Brother Rick Sunday School 2/16/14

Brother Rick Sunday School 2/16/14

Overcoming difficulties

Rev 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.

We want to have overcoming as a very important part of our life.

Streams in the Desert Feb 13:  Joshua 17:18 the hill country shall be thine.

There is always room higher up.  If we are going through difficulties, we don’t want to go further down but higher up.  The land is full of Canaanites, get up into the hills and occupy the spaces higher up.  It will take faith to overcome.  We can choose to have faith.  Are you straightened in the valleys?  Get away into the hills and get honey from the rock.

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

We cannot allow anything to separate us from Christ. 

Are you going to leave God when you need Him the most?  When it is the hardest to pray and seek after God it is then we need Him the most. 

There has been persecution from day one and it will continue, but we cannot let it separate us from the Love of Christ. 

I have never seen it quite as unsettled in this country as it is in this day.  We must stay with God and know whatever the future brings He will take care of us.

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Hear that?  We can be more than conquerors through Him that loves us.  Gideon won great battles with a few.  God was the one that helped him.

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These are encouraging scriptures.  No person, no distress, no difficult place can sever our relationship with God if we don’t let it.  “Hold on a little longer, Help is on the way…”  It is.  Keep that faith.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Aren’t you glad that you are born again so that you can overcome the world?  Just going to church or being religious will not do it.  People have lost what they seemingly had in Babylon because they were not born again. 

Sister Teri: They don’t know what the world is that they are supposed to be overcoming.  What is the world to them? 

There is a lot to the word, “Holiness.”  If we are born again then we are going to live a holy life and we don’t need to be ashamed of it.  We can be glad to be a child of God.

Don’t you believe that Jesus is the son of God?  If you believe that then you will do what He wants you to do.

There is so much in so little in the book of Revelations.  I have read the book, ‘Revelations Explained’.  I want to study it.  The saints went through so much difficulties, persecutions, and trials in times gone by.  Many of the enemies, tricks and tactics are revealed to us in the book of Revelations.  You could study it for a lifetime and you still wouldn’t know it all in the Book of Revelations.

Much of the persecution of the saints has been through false religion;  It is always trying to take away from truth.

Rev 15:2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

Rev 15:3  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

The beast is ‘developed religious and political power of Catholicism’.  They had the victory over the beast.  We can have power over anything that is built by man. The pope claims to be the Vicar of Christ on earth, that he takes the place of Christ on earth. 

We don’t have to give into the beast but we can know truth and can be victorious even if we suffer here on earth.  I was a part of the beast when I was young, but thank God that I can have the victory over her. 

The image is an ‘ecclesiastical association filled with God dishonoring sects’.  If an organization doesn’t live up to what God requires then it is dishonoring God.

The mark of the beast is ‘a false spirit which animated the beast with its delusive doctrine and error’.  We don’t want to have his mark and be ashamed of the truth but stand up for what is right. 

I am glad that I can have the harp of God.  Lord, help me to not get down in the dumps but to glorify God.

Aren’t you glad that we are not bowing down to the son of man but can stand for the church of God. 

Anyone that has that takes the place of Christ, whatever the church may be, has that spirit.  The image or Protestantism is an image and set up in the same order as the Catholic Church. 

Martin Luther had no intention of starting a church after His name.  He stated that he wanted no church named after his name.  But look what happened, Lutheranism.  We want to have the courage to stand up for what is right.

The image is also called the false prophet.  That false prophet is mean and has no intentions of getting you to heaven.  Thank God that we don’t have to be a part of that. 

We need to be aware of all the tricks that would cause us to let up on the standard of God.  ‘It’s not necessary that you be so modest’ or ‘it’s ok to use a little slang.  You can allow a little sin in your life.’  That is a false bird. 

We also have to deal with the dragon which is paganism.  He was the strongest power in the beginning of the church that tried to take her down.

Rev 16:13  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.

Rev 16:14  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.

We see what is coming out of all these enemies are unclean spirits.  We must by the help and grace of God know what an unclean spirit is and what is coming from the grace of God.  It is not hard if we really want to know what is right.  But we don’t want to let any unclean spirit take us to hell.  Many of these unclean spirits are in religious garb.  They may work miracles and that is a part of the deception.

Thank God that we have the Spirit of God to help us discern the wrong.  We must live close to God because if we start to get a little lukewarm, the unclean spirits can start working and we can be deceived. 

It is serious business serving God.  We are not just going to coast into heaven.  Whatever God calls upon us to do he will give us the grace to do it.  I have problems getting up in front of people and speaking.  Thank God for his grace to do it.

Luk 24:25  Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

Luk 24:26  Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

If it was so of Christ that he must go through suffering, shouldn’t we be willing to go through a little suffering in our life?  We will have to be willing to overcome if we are going to make it.

Sometimes it seems that life is too overwhelming and we are not going to make it, God is able to take charge and deal with everything in our life.  Once we get it over on God it turns from trial to victory in a moment.  We can have the victory and feel good to have God in our life.