In this sermon, the preacher discusses the interpretation of Revelation 12:4, which mentions stars being flung to the earth. He challenges the common belief that these stars represent fallen angels, as Satan had not yet fallen at that point in the scripture. Instead, he suggests that these stars represent believers who are initially struggling with sin and ignorance but eventually overcome through the blood of the Lamb. The preacher emphasizes the importance of obeying God's commands and living a righteous life to overcome the challenges and temptations of the world.

Lord, we do give you praise tonight and are thankful, Lord, that you have brought us through so many things, Lord, safely by your power, and we thank you, Lord, for your goodness to us, Lord. Appreciate it. Now, Lord, we pray for those among us who are in trials and testings, that you will be with them, Lord, and bring them safely through every trial, every testing. Bring them through victoriously, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. And, Lord, as we continue tonight, we look to you for wisdom, we look to you for the understanding of your word, Lord. We pray you'll give us just what we have need of this night. We'll thank you in Jesus' name, amen. Alright, we'll turn now to Revelation chapter 12, that's where we were in Sunday night. Now, Revelation 12 and Revelation 11 are talking about two different groups of people, right? Right or wrong? Wrong. Revelation 11 is showing the saints how? Huh? External ministry. As external ministry, a minister, a bearing witness to the world. A prophecy that is external, that's not within the body. What is Revelation 12 talking about? The fourth of the brothers of Christ. And we talked about Micah 5, we talked about Isaiah 66, we talked about Galatians 4.19. My little children from my travail and birth. So, alright, so we're talking about, one thing was about his tales, verse 4, his tale swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. Now, I always assumed that was meant that Satan had fallen and he had taken his wicked angels with him. The problem is that at this point Satan had not fallen, for one thing. Another thing, he flung them to the earth, which would not be reasonable if we're talking about the wicked angels, because up in verse 7 we find that the dragon and his angels were fighting in heaven. Now, when you get over to verse 13, then Satan has hurled to the earth. Right, that's when they were hurled down, exactly as in verse 9. That's when Satan's angels were brought down. So then, who do we conclude are the stars that were flung to the earth then, back up in 4? According to Daniel, and we looked at Daniel, let's look at that again, because that was so significant and so weird. Huh? It's what it is, it's the ruler being born in us, because you remember in Revelation chapter 2, if you recall around verse 27 it says, it's him that overcomes, will I give to rule the nations with a rod of iron, and then it says, and I will give him the morning star. Now, that's the key. The morning star is Jesus, and it's only as Jesus is in us that we can rule the nations, because he is the ruler. And speaking of a travail, you've got Sunday night's tape, but I'll just, we will be going to Daniel chapter 8 verses 9 and 12. Possibly 10 and 12. But, the thing about it Andrew is this, that when we start off in the Lord, as we see in Ephesians 2.6, we are already at the right hand of God. That's what Ephesians 2.6 says, he has raised us up and has set us at the right hand of God. That's nothing that we do. That is an arbitrary act of God based on our accepting Jesus. But then, that's what the scholars, and you probably heard the term in Point Loma, call our position, our position in Christ, is that we're at the right hand of God. But then, we notice as we go along in a struggle, we're struggling to get our life up there, so that we're really living there, not just there positionally, but we know that we have overcome. And it's kind of, as I said, we know when we do, we know when we pray through. At some point in our Christian experience, we pray through until we know we've broken through. And in my mind, that's when Christ is in us, breaks through, is hidden with Christ in God. It's not just positional, but we actually have been fought our way there. We actually have fought and overcome that which would press us down. And once that happens, then we have to maintain it. And every time we're tested, as Satan strives continually to tear us down to earth, continually with temptations, with fear, with unforgiveness, with worry, anger, the things of the world, many a person has left the ministry and gone into real estate and other activities such as that that are much more, that bring wealth, that bring wealth. A minister may minister for 25 years and he's as poor when he finishes up as when he started, and he figures, enough of this, you know, I'm going to go out and make a few shekels, and they do. And I'm not here to blame anyone, but it tears you down from your high place. Because to keep your high place in God, once you break through into that place in God, to keep it requires a great deal of diligence, because that's our crown. It's given to us, but the battle is to keep it, to keep ourselves at the right hand of God. To keep from being torn down, and worry can do it, anger at people can do it, the accumulation of bitternesses that come during years of church attendance. Audrey and I can remember being in churches, I don't know what, there's something different about this church, and I don't know what it is or why it is, but there's something different about this church. Because I can remember when we went to other churches in time past, it makes me think of what it says about Babylon, it becomes a hole of every unclean spirit. And all I have to do is hear a tape recording of a special from one of those churches that we came out of, and I just crawl inside, I just crawl, I can't put my finger on it, but I do know that numerous evangelical churches are crawling with spirits of bitterness, and hatred, and division, and covetousness. People come to church Sunday after Sunday, but it makes no difference. I don't know what the difference is, but I do know I don't ever want to go back there into that. Ever want to go back into that. I can remember we'd have a special, more deliverance, and some dear soul would get up, maybe with her husband, and the first thing they say is, I really can't sing, but I want to give God the glory. Every time they'd say that. And they would sing. And it was enduring, you just endure. And always when they're finished, they'd go a ripple through the congregation, like Amen, and all that. And that would happen, oh Lord, such death, and I don't know why this church is there. I think sometimes when we come in, even on a Tuesday night, you know, I've been in churches on Tuesday night, and someone would go up and say, well, what song do you think we should sing tonight? And they'll begin to thumb through looking for a song to sing tonight. I don't ever want to go back there. And I think a lot of it has to do with breaking through. There's something that you break through, and I know those people have never broken through, and their pastors haven't broken through. It just isn't there. And when we break through, there's a presence of God, and as I said, sometimes the tongue that you speak in, tongues will change. Or God will give you a song. I remember one time praying through, maybe it happens several times in your life, I don't know. But one time I was by myself, I was in the basement of the auxiliary building, the annex of the Fremont Assembly of God, and I was down there, and it was about 7 o'clock in the morning, I guess. I used to like to go down there on Sunday morning and pray the sun up. And I was just fighting something that was troubling me, and I broke through in prayer, and God gave me a song. Remember, you have overcome something. That I can't remember. But anyway, it was a song, but the tune was like bells singing. Well done, well done, well done my servant. Well done, well done, well done my son. Well, these kinds of things will happen. And you don't expect them, but you know that you're in a kind of a travail, and something is being born in you, and as you just keep pressing the battle and refusing to give in to anything, and you break through. And I've always associated that experience with this, that Christ is forming you, and when He does, He ascends, because Christ in us will not be revealed during the church age. During the church age, we will minister with gifts and ministries. But the ministry, see Christ did not minister with gifts. Christ ministered from the presence of God Almighty within Him. It was not partial. They're bowed upon Him, like Tony one time wanted us to read Isaiah 11, because it reminds you of the seven spirits of God that are before the throne of God. The only problem is I remember is there's only six of them, and I've wondered many times, what's the seventh spirit? But it's in Isaiah chapter 11, and the different spirits, and these were all on Christ. A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse. From his roots a branch will bear fruit. That's Isaiah 11. The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him. Now look at them. Here they are, Tony. The Spirit of Wisdom. The Spirit of Understanding. See, we get a gift of wisdom. See, that's one of the gifts of the Spirit. But when Christ is revealed within us, which will happen at the revealing of the sons of God when He comes, then we'll have that which is perfect. We'll have the fullness of the Spirit of Wisdom. We'll have the fullness of the Spirit of Understanding. The fullness of the Spirit of Counsel. The fullness of the Spirit of Power. The fullness of the Spirit of Knowledge. Maybe the Fear of the Lord is seven. I don't know. The Spirit of Knowledge. That brings us up. Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Power, Knowledge. No, the Fear of the Lord is six, isn't it? Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Power, Knowledge, and the Fear of the Lord. But you see, in Revelation chapter 1, it says, Greetings from Him and from the seven spirits who are before His throne. And this only lists six. So, it's possible. It's possible. It's possible. I couldn't dispute any of those. I do know that the Holy Spirit is light. And light is divided into seven primary colors. And Jesus has them all. And so, when Christ is born in us, comes forth through the travail, we don't minister on the earth with that. It's caught up against the day of vengeance of our God. Yes? Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Power, Knowledge, and Fear. Isn't that the Spirit of the Lord? I think they're all included in the Spirit of the Lord. So, the seventh one couldn't be the Spirit of the Lord. Because those aren't the Spirit of the Lord. Very possible. Well, it's something to pray about. It's never come to me. Maybe it will someday. I don't know. And maybe those aren't the seven spirits. Maybe they're seven other ones. But, in any case, we do go through that travail. And you know when you break through. When you break through, you cannot pray anymore. You can just praise. There just isn't a prayer there. It's just praise. It's there. The burden is over. Now, I think you have to do that a few times until you get established. Until you're not living here. Your spiritual life is not here anymore. It's at the right hand of God. And I think that's very important if we're going to survive in the age of moral horrors that's on the horizon. I think in order to survive, we're going to have to be living like it says in Psalm 91. See, to whom are the promises made of the protection of Psalm 91? He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High. See? And if we're abiding in Christ, we're at the right hand of God because that's where He is. I like the last couple of verses of Psalm 91. It says, Because He has set His love upon my, I will deliver Him. I will set Him on high because He has known my name. Again, in Isaiah, it says that if we don't lift up our soul into vanity and all these things, we will see the King. We will see the land that is far off. We will see the King in His beauty. So, one of the great instances of our spiritual life as a Christian is to pray and obey, pray and obey until we're living at the right hand of God. And so then, we still have battles, we still have temptations, but we're coming at them from a position of strength. And you can tell when people are not living that way, they say things like, well, as long as we're in the world, we have to sin and nobody's perfect, and these kinds of things. And the reason is because they know that periodically they're giving in to things. They're doing things that they know they shouldn't. And God does not want us doing things we know we shouldn't. And so we battle until we're not doing things we know we shouldn't. And then we know it's possible to overcome. And we refuse. We may stumble and fall, but we don't say, oh, well, that's the way it is. We confess our sins to the Lord. We make what restitution we can. And then we go on. We don't go around saying, well, as long as I'm in the world, I have to sin. We get the victory. And we live at the right hand of God where we're supposed to. And we don't accept anything else. We don't have something in our life we're toying with. Maybe I'm not sure I can overcome this, or I'm not sure I want to overcome this, or whatever. You get very impatient with that. Like Job's horse. In Job, the 39th chapter, he smells the battle afar off. He hears the thunder of the captains and the shouting, and he covers the ground. He gets impatient. He gets impatient. I don't want to be in that morass. I told the Lord that in Bible school. I said, I don't want to live like that. Well, I know that you feel the same way. Is there any question about that so far? So we see there's a struggle inside, but you do break through. There is a breaking through. Hallelujah. And I think that's what it's describing. Yes? So, if you struggle, and you break through, and then... He's accusing you all the time. Warring against you. Tempting you. So, if you're not done, then at that moment, when you tell him you've broken through... It's not finished, no. But the thing is, you're approaching it differently. That's probably what I have sensed. And whenever I come close to these churches that we came out of, that's probably what I sense. I just feel like getting up and yelling. What are you doing? This isn't God. This is some kind of a religious death you're in. And I think it's because they've persuaded themselves that it's impossible to overcome. They're already whipped. And they've been taught that you can't have the victory. They've been taught you can't have the victory. You cannot have it. In spite of the fact that all the rewards are to the overcomer, they're taught, the mostly evangelical churches are taught you can't have the victory. As long as you're in this world, you have to sin. And the Bible doesn't say that. It says the opposite. Sin shall not have dominion over you. And we're debtors not to the flesh. It teaches the opposite. 1 John 3 says he can't sin because there's seeds in him. And that means when we respond to that seed that's in us and we live and nurture it, it overcomes. The seed in us overcomes. It's Jesus Christ. And it's not addressed to our... 1 John says that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the next verse says if we confess our sin, He is faithful just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. My little children, I write unto you that you don't sin. Well, if you sin, we have an advocate. Well, what do you do? Then the third chapter says that if we're in Him, that no man that abides in Him keeps on sinning. Man, out of Paul and John, the Christian life is a life of victory. It's not a life of defeat. Well, I guess I've got to sin because once you say that, you're going to sin. You're certainly going to sin. You've persuaded yourself that Christ can't do it in you, and that's it. The Bible says in Romans 6, Sin shall not have dominion over you. Period. So what do we say? We're sinlessly perfect? No, we're saying that we're living above it by the grace of God. And when we're tempted, we get the victory, and we go on. Hallelujah. Then we have a clear conscience toward God, and the blood keeps on making up the difference. That's probably what I sense in these other churches, is a lack of anyone standing up in the middle of them and telling them you're supposed to overcome. They never hear that. In fact, they're taught the opposite. I was taught the opposite in Bible school. I was told by the older saints, you can't do it. You can't do it. You can't do it. As long as you're in the world, you've got to sin, sonny, so just get used to it. As you just said, it then seems that the key to overcoming is our position and abiding in Christ. If we abide in Him, then we can overcome. We don't overcome when we're abiding in Him. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. The secret, if there is a secret, of the overcoming life is God and man working together. We can't do it alone, and God won't do it alone. It's the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. And when we do what we can, God gives us the victory because it never is the Lord's will. Never, never, never for any Christian to walk in known sin. In known sin. Now, a lot of times we sin in ignorance or because of deception or whatever. But once we know what it is, once we know where we're going, it is not God's will for us to say, well, I just can't help myself and the devil made me do it. Never. I told you before about that dream the Lord gave me about jumping out of the ship and the water was only up to my waist. I knew what the Lord was telling me, that people were drowning and there was no need for it. It was because they were ignorant. It was perfectly possible to live the overcoming life. If it were not Revelation 2 and 3, God's just mocking us. Just mocking us. Oh no, that's not the way God does. We can overcome through Jesus Christ. Otherwise what we're saying is He can only forgive us, but He can't give us the victory. And that is what most of the church believes. Isn't that also the commandment here, to overcome as He overcame? Yes. Well, it's always in a promise. It's a choice to us. This is what we must do. That's right. That's in Revelation 3, verse 21. To Him that overcomes, even as I also overcame. He that overcomes, as I overcame, I will grant to sit with me in my throne, as I sat with my Father in His throne. That's Revelation 3, verse 21 or 22. We just have to overcome. And like you said, we don't overcome in order to abide in Christ. We overcome by means of abiding in Christ. Because He is the overcomer with a capital O. But we don't overcome because we're identified with Him. That's thought. He's righteous and we're righteous by identification. That means we're not righteous. That means He's holy. We're unholy. But we're holy because we're identified with Him. That's no kingdom. That's a house of cards. There's no new creature there. No way. Well, that's the great error of our time. It's enormous. Now, this I think is so tremendously important because it's going to be happening in our time that Antichrist, Satan through Antichrist, however, will reach up to the starry host. The starry host. Remember, it's the stars that are brought down. Well, how are they brought down? Because God permits them to be shaken. See, you can go through your Christian life and be saved and be filled with the Spirit. And then somewhere down the line, God tests you concerning your will. And right there is determined whether you're going to be in God's army or not. Just being saved won't do it. Those who are with Him, it says in Revelation 17, are called, chosen, and faithful. And it's in that third realm of faithfulness that God's warriors are pulled out. And if you can see in verse 12, the issue is rebellion. Because you see, we're saved and we speak in tongues and prophesy, but that doesn't mean the problem of rebellion has been solved. We don't know whether the problem of rebellion is solved until we hit some kind of Gethsemane. And it was because Christ learned obedience by the things He suffered. Oh, where did He suffer? In Gethsemane, when His will came into conflict with God's will. In Gethsemane, Christ's will came into conflict with God's will. When Jesus said, Had not my will but yours be done, then His will was not to bear the sins of the world. And so at that moment, the will of Christ and the will of the Father were in conflict. And it was right there that the salvation of the world was determined. And I'm sure when Abraham marched up the hill there with Isaac, that his will was not to offer Isaac a burnt offering. So in the garden of Eden, the two wills came into conflict. Eve's will and God's will, with a little help from the serpent. And Eve disobeyed. And Adam disobeyed. So the problem from the beginning has been rebellion. Not the lust of the flesh. Because Adam and Eve had no lust in their flesh. Not worldliness. Adam and Eve had no worldliness. The original sin and the basis of all sin is rebellion. And so Abraham, to be the father of all who believe, had to be tested in the area of rebellion. And Jesus, in order to be the heir of all the works that he himself had created, had to be tested in the area of rebellion. So he said, not my will. I am not going to rebel. My will is not to do this. If it's possible, let it pass from me. Because this is not my will. That had nothing to do with the lust of the flesh. Had nothing to do with worldliness. That's the original issue. And that's where the church is today. That's where the Christian church is today. I noticed when God first started talking to me about the three deaths and three resurrections, that the will is the third death, I realized that in Christian literature I had never read any writing about the death of the will. I had read about overcoming sin and holiness and about leaving the world, but I'd never read any clear... There were things where missionaries went out and did the will of God and fervent Christians did the will of God, but I had never read of it as being separate from the passions of the flesh. I mean, it was all lumped together as sin. But as a discrete, clearly defined issue, I had never read of it. Now, Jesse Penn Lewis and I think Fenelon and Madam Gion talked about death to self to a certain extent, but it's in very mysterious language, particularly Madam Gion, it's very mysteriously couched in steps that you move toward the crucifixion of the soul or something, and it's all good, and it's been a tremendous blessing to people. But to lay it out, you know, here's one sin, worldliness. Here's the second area, the passions of your flesh. Here's the third area, will. I've never read of it. So I think that maybe... Now, Andrew could help me with this, because he's much more learned in the works of the early church than I am, but I don't think the Christian church has ever really faced this issue. That you can't just take... You can get saved, filled with the Spirit, but you can't just take things and run out with them. You have to do God's will that way. You have to wait until you know what you're doing and obey the Lord, even though it means many years of doing nothing, just waiting, waiting, waiting, obeying, waiting, waiting, while God tests you in so many ways. So, and this may be reserved for the end time. Andrew? I was one of the early monks. Did they define it in doctrine? Yes, and I know that many great saints of church history have done God's will against their own, but I have never seen it laid out clearly as a separate issue from sin. Because you see, and this is tricky, but it's worth, if you can get a hold of it. Deliverance from sin is a reward. See, we usually think of deliverance from sin as bringing a reward, and it does. It brings a reward of eternal life. But actually, deliverance from sin is a reward for obeying God. See, we can't deliver ourselves from sin. Because the bondages are spiritual. The chains are spiritual. And so, we don't overcome in the sense of breaking those chains, because we don't have the power to break those chains. We overcome by doing what God tells us. And our reward for doing what God tells us is to have the sin removed. He breaks the bondage of sin and brings us into liberty, because we obeyed Him. And then, there's a reward for being delivered. So, there's a double action that takes place. The first reward is to be delivered from the bondages. And the second reward is the result of being free from the sin. So, where that's important is this. It's often taught that we stand before the judgment seat of Christ will be rewarded for what we have done. Well, people have said, we don't have to worry about it because the judgment of sin was accomplished on the cross. And that's true. But what they don't realize is we're not going to be judged because of things that we can't help. We were born in sin. And it would be very unjust of God to turn around and judge us for something that we didn't ask for. We didn't ask to be born in sin. I mean, there's not a one of us in here but what wish we were born righteous. So, how unjust that would be for God to come and say, you were born in sin and therefore I'm punishing you for being born in sin. See, that doesn't quite equate. But what God will judge us for at the judgment seat of Christ is our decisions. The things we were capable of doing. And every one of us, when we die, the Lord will sit down with us and rehearse with us our life. And that is not to say that it's all going to be accusatory. It says we will receive the good we have done and the bad we have done. Not just the bad we have done. There will be a lot of explanation. And the Lord will tell us, this is why this happened. And this is why you were brought through this. This is why I permitted this. See, He'll just sit down and talk to you. And if you can say, well, Lord, knowing from what I knew, what I knew when I was sure of what I was doing, Lord, I did what I thought was right, then what's there to judge you for? Because what you did wrong was the result of bondages, which you did not want. There's not a person in this room that wants bondage. We don't want bondage. So the Lord didn't come to blame us for something we don't want. But the Lord brings us along. Okay, we had an opportunity to accept Christ. Did we do it? If we didn't, we'll be judged for not having received Christ. And then, for all the sins that we did as a result of not having done what God told us to do. See, so it's a double whammy the other way. Okay, so we accepted Christ and we went along and then there was a call on us to the ministry, but instead we decided how we wanted our life to go. We didn't want to go live with the fleas along the Amazon and sleep in a hammock beaten alive by fleas and live where there's dirt and everything else. We didn't want to do that, so we said, no, thank you. So then when we sit down and talk with the Lord, the Lord will show us. Look, He'll show us all multitudes of people. These would have been your fruit. But you disobeyed Me. And this is the consequence. You're losing your talent. Just talk it over with you. Reasonably. Then you went along and maybe you became a minister. You obeyed the call of God. And then you were attracted by money or you did something else. No, that isn't the direction I want to go. The Lord told you to do something. The Lord warned you about something. Maybe you were in a big church or something and the Lord said, no, I want you to leave this and I want you to go into a street evangelism. Or I want you to go teach in Bible school. I want you to do something like that. You said, no, look at the church, Lord. You know, it's a mega church and people are getting saved and all this. But the Lord said, and He had a reason. And then you stayed in that church and you fell. Through money. Through taking the glory of yourself. Through immorality. And the Lord saw that coming. But the thing you'll be judged on is the fact that when the Lord told you to do something, you didn't do it. See, because you don't have power to control the chains of sin. To a certain extent, you can use self-control, but it's still in there and it'll pop out under the right pressures. The Lord has to deliver you if you're going to be delivered from sin. He has to deliver you. You can't deliver yourself. You can use self-control and you can pray and ask for help in the time of temptation. God will make a way to escape. The Bible promises us that. But what God's going to hold us accountable for is, did you do what I told you? And if we were disobedient, the result will have been we will not have been delivered from sin and then we're going to be judged for the disobedience and then all the consequences that went on. So, yes, the sin was judged once and for all on Calvary. But how we live was not settled on Calvary. And so we can either obey God or disobey God. So the issue boils down to rebellion. And that's just exactly what it says. Now, if you look in Hebrews 12, verse 26, but now he says, I'll shake not only the earth, but also the heavens. And then he says, he tells us why the words once more indicate the removing of that which can be shaken, that is created things so that what cannot be shaken may remain. It reminds you of Abraham, a city with foundations. And the only thing that cannot be shaken is that which is of Jesus Christ because He's not created. So it can't be shaken. But that which is of us can be shaken. So, our job is to keep abiding in Christ so that He has formed in us. And when He has formed in us, then we cannot be shaken. One of the big problems of the end time is going to be fretting about evil and about the evil things people do. And boy, that can tear you right down from your place at the right hand of God and cause you to lose. I think sometimes people get all, Christians get all shook up and go into politics. And I'm not saying it isn't God, that God doesn't call some Christians into politics. He probably does. But I think as a rule, for most of us, we should keep out of it. I haven't seen any good come out of this Christian right, or even in the California level, out of any of this. I have not seen good come out of it. I don't think God wants us messing with the democratic process. Our job is to bear witness. That's our job. Now, as I said, I'm not saying that some shouldn't go into politics, but they want to remember that's only possible because we're in a democracy. If we weren't in a democracy, they couldn't do any of their things. So they're participating in democratic society, as Christians. Jesus said, if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight. Now is my kingdom not from hence. And it's just caused the public to get in an uproar, the secular people get in an uproar, the Christian right wing is trying to do this and that. I don't believe it's a good idea. I think where God wants us is to rule with Christ at His right hand and bear witness, and not be torn down because of the homosexuals. Vermont judges have said that the legislature in Vermont either has to legalize marriage for homosexuals or else a very substantial partnership arrangement that gives them the full benefits of marriage. Well, you know, you look at that and you think, Vermont, that's one of my favorite hangouts, is Waterbury, Vermont. I have relatives there. Boy, that's where I spent some of my best times as a kid around shooting guns up in the woods in Waterbury, Vermont. And I think that Vermont, Vermont, one of the, one of the original colonies, you know, anti-homosexual. Norway, it's not tearing me down from my high place in God. God said all things work together for good. And that doesn't change. Even this wonderful colony by Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, I mean, it's been a rock of conservative Christian values, patriotism. Oh, Lord, Vermont, if it had been, you know, California even, wouldn't be so bad. But Vermont, oh, those green hills will turn brown for sure. There's no way. I'm not, I'm not a fool. That's it. All right. So, we're receiving something that cannot be shaken and that's the kingdom of God. And that basically is Jesus Christ. The kingdom is Christ in us. He is the kingdom. He is the resurrection. He is our wisdom, sanctification and redemption. He is our righteousness, not by identification, but by the fact that His righteousness creates in us a new creature. He is everything and He is the kingdom and He cannot be shaken. Yes. So, so when Christ is in you, you overcome that can't be shaken? That's right. As long as you can keep your place at the right hand of God. But if you have to keep it, then it seems like it could be shaken. Yes, yes. And that's why it says work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Yes, it can. Christ can't be shaken. What the devil, see the devil can't touch us if we're in Christ. The angel of the Lord encamps around those that fear Him. But, but He, He's doing this, see. Christ says not to fret. That's a commandment. So when we fret, we're breaking with a commandment. You know, old Balaam could not collect because he couldn't curse Israel by prophecy. He could not do that. The spirit of prophecy would not permit that. So, he goes into a satanic wisdom and he said, he told the king of Moab, send the dancing girls out where the Israeli warriors can see them. Which they did. Israel committed fornication. And thousands of them died because of that, see. Balaam knew that he, that he could not curse them, but he could sure sneak them out from under the anointing by making them sin. And Satan can't get at us unless he can get us to sin. Of course. The angel of the Lord encamps around about those that fear Him and delivers them. We can't keep ourselves. Only God can keep us and He keeps us when we obey Him. And he said, don't fret. He said, forgive your enemies. He said, don't let the sun go down on your wrath. He told us all these things that cause fretting. Fear not, for I am with you. He covers every one of these things that tears us down. Don't get involved in money. Keep your morals straight. And when we do these things by praying and obeying the Lord, He keeps us at His right hand. And in the meanwhile, He's being formed in us. And that's the overcoming life. And that can't be shaken. And we don't lose our crown. Any questions? That's pretty simple. Okay. Alright, that's enough of that. Back to Revelation 12. There's a lot of stuff in here that's really far out. Not just symbolic, but the things it stands for are far out. So, He's trying to prevent Christ from being formed in Him. And I personally think that Satan will sponsor and encourage worldwide evangelism and things. Anything to subtract from the issue of causing God's people to grow. To have Christ formed in them. As long as He can keep them in a baby state. And we've been attacked a couple of times in this church by people telling us to stop what we're doing and start evangelizing. Alright, She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. So, what's being born in us in our destiny is to rule. Our destiny is not to lay around in heaven in a mansion. That's not the destiny of a Christian is to lay in a mansion. It's not to lay around in paradise and talk to our friends. It's to rule. Paradise is for the saved nations. And we will enjoy it. But we've been called from the world to rule. And Christ is a ruler. And that is the reward for overcoming the rule. And somebody was telling me the other day they didn't want to rule. It was a guy that came to the church and a good man too. Loves God. He said, that does not turn me on. And I said, that's because you're picturing something that is just your own picture of what it means to rule. See, we can't help wanting to rule. Everybody wants to have his own way. That's why marriages have the trouble they do. It's because the two people are trying to rule. We're just made that way. We're made to want to rule. When we say rule, we think of sitting on a dumb old throne with a crown on our head and a scepter and all these people out there and they come before us and we're passing judgment on them or whatever. But it merely means that in whatever area God has placed you, you will be in command and not be being commended. Now, think what it would mean today to you. What would you change, for example, in your household or in the nation or in your state? What would you change if you had the power of rulership? What would you change? For example, I'd be on my way to Vermont. And not just to fire off the 30-06 either. I'd have a little talk with those judges. See, so it just means you will be able to do what God has put in your heart to do. It may be that you'll be ministering to children or older people or whatever to the angels. I don't know what you'll be doing, but the point is that you'll be in a place where your will will be followed. And that's what you want. You don't want to be put in some place where you can't do what you feel is right and godly and will bring joy and peace. You want to be able to call the shots. So don't say you don't want to rule because the opposite is to be ruled So yes, you want to have your way. So don't picture it as some picture you've seen somewhere of the King of England. It merely means that you'll be in a position where people will have to do what you say. And you say, well, I don't want to mess with them. Well, to not mess with people is to me, you'll be alone by yourself. And I don't think you'd care about that very much. That'd be great, wouldn't it, if Isaiah there told Andrew and Yvonne what to do. Wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't that be great? The only way they can get along with Isaiah is because they can tell him what to do. That's called ruling. Okay. Right, Yvonne? Right. Yvonne says it. Amen. Alright, I'm not having any kid rule the house. Alright, now. Now it says, a child was snatched up to God and to His throne. That's what happens when we pray to Him, Christ in us, we establish our place before God. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God where she might be taken care of for 1260 days, which is three and a half years. That's the latter part of the week, the great prophetic week, the 70th week. Alright, now that, I wonder sometimes if that doesn't have to do with Matthew 25 where she's taken care of by people in the world during a time of intense persecution. God finds a place for her out in the desert. She's taken, the church is taken care of there. She won't be able to be in the cities because the cities will be governed by Antichrist. Verse 7, there was war in heaven. That always tickles me because we don't picture heaven that way. We don't think of heaven as being a place of war. Oh, when I get out of here it's wars, wars, wars. Once I get to heaven, thank God, no more wars. But yeah, we have a picture of heaven that I think came from the Indian happy hunting ground or else from the Muslim paradise. I don't think it came from the Bible. Alright, there was war in heaven. It's a place of strife because that's where the rebellion began. It began in heaven and it has not been solved to this day. Satan still has access to God as we see in Job. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought back. So, that would be something to see. That war would be something to see. The armies of Michael against the armies of Satan. That would be something to see because they are huge, they are fast, violent, powerful creatures in a tremendous clash drawing up their battle lines and then clashing. We wonder why God didn't do this a long time ago because of the power and we see it pretty soon. He was not strong enough Something sacked Satan's strength at this point and they lost their place in heaven which tells us that the stars that were cast down are still brought out. It's not talking about the fallen angels. It's talking about that host of Daniel 8-10. It's talking about saints who were at the right hand of God but permitted someone to take their crown. The right hand of God is a place of worship. To have your crown taken is to lose your place at the right hand of God. And it says don't let anybody take it. I used to say don't let anyone steal it but I read again in the Bible nothing I found in the Bible says don't let anyone take it. Don't let anyone take your crown. So people take our crown. People take our crown. I think many a man has gone down because his wife has taken his crown. I think many a wife has gone down because her husband has taken her crown. You can't let anything son, daughter, friend, enemy take your crown because it's people that take your crown. And you've got to be able to say well, you know I'm just not going to do that. I'm just not going to do that. The great dragon was hurled down. Don't you love that? He did not float down gracefully. The ancient serpent called the devil or Satan who leads the whole world astray he was hurled to the earth and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven here we go again say now have come the salvation see that's when Jesus said if I cast out devils with the finger of God what? The kingdom has come near you so the kingdom has to do with removing Satan. Now has come salvation when? When Satan is cast to the earth. Now has come power and the kingdom and the authority of his Christ and not until and not until he's still up there. There's something that has to be done that has to do with rebellion on the part of the church for the accuser of our brothers. Now see that's why there's so much gossip and slander in the churches. It's because that is the nature of Satan and whenever a person is seeking God and doing God's will to the best of his or her ability the Christians who are not will slander that person. Yes. They can't help themselves because Satan acts in terms of rebellion and unless we are in pressing into the rest of God we are not our will is still there's still a door for Satan to enter and when he enters he points the finger at those who are seeking to enter the rest of God. And that's why. That's why it's so easy to gossip. That's why it's so tasty to gossip and slander. And you know most of the time when we're gossiping about people about some bad thing we're not even accurate. We're guessing. But it just feels so good to do it that we do it even when we're not sure of the facts. It's because right here. It's because Satan's... And one wonders what drives him? I know that Satan is the incarnation of rage. I know that. I know also that he's the incarnation of lust and that I have seen in the spirit. He is the incarnation of lust. We know he's a murderer and we know he's a liar and the father of lies. But what motivates him to accuse? What is there about Satan's nature? I think what it is is that evil seeks company. The wicked always seek I think because their conscience troubles them and they become evangelical. There's no one more evangelistic than a homosexual. That's why they don't tell policy. They don't like that. And that's perfectly alright. When I say homosexual, fine. Don't broadcast it. They can't live with that. Because they want to get others because they know in their heart it's wrong and they want to get... They figure the more people that they can get to be homosexuals somehow it will be acceptable. And I think Satan figures the same way. The more people that he can get to follow his way the more somehow it is acceptable because everybody's doing it. And I think that... What other motive would he have? What does he get out of it? I can understand trying to get people to lust and to anger because Satan and his demons vent themselves through human lust and through human rage. But why the accusation? And the only thing I can figure so he can say to God, look, nobody's obeying you. So you're going to throw me in the lake of fire? Throw the whole thing in the lake of fire and see how you like it. That's all I get. Just trying to get people. And the wicked will do that. Always. Trying to get other people to do it because there's discomfort in the group. They don't like the righteous. The righteous torment the wicked because they refuse to do what the wicked want. So it's a torment to them because then they figure, well, you know, that puts me in a bad light. Here somebody comes in living a life for God and puts the whole crowd in a bad light. And they don't like that. The world will hate you, Jesus said. He accuses them before our God day and night. He's still doing it. And don't worry, He's calling your name right now. Don't worry, He's calling your name before the Father and pointing out everything in your life that's not right in the sight of God. And you see, the blood will protect you, cleanse you, providing you're following the Spirit. As long as you're doing what God is telling you to do, He can accuse you and the cows go home. But you see, Jesus is the prosecutor. And Jesus is also the defense attorney. He is both prosecutor and judge and the defense attorney. And as long as you're doing what He's saying, He's an advocate for you, He's a lawyer for you, and He's coming before the court and He's pointing toward His blood. And He's saying, My blood made an atonement for that that you're telling me. And don't worry, all of us have got a lot of failings that He can point to. Because God hasn't brought us to them yet to deal with them. But the lawyer, Jesus, that's what John said. If any man sin, we have an advocate. And our advocate is standing before the court of heaven telling the judge and the prosecuting attorney who is prosecuting attorney, Okay, that's right, Satan. You cannot deny it. It's true. But, my blood made an atonement for that sin. But if we don't obey the Lord and we don't walk after the Spirit, then we're disobeying God. And then Jesus is the prosecutor. And then we become a disobedient servant. First thing you know, we're cut out of the vine. And then where are we? The accuser has been hurled down three times. Alright. Now look how we overcome him. And wouldn't it be wonderful if we could fight the devil in some way. But we can't fight the way we usually think of fighting. We overcome him by the blood. We have to be cleansed by the blood. As I was just saying, we overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. The blood of the Lamb gives us a clear record in court when the devil points out the things we're doing wrong. And boy, when we first start out in the Lord, we're doing way more things wrong than we are right. But we don't know it. We can't see our pride and our vanity and our lying and our foolishness and all the other stuff. We just can't see it. And God doesn't want us bothering about it. He says, follow me. Satan sees it and he points it out. But through the blood of the Lamb, we overcome. Secondly, what does it mean to overcome by the word of our testimony? It means this. It means that in our thoughts and in our words and in our actions and with the gifts that God gives us, four things. In our thoughts, in our words, in our actions, and by the gifts that God gives us, we announce the person of God, the way of God, the will of God, and the eternal purpose of God in Christ. Did you get that? In our mind, in our words, and in our actions, and in the gifts that God gives us, we portray accurately, we bear a true testimony of the person of God, the way of God, the will of God, and the eternal purpose of God in Christ. And it is the Holy Spirit who enables our mind, our words, our actions, and the ministry. It is the Holy Spirit, and only the Holy Spirit, that can give an eternal testimony of God. Flesh can't do that. It has to be done by the Spirit. So, we see the blood of the Lamb, Jesus. We see the word of our testimony. Remember we said, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses. See, the power to testify, to witness, comes from the Holy Spirit alone. Now we come to the Father. And, they loved not their lives to the point of death. And that's why Satan is still up there. It's because there has never been enough people who have overcome by the blood, and by the word of their testimony, and finally by loving not their life unto the death. When there is enough of them, now you see, we don't fight. The angels do their fighting. It doesn't say anything about the saints fighting the devil and his angels. Fighting in the spirit realm is done by angels. It is not done by us. We don't fight. We overcome. It's not, the angels, I guess, fight with spiritual swords, or whatever they do. We don't fight that way. We fight by the blood, we fight by our testimony, and we fight by loving not our life to the death. The Christians love to get militant. You know, onward Christian soldiers. Sons of God march forward in the power of the latter rain. We love to do our banners and everything. But you've got to realize it's all symbolic. The Christian army is an army of judges. We are an army of judges. And Satan, the issue when he accuses us is an issue of judgment. He is passing judgment on us. He is calling God to judge the wicked things we are doing. And because we're faithfully staying with the blood of Jesus, confessing our sins, turning from them, making restitution, the blood is there, and so we overcome in the sense that it takes away Satan's power. So you remember it says he was not strong enough. It became a question of strength. Every time Satan comes against you, and by praying and resisting, you weaken him. You weaken him. That's why he flees. It doesn't say he walks away gracefully. It says resist the devil and he will flee. It weakens him and it frightens him. Not because we can punch him in the nose. If the devil is in the way, I'll roll right over him. That's a lot of fleshly nonsense. We're overcome by the blood and it weakens him. Okay? Then he's further weakened by our testimony. He tries to cause something to come into us that gets our thoughts away from the Word of God, or our speech away from the Word of God, or our actions away from the God, or our ministry corrupted in some way. When he cannot do that, and we are following the Holy Spirit in these four areas, it takes away his strength. And in the meanwhile, the angels of God are getting stronger. Now, we bring the church to the place where we're saying to the church, what you've done with the blood is right. What you've done with the Holy Spirit and the testimony is right. Now God's asking something more from you. He's asking you to allow Him to bring you to the death of everything that He requires. Now, once we say yes, and no matter how that idol in us is shaken, and it seems that God is going to the very core of our life, and we're still saying yes, and the book of Lamentations and the book of Job become very real to us, very real to us. We understand when Jeremiah says, I put my face in the dust that by chance there's any hope. We know that because we're experiencing it. And we know what Job is talking about when he says, though He slays me, I will keep on trusting Him. I will just trust Him. No matter what He does, I will trust Him. And when you do that, you see Satan has no hold on you. What can he say? He comes down and the blood is there. Your testimony is according to the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. And now he can't get at you for rebellion. You're saying to God... And see, Satan has never been there. See, Satan has always had the paradisiac things, he's never been brought down into a vessel of clay and chained to the earth by gravity like we have, and subject to temptations, and subject to weakness, and subject to the sins we've inherited. He's never been there. The angels have never been there. So they can stay in their nice, cool position floating around and point the fingers. And now what they're doing... But God knows, and God's a God of equity. And He says, there's that poor mess of dust with no strength at all next to an angel you can't even see them. They're like a grain of dust on a mountain several billion miles in diameter. And they're like a grain of dust compared to the angels. They're nothing at all. And there's that puny little nothing down there saying, God, whatever you do to me, do it. I still love you, and I still trust you. And Satan looks at that, and he looks at God, and God says, what do you have to say now? Put yourself in Satan's place. They are nothing. What they did have, they've given back to God. Here I was, a covering cherub with all my instruments created in me, a great cherub of God living in a paradise that they have no understanding of. And here they are down there, nothing and less than nothing. The breath is in their nose. The heart beat away from death and dissolution and corruption. And there's that puny little nothing saying to God, take everything, do what you want to, you got it, I trust you. Put yourself in God's place and put yourself in Satan's place. Remember, we're not talking about power, we're talking about judgment. Because you see, as long as Satan can say, well, you're condemning me because of lying, and they're lying. You're condemning me because of anger, and they're angry. You're condemning me for all these things, and that's what they're doing. And here's some poor thing that doesn't amount to anything in the eternal scope of things. And they're given majesty to the God of heaven and they have never even seen Him. And God says, alright, how about it? And Satan has nothing to say. Nothing to say. His mouth is shut. The accusation is stopped. And God then puts His power into Michael and He says, they have overcome the accuser. Now you equip Him. Drive Him out. I don't want Him ever to come into my presence ever again. He's going to be walled out by a jasper wall. He'll never... He and His works and His followers are forever barred from... Because they have overcome Him. Well done. Well done. Well done, my servant. Well done. Well done. Well done, my son. You have overcome. That's the opportunity that's before us. There are still thrones that are not occupied. But they will be occupied by somebody and that can be you. And it means so much to God. And when you read down, it causes heaven to rejoice because Satan cannot appear there anymore. His voice has been shut by a bunch of mud balls that obeyed God and Jesus Christ came not to do the overcoming for us and we can't do it. Not to drive out Satan for us. He didn't come to do that. He came to enable us to overcome. Man, we let Him in and we've got to drive Him out. But it would not have been possible had not Jesus come. He's done His part. And now it's up to us to take advantage of it. Oh, there's coming an end. Hallelujah. There's coming an end. Praise Your name, Lord. Now we praise You, Lord. And I thank You for each one that's come, Lord. I know they've worked hard, Lord. They're very tired. And I pray, Lord, that You'll renew them and You'll just refresh them tonight in a special way. And I pray when they wake in the morning, Lord, they'll just be full of Your life and Your glory. Determined to stay at Your right hand. Determined to see this thing through to a wonderful conclusion. Thank You, Father. Keep us all safe in the highway and our loved ones in Jesus' name, Amen.