The Dragon And The King
And there was war in heaven; and Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceived the whole world; he was cast into the earth, and his angels with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he hath but a short time.[Rev12v7-12]
I want to, if I may give this message the title of ‘THE DRAGON AND THE KING’. Why a title like that? Well I’m sure many of you have as children read the fabled stories of the prince or king slaying the dragon. But GLORY TO GOD! This is no fabled story, because the KING in this story had to first had to first become a Lamb, and then he became a Lion, before becoming a King.
But before we continue, let me introduce myself. My name is William Cook. And I live in the beautiful city of Cape Town in South Africa. I am married to a lovely Christian lady called Wilma, whom the Lord brought into my life nine [9] years ago. We have a three year old son called Jessè Daniel. He is of course the apple of mom and dad’s eye, and a gift from the Father. Also a sincere thank you to Bruce for allowing me to share the WORD OF GOD with you on the website.
Let’s pray before we go into the WORD. Father I praise Your Wonderful Name, and give thanks to You for the many blessings You pour out upon us. Help us to understand Your precious WORD and to grasp that which is important to us; knowing full well that the enemy of our soul is none the happier, because YOU LORD have conquered death, hell and the grave. Bless each and every one that reads this message, and I ask this in JESUS WONDERFUL NAME.
Folks continuing with the word it says; and there was war in heaven; and Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon fought with his angels. [v7] Michael, [the archangel, of course is the General of the armies of Heaven] with his armies fought against the dragon [old serpent, called the Devil and Satan] and his armies [the angels who chose to side with him]. You must understand that these angels are spirit-beings who were created by God [the Creator] to serve HIM. To say that these beings are big in stature, is really not right when in actual fact they are giants and very powerful. When these spirit-beings fought each other in the heavens, the sheer force of the impact was so tremendous, that the universe shook and trembled with the force of the battle. The dragon and his angels tried to get the upper had, but the word of God says that they; Prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceives the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels with him. [v8-9]
Allow me to shout Hallelujah! Praise the Father, Praise the Son, Praise the Spirit every one; Praise the King of Glory, Praise Him for eternity. Because you see saints of God, that old dragon was defeated, and there was no place in heaven for him and his followers.
Lucifer [the dragon] was defeated and thrown out of the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. The Oxford Dictionary defines the word defeat or defeated as being overcome in battle or other contest; also to baffle or frustrate; Defeating [overcome] and being defeated [overcame] or in just plain old English, in this instance, the devil lost the boxing match and received a bloody nose.
Ok, we see in verse 9 that the dragon was defeated, and is cast out of heaven down into the earth where he deceives the whole world. Please study the following scriptures and see the subtleness of the devil and why he is called the deceiver and accuser of the brethren. [Genesis3v13, Matthew24v24, 2John1v7, 2Tim3v13 KJV]
In Luke10v18 we read about Jesus telling His disciples that, I beheld [saw] Satan as lightning fall from heaven. From that statement we can assume that JESUS was a spectator, although not a participator of that battle between Michael and the dragon and their respective armies. [Rev12v7-9] The dragon [Lucifer] has been defeated and thrown out of heaven; and contrary to what some say the dragon no longer has access to that heavenly kingdom.
Before I continue any further with this exciting message, lets spend a few minutes and see what the WORD OF GOD says who Jesus was before He became known as Jesus. In John1v1 we read that; In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God and the WORD was God; and continuing with verse 13 we read; and the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us, [and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the FATHER] full of grace and truth. The ninth chapter of Isaiah verse six [6] says…for unto us a child is born, unto us a son [JESUS] is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
The WORD has now taken on human form [flesh] and the WORD is none other than Jesus, whom Isaiah prophesied about. He is the second person of the Triune Godhead. He [Jesus] has set aside His royal diadem [Sovereignty, Glory] and came unto His own, and His own received Him not [John1v11].
Coming back to the dragon for a moment, a new drama is about to unfold. I won’t go into to much detail, but lets stop a moment. This battle that was fought between Michael and the dragon, was a battle fought in the spirit-realm. I want you to understand that beloved, because these angels are spirit-beings created by God and they are superior in might and power as far as humans are concerned. Any student of the Bible realizes from Genesis to Revelation the important function of angels. The dragon [Lucifer] was not satisfied with his position in God’s creation that was bestowed upon him by his Creator; and therefore set out to try and usurp the authority of God as Master and Ruler of the universe. God then ordered Michael to put the dragon [Lucifer] out of heaven which resulted in this mighty battle.
Ok now, back to Rev12v10; then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power [sovereignty and authority] of His Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. So the dragon is cast down and his dwelling place [or hunting ground] has now moved to planet earth, to a place called Eden [Paradise] where the salvation plan of God is to unfold.
Folks, I’m trying to keep this as short as possible [Lord help me!] The TRIUNE GOD created man [Adam from the dust] and woman [Eve from Adam’s rib] [Genesis2], and placed them in the Garden with specific instructions. Enter the serpent [dragon, Devil, Satan] who beguiles [lies to] Eve, and she succumbs to those lies causing her husband Adam to sin [Genesis3] There is immediate chaos in the creation of God, and Father God has no choice but to expel them [Adam and Eve] from the Garden for their disobedience. Through this turn of events, God Almighty then brings forth a prophecy [Genesis3v13-15] of a coming Redeemer who will eventually restore everything to the original order, as it was before the fall.
All right, some four [4] thousand years later, enter the WORD [Jesus] born of the virgin Mary [Matthew1v18-24] and lived among His own. For three and a half years Jesus, anointed by God, ministered to and healed all who were afflicted of the devil [Matthew4v23+24] doing the will of His Father and fulfilling the Law of God. Right about now the moment has arrived for Jesus to become the sacrificial Lamb of God. Jesus now willingly gave Himself to die on a cross to reconcile man and his Creator. [Romans5v10, 2Cor5v19, Col1v20]
Ok, Jesus was crucified; hanging on a cruel cross and suffering for the sin of mankind. Died, was buried and then resurrected from the dead [grave], conquering and then loosening the death grip that Satan had on mankind [studying the gospels will help you see this] Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Genesis3v15. By becoming the sacrificial Lamb of God for our redemption, Jesus brought…salvation and redemption to all of mankind. [Rev12v10]
But hang in there, I’m not finished yet because you see beloved; our triumphant song is embodied in the following two [2] verses: [Rev12v11+12] And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the LAMB, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.
Jesus having shed His precious Blood, has now made it possible for those who serve Him as Lord and Savior, to overcome him [Satan], not by our own ability, but only by the shed blood of Calvary. And rest assured the devil hates the Blood of Jesus, because therein is our victory and our power and strength over the enemy.
Sadly the 11th verse also reflects a sad story; because the devil does not necessarily leave us alone, but constantly, our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour [destroy] [1Peter5v8] [John8v44] and he [Satan] was and is a murderer from the beginning.
The people of God through the ages have paid the ultimate price for their faith in God. Read [Hebrews11] to see how they all died; not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. Yet gladly dying for their Faith in God.
Look a bit closer to home. See the Church of Jesus Christ suffering behind the Iron Curtain, or in Red China. Look at the suffering saints of God, as they are burnt at the stakes, because they won’t deny Their Lord and Master Jesus. Praise God for them; as they boldly refused to swear allegiance to the Pope. See the saints massacred by the Catholic Church because they will not bow their knees to the Whore of Babylon, the Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth. [Rev17+18] Martin Luther, that great Reformer was almost killed for daring to stand up against the false teachings of the Roman Catholic Church; and declaring that the RCC was then and still is today a false religion.
Will you willingly die for your Lord and Savior as those saints of God did?
You see folks, Jesus is no more the innocent sacrificial Lamb of GOD, but is now according to Rev 5v5; the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David [ISAIAH11 V 1-10] Jesus stepped into the arena and conquered that old dragon [Satan] by dying on a cruel cross; and having won the battle of the ages is now crowned KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. [1Tim6v14-16, Rev17v14, Rev19v15-16]
Because of what the KING OF GLORY did on the cross we can sing; as God the Father is encouraging the Church of Jesus Christ His Son, that we must rejoice for our redemption draws nigh, and that the Church is a triumphant church awaiting His eminent return to receive His Bride. God the Father is at the same time warning the unsaved to prepare to meet their Creator as judgment is about to be executed on the unrighteous.
Ok, as we come to the end of our message, there is really so much more that the Holy Spirit wants to say to us, but I believe you have enjoyed this as much as I have. So remember saints; THE LAMB, who became a LION, who became a KING is soon to return to earth to once again dwell amongst His own, but this time we will know Him as He is. Until then, remember we are over comers by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. KEEP THE FAITH IN JESUS NAME, AMEN!
GOD BLESS,
WILLIAM.
PS. If you want to write me please feel free and send me an e -mail.
