January 22, 2006

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

Significant Truths for 2006--#3

 

Introduction: “Overcoming to the End” (Rev. 21:7.)

 

This is the third in our series on “Significant Truths for 2006.”  There are, of course, many important truths in Scripture.  These are chosen primarily because of the vast ground spiritually that they cover.  Jesus spoke of “weightier matters of the law.” (Matt. 23:23.)  Some things are more vital to the faith we hold than others, just as your heart is more vital to life than a hand or foot.  I am trying to present more of these inner, heart issues to begin this new year.

 

One thing that stands out when you read the brief letters to the seven churches of Asia is the repeated reference to overcoming.  Though they were suffering persecution, this was not the only thing that the Christians needed to overcome in order to reach heaven.  There were many other factors as well.  Each of the seven promises to those who overcame involved eternal life.  Here are the statements:

 

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Ephesus: To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.  (2:7.)

Smyrna: He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death.  (2:11.)

Pergamos: To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saving he that receives it.  (2:17.)

Thyatira: He that overcomes and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations and he shall rule them…and I will give him the morning star.  (2:26-28.)

Sardis: He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.  (3:5.)

Philadelphia: He that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which comes down out of heaven from my God.  And I will write upon him my new name.  (3:12.)

Laodicea: To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne.  (3:21.)

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The opposite of the above statements means that one does not overcome to the end, he will not eat of the tree of life, he will be hurt of the second death, he will not be clothed with white raiment, etc.  It means that one will be separated from God in heaven.  Overcoming the obstacles in life that are in the way of eternal life is an important matter.  Each year that you overcome, the closer you are to reaching your goal.

 

I want to enumerate some of the many obstacles in our way, and show how we may overcome them.

 

Obstacles to Overcome

 

The world.  Speaking broadly, at first, everyone who goes to heaven must overcome the world.  The world is an all encompassing word that includes all the obstacles of life that opposes spirituality and eternal life.

 

John wrote, “Love not the world, neither the things in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father, but is of the world.  The world passes away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of the God abides forever.”  (1 John 2:15-17.)

 

Jesus explained his parable of the sower and the seeds that fell upon four different kinds of soil.  He said, “That which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring forth no fruit to perfection.”  (Luke 8:15.)  The thorns represent the world and they often choke out tender plants.  The thorns must be cut down and destroyed for the plants to grow to maturity.

 

Instead of resisting the world, some Christians make the mistake of trying to succeed in the world.  This may be what Jesus had in mind when he warned, “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  (Mark 8:36-37.)  The world must be overcome by the believer or the Christian will be overcome by the world.  The two are not compatible.  The world is darkness; the Christian is the light of the world.

 

Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”  (John 15:18-19.)

 

How do we overcome the world, especially since spiritual powers of darkness are involved?  Listen to Jesus’ words: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace.  In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33.)  “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.”  (1 John 4:4.)

 

We overcome the world by faith in Christ Jesus. “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.”  (1 John 5:4.)  It is crucial that we maintain a vibrant faith in Jesus Christ.  We cannot overcome the world alone; only by being in the Kingdom of God’s dear Son is that possible.  “(God) who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of our sins.”  (Col. 1:13-14.)  There exists a power of darkness in this world.  Jesus said to those who came to arrest him, “When I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against me, but this is your hour and the power of darkness.”  (Luke 22:53.)  You can overcome this power only in Christ Jesus who conquered it for us.

 

The flesh.  There is another general, comprehensive Bible word that is more personal than the word world.  It is the word flesh.  Every person feels the tug of the world in his own heart.  Jesus overcame the demonic powers of the darkness of this world, but each person must decide between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world.  There is a line drawn between good and evil, between salvation and condemnation; and that line is drawn right down the center of each person’s heart.  What will you choose?  What will you decide?  Each person must overcome this tug toward sin and the lusts of the flesh.  (1 Peter 2:11.)

 

The Bible describes this conflict in these words: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would.”  (Gal. 5:17.)  Paul then named the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit so that we would which we have chosen to follow.  “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lust.”  (5:24.)  In Romans 7, Paul described that individual struggle and the apostle was talking about himself personally.  He wrote, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.”  (7:18.)  There is something wrong with the heart of every person.  It all happened at the Fall in Genesis 3.  Each person must decide whether he will follow the Spirit of God or the desires of the flesh.  The Lord has overcome the world, but you must overcome your own heart.

 

“But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”  (1 Cor. 9:27.)  Jesus said to the rich young ruler, “One thing thou lackest.”  A person can be overcome by any one sin; he need not be overwhelmed by all of them in order to fall.  What defeats one person may not be a powerful temptation to another.  What I struggle with may be different from your struggle.  But each person is challenged and tempted by the world in one way or another.

 

The Lord has already defeated the Evil One; he has overcome the world.  But you have a choice in the matter whether the Lord rules in your heart or whether the Evil One does.  You can win the game of life by faith in Christ Jesus.  Without him, you will surely lose it.

 

“Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain.”  (1 Cor. 9:25.)

 

Past Defeats.  I have found that the one of the most difficult obstacles for people to overcome are those caused by past defeats.  These defeats include a whole array of experiences that causes one to feel that he cannot succeed spiritually and cannot go to heaven.  These past defeats not only include personal failures, but home and family environments that discourage and destroy faith.  Some people have unbelievable difficulties to face and obstacles to overcome in order to live a life of faith in the Lord.  Some of these are so severe that they seem like a mountain of trash in one’s pathway.  They do not see a way around or over the garbage.  It causes one to give up and no longer try to be a Christian.

 

Peter told the other apostles after he denied the Lord three times that he was going back to his own occupation, fishing.  (John 21:3.)  The other fishermen said that they were going with him.  Peter no doubt was being defeated in his own heart by what he did.  When Jesus confronted Peter, he asked him three times, Lovest thou me more than these?  (John 21:15, 16, 17.)  Peter answered sadly, Yea, Lord, you know that I do.  Peter was battling with past defeats that can weigh heavily on the heart.  Peter overcame his past failures, but Judas could not bear it.  He betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and hanged himself in shame over it.  Personal failures can be so difficult overcome, simply because they are personal.

 

Remember these truths about past defeats: 1) The Lord already knows all about it.  He is ready to receive you back and forgive you.  He asks us just as he did Peter, Lovest thou me more than these?  2) Judas could have been forgiven just as readily as Peter.  Judas committed spiritual suicide, in addition to physical suicide.  3) Others have faced similar problems and overcame them. So can you.

 

David experienced the bitterness of personal spiritual failures in his life.  This shows that such experiences are not limited to citizens, but to kings as well.  David could have self-destructed like King Saul did, but he found his way back to God.  He wrote and sang a penitent psalm expressing his sorrow for his deeds.  (See Psalm 51.)

 

Mary Magdalene had a troubled life until she found Jesus.  We cannot imagine what it must have been like for her to have seven demons, or evil spirits, within her.  (Luke 8:2.)  Other women had suffered similarly.  But one thing is for certain—she had an unpleasant past that could have destroyed her.  But she refused to allow it to keep her from heaven.  She allowed Jesus to cast them out.

 

A preacher-friend of mine and Norma’s committed suicide.  Someone said that very few knew the extent of the demons that he was dealing with.  They were referring to obstacles and personal problems in his life.  What kind of demons do you possess, or who possess you?

 

Timothy did not have an ideal home-life.  His mother was a believer, but his father was a Gentile non-believer.  (Acts 16:1.)  Yet, he became a young co-worker to the great apostle Paul.  Paul himself had much to overcome.

 

Conclusions

 

We have named three major areas in which obstacles stand in the way of reaching heaven at last.  These are the world, the flesh and past defeats.  We can have assurance that we can overcome unto the end because the Lord has overcome the world.  We must often overcome ourselves and the self-defeating thoughts that enter into our minds.  We need to be assured that we can overcome to the end and go to heaven.

 

We have many obstacles that confront us, admittedly, but we have more on our side and sufficient power to overcome all obstacles.  Listen to Paul, who asked four questions:

 

“If God is for us, who can be against us?  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”  (Romans 8:31-32.)

 

“Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?  It is God that justifies.”  (Romans 8:33.)

 

“Who is he that condemns?  It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us.”  (Romans 8:34.)

 

“What shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or sword? …Nay , in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life …. Shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:35-39.)