Revelation 12:10-12 – Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” Again we are not told from whom the voice comes. Some would not believe that it is angel who is talking. They say so because of the statement “…the accuser of our brothers and sisters…”. Some people believe that an angel would not call himself and us as brothers and sisters. I don’t see the problem with that. In fact I am delighted to call the angels of God my brothers. Yes, we are saved through the blood of Christ, while they have not been. However, they too have a free will and they too have chosen to continue to love and cherish God rather than follow the evil of the devil. They use their free will to follow God, as we do (John 7:17, Joshua 24:15, Genesis 2:16-17, 2 Peter 2:4). They are used by God to do His will as we are. They are messengers of God as we are! Soldiers often refer to those who fight side-by-side with them as brothers. It is something we understand. Then is it hard to believe that we and the angels, who stand with God, could think of ourselves as brothers doing the will of God. We are called into the war that they were battling long before we were enlisted. In Revelation 22:9 John is overwhelmed by an angel and falls to worship at the feet of an angel but the angel responds to John “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!” Here this mighty angel whose presence drops John to his knees calls John a fellow servant. We work side by side with angels to do the will of God. We are in good company! The Lord within us and the angels besides us. That should be a great encouragement. If one disagrees, okay, but I think that we, the angels and us, belong in the brotherhood of those who love and serve God. Praise God for the high calling He has brought us to! Praise God!
The main importance of this message is not the tools that God uses (angels and us) and that He may unite us for His purposes, it that now what is transpiring is that the time for Jesus to come and walk into the completion of what was already completed has come and is coming. This declaration is of what at that moment is happening and continues to happen. The salvation and the power of God that came to us and is with us is plainly revealed. It is Jesus, the Messiah. He comes with what He always had, authority (Daniel 7:14, Luke 9:1, Ephesians 1:19-22). How wonderful is the humility and wisdom and glory of God (Matthew 5:3-10)! The devil, drunk in his pride, deceives himself. He never had full authority anywhere. Always, all authority belongs to God. He can give authority and He can withdraw authority. Have we not seen this with earthly kings and rulers? When Nebuchadnezzar became too proud God not only removed him (temporarily) from authority, but God gave to Him what Nebuchadnezzar had demanded for his life. What Nebuchadnezzar had claimed for His life was the praise and the glory and the status that only belongs to God. For that God let that insanity of Nebuchadnezzar overwhelm him and he lived in the field and grazed like an animal to be slaughtered (Daniel 4:23-27). Indeed, all who are proud and who oppose God have made themselves beasts who know not that they will be destroyed and disappear. God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7) and He shares His glory with no one (Isaiah 42:8). Only God deserves His glory and He does not give it away. Jesus said he would come back in His revealed glory and at this time, it is happening. It is unfolding and being revealed! Family, let us jump for glory. Our hero stands atop the podium, He is revealed! It is the greatest victory of all time and He did it all for us. At this thought we should jump and shout! We should be like King David who shed all that he was, who set aside the garb of his earthly kingdom (given to him by God) to dance and sing before the Lord (2 Samuel 6:5, 20-22). Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice (Philippians 4:4).
The wonder and beauty of the true Victor is being revealed. The devil has been cast out of Heaven, he has been violently thrown out of Heaven. He is no longer allowed to slander and accuse the children of God. Daddy said He will not allow the enemy of our souls in His house to trouble us. Our Father God loves us and will not allow the enemy to torment us in Heaven. Jesus promised us peace (John 14:27) and our Lord is clearing house to make sure we have the peace. Praise God, praise His Champion! Our Champion! Praise God!
“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Here we see that the powerful enemy we have has been defeated by us. But we had no power of our own to defeat him. We defeated Him by asking Jesus to be our Savior and Lord. Jesus has washed away our sins with the shedding of His blood. The full price of our sin has been paid by Jesus (Isaiah 53:4-5). Here it is being expressed that we stood with God and never shrank from claiming Him as our Savior and Lord. We have not been ashamed of His Word, but instead have propagated it wherever God has us. His Word not only reveals Him, but it reveals what He has planted within us and what and whom we are being crafted by Him to be. And there is no cost too much to never deny His name. We stand with God, no matter if we have to die, or those we love have to die. That is important, we never deny our testimony to shrink from death. We understand that when we are led to an execution we are led to eternal life. No, we do not shrink from death, instead we do what the world cannot understand. If need be, we leap into the arms of death only to be found in the arms of Christ! Praise God! We love God infinitely above all else. Is this fanatical? Yes, it also reasonable and right. There is no life, ours and any others, that is of higher value that our testimony in Christ. If we love life on this more than death than our God then the Word of God says we are not His (Exodus 20:3, 1 John 2:15).
“Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Yes rejoice! Rejoice in the Lord! Rejoice with all of God’s angels. Rejoice with all of those who through death have preceded us to Heaven. We, them and us, all rejoice. The kingdom of Jesus is coming, it is here, and it will never go away. Family the day comes soon. Praise God! Come soon Lord Jesus, come soon!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.