by
Keith Hunt
Further down is the full reproduction of an article by Ralph
Orr that appeared in the May 17th, 1994 WORLDWIDE NEWS, published
by the Worldwide Church of God.
There is much to agree with in Mr. Orr's article. As I am not
in contact with him, have never spoken to him, have not written
to him, I only have his article to study and ascertain
the reasons behind his writing on this subject.
I can not look into his heart as God can. I do not want to
impute wrong motives when there may have been none.
The article was relatively short and it may have been written
to dispel the idea that Christian overcoming is NOT trying to
amass more "good" points (in the way of prayer, fasting, Bible
study, tithing, and the like) as opposed to "bad points" in order
to take our list to God and demand His favor and grace, so
earning our salvation by deeds or works of right doing.
Truly, if some think this is what is meant by OVERCOMING (mor
prayer, more fasting, more study, more giving of our money to the
Church or poor etc.) then as Ralph Orr has said:
"Can we ever be confident that eternal life is ours? Does there
come a day when we know our efforts have finally made us
acceptable to God? Is overcoming achieved by fasting? By
prayer? By hard and continual sacrifice? Is it by going through a
series of severe trials? Is it by living sinless for a time? How
many fasts, how many prayers, how many offerings does God
require? How many trials and tests, and how many sinless
commandment-keeping days must we live before God will give us
eternal life? How do we measure such a thing? Is it by
years in the Church? Does God keep us living long enough so we
have plenty of time to overcome all that is required? If so, does
that mean that those who have died after less than a year as a
Christian had less to overcome than those who died after decades
in the faith? We know we will go to our graves having tried to
keep the commandments perfectly, but still having fallen short.
Will our failure doom us? After all, isn't commandment keeping
required for eternal life? Isn't that what overcoming is all
about?"
The HEART of the truth of the matter is contained in Ralph
Orr's article, yet there are statements that could lead people to
a false understanding of this subject. So I will endeavor
to make the truth PLAIN.
.....................
Can you overcome enough for God?
by Ralph Orr
As Christians we want to do God's will. We wish to obey him, to
keep His commandments, to love God and fellow humans. Yet in our
honest moments we recognize how weak we are. Obeying God,
trusting God and living daily from a pure heart motivated only by
love, eludes us. Paul's words ring so true, for they are our
words: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this
body of death?" (Romans 7:24).
Then, too, those tough scriptures in Revelation cry out, "To him
who overcomes ..." They were written, a cynic might argue, to
taunt us, to frustrate us, because there is no hope that we will
ever attain the goal. "To him who overcomes, I will give the
right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise
of God" (Revelation 2:7). "He who overcomes will not be hurt at
all by the second death" (verse 11).
"To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my
throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His
throne" (Revelation 3:21).
What is required?
Perhaps you have read these scriptures or heard them preached,
and afterward thought: "I better fast more. I better study more.
I better pray more. I haven't overcome enough. I've got to do
more or I'm not going to be in God's kingdom." We've
unconsciously concluded that Christ's sacrifice is not enough to
guarantee our salvation, that we must be overcomers and conquer
our carnal pulls and desires. We conclude we must learn to
withstand every blow of Satan and this world, build holy
righteous character and only then will we be true overcomers.
If so, how much must we overcome to have eternal life?
Can we ever be confident that eternal life is ours? Does there
come a day when we know our efforts have finally made us
acceptable to God?
Is overcoming achieved by fasting? By prayers? By hard and
continual sacrifice? Is it by going through a series of severe
trials? Is it by living sinless for a time?
How many fasts, how many prayers, how many offerings does God
require? How many trials and tests, and how many sinless
commandment-keeping days must we live before God will give
us eternal life? How do we measure such a thing?
Is it by years in the Church? Does God keep us living long enough
so we have plenty of time to overcome all that is required? If
so, does that mean that those who have died after less than
a year as a Christian had less to overcome than those who died
after decades in the faith?
We know we will go to our graves having tried to keep the
commandments perfectly, but still having fallen short. Will our
failure doom us? After all, isn't commandment keeping required
for eternal life? Isn't that what overcoming is all about?
Already overcomers
The good news is that God says you have already overcome! You are
already an overcomer. You are an overcomer now! You have overcome
your flesh, this world and Satan! How could that be?
How could anyone say that of a Sinner? John, the apostle who
wrote those troublesome verses in Revelation, gives us God's
answer. As a prelude to God's answer, we can read shocking yet
encouraging words in 1 John 2:13. "I write to you young men, John
says, "because you have overcome the evil one."
God is telling us that John knew people who had already overcome
Satan the devil. They didn't need to overcome. They already had
overcome. Could that be said of you and me?
Yes, it can. In fact, God already has said it. He says we already
are overcomers. He says we have already overcome Satan, this
world and even our flesh. We've overcome all we need to overcome
to have eternal life.
"For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the
victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it
that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the
Son of God.... God has given us eternal life, and this life is in
his Son. He who has the Son has life" (1 John 5:4-5, 11-12).
The victory is ours
Yes, we are overcomers. We have overcome. The victory is ours.
Eternal life has come to us not through our fasts, prayers,
trials and tests, nor through our commandment keeping, but
through Jesus Christ. Revelation reminds the Church of its need
to overcome. John's epistle reveals how overcoming is possible.
Christ's sacrifice and our faith in Christ, evident in our
willingness to testify to others about it, makes us overcomers.
It is just as we read in Revelation 12:11: "They [Christians)
overcame him [Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by their word
of their testimony."
That does not mean we can ignore our need to grow in Christian
character. If we love God we will strive to be more like Him. But
in the Scriptures growing and overcoming are two separate
ideas.
Only if we turn our back on Jesus Christ through disbelief or
willful disobedience will we be condemned. "If we deliberately
keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the
truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful
expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the
enemies of God" (Hebrews 10:26-27, emphasis mine).
God knows our frailty. God knows our inability to obey perfectly.
For each of us, trapped in this body, subject to its lusts, its
weakness and open to Satan's corrupting influence, God provides
a way to overcome it all. That way is Jesus Christ. Whoever is
going that way has overcome.
End of article by Orr.
I want you to note the second paragraph under the heading The
victory is ours in Mr. Orr's article. It reads: "Christ's
sacrifice and our faith in Christ, EVIDENT IN OUR WILLINGNESS TO
TESTIFY TO OTHERS ABOUT IT, makes us overcomers" (emphasis
mine).
Depending on what Ralph Orr means by the words I've enlarged
in the above quote, his sentence is the nut shell of the truth.
The Bible explains over and over again WHAT IS MEANT by our
willingness to testify to others about it - Christ's sacrifice
and our faith in Christ.
Like any study on any topic in the Bible, we are to "search
the scriptures" - find all verses that use the word
OVERCOME/ING/ETH in relation to our question. Also find and
note any other verse/s that have bearing on the topic.
So let's begin.
TWO GREEK WORDS
There are three words used in the New Testament(NT) that we
need to be concerned with in this study - OVERCOME, OVERCOMETH,
and OVERCAME (as found in the KJV). For these three words in
English there are only two in the Greek of the NT.
In STRONG'S CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE the numbers are 3528 and
2274.
In this article we shall look at 2 Peter 2:19,20. The Greek
for OVERCOME in these verses is number 2274.
We shall also look at these important verses: 1 John 2:13,14;
4:4; 5:4,5; Revelation 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21; 12:11; 21:7.
In all of the above verses that use the English words
overcome, overcame, overcometh, the Greek word is number 3528.
2 PETER 2:19,20
The Greek used for overcome is number 2274 in both of these
verses. The Greek tense of the word is the PERFECT TENSE.
From the Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised (published by
Zondervan) we learn this about the perfect tense: "The perfect
conveys the double notion of an action terminated in the past
time, and of its effect existing in the present: as 1 Cor.7:39."
This Greek is translated as "A wife is bound" in the
Interlinear Greek-English by Berry.
A wife is bound by the law to her husband Paul said. When did she
become bound? At the time of her marriage, when it was deemed
legal. Now that was an action accomplished at a certain time and
the next day after you would say it was an action of past time.
But a week later, or a month later, or a year later, is that
marriage bond still bound, is she still bound to her husband by a
past action? Yes of course she is! The one time past action and
its effect CONTINUES EXISTING IN THE PRESENT. There was a time
the action was taken and entered into, the marriage bond was
proclaimed legal, it now is still in effect - it was STARTED into
effect, and CONTINUES in effect during the PRESENT. Time does not
disannul the action taken in the past.
This is the PERFECT TENSE in the Greek.
Now read 2 Peter 2:19,20 with this understanding of the tense
for the word overcome. Read all the way to verse 22. Peter is in
context talking about people who had"known the way of
righteousness" - who had at one time "escaped the pollutions of
the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ" but had at SOME POINT, at some specific time in their
lives made a choice to "turn from the holy commandment delivered
unto them" and return to the pollutions of the world as a dog "is
turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her
wallowing in the mire."
They had when Peter was writing ALREADY DONE THIS, it was an
ACTION they had already done in the past at some specific time,
but that action they had taken in the past was CONTINUING AS A
LIFE STYLE IN THE PRESENT!
Because of this fact (these individual's life style and
practices in the present is due to an action taken in the past)
it was only natural that Peter was inspired to use the PERFECT
tense for the word overcome.
They, these false prophets (verse 1,15), had in the PAST gone
astray and were then at that time overcome by the pollutions of
the world and had become the "servants of corruption" but were
also at the PRESENT continuing to be overcome by the same
corruptions they had willfully turned to and espoused at a past
point in their lives.
They had chosen an action to live by in the past and were
continuing under that action in the present.
1 JOHN 2:13,14
The word is again overcome and it is number 3528 in Strong's
Concordance. The Greek tense is again PERFECT.
I want you to also note that the Greek for "ye have known" in
verses 13 and 14 is also in the PERFECT tense.
In verse 13 John writes to "you fathers" and to "you little
children" and in verse 14 to "you fathers."
He says to them "ye HAVE KNOWN" as the Interlinear
Greek-English by Berry reads. Now was it ONLY in the past that
these fathers and little children knew the Father, the one from
the beginning? Did they not know Him NOW IN THE PRESENT? Of
course they knew Him, the Father, the one from the beginning, AS
JOHN WAS WRITING TO THEM, AS THEY WERE READING HIS LETTER WHEN
THEY RECEIVED IT.
John knew they had known Him in the PAST, and he knew they
knew Him in the PRESENT as he wrote to them. So he used the
PERFECT tense for these Greek words - an action done in the past
but continues its effect in the present.
There was a time when the "fathers" and "little children" whom
John is addressing CAME TO KNOW THE TRUE GOD AND HIS TRUE WAY OF
LIFE. At one point they were blinded and did not know the true
God, then at a certain time in their lives the knowledge of the
truth came to them, they had the blindness removed, they saw the
Eternal God in "spirit and in truth" and came to KNOW Him. When
John was writing to them this coming to know the true God was
PAST ACTION in their lives. But that action did not
STOP in the past, it was not "over and done with" - they
CONTINUED to know Him who was from the beginning. That action of
knowledge from the past in their lives was still continuing in
the PRESENT.
So also was the OVERCOMING of the "young men" a PAST action,
but it did not STOP in the past, it was not just a one time
action and then forgotten about. It was not an attitude of,
"Well I'm saved - once saved always saved, so I can live as I
like."
They had at one point in their lives come to see the truth of
the true God, had accepted it, had repented and accepted Christ
as their savior, had been baptized and had their sins forgiven,
had come up from the water to live with God's help through the
Holy Spirit, a life of wanting to serve and obey the way and
commandments of the Lord. Satan had been overcome. His thoughts
of "you are too wicked for God to forgive you," "sin is
pleasurable," "you will never remain true to God," "Jesus never
did live and die for you," "God is lying to you, there is no
eternal life for humans" had been rejected and cast away.
They had in the past at that point in their lives OVERCOME the
wicked one. They had come to know the true Father and had
overcome Satan by repentance and baptism. But DID IT STOP THERE
at that past action? NOT AT ALL!
When John wrote to them they were STILL KNOWING THE FATHER AND
WERE STILL OVERCOMING THE WICKED ONE!
Their past action was continuing in the present. What they had
come to know in the past, what they had overcome in the past,
namely, the wicked one, was still with them in the present.
In English we could translate the PERFECT tense in these
verses like this: "I write to you, fathers, because ye have known
and do continue to know Him who is from the beginning. I write to
you young men, because ye have overcome and continue presently to
overcome the wicked one
After our coming to the knowledge of the true God and His way
of life, after repenting and being baptized, does Satan NEVER
BOTHER US AGAIN? I think not! He is always there waiting and
watching, ready to try and get us to give up, turn our back on
God, stop living for the Lord. He is there to talk to us, put
thoughts in our mind to "pack in this Christianity and follow
me." The wicked one is always going about like a roaring lion
trying to devour whom he can. He never gives up firing his darts
at us.
We must put on the whole armor of God to be able to withstand
the Adversary, as Paul taught us in Ephesians 6.
The young men John was writing to HAD overcome the Devil and
were CONTINUING in the present to overcome him. That is the
meaning of John in these verses using the perfect tense.
1 JOHN 4:4
The word for overcome is number 3528 in Strong's. It is in the
PERFECT tense.
Notice the context. Verse one is talking about FALSE PROPHETS
and so false spirits - spirits of demons as opposed to the ONE
true Spirit of God.
Now ask yourself: Were demons, false spirits, false prophets,
only for a certain point in time, and then they would be no more,
for only some time in the past, but not for the present?
Anyone reading their Bible would have to say NO to such ideas
in the above question. Satan, demons, false spirits, and false
prophets are with us TODAY, IN THE PRESENT. They were there in
our PAST, years before coming to the knowledge of the true Spirit
of God, they were there as we came to know the true God, they
were there as we repented and as we were baptized, AND THEY WERE
THERE AFTER OUR BAPTISM, THE MINUTE AFTER, THE HOUR AFTER, THE
DAY, WEEK, MONTH, AND YEARS AFTER. The false spirits and false
prophets "are gone out into the world" and HAVE NEVER GONE
AWAY, HAVE NEVER STOPPED TRYING TO DESTROY US FROM BEING TRUE
CHRISTIANS.
John says to those he is writing to, to those he knows are
faithful true Christians: "YE ARE OF GOD, little children, and
HAVE OVERCOME them: because greater is He that is in you, than he
that is in the world."
Jesus said to His disciples that those who would love Him and
keep His words, the Father would love, and BOTH the Father and
Jesus would come and make their abode with him (John 14:23).
The Father and Christ come to live in the Christian via the
Holy Spirit when the Spirit is given to that Christian.
Are you born with the Holy Spirit? No, not at all! So there is
a specific time when you will receive it then? Yes, of course. It
will be an action at some point when you will receive the Holy
Spirit. After you have received it, does it continue in the
present? Yes, the one time action in a point of time does not end
after that action has been taken. As long as you are a true child
of God you have His Spirit from the PAST into the PRESENT.
So the overcoming of the false spirits in the world, by the
little children whom John was writing to, did NOT END in the past
when they initially overcame them to be a true Christian, but the
trying, putting to the test these spirits and prophets, was
continuing IN THE PRESENT as they and John lived from day to day
and year to year.
So he used the PERFECT tense for the word "overcome" in verse
4.
John was combating the PRESENT trouble that he and his readers
were battling, namely, false prophets inspired by demonic
spirits. They were not speaking the words of God but the
words of the corrupt world. It was not new. False spirits and
false prophets had been around from the beginning. It was not the
first time his readers had overcome them, nor would it be
the last time.
These false prophets were presently there at the time John was
writing to them, speaking perverse things, doing away with the
commandments of God, living in sin, practicing unrighteousness,
walking in darkness, saying they had never sinned, and presently
had no sin, seducing the true brethren if they could. But those
who had the true Spirit of the Lord were remaining faithful to
the original "faith once delivered" and had and were continuing
to overcome the false seducers.
Again, if we were to put verse 4 into English remembering that
the word for overcome is in the perfect tense, we would render it
something like this: "Ye are of God little children, and have in
the past as you are in the present time, overcoming them, because
greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world."
1 JOHN 5: 4,5
The words we are concerned with in these verses are the words
rendered "overcometh" in the KJV. All three of these words are
number 3528 in Strong's Concordance.
The first "overcometh" is in the PRESENT tense, as is the
third "overcometh." The second time the word is used in verse
four, it is in the AORIST tense.
What is the present tense in grammar? From the book Essentials
of New Testament Greek by Ray Summers, page 11, we find this
statement:
"The present tense indicates progressive action at the
present time-'he is loosing.'" The World Book Dictionary says:
"Grammar, denoting action now going on or a state now
existing."
Now what about the AORIST tense? Let me quote from the
Analytical Greek Lexicon, under "The use of the Tenses."
"The aorist is strictly the expression of a momentary or
transient action ...... and in the indicative mood ordinarily
signifies past time. It is, however, used of a prolonged action,
if there is no positive need to make a direct expression of that
circumstance. It is thus of constant use in the narrative of past
transactions."
A little confused about the aorist tense? It is not easy to
get because in some cases you have to understand the writers
intention in how he is using it. Generally it is past single
action, yet the single action started at a past time could be
prolonged action, but it is viewed as one single action.
Two Greek scholars render this aorist tense word "overcometh"
in slightly different English words. Jay P. Green Sr. uses the
English word "overcoming" while George Ricker Berry uses the
English word "over-came." See their respective Interlinear
Greek-English Bibles.
The word overcoming to our English grammar minds, connotes
prolonged action, while the word overcame leads us to think of
past action completed.
I believe the way John was using this aorist tense word in
verse 4 was to denote a specific action take in the past but
prolonged action leading to the present. So both the above
Greek scholars are correct.
Bear with me, I hope to now show you what John was saying,
namely, that overcoming for Christians started at a given point
in their lives in the past, yet as prolonged action leading
into the present progressive action at the present time.
I will use Berry's Greek-English Interlinear - quote: "Because
all that has been begotten of God OVERCOMES the world...." The
Greek for overcomes is in the present tense. Are Christians
PRESENTLY, TODAY, being begotten of God? Yes indeed! Were people
being begotten of God when John was writing this letter? Yes!
Those to whom John was writing, were they remaining faithful to
the truths of God, and not allowing themselves to be seduced by
false spirits and false antichrist prophets? Read the whole
letter and you will find the answer to that question very clear.
John knew the true Christians he was writing to, WERE
PRESENTLY AT THAT TIME, CONTINUING WITH PROGRESSIVE LIFE STYLE
ACTION, TO OVERCOME THE SEDUCTIONS OF THE WORLD, THAT WANTED
THEM TO REJECT THE TRUTHS OF GOD, AND RETURN TO THEIR FORMER
UNREPENTING SIN FILLED LIVES.
John knew that the truly begotten children of God would be
continuing in the faith, resisting the temptation to "throw in
the towel" and go back into the corrupting life style of
the unconverted world. Knowing that, and with that thought in
mind, his NEXT THOUGHT is WHAT keeps the faithful child of God
returning to the fold of Satan, turning around from living the
way of the Lord, and with deliberate "mind set action" following
the way of the wicked one. John's thought was not just WHAT keeps
the Christian on the straight and narrow, but also WHEN did that
action START!
He saw the true Christian DOES HAVE VICTORY over the world of
Satan. That victory DID START at a certain point in the PAST life
of the people of God, hence he uses the AORIST tense for the
second "overcometh" word in verse 4.
A person is part of this deceived, sinful, false spirit world,
UNTIL God calls them (John 6) to His light and truth. When that
light comes we are in the state Paul was in Romans 7:7-12. We now
see clearly what sin is and our position in relation to it as
sinners. We must NOW CHOOSE, God does not force us, it is up to
us to now choose the way we shall go - life on the one hand,
death on the other. God wants us to choose life (Deut.30:15-19)
but it is our decision to make.
At some point of time we must make a decision which WAY we
will go, the way of the world of Satan, or the way of the Lord.
Is the world going to continue to rule our thoughts and actions,
while we "thumb our nose" at God, or will we resist the pull of
rejecting God's call and humbly REPENT and be BAPTIZED?
If we BELIEVE God and His word. If we have faith in the truth
of God when He said His Son Jesus was sent to die for our sins,
and that both of them will come and live within the repentant
sinner to empower them to live their way and not the world's way.
If we have faith, we then at a certain time in our lives make
that single mind action, we repent and we get baptized.
We have then AT THAT SPECIFIC TIME, DONE A SINGLE ACTION IN
OUR LIVES. But does that single action of faith STOP after we
have initially repented and come up out of the waters of
baptism? Not at all, God forbid!
Our single specific action RESULTS in a prolonged action of
singleness. We continue in that past single action of the moment,
into prolonged action, which LEADS into present PROGRESSIVE
action at the present time.
Notice John does not say we HAVE and DO CONTINUE to overcome
the world and remain faithful to God's way, by doing more
fasting, or offering more prayers, or giving more money to God,
or having more sinless days in our life. He says we overcame the
world in the past and continue to overcome in the present BY
FAITH!
As Paul was inspired to say, we are SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH
FAITH, and not of works lest any man should boast. We cannot
amass "good" works of any kind, take them to God and demand we
have earned His grace and mercy, simply because ANY ONE SIN
earns for us the DEATH PENALTY which no amount of good works can
cancel. We can only have it erased through the mercy of God
applying the blood of Jesus TO WASH IT AWAY!
It was FAITH in the past that saved us from the death penalty
- faith in the promise of God that if we would repent of our
sins, look to Jesus' sacrifice for us, on our behalf, to pay
the penalty, trust God for deliverance, trust that He would come
and live in us via His Holy Spirit, trust that He would give us
His faith (Gal.2:20) to help us remain in a humble yielded
heart attitude of wanting to live His way of light and life, then
that FAITH would keep us from returning to the corruptions of the
world, as a dog returns to its vomit again.
Faith and trust in God that He will do what He has promised to
do through Jesus and His Spirit, is what gives us VICTORY, which
was ours in the past and is ours presently today.
This is what John is focusing their minds on. Not on some deed
or deeds, doing more of this work or that work, but on living IN
FAITH, in the faith of Jesus Christ WITHIN them.
Open your Bible friend to that wonderful verse of Galatians
2:20 and read it slowly - meditate upon it.
John started in verse 4, IN THE PRESENT - begotten children
of God now with continuous life style action, overcoming the pull
of the world to draw us back into its corrupt way of living - he
then moves back into the PAST, when it all started and continued.
He answers the question of what gave us the victory. It was not
of works but faith. Then in verse 5 he brings us back to the
PRESENT - FULL CIRCLE!
"Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that
Jesus is the Son of God" (Berry's translation).
John finishes with the present tense - progressive action at
the present.
To remain true to God, to stay walking on the straight and
narrow road, to live the way of the Lord, to be a David in heart
attitude of humility and repentance when guilty of sin, to
not allow the false spirits to seduce us back into the continuing
life style of the world of Satan, to OVERCOME rejecting truth and
living in error, takes BELIEVING in Jesus, that He is THE Son of
THE God. It takes believing, it takes FAITH, that all He did and
said, and promised to do, IS TRUE.
It takes believing Jesus was the true Son of God, that the way
He lived, in following the Father, was the correct way, was the
way of light, and having the faith of Jesus in us, would
continue for us the victory march, we would be continually
resisting and overcoming the pull of the evil world, carnal human
nature, and the seductive whisperings of the wicked one trying to
get us back into his life style of willful rebellious "I know
exactly what I'm doing" attitude of sin.
This attitude of knowingly rejecting truth and righteousness,
going into a life style of sin, even claiming it was not sin,
following the corruptions of the world, loving the sin of the
world, walking in darkness, willfully rejecting the commandments
of God even while still claiming to "know the Lord" - all of this
attitude was what John was combating in his letter.
It was an attitude of willful rejection of the light of God,
it was an attitude of trampling all over Jesus and His blood, it
was being again OVERCOME by the seductions of the wicked one and
his world.
Those who looked to Jesus and God in "truth and spirit" - with
faith and trust, who looked to God for power and strength to
remain loyal to His way of life, who looked in faith to God that
when they sinned in moments of weakness, when they confessed and
repented, they would find grace and Jesus as their advocate, and
so having the victory at all times over the world and spirits of
falsehood and deception.
THE VERSES OF OVERCOMING IN REVELATION
We are looking in this study at these verses 2:7,11,17,26;
3:5,12, 21; 21:7. All of these verses using the words
overcometh, overcame, are in the PRESENT tense in the Greek.
We have seen the "present tense indicates progressive action at
the present time - 'he is loosing.' "
When it comes to the Christian's relationship with God's way
of life it is I think best to describe the present tense in these
words: A progressive habitual practicing life style in
conformity to the will of God.
The person knows the calling of the Lord, has come to see what
sin is, that they have sinned, wants to repent, desires the
forgiveness of God, looks for mercy through the sacrifice
of Jesus, wants to be free from the hold of Satan and the
corrupting sin of his world. They want to serve the true God in
spirit and in truth, they are willing to do and live the way of
the Lord.
Such a person is humbled and repentant, willing to be
corrected by God, led by Him, willing to be taught, moulded, and
shaped into the image of Christ.
It is a mind set - leaving the ways of sin - willing to do the
ways of the Lord.
The Christian knows that after conversion neither Satan, the
corrupt world, or carnal human nature, disappear - they are still
there, ready to pull the child of God back into their net of open
willfulness sin and rejection.of God. The Christian knows he will
still sin at times. He does not want to, he sets his mind not to
sin, but the weakness of the flesh, the seductions of the wicked
one, the world with its lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
the pride of life, will at times trip up the Christian and he
will sin.
He will find himself/herself as the apostle Paul in Romans 7,
wanting to serve the law of God, wanting to do the right thing,
in mind and spirit desiring to do the will of the Lord, yet
seeing another law in their members that fights the law of the
mind, and which leads into sin at times.
The Christian does not want to leave God, does not desire to
just "give it all up" or to "raise the surrender flag" to sin and
turn away from serving the Lord. He does not want to be like the
pig, turning to wallow in the mire again. He wants to continue
walking with the Eternal down the pathway of light.
This is the bottom line, crying out for mercy through the
blood and advocating work of Jesus, WHEN the true Christian sins.
Not wanting to leave the truth revealed and desiring to not
listen to or act upon the pulling of the world and Satan back
into a mind set of rebellion towards the Father.
Jesus tells us over and over again in the book of Revelation
that OVERCOMING is very very IMPORTANT. Anyone trying to just
ignore the topic or make light of it as if it's nothing to be
concerned about, has never read or just does not believe Jesus
when He said in Rev.3:5 these words:
"He that OVERCOMETH, the same shall be clothed in white
raiment; AND I WILL NOT BLOT OUT HIS NAME OUT OF THE BOOK OF
LIFE.
HE THAT ENDURES TO THE END - SHALL BE SAVED
Jesus spoke those words to His disciples just before His
death. It was another way of saying the same things as He said in
Revelation 3:5.
The clear inference in Revelation is that he who does not
overcome will have his name taken out of the book of life. But
again we must ask: OVERCOME WHAT? ENDURE TO THE END IN WHAT WAY?
Are we to overcome so we never miss a day of praying on our
knees? Are we to overcome so we fast at least one day a week? Are
we to overcome till we never miss a single penny in tithes to
God? Must we overcome till we never go a day without reading the
word of the Lord?
Maybe we must overcome till we never again have a thought of
lust or envy towards anyone. Perhaps it is overcoming till we
never allow any wrong words to come out of our mouth. Or
overcoming till we never ever offend anyone in any way.
Must we overcome till we are the most perfect husband or wife,
father or mother, son or daughter, brother or sister? Is it that
we must overcome till we never have a lazy bone in our body, but
every second of every day is "redeeming the time"?
Well, I'm sure you can add to my list many more "things" we
can work at in overcoming.
Does God set us a task that only people like a Job could come
close to achieving?
But we must endure to the end to be saved Jesus said in
Matthew 24. Look at the context of that verse. The context is not
prayer, fasting, tithing, parenthood, marriage, lust, pride,
envy, laziness, or any individual specific sin or error. The
context is that INIQUITY - LAWLESSNESS - SIN IN GENERAL would
abound and the LOVE of many would go COLD. They would give in to
sin in general, would stop the desire to withstand it in their
heart attitude, loose the love of the truth and righteousness as
a way of life and mind set to live, and GROW COLD! They would be
allowing false prophets - seducing evil spirits - to talk them
into casting away the light of truth, to exchange the darkness of
the wicked one for the light of God's way of life. They would
allow themselves to be led into deception, back into the iniquity
and corruption of the world of Satan. They would again go back to
being COLD for God, not able to love His standard and pathway of
living. They would be COLD to God's call, to His correction, to
His Spirit that leads into all truth.
Let's ask the question once more: HOW ARE WE SAVED? Is it by
our "good" works or deeds? Is it by overcoming this or that sin
till we have a pretty impressive report card with all A's and
only a few B's?
No! Not at all.
We are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. No amount
of perfect works can erase one sin, no matter how little a sin it
is. But does God throw out His grace and mercy to just anyone?
Does He give His free gift of mercy - forgiveness - grace - to
those who have set their hearts and minds to be UNrepentant, to
be bold faced, rebellious sinners? Does God grant mercy to those
who laugh at Him, spit in His face, walk all over the blood of
Jesus as if it means nothing, say in their mind they will not let
God rule them or tell them how to live?
God answers the above question. He tells us who He will give
His mercy to, and to what kind of man or woman He will walk with.
CONDITIONS FOR RECEIVING GRACE
God tells us in Isaiah 66:2 the type of person He will look at
with favor: "....but to this man(or woman) will I look, even to
him that is poor and of CONTRITE spirit, and TREMBLES at MY
WORD."
The Lord wants an individual to HUMBLE themselves, be
repentant and of an attitude that is willing to be taught,
moulded and shaped by the word and Spirit of God. He wants to
see in the person a mind that has a very deep reverence and
respect, a healthy fear of the Lord when He speaks via His word -
today that being His written word as contained in the pages of
the Bible.
Is there ANYTHING that we must do to receive the mercy and
grace of God? Does the Eternal lay down some conditions that we
must meet in order for us to be granted and given His gift of
grace and forgiveness?
It is written; "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon
Him while He is near. Let the wicked FORSAKE HIS WAY: and let him
RETURN unto the Lord, and He WILL HAVE MERCY upon him
" (Isa.55:7).
Those that want to receive the gift of grace, mercy,
forgiveness, from the Lord, must acknowledge they are wicked,
they are sinners, they have broken the law of God that defines
what sin is (1 John 3:4; Rom.7:7; Ex.20). They must be willy to
SET THEIR MINDS to forsake their way of life they have been
living, and to TURN THEIR LIFE AROUND TO FOLLOW THE WAY GOD TELLS
THEM HOW TO LIVE. They must be willing as Jesus said, to live by
EVERY WORD OF GOD and not just by physical bread (Mat.4:4).
In short, the man who will be given grace or mercy from the
Lord MUST REPENT AND BE CONVERTED. His mind must be changed from
carnal stubborn hostility to the way, laws, and thoughts of God,
into a humble, teachable attitude of a willing mind set to
conform to the will, the word, the life of the Eternal and Merciful God.
Is there something we must do? Are there any conditions we
must meet to be FORGIVEN of our sins?
This question was asked of Peter on the great day of Pentecost
when the Holy Spirit was poured out - his answer was:
REPENT and be BAPTIZED every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ FOR THE REMISSION(the forgiveness) OF SINS, and ye
shall receive the GIFT of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).
Later Peter again showed the people what conditions they must
meet in order to be forgiven of their Sins:
"REPENT ye therefore, and be CONVERTED (turned around
from your way to God's way - Isa.55:7) THAT (in order that) YOUR
SINS MAY BE BLOTTED OUT, so that (original Greek) times of
REFRESHING (grace, mercy, forgiveness) shall come from the
presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19).
REPENTANCE, being deeply broken up and sorry for all the sins
committed, being heart sick over the times you have broken the
holy and righteous commandments of the Lord, being humbled to the
realization that you are a sinner and have come under the death
penalty (Rom.6:23). Having a contrite attitude of mind that now
leads you to want to forsake your life style and ways of doing
and thinking, to turn around and desire to let God teach,
correct, and shape you into His image.
ALL THIS IS PART OF REPENTANCE AND EVERYONE MUST
MEET THE CONDITION OF REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION
TO RECEIVE THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS - GRACE!
The Lord is looking for a CHANGE in HOW WE SET OUR MINDS! He
is wanting to see that we acknowledge Him as the only true God,
that we acknowledge He is HOLY, PURE, and in Him is NO SIN. He
wants us to acknowledge that His LAW and COMMANDMENTS are as Paul
said - holy, just and good (Rom.7).
He wants us to admit and confess that the breaking of His law
is SIN. He wants us to confess that we have by our life style
BROKEN THAT LAW AND ARE SINNERS. He wants us to acknowledge OUR
WAYS have only brought DEATH upon us, that our ways ARE NOT HIS
WAYS, our THOUGHTS are NOT HIS thoughts.
God wants us to be VERY SORRY, REPENTANT, for doing things
"our way" and He wants to see in us a CHANGE OF MIND, a NEW "mind
set" that CONVERTS us to desire to conform to the WAY and MIND of
HIM - the Lord.
He wants to see in us an attitude of HUMILITY, whereby we will
stop looking at things the way that seems right to us, and be
willing to ask God to teach, lead, correct, and mould us to
conform to His way of life.
The Father wants to see in us the attitude of "not my will be
done, but your will be done Lord."
The Eternal is not looking to see how MANY "good" works we can
chalk up for ourselves in whatever time He allots us on this
earth, so we can earn or demand that He shows us grace and
forgiveness. He is not interesting in giving salvation to us
based on WORKING FOR IT THROUGH DEEDS.
As the Psalmist said, He knows our frame, He knows we are
dust, He knows we are carnal flesh, He knows that we shall sin
from time to time right up to the day we die. He knows that we
shall be in a constant battle against sin, Satan, human nature,
and the world's corruptions, and at times we shall slip up and
miss the mark.
God is not interested in having thousands, or millions, of
SELF RIGHTEOUS JOB'S in His family.
He is wanting and He is interested in having HUMBLE REPENTANT
JOB'S who see God for what He is - ALMIGHTY PERFECT HOLY
CHARACTER. He is wanting latter end Job's, men and women who
really see with the spiritual eye what God is all about, and then
can say as Job did: "Wherefore I ABHOR myself, and REPENT in dust
and ashes"(Job 42:6).
Humble REPENTANCE - a constant heart attitude of repentance
which leads to a desire to serve the will of the Lord's is a
MUST, is a condition we must manifest to receive the gift
of grace and mercy from the Lord that saves us from death into
eternal life.
Some came to Jesus to ask Him about ones that died from the
hands of Pilate. He knew what was on their minds, namely, were
such allowed to die by God in that way because they were sinners
above sinners.
Jesus' answer to them was NO! Certain deaths come upon certain
people not because God thinks they are worse sinners than other
sinners. Then He hit them between the eyes so to speak, by
saying: "I tell you, Nay, but, EXCEPT YOU REPENT, ye shall all
likewise perish" (Luke 13:1-3).
Jesus was speaking about perishing in the second death - the
lake of fire death, eternal death.
There are conditions to receiving the grace that saves you.
The Eternal Father wants to give us His mercy and grace. He
wants to enter a NEW covenant of eternal salvation with us. He
wants to save us by His grace and forgiveness. He tells us so in
the Psalms, but He also tells us the conditions He requires from
us to be saved.
David was a man who knew how merciful the Lord was, for he had
need of that mercy many times in his life.
Here are some of David's words as recorded in his Psalm that
is number 103 in the KJV.
"..... Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His
benefits: Who FORGIVETH ALL THINE INIQUITIES.......The Lord is
MERCIFUL and GRACIOUS, slow to anger, and PLENTEOUS in
MERCY.......For as the heaven is high above the earth, so GREAT
is His MERCY towards them that FEAR HIM.......Like a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that FEAR
HIM.......But the MERCY of the Lord is from everlasting to
everlasting.......UPON THEM THAT FEAR HIM.......TO SUCH AS KEEP
HIS COVENANT, AND TO THOSE THAT REMEMBER HIS COMMANDMENTS......."
(verses 2,3,8,11,13,17,18).
I did not write those words friends, they have been in your
Bible all along, for thousands of years.
Clearly God lays down conditions for receiving His forgiveness
and grace that will save us.
They are the conditions we've already seen in Isaiah, the
conditions Peter was inspired to proclaim, the conditions Jesus
preached when in the flesh on this earth.
The conditions are a HUMBLE REPENTANT HEART ATTITUDE that
produces the right kind of Godly RESPECT and FEAR, AND a turning
AWAY - a CONVERTING from the way that seems right to man, to a
"mind set" of an OBEDIENT HEART to the WILL, the WAY, the
COMMANDMENTS of the Lord.
That is the attitude of mind the Lord is looking for in those
He will save through GRACE and FAITH in Christ Jesus. He is not
looking to see if you amass a list of "good" deeds that out
number the "bad" deeds. He is looking for the same attitude that
was in King David of Israel.
A MAN AFTER GOD'S OWN HEART
What a legacy to have said of you that you were a man or woman
whom God claimed was "after mine own heart." That is precisely
what the Lord did say about King David (Acts 13:22).
If you include all the Psalms of David, there is more written
about him than any other person in the Bible outside of the life
of Jesus.
What a man! Many talents and gifts. A man who came from being
a shepherd to being King of Israel. A man used MIGHTILY by the
Lord. Look at his life, read it again friend. David was certainly
not a Job. He had faults, weaknesses, sins of various kinds, some
it seems plagued him off and on all his life. We are not given
any record of all the list of "righteous" deeds David did as
opposed to his "unrighteous" deeds. Nor DOES IT MATTER! For David
was not saved by works - he did not EARN a place in the book of
life, he is there because God forgave him of his sins through
grace.
Why was God so merciful and gracious to David? He certainly
did sin some pretty big sins as we would count sin.
Again, if you look at the "mind set" (I keep coming back to
that phrase because I think most of us understand what it
portends) of David, you will find the answer to the above
question.
At some point in his life he came to see the true God, and the
true ways and mind of that God. He made a decision, he chose to
set his sails of a living life style in the wind and ways of the
Lord. He chose to go the way of life as the way of the Eternal,
to walk in the light from God. He chose to humble himself in
repentance, turn from the way of man, the way of Satan, the way
of the corruptions of the world, and to LISTEN to and OBEY as a
mind-set of life, the true God.
David chose at an early age it would seem, to FEAR the Lord,
to enter God's covenant, to desire with his heart and mind to
serve God, to let the Eternal teach him, guide him, correct him,
mould him, and fill him with the Holy Spirit.
David set his heart to love the Lord and to remember His
commandments to do them!
David sinned at times, but when he saw his sin, when God
corrected him, he immediately ACKNOWLEDGED and CONFESSED his sin,
he immediately REPENTED of his sin, he never tried to justify his
sin in his own eyes. He saw where he had fallen short,
where he had missed the mark, where he needed the MERCY and
FORGIVENESS of God. He knew that no amount of good deeds could
cancel his sin, only the grace of God could save him from death,
the penalty he had earned by sinning.
He did not want to leave the way of the Father. He did not
want to go back into the unrepentant life style of the world of
Satan. He did not desire to tell the Lord to "get lost" or
"I know what is the right way to go God but I'm just NOT going to
obey you or serve you any more."
He never had that attitude of mind towards the Lord, where
he knew the truth but would choose to reject it and allow Satan
and the world to fully control him in mind and body.
David always had his mind set to NEVER GET COLD for the Lord,
to always LOVE the Lord, to serve Him, listen to Him, obey Him,
to desire to walk in the light of His COMMANDMENTS. David never
wanted to LEAVE following the way of the Lord, he always wanted
to "stay with it" - "endure through to the end" - "be a man of
God" till his dying day.
This was David's basic foundational "mind set" and THAT WAS
MEETING THE CONDITIONS OF BEING SAVED BY GRACE AND OVERCOMING!
Because of that heart attitude in David, GRACE and MERCY was
always given to him. In God's eyes David HAD BEEN an overcomer
from the day he chose to walk with the Lord, and in God's eyes
David was an overcomer in his PRESENT continuous day by day life.
David just needed to KEEP that heart attitude, to ENDURE with
that right mind set TO THE END OF HIS LIFE ON EARTH, and he would
be SAVED into inheriting(now in this life we are only heirs, not
yet inheritors - Rom.8) eternal life.
David did have VICTORY, he was a child of God, he was under
the grace of God, he was an OVERCOMER in the Father's eyes, his
name was in the book of life, but David had NOT YET, while he was
alive, FINISHED the course, finished the race. If at any time
along the way, he had willfully chosen to discard the truth of
God shown to him, had chosen to trample the Lord under his feet,
to count the blood of the covenant as nothing, then his name
would be erased from the book of life.
David was in a SAVED condition all the days of his life with
the Lord because of his "trust and obey" attitude of mind, but he
was still a free oral agent, able to make choices, he was never a
robot, neither are we. He could have chosen at any time to "walk
away" from the pathway and light and commandments of God, and
gone back into the life style of the wicked one - Satan the
devil.
David was not "once saved always saved." Neither are we. No
such doctrine can be found in the pages of the Bible. Jesus said:
He that shall ENDURE - OVERCOME - unto the END, the same shall be
SAVED.
To be continued
........................................
Written June 1995
Overcoming for NT Christians #2All about what we must overcome to be saved
by
Keith Hunt
IS OVERCOMING ONLY IN THE PAST?
Mr.Ralph Orr has written: "God is telling us that John knew
people who had already overcome Satan the devil. THEY DIDN'T NEED
TO OVERCOME. They already had overcome. Could that be said of you
and me? Yes, it can. In fact, God already has said it. He says we
already are overcomers. He says we have already overcome Satan,
this world and even our flesh.
WE'VE OVERCOME ALL WE NEED TO OVERCOME TO HAVE ETERNAL
LIFE."
Most of the above is indeed correct. We are overcomers when we
make the choice to set our minds to follow the call of the Lord
unto repentance, turn from our ways to serve and obey the ways of
God, to accept Jesus as our personal savior from sins, to leave
off living the life style of Satan, to come out of the
corruptions that are in the world, and to subdue our carnal
fleshly desires.
I am a little disturbed by Mr.Orr's statement, "They didn't
need to overcome. They already had overcome."
This seems to imply overcoming is ALL IN THE PAST, no
overcoming in the present or in the future.
I could be wrong, but I get a sense of the teaching of "once
saved always saved" being promulgated here. A teaching of
"everything was finished at the cross, nothing going on for
salvation in the present, it was all over when you accepted Jesus
as your savior."
This teaching is a popular doctrine of some Theological
Schools and ministers. It is a teaching that being saved -
salvation - is an entirely PAST transaction, and leads into the
idea of "once saved always saved" theology.
Of course many "scholars" in other Theological Schools of
learning, have blown to pieces the teaching that salvation or
being saved is only a past transaction, one famous scholar to do
this comes to mind, his name is Herbert Lockyer. This man is
highly respected in theological circles of this world. I have a
full set of his books in my personal library.
Herbert Lockyer shows from the NT Greek and many passages of the
NT that salvation and being SAVED is a THREE FOLD ONGOING
PROGRESSIVE TRANSACTION - it is both PAST, and PRESENT, and
FUTURE.
You really do not need a degree in theology to come to see
that what Herbert Lockyer wrote concerning being saved, is the
correct one. All you need to do is read and believe what God has
written in His word. I understood from a child that salvation was
a process with past, present and future aspects. I came to see
that just from reading my Bible. The very words of Jesus "he that
endures (overcomes) to THE END, the same SHALL BE SAVED" clearly
teaches that overcoming or enduring as a true Christian is not
ALL in the PAST, but is also OUT PROM THE PRESENT INTO THE
FUTURE TO THE END OF OUR PHYSICAL LIFE ON EARTH!!
Yes, we have overcome Satan, this corrupt world, and even our
carnal flesh. Yes, we are already overcomers. We became
overcomers when we first chose to follow the calling of the
Lord, when we chose to walk with Him in spirit and in truth, when
we chose to repent of sin, and set our mind to remember His
commandments to do them, when we chose to have faith in Jesus as
our savior and living advocate.
But as previously stated: When we became in the past
overcomers, DID THE DEVIL, THE WORLD OF SIN, AND OUR CARNAL FLESH
VANISH AWAY TO BE NO MORE?
I THINK NOT! Satan, the corrupt world, and our carnal nature,
is still very much alive, and ready at the opportunity given to
pull us back into their snare of captivity and life style,
their "mind set" of deliberate willful rejection of Jesus, and
disobedience to the will and light and commandments of God.
Satan is still as a roaring lion going about seeking who he
can devour.
Is he still going after true Christians? You bet he is,
otherwise Paul had no need to instruct us to put on the whole
armor of God, so we could withstand the fiery darts of the
wicked one(Eph.6).
We are still needing to PRESENTLY overcome Satan. We will need
to overcome him tomorrow, next week, next month, and in the next
years ahead of us, to the day we die.
We are still today, at this present time, needing to
withstand the corruptions that are in the world, that could, if
we chose, pull us back into rejecting Christ, and deliberately
walking in the darkness of the habitual life style of sin. The
world is still with us today as it was yesterday, and will be
with us till Jesus returns to bring the Kingdom of God. We must
continue as overcomers to overcome the evil world, now, tomorrow,
and to the day we die.
We are still having to withstand and be overcomers against out
fleshly carnality that is still a part of our physical nature. We
must still today and tomorrow and for as long as we shall live on
this earth, be overcoming the carnal pulls that say "being a
Christian is too hard, why don't you just give it up and enjoy
sin and living as you want" or "believing this Jesus stuff is
just mentally caging, give it up and be your own boss."
Yes, we have in the past overcome Satan, the sin filled
world, our human nature. God has indeed said we have overcome.
God does say, as long as we remain faithful to Him, that we are
already overcomers. But Satan,the world, and human nature, are
still present with us, and will still need to be overcome as
long as we are living.
When we take our last breath, and have remained walking with
the Lord, remained with the heart attitude of David, then we
shall have ENDURED - OVERCOME TO THE END.
Then our victory we have now in Christ Jesus will be SEALED
FULLY AND UNCHANGEABLY, OUR NAMES CAN NEVER THEN BE BLOTTED OUT
OF THE BOOK OF LIFE - OUR CALLING AND ELECTION IS THEN
INDISPUTABLE, UNQUESTIONABLE UNTO THE GLORIOUS DAY OF THE
RESURRECTION AND ETERNAL LIFE.
THE EXAMPLE OF SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO
What a wonderful example of Christian overcoming these three
lads left us. Their story is found in the book of Daniel, chapter
3.
At this time the Jews were in captivity under the power of
Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar.
The King made an image of gold and set it up in the plain of
Dura. There was a great dedication day proclaimed and many people
of leadership and power were gathered together. It was at this
time of dedication that a herald cried out that: "At what time ye
hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp... and all kinds of
music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that
Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: and whoso falleth not down
and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace" (verses 5,6).
So the people of many nations obeyed the dictates of the world
and society they lived in. The Christian reader knows that such a
decree by the world is CONTRARY TO AND AGAINST THE WAY, WILL, AND
COMMANDMENTS of the true Eternal God. The three lads Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, also knew this law of the king of Babylon
was opposed to the life style they were commanded to live by the
only true God.
We are obviously entering the story of how these three Jews
would handle this situation, AFTER they had become servants of
the Lord. We are not told how old they were or when in the past
they had chosen to walk with the Lord, but the context shows they
were already God's children, already living in the truth and
light of the Eternal.
At some point in their past life they had overcome Satan,
their carnal nature and the sin of the world. They were living as
overcomers, having the same mind set as ancient King David. God
would have already acknowledged they had overcome and were
already overcomers.
But was their overcoming all in the past? Was there any
overcoming to do in the present time as it came to them? Were
they "once saved so always saved" and the present or future
did not matter?
They were living for the Lord now, yet what about tomorrow?
Could they not make a choice to stop following the will of the
Lord, were they now robots? Or were they expected to face each
temptation to reject the way of God as it came to them?
The King of Babylon was wanting people to live a certain way,
practice habitually what was a sin as far as the Lord was
concerned. The King wanted the people to set their minds in
a mode that was against the way and thoughts of the true God.
The leaders of Babylon wanted the Jews who served the Lord, to
abandon their religion which was founded on the revealed truth of
God, they wanted them to cast it aside, and live in open
rebellion to what they knew was the light of God's word and
commandments.
The three Jewish lads were faced with a choice - obey the
dictates of the unsaved corrupt world, and turn around and walk
in the opposite direction to the way God was going, or withstand
and overcome the PRESENT situation by remaining faithfully true
to the will and way and commandments of God.
They now had to choose - would they remember God's
commandments to do them, or turn back and follow the mind set of
the world?
IN FAITH - WITH FAITH FOR VICTORY - they determined to press
forward as before, remaining on the pathway they were already on
- keeping the victory flag flying as before, continuing to be
overcomers as they already were, staying with the life style of
the Lord as revealed by His word and commandments.
They had already set their heart attitude as that of David,
sometime in the past, and would now at this juncture in life that
they found themselves in, choose to not waver from it, but even
if it cost them their lives they would sooner "die in the Lord"
than turn from the truth given them.
This situation was not for them a weakness of the flesh,
stumble from the perfect way of the Lord into a one time sin.
THEY WERE BEING ASKED, COMMANDED NO LESS, TO GIVE UP FOLLOWING
THE WAYS OF THE TRUE GOD!
They were expected to renounce the truth they had had revealed
to them, walk away from it, reject the true God, set their mind
on a new course of habitual life style action, and practice
willful deliberate sinning.
If they had given in and changed back to living for Satan, the
world and their own carnal flesh, they WOULD NO LONGER HAVE BEEN
OVERCOMERS AND THEIR NAMES WOULD HAVE BEEN BLOTTED OUT OF THE
BOOK OF LIFE!
You can read the rest of Daniel 3 for the inspiring outcome of
what happened to those lads as they continued to be overcomers in
the PRESENT.
MANY THINGS COULD MAKE US QUIT BEING OVERCOMERS
We have seen one example in the lives of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, that could determine for us that we will
deliberately reject the truth of God, and turn to walk and live
in continual sin and darkness.
There are many other ways Satan, the world and carnal human
nature could, if we will allow it, turn us from following the
truth and way of God as revealed to us in His word and
commandments.
The three Jewish lads were commanded by the world to commit
idolatry and reject the way of the Lord.
Satan can use many forms of IDOLATRY to get us to stop
overcoming in the present and turn away from God.
Anything that comes between us and God is idolatry. It could
be a job that must be given up or not entered into if we would
follow the truth of the Lord. Possibly you are working as a
stripper for a night club when called by the Lord. You will have
to give up that profession to live the way of God. Or if you are
under financial stress and have children to support, when someone
offers you the job of being a topless waitress for BIG money,
then to stay as an overcoming Christian you will have to resist
the temptation to take the job, and look to God in FAITH to
provide for your physical needs.
Maybe you are in line for a huge promotion in your company,
with great dollars to go with it, but you will have to work two
Saturday mornings a month - no way out of it at all. Then to
remain as an overcomer in the Lord, you will have to make a
decision in the present NOT TO ACCEPT the job promotion.
It could be a person or persons that would take you out of
being an overcomer. Your unconverted mate wants you to stop
following the truth and faith of God. Your mother or father will
give you a million dollars but only if you turn away from serving
the true Lord, and His way of life. Some nice guy or gal, great
in every way except they are not interested in God's way of life,
will marry you but only if you renounce your faith in the
Eternal. Under all the above situations a decision in the present
must be made. You have overcome in the past. God says you are an
overcomer, but now in the present you can if you choose, turn
away and stop living God's life and be overcome again by the
world and Satan and human nature.
You are born into a family that runs a drug ring, money is
everywhere, all physical things you can have. One day you can
inherit leadership of the drug cartel, then the Lord
calls you to His truth and way of life.
You are faced with making a decision. Will you accept the
calling of the Lord? Will you choose to overcome the pull of the
sin of the world? Will you choose to overcome the desires of
carnal human nature and Satan? If you choose LIFE you will have
overcome. God will call you an overcomer.
As long as you stay in the right heart attitude and mind set
of the Lord you are an overcomer.
But 10 years later you hit bottom financially speaking,
children need hospital care costing ten's of thousands of
dollars. You have no house to mortgage, no health insurance to
cover the cost, no rich friend to help you out. You job does not
pay that well and your wife works in a factory for minimum wage.
Who comes along at this time but your nephew who took over the
drug cartel you could have inherited. He offers you a partnership
and lots of money to solve your problems. Ah, it's decision time
again. Will you give up the way and life of the Lord? Will you
return to the world and Satan? If you make the choice to continue
in LIFE, to continue to follow the path and truth of God, you
will have OVERCOME in the present not just the past. God will
still keep your name in the book of life, it will not be blotted
out and you will still be considered as an overcomer.
Your husband is killed in a car crash by a drunk driver and
you are angry at the Lord for allowing it to happen. You make a
cool mental choice to stop serving the Lord and return to the
world. You have stopped overcoming and your name is taken out of
the book of life.
You know the truth of God about the Sabbath command. You have
proved it over and over again during the last 30 years you have
kept the 7th day holy. You were an overcomer 30 years earlier
when it was revealed to you the 7th and not the 1st day is the
Sabbath, and you decided to follow the truth of God. But now
today, in the present, a preacher comes along who tells you it
does not matter if you work on the Sabbath at your regular job if
you must, for God will understand, and you are under grace and
the New Covenant today, not the Old Covenant. You really know
better but it sounds kind of good, and it sure would help your
present job problems and money troubles, so you make a decision
to leave the truth of God and follow this false prophet. Your way
of life as a mind set, in some practices, goes back to the world
and Satan.
You were a one time overcomer, God said you were an overcomer,
your name was in the book of life, but NOW in the present and
future you have(as long as you continue in that mind set) NOT
OVERCOME, but have BEEN OVERCOME by the world, human carnality,
and Satan.
You are blessed with certain entertainment talents - singing,
music, acting, sports etc. The promoters, talent scouts, business
managers of T.V. and the Movies are on your heels, after your
abilities, knowing you could be a "great one." At the same time
God is calling you to His truths and way of life. To accept the
life of fame in the entertainment world would mean breaking the
Sabbath command, doing what you are told, when you are told and
sometimes HOW you are told, by those in control of your
abilities. You know it would be impossible to serve the Lord and
at the same time serve the world and its demands (I do not
mean by this example that it would not be ever possible for a
true Christian to be in the entertainment industry - with God all
things are possible).
You make a deliberate choice to choose the promoters of the
entertainment world and their dictates above the calling of God.
You did not get off of first base with God. You reject His call.
You did not overcome! You never even started the race. Your name
is not entered into the book of life, as you willfully refuse the
voice of God and chose DEATH above LIFE. You never overcame.
But suppose you did accept the calling of God? You rejected
the prying and pulling and sweet talk of the promoters and
managers to make you into a "supper star" if you followed
their dictates. Then you did at that specific time heed the
calling and truth of the Lord, you did overcome the world. God
said you overcame, and you started along the road of true
Christianity. Your mind was set to follow and serve God in His
way of life as outlined in His word and commandments. Our heart
attitude was as the great King David of ancient Israel.
Five years go by and you have tripped up into sin, you have
fallen short, missed the mark of perfect holiness, you have
sinned in thought, word, or action. You did not want to, your
desire was not to sin, you wanted to keep all of God's
commandments, but at times human nature and Satan working on the
law of sin and death that was still within our body, pulled us
away from the law of our mind that wanted to serve God's law, and
brought us into, for a time, the captivity of sin(Romans
7:13-23).
You did at those times, acknowledge your sins, you confessed
them, you knew you were a sinner. You went to God in humble
repentance, asked Jesus to intercede on your behalf as
your High Priest, you asked for mercy and forgiveness (1 John
1:8-2:2; Heb.4:14-16).
Because your heart attitude and mind set is to follow the way
and commandments of the Lord as your basic practice and life
style, God does have grace and mercy, your sins are forgiven and
washed away by the blood of the lamb. Your name remains in the
book of life, just as David's name did when he sinned and
repented. God still says you are an OVERCOMER!
Five years has gone by from the beginning when you first
accepted the Lord's calling and overcame. The managers and
promoters have not forgotten you, they are still remembering
your talents, they know that if you would come under their domain
and dictates, if you would give yourself over to them, serve them
as a mind set and way of life, they could still make you into a
world class "supper star."
So they call you, send letters to you, wanting to rule and
manage you into stardom. More and more pressure is exerted on you
to accept their offer to come over onto their team, to leave the
way of the Lord and follow the lure and pleasure and fame of the
world.
You have a CHOICE to make! You know that to follow and serve
the promoters means you will have to break the commandments of
the Lord, to reject the truths of God, to turn your back on Him
and walk the other way, the way of darkness.
You are in the position of our three Hebrew lads of Daniel
chapter three. If you set your mind to serve the world, you
reject God and His commandments, your name is taken out of
the book of life, you are NO LONGER an overcomer BUT HAVE BEEN
OVERCOME by Satan and the world.
If you choose to remain faithful to God, His way of life and
His commandments, you CONTINUE in the PRESENT to be an overcomer.
Your name remains in the book of life. If you continue to walk
with the Lord to the end of your life, you will have ENDURED TO
THE END - OVERCOME TO THE END and will be SAVED INTO THE KINGDOM
OF GOD.
SOME DID NOT OVERCOME TO THE END!
Turn to first Kings and chapter three. Verse 3 tells us that :
"Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his
father..." He had come to the place where he now sat on the
throne of Israel to rule and guide them. Read Solomon's words to
the Lord in verses 5 through 9.
What an attitude! Humble, repentant and submissive. Surely an
attitude and mind set that God would look to as we have seen in
Isaiah 66:2. And it was indeed so. The Lord was very pleased with
Solomon and his heart.
He not only would give to Solomon understanding and wisdom of
the way of the Lord, but also that for which he did not ask -
physical wealth like no other ever had before. Read the book of
PROVERBS and the book of ECCLESIASTES. Truly Solomon came to
know the truths and ways of the Eternal God of Israel. He came to
know the commandments of the Lord.
See what is written in the last two verses of Ecclesiastes:
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God,
and keep His commandments: for this is the whole of man. For God
shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing,
whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
Solomon STARTED OUT well - as someone who did OVERCOME! He
overcame his human nature and the world to ask for the wrong
things. He asked for the right things. His attitude of mind was
pleasing to the Lord. God gave him the mind of truth and right
knowledge. He did walk with the Lord as his father David did. God
looked upon Solomon as an overcomer.
David overcame to the end, his heart remained faithful in its
desire to serve the Lord and His commandments.
Would the heart of Solomon be as David's? Turn to 1 Kings
chapter 11.
Let's begin in verse one: "But king Solomon loved MANY STRANGE
women... Solomon clave unto these in love.....and his wives
TURNED AWAY HIS HEART"(verses 1-3).
Notice verse 4, "For it came to pass, when Solomon WAS OLD,
that his wives TURNED AWAY HIS HEART AFTER OTHER GODS: and his
heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, AS WAS THE HEART OF
DAVID HIS FATHER."
Read on with verses 6, 9 and 10.
Solomon did EVIL as a life style, his HEART - mind set - did
not go FULLY after the Lord as did David his father.
Solomon's heart was TURNED AWAY from the Lord. God had
appeared to him TWICE and had corrected him concerning his life
style of going after other gods. Yet Solomon DID NOT KEEP THAT
WHICH THE LORD COMMANDED!
Solomon had overcome in the past, he had been called by God an
overcomer! Then at some point in his latter days, when he was
old, he allowed idolatry to come between him and the true God.
Satan, the world, and human nature PULLED at his heart attitude
regarding certain commandments of God. His strange wives turned
his mind away from God and His truths to following the dictates
and practices of the unconverted world.
He did not it would seem overcome and endure walking with God
to the END as did his father David. Solomon turned away from the
truth he knew and started to walk in ways of darkness.
Turning to the New Testament we see examples of those who
knew the truths of God, started out on the correct pathway, were
originally overcomers, but swerved and turned aside to again
follow the corruption of habitual darkness and sin in the world.
Turn to 1 Timothy chapter one. Let's pick it up in verse 5,
"Now the end (goal, purpose) of the commandment is charity (love)
out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith
unfeigned (sincere). FROM WHICH some HAVING SWERVED HAVE TURNED
ASIDE unto vain jangling. Desiring to be teachers of the law;
understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm."
Paul knew of some who had started out well, accepted the
calling of God, had walked the life style of the commandments of
the Lord, had overcome, until and up to a certain time in their
lives, then their attitude of mind, set a different course of
action. They willfully TURNED ASIDE from the light of truth and
started to live a life contrary to the will and commandments of
God. They turned unto VAIN JANGLINGS of the world.
Oh, you will notice, they wanted to be recognized as teachers
from the Lord, claiming they were teaching the law of God in its
purity, but Paul said they DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING
ABOUT!
Many people are doing that very same swerving away from the
truth of God unto the goo-bady-goo of the world, TODAY! Many so
called ministers in the Church of God, are today, turning aside
from the truth they once knew and taught unto teachings of the
lost world. They still want to teach people and be thought of as
ministers from God, yet they are walking in darkness and have
lost their understanding of the truth. They are no longer
overcomers!
Notice what Paul later in this chapter said to Timothy: "This
charge I commit unto thee that thou by them mightest war a good
warfare; HOLDING FAITH (enduring to the end - continuing to
overcome in the present) and a good conscience; WHICH SOME HAVING
PUT AWAY concerning faith have made shipwreck: of whom is
Hymenaeus and Alexander "(verses 18-20).
Here Paul mentions TWO people by very name that HAD PUT AWAY
AND MADE SHIPWRECK their faith!
They had started out as overcomers. They had in the past
overcome. They had been recognized by God at one time as ones who
had overcome, they had had their names written in the book of
life at one time. Now their names were blotted out, for they had
turned aside from the light of the truth of God, had put away the
faith they had, made a choice to turn from the word and
commandments of the Lord and had chosen to set their minds to
follow the way of Satan and the world of sin.
They had chosen at one time to overcome the world, board the
ship of victory, set their sails to the wind of the Lord, head
for the land of promise, but at some point along the journey,
they willfully chose to put a hole in the bottom of the ship and
sink it to the depths of the sea.
At that point in time they stopped being overcomers and were
then overcome by Satan, the world and human nature.
Writing to Timothy in his second letter, chapter two, he tells
him to STUDY(verse 15), in order to rightly understand God's
word. He tells him to shun vain babblings as it will be like a
cancer. Two individuals are named who had departed from the truth
by teaching false doctrine.
The teaching of those two persons - teaching error - had
certain results. It resulted in the OVERTHROWING OF THE FAITH OF
SOME!
Some who had at one time started on the pathway of the true
faith, had overcome in the past, were NOW - later - in the
present - themselves OVERCOME by false doctrine, false preachers,
false prophets, and their FAITH(you are saved by grace through
faith) had been OVERTHROWN! They had given up serving the Eternal
God, they had set their minds to STOP walking in the light, and
to return to the darkness they had come out of.
As a way of life and habitual practice they now lived the way
of the corrupt evil world.
It is possible for someone who had at one time in the past
been given the truth of the Lord, who had accepted it, who began
to walk in it, to FORSAKE IT, THROW IT ASIDE AND RETURN TO SATAN
AND LIVING IN SIN!
The Bible teaches NO SUCH DOCTRINE as once saved always saved!
GOD WILL NOT LEAVE YOU, BUT YOU AS A FREE AGENT, CAN LEAVE HIM.
Paul went on to teach Timothy that the servant of God must be
able to teach, and in teaching be patient, "In meekness
instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure
will give them REPENTANCE TO THE ACKNOWLEDGING OF THE TRUTH; And
that they may RECOVER(Greek is "awake") themselves out of the
snare of the devil, who are taken CAPTIVE BY HIM at his will"
(verses 24-26).
This could apply to those who are first coming into the light
of the truth, but it could also apply to those who have walked in
the light and THEN DEPARTED FROM IT, being taken again into the
snare and net of the wicked one, for a time. With the correct
teaching from the servant of God, mingled with patience and
meekness, it could be possible such individuals will again find
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth of Cod.
To end this section let me give the reader a few scriptural
verses (and there are many others) that show being saved is NOT
JUST all in the past, over and done with, with no present and
future application. Here are a few verses showing salvation is a
process - an overcoming to the end: Hebrews 2:1-4; 12:1,2,15-17;
10:35-39.
FALSE PROPHETS CAN LEAD US AWAY FROM GOD
We have already seen from the sections of scripture above that
false teachers, can cause some to reject the true faith of God
and be led back into the world of Satan and sin.
Since Satan and man have been on this earth that has been the
case. God calls, reveals His truth and commandments to some, they
accept and start to follow, they overcome the wicked one. But
Satan does not go away, he does not play "lay-down-rollover and
die" games. He stays around ever to try and get us to TURN AWAY
from the Lord.
One of his fiery darts he shoots at us to destroy and turn us
away from the will and commandments of the Lord, is FALSE
PROPHETS AND TEACHERS.
Turn to Deuteronomy the 12th chapter. Read verses 29-32. When
God calls someone to His way of life He will give them His word
of truth. He wants us to live by His word. He talks to us through
His word, tells us HOW to serve and worship Him in spirit and in
truth.
God does not want us going about asking our unconverted
relatives or neighbors about how to serve the true God. He does
not want us looking to the unrepentant world to see how they
serve their gods, and then adapt their customs and traditions and
ways to serve our God with them. Much of popular Christianity is
founded upon doing that very thing. If the reader has not yet
read books like THE TWO BABYLONS by Hislop or BABYLON MYSTERY
RELIGION by Woodrow, then I recommend you do so. If you have
trouble locating those books please write to me for addresses.
Now let's move to chapter 13th of Deuteronomy. Verse 1 and 2,
God tells us about a person coming to us as a PROPHET, a
PREACHER, a VISIONARY. They can even bring to pass a SIGN OR
WONDER. They can perform miraculous feats. BUT the words they
preach, if you follow them, will LEAD YOU AWAY FROM THE TRUTH OF
GOD! Will lead you to LIVE and PRACTICE as a "mind set" a way of
life that is in direct opposition to the way, will, and
commandments of the true Eternal.
Notice what the Lord says to us in such circumstances as this:
"Thou shalt not harken unto the words of that prophet, or
that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God PROVETH you, to
know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul. Ye shall WALK after the Lord your God, and
FEAR Him, and KEEP His COMMANDMENTS, and OBEY His voice, and ye
shall SERVE Him, and CLEAVE to Him. And that prophet, or that
dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he hath spoken
to TURN YOU AWAY from the Lord your God......"(verses 3-5).
You will notice the penalty for such false prophets was not a
slap on the wrist, but DEATH! God did not take lightly those who
would TURN PEOPLE AWAY from following the commandments of the
Lord.
Yet responsibility also lay with those who would listen and
TURN AWAY from the life style of the Lord, back to the darkness
of Satan.
Again this section of scripture shows that overcoming is not a
once upon a time event, all over in the past and nothing for the
present or future.
Anyone at any time, once started on the road of salvation,
can, because they are always a free moral agent, GIVE IT UP AND
TURN AWAY, TURN BACK TO SERVING FALSE PROPHETS AND THE
CORRUPTIONS OF THE WORLD!
Some in the Church of God over the last 20 years especially
have wondered why God has allowed FALSE prophets and FALSE
doctrines to separate and divide the Church. Many have come,
preachers from within the Church of God, coming in the name of
Jesus, claiming to be His ministers, coming with so called "new
light" or "new revelations from God" that HAVE LED PEOPLE TO
BREAK AND ABANDON THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.
The present leaders of-----------
the Worldwide Church of God now teach that God says His FOURTH
COMMANDMENT - the Sabbath commandment - is not binding upon
Christians under the New Covenant. They now teach you can keep
the 7th day as you personally choose - doing what seems right to
you. I have written a full in-depth study on this called----
THE WCG COVENANT/SABBATH QUESTION: AN ANSWER.
God has allowed this to come upon the Church of God
TO PROVE YOU, TO KNOW WHETHER YOU LOVE THE LORD
WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND LIFE.
God is dividing the sheep from the goats - those who hear only
His voice and another they will not follow, from those who do not
love the truth that they might continue to be overcomers and not
have their names blotted out of the book of life.
Many in the Church of God can see that TRIALS, PERSECUTIONS,
having to lay your life on the line, and other "things" could
lead to some turning away from living the truth and return to the
way of the world, but most have not given it much thought that
Satan could use, and God would allow, another more clandestine
way to enter the Church and destroy people from the grace and
faith of God.
It is a way that most would not think about too deeply because
on the surface it proclaims itself "Christian."
The NT is full of it. Paul warned and wrote about it. Peter
did also. John had much to say about it, as did Jesus Himself.
It is the truth that Satan will come among the children of God
as being LIGHT, as making himself out to be "Christian" - making
himself as if he is a true minister of God, coming as a wolf but
dressed in sheeps clothinq. Coming and saying, "God has spoken"
- "This is from God" - "I bring new revelations from the
Lord."
They would come offering LIBERTY, while serving corruptions.
Claiming grace does away with God's law, or parts of the law,
certainly the Sabbath law.
The NT says MANY WOULD FOLLOW THEM, MANY WOULD TURN AWAY
FROM THE HOLY COMMANDMENTS GIVEN TO THEM, AND RETURN TO LIVING
IN SIN, AS A DOG RETURNS TO ITS VOMIT!
Yet many of them would continue to say they were "Christians."
Many of them would continue to say Jesus is the Lord. They would
still use His name, do works in His name, they would continue to
believe they are saved and should be in the Kingdom at Christ's
coming. The truth of the matter is, they will have willfully
rejected the knowledge of the truth of God, willfully accepted
the lies of Satan, willfully made a choice to reject God and His
commandments, with clear heart set their minds to serve sin. They
will again have become SLAVES to sin and will be habitually
practicing as a way of life - WICKEDNESS and LAWLESSNESS!
It is to such that Jesus will say: "Why do you call me Lord,
but will not do the things I say" and "I never knew you, depart
from me you that work iniquity - (lawlessness)."
Truly as Jesus said, in that day there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
I now encourage you to read 1,2,3,John and Jude, KEEPING IN
MIND what I have written under this section of this study.
John was writing at a time when the Church of God was being
BLOWN APART by false prophets and false teachers, teaching
HERESIES about Jesus and -------
DOING AWAY WITH THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD!
Those to whom John wrote were remaining faithful to the faith
once delivered to the saints. They had overcome in the past, and
they were overcoming in the present. They were walking on the
straight and narrow pathway of light, they had their mind set to
serve the will and commandments of the Lord. They were living
with the heart attitude of King David and so God called them
people after His own heart. God called them overcomers and their
names were not blotted out of the book of life.
THE TEACHING OF JESUS
During His earthy ministry Jesus explained very clearly what
OVERCOMING as a Christian was all about.
Turn to the gospel of Luke chapter 8.
Jesus gives the people a parable: "A sower went out to sow his
seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was
trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And
some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it
withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some among thorns;
and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And some fell on
good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold."
Matthew records that the good seed on good ground brought
forth "some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold"
(Mat.13:8).
Jesus' disciples wanted to know the meaning of this parable,
so the explanation was given.
Continuing in Luke: "The seed is the WORD OF GOD." Paul was
inspired to say that, "....FAITH comes by HEARING and hearing by
the WORD OF GOD" (Rom.10:17). Back to Luke: "Those by the wayside
are they that hear; then cometh the DEVIL, and taketh away the
words out of their heart, lest they should BELIEVE and be SAVED."
Here we see God calling, revealing His truths to some, but
Satan is "Jonny on the spot" - they have the words of truth taken
out of their heart immediately. They never get off the batters
mound, never even hit the ball so they can start to base one.
This was probably the case with the rich young man who came to
Jesus asking what he must do to inherit eternal life (Mat.19).
Jesus told him to "keep the commandments" to which he replies he
had, but what did he still lack. Jesus then told him to sell all
that he had, give it to the poor and follow Him.
Hearing that, the rich young man could not do it, he went away
sorrowful. He was given truth, the word of the Lord was spoken
to him, but Satan came along and snatched it away from him. He
never even got STARTED on the road to salvation. He never got
saved! He never overcame!
He never had his name written down in the book of life!
Back to the book of Luke: "They on the rock are they, which,
when they hear, receive the word with Joy; and these have no
root, WHICH FOR A WHILE BELIEVE, and in time of temptation FALL
AWAY."
Ah, did you see it? God calls, truth is revealed to them, they
HEAR IT, they RECEIVE IT WITH JOY, they BELIEVE, have saving
FAITH, come under GRACE, for how long did Jesus say?
Was it a once saved always saved teaching from Jesus? Not at
all! It was a "WHICH FOR A WHILE BELIEVE" that Christ taught they
endured. Then LATER ON in a time of some trial or temptation as I
have covered in this study already, they FELL AWAY! They did
overcome originally at the beginning, they did start on the saved
pathway. God did say they were overcomers, they had overcome the
devil, the world and human nature. But physical life was not yet
over, Satan was still alive and walking around, the corrupt world
was still out there, human nature was still part of them. While
all those factors remained overcoming them was still for the
present and for the future. Remaining faithful to the humble
heart attitude that David had was still to be endured with. While
they were still alive in the flesh the possibility to turn away
from God's life style and turn to walking in the pathway of the
darkness of the wicked one, STILL REMAINED!
And sure enough, Jesus knew that some who would start out
well, would NOT FINISH WALKING THE NARROW PATHWAY TO LIFE BUT
WOULD "FALL AWAY."
Jesus continued: "And that which fell among the thorns, are
they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with
the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring
no fruit to perfection."
Have you ever planted seeds and then neglected to weed? Oh,
the seeds will take root and spring up, they will start on the
road to perfection, but soon the weeds will dominate the ground
and choke them out so they will not produce the desired fruit and
perfection.
Jesus saw that some would hear the word, take root, would
believe, start out being saved, but "things" of one sort or
another would dry them up, encase them, choke them off from
continuing to overcome. Their names would be taken out of the
book of life.
Then Jesus spoke last of all about the good seeds that fell on
good ground: "But on the good ground are they, which in an HONEST
and GOOD HEART, having heard the word, KEEP IT, AND BRING FORTH
WITH PATIENCE."
Yes there it is, all I have been saying in this study, in a
few choice words from the Lord Jesus.
The word goes forth, God calls, truth is revealed, and some
HEAR IT. They hear it with what kind of heart? Why the heart of
David, a heart that is after the very heart of God. They hear it
with a good, honest, repentant, humble, teachable heart. A heart
that sets its mind to KEEP THE WORD AND COMMANDMENTS of the Lord,
and to live the habitual life style that is the way of the Lord.
So they overcome and CONTINUE to do so with ENDURANCE, WITH
PATIENCE up to the very end of their life on earth.
As recorded in Matthew, some of these Christians will produce
fruit or works that are a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some
thirtyfold.
Yes, some will pray, study, fast, help the poor, serve the
brethren, do other "works" MORE than OTHERS.
That is NOT overcoming. That is "works." We are not saved by
our works! WE SHALL BE REWARDED ACCORDING TO OUR WORKS!
We are saved by GRACE through FAITH
All the good seeds on good ground have the same HONEST AND
GOOD HEART. They all have the heart of David, who heard the word
of the Lord and repented and set his mind to keep the way, the
commandments of God, with the help of the Spirit of God. All the
good seed on good ground overcame and continued overcoming to the
END.
JESUS TAUGHT A CONTINUING OVERCOMING
The plain truth on this subject is again shown to us in the
gospel of John chapter 8. We pick it up in verse 31, "Then said
Jesus to those Jews which BELIEVED on Him. IF ye CONTINUE in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed: And ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free."
We have already seen Jesus knew being saved and overcoming was
not just a one time event, but was something to stick with unto
the end.
Here Jesus tells those that believed on Him, they would be His
true disciples IF THEY CONTINUED IN HIS WORD. Being saved and
overcoming to Jesus was not just for a certain time in the past
BUT WAS TO CONTINUE IN THE PRESENT.
Those that would practice this continual life way of living
would KNOW THE TRUTH - their heart attitude would be what God was
looking for and He would look to that person as He did with
David. They would have the truth and it, the truth would make
them free. God would help them on the straight and narrow and
show them grace when they did stumble and bloody their knees.
On hearing these words from the lips of Jesus, the
"believing"(what kind of believing is another question) Jews got
somewhat proudly indignant. They claimed they were never in
bondage to any man, so how could they be set free, they asked.
Jesus replied: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever
COMMITTETH SIN is the SERVANT OF SIN. And the servant abideth not
in the house forever: but the Son abideth forever. If the Son
therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
The word "committeth" is in the present progressive tense.
Jesus is saying that those who willfully set their minds, set
their heart attitude to reject the way and life of God, who
deliberately harden their hearts against doing the will and
commandments of the Lord, then those individuals become the
SLAVES, the servants, the habitual followers of sin. That kind
of a servant or slave cannot remain in the master's house for
always, the time will come when he must be cast out, when it must
be said to them "depart from me you that work iniquity."
But to those who accept the Son, His work today, tomorrow, and in
the future, to those who will be saved from sin by grace through
faith in the Son, who will come to God with a repentant heart and
a mind set to continue obeying the word, Then those individuals
will find the truth and will be truly set free from sin and
death, to truly be the real disciples of the Son.
PAUL KNEW OVERCOMING WAS CONTINUAL
The apostle Paul was at one time NOT SAVED, then at a certain
point of time in his life Jesus called in no uncertain way, truth
was revealed to Paul. A choice was to be made - LIFE on the one
hand - DEATH on the other hand. Paul chose LIFE! You can read it
all in Acts chapter 9.
After Paul had overcome Satan, the world and his human nature,
after he had accepted the calling of the Lord, after he was saved
from death and sin, did he think it was ALL OVER, ALL NOW IN THE
PAST, NOTHING TO OVERCOME IN THE PRESENT, NO ENDURING TO THE END?
Did Paul think and believe that in being saved he was "always
saved"?
Let the great apostle answer that question for himself:
"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one
receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man
that striveth in the mastery is temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an
incorruptible. I THEREFORE SO RUN, not as uncertain: so fight I,
not as one that beateth the air: 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 CAST AWAY"
(1 Cor.9:24-27).
Paul knew from the teachings of Jesus, from the Old Testament,
that being saved was not a one time event, but was continuous
from the day it started. He knew a person could fall away if they
deliberately chose to reject God and His commandments. He saw
examples in the OT where that did happen. He knew of persons
during his life time that had overcome and started out on the
pathway of light, but had along the way THROWN IN THE TOWEL,
MADE SHIPWRECK their faith, turned AWAY from the Lord and had
again become the slaves to sin and Satan.
Paul knew that as a free moral agent able to make choices each
and every day of his life, IT WAS NOT IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO
CASTAWAY HIS FAITH AS OTHERS HAD DONE!
He had to be on guard, vigilant, yielded to God and Christ,
submissive to their will, humble and of a repentant mind, at all
times so he would continue as an overcomer to the end.
He knew he was living a victorious life, he knew he had
victory over Satan, the world, and carnal nature. He knew that
victory was not in his own power or own deeds of righteousness,
for Paul knew the scripture that said "our own righteousness is
as filthy rags before Him." Paul knew he could remain an
overcomer unto the end through Jesus Christ that lived within
him.
Because of this, the power to be an overcomer to the end, at
the time of his departure from this physical world into the sleep
of death, and to be with the Lord in the resurrection, Paul could
say with absolute confidence these words to Timothy:
"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand. I HAVE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT, I HAVE FINISHED
MY COURSE, I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH: Henceforth there is laid up for
me a CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, which the Lord the righteous judge,
shall give me AT THAT DAY, and not to me only, but unto all them
also that love HIS APPEARING" (2 Tim.4:6-8).
Paul overcame when he was first saved, his name was written at
that time into the Lambs book of life. Paul continued to
overcome, he remained faithful to the way of the Lord, he
endured with the heart of David, and overcame to the end.
What kept him in the true love of God for all those years? I
could not answer that question any better than to use the very
words of Paul himself:
"WHAT SHALL WE SAY TO THESE THINGS? IF GOD BE 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? WHO SHALL LAY ANYTHING TO THE CHARGE OF GOD'S ELECT?
It is God that justifieth. WHO IS HE THAT CONDEMNETH? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, is risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God, WHO ALSO MAKES INTERCESSION FOR US. WHO SHALL
SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all
the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. NAY, IN
ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM THAT
LOVED US. FOR I AM PERSUADED, THAT NEITHER DEATH, NOR LIFE, nor
angel, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
SHALL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD, WHICH IS IN
CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD" (Rom.8:31-39).
What a great heart attitude the apostle Paul had. It was the
same as the heart of David, the heart of Abraham, the heart of
Noah, the heart of Joseph, that of Daniel, that of Esther,
that of Ruth, that of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that of
Moses, that of Elijah, that of John the Baptist, that of Mary the
mother of Jesus, and that of all the faithful from the beginning.
They were overcomers FROM THE TIME THEY STARTED TO WALK WITH
THE LORD TO THEIR DYING DAY.
They all knew they were sinners, they all confessed their
sins, they all repented of their sins, they all looked to God in
faith through the Messiah, for mercy and forgiveness - for
grace to save them from the penalty of sin - death.
They all looked to God for the help of His Holy Spirit to
guide and teach them the truths of the word of the Lord.
They all loved the precepts, statutes, laws, and commandments
of God. They all willfully set their minds and hearts to follow
the word of the Lord, to walk in the light of the truth that
sets a person free.
They all knew they would slip and stumble and sin at times as
they walked with the Lord, but they also knew that upon
repentance and a humble heart, God would forgive them through the
sacrifice of His Son, and they would find grace to help in the
time of need. They all knew they could overcome Satan, the world,
and their own human carnal nature through the love, the
sacrifice, the power, and the grace of God.
They all knew it was not human "works" or "deeds" that made
them an overcomer in the sight of the Lord God, but it was a
humble, repentant, submissive and obedient heart towards Him,
that would keep their names written in the book of life, and
guarantee for them a place in the better resurrection at the
coming of the Son of God to stand on the earth in the latter
days.
Do you have the kind of mind set towards God that He can say
"He/She is someone after my very own heart."?
I hope you do!
For of such will be they that inherit the Kingdom of God.
Those with such overcoming hearts will hear Jesus say: "Well done
thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy
Lord."
"HE THAT OVERCOMETH SHALL INHERIT ALL THINGS: AND I WILL
BE HIS GOD, AND HE SHALL BE MY SON" (Rev. 21:7)
.........................................
Written June 1995.
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