This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome to our study together of Revelation chapter 12, day one of our study of
this chapter that I believe no chapter is more important to understand than
chapter 12. Next week when we get to chapter 13 we're going to answer some
questions that you've had and a lot that you've heard about the book of
Revelation, but it's actually this chapter, chapter 12, right in the middle of
the book of Revelation. This chapter contains truths that are right at the
center of everything that we're talking about in the book of Revelation.

This is the chapter that answers in very clear terms in Revelation pictures the
question what is God doing about the evil in this world? That is without a doubt
the most asked theological question that I hear. Why is there evil in the world
and what is God doing about it?

You've probably heard it, maybe a friend down the block, maybe somebody sitting
beside you on an airplane, maybe talking at the water cooler, maybe across the
fence in the backyard or the kids talking in the back of the car, your high
school kids. Why is there evil in the world? Why does God allow such things as
war and the death of children in this world today?

If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why can't he stop evil? Why do bad things
happen to good people? Revelation 12 answers these questions with three simple
and undeniable facts that we're going to look at as we look at the pictures in
this chapter.

Fact number one, Satan is real. Fact number two, God is victorious. And fact
number three, there is no victory without a battle.

We're going to walk through those this week as we walk together through
Revelation chapter 12. And I'd like to begin with that first fact which has
really spread throughout the entire chapter and that is the fact that Satan is
real. This is a chapter that talks a lot about the reality of Satan, not just a
personality, but as a person.

Satan, not just as an idea, but an actual spiritual being. When you see that
Satan is real, you see that evil is more than just a force. It actually has a
face.

Satan is real. And there's one part of me that really doesn't like to talk about
Satan. I'd always rather talk about Jesus.

And yet the Bible tells us not to be ignorant of his schemes. There's part of me
that doesn't like to talk about Satan because sometimes when we talk about
Satan, I know that it scares people. I've seen that happen.

There's a fear that comes into us. And there's a sense that if Satan is real,
then there is no hope for me. As we talk about the reality of Satan, we're going
to see that there is hope for every one of us.

Bible tells us very clearly, I do not want you to be ignorant of who he is. But
as we talk about Satan today, remember, we're not finished. There's more to the
story.

So let's just paint the picture that Revelation chapter 12 paints for us and be
honest with ourselves about what the Bible says about Satan. And if you're not
honest, if you're not honest about this fact, you're not going to understand why
there is evil in the world. As I paint this picture, don't feel like it's the
whole picture.

It's the beginning of the picture. Do not feel that you should be afraid as a
believer because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. There
is much, much more to this picture than Satan.

He is the beginning of this picture, though. As you walk through Revelation
chapter 12, there are seven pictures, there are seven descriptions of Satan that
begin to help us to understand the reality of evil in this world. The first
picture is in Revelation 12.

3. It's the picture of a dragon, a dragon with seven heads and ten horns and
seven crowns. A dragon.

What a picture. I can't think of any picture that would more affect our emotions
than that picture. This picture of a dragon, this picture of the evil one.

You and I, whenever we see a picture of a dragon, we see this picture of evil,
of destruction. This dragon has seven heads and ten horns. You look at that and
think, "What is that about?

" Next week, we're going to take a look at this picture of horns and heads in
some more detail, but the broad picture here of these horns and these heads is
that it's a picture of completion. That's what those numbers meant in that day.
Seven was a number of completion.

Ten was a number of completion. These are pictures that show complete rule. The
horns are a picture of power.

The heads are a picture of rule or of power. Satan for a time has given
authority over this earth, and because of that, we face evil because he is an
evil one. The Bible teaches us that this is true.

Satan is called the ruler of the powers of the air. Satan is called the prince
of this world. When Jesus and Satan met at the beginning of Jesus' ministry,
look at one of the temptations that Satan gave.

He said, "Jesus, I'll give you all the kingdoms of this world. " Why? Because
he's been given power over them for a certain amount of time, but just for a
certain amount of time.

Now, this picture of this beast that we're going to see in Revelation chapter 13
and this picture of this dragon that we see here, it goes all the way back to
the Old Testament. The Old Testament in Daniel chapter 7 verse 7, the Bible
says, "It was different from all the other beasts, for it had ten horns. "
Remember, here we are seeing it again.

What was in the Old Testament is in the New Testament. The beast that's talked
about in Daniel chapter 7 was different from all the former beasts because it
had ten horns. Same number.

So anybody who'd read Daniel, and now it reads Revelation, is going to think
immediately, "Oh, the same evil force. " The one that's going to be at the end,
this is the beast at the end of the story of the book of Daniel, and this is the
beast at the end of the story of the book of Revelation. This is the same evil
one.

Just a reminder, as we walk through some of these difficult passages, that when
you understand the Old Testament and what happened during that time, you have a
much clearer idea of what's going on in the book of Revelation. One of the main
reasons you and I don't get the book of Revelation oftentimes is we don't have
the Old Testament in our minds like they did. They would have immediately
recognized these pictures.

Let me give you a picture of this, an idea of this. The second name for Satan
that's in Revelation chapter 12 is one you will recognize from the Old
Testament. So it doesn't take as much explanation.

The second name is in Revelation 12. 9, he is called there a serpent. Now when
you hear the word serpent, you know that story from the Old Testament.

Most of us do. The garden, the serpent, the snake, the tempter. Because we all
know that story, when we hear Satan called a serpent here in Revelation chapter
12, the picture immediately informs us.

That's what should be happening as we get to know the Old Testament better as we
walk through the book of Revelation. As we walk through this book, my prayer is
that you'll know not only the book of Revelation better than you ever have
before, but also the Old Testament better than you ever have before. And as I've
said many times, this is why I believe Revelation is the last book in the Bible
because we need to understand all the other books of the Bible in order to
understand this book in the Bible.

You have to work a little bit harder to understand the book of Revelation. But
God has given it to us because he wants us to understand these truths with a
different picture, with a picture that goes to our emotions, that goes to our
heart, that goes to our lives. And here, Satan is not only the dragon, he is
also the serpent.

They would have understood what that meant. We understand what it means. He is
the schemer.

He is the one who comes into our lives and he tempts us in order to ruin our
lives. That's who he is. Who is this evil one?

Satan. The third name for him in this chapter is in Revelation 12, 9 where he is
called the devil. That means the liar, the slanderer.

Satan is one who tells lies. He will tell you a lie to get you to do what he
wants to do. He'll tell you a lie that that temptation is what you really need.

He'll tell you a lie that that pride is what's going to get you what you really
want. He'll tell you a lie that your life is working when you know it's falling
apart. He is a liar.

He is called in Revelation chapter 12, verse 9, Satan. The word Satan, the idea
of that name, that's the fourth name for him in this chapter, is our adversary.
Satan is our adversary.

He is the one who is against you, all the good that God wants to do in your
life. I don't know who you think your greatest adversary is, but the Bible
teaches it's not that human enemy that you think it is. It is Satan and no one
else.

A fifth name for Satan in this chapter, also in verse 9, is that he is the one
who leads the whole world astray. The whole world. He's the one.

He's the reason. The word leads in the Greek language has the idea of
continually leading. It's what he does.

So you look at this and you think, well, it's his fault. Satan's the one. It's
his fault that this whole world has been led astray.

Doesn't that make you feel better? You can blame someone. It's Satan's fault.

It's not your fault. It's nobody else's fault. It is Satan's fault.

But that's not quite the whole truth, is it? He leads us to go astray, but who
agrees to go astray? We agree.

And every time we agree, it is our responsibility. But don't forget the other
part of the picture. Who is the one who does the leading to go astray?

He is the one. He is the one who is leading you to follow a temptation. There
are a lot of people, when it comes to sin, they think that they're being
creative.

Satan makes you think it's your idea. In fact, that's one of the attractions of
sin. You think you're the first person who's ever thought this up.

The first one who's ever had this creative idea to go out and do what no one
else would do. You're more brave. You're more courageous than anyone else
because you would do that.

The Bible reminds us that Satan is the one who's leading the whole world astray.
Anytime you go into sin, it's like you got a ring in your nose and he's just
pulling on the string, just pulling on the ring. So anytime he tempts you to
think that you're being creative, that you figured out a sin no one else could
have figured out, that's just Satan doing it.

But when you and I say yes to that, that is our responsibility. God holds us
responsible for saying yes to this one who's leading the world astray. But it
begins with him.

He is the source. The sixth name for Satan in these verses is, in verse 10, he
is called the accuser. And you've heard that voice.

First comes the temptation. And then the minute you fall to that temptation, if
you fall, then comes the accusation. He says, "Oh, you should do this.

God will never know. No one will ever know. " And you do it.

And immediately in the back of your mind, Satan starts to accuse. How could God
love you? How could you be a Christian?

He is the accuser. The accuser in more ways than you and I can even see. The
Bible tells us that he accuses us before God even in heaven.

How could they be a follower of you? Look, they're still caught up in sin. And
what does God do with that accusation?

We're going to find out as we go through this chapter, God's awesome answer to
that. God has an answer that gives us confidence and hope. Who is Satan?

His name is Satan. His name is the accuser. He's the one who leads the world
astray.

He's the devil. He's the serpent. There's one more truth about Satan in these
verses.

Revelation 12, 12 says, "He knows that his time is short. " Satan is like a
cornered animal. And why would you follow anyone whose time is short?

I'd rather follow the one who's going to last for eternity. And the truth of the
matter is there is a Satan in this world. There is a source of evil in this
world.

Evil is real. It's not something somebody has made up. It's not something that
just comes to our minds.

And God has an answer to this. As we walk through the rest of this week, we're
going to see that this is not the end of the story. We need to admit that there
is evil in this world, but then we also need to look at God's answer to the evil
in this world.

That's what the cross of Christ is all about. That's what the cross of Christ is
all about, that God is the victor. We're going to see that tomorrow as we'll
continue to look together through Revelation chapter 12.

Let's take a minute right now to pray. Lord, we don't like that there is evil in
the world. Because we're made in your image and you hate it.

You grieve over it that we have chosen evil. And from the beginning, your whole
creation has suffered because of that or we need your forgiveness and we throw
ourselves upon your mercy right now, thanking you for that forgiveness. We need
your strength and power to realize that greater is he who is in us than the evil
one that's in the world and to realize that we can overcome evil with good.

So Lord, instead of being scared of evil, instead of trying to shy away from
evil or deny evil, instead let us face this truth, but face it with confident
hope, the kind of hope that only you can give because you are the victor. In
Jesus' name, amen.