They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death (Revelation 12:11).
Wherever evil appears, it is to be fought by the children of God in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. When evil appeared in an angel, at once there was war in heaven. Evil in mortal men is to be opposed by all regenerate men. If sin comes to us in the form of an angel of light, we must still war with it. If it comes with all kinds of unrighteous deception, we must not negotiate with it for a single moment, but begin the battle immediately, if we really belong to the armies of the Lord. Evil is at its very worst in satan himself: with him we fight. He is no ordinary adversary. Any one of the evil spirits under his control is a terrible foe. But when satan himself personally attacks a Christian, we will have the fight of our lives on our hands.
When this dragon blocks our road, we will need help from heaven to force our way through. A pitched battle with Apollyon may not occur often, but when it does, you will know it painfully. You will record it in your diary as one of the darkest days you have ever lived, and you will eternally praise your God, when you have overcome the enemy. But even if satan were ten times stronger and craftier than he is, it would be our duty to wrestle against him. We cannot for a moment hesitate or offer him a truce. Evil in its strongest and proudest form is to be attacked by the soldier of the cross, and nothing must end the war but complete victory. Satan is the enemy, the enemy of enemies. That prayer of our Lord’s, which we usually render, “Deliver us from evil,” has the special significance of “Deliver us from the evil one.” He is the chief embodiment of evil, and in him evil is intensified and has come to its highest strength. Anyone who hopes to overcome this enemy of God and man needs to have Omnipotence on his side. Satan would destroy all godly ones if he could. Even though he cannot, he has such an incurable hatred that he is maliciously eager to harass those whom he cannot devour.
In Revelation 12 the devil is called an “enormous red dragon.” He is enormous in ability, intelligence, energy, and experience. Whether he was the chief of all angels before he fell, I do not know. Some believe that he was, and that when he heard that a Man was going to sit on God’s throne, out of jealousy he rebelled against the Most High. This is conjecture. But we do know that he was and is an enormously powerful spirit compared with us. He is a being great in evil—the prince of darkness, having the power of death. He shows his malice against the saints by accusing them day and night before God. In the prophets we can read of satan standing to accuse Joshua the High Priest. Satan also accused Job of serving God from selfish motives: “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?”
This ever active enemy desires to tempt as well as accuse: he demands to have us and sift us as wheat. In calling him the dragon, the Holy Spirit seems to hint at his mysterious power and character. To our limited understanding, a spirit such as satan must forever remain a mystery both in his person and his works. Although he is a mysterious being, he is absolutely not a mythical one. We can never doubt his existence once we have come into conflict with him. The fact that he is so mysterious only makes him more real. If he were flesh and blood, it would be far easier to contend with him. But to fight against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” is a frightening assignment. Like a dragon he is full of cunning and ferocity. In him power is joined with craftiness. If he cannot achieve his purpose quickly with brute force, he is willing to wait patiently. He deludes, and he deceives; in fact, he is said to deceive the whole world. What a power of deception must live inside him, since under his influence one third of the stars of heaven are flung to earth (Revelation 12:4), and millions of men in every age have worshipped demons and idols!
He has saturated the minds of men with deception, so that they cannot see that they should worship no one but God, their Maker. The devil is described as “that ancient serpent,” reminding us how experienced he is in every evil skill. He was a liar from the beginning, and the father of lies. After thousands of years of constant practice in deception, he is much too cunning for us. If we think that we can match his craftiness, we are serious fools. He knows vastly more than the wisest of mortal humans. If we challenge him to a game of strategy, he will wipe us off the board, and sweep our pieces into the bag. He is not only shrewd, he is lightning fast. He is ready to attack at any moment, darting down upon us like a hawk upon its helpless prey. He cannot be everywhere at once, but it is hard to find a place at any given moment where he isn’t. By his incredible power, he oversees his army of fallen demons like a great general. He directs the attack over the whole field of battle and seems present at every point. No door can shut him out. No height of goodness can rise beyond his reach. He meets us in all our weaknesses and attacks us from every point of the compass. He comes upon us unaware and injures us with wounds that are not easily healed.
But yet, dear friends, as powerful as this infernal spirit certainly is, his power is defeated when we resolve never to make peace with him. We must never dream of negotiating a truce with evil. To suppose that we can ignore him and everything will be fine is a deadly mistake. We must fight or die. Evil will kill us if we do not put it to death first. We can only find safety in a single-minded, energetic opposition to sin, whatever shape it takes, whatever it threatens, whatever it promises. The Holy Spirit alone can maintain in us this hatred of sin.
According to Revelation 12, the saints “overcame him.” We must never rest until it can be said of us also, “They overcame him.” He is an enemy who deserves your opposition. Do you refuse the conflict? Do you think of turning back? You have no armor for your back. To quit fighting is to admit defeat. You have your choice. Either settle it in your mind that you are in for a life-long resistance, or else become satan’s slave forever. I ask God that you wake up, get out of bed, and give battle to the adversary. Resolve once and for all that by the grace of God you will be numbered with those who overcome the archenemy.
The scriptures raise two very important points for us to consider: What is the conquering weapon? What sword did they use against the great red dragon when they overcame him? Listen! “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.” How do we use that weapon? We must do as they did and overcome “by the word of our testimony” as we refuse to “love our lives so much as to shrink from death.”