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!

JUST BY FAITH.

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

And we read;

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.

And we read;

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.

And we read;

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

And we read;

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

And we read;

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

And we read;

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

And we read;

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