"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."  Ephesians 6:10-11"And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!'”  Revelation 12:1-12Act 1 (v.1-6): The woman is the messianic community in the Old and New Testaments. “Crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth” (v.2) is the anticipation of the coming Messiah. This hope was realized in the advent of Jesus Christ, who would save his people from their sin."And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'”   Luke 4:21This is referring to the prophecy from Isaiah 61 regarding the coming of the Messiah/King.The red dragon is the adversary (the devil), the accuser of the brethren who wants to devour the child (v.4b) (Matthew 2:1-18, Luke 4:28-30).Act 2 (v.7-12): The great red dragon and his allies are “thrown down” (v.9a, 9b, 9c, 10, 13)."Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”  John 12:31-32“We should recognize that Satan's power is broken through what happened on the cross so that he can no longer successfully bring accusations against God's people. The church is to regard the devil as an enemy who has already been defeated…verse 10 emphasizes that Christ's salvific work has robbed Satan of the right to bring accusations against Christians. Because they are free from his condemning judgment, they share in Christ’s victory over him. Though Christ’s death results in the justification of believers, it does not bring an end to Satan’s attacks on them. On the contrary, because Satan knows that he has lost and that his doom is certain, he becomes furious. Since Satan cannot direct his anger at Christ, he directs it at the saints.”  Sydney H. T. Page, Powers of Evil God’s People Conquer: 1. By the blood of the Lamb."They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 'Therefore they are before the throne of God, a... Speaker: Buster Brown