The Victory of the Cross of Christ (continued)
God will not allow the enemy to have even a lentil patch, no! not even the smallest piece of ground, because there is no place for satan in the New Creation in which Christ Is All, and in All. God has already prepared a place for satan and his evil host (Matthew 25:41); hence, in Revelation 13:10, we find these words: "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." These two statements are Hebrew idioms for destiny, a destiny that cannot be escaped. And by carefully leaving these two idioms in the context of Revelation thirteen, we find the Holy Spirit is declaring the God-Ordained destiny of the beast - the destiny that was sealed through the Victory of the Cross of Christ. The Holy Spirit is declaring the God-Ordained destiny of every antichrist evil that satan has ever instigated, or ever will instigate. According to the Word of God, the final destiny of the beast, of that which is antichrist, is the same as the dragon's, that ancient serpent, called the devil, and satan: "the lake of fire" is their God-Ordained end! (Revelation 20:10). It is the victory of the Cross that overcomes every antichrist evil that satan has ever instigated, or ever will instigate - The Lamb is in the midst of the Throne and He bears the wounds of the Cross in His Glorified Body - "And the Lamb shall overcome them [all that is antichrist]: "for He is the Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
Nevertheless, even though the doom of satan and all his works is sealed, we must realize that the warfare that began when satan fell (Isaiah 1:12-15) will continue until "that old serpent, which is the devil, and satan," is cast into the lake of fire. This is why the Holy Spirit's declaration of satan's doom is prefaced and concluded with both a warning, and a challenge, to the overcomers of every age.
"If anyone has an ear let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience [the endurance] and the faith of the saints" (Revelation 13:9, 10).
In Revelation 13:1-8, the Lord is telling those of us who desire to be overcomers that the dragon, that old serpent, called the devil, and satan, has given the beast, whose name is "blasphemy," the power "to make war with the saints, and to overcome them." This does not have reference to our salvation, for those whose names are in the Lamb's book of Life have eternal life. However, as we have calculated the number of this name of this blasphemous beast throughout the Word, we have seen that a Christian can be overcome when he allows his natural man to rule in his life. We have seen that when we, as Christians, allow the strength of our natural man to govern our lives, we give the devil the ground he needs to further his antichrist activities. "If anyone has an ear (a spiritual ear), let him hear." We are not to be overcome, we are to be overcomers!
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 64)
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