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We're here in Revelation chapter 12. Just before I forget, after Prince sings the last song, I'm going to just pray on behalf of the church for about five minutes. We haven't really had a time of prayer really recently, so just for about five minutes after the service, we'll keep that on live stream for the prayer session. And we're here in Revelation chapter 12, and we're not going to finish the whole chapter here today. We're going to finish basically half of it. And next week, we're going to finish the other half. And I'm not really necessarily going verse by verse. I'm going to kind of hit some different concepts here tonight because if you remember, basically last week, we concluded the first half of the book of Revelation, the first 11 of 22 chapters. But not only that, but God divided it in a way such that the first 11 chapters basically tell the story. And in chapter 12, we're going back to basically the beginning of time because the name of the sermon is the history of the world. Okay, so I'll try to preach the history of the world in less than an hour. I'll see how I can do here. But Revelation chapter 12 is undoubtedly, in my opinion, the most complicated chapter in the book of Revelation. So I understand the book of Revelation is revealing information, but you really got to dig deep to understand this. And I'll be honest with you, when we started this series, I was like, man, I'm not ready to preach on Revelation 12 yet. I'm going to have to read it and memorize it. And I was reading and memorizing this chapter over and over again. And there's something that just wasn't clicking. But then I kind of understood a verse that was confusing me. And to me, this chapter really just makes perfect sense now. And it's going to take two sermons to cover this. And to kind of get the concept. So basically, in tonight's sermon, I'm kind of giving you a bit of an overview. And I highly encourage you to go back and read Revelation 12 yourself. And I believe this chapter, even though it's very symbolic, it will click with you. It's going to make sense. Okay, so the first thing we need to talk about here is who is the woman in verse number one. So verse number one, Revelation 12 says this, And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head, a crown of 12 stars. And so you're reading verse number one. And your first reaction is probably like, what's the sun? What's the moon? What's the stars? What's the woman? What are we talking about? Okay, well, go to Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three. And I'll explain to you basically what this is referring to in my opinion. And there's a lot of people that have different opinions on this stuff. But I believe the woman is meant to represent all of mankind. Okay, so there's a couple of different ways to look at that. But I believe it's meant to represent all of mankind because as you're going to see in this chapter, the woman is being persecuted basically throughout all time period. Okay, so it references during the end times, this woman's being persecuted, but also before the end times, the woman's being persecuted. So I think it's meant to represent all of mankind, but pretty much most specifically, all of people that are saved. People that are saints. So this goes all the way back to save people that were persecuted in the book of Genesis all the way to Revelation. Okay, and so notice what it says in Genesis three verse 20. And Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living. So if you wanted to put one person behind who is this woman referring to, you could say Eve because she's the mother of all living. Okay, there's Adam and Eve and then everybody comes from Adam and Eve. And so if you want to represent one person by this woman, I believe Eve would be the best person to say. Okay, go back to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12. Now obviously Eve is not going to be alive during the end times. And so really what the woman's trying to, what the Bible is trying to tell you is basically it's all of mankind, specifically believers. And so obviously Eve's not around during the end times. So basically that lineage from her. Okay, so basically it's all believers is basically what the woman is representing here. But I want you to notice Revelation chapter 12 verse one because it doesn't just mention the woman. It mentions the sun, the moon, and the stars. Okay, because some people look at the woman and they say that the woman is referring to Israel. Okay, and I understand where they're coming from on that. But the problem with saying the woman is Israel is that the sun is Israel, not the woman. Okay, we're going to see that when we cross reference here. But notice how it says there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun. It doesn't say she is the sun. It says she's clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head, a crown of 12 stars. You say, what is that referring to? We'll go back to Genesis 37. Genesis 37. And if you were here for the wedding just recently, basically my sermon applied this story of the sun, the moon, and the stars. And we talked about this, so it's going to sound familiar to you. But the sun is representing Jacob. The moon is representing his wife. And then the stars are representing not only Joseph, but basically his brethren. Okay, so notice what it says in Genesis 37, verse 9. And he dreamed yet another dream and told it his brethren and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more and behold, the sun and the moon and the 11 stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father and to his brethren and his father rebuked him and said unto him, What is this dream that thou has streamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee, to the earth? And so his father hears this and his first reaction is like, Am I going to bow down to you? Are your brothers going to bow down to you? Is your mom going to bow down to you? He understood he represented the sun. He understood his wife was the moon. He understood the 11 stars were the 11 brothers of Joseph because he was one of 12. Okay, so it made perfect sense. There's 11 stars. You have 11 brothers. It's not too hard to make that click. And I believe probably in the Old Testament, he understood the concept of the sun representing the husband or the father and the moon representing the wife. But people in the Old Testament were not just ignorant in terms of what the Bible said. We do have more of the Bible here today, but they studied the Bible probably a lot more than we did. And they understood these concepts. And I'm sure they heard a lot of sermons on the same sort of stuff we hear today because the symbolism is there. The teachings are there as well. And so the sun and the moon and the stars are the father, the mother, and then his 11 brothers. Okay, verse 11. And his brethren envied him, but his father observed the saying. So his father hears this saying, he understood what it's meant to represent, but he doesn't really understand how he's going to bow down before his son, Joseph. Now go back to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation 12. Now, quite literally, him and his sons were basically begging for bread for their survival because Joseph was appointed basically second in command in Egypt. And so there's a literal application to that story. But throughout the Bible, there's literal applications and oftentimes secondary and symbolic applications as well. And there's obviously symbolism being used here in Revelation 12 verse 1 because there's no mistaking it. The sun, the moon, and the 12 stars, that's representing Israel and that's representing his sons and his wife. There's no question about that. But notice the woman is not the sun though. She's clothed with the sun. And so why does it mention the sun, the moon, and the stars? Because throughout the Old Testament, there's no doubt about it that, you know what, what God chose to use, the oracles were given to Israel, the nation of Israel, which came from Jacob. So you have the 12 stars and those were the people that were used throughout the Old Testament. And the woman, here's the thing, she remains in this chapter, but what you're going to see is the 12 stars end up being gone later on in the chapter. You say, why? Because God's not using Israel anymore. He's not using the nation of Israel. They were rejected. During the end times, those are not God's chosen people. So they're going to be done away. They're going to be gone. But in the Old Testament, once Jacob came, is there any doubt that God chose to give the oracles of God to his lineage, who was renamed Israel? There's no question. So it mentions the sun, the moon, and the 12 stars here in verse number 1. And the reason why is he's showing you, that's what I did use in the beginning of time. Once Jacob came, those were the people of God. Why? Because of their faith, okay? Safe people in other countries were children of God as well. Now, obviously, we know that before Jacob, there's a lot of human history that took place. You have the flood and there's 1600 years plus, you know, more like 2000 years before the flood and things like that. And so there's a lot of time period beforehand and God used various people. But then once you see once Jacob comes and he gets renamed Israel, those were God's chosen people. That does not mean that somebody who's saved could not become part of them or we're not going to heaven, but it means that God chose to use that nation and they were expected to bring forth fruit. So that's why he's going to reference the sun, the moon, and the stars, because he does want you to think about the nation of Israel. Okay, there's no question about that. Now, notice what it says in verse number 4. Verse number 4. But look, it's clear that the woman is not the sun. She's clothed with the sun because that's what was being used. Okay, God was using the nation of Israel. But notice what it says in verse 4. And you're going to see a reference to Jesus Christ here in verse number 4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth. And that's referring to the devil. And we're going to talk about that, you know, this week and next week. Go in detail on all these verses. We're going to explain all of them. Basically, the dragon wants to kill her child as soon as it is born. And that is referencing Jesus Christ to his literal birth. Now, Eve did not give birth to Jesus. Obviously, we know Mary did. But what we realize is that when Jesus came on the scene, the Jews had already been rejected. And now Jesus was going to come. He was going to die for the sins of the world. And so that's why you're not seeing the 12 stars being referenced here. You're seeing Jesus Christ being mentioned here in verse number 4. So in verse number 1, we have the woman, which basically is all of mankind. The sun represents Jacob, which was renamed Israel. And then you have the moon and the stars. And then in verse number 4, though, the child that's going to be devoured, that is referring to Jesus Christ here. And it mentions the devil there in verse number 4 as well. Okay, look at verse number 6. Like I said, this chapter is a deep chapter. Okay, there's a lot of symbolism. You got to... I had to write these things down and look over it and cross reference and make sure everything was lining up when I was reading this. Notice what it says in verse number 6. And the woman fled into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days. Now 1260 days ought to make sense to you, because as we've mentioned throughout the book of Revelation, you basically have three and a half years, which is a 1080 is three years plus half a year of 180 gets you to 1260. And so she flees into the wilderness for 1260 days. And that represents the beginning of sorrows. Okay, there's a shift in this chapter because the Bible is going to speak about the devil being cast out of heaven. And that is really what sets off the end times. Right when that happens, the Antichrist will declare himself to be God. And it's not just that they're fleeing from the devil and they're in the wilderness. It's an all out persecution against God's people for 75 days. Okay, so the 1260 days here is representing the first three and a half years of Daniel 70th week. Okay, and once again, the devil is persecuting believers you see here. So the woman's fleeing in the wilderness. Why? Because and why say it's representing believers is because believers are always the one fleeing from the devil. Okay, now go to Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians chapter two. And you'll notice there's no reference to the 12 stars anymore. And you say, why? Because the Jews were replaced. Okay, we believe in what's known as replacement theology, where basically the Jews were used by God and God gave them the oracles and God expected them to bring forth fruit. And they were given specific land that belonged to them. But it was a conditional promise. Okay, it was not an eternal promise. When you get saved, you have everlasting life. It's an eternal promise that will never be done away. They were not given this everlasting promise that no matter what you do, this is your land. If you choose to worship other gods, this is still your land, bless God. It was given to Israel, no matter what. You'll never find that in the Bible. There was conditions given to them where God says, if, if you obey, then yes, I will bless you. But if you don't obey, I'm going to take away that blessing. And look, you know, on a smaller scale, that promise belongs to us today as well, that if we obey God's commandment, He's going to bless us. Okay. He specifically had one nation that was hearing the word of God and the scriptures were given to them and they were sending out the preachers. But look, Israel's not doing that anymore. They were done away. Okay. And so in Ephesians chapter two, notice what it says in verse number 11. Ephesians two, verse 11. Wherefore, remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. The circumcision in verse 11 is referring to the Jews. Okay. We're not just the Jews, but really like all 12 tribes, but the uncircumcision is referring to the Gentiles. And he said, you are Gentiles in the flesh. But notice what it says in verse 12, that at that time you are without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. In the Old Testament, you do see Gentiles getting saved, but you're not seeing just an outpouring of the word of God in those areas. In the New Testament, who are the people that were receptive to the gospel? The Gentiles, not the Jews. I mean, initially some Jews get saved, but then after that, they're the ones persecuting God's people. Okay. People that are saved. And so he says the Gentiles, you were strangers from the covenants of promise, but not anymore because the word of God's gone out to all of the world. Okay. Verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Okay. So there's only one way of salvation, and that is through Jesus Christ. And when he came, you could either believe it or reject it. No longer was God using the nation of Israel. You say, why? Because they were wicked. Because they're the ones that the Bible says killed the Lord Jesus Christ. So they were done. Okay. Now go back to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12. So we see the woman and we see how the woman keeps remaining in here, but kind of the other characters are kind of changing because it's basically all believers throughout all time period. And that will change, but the persecution has always remained the same. The persecution was at the beginning to God's people, and it's at the end times to God's people, those that are believers. Okay. Secondly, I want to talk to you about the organization of Revelation chapter 12. And this is the part that had me confused quite a bit. Okay. Let me turn to Revelation 12 myself because I didn't write down a couple of verses I want to read. But basically, Revelation chapter 12, and I encourage you to write this down. Revelation 12 is divided into two halves. Okay. It's divided into two halves. And this is the part that confused me because I read and I was looking at it, and I was throwing out all kinds of theories in my mind, and just nothing was clicking. Because next week we'll talk about Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel chapter 28. And I was like, it just doesn't make any sense. I was like, there's a verse I didn't understand until I looked at verse 13, and it all clicked for me. And I'll show you that here in a second, but it's divided into two halves. And basically, verses one through 13 is the first half. And then it's going to go back in time versus 14 through 17. What makes it confusing, and I'll show you this in a second, is that verse 13 basically is recapping verses one through 12. You know, sometimes you tell a story, and then you'll kind of go back and explain a little bit in more detail about what you said earlier. And that's what verse 13 is doing. Then he's going to move on to verse number 14. And once I understood that, it all clicked. Okay. But notice what it says in verse number five. Verse five. And I encourage you, I mean, double check me, you know, for yourself next week. Verses one through 13 goes through the story. And then verses 14 through 17 is going to go back in time. And so it's basically divided into two halves. Verse number five. And he brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God into his throne. Now, there's no question this man child, which we mentioned in verse four, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Say, how do you know that's Jesus Christ? Because he's going to rule all nations with a rod of iron. You say, why isn't it like a rod of peace and love? No, it's going to be a rod of iron, my friend. It's going to be God's rules during the end times. Now, he didn't rule with a rod of iron 2000 years ago. He will one day. Okay. And it says her child was caught up unto God into his throne. And we'll talk about what that means when he was caught up unto God into his throne. That's referring to Acts chapter one. But the man child is referring to Jesus Christ. There's no question there with verse five. But then notice what it says in verse six. Because the end of verse five is referring to Acts one, where he gets called up to heaven. Verse six. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three square days. That's referring to the first three and a half years. Okay. Now, notice what it says. And then after that, we'll talk about that next week. But verse seven is referring to something that happens after verse six. The war in heaven is midway through Daniel's 70th week. Okay. Next week, we're going to talk more about that. But basically, you can see, you know, the man child, Jesus, then all of a sudden he's caught up unto God into his throne. That's Acts chapter one, three and a half years of tribulation. It's going in order. It's going to talk about the battle in heaven that takes place midway through. It's all making sense. Then go to verse number 12. Verse number 12. Actually, verse number 13. Verse 13. Sorry. Verse number 13. Well, go to verse 12. Sorry. My bad. Verse number 12. And, you know, you can see in these verses, it's talking about the great tribulation, the persecution, and verse 12. Therefore, rejoice ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but a short time. It's referring to the 75 days. He loses the battle. He has a short time because he knows the rapture is going to take place. He has 75 days. Okay, then in verse 13. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. Now, what makes this confusing then is when you go to verse 14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness into a place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent. Now, verse number 14, a time is one, times is two, and half a time is 0.5. That's three and a half years. Now, isn't that verse pretty similar to verse number six, where in verse six it says the woman fled into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And you can see that basically the events are being restated. But if you look at verse 13, it sounds like the dragon's cast into the earth, he's persecuting the man child, and then the woman flees in the wilderness for three and a half years. And that's what was confusing me. But verse 13 is recapping verses one through 12. Basically that the dragon's cast onto the earth, that happens three and a half years in. Okay, what you must realize, and we'll talk about it next week, is that the devil chose to rebel against God, but he still has free reign to go to heaven today. We see that in the book of Job. He will not be cast into the earth until the battle in heaven, three and a half years into Daniel's 70th week. Look, I told you this is a deep chapter. Okay, this is complicated. There's a lot of symbolism, but you need to realize verse 13 is recapping earlier events. It's not verse 13 and then 14s afterwards, because look, the dragon is not cast into the earth until three and a half years in. Okay, verse 14 is referring to the first three and a half years of Daniel's 70th week though, which is before the events of 13. Why is verse 14 before the events of 13? The reason why is because verses 14 through 17 are going to retell the story. You can see that verse 14 is parallel with verse number six. There's no question about that. 1,203 score days mentions three and a half years. It mentions the woman fleeing in the wilderness in both stories. So those are parallel verses. And the only way to reconcile this is verse 13's recap in verses 1 through 12. And it makes perfect sense when you see that. I recommend you check that out for yourself and you're going to see that that is what the Bible is teaching. Verse 17, And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. You say, why is he making war with the remnant of her seed? That's referencing during the great tribulation. Now, the great tribulation was mentioned in verses 7 through 12, basically. And so it's going to mention it again. You say, why? Because verses 1 through 13 tell the story. Then verse 14 is going to go back to basically the start of Daniel's 70th week. And I think it makes sense. It goes back to the start of Daniel's 70th week because that's kind of when the beginning of the whole book of Revelation. Now, the first half of the book of Revelation, the first five chapters don't really get into the meat and potatoes of it. Verses 4 and 5 are kind of just giving a bit of an overview. We know there's the letters to the churches in verses 2 and 3, chapters 2 and 3. Chapter 1 is just an introductory chapter. Chapter 6 is when you start getting into the seven seals. So basically in the book of Revelation, chapter 12, the seven seals are already passed. The second half of the book of Revelation, chapters 12 through 22, yes, it goes back in time. But what you're going to see is they're going to cover things that the first 11 chapters didn't cover. It's going to cover Babylon. It's going to cover the great white throne judgment. It's going to recover the millennial reign. It's going to go further into the future. So it goes all the way back to the beginning with Eve. And chapters 12 through 22, it will go all the way to the end. Okay. And so you see we went from the beginning to the great tribulation mentioned in verse number 17 and also in earlier in the chapter. So go in your Bible to Revelation, chapter 12, verse 2. Revelation, chapter 12, verse 2. And look, I'm trying to explain this as simply as possible. The only way I think to necessarily fully grasp it is if you study it yourself, though. Okay. I gave you kind of the overview that verses 1 through 13 tell the story. And then 13 is a recap. And then verse 14, you're going to see is parallel to I think it was verse number 6. So you got to kind of study that for yourself. You really want to kind of know the deep things here, because this took me a lot of time to study it and reconcile it. And before it finally made sense. But notice what it says in verse 2, verse 2. And I want you to see something else. I want you to see the angel's choice, the angel's choice, verse 2. And she being with child cried, travailing in birth and pain to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads. Obviously, the red dragon is referring to the devil. Okay. I think we all can agree on that. It's referring to the devil and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth. Now, you've probably heard many times in church that one third of the angels went with the devil. And I agree with that. The verse that you get that from is right here in the Book of Revelation. Okay. Where you get a third of the stars. You say, how do you know that's angels? Because throughout the Book of Revelation, stars are being used synonymously with angels. Okay. So the devil basically takes one third of the angels from heaven with him. Notice how it said his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven. So basically, the devil convinces one third of the angels to rebel against God as well. The angels had a choice to either stick with God's side or to rebel against God. And one third of the angels were drawn with the devil. Okay, go to Matthew Chapter 25. Matthew Chapter 25. Matthew Chapter 25. Now, look, this event where the third part of the stars of heaven go with the devil. This is not the battle in the Book of Revelation midway through Daniel 70th week. This is going all the way back to the Book of Genesis, where he's basically able to convince one third of the angels to come with him. Okay. Now, what I believe and what Verity Baptist Church teaches is that basically the angels made a corporate choice to just basically rebel against God all at once. And after they do that, their chance is done. They've made their choice. They can't say, Oh, I made a mistake. I chose the wrong side. They're basically like, and they're used as an example of a reprobate. Why? Because they have no chance to end up going to God's side anymore. They are going to go to hell no matter what. Notice what it says in Matthew 25 Verse 41. Matthew 25 Verse 41. Matthew 25 Verse 41. And look, sometimes there's sermons where you're just preaching hard against the sin. Everyone's saying, Amen. Sometimes you just got to dig into the deep things of the Bible. And that's what we're doing here tonight. Matthew 25 Verse 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me, curse it into everlasting fire. Notice this prepared for the devil and his angels. The devil has angels on his side. Next week, we're going to see where basically the devil gets cast out of heaven in terms of like he lost his spot. He rebelled against God. That doesn't mean that he can't come back to heaven, though. Okay, but we're going to see basically in Isaiah 14 in Ezekiel 28. We're going to talk about those kind of complicated passages. But that this that is referring to the devil and his angels, they have a place prepared in hell. This is before the battle in the Book of Revelation, but they have a spot prepared in hell. Nothing's going to ever change that. The devil and his angels are done. Go to James Chapter 2. James Chapter 2. Now you need to realize something, and this is going to sound obvious, but angels are not humans. Angels are not humans. Okay, us as believers, we are condemned to hell for committing one sin. But if we believe on Jesus Christ, it does not matter if we commit a million sins, we will go to heaven. Angels, on the other hand, they are condemned to hell based on their works. Doesn't matter what they believe. And sometimes people try to pull up angels and say, Well, see, you got to live a good life to go to heaven. We're not angels. We're humans. It doesn't matter that the angels go to the angels are going to hell because of their works. The choice they made sends them to hell. Okay, because they chose to rebel against God, and they have no hope to change their mind. Okay, notice what it says in James 2 verse 19. James 2 verse 19. Thou believeth that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble in the Bible. You're not going to see demons mentioned. You're going to see devils. Now there's the great red dragon, Lucifer, Satan, the devil, but the fallen angels. His angels are referred to as devils. Okay, not demons, although it's the same thing as what you would think of as a demon. Okay, you think of the ultimate devil and the demons, which are actually called devils. What it says is thou believeth that there is one God and thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. Now James 2 is a very debated passage. People have different opinions. I don't have time to go into it, but I did want to talk about this verse because I want you to understand something. The devils believe in the true God. Satan knows who the true God is. The angels know who the true God is, but they're not judged based on what they believe. They're judged based on their works. Now when he says thou believeth that there is one God, thou doest well, then he says the devils also believe and tremble. Here's the thing, the devils believe in the true God. Believing in one God does get you to heaven if it's the true God, okay? It's not that in verse 19 it's saying, well, they don't believe on Jesus. We're referring to angels that way anyway, but look, angels believe in the true God. The reason why they're condemned to hell is because of their works. But what the Bible's trying to say in James 2 verse 19 is the devils tremble at the judgment of God because they know who the true God is. When you know who the true God is, you know what's going to happen? You're going to tremble at that judgment. Doesn't the Bible say with Noah he was moved with fear and he built an ark? And look, I tremble at the judgment of God. You say, why? Because most of the world is going to hell. We ought to be afraid of the fact that people are going to hell. And look, if you're not moved with compassion, as the Bible says, be moved with fear for the people going to hell. And so look, we as believers, knowing who the true God is, we ought to tremble at the judgment of God because here's the thing, unbelievers don't tremble at the judgment of God, right? We knock on doors. I don't know I'm going to heaven. Would you like to know? Hey, you know, I'm playing this game on my phone. It's like, aren't you afraid? They're not afraid at all. Who is it that trembles at the judgment of God? Believers tremble at the judgment of God. Why? Because we know who the true God is. If they knew who the true God is, they would tremble at the judgment of God. We tremble at the judgment of God for a few reasons. One, because of the fact we know most people are going to hell. And just like, you know, the angels tremble at the judgment of God because they know who the true God is, we as believers who have the Spirit of God inside of us, okay, we ought to tremble at the judgment of God. And you know, you also ought to tremble at the judgment of God because here's the thing, God will judge his people. It first starts at the house of God. You can't lose your salvation, but when you know who the true God is and you've read the Bible, you ought to tremble at the judgment of God if you choose to commit a wicked sin. I mean, before you go and commit a sin like adultery or fornication or getting drunk, you ought to tremble at the judgment of God. I mean, have you read the Bible? And so in my opinion, in James 2 19, the devils believe in the true God. They tremble because they believe in the true God. And we as God's people, even more so than the devils, because of the fact we're indwelled with the Spirit of God, we ought to tremble at the judgment of God. Because James 2, what it's referring to is that believers ought to do some good works. And it's like, there's a few reasons why you ought to do good works. One, because God will judge you in this life. If you live a wicked life, you'll reap what you sow. But two, because of the fact, if you don't go out there and do the work, people are going to die and go to hell. So you ought to tremble at that judgment, my friend. And so people try to use James 2 19 and say, well, see, you got to live a good life. The devils believe, but they're not going to heaven. The reason why the devils are going to hell is because of their works, but we're not angels. They're judged by their works. What verse 19 is trying to tell you is that when you believe in the true God, you ought to tremble. Look, when people read the Bible for the first time, everyone's reaction is like, man, God is so much more wrathful and holy than I ever expected. Nobody walks away the first time they read the Bible saying, man, my first reaction, he's so much more loving than I thought he was. Now, God is love. There's no question about that, but that's what you always hear in churches. The thing you don't hear that God is a God of judgment. He's a jealous God and he will pour out vengeance. Okay. And so, look, we knowing this as believers and you at this church, you know about the judgment of God. You say why? Because I'm not Joel Osteen. I actually preach what the Bible says. And, you know, we ought to tremble at that judgment and decide we're going to live a good life. Now go to Jude chapter one. But look, angels are not humans. Angels are not humans. Yes, angels are judged by their works. I don't feel like, oh, man, I got to be able to defend this against somebody believing in work salvation. Angels aren't humans. There's a defense. Angels are judged differently than people. Okay. Angels are judged by their works. We're judged by what we believe in terms of going to heaven or hell. Okay. Jude chapter one, Jude one. And in Jude chapter one, notice what it says. And the angels, verse six, Jude chapter one, verse six, and the angels, which kept not their first estate. Okay, so here's the thing about this. Angels, their first estate, they were meant to be in heaven. God created them and everything he made was good. They were supposed to go to heaven. That was their first estate. Okay. Now, obviously, we know babies die and go to hell if they die as babies. But for us that are adults, look, we will go to hell if we don't get saved. Angels don't have to get saved. Angels basically just have to not become reprobates, right? I mean, angels don't need to get saved because they're not humans. We need to get saved. That's why I'm trying to compare angels and humans. Where do you see an angel heard the gospel, right? You know, you see somebody giving the gospel to Michael the archangel, and he's like, I believe it. I believe. No, I mean, angels aren't humans. Okay, angels don't need to get saved. They just need to not become reprobates, which one third of them became reprobates. It was a corporate decision, and that's kind of their eternal decision where angels, neither one switching sides at this point because it was basically right at the beginning. Once the devil rebels, are you going to God's side of the devil? And a third of them went with the devil. But notice what it says in Jude one verse six and the angels, which kept not their first estate, but notice but left their own habitation, but left their own habitation. This is a very important verse to understanding Revelation 12, because notice they were not cast out of their first estate. They left. What's the difference? Look, people can leave our church and stop coming here. Okay, that's their choice, and they're welcome back. But what if they get cast out of church? What if they get kicked out of church? That's different. There's people that leave our church and, you know, I still pray for them to come back because some people live a long distance and things like that, or some people just start going somewhere else, so they just whatever, and they leave this church and we pray for them to come back. But what if we cast somebody out? That's the terminology used for kicking someone out. If you kick somebody out, it's like they don't have free reign to come back. Okay, these angels, they left their own habitation. They weren't kicked out. They made a free will choice. They made the decision to leave their home. Okay, why is that important? Because in the book of Revelation Chapter 12, you're going to see them getting cast out of heaven. That's different than leaving heaven. Right now, these angels are able to go back to heaven today because they have not been cast out of heaven yet. People leave our church. Some people don't come every week, but some people, you know, they've been gone a while and maybe they came back and they have free reign to come back when they want to because they have not been cast out of church, just like these angels. But one day these angels will be cast out. So they left their own habitation. They didn't keep their first estate. Notice this in the end of this verse. He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, honor the judgment of the great day. Now it says he hath reserved. Now, what is a reservation? Okay, let's say, for example, you know, you're going to a fancy restaurant. Look, I mean, if you go to Jollibee, you probably don't need to make a reservation, but there's restaurants that are very expensive and, you know, there's only a limited amount of seats. And to be able to go to those restaurants, you need to make a reservation. A reservation is for something that's happening in the future, right? It says they are reserved in everlasting chains. They're not in hell right now, but they have a reservation in hell. They're going to go to hell in Jude chapter one. And I don't have time to go into this because Revelation 12 is really in depth as it is anyway. But in Jude chapter one, he gives a lot of examples of what a reprobate is because Jude chapter one, which is parallel to second Peter verse two, it's referring to false prophets. And in many different ways, he's given examples of how they have no chance. He mentioned Sodom and Gomorrah. Obviously, the homosexuals are mentioned. Okay, he mentions false prophets. He mentions a lot of different things. These angels are basically like reprobates. They're not in hell yet, but they got a reservation. Nothing's ever going to change that. And look, you can cancel a reservation, you know, in this life. You can't cancel a reservation here. Okay, they already paid the money with their credit card. It's like too late. I mean, it's like you already paid for it. You got to come. Okay, they've got a reservation to hell and nothing's going to change that. Now go to second Peter two, second Peter two. Second Peter two is parallel to the book of Jude. Second Peter two, second Peter chapter two. And another thing you need to understand in the book of Revelation, and this is where it takes a lot of study to cross reference and make sure, you know, everything's lining up as this, that sometimes God speaks about things that are not as if they have already happened. And the reason why he does that is because God's like, it's a guarantee it's going to happen when he says, you know what? I've done this. You know, it's because he knows it's going to happen. Okay, sometimes he speaks about things that are not as if they've already happened. The Bible speaks about that, and we'll talk about that more as we go through the book of Revelation. But, you know, a lot of future events were talked about and presented as a fact, even though they never happened before. And it's like, well, this happened because it was going to take place. Even just the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Okay, I mean, Jesus was slain 2000 years ago, but it was a done deal. It was already happened. That's already how salvation was from the very beginning. Okay, it's always been like that. Notice what it says in second Peter two verse four. For God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and deliver them in a change of darkness to be reserved unto judgment. Now, the reason why I mentioned that is because these angels are not in hell right now. Okay, this could confuse you. But what's happening is he's speaking about something that is not as if it's already happened. Now, here's the reason why. Because in Jude and second Peter, what's it referring to? It's referring to reprobates in many different ways, false prophets and false prophets. Reprobates are people. They are going to hell. Nothing can change that. They're not in hell yet, but you can speak about it and just be like, yeah, you know what? They're going to be in hell one day. Why? Because of the fact they've got a reservation. It's done. It's a done deal. So look, they're not already cast down to hell, but it's a done deal. The one third of the angels that went with the devil. I mean, it's already been written in the Bible. We already know the devil is going to be cast into hell. Has it happened yet? No, but it's a guarantee that it's going to happen. Okay, go to Luke chapter 10, Luke 10, Luke 10, Luke chapter 10, Luke chapter 10. And I'm going to show you another example is to help you understand this about how Satan basically is not cast out of heaven yet, but it speaks about it as if it's already happened here in Luke chapter 10. And look, this is why. And I actually like this. The Bible is incredibly deep and you can study it and study it and study it. And it should never get boring to you because you're never going to learn everything. It's like I could preach the same series a couple of years from now and, like, a million new things would pop up that I learned from the Bible. Notice what it says in Luke 10 verse 17. And the 70 returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, Jesus speaking, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Now, has this taken place yet? No, it's going to take place during the book of Revelation, but he's speaking about something that is not as if it is. He says, I saw it happen has not happened yet. Okay, and so throughout the Bible, you're going to see this that oftentimes I mean, in a couple of chapters, we're going to see how Babylon has fallen. It's fallen that great city, and yet they don't fall for another four chapters because he's speaking about something that is not as if it is. Okay, now go back to Revelation 12, Revelation 12. So the important thing to understand about the angels to recap pretty much everything I said about the angels. You need to understand this, that basically the devil drew or basically got one third of the angels to rebel against God. And that happened a long time ago. But then another event that takes place is the battle midway through Daniel's 70th week, which is what's going to kick off the Antichrist declaring himself to be God. We're basically they're going to duel it out with Michael. Okay, and that's going to take place. And at that moment, the devil is cast out of heaven. And what the Bible says is he knoweth he hath but a short time. He gets cast out of heaven. He falls from heaven. That does not take place until midway through Daniel's 70th week. At this moment, the devil freely can go into heaven. Now, that might surprise you, but that's what the Bible teaches, because a lot of people look at these events as being the same event. Like, when's the devil going to be cast out of heaven or when is he going? And they look at verses and it's like, well, those verses are referring to different things because the third of the angels already went with the devil. I mean, aren't there devils throughout the New Testament? That already happened. Don't devils possess people today? That already happened. But we also see that Satan goes up to heaven to talk to God in the Book of Job. You say, why? Because of the fact he hasn't been cast out of heaven yet. And that will take place midway through Daniel's 70th week. And that's what sets off the events. That's why you have the Antichrist declaring himself to be God and the Great Tribulation, because he knoweth he hath but a short time. 75 dates. Okay, Revelation chapter 12, verse 4. Revelation chapter 12, verse 4. One other thing, and I'm going to talk about that more next week, because if you're familiar with the stories, Isaiah chapter 14 is a pretty famous chapter. Ezekiel chapter 28 is a pretty famous chapter. And we're going to go in depth to explain what are those referring to? What's the Bible talking about? So I just kind of gave you an overview, and I hope you're going to read Revelation chapter 12 before next week. And I think these things will kind of sink in. But the last thing I want you to see is the persecution at birth that takes place for Jesus Christ. Notice Revelation 12, verse 4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven. That's the devil getting one third of the angels to come with him. That already happened. And did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. So the dragon or the devil, he wants to devour her child as soon as it's born. We know that's referring to Jesus Christ, because in verse 5, it talks about a man child ruling with a rod of iron. And so according to Revelation chapter 12, we should be able to see in the Bible that when Jesus Christ was born, there was a major persecution to kill him. Is that true? Go to Matthew chapter 2. Matthew chapter 2, Matthew chapter 2. And if you're familiar with Matthew chapter 2, you know that's definitely true. Where basically when Jesus was born, the devil tried to end him, to kill him. You say why? Because the devil knows the scriptures pretty well. And so he did persecute the man child as soon as it was born, the Bible says. Matthew chapter 2, verse 1. Matthew 2, verse 1. And you could read the whole Matthew chapter 2. I don't have time to read all of it, but notice what it says in verse 1. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was happy. Is that what it says? No, he was troubled. He was troubled in all Jerusalem with him. Okay, he's not very happy. But I will say this. I promise you, Herod was a smart person. And you know, smart people don't wear their emotions on their sleep. They don't always make it obvious what they're thinking. I'm sure that Herod's first reaction is he's very upset. But you know what? He's troubled. It's something he keeps on the inside, and he wants to basically look like he loves Jesus Christ because he wants to persecute and kill him. Verse four, And when they gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it was written by the prophets. And so, look, they're aware that the Old Testament talks about Jesus Christ's birth. I mean, do you see that? Here's unbelievers that are admitting, You know what? It's prophesied. So let's not pretend that people in the Old Testament, oh, they knew nothing about the Bible. They knew the Bible pretty well. And quite honestly, even though we should know more today, they didn't have Facebook back then. They didn't have a lot of distractions. So what people did is they read the scriptures, and even unsaved people read the scriptures. It was something that was just done by people. They read the scriptures. They knew them, and they know that you know what? It's written by the prophet. Verse six, And now Bethlehem in the land of Judah art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of these shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. So notice what it says in verse seven. Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. So he's coming to the wise men and privately means kind of privately or quietly, kind of secretly. And he calls the wise men, and he inquires of them diligently. So he really wants to know when did this star appear? And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search diligently for the young child. And when you have found him, bring me word again that I may come and worship him also. Now, does Herod want to worship Jesus Christ? No, he does not. He's lying about it. But look, bad people pretend to be good people. That's why you can't just trust the words people say. Nobody is going to walk up to you and say, You know what? I'm a really evil person. They're going to pretend to be good. And Herod is pretending to be good. He says, You know what? I want to worship him also. He's a liar. Okay, verse 16. And we're going to see we don't have time to go into the whole chapter, but I just want to I want to show you the persecution that took place at the birth of Jesus. As it mentioned in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 12, verse 16 in Matthew two, Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wrath. Obviously, they were warned from God and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and all the coast. They're out from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Notice how he kills every single child under the age of two. Now, I don't know how many children this is, but it's like this is a more massive version of abortion than anything in today's world. The amount of people that he just murders everyone under the age of two. Basically, any child that's a young age, he's like, I want to kill all of them. Under the age of two. Now, what kind of a person would do something like that? Someone who hates God, someone who's a bad person, someone that's going to be joining those angels for their reservation, my friend. Okay, this guy, he has his reservation as well. And I don't know if he had a reservation before this. But look, when somebody is a really wicked person, they basically are damning their own souls to hell. And so I don't know if this was the event that did it for this guy, because obviously he's not a believer, but he might have still had a chance to be saved. But when you just consciously go against what the Bible says and you try to murder Jesus Christ, look, there's no way he has a chance to be saved after this. He's done. And look, I believe he's already reprobated, because what kind of a person would kill every single child under the age of two? Someone without a conscience. I mean, killing just innocent babies. And look, the people that would be willing to kill all these babies under the age of two with him, they don't seem to have much of a conscience either. Probably none. And look, quite honestly, when you look at all the abortion doctors, you know what? A lot of them don't have a conscience to be willing to just kill all of these innocent babies. And it's like, I'm not trying to go on a major rabbit trail, but it blows my mind how abortion is so prevalent in this world. And it's like, if you've ever seen just like pictures of an abortion or when you have a baby, you know, you go in, you get an ultrasound or whatever, and you can see that at a very young age, you see a head, you see hands, you see fingers, and people try to claim to you that they're not actually a human until they're born. It's like, are you kidding me? I mean, it shocks you, right? I mean, the first time I went to an ultrasound, I was shocked at how real my child was. It's like, you can see their body parts at a very young age. And it's just like these people that are pro abortion and women have the right to choose. They've obviously never actually seen pictures of what an abortion is like, because when you actually see that, I mean, literally, and look, the way abortion works is it's not just you press a button and there's no pain that gets felt. They've got to make sure they remove all the body parts. It's really disgusting. And look, someone who'd be willing to do that all the time, because look, most women, when they go to get an abortion, they obviously don't really know everything that's taking place, and they're not the ones that have to actively kill their child. So basically can ease the conscience. But those doctors that just do it week after week and have no problem with, hey, you know, I have no problem with killing your baby. That's a bad person, especially someone who knows the videos and the pictures, and they know what goes on. And they realize that baby feels pain. Look, did you know when your baby's born and before they're born, your kids have an emotion? They don't become human once they start talking. No, they have an emotion at a young age. It's like my daughter has seen my son and I wrestling before, and she doesn't understand that we're just wrestling and having fun. And she started really crying because she thought I was hurting Zef. And in reality, it's like I was just playing with Zef. We were just wrestling and everything. She didn't understand why, because she has emotion inside. She sees somebody in pain and it hurts her. And it's like that was when my daughter was just like three months old or something like that, and she was really hurt because she thought Zef was getting hurt. They have an emotion right when they're born and even before they're born. They're real. They're humans. They have personalities. Okay, now, obviously you can't talk to your children in the same way when they're young as when they get older and stuff. But look, don't get this idea that, you know, wow, they're not really human until they're born, because once you start doing that, then you can start saying, well, maybe they're not really human until they're six months old. Maybe they're not really human until they're two years old, because in some parts of the world, abortion can be done after birth also. Okay. And look, there's really not much of a difference between killing a baby the day before they're born and the day after they're born. What magically happens at birth were, oh, wow, just right when they're born, they have a head and no, they already have their head, their hands, their emotions, their personalities. They already have everything. Okay. Herod is one of the most evil people that's ever existed. I mean, what he does killing all these children, and this was prophesied in the Old Testament verse 17, then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying in Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping and great mourning, racial weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they are not all of these babies being murdered. Now go back to Revelation 12. Revelation 12. Revelation Chapter 12. So is it true that there is a persecution at the birth of Jesus? Absolutely. I mean, doesn't verse four make sense that basically the devil was ready to devour her child as soon as it was born, and he tried many ways to kill Jesus, and he was not able to. Okay. And so in Revelation Chapter 12, the last thing I want to show you here in verse five is Jesus assent to heaven. So in verse four, what you see is the devil basically gets a third of the angels to join him, goes forward in time, and the devil tries to kill Jesus at his birth. In verse five, we see that Jesus is going to be basically caught up onto God. Verse five. And she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up onto God into his throne. Now, Jesus did not rule all nations with a rod of iron yet. It said he's going to rule all nations, but he was caught up onto God into his throne already. You say, when is that? Go to Acts Chapter one, the last place we'll look at. Acts Chapter one, Acts one. So look, some of the things we talked about here, and we're going to kind of cover some similar stuff next week, but you see how the woman is basically all throughout history. Okay. It's not one specific woman that lived. It's really like all believers during that time period. Okay. And then you also see that the sun, the moon, and the 12 stars end up being gone after the first verse in the Bible. They're not there in the later verses, but you still see God's people being persecuted. And another thing to keep in mind before next week, if you want to read Revelation 12, is the fact that one third of the angels already joined the devil. The devil made his choice and left, and he brought one third of the angels with him, but they are not cast out of heaven yet. So in this chapter, you're going to see basically being cast out of heaven that has not taken place. Now, the Bible did say that the devil cast those one third of the angels to the earth. Okay. But they're still able to go to heaven. Okay. That's going to take place midway through Daniel's 70th week is when they get permanently cast out of heaven. And it'll say the devil's cast out of heaven. Acts Chapter one, verse nine. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they look steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which has taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. And so basically, Jesus tries to motivate them and exhort them in verse eight to reach the whole world with the gospel. And then he basically just goes up to heaven. He gets caught up onto God into heaven. Go back to Revelation 12 real quickly. Revelation 12. Now, it makes sense that Revelation 12 is going to mention this specific thing because of the fact it talked about in Acts one. He shall so come in like manner. Okay. When he's coming the second time to rapture the believers. So it makes sense that the Bible is going to reference that. Now that's going to take place in Revelation Chapter 14 when the believers are raptured. But since we're talking about the end times, it makes sense that Revelation 12 is going to mention him being caught up to heaven. Because then in Acts one, when we look at that story, it's going to mention the fact he's going to come in like manner. So basically every eye shall see him. Right? In Acts Chapter one, everybody sees him. So when he comes back, it's not going to be a secret rapture. Where'd everybody go? It's like, what happened? It's like, my wife's gone. My son's gone. It's like, man, I was on this bus and all of a sudden I saw like five people just disappear. Where'd they all go? No, I mean, he's going to come in like manner. You're going to see him. Okay. They're not going to be confused in the end times. What happened? Okay. It's going to be very well known what happens. And look, it makes more sense when you understand the fact tribulation is taking place before Jesus comes back. So people already know things are going to go on. So when he comes, it's like the enemies are going to be very angry and upset because look, they lost the battle. Okay, we'll get into that later on here in the Book of Revelation. But notice what it said in Revelation 12, verse five. And she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. Now, after verse five, that's when it's going to start talking about fleeing into the wilderness for three and a half years, which is the first half of Daniel 70th week. Then you're going to see mentioned shortly after in Revelation chapter 12, you're going to see the battle that takes place midway through Daniel 70th week where they get cast out of heaven. Then you're going to see verse 13 is going to kind of recap the fact that the devil is just persecuting believers. Then in 14, you're going to see a parallel verse with verse number six where they're fleeing into the wilderness. You say, why? Because the first 13 verses tell the story, and then verses 14 through 17 are going to go through the story again, less verses, less material, but it's going to kind of recap. Say, why would you do that? Because look, sometimes when you have a chapter in the Bible, there's certain things that are more important than other parts, and you want to highlight those, or you want to kind of teach something a little bit extra. This is very common. I mean, they do this in movies. They do this in books all the time where it says something, and then it kind of goes back and says those events again. And you can tell that with verses six and verse 14, those are parallel verses in the word of God. Let's close in word prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here tonight and getting to read your scripture. And tonight was just a bit of an overview, kind of a deep Bible study on these topics, and we'll kind of get into it next week, kind of going in more detail with God. But help us not just to like the sermons where we get to scream Amen and we hate sin or whatever, but also just sermons where we're deeply studying the word of God. Help us to understand what's going to happen during the end times, and your word is interesting. And help us to continue to read these things and understand and learn from your word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.