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two interesting articles on Overcoming The Devil
About
midway through Revelation (12:11 to be exact) there is an oft-misquoted passage
detailing how "the accuser of the brethren," A.K.A. Satan, has been defeated.
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony,"
Most quoters stop there. "'Blood of the Lamb, word of their testimony!' -- that's how you overcome the Devil!" That's the only way I'd ever heard it told -- a two element battle plan. Read the passage and you'll find that the verse does not end there. There is one more, overlooked element in this "overcoming the devil" business.
"...and they loved not their lives unto the death."
Ouch. They weren't afraid to die.
They held no regard for that mother of all fears: Death. When I say "mother of
all fears" I mean it. It's been said fear of death is the only fear, that
if you traced every fear back to its root they would all come down to one thing:
being afraid that death is the ultimate, end result of the thing which you fear.
This scripture asks us to not care about our mortal lives, to be fearless even
in the face of death, even if what we are called to do could possible end our
lives.
"Love not your lives! Die!" That's not something we want to hear. No wonder
most people stop with the first two elements; this passage might not be as
popular if presented in its entirety, though this fearlessness had always been
required. When Jesus sent out his disciples, he instructed --
"And fear not them which kill
the body, but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
Matthew 10:28
So then, we have three -- not two, three! -- elements required to overcome the enemy.
1) The Blood of the Lamb
(Jesus).
2) The word of your testimony (and I have to tell you, Saints, you don't get a
testimony without going through some stuff).
3) Don't be afraid to die, regardless of what faces you. (You've got to be
fearless, which is a continuing theme of Revelation.)
genenash.com
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Blood Victory! - A class on overcoming the devil By Pastor Simon
As much as God has plans for you the devil has plans against you. The devil has plans against you to thwart the plans God has for you. You are going to have to learn how to overcome the devil and render him incapable of carrying out this negative, destructive activity in your life.
God's plans for you will start happening when you get wholly involved in them. The devil's plans against you will be impotent and fail when you separate yourself from them.
Jesus' mighty victory
Jesus won an indisputable and absolute victory over Satan. By His death and in His resurrection He annihilated the devil and triumphed over him. By his death the tyranny of sin was broken, the curse was annulled and the way was made for us to walk in victory through righteousness and grace. (Romans 5:17)
It's up to you and me now. We are going to have to learn to walk in this provision of victory. We must learn to reign in life. We must learn to reign over the devil. The moment we do we will start enjoying the fruits of Christ's victory and the world will be given a demonstration of the devil's defeat.
The devil is well aware of his defeat. He realises the Church is now set up as an occupational army on the Earth. Nevertheless, far from giving up and leaving the scene he fights on as a terrorist. As a terrorist the devil wages a war of propaganda, theft, killings and general destruction where ever he sees a vulnerable target.
Satan's propaganda
The devil's propaganda is directed against you. It is based on accusation. By accusation he attacks your perception of yourself as God's child. He aims to get you to relinquish your power and privilege. How are you to stop him doing this? How are you to overcome him so you can reign over him?
The Book of Revelation reveals how the saints have overcome, do overcome and will overcome the devil. John writes,
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.
Revelation 12:11.
This is how the saints overcome the devil. You are one of the saints. You will overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. You will overcome him by the word of your testimony. You will overcome him by not being in love with yourself but being willing to die for Christ.
Saints' word of testimony
Everyone who moves and breathes on this Earth has a word of testimony. It is what each person says about him or herself.
What is your word of testimony? What do you - as one of the saints - have to say about yourself? Do you repeat what the devil has to say about you? Do you say what the world is saying about you? Do you say what you're thinking about yourself?
What do you say? The only word of testimony you should say about yourself is what God has to say about you. His Word is truth and His Word gives testimony in absolute truth about you.
Don't open your mouth and lie against the truth! Don't contradict His Word! Let His Word about you - and only His Word - be your word of testimony. James 3:14.
Jesus your Advocate stands up in the court of Heaven and defends you using your word of testimony. Be sure you're telling the truth; His Word. Jesus takes this word of your testimony to advocate for you and when He does, God - the judge of all - immediately throws out Satan's whole case against you!
Overcoming lifestyle
There is a lifestyle that overcomes the devil. This lifestyle is summed up in the words,
They (the saints) weren't in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ.
Revelation 12:11b - The Message
This is Eugene Peterson's translation. This insightful translation reveals to us what an overcoming lifestyle is.
You will overcome the devil when your affection is on Christ - not on self. You will overcome him when you conduct your life by faith as a spiritual creation of God.
You will not gain the upper hand when you live as a soulish, sense realm person; this is to be in love with self. You will overcome him when you live in the spirit, walking by faith. (See Romans 1:17 and 2 Corinthians 5:7.)
You can do this because this is how God created you as His child at your new birth. (Psalm 112:6-8 and 2 Corinthians 4:18.)
Blood of sprinkling
There is a blood that overcomes the devil. It is the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus declares our victory. His blood sealed the devil's defeat. His blood continues to ensure our ongoing overcoming of him.
Jesus' blood became the blood of sprinkling for us. It is His blood that has sprinkled our hearts and by it our consciences were cleansed. It is His blood that has sprinkled the tabernacle and by it a way into the Holiest of Holies - the throne room of God - has been consecrated for us. (Hebrews 10:19-22.)
The Bible tells us we have come to this blood of sprinkling.
You have come to...Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks (of mercy), a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel (which cried out for vengeance).
Hebrews 12:24 Amplified.
We have a remarkable declaration in this scripture - the declaration that the sprinkled blood of Jesus speaks of mercy. It is a noble and gracious message His blood speaks because it speaks of covenant mercy. It speaks of the mercy that we find in our New Covenant relationship with God, the Father.
In contrast, the blood of Abel spoke for vengeance. In Genesis we read that God confronted the murderer Cain with these words,
What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.
Genesis 4:10 - NKJV.
These words from God tell us of a specific cry to Him from a specific blood on a specific place. These words in Genesis introduce us to the principle the writer of Hebrews reveals to us.
Abel's blood spoke for vengeance and now the sprinkled blood of Jesus speaks for mercy - covenant mercy. Jesus' blood has no need to speak from the ground as Abel's did, instead it speaks from every place He sprinkled it when He ratified the New Covenant! (See Hebrews 9:19-24.)
Protected by the blood
Let the blood speak from your heart. Let it declare to the devil and all of hell that you are God's. The devil and hell have no hold or power over you. You are the redeemed.
You have been redeemed to God by Jesus' blood. You have been set free from the waterless pit because of the blood of His covenant. (See Zechariah 9:11.) You are now one of God's people - peculiarly His own because He has personally made you His possession.
The devil has to pass over the realms of those who have accepted Jesus' sacrifice and who now let the blood speak of what it has performed. Today the destroyer must pass over such believers in the same way he had to pass over the children of Israel before their departure from Egypt! Exodus 12:21-23.
Testimony of protection
My family and I know by His Word brought to us by His Spirit that the devil is powerless around us. We have a revelation of what the blood of Jesus has accomplished for us. We have a revelation of what His blood says from our hearts.
We draw the devil's attention to the blood. We order him to heed what it says about us. The devil only needs to look as if he's thinking of encroaching on our land and we shout, "Behold the blood of Jesus, Satan! Pass over and be gone!"
As a result, though he may threaten it, he finds no opportunity with us for his acts of terrorism. It happens for us as it happened for the children of Israel - the destroyer, the devil, passes over!
Jesus by His blood signed us out of the hostile land of oppression and darkness in which we were previously compelled to live. Scripture reveals Jesus is the Passover Lamb for us, His people of today.
For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
1 Corinthians 5:7.
By being our Passover Jesus brought an end to the devil's tyranny over us. He rendered him idle; for us He took from him his power of death. Hebrews 2:14.
This is the message from our hearts that the sprinkled blood of Jesus has for the devil. We are to compel him to heed it.
How to overcome Satan's accusations
Insist Satan hears what the sprinkled blood of Jesus says from your heart! Let the blood answer the accuser. The next time he accuses you, let the sprinkled blood provide your answer.
Satan accuses you trying to make you feel you have no right to be in the Father's presence calling yourself His child. Plead the blood when he does this. Draw attention to the sprinkled blood on your heart. (N.B. "Plead" is a legal term as in the question, "What do you plead?". You answer, "I plead the blood!")
You can declare, "My right standing with God, devil, doesn't depend on what I have managed to achieve under the law. You need to hear what the blood of sprinkling has to say about my right standing with God. It says what God's Word says - I have been justified by His blood!" Romans 5:9.
How to come into the Father's presence
The blood will see you into the Father's presence. Let the blood speak from your heart. Let the blood speak from the way into the Holiest. Listen to its gracious message!
The sprinkled blood says to you from your heart, "Your heart has been sprinkled from an evil conscience to serve the living God. The blood has lifted away all your sin. You have been justified by the blood of sprinkling."
The sprinkled blood of Jesus then says to you from the tabernacle, "Have confidence to enter into the Holiest! Confidently draw near by the blood sprinkled way to the Father! Jesus has consecrated this way for you with His own blood."
Jesus sprinkled the tabernacle with His own blood when he ratified the New Covenant. He consecrated a new and living way for you to enter the Holiest of Holies.
The moment you begin to hear the blood speaking to you this gracious message you will want to walk the way it consecrated. You will walk right into the Holiest and the Father's presence.
In the Father's presence your sonship relationship with Him will grow. In His presence you will minister praises to Him as one of His royal priesthood. In His presence your enemies will fall and perish. In His presence the blood of Jesus will do an ongoing work of constantly cleansing you from sin in all its forms and manifestations. 1 John 1:7.
Blood speaking from the Book
Finally, let the blood speak from the Book. Jesus' blood speaks to our God of covenant mercy from the Book of the Covenant that He ratified with the blood of sprinkling.
The sprinkled blood of Jesus cries out from the Book of the Covenant. You ought to know the blood speaks out to God for you from the pages of your covenant book! The blood is there to speak for you!
Your heart has been crying out to see the marvelous favor of the New Covenant prevailing throughout every aspect of your life. Now give your heart a break; let the Blood speak!
When you know the Blood speaks you can pray like this, "Father, in the Name of Jesus, I let the Blood speak from the Book of the Covenant about my covenant with you. Father hear its cry for the covenant to be fulfilled in my life!"