May I please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in his holy word.
Let us turn to the book of the Revelation and chapter 12 and
we'll read verse 11. The book of the Revelation chapter
12 and we'll read verse 11. And they overcame him by the
blood of the lamb. and by the word of their testimony,
and they loved not their lives unto the death. There is much in the book of
Revelation which is not easy for us to understand and perhaps
we might say impossible for us to understand. But there are
also some great and glorious truths contained in this book. And we realize that it's the
last book that God ordained should be written, written by the Apostle
John when he was on the Isle of Patmos, when he was a very
old man. And God gave him this wonderful
revelation to write and it's been obviously passed down to
the Church of God for our help and for our instruction and for
our encouragement. And as we have before us this
very glorious and relevant and important word, and they overcame
him, that's the devil, by the blood of the Lamb, and that's
the only way, and by the word of their testimony, And they
loved not their lives unto the death. Well, we won't go through
the chapter, but just the last verses before this 11th verse,
just to read the ninth verse, we read and the great dragon
was cast out. The old serpent called the devil
and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out
into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And then
the 10th verse. And I heard a loud voice saying
in heaven, now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom
of our God and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our
brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God,
day and night. Now we have there then the truth
that we have a great adversary, the devil. We should always be
conscious of this, that he's always active and his intent
on deceiving us and intent on causing us to never believe the
great and glorious truth contained in the word of God. He doesn't
want us to hear God's truth. But what a mercy it is that we
have a God who rules and reigns a God who is the same yesterday,
today and forever, and a God who has ordained that great and
glorious way of salvation and to grant faith to believe in
this wonderful plan of salvation. And the only way to overcome
our great adversary is not through what we can do, It's through
what has been done by the great and glorious Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so this word is so appropriate. And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb. We should understand that our
overcoming was not something trivial. It was through the blood
of the Lamb to overcome really means to conquer or it means
to get the victory. And you and I cannot conquer
the devil ourselves. We cannot overcome the devil
ourselves. He is a great adversary. He's very cunning. We only have
to go back, surely, right to the beginning in Genesis and
see how he was cunning enough to deceive Adam and Eve. We marvel, perhaps, that they're
the beginning of the history of the world, when God had placed
Adam and Eve in that wonderful Garden of Eden and had told them
exactly what they should do and what they could not do. And they
were very aware of what God had said. And indeed, when Eve was
tempted by the devil, she reminded the devil that they should not
eat. of that fruit, of that tree,
of the knowledge of good and evil. And yet, you see, she was
seduced by him. Yes, she told him to look at
the tree. She looked at it and thought
it was rather nice and was very attractive and therefore took
of the fruit. And as I'm sure we all know,
the most tragic occasion really in the history of the world,
because sin entered in. And what a curse it was that
came upon all mankind and all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God to all of us. are guilty before God. This word is so true, which the
devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. And all of us
have been deceived. All of us have sinned. All of
us are guilty before God. And all of us need mercy. And all of us need salvation. And all of us need to know that
we are indeed redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. There is no other way. No other
way. We all need to be under the blood,
to be delivered from the curse of sin, because that curse is
a soul that sinneth, it shall die. We should be separated eternally
from God. What a great issue it is and
how relevant it is. And therefore, how wonderful
it is that we have such a statement, such a very positive statement. And they overcame him, the devil,
by the blood of the Lamb. Now, as we might just ponder
to think that our salvation depends on the great truth that you and
I are overcomers, not because of what we've done, but because
of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, and to realize that
our salvation is completely dependent upon that wonderful work of salvation
that the Lord Jesus Christ completed when he was on this earth. Yes, he came to save his people
from their sins. What a wonderful, wonderful truth
that is. He came to save his people from
their sins. And what a mercy it is if today
you and I recognize that we are under the power of Satan until
The Lord comes and redeems us, and we find then that we are
overcomers through the blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. And to realise, and surely it
should be a glorious consideration, a very humbling truth to think
that Almighty God, none less, came into this sinful world to
redeem our souls to take away all our sins, every sin, so that
we are amongst those who can rejoice that we are redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ. It is a wonderful truth. It is a necessary truth that
you and I can enter into and rejoice in. to bless God that we are more
than conquerors through him. the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in this book of the Revelation,
you may remember that the Apostle John had this wonderful revelation
when he was on the isle of Patmos. The Lord came to him and spoke
to him and he tells us that the Lord spoke to him. He says, I
was in the spirit on the Lord's day. And heard behind me a great
voices of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first
and the last. And what they'll see is write
in a book and send it unto the seven churches, which are in
Asia and Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia,
and unto Laodicea. That's what he was instructed
to do. And we're told he turned To see
the voice that spake with him, and being turned I saw seven
golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks
one like unto the Son of Man throw the garment down to the
foot and go about with paps, about the paps with a golden
girdle. And as the apostle tells us at
the end of that first chapter, the mystery of the seven stars,
which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks,
the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. and the
seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Now, he then heard what was spoken
to him with reference to the seven churches. And in the second
and third chapters of this book of the Revelation, there is an
account, an instruction given to each of those seven churches. And in each of those cases, the
Lord tells him, I know thy works, et cetera, and tells them what
was good and also tells them what was wrong and what was bad. But in each case, and it's very
relevant, in each case, as he comes to the end of the statement
to each church, These words are written on very similar anyway.
He says he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
paradise of God. So we have really two statements. He that hath an ear, Let him
hear what the Spirit said to the churches. And that means
you and I are to listen to the great truth of God, because it
comes in the remainder of this verse and the word of their testimony,
the word of their testimony, the word of God, his testimony,
you and I are to listen to and we're not to ignore it. And we're
not to think, well, that is not relevant to me. We are blessed
with the whole word of God, which describes to us our condition,
lost and ruined in the fall, unworthy sinners, destined to
a lost eternity, unless we know the saving grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is contained in that wonderful
blessing of overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. And so we
see this important statement here, that we have to him that
overcometh. Now, let's be clear about this.
You and I naturally cannot overcome the devil. We have no natural
ability and power to do that. Try as we may. The devil is a
past master at overturning all our plans and all our efforts. And it means There's only one
way of salvation, and that's to be found in the great, glorious
work of the Saviour. We're told, looking unto Jesus,
looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our salvation. God begins his work. God finishes
his work. It's all in him. And what a mercy,
therefore, if all our hope rests in what Christ has done, in what
he did when he died upon that cross at Calvary. You know, really,
the word of God speaks about Christ from beginning to end. How many people today ignore
the great truths contained in the Old Testament? the wonderful
prophecies that speak about the coming saviour, the wonderful
way that he would come, his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection,
his intercession, my friend, is all contained in the Old Testament. And it's a wonderful blessing
that we have the word of God to encourage us and to instruct
us and of course as I often say we have that wonderful pattern
of the shed blood of the Saviour again right from the early days
in that third chapter of Genesis when the Lord God gave Adam and
Eve those skins for a covering cover their nakedness. God gave
them those skins and in doing so there would have been that
bloodshed from the animals that they were obtained from. And
that was right at the beginning without shedding of blood. There
is no remission, there's no forgiveness as the Apostle Paul tells us
in the Revelation. It was true then And it's been
true ever since. And it's true today. Without
shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness. And that shedding
of blood wouldn't be satisfactory if it was our blood. Because
our blood would be sinful blood. But the Saviour's was unsinning. It was a perfect sacrifice. And again, just tracing that.
We won't go all through. It's a wonderful consideration
to trace the shedding of blood through the Old Testament. But
it's wonderful to be able to realize that. there right back
in the early days those sacrifices were made and given and we have
that wonderful occasion of Abraham when he was commanded to go and
offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice and then we see that he obeyed
God and again it's good to realize how these things do work out
He didn't say to God, well, I can't do that because the promise which
thou has given me is relying upon the life of Samuel. No, he was willing to obey God,
believing that God was able to raise him up from the dead. What a wonderful blessing to
realize that there was Isaac, you see. It was part of that
line that God had ordained that eventually the Savior should
come from. Yet, you see, there was Abraham
told to go and offer him up. He didn't stop. He went right
to the very point of killing his son. And then the Lord told
him to stop. But now I know that thou believest
not my word. What a blessing it was. What
a mercy it was. And we see there then substitution
because there was that ram caught in its horns by the thicket.
And that ram was taken and offered up instead of Isaac. And that is a picture for us
today, because if our lives were given, it would have not have
satisfied. But what a mercy it is that the
Lord Jesus gave himself, gave himself as that one sacrifice
for sin. No need to repeat it. that one
sacrifice was sufficient to satisfy the demands of Almighty God. And therefore, through that shedding
of blood, there was the remission. And there is that remission for
you and me today. What a mercy, what a blessing
then. And so we have this grand statement,
and they overcame Him the devil by the blood of the lamb. Well, we run through the Old
Testament, we can't go through it all, but just to not forget
the introduction of the Passover. What a significant time that
was. There, Israel had been in captivity
for those 400 odd years. Again, prophesied In the Old
Testament it would come to pass and it did come to pass. The
truth of God comes to pass. Let us realize that. And so it
did in the life of Israel after all those years. The appointed
time came to pass and there was a wonderful deliverance and the
deliverance was signified by those plagues that came upon
Pharaoh And of course, the last plague was the death of the firstborn
of all those Egyptians. And the only place of safety
was to be under the blood. And that blood was taken from
that lamb slain. a perfect lamb as perfect as
could be and that lamb was slain and roast in the fire and the
blood taken and placed upon the doorpost and the lintels and
there was safety under that blood what a glorious picture it is
how it helps us today in our understanding of the life of
the Savior and to realize there's only safety under the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ, there's neither way of safety. What a
wonderful mercy if you and I today come to that place where we have
to recognise and say, my hope is built on nothing less than
Jesus' blood and righteousness. Where today is your and my hope
of eternal life? eternal safety it's only through
what the Lord Jesus Christ has done and they overcame him the
devil don't forget the devil never gives up he never gives
up right down to the last breath that you and I take but he will
never be able to conquer those for whom Christ has died, because
that which the Saviour did is done. It's a completed work. Don't forget the wonderful words
spoken at Calvary. The last words that Jesus spoke
there on that cross, it is finished. He had done that which his Father
had given him to do. And may we rejoice in that great
and wonderful work that was done, how necessary it was, and how
wonderful it was, and what a great blessing it was to realize that
there was that wonderful favor of that shedding of blood. And
as the Apostle Peter well knew the value of it, he tells us,
for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, but with a precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world. Just think of that. Planned before the world was
created. That the Saviour should be born
and should die to atone for the sins of His church. To take away
all our sins. And who verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these
last times for you who by him do believe in God. What a mercy for us today if
you and I believe in God, believe in this great and wonderful plan
of salvation, believe that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all sin, all sin, every sin washed away
in the precious blood of Christ. Well, it's a wonderful mercy,
it's a wonderful blessing, it's a wonderful favour to realise
that you and I are indeed under the blood. We don't read very
much about heaven Etc in the Word of God, but there
is one or two little places and there are some places in the
revelation which direct us and in the fifth chapter we're told
The ninth verse and they sung a new song Saying thou worthy
to take the book and to open the seals are off the blessed
Savior For thou was slain and has redeemed us to God brought
us back to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation, and has made us unto our God kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth.' Well, what a wonderful blessing
it is. to have the evidence that you
and I are under this blood and are overcomers. And they overcame
him, the devil, by the blood of the lamb. Well, what is our
religion today? What does our religion rest upon?
Does it rest upon what you and I have done? Does it rest upon
how you and I order our life? Or do we look out of ourselves
and do we look to the great and glorious God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the second person in the Trinity? It is a most amazing
consideration to just sit and ponder to think that almighty
God, almighty God was willing to come and to die in your place
and my place, to shed His most precious blood, that we might
be those who overcome. Overcome. Remember the requests
which I mentioned in those seven churches, in each time there
was that statement made, that they would, they must overcome,
overcome. Naturally, you and I have not
the ability. Him that overcometh will I make
a pillar in the temple of God. And we are dependent, not on
our own ability. but on what Christ has done on
our behalf. That's how we overcome. That
really means that you and I come to that place. Nothing in my
hand I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Looking to that great and glorious
finished work of the Saviour. How wonderful it is to realise
that Almighty God came in this sinful world to die to redeem
our soul. And if that is so, to realise
that we have a wonderful prospect before us, a prospect of eternity
in heaven with the Saviour, where there will be no end to that
situation of utter peace and tranquility and enjoyment, which
will never be removed. Eternity. What a wonderful consideration
to be found in Christ. But let us not forget that if
we are out of Christ, What a terrible consideration. To be with the
devil and his angels in outer darkness forever and no hope
of any deliverance. What a mercy to know that we
are amongst those for whom Christ died. My friends, it is essential
that you and I know the Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior, is
that one who's died for us, is that one who shed his blood for
us. Nothing else will land us in glory. But if we are there
and blessed with that wonderful favor, oh, my friends, what a
glorious prospect to look forward to, isn't it? And so may we glory in the finished
work. of the Saviour and to truly thank
Him, thank Him, the Apostle Peter knew it, the Apostle John knew
it and we have a wonderful word in the first epistle of John
in the first chapter and the seventh verse, well let me just
read the sixth verse, if we say If we have fellowship with him
and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses
us from all sin. So it's a great and wonderful
blessing for us today. If the light of the glorious
gospel has shone into our hearts, which by nature are dark and
dead. But if the light of God shines
in our hearts, we are alive forevermore. We possess that wonderful blessing
of God, that light shines. And it shines so gloriously in
the face of Jesus Christ. Until that comes, we're out of
the secret. We're out of the secret. But
when that comes, what a change that produces. Once we were dead. Once we were blind. But now,
by the grace and love of God, we see when the Lord reveals
these things to us what does it do? what does it do? surely makes us consider him
makes us consider him and as we consider him to realise that
this gracious Lord loved us so much And that's hard to understand,
isn't it? When you realize, I realize,
what sinners we are. Unworthy of any notice. And yet
the great God did notice us. He knew where we were when we
were born. He watched over us until that time came. The appointed
time not to propose but call by grace. The Apostle knew what
it was to be called by the grace of God and all of the Church
of God know what it is to be called by the grace of God because
when we're called the light of the glorious gospel shines into
our heart and we rejoice. in the wonderful plan of salvation. We didn't rejoice before. We
might have known about it in our head. But you see, when the
Holy Spirit applies the word of God, applies the word of God
with power. Yes, it is with power. The power
shines into our hearts and a wonderful Truth it is. Power indeed belongeth
unto God. In the 62nd Psalm, it's a lovely
psalm, it's the Psalm of David, and this is what he says in 11th
verse, God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this, that
power belongeth unto God. And it's the power of God that brings salvation. It's the
power of God that unstops deaf ears. It's the power of God that
gives sight to the blind. It's the power of God that gives
us faith to believe. The power of God. Also, unto
thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy, for thou renderest to every man
according to his work. What a mercy it is, therefore,
that we have in such a God. And what a great statement it
is to recognise that by His grace, because of His love, all the
Church of God are amongst those who overcome through that finished
work, through His shed blood. And they overcame him by the
blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. And
they loved not their lives unto the death. The word of their testimony,
the word of testimony in the word of God, what wonderful truths
it is. And as we know, the word of God
is like a sharp sword. It penetrates. It has an effect. What a mercy then if the Word
of God has penetrated into your heart and my heart. Yes, whereas
it was perhaps just an account, but when the work of the Spirit
enters in, that sword of the Spirit touches us and pierces
even to the dividing asunder of sword and spirit. It's had
a great and a glorious effect. Well, what a mercy then, if you
and I know the effect of this, the word of their testimony,
a testimony recorded in the word of God, the great truth of the
saints of God, how they walked and how they were blessed and
how they were strengthened and how they were found looking unto
Jesus also. And then just finally, this is
very, very briefly, and they loved not their lives unto the
death. We know many accounts, don't
we, of those who were martyred for the sake of the Saviour,
who were unwilling to deny that their hope was based on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Yes, and they were willing to
give their life. It's a great test, isn't it?
If you and I had the option of confessing the Lord Jesus Christ
or denying him, and we knew that if we confessed him, we would
lose our life. Well, many masters confessed
the Lord and gave their life. Well, we can say they loved not
their lives unto the death. They were willing to die, willing
to die that their faith might stand firm and they may not deny
the Lord Jesus Christ who died for them. You see, that really
is the bottom line, isn't it? Christ died for us. And if he died for us, would
we be willing to die for him? Well, that really puts our religion
on the line, doesn't it? That really tests whether the
Lord Jesus Christ is precious It really tests whether we do
believe this great truth that we overcame by the blood of the
Lamb. It's good sometimes to just sit
and ponder and consider these things to see where our religion
really rests and whether it is that which God has given to us. It's not our religion as such. It's a religion which God has
given to us. to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
be saved. May you and I be blessed with living faith in this dark
age in which we live. We know not, really, what the
future holds for us as individuals, as a nation, in the world, in
these tumultuous times. We don't know what the Lord has
in store. But what a blessing it is, what
a consolation, what a comfort to know that this Word has a
blessed application to you and to me. and we can truly praise
and bless our God, whose mercy endureth for ever. And they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony,
and they loved not their lives unto the death. Amen.