Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. —Romans 12:21
Charles Albert Tindley (1851-1933) was a pastor and musical composer. His song, "I'll Overcome Someday" is credited as the basis for the U.S. Civil Rights anthem "We Shall Overcome." He also wrote "Take Your Burden to the LORD (and Leave It There)." As a child we sang his song, "We'll Understand It Better By and By"— "By and by, when the morning comes, When the saints of God are gathered home, We will tell the story how we've overcome; We will understand it better by and by." It's about our eternal hope of overcoming despite many trials and perplexing circumstances in this life.
An OVERCOMER is a person who has succeeded in dealing with a problem or difficulty; one who has defeated an opponent and prevailed. Charles Tindley's father was a slave. His mother was a free woman, but she died when he was very young. To maintain his freedom, Charles was taken in by her sister. As a youth he was hired out for any odd jobs that could be found. After the Civil War, he moved to Philadelphia, where he found employment as brick carrier. Charles married Daisy Henry at seventeen. They had eight children. Charles was the janitor of the church he would one day pastor. He passed his Methodist ordination with flying colors without any formal education. He learned to read by sounding out letters in candlelight. Charles A. Tindley grew his 130 member East Calvary Methodist Episcopal church to a multiracial congregation of 10,000 during the reconstruction era. After his death, the church was renamed Tindley Temple United Methodist Church. It is a former Jewish synagogue and an historic landmark in Philadelphia. Tindley was an overcomer!
John the Revelator wrote to the Church in Philadelphia (not in Pennsylvania, but in Asia Minor, now Turkey),
7To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. 8I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name. 9Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.
10Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The Philadelphia church is known as The Open Door Church, or the church that waited patiently. For these overcomers, God promises an open door of blessing, vindication from their enemies, and affirmation of His love for them. He also assures them protection in the coming tribulation, possibly taking them home prior to it. God exhorts them to hold faithfully to their virtues, standards, grace, and faith despite any weakness they might have. In the natural at that time, pillars were erected to notable leaders in places of worship; the LORD declares that those who overcome will become pillars in the spiritual house of God in Heaven. | 
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