How To Overcome

 How to Overcome (1 John 2:14-17)

14 I have written to you, fathers,

Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.

I have written to you, young men,

Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,

And you have overcome the wicked one.

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Beginning with verse 14 (1 John 2:14) John goes on to give a word of encouragement, warning, and exhortation, to each group of believers, so he mentions them all again in order. To the fathers he says, “I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning” (1 John 2:14). John does not add anything to what he said in verse 13 (1 John 2:13). It is exactly the same. Why doesn’t he add anything? Because you cannot add to the climax of Christian experience-“Ye have known him that is from the beginning.” “From the beginning,” refers to Jesus’ incarnation here on earth. It must have been wonderful to trace His footsteps as He walked the sands of earth, and see Him in His perfection-God revealed in the flesh. It is even more wonderful to know Him now as the One who passed through death, was raised by the glory of the Father, has ascended to Heaven, and sits exalted at God’s right hand as our great High Priest and Advocate.

There are not many fathers in the faith. People may be very old in Christ and yet not be fathers in a spiritual sense. Sadly, many who have been Christians for years are still very worldly minded and know little of true fellowship with Christ. Paul earnestly prayed, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10). It is this personal knowledge of God that constitutes one a father in Christ. This is the height of Christian maturity, and comes through a life of intimate fellowship with Christ.

Next the apostle turned his attention to those who have not reached the depths of experience that the fathers have, and yet are strong, vigorous Christians. He said, “I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2:14). When he spoke to them previously, he simply said, “I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2:13). But now he reveals the secret of that overcoming. They are not strong in their own power, but “in the Lord, and in the power of his might” (Ephesians 6:10). In other words, you are strong because “the word of God abideth in you.” Many of us spend the greater part of the week occupied solely with the things of earth-things that in themselves are very right and legitimate. Once a week we come together for Bible study or worship, and say, “How encouraging and helpful!” It is like someone eating one good meal a week. That is not the way to be strong.

“Because the word of God abideth in you.” You know there are many Christians who think of the Word of God as something to take up an extra hour or so when they have nothing else to do. But you will never grow that way. What little strength you get from that hour is all used up when you become occupied with other things. You do not get anywhere on small doses. When the Word of God is the supreme thing in your life, and everything else is made to fit into that, then you will grow and become a strong Christian.

The world is bidding for strong young Christians, and its allurements are all around them. The devil would do anything to trip up an earnest Christian. There are some believers the devil could care less about. But the ones who are out and out for God, Satan pursues with his snares and attractions, trying to trip them up. If they flee from one thing, he has another temptation waiting for them. And so the exhortation comes, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:15-17).

What is this world that we are not to love? It is not the earth, for that in itself has nothing that can hurt our souls. We can love nature. We do not need to be afraid of a beautiful view or a lovely flower. Some Christians have the idea that we are not to enjoy the world of nature. I said to one, “Isn’t that a beautiful rose bush?” He replied, “I am not interested in roses; I am not of this world.” That is not the world that is spoken of in Scripture. The universe is the expression of the Father’s wisdom and goodness.

The Lord loved the lilies of the field. He drew attention to the beauties of nature. They stirred His own soul, and He wants His people to see in them the evidence of the wisdom and goodness of the Father. But what, then, is the world we are to hate? It is the system that man has built up on earth, in which he is trying to make himself happy without God. The world’s system really began back in Genesis when Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and built a city. It was a wonderful world. They were skilled in all kinds of arts, sciences, business, and pleasure-anything and everything to make them happy without God. But it ended in corruption and violence, and God had to sweep the whole thing away with a flood. The principles of the world that caused the corruption and violence before the flood were carried into the ark in the hearts of some of Noah’s children. They brought the world into the ark, and when they emerged from the flood, they brought the world out of the ark with them and set it up again.

What is then the world, which John described as the “lust of the flesh” (the gratification of the flesh), and “the lust of the eyes” (the desires of the unregenerate soul)? When some think of the world, they think of things that are abominable, vile and corrupt-saloons, gambling halls, and every kind of violence. These things offer little to attract the Christian heart. The world the Christian needs to beware of is the world of culture-the world that appeals to their esthetic nature. That world should hold as little attraction for the Christian as the corrupt, abominable world in the slums of our great cities. Don’t imagine yourself safe and free from worldliness because your world is in the arts and sciences. Even the business world may become a great snare. But you ask, “Don’t we have to work?” Yes. Jesus said, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15). In all these things we have to watch against the evils of the world.

 For some a fine house is “the world.” Suppose there is a Christian who has little worldly wealth. He lives in a quiet little home and is happy and content. But then the Lord trusts him with a good deal of money, and he immediately says, “I must have a better house now. I must live in style. I must have magnificent furniture and fine draperies.” What for? Is he any more comfortable? He can only eat three meals a day; he can only sleep in one bed and sit in one chair at a time. But he feels he must impress people. He is in love with “the things that are in the world.”

Physical beauty can also get between you and Christ, and will prove to be “the world” if one is not careful. “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).

What is “the pride of life?” It is the pretentiousness of living, of trying to make an impression on others. It is the excessive exalting of oneself in the eyes of the world. I sometimes think if Christians took two-thirds of the money they invested in a mansion in this world, and invested it in sending the gospel to a lost world, they would have a much finer mansion in the eternal world. I was walking down the street one day with a friend. As he pointed out a particular home he said, “There is an awful lot of tragedy connected with that house. A man built this great home for his beautiful wife, and suddenly she died. Here is a house that had a lot of money put into it, but there was a suicide in the family, and now no one wants to live in it.” There is no real joy in things. As Christians, our joy in Christ is the only joy that will last forever. Our joy is in the things that will never pass away, and yet it is sad to think that we can be so foolish and invest so much in what is fleeting and will leave us dissatisfied and unhappy in the end.