You and I have been having some good heart -to
-heart talks. And sure enough, it has been old
-fashioned Missouri cornbread. And maybe doing
some of those heart -to -heart talks, I upset
your theology a little bit. Maybe. But I tried
to give you scripture with... Everything that
I have given you and one thing is sure. Never
forget it. That if you've been taught one thing
and the Bible says something differently, the
Bible is always right. Always know that. If I
say something and it's contrary to what is in
the Bible, the Bible is right. If your church
teaches. something that is contrary to what the
Bible says, never forget the Bible, the very
Word of God, is absolute authority. Now, this
thing of living a Christian life is so simple
that sometimes I think we make such a hard...
out of something that should be so natural. The
Christian life is the natural way to live. It's
something that, I wouldn't say that it was easy
living a daily consistent Christian life, yet
it should not be a struggle, and it will not
be. A life of struggling if you know how to live
that life in Christ Jesus. A Christian should
be the happiest person in the world. And you
will be exactly that if you learn how to live
this life of victory. And that's exactly what
I've been talking to you about the past. Two
days. This life of victory. Now, I'm not going
to review one single thing. I told you yesterday,
if you didn't hear the heart -to -heart talk
the previous day, you should have been there.
If you didn't hear it yesterday, you should have...
Delayed your shopping just a half hour. You know,
it's kind of like that. And I just somehow couldn't
wait for you yesterday. I just couldn't do it.
And so today we continue again talking about
this wonderful life of victory. And I left you
talking about this negative attitude that an
awful lot of people have. Negative thoughts,
they live a negative life and everything about
them just oozes with a negative environment.
It's just like that. You walk into their presence
and you feel like, oh dear me, what is it, you
know? a negative person. Don't practice a constant
attitude of, well, I'm not even going to try
because I might fail. I'm not even going to ask
because I might be turned down. I'm not even
going to make a request because I just don't
want to be embarrassed by having somebody say
no. And so you just sit in that rocking chair
and you sit there all of your life. And then
the last day comes and you never had tried to
do one thing because you were afraid of being
turned down, afraid of somebody saying no, afraid
that you might be refused. Just get up from out
of that chair and say, I'll try it. And you'll
be surprised at what'll happen. You know why
I can say that? Because that's the kind of life
I've lived all of my life. Yeah? And I've lived
that kind of life not because I have had my eyes
on people. but because I've had my eyes on God.
And in Him, there is no defeat. I'm talking to
people right now. You have used as an excuse
for not being a Christian the fact that you might
not be able to live it. Then you talk about all
the hypocrites that you've known all of your
life. Well, really, I give those hypocrites more
credit than I do you. At least they put forth
an effort. You haven't even started. Don't talk
about those hypocrites. They did more than you
have done. At least they put forth some effort.
And you haven't done a thing. You know? Oh, sure.
There is always the possibility of temptation.
And as long as you are in the flesh, there will
always be the possibility of sinning. I gave
you this scripture yesterday. That after I read
it and had you picked up from off the floor and
back in your seating, you, you... probably have
read it several times since because you didn't
know it was in your Bible. It's in the Old Testament,
the fourth chapter of Leviticus, the third verse.
If the priest that is anointed do sin as the
people, God even made provision for those that
he has anointed. Just because you've been anointed
of God, or just because someone has been anointed
of God and called of God does not mean that that
one is never tempted or that that one can no
longer sin. He's made it very clear. In this
case, he talks to the priest and he makes it
very clear that he has been anointed. and if
he do sin. So you see, right here, it shows that
sin is inevitable. No matter who the person is,
if he's a part of humanity, then it's possible
for him to sin. But the most thrilling part is
that the Lord has made provision if that one
sin. He's made provision for me if I sin. He's
made provision for you if you should sin. That
somebody sitting there and said, well, I can't
be a Christian because maybe I won't be able
to hold out. Remember, get your eyes on the provision
and not the possibility of sinning. Oh, that's
so wonderful. Jesus thought of everything. God
the Father just thought of everything. He didn't
forget a single thing. Not a thing. Now, the
victorious life is secured by an act of faith.
And this wonderful victorious life is only maintained
by by a constant attitude of faith. There's got
to be that constant trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's so simple. Suppose then that there's
a failure. And you and I should, in that moment
of temptation, yield to that temptation. In that
moment of crisis, we yield to failure. And there's
a possibility that any one of us could yield.
Don't sit there in your self -righteousness and
say, Oh, dear me, I've been filled with the Holy
Spirit. I've spoken in tongues. I have this gift
or that gift of the Spirit. I belong to an organization
where we don't believe in sin. Well, I don't
belong to that kind of organization. I find that
in the body of Christ, and that body of Christ
is still made up of human beings, And as long
as we're still in the body of flesh, it's possible
for any man or any woman to yield to temptation
and to sin. And you're nothing more than a spiritual
bigot if you feel that you are an exception when...
The very Son of God was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. That's exactly
right. You may be filled with the Holy Spirit.
You may have had the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
You may have spoken in tongues. You may have
the gifts of the Spirit. Sometimes I think those
are the folks that the enemy of our soul, the
devil, attacks the most. That's right. Walk carefully.
Walk softly. Guard well that which you have.
If you're spirit -filled, if God has entrusted
you with the gifts of the Spirit, if you've had
great spiritual experiences, guard these things
carefully. Walk softly. For you are the very
person that the enemy will attack. The more...
deeply spiritual you are, the greater will be
the attack of Satan upon you. Because you have
greater influence than that somebody who is perhaps
just a little weak Christian someplace. Who has
very little influence. That's consistent. That's
logical. If the enemy can trip you and you are
a spiritual giant, that's exact. what he wants.
Some little somebody over here who has no influence,
sure they're born again. Sure they've had that
spiritual experience. But their temptation will
not be the same as yours. And if the enemy of
their soul will get them to yield to temptation,
it will not be merely the victory for him, as
it will be for that somebody whose spiritual
influence is great. So be careful. Walk softly.
Be not boastful. Be not boastful. Guard that
faith well. for the victorious life is secured
by an act of faith, and it's only maintained
by a constant attitude of faith. All right, suppose
there is a failure. Suppose we do fall into sin.
What then? Like they right now. Satan will immediately
try to follow up his victory. by trying to persuade
us that there is no such thing as the victorious
life, or that if there is, then we never had
the blessing in the first place, or if we did
have, well, it's all gone forever and we've lost.
Somebody says, Catherine Kuhlman, how did you
know that much about me? I didn't. But I know
just exactly how the enemy works. And if he can
convince you that you didn't have salvation in
the first place, he's won a big victory. If he
can convince you that you've never been filled
with the Spirit in the first place, he's won
a double victory. If he can persuade you that
you've never been called of God in the first
place, I'll tell you, he's won a tremendous victory.
If he can put doubts in your mind, and remember,
doubts are not of the spirit. Doubts are not
of God. Doubts come. from the devil, from the
enemy of your soul. Always remember that. Defeat
is never of God. Depression is never of God.
Oppression is never of God. Anything negative
is not of God. Never. Victory. is the language
of our God. We are more than conquerors through
Christ who loved us. That's the spiritual language.
So immediately after you've yielded to that temptation,
Satan comes along and says, okay, now you're
ruined. You're Absolutely ruined. Your testimony
is ruined. What will your family think? What
will the folk in the church think? Yes, sir.
What will my friends think? And so you hang your
head and your feet drag. Oh, you're the most
miserable. person in the world. Maybe you're
a missionary. And you did a tremendous job for
God out on the mission field. But something happened
to you out there. Or something happened to a
member of your family. And the enemy of your
soul says, you're ruined. You've lost your influence.
And if he can get you off of the mission fields
and get you back home again in a little rented
house and can get you to live the rest of your
life in defeat and discouragement, he's won a
mighty big victory. Because think of all the
soul that you might have gone on and won to the
Lord Jesus Christ if he had not attacked you
in your weakest moment and got defeat in your
mind. Get up right now, sir, and start doing
something about it. What? You say, what can I
do? Well, in the first place, remember something.
When a thing is confessed, it's forgiven. And
it's just like that. It's just like that. Do
not listen either to Satan or to those who may
accuse you. We've seen that the Bible is... full
of victorious teaching. It was taught by Christ.
And it shows itself again and again in Paul's
epistles and those of John. We remember that
God gave us the victorious life after many, many
falls. Will he then withhold it forever because
of one more fall? No. It's like forgiveness.
How many times should I forgive my brother if
he sinned against me? Once? Well, maybe I can
forgive him the second time. Lord, at the most,
I'll forgive him seven times. That's... Stretches
my power of forgiveness. That stretches my patience.
What did the scripture say? Seven times seven.
You keep on forgiving and keep on forgiving.
As long as they'll confess it, forgive them.
If the Master had withheld his forgiveness from
us and promised to only forgive us once or to
forgive us not more than five, six, seven at
the most, all of us would be sunk. You cannot
find in the Word of God where his forgiveness
is limited. You cannot do it. You... cannot.
He will not withhold from you his forgiveness.
But if Satan can whisper to you and he'll do
it so softly he'll convince you that you cannot
be forgiven. I want you to know that He's won
a great victory. Now we've conclusively shown
that there's no striving, no struggling on our
part. It's the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's His mercy. It's His grace. It must therefore
be obvious that such Effort and struggling will
never reinstate us. If we fall into any sin,
our Savior wishes us at once to turn to Him in
faith for forgiveness. Do it immediately. Even
the Old Testament. Watch these precious words.
I have sinned against the Lord. said the penitent
king. The Lord also hath put away thy sin, replied
the prophet. The very second that you are conscious
of that sin, ask forgiveness. And immediately
the Lord also hath put away thy sin. The sin
is in not asking forgiveness. There is the sin.
Is in not asking. to be forgiven. The minute
that thing is confessed, that minute, that sin
is put away.