Introduction
I love how our Lord puts texts together in such a beautiful way especially when we consider holidays. Turn with me in your Bible to 1 John 5. Our focus for this morning is going to be in verses 4 and 5, but since we have been away from the text for a few weeks, I am going to read verses 1-5, so we can be reminded of the context of verses 4 and 5. 1 John 5 starting in verse 1…
If you remember from our last time together in this text we left off with the prerequisites of being an overcomer. This morning, we are going to see exactly what it means and also what it looks like to be an overcomer in this world. It may or may not surprise you that the “formula” is rather simple. There is not this complex system that we are to follow. It is not something that is impossible to follow. For the Lord knows our weakness and He knows the limitations of our brains. Yet, what we are going to see is that He has given us everything that we need to be an overcomer this morning and every day of our Christian lives.
I don’t know about you, but when I think of an overcomer, I think of someone strong, not exclusively in a physical sense. I think of someone who is triumphant over a particular difficulty, whether that be an athlete overcoming insurmountable odds, or it could be a child who has overcome a pediatric cancer of some kind. In either of these scenarios, there is an emphasis on strength and power.
In the Christian life, there is a strength and power, but the difference to the aforementioned is that it is not found in you and me. There is One who is an overcomer, and it is in Him that you and I overcome as well. We do not do it on our own. With this in mind, I have titled this sermon, “An Overcomer? You must have these…” There are two points this morning, which my goal is to lead us away from ourselves and fix ourselves upon the greatness of Christ! Point 1 is, ‘To Be an Overcomer: You must have faith’ which is in verse 4, and second, ‘To Be an Overcomer: You must believe,’ which we will see in verse 5.
- To Be an Overcomer: You must have faith (v.4)
We start our time together this morning in verse 4 with the necessity of having faith to be an overcomer. Look there with me. You will notice at the beginning of verse 4 that John does not start off with the topic of faith, but he does begin with the subject of overcoming. Since this is the main subject for us this morning we will begin there. Notice that there are two things attached to the one who overcomes. First, there is the one who overcomes, and second, there is that which is to be overcome.
I must make this very plain, and this might offend someone, but it must be said. If you are not born again in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is one who has confessed sin, turned from it, and has trusted in Christ for salvation, this text is not talking to you. Now, I must also say this. It is not too late for this text to be said of you. There is not some magic formula to be “born of God.” Look, here is what God requires of you. Cry out to Him and confess that you have transgressed against His holy law, and that you are a sinner. Next, cry out to Him for mercy, for the forgiveness of your sins. And finally, trust in Him as your Lord and Savior. That means you give your life to the Lord. You are no longer your own, but now you belong to God. Then and only then, will this text be said of you.
With all of this said, let us look at a moment at the one who overcomes the world. You will see that John continues with the one who is “born of God.” Verse 1 uses this same language when it speaks about the one who “believes that Jesus is the Christ.” Being born again has many “perks” if you will. There are many aspects of the Christian life to which it is attached, namely our salvation. But we are going to see here that being born of God also causes you and I to be overcomers this side of heaven. Hence, why I said that it is absolutely essential that the first thing that must be said about any overcomer is that salvation in Christ alone must be present.
It has been some time since we have seen the word ‘overcome’ in this epistle, but in case you may have forgotten, the other two instances in which we saw the word used were in 2:13-14 and 4:4. There are a few parallels I would like to draw out of this, which I hope you find helpful. The first parallel is that the one who overcomes is born of God. In 1 John 2:14, it is said of the young men that they overcome the evil one because “the word of God abides in” them. And in who does the word of God abide in? Exactly, those who have been born of God. In 4:4, the overcoming of the antichrists is found in those who “are from God.” Being from God in the Greek is “attributing a quality” (BSL). In other words, being from God means that you are born of God. Righteousness is seen in you because of the propitiation work done in Jesus Christ for those who are His (1 John 2:2). In our text, in verse 4, John tells us clearly, that the one who is born of God overcomes. Putting these three verses together, it is clear to see that the only one who can overcome is the one who born of God, being in subjection to Christ.
A second parallel that is seen is the subject in whom the overcoming is done. In 1 John 2:13-14 the one who is overcome is the evil one. Now, we are not going to spend much time there because we have seen it already. I just want to show you the parallels between the verses. And, again, over in 4:3-4, those who are overcome are the false prophets (v.1) and the spirit of the antichrists in verse 4. 1 John 4:4 and 5:4 is almost identical in verbiage. This should comfort us in that not only are these things good for testing the spirits, which is the content of the first 6 verses of chapter 4, but it also applies to the overcoming of the world in chapter 5.
What we could simply summarize is, John’s epistle is congruent. There is nothing out of place or out of order. Seeing how this all fits perfectly and beautifully together is a blessing because our God does not randomly throw things together on sheets of paper and hope that it all works out in the end! Even as we have seen for a few moments, the similarity between several texts in the same epistle, God is telling you and me something here. And here is what He is saying, those who are mine will overcome the world, because the power to do so is in Myself alone.
Look with me again in verse 4. John moves from a broad view of overcoming to that which is a little more focused. He wants us to see the victory that we have and then he is going to define specifically what that victory is. Notice that John gives us a singular answer as to what this victory is. He gives us something tangible to work with. You and I do not sit here pondering what this victory is going to look like. Now, before we get to what that looks like, I want us to consider the victory in and of itself. This is one of the great promises of biblical Christianity. Do you see the status of victory in this text? Does it seem like this text implies that we are waiting for the victory to occur? If this does not give you a BIG view of God, I don’t know what will! In the same way the other two passages in 1 John refer to overcoming, so does this one. The victory is already won! This is the victory that is ultimately found in the broken body, and shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, Who was raised three days later, that which we celebrated just a week ago. Yes, this text speaks about the faith that you and I have, but we would be out of order if we were to speak on our faith without first bringing forth the “Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
The end of this verse tells us the means by which we see the victory. It is our faith. Again, this faith is seen in the context of what Christ has already done for us. It is not as though you and I have this amazing faith and we are super conquerors over the devil in our own power. We do not believe that you have to have enough faith and that good things and abundant blessings will come your way. This is faith that is centered on Christ and on Christ alone. This is what makes you and I different. In an age where man desires to place himself in every instance of high praise and glory, you and I remove ourselves (not out of false humility) or to show the world some kind of vain poverty. But we remove ourselves to see the power of God in our lives, to see His will done. This is faith! Losing yourself and giving EVERYTHING over to God! And we do this not to expect blessings in great abundance do we? No! We do it out of obedience and love for our precious Savior Jesus Christ. This is the spirit in which Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9. Let me read that once more for you. “And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”” Now, you may say that Paul heard the voice of God, and you would be correct. But we do as well, don’t we? What is it that we are reading from this morning? That’s right, the very Word of God! So, just as Paul believed every word that God had said, so we are able, for God has given you and me an amazing faith, so that we can boast in a most wonderful Savior! This is the overcoming of the world in Christ!
I want us to look at one more text before we move on to our second point. Because faith is the victory, I believe it is appropriate to look at faith in terms of battle or war. Turn with me to Ephesians 6. I want to read to you verses 10-17 which tell us about the armor of God. As I read I want you to notice the place that faith has in the armor. Ephesians 6:10-17, starting in verse 10… Did you see the role that faith plays in the armor of God? It is a defense mechanism if you will. Our faith is a shield. In other words, our faith protects us. Now, why would our faith protect us? Let me ask you this. To Whom do you go in faith? That’s right! Our mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ! Look once more at verse 17. Do you see the descriptive nature of our faith? Because of it we have the ability to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one! You could say it this way, our faith is that which makes the arrows of the devil which would seek to consume us, and do away with every single arrow. Not one arrow is missed regarding our faith! Do you have faith in Christ this morning? He has promised you and me that He has already overcome the world, and in Christ you and I overcome the world as well.
- To Be an Overcomer: You must believe (v.5)
Turn back with me to 1 John 5 where we now turn our attention to verse 5 for our second point. In order to be an overcomer, you must first have faith, and you must also believe, and that we find in verse 5. Now, you will notice just in the two points of this sermon that there is a distinction between faith and belief. Although these are relatively close terms, I hope to show the difference that is between them as I believe our text promotes this difference.
It helpful to define them both next to each other. Faith, as we saw in verse 4, is to take everything that is said of Jesus in the gospel and to trust in it entirely (BSL). In other words, we believe everything about Jesus and trust in Him without reservation. Now you might be wondering, isn’t that what belief is? Again, belief is similar, but not exactly the same. Belief is “to accept as truth” (BSL). There are many things in this world that we can believe in that are absolutely true. There is a more broader realm when it comes to belief, but not so with faith. With faith, everything is fixed on Jesus Christ. You and I believe many things in this world as we see God’s creation work together for the glory of God and for our benefit.
We have dealt with the word truth and belief in this epistle already, so I am not going to speak anymore in terms of definition, but what I want our focus to be on is the specific belief that Jesus is the Son of God. Why? Two reasons, first, because this has been an area of contention since Christ came to earth, and second, because that is where John’s focus is in this text.
An observation that I want to make before we dig into this verse. You will notice that verse 4 and 5 are connected specifically on this reality: The one who is born of God believes that Jesus is the Son of God. In no way can you separate these two realities. They must go together. This means that the one who overcomes the world, these things are true in him as well. You could put it together like this, the one who is born of God, believes in Christ, the Son of God, and in the power of Christ, overcomes the world by faith. This is why it is so important for you and I to know what we believe and why we believe it. Our faith in Christ intersects on many levels and into many different areas of Christian doctrine. And in its totality, the doctrine of Christ has everything to do with our belief in Him!
Coming back to our reason for emphasis on Jesus as the Son of God. I want us to think for a moment the contention that this has held and continues to hold in our day. I was reminded of the parable of the sower in Mark 4, specifically verses 16 and 17 where it tells of the one who believed the word for a short time, and when hardship came, he floundered and departed from believing. Why do I bring this up? See, believing that Jesus is the Son of God and holding firm to that reality shapes your heart and mind and mine as well throughout the entirety of our Christian lives. Therefore, when persecution, trial, and difficulty come, to Whom do we run to? Unlike the person who does not believe in Mark 4:16-17, we run to Christ, the Son of God, in Whom we have believed to be true. See, to overcome the world in all its fullness is only able to be done, if you will, by having faith that is rooted in the belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
This is John’s emphasis in the first 5 verses of this fifth chapter. It is what is going to lead us forward to the rest of chapter 5. Look ahead for a moment to verse 13. What does it say… It would be complete ignorance to not see that John places a heavy emphasis on belief. And we are familiar with some of his closing words in John 20:31 which reads this. “But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing you may have life in His name.” So, both in his gospel and his epistles, John wants nothing more than human beings to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and to have full assurance of that belief as it is carried out in day-by-day faith in Him.
I think one of the best summarizations of this comes from John 9. John wants people to believe in Jesus because Jesus led people to believe in him. In the midst of exclusion from the synagogue, the blind man is asked by Jesus, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” Now, in this short dialogue we see belief and faith working together, although the word faith is never used. How do we know? Because the blind man believes all that Jesus has said to him, and he trusts in Jesus completely. Let me read for you John 9:36-38… The blind man’s response in verse 38 brings belief and faith together. For he did not merely believe that Jesus existed, but out of believing in Him and having faith in Him, what does the blind man do? He worships Him! Brothers, our overcoming of this world is rooted in our salvation by grace through faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ alone.
I don’t know about you, but I am very grateful for having been doing this study with you in 1 John. I have never been so reassured of my faith as I have with this epistle, and I hope that you have felt this affect as well. This is what John wants for us, this is what God wants for us. He wants us to know that we are in Him. He does not desire that you and I doubt our salvation and walk the Christian life in misery and sorrow. Friends, you, and I have every reason to be completely assured of our salvation in Christ.
May you be all the more encouraged and assured this morning by these words by the apostle Peter. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-4). Brothers, this is what it means to have assurance in Christ. He is the Son of God, in Whom we can completely put our trust in.
Conclusion
Are you an overcomer this morning? Have you experienced the power that comes with trusting in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? Friends, this is the victory that we have in our Lord, that is our faith! Faith is not something that you and I just pull out when needed, but it is the very lifeblood of our salvation. Faith is set aside for Christians only. This is a precious commodity that you and I have.
In Christ we have faith. We celebrated Resurrection Day last Sunday because we are convinced that Jesus Christ, showing His divine power, raised from the tomb, conquering death.
Listen, here is the truth. If you have trusted in Christ, your faith is guaranteed! There is no maybe or half-hearted hope with your faith. It is a solid faith that is rooted in the solid Rock of our salvation. However, if you have not trusted in Christ this morning, you do not possess this faith. There is no assurance in your life. Do not be fooled, look around you, this world is wasting away, it cannot provide everlasting hope, but Christ does! You do not have to live in limbo, in a world that is unpredictable and seemingly more evil every day. Instead, come to Christ, turn from your sins, and trust Him, so that you too, may be an overcomer of this world by the power only found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray.
