DRAGON-SLAYER! (PART 3)
Rev. 12: 10-11, 17
Sermon Objective: Through Jesus Christ we have victory over sin and evil; this sermon describes the nature and sources of that victory.
Supporting Scripture: Proverbs 24:16; Isaiah 1:18; Matthew 3:11; Luke 22:31-32; John 12:32; Romans 8:31-39; 1 Corinthians 10:13; James 4:7-8; Rev. 7:14
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
SERMON INTRO
On the one year anniversary of 9/11 (September 11, 2002) TIME Magazine had a touching article about 31-year old Genelle Guzman. Genelle was the last of just four people caught in the debris of the Twin Towers to be found alive.
After the planes hit the World Trade Center, Genelle was descending a stair case from the 64th floor of the North Tower. Steel beams weakened to their breaking point. Solid concrete was pulverized. But somehow her body found an air pocket.
Her right leg was pinned under heavy concrete pillars. Her head was caught between stacks of wreckage. She was buried beneath tons and tons of rubble but somehow she was still alive.
For over twenty-seven hours Guzman lay trapped and seriously injured.
In recent months before the attacks Genelle had started attending the Brooklyn Tabernacle church where Jim Cymbala is pastor. She had found faith in Christ so while she was stuck in the rubble, she started to pray. She’d trail off into sleep – wake up and pray some more.
Shortly after noon on Wednesday the 12th, she heard voices. So she screamed as loud as she could, “I’m here! HEY, I’M RIGHT HERE!” A rescue worker responded, "Do you see the light?" She did not. She took a piece of concrete and banged it against a broken stairway overhead—probably the same structure that had saved her life. The searchers find the noise.
Genelle wedged her hand through a crack in the wall, and felt someone grab it. She heard a voice say, "I’ve got you," and Genelle Guzman said, "OH GOD, THANK YOU.”
It took 20 long minutes, and then she was saved. (SOURCE: TIME Magazine, 9/11/02, p. 38.)
Genelle’s rescue illustrates the rescue that God has undertaken for all people.
I tell you the story of Genelle as we begin looking at the last principle for being an overcomer because her story illustrates the power of the Gospel.
• We are trapped; truly trapped in the grip of death by a sinister being which wants nothing less that our total destruction.
• We are hopeless to free ourselves.
• If we wish to be free we have no choice but to cry out to a loving God and rely on Him to rescue us.
• God is faithful and will come to our rescue. In doing so, Satan’s grip is defeated and we are free to be made fully human and restored to the image of Jesus.
I am so glad that -that God has reached down into the rubble and saved us by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
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We have now looked at two of the three descriptive phrases that John uses to describe one who has overcome the dragon.
The first principle is relying on the Powerful Blood of Jesus. It is so powerful that it alone catches Satan flat-footed. He has no weapon against it. So, as our passage makes clear, he places his cross-hairs on YOU. Verse 17 read: Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
The second principle is to Maintain our Testimony. Defeating the enemy is not only about your personal victory – Satan is conquered each time a friend of yours comes to faith in Jesus. His grip on human destiny is weakened as they are rescued. Maintaining you testimony is about living a life of faith, love and holiness. It is about those around you being able to see Jesus expressed through your life. Your witness is a proclamation of Christ’s Lordship and challenges the assumptions of humankind.
1. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb.
1. We overcome by the word of our testimony.
3. WE OVERCOME WHEN WE DO “NOT LOVE OUR LIVES SO MUCH AS TO SHRINK FROM DEATH”
You cannot conquer a person who has already resigned this life and is living in light of eternity. That is what baffled many of John’s contemporaries as they looked at the Christians in the first century. They could not grasp the hope of the resurrection these followers possessed.
When we genuinely grasp the resurrection it transforms this life and Satan is given a TKO … he is dropped to the matt, powerless, because he has nothing left to threaten or tempt us with.
The resurrection is not about a creed or philosophy. To use Bruce Larson’s words, “We are not asked to believe the doctrine of the resurrection. We are asked to meet this person raised from the dead. In faith, we move from belief in a doctrine to knowledge of a person. Ultimate truth is a person. We met him. He is alive.”
Does the resurrection of Jesus impact the way you live? If you genuinely know the resurrected Christ it does.
Paul said, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:20-21)
• CALVARY BROKE THE PENALTY OF SIN WHEN JESUS BECAME THE ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE.
• THE RESURRECTION BROKE THE POWER OF SIN WHEN JESUS DEFEATED HELL AND THE GRAVE.
Have you ever looked at all the promises God makes to those who overcome (in the Book of the Revelation) – for those who slay the red dragon? ALL OF THEM FIND THEIR FULFILLMENT IN THE RESURRECTION.
Revelation 2:7 -- To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Revelation 2:11 -- He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Revelation 2:17 -- To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna.
Revelation 2:26 -- To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations.
Revelation 3:5 -- He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
Revelation 3:12 -- Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
Revelation 3:21 -- To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Revelation 15:2 -- And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name.
Here’s my favorite one …
Revelation 21:7 -- He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
How much do you love your life?
• You prove the validity of your testimony about that by the life you live.
• If you are amassing things for the here-and-now then you are not living for eternity.
• If you are seeking the accolades of this world rather than the applause of heaven then you are not living for eternity.
Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).
You cannot overcome the dragon of sin until you give your life away … until you live in light of eternity.
WRAP-UP
In closing, remember, YOU, through Jesus Christ, are a dragon-slayer.
1} THE BLOOD OF JESUS PROVES TO BE MORE POWERFUL THAN THE DRAGON
2} THE WITNESS OF THE SAINTS PROVES TO BE MORE POWERFUL THAN THE DRAGON
3} THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS PROVES TO BE MORE POWERFUL THAN THE DRAGON
One of our fellow-worshippers, Mary Sue *, had the opportunity to run the Disney half marathon in Orlando, Florida last month. She is not able to be with us today because she is an artist and teaches art on cruise ships … she’s on her way to Hawaii even as we speak. She tells about the experience on her blog.
When we got off the bus, we walked a long way to get to the grounds where we were to gather. There were 35,000 runners! {While} we waited I met some lovely people. To the left was a very tall man in his 70's or so wearing a pink flamingo suit. He smiled at me - honestly I was so astonished I hope I smiled back. When our eyes met, I had an epiphany. I knew at that moment I had to finish that race! The tricky part of the race is there was a spotter in the H corral in an orange suit setting a pace - if one didn't keep up, you were picked up and taken in a cart to the finish. Susan - a friend I've known for over fifty years called the cart "the loser wagon" and we joked about me staying ahead of it. I'm not an athlete or really competitive, but I always like to finish what I start. It honestly would have killed me to be taken out.
There was … a young soldier who had been in an explosion Iraq in 2006 and lost his eyesight. He was running the race, and he {was} such a lovely young man. I thought how proud his mother must be of him; I know how proud I am of both of my sons! I met two lovely young runners. Jane drove up from South Carolina and Sherry was from California.
They fired guns off in waves as the runners started.
I surprised myself and was so into not being taken out, that I ran - I remembered someone telling me how to jog over thirty years before. They said relax, count and breathe so that's what I did.
At the first mile a smiling lady held up a sign that said, "You're almost there!"
There were high school bands along the way with cheerleading squads. The band members held out their hands and hit hands with you as you passed. I clapped for some of them and thanked them for coming.
A lot of people wore costumes - mostly Donald Duck, Mickey and Minnie Mouse - so cute. One girl that seemed to stay near me most of the race – I am assuming she was Tinker Bell - wore wings that had flashing lights on them.
We ran on highways around Disney mostly. We were running on a six-lane highway - the runners were going down three lanes which were closed off to traffic. The other three lanes had heavy traffic going one way. Two runners collapsed a few yards ahead of me. They stopped the race. Two fire trucks, two ambulances, three emergency vehicles with flashing blue lights and two police cars came tearing down the traffic lane against the heavy traffic. It was something to see!!! Then finally the emergency vehicles pulled off onto the median. They loaded the two runners on stretchers and placed them into individual ambulances.
Then we ran into Magic Kingdom. That was so fun! We ran right through the middle of the castle. The runners were yelling and listening to the echoes in the castle. After I ran through the castle, I noted the crowd of people along the side. There was a rope fence holding them back. One lady held a sign that said, "Your knees are replaceable; your pride isn't!"
Then we ran back out onto the highway and I started to get a little bored. I started noting runners ahead of me I thought I might be able to pass so I set about trying to pass them. Then I set my sights on another person I thought I might be able to pass and so it went....This kept me from losing focus and slowing down as well.
By mile ten, I looked at runners ahead of me, I thought that was nice but ached all over and no longer tried to pass people. Three miles remaining and there was a Scottish contemporary band playing. I listened as long as I could. They were great! Bagpipes, fiddles and so on....
When we entered Epcot, a man yelled 3/5 a mile remaining! I was trying to figure out how far that was. A lady who was running ahead of me wore a shirt that said, "God, please make there be someone behind me to read this!" That made me smile.
Our names were on our numbers so people cheered for you by name. One lady yelled at the last half mile, "Come on, Mary Sue! You're almost there!!" My eyes teared up at the emotion in her voice.
Then I saw the finish line. It was a wonderful site! The crowds were fifty deep behind the rope fences. I ran over and a nice man handed me a Donald Duck medal. I put it on around my neck, looked up to heaven and silently thanked God.
I told your Mary Sue’s story because it applies so well to victorious living.
• Our goal is to finish! All who finish win!
• We will meet many wonderful travelers along the way. They have the same goal and will encourage us as we travel together.
• The journey is not easy … in fact, sometimes it is easier to quit.
• Sadly, some won’t finish.
• We will follow some … they will set our pace.
• We will be followed by others … we will set their pace.
• There are many spiritual onlookers shouting words of encouragement to us … even by name … they want us to finish!
• When we do finish: we will thank God and there will be a grand celebration … maybe even something better than a Donald Duck medal!
He who overcomes will inherit all this,
and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Revelation 2:17
Distribute the Communion elements.
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This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene, Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
