In the book of Revelation, John repeatedly emphasizes the call to "overcome." This message is directed to the seven churches of Asia Minor, symbolizing a message for all churches throughout time. The call to overcome is both a communal and individual challenge, highlighting that while the church as a whole is called to victory, each person must personally choose to overcome. The Greek word for "overcome" implies prevailing or being victorious in difficult circumstances. This victory is not just a legal status granted through Christ but an experiential reality that believers are called to live out.

John's writings in Revelation contrast with his earlier epistle, where he states that believers have already overcome. This duality suggests that while believers are legally overcomers through Christ, they must actively work to experience this victory in their lives. Overcoming involves overruling sin and circumstances that illegitimately hold us hostage. It requires a shift in perspective, seeing Jesus not just as the meek and mild Savior but as the risen, powerful Christ with fire in His eyes and authority over all.

To truly overcome, believers must identify with Christ in three key ways: through the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and a love for Christ that transcends even life itself. This identification is not passive; it requires active faith and a public declaration of allegiance to Christ. Overcoming is within reach, but it requires believers to exercise faith and take hold of the victory Christ has provided.

The power to overcome is found in a deep, personal relationship with the risen Christ. This relationship is not about a feel-good Jesus but about recognizing His authority and aligning our lives with His will. As believers, we are called to see Jesus as He truly is and to live in the reality of His victory, which has been pre-scripted for us. This means living with the assurance that, despite the challenges we face, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

**Key Takeaways:**

- Overcoming is both a legal status and an experiential reality. While Christ has made us overcomers legally, we must actively work to experience this victory in our lives by overruling sin and circumstances that hold us hostage. [04:07]

- To be an overcomer, we must see Jesus as the powerful, risen Christ with authority over all. This requires a shift in perspective, recognizing His sovereignty and aligning our lives with His will. [09:42]

- Identification with Christ involves the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and a love for Christ that transcends life itself. This active faith and public declaration are essential for overcoming. [19:11]

- Overcoming is within reach, but it requires believers to exercise faith and take hold of the victory Christ has provided. God places victory in our reach, not in our hand, to encourage active faith. [16:06]

- The victory of Christ is pre-scripted, assuring us that despite challenges, we are more than conquerors. This assurance comes from a deep, personal relationship with the risen Christ, who has already overcome the world. [26:18]

**Youtube Chapters:**

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:46] - The Call to Overcome
- [01:27] - Legal Status vs. Experiential Reality
- [02:35] - Individual Responsibility to Overcome
- [03:13] - Definition of Overcoming
- [04:07] - Legal vs. Experiential Overcoming
- [05:29] - Linking State and Standing
- [06:21] - Seeing Jesus Differently
- [07:23] - The Vision of the Risen Christ
- [08:12] - The Overcoming Jesus
- [09:42] - Relating to the Risen Christ
- [11:20] - Triple G: God, God, and God
- [13:19] - Jesus' Veto Power
- [14:35] - Identification with Christ
- [16:06] - Victory Within Reach
- [19:11] - The Word of Our Testimony
- [21:36] - Love for Christ Above Life
- [24:03] - Positioning for Overcoming
- [25:45] - Pre-Scripted Victory

**Bible Study Discussion Guide**

**Bible Reading:**
1. Revelation 2:7 - "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
2. Revelation 12:11 - "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."
3. Romans 8:37 - "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

**Observation Questions:**
1. What does the repeated call to "overcome" in Revelation 2:7 suggest about the challenges faced by the early churches? [00:46]
2. How does Revelation 12:11 describe the means by which believers overcome? What are the three elements mentioned? [14:14]
3. According to Romans 8:37, what is the source of our ability to be "more than conquerors"? How does this relate to the sermon’s message about overcoming? [10:32]
4. In the sermon, how is the concept of overcoming described as both a legal status and an experiential reality? [04:07]

**Interpretation Questions:**
1. How does the duality of being an overcomer legally through Christ and needing to experience it personally challenge the way believers live their faith? [04:07]
2. What does it mean to see Jesus as the powerful, risen Christ with authority over all, and how might this perspective shift impact a believer's daily life? [09:42]
3. How does the sermon suggest believers should identify with Christ through the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and a love for Christ that transcends life itself? [14:14]
4. What role does active faith play in taking hold of the victory that Christ has provided, according to the sermon? [16:06]

**Application Questions:**
1. Reflect on a current challenge in your life. How can you apply the concept of overcoming as both a legal status and an experiential reality to this situation? [04:07]
2. In what ways can you shift your perspective to see Jesus as the powerful, risen Christ in your daily life? How might this change your approach to challenges? [09:42]
3. Consider your personal testimony. How can you more publicly declare your allegiance to Christ in your community or workplace? [19:11]
4. Identify a sin or circumstance that is illegitimately holding you hostage. What steps can you take this week to overrule it and experience victory? [05:05]
5. How can you deepen your personal relationship with the risen Christ to better align your life with His will? What specific actions can you take to foster this relationship? [26:18]
6. Think about a time when you felt like you were being overcome by a situation. How can the assurance of being "more than conquerors" through Christ change your response in similar future situations? [10:32]
7. What practical steps can you take to ensure that your love for Christ transcends even life itself, as described in Revelation 12:11? [21:36]

Day 1: Experiencing Victory in Christ

The call to overcome in the book of Revelation is both a legal status and an experiential reality. While believers are legally overcomers through Christ, they must actively work to experience this victory in their lives. This involves overruling sin and circumstances that illegitimately hold them hostage. The Greek word for "overcome" implies prevailing or being victorious in difficult circumstances. This victory is not just a legal status granted through Christ but an experiential reality that believers are called to live out. The challenge is both communal and individual, highlighting that while the church as a whole is called to victory, each person must personally choose to overcome. [04:07]

1 John 5:4-5 (ESV): "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

Reflection: What specific sin or circumstance in your life do you need to actively work on overcoming today, trusting in the victory that Christ has already provided?


Day 2: Seeing Jesus as the Risen, Powerful Christ

To be an overcomer, believers must see Jesus as the powerful, risen Christ with authority over all. This requires a shift in perspective, recognizing His sovereignty and aligning their lives with His will. The vision of Jesus in Revelation is not of a meek and mild Savior but of a risen, powerful Christ with fire in His eyes and authority over all. This perspective shift is crucial for believers to truly overcome, as it involves seeing Jesus as He truly is and living in the reality of His victory. [09:42]

Revelation 1:17-18 (ESV): "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, 'Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.'"

Reflection: How can you shift your perspective today to see Jesus as the powerful, risen Christ in your daily life and decisions?


Day 3: Identifying with Christ through Active Faith

Identification with Christ involves the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and a love for Christ that transcends life itself. This identification is not passive; it requires active faith and a public declaration of allegiance to Christ. Overcoming is within reach, but it requires believers to exercise faith and take hold of the victory Christ has provided. God places victory in our reach, not in our hand, to encourage active faith. [19:11]

Revelation 12:11 (ESV): "And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."

Reflection: What is one way you can publicly declare your allegiance to Christ today, demonstrating your active faith?


Day 4: Exercising Faith to Take Hold of Victory

Overcoming is within reach, but it requires believers to exercise faith and take hold of the victory Christ has provided. The victory of Christ is pre-scripted, assuring believers that despite challenges, they are more than conquerors. This assurance comes from a deep, personal relationship with the risen Christ, who has already overcome the world. God places victory in our reach, not in our hand, to encourage active faith. [16:06]

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 (ESV): "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

Reflection: What step of faith can you take today to actively reach for the victory that God has placed within your grasp?


Day 5: Living in the Assurance of Christ's Pre-Scripted Victory

The victory of Christ is pre-scripted, assuring believers that despite challenges, they are more than conquerors. This assurance comes from a deep, personal relationship with the risen Christ, who has already overcome the world. Believers are called to see Jesus as He truly is and to live in the reality of His victory, which has been pre-scripted for them. This means living with the assurance that, despite the challenges they face, they are more than conquerors through Him who loved them. [26:18]

Romans 8:37-39 (ESV): "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Reflection: How can you live today with the assurance that you are more than a conqueror through Christ, despite any challenges you may face?

John is writing to the seven churches of Asia Minor as you'll see in a moment, seven is the number of completion so this is a message to all churches for all time and he's talking to the whole congregation he says I want you to tell this to the whole congregation but in each one of those scriptures I read you he said he who overcomes meaning it's possible to be in the church and in the congregation and not be one of the overcomers. [00:01:45]

The Greek word overcome the ko is a word that means to prevail to win one's cause or to be victorious in different and difficult circumstances so it has to do with being victorious in the midst of or over or in or through whatever the circumstances are that are illegitimately holding you hostage so right now if you have something that should not be holding you hostage but that is holding you hostage then you need to be an overcomer because that's what the word means. [00:02:49]

When John says you have overcome he's dealing with your legal status christ has made every believer an overcomer legally but what you have legally does not mean that's what you're experiencing personally so what he's trying to tell you and us is that the goal is to make our legal status our experiential reality so that's why the word is you have overcome spiritually legally because you come to Christ but you may not yet have overcome in terms of it working out in your life in terms of you experiencing it. [00:03:50]

To understand the key to being an overcomer if you really really really want to be an overcomer prevail you must begin to look at Jesus differently before he ever gets to talking about being an overcomer in chapters two and three he gives us chapter one he begins in chapter one of the book of Revelation verse one saying the revelation of Jesus Christ he says I'mma disclose Jesus to you. [00:06:00]

If you and I are going to be overcomers in practice not in principle you're going to have to see the Jesus that John saw this is not Jesus meek and mild this is not Jesus in a manger no no no this is Jesus on fire he says like the burning of a furnace he says when he spoke it was like the rushing of many waters like oceans and seas just thundering and he says when I saw this Jesus it knocked a brother off his feet. [00:08:07]

He speaks in these superlatives because it is your connecting with this risen Christ, Romans 5:10 after he says God demonstrated his love toward us that while we were sinners Christ died for us in verse 8 he comes to verse 10 and he says "And we are saved or delivered by his life." So the overcoming comes with this life if you are a believer in Jesus Christ you don't have triple A you got triple G god God and God that's God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit. [00:10:56]

God places victory in your reach not in your hand big difference overcoming is in your reach you can get it but it's not in your hand see what a lot of folk come to church and they want God to drop victory in their hand uh-uh he puts it within your reach because he needs to see you exercise faith to get it in your hand so you can talk about it all day you can pray about it all day you can come to church all day but if you do not grab what has been provided you don't get what you could have right. [00:15:41]

He says they prevailed overcame because of their identification with the cross with the confession and with the commitment what does that mean it means that they began by the blood he says to understand that the cross 2,000 years ago was relevant right now see for many people the cross is a historical event 2,000 years ago Jesus died on the cross and I believe he died for my sins i accept him as my savior and because of that I'm saved i'm going to heaven and all that's true. [00:16:32]

You will not overcome whatever you're needing to overcome if you are a secret agent Christian if you're a covert operative forget overcoming because Jesus Christ with fire in his eyes is not trying to help folk to overcome who are embarrassed to be associated with him he says "You deny me before men I will deny you before my father." Matthew 10 you confess me before men I will confess you before my father if you don't want to be associated with me in public. [00:19:22]

They overcame him because of a love relationship that they possessed with him that transcended dying now that's some serious love when it transcends dying but it's not unusual yeah he says to be an overcomer cuz cuz he got fire in his eyes to see an overcomer that's why that's why Paul says in Luke 9 he says "I die daily every day when I get up in the morning I say I am dead to me and I'm alive to you you are my life you're not just a place I go on Sunday you're my defining definition. [00:21:38]

Once you have now identified with Christ you have positioned yourself to be an overcomer that's right you have positioned yourself to see the move of God overrule in the circumstances of life there must now be a shift in perspective you must change your look you must look at Jesus now differently as the sovereign on fire Lord who now rules. [00:23:58]

On the cross Jesus Christ lifted the sins of the whole world for all men for all time on Calvary so what did you tell me the size of your problem was you're dealing with somebody who handled the world and it sin and its accompanying circumstances so it may be bad but it ain't that bad but if you're connecting it to the wrong Jesus that is a misconception of the biblical risen Jesus then you're applying it to somebody that's too weak to handle it. [00:12:31]

Revelation, written by the Apostle John, in chapter 2, verse 7, we read:

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes."

In verse 11, he says again:

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes."

In verse 17, he says:

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes."

In chapter 2, rather verse 26, he who overcomes. In chapter 3:5, he who overcomes. In chapter 3:12, he who overcomes.

So wait a minute. First John 5 says you have overcome, but the same author, John, when he writes the book of Revelation, says he who overcomes.

So on one hand, I have overcome; on the other hand, I need to overcome. So how do I put this together, and what does it mean?

John is writing to the seven churches of Asia Minor. As you'll see in a moment, seven is the number of completion, so this is a message to all churches for all time. He’s talking to the whole congregation. He says, "I want you to tell this to the whole congregation."

But in each one of those scriptures I read to you, he said, "He who overcomes," meaning it's possible to be in the church and in the congregation and not be one of the overcomers and not overcome, because he says, "He who..."

So he talks to everybody, and then he comes down to the individual and says, "Let me talk to you, he who..."

So forget the folk around you as we walk through this, because it's whether you decide to overcome, because your neighbor can't overcome for you.

[Applause]

But he tells the whole church, everybody who has come to Christ has overcome. The Greek word "overcome," the "ko" is a word that means to prevail, to win one's cause, or to be victorious in different and difficult circumstances.

So it has to do with being victorious in the midst of, or over, or in, or through whatever the circumstances are that are illegitimately holding you hostage.

So right now, if you have something that should not be holding you hostage but that is holding you hostage, then you need to be an overcomer, because that's what the word means.

But why do you tell me, John, that I have overcome, and then John, you come back in Revelation and tell me, "Well, you need to overcome"?

When John says you have overcome, he's dealing with your legal status. Christ has made every believer an overcomer legally. But what you have legally does not mean that's what you're experiencing personally.

So what he's trying to tell you and us is that the goal is to make our legal status our experiential reality.

So that's why the word is, "You have overcome" spiritually, legally, because you come to Christ. But you may not yet have overcome in terms of it working out in your life, in terms of you experiencing it.

In fact, the only reason you need to overcome is there's something to overcome. To overcome means to overrule a sin or a set of circumstances that are illegitimate. It is to overrule them.

So I want to say to you, as we move forward, whatever is illegitimate in your life—sin and/or circumstances—God wants you to overrule.

That's right, and not have it overruling you, particularly on an ongoing basis. Therefore, God wants you to experience overcoming.

The Bible makes it clear if you are going to be an overcomer, a prevailor, that the link has to be made between your state and your standing, between your position and your practice, between what's legal and what you experience literally.

Because you know you can get used to being a slave to sin, circumstances, to people, to problems.

To understand the key to being an overcomer, if you really, really, really want to be an overcomer, prevail, you must begin to look at Jesus differently.

Before he ever gets to talking about being an overcomer in chapters two and three, he gives us chapter one. He begins in chapter one of the book of Revelation, verse one, saying, "The revelation of Jesus Christ."

He says, "I'm going to disclose Jesus to you." He says in verse four, "I'm writing to the churches."

He takes this look at Jesus in verse seven:

"Behold, he is coming with clouds. Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him."

So it shall be. Amen.

Now watch this. Jesus is talking in verse eight:

"I am Alpha and Omega, who was, who is, and who is to come, the Almighty."

He tells John in verse eleven, "Write a book."

John then says in verse twelve:

"I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me."

Jesus is speaking to him, and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. In the middle of the lampstands, I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to his feet, girded across his chest with a golden sash.

His head and his hair were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like banished bronze when it had been made to glow in a furnace.

His voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand, he had seven stars.

In verse seventeen, when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the living one."

If you and I are going to be overcomers in practice, not in principle, you're going to have to see the Jesus that John saw.

This is not Jesus meek and mild. This is not Jesus in a manger. No, no, no. This is Jesus on fire.

He says, "Like the burning of a furnace." He says when he spoke, it was like the rushing of many waters, like oceans and seas just thundering.

And he says, "When I saw this Jesus, it knocked a brother off his feet. I fell down like a dead man walking."

See, we got this mamby-pamby Jesus, and that is not the overcoming Jesus.

[Applause]

Because we really do not understand who Jesus is since his resurrection and ascension.

See, when John is writing, Jesus has already died, already risen, and already gone back to heaven.

And when he sees this Jesus who's now up in heaven, this Jesus is in charge. This Jesus is controlling the agenda.

This is not a feel-good Jesus. This is not a Jesus just patting you on the back, playing patty cake with you.

This is not a Jesus who's just going along to get along. This is the Jesus that knocks you off your feet.

And if you're not relating to that Jesus, you're not relating to the overcoming Jesus.

You're just relating to the Jesus that you know, you read about, you feel good about, and he did all the miracles, and he was such a nice guy, and he died for my sins, and all that.

Oh no, no, no, it's a little bit more than that.

Let me show you what I mean. In Colossians chapter 2:15, it says that when Jesus died, he disarmed the rulers of this present age.

He took away the authority. So now you're beaten by deception that feels like reality, looks like reality, seems like reality.

That's why the scripture says in Romans 8:37, "You are more than conquerors in him who loved us and gave himself for us."

That's why John 16:33 says, "In me, you're going to have peace because I have already overcome the world."

He speaks in these superlatives because it is your connecting with this risen Christ.

Romans 5:10, after he says, "God demonstrated his love toward us that while we were sinners, Christ died for us," in verse 8, he comes to verse 10 and he says, "And we are saved or delivered by his life."

So the overcoming comes with this life.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you don't have triple A; you got triple G—God, God, and God.

That's God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. You've got triple G.

And what he wants you to know is when you begin to look at him differently and relate to him as the risen Christ who is ascended, who's now functioning with fire in his eyes—not soft skin, but hair like wool and a voice like thunder—that's who you're dealing with, and that's who you must relate to.

You say, "But my problem is so big, and it's been there so long."

That's all right. My problem is so big. You don't know how long I've been dealing with this addiction. You don't know how long I've been dealing with this circumstance.

You don't know how long my problem is so big.

Let me explain something: anybody who can lift 700 lbs can lift 200 lbs.

Okay? You show me a weightlifter who can lift 700 lbs, and if you bring them a 200 lb weight, that's not going to be a problem because they can lift 700.

On the cross, Jesus Christ lifted the sins of the whole world for all men for all time on Calvary.

So what did you tell me the size of your problem was? You're dealing with somebody who handled the world and its sin and its accompanying circumstances.

So it may be bad, but it ain't that bad.

But if you're connecting it to the wrong Jesus, that is a misconception of the biblical risen Jesus, then you're applying it to somebody that's too weak to handle it.

And so your view, my view of Jesus has got to be adjusted if we're going to experience the victory of this exalted Christ that John is talking about.

Before he ever gets there, he wants you to know that Jesus has veto power over that which has to be overcome—that's illegitimate.

Okay, so that raises a question: where can I find this power?

Okay, where? Come on, because if it's all that in a bag of chips, I want some of that.

I don't want to be overcome anymore.

Look at chapter 12 of Revelation, verse 11:

"And they overcame him," there's our word, "because of the blood of the Lamb, because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death."

That one verse will shift how you relate to Jesus.

When you shift how you relate to Jesus, he shifts how he relates to you, because now you're relating to him as he is, not as you want him to be.

Because a lot of folk come to church worshiping a Jesus as they want him to be, not as he declares himself to be.

And isn't it terrible when somebody's talking for you, trying to describe you to you when you know you?

So Jesus says, "Let me explain this to you."

Yeah, it says they overcame him, referring to Satan in that context. They overruled him; they prevailed against him when three things were in place.

These three things can be summed up in one word: their identification with Christ.

Now follow me closely here. When they properly identified with Christ, they prevailed.

Let me say this as I get into this: God places victory in your reach, not in your hand.

Big difference. Overcoming is in your reach; you can get it, but it's not in your hand.

See, what a lot of folk come to church and they want God to drop victory in their hand. Uh-uh.

He puts it within your reach because he needs to see you exercise faith to get it in your hand.

So you can talk about it all day, you can pray about it all day, you can come to church all day, but if you do not grab what has been provided, you don't get what you could have.

Right?

He says they prevailed, overcame because of their identification with the cross, with the confession, and with the commitment.

What does that mean? It means that they began by the blood.

He says to understand that the cross 2,000 years ago was relevant right now.

See, for many people, the cross is a historical event. 2,000 years ago, Jesus died on the cross, and I believe he died for my sins. I accept him as my savior, and because of that, I'm saved, I'm going to heaven, and all that's true.

But these folk are overcoming him by the blood in the present.

In the present of this text, they're not just overcoming him because the blood worked 2,000 years ago.

That's why when Paul described his identity in Galatians 2:20, he said, "I am right now crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live; yet not I, it's Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me."

He says, "If you want to look at my life now, I am controlled by the cross."

That is, I am controlled by the work that Jesus Christ did 2,000 years ago that affects my decision-making in the present.

It is my current point of reference.

If what Jesus did 2,000 years ago—which is why he left us with communion—you don't make it relevant today, it becomes a 2,000-year-old event that you'll benefit from for eternity, and it'll be useless in time.

In other words, the reality of what Jesus accomplished on the cross—which was why he said when he got up from the dead, Matthew 28:19, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth."

Translation: "I'm in charge now. I'm in charge now. I haven't come to take sides; I come to take over. I'm in charge now; I call the shots."

So if he's not calling the shots, you don't get to overcome.

But he says the cross is my point of reference—who died, why he died, and the victory that he accomplished.

I'm going to transfer to today.

He says secondly, they overcame him by the word of their testimony.

Watch this now, stay with me. You will not overcome whatever you're needing to overcome if you are a secret agent Christian.

If you're a covert operative, forget overcoming, because Jesus Christ with fire in his eyes is not trying to help folk to overcome who are embarrassed to be associated with him.

He says, "You deny me before men; I will deny you before my Father."

Matthew 10: "You confess me before men; I will confess you before my Father."

If you don't want to be associated with me in public, you just want this private meeting with the saints on Sunday, but you don't want other folk to know that you are a follower of Jesus Christ—which was the point of your baptism when you went public to say, "I am publicly proclaiming my identification with Jesus Christ."

Don't be calling on me for overcoming in your life when you don't want to be associated with me.

The word of their testimony.

Let me say it another way: trying to camouflage it by talking about "I believe in God" won't cut it.

Okay? God using God's name won't cut it.

God has placed everything in the hand of his Son. At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.

So the Father is glorified when Jesus is the superstar.

He was wounded for your transgressions, bruised for your iniquities. The chastisement of your peace was on his shoulders. By his stripes, you are healed, and you can identify with the risen Christ.

He said, "It's by the word of your testimony."

Oh, and then he hits us with a zinger.

He hits us with a zinger: number three, "And they did not love their life even when faced with death."

Whoa! They overcame him because of a love relationship that they possessed with him that transcended dying.

Now that's some serious love when it transcends dying, but it's not unusual.

Yeah, he says to be an overcomer, because he got fire in his eyes.

To see an overcomer, that's why Paul says in Luke 9, he says, "I die daily."

Every day when I get up in the morning, I say, "I am dead to me, and I'm alive to you. You are my life. You're not just a place I go on Sunday; you're my defining definition. You are my life."

If any man will be my disciple, he must desire and deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

That there is this understanding that I am pursuing a relationship with somebody that I want to fall in love with more than life itself.

[Applause]

In other words, this is serious commitment, but you probably got some serious stuff to overcome.

So this is not casual Christianity here.

Paul says, "I don't know whether to stay here or to go home to be with Christ."

He said, "I'm betwixt in between. If I stay here, it's to serve Christ. If I die, it's to go be with Christ. And if I suffer," he says, "I reckon that the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed unto me."

So he's saying basically, "I'm in a no-lose deal—living, dying, so it's all Christ."

So if I've got to be rejected because of Christ, if I've got to be misunderstood because of Christ, if I've got to be not liked because of Christ—not because of my foolishness, but because of Christ—then that's the way it is.

[Applause]

Once you have now identified with Christ, you have positioned yourself to be an overcomer.

That's right. You have positioned yourself to see the move of God overrule in the circumstances of life.

There must now be a shift in perspective. You must change your look.

You must look at Jesus now differently as the sovereign, on-fire Lord who now rules.

Any of you who like pro wrestling, let me explain something: it's fake.

Okay? Let me explain something. If you like pro wrestling, it's fake. It's been scripted.

They have already decided who the winner is going to be. That has been pre-decided, predestined, predetermined, elected.

That's all has decided before the match even starts.

You're looking at the match, and you see other wrestlers coming out right in the nick of time to jump in the match, and all that's scripted.

How's a man going to be against the rope, being beat to a pulp, and all of a sudden he gets energy out of nowhere, turns it around, flips it over?

They even pay you if you bleed. If you bleed, they pay you more because you made it look more real.

So they have scripted this thing, but even if you're being defeated, even if you're being thrown down, even if you're being abused, if it has already been predestined that when this thing is over, you're going to be more than a conqueror, that thing is going to turn around in some way, somehow.

I know the devil's been slamming you. I know circumstances have been beating you. I know sins have been owning you.

I know it looks like the evil one is controlling you, but Jesus Christ on the cross has already prescripted that you are a winner.

He's already prescripted that by relationship to him, you're an overcomer.

He's already prescripted that Satan has no longer any control over you.

He's already prescripted that greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world.

He's already prescripted that those folk don't control you anymore.

He's already prescripted that that circumstance doesn't control you anymore.

I know you're being thrown down. I know you're being beaten up, but you can now look at it and declare, "I am an overcomer, and I'm coming back at you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."