Who shall ever separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Just as it is written and forever remains written,

                     “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
                     WE ARE REGARDED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. ~ Romans 8:35-37, AMP

Overcomers or those believers who truly are more than conquerors clearly are the faithful and obedient victorious members of the Body of Christ—the faithful and obedient spiritual conquerors. Notice that, in Revelation chapters 2-3, Christ never addresses the entire Body of Believers, which is His whole Ekklesia, as overcomers. Nor does He address one entire ekklesia (one entire assembly or one entire “church”) as overcomers. While speaking individually to the seven “churches,” Christ promises heavenly rewards ONLY to the saint who overcomes—Christ uses only the singular pronoun when He says: “He who overcomes.” Thus, Christ makes it clear that not all saints, not all members in His Ekklesia, are or will be overcomers. These overcomers are the saints who shine like the stars that are far and above the spiritual corruptions or spiritual problems in Revelation’s seven “churches” (see Revelation 1: 16).

I know what I said above is an uncomfortable truth, but the Truth is that Bible verses prove that the overcomers—the ones to whom specific rewards are promised/offered and to whom these promised rewards will be given—are separate and distinct types of saints. If we read closely, we see that in every one of the seven “churches” mentioned in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 there were—and, indeed, there always have been—those saints who were faithful believers in Christ and those saints who were unfaithful believers in Christ. There were—and there always have been—those saints who were obedient children of God and those saints who were disobedient children of God. In other words, there were then—and always have been—spiritual and carnal members in the Body of Christ. Therefore, there also always were (and always have been, even now there are) overcomers AND those saints who were/are overwhelmed/worn down/defeated. To put it differently, from the beginning of Christ’s Ekklesia, there always have been those believers who have become spiritual conquerors and those believers who have been spiritually conquered!

Again, the Scriptures prove that Christ only promises EACH spiritual conqueror in each of Revelation’s seven “churches” that if that person—if he or she—is a faithful and obedient overcomer; that is, if the spiritually mature man or spiritually mature woman in each “church” continues to fight against Satan’s fiery darts, his destructive deceptions, and his toxic lies AND WINS, even if his or her resistance leads to his or her death, then that OVERCOMER is the believer who will receive the following specific rewards:

1. The Tree of Life

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’ ~ Revelation 2:7 (Ephesus)

2. The Crown of Life

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. ~ Revelation 2:10 (Smyrna)

3. The White Stone

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’ ~ Revelation 2:17 (Pergamum)

4. National Authority

He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; ~ Revelation 2:26 (Thyatira)

5. White Robes

He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ~ Revelation 3:5 (Sardis)

6. The Permanent Pillar

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; 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 My new name. ~ Revelation 3:12 (Philadelphia)

7. The Throne

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. ~ Revelation 3:21 (Laodicea)

Anyone who has an ear needs to hear that Christ’s overcomer is not just the run-of-the-mill kind of saint, who gets into Heaven with the smell of smoke on him or her (see 1 Corinthians 3:15). To get these mentioned rewards that saint must be the spiritual conqueror (more than a conqueror) kind of overcomer—a faithful and obedient even unto death kind of saint.

Once again, every saint—each believer in Christ, every Body of Christ member—must model his or her life after the One who first overcame this world and the devil. That Overcomer is Christ Jesus! Is anybody listening? Selah . . . . .