Overcoming The World

Good morning and welcome to CCC. What a wonderful morning it is to come together to fellowship and more importantly worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ together.

I pray that is why you come

Not to check a box

Not to make yourself feel better

Not to show how righteous you are because you attend church

I pray you come to first and foremost worship then serve others then fellowship......true fellowship always includes serving others!

I pray that is why you are here........if it is not why you are here I pray the Holy Spirit convicts you this morning and changes your heart

Let’s Pray

START OBS

This morning we begin Chapter 5 of I John. I think we have 3 messages left in I John including this week. God could always change that so that is why I say think.

I pray that you have been digging into God is Love that we spent the past two week exploring in I John 4 and I pray that you have gotten real with God asking him to show you your heart

If the only time you truly focus on the Word is here on Sunday mornings I pray that God breaks and changes your heart because you are missing so much of Him

That is really what Bible study is all about.....finding God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit

That is why God wrote the Bible so we could truly see Him and become more like Him

To change us from the inside out

To make us holy as He is holy

If you are not in it you miss out on all that plus so much more!

Take your notes sheet home and dig into the scriptures and find what God has for YOU

1 John 5:1–5

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“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

We have looked at becoming a child of God in the past but here it is again.

It must be important to God for you to realize what happens at salvation

That you become a child of God, a new creature the old is gone the new is here.....in fact the old is passed away....dead....gone

You are no longer physical but spiritual

No longer bound by flesh and sin and death but free in Christ

A son or daughter of God

You must understand and believe and more importantly act like a child of God

That must become your identity

So many struggle with identity

Not the gender confusion, satanic movements going around

No the struggle with identity I am referring to is right here

Son or daughter of God

Many Christians don’t understand their identity and those that do struggle to live in it

So many of us define our identity by

our family

our work

our hobbies

our sports

our successes

our failures

None of that is your identity.......if you are saved here this morning you are a child of God

if you are not saved here this morning you are a child of satan

Those are the only two true identities

Child of satan

and

Child of God

Period

Anything else is made up and a lie at best and sinful at worst

I want to make sure we understand this as it is pointed it out here in I John 5.

Born Of God

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This is not something you can earn

This is not a privilege that can be taken away

John 1:12

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“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”

The KJV uses power instead of right

The original Greek is exousia a feminine noun and the bible usage include both power and right however it tends to be translated power more than anything else

power of choice which is a right given to you by God

He gives each of us free will to make decisions and choices even if those decisions and choices lead us to death and hell

He loves us enough to truly give us free will which is why you have the power of choice or the right to become children of God

God, through Jesus, freely offers sonship and daughtership to all men and women.......He leaves the right and power to choose up to them

What are

True sons and daughters of God

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Galatians 4:6–7

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“And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

This is powerful

This is eternity changing

This should change your life if it applies to you this morning as a Christian

If you are lost here this morning......have never accepted Jesus and His free gift of forgiveness and salvation through repentance and confession this could change you in an instant......I pray if you are here this morning and you are not saved or you think you were saved but it was not authentic that the Holy Spirit awakens you this morning through God’s Word

Because you are sons.....Christians.....confessed Jesus.....made Him your Lord and Savior....not in words only but truly made Him Lord and Savior and believe God raised Him from the dead....you are saved....you are Christian.....you are a son or daughter of God

Because of that God sent the Holy Spirit into your heart and it cries Abba Father

Abba is the Greek word.....it was used in prayer and was very sacred

Father is from the Greek word pater which means father in the sense of paternal.....parent

So Abba Father gives us this glimpse of God....the creator of the universe....God almighty and now Father…parent…what a special relationship

It is proven by how the verse closes....not a slave but a son and if a son an heir

Right to inheritance

True son or daughter

Praise the Lord as Christians that is who we are!

True sons and daughters love Jesus

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John 8:42

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“Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.”

If God were your Father you would love me

True sons and daughters love Jesus

Not in word only but in deed

John 14:15

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“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Love God with all that you have and all that you are....your entire being and love others the way God loves you

If that is how you love you will keep the commandments

If you love God with all that you have and all that you are then you will do the things God calls you to do in His Word

You will begin to be made holy as He is holy through the Holy Spirit because you will conform to the Word not the world

Your mind will be transformed and renewed through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God

True sons and daughters keep His Word

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1 John 2:5

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“but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:”

1 John 3:24

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“Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”

We looked at these verses in depth when we were in those chapters several week ago but I wanted you to hear both of them again because true sons and daughters keep His Word

This is why change must accompany true salvation

Why

Because you are driven to true salvation by repentance

You are driven to repentance by the Holy Spirit when He shows you the truth of the Gospel

That truth is this

Sin is real

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

The wages or price or result of that sin is death both physical but more importantly spiritual

the second death that results in eternal separation from God in hell

There is nothing you can do about that price…you can’t pay it

you can’t work to overcome it

You can’t be good enough

you can’t give enough to churches or the poor

they only way that price can be paid is through the blood of Jesus

Jesus is the only way to salvation

When the Holy Spirit awakens you to that you sprint to repentance and salvation!

There has to be change that follows true salvation

It may be very small at first but the Holy Spirit, who God gives to all of His sons and daughters lives inside of you and He will produce fruit

You must change if you are saved

You can’t stop God so you must change

A way that change is shown is in you keeping His Word

Once you realize what salvation cost God and Jesus you are eager to keep His Word because God and Jesus gave you all that they have and all that they are when Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life to willingly die as the perfect sacrifice paying the sin debt of the entire world!

Praise God Amen this morning

That is why true sons and daughters keep His Word

True sons and daughters have overcome the world

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I John 5 is clear here everyone born of God overcomes the world

That is truth

God said so

But how?

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First

Holy Spirit

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John 15:26

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But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

Jesus sends you the Holy Spirit at salvation

He is the Spirit of truth and bears witness about Jesus

This is the same Holy Spirit who was present at creation, Jesus’ baptism, and raised Jesus from the dead

God Himself lives inside of you in the person of the Holy Spirit

What more do you need to overcome the world?

Nothing!

Jesus

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John 16:33

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“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””

Jesus has overcome the world. Live in His peace!

Because of Jesus this world cannot touch you as a son or daughter of God

You will feel pain

You will feel persecution

You will feel the world

This world will hurt you physically and emotionally

This world will attack you

This world may even physically kill you

But it cannot overcome you

God and Jesus care about the spiritual not the physical

When Jesus says he has overcome the world what He means is in Him your eternity is secured

The world cannot take your salvation from you

The world cannot take your sonship or daughtership away from you

The world cannot take you inheritance away from you

That is truth

That is how Jesus has overcome the world and through Him how YOU have overcome the world

Sin and death have no power over you any longer due to Jesus if you are truly saved here this morning

If you are not saved this morning sin and death have full power over you this morning but in Jesus you can overcome that by accepting Him and His gift of forgiveness and salvation this morning

I am going to put the following verses in your notes this morning and I want you to look them over this week and really dig into them as they also point to overcoming the world

1 Corinthians 15:57

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“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 John 4:4

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“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

Again I am not going to expand on these this morning but I want you to dig into them this week

What does all this mean?

Overcoming the world and keeping God’s commandments

You won’t keep sinning

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1 John 3:9

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“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.”

So does this mean if you sin you are not a Christian

No

That is not what is being talked about here

You will always sin as a human

Your nature is sinful

Your flesh is sinful

Your heart is deceitful above all things and craves sin

You will give into temptation and fall to sin

a practice of sinning is knowing it is sin and choosing to continue to live in it

For example there is no gay or homosexual Christian

Why

Because if you identify as gay or homosexual and live in that sin you are making a practice of sinning

There are Christians who struggle with the temptation of homosexuality and fall into sin

These have realized that homosexual lifestyle and all that comes with it is sin

They have repented, changed, turned and walked away from it

Their flesh still desires it

They are still tempted by it

They may even still fall into it and sin

The difference is their relationship with Jesus

They do everything in their power not to sin

They no longer identify as homosexual but Christian

You cannot practice or live in sin and be a Christian

You will sin

You will be tempted

You will fail and fall back into sin

But you do all you can to keep Jesus commandments and not sin

You have repented from that sin and lifestyle and fight to stay away from it

It no longer has power over you but again you fall from time to time

All have sinned

All will continue to sin

But Christians....true children of God will not live in that sin....practice that sin

Another way true sons and daughters have overcome the world is

Faith

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Ephesians 6:16

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“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;”

Faith protects you from the flaming darts of the evil one

Faith

Faith is built over time

Every time you put God’s Word into action

Every time you choose to believe God not the world and satan

Every time you see God moving in your life

Every time you go into the secret place and sit down in the throne room of God at His feet and He teaches you and loves on you and shows you what a perfect Father looks like you build faith

The opposite is also true

Every time you reject God and choose sin and the world your faith weakens

Faith just like muscles must be exercised to remain

That is one way people walk away from Jesus......they ignore their faith

they don’t exercise faith

They go through life on cruise control

They go through life not paying attention to what is going on around them

They stop trying to battle sin and before they know it they are so far from God…they are practicing sin and they have walked away

Faith

Faith is saying God I read this in your Word

I know you are true and faithful

I don’t understand it but I fully believe it and I am asking you to show me what my response is to be here and I will go and do my very best to live it out

Faith is when the storm is raging, the pain of divorce or cancer or death is at your door

The pain of bankruptcy or job loss

The pain of rejection by friend and family over you being a Jesus freak

The pain and suffering of persecution is at your doorstep

The world seems to be winning and yet you have peace in Jesus because you know Jesus has overcome the World

That is faith and what faith can do

Tough times are going to come

Times are coming, maybe they are here, or maybe you just walked through them

But times are coming when you feel crushed

Your heart has been ripped out and you feel defeated

That is when you must make a choice

Is Jesus real to you?

Do you truly have faith?

Are you truly a son or daughter of God?

If Jesus is real to you

If you truly have faith

If you truly are a son or daughter of God

You will have faith

You will say nevertheless Father not my will but your will be done

Your prayer may be more like....God you said it…i believe it but I have no idea how to walk it....show me

Show me how to have faith

Jesus says all who seek will find

Have faith

Jesus has overcome the world and that means if you are truly a Christian here this morning so have you

Stand on that

Even when it looks like there is no way that is true because of your circumstances and situation

because of the pain and suffering

Stand on it

You have overcome it because Jesus has overcome it

Have faith

Have peace

Believe

You are a son or daughter of God and therefore have overcome the world

The only way to overcome the world is Jesus

If you feel defeated this morning come give it to Jesus

If you feel beaten this morning come and give it to Jesus

If you are battling sin and feel like you can’t win come and give it to Jesus

Repent

Confess

Be forgiven and cleansed of all unrighteousness this morning

If you have never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior come

If you leave here without accepting Him and you die you will face the fullness of God’s wrath and spend eternity in hell

Jesus died for your sin

Jesus freely offers forgiveness and salvation

Repent

Confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior

Believe God raised Him from the dead

Come and leave a son or daughter of God this morning!

STOP OBS

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