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About midway through Revelation (12:11 to be exact) there is an oft-misquoted passage detailing how "the accuser of the brethren," A.K.A. Satan, has been defeated.
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony,"
Most quoters stop there. "'Blood of the Lamb, word of their testimony!' -- that's how you overcome the Devil!" That's the only way I'd ever heard it told -- a two element battle plan. Read the passage and you'll find that the verse does not end there. There is one more, overlooked element in this "overcoming the devil" business.
"...and they loved not their lives unto the death."
Ouch. They weren't afraid to die. They held no regard for that mother of all fears: Death. When I say "mother of all fears" I mean it. It's been said fear of death is the only fear, that if you traced every fear back to its root they would all come down to one thing: being afraid that death is the ultimate, end result of the thing which you fear. This scripture asks us to not care about our mortal lives, to be fearless even in the face of death, even if what we are called to do could possible end our lives.
"Love not your lives! Die!" That's not something we want to hear. No wonder most people stop with the first two elements; this passage might not be as popular if presented in its entirety, though this fearlessness had always been required. When Jesus sent out his disciples, he instructed --
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."Matthew 10:28
So then, we have three -- not two, three! -- elements required to overcome the enemy.
1) The Blood of the Lamb (Jesus).
2) The word of your testimony (and I have to tell you, Saints, you don't get a testimony without going through some stuff).
3) Don't be afraid to die, regardless of what faces you. (You've got to be fearless, which is a continuing theme of Revelation.)
Some might say that with what goes on in Revelation the only options are to be murdered and spend eternity with God or submit and go to Hell. However, if you stop to think about it, isn't that already the choice we face -- daily? It may not be so dramatic as enforced-by-law instantaneous death, but the death and journey to Gehenna are no less guaranteed. It's that same disparity between instantaneous death versus delayed death which tripped up Adam and Eve. "Surely you won't die!" the Devil chided, and we've been falling for it ever since....
(Romans 10:9, John 3:17, John 5:24, John 1:12)
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