[0:00] Amen. Amen. It is good to be here. Good to be together. Time is running on and going too fast.
[0:14] Can you hear me through this okay? This thing working? Good. We have a brand new microphone this morning, so hopefully it sounds okay.
[0:30] I was hoping to be there last night when you all were together. I was planning to be, and for several reasons I wasn't quite there able to be there, but it made me a little jealous.
[0:47] So I haven't heard a whole lot, but the boys said it was good. I trust that you young men had a very blessed time and that you are being overcomers.
[1:00] You're saying, yes, we're overcomers. How are we overcomers? Through Jesus Christ. Jesus. Amen. Through His shed blood, through the power of the blood, and by the word of your testimony, we are overcomers.
[1:18] The Bible says, I want to talk today about overcomers. Let's turn to the church at Ephesus in Revelation. Not Ephesians, but Revelation chapter 2.
[1:35] I just want to jump through this chapter, and I thought about reading several chapters, but I think just for the sake of time, we'll just look at some of these verses.
[1:48] And we'll see that Jesus speaking to John here, and how that He's talking.
[1:58] He gave John a message for seven churches, right? And which is really just one church, but seven different places of the church.
[2:12] And the first one is in verse 7, chapter 2, verse 7. The church at Ephesus. I'll just read a verse. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
[2:29] To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. To him that overcometh.
[2:40] To that church. And then a promise. I will give to eat of the tree of life. And as we look at this, let's remember that Jesus God is talking to the church.
[2:55] Yes, it was specifically that church over there in Ephesus. The people at that church. But I believe we can apply it to us today. Overcomers.
[3:08] The next one is in verse 11. The church at Smyrna. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the church. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
[3:26] Are we in that category? It's, you know, he says to the churches, plural. So if it was to the church at Smyrna or the church at Ephesus, he ends up with saying the churches.
[3:43] Does that mean all the churches? Does that mean Plains, Montana? Shall not be hurt by the second death. In other words, they're going to be saved and redeemed.
[3:58] You're not going to be lost. The next one is the church at Pergamos, which is in verse 17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
[4:11] To him that overcometh, I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.
[4:26] That's deep. Isn't it? But very exciting. Him that overcometh, where were we?
[4:43] Yeah, verse 17. Him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna. I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written.
[4:57] A new name. He's talking of a changed person, a new life, a new name written. That could be, we could have a discussion about that.
[5:10] What is he talking about? You know, maybe we need to sometime just really dig into that. The next one is in verse 26, to the church of Thyatira.
[5:28] And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. I'm going to keep reading a few more verses. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my Father.
[5:51] And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Wow. That is powerful.
[6:05] And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of potter. You know, the promises that we get from being an overcomer is amazing.
[6:16] It's amazing. We're not just, you know, a conqueror. We're more than a conqueror. Remember that message? More than a conqueror?
[6:27] Out of Romans. Let's go to chapter 3 in verse 5. The church at Sardis. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
[6:51] Isn't that amazing? Jesus is saying to the individual that if you overcome, and you are an overcomer, the same shall be clothed with white raiment.
[7:09] You're going to be white as snow. And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life. You know, we all deserve to be blotted out of that book, didn't we?
[7:22] That's what we deserved. But Jesus said, if you're an overcomer, it's not what you're going to get. Praise the Lord.
[7:38] White raiment, clothed in white. Your name will stay in the book, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
[7:52] So what do you think? Is Jesus up there today and confessing Enos to the Father, the angels? You, you, your name?
[8:02] What do you think? We don't deserve that. But because of the blood, the blood of the Lamb, and we want to look at that today.
[8:15] We don't get what we deserve. I was thinking earlier as we were worshiping and just praising God through songs.
[8:26] You know, some of those songs are so deep and so inspiring, so refreshing, so anointed. And we worship the Lamb that was slain, don't we?
[8:37] There's religious people today that think you're crazy when you worship. And that they think you're arrogant, you're proud. Who do you think you are that you would praise the Lord or even say praise the Lord?
[8:55] They don't know who we worship. They don't know him. If they would know him, they would worship too. And they would realize it actually takes humility and a brokenness to come before Almighty God and to worship the Lamb.
[9:12] But we are called to worship the Lamb that was slain. It's actually very proud not to. Okay, where were we?
[9:25] Church at Sardis. Let's go to the church of Philadelphia. Chapter 3, verse 12 in Revelation. Let's go to the church of Revelation.
[10:04] Let the Spirit sayeth unto the churches. Now we've been talking about overcoming. You know, he said different things. Jesus said different things to each of these seven churches.
[10:18] Some of them he liked what they were doing. Some he didn't like. And he pointed those things out. He told John to go tell them. But one thing that he said to every one of them was about being an overcomer.
[10:33] To be an overcomer. To be victorious. That is one thing that God is saying to the church today. That unless we are an overcomer.
[10:44] You can take all the things that we just read and you can reverse them and say, If you're not an overcomer, then the opposite is true. Think about that.
[10:56] What about that one about the name not being taken out of the book of life? What if you're not an overcomer? Is the opposite true? What about, there was another one.
[11:12] Given to eat the hidden manna. What if you're not an over, you're not going to eat that manna. What about the second death?
[11:24] Think about that. Not an overcomer. You know, we were just looking on the positive, assuming we're all overcomers. But what if somebody is not? God wants to change you and make you an overcomer too.
[11:42] Right? That's the good news. That's the gospel. The good news. Don't feel condemned if you're not an overcomer this morning. Just become one. By the grace of God.
[11:53] Believe. Believe. You can become an overcomer. I didn't read the last one, did I? Did I miss one?
[12:04] Yeah. Verse 19. The Laodiceans. That's the one I have a hard time pronouncing. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
[12:18] Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Oh, there it is. Repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him.
[12:33] And he with me. He's talking of a fellowship, a close fellowship, somebody you sup with. And then he says 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.
[12:54] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Wow. Just such promises. Such deep promises of glory.
[13:05] And even of now, that we can obtain by being an overcomer. How do we become an overcomer? You just pull up your bootstraps and say, I'm going to do this, and I'm going to be strong, and I can do this.
[13:23] Too many of us have tried that. Probably everybody, every Christian at some point has tried that. The folly of trying harder.
[13:36] That's another message. The foolishness of just trying harder doesn't work. We don't have the power to be an overcomer on our own.
[13:48] Don't waste your time. Doesn't work. In Revelation 12, verse 11, you can turn there if you want to, but I think it's just that one verse that we all know.
[14:07] And they overcame him, how? By the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. And they loved not their lives unto death.
[14:22] So the power is in the blood of the Lamb. That's where the power is. What's the word of their testimony?
[14:32] You know, we read them as two separate things. I think this morning they're the same. The testimony is also in the blood. Is it not?
[14:45] It's not our testimony. I mean, it is, but it's what he has done. It's the blood of the Lamb. That's the testimony. So in other words, they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, but the way they could do that is because it happened to them personally.
[15:05] Now we have that testimony. Right? It's our testimony. It's what Jesus has done for you, for me. And by that, they overcame him.
[15:19] Who did they overcome? Who did they overcome? The accuser of the brethren. That's right. Yes, he accused them day and night, it says.
[15:32] We have become, we have been overcomers. Have we? I know a lot of you are saying yes. Does Jesus know that you're an overcomer?
[15:45] And does that accuser, do the demons of hell know that we are overcomers? Do they know that? Do our friends know that? Does your family know that?
[15:58] Those that you're close with, do they know by our lives that we're an overcomer? We're not the same we used to be. Right? I look at you all and I just rejoice with you for the changed lives.
[16:13] It's just so, so gives me so much hope and cause for rejoicing deep in my heart.
[16:24] But when I think of it, how much more does God rejoice? So much that he tells the Father, the angels about you and about me.
[16:37] Isn't that amazing? God is amazing. He's so good. Overcomers. What are some things that we have been able to overcome?
[16:49] And by whose strength and whose power? You see, that's why worshiping the Lamb is humility. It's an acknowledgement that we couldn't, but he could.
[17:06] We're not the same. We've been changed. Newborn. Born again by the Spirit of God. Have you been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb?
[17:17] Saved. Saved. Salvaged. Restored. Reconciled. Think of those words. Reconciled.
[17:31] He has changed you into a new creation or a new creature in Christ Jesus, who is the Lamb of God. Why is Jesus the Almighty One? Why is he called the Lamb of God?
[17:43] Let's look at that. I was just reading some different articles and different things that people say, and I want to look at what the Bible says also.
[17:59] But you know, most of the pictures that we have in our minds of a lamb, they're little lambs, donny white little animals, frolicking in rolling green meadows, and they're sometimes carried tenderly in the arms of their shepherd.
[18:19] Lambs represent gentleness, purity, and innocence. What's more pure than just a little lamb? Though it is one of the most tender images of Christ in the New Testament, the phrase Lamb of God meant something far more disturbing in the minds of those that heard John the Baptist hail Jesus with these words.
[18:53] Think about the culture back then. Think about what happened to little lambs. Hadn't many of them at one time or another carried one of their own little lambs to the altar to be slaughtered as a sacrifice for their sins?
[19:15] A lamb that they had fed and maybe bathed, the best animal in their small flock. Hadn't the bloody sacrifice of an innocent animal provided a vivid image of the consequences of transgressing the Mosaic law?
[19:36] Surely John must have shocked his listeners by applying the phrase, Behold the Lamb of God. Amen. It had deep meaning to the people.
[20:00] When we pray to Jesus as the Lamb of God, we are praying to the one who voluntarily laid down his life to take in his own body the punishment for our sins and for the sins of the entire world.
[20:20] Yes, we worship the Lamb. The Lamb. The Lamb that was slain. You know, sometimes when we have a thing on our ministry chat, many times when there's a praise or something, Brother Phil will respond with glory to the Lamb or glory to the Lamb of God.
[20:42] referring to Jesus as the Lamb. Looking back into history and the context of the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed.
[21:02] Their sacrifices were found all throughout the books of the Old Testament. These blood offerings acted as a temporary covering for sin. Read about that in Leviticus 4.
[21:14] And there you get a clear picture of the process and the purpose. Through this process, the priests will purify the people from their sin, making them right with the Lord and they will be forgiven.
[21:30] That's what they did in the Old Testament. So the purpose of an animal sacrifice and offerings was sanctification, righteousness, or their right standing with God and forgiveness.
[21:47] In Hebrews, it also sheds some light on the importance of the blood offering. In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood.
[22:00] For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. This was the life under the law. The people knew if sin was present, a sacrifice was needed for redemption.
[22:17] I read that, I thought, isn't that how it is today? If sin is present, if there's sin in our life, if there's sin in anybody's life, if sin is controlling somebody's life, a sacrifice is needed, blood is needed still today.
[22:41] There's just one big difference. It's already happened. Once and for all, it has happened. The perfect Lamb of God. That blood not only covers our sin, it washes them away.
[22:58] They're gone. Remember? As far as the east is from the west. So far, He'll remember them no more. This little lamb in the Jewish culture had a very important place in their religion.
[23:23] Lambs were known for their white coats, and white is the symbol of purity and cleanliness. You know, we can begin to see why Jesus was called the Lamb of God.
[23:38] He too was stainless, perfect, free from sin. He was perfectly pure, like a lamb. Like those little lambs were sacrificed for our sins, so would Christ be sacrificed.
[23:56] What a perfect sacrifice. No sin. Completely innocent in every way. Totally pure. No blemish.
[24:06] The Bible says no guile was found in His mouth. Yes.
[24:19] Let's turn to John chapter 1. Being overcomers.
[24:32] If you remember anything about today, remember the word overcomer and the blood of the Lamb. By the blood of the Lamb.
[24:42] John 1, verse 29. And the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
[25:01] This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me, and I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel.
[25:18] Therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him, and I knew him not.
[25:34] But he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.
[25:50] And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God. Again the next day, after John stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus, as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God.
[26:10] John says it twice, one day, again the next day. And this time he was, I'm not sure who the two disciples were. I didn't look into that. Maybe somebody knows. But there were two disciples of John walking with him.
[26:25] And John the Baptist says again, Behold the Lamb of God. Look at the next verse. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. You know, they left John.
[26:39] They left the one they were with, and they followed that Lamb. They followed the Lamb. What about you?
[26:51] What about me? Who are we following? Who do we follow? A lot of people just follow a man like they were, and rightly so.
[27:02] They were following John. But when Jesus showed up, they followed another. And all it says is, Behold the Lamb of God.
[27:17] They were like, That's who we want to follow. Who are we following this morning? You know, there's a lot of voices out there that beckon you to follow them.
[27:29] Just now thought of that. There's a lot of voices, a lot of people all over this world, this nation. Usually they're proclaimed preachers.
[27:41] Follow our way. Follow us. Wouldn't it be more simple to just go back and say, Behold the Lamb of God.
[27:54] And people just follow Him. Isn't that who we follow? Follow His voice. Jesus said, My sheep know My voice.
[28:05] And a stranger, they won't follow. Know the voice of Jesus. Know who He is. If we don't know, we need to figure it out.
[28:16] We need to find out. We need to learn to know Him by becoming a disciple and following Him. What about you and I?
[28:26] A verse in Romans 8, verse 3, it says, For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.
[28:46] Why? Because He was perfect. He was that perfect Lamb of God. So that's how He could condemn sin in the flesh. He came just like a man, like you and I.
[28:59] And we're all sinful. We've all been sinners. Every man born, except one. He condemned that sin in the flesh.
[29:11] He was an overcomer, and He gives us the power to overcome also. So, yes, like we said, the sacrifices in the Old Testament, they were a temporary covering of sin.
[29:27] I believe that it caused God to look away, at least temporarily, over sin. That's all they had, was the blood of lambs, and goats, and whatever else they sacrificed.
[29:45] Lots of blood. But today, it's not just a covering. It removes completely.
[29:56] I'm so thankful for that. It removes, it cleanses to the uttermost that precious blood. Jesus, the Lamb of God.
[30:08] He was once and for all sacrificed. And it fulfilled God's need for a blood offering. He was the perfect sacrifice of love.
[30:21] This so satisfied God that He is willing to forgive the sins of the whole world. He came to save.
[30:33] He so loved the world that He came and He gave. Not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Toward the end of Revelation, several times, it also refers to the Lamb.
[30:55] In Revelation 21, verse 27, it says something about the Lamb's book of life. All through Revelation, you know, I don't know how it will be at the end of time, but I do know that in Revelation we read a lot of the Lamb of God.
[31:20] But let's remember He's also a king. He's coming back. He's also going to be a Lamb with wrath.
[31:32] Great wrath. There's a verse about that and it says, the Lamb hath a great, will come with wrath. James 4.8 says, also beings, sorry, James 4.8, draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
[31:55] And it's only because of the Lamb of God that we can draw near. We can draw near because of the blood.
[32:06] In Hebrews 10, let's turn there. Hebrews 10, verse 16. Very familiar scripture, but I'll start reading in verse 16.
[32:17] This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them. I know that you often hear me quote that verse, but it is precious to me that it's not just on tables of stone, but in our hearts.
[32:39] Has He written His law in your mind and in your heart? And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
[32:55] Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest. How? By the blood of Jesus. That's how we come near to God.
[33:07] Again, is by the blood. Do we realize this morning the preciousness, the need for the blood of Jesus to be applied in our lives? We can't even come near to God without it.
[33:20] We can't have it change life without it. We have boldness to enter, to draw near to our God through the blood of Jesus in verse 19.
[33:36] Verse 20, by a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh. And having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised.
[34:12] What precious words. Without wavering. Do we waver? Do we have a faith that doesn't waver? No doubt. You know, so oftentimes we look at our own lives and we see our mistakes, we see our faults, we see the faults of others.
[34:29] Maybe our spouse, our brother, sister. And we falter. Our faith wavers. But I want to encourage us this morning and inspire us to look unto the Lamb.
[34:45] It's because of the Lamb. The blood of the Lamb. That's what this is talking about. Not because we've been so good and so perfect. That's not why we have faith.
[34:58] We have done nothing other than come to Jesus and be changed by Him. We don't come to God because somehow I've just been such a good Christian so I guess I qualify.
[35:15] It says, we come there by the blood of Jesus. Draw near with a true heart.
[35:26] Yes, He has changed us to the glory of God for His glory. But we draw near to Him with a true heart in full assurance of faith.
[35:37] And what God is really looking for is that we have that faith. that we have that belief in Him without doubting, without wavering, without questioning.
[35:50] But because of the blood we come, we draw near to Him. Near, still, near. Right? We're doing, we're happy this morning.
[36:01] We're blessed. He's washed us, forgiven us. We feel free. Right? But we still draw near and still near. We're still on the journey.
[36:12] We don't stop and think, wow, we're at a place now like, was it Peter that said, let's build an altar, let's build a temple right here.
[36:23] This is so good. We don't do that. We keep walking. It's a walk by faith in the Son of God.
[36:35] I just love these verses. He has consecrated us through the veil. A high priest over the house of God.
[36:48] Who's the high priest? We have that now. We don't need other priests today. Thank the Lord for that. Many people still look to a priest that's not Jesus.
[37:01] But we have a high priest over the house of God. And then it says, let us draw near with a true heart. Washed, cleansed, sprinkled, no evil conscience.
[37:14] Our conscience can be free. Open heaven before us. what does it mean for you and I this morning that we can worship the Lamb of God?
[37:34] Let's turn yet to one other scripture. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We'll end the message early and then hopefully there's testimony time and so on and then communion.
[38:04] Let's start begin in verse 14 of chapter 5. For the love of God constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then we're all dead and that he died for all that they should live sorry that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again.
[38:35] Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea though we have known Christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him no more therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away and behold all things are become new and all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given us the ministry of reconciliation okay now we need to talk about this let's keep reading though to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses against them and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation now then we which we I'm sorry now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though
[39:40] God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him some deep words some very deep words there but what I want to point out or talk about is that let's go back up first of all to verse 15 but unto him which died for them and rose again do you believe this morning that we not only serve a lamb that was slain but a lamb that was risen he's alive it's not because he's you know if Jesus would have given his life it would have been so commendable and so so amazing
[40:40] I can't even describe it but you know what I mean but the fact you know if he what if he wouldn't have risen we'd still be in our sins we still wouldn't have hope but he is alive today he didn't only give his life he's alive and gives us life so through that life through the life that we live in him he calls us this is a calling to the church in verse 17 therefore if any man be in Christ he's a new creature old things are gone everything has become new we've experienced that right and then he says how he has reconciled us to himself he's restored our relationship with God and now look at how he ends that verse and has given you
[41:43] Jeffrey Daniel and all of us the ministry of reconciliation are we fulfilling that calling do we understand that as a ministry that God wants to lay on us that no matter where we're at in our journey how young if you're a believer in Jesus you've been born again you have a ministry and that ministry is to reconcile people to their God and sometimes that's just your testimony whatever God allows from you you might think that I'm young I'm a young lady or a young man or I don't know how to share things very well or whatever whatever might come to your mind but just your joy just the fact that you're a testimony for what
[42:44] Jesus has done and yes sometimes we need to open our mouths and actually speak too to get it out right but we have a ministry of reconciliation and I just I'd really that really spoke to me this morning when I was reading these verses I knew it was there but it just really hit me that each of us that God has redeemed it doesn't stop with us you know we reach back to our friends maybe our old friends not to hang out and party like we used to or whatever your experience was but for the ministry of reconciliation for those that are open minded those that are hungry if we don't minister to them and we don't we don't witness to them or warn them or whatever whatever God lays on our heart then have we been reconciled
[43:50] I'll just leave that as a question but I do believe I do believe and I see this over and over that when a person gets free you know what one of the first things that happens to you is when you genuinely get born of the spirit of God and your sins are forgiven and you first realize that you get a burden for those that aren't almost every time when a person gets free they start thinking my friends my family my loved ones right and you become you know you have a burden there's a reason for that that's that's God's call to the Christian let's not lose that that burden for those that are not free those that need
[44:51] Jesus let's pray father we come to you at this time lord and we just thank you lord this morning we worship the lamb that was slain we thank you lord for that precious blood lord that blood that gives us the power to be overcomers without that there would be no power without that we would have no hope we'd still be in our sins lord and and we just want to thank you for the blood of Jesus that perfect lamb that innocent perfect pure lamb of god what a description what a what a perfection and lord this morning we worship you and we thank you for that blood thank you for saving us lord and as we are thankful help us to remember these words that you've given us a ministry of reconciliation to those that are not reconciled with their god lord may that burden come upon us as a church here that we would have that divine that true burden from the holy spirit that you would put it on us that we do have that ministry and lord may everything else the way we live our lives reflect that that it would be real that you would minister to us lord we give the remainder of this service to you and we just ask that you'd be here with us lord as we partake this your body your blood may it be precious to us and lord i pray that every heart would truly worship you in truth and in spirit we pray this in jesus name amen and mi so and and and too and then we and and we cosas and we and we we we we and we we we and we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we we