Introduction
1.
2. Learning our ABCs is a part of every child’s early development...
Learning our Biblical ABCs is a part of every Christian’s ongoing spiritual growth...
As we continue to learn our Biblical ABCs, we come to the letter “O”...
O is for Overcome...
Overcome and its forms is found 38 times in the Bible...
It is found in both the Old Testament...
and the New Testament...
It is used in different ways and different contexts...
According to the dictionary...
overcome means to succeed in dealing with a problem or difficulty
as in “she worked hard to overcome her fear of snakes”...
it also means to defeat an opponent...to prevail...
as in “The army attacked and overcame the enemy”...
Overcome also relates to the power of our emotions...
being overcome with excitement...
and, as we look at the various uses of the word Overcome...
I trust that the Lord will speak to us as we continue to grow in our Christian walk.
Read Text: Revelation 21:6-8
1. Overcome: defeat of an opponent
A. In Exodus 17:13, Scripture tells us that “Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword”...
In 1 Samuel 17:9, Goliath taunts Israel’s army...
If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us."
We all know the outcome of that battle...
When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet...
and to proclaim the hard words of judgment to God’s people...
Jeremiah knew that his own people would give him trouble...
But God reassures Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:19...
They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.
B. Sometimes, we battle against the enemy...
sometimes, our battle is against our own people...
and sometimes, we battle against ourselves...
Our battle may be the battle against sin...
or, we may be facing battles because of God’s judgment against our own sin...
Whatever our battle...
I am convinced that, while Christ delays His 2nd coming...
Jeremiah 1:19 applies to us even today...
we will battles, but, we will not be overcome...
because God is with us and will come to our rescue when we need it most.
C. In Matthew 18:18, we see the words of Jesus...
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it.
We are certainly in a spiritual battle...
Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
And although the foe is formidable...
we will not be overcome...
because evil has no power over Christ...
with God on our side...
our church will stand and flourish...
and sin cannot win...as long as we remain faithful to Christ.
1 John 5:4 says, “or everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith”
2. Overcome also refers to being overcome by our emotions...
A. In Luke 8:37, Jesus had just performed an incredible miracle...
sending a legion of demons out of the demon possessed man...
and into a herd of pigs...
the pigs rushed down to the lake and were drowned...
the pig herders ran into town to tell everyone what had happened...
and when all the people came out to see what was going on...
they found Jesus, with the formerly demon-possessed man...
sitting at the feet of Jesus...and in his right mind...
and they were afraid...
Luke 8:37 says, “then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
I find that result surprising...
I would think that seeing a demon-possessed man would be terrifying...
the town’s people had tried to chain him...
but he broke the chains...
and lived among the dead...
tearing the cloths off his body...
that would be scary to me...
But to these people...
they seemed to be MORE comfortable with the man when he was possessed by a demon...
than when he was healed by Jesus...
amazing...
they see this incredible miracle...
and they are OVERCOME with fear.
3. Overcome also relates to overcoming difficulty or problems
A. In Mark 9:24, a story is told about a demon-possessed boy...
his father had taken him to the disciples...
but they couldn’t help the boy...
the man persisted...
and brought the boy to Jesus...
Jesus told the man, everything is possible...
only believe...
Immediately the boy’s father responded, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"
Certainly this was a huge problem in this family’s life...
since the boy was young...
nothing was able to help...
then the man tries Jesus’ disciples...
still nothing...
Now, Jesus tells him to only believe...
and the man professes his desire to overcome his unbelief...
certainly it would have been easy to lose faith...
to just give up...
but he persisted...and Jesus helped him overcome his unbelief.
B. In Romans 12:21, Paul writes, “do not be overcome by evil...
but overcome evil with good”...
certainly sin and evil is a problem in our world today...
and Paul warns us not to be overcome by it...
to stand firm in Christ Jesus...
In 1 John 5:5, John writes “who overcomes the world?...
Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God”
C. And certainly, there is a great reward for the Christian who will persist and remain faithful...
11 of the 38 uses of the word overcome are found in the book of Revelation.
that’s almost 30% of all the “overcomes” in the Bible...
Revelation speaks about end times...
Revelation speaks about the things to come...
Revelation speaks about the reward to come for those that remain faithful...
and the punishment to come for those who fail to follow Christ to the end...
These are powerful...so let me just run thru them real quick...
In Revelation 2:7, Jesus says, “to him who overcomes,...
I will give the right to eat from the tree of life”...
Revelation 2:11, Jesus says “He who overcomes will not be hurt by the 2nd death.”...
Revelation 2:17, Jesus tells us “to him who overcomes, I will give some of hte hidden manna”
Revelation 2:26, Jesus says, “to him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations.”
In Revelation 3:5, Jesus says, “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.”
In Revelation 3:12, Jesus says, “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
In Revelation 3:21, Jesus says, “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
In Revelation 12:11, God talks about the people who reject Satan...and life for Christ until the very end...
“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Revelation 17:14 talks about a great battle between good and evil...
They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will over come them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."
And finally, we come to the words of our text...
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
Conclusion
1. Certainly, we have our share our trouble and difficulty in life...
I’m sure that there are times when we just want to throw up our hands and give up....
In fact, in John 16:33, Jesus says "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
I want to encourage you tonight...
no matter what you face...
no matter what obstacles are before...
by the power of Christ...
you can overcome!!!
