Annual Conference - Baltimore 2001

Rev. Harold Carter

Break Out, O Church In Evangelistic Victory

I John 5:4 "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

Sermon Text

Blessings and benedictions to all the messengers who have gathered here in Baltimore, Maryland in the 215th Annual Conference of The Church of The Brethren. "Our God is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endured unto all generations. Let the redeemed of the Lord our God say so!"

I am deeply grateful to God for the privilege of serving on this occasion. I am grateful that he has made it possible for me to be blest by your spirits and hopefully for you to blest by the spirit I bring.

What a topic we have to work with. "Rise Up Again!" What a topic and what a text. "Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you?" Psalm 85:6

I have prayerfully looked at your topic and I have been led to the Word of God as found in I John 5:4. "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith!"

We Americans love to celebrate victory. Our great obsession with sports is really a deep desire to celebrate some kind of victory. Think of all the banners that waved in the air from cars and vans, and trucks alike when our Baltimore football team, The Ravens, won the super bowl game. The city of Baltimore was intoxicated with the thrill of victory. Suddenly, we all felt that the world had to pay attention to us. However, it matters not how great sports victories may be, there is always the possibility that the next season will be a losing season. Many who have celebrated victories in the sports would have been able to bask in the spotlight for only a short time. Someone else, some stronger team will come along and overpower the winner.

This cannot happen in the church of God. This cannot happen for those of us who are true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the deeper meaning of our Lord's Holy Communion is all about. Jesus told his disciples in an upper room when he instituted the Last Supper, that my victory over the world will not come with guns, and bombs or secular human powers. My victory over die world will come through servanthood and love. My victory over the world will come through sacrifice and service. My victory will not come through titles and human institutions. My victory over the world will come through the holy blood I will shed on Calvary. My victory over the world will come to you through the offering of my body on the cross. My victory will be a victory over sin, sorrow and death. My victory will be a victory over all the powers of Satan-- whatever his program may be. I, therefore, give to you my body and my blood, and I toll you to take it, eat and drink and walk in victory. Break out of your fear, break out of the bondage Satan would love to hold over you. Break out in spirit-filled power and declare to a lost and demonic world that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

John the Beloved, the writer of our text, wanted the persecuted Christians, up and down the ancient Roman Empire, where the church of God had been planted, to break out in victory. Of all the New Testament Aposties, John always understood the victory. Yes, the supernatural victory we believers have in Jesus Christ. It was John who talked about the great "I Ams" of the Lord. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." I am the Way, the truth and the life, no one cometh unto the Father but by me!" It was John who permitted us to see Jesus in a grave yard, still victorious. Lazarus, his friend, had been dead for four days. Jesus knew what he would do. Listen to the victory in the Word of our Lord. "I am the Resurrection and I am the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live and he that liveth and believeth m me shall never die!" With these spoken words, Jesus called Lazarus back into human life." It was this kind of power John was talking about when he declared, "This is the victory we believers have." Again, I remind you that John was writing to poor people, who often lived marginal lives in terms of wealth. It would have been easy for these believers to feel overwhelmed by the power of the Roman Government. When persecutions broke out and believers were tortured and martyred for claiming to be followers of Jesus Christ, it would have been easy to see this new movement of faith lose its power. John was concerned that the believers would not fold up their witness but keep on breaking out in faith. Look again, and you will see John telling believers in Revelation 1:17, not to worry. I know that persecutions have broken out. I know that Satan wants to destroy your witness. But I also know that Jesus is alive! I know that Jesus, the crucified Christ, is alive forevermore. Amen; and have the keys of hell and death. Since he and he alone has the keys of death, hell and the grave in his own power, break out and live in victory. This is victory you have over the world.

The coming of the Spirit of God upon the church at Pentecost was a divine ministry for believers to live out their faith victoriously. Jesus said in the 14th chapter of John that the Spirit of God would guide us into all truth. He would give to us boldness in our witness! He would give to us comfort in our sufferings! He would give to us a deep and abiding understanding of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God was given to the church that we might break out in divine power over the world.

As we move into the new millennium, we all know that we need to be revived. We have better church buildings, but something is missing. We have computers and e-mail, video and audio services, but something is missing. We have a lot of things of the world, but our spirits are lean, our public witness is subdued. The world has dulled our gospel.

A few days ago, I was asked to do a message before the Hampton's Ministers' Institute Conference, where about ten or more thousand persons gather each year for Christian renewal, on what do I see as myths that are miring Christian ministry in our world today. I mentioned several things I felt we needed to be highly concerned with.

I mentioned bow we have fallen into the pitfall of a humanized gospel. We have made the gospel palatable to the itching ears of the people and no longer do we propagate the real and abiding dogmas of the faith. The world does not want us to talk about the sovereignty of God, or the Deity of Jesus Christ. The world does not want us to talk about the authority and absolute truth of the Word of God, the Bible. The world does not want us to talk about the sinful nature of all human life and our need to be born again by the transforming power of Jesus Christ. No, the world does not want us to talk about the Blood Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the old rugged cross and his Resurrection from the dead! However, if we are going to have power over the world, we must break out with the eternal truths of the gospel and forget our opinions and our ideas. Our opinions and our ideas will not put the devil to flight or give to us power over a sinful world.

I also told the Hampton's Ministers' Conference that we would never have power over a sinful world until we rediscovered the power, and the power of holy living. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts." John knew that the believers he was writing to had a power at their hands that the enemy could not take from them. The enemy could not take from them their faith in God! The enemy could not take from them their prayers and their supplication. The enemy could not take from them their new life, covered by the anointing of Jesus Christ. I reminded ministers gathered at the Hampton Conference that our new day narcissism that does not want to sacrifice, that does not want to suffer pain, is really destroying our faith. We must break out of the "me and my" generation and build up a community of love and prayer! We must break out of the "me and my" generation and believe God for revival and for evangelism! We must break out of the "me and my" generation and realize God has called us to overcome the powers of this world together! I believe the Word of our Lord who said in his Word, II Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land!" This and this alone is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
We are overcomers because we have new life in Christ. We are not victorious because we are white, black, red or yellow. We are not victorious because we have been born in America and not some other country around the world. We are not victorious because of our denomination as important as that might be. We are victorious today because of the mighty work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has saved us and raised us and made us members of the commonwealth of faith. Therefore, the center of our faith is Jesus. It is his name, his name above all other names, that brings to us healing, deliverance, salvation and determination. This is why Jesus has called us to be witnesses. We are called to take our eyes off self. In ourselves we have not witness. All we like sheep have gone astray. All we like sheep, need a shepherd. Jesus our Lord said that in this world, there is a thief who comes to us to steal our witness, to kill our faith and to destroy our character. The enemy does not mind us going on as we are as long as we are not teaching the Word of God and declaring that Jesus Christ is Lord. The moment we start declaring that Jesus Christ is Lord in the market place, the enemy is angered. The moment we break out and declare that Jesus saves, the enemy is angered. We can promote all lands of programs in the public media, but when we program the Lordship of Jesus Christ, someone feels offended. Why is this? I will tell you. The enemy of the gospel does not want us to be overcomes. This is why, all the more, we ought to break out, in our homes, on our jobs, in our communities, in our churches, wherever we may go, and declare to a lost world that Jesus saves! This is what John was telling the Christians to do. "I am not telling you to do something I am not doing myself. Remember I am here on the Island of Patmos for preaching Jesus. Nonetheless, no one can stop me from being in the Spirit of God on the Lord's Day. No one can keep me from living a victorious life. Therefore, I call on you to trust God and be bold in your faith. Trust God and call lost men and women into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord!"

It could be in our modem world, we have lost sight for the passion for souls. We have passion for basketball, golf, baseball and football We have passion for health fads that claim to prolong our lives. We have passion for our political identities and the like. Where is our passion for souls? Jesus came to this earth that the lost might be found, the sick might be healed. Jesus came to this world so that the blind might see and that the lame might walk. Check out the life of Jesus Christ and his passion was for souls. Break out oh church of God with a brand new passion for souls. If we do not save the people, who will? If we do not snatch them from the fires of a burning world, who will? The good news is this. We have victory over the world because we are overcomers through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are overcomers because we have membership in the Kingdom of God. Listen to the word of John as he encouraged the saints. In I John 3:14, the word can be found which states, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." We know that we have passed from death unto life because we are a fellowship, we are members of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

John declared in I John 5 that there are three powerful witnesses that give to us breaking authority. What are they? John said, we have breaking out power because we have been baptized in the water. Consider that when Jesus was baptized by John in the river Jordan, the Spirit like a dove came upon him. Why the Spirit? Because he would need power to overcome the temptations of the world! Why the Spirit? Because the Spirit of God is the one who gives to us authority and boldness to break out! No wonder Jesus could tell Satan, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God! No wonder Jesus could tell Satan, "Get behind me Satan," Jesus had breaking out power. Thank God for the water and thank God for the blood!

Jesus is the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world! His blood can still wash away all sin! His blood can still make the guilty clean! His blood can still roll away the burdens and agonies of a sin-sick soul.

His blood must, therefore, remind us that our victory does not come cheap! Our victory does not come without some pain and some sorrow. So if you are going through a storm of faith, hang in there. If the enemy is seeking to buffet you about, hang in there and do not lose faith. "Greater by far is he who is in us than he who is in the world!"

With the water of baptism and the blood of God's Son redemption, we have victory to declare new life in our witness! We have victory to see a new wave of revival and evangelism sweep over the land. We have victory because it is well with our souls.
We are overcomers with victory because there is no failure in God! I repeat, there is no failure in God!

There is a song we love to sing in the ministry of the New Shiloh Baptist Church, where I am blest to pastor. The song is this:

I challenge you and you, even you, to go out and live your life in victory! Witness your salvation in victory! Praise God from whom all blessings flow, in victory! I challenge you to remember that you have the wind of Resurrection power flowing over your life. Remember that you are not walking alone. The grave is empty! Our Lord is alive! The grave is empty! Our gospel is alive! The grave is defeated and our faith is alive! Break out oh church of God and declare to a dying world "Our God is able to keep us from falling, and present us faultless before the presence of his throne with exceeding great power. To the only wise God our Savior be glory, honor, dominion and power, now and evermore. Amen! Amen! And Amen!

Amen and Praise God
H. A. Carter