| The Christian Life | August 1947 |
Not in our strength, but His
More Than Conquerors
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”—Romans 8:35-37
WHAT a question for each Christian to ask himself! Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? We wonder if our hearts have grasped its import. We must not only be overcomers, but more than overcomers! How can this be? In truth, beloved, these things—tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword, will not separate us, but rather bind us still closer to God and to Christ. All those who shall be born to the spirit nature must be overcomers, but to gain the divine nature requires being even more than that.
In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we are shown the rewards that will be given to those who, in this Gospel age, shall be accounted overcomers. And yet these are more than overcomers, for the faithful of each church have a special reward given them. Note the reward to the faithful in the Ephesian church—they eat of the “tree of life.” To the overcomers of the church in Smyrna it is said that they shall not be hurt of the “second death.” To those of Pergamos that they would be given “to eat of the hidden manna,” and given “a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” To those of Thyatira, “power over the nations,” is promised. To Sardis, such as would overcome would be “clothed in white raiment” and given an enduring name in the “book of life.” To Philadelphia, the overcomer would be made “a pillar in the temple of God.” And finally, to the overcomer of Laodicea—the seventh and last of the churches to whom these messages were sent—“to him that overcometh 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.”
Now note that the reward offered to the church at Ephesus does not apply to Ephesus alone, but to all the churches, even as the overcomers of Laodicea are not to be the only ones to sit with Christ in his throne, this honor being granted to all the overcomers of the various churches. These are the special rewards to those who overcome the hardships incidental to their traveling in the “narrow way.”
Not More Than Conquerors
In Luke 12:32 we read of a “little flock” to whom God is pleased to give the kingdom. Of them it is said they are presented “without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that they should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph. 5:27) These are more than overcomers. But notice in contrast that great company who have defiled their garments and need to wash them in the blood of the Lamb. These are overcomers because they bear palm branches in their hands. “After this [after telling of the 144,000] I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. … And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God [not in the throne as are the 144,000], and serve him day and night in his temple.” (Rev. 7:9-15) Notice that the little flock, the more than overcomers, count the painful experiences they endure as “light afflictions,” and but “for a moment” when compared with the eternal weight of glory they shall share with Christ.—II Cor. 4:17
Throughout this Gospel age, especially during that period known as the “Dark Ages,” multitudes have suffered martyrdom for one reason and another—we cannot be sure that it was their love of God and his Word. In some instances this was the case, no doubt, but we cannot believe that all who thus sacrificed their lives were of the “little flock,” the more than conquerors. Perhaps by far the greater proportion were such as would be comprehended in the “great multitude” of conquerors, but not the “more than conquerors” of our text.
Wherein did these fail? It must have been in regard to their “covenant by sacrifice.” (Psalm 50:5) Their wills were not entirely submitted to God. “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 8:7,8) So if, in the matter of our Christian warfare, there should be any carnality, it might deprive us of a “full reward.”—II John 8
Of Vital Importance
There is one menace that the apostle does not mention amongst the things that are able to separate us from the love of Christ, which, above all else, is most certainly able to cause such a separation. How profitable it would be if each Christian were always fully aware of this enemy. It is the hardest to conquer, the most insidious. It is the carnal mind. The carnal mind is the mind of the flesh, and since we were born in sin, our carnal mind is a sinful mind. We are prone to act on the impulse of the moment, not stopping to think whether it is the mind of the flesh, the carnal mind; or whether we are acting solely from the standpoint of our spiritual interests.
If we could consider this before acting, how much better our lives would be. Well has the wise man admonished us, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Prov. 4:23) In all our reasoning we should be very careful that self is entirely eliminated, for the carnal mind is so clever that it can often make what is really wrong appear to be right, even as Solomon says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”—Prov. 14:12
The New Creature
Paul says, “For, if any one be in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold! they have become new.” (II Cor. 5:17, Diaglott) God planned from the beginning a new creation, different from anything he had created in the past or anything that he would ever again create. These were to have his nature. When a person becomes a member of The Christ he becomes an heir to that nature—an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ. (Rom. 8:17) What Paul means by being “in Christ” is that we are so closely associated with him that we are a part of The Christ. How is this effected? Let us see how Paul reasons it:
“Are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him by the likeness of his death, we shall be also by the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin; for he that hath died is justified from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death no more hath dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died unto sin once; but the life that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Even so reckon ye yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof; neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”—Rom. 6:3-13, Revised Version
Now let us consider another passage of Scripture along this same line: “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.”—II Cor. 5:14,15
How clear this is that when we became associated with Christ we became partners in his death and resurrection. Was Christ raised as a fleshly being? Nay, verily: “Christ … being indeed put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit.” (I Pet. 3:18, Diaglott) Paul says we are not to know one another as fleshly beings. (II Cor. 5:16) This makes clear the statement of being “in Christ.” Therefore if we share in his death, we likewise share in his resurrection.
“Risen with Christ”
If we fully realized that even now, while still imperfect, we are “new creatures in Christ Jesus,” how much more realistic and sincere our Christian lives would be. And how much more it would intensify the meaning to us of the Apostle Paul’s words in Colossians 3:1-5: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth.” Those who get the full force of these words can truly sing:
“The dearest object I have known,
Whate’er that object be,
I want to banish from Thy throne,
And worship only Thee.”
Self-Effacement
One of the best ways to make certain that we will be more than an overcomer is to forget about self. Self takes up so much room in the lives of each of us that very little of our time and talent is left for God. We do the things that are pleasing to us, or we avoid doing those things which are unpleasant. The apostle admonishes us to do all things to the glory of God, whether or not the thing is pleasing to us. “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”—Col. 3:17
Wherein does the great company fail in being more than conquerors? It is in looking at things from the selfish standpoint. They will not heed the first requisite of being faithful Christians, namely self-denial. We see this illustrated by the two goats on the typical atonement day. They were both brought to the door of the tabernacle by the high priest, and both went into the wilderness. The Lord’s goat went there as a dead goat, a sacrifice; while the other the scapegoat, was permitted to live as best he could. The blood of the Lord’s goat—representing the humanity of the faithful church—was taken, like the blood of the bullock before it, into the most holy, and similarly sprinkled upon the mercy seat. But the other goat escaped all this, indicating a class which is not treated as an offering for sin. The difference between the two classes may be indicated in the way in which their trials in life are regarded—the faithful ones considering them but light afflictions, whereas the others esteem them as great tribulations.
The “little flock” and the “great company” have a common begetting, but not a common birth. They both receive the earnest, or pledge of their inheritance, the Holy Spirit. (II Cor. 1:22; 5:5) The Holy Spirit is the vitalizing influence, and the mind is the real ego or personality. The Holy Spirit operating on the mind changes the person into the image of Christ. And there, in the mind, the great battle takes place. If we can keep our minds fixed upon Christ by adhering to his words, then Satan can have no influence on us. But if our minds are centered on the things of self, then we are very likely to be overreached, and to this extent fail to make our calling and election sure.
If, in the things that go to make up our daily lives, we could just forget self and think only of Christ, how much sweeter our lives would be, and how many heartaches we would save ourselves and others. This thought seems to be borne out by Romans 7:18-23:
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”
This is rather an unhappy state to be in, but Paul says there is relief for those who are really striving to be more than overcomers. In verse 25, he writes, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
In conclusion we note that those who are more than overcomers are those who have conquered self. It is only as we bring every thought into subjection to the will of God in Christ that we can have the full assurance of faith in the outcome. (II Cor. 10:5) “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” (Rom. 8:13) “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”—Gal. 5:16