Word of Prophecy

Fellowship

May-June 2006

THE

GOOD

NEWS - LETTER

LIVING VICTORIOUSLYPart 1

Jesus Christ came from heaven as God's missionary to a lost world bound by the devil with superstition, idolatry, selfishness, hatred, distrust, disease, and misery. He came to set men free from sin and bondage of the devil in every form to give every son of Adam victory over the world, the flesh, sin, and the devil. His first announcement to the church of His day telling them the purpose of His mission was: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus, who was reading in the synagogue of Nazareth from Isaiah's prophecy foretelling His coming, then remarked: "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke 4:21).

Jesus died on the cross and shed His precious blood to set men free from bondage and servitude to sin and the devil. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:14). "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." (Revelation 1:5).

The first step of our victory over the world, the flesh, sin, and the devil, the first step of complete redemption is repentance, our sins forgiven, being born again! This is just a step not a finality; a station not a destination. Now, "we must fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called." (I Timothy 6:12). Jesus said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32). The key words are "if" and "shall" if is conditional, shall is future. You see, as a babe in Christ one must continue to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," (II Peter 3:18), as a sheep of Christ's flock. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John 10:27). We will only have eternal life and live victoriously as we follow the Lord, step by step, day by day.

WE MUST OVERCOME

Most preachers and Christians forget one of the main books of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the New Testament the book of Revelation! Listen: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy,

and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand." (Revelation 1:1-3). This Book from the Lord Jesus Christ is filled with His warnings about overcoming sin, the flesh, and the devil and the rewards for living victoriously! Let us consider a few of the great scriptures about being an overcomer: "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron." (Revelation 2:26-27). "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." (Revelation 3:5). "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." (Revelation 3:21). "And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Revelation 12:11). "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." (Revelation 21:7).

THE VICTORY

Once a person is redeemed by Jesus Christ and he becomes a Christian, he enters a warfare which he must win. The devil will try to return into the house in which he once lived as Jesus warned. "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." (Matthew 12:43-45). This is an eternal conflict that began in the Garden of Eden God versus the devil warring for the wills and souls of men. We must overcome the devil, and sin and the flesh to win eternal life! OVERCOME means "to get the better of in competition; to prevail over; to overwhelm." The Bible says to "resist the devil neither give place to the devil this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." (I John 5:4). We must overwhelm the devil!

Jesus came into the world to die on a cruel cross to give us complete victory over the world not a partial or halfway victory. Jesus Christ was "manifested to destroy the works of the devil." (I John 3:8). "To destroy" means "to make inoperative" the works of the devil in a believer's life. As in the scripture of Romans 6:6, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." "Old man" used here simply means the "old nature" with which we were born which cannot keep the laws of God. "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:7-8). God knew that man, born in sin with a rebellious nature, must have a new nature to live victoriously over the flesh, sin and the devil. All this became possible through Jesus Christ and His death at Calvary. Our old nature must go to the cross with Jesus in death, through faith in what his sacrifice did for us. "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:11). This is done through faith.

A NEW CREATION

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (II Corinthians 5:17). The Lord said, "Put off concerning the former conversation (behavior) the old man (old nature), which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts…and that ye put on the new man (new nature), which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24). The only nature which will not sin and be rebellious against God is a divine nature which we can receive: "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue (purity): Whereby are given unto us

exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (II Peter 1:3-4).

Here is God's description of the old man or old nature that is totally corrupt: "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:12-18). God demanded that something be done about such corrupt throats, tongues, lips, mouths, feet and ways. Man's only hope was a change in his nature, because human nature is totally sinful which God cannot accept. So, "When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Galatians 4:4-6). Paul testified to his victory over sin, flesh, and the devil: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20).

Within the true born again believer in Jesus Christ are two natures One divine, One corrupt! The old nature, the old man, must be crucified daily by the help of the Holy Ghost for us to live victoriously. In I Corinthians 15:31 Paul says, "I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily." The divine nature, or new man, will then live the life of Jesus through a real son or daughter of God giving complete victory over the world, the flesh, sin and the devil.

FOUR STEPS TO VICTORY

There are four steps to victorious living, and there are no shortcuts. Being a real Christian is no bargain counter offer no cheap experience. It costs everything of self; all the fleshly lusts and appetites must be overcome and conquered. A newborn babe in Christ must be directed into a path of complete victory over the world, the flesh, sin and the devil, or, he will go back into the world from whence he came and be lost. "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." (Romans 8:12-13).

The path of victorious living lies in individual consecration, concentration, conquest and conscience.

Consecration is dedicating the individual's life to this motto, "I will do each day, in every moment, the best I can by the light I have; I will ever seek more light from God's Word and live in harmony with the truth." "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (I John 1:7).

Concentration makes the individual life simpler and deeper. In morals, it is a shortcut to simplicity. It leads to right for the right's sake, without thought of policy or of reward. It cuts away the shams and pretenses of modern living, and limits life to its truest essentials. Concentration on making one's life victorious over all the works of the flesh and devil unifies the strands and threads of each day's thoughts. Concentration dignifies a humble life it makes a great life sublime. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8).

Conquest is the overcoming of an evil habit, rising superior to the appetites of the flesh and being the victor. When you are worn and weak with the struggle, when it seems that the flesh and the devil will win all, that truth and honest effort God does not reward, then is the time when you must rise and tower above these imps of despair in your sublime faith that right and truth must prevail. You must master yourself to master the world about you! This is conquest; this is what counts. Even a log can go with the current, but it takes a real man to fight valiantly against an opposing tide that would sweep his ship into the sea off its course. Be like a lighthouse that illumines and beautifies the raging, snarling waves of the storm that threaten it and seek to undermine and destroy it. This is conquest! When the opportunity to win fame, wealth, success, or attainment of your heart's desire by sacrifice of honor or principle comes to you, and it does not affect you long enough to even seem like a temptation, you have been the victor. This too is conquest. This is a vital part of the road to living victoriously. "I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one." (I John 2:14). "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (I John 5:2-5).

Conscience is a delicate spiritual barometer and must be kept sensitive to God's spirit. It is sensitized to right and wrong by the blood of Jesus. "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14). The conscience can be perverted or deadened by the wrongdoing and subsequent deafness of its owner. When the individual can stay alone with his conscience and get its approval, without using force or questionable logic, he is on the path of living victoriously. To keep the conscience from being seared (I Timothy 4:2), one must live day by day the best he can with all the light of God's Word he has received. You are now on God's royal path to victorious living. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." (II Peter 1:4-10). "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way." (Psalms 37:23).

VICTORY OVER THE WORLD

The greatest enemy of a true saint of God is the world. The god of this world is pleasure to the satisfying of the five senses, the flesh. Jesus said you cannot serve and love God and mammon, the world (Matthew 6:24), for we will either love one and hate the other, or hold to one and despise the other. The first step to victorious living is the overcoming of every love and desire for what is worldly. God says, "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (James 4:4). Are you God's enemy even as a Christian because of your worldliness in behavior, dress, entertainment, conversation, and self-interests? You may be, you know!

What is worldliness? The only answer lies in God's Word, the Holy Bible! God says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world" and this is a commandment not a request! Now continuing, "If

any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Now isn't that plain enough there is not enough room in your heart to love God and the world at the same time. Then God lists what worldliness consists of: "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." (I John 2:15-16).

Few professing Christians of today try to live victoriously over the world--world conformity is the hallmark of Christianity and today's church. The Holy Ghost's order to the saints are, "And be not conformed to this world." (Romans 12:2). There is no chance of victorious living over the flesh, sin and the devil, until we overcome the world, its fashion, pride, lusts, and loves.

Jesus said, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). Again Jesus said, "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also." (John 15:19-20). The greatest tragedy in Christendom today is that most believers never leave the world from whence Christ has called them out thus, Christ's warning "For many are called, but few are chosen." (Matthew 22:14). How do we overcome the world? In the words of the Apostle Paul who lived victoriously: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Galatians 6:14). A crucified life is the answer the old man or old nature crucified! This means godly and holy living, a lifestyle of holiness which will bring persecution to a real Christian. "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (II Timothy 3:12). The worldly crowd will persecute a non-conformist for Jesus' sake. God only accepts pure religion and here it is explained: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27).

VICTORY OVER THE FLESH

Victory over the flesh is very simple as expressed in God's exhortation, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16). This is the second step to complete victorious living, and this step in overcoming sin and the devil is vital. The Holy Ghost soberly warns one and all, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." (I Peter 2:11). Yielding to the lusts of the flesh will lead to a Christian's defeat! "Lusts" in the scripture means "strong desires of the flesh or natural appetites that are evil." Lust is not sin, but will lead to sin if not overcome by the believer in Christ. Every believer is tempted through the lusts of the flesh through the five natural senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, and smelling. "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (spiritually). " (James 1:14-15). Lust must be conceived in the heart before a person sins. A woman who dresses in a manner which is sexy causes men to lust in their hearts, and is as guilty of adultery as the man who looks and lusts, so said Jesus. "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:28).

Preachers of our age teach such liberty in Christ to professing Christians as "You can live a carnal or fleshly life and be in Christ," making libertines of them. Our liberty is only to live in Christ free from the bondage of the world, the flesh, sin, and the devil. God warns of this professed liberty: "For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the

servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." (II Peter 2:18-19). Lusts of the flesh are not trifles with God or man, because they lead to sin and ruin. If a Christian honestly seeks to live his best at all times, that determination is visible in every moment of his living; no trifle in his life can be too insignificant to reflect his principle of living the life of Jesus Christ. Living victoriously, above the fleshly appetites, can never make an honest, faithful saint overly precise, self-righteous, or priggish. Even in a temporary failure, the honest and faithful struggler should always realize that failure is but an episode in a true man's life, never the whole story.

A disciple of the Lord must be honest with himself and desire to overcome the flesh or deliverance will never come. One must desire to be set free from lust, delivered from cigarettes, from alcohol, from cursing, from lying, from pride, selfishness, and evil thoughts. God will deliver you if you desire to be set free! This is absolute. (John 8:32). There is no choice! It's either total deliverance or go back to die! "Therefore, brethren, (this is to

Christians), we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Spiritual death! (Romans 8:12-13). Also, "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." (I Peter 4:1-2). This scripture shows us that the crucifixion of the flesh will keep us from sinning. Now continuing, the apostle refers to works of the flesh that are idolatrous: "For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness (lewdness), lusts, excess of wine (all drinking of alcohol is excessive), revellings (loud, noisy celebrations), banquetings (ceremonial dining with wine), and abominable idolatries (exposing of the human body): Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot (wildly extravagant lifestyle), speaking evil of you." (I Peter 4:3-4).

God will do His part and create in us a clean heart, but we must do the cleansing of the flesh and spirit. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (II Corinthians 7:1). This will take a mighty wholehearted effort with the help of the Holy Ghost. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." (Galatians 5:16-17). The Spirit is stronger than the flesh if you yield to

Word of Prophecy Newsletter

Published by: Word of Prophecy Fellowship

P O Box 10200, Jacksonville, FL 32247

www.wordofprophecy.org

Editor Bro. Ray Pringle, Jr.

an ordained minister of the

Calvary Chapel Church of God, Inc.

Associate Editor ... June Carpenter

Copyrighted - All rights reserved

This message will be

concluded in our

July-August 2006 newsletter.