Revelation In Overalls
Bible Prophecy Speaks To Century 21

Part V: "The Overcomers"

(Revelation 12 & 13)

Sermon by Pastor Dale Wolcott

February 9, 2002

(Scriptures quoted are from New King James Version unless otherwise noted)

Wilma was a born loser. She started life as a preemie. She got double pneumonia twice while still a baby. Then when she was 5 years old, she contracted polio. The polio bent her left leg out of shape, and twisted her foot inward at an odd angle. Her doctor put her in braces, and everyone assumed Wilma would be a cripple for life — everybody except Wilma.

Although her leg was in steel, Wilma’s heart soared free. She dreamed of a day when she would run again. When no one was around, she started taking her brace off, and practicing walking. One painful step at a time, she would try until she could make it clear across the room. One day she showed her doctor. He was amazed! He said it would be all right for her to take it off now and then. Wilma never wore it again. She began running with her friends. In high school she set new track records. Later, in the 1960 summer Olympics in Rome, Wilma Rudolph became the first woman to win three gold medals, setting world records in all three events. [H. E. Douglass, How to Survive in the 21^st Century (Review and Herald, 2000), p. 89]

This morning we’ll be talking about what it takes to be winner in God’s record book.

Open your Bible to Revelation chapter 12. Ever since October we’ve been exploring the Book of Revelation and discovering how Bible prophecy can be practical — "Revelation in Overalls."

Chapter 12 marks the beginning of the pivotal segment of Revelation. The first half of the book has three prophetic sequences, describing in advance the history of Christianity from the time of the prophets to the end of time. First we looked at the 7 churches, beginning with Ephesus, the church of the first love, ending with Laodicea, the church of judgment. Next we saw the 7 seals, describing Christianity’s slide into apostasy — white to red to black to pale — until finally the blood of the martyrs cries "How long?" Then come 7 trumpets, outlining the attacks of non-Christian forces on God’s Word and His people down through the centuries. Last month we saw how Revelation predicted, in the sixth trumpet, the rise of modern atheism and humanism, and post-modern relativism.

Now, in chapters 12-14, we have a final sweep down through history, from the time of Jesus to the end of time. After this fourth historical sequence, all of the rest of Revelation is basically about end-time events. The events described in chapters 15-22 haven’t happened yet. Many of the events in chapters 13 and 14 are happening right now. We’ll spend another day on that, a month from today, when the subject will be "The Gospel According to Revelation."

Chapter 12 is often called the "Great Controversy" chapter. It has a vivid description of a cosmic battle between Michael and the dragon – Jesus and Satan. But also makes it clear that this isn’t just an airy-fairy struggle in the sky, to be watched via video from our armchairs on Planet Earth. Revelation is talking about your everyday struggles — the moral and spiritual tug-of-war that goes on in your life, your conscience, and your heart (and mine) every single day.

Like Wilma, all of us are born underdogs. The Bible says we’re born with a bent toward selfishness and egotism, a bent toward evil. Your heart and mine are "deceitful about all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). Let’s look at this Great Controversy story to discover a formula for victory; to find out how to be a winner in God’s book — an "overcomer," to use the language of Revelation 12.

I believe the greatest reason would-be Christians slide out of church and back into the "mainstream" of life apart from God is because of a lack of victory. People come to church because they don’t like something about their life. They sense a need for change: a need to win in some area of life, instead of chronically losing the struggle to do the right thing. Is that why you’re here? Time and again, people who’ve checked out of church tell me, "It didn’t do any good; it wasn’t working." What can Revelation do for you to put a gold medal around your neck?

There are six winning strategies in Revelation 12. You may want to write them down.

Strategy #1: Face reality: This is war!

In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain came home from a meeting with Adolf Hitler and told the cheering London crowds that they had achieved "peace in our time." But within months, Hitler was at war. Chamberlain’s "peace" was simply wishful thinking. Today, we’d say England was "in denial" about Hitler. The secular world today, the conventional wisdom of our post-modern world, is in severe denial about the reality of a spiritual war. I was listening to a radio interview a few weeks ago in which an educator was extolling the virtues of the Harry Potter books. She mentioned that the books talked about the importance of friendship, the value of hard work, and the importance of a good education. She made an assumption that the witchcraft aspects of the story are simply fantasy.

But Revelation describes a very real war between personal forces of good and evil, between love and hate, right and wrong, Jesus and Satan. Chapter 12 begins with a woman being attacked by a dragon in verses 1-6. Then verses 7-12 are a flashback to the beginning of time. There was a war in heaven between Michael (which is a name for Christ, see vs. 10) and the dragon. Verse 9 identifies the dragon as the devil, and Satan. The chapter ends with the dragon making war with the "remnant of her seed."

This is ultimate reality. This is what is really going on behind the headlines in our world, and behind the personal struggles of your daily life. So, our first winning strategy is to face reality. We are in a war. Part way through our evangelistic series in Cuba, the local pastor was chatting with us after the meeting one evening. He said, "Just about every day, there has been some major problem we’ve had to solve. We haven’t wanted you to worry, so we didn’t tell you. But these problems prove to us that Satan is angry, and that he doesn’t want these meetings to happen." The pastor had spiritual insight. He could see the reality – and he was rejoicing!

The next three strategies are in verse 11:

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives unto death."

Strategy #2: "The blood of the Lamb." Jesus has paid for my sins.

Who are "they," these overcomers mentioned in verse 11? Verse 10 says they are "our brethren," who are being accused by Satan. One of Satan’s prime strategies is to accuse us. (Unfortunately, he doesn’t always have to make false accusations!) As a result, depression and low self-esteem are hallmarks of our post-modern world. Most people don’t know it’s the devil, and so they look for mere secular psychological solutions, with limited results. As Christians, we have additional resources for overcoming the accusation syndrome: Revelation says, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb."

When Ellen White was tempted to be discouraged, she prayed this prayer which is one of my favorites: "Precious Saviour, Thou hast bought me with the price of Thine own blood. Thou hast considered me of value, or Thou wouldst not have paid an infinite price for my salvation. Thou, my Redeemer, hast given Thy life for me, and Thou shalt not have died for me in vain.' [Life Sketches, p. 340]

So your first strategy for winning, once you face the reality that you’re in a war, is the blood of the Lamb. Never leave it behind. Without the assurance that Jesus has you covered, the rest of these strategies will be worthless.

Strategy #3: "...and by the word of their testimony."

Whose testimony? It’s their own testimony; the testimony of the overcomers. I would have expected it to say, the word of His testimony — the Word of God; the Bible; His inspired communication.

We come to that at the end of the chapter, which will be strategy #6. But here it says, "the word of their testimony" — your testimony. I had a teacher once who said, "Expression deepens impression." Do you believe that Jesus has forgiven your sins? If so, tell somebody!

We met Adelaida at the church in Matanzas, Cuba, where we held evangelistic meetings last month. She is a lay Bible worker, probably in her late twenties. She was the receptionist in the church foyer every evening. One day she became ill with a temperature of 102°. She went to the doctor but was in her place that evening. She had a winning attitude! She always had an energetic smile. On the last evening of our meetings, she handed me a sheaf of papers and said they were a list of "all the visitors, so you can pray for them." She had 19 pages typewritten on a manual typewriter — 670 names. "How long did this take you?" I asked. "All afternoon," she replied. She hopes to go to the seminary in the fall. (She is paid about seven to ten dollars per month.) One day, the pastor took us to a town about 15 miles away. People were coming from there to our meetings. Some of them were ready for baptism. We came to a house and there was Adelaide. She had taken the bus that morning.

As we were walking to the next house, I asked her, "Have you always been a Seventh-day Adventist?" I wanted to hear the word of her testimony. So she told me. She said she started attending church at age ten. She was baptized at age 13. Her family didn’t like it so she dropped out when she was 17, and joined the military as a communist. Five years later she got sick. She promised God that if he healed her she would never wear the military uniform again. He healed her. She came back to church and now is a full-time Bible worker. She overcomes by the word of her testimony. She’s a dynamo for Jesus.

You have a testimony too. Sharing it out loud is a key strategy for personal victory. "It is your privilege to trust in the love of Jesus for salvation, in the fullest, surest, noblest manner; to say, He loves me, He receives me; I will trust Him, for He gave His life for me.... Take Christ at His word, and let your lips declare that you have gained the victory. [E. G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, p. 517; emphasis added]

Strategy #4 — This is a heavy one. "They loved not their lives unto the death."

Anybody who is serious about being a winner knows that there’s a price to pay for victory. The winter athletes who stand in the winner’s circle this coming week in Salt Lake City will not be the ones who were boozing at 2 a.m. the night before. They’ll be the ones who have sweated and trained and lived and breathed their sport for months and months and years, and who have left a lot of other things in their lives undone.

James Dobson tells the story of a small-town high school football team back in the 1930’s that was getting beat every week, every week. Finally, an auto dealer in town decided to change the situation. He went to the locker room after another devastating defeat and announced, "I’ll give a brand new Ford coupe to every member of this team if you just simply win the game next Friday night."

What a week that team had. Talk about motivation! Excitement! Enthusiasm! For seven days those boys ate, drank and breathed football. For seven nights they dreamed about roadsters and rumble seats. The next Friday night they charged out on the field with the exuberance of champions — and got beat 38-0. Dobson says, "Seven days of hoorah and whoop-de-doo simply couldn’t compensate for the players’ lack of discipline, conditioning,... drill, experience and character." [Focus on the Family, Dec. 2000, p. 5]

Isaac Watts wrote a hymn that describes well the relationship between the blood of Jesus and the blood, sweat and tears that are involved in our personal victory over sin and Satan:

Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb [who shed His blood]?
And shall I fear to own His cause? Or blush to speak His name?
Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease,
Whilst others fought to win the prize, and sailed thru bloody seas?

Sure, I must fight if I would reign; increase my courage, Lord;
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by Thy word.
Thy saints in all this glorious war shall conquer, though they die;
They see the triumph from afar, with faith’s discerning eye.

[Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, #609]

Back in the 60's some of the Christians in Cuba said in effect, "Better red than dead." They gave up their faith and went with the flow; most of those are dead today. Others "loved not their lives unto the death." Some of them died, but they died faithful. They died winners. Others survived and are preaching in Cuba today. Jesus said, "whoever desires to save his live shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it" (Mark 8:35).

We’ll find the last two strategies down in verse 17, which describes the last winners:

"And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

Strategy #5: What do they do? They "keep the commandments of God."

Chapter 13 makes clear which commandments are especially at issue in the end time. It’s the first four commandments, which are dealing with our worship. (Exodus 20:3-11.) The New Testament mentions the last six commandments more frequently that the first four. Christians should be the most loving people on earth. They should be the best neighbors. That’s what the last six commandments are about, and they’re very important. But Revelation says there are going to be a lot of really nice, decent people who will be losers in the end because they failed to build a faithful, worshiping relationship with the One who made them.

Let’s go quickly through chapter13 and notice how Satan is going to attempt to draw end-time people away from obedience to the first table of God’s law. Chapter 13 is about the beast that eventually tries to force its mark on everybody. We’ll all receive either the beast’s mark or God’s seal.

What’s the first commandment? "You shall have no other gods before me." In chapter 13, verses 4 and 8, people are worshiping the dragon and the beast, instead of the God of heaven.

What’s the second commandment? "You shall not make for yourself a carved image…. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them." In verses 14 and 15 they make an image to the beast and worship it.

What’s the third commandment? "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." In verse 5 the beast opens his mouth to blaspheme God and His name.

Now: What’s the fourth commandment? "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God…. For in six days Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day." Next month, we’ll note how chapter 14 concludes this sequence by calling special attention to the fourth commandment at the very time the beast is counterfeiting every aspect of true worship.

For now, we simply note that Revelation 12:17 says one of our winning strategies at the end of time is to take the rule book very seriously. "Here are they that keep (value, treasure) the commandments of God."

Now, there’s one more phrase in that verse. It’s our final strategy for overcomers in these last days.

Strategy #7: "...and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

That phrase "testimony of Jesus" or "testimony of Christ" occurs several places in the New Testament, and it always refers to something Jesus gives to His people — His testimony to us, not just our testimony about Him. Revelation 19:10 specifically says, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy;" which is the spiritual gift of a prophetic message from Jesus, delivered by an inspired spokesperson. God promises that at the end of time, He will provide everything we need to navigate the treacherous waters of endtime confusion, and to make it into the heavenly harbor without shipwreck of our faith — to be winners.

Next Sabbath. Morning, Pastor William Fagal is going to be sharing with us the Bible reasons why Seventh-day Adventists believe the gift of prophecy has been given to us in these last days, in the ministry of Ellen G. White. Our whole Midwinter Revival Week will focus on the blessing of this "winner’s edge" which God has given us in the prophetic writings of Ellen G, White. We’ll discover why it is that people who appreciate the Bible most, also find great blessing in the "testimony of Jesus," the "spirit of prophecy."

Marilyn Delgado was one of the most active participants in our crusade in Matanzas, Cuba. Present every night; she invited dozens of people to the meetings, some of whom were almost ready for baptism. Marilyn is a winner! She has a terrific story to tell of how the Lord rescued her from spiritism, astrology, and immorality. The truth of the Bible was what turned her life around. She attended a Revelation Seminar in a "house of light" meeting in someone’s home around six years ago and now she’s a happy Christian, winning others to Jesus. Shortly after we arrived, she came by the pastor’s house and explained to us that she had organized a health outreach ministry. There would be a special health meeting for the public at a government hall the next Sunday afternoon with a special speaker from out of town. She asked if Dr. Walker from our team could also please come and make a presentation? He did, and several Cuban family practice physicians came to the meeting. The reason I’m telling you this story is that as Marilyn explained about her health outreach, she told us that they had actually organized a club to promote healthful living. We were intrigued with the name they had chosen for their health outreach club: "Ellen G. White Memorial Club."

All around the world, when people fall in love with Jesus, and discover the great truths of the Bible as only Seventh-day Adventists fully understand them, people also find great blessing in the "testimony of Jesus." It’s one of God’s strategies for producing a final generation of winners on this old worn-out loser of a planet. Winners take all the help they can get!

I hope you can be with us for our Revival Week. Let’s sing a winners’ song as we conclude this morning.