Phil: I guess funny how it is, how the Lord expects me to walk in what I preach. But anyway, you know, most of the times when I come in here, I’m saying, Lord, is this really you? And you’re just gonna have to take over. So that’s certainly where I’m at at.
But you know, I always have to go back to what Paul went through and I’m certainly no Paul, but the principles apply. That Paul reached a time when he was weak and being oppressed of the enemy. And yet the Lord told him the answer wasn’t getting rid of the enemy. The answer was leaning on my strength ‘cause my grace is enough, I will give you enough. I mean, that was quoted this morning. And so that’s my hope. And I think there needs to be every one of our hope.
We just need to realize the way things are. But the reality is this is the way it is. And God wants us to help, wants us to understand some basic things that we’ve talked about so many times. That’s another thing I fight when I come in here, Lord, we’ve talked about this all the time it doesn’t make any sense to just regurgitate. But we don’t need regurgitation. We need the Lord to speak what’s relevant to the need right now. And somehow I feel like this is, and the word that came to me was overcoming.
And how many of you know that that’s what the Christian life is about, is about overcoming? And I thought, I don’t want to get into the details so much of this, but you know, in Revelation 2 and 3 we have letters from Jesus to churches. And each church was in a particular situation, the need was a little bit different. And yet there was some common themes, weren’t there?
You know, he went to the church, brought to the church in Ephesus,. And boy, they had it all down, didn’t they? I mean, they were believing all the right stuff. They were doing all the right stuff, but there was a problem, wasn’t there? And the Lord pointed out, You lost your first love. And you see what the Lord was focusing on, how the enemy had actually fooled the people into thinking that if I just keep doing the right things and I’m not wavering in my beliefs, I’m still doing everything I’m supposed to do, that everything is good.
And how easily does a relationship become religion when that happens? And so there’s a danger that the Lord wanted to specifically point out in that church and say, you know, You got a need here. I want this to be a personal one-on-one relationship with me. So that what you do is not done out of a heart of duty or habit, but there is a genuine love that’s going back and forth between us.
And also I wanna shed that love through you. And if you’re leaving your first love, you know, my biggest commandment to you is what? Love one another. Well, how do we do that? We’re gonna have to have love that doesn’t originate in us. It’s gonna have to come from the Lord himself. It’s gonna have to be able to flow into our hearts. And then our focus is gonna have to be on others so that it can flow out to others.
So you see where the Lord was putting his finger on a particular need and there was a particular word that they needed. They just didn’t need, you know, well, okay, now we’re on page such and such of our theology book. And let’s not forget how we do church. God was always very specific. And so of course he comes to the end and whoever has ears let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.
And then there’s promises to the one who is, in this translation victorious, but the original word obviously is the same. The one who overcomes, the one who’s victorious. And then there are promises that God gives. This is the focus. And of course, you know, very quickly just running through what these churches went through.
The second one actually was doing everything right. There wasn’t any focus on, Hey, you’re messed up here. You’re coming short here. Rather, they were in a place of persecution. And so God gave them words of encouragement. I know how you stood your ground. And guess what? There’s more coming. God’s gonna kill some of you. And the Lord was giving them a word of encouragement, but then a promise. You know, hear what I’m saying. And to him that overcomes, there’s a great promise and a great hope.
Alright, and of course the next one, you had some people there they had experienced some persecution and then some of them had the goods. But boy, there were some problems there, weren’t there. You had some people that had all kinds of false motives and false doctrines. Without going into the details, it was leading people astray. It was trying to inject into the gospel a compromise with the flesh and with human ambition.
Whatever it was, I’ll tell you, if we’re not careful, the devil will soften the gospel, will misdirect it, will inject his ideas into it, and it really won’t be the Lord. And all of a sudden, instead of serving him, we’re serving us. And so he was warning them and warning them to repent. There was a real sin here, there was a real need in the church. And the church wasn’t facing it and dealing with it. Okay?
And then he says, you know, Repent, there’s a call to repent. And then, however has ears to hear, and to the one who’s victorious, you had that same element in every one of these letters. There’s something to overcome here. Okay?
And then the next one, the church of Thyatira had kind of a similar thing. You had a woman who had somehow styled herself as a prophetess. Where do you suppose she got her inspiration from? And she was again, injecting something into the gospel, but there probably was a supernatural element. Oh my God, this lady’s, it’s not just her. There’s something supernatural about it. It must be God.
Well, we need to seek the one who is the head of the church and we need to have ears that are willing to hear his voice. ‘Cause his voice, there was no compromise in the voice. I’ve called on to repent. She hasn’t. I’m gonna put her in a bed of suffering. I’m gonna deal with this. My judgment is coming. And there’s some of you that haven’t gone along, you hang on, you hold what you got. But there was a real need of overcoming in that particular context.
And of course then you had one, that there was a church that had a reputation for being alive, but they were dead. I wonder how much of Christian religion that applies to? God help us. So there was a need there. There was a need to wake up, strengthen what remains. Now, the only way the Lord could have said that was if there were some of his people there and there were. And so God was calling upon them to wake up.
You suppose that might just be appropriate. Everything about the spirit of this world is going to put us to sleep if we let it. And listen to the promise of God. Let’s see, remember... Alright, actually, it’s a warning, but there’s a promise built into it. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
But what’s the promise that’s kind of baked into that? If you do wake up and you’re in tune with me, my coming is not gonna surprise you. Isn’t that what Paul said? But that day will not surprise you like a thief. That doesn’t mean we’re gonna know the day and the hour, but I’ll tell you God’s people that are in tune with him, isn’t that a theme you get throughout this? You better be in tune and listening. I want you to have ears that are constantly tuned to heaven so that I can talk to you about what’s needed right here and right now. ‘cause there are things that I have allowed in your path that need to be overcome, okay?
So anyway, so there’s a word of encouragement and warning all baked into one. And so he is encouraging those who haven’t gotten in that condition, alright? I’ve got promises for you. Just listen. The one is victorious. And then there are promises about that.
The Church of Philadelphia, they were doing good. Basically, they were the church of brotherly love. That’s what the word Philadelphia means. And he says, You have little strength. So this wasn’t even a people who were just, Hey, your guys are strong. This was, You have little strength, but yet there was a word of encouragement, wasn’t there?
Do you ever feel that way? Boy, I just don’t have what it takes. Lord, I’m just so weak. Every one of us, if we’re honest, we feel that way because it’s the truth. And yet, here’s the Lord, giving them a word of encouragement. But what they have done with the strength that God has given them, they have stood fast. They have faced persecution, they face slander, they face whatever the enemy has thrown against them.
And the promise is, You endure patiently. I’m gonna keep you from the hour of trial. I’m gonna be with you to the end. Remember that was said this morning? I’m gonna be there. There’s a lot of things gonna happen, but don’t worry, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Okay? The one who’s victorious, I’ll make a pillar in the temple of my God, and so forth. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.
Then of course the Laodicean church who had gotten to the point where they were doing everything right, outwardly, they had it all, but they were in a prosperous situation. Do you see the wisdom of God in putting us in situations where we feel our need? What happens when the Lord allows the sun to shine and the bank accounts to be full and everything, business is great? How does that help spiritual progress? It doesn’t, do it? It it causes us to go to sleep.
And so the Lord is warning them. You are going through a form. You are more in tune with what your natural being wants in this world. Really that’s what’s in control of your life. You’re still going through all doing all the right things, but your heart’s not really warm toward me. You’re in danger of just falling away completely from being even my people from my church.
Now we’re not talking about people that really know the Lord, you know, losing their salvation. I’ll tell you there’s something that happens when someone’s born of God, but still you’ve got a lot of people that can gravitate to a church and to a religion and it becomes religion.
But anyway, think of the common elements in this. In every situation there was a word about overcoming. Everyone. Some of them had sins, some of them had pressure. In this case it was prosperity they had to overcome. Everyone had something that they needed victory over. They needed to overcome.
What does that tell you about and remind you about the Kingdom of God and living in this world? There will always be something to overcome. We will always have adversity. And this is where we, again, you know, how often do we talk about this? But that’s one of the things that God wants us to realize.
And yet you see the situation in every case was different. And somehow that just resonated with me because, you know, say what Scott was talking about. There certainly were probably others that experienced some of the same things, but the reality is every individual Christian is different in that regard. We are very unique. We’re different from one another. And yet every one of us in this sense has to deal with something, okay?
So what are we dealing with? Think of the scripture that we so often use in Revelation 12:11, I believe it is, when it talks about the devil who was defeated. Thank God for that defeat, that great defeat. But he’s still here working, isn’t he? We’re here and he’s in the world and he’s working against us.
And so how does that victory happen? It happens because of the blood of the lamb. Thank God that we do have a place that there was a significance to the blood that was shed there. And if we have gotten grounded in our thinking, that my standing before God is not based upon me, it’s based upon that. And I’m standing there, I’m believing it. I’m actively believing it. I’m not acting as if it isn’t really true for me. I’m constantly looking to that.
Now that doesn’t mean I’m looking to that and trying to live my own life and figuring that’s gonna take care of it all, you understand? That’s not victory. That’s not what he died for. But anyway, the blood gives me a place to stand.
And then the word of the testimony that we’ve talked about so many times, that’s when the truth of God enters into our heart and mind in such a way that it displaces the lies of Satan. Satan will always tell you something. He does me. There’s always gonna be something that he’s gonna put in there. And God wants the truth of his word, the promises of his word to become such conviction that we can do the same thing Jesus said. It is written, all right?
But the third part is really where I’m going with this. And they love not their lives so much as to shrink from death. Now, this is something we’ve certainly said many times. My enemy, my biggest enemy is not the devil. If I did not still have in this earthly body a nature that hates God and wants its own way, Satan would have no power over me.
You know, when Christ comes, let’s suppose Satan is round after that for some reason. But when Christ comes, we’ll be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. This old body will be done away with, we’ll have one that is only filled with his life. Do you think Satan would have any opening to get into that? No. It’s while we’re here living in this.
So the issue is not Satan, it’s what’s in here. Do we hang on to what’s part of our old life? And that’s what the Lord’s seeking to deal with in every circumstance that comes our way, every test, the only reason Satan has any access to bring us into a place where we’re defeated, we’re sidetracked, whatever it is, whatever the effect is that makes us less than effective, it all comes from in here.
And of course, I’ll remind you of what we’ve talked about so many times, what Jesus said in his testimony, when he came to the cross, The prince of this world is coming. He knew it. God was allowing him to do his thing. And of course he deceived himself and, you know, wrecked his own chances. Thank God for the victory that God had purposed.
But the point Jesus was making is the prince of this world is coming, but he has no hold on me. That’s the key. I have been tested. Was he not a tested stone? He came down here and experienced the same flesh that you and I have to deal with. But God gave him the strength and the knowledge and the wisdom to learn how to say no and to recognize what was going on.
Satan is trying to appeal to me, to put this first, to seek what my flesh wants. It could be pride, it could be physical lust, it could be a gazillion things that all come from this nature. But Satan did not have any hold on him. He had looked everywhere, put Jesus under a microscope.
And did that mean by the way that he didn’t still have something to overcome? Obviously he had the cross and he had to go to the Lord. And he had to go to his Father and get strength, strength beyond anything you and I will ever need. Thank God that he went there. Thank God that even in that test. See that garden experience happened after Jesus had said that. And yet there he was under a tremendous assault of the enemy and having to say, Father, not my will, but yours be done. There was still a sense of having to stand and having to overcome. Praise God! And thank God he overcame. Praise the Lord!
In fact, isn’t that what Jesus said, In the world, you will have trouble, but cheer up. I have overcome the world. When did he say that, by the way? That was before the cross, wasn’t it? He hadn’t even gone to the cross yet. Boy, I’ll tell you, there’s a faith, there’s a confidence in the purpose of God.
Can we put ourselves in God’s hands and know how it’s gonna turn out? Isn’t that the message of the gospel? It’s not here, you know, I’ll get you started. There’s the road, go for it. And we’ll see how you turn out. This is, I’m putting myself in the hands of an eternal God who has already planned everything from the beginning to the end. So whatever I’m feeling right now, I need to be able to look beyond that, don’t I?
Everything that God allows in our lives, whether it has to do with the preconvention time and all the pressures that come and all the distractions that come, whatever it is, we have a God who’s able to look down into the depths of every life. He knows what we need, loves us enough to do something about it. And in every case, the way to deal with it, God puts something in our pathway. He allows the enemy to push on that thing.
Are there recurring issues in your life? Are you somebody that’s struggled with fear all your life? Many people that would apply to. I won’t look for shaking heads on that one, but am I, you know, we all have a certain amount of that.
But the other, you know, I mentioned too, what about the besetting sins? Are there things that the enemy has just programmed into your nature just enough that you keep doing, you keep falling into that. It could be anger, but it could be a fleshly thing. It could be all kinds of things. And the enemy just knows how to push the buttons, how to arrange the circumstances.
And you get in a place where you feel oppressed and somehow there’s a weakness just to give into that. And, Oh my God, I did it again. God help me, and He does. But, you know, why would God literally allow the devil to keep pushing that button? Is it because he wants us to fail or does He want us to learn how to overcome?
See, in many instances, overcoming means I need to get rid of that. God needs to lift me to a place of victory. So that’s not part of my life, that doesn’t rule over me. That’s the issue. If what rules over me basically is coming from my old nature, I need some deliverance. And God’s going to keep letting the enemy in recurring ways keep pushing that and trying to work on that. And God’s aim is that I learn to overcome and there are great promises. And God wants to bring us to a better place.
What a dangerous prayer it is when we say, Lord, I want higher ground. Lord, I want you to use me, Lord, I want you to make a difference in the kingdom through my life. I think you know what I’m talking about, don’t you? Some of you prayed that and you said, Oh Lord, I didn’t know it meant this. But the thing is, if God doesn’t deal with this old nature, our lives, what John calls our lives in Revelation 12, that we’re loving so much, we’re still attached to more than we know. If God doesn’t break those connections, how effective are we gonna be?
I mean, Paul recognized that it’s kind of like an athlete. Now, the earthly athletes, they’re going for a prize. You know, they’re disciplining their body and they’re doing all these things because they want a prize. Well, I want a prize too, but it’s not that kind. I wanna go for the ones the Lord offers. He’s called me to seek after something that’s eternal, but how can I do that if there isn’t some self-discipline?
And so he actually, in the Greek, it says, I beat my body or I keep it under in one translation, or I basically, I’m in charge, my body isn’t. I keep that under. I recognize that there’s impulses that come from my flesh that if I just let them go, if I somehow say, Well, that’s okay, it’s all taken care of. And the Lord’s wanting to deliver, and the Lord’s wanting to actually break that hold and break that tie.
But Paul says, I beat my body and I make it my slave. I think in this translation. I bring it under subjection, I make it my slave. Is your body and its impulses your slave to serve God. Are you in charge or is it in charge?
