Christ's Promise (Rev. 2:7)

Introduction: Christ's Message to Ephesus and the Gracious Promise

0:02 Good morning to our studies in the second chapter of the book of the Revelation, Revelation chapter 2, this passage which comes to perhaps one of the most crucial issues in the whole area of the experience of the child of God individually and of the Church of Christ corporately, namely, the attachment of the Church and the individual believer to the Lord Jesus in true love and devotion. We have spent some weeks considering our Lord's message to the Church at Ephesus, one in which he begins by reminding them who it is that speaks to them, bringing attention to his own omnipotence and to his presence in the world. And then he issues his commendation, that which he sees as the one who walks in the candlesticks, discerning certain characteristics in that church which bring delight to him.

1:17 Then he issues what is the focus of this message, his complaint, in spite of all that is commendable, he says, I have this against thee, that thou didst abandon thy first love. There was declension in heart devotion to his person. While the heads were straight in doctrine, while the hands were busy in service, the heart was declining in affectionate attachment to Christ. And in the light of that complaint, he commands them to remember from whence they had fallen, to repent, and then to reform their lives in terms of their first work.

2:02 And so serious is this matter of the maintenance of first love, that he follows his complaint and his commands with this sobering threat. He says, unless you repent, I will come, and I will remove thy candlestick out of its place. I will unchurch you. In other words, one of the conditions of remaining a true church, where Christ is the light and life of the church, is to repent. And so serious is this matter of the maintenance of first love. The life and living presence of that church is the maintenance of devotion to his person by the majority of its constituency. Otherwise, he says, I will come, and I will unchurch you. I will remove your candlestick. Following that sobering threat, our Lord encourages

2:54 them with these words, But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. And we saw in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, in our study, of this encouragement that the capacity to love scripturally and to hate scripturally stand or fall together so that the presence of scriptural hate is an indication that there is still the remains of scriptural love. And so our Lord encourages them by the presence of this hatred to the deeds of the Nicolaitans to believe that their love could yet be fanned to deep fervor once more. And then in our last study several weeks ago, we looked at our Lord's entreaty, the beginning of verse 7, in which he said, He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. In which entreaty we saw the principle that the word of Jesus Christ is the word of the Spirit, and the word of the Spirit is the inscripturated revelation. When one of the elders in the church at Ephesus would stand to read this letter, a letter in which Christ is dictating to John, he was to recognize in the words of that letter the voice of the Spirit, which was in reality the voice of Christ.

4:16 And so our Lord says, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith. What he says concerning first love, what he says concerning the necessity of return to it, and then he closes his message to this church by what I'm calling his gracious promise, the latter part of verse 7, To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. To him that overcometh, I will give. A gracious promise directed to the end.

The Theme of the Overcomer in Revelation

4:59 The individual who is called in this passage, the one who overcomes. And by the introduction of this word in chapter 2 and verse 7, we are introduced to one of the major themes of the entire book of the Revelation. In these seven letters, one of the few common denominators of all seven is a peculiar promise addressed to the overcomers. In the first three letters, you have the promise after the command, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith, to him that overcometh.

5:39 The first three. In the last four letters, before the command, He who has ears to hear, let him hear, you have one form or another of the promise given to the overcomer. So that all seven letters have this peculiar aspect of this special promise, given to the overcomer. And then there is a beautiful statement of summary concerning the significance of this concept of the overcomer.

6:09 In chapter 21 in verse 7, where after he has described the glories of the new heavens and the new earth, and as it were dangled them out before the people of God, he said there's only one person who's going to inherit all these things. And who is that person? To him that overcometh, I will give. To inherit all of these things.

6:32 And so this whole theme of the overcomer that strikes us in the latter part of chapter 2 and verse 7 is really an opening up of a whole door of scriptural truth as it brings before us this concept that is strange to our ears, but which is central in the message of the Spirit of God, particularly here in the book of the Revelation. So then it's vital that we...

7:00 we should grasp what Scripture means by this term, he that overcometh. This is no peripheral issue. If you would inherit all things that pertain to the new heavens and the new earth, you must be what Christ meant when he said, he that overcometh. Now, do you think that inheriting the blessings of the new heaven and the new earth are pretty important?

7:29 Or would you just assume, I trust there's not a one who would have the attitude, no, inheriting the blessings of the new heaven and the new earth, they aren't important to me. I trust that the attitude of everyone this morning is, yes, these things are of utmost importance. If they are, then, in the light of Revelation 21, 7, he that overcometh shall inherit all things, then you must of necessity apply yourself with every bit of mental and spiritual diligence to grasp the blessings of the new heaven and the new earth. To grasp what the Lord means by the term to him that overcometh.

The Meaning of Overcoming: To Conquer in Combat

8:06 And so, to think our way through the text, we shall, first of all, look at the meaning of the word overcome, the meaning of overcoming. Secondly, we'll look at the necessity of overcoming. Thirdly, the rewards of overcoming. And then, God willing, next week, our message will focus on the means or the weapons by which we overcome.

8:32 First of all, then, the meaning of overcoming. To him who is overcoming, and it's a present participle. In other words, the Lord is saying, I am not describing someone who overcame some great obstacle in the past and has been, as it were, in a syndrome of defeat ever since. No, his promise is to the one overcoming, present tense, to him who is an overcomer.

9:04 This is the primary characteristic of his life. Now, what does that word mean? It's interesting that in the first three gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it only occurs once. But that one occurrence gives us a great key to unlock its basic meaning.

9:23 It's used in Luke chapter 11 and verse 22.

9:31 Perhaps to get the drift of thought, we can back up to verse 21. Our Lord is using an analogy to illustrate something with relationship to his own kingdom. How is it that Satan and demon powers are being put to flight by the presence of the Son of God? Our Lord is answering that question.

9:52 When the strong man fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace. There's a man who's got all of his spoils. In his home, he's got the door locked, and he sits outside fully armed. He's got submachine gun.

10:11 He's got hand grenades. He's got everything needed to completely protect all that he considers worthy of protection. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, there's the word, he taketh from him his whole arm, wherein he trusted and divided his spoils. When someone stronger comes and overcomes him, and there the meaning of the word is obvious, it means to overpower, to bring to a place of subjugation and defeat that which is the object of our desire to overcome.

10:56 Here is the picture, then, of the essential meaning of the word as it's found in its one usage in the gospel. It's only used one time by the Apostle Paul. In Romans 12 and verse 21, he says, Do not be overcome of evil. Don't let evil subdue you.

11:16 Don't let evil put you beneath its heel. Don't let evil conquer you, but overcome evil with good. Subdue evil by the power of good. However, when we come to the writings of John, we find that this is one of his favorite, he uses it once in his gospel when recording the words of our Lord in John 16, 33, where our Lord says, I have overcome the world.

11:47 But then when we come to 1 John, we find it used four or five times, and then in the book of the Revelation, 16 times. So it is peculiarly a word which attaches itself to the writings of the Apostle John. And, just to give you a couple of the references, familiar verses, this is the victory that overcometh the world, or even our faith. Ye have overcome the wicked one.

12:16 Chapter 2, verses 13 and 14. Well then, I think you have an idea of the meaning of the word. Simply stated, it is a verb which means to conquer, to defeat, to triumph over one's enemy, to be a victor, in the midst of combat. There's the essential meaning.

12:39 To be a victor in the midst of combat. This is why our Lord can say of himself in Revelation 3, 21, He that overcometh shall sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down on my Father's throne. What did our Lord do in overcoming? He subdued his enemies in true combat.

13:08 He came to grips with the devil. He came to grips with all the powers of hell, of sin, and of death, and he conquered them. He stripped them. He became an overcomer.

13:22 Now, in the context of Revelation 2, 7 then, when our Lord says to the church at Ephesus, to him that overcometh, and certain promised blessings follow, when he says in each of the letters to the seven churches, there is a peculiar promise to the overcomer, what is he saying? He's saying that in the real area of combat, in the circumstances where you find yourself losing your first love, where you find yourself assaulted by false doctrine, where you find yourself being attacked, where you find the pressure and inroads of lukewarmness and immorality, these things that are the real enemies of the real church in her real situation. Revelation 2 and 3 is a picture of the real church in its real situation. All of these enemies, lukewarmness, the doctrine of Jezebel that's taught in another church, all of these different pressures, our Lord says, in that battlefield, where the people of God are fighting against coldness, false doctrine, formalism, lukewarmness, immorality and all of her enemies, there is a peculiar promise to the victor,

14:48 to the one who within the visible church is something more than a mere attachment to the visible church, but one who is vitally joined to Christ and therefore gains the victory. Facing these enemies, he comes away the victor. Now, it doesn't say he'll come away without battle scars, nor that he'll come away with a perfect battle record, but like Bunyan's Christian, he'll come away the victor. If you want a commentary on what it means to be an overcomer, just reread Pilgrim's Progress.

15:25 There are times when the poor battling child of God is in Doubting Castle. It looks like he's the farthest thing from an overcomer. But just about when hope is all gone, he grasps the key of promise, and he's back in the way, battling. Just when it looks like Apollyon will defeat him, the Lord comes to his aid.

15:51 And so in the midst of the conflict, he is a victor. What does it mean to be an overcomer? It means to be nothing less than a true victor in the midst of true victory. In the midst of true and valid conflict.

The Christian Life as Vicious Combat

16:08 Now the clear inference of this, then, is that every true believer is in a battle and in a vicious combat situation. Now this isn't something you ask for, or take by faith, or submit to by consent. For the moment God, in sovereign mercy, by his own effectual call, brought you out of battle, brought you out of the kingdom of darkness, and planted you into the kingdom of his dear Son, he enrolled you as a soldier in his army, and you are, by virtue of that relationship, in the midst of the conflict. And if you're not conscious of conflict, if you can't point to battle scars, if you cannot see some evidence of triumph, my friend, I say it lovingly, but I say it firmly and honestly, you don't have a clue as to what a true Christian is.

17:09 For when our Lord speaks and promises blessing, he promises blessing to the overcomer, indicating that every true Christian, if he's to be an overcomer, must be a victor in combat, and you can't be a victor in combat unless you're in the midst of it. The Lord has no armchair gentles. So Bishop Ryle, in his wonderful message on this whole subject of the fight, says, and I put in another plug for you, for his book on holiness. You have to do this periodically because we get a new generation of people coming in who haven't tapped some of the richness of Ryle's book on holiness.

17:53 I commend it to you. And he says on this very point that I'm making by way of application, the true Christian is called to be a soldier and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death. He's not meant to live a life of religious ease. He's meant to live a life of indolence and security.

18:15 He must never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and doze along the way to heaven, like one traveling in an easy carriage. If he takes his standard of Christianity from the children of this world, he may be content with such notions, but he'll find no countenance for them in the word of God. If the Bible is the rule of his faith and practice, he will find his course laid down very plainly in this matter. He must fight.

18:44 The principal fight of the Christian is with the world, the flesh, and the devil. These are his never-dying foes. These are the three chief enemies against whom he must wage war. Unless he gets the victory over these three, all other victories are useless in vain.

19:05 If he had a nature like an angel and were not a fallen creature, the warfare would not be so essential. But with a corrupt heart, a busy devil, and an ensnaring world, he must either fight or be lost. With a corrupt heart, a busy devil, and an ensnaring world, he must either fight or be lost. Let me state it this way.

19:33 In this conflict, dear brethren and sisters in Christ, we are in it to conquer or to be conquered. And there is never a Korean War stalemate. In this fight, we are in it to conquer or to be conquered. And there is never a negotiated stalemate.

The Necessity of Overcoming: Salvation is at Stake

20:02 So then, when our Lord gives the promise to him that overcometh, he is addressing himself to that believer who is a victor in the combat. So much, then, for the meaning of the word. Now, in the second place, and I've already hinted at this, and I want to enlarge upon it, the necessity of overcoming. What are the issues at stake in the conflict?

20:28 Is victory optional? I had to preach somewhere a couple of summers ago in some tent meetings, and I had the unhappy privilege of hearing that after I preached all week on what are the essential elements of true conversion, repentance, submission to Christ as Lord, and some of these basic things, the Bible teacher who followed me the next week took as one of his basic texts one of these letters to the seven churches, and he took the phrase, to him that overcometh, and he said, there are two kinds of Christians. There are those who never overcome, and they'll miss rewards, and then there are those who overcome and they'll have all these wonderful rewards spoken of in the promises. Well, is that a valid way to approach this subject?

21:12 Is overcoming optional in terms of fewer or lesser rewards, or is overcoming absolutely essential to the salvation of my soul? Well, let's just look at some of the things promised to the overcomer, and since many of these things are couched in Eastern imagery, it would take too much time to look at all of them and expound the imagery, and several of the images I'm not prepared yet to expound, but let's take several that are very clear. Look at the one here in 2.7.

21:42 What is the promise that is given exclusively to the overcomer? Here it is. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst or which is in the paradise of God. Here the promise to the overcomer is the joy of eternal life in heaven.

22:04 He'll eat of the tree of life which is in God's paradise. Now let me ask you, is that optional? If you're not found in that day partaking of eternal life in heaven, where will you be? The Bible knows of only one other place.

22:23 You'll be in that lake of fire which burneth forever and ever. That doesn't look too optional to me. Look at chapter 2, verse 11. He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death.

22:38 And what is the second death? The commentary on it is Revelation chapter 20. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life shall be cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

22:51 Who will escape the second death? Only the overcomers. Those who've been triumphant in the conflict. Those who've come away from that battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil.

23:05 With the world, the flesh, and the devil beneath their feet by the grace and power of Christ. How necessary is overcoming? Only the overcomer will know the joys of eternal life in heaven. According to 2.11, only the overcomer shall escape hell, the second death. Look at chapter 3 and verse 5. He that overcometh shall be arrayed in white raiment and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. You want your name inscribed with permanence in the book of life?

23:46 You want the Son of God to plead your cause in the presence of the Father? Now let me ask you, is that optional? Is that some little extra goody? If you've been an extra good Christian, my friend, if he doesn't plead my cause in that day, I've had it.

24:00 If he doesn't confess your name in that day and say, Father, see that sinner, you know all his record, you know all about him, what he is and what he's done that would provoke your righteous wrath and bring down upon his head all the billows of your judgment, but Father, that's one for whom I shed my blood. Father, that's one who by your grace embraced me as his only hope. Father, I confess his name before you. The Father says, enter.

24:36 Say, is that optional? To have Jesus confess your name? That's not optional. And we could go right down through and look at these promises to the overcomer and see that what is promised to the overcomer is not some extra goody in terms of added bliss in the glories of heaven, no, the things promised are matters of life and of death.

25:04 They are not luxuries. They are essential necessities without which hell cannot be shunned and glory everlasting enjoyed. Therefore, being an overcomer is not optional. Now notice how our Lord addresses himself to that church at Ephesus.

The Believer's Conscious Engagement in Battle

25:26 He individualizes this promise. He says, He that hath an ear, let him hear. To him that overcometh will I give such and such blessings. What is our Lord doing?

25:43 He's acknowledging his own understanding that amidst the totality of the professing visible church, there are those who are his true people. And he says to those individuals and to those alone, will I give the blessings that I promise. There are others within the scope of the visible professing church who will go down in defeat before the pressure of coldness. For the scripture says, Because iniquity shall abound, the love of the many shall wax, what?

26:26 Cold. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. That's the best commentary I know on this text. Our Lord says, Look, as a church, the heat of your affection has cooled.

26:42 And he addresses them corporately, but then he says, He that overcomes, he who among you does hear my rebuke and is smitten in the heart and remembers from whence he has fallen and repents and does the first work, who overcomes this tendency to declension, to him will I grant these blessings and these privileges. And so throughout all of those seven letters to the seven churches, whatever enemies were attacking the church corporately as a body, the Lord says, Within that body there will be some who go down in defeat and the promise does not apply to them. But to those who are conquerors, to those who are victors, in the midst of the battle, the real battle, the specific battle that rages at that point, to them and to them alone will these blessings be granted. There's something I want you to notice. Our Lord says, It's to him that overcomes will I give. It is the redeemed man or woman who does the overcoming, not without divine grace, as we'll see next week, God willing, not without the power of the Spirit, but it's the believer who does the overcoming.

28:03 Therefore, the believer will be conscious of the battle. The believer will be conscious of expending energy in the fight. He'll be conscious of grieving at his defeats. He'll be conscious of rejoicing in his victories.

28:19 And I ask you today, my friend, as you sit here, are you conscious of the battle? Are you conscious of the battle? Are you conscious of these enemies, the world, the flesh, the devil? Are you conscious of expending real energy from your own real person in fighting those enemies?

28:41 Are you grieved at areas of defeat? Do you rejoice in the triumphs of God? Now let me try to explain what I mean. If I were to ask you today, how many of you are conscious of having a battle with the bills?

28:55 Immediately, you'd say, oh boy, I know what that is. When I sit down and figure out what has to go out and measure what's coming in, I know what the battle of the bills is. In other words, balancing your budget is not something that just happens or you take by faith. It's something you're involved in with your mind, your pen, your energies, your feelings of frustration, your feelings of relief.

29:24 When you get all the bills paid and there's $3.20 left in the checking account to cover the service, you're conscious of that sense of joy and satisfaction. You're conscious of the frustration when you're trying to say, which one shall I leave unpaid to? Now you see what I'm driving at?

29:38 There are many of you conscious of the battle of the bills. That's not something that just is resolved by faith or goes on outside of you. It demands your thinking, your energies, your joys, your frustrations. Some of you are conscious of the battle of the bulge.

29:54 You know what that is, that sense of frustration. When you put that dress on that you put away last year and somehow it just shrunk while it was in the closet. There are shrinking powers at work in your closet. Or you men, that telltale sign when the belt goes out another notch.

30:18 Now you're conscious of that and if you're working at it, you're all the more conscious of the battle of the bulge. You've indulged yourself certain bad habits and now when you have to start saying no to that second dish of ice cream or to ice cream period, when you've got to say no to that cookie in between meals, you are conscious of fighting the battle of the bulge. And if you just say, oh well, I'll just act like it isn't there, you don't need to tell me what state you're in. You've lost the battle.

30:47 Now you see what I'm driving at? These are battles in which you are very conscious of the issues at stake, whether it's dollars or cents and pounds and ounces and inches. These are battles that you are involved in as a person and you know it. I ask you this morning, are you conscious of the battle of spiritual issues?

31:10 Is the world a real enemy? Just as real as those pounds that collect around your middle. Just as real as those bills that collect in the box where you keep them. Is the world an enemy and you're conscious of it out there bearing its fangs, seeking to seduce, seeking to ensnare, seeking to seduce, seeking to swallow?

31:32 Are you conscious of hacking and whacking and coming away times bloodied and bruised? Or are you and the world in such good courting terms that you don't even hear what in God's name is the preacher talking about this morning? I fear this is the case of some of you. You say, what is that crazy man talking about?

31:55 What's so bad with our world? Pretty trees, nice cars, just had a good Fourth of July and a nice Honor America program in Washington. What is he talking about? He's talking about that world system that is without God that would impose upon us its standards of preoccupation with the flesh, preoccupation with things, preoccupation with time and sense, conscious of fighting against it as it seeks to push its standards upon you through every media of advertisement, through every one of the possible channels to which our five senses are exposed.

32:34 Paul says, don't let the world squeeze you into its mold. It's like a mighty vice. And when you feel its pressure as a child of God, you're conscious of the conflict. Are you conscious of the conflict with the world this morning?

32:49 If not, my friend, listen. You're in dangerous, dangerous ground. Are you conscious of the conflict with the flesh, those remains of corruption within us that would rise up and like spoiled brats who want to be indulged at their every whim so our flesh would rise up and say, indulge me, pamper me, flatter me? And I tell you, it's not easy to say no to your flesh, to mortify the deeds of the flesh, as the Scripture says, to put them to death.

33:23 Are you conscious of that battle? Were you conscious of it this morning when everything in your flesh cried out, more bed, more sleep? But you said, no, I must rise at least in time to prepare my heart for the worship of God today. And you pushed those covers off and where your body screamed out, pamper me, indulge me as a new man in Christ, you said, no, I shall feed the inner man.

33:51 You got away and you sought the face of God and you had something of the dew of His Spirit's influence upon your heart so that ere you entered through these doors, you had the confidence God was going to meet with you. Do you know anything of that battle with the flesh? That battle? Do you know anything of that?

The Conviction of Necessity for Battle Rigors

34:12 Oh, my friend, you'll never be an overcomer unless you're on the battlefield. And the promise is to those who are victors in the midst of the battle, the world, the flesh, the devil. And may I suggest as I bring this second heading to a close this morning, unless you're absolutely convinced of the necessity of being an overcomer as a condition of enjoying the promises to the overcomer, you'll not be prepared for the rigors of the battle. May I repeat that?

34:54 Unless you are absolutely convinced of the necessity of being an overcomer, if you're to enjoy the blessings promised to the overcomer, you'll not be prepared for the rigors of the battle. You'll quit. If you think there's any way other than sticking with it. That's why there's that picture in Bunyan's Progress of either Valiant or Great Heart.

35:24 It said, his hand so clave to his sword that his own blood was mingled with it. It's win or die. And I don't believe there are many of us who really have that conviction that the issue is just that crucial. Oh, how more important emphatically can our Lord teach it to us than to say to him that overcometh, these are the blessings that will follow.

The Nature of the Rewards: God-Given and Godly Desired

35:57 And without the overcoming, there is no claim to the blessing. Well then, consider with me briefly the rewards of overcoming. We've looked at the meaning of overcoming, the necessity of overcoming, now the rewards of overcoming. In each usage of the word in the seven letters, and then in chapters and then in chapter 21 in verse 7, a reward is held forth as the fruit of overcoming.

36:26 To him that overcometh, I will. To him that overcometh, I will. To him that overcometh, shall be given. These are the concepts that come to us in this Biblical teaching on overcomers.

36:39 Look first of all at the nature of the rewards, and then we'll consider in closing the effect of these rewards. Look at the nature of these rewards, rewards promised to the overcomer. Two things about their nature that is significant. They are rewards such as God alone can give, and secondly, they are rewards such as which only the godly desire.

37:03 Only God can give them. Who alone can give a man title to the tree of life and to the paradise of God? God himself. Who alone can spare men the horrors of the second death?

37:21 God alone, who holds the destinies of all men in his hands. Who alone can give the privilege of being confessed before the Father? God himself and his dear Son. So that if God does not give these blessings promised to the overcomers, there's no other way to get them.

37:44 There are some things that may be promised upon certain conditions that you can still have if you don't meet the conditions, by getting that object another way. The storekeeper says, here are my conditions, give me a hundred dollars, you may have my product. The thief says, I've got other conditions, I'll break in your place at night and I'll get it without the hundred dollars. You see, there are many things in human experience where certain conditions are set out upon which other things will be granted.

38:11 But when Almighty God says to him that overcometh, I will give those blessings are such that if God does not give them, on his terms, there's no way to go around the back door and get them. You've had it. This ought to drive us all the more to see the importance of the issue before us. And then the nature of these rewards is not only such as God alone can give, but they are such as only the godly would count a blessed reward.

38:42 Suppose I said to some of the children here this morning, look, if you kiddies will come on home today to the preacher's house, and after we're done here, and after we're done eating, if you'll wash the dishes, you know what I'll give you? I'll give you a large three million dollar digital computer. Kid looks at me and says, huh? He not gonna come do my dishes.

39:08 Why? The reward is not suited to his tastes. Now if I said that to Paul Emmerich, for the sake of you who are visiting with us, Mr. Emmerich has done graduate work in the field of computer science, and now you'll know why the folks laughed.

39:25 That'd be altogether different. I think I could get him to do dishes. That's not a bad idea. If I find an old computer lying around somewhere, I think Paul would do dishes for a year on that condition.

39:32 Why? Because the reward is suited to his field of interest. Ah, now listen. When Jesus says to him that overcometh, will I give?

39:39 To be a temple, to be a pillar in the temple of my God. The person who is a stranger to grace says, aw shucks, I thought he was going to promise me that I would give to the temple of my God. The person who is a stranger to grace says, aw shucks, I thought he was going to promise me to have all my bills paid and I could retire at fifty-five and live down in Florida on eight hundred a month. And all he says if I fight the world, the flesh and the devil, is that I can enjoy his presence forever?

40:11 It's like the little kid when I say do my dishes and I'll give you a computer. No interest. Why? What's promised is not suited to his nature.

40:21 Ah, my friend, you study these promises and they are promises which can only excite you, Sight the man who's been renewed by sovereign mercy. God says, I'll confess his name. I'll make him a pillar in the temple of my God. He shall not be hurt by the second death.

40:40 I'll give him a new name. All of these great rewards. But to the child of God, it's like promising a computer to Mr. Emmerich.

40:50 Ah, he says, that's what I want above everything else. To look upon the face of my God. To know that my Savior will confess me before his Father. To know that I'll eat of the tree of life who is Christ himself.

41:04 That I shall feed upon him in his very presence. The nature of these rewards is such that only the godly would want them.

41:16 So these things are promised to the true child of God. Indicating that every true child of God is the overcomer. And only the true child of God is the overcomer. And only the true child of God is the overcomer.

The Effect of Rewards: Sustaining and Exposing

41:27 And only the overcomer would enjoy the blessings. Now, in closing, what should be the effect of these rewards? May I suggest two things? Number one, the promise of these rewards sustain the believer in the conflict.

41:45 The hope of reward is a legitimate motive in the Christian life.

41:51 It is not the only motive, but it is a legitimate motive. Because God says, every cup of cold water, every cup of water given in my name, shall not what? Fail of its reward. Now, why is the matter of reward a legitimate motive in the Christian life?

42:15 For the simple reason that when God saves us, he doesn't make us inhuman. He doesn't make us less than human. And the whole matter of the delight in reward and the fear of punishment is something inherent in our humanity and it has nothing to do with sin. Before Adam ever sinned, God enticed him with the inference of reward and God threatened him with a clear expression of punishment.

42:46 He says, Of every tree you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou mayest not eat, for in the day thou eatest, thou shalt die. And the fear of promised punishment was to be a motive to keep Adam away from the world. And that was before sin ever entered. It's something common to our humanity to be enticed by reward and to be driven back by fear of punishment.

43:15 So when God in his grace saves us, he does not negate what is truly human. So grace captures this whole climate of the enticing value of reward and the repulsive value of punishment. So? Our Lord says to these people at Ephesus who feel the pressure of the conflict, here are these influences tugging away at their hearts, seeking to draw them aside from fervent love to the Savior.

43:48 And now conscious of the conflict, knowing something of getting bloodied in the battle, what is to give them strength in the conflict? The promise of God their Savior is to be out before them, to him that overcometh. I will give to eat of the tree of life. It won't be blood, sweat, and tears forever.

44:12 Life is beyond. And the promise of the reward of life was intended to sustain them in the midst of the conflict.

44:25 Now if reward and the hope of reward is the only motive a man has, it's doubtful that he's a child of God. But it is one of the powers. It is one of the powerful, motivating factors in the life of the Christian. You take a man who gets in the midst of hand-to-hand combat, and that's all the Bible knows about in its imagery of battle.

44:48 It wasn't the day when you had people sitting in bomb-proof shelters pushing buttons while bombs dropped 3,000 miles away. The whole imagery of the battle in the Bible is hand-to-hand conflict where you look your enemy in the eye and his blood spatters on you and yours on his. That's the concept of battle. And, oh, in the midst of that hand-to-hand combat with these enemies within, the flesh, the world, the devil, and the dust of that conflict smarts the eyes and blurs the vision and causes the spirit to grow faint.

45:23 Oh, when the child of God hears the word of Jesus, to him that overcometh will I give. Ah, that's the key of promise, you see. That's the spirits that come. As he drinks deeply of them and revives his drooping heart and refreshes him to press on until victory is his.

The Effect of Rewards: Exposing the Spirit

45:48 Are you conscious of the battle this morning, child of God? Are you convinced you must overcome?

45:56 Are you getting weary? Say, God, what's the use? What's the use? I'll tell you what the use is.

46:04 To him that overcometh will I give. To him that overcometh will I give. Isn't that enough? To raise your drooping spirits, to put fresh nerve into you, to send a new surge of life through your battle-weary arms.

46:25 Oh, child of God, he gives the promises to sustain you with strength in the conflict. And then the second thing that these promises do as to their effects, they expose the spirit. God's promise is that you must be a serious confessor in his deception. My friend, if you won't be enticed by such promises as these, to be a permanent fixture in the eternal temple of God, to look upon the face of Jesus, to have him confess your name, if those things are not enough to cause you to say, I will not sign a peace treaty with the world, the flesh, the devil, sin or hell!

47:08 If I go down to my grave, I will not go down beaten. If those promises are not enough to create that response in me, my friend, you're dead in your sins as dead as these pews are to my voice this morning.

47:24 And in honesty, I must tell you that.

47:28 But blessed be God, you don't need to go on that way. Let the very preaching of this tremendous text of promise to the overcomer be the means God will use to show you you're devoid of His grace and set you to crying out to Him to have mercy upon you, to open your eyes, to quicken you to life by His Spirit, to put you in the conflict because unless you're in the conflict, you'll never be an overcomer. And unless you're an overcomer, you'll never inherit life. To Him that overcometh will I give.

Conclusion: Summary and Forward Look

48:05 What does it mean to be an overcomer? It means to be a victor in the real battle.

48:12 Is overcoming necessary? Absolutely. The promises to the overcomers given by God as such that only the godly will count them a blessing given to sustain us in the conflict, given to expose us in our sham. May the Lord grant us to hear the voice of our Savior in the midst of His church giving this gracious promise to Him that overcometh.

48:42 God willing, next week, we'll look at the weapons with which He has fought and furnished us to overcome.

48:49 But it will do no good to look at the weapons unless we're convinced we absolutely need them and that the issue is an issue of life and death. May we look to the Lord in prayer.