My old NIV Study Bible phrases Revelation 12:11 this way: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the words of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
I believe this is a key verse for understanding the entire book of Revelation, and one that I’ve been pondering recently. Throughout history, our Christian brothers and sisters faced persecution and martyrdom because of their faith. Through it all, they overcame Satan not only by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, but by their own as well. I believe this is still true today. As we know, the victory over Satan already occurred through Christ’s death on the cross. Yet Rev 12:11 tells us it will also be won (or continue to be won?), in part, by those willing to live and die for their faith in Jesus in a lost and broken world.
As The Life Application Bible Commentary explains it: “The critical blow to Satan had come when the Lamb, Jesus Christ, had shed his blood for sinful humanity. The victory had been won by sacrifice—Christ’s death to pay the penalty for sin. Those who accept this sacrifice become victors along with the Lamb. They confirm their loyalty to the Lamb through their testimony—even some to the point of death. The martyrs who were not afraid to die (italics original) revealed their ultimate victory in that final act of faith… The victory of the saints is the heart of Revelation. In each of the letters to the seven churches (chapters 2-3) Christ had promised that those who are victorious will receive great reward” (p.143).
Have you ever considered how this applies to you? Or how you might react to severe persecution and even martyrdom? Would you overcome Satan through your testimony and through your actions (even death)? Yet consider this: How you respond to persecution might be the very thing that helps someone else come to faith in Jesus.
So, would you give up your life for someone you loved? As a parent, would you die for your child? Most of us would say yes without hesitation. I once led a funeral for a dad who drowned while saving his child in the ocean. He is a hero in my eyes. We see stories like this in the news all the time, where a parent dies while saving family members in burning house fire, or spouse dies while protecting a loved one in a mugging gone bad, etc.
Let me now take it a step further: Would you die for a stranger? Or, from a spiritual perspective, would you give up your life so someone else could find theirs? In other words, is giving up your life worth it if someone else finds Jesus as a result and gains entrance into heaven? Think about that for a while because it’s only when we personalize it that we truly realize how invested we are in protecting and prolonging our own lives (i.e., our own little kingdoms, so to speak). Just about everything we do on a daily basis is designed to keep what I have, or add to what I have, or to avoid pain, or to make myself as comfortable as possible (or all of the above). So, if I’m brutally honest, yes, I would die for my wife and child, but I don’t really want to give up my life for someone I don’t know and love. That goes against just about every instinct in our lives. But why? Why are we clinging so hard to a temporary life in a fallen and broken world? As Jim Elliott (a missionary killed in Ecuador in 1956) once said, “He is no fool who gives up what he can never keep, to gain what he can never lose.”
There are also stories of Roman citizens in the first few centuries taking notice of the early Christians who not only loved each other (and their neighbors), but also chose to die for their God when they could have easily renounced Him and lived. In most cases, all they needed to say was “Caesar is Lord,” and their lives would have been spared. Yet many of the early believers went willingly to their deaths rather than reject Jesus. Would you and I do the same?
How you live out your faith during trials and persecution speaks volumes to a watching world. Believe it or not, persecution can actually help spread the gospel of Jesus Christ… but only if you stand firm in your faith, put the needs of others before your own, and resolve in your heart that this world is not your home. Starting with the death of Stephen in Acts 7, the persecuted church has always been strong. It is still strong today, thriving secretly in places where it is illegal to acknowledge a belief in Jesus (let alone read or own a Bible). One fact has remained constant throughout history: the persecuted church is alive and well!
So, how do we get to that point where we can confidently say (like the Apostle Paul): To Live is Christ, to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). Paul knew that as long as he lived, he got to tell more people about Jesus. That was great. But he also knew that if he died, that was also great because he’d get to go be with Jesus in heaven! Even though he was killed before John wrote the book of Revelation, Paul was living out Rev. 12:11. I want to know how to do the same. That’s the Rev 12:11 Project. This issue is so important — and has me so intrigued — that I am considering writing about it more extensively in a future book (probably with the same title: Rev 12:11 Project). Stay tuned, and I’ll let ya know!
