4/23/2017
Morning Worship
Text: Revelation 12:10-11
Subject: Victory
Title: Overcomers – Lessons from Revelation Part 7
Last week we celebrated the resurrection. Do you ever take the time to stop and think about all the things that were accomplished at the cross and resurrection of Jesus? We know that it is the source of our salvation…
Revelation 7:10 (NKJV)
10 … "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
But, do we ever take the time to reflect on exactly what that means?
If we do a word study on “salvation” we really get a clearer picture of what the normal experience should be for every Christian…
The word we see translated as salvation is the Greek word…
soteria (so-tay-ree'-ah) n.
1. rescue or safety (physically or morally)
[feminine of a derivative of G4990 as (properly, abstract) noun]
KJV: deliver, health, salvation, save, saving
soter (so-tare') n.
1. a deliverer, i.e. God or Christ
[from G4982]
sozo (sode'-zo) v.
1. to save, i.e. deliver or protect
{literally or figuratively}
[from a primary sos (contraction for obsolete saos, "safe")]
KJV: heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole
So:
We have rescue or safety in a physical and moral sense… including deliverance and health. And if that is so then we must belong to a Deliverer… and that Deliverer (Jesus) protects, heals, preserves, and makes whole… One aspect of the original root word means to save (self)… I ask the question, “does that mean we save ourselves or does it mean that we are saved from ourselves?”
Turn to Revelation 12:10-11…
Revelation 12:10-11 (NKJV)
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
I will appropriate it to my life today…
I. Good things have come… Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come… is it true that all those things have already come? All the things pertaining to the word salvation – heaven, healing, protection, deliverance… have those things come or have they not? The Word says that they have already come. Has salvation already come for all mankind? Is God going to do anything more to save people from their sin? NO! There is no need for Him to do anything else. Jesus said, “It is finished!” Salvation and all the benefits that go with it has come… Strength has come… this is the Greek word dunamis. The NIV correctly translates this as power. Revelation 12:10 (NIV2011)
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 Messiah. That word dunamis is one of the great “Christian” words in the New Testament. dunamis (doo'-nam-is) n.
1. force
2. (specially) miraculous power
3. (usually by implication) a miracle itself
In other places in the KJV it is translated ability, abundance, might(-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle(-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work … Unfortunately, too many people want to relegate this dunamis to Jesus’ earthly ministry. But Jesus said Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Who is the power for? Who will receive it? Do not be deceived by anti-biblical teachings. It is the baptism in the Holy Spirit that provides that power. It is the same baptism that is verified by tongues. It is the same power that Jesus walked in and expects His church to walk in. it is the same power that produces miracles. It didn’t end with the apostles. It’s not just some emotional stirring that produces excitement. It is power that enables us to be what we are called to be. Now have come the salvation and the power… and it does not say anywhere in the scriptures that the power has left. the kingdom of our God… the salvation that we just talked about; the power and the miracles all are evidence that the kingdom of God is at hand. Isn’t that the message that Jesus began teaching in His earthly ministry? Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand…! John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask a question, “are you the One or should we be looking for someone else?” Jesus’ response was the evidence that we need that the kingdom is near us. Luke 7:22-23 (NKJV)
22 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
23 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."
II. Satan is Defeated … for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. Now a lot of people do not want to believe this but satan even now has access to the throne of God. But his purpose is for one thing only. To be the accuser of the brethren. There is coming a time – I believe that it is at the rapture – when satan will no longer be given access. It is at that time he will no longer want access because during that time - after the rapture of the church and during the Great Tribulation – he will be having his way on the earth. But even though satan may still have access right now, he is still defeated. In chapters 2 and 3 we see the letters Jesus wants sent to the seven churches which are in Asia. In six of the seven churches we see the devil at work; losing their first love, the synagogue of satan, where satan dwells, the doctrine of Balaam, that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols, you have a name that you are alive but you are dead, and finally the lukewarm church. All of these are directly under satanic of demonic influence. But John writes to each of the churches the benefits of being overcomers;
To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." '
To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.
And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations--
He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Do I need to go on? How can the Lord tell us to be overcomers if He has not already defeated the enemy? And yet there’s the problem. We don’t always realize that the death and resurrection of Christ has already beaten the enemy.
2 Peter 1:11 (NKJV)
11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
You have heard me say it before, but I want to reiterate – in the original Greek language there is no word abundant. The word always means - at least as close as we can get it in the English – to super abound. What God has done for us is always to the extreme. Jesus came that we might have life and have it super abundantly. And because satan has already been defeated there is no reason for us not to receive that super abundance of grace and faith and healing and provision and power and blessing and authority…
III. God’s part in our being overcomers… And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb… In the context of the chapter we find this verse in, it is referring to those who have overcome the devil and the anti-Christ and the world system that stands against everything good. Do you understand that for those who become Christians after the rapture of the church, the days will be even more difficult? First of all, there is no longer a physical presence of the body of Christ that the Spirit will work through to be the restraining force against the evil of the world. There is therefore nothing to hold back evil. Secondly, in the second half of the Tribulation, the anti-Christ will pursue Christians to put them to death if they will not renounce Christ and take the number of the beast. But there will be some who overcome. There will be some who will not give in to the demands of the world. Listen to me… it is the same blood that makes us overcomers. It is the blood of the sacrificial Lamb that has cleansed us from all unrighteousness. It is the blood that has opened the veil and made a door into the throne of God. In the Old Testament there are rules given for the different types of offering. The sin offering has great significance concerning the blood…
The sin offering was a picture of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world. He was a “lamb without blemish” (1 Peter 1:19; cf. Leviticus 4:32) whose precious blood was spilled after being publicly slain. Jesus was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem, just as the sin offering was to be burnt outside the camp (Hebrews 13:12; cf. Leviticus 4:12). Just as the sacrificial lamb makes atonement for unintentional sins, Jesus’ blood made atonement for the sin of any person who realizes his guilt before God and asks for that atonement to be applied to him (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:7). “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22).
It is because of the blood that we today have overcome the work of the enemy.
God has already done His part.
IV. Our part in being overcomers… and by the word of their testimony…
Testimony…
1. Law. the statement or declaration of a witness under oath or affirmation, usually in court.
2. evidence in support of a fact or statement; proof.
3. open declaration or profession, as of faith.
A question: What is the purpose of having a testimony? Now, we often have testimony time in church, giving people the opportunity to share what God is doing in their lives. And that is a good thing right? Our testimony can be a great encouragement to the goodness and power of our God. But if our only reason for sharing testimonies is to make others feel good, then we are missing the point. Because this word says that it is the word of our testimony that makes us overcomers. What if that means your sharing a testimony with an unbeliever that leads them to Christ is evidence that the enemy is defeated. Your testimony then creates a testimony in someone else and the cycle continues. You have spiritual children and then spirtual grandchildren and on and on… and it’s not just your testimony of how you got saved. This includes your testimony of what God is doing in your life right now. Sister Carla’s testimony of healing two weeks ago – who knows whose life that might touch? When I share testimonies of the things the Lord has spoken to me or sown me, lives can be changed… your testimony has a purpose…
I have asked you as a church to share with me testimonies of how you first came to this church and what has kept you coming back. A few have responded but not too many. What is my purpose in this? I want to be able to post your testimony on the church facebook page – no names included – so that those outside the church who might read them might be drawn to a church that is an overcoming church.
Let me close with this…
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
That last part of verse 11 tells us that those that John saw were those who were slain during the tribulation.
Revelation 12:17 (NKJV)
17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
And even though they were slain they still had the testimony of Jesus Christ. And if you have the testimony and are overcomers, it doesn’t matter what the enemy does to you, you still win.
The challenge is this… we not only are overcomers… we not only are victorious…
Romans 8:37 (NKJV)
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
