Introduction

Revelation 21:5-8 ESV  And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  (6)  And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.  (7)  The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.  (8)  But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

• Let me read those last two verses again just to emphasize them this morning…

Revelation 21:7-8 ESV  The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.  (8)  But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

• Now, if you want to get banned from Twitter, go ahead and quote verse 8.
  • As for as these kinds of people, the cowards, the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars… they get an inheritance of hell fire.
    • That is what scripture says…
    • And I could preach a bunch of messages from this.
    • Like how interesting that COWARDS not only make the list, but are first on the list.
      • Or how liars, which pretty much everyone has told lies in their lives, concludes the list.
    • We could pick a part every sin in this list with it’s own sermon… but really I think the point is “Anyone who has sinned” and we certainly see that truth throughout scripture.
      • I also have preached a lot on hell recently, so if you want to know more about the doctrine of hell, then go ahead and check out some sermons on our website CedarRapidsChurch.com.
      • There is “A Just and Merciful Judge”, “What it means to serve a Just God”, and “Two Harvests” that are all fairly recent sermons that talk about hell.
      • I think “What it means to serve a Just God” is the sermon that most clearly explains hell and why it exists and why a loving and just God sends people there… so if you want to learn more go to CedarRapidsChurch.com, click “watch online” then “all sermons”, then find the sermon “What it means to serve a Just God”.
    • And that is really all I am going to say about hell today, because I really think hell is mentioned here as a way to emphasize the difference between those who are saved and those who are not.
    • To give a contrast to show just how AMAZING New Jerusalem is, compared to the alternative, which is the lake of fire.
  • So instead I want to focus on verse 7.

Revelation 21:7 ESV  The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

• The one who conquers… but where do you conquer? When do you conquer?
  • You don’t conquer in New Jerusalem, you don’t conquer in eternity, in the afterlife…
  • Because there is nothing left to conquer… Satan, sin, and all evil doers have been conquered at this point.
  • So when do you conquer? You conquer in life! That is what we are going to talk about today.

• Conquer life y’all!
• Don’t wait until the after life… start conquering now.
  • Conquer your job.
  • Your school work.
  • Your family life.
  • Your relationships.
    • Conquer Satan
    • Conquer sin.
    • Conquer demons.
    • Conquer Fear.
    • Conquer Anxiety.
    • Conquer governments.
    • Conquer cultures.
    • Conquer nations.
      • Conquer today, conquer tomorrow, conquer LIFE!

Point One – Conquer Life Through Faith

Revelation 21:7 ESV  The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

• How do we go about conquering life? How do we become “one who conquers”?
  • I think the answer is found in my second favorite Bible verse.
    • My first favorite Bible verse is John 3:30 which says “Christ must increase and I must decrease”… and that too is the answer to todays question, more Jesus, less me.
  • But my second favorite Bible verse answers our questions specifically, how to conquer life.

1 John 5:4 ESV  For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

• In other words, if everyone who is born of God conquers life! And how do we conquer life? We conquer life through our faith!
  • It is our faith that overcomes the world.
  • It is our faith that brings the victory.
    • But what does THAT mean?
    • To understand we need to understand what faith means.
    • Fortunately we don’t have to guess the definition of faith, because the Bible gives us the definition of faith.

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

• Repeat after me church: “Faith is substance”
  • “Faith is evidence”
  • Faith is substance and evidence… it is reasonable and logical.
  • It is not a blind belief in something.
  • BLIND FAITH IS NOT FAITH AT ALL.
    • There is no biblical precedence for blind faith.
    • Faith is evidence and faith is substance.
      • I have used this example before and I will use it again, because it perfectly illustrates faith..
• This building was built in the 70’s. Show of hands, who SAW this building, the one we are sitting in right now, who saw this building being built? Show of hands, anyone watch this building being constructed?
  • Ok, no one? Next question…
    • Who here believes that this building came from nowhere? That it evolved from millions of years of random chance and it just appeared? Show of hands, anyone believe this building came from nowhere?
    • Ok, no one again… final question, who here believes that a group of humans, probably construction workers and contractors, with the help of tools and heavy machinery… who here thinks that humans built this church?
      • EVERYONE BELIVES THAT?!
  • “Well how dare you just have blind faith?”
    • No you don’t have blind faith that this building was built, you have reasonable, logical faith based on evidence and substance.
      • There is a building here with carpet, and walls, and a roof and doors…
        • That’s substance that proves SOMEONE put these things here.
      • There is a clear design, with room layouts and hallways, and stair cases.
        • That is EVIDENCE that someone built this building.
    • Because of substance and EVIDENCE we can say “yeah, someone obviously built this building”.
    • And even though you didn’t see them build the building, you can have faith that they built the building.
• Well how does this work to help us conquer life? Well it works like this:
  • Open your Bible, read it, and do what it says.
• Now hold on pastor I thought we were talking about conquering life, then you start talking about faith, now you are talking about reading the bible?
  • YES! Because all three go hand in hand.
  • You conquer life through faith, and you build faith by reading and obeying scripture.

Romans 10:17 NKJV  So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

• What does this mean? It means when you read and listen to the word of God, then you will see more evidence and substance in life that points to Christ.
• But not just reading, obeying the Word! Back to my second favorite Bible verse, in context:

1 John 5:1-4 ESV  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.  (2)  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.  (3)  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.  (4)  For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

• So here faith is juxtaposed with obedience to Christ’s commands. And where do we find the commands of Christ? We find them in the Word.
  • So if we open our Bible, read it, and do what it says, then we will grow in faith, and that faith will help us conquer life.
  • If you are a note taker, I am going to say this again, so you can write it down…
  • If we open our Bible, read it, and do what it says, then we will grow in faith, and that faith will help us conquer life.
• You know what, this is so important I am going to put it up on a slide!

HOW TO CONQUER LIFE

1. Get Saved (Believe in Christ)
2. Read Your Bible, Listen to Biblical Preaching
3. Obey the Commands of Christ (written in the Bible)
4. Watch as God’s Word proves true (Evidence and Substance)
5. Grow in Faith
6. Live By Faith and Overcome the World

• Some of y’all still might be confused, so let me break down how this works.
  • First of all, get saved, get born again… more on that at the end of service.
  • But assuming that you are saved, you need to be reading your Bible and listening to Bible centric preaching.
    • In doing so you might read a verse like James 5:14 that says “if any among you are sick, pray for them and anoint them with oil and they will be healed”
    • So you obey, and maybe Mark Farrier comes to you with crazy kidney pain, and you pray for him and anoint him with oil… and then he is completely healed!
      • That grows your faith, because you saw the evidence of God’s healing, the evidence that His word is true, even if it sounds impossible.
    • Then you pray for Carla, who has been crippled and using a walker for as long as you have known here… and SHE is healed and now dances at the altar, and gets around without a walker!
      • You have more evidence that even the impossible, God will do, just like His word says.
    • Then you read in Malachi that God will abundantly bless those who are faithful in tithes and offerings.
      • It is hard for you to give 10%, but you know that is what the Bible commands, so you obey… then that week you get a raise that covers the amount you are supposed to tithe. God provided just like His word says, that money you are now earning is substantial… growing you in your faith.
    • Or maybe you read that God will provide for your every need… but what you need is a new car or maybe just a new set of tires for your car or some money to help pay some bills that were higher than expected… so you begin praying knowing that the Bible says the prayer of a righteous man avaliath much.
      • Then a prophet comes forward at church and prophecies a new car, or new tires, or that God will provide for your bills.
      • THEN GOD PROVIDES THE NEW CAR OR TIRES OR MONEY FOR THE BILLS.
    • So you trusted and obeyed the word of God and what He said He would do, He did! Evidence and substance grows your faith.
  • BTW all of these are real testimonies that happened in this church! I could go on for hours like this.
• So your faith grows and you begin trusting God more.
  • You are facing sexual temptation from a coworker at work…
    • What does God’s word say? It says flee sexual temptation.
    • So you change desks, or quite and find a new job… and God gives you a raise or a better job.
  • You are struggling with your friends causing you to sin at school.
    • What does God’s word say? It says friendship with the world is enmity with Christ.
    • So you break off those relationships, instead inviting them to church.
    • What’s the result? One of your old friends get’s saved and becomes your friend again, and the others go off doing stupid stuff that you are not involved in.
  • Maybe your marriage is suffering… so you turn to scripture.
    • You find out that Love keeps no record of wrongs, that’s 1 Corinthians 13, and that you have been holding everything your spouse has ever done wrong against them.
    • So you forgive them and never mention those past mistakes again… and all the sudden love starts to grow back in your marriage.
  • Maybe a family member has hurt you in unspeakable ways… but Jesus said that you MUST forgive them or you will not be forgiven. That’s Matthew 6:15
    • So you cry out to God, Father, HELP ME FORGIVE THEM.
    • And He does, and you forgive them, and all of the sudden the weight of bitterness leaves your shoulders and you feel free and blessed afresh!
• Listen, every area of life, there are blessings to be found in obeying the word of God, because as you obey you grow in faith, and as you grow in faith you begin to conquer.
  • Devil got you down?
    • Submit to God and Resist the devil and he shall flee. James 4:7
  • Worried about money?
    • Be anxious for nothing, pray and ask God for provision. Philippians 4:6
  • Child out of line?
    • If you love your child you will discipline them. Proverbs 13:24
  • Looking for a wife?
    • Find someone who matches the description of a good wife in proverbs 31.
  • Looking for a church?
    • Find one with a pastor that is qualified according to 1 timothy 3:1-7
• I could go on and on and on and on…
  • But it is very simple… JUST OPEN YOUR BIBLE, READ IT, AND DO WHAT IT SAYS… AND AS YOU DO SO YOUR FAITH WILL GROW.
  • But it doesn’t stop there, don’t just be a conquerer… BE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR.
    • That’s my second point and I will try to make it quick.

Point Two –  Don’t Stop at Conquering, be MORE than a Conqueror.

Revelation 21:6-7 ESV  And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.  (7)  The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

• If you conquer life, you are granted a home in New Jerusalem, where you will eternally be refreshed by the water of life.
  • Where there is no more pain or sorrow or suffering.
  • Where God Himself resides.
  • Perfection.
• Not only that, but your life here will be better… I don’t believe that God want’s you to have a bad life… I don’t believe God wants you to suffer and fail and be broke and sick and destitute…
  • “But pastor, you are kind of sounding like a prosperity teacher now… like a health and wealth preacher… I mean… aren’t we promised persecution?”
  • YES WE ARE PROMISED PERSECUTION
• That is why I don’t want you to stop at just being a conqueror, I WANT YOU TO BE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR!

Romans 8:37 ESV  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

• Now sometimes prosperity teachers and others might teach that this verse means we should be MORE than a conqueror in all areas of life.
  • It’s not enough to conquer your finances and be financially stable, you need to be more than a conqueror and be filthy rich?
    • Now wait is that what it says?
  • It’s not enough to conqueror your job, you need to be more than a conqueror and be the CEO…
    • I’m not sure that’s what this means.
  • It’s not enough to conquer healing and health, you need to be more than a conqueror and live to be 120!
    • Bro… that’s not what this says…
• I have heard all of these things and many more like it from prosperity teachers who preach a false or at the very least watered down gospel.
• But these verse says “In all these things we are more than conquerors”
  • “In all these things” not “in all things”
  • “in all things we should be conquerors, we should conquer life… but in THESE things we should be more than conquerors, we should completely and utterly DOMINATE THESE things”.
    • What are “These Things” well if we read the verse in context we get what these things are.

Romans 8:35-37 ESV  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  (36)  As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”  (37)  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

• So what are the things we are to be MORE than conquerors in?
  • The things are: Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword.
    • This means when the world tries to starve us, and impoverish us, and kill us… we should not just conquer, we should MORE than conquer!
      • When the Roman’s went to crucify Christ, Christ could have conquered them by calling down an legion of angles… instead, He chose to die and rise again… conquering not just the romans, but more than that, He conquered death and sin!
      • When Nero started burning Christians at the stake in ancient Rome, the Christians could  have left Rome, they could have fled, they could have kept their mouths shut and stayed safe… but no, they MORE than conquered, they preached, and evangelized, and worshiped, for every Christian Nero killed, 10 more sprouted up in their space.
      • And a few generations later, Rome became a Christian Nation!
    • When Hitler tried to change Christianity and began arresting pastors who preached the truth, a German pastor name Bonhoeffer was teaching in an American seminary. He could have easily stayed there and claimed rightfully so that he was a conqueror.
      • But no, in these things, in persecution, we are called to be MORE than a conqueror. And so Bonhoeffer went back to Germany.
      • Started a church.
      • Invented children’s church and youth group.
      • Wrote powerful books that still shape theology today.
      • He even was involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler.
        • He was eventually killed for his faith by Hitler…
        • But jokes on Hitler… because Bonhoeffer is still effecting thing world today, his literature is still used in seminaries around the world… we have a youth group and children’s church because of him.
        • And what does Hitler have to show for his work? NOTHING.
        • What does Nero have to show for his work? NOTHING.
        • What does Pilot have to show for his work? NOTHING.
          • Their works are dead, and in their place churches have sprung up.
          • Because Christians did not just conquer them, they MORE THAN CONQUERED THEM!
• So when persecution comes, don’t look to conqueror it, BE BOLD! FACE IT HEAD ON! BE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR.
• In life, be a conqueror, in persecution, be more than a conqueror!

Conclusion

Revelation 21:5-8 ESV  And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  (6)  And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.  (7)  The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.  (8)  But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

• In the list of things that send you to hell would you notice the first two things?
  • Cowards and the faithless.
    • Being a Christian takes BOLDNESS and FAITH.
    • There are not people in heaven who are not conquerors.
    • There are not passive men in heaven.
    • It is those who open their bible, read it, and DO BODLY what it says, building their faith, and conquering life.
  • But it all starts at being born again.

John 3:3-7 ESV  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  (4)  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  (5)  Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  (6)  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  (7)  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

• Gospel Call