Revelation 12. 11. (The Message) ‘They (the saints) defeated the Devil through the Blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness. They were not in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.’

John the apostle received revelation while a prisoner of Rome on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. Many of Paul’s New Testament letters were written while he was imprisoned, but he discovered that the Word of God is not bound.’ 2 Timothy 2. 9. While locked up in Bedford Gaol, John Bunyan wrote a best seller: Pilgrim’s Progress. Here are proofs that God’s Word is not a prisoner.
Do we value the access we have to the Word of God?
Although John the apostle was separated from Family friends and fellowship for some months, at no time was he separated from God or from Heaven. Paul wrote these immortal words: ‘Nothing (and no one) can separate us from the Love of God. Romans 8. 35. John was set apart in order to receive a picture of the risen exalted Christ, a health check on seven churches in Turkey, and a panoramic view of the future and the end of time. It was while Moses was on his own that God called him to lead the Jews out of Egyptian slavery into the freedom of nationhood in the Promised Land.
Make it your daily habit to get alone with God. Matthew 6. 6. (Living Bible) But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly. And your Father will reward you.

In our text, Christ is commending the sacrificial lifestyle of His followers. 2 Corinthians 10. 18. (Living Bible) ‘When someone boasts about himself and how well he has done, it doesn’t count for much. But when the Lord commends him, that’s different.’ It’s Christ approval on our lifestyle that matters in this life and on Judgement Day.

Revelation 12. 11. ‘And the saints overcame him.’  The opposition is identified in v 10 as ‘The Accuser of the Brethren, who informs on us to God all the time.’ Today, in certain parts of the World Christians are being betrayed to the authorities for their faith, and suffer as a result. If you have the freedom to practice your faith, thank God for it! Even Christ was betrayed by one of His disciples! When the Accuser shows up in your life, dismiss him with these words: ‘Who will bring any charges against those who God has chosen? It is God Who justifies.’ Romans 8. 33. Note the Poet: ‘I hear the accuser roar of ills that I have done: I know them well and thousands more; Jehovah findeth none.’

Revelation 12. 11. ‘And the saints overcame the Devil.’ Are we living over the circumstances or under them? The word ‘Overcomers’ in our text and the phrase ‘More than conquerers’ in Romans 8. 37 have the same meaning and are interchangeable. These two expressions sum up the normal Christian life. In each of His letters to the seven churches (Revelation 2 and 3) Christ has a promise for those who are ‘Overcomers.’ Christ expect us to be ‘more than conquerers.’ Overcoming is all about conquest, victory, prevailing, subduing. Jesus, speaking to His disciples: ‘In this godless World you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart, I have conquered the World.’ John 16. 33.

Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) was blinded as a baby. Yet she overcame her handicap and went on to write many hymns, some of which were translated into over 200 languages. One example: ‘Pass me not O gentle Saviour, hear my humble cry, while on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.’   ‘Resist the Devil, and he will run from you.’  James 4. 7.
Revelation 12. 11. ‘The saints defeated the Devil through the Blood of the Lamb.’  Blood sacrifice for sin is absent from most of the major faiths of today. Human history climaxed at the Cross of Christ.
All you will find in the Faith Room in the United Nations building in New York is a slab of black marble. The foundation of our personal triumph over the Devil, is earthed in the poured out Blood of Christ.
Victory over the accuser is not possible in our own strength, but only through the Blood of God’s Lamb.

Revelation 12. 11. ‘The saints defeated the Devil by the word of their witness,’ 1 Timothy 6. 13. (Living Bible) ‘Christ Jesus gave a fearless witness before Pontius Pilate.’ A role model for us to copy. Christ has issued all His disciples with a job description, and there is no get out clause: ‘You shall be witnesses unto Me.’ Acts. 1. 8. Quote: ‘The Gospel is not something we go to Church to hear. It is something we go from church to tell.’  Jeremiah lamented: ‘Truth has fallen in the streets.’ It’s our job to set the record straight, and share the Good News of Christ as it really is. Christ described Antipas, the bishop of Pergamos, who was martyred for his faith: ‘My faithful witness.’ Revelation 2. 13.

Revelation 12. 11. ‘The saints were not in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.’ James Hunt was a missionary to the cannibal infested island of Figi. He was asked: ‘Weren’t you afraid of being eaten alive?’ He replied: ‘ I died before I went.’  Quote: ‘Selfishness follows the line of least resistance.’ ‘They did not love their lives unto death,’ means consistency, faithful to the end. Kingdom business is all about the long haul, not the lightning strike. The ultimate sacrifice we can make for Christ is ourselves.
Jim Elliot, along with 4 other missionaries died at their first attempt to share the Gospel with Auca Indians in the jungles of Ecuador. Prior to his martyrdom, Jim Elliot wrote these immortal words: ‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.’  Quote: ‘Too much of our Christianity today is drowned in sentiment, but devoid of sacrifice.’ Hymnwriter: ‘Thy life was given for me, Thy Blood O Lord was shed, that I might ransomed be and quickened from the dead. Thy life was given for me, what have I given to Thee?’
CLIMAX: ‘The saints defeated the Devil through the Blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness. They were not in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.’
Instead of overcoming the disciples of Christ with accusations, the Devil can be conquered by the saints – you and me. The accusations the Devil levels at us rebound back on him!