Go ahead and take your Bibles and turn to 1 John 5:1-5. Today’s message is entitled “Overcoming the World.” And even as I state that out loud and put that on the front of your sermon notes, you might be saying to yourself, “Overcome the world? Pastor Tony, are you even paying attention to what’s going on in our world? Why don’t you come down from your ivory tower and see what’s going on in our world?” If you said that, I wouldn’t blame you or be frustrated at all. I understand that mentality. 

I have noticed, like you, that things aren’t going great in our world right now. Let’s just do a survey of what’s going on. The sexual revolution is in full swing in our country. More and more children are being allowed, and even encouraged, to self-identify their own gender without any regard to the way that God made them. Puberty blockers are being assigned to children with gender dysphoria. Hospitals are operating on children and even mutilating perfectly healthy bodies due to this confusion. All of that grieves my heart. That makes me feel like the world is winning and we are not overcoming the world. 

Also Planned Parenthood is still operating with impunity in our country. That’s not great. Even after it was discovered just a few years ago that they were illegally selling aborted baby parts. I was completely shocked and repulsed when I first heard about that. I can’t believe how topsy-turvy our country has become. It seems like everywhere I look the world is winning the war against Christ and his followers.

I heard a podcast a while back that explained what’s called “revenge porn.” Supposedly jilted lovers like to publish intimate pictures of themselves and their exes in order to get back at them. When I first heard that, I thought to myself, what world are we living in? I don’t even know where to start with how wicked that whole scenario is.

I’ve read articles recently about the secularization of this country and other traditionally Christian countries in Europe. I’ve read recently about the growing radicalization and Islamization of many countries throughout the world. And that’s not the worst of it. I’ve read recently about genetically modified human embryos in England. I even read an article recently about a couple in Canada who had a baby boy, and they aren’t just going to allow their child to choose his gender when he’s ready, they’re actually going to allow him to choose what species he wants to be.

Things in Israel aren’t going great. Things in Ukraine aren’t going great. Things in China look ominous. Things in Russia look ominous. Things in Iran look ominous. Are we, as Christians, overcoming the world? 

What’s a Christian to do in a world like this? Crawl under the table and cry? Curl up into a fetal position and give up? Tuck tail and run? All of these sinful elements are converging in a world that is rapidly spinning out of control. As much as modern day intellectuals would have us believe that our world is accelerating positively, I beg to differ. Our world is just as dangerous, just as volatile, just as sinful, just as unstable as it ever was… perhaps more so. And in light of all of this evil and all this confusion and all this world-mongering around us, wouldn’t it be best for us to just give up? Shouldn’t we just pack it in, throw in the towel, give up in light of all these challenges around us? Should we just give up? 

No! Because regardless of the world around us, regardless of the instability and confusion that surrounds us, God’s word says in 1 John 5:4, 

4 … everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world [We are victorious over this world]. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 

Yes, our world is spinning out of control. But, we are not called to be defeatists. And this is not a defeatist sermon. I don’t do defeatist sermons, because this is not a defeatist book! Yes our world is sin-stained and defiantly insubordinate to the God of the Universe. But it’s a place where God has called us to live. And we can survive here and thrive and can even experience victory. Not because of anything intrinsically victorious in us! But because of the victory that has been accomplished for us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 

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So here’s what I want to do for you today. I want to detail for you four ways that you can win the war over worldly influences in your life. God has made a way for us to experience victory in this world spinning out of control. God has made a way for us to resist the world-mongering influences around us and the world-monger himself, Satan. And what John gives us here is four requirements for overcoming the world. Write these down. Here’s #1. 

Overcoming the world requires:

1) A faith-filled commitment to Christ (5:1a)

John writes:

5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, 

First things first, church. You’ve got to have this first or you have no chance of victory in this world. You’ve got to have faith in Christ. You’ve got to have the new life that comes from being born again with the Holy Spirit living inside of you. That is your victory. That is your everything! That is your ever-present help in time of need. That is the deposit guaranteeing a future inheritance for you. Do you have it? Do you have saving faith? Have you been born again?

I’ve asked that question many times from this pulpit. I’m sure I’ll ask it many more times in the future. And I’m going to ask it again right now, hoping and praying in faith that it may be your time to respond. Have you been born again? There’s a lot that I want to say about 1 John 5:1-5… but we have to address this first, because that’s what John emphasizes first. 

5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, 

Have you by faith repented of your sins and believed in the work of Jesus on the cross, his death, his resurrection, his payment for your sins? That is how a person is saved. That is how a person is born of God. Do you have that? Do you have a “faith-filled commitment to Christ?” 

George Whitefield, the great eighteenth century evangelist, preached thousands of evangelistic sermons in America and also in England. And once a very well-dressed, noble woman said to him, Whitefield you preach over and over again, ‘ye must be born again… ‘ye must be born again’ … ‘ye must be born again.’ Why do you keep preaching the same sermon?” 

And Whitefield looked at her and said, “because, ye must be born again, or else you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” That’s my story too and I’m sticking to it. You must be born again! Have you been born again? Do you have a faith-filled commitment to Christ?

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You say, “Yes I do, Pastor Tony. I am a card-carrying Christian. I’ve been a born-again Christian since Ronald Reagan was in the White House. I’ve been walking with Christ for 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, 50 years.” 

Ok, well here’s how John follows up his statement about being born of God. Here’s what he says should be characteristic of a person that is born again. 

5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,

 1b and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 

The ESV actually obscures some wordplay in this verse. What John says literally at the end of verse 1 is “Everyone who loves the begetter loves those begotten of him.” Or you might say it this way: “Everyone who loves the regenerator, loves those regenerated by him.” 

So the logic of this passage is this... “The begotten one surely loves the Begetter and also surely loves his or her fellow begotten ones.” Or let me say it this way… “The born again believer loves the one who caused him/her to be born again and loves other born-again believers.” Or let me say it this way more simply… “Children of God love their Father and they love their fellow siblings in Christ Jesus.” 

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  

Love, love, love, love, love. How often has love come up in our series on 1 John? Go ahead and write this down as #2 in your notes. Overcoming worldliness requires a faith-filled commitment to Christ (5:1a). It also requires…

2) A love-filled commitment to Christ’s family (5:1b-2)

Now some of you might ask the following question: “How does loving Christ’s family bring victory over the world?” You might say, “I can see how brotherly love is evidence of saving faith, Pastor Tony, but how does that love help me overcome the world?” Well, here’s the answer. You are not as strong as you think you are! You are weak as a solitary Christian. And God has given us this gift… God has given us this synergistic power called the church where we can leverage our collective strength to victoriously win the war over worldliness in our lives. You can’t do that on your own! 

And if you don’t have love for the church, you don’t have that power. And if you don’t have a love for God that is evidenced in your love for the church, you don’t have victory over the world. And in fact John would say it stronger than that. He would say you don’t have saving faith if you don’t have that love.

This has been such a central theme of John’s writing. And that’s why I entitled this series, “Love One Another.” And in case you were thinking, “O that’s so cute, love one another. What a nice little goal for the church! What a cute little slogan for us as believers!” “Let’s put that on a Valentine’s Day candy and pass them out to one another.” No, this is not about being cute or sentimental. This is about survival. We need each other! We can’t battle the forces of this world alone, and we weren’t meant to!

The war of worldliness has intensified in our country lately. And that’s not all bad. One of the bright spots of that is that it’s getting easier and easier to see who our real brothers and sisters in Christ are. Have you noticed that? The advantage of self-identifying as a Christian is decreasing in our country, and so there’s less and less incentive to pretend that you are a Christian.

Let me illustrate this with a sketch from Adam Ford. Here’s a perfect illustration of what’s happening in our country right now. 

This first illustration says, “AMERICA 20 YEARS AGO.” And we have “Christian,” “Non-Christian,” and the “Meh” guy. The Christian guy says, “I am definitely a Christian.” The non-Christian says, “I am definitely not a Christian.” 

And in the second slide the “Meh” guy says, “I honestly don’t care that much about following Jesus, but it’s socially advantageous for me to self-identify as a Christian. So that’s what I do.”

Fast-forward 20 years to “AMERICA TODAY” and now the “Meh” guy is on the other side of the ledger. And Christian and non-Christian haven’t changed. The Christian says, “I am definitely a Christian.” The Non-Christian guy says, “I am definitely not a Christian.”

And the “Meh” guy says, “OK so times have changed and it’s no longer socially advantageous for me to self-identify as a Christian. So I stopped. I’m on this side now.”

And “WHAT DO THE HEADLINES SAY.” Christianity is dying. Christianity is passé. Christianity is a thing of the past! And the “meh” guy says, “Dang, Christian. Pew Research says you’re dying over there. There used to be two of you and now there’s only one. You should be worried.”

But “WHAT’S THE TRUTH?” Christian says, “Nah. There was really only one of me before, and there’s still one of me. The ‘Meh’ Guy just got more honest.”

“And Oddly enough…” says Christian… “I feel healthier than I have in a long time.”

Now I think that, right there, perfectly sums up the situation we find ourselves in today. And what that cartoon alludes to is that one of the reasons we are healthier as a Christian community is that it’s getting harder and harder to fake being a Christian. It’s not socially advantageous to fake it anymore. And so it’s getting easier for us to tell who the genuine children of God are. And that has actually allowed for greater levels of strength and health in Christian churches… as long as you don’t allow the fakers to keep faking it. 

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Write this down as #3. Overcoming worldliness requires a faith-filled commitment to Christ. It requires a love-filled commitment to Christ’s family. It also requires…

3) A joy-filled commitment to Christ’s instructions (5:3)

John writes in verse 3.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 

His commandments are not “burdensome.” The word “burdensome” in Greek is the word βαρύς. It means “heavy” or “oppressive” or even “cruel.” And that word was often used in relations to rules and legal matters. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). Jesus said that to people who were weighed down by the Pharisees and their litany of rules that were added to the Torah. Those rules were βαρύς. They were cruel and oppressive to the people. 

And the Pharisees were supposed to be shepherds to the people. But they weren’t shepherds; they were taskmasters. That’s why Jesus said, “They are like sheep without a shepherd.” And Jesus said “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt 11:28-30).” Jesus never said there wouldn’t be a yoke associated with following him. There is a yoke. There is a cost associated with following Jesus. In fact he challenged his disciples to count the cost of following him. But he did say that his yoke would be easy, and his burden would be light. His yoke is never βαρύς; it’s never burdensome or oppressive.

And in keeping God’s commandments, we are given victory over the world. That’s part of the reason that we don’t think of them as oppressive. As we obey God’s commandments… as we treasure them in our hearts, we are freed from sin and bondage in this world. People are stuck in patterns of sin. They can’t control it. They can’t stop it. They can’t overcome it. But we, in obedience to God’s commands have victory over sin. We have victory over our flesh. That’s why his commandments are great. That’s why we love them. That’s why we don’t think of them as burdensome.

David understood this. David knew about this. Why else would he write a poem about the beauty of God’s Law and the wonder of his commandments? Psalm 19:6-8 says, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul… the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart… the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” Who talks like that? Who speaks about the law like that with song and poetry? David must be off his rocker! Who writes a love song about the law?

Can you imagine someone writing a love song about the traffic code here in Texas? Can you imagine someone writing a song about IRS code? O IRS CODE, IRS CODE! I JUST LOVE PAYIN’ MY TAXES. 

Psalm 19:9-10 says, “the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” Who writes a song about “rules?” Can you imagine kids doing that? “Thank you, Dad, for the rules. Thank you, Mom, they are so cool.” No, they don’t do that. 

So why does David do that about God’s rules? Because David has experienced the life-giving power of obedience to God. And David has experienced the joy of freedom from sin and freedom from the entanglements of this world. And it wasn’t just David in the OT. 

The Psalmist writes this in Psalm 119. 

Psalm 119:47-48 – “for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.”

Psalm 119:16 – “I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”

Psalm 119:24 – “Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.” 

Psalm 119:97 – “O how I love your Law. It is my meditation all the day.” 

Who talks like that? I’ll tell you who talks like that! Someone whose life has been changed by the power of obedience…. someone who has experience freedom from sin and freedom from slavery to the world through faithful obedience to God. And I’ll just tell you, when you experience that freedom, it’s addictive. It’s liberating. And there is joy found in obedience and overcoming this world that is so much more satisfying than the temporary gratification that comes from sin.

And by the way that’s not just an OT thing. Paul said himself, “I delight in the law of God” (Rom 7:22). And John says here in our passage,

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 

I think one of the reasons that God’s commandments aren’t burdensome is because God’s commandments help us to avoid big problems. When you choose to sin, you choose to suffer. And when God says, “don’t,” he means, “don’t hurt yourself.”

I remember when we lived in Illinois, I desperately wanted a basketball goal in my driveway. But I didn’t want one of those lame basketball goals that you have to roll into place. Besides those are dangerous in Illinois because the wind blows so hard, it can blow those things over pretty easily. So I went to the sporting goods store and bought one of those big strong goals that you insert into your yard and surround by concrete. And I went to the hardware store and bought ten bags of concrete to get the job done. But before I did any digging in my yard, guess what I did? I called the local municipality and told them to mark up my yard with spray paint pointing out where I shouldn’t dig. You’re required by law to do that. 

Now why would I do that? That’s so legalistic. Why do I need to follow those rules? Well, because if I hit the gas line or the water line digging up my yard to put up a basketball goal, I’ve got bigger problems than just not having a basketball goal in my driveway! And so I happily called my local municipality. And I happily obeyed that commandment. And I even learned something about my house as to where the gas line, water line, etc. were in my front yard! God’s commandments are like that. They help us. They are good. They aren’t oppressive or burdensome. They protect us from making messes.

Now just a quick clarification here. Obeying Christ’s commandments doesn’t save us; it’s what saved people do. That’s so important. The starting point for Christianity is verse 1, being born of God. You’ve got to start there. But once you have been born again, then that’s when obedience to Christ becomes so important. It’s how Christians grow in Christ. It’s how disciples are discipled. 

Jesus said, “Go, make disciples.” And how do we make disciples? Well Jesus gives us two things, 1) “baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Is that it? Are we done after baptism? No, Jesus says secondly 2) “teach them to obey all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:18-20). And according to 1 John 5, Jesus’s commandments are not burdensome.

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Finally, write this down, under #4:

Overcoming worldliness requires:

A faith-filled commitment to Christ (5:1a)

A love-filled commitment to Christ’s family (5:1b-2)

A joy-filled commitment to Christ’s instructions (5:3)

A truth-filled commitment to Christ’s identity (5:4-5)

To that fourth statement, you might say, “A truth-filled commitment? Okay, Tony, what’s the truth? What’s the truth? Because as far as I can tell the truth is that this world is going to hell in a handbasket. Sin is on the rise. Muslim insurgence is on the rise. Our country is growing increasingly God-less and secular. And it’s not like our politicians are getting the job done in the United States of America! We can’t even trust our leaders. How in the world are we going to win the war over worldliness with all that going on?”

Well, all those things are true. But there is a deeper truth that is at work in us that trumps and triumphs over everything else. And here’s what John says about it in verse 4.

4 Everyone who has been born of God, overcomes the world.

Those born of God overcome the world! Are you born of God? You’re an overcomer! Everyone born of God overcomes secularization. Everyone born of God overcomes radicalization. Everyone born of God overcomes Islamization. Everyone born of God overcomes destabilization and all the other “zations” out there in this world. 

 If you have been born of God, you have overcome this world. You have victory over this world. “What is that victory, Pastor Tony? How do we have that victory?”

John writes in verse 4,

4b And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Our faith in Jesus Christ is our victory. Our faith in Jesus Christ is our help in this present world and our hope for the world to come. 

 5 Who is it that overcomes the world … John asks…

5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 

How do we overcome the world? John says we maintain a truth-filled commitment to Christ’s identity. And here’s his identity. He is the Son of God. And as John has told us already, “whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15). 

Now we’ve spent some time already in this series discussing Jesus’s identity as the Son of God. Suffice it to say that our entire doctrine of salvation is wrapped up in who Jesus is and what he has done for you. And John has gone to great lengths in this book to describe who Jesus is and what he has done for you. He is the Savior. He is fully-God and fully-man. He is the incarnate Son of God who came in the flesh and died on the cross for our sins. And he is the only means of salvation for sinners because nobody comes to the Father but by Jesus Christ.

So we’ve dealt with that. And I hope that you have received that truth about Jesus and believed it. What I want to focus our time on now is this idea of “overcoming” which is extremely prominent in these last two verses, 1 John 5:4-5. John says three times in these two verses, that those who are in Christ Jesus, those who are born of God, they are overcomers. And my question to you, church, is “are you an overcomer?”

The verb for “overcome” in this passage is νικάω. It means “to be a victor” or “to conquer” or “to triumph.” So are you a conqueror, church? Are you a victor? Are you a triumphant one? Well the answer to that is this—if you are in Christ Jesus, then yes, you are.

Now νικάω in Greek is a verb meaning “to overcome.” And the cognate noun for νικάω is the word νίκη in Greek. It’s the word that the shoe-makers Nike used for their product brand. And it’s an appropriate word for a shoe-company. νίκη – Victory. I know every time I strap on my Nikes and go play basketball, I’m thinking “victory.”

I heard recently that Nike is not only the name of a shoe company, but it’s also the name of a missile system used by our country. “Project Nike” it was called. What better name for a missile system—Nike meaning victory!

Interestingly, the verb νικάω shows up several times in the Bible, but the noun νίκη or Nike only shows up one time in the NT. And it’s right here in 1 John 5:4. Here’s what John says, 

4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes [νικάω] the world. 4b And this is the victory [νίκη] that has overcome [νικάω] the world—our faith.

Our faith in what? Our faith in ourselves? Our faith in the church? Our faith in faith? No! And it’s certainly not a blind faith that just believes anything that we want to bring into existence.  

No, this is a reference to faith in Christ—the Christ that is revealed in these Scriptures. If you have faith in Christ, Christian, then you are an overcomer! If you have faith in Christ, then you have victory over this world no matter how wicked and destructive it becomes. 

And so John asks rhetorically in verse 5:

5 Who is it that overcomes the world…? 

It’s not Buddha or Buddhists. It’s not Krishna or Hindus. It’s not Mohammed and Muslims. It’s not Jehovah’s Witnesses with their corrupted view of Jesus.

5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Do you believe that Jesus is The Son of God? If so, then you have overcome the world. 

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I’ll close with this. The Apostle Paul says, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom 8:37). And the word he uses is that verse is ὑπερνικάω. This is a variation of that word νικάω that I mentioned earlier that means to conquer. Paul says not just νικάω but ὑπερνικάω. We are not just overcomers; we are hyper-overcomers. We are not just victorious; we are super-victorious through Christ who loved us. 

The great British Sea Captain, Lord Nelson, came back from a great naval battle once. He had just fought against the French in the Battle of the Nile. And he was required to report to the British Admiralty on what had happened. And they asked him how it went against the French. And Nelson said, “Victory is not a large enough word to describe what took place.” It wasn’t just νικάω it was ὑπερνικάω. They weren’t just victorious; they were super-victorious over the French. 

I’ll be honest with you, I am fearful about the state of our world and the state of our country. And quite frankly, my fearful concern for the state of the world that my son will grow up in has led me to prayer… as it should. But I refuse to give in to a defeatist spirit. “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim 1:7). And if you are in Christ Jesus, according to John, you have overcome the world. What’s the worst thing that the world can do to you? Persecute you? Insult you? Hassle you? Kill you? No matter what, they can’t touch your soul.  

And Church, we are overcomers in Christ Jesus. We are more than conquerors through him who loves us. When the troubles of this world get you down… When Satan, that great world-monger, starts to assail you… When things in this world continue to spiral downward and the return of Christ is hastened, don’t you forget 1 John 5. 

4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes [νικάω] the world. And this is the victory [νίκη] that has overcome [νικάω] the world—our faith.

Let’s bow in prayer together!