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Jesus gave us the Power to overcome…                (Introduction)

Last session was about our call to proper humility. Today we move on to see how we are given real power to cope with life’s struggles, and be victorious, by following Jesus.

(For a discussion about power, we first need to be clear on what is the power we desire.)

*I want you to think about what power you would ask God to give you?*

— Perhaps we would ask for the power to lay hands on the sick so they would be healed…

— Or the power to be able to tell what was going to happen in the coming years…

— Maybe we would want to be able to pray for the Holy Spirit to fall on our churches, so we would see people filled with God’s Spirit and moving in all His gifts of power, and to be a witness to the grace, mercy, and power of God.

— Or perhaps we would ask God’s power to speak an anointed message, or lead in powerful worship, so that sinners would be called to repentance…

**God is able to give all these powers, and many more, to His faithful followers…
Why? …Because Jesus died for us, then rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit to come and dwell in each and every believer.

— To gain these giftings, we need to understand that God’s power is be able to work in us and through us by His Holy Spirit, and this power is meant to be used to minister to others, because God loves all the lost and hurting… And in proper humility we must give ALL THE GLORY only to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

***HOWEVER, there is a primary power given by God, which Jesus noted as He taught His disciples in Matthew 19:24-26, “I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”  (25)  When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”  (26)  But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

— The Apostle Paul also made note of this primary reason Jesus died for us, in Romans 6:6-7 “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (7) For one who has died has been set free from sin.”

**** In this Bible study we look at that first power given to any believer, the power to be set free from slavery to our sinful nature…

— Indeed, we cannot be used in any God glorifying and lasting ministry, unless we are first delivered from our sin…

***

 Jesus gave us Power to overcome…               (Pg. 1)

Q1. Is there a difference between the powers Jesus offers, and the powers the world promotes?      ☐ Yes…      ☐ No…     (We will discuss your answers to this question, first.)

 

Q2. Is being set free from this worldly hunger for power a victory?      ☐ Yes…      ☐ No…   

— We read in Romans 6:3-4 (ESV) Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (4) We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

— These verses are speaking mainly to those who have been baptized…

Q3. Have you chosen to be baptized in water in your church?    ☐ Yes…      ☐ No…

Q4. What is the significance of being placed under water, in a baptism ceremony, and then brought back up to the surface again?     (Do the words, “newness of life” apply?)

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(We use the ceremony of water-baptism to testify to the world that we have chosen to die to our old life of fleshly thinking, and to be raised to a new life in Jesus.)

— This is because we have come to the personal knowledge of what the Apostle Paul wrote of in Romans 6:6-7 (ESV) We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (7) For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Q5. What kind of death is Paul talking about here?

— Part of our life-testimony is that in dying to our sinful nature (The flesh), we have been given a new-found understanding of freedom Paul writes about.

(We need to understand that this is a process of being set free, it is one of picking up your cross daily, and following Jesus.)

 

Q6. Did you come to Christ seeking a release from the struggles and troubles in your life?    

 ☐ Yes…     ☐  No…

Q7. Did you find a sense of peace and victory within yourself that wasn’t there before?

 ☐ Yes…     ☐  No…

Q8. Would you care to share about that victory with us today?

***

Jesus gave us Power to overcome…                        (Pg. 2)

This ‘mind of the flesh’ will still want to come back to haunt us, because until we are taken up to live with Jesus, we remain in our mortal bodies, and will be tested from time to time about our determination to follow Jesus.

*(This is a personal question, that only you and the Lord need know your response to.)
Q9. Does it frustrate you that you still get tempted to sin?      ☐ Yes…     ☐  No…

— Now we will examine why the Lord allows us to be tempted by our sinful nature…

Q10. Is there truly any victory without some sort of struggle?      ☐ Yes…     ☐  No…

Q11. Does winning a victory over a struggle make you stronger?       ☐ Yes…     ☐  No…  

Proof of this from scripture: (English Standard Version used)

James 1:2-4… Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, (3) for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. (4) And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Q12. Find 4 strengths promised here to Christians to help them stand up for the truth in Christ? 1/_____________; 2/______________; 3/_____________; 4/_____________________

2nd Corinthians 12:9… So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. (8) Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. (9) But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Q13. What was the problem the Lord settled for Paul by causing him to live with this ‘thorn’? _____________________________________________________________________________

A closing blessing from Peter… (1st Peter 1:3-9) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (4) to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, (5) who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (6) In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, (7) so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

— Q14. We’ll close with a question to think about: In humbly trusting God’s superior will, are we going to allow His power and strength to carry us through the fires of our testings?