BEING AN OVERCOMER!

HEAVENLY REWARDS FOR THOSE WHO ARE OVERCOMERS!

Revelation 2:7 - 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 tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:11 - He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

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.

Revelation 2:26-29 - And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:  and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers:  even as I received of My Father.  And I will give him the morning star.  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Revelation 3:5-6 - He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Revelation 3:12-13 - Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God:  and I will write upon him My new name.  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Revelation 3:19-22 - As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:  be zealous therefore, and repent.  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:  if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.   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 His throne.  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Revelation 22:7 - He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR ONE TO BE AN OVERCOMER?

1 John 2:13-14 - I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning.  I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.  I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.  I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning.  I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

1 John 4:4 - Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them:  because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

1 John 5:4-5 - For whosoever is born of God overcometh the world:  and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Revelation 12:11 - And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

OVERCOMERS WILL HEAR THESE WORDS:

WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!

BELIEVING THE GOSPEL RESULTS IN REPENTANCE!

CHRIST'S COMMAND TO BELIEVERS!

Luke 24:45-48 - Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:  and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things.

Note:  Repentance, in this case, is the result of hearing the Gospel message and believing it.  It is a change of mind that occurs the moment one realizes he is a sinner for whom Christ died, and he desires to please the God Who loved him that much!  Two perfect examples of repentance are seen in the attitudes leading to the conversion of Saul of Tarsus and the Philippian Jailer:  

Acts 9:6 - And he (Saul) trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

Acts 16:30 - And he (the jailer) brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?  (In this case, he was told, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved....).

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE TELLS OF THE REMISSION OF SINS!

Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ:  for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Gentile).

1 Corinthians 15:1-6 - Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; by which also you are saved . . . For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures:  and that He was seen by Peter, then by the twelve:  after that, He was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present day, but some are fallen asleep (have died).

Matthew 26:28 - For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Acts 2:38 - Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 10:43 - To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believes in Him shall receive remission of sins.

Romans 3:25 - (Christ Jesus) Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation (payment in full of our debt because the Word says the soul that sin must surely die) through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins....

Hebrews 9:22 - …without (the) shedding of blood (there) is no remission.

IF YOU TRULY BELIEVE CHRIST DIED FOR YOU,

YOUR GRATITUDE WILL BE SEEN BY OTHERS!

GO TELL SOMEBODY!

LAODICEA: A "CHURCH" WITHOUT CHRIST!

THE "CHURCH" OF THE LAODICEANS:  REVELATION 3:14-22!

[14] And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; [15] I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. [16] So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. [17] Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: [18] I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. [19] As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. [20] Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. [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 His throne. [22] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

WERE THE MEMBERS OF THIS "CHURCH" SAVED?

The first clue as to the authenticity of this assembly is found in how it is addressed.  All six of the previously mentioned churches were addressed by their locale; their cities:  Ephesus (2:1); Smyrna (2:8); Pergamos (2:12); Thyatira (2:18); Sardis (3:1); Philadelphia (3:7): the seventh "church" is described as belonging to the people of Laodicea.  "Laodicea" is defined as "justice/government of the people."  In other words, the people ruled the local assembly, not the Lord!

The city was renamed Laodicea by Antiochus II after his wife, Laodice; the same name as the mother of Antiochus IV as well as his wife.  Antiochus IV (a type or forerunner of the Antichrist of Rev. 13) was the Greek governor over the area which included Israel.  Antiochus IV (175-164 BC), was the 8th ruler of the Seleucid empire.  He gave himself the surname "Epiphanes" which means "the visible god" (claiming that he and Jupiter were identical). He acted as though he really were Jupiter and the people called him "Epimanes" meaning "the madman."  He was violently bitter against the Jews, and was determined to exterminate them and their religion.  He destroyed much of Jerusalem in 168 BC, defiled the Temple, offered a pig on its altar, erected an altar to Jupiter, stopped Temple worship, forbade circumcision on pain of death, sold many Jews into slavery, destroyed all copies of Scripture that could be found, slaughtered everyone discovered in possession of such copies, and resorted to every conceivable torture to force Jews to renounce their religion.  This led to the Maccabaean revolt, one of the most heroic feats in Jewish history.  

Another clue is found in the fact that they were "naked," not having white robes of righteousness given by Christ to believers (Ps. 132:9; Isa. 61:10; Mt. 22:11-12; Rev. 16:1-16; 19:18; etc.).

Then there is the fact that Jesus promises not to reject those who trust in Him; He will never leave them or forsake them (Rom. 8:35-39; Eph. 1:13; 4:30; Heb.13:5; etc.).  How then would He vomit them out of His mouth?  He would not!

And finally, the fact that Jesus is excluded from their group indicates they have not accepted Him as either Savior or Lord!  They appear to be uninterested in His fellowship with them at a meal!

TODAY, THERE ARE MANY FALSE DENOMINATIONS CLAIMING TO BE THE LORD'S CHURCH; RELIGIONS AND CULTS THAT REQUIRE MEMBERS TO EARN THEIR SALVATION, THUS DENYING GOD'S OFFER OF THE GIFT OF SALVATION BASED UPON THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST.  THEY ADD TO THE GOSPEL A REQUIREMENT OF RELIGIOUS WORKS.  THEY ARE NOT THE LORD'S CHURCH!

THERE ARE POSSESSORS OF ETERNAL LIFE BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, AND PROFESSORS WHO CLAIM TO BE CHRISTIANS, BUT DO NOT KNOW HIM AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR!  TRUST IN HIM AND HIM ALONE!

WHAT MUST ONE BELIEVE IN ORDER TO BECOME A CHILD OF GOD?

πιστεύω pisteúō:  Believe!

This Greek word appears 239 times in the King James Version of the Bible; eighty-six of them are found in the Gospel of John!  In order for one to become a born again Christian (the very purpose for which John wrote his Gospel - see John 20:30-31), one has to believe in Jesus Christ, Who was crucified for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised the third day, again according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

BECOMING A BORN AGAIN BELIEVER!

John 1:10-13 - He (Jesus) was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.  He came unto His own (the Jews), and His own received Him not.  But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on His name:  who were born, not of blood (not speaking of physical birth), nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 3:3-7 - Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus said unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water (physical birth) and of the Spirit (spiritual birth), he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born again.

John 3:14-17 - And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21:7-9), even so must the Son of man (Jesus) be lifted up:  that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes on Him is not condemned:  but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God.

THE WORD BELIEVE IS ALWAYS PRESENT TENSE!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST TODAY?

WILL HE FIND YOU FAITHFUL WHEN HE RETURNS?

IS JESUS THE LORD OF YOUR LIFE?

ARE YOU TELLING OTHERS ABOUT HIM?