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And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. -Revelation 12:10-11
As these words of our mighty and good God seep into your head and heart, would you ask these questions with me: Do we recognize the accusations that plague us as being from the accuser, Satan, who is the father of lies (John 8:44) and the deceiver of the whole world (Rev. 12:9)? And do we rest in the truth that one day he will be entirely thrown down and conquered by the blood of the Lamb?
These verses have been a balm to my soul. The Lord has been reminding me through them that there is a real accuser and a very real spiritual battle going on. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12) I think we forget all about the battle and wonder why we so easily fall into believing lies about ourselves and others.
But in remembering that we have an accuser, we must also remember that we serve a mighty God who is our deliverer, defender, healer, and savior. We have his armor (Eph. 6:11-17), and he goes before us and will be with us (Deut. 31:8). And even on days when we succumb to those accusations and believe them, we have the hope that Jesus has ultimately conquered not only the accuser but also death and sin. Weary of believing the accusations, I am learning, by God’s grace, to come to him and to worship him as the God who delights in me and sings over me (Zeph. 3:17) and longs to be gracious to me (Isaiah 30:18). And the praise drowns out the accusations. True soul rest is only found in Jesus. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
But these verses don’t only remind us of the hard truth that we have an accuser, they also tell us that accuser will one day be thrown down and conquered. We know the end of the story—let that truth sink in deeply and be comforted: You know how the story will end—what hope we have from God in that! And what an ending it will be!
Part of that ending includes the accuser being thrown down and conquered. And we have hints here as to how it’s done: “they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” (Rev.12:11)
· “by the blood of the Lamb”: It’s the way of grace—us conquering not by what our hands have done but by the blood of the Lamb, by Jesus’s blood.
· “and by the word of their testimony”: Our testimony, which flows out of our mouths from the overflow of grateful hearts, tells the world who Jesus is and what he’s done for us.
· “…for they loved not their lives even unto death.” Tim Keller talks about self-forgetfulness—“the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.” (Timothy Keller, The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness) I think we can see self-forgetfulness here: Satan’s accusations lose their power, fall mute and powerless to the floor, when our eyes are set on Jesus and not turned so inward on ourselves.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, whatever your struggles are today, remember that we know the end: that glorious day when the father of lies will no longer accuse us but instead we will hear ‘a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come . . . (Rev. 12:10)”’
Loud Singing 