February, 2000

The Triumphant Church, Part II By Pastor Pete Norris

God is looking and seeking for a triumphant church. The word "church" means "called out". Often, we are so busy binding and loosing something that we never thank God for what we have. Be careful that we do not overemphasize spiritual warfare. Of course Satan is real, but he has been defeated. What I am speaking of has nothing to do with the devil but with the lusts of the flesh and the mind.

II Corinthians 2:11 -- "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices."

Right thinking brings the power of God. Wrong thinking opens the door to Satan. A lot of our problem is our flesh or carnal nature. God is not going to take a desire away from us that we are constantly feeding. We must bring this body under subjection to God. If we follow after the lusts of the flesh, it will bring about death. God never intended for man to die spiritually or physically. God intended for Adam and Eve to live forever. We want to be triumphant but we don't even know who our enemy is. Satan is our enemy, but everything we are battling in our lives is not the devil. It is time for the church to realize that if we are going to be triumphant, we are going to have to clean up.

Luke 19:13 -- "And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come."

The word "occupy" means "to enforce." We need to enforce the victory in Christ until he returns. We need to start standing up for Jesus. Jesus cannot come where He is not allowed to enter. If we will think right, act right, and live right, the devil cannot get around you. We are busy magnifying the battle instead of magnifying the victory. The Word says we are walking in victory. Some of us are in victory only when things are going good and look favorable.

The words "war" and "warfare" in the New Testament never relate to Satan. We are so busy fighting Satan that we cannot enjoy our lives. We don't know what the Word says. If you want to walk triumphantly, stop magnifying the battle and magnify the victory.

I Corinthians 9:7 -- "Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charge? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?"

This text is speaking about a minister being worthy of his pay. It is not speaking about the devil. Satan is already defeated. All we have to do is walk out the promises of God's Word. We take scriptures out of context to fit where we are because we do not want to search for the real truth.

II Corinthians 10:3-5 -- "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh; (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"

This text is not referring to the devil. The Apostle Paul is writing about the mind being in line with the Word of God and bringing the flesh under subjection. When we open the door, Satan comes in. We are first enticed with our lusts and then we are led to death when we act upon these lust. It is time to rise up and tell it like it is. Paul is talking about bringing our thinking, our imagination and our flesh under control. We are having a tough time because we are not praying, reading the Word, and finding a scripture to stand on. We will not have a triumphant church until people clean up and get in the Word.

Galatians 6:7 -- "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

This scripture is addressed to believers. Whatever we sow, we will reap. We must get away from being led by this flesh and be led by the Spirit. We are a sexually oriented generation. Paul was not speaking here of the devil, he was speaking about the flesh. The devil cannot make us sin, but we have to yield to temptation and say yes.

Proverbs 18:21 --"Death and life are in the power of the tongue..."

We sow every day with our acts, our words and our deeds. What we are reaping in our lives is what we are sowing. If we are sowing into corruption, we are reaping corruption. We try to blame everything on the devil because we have a problem saying we are wrong. When we miss it, we need to admit it, receive forgiveness from God, and go on about our business. We need to keep our guard up at all times because the flesh wants to resurrect that old man, the sinful man. We will reap a harvest from whatever we are sowing.

I Timothy 1:18-19 -- "This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck;"

Paul is telling Timothy to hold to the faith, get his conscience right, and keep his head clean because the adversary, the flesh and mind are going to try to take his faith. We don't have to worry about the devil making us sin. He can only defeat us when we allow our faith to be stolen and by letting him take the Word of God from us.

We must not fix our eyes and heart on anyone or anything, but keep them focused on the Word of God. We must hold to our faith through the things we face. If Satan can get our faith, he will not have to worry about us. He is not worried about us as much, but he is very concerned about what the Word of God in us will do. When we begin to press, all hell will break loose. Our flesh retaliates against the spirit which is trying to do the things it is supposed to do: such as fasting, praying, and reading the Word. The reason the church struggles is because they are not standing on the Word.

Colossians 2:15 -- "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it."

God disarmed the devil and took away his authority. Satan cannot touch us unless he gets us thinking wrong and acting wrong. Satan does not want us to get revelation of the Word. We do not have to worry about the devil, because he is defeated. His teeth have been pulled but he is gumming some of the church to death.

Romans 7:18-25 -- "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."

There is nothing good in our flesh. Most believers have a will to do what is right, but yet do not know how to make it happen. We are trying to do it in our own strength instead of yielding to God and letting Him bring victory in our lives. When you want to do something good, the flesh will rise up. We are in a battle between our body, our mind, and our spirit. The one that will win is the one that has been fed the most.

Galatians 5:16-21 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the thing that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such thing shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

If we do not walk in the spirit, we will fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Verses 19-21 list the works of the flesh. These things are of the devil, but we have a choice to say yes or no to them. We have a choice to walk by faith and to be separated from the world. When we walk in the lusts of the flesh, we crucify Jesus afresh.

Galatians 6:8 "For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

Corruption is death. An incorruptible seed cannot die. When we commit sin and fulfill the lusts of the flesh, we sow seeds of corruption. Sin is literally killing the world today. People will die because they have said no to cleanliness and holiness. Few people are actually walking by faith today and living a clean life. We have got to learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. We need to sow into lives so people will be changed. We need to be different so the world can see it. The only way is when we control our flesh, turn from sin, and the blessings of God flow through us.

The Old Testament tabernacle was built specifically to God's design, with every fixture, part and color having significance. The scarlet that was in the tabernacle represents "suffering savior." Scar means "larva, ugliness, maggot." Maggot is a worm.

Psalm 22:6 -- "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people."

Psalm 22 represents the crucifixion; Psalm 23 represents now (the present); and Psalm 24 represents the coming of the Lord. In Psalm 22:6, David was prophesying what was going to happen to Jesus. When Jesus was on the cross, he became ugly and corrupted when He took on our sins. (Scarlet -- maggot, worm, suffering savior.) He became as a worm, bearing our sins in His body.

Some of us are in the maggot stage when we should be in the butterfly stage. When we go back into sin, we go back to where the maggots are. That is where the church is today. The bible says we are kings and priests ruling and reigning here on the earth.... we are not losers. A maggot goes to something dead and eats off of it. Jesus went there and became as a worm so we could be free. We want to go back and participate in sin but Jesus has delivered us out through His blood. The Spirit is drawing us away from the carcass -- away from feeding the flesh and our carnality, but the flesh does not want to go. There is death at the carcass. Jesus did not die in vain. He died that we would be kings. The church is wondering why God will not deliver them, but He has already done so. The church is dwelling around the carcass when they should be ruling and reigning through Christ. God is searching to find someone who will believe Him. We need to get out of the worm mentality and leave the carcass. We need to get away from those things that are dead (sin) and get around something that has been resurrected and is alive (Jesus).

Romans 8:13 -- "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."

If we go back to the carcass (sin), we shall die. We are trying to mix blood lines. Eating of the carcass (carnality blood) and having royal blood flowing through us do not mix. Jesus is the way, truth and life. He died that we could live. It is time to resurrect the church. God is searching for someone who will stand, even though standing will cost us something. Right in the midst of your darkness, the Holy Ghost will show up. He wants to see if we will stand. We are struggling because we are not willing to seek Jesus. We had rather feed the flesh. The triumphant church knows they are in a battle but they know they have already won.

Romans 13:14 -- "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

We need to put our flesh under, clothe ourselves with the Lord and wrap up with the Holy Ghost. Everybody has an excuse today for their sins. The Word says we are partakers of His divine glory; therefore, we have no excuse. It is time to be different.

James 4:1-2 -- "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not."

"War" in the original Greek text means "fights, controversies, and strife." Lack of selfcontrol makes us always be out of control with our flesh. We should keep this flesh under control. Anything in our life that has hold of us, that keeps us bound in our flesh, is wrong.

I Corinthians 9:27 -- "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

I Peter 2:11 "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;"

The flesh wants to overtake the spirit. We have to guard and protect our spirit. We should abstain from the things that are coming against our flesh and mind. The mind is the soul realm (will, emotions and intellect). The scriptures above are not referring to the devil. The devil is not our problem; our problem is us. Satan knows if he can get us thinking wrong and following our flesh and mind, we will not be a problem to him.

Colossians 2:9-10 -- "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power;"

The Godhead is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. We are complete in the Godhead. The devil is no match for Jesus.

The only battles we have are: (1) our flesh; (2) our head or mind; (3) our faith. If Satan can steal our faith, he does not have to worry about our flesh and head. Separation and sanctification is what is missing in the church. Sanctification is being set apart. No longer being at the carcass but in the heavenly places. If we are far above principalities and powers in Christ, how are these forces bothering us? They are not but our head, flesh and our lack of faith are the hindrance. Satan is no match for us if our life source is the Word of God.

II Corinthians 6:17 -- "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"

If we walk in uncleanliness, God cannot treat us with favor. We should be set apart and different from the world.

II Peter 1:4 -- "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

God has set us apart, placed us in His divine glory, and given us his nature.

Romans 12:1-2 -- "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

We need to renew our mind to prove God on the earth. We should not go back to the carcass but be different. We have been delivered out of darkness and into the kingdom of God. We are the only God the world will see. How do we give to God? When we sow into other's lives, we are giving to God. God sent us to walk for Him here on this earth. If we are called out, we cannot be like the rest of the world. We have to change from the lava into the butterfly. Sanctification is to be set apart. God is not looking for our ability. He is looking for His attributes to flow out of us. God clothes us with holiness, but often we go back to the carcass.

Luke 10:18-20 -- "And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."

Do not rejoice that the devils are subject to us because that is an automatic thing for a child of God standing on God's Word, walking in true faith. We should rejoice because our name is written in the book. Satan is defeated. Jesus applied the blood and delivered us.

Colossians 2:15 -- "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it."