Overcomers

As we approach the close of this age, it is vital we understand what, specifically, the Lord desires to see in His people. We often look at our ‘purpose’ along the lines of certain accomplishments, whether in ministry, missions or personal evangelism. And of course all those things are good and will happen to some extent through each of us as we grow and remain obedient to the Lord. But that which is most important is inward rather than outward; more related to personal spiritual advance than to performance.

God will never put work or service in the place of character; and if we do that, eternity will reveal that however much we may have (accomplished), we are very small among the inhabitants of the Land, whose stature will be measured by the measure of Christ . . . the ultimate test is not how much work is done, but how much of Christ is present.
T. Austin Sparks

In the letters our Lord sent to the seven churches of Revelation chapters 2 and 3 Jesus sums up His overarching purpose for His people at the end of this dispensation. We see one consistently reoccurring exhortation for Christians – “to him who overcomes.” Above all other things, our Lord desires that each of His children become overcomers. Therefore, it would be good to look briefly at what this designation means.

In approaching this subject there are two things we must avoid:

1) Creating the impression that overcomers are super saints and that those of us who are not super saints could never achieve overcomer status

2) Making overcomers less than they are. They are not some elite class of super Christians but neither are they status quo.

The word overcomer comes from the root word (nikao) meaning “to overcome” - literally, “to conquer”, “to carry off the victory”, “to “prevail”. Overcome does not mean achieving success, recognition, acceptance, prestige, health, wealth, or popularity. In the context of Revelation chapters 2 and 3 its usage is exclusively related to the spiritual life of the one overcoming.

The meaning of this word presupposes and calls attention to the presence of war, contests, battles, and conflicts in man’s struggle with evil. The Bible clearly teaches us, as does life itself, that we are in a conflict, indeed, a holy war, with specific adversaries. The conflict rages in and against the life of the Christian. This is everywhere evident in Scripture and so obvious in life that one has to deny reality to ignore or disclaim it.
J. Hampton Keathley

In the letters to the seven churches (Revelation 2 and 3) we see an extensive discussion of the challenges the overcoming believer must face.

Ephesus: The loss of first love. We must never lose the personal, intimate, absolute first-place love that Jesus has in our hearts. Nothing must ever rival this love.

Smyrna: Remaining faithful even, if necessary, unto death. Our spiritual lives may ebb and flow, but the overcomer, when pressed, will sacrifice his life to retain his stand for the Lord Jesus.

Pergamum: The resistance and rejection of false doctrine and, as is often the case, resultant immorality or idolatry. It would be impossible to effectively overcome false teaching without sufficient understanding of the Word to recognize such teaching (cp. Hebrews 5:13-14; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 2:15).

Thyatira: Similar to Pergamum (there the teaching was related to the Nicolaitans and in Thyatira it is identified as that which “Jezebelian” in nature). In both cases the false teaching was able to lead those who embraced it to immorality and idolatry.

Sardis: Maintaining a holy dissatisfaction with all things “partial”. In other words, the overcomer will press forward past infancy and past a limited expression of Christ unto maturity and fullness regardless of personal cost.

Philadelphia: Patience. Those in Philadelphia were exhorted to “Not deny His Name. . . and keep the word of His patience”. Overcomers endure even if their strength is small (Revelation 3:8), which it often is. They will fall, but they will get back up. That which characterizes their lives is not a pattern of never failing, but of not giving up when others have given up (like Demas, 2 Timothy 4:10).

Laodecia: Lukewarmess. Those who love God, hate what God hates. Lukewarmness is status quo – what we sometimes call “churchianity”; simply going through the motions each week without any regard to the importance of personal spiritual advance. The result of this mediocre commitment is inevitably deception.

How is overcoming accomplished? Faith is the ultimate foundation of an overcoming life (1 John 5:4-5; Hebrews 11). It is not faith in us; it is faith in the power, faithfulness, presence and love of the Lord Jesus. As our knowledge of Christ increases our faith increases (Romans 10:17).

What is gained by becoming an overcomer? The main emphasis underlying the benefit of attaining overcomer status is the securing of the expression and image of Christ in the overcoming believer. This has always been God’s intent for us and in the overcomer we see this purpose brought to fullness. If you consider in summation each of the things which are to be overcome, you will see the perfections of overcoming demonstrated in the life of Jesus – whether resisting the world and the devil, recognizing and exposing false teaching, the avoidance of compromise with the immorality of the culture or a His ever present dissatisfaction with that which was partial or incomplete (Revelation 3:2b). Our Lord was always pressing His disciples to higher ground, to a greater understanding of Himself and His purpose – forcing the issue time and time again of attaining to God’s highest calling for them. The Lord lived out the perfections of the overcomer and through demonstration and instruction sought to bring His disciples to this same ascendency.

God’s intention from the beginning was to “. . . create Man in our image, and let him have dominion . . .” (Genesis 1:26). The Last Adam in union with His bride will fulfill God’s ultimate intention of securing a race of humanity conformed to His image and in a place of authority over all God has made (2 Timothy 2:11-13; Revelation 2:26; cp. Ephesians 1:20-21,23; 2:6; Revelation 3:21; 1 Corinthians 6:3). The church is destined for the throne.

God will never abandon His original purpose for humanity, but because of the fall of the first Adam and the resultant fall of the Adamic race, this original purpose had to be recovered in the Second Man, the Last Adam, and will ultimately be realized in the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:17-19). The overcomer demonstrates the first fruits of this purpose in the way he or she lives, resisting whatever would diminish the realization of God’s intention. This remnant company of believers embodies the original intention of God.

The enemy’s work is to frustrate this purpose so he may remain “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). But soon he and his angels will be displaced by the rapture and ascendency of the body of Christ. Satan will be cast out (Revelation 12:9). There will be a corporate Man on the throne of Heaven (cp. Ephesians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 12:12; Revelation 4:4).

As that time draws near the anger of Satan grows. As he fights to prevent his dethronement, the conflict within and around us intensifies. The birth of the kingdom of God’s Son is near and this nearness signals the casting out of Satan and the practical enthronement of the saints (1 Corinthians 6:3a)

Because of the numerous verses that make reigning conditional on the attainment of overcomer status, it is my conviction that only those who achieve this status will share the throne of Christ in this way. Though all Christians have secured heaven through faith in Christ, only those who overcome shall “sit with Me in My throne, even as I overcame and am set down with My Father in His throne” (Revelation 3:21). Jesus did not overcome by being “saved”; He overcame by overcoming. One does not reign simply because he is saved; he reigns by becoming like Christ to whatever extent is possible for him in this earthly pilgrimage and battle. And to that extent he may be granted authority over five cities, ten cities, etc. (Luke 19:17-19).

At this point I want to share some insights from others who have studied this concept of overcoming.

Faith is not a power that we exert in order to change our circumstances. It is the assurance we have inwardly even if our circumstances do not change. Living independently of our circumstances is what makes us overcomers. I think that’s worth repeating: Living independently of our circumstances is what makes us overcomers! It’s a matter of putting legs and feet to the promise that we find in Romans 4:17, which says, “Calling those things that are not, as though they were.”

In other words, if I have no money, I still believe that God is my infinite supply. If I am still sick and not healed, I can believe that God is the life of my body. If I am attacked and even defeated, I still believe that today Christ is my victory! Christ is our all-in-all no matter what the outcome.
Source Unknown

____________

You see, the Remnant and Overcomers have as their function to be God's vantage ground in a day of widespread spiritual declension and failure, to be vantage points, that upon which God can act and say, ‘Here is my thought positively expressed; here is the thing that I am after!’ That is the function of Overcomers to be to God like that. ‘Here is the thing ’(God is saying); ‘look at this..... look at Christ and His own as God wills them to be and you have what I am after, what My mind is!' The Remnant is for that: God's vantage ground in a day of declension to show the thing to others.

God's thought concerning His Church is that it should be gathered out of the nations, slowly but surely formed into a bride worthy of giving to His Son as a gift, without spot or blemish or any such thing - given to Christ as His bride to be for Him the instrument, the agency, of filling and fulfilling the coming Kingdom throughout the ages. That is God's thought about the Church. Can we say that that is being realized in any commensurate way? No, but God holds to His thought and He seeks an inner company whom we are calling a Remnant or an Overcomer Company to stand for Him in this service, to be a link between Him and His full thought in His people, and to be that instrument for the realization of His full thought, to serve Him, to see His face. What is that? To be to His Son the agency of filling the Kingdom and fulfilling the Kingdom in the days to come. That is tremendous service. It is unto that that the Overcomers are called.

If you want to be in the work of the Lord, if you want to be the Lord's servants, it is not given to a special class called ministers and missionaries. It is to a whole company, to every one who overcomes. ''He that overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with Me in My throne'' (Rev. 3:21)
T.A. Sparks