Scripture and Temptation

"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (Rev. 2:7). Today I would like to look at what it means in Bible terminology to 'overcome.' In doing so I would also like to look at the end of each of the messages from Jesus to the messengers of the congregations of Asia, to whom he sent by the hand of the beloved apostle John. In the ending of each of these seven messages Jesus gave promise of reward to all who overcome in these congregations. I've already copied the end of his first message to the messenger of Epheus, so I'll go from there. First of all the word 'overcometh' as it is copied in the KJV comes from the Greek word 'Nikao,' and it simply means 'to conquer, to be victorious.' So what is it that we must be victorious over in order to inherit these glorious promises listed in the book of Revelation? Many will instinctively say, 'the devil.' Well, it is true that we must conquer the devil, but there is something else we must get the victory over before we can defeat Satan. Plain and simply it is sin that we absolutely have to be victorious against, or we would never stand a chance against the devil. The devil's real purpose is to trick us into being under sin so that he can get us in a weakened position where he can manipulate us into further perversion. If we are under dominion to sin then we are not in harmony with God, and therefore we have neither the strength or the vision to be able to see what to do against Satan, much less get it done. I write a lot of articles with a lot of scriptural details about the sin issue, and those articles can be found on this page. But for the sake of remaining on the point of this article, I would like to just explain the simplistic reality of having victory over sin. The way we conquer sin is just to not allow it to have any place in our spirits. The only way we can accomplish that is to first experience "the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Tit. 3:5). This verse is clearly talking about the baptism of the holy Ghost that was promised by both John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, and by Jesus himself (Mk. 1:7,8; Acts 1:4,5).

The verse from Titus means exactly what it says, that we are literally and internally washed from our sins, regenerated, which is to say we are born again spiritually; and that we are renewed in spirit, meaning we are 'completely changed.' And the verse is clear that these things are accomplished in us by the holy Ghost that John and Jesus promised us. Romans 5:6 tells us what our problem was before Jesus came: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." We were powerless against the inner nature of sin that we were all born with, so Jesus came not only to pay the penalty for our sins, but to also supply us with the power to OVERCOME sin! The holy Ghost is that power, and in his last words on earth Jesus made certain that his followers knew that: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you" (Acts 1:8). Most of God's people today believe that he was telling them that the baptism of the Spirit would be to empower ministry, not for new birth. They believe this because of the faulty Christian tradition of 'getting saved,' which is nowhere to be found in the Bible. The 'power' that Jesus wanted us to have was and is the power we need to gain the victory over the inner problem of sin. The baptism of the holy Ghost which is administered from heaven by Jesus, is most assuredly the only new birth experience and remission of sins that exist, at least in the Bible. Without the power of the Spirit we cannot be 'washed,' or 'regenerated,' or 'renewed' in the inner man as the scripture says we must be. Neither is there any such thing in the Bible as 'receiving' the Spirit before being 'baptized' therein with the evident sign of speaking in tongues. Neither are there separate stages of receiving the Spirit, not in the Bible and not in real life. The holy Ghost baptism is the only thing John the Baptist said Jesus was coming to bring, and he said it because that is what God told him (Jn. 1:33). If the work of Christ and his Gospel ministration afterward leaves us yet in sin, then just exactly what is it we're supposed to be ministering to people? The apostle Paul addressed that malady in his day: "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid" (Gal. 2:17). Thanks be to God, Jesus really did provide an actual deliverance and redemption from the nature of sin, and that redemption comes by the baptism of the Spirit; which is the new testament baptism for the inner man, administered by the new testament high priest and baptizer, Jesus Christ (I Cor. 12:13; Heb. 10:11-15).

So the verse I copied from Titus really is the answer of how we overcome sin, and that once again is by "the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the holy Ghost." That is how are hearts are first purified from sin, and in fact that is how we CONTINUE to "purify [ourselves], even as he is pure" (Acts 15:8,9; I Jn. 3:2,3). If we are not "vigilant [and] sober" about keeping our hearts pure, then we will leave ourselves in a crippled spiritual condition and Satan will overcome us with his 'wiles' (I Pet. 5:8; Eph. 6:11). When we are pressed by demonic forces to accept something wrong into our spirits, then we "resist the devil, and he will flee from [us]" (Jas. 4:7). But again, if we are to overcome the devil we will have to be empowered when he comes calling, which is much of the time. Jude gives us what I consider to be the best instruction on how to remain empowered by the holy Ghost: "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God" (Jude 1:20,21). Prayer is first and foremost the key to our remaining empowered with the Spirit of God, which alone gives us the ongoing victory against both sin and Satan's forces. Note that Jude said that "praying in the holy Ghost" builds up our faith. Faith is synonymous with power, and John tells us that we "overcome the world [sin and Satan]" by our faith (I Jn. 5:4) Jude also shows us the reality that when we keep ourselves spiritually built up, we are not only keeping sin out of our spirits, but we are keeping the love of God IN our spirits. When sin is washed out of our spirits, the nature of God replaces it, and that is how we actually 'bear witness' to Jesus Christ; because it is him in us bearing witness to himself: "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5). And again: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20). Yet again: "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (II Cor. 3:17). And to be certain it is the holy Ghost baptism that accomplishes these things in us, we have this: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27).

In light of these things, and to be certain that we must keep our hearts pure till the end in order to inherit the eternal rewards, we have this from Jesus: "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Mat. 24:12,13). The love that many had by means of the holy Ghost being 'shed abroad' in their hearts, will wax cold because they simply will not remain continuous about purifying their hearts thereby. So that brings me to the evident conclusion, regarding the messages of Jesus to the messengers of the seven congregations of Asia. The first I've listed in the beginning of the article, and as all the messages read, the promise was for "he that overcometh." The promise for those in Ephesus was that they would "eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." What this tells us is the same thing that Jesus said in Matthew 24, and that is that if we do NOT CONTINUE to overcome, we will NOT eat of the tree of life, because we will not BE in 'the paradise of God.' The same is true for the remaining six congregations, which I will list in short order here. To the messenger of Smyrna: "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (Rev. 2:11). Again, whoever does NOT overcome WILL 'be hurt of the second death,' which is "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone" (Rev. 21:8). To the messenger of Thyatira: "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" Rev. 2:17). So whoever does NOT overcome will neither 'eat of the hidden manna,' or 'be given a white stone,' or receive 'a new name.' To the messenger of Tyatira: "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" (Rev. 2:26-28). Again, if we finish our lives with sin remaining with us, we will NOT be given power over the nations,' and we will NOT rule with Christ, or receive 'the morning star' from him.

To the messenger of Sardis: "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" (Rev. 3:5). This message is more revealing than the others in the sense that Jesus makes it clear that there will be names in the book of life, which can only be there by experiencing the new birth; that will be blotted out of that book for failure to remain pure till the end. So the reward here is to REMAIN in the book of life, whereby we will be eternally saved (Rev. 20:15). To the messenger of Philadelphia: "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" (Rev. 3:12). Again, that's a lot of otherworldly rewards to miss out on simply for the sake of entertaining sin. And lastly, to the messenger of Laodicea: "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" (Rev. 3:21). So if we do not continue overcoming sin and the devil's tricks in our lives, we simply will not get to reign with Christ a thousand years, as all of the faithful will do (Rev. 20:4). In conclusion allow me to say that we just can't afford to end up on the flip side of all of these unspeakable rewards that Jesus and his Father have prepared for those who love him steadfastly till the end of their lives. There's no in between with these things, we either are pure in heart or we are in sin. The scripture couldn't be clearer about the reward of either, and I'll finish with one more monumental 'overcoming' quote from the awe-inspiring book of Revelation: "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:7,8). To say it truly, End of story. Amen.