What does the world do? It tries to destroy our Christian witness. It tries to distort our desires. It tries to confuse our value system. It tries to dilute our interest in God's Word. It tries to squeeze us into its mold. It tries to draw us away from God. The problem is the world which tempts us to forget who we are and whose we are and to live beneath our privileges.

A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing - we're behind." "Boy," said the spectator, "I'll bet you're discouraged." "Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven't even gotten up to bat yet!"

That's the spirit of our text. The Christian is surrounded by problems but he is not discouraged for he sees those problems as challenges he has to overcome. An overcomer acknowledges the problem.

II. An Overcomer Affirms The Promise

John said -- and he repeated it for emphasis -- that the Christian can overcome the world. That is the promise of God's word. You do not have to be defeated by the devil. You do not have to be disgraced by sin. You do not have to be destroyed by suffering. You do not have to be distracted by sensuality. You can win the victory. You can overcome. That is the promise of God's word.

Some here today need to refocus on that promise for you are walking through a dark and deep valley right now. You are walking wounded in God's army. But I want you to remember this: God has never been totally defeated by the events of the past, nor will He be by the events of the future.

Joseph was in the dungeon, but God released him. The Hebrews were in slavery, but God delivered them. David was overwhelmed by the guilt of his sin, but God forgave him. Daniel was in the lion's den, but God preserved him. Jonah was in the belly of the fish, but God retrieved him. Jesus was in the tomb, but God raised Him. No problem has been so great that God in His power has not overcome it. And that is the promise that comes to each of us this morning. What He has done in the past, He will do again today. Through God's power, we can overcome.

A young man in a wheelchair, crippled by an accident asked his friend, "Do I have a future?" The friend responded, "As a pole vaulter; no. As a man, yes!" An overcomer accepts the promise of God's word that no matter how great the problem, he can overcome. He has a future.

III. An Overcomer Applies the Principle

What is the principle that will enable us to realize the promise and be overcomers? John answers that question in our text. He says, "This is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith." What is faith?

All of life is lived on faith, and every person has faith in something. We open a can of food and eat it because we have faith that it is not harmful to us. We get on a plane and sit back with assurance because we have faith that the person who is flying the plane knows what he is doing. We go to a doctor whose name we cannot pronounce. He gives us a prescription we cannot read. We take it to a pharmacist we do not know. He gives us medicine that we do not understand. Yet we take it, all on faith. In general, faith means to trust someone else and that faith is at the heart of life.