EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/5/2025 8:42 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Part 2 “How to Recognize an Overcomer”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: 1 John 5:1-5
Message of the verses: “1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of
Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and
observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His
commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born
of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the
world — our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he
who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
I mentioned in my last SD on 1 John 5:1-5 that I
would go ahead and quote this second sermon that John MacArthur preached on
these verses, and so I will begin doing that this evening, and I will try not
to make it too long in each of these Spiritual Diaries so it will not take too
long to read each of these Spiritual Diaries.
“Well
let’s open our Bibles then to the fifth chapter of 1 John and return for part 2
of our look at the opening five verses under the title “The Overcoming Life” or
on being an overcomer. We’re in the last chapter of this remarkable epistle. In the opening five verses we
are introduced to a concept that is rich and glorious for all of us who are
Christ’s. It is the concept of being an overcomer. Let me read the text,
verses 1 to 5. “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And
whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we
love the children of God when we love God and observe His commandments. For
this is the love of God that we keep His commandments and His commandments are
not burdensome. For whatever” – or whoever – “is born of God overcomes the
world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. And who
is the one who overcomes the world? But he who believes that Jesus is the Son
of God.”
“Three
times in those last two verses we are introduced to the idea of being an
overcomer, overcoming. Just another way to say triumphing, winning, defeating
an opponent. We are by definition overcomers, and we looked at that a little
bit last time. By way of review, simply to remind you that it means we are
winners. There’s a wonderful little verse tucked in the second chapter of 2
Corinthians that says, “Thanks be to God who always leads us in His triumph in
Christ.” Thanks be to God who always leads us in His triumph in Christ. Us
being believers. God always leads us in triumph, because being in Christ we
enter into His triumph.
“In
the language of Paul, as we noted last time, we are more than conquerors,
super-conquerors, hyper-conquerors. The Greek is hupernikē from which we get
Nike. We are super conquerors. In the language of John we are overcomers, those
who overcome. We are triumphant. And we talked about that a little bit last
week. Once a person is regenerated, once they have become a believer in Jesus
Christ and been born again and justified and adopted into the family of God,
once they have been delivered from sin and death and hell, once they have been
converted, adopted, and sanctified, Christians are invincible in the ultimate
sense. This, of course, means that our salvation is eternal. We are eternally
secure. We will persevere to the very end. Nothing can remove us from the
Savior’s grasp. We sin; we
fail; we struggle, but we never ever lose any battle ultimately, finally, with
the world, with the flesh, or with the devil. Our faith, our salvation is
always indestructible.
“You
say, well I know about people who were in the church, they confessed Christ,
professed Christ, did everything that all of us were doing, and then they departed.
What about them? And we are reminded again of 1 John, a very important portion,
chapter 2 verse 19, “They went out from us but they were not really of us. If
they had been of us, they would have remained with us but they went out in
order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.” Down in to verse 27,
“As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you
have no need for anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about
all things and is true and is not a lie and just as it has taught you, you
abide in Him.” True believers remain. That’s what abide means. Those who don’t
remain, those who depart only manifest the fact that they never were really of
us to start with.
“Your
faith, the faith by which you were saved, faith given to you by God is
permanent faith. It is indestructible; it is unconquerable faith. That is its
nature. It is not because you are unconquerable; it is because the faith which God in mercy and grace
granted you is permanent faith. Our text then is focused on the fact
that no matter what may come our way, we are overcomers. “Greater is He that is
in us than he that is in the world.” And therefore we triumph in the power of
Christ. This is such an encouraging reality. There is never going to be anything
that will come against us that can steal our eternal life.”
3/5/2025 9:00 PM
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