Truth and Love

Tonight I have a sure word of prophecy for everyone who loves the Lord Jesus Christ in truth. In fact it is the surest word of prophecy that can possibly be given. This is it: Jesus wins. Yeah, just that simple; Jesus wins, and he will win. Also those who hold fast to the faith of him will win as well, because they are with the winner. We see so much evil being perpetrated in the earth today, and so many are scrambling to find the answers; whether to support the evils or to cure them. Unfortunately for this world there are those who are in high places that strive through monumental deceit to not only support the evils plaguing the world, but to solidify them in permanency. Those who are true to the calling of Christ are praying with great earnest and diligence against all of the evils that are prevailing in the earth today, as well as for the things that are just and right to prevail. "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (I Tim. 2:1-4). We are winning as long as we are following in step with the winner, who is Jesus. If we are not in sync with the above passage of scripture, then we are not in step with God who inspired it. There is more that we need to do however, to insure that we are going to win with Jesus. Praying is first and foremost, but there is surely a time to speak against the prevalent evils of our day; and the more evil we see, the more opportunity and necessity there is to speak against it: "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour... For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God... Be not ye therefore partakers with them... And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5:1,2,5,7,11).

Of course if we are going to speak against the evils of this age, we must be certain we are living in the holiness, and power, and love of God's Spirit, as the above passage admonishes us to do. This is another verse that fits well with it: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). But to get back to the part about Jesus winning, it simply can be no other way. Regardless of who likes it or believes it, he is the Lord of heaven and earth, and there are no evil entities in all of creation that can stand before him, as the scripture plainly shows us: "Who [Christ] is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him" (I Pet. 3:22). If we walk by sight then a lot of things can look really bad in a lot of ways, simply because there is a lot of wickedness being wrought in a lot of ways throughout the earth; and it's really easy to 'see.' But God be thanked we have a better view of things than those without faith: "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (II Cor. 5:7). That's right, our view of things is the view of faith, and the view of faith is the view of JESUS! That's really good news because he is the undisputed heavyweight champion of all existence, and he has NO CHALLENGERS! Anything or anyone that opposes the righteousness, the order, the truth, or the power of God loses by default. Period. It may not always 'look' that way, but again the good news is that we don't walk by 'look,' but by faith in the one and only winner of every battle. When Jesus returns from heaven with the armies of heaven, and meets up with the faithful at mid-journey; he is coming to finalize his victory of the entire war (I Thess. 4:16,17; I Jn. 3:2).

The scripture shows us graphically that Jesus indeed will win in the end, and that without a sweat: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war... His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself... And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords... And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh" (From Rev. 19). That is what he will do to the two men who have had a short but terrorizing reign over the earth, and their armies with them. THAT is what I call VICTORY! Jesus will be victorious in that battle because he was victorious two thousand years ago when he conquered sin and death, and because he has been victorious in every battle that every faithful saint has fought in his name since then. He IS victory, plain and simple. He cannot be defeated, and no one who fights against Satan and his forces in his name can be defeated as long as they hold fast to him and abide in the power of his Spirit. We can be hurt. We can be misunderstood and misjudged. We can be misaligned. We can be imprisoned, and we can even be killed; but if we abide in him we CANNOT be defeated!

The great martyr of the faith, Stephen, was being killed; and he was winning at the same time: "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord... And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep" (Acts 7:55,57,59,60). You tell me, who won and who lost in that battle? Stephen had practiced looking at Jesus instead of what his eyes saw, to such an extent, that in his direst moment it was actually Jesus that he saw, more than his own death. Wow! What a man indeed! I want to hear his testimony first hand one day. Paul and Silas were thrown in the dungeon of a prison and put in stocks, for releasing a woman from demonic bondage; but it was they who proved to be the victors: "And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely... And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed" (Acts 16:23,25,26). I might add that the jailer and his family were converted to Christ as a result of these things. So once again, Jesus wins, and those who abide faithfully in him win as well, whether in life or in death. It's just that way, and it's impossible for it to be any other way. So wherever you're at in your life, and however things may appear or feel, Jesus has already won any battle that you may be facing. Just "keep thy heart with all diligence," don't allow sin any space with you, keep your eyes on Jesus; and you will win by default (Prov. 4:23-25). There is no other possibility. As we see the growing prevalence of evil in the world, and as the walls seem to be closing in on those who hold to what is true and right; we only need remember that Jesus wins. Always. He wins now and he wins later. And if we are truly with him we will win now, and we will win later when we mount white horses beside him in route to the greatest victory of all time. Now that my friend, is a sure prophecy. God bless.