Be An Overcomer
Text: Various Date: 4-5-26
An overcomer in the Scriptures is a believer who by faith perseveres through trials, struggles, temptations, and spiritual warfare and continues to trust God through to the end of his/her life.
I. Our Overcomer has won the war, so fighting on His side is never in vain (I Cor. 15:54-57).
Losing is impossible for the overcomer based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I Cor. 15:54-55; 57: The word victory (nikos) is used 3x in these verses. Yes, this is the same form of our word overcome that we find in Revelation. The root word is nike, which means to be victorious over, to successfully end a military battle, to carry off in conquest.
Application: Jesus Christ has won the victory because He has successfully carried out the conquest over sin, death, and the grave. The Apostle Paul asserts that we have also been given the victory. We are victorious through Jesus Christ, being the One who overcame. We are not victorious because we defeated the grave. We are not victorious because we are something special. We are not victorious because we have done something special. We are victorious because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The believer must remain steadfastly persistent, continually resisting the enemy, all the while living out service to our Savior.
Being an overcomer trusts Christ’s past work, rests his faith in the future hope, and desires to serve Christ in the present time.
II. Our Overcomer’s Victory delivers our Future Victory (I Cor. 15:24-26).
Our Overcomer allows us to both overcome on this earth and in the future heavenly realm.
Application: The only way that we can fully be future overcomers is through the victory of our Savior. Because He kept His promise and rose from the dead, we have the confidence that we too will rise and join Him in Heaven. In the future, Jesus Christ will destroy His enemies and reign over all.
Truth: Our future victory has been secured through the victory of our resurrected Savior.
III. Because Jesus was an Overcomer, we as believers can be overcomers through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Being an overcomer comes from tapping into His power, and we do that by praying, doing what God has told us to do in His Word (obeying), putting on the full armor of God. How do we do that?
**Pick up the armor of God (Eph. 6:11-17). Sometimes all it takes to overcome temptation is to stand firm and refuse to be dragged into it.
**Resist the devil (James 4:7). An overcomer is one who resists sin, no matter what lures Satan uses.
**Be a conqueror (Rom. 8:37).
**Endure to the end (Matt. 24:13). A true disciple of Christ is one who endures through trials by the power of the Holy Spirit. An overcomer clings to Christ, no matter how high the cost of discipleship.
**Overcoming is rewarding.