We Can Overcome

"Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world."

(1 John 4:4)

In this world, there are 3 powerful enemies that we have to face and overcome:

1. Spiritual Adversaries
2. The World's Allurements
3. Overcoming Our Anxieties

I - Overcoming Our Adversaries - Our adversaries may be our jobs, our lifestyles, our clothes or the music on your i-phone. Here is a story: An old deacon who used to pray every Church Service at Prayer Meeting always concluded his program the same way: "And Lord, clean all the cobwebs out of my life." It got too much for one fellow in the prayer meeting, and he heard the old deacon one time too often. So when the man made that prayer, the fellow jumped to his feet and shouted: "Lord, Lord, don't do it! Kill the spider! That's what needs to happen!!" The lesson is, let's attack sin squarely. Don't blame the cobwebs! Blame the spider! Don't figure out other ways to justify sin! What is sin?
Man calls it accident; God calls it abomination.
Man calls it blunder; God calls it blindness.
Man calls it defect; God calls it disease.
Man calls it chance; God calls it choice.
Man calls it liberty; God calls it lawlessness.
Man calls it weakness; God calls it willfulness.
Man calls it triffle; God calls it tragedy.
Billy Sunday, the Baseball Evangelist preached Christ as the only answer to man's needs until his death in 1935. He said:
"I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot."
"I'll fight it is as long as I've got a fist."
"I'll butt it as long as I've got a head."
"I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth."

II - Overcoming the World's Allurement - Allurement are the temptations and attraction of the world. This means enticing a person to do something wrong. We must not love worldly things. Consider this: A newly converted woman told an unsaved friend of her: "Just one letter of the alphabet makes all the difference between us now. "You love the "World" and I love the "Word." Anything that cools our love for Christ is the world. Some folks take up religion as a kind of insurance against hell - and then are not willing to pay the premiums. We must do all things for God's glory, thank Him that we can do it, do it in the name of Jesus as if He sent us and pray for God's blessing and His guidance in all we do.

III - Overcoming Our Anxieties - "Perfect love casteth out fear." ( 1 John 4:18). Anxiety or worry is the number one killer of our time. A survey of about 5,000 students in 21 colleges in America confirms that worriers get the lowest grades. The reason why worry kills more people than work is that, more people worry than work.
Consider this illustration:
A French Soldier in World War I carried with him this little receipt for worry:
"Of two things, one is certain. Either you are at the front, or you are behind the lines. If you are at the front, of two things one is certain. Either you are exposed to danger, or you are in a safe place. If you are exposed to danger, of two things one is certain. Either you are wounded or you are not wounded. If you are wounded, of two things one is certain. Either you recover, or you die. If you recover, there is no need to worry. If you die, you can't worry. So Why Worry?"
The lessons here are:
1. We must ask for God's help through prayer. A Negro woman lived for 90 years. When asked the secret of her longevity, she said: "When I work, I worked so hard. When I sit, I sit easy. And when I worry, I pray and go to sleep.
2. We must not be afraid. Look at the birds: The little birds of the field do not worry because they have God as their Provider.
3. Remember that the beginning of anxiety is the end of faith. The beginning of faith is the end of anxiety.


Messages By: Rev. Teofilito A. Rufon