To Him
That Overcometh
By Rick Shrader
In 1858 Rev. George Dufield received these words from a
minister friend, whispered while dying from a tragic accident, “Let us
all stand up for Jesus.”1 For the next Sunday’s sermon,
Dufield wrote a poem from those words in memory of his friend titled,
“Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus.” The final stanza of the poem reads,
Stand up, stand up for
Jesus, The strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle—The next the
victor’s song.
To him that overcometh A crown of life
shall be;
He with the King of glory Shall reign
eternally.
The crown of life for the overcomer was
promised by our Lord to the church at Sardis during their time of
testing, and to all Christians, as James tells us: which the Lord
hath promised to them that love him (Jas 1:12). The admonition to
all seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3 is, to him that overcometh,
which is always preceded by the inclusive words, he that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches (Rev 2:7, 11,
17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).
The piercing words of Jesus, that the
overcomer of this world is the one who will finally inherit heaven, have
encouraged believers of this age of grace to verbalize this perseverance
of the saints in their various confessions. Perhaps the most common
statement is in the New Hampshire Confession of 1833.
We believe that such only are real believers as
endure unto the end; that their persevering attachment to Christ is the
grand mark which distinguishes them from mere professors; that a special
Providence watches over their welfare; and that they are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation.2
Perseverance of the saints is, in a way, a
two-edged sword. On the one hand, it affirms that the believers’
salvation is “kept by the power of God” through Christ’s finished work
on their behalf; yet on the other hand, it affirms that a “mere
profession” of salvation is inadequate for eternal life without the
reality of faith which always shows itself in the life of the believer.
This doctrine is plainly seen in the letters to the seven churches
(Revelation 2-3) as Jesus separates believers in the churches from mere
professors in the churches by the description He that overcometh.
In the coming Tribulation, the entire Church
will be a professing Church only, containing no true believers at all
(Rev 13:8) because, of course, all true believers will have been removed
at the Rapture. At the end of the Age of Grace, however, the Church
will be a mixed multitude of true believers and professing believers (1
Tim 4:1-3; 2 Tim 3:1-7). We are surely in the last days and are
experiencing the phenomenon of this mixed multitude! Wheat and tares,
sheep and goats, clean garments and spotted, seem to be harder to
distinguish than many have thought. And while the Church enjoys the
sunshine of success, many are indifferent to the Lord’s warnings.
Overcomers are
believers and all believers are overcomers
This language is similar to John’s first
epistle where believers are put in broad categories: Whosoever
abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither
known him (1 John 3:6). In Revelation he writes, To him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life (2:7); 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 (3:5). All of the
“overcomer” statements are true of any believer who will one day be in
heaven.
The apostle Paul has this kind of broad
language in Romans: To them who by patient continuance in well-doing
seek for glory and honor and immortality, [they will have]
eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the
truth, but obey unrighteousness, [they will have] indignation and
wrath, tribulation and anguish (Rom 2:7-9). The point is, true
believers, though they may struggle in this life, will persevere and
overcome to where their life is one that reflects Christ and His
redemption.
There were true believers in each of these
seven churches. Antipas was a faithful martyr (2:13) in Pergamos
though many followed the doctrine of Balaam. Most in Thyatira had
followed Jezebel, but the rest had not known the depths of
Satan (2:24). Sardis was dead spiritually, but there were still
a few names (3:4) that had not defiled their garments. Though most
in Laodicea were miserable before God, if any man (3:20)
would open his own door to Christ, He would come in. These were the
overcomers! The rest, and in many cases the majority, are not included
in the promise of heavenly rewards.
Non-overcomers are
unbelievers and no unbeliever overcomes the world
This only follows if the first assertion is
true. False professors of the faith may be in the church, they may do
the things believers do for a while (perhaps for quite a while, years in
fact), but they will not persevere to the end and overcome the things of
the world that attract them. Again, in John’s first epistle, he
describes these as those who do not love the brethren. They cannot
abide to stay around and do the things true believers do. So they
went out from us, but they were not of us (1 John 2:19).
In Ephesus, some had left the initial
love that had drawn them to the Christian faith. They needed to
repent (2:5) in order to be one that overcometh and who will
eat of the tree of life (2:7). In Pergamos, many were
sacrificing to idols and committing fornication (2:14).
They needed to repent and be overcomers or find themselves to fight
against God and the sword of his mouth (2:16). In Thyatira, many
were also worshiping idols and committing fornication (2:20). God was
ready to cast them into a bed of adultery (even great tribulation)
unless they repented and became overcomers who will one day rule in the
kingdom of God (2:26). In Sardis, many had a famous name but
were dead spiritually (3:1). Their works were not perfect (3:2)
before God as the true believers who were worthy (3:4) of the
white garments of heaven. In Laodicea, most thought that their
prosperity was a sign of their fellowship with God, when in fact God saw
them as wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked
(3:17).
False believers within the church do not
overcome. John Owen once said, “Religion in a state of prosperity is
like a colony that is long settled in a strange country. It is
gradually assimilated in features, demeanor, and language to the native
inhabitants, until at length every vestige of its distinctiveness has
died away.”3 Similarly, R.A. Torrey wrote, “Hand in hand
with this widespread infidelity [which means non-faith] goes gross
immorality, as has always been the case. Infidelity and immorality are
Siamese twins. They always exist and always grow and always fatten
together.”4
It is possible for true believers to
backslide into this condition for a time. But the test that they are
true will be their loathing of such things (Lot was “vexed” by the
life-style of Sodom) and their turning back to God. Nonbelievers will
feel no such loathing and will be more than content to stay in the world
and in the church.
True repentance is
never late and late repentance is never true
Though some would say “seldom true,” in this
case we are following John’s (though we should say the Lord’s) thought
of true believers overcoming. Any sinner may repent of his sins and
come to Christ at any time. That kind of repentance is never too late.
To the Philadelphians God promised removal from the tribulation period
(3:10) for those who have kept the word of my patience. All who
will leave the false synagogue of Satan (3:9) and come to the
true faith can also overcome these things. To the Laodiceans God
promised communion to any man that would hear His voice and open the
door to Him (3:20). This would all be true repentance and, if done in
this life, would not be too late.
Late repentance is of two types. a) Late
repentance in this life is a sop. It is insincere. Many
unbelievers go through this life feeling sorry that their sin is seen
and disliked by God. Repentance becomes a way to relieve the pressure
for a while and appease God’s displeasure. This kind of “late”
repentance is never true repentance. b) Late repentance in the next
life will be forced from the lips of unbelievers as every knee
will bow and every tongue will confess (Phil 2:10-11) but it will be
too late for it to be true, volitional repentance.
What the Spirit has
written to the churches, the Son has commissioned to the angels
These letters are the Spirit’s inspired words
to the churches of Asia. In each case the letter ends with the
words, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches. In each case also, the letter begins with
Christ addressing the angel of the particular church. This is
the pastor or messenger of the church (see Gal 4:14; 2 Cor 12:7; Jas
2:25). The Greeks used this description (aggelos, angel) of the
official herald who was commissioned by the king to publicly address the
people and be careful not to soften, change or negotiate with the words.5
George Whitefield once prayed to God, “O, grant I may, like a pure
crystal, transmit all the light Thou pourest over me, and never claim as
my own what is thy sole property”6
And so . . . .
The angels, the pastor-heralders of God’s
message, must never negotiate with the message in order to better
appeal to the hearers. The sinner cannot overcome the world by
retaining his own prerogatives. And “messengers” do not help them by
allowing them to think they can! “The entrance to heaven is low, and we
must be no taller than children in order to get in.”7 It is
that which we, the herald-angels, sing!
Notes:
1. Quoted by Kenneth Osbeck,
101 Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1982) 237.
2. William Lumpkin,
Baptist Confessions Of Faith (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1980) 365.
3. Quoted by William
Wilberforce, Real Christianity (Minneapolis: Bethany House,
1997) 99.
4. R.A. Torrey, How To
Pray (Chicago: Moody Press, nd) 105.
5. See knrux in Kittel;s
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. III (Grand Rapids:
Eerdman’s, 1965) 688.
6. In Harry Stout’s The
Divine Dramatist (Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s, 1994) 58.
7. C.S. Lewis, Reflections
on the Psalms (New York: HB & W, 1964) 88.
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