We Shall Overcome
Scripture Reading: Revelation 21:1-8
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed
away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud
voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them,
and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe
away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall
be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write,
for these words are true and faithful.”
6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will
give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit
all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving,
abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part
in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
I’m going to begin today where we ended last week, in Revelation 21. Two weeks
ago we focused on not growing weary in well doing, because in due season we will
reap if we do not lose heart. Today’s message goes hand in hand with that one.
Last week we talked about how good it was to be on the winning team, especially
when you know in advance that you’re going to win. Today we’re going to talk about
some of the obstacles and some of the prizes.
The scripture I read begins with the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven and
all things becoming new. No more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain. Then the
One who sits on the throne, Jesus Christ, the Father, the Holy Spirit, tells John to
write down the words because they are faithful and true. The first thing He says is
that it is done! So, what is the ‘it’ He was talking about. Let’s take a look at John 16:
33: These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world
you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. It is
done! Jesus has overcome the world. He warns us that we will have tribulation in
this world but can remain cheerful because He has overcome the world. We can
have peace but only in Him will we find it.
We’re not going to find that peace with the things of the world like the world claims.
If you watch commercial you’d think that’s all you need. A beautiful man or woman
by your side, a fancy car, some sharp clothes, a bunch of friends; these are the
things that make the world happy or so you would think if you watch movies or
television. Yet, you’ll find plenty of people with all of those things and no peace. In
fact, many times, those whom the world would say have it all, are the ones in the
most despair. As Christians, we have to be very careful not to get caught up in the
things that we have and lose the focus we should have on Christ on Christ. It’s not
our friends, or our cars, or our jobs, or our house or any other thing that will give us
peace. Our peace is found in Christ alone.
Back to Revelation 21, He goes on to say that the one who overcomes will inherit all
things. That sounds pretty awesome. So, what do we need to do to overcome?
Well, what did Jesus overcome? The world; selfishness, greed, pride and other
things of the world. How do we overcome those things? We have to keep our focus
on Jesus. When Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked on water but when he
began to focus on the things around him, he sank. That sounds too simple but
really, that’s it. We have to focus on the things of God and not on the things of
man. So much of our lives are built around getting things and having things, just by
the nature of the flesh we live inside. Even as Christians. The importance of the
things in our lives must decrease and the importance of Christ and His will must
increase.
Next, He tells John who will end up in the lake of fire, which is the second death. I’m
just going to focus on the first two and the last one that He mentions. The cowardly
are first on the list. Now, this is not the group that we with our human minds would.
In fact, we would probably think that the cowardly are a bit out of place when
considering the others mentioned, but scripture would tell you differently. One of
the things God emphasizes repeatedly throughout scripture is that we should be
fearless; fear not, be not afraid and so on. How many people do things or don’t do
things because they are afraid of what people will think of them or say about them.
We’ve learned in our study that faith is the opposite of fear. The word tells us that
without faith it is impossible to please God, so it seems pretty clear that with fear it is
impossible to please God. That doesn’t mean that we will never experience fear but
we should definitely not let it control us. It is something we must overcome. In fact, I
think there’s a very good reason the cowardly is at the head of this list.
Next on the list is the unbelieving. Doubt is indeed deadly. Again, doubt is another
antonym of faith. Faith is so crucial in our Christian walk. Does this mean that we
will never have second thoughts? Of course, not but what we must do is overcome
those thoughts. That’s why it’s so important that we know the word of God. He’s
given us everything we need to overcome when we are tempted. Everything is right
there in the word of God. If you’re in a plane at 30,000 feet that’s going down, does
the parachute help you in anyway if you don’t know where it is? How about if you
don’t even know there’s a parachute, does that help? It’s the same with the Bible.
There’s plenty in there that could really be helping believers but unfortunately, too
many either don’t know it’s there or have no idea how to find it so it does them know
good in their quest to overcome.
The last on the list are all liars. Who here has never told a lie? So you can see
what we all deserve. This should remind us all of God’s amazing grace to all who
believe and accept their righteousness through Jesus. This is also a way that the
enemy uses to get us out of God’s will, many times with the stupidest things. I’ve
caught myself lying about things that don’t even benefit me by lying. Ridiculous
things. Jesus said that He is the Truth and that the truth will make us free. We must
strive to be truthful in all things. Sometimes you just need to stop an think before
you answer.
As I close I’d like to leave you with some of the prizes we get when we overcome.
(Revelation 2:7) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him
who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.
(Revelation 2:11) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who
overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.
(Revelation 2:17) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him
who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and
on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.
(Revelation 2:26) And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give
power over the nations.
(Revelation 3:5) He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out
his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His
angels.
(Revelation 3:12) He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he
shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God,
the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new
name.
(Revelation 3:21) To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Wow!)
And as we read in our scripture, (Revelation 21:7) He who overcomes shall inherit all
things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
There is much to be gained if we overcome, and much to be lost if we do not. It’s
way too important to just leave to chance. Let us keep our eyes on Jesus and run
the race to get the prize.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: August 6, 2006