END OF TIME PROPHECIES 145

Rejoicing in heaven

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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,  which 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 death.   Therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them,                                                   Revelation 12v10-12

"A loud voice in heaven......"        Thirteen times in the revelation we are told of a loud voice.   The Greek word is megas, which corresponds to our adjective "mega"; these loud voices are proclamations for all to hear.    No one must miss the news reports in heaven.   Crucial events which must be known and heralded, and this one is of Satan and his demons cast down to the earth.      This action is highly significant.   The response of heaven is immediate  "now is come salvation and strength etc."  

• It is a proclamation of salvation    -    The Greek word is soteria from which we get soteriology(which is the study of the doctrines of salvation).   This, of course, is salvation in its ultimate sense; we could rhyme off at least fourteen studies of different aspects of salvation, but time and space forbid.   It is enough to say that this is the final stages of God's restoration of all things to Himself.
• Strength     -      The Greek word is dunamis from which we get dynamic or even dynamite.   it is the supernatural power of God; living, vibrant power, now unhindered because the whole of space has been cleared of demons.     God had allowed their existence for reasons known only to Himself.   They were a hindrance to the working of angels and to the work of God on earth but their deceiving influence is now gone.
• "Now is come the kingdom of our God"     -     God will now rule visibly in all the universe; He has always done so unseen in the main but now His righteous and benign rule will pervade the whole of existence.  
• "The power of His Christ"     -     The word for power is authority, and the One who wields that authority is Christ, the Anointed One of God, who will set up the kingdom of God on earth in due course.   He will display God's rule everywhere and in the language of 1st Corinthians 15v25  "He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet."

We now get a glimpse into the unseen world    Satan the accuser of the brethren who accused them before God day and night is now cast down .   The Lord Jesus referred to this in Luke 22v31  " Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not" RV    Another picture is given in Zechariah 3 where we see Joshua the priest standing before God in the temple and Satan standing beside him to accuse him .   Joshua had filthy garments on him and no doubt Satan was pointing the finger.   Whatever caused this, it is clear Satan wanted to stop him in his service for the Lord by pointing to his filthy garments.   The Lord rebukes Satan and says  "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"  and God ordered him new clothing.  No servant of God is perfect or pure or without sin.   Satan is ever ready to bring God's people down by pointing to their failures.   According to Revelation chapter 12 this is something which happens day and night.   It goes on to say they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and because they loved not their lives unto the death.   Notice the important order here.   The only thing which overcomes the accusation of sin and failure in our lives is the blood of the Lamb.   The apostle John explains this himself  in chapter 2v1-2  "these things write I unto you, that ye sin not and if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous."   We stand in the presence of God only on the merit of Jesus Christ and His shed blood for us.   However there is another side to that and that is the side of human responsibility, where we must respond in our lives, and so it says they overcame by the word of their testimony and they gave their lives even unto death.   Only the blood of Christ fits us for the service of God, but we must prove that in our lives if, we wish to truly overcome the accusations of Satan.   By these accusations he hinders the people of God in their lives and in their service, but in this glorious day that is to come, all of this will end when he is cast out. Meanwhile, if we wish to live in the good of our salvation, to avoid satanic hindrances we must give our lives to the Lord. Readers who wish to understand the hindrances of Satan should read the whole of Daniel ch. 12.