MENU

Where the world comes to study the Bible

Revelation - Appendix 3: Who Are the Overcomers?

Introduction

The promises to the overcomer in Revelation 2 and 3 present us with some important, but difficult questions that need to be answered in order to properly interpret and apply these promises. But as is so often the case with difficult passages, students of the Word are divided on the answers. The main questions as I see it are simply, who is the overcomer and what is the nature of the promises?

(1) Are these warnings against the loss of salvation as some have advocated?

(2) Is “overcomer” a title for all believers because of initial faith in Christ? In other words, does 1 John 5:5 define the overcomers of Revelation 2 and 3?

(3) Or is the overcomer equivalent to a special name for genuine believers because of the ultimate triumph of their faith?

(4) Is this a warning against false profession or is it a challenge and motivation to all believers to faithfulness for rewards?

These seven passages are not the only passages that touch on the issue of overcoming or victory over the conflicts and adversaries that we face in this life. Obviously, then, to get a better picture, it would be helpful to integrate these verses in Revelation with other portions of Scripture that speak of overcoming or similar terms such as “triumph” or “conquer” and that deal with issues that might shed light on the subject of victory. Even though we might not be able to agree on all the details, there will be certain truths that are self evident and very practical, exhorting and challenging to us in our Christian walk.

The Principle of Conflict

The Principle Declared

The term “overcomer” comes from the Greek nikaw, “to conquer, prevail, triumph, overcome.” This verb is found 28 times in 24 verses in the New Testament. This presupposes and calls attention to the presence of war, contests, battles, and conflicts in man’s struggle with evil. The New Testament clearly teaches us, as does life itself, that we are in a conflict, indeed, a holy war, with specific adversaries. Even after salvation, the conflict still rages in and against the life of the Christian. This is everywhere evident in Scripture and so obvious in life that one has to deny reality to ignore or disclaim it. Two key passages that illustrate the nature of our conflict with evil are Ephesians 2:1-2 and 6:12:

Eph. 2:1-2 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Eph. 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The Adversaries Defined

(1) Satan, our chief adversary, the devil: 1 Pet. 5:8-9; Eph. 6:12; John 16:11; Col. 2:15; but note 1 John 2:13-14.

(2) The world, a system and arrangement of the affairs of men and government under the control of the evil one and opposed to God and His purposes for man: John 16:33; 1 John 5:4; Eph. 2:2.

(3) Indwelling sin or the flesh and all its corrupting power and life dominating patterns: Rom. 7:15; 8:4-8, 13; Gal. 5:16-26.

(4) Other forms stemming from the above three: darkness (Col. 1:13), blindness (2 Cor. 4:3-4), death (Rom. 8:4f; Rev. 2:11), evil (Eph. 5:16), disobedience (Eph. 2:1), rebellion in every conceivable form (2 Tim. 3:1f).

The Provision of Victory

The Means

(1) The Person and Work of Jesus Christ: That Christ is the Overcomer, that is, the ultimate source and means of victory is the great message of Scripture and everywhere evident in its pages. Note the following passages:

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.

Rev. 3:21 He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (emphasis mine)

Rev. 5:5 and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.

Rev. 17:14 These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him {are the} called and chosen and faithful.

Rom. 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

2 Cor. 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

Col. 2:15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

Closely related to Christ’s victory through His person and work on the cross is another aspect of the means of our victory, the work of the Spirit in regeneration and indwelling.

(2) The Ministry of the Spirit in Regeneration and Indwelling. Compare the following verses:

John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world (cf. 4:2).

1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.

We should note the emphasis here. The text does not say, “He that overcomes,” as the NIV translates (the participle is neuter), but “everything or whatever is born of God.” Overcoming is specifically non-personalized in order to stress a point: it is never the man that overcomes, but his birth from God and what that brings into his life; this is that which overcomes or gives capacity to overcome the world.

So, 1 John 5:4-5 gives us some insightful principles regarding those who overcome the world, namely: (a) the source of victory is the new birth and the new life that it brings, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world”; (b) the method for appropriating victory is faith, “and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith”; (c) the object of faith must be Jesus Christ because He is the real victor, “And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

The Method

This too is clearly marked out for us in the Bible.

(1) Faith (1 John 5:5; 2 Cor. 5:7; Gal. 2:20; 5:5; Eph. 3:17). 1 John 5:5 makes it abundantly clear. “And this is the victory that overcomes the world—our faith.” Since victory was accomplished by Christ and not by what we have done, victory always comes by faith in the work of God through Christ. Our victory is not a victory to be won, by one to be claimed by faith.

(2) The Filling of the Spirit: Appropriating the Manifold Ministries of the Spirit (John 14:16f; 1 John 4:2-4; Eph. 3:16; 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Rom. 8:1f; Gal. 5:16f). Though saved and identified with Christ in His life and death, all believers would be helpless to overcome because of the presence of the flesh without the Holy Spirit who is God’s provision for strength and victory.

(3) Biblical Insight Through the Knowledge of the Word (Ps. 119:9, 11, 45; John 8:32; 17:17; Rom. 10:17; Eph. 6:17; 1 John 2:13-14; Heb. 4:12; Col. 1:9-12). Obviously, if I am going to believe God’s message of grace, trust God with my life, and deal with my inner man, I must know the Word. Faith and the ministries of the Spirit do not exist independently of God’s precious Word. They are directly tied to knowing the Word. The Word builds my faith, directs it, and the Spirit speaks to us through the Word.

But there is another element of victory and one that is vital for victory and fruitfulness; it’s human responsibility as the next point shows.

(4) Diligence, Discipline (Rom. 13:14 [put on]; 1 Tim. 4:7 [discipline yourself]; 2 Pet. 1:3-10 [applying all diligence]; Gal. 5:16 [walk]; Eph. 5:18 [be filled]). There is a fine balance that must be observed in Scripture. Salvation and victory is completely of the Lord. We are to put no confidence in the flesh (Phil. 3:3). We do not overcome by our works, by the energy of the flesh, or by our sincerity, or by our effort, or by our will power because we are powerless. Nevertheless, victory requires our cooperation with God’s operation. It means discipline, diligence, commitment to draw near to God and to act on His promises and provision by faith. Note also 1 Corinthians 15:10; Philippians 2:12-13.

The Meaning of the Overcomer Passages

Lexical Considerations

There are five Greek words that should be considered: “Overcomer” and “conquer” are translations of nikaw, “to overcome, to conquer, prevail, come through victoriously.” “Victory” is nikh, the noun form of nikaw. “Overwhelmingly conquer” is %upernikaw (Rom. 8:37), a compound of nikaw and the preposition %uper, “over, beyond, above.” “Triumph” is qriambeuw, “to triumph over, to lead in triumphant procession” and hence to make a public spectacle of a conquered enemy (Col. 2:15). One other word, %httaomai, is translated “overcome” in the NASB and KJV. This word means “be defeated by, or succumb to a person or thing” (2 Pet. 2:19-20). The only other occurrence is 2 Corinthians 12:13 where it means to be treated as an inferior.

Interpretational Considerations

It appears that there are four primary views of the overcomer passages of Revelation 2 and 3:

(1) The loss of salvation view: According to this interpretation, the promises are written to believers to encourage them to overcome lest they lose their salvation. To fail to overcome is to lose salvation.
But the loss of salvation view contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture that believers are kept secure by the finished work of Christ. It is His record that keeps us not ours. A large portion of the New Testament demonstrates such a view to be wrong. The following passages illustrate this truth: concerning believers, Jesus said, “and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:28-29), they “shall not come into judgment” (John 5:24), and “have [already] passed from death into life” (John 5:24). The apostle Paul declared that “neither death nor life … nor things present nor things to come … shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39). “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph 2:8-9). He even told the believers at Thessalonica that “whether we wake or sleep [i.e., whether we are morally alert or spiritually slothful], we should live together with Him” (1 Thess. 5:10).

(2) The perseverance or ultimate triumph of the saints view: According to this view all genuine believers persevere and overcome the world by living godly and obedient lives. Overcoming is equivalent to faithfulness or obedience which proves the genuineness of salvation. MacArthur is a proponent of this view. He writes: “John was so confident of the ultimate triumph of faith over sin that he had a special name for the believer: ‘the one who overcomes’ (1 John 5:5; Rev 2:7, 11, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 21:7).”8 MacArthur is interpreting these passages according to what has come to be called the ‘Reformed Doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints’ which states that all true believers will persevere in a life of godly obedience. They admit that there may be temporary setbacks and bouts with sin, but that ultimately, true believers live victorious, holy lives to the end.

Concerning this view, Bob Wilkin writes:

There is a major problem with this interpretation. The Bible does not promise that all true believers will live victorious, holy lives. Believers may have more than temporary setbacks and bouts with sin. It is sadly possible for believers to backslide terribly and to remain in that backslidden state until death. Certainly the church at Corinth was hardly a picture of believers experiencing ultimate victory over sin in their lives (cf. 1 Cor 3:1-3; 11:30; see also Gal 6:1-5; Jas 5:19-20; and 1 John 5:16)!

I’m not saying that eternal security is not true… What I am saying is that there is no guarantee in Scripture that eternally secure people will live overcoming, victorious lives here and now. Believers can fail.9

It should be noted that some of the Christians at Corinth had died in a state of carnality as a direct result of God’s judgment which Paul carefully defined as God’s disciplinary action. This shows God was dealing with them as His children (cf. 1 Cor. 11:29-32 with Heb. 13:5-11).

(3) The view that all believers are overcomers: According to this view, all believers become overcomers the moment they believe in Jesus Christ. The very act of believing overcomes the world: “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5). Faith, not faithfulness is the primary focus point in this position.

Ryrie writes:

An overcomer is not someone who has some special power in the Christian life or someone who has learned some secret of victory. John himself defined an overcomer as a believer in Christ (I John 5:4-5). Thus every Christian is an overcomer, though the various promises in these seven letters are addressed particularly to each local believing group, and tailored to the special circumstances found in each church.10

Walvoord agrees and writes: “This promise should not be construed as reward for only a special group of Christians but a normal expectation for all Christians.”11

Wiersbe also agrees:

Note that a special word is spoken to the “overcomers” in each church (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). These “overcomers” are not the “super-saints” in each church, a special group that will receive special privileges from Christ, but the true believers in each of these churches. We dare not assume that every member of every local church in every period of history is a true child of God. Those who truly belong to Christ are “overcomers” (1 John 5:4-5). In every period of history, there have been true saints in the professing church (often called “the invisible church”). Christ speaks a special word of encouragement to them, and certainly we may apply these words to ourselves today.12

I appreciate and highly respect the views of each of the above writers, and while this view appeals to me and I wish I could hold to it, there are certain problems with this interpretation that I have not been able to reconcile in my own thinking. Does John’s use of the overcomer expression in 1 John 5:4-5 dictate its meaning in Revelation 2 and 3?

It is true that 1 John 5:5 teaches that our faith overcomes the world. It is a mistake, however, to conclude that because John so used that expression in one place, he must have used it the same way in all other places. The contexts in which the expression is found in Revelation 2-3 are greatly different than the context of 1 John 5:5.13

The messages to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 present very different contexts than that of 1 John 5. 1 John 5:4 teaches us that the means of victory over the world is “our faith.” Then verse 5 declares that the only ones who can overcome the world by faith are those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Why? Because only these have experienced the new birth of God in spiritual regeneration and it is that regeneration that gives the power for victory (vs. 4a). But the context of the seven letters suggests that John is there admonishing believers to overcome specific trials and temptations by faithful obedience through faith in their new life in Christ. Consider the following examples from each of these messages:

  • Revelation 2:7b reads, “To him who overcomes I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” But the context for this is the admonition in 2:5 which reads, “Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first …”
  • The admonitions “Do not fear …” and “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (2:10) form the immediate context for the promise, “He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death” (2:11).
  • The call to repent in 2:16 precedes the promise to the overcomer in 2:17.
  • “Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him i will give authority over the nations” (2:25-26). Again, the promise is in a context of two admonitions for faithfulness. While some versions leave out the “and” that begins verse 26, the Greek text contains this connecting particle and shows a relationship exists between the promise and the admonition.
  • The promise of 3:5 is directly connected to the concept of faithfulness described in 3:4. “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; …”
  • Again, an admonition, “Hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (3:11) forms the context for the promise of 3:12, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, …”
  • Finally, the last promise to the one who overcomes (3:21) is set against the context of the Savior’s invitation for fellowship (3:20). Believers cannot overcome without dining intimately with the Savior in daily fellowship.

(4) The rewards view: According to this view, the overcomer passages are promises of rewards given to believers to encourage them to overcome the trials of life through faithfulness.

This view is held by some very outstanding expositors of the Word. For instance, J. Sidlow Baxter writes:

But the promise is to “the overcomer.” Are all believers “overcomers”? Let him think twice who would answer a dogmatic “Yes” to this question. The letters to the seven churches, at least, suggested otherwise to an unprejudiced reader. Our standing in Christ is no artificial position of immunity. As there are degrees of punishment [in hell] so there are degrees of reward [in heaven]. One is made ruler over ten cities, another over five. “One star differeth from another star in glory.”14

Barnhouse has a similar view which sees the promises to the overcomer as promises of rewards for faithfulness and writes:

Some have said that eating from the tree of life was the equivalent of receiving eternal life, but this is most evidently a false interpretation. Eternal life is the prerequisite for membership in the true Church. Eating of the tree of life is a reward that shall be given to the overcomer in addition to his salvation. His work, built upon the foundation that is Christ Jesus, abides the test of the Lord’s appearing, and he receives over and above his entrance into eternal life, a place in the Heavens in the midst of the paradise of God.15

These men, along with others, would heartily agree that all believers are overcomers in one sense, in the sense they have become children of God, have been translated out of darkness into the glorious light of Christ, have been taken out of Adam and placed into Christ. In this glorious position, they have become identified with Him as to His person and work, etc., and enjoy many other marvelous blessings in Christ (Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:10). Every believer is an overcomer in that sense (1 John 5:4-5). But these expositors would also insist that all believers do not overcome absolutely. Christians can fail to live for the Lord and overcome the desires of the flesh (1 Cor. 11:28f; 1 John 5:16-17). Furthermore, while the failure to overcome may be an indication of false profession, the fact a believer does not overcome the struggles of life, does not automatically prove they are not true Christians. If they have truly believed in Christ, they cannot lose their salvation, but they will lose rewards as the Lord warns in Revelation 3:11 and the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. Those holding to the rewards view would say the overcomer passages are promises given to believers to encourage and kindle love and obedience in view of who they are in Christ and what they posses in Him. These are not warnings against the loss of salvation, nor necessarily warnings against false profession, though that could be one application of these promises. Furthermore, they are not statements affirming the preservation of the saints. Instead, they are guarantees of special blessings or rewards for faithful service and lives of faith.

The Problem Discussed

Does 1 John 5:4-5 define who the overcomers are in Revelation 2 and 3? In other words, do the overcomer promises apply to all believers regardless of the kind of lives they live? At this stage in my study of the issues here, I have become convinced that 1 John 5:4-5 is not synonymous with the statements of Revelation 2 and 3.

They occur in different books, with different contexts that contain a number of differences and the differences are such that they suggest that the references to overcoming in Revelation 2 and 3 are not defined by 1 John 5.

In 1 John the apostle affirms that through believing in Jesus Christ there is a permanent victory over the world in one sense. When a believer exercises faith in Christ, he does overcome the world in the sense that the world system is intrinsically hostile to God’s commands, to faith in Christ, and is satanically blinded to the truth and under his dominion of control and death (2 Cor. 4:3, 4; Eph. 2:1-3; Heb. 2:14), but through faith in Christ, the believer has overcome that condition in that he is made a child of God, has been rescued from the domain of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col. 1:12-13).

In Revelation, however, the overcomer concept is restrictive within the realm of the daily conflicts and battles of the Christian life according to the context of each of the seven letters. Here are illustrations of the battles that believers must overcome and for which rewards are promised for overcoming. “But this is a long way from saying that all Christians live ultimately victorious lives. In fact, that is something the New Testament does NOT say.”16 Regardless, as demonstrated above, many use 1 John 5:4-5 to interpret the overcomer promises of Revelation 2 and 3 because of the similarity of terms.

Overcoming and the promises of these passages find their root in the Lord’s statement in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” The Christian life is full of conflict, tribulation, but victory awaits all believers through the victory accomplished by the Savior, but it is a victory that must be appropriated by an active faith that is fed though fellowship with the Lord.

While all believers have overcome the world in the sense of 1 John 5, conflicts and trials come to the believer in a variety of different shapes and degrees. When we turn to Revelation 2 and 3, we find each church with its own particular conflict and problems with specific rewards that are in keeping with or somehow related to the problem faced. No two Christian’s lives are the same in terms of their struggles and triumphs. The basis of victory is the same, faith in the person and work of Christ and our blessings in Him, but the struggles are different and it seems that God tailors the rewards accordingly.

These letters do not present victory as a certainty, but rather as an aspiration which each individual should pursue. The Savior’s words are never to them who overcome, but to him who overcomes. Victory is not a collective right, but an individual attainment … Clearly, the promises to the overcomers are rewards for obedience to the commands of the Lord of the Church.17

The problems that most have with this view come in the nature of the rewards mentioned in these promises and admittedly, these are difficult. The rewards in Revelation 2 and 3 are usually viewed as blessings all believers will automatically receive as, for instance, the right to the tree of life. This is associated with possessing eternal life, but as we will see, this is probably not the case.

An investigation of the promises in Revelation 2 and 3 will seek to show that these are not promises all believers experience because every believer is an overcomer, but that these promises are special rewards to believers who overcome specific conflicts in the Christian life through faith and obedience in their daily walk.

The Proof or Evidence

The Exegetical Evidence

There is exegetical evidence within the letters themselves which restrict the meaning of the overcomer.

(1) In Revelation 2:26 the Greek text contains the conjunction “and” (kai) at the beginning of this verse. It reads, “And he who overcomes, …” This links the promise to the overcomer back to verse 25 and the statement, “Nevertheless what you have, hold fast (kratew, a strong word meaning ‘to hold firmly to something so that it is not lost’) until I come.” This both connects overcoming to the preceding admonition and makes it dependent on holding fast.

(2) In Revelation 2:26 overcoming is also connected to what follows or to keeping Christ’s works until the end. The Lord says, “And he who overcomes and (italics mine) he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him i will give authority over the nations.” This clearly shows that the overcomer here is not only a believer, but one who keeps the Lord’s deeds in contrast to the evil deeds promoted by the Jezebel like false prophetess being tolerated in the church at Thyatira.

(3) In Revelation 3:5, the promise to the overcomer is tied into verse 4 by the word “thus,” the Greek adverb, %outws. It may look at what follows, or it may draw an inference to what precedes as here. This shows us that the overcomer is restricted to those who have not defiled their garments in their earthly walk and are thus worthy of reward—the reward of being clothed in white garments. This is not the garment of salvation or the imputed righteousness that comes through faith in Christ.

In support of this, let’s compare Revelation 19:8. This verse shows that the wedding garment mentioned in this verse consists of the “righteous acts of the saints.” The Greek word here is dikaiwma. Instead of imputed righteousness, this Greek word refers to the state or virtue of righteous character. In this context, it refers to the acts or deeds or works of righteousness for which rewards are given, i.e., the wedding garments. Two different Greek words, dikaiwsis and dikaiosunh respectively are used in the New Testament to refer to imputed righteousness. It should be evident, then, that the white garment in 3:5 is a reward for works of righteousness that occur after salvation.

(4) In Revelation 3:12 the promise to the overcomer is again connected to a crown of reward for holding fast (kratew) at least by implication or location. And this fits with the thrust of 2:25-26 where the overcomer reward is specifically linked to holding fast by the word “and” in the Greek text.

(5) In Revelation 21:6-7 we find an important contrast. The waters of life are free. All believers partake of this, but eating of the tree is for overcomers in the broader sense. Compare 22:14 with 15. In the light of Revelation 3:4-5 and 19:8, access to the tree of life through the New Jerusalem is restricted for those who cleanse their lives through fellowship with Christ.

In 22:14 John pronounces a blessing on those who wash their robes, who lead the clean and pure Christ life, for they thereby have the right and privilege of entering into the gates of the city and partaking of the tree of life. This means not only immortal existence, but such relations with Jesus Christ and the Church that each has unrestricted access to all that is good in the universe of God.18

The Contextual Evidence

The context of the letters restricts the meaning of the overcomer from all believers to rewards to faithful believers who overcome in the specific conflicts of their lives. Each letter without exception moves from an address to the church as a whole, of the church corporate and individual groups in each church, to the individual aspect with a personal appeal to the one who has an ear and to the one who overcomes.

The Applicational Evidence

To apply these promises to all believers seems to rob them of their force as promises. As Hodges points out, “a command that everyone keeps is superfluous, and a reward that everyone receives is nonsense.”19

The Analogical Evidence

Evidence from the analogy of Scripture is consistent with the teaching of the New Testament in other places; a Christian may lose or gain rewards according to what he does with the stewardship God has given him (1 Cor. 3:11f; 9:27; 2 Cor. 5:10; Luke 19:11-26). In fact, if the promises of Revelation 2 and 3 are not restrictive, then we have what appears to be a contradiction between Luke 19:11f and Revelation 2:26 and 3:21. Many believe there is a difference in the New Testament between entrance into heaven and being an heir of the kingdom (cf. Rom. 8:16-17).

True, some of the promises are hard to explain and understand as rewards and not as general gifts that go with eternal life, but because of the above evidence we should give strong consideration to the view that these are promises that pertain to rewards. In the exposition of the messages to the seven churches of Revelation I will cover each of the overcomer promises in their contexts.


8 John F. MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus, Revised and Expanded Edition, Zondervan Publishing House, 1988, p. 253.

9 Bob Wilkin, “Grace Evangelical Newsletter,” March 1995. (See the Grace Evangelical Society home page for more on this and other grace-oriented subjects at http://www.faithalone.org

10 Charles C. Ryrie, Revelation, Moody Press, Chicago, 1968, pp. 22-23.

11 John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, “Revelation,” Scripture Press, Wheaton, IL, 1983, 1985, electronic media.

12 Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines On the New Testament, electronic media.

13 Bob Wilkin, Grace Evangelical Society Newsletter, March 1995.

14 J. Sidlow Baxter, Awake My Heart, Zondervan, p. 323.

15 Donald Grey Barnhouse, Revelation, An Expository Commentary, “God’s Last Word,” Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1971, pp. 43-44.

16 Zane C. Hodges, The Gospel Under Siege, Redencion Viva, Dallas, TX, 1982, pp. 118-119.

17 Zane C. Hodges, Grace in Eclipse, Redencion Viva, Dallas, TX, 1987, p. 108-109.

18 The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, V, James Orr Reeve, general editor, 3010.

19 Hodges, Grace in Eclipse, p. 109.

Report Inappropriate Ad