No. 39 - A PEOPLE OVERCOME By: John J. Blanchard Saturday, January 31, 2004 Many scriptures foretell a terrible time for God’s people at the end of the age, a time that must be cut short in order for any of the elect to be saved and spared. Indeed, the entire world is at stake! Matthew 24 calls this a terribly dangerous time for God’s people. Let us turn there to Matthew 24, starting in verse 15 and read to verse 22. If you will notice, it is for the elect’s sake that those days will be shortened. THE FALSE BODY OF CHRIST Continuing in verse 23: “‘Then if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!” do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.’” This is referring to signs in verse 23 through 24. It says the elect would be in a great deal of difficulty. Often times we have looked at this and have said that people would claim to be Christ. This is not exactly what these verses are saying. It says, “‘Here is the Christ!’” If you will notice in other scriptures which we will not turn to right now, we understand the concept that we are the body of Christ. This could be referring to people claiming to be the body of Christ. This is where Christ is. This is where He is working, and then pointing to false signs. We understand the false signs are wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes. There will be many proclaiming to be the body of Christ or where Christ is and saying false signs and wonders, so much so that they could lead the very elect astray. That is exactly what has happened to God’s Church! Let’s look back a little bit in Matthew 24, verse 5. “‘For many will come in My name, saying, “I am Christ,” and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.’” We can see this expounded on just a little bit differently but the same basic concept by turning to Luke chapter 21. Luke 21, verse 7: “So they asked Him, saying, ‘Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?’ And He said: ‘Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them. But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.’ Then He said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places…’” Obviously in the last days there will be a plethora of people, a lot of false prophets, saying here is where Christ is working and here is what He wants us to tell you, - wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines and pestilences are the signs of Christ’s coming. Christ said do not follow after that. That is not correct. Do not be terrified. Do not be worried because you have always had wars and you will always have these wars, earthquakes and famines right up until My coming. But that is not the sign of My coming. If that is what can, indeed, lead the people astray and cause the elect to fail, we need to pay attention and be very careful what we are following so that we do not follow after the wrong sign. We do not want to look for the wrong things and eventually get overcome because this is very dangerous to God’s people. We could end up preaching the wrong message at the end time! The warning is of a spiritual devastation because the Church is the body of Christ and you cannot kill the body of Christ with earthquakes, famines, bullets, guns or bombs. The body of Christ is a spiritual organism. Anybody baptized into the body of Christ was baptized into a spiritual organism. Therefore, Christ’s warnings are spiritual. Do not follow after false people preaching in My name because they can lead you astray spiritually! This is the actual warning that Christ talks about. If you would look once again back in Matthew 24, we are going to make a little bit different comparison here as well as to what you commonly hear regarding the return of Jesus Christ. Matthew 24, verse 36: “‘But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.’” So only God the Father knows when He is going to send Jesus Christ back to this earth. A SPIRITUAL FLOOD Continue reading in Matthew 24:37-44. Christ says here it will be similar to Noah’s day and age when Christ returns. People run off and they conclude that Christ meant it will be an awful time like Sodom and Gomorrah just before Christ returns, in other words, pointing to physical signs. But Christ says here as in the days of Noah when the flood came, people were marrying, giving in marriage, drinking, having a good time and going about their normal lives. When people go about their normal lives expecting physical disaster to precede Christ’s coming, they are going to miss it, because things can look very normal right up until Christ’s return. It is important to understand what the flood is being compared to here. Let’s go back to Revelation 12 because there is not going to be a second physical flood. Revelation chapter 12 gives us a little bit of a heads-up of a type of a flood that is coming, starting in verse 13. “Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring…” That would be “remnant” in the King James Version. “…who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” What kind of flood is this? If you cannot kill the body of Christ with guns, bullets, tanks and bombs, it is not a physical army. A lot of times there has been a misunderstanding of this flood being a physical army. But this flood is sent out after the Church right from the time they need to go to the place of safety for 1,260 days which occurred right then at Christ’s first coming. He died and the Church ended up fleeing. From the time Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D. the Church has been protected because a flood was coming after that Church all the time! What kind of flood was this? This consisted of false signs, doctrines, false teachings, heresies, temptations, schisms and divisions. So he sent out a wave of demonic activity after the Church or a flood of demonic activity to take the Church over. He could not. He did tremendous damage over the years but the gates of hell did not and will not prevail against God’s Church. So this is the flood that is spoken of. It is not a physical flood of water, and it is not a flood of an army. It is a flood of Satan’s evil thoughts, attitudes and temptations to destroy God’s people in a way we can be overcome through sin. A PEOPLE OVERCOME It is sin that can overcome the body of Christ if we are not careful. It is not guns, bullets and bombs. That is why the subject today is “A People Overcome” because scripture does point to the fact that the Church will be overcome at the end. A remnant is left at the very end time age of the Church. The Church will be overcome, but it is not by death. From the time of Christ, starting with Christ, Christians have been persecuted to death. Christ Himself died on a cross, and many have fallen in His footsteps and given the ultimate sacrifice with their physical lives. That did not kill the Church. In Matthew 10 Christ makes this very clear. If you will turn with me to Matthew 10 Christ is very clear on this point. We will start in verse 26 and read to verse 33. Christ is saying very clearly here not to worry about your physical body and do not be afraid of those who can just kill your physical body. Be concerned about your salvation. Be concerned about the hairs of your head that are all numbered. We have covered that as acts of service and acts of love and that we are supposed to produce a crop for God. Be concerned about that and be a witness of Jesus Christ to the world unashamedly, for then He will confess us to the Father. In other words our sins will be covered (our shortcomings) if we do things in the right order and if we are not fearful of physical things but concerned about spiritual things. We are also told in another place to seek the kingdom above all things first then everything will be given to you. You do not have to worry about your physical needs. God will provide for them. Be concerned about being overcome spiritually. SATAN’S ONLY HOPE Satan wants more than our physical bodies. Satan wants to destroy God’s Church. This is what stands between him and his ultimate goal of either extending his reign or permanently keeping his power. It is his only hope. He has tried to take on God the Father in heaven and got kicked out of heaven. He tried to take on Jesus Christ for three and a half years. He was defeated at the temptation in Matthew 4, and he was defeated right up until he put Christ to death at the crucifixion. Christ never sinned so He overcame Satan. By the same token, the body of Christ, the Church, must overcome Satan. We overcome him by putting sin out of our lives, and whenever we fall short, claiming the blood of Christ to keep us clean. When we are cleaned up like that, we have overcome Satan. Consequently, the way to be overcome by Satan is to do just the opposite: leave sin in our lives, do not deal with it and do not claim the blood of Christ properly. SATAN DEFEATED BY GOD Isaiah chapter 14 talks about Satan going to heaven and trying to beat the Father. We can go look at Isaiah 14. We have read it many times. We can read about Satan trying to take over God the Father’s throne. Isaiah 14, verse 12: “‘How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.’” Two aspects of the battle between God and Satan are spoken of here. The first is what you might want to call round one or the first attempt by Satan to take over God’s throne. It was when he went up to the throne and actually did spiritual warfare: angel to angel in heaven. Satan lost. Then it says here in verse 13 that he will “sit on the mount of the congregation”. That is God’s Church. When he is kicked out of heaven, he tries to take over God’s Church. His first attempt was to actually kill Jesus Christ when he was born. He tried to move Herod to kill Jesus Christ, the Infant. When that did not work, when Christ started His ministry at age 30 he tried immediately to get Christ to sin. That is the only other way to defeat Him: either prevent Him from living a perfect life by killing Him at birth or get Him to sin. If he could have gotten Christ to sin, he would have won. Matthew 4 talks about that. Turn, please, to Matthew 4 for the temptation of Jesus Christ. This was probably the most titanic spiritual battle ever fought between man and Satan. Satan lost because he was dealing with Jesus Christ. Read Matthew 4:1-11. Christ was tempted in a horrible fashion here, head to head by Satan. Jesus Christ won. Notice they were quoting scripture back and forth at each other because this was a spiritual battle. This was not a battle with swords, guns or a brawl. This was spiritual warfare in its rawest form where a demon was battling a man, but a Man full of the Holy Spirit. Christ won. Then Christ had to face Satan for three and a half years. It says in Hebrews that He “was in all points tempted just as we are.” So Satan went on for three and a half years trying to get Jesus Christ to sin. He could not do it. At the end of that three and a half year period in utter frustration, Satan had Him killed. He was physically put to death by Roman legionnaires who did not know what they were doing. This is why Christ said, “Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they do.” That was one last frustrating act of Satan where he hoped that under torture, duress and stress Christ would crack. He did not. Because of that we have a Champion who lived a perfect life and whose blood became our Passover sacrifice. By that perfect sacrifice we can now overcome Satan even when we fail! We must be giving every effort in our lives to succeed. If we do not, we are unprofitable servants. God knows that we are physical. Even when we are doing the very best we can, we are going to fall short from time to time. We can always go to our Savior and claim the blood of Jesus Christ. Our sins will be wiped away. Every time we do that, we are overcoming Satan. Every time we lick a personal sinful habit, we are overcoming Satan. We are weakening his power in our lives. OVERCOME OR BE OVERCOME We are to overcome or be overcome. Unfortunately in the last days we are going to find that the Church is overcome, but God is going to help us. Those who are weak God will help. Revelation 13 shows us the prophecy and fulfillment here in the end time. Turn to Revelation 13 and we will read the condition of the Church at the end. Revelation 13, verse 4: “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’ And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation” This is the situation we are in today. The flood came after the Church. From the point that Christ died and the Church was formed that flood came after the Church. The Church was protected right up until the very end, and the remnant was overcome. How was it overcome? Was it overcome by NATO, by a united Europe, by physical armies or by a flood of real physical water that kills? No! This is spiritual warfare. The Church is overcome spiritually! We are told a little bit here. He speaks terrible things such as false signs, false wonders, heretical doctrines, turns the Church hard hearted, causes the Church to be selfish and divided, and turns the Church toward one another so they destroy one another. This is how he overcame God’s Church. It has been fulfilled. The Church has been overcome. Turn, if you would, to Daniel chapter 12. Daniel spoke of this time as well. Daniel 12, verse 7: “Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.” The battle between the Church and Satan lasts the whole three and a half prophetic years, the 1,260 days, the forty-two months. The Church is able to withstand the onslaught of the flood that entire time by the power of Jesus Christ until the very end! In ancient times because of abominations in Solomon’s physical temple (the sins of the people and the priesthood), Christ had to leave that temple. The Shekinah glory left that temple. Then it could come down. The same has happened in the last days. A spiritual temple was built. Physical people became spiritual living stones and spiritual sacrifices in that temple. Then because we allowed sin into our lives, turned on one another, devoured one another, became hard hearted and enemies came within the body of Jesus Christ, Christ withdrew from His temple. It has fallen flat. Every stone has been torn apart and people are separated because of our sins. This is what Daniel is talking about here. It is all finished when you see the power of the holy people completely shattered. It is over! The jig is up and Christ is about ready to return. This is where we are right now. All of these trials that we have undergone in the last fifteen or so years have been a refining and purifying process. It has been a pressure that was allowed to be applied on the Church by God. The pressure was applied by Satan. Satan did that work of destroying the Church. God did not make him do that, but He knew, if He pulled away from the Church just like in the Old Testament, what would happen. If God’s presence left the temple, it would not be long before Satan moved people to overwhelm it. Spiritually speaking when God pulled His protection away from the Church, it was not long when Satan’s flood was able to overwhelm the remnant: the last group in time of the Church eras. TAKEN BY SURPRISE The wise need to understand this because any Church member who is waiting to flee to a physical place of safety by watching physical signs is going to be taken unaware! It is going to come upon them suddenly and shock them. We need to help warn them by putting this information out, but people are going to have to allow Jesus Christ to come in and sup with them and open their eyes to the condition of the Church and where we are in time. Why and how did all of this happen? It is the same reason it happened the first time. As we become selfish and hard hearted, we pollute God’s temple. The first temple got polluted by physical breaking of physical laws. They were breaking the Sabbath day, putting up physical idols, and those things are the things that abominated the first temple. The spiritual temple can break the Sabbath and defile that temple, but we can also put up idols in our lives. We can allow unrepentant sin to stay in our lives. We can rob God both spiritually and physically in tithes and offerings. Our physical life is an offering to God if we give it to Him spiritually and our physical resources can be offerings to God that we give Him physically. By letting our hearts become hardened and us being overcome by sin, we become the state that Revelation 3:17 talks about. We become “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” That is the state we are in as a Church. God is individually knocking on our doors saying please repent and buy from Me the truth. Let Me open your eyes up to what the Church is really like so that you can become rich and so that you can get covered with clean garments. This is an important thing to realize, because if we are scared from physical things like earthquakes, famines, pestilences and wars, we are not paying attention to the real things God can do to help us cleanse the temple for Christ’s second coming. This is why we can be taken by surprise if we are not careful. We need to ask God for help before it is too late. That is what we are told also in Revelation 3:18-19. While Christ is at the door, open up while there is still time. TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN To whom much has been given, much is required. We have been given the Holy Spirit, true doctrines, understanding, the comprehension of the holy days so that year by year we can participate in God’s plan physically so that we can teach ourselves spiritually the truths of God. We have been given much, brethren. To those who have been given much, much is required. If you would, please, turn to Luke 12. We can see how God tests His servants, because we are being tested. Luke 12, starting in verse 35: “‘Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning…’” This is Christ talking to His apostles and, of course, to those who would follow including ourselves. “‘…and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.’” This is the point we are at. Christ is knocking and He wants us to open up and get fed. He wants us to be with our lamps burning brightly. In other words, an example to the world with our lives through our acts of service, our love toward one another and utilizing those gifts of the Holy Spirit that would help us burn brightly. Continuing in verse 37: “‘Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’” Continuing in verse 41: “Then Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?’ And the Lord said, ‘Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, “My master is delaying his coming,” and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.’” Christ asks a lot of us because He has given us a lot. He says be watching, be ready and be prepared. How? Do you do this by having a generator at your house, lots of gas, lots of food, medical supplies, getting ready to go to Petra or some other place of safety or getting physically raptured to some place to be protected? That is not preparation, brethren. That is what will get us in trouble. That is how we can be totally unprepared and watching for the wrong signs. That is where worrying about wars and rumors of wars will get you. PROPER PREPARATION We need to be concerned about spiritual sacrifices in our lives: loving one another, caring for one another, doing for our brethren and for our families. We need to be crying out that God would spare this world and send His Son soon. We need to become living stones in the temple that are pure and clean in a spiritual sense. Of course, we do physical things to support the work and help people. We need resources to run the work, print literature and get on the web and things like that. Physical resources and the physical helps we do for one another and for the poor brethren around the world are counted as getting ready. They are counted as being prepared and having good clean garments on. We should be covered with love. Our torch is glowing brightly when we do these things. If we become selfish and worry about self-preservation, we could fall into the category that Jesus Christ said you can worry about your physical body to the point of actually losing your spiritual soul: your heart and the Holy Spirit! Do not fear what can hurt the physical body. Fear what hurts us spiritually. We realize that we are the temple of God. I do not think we need to read all of these scriptures, but if you go to I Corinthians chapter 3:9-16, you will see He calls those living stones that He is building with the temple of God. He says do not defile the temple for whoever defiles the temple shall be destroyed, He says in verse 17. In Ephesians chapter 2:19-22 we are called the house of God, as in Hebrews 3:1-6. We are the house of God. We are the temple of God. How we keep that house (that temple) determines whether we overcome or are overcome. If our temple is defiled, sin is in our lives unrepented of, there is a lack of brotherly love and concern and there is hard heartedness, we are in deep trouble. Christ says when I return, what you have done for the least of My brethren you did for Me. What you did not do for the least of your brethren, you did not do for Me. He determines our reward based on that. It is based on how much we love one another because that is how much we love the body of Christ, Jesus Christ Himself. It is really not rocket science, but we have to stop worrying about our physical lives. We need to give our physical lives and lay them down for our brethren. As we do that, we are getting the spiritual temple ready for a sudden return of Jesus Christ that will take people who are physically minded totally by surprise. Turn, if you would, to Malachi 3:1. “‘Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.” That offering is our lives as a physical light that we turn into a spiritual offering because we let the Holy Spirit dwell in us. Christ uses our body as His body and by doing so we make ourselves into an acceptable sacrifice or an acceptable offering to God. This is how we can dwell with Him forever. If we are selfish, the temple is not ready. If we are not repenting of sin, the temple is not ready. If we are letting horrible images into our minds in front of a television set or movie screen or reading material on the Internet, the temple is getting defiled. All of these and many more ways Satan uses to defile God’s temple. It prevents it from getting ready for this sudden return by Jesus Christ. OVERCOME OR BE OVERCOME In Revelation 3 when Christ says buy from Me eye salve, buy from Me gold and silver and get clean garments, of course, He is talking about spiritual help here. He is not guaranteeing that we can stand up in front of a tank and get shot and not get hurt. He is saying you will overcome Satan instead of the other way around. If you are not careful, you will be overcome. Unfortunately we saw the prophecies that the Church will be overcome at the last days. When it is shattered and scattered, you know it is just about finished. That is where we are, brethren. It is just about done! We are far along the track at this point. There is not much time left to trim our wicks and get that lamp burning brightly. There is not much time left to get the food that we need to get some spiritual strength, clean garments, pure gold and silver before Christ returns. There is not much time left, so heed the warning and use our time wisely so that we can be part of the solution, so to speak, and not part of the problem. Christ is still at the door knocking. How many more knocks are left? We do not know. Open that door quickly and get some good food from Jesus Christ as soon as possible. By applying the duality principle to Solomon’s temple and to us today, we can see what it took to defile the physical temple that Christ left in the Old Testament and learn what to avoid today. As it says in I Peter chapter 2 we are living stones. We are a spiritual sacrifice being prepared for Jesus Christ, a temple that belongs to God just like the temple of Solomon where Christ dwelt above the mercy seat. It will not stay a vacuum if God leaves! God left the physical temple. It was not long before it was surrounded and overcome. Satan moved mankind to completely demolish that temple. Likewise in the Church, when Jesus Christ pulls out of our lives it is not long before we go down. When He pulls out of the Church and leaves it defenseless, it is not long before it is torn apart. There is no way Satan could have torn this Church to shreds if Christ had been in it. If Christ had been fully in it, it would be impossible. He could snip at our heels, he could send a flood, he could try as he might, but he could not tear us apart. Our love would be too strong and our lamps burning too brightly because Christ was there. So you put it together. Matthew 25 is very clear: the Church is asleep, the lamps are going out and that has allowed Satan to overwhelm the Church with a flood of false doctrines, selfishness and hate. He has pulled that beautiful building down. A really interesting study is the concept of being overcome. Turn to Romans chapter 12. You can look up “overcome” in your Strong’s Concordance sometime when you get a chance and verify what I am going to tell you. If you read in Romans 12:21 we are warned: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” You will notice He did not say be careful for those Roman legions. They are really good with their military tactics. You are going to have to train really hard, and everybody get ready to fight them. He does not warn us in the last days that they are going to have biological weapons and weapons of mass destruction. You are going to have to be in a physical place of safety with lots of food, water and money in order to protect yourself. No, He says you are overcome by evil if you are not careful. How do we overcome evil? We overcome evil with good. With Christ dwelling in us, with love and acts of service toward one another, we overcome Satan. If we do not do those things, he overcomes us, which is what happened in the last days. He overcame the Church. In II Peter 2 this is explained a little bit more. II Peter 2, verse 18: “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness…” It is clear here, brethren, we are overcome by corruption and that is sin. If we were once free and we had the Holy Spirit given to us, all our sins are wiped away. We can go to the blood of Christ whenever we fail and get sin wiped out of our lives. We can repent and draw near to God. But if we stop doing those things and do not use the things that give us the power and the strength to overcome Satan, we can once again be overcome by the ways of the world. The ways of this world are the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life and that is sin. This is how Satan is trying to overcome the Church. Through selfishness, greed and temptation he is defiling the temple of God (this spiritual building). We need to stand up and be counted and fight these things off so that the Church is not entirely overcome. God says I will not let it happen. There are some people who are going to pull through this. It will be a blessing for everyone else. We want to be among those people. If we are watching and we are careful, we will be. If we are not careful, we can go down. I John 2:13 says, “I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.” There is a sermon here, you might say, from John to the Church, and he is trying to include everyone. What he is saying is if you receive the Holy Spirit, you have overcome the wicked one. We are no longer of the world. We are separated for the body of Christ. He is telling them to continue on to fight the spiritual fight. You have overcome the wicked one and continue overcoming. It is a process. Mr. Herbert Armstrong always taught conversion is a process, and character growth is a process. That process can be halted or reversed. If we allow that to happen, we then can be overcome by Satan and be worse off than we were before! WILL WE SUCCEED We can look at the conclusion of the whole matter and find it is going to be a success on God’s terms. Will we be there and be part of the success story? That is the question of the day. Will we be a part of it? Turn, if you would, to Revelation 17:14. “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” The Lamb will win. Christ will win. What I am telling you, we will elaborate on at a future date. Within the body of Christ, if we are selfish and spreading selfishness, being greedy and spreading greed, we can be among those making war on the Lamb. If we are trampling on one another, beating fellow servants, accusing one another and harming the body of Christ, we can find ourselves among those making war on the Lamb. If we ever find ourselves in that situation, we have been overcome. We need to get on our knees and beg God for mercy as soon as possible so we are not held accountable for grievous error. Christ could come and say I was standing next to you and you denied Me because you denied the least of My brethren. You harmed the least of My brethren. You do not ever want to have that accusation come from God towards us. We need to overcome or be overcome and work on this very diligently while there is still time left. As I said, Christ is still knocking. There is still time. How much time is left? We do not know, but we know He can take us very suddenly. That temple will get ready. I guarantee you there are people in the body of Christ, called in the Philadelphia era who are getting ready somewhere. Individually or in little groups I do not know. Only God knows. When they are cleaned up, Jesus Christ is going to come back. God the Father will know, and He will send Him back. Those of us who selfishly worried about our physical lives and followed after false signs and wonders are going to find ourselves in deep trouble. A DEN OF THIEVES When you have time, study Ezekiel chapter 8 and look at the abominations of the temple. Compare what happened in the Old Testament to what is now happening in the spiritual temple of God. You will quickly see that the first temple was full of abominations, and God warned them that it would come down. The spiritual temple is also full of abominations. The second physical temple was destroyed after Christ’s first coming. What did Christ say about that temple when He came? He said it is a den of thieves. I am telling you today that the spiritual temple is not only full of abominations but it is a den of thieves! There are people robbing God of His tithes and robbing God of His Church members (the body of Christ). They are pulling them here and there. They are lying to them. In doing so, they are taking care of themselves just as a thief robs his fellow human beings to enrich himself. The Church is in desperate straits right now, but it is going to get fixed. God is going to save it. Will we be there with Him because we are working with Him to repair the body? Are we cleansing the temple and putting sin out of our lives? Sabbath breaking, pagan holidays or holy days in the Church, schisms and division and violent entertainment are all the way through the Church of God. It is shot through and through with all of these things. Examine our lives. Are we breaking the Sabbath? Are we keeping pagan holidays again? Have we helped divide the body of Christ? Are we watching or partaking of violent entertainment? Are we robbing God of His tithes and offerings? What are we doing to contribute to the defiling of the temple? Whatever it is, let’s stop it so that God can open up the door and feed us good food. He will put eye salve on us to see what we can do to change, repent and grow. CHOOSE LIFE Brethren, we have been overcome by Satan, but now it is time to stand up. Let’s give our lives back to God, and stand for something that is good. It is time to look at some admonitions in the Old Testament that are just as valid today, if not more so, than ever before in history. I believe more so! Turn back to Deuteronomy, please. Deuteronomy 30, verse 15: “‘See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord our God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.’” He is not talking just about the promised land in the Old Testament. It is a land to come (the Millennium), the entire earth. It is there for us to take if we choose life and if we love God. Turn, if you would, to Joshua 24. Joshua made a really fine stand for God, and we can learn from what he did. Joshua 24, starting in verse 13: “‘I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. 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!’” Verse 15: “‘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.’” In sincerity and truth, let us serve the Lord and labor on while we have time. Soon it will be measured. Jesus Christ will come suddenly. How will He find your house and mine? Will we be pleasing in His sight? Will we hear those words that we long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”