Revelation 12

v1–11: Satan is the great accuser. Prior to Jesus’ coming into the world, though he hated the presence of God, Satan was “willing to appear there to accuse the people of God.” But after Christ died to take the punishment His people’s sins deserve, Satan was cast out of heaven, no longer is he able to accuse them before God. However, he still accuses us, so let us “make sure we give him no cause of accusation,” and “when we have sinned,” let us “immediately go before the Lord to accuse and condemn ourselves, committing our cause to Christ our Advocate.”

v12-17: Christ has defeated Satan, but the battle is not over yet. The church continues to be the object of Satan’s hatred and rage, and he continues to attack her. “The church of God is in greater dangers from heretics than from persecutors, and heresies are as certainly from the Devil as open force and violence.” The suffering we experience because of our “faithfulness to God and Christ, in teaching, worship, and practice” is a sign of Satan’s defeat and will continue “until the end of the world, when the last enemy shall be destroyed.”