Revelation 12:9-12 – Satan’s the Problem – Bible study

Revelation 12:9-12 Satan Is the Problem What is wrong with our world today? In politics, the very core of our democracy is under attack. Extreme leftists socialists are openly running for officesand winning. The principals of democracy and capitalism are not only being undermined, but they are being attacked. I shudder to think what is going to happen in the next few years, but one thing is for certain. The America that once was is no more. In the area of national security, some of the highest officials in our country believe we should allow masses of uncounted, undocumented, unscreened immigrants not only into our land, but that taxpayers should pay their healthcare, housing, food, clothing, and education. They also believe they should be counted in our census and vote in our elections. In our economy, the national deficit (the difference between what the government takes in and what it spends) hit $779 billion last year. It is expected to reach $1 trillion in 2019. The national debt is $21 trillion and rising every minute. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/16/government- spending-how-rising-federal-debt-deficit-impact-americans/1589889002/ In the home, the divorce rate is actually down in the last 15 years, thanks in part to the millennials whothey sayare not playing the divorce game like their parents and grandparents did. However, it is also partly due to the fact that many couples just dont get married. Contrary to what some think, that does not produce a more stable relationship. It only reduces some of the red tape when the relationship ends. In the world of everyday living, males think they are females and females think they are males. Surgeries are being performed on elementary school studentsand youngerto mutilate their God-given bodies. Most all American children are being programmed with this warped thinking through public schools, television, movies, fashion, and hero worship. We now have what some would like to call sexless haircuts, clothing, pronouns, campuses, companies, and even military branches. I could say more, but let me first tell you what the problem is. Satan is the problem! Then let me share three thoughts to help you to both understand and withstand what is happening in our world. I. The Devil Is Angry A. The Bible is describing a time when the devil will be cast out of heaven (again). B. Notice two thoughts from \#12\. Rev 19:12 for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 1. The devil is mad. 2. The devils time is short. C. This verse is prophetic and has not occurred yet, but Satan has already been cast out of heaven once before. 1. That was a different kind of casting. 2. Jesus spoke of the devils first eviction from heaven. Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. a. That eviction happened when Satan went bad, sometime before Adam and Eve sinned. b. It is also described \#Is 14:12, Eze 28:16\. c. At that time, Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, became Satan, our adversary; but even with that, Satans access to heaven was not completely ended. d. The latter part of \#10\ tells us Satans new job. Rev 12:10 for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. (1) Satans new job has been to accuse the brethren "before God" which means Satan still has access to God and to heaven, but this verse is describing a future eviction which will end that access as well. (2) We do not have an exact day when that will happen but from the events placement in the Book of Revelation, my guess is that it will happen sometime shortly BEFORE the middle of the tribulation. D. \#12\ tells us that when its occurs, the devil will have "great wrath." 1. Why? Because it will mean another defeat for him and another prophecy fulfilled. 2. Satan knows the Bible better than we do and he knows his only hope is to stop the prophecies from coming to pass. 3. Each one that happens proves his weakness and moves him one day closer to his end and destruction. E. Satan is already mad. 1. The devil knows that his time is short. Humans may not care if they are cast into hell for eternity, but Satan has seen it and he certainly does. He is fighting for his very existence, and he does not care who he hurts. 2. He has tried to stop Gods plan by turning Israel against God (repeatedly), by killing the entire Jewish nation, by killing Jesus, by stopping the resurrection, by a destroying the church, by using affluence and wealth to corrupt Gods people, and much more. 3. Still, Satan sees that the Bible is being fulfilled and his best efforts are only temporary. a. Israel is a nation again. b. Everything he and his demons do to influence the earth only brings about more prophetic fulfillments in how the world will be when Jesus returns. 4. The devil is down to his last plan. a. Satan has already gone through A to Z. Now, he has to use the biggest most dangerous plan of all for he knows it is also prophesied in the Bible. b. He is going to destroy justice, peace, reason, and wealth. c. In doing so, he plans to create a world desperate for leadership; at which time, he will inhabit a human being and attempt to literally deceive the world into worshipping him. d. If he can pull it off, he will be god. If not, he will have fulfilled the last part of Gods prophetic plan. II. The Heathen Are Raging Psalm 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. A. A rhetorical question was asked in verse 1. 1. That means God was not expecting an answer. 2. This is not exactly a prophetic Psalm. 3. The lost world has always raged against God; however, their rage has picked up steam in the last few generationsin large part because of what has happened to America. a. America, the closest thing to a Christian nation that the world had, has become anti-God and carnal. America is not the only anti-God country, but its new and open hatred for God has certainly changed the balance for the remainder of the world. b. Christians and Gods church have become weak and carnal. c. False religions are loved and on the rise. (1) Atheism – Atheism is the worship of man as god. (2) Islam (3) Isnt it amazing that America fell in love with Islam AFTER 9/11??!! 4. For years, many good people have sat on the sidelines when it came to loving and serving God, but they are not on the sidelines any longer. They are on the opposing team! B. But lets attempt answer this rhetorical question. 1. Why are the heathen raging against God? It is because they are filled with the devil and his wrath. a. It is no coincidence that what the devil is feeling is also what a majority of people are feeling. b. The devil is in the people! c. His goal is to tear down what is in place, promote himself as leader, and then trick the world into loving and worshipping himand the heathen are doing it for him! 2. Notice their strategy: a. \#1\ They are imaging vain things. (1) The devil has gotten into their heads. (2) They are thinking things that are not true are and things that are true are not. (a) They are thinking man is God and God doesnt exist. (b) They are thinking there is no sin and so no need for salvation. (c) They are thinking they are the judge. (3) They are in for a rude awakening. b. \#2\ The leaders of the world are aligning against God. (1) It is amazing how much the leadership of America has changed just in the last few years. (2) If you are on social media, you have probably seen the clips where many of the Congressional leaders were for the things they are not fighting against just a few years agoon both sides of the aisle. (3) The one thing that leaders throughout the world seem in agreement about is that the God of the Bible is a bad God. c. \#3\ They are throwing away the cords that have bound them. (1) What has God used to keep people bound? His Word (2) What has God been keeping the people bound from? Sin and its deceitful death (3) But the world seems tired of that and so they are casting off the Bible and all of its truths about right and wrong. (4) Understand something that has happened in the last few generations. (a) People are not just up in arms about national law. They are but not just nation laws. (b) They are up in arms about Gods laws. i. That God alone has the right to give and to take life. ii. That marriage is between a man and a woman. iii. Mankind has learned enough to actually attempt to change decisions that God alone has the right to make. III. The Sheep Are Following Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. A. The devil is angry; the heathen are raging, and the sheep are following. B. All people are sheep. 1. I know we get angry with some of those who are visibly fighting against God in all the different areas of conflict. 2. False religions leaders, crazy politicians, ungodly celebrities are on the top of that list. 3. But the truth is they are all just sheep. 4. The only ones who really understand what is going on is the devil himself and the Spirit-filled people of God. 5. Remember sheep are not very bright, but they will follow the things that give them pleasure. 6. Dont hate the sheep. Pity the sheep. C. The herd of sheep is going to grow, but the people of God wont go. 1. There is only one group of people that will not eventually become part of the deceived herd. Matt 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 2. Notice, this passage is not talking about the anti-Christ just false Christs and false prophets. 3. We are all living in that time. 4. Many who sat on church pews as recently as last year are sitting in sheep pens this year. 5. If you truly belong to God, you wont go. D. Do you belong to God? 1. A Christian belongs to God. A Christian is a person who has believed and repented. 2. A backslidden Christians may still belong to God, but he can fall asleep. 1Thess 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. a. I have been thinking on this. While I have not finished thinking on it, I believe I can say that a sleeping Christian is not a deceived Christian. b. To be asleep means to be unaware and unconcerned. c. To be deceived means to believe a lie and perhaps to even be pulling for the wrong team. d. I dont think a believer can do that. (1) Christians may be ignorant and unconcerned, but they should not be aligning with the devil and his crowd. (2) So if you are against the Bible and what the Bible teaches, dont consider yourself a backslidden Christian. Consider yourself lost. e. However, sitting on the sidelines during these days is nothing to brag about. (1) You are going to have to take a stand and you might as well take one now. (2) The longer you refuse, to be honest, the more you demonstrate that you are not asleep at all but dead in trespasses and sins. The world is on a course and has been for a long time. Nothing can stop the events that God has prophesied but righteous can delay it. Turn to Christ today!