ALONE WITH GOD     

  Now Rev. 12: 11 tells us they overcame him. "They" in this scripture refers to the saints of God. "Him" refers the dragon, enemy of the saints of God, and the preceding verses of this chapter tell us about a war that went on in heaven, not in the eternal heavens where God wells but the spiritual heaven and where Michael and his angels fought, and the dragon we are told was cast out, and his place was found no more in heaven; and the eleventh verse it says that the saints overcame him with the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto the death. Three points there in that verse give us a view into the real success of a true child of God. "Their success and their victory over the dragon and enemy of their souls was based upon those three things. And, beloved if we overcome Satan and sin, we will do it by the blood of the Lamb. There will be no other way we can do it, only by the power that is in the blood of Jesus our Savior. Also we will overcome by the word of our testimony. When we try to conceal the love of God in our hearts and fail to hand it out to the world it will become stagnant and will be no more in our hearts. Then, Dear ones, the Bible says they loved not their lives to the death. TheyÕd rather give up their lives than to give up Jesus. Do you love him that well? Do you love Christ and his work so much that you'll just lay on the chopping block and say, ÒTake it, I'll not recant; I'll not give up Jesus. You can take my life but just leave me in the hands of God?Ó Can you say that? I'm glad this afternoon I've made that decision in my heart. As I've often said, I've gone to far to turn back, and I'm afraid to do anything but just trust God, and I mean that. I'm afraid not to trust God. Too many bridges have been burned behind me. If IÕd turn back, I wouldn't know which way to go. So the only thing I know to do is to just keep my hand in God's and just keep plowing through the forces of evil. Now if individuals are not to the place where we love the Lord that much, we are not where we ought to be. If we havenÕt placed Jesus uppermost in our affections, in love, in our lives, in our all, we are not where God wants us to be. We're just a little below that standard that God wants us to live by, and that is, that he has first place in our hearts and in our lives. Unless we can truthfully say with John the beloved that our fellowship is with God the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, weÕre not in tune. Oh, when we are in constant touch with God and with the spiritual dynamo in heaven, when we attached to it just right, then the Christian life is drab, uninteresting life. But, friends, if you have nothing but a profession as you go along in life, it will be a drudgery for you to try to serve God. It will be an uninteresting life; it will be a monotonous life, the commandments of his word will be very grievous for you to bear, but when youÕre hooked up with heaven just right, it is not grievous to be borne. Praise God for his word! Then we can have fellowship with him and his Son Jesus Christ.

  Now the word of God plainly teaches us that we should have on the whole armor of God; and when we begin to think about having on the whole armor, we begin to think about fighting. I want to say, dear friends, if you aren't clad in the whole armor of God and if you don't have it fixed in your mind to fight your way through, you shall never see the pearly gates of heaven; because every step you take in the kingdom of God and the work God through the coming years is going to be in bitter opposition to the forces of evil. They are arraying themselves all about in this big world to stamp out real Christianity and to do away with the old-time minority that believes in old-time religion. But thank God, the word, tells us the gates of hell shall not prevail against GodÕs church. Brother, we might just as well buckle on the whole armor and resolve in our hearts ÒLord, we will go through if it takes the heads from our shoulders.Ó Yes we have a song that says, "God leads his children along, some through green pastures, some through shady place some through the water and some he leads through the fire. I want to say God leads us through suffering too. Oh, wouldn't it be nice, as Bro. Calloway said, to stick, up your finger and say, "Mark me down for a robe and a crown"? Wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't it be nice to say, "Lord, I'm coming," and then just go as we please? Let's not look for an easy way. Let's not expect an easy way. if it were an easy way God wouldn't have provided any armor; you surely would not need it. But since he has provided armor and exhorted through his apostles for us to put it on, then let's get it on and get ready for some suffering. Now I don't mean physical suffering or physical grief. There are other ways that men suffer greater torture than through the human body. Men are strong as a rule and are able to stand untold agonies in the physical body, but when it comes to suffering the shame and reproach of the cross and when it comes to bearing the reproach that religious leaders will pour out on you, it's a different question altogether. But we might just as well get ready, for their intimidating remarks. You had just as well fix it in your mind they will come; and if one man doesnÕt say it, then another will. If one man doesn't say it then an organization will . So let's die out to all those that are said, let's not let them shake us one bit; let's this precious book, and some day we will see heaven.

  Now let us turn our attention to Matt. 24. There's a verse I want to call your attention to. In the first three verses of that chapter we read of Jesus and his disciple at the temple in Jerusalem, and the scriptures says he came out of the temple and departed, and the disciples came to Jesus to show him the beautiful buildings of the temple. They still had their minds, like a lot of people today, focused on the material things. They came around and said, "Jesus, just look at the beautiful temple." In my mind the beauty of the temple just can't be imagined. The grandeur of that temple can't be visualized in your imagination. But Jesus saw something greater and far more important than these things. In verse two he said, ÒSee ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." These old material buildings will all be torn down. Not one stone will be left on another. We know that about forty years later it really happened to the temple at Jerusalem. Then in the third verse after they had gone to the Mount of Olives the disciples came to Jesus and asked him a question, "Tell us what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? when shall these things be?"

  Not only those disciples there have desired to see some signs, but men women all down through the ages have been somewhat sign seekers. They wish to see some signs. By the help of the Lord I'm going to show you an outstanding sign that tells us we are right at the threshold of eternity. just one sign I want to show you that will prove to any rational minded individual that we are on the doorstep of eternity. Jesus is nigh at the door. As we look about today in the religious world there's one great move on foot toward an objective, and most outstanding religious leaders of the world are thinking of that one selfsame thing. The outstanding question of the day is unity among God's people. We read about it, we hear about it everywhere we go. In a religious meeting it's unity, let's get together, let's have just one church. Let's get together and have that one church.

Thank God that men's eyes have been opened to the extent that they see something is wrong. They see that division is a sin. It's wrong, and we need to get rid of it; but to say the most, there's only a few who have found the remedy for it. Now maybe you say, "Preacher, you think you're one of them." And I'll answer you, "Yes, I do." Not egotistically do I answer, but I thank God that the Lord has opened my little eyes down inside to the truth of his word. Christianity will work right here as well as anywhere else. Christianity will work on point of unity the same as on any other point we want talk about.