OVERCOMING AS PERFECTLY AS DID JESUS

August 26, 2001 pm
MF Blume

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.

I want to continue a thought the Lord revealed to us some time ago regarding overcoming in the same manner that Jesus overcame.

You might think it is simply impossible to overcome sin or anything as perfectly as Jesus did, because He is God in flesh, and we aren't.

How far do we take this command?
Jesus would not say this if it was not possible.
But it’s probably not what you are thinking, anyway.

To overcome is to prevail against.

It is to defeat or conquer.
And a throne is associated with overcoming.

Revelation 5:5-6 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Keep in mind that Jesus said we need to overcome as He overcame in order to sit on thrones.

He prevailed or overcame by having once been dead, and then overpowering the very grip of death, itself, and raising Himself back out of the grave.

And we are told to overcome the way He did.

To overcome death by your raising yourself from the grave is quite a feat!

One might consider oneself as worthy of being worshipped!

John 20:27-28 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach [hither] thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

And Thomas was inspired to worship Jesus as God by that very accomplishment.

So how do we overcome as He did without being fit to be worshiped as gods, ourselves?

Since we know that we are not gods, how can we ever expect to overcome as He did?
It really does come together properly without considering ourselves to be gods when we learn the truth of the picture.

Jesus was dead, and is seen resurrected in victory over the last enemy that shall be destroyed, death.

And then we read about people who declare that they shall reign as kings on the earth after they see the Lamb prevail.

In other words, the sitting on thrones that we read about in 3:21 is fulfilled by the time we get to 5:10.

Revelation 5:9-10 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Kings rule from thrones.

The mystery is how we see people who say they can now reign, or sit on a throne, after we only have a record of Jesus overcoming.
Jesus said that we must overcome in the same manner that He overcame in order for us to sit on a throne.
We see that Jesus prevailed.
But where do we see these people prevail as He did?
Yes, He prevailed.
But why do these people claim they can rule.
Isn't there something missing here?

Its seems to be really mixed up.

On the one hand Jesus overcomes.
On the other hand we do not even read of Jesus seated on the throne in this particular picture.
Rev. 3:21 says that he who overcomes as Jesus did will sit with Him on His throne as He overcame and sat down with His Father on His throne.
The only thing we do see about anything to do with someone beginning to reign is the 24 elders and the 4 beasts in verse 10.
Jesus overcomes and these folks reign.
Obviously the picture is that Jesus overcomes but these folks sit on thrones.
What is missing is Jesus being seated on the throne and these people overcoming.

But although it is missing from this particular portion of John's vision, we do find the missing gaps in another part of his vision.

Revelation 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne.

This man child is obviously Jesus Christ.

Here He is caught up to God's throne and is seated.
That fulfills the aspect of Rev. 3:21 where Jesus sat down with His Father on His throne.

And the entire thought of 3:21 comes clearly into focus when you combine the pictures of Revelation 5 with Revelation 12.

After we read of the man child being caught up to the throne of God, we then read.

Revelation 12:10-11 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Verse 11 says the saints of God overcame the devil!

This is the final missing piece of the puzzle from 3:21.
We saw the Lord prevail or overcome in 5:5.
We saw the saints rule on thrones in 5:10.
And we saw the Lord sit on His Father's throne in 12:5.
Now we finally see the last element... the saints overcome... in 12:11.

And this fits together so perfectly because the common denominator that allows us to tie these two chapters together is the reference to the LAMB.

Revelation 5:5-6 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

John was told to see the lion prevail, and looks to see a LAMB raised from the dead.

And 12:11 says the saints of God overcome the devil BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.

THE LAMB OVERCAME.
THE SAINTS OVERCAME.
THE LAMB IS SEATED ON A THRONE.
THE SAINTS CAN REIGN, OBVIOUSLY FROM A THRONE.

We see all of this.

However, although we are told the saints overcome the devil, we do not ever see an actual action taken by the saints to do so, although we do see the Lamb raised from the dead in overcoming,, resurrection power.
There still seems to be a missing part.

But 12:11 gives the key to the mystery.

THE SAINTS OVERCAME THE DEVIL BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY.

Think of it.

John saw a Lamb as it though had been slain.

John must have seen blood.
By the looks of that lamb, although it was standing in front of Him, alive and well, it was definitely dead at one point.

It reminds me of Jesus.

We will see the wounds in His hands and feet, and be able to thrust our hand into His side where the spear of the Roman soldier was thrust into Him.
HE HAD TO HAVE BEEN DEAD by such wounds.

John 20:25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

For Thomas to say that, we know that such wounds were sure proof that the words of the rest of the disciples who saw Christ risen were true in saying HE WAS DEAD AND IS NOW ALIVE.

John 20:26-28 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

You cannot put your hand into the side of someone who is not risen from the dead.

You cannot put it into the side of one who is alive yet not resurrected.
The mortality of the person would prohibit you from ever thinking of sticking your hand into His side.
But Jesus told Thomas to do it.
Jesus was alive from the dead!
He overcame!

So that lamb definitely was dead and alive from the dead once again.

He clearly overcame.

But what about the saints?

Where did they appear to have overcome beyond proof?
Where do we read something about an action of their own that tells us the conquered?
WE DO NOT.
We simply read that they did!

And think of both visions again.

John saw a lamb risen from the dead and saints say they can rule. -- nothing is seen about the saints doing anything by way of overcoming.
John then saw a man child ascend to God's throne and the saints are told to have overcome -- no action of the saints is seen by way of overcoming.

There can only be one answer.

We learn that it never was an issue of repeating Jesus methods to overcome in our own activities.

Its more perfect than that.
Yes overcome as He overcame.
But its more perfect than imitating his methods in order to arrive at the same position of victory.
ITS DONE BY POINTING TO HIS VICTORY ITSELF, AND SAYING "HIS VICTORY HAS BEEN RECKONED TO MY ACCOUNT AS THE VICTORY I REQUIRED."
All John saw was Christ's resurrection in Rev 5.
And then suddenly people worship and say they shall reign as kings!
In Ch. 12 He only saw the man child rise to the throne and then heard someone holler the saints overcame the devil!

IT HAS TO BE THAT CHRIST'S VICTORY IS TURNED INTO OUR VICTORY!

And that is what is meant by the phrase, “overcoming by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.”
It’s His blood, but Our testimony.
One common testimony among many people.
That testimony is Jesus’ death and resurrection.
His death is considered as our death.
We overcome by His death.
It only makes sense if you understand that WE DIED WITH HIM, as far as God is concerned.

We overcome the way He did in the most complete and perfect manner possible.

HIS OVERCOMING IS CONSIDERED IN GOD'S EYES TO BE OUR OWN!

What an awesome Gospel!

Notice also that John was not able to go to the throne of 5:1 and take the book.

But after this lamb prevails and He proceeds to the throne and takes the book, suddenly we read in Rev. 6:1-2 that John is invited to come and look at the book.
He could not even approach beforehand.
John acts totally by virtue of the work Jesus accomplished in prevailing against death in v. 5 and 6.

THAT IS FAITH!

The way you overcome is by taking His victory and sticking your own face on his body and saying that was your victory!

That is actually the way God sees it, and it is the way we need to see it.

His death became our deaths when we were baptized into His death.

How can we say we are crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20) if not for the principle of His proxy sacrifice, or vicarious sacrifice?

He did it in our places.
So we can say that we did it, too!

You cannot come short of matching His degree of victory than by claiming His very actions to be attributed to be your actions!

Jesus was not kidding when He told us to overcome as He overcame!

He meant for us to take that to the ultimate!

We want to see everyone baptized into His death.

Have you identified with His death through baptism in Jesus' name?
That is what baptism in Jesus' name is all about.