HE THAT OVERCOMETH
There are many promises in the Bible that are addressed specifically to "him that overcometh." They include:
· To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise
of God. (Revelation
2:7).
· He that overcometh shall
not be hurt of the second death [lake of fire and
brimstone]. (Revelation 2:11).
· To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in
the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth
it. (Revelation 2:17).
· And he that overcometh,
and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations [to
rule and reign with Christ in the Kingdom of God]. (Revelation 2:26).
· He that overcometh, the
same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of
the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His
angels. (Revelation
3:5).
· Him that overcometh will I
make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will
write upon him the name of My God. (Revelation
3:12).
· To him that overcometh
will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set
down with My Father in His throne. (Revelation
3:21).
· He that overcometh shall
inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. (Revelation 21:7).
Clearly,
God has called His
people to be overcomers and to obtain all that He has called them to be. To overcome means to conquer,
to prevail, and to get the victory, but it also means to win one’s case, or maintain one’s cause
when going to law. We understand
the battles that the believer faces and the need to prevail against all those
things that would defeat us. Carnal
weapons will do us no good, however, in this spiritual fight that we face day
by day. Knives, swords, guns, fists, and
angry words avail us nothing. It
requires faith in the finished work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to win
this fight. Yes, it is a fight; but it is a fight of faith. "For
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:4, 5). Our strength alone is not sufficient to meet
the challenges of the Christian walk; but, thanks to God, His strength is
perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
We
must be attuned to what the Spirit of God is speaking to us in order to be an
overcomer. We must also respond
to what we hear Him saying, and do the things that we are instructed to
do. There are many Christians who are
hearers of God's Word only, but not doers.
Hearing is certainly important and necessary. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the
Word of God. After each of the promises
to overcomers cited above, we are told, "He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." With all of the contradictory voices in
the world today, we must learn to hear the Spirit of Truth, and discern it from
the spirit of error. The goal of the
overcomer, though, is to perform what God has instructed him to do. Scripture tells us, “But whoso looketh
into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being
not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in
his deed.” (James 1:25). Jesus said,
“If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed;
and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John
8:31, 32).
Just
who or what are we to overcome then? It
is that great red dragon of Revelations 12.
It is the tempter, the father of lies, the prince of the power of the
air, the god of this world, and the lion that walks about seeking whom he may
devour. It is he who comes to kill,
steal, and destroy. It is the spirit
that works in the children of disobedience.
It is the devil, Satan, Beelzebub, and Lucifer. Though he may be a formidable foe, yet he has
already been defeated by the Son of God.
He knows his time is limited, so he is intent on deceiving as many as he
can in order to drag them down to hell with him before the end. Jesus said of Satan, "When a strong
man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than
he shall come upon him, and overcome him, He taketh from him all his armour
wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." (Luke 11:21, 22). The strong man in this case is Satan, but the
stronger man is Christ. Jesus has
overcome Satan, taken his armor from him, and spoiled his goods. Now, if we are in Christ, then we are entered
into this victory by the power of His Holy Spirit. "Ye are of God, little
children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he
that is in the world." (1
John 4:4). Now through Christ Jesus our
Lord, we have defeated the enemy who had enslaved us all our lives! Because our Savior overcame sin, so have we
overcome in Him. Because our Lord
overcame the world, so also have we. “But
thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(1 Corinthians 15:57).
St.
John wrote in Revelations 12:11, "And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their
lives unto the death." We
are given three very effective tools by which we can defeat the enemy of our
souls, and become overcomers. We no
longer have to be defeated, discouraged, and tossed about by every whim of the
accuser of our soul. We no longer have
to be slaves to sin, driven by our lusts, and worshipping at the altar of our
own ego. We truly can be more than conquerors through Him Who loves us and gave
Himself for us. Let's examine these
three powerful keys to victory:
THE
BLOOD OF THE LAMB
Blood
is a powerful force to God. He told the
Israelites repeatedly that they were not to drink the blood of the animals that
they slaughtered because, “the life is in the blood.” We
see this illustrated in the story of Adam and Eve. When they had eaten of the forbidden
fruit, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly realized that they were
naked. They were ashamed by this and
understood they must cover up. Scripture
tells us that God fashioned skins for them to replace the leaves that they were
trying to cloth themselves with. Where
did the skins come from? An innocent
animal had to die to provide man with the covering that he required. This is the first account of anything dying
in God's creation. Blood had to be
spilled to cover man's sin – a life for a life.
Later, when Cain and Abel brought their offerings to God, Cain's was
rejected because there was no blood.
Without blood there is no remission of sin. Sin produces death; but life is in the blood. Make no mistake, when we commit sin, there is
a price to be paid. Somehow, somewhere,
there is death and suffering that results from it. God wanted us to understand that blood was
the only answer for sin. All of the
sacrifices that Israel offered to atone for their sins only pointed forward to
the Lamb of God Who would take away the sins of the world by His one sacrifice.
Jesus’
blood is a much more powerful agent to cleanse away sin than the blood of
bulls, goats, and sheep that the Israelites offered to God. Those sacrifices had to be repeated
continually because the worshippers kept sinning, and had to offer more
blood. The blood of the Lamb of God,
however, is the answer for all of our sins: past, present, and future. "For if the blood of bulls and of goats,
and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying
of the flesh: how much more shall the
blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:13, 14).
Satan
has no power against the blood of Jesus.
He can lie to us, and seek to deceive us into thinking that we cannot be
forgiven for our sin, but the blood of Jesus has purged our conscience once and
for all so that the accuser's lies become powerless and impotent. Every drop of the Savior’s blood that flowed
from His wounds was to cleanse us from our transgressions. The blood of the Lamb delivers us from the
guilt of our sin that would weigh us down and steal the sweet victory that is
ours in Christ. Jesus’ blood was also
shed for our healing. With every bloody
stripe of the Roman lash we are healed! (See Isaiah 53:5).
Of
Jesus’ death on the cross, the Apostle Paul writes, “But this man, after He
had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering He hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:12-14). Because Jesus has overcome the world, the
flesh, and the devil by laying down His life for us on the cross, we, too, can
now be overcomers in Him!
THE
WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY
Once
we accept the gift of God's grace, and the redemption that is in the blood of
Jesus, we experience the forgiveness and love of the Father, and enter into a
very intimate and real relationship with God, and with His Son. This new life that we have in Christ is
something that we just must testify about.
It is good news indeed, and we want to share it with anyone who will
listen. A testimony is an eyewitness
account of an event. When we accept
Christ's gift, we become eyewitnesses of His grace and salvation, having
experienced it first-hand. John felt
this same need to testify when he wrote, "That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the
life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you
that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you." (1 John
1:1-3). This life has been manifested to
us as well if we have accepted Christ and believed on His Word. God has said, “Ye are My witnesses.” We,
therefore, have something powerful to share with the world!
Writing
to the Roman church, Paul said, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy
mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
(Romans 10:8-10). Notice the two-fold
work going on in these verses. We must
not only believe in our hearts, but we must also confess with our mouth. Our faith and our confession go
hand-in-hand. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man will talk about good things
because his heart is full of good, but an evil man will talk of evil because
that is what fills his heart (see Luke 6:45).
The testimony of our lips is a mighty weapon against the devil. What Christ has done in our lives, Satan
cannot deny; but he will lie to us to try and convince us that God’s promises
do not apply to us. When Jesus was
tempted by Satan in the wilderness He overcame him by affirming what He knew in
His heart was true. He said, “It is written…” and would quote the
Word of God to the devil. Satan could
not tempt Jesus anymore in that area and would try something else. Each time, Jesus’ faith and confession set
the enemy on his heels. We must be
mindful of the power of our confession also!
Jesus
said, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this
mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt
in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to
pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” (Mark 11:23). There is great authority in the name of Jesus
when we learn to operate in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Under the Lord’s direction even the mountains
have to obey! Such faith starts with hearing the word that God speaks to our
hearts, embracing that word, and speaking, or confessing it. As Paul says, “We having the same spirit
of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I
spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.” (2 Corinthians
4:13). If we know that God has spoken to
us, we must be firm in our faith and
in our confession. This kind of
confession gives us power to become overcomers.
THEY
LOVED NOT THEIR LIVES UNTO THE DEATH
Jesus
said, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall
lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the
whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?" (Luke 9:23-25). We cannot claim to be Jesus’ disciples if we
cannot learn to deny ourselves. The more
we let go of our life, the less hold Satan can have over us. When we say yes to God in any area of our
life and present our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him, we remove any power
that the enemy had in that area to tempt us.
You cannot tempt a dead man. By
dying to self, we give Christ power to infill us with more of Himself. The more we empty ourselves, the more He
fills us! As John the Baptist put it, "He
[Christ] must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:3).
The
Jewish priests and Levites in the Old Testament are a good example of losing
one’s life to gain Christ. Every tribe
of Israel was given their own portion of the Promised Land to make their own
except for the tribe of Levi. Their
reward for being faithful to God was to serve in the tabernacle of God and
minister to the other tribes. God told
them that He was their inheritance,
and He was their lot (see Deut. 10:8,
9; Num. 18:20; Josh. 13:32, 33). In
return, the Levites and the priests were given a portion of the offerings that
were brought to the House of God, and they enjoyed the glory of His presence as
they ministered about His House.
Salvation
comes when men see Jesus. How important
it is, then, that the life of Jesus be seen in us! The more our life fades, the more Jesus can
be truly manifested in us. The more we
seek our life, the more obscured Jesus becomes in us. Jesus spoke of a seed being buried in the
ground and dying so that the germ of life contained inside it could begin to
grow and, eventually, bear fruit (John 12:23-26). Our life is like that seed. As long as it remains on the shelf, it is
useless. When it is buried in death,
however, the real life can
emerge. The world teaches us to be self
confident, but God instructs us to be confident in the Lord only. We are taught to save our lives, but we must
learn to lose them if we want eternal life.
Paul wrote that we are “Always
bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of
Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that
the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” (2
Corinthians 4:10, 11).
If
we would be overcomers in this life, and if we would inherit all of the
promises that God has made to them who love Him, we must learn to do battle
with that great red dragon. We can
overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony, and by
not loving our lives unto the death.
Satan's greatest weapon is his lies.
As we become established in the truth of God's Word, we will learn to
recognize the enemy’s lies when he tries to whisper them to us. God loves you, and has provided you with
every tool you need to become a powerful, victorious, overcoming child of
God! Trust in Him with all your heart,
and don’t rely on your own understanding, or in what the world promotes and
defines as success. As the heavens are
high above the earth, so also are God’s ways far above ours. Amen!
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