I've entitled this message Nike. Where did you come up with a
name like that? Nike. That's the name of sports
garments and tennis shoes and running shoes and so on. And
I do in fact have some Nike shoes. I've got a Nike sweatsuit. I've
got a hat with a swoosh on it. Why are you calling this message
Nike? Well, Nike is the Greek word
for victory. or conquest. That's why they
gave it that name. Victory. Now, in the passage
of scripture that I just read, it says we are more than conquerors. Literally, we are hyper-conquerors. We are pre-eminently victorious. This is no narrow victory. This is not us just getting by
by the skin of our teeth. We are overwhelmingly conquerors. How much do we believe that? Life is tough. And I know that the biggest problem
I have is me. Life is tough. Man that's born
of woman is born to trouble. We just heard as the sparks fly
upward. There are many battles to fight. And there's no time where we
get off. As a matter of fact, it seems
if you look at the life of Abraham, the older he got, the greater
the trials became. And there are many difficult
battles ahead of us. And the believer's life is presented
in the scripture as a warfare. And we're called upon to be good
soldiers of Jesus Christ. And to fight the good fight of
faith. Now the battleground that we
fight on is the world in this flesh. The devil, Satan, and what a
powerful adversary he is. And everybody is a participant
in this war. There are no buffer states. Every
man, woman, boy and girl is a participant in this war. And there are only
two kinds of people in this war, in this battle, in this contest. You've heard me say there's only
two types of people in the world. Righteous and wicked. There's
no in between. Saved or lost. children of God
or children of the devil, the wicked one. The Bible makes those
distinctions. There's not an intermediate state.
But here's something I've never said before, but it goes just
as true. There's only two types of people
in this world, winners and losers. It's kind of hard to get hold
of, isn't it? and losers, and I hope you'll
understand why I say that by the end of this message. All who believe are winners. They are victors. They are more
than conquerors. When Paul said that we are more
than conquerors, who's he referring to? He's talking about every
believer, isn't he? Without any exception to that rule, every
believer is more than a conqueror. If you believe the gospel, what
a, by the grace of God, winner you are. This is the victory
that overcometh the world. Even our faith. That's what the scripture says.
Every believer is a victor. Every believer is more than a
conqueror. Every believer wins. And every unbeliever is a loser,
no matter how successful they may appear. You know, the Lord
said, what would it profit a man if he gained the whole world
and loses his soul? That man who gains the whole
world and loses his soul, what is he, a winner or a loser? Now, there are two types of people
in this world, winners and losers. Now, if I am a loser, it is all
my fault. I can't blame it on God. I can't
blame it on the devil. If I'm a loser, if I'm in that
category, the blame all lies at my door. If I would come to
Christ, he wouldn't cast me out. He said, he promised him to come
to me, I will in no wise, for no reason cast out. So if I don't
come, it's because I don't want to come. I've rejected him. And so if I'm a loser, whose
fault is it? It's all my fault. But if I'm
a winner, whose fault is it? It's all God's fault, isn't it?
He gives all the credit for that. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. You know, I hear preachers talk
about people living defeated Christian lives. How can you
do that? It's impossible to live a defeated
Christian life if I'm a believer. Scripture says I'm more than
conqueror through Him that loved me. Now, that being said, I certainly do not always feel
this way. Talking about being a winner,
I wonder how many people just kind of felt deflated when I
said that. I don't feel much like a winner.
As a matter of fact, I feel like a loser. Quite often I feel like
a failure, like a disappointment. I feel like I'm the one being
overcome. Now, I have some awareness when
I'm speaking of being more than a conqueror. And believing I
am, I have some awareness of my weakness. I have some awareness
of my inability to stand before temptation. How strong are you
before temptation? Do you know anything about weakness? I know something about committing
the same old sins. over and over and over again. And that's just the truth. Is a person like me victorious? Am I a winner? Now, what does
the Bible have to say about this subject? This thing of being
a winner, this thing of being more than a conqueror, this thing
of overcoming. What is this thing of overcoming
now? To be a winner, to be a conqueror,
you have to have an opponent, don't you? You have to have an
adversary. You have to have an enemy. Now,
our opponent is what? S-I-N, sin. My sinful nature? and the product of my sinful
nature, my sinful deeds. My deadly opponent is sin. The world, the flesh, and the
devil. And what a strong opponent. What a strong adversary this
is. Let me show you how strong he
is. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 56, the sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. Now, a natural man will never
understand that. But someone who has been taught of God understands,
all the law does is expose to me how sinful I am. It doesn't
do anything else but that. It doesn't give me the power
to obey it. It exposes to me my sinfulness. The strength of
sin is the law. It tells me of the strength,
the power, the stranglehold sin has on me to where I cannot not
sin. What is a sinner? A sinner is
someone who cannot not sin. He can't. A sinner is somebody
who all he does is sin. A sinner is someone who can't
look down their nose in moral superiority over anybody because
sin describes them. The strength of sin is the law. What a strong opponent this is. Now, look at verse 57, though. But, what a glorious word in
the scripture. But, thanks be to God which giveth
us Who's the us? Every believer. Thanks be unto
God, which giveth us the victory, the conquest through our Lord
Jesus Christ. And this is an overwhelming victory. It's not a close race. It's not
a narrow win. It's an overwhelming victory. And he gives us this victory. And because He gives us this
victory, the victory is ours. I did it. In baseball analogy, this is
a perfect game. You know what a perfect game
is in baseball? It's very rare. In baseball,
there are 27 outs and there haven't been very many perfect games
pitched. There are 27 outs. A perfect game is where not one
runner reaches base. The pitcher makes sure everybody,
all 27, are out. No errors, no walks. A perfect
game. You look at it in human terms,
a guy can pitch a perfect game, and everybody can hit a line
and drive, and it just came right at somebody. And it's really
not all that perfect. It can seem kind of like luck,
you know, that he did that well. I know there's no such thing
as luck, but in sports terms, you know, we'll use that. But
in this perfect game, this is where the pitcher throws nothing
but strikes. Nobody even hits a foul ball.
Perfect. Perfect. Now that is the victory. Maybe that's a crude analogy,
but that's the victory. A whole lot better than that.
Perfection. That's the victory every believer
possesses. Now, this victory that every
believer has is both as a spectator and as a participant. When we
talk about this victory, it's victory as a spectator and it's
victory as a participant. Now, first of all, as a spectator,
turn to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. Verse 1, Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, sayeth your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished. It's already
over. She's already won. Her warfare, this battle, It's
already been taken care of. You know, when I think about
that, it just makes the tension leave out of my body to think
that it's already accomplished. My sins pardoned. My righteousness
is established. My salvation is complete. Look
in Romans chapter eight, that same chapter that we just read
about where we're more than conquerors. This is such a familiar passage
of scripture, but it just keeps getting more thrilling. Romans
chapter 8. Now, what I want to point out
as we read these verses of Scripture, these verses are not prophetic. They're not talking about what
will be. They're historic. They're talking
about what already is. Now, that's a wonderful thing
to remember as we read this passage of Scriptures. It's not talking
about how I'm going to be justified. It's not talking about how I'm
going to be glorified. This is historic. It's already happened. It's history. And if something's
history, that means it's over. It can't be changed. Now look
here in Romans chapter 8, verse 28. And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, Whom
he did predestinate, then he also called, and whom he called,
then he also justified, and whom he justified, then he also glorified. This is on the past tense. What
should 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? What could
possibly prevent him from freely giving us? all things. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is He that can do it? It
is Christ that died. Yea, rather that it is risen
again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
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's written, for thy sake we're killed all the day long.
We're counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors. Through him that loved us, for
I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, 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. Now, I'm just watching right now as
a spectator. For when the Lord Jesus Christ
agreed to be my surety, And I don't know how to use the right language
for this. I know it happened in eternity, so it's always been.
There wasn't a point in time when it happened because it happened
in eternity. This is just a weakness of our human language. But when
the Lord Jesus Christ agreed to be my surety, I was saved. Nothing else needed. I was saved. And I'm just watching. Turn to Exodus chapter 14 for
a moment. This is a spectator sport. I
like being a spectator. I enjoy watching sports. I get
so much out of it. I really do. I'm a sports fanatic
when it comes to that. Look in verse 13 of Exodus chapter
14. And Moses said unto the people,
fear ye not, stand still. and see the salvation of the
Lord, which He will show to you today for the Egyptians whom
you've seen today. You shall see them no more forever.
The Lord shall fight for you. And you shall hold your peace.
Now, they were scared to death. They had the Egyptians right
there getting ready to kill them all. They didn't know what to
do. He said, don't do a thing. Just stand there and see the
salvation of the Lord. The Lord's going to fight for
you. Look down in verse 23 of the same chapter. And the Egyptians
pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea. Even
all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen. And it came
to pass that in the morning watch, the Lord looked unto the host
of the Egyptians through the pillar of the fire and the cloud,
and he troubled the host of the Egyptians and took off their
chariot wheels, and they braved him heavily. What did the Israelites
have to do with any of this? Not a thing. So that the Egyptians
said, let us flee from the face of Israel. For the Lord fighted
for them against the Egyptians. Now, this is a spectator. I'm
just watching to see what he has done. When he said it is
finished, my sin was defeated. It was blotted out. It was washed
away. It was made to be no more. And
every believer was justified, freed from sin. And what do I
have to do with this? I'm just looking. I'm watching.
Stand still and see the salvation of our God. Now, would to God
that you and I could enter into this. To stand still and just
watch him. Watch him as my surety. Watch him become flesh. What a glorious victory that
is when he became a man. I was thinking while I was thinking
about this point, I was thinking of the eternal God getting in a womb
and becoming one with the human seed, the seed of woman. And
you've got the God man. What a victory I have in that.
I just stand and watch. I think of His obedience, His
perfect life. I stand and there's my righteousness
before God. I think of His faith even on
the cross when He was forsaken like you and I don't know anything
about. He was totally forsaken by God even then. He said, My
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? He believed God completely
even then. Look at Him in His death. What
He actually accomplished by His death. The complete salvation
of everybody He died for. Look at Him in His will. He is
raised from the dead for our justification. Look at Him as
He ascends back to His Father. The Savior of His people. Look
at Him as He intercedes for us now. Look at Him as He comes
back as a ruling, reigning as He is. As He is. Salvation is a spectator sport. And I know a little bit something
about this. I have no doubt that the spectator
rejoices in his victory because I know the way I feel just on
a human level when my team wins. If UK wins tonight, I'm going
to wake up in the morning and I'm going to be so excited about
getting and pouring over the paper. I'll read the box score.
I'll read the articles. I'll read them over. I'll read
the same article three or four times. I'm just enjoying it. I know
that you think, what's wrong with you? I don't know. But that's
the way I am. I mean, I'll just read it over
and over again. I just enjoy it. I'm just so happy. And then
if my team loses, when I wake up, I just dread going out and
getting the paper and opening it up and reading it. When my team wins, I win. I guarantee
you, I'm just as happy as they are. And when my team loses,
wow. I understand this thing about
being a spectator. But not only is this victory
something we're a spectator of, this is something we participate
in. We are equipped to win this battle. Turn to 1 John 5. Verse 4. For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh. Now, how can I know if I've been
born of God? Well, let's go on reading. For
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh
the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? Look back in verse 1. Chapter
5, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Now do you hear what that says?
Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Do you believe that
He's God's anointed prophet? He's God's anointed priest? And
that He's God's King? Do you believe He's God's Christ?
Do you believe He's the Messiah? You say, yes, I do. Then my dear
friend, you've been born of God. That's what the scripture says.
Receive that. Don't say, well, what about this
and what about this? Just forget about all the whatabouts. Believe
this. If you really believe that he is God's Christ, you've been
born of God. Look what verse five says. Who
is he that overcometh the world who wins this victory? But he
that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God." Now, do you
believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Do you believe that He
is the uncreated, eternal Son of God? The second person of
the Trinity. God manifests in the flesh. God's Christ. The one who cannot
fail. The one who has all power. The
one who's absolutely sovereign. The one who utterly and completely
reigns. The one who can't fail in what
he does because he's God. Do you believe that he's the
Son of God? Do you really believe that? You know, that poor old
Ethiopian eunuch, he's heard poor old, blessed Ethiopian eunuch. He's heard Philip preach the
Gospel and they come up on water and he said, Here's water. What
hinders me from being baptized? If there's some reason why I
shouldn't be baptized, I want to know. Give me a reason. Here's
water. What hinders me? And Philip said, if you believe. With all your heart. You may. And he answered, I believe that
Jesus Christ is the son of God. He didn't say, I believe I'm
saved, or I believe I'm converted, or I believe God's something.
He didn't say anything like that. He said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. You believe that? Do you believe
that? Then you've been born of God. That's what God's Word says.
This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Look in 1 John chapter 4, verse
4. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them. You've
won. These false prophets, the spirit
of Antichrist, the false prophets he's talking about, you're of
God, little children, you've overcome them because greater
is he that's in you than he that is in the world. Look down in 1 John chapter 2,
verse 14. I've written unto you, fathers,
because you've known Him from the beginning. I've written unto
you, young men, because you're strong and the Word of God abideth
in you and you've overcome the wicked one. Now, how is it we've
overcome the wicked one? Because the Word of God abides
in us. The Word of God is the Lord Jesus
Christ, Christ in you, the hope of glory. And what's the evidence
that He abides in you? His words. Oh, His words are
words of spirit and life. You believe them. He says, you've
overcome the wicked one, you've overcome the devil, because greater
is he that's in you than he that is in the world. Now, the greatest
thing that you'll ever do in this life is believe. That's the greatest thing, to
simply believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. You see, if
you believe He's the Son of God, You can trust him to be able
to do all he said he would do. Revelation 12. Verse 11. And they, every believer, and
they overcame him, the great dragon, They overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony,
and they loved not their lives unto death. They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb. That's my victory. The blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my win. That's my victory.
Christ's blood. And this is what I testify to.
I'm bearing testimony right now. This is my victory. This is my
salvation. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is, I'm testifying to this, this is what I know. And you
know what? By the grace of God, and I know
only by the grace of God, by the grace of God, I'm willing
to die for this. I've not, I mean, I've loved my life in this way
every believer feels about this. You know, you chicken out apart
from the grace of God, you realize that, you know how weak you are,
but you know, by the grace of God, you would die for this message. Overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb. Now, I want to close by considering
the spoils of this victory. Every believer is more than a
conqueror. He's a spectator of what the
Lord did, and the Lord's win is his win. And he's a participant
in this thing. He's born of God. And he overcomes
the wicked one. He overcomes the world and so
on. He does that. But let's look at the spoils
of this. And this is really what inspired this message. I was
looking at all the... The seven letters to the churches,
they all end with an overcome. To him that overcometh. To him
that overcometh. Every one of those seven epistles
ends with a to him that overcometh. Look in Revelation 2, 7. This
is to the church at Ephesus. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh. And that's every believer. Overcoming
by the blood of the Lamb, this is the victory that overcomes
the world, even our faith, believing that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree
of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Look in verse Verse 11, I'm sorry, Revelation
2, 11. 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, which is talking about
hell. That's the second death. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. One who overcomes is not going
to be hurt at the second death. Look in verse 17. He that hath
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches,
to him that overcometh will I give to each of the hidden man of
Christ the true bread, and will give him a white stone, and in
that stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, save he
that receiveth. I've got a new name. The name
of the Lord Jesus Christ is my name. I'm in him, Jehovah Sidkenu. This is the name wherewith she
shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. That one who overcomes,
he's given this new name. Not my old name. I'm known by
that name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my name before God. His name is on my forehead. Look
in Revelation 2.26. And he that overcometh and keepeth
my works, unto the end. And I'll tell you what, by His
grace, I'm keeping His works. Yes, salvation is by works, His
works. And I'm holding on to it with
all my might, God-given grace. I'm keeping His works to the
end. To Him that overcometh and keepeth my works to the end,
to Him will I give power over the nations. And he shall rule
them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they
be broken to shivers, even as I received of my Father, and
I'll give him the morning star." Look in Revelation 3, 5. He that overcometh, the same
shall be clothed in white raiment. That's the wedding garment of
the believer, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
I'll not blot his name out of the book of life, but I will
confess his name before my Father and before his angels. Now, can
you imagine the Lord Jesus Christ confessing your name before the
Father? That's going to happen to every
believer. Revelation 3.12. 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 cometh
down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my
new name." Now look in verse 21, Revelation 3. To him that overcometh will I
grant, will I graciously bestow, to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and sat
down with my Father in his throne. Now to everyone who overcomes
They're going to sit with the Lord Jesus Christ in the very
throne of God. Now, what can I say about that?
I don't even know what to say other than we are more than conquerors through him. that loved us. Everybody who believes that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God, you're a conqueror. And everybody that
doesn't, you're a loser. Let's pray.