God Wins Always - The Deceiver/Accuser Is Defeated Forever (Happy Thanksgiving)

Dear Saints:

For all of us that are married, your spouse is not your enemy. And for all, people (family, neighbors, co-workers, boss, etc.) are not your real enemy.  The real enemy is the deceiver and the accuser of the brethren, Satan himself. Yes, Satan can and does operate through people. “You [we followers of Christ] once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” Ephesians 2:1.

Therefore, we must fight back and resist the devil and he must flee according to the weapons of our warfare for pulling down strongholds of wickedness in the unseen world. (2 Corinthians 10:1-6 and Ephesians 6:10-20). Satan is a liar and the father of all lies. He is defeated forever. Amen!

As we continue our study of the book of Revelation in chapter 12 (one of the interlude chapters) from the end-time judgment sequence, Jesus gave Apostle John a revelation of Satan’s operation and doom. John saw the past, present, and future. Satan was initially cast down from heaven (Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28) though he still had access to heaven.

Israel is the woman who gave birth to a Male Child, Christ. Satan unsuccessfully tried to sniff out Jesus as a child to derail God’s plan for our redemption. And now, Satan continues to make war against Israel and those who trusted in Christ, especially during the last three and half years of the Great Tribulation. Satan is a loser, loser, loser forever. He was defeated again in the heavenly war. Rejoice and praise God; Fear not, and lets live for God's Glory. Amen!

Let’s read Revelation 12:

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon

12 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. ² Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. ⁴ His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 

⁵ She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. ⁶ Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Satan Thrown Out of Heaven

⁷ And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, ⁸ but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. ⁹ So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

¹⁰ Then 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, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. 

¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. ¹² Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

The Woman Persecuted

¹³ Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. ¹⁵ So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 

¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The first thing to note is “a great sign appeared in heaven,” meaning the things we're reading at this point are symbols such as the woman, the dragon, and his description. The woman represents Israel, not Mary. Jesus came as God to earth through the Jewish people. The dragon is Satan, and the Child is clearly Jesus,  “She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron" (see also Revelation 2:27;19:15, and Psalm 2:8 and 9).

There was war in heaven at the end-time, and of course, God always won. Michael and the good angels cast Satan and his demons to earth. He will no longer have access to heaven to accuse us. Satan is here on earth as a spirit doing havoc through people. Satan’s time is limited, and he knows that he will be cast from this world to the bottomless pit and finally into the lake of fire forever.

There are two names used for Satan – Deceiver and Accuser (devil). Satan is deceiving the whole world (first were Adam and Eve). He continues to do so. His method, which is lies/half-truths, has not changed. Satan is also the accuser of the brethren, who accuses us day and night. Notice that Satan accuses the brethren, not the whole world. Why? Because we the Saints have been redeemed, and the penalty for our sins has been paid in full. 

Satan accuses us of things we did and did not do. Guess what? We have a great Advocate, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:25), who is pleading our case and saying, ‘I have paid for that by My blood.’ Hallelujah! Know your real enemy and his tricks of lies and fight back with the TRUTH of God. You can't win a fight with an unknown enemy and his weapons' of war.

We are also told that “And they [the Saints] overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:5-10). The cross is our ultimate victory over Satan. It is “Finished.” We thank God!

Please do not partner with the accuser (Satan) to lie/gossip about your brothers and sisters in Christ. We live in a day where the church is divided into white, black, charismatic, pentecostal, evangelical and orthodox, etc. 

We can do Satan’s bidding, going after one another. May we be warned for Christ died for His whole body - the Church. We can also go after individual Christians (especially thru social media) but let grace abound where we see sin in any of us and pray for repentance and seek restoration. (Please read James 4:11-12). Don't believe Satan's lies about others.

The Saints also overcame (obeyed) by the “word of their testimony.” What is our testimony? It is the life of Christ lived through us. As witnesses, our testimony is the transformations the Holy Spirit has worked out in our lives and still working out. When we see what Christ has done in us, we stop believing Satan’s lies about us that says 'you are a nobody'. Our testimony is not the new car and new house. We thank God for those and more. People must see Christ in us and hear the Hope of Glory from us.  As witnesses, our testimony (words we speak) are accompanied with evidence in even a legal Court. Amen.

We often leave out “they [Saints] did not love their lives to the death.”  We only want to love Jesus as long as we are guaranteed to be alive. But that is not what it says. We are to live for Christ even unto death. Many have died trusting Christ and saying no to Satan. We are no exceptions. To live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21), so Satan has no authority over us.

In the end-time, Satan will make war against Israel through his Antichrist representative. God will make a way of escape for Israel, as described in verses 13-16. Israel will flee to the mountain as Jesus said in Matthew 24:15-16.

Friends, this is all good news. Heaven rejoices (verses 10 and 12). God wins all the time. And we win and are protected and overcome through Christ by trusting and obeying Christ. Fear not! Amen.

Have you asked why Jesus said to love and pray for your enemies (Matthew 5:43-47)? People are not our real enemies. Jesus will never encourage us to pray for the welfare of Satan but to cast him out. Please let's love and pray for all; and yes, even our pseudo enemies. 

Are you a winner in the battle for your life? Believe and trust Christ the Savior. Call on Christ today and be saved forever. Amen!

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Family. Our God is Good and Faithful! Lord, we thank You!