Home  SearchNotes  Defining the Kingdom  Musings  Dedication  Links  Email

OVERCOMING THE WORLD

by Dale Simmons 02/17/2007

I John 2:14-17 (KJV)

¹⁴I 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. ¹⁵Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷And the world passeth away, and the lusts thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

Revelation 3:15-21 (KJV)

¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.  ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.  ¹⁷Because 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:  ¹⁸I 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.  ¹⁹As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.  ²⁰Behold, 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.  ²¹To 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.

Revelation 21:6-8 (KJV)

⁶And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.  ⁷He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.  ⁸But 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.

John 17:13-17 (KJV)

¹³And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.  ¹⁴I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  ¹⁵I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.  ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  ¹⁷Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

What separates the church of the living God from the world? How can we be in this world but not of this world? The answer is very simple. The true church of God loves God and not the world nor the things of the world. They put their faith, trust and belief entirely in the supremacy, deity and sovereign kingship of the eternal, omnipresent and omnipotent God. The true church of God believes without a doubt that Jesus was God manifested in the flesh. The true church of God is not waiting for the appearance of their King, but are knowledgeable that He has already come. He came in the flesh and lived sinless becoming, through the cross, our Redeemer and the perfect and final sacrifice for the sins of the world. He defeated death, hell and the grave, bruised the head of the serpent, ascended back into glory, victorious, completely stripping Satan of his power. The true church of God believes that our King has come the second time in judgment destroying not only His own that would not believe in Him but everything that was a part of them and their unbelief, even the city of Jerusalem. He has completely destroyed His covenant with the old Israel and has enacted it with the new Israel, the New Jerusalem, which is His church. The true church of God believes that all men, Jew or Gentile, can become part of the Kingdom of God through obedience and belief in His Word, and He does not prefer one above the other. The true Church of God are reborn of the water, blood and spirit and baptized into the name of Jesus and are not ashamed to be called by His name. The true church of God has received the infilling of God’s own Spirit evidenced by speaking in tongues. The true church of God understands that the things of this world are temporal and will one day fade, so they do not reach for those things, but strive for spiritual things as these will never die. Spiritual life is eternal life The true church of God understands that we can conquer all things but death, and that we will be victorious over death also when God our King decrees that time will be no more and the living will be caught up to meet Him…our bodies changed from mortal to immortal and the spirits of those that are already dead in Him will rejoin their bodies and be raised immortal just as Jesus was.

I know at times I repeat myself extensively on the basic principles of the Gospel mentioned above but it is imperative that I do. It is the power unto our salvation. Only through the complete knowledge and understanding and obedience to this Gospel are we able to overcome the world. We have this assurance through Christ. He condemned sin in the flesh and overcame the world. Only them that overcome will inherit all that God has for them in this world and the world to come. What is it that we must overcome? We must overcome our Adamic nature…our sinful flesh…the rudiments of the world in our lives that do not please God. We cannot accomplish this through self-empowerment. We cannot save ourselves. Contrary to the lie of Satan that deluded Adam and Eve we are not our own gods. Only God can save us to life eternal. Only He can give that gift to us. We do not earn it. How can we reward God? What can we possibly give Him that would even come close to what He has in store for us? Living completely to the letter of the law through human effort is somewhat impossible, but not entirely unachievable. Ironically it would be a useless accomplishment. Rules will not save you.

Our mindset is what brings us into communion with God. We no longer just follow the rules to gain salvation. Our greatest desire is to be like Jesus. In Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When we repent of our sin and symbolically die with Him in water baptism, God gives us the gift of His Spirit. His light comes into our lives. This light dispels the darkness in us and anything within us that is contrary to what God is made manifest to us. This is the point where our love for God is put to the test. To remain in His light we must daily pickup our cross and follow Him. To overcome the “world” in us we must be able to claim in truth that we are crucified with Christ. Is this all accomplished instantaneously? The answer is no. When we are obedient to God’s plan of salvation He extends His marvelous grace to us. He knows we aren’t perfect and have many things in our life that are contrary to Him. Does that give us a reason to continue in imperfection and sin? No it doesn’t. The sooner we, with God’s help, rid ourselves of the weight of our worldly nature, the sooner we can be going from glory to glory in Him. God knows the thoughts and intents of the heart in us all. He will give us the desires of our heart. Nothing within us is hidden from Him. Do we hunger and thirst after righteousness before God? Not our own righteousness, but His? He will not accept our righteousness, so we must desire to grow into His righteousness. Is His grace sufficient for us? The unmerited favor and undeserved grace that is freely given to us from the heart of our God that is perfect in love? God is love. To really and truly know Him is to love Him as He loves us. With the knowledge that there truly is a Hell does one follow God out of a fearful obligation or do we want to know Him in His fullness?  Knowing He is merciful do we fully desire to be merciful? To be a peacemaker? To be poor in spirit?  To mourn? To be meek?  To be pure in heart? Willing to suffer persecution for righteousness sake? Willing to endure being reviled and spoken evil of for His names sake? This can only be accomplished by dying to one’s self. We must desire to be like Jesus.

The whole purpose in overcoming the world in ourselves is to become God’s glory here on earth. As with Jesus we become the physical presence of God on earth. Jesus stated that like the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness so should He be lifted up. If He would be lifted up He would draw all men unto Him. Again I reiterate, we are the body of Christ. It is God’s wish to use a person full of His glory to draw men unto Him. The Church of the living God will mirror the glory of God. The glory of God is not reflected through the regality of our outward looks, no more than He takes pride in our majestic temples. Our status in life and how well we equal or surpass the standard of living of the Jones’, means absolutely nothing to Him. God does not promise us worldly riches, but He does promise that if we embrace and walk in His kingdom principles that He will bless us with all He knows we need. Shouldn’t His grace alone be sufficient? Many groups are focusing on prosperity…it is their mainstream message. Being poor or being prosperous in worldly things is the same to God. He saves the wealthy and the poor alike. He does not save us to make us rich in money. We are to be rich in spirit. Having an abundance of wealth is not wrong. It is the love of wealth that is the root of all the evil in the world. If a man can have great wealth in the world and follow the principles of God’s kingdom and have Christ fulfilled within himself then it will not be sin to him. He blesses us to bless His kingdom. God gives and God takes away, according to his will and His purpose. Be careful what you pray for. You may pray yourself out of a blessing that will come out of your lack of…need of and trials. If God asks you to forsake it all and follow Him and do His will you must be wholeheartedly able to walk away and not look back…and not grieve what you have left.  Listen with your heart, there is a great secret in that statement which applies not only for money, but for many other things the world offers a man. God’s concern is His kingdom. He will never forsake the righteous, nor will His seed ever have to beg for bread. If a man is focused on his wealth and position in this life it will be impossible for him to be completely focused on God’s kingdom and it’s furtherance. The jewels in the crown of a man that truly serves God are the souls that he has brought into the light of the Kingdom of God and the fullness of the principles of God’s kingdom that are in effect in his daily living. Give God your life…Give Him your desires, give Him your wealth…Give it all to Him Anything in a man’s life that is part of the world leaves just that much less room for the complete work of God’s nature.  God does not love the world or the things of the world. The things of the world are offensive to Him. We cannot serve God and the world at the same time. It is totally impossible.

II Peter 1:3-8 (KJV)

³According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  ⁴Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  ⁵And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; ⁶And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; ⁷And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  ⁸For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is my desire to attain the above. I have not already attained. Just when I overcome one issue, there is another one there, looking me in the face. But, regardless, I know I can attain His divine nature, if I just let go, not be my own god and let the Almighty God do the work in me. This is a race. I have a long way to go and a short time to get there. According as to what age we are saved and when we shall pass from this life, every day is the day to die…to ourselves…to our flesh…to the world…to our vices…to our own desires. Only God knows the time of our departure. Today is the day of our salvation. Tomorrow never comes.

ONLY ONE LIFE WILL SOON BE PAST…ONLY WHAT IS DONE FOR CHRIST WILL LAST

Back

 Home  SearchNotes  Defining the Kingdom  Musings  Dedication  Links  Email

The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.