The Overcomer

Now, the Gospel of John, please, chapter 16, we shall read the last verse, verse 33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.

Revelation 2, verse 7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Now, the first epistle, please, of John.

We shall look at a few verses here on this related subject. Chapter 2, 1 John, verse 14. I have written unto you fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning.

I have written unto you young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the wicked one. Chapter 4, and verse 4, please. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

And chapter 5, please, and verse 4. For whosoever...it's not a thing, it's a person now. For whosoever 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? Now, our subject will be the overcomer. We shall divide it into three distinct sections. First of all, we shall consider the Lord Jesus who overcame.

Secondly, we like to give some weapons, spiritual weapons into the hands of not only young but other believers as to how to overcome. You see, you must know how to overcome. Thirdly, we shall look briefly at what to overcome.

In the Old Testament time, the idea of overcoming was rather militarily or physical. Conquer neighboring nations, subjugate them. In the New Testament, the idea of overcoming is a spiritual matter.

A spiritual matter. Now, first of all, let me remove, please, some difficulties some brethren have encountered in relation to this subject. Some brethren adamantly, dogmatically teach that we are overcomers.

And you know they're right. They're right. But that's only half the story.

We are only overcomers in that we share the Savior's triumph over death, hell, and the grave positionally. Conditionally, it could be a different picture altogether. Eve, Adam, you should have been overcomers.

Yeah, brother, they're overcome. Lust to the eye. Samson, in those difficult times when there's hardly any capable man in Israel to lead God's people.

In the book of the Judges, they go around in circles. In Joshua, they're going over every problem and difficulty. Samson, you should have been an overcomer.

The sad business is he was overcome. Lust to the flesh. Solomon, Demas, Old and New Testament characters.

You should have been overcomers. Solomon in his youth was an example. God honored him, God used him.

When he got older, he did something that really Moses forbade him to do. Multiplicity of wives. No, brother, come on, isn't one enough? Multiplicity of horses relying on material and physical strength.

And the man in later life virtually destroyed everything he stood for in his youth. It's the love of the world. Ananias and Sapphira.

Oh, they moved in that wonderful movement in the first century when hundreds were brought to Christ. And the Spirit of God permeated and reached souls everywhere. You should have been overcomers, you two.

The devil couldn't get at the Christian company from without. Now he's working from within. Ananias and Sapphira, what's your problem? It's the love of money.

You should have been overcomers. You're being overcome. And, brethren, we live in this lady seen age.

I say many Christians have fallen to this category. Oh, business in certain parts is good. Enlarge it.

Start branches. Very soon they'll captivate you. We all have to make a living.

That's not what I'm talking about. Oh, the awful burden and the snare of Satan in relation to material things. Ananias and Sapphira, you should have been overcomers.

You overcome. Love of money. Now, let's get to the text, shall we? An overcomer.

In relation to Christ. Brethren, we cannot see the Lord Jesus in His temptation through the eyes of natural limitations. For this has cost some in what we call the evangelical world to come out with it.

I don't call it a truth. But some of them hold Christ could have sinned if He wanted to. That's an absolute impossibility.

Deity cannot be contaminated. But, you see, they judge the Savior by their own natural limitations. We have to learn this.

There's no sin as far as that's concerned. He couldn't think sin. He didn't sin.

The New Testament is clear about it. Mind you, the temptation nevertheless was real and, brethren, it was sharp when Satan tempted Christ. However, I dare to say at this particular time that the bait that Satan uses, the kingdoms of the world, it was a poor bait.

A poor bait. Think of it. The Son of God.

Mediator world creation. Mediator world redemption. The devil offered Him the kingdoms ruled by his adversary.

It was different with me. I didn't know the gospel until I came to Canada, age 20. I was very ambitious in my life.

I tried to find the true meaning of life. I couldn't see it in religion. I couldn't see it anywhere else.

I wanted to find out what am I here for? Can I achieve something? We lived in the mountains of Eastern Europe. We were practically born on skis. My dad was an avid skier.

So I was on skis by the time I was five and six years of age. When I got to be in my teens, I thought, well, I make my name in the sports world. Maybe even the national games or maybe even the Olympic games.

So I started for the high jump. And one day I jumped so high and I flew so low. Wonder that my bones are still intact.

So the Lord closed that door. Amazing what God can teach you even before you're saved. Then as a teenager, I thought, I'm going to meet the young people.

And I enrolled in a dance course. I thought that was it. Hall as big as this, mirrors all around about, meet the young people, you know.

And here I was for the first time, the first night of the dance course, swirling around with a young lady and my suspenders broke. And that was the end of that one. You see, I tried several doors.

And they all closed. Now, even after salvation, I know the Lord Jesus is my savior. I was baptized in the assembly fellowship.

But, you know, there's still, and I had to learn. There was still this draw. My wages were very mediocre.

So I answered an ad in the paper that says there's a certain position opened up 600 miles in the north on Hudson Bay. I went for this job just like a bee for the honey. And that didn't turn out.

You know why it didn't turn out? Oh, the pay was good, bonus pay. But the next assembly would have been 200 miles accessible by rail only. That was a loss to my mind.

Oh, I was saved at the time. But material things had still a draw. It didn't work out, and I wondered why.

And then the elders came to me. Fred, we heard of your ambition going north, but we prayed that your job would not work out. I said, fine friends you are.

And they gave me the reasons. They thought, Fred, maybe God has something better for you, which at that time I vaguely perceived. It wasn't concrete.

You see the point, don't you? Oh, yes, the world can have its attraction. The world can have its rewards. Yes, it does.

But what is there for God in our lives, my dear brother? So the bait the devil used was very, very poor. I went for it hook, line, and sinker. The Savior saw through the whole thing in a matter of less than a second.

And we sometimes fail to realize after many years. Fall for it every time. You see, my dear young brother, we have to learn to see the world and its systems through the eyes of Christ.

An example. What is propping up in almost every province of ours in Canada, almost in every state, maybe there are a few exceptions, is these casinos. Casinos.

Oh, what an attraction. The average casino turns over a million dollars every night. Every night.

And if somehow you doubt that a casino cannot be an attraction for the child of God, see me before supper and I'd like to enlighten you. Tremendous attraction. The getting rich quick scheme.

There it is. You know how I've learned to look at the casinos? Way up in northern Minnesota, there's one of those. Manicured lawns, 200-room motel, hotel, individual cabins, golf course.

And the large entrance to this casino, they named Lady Luck Drive. I feel like renaming it Losers Lane. You see the point, don't you? We're under Niagara Falls, close to where I live, more or less.

There's a casino. Oh, they advertise, you know, and the horn of plenty. Here we win big.

What they don't tell you is as follows. Every once in a while, they fish your body out of the river. I know of a person who squandered $40,000 in one night.

Nothing to show for. Oh, the attraction. We have a neighbor.

He's a Christian, but his brother is not saved. He squandered a quarter of a million dollars in casinos. There's nothing to show for.

Oh, but, you know, there's an attraction, isn't there? Yeah, I call them the great dry cleaners of the world. This is how a Christian should look at these places. But, you see, it takes discipline.

It takes assimilation of the truth of God, spiritual values against material temptations. So here we have the Savior. The temptation was real.

It was sharp. And, of course, like our Lord Jesus, we can overcome. I'll give you a few ways how to overcome.

So we go to the epistles of John, and John speaks by experience. He's just a theologian. He speaks of experience.

He likely lived to be 90 years of age. He's seen life. So he's just two figures in chapter 2. He says, I write unto young men, I write unto fathers.

Now, this is an interesting expression. He says, in other words, you can overcome because of your spiritual youth. My dear brother, sister, do you remember the night you trusted Christ in the morning? Do you recall the joy of heaven that filled your soul? And the peace of God? You love the Lord.

You love the Christians. You love this book that maybe was 60 years ago. Tell me, in God's name, how is it now? Come on.

How is it now? Is it not true, we come to that in a moment or so, that as the years go by, it is possible that our factions could lessen? You remember what Jude says against the background of various anti-Christian system? Verse 21, he gives you the remedy. But you, he says, keep, keep, keep yourself in the love of God. Of course, brother, no one will decry theoretical understanding of the scriptures in the knowledge of the book.

No one will decry it. But you know my greatest effort is this. To keep myself in that first love.

God will use you. You will radiate something of Christ, not just be by knowledge, but by manifesting Christ. And people recognize it.

Children in Sunday school will. Now, I'm going back 80 years. I'm not that old.

In the city of Toronto, there's a young man keeping company with a young lady. You know, they weren't married yet, but you know, romance was tingling in the air. You know what that is? Some of you look, I'm sure you don't know a thing about it.

They're walking along what we call Q Beach on Lake Ontario. A large walkway planks for miles and miles. It was May.

Beautiful weather. Spring in the air. The gentle waves moving the pebble stones on the beach.

And as a young couple before marriage, they made plans like a castle. The young lady all of a sudden stumbles over protrusion. She falls down.

Darling. Is that that bad? He almost carried her home. Now, 40 years ago, she says to her husband, leave it to the women.

Sometimes they say strange things. She says, Paul. Now, if your name is Paul, it's not you.

Paul, she says, do you remember the walks we used to take when we kept coming? Oh, yes. I remember. We haven't done that for a long time.

He said, it's not my fault. The way they went. Same lake.

Same time of the year. And the protrusion is still there. And she stumbles again.

He takes a step or two backwards. She says, why don't you watch where you're going, will you? Oh, you smile. Brother, is this reality? It is.

See, as we get older, it could be I come to that when they touch on the Ephesian letter. Rather, the message of the Lord to the Ephesians. Is it? Oh, yes, it is possible.

That in our factions, we can cool off. Come on, you have to confess it, don't you? That's my greatest spiritual struggle. Keep yourself in the love of God.

So here the apostle John says, we overcome on the strength of our first love in Christ. You love the book. You love the saints.

There is. But now he changes. He says, I read in two fathers.

And that means, brethren, we overcome on the grounds of experience. Experience. You see, likely some of you, dear brethren, you have been in Christ 40, 50, maybe 60 years.

And it rejoices my heart to still see you going on. Why? You know what the pitfalls are. You heard of others who make mistakes.

You heard of others who fail. And by God's grace, you will carry on from self, neither looking to the right nor the left. Up north in northern Ontario, this is wolf country.

I know a dear brother, he has a hobby farm. In the winter, 25 below zero, there is a mature coley dog and a young puppy. Wolves from the rounding bush came into the farmyard.

And they could smell, they could know, they did know there are two dogs in the yard. Rather, in the barn. Because of the cold, they're in the barn.

And the wolves yip-yap. And they go in circles. And they call.

The old dog never made a move because he knows what wolves are like. The young animal was taken. Stuck his nose out.

Went a few steps. Joined the wolves. And in the morning, all that was found was a tail.

You get the point, don't you? John says, you can overcome because of the experienced fathers. And then he says, we overcome, chapter 5 and 5, because of the new life. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

Oh, brethren, thank God for the Spirit of God who can preserve us and guide us and lead us and protect us. I have been in situations when the world and Satan try to encroach. I use this phrase out of the blue.

The Spirit of God brings before a certain verse, a certain truth. And you halt it. Just like that.

Brethren, it's amazing what the Spirit of God can do. Instruct you. Warn you.

Put on the brakes. Guide you and lead you. We can overcome because the Spirit of God.

Now then, in chapter 5, I'd like to dwell a little on that one. Who is he? Verse 5. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? I'm not going to wear you with a proper grammar, Greek, Hebrew, otherwise, or German for that matter. But here's a process.

Notice how the Spirit of God puts it. Who is he that overcometh that believeth or has been taught or knows now that Jesus is the Son of God? Pardon again, a personal reference. When I was in my sins still in Toronto, I stayed with an Estonian couple and it was a very hot summer of the year.

They took me to a little lake outside Toronto called Musselman Lake. The beach was crowded with vehicles. In front of us was a little European model car and it had two bumper stickers.

And both stickers said, Jesus saves. I didn't know what it meant. I was embarrassed.

Jesus saves. Somehow, however, I recognized that between the bumper sticker and the driver of the vehicle, whoever he or she is, there had to be a connection. Why would you put something on the bumper sticker? Bumper stickers, you don't see too many.

But a number of years ago, I went through the panhandle of Texas. A truck passed and it must have been a farmer. And he had about six bumper stickers on the rear of the vehicle.

That gave me a smile for about 60 miles. You know what it says? He must have been a farmer, a sheep farmer. He said, eat lambs.

50,000 coyotes can all be wrong. Bumper stickers. Jesus saves.

Then in the providence of God, I was exposed to the gospel a few months later. I often wondered each night these preachers zeroed in on this Jesus. I didn't understand why.

Until by further exposure to the truth of God, my estimation of this Jesus, which I thought was only a historical person in the past, totally irrelevant to me. My estimation of this Jesus rose night after night. Until the 13th of October, which is our Thanksgiving weekend.

When I accepted the Lord Jesus as my own personal Savior. Not only accepted him as Savior, but I accepted him as Lord. You see, my understanding concerning this Jesus rose by the exposure of the gospel.

And that's what John means. Who is he that overcometh? Who has a proper understanding of the person of Christ? Who he is? Mediate a world creation, redemption, and ultimately world perfection. And you dear young people, as we have been listening to, learn of Christ.

Your life will count. Follow him as a disciple. Live by faith and not by sight.

The Lord will reward you in that coming day. Oh brother, life is so short. The years go by.

I've known people here in Iowa for over 40 years. A lot of them have passed on. Some are still with us.

Young men are here, we're glad to see you. Young women are here as well. Who will be the next generation that stands in the footsteps of older brothers and older sisters who've gone? And you know, most of these men were solid.

Oh, they weren't faultless. Come on, young men. Are you here to present yourself before God even today? You see, I can't preach.

I didn't ask you that. Just present yourself and make yourself available to the Lord. He will use you and he'll lead and guide you.

Who is he that overcometh the world? But he that believeth, Jesus, the Son of God. Now, for the sake of time, we'll pass on. What are we to overcome? Well, possibly in the epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 12, the most difficult thing is that Paul even faced, and we do too, is overcoming self.

Self that interferes. Self-seeking, self-glorifying, self-exaltation. You know, sometimes you meet Christians.

Where did I make that mention last? And some of them say, I don't like him, I don't like her. Brethren, what kind of Christianity is this in God's name? Disliking fellow saints. Come on, does it exist in your heart? Get past personality.

If you cannot see folks in Christ, or rather Christ in them, see them in Christ. We all have our peculiarities. Maybe even idiosyncrasies.

There are national, racial, cultural, intellectual differences among us. You must overcome all these. Our first convert was a retarded native Indian girl.

Fourteen years of age. Seven years mental capacity. That young girl, I don't give you her background, she got to Christ.

Can I prefer the university professor who has a degree, albeit he's an intelligent man? Brethren, we must beware of merely intelligent men in the assembly. They can be a spiritual danger. If that's not coupled with spirituality.

Intellectualism. Yes. So here, overcome self.

Revelation 12, or like this verse, meant a lot to me in years gone by. They, the tribulation saints, overcame him, the devil. Why? By the blood.

Young folks, you are too weak to meet head-on Satan who has over 6,000 years experience with the human race. You can't. Whenever trial comes, or almost insurmountable difficulties, plead the blood of Christ and Satan has to flee.

That was my problem five minutes before I saved. I said to the young man who sat next to me, said, David, I have a problem. He had tried to test the foundation.

What's your problem? If I do get saved tonight, and I tend to, what happens if there's something in my life that is not to glory of God, maybe a few months, years down the road? We all may have this problem. What am I going to do? You see, I thought, you know, after salvation, you had to live a sinless life. I found out otherwise.

He quoted a verse that covered all my problems. He said, Fred, we all have this problem. I said, you've been saved 20 years, you have this problem? Yes, we all have.

If we confess our weaknesses, sins, God is just and faithful to forgive our sins. And when he said the following remainder of the verse, the devil had no more grounds. And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

The way was clear. I did get to Christ that very night. God had made provisions.

Now, there's a few more things I could say, but I forbear. My question to you is this, dear brother, dear sister, younger person, older person. In the light of what we looked at the last half an hour, tell me in God's name.

Are you an overcomer? You see, not all are. Why the exhortation and revelation to the seven churches? Him that overcometh. If you're all overcomers, positionally, yes, conditionally, not necessarily.

Are we overcomers? Or are we being overcome?