Keane asked me if I had a song. I really don’t. I think “Within the Veil” is great. I think we just stay there. That would be the best thing.
My brother mentioned Mother’s Day. I think it’s always interesting—David, our dear brother David. Such a man of God, and such a child of God, even when he was a teenager. A mighty man of God, really, as a teenager, as he was out in those fields with the sheep, taking care of them.
He had communion with the Lord. The Lord was a part of his life, and the Lord was so with David. He was such a responsible young man that, when the lion and the bear came, he didn’t back off. He was very responsible about the charge that had been given him, and he slew the lion and the bear with his bare hands because the anointing of God was upon him.
He was such a fine young man, and yet, when you look into his history, you see that in the family he wasn’t really recognized. He was the last one. He was the eighth child, and he certainly didn’t get any respect from his brothers. They were glad he was out in the field, leaving them alone.
His dad didn’t seem to even think about David when they came to anoint one of the children. They went through all seven of his brothers, and Samuel said, “Is there any more?” Dad said, “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve got one out in the field here. Well, I’ll call him in.” So he didn’t really have a lot of respect.
But you know what? David twice in the Psalms refers to himself as “the son of Your handmaiden.” The son of Your handmaiden. He didn’t say, “I’m the son of Jesse. I come to You as the son of Jesse,” but, “the son of Your handmaiden.”
You wonder where he got his encouragement from and his spiritual instruction from. Well, the Bible doesn’t exactly tell us, but I think it gives us a hint. I think it’s pretty obvious from the Scriptures that the one who was a great spiritual influence in his life was his mother.
A great responsibility, and a great man came from her simple functioning as a mother and taking care of her sons—particularly the one that no one else seemed to care for much.
The mother’s heart—there’s nothing like a mother’s heart. It is a gift from God, and you should express it as a gift from God. To be a mother, it’s a great thing.
Well, what’s on my heart this morning is this matter of the overcomer. I’ve shared four messages previously on the overcomer, and I thought that that was the end. But recently I went to Portland, Oregon, and I shared similar messages out there.
When I got to the third message, a brother approached me and said, “Jerry, I understand how overcoming applies to the individual, but I do not understand how it applies to the church.”
So I thought about that. The next day, I had to spend about thirty minutes on that particular subject before I went on with the last message. As I’ve considered that before the Lord in coming back, I felt like I needed to share that here too, in order to complete what’s on my heart concerning this matter of overcomers.
It’s interesting. My brother just asked me what the title of the message would be today, and I said, “Well, overcomers in the church—overcomers and the church.” But I struggled over that, because I was thinking, “Overcomers in the church,” because they’re in the church. You’re part of the church. They don’t consider themselves special or unique, but they are those who are faithful, standing for the Lord.
I actually mentioned it to our brother Stephen Kong, and he said, “Jerry, remember, they’re the firstfruits of the church.” Well, that cleared it up. All of a sudden I said, “Hey, amen, brother. That really helps me.” They’re both: overcomers and the church, and overcomers in the church. They’re firstfruits out of the church.
Let’s look at Revelation 14:1 and 4 for just a second. That is Revelation, chapter 14, verse 1 and verse 4.
And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion,
and with Him a hundred and forty and four thousand,
having His name, and the name of His Father, written on their foreheads.
These are the overcomers. They’re on Mount Zion in heaven with our Lord, preparing to bring the Lord back.
And then in verse 4, it gives an explanation of who they are:
These are they that were not defiled with women;
for they are virgins.
These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.
These were purchased from among men,
to be the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb.
They are virgins for the Lord. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits—firstfruits.
When you come to chapter 14 of Revelation, there has been a harvest of firstfruits. Now, I know what firstfruits are because I live in Hanover County, the tomato county of the world.
And there’s nothing more delicious than that first vine-ripened tomato that has had just the right amount of moisture so that the acidy flavor is still in it. You see how much I appreciate tomatoes. Anything is good, as long as you put tomatoes with it, as far as I’m concerned.
So I understand this matter of firstfruits. And the Lord does too. These firstfruits—these are the overcomers. Brothers and sisters, we all want to be firstfruits for the Lord, for His pleasure, for His enjoyment. What a pleasure to be firstfruits.
You know, I lived in Florida for ten years of my life, and at one time we actually lived in an orange grove. We had a little house trailer parked in the orange grove. You could actually reach out the window and pick an orange off the tree.
And there was nothing better than that first tree-ripened orange. You know, the oranges we get have been sitting around a while and shipped all over the place, but boy, to get it right off the tree—there’s nothing sweeter or better.
Firstfruits. That’s what overcomers are. That’s what the Lord wants us all to be: firstfruits to Him.
And then, as I considered this, I couldn’t help but think of John 4:35, because this gets to a lot of what has been on my burden concerning the Lord and His people for a couple of years now.
In John 4:35, the Lord, speaking to His disciples, says:
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest?
behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields,
that they are white already unto harvest.
He’s saying, “The harvest is all right. It’s ready. It’s all around you.” Of course, what He’s talking about here is a harvest in which many will be brought into the kingdom of God through His work on Calvary’s cross. There’s no doubt about that.
But there is an application here. Do not say that there are yet four months before the harvest of the firstfruits, and then will come the harvest. In other words, it can be at any time—this harvest of firstfruits, of overcomers.
So it’s not a light thing that we should overlook this matter of an overcoming life, of becoming an overcomer, because it’s really for the Lord’s sake. He’s waiting for those firstfruits. Of course, He’s waiting for the entire harvest—don’t get me wrong—but there’s something special to the Lord Himself about those firstfruits.
Now, in trying to share on the overcomers in the church, I’m going to have to do a little review. If you don’t have the context of those first four messages, what I share about the overcomers in the church will not seem to make any connection. But there’s a great connection, and I do not want us to miss it.
So I’m going to have to do a little review, particularly for those who may not have heard any of the other messages.
First of all, in this matter of overcoming, there is one Overcomer, and that’s Christ. Christ is the Overcomer. And you can only overcome if you have the Overcomer.
But brothers and sisters, in accepting the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, you have the life of the Overcomer in you. And not only that, but you have been put into the Overcomer, our Lord Jesus Christ. Of God, you are in Christ.
All that you need, all that is necessary, all the provision to overcome, is in Christ. It always will be in Christ, not in yourself.
So we are looking to overcome. We are looking to have Christ, the Overcomer, in our life.
Our Lord Jesus, in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, when He was examining the seven churches, what was He looking for? Brothers and sisters, He was looking for that overcomer. He was looking for the overcoming life.
And what He found was much weakness there. He found problems there. He found that the saints were being overcome instead of overcoming.
Sin had entered into the church. In Thyatira, it said even Satan was there. In Pergamos, there were false doctrines that entered into the church. The world and its ways had crept into the church.
There was a special class: the laity and the clergy. There was a division. Now there was this clergy idea of special clergy who could only do things of the Lord, could only read the Word, could only interpret it—which, of course, is not the Lord Jesus’ way.
The ways of the world, flesh and self-love, men seeking power and position and even money—all in the early church. All of this failure produced lukewarmness in the entire body, in the entire church. Lukewarmness. First love was lost.
And behind it all was Satan. At first he tried persecution, but that didn’t work. Then he began to bring false doctrines in, the ways of the world in, and he achieved a lot.
At this point, at the end of the first century, the church was in real trouble. The testimony of Christ was in real trouble, and Satan was determined to destroy the testimony of Christ completely off this earth.
Don’t ever forget that, brothers and sisters. A lot of what we encounter in an assembly is because Satan is deadly against the church and any testimony of Christ, particularly the corporate testimony.
He wanted to destroy the testimony of Christ, and he wanted to destroy the vessel that would be responsible to bring Christ back, because that is God’s plan: that through the church, He would be drawn back to this earth.
So in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, a call goes out to all seven churches to overcome—the call to overcome, the call to be an overcomer.
In other words, a call went out to the entire church, not just to these seven churches that were there. They are representative, and the call goes out to the entire church.
And we know that through these seven churches we see the history of the church, so it really applies to the church in all ages: the call to overcome.
If the church continues to weaken, then the testimony will be lost. The King would not have a vessel by which He could return. The church would be stripped of its life and only result in an outward form and a shell.
So the call goes out, and that call is the call to the entire church. But only a few respond, brothers and sisters. I think that’s been proven down through the ages. Many are called, the Lord says, but few are chosen.
This is sad. This is a sad condition. Brothers and sisters, I don’t know how you find yourselves today, but I do think that the harvest is soon—the harvest of firstfruits. And we need to consider our condition before the Lord.
Are we overcoming in our life, or are we being overcome? Are we being overwhelmed under it instead of victorious? It’s a serious thing to consider.
Sometimes we live under that cloud for so long, we think it’s impossible to overcome. But it’s not. All the provision is in Christ, and Christ is always available. Brothers and sisters, the call today is the call to overcome.
So how will the Lord finally return and have the testimony that He needs? It will be done through the overcomers, the harvest of the firstfruits.
These are ones who hold the testimony of Christ in their life—that overcoming life. But they don’t do it just for themselves. It’s for the sake of the church. It’s for the sake of the brothers and sisters.
Brothers and sisters, often we go through many trials and tribulations, but you need to know it’s not just you that the Lord is dealing with. He’s trying to do something in you.
When you get through that situation, life will be coming out—resurrection life—and the entire body will be increased because of it. So we overcome not just for our sake, but for the Lord’s sake, for the church’s sake.
And that’s why I mention overcomers in the church, because they don’t consider themselves an elite or special group. They do become special when the Lord has His harvest—the harvest rapture.
When the number of overcomers is full, Christ will return. In other words, when there’s enough overcoming life being expressed on this earth, the Lord will be drawn back, and He will come.
So when that number is full—it says “the fullness of times” a number of times in the Bible—there will be a fullness of time. Shortly, He will look, He’ll see that fullness through the overcomers, and He will be drawn back. And there will be the harvest of the firstfruits.
God’s heart is that we all overcome. The provision is there because of His person and His work.
But there are two major things—I didn’t say they are all the things—but there are two major things that I think are reasons for a lack of overcoming in our life.
One is, and probably the biggest—let’s face it—self-love and self-desire. That’s it. Self-love and self-desire.
That is so strong in us. Even in our Christian life, there can be a desire, you know, to be the greatest Christian in the world. That’s a wrong perspective. That’s a wrong basis for overcoming. It’s still self.
Self-love and self-desire. That’s why we just won’t take up the cross. That’s why we refuse to follow the Lord. That’s why, when we hear the anointing within, the voice within, and the Lord says, “You need to respond in this way,” we say, “Well, no, not now.” It’s because of self-love and self-desire.
Let me share: what was it the Lord in the Old Testament hated so much? Idol worship, right? It was idol worship. Oh, how He hated it, and there was judgment over the nation of Israel for idol worship.
What is an idol? It is what replaces Christ. Sin will separate you, but an idol replaces Christ in your life. And that’s what self-love does. It puts you in the place of Christ. Idol worship.
Self really has a hard time submitting to the cross. A hard time. In fact, it just can’t do it. You have to ask for God’s mercy and grace, brothers and sisters.
Self cannot follow the Lord. Self cannot grow and mature in the Lord. Self cannot overcome.
That’s why you’re crucified with Christ at Calvary’s cross. He said, “I’ve done away with this old thing. I don’t want to have anything to do with it. You have a new life in you. You’re a new creation.”
You need to live in the new creation. You need to lay hold of that new creation. It is supplied to you in Christ Jesus and in the heavenlies.
I went on to share: if we really desire to follow the Lord and overcome, I think one of the key issues is faith.
When we begin our Christian life, we accept the Lord by faith. We really do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I happen to know and believe there are many who have been convinced of Christ but have not yet been saved, have not yet come into the reality of that transforming work that Calvary provides through Christ’s death on the cross—that you indeed become a new creation, born again.
The Lord was speaking to Nicodemus: “Nicodemus, look, just tell Me what I need to do to get there, to get into that kingdom.” Of course, Nicodemus was thinking, “Is there one more Old Testament directive that I need to follow? Is there something in my life I just need to put away that I don’t know about yet?”
And the Lord said, “Look, you’ve missed it all, Nicodemus. You must be born again. You must have My life in you.” And that is by faith.
By grace are you saved through faith, and that faith is not of yourself, but of God. He is the One who provides faith for that transforming work.
But the problem is, after we’re saved by faith, we try to live out of the old man instead of living out of Christ, out of that overcoming life. And how do we live? The Word is very clear. It says, “The just shall live by faith.”
Not only are you saved by faith, born again by faith, but you have to learn to live and walk in faith—always possessing Christ, laying hold of the provision in Christ.
I went on to share that the Christian lives in two realms: the eternal realm and the temporal realm. We live in both.
We live in the eternal realm because it says, “Of God, you are in Christ Jesus.” And in Ephesians, it says we’re seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Now, oftentimes we’re seated at home in a lounge chair looking at television, but the Lord has made provision that we might be seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
That is the eternal realm that we live in and can live in. And in the eternal realm, in Christ, you are complete. You are perfect. You are holy.
Let’s read some Scriptures. Hebrews 10:14.
For by one offering He hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified.
By one offering, He’s perfected you forever. That’s what happened through the work of Calvary. You’re perfected in Christ.
Colossians 2:10:
And in Him ye are made full,
who is the head of all principality and power.
You are complete in Christ. Colossians 1:22:
Yet now hath He reconciled
in the body of His flesh through death,
to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before Him.
Talking about His crucifixion, He said through His crucifixion He is presenting you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in His sight. That’s what you are in Christ, in the heavenlies.
Brothers and sisters, this realm of the eternal is the realm of the great I AM. And in that realm, I am. I am what Christ says I am: complete, perfect, holy.
But we also live in the temporal realm, and I just want to say very quickly: it is the realm of “I am becoming.” In this life that we’re living here, I am becoming.
Philippians 1:6:
He who began a good work in you
will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.
He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion. But you’re already complete in Christ. Yet you’re being brought into that completion.
First Peter 5:10:
And the God of all grace, who called you unto His eternal glory in Christ,
after that ye have suffered a little while,
shall Himself perfect, establish, strengthen you.
That word suffered could be disciplined. After you’ve been disciplined, He will make you perfect, establish you, strengthen you, and settle you into what you already are in Him.
It is the realm of “I am becoming” in the temporal life. If we are overcoming, we are becoming what we already are in Christ in the eternal—what has already been done.
We need to be clear on that. You’re being transformed into what you already are in Christ. It’s been accomplished in Christ.
Now, that’s amazing. The human mind really can’t get its brain around that because, you know, it’s a stumbling block to us Greeks, right? The ways of the Lord. He’s already got you complete, but He’s completing you into what you already are in Christ.
The key to this transformation is faith. It is believing. And this is true of the overcoming life.
Brothers and sisters, you are an overcomer in Christ. It’s true in the eternal. We need to apply it to this temporal life by believing, by faith, by accepting Him.
You are in Christ. Of God, you are in Christ. It’s not your work. You don’t have to get yourself into Christ. When you accepted Christ, God put you there.
And He says, “All that is true of My Son will be true of you. And all the work that He’s done on your behalf is already true. It’s done. But I’m going to bring you into it.”
In this temporal life, in yourself, you really can’t overcome. But the amazing thing is, through the simple act of believing in what the Lord has already done in Christ—what God has done in Christ—you can overcome. You can be that overcomer.
Let me say it a little differently: without faith, truth remains truth. Without faith, truth remains truth. Doctrine remains doctrine.
With faith, truth becomes experience. With faith, truth becomes your experience.
And you have to act on that faith. You need to respond to that faith. And that comes through obedience.
The anointing speaks to you within, and you obey the anointing. You say, “But I don’t know how to obey.” Of course you do. You are an obedient one in Christ, and you lay hold of that.
Brothers and sisters, what God has done is a tremendous thing. We don’t have to live as poor, destitute creatures anymore.
There can be the victorious life. We can be what we are in Christ, and He’s determined that that will happen, and eventually it will. Praise the Lord.
But we need, by faith, to allow the Lord to do this work now—to be an overcomer, to be a firstfruit.
Let me give you an example. I didn’t give it last time, but I had to reemphasize this today because I think it is so important, brothers and sisters, to grasp how we really can walk in the life of Christ, live in that life, and have His life expressed through us.
I’m going to borrow an example from Brother Nee, which I’ve added a little bit to. I hope Brother Nee won’t be offended.
He gave the example of a light bulb. The source that feeds that light bulb is at the power plant. Let’s consider you and me a light bulb, okay?
That source is never in yourself. The light bulb just doesn’t have it in itself, does it? It has to be connected to the source—the electrical power that brings the light, that causes it to give off light.
But there is a switch. In order for the source, that power source, to be made available to the light bulb, the switch has to be turned on. And that is faith.
When the switch is on, the source comes in and fills the light bulb, and it turns it into light.
Now, brothers and sisters, that’s a very simple example, but it is so true. We have to stay connected to the source. And we are connected because God has put us in Christ. But the switch has got to be on.
Now, very important—and I’m going to repeat this—the bulb does not have light within itself.
You know, after a bulb has been shining maybe for four or five days, or a couple of months, and never been turned off, it might begin to think that it has the light within itself because it’s always lit up.
But as soon as the light bulb begins to look inside to find out where the light is, the switch turns off, because it’s no more faith in the source; it is faith in itself, and not the source. And it goes dark.
The simple analogy is this: we want it to be in here. We want to feel it inside. We want to have the proof of that feeling here inside.
And I want to tell you, as long as you’re looking inside, it’s not faith, and you’ll never find it. The light is not there. Light is always in Christ. The life is always in Christ. Overcoming life is always in Christ.
And all you need to do is believe the truth, and that light is made available. And then the Lord begins to speak, and then you need to obey.
Well, you must always be connected to the source. That’s abiding in Christ.
Truth will remain truth without faith. But with faith, truth will become experience.
I did mention that the light bulb always has to be connected to the source. That’s abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, we are always in Christ; we can never be taken out of Christ. But you can live in this temporal life as if you’re not abiding in Christ.
In fact, the Word is very explicit. He says, “Abide in Me. You cannot do anything without Me.” It’s a command: abide.
Abiding simply means—you know, how do you abide in the Lord? It’s really not as difficult as we make it. We come up with all these things we need to do, this great list of things that we need to do to be sure we’re abiding. That’s not it.
It’s simply obeying the anointing within—whatever the anointing says. If it tells you to read your Bible, read it. If it tells you to go talk with a brother and sister, do it.
Whatever the abiding life in you says. “Okay, Jerry, this has got to go in your life.” “But Lord, what’s wrong with it? There’s nothing wrong. It’s not sinful.” “Jerry, it’s got to go.” “Okay, Lord.”
Where does that obedient life come from? It’s the life of the Lord Jesus. You have to believe you have that obedient life, and you do in Christ.
Do you see how great our Lord Jesus is? It’s all in Him. We always are looking for it in us.
Now, as we believe, we do become transformed. And I mentioned that we need to also transform our mind.
Remember the word but, always putting God in the right place—and that’s behind but.
One of the great examples is the Lord in the garden. He didn’t say, “Lord, I know Your will is for Me to go to the cross, but I really want to be delivered from this thing.” He didn’t say that.
It’s always what’s behind the word but in your life that is what you really count. It’s what’s really on your mind. It is priority.
“Well, I really want to go to prayer meeting, but I’m just too tired.” We do that, and we give in.
The other way is, “Lord, I’m very tired, but I’m going to prayer meeting because it’s Your will. The anointing says I need to go.” That’s faith. But brings in faith.
The example with our Lord Jesus: if He had said, “Lord, I know what Your will is, but what I’m really concerned about is going through this trial, this cup that You’ve called Me to drink,” He didn’t do that.
What did He say? He said, “Lord, I don’t want to go through this cup. If it’s possible, let it pass.” That’s His humanity.
And then He said, “But, not My will, but Thine, be done.” That was what was priority. It was what was behind the but.
So always keep God as the priority, and it’s behind the but. Well, it’s overcoming life. That’s the way we experience it. This is the call to overcome. It is an individual call.
The Lord—it’s so on my heart that we become overcomers. Now, my problem is I’ve got fifteen more minutes and thirty more minutes of message. And I don’t want you to really miss this connection of our individual life and the church life. I really don’t.
But the context of all of this is the overcoming life, and it begins in your individual life. Brothers and sisters, if we can’t get that straight in our lives, if we don’t operate on that basis, we’ll never be able to operate in the body of Christ. You just can’t.
In fact, we’ll do as much harm to the body as good.
I’m struggling with what to do here. If it’s okay, brothers—I’m looking at Kenny—is it okay if I go next week? I just feel like it’s going to be too much, and I don’t want to lose what we have to say about these two connections. So let’s just end here.
I do want to emphasize, as we end today, the individual life—the individual overcoming life—is so critical. We do need to be firstfruits to the Lord.
The firstfruits are called out of the church to the throne. They’re in the church the whole time until the harvest of the firstfruits.
Their purpose is to serve the church. Their purpose is that the body might function as it should and be a manifestation of the testimony of Jesus Christ on this earth. It is to be the vessel to call back our Lord Jesus Christ, and it will be done through overcomers.
Let me end there today. May the Lord open our hearts. I do pray that the Lord will deal with us.
Brothers and sisters, there’s no other way to know the life of the Lord than through His dealings—good and bad dealings. I’m not just talking about bad ones. A lot of times we think of that.
But our trials—we’re told that our trials and tribulations should be joy to us because we’re learning the Lord.
And I want to encourage us all: let’s just get serious with the Lord about our lives, about overcoming, being part of that firstfruits to the Lord, to bring Him pleasure and joy and happiness, and to be the ones who can be the welcoming party to bring Him back.
So let’s end here today.
Lord, we just come to You. Lord, You are so much great provision. Brother John mentioned the immensity of Christ. The immensity of what You’ve accomplished at Calvary’s cross is unbelievable, Lord—to believe that we’re already complete in You, and Lord, that we are now being completed into that complete man.
Lord, we just worship You. We thank You for Your love. We want to be real with You, Lord. We don’t want to continue just to live our lives as we’ve been doing.
But Lord, we want to be drawn back within that veil. We want to live and abide in You. Lord, we want Your life, Your overcoming life, to be expressed. Lord, and it can be.
Lord, grant us faith. Grant us faith by Your grace, in Jesus’ name. Amen.