satan defeated cast out of heaven Satan was defeated in heaven he was defeated at the cross but there is still this battle that wages on earth there's the battle for your mind there's the battle for your heart there's the battle for your soul it's still wages here remember what our text said he's in chapter 6 verse 16 says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in heavenly places in this cosmic struggle between good and evil in Earth's final conflict we are in the midst of a battle and Satan is not going to give up easy if you're going through a struggle right now if you're going through a crisis in your life right now if you're going through a battle right now if the forces of hell seem to be overwhelming you right now we are in the middle of a cosmic conflict but the same Jesus that cast Satan out of heaven the same Jesus that defeated Satan in his life and death and resurrection that all-powerful Christ as you reach out to grasp him by faith as you open your heart to his love and you're washed by his love and grace Jesus will sustain you jesus will deliver you Jesus will enable you to have the shackles that bind you severed the Bible says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb by the word of their testimony they lived not their lives to death now we looked at that phrase the word of their testimony we speak out the victory in Christ whether we feel that victory or not but what does it mean they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb now notice it says they overcame him they were not overcome they overcame him victory is ours they are not overcome they overcame they are not defeated they are what victorious they are not conquered they are what conquerors they did not lose the battle they do what they win the battle now the word overcome is a very very fascinating were a fascinating word it's called nação and that's the Greek word you know the Old Testament was written in Hebrew the New Testament was written in Greek and the word nação means to conquer to prevail to triumph to come through victoriously so the word overcome in the Greek language is a very strong word it's not a weak word it has to do with conquest it has to do with victory and when the Bible says they overcame him that's not oh they thought that they thought that they overcame him it's never came in it's a very strong word that indicates that victory is certain for the one who is in Christ whose faith is in Christ the one who has the Grace and power of Christ living in their lives now throughout the book of Revelation this expression the Lamb of God is used frequently notice the Bible says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives to death the expression the Lamb of God is used throughout the book of Revelation in fact it's used 28 times in the book of Revelation now numbers in the book of Revelation are very interesting and they are code words for us in the book of Revelation for represents universality the four winds of the compass it has to do with with completeness or universality every direction of the compass every nation kindred tongue and people that's four in the book of Revelation 7 indicates perfection you have the seven churches the seven seals the seven trumpets the seven spirits of God seventh-day Sabbath all of that in Revelation 4 times 7 is 28 so in the book of Revelation what you have is that Christ is the universal Savior as the Lamb of God and he is the perfect Savior because he provides the perfect sacrifice for the sins of humanity and he has perfectly overcome the powers of hell now we're going to look at one of those Bible passages that two of those twenty-eight in the book of Revelation that talk about Jesus as the Lamb of God in Revelation 5 verse 6 it says and I looked and behold in the midst of the throne in of the four living creatures stood a lamb as it had been slain now that's a very strange place for a slain lamb to be you look up into heaven and there you see this lamb that has been slain and all of heaven is worshiping there having seven horns and seven eyes now in the Bible horns are a symbol of power seven horns of perfect power eyes are a symbol of wisdom and so you have the Christ they are this slain lamb in heaven who is perfectly wise in implementing the point of our salvation through his life and death on the cross and through his high priestly ministry and who has all power to overcome Satan in the seven spirits the seven spirits have to do with the complete Ministry of the Holy Spirit to bring the power of Christ in the wisdom of Christ into our life so here you have the Lamb of God before the very throne of God this slain lamb now when John looks up and sees this slain lamb in heaven he sees a scroll that's opened and that's the scroll of course of judgment and as he sees that he asked who is worthy to open the scroll and John sees nobody worthy to open that scroll and he begins to weep because he knows that if no one can open the scroll then the entire universe is is lost the entire planet earth is lost and then he sees the Lamb stepped forth Jesus Christ now you remember what John said when Jesus came for his baptism in John 1 verse 29 as he said behold that is look at the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world the original language for takes away as bears away the sins of the world so Jesus takes away our sin he takes away our guilt he takes away our shame he takes away our condemnation he takes away the grip of sin upon our life William Barclay a great commentator puts it this way the forgiveness which is in the cross has left Satan the accuser no possible accusation to make Satan the accuser has no possible accusation anymore why because of the blood of the Lamb they overcame him revelation 12:11 2nd episode they overcame him by what by what by the blood of the Lamb what does that mean it means in the death of Christ on Calvary's cross the principalities and powers of hell were cast down Satan was defeated forgiveness as our as freedom from guilt as ours there is no condemnation romans 8 verse 1 to those that are in Christ Jesus I love the way Charles Wesley puts it arise my soul arise shake off thy guilty fears the bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears before thy throne my surety stands my name is written on his hands you and I have a Christ that died for us we have a Christ that lived for us we have a Jesus that's in heaven for us arise my soul arise shake off the guilty fears the bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears if you've come to Christ and accepted his sacrifice on the cross and are his child your place in heaven has already been assured through his victory you have a passport to heaven through the blood of Jesus Christ Ephesians chapter 2 verse 6 says God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms in Christ Jesus right now we dwell on earth with these paltry bodies that are so subject to disease and sickness we dwell on earth with all of its conflict and uncertainty but by faith we dwell in the heavenly realms with Christ and we are as really there today by faith as if we live there because Jesus has guaranteed our place there you know some time ago I was traveling from one of the Middle Eastern countries and because I travel internationally a lot I typically have two passports two American passports but one of my passports had run out and I had forgotten that I had an Israel stamp in one of my passports and that was the passport I was using so I was leaving this particular Middle Eastern country that has no diplomatic relationship with Israel at all and if you have an Israeli passport leaving that country it's really problematic and they will detain you they'll keep you it so I was leaving this country and came to passport control and the security officer took my passport began looking through it and he said Israel stamp I didn't say anything Israel stamp and I could see he was not a friendly a friendly guy at all and he said I said oh yes it is an Israeli stimulate here and so he walked back and talked to some more security people came back again Israel's stamp yes it is I travel internationally and I travel to many Middle Eastern countries I began listing off all the Middle Eastern countries that I travel to Turkey Jordan you know Egypt etc and he said Israeli stamp I said yes then he went to the police and I my heart was beating a little faster you say you're a pastor you should had faith you know I had faith but I still had a heart too and so I just prayed Lord please PLEASE and he came back and I said well here I go to the police he just gave me my passport back and he said you go now and I tell you he didn't have to tell me twice I took off you know and so but but when I had the wrong stamp in my passport now I had a quite different experience when I came back to the United States I handed my American passport to the passport control security officer he took my past forty smile said welcome home what was the difference I was a citizen of the United States I had a passport to enter through Jesus Christ in his blood you have a passport for eternity and Jesus says to you welcome home my child you belong here in Christ and by Christ and through Christ and because of Christ you belong here you know we're no longer foreigners or or aliens but we are citizens of the kingdom through Christ Satan's charge against God in heaven was that God was a dictator a tyrant who did not have the best interest of his creatures in view but in the cross of Calvary in the life and death and resurrection of Christ Satan's charges have been answered we have a savior who has provided for us an open door into heaven on the cross love triumphs over hate righteousness triumphs over unrighteousness goodness triumph over evil Napoleon once said this to his soldiers Alexander Caesar Charlemagne and myself founded great empires but upon what did the creations of our genius depend upon force Jesus alone founded his Empire upon love and to this very day millions would die for him there is a kingdom that's out of this world founded on the grace of Christ and the love of Christ and the book of Revelation invites you into that Kingdom to experience that grace to experience that love and Jesus says to you and to me today Matthew 28 verse 20 lo I'm with you always even to the end of the world Christ walks with us through the darkness of this world and in the cosmic conflict in Earth's final conflict three cosmic messages speak to our hearts they say to us that Christ is with us Christ is revealing himself to us in his love and grace and goodness and mercy episode number one there's a battle in heaven Satan is cast out of heaven he does not prevail episode number two Satan focuses attention upon Christ on earth and he tries to destroy Jesus and in that second episode Jesus wins and Satan loses Christ dies but he's resurrected he lives in heaven for us episode number three Satan attacks God's people in the Middle Ages centuries pass and they're in the Middle Ages there is this long period known as the period of darkness revelation 12 verse 6 the Bible says then the woman who's the woman in Bible prophecy it's the church fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there 1260 days now the thing that I want you to notice here is this that for every attack of Satan there is a place prepared by God for every time Satan attacks you every time Satan tries to destroy your life God has prepared a place of refuge for you God has prepared a place of security for you Jesus has already defeated Satan the theme of revelation 12 in the entire book of Revelation Jesus wins Satan loses back to our text the woman the church flees into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there 1260 days in verse 13 it says of Revelation 12 now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth he persecuted the woman so who's the woman the church who gave birth to the male child who's the male child Jesus and so Satan tried to destroy Christ in heaven he was cast out tried to destroy Christ from his born could not accomplish that but the woman that is the church eventually was to given two wings of a great Eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time times and half a time from the face of the serpent the sixth verse talks about the 1260 years this talks about a time times and half a time they're both the same period but notice what happens to the church in the wilderness she is what nourished every time the devil tries to attack you every time the devil tries to destroy you every time you walk through your wilderness of Darkness God has a prepared a place for you but not only as he prepared a place of security and assurance he's gonna nourish you there you are gonna grow spiritually in your darkness you may be going through the trauma of a divorce right now you may feel lonely defeated and discouraged you may have lost a job and you're facing an economic challenge in your life you may be going through a very hard time we've struggled with habits and you feel discouraged by that the Christ of Revelation speaks to you right now whoever you are wherever you are Jesus is saying to you in the wilderness of your life in the darkness of your life I'm gonna nourish your soul I have never lost a battle with Satan before and I'm not going to lose the battle in your life now notice what about this 1260 years the Bible prophecy often uses code languages and just like those code breakers in Bletchley Park with Alan Turing who had to break the code of the German Enigma codes so God uses code language in the book of Revelation he talks about beasts or kingdoms that rise up out of the sea he talks and will be studying those in this series that's why I don't want to miss one of these presentations but here when he talks about this 1260 days he's using code language again a prophetic period now some scholars even non-christian scholars talk about a period of the dark ages and here in this 1260 day period there's code language what are these literal days what does the Bible say numbers 14 verse 3 says according to the number of days in which you spied out the land 40 days for each day you shall bear your guilt one year namely 40 years you remember the story is real spied out the land they spied it out for forty days and God predicted they would wander in the wilderness for forty years it's in the Bible we call this the day year principle in other words one prophetic day equals one literal year now every time in the Bible the Bible used the word day that does not mean year a day is a day in the Bible but when you see the prophetic symbolism of beasts when you have symbolic chapter that day your principle applies Ezekiel 4 verse 6 again you have that same principle I've laid on you a day for a what a year so throughout the book of Revelation in the Book of Daniel we have great empires that rise Babylon medo-persia Greece and Rome some of you studied that before we have the divisions of the Roman Empire then we have this long period known as the door cages that period of dark ages began when the Roman church and state United the Roman Church had driven out the last of the Barbarian tribes defeated them the Ostrogoths from Rome at the time and most scholars look at this 1260 prophetic days or year as his beginning in 538 ad that would take us to 1798 what indeed would happen at that period of time you know during that Dark Ages the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 8 and 9 we are hard pressed on every side but were not crushed were perplexed but not in despair we are persecuted not forsaken was struck down but not destroyed during those twelve hundred sixty years church and state had United and when church and state United during that period of time God's people were persecuted they were oppressed the mighty power of the church persecuted those that did not go along but as the Bible says they were hard pressed God's people are hard pressed but they were not crushed they were perplexed but they were not in despair they were persecuted but not forsaken they were struck down but not destroyed God preserved his people during that period of time at the end to that 1260 years Napoleon sent his general birthday it's south they captured the Pope of Rome Pius the 6th on November 20 1798 and he died in captivity during that long period of persecution what happened God's people were victorious the light of truth was not totally snuffed out four episodes in Revelation chapter 12 that set the tone for these three cosmic messages episode number one Christ wins Satan loses evil angels are cast out of heaven they do not prevail episode number two Jesus comes he's born as a babe in Bethlehem's manger Satan booth focuses the forces of Hell and tries to destroy him Jesus wins Satan loses Christ dies salvation is yours it's mine the kingdom of God has come Jesus is resurrected from the dead he lives as our great High Priest in that episode number one Jesus wins Satan lose episode number three long period of darkness Church state unite people of God persecuted but the light of truth is not snuffed out God's people are not ultimately completely destroyed they win in this period of darkness throughout the Middle Ages God has always been with his people he's never left them but we come now and notice this wonderful statement in a book on the life of Christ called desire of Ages page 679 Christ rejoiced that he could do more for his followers than they could ask her think he spoke with assurance knowing that an Almighty decree had been given before the world was made he knew the truth armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit would conquer in the contest with evil and that the blood-stained banner would wave triumphantly over his followers he knew that the life of his trusting disciples would be like his a series of uninterrupted victories not seen to be such here but recognized as such in the great hereafter a series of what on interrupted victories your life can be one of victory you are on the winning side episode number 4 Satan is gonna viciously attack God's last-day people and that's what this series is going to focus on particularly in the three angels messages but we've studied it historically in this presentation Satan's gonna viciously attack the remnant but Jesus is gonna win Satan's gonna lose look revelation 12 verse 17 the dragon was enraged with the woman what's enraged mean angry who's the dragon Satan and he goes to make war Satan made war in heaven he's made war down through the centuries and he will make war with God's last-day people he'll make war with God's remnant Church he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus in the last days of Earth's history God will have a people a divine movement of destiny a people that are committed to Christ the people that are sold out to Christ a people that love Christ more than anything else and they because of their love will respond obediently and keep his Commandments the question in the great controversy between good and evil is who has our loyalty who has your loyalty right now are you totally sold out to Christ are you on the winning side down through the ages Jesus has never lost a battle with Satan he's not going to lose the battle in the final conflict you and I can be on the winning side although we might find oppression persecution difficulty challenges Christ will never leave us Christ will never forsake us I think of the story of Dan Crawford he was called by the Africans come give unto means the gather of the people he was one of the followers or protegees of David Livingstone born in December 7 1870 died in June 23 1926 Dan Crawford was a mighty witness for Christ he traveled to the ends of the earth went into the jungles and primitive areas in Africa and shared Jesus on one occasion he was sleeping and as he yawned he hit a table and terrible gash in his arm he wrote about it this way in his diary this week I suffer under a grave disability my left arm is poisoned this poisonous nice thing be very hard so we are in God's hand at all as well it is harrowing and might have been avoided only I was sleeping in my little den in a deep sleep this made me forget the iodine which is the panacea of my life to say that it is harrowing is only to remind you that it is the Harrow that produces the smiling lands of corn and this explains that we glory in tribulation verse but do we goodbye dear friends we will meet at the appearing in excellent glory Dan Crawford died there in Africa his body is buried not far from Lake Meru it is there in the Democratic con go buried with other missionaries and as he died he wrote something just before his death in the Flyleaf of his Bible I have written it in the Flyleaf of my Bible it shows that we may go through challenges we may go through difficulties we may go through heartaches but we are on the winning side notice what he wrote I cannot do it alone the waves - fast and high the fog and mist set in the light goes out in the sky but I know in the end we too shall win Jesus and I a coward wayward and weak I change with the changing sky today I'm so strong and brave but tomorrow I'm too weak to try but he never gives up and in the end we too shall win Jesus and this world is headed for a tremendous crisis a crisis of epidemic proportions that you and I can hardly realize everything that can be shaken will be shaken the institutions that we have once had confidence in will crumble before the coming of Jesus there is only one thing that'll get you through and that is trust in confidence in him and not only will we go through a crisis at the time of the end but many of us are facing crisis today crisis is that we ourselves are incapable of handling right now Jesus says to you my child I have never lost a battle with Satan yet I've never lost one conflict with the evil one and I'm with you I will never leave you I'll never forsake you I am there for you will you right now reach out to him will you right now open your heart to him will you say Jesus I am yours I don't want to play games every angel in heaven had to make a choice in the days of Jesus men and women had to make a choice in the Middle Ages they had to make a choice and in the last days of her serous history every human being will be led to that choice as we pray right now would you like to say Jesus I am yours totally completely absolutely yours let's pray father in heaven thank you so much for the Living Christ thank you that we are on the winning side thank you that you defeated Satan in heaven that you defeated Satan on earth in the days of Christ you defeated him in the Middle Ages you defeated him in every age of Earth's history thank you Jesus that you are the victorious Lord who will be victorious in our lives we give our lives to you now do for us what we cannot do for ourselves and may we through Christ and by Christ because of Christ be overcomers in Jesus name Amen god bless you my friend I look forward to seeing you next time as we probe even more deeply these messages Earth's final conflict three cosmic messages you don't want to miss one of these presentations next time we'll go into Revelation the 14th chapter and there will begin to look at the theme of Earth's final harvest stay with us invite friends to watch this series with you and today leave with the assurance that your hand is in the hand of the Living Christ you [Music]

Channel: HopeLives365

Views: 114,546

Rating: 4.8553219 out of 5

Keywords: Revelation, Three Angels' Messages, Bible, Jesus, God, Mark Finley, the great controversy, three cosmic messages, earth's final conflict, hopelives365

Id: UjWuNyM8mf0

Length: 53min 27sec (3207 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 12 2020