This is the fourth and final
session of our series of talks on the theme of
"The Enemies We Face"; “We,” of course, being God’s
people, the Church of Jesus Christ. In the previous two talks I have
dealt with what I believe to be the two main enemies that
confront the Church today. The first is
witchcraft, the second is the spirit
or the power of antichrist. Witchcraft I defined as really the
universal religion of fallen humanity— the means by which men through all
the ages have sought to make contact with Satan’s rebellious kingdom
of angels in the heavenlies, worshiping them in some
way or other as gods. Antichrist is a different
kind of spiritual power that only has
relevance where the Gospel of Jesus
has first been proclaimed. I pointed out that the word
“anti” has two meanings: first of all, “against”;
secondly, “in place of.” And the pressure of the
spirit of antichrist is against Jesus,
the true Messiah, to eliminate Him. But then the second move is to
replace Him by a false Messiah. And I suggested
to you that spiritual force is very actively
at work in the church today. I also tried to give you
just a little picture of what I believe the final manifestation
of the spirit of antichrist, the antichrist,
the beast, will be like. Now I want to move on from
the negative to the positive. This final talk I want to deal
with The Church’s Victory. I have tried to briefly define
the main enemies we face with the purpose of
showing how we can obey God and overcome those enemies by
the means that He has provided. The first thing I think we
need to understand is this: All the promises
that close the Bible, all the promises in
the book of Revelation, the final revelation
of Jesus to His church, all the positive promises are
only for those who overcome. There are no promises
for the defeated. Paul said, “Do not be overcome by
evil but overcome evil by good.” I believe we have only two
options, in the last resort: we either overcome
or we are overcome. There is no
third ground. And there are no positive
promises of God whatsoever for those who allow
themselves to be overcome. In chapters 2 and 3 of
the book of Revelation we have a word that Jesus
sent to each of seven churches. And every final promise to
each of those seven churches is to the one
who overcomes. There are no promises to the
ones who do not overcome. We need to face
this very seriously. God has made it possible
for us to overcome. He expects us
to overcome. That is really summed
up in one verse near the end of Revelation
in chapter 21 and verse 7: He who overcomes
shall inherit all things; and I will be his God,
and he shall be my son. So the overcomer
gets everything. And the one who does not
overcome gets nothing. It is either... It is total,
one way or the other. I think one of the
great deceptions that the devil foists upon
the Christian Church is to somehow convince us that
there is some middle ground. I’m not really
an overcomer, but I don’t want to accept
the fact that I am overcome. I don’t think
the New Testament indicates there is any
such middle ground. So we are talking
now about overcomers. Every now and then some new
group emerges within the church who claim to be
the overcomers. In the course of my
Christian experience, which has lasted
nearly 50 years, I could name two or
three different groups. I want to tell
you this: If you ever
encounter a group who tells you that “If you want to
be right you’ve got to join us,” you can be sure
of one thing: if you join them,
you are wrong. No one has a monopoly
on overcoming. It’s not a label,
it’s not a doctrine, it’s a life. Alright, now we are
speaking to overcomers, to those who are convinced by
faith in Scripture and in Jesus that it is possible
to overcome. The first thing we need to understand
in dealing with these satanic forces is very important
and very basic. It is that Jesus through
His death and resurrection has already
administered to Satan a total, permanent, final,
irreversible defeat. Okay? If you don’t understand that,
you do not have any basis for victory. Let me say those
words again: a total permanent, final,
irrevocable defeat. There is nothing that Satan can
do that can ever change that fact. When Jesus died,
He said, “It is finished.” And it is finished. Nothing needs ever to
be added to what He did and nothing can ever be
taken away from what He did. This is stated in one
place very clearly. In Colossians, chapter
2, verses 13-15. These are complicated
statements. And I could spend the
rest of this session trying to explain what they mean
but I don’t intend to do that. I just want to pinpoint
certain statements. Colossians 2
beginning at verse 13: And you,
being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, He [God the Father] has made alive together with
Him [Jesus Christ, the Son] having forgiven
you all trespasses, having wiped out the
handwriting of requirements that was against us,
which was contrary to us and He has taken it out of the
way having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed
principalities and powers, He made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over
them in it. Let’s start with
the closing verse. The principalities
and powers referred to there are the same as
we saw earlier in Ephesians 6:12. Our wrestling match is against
principalities and powers, the various levels and
orders of Satan’s kingdom. That is what we are
fighting against. But we need
to understand that Jesus has
already ministered a total
public defeat. The word used there is
“He has triumphed.” You need to understand
what a triumph is. It is part of the
culture of the Roman Empire. When a Roman general was
particularly successful in war, when he returned to Rome,
the senate of Rome voted him a triumph. And in this triumph he
was placed in a chariot, drawn by a
white horse, and he was led through
the streets of Rome. And all the people of Rome
lined the streets applauding him. And behind him were all the
evidences of his victories. The rulers and the commanders
that he had defeated were led in
chains behind him. Then great numbers of
prisoners were led behind him. And in some cases even wild animals
from the conquered territories. Animals maybe that Roman
people had not seen. So this is
a triumph. It is not winning
the victory, it is the celebration of the
victory that has already been won. And Paul
in this language is saying, that by His death and resurrection Jesus was placed in
the triumphal chariot. And led through
the unseen world. And behind Him were all the
forces of Satan led in chains. That’s the totality
of the victory. Now, to obtain this victory,
Jesus did two things for us. I can only touch
on them briefly. The first relates
to the past. We need to bear in mind that Satan’s
great weapon against us is guilt. As long as he can keep us guilty,
we are no match for him. But in this victory Jesus dealt
with the problem of guilt. First,
in regard to the past, He made it possible for us to be
forgiven all our previous sins. It says, “Having forgiven
you all trespasses.” That little word “all”
is very important. We have to believe that every sin we
have ever committed, has been forgiven. If we have even
one unforgiven sin, it is a lever that Satan
can use against us, to frustrate us and to
make us ineffective. The other thing is more complicated
but let me just say it briefly: Jesus has abolished
the law of Moses as the means to achieve
righteousness with God. He has not abolished it as
part of the Word of God, or as part of the
history of Israel; He has not abolished
it as all the lessons that come to us from
the law of Moses; but He has abolished
the law of Moses as the requirement for achieving
righteousness with God. As long as the law
was the requirement, every time we wanted
to claim righteousness Satan could stand there and
point to some commandment, some ordinance that
we had not obeyed and say, “There you are,
you have no right to approach.” But when Jesus
died on the cross He put an end to the
law in that aspect. And the Scripture says it very vividly,
“He nailed it to the cross.” So when we go beyond the cross, we are not under the law. Now our righteousness does not
depend on keeping commandments, it depends
on faith. We are justified,
made righteous, by faith. This is always
so vivid to me in regard to the dealings
of Jesus with Peter. At the Last Supper Jesus told Peter,
“You will deny me three times before the
night is out.” Off course Peter said he wouldn't,
but you know he did. Then Jesus said,
“But I have prayed for you [not that you will not deny
Me, but, what?] that your faith
will not fail.” If you can keep believing,
your faith will take you through. So never get moved
away from your faith. Let no failure,
let no accusation, nothing ever move
you from your faith that Jesus died in your
place. Bore your sins. Was made sin for you.
And has offered you the garment of His
spotless righteousness. You know what
“to be justified” means? This is not part of my message
but it is so important. It is a legal
phrase. You have been tried
by the court of heaven. And the court has
handed down its verdict. And the verdict is
not guilty. Wonderful!
Not guilty! Satan,
you can say what you like. You can point out all my
sins and all my failings and all my inadequacies
and I will agree with you. I even can tell you some
you don’t know about... But the court of heaven
has said not guilty. I am reckoned righteous,
made righteous. Justified.
Do you know what I say? “Just-as-if-I’d”
never sinned. That's it. And when you stand
on that ground, you are more than a
conqueror of Satan. In the conquest that
Jesus has already won. If we start from
any other basis, we will never
achieve victory. The only basis
is the cross. And then having deprived Satan
of his weapons against us, and the one great, sovereign,
supreme weapon is guilt, Jesus has equipped us with the
weapons with which to defeat Satan. That’s the second
part of it. Second Corinthians, chapter 10,
verses 3,4 and 5. Ruth and I make this confession
and I think we will do it together. We have a number
of Scriptures, I think probably 50,
that we proclaim as part of our
spiritual warfare. And this happens
to be one. So you talk close
to the microphone. For though we walk in the flesh,
we war not after the flesh. For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal but mighty through God
to the pulling down of strongholds. Casting down imaginations,
and every high thing which exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ. What a victory
that is, isn’t it? Thank you so much! You see, we have weapons
that are not carnal. So what are they? They are not carnal,
what are they? Spiritual. In other words, we don’t
use bombs, or tanks, or rifles. Because we are not fighting
persons with bodies. They are useless. But we have been given in place of
those physical, material weapons spiritual weapons. That we can use. And this is what we
can use them for: Pulling down
strongholds. Whose strongholds?
Satan’s, that’s right. If you notice the next verse, there
are various alternative translations. You can have arguments,
reasonings, speculations. And then it speaks about
the mind and the thought. So we’ve discovered
the battlefield. Very important to know
what the battlefield is. It is the mind.
How many of you realize that? Most of your problems as a Christian
are in the area of the mind. Don’t let that discourage you.
That’s where the war is. But we have been given
the weapons of victory. And we can pull down Satan’s strongholds
or road blocks or fortresses. You see, Satan builds up fortresses
in the minds of men and women to prevent them being able to
receive the truth of the Gospel. And one of our functions is by the
spiritual weapons God has given us. Prayer, preaching,
praise and so on. To break down those
strongholds and open the way for the Word of God to enter and
to save people and to change them. We dealt, for instance,
with two anti-Christian forces, Judaism and Islam
in our last talk. Each of them has a specific stronghold
that you have to break down. The stronghold in
the Jewish mind is: “If I believe in Jesus,
I’ll no longer be Jewish.” You may not be
aware of that. But that is the strongest
barrier that they have against receiving the
truth about Jesus. The Moslem
stronghold is: “God does not
need a Son. There is not
a Son of God.” And if you are going to reach
either Jews or Muslims effectively, you are going to have to
use these spiritual weapons. To break down
those strongholds before you can really
make an impact on them. So we have the
weapons for victory. Notice the ultimate aim
is to bring every thought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ. It is a staggering
assignment. First of all, we have to release
people’s minds from the false captivity of Satan. And then we have to bring their minds
into captivity to obedience to Jesus. That’s wonderful,
isn’t it? But we have been given
the weapons to do it. Now my talk tonight is
not on those weapons. I have given many talks
on that theme in the past. But I want to deal just with
certain general basic requirements if the church is
to be victorious. I’m going to deal
with them briefly. I have actually listed seven; you could probably make it
eight or you could make it six, but in my making of outlines,
if I get to the number seven I usually stop. Alright.
Let’s turn to Matthew 12:25. Here is a statement by Jesus
which is extremely important. And I think I’m afraid the
church has often ignored it. Matthew 12:25.
Jesus said: Every kingdom divided against
itself is brought to desolation and every city or house divided
against itself will not stand. We’ve spoken about
the kingdom of God. But if the kingdom of God is divided
against itself it cannot win. So Satan’s primary attack on
the church is to divide us. Has he been
successful? I’m sorry to say,
he has been extremely successful. One thing we have to do
is to resist division. That does not mean that we
automatically associate ourselves with everyone or everything
that is called Christian. But it means that
wherever there are people who are true believers in Jesus
according to the Scripture and committed to love
Him and serve Him, we have to acknowledge them
as our brothers and sisters. And we do not let unnecessary
barriers come between them and us. Ruth and I in our ministry we
work with I don’t know how many different ministries and
persons around the world. And basically I can
say we don’t have any problems in our
relationships with them. I think the
primary reason is because they and we are
committed to something positive. And we are committed
to Matthew 24:14: “This Gospel of the kingdom shall
be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all the nations
and then the end will come.” We believe this is our responsibility
to prepare the way for the Lord by proclaiming the Gospel of
the Kingdom to all nations. And wherever we
meet with people who have that primary
aim based on Scripture, we may never have
met them before, but in 10 minutes we feel like
we have known them all our lives. So let’s not focus
on the negative. Let’s focus on
the positive. You’ll find where people
are truly committed to prayer and intercession
or to evangelism, the barriers melt. Where people are all tied up with
church structure and programs there usually
are problems. So the first thing we have to
do is guard against division. It is not easy. We certainly don’t
have all the answers. But when we give it due priority I think
we will be nearer to achieving it. Then the second
thing we have to do, and this is
tremendously important, is to know and proclaim
the whole of God’s Word. Now I want to turn to
2 Timothy, chapter 3. This has become a very significant
chapter for me recently, because I think it is a
picture of the last days. If you begin at the first
verse of 2 Timothy, chapter 3, it says:
But know this that in the last days
perilous times will come. And the whole of this third
chapter deals with things that are particularly
relevant to the last days. The first thing it does is to
paint a picture of the general degeneration of human
character and conduct as the age come
to its close. And Paul picks out eighteen
major moral or ethical blemishes which will characterize humanity
at the close of this age. And really the root of
them all is selfishness. Love of self, love of
money and love of pleasure. I don’t know three words
that better describe our contemporary
civilization than that: love of self, love of
money and love of pleasure. All the others are
within that context. The great enemy
is selfishness. We need to bear that in
mind, because the fact that we don’t indulge in drugs
and alcohol or immorality does not necessarily
separate us from the world. The only thing that really
separates us is unselfishness. And I think a lot of moral,
good living churchgoers are basically extremely
selfish people. It’s number
one first. And we need to understand that isn’t the distinctive mark
of the church in these days. The distinctive mark
is unselfishness. By commitment to
God and to humanity, to serve and
be servants. Then Paul goes on from there
and he points out various other features at the close of the age,
some we will return to perhaps later. He very clearly depicts a
tremendous upsurge of the occult, which again is very
conspicuous in our time, and then he comes to what
I believe is God’s answer at the end of
chapter 3. Beginning in
verse 16: All Scripture is given
by inspiration of God. How much of
Scripture? All. Are you sure? There’s a lot of people not
sure about that any longer. There is a lot of
preachers that believe it is their job to
straighten God out. Edit the Bible, find out
where it needs to be changed. That is not
my attitude. I want to say,
I believe: All Scripture is given
by inspiration of God and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness. So that the man of
God may be complete, thoroughly equipped
for every good work. I understand that to mean that for God’s
people to be thoroughly equipped, the whole truth of the Bible
has to be presented to them, not just little
passages. You have to know what
is in the book of Ezra. You have to know the
teaching of Amos. You have to understand
the epistle to Philemon. Because they are all necessary
for you to be thoroughly equipped. You may have to take much less
time in front of the television if you are going to be
thoroughly equipped. Because it is a
pretty full-time job being thoroughly equipped
for Christian service. Now bear in mind the chapter
divisions were not there from Paul. So Paul goes on in the next
chapter, the first verse. I charge you therefore... What is the
“therefore” for? You've heard
me say this: When you find a “therefore,”
you want to find out what it is there for. That's right. Because of what he had said
in the end of chapter 3. Then he comes to this
tremendously solemn charge. Look at the words: I charge you therefore before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead
at his appearing and His kingdom. You could not have a more
solemn charge than that. As it were in the presence of
God and the light of the fact that we will all have
to answer to Jesus at His judgment
seat when He comes. So what’s the message?
Verse 2: Preach the word. Let’s say that
together, shall we? Preach the word. I put "the" in,
let's do it my way this time. Preach the word.
Alright. Be ready in season
and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with
all longsuffering and teaching. Let me ask you a frank question,
you don’t have to answer. How many of you go to
church on Sunday morning expecting to be convinced,
rebuked, and exhorted? Some of you would not go
back to that church again if they treated
you like that. But if the minister is doing his
job that’s what will happen to you. Now how true this is of
the time in which we live! For the time will come I believe the time has come. when they will not
endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires
because they have itching ears. They will heap up for
themselves teachers and they will turn their
ears away from the truth and be turned
aside to fables. I think this is conspicuous
in the Western church. There are many,
many Christians who have to have a new
doctrine and a new revelation. Something new to tickle
them and excite them. But that is not our job. Our job is to
preach the Word. And so Paul concludes
this section: But you, [that’s Timothy]
be watchful in all things, endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist,
fulfill your ministry. I don’t believe there has ever been
a time when it is more important to hold fast to the absolute
truth and authority of Scripture. It is being attacked and
undermined in many quarters which we would
not anticipate. Movements and
churches and groups, that we would consider
to be sound in the faith, have moved from that foundation
in these last few decades. Let me quote the words
of Paul in Acts 20:27. I have not shunned to declare
to you the whole counsel of God. I’m impressed by those words
“I have not shunned”. Because it would indicate
there is a lot of pressures that would cause you not to
declare the whole counsel of God. Is that true? Social pressures, financial pressures,
denominational pressures. If you want
to be popular, it might easily be
the quickest way not to declare the
whole counsel of God. But remember that we are
answerable ultimately to God. Paul said: I’m pure from
the blood of all men. I think he was thinking in
terms of God’s word to Ezekiel: I make you a watchman
to your people. If trouble is coming and you
warn them and they don’t listen, they will perish but you
have saved your soul. But if trouble is coming
and you don’t warn them, and they perish, their blood
will be upon your hands. And I think Paul said for that reason,
“I’m pure from the blood of all men. No one’s blood can
be laid at my door. Because I have not shunned to declare
to you all the counsel of God.” The third requirement,
I think, is very important and it is stated in
1 Peter chapter 5, verses 5 and 6. 1 Peter 5:5-6 Likewise, you younger people,
submit yourselves to your elders. Now, being over 70, of course I
can say a hearty AMEN to that. But it does
not end there. Yes, all of you,
over 70 or over 50 or under 20. All of you, be submissive to one
another and be clothed with humility. There has been a lot of talk in the
church recently about submission. And I believe submission
has a Scriptural basis. I point out to most people, what really
matters is not submission but submissiveness. You can be submissive even
when you don’t submit. It is the attitude rather
than the code of conduct. Peter says, “All of you
be clothed with humility.” That’s a metaphor that does
not come out in the English. The word he uses means
“put on an apron of humility.” And the word is used for an apron
that was worn only by slaves. So when you had this apron on,
everybody knew you were a slave. So he says, put on an apron,
an attitude of humility. Which shows you are
the slave of everybody. ...because God resists the proud
but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt
you in due time. I always point
out to people, humility is not something
God can do for us. God never says,
“I will make you humble,” But always says,
“make yourself humble.” It is a decision;
we have to make it. And then, I won't turn there,
but if you are interested, there is a remarkable example in
Ezra, chapter 8, verses 21 to 23, of one specific way
of humbling ourselves. Ezra and a party of exiles
returning from Babylon to Jerusalem were confronted with a
very dangerous journey that took them,
I think, four months. They had with them all the
precious vessels of the temple and their wives
and their children. But Ezra refused a military
escort from the Persian monarch. He said,
“We are going to trust God.” He had to do that
because he testified that God protected
those who serve Him. See, that is one of the
blessings of testifying. When you testify, you have
to live up your testimony. So he did not ask for a band
of soldiers and horsemen. But he said: [We] proclaimed a
fast there at the river Ahava, that we might [afflict
or] humble ourselves before our God,
to seek of Him the right way. And this is
totally scriptural. I don’t have time
to go into it, but one of the appointed ways of
humbling ourselves is by fasting. David said in Psalm 35:13,
“I humbled my soul with fasting.” Why does your soul
need to be humbled? Because it is the arrogant,
self-seeking ego in you. It is the thing that says,
“I want, I think, I feel. I’m important,
look at me.” And that has
to be humbled before God can really
have His way in our life. Whenever I tell this, I always think
of a lawyer in Washington, D.C., some good many
years ago. He heard me
teach on fasting. He is a Christian and he
decided he would do it. He had a
miserable day. Every time he walked past a
restaurant or a delicatessen, his mouth watered and his stomach
groaned and he wanted to go in. But he finished the day
without breaking his fast. Then in the evening he
gave his stomach a lecture and he said,
“Now stomach, you have been very
troublesome today and you made a lot
of trouble for me. I’m going to punish you.
I'm going to fast tomorrow as well.” That’s how we have to deal with
the self-asserted part of us. We have to bring it into subjection
to the will and mind of God. I do believe that
those Christians who do not in some scriptural
way learn to practice fasting will not be able to administer
the total victory of God. After all,
Jesus could not do it. He started His ministry
by forty days of fasting. You think that we are
further along than Jesus? He did not say to His
disciples, if you fast, He said,
when you fast. He used exactly the same
language about fasting in his sermon in chapter 6 of
Matthew as He did about prayer. If He expects us to pray,
He expects us to fast. Now you have to sort
that out for yourselves, and also you have to find
out from the Holy Spirit, what way and
how to do it. But I would say,
for Ruth and myself I think we could say,
we would not dare to go ahead in the
ministry that we are in if we did not practice
regular fasting. Because we are challenging basically all the major forces of Satan
in the world today. We are challenging
them head-on. And we need every help
that we can get from God. And one way
is by fasting. I’ve got a little
book somewhere that is entitled
"How to Fast Successfully." I have a week’s radio
teaching on fasting. I don’t want to
take time now. But if you are interested
you can obtain them. Going on. The next thing we must do is
put on the whole armor of God. We need to turn to
Ephesians 6 for a moment. Immediately after
the 12th verse, which speaks about the kingdom
of Satan in the heavenlies, Paul says, (and the next word in my
version is “therefore”) alright, verse 13: Therefore take up the
whole armor of God. And notice,
you have to take it up. It does not
grow on you. God does not
fit it on you. You have to
take it up. Paul was writing to people who were Christians, just as much Christians
as you and I. But he placed on them the
responsibility to take up the armor. And if you look through the armor
(we’ll go through it very quickly), in verse 14: the girdle of truth,
the breastplate of righteousness; verse 15: the shoes of the
preparation of the Gospel; verse 16: the
shield of faith; verse 17: the helmet of salvation,
the sword of the spirit. If you
analyze that, you are completely protected
from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet,
except one area. Which is? The back, that’s right. If you turn your back,
there is no protection. It is important
to remember. But that’s not
the full list. There are six items
there and in the Bible usually when a thing is complete
and it’s good, it’s seven. And the next one is perhaps
as important as any of them, verse 18: “Praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the spirit.” I think it was Charles Wesley who
taught about the weapon of all prayer. And really all
prayer is the weapon by which we can reach
out into the heavenlies. And attack Satan’s
kingdom at its base. The others are mainly
weapons of self-protection. But all prayer is, if you like, it’s our
intercontinental ballistic missile. It can reach any target, anywhere,
if we set the computer right. The next thing
we have to do is realize our need of
God’s supernatural power. And I want to
say supernatural. Christianity is a religion
of the supernatural. I once read through
the book of Acts, examining it to see
what would happen if I removed all reference to
the manifestly supernatural. That’s not just inward
supernatural experiences but things that are visible, that
can be perceived by the senses. The book of Acts
has 28 chapters. And at the end of that I just discovered
not one chapter out of the 28 would be left intact
if we eliminated the supernatural. And that is the only
record we have in Scripture of how the church is
intended to operate. We cannot operate effectively
and accomplish the will of God solely by our own
natural ability. We have to have the supernatural
enabling of the Holy Spirit. And one main form
of that enabling is the supernatural
gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians,
chapter 12. We won’t turn there. But let’s look at just
one statement of Paul which, I think,
is important It really summarizes
what I’m saying. 1 Corinthians chapter 4
and verse 20. 1 Corinthians 4
and verse 20. For the kingdom of God
is not in word, but in power. It’s not a matter
of theology. Theology has
its place. It’s not a matter
of argument. It’s not a matter of
intellectual proof. It’s the demonstration of the
supernatural power of God. I’d like to look at the words of
Paul in 1 Corinthians, chapter 2. Just two
chapters back. The first
five verses. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 And I, brethren,
when I came to you, did not come with excellence
of speech or wisdom declaring you the
testimony of God. For I determined not to
know anything among you, except Jesus Christ,
and Him crucified. You remember what we said
about Galatians, chapter 3? What does witchcraft
obscure in the church? Jesus Christ crucified. Paul said, “That’s all I’m
going to be interested in. Jesus Christ
crucified.” I was preaching just
recently to a congregation. Which contained a large
number of Jews in Jerusalem. And I pointed out to them that really
the thing which is supremely esteemed amongst the Jewish people
generally is knowledge. And here is a Jew who says,
“I determined not to know anything [that’s very unusual] except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Why? Paul said: I was with you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling. He was not an impressive
speaker by any means. My speech and my preaching were not
with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit. Capital S, the Holy Spirit,
that was power. That was
Paul’s secret. Why did the Holy Spirit testify
to his ministry with power? Because he focused on
Jesus Christ crucified. You can bring all sorts of
elegant sermons and theories. And quote all sorts
of doctors and people. But the Holy Spirit
is just bored. But when you begin to
lift up Jesus crucified, He says,
“I will bear testimony to that.” I believe that is the primary
need of the church today. Especially here in this country today
where we are surrounded by Muslims. Did you realize that?
Millions of Muslims. And there is nothing going
to reach the Muslim mind but the demonstration
of the supernatural. And we have an
opportunity. Instead of having to go to them,
they have come to us. We could not go to their
nations and proclaim the Gospel because we would be put
in prison or executed. But God has arranged
for them to come here. What’s the church
doing about it? It is time the
church rose up and said, “We will demonstrate
to them that Jesus is alive.” I say sometimes, “There is
no extra charge for that. It is not in my outline
but it happens to be true.” Let’s turn to 2 Timothy,
chapter 3 again for a moment. I just want to point
out something there. Remember,
this is all about the last days. That’s the whole
theme of this chapter. And he says in verse 8, 2 Timothy 3:8. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses... Jannes and Jambres were
the magicians of Egypt. They resisted
Moses. ...so do these also
resist the truth: men of corrupt minds,
disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further,
for their folly will be manifest to all, as was the folly of
Jannes and Jambres. So what Paul is
saying is the contest that took place between Moses
and the magicians of Egypt in the court of Pharaoh is going to be
re-enacted in these days between the servants of Jesus Christ
and the practitioners of the occult. And it is not going to
be settled by theology. It is a contest of power,
whose power is greater. And bear in mind the magicians
of Egypt had a lot of power. The first three miracles that
Moses did they could repeat. They could turn their
rods into snakes. They could turn
water into blood. They could call up
frogs out of the river. All of that was
supernatural. But when they got beyond
that and Moses went further, they said, “This is the finger of God.
Now we’re out of our depth.” I don’t know what you
ever thought about Moses. I particularly like
Moses and Aaron. They went there
with the rod. And Pharaoh said, “Show me
what you can do, you guys.” So (I think it was Aaron), threw
down the rod and it became a snake. Amazingly enough,
Pharaoh was not much impressed. So he said to his magicians,
“Can you do that?” And they said, “We can.” They threw down their rods
and they became snakes. But there was one thing
that further happened. Moses’ snake ate up the
snakes of the magicians. I don’t know whether you ever thought
about the scene that followed? The magicians walked
out without any rods. And Moses’ rod was much
thicker and stronger. That’s how it is going
to be, you understand? It is going to be:
whose rod wins. People disagree with
me and sometimes I say, “Well listen,
don’t let us argue. Let’s throw down our rods
and see which snake wins.” Really,
that’s where it’s at. It’s not argument. It’s demonstration. That’s what’s
needed. And particularly in
the gifts of the Spirit we need the three
revelatory gifts: The word of wisdom.
The word of knowledge. And the discerning of spirits. The word of knowledge shows
us Satan’s operations. How he is working in
the supernatural realm. The word of wisdom shows us how to
counter his actions and defeat him. And discerning of
spirits shows us when we are face to face with
demonic power and activity. We desperately need those
in the church today. Let’s move on. The next and sixth
point in my outline is: We must apply the power of jubilant
praise and bold proclamation. And there is one Scripture
has become a favorite with me. In Jeremiah,
chapter 31 and verse 7. Jeremiah 31:7 This is concerning the restoration
of Israel in these last days. For thus says the Lord, “Sing with
gladness for Jacob and shout among the
chief of the nations. Proclaim,
give praise and say: ‘O Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’” There are three weapons, or three
activities, spoken of there, which are crucial
for us to understand. They are praise,
proclaim and pray. Praying is this, saying, “O, Lord, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.” Now the Lord has declared He’s going
to save the remnant of Israel. You could say that He could
do it without our praying. But God says in
another place, “I will not do it until
I’m enquired for to do it.” You understand? Praying is our
contribution to the outworking of God’s
purposes in the earth. And God, somebody said,
has chosen to need us. He could have done without us
but He is not going to do it. But praying is not just thinking of
anything we want and asking for it. Praying is discovering God’s
revealed purpose in Scripture. And then praying for the
outworking of that purpose. Summed up really beautifully in
the words of the Virgin Mary. When the angel
brought the promise she said, “Be it unto me
according to thy word.” That’s the most powerful
prayer you can ever pray. Paul said, “God is able to
do exceedingly abundantly above all that we
could ask or think.” How?
By fulfilling His Word. What God has promised
in His Word is far above anything that we in our natural
mind could ask or think. So prayer as I say, is not going to
God with a shopping list. It is intelligently
discovering God’s purpose. And then aligning
ourselves with it. And it takes
persistence. There are some things that Ruth and
I have been praying for ten years. They have not
come yet. When that happens,
you know, you discover whether you are
praying in faith or unbelief. Because if you are praying
in unbelief you say, “I’m praying for ten years
and nothing has happened.” But if you are praying
in faith you say, “The answer is ten years nearer
than when I started praying.” Jesus said, “Man ought to persist
in prayer and not to faint.” I think Ruth and I discovered that
this is one of the great tests and shaping instruments
of Christian character. It is persistence
in prayer. Discovering
the will of God. And asking God to do
what He said He will do. Then there
is praise. In Psalm 102... Well, we might as well turn there. Keep your finger in Jeremiah 31
because we are coming back, hopefully,
if time permits. Psalm 102:
This is again a prophecy of the restoration of
Zion at the close of this age. And it says
in verse 18, Psalm 102, after the prophecy
of the restoration of Zion, It says: This will be written
for the generation to come: that a people yet to be
created may praise the Lord. I believe that refers to this
time of the restoration of Zion. God is creating a people
with one supreme commitment. To do what? To praise Him, that’s right. It is as though God says,
“Well, My people have been so slack, for so many centuries to give Me
the kind of praise that I desire, that I’m going to create a
people especially to praise Me.” And I think the charismatic
movement is the beginning of that. I think there are many
weaknesses and failures in the charismatic movement,
but there has come forth a new level of praise, at least
a vision of what praise could be. And how important
it is to praise God. In Psalm 8
David said: Out of the mouths of
babes and sucklings Thou hast ordained strength because of thine
enemies that they might still or silence the
enemy and the avenger. And when Jesus quoted that
in Matthew 21, verse 9, He changed the words
'Thou hath ordained strength' into 'Thou hath
perfected praise.' So what is the ordained
strength of God’s people? Perfected praise.
What does that do? It silences who?
The enemy and the avenger. Why do we need
to silence Satan? What is he doing all this time?
Accusing us. You say, “Why doesn't God
stop Satan from accusing us?” Because God said, “I have given
you the means to stop Satan. If you learn to praise Me
the way I want to be praised, it will silence
Satan.” I was preaching in Lausanne with a
French interpreter some years back. I quoted this and it
was quoted in French. And I understand French and
I was gripped by the phrase, which says: “Praise imposes silence
on the enemy and the avenger.” What a wonderful revelation that
we can impose silence on Satan! We can say to
him, “Shut up!” Isn’t that
marvelous? How do we do that?
By praise. If God’s people would take the
time and learn to praise Him. And spend hours
in praising Him. With pure hearts
and honest motives. Not trying to
twist God’s arm. But praising Him because
He is worthy of praise. The whole atmosphere
around would change. People’s hearts
would be opened. The dark powers that have bound
men and women would be shaken and driven out. I tell you we are just on
the fringe of a mighty ocean which is the
power of praise. And then, going back to
Jeremiah 37: Proclamation. This is something that
God has begun to quicken for Ruth and me in the last
few years in a new measure. You see, proclaiming is actually the activity of a herald. In the New
Testament the word that is used for a
preacher is the word for a herald. Paul said,
that God had made him a teacher, an apostle and a
herald, a proclaimer. And since I started
my radio program I have got a more and ever
increasing vision of what can be achieved just by proclaiming
the truth of the Word of God. One of the great strengths of Islam,
as we’ve been speaking about Islam, is that for more than thirteen
centuries, five times every day, out of that mosque has gone
the proclamation about Allah and Mohammed. And that has created a
darkness over those nations. Which if you haven't
experienced it, you have no idea
of its intensity. What is that? That is the
power of false proclamation. We need to overcome that power with
the power of true proclamation. We need to proclaim
the truth. As you saw,
Ruth and I have got an armory of Scriptures
that we use to proclaim. And we proclaim many of
them several times a week. Let’s go to
Deuteronomy 33:25. Just to give you a
little demonstration. Now when we proclaim them,
we turn you in the Bible into us. Now, this is Deuteronomy
33:25 and following: The bolts of our gates
will be iron and brass and our strength
will equal our days. There is no one like
the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the
heavens to help us and on the clouds
in his majesty. The eternal God
is our refuge and underneath are
the everlasting arms. He will drive out our enemy
before us, saying destroy him. Wait a minute,
we'll do one more. This is just
one verse. This is
2 Corinthians 9:8. It's the basis of our faith for the
financial supply of our ministry. And again we
change you into us. God is able to make all
grace abound toward us that we always,
having all sufficiency in all things may abound
to every good work. When you say that every day,
how can you possibly fear any lack? And notice, it is grace.
I want to tell you that. You don’t have to earn it;
you have to believe it. Alright. We come to the
last point in requirements for the
church to be victorious. Revelation 12:11.
Many of you know this Scripture. They [the believers on earth]
overcame him [who’s him? Satan. You realize that we are in
direct conflict with Satan? Very clear:
They overcame him. Nothing in between. It is a person-to-person
conflict. They overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb and by the word of
their testimony. And they did not love
their lives to the death. That’s really another
example of proclamation. I teach, this means
that we overcome Satan when we testify personally
to what the Word of God says the blood of
Jesus does for us. We proclaim it. I have a sevenfold proclamation,
but we don’t have time for it. But when you do that,
you overcome Satan. But you have got to be a
certain kind of person. It says of these people, “They did
not love their lives to the death.” What does
that mean? It means this: that it was
more important for them to do the will of God
than to stay alive. What is that?
That is commitment. Satan is not afraid of
uncommitted Christians. In the last resort he
can wear them down. But those who are prepared
to lay down their lives rather than deny the Lord
or withdraw their testimony, they are the
overcomers. Amen. Let’s pray, shall
we, as we close. Let’s pray for the church,
ourselves included. O God, we thank You that your
Word has made so clear to us the conditions
for victory and above all the glorious
possibility of victory. And we want to confess, Lord,
our sins and our shortcomings, that many times we have not
believed You and not obeyed You. Lord, we are sorry
and we ask your forgiveness. On behalf of ourselves and the
whole church of Jesus Christ. And we pray,
Lord, that by the power of your
Holy Spirit you will enable us to meet the conditions to be
overcomers for your glory. In Jesus’ name. And all God’s
people said: AMEN.
