There are moments when the weight of challenges and adversities can seem insurmountable. Life’s trials, whether personal, societal, or global, can threaten to engulf us in despair and hopelessness. Yet, in the face of such formidable odds, there exists a profound and timeless concept that transcends mere survival and endurance.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary to conquer means to subdue or overcome, to surmount, to gain or obtain, overcome obstacles in the way, to win, as to conquer difficulties, temptation.
It is the idea that we are not just survivors; we are, in fact, “More Than Conquerors.” This compelling phrase, rooted in ancient wisdom and timeless truths, reminds us that our capacity to triumph over adversity goes far beyond the surface, penetrating the very core of our being.
It speaks to an inner strength, resilience, and spirit that enables us to rise above, to thrive, and to shine even in the darkest of times.
Romans 8:37 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us”
More Than Conquerors Sermon
Paul’s word for “conquerors” is the Greek word “nikao,” and it is where we get the name “Nike” from. It means “to conquer, carry off the victory, and come off victorious.” In a war, it was the word used for the winning nation, who not only won the battle but carried off the spoils of war.
Since you are a child of God and His love for you is constant, you are more than a conqueror. You have victory over every temptation and spiritual assault through the power of Christ in you.
God promises no matter what comes into your life; you have victory through Christ. Not just victory, but overwhelming victory through Christ in you. At times, the enemy may come against trying to make your life difficult. However, you will not fear or worry because you know that through Christ, you will always overcome.
You have victory over sin because Christ has set you free from the power and penalty of sin. Because He has set you free, you have victory over the old habits and temptations that once held you down.
You have victory over the powers of darkness that come against you. As a member of God’s army, you wage war against the darkness. Ephesians 6:12 says “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”
Through Christ, you conquer every enemy in the kingdom of darkness. Every day you gain victory in your life through the power of the Holy Spirit in you.
You are victorious in every area of your life because the Holy Spirit fills and empowers you. Day-to-day victories are won because Christ lives in you. Moment by moment, the Holy Spirit guides, fills,
and strengthens you. You have the mind of Christ and the power of Christ living in you(Philippians 2:5)
No matter what the enemy throws at you today, you have victory. The one who loves you completely makes you a conqueror in every area of life.
To win a war also meant that you gained new land. Your nation could expand, and the future of your children’s children could grow. To win meant you got to carry home the spoils of war.
Each soldier brought home the silver and gold of the enemy. It meant a wealth transfer. The very resources the enemy was using to fight you now were under your possession and would be resources to bless your kingdom.
What Does It Mean To Be More Than A Conqueror?
When Paul says that you are a conqueror, it isn’t some nice football game win. He is saying that the Devil and Death themselves have been conquered.
The Devil’s authority has been overthrown in the Christian’s life. He no longer can conquer your souls. You no longer are a slave to sin. Ephesians 2:11-15
Not only are we conquerors over sin and Satan but over the world – over afflictions, persecutions, trials, and even death itself cannot conquer you because Jesus already has defeated them for man, and through His death we gain access to Eternal Life which is the ultimate victory.
We are “more” because we can glory in the struggles and persecutions because our faith and joy can increase as a result! By the blood of Jesus Christ, we already have victory, but we experience even more victory when God uses our hardships to turn them around for His good.
We get to take the spoils of war from the Devil. The very places that are the hardest and darkest in the world can now be turned into hotspots for revival for Jesus. Mark 16:15
Every day you enter a spiritual battle. You face enemies of various kinds. Some strong, some small, and some frightening, but in Jesus Christ, you overcome them all.
The greatest enemy is death. So many people fear death. They go to the gym, eat healthily, and hope to delay death as long as possible. For the Christian, there is no fear of death. Christ conquered death on the cross and gave eternal life.
Paul wrote this book to the Church of Rome to encourage them through the persecution and struggles that they had been walking through. He took that moment to remind them who they were in Jesus.
If we go back to Romans 8:35-36 we can see a long list of possible obstacles that a Christian may have to go through in his/her lifetime.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake, we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered”
He poses a question to the church and all of us Christians. He is asking, “What can separate us from Jesus? Can persecution? Can danger, hunger, or fear? Can even death separate us from what we have won in Jesus?”
He fires back to the question he posed. No way! In famine, we have Jesus. In danger, we have Jesus. In pain, we have Jesus. In every single situation, we have Christ’s love! Even in death, we have Jesus!
He is giving them the pep talk of a lifetime, calling out, “Guys, all these things you are worried about, none of it can stop you!
7 Steps to Live A Life Of A Conqueror?
1. Watch Your Focus
If we focus on selfish and carnal things, we empower our fallen nature. If we murmur, complain and focus on how unfair everything seems to be in a difficult situation, we are not helping resolve the issue. Instead, we’re actually empowering more frustration, anger, bitterness, disappointment and injustice in our lives.
Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report…think on these things (Philippians 4:8 KJV).
What’s incredible is that Paul wrote this from prison. He was locked up in awful conditions, not sure if he would live or die. Yet he wrote again and again about things like joy, rejoicing, eager expectation, the privilege of walking with Christ, hope, confidence and peace.
Near the end of his letter, he shared how this is all possible—by choosing what we focus on. By deciding what we think about. By filling our minds with thoughts that are “true…honest…pure…lovely…good.”
2. Let Heaven Fill Your Thoughts
Let’s look at another passage from one of Paul’s letters written while he was a prisoner in that Roman jail. In his epistle to the Colossians, Paul again talks about the importance of what we allow our minds be filled with:
Colossians 3:1-2″If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
It all begins with focusing on and agreeing with the truth that we have been raised by Christ into a new life. We are new creations in Christ, and the old things have passed away, including the old ways of thinking (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).
We are not to dwell on the things of this fallen world anymore. We are not to allow our minds to be mired in fear, doubt, frustration, anger, lack, depression, self-pity, anxiety, worry or anything else that does not line up with the truth that Jesus has fully restored us to our relationship with our heavenly Father and His Kingdom (see 2 Corinthians 5:18).
The more we allow our minds and our thoughts to be filled with these truths, the more we will see them made manifest in our lives.
3. Think Like a Victor, Not a Victim
In the midst of challenges, stop allowing your mind to be sidetracked with victim thoughts like, I’m under attack! Instead, try thinking victorious thoughts like God, Thank You that in every battle there is an opportunity to take territory!
The New Living Translation of the Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil is “looking for some victim to devour.” This is my favourite translation of this Scripture because it makes it clear that it is victims the enemy devours.
It is not that if the enemy attacks us, then we are victims. It is that he is seeking people who will take on the role of a victim when he attacks so that he can then devour them.
The devil’s only chance to devour believers is if we stop believing—laying down the truth that we have victory in Christ, and taking up the lie that we are victims because the devil has attacked us.
If we think of ourselves as victims, we become victims and give the devil the opportunity to devour us. Not because he is so mighty, but because we have chosen to lay down our power by exchanging our overcomer’s identity in Christ for a victim identity in our current circumstances.
Instead, if we choose to fill our minds with the truth that we are victorious in Christ, who has done all and won all, we will see that victory made manifest.
4. Make up Your Mind
Daniel is one of the great champions of the Old Testament. He was besieged, captured, trafficked, persecuted, attacked, thrown to the lions, mocked and more. Yet despite being victimized in a variety of ways, Daniel refused to be a victim. We see one of the keys to this in Daniel 1:8 (NASB): “Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself.”
- He made up his mind not to be defiled by the situation that had been forced on him. He made up his mind not to partake of the things of that place and those people because he knew they were not good for him.
- He made up his mind not to be a prisoner of bitterness and offense.
- He made up his mind to have power over himself, even if he did not always have power over his circumstances.
- He made up his mind to have faith in God, no matter what.
The way Daniel chose to think about the situations he found himself in made all the difference in his life. Instead of being a victim, he was a victor. Instead of suffering all his days, he actually prospered and succeeded.
He faced many challenges and difficulties, but by always trusting in the goodness of God and the truth of His Word, Daniel saw the blessing, provision and protection of the Lord all of his days.
Daniel did not let his circumstances influence how he thought about God; he let how he thought about God influence his circumstances. Daniel made up his mind, and we need to as well.
5. Allow the Holy Spirit to “renew” Your Mind
Allow the Holy Spirit to work on your mind and restore it to your new state of being. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
When facing challenges, don’t murmur, don’t complain, but find something eternally true to focus on.
Lamentations 3:22–23 promises that the Lord’s mercies are there for you each and every day. He does not hold one wrong thought against you. He is thrilled that you are coming to understand the power of your mind. And He is right there with you, to help you start afresh.
If God is helping you see a pattern of wrong thoughts in your past, it is not because He is mad at you or disappointed in you. No. It is because He loves you and wants to help you overcome it He wants to empower you to walk in a greater measure of the dominion authority that you have in Him.
Or to put it really simply, He wants you to realize that when you change your mind, you change your reality. The apostle Paul said it so well in Romans 12:2 (NASB): “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
In the Greek, the word renewing can also be translated as “renovation.” What Paul is letting us know is that a key to being more than conquerors, and living in the fullness of Christ, is for us not to think like the world thinks. Instead, we are to allow the Holy Spirit to help us overhaul our minds so we think about things from a Kingdom perspective.
If you catch yourself having a negative perspective on things, remember that you are undergoing a “mental renovation.” Ask the Holy Spirit to help you catch yourself in wrong thoughts so you can take them captive, cast them down and replace them with victorious Kingdom thoughts.
6. Study the Word of God
The Bible contains all that a child of God needs in the Christian journey to fortify himself against the devices of the enemy 2Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”
7. Speak the word
The word of God is a believer’s strong weapon. Victors don’t talk fear or weakness, they speak the wisdom of God “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world— But we speak the wisdom of God in mystery”(1 Corinthians 2:6-7).
See this what Pastor Jack Graham has to say about More than Conqueror in the Video below.
Conclusion
In the grand narrative of life, where chapters of struggle and triumph unfold with every passing day, the concept of being “More Than Conquerors” emerges as a guiding light. It beckons us to recognize the immense reservoirs of strength, courage, and resilience that reside within us.
It reminds us that adversity need not define us, but rather refine us, making us stronger, wiser, and more compassionate beings. As we embrace this empowering truth, we step onto a path where trials become opportunities, setbacks become stepping stones, and defeats become catalysts for transformation
