We Have Overcome The World

Title: We Have Overcome The World

Today’s Bible Verse: [1 John 4:4-6 ESV] 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

This was written to believers and is for believers.

We all come into this world in total depravity; we come in with a hatred for God. This is a result of the fall; original sin.

Somewhere along our life God touches the heart of the believer and they are reborn; they have a heart change. I can witness to this.

[Acts 9:3-6 ESV] 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" 5 And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

The heart change can be as dramatic as Paul’s or it can happen subtly; that is, one moment you are in the world and the next you are not.

When we have our heart change the Holy Spirit enters into us and the world leaves. We are no longer of the world.

[1 John 4:6 ESV] 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

I can witness to this as well.

I now come from a Calvinist and partial Preterist world view. That means I accept God’s sovereignty, predestination of the elect, grace alone, faith alone, Jesus alone, scripture alone, glory to God alone, the five points of Calvinism, and that the Book of Revelation is a prophecy of what was to happen in 70 AD and all of it except the return of Jesus has been fulfilled. I am not a futurist; that means that I do not believe that there will be a great war with the antichrist at the end; in this regard I believe Psalm 110:1; Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father on the throne as our king and when His enemies have been made His footstool the He will return.

I can witness that those that are of God; that is, reborn, listen to the reborn and those that are not of God; that is, not reborn, argue continually.

And I also know that there are some of you that are thinking that because I have been reborn then I am elevating myself above you. Just the opposite. Rebirth makes me your servant because it is my job to make disciples of the nations and that means that I must bring His word to you. I can’t force you to accept His word because that is up to Him, but I can show you the door to it.

I can witness that rebirth is a humbling experience.

[1 Corinthians 1:27 ESV] 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

This is very true because I was the most foolish and weak of all.

Faith is given to His elect by God. Faith is the overwhelming belief in God; it is not head knowledge, it is a deep down in your soul belief that God is your creator and your means of salvation from His wrath due to the fall. This faith was given to His elect from before creation. We have it for His glory.

Through our faith we know that Jesus died for us, and we have justification through Him. This justification means that our sin is covered with the blood of Jesus and, though we may die physically, we are not dead spiritually and will be resurrected into everlasting life when Jesus returns.

It is the elect that have salvation and it is my prayer that you are among the elect and that this serves as your catalyst for awakening.

This is the gospel:

[1 Corinthians 15:1-6 NLT] 1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you--unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.

[Acts 2:22-24 NLT] 22 "People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

[1 John 2:2 NLT] 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins--and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

This is penal substitution; that is, our sins were transferred to Jesus and His righteous transferred to us.

We all have a job.

[Matthew 28:18-20 NLT] 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

All of the disciples of Jesus are to spread His word and the gospel.

Go forth and spread this good news.

I pray that God has revealed Himself to you and that you have salvation.

Remember, God is sovereign. That means that he controls everything.

I hope this has been a blessing to you. May the rest of your day be blessed. Peace.