OVERCOME
Scripture: 1 John 5:4
INTRODUCTION
It is exciting to realize we are privileged to live at the end of this dispensation. when the conflict between Satan and his demons and Christ and His saints is fast moving toward a climax. The Word of God describes this period in the history of mankind as being in two different spheres, both of them critical.
THE WORLD TODAY
We read the description of world conditions in general from Paul’s second letter to Timothy:
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, high-minded. lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep Into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith (2 Timothy 3:1-8).
This passage in the letter of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, with Its indisputable, detailed description of the conditions of society toward the close of this twentieth century, bears the unmistakable stamp of divine revelation. Surely the extent and the accuracy of these prophecies must convey a positive and a challenging message to the Christian church! let us hear It loud and clear. Time Is running out.
In spite of and in contrast to these terrible conditions in the world, there are times and places where revivals occur and the power of God’s Holy Spirit, working through the lives of converts, brings a change in the conditions of society.
As long as this dispensation lasts and so long as God’s people give themselves to prayer, the possibility of such revivals must be ever with us. We have witnessed such revivals in our time in Korea, in South America, in Africa, and elsewhere. May we never lose sight of the overriding desire of the Father:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
WHERE THE CHURCH STANDS TODAY
While that is how the world looks, what about the church?
When we read the messages to the seven churches of Asia, we understand they were directed not only to those specific congregations mentioned but also to us as in terms of prophetic significance. We turn to the last of those seven letters, the message to the church at Laodicea, and discover a description that can be found In these last days within the Christian church:
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent (Revelation 3:14-19).
The seriousness of this message is seen In John’s description of "one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as If they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength" (Revelation 1:13-16).
DANGERS FACING THE CHURCH
Such language conveys strong warnings against complacency.
First of all there Is the dangerous condition of lukewarmness which corresponds to Inactivity and neutrality in the Christian life.
The church is in danger of trying to accommodate everyone and in the process losing its effectiveness and thereby becoming lukewarm. There is only one way by which a person can become accepted into the body of Christ and that is by the experience of the new birth.
Furthermore, there is the danger of the church diluting its principles so that they become obscure and the position neither hot nor cold.
What a sad accusation against the church-the body of Him who left heaven’s glory to take the form of a servant in order to give us eternal life - that it should come to where its earthly possessions are considered its wealth. How awful the condemnation in this passage-"wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked." This sounds almost as bad as the world itself.
After offering cures for these maladies, the Lord in His message to the church brings the matter back down to the individual with the words, "If any man hear my voice...." The whole exercise is summed up in, "To him that overcometh."
ON BEING AN OVERCOMER
When we talk of overcoming, we indicate the process of facing temptation without succumbing. This is where the light shines through all the gloomy descriptions of our time: "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).
He who tells us the answer is overcoming is the same One who has overcome and taken that victory into his own high-priestly ministry. Wherefore, as we read, "let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (v. 16).
Seeing He was tempted in all points as we, it behooves us to give attention to our lord’s temptations, especially those specifically recorded in the Bible (Matthew 4:1-11). They must surely incorporate the fundamental means by which the devil seeks to cause Christians to fall. By identifying these areas of temptation, we are thus in a better position to recognize the subtle efforts of the enemy.
PRINCIPLES BY WHICH WE OVERCOME
The first of our lord’s temptations was to turn stones into bread in order to satisfy his legitimate hunger. Having Just completed a period of fasting and prayer, one might think this suggestion a fair proposition.
This experience of Jesus took place just as James explains temptation (James 1:14). Man is always tempted in terms of his desire; the enemy offers enticement but it is the yielding thereto that becomes sin. The Son of God and the Son of Man overcame the temptation to use His rightful power to perform miracles for His own satisfaction.
This experience classifies for us a sphere of temptation with which the devil is constantly busy, enticing us to misuse what we have in Christ Jesus, whether it be power, gifts, or liberty in the Holy Spirit. Paul particularly warns us about misusing our liberty, "But take heed lest by any means this liberty of your’s become a stumblingblock to them that are weak" (1 Corinthians 8:9). Peter also wrote, "As free and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as servants of God" (1 Peter 2:16).
As the Son of God, Jesus Christ could have dealt with the devil purely on the level of His divinity but He chose to accept the challenge as Son of Man. Therein He won for us a victory and at the same time revealed to us the key for victory in this sphere of temptation.
God’s Word is the answer; and we Pentecostals appreciate strong emphasis on the ministry of the Holy Spirit in bringing to our remembrance the relevant verses of Scripture.
Maybe we need to ask whether the quotation, "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," has something to do with the misuse of power the gospel has brought into our lives. With the power of God, there comes great responsibility. He that overcometh the temptation to misuse it for personal gain and benefit will sit with Christ in His throne.
The second of our Lord’s temptations was to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple, implying a demonstration to the world that He was really the Son of God. Jesus Christ did not and does not need to prove He is the Son of God. No matter what anyone thinks, says, or does, that is who He is. Jesus’ reply to the devil was to state the fact, "It is written, thou shalt not tempt the lord thy God."
In other words, it was God in Christ Jesus whom the devil was tempting and there was no need of this physical demonstration. Incidentally, tradition claims this was something told as an anticipated manifestation of the Messiah.
John reminds us, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1), and in the next verse, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God."
Here lies another fundamental sphere of temptation: to doubt, or to question the fact that we are children of God by the new birth.
To succumb to this temptation and to fall into this state of doubt robs us of strength and spiritual vitality, for It is this blessed assurance of sonship that creates in us the peace, joy, and love which characterizes Christian living.
Writing to the church at Rome, Paul states, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound In hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost" (Romans 15:13). Then again to the Galatians, he writes, "The fruit of the Spirit Is love, joy, peace . . . " (Galatians 5:22).
I know of a lady, who at one time was plagued by the devil in this area of temptation, and who says that in prayer the lord graciously gave her a vision of a tombstone in the clouds with her name on it. How she rejoiced in the wonderful confirmation of the scripture, "For ye are dead, and your life Is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).
The only hope for our world in its awful state of degradation Is to meet the lord Jesus and to recognize Him as the Savior. And the only way people are going to meet Him Is through an introduction by someone who knows Him personally.
At the time of His ascension, Jesus exhorted His disciples to tarry until they were endued with power from on high. They would then be witnesses unto Him.
If we today are to be effective witnesses for the lord, we dare not doubt the reality of our sonship nor the Indwelling, anointing presence of the Holy Spirit.
The third fundamental area of danger in relation to the battle plans of the enemy Is revealed In the lord’s temptation of Satan’s offer of the kingdoms of the world, something which was, though In a different sense, the highest goal of Jesus Christ. Jesus would not consider such an offer. It was a shortcut, something purely superficial, as an alternative to God’s way.
Here, the devil was seeking to tamper with God’s great plan of salvation through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus, a plan which meant that henceforth there should be no other name than Jesus given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:10-12).
When we consider the waves of spurious theology rolling through the church, then we know this area of temptation Is real indeed. It calls for positive withstanding of the enemy. In face of the gigantic problems in our world-starvation, persecution, revolution, illiteracy- there comes the temptation to find a shortcut; but let us realize there is no alternative to the gospel of Christ.
The gospel alone will meet the need of the whole man-body, soul and spirit. The gospel places the emphasis where it belongs, on right relationship with God. To bring that about requires a mediator, and there Is only One who has lived without sin, died without blame, and risen again to fulfill that office.
Alternative gospels leave men wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17). The way out is through a personal encounter with Jesus as He knocks and seeks admission to our hearts.
CONCLUSION
The call to overcome is very real and vital in these last days. John sums it up for us: "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).
Through all the chaos, hostility, and violence of our world, the light we see bursts into glorious radiance in the words of Jesus: "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; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
