In Revelation 12:11 John wrote: “They conquered the accuser of the brethren by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”

When it comes to teachings about overcoming the adversary, teachers often seem to ignore Revelation 12:11 and favor Matthew 4:1-11 wherein Jesus rebuked the devil 3 times by reciting scripture. For all the messages I’ve heard and read that admonish believers to do the same, you would think Revelation 12:11 actually said:

They conquered the accuser of the brethren by reciting scripture.

If reciting a scripture defeats the enemy, why didn’t satan defeat himself when he recited scripture in Matthew 4:6 ? Also, why did James say only “resist the devil and he will flee from you”? Peter also said this.

Let’s consider for a moment, what Jesus really did when He rebuked the devil. John 1:1-14 says that Jesus is the “Word in the flesh”. He has been since the beginning. The Word was complete in Him before men wrote down a single word of the Bible. Similarly, Revelation 19:10 says that “the testimony of Jesus is the very spirit of prophecy.” Thus Jesus wasn’t reciting scripture from the Bible per se, as if it were a book He’d read and memorized to use against the devil in a fire fight. Jesus was testifying of Himself and His relationship with His Father.

With regard to all that Jesus was, when Pontius Pilate was examining Him, Jesus said:

“… I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate responded “What is truth?”

If Pilate had any enlightenment or clue about who Jesus was, he’d have been better off to ask “WHO is Truth?”

For Jesus is “THE Way, THE TRUTH, and THE Life”. Jesus is also the Word of God. Thus it was Jesus testimony as all these things in the flesh that overcame the enemy. To be sure, Jesus did say “It is written” in His 3 rebukes of the enemy. Indeed, each of His responses can be found in the book of Deuteronomy. My point is, the Word existed in Christ long before Moses came along and wrote the Law. Therefore Jesus testified from what lives within Him – ancient truth. That Jesus said “it is written” brings up an interesting question; where is it written? Most would simply say “in the Bible”. The truth is, the Bible isn’t the only place where the word of God is written.

If during this season of my life in Christ, there is a single scripture that burns within my heart, it is 2 Corinthians 3:3. There the apostle Paul wrote:

“You are the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, not having been written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but in fleshly tablets of the heart.”

Imagine that; we are living epistles of Christ – letters of Christ – written by the Spirit. Every born again believer is a walking, talking, living book of testimony about the Lamb of God! And in the same way Jesus overcame the enemy by His testimony, we also overcome the enemy through the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). The epistle of Christ, which the Spirit has written upon our hearts, is our book of the Word – our testimony!

So why aren’t we shouting our testimonies from the rooftops? Why isn’t every gathering of the brethren a victory parade of believers – the living epistles of Christ – marching up to the microphone and lining up to proclaim all that the Lamb of God has done for us?

Is it any wonder that churches which habitually silence the brethren in deference to the milquetoast sermons of a hireling, are without power and dying? Do we really need to suffer through another 12 part sermon series on the Lord’s prayer? I could stand it no more! I will not gather with those who would silence me! I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to share from the epistle of Christ written upon my heart for to remain silent is torment; like Jeremiah’s “fire shut up in the bones!” My heart also longs to hear the other epistles of Christ boast of Him who has written their pages! Oh what tales of victory by the Lamb of God await us! When will we finally hear the testimonies of the brethren? When will the Lord unleash the torrent of His Truth bottled up in us?

I am certain the Lord is anxious for that day, for it wasn’t so terribly long ago that He directed me to write a letter of correction to the church He sent me to for several months. For 2 days I was caught up in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to pen a long letter to the pastor, elders and spiritual leaders. What follows is an excerpt of that letter, which describes the sorry state of the assembly there:

The letter said, in part:

And the “Epistles of Christ” who would bring glory to God by sharing from the pages He has written in our hearts, are silenced by the religious tradition and pastor-dominated meetings. Instead of testimony, we get jokes, unsourced stories curated from the internet and the occasional Youtube music video. All this occurs while the pastor stares into the many faces of the Epistles of Christ, seated before him, but silenced by religious tradition and clergy rule over the laity.

There is nothing that devalues Christ’s continuing work on earth more than to silence the “Epistles of Christ” and their testimony of the Author.

There is overcoming power in our testimony. But we use it not.

As I wrote that letter, I heard from the Spirit, over and over, as if an urgent plea from God to His people:

Testify or die.

My greatest hope, is for the epistles of Christ to stand and be heard. About that, I’m reminded of the last verse of John, which I believe to be prophetic concerning the testimonies of the saints.

Now, there were many other things that Jesus did. If they were all written down one by one, I suppose that the whole world could not hold the books that would be written. (John 21:25 GNB)

I am a book. You, dear friend, are a book. Each of us is a “living epistle” – a book of the works of Jesus Christ, meant to share our pages with a world sorely in need of Good News.

TESTIFY!

And OVERCOME!