Kingdoms in Conflict – the Cause of It All
Our world today has an enormous infatuation with Angels. It has become a national obsession. Angels are mentioned throughout the Bible and are of prominent focus in Revelation. Our message begins with the story of a fallen Angel. The Bible reveals his intents in Isaiah14:12-14
Although occupying the highest position of any created being, Lucifer wanted more. He wanted to be God. Ezekiel provides some more details of his actions and attitudes. Ezekiel 28:13-17
Apparently dissatisfied with his high office in the celestial government, Lucifer decided that his position and beauty entitled him to what only belongs to God: Homage and reverence – He wants to be worshipped!
The Great Cosmic Conflict began in no other place than Heaven.
Revelation 12:7-9 - An angel turns rebel and the great war between Christ and Lucifer - now called Satan had begun.
Revelation 12:12 Some do not believe in a literal devil.
“Is Satan Dead?” Does Satan really exist? Evil certainly does! And he does also. We look around at our world today and we wonder why so much horror, pain, and suffering. What makes people do such horrible things? People are following the Devil – They are being deceived.
He does exist - Jesus talked about him and warned us - Luke 10:18
Satan comes here as a destroyer of souls and lives - John 10:10a
Jesus has come to deliver us from Satan and his deceptive snare. John 10:10b
What we see in Revelation is a revealing of his bold strategy to deceive the world in the end time through the Antichrist. It’s the Dragon who is behind this deceiving power. Revelation13: 2-4 Satan works hard to convince Christians he’s not real -that Revelation is not important. He doesn’t want them to discover what he is really up to. So Satan was the originator of sin. He is the source of the sin, disease, and vice of every description that plague the earth.
What is sin? I John 3:4 -Sin is disobedience to God. NKJV - Sin is lawlessness - lack of law keeping. It is choosing self will rather than God’s will. It is rebellion against God. Therefore Satan is the father of disobedience and rebellion – this is his trade mark. I John 3:8
This is the way the dragon operates. He uses force and deception instead of loving acts and truth that appeals to balanced informed minds. The battle for minds in this Great Controversy is over Satan’s deceptions and God’s reasonable appeals. And we have all taken part to some degree in this rebellion. Romans. 5:12
Romans. 5:19 The conflict is still raging today - the tactics of the devil are still the same - get man to disobey God and worship him. Obedience is the highest form of worship.
We serve whom we obey - Romans. 6:16
Remember in wilderness devil tempted Jesus - Matthew 4:9,10 “All these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.” And Jesus replied - “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” It's not what we claim that matters, it's not lip service.
Remember Jesus tells of some who did many things in His name – Matthew 7:20-23 He says; “I never knew you” - Why? The answer is simple - “you that work iniquity” NKJV - “practice lawlessness” They did not obey. Because of disobedience - Serving, worshipping Satan and thought they were serving Jesus. How can this be? The answer is made clear again over in - Matt. 15:3,8,9 Worship is vain if disobeying God.
God knows we do not truly obey unless we truly love. John 14:15 “If you love me keep my commandments.
John 15:10 “If you keep my commandments you shall abide in my love even as I have kept my Father’s commandments.
Romans. 13:10 reveals this same principle- Here Jesus clearly teaches commandment keeping based on two vital principles -
Matthew 22:37-40 Love to God and love to fellow man.
Ecclesiastes 12:14 – “Fear God, keep commandments, whole duty of man.”
Let’s get this whole thing into prophetic perspective - Revelation 12:17 The Dragon wars against the Woman – God’s people, those who are obedient to God’s law, they are the object of this cosmic conflict because the devil knows they are on their way to the Kingdom.
Revelation 22:14 - “Blessed are they that do His commandments have a right to the tree of life”
The Forces of good and evil are fighting. All are involved in this great cosmic conflict between obedience and rebellion. Sin and righteousness. This is nothing but the climax of a 6000 year program of Satan to keep God’s people from being saved. As the adversary – whose self-seeking caused him to be cast out of heaven, Satan declared his purpose to overthrow and take over God’s government.
This incredible plan of Satan to subvert worship to himself makes it necessary to build his appeal around religion. Working in the guise of counterfeit religious systems and false worship he has woven a clever composite of truth and error down through the ages.
His masterpiece of deception will occur at the end-time when he works through the Beast power to enforce a mark of loyalty on every person alive at this dramatic time. We will see all this and understand it clearly as we study together. The Spiritual conflict to come will be greater than any known. Ephesians 6:12,13
The bad news is that most on earth seem to have joined Satan’s rebellion against God’s government. The good news though is that the enemy has been defeated if we choose to be on God’s side – To know and obey the truth of this sacred book. Someday this war will be over. Soon Satan and sin and all those who join him in rebellion will be destroyed. The signs of the times indicate that this dramatic crisis is approaching rapidly.
There will be a group who are victorious as they remain loyal to Jesus and His truth. Revelation14:12
Whose side do you want to be on? Whose side are you on? There is only one way to know that you are on the right side of the issue. We must learn what God has given to us in Bible prophecy to prepare His people to stand firm against the raging deceptions of the last days.