Revelation 12:11

11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

Who was the book of Revelation written to? The unsaved? Jewish proselytes? Roman soldiers? We all know who the recipients of this final book of the Bible was written to. John makes it clear in the very first verse.

Rev 1:1

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

The message was for those who had entered into life, who had trusted in the Messiah, and who were undergoing trials, like all believers. (To be a believer is to undergo trials.)

Although some may consider the following discussion on Rev 12:11 to be based out of a vacuum, I would request your consideration of my thoughts.

The believers in the verse above were described as conquering him – the accuser of the brethren – through the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. This conquering is a common theme in Revelation, and we will see it come up in our studies on conditional security in the Book of Revelation quite often. Nevertheless, for Revelation 12:11, John defines these saints as overcoming the accuser through two actions – the death of Christ (the blood of the lamb) and the word of their testimony. (As a matter of fact, their martyrdom is a third action described in the passage, but the martyrdom is a result of the first two actions and doesn’t relate to the point of todays post.)

This is an amazing claim of John, since he is the apostle who often stated the only requirement for salvation was to believe. (Check the gospel of John and few if any time does he link belief with repentance, works etc.)

The act of faith is not to be ignored or glossed over in this verse, for the object of the saint’s faith is the One who shed His blood, yet John couples that faith with the act of the saint giving testimony, of providing witness of the faith they claimed to own.

Although it may be conjecture on my part, I fear the witness we give in the modern church is somewhat acceptable to the culture we exist in. It is, at the least somewhat palatable for the culture to accept our message of “inviting Jesus into their heart”, of “doing good and going to church”, of being a “nice” Christian that doesn’t rock the boat.

Believe me, I am one who falls into this very thinking far too often, but those in John’s day were speaking of Christ, not as a King, but THE King, a Ruler over the most powerful, jealous and vengeful government the world had ever seen. The message was a dangerous message, and by preaching this message of a loving yet ruling King calling followers out of the nations, the saint would place his life on the line. Out of that commitment to the King, the saint would overcome the accuser. The saint would be strengthened in his security before His God, and confirm his own standing before his Savior.

What thinkest thou? Is the security we so desperately seek a security that is frivolous or costly at times?

What would it mean for a believer to not overcome?

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Revelation 17:14

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

Those with Him are described as chosen and faithful.

First off, it is ludicrous that “they” will make war with the Lamb. “They” can’t kill Him again, for He has an indestructible life. “They” are fighting against a Lamb – How crazy is that! A Lamb that has shed His blood for those very ones who are fighting against Him.

Yet, we are all like that are we not? When was the last time you were completely compliant, obedient to His every word and way? He will conquer His enemies, through means and methods He has established, though a sacrificial love that makes the conquering complete, effective and thorough!

It is also good to remember that He is the Lamb (and we are not) and that the Lamb will conquer. All action is described as being His!

The chosen and faithful are simply with Him. Yet those with Him are called faithful. Those with Him are not described as those who had faith, or those who once believed, or that raised their hand at a church service once.

Those with Him during His conquering are faithful. The term faithful is an adjective. For a quick reminder on what an adjective is, I refer you a definition below.

Adjectives describe or modify—that is, they limit or restrict the meaning of—nouns and pronouns.

The noun being described are “the called”, correct? They are described as faithful. To describe someone as faithful, there needs to be evidence!

Let me try to explain it in simple terms so I can understand it. (Yes – I sometimes get lost in my own thoughts!)

I don’t see a red car and declare – “That blue car sure is nice!” The evidence tells me it is a red car, even if my favorite color is blue! If I stand out in the rain, I don’t shout – “The day is sunny and bright” The adjective I naturally use describes the evidence, not my wishes.

Those that were called, that were with Him are described as faithful. The evidence of a faithful life must have been obvious, for the one who was overseeing this writing.

May we as believers, in our faltering and frail faith, exercise a life that will provide evidence of faithfulness. Proof that others may see and naturally describe us as faithful. To achieve this result, we must not look to them to see if they are noticing, but look to Him, to His conquering victories, even to the conquering our our own wills.

For He is good and He is good all the time

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so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, – Ephesians 3:17

May may may. I had an engineering professor once teach the class that “may” will become a critical word as we enter into report writing in our careers. He was so right!

When I say “may” what do you understand?

A dictionary on the web, for the word may, “may” help. (Underlining added)

may

auxiliary verb, present singular 1st person may, 2nd may or (Archaic) may·est or mayst, 3rd may; present plural may; past might.

• (used to express possibility): It may rain.
• (used to express opportunity or permission): You may enter.
• (used to express contingency, especially in clauses indicating condition, concession, purpose, result, etc.): I may be wrong but I think you would be wise to go. Times may change but human nature stays the same.
• (used to express wish or prayer): May you live to an old age.

I find it interesting that the apostle, as he speaks to the church of Christ in Ephesus, that he speaks of the indwelling of Christ being possible, an opportunity presented, if we understand the term “may” correctly, In other words, does Paul intend to inform the believers something I am not reading? Is Pauls message to the believers in Ephesus to be understood as follows?

… that Christ actually and without debate dwells in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, are saved due to one decision in the past- Ephesians 3:17

A short post for your consideration. God is good, and His love for us is steadfast, eternal and deep. We have much to be thankful for and His love properly understood should motivate us to delve deeper into a relationship with the lover of our souls.

Be blessed today and remember His goodness, faithfulness and deep love He has expressed at Calvary for us. He is good!

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Our last set of verses we will consider in the book of Jude.

Verse 12 is the original portion I was going to provide for the sake of our topic, but as I looked through the passage, I just couldn’t resist including the passage from verse 4 on.

So let’s take a few moments, and listen to Jude as if we were hanging out 2,000 years ago in a brothers home, getting ready to worship Him.

Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.
Jude 1:12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;
Jude wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

Jude brings forward three Old Testament characters to describe these ungodly people, along with the predominant characteristics associated with these three.

Cain

Walking in the way of Cain. Let us remember that Cain was the first natural born human on earth and the natural inclination of this firstborn was to bring a sacrifice of his own choice to the Lord. He was religious. He is the father of religion, and in that religion, the works of envy, hatred and jealousy erupt. We see this to be a consistent attribute of religion, even to the ministry of the Lord Himself.

The work of religion is to frustrate the grace of God, and as the religious Jews sought to crucify the Savior, they brought the very act that began with Cain to its natural end.

Religion not only kills, it is also deadly, for it deceives the religious adherent, and seeks to destroy truth to support it’s own lies.

Cain killed Abel freely, since there was no social restrictions at the time, and this allowed for the the very nature of the religious to be seen clearly. Nowadays, we cover it up with niceties, with pleasant sayings and polite nods, but given the right circumstances, religion erupts into all forms of hatred, envy, works of violence and jealousy.

These certain men that had crept into the body, whether they were believers at one time or not, have woe coming upon them. But the descriptions of these ungodly men continues.

Balaam

Abandoned themselves for the sake of gain. As many who may have followed my blog, you may recall that I have a distinct concern for the professional Christian. Many who are professional Christians have serious hearts seeking the God who delivered them, but the office of the professional Christian attracts many who care not for the Lord but only seek after the gain they may receive by speaking great swelling words.

Although this description again does not help us with our topic, it is instructive to understand Jude’s position for the sake of the health of the church. Those who abandon truth to seek gain are not our allies. They are certain men who are condemned to perish.

Korah

Jude’s last character is Korah, the one who led a rebellion against Moses, God’s appointed leader.

Who do you identify in your life as God’s leader? For we need to know who our leader is in order to take the correct side, that we may determine who is walking as Korah did in the camp.

But let us be clear. There is one leader that pleases God in each of our experiences, and He is the One who sacrificed Himself for our sake. Any person who seeks to take His place as an authority in a Christian’s life is following in the rebellion of Korah.

Each of these character’s Jude provides gives the believer, upon reflection, good direction as to those who may be of danger within a congregation. It is for the believer to reflect on these characteristics and to first of all, check our own condition before the Lord. These certain men above are warnings for the church, and we ignore them to our detriment. But within these descriptions, there does not seem to be any clear teaching regarding our topic of conditional security.

Until our next verse. And I will admit that my understanding of Jude’s phrasing in this verse lends itself to various interpretations, so I try not to go beyond the limits he allows with his statements.

Jude 1:12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;

The phrase I will bring to your attention is “shepherds feeding themselves”. Why does this perk my ears up? I suppose those who attain to a status of shepherd would have shown life at one time in their witness. Now granted, I may be inserting my understanding into this phrase, but consider.

As a body starts to meet, opportunities to minister are various and abundant, and for a believer to exercise the gifts given to him or her, amongst a small, close knit group of believers, allows for a very personal examination of the believers way of life. Passion for the Lord, a commitment to others, a desire to see God’s will expanded in the area all signal to the life of God in a person. These who exercise this type of passion commonly “float” to the top in the body, and become shepherds of others. And in doing so, open themselves to temptations that may be destructive, as we saw above.

Paul took up this subject when he warned Timothy that young men should not to take on leadership roles too early, for fear the converts fall into condemnation of the devil. (We will address this verse under the Conditional Security topic in a separate post!)

1 Timothy 3:6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Although Jude does not directly address our current topic in every verse we have reviewed, many times he provides teaching that does not refute the teaching. During my time in the OSAS camp, I found that this passage was great for condemning every teacher that I didn’t like, or that didn’t carry water for my denomination, but I fear there is more to this passage than a simple us / them mentality. Jude is warning us of serious dangers that are lurking in the camp, and we need to be diligent in assessing our own hearts, judging our own actions, and being open to the leading of the Spirit in relation to the attitude, lifestyle and submission of those who seek to lead us in the way of God.

The Lord taught us of these men, and I will finish with His words.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

The thieves are abundant! God is good! The difference makes all the difference!

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Half way through our set of verses in the epistle of Jude and so much to consider. I have not spent a concentrated time in the book of Jude for many years and find his writing to be challenging.

Good stuff to review and consider! Let us continue with the next three verses.

Jude 1:8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
Jude 1:9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
Jude 1:10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.

Jude again refers back to the ungodly people in verse 4, comparing the cities of Sodom with them, speaking of their defilement of flesh. Is he referring to the sexual immorality those of Sodom entered into?

Note that the basis of this defilement is their reliance on some dreams they were experiencing, which brings up a salient point. Is it wise to depend on subjective dreams or visions in finding the will of God? This verse definitely does not paint that thinking in a good light, and when we consider the objective Word that has be provided for our reference, along with the Spirit of God to give aid in understanding the message, dreams seem to be a very poor choice to rely upon.

We have the Lord we can rely on, trust in and believe, and seeking dreams for guidance is not wise. Excuse the sidebar, but for believers to abandon the Word and prayer for the sake of dreams is very much like turning my back on a flowing fountain to find relief in a broken cistern. But that is our inclination, and as such we need to be rescued from.

But back to our topic of conditional security.

This set of verse speaks of two parties. Micheal, one of the highest angels in God’s creation, did not abandon his position, but rebuked the devil correctly through the Lord, not assuming any authority of his own. Micheal did not reject authority!

This ungodly people described by Jude have no respect, no understanding of the position they consider themselves in. Jude speaks of these ungodly people as having no understanding. It seems obvious that this particular portion of Jude does not directly address our current topic, other than stating that if the ungodly were believers at one time, they have fallen far, and are in danger of destruction by their choice.

Our last portion of the passage we are dealing with will find ourselves reading Jude’s description of ungodly people. Some of his terms may shed some light on this discussion.

Hope you can join me as we finish this portion next time!

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Let’s continue with our time in Jude, by reading our next two verses.

Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day–
Jude 1:7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Our first verse speaks of angels not staying within their position of authority. They had been given a position of authority, and by their own volition decided to abandon a position they had always had.

Jude describes their action with two verbs.

Not Stay

This term may also be translated as did not keep. When I see this term, I automatically think of “guarding” something. It is the term tēreō (τηρέω) and is used in many ways, of which include the manner Herod restrained Peter when he placed him in jail. He “guarded” the jail, in order to restrict Peter from escaping. It is also used multiple times of how Jesus has “kept” His disciples, guarding them from destruction in John 17:12.

John 17:12 ESV – While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Sometimes this term refers to “keeping” or “guarding” the commands of Christ given to believers. An example such as

John 14:21 ESV – Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Jude uses this term four times in his short book, the first verse of his epistle speaking of the believers being kept for (or by) Jesus.

Jude 1:1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

The last verse of his epistle places responsibility on the believer, keeping ourselves in the love of God.

Jude 1:21 ESV – keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

With that short review, we see that these angels did not keep (or guard) their position, they did not value their privilege. This speaks to their estimation of grace they had received from the Lord, in His granting them a position of authority. They did not value the grace that was bestowed upon them.

Left

This term is apoleipō (ἀπολείπω), and is used only 6 times in the New Testament. It speaks to something being left behind, of something that is abandoned. Paul uses the term in 2 Tim 4:13 when he refers to a cloak, and some books and parchments he left with Carpus in Troas.

2 Timothy 4:13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

The author of Hebrews speaks of a rest in Hebrews 4:8 that has been left behind for believers.

Hebrews 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.

The author of Hebrews also uses it in the negative sense when he speaks in Hebrews 10:26, referring to the great sacrifice our Lord provided.

Hebrews 10:26 ESV – For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

No other sacrifice is available, no other option other than the one sacrifice provided through the Lamb of God. There is nothing left behind that is available for the one seeking to know God. All other options are abandoned and to be jettisoned from our thinking as of any merit!

So the angels left, abandoned and forsook their first estate. Why is Jude using this example of a created being actively abandoning a position of grace to enter into judgement?

A warning? Of course, but is this example an “apples to apples” comparison with a believer’s potential experience? Is he being somewhat hyperbolic, frivolous or extending a threat in using this warning when applied to believers who many teach are eternally secure?

I mentioned the angels actively abandoning a position of grace above. As you may remember, I use Blue Letter Bible as my default study tool and for good reason, since it is very intuitive and provides the tools that assist me in my writing. One of those tools is Greek parsing, which identifies properties within each verb of the text.

Looking at the verb “left” in our verse, the following parsing comes up.

Note the description of the voice as being active. For a verse to have the active voice, this signifies the subject as the doer of the action. In this verse, the angels abandoned their estate. They were not acted upon, as if they were kicked out of their estate, but the angels performed this action of abandonment.

As a matter of fact, this voice is also used when Jude speaks of the angels not “keeping” their first estate above. Both actions, that of not keeping, and that of abandoning, were actions the angels executed.

How does Jude expect us to interpret this, for if we are eternally secure, this example of the angels abandoning their first estate seems to not quite be applicable. Is Jude bringing this example up simply to warn of judgement for the lost? Possibly, yet it seems he labors the concept of the angels having a good thing and walking away, with the resultant judgement coming to get them!

Jude continues with using Sodom and Gomorrah as a similar example of indulging in sexual immorality. Is Jude referring to the angels here, for there is no mention of the specific sin they chased after in their abandonment of their grace. I think not, but Jude does refer to the ungodly people in verse 4 as changing the grace of God into sensuality. I think Jude is reaching back to verse 4 when he brings up the topic of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The judgement the cities of Sodom underwent is an example of that which these ungodly people within the body will experience.

As an aside, it is interesting that the removal of all believers from Sodom and Gomorrah is spoken of often in the Word, and that all true believers (although few) were rescued from the judgment that fell on the region. But I don’t see where this verse addresses our topic of a believers security.

In conclusion, the example Jude uses of the angels leaving their estate brings our current topic of conditional security to the forefront, and is provided for my reader to consider. No matter where my gentle reader may land on this topic, it is only right to remember that our God is a covenant keeping God and that in every instance where we may think He has abandoned us, we are mistaken! He is actively keeping us, guarding us from destruction.

As believers, we need to seek His will, conform to His nature, and look to be like Him. In the discipline of seeking Him, of understanding His grace to us and appreciating His constant care for us, we will be careful in not estimating His love for us as less than it is, chasing after some alternative as the angels above did. And coming into destruction.

He is good all the time!

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