The Overcoming Christian
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The Overcoming Christian
The Overcoming Christian
Good morning children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. I am looking around this morning. What a beautiful and amazing group of people. Different careers, different places in our walks, different backgrounds, yet all here because of Jesus Christ. It still blows my mind how awesome Abba Daddy is to us.
When we say ”I am a believer,” it is a big deal. It means we BELIEVE that Jesus died, rose again, sits at the right hand of the Father, and we are saved through his atoning sacrifice. It also means that we believe what our LORD and Savior tells us. Being a believer means we walk in victory because of what He did for you and for me. It means that we are overcomers. Kingdom living now!
John the beloved records Jesus Christ telling His disciples, and by virtue you and me, that through Him, we have been given the power to overcome.
33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Jesus was hours away from being arrested when he spoke these words. Imagine the inner turmoil he was experiencing. Yet Jesus takes the time to tell us that we can have peace in Him. Now, I struggled with this verse for some time. Here I have my Savior, knowing he is about to suffer terribly telling me that I am not only going to have some trials and sorrows, but many! How am I going to find peace in that! The key to this verse is in the word “peace.”
In the Greek, that word peace (your-rain-ay) means:
The Gospel according to John (King James Version) (H. The Source of Peace, Joy, and Security, 14:27–31)
Peace (eirene) means to bind together, to join, to weave together. It means that a person is bound, woven and joined together with self and with God and others.
You are woven together, bound with, and joined with Jesus, God, Holy Spirit, and other believers. If Jesus overcame the world, it means that we overcome the world through Him. The problem is in our mindset. We focus so much on the sorrow, trials, the things that bother us, the things that get under our skin, that we end up diving head first into the muck and mire. Our thoughts end up something like this:
I am facing all these problems! I don’t know what to do. Things are terrible! I am so angry! I am hurt. I feel so alone.
God, where are you in this. Jesus help me.
Most of us will admit that we find ourselves in places like this at times. The negative, the hurt, the pain is so overwhelming that it seems all but impossible to change our focus. What Jesus is telling us in John 16:33 is that we need to start with an overcoming mindset.
33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
The difference is is that if we know and believe that we are woven and joined with Jesus, we approach trials and sorrows with a different attitude. We know they exist and we go in with the assurance of Jesus Christ. Instead of drowning in despair, our thoughts begin with God. We stand with our head up and say “Thank you for being with me LORD, thank you for going before me, let’s do this.” The peace we try to get from the world is transient. It passes. The peace that Jesus brings is an overcoming peace. How do we get there? I want to show you three things we see the Prophets, Apostles, and disciples do throughout scripture.
The first thing we see through all of scripture from Genesis through Revelation is prayer. We must:
1. Prevail in Prayer
Now, this is going to sound strange coming from a Pastor, but there are times when I have difficulty praying. It is almost like I become a little kid, stomping my feet, and saying “I don’t wanna!” I think that is what we are like sometimes. Like little kids upset, stomping our feet, and saying “Come on Dad!” When that happens, I have discovered that I am actually in prayer. It may not be reverent prayer, but I am talking to God, and when I finally get over myself, I am sharing my heart with Abba Daddy. Our victory over sin and overcoming what seems impossible begins with confession and prayer.
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Can I just, that first line. So often, for so many of us, we will not reach out for prayer or for help and then blame God and others for not listening when we never opened our mouth! We can not pray for or help one another if we do not know what we are praying for or helping with.
Every victory in Scripture begins with prayer. Prayer may include petition, entreaty, supplication, thanksgiving, praise, hymns, and lament. Many of us have witnessed the power of prayer in physical healings. Let’s talk about spiritual healing for a moment. That earnest prayer, nothing left, you have nothing left to give, you cant fix the problem, you are now relying totally on God. Has anybody ever been there? Now, I would be willing to wager that if you prayed earnestly, when that prayer was over, that you recieved some kind of spiritual healing or peace or direction from Holy Spirit. That is the kind of prayer we are talking about here. When we pray earnestly we experience the power of God within ourselves and often times with others.
The second thing we see in scripture that overcomers do is:
Prevail in Prayer
Pursue the Promises
I want to preface what I am about to say by looking at Galatians 3:9
9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.
The Apostle Paul told us this that we would have a clear understanding about our adoption into the family of Abraham.
The Jews were distinguished in a very particular manner by the promises which they received from God; the promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets. God promised to be their God; to protect, support, and save them; to give them what was emphatically called the promised land; and to cause the Messiah to spring from their race. The Apostle Peter adds to this:
4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
The Apostle Peter tells us that God had also given unto the Church of Jesus Christ exceedingly great promises; indeed all that he had given to the Jews (except for the promised land settlement) add to that redemption through the blood of Christ, the indwelling influence of Holy Spirit, and eternal rest in the Kingdom of Glory. AMEN! We share in God’s divine nature! Now, if nature determines appetite, what are our appetites? More importantly, how do we overcome our worldly appetites to take on the nature of Jesus?
Prevail in Prayer
Pursue the Promises
Persist in Progress
We continue striving in our walk to become more Christ-like daily.
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,
The Apostle Peter is telling us this journey does not end with faith alone. As we continue our walk, we are adding to our faith by living out the very characteristics of Jesus Christ. Moral excellence means that we develop goodness of character, even if those around us are not. It is striving to live life as we should. Being an excellent person. As we live that way, we naturally add knowledge because we have learned how to handle those everyday situations. It is seeing those trials or those situations, knowing what to do, and doing it.
2 peter 1:6
6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,
Self-control. Who struggles with self-control at times? A brother and I were talking the other day and we both said “Man, How did Jesus do it.” Peter is referring more to the pleasures in life. When we indulge in those things or do things we know are not good for us. I have shared this before, but I will share again. I met with my doctor for a followup after I had the heart attack. I looked at him and said “Doc, I don’t get why I had a heart attack so young.” His face was great! He says “Bob, do you think the two packs of cigarettes a day, the pound of bacon a week, and the three pounds of cheese with the bacon, and you striving to not exercise had anything to do with it?” I knew that much was bad for me, but I had not developed self-control. I still eat bacon and cheese, just not nearly as much. We are all called to continue to develop both spiritual and physical self-control as we mature as Christians.
Now, where self control here mainly is about pleasure, patient endurance is about the pressures and problems of life. It is interesting that the person who struggles with self-control typically has a hard time with patience. I really like the words used in the KJV version; “long-suffering.” My God above, does it not seem like sometimes problems don’t end! Like you are just being pelted with one after the other? Nobody likes trials. The defeated person stays there, focused on the negative. The overcomer in Christ goes in believing that in and through Him, we have already overcome.
When Peter is speaking about godliness, It means God-likeness. In the original Greek it meant “to worship well.” In all things, glorify God. This is what makes the believer distinctive. We should look different from the world. We do not get caught up in petty things, or the passions and pressures that control others. We seek to do the will of God. Sometimes that means taking the difficult path and dealing with some pain or discomfort.
This next verse is huge for all believers to remember.
7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
Brotherly love (philadelphia in the Greek) must have been a tough one for Peter. These guys and gals were debating and disagreeing all the time, tempers flaring, and acting, well, human. I know none of us are like that. If we love Jesus Christ, we must also love our brothers and sisters in Christ. What about everybody else, the rest of the world?
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter One: Knowing and Growing (2 Peter 1:1–11)
When we have brotherly love, we love because of our likenesses to others; but with agape love, we love in spite of the differences we have.
Worship Team
Godly love is to love In spite of the differences we have. Whether a person feels like loving or not. Agape love means loving those we do not think deserve to be loved. It is the love of God for the ungodly, it is the love of God for the unworthy.
Brothers and sisters, by the blood of the Lamb, you are an overcomer this morning. Jesus has given us all the tools we need. His Word, Holy Spirit, the power of God within us. Boldly proclaim “I am an overcomer by the Grace of God.” Believe it, and live it.
Alter Call/Prayer