VICTORY BY OVERCOMING
[p. 207] VICTORY BY OVERCOMING
1 Corinthians 15:57; 1 John 5:4,5; 2 Kings 13:14 - 19
I wish to speak about victory — a word that enters into our present circumstances in a peculiar way, for the history of the assembly, given us in Revelation, contemplates that in every age there should be victors or overcomers; and, in the last four addresses, an ear to hear what the Spirit has to say is made to depend on personal victory or overcoming. And so it is in my mind to show how provision is made, even in a day of weakness, for victory.
First you will observe that it is said, in Corinthians, that God gives it to us. It is not put as a matter of the future; it is given now. “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”. And what is thus given is within our range. It does not imply that the Corinthians had it; had they had it, in a characteristic way, there would have been no need for this long, instructive chapter, a chapter which carries rebuke, for some of them said there was no resurrection. “How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?” he says, and when the scripture uses such language, “Some among you”, it means to convey that all are responsible, even as the Lord said to His disciples, “One of you”. The obligation would come to all of us, and so if there be any, in any of our companies, denying any part of the truth, the onus belongs to all in it, and each has to see to it that he clears himself.
But although the resurrection was being denied at Corinth, nevertheless God would give them the victory. Other assemblies, doubtless, were in possession of it; certainly many believers were, and what they were in possession of was God-given.
Now John speaks of it from the other side; not as [p. 208] God-given exactly, but as acquired, and so he mentions three things. The first has reference to every true Christian: “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world”. It is its character. It is not ‘whosoever’, but “whatsoever”, and if that “whatsoever” does not apply to any of us, then we are not Christians, for every true Christian is born of God, and there is that in him which overcomes the world in the principle of it. Then what follows upon that is “our faith”. If there be any one who has not this he cannot be regarded as a Christian. You will observe that the better translation reads, “This is the victory which has gotten the victory over the world, our faith”. There is that which has been brought in by Christ, a system of teaching established in this world, held in the souls of the people of God, which has overcome the world. I apprehend that the apostles brought in that system of truth which was received into the souls of believers, and which overcame the world. There were systems before — the Jewish system, many Oriental systems, and some Western ones, but they were essentially of the world. I know that the Old Testament system was typical, and in that sense was heavenly and of God, but as it existed in Jerusalem when the Lord Jesus taught there, it was worldly. It had deteriorated, so that it became a tradition, and rose no higher morally than any other Oriental system; whereas the Lord introduces a system of teaching, confirming it by the ministry of the apostles in the power of the Spirit, which in the very essence of it overcame the world. It brought down the world in the souls of those who received it, as seen in the ministry of Paul at Ephesus; there were no minds capable of standing against the teaching of Paul there, for the world was brought down; it was overthrown in the minds and hearts of those who received the testimony.
And so John here speaks about that — “our faith”.
[p. 209] Christians had something that rendered them different from any other system, religious or philosophical. They had something that overcame the world. The superiority of the system had been set out and displayed for all those who came into it. Those of us who have come into it have proved it; we have proved that it overthrows in our souls and in our minds every element of the intellectual and religious world, and all other features of the world. It is incomparable. The system that we have, beloved friends, is incomparable, to such an extent that it has overcome the world, and the world knows that it is overcome by that which is superior, and it can never lift up its head again in the presence of those who are in the faith.
But then there is another thing, put in the form of a question: “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” Here we have another thing. I would appeal to every one, especially to young people, for young ones must not assume that the thought of the Son of God is beyond them. The great gospel epistle, the epistle to the Romans, begins with the truth that Jesus is the Son of God: “God’s glad tidings, ... concerning his Son ( ... marked out Son of God in power ... . by resurrection of the dead) Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:1 - 4). The gospel preached to us is concerning the Son of God, as the apostle says, “The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you”. The Son of God had been preached among the Corinthians by a threefold testimony — by Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus, so that the thought of the Son of God is not beyond the youngest, but it is great enough for the oldest. The knowledge of the Son of God is the very acme of truth, and so John says, “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” The Son of God is on God’s side. God approaches men in His Son, and He [p. 210] invades the domain of death; He overthrows death, and in overthrowing it He brings in another world. By resurrection He is declared to be the Son of God. The declaration is not from heaven, as in the gospels “This is my beloved Son”; it is not a question here of the Father’s voice, but of what He Himself did in raising the dead. The Person upon whom you believe raises the dead. As He says, “All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth”. So that, apprehending Him as Son of God, I apprehend one who has overthrown death, and who, in doing that, has brought in another order of things. John presents Him thus, and also shows that He takes up isolated ones; chapter 9 introduces an isolated one — isolated on account of his testimony. It is a wonderful thing to be isolated on account of your testimony to Christ. When the Lord heard that they had cast him out, it says, He found him, for it is of such that He proposes to set up another world — of those whom this world casts out. This world has a way of casting out, of isolating those who are true to Christ; and when the Lord hears that they are cast out, He finds them wherever they are. There is not a thing that occurs in our lives or in the history of our souls that He does not notice. It is of such that He proposes to set up a world for God. There was correspondence between them, for He had been cast out, so we have two outcasts — the blessed Son of God and one who was a poor blind man. He takes him up and says, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” A wonderful question, proposed to one by the Lord! He has His own way of speaking to our souls, and He spoke to that man, who says in answer, “Who is he, Lord?” The epistle to the Romans answers that question for us; the declaration is the answer for our faith. The Lord says to him, “Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him” (John 9:35 - 38). Such a one, beloved, gets the victory over the world. Could you tempt him with the world? Never! You could not draw him away by any attraction from the Son of God.
Well, now I want to show you from 2 Kings how these things are worked out, because there it was a day of extreme weakness, such as we find ourselves in. Elisha was sick, and it was the sickness of which he died. He represents here the declining state of the assembly. He had not yet died, nor have things died amongst us. The king of Israel was the responsible one, and I desire to press the element of responsibility. No one shines in the testimony until he begins to accept obligations, and he who refuses obligations disqualifies himself for the fellowship of the people of God. And so the king comes down to Elisha and weeps over his face, for Elisha’s ministry had taught personal contact. You will remember how Elisha in his day had stretched himself on the child of the Shunammite, putting his eyes upon his eyes and his mouth upon his mouth. The truth of the assembly involves personal contact. The Lord, according to John, breathed into His disciples. Intimacy is a great feature of our position; and so this king is representative of obligation; he learned something of it. He wept on the face of the prophet, and said, “My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!” These words came with burning power from Elisha when he had crossed the Jordan, as Elijah talked with him and Elisha saw him go up. He said, “My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!” How different in the mouth of the poor king! And may I not make such a comparison with ourselves, in the coldness and hardness in which we use precious expressions? Nevertheless it was right; the chariot of Israel and the horsemen were still available, but oh, how different! Where was the mantle of Elijah [p. 212] by which the Jordan was divided? The poor king knew nothing of that, like many of us. It is well, dear brethren, to humble ourselves, and to see the greatness of an earlier day as compared with our own. Nevertheless victory is available, and so the king is directed to take a bow and arrows, and the prophet in his weakness placed his hands upon the king’s hands. For what latent strength was there in the poor king? The strength was in Elisha; nevertheless it was happy for the king that he placed himself so near the vessel of power. He had come to the source of power; he humbly submitted to the guidance of the prophet, and hence possible victory. It is well to understand the potentialities. What is not possible to us as we are subject to, and as we submit to be connected with, the vessel of power? There is such — wavering power, it is true, because of the state of the vessel — the state of the assembly; nevertheless it is the only vessel of power. There is none elsewhere. The Holy Spirit still remains, and He acts through vessels, and those vessels are believers who belong to the assembly. The power is available through them.
So Elisha says, “Take bow and arrows ... Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it; and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands. And he said, Open the window eastward ... Then Elisha said, Shoot”. You see the king is so far entirely subject to the prophet. Otherwise victory would have been impossible; but in subjection to the prophet, complete victory is possible. God presents what is possible, and complete victory is possible.
The window being opened eastward, means, I apprehend, that you look in the direction of the coming of the Lord. The east represents what is from God; it is the point of the rising sun. It refers to Christ coming up in His benign power, and then victory is certain. And so he says “Shoot”,
[p. 213] and he shot an arrow of Jehovah’s deliverance. What can any of us do, beloved, save in the light of what Christ has done and is doing? The addresses to the assemblies show that He is active at the present time; it is continuous service, and hence the arrow of Jehovah’s deliverance; deliverance is certain from that point of view. The book of Revelation shows certain victory, but it is victory from God. The assembly is seen coming down from God — not from us — out of heaven; we are, therefore, in the light of this wonderful arrow shot towards the east, assured of victory.
But how many of us have part in it? How many of us are overcomers? That is the question for each of us. So the prophet says now, “Take the arrows”. He says nothing about the bow; the bow has reference to what God has done in Christ, and to what He will do. God can act everywhere, and He does; but when you come to the arrow, I am dealing with myself. “Smite upon the ground”, he says. That is another matter. It is another matter, beloved brethren, when I discover that the difficulty lies in my own breast. You will remember how one smote upon his breast, and said, “O God, have compassion on me, the sinner” (Luke 18:13). So Paul says, “I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, good does not dwell” (Romans 7:18). Then abandon it. Refuse to use it in your service. Have no confidence in it. It has proved a broken reed to millions, and it will prove that to you. Whatever form of the flesh you employ in the testimony, it will fail you, and not only fail you, but fail those who are trusting you, for we are all more or less influential. We are either influential for good or for evil, and if others lean upon me, and I lean upon the flesh, what will the end be but a reed piercing through us, to our sorrow? The apostle went through untold agony to discover the flesh, and he arrives at a definite conclusion; he has no hesitation whatever:
he says, “I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, good does not dwell”.
So the prophet says, “Smite upon the ground”, and the king smites three times. How descriptive! Three surely is ample testimony, but when you are dealing with an inveterate enemy, you are not content with what seems to be enough: you want to be sure. You want to be sure that the thief is dealt with; that if he enter your house, he is ejected and dealt with so effectively as to be wholly incapable of doing his evil work. So the prophet was wroth with him. May I not suggest, beloved, that wrath has existed against us on account of the allowance of the flesh? You will remember how the Lord sought to slay Moses, great man though he was, because of the circumcision. Was it a sham that He sought to slay him? God meant it, and He meant Moses to know that He meant it. Circumcision had to be accepted, that is the complete cutting off of the flesh; God will not have it in any of us.
The prophet was wroth with the king when he stayed, having smitten but thrice; he says, you should have smitten five or six times, then the victory would have been complete. I suppose man’s measure is six at his greatest, so that, however powerful the flesh may be, it is dealt with in the five or six times. Now, the prophet says, the victory will be incomplete, but we must not be satisfied with an incomplete victory; we want a complete one. I have no doubt that there was something like this after the great revival called the Reformation; there was a certain disallowance of the flesh. I never read the Authorised Version of the Scriptures without the sense that God was with the translators in that work; but there is not the evidence of the smiting five or six times. During that great revival there had been a certain judgment of the flesh, and it continued, but what you find in the address to Sardis is, “I have not [p. 215] found thy works complete before my God” (Revelation 3:2), and incomplete works are not acceptable to God. He looks for a finish. The Lord had led the way in this; He said, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). And so, when you come to Philadelphia, you have evidence of subjection to Christ. He says, “And hast kept my word” (Revelation 3:8). It comes to one with peculiar sweetness. I do not suppose anything is so pleasing to the Lord as the keeping of His word — that we are concerned about every word that comes from Him — that the mind of the Lord is precious to us; we do not want to miss anything. Some live in the past; we hear oftentimes of the intelligence and spirituality of those who have passed away, and we believe it. I am glad to hear of it. I love to hear the recital of the work of God in those through whom the word of God came to us. But, beloved, we do not live in reminiscences, and if I speak of the piety and spirituality of those through whom the word of God came, the question arises, Am I continuing these things? Is it a mere matter of history, or am I carrying forward to the present generation what these men brought in? If not, it is to my shame. Do not speak of it, unless you can convey the thing to me, otherwise it is mere history. You want the thing carried forward, and so the word is, “Remember your leaders who have spoken to you the word of God; and considering the issue of their conversation, imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7). That is the thing. If you are following their faith, then you have something to show, otherwise do not speak of it. We must not bring up these things to becloud what the Lord may say now. Can He not speak now? Yes, beloved, and He is speaking to this one and that one, and so the word is to the overcomer, “Let him hear what the Spirit says” — not what He said, but what He says. Thank God for what He said, and if we have not the living ministers, we have their writings; but [p. 216] we are to hear what He says. What does He say now? He says, you have kept my word. “If any one love me, he will keep my word”(John 14:23). Then further He says, “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation”. It is not, If thou keep, but “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience” (Revelation 3:10). So we see that in Philadelphia there is something that goes on to this day that the Lord approves. “I have set before thee an opened door”. There is something now in the possession of a little power that will come in by the opened door, and do something, and finish it for Christ, so as to be in accord with Him. John emphasises the idea of finishing things. “To finish his work”, that was His meat. “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do”, and again, “It is finished” (John 19:30). In Philadelphia the work goes on to completion; the arrows are used five or six times. The big ‘I’ — how large it is! the flesh in Romans 7 is dealt with effectively in the five or six times, by the Spirit. “If, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13).
From the divine side all things are possible, but from our side, how much? It is a question of the use of the arrows — how much room there is made for the Spirit by the disallowance of the flesh; then and then only shall we have something finished for Christ.