We have seen that the book of Revelation is a book of the sevenfold intensified Spirit, a book of the local churches, a book of Christ, a book of life, and also a book of praise. Now we must see that this book is eventually a book of victory.
Revelation 5:4-5 tells us that the apostle John wept: “I wept much because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look into it. And one of the elders said to me, Do not weep; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so that He may open the scroll and its seven seals.” Why did John weep? It was because in the whole universe—heaven, earth, under the earth, and in the sea—there was no one worthy to open the secret of God’s economy. No one was worthy; so he wept. But one of the elders came and told him not to weep, because there was One who was worthy, and that was Christ. There is no need to weep when you have Christ. Without Christ everyone in the entire universe must weep. Without Christ the whole universe is empty, and without Christ no one is worthy. But, Hallelujah! today we have Christ! So we do not need to weep. Christ is now the Lion: He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He has prevailed, and He has won the victory. So this book is a book of victory. We do not need to weep; we have to shout! We must rejoice and praise because we have such a Christ. He is the Lion that has prevailed. He has won the victory. So we all must say, “Victory, victory, Hallelujah!”
“The seventh angel trumpeted; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever” (11:15). Do not believe the present situations. Everything on this earth is a lie and a falsehood. Do not believe that it is real. We must tell Satan that this is a lie. The wars in the world today are lies. The troubles in the schools are lies. All things are lies. We have seen that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord. Hallelujah! Amen!
In my travels many people have told me how disappointing the situation is in the world. But do we need to be disappointed? No! We must shout, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord!” We have seen the victory. Some victories have been won in the past, some victories are being won at the present, and some victories will be won in the future. Some are gained in the past, some are being gained now, and some will be gained in the future. But whether they were gained, are now being gained, or will be gained, it is all the same in the eyes of God. With God there is no time. Everything has come to pass. Hallelujah, it has come to pass! The Bible does not say that it will come to pass or that it must come to pass, but that it “has come to pass” (Rev. 21:6). Praise the Lord!
Then in Revelation 12:9-11 we see that the accuser, Satan, has been cast down. “The great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, for the accuser of our brothers has been cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their soul-life even unto death.” These verses do not say that Satan should be cast down, but that he has been cast down. Do you believe this? Hallelujah! It has come to pass! Then the salvation, the kingdom, the glory, and the power are the Lord’s. Verse 11 does not say that the brothers will overcome. No, they overcame. There is no need for us to overcome. This is not overcoming in the future. The brothers overcame the accuser because of the blood of the Lamb. Is the blood of the Lamb to be shed? No, the blood of the Lamb has already been shed two thousand years ago.
They overcame him because of the word of their testimony. There is no need for us to do anything but declare the word of our testimony. We can tell Satan, “Look, we have the word in Revelation 12:9-11; let us read it to you. This is the word of our testimony.” There is no need for us to strive. We must realize that Satan has already been overcome. The blood of the Lamb has been shed; the victory has been won for us already. Someday I would like to hear a young brother stand up in the meeting and say, “Satan, listen to me, read Revelation 12:9-11. If you will not read it, let me read it to you: ‘They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb.’ This is the word of my testimony.”
There is one more thing in these verses. “They loved not their soul-life even unto death.” As long as we love our soul-life, the victory is gone. But as long as we do not love our soul-life, the victory is won. We must love not the soul-life. When we lose our soul-life, Satan loses the ground. If we love not the soul-life, he loses the battle. The brothers overcame Satan by the blood, by the word of their testimony, and by loving not their soul-life. Victory, victory, Hallelujah!