As you have been living a lifestyle of seeking the Scriptures for His blood, His Cross, and as you have been taking up your cross and using the words of your testimony, you have overcome during this season, and are a conqueror. You are living in God’s purposes for your life, your needs are being supplied, you have put away some demons resulting in the salvation of souls, and your character has been more conformed to the image of Jesus. You have turned your junk into jewels.
What does it mean to be a conqueror?
The word “overcome” in Greek is nikao, which means “To subdue, to conquer, to prevail and get the victory. The means of success. To subdue the world system and all the adversaries of God’s Kingdom.” [1] This indicates a war with spiritual beings. There is a time factor involved, and usually the pain of warfare. Overcoming will look different for each person and for each circumstance.
I know a pastor whose son was killed in an auto accident by a drunk driver. This pastor and his family overcame. How? He and his family lived a life of praise, thanksgiving, and victory in spite of their loss. They did not turn on God, but drew closer to God. The impact of their ministry has reached the world. Many people have been healed spiritually, emotionally, and physically as a result. The Kingdom of God has been expanded. Other times, overcoming will manifest a prodigal child returning to the Lord, a financial situation improved, a relationship healed, or a physical healing.
Overcoming does something very powerful in the spiritual realm as well. In Luke chapter 4:18-19 Jesus proclaimed His mission statement. However He did not proclaim His entire mission as was prophesied in Isaiah 61. In Luke, Jesus stopped with “The acceptable year of the Lord,” which is the Year of Jubilee. However in Isaiah, right after “The acceptable year of the Lord,” it says, “And the day of vengeance of our God.” The Bible constantly refers to the day of vengeance of our God. “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God…” (Isaiah 61:2a). Jesus left out the day of vengeance in Luke 4 because He had not yet been to the Cross. Now is the day for vengeance!
Many feel that that day of vengeance will only come when Jesus returns to earth for the final time. I believe that we participate in that vengeance right now as we overcome. I believe that we disengage demons that have been assigned to our family or nation when we overcome. I believe that we send them into an early retirement. In addition, read Isaiah 61, verses 3-11, and you will discover the benefits of overcoming and vengeance. This is explained in greater detail in the un-abridged version of this book.
What does it mean to be more than a conqueror?
The word hupernikao means more than a conqueror, or “hyper-conqueror.” It infers that it is excessively over and beyond being a conqueror. Another way to say is would be “hyper-overcomer.” The only place I can find hupernikao used in the Bible is in Romans chapter 8. “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
A conqueror was described in Colossians 2:15, which says, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” The word disarmed is translated from apekduomai, which means to strip of rank, to despoil and disarm. It is likened to a Roman general being stripped of his metals by the enemy who conquered him. It is like our USA General McArthur, when he met the Japanese general on the ship where the Japanese surrender took place. The general was stripped of his rank and metals. Jesus stripped Satan of his authority, now it is our privilege to carry out that surrender.
What more can there be besides conquering?
I continued to ask the Lord this question when I knew that He was directing me to name this last chapter Hupernikao, more than a conqueror.
In looking at Romans chapter 8 one can make the following observations of what Paul meant when he used the term “more than a conqueror.”
1. In Romans chapter 6. Paul laid out the facts, the finished work of what the death and resurrection of Jesus did for us. This is a tremendous revelation!
2. In Romans chapter 7. Paul admitted to his weaknesses in actual living out this victorious life.
3. In Romans chapter 8. Paul reconciled the differences between the facts and his experience.
He said that we should walk, or live, according to the Spirit and to keep our minds focused on the Spirit and the true facts outlined in Romans chapter 6, rather than to walk or live in the flesh and be carnally minded.
He also stated in Romans chapter 8 that as we walked according to the Spirit, we would go from “suffering to glory.” “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
One of the definitions of the word glory is “the glorious condition of blessedness into which is appointed and promised that true Christians shall enter after their Saviour's return from heaven.” [2] This is the very opposite of what we have been overcoming, that is curses.
In Romans chapter 8 he continues to describe this pathway to glory for us. In 8:26-28 Paul talks of our infirmities, but that all these things will work together for good. In 8:30 he talks about our pathway to being glorified, “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:30). Then in 8:35-36 he talks about the kind of situations that potentially could harm us, but because of Christ they cannot. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter’” (Romans 8:35,36).
Then in Romans 8:37 he says, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” All what things? All of the sufferings and afflictions we have been through during the overcoming process. The suffering and affliction together with your overcoming lifestyle in the face of them, has made you more than a conqueror!
To put it all together I could paraphrase it this way. All of the sufferings and afflictions you have been through during your overcoming process have given you glory, which is a condition of blessedness that you did not enjoy previously.
What is my more?
Yes, my enemy has been overcome, but more than that, I have become closer to my King in a new level of intimacy, the status of a bride. That is my more! I have more of Jesus and He has more of me!
The following are the two things that I believe this new and deeper condition of blessedness includes:
1. A greater manifestation of Christ in you.
2. A greater manifestation of Christ upon you.
1. A greater manifestation of Christ in you. As we discussed in a previous chapter, the Ark of the Covenant is in your heart. Now that you are more than a conqueror, the benefits of the contents of the Ark will be enhanced. That includes the Law of God is worked out in your character, the manna of God is providing for your needs, and Aaron’s Rod is bringing ministry fruit into your life.
You are now what Paul calls a “fragrance.” “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15). This closer union with Jesus together with your broken life that allows for the pouring forth of His life has caused you to spread His fragrance wherever you go.
As you have been overcoming, you have been wounded, broken, and hurt. Often it has been all you could do to hang on. You perhaps have been misjudged and misunderstood. The result has been less of you and more of Christ. Less of your old nature and more of His nature now prevails. A clay vessel needs to be broken in order to allow the sweet oil to flow out. You have been broken, and now His sweet anointing oil flows out to others. You have wasted yourself on Jesus and He has honored you as he honored the woman when she broke her alabaster flask.
“And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.’ And they criticized her sharply. But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her’” (Mark 14:3-9).
There is a special anointing that comes along with being more than a conqueror. Not only have you overcome the demons in your own realm of influence, but your conquering extends to spiritual beings with whom you previously had no connection. You may or may not experience this special anointing, perhaps others will reap the harvest, but in my life I have experienced this on a regular basis.
This is difficult to explain, however I believe that Old Testament Joseph's experience is a type. Joseph was not only persecuted by his brothers, but also in Egypt he was treated so unfairly. It seems like trouble upon trouble keep following him. If anyone in the Bible had a "right" to complain, it would have been Joseph. But the Bible says in all that he went through, that "God was with him." When Joseph overcame his own person suffering, not only did he receive a great reward in his life, overcomer, but he was a hyper-overcomer, more than a conqueror. How? It is because of Joseph's overcoming, that Israel survived as a people and eventually, through Moses, went back to the Promise Land.
2. A greater manifestation of Christ upon you.
You will experience a more real and lasting abiding in deep communion with God in His presence. Now that you are a conqueror, becoming more intimate and closer to Jesus is the “more.”
In Revelation chapter 19, when Jesus returns on His white horse to deliver us, we are also told of a very special love relationship that is consummated. “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God’” (Revelation 19:7-9).
The “more than a conqueror” is being more intimate with Jesus.
The marriage supper speaks of a very deep level of intimacy and oneness. I believe at this point in your life, your relationship with Jesus is deepened to new levels. I believe that there are new levels of trust on both sides. I believe that your access to God is different than it was previously. A bride has the right to make demands on her husband that no other person can make. A bride, who has consummated her marriage, has the right to depend upon security of many types, including financial security and emotional security. She has access to her Husband that no one else has. Esther is an example.
Visit this scene with me into Revelation chapter 19.
First visualize what Paul quoted from Psalm 68 when he was writing Ephesians 4:8 and said, “Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men’” (Ephesians 4:8). Leading captivity captive was an old tradition exercised by conquering kings. They would chain their defeated enemies and line them up behind the king and his soldiers to display the bounty. The defeated foes would be on foot, chained to one another. This is a picture of a past tense event. We are to be one of the townspeople standing at the side of the road shouting and praising the king for his victory, perhaps victory over generational curses, failures, anger, addictions, poverty, etc.
Now if the rest of this picture stretches Scripture a little, please just take it as my imagination. All of a sudden the King stops. It is King Jesus riding on His white horse as in Revelation chapter 19. He looks at you with an intense gaze of love, and He says, “Come, you have participated in this victory, you should not be down there with those people, here is your white horse, ride with Me.” As you ride with Him into the royal courtyard, He looks at you once more and says, “Come, now you are more than a conqueror, you are my bride. I have a feast prepared for you.”
Jesus’ final testimony to the churches in Revelation is about intimacy when He talks about the Tree of Life and says, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:12-14).
The wise and foolish virgins.
An example for the positive and negative side of this blessedness is the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25. All of the virgins were waiting upon the consummation of the wedding, which is another way of saying that all of them were in the overcoming process. However, the five foolish were not prepared to stay for the long haul. The foolish ones were half hearted. The wise virgins were determined to stay until the bridegroom arrived, no matter how long it took and no matter how bad things looked. They may have said, “I know the character of my Bride Groom, He will not stand me up, He can be trusted; therefore, I will sell everything I need to sell to purchase whatever I need to purchase to stay here until He comes for me.”
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:1-13).
Is it real?
We have noticed that when this “more” takes place, it is manifested as an effortless blessing. We also have experienced what Psalm 126 speaks about. That is, we have been in a warfare-overcoming mode for so long, it is hard to imagine that we are actually experiencing a blessing now.
“When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream [it seemed so unreal]. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.’ The LORD has done great things for us, And we are glad. Bring back our captivity, O LORD, As the streams in the South [are restored by the torrents]. Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalms 126:1-6 - bracketed comments from Amplified Bible).
Does this mean that we can now relax, that our overcoming days are over, and can just sit around and enjoy blessings? I do not think so! I submit that it means that now we are qualified to do greater works for the Kingdom of God and that we can be trusted with new overcoming assignments. But the “more” it produces will be well worth the effort!
One final thought. Hang on brothers and sisters, He is coming!
I believe that as we overcome, as we turn our “junk” into “jewels,” that we touch the very heart of God by adorning His Son Jesus with jewels.
The last few chapters of Revelation describe the Kingdom of God and it is interesting to note that the foundations of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald” (Revelation 21:19).
The City described is made of gold, representing the good ordained works of man. However the Foundation, who is Jesus, is adorned with jewels, representing the fruit of suffering. Also the entire City has a luster resembling a rare and most precious jewel, like jasper, shining clear as crystal. In addition the very wall of the City was made of jasper.
Jesus is the foundation Who is adorned with our jewels. “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).
“Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. 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 I will write on him My new name” (Revelation 3:12). Pillars stand on the underground and unseen foundation. They are the manifested portion of the invisible foundation of any building.
“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Revelation 22:20,21).
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[1] The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publisher, 1995.
[2] The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publisher, 1995.