How to be an Overcomer !!

HOW TO BE AN OVERCOMER

1 John 5:1-5
Morning Meditation 5/21/2007
"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every onethat loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By thiswe know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep hiscommandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments:and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of Godovercometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world,even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeththat Jesus is the Son of God?"

In America we are oriented to winning. I recall in October of 1987 a little girl 18 months of age got international attention after she fell 22 feet into a well. The rescue teams worked around the clock and 58 and ½ hours later they brought her out to a cheering people all over the country. Our text speaks of a situation much greater than this. The greatest losers are those who neglect their eternal souls. Matthew 16:26 says, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” A Christian can lose his rewards by ignoring God’s will for his life but he cannot lose his soul. So this subject has something in it to challenge the unsaved man, whose interests are to make it big in this world, and also the Christian who quits too soon after his conversion.
TO BE AN OVERCOMER ONE HAS TO BE SAVED
The above text says, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is bornof God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that isbegotten of him."John says, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.”This is simplicity itself. God made it easy for a sinner to be saved. Hecreated in every man a measure of faith and when that faith responds to the gospel the person exercising it is saved. Some of the things hindering a person from being saved (be an overcomer):
1. Personal pride. It is common among the sons of Adam that one feels secure because he has made it in life and if he has made it here, he will make it at the Judgment. Wrong thinking.
2. The humility of repentance. Real repentance will bring one to his knees.Someone has said that before the cross the ground is level. In other wordsthe rich and the poor meet as equals before the cross. The poor mandiscovers that he does not get credit for being poor and suffering from itat the judgment. The rich man discovers that his riches do not enhance hischance of being saved. All have sinned and all are commanded to repent. Itis repent or perish.
3. Procrastination. This is a way that Satan traps multitudes. It is notthat they can’t be saved, it is that they are too busy. There are those inhell who knew what they needed to do to be saved but they were just too busymaking a living and having their fun to take time. Proverbs 27:1, "Boast notthyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."
4. Stubbornness. Proverbs 29:1, "He, that being often reproved hardenethhis neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
5. There are those who think they have gotten away with sin because God has not intervened. Ecclesiastes 11:9, "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways ofthine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment."
6. There are those who have seared their consciences by believing what the evolutionist teaches. He thinks that because he does not believe in God that He does not exist. Wrong thinking.

THE PROMISE TO THE OVERCOMER
The Holy Spirit tells us in Revelation 21:7, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."Who is the overcomer? Verse 1 says, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is theChrist is born of God…”There are great promises that the Lord has made to the saved. He willfulfill every promise. Peter takes up this truth in 1 Peter 1:4-5, "To aninheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
THE WAY OF THE OVERCOMER
It is a way of obedience:
1 John 5:3, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." The word“grievous” means “burdensome.” Are you burdened down in the work of the Lord? If so, something is wrong. Doing God’s work God’s way is not a burden to the overcomer.
SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OVERCOMER
The overcomer has the joy of the assurance of salvation. We can know we aresaved.
2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"The overcomer has a unique relationship with the Lord.
Revelation 2:17, "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." This is speaking of a special relationship that the saved have to the Saviour. The overcomer is promised a position of authority during the millennium: 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 histhrone."May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ,
Bro. White (Evangelist and good friend of Joe Tarr)