Overcomers

Overcomers A. Christ’s apostles, assured by His plainness of speech, believed. JOH 16:29-30. 1. Solid faith is thus built in God’s children. 2CO 3:12; 1CO 2:4-5; 14:9. 2. Weak faith may be owing to lack of learning from plain speech. 2PE 3:16-17. 3. Faith is critical to overcoming. 1JO 5:4. B. Christ went on to encourage the apostles by His own overcoming. JOH 16:31-33. 1. Mind the contrast, “...in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation.” 2. We will not find true peace in this world unless we compromise with it. Such is a false peace which Jesus does not give. JOH 14:27. 3. Genuine faith both creates the conflict (PHIL 1:29; 2TI 3:12) and provides the cure. 4. Insincere faith avoids the conflict but lacks both the cure and its promises. HEB 10:35-36. 5. In view of tribulation to the faithful, Jesus said, “...be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (v. 33 c/w LUK 6:22-23). These are pre-arrest, pre-resurrection observations about Christ’s personal overcoming of the world. C. There are great and precious promises to overcomers of the world (2PE 1:2-4). Consider the promises to overcomers in the letters to the seven churches of Asia. REV 2-3. 1. They shall be given to eat of the tree of life. REV 2:7. 2. They shall not be hurt of the second death. REV 2:11. 3. They shall be given to eat of the hidden manna. REV 2:17. 4. They shall be given a white stone with a new name written therein. REV 2:17. 5. They shall be given power over the nations. REV 2:26. 6. They shall be clothed in white. REV 3:5. 7. They shall not have their name blotted out of the book of life. REV 3:5. 8. They shall be confessed by Christ before the Father and His angels. REV 3:5. 9. They shall be made a pillar in the temple of God. REV 3:12. 10. They shall go no more out. REV 3:12. 11. They shall have written upon them the name of God and of the new Jerusalem. REV 3:12. 12. Christ shall write upon them His new name. REV 3:12. 13. They shall be granted to sit with Christ in His throne, He says, “...even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne” (REV 3:21). a. This speaks of the co-reign of the believers. REV 20:4. b. This is the gift of God’s grace and righteousness by which we are kings and priests unto God. ROM 5:17, 21 c/w REV 1:6. c. Victorious Christian living by faith over temptations and tribulations puts us in step with Christ Who overcame. D. The world threw its worst at Christ and He overcame it, never yielding to temptation. HEB 4:15. 1. He was a stranger to the world He created. JOH 1:10. 2. He was a stranger to His own nation. JOH 1:11. 3. His own brethren did not believe Him. JOH 7:5. 4. He was despised, rejected, a man of sorrows. ISA 53:3. 5. Fewer things break a man as quickly as being alienated from the very people he would expect to be there for him and disrespected for the very things that merited respect. 6. But He overcame. E. Christ was a man of faith. JOH 8:29 c/w HEB 11:6. 1. No matter how alienated He was from others, He trusted the Father was with Him. JOH 16:32. 2. This remained the case until the crucial moment of death. MAT 27:46. 3. Knowing God is always with us helps us cope and overcome. HEB 13:5-6. Overcomers 1-12-23 Page 1 of 2  4. We are never really alone or abandoned. 2TI 4:16-17. 5. When nobody knows or loves you except your one true Lover, it should strengthen your tie. 1SAM 30:6. F. When all His works of faith were done and He was the passive believer on Calvary, that faith carried the day. Claims on God’s promises saved Him. ACT 2:25-28. 1. None of those awful things the Scripture had prophesied nor the events as they unfolded moved Him. c/w ACT 20:23-24. 2. The Scripture prophesies our troubles also and we should not be shocked out of position when they come. 1PE 4:12-13. 3. We could compromise and be of the world so the world would love us but then it would be the overcomer, not us, and how could we sure of the love of God in us? JOH 15:19 c/w 1JO 2:15. 4. Promises are better than compromises. If you opt for the latter, you surrender the former. HEB 10:35-39. G. If you believe Jesus is the Son of God, you have already overcome much. 1JO 5:5. 1. Continue to conquer as He continued to conquer. REV 6:2. 2. Faith brings continued victories over whatever the world throws at us. ROM 8:35-37. 3. So let not your heart be troubled. JOH 14:1. Overcomers 1-12-23 Page 2 of 2