Let’s begin with a word of prayer.
Lord, I’m just so impressed this morning with Your desire that we draw close to You. Lord, it’s amazing. It really is, this great love of Yours. It just draws us.
Lord, not only that, but indeed, we find ourselves this morning accepted in Your presence in the Beloved. Jesus made this all possible through His great sacrifice at Calvary’s cross.
Now, Lord, we’re sharing in Your Word this morning, and we want it to be in the power of Your Spirit, that we might obtain life from what is shared, Lord, and reality—enlightenment.
Lord, we come this morning trusting in You, depending on You both to share and to hear Your words. We ask that You bless Your Word this morning. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Well, we’ve been sharing on this matter of warfare, and if you’ll remember, the opening thought came from Ezekiel looking over the valley of the dry bones of a fallen army. It was just bones left. The warriors seemed to be gone, but the Lord sent His Spirit into the valley.
The bones began to take life and flesh, and He sent His wind into the valley. They were filled with life and became a mighty army once again.
The Lord Jesus Christ not only needs a body. He not only needs the house of God. He not only needs the priesthood. But He needs an instrument—not only a testimony, but a testimony that is also an instrument in His hands to be used, to finally put out of place our adversary, that He might be joined with His bride for eternity.
So we have a great responsibility as the church, brothers and sisters, because this instrument that He’s looking for does come from the church.
One of the first principles we need to be reminded of is that we need to know our enemy. You remember, I described our enemy. He is an angel of light. He’s very sharp. He comes and tries to deceive us and deceive our minds.
It says he comes as a roaring lion, as our adversary, trying to strike fear into the hearts of Christians—to keep them out of service, to keep them out of fellowship, to keep them from fulfilling their calling in Jesus Christ.
It says that we are to resist him. The Lord Jesus Christ has defeated him, and all that is required now is for us to resist.
It also says that he is the god of this world. This world will never come to what we would like it to be until the kingdom comes and the Lord brings it in. Brothers and sisters, this world is opposed to Christ. It crucified our Lord Jesus.
That worldliness is in our own hearts, and we have to beware of it. Thank God that it says on the cross we’ve been crucified to the world, and the world to us.
He is the god of this world. He is the one that seems to be running everything. I think we’re all very aware of that as we look at the political situation in this country.
It also says that he is the accuser of the brethren. That seems to be one of his main tactics in keeping us down and keeping us under his thumb. All he has to do is accuse us and keep accusing us, even after we ask for forgiveness.
He’s not necessarily going to stop. He’s going to say, “I haven’t forgotten what you have done. The good Lord may have forgotten, but I haven’t forgotten, and I’m not going to let you forget.”
Oh, how the Lord wants us to be able, under the blood of Jesus, to put away all of our sins, all of our problems, all of our wrongs, brothers and sisters, that the accuser of the brethren may not keep you from God’s will in your life and from fulfilling God’s will.
It says he is the prince of the power of the air. That should give us some indication of where he and his spiritual forces are now located: in the lower parts of the third heaven, in the atmosphere around this earth. He tries to exert his power and authority from that place and that position.
That is knowing your enemy. Then we went on to say that you have to know yourself. That becomes the wilderness experience that we saw with the Israelites.
We have that wilderness experience where we have to learn that we’re not capable, that we’re not able, that the Lord takes us out into a desert experience to see that we have to depend totally on Him and not on our own selves—no confidence in the flesh.
Then we saw that as the Israelites approached the promised land, where all the promises were promised to them, first of all there was a great flood at the Jordan River. It represented all the wiles, deceptions, lies, and power of the adversary and the enemy.
There was no way to go in and possess the possessions that were theirs because of this great power that lay before them. We see that the ark was brought, and the priests touched their feet in the edge of that flooding river, and it receded.
This is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross, with His great victory over the enemy, over the power of death, over the power of sin, brothers and sisters, even over our self-life.
In other words, there was no way to go in and possess their possessions in the promised land until that power was broken. Judgment was executed that day in that river, as it was on the cross of Calvary, brothers and sisters.
That is the only reason today you can even approach the Lord Jesus Christ: because of His great victory at Calvary’s cross.
Then it says, brothers and sisters, remember: they took twelve stones out of the river and put twelve into it. It represents our identity in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As Christians, we need to learn not just the doctrine of our union with Christ in death and resurrection, but the reality of it—living it out in our lives, brothers and sisters.
One day you realize that you have been crucified in Christ. He has no hope in you, but He has hope for the life that He’s put in you, that it will come forth and be resurrected in your own life.
This is what we need to see in preparation to be able to possess our possessions in Jesus Christ. It says in the Word of God that all things have been given to us in the heavenlies in Christ—all the riches of Christ. But, brothers and sisters, we have a responsibility to go in and possess these possessions in Jesus Christ.
When you become a new Christian, a new believer, you haven’t begun to possess all that is available to you. But to get in and possess, there had to be this great victory at Calvary.
Now you’re getting ready to go in, and you see this great victory that has been won in Jesus Christ. Then you say, “Lord, I’ve been included in that death on Calvary’s cross. And, Lord, I need to be raised in order to be able to go in and possess my possessions.”
Then we talked about how, after they had put the stones as a memorial, they were circumcised. Circumcision was a covenant with God. They were separated unto God, brothers and sisters.
When we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, we have to also come to that place where we say, “I’m no longer a part of this world. I’m no longer a part of this system. I have been separated unto Jesus Christ, to Him, and to serve Him—not serve myself, but serve Him in His life.”
We have to know this reality of circumcision in our life—our circumcised hearts and minds, separated unto the Lord. Have you been separated unto the Lord? If you have not, it’s very difficult to go in and possess your possessions in Jesus Christ.
Finally, we saw last time that Christ was the Commander-in-Chief. Joshua thought he was the commander-in-chief, but when the real Commander-in-Chief showed up, he went on his knees before the Lord Jesus Christ.
A great lesson to be learned, brothers and sisters: the Lord Jesus is the supreme commander of your life personally. He is supreme. He is the Commander. You are not in command of your life.
But we have to discover that a little at a time, don’t we? Because we want to take possession of our life for ourselves, but He says, “No.” He is your Commander-in-Chief, as well as in this spiritual battle to go in and possess your possessions in Christ.
Brothers and sisters, it’s not you trying to overcome. It’s you laying hold of the Overcomer, laying hold of the Victor in Jesus Christ.
Now, that brings me to the last message. There could be many more, I’m sure, on this matter, but for me, and the burden that I have, I would entitle it “The Last Stronghold”—the last stronghold that needs to be overcome.
The Lord’s people had finally come and crossed the Jordan River. All of these preparations that I’ve just talked about had been made in their hearts and minds. But what they saw before them was Jericho, a walled city—the entranceway to the promised land, the entrance to all that is of Jesus Christ.
Now, the judgment upon the enemy had been made at the Jordan River. But that judgment upon the enemy had to be executed. In the execution of God’s judgment upon our adversary, we are involved. The church is involved.
So they come up against this stronghold of the enemy. Now I would like to read Joshua 6:1-10.
Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
Of course, they would go in and take the city.
And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.
And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lord.
And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the Lord, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.
And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark; the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.
This is spiritual warfare, brothers and sisters. It’s uncommon to worldly warfare. I happen to know, after I’ve seen a few movies. I’m not sure how well they depict war, but anyway, you see these two opposing parties, and they start shouting and yelling and banging on their shields—yelling as loud as they can, trying to frighten the other side. They’re both doing that. I’m not sure how well it worked, but then finally they would charge.
Well, here the spiritual strategy is quite different. He said, “There’s a stronghold here, and this is the way we’re going to approach it.”
The armed men would proceed first. They would start walking in complete silence, not saying a word. Then they would be followed by the priests blowing rams’ horns, with the ark in their midst. Then finally there would be the rear guard coming up, protecting the rear of the procession.
Brothers and sisters, what you really find here is an uncommon warfare because it’s spiritual in nature. We need to remember this.
This is spiritual prayer. That’s what this is a picture of: spiritual prayer taking down spiritual strongholds. That is what this is about.
First of all, you see that the armed men are marching first. They’re first in order, and they’re completely silent. In fact, the whole procession is completely silent except for the rams’ horns.
This is a picture of prayer—prayer before the Lord. They’re praying, and as they are praying, you know what’s happening? Faith is beginning to rise in their hearts. That’s what’s happening.
So they march around one day. Then what do we have? We have the priests. We’re not only the armed guard; we’re the priests. And what are they doing? They’re blowing the rams’ horns.
What is the purpose of the ram’s horn? It’s noisy, of course. They are announcing. The rams’ horns are announcing the presence of the ark: “The ark is here.”
If you remember the story, when they went to see the woman on the wall before they entered Jericho—the spies—she told them, “We’re greatly afraid. We’re scared. We’re fearful. We know what happened at the Red Sea.”
They knew, brothers and sisters, it was the ark. They were extremely afraid of the ark. I’m not sure they were that greatly afraid of the army. I think it was the ark they were afraid of.
This is what the rams’ horns are announcing. When you announce the ark in battle, what are you announcing? You’re announcing the victory of the Lord.
The Lord is victorious. The Victorious One is here in our midst.
Then it’s followed up by the rear guard. I thought this was interesting. It doesn’t say much about the rear guard, but obviously the ark is before them. In other words, they have their eyes on the ark.
They’re in spiritual war. Their eyes are on the ark. We never take our eyes off the ark. We’re praying. We’re before the Lord. The rear guard sees the ark.
The purpose of the rear guard is what? To guard the rear. In other words, they were aware of the enemy. Their eyes were focused on the Lord, but they were aware of the enemy.
Now, let’s don’t get this backwards. In spiritual warfare, your eyes can’t be focused on the enemy and then look back to the Lord. It’s the other way around. You keep your eyes on the Lord, but you are very aware of your adversary and his tricks and his subversions.
So what are they doing? They’re watching, and they’re praying. Aren’t we exhorted to watch and pray, lest we fall into temptation? That’s spiritual warfare, brothers and sisters. That’s the way of the Spirit.
As they’re marching, as I mentioned, their faith is increasing. I think, brothers and sisters, this is not just a picture of prayer; it’s a picture of intercessory prayer.
Because they don’t just march around the city once. They march around it six days, and then on the seventh day they march around it seven times.
Intercessory prayer. It’s not just one prayer thrown up to the Lord and you say, “Oh, we have the victory.” No, no, no. They were continually praying. It was so important that they interceded in an intercessory manner until faith arose in their hearts.
At the point of faith, the rams’ horns are blown in a long blast, and everyone shouts. The shout of what? The shout of victory.
What happened? We all know that. We’ve heard it since we were children. The walls came tumbling down, and they were able to go right up and take the whole city and destroy it, and everyone in it, and everything in it.
Brothers and sisters, when we talk about pulling down strongholds, when we talk about dealing with some of the tactics of our adversary, it is spiritual prayer—intercessory prayer—that makes the difference, that pulls down the stronghold.
The shout of victory comes only after intercessory prayer. I think I just wanted to make that point. This is the way of spiritual warfare.
I thought it’s very interesting—and I’m not going to go into it much—but y’all remember the next battle. What was the next battle? Ai.
This little teeny stronghold, not very big. They said, “Ah, we’ve got this down now. We know how to do it. We don’t need all these people. We’ll just send a few soldiers down there, and we’ll take it.”
Of course, they were defeated. They were defeated because of their pride, brothers and sisters. All of a sudden, it was their victory, not the Lord’s victory.
We have to be very careful about that. When we do have victories in our life, our tendency is to think—maybe not outwardly, but somewhere down in there—“I did it. Yeah, I did it. The Lord showed me the method. I got the method down. I did it.”
No. It’s the Lord. The Lord is always the Victor. They couldn’t take Ai until the Lord intervened, brothers and sisters. They had to go back. They had to confess their sins, and then they were able to take Ai.
But when they took Ai, they sent the whole force down there.
What were they doing? They were beginning to possess their possessions in the land. It was already theirs. If you read the Scriptures, the Lord said, “I have given this to you.” But they still had to go in and possess it.
That’s why spiritual warfare is so important. Being that instrument God wants in prayer is so important, because that’s the way we grow in Christ.
It’s actually the opposition of the enemy that causes us to grow and expand and to learn Jesus Christ and all the glories in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is through these battles we have to go through.
That’s why, brothers and sisters, the process of coming to how we’re going to adjust groups is so important. It’s not just to get to the end product. It is that we might really learn Christ in this process and be able to share with one another in fellowship. That’s the riches of it.
We’re out to gain the riches of Jesus Christ that are ours, but we have to possess them. They don’t just fall in your lap. So we need to know that.
Remember, Calvary was all Christ. That’s where the victory over the enemy was accomplished. Judgment was put in place. But at Jericho, the judgment of the Lord that occurred at the Jordan River was executed upon Jericho, and the people were involved. The victory was still the Lord’s.
Now, this morning I want to talk about a conflict that lies ahead for us—a stronghold that is there, that the Lord deems has to come down for Him to bring the end of this age in and bring in His kingdom.
So let’s read Revelation 12:1-12. We’ve read this many times before in our midst, but it just seems like the Lord is bringing it more and more forward in these last days because this last conflict is coming so close.
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Pay attention. The dragon is there to devour this man-child just as it is born.
And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
This is in the lower parts of the third heaven. There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought against them. The dragon prevailed not.
Listen to this so carefully: he prevailed not, neither was there place found any more in heaven. The great dragon was cast out—that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceives the whole world. He was cast out unto the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.
And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child.
The final stronghold. We have to realize, brothers and sisters, that in the lower parts of the third heaven—which includes the atmosphere around this earth—our adversary has a stronghold.
In the heavenlies, it includes these bad angels. The good angels are there as well, in the upper parts of the heavenlies around the throne of God. But he has taken and made a stronghold in the lower parts of the heavenlies, in the atmosphere around this earth.
If we pay particular attention to verses 8 and 9, it says that the enemy prevailed not; neither was there place found any more in heaven, and the dragon was cast out—the old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceives the whole world. He was cast out unto the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Then we come to the great declaration that the kingdom has come in the power of God. Brothers and sisters, what is going on is a great celestial battle.
Actually, there has been immense cosmic conflict going on down through the ages, with the kingdom of God against the kingdom of Satan and darkness and death. But in this last hour, there will be a spiritual conflict in the heavenlies that will culminate in a great battle, resulting in Satan and his angels being cast out of the lower heavens onto this earth.
That will probably occur midway through the great tribulation, about three and a half years in. He’s going to be cast out.
If you read what happens—and that comes in after the fifth trumpet—you will be astounded at the vileness that is going to be going on on this earth.
That’s still nothing compared to the woes that will finally come from the hand of God. But, brothers and sisters, this will initiate a great transition from this age to the kingdom age: this warfare, this stronghold that is in the heavens being overcome by the angels.
But I think what is so interesting is what precipitates this battle.
What precipitates this battle is the man-child being caught up. So who is this man-child being caught up?
Brothers and sisters, we need to remember this: when you get through Revelation 11, you have really come to the culmination of the end of the age. Actually, Revelation 12-14 gives us a picture of something that has already occurred, but the Lord wants to give us further explanation.
In the fifth trumpet, it simply says a star fell from heaven. That’s all it says. That is Satan being cast out to the earth.
But when you get to the seventh trumpet in Revelation 12, the Lord wants to give us more details, more insight into what had happened and why. It’s a great, important point that the Lord is trying to make.
It’s very similar to what the Lord does in Genesis. In Genesis 1:26-27, He said He created man in His own image; male and female created He them. Then He spends Genesis 2 explaining the details of how Adam was created and how Eve was taken out of Adam. It was all very important to know.
So Revelation 12 becomes a real center point of this book of Revelation, because the casting out of the enemy from his stronghold precipitates all that remains to be carried out on this earth before the kingdom age comes in.
This stronghold is going to come down. Similar to the pulling down of Jericho’s walls, it is prayer—saints praying, praying for the Lord to come back, praying for Him to execute His authority and power.
This battle, what I’ve just described, is an explanation of Romans 8:19-20:
For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God.
For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of Him who subjected it, in hope.
That’s what the man-child being raptured to the throne is: the manifestation of the sons of God. Brothers and sisters, all that’s going to happen is precipitated by this man-child being raptured to the throne.
In fact, the bringing in of the kingdom age hinges on this being accomplished—this stronghold being pulled down.
What is the word that connects us in this book? What is the word that becomes key in this chapter? It’s overcomers.
It’s overcomers—the man-child, or those who overcome. It relates back to Revelation 2 and 3.
You remember, He goes through all the seven churches that will be in existence through the ages. Every one of those churches, He ends by this one thing: “To him that overcometh.” The call goes out in every age of the church: “To him that overcometh.”
Overcoming is important. That is how we prepare to be overcomers, to be a part of the man-child: by overcoming.
What I wanted to bring our attention to this morning is this: if you go back to Revelation 2 and 3, what was the first church that the Lord spoke to? Ephesus, right? Ephesus.
What was the issue in Ephesus? First love. He said, “You’ve lost your first love.”
Now, brothers and sisters, I believe that the decline of the church began here. All that happened after that—all the heresies that came into the church, the worldly ways that came into the church, the diluting of the power of God in the church, the diluting of the testimony—occurred right here.
The beginning issue that He points out is the loss of first love. Brothers and sisters, when we’re in first love, the enemy is not going to get the upper hand.
When we’re in first love, we’re not going to fall into the trap of heresies and false doctrine and worldly ways, allowing them into the church. First love just won’t let us do it. We love Him so much, we only want what He wants—not the ways of man.
First love is critical.
I think the enemy is after it—all of us, every one of us. He’s attacking first love because he knows if he can get that, he knows what it will end in.
What will it end in? Laodicea. What was the problem in Laodicea? Lukewarmness.
I think it’s very interesting. He did not despise the cold ones. He said, “You’re neither hot nor cold.” He didn’t despise the cold ones; He said, “It’s the lukewarm ones. I just can’t stand lukewarmness.”
That’s taking the edge off of first love. That’s lukewarmness. Brothers and sisters, I call it out because I believe it’s a real danger in all of our hearts to fall away from first love.
May we this morning draw our hearts back to Him, as we were encouraged this morning in our time around the table.
Loss of first love doesn’t just come through a waning of our enthusiasm for the Lord. Brothers and sisters, it comes because the enemy attacks and wants to quench this first love, this fire of first love.
How does he do it? Great pressure in our lives. He brings pressure. He brings great adversity in our lives. He brings conflict in our lives. He discourages us.
It says one of the great tactics is his wearing out of the saints in the end age. He wears us out with other things: his insinuations, his accusations, his condemnation, brothers and sisters, his subterfuges, lies, and deceptions that he puts into our hearts.
Our love of the world—he uses that to take out first love. He’s deceitful. The deceitfulness of sin: sometimes we sin and we don’t think a lot about it, but it says sin is deceitful. It deceives our heart into thinking that we’re still okay.
But no, we have to come back and get that taken care of in the blood of Jesus Christ. We can’t allow it to continue in our hearts and to have power over us. False doctrines finally end in lukewarmness—a lukewarm heart.
So I want to encourage us all this morning, brothers and sisters, that we draw ourselves back unto the Lord, that we once again take up the fire of first love for Him. Because, brothers and sisters, it’s going to be so critical.
It’s impossible to overcome without first love. We need it, and we need to overcome.
Is it possible to overcome? Well, for you, it is impossible. For Jerry Amon, it is impossible. I have discovered that after seventy-five years of history. I just can’t do it. I never have been successful.
Only the Lord is the Overcomer. It has got to be, “Lord, I can’t overcome this, but You’re the Overcomer. I have faith that You’re the Overcomer.”
It does take faith. You have to believe that the Lord can overcome in your life. You have to believe that. If you believe, “Lord, if You just give me enough time and work with me, I can do it,” it won’t work. You can’t come to it.
Overcoming is the Lord Himself. That’s why we need Him. That’s why we need first love. It is He that overcomes. He is the Victor, and it is His victory that we discover. It is His victory that we possess when we begin to take our possessions in Christ.
It says they overcame by the blood of the Lamb. They were not perfect. You and I are not perfect.
I think the older we get, the more we know the Lord, the closer we get to Him, the more that we need the blood. The more valuable it seems to become to us, because we understand it.
We are just made in such a way that we have this sin nature within that will not go away until we’re with the Lord. But it doesn’t have to prevail, brothers and sisters.
The word of their testimony—their testimony wasn’t just their knowledge of the Scriptures or their knowledge of the gospel. It was their knowledge of Christ. That was the word of their testimony.
“What we have seen and we have heard”—that’s what John said—“we report unto you.” It’s what they experienced of the Lord. It is shared in the Gospels. It’s not just doctrines.
We need to know the doctrines, but if you’re satisfied with just knowing the doctrines, you have not gained anything. You’ve only puffed your mind up. No, we need to enter into the experience.
That is what knowledge is. That is your testimony: what you know and have experienced of the Lord. They have a testimony. In other words, they have learned.
They would be able to say, “You know what? The Lord is the bread of my life. If I don’t feed on the Lord, I’m lost.”
They would say, “The Lord is the living water of my life. I’m alive when I’m in touch with the Lord. I come alive when the Lord touches my heart and reveals Himself to me. That’s living water.”
He is the doorway to life. He’s the way. He’s the truth. Have you discovered that that’s not just a doctrine—that, for you, the Lord is the way in your life? Or do you figure out your own ways of doing things?
You know, recently, because of an accident I had backing up into another car, which I shared on recently, which was devastating to me, really, every time now when I go out in the car, I pray.
I say, “Lord, You’re going to have to keep my mind sharp. Lord, help me to prevent having accidents.” I do that now. That’s what I learned. It took seventy-five years to learn that, but I finally learned, “Lord, I’ve got to depend on You even to drive.”
These are simple things, but brothers and sisters, we overcome by the blood of the Lamb, the word of testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death.
What does that mean? That means you can’t be self-centered anymore. You can’t just be thinking about yourself. You can’t just be thinking about what’s best for me. We have to be thinking about what is best for the Lord, for His kingdom, for His house.
Once again, I have to go back to the groups, brothers and sisters. It’s not what’s best for me; it’s what’s best for fellowship. It’s what’s best in gaining the kingdom of God in our midst. That’s what’s best. It’s for Him.
Loving your life not unto death—some have paid that price. Many have been martyred through the years, and millions are being martyred even today simply because they believe in Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, let me say this much: we need to overcome. But don’t forget the preparations for overcoming—the victory of Christ. He’s the Victor. Don’t forget that He is the Victor.
When you find the self-life rising, you have to say, “Lord, I identify with You in Your crucifixion of that old self, and I want to come out in resurrection life.” That’s putting the stones in the river and taking twelve out.
Brothers and sisters, we have to be circumcised in heart. “Lord, I’m separated completely to You. I’m not in this world, in this life, to serve myself. In my family, I’m here to serve You, which includes my family. I’m here, but I’m separated.”
You have to have a separated heart. These things, these preparations that we see to take down Jericho, are the same preparations that we need to overcome.
Finally, I guess you really need to know Jesus Christ not only as your Savior, but as your Lord—your supreme Commander.
The blood, the word of your testimony, loving not your life unto death.
I want to say one last thing. Go back to Revelation 12 here a minute.
Verse 10, I think:
And I heard a loud voice saying, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down.
For the accuser of what? Our brethren is cast down.
Brothers and sisters, there have been overcomers down through the ages. You see them in the book of Revelation. I know in Revelation 8, right before the first trumpet is sounded, there’s a half hour of silence. Then it talks about the prayer of the saints being poured out.
Those last trumpets don’t blow without the prayer of the saints. We’re involved, brothers and sisters.
Our brothers and sisters through the past ages, those ones that overcame, they have overcome. They’re still praying. They’re still up there pulling for us. They’re looking for us to overcome.
They’re looking for the manifestation of the man-child, which will bring in the kingdom of God. These are our brothers and sisters that have gone on before us, but they’re still engaged.
It’s so important that the last stronghold of the enemy be pulled down and finally bring in the kingdom age.
Now, there’s a good bit that’s going to happen between him being cast out of the heavens to the earth and the final end. But, brothers and sisters, that becomes the turning point.
This is something that Sparks said, and it touched my heart:
The church is the eternally chosen instrument and vessel in and through which the absolute supremacy of the Lord Jesus is to be manifested and administered.
May those walls come down.
Lord, we come to You today. I want to come to You in weakness because Paul said that in our weakness, the Lord can put His strength upon us.
Lord, we come to You today. We don’t profess to be anything, but Lord, we do want to overcome. Lord, we want to be a part of that instrument that is able to break through the stronghold of the adversary, Lord—not only in this last great battle, but in the ones we face every day.
So, Lord, we look to You. Lord, I want to say, I’m so touched this morning about this matter of being drawn back to You and first love for You, Lord. This is impossible without that.
So, Lord, do it. Do it in all of our lives and in all of our hearts. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.