May it please almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the book of the Revelation, chapter 12, and we'll read verse
11 and the first sentence of verse 12. So the book of the
Revelation, chapter 12, verse 11, first sentence in verse 12. 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 therefore rejoice ye heavens
and ye that dwell in them The Word of God has many encouraging
words and we should be very thankful that it is so. And this indeed
surely is one of those words which is encouraging to the Church
of God because it states very clearly and very simply the blessing
that emanates from our God. and how the victory will be gained
and the only way that the victory will be gained because in this
life we are in a battle from the very moment we're born not
understanding it perhaps at that time and right to the very end
the last moment that we live live on this earth we are in
a battle and the battle is with the devil and the devil is a
very strong foe and the devil never gives up and naturally
the devil never weakens and he pursues us continually in one
way and another and in a battle a natural battle there are those
situations where people perhaps have certain weaknesses and nations
may have certain weaknesses and of course the enemy tries to
make the most of that and we know that the the devil tries
to find where our weaknesses are and he's very aware very
often where they are and therefore he concentrates on them and tries
to overturn us turn us away from the things of God he tries to
make us listen to him well We know that the devil has been
a deceiver right from the beginning. When he came into the Garden
of Eden, his great skill was to deceive Adam and Eve. My friends, he hasn't changed.
He hasn't changed the way he operates. That's exactly what
he still does today. He tries to deceive And often
you see he approaches it in this way, by casting a doubt upon
the Word of God, casting a doubt upon the promises of God. And
as he said to Eve, hath God said? It was a question, a question. And that's what he does still
today. He poses a question, hath God
said? See, sometimes then when things
don't appear to be going in a right direction, they appear to be
going in a wrong direction, we are perhaps tempted to think,
well, perhaps God hasn't said, perhaps God hasn't spoken, perhaps
I was, I misunderstood. Well, we should be very aware
and we shouldn't be oblivious through his devices. And as I've
sometimes quoted to you, the case of John Morbiton, who lived
of course many years ago, and yet John Morbiton was greatly
blessed by God on one occasion. And he was blessed so greatly
that he went into a field and he danced before the Lord. Nothing
wrong in that, he was dancing before the Lord, acknowledging
the Lord's goodness to him. And the devil came to him and
he whispered, I did that, I did that. So John Wilberton in his
simplicity, godly simplicity, he simply said devil do it again. Of course the devil wasn't able
to do it again. There was the confirmation that
which he'd been rejoicing in emanated from God. So if perhaps
there are those temptations for us today, and as I've said, the
endeavour hasn't changed, he still endeavours to turn us away
and to doubt the work of God, to doubt the Word of God. Well, there's only one way really
of defeating the devil and the word here tells us how true it
is and they overcame by the blood of the Lamb. It's a wonderful
statement, it's a great truth and may you and I lay hold of
it by God's grace so when we are tempted and perhaps sometimes
when we are overcome perhaps by that evil heart of unbelief. That's what really happens to
Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Lord had told her very clearly
that she wasn't to eat of that tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. Yet she faced with the temptation
of Satan and the attraction of the tree. What did she do? She
disbelieved what God had told her she should not do and therefore
she took the fruit and sinned against God and of course that
was an exceedingly tragic occasion we might say the most tragic
moment in time when because of that sin that action sin came
into the world and that sin passed upon all mankind. And the hymn
writer tells us, all creation groans through thee. Isn't it true today? If there
was no sin, what a different world would be found in. But
because there is sin, we groan beneath it, individually. As a nation, as the world, there
is that groaning under sin. So it was indeed a most terrible
occasion. And it was really because of
unbelief. She therefore was tempted to
disbelieve the great truth that God had told her, the command
that God had told her. And we have this before us in
the word of God and it should be a bright light to us in our
lives today. to not to listen to their temptation
of Satan. Remember, he's always on the
attack. He's always alert. We need sleep. We go to sleep. We're blessed
with sleep. The devil doesn't need it. He's
always alert to try and attack us. And therefore, may we be
so thankful tonight that we have such a great statement as this,
and they, this of course is the living Church of God, and they
overcame, overcame not by their own strength, not by their own
skill, not by their own will, but by the blood of the Lamb,
that sin atoning death of the Saviour. It is a wonderful plan
of salvation that was agreed by the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit back before time in eternity. And now today, because
of that original sin which passed upon all mankind, so that we
all are guilty before a holy God to realize that by the grace
of God, by the free unmerited favour of God, indeed by the
sovereign grace of God, we can be thankful tonight that there
is this overcoming by the blood of the Lamb. Indeed, the Lord
Jesus Christ, he came into this sinful world with this wonderful
purpose to redeem his church, to save his church, to bless
his church, and that the requirement for that was that he, as the
only begotten Son of God, should indeed suffer and should bleed
and should die upon that cross at Calvary. The words in the
Hebrews are so true. Without shedding of blood, there
is no remission. Without shedding of blood, there's
no forgiveness. You and I could not be forgiven,
could not have our sin taken away, were it not for the wonderful
gift of God in giving his life so that we might receive life. And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb. Well there are many instances
in the Word of God about overcoming. Overcoming really is to conquer
or overcoming is also to get the victory. Of course that's
precisely what we need. as we travel on through life. We won't be able to conquer ourselves. We have no ability to. Anything
that we do in our own strength will not be sufficient. Indeed,
sin is mixed with all we do. As the Apostle tells us, when
he wrote to the Romans, in me that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. And how we have to painfully,
those who are true believers, painfully learn that word to
be true. Yes, but what a mercy it is that
we are more than conquerors through him. And so this word overcome. And when the Apostle John was
blessed with that word from God, when he was on the Isle of Patmos,
when he heard the instruction given to the seven churches,
what gracious words they were. And again, as I've told you sometimes,
those messages to the seven churches were to be read to each church
and not just the individual church to whom they were addressed,
but also to have the other messages to the other churches read to
them. And so, what a blessing it is. And again, the Lord in his love
to his church gave us these words of encouragement. And we're told,
just to quote some, in the second chapter, in the seventh verse,
he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches. It's a gracious word. from God
to us, to hear what the Lord says. And as we hear what the
Lord says to us, may it have a gracious impression through
the blessed work of the Holy Spirit. And this is what it says,
to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which
is in the midst of the paradise of God. How do we overcome? We don't overcome because of
our own strength. We don't overcome because of
our own ability. We only overcome in this way
through the blood of the Lamb. So what a mercy tonight if we
receive faith to look to the Lord Jesus Christ, to look to
his finished work. It was Indeed, a glorious work. It was a work that you and I
could never have fathomed, could never have actually contemplated,
that the only begotten Son of God should come into this world
and die in our place. He took our place. There we were,
there we are, judged, condemned to die. And we need a deliverer. We need someone who can free
us from that condemnation. And no one on this earth can
do that. No one is qualified to do it. And yet tonight, we can be thankful
that there is one who is qualified And there is one who has graciously
and gloriously stood in our place, and he bore the punishment instead
of us. We're guilty sinners. We're hell-deserving
sinners. We don't deserve any mercy. And
the writer says, mercy is welcome news indeed to those who guilty
stand. And every born again child of
God comes to that position where they need mercy. And indeed,
that mercy comes only through this great and glorious way,
the blood of the Lamb, the precious blood of Jesus Christ. It should be a theme that we
never tire of. You may remember in the apostles'
day, he preached the same things the next day and the people wanted
him to preach the same things. He didn't want a great lot of
variety. Sometimes people today want a
great lot of variety, but you see the sinner with a need, desires
to hear about the glory of redemption. Because they don't get any better.
Because they sin every day. And therefore they need the cleansing
power of blood. It's good news. It's the news
of the gospel. And what a blessing it is, therefore,
if we know the power of this blood. There is indeed power
in the blood, not our blood, power in the blood of Christ
to cleanse us from all sin. And so tonight, do we rejoice
in this great and wonderful truth. You know the Lord Jesus, when
he came to the end of that glorious sermon he preached in the upper
room to his 11 disciples. And there was so much wonder
in it and so much glory in it. And when he came to the end of
that sermon in the 16th of John and the last verse, verse 33,
this is what we read. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me ye might have peace. There's no peace, my friends,
no true peace outside of Christ. It's a lesson we need to learn
and relearn and bless for the knowledge of it, to rejoice in
it. That's where peace rests, in
the knowledge of Christ, that in me ye might have peace. In the world in which you and
I live today, ye shall have tribulation we
shall have trouble we should have difficulties all
because of sin but he tells us then be a good cheer there's
something to be thankful for and what is that i have overcome
the world You see, we can tell the devil, as he roars around
us and tries to deceive us, tries to make us listen to him, we
can tell him this simple truth. Christ has died. He rather is
risen again. And that's what the devil hates.
He hates to hear about the cross. He hates to hear about the precious
blood of the Saviour, because he knows he cannot overcome that. And they overcame by the blood
of the Lamb. Well, it's a mercy for us tonight
to know, if we are, overcome us, overcome us through Christ. This is what will make the name
of Christ, a name which is above every name, this is what will
make the Lord Jesus Christ precious to us. And Christ is precious. He is valuable to his people. It is really a test of the reality
of our religion. That question, what think ye? Christ is the test what a test it is and what a
mercy it is if we are asked that question if the Holy Spirit ask
us that question what think ye of Christ and we can respond
and we can say my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood
and righteousness. Tonight, where do we stand? Do we stand on that ground? Do
we stand on that rock, the rock Christ Jesus? Is our hope truly
built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and his righteousness? You know, when the apostle wrote
to the Hebrews that's a glorious epistle he wrote explaining to
us some of the mysteries contained in the great and wonderful sacrifice
of the Saviour when he died upon Calvary's cross. But in the earlier
chapter, in the second chapter, he tells us this wonderful truth
and the 14th verse, for as much then as the children partakers
of flesh and blood ye also himself likewise took part of the same
that through death his death he might destroy him that had
the power of death that is the devil see through the death of
the Savior the devil was destroyed I know he's still alive today,
but he cannot conquer. He cannot conquer the church
of God. He will do all that he can. And
that's why our journey through life will be a constant battle. That's why our journey through
life will be one that is never easy, because it's through much
tribulation that we shall enter the kingdom. But there is a good
prospect. There is a good end. And if indeed
our hope is based upon what Christ has done, we can believe that
we shall be one day with Christ, which is far better. O, the comers! When the Apostle
John wrote his epistle The first epistle of the second chapter,
verse 13, he tells us, I write unto you fathers, because you
have known him, that is from the beginning. Well, what a mercy
if we have known our God, our father. I write unto you young
men, because you've overcome the wicked one. I write unto
you, little children, because you've known the Father. This
really sets before us union with Christ. And that's really the
result of the gospel, the result of God's blessing, is to bring
us into union bring us into communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that will give a wonderful
balance as you and I travel through life. Yes, there will be many
things to try us, many things to cast us down because of the
temptations that we are faced with. Well, you see this great
devil, the dragon as it's referred to here, in the ninth verse,
this is what we read together. And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent called the devil and said, which deceiveth
the whole world, not just one or two, the whole world, everyone
is deceived. yes but he was cast out into
the earth and his angels were cast out with him of course in
the account we read we read of that battle between the devil
and his angels and the angels in heaven but you see he was
defeated he is defeated now because of the great and glorious victory
the lord jesus christ gained and we should not ever underestimate
the cost of that victory and the battle that that victory
was because Jesus Christ came into this world as God and man
but he took on our flesh our nature and he suffered in this
world as a man so that you and I can appreciate a little, only
a little, of the cost of our salvation and what he had to
suffer. What he had to suffer. We just
get glimpses of it, don't we? We're not told anything really
about his life. Before he was 30, just the odd
occasion when he was found by his mother before the the eldest
in the temple but then we find from that time when he was revealed
as the son of God indeed when the John the Baptist was able
to declare behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world and when John the Baptist baptized the Lord of
life and glory the Son of God there was that voice from heaven
this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased and as we know
from that time indeed there were those continuous temptations
were those 40 days and 40 nights when he was tempted of the devil
yes but you see the lord did not give way Temptations were
great, the opposition was great, but he was able to tell the devil
and answer the devil from the Word of God. What a mercy therefore
today if you and I are able to answer the devil through the
Word of God, because that really is what is spoken of in this
next clause. We read, And they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,
the testimony of God, the word of God, what a mercy it is today. If we are equipped with this
wonderful blessing, the sword of the spirit, the word of God,
we should indeed be able to resist the devil, as we can quote to
him word of God. The devil sometimes quotes the
word of God, but he always quotes it inaccurately. He quotes it
in accordance with his plan. But if we quote to the devil
the word of God, what a testimony that is, and how that is strengthening
to us as we journey on to realize that we're quoting God's word,
not man's word, God's word. And we can tell the devil it's
God's word that we're quoting. May that be an encouragement
to us as we ponder these words, they overcame him by the blood
of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. Every word of God is pure. Every word of God is good. Indeed, as David tells us, as
for God, his way is perfect. The Word of God is perfect and
everything is perfect. And may we therefore tonight
be truly thankful that we do have this, this Word, the Word
of their testimony. And to thank God the Word of
the Saviour, and to thank God for the life of the Saviour,
because he did not fail, he did not fall, and when we perhaps
think of that which he had to endure as he came to the end of his life,
he had to endure much, especially during those three years when
he was revealed as the Son of God, and then he had to be tempted again of the devil. There he was having been given
that wonderful sermon to his disciples. He then went out into
Gethsemane and there we see his sweat as it were great drops
of blood being in an agony and his prayer was If it be possible,
let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. It wasn't possible, but the Lord Jesus Christ should
not suffer. That was the divine plan of God,
and how humbling and how glorious it should be. for us to meditate,
therefore upon the cost of our salvation. The cost was so great
to think that God himself suffered in this way. Jesus was God, the
second person in the Trinity. There's no doubt about it. Some
people disbelieve it. My friends, the word of God is
true. was indeed and he is the second person in the Trinity
and therefore he suffered if it be possible let this cut pass
from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done a total and
humble submission to the will of his father so you see then
he was taken captive as though he were a criminal. He was no
criminal. We were criminals. We are by
nature criminals. And yet the Lord was taken captive
instead of us. And he was brought into the judgment
hall. And there he was mocked and beaten. Oh, my friends, what he suffered
there. Humiliated. and yet the Son of God, the suffering
Saviour, He overcame. We overcome through the blood
of the Lamb. What does that mean to you and
me? Have we got any appreciation therefore of the great cost of
our salvation? The great price that was to be
paid to remove our sin, every sin, whole load of our sin has
to be removed. Price had to be paid and that
price was the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by God's grace
today we overcome then, we overcome the devil through and by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course then he was condemned
that most excruciating, that most painful death, which you
and I deserve. We deserve the most painful death,
the most excruciating death, because of our sin, sitting against
the Word of God, sitting against His commands. And yet the Lord
Jesus Christ went willingly to Calvary. so weak because of all
he had to endure not strength to carry the cross and then you see there he was
in that position of crucifixion for those so weak and under so
much agony yet you see we see the wonderful love to that dying thief who by the
grace of God was able to confess, we indeed justly, because we
receive the new deserts of our sin, but this man hath done nothing
amiss. This day, shalt thou be with
me in paradise, was the blessed and glorious answer. And so then,
what occurred? His father Our Father hid his
face from him. He was left. He was alone to
endure those agonizing three hours. But he did not fail. He completed, therefore, that
great work. The greatest work that anybody
could be given was given to the Saviour, the only begotten Son
of God. and he fulfilled all that was
required of the holy law of God. On our behalf, indeed, he bore
the punishment instead. So they overcame him, the devil,
by the blood of the Lamb. Tonight I pray and hope therefore
the blood of Christ may mean something to us. It's not just
a mere statement. It's a living reality. It's something
which is really precious. As the Apostle Peter so beautifully
said, yes, he said, it's through the precious, but we're not redeemed
with corruptible things of silver and gold. from our vain conversation
received by tradition from our fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ. How valuable to us tonight is
Christ's blood. It's so valuable because it gives
us the passport to glory. Without the evidence, that blood
was shed for us. We have no passport. into heaven. We don't possess the certificate
that tells us that we are washed, that we're forgiven, that we're
cleansed. What a mercy there for tonight,
if by the grace of God we have the evidence of this great blessing
by the word of their testimonies. word of God which we have to
encourage us the word of God which we can use as a sword against
our great adversary the devil and it goes on just very briefly
and they loved not their lives unto death well are we willing to give our
life are we willing to sacrifice our life There have been many
in the past, those who've given their life, especially in the
age of the Puritans. There were many, many who were
not prepared to be deceived by the devil. The temptations were
very great. The cost was very high. The cost
was their life. yet you see they did not give
in. By the grace of God they stood
firm and some indeed went to the cross, went to the stake
rather rejoicing, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
for his sake. Some of them had a glorious entry
into glory The Lord did not leave them. He did not forsake them. And so they loved not their lives
unto death. They loved the Saviour more.
They loved his great and glorious work. They loved his wonderful
promises. And they looked forward to that
inheritance which was and is incorruptible and undefiled. And so therefore tonight, may
we indeed come and bless God for his wonderful favour and
wonderful blessing. When the Apostle Paul wrote to
the Colossians, he spoke of the wonderful knowledge of knowing
the Saviour. And in the first chapter, 27th
verse, he says, to whom God would make known what is the riches
or the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory. And so tonight, may we have the
evidence that Christ is in us. Indeed, the hope of glory. What a blessing that is. what
a favour it is. And may we tonight rejoice. We
just read this, that first verse in the 12th chapter. Therefore
rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Indeed, the heavenly
hosts do rejoice. And may we therefore be amongst
those who rejoin with that heavenly host and rejoice tonight for
this great and wonderful truth. Remember the sins, the Word of
God. This is the promise of God. This
is the faithful Word of God. And you and I tonight, notwithstanding
all our failures and all our sinfulness and all our shortcomings,
can rely upon what God has done. Our hope is not in ourselves.
It's in the finished work of the Saviour. And so we read And
they overcame him, the devil, a vanquished foe, by the blood
of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. And they
loved not their lives until the death. Amen.