12/22/24 - Rev. 12:1-7 - "Christmas Warfare - How to Finish the War with the Devil" - David Rountree

·49 min·4 clips

What if the Christmas story isn't about a peaceful manger but a terrified family fleeing soldiers and a war in heaven?

David Rountree opens by challenging the sanitized, bathrobe-clad Christmas pageant narrative, pointing to the darker elements of the biblical account: Herod's slaughter of infants and the holy family's frantic escape to Egypt. He introduces Revelation 12 as the true Christmas story, depicting a great sign in heaven of a woman clothed with the sun about to give birth, opposed by a great red dragon. Rountree reads the entire chapter, identifying the dragon as Satan and the male child as Christ, who is caught up to God's throne. He connects this to 1 John 3:8, stating the Son of God appeared to destroy the devil's works, framing Christmas as a declaration of war. The sermon then walks through Revelation 12 verse by verse, explaining the symbolic language. Rountree links the 'great sign' to Isaiah 7:14's prophecy of a virgin bearing a son, arguing both point to Christ's rule. He describes the woman fleeing to the wilderness for 1,260 days as the church escaping Jerusalem's destruction, protected by God. The narrative escalates with war in heaven, where Michael and his angels fight the dragon, and Satan is thrown down to earth. Rountree emphasizes that believers overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and not loving their lives unto death. He applies this to personal trials, asserting Christ's immeasurable strength secures and supplies believers. The sermon references Job 1, Daniel's prophecies, and 2 Corinthians 12's thorn in the flesh as a messenger of Satan. Rountree concludes that Christ satisfies believers, who are distinguished by keeping God's commands and holding to Jesus' testimony. He ends with prayer, thanking God for the victory won through Christ's blood.

As heard by us

A Christmas sermon that treats Revelation 12 as a vision of conflict, protection, and Christ's victorious gospel moving outward.

Christmas opens with the familiar bathrobe pageant, but the sermon quickly turns from seasonal softness to the conflict it sees beneath the story.

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Why you'd press play

Press play when Christmas feels too tidy and Revelation 12 needs to bring the danger back into view.

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