Tony Evans - The Key to Becoming an Overcomer (11/11/2025)
John explains that every believer has already overcome the world legally through Christ, yet Revelation repeatedly calls individuals to overcome in practice. To experience this victory, we must see Jesus as the exalted, sovereign Lord revealed in Revelation 1 and identify fully with His death, confession, and lordship.
Already Victorious… But Still Called to Overcome?
Revelation, written by the apostle John. In chapter 2, verse 7, we read, «He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes.» In verse 11, «He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes.» In verse 17, He says, «He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes.» In chapter 2, verse 26, «He who overcomes.» In chapter 3, verse 5, «He who overcomes.» In chapter 3, verse 12, «He who overcomes.»
So wait a minute. 1 John 5 says, «You have overcome, ” but the same author, John, when he writes the book of Revelation, says, „He who overcomes.“ So on one hand, I have overcome; on the other hand, I need to overcome. So how do I put this together, and what does it mean?
A Message to Every Church — And Every Person
John is writing to the seven churches of Asia Minor, as you’ll see in a moment. Seven is the number of completion. So this is a message to all churches, for all time. And he’s talking to the whole congregation. He says, „I want you to tell this to the whole congregation.“ But in each one of those Scriptures I read you, he said, „He who overcomes, ” meaning it’s possible to be in the church and in the congregation and not be one of the overcomers.
So he talks to everybody, and then he comes down to the individual and says, „Let me talk to you. He who.“ So forget the folk around you as we walk through this because it’s whether you decide to overcome. Your neighbor can’t overcome for you.
What „Overcome“ Really Means
But he tells the whole church: Everybody who has come to Christ has overcome. The Greek word „overcome, ” „nikao, ” is a word that means to prevail, to win one’s cause, or to be victorious in different and difficult circumstances. So it has to do with being victorious in the midst of (or over or in or through) whatever the circumstances are that are illegitimately holding you hostage.
So right now, if you have something that should not be holding you hostage but that is holding you hostage, then you need to be an overcomer because that’s what the word means.
Legal Victory vs. Experienced Victory
But why do you tell me, John, that I have overcome? And then, John, you come back in Revelation and tell me, „Well, you need to overcome.“ When John says you have overcome, he’s dealing with your legal status. Christ has made every believer an overcomer legally, but what you have legally does not mean that’s what you’re experiencing personally.
So what he’s trying to tell you and us is that the goal is to make our legal status our experiential reality. That’s why the word is „You have overcome, ” spiritually, legally, because you come to Christ, but you may not yet have overcome in terms of it working out in your life, in terms of you experiencing it.
There’s Something to Overcome — That’s Why You Need To!
In fact, the only reason you need to overcome is there’s something to overcome. „To overcome“ means to overrule a sin or a set of circumstances that are illegitimate. It is to overrule them. So I want to say to you, as we move forward, whatever is illegitimate in your life, sin and/or circumstances, God wants you to overrule and not have it overruling you, particularly on an ongoing basis; and, therefore, God wants you to experience overcoming.
The Key: See Jesus Differently
The Bible makes it clear: If you are going to be an overcomer, a prevailer, the link has to be made between your state and your standing, between your position and your practice, between what’s legal and what you experience. Because, you know, you can get used to being a slave to sin, circumstances, to people, to problems.
To understand the key to being an overcomer, if you really, really, really want to be an overcomer, prevail, you must begin to look at Jesus differently.
Meet the Real Jesus of Revelation
Before he ever gets to talking about being an overcomer in chapters 2 and 3, he gives us chapter 1. He begins in chapter 1 of the book of Revelation, verse 1, saying, „The Revelation of Jesus Christ.“ He says, „I’m gonna disclose Jesus to you.“ He says in verse 4, „I’m writing to the churches.“
He takes this look at Jesus in verse 7: „Behold, he is coming with clouds, every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it shall be, amen.“
This Isn’t Baby Jesus — This Is Jesus on Fire!
Now watch this. Jesus is talking in verse 8: „I am Alpha and Omega, who was, who is, and who is to come, the Almighty.“ He tells John in verse 11: „Write a book.“ John then says in verse 12, „I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, ” Jesus speaking to him, „and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. In the middle of the lampstands, I saw One like a Son of Man, clothed in a robe reaching to his feet, girded across his chest with a golden sash.
His head and his hair were white like white wool, like snow, his eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it had been made to glow in a furnace, his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand, he had seven stars.“
Verse 17, „When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. And he placed his right hand on me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last, the Living One.’“
Why a Weak Jesus Can’t Make You Strong
If you and I are going to be overcomers in practice, not in principle, you’re going to have to see the Jesus that John saw. This is not Jesus, meek and mild. This is not Jesus in a manger. No, no, no. This is Jesus on fire. He says, „Like the burning of a furnace.“ He says, „When he spoke, it was like the rushing of many waters, like oceans and seas just thundering.“
And he says, „When I saw this Jesus, it knocked a brother off his feet. I fell down like a dead man.“ See, we got this mamby-pamby Jesus, and that’s not the overcoming Jesus because we really do not understand who Jesus is since his resurrection and ascension.
Your Problem Isn’t Too Big for Calvary’s Champion
See, when John is writing, Jesus has already died, already rose, and already gone back to heaven, and when he sees this Jesus who’s now up in heaven, this Jesus is in charge. This Jesus is controlling the agenda. This is not a feel-good Jesus. This is not a Jesus that’s just patting you on the back, playing patty-cake with you.
You say, „But my problem is so big, and it’s been there so long. You don’t know how long I’ve been dealing with this addiction.“ Let me explain something. Anybody who can lift 700 pounds can lift 200 pounds, okay? On the cross, Jesus Christ lifted the sins of the whole world for all men, for all time, on Calvary. So what did you tell me the size of your problem was?
How They Actually Overcame the Enemy
Okay, so that raises a question: Where can I find this power? Look at chapter 12 of Revelation, verse 11: „And they overcame him, ” there’s our word, „because of the blood of the Lamb, because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.“
That one verse will shift how you relate to Jesus. They overcame him, referring to Satan in that context. They overruled him. They prevailed against him when three things were in place.
Victory in Reach — But You Have to Grab It
These three things can be summed up in one word: their identification with Christ. God places victory in your reach, not in your hand. Big difference. Overcoming is in your reach. You can get it, but it’s not in your hand. He puts it within your reach because he needs to see you exercise faith to get it in your hand.
1. The Blood of the Lamb — Today, Not Just Yesterday
They begin by the blood, he says, to understand that the cross 2,000 years ago was relevant right now. For many people, the cross is a historical event. Two thousand years ago, Jesus died on the cross, and I believe he died for my sins. I accept him as my Savior. And because of that, I’m saved. I’m going to heaven. And all that’s true.
But these folk are overcoming him by the blood in the present. That’s why when Paul described his identity in Galatians 2:20, he said, „I am right now crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live; yet not I, it’s Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.“
2. The Word of Their Testimony — No Secret Agents!
Secondly, they overcame him by the word of their testimony. You will not overcome whatever you’re needing to overcome if you are a secret agent Christian. If you are a covert operative, forget overcoming because Jesus Christ, with fire in his eyes, is not trying to help folk to overcome who are embarrassed to be associated with him.
He says, „You deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father.“ „You confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father.“ Trying to camouflage it by talking about „I believe in God“ won’t cut it. God has placed everything in the hand of his Son.
3. Not Loving Their Life Even Unto Death
And then he hits us with a zinger, number three, because he says, „And they did not love their life even when faced with death.“ They overcame him because of a love relationship that they possessed with him that transcended dying. Paul says, „I die daily.“ „If any man will be my disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.“
This is serious commitment, but you probably got some serious stuff to overcome. So this is not casual Christianity here.
It’s Scripted: You’re Already the Winner!
Any of you who like pro-wrestling? It’s fake, okay? It’s been pre-scripted. They have already decided who the winner is going to be. That has been predecided, predestined, predetermined.
Even if you’re being defeated, even if you’re being thrown down, if it has already been predestined that, when this thing is over, you’re gonna be more than a conqueror, that thing is gonna turn around in some way, somehow.
I know the devil’s been slamming you. I know circumstances have been beating you. But Jesus Christ on the cross has already pre-scripted that you are a winner. He’s already pre-scripted that „greater is he that’s in you than he that’s in the world.“
He’s already pre-scripted that those folk don’t control you anymore. I know you’re being thrown down. I know you’re being beaten up, but you can now look at it and declare, „I am an overcomer, and I’m coming back at you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.“