EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/14/2025 3:15 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Part 10 “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
continue quoting from John MacArthur’s sermon in this Spiritual Diary.
“And
then He adds – and this is so important – “And I will not erase his name from
the Book of Life. And I will confess his name before My Father and before His
angels.” We not only receive worthiness, we receive security. Once you get to
heaven you’re never going to be anywhere else. “I’ll never blot his name out of
the Book of Life.” In John’s day, cities had a registry. Kings in their
kingdoms had a registry of citizens. When a person committed a crime of some
magnitude, their name was removed. It was blotted out of the city registry.
They were outcasts. And Jesus is saying it may happen to you in your city in
this world. It will never happen to you in the world to come in the city of
heaven. Your name will never ever be erased.
“Churches
through the years have been persecuted. Christians have been excommunicated
from all kinds of towns and cities and organizations. They have borne the
fierce persecution of God-hating people. They have been blotted out, killed.
Never in heaven – never in heaven. Savonarola, I saw his statue, we were in
Italy last year, great preacher. He preached against Catholicism and the Pope
sent a message to him. He said, “I separate thee from the Church Militant and
Triumphant.” The Pope excommunicated him. Church Militant is Church alive on
earth; Church Triumphant, Church in heaven. Savonarola sent back a message,
“From the Church Militant, yes. From the Church Triumphant, never.” You can
kill me, but you can’t blot my name out of the Book. I will never do that,
Christ says. I will never do that.
“So
what does it mean to be an overcomer? It means you receive heaven; that you
receive eternal life, the paradise of God; that you have a personal
identification by which Christ knows you as an individual; that you receive
Christ in all His fullness, the manna no longer hidden, the bread of life no
longer hidden; that literally you are given Christ as the Father’s gift. It’s
just staggering realities, heavenly realities that you’re going to walk in
white because you’re righteous and worthy of it. And your name will never ever,
ever be removed.
“And
then in the third chapter and the twelfth verse, in the letter to the church at
Philadelphia verse 12 says, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the
temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore, and I will write upon
him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem
which comes down out of heaven from My God and My new name.” That’s a lot.
First of all, He says overcomers are going to become pillars in the temple of
My God. In ancient times if you ever visited the ancient world, the ancient
Greek world, you know they built all these temples with pillars. Right? You go
to the ruins of Greece or the ruins of Asia Minor, Turkey, or wherever it is,
even in Israel, and a lot of times you see what’s left of the pillar. Sometimes
they’re toppled over. But great temples, great edifices, great buildings, great
houses, great civic places in the cities were built with pillars.
“And
important people were honored by placing a pillar in one of the great temples.
They would provide the money for the pillar and their name would be placed upon
that pillar. Very often those pillars which you see now is stone, were overlaid
with marble, and then overlaid with gold and the name of the person was there.
And the idea was to make it as permanent out of stone, marble, gold as it could
possibly be as a perpetual memorial or honor to a certain person. They were
firmly set. They were secure. They lasted virtually for millennia. And God
says, I’m going to bring you up here and I’m going to give you a name, a
prominent name of honor in a pillar in My temple forever. What an amazing
thought. And the further amazement is that none of us will have any pride about
it, because we’ll be perfect, and we will all possess perfect humility and yet
we will understand that we, through the work of God in Christ, have been made
worthy of such an honor. And He says, “He will not go out from it anymore.”
“Philadelphia,
the city this letter was written to, was located near a large volcanic field
constantly subject to earthquakes, which often destroyed the city and people
had to run in fear out of Philadelphia. Where you’re going there aren’t any
earthquakes. You don’t have to worry about the great temple and the pillars
coming down on your head, not in heaven. No fear, no pillars are going to
collapse. You’re never going to have to run from an earthquake. You can come
into the temple where your name is in the pillar and be safe. Furthermore, not
just a pillar. God is going to write on him, on the overcomer. Some of us are
going to get our first tattoos. I’m going to – my first ones are going to be
from Him. I don’t want any others, when He’s the only one that’s going to be
allowed to write on me. “I’ll write on him the name of My God.” Why? Belongs to
God. This is God’s. It’s a staggering truth. “And I’ll write on him ... the
name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, and I’ll write on him My new
name.” Secured, loved, honored in inconceivable ways.”
3/14/2025 3:30 PM
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