Called him that overcome Him
that overcometh Now beloved of God We who are
the born-again saints of God We've been taught by our great
God That we are kept by his almighty power We've been taught that,
haven't we? We've been taught that left to
ourselves, we're nothing but wandering sheep. We've been taught
that. And we've been taught that if
it wasn't for our Savior not only saving us, because we could
never save ourselves, but keeping us, we'd be left in a lot of
trouble if we were left on our own. And we know in our hearts
that it's true. We know in our hearts that it's
true. But our Lord preserves His people, and He preserves us until we
will be in His presence, or be with Him forever, all because
of His almighty power. Now through the years, several
religious people have bought forth to me, and I know to many
others, that you can lose your salvation. Well, they can lose what they
have because they've never had salvation in the first place. But for the true born-again child
of God, they cannot lose their salvation. Do you know why? Because
it's not dependent upon us. It's dependent upon Christ and
Christ alone. And through the years as I've
heard people quote, he that overcometh, he that preserves to the end. I've heard people use those verses.
And they always use those verses in the context that it's them
that's doing the overcoming. Now we do overcome things in
this world, don't we? We do. We do. But we know, beloved,
that it's by the grace of God in Christ. We know it's not by
our own strength. We know it's not by anything
we do. But it's the grace of God that
works in us mightily. Right? And we see that. It's
the grace of God that works in us mightily. So the believer is kept by the power of God.
Kept by the power of God, not by our supposed works or by our
own strength, because we know in our weakness He is strong. Just let yourself be laid out
in the bed for a week. Right? I think, you know, Drew
Dietz and I would talk about this. He said, man, the bed of
affliction is a place where the Lord teaches you, you can't do
nothing. Because you're just laid out. After a serious operation,
you just know your inability. And you know you're asking God
to heal you, to help us in our weakness. And beloved, we are
weak. We are weak people. We are. Some
might say, well, I'm strong. Well, there's going to become
a time when you're going to know that you're weak. Don't say stuff like that. I'll
tell you why. The Lord, for His people, He
teaches us our constant need for Him. And this world of affliction,
and this world that we go through things, is teaching us every
time we go through situations, whether they be a trial, or a
testing, or on the bed of affliction, or health issues, they're teaching
us our need of Christ. They're weaning us, Sister Carolyn
once told me, they're weaning us from this world. I like that.
And these things wean us from this world. They do. And they make us homesick
for heaven, don't they? They make us homesick for heaven.
So religious people, they bring forth these verses and always
they're supplementing their own strength in a place where God
is the one who is strong. Religious people have cooked
up in their minds that God can neither save them unless they
allow him to. And that God is a little G. That's
not the big G. That's the little G. Because
that's a God of their imagination, beloved. I'm telling you, it
is. The God who cannot save unless a person allows him to is not
the God of the Bible. I don't care how religious the
person is or how sincere they are. That's not the God of the
Bible. And the God who cannot save his
people and keep them is not the God of the Bible. People say,
well, that's a pretty blunt one. Yeah, but that's what the scripture
says. And that's what we believe, right? God not only saves his
people, he keeps them. He saves them and he keeps them.
and he presents us faultless before the throne of God. Turn,
if you would, to John chapter 16. John chapter 16. We'll be in Revelation looking
at the phrase, to him that overcometh, and just looking at the word,
overcometh. Now, the Greek overcometh in
the text that we'll be looking at today means this. It means
to conquer. It means to overcome. It means
to vanquish and it means to subdue. Okay. I'll say that again. The Greek
word for overcome it that we're looking at today. The underlying
Greek word means to conquer, overcome, vanquish and subdue. It is the same Greek word that our
master tells us here in John 16 that he's overcome the world. Look at this, John 16, verses
31 to 33. Jesus answered them, Do ye now
believe? There's a good question. Do you
now believe? Good question. Do you believe on Christ? Oh,
I pray God makes it so, if you don't. Behold, the hour cometh,
yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man alone. because the Father is with me.
He's talking about it at his death. His disciples will be
scattered. I was looking at that this week,
and there's Peter. Lord, not me! And I'm thinking,
oh, there's every one of us, right? You know, Peter puts his foot
in his mouth a lot in scripture, but so do we, right? You know,
every sheep of God, we say things that we ought not to say sometimes.
you know, oh my, but there was Peter in his pride saying, no
Lord not me, and the Lord said, yeah you're going to deny me
three times actually, but look at this, behold the hour cometh
yea is now come that ye shall be scattered every man to his
own and shall leave me alone and yet I am not alone because
the Father is with me. These things have I written unto
you That in me, you might have peace. Look at that. Look at
that statement. In me, you might have peace. There's no peace
outside of Christ. That's what he's saying right
there. That's what he's saying. I'd have peace. Oh, my. And we have peace with God in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ, the scripture declares. For come the world, he conquered
it. And he subdued it in the Greek. He's overcome the war. Now turn, if you were the Romans,
chapter eight, Romans, chapter eight. And let's read what what Paul
writes in light of the definition of this word overcome, which
means to conquer. To overcome, to vanquish and
subdue, look at what Paul writes here in Romans, chapter eight,
and remember. In Romans chapter 7, written
in the autobiography of the believer, O wretched man that I am, who
can deliver me from this body of sin, right? And then he comes
to the conclusion that only in Christ, we're conquerors in Christ,
right? And only in Him. Look what's
written here though in Romans chapter 8, in light of the definition
of the word overcome. Romans chapter 39. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Now remember, our Lord
said he's overcome the world, right? So in light of that, listen
to these words. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. When you look at that,
that's all the things we go through in this world. Oh my. as it is written for thy
sake we are killed all the we are counted as sheep for the
slaughter nay in these things in all these things we are more
than what conquerors more than conquerors through him that loved
us for I am neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities
nor powers nor things present nor things to come that's everything
And then it goes on, 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. What a verse of security, what
verses of comfort right there, isn't that? Look at that, that's
for every believer too, isn't it? Now we don't always feel
that, right? This is why we go to the scriptures.
This is why Paul said to set your mind on things above. Set
your mind on Christ. Because when we read these blessed
words, it just fills our hearts with joy. You know, as I said,
we're left to ourselves. We're wandering sheep. We just
take right off. We'd wander right into danger,
beloved. We would, we'd head on. But look
at this. For I am persuaded that neither
death Death doesn't separate the believer from Christ. Hallelujah.
Nor life, nor angels. Angels are a lot more powerful
than we are, but they can't separate us from the love of Christ. Nor powers. Satan and his minions,
they can't separate us from the love of Christ. Nor height, nor
depth. Not anything in the heavens above
and nothing in the earth can separate us from the love of
Christ. Oh my, nor any other creature, well that covers everything
doesn't it? Everything. She'll be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. That love is eternal and it has been set upon us from
eternity. Praise His mighty name. Oh my. Now after doing a word
search on this in the Bible, on this phrase, this phrase that
we'll look at, Him that overcometh. I only found that in four places.
We're also going to look at, look at this word overcome. Turn if you would to Revelation
chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2. And we need to always compare
Scripture with Scripture. And we see today that the believer
overcomes the things of this world and does not fall by the
power of God Almighty. By the power of God Almighty. All by His own power. Look at verse 7 of Revelation
chapter 2. Our Lord has written to the church
at Ephesus. And at the end of the statement
of Christ, He says this to them. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst
of the paradise of God. Then look at verse 17 of the
same chapter. And we see Christ speaking to
the church at Pergamum. He writes this. He that hath
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and
will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. And then look at verse 21 of
chapter three. When our Lord is speaking to
the church at Laodicea, he says in Revelation chapter three,
verse 21. These words again to him that
overcometh. Will I sit down with? Well, I'm
sorry to him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in
my throne? even as I also overcome, overcame
and am set down with my father in his throne. Then we see the
phrase, he that overcometh. We just looked at to him that
overcometh. Now we're going to look at the phrase, he that overcometh.
Turn back to chapter two, if you would. In heaven, our Lord is speaking
to the church at Smyrna. Oh, gosh, Smyrna. And he says, He that hath an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that
overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Then we
see in verse 26 of chapter 2 the phrase again, He that overcometh.
Christ is speaking to the church at Thyatira. And he says, He
that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, him will
I give power over the nations. Again we see, He that overcometh.
Then in Revelation 3.5, we see the phrase again, He that overcometh. In verse 26, when Christ is speaking
to the church at Sardis. He that overcometh, the same shall
be clothed in right remnant, and I will not blot out his name,
verse 5 actually, out of the book of life, but I will confess
his name before my Father and before his angels. Then in Revelation
3, verse 12, we see the phrase, him not overcome, when Christ
is speaking to the church at Philadelphia, Revelation 3, verse
12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God, and he shall go out, or he shall go no more out, and
I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the
city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down
out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new
name. Now in Revelation chapter 3,
verse 7, Revelation chapter 3 verse 7.
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write these things,
saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key
of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth
and no man openeth. Oh my, we see that he is King
of kings and Lord of lords. He rules over all. Rules over
all. Now each time the word overcometh
was used, It's the same Greek word that our Lord said when
He said He's overcome the world. It's the same Greek word. In
all those seven places we looked at, it means to conquer, to overcome,
to push, and to subdue. Now we who are the born-again
children of God, blood-washed, were taught, Paul wrote, to have
no confidence in the flesh, aren't we? No confidence in the flesh
at all. And we're also taught that we
have no ability to overcome the world, and no ability to overcome
our sins, and no ability on our own to overcome our trials and
temptations. And we have been taught that very, very clearly
in our lives, haven't we? Very clearly. It doesn't take
much to overcome us. No, it doesn't. We can be bought down so quickly,
so quickly by something that arises up in our lives, by sin,
by temptation. Oh, we can be bought down so
quickly, left to ourselves. Oh, but our great God, He delivers
us and takes care of us, doesn't He? And watches over us. And the word here, overcometh.
Again, it means to conquer, vanquish, and subdue. Praise be to God,
we have a resting place, beloved. Praise be to God, we have a resting
place. And that rest is the Lord Jesus Christ, who won the victory. He's the one who's overcome the
world. We saw that in John 16, He's overcome the world. Oh beloved,
never forget we were in Him. Oh my, He's the head and we're
the body, beloved. I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life we live, we live in
Christ, don't we? My beloved. And all the obstacles and hindrances
that would hinder our salvation are removed. When God is calling
us with the effectual call of God, we run right to Christ,
don't we? We're born again to the Holy
Spirit of God, then we flee right to Christ. All the hindrances
and obstacles have been removed, and we see Christ as our only
need. We see Him as our only need.
And we know from reading the testimony of God that our blessed
Lord is a representative mediator whose both God and man accomplished
all things for us. He accomplished all things for
us, didn't He? And He is our glorious and eternal
salvation. He's our rest. When our great
king died on Calvary's cross, as we looked at in Sunday school
this morning, and he cried those words, it's finished. That means
it's finished. Redemption is sure. Justification
for the believer. We're justified in Christ, right?
We are. We're justified by faith, but
who's our faith in? Christ. He's the object of our
faith. Now remember who's speaking these
words to the Apostle John? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
He who is Alpha and Omega. It's He who is the beginning
and the end. It's He who came down from heaven and has saved
His people from their sins and now risen back up to heaven.
It's God incarnate in the flesh. So what promises we will find
today in these testimonies and these promises for us? Remember,
for the believer in Christ, All the promises of God are what?
Yea and amen in Him. If you find an Old Testament
promise, that's for the people of God, beloved. And that promise
is yea and amen in Christ. Grab a hold of that. Grab a hold
of that promise. Spurgeon said we should take
those promises and clutch them to our chest, beloved. Oh my. They're wonderful. When we're looking in these scriptures
today, I hope this brings you comfort. I really do. It brought
me such comfort as I was putting this message together. To see
these scriptures and to see what's written in these scriptures.
And what promises we have in these texts for God's people.
And it's the God-man who saved us, isn't it? The Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the one who saved us. It's the God-man who will
keep us. We who are his people. And again,
we know, and I keep stressing it, we're not only saved by our
great God, we're kept by our great God. We need to be told
that again and again and again, don't we? Oh, we do. We're fickle. If we really examine
our hearts, we're fickle folks. We really are. But all praise
be to God, He's faithful. He's faithful, beloved. He's faithful. I'm going to read
John chapter 16 verse 33 again before we look at these texts
again. These things I have spoken unto
you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Same Greek word. I've overcome
the world. And then listen to this. Actually
turn there. You're already in Revelation.
Turn there. Revelation chapter 12. Look at this. Revelation
chapter 12. same Greek word look at this
revelation chapter 12 verse 11 and they this is being the blood-washed
saints overcame him how how they overcome Satan by the blood of
the Lamb beloved by Christ And by the word of their testimony,
and they love not their lives unto the dead. Greek word there.
Oh my, how? By the blood of the Lamb. By Christ alone. You see how
once again it points away from us? And it points to Christ.
See, people take these words and they say, look, they overcame.
They overcame by their doing. Well, keep reading. They overcame
by the blood of the Lamb. by the word of their testimony.
Who's our testimony of? Who do we testify of the great
things he's done for us? Christ. Christ alone. He gets all the glory, beloved.
He gets it all. He gets it all. The first epistle
of John, it says this in John 5, 5, same Greek word, who is
he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus
is the son of God. Again, pointing us right to Christ
again. I'll read that again, 1 John
5, 5. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God? My, where's that belief, where's
that faith come from to believe that Jesus is the Son of God?
Well, it's a gift from God, beloved. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Again, it all comes back to our
great king. It all comes back to our great
God, beloved. So let's look at carefully the
benefits and spiritual blessings given to those who believe the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of God's grace, which
is only found in and through Christ. Again, knowing that the
only way a believer can overcome anything in this world is in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, who's an ever watchful
shepherd over his sheep. Eternal life in Christ. Look
at Revelation chapter 2 again, verse 7. Look at this. Look at
this. Eternal life is in Christ and
Christ alone. Revelation chapter 2. Revelation
chapter 2, verse 7. Who is this tree of life? Well,
note. This is bought forth in verse
7 of Revelation chapter 2. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst
of the paradise of God. Beloved of God, we who are the
people of God, who are we fed and nourished by? Christ. He's the bread of life for us.
He's the water of life. He's the tree of life. It's all
about him. It's all about our great God.
Jesus Christ will be to all that love him sincerely a tree of
life in heaven. The paradise of God, the feeding
of love upon Christ is is heaven begun already in the soul of
the believer on earth, because Christ, again, is our heavenly
man right here. And He's our water of life. And
then what a promise a believer has in Revelation 2, verse 11. Let's look at that one. He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Look at that. Shall not be hurt of the second
death. Well, we know we're all going to die the first death,
aren't we? But the second death there is being spoken of being
cast into hell. Turn, if you would, to Romans
7, verse 25. And we will read from Romans
7, verse 25 to Romans 8, verse 4. What a promise we have here. Look at that again. Oh my, what a promise we have
here. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not
be hurt of the second death. Why? One might ask, well why? Is it because of something they
do? See, that's what religion thinks
right away, right? And that's what they peddle.
And that's what they're doing, they're peddling it. They're
making merchandise out of people's souls. Look what the scripture
says though. Again, Romans chapter 7. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord, so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 7.25. Well, let's
keep reading, because you've got to keep going. People always
split it up there, but look what keeps going. As a result, there
is therefore now no what? Condemnation. You've heard me
say many times, the Greek word for condemnation there is judgment.
We won't die the second death, beloved. Because we're made alive
in Christ. There's no judgment for those
who, for who? To them which are in Christ. There's not going to be no big
TV screen and all the things that we did, supposedly after
the Lord saved us and you're going to lose rewards or gain
rewards. There's nothing like that. There's
nothing like that. It's because then we'd be in
judged again, right? But the scripture says there's
no there's no condemnation, no judgment to those who in Christ
Jesus, you know why? Because the judgment do us fell
upon our Savior. And Christ is our reward. He's
our, I ask you this, is there anything more rewarding than
Christ? People talk about crowns and
all these things. That's nothing compared to my king. Right? That's nothing compared to him,
compared to the fact that I have all spiritual blessings in him.
Hallelujah. And then so we can look at this
verse, look at this. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit, who are guided by the Holy Spirit of
God. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ hath made me
what? Free! We're free, beloved. Free. Free from the law of sin
and death. For what the law could not do,
it could never justify us, could never save us. And that it was
weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh. The law can
never save us, it can never justify us. All it can do is condemn
us. That's all it can do. You look
at the law of God, and I love the law of God, but all it does
is show us our sinfulness. It's a schoolmaster, Paul wrote,
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, to bring us to who? Christ. To bring us to Christ. That the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh
but after the spirit. Christ is our righteousness,
beloved. He's our righteousness. There's no condemnation for God's
people. There's no second death for God's
people. No. What's that old saying, born
once for the believer, born once or no, born twice, die once.
And then for the unbeliever, born once, died twice. Yeah. That's a promise we have of our
God that he says he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second
death. We won't go into everlasting condemnation. No, because of
what Christ has done for us. So we see no condemnation to
those in Christ. And then we read in Revelation
2.11, he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death
because there's no condemnation to those in Christ. Now let's
look at the next verse. The believer in Christ are made
new creatures in Christ. We see this in Revelation 2.17,
it declares to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden
manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new
name written. Would you name written? Beloved of God in the midst of
much opposition from this world, the flesh and the devil, you
can hold fast and we can hold fast that we are kept by Christ, that
we are kept by Christ in him alone. and that you and I will
overcome the enemies in our lives, in the situations in our lives
by the power of God. Now, we may go through some things
that aren't very pleasing. But our Lord's promised to never
leave us nor forsake us, hasn't he? And we can look back and
see that. We who are the elect of God,
we know, we know that we can only do what's what's written,
overcoming by the power of God. We can only overcome by the power
of God. Turn, if you would, to Colossians
1, verse 29. Remember earlier I mentioned
about it's God working mightily in us? Paul knows about this. He wrote
about it in the last verse of the first chapter of the book
of Colossians. And again, remember, he's writing this by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God. This is not his own thoughts.
These words are authored by the Holy Spirit of God. Paul, the
holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit, right? He's
just penning the words that he's moved to, to write. Look what he says here in Colossians
1 and 29. Whereunto I also labor, so we
know he was laboring in the preaching of the gospel, striving according
to his working, that's God's working, which worketh in me,
what? Why do you and I overcome things?
Because God works in us mightily. Who gets the glory? You hear
preachers say that when you hear preaching, who gets the glory,
man or God? God gets all the glory, doesn't he? He gets it
all. And then the hidden man over
there, let's go back to Revelation chapter 2 verse 17. So we see
then that we only overcome by the mighty work of God. Look,
it says to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden
manna. The hidden manna. Well, that's
a hidden manna which Christ will give us to eat forever. It's
the very manna which we now eat by faith, beloved. It's Christ.
It's Christ. We feast on Christ, don't we?
And him alone. Christ Himself. Today we live
by feasting upon the merits of Christ's righteousness and shed
blood. And even so in heaven our souls shall live forever,
feasting upon Him who is the tree of life. We feast upon Christ
in glory. And not in a cannibalistic way
like some people take those scriptures and twist them. Not at all. By
faith we feast on Christ, don't we? Then we see Him face to face,
beloved. Oh my, it'll be glorious. Absolutely
glorious. Then it says, and we'll give
him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, Revelation
2.17. The white stone which Christ will give us is the stone of
complete absolution in the day of judgment. Complete absolution
in the day of judgment. Listen to these words in Jeremiah. Again, comparing Scripture with
Scripture. Jeremiah 52, verse 20. In those
days and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for, be looking for, looking for, and there shall
be, I love this, none. None. Turn there if you would,
if you want to. This verse is incredible. Isaiah
chapter 52, verse 20. In those days and in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for
and there shall be none. Remember, there's therefore now
no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. Remember last week we
saw that the sheep separated from the goats. On that great day. Oh, The iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for, and there shall be none. And the sins of Judah,
and they shall not be found. For I will pardon them whom I
reserve." He's chosen. Look at the words in this verse
though. The iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for, right? And there shall be none. Isn't
that incredible? How many sins do we commit in
a lifetime? How many of our sins are forgiven at Calvary's Cross?
Amen. All of them. We can see it right here, can't
we? There shall be sought for and there shall be none. Now
we're still sinners while we're on this earth, aren't we? But
our sins forgiven, beloved. And the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve. And our sins were pardoned, the
elect of God, all their sins were pardoned at Calvary's cross.
Christ paid it all, beloved. There is not one left unpaid. Oh my. Now that's good news for
sinners. Isn't it? Good news for this
sinner. My, that's enough to make me want to shout. It's incredible. It's absolutely incredible. So
what is being bought forth with a white stone is the common.
Now, let's go back to our scripture there. It says to him that in
Revelation 217, to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden
manna. It will give him a white stone
and in the stone a new name written. Now, in the times of Romans and
judgment, when a man was being tried for a crime, They would
cast in a white stone in an urn. First of all, if he was judged
and condemned, they would toss in a black stone. And that meant
you were guilty. They tossed it into an urn. The
judges would. But if they tossed a white stone
in, that means there's no condemnation.
Isn't that wonderful? No condemnation. It signified
that the accuser or the one who was being brought up in charges
had been acquitted, absolved of all guilt. Now that's good
news, isn't it? We've been absolved of all the
guilt of our sins, beloved, because the penalty of our sins fell
upon Christ in our place. My. And in the new name which
Christ will give us, we've looked at this in past studies, this
is the Lord our righteousness. Again, it comes back to Christ.
I'll read Jeremiah 23, 6. In his days, Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. And then the Lord
Jesus Christ has made his people. perfectly righteous and holy
by the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us. And then
it says in Jeremiah chapter 33 verses 16, it says, in those
days shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely.
And this is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord
our righteousness. Oh my. Oh my. Even unto them will I
give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better
than that of the sons and of daughters. And I will give them
an everlasting name, and they shall not be cut off." Amazing. Contrast the wonderful scripture
in Revelation 2.17 with 2 Corinthians, which proclaims this, Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become new. All things are becoming. And
it's the Lord who's made this to come to pass below. It's him
who's made all this to come to pass. Next promise we find is
in Revelation 226. He that overcometh and keepeth
my works unto the end to him, will I give power over the nations?
God's preachers have the privilege. And freedom to preach the gospel
of Christ. The power of God unto salvation of many by the power
of God Almighty. God uses the preaching of His
Word by His Almighty power. And He takes it and He regenerates
lost sinners. Showing in their desperate need
for Christ. And all God's people proclaim the wondrous works which
Christ has done for us. All of us. Turn if you would
to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. We all proclaim
what Christ has done for us. It's marvelous. It's wonderful what Christ has
done for us. You want to tell other people about it? Of course
we do. When the Lord opens the door, hey, we don't have to shove
the door open. But when the Lord opens the door,
I'm more than happy. I'm thrilled to tell people about
what Christ has done for me. I know it's so for you too. Look what it says here in Romans
chapter 1, verse 16 and 17. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation.
To who? To everyone that believeth. It's
the power of God unto salvation, this gospel is. To everyone that
believeth. To the Jew first and also to
the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith, as it is written, that just shall live
by faith. Now notice there, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. Now, what is the righteousness of man before
God? Our righteousness is like filthy
rags before God, right? We know that. But see what's
revealed in the gospel? The righteousness of God is revealed
in the gospel. Who's our righteousness? The
Lord our righteousness is our righteousness, isn't it? The
righteousness that we're imputed in is the righteousness that
He wove out for us while He was on this earth. And He is our
righteousness, isn't He? We have no righteousness outside
of Christ that we can stand in God's presence. None. It's wonderful, beloved. It's
absolutely wonderful. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just shall live by what? Faith. We live by faith, trusting
and resting in the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? That's how
we live. Just look into Him. Just look
into Him. Let's go back to Revelation now.
And we see the promise, a promise of eternal righteousness in Christ,
is we are eternally accepted by God in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at Revelation chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. Look at this. Thou hast a few names, even in
Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall
walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 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, but I will confess
his name before my father and before his angels. My. Notice they're clothed in white
raiment. Clothed in the perfect, spotless
righteousness of Christ, beloved. Which is the white raiment spoken
of here. In this wonderful, wonderful
text. What a promise, this is a promise. This is a promise
from God. 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, but I will confess his name before
my father and before his angels. What a promise. What a promise
for God's people. Now, we've looked at enough verses
already to know that the only reason we overcome is because
of God's power. Everyone. Oh, my. And those who are faithful to
the Lord are assured that our Lord will keep us. He'll
keep us, beloved. And we're only faithful to the
Lord because He keeps us faithful. Because He keeps us faithful.
So we see then that the cause and author of our righteousness,
in which God's people are clothed in, is Christ is Christ and Christ
alone. And we are clothed in his perfect,
spotless righteousness. We are accepted by the father
and sanctified in Christ. And he will confess us as his.
Now, that's amazing. He will confess us as his. Hmm. My. Then go down a little bit in
Revelation, chapter three, verse 12, and we see here a promise
of perseverance to the people of Christ to see all these things
that says to him that overcometh or he that overcometh. We know
we can't do it on our own strength, but but these are promises from
our Lord. That they will come to pass,
that will come to pass, beloved. That they will come to pass.
Revelation, chapter. Chapter three, verses nine to
11. We are kept with divine protection,
beloved. Behold, I will make them of the
synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but
do lie. Behold, I will make them to come
and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee.
And that love there, we know is an eternal love, isn't it? It didn't just come, as people
say, when you fled to Christ. No, he's loved us with an everlasting
love. Because being God, His love is eternal then. Because
thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee
from the hour of temptation. Praise be to God. Which shall
come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast,
that no man take thy crown. So we see then, and then look
at verse 12. Here we go. Here's verse 12.
Here's the divine promise. Him that overcometh will I make
a pillar in my temple of my God, and he shall go no more out,
and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name
of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh
down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my
new name. Those who keep God's word shall
be kept by God. Those who hold fast to the truth
of God shall be held in truth by grace. And those who preserve
in the faith shall be preserved by God. And knowing that the
only way we preserve is we're kept. See, again, it all goes
back to our great God. But look at the promise in verse
12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God. and he shall go no more out and
I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the
city of my God which is New Jerusalem which come it down out of heaven
from my God and I will write upon him my new name all love of God those who preserve
in the faith shall conquer all their enemies all their enemies
in the end and be gloriously triumphant in Christ who is the
one We are more than conquerors in. I was thinking about this
this morning, but this very portion right here. I was thinking about
all these books that are written about. You've heard me mention
this many times, you know, victorious Christian lives or how to overcome
things or how to learn the will of God in your life and all these
things. I like what Brother Donnie told me one time. He said, if
you want to know what the will of God was yesterday, for you,
just look at what happened in your life yesterday. You want
to know what the will of God was for the world yesterday?
We'll just read the papers today. God's God, isn't he? He's in
control, isn't he? He's in full control, beloved.
Oh, my. We know he's not the author of
evil. That man, that man, man just left to themselves will
will go rampant in sin. But nothing catches him by surprise,
beloved. Nothing catches him by surprise.
So we don't need all these books, these how-to books, how to be
victorious. We're already victorious in Christ.
See, I remember in religion, I remember constantly reading
books about how to do this and how to do that. I remember doing
that, spending hours just reading that stuff and just looking at
it going, I'm such a failure. Oh my, it's true, but not in
Christ now. We're more than conquerors in
Christ our King, beloved. We're more than conquerors in
Him. And then it says there, it says there, Him that overcometh
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God. Beloved, a pillar
is a, think of this, is a permanent structure. It's a permanent structure
in a permanent place. So what hope the believer has
in Christ that we can glean here, the Lord Jesus Christ here is
promising us a place a permanent eternal residence
in heaven. That's what he's promising us. It'll all be because of what
he has done for us. And next we see a promise from
our Lord that we will have eternal worship around the throne of
God. Look at Revelation 3.21. To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne even As I also overcame and am
set down with my Father in His throne, we see here the fellowship
and communion which begins on earth in conversion will continue
in heaven. It will continue in heaven in
everlasting glorification. And then it will be without sin. It will be without sin. No sin at all. And all who overcome
the terrible temptations and natural tendency as the hearts
to lukewarmness, worldly indifference and proud complacency will sit
with Christ in His throne forever. So how can we not but conclude
that the believer in Christ will overcome all by the power of
God, all by our great Redeemer? And remember it was Christ who
prayed for His bride in John 17. In John 17, it's Christ who
prayed for his blood brought bride in John 17. Therefore,
every believer can say with a measure of assurance and great confidence
that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
More than conquerors through Christ Jesus, our Lord, who's
loved us in eternity past, who loves his people now, and will
love us all through eternity future. Turn, if you would, to John 17.
We'll look at a few verses there, and then we're finished. John 17. In this chapter, we have the
prayer of the high priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, the believer's
high priest. And we'll see here the intercession
of our Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of his people. And this is all according, this
is all according to God's will. All according to God's will.
Keep in mind, keep in mind the words that we looked at, the
hymn that overcometh, or the word overcometh. And look what
we see in verse 11. He prays for our preservation,
beloved. Holy Father, keep thou thine
own name, whom thou hast given me, that they be one as we are."
He's praying for his people's perseverance. There's absolutely
no possibility that one of God's elect will ever perish. None. Not one will be lost. Not one. And what confidence that can
bring us, who are the people of God, eh? Not one of us will ever perish. Then look at verse 13, he prays
for his people's jubilation. And now come I to thee in these
things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled
in themselves. Every believer has abundant reasons
to rejoice in the Lord. Every one of us. No matter what
we go through. We have reason much reasons to
rejoice in the Lord. And to have no confidence in
the flesh. In the joy we have as believers, where does it find
its source? The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the one who we are accepted
before God in. Then we see he prays for our
freedom, our emancipation. Look at this in verse 15. I pray
not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that
thou should keepest them from the evil. Our Lord Beloved has
set the believer free. He set us free. He set us free
from the bondage and the curse of the law, the bondage of sin
and the curse of the law. He set us free from the grasp
of the devil and from the power of death. We have forgiveness
of all our sins in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. All because
we're redeemed by his precious, precious blood. We don't need to put ashes on
our forehead. Saw a bunch of people walking around with ashes
on their forehead this week. That's just foolishness. Guy
I like on TV, got a big old ash thing on his head. It's foolishness. It's foolishness. And they're
supposed to do this once a year. When do we come to Christ, beloved?
Every day, don't we? Every day. Don't need no ashes
on our forehead. You know, that's just the vain
traditions of man. Every time you see that, beloved, and I
came out of that. I came out of that. Praise be
to God, I came out of that. Every time you see that stuff
on the forehead like that, or some guy with a nice little collar
on his neck, it's just the traditions, man. This guy's trying to show
you how religious he is. That's all we do. Donnie Bell
told me one time, he said, you can't tell a grace preacher when
they're out in the world from anyone else. We don't wear no
collars and fancy stuff, long robes. We don't wear that stuff.
No. We're who we are in Christ. So
when you see that stuff, just know that that's just the traditions
of man. Just the traditions of man. It's
awful. Vain traditions of man, it's
called. We are free, free, free in Christ, beloved. We are free
if the sun shall make you free. Oh, if the sun, therefore, shall
make you free, you shall be free indeed. And we are free. We're free in Christ. Oh, my. We're free in Christ. And our
Lord prays for our sanctification. He says, sanctify them through
thy truth. Thy word is truth. And for their
sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified
through the truth. Our Lord, beloved, has set himself
apart in the covenant of grace to be the believer's sanctification
all through his blessed sacrifice. And then in verse 21, we see
he prays for our unification. Look at this. that they may all
be one as thou father art in me and I in thee that they also
may be one in us that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me so there's no question that our sin has separated us from
God but rejoice of God because of the substitutionary work of
the Lord Jesus Christ that he did for his people we shall be
reconciled to God forever forever nothing's gonna change Remember
what Paul said? Shall tribulation, shall distress,
shall death? No, nothing. Nothing is going
to change that. Nothing. So think upon this. Every time
a believer is taken home, this prayer is answered. This prayer
is answered. So we can see very clearly from
the scriptures today that those spoken of in the book of Revelation
in the phrase, to him that cometh, only do so by the power of God.
only do so by the power of God. It is He alone who keeps His
people from falling. It's He alone who keeps His people
from falling and will one day present His people faultless
before His throne with exceeding joy. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Heavenly Father,
we thank You. We thank You for allowing us
to gather together and look into Thy Word. Oh, I pray that we
who are Your people would glean comfort from these verses, these
precious, precious promises that we see in Scripture. Oh, and
we know the only way we can overcome anything is by thy power and
by what you've done for us. We couldn't even overcome one
of our sins, Lord, and yet you paid for them all. They'll not
be remembered anymore. They're gone. Oh, let us, who
are the people, your people, who are blood bought by thee,
let us rejoice in this wondrous truth. Let us rejoice in the
fact that we've overcome in you, in you alone. And you've overcome
the world lord and therefore We overcome it in you and we
will go through trials and tribulations lord. Please give us grace and
strength during this time And be with our loved ones who do
not know you Pray that you would open up doors of utterance for
us to be able to speak to them the wondrous things That you've
done for us and lord. May you use this message for
your glory and honor and praise in jesus name. Amen