We continue our series in Revelation chapter
12. This is the last message in this series where
we consider Revelation 12 as it relates to the
birth, the life, the death, the resurrection,
the ascension, and the enthronement of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, in Revelation 12, verses 12
through 17, John continues the image that he's
been building, that he's been putting forth.
So what is the image that he is putting forth
for the recipients? Well, it's this. It's the
defeated dragon is ejected. out of heaven, and
notice in verse 12, the focus turns from heaven
to the earth. There's this swap that takes place,
and the rest of verses 13 through 17 have to
do with the earth, in a sense. He's switching
the focus. So the dragon is ejected. The dragon
is cast out. The dragon, is thrown down from
heaven. And because of his defeat, he is enraged.
He's angry and he's mad because he's been defeated
and he's been conquered by the male child who
was enthroned and accomplished his work, who's
caught up to the throne of God. Well, we see
that the dragon, tries over and over to stomp
out, to squash, to destroy, to overwhelm the
woman. But we also see that God has a place prepared
for the woman, and God takes care of the woman
who's in the wilderness, who's in this period
of... testing, the desert in a sense. We even
see allusions to the Old Testament in the book
of Exodus. Throughout this, the two wings of
the great eagle, the wilderness language, we
see in verse 16 where the earth helped the woman
and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the
river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.
Remember back in the Old Testament when the earth
Helped the people of God. And swallowed up the
enemies of God's people. In their midst. And
God judged them. God defended his people. So
he's alluding to Old Testament imagery. This
is the picture he's painting. The dragon raging.
Because he's defeated. Yet. God sustains and
preserves the woman. And even blesses the woman.
In this period. So it's the entrance of a new
age. That we see taking place. A new era of time.
Following the exaltation of the male child. And
the casting out of the dragon. So what does this
picture mean? How do we explain this? How do
we interpret this? Well it's this. Christ accomplished
his work. He was born, he lived, he died, he
rose, he's exalted, he's enthroned. The devil
loses his accusatory powers at the throne of
God because of the accomplished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And for a period of time, the devil
rages against the church. The devil thrashes
against the church. He tries to destroy the church.
He tries to destroy her children or individual
Christians, as we see in verse 17. But we find
that God sustains, preserves, blesses, and provides
for the church. all throughout this age where
the devil is raging against the church. Now,
a couple important things to note before we start
making our way through this text. The devil is
presented as raging in this text, but the devil
is also presented as restrained by God in this
text. In a sense, he's an enemy, but he's...
An enemy on a leash. And we will see this, and
we'll see this evidence in the text itself. Though
he's a real enemy, he is a creature. He's not
sovereign. He's not absolute. He still operates
under the sovereignty and the superintendence
of a sovereign, good, faithful, covenant -keeping
God. He still serves his maker, even in his evil,
malicious... So we're going to consider this
period of time in which the church waits for
the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
going to consider this age or this era. So the
very first thing we're going to do is clarify
the period of time that the text speaks about.
Specifically, this wilderness period of time
that the text speaks of. But the second thing
we have to do is this. We have to understand
the nature of the enemy's activity in this age.
How he operates, what he's doing, his restraint,
his power, his ability, and ultimately his fall
and his final judgment at the end of this age.
And the third thing we'll have to consider today,
we have to establish the fact. Of God's special
care for the church throughout this period. God's
covenantal provision and care for his people
throughout the entirety of this age. So considering
the first. Clarifying this period of time that
is spoken of. In verses 12 through verse 17.
Now notice that this period is described with
wilderness imagery. Or this wilderness motif
or theme we could say. We see this in verse 6
where we read this. Then the woman fled into
the wilderness where she had a place prepared
by God. We read the same thing. In verse 14,
but the two wings of the great eagle were given
to the woman so that she could fly into the wilderness.
Now, when we think about the wilderness, there's
another word that we oftentimes probably don't
associate with the word wilderness, but the Bible
does, and that is desert. And so we think about
the Old Testament. We have many examples. of
the wilderness or the desert. We think about
Israel in particular. They were redeemed and
then they entered into what? The wilderness.
God brought them out of Egypt. He delivered them
and he brought them out of Egypt into the wilderness.
And all that while God led them. He guided them.
He provided for them. He protected them. And
that period was prior to the promised land. So
it's this in -between period. But we also find
other examples throughout the Bible of the wilderness.
We can think about the prophet Elijah. He went
into the wilderness a couple times. Then we could
think about the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Didn't
the Lord Jesus himself, prior to the beginning
of his ministry, wasn't he compelled out into
what? The wilderness by the Spirit of God. And
what took place in the wilderness in all of these
cases? Testing, trials, hardship, refining, purifying
times. Though there was difficulties, there was
also good things that happened in the wilderness,
like God's provision. Specifically, if we think
about the Exodus, God provided for his people
time and time again. He provided water. He provided
manna. Their shoes didn't wear out. Their clothing
didn't wear out. We could read that in the book
of... Deuteronomy. He cared for them. He watched
over them. He provided for them. We could think
about Elijah. The Lord provides for him with
ravens. We could also think about the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. What happens in his trial after
the prominent trials and tests of the devil?
Angels minister to the Lord Jesus. He's cared
for. He's nourished in the wilderness. John wants
us to lay hold of this wilderness concept. This
wilderness motif. Because he is saying that the
church following the work of Christ is in the
wilderness. That just as we see these themes
throughout Scripture, the church now is in the
wilderness waiting for the promised land once
again. Christ has redeemed us. He's saving us.
He's leading us. He's guiding us in and through
the wilderness with what? The promised land in
front of us. That means that the church's time
in this era. And this period of time will be
marked by trial, testing, purification, refinement,
but it will also be distinctly marked by God's
provision, God's blessing, God's leading, God's
guiding, God's preservation, God's sustaining
power in the life of his people. So the wilderness
idea that John is putting forth is meant to convey
a few things. It's an in -between period. That's
between the point of redemption and the time
of full and final realization of the promises.
That is the state the church is in now. Christ
has come. Christ has redeemed us. has been victorious,
and the full and final redemption, and the full
and final realization of all his promises, the
new heavens and the new earth, the promised land,
brothers and sisters, is in front of us. We're
in this in -between stage. But he also wants
us to understand that it is a time of testing
and provision. So we see that it's described
with this wilderness. Imagery. Now he also describes
it with this symbolic duration. Or we could say
with a symbolic calendar. Notice what he says
in verse 6. And he associates it with this era.
In verse 6 he says this. Then the woman fled
into the wilderness where she had a place prepared
by God. So that there she would be nourished
for 1 ,000. 260 days. Now, we read that and we
think, very, very exact. Now, we also read in
verse 14. But the two wings of the great eagle
were given to the woman so that she could fly
into the wilderness to her place where she was
nourished for a time and times and half a time.
I'm sure that many of you, as we've read this,
have thought, what in the world is John talking
about with these numbers? What do I make of these
things? Well, as we've said many times, John
is using apocalyptic language, brothers and sisters.
So he's not intending to communicate an exact
time period. He's not intending to communicate
a certain amount of definitive days. He's talking
about a symbolic time in which the church dwells
in a wilderness period. Other places throughout
the book of Revelation this is referred to as
42 months. What is 1 ,260 days? It is 42 months.
This is the time. When the witnesses are preaching.
This is the time when the law and the gospel
are actively being proclaimed in the world. When
the law is resounding and men and women are being
converted. And the law is sounding forth, convicting
men of sin and drawing them to Christ. This is
the age in which that takes place. Throughout
the Bible. this is also referred to as this present
evil age. In Revelation chapter 20, it's referred
to as the thousand years. We can also see in
other parts of the Bible that it's referred to
as commonly the last days. This is what John
is putting forward, that the church is in this
age. Period. In this time. Now, we think about
those numbers and the apocalyptic use of them
by the apostle. We think about these things.
In our end, from the church as we're in it, it's
an uncertain, indefinite period of time. Ultimately,
it's going to be cut short by the return of Christ.
But from heaven's perspective, Is it uncertain,
brothers and sisters? From a divine perspective,
is this period of time indefinite or is it ordained?
Is it determined? Is it certain? Is it fixed?
Is it unchanging? Brothers and sisters, From
our perspective, it's a time of difficulty and
hardship that's mixed with good and evil. That
we don't know when it will come to an end. But
from God's perspective, he knows when the last
day will come. The Father knows. It is fixed,
it is determined, and it is definitive. So this
is apocalyptic language. that is utilized to
convey this idea of this wilderness period of
time. This is the age the church is in now. Ever
since Christ has completed his work, his birth,
his life, his death, his resurrection, his exaltation,
and his enthronement, brothers and sisters, ever
since the completed, finished work of Christ,
The church has been in this age. And when will
this age come to an end? When will this age cease
and stop at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ?
If that is the end of this age, then we enter
into the next, the world to come, the age to
come, brothers and sisters. That is the age that
all history is marching on. That is the age that
all history is building and progressing to. The
coming age that follows the return of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And it is constantly, all the time,
everywhere, presented as following the return
of Christ, never preceding the return of Christ.
The full and final realization of all things
and all God's promises are brought about and
that glory alone is reserved for the Lord Jesus
Christ, not the church, brothers and sisters.
He ushers in the manifest kingdom. He ushers
in the glory. He ushers in the full and final
stage of redemption. The next great redemptive
event comes with Christ when He comes back to
this world. So this is the age that the church
lives in. Now, this is the church age, or as
it's otherwise called, the gospel age. Now, why
would it be called the gospel age, brothers and
sisters? Because it's the age, the period when
the gospel is proclaimed, when the gospel is
preached and the church is built. when sinners
are saved, and Christ's kingdom expands and grows
in and throughout this world. Now, let's turn
to Matthew chapter 13, and we'll see this. In
Matthew 13, we have a very well -known parable,
starting in verse 24, the parable of the tares
and the wheat. Jesus presented another parable
to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be
compared to a man who sowed good seed in the
spill. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy
came and sowed tares among the wheat and went
away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain,
then the tares became evident also. The slaves
of the landowner came and said to him, Sir, Did
you not sow good seed in your field? How then
does it have tares? And he said to them, An enemy
has done this. The slave said to him, Do you
want us then to go and gather them up? But he
said to them, No, for while you are gathering
up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.
Allow both to grow together until the harvest.
And in the time of the harvest I will say to
the reapers, First gather up the tares and bind
them in the bundles to burn them up, but gather
the wheat into my barn. Notice in this parable
that there's a mixture of wheat and tares. And
both of them grow together and build and expand
until the reaper. Now, Jesus explains this parable,
starting in verse 36. Then he left the crowds
and went into the house, and his disciples came
to him and said, Explain to us the parable of
the tares of the field. And he said, The one
who sows the good seed is the son of man, and
the field is the world. And as for the good seed,
these are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares
are the sons of the evil one. And the enemy who
sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the
end of the age, and the reapers are angels. So
just as the tares are gathered up and burned
with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.
Brothers and sisters, This is the period in which
we live. The wheat and the tares. And all of
history is accumulating and progressing towards
one singular point. All of history is working
towards one time. One moment. When the Lord Jesus
Christ returns. When he will reap. the tares,
and he will harvest the wheat. When he will bring
his people to himself, and he will judge the
wicked on that great and final day. This age
will be distinctly marked by the good works of
God in and through the life of the church, and
it will be distinctly marked by the activity
and the work of the devil. All throughout this
period. Now, we also have to understand the nature
of the enemy's activity in this age. We have
to grasp this. Because we don't want the wool
pulled over our eyes. It's sad to me that I oftentimes
hear individuals making light of this. Terrible
enemy. Almost as though he doesn't really exist.
Almost as though he's not real. I listened to
part of a podcast the other day, and the individual
was putting forward that the devil, and this
is becoming a prominent view, is just the personification
of evil. The personification of sin. He's a concept.
That epitomizes everything that's wrong and bad
with the world. But that's not what the Bible
teaches, is it, brothers and sisters? The Bible
is clear that the devil is a real, personal being.
That he exists and he has autonomy. That he is
a creature made by God. That he is a real...
dangerous, powerful adversary that lurks, who
is active, who is scheming, who is strategizing.
He is active in and throughout this age. If we're
going to understand his activity and his work
and his attacks, we really need to understand
his motives, don't we? His motives are this.
It's very simple from the text. He says this,
because the devil has come down to you, in verse
12, having great wrath, knowing that he has only
a short time. He knows that he's defeated. He
knows that he's been conquered by the cross.
He knows that Christ has been successful and
victorious, brothers and sisters. So he is raging,
but it is the raging of a foe who is already
defeated. He knows his days are numbered. He
knows he has no power and authority over the
believer. He knows the cross is destroyed. His
prosecutorial powers and the throne of God. His
accusations fall flat. He knows these things
and that is what motivates him. I only have so
much time to hurt the Messiah, the Christ in
his people. The one who dwells in them. He failed
to thwart the coming of the Messiah. But now
he goes at the Messiah as he dwells in his people
by the Spirit of God. He can't hurt Christ on
the throne who is ruling and reigning. But brothers
and sisters, he knows. He can get a good shot
in here and he can get a good shot in there.
He can do a little bit of damage here and he
can do a little bit of damage there to his people
in this world. He is an enemy and a foe that
is defeated and rages from defeat and because
of defeat. He doesn't have hopes of winning.
That's not in his game plan. The devil knows
there's no more success for him in the future
because he knows he was enthroned and he knows
what is coming. In a sense, he has nothing to
lose from this period onward with the church.
in the world. Now, in this age, his attacks are
real. They are dangerous and they are powerful.
But it's very important for us to understand
this. Though he is a fierce enemy, he is not
a sovereign enemy. He is not absolute in his
power. He is a creature. He only has what power
and what ability and what authority the sovereign
King of Kings and Lord of Lords permits him to
possess in this world throughout this age. Actually,
the Bible teaches that he is bound in this age.
He is restrained throughout this period. Now,
we would put forth that there's a period toward
the end of this age where that restraint is lifted.
Where that restraint is loosened. And he's given
more freedom and more activity to work woe in
the world. But just as... he's getting ready
to make his decisive strike, Christ will return
in glory and rescue and deliver his people. He
will judge the wicked and the devil and he will
deliver his people fully and finally. So, how
is the devil restrained in this world? What does
it mean that he is bound? As Revelation chapter
20 puts it. Well, one, we already know this.
He's limited in time. His time is short. He only
has so much time to work. He only has such a
period to accomplish his schemes and his strategies
because of the work of Christ on Calvary, in
Christ's enthronement. His time is short, according
to verse 12. But he's also limited in his authority
over believers. We know all throughout the Bible
that believers are no longer blinded by the devil.
They're no longer deceived. They're no longer
children of wrath. according to Ephesians chapter
2. They no longer walk after the course of this
world. They're children of God. They've been
made alive together with Christ. So his authority
in the life of believers is broken. No longer
are believers slaves. No longer do they dwell
in the dominion of darkness and sin, in the sphere
or the realm of sin in which the devil so powerfully
and persuasively allures and persuades men and
draws out the lusts of their hearts. The believer
is not in that sphere anymore. They have the
Spirit of God dwelling within them. They have
a new, regenerate nature. Brothers and sisters,
you have been born again by the power of the
Holy Spirit. Christ rules and reigns in your
heart. The devil has no authority in the heart
and mind of the believer. It is a mistake for
any Christian to believe that you must obey the
temptations of the devil. You do not have to
give in to temptation when the devil dangles
it out in front of you. That power of sin, which
he works through, Has been broken. So his authority.
In the life of the believer. Is gone. His accusatory
powers. At the throne. Are destroyed. By the
work of Christ. And think about this. As the
church. Of Jesus Christ. Continues to grow. In
an accumulating fashion. Throughout the ages.
generation by generation, throughout the world
and around the globe, how much more does his
authority diminish? How much more does it shrink?
How much more power and persuasion does he lose
as the gospel advances and grows throughout time
and throughout the generations? As we approach
and near the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
His authority is done away with in the life of
the believer. He is limited in his ability to
stop the advance of the gospel. When Christ saves
sinners. He doesn't ask the devil's permission.
He regenerates them and he gives them faith and
repentance. And his authority is gone in the
believer's life. Their eyes are opened and they
see Christ in all his glory, in all his greatness,
in his majesty, in all his power. And they trust
in him. The devil cannot stop that, brothers
and sisters. He's restrained. In the intensity
and the directness and the effectiveness of his
attacks in the life of the church. Look at verses
15 through 16. And the serpent poured water like
a river out of his mouth. After the woman. So
that he might cause her to be swept away with
the flood. But the earth helped the woman. And
the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river,
which the dragon poured out his mouth. And then
if we go back to verse 14, we read this. But
the two wings of the great eagle were given to
the woman so that she could fly into the wilderness
to her place where she was nourished for a time
and times and a half time from the presence of
the serpent. So, meaning there's an indirectness
with regards to the attacks. There's a shielding
of God from the activity and the full brunt of
the devil's power in this world. He's restrained
in that capacity. He cannot destroy the church
corporate. Notice in verses 16 and 17 where he...
pours out this flood from his mouth. And the
idea is that it's such an amount of water that
it's meant to sweep the woman away and drown
her and completely and totally destroy her. But
we read that God helps her and that her presence
continues. And actually the fact that he can't
destroy her enrages him, according to verse 7,
so the dragon was enraged. Why? Because the woman
remains. Because he's incapable of snuffing her
out. He's incapable of obliterating the church
universal throughout the world. He's incapable
of destroying God's church. He's limited. He
is restrained in all of these ways. Chapter 20
of the book of Revelation calls this, says this
is the devil being bound by God. So he's a fierce
enemy. But brothers and sisters, he's an enemy
with a collar on. He has a leash. And it's only
so long, brothers and sisters. And the one holding
the leash works for the good of... his people.
He even uses the opposition, the attacks, the
work and the activity of the devil for the good
of his people. Now, we know how he's restrained,
but what is the focus of the devil's activities
in this world? This is clear and obvious, isn't
it? The church corporate but also the individual
Christian. Notice that a great deal of the emphasis
throughout 12 -17 is on the woman. And if you
recall, the woman is the covenant community of
God's people. As a whole. All of them. The corporate
body. But we read in verse 17 that this woman
actually has Children. We read this in verse
17, which says this. So the dragon was enraged
with the woman, meaning he couldn't destroy her,
and he went off to make war with the rest of
her children. Individual believers. Individual
Christians. We see in our day, in our age, brothers
and sisters, There is persecution throughout
the globe of the Christian church. This is coming
to the forefront because of so many things that
are taking place overseas right now. Christians
are being persecuted. Why is it that the Christian
church has always been the most persecuted religion
in the world throughout history? Why is it that...
It's like there's a vacuum that's sucking all
the persecution right to the Christian church.
What's behind that? Why are there so many martyrs
throughout history that we praise God for, that
we're willing to die for their faith? Why do
we look at the first couple centuries of the
church and we see that the epitome, and the ultimate
expression of spirituality and faith was martyrdom.
Why was that even necessary? Because the enemy
focuses on the church as a whole, but because
he's incapable of destroying the church as a
whole, what does he do? He goes after the individual
Christians. We've even seen this in our day in
the last two years. with prominent individuals
who have fallen to the trap of the devil. He
can't squash out Christ's people as a whole,
but he sure can get one man to have an affair.
He sure can go after the one individual and harden
their heart and bring about bitterness and lies
and deceit in their life. He may not be able
to destroy the church as a whole, but he can
focus his attention on individuals. He can go
after the children of the woman. The focus of
the devil throughout this age will always be
on the people of God. Because it's in the people
of God that Jesus Christ dwells through the Spirit
of God. They are his prized possession. They
are the ones that... image him in this world.
They are the ones that are being conformed in
the image and likeness of Jesus Christ. They
are the ones that display his glory and his goodness.
They are the light of the world just as he was,
brothers and sisters. And the devil hates Christ's
people. So the object of his fury and his rage
is the church corporately. and Christians individually.
Now, how does he attack? What methods and strategies
does he go after the church and Christians with?
Well, his names help us understand this to a
degree. The accuser, the adversary, the deceiver.
He brings up guilt and shame. In sin, he draws
men's minds and hearts away from God. He seeks
to deceive them with false doctrine, personally
and individually, and error. But corporately,
we see that he seeks to overwhelm the church
with error and false teaching. Notice in verse...
That the primary attack of the devil comes from
where? His mouth. Why is that? Because it's words.
It's ideas. It's doctrine. It's error. It's...
truths and half -truths that are mangled by him.
This is his primary way of attacking the church
as a whole. False doctrine and error. But, throughout
the book of Revelation, we also find that this
enemy of ours has three helpers. And that these
are three of the primary ways that he works to
oppose the church. The beast, the false prophet,
and the harlot, or the prostitute. You can read
further in the book of Revelation, and you'll
encounter all three of these individuals. All
three of these figures, these types, these symbols.
These realities that the devil works in and through
to oppose the church in this world. How does
he work? Through the beast. Unbelieving government
that persecutes and ostracizes God's people.
The false prophets. False competing religions
in the world. That hate Christ. And the prostitute.
The harlot that sits on the beast. How does she.
Oppose the church. At the will of Satan. The
world. And sexual immorality. And sensuality.
In the world. These are the big waves. These
are the big helpers of the devil in opposing
and attacking and working against the church
of Jesus Christ. All of these things he utilizes.
Now, the devil's activity will only go so long.
His end is determined. His end is fixed. The
end of this age, the end of this era, brings
about the end of our great nemesis, brothers
and sisters. The end of this in -between phase
brings about the end and the destruction and
the final judgment of our great enemy, Satan.
It's at this point. that he will be destroyed,
and he will work no more woes for the church.
Praise be to God. Now, we hear this about the
activity and the work of the devil throughout
this age, and we think, well, this might be a
bit disheartening. We have this enemy who's working
against us. Yes, he's restrained, but... This
could send me into despair if I just focus on
this, if I just know this, if I just think about
this, knowing that there's a real personal enemy
who's powerful and dangerous working against
the people of God. But just as the church is
the focus of the devil in this age, brothers
and sisters, more importantly, we must always
remember that the church is the focus. of God's
special care throughout this age. This is the
last thing we have to consider. The special care
of God for the church throughout this age. Now,
this care is sovereign in design. Notice in verse
6, the woman fled into the wilderness. where
she had a place prepared by God, so that there
she would be nourished for 1 ,260 days. It's
talking about the fact that God has put divine
forethought into the woman's travel, into the
woman's place, into her time in the wilderness.
It's sovereign in design. I think of the Old
Covenant and the first one or two sermons in
this series. We discussed how God constantly
superintended and sovereignly oversaw and countered
the repeated thwarts and attempts of the devil
to stop the coming of the Messiah. The same thing
is true. Of the church throughout this age. God
is sovereign. And superintends everything. We
look out and see chaos. And see chaotic activity
at times. We look out and we see craziness in
the world. But brothers and sisters. This age.
This period. Is not purposeless. It is not accidental.
It is sovereign in design. It's evident and clear
from verse 7. But we also see that it's rooted
and grounded in God's covenant faithfulness to
his people. We see this because it says in verse
14, But the two wings of the great eagle were
given to the woman. Let's turn to Exodus chapter
19. We read this in verse 4. You yourselves have
seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore
you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself.
The Lord didn't just redeem the people in Egypt
and forsake them. No, his covenant faithfulness
cost him. To lead them and guide them and protect
them throughout the wilderness period. Brothers
and sisters, the true is same for the church.
Christ did not just die for us and accomplish
an objective victory and then forsake and abandon
his people throughout this age. His faithfulness
remains and it guarantees and secures. His protection
and provision and preservation in their lives,
in the life of the church throughout this age.
Now, this divine care itself manifests itself
in the form of the Lord sustaining and preserving
the church throughout this age. in the face of
the adversary and his assaults. We see this in
particular in verses 15 and 16. Where the devil
seeks to drown the woman, what happens? The ground
opens and swallows up the water and helps the
woman. God doesn't just restrain the devil's
activity. Brothers and sisters, he sustains the
church in the face of the devil's opposition
and attacks. He doesn't allow the church to be
destroyed or obliterated throughout this age.
He doesn't allow the church to be done away with.
Christ said, I will build my church. And he is
faithful to that promise, to that word which
he made. Now what takes place in the desert?
We find that God cares for his people by nourishing
them and providing for them throughout this period.
Twice in this text, it is said that God nourishes
his people. Surely this is an allusion to God's
provision in the life of Israel while they're
in the wilderness. The manna and the water and
God's provision for them. God nourishes the church
in and throughout this age. And that is one of
the primary purposes of this age. That the church
would be strengthened, refined, purified, built
up, stronger than she was before. And how does
that take place personally in a person's life?
Is it through ease and comfort and the absence
of hardship? Does comfort and ease and the absence
of hardship bring about greater sanctification
in our life, typically and normally? No. Hardship,
trials, difficulties bring about strengthening.
They bring us to an end of ourselves where we're
reliant on the Lord. Now think about the church
corporately throughout this age. How does God
refine and purify, nourish, strengthen and build
up his people throughout the entirety of this
age? Through trials, difficulties, hardships.
He teaches the church The vanity of its own strength
and its desperate need to rely upon Him and His
power for their perseverance and their sustaining,
their maintenance in life and their success in
the life of the church and throughout this period.
He nourishes the church. This is one of the purposes
of the wilderness, is it not? It's not just for
trials and hardships, but it's to teach dependence,
On God. To look to him for nourishment. And for
help. And for aid throughout this life. The ultimate
evidence. Of all of this. Of God's special care
in the life of the church. Throughout this age.
Is the ongoing presence. Of the woman. And her
offspring. No matter what the devil tries. No
matter what he throws at the church. She continues
to be. She continues on. The Lord sustains her
existence and her life and her vitality. He continues
to build the church. to grow the church and expand
the church. How do we know that? Because she
has children. She continues to multiply and grow
throughout this world in the face of the enemy.
The ultimate evidence that God cares for his
people in this world is that the church still
exists, brothers and sisters. Why has the church
not been done away with yet? Think about the
history of the world. Why has the church not
been obliterated by now? Why has the church not
been blown up and done away with by now? Because
the sovereign King of Kings and the Lord of Lords
sustains, preserves, and blesses and keeps the
people of God. And He will bring them into glory.
He will bring them into the full and final realizations
of His promises. He will bring them into glory
either by their death or by Christ's return,
brothers and sisters. That's why we should rejoice
that there are healthy churches throughout the
world. That means God is sustaining and God is
working throughout the world, brothers and sisters.
God's special care is not Hopeful thinking. This
is not hopeful thinking that God will probably
take care of his church. Brothers and sisters,
this is guaranteed because Christ has been exalted.
This is for certain because Christ was born.
Christ lived. Christ died. Christ rose. Christ
exalted. Christ was enthroned, brothers and sisters,
because of his completed, finished work. The
special care of the church is absolutely guaranteed
for the entirety of this age until the return
of the Lord Jesus Christ. 100%. No doubt. All
of this ought to help us in understanding the
world in which we live. All of these things ought
to inform our worldview of this age or this period
of the world. Now, how does it do that? Well,
it does it first because it requires of us to
have a holy skepticism of this present evil age.
We must have a holy skepticism, brothers and
sisters, of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Because we know that there is an enemy behind
that which we see, working for our woe, working
for our ill. He is our adversary and he will
continue to be our adversary until the end of
this age. We must have a holy skepticism with
regards to the world and empires and powers and
cultures and societies. It is a biblical necessity
when we understand the nature of our enemy, brothers
and sisters. Our enemy cannot be reformed. Do
you understand that? Our enemy. cannot be transformed.
He hates God and he hates God's people. We must
have a holy skepticism regarding the unbelieving,
unregenerate world, culture, and society at large
because we know that the devil is actively working.
That must be balanced with a holy optimism and
confidence in the kingdom of God throughout this
age. Yes, we have to have a holy skepticism with
regards to the world, the flesh, and the devil,
this present evil age. But brothers and sisters,
we must have a bolster. a vital optimism regarding
God's work in the life of the church, the preaching
of the gospel, the work of the Spirit in this
world. We must take that away. We must embrace
the reality that God will build His church, that
God will be with His church. That God will work
in and through his church. That God will sanctify
his people. That he will mature his people and
edify them. That he will refine them and purify
them in this age. As he does those in the wilderness.
We must have a holy confidence in the work of
God. And those have to be balanced. There's a
danger in having an imbalanced view one way or
another. What happens if we focus too much on
the things taking place in the culture, in the
world, in society at large, in governments, in
rulers, in earthly kingdoms? It can easily lead
to despair and frustration. It can easily lead
to being disheartened in this life and lead us
to a place where we say, Lord, what are you doing?
What is taking place around me? What is happening
in the world around me? Brothers and sisters,
don't let that determine and dictate your faith
in God and His work in the life of the church.
Two different things. Two different categories.
Where must our hope rest, wholly and completely?
In Christ. In His rule, in His reign, in and
through the life of God's people and the life
of the church. We must balance the two. We must
find a healthy balance between the two. But we
must. Have a holy skepticism of the world, the
flesh, and the devil. And we must have a holy
optimism and confidence with regards to the kingdom
of God. So much so that we can say this. I am
skeptical of the present evil age. But I am absolutely
confident. In God's work. In the kingdom of God.
In this world.