​LIFE UNDER THE SUN
An Introduction to the Futility of Life on Earth
Ecclesiastes 1:1-3

Philippe R Sterling
 
The Big Question: What’s it all about? (v 3)

Some years ago, a popular song by Dionne Warwick asked:

What's it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What's it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?

October 6, 1993 was a significant date in the history of professional basketball.  On that autumn day the man who was the game’s finest player called a press conference to announce his retirement at age thirty, after winning an unprecedented third world championship and seven consecutive NBA scoring titles.  There was no injury, no indictment or shocking personal revelations, no contract dispute.

As he faced the assembled crowd of media representatives with their cameras, microphones, and notepads, Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan told them the game offered no more challenges to motivate him.  Having accomplished everything basketball could ask of him he simply felt it was time to call it a career.  This young man, whose God-given athletic ability revolutionized the way the game was played, retired with more money than he could possibly spend in a single lifetime, and at an age when many are only beginning to taste career success.  Including endorsements that far exceeded his salary, his last season as a player netted him $40 million.

Why would a man with everything under the sun walk away?  Jordan, whose father was murdered earlier in the year, hinted at the answer as he told reporters, “One thing about my father’s death was that it reinforced how [life] can be taken away from you anytime.”  The “stuff” of life lost its meaning for Jordan when he considered the fragile transience of it.  Basketball – and the fame, money, and excitement of being better at it than anyone else – no longer was enough for this superstar.  And as he looked ahead to the prospect of another NBA season, it all seemed empty.[i]

Years ago, a man with more power, money, and fame than Michael Jordan also asked, “What’s it all about?” and chronicled his search for the answer in a book.  His name was Solomon and his book is called Ecclesiastes.

What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
 
The Phrase “Under the sun”

“Under the sun” means “in this world” (5:13-20; 6:12; 8:14-15; 9:3-6, 9).  And, specifically, “in this cursed world” (1:14-15).

Background:  The Fall and the Curse

God created everything “very good” (Gen 1:31).  Adam and Eve fell from the perfect state in which they were created, bringing death (Gen 2:16, 17; 3:1-13, 19).  Because of man’s fall, God cursed mankind (3:16, 17-19).  And God cursed His creation (3:17-19).

The Short Answer: Zilch (v 2)

Vanity of vanities,” says the preacher,
“Vanity of vanities!  All is vanity.”
 
Ecclesiastes begins and ends with this statement (1:2 and 12:8).  The Hebrew word for “vanity” is used 37 times in the book.  Let’s get acquainted with this word.  Today we connect vanity with egotism – with that man or woman who is overly self-involved.  Vanity is based on an illusion.  A woman once told her pastor, “When I confess my sins, I confess the sin of vanity most of all.  Every morning I admire myself in the mirror for half an hour.”  To this the pastor replied, “My dear, that isn’t the sin of vanity.  You’re suffering from the sin of imagination.”

The meaning of the Hebrew word hebel which is translated “vanity,” “futility,” or “meaningless.”

1.  Breath – a thing that doesn’t last; that which is insubstantial, fleeting (Job 7:16; Psalm 39:4-11; 62:9; 144:4).  Everything is vanity because life is a breath; we don’t live long enough to see the fruit of our labor.

2.  Futility – Something pointless or vain (Job 9:29; Isaiah 49:4).  Everything is vanity because life is frustrating, and futile.  We lack the power to accomplish what we want.

3.  Vanity is when we have added everything up and the sum is zero, nothing, emptiness, meaninglessness.

As Solomon uses the word, he refers to emptiness, to that which is transitory and has little meaning.  In this case, vanity is akin to a vapor that lasts only a moment before quickly vanishing, leaving nothing behind.

The implication of the expression “vanity of vanities”

1.  What does this expression remind you of?  What was the innermost part of the tabernacle?  What was the innermost part of the temple?

2.  The Holy of Holies was a symbolic copy of the throne room of God in the third heaven (Heb 9:23-24).  It was not of this creation (Heb 9:11).

3.  By contrast everything “under the sun” (i.e., of this creation) is the opposite of heaven – vanity of vanities.  There is no profit in labor under the sun.  Labor is a creation ordinance.  But labor fell under the curse and is therefore subject to frustration and futility.  Our hope lies out from under the sun.  We need nothing less than a new life and a new heaven and a new earth.

Four hundred years ago, a poet answered the question this way,

“Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.” 
Macbeth, act 5, scene 5, William Shakespeare

More recently the rock band Kansas answered the question in a song:

I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone
All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind.
Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do, crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
[Now] Don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky  It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy.
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind, everything is dust in the wind.

The Seeking Inquirer: Solomon (v 1)

The words of the Preacher,
the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

The traditional name of this book, Ecclesiastes, and the author’s title “Preacher” both come from the same Hebrew term: qohelet.  This term described one who convened an assembly of wise men and served as its principal spokesman.  The author chose this as his pen name for Ecclesiastes.  Perhaps instead of the “Preacher,” we might call him the “Searcher.”

The author of Ecclesiastes was Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.  On his deathbed, David ordered that Solomon be anointed king of Israel and advised his son to walk in God’s ways (1 Kings 2:2-4).

Solomon began well.  He had a godly heritage.  He was blessed by God in a way that no one else has ever been.  Only one person on this planet has ever been given a blank check by someone who could deliver, regardless of the sum.  God said to Solomon, “name it and claim it.”  Solomon chose – and his choice pleased God.  He asked God for wisdom and he also received riches and honor in tremendous amount (1 Kings 3:4-13).   His future was bright. 

A spider dropped a single strand down from the top rafter of an old barn and began to weave his web.  Days, weeks, and months went by, and the web grew.  It regularly provided the spider food as flies, mosquitoes, and other small insects were caught in its elaborate maze.  The spider built his web larger and larger until it became the envy of all the other spiders.  One day this productive spider was traveling across his beautifully woven web and noticed a single strand going up into the darkness of the rafters.  I wonder why this is here? he thought.  It doesn’t serve to catch me any dinner.  And saying that, the spider climbed as high as he could and severed the single strand that was his lifeline.  When he did, the entire web slowly began to tumble to the floor of the barn, taking the spider with it.  This is what happened to Solomon.[ii]

As a young man, Solomon asked God for the gift of wisdom that would make him a good king, and God answered his prayer. Somewhere along the way, however, Solomon cut the strand that kept him in fellowship with God and decided to find meaning and satisfaction in a life lived under the sun.  For example, against the command of God, he took for himself a harem of foreign women that turned his heart towards other gods (1 Kings 11:1-13). 

As an old man Solomon may have recognized his folly and wrote Ecclesiastes.  In Ecclesiastes, this man of wisdom and prestige with every talent and asset possible, said that life under the sun was empty.  It takes forty minutes or so to read the book aloud – about the length of a sermon – but it is not a sermon.  It is a testimony.  Solomon observed, “I went down every path.  I exhausted every extreme in life, because I had the talent and the means and the position to do so.  And now that I am old, I see that most of it was just so much chasing after the wind.  Life is meaningless.”

Jack Higgins, author of such bestsellers as The Eagle Has Landed, says the one thing he knows now that he wishes he’d known as a small boy is this: “When you get to the top, there’s nothing there.”  Solomon climbed the same ladder and made the same discovery.  There’s nothing here; all is vanity.
 
Jewish statesman Abba Eban tells of meeting Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mount Everest.  Eban asked Hillary precisely what he felt when he reached the peak.  Hillary replied that there was an immediate rush of triumphal ecstasy – for a fleeting moment.  It was quickly replaced by a sense of desolation.  Where could he go from here?  What mountains remained to climb?

Another Everest climber expressed a similar sentiment.  Jon Krakauer described his feelings on May 10, 1996, as he reached the highest point on earth: “Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal.  I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet…I’d been fantasizing about this moment, and the release of emotion that would accompany it, for many months.  But now that I was finally here, actually standing on the summit of Everest, I just couldn’t summon the energy to care…I snapped four quick photos…then turned and headed down.  My watch read 1:17 p.m.  All told, I’d spent less than five minutes on the roof of the world.”

Not only is it empty at the top, but it’s empty at the bottom – and everywhere in between.  Life, in and of itself, is a cluster of cells dividing and redividing; nature recycling its rituals ad infinitum.  Emptiness.  Vanity.  As Peggy Lee used to sing, “Is that all there is?”

Conclusion

Romans 8:20 is the New Testament commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes.  It states plainly that “vanity” exists, and also that it has a beginning and an end.  Before its beginning and beyond its end is a creation without vanity.  God subjected creation to vanity when mankind fell (Gen 3).  God will one day liberate creation to freedom from vanity (Rev 22).

The person under the sun needs an existence that is not under the sun.  This is available through the resurrected Jesus.  Without the resurrection our faith is “vain” (the Greek word for vain translates the Hebrew word hebel) because it is for this life only, i.e., life under the sun (1 Cor 15:17-19, 58).  We can reign in life through the resurrection (Romans 5:12, 17).  We are new creatures in a new creation, no longer under the old sun (2 Cor 5:17).  Yet we await the final consummation of that new creation (Rev. 21:1).  The final resurrection will redeem creation and our bodies from vanity (Rom 8:18-23).  And we shall discover that our labor was not in vain (Phil 2:16; Rev. 14:13).

Do not seek meaning under the sun.
Find life and eternal purpose in the Son.
 
[i] The account of Michael Jordan’s retirement from basketball is shortened and adapted from the book Been There, Done That, Now What? by Ed Young Sr.

[ii] The fable of the spider as an illustration of what Solomon may have done is also adapted from Ed’s Young’s book.

PSALM 139: THE SEARCHER OF HEARTS
Search Me, Know Me, Lead Me

Philippe R. Sterling
 
Psalm 139 is one of the best-known psalms. One of its statements, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” is inscribed on T-shirts and social media memes.

The typical usage of the psalm can mask its major statements on the nature of God and His relationship to us. We will consider these statements, with special attention to three of the classical attributes of God: omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, and their relevance to us. We’ll ascertain that an all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful God cares for us and we can pray for His righteous rule in the world and in our lives.

Psalm 139 is artistically structured. It has two parts and four stanzas. The first part has three stanzas that address three themes: God’s knowledge of us, God’s presence with us, and God’s making of us. The second part has one stanza that expresses a personal prayer for the removal of wickedness in one’s surrounding and in one’s self. Each of the four stanzas have two sections, one of four verses, and one of two verses. The first section focuses on a revelation about God and the second on a response to that revelation.

Two statements, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me” (v 1) and “Search me, O God, and know my heart” (v 23), enclose the psalm as bookends. They provide a key for understanding and applying the psalm.
 
GOD KNOWS US FULLY
 
Psalm 139:1-6
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
 
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
 
God knows and evaluates every aspect of our lives.

Issue: Should we be concerned about how much is known about us? Social Media and Internet Companies know a great deal about their users. Some governments such as China track their citizens behavior and give them social credit scores which significantly impact their lives.

Verse 1: Summary Statement – Yahweh has searched us and known us.

The psalmist refers to Yahweh, “I AM,” the NAME by which God made Himself known to Moses and Israel (Ex 3:13, 14). It is also the NAME which Jesus implicitly used to describe Himself (John 6:35; 8:12, 58; 10:7, 11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1; 18:4-5).

The psalmist states, “You have searched me and known me.” Yahweh has probed everything about him and knows him completely.  God knows us thoroughly.

Verses 2-4: Yahweh knows and scrutinizes every aspect of our lives.

Yahweh has full knowledge of our movements. He knows when I sit down and when I rise up.

Yahweh has full knowledge of our thoughts. He understands my thought from afar.

Yahweh has full knowledge of our activity and rest. He scrutinizes my path and my lying down.

Yahweh has full knowledge of all of our ways. He is intimately acquainted with all my ways.

Yahweh has full knowledge of our speech beforehand. Even before there’s a word on my tongue, God knows it.

Verses 5-6: Conclusion – God’s comprehensive knowledge of us can seem overwhelming, restrictive, and incomprehensible.

God’s pervasive knowledge can seem restrictive and overwhelming. The psalmist feels hedged in. God knows all of us thoroughly and comprehensively at all times. Are you distressed in being so completely known?

It’s not simply that God knows everything – God knows me.

God’s pervasive knowledge is incomprehensible. It is too wonderful for me. It is too high for me to attain.

GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US
 
Psalm 139:7-12
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
 
God is present everywhere we go.
 
Verse 7: Summary Statement – We’re unable to escape God’s presence.

Verse 8-10: God is present everywhere in the universe.

God not only knows us but we cannot go anywhere from His presence. The psalmist shows the comprehensiveness of this in several exploratory paired statements.

God is in the height of heaven. If I ascend there, He is there.

God is in the depth of the netherworld. If I lie down in the realm of the dead, He is there.

God is at the far East. If I fly off to the East, He is there.

God is at the far West. If I travel to the remotest part of the Western Ocean, He is there.

Such a presence of God with us can have a consoling application. God can lead us and hold us wherever we go.

Verses 10-12: Conclusion – Nothing hinders the protective presence of God.

The psalmist fears being overwhelmed by darkness and unaided by light.

The psalmist acknowledges that God is impervious to darkness and His light overwhelms darkness.

It’s not simply that God is everywhere – He is everywhere with me.

GOD LOVINGLY MADE US
 
Psalm 139:13-18
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
 
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.
 
God lovingly oversaw our development and planned out our lives from the womb.

Verse 13: Summary Statement – God formed us in the womb.

Verses 14-16: God oversaw our development in accordance with His plan for us.

God made us. Though David's knowledge of embryology was limited compared to ours today, he is awed by the fact that God fashioned him within his mother's womb (cf. Job 9:10-12). He is also awed by the fact that God has fashioned the days of his life.

The psalmist looks back to the past of his creation and looks forward to the future God has appointed for him. God has counted every day of his life and written them in His book.

Two Issues:  This portion of the psalm is relevant to the ethical issues of abortion and euthanasia.

Abortion – “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb (v 13).

Euthanasia – “And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (v 16).

Verses 17-18: Conclusion – God’s loving intention for us are precious and innumerable.

After reflecting on God’s fashioning of his body and his future, the psalmist bursts into a doxology, an expression of confident praise to God. He values God’s thoughts towards him. He is overwhelmed by the vastness of them. He takes comfort in God’s abiding care.

It’s not simply that God created everything – He created me.

WE ARE LOYAL TO GOD
 
Psalm 139:19-24
19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
20 For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
 
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
 
We will find comfort and security in God when we are loyal to Him.
 
The final stanza of the psalm seems out of place.  It is made up of an outcry (imprecation) against the wicked, an affirmation (commitment) of loyalty to God, and a request (petition) for the recognition and removal of wickedness from within oneself.

The psalmist states that he hates those who hate God. The word translated “hate” means “to reject.” This is opposed to the word for “love” which means “to choose.” The wicked first rejected God and made themselves God’s enemies.

The psalmist rejects those who reject God. If we are loyal to God, we cannot have fellowship or close friendships with God’s avowed enemies (2 Cor 6:14-18).

The words are those of someone who wants to see God honored in every way. Such a concern leads to a desire that all God's enemies are abolished, and that everything within us that is not honoring to God also be abolished. Ask God to deal with the evil of others and your own potential for evil.

The everlasting way is God’s way. It is the righteous way He has set out for His people. God calls believers to walk with Him in faith and righteousness (Gen 17:1; Eph 4:1; Heb 11:6).

Our walk with God is a walk in the light (1 John 1:5–2:2). The light reveals whatever is not right within us. We acknowledge the sins the light reveals. The blood of Jesus cleanses us. We maintain fellowship with God. God leads us in the everlasting way.
 
Conclusion

Psalm 139 is theological and practical. It speaks of the attributes of God in ways that impacted the psalmist and impacts us.

God’s attributes are beyond our full comprehension. God’s knowledge is too high for us to reach (v 6). God’s thoughts are too many to count (vv 17, 18).

Praise God for His knowledge of all our ways.

Praise God for His presence, wherever we are.

Praise God that He has marvelously made us and planned all of our days.

Pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth.

Pray for God to search you, know you, and lead you in righteousness.
 
O God, search me, know me, lead me.
 

THE PSALM OF THE THUNDERSTORM
What a Thunderstorm Teaches Us about God
Psalm 29
 
Beethoven Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” fourth movement, in F Minor, depicts a violent thunderstorm with painstaking realism, building from just a few drops of rain to a great climax with thunder, lightning, high winds, and sheets of rain. The storm eventually passes, with an occasional peal of thunder still heard in the distance.
 
Psalm 29 deals with the power of God revealed in nature and available to His people, if they respond with faith. A thunderstorm reveals the power and majesty of Yahweh. He sits enthroned over all forces of nature. He gives power and peace to His people.
 
Scientists calculate that a typical thunderstorm (not even the kind of great or major storm described here by David) releases around 10,000,000 kilowatt-hours of energy – the equivalent of a 20-kiloton nuclear warhead. Storms still are examples of the massive power of God.
 
Seeing and hearing a violent storm is an awesome experience that quite naturally turns one’s thoughts to God.
 
Summary
 
Having witnessed the awesome manifestations of the LORD’s power in a terrifying thunderstorm over Lebanon and Syria, the psalmist calls on the angelic hosts to glorify Him who sovereignly rules over nature, displaying His ability to give power and peace to His people.
 
Exposition
 
Call to Praise: The psalmist calls upon the angelic hosts to glorify Yahweh in holy array (1-2). 

The first two verses of the psalm are a call to praise. It is a call to attribute glory to Yahweh which is befitting His character and reputation. The call is put in the form of climactic parallelism. Three lines are similar, but the fourth changes to make the important qualification: Ascribe to the LORD…, ascribe to the LORD…, ascribe to the LORD…, worship the LORD in holy array.”

The call is addressed to the “sons of the mighty.”  The expression probably means “sons of God.” In the Old Testament these would be angels (Job 2:1).
 
The call is to give God the praise that is fitting for His “name,” or, His nature. Everything about the nature of God deserves praise, especially His strength, His supernatural power. In this psalm that strength will be experienced in His sovereign control of nature.
  
The psalmist was calling to the hosts of heaven to praise the name of Yahweh. They were to worship Yahweh in “holy array.”
 
The language is descriptive of priests who were to array themselves for service in the sanctuary. The priests were to have on pure white linens to signify holiness and purity to Yahweh.
 
In the heavenly courts those worshipping Yahweh, both saints and angels, are describes as arrayed with priestly clothes for their unending service to Yahweh. The point is that while praise is appropriate for Yahweh, it has to be from those who are arrayed in the holiness that is necessary for the heavenly sanctuary.
 
God deserves to be praised by His servants for His majestic power.
 
Cause for Praise: The psalmist describes Yahweh’s all-powerful control of nature in a terrifying storm over Lebanon and Syria (3-9). 

The psalm now gives the reason for the call to praise: Yahweh’s all-powerful control of nature by His word.
 
The psalmist describes a tremendous thunderstorm that sweeps across the land. He traces its path and development, and each step of the way attributes it to the voice of Yahweh. The voice occurs seven times in the passage. It compares to Rev 10:3 with its seven thunders.
 
The section breaks down into three parts: the rise of the storm in its fury (3-4), the full force of the storm (5-7), and then the passing of the storm off into the desert (8-9).
 
He attributes the rise of the storm to the “voice of Yahweh” (3-4). 
 
This section of the psalm begins with the statement the “the voice of the LORD is upon the waters.” The voice was commanding the elements of nature, causing the storm by His word to develop and then die out. Yahweh spoke the thunderstorm into existence.
 
The path of the storm is from the waters inland to Lebanon and Syria. This means that “waters” is a reference to the Mediterranean Sea, the Great Sea.
  
Verse 4 affirms the might and majesty of the voice of Yahweh.
 
God brings up the storm by His majestic word.

He witnesses the “voice of Yahweh” in the height of the storm (5-7).
   
The voice of Yahweh now breaks the cedars in pieces. These are the pride of Lebanon, but the storm that Yahweh caused overpowers them, uprooting and breaking them with the fierce winds that drive the storm.
  
Verse 6 then describes an earthquake in poetic form: “He makes them skip” provides the comparison for the shifting ground. Lebanon and Sirion are two mountains or mountain regions north of Israel. Mt. Sirion refers to Mt. Hermon (Deut 3:9).
  
Verse 7 is a poetic description of forked lightning: “The voice of the LORD splits (hews out) flames of fire.
 
God’s powerful word causes the storm to rage.
 
He attributes the passing of the storm to the “voice of Yahweh” (8-9). 

Next, the storm passes over the mountains into the eastern wilderness where it dies out. The location is “the wilderness of Kadesh.” The name does not refer to Kadesh Barnea in the south. This is Kadesh on the Orontes River in the north.
  
The voice of Yahweh shakes the wilderness. “Wilderness” refers to the flora and fauna in the wilderness.
  
The last verse of this section of the psalm records the effects of the storm.
  
The first is that it causes the deer to give birth prematurely.
  
The second is that it strips the forests bare.
  
Third, the heavenly hosts praise God. Everything in His temple says, “Glory!” “Temple” here probably refers to the heavenly temple. To glorify God means to extend His reputation by praise. This means declaring that He alone is the sovereign, Lord of all nature.
 
God’s powerful word causes the storm to subside.
 
God is to be praised for His control of nature by His powerful word.
 
Conclusion: The psalmist declares that Yahweh rules over all nature and is able to share His strength and peace with His people (10-11).  
 
In addition to the description of Yahweh’s demonstrating His power and glory in Canaan, the psalmist recalls the greatest demonstration of it—the flood in Genesis (Gen 6—8).
  
The next colon expands the idea from the flood to all time: “Yes, the LORD sits (enthroned) as King forever.”
 
The psalmist envisions Yahweh’s sovereign control over all nature, then, in a universal event, and now in a localized storm.
 
God reigns over all nature.
 
Drawing upon the description of the movement of the storm, the psalmist now expresses the lesson for the people of God. Because Yahweh displays His strength by bringing up a fierce storm, He is to be praised for His strength, and He grants that strength to His people as well.
  
The power of God is available as a resource for the people of God to overcome the world.
  
And then, just as Yahweh can command the storm to die out in the wilderness, He can give peace to His people. There is no fury in life that He cannot calm.
 
God meets the needs of His people.
 
God is able to bless His people with power and with peace.
 
In the New Testament we read of Jesus calming the storm and walking on water. Jesus used such acts to authenticate His claim to be the promised Christ. To Him believers look for power and peace throughout their lives.

OVERCOMERS

Philippe R. Sterling

Popular Christian culture refers to overcomers. Mandisa recorded a hit song called Overcomers. Priscilla Shirer, daughter of Tony Evans, has produced and starred in a series of commercially successful movies with the general title of Overcomers. Some churches use the word overcomer in their names.

Are you an overcomer? Who are the overcomers and what are the promises made to them?

Who Are the Overcomers?

The Apostle John refers to overcomers in 1 John and in Revelation.

John wrote of overcoming the world three times in 1 John 5:4-5, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

This could be a positional kind of overcoming. When we believe in Christ, we overcome the world which was trying to keep us from believing in Him. This kind of overcoming would apply to all believers who are positionally in Christ.

It could also be an experiential kind of overcoming. The reference to faith would be to living by faith. When a believer lives by faith, he overcomes the world in his experience.

John wrote about overcomers eight times in Revelation. There are four primary views concerning these overcomers.

There is the all-believers view. All believers become overcomers when they believe in Christ. This position emphasizes faith in Jesus rather than faithfulness to Him. All believers receive the promises made to overcomers.

There is the loss of salvation view. Jesus exhorted believers to overcome so as not to lose eternal life and experience the second death which is the lake of fire.

There is the perseverance view. All genuine believers persevere and overcome by living godly and obedient lives. Overcoming proves the genuineness of believing.

There is the eternal reward view. The overcomer in Revelation is the believer who perseveres and remains faithful to Jesus until death or until His return. Jesus will reward the overcomer in addition to the free gift of eternal life.

Believers encounter conflicts and trials of many kinds and degrees. Jesus promises rewards to believers who overcome. The context of the overcomers in Revelation supports the eternal reward view.

Jesus specified specific instances of overcoming. To the church at Ephesus overcoming meant to return to their first love for Jesus. To the church at Smyrna overcoming meant to be faithful in persecution even to death. To the church at Pergamum overcoming meant to resist immorality and idolatry. To the church at Thyatira overcoming meant not to tolerate immorality and idolatry. To the church at Sardis overcoming meant to be watchful and hold fast to what they had received. To the church at Philadelphia overcoming meant to persevere in faithful obedience to the end. To the church at Laodicea overcoming meant to turn from spiritual apathy and fellowship with Christ.

What Are the Promises Made to Overcomers?

Letter to Ephesus

To the believer who listens and overcomes, Jesus promises that he will eat of the Tree of Life which is in the Paradise of God. Revelation 22:2 states that the tree of life will bear twelve kinds of fruit. Perhaps each fruit will impart a special quality of spiritual life to the eater. Access to the tree of life will be limited (22:14). For example, a believer who adds to or takes away from the words of the prophecy of Revelation will forfeit the right to eat of the fruit of the tree (22:19).

Letter to Smyrna

Jesus promised that the one who overcame would in no way be hurt by the second death. The second death is judgment at the Great White Throne, the lake of fire, separation from God forever (Rev 20:14). Jesus employed a figure of speech called litotes. Litotes is an assertion that understates the reality referenced. Jesus was saying that He would abundantly repay the faithful believer for the sacrifice he made.  His eternal experience would be as far beyond the reach of the second death as can be imagined.

The first death is not the end. There is another life to come. The glories of the life to come contrast sharply with the dark shadows of persecution and death.

Letter to Pergamum

To those who overcome, Jesus promised three things: 1) hidden manna, 2) a white stone, 3) a new name. 

Jesus does not want believers to be lured away from fellowship with Him. If we refuse to be drawn away by the enticements of false religions, Jesus promises “hidden manna,” special fellowship meals with Him.

Jesus will also give us a white stone inscribed with a new name. Such a white stone with one’s name on it was the basis for admission to special events. It was also a custom to reward victors at the games with such a token enabling them to gain admission to a special feast. The “hidden manna,” the other part of the reward, also suggests a reference to the Messianic feast. The white stone is, then, a personalized tessara, which would serve as a token of admission to this great future feast. The giving of the white stone to the believer indicates that he has been favored by Jesus. The new name might reflect the proven character of the overcoming believer.

Letter to Thyatira

The overcomer is the one who keeps the work of Jesus to the end. Jesus promised the overcomer the privilege of ruling with Him over the nations and sharing in His royal splendor.

Jesus is going to come and rule the nations. Some believers of the church age will rule with Him. Not all believers will have this opportunity. Only those who have earned that right by being faithful to the end of their lives or until His coming for them at the rapture. Jesus will reward the faithful by making them rulers with Him.

Jesus will give the overcoming believer the morning star. He says in Revelation 22:16 that He is “The Bright and Morning Star.” This may refer to His royal splendor. Thus He may be promising the overcomer a share in His royal splendor. All believers will be glorified, but not all will share the royal splendor of Jesus and the privilege of reigning with Him.

Letter to Sardis

Jesus promised the overcomer three things.

First, the overcomer will walk with Christ in white garments, the symbol of righteous acts (Rev 19:8). This is not the imputed righteousness of Christ given to all who believe in Him for everlasting life. This is an added reward reflected in royal clothing. The word “white” can have the meaning of “bright and shining.” Like a bright and shining diamond the garments will have many colors and hues reflecting the overcomer’s devotion and service to Christ in this life.

Second, Jesus will keep the overcomer’s name in the Book of Life. The overcomer in Revelation is the believer who is faithful until physical death or the Rapture. The “name” can refer to a person’s self or to a person’s reputation. The immediate context indicates the meaning. In Rev 13:8, 17:8, and 21:27 “name” refers to a person’s self. In this context, the removal of the “name” from the Book of Life may be the removal of a commendable reputation. The overcomer can gain a new name (2:17; 3:12), a commendable reputation or title which conforms to his faithfulness.

The program at my Dallas Theological Seminary’s graduation ceremony contained the names of all the graduates. Besides some of the names was one star, two stars, or three stars, representing graduating with honor, high honor, or highest honor.

In addition, Jesus may also have used the figure of speech litotes, an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary, such as saying “you won’t be sorry” and meaning “you’ll be glad.” By saying that He would not remove the overcomer’s name from the Book of Life, Jesus meant that He would highlight the overcomer’s commendable reputation.

The third promise of Jesus clarified this, “I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Jesus will declare the overcomer’s commendable reputation before the Father and His angels. If we are faithful to the end, Jesus will tell the story of our faithfulness and it will reverberate mouth to mouth throughout all future ages.

The Letter to Philadelphia

Most of this letter is composed of promises. Jesus went on to promise several eternal rewards to the overcoming believer.

The overcoming believer will be “a pillar in the temple of My God.” We know from Rev 21:22 that in the New Jerusalem “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” This reward could involve a special nearness to God the Father and God the Son and a prominent supportive position in the administration of the New Jerusalem and of the new creation. The following phrase “he shall go out no more” could indicate the permanence of the position.

The symbolism would be meaningful to people who lived in constant danger of earthquakes. These pillars will never be shaken. There will never be a need to flee the city.

Ancient cities often honored great leaders by erecting pillars with their names inscribed on them. God’s pillars are not made of stone. His pillars are faithful people who bear His name.

Jesus will write three names upon the overcoming believer: the name of the Father, the name of the New Jerusalem, and His name. God’s name reveals facets of His person. There are facets of the person of the Father and of the Son which have not yet been made known, but which Jesus will make known to the overcomer. We may wonder why the overcomer would also carry the name of the New Jerusalem. Some are given the “key to a city” to honor their connection to that city. Having the name of the New Jerusalem would reflect the overcomer’s special connection to the city.

The Letter to Laodicea

Jesus promised the overcomer a seat with Him on His throne. Among the many believers of this age, only overcomers will be granted that honor.  Not everyone will have a crown and sit on a throne with Christ.

Every believer will have the righteousness of Christ.  We will all have a glorified body.  We will all be citizens of the kingdom. There might be a few other things which we will all have in common. But after that, for most of the things which we will have, there will be great differences in the measure of glory, and of capacity to serve, and of intimacy with the Lord.

Our relationship with the Lord will be different for each one of us.  There are some who will have a close physical proximity to the King of kings. They will have access to His immediate physical presence in a way that others will not. It will not be based on how famous we were in this age or how big our ministry was.  It will be based on our faithfulness and love for Him.

The overcomer rewards include the type of the dwelling place we will have in the New Jerusalem, the garments we will wear, the food we will enjoy, the intimacy we will experience with Christ, the status and authority we will have. These privileges will not be solely for our benefit. We have been created to glorify God by loving and serving others.  These privileges will enable overcomers to do just that in the millennial kingdom and in the new heaven and the new earth.

Revelation 21:7 – The Final Overcomer Promise

God makes a final promise to the overcomer, “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” “My son” is singular, but it applies to all overcomers. God adopts overcomers as “sons.” All the rights and privileges of sonship come with this promise. The overcomer will rule with God over the new heaven and new earth as God’s son. All believers are children of God by faith alone, but only overcomers are sons of God appointed to rule over the new creation as a reward for their faithful service.

Jesus linked a believer’s overcoming with His overcoming in Rev 3:21. Jesus overcame by finishing the work the Father gave Him to do (John 4:34; 17:4). Let us follow His example and become overcomers by finishing the work God has given us to do.