The Conqueror's Inheritance

Next Part The Conqueror's Inheritance 2

"He who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son." Revelation 21:7

The Scriptures, describing the path of the Christian, represent it under various figures, but all implying 'opposition' to the path he takes. For instance, it is sometimes spoken of as aconflict—"Having the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me" (Phil. 1:30). Sometimes as a race—"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1). Sometimes as a fight—"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life" (1 Tim. 6:12). Sometimes as a struggle—"You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin" (Heb. 12:4). Sometimes as a contest—"If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully" (2 Tim. 2:5).

All these figures bear upon this one point, that the path of a Christian is one of 'internal and external opposition'. But there is more to be observed than this. It is not a fight without a victory; it is not a conflict without success; it is not a race without reaching the goal; it is not a struggle that ends in the defeat of the contender. A victory is represented as the termination of the battle. "No, in all these things," says the Apostle, "we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Rom. 8:37). The Lord, in the Book of Revelation, in each of the addresses to the seven churches, assigns a distinct promise "to him who overcomes." A gracious promise is also contained in the text—"He who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son."

In looking at these words, my endeavor will be, first, to describe what it is to overcome; and then, if the Lord enables, to unfold the twofold promise which is given to him who overcomes—
1. He shall inherit all things.
2. God will be his Father, and he shall be God's son.

I. In endeavoring to unfold what it is to overcome, we must premise a few observations. Observe, then, that this overcoming is not by our own strength, by our own wisdom, or by our own righteousness. The kingdom of God is not promised to anything done by the creature. The Apostle lays down a certain rule in the text before quoted—"If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully" (2 Tim. 2:5). In other words, it is not a bare striving, but a striving according to certain rules. But these rules are spiritual rules, and being spiritual rules, exclude everything of sense, reason and nature. Now man, in an unregenerate condition, whether he be in a state of profanity, or in a state of profession, has no spiritual knowledge of the way by which to overcome. He may strive against his lusts, he may endeavor to overcome those things that conscience bears testimony against, but he is not crowned, because he strives not lawfully. He strives in his own strength, contends in his own wisdom, and trusts in his own righteousness. Such strugglers and such overcomers (if overcomers they ever are) are not crowned, because they strive not according to the rules laid down in God's Word. This at once excludes all creature righteousness, human wisdom and natural strength. This takes the crown completely off the creature, and puts it on the head of the Redeemer.

There are certain rules, then, laid down in the Scripture, according to which we are to fight and to overcome. For instance, the Lord of life and glory is held out in the Word as our pattern—"He has left us an example that we should follow His steps" (1 Pet. 2:21). He fought the battle before us, and He gained the victory, not for Himself only, but for His people; and He has left us here below to walk in His footsteps, and to overcome in the same way as He did; as we read, "To him who overcomes 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" (Rev. 3:21). All striving, then, and all overcoming which is not in the steps of Christ, and precisely (in a measure) in the same way in which Jesus strove and overcame, is not the overcoming which is crowned with God's approbation.

A. But let us look at a few of the enemies which the Lord overcame. Remember that His enemies are our enemies; that as He fought we must fight; and that as He overcame we must overcome.

1. First, then, He overcame the world; as He told His sorrowing disciples—"These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

But how did the Lord overcome the world? Was it by taking up the sword of the conqueror, or by appearing in the majesty of the Father? No; it was by a state of humiliation and abasement; by emptying Himself so as to become "a worm, and no man"; by being made "a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;" by being buffeted, spit upon, despised, and crucified. Thus He overcame the world; not by taking the world's weapons, but by contending against the world with spiritual weapons—the weapon of obedience to His Father's will, the weapon of sorrow and suffering, of shame and contempt. He overcame the world by not being of it. He did not gain the victory by desolating the world with judgments as a triumphant conqueror, but by setting up a spiritual kingdom of faith, love and obedience.

2. He overcame Satan; for we read, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb. 2:14). And He said to His disciples, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke 10:18). How did He overcome Satan? Did He meet him upon the battlefield, and (as He might have done, being "God over all, blessed for evermore") crush him with one look? He met him not so, but He passed through the territories of death; and by suffering, by obedience, by the cross, by bowing His head and giving up the spirit, He "destroyed him who had the power of death." He conquered not with a carnal, but a spiritual weapon, even obedience in suffering unto death.

3. He also overcame the law, though He was "made under the law," and subject to it. In overcoming the law, He took away its curse and condemnation; not by putting it aside, but by obeying and fulfilling it, by magnifying and making it honorable. Thus He overcame the curse and the condemnation by being Himself made a curse, and being Himself made a condemnation; enduring in His holy soul and holy body the vengeance of the Almighty due to the transgressors.

I put this example of Christ before you to show that if we are overcomers, and in overcoming inherit the blessing, we are to walk in these footsteps. Poor vain creatures, blind wretches! we are thinking of overcoming in our own strength, in our own wisdom, in our own resolutions, and in our own righteousness. This is not the way. "The battle is not yours, but the Lord's." We are to do as it was said to those of old—"You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord" (2 Chron. 20:17).

B. Observe, then, the promise is "to him who overcomes." We have enemies to overcome. Who, and what are they? We can scarcely enumerate them all; we will therefore content ourselves with naming a few.

1. There is the world, that great enemy of our soul's peace. How are we to overcome it? The Christian must either overcome the world, or be overcome by it. If he be overcome by the world, he will be condemned with it; but he who overcomes it will be saved by Him who has overcome it for him. In this battle we are losers before we are gainers; we are vanquished before we are victors; we lose our life before we find it; we flee before we shout the song of victory. All this is to teach us our weakness. Could we overcome the world, its temptations, its allurements, its riches, its honors, its praise, and its glory; could we overcome it standing upon the basis of our own strength, our own wisdom, or our own righteousness; we would "sacrifice to our own net, and burn incense to our own drag." And instead hereafter of singing "the song of Moses and of the Lamb," we would sing the song of our own attainments, our own strength, our own wisdom, our own righteousness, of our own good hand and our own good sword which had carved for us the victory.

But such a sound of creature exaltation will never be heard in the courts above; no notes are chanted there but those of praise to the Triune God. As the clink of the hammer was not heard in Solomon's temple, so the noise of creature praise will never be heard in the courts of heaven. Therefore, if we overcome the world, we must overcome it by faith; as we read, "Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5). Defeats lead to victories, losses to gains, surprisals to watchfulness, and ourselves being overcome leads eventually to ourselves overcoming. How? Why? That we may learn the grand secret of spiritual warfare; the strength of Jesus made perfect in our weakness. When we experience a little measure of the love of God, taste a little of the beauty and glory of the Lamb, feel the heart melted and watered by the blessings dropping down from above, this purges out the love of the world, and enables us to overcome it by the Spirit of God working in the soul, when we could never overcome it by any resolution, any strength, or any wisdom of our own. What read we? "They overcame." How? "By the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev. 12:11). These were their weapons—the blood of the Lamb sprinkled upon the conscience, the word of His testimony felt in their heart, and a loving not their lives unto the death.

2. Again. There is sin; and every person must be either overcome by sin, or he must overcome it. There is no neutrality in this warfare. It is either being conquered, and being condemned as conquered; or conquering, and being crowned as victors. But all God's children, until they are taught better, fight against sin in their own strength. They know not, at first, the power of sin in them, the power of lust, the power of pride, the power of rebellion, and the power of temper; in one word, the power of corruption. And being ignorant of the consummate craft, skill, and maneuvering policy of this inward enemy, sin, they are sure to be defeated, because they fight not in the Lord's strength against it. Yet, strange though it may appear, it is necessary to be overcome that we may overcome. Generals have gained battles often by defeats. Defeats have led to victories, where success would only have flushed and led them into the ambush; when reverses have made them wary and skillful.

So spiritually, we only know the power of sin by being vanquished, overcome, got the better of, and laid low. This cuts down creature righteousness and strength. And then, when we feel the guilt of sin in the conscience, and its dominion in endeavoring to obtain the mastery over us, we are brought out of self to look unto the Lord of life and glory, that we may receive out of His fullness that pardon which blots out its condemnation, and those supplies of grace which alone can enable us to fight against it. We can never overcome sin but by "the blood of the Lamb," and "the word of His testimony"—"the blood of the Lamb" purging the conscience from the guilt of it, and "the word of his testimony" communicating a secret power to conquer it.

3. But again. There is overcoming one's own spirit. "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city" (Prov. 16:32). What a foe to one's peace is one's own spirit! And what shall I call it? It is often an infernal spirit. Why? Because it bears the mark of Satan upon it. The pride of our spirit, the presumption of our spirit, the hypocrisy of our spirit, the intense selfishness of our spirit, are often hidden from us. This wily devil, self, can wear such masks and assume such forms; this serpent, self, can so creep and crawl, can so twist and turn, and can disguise itself under such false appearances, that it is hidden often from ourselves.

Who is the greatest enemy we have to fear? We all have our enemies. But who is our greatest enemy? He who you carry in your own bosom; your daily, hourly, and ever-present companion, that entwines himself in nearly every thought of your heart; that suggests well near every motive; that sometimes puffs up with pride, sometimes inflames with lust, sometimes inflates with presumption, and sometimes works under feigned humility and fleshly holiness.

Now this self must be overcome; for if self overcomes us, eventually we shall perish in the condemnation of self. God is determined to stain the pride of human glory. He will never let self (which is but another word for the creature) wear the crown of victory. It must be crucified, denied, and mortified; it must be put off, that so Jesus may be put on; that in the denying of self Jesus may be believed in; and that in the crucifixion of self there may be a solemn spiritual union with Him who was crucified on Calvary. Now, are we overcoming self? Are we buffeted? What says self? "Buffet in return." Are we despised? What says self? "Despise in return; retort angry look for angry look, and hasty word for hasty word; an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." But what says the Spirit of God in a tender conscience? "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:21).

The way to overcome self is by looking out of self to Him who was crucified upon Calvary's tree; to receive His image into your heart; to be clothed with His likeness; to drink into His spirit; and "receive out of His fullness grace for grace."

C. But what are the WEAPONS in this spiritual warfare? We need weapons offensive and defensive to fight in these battles.

1. One weapon is faith. By faith we stand, by faith we fight, by faith we conquer; as we read, "Through faith they subdued kingdoms." Not by their own strength or wisdom—"They did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strength that gave them victory. It was by Your mighty power that they succeeded; it was because You favored them and smiled on them." (Psalm. 44:3). How does faith fight in this battle? By fleeing, all helpless and defenseless, to seek shelter and refuge in Jesus. Faith deals with invisible, eternal realities, with inward strength communicated in a secret way from Jesus who dwells and reigns within the veil. Faith prevails by looking and fleeing to Him, by committing the cause into His hands, by pleading with and cleaving to Him with full purpose of heart, and thus receiving out of His fullness. Faith does not stand upon its own foundation, or fight in its own strength; if it were so, it would still be self in another form. But faith, like a poor defenseless woman, flies to the Husband for shelter, strength and defense; and thus fights in His wisdom, His strength, and His righteousness.

2. But prayer is another weapon. True prayer is the pouring out of the heart and soul before the Lord; committing all one's cause into His hands who judges righteously; panting and groaning after His presence, and venting forth the troubled spirit into the bosom of God. The Lord brings all His people here. He shows them how helpless they are without His help; how hopeless without His hope; how wretched without His consolation; how eternally lost without His sovereign favor! And He kindles and raises up these panting desires after Himself, that He may communicate Himself in all His glorious fullness to the groaning, crying and panting soul.

3. But another weapon is the Word of God. This is the only true blade—"the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." If we have battles to fight; if we have enemies to overcome; if we have corruptions to subdue; if we have lusts to conquer; whatever conflict, external or internal, we are engaged in, let us never think for a single moment that God will own or bless any weapon but His own Word, "the Word of His testimony," in the heart and conscience; the Word of truth dropped by the Spirit into the soul. We can never overcome temptation but by the Word and the testimony; we can never mortify self but by the Word and the testimony; and we can never receive anything out of Christ's fullness but through the channel of God's testimony.

Next Part The Conqueror's Inheritance 2

Back to J. C. Philpot Sermons