3. “They overcame him [Satan] . . . by the word of their testimony.” Not just the words, but the word of their testimony—the testimony of their lives, their living witness to the power of Jesus and His gospel. During the darkest hours of the Christian era a whole army of Christians—from the early church fathers to the Protestant reformers—overcame the worst the devil could hurl at them, simply by the dynamic witness of their lives.

Revelation 12:11 pictures the victorious Christian church. It depicts a church filled with overcomers: apostles, martyrs, reformers, and other faithful Christians. The testimony of their kindness, courage, faithfulness, and triumph has thundered down the centuries and moved the world. Since Satan failed to destroy the Son of God when He lived on earth in the flesh, he now seeks to destroy Christ’s church. The church receives both encouragement and warning:

“When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.”
—Revelation 12:13-16.