“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.” (Revelation 12:11).
Satan knows that if he can cause us to be occupied more with our failures rather than with the gospel, he can destroy our effectiveness. The Lord, however, wants us to know that those old sins, those sins that cast long shadows, those specific, shameful, embarrassing sins that loom up in our memories to condemn us are all done away with through the blood of Christ. It is crucial that we grasp this truth and let it soak into our thinking. We must continually remember that God has dealt graciously and justly with all of our failures through the blood of Jesus Christ.
But, how do we make this knowledge work practically? Let’s say you are a believer in Jesus Christ, but you have just sinned. You disobeyed a clear command in God’s Word. Maybe it was anger or lust or swearing or stealing or whatever. The Holy Spirit immediately convicts you of sin. So, you repent and confess to God and appropriate His cleansing (1 John 1:9). So far so good!
But, then the enemy comes and whispers, “A fine Christian you are! Do you really think your sins are forgiven? Ha! You’re not even saved! You’re guilty my friend, and you know it. Forget all of this nonsense about being saved by grace!”
How do you answer him? It would seem that he is right. You claim to be a Christian and yet you deliberately and knowingly sinned against God. There is only one way to answer the devil when he accuses you in this way: you say, “You’re right, Satan, I did sin. But my salvation does not rest on my sinless performance, but rather on the sinless performance of the Lord Jesus who shed His sinless blood for me. I’m trusting in His shed blood, and if His blood isn’t adequate to acquit me, I am doomed. So the Lord rebuke you, Satan!” (Zechariah 3:1-5).
Now notice what our text says about overcoming the devil, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb!” Did they overcome by ceaseless incantations? No! Was it by the casting out of demons? No! Someone asks, “But what formula did they use to overcome?” None! Did they overcome by binding and loosing? No! They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, the sacrificial Lamb. They overcame him because their sins had been taken away by the Lamb. They overcame because they believed that no accusation made against them would prosper. Indeed, no accusation against the saints of any generation can stand before the throne of God because all Satan’s accusations against us fall on deaf ears in heaven. That’s the power of the blood!
The blood of the Lamb is sufficient for our victory over Satan. Throughout the ages, the blood of Christ, the sacrificial lamb, has been the refuge and fortress to which believers have fled. By faith, we know and claim that the blood of Christ is entirely effective. It’s like this, either the Lord Jesus put away sin, or He did not. If He did not, how will it ever be put away? If He did, then Believers are in the clear.
By the way, when the enemy attacks us and accuses us, we shouldn’t take it personally. The attack is not against us. It’s against the Lord Jesus and His honour. The Devil always loves to attack the integrity and effectiveness of the blood as he insinuate that the Cross has not done enough for us. How he delights to cast aspersions on the Lord Jesus. How he delights to try to get believers to lose confidence in the blood of the Lamb.
However, the blood of the Lord Jesus, is the conquering weapon. Had He not poured out His soul unto death, had He not been numbered with the transgressors we should have had no weapon with which to overcome the evil one.
And that’s the Gospel Truth!