Tony Evans - The Key to Becoming an Overcomer

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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 that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes». In verse 17, he says, «He who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes». In chapter 2, rather 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? 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 and not overcome because he says, «He who».

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 because your neighbor can’t overcome for you. 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. 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. So 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.

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 Bible makes it clear: If you are going to be an overcomer, a prevailer, that 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, literal, 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.

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».

Now watch this. Jesus is talking in verse 8: «I am Alpha and Omega, who was, who is, and who was, 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 lambstands. In the middle of the lambstands, 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.'» 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 walking».

See, we got this manby-pamby Jesus, and that’s not the overcoming Jesus because we really do not understand who Jesus is since his resurrection and ascension. 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. This is not a Jesus who’s just going along to get along. This is the Jesus that knocks you off your feet. And if you’re not relating to that Jesus, you’re not relating to the overcoming Jesus. You’re just relating to the Jesus that, you know, you read about, you feel good about.

«He did all the miracles, and he was such a nice guy, and he died for my sins and all that». Oh, no, no, no. It’s a little bit more than that. Let me show you what I mean. In Colossians chapter 2, verse 15, it says that, when Jesus died, he disarmed the rulers of this present age. He took away the authority. So now you’re beaten by deception that feels like reality, looks like reality, seems like reality. That’s why the Scripture says in Romans 8:37, «You are more than conquerors in him who loved us and gave himself for us». That’s why John 16:33 says, «In me, you’re gonna have peace because I have already overcome the world». He speaks in these superlatives because it is your connecting with this risen Christ.

Romans 5:10, after he says, «God demonstrated his love toward us, that while we were sinners, Christ died for us,» in verse 8, he comes to verse 10 and he says, «and we are saved,» or delivered, «by his life». So the overcoming comes with this life. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you don’t have AAA; you got GGG: God, God, and God. That’s God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. You’ve got GGG. And what he wants you to know is, when you begin to look at him differently and relate to him as the risen Christ, who has ascended, who’s now functioning with fire in his eyes, not soft skin but hair like wool and a voice like thunder, that’s who you’re dealing with, and that’s who you must relate to.

You say, «But my problem is so big, and it’s been there so long. My problem is so big. You don’t know how long I’ve been dealing with this addiction. You don’t know how long I’ve been dealing with this circumstance. You don’t know how long. My problem is so big». Let me explain something. Anybody who can lift 700 pounds can lift 200 pounds, okay? You show me a weightlifter who can lift 700 pounds. If you bring them a 200-pound weight, that’s not gonna be a problem because they can lift 700. 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? You’re dealing with somebody who handled the world and its sin and its accompanying circumstances.

So it may be bad, but it ain’t that bad. But if you’re connecting it to the wrong Jesus, that is a misconception of the biblical, risen Jesus, then you’re applying it to somebody that’s too weak to handle it. And so your view, my view of Jesus has got to be adjusted if we’re going to experience the victory of this exalted Christ that John is talking about before he ever gets there. He wants you to know that Jesus has veto power over that which has to be overcome, that’s illegitimate. Okay, so that raises a question: Where can I find this power? Okay, come on because, if it’s all that and a bag of chips, I want some of that. I don’t want to be overcome anymore.

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». Mmm. That one verse will shift how you relate to Jesus. When you shift how you relate to Jesus, he shifts how he relates to you because now you’re relating to him as he is, not as you want him to be because a lot of folk come to church worshiping a Jesus as they want him to be, not as he declares himself to be. And isn’t it terrible when somebody talking for you, trying to describe you to you, when you know you? So Jesus says, let me explain this to you. It says, «They overcame him,» referring to Satan in that context. «They overruled him». They prevailed against him when three things were in place. These three things can be summed up in one word: their identification with Christ.

Now, follow me closely here. When they properly identified with Christ, they prevailed. Let me say this as I get into this: 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. See, when a lot of folk come to church and they want God to drop victory in their hand, uh-uh, he puts it within your reach because he needs to see you exercise faith to get it in your hand. So you can talk about it all day. You can pray about it all day. You can come to church all day. But if you do not grab what has been provided, you don’t get what you could have. He says they prevailed, overcame, because of their identification with the cross, with the confession, and with the commitment. What does that mean? It means that they begin by the blood, he says, to understand that the cross 2,000 years ago was relevant right now.

See, 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, in the present of this text. They’re not just overcoming him because the blood worked 2,000 years ago. 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». He says, «If you want to look at my life now, I am controlled by the cross»; that is, «I am controlled by the work that Jesus Christ did 2,000 years ago that affects my decision making in the present. It is my current point of reference».

If what Jesus did 2,000 years ago, which is why he left us with Communion, you don’t make it relevant today, it becomes a 2,000-year-old event that you’ll benefit from in eternity, and it’ll be useless in time. In other words, the reality of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, which was why he said, when he got up from the dead, Matthew 28:19, «All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth». Translation, «I’m in charge now. I’m in charge now. I haven’t come to take sides. I’ve come to take over. I’m in charge now. I call the shots». So if he’s not calling the shots, you don’t get to overcome. But he says, «The cross is my point of reference. Who died, why he died, and the victory that he accomplished, I’m gonna transfer to today». He said, secondly, they overcame him by the word of their testimony.

Ooh, watch this now. Stay with me. You will not overcome whatever you’re needing to overcome if you are a secret agent Christian. If you are 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,» Matthew 10. «You confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father. If you don’t wanna be associated with me in public, you just want this private meeting with the saints on Sunday but you don’t want other folk to know that you are a follower of Jesus Christ, which was the point of your baptism, when you went public, to say, 'I am publicly proclaiming my identification with Jesus Christ, ' don’t be calling on me for overcoming in your life when you don’t want to be associated with me». The word of their testimony.

Let me say it another way: Trying to camouflage it by talking about «I believe in God» won’t cut it, okay? Using God name won’t cut it. God has placed everything in the hand of his Son. At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father. So the Father is glorified when Jesus is the superstar. He was wounded for your transgressions, bruised for your iniquities, the chastisement of your peace was on his shoulders. By his stripes you are healed, and you can’t identify with the risen Christ? He said it’s by the word of your testimony. Oh, and then he hits us with a zinger. He hits us with a zinger, number three, because he says number three, «And they did not love their life even when faced with death».

Oh, they overcame him because of a love relationship that they possessed with him that transcended dying. Now, that’s some serious love, when it transcends dying, but it’s not unusual. He says, «To be an overcomer,» because he got fire in his eyes, «to see an overcomer», that’s why Paul says in Luke 9, he says, «I die daily. Every day, when I get up in the morning, I say, 'I am dead to me and I’m alive to you. You are my life. You’re not just a place I go on Sunday. You’re my defining definition. You are my life.'» «If any man will be my disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me».

There is this understanding that I am pursuing a relationship with somebody that I want to fall in love with more than life itself. In other words, this is serious commitment, but you probably got some serious stuff to overcome. So this is not casual Christianity here. Paul says, «I don’t know whether to stay here or to go home to be with Christ». He said, «I’m betwixt and between. If I stay here, it’s to serve Christ. If I die, it’s to go be with Christ. And if I suffer,» he says, «I reckon that the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed unto me».

So he’s saying, basically, «I’m in a no-lose deal. Living, dying, it’s all Christ. So if I’ve gotta be rejected because of Christ, if I’ve gotta be misunderstood because of Christ, if I’ve gotta be not liked because of Christ, not because of my foolishness but because of Christ, then that’s the way it is». Once you have now identified with Christ, you have positioned yourself to be an overcomer. You have positioned yourself to see the move of God overrule in the circumstances of life. There must now be a shift in perspective. You must change your look. You must look at Jesus now differently, as the sovereign, on-fire Lord who now rules. Any of you who like pro-wrestling?

Let me explain something: It’s fake, okay? Let me explain something: If you like pro-wrestling, it’s fake. It’s been pre-scripted. They have already decided who the winner is going to be. That has been predecided, predestined, predetermined, elected. That’s all decided before the match even starts. You’re looking at the match and you see other wrestlers coming out right in the nick of time to jump in the match and all that’s scripted. How’s a man gonna be against the rope, being beat to a pulp, all of a sudden he gets energy out of nowhere, turns it around, flips it over? They even pay if you bleed. If you bleed, they pay you more because you made it look more real.

So they have scripted this thing. But even if you’re being defeated, even if you’re being thrown down, even if you’re being abused, 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. I know sins have been owning you. I know it looks like the evil one is controlling you, but Jesus Christ on the cross has already pre-scripted that you are a winner. He’s already pre-scripted that, by relationship to him, you’re a overcomer. He’s already pre-scripted that Satan has no longer any control over you. 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. He’s already pre-scripted that that circumstance doesn’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».