Revelations 12:11
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.
In the last post we discovered how to overcome the devil by the Blood of the lamb. Today we are going to take a peak at the second part of that verse “The word of their testimony“.
This is some thing that is close to my heart.
What is our testimony?
How does our testimony overcome the devil and obsticles in our lives?
John wrote to his “little children” of the assurance of the forgiveness of sins.
In one sense we are always, in John’s term, little children. For in this life we never advance to a point where we have left behind our need for the precious Blood.
The Blood of Christ is indeed the very weapon for the overcomer.
Writing in Revelation chapter 12 of the Accuser of the brethren
“which accuses them before our God day and night,” John tells us that “they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their life even unto the death”. (Revelation 12:10,11).
The basis of overcoming in spiritual warfare is always the precious Blood. No one can ever get to the place where the Blood is not necessary. Satan is a murderer and a deceiver, he entices and he attacks, but today he specializes in accusing. In a very real sense he is the Accuser of the brethren, and it is here that our Lord meets him as Priest and Mediator.
Heaven recognizes Satan’s work and so must every Christian.
Night and day he accuses you and his accusation is directed at our conscience, which is the point where we most feel the lack of strength to fight him. His object is to drive us to think in despair.
“Of what possible use am I to God?”
Why are some Christians found from morning to night reproaching themselves and crying, “I am a hopeless failure. God can do nothing with me!”? It is because they have allowed themselves to accept the charges of the enemy as unanswerable.
If he can get us to this state, he is indeed the victor, for we have given the battle away. Instead of looking at the Glory of God, we only accept his accusations, and stop there, we are certainly left with no power to fight him.
The conscience is a very precious thing, but to repeat endlessly, “I am no good! I am no good!” – that is not Christian humility. It is healthy to confess our sins, but let us never carry confession to the point where, for us, our sinfulness looms larger than the work of Christ.
The Devil knows there is no weapon more effective against the Christian than the creation of this illusion. What is the remedy?
It is to say to the Lord,
“Lord, I am no good!” but then to look away to his precious Blood, and to add: But Lord, I am abiding in thee!”
Satan does not accuse without reason. There are, no doubt, plenty of sins to which he can point us; but the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.
Do we believe that? That is the answer to his charge. Sin calls for the Blood, but the Bible does not tell us that sin calls for accusation – not that is to say, if we plead guilty. Of course, if we say that we have no sin, John warns us that the door is wide open to the Accuser.
But if, standing in the light of God, we confess to him our guilt, then the Blood is powerful to cleanse, and all Satan’s charges are rendered ineffective.
Praise God for such an advocate! Praise Him for such a Priest! Let us never, never, answer Satan either by boasting our good conduct or by bemoaning our sins, but always and only by the Blood.
It is our wholly sufficient defense.
The precious Blood of Christ is our defense; the word of our testimony is our weapon of attack. By this is meant our testimony to man, but not to man alone.
The victory of Christ, the fact that He reigns, that His Kingdom is near, that we have been translated from Satan’s kingdom into his; all these are facts to be declared, not to men only, but to the powers of darkness. Affirm that God is King, that his Son is Victor, that Satan is defeated, that the kingdoms of this world are shortly to become the kingdom of our God, and of His Christ.
These are positive divine facts, and they are shafts of offense. Satan fears such declarations of spiritual fact. For the word of our testimony can move back the gates of hell.
Declare that Jesus is Lord! that his name is above every name. Declare it! Say it to the enemy, every time they come to attack!
If you haven’t read “Pleading the Blood Series” please do so today. Remember leave your comments at the bottom of the post. God Bless.
…….Sign in with your Logos.com account………………………………….. …….Sign in with your Logos.com account………………………………….. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
My first companion was Elder Arlen W. Bell, a great scrtaioripn. He had been confined to his apartment for months because the city he was working in passed an ordinance making it illegal to proselyte. He spent the time memorizing scriptures. I really thought he must have memorized the whole Bible, because I sat in meetings with him when he literally confounded ministers. As I analyzed it, I realized that modern day revelations made the difference. Ours is the only church with 12 apostles and a prophet. We build and operate temples around the world. We understand the apostasy and end to revelation with the closing of the Bible, and we understand the scriptures that promise apostasy and restoration. We have clarity in our doctrine. From there, I tried to follow Elder Bell’s example and memorize everything I could get my hands on. While I have lost a lot of it, I still have the things I need. But we have been blessed with the fullness of the gospel, and this because of modern day revelation. There is no other plausible explanation for Joseph Smith than he was a prophet of God. Without that explanation, he would be superhuman; the greatest genius in the history of the world. Of course, he was a prophet of God, and God was using him to restore all truth. The priesthood received by him and Oliver Cowdery in 1829 from the hands of Peter, James and John was transmitted from man to man to our current day apostles and prophets. All other explanations pale, falter and become nonsensical.