Revelation 13:7 (KJV)
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
I'm thinking right now of "overcome overcomers."
Though our passage is Tribulational in context, one would be hard-pressed to deny that history is filled with accounts of those who were promised to be overcomers being overcome. The Bible promises believers that we will overcome the world and that we will overcome the wicked one.
1 John 2:13-14 (KJV)
I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. 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.
Yet even our Saviour was slain by the hands of wicked men.
Stephen was stoned to death while Christ stood at the right hand of God, watching.
James was beheaded in a jail cell, and Herod would have done the same to Peter for no other reason than that he saw it pleased the Jews.
I refer the reader to Foxe's Book of Martyrs for an accounting of some of those overcomers who were overcome in the cruelest fashions imaginable.
The accounts are such that I can easily believe those who committed these cruel acts against the saints often thought it was God who had given them power to do so. They may have believed God was on their side because they succeeded in overcoming those who professed to be the children of God.
But remember: Matthew 10:28 (KJV)
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
John Gill writes concerning this passage:
"To overcome them: not so as to submit to him, and to forsake the doctrines and ordinances of Christ, but by killing them..."
But then he adds:
"And who, by dying in the faith and cause of Christ, overcome Satan, get the victory over the world, and antichrist, and are more than conquerors through him that has loved them."
The beast may overcome the saints physically, but he can never conquer them spiritually. Many of God's overcomers have appeared to be defeated in the eyes of the world, yet in reality, they won the greatest victory of all.
#OvercomeYetVictorious #FaithfulUntoDeath #MoreThanConquerors #WarAgainstTheSaints #TheVictoryOfTheSaints
The Mystery of the Overcome Overcomers: When God's People Lose Everything and Still Win
What do you think? Can God's people be "overcome" and still be victorious? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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