# 1 John 5:4-5 | Sunday April 19, 2026

#### **1 John 5:4-5 NAS95**

> (4) **For whatever is born of God overcomes the world**; and this is the victory that **has overcome the world**—our faith.  
> (5) **Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes** that Jesus is the Son of God?

Last week we finished on the truth that whatever is born of God overcomes the world. Whatever is purposely generic to emphasize how universal this truth is. Anything can overcome the world as long as it has been born of God. It does not matter what it is or who the person is. **The ability to overcome comes from God. Jesus is the overcomer and gives us His victory. Now we can walk as overcomers**. This concept of being an overcomer is so important to our walk right now as believers; we are going to take another week to look at it.

##### **Romans 8:35-37 NAS95**

> (35) Who will separate us from the love of Christ? **Will tribulation**, or **distress**, or **persecution**, or **famine**, or **nakedness**, or **peril**, or **sword**?  
> (36) Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED."  
> (37) But in all these things **we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us**.

This passage has so many amazing truths that we can rest on. **We will never face a tribulation that is so stressful and hard that it is able to separate us from the love of Christ.** This can be comforting but also hard to hear because we all know that we have lived through a set of stressful circumstances at some time that made us feel like we were separated from His love. No amount of need and being without can separate us from His love. Yet it is when we are in need and without that we can wonder if we have been separated from Him**. Through Jesus we are able to** **overwhelmingly conquer.** Through His victory we are called super conquerors, and yet if we are honest, there are days when we are not so super. In fact, later in Romans, Paul addresses the beloved (Rom 12:19), fellow believers, and gives us a serious warning.

##### **Romans 12:21 ESV**

> (21) **Do not be overcome by evil**, but overcome evil with good.

This is the same word, to conquer or overcome. **This means as believers we can be overcome by evil in this world.** Paul would not give us a command not to do something if it was impossible for us to do in the first place. It is so important for us to understand how this command and 1 John 5 fit together.

##### **Colossians 2:14-15 NLT**

> (14) He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. (15) In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. **He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross.**

We are overcomers because our sin is fully paid for at the cross. Jesus disarmed the world and all the spiritual forces in it. **He is victorious; the cross defeated sin and death**. He put them to public shame by paying for our sins. **We are overcomers in our salvation but then have a choice to live today as an overcomer.** Our salvation is secured; the war is over. Then living like an overcomer is about maturing and growing closer to Jesus. The **daily fight** against the world and walking with Jesus is in progress. We can walk in His victory and fight with His strength or be overcome by this evil world.

##### **Ephesians 6:12 NLT**

> (12) **For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies**, but against evil rulers and authorities **of the unseen world**, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Each of us as born-again children of God are in a daily fight against the sinful world and all the spiritual enemies of God. **A believer who is overcome by evil does not lose their salvation, but they lose their fellowship**. They lose walking in the eternal things God had for them. They lose their peace and contentment found in Him. **The Old Testament is full of examples of God’s people not walking in His strength and in His victory**. Abraham ignored God’s promise that Sarah would have a child. He instead walked in his own power and had a child with Hagar. Israel was defeated in the promised land, at Ai, because there was sin in the camp. Instead of getting to enjoy the victory God would secure, their sin left them to their own strength, and they failed. **We are no different**. This is why being an overcomer is so important for believers. Jesus actually commands **all 7 churches in Revelation** to overcome. He desires for all believers to walk today as overcomers.

##### **Revelation 2:4-7 NAS95**

> (4) 'But I have this against you, that **you have left your first love.** (5) 'Therefore **remember** **from where you have fallen**, and **repent** and **do the deeds you did at first;** or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.  
> (6) 'Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, **which I also hate**.  
> (7) 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches**. To him who overcomes**, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'

**The Ephesians** had **neglected, abandoned, and departed from** their first love. This refers to both their love for God and their love for others. As we have seen in 1 John, love for God and for others go hand in hand. **They are called to overcome losing the love they had at first.** The Ephesians had a choice: walk as an overcomer and grow in their love for God and others or see their church crumble as a result of having no fellowship with Jesus. They need to remember where they have fallen from and repent. **We know this is written to believers because they once had a love and fell from that height**. A nonbeliever is already down and is not falling from anywhere. If they overcome, they will have a unique fellowship and closeness to God. The reward is not salvation but a fullness of life.

##### **Revelation 2:10-11 NAS95**

> (10) **'Do not fear what you are about to suffer**. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. **Be faithful until death**, and **I will give you the crown of life**.  
> (11) 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches**. He who overcomes** **will not be hurt by the second death.'**

The church at **Smyrna** was about to go through intense suffering and persecution. This trial was going to be so intense the outcome of it was death. **Jesus is encouraging these believers to remain faithful and overcome the persecution**. If they remain faithful, they will receive the crown of life, and He reassures them that the second death, which is the lake of fire, will never hurt a believer, especially not an overcomer. He is calling them and us to live for **where real life is, when we see Him**. The ten days are going to be hard, but Jesus is promising it will be worth it.

##### **Revelation 2:14-16 NAS95**

> (14) 'But I have a few things against you, because you have there some **who hold the teaching of Balaam**, who kept teaching Balak to put **a stumbling block** before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.   
> (15) 'So you also have some who in the same way **hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.** (16) 'Therefore **repent**; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

The church at **Pergamum** had fallen into false teaching. They had accepted the teaching of Balaam and were trying **to figure out ways around God’s will**. They also followed the Nicolaitans. Jesus encouraged the Ephesians for hating the work of the **Nicolaitans** and said He hated it as well (Rev. 2:6). Unfortunately, Pergamum was accepting it, and Jesus does not want them connected to the Nicolaitans when He comes and makes war against the false teachers. They were called to repent from these false teachers and to turn back to truth. **False teaching can prevent us from being overcomers.**

##### **Revelation 2:17 NAS95**

> (17) 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. **To him who overcomes,** to him I will give some **of the hidden manna**, and I will give him a white stone, and **a new name** **written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.'**

If they overcome, Jesus promises to give them hidden manna, a sweet, nourishing reward. He also promises to give the overcomer a special name **that is unique just between Jesus and the person.** This is a level of intimacy with Jesus that is hard to fathom. Yet, each of us as believers should seek to be an overcomer and get to experience it. Nothing would be better.

##### **Revelation 2:20; 26-28 NAS95**

> (20) 'But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants **astray so that they commit acts of immorality** and eat things sacrificed to idols.  
> (26) **'He who overcomes**, and **he who keeps My deeds until the end**, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS;  
> (27) AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received *authority* from My Father;  
> (28) and I will give him **the morning star.**

The church at **Thyatira** was growing and maturing in Christ. Unfortunately, some were tolerating a false teacher named **Jezebel,** who was leading people into immorality. Jesus challenges those who have followed her into immortality to repent. He encourages those who have not followed her to hold fast until He comes. **They are called to overcome and to keep His deeds. Walking in sin will prevent us from overcoming and enjoying Jesus’ victory.** He freed us from sin so we could walk with Him. **The overcomer seeks to walk in this fellowship**. The overcomer is promised to rule with Jesus in the kingdom, and Jesus promises to give them the morning star. This is amazing because later in Revelation we are told who the morning star is.

##### **Revelation 22:16 ESV**

> (16) “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. **I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”**

**Jesus is the morning star.** So in reality Jesus is promising to give the overcomer Himself. These rewards are all tied to **an intimacy and closeness of relationship**. If we do not overcome, we can miss out on this closeness. Or we can **live as overcomers through Jesus victory and partake of the special intimacy and closeness that He promises.**

##### **Revelation 3:1-3 NAS95**

> (1) "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, **that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.** (2) **'Wake up, and strengthen** the things that remain, which were about to die; **for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.** (3) 'So remember **what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent**. Therefore **if you do not wake up**, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

The church at **Sardis** was struggling with hypocrisy. They had a name for being alive and had actions that were impressive from the outside. Yet, Jesus knew their hearts and said they were dead. They were doing things for God and had built quite the reputation, but their hearts were not in it. **They were so busy doing that they missed the heart, the “why” of their actions.** They had many deeds, but they were incomplete; they were lacking the heart motive of glorifying God. These believers needed to come back to the truth of the Word that they had heard and live it out. **The reality is some will wake up and be strengthened, and some will not.** All believers will overcome in Jesus, but not all believers live as overcomers.

##### **Revelation 3:4-6 NAS95**

> (4) 'But you have a few people in Sardis **who have not soiled their garments**; and **they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.** (5) **'He who overcomes** will thus be clothed in white garments; and **I will not erase his name from the book of life,** and **I will confess his name before My Father** and before His angels. (6) 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says **to the churches.'**

The incredible reward for overcomers is that **Jesus will confess our name to the Father**. Again, this is an intimacy we should long for. Jesus is not saying that anyone will lose their salvation if they are not an overcomer.

##### **2 Timothy 2:11-13 ESV**

> (11) The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him;  
> (12) if we endure, we will also reign with Him; **if we deny Him, He also will deny us;** (13) **if we are faithless, He remains faithful—for** He cannot deny Himself.

This is the other side of the confession before the Father that Jesus is mentioning. **The one who denies Jesus will be denied by Him.** This person is not an overcomer. Yet, even if they are faithless, they are still saved because Jesus remains faithful. These rewards for overcoming are so incredible; let us not focus on negatives and what would happen if we do not overcome, **but desire to overcome and experience these great rewards.**

##### **Revelation 3:8; 11-13 NAS95**

> (8) 'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, **and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.** (11) 'I am coming quickly; **hold fast what you have**, **so that no one will take your crown.** (12) **'He who overcomes**, I will make him **a pillar in the temple of My God**, and he will not go out from it anymore; and **I will write on him the name of My God**, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, **and My new name.** (13) 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

The church in Philadelphia was doing well **and had kept God’s word**. Jesus encourages them to hold fast to what they have. He does not want anyone or anything to take hold of, grasp their crown, and get in the way of the eternal rewards they were walking in. The overcomer is promised to be made a pillar in the temple. God’s name will be written on them, and Jesus’ new name will be shared with them. **What today is more valuable than enjoying these rewards for all eternity?** To be an overcomer, we are called to remain steadfast and persevere. **It is the result of a daily sustained walk in Jesus’ victory.**

##### **Revelation 3:20-22 NAS95**

> (20) 'Behold, I stand at the door **and knock**; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, **I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.** (21) **'He who overcomes**, **I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne**, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.  
> (22) 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"

The **Laodicean** Church was lukewarm, and they were relying on themselves. Jesus makes such an amazing offer of fellowship to them. He is standing at the door actively knocking, seeking a closer walk. He is offering that same fellowship to each one of us today. We can walk today as an overcomer.

Each church had a unique set of challenges they were called to overcome. **We are no different**. What I am called to overcome will look different from yours. The **Ephesians** needed to overcome by reclaiming their first love but were doing great at guarding against false teaching. Whereas **Pergamum** needed to overcome false teaching. We each have an area we are called to overcome and walk in this intimate fellowship with Jesus. The amazing thing about living as an overcomer is it means we walk in a close relationship with Him now **and also when we get to heaven**. If you are a believer today, this offer is for you. If you have not been overcoming, **remember: wake up, repent, and hold fast to our great overcomer**.