Overcoming by Loving Not Our Lives to the Death

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)

Salvation and strength, the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ, cannot come in the heavens or the earth until the accuser of our brothers is cast down. The accuser of our brothers cannot be cast down until the saints overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and by loving not their lives to the death.

Thus we see that there are three great areas of conquering Satan:

By the blood of the Lamb. Here is the authority for victory.

By the word of our testimony. Here is the power for victory.

By loving not our lives to the death. Here is the consecration for victory.

The authority of the blood; the power of the Word of God; the complete consecration of the saint: this is the formula for victory over the accuser. If one of these elements is lacking, the accuser cannot be overcome.

We are relating the "blood of the Lamb" to the first death and resurrection of redemption, the "word of their testimony" to the second death and resurrection of redemption, and "loving not their lives unto the death" to the third death and resurrection of redemption.

We overcome the accuser of our brothers by loving not our life to the death. All that we cherish must be on the altar of God, ready to be offered to Him at any time. Loving not our life to the death is the way in which we express our absolute obedience to Christ. It requires stern obedience on our part in order to overcome the accuser. It was because of disobedience to God that the accuser fell from his first position.

The first death and resurrection concerns our trusting in the blood of the Lord Jesus for our righteousness before God. It is difficult for us to surrender our pride in our own works and to accept the righteousness that comes to us from God on the basis of the shed blood of the Lamb of God.

Whether we find it easy or difficult to receive Christ, all of us have to do so if we hope to be saved in the Day of Wrath. We must believe and be baptized. Then we begin to learn to overcome the accuser by steadfast reliance on the redeeming blood of God’s own Lamb.

The second death and resurrection concerns our learning to walk in the Holy Spirit. It is a death to sin and a resurrection to life in the Spirit of God. The second death is more difficult for most of us than was true of our initial receiving of salvation in Christ. This new walk in the Spirit requires daily diligence in putting down the appetites of our flesh, choosing each moment to be obedient to the Spirit.

We do not learn to walk in the Spirit after one or two attempts. Learning to walk in the Spirit of God requires all of our attention and devotion. It may be true that most of us are only scratching the surface of life in the Holy Spirit. We have quite a bit more to learn about spiritual warfare, about victory over sin, about resting in the wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit, about the power of Christ’s resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings. "Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord."

As we follow the Holy Spirit in the program of sanctification, the testimony is created in us, the testimony that overcomes the accuser. We learn to hold fast to God’s Word, declaring it to be true and unchanging. As we do, the power of God overcomes the accuser.

Careless Christians neglect to follow the Spirit. Weak Christians do not know how to follow the Spirit. Neither one has the spiritual strength to overcome Satan. Satan does as He will and the weak are largely powerless to hinder him. Careless believers do not bear a true testimony of God’s Person or will.

The third death and resurrection concerns our personal obedience to the Lord. It is death to what we are in the deepest part of our being and resurrection into the Person and ways of God Himself. It is in this realm of death to self that the fullest, ripest fruit is grown. It is here that the kings of darkness are pulled down from their thrones and crushed under foot.

The first death is difficult because of our self-righteousness. The second death is more difficult because we do not enjoy letting go of the weaknesses and unclean practices and thoughts of our flesh, soul, and spirit.

The third death, that of loving not our life to the death, is the most difficult of all. It is an offering up of Isaac, a Joseph imprisonment, a Job-stripping of all gain, a crucifixion with Christ.

Like Jacob of old, we wrestle with the Lord for our life. The outcome is death, life, and a change of name. We gain power with men, but first of all we gain power with God. In the fight we die to self.

The enemy was destroyed by the death of Christ. The enemy can be destroyed today only by the death of the Church, not by its life. We have grand programs and plenty of enthusiasm. All must die! All must die!

God Himself will destroy the enemy. This will take place in us and through us. We give ourselves wholly to God and then the wisdom and the strength become His and His alone. The battle is lost as soon as we come to life and begin to fight the enemy in our own wisdom, strength, and ambition. The battle is the Lord’s.

We cannot enter the third death in terms of our own choosing and timing. God comes to us in His own time, when He sees that we are ripe. It is best for us to rejoice on the level where we are and to make the most of every opportunity to do the work of Christ at hand.

The joy of the Lord is our strength. We are not to be morose people, always dreading what God will say or do next in our life. If we become gloomy, morbid, fastening too much on God’s chastening, the program of redemption will stop until we recover. We cannot move on to the fullness of Christ until we enjoy happy victory in the area already conquered by us.

In God’s time He lays His hand on our life. We kick, we groan, we question God, we hate to let go, we do not like what we are being requested to do. We blame and criticize everybody and everything. Little by little it seeps into our consciousness that it is God, not the devil or people, who is causing our difficulties.

Then we have the choice. We can choose to obey Christ and accept our discipline or we can turn away from the cross.

The crucifixion of our nature is a painful, complicated process that only God can direct. Our part is to endure and to praise God as much as we can.

We often do not understand what God is doing, why He is doing it, what is being accomplished, or when it will be finished. We trust there will be light at the end of the tunnel but we cannot see it from here. God has shut us up in His prison and we cannot come forth without sinning and being disobedient.

Sometimes there is physical pain and literal martyrdom. For many of us, physical martyrdom would be the easier way out. It is quite difficult to endure our troubles day after day with no sympathy from anyone, and yet not fall into surliness or the blaming of people and circumstances. We are to look to God always whether or not we understand what He is doing, and trust in His Word that all things are working together for our good.

We are learning obedience. Obedience is taught to us in the school of frustration and suffering. We are being taught obedience at such a deep level that in the future we can be trusted with responsibility and service to God and the Lamb on a high level.

Our obedience to the Lord Jesus must be instinctive as well as premeditated. We must choose to obey and be so trained by the Lord that in the most difficult of situations we keep on obeying, even when it seems our heart is as stone within us.

We must obey! obey! obey the Lord Jesus! No matter what it costs, we must be obedient. We must deny ourselves and follow Him. Every soldier in the army of Christ is called, chosen, and faithful.

Paul declared he was crucified with Christ and living no longer—Christ was living in his personality. This is the end result of the third death and resurrection. Much pain and perplexity are required to bring us to the place where we are dead and Christ is living in us. Yet this is the "mark" toward which Paul was pressing.

We overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of our testimony, and by the denial of self to the point of death. If there is one point of weakness in these three areas the accuser will know it and will refuse to be cast down.

If we hold back one grain of self, not giving all to the Lord Jesus, the accuser cannot be overcome.

The Holy Spirit is searching throughout the ranks of Christian people today, looking for those who will follow the Lord Jesus in unreserved discipleship. The rewards of fruitfulness and strength to those who will respond with obedience are incalculable.

Will you be one who says Yes? Will you give all to Christ? Will you love not your life to the death? If you will agree to this you will overcome the accuser of the brothers. You will help clear the way for the full victory of Christ in the heavens and on the earth. You will win a victory for multitudes of others who will partake of the spoil left by the enemy in his flight.

It always has been true in Israel that the multitudes have profited from the willingness of God’s "stars" to accept the demands of the Lord. Think about the fruitfulness and strength that have flowed to others as a result of the obedience of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Esther, David, Daniel, Jeremiah, Peter, Paul, the Protestant Reformers, Wesley, Finney, Moody, Brainerd, Watchman Nee, of Christ Himself.

How about us today? Will we take the third step and love not our own life to the death? Are we willing to fall into the ground and die? Will we put all our gain, materially and spiritually, at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, allowing Him to bring us into humiliation and rejection in the world—and in the churches also if He so requires?

Will we allow our justice to be taken from us so we do not receive the rights or gratitude that belong to us? Or will we kick and shove to keep our place in the sight of men?

Christ is looking for those who will share His sufferings. To them will be given the crown of life. They are known to Him and will reign with Him forever. He too had to suffer humiliation and rejection in the world and in the synagogues. He too was denied the rights and gratitude that belonged to Him. He did not kick and shove to keep His place in the sight of men.

Therefore God has exalted Him and has given Him a name that is above every other name. Christ will exalt us if we will be patient and obedient throughout our trials. God is putting every one of the enemies of Christ under His feet. If we will deny ourselves, take up our own cross, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ in absolute obedience, even to the point of death, we will share in His victory over the enemies of God and men.

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