Keeping and Holding

In Revelation 12 the dragon, Satan, is powerless against the woman because she is protected by Almighty God. The woman is God’s covenant community, identified in this age as Jesus’ covenant assembly, the church (Matthew 16:18). In that reference, Jesus declared that the gates of hell would not be able to withstand the advance of His church. That advance involves the rest of her offspring (v. 17), individual believers living on earth engaging the enemy. They are soldiers on the frontlines of this eternal conflict. This means that they are us—right here, right now.

Specifically, note how these soldier/saints are identified. The Lord will not put His troops on the frontline ill-equipped and unprepared. That would be foolish. So, His ideal and necessary preparation of these servants to engage in this spiritual conflict is enabling their obedience to His orders. Thus, they are described here as keeping the commandments of God—obedient to the Word and the Spirit. Jesus said, “He who has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me” (John 14:21). Tell me, what does the army do with soldiers who won’t obey orders?

Second, they hold the testimony of Jesus. What is it to hold the testimony of Jesus? The Greek word here for testimony is the one from which we get the word martyr. A martyr is a witness, one who gives a true testimony, no matter what it costs him. Jesus gave orders to the faithful church at Smyrna, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. . . . Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). Why? A faithful witness to Jesus is more important that self-preservation. Every true child of God is a first-hand witness to the truth of Jesus and His great work of salvation. They hold this truth faithfully, keeping it close, and proclaiming it widely, letting the Lord deal with the consequences.

More importantly, this is the testimony of Jesus—it is Jesus’ own testimony. It is not our testimony about Jesus. It is not about what we do or believe; it is about Jesus. The whole hope of eternal life rests on Christ and His work on our behalf—what He has done, is doing, and will do, not only saving us from our sin and its penalty but saving us from ourselves (Romans 6:10, 11). Soldiers must let go of their own self-interests to serve the king rightly (2 Timothy 2:4). Tell me, what does the army do with soldiers who are so self-involved that they can’t work together against the enemy?

Jesus’s testimony is that He came to do the Father’s will and to finish His work (John 4:34). He promised His followers that they will also have His life in them so that they, too, will do His will and accomplish His work (John 14:12, 13).  Let me ask you again: what does the army do with disobedient soldiers who get so distracted with their own pursuits that they fail to engage the enemy? Are you doing the will of the Father (Matthew 7:21)?