The theme of this section is “More Than Conquerors” (v.37); that who you are.
• Who do you think you are? You are an overcomer. With Christ, we are all overcomers.
• Not maybe, not you will be; but you ARE.
• When you know who you are, you'll know what to do, and in Christ, you are more than conquerors.
I like the way Paul uses questions – “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (v.31)
• If God is on your side, what can really knock you down?
• Then verse 32: “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”
• Verse 34: “Who is he that condemns?”
• Verse 35: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” And then he went on to list down 7 different obstacles that all of us faces – at one time or another, in one form or another.
• He says, “Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”
Although this was asked 2000 years ago, nothing has changed much, right?
• We are very disturbed by difficult situations – trouble, hardship, persecution, famine - and we question God’s love.
• When you are going through a famine – financially, materially, or emotionally, or when we are deprived of what we feel we need or what we want, we question His love for us.
• When we don’t see it, don’t sense it, don’t feel it, we conclude that we have been separated from His love. For some unknown reasons.
But Paul’s answer is NO WAY. No experience of any kind can ever change the truth of God’s love for us.
• He answers the question in verse 37 emphatically – NO, in all these things…
• He did not say God will REMOVE all of these, or IMMUNE us of any hardships in life.
• He said instead: “In all these things, we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS…”
Who do you think you are? Do you know WHO you are?
• Because when you know who you are, you'll know what to do.
• Who are you in Christ? We are more than conquerors!
• Actually, I would be very happy if you say I AM A CONQUEROR. I’d be quite contended.
We are MORE THAN conquerors... through Him who loved us!
• Again the emphasis of this LOVE He has for us. You have a Lover! All of you have a passionate Lover, who is willing to die for you!
• If He is willing to die for you, He has no problem helping you with your problems.
With Him around, we are MORE THAN conquerors. In Greek, “exceedingly more than” – exceedingly more than a conqueror!
• You do not just ‘barely make it”, it’s a landslide. You don’t just survive, you thrive!
• You are going to demolish the opposition.
Jesus: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
• Look closely, for you to be an overcomer, there needs to be something to overcome.
• Jesus says, in this world you will have TROUBLE, but take heart! I have overcome the world (what’s in the world, trouble!).
• Through CHRIST. Only through the power of Christ can we overcome our troubles!
So the question is not, “Why? Why am I facing so many problems, so much trouble?”
That’s the wrong question to ask.
• The right question is, “Why? Why am I not overcoming them? Why am I so weak?”
• Remember a few weeks ago we mentioned, there is no such thing as an ordinary Christian? The fact that you are a Christian means you are extraordinary. The Holy Spirit dwells in you; you have the right and the privilege of a child of God; given the authority of the Name of Christ in prayer.
• You are exceedingly more than a conqueror in Christ! That’s who you are!
So act like one. Believe and act like one. David acted like one.
• He was just a shepherd boy but he dared to challenge a seasoned warrior Goliath.
• He fought lions or bears when they attacked his sheep, and he won.
• “God delivered them into my hands!” he said. He was an overcomer.
Do you believe this today?
• This isn’t what you are going to become. “Wait till the situation is better or once I get my life together…” This is who God says you are!
• There is a ‘giant’ that no one else thinks you can beat (maybe not even you), but you can – with the power of Christ. We need to believe who God says we are.
Let me encourage you to fight in two ways:
(1) Fight with a Conquering Attitude
Don’t live with a defeatist’s attitude. Even before the fight, you’ve already declared you lost.
• If we face situations with a faithless, wishy-washy mindset, we lose the battle in our minds before we ever lift our will to fight.
• You must believe in what God about you. You must know who you are. You are more than a conqueror through Christ, who loves you.
• Faith-filled attitudes lead to faith-filled actions. The battle starts in the mind.
Joyce Meyer has a book called “Battlefield of the Mind”. We need to gain control over our mind and feed it with the truths of God’s Word, else damaging thought patterns can influence our lives and rob us from victory, peace and joy.
• You are not a victim of the circumstances. You are a child of God, greatly loved by Him and “can do all things through Him who gives you strength” (Phil 4:13).
• What do we do? 2 Cor 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
• You force every thought in your mind to align back to God’s Word, and throw everything else out!
David wrote in Psalm 18:29 “With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.” Nothing can stop me!
• With Christ, you are more than a conqueror. That’s expressing faith in God.
(2) Fight with Supernatural Weapons
Two verses before 2Cor 10:5 says, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Cor 10:3-4
We have a strength that is not physical, not earthly, not of this world.
• We have DIVINE POWER to demolish strongholds.
• If you're a Christian, you need to know who you are and what you have. We have the ‘power of God’ on our side. We fight with supernatural weapons.
Paul describes it this way in 2 Cor 4:7-9
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
We may have all kinds of hardships but there is this TREASURE in us (jars of clay).
• We have this treasure, CHRIST in us, to show that this all-surpassing POWER is from God, and not from us.
• We are hard pressed on every side, but not… crushed. Perplexed, confused but… not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed.
• WHY? Because we are OVERCOMERS. That’s what we are, by the power of Christ who dwells in us.
Over the years I’ve grown stronger in this faith-filled, conquering attitude.
• I chose to stay positive (and still learning to choose to stay positive) because how you choose to think is a CHOICE.
• I choose to think the way God tells us to think. It is not positive thinking, it is truth thinking. Positive thinking can have no basis; just imagining or dreaming.
• We anchor our thoughts upon the Word of God. We think the way God tells us to think. We meditate on the truth of God’s Word.
• We can learn to overcome the fear of failure, criticism, incompetence, or the fear of what people think…
Whatever weakness or worry or fear you may have, you can surely overcome.
• Believe this. When you trust Christ fully, you can do all things!
• When you know who you are, you'll know what to do. You are more than a conqueror.
Let us pray.
• If there is something - an obstacle, an addiction, a relationship, a fear, something that is blocking you, is overwhelming you, you want to ask for God's help to be an overcomer.
• You can and you will. It doesn't mean you won't have trouble, it means you'll overcome the trouble. Tell the Lord right now.
PRAYER: Father, we pray that your Spirit would plant this truth deep within our hearts. We believe Lord, and we shall overcome our problems. For we are more than conqueror through You. We are not victims. Lord, help us fight our battles with faith-filled attitudes, and help us depend fully upon the power of the Holy Spirit. Fill us afresh so we can overcome. Lord, give us victory over all that seeks to destroy us or oppose us. Glorify your Name through our victories, Lord. We give our lives to You. Use it for Your glory. In Jesus name, I pray. AMEN.
