CONQUEROR or COWARD? A TRUE OVERCOMER.
In the book of Revelation Jesus uses the word "overcome" over and over. In each letter to the seven churches found in chapters 2 and 3, He declares "to the one who overcomes..." The meaning of the original Greek word 'nikao' for 'overcome' is "to conquer." Further, Strong's defines the word to mean of believers: "Christians...that hold fast their faith even unto death against the power of their foes, and temptations and persecutions." They are overcomers.
Throughout the New Testament, the same Greek word appears twice in the Gospels and twice in Romans. Otherwise, the word "overcome" occurs twenty times in John's epistles and the book of Revelation. In fact, one of the two appearances in the Gospels is also in John's book, as follows below.
The word "overcome" meant something special to Jesus. In John 16:33, He said to His disciples, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
John latched onto that word. After Pentecost, he learned by experience what it meant to overcome. When the apostles spread the truth about Jesus and His resurrection life and salvation through His atoning blood, John suffered persecution for declaring the Gospel. Tertullian records that John was thrown into a vat of boiling oil by the Romans, but lived and escaped unscathed! Subsequently, he was exiled as a criminal to the island of Patmos.
Yes, he overcame the threats of Rome to stop preaching. He overcame the fear of an agonizing death in boiling oil and stayed true to Jesus regardless of the torture he endured. Perhaps that's why Jesus even taught His disciples about living victoriously and overcoming before He died (John 14-17). He knew what John would face farther down the road and, to prepare him, planted the truth of overcoming in his character.
The book of Revelation was given to John AFTER he had overcome overwhelming persecution. His steadfast loyalty to Jesus without regard for his own welfare prepared and made him fit to receive what Jesus revealed to him on Patmos. He had overcome torture and was in the process of being an overcomer as an exile when he saw Jesus revealed as Conqueror and King! Only one who had overcome was found worthy by Jesus to pen His warning to the seven churches: "to the one who overcomes..."
Regardless of the spiritual state of each of the named churches, Jesus always included the word of hope: "to the one who overcomes..." Among the tares in any church grows wheat that will be harvested to heaven IF those professors of salvation endure to the end and die victorious. That is what overcoming is about. Overcoming means being faithful to Jesus even in torture or death because of Him and for His sake.
Our present day brings threats of persecution and even death because of Jesus. Regardless of how you interpret the letters to the seven churches and their implication for us, there is Jesus' strong admonition to overcome, to stay true to Him no matter what the coming weeks and months bring. He said in the Gospels that if we deny Him, He will deny us before His Father. We must determine and build into our core that we will be strong and true to Him, a loyal friend, no matter what we must suffer.
Only overcomers are assured of salvation. Listen to Revelation 21:7-8:
Verse 7 "The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son."
The inheritance of the overcomer is unveiled in the rest of Revelation. And words cannot possibly contain the richness of what is being held in store for those of us who go to heaven.
But what about those who don't remain faithful?
Verse 8 "But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Please note the word order in the sentence. Verse 8 lists all those who do not meet the credentials of an overcomer. Stunningly, the word "cowardly" starts the list! What a contrast it is to "overcomer" in the preceding verse!
A coward is a person who shows ignoble fear in the face of danger or pain. One who lacks courage to meet danger, one who shrinks from exposure to possible harm of any kind is a coward (American Heritage Dictionary). In the case of Jesus, a coward shrinks from standing true for Him when confronted by danger, the pain of torture or of death. That individual can be said to have not prepared to meet the enemy head-on. Ephesians 6 admonishes us as believers to put on the whole armor of God, and, having done all, to stand! Stand! A coward hangs his head--an animal hangs its tail between its legs and retreats. Plainly, Jesus says overcomers inherit eternal life; cowards don't! Either you're a living sacrifice for Jesus or you're not! Fear of death and pain is injected by the devil to make us fail in the face of persecution. It is his way of causing a believer to lose his or her soul just at the door to eternity!
Think of it...you live all your life confessing you are a believer in Jesus, but when you meet real confrontation with the enemy, fear overcomes you! Oh, that's just what the enemy wants! Be a coward and deny Jesus, setting the example for those who have believed in you and your testimony to that moment in your life! Then you fail! And so will they!
Jesus promised, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." He will help you in the face of opposition if you have established a relationship so that He means more to you than life itself. In the midst of tough times, the Holy Spirit will enable you to stand for Jesus' honor if you have worked on making Him your central love...not a casual affection. Yours will become an intense love for Him as you die to yourself. Strong. Jealous for Him. Then you will be equipped to become an overcomer. A true conqueror!