SPECIAL PRÉCIS ON CHRISTIANITY FOR GROWNUPS: FAITHFUL UNTO LIFE, UNTO PERSECUTION, OR UNTO DEATH

SCRIPTURE. “And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.” – REVELATION 12:11, AMP

KEY TERM: “OVERCAME!” ‘Nikaó’ [ἐνίκησαν]: “To subdue, conquer, prevail or get the victory.” NOTE: “From the first Old Testament Promise of the Serpent-Crusher (Genesis 3:15) to the final vision of New Jerusalem, ‘Scripture presents God as the Warrior-Redeemer Who cannot fail.’ νικάω draws its force from this Immutable Character [and true followers are given this same authority against Satan; Luke 10:19]. When Paul cites Psalm 51 in Romans 3:4—‘So that You may be justified in Your words and prevail when You are judged’—he anchors Divine Truthfulness and Triumph together.”

QUOTATION. “No enthusiasm will ever stand the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His worker, only one thing will, and that is a personal relationship to Himself which has gone through the Mill of His spring-cleaning until there is only one purpose left—‘I am here for God to send me where He will.’” ― OSWALD CHAMBERS, Evangelist and Author, My Utmost for His Highest, 1924; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘And they overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb.’ – The Lord Jesus Christ, by Whose Blood they were redeemed and ransomed out of the hands of Satan, that was stronger than they; and by which they were justified from all sin, and so all charges and condemnation were of no avail against them, whether of Satan or the world; and by which they were cleansed from all pollution, both internal and external; and by which even their conversation garments were washed and made white; by this they also, drew nigh to God with boldness, as to their own God, notwithstanding the accusations of Satan. And this they could, and did make use of as a Shield to defend them against all his charges; and this being sprinkled upon them, as it gave them an inward conscience peace amidst all, so it was their security from the Destroying Angel; and under this Purple Covering they went triumphantly to glory, having through it obtained an entire conquest over Satan.

‘And by the word of their testimony.’ –  Either by Christ, the essential Word, they bore record of, Who is sharper than any two-edged sword, and through Whom they were made more than conquerors; or rather by the use they made of the Scriptures of Truth, the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to which they bore a faithful testimony, and to which they adhered, and by so doing gained the victory over Satan and his instruments, whether false teachers or persecutors; and particularly by the Gospel, which they embraced, professed, and preached with constancy and courage, and by their last testimony they bore to it at their death, on the account of it, as it follows:

‘And they loved not their lives unto the death.’ – They did not value them; they made no account of them; they were not anxiously careful to preserve them. ‘They chose to lose them!’ They ran to the stake, and willingly and cheerfully laid them down; they did not count them dear unto them, as said the Apostle Paul, that they might finish their course with joy, and testify the Gospel of the Grace of God, or bear a testimony to it, Acts 20:24. Yea, as Christ has directed, Luke 14:26. ‘They hated their lives in comparison of Him,’ and when in competition with Him and His Gospel; and by dying thus they conquered Satan; had they loved their lives, and saved them by denying Christ and his truths, Satan would have conquered them. ‘But Dying in the cause of Christ, and for it, they got the victory over him.’” – JOHN GILL, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, 9 vols., 1746-1763; edited

DK’S TAKE. I have told the story before. It was in the year 2022, I recall, when walking my dog, Scout the Wonder Dog out back of the apartment where my wife and I live, that the Spirit posed A QUESTION:

“Son, are you willing to actually die for Me should I require it of you?”

My reply was neither brave nor godly, but it was honest: “Um, Sir, I’ll have to get back to you on that.” So ensued several weeks (perhaps months, I am not entirely sure), that I pondered this electrifying Query from the Godhead. Until finally I had resolved it in the following manner.

“Father, since I have already lost so much down here in the form of employment, financial security, reputation, fancy new cars and a house, I know it’s right to lose my very life for You, should You require it of me. ‘So yes, Sir, I am now willing to die for you if necessary.’”

CODA. This is what I call the Baseline Criterion related to my catchphrase, “Christianity for Grownups.” This dispenses with all the cultural ‘Play Church’ rituals, myths and shibboleths and convenient rationalizations, and that hideous “American Gospel” so rooted in the rot of material prosperity and self-worship.

So does He invite us all, beloved, to make that FINAL COVENANT WITH CHRIST – ‘Unto life, or unto persecution and affliction, or even unto death, the Ultimate Sacrifice.’

He has said it so well through the Great Apostle:

“[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] that if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].” – PHILIPPIANS 3:10-11, AMPC

It is right here, beloved, where we shall find persistent Joy, Intimacy with God, and the Courage to buck the tides and gales of Earthy vicissitudes and our very Identity. Indeed ‘The Shalom of Yeshua ben David’ shall be ours when we reach this stage in our long Journey of Sanctification as Preparation for Service and Sacrifice in the Final Days of human history as we have known it.

Selah.