In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the negative impact of the American culture on our nation. He highlights the self-centeredness and lack of trust in God that is prevalent in society. The preacher suggests that the media, such as television and news, are feeding people with empty information that does not bring life. He encourages the audience to turn to Christ and partake in the body and blood of Christ for true life and fulfillment. The preacher also mentions the challenges and resistance that believers may face in pursuing a life rooted in Christ.

Lord, we do thank you tonight for your goodness and your love toward us, Lord. It's marvelous, marvelous, the things you do. And we never can cease praising you and thanking you, Lord, for the attention to the details of our life. We appreciate it, Lord. So many deliverances, some we know, some we don't know. But, Lord, you're right there, faithfully helping in every way, and we appreciate it, Lord. I pray your blessing on each family represented here, Lord, and on their households. I know there's many worries and concerns, and I pray you will help bring everyone through successfully. Keep your hand on our brother, Lord, that's out there on his way to Hong Kong. Keep him safe under your covering, Lord, in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Bless us together tonight, Lord, as we go into your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, I want to talk to you a little bit tonight about, we'll see how the Lord goes here, but what's on my mind that we've been talking about, the end time and so on. I want to talk to you about what the promised land is. Now, as I start on this, let me comfort your hearts concerning heaven, okay? Because heaven is not the land of promise. But there is a heaven, and I've read many visions of heaven that I trust are from God, particularly the Adullam children, the Little Orphan children. How many have ever read that, Visions Beyond the Veil? That's a wonderful one, and then Infameros, that was written by Remekka Springer is a good one, and the visions of Marietta Davis, and then there are other ones. I believe every one of them. I take great comfort in them. I take great comfort, as everyone did, because we have in us a memory of paradise, because our forefathers, Adam and Eve, were created in paradise, and we have that in us. It's in us, the memory of paradise. That's why we like gardens. It's not for the reason Freud gave. It's because we were created in a garden, and we remember the peace and the joy and the beauty, and that's in us. Paradise lost, Milton wrote about. We lost it, but we hope to regain it. And that's the hope of heaven. That's the hope of heaven. The world is cursed. I mean, it's just cursed. It brings forth weeds. It's a pain for women, and childbirth should be a joyous thing. And there's demons and all the things going on, and it's getting worse and worse. We want to go back to paradise. And when you're 73, you'll want to go back more. I've been where you are, but you haven't been where I am. It's funny, you don't change inside. I always thought when you get older, you would get older inside, but you don't. You say, I feel just like I was 18. Inside, I feel that way. It's just the body. Death is working in it. It starts to run down as soon as you're born. You begin to die. And so I'm, as I get tired of dragging around a tired body. I get tired of it. And I know Stan, as hard as he works physically and then comes here, he's worn out. Dragged out, and it won't be like that in paradise. It won't be like that. It will not be like that. So, we're looking forward to something wonderful. When we die, we go in the spirit realm. We have comfort that our loved ones are there. It will be a great time of reunion. Relationships on earth broken, but other relationships restored. So, my mother and father have been dead for many, many years. And I know you have loved ones in glory. And so, something to look forward to. So, I want to set your heart to ease about that. We're not doing away with heaven. We're not doing away with the spirit of paradise or anything else. But, we're getting close now. The battle, you know, this third kind of righteousness. Actual righteousness. First, there's the self-righteousness of filthy rags. That's one kind of righteousness. Then there's imputed righteousness. And those two are well known and preached by the church. But the third one, the actual righteousness that comes, it's not been preached to us. It's not even been understood. But, we're there now. And so, the battle commences. The battle's commencing now. The time of eternal judgment. The vengeance of our God. Moving from imputed righteousness to actual righteousness. The battle has begun. And there's an end in sight. See, there's a goal. There is a land of promise. It's not heaven. That's not the land. That's a paradisiac condition that exists and that we'll go to. And we'll enjoy. But, we don't realize it. But, when we see the things here that are Canaan, you'll realize, well, sure I want paradise. And sure I look forward to it. But, there's something else involved here. There's something else. You don't have to overcome to enter paradise. There's no overcoming to it. You just go there when you die. That's God's goodness to separate our body from our inner man so that he can reconstitute us and make us perfect. And then rejoin the two. And so, paradise is up there. We're not messing with that. But, that's not the land of promise. Now, how do we know it's not the land of promise? How do we know that heaven is not the land of promise? Now, remember the Jews, it was told plainly, I'm bringing you to a land of milk and honey. When God started them out of Egypt, he said, I'm bringing you to a land of milk and honey. Well, that milk and honey, you know, the protein and the fat and the sweet, to people that lived as the Israelites lived, that was bliss. Milk and honey. And out of mountains you can dig minerals and everything you need. They knew where it was. They knew the geographical boundaries. They'd never been there, but they said, this is where you're going. Okay? Now, how do we know that heaven is not the, it doesn't fulfill the symbolism in the Old Testament of the land of promise? How do we know that the land of promise does not represent heaven? How do we know that? Jesus? Because it has to be taken by force. Yes, because we follow Israel out of Egypt, Passover blood, Sinai, Tabernacle, all these things. We can see this played out, the fulfillment, the spiritual fulfillment. But when we come to Canaan, see, the type doesn't fit, because we're not going to mount an attack. We're not going to assemble and get ready and get prepared to enter heaven. It doesn't fit the type. How many can see that? It requires some thought. Okay, now let's see what the goal is. The actual land of promise is found in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. That's where the battle is. Now, I've used these rewards to the overcomer as stepping stones to the first resurrection from the dead. And they are that. But they are also Canaan. Each one of these rewards is not a small thing. It's a generalization that encompasses many whole domains of life. And when you put them all together, you have everything that you would ever want. Now think about this. Paradise is an environment, and being what you are, a little god, you would not be content just with a perfect environment. Once you get that, then you're going to say, well, you know, what is the meaning of my life? Where am I? Who am I? What am I doing? What have I been trained for? So, the environment of paradise, the perfect, sin-free, trouble-free environment, is there. But the actual goal that is contested, Satan is not contesting our entrance into the spirit realm. He's not contesting that. That isn't what he's after. We had that once, and we lost that very easily, and Satan knows we could lose it very easily again. He's not contesting that. He's not fighting that. In fact, it's through the power of death that we enter the spirit paradise, isn't it? So, Satan isn't contesting that. But when you come to these facets or aspects of the land of promise, he will fight viciously every inch of your way into each of these. And the nature of the enemy that will fight you is found in the verses that surround the reward. There are 15 odd rewards to the overcomer. Each one of these is set in a text that describes like the first one. What's the first reward? And the context tells you the kind of enemy that you're up against. And what is it? Losing your first love. Now, what is this great aspect of the land of promise that Satan fights so viciously to keep us out of? And it is access to the tree of life. Now, what does that mean? It means Christ is the tree of life. And it means feeding on Christ. Now, let's turn to John 6. This is the one that caused the great backdoor revival. But this is one of the main keys to all that is desirable. And as you think on it and dwell on it, you'll see it ramifies out and embraces a whole domain of our goal. Okay. In John 6, let's start around verse 49 where we did Sunday. Your forefathers ate the man in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Alright, now, can you see how losing your first love means that you are taking a casual approach to Christianity? Now, you cannot feed on Christ and take a casual approach at the same time. Feeding on Christ, which we represent in the communion service, but it should be happening to you and me every day. It happens in the spirit realm. As you get your... it's to him who overcomes. That means it's contested. The mere word overcoming, that these are rewards of the overcoming, tells you that these are arcana. These are the things that you have to fight your way into. And you have to fight your way into the body and blood of Christ. Because life will conspire to keep you living in the sensations of the world. I think, and I may be wrong, but I think if there were no televisions in existence, I think there'd be a lot more people here. But see, there's interesting things to do. I think, oh, I'm tired. I don't have to go there all the time. Well, when people say that, what do they do as an alternative? They're going to be watching the things that went on in Washington today. And what they're trying to do is get life. What they want is life. And this is what the enemy is feeding them. And the stuff that's coming over the news, whether they're reading about the little boy in Oceanside or governmental news or whatever it is, there's no life there. Interest. But you're coming, you have come, to feed on the body and blood of Christ. To have Christ feed you. Hopefully, as I preach, you'll get more than words, but there'll be some impartation of the life of Christ. And see, you have chosen that. So can you see how it's resisted? You see how the spirit of the world is resisting people and making it difficult and they have to wrench themselves to be paying attention to Jesus where He can feed them on His body and blood. And that's the tree of life. That's the only place that you can get life is from the body and blood of Christ. There's no other source of life in God's universe. And the television, the movies, other forms of entertainment and activities, sports, whatever, are all people, they want life. And while all these things have a normal place and a normal life, if that's all you have, you're living in death. She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives. So there is a domain, we'll say it that way, of the land of promise. And you'll have to fight. You'll be resisted every inch of the way. Satan will give you any number of reasons why you should not be in such intensive interaction with Jesus. And you'll have to fight with everything that's within you to avail yourself of the body and blood of Christ. And yet that's our life. That's our land of promise. That was the first thing that was lost in the beginning was access to that life. They had the environment, but they did not partake of the life. And so they lost the environment. So the two are tied together. They did not overcome Satan. And so they lost access to the tree of life. Is the model beginning to make sense now? You wouldn't think of the rewards to the overcomers being Canaan, but they are. These are the things that Jesus said that you are to pursue. And apart from this is a large part of your personality that will suffer. Let's see what else he said. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves. How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Did you catch that? Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. You have no life in you. Yes? Many Catholics would probably refer to this as being the Eucharist. Yes. How did that play out? Well, the Catholic Church, having originated at such an early time, contains within its liturgy and its activities many things that are reminiscent of the original Church. You see that in the Lutheran Church too, in the High Lutheran Church with the introit and the gradual where you moved in and you approached the holy place. It goes way, way, way, way back in the early history of the Church. Yes, the Eucharist is extremely important. They're absolutely right on there. I'm not sure that they understand it. You see, it's been lost to the Church. The importance of the body and blood of Christ has been lost to the Church. The Catholics take it, but I'm not sure that it's explained to them exactly what it means. Maybe there are priests who do. But the Eucharist, the taking of the Mass, is certainly very, very... This is my blood of the covenant. This is my blood of the covenant. Larry? Just the incorrect way of accepting Christ. Because a lot of people who I've been to say, well, I accepted Christ and the eternal life that you get at that moment versus... I would take them to Timothy where Paul said, lay hold on eternal life. And they would say, I grabbed Christ and I accepted him as my Savior. Therefore, I lay hold of eternal life. Yes, but you see, Timothy had been saved and was the Bishop of the Church of Crete at the time that Paul said that to him. Yes, how relevant is the communion to this idea of eating and drinking? Because you seem like you're talking about something... The way that water baptism represents our... recognizing ourselves crucified with Christ and risen with Christ. The communion and water baptism are alike and they both are dramas that are played out that people can see that represent deeper work inside. You know, Jesus said, they may have life and they may have it more abundantly. So, that shows you there are degrees of life. Yes. So, then the person that you talk to agrees, okay, there appears to be something here that I'm not able to grasp. So, explain to me then... Romans 8.13 If you live after the flesh, you will die. So, if your life consists only of eating, sleeping, working, playing and reproducing, you will die. If you live after the flesh, you will die. Romans 8.13 But if you through the Spirit do put to death the deeds of your body, you shall live. And that is a daily process. The next verse says, For as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God. And what they're led to do is to put to death the deeds of the body. So, every day we're challenged with something to overcome. And as we overcome, we're given to eat of the tree of life. That's Revelation 2.7 Romans 8.13 And then there's a verse in Timothy, I'm not sure of the reference, where he says, Lay hold on eternal life. Maybe somebody look that up for us, because the surrounding verses I think would help with that, Larry. I think the surrounding verses, he kind of gives a little context there what he means by laying hold on eternal life. Huh? No, it's in Timothy. It's in one of the Timothys. He's talking to Timothy. Fight the good fight. Lay hold on eternal life. Anybody find it yet? Which book? Let's all look at that, because that question of Larry's is important. That's right, the church feels that eternal life is a ticket and it isn't. It's a way. It's a way. In fact, what was the reference again? In fact, eternal life is a person. I am the resurrection and the life. 1 Timothy 6.12 We might as well start at 11. And this would be what you would say to the person you're addressing, because Paul is talking to a man of God here, not to an unsaved person. He says, but you men of God, flee from all this, referring to money in particular, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Now that seems to me clear that he's saying to a Christian that you have to fight and take hold of life. And that would fit Revelation 2.7, Him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life. And it isn't just a one-time thing. It's because we're continually... In fact, Galatians 6.7 says, Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever man sows he shall reap. And then verse 8 says, For he that sows to his flesh shall reap corruption. And this is Galatians 6.8. But he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life. So life is something that you reap by sowing to the Spirit. That's another good verse that you could bring out to someone that was anchored to the idea we get it all when we take the four steps of salvation. Is that helpful at all? Seems pretty clear to me. Anybody else? So how do we eat the body and blood of Christ? By overcoming. How often are we challenged to overcome? Every day. And sometimes several times a day. We may be challenged in the area of worldliness. You know, the communication explosion is affecting Romans 12.1 and 2, isn't it? See? Because the purpose of the communication explosion is to affect your mind. The communication explosion is not addressed to your feet. It's addressed to your mind. Right? People are saying now, in fact I saw in the paper today, it was on the front page of the paper, it says the data, the amount of data that's coming in is causing people's minds, they can't handle it. It's an overload on the minds of people trying to assimilate all the data. And Romans 12 says, Matthews 12.2 says, Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Now, how is your mind renewed? By the Word of God, and by following Jesus, and by meditating on Him and obeying Him. Now, you can see with the me explosion, the communication explosion, particularly now with the idea of the wireless phone that you can reach worldwide. Well, the next thing you know, the internet will be coming over, and it will be transmitted without wires. I guess Qualcomm is working on that. So, what did you call those guys in the desert? Audrey had a name for them, I call them the bad guys. What did you call them? The bad ones. The bad ones, they have television antennas, they'll have cell phones, and they'll be able to pick up the internet in the middle of the Negev with no problem. And the same for the tribes that are there in Burma, in northern Burma, across from Nagaland there, there's been a lot of Christian work up there, they'll be able to catch it all. Once this wireless thing comes in, so you'll be able, using cell phone technology, you'll be able to pick up your internet any place on the face of the earth. That was my prayer. Every place where men breathe the air. Up in Lapland, they'll be, you know, running their reindeer and their cell phone and what kind of a screen they'll have. But be sure that Qualcomm will develop it, and Bill will be right there. Alright, so all of this is affecting the mind. And you see how a person will have to overcome worldliness in order to keep their mind, to keep feeding on the body and blood of Christ by keep interacting. The second realm of sin is the passions of the flesh. Well, America's drowning in that. That has to be overcome if you're going to eat of the tree of life. And then with self-will, the constant cry of education is be in control. You're the boss. And then when they get far out, it's the only God there is is the God within you. And there's a tremendous accident. Leave the child free to investigate. Well, that's so much... What should I say? What's the word for it? Well, yeah, that's a hogwash, but there are more descriptive terms. Because I know from educating that when you waste time having the child investigate, we have in Western culture, we have a tremendous corpus of knowledge. And if you just had the child's time occupied very profitably in just mastering the body of knowledge that is there, he would be a well-educated person when he comes out. But if you leave it up to him to find these all by investigation as though there was some good per se in reinventing the wheel, you don't get anything done. I'm here to tell you, you don't get anything done. And the idea that you're developing something in the child is just speculative. My experience has been, and the research and transfer of training, which my dissertation was in that area, shows clearly that people learn what they're trained to do. And all the time you spend in generalizing and investigating and what they call a heuristic approach to education and all that. There's a huge wastage. It doesn't work. People learn what they're taught. And they learn specifically what they're taught specifically. And all that, there's a thousand or more research studies on this one area, transfer of training. People learn exactly what they're taught. But you see, everything now is invented. Leave the child free to explore his world as though there's something good coming out of here. But it's untestable. I mean, it doesn't work. It just wastes time. The child's looking, what are they trying, what are they pulling off? First thing you know, he's talking to his neighbor about something interesting. But if you use a few simple skills, like having the bright kids teach the other ones and a few things you can do in the classroom, you have them all highly motivated, and then they learn the times table, and they learn the alphabet, and they learn a few pertinent facts of geography, and they learn a few, and they come out with some information. And then they can apply that in terms of their inherent intellectual powers. Because some of these things are inherent. They're inherent. I'm the first one to stand up and say, you can't teach anybody to problem solve. It's not teachable. Some people have it, they just have it, and others don't. Some may disagree with that, but I've had considerable experience with this, and I'm here to tell you that as you're chasing a red herring right off the track, kids are happy when you give them something to learn that's specific. They learn it, they can get a hold of it, they go home, and they're proud, and you tell their mother, you know what I learned in school today? But if you try, have them find out for themselves. They have a hard time with that. And of course, the brilliant kids that are gifted shine, because they'll do good no matter, all you have to do is get out of their way, and the other kids don't learn anything. That's just about the way it goes. But this crazy stuff goes on. I'm not afraid of myself anymore about it. But what I'm telling you is that our nation is drowning, drowning, in a passion of the flesh, and drowning in this action on the self. It's you. You are the important one. You've got to be taught to express yourself. You've got to be taught to control yourself. That's the exact opposite. The Bible says, trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. So, so, you have to overcome these three things in our culture. If you're going to eat of the tree of life, because all of them are hostile to God's word, but they are the American way of life. And, you've got to know God to escape. But if you don't, you don't get to eat of the tree of life. You have to overcome. Larry, you have to, each day, we are challenged in worldliness, being part of the world system, which is Antichrist, or the passions of our flesh, or the drive of our soul to have our own way. And one of these three ways we're challenged, not usually in combination, but that's possible, but usually God just takes one thing. This is work on this. And when you overcome that, that day, when you get the, you know I used to say, the victory, because he's Iceland, or he said the victory, when you get the victory, over that challenge of the day, you are rewarded with the body and blood of Christ. You are rewarded with eternal life. And that's a big part of your land of promise that you're gaining. As we continue on, we can see the climax of this. I will raise him up at the last day. Notice that it's related to immortality. See, the tree of life in the garden, that was Jesus. And whoever ate of him would partake of him and gain immortality. And when you partake of the body and blood of Christ, you are pursuing immortality. And that's a big part of your land of promise. See, up to this point, we'd be so anxious to get to heaven. Now listen to me. I include myself. There's not a person in this room that has more books on the spirit realm than I do. Okay? I read them every time I get real tired. Okay? But we really wouldn't care whether we were in our body or our spirit. We're not interested in the body. We're just interested in getting our personality out of here. Now just think about that. That's why you see people that are really into the rapture and say, is this just your spirit or your body? And they're confused on that. Will this body be raptured with you? And you ask them that. And see, that isn't the issue of going to heaven. The issue is to get yourself there. You know that you don't need this kind of a body. What would you do with it? And yet they exist because both Enoch and Elijah were carried in their physical form into heaven. And that's something to ponder about. But see, we don't... Kingdom thinking isn't that way. Paul never groaned to go to paradise. He groaned for the redemption of his body. Now think about that. See, he was kingdom oriented. And we don't want to lose our body. We don't want to lose it. We may think we do. We get into the ethereal realm with drugs and things where we float around and there's psychedelic lights and all of this and there's woo-woo and la-la land and we're floating around. But we don't want to lose our body. We don't want that. That's something the angels would give their eye teeth to have if they had eye teeth, which they don't. They'd give anything to have a body. It's one of the most marvelous creations and it's going to be redeemed. That's what he says. I will raise him up. That's not your heavenly body. That's this body. Eating the flesh of Christ and drinking his blood will result in the resurrection of your body. And that's part of your land of promise. But that only comes as you overcome. See? He that sows to his flesh will reap corruption. Where's that from? Galatians? 6? 8. Okay. Or if you live after the flesh, you shall die. Where's that from? Romans? 8? 13. That's one of my favorites because see, that's so clear. And that follows verse 11 there which is talking about if he that raised him to Christ shall make alive your mortal body. Not the body from heaven. The body from heaven is talked about in 2 Corinthians 5. That's a body that will come down from heaven and clothe this body. Okay? That body is formed. The heavenly body is formed by our conduct. The way that we respond to tribulation forms that body. We don't form this body. We form that body. But by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ we prepare this body for resurrection. This body will be raised from the dead. We don't want to lose it. Then, it will be clothed with that robe or house from heaven which will give it all kinds of capabilities it does not have at the present time. But it will still be there. It will not be in the ground. Now, you begin to get a feel for Canaan and Satan fights every inch of the way. He's not fighting to keep us out of heaven. He's fighting to keep us out of the tree of life. Away from it. Away from it. He had us eat the wrong tree in the beginning. He didn't say, here's the tree of life. Eat of this. He ate of the tree that would prevent their eating of the tree of life. And he'll do the same to you and me. He'll do everything he can do to keep us from this John 6. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Remember that, Andrew and Yvonne? That was read at your wedding. Whoever... Now, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me. There's another straw for your malt. You can say to the person, if you want to remain in Christ. Say, okay, you've accepted Christ. If you want to remain in Him, you have to keep eating His flesh and drinking His blood. The word remain means to continue. It's not an instantaneous thing. Now, this next verse is one of my favorite verses of the entire Bible, including the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha. Everything. This is my favorite verse. One of them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. Now, think about that. To what extent does Christ live by the Father? Every hair on His head, everything He thinks, does, says, is of the Father and by the Father. And that's the relationship we are to have with Jesus Christ. Now, think. Would you like to have that? Well, let me think about it a minute. Because that means then that my life is abandoned in favor of living by His life. Now, if you're an honest person, you won't jump into that. You will weigh what is involved there. You have to be a pretty mature Christian, a pretty seasoned Christian to say, yes, that's what I want beyond everything. Because that means that your life becomes the life of another. And what is one of the enemies that we face there? Our own desire for self-preservation. The Adamic nature has a strong instinct for self-preservation. And it will fight this kind of idea. What do you mean? I don't get anything here? What happens to me? And when you say that, the issue is, who is me? Who's talking when you say, yeah, but what about me? Who's talking there? That isn't Christ talking. That isn't the Holy Spirit talking. Who is it? Adam. Adam. Adam is saving his life. That's one thing you have to overcome. Jesus said, if you love your life, you're going to lose it. You must deny yourself. But you can't do that until you see the value of it. You've got to see the value of it. You've got to be so in love with Jesus that you're abandoned to Jesus. And that's a high calling. And you have to overcome to get to that place. You have to think it through. You have to think through, what do I want for myself? What do I want out of life? And you have to become convinced as Peter was, convinced that there's nothing else. There's nothing else. You have to become convinced that there's nothing worth saving in yourself. And that's, if you're really sincere, that takes a little bit of doing to come to that. You need to give all my hopes and dreams, all that I ever, you know, and Adam is saying, hey, you know, whoa, whoa, whoa, not so fast. But, God sends that love in you and leads us on so gently, leads us on so gently, leads us on so gently. And pretty soon we get to the place where we realize there's nothing in ourselves that is worth preserving. It only causes misery. The whole Adamic creation is a tremendous creation. It includes all the art forms, all the romantic passions of man, the dreams of man to be beyond the stars, the soul ties that people get with other people. All this is part of the Adamic creation. It's a tremendous creation. We have a tremendous creation. And when you get dabbling in yoga and the Hindu religion and others that tap the fallen nature, the ability to read minds, the third eye, I've experienced that. The ability to see by the third eye and this kind of thing. It's all part of the Adamic creation. Watchman Nee told about how he had the power to read minds, but he would not do it. He refused to do it. He knew it was of the fallen creation. Have the ability to find things. You just say, I want to find this. And they just settle into their Adamic nature and they think it's a gift of the spirit. It's not. It's their fallen nature. It's a tremendous creation. And it doesn't die easy. It dies screaming. It dies screaming. But all it ever produces for us is sorrow and torment. It promises the moon, but it can't deliver. And see, that's what we have to be convinced of. I had, one of the real battles that I had was leaving classical music. Because that was a very it attracts me very strongly, classical music very strongly. And I was involved in it. And people would say, well, what harm? What harm? It's not sinful. No, it's not sinful, but the Lord told me to get out of it because it's Adamic. See, it's Adamic. There's ties there. Wagner. Oh, man. The chords in Wagner. But you know, Wagner was an anti-Semitic. Chopin. Oh, the fantasy impromptu. But, Chopin's life left a lot to be desired. Indeed. So, these things are romantic. They're sensual. And that's one step away from being devilish. And they're the things that motivate the world. Sublimated, they result in art forms. If you don't give in to your baser passions, they work out in music and art. It's called sublimation. That's a very important part of human beings. You find that out teaching children because children are Adamic. And they respond to love. They respond to that which is warm and cuddly and loving. They can't learn otherwise. They cannot learn otherwise. And so that's the vestigial that comes over. That's what we are. We're flesh and blood people. And we have strong Adamic parts of our personality. Did you ever wonder why God never meant for the Adamic personality to be permanent but only a prototype or a forerunner of what he really had in mind? Couldn't he have done it in an easier way? Why did he have to do it in two stages? Did you ever wonder about that? I'm giving that some thought. I thought, Lord, you sure did this the hard way. Why did you start out with what you wanted instead of creating us full of nerve endings and then saying die? Ugh! But I suppose it's like crafting, isn't it? You know, if you want good, sturdy oranges, you graft on a lemon stalk. Isn't that right, Stan? A lemon stalk is more resistant to disease. So you grow a lemon tree and you don't want lemons at all. You want oranges. But the lemon trunk is a better stalk, a sturdier stalk. More disease resistant. Then you graft your oranges into it. And once you graft it in, that lemon tree won't grow lemons. It grows oranges. It will grow whatever is grafted into it. And so that's like us. The human stalk is there. And then God grafts Christ into it. And so the fruit that comes out is not Adamic, but Christ. The fruit is Christ himself. We graft it in. But you see, the grafting process is a very painful process. Because God cuts a slice in you. And then he cuts a slice in Christ. Which he did when the man hit him with the spear. And then he puts wound against wound. And then he binds them together. Now that's a painful process. But that's how you bear fruit with Christ. I don't wish to discourage you, but that's the way it works. God is not interested in the fruit of our Adamic nature. That's called self-righteousness. And another name for that is filthy rags. Our Adamic self-righteousness at its best is evil. I'm not saying integrity and sincerity. And there's good traits that come out of the Adamic nature, but the self-righteousness, the desire of Adam to imitate Christ, doesn't get far. It's not the real stuff. It will fail. All the Adamic virtues, honor, truthfulness, all of those that we find in people, the good things about people, will fail if they're hit hard enough. You know, a young man and a young woman get together. I know a couple that got married and the big thing at their wedding was best friends for life. Best friends for life. It didn't last. Their intentions were perfect. But you see, you had two very strong-willed people getting together, and the intention was right, the statement was correct, because your wife should be your best friend. She should be your best friend. That's a mark of maturity. It doesn't start up necessarily. But Adam will fail, but Christ never fails. Once that fruit comes out, that's the real stuff. Not imputed, but actual righteousness. Are there any questions so far? Can you see what I mean when I say that each of these domains ramifies out till it's a whole part of your land of promise? Okay? What's the second reward to the overcomer? No, this is to the overcomer. It's not the believer. It's not a reward to the believer. He that believes ... No, that's not the second one. It's not he that believes shall eat of the tree of life, but he that overcomes. This is where the enemy is. Larry, could you hear that? Notice that it doesn't say he that believes shall eat of the tree of life, but he that overcomes. That's a very important distinction because everything in the four steps of salvation is based on belief, and the land of promise isn't given to him that believes. It's given to him who overcomes. Then they use the verse faith is the victory, so if I have faith I have the victory. You can't win, boy. They're determined to not live godly. They'll mess it up some way. How many know that overcoming requires faith, but there's more to it than believing? You've got to put some muscle into it. Okay? What's the second reward? The what? The crown of life. Now, what does a crown mean? It refers to authority and power. In England, when the monarchs would always talk in the third person, he did this and that, and they'd very often refer to themselves as the crown. The crown has sent these ships out. The crown rules here. The crown rules there. So once you have that on your head, what you have is authority and power. Now, all of us are little gods. Remember what Jesus said? I have said you are gods. You are all children of the most high. That's a quotation from Psalms. That's why Jesus said, why do you then protest when I say I'm the son of God? The Bible says we're all gods. Alright, and we are. And that's why we have a will like we do. We have a will to rule. You have a will to rule. The nicest little girl you'll ever see that cures a bug or a sleeping bag will have a will like steel. A will like steel! Yes, Andrew? First of all, bugs and sleeping bags aren't cuties. But where is where is the heading of God in Psalms? I have said you are gods. You are all children of the most high. It's in Psalms. Jesus quoted from that because they were saying you blaspheme because you say I'm the son of God and he said, but the scripture said I have said you are gods. You are all children of the most high. It's in Psalms. I can't tell you where. I don't use it enough to have it memorized. You have to use it more than once. Well, I'll sure take that under advisement. Did anybody find it? I tell you what, you learn where it is and then you'll be an inspiration to me. Alright. Anybody find it yet? This is very important because people will say, well, I don't want to rule the nations. You know, I'm not interested in ruling. And then the response is, but why are you always trying to have your own way? We're just made that way. We can't help it as long as we've got the ability to spit. We want to choose, you know, what direction. We just have a strong will to rule our environment and the people around us. That's why men are forever trying to make their wives in their own image and wives are forever trying to make their husband in their own image. We just have a desire to govern. And that is, and we have a desire to live. See, all these things are desirable. They're desirable. We really want to rule. We don't know it, but we do. This, because we have a crown here doesn't mean that we're going to govern countries. That comes way down there. The ruling the nations has to do with our inheritance. This is the power to not be subject to things. See, in this world we're subject to all kinds of things and God doesn't want that. He wants us subject only to Christ and Christ is subject only to God and a good deal of the pain in our life is God putting things under our feet that are ruling us. And it's the most painful experience because these are idols to us and we want them to rule us. We want to be moved by these feelings and yet we're slaves to them. And God says, I don't want you to be slaves to anything but Christ. He's your Lord. Worship Him. Psalm 45. He's your Lord. Worship Him. And, but this thing makes me feel so good. Well, it's a chain. Well, I don't see it that way. It makes me feel good. Well, God says, take my word from it. I want it under your feet. Now, that happened to me with classical music. I can take it or leave it. I still enjoy it tremendously. But I'm not governed by it. In fact, I don't have time to play with it. I don't even have time to practice the piano. God wants me to spend my time getting down on paper things for the younger generation that's coming up. And I have no time to waste mastering all the preludes of Chopin. I had a couple mastered some years ago. Six or seven of them mastered and they're difficult. Well, I couldn't play them now because I don't keep it up. But I can't and do God's will. But see, at one time, as someone said to me, well, you can't learn any more classical music. Oh, Lord, you're killing me. I mean, so when some of these things are put under our feet, it's a wrench. Now, it may be a person. It may be a relationship. It may be a hobby. And God wants us to have every good and perfect gift. God wants us to have fullness of joy and He knows these things don't bring us fullness of joy. They bind us. We don't realize it, but they bind us. He doesn't want me bound with classical music where I have to serve it. You can serve it. Believe me, there's no end to mastering Beethoven's sonatas. There is simply no end. Rudolf Serkin probably came as close as anyone. But I used to practice on the piano for eight hours a day until my back was so sore I could hardly stand it. That's what it takes to master the piano. But God doesn't want that. He doesn't want me in bondage to the piano. But if someone had told me that when it was ruling me, I would have been tremendously I say, well, there's no joy in this. But see, now, I've got all eternity and the best teachers that ever were. I've got Chopin there ready to teach me the preludes when I get there. Provided he made it, which his record is the greatest. And I don't intend to call him up from the nether regions. So I'll have to settle for some other teacher. But the point is, we've got all eternity. See, once the Jews got into their land of promise, once that enemy was put out, they had forever to grow their figs and get their milk and their honey and enjoy their families and everything else. But first the enemy. But see, that's what they wouldn't do. That's what they would not do. And you don't think we have to be trained like that. Let me tell you something. Saul represents the flesh. And Samuel said, look, he said, the Lord is telling you, Saul, that Amalek attacked Israel and took advantage of them when they were weak and coming through the wilderness and cut off the stragglers and he said, I'm going to blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven and I want you to do it. And Agag was king of the Amalekites and he said, you go and you kill Agag, kill every person that's breathing and all the livestock and everything and wipe out the Amalekites. That's what God said. He said, they harmed Israel when they were defenseless and I haven't forgotten it. You know, God has never forgotten what the Germans did to the Jews. In the Holocaust, God has never forgotten that. Someday God will avenge himself and when he does, they may come close to there being no Germans left alive over there. Just remember what I told you. God has never forgotten that. And when he avenges himself of what they did to the rabbis and to the other people, it's going to be a hard day for Germany. God moves very slowly. And for Switzerland too, for their role in hiding the money of gangsters and other people, they think they're so cute. I'm telling you, we went through Switzerland, Audrey and I, and the country is so beautiful, take your breath away, but I could feel the judgment of God all the way we were on the train. We went up to Lucerne, so beautiful, like a storybook place. But I could feel the judgment of God. You'd never see a more beautiful countryside than Switzerland. All the way, I was enjoying what I was seeing, but I could feel God's judgment. He'll move someday against Switzerland for the way they've done with hiding money for Germany and for what they've done. It slumbers. And God waited a long time until Saul was king, many years after what Amalek did. But the time come, he said, well, Amalek wiped out. Okay. There comes old Saul, you know. Your hero and mine, head and shoulders above the people. So what does he do? He slaughters the Amalek, but he saves the king alive. And he saves the best of the livestock alive. So here comes old Samuel, fogging down the trail, and he said, do you know what I said? And he said, I did. I did exactly what the Lord my God said, and we've killed them all. And he said, well, it seems to me I'm hearing some sheep bleating over there. And I think by then, Saul was beginning to get the message, and Samuel said, the kingdom's departed from you. For, what does he say, rebellion, obedience is better than sacrifice, and something in the heart, because disobedience is like witchcraft, rebellion is witchcraft, and that's a wonderful passage. But anyway, the point is this. Why did Saul do that? Because after he had the upper hand, he figured, you know, here's old Agag, I might be able to use him someday in my kingdom, and here's all this livestock, why destroy it? That was his motivation. It was carnal, it was human. He wasn't trying to rebel against God, he just saw a good thing, there was no more pressure. So he figured, why not? If I put the old guy to death, I can use him. Maybe I'll ride him in triumph through Jerusalem, we'll have a ticker-tape parade, or whatever was in his mind. And we can use all these sheep and all the livestock and everything. Let me tell you something. That same temptation is going to face the army of Christ. Because when they descend on the worst aliens from heaven, Antichrist and the nations of the earth are going to resist them. And Antichrist, Satan, always works by deception. He has no power, that's why there's only one army. Andy was asking why there's only one army, because he doesn't go against the army of angels, he can't touch the army of angels. Only the judges, and he gets them by deception. And what he's going to try to do, and I'll just bet you anything, he's going to say, we surrender. Nations, lay down your arms. And here's all the world at your feet. All the riches of the nations. That's what he's going to try to do, you'll wait and see. And if it were your average church member, they're all so full of sympathy and empathy and maudlin ideas and oh, here's the nations and there's a guy over there and he looks like a swell fellow and here's Antichrist and Antichrist is going to be a very personable administrator. A man that you would like instinctively, you'll wait and see. And here's the false prophet who is a master of deception and you've got them all, you've got them whipped and here they're surrendering. Here's the earth, we're going to help you rebuild. That's why the only people riding behind Christ will be God's untouchables. They are dead living people. They already have died to the sympathy thing. They have already died to the maudlin and all the soulish wandering through the hills Maggie and all this wonderful of the old days, all the sentiment and all these things that are part of the Adamic nature. As Saul should have done. He said, put them all to death. Put them all to death. You don't look at them. You don't think twice. You do what God says. You don't think twice. But look what we can do with all these kingdoms. They're laying on their arms. Here they come. They want to love us. And after all this and Jesus, the God of love and all this stuff. That's what church people do today. See, they compromise the word of God because they're moved by their Adamic nature. How could Jesus be like that? Our loving Jesus. See, that's what Saul, that was his problem. He was showing love to King Agathe. That's what he was doing. They lost the kingdom. But those that follow Christ, there's nothing in their stomach but fire and steel. The word of God. They hear it. And God says, they're to be destroyed. And they go through the earth, Joel's army. Look at these beautiful things. God says, destroy them. The land is as Eden before them, behind them a flaming wilderness, Joel 2. God says, I don't want that left. I don't want any memory of it left. We're going to remove sin from off the earth. There's to be no sympathy. See, that's Adamic. Isn't God sympathetic? Yes. Isn't God loving? Yes. Isn't God kind? Yes. But they're on a different level. See, because God's love told the Israelites, He said, you slay those people without mercy that are in your land. The others that are outside, you can make them servants. But if they're in Canaan, kill them utterly. You're talking about men and women and old people and children and all. And you say, but is God a God of love or isn't He? Yes. But He knew that if they weren't killed, they would have the Israelites worshiping Moloch, which they did. And do you know what the worship of Moloch entailed? The idol was an oven. It was just a great oven with a big mouth. And all the people were commanded to come and bring their babies and their little children and everything when it was time to worship Moloch. And so all the village would come out, and here's the mothers saying, I hope it's not mine. I hope it's not mine. The priests would move around and they'd say, your child. They'd have to hand them over and they'd take them and throw them in the mouth and they would go down a chute like that into the oven. So you see when God, we have human sympathy, but God has a sympathy on a level that really operates. Whereas the Adamic is occupied with the immediate, how we feel, our nerve endings and our soul. But when God says put it to death, it's because later on it's going to cause harm. And so those who ride behind Christ will know that after they know from the Bible that after a thousand years in the bottomless pit, after a thousand years of righteous rule by the Lord Jesus Christ and his saints, after a thousand years of that, Satan is released to test the nations. And if they don't follow him, they'll go up and fight against the saints. After a thousand years of being taught. That's how deep rebellion is. And sin in the human nature. And that's why the thousand years is a rule of a rod of iron. Because the people are going to resist. You rule with a rod of iron as a flower pot is broken into fragments by being struck with an iron bar. So the nations will be, oh this is a way to deal with people. But you see we didn't say that. We didn't plan the thing. God said it. And an overcomer learns that God is to be obeyed no matter what we think or how we feel. We obey God. That's it. Period. And it will work out for the best. Now that's a lesson you have to learn. You have to be convinced of it. So the crown of life means to rule, to get your way in things. It's not talking about the nations. The nations comes later in the church of Thyatira. We're talking about the church of Smyrna. Okay. Now it's the ability to not be governed by anything other than Christ. Now can you see what a domain of the land of promise that is? Can you see how that ramifies out? How desirable that is to be governed by nothing but Christ, not by your own passions, not by your soul ties, not by your fears, not by your sense of duty, not by other people's opinion. None of these things that trouble us and rule us. And certainly not sickness or death or weakness of any kind. How many can see what a marvelous thing it would be to be in a place of ruling so that you're not subject to these things? Can you see that? First we eat of the tree of life. A tremendous thing that leads to immortality, but we're going to be resisted every inch. And the enemy is lukewarmness. The casual approach. The American church is a lukewarm church. It's a lukewarm, it's not for the most part a fiery intense group of Christians. Some are. But so many are just, they're just church goers. They sit in the church when the Super Bowl's on, they sit there with the transistor in their ear. That's not enough for the Lord. Okay, now, it doesn't only say crown, but what does it say? Crown of life. Now what that means, this is the crown, the ruling milieu in which we will live is eternal life, which is the life of God in Christ. So we'll be ruling in the life of God in Christ. All things being subject unto us because we're living and ruling in the life of Christ. That's a major domain of our land of promise. Now, what does Satan do to challenge that? What does it say, Satan shall? Well, it's in what is it, Revelation 2 about verse 9? What does Satan do? He puts us in prison. Now does God know about it? How do we know God's in control? Because there's a time limit on it. I'll tell you, having been in the Lord's prison myself from time to time, one of the worst aspects of it is you do not know when it's going to end. Oh, boy, you can stand anything if you know how long it's going to take. Even if it's 20 years, you can stand it. You can mark it off on your calendar or on the granite walls of your dungeon or wherever you are. You can mark it off. I'll be out of here one of these days. But when you don't know, it's rough. And so what is tested while we're in there? The things that drive us. The things that bind us. The things that we're subject to. Isn't it a fact? Because otherwise, why aren't we content to stay in the Lord's prison? We want to minister. We've got such a desire to minister, and God doesn't let that happen. And there we sit. And we're not getting any younger. What is God killing in us? The desire to minister. I mean, you put up with that long enough, and after a while, it just dies. And then you're ready to minister. Because now, people won't be getting bowls full of flesh. They'll be getting what the Lord wants. Oh, God has His way. How wonderful it is to be released. How did Paul express himself? Do you remember when he was in the dungeon in Philippi? What did he say? I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. And he was in prison. See, now, this happens sometimes when people are sick. They're laid up. You know. One of the best times you'll ever have in your life is if you have to go to the hospital, as long as they keep you sedated. Because you don't have to do anything. You just lay there. There's no responsibility. They bring your meals to you. And for a person that, you know, a driver, you know, works hard, exhausted most of the time, that can be a wonderful rest. But, if you've got things that are driving you, fear, financial pressures and other things, you're not trusting the Lord, your faith, you know, you think, how come I'm here? And everything. See, God wants us free of that. And so we're not ruling then. And so God teaches us to rule by imprisoning us. He taught Joseph to rule by imprisoning him. Until the time that his word came. The word of the Lord tested him. Tested him. So this prison thing is so important. Job was in a prison. Look how it tested him. But if you're going to rule with God, all these things have to be subdued. The mountains of Bashan that leap and leap and leap and keep you from being at peace where God has put you. Isn't it so? Do you find it so? Well, the next time you're troubled about something, analyze it. Why am I troubled? All there is now, what's driving me? And you'll find it's a fear or an ambition or something that is governing you. It's governing you and you're dancing to its tune. Why shouldn't you be free to just enjoy God? What is it that you have to do? You have to analyze it. Think that through. What is it? And then you have to overcome that. Say, Lord, I want that out of my spirit. You confess it to the Lord. Lord, I need victory here. I'm subject to something here. I don't have joy. Why don't I have joy? Well, I'm threatened about something. Why isn't this true? Why isn't that true? Or even, why don't I have joy? God said, what is it that's bugging you? Why aren't you just enjoying yourself? You have to think about that. Analyze that. Bring that through. Now, can you see what a tremendous domain of the land of promise that is? What's the next thing? And we have time to just touch this last one, I guess. What's the next reward? Not be hurt by the second death. What is the second death? It's a fire and has control over certain aspects of personality. What it's telling us there is that that domain of our land of promise means that we're free forever. We cannot be hurt anymore by the torment of God's judgment. That's a domain of the land of promise. And, of course, Satan keeps resisting that. What are the behaviors that are there? I'm through, so don't faint. What are the behaviors that are in Revelation 21 verse 8? We see some of the things there by which Satan resists that. He wants you to experience torment. He's going to experience torment, and he wants you to experience torment. Okay? The cowardly, cowardice, he'll try to keep you fearful so you're subject to the authority of the lake of fire and can be hurt by it. Unbelieving. That's a challenge. You say, but I don't believe. Well, believe. You know what I mean? Just say to yourself, I believe. Now, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, but it's like forgiving, you know, and other things, or being happy, or anything else. I'm happy. I praise the Lord. There are things you can do. And sometimes the act of doing them has a remarkable effect. Or you can lay in the corner and say, I'm miserable. I'm so miserable. I'm the Lord of Snakes Valley. I am just so miserable. Or you can say, I'm really doing a great job around here. Life's looking up. Things are looking up. It's great. The first thing you know, they'll be looking up. Well, try it. The vile. We see vile things in our culture. Abominable things. Like a father killing his children for the insurance. This kind of thing is vile. Vile. Or a man killing his wife for the insurance is vile. Murderers. All forms of hatred. Which Satan dwells on. He's the incarnation of hate. And hate's going to come in for torment. All of these things are going to come in for torment. The lake of fire has authority over them. The sexually immoral. All forms of immorality are in for torment. They're up for torment. There will be torment associated with all immorality. We see AIDS as an example of torment that follows immorality. All forms of venereal disease are torments that follow immorality. A silly personality. The inability to be serious follows immorality. It's destructive of the nervous system. Those who practice magic arts. All forms of sorcery. Ouija boards. Tea leaves. Any kind of prediction of the future. Anything. You may feel you have a gift of that. No, you don't have a gift of that. Be very wary of any kind of predictive gift of any kind. Just say, Lord, is this really of the spirit or of the Adamic nature? Because God hates it, and it's a place of torment. And all liars. And all forms of lying. Covering, you know, the little lies and things. God wants people to speak the truth. Not candid to where we hurt people. But a spirit of truth in us. That we don't lie. All of these are subject to torment. We have to overcome all these. And then the second death has no authority or cannot injure us in any way. We're free from torment. And that's a great area of our land of promise. To be free from torment. And Satan will resist that because he is subject to torment. Okay? When you get very far, there's a lot more to the land of promise. And it ends up really big. And then Revelation 21.7 just caps it all. These are our land of promise. This is where the enemy is. This is where the battle is. You're going to go to heaven just by dying. So you don't have to worry about it. That's your environment. But this is your life. Shall we stand?