The Benefits of the Son of God to us no. 7
He that Overcometh
Rev. Brian Kocourek
The sixth benefit or promise of God to us
concerning our believing in His Son is that we are given the power to over
come the world
1 John
5:5 Who is he that overcometh
the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Now, the key to our understanding this Scripture and its benefit to us is
to know what this word overcome means.
The word overcome was translated from the Greek word. Nilao which means
to subdue, overcome, conquer or to prevail against.
Now, the word overcome in the English language is from two root
words over and come. The word over speaks of ascending
above or on top of, and the word come
speaks of an action or an approach. Therefore to speak of overcoming we are
speaking of an approach that brings you
above whatever is the object of your overcoming.
In the case of
our text, we read… Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of
God?
This scripture speaks of those who are believing that Jesus is the Son of
God, and tells us they are the ones that overcome the world.
Now, there are certain benefits to overcoming, because to overcome shows
that there is an obstacle in the way, or some form of opposition to your
coming, or in this case to your becoming. And to overcome means that you have
been able to come over this obstacle and thus it has not hindered your arrival.
We find this example of the use of the word in Luke chapter 11.
Luke
11:22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all
his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
This speaks to us of two in opposition to each other, where the one is
able to overcome the other and thus not only defeat this opponent but also is
able to render the weaponry of the opponent useless. I like that because we are
in a battle with the devil on a daily basis, and Jesus tells us that those that
believe that Jesus is the Son of God are able to overcome the world, which we
know the devil is the ruler of this present world system.
Now, the fact is that until you are able to overcome your enemy
you will have no rest, nor can you obtain a lasting peace. But once you are
able to overcome, and de-arm your enemy, thus conquering or vanquishing that enemy, then you have a peace and rest that is
assured.
John
Now, if Jesus has overcome the world then he has overcome the enemy of
our soul. And thus we have an assurance through Him of a peace that surpasses
all understanding.
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Now, this
tells us that there is a struggle that we are in while we are in this world,
and yet we are told to come. Come to who? He said “come
unto me”, and I will give you the rest you are looking for. Then
if we are to come to him, we will have opposition to our coming, and yet we are
told that since he has over come, we too shall over come. So our overcoming is
a result of our focus not be distracted. We come to Him, that is what we are
coming. And the obstacles and opposition, which we find in this world is the
things we must get over in order to
come. Thus we Over Come.
John
1
John
And we are able to over come because God has made a way that we can overcome.
He has given us the weapons of our warfare, to arm ourselves with, and this
begins with our receiving His vary nature, and life.
1
John 4:4 Ye are of God,(now, remember OF is an acronym
for out from, therefore ye are out from God) little children, and have overcome them: because greater is
he that is in you, than he that is in the world. And notice we are
called His children, because we are out from Him. And if we are His Children, because
we came out from Him, then like any other seed our nature will be governed by the
law of reproduction and thus this law must reign in our mortal bodies as well,
and that law of reproduction tells us that “every seed must come forth after
its kind”. And that means it must come forth with the nature of the seed giver.
So we read of this in 2 Peter chapter 1.
2
Peter 1:4 Whereby 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.
1
John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
So you see, that if we are truly born again we will overcome the world.
He that is born of God does not commit sin, because God’s seed remaineth in
Him.
Now, the question is how do we overcome? Well, he told us that it is
through our faith. He said, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Now. Just not any faith will do for Faith is a revelation, and Paul
said there is one Lord and One Faith.
Now the just will live by faith, and it is not our faith, but the faith
of the Son of God.
Galatians
2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me.
The Faith He had we have is the same Faith He had. For there is but One
Faith and One Lord, and that One Faith is in that One Lord. For Faith is a
revelation. That is what Brother Branham taught us in the Rapture sermon. He
said, “faith
is a revelation, something that has been revealed to you.” We
have thus far seen that it takes the spirit of the over comer Himself to help
us overcome.
Now, remember earlier in this series we found that we received the Spirit
of God through this Faith. And we found that this one faith or one revelation
is the Revelation of Christ which is the doctrine of Christ. And John taught us
that if we do not have the doctrine of Christ we do not even have God. And He said, he that echoes the son of God
echoes life.
Now, the Apostle Paul tells us the same thing in Galatians chapter 3.
Galatians
3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works
of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
And if Faith is a revelation, then he is actually saying, Received ye the
Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of revelation?
In other words, outside of the true revelation of Christ you can not
receive the spirit of God.
Then I would challenge anyone who says they were born again and filled
with the spirit of God outside of receiving the True revelation of Jesus
Christ. Then outside of this message you will not find a spirit filled man,
except a man that is filled with a different spirit than the spirit of God.
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.
Brother Branham taught us that only Light can bring life.
Man
that can turn on light 63-1229M P:48 There's nothing can give you Life but the spoken
Word of God. It's the only way that Life can come is through His spoken Word.
And the Apostle Paul told us that it
takes light to bring all things into manifestation. Now, a seed is not alive
until it comes into manifestation. And it takes light to manifest what is in
the seed.
Ephesians 5:13 But all things
that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make
manifest is light.
Now, the problem is this, that many have come into the Message and still
never have seen the Light of Life, because they came in and before the Voice of
God could direct them into the glorious light of the doctrine of Christ, they
found themselves in a church that took what light they had in those tapes and
buried it under legalism and works programs. And the Apostle Paul said, Galatians
But just as Alpha has become Omega, as in the first church age, the
legalists took over the message of that hour and tried to force the law and
legalism upon the new converts and thus shut them out from the Revelation
of Christ that was to set them free. And
so they turned their focus from Christ to works and to church programs and they
wandered about seeking that rest and found it not. And then we wonder why so
many need the baptism of the Holy Ghost. They can’t get it under the law. It
comes by Revelation, but revelation has been shut out of this message. We talk
about it, but when God truly does reveal Himself to a little flock, and they
begin to preach the doctrine of Christ, they are soon branded as preaching two
Gods, just like they branded the Son of God and His Followers.
Rejected
king 60-0610 P:38 Oh, yes, they wanted this king. And when they got the king, then
the enemy begin to put the eyes of the people out. And then they couldn't see
where they were going. That's the first thing the devil does when he can get a
servant of God; he blinds him to the fact that he's lost. That's the first
thing the enemy done when they got Samson, another judge. They put his eyes out
where he couldn't see where he was going. As soon as the enemy of the
Philistines come in upon
Deceived
church by the world 59-0628M P:44 "The Philistines is on thee." But the one
blessed hope we have, while Samson was in jail...What's the first thing they
done when they caught him? They bound him first. They took his power away; they
found his secret. They found your secret. The world found your secret. Now, you
women all bob your hair; it goes like the world. You men all go and act like
the world. It's all right, tell jokes and dirty jokes, and go out and smoke a
few cigarettes, and run out with the neighbors' wives, and everything else like
that, a little sociable drink to hold your job. I'd rather lay on my belly and eat soda crackers and drink branch
water, and stay clean and pure before God, than to compromise for any kind of a
job. That's right. True. Stay true to God.
Deceived
church by the world 59-0628M P:45 "Samson, the Philistines is on thee. "Branham Tabernacle, worldlyism is creeping
in among you. What about it? Have you exposed your secret? Have you exposed
that secret that God give you when you were wallowing there in the sawdust a
few years ago? Have you let it creep out by social, formal worship? What's happened to you? God can come
down and perform a miracle, and go right down through the audience, and tell
people the secrets of their hearts, and everything, and heal the sick and
afflicted, and do signs and wonders, and preach
His Word as hard as they can by the Holy Ghost, and people say, "Well,
I guess that's all right. We enjoy listening to it once in a while, if we're
not too tired." That's Branham Tabernacle. The Philistines is on thee.
What has happened to the
Brother Branham said, Deceived church by the
world 59-0628M P:47 So revival in our day? How can we have it when the regular revival
Giver is bound by the world? God won't
come in where the world is; you can just depend on that. You associate with
the world, then it's all of it. When you
let the world creep in, you go to acting like the world, then you are finished.
But when
you'll cut loose every fetter from the world and come to God, God will use you
until you go to flirting again. Here’s the only hope that I have this morning
to wind up my message, is this, "While Samson was bound, a new shock of
hair grew out."
Deceived
church by the world 59-0628M P:50 But as Israel was bound by their kings, that they
could not follow the real King, and the real King, when He came, they didn't
recognize Him, so is it today, O Lord, the
King of glory has appeared in the form of the Holy Ghost, and, Lord, they don't
know it. They don't recognize it. They're
so organized so tight, that they do not understand it, because it's not in
their organization. Lord, this is a work of the Devil that's
done this to the people. May the Samson of God, may the true in heart, those
who are longing and crying, and pleading and holding on, may they stay with it,
Lord, until this new crop grows out, until there comes forth again a joy in
Zion, and there comes forth a group that can recognize and understand, that can
see the Messiah and the hidden power that's hid from the world, that they will
not understand now. Grant, Lord, that they'll see this. For we ask it in Jesus'
Name. Amen.
Now, the Scriptures tells us how to overcome this morass that the
Notice he said there are two things, the Blood of the lamb, and the word
of their testimony. But no one is willing to testify anymore. And so they fall
deeper and deeper into apathy until they leave the church and sink into sin.
Just like Samson, they are bound and blinded. Bound by organization that says
if my church doesn’t teach that then I don’t want to hear it, and thus they
blind themselves to understanding what this message is all about. They blind
themselves to the meaning of the Shout.
And they revert back to some program that can get the people involved in
their church programs.
But the Apostle Paul told us that will never work. Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth
any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith
which worketh by love.
Its not enough to have faith, which is revelation, but that revelation
must work by Love. Because if you have the right revelation and don’t have the
love to project that revelation to the people, it is no good to them, because
they need to see it manifested in order to see the Life of that Word.
But we have by the Grace of God a promise by the Son of God that God
Himself will watch over the true elect and not let them slip off into this
morass of obscure vision. He which began the work will perform it. And we know
that Jesus was able to overcome the world because the Father kept Him, and thus
will also keep us, for it is by His life living itself out in us that we are
able to overcome.
John
17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I
come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one, as we are. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those
that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of
perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Now, the Apostle Paul gives us some direction concerning how to overcome
when he tells us not to allow evil to overtake us but that we should overcome evil with
good. Romans
This word evil
was translated from a Greek word Kakos which means worthless, depraved,
injurious, and noisome. In other words that which is offensive and annoying. So
Paul is telling us not to allow ourselves to become annoying, offensive, and
worthless. But he says, rather conquer
this obstructive behaviour with good, and the word good simply means that which
is of benefit. Therefore instead of
being worthless or annoying, we should be of some benefit to others.
Now, we also
find in the Scriptures that we are given the Word of God to benefit our
situation.
2
Timothy
Romans
3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is
written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings,
and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
We are told by the Apostle John that it is the Word of God that helps us
to overcome.
1
John
Now, in closing let’s look at some indicators or as brother Branham put
it, some identifiable characteristics that you have overcome the world. And the
Bible clearly tells you how you will know that you have overcome the world,
Revelation
2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;
(and remember, Brother Branham told us that to hear means to
understand. So he that understandeth let him understand what the Spirit says to
the churches. ) He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the
second death. You have a promise you will not die, but that you
have been made alive in Christ.
Revelation
2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; So he that understandeth let him understand
what the Spirit says to 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.
Now, I like that. Because we have been eating from that hidden manna for
the past 20 years now. And while the churches in
A thousand shall fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand;
but it shall not come nigh to me, for I have
been alive in Christ and kept alive by His Hidden manna.. The Bible said that day would not
come until there came a falling away first. And I’ve seen them falling away for
the past 25 years a 1,000 on my left and 10,000 on my right, and I am so
thankful that it just makes me appreciate the Lord more and more for opening my
eyes to His Presence and His Glory among us.
Revelation
2:26 And he that overcometh,
and keepeth my works unto the end, to
him will I give power over the nations:
William Branham’s ministry took less than 35 years to cut through the
deominational world and reach into more than 170 nations throughout the world. And
the doctrine He taught has taken less than 4 years to reach 134 nations. If
that isn’t power over the nations I do not know what it is, because that word
power is from the Greek word exousia and it means authority and influence. Yes
brothers and sisters this word is alive and has manifested itself. And
it’s a promise of God that I’m talking about. And the fulfilling of that
promise.
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.
And are we eating or not. I ask that question to you this morning. Are we
eating fresh manna each week, or are we eating regurgitated manna over and over
again. Has this word become alive to us and in us and through us, or is it just
the same old carrion. You that have sat here faithfully over the years and have
seen the word come alive, you be the judge.
Revelation
21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be
his God, and he shall be my son.
And in order to inherit all things we must become adopted, and in order
to become adoptable we must be sons that have the fathers mind. And the Son of
God, our older brothers showed us how to have the mind of the father when he
said, I have come not to do my own will
but the will of the Father which sent me. He said, the Son can do nothing, say
nothing, teach nothing but what the father showed him first. There’s your mind
of the Father. Let this mind that was in Christ Jesus be in you.
Revelation
3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the
temple of my God, and he shall go no more out:
(out from where? From the presence of the Lord) 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.
And let me say
this, the new name is not some idiotic pronunciation of the name Jesus as
Joshuah, or oshua , or Jo shu a or yuh hu vah, or some silly childish pretensions
as that. The name is Jesus. J.E.S.U.S. That is what
God Himself told William Branham. Jehovah of the Old is Jesus of the new, and
that’s good enough for me. Look you had better say what those tapes say, and
forget any private interpretations because peter said the Bible is not of any
private interpretations. So just forget it and stick with Thus Saith the Lord.
Revelation
3:21 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.
Revelation
3:5 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. And
confess means to say the same thing. Let’s pray.