We Are Overcomers Series

We Are Overcomers!

1John 5:1-5

Introduction:

Christian = you are an Overcomer! We are Overcomers! Identity in Christ. Who you are in Him.

NT = verse after verse that bears out this great truth…

Romans 8:37 – “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

1 Cor. 15:57 – “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Cor. 2:14 – “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”

1John 2:13,14; 4:4

1John 5:4,5

“Overcome / Overcometh” = 6x’s in 1John – 3x’s in vv.1-5 – get Eng. ‘Nike’… to carry off the victory, conquer, prevail.

Pictures:

Athlete = on the field of play who has given every fiber of their being and carried off the victory. They prevailed in the contest. A Winner!

Warrior = standing on the field of battle with sword in hand having vanquished the foe – won the fight. A Victor!

“Overcometh” = present tense – describes an ongoing victory because we face an ongoing struggle…

World = live in a world broken by sin… all of us face times of heartache, trial, tragedy, pain, temptation, etc…

Satan = forces of evil that seek to defeat and destroy us spiritually.

Illust: Fanny Crosby

Greatest hymn writer of all time… 20th century wrote nearly 9,000 hymns and gospel songs. Sing her songs today: Blessed Assurance, Safe in the Arms of Jesus, All the Way My Savior Leads Me,

Blinded as an infant at the age of 6 weeks.

Never became bitter that she could not see.

Age of 8 wrote poem:

Oh, what a happy soul I am!

Although I cannot see,

I am resolved that in this world

Contented I will be.

How many blessings I enjoy

That other people don’t!

To weep and sigh because I’m blind,

I cannot, nor I won’t!

One time a preacher sympathetically remarked, “I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when He showered so many other gifts upon you.”

She replied quickly, “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I should be born blind?”

“Why?” asked the surprised clergyman.

“Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!”

One of Miss Crosby’s hymns was so personal that for years she kept it to herself. Kenneth Osbeck, author of several books on hymnology, says its revelation to the public came about this way:

“One day at the Bible conference in Northfield, Massachusetts, Miss Crosby was asked by D.L. Moody to give a personal testimony. At first, she hesitated, then quietly rose and said, ‘There is one hymn I have written which has never been published. I call it my soul’s poem. Sometimes when I am troubled, I repeat it to myself, for it brings comfort to my heart.’ She then recited while many wept,

Someday the silver cord will break,

and I no more as now shall sing;

but oh, the joy when I shall wake

within the palace of the King!

And I shall see Him face to face, And tell the story – saved by grace!

At the age of 95 Fanny Crosby passed into glory and saw the face of Jesus!

Fanny Crosby = an Overcomer!

Far too many Christians – living defeated lives – more often than not feel like they are overcome rather than being Overcomers … feel more like a victim than a victor. Maybe that is you! Doesn’t have to remain that way!!

Every person here today can be a winner. You can be an Overcomer!

How??? Give you some foundational truths from our passage. Over the next several weeks go through the Bible learn from some of God’s Overcomers.

You can be an overcomer when you…

1. Know Jesus Christ as Your Personal Savior!

Look: v.1

John = giving us the definition of a person who is saved.

“Born of God” = a person who has been born again by faith in Jesus Christ.

John 3 – Jesus nighttime meeting with a man by the name of Nicodemas – religious man but he wasn’t a saved man. You can be religious and yet be lost.

3:3 – “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

3:5,6 – “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”