God's eternal purpose to glorify His Son is demonstrated through His faithfulness in keeping His promises throughout history, beginning with the protoevangelium in Genesis 3:15. Despite Satan's continuous efforts to thwart God's plan by corrupting humanity and targeting the promised seed, God consistently intervenes, preserving a remnant and establishing covenants through figures like Abraham, Judah, and David. The sermon highlights how Satan's attempts to destroy the lineage of Christ, culminating in the crucifixion, ultimately led to the crushing of the serpent's head, securing salvation and assurance for believers. The message concludes by emphasizing that Christ's victory over Satan and death provides believers with the assurance of their salvation, urging them to trust in God's unfailing promises.
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Now we want to turn to two passages in the Word of God this morning, the first of which is in Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three, the second of which is in the book of the Revelation chapter twelve. Genesis three, Revelation twelve. Genesis chapter three, verse fifteen, where God is speaking to Satan. Mother Eve, having been deceived by the serpent, Adam partaking of the forbidden fruit. The sin of man is now evident.
Man is hiding from God. And God comes down. And this is God's pronouncement of judgment upon the serpent. Verse fifteen. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman. And between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head. and thou shalt bruise his heel. Now from the twelfth chapter of the Revelation, verse one. Where we read, and there appeared a great wonder in heaven. A woman clothed with a sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. and her child was caught up onto God and to his throne. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let's pray together. Our Father, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for the victory that our Savior has won for his people.
We thank you that we can have assurance today that we are thine and that nothing is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We thank you for your eternal purposes, which you purposed in thy dear Son. We thank you that man cannot stop it. Satan cannot frustrate your purposes, for your purposes are sure, for he who has promised is able also to perform. And we ask you, therefore, that today, as we examine thy word, thy word will be real and rich to us, that we may rejoice together in the assurance of salvation, which is based on the objective work of our blessed Lord there on the cross on Calvary's Hill.
We will thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. The last few times that I've had the privilege of speaking, I've spoke on the doctrine of assurance. Assurance is the doctrine that teaches us that we can never be lost. It teaches us that we know that we have passed from death into life. We have assurance that we are the Lord. Now, what I want to do this morning is go through the scriptures and show how we get assurance. We don't get assurance by singing, Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine.
You can sing that and still not have it. For many Christians and many people sing it but know nothing about the assurance. that they're as sure of heaven as they are that they're here. That's how sure we can be, that we're going to be in glory with the Lord as we are that we're here. But assurance is gotten from an understanding of the Word of God and the work that our Lord has accomplished on behalf of His people. And it is this that gives us great joy and a knowledge that we are truly the Lord. Now, to examine in Holy Scripture the way in which God makes promises and keeps His Word is what gives us assurance we believe that our God is able.
Our brother read this morning at the Lord's Supper from the fourth chapter of the Romans. Where we read concerning Abraham, he believed that God was able to do that which he purposed. He was able to perform that which he promised. And Abraham, the scripture says, staggered not. That word staggered is an interesting word in the Greek, that quinoa. And it means to have a double mind. You know, one day I think I'm saved. Another day I think I'm not saved. Because I don't feel so good. You see. That wasn't Abraham. He staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief, but he was strong in faith, giving glory to God.
He didn't worry about the deadness of his own body. He was sexually dead, nor did he worry about Sarah's womb being dead. But he simply believed God, and God undertook and performed that which he promised. Now, I don't know how better I don't know the better way for us to learn who God is and what God has done than to examine the Holy Scriptures. In Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen, we have the great promise of a redeemer. And that great promise of a redeemer for sinful men was given to the serpent, to Satan himself.
And it's very interesting. to examine Genesis three and verse fifteen and what it really says there are three things that it really says Genesis three fifteen number one the deliverer will be one of humanity he's the seed of the woman he says I will put enmity between thee and the woman between thy seed and her seed in other words the deliverer of his people will be one of humanity. Number two, we find that the deliverer of these people will be a male descendant.
He says, he will crush your head. God said to Satan, he, he will be a male descendant. Number three, the nature of the serpent's defeat will be total. He will crush your head. Now, with that before us, from the seed part of the Bible, the whole of the Bible is based upon what we read or have read in Revelation chapter twelve. What did we read there? The serpent's desire is to do something, to destroy the woman's male child.
Did you notice what was said about him in verse five concerning the woman? And she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And in order to do that, Satan stood before the woman, which you have back in verse four, stood before the woman which was going to deliver the man child, and the woman of of Revelation twelve is the nation of Israel. For in Romans chapter nine, where the question is asked, who are Israelites? In one of the answers that he gives to who Israelites are, they are the ones through whom the Messiah came.
And Satan stood before the woman, and he stood before the woman with a purpose. to devour the child, the man child, who was going to deliver mankind and crush Satan's head. Now, this is very, very important. You can never know assurance until you see this really happening. And then, to me, the thrilling part is to see how God, adding a little bit here and a little bit there, A little more, another promise here, and another promise there, to see Satan frustrated in all these ways.
And I believe that this is taught, and we can see this in the Word of God. God's purpose and goal in history is to glorify his Son. The glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate purpose of God. when we notice the high points that lead up to the glorifying of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Christ was glorified at the cross. He was glorified at the cross when he was lifted up, when he was made sin, when Satan thought, I really have him where I want him.
It was that very thing that crushed his head. And, beloved, when we see this truth, it gives us great assurance. For I know why Christ died. He died for Philip. He died as my substitute friends. The wrath of God was against me because I'm a rebel. And Christ took my place. And in taking my place, he crushed the enemy, Satan. And when you think of that expression there in Revelation chapter twelve, verse four, that the Satan, the dragon stood before the woman to devour her child.
And when you read the Old Testament scriptures, you can understand why a lot of God's people made a lot of dumb mistakes. Satan was there opposing every move that they made. Remember the third chapter of Zechariah, David's book on it a few months ago. You see, but you have Joshua the high priest standing before the Lord and his clothes and filthy garments. And Satan came there to accuse. You see, the devil knows every time you make a mistake. And the scripture says he's the accuser of the brethren. But God said, the Lord rebuked thee, O Satan.
He's a brand plucked from the burning. He's one of mine. The Lord rebuked you. Now, with that in mind, I'd like to talk a little bit, first of all, about Cain. Turn to Genesis chapter four, verse one. See, when God announced in Genesis three-fifteen that a male child is going to be born, he's going to be the seed of the woman. You see, Satan began looking for him. Did you ever wonder why Cain was as bad as he was? Here, Genesis chapter four, verse one. But we read, and Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived, and there came, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
You know, Mother Eve, when she gave birth to Cain, she thought, here's the deliverer. Here's the redeemer. Here's the remedy. But he wasn't at all. In fact, there are those who translate the ending of verse four. I have gotten a man from the Lord. They translate it this way. I have gotten a man even. Jehovah, for the word Lord in all capital letters, is the word Jehovah in the Old Testament. She thought that she had the redeemer, the promised redeemer, who would crush Satan's head and reverse what took place in the Garden of Eden. You see.
But Cain, on the other hand, Satan went to work on him. And Satan became his father. You see, the Word of God tells us that there are three births. There is a natural birth. There is a supernatural birth. And there is an unnatural birth. All of us have experienced a natural birth. That's why we're here. When a child is born into a home, it is a natural birth. But then our Lord said to Nicodemus, you must have a supernatural birth.
If you're going to enter the kingdom of God, you have to be born from above. And there is a supernatural birth whereby God, in the person of Christ, redeems the sinner. And the Holy Spirit performs what is known as the new birth, born from above. That's a supernatural birth, beloved. But then there is an unnatural birth. See, I don't believe that every person who is lost is a child of the devil. Those who are lost are children of Adam. But there are some who become children of Adam.
of the devil. They experience, beloved, an unnatural birth. And this is very important. They experience an unnatural birth. Our Lord, in his ministry among men, he never called harlots and tax collectors children of the devil. But he did Pharisees. He said to the Pharisees, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of him you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning. And the first person in Scripture, who is designated as a child of the devil, who had not only a natural birth, but an unnatural birth is a man by the name of Cain.
His brother thought he was a deliverer. but he became just the opposite. And I believe that Satan thought he was a deliverer too. Now, I'd like you to turn the first epistle of John, chapter three, where we want to talk about an unnatural birth for just a few moments. First John, chapter three. And in first John, chapter three, and verse ten, we read these words. In this the children of God are manifest. and the children of the devil. The devil has children. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God.
Neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is a message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of that wicked one. And slew his brother, and wherefore slew him, because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous. Here we see the moment Cain is born, Satan goes to work. Why? To make sure that the promised Messiah doesn't come. And this gives us an insight into the activity of Satan and also into the activity of Cain.
Cain became the first child of the devil. Now we know another who did. A man by the name of Judas is carried. For we read that Satan entered into the heart of Judas is carried. And he carried out that diabolical act of betraying our blessed Lord. But now notice we move on to the flood of Noah. And I want you to think for a moment. In Genesis chapter six, we learn that Satan is trying to corrupt the whole world in order that God would judge everybody. For he knows that God judges sin.
He knows the holiness of God and that the holiness of God demands that sin be judged. And at the time of the flood, you see, Satan made another mistake. The whole world was corrupt. Every family on earth. He had done a pretty good job, didn't he? Satan had done a good job. All that was in man's mind was evil continually. And when I get to chapter seven, verse one, I read something. Genesis chapter seven, verse one. And the Lord said unto Noah, Come and haul thy house into the ark. And thee I have found righteous before me in this generation there was a man that was spared a man by the name of Noah you talk about God not being frustrated God being able to perform what he fulfilled what did he promise he promised a man child he promised that this man child would crush the head of the serpent what is the serpent trying to do keep the man child from coming Now we move on to Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And when we think of Shem, Genesis chapter nine, verse twenty-six, I read, God, as he pronounces prophetically, a prophetic message for each one of these children. He says, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. Aha, God selects a man out of the nations. that he's going to bless and he's going to have a close relationship to himself. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. And a descendant of Shem in the next two chapters we learn comes on the scene. A man by the name of Abram. And God says to Abram, I'm going to bless him who blesses you.
I'm going to curse the one who curses you. And you All the families of the earth are going to be blessed. And then God in Genesis fifteen makes a covenant with Abraham, a descendant of Shem. So what do we find? If you carefully examine the life of Abraham, you see Satan at work. You see Satan at work trying to keep and to pollute the wife. of Abraham, of Abram. His name hadn't changed yet when he went down into Egypt, for Pharaoh wanted Sarah. Then we find he tried to offset the purpose of God, and Abram produced an Ishmael.
You notice the Sushami trail of the enemy? And then, of course, when God told Abram in Genesis chapter eighteen, he's going to have a son. Abram goes over into the land of the Philistines at a place called Gerar, and there he lies about his wife again. And God supernaturally protects Sarah. And then Isaac is born. We see the slimy trail of the enemy. But then God does more. He makes another revelation. See, the covenant that God made with Abraham was confirmed to Isaac, and it was confirmed to Jacob. Now, Jacob has twelve sons. Jacob has twelve sons.
And out of those twelve sons, God selects a man by the name of Judah. And in Genesis forty-nine, verse nine, he said, Judah is a lion's wealth. And in the tenth verse he says, The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet till Shalom come. And unto him shall the gathering of the people be. God says, Shalom, the Redeemer, is coming to the lines of Judah. And what are the most sorted chapters in the Bible? Genesis chapter thirty-eight speaks of the sin of Judah. In fact, if you study Judah's sin, You know why God took them, the nation of Israel, and developed them as a nation, not in the land of Canaan, but in Egypt.
For Judah began to practice and to become involved with the people of the land of Canaan. So God said, I'll take you out of the land. I'll make you a nation in Egypt. You see the ways of God? He continuously just moves, and Satan must be frustrated as he's dealing with the Almighty. Oh, my friends, this is the God we worship. This is the God we adore. Now, out of the horns of Judah, God gave a king by the name of David. But can you see Satan being overjoyed when God doesn't move?
into the tribe of Judah right away. King Saul was the first king, and he was not from Judah. He was from Benjamin. And Satan must have scratched his head, say, What is God doing? God knew what he was doing. And when David was yet a boy, he had him anointed with a holy anointing oil that he was going to be king. First Samuel chapter sixteen. And then we see Satan venting his hatred against David.
King Saul is used by Satan. He becomes Satan's tool to try to destroy David. Why? Oh, Genesis chapter forty nine, verse ten is being fulfilled. And then God does something. God makes a covenant with David in II Samuel VII. And he says to David, you're never going to want for a descendant to sit upon the throne of David, upon your throne. I'm going to establish your kingdom forever. Oh, boy. And then the time came that Satan went to work on the line of David. And you find kings. going after the things of the world and living like the nations.
And what does God do? God pronounces a curse on the line of David. He curses the line of David. And if you want to find that curse, I'll tell you where it's at. It's found in Jeremiah chapter twenty-two verses twenty-four and again verse thirty. And I'm going to read that verse because it's so important. Jeremiah God curses the line of David. Jeremiah chapter twenty-two. There is that wicked king by the name of Canaia. He's also called Jeconiah. And in Jeremiah twenty-two. And verse twenty-four we read this.
As I live saith the Lord, though Canaia, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence. And look over at verse thirty. Thus saith the Lord, write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in these days, for no man of his seed shall prosper sitting upon the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah. A curse upon the line of David. You see, beloved, is God frustrated? No. What do we find? Here's the doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ.
See, the virgin birth is a must. I pity any preacher who talks about the virgin birth and doesn't believe it, and there are quite a few of them. After the resurrection, Easter Sunday, a few weeks ago, a number of men. Theologians in this country got together in what is known as a think tank in New York City to try to decide how much of the person of Christ they would believe and how much they wouldn't. Like Marcion of the second century. How foolish. Beloved, Christ had to be born of a virgin, or he couldn't be my Savior. Because, you see, there are two genealogies in the New Testament.
I know you all read them. You know, Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, and all those begats and names. I know you read them all and studied them. But you know, that's in Matthew one. And in Matthew one, we have the genealogy of Joseph, the foster father of the Lord Jesus, the husband of Mary. But when you read the genealogy in Luke chapter three, here's the genealogy of Mary. See, Joseph was a son of David, but he was a son of David through Solomon. the line that was cursed. But Mary is also a son of David. And if you read the Gospel by Luke carefully, the third chapter, we find that she was a son of David through not Solomon, the line that was cursed, but through Nathan.
He is the seed of the woman. He is the one. who's going to crush the head of the serpent. Now the most severe activity is found against the person of Christ. You see the slimy trail of the serpent in the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. In those three temptations that he endured, we find the trail of the serpent in his ministry at Nazareth, his hometown, where they were going to throw him off the steep hill and have him killed. We see the slimy trail of the serpent in John chapter ten, when the Pharisees pick up stones to stone him.
But, beloved, the worst thing happened when Satan entered into Judas' chariot. Satan and the demons must rub their hands in glee. We got him now. And when they've lifted him up on the cross, on Calvary's Hill, now we have him. And when he died there, They thought, it's all over. But the very thing that Satan thought would give him victory, I finally got him where I want him. That very thing crushed the head of the serpent.
And I read in the sixteenth chapter of the Romans, God says to his people, God shall crush Satan's head shortly under your feet. Here's a triumph of the elect of God. Here's a triumph of the redeemed of the Lord. Just as he triumphed for us at the cross, we're going to triumph also, for we're united to him in an eternal union. And in Hebrews two fourteen, I read that he destroyed him who had the power of death, that is the devil. And in destroying him, He delivered us who through fear of death were all our lifetime subject to bondage. So now we can look at our Savior and with assurance we can say, I am his and he is mine.
We can use the language of the poet, loved with everlasting love, led by grace not love to know, spirit breathing from above that has taught me it is so. How wonderful to be taught of the Word of God that it's true I have been loved in an everlasting love. It is true that I have been joined to Christ in an eternal union. I am His and He is mine. Let me ask you a question in closing. Do you have that assurance? Are you sure you're here this morning? Are you sure you're here this morning? You say, well, certainly I am.
I'm sitting here. That's good. Are you not sure that you're saved? Are you as sure you're saved as you are that you're sitting there? You can be. You can be. And if you're not, won't you turn to Christ and acknowledge him to be what God says he is, the one who crushed the head of the serpent and delivers his people? Whenever I think of the resurrection of Christ and the victory of Calvary, I think of that fellow by the name of Sansen in the Old Testament. He was in the city of Gaza, Judges chapter sixteen.
He was there for sin. And the Philistines came and they locked the city, the gates of the city. They closed them and they closed up the gates and bars. Sansom got up at midnight. He went out and he found that he couldn't get out of the city. So he did what a strong man does. He lifted up the gates of the city and the posts and the bars and everything else, and he carried it to the top of the hill. Reverend Laurie pictured that in his hymn. Death cannot keep his prey. Jesus, my Savior, he tore the bars away. Jesus, my Lord, up from the grave he arose. He's a victor over death. He's the one that we need. Are you sure you're here this morning? You can be as sure that you're saved as you are that you're here.
He's the only Savior there isn't any other. Let's pray. We therefore, our Father, take this message and ask you to bless it through every heart. We thank you for a victorious Savior. We thank you afresh this morning for the work of Calvary, for the joy of knowing that our sins are forgiven for His namesake. We receive our thanks. Bless this word to every heart, and now we commend this company to thee, and to the word of thy grace. We thank you that we can say to your people, Now, O child of God, by the blood of his cross, wherever your feet shall lead you today, wherever in God's providence, you must carry.
Ask the blessed Lord for his guidance. His help, he will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. He has asked you to cast every heartache. Every loneliness, every pain, every care upon him, for he careth for you. And may the blessing of Jesus the Christ of God go with us each one until we meet again together around the word of God for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.