HOW TO OVERCOME
THE WORLD
February
15, 1998 am
Michael F. Blume
Genesis 3:22-23 And the LORD God said,
Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now,
lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat,
and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden
of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise
of God.
- These two passages give
us opposite statements of God
- In one case, God said
that He kept man from the tree of life, while in the other case he said
that He would grant that man go to the tree of life.
- What made the difference?
- Answer: "HIM THAT OVERCOMETH"
- Obviously Adam did not
overcome and was not an overcomer.
- What does the Bible mean
by being an overcomer?
- If it is so important
to be an overcomer (because only overcomers can get what God would not let
Adam get), then the Bible is obviously going to have a lot to say about
what it means to overcome. It does.
1 John 5:4-5 For whatsoever is
born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh
the world, [even] our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he
that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
- We are overcomers by FAITH.
- FAITH is the all important
element.
- And not just any faith,
as though as long you had faith in any god then you are an overcomer.
- No. Faith that Jesus
is the Son of God.
- That is the only faith
that counts.
- And that faith in Jesus
includes Jesus' death on the cross for your sins.
If faith is the victory that
causes us to overcome, then look at all the things faith does for us.
Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise
of God.
Revelation 2:11 He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh
shall not be hurt of the second death.
Revelation 2:17 He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone,
and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that
receiveth [it].
Revelation 2:26 And he that overcometh,
and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh,
the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name
out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and
before his angels.
Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out:
and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of
my God, [which is] new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my
God: and [I will write upon him] my new name.
Revelation 3:21
To him
that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
SUMMARY: By Faith we will....
- Eat fruit of the tree of
life.
- Not be hurt of second
death.
- Eat hidden manna, receive
white stone with new name.
- Receive power over nations.
- Clothed in white, keep
name in book of life.
- Be made a pillar in the
temple of God, and never leave, and receive name of God and name of New
City.
- Sit with Christ on the
throne.
THESE ALL COME BY FAITH, BECAUSE
FAITH IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES
- Faith that Jesus is the
Son of God.
- In other words, faith
in Jesus is the only way to God.
- Not good deeds
God brought about such a great
salvation through Jesus Christ for mankind, and had ages and ages lead up
to that work, so that if you accept it as truth, then all His blessings
are become yours!
God is going to do something
with this present world. It has become sinful and all that are of it are
sinful.
NOTE:
- The world would like to
hold us down and keep us bound to it, but we can overcome the world by our
faith.
- But you can make it.
- You do not have to live
as though it is almost impossible to stay saved.
- It is not hard to live
for God, if you learn the key.
- FAITH.
- Some say that it is hard
to have faith.
- No it is not!
- All it is is believing.
- It is not as hard as you
think, and you have been lied to.
- Jesus meant it when he
said that if we labour and are heavy laden then come to Him. (Matt 11:29)
- Many think you begin to
labour and begin to be heavy laden when you come to Jesus.
- Opposite of what Jesus
said. HIS YOKE IS EASY AND HIS BURDEN IS LIGHT.
- If you are finding
it hard, then you do not know the full truth!!
Refuse to look at yourself alone
for the answer to victory.
- Look at yourself and see
weakness.
- Refuse to look at yourself.
- Look at the BLOOD of Jesus.
- This means, the DEATH that
Jesus experienced was for our victories. And when you realize His death
is the ONLY reason you can have victory you will then cease trying to do
good, and start claiming your victories!
There is a message for us in
the book of Revelation concerning what faith will do for you.
- Last week we discussed
the thought that Israel marched around Jericho seven days and on the seventh
day they marched seven times and then blew seven trumpets made from the horns
of a ram.
- We indicated that Jesus
was seen as a lamb with seven horns in Rev. 5:6.
Revelation 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo,
in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the
elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
- So, with Jericho in mind,
after reading about a lamb with seven horns, when we read that seven trumpets
are blown later on in Revelation, we can understand they are LINKED TO JESUS
AS A RAM WITH SEVEN HORNS.
- Horns represent power.
- And seven horns represent
ALL POWER.
- This lamb had been
slain and was resurrected when John saw him stand with seven horns.
- (Let us review a bit here)
- Clearly we see that Jesus
had ALL POWER in HIS BLOOD, since He was seen victorious and with seven
horns AFTER He died and resurrected, having shed that blood in payment for
our sins.
- The people cried out that
He redeemed by His BLOOD.
- "Redeemed" means paid
the price to get us back.
- The angel said He prevailed
to open the book.
- HE HAD POWER!
- HE PREVAILED.
- POWER IN HIS BLOOD.
- HIS DEATH is represented
by His blood.
- So seven horns means all
power.
- So, what would blowing
seven horns mean?
- It is preaching about
all power in His blood.
- It is speaking the
word about ALL POWER BEING IN THE BLOOD.
- Some may understand part
of what the power of the blood can do.
- But we must know the FULL
POWER (7 horns = ALL) of the blood.
- We must FULLY understand
it.
BY FAITH we are overcomers.
- What do we need to have
faith in?
- Jesus Christ.
- What particular thing
about Jesus is so important?
- HE DIED FOR OUR SINS that
we might be saved.
- The "Jerichos" in our
lives that hinder us from entering the place of faith must be torn down
by faith.
Everything depended upon a lamb.
- Blood on the doorways in
Egypt from a lamb.
- Carrying the ark through
Jordan to open the river up with blood of a lamb on the mercy seat.
- Marching around Jericho
blowing seven ram's horns.
- As Israel had a goal of
entering the promised land and was held back by Jericho, we must enter the
promises of God.
- And we must defeat the
Jericho that keeps us out of God's will.
- Every victory we will
have will be by the LAMB
- The seven horns must sound
forth, and bring crashing down the walls of unbelief.
- IOW, the FULL TRUTH of
the blood must be spoken forth in our hearts
- If you believe what I am
preaching, mix it with faith, the walls that rise up to hold you back, will
come down, and your heart will be free to believe God for anything!
- In Revelation, after the
lamb stands with seven horns and the blood is there and saved us, the seven
horns must be blown to affect our worlds.
We read seven angels blowing
seven trumpets, and after they are blown, we see the world affected.
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel
sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of
this world are become [the kingdoms] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and
he shall reign for ever and ever.
- we can enter the land of
promise once the FULL TRUTH (7 horns) IS KNOWN
- after seven trumpets blew,
down came the walls of Jericho - representing the hard walls of an unbelieving
heart
Notice what happened after seven
trumpets blew.
Revelation 16:1 And I heard a great
voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour
out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
- SEVEN VIALS POUR OUT UPON
THE WORLD
If you compare the effects of them with the seven days of Genesis, you
can see that God is destroying the old world step by step as He made the
old world to begin with.
- He is undoing the old world.
The first day showed God speak
forth light -- instead of men being the light of the world, like Jesus willed,
men received the mark of the beast
Revelation 16:2 And the first went,
and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous
sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and [upon] them which
worshipped his image.
The second day showed God divide
the waters above from below and seas and oceans were formed.
Revelation 16:3 And the second angel
poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead [man]:
and every living soul died in the sea.
The third day showed God raise
the dry land and fresh water was formed and fruit grew.
Revelation 16:4 And the third angel
poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became
blood.
The fourth day showed God make
the sun, moon and stars for light
Revelation 16:8-9 And the fourth angel
poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch
men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the
name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to
give him glory.
The fifth day was when God made
the sea creatures and the fowl of the air, animal kingdoms began
Revelation 16:10 And the fifth angel
poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was
full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
The sixth day was when God made
man, and intended him to be a king and have dominion over the earth
Revelation 16:12-14 And the sixth angel
poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof
was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the
dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go
forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather
them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
The seventh day was when God
rested from all his work
Revelation 16:17 And the seventh angel
poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the
temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
- God rested from judging
the world which man made sinful.
God will remove everything in
the world in the same order he made it
- If your world of sin is
not yet changed, understand that God will speak the WORD seven times and go
right back to the root of the problem and make you a brand new world.
- And your world of your
life will be changed.
- God will do that to make
way for the new World to come!
Revelation 16:20 And every island fled
away, and the mountains were not found.
- If you want to have a new
heart, you must hear the full truth.
- After the seven trumpets
sounded, the old world was removed and a new world was ready to replace
it
- This represents the fact
that if you will receive the FULL TRUTH (heard 7 horns sounded to you) of
the Blood, and BY FAITH believe it all that is of this old world will be
removed and you will have a new heart.
- Did not John say that
FAITH OVERCOMES THE WORLD?
- ALL TRUTH is represented
by SEVEN HORNS.
- And if you can believe
ALL OF IT (7), then that TRUTH will cause your old world to die and a new
world to begin.
- It is gradual. Step by
step as we learn.
- JUST TRY IT!
- Believe it and see if
it works.
- Jesus said that if you
overcome, you will have access to the tree of life, and we overcome by FAITH.
Faith needs a WORD to lock onto.
- Faith comes from hearing
the word.
- HEARING means "understanding".
Revelation 1:3 Blessed [is] he that
readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and
keep those things which are written therein: for the time [is] at hand.
- when you understand that
Satan was defeated at the cross since Jesus paid the death penalty we had
from sin, then you can have FAITH to overcome
- look what the Bible
says about the New Earth..., after the seven trumpets have sounded and undone
the old world...
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven
and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;
and there was no more sea.
Revelation 22:1-2 And he shewed me a pure
river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of
God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side
of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve
[manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of
the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.
After all the trouble is over
and the old world is removed, seven trumpets have sounded, and step by step,
God removed the things of the world in the same order he made them, we read
of a new world where there is a city and a tree of life!!
- Back to our text
where we showed man cannot go to the tree of life and eat except they overcome,
we see WE HAVE ACCESS TO THE TREE OF LIFE if we let our old worlds fall
away by the hearing of the seven trumpets, and see a new earth (new heart)
- Believe ALL TRUTH.
- Only after seven trumpets
sounded did Jericho and even the world fall!
- Only after you fully believe
the truth, all the truth, and nothing but the truth, you overcome the world
- All you need is "NO DOUBT."
- Just believe!
Revelation 12:10-11 And I heard a loud voice
saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of
our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is
cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their lives unto the death.
- Blood and the word.
- Power of the blood and
FAITH.
FAITH in the BLOOD means that
everything is alright since we accepted the blood of Jesus for our salvation.
- God spoke seven times (7
trumpets blown) in Genesis and made and created a new world.
- He FULLY SPOKE.
- And He speaks nothing
but TRUTH.
- Let Him speak fully to
you.
- Spirit will guide you
to all truth - not stopping halfway there.
- John 16:13