“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH”!

At a “National Hispanic Leadership Conference” in Houston, Texas, April 29, 2015, former Florida governor and presidential candidate, at the time, Jeb Bush, said: “There is no more powerful and liberating influence on this earth than the Christian conscience in action and today in America it is important to respect and to protect Christians acting on their faith…not just talking about their faith, but there is a constitutional right and more importantly for a loving society Christians need to have the space to be able to act on their conscience.” My only problem with his statement is, that often, the ‘Christian conscience’ is willful determination of ‘flesh’ opinions rather than Holy Word of God revelation!

It wasn’t long ago, maybe same day as Jeb Bush, that former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee, said, maybe same conference, “We are living in perilous times where people who are Christian are on the brink of being criminalized for their convictions.”

And both men, stressing their beliefs, are easily, in this day and time, set aside and considered ‘radical’ by ‘godless’ or even ‘misinformed’ professing believers who don’t stand on the Word of God! It’s difficult to “stand for Truth” when one’s foundation is built on “self-evaluation” rather than “God-revealed-Holy Truth”!

We can go all the way back to Joshua’s day when in Joshua 24:14-15 we read, Joshua speaking, “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

We live in days as a nation that are not foreign to any nation, any people, or even to one, and can visualize what goes on anywhere, anytime, with any persons, just like the historical history of Christ’s crucifixion on the Cross several thousand years ago! Come with me to Luke 23, beginning with Verse 32! “There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”

The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” {“If”? Are you aware of the reality of literally millions and millions, more likely billions, who understand, ‘There IS the King of the Jews, the King of all Americans, the King of every European, African, or Asian’ but who selfishly decide for themselves as to whether or not they will choose to serve the Lord?!?}.

In Luke 23:34 then tells us that Christ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do,” {Which is so true of literally millions and millions who do not know what they do when they trivialize Christ, join those who divide His garments and “roll the dice” hoping what He says is not true – BUT IT IS!}. Even the rulers of Israel SNEERED, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”

Don’t you find that so interesting? They had an inkling about ‘the Christ, the chosen of God,’ but couldn’t, wouldn’t, didn’t receive the prophetic word from many of their prophets hundreds and hundreds of years before His actual coming! Do you remember Jesus saying in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad”? Verse 57 follows, Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” In Verse 58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” And their response? THEN they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them (the “stone-throwers”), and SO PASSED (THEM) by.” {Will Jesus have to “pass you by” when all are brought before His Throne of Judgment, whether you like it or not?}.

In Luke 23:36-38 we read: The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrews: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Didn’t we just read in Luke 23:33, “And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.” At least Luke KNEW Jesus was not a criminal, but, as God in the flesh, Who willingly offered Himself as THE sacrifice for the sins of all humanity! Even John, early in his writing of the Gospel of John, John 1:14, wrote: “And the Word (the Living Word of God!!) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,” proclaiming in Verse 29, The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Examine John 1:32-35! And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ AND I HAVE SEEN AND TESTIFIED THAT THIS IS THE SON OF GOD.” Again, the next day, John stood with two of His disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

Dare I tell you that Christ Jesus IS “the Way of Life” that leads to the “way of death”? In Matthew 10:16-18,21-22 Jesus challenged the original ‘twelve disciples’, saying to them, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

Verses 21-22 then says, “Now brother will deliver up brother TO DEATH, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

It is so evidently true that to “follow Christ Jesus” is to follow Him in every step He had to take, including the way of ‘suffering’, the way of ‘rejection’, the way of ‘obedience’, willing to fulfill the Father’s eternal will: death to Himself that resurrection life and hope could, would, and was manifested! Oh, and then in John 20, after His crucifixion and burial and resurrection, in Verses 19-21, we read:

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” John 20:30-31 then says: And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

And do you understand that “life in His name” does not come in full fruition apart from the awareness of and willingness to die daily to the ‘flesh’, the old sin-nature, and self-will, plus, a readiness of physical death by persecution if it comes your way, BECAUSE you will not deny Him?

In 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 Apostle Paul wrote: “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death (“the wages of sin is death”!), and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us…”! Did Holy God, the Father, allow Jesus’ death and then manifest His Holy Power to raise the dead after Jesus’ three days in the grave?

And, how pleased is God the Father for the willingness of 21^st Century disciples to offer their lives daily as a “willing sacrifice” taking that sentence daily to themselves that His Resurrection Life may be manifested in their mortal flesh?

Do you remember Paul and Silas imprisoned, Acts 16:20-24? It says: And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” ( Ever heard it yourself? “We’re free Americans and not interested in anything you ‘Christians’ have to say! Keep on, and we’ll have you imprisoned, or kill you ourselves!”}. [I actually heard that threat in India as I preached openly on the streets!].

Continuing in Acts 16:22-24, Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”

That was a literal event for faithful believers, and it does still happen today that some believers are physically jailed for faithful testimonies in certain locations. BUT there IS a ‘symbolism’ which extends to many today who are vocal for the faith but ostracized by ‘friends’ and ‘family’, opponents shutting the door on them for their outspoken challenge to receive Christ!

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD’S HOLY WORD”? Are you aware of Christian Institutional and openly, strong, faithful disciples of Christ witnessing a rapidly growing opposition and threats because of many enemies of God who are becoming openly hostile to the Word and Will of God and against those who uphold “All Scripture is divinely inspired…”?

Prayer is rapidly being removed from classrooms with kids being told “School is not a place to pray!” Really? Yes, really! Ten Commandments are being removed from lots of places across the Nation where the banners of Truth used to fly! In Sweden pastors have been jailed for opposing homosexuality – and that threat is not far away in the U.S.A.!

There’s an active homosexual- sick man named Mitchell Gold whose diatribe against the Word of God and churches, pastors, and faithful disciples who stand on that Word of God, who has said, “They must be made to take homosexuality off the sin list,” and a New York Time’s writer, Frank Bruni, affirmed Gold’s obscene opposition to Holy God and His Word, saying, “His commandment (that’s Mitchell Gold’s commandment) is worthy – and warranted.”

And what sickens me is when I hear some say of their pastors, “They’ll not expose or speak the Truth because they don’t want to offend ANYBODY!” God, help us! It’s as if our formerly great nation, “one nation under God”, is fast becoming a nation under opposition to God!

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD’S HOLY WORD”? I want to urge you right now to commit yourself to reading faithfully, over and over, the Book of Daniel for at least a week! In Daniel you’ll find, not trivializing Truth, but many who want Biblical Truth obliterated from the national scene or stage! Follow Daniel 6:1-16!

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

So the governors and satraps SOUGHT TO FIND SOME CHARGE AGAINST DANIEL concerning the kingdom; BUT THEY COULD FIND NO CHARGE OR FAULT, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him, “King Darius, live forever! All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisers, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.” Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows opened toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”

So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

And the king, when he heard these words was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”

SO the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”

In Verses 21-22 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

AND the accusers, on the king’s command, were all cast into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den!!!

What was King Darius’ response? He wrote a proclamation! Verses 25-28 says: “To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end.

He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of lions.” So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Glory!

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD’S HOLY WORD”? John 8 is a strong chapter defining Christ’s strong “Personal Witness” against the ‘religious’ Pharisees who determined He deserved to die because He opposed their religious pretense and no true eternal foundation upon which they walked and talked “the game” yet they never faced their guilt, sin, and separation from Holy God, and certainly had no ears to hear both prophetic utterances from hundreds and hundreds of years before or His declaration of Messianic identity!

Jesus told them in John 8:19, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” Oh, and then in John 8:23-24 Jesus released the eternal arrow of Truth about the scribes and Pharisees and the ‘religious but unredeemed’ Jews: “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

In John 8:37-47 Jesus then said: “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I

heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father – God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

So…Christ Jesus Himself was ‘criminalized’ by the religious, unbelieving, unrepentant crowd and CRUCIFIED ON THE CROSS for all men because of God’s great love for the world!

What went on then still goes on today! The unbelieving world still condemns the holy and congratulates the hollow; the unbelieving world sentences the sincere and celebrates the sinner; the unbelieving world imprisons the faithful and frees the ‘foul’ from any and every offense; the unbelieving world still maligns the merciful and merits the ‘molded’ in mind and heart!

It was Harriet Beecher Stowe who once said: “No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man. Life and death to him are haunted grounds, filled with goblin forms of vague and shadowy dread.” And, in most cases, it’s the godless man criminalizing those who stand for, in, and through the truth, resulting, for them, a Hell forever with the devil, his demons, and all rejecters of Biblical Truth, and all sin-infected ‘profound minds’, and all ‘superficial thinkers’ who know nothing about standing on Eternal Truth!

Did Jesus come to heighten your darkness or to bring you “Light”? Did Jesus come to improve your darkened conscience or to transform you into the fullness of the blessing of His gospel or His “good news”? Did Jesus come to adapt ‘religious people to a little better plateaus of ‘self-acceptance’ or to BIRTH the “royal race of redeemed disciples”?

Did Jesus come to let you know, though clouds may surround you, in Him is the Bright Son-Light of Ever-Abiding-Presence? Did Jesus come to assure us, that even if sorrow or sadness befall us, in Him it will not stall us in complacency, doubt, or fear, but will be our reminder: ‘I’ll never leave you nor forsake you”?

In 2 Samuel 23:1-5 we read about David’s ‘last words’! It says: Now these are the last words of David. “Thus says David the son of Jesse; thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel: ‘The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me: He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun arises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain.’ Although my house is not so with God, yet He has made me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; will He not make it increase?’”

Now let’s look at Acts 13:49-52! And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Question! “Is there coming a day when even in America there will be intense persecution, opposition, even excommunicating devout disciples of Jesus from America’s ‘liberated society’, ‘schools and universities’, and local governments’?”

“Victims or Victors? Adaptable Churches Or Apostolic Assemblies?” Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines “victim” as follows: “Something destroyed; something sacrificed in the pursuit of an object. How many persons have fallen “victims” to jealousy, to lust, to ambition!?!” Oh, and then, Webster defined “victor” as “one who conquers in a war; a vanquisher; one who defeats an enemy in battle…one who wins, or gains the advantage…” as GRACE will carry us ‘victoriously’ through all difficulties.”

I want us to look at this truth before we unveil the reality of one, by repentance and faith, becoming “Victor” or adaptable churches becoming truly “Apostolic Assemblies”!

It was the great Englishment, G.K. Chesterton, who once said: “Anyone who doesn’t believe in God will believe in anything.” And there’s no doubt that some have slid into the muck and mire of “no God” and opened themselves up for an on-slaught of victimization!

Stephen Olford, in his Commentary on Philippians, made a comment about Dr. Arthur F. Glasser, dean of the school of world missions at Fuller Theological Seminary evaluating Chesterton’s statement: “If you…fall into the relativistic vacuum of thinking any religion is good as another, you can end up falling patsy to any kind of ideology, such as a Manson family, a Hitler, a Jim Jones…The religious relativism and secularized nihilism of the times [leave] many unable to distinguish between religious realities and fraud, between the divine and the demonic.” And, Oh, how true that statement is!!

There came a moment in time in early human history, after the Fall, that God said: [Genesis 6:5-7], “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”

John Piper, in his book “A Godward Life”, commented on the previous verses, (p.221), “To answer this, consider another instance of God’s action that (like creation) resulted in great sin and pain. Acts 2:23 says that Jesus was delivered up to crucifixion “by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.” In other words, God knew ahead of time that He was sending Jesus to be killed. Yet the killing of the Son of God was more evil than all the evil in Noah’s day that made God feel regret that He had made man. Thus if God regretted the creation of mankind when He saw the great misery and evil that it unleashed, may we not assume that He also felt a similar regret over the incarnation of the Son when He saw the undeserved, wicked, infinitely evil murder and suffering of His “only begotten” and “beloved Son”?…Yet we are told explicitly that God not only knew this would happen, but planned it (Acts 2:23, Isaiah 53:10). So of His Son’s murderers and at the suffering of the Son Himself, then it must be that He was capable of approving the sending of the Son Himself and at the same time experiencing in advance the sorrow and regret over the sin and suffering involved in the Son’s death. If this is conceivable in the incarnation of the Son, it is conceivable in the creation of man.”

What was Piper telling us? No doubt, God knew of the Fall of man – not happiness over it, no joy so He could then show His redemptive love and mercy, but showing us two sides of a ‘coin’ – sorrow over the Fall, sureness of His eternal purpose to make ‘victors’ out of ‘victims’, and even converting ‘adaptable churches’ into “Apostolic Assemblies”!

“Victims”? If “the thief comes to steal, KILL, AND DESTROY”, ARE THERE THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE CAPTURED BY THE ‘THIEF’ AND HIS ADVANCING ARMIES? Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:8-11, “Be sober (serious-minded), be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. BUT may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen (or “SO BE IT!”).”

Sorry if you don’t believe ‘demons’ and ‘powers of darkness’ are real – it just reveals how ‘victimized’ you’ve become! In Ephesians 6:11-12 the Apostle Paul wrote: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

When the Word speaks of “pulling down strongholds” it certainly refers not only to man-made strongholds, but those demonic strongholds where the powers of darkness have settled in to captured territory in one’s life, with the demons at ease because they so easily deceive unbelievers, compromisers, and those ‘professing believers’ who know nothing about fighting the good fight of faith! Deliverance is needed!

Victims? Do a Word-study sometimes on ‘false gods’ and their origin – they all come out of rebellion to the One, True, Living God, with an unwillingness to bow before Him – so, they invent, fabricate, indulge in fleshly religious feelings and pleasures that deceptively make them feel good about themselves.

You are aware that our world easily produces and accepts ‘religious frauds’ and their inventors – the ‘religious charlatans’! In 2 Peter 2:1-3 we read: But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”

Paul warned the Philippians of the same deception! In Philippians 3:2 we read: “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!” And should I dare even propose that ‘mutilation’ was circumcision as a religious ritual, but mutilation, I believe, goes far beyond that, even the ‘killing’ of some faithful disciples with some crucified!

F.B. Meyer called these “pests of every Christian community.” He said: These are “the fanatical and unbalanced [some people IN the church!], the ‘cranks’;…They exaggerate the importance of trifles; they catch up every new theory and vagary, and follow it to the detriment of truth and love…It is impossible to overestimate the harm that these people do, or the desirability of keeping clear of them…”

“Victims”? Because of Fallen sin natures, there are those who remain “chained” by their own intensity of “pumping flesh”, proud of their fallen sin natures, perverted in its demonstration, powerless in themselves to break the ‘hold’ on their lives! Look at Romans 8:12-13a! “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh (that’s the old sin nature!). For if you live according to the flesh YOU WILL DIE…!” “Pumping flesh”? Someone wrote: “The man who sings his own praises always gets the wrong pitch.”

“Victims”? There’s an interesting verse in 1 John 4:18 where John wrote: “But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” Fear is a crippler! In “The Bible Friend”, from the “Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations”, there’s comments by Ann Landers, famous newspaper counselor: “She was asked if there was any one problem, which predominates throughout the letters she receives, and her reply was the one problem above all others, ‘seems to be fear.’ “People are afraid of losing their health, their wealth, their beloved ones. People are afraid of life itself.” I wondered if Ann Landers herself knew about “the spirit of fear”!

“Victims”? Have YOU ever wrestled with the difference between ‘speculation’ and ‘certainty’? Speculations are not bad when they include CONTEMPLATION! But when ‘speculation’ becomes simply one’s ‘opinions’, it becomes that which has nothing to do with ‘fact’ but one’s theories. Truth isn’t speculative – it’s reality, divine certainty without a ‘blink’! Certainty is fact, certainty is verified, certainty produces eternal results – “I Know that My Redeemer Lives!” “Behold, as the eyes of servants look upon the hand of their masters…so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God.” [Psalm 123:2]. No speculation – just eternal certainty!

“Victims”? Are you aware of any around you who became a ‘victim’ of those dark, subtle, seductive ‘fishing lures of sin’ that hooked them strongly, and then led them to a gage for future skinning and death? Even some around you in the broad-expanse of the ‘Christian community’? You do know we have ‘an adversary’ who is out to ‘devour’ you!

“Victims”? What deception when one chooses the prison of ‘self-analysis’ for an evaluation of himself! In 2 Corinthians 10:12 Paul wrote: “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those WHO COMMEND THEMSELVES. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” And YOU ‘choose’ your ‘self-consciousness’ over “Christ Consciousness”? Are you aware that you are either cemented in yourself or you’re ‘anchored’ in Christ? Hebrews 6:17-20 says: “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have FLED FOR REFUGE TO LAY HOLD OF THE HOPE SET BEFORE US.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

“Victims”? Yes, even ‘Christians’ who are at least faithful every Sunday to a local church but faithless to a lost, alienated, separated world around them! But I know, like in India, there were pastors or beloved witnesses for Christ who attended my conferences and later were martyred for the faith. It was Dr. A.T. Pierson who once said: “A light that does not shine, a germ that does not grow, a spring that does not flow, is no more of an anamoly of a Christian who does not witness.”

“Victims”? In 2 Timothy 2:22 Paul wrote: “Flee…youthful lusts,” but across the American scene immorality is fast capturing a large segment of the youth population with shame becoming a lost term! Wild orgies, reckless alcoholic binge drinking, drugs, promiscuous sex – a youthful population is being “pumped” to plunge into and wade and wallow in “dirt”!

“Victims”? It’s not true of ALL children who live under the influence of godless parents but it is true of a great number. Bossuet said: “Great men are formed on the knees of their mothers.” But also it is just as true that evil men are adversely impacted by godless dads and moms! There was a man I read about sentenced to 15 years hard labor for a violent crime. At his sentencing he was given permission by the judge to speak: “I pardon the judges; their sentence is just; I pardon the police; they did well to arrest me. But there are two people in this court I will never forgive. They are my parents, who brought me up without God and without hope.” How sad is that?!?

“Victims”? Is it heartless husbands or manipulative wives who neither know about “giving honor” to one another? Is it marriages that are marred because neither/or only one knows the Master? Is it marriages that have decided they are better ‘home-builders’ than God Himself? Psalm 127:1 tells us: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

“Victims”? 1 John 2:17 says, “He that does the will of God abides forever…;” yet, there is no abiding or remaining, for some, because “the house” has NO ETERNAL FOUNDATION! In James 4:17 we read, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin.” Have you ever paused, reflected, wrestled with, “what would Holy God have me to do?” Sadly, far too many have sought to forge their own way through life’s ‘wildernesses’, and they remain LOST because they’ve determined to ‘find’ their own way! To then live in rebellion to His Way, defiance to His Truth, even facing His will and Word as abhorrent is to live miserably in bondage to what one considers as ‘my freedom’ when they live in bondage to one’s own sin and self, sadly awakened in Hell before the devil himself that they made a horrible mistake!

“Victims”? Slaves to one’s past, preoccupied with one’s past, blinded by one’s past, always establishes high and impenetrable walls, unless one accepts the blood of Christ for the gift of new life, new hope, new victories because of Him!

Victims”? In Hebrews 12:1 there is an interesting verse! “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” But, there are those holding onto rather than throwing off, holding onto a path of sin rather than repenting and forsaking, and failing to get onto and into the ‘race’ set before them: “No running for me, not even toward God!”

“Victims”? Yes, even a disciple of Christ Jesus can be a victim! When you read Paul in Romans 5:17,19, you hear him say: “I do not understand what I do…For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do I do – this I keep on doing.” This was a time period in his spiritual journey (childish and young in the Faith?) when Paul was void of learning about the “Spirit-controlled life” of Romans 8! But he did overcome! Have you?

And if this is still your journey, their journey, our journey, what a sad state of affairs if our testimony is “I’m, or he/she, is a VICTIM!” BUT, I believe there’s an opposite truth to VICTIM, and that’s “VICTOR”! In 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 we learn afresh and anew, or reminded of, or settled into its truth, becoming a VICTOR! It says: “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

The “victor” is one captured, birthed, renewed, overruled by the very love of Christ expressed fully for him/her AT THE CROSS – and the new believer takes the Cross unto himself/herself and experiences the reality of resurrection life, resurrection power, and resurrection hope! In Matthew 12:20-21 there are beautiful verses for our comfort as disciples of Christ. It says: “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench, till He sends forth justice to victory; And in His name Gentiles WILL TRUST.” Do YOU?

Who has ever lived on the face of God’s earth and not known “bruised reeds” or “smoking flax”? And our Lord and Savior comes to us with “blessed assurance”: Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

And, if you do not know “rest for your souls,” then you’ve never entered the Victory Land of Faith and Fulfillment! If you do not know “rest for your souls”, then you’ve never entered His kingdom! In Romans 14:17 we read: “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” “Rest for your souls,” “Victory in Jesus,” “Righteousness”, “Kingdom of God Allegiance”! It’s the grace of God in Christ with the gift of “the new man”! In Ephesians 4:24 Paul reminds us: “and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

That’s VICTORY! THAT’S AN “APOSTOLIC ASSEMBLY”, not an ‘adaptable church’ fitting in to the “moods of the masses”! “New man”, “new life,” “new hope,” “new dreams,” “new purpose,” “new destiny,” “new songs,” “new covenant,” “new city,” “new creation,” “new name,” ! Look at Romans 6:4! “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also SHOULD WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE.”

What a joy and delight to be a “new-born in Christ,” but, just as with your own children, neither you nor God wanted them remaining with ‘spiritual diapers’! In fact, Peter said, in 1 Peter 2:2-3, “as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word [the Word of God], that you May grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” In our “victory” in Christ, personally or corporately, we do have a goal! Romans 8:29 says: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

“Super- Saints” is not our calling – our calling is death to the ‘old man’ releasing all that Jesus IS in Himself! “Christ in you the hope of glory!” This is why Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow Me.” We begin at the place on Victory in Jesus Himself. And from that point we begin our pilgrimage of “resting in Him” and “fighting the fight of faith to be finished with our ‘old man’ and starting and completing our journey in the “New Man”! Romans 12:2 tells us: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be [being!] transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Isn’t it amazing to you? Our “victory” in Christ even has a faithful promise: Philippians 4:13 says: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I’ll not forget a conversation I had with Dr. Bill Anderson a number of years ago. In college, over 60 years ago (!), we were teammates on Baylor University’s Sugar Bowl champions against number two in the nation, the Tennessee Volunteers with Johnny Majors as their ‘Super-Star’! No one favored a Baylor win at all! Bill mentioned a friend telling him after the game, listening on a radio broadcast, that a commentator said at half-time: ‘Don’t worry, Vols’ fans; Tennessee is too strong and Baylor is too weak. The Vols’ will pull it out.” But they didn’t! We held on and won 13-7!

“Victory” is SWEET! “Victory” in Jesus is sweeter and so satisfying and enduring! “Victory” in Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is so peaceful! “Victory” in the Master is to always be in His triumphant Life and its fullness! What did 2 Corinthians 2:14 tell us? “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”

This victory in Jesus, whether personal or corporate trust, is far more than believing – IT IS A MATTER OF LIVING, FAITHFUL, AND FULFILLING TRUST! It’s a matter of “leaning not to our own understanding but in all our ways acknowledging Him and giving Him His rightful place as Lord, Savior, and Master of our hearts and minds!” Come Hell’s attacks or the high waters of fleshly or demonic assaults – we “rest in Him”! In 1 Peter 4:19 we read: “Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.” [AND “HOW BEAUTIFUL DID HE MAKE HIS CREATION?”].

And, if Jesus had to be “about My Father’s business,” is there any circumstance of life in us the Holy Spirit cannot use for His business of honoring Christ THROUGH YOUR WALK? Too many times too many saints fail to discern “the graces of His ministering life” at work IN THEM!

When Jesus said in John 16:33, “In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world,” He knew what we would face but He also knew where our overcoming spirit and nature resided – “IN HIM!” “Victory in Jesus”? Isaiah 40:29-31 tells us: “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

“Victory” is never depending upon ‘self-awareness’ or ‘self-confidence’ or ‘self-realization’ but a conscious, willful trust on what Paul taught us in Philippians 3:7-10! “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death!” And what did Paul add in Philippians 3:14? “I press toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” What was true in Christ is to find the same liberty, freedom, and surrender in me to the will of God!

Do you understand, comprehend, “rest in”, unflinching loyalty to the Christ within you? Here’s how Oswald Chambers put it: “The idea is not that we do work for God, but that we are so loyal to Him that He can do His work through us – God wants to use us as He used His own Son.” This is why Paul said in Galatians 5:24, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”, or, like Paul, “I take the sentence of death DAILY that the resurrection life of Christ may be manifested in my mortal flesh”! Are those truths amazing and liberating?

If there is no denial of self, there is no appropriation of the fullness and victory of Christ! “Victory”? In his “My Utmost For His Highest”, (pps.239-240), Oswald Chambers wrote: “If there is any remnant of individual conceit left, it always says, ‘I can’t.’ Personality never says, “I can’t,” but simply absorbs and absorbs. Personality always wants (me) more and more. It is the way we are built (in the flesh!). We are designed with a great capacity for God; and sin and individuality are the things that keep us from getting at God. God delivers us from sin; we have to deliver ourselves from individuality, i.e., to present our natural life to God and sacrifice it until it is transformed into a spiritual life by obedience…Stop listening to the tyranny of your individuality and get emancipated into personality.” And I would add: Our victory is EMANCIPATION INTO HIS PERSON-ALITY!!

It was F.J.Huegal, in his book “Forever Triumphant,” opening with this statement: “It comes as a shock when one realizes that the Christian life, as for the most part it is being lived, falls far short of the divine standard! The status of unnumbered Christians is sub-normal. They are below par. They are not out-and-out sinners along with the worldling, for they have named the name of Jesus in true faith and are indeed members of His church; but you talk to them about a life of perennial victory, about being more than conquerors, about a life “hid with Christ in God” in unbroken and joyous communion, and you will fail to get an understanding response. You may provoke an incredulous smile.”

But, thank God, there are those who have discovered, walked in, live by the truth of 1 John 4:17b, that says, “because as He is, so are we in this world.” In verse 9 John had already said: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” Are YOU living “victoriously” as the disciple of Christ? Are you one of His “overcomers”? Are you triumphant as a traveler on the Highway of Holiness? Having been born again, if you have, “born of God,” are YOU victorious over your world in and through Christ alone? “In Him” we’re not a hoax but members of the Royal Family, “In Christ” as sons and daughters of the true Redemptive Faith!