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Welcome to the Cary Baptist Church, Thy Word is Settled in Heaven. I'm Pastor Donohue. Today we're preaching out of 1 John chapter 2. There the apostle says that, brethren, we have overcome the wicked one. We'll be talking about how that is done, what the scripture says about how believers overcome the wicked one. So we're preaching out of 1 John chapter 2. This is Thy Word is Settled in Heaven broadcast. Cary Baptist Church is in Athens, Alabama. I'm Pastor Donohue, and we're going to be preaching on how believers overcome the wicked one, and especially how that's accomplished in their life. Let me read verse 13 of 1 John 2. That's where we're going to get our start. And the Apostle John says there in verse 13, I write unto you fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father." Let's notice that. You have overcome the wicked one. That's the subject of the sermon. How do believers overcome the wicked one? More specifically, what does the scripture say about how that overcoming is accomplished? overcome the wicked one, overcome the devil, that set of believers. What a glorious truth it is that we have victory in Jesus. So we're preaching on how believers withstand the attacks of atheism, skepticism, unbelief, the devil. And we'll begin with the basics. When we are saved, we are regenerated. That's Titus 3. We're not only forgiven, but we've been born of the Spirit, washed in His blood. We have new life, so when we're saved, we're regenerated. No, you're not. Your body's at the temple of the Holy Ghost. Not only are we saved and regenerated, we're also, the Bible says, sealed with the Holy Spirit. That's found in Ephesians twice, chapter 1 and 13, chapter 4 and 30. The Holy Spirit who regenerates believers also seals them. Again, this is a divine work. It's the work of the Holy Spirit. It's not the work of man or of the church. It's the work of the Holy Spirit. And so we're going to go ahead and say that the great works of Satan, his great attacks against believers, attacks through atheist skeptics, through doubters, through unbelievers. How do we withstand that? The Bible says we've overcome the evil one. How do we withstand that? Well, our outline today is as follows. We do so through the witness of the Spirit. We'll find that in 1 John 3 and 4. We do so through the seed that's been implanted in believers. That's also found in 1 John 3. Believers also have an unction from God. We are given grace. Everyone is given grace, Ephesians 4 and 7. And because we've been sealed of the Spirit, as we mentioned, so the great works of Satan are to incite men to atheism, skepticism, unbelief, doubt, sin. How do believers withstand such an attack? Well, we do because the Bible says you have overcome the wicked one. and our overcoming is of the Lord, but how specifically, and we're going to study what the scripture says through the witness of the Spirit, the seed that we all have, the unction given to us by God and the grace given to us by God. That's our outline. God worketh in us, the Bible says, he worketh in you to will and to do after his good pleasure. What does God do? He works in us for what purpose? So that we would will and do to accomplish his good pleasure or his will. God working in us, we're going to say multiple times, we overcome because of the divine grace that is granted to us. We do not overcome because we have great physical strength or intellectual brilliance, or we have sophisticated skill in debating, or we have supreme skills in leading armies, not any of those things. But we overcome because of the grace of God and especially the internal witness and assurance of the Spirit. We have the witness of the Spirit, the Bible says. Jesus says he will give you the Spirit. The Spirit saves, sanctifies, advances God's kingdom in our hearts, moves us towards the glory of God. Jesus said, if you know the truth, it'll set you free. We have these good things of God, divine things of God given to us, specifically said to attribute it to the Holy Spirit, and that allows us to overcome and defeat the skeptics, the atheists, the deniers, the deists. All these that would cast doubt on the truthfulness and veracity of God, who would cast doubt in the mind of believers, but we have a foundation. We have a foundation that overthrows their unbelief and skepticism. They are directly opposed to the faith of God, and such unbelief and attacks are withstood by believers. Let's read it again. Because you have overcome the wicked one, he says in 1 John 2 and 13. How is it? that we overcome. It's God's will that no Christian perish. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish. And Christ keeps those who belong to him that's stated clearly in the scripture. At first that means that we're kept from the judgment and the damnation of God, but also we will not fall prey to the deception's lies of Satan. His arguments, his agents, are atheists, rationalists, deitists, skeptics, those people that war against the Word of God, the promises of God, the veracity of God, the truth of the Gospel. Believers withstand, as it is said in the Scripture, because of, you have the witness of the Spirit. It means we have an inner citadel. We said it wasn't our physical acumen or our intellectual brilliance or our sophistry in debating. It's that inner citadel that's within us, within the soul, kept by God through faith unto salvation, 1 Peter 1 and 5. And part of that is the witness of the Spirit to our spirits. We have a truth granted to us from God, worked in us by God. Paul said, no, you're not. Your bodies are the temple of the Spirit. And 1 John, it says you've been given the Spirit. These are gifts of God that operate on the inside of man. The heart is the theater of operation for the spirit, the heart, the soul. We read in 1 John that you have an unction of God. It means a movement, a granting of grace from God in their inner citadel, if you'll allow me to use that phrase, for that which is within. There's a principle of holiness implanted at salvation. We're born of the Spirit and dwelt of the Spirit. Jesus said, I will give you the comforter. He will lead you to all truth. He will never leave you nor forsake you. That's not evident on the outside. It doesn't appear in our physical strength or our intellectual prowess. None of that is on the inside. God works on the inside out, and that work on the inside produces a godly and holy life. Jesus said, first make the tree good and the fruits will be good. That's Matthew 12. And so it begins on the inside, but it bears fruit. It shows itself in a godly life. We have that seed within. Men cannot sin, he says, because they have the seed of God within him, 1 John, meaning that they have a seed or an unction or a gift of God that works within them to keep them from falling into the traps, ultimately, of the devil. We have the seeding of the Spirit. We have that in Ephesians 1.13. After that, you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. After that, you believed. You were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. When you believed in Christ, he sealed you by the Holy Spirit. A sealing is a mark and an evidence of being a Christian, but it's also inward work of protection. The Bible says the Holy Spirit prays for us. When we know not to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for us. Even as Jesus prays for us, we have that twice, Hebrews 7.25, wherefore he ever liveth to make intercession for them that come unto God by him, even as the Lord Jesus prayed for Peter, Jesus said to Peter one day, Peter, I have prayed for you. He prays for all believers. In Romans 8, 34, who shall lay any charge to God's elect? It is God that justifies that Christ is the right hand of God who makes intercession for us. And we're talking about how believers overcome the deception, the attacks of the devil's agents, atheists, skeptics, Bible deniers, those that speak the voice of unbelief. After all we read as our text, 1 John 2 and 13, you have overcome the wicked one, overcome the wicked one by the divine grace, power of God specifically. the Holy Spirit, His witness, His unction, the implanting of a principle of holiness, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, the prayers of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus' protection of us. Though believers are assaulted by the forces of evil, skeptics go about to cast doubt on the very Word of God, the veracity of God, the truthfulness of God, We have the grace and goodness of God fighting for us. Notice 1 John 4 and 4, a key verse in our text today, key verse in our sermon. If you understand this, I believe you can understand our premise. There the Bible says in 1 John 4, for greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Please notice, greater is he, not it, not what is in you, not the doctrine that's in you, as good as doctrine is, as necessary it is to have proper doctrine. He doesn't say that. He says, he that is in you, not outside of you, but in you, that's the Holy Spirit. Greater is the Holy Spirit, he that is in you. and he that is in the world, the devil, and the agents of the devil. You have an inner citadel that's on the inside. The Holy Spirit dwells there. He has sealed you. He has put his mark upon you. You have the holy seed implanted. You have the unction given of God. You have the witness of the Spirit. and here has proof of that greater is he that is in you. We have something inside believers and we don't look outside to our physical prowess, our intellectual acumen, our ability to debate unbelievers, those are good things, but that which makes us to overcome the evil one, 1 John 2 and 13, you have overcome the wicked one, is that grace and gift of God that is given to us that operates from the inside out Greater is he that is in you. We have the witness of the Spirit. We have the sealing of the Spirit. Let's go back, and I want you to notice we've said about the seed planted in believers. Let's look at that a little more specifically. That's 1 John 3 and 9. Let me read that. Whosoever is born of God doeth not commit sin, for his seed, God's seed, remaineth in him. And he cannot sin because he is born of God. Cannot sin so as to ultimately be cast into hell. His sins are covered by the blood of Christ. He has chastening of God over sin. And he has a full and complete forgiveness of sin in Christ Jesus. And it says for his seed, remaineth in him." That would be the Holy Spirit or the principle of holiness implanted in us or the grace of God implanted in us when we're saved. Yes, we receive all we need to get to heaven when we're saved by Christ Jesus. We have forgiveness of sins, we have regeneration, we have the sealing of the Spirit, and he says, for his seed remains in us. I want you to notice a parallel passage. In the same book, 1 John 2 and 20, he says of believers, but you have an unction from the Holy One. Who do we have that unction from? The Holy One. Jesus is called that Just One, that Holy One. Peter twice calls Him in the book of Acts, that Holy Child, Jesus. You have an unction from the Holy One, from Jesus Christ. Unction is something on the inside, a work and an act of God within. He that begun a good work in you will complete it into the day of redemption. Chapter 4, verse 7, But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Notice verse 30 of the same chapter, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Again, We're making the case that the Bible says that the way that believers withstand the evil one is because of the work and the grace and the goodness of God. Not that we are of ourselves able to overcome the evil one, but with God with us. And I want you to notice that God answers the attacks of the devil in certain ways in the scripture. Let's go and notice Jesus said, I'm going to send you out with the great commission. And he says, I am with you even to the end of the world. His promise of protection is his presence. The Lord said the same thing to Joshua after Moses died. Joshua was then commanded to lead the people of Israel. He said, be bold, be courageous, for I am with you. Again, the promise is the presence of God. To King David, who writes in Psalm 23, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. because thou art with me." Again, the presence of God. God said to Abraham, fear not for I am with thee. Over and over again in the scripture, we find that our overcoming is due to the fact that God is present with us. Jesus said, I'm the vine, you're the branches, and the branches are connected to the vine, and that's an indicator that we're in union with Christ Jesus, and any victory that we sustain over the evil one is due to the presence and the gift and the grace of God. The old preachers used to say that we're in union with Christ, and they preached a lot on the fact that we're united to Christ, we belong to him, he belongs to us, he is our protection. And greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." Brethren, we've asked the question, how do believers overcome the evil one? That's 1 John 2 and 13. Brethren, we're about out of time. We better close it up here. You've been listening to the Cary Baptist Church radio broadcast. Cary Baptist is in Athens, Alabama. I'm Pastor Ben Donohue. As always, we want to thank you for listening. We hope you join us again next time. And until then, we'll say goodbye.
How Do Believers Overcome The Wicked One? | 1 John 2:13
Series Book Of First John
Sermon ID | 510251552514649 |
Duration | 14:20 |
Date | |
Category | Radio Broadcast |
Bible Text | 1 John 2:13 |
Language | English |
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