IDENTIFY HIS QUALITIES AS YOURS AND OVERCOME

September 5, 2010 pm
MF Blume

Rev 5:5-10 KJV And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. (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. (7) And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. (8) And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. (9) And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (10) And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Rev 12:1-7 KJV And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: (2) And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. (3) And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. (4) And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. (5) And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. (6) And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (7) And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Jesus PREVAILED, or OVERCAME.

To prevail implies a fight was just fought and He won.
We learn what kind of fight He fought and won when w e read HE STOOD AFTER BEING SLAIN.
He actually defeated DEATH, itself.

BY HIS BLOOD -- the death that overcame death -- he made us kings.

This all occurred because he prevailed to go to the throne, and yet it says WE ARE KINGS.

So we have a connection to His victory.

What made him king made us kings.

IN HEAVEN, John saw a woman the spiritual ISRAEL, with the same twelve stars of the sons of Israel and the sun and moon of Josephs dream who were Israel and Rachel.

Giving birth to Jesus Christ.
A dragon appears IN HEAVEN.
The child, JESUS, is caught up to the throne INTO THAT SAME HEAVEN.
A war breaks out and the dragon who wanted to devour the child is battled by Michael and his angels.
The devil is thrown down out of that heaven.
AND LOOK WHO IS ATTRIBUTED WITH THE REASON FOR THE VICTORY.

Rev 12:8-10 KJV And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. (9) And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (10) 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.

Rev 12:11 KJV 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.

THE BRETHREN OF THE ANGELS -- US -- are attributed with the reason the devil was cast out.

How come Jesus goes to the throne sparking off a war where the devil fights angels and LOSES, and is thrown out of heaven, and THE CHURCH is blamed for the VICTORY?!

Church, there is a connection with Jesus and the church that we need to more fully grasp.

We have been preaching A LOT about HIS DEATH is made our deaths and His resurrection is made our own, and His enthronement is considered our enthronements.

And we're still trying to grasp the full meaning of all of that so we can really GET IT.
And it is THIS ENTIRE PRINCIPLE of SHARING His qualities due to union to Him that is the absolute highest truth we could ever receive as Christians.

Believers think they know all about the cross after they understand His cross saved US from our sins, and they think there are some deeper mysteries the bible probably does not even touch.

They read and read the read the bible, and think there is surely something else beyond perhaps what the bible says, for them to grasp.
And while they go looking thither and yon for something, the truth is the BIBLE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS is actually so full of mysteries beyond the little bit such saints ever got, that we're often too fleshly and carnally minded to be able to actually grasp all that it is about.
The very words of the bible contain truths that actually do not require a sharp mind, although God wants us to have sharp minds, BUT REQUIRE SHARP HEARTS!
I mean SHARP not in the sense of being hurtful to others, but sharp in being KEEN and sensitive to PICK UP revelations and truths.

The reason we read things in the bible that seem to not affect us and hit us like it affects others, is because are hearts are a bit dull.

I need to speak of this principle before I continue.

Mat 13:9-18 KJV Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (10) And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? (11) He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. (12) For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. (13) Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. (14) And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: (15) For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (16) But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. (17) For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. (18) Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

Jesus told the parable of the sower and the seed.

It was a story that is supposed to tell us information that applies to ourselves and how we can benefit from the same principles in the story.
It's not a lesson on how to properly grow plants!
That is the story he told, but it was not his point.
THE POINT of the parable is HOW WE CAN BENEFIT by understanding some things the parable's elements symbolize.
And after he gave the parable, he said something SIGNIFICANT.... "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear".

They asked Him why bother to tell parables?

Why skirt around the point instead of simply giving the point?
He explained that it was because HE DOES NOT WANT JUST ANYONE to receive these precious truths.
For one thing, it would be better to not know truths than to know them if you are never going to LIVE them.
So it is for people's own good, really.
But also, most people's hearts are what He called "hearts waxed gross."
Their ears are dull of hearing.
Not their physical ears, but the spiritual ears of the heart that can GET the points He makes.
Basically, HE DOES NOT GIVE HIS PEARLS TO SWINE.
Jesus said the swine might simply trample those pearls in the filthy mud when they're too holy and too precious for such abuse of truth.

So He gave us a miracle in giving us the bible.

IT HOLDS TRUTHS in a book that that anyone can own and hold in their hands.
But in a way that only God could have thought of, THE PEARLS HIDDEN IN IT CAN ONLY BE REALIZED BY THOSE WHO HAVE GOOD HEARTS that GOD CAN WORK WITH.
And as Christians who are learning to follow him more perfectly, SOME TRUTHS we miss, and some we get.
And whenever we do not benefit from something spiritual like these truths or anything, it is because our hearts are THAT MUCH STILL waxed gross.

Instead of saying HEARTS WAXED GROSS, the newer translation say:

Mat 13:15 CEV All of them have stubborn minds! Their ears are stopped up, and their eyes are covered. They cannot see or hear or understand. If they could, they would turn to me, and I would heal them."

GROSS means FATTENED or CALLOUSED.

It means they are not sensitive.
YOUR HEART HEARS FROM GOD.
When something is is CALLOUSED it has lost its sensitivity.
TOO MUCH HARDENED FLESH.
Flesh int eh bible is what is enmity with the law of God.

That is the reason we have a BOOK OF REVELATION in the bible.

There are powerful truths that are contained in it that God simply does not want any Tom, Dick or Harry to get.
They're too precious for that.

While the epistles and stories of the bible are about applying the truths of the cross to our lives, and learning to think with a new spiritual mind, and identifying ourselves with Christ's death and resurrection, walking after the Spirit and denying the flesh, REVELATION IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT COMPUTER CHIPS, NATURAL ISRAEL UNDER LAW WHO IS CURSED UNDER THAT LAW, AND ATOMIC BOMBS AND HELICOPTERS????

NO.
LET HE WHO HAS EARS HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT IS SAYING.
THIS BOOK WAS MEANT TO HELP BELIEVERS OF EVERY CHURCH GENERATION, and not be about 21st century technological advancements that ignorant John in the first century could only describe as bugs with hair like women and tails like scorpions, or computer chips John could only call a mark in the skin.
THESE ARE SPIRITUAL PICTURES to be discerned by THOSE WHO HAVE EARS TO HEAR.

Jesus appears to John in several very odd characteristics and elements about Him.

Rev 1:13-16 KJV And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. (14) His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; (15) And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. (16) And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

And then something that SCREAMS about our union to Him in the cross:

Rev 1:17-18 KJV And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: (18) I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Did you catchy it?

John FELL IN FEAR LIKE HE DIED!
Jesus touches Him tells him to FEAR NOT.
And then he takes the part where John felt like he died and applies it to John's fear saying, "I WAS DEAD AND AM ALIVE."
In other words JOHN GET OVER YOUR FEAR LIKE OVER DEATH, because I died and live forevermore now!

The first INSTRUCTION TO JOHN TO HELP HIM comes in a moment when he FALLS IN FEAR LIKE HE DIED.

And Jesus applies VICTORY OVER DEATH THAT HE HAD to John as though JESUS' VICTORY is John's victory.
DO NOT FALL DEAD WITH FEAR! WHY? NOT BECAUSE YOU DIED AND SHOULD KNOW BETTER, BUT I DIED AND I OVERCAME!

John, take MY DEATH AND RESURRECTION you know that I experienced, AND REALIZE IT IS YOUR POWER!

John, in effect say, "I died in Christ, so what I am I doing fallen like I am dead with fear?"
I HAVE VICTORY OVER THIS BECAUSE JESUS' VICTORY IS MY VICTORY.

Is that not what we have been preaching all along?

INDENTIFY YOURSELF IN HIS DEATH.
What does that mean?

It means when you look at HIM, IDENTIFY YOURSELF.

This is a negative sort of picture, but it shows the point.
Someone is accused of a crime, and a line up of several people are paraded before the witness, with any old Tom Dick or Harry along with the suspect, to really prove if the witness picks the same one the police suspected.
The witness was not even a good witness if they could not pick the same suspect the police had.
And the person IDENTIFIES the suspect they saw.

Well, we need to identify OURSELVES when we look at Jesus' death and resurrection and enthronement.

Jesus IDENTIFIED HIMSELF WITHOUT OUR SINS.
HE DIED AS US.
HE TOOK OUR DEATH PENALTIES.
We have not become spiritually mature enough if we cannot identify ourselves by looking at Jesus.
When you can look at His death and point and say THAT IS MY DEATH, you are getting it!

And since He paid our deaths the line of suspects changes, and it becomes a picture of Jesus standing there in glory and power.

He is a picture of VICTORY.
And if we can see His resurrection and seating on the throne of the right hand as US SEATED THERE, we IDENTIFY OURSELVES IN HIS VICTORY!

That is the nutshell version of the entire POINT of the word of god for believers to be able to do ANYTHING they need done in VICTORY that Jesus provided on the cross.

Rev 2:1 KJV Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

Rev 1:13 KJV And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

The first letter shows Jesus taking PART of his qualities in chapter 1 and introducing Himself with THAT PARTICULAR PART to this PARTICULAR CHURCH for a specific REASON.

Picture the seven candlesticks.

Does anyone remember the SHAPE of those candlesticks?

Exo 25:31 KJV And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.

BRANCHES OF A TREE.

Jesus is in the MIDST OF BRANCHES, perhaps looking as if they COME FORTH OUT OF HIM.

Joh 15:5 KJV I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

And what did he say the branches were?

Rev 1:20 KJV The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

THE CHURCHES.

But the churches are like BRANCHES ON A TREE IN THE GARDEN.

If He is the vine and we are His branches, what tree in the Garden do you suppose this represents?
HINT: HE SAID I AM THE LIFE!
THE TREE OF LIFE.

And almost like this is a picture of the Garden we then read at the end of the letter:

Rev 2:7 KJV 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.

Did we not hear Jesus speak about having ears to hear when he spoke a parable.

He is again telling us this is like a parable, and if your heart is sharp and can hear from god because you got the sins out of it, you will get the message.
IF YOU OVERCOME YOUR PROBLEM, I WILL GIVE YOU FRUIT OF THE TREE OF LIFE TO EAT.
As Jesus was IN THE MIDST OF THE CANDLESTICKS shaped like branches, WE WILL EAT WHILE IN THE MIDST OF THE PARADISE OF GOD!
EDEN!

Look at their problem.

Rev 2:4-5 KJV Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. (5) Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Like the FIRST MAN ADAM in the GARDEN, Jesus uses a picture of THE GARDEN walking amidst branches, and says this church left their FIRST LOVE.

What was ADAM's mistake?

He heard from God but yielded to his wife, seemingly because he must have loved HER MORE THAN GOD.
Adam was not deceived, but the woman.

1Ti 2:14 KJV And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

LIKEWISE PEOPLE LOST THEIR FIRST LOVE.

Jesus said he would remove their candlestick from its place.
Where was it?
JESUS WAS IN THE MIDST OF THEM ALL.
If they possessed the quality JESUS had in BEING IN THE MIDST OF THE CANDLESTICKS, JOINED to them all, they would overcome!
THEY MUST DO THE FIRST WORKS.
REPENT.
GET THAT LOVE BACK.

THE NEXT CHURCH.

Rev 2:8 KJV And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

Notice how he describes himself.

Rev 2:10 KJV Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

SOME SHALL DIE.

Rev 2:11 KJV 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.

Their problem was facing DEATH.

If they were like Jesus, one who died and lives forevermore, something noted from His vision in chapter 1, THEY WOULD EASILY OVERCOME!
The truth is THE MESSAGE TO HEAR IF YOU HAVE EARS is that IF JESUS HAS THAT QUALITY, SO DO YOU!
You identified yourself in HIM.

That is why A REVELATION OF JESUS is what this book is all about!

You need to SEE HIM -- get a revelation of HIM -- because EVERYTHING HE HAS IS YOURS.

Therefore, see everything He has so you know WHAT YOU HAVE TO OVERCOME!

He is loaded with everything you will ever need.

NEXT CHURCH:

Rev 2:12 KJV And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

Rev 2:14-15 KJV But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. (15) So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

Their problem was FALSE DOCTRINE.

If they only had the GOOD GRASP OF THE WORD OF GOD which is sharper than any twoedged sword, and were able to SPEAK SUCH A WORD when false doctrine was present, LIKE JESUS HAS A SHARP SWORD WITH TWO EDGES COMING OUT OF HIS MOUTH -- THEY WOULD easily overcome!
THE TRUTH IS THEY DO!

And every instance shows Him saying IF YOU HAVE EARS TO HEAR, HEAR IT!

OVERCOMING was the goal of each and every church.

How do we overcome again?

Rev 12:11 KJV 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.

HIS BLOOD but OUR TESTIMONY because we IDENTIFIED WITH HIS DEATH.

THIS IS THE FAITH we overcome with.