42. Glory of Perfect Victory
Glory of Perfect Victory
Notice what leads us on from a cleansed character, inRevelation 12:11 : “They overcame him (that is, the accuser mentioned inRevelation 12:10) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Now there comes the glory of the perfect victory. Our lives would lack some of their richest experience if victory were not possible, such a victory as is spoken of here. In the gathering of the heavenly ones around the throne there will be seen the full extent of that victory won on the cross, and, thank God, we can know that victory here, and we can know it in growing measure just as we yield our lives in an act of clear surrender to Him for a life of real honest witnessing and service.
There is nothing within the circle of our lives that may not be within the range of that perfect victory. There is no weakness, no sin, no failure, no flaw in our characters through which the accuser can harass us that cannot be brought under the power of this precious blood, so that that blood defeats him and checks him and overcomes him and drives him off the field. I do not believe there is one single thing affecting our lives in relation to God and His service where we may not know absolute, complete victory, provided the cross is having liberty in our lives to work out its purpose. As soon as the Lord Jesus Christ is in the place of supremacy and we are in Him, then logically, through infinite grace, we too are where we can reign. Therefore, defeat must mean slackness on our part. That slackness is almost always found either in our witness or in our surrender.
What is the witness that is so necessary and so powerful? What is the testimony that John speaks here? “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony”What is that? Much more than merely being able to say, “I was saved twenty years ago.” Much more than being able to say, “At Stony Brook, in 1922, I entered into the real fullness of blessing.” It is a testimony against the enemy. It means recognizing the enemy and then joining the Holy Spirit in His judgment upon the enemy.
What is the Holy Spirit’s judgment upon Satan? That he is defeated. Therefore, giving our testimony is taking up this position that is ours in Christ, and standing there in opposition to this great enemy with all the forces which are ours through the cross, and through the Holy Spirit, and using the powers which God has given us to resist him and to overcome him. Remember he is defeated. You do not need to defeat him; he is defeated, he was defeated at Calvary. Never fail to remind him of it. Give your testimony against his works, give your testimony as to his defeat, and as to the certainty, to your certainty, that he cannot triumph. Then, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ you can command him to go. That power is yours only in the measure in which you love not your lives unto the death. That power to bear testimony against the enemy and to bring the victory of Calvary into actual operation in your own experience depends upon the reality of your own surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ so that He is having full possession of you and you are not holding back anything.
There is the glory of perfect victory that can be yours every hour, every day, right on until the Lord comes. “They overcame him (the accuser) by the blood of the Lamb,” and he will never stand against the blood, he will never stand against the cross. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” that he is defeated, and therefore has no right to interfere with you. “And they loved not their lives unto the death.”