and beloved no matter how dark the night no matter
what happens to you always remember to whom you
belong in our last little heart -to -heart talk
you will remember that i was answering a letter
having been written by a man in new york And
he was talking about the reality of God in an
individual's life. And how to receive that reality.
The life of power. Oh, there's so much counterfeit.
Honestly, beloved, when you come to this thing
of counterfeit, I think you'll find more counterfeits
in religion than in... Anything else I know anything
about today? Oh, the counterfeit. And when it
comes to the counterfeit in this thing of being
a Christian, there is also the counterfeit when
it comes in to this thing of real victory and
false. Real victory and its counterfeit. And
sometimes I think, That much of this that we
think as being victory in the life of a professing
Christian isn't real victory after all. When
you take the thing apart and analyze it, you'll
find it's counterfeit. Now for everything for
which there is a genuine, there's always a counterfeit.
And when it comes to the spiritual, you'll find
the genuine, whenever Jesus has given a genuine,
when it comes to spiritual things for an individual,
the devil has come right along with a counterfeit.
And I'm not going to read you one thing that
I gave you in our little heart -to -heart talk
when I left your home the last time, but we're
going to go right on with this thing of... Crosses.
It is not crosses that Jesus was talking about.
He spoke of only one cross for you. One cross
for me. If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross and follow
me. Again. Whosoever does not bear his cross
and come after me cannot be my disciple. As we
see from this, it's our duty to take up the cross,
not to carry crosses. So many professing Christians
are going around daily talking about their crosses.
No. There is one cross. And whenever one sees
a cross, one always thinks of death. The cross
is a symbol of death. That cross on which Jesus
died was a symbol of death. That was his cross.
When he spoke regarding your cross, It means
the death to you. Your own death upon that cross.
Death to self. And there can be no great spirituality,
there can be no great spiritual experience until
there is a death of self upon that cross. And
it's just like that. If you'd seen a man in the
Lord's day carrying a cross, you'd know that
it meant death to someone, probably for the man
himself. And it's just like that. And before
anyone can really follow Christ, really be a
disciple, he must be dead with Christ. and risen
with him. That's what Paul meant when he said,
I have been crucified with Christ. Yet I live.
Yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me. Search
the scripture. You'll never find Paul speaking
of his crosses in spite of his persecution. In
spite of his experiences, Paul never referred
to any one of those experiences as being crosses.
Never. You and I err when we speak of experiences
that we have as being our cross that we must
carry, the crosses that we must bear. Paul never
did. When he spoke of his cross, he said, I have
been crucified with Christ. He was talking to
that experience of death to self. Yet I live.
Yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me. It's
one thing, you know, to be saved from the...
Penalty of sin. That's wonderful. But it's another
thing to follow Christ. And you will never follow
Him in a daily, consistent life of victory until,
first of all, there has been a death of self
on that cross. You know, some Christians are
monstrosities. Really, I mean that. They are
no more like Christ 20 years after their conversion
than they were when they began the Christian
life. That's true. They have not taken up the
cross, have not been crucified with Christ. The
taking up of the cross, your cross, is the end.
of crosses and the beginning of discipleship.
And there can be no discipleship until there
has, first of all, been the cross. The cross
on which you died and Christ began to live in
you, through you. A living reality. A very vital
part of you. Yeah? Now. Now we're going to come
to something that I hope will mean an awful lot
to you. We're going to come to this thing of
real victory and what it means. Let us be quite
clear regarding this thing. of a victorious life.
For the devil does all that he can to entice
us to accept a counterfeit victory. And by that
I mean a victory which we think we're getting
ourselves by our own efforts. I want you to stop
whatever you're doing right now because You can't
be washing your dishes and be doing something
else and fully concentrate on what I'm going
to say in the next five minutes. And this is
something that's vitally important. Because there's
many a precious professing Christian who feels
that they are living a victorious Christian life.
And yet that victory that you are so proud of
counterfeit victory. How do I know? It's because
you're so miserable. You are so unhappy. And
you make everybody else miserable around you.
That's the truth. There are honestly some Christians
that are professing Christians. Who am I to say
whether... They are Christians or not. We dare
not judge each other. But one thing I know, when
I see you coming, I think, oh, dear Lord, they
make me so miserable just being in their presence.
I feel so happy. I feel so wonderful. Oh, I just
can't tell you. How wonderful I feel on the inside
of me. And then when you come into the presence
of that one, it's like you're being overshadowed
by the blackest cloud that you ever saw in anybody's
sky. And yet, they'll swear that they live a
life of complete victory. Yeah. But when you
analyze their victory, It's something that they
are accomplishing or trying to accomplish through
their own efforts. And that is not real victory.
That, my friend, is counterfeit victory. That's
why when young people write to me and say, now,
is it a sin to do this? Is it a sin to do the
other thing? Beloved, This is always my answer.
If the desire is there, if you have to strain
and struggle and just use all the willpower that
you have, and if you practically have to be tied
to a chair to teach from doing it, then for pity's
sakes, go ahead and do it. Go right ahead and
do it. I do exactly what I want to do. And I
could go right on down the line. It's amazing.
I don't want to do those things. And it's like
that. That's the reason I'm the funniest kind
of a preacher that you ever heard preach in all
of your life. a negative gospel. I never preach
against sin. I never preach against a certain
thing. Never. You have never heard me preach
a sermon against liquor. And yet I dare say that
we have had more men and women delivered from
liquor in this ministry than in any ministry
in the United States today. We have proof. We
have evidence. I can show you every Sunday a
huge stage filled with men. Practically every
man in our men's chorus has been delivered from
liquor. Those men today drink all the liquor
that they want to drink. but they don't want
to. They had no desire for it. They don't have
to say to the one next to them as they pass a
liquor joint, hold me, don't let me go in, ooh,
don't let me go, keep me from going in. I have
to walk on the opposite side of the street to
keep from going in. If that's the way you feel
about it, go on in, bud. Oh, you say, Miss Kuma,
do you know what you're saying? Sure. Let's be
practical about the thing. Now you take the question
of a bad temper. Oh, many Christians pride themselves
on the fact that they exercise such self -control
that their temper never gets the better of them.
No, never. They're so sweet. They're so wonderful.
And they pride themselves on it. And the greatest
sin? is not the temper, but their spiritual pride.
The spiritual pride that they are enjoying because
of the fact that they can exercise self -control
over their temper. And they never let their temper
get the better of them. By this, they mean that
they never show it. Oh, it's there, all right.
Oh, I'll... Look at their face. All you have
to do is just look at their face. It's as red
as a beet. They're so mad on the inside, they're
ready to explode. They can hardly contain themselves.
Now watch something. The victorious life is not
one which merely makes our outward actions right.
It's the life which gives us victory in the...
inner realm of the heart so that our very desires
are right. We're right at the core of the thing,
not just outward. To want to do wrongful things
and to restrain from doing them is not real victory.
The wonderful thing is, That God takes the want
to out of our very hearts. The want to goes.
And in the place of that desire, he has put a
love. And we long only to do his will. No, beloved.
Surrender alone is not enough. Willpower alone
is not enough. Decision is not enough. Willingness
is not enough. We are neither saved or filled
with the Spirit. by what we give up, but by what
we receive. True victory, really true victory,
takes the want to out of our hearts. And instead,
the person that Jesus fills that part of us with
his love. And that's exactly what Paul meant
when he said, I have been crucified with Christ,
yet I live, yet no longer I, but Christ liveth
in me. That's not counterfeit. That's The Genuine.