“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their soul life even unto death.” Revelation 12:11

The Word of God reveals to us very plainly the truth of our need for utter dependence upon God and our utter helplessness apart from Him (Jn 15:5); however, it also indicate that the believer not only has a share of his own responsibility (Phi 2:12) and that there is a defense that is one hundred per cent effective. This matter of personal victory over the attacks of Satan is on exactly the same basis as everything else we get from God. In this as in everything else the divine provision is perfect and complete. Perfect employment of the Word of God fully equips us (2Tim 3:17) and the whole armor of God provides us perfect protection without a vulnerable shink in the armor. We have the confirmation of verses such as: "We know that whosoever is born of God does not sin; but he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one does not touch him” (1 Jn 5:18).

Revelation 12:11 first speaks of the the overcoming power that we have in the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. When the destroying angel passed through Egypt, slaying the first born, every home upon whose lintel and door posts the blood of a lamb was sprinkled, was safe. The guarantee was, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” That blood upon the lintel was mute testimony that death had already visited that home and the claims of the destroying angel were already cancelled. And it was of course a type of Christ’s shed blood upon the cross, which actually did cancel all of God’s claims upon all men and at the same time answers Satan's accusations (Heb 9:14). Wherever therefore the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is appropriated by faith, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, can no longer place guilt upon our conscience. He cannot touch what the blood of Christ covers. For the blood is the token of Christ’s victory over Satan at Calvary and is the one thing, when used with faith against him, which he cannot pass.

The blood of Christ also stands for Calvary. It speaks of Christ Jesus’ death upon the cross which canceled Satan’s legal claims, because we have been redeemed by the blood of Chrst! 2Corinthians 5:15 tells us that the death of Christ has bought us so that we now belong to Christ. When that cross touches in us that upon which Satan has a claim, that in us which formerly belongs to Satan, Satan’s claims in us are practically canceled. As we permit the cross to set aside our flesh, Satan loses his claims and his power over us. Wherever Satan sees the blood on any part of your life or nature he, like the destroying angel, must pass over, for death has already been there. Our responsibility is to constantly apply the blood of Christ to wash our conscience and our entire being to not only silence the accusations of the enemy but also to remind him that he no longer has any ground or ownership in our entire being!

Revelation 12:11 continues with the second phrase, "They overcame ... by the word of their testimony." The word of testimony in the mouth of a man whose entire soul life is yielded up to the cross as fast as it is revealed to him, is what defeats Satan. Satan cannot touch anything in us which the cross has touched. The way the born again soul keeps himself so that the wicked one touches him not is by constantly yielding to the cross and keeping all of his inner and outer life covered by the blood.

Another great means of grace by which the blood-covered soul is kept so that Satan cannot touch him is by the "word of their testimony." It is Satan’s strategy to harass and wear out the saints. He attacks wherever he can find an opening. He attacks the mind, the spirit, the emotions and the body of the saint. The Word of God clearly teaches that demons are the cause of much physical oppression and I am convinced that many such physical attacks are the result of personal demon activity. The remedy is the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony the testimony directed definitely to Satan and his agents.

The next time you recognize an attack on your body from Satan or one of his agents, remind him that all of his claims upon you have been completely canceled at the cross. Say to him that he has no right to touch your body and command him in the name of Jesus and of Christ’s victory at the cross to leave you and release your body at once. Keep a steady and stiff resistance to him in this way, exercising faith in the blood and believing and thanking God. Be persistent. Do not give up and as you submit yourself to God in withstanding the devil, he will have no choice but to go (1 Pet 5:8-9).

There are times when a saint will awaken in the morning under a mental or spiritual depression for no apparent reason at all. We are told in the Bible that King Saul was under such evil spirit's oppression as well. There may be no reason for it except that a demon or a number of demons have conspired to drag him down in his spirit or emotions. The remedy is the same. Recognize the attack of Satan and his agents and in the all-availing name of Jesus command them to leave you, to take their hands off of you, to release your mind and spirit, and emotions. Insist upon it in the victorious Name and the Blood of Christ Jesus. Maintain and exercise it in faith and Satan will flee from you.

Another of Satan’s most successful weapons against us is spiritual pride, a sense of self-satisfaction or of personal/spiritual superiority, a spirit of self-exaltation seeking self-glory. Satan knows that if he can get us to accept such a spirit, we are at his mercy and are completely defeated for he knows all too well that “God resists the proud” (1Pet 5:5). This also relates to the last phrase of the above quoted verse about not loving our soul life even unto death. The remedy for this is the same. First recognize such a spirit as from the enemy and immediately rebuke it in the name of Christ and reject it immediately. You will have to be constantly on your guard but if you use the blood and the word of command, in faith, you will remain victor and the wicked one will not touch you. There is absolutely no place in your life where you have been defeated that you cannot have victory.

There is power in the blood of Jesus, the stream that flows from Calvary, and when a soul is completely submerged, when the soul life is fully yielded to the cross, the wicked one cannot touch him. To shield ourselves from the attack of the enemy, we need to also put on the whole armour of God. This truth is clearly taught in Ephesians 6:11: "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." It is interesting to note that the first article in this armor is the "girdle of truth." The basis of victory over Satan is the truth, and particularly the truth of Christ’s complete victory over him on our behalf. We must realize, first of all, that the battle is already won. We must be convinced that Christ is not going to be but is even now on the throne. We must see that our fight is not to conquer Satan but to stand for a victory over him already won by Christ, and insist upon the manifestation of that victory.

Also, please note the word “take” is a clear implication is that if we take the whole armor, we shall be able to stand. Christ the Lord has already done His part in winning the battle for us and providing us with a full armor for our defense as well as offense against the enemy, but we must now take the initiative in this matter. It is up to us.

The next article is “the breastplate of righteousness”(Eph 6:14b). We know that Christ alone is our righteousness. Living in our uncrucified flesh can never meet up to the righteousness of God; rather it spells total defeat for us inspite of how good a flesh we may have. Actually if we can see our flesh as God sees it, we shall realize that in our flesh “nothing good dwells!”(Rom 7:18). For this reason, the last phrase of Revelation 12:11 says that we need to also not love our soul life even unto death. This practically means that we must take up our cross daily and die to our soul life and our flesh. When we are dead to our soul life and our flesh, there is absolutely nothing that the enemy can do against us inwardly, because we have effectively neutralized his only ground of operations within our fallen nature.

Since we have covered the main topical verse of Revelation 12:11, I will defer the coverage of the remaining pieces of the armor to a future date. To conclude, we have seen that a believer who comprehends fully the power of the blood and the victory of Christ and who identifies himself with the Victor by virtue of a battle already won by Christ--uses the word of testimony and command, may be kept safely so that “the wicked one touch does not him” and in the words of Paul’s exhortation "remains victor on the field" (Eph 6:10-18). The fully armed soldier-believer first of all gathers up all the loose ends of his attire to prevent him/her from stumbling and binds them closely to him out of the way by the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness which covers the heart, for the protection of his emotions, and above all he/she neutralizes and overcomes the enemy by not loving the soul life even to death. Praise the Lord for this practical way of victory the Lord has given us!