By grace I'm saved, grace free
and boundless. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor. We
are located at 4137 Todd's Road, two miles outside of Manowar
Boulevard. Sunday morning Bible class at 9.45 a.m. Sunday services
are at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday services
at 7 p.m. I'm going to be speaking this
morning out of the 12th chapter of the book of Revelation. I've
entitled this message, How They Overcame. We read beginning in
verse 9 of Revelation chapter 12, 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 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,
and they, these ones who were accused, overcame him, Satan,
and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb." and by the
word of their testimony, and they love not their lives unto
the death." There is a being very powerful,
the devil. He's called in the scriptures
Satan, Lucifer, Apollyon, the God of this world, the prince
of the power of the air, the evil one, the wicked one. He's also called an angel of
light. You see, he comes in deception.
He's called a minister of righteousness. And by those warnings in the
scripture, that lets me know that Satan's great area of influence
is in the pulpit. He comes as a preacher of righteousness,
human righteousness. You know, in the bars and brothels,
he just leaves people alone. They're going to do what they're
going to do. His main area of work is in the pulpit, in religion. Religion, human religion, is
controlled by the devil. He's called by Peter, your adversary. Your adversary, the devil, has
a roaring line goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Now this
very powerful being, the God of this world, Satan, hates God
and all that is associated with God, and he does not know infallibly
whether somebody truly believes in Christ. He doesn't know infallibly
whether or not somebody is one of God's elect. He has no access
to the Lamb's Book of Life, so he'll do everything he can to
keep us from trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll do anything
to keep you from looking to Christ. And what an adversary he is.
You remember the words of the Lord to Peter? Peter, Satan hath
desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. And indeed he did sift Peter
as wheat. Now he is God's devil, don't
forget that. He's on God's chain, and we could have no comfort
without that. The Scripture says, God hath
made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked, for the
day of evil, and Satan is certainly included in that, but what an
adversary he is, and you and I are no match for him. Now he's
presented in that passage of Scripture that I just read as
the accuser of the brethren. Now the brethren are the children
of God. All who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. There are children of God and
there are children of the devil. The Lord taught that in John
chapter 8. Not everybody is a child of God.
There are believers and there are unbelievers. There are the
righteous and there are the wicked. There are the saved and the lost.
Now he's talking about the brethren. Satan accused the brethren He
went to God and made accusations against the brethren night and
day. And he whispers these accusations
in the ears of the brethren. It sounds something like this.
You, a Christian? Look at you. The sinful things
that continually pass through your mind. You, a Christian? Your unclean desires? The evil
things that you do that men do not see, but God does? You, a
Christian? What about the doubts you have? You, a Christian? Look how cold
and formal you are. Look how easily you give in to
temptation. Look how easily you're controlled
by the fear of man, worrying about what men think. Look how
dead you are in public worship. Look how dead you are in private
worship. You, a Christian? Why, you're
nothing more than a hypocrite. You're a pretender. You're an
actor. Saved? Why, if you were really
saved, you wouldn't be this sinful. It would be an act of presumption
on your part to trust Christ. You are far too sinful. Far too perverse. Far too selfish
to be a Christian. You have no right to trust Christ
to save you. You're a sinner. How can you
be saved? All you do is sin? You cannot
stop from sinning? You don't have any claims on
God. Why, you're as bad as the devil. You? A Christian? Have you ever had such thoughts
go through your mind? Satan? is the accuser of the
brethren. And listen to this. Every accusation
he makes is true. He's not telling any lies when
he talks about you, is he? When he makes these accusations
before God, it's not like he's making things up. Everything
he says is true. The accuser of the brethren. But, These people that he accuses.
He's talking about every believer. All of God's elect. All for whom
Christ died. He's not talking about every
man. Not everybody overcomes Satan. But there are some who
do. Every believer. Look what it says in verse 11.
And they overcame him. They defeated him. They whipped
him. They prevailed against him. And here is how they defeated
him. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. Now, here's the only place victory
is. Here's the only answer to these
accusations. The blood of the Lamb, the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, do you remember John the
Baptist? He said, Behold the Lamb of God. which taketh away
the sin of the world." It's always been the blood of the Lamb. He
understood that. Oh, the blood of the Lamb is
what takes away sin, and the only way I can come into God's
presence is through the blood of the Lamb. How did Adam and
Eve feel when the Lord killed that Lamb after they'd fallen?
They were hiding from God. They'd covered themselves with
fig leaves, which represents man trying to cover his sin with
his own works. and God kills a lamb and takes
the skin of that lamb and covers Adam and Eve. They understood
something about the only covering before God comes through the
blood of the lamb. Abel understood this. When he
offered unto God that more excellent sacrifice, he offered the blood
of the lamb. He wouldn't dare come into the
presence of God in his own works. He was coming only in the blood
of that sacrificial lamb that would come. Abraham understood
this. I think of Abraham going up the
mount after God had told him, you sacrifice your own son to
me. Offer him up to me as a burnt
offering. And there they go up in obedience to God's command.
And Isaac said, Father, here's the wood, here's the fire, but
where's the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, my
son, God shall provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
You see, you can't provide a lamb. You can't provide a sacrifice,
but he does. And he provides for himself. You see, for God
to do something for me, he first has to do something for himself.
He has to satisfy his own law and his own offended justice.
And he provides himself as the lamb for the burnt offering.
Moses understood this. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. You get in that house with the
blood of the lamb, the paschal lamb over that door. And when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. What was God looking for?
One thing. He didn't say when I see your
faith. He didn't say when I see your repentance or when I see
your good works or your sincerity. He said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. That's the one thing God was
looking for. Who had to see the blood? He
didn't say, when you see the blood. He said, when I see the
blood, I will pass over you. They overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb. Now, the blood of the Lamb, this
is a reference to his substitutionary death on the cross. So I want
you to listen to me very carefully, because I could not possibly
be talking about anything more important than what I am right
now, the blood of the Lamb. Now let me remind you what took
place on the cross. Christ is the Lamb of God. He is the Lamb of God's providing. Remember, that's how John the
Baptist announced Him, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sins of the world. Christ is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Why, even in heaven, the song
is going to be worthy is the Lamb that was slain. When John
saw the Lion of the tribe of Judah, he said, I looked and
behold, the Lamb as it had been slain. Christ is God's Lamb,
God's sacrifice. Now, why was He sacrificed? Why? The sins of God's elect
became his. He became guilty. You see, God is holy. God is
just. God cannot just pass over sin. He'd cease to be God if he did.
If he forgave your sin without his law being honored and without
his justice being satisfied, he'd cease to be God. He'd be
just like you and I. Sinful, fickle, undependable, unreliable,
but that's not the way God is. God is holy. And God, I don't
understand how He does this, but He does it. I mean, He has
the authority to do this. He took the sins of His people
and He placed them on the Lord Jesus Christ so that the Lord
Jesus Christ actually became guilty of those sins. Who His own self, bear our sins
in His own body on the tree. All that sin is, He was made
to be. Now, when the Lord Jesus, as
the Lamb of God, was nailed to that cross, suffering untold
agony, the Father did not look at Him and say, Son, I know these
sins are not yours, they belong to somebody else, but I'm going
to punish you as if they were. No, that didn't take place at
all. The Father saw Him as guilty. Guilty as charged, the wages
of sin is death. When our Lord poured His wrath
upon Him, He didn't look at Him as not guilty, but just suffering
for somebody else. That would be unjust. No, Christ
was guilty of the sins He was dying for, because when my sin
became His, He bore the shame and the guilt of it. When the
Lamb of God was hanging on that cross, He couldn't say, I know
I didn't sin, these sins belong to somebody else, and I'm just
being punished for the sins of somebody else. That would be
unjust. That would be wrong. No, he knew
he was guilty. When my sin became his, he was
guilty, so he said, my sins and my iniquities. He didn't say
Todd's sins, he said, my sins. He was guilty. He didn't have
the satisfaction of knowing he wasn't guilty. He was truly,
literally suffering the wrath of God as the sinner's substitute. He didn't have his people around
the cross saying, we know you're doing this for us and we love
you for it. No, they all forsook him and
fled. He was all alone as the sin-bearing
substitute, bearing the wrath God all of the sins of all of
God's elect became his and he was forsaken by God now it's
the blood of the Lamb that Answers the accuser of our brethren and
let me read a scripture to you from Romans 8 31 to 34 It says
in verse 31 if God be for us Who can be against us? He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth.
Who is he that condemneth? Bring it on, Satan. Bring every
accusation you have, even if they're all true. Who is he that
condemneth? It is Christ that died. Wasn't a mere man that died.
It was the God-man. It's Christ that died. Oh, there's
sufficient merit in His blood to put away sin. It's Christ
that died. As a matter of fact, that's what
His blood did. It did put away sin. 1 John 3, verse 5 says,
He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. If I'm in Him, I have no sin. It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that's risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. They overcame Him by the
blood of the Lamb. Here's how they defeated this
adversary who accused them day and night before God. It was
through the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now,
let me give you some scriptures that tell us just what the blood
of the Lamb does. In Romans chapter 5, verse 9,
we read much more than being now justified by His blood. Now, justified, what's that mean?
If I'm justified, that means I'm not guilty. It doesn't mean
that I'm treated as if I were not guilty. It says I'm not guilty. The blood of Christ makes it
to where I have no sin. I don't have anything to feel
guilty about in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm justified, cleared
of all guilt. Hebrews 13 verse 12 says, Wherefore
Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood
suffered without the gate. Hebrews 10.10 says, by the witch
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. His blood sanctifies. What does sanctification mean?
It means declares us to be holy, makes us holy. His blood actually
made it to where I and every other child of God are Holy. We're called holy brethren. Partakers of the heavenly calling. Holy. Having the holiness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's made unto us sanctification. His blood makes me holy. That's what it does for everybody
He died for. Colossians chapter 1 verse 20
says, And having made peace through the blood of His cross. Now this
is what the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ did. made peace. People say, have you made your
peace with God? No, I haven't made my peace with God. Christ
made my peace with God. Now God is at peace with me. He's not mad at me. He's not
angry with me. He's at peace with me. He sees
nothing in me but that which He is pleased with through the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
wiped away my sin. And I'm at peace with God. I
can draw near into his presence without fear because of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, it says
that blood of Christ in Colossians 1.22 says it made us holy and
unblameable. and unreprovable in His sight,
in the very sight of God. And if God sees me as holy and
unblameable and unreprovable, it's because I am holy and unblameable
and unreprovable through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In John chapter 1, verse 7, we read that the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us. From all sin. The word cleanses means He made
us to be without blemish. Without blemish. Perfect in God's
sight. Without spot or wrinkle or any
such thing. A beautiful, perfect bride for
the Lord Jesus Christ. Without blemish. And then we
read in Revelation 1.5 that He washed us by His blood. Now unto
Him that loved us and washed us. from our sins in his own
blood and made us kings and priests to our God. Now this is what
his blood has done. Washed away all of our sins and
in doing that he's made us something to be that we were not by nature.
Kings and priests to God. Oh, the believer is special by
the grace of God. He's a king and he's a priest
to God. Ephesians 2.13 says his blood
has made us nigh. You who were before time afar
off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. I'm not far from God.
I'm just as near as Christ is. Near. So near to God. Near. I cannot be. For in the
person of his dear Son, I'm as near to God as he. Dear. So dear to God. Dear. I cannot
be. For in the person of his Son,
I'm as dear to God as he. I'm close. Nye. You know, I was listening to
a preacher recently who said that justification is a legal
standing before God, but what I want is to get into God's lap.
Now listen to me. That man didn't understand what
justification means because justification puts me in God's lap. I'm near
to God. He's pleased with me. We read
in Ephesians 1 7, in whom we have redemption through his blood,
Even the forgiveness of sins. God forgives sins through the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all my sins are forgiven.
They're washed away. They're put away. Why, Hebrews
12, 24 speaks of the blood that speaks better things than that
of Abel. Our Lord Jesus Christ, His blood has something to say.
It speaks. And it speaks better things than that of Abel. What
did Abel's blood say? Remember when the Lord said,
your brother's blood cries to me from the ground? It cries
out vengeance. Punish him. Put him to death.
That's what he's got coming. But what does the blood of Christ
cry out? It says, forgive him. His sin has been put away. His
sin has been washed away. He must have mercy. He must have
grace. You must receive Him. You must
accept Him because I died for Him. Oh, what a glorious thing
the blood of Christ says. We read in Romans 3, verses 24
and 25, being justified freely. That means with no reason in
you. You know, if God saves me or you, He didn't find a reason
in us to do it. He did it because he would. Freely.
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus whom God has set forth to be a propitiation,
a appeasement, a sin atonement, a covering, a mercy seat. God
set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. Do you have faith in his blood?
Do you really believe that His blood is all that's needed to
make you perfect in God's sight? Do you believe that if He died
for you, you must be saved? You can't run the risk of the
hazard of the possibility of being anything but saved if He
shed His precious blood for you because you believe in the power
of His blood. What can wash away my sin? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. But His blood does wash away
my sin. His blood does make me whole again. We read in Hebrews
10.19, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest
boldness, confidence to enter into the very presence of a thrice
holy God through the blood of Jesus. Now that's what his blood
does. It gives every believer boldness,
confidence to enter into the very presence of God. They overcame
these brethren who Satan was accusing them. They overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb. Let's go on reading. It says
in verse 11, they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and
by the word of their testimony. Every believer will testify to
this. Now, I hear religious people
give testimonies, and for the most part, I don't like them.
It's a glorification of the flesh. I used to be so bad. Look how
good I am now. I despise hearing that kind of
stuff. That's no testimony. That's just parading your flesh.
Here's the testimony of the believer. We overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb. No other testimony. Not by our works. The blood of
the Lamb is our victory. And we testify to this. This
is what we really believe. What can wash away my sin? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon, this I say, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone, nothing
but the blood of Jesus, not of good that I have done, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is that flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. This is the testimony of every
believer. We overcame our adversary. the accuser of the brethren with
all his accusations all of which are true we still overcame him
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and then he says and they
love not their lives even unto death that tells me that every
believer is willing to die for this I'm not just spouting out
doctrine. What I've been talking to you
about, what I've been trying to preach, they overcame Him
by the blood of the Lamb. Christ Jesus' blood is everything
in salvation. It's enough to, nothing else
is needed. That's enough to motivate me.
Now what I'm talking about, by the grace of God, I'm willing
to die for this. And every believer is willing
to die for this glorious message of salvation by the blood of
the Lamb. You see, it's the blood that
maketh atonement for the soul. And this is my hope. The only
hope that I have is that Jesus Christ died for me. That's the
only hope I have. hate this teaching that says
that Jesus Christ died for everybody, but you might go to hell anyway
if you don't do something to make what he did work for you.
There's no gospel in that. The only hope that I have is
that Jesus Christ died for me. And by his grace, I am willing
to die for this glorious message. They overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb. That's my testimony. That's every
believer's testimony. And by His grace, we're willing
to die for this. Now we have this message on cassette
tape, CD or DVD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. By grace I'm saved, grace free
and boundless. You have been listening to a
message by our pastor, Todd Nyberg. Address all correspondences to
Pastor Todd Nyberg, Care of Todd's Road Grace Church, 4137 Todd's
Road, Lexington, KY 40509.