Lesson 6: We Must Be Overcomers!

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches ...
Are our ears open? God wants them open so we can hear from Him clearly. To hear His words of love and strength, rebuke and praise, instruction and direction.
When we are filled with the knowledge of what God is doing in this age, and His will for our lives; we are empowered to walk worthy (to be overcomers), to fully please Him and to be fruitful in every good work.

What keeps our ears closed? Sin, which causes our necks to be stiff and our hearts to be hard. When we neglect to thoroughly confront sin in our heart we are not loved less by God, but we do suffer loss in several ways. We minimize our ability to experience the joy of our salvation, the spirit of revelation, God's power, fellowship with God and others, and receiving eternal rewards.

God gives to our heart on the basis of how much we hunger for relationship with Him, not on how much He loves us. (He loves us all equally.) We must know that God honors the value we put on our relationship with Him by giving us more according to our spiritual hunger.

People with greater power in ministry are not loved more by God, but He will entrust more to us as we mature because it will not damage us or others. When Jesus releases more of His presence and power in our lives, a greater degree of obedience is called for. You cannot have one without the other.

Four things increase as we experience more of the Holy Spirit's power: God's zeal, Satan's rage, man's demands, and our emotional capacities. Our spiritual maturity provides added protection from the counterattack of Satan on those operating in the anointing.

1. Read over 2 Peter 1:4-15. As we become partakers in God's divine plan and nature, what must we do?

In Bob Sorge's book, Power of the Blood, he outlines our transformation in Christ.
First, we are sprinkled with Jesus' blood and we are reckoned as righteous. This is our legal status before God. We are now able to have fellowship with God.

Then as we intentionally draw near to God and stay close to His heart, we take on more and more of His character and we become holy. This gives us a place in God's heart. It is here in God's presence that we will burn with fiery affection for Him.

Then as our behavior becomes changed, we are sanctified and transformed. We shine with Christ's radiance.

How can we impact others to help them stand firm in these times and overcome the accusations of the enemy that bring defeat to Christians today? We live in a fallen world with a very active devil. His accusations come and cause us to give up and to give into sin. God wants us to be overcomers!

2. Read Revelation 12:10-12. What are the three things mentioned that help us to overcome the enemy?

We must know and obey the Lord!

The blood of the Lamb is the work of the cross, which gives us perfect acceptance by Jesus. As believers, the enemy has NO legal right to torment us and accuse us.

We must set our hearts to obey Jesus' will regardless of what it costs. We must love and obey Him 100% with a spirit of abandonment to Him!

We must be very aware of our testimony to others; the words we speak and our actions. As we overcome, we can encourage others who are struggling like we did.

When we do these things, we enforce Jesus' victory in our lives and in others by our confession that refuses Satan's lies.

THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB

3. What does the blood of the Lamb do for us, Jesus' sacrifice on the cross? Read
Revelation 1:5; Hebrews 9:22; Romans 5:9; Hebrews 13:12; I Peter 1:18-19.

Lesson 5: We Must Be Overcomers!

In the book of Revelation, Jesus gives us a clear picture of who He is. In the shakening that is coming to the church and to the world, Jesus wants us to be rooted and grounded in who He is, so we will not be moved! We will be able to press through and overcome.

1. Read Psalm 1:1-3 and Jeremiah 17:7-8 and write down what they tell you about being rooted in Him.

2. Jesus is revealed in great detail in the first book of Revelation. Read this chapter and write down all the descriptions of Jesus.

3. Finish filling out your chart today by adding the descriptions of Jesus beside each church.

4. What 5 characteristics of Jesus touches your heart the most, and why?

Lesson 4: What Is An Overcomer ?

What is an overcomer? An overcomer is one who matures in specific areas that Jesus emphasizes in their life. Overcoming does not mean attaining perfection in our character, but rather constantly reaching for victory with all of our strength.



Have you seen yourself in these seven churches? Do you see where you need to persevere in doing good and what you need to change so you can be one who overcomes?



For those like the church at Ephesus, overcoming means to return to your first love for Jesus, until the end of your life! We are to exhibit Christian love to God and to others. We are to intimately know the love of God and to be a faithful witness of God's love. We must not be so busy that we miss out on intimacy with God.



If you see yourself in church of Smyrna, overcoming means to be faithful in persecution, even to death. Know that the suffering in your life has great purpose; it is a testing of your faith to bring you to maturity in Christ.



Overcoming for those like the church of Pergamum means to resist immorality and idolatry for the rest of our lives. We must guard the Word of God. We must know the Word of God and live by it.



Those like Thyatira must overcome by resisting immorality and idolatry for the rest of our lives. We must be a light to the world, and not blend in to the darkness. We must expose the deeds of darkness.

If you see yourself in the church of Sardis, overcoming means to be watchful and develop a strong prayer life; and to hold fast the things that God has entrusted us. We must be careful
to keep ourselves separate from the world.

Those like the church of Philadelphia might think they are overcomers already. But in order to overcome, we must persevere in mature obedience for the rest of our lives. We must take on the character of God, and hold fast to God's faithfulness. Philadelphia was known for its healing waters, so you too must be living water to those around you.

The church in America is so like the church in Laodicea. They must overcome their lukewarmness. They must see that God has what they need, and that He has the true riches we seek. Laodicea was known for their eye salve, even though they were blind to the truth. May we overcome and see the truth clearly. Repent. Know that those God reproves He loves! If you repent and become overcomers, you will be clothed in purity and righteousness.

1. We will fill in the third column in our charts today. Write down what is promised to those who overcome.

2. For the church at Ephesus, what does the tree of life in the Paradise of God signify?
Read the following verses and record your observations.

• Genesis 3:22
• Proverbs 3:18
• Proverbs 13:12
• Revelation 22:2

3. For the church at Smyrna, read James 1 :12 and write down who gets the crown of life.

4. The church at Pergamum had great mixture of false teachings and truth. If they overcame, they were promised hidden manna, the revealed truth of the Word of God. Read Psalm 19:7-8, 11 and write down the benefits of knowing the Word of God.

The church of Pergamum was also promised a white stone with their new name written on it. A white stone was given to those as an invitation to a special feast.

5. Overcomers in the church of Thyatira wre promised to rule the nations with justice, and given the bright morning star. Read Revelation 2:16 and write down who is the bright morning star.

6. The church of Sardis was promised to be clothed in white garments. What is the benefit of having white garments in Revelation 3:4?

7. What is the meaning of not having your name erased from the book of life?

8. The church of Philadelphia was known for its love and faithfulness to God, and they were promised to be pillars in God's temple. What do you think the significance of that is?

9. The church of Laodicea was promised to sit down with Jesus on His throne, as He also Overcame and sat down with His Father on His throne. Read Matthew 19:28-29 and record what this promise means.

We are to overcome worldly unbelief and unfaithfulness.

• We overcome unbelief when we are born again.
• We overcome unfaithfulness after we continue in obedience until the end of our life!

Week 3 We Are Overcomers

Lesson 3: We Are Overcomers

1. Read over Revelation 2:1-3:22 again. The more we read a passage the more the Holy Spirit

reveals to us.

2. Write down on the chart from last week or on a separate sheet of paper, all of the things Jesus has against the seven churches, the rebukes He gives them for compromising.

Our enemies seek to overcome us, to have victory over us, to defeat us.

Psalm 13:4 and my enemy will say, " I have overcome him, and my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. "

Who Are Our Enemies?

3. Read the following verses and write down 3 of our enemies:

• James 4:1-3
• James 4:4
• I Peter 5:8

Deuteronomy 7:1-2 lists we call the "Ite Brothers"

"When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.

The land here refers to our hearts. We have many things in our hearts that keep us defeated. The meanings of these words show us who these enemies are:

Hittites-fear

Girgashites- rejection

Amorites- worthlessness

Canaanites-shame

Perizzites- insecurity

Hivites - defilement

Jebusites- hopelessness

Each of the seven churches had to battle the enemies that seek to destroy us and keep us from God's perfect plan for our lives.

Ephesus battled with their flesh in not surrendering totally to the Lord.

Smyrna battled with Satan.

Pergamum battled with the world and Satan.

Thyatira battled with the world.

Sardis battled with their "ITE Brothers".

Philadelphia battled with Satan.

Laodicea battled with their flesh and the world.

2 Peter 2:19b for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.

4. Which enemies do you have the most battles with in your life today?

Deuteronomy 7:1-2 tells us about these enemies in our hearts, but the great news is, God will overcome those who come against us.

5. Read Jeremiah 1:19 and record your thoughts

6. Write out and memorize John 16:33. This verse will keep you when the enemies come at you! This is a promise you can stand on!

I will leave you today with another promise:

I John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

Week 2: We Must Be Overcomers

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes…

In chapters 2 & 3 of Revelation, we find messages given to seven churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). These messages are full of instructions in how to partner with Jesus in his worldwide preparation of the church for His 2^nd coming. Jesus is showing us the kind of church that He is building and what His agenda is. We have built our own churches our way for too long, now is the time to do it God’s way!

This preparation will take a spiritual maturity, faith, and level of obedience the church today does not walk in. These messages define the truths and focus necessary to equip the church to walk in Love for Jesus. Each church was challenged politically, economically and spiritually, just as we are. Jesus stressed faithfulness as a very important value to Him. Our love is expressed as we obey, heed His warnings, and believe His promises, especially His eternal rewards to overcomers.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. In these end times, there is a deeper truth that we must pursue and it will take the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit to understand it. It will also take a focused determination to comprehend the truths being referred to.

In each of the messages to the seven churches, we find:

exhortation: what they must do or continue to do

rebukes for compromise: what they must not do. God is sending His refining fire to purge these things out of our lives.

promises to the overcomers: eternal rewards. These are incentives for diligent faithfulness, to helpbelievers be equipped to stand firm in the pressure to come!

· Jesus knew what we would need to be sufficiently motivated during the release of the glory and crisis in His end time plan. They equip us to persevere by being anchored in eternity with confidence. When suffering is seen in God’s light, it loses its power to intimidate.

· Heavenly rewards are given to believers according to their works, or according to their response of gratitude to Jesus for giving us so great a salvation.

·Most of these rewards will be received by all believers in an introductory way, but

some will receive a greater measure of these blessings. Only overcomers receive the

fullest measure of these rewards. Our obedience is deeply connected to our rewards.

· descriptions of Jesus’ majesty

Even though these messages were to specific churches 2000 years ago, they still apply to the church today, to all believers who are awaiting Christ’s return. In these messages we are praised for the things we are doing right, rebuked for our compromises, encouraged in the things we should be doing, and promised rewards for overcoming.

As you study these churches I want you to ask the Holy Spirit to answer these questions:

· Where am I? Which church resembles my life?

· Which church most resembles the church I attend?

1. Please read Revelation 2:1 – 3: 22, noting the repeated phrases.

I know your ... He is encouraging them to continue in these things. I have a few things against you… He is sending forth fire to purify their hearts. To him who overcomes, I will give… He is giving promises to give us hope. The One who ... He is giving us a description of Jesus to strengthen us for our tasks.

2. Write down all the exhortations for each of the seven churches.