Overcomer: What Does It Take To Be An Overcomer?
2016-07-03
Pastor Jonathan Falwell
Memory Verse:
Exodus 2:24
So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Today, we begin a series for the rest of the Summer on the life of Moses, one of the principal characters of the Old Testament and one of the greatest examples of being an OVERCOMER of all time. Moses lived in the mid-1400’s BC in a time when the descendants of Abraham, God’s chosen people, were an unorganized and enslaved people not the great nation that God had promised. Moses barely escapes death at his birth, grows up in opulence in the house of Pharaoh and very easily could have never become the great leader we know him to be. But there was something different about him, something that changed the trajectory of his life from being ordinary to overcoming. What was it?
Heb. 11:23
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. 24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.
1. Faith
23a By faith Moses…
Definition:
1. complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
2. strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.
Biblical Definition:
“Being Sure Of What You Hope For And Certain Of What We Do Not See!” – Heb. 11:1
Charles Spurgeon once said: Not only in prayer, but in duty, the man who has great faith in God, and whom God has girded with strength, how gigantic does he become!
* Something Bigger than Yourself
* Confidence in the promises and protection of God
* Awareness of God’s presence in the darkest of moments
2. Looking to God for significance
vs 24b-25
…when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
* Moses was unwilling to give in to the pressures of culture
* He saw the affliction of the Jews and was willing to forgo what was certain in order to do the right thing
* He knew the value of life was not found in what others think of us but rather in what God thinks of us
* We will never overcome in life as long as we are dependent on acceptance from others. Man’s desperate desire for acceptance usually leads us to compromise in order to gain it or discouragement when we don’t.
* In Luke 9, Moses once again appears with Jesus and Elijah. He overcame so much because his focus was on God
3. Recognition of what matters
vs 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
vs 26 (NLT) He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.
* He knew it was always the right thing to do the right thing, even if it began in suffering
* He knew that the value of God’s rewards were far greater than the value of man’s
* He was willing to walk away from the things of this world in order to find meaning and purpose
God had a plan for Moses from the moment he was born. Even in the midst of danger, uncertainty and fear, God provided the way to overcome. Knowing our salvation comes from and through Him is key to overcoming the problems of today.
To overcome requires faith!