Revelation 12 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
They overcame him (the accuser of our brothers)
by the blood of the Lamb and
by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
They Overcame
Not everyone overcomes.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23
Each of the letters to the churches includes the exhortation “to him who overcomes . . .” and offers rewards to such (Revelation 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21). This implies that many IN THE CHURCH will not overcome.
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life
He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death
To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna
To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations
He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life
Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21).
So Who Does Overcome, and How?
4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:4-5
The last words of David:
“Is not my house right with God?
Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant,
arranged and secured in every part?
Will he not bring to fruition my salvation
and grant me my every desire? 2 Samuel 23:5
By the Blood of the Lamb
Notice, it doesn’t say “they overcame the enemy through prayer” or “they overcame the accuser through fasting” or “they overcame satan through resistance and fighting”. The blood of the Lamb is not a work of the saint, it is a finished work of our LORD.
3 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7:13-14
“The Blood of the Lamb is not something you do, or something you say. It is the means of your cleansing. You do not claim to be clean by your good works, or by “claiming the blood of Jesus” over various places and things, or by any other work. You rest in the finished work of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:56-57
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18-19
John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne Revelation 5:6
(Blank Slide)
Satan will come to us, and accuse us, “you are a sinner!” “you failed again!”
Satan will come to us at our strongest moment, our moment of victory and steal our joy-as with Elijah who defeated the prophets of Baal, calling down fire from heaven, then ran to hide when he was threatened by Jezebel, then, cried out to God in despair. Or as with Jeremiah, the bi-polar prophet, who praised God with one sentence, and cried out in anguish in the next.
Satan comes to us in our discouragement and defeat, seeking to motivate us to give up when our only hope is to press on.
It is at these times, when the enemy attacks us, that we must say back “My sin is covered by the blood of Jesus-He has washed my sins away. In His eyes I am clean”.
(when Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future)
Satan will try to attack us with fear, as if he has some hold on our lives. But the victory in our lives has already been won by God on the cross. Satan has no hold on us, and he knows this, his only hope in his efforts to destroy us is that we forget that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus
The blood of Jesus has already defeated our enemy-that victory against satan belongs to us.
By the Word of their testimony
We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1 John 5:9-11
If God has saved you, turned you around, given you life, the most natural thing in the world is to tell people about it. But research indicates many Christians don’t talk about God’s work in their lives.
New research from LifeWay Research In a survey of 2,930 American Protestant churchgoers, Ed Stetzer and his team found:
• 29% agreed with the statement: “Spiritual matters do not tend to come up as a normal part of my daily conversations with Christians” (only 50% disagreed).
• 24% disagreed with the statement: “I openly share about difficulties I’m experiencing when I talk with Christian friends” (Only 57% agreed).
(from www.Sermoncentral.com)
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7
"Parents are huge, absolutely huge, nearly a necessary condition" for a child to remain strong in their faith into young adulthood. He concludes "without question, the most important pastor a child will ever have in their life is a parent." Christian Smith
Share your struggles and your blessings! Both are a part of your testimony.
Marisha & shoes
Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Philippians 1:14
They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death
Hebrews 11: 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far Philippians 1:20-23
“I bear my testimony that there is no joy to be found in all this world like that of sweet communion with Christ. I would barter all else there is of heaven for that. Indeed, that is heaven. As for the harps of gold and the streets like clear glass and the songs of seraphs and the shouts of the redeemed, one could very well give all these up, counting them as a drop in a bucket, if we might forever live in fellowship and communion with Jesus.” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
Dunkirk-Soldiers were commanded to hold their line against the Germans, though they were almost out of ammunition and food, and had no support against a much larger and better supplied army. They knew if they were not rescued they would die or be captured. They sent a three-word message back to London “but if not”.
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But if not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. Daniel 3:16-18
God intervenes on behalf of those who do not fear for their life so much as to shrink from death. And even if He does not save us from death, He gives us new life, and our fearlessness itself is the defeat of the enemy of our souls.
They overcame him (the accuser of our brothers)
by the blood of the Lamb and
by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Communion
