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Three
Heavens
We found in a previous
message that the "pure woman" was the holy
mother church, the Church Of The Living God. We
also affirmed that the man child was the host of
converts that the morning-time Church brought
forth. As we consider the dragon, we want you to
see that, according to the Bible, he is
stationed in the same heaven as woman. John said
that he saw a woman in heaven, and he also saw
the dragon right in the same position as the
woman.
When the Scripture begins to talk
about war in heaven, many people quickly form
the conclusion that John actually saw a battle
going on over in God's Heaven, and saw the devil
being kicked out. The theory that the devil was
once an angel and was kicked out of heaven,
therefore, begins to fill the minds of men and
women. Friend, just a LITTLE serious thought on
the Scripture will remove all thoughts of this
being God's Heaven, or God's dwelling
place.
The Bible, first of all, teaches
of THREE heavens. God's dwelling place before He
made the heavens and the earth is spoken of in
the Scripture as being high above all heavens.
When Jesus ascended from the earth, Paul said
that He ascended high above, or far above, all
heavens. So, God has a dwelling place called
Heaven. He created the heavens and the earth,
referring to that heaven in the firmament where
the stars, the sun and the moon are. Then there
is a third heaven--a spiritual heaven--spoken of
in the Bible. Ephesians, Chapter 2, teaches us
how we, who have been quickened from a dead
state in sin by a real, born-again experience,
are cuaght up into heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, or in the body of Christ. We did not
leave this earth or get out of this body, in
that sense, but we are still in heavenly
places.
All you have to do is to read
verse 9 (of our scripture text above) to
understand that John was not seeing a battle or
a dragon laboring against the woman's children
over in God's Heaven, as most preachers preach
it. Verse 9 says that the dragon was cast out
into the earth. Verse 13 lets us know that the
woman was not cast out into the earth, yet the
dragon went on and made war against the woman.
Verse 5, speaking of the converts who were
martyred and killed, says that they were caught
up to Heaven, or to God and His throne. Well, if
they were already in God's Heaven here, how
could they be caught up to that
Heaven?
Friend, we want you to understand
that when John saw this vision, it was merely of
a high, lifted up heavenly position, the
position "the Church" stands in. Ever since "the
Church of God" existed, she has been in a
heavenly place, far above the man-made religions
of this world. The reason being, any church that
men start to govern is only lifted as high as
men can lift it, but the highest, Himself, has
exalted Zion! He has put Her in the top of the
mountain, high above the hills--in figurative
speech--in a heavenly
position.
Christianity's First
Opposer
The Bible tells us that
the dragon's position here is against the woman
("the Church"). He wants to devour, and did
devour her man child, or her early converts, as
soon as they were born. Since he is so against
the true Church, and since he is out to kill her
converts, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that he is an opposing power of "the Church" and
the truth that she stands for.
He is not
only against the truth she stands for, but he is
against her ministry. According to prophecy, he
is the opposing power that "the Church" ran into
after Christ brought forth "the Church" in the
labor room on Mount Calvary. She was sent forth
on the Day of Pentecost with a mission to go to
the uttermost parts of the earth with the good
tidings of the Gospel message. My friend, here
is the first opposition that she ran into--an
opposing power that the devil was using to stop
the work of "the Church", to hinder the word of
"the Church", or to kill her converts in one way
or another.
All Bible students agree that
the first opposer of Christ and the
early-morning Church was paganism, or Pagan
Rome. Rome dominated the whole then-known world.
In Luke 2, you can read that when Christ was
born, there went out a decree from Caesar
Augustus that the whole world should be taxed.
Rome's authority governed the whole then-known
world. We realize that they did not know about
the western hemisphere--as far as they were
concerned, Asia WAS the world, and Rome governed
the "world".
So this red dragon
symbolizes the Pagan Roman Empire. Its seven
heads symbolize the seven forms of government
that the Roman Empire was under, and the ten
horns symbolize the ten kingdoms, or ten powers,
that Rome was divided into after she fell. The
"great red dragon" is simply a symbolic picture
of the Pagan Roman Empire, just as the woman is
a symbolic picture of "the Church" of the Living
God.
Countless people call this great red
dragon the devil, but this is not the devil.
This was the Pagan Roman Empire that the devil
was working through. It is necessary that we
understand this because when we study about the
dragon being cast down, we are going to find
that the devil did not get cast down. The devil
only changed his clothes and stayed right up in
that ecclesiastical position all the way through
here. The dragon only symbolizes a system that
the devil is working through to work against
"the Church".
My friend, the devil does
not have seven heads and ten horns; the devil is
a spirit, just like God is a Spirit. He doesn't
even have two horns and a tail--that is only
fantasy. The devil is a spirit, and he is bound.
He can only work through some substance. At this
particular time, he was working against the true
Church through the Pagan Roman Empire. So, my
friends, when we talk about this dragon, we want
to make it plain he is only a symbol of the
first opposer of true Christianity--the Pagan
Roman Empire. Even though the Jews made the
decision to have Christ crucified, it was the
Roman Empire that carried it out.
Someone
may question, "Why did it have to be a great red
dragon to symbolize the Roman Empire? How can
you say that is the Roman Empire with seven
heads and ten horns?" The standard for Pagan
Rome, or their insignia, was a great red dragon.
The Grecian insignia was a he-goat; Great
Britain's insignia is a circle of lions on a red
field; our insignia is the American eagle. When
God gave John the vision, he understood it well
because these happenings were in his day. When
God showed him a great red dragon rising up and
killing the Christians, he knew beyond the
shadow of a doubt that it was the Pagan Roman
Empire. You and I can also know it beyond the
shadow of any
doubt.
Spiritual Darkness
Produces Infidelity
Let's read
verse 7, shall we? And there was war in
heaven: Michael and his angels fought against
the dragon; and the dragon fought and his
angels. Here we see the dragon, the Pagan
Roman Empire, as accompanied by angels, or as
the Greek puts it, "messengers or ministers".
Those messengers, or ministers, who fought with
the dragon were actually filled and operating by
his spirit, fighting against the cause of God.
In other words, we see the dragon and his
ministers fighting against Michael and his
ministers.
I want you to see the Pagan
Roman Empire as being a political-religious
system. The reason we know it is a religious
system is because it is fighting against the
truth. It is up in an ecclesiastical position.
It is fighting more than the laws of the land;
it is fighting against spiritual
things.
When we go back and study what
the Pagan Roman Empire really stood for, we can
see in a greater way why there was such a
battle. The Pagan Roman Empire held to a
religion that denied the doctrine of one
exclusive God and the divinity of Jesus Christ.
The Pagan Roman Empire had a religion of
infidelity.
A reason for this was that
from Malachi to John the Baptist were four
hundred years when man never heard from God. The
reason being, old Israel asked God not to speak
to them. They wanted somebody to speak smooth
things and deceit. This is the same reason that
the Word of God has left so many church
organizations and congregations today. All you
have to do is put forth the attitude, "God, I do
not want to hear what You have to say," and you
will not hear what God has to say. Those people
in the Old Testament did not want to hear from
God. They wanted someone to teach them smooth
things and preach deceit to them, so God hushed.
For over four hundred years man never heard from
God, from Malachi to John the
Baptist!
Since man did not hear from God,
the devil was having a field day down there. He
had men worshipping gods of stone, wood, hay,
iron, gold, and all kinds of images imaginable,
and the Pagan Roman Empire went right along with
that. They did not care how many gods you had,
as long as you did not say anything against
anybody else's god! Well, right into that mess
came Jesus Christ with The Truth, teaching that
God IS exclusive, that there is ONLY ONE GOD,
that every other god is false, and that God is a
jealous God. God said, Thou shalt have no
other gods before me. Exodus 20:3. Brother,
a battle started. Everything was in a kind of
peaceful coexistence until Jesus started
preaching.
Righteous
Division
Well, this is the kind of
battle that John (the Revelator) was talking
about. Michael symbolizes Christ in that
Scripture. Verse 9 of Jude tells us that Michael
is the archangel: Yet Michael the archangel,
when contending with the devil he disputed about
the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a
railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke
thee. I Thessalonians 4:16 tells us,
For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. The Lord,
with the voice of the archangel, is going to
raise the dead. Jesus, Himself speaking, said,
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming,
in the which all that are in the graves shall
hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that
have done good, unto the resurrection of life;
and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation. John
5:28,29.
So Michael is the archangel,
with archangel meaning, "chief of
angels". Revelation, Chapter 1, tells us that
God gave the Revelation unto John through His
angel. Who was the angel? When John turned
around to see Who was talking to him, he saw
Jesus! So Michael, in the Bible, is speaking of
Christ.
Christ and His ministers fought
against the dragon, or the Pagan Roman Empire,
and his ministers. A battle took place. The
Roman Empire was built on absolutism of state;
it made nothing of personal rights. This was
offensive to Chirstianity, and it still is.
Brothers and Sisters, true Christianity today is
against absolutism of state. What do I mean?
That the state rules over the church to the
place that the state can dictate and tell you
how you can worship and where you can worship
and who/what you can worship. Brothers and
Sisters, this has MORE than merely sprouted
right here in our nation. A forced religion is
no religion at all.
So when Christians
refused the idolatrous ceremonies that Rome set
forth, they were persecuted and killed. Here is
where the great martyrdom began, pictured as the
man child, the converts, being caught up to God.
How did the dragon kill? Through
martyrdom!
The Pagan Roman Emperor
demanded worship that the Christians could
not/would not give. I want to tell you right
now, if you get right down to strict
Christianity, there are lots of things you can't
dabble around with in the religion of our day
and still be a true Christian--true to CHRIST!
Some people feel their spiritual backbone must
be made of rubber because they can bow to most
anything and think they can be true to Christ.
Back in that very day and time, just being a
Christian was a crime.
They were so
against true Christianity because true
Christianity would not make room for any other
kind of religion, and it will not still today!
That old dragon spirit fights me from every
side: "You need to be a little more sociable.
You need to bow: you need to let go of some of
your scruples and kind of line up with other
religions." True Christianity will not recognize
any other religion. Now NOTE that: I said, true
Christianity, NOT some denominational doctrine
of man. I said, true Christianity, as in being
sold out to Christ and Christ ONLY. There is
only ONE true religion and every other one is
false. You will stir up plenty of devils today
if you take that kind of stand!
True
Christianity still calls for a division, a
righteous division. It not only comes down
between religious organizations--the Bible says
it comes down right in the home. You must tell
your family that you love them, but God is
FIRST. You will see some companions getting
saved when you take that kind of stand. You have
to be wise enough to realize that this is a
spiritual conflict: it is not a person (husband,
wife, etc.,) who is fighting you. It is the
devil who is fighting
you!
The Accuser Of The
Brethren
In those days, it was a
crime to be a Christian. Because they failed to
burn incense on pagan altars, they were
despised, hated, and persecuted. Any disaster
that happened in the empire was blamed on the
Christians. That is why this dragon is called
the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10).
If there was a drought, it was the Christians'
fault.
Why was it their fault? Well, the
goddess of Pagan Rome that most of them
worshipped was not made of gold or silver--it
was an ETERNAL LIGHT that kept burning. The
Christian was forced by the Roman emperor to
come and burn just a little incense: "You do not
have to forget your God, you can still love your
God, but burn just a little incense to
our god." They refused to do it, and when they
refused to do it, say some disaster of nature
occurred--it might not rain for three
weeks--they would kill a thousand Christians,
accusing them of having made the pagan god angry
and she withheld the rain. Or, if the rains came
too strongly and they had a flood, they would
kill a thousand Christians (or however many they
so chose), saying the Christians had angered the
god because they would not burn incense to it.
My friends, no matter what happened, if it was
bad, it was blamed on the Christians. (If it was
good, the pagan gods got all the credit, you
see.)
Isn't that a picture of some who
are trying to live for the Lord today? The devil
is against your being a Christian--he is against
anyone being a Christian (a sold-out,
fully-committed to Christ Christian). The very
reason we need to get a deep, settled experience
is because the devil has many, many out in the
world to work through against you. There are
many more against you than are for you, so there
is not any need looking to people. There is no
need trying to rest on brothers and sisters--you
might as well get it fixed and settled in Jesus
Christ alone: He and ONLY HE is the One Who can
take you through. If you will get it settled
there, He will take you
through.
They Counted
The Cost
Someone may contend: "He
did not take 'the Church' through here. About
sixty million were killed. Is that
'taking them through'?" Well, do not forget that
Jesus holds the keys of Hades and death. My
friend, He promised never to let us be tempted
beyond that which we are able to bear. And when
we are troubled beyond that which we are able to
bear, we CAN rely on Him to bring us through.
(Sadly, we expect Him to always deliver us "out
of"--to keep us from EVER having to go through
any troubles or trials, but sometimes there are
lessons that need to be learned, faith that
needs to be built, and it is necessary that we
endure those things.) He was with everyone who
was martyred. When they came to the limit of
what they could take, Thank God, He unlocked
Hades and they went to be with Him which is far
better anyway!
They were tortured because
they "made the pagan gods angry". Nero gloated
to see human blood flowing in the arena with
wild beasts. He had dozens of Christians killed,
night after night after night, much like us
going to a football game today. I want you to
see what a devil-possessed, corrupt individual
this fellow was, who got his pleasure out of
watching men, women and children thrown to
hungry lions.
Nero had the Christians put
in waxen shirts, alive, and fastened to
axletrees, using the women's long hair for a
wick. With these human candles, he lighted his
garden while he drank liquor. You should read
Fox's Book of Martyrs--it would do you
good to learn some of the awful tortures the
early Christians had to suffer. We think "we"
have it so bad in this day and age
simply because we have to endure a few
inconveniences or don't get our way once in a
while--the early Christians, those who were
fully and completely committed to Christ, who
refused to turn aside even in the face of death,
suffered horribly. We all need to remember that
in places where the darkness of this old red
dragon still exists, through Communism and a lot
of the other "isms" in this world today, they
are still carrying out the same misdeeds. No
doubt, history taught them how to be so
cruel.
Nero had his own mother killed to
please another man's wife that he wanted--he
later took her for his own wife. She gained only
death--he later kicked her to death (while she
was pregnant). He set the city of Rome on fire
and watched it burn from the top of a high
tower, then blamed it on the Christians and
killed many thousands more of them. When his own
sister refused his advances, he had her killed.
He walked away from her and had another man
killed, then took his wife. In his rage, he
killed the Apostle Paul. In describing Nero, I
am talking about the dragon and his messengers
(ministers such as Nero), warring against Christ
and His ministers.
I want to state right
here and now that Christianity never fought to
overthrow a CIVIL empire, and never will.
Christianity was not fighting against the Roman
Empire. Nowhere in the Bible or in history can
you find where Christianity ever used carnal
weapons. Not once did the Christians strike back
with carnal weapons. I want to repeat, she was
not fighting against the Roman Empire--but she
was fighting against that false religion which
guided the Roman Empire to carry on in such a
way.
Satan's
Devices
There are those who
might say, "I did not know the devil had angels.
I did not know the dragon had angels. I thought
all angels were good angels." Paul, in
approximately AD 66 or 67 was right in some of
that massacre. He lost his head on Nero's
chopping block. He was in on it. He said in II
Corinthians 11:13-15, For such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no
marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as the
ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be
according to their works. Paul wanted to
warn "the Church" that the devil had ministers,
too!
John also saw those angels, or those
ministers, who belonged to the dragon, fighting
for the falsity of their religion. He saw them
get stirred because the true messengers of the
Gospel would not back off the truth.
Paul
said in II Corinthians 2:11, Lest Satan
should get an advantage of us: for we are not
ignorant of his devices. My friend, we are
preaching about the first device that Satan used
against the morning-time Church. Since then, he
has used many devices, and Paul said that we are
not ignorant of them. We could go clear back to
the beginning when, against Eve, he used a
serpent. Against Adam, he used Eve. Against
Samson, he used Delilah. Against Peter, he used
a young damsel.
Too many get the idea
that he is ALWAYS a "roaring lion going around"
seeking whom he may devour. No! Let me tell you,
he may come around as a beautiful young lady or
a handsome young man, telling a young Christian,
"If you are going to marry me, you are not going
to be involved in that church or all that
praying stuff you've been doing." Brothers and
sisters, when ANYone wants you to decrease your
service to God, quit going to church, quit
paying your tithes, quit witnessing the Gospel
of Jesus Christ, quit singing the songs of
praise and worship and victory in Jesus, it is
the devil--no matter what color his/her hair is,
or how good looking he/she is! You need to study
up on Satan's devices. He did not come as a
roaring lion to Samson! No, when the "roaring
lion" came at Samson, Samson killed it! But a
pretty young harlot got to him, remember? Satan
has many devices, many more than could be
covered in one message. Read the Word of
God--this is another GOOD reason to study it,
learn it, hide it away in your heart and
mind!
Someone may wonder, "How are you
going to know whether it is the devil using
something on you?" My friends, when ANYthing or
ANYone tries to daunt your zeal in living for
God, by causing you to turn away from your
service to Him, mark it to the devil! Even if
they claim to be a "good brother" or a "good
sister" of the church, the devil is using them!
Never think for a moment that the devil doesn't
use one Christian against another--many times,
they can be more use to him than sinners! Too
many are knocked out of this race of patience
because they are misguided into thinking all
they have to watch out for are the BIG things of
sin. No my friends, there are STILL tares in the
wheat. There are still people who are not up to
par spiritually, and most of us are in excellent
shape to become a tool of the devil. You read it
right--most of us don't know what we need to
know, aren't living what we need to live, to
recognize the many forms and guises of our
soul's enemy!
Let us NOT be ignorant of
his devices. Sometimes he uses a wife or a
husband. Sometimes he comes as an angel of
light. He will use a preacher/pastor to tell
you, "I have the very light you need to stand
in. Thank God for every bit of light that you
have, but I have some light that you cannot get
at your church." Some folks are so
deluded and unlearned and foolish as to think
the devil is "afraid" of the Bible or that they
are "safe" in church--let me tell you, the devil
is the most faithful attendee there is! And he
knows the Word of God better than any of the
rest of us so called Christians--he uses it to
twist, pervert, mislead so many every day!
That's because we REFUSE to study it and know it
for ourselves, so we "follow" whatever "sounds
good" or "sounds right". We cannot afford to be
ignorant of Satan's devices, my
friends!
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