He That Overcomes
Southaven, Ms
By: Mike Upchurch
Are you dealing with a particular sin that you just can’t seem to overcome? In terms of our Christian walk, what does it mean to overcome, and what exactly are we overcoming? In the King James translation, the word appears as “overcometh”. In the original Greek that word is pronounced nik-ah’-o and means “to subdue (literally or figuratively) conquer, overcome, prevail, get the victory.”
And what we are to “get the victory” over is SIN. Pure and simple. Sin is not to rule in our lives, or have dominion over us and our behavior. If you are under the power of sin you are, more than likely, powerless to avoid succumbing to temptation.
If you have a weakness, be it lust, or alcohol, or pornography, or stealing, or any other destructive sin which has held you prisoner, it can consume your thoughts until you give in and submit to the temptation of that sin. But if you have overcome that sin, whatever it may be, then you are able to ignore the temptation and busy yourself with other activities.
There will be great reward available to the believer who has overcome. Jesus listed those rewards in the book of Revelation that would be awarded the overcoming Christian…..
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.”
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.”
He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the Nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.”
“He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
“He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”
Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28-3:5, 12, 21-21:7
Well that is certainly incentive enough! Who wouldn’t want to break free and have those eternal promises become reality! Yes, your sins are forgiven when you confess them, but if you have overcome those sins that formerly weighed you down and you no longer participate in them, you will then reap the overcomer’s rewards! While it’s true you can enter eternity having never defeated certain sins in your life, the overcomer of those sins has all the above to look forward to! There is a difference between being forgiven of your sins and overcoming your sins!
But exactly how do you overcome that which you struggle with? Well, believe it or not, it simply starts with saying no. You say no to your flesh. The spirit of a Christian man or woman obviously doesn’t want to sin, as it is sanctified and belongs to the Father once they have surrendered to Him. It is the flesh that is the culprit. The flesh wants to have its way, and if allowed, it will bring destruction and death to the spirit man. So without question, the spirit man must rule over the flesh and tell it no!
James said this concerning being tempted and how we should respond to that temptation…..
“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
James 4:7-8
It starts with submitting to God and surrendering your will to Him. Then you resist the devil or ignore him when temptation comes, and he will flee. Obviously, he will not tempt you with things that aren’t your weakness. He won’t bother you with certain temptations if he sees you’re impervious to what is being offered. If you don’t like the taste of alcohol, he certainly won’t waste his time tempting you to drink. But there are ‘familiar spirits’ in the kingdom of darkness which have intimate knowledge of what you are drawn to. Even though you don’t see demons, they’re always “hanging around”. They pay attention to generational curses as well, and may tempt you with something you or others never dreamed you’d be a participant in, but was in your bloodline in past generations. Somewhere in your genealogical history there was a propensity for such behavior, so they attempt to attach it to you. They have nothing to lose in seeing if you’re enticed.
The things that you currently struggle with, the things you have a hard time saying no to, those are things the devil will continually bring before you. But if you continue saying no and resisting, he will flee. It’s a promise. But, on the other hand, if you cave to the temptation and give in to the sin, he will just keep bringing you more and more opportunities, seeing that you are weak and powerless to say no!
So, your response must always be NO! You must be self disciplined! YOU MUST SAY NO TO THE FLESH! It’s the only way you’ll begin to overcome! Along with your no, you must ask the Holy Spirit to give you strength. He will not leave you helpless. Jesus even called Him the Helper…..
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
John 14:16-17
He will come to your aid when you’re honestly trying. And there will always be a way of escape provided. Paul wrote to encourage us about that very thing…..
“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13
He is on your side! If you are fighting and resisting and saying no, He will be there to rescue you! But you must genuinely desire to defeat sin and to be an overcomer! Again, there is great reward in overcoming sin! It’s because God didn’t just wave a magic wand and as a result you no longer wanted to sin, but instead YOU rose up and YOU fought and YOU overcame! You did it on your own and you will be rewarded!
It’s up to you; you can be defeated and continually give in to temptation, or you can rise up and shout NO to the enemy and OVERCOME! Be an overcomer and reap the great rewards you’ll receive as a result!
And that’s the way I see it!
Pastor Mike
