Out in these parts a man is expected to act like a man—means he keeps getting’ up one more time when he gets knocked down, means he pulls his own weight no matter his callouses are bleedin’ and his muscles are cramped to near makin’ him scream. And above all it means he don’t sit back feelin’ sorry for himself, lookin’ to be molly-coddled while others carry the battle.”
                    –Wayne D. Dundee  (Dismal River)

       “For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.”  
                   –Psalm 18:39(NKJV)
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Since I used the chorus of the hymn, “Faith Is the Victory,” I thought it only profitable to follow up with the words from the hymn itself.  It was penned in 1891 by John H. Yates, with Ira D. Sankey writing the music the same year.

          Encamped along the hills of light,
          Ye Christian soldiers, rise,
          And press the battle ere the night
          Shall veil the glowing skies;
          Against the foe in vales below,
          Let all our strength be hurl’d;
          Faith is the victory, we know,
          That over-comes the world.

Perhaps one reason this song is no longer sung in our churches is that it speaks of battle.  We are told today that we are to be passive, peaceable, namby-pambies.  But the Lord has called us to a great fight!  Look at your life.  Are you in a battle?  A battle against the virus, a battle against cancer or other disease, a battle within the family that seeks its destruction.  For sure, we are in a battle against the world for the world is the enemy of God.  Do not be so passive, go into the fray until you have no more strength.

          His banner over us is love,
          Our sword the Word of God;
          We tread the road the saints above
          With shouts of triumph trod;
          By faith they, like a whirl-wind’s breath,
          Swept on o’er ev’ry field;
          The faith by which they conquer’d death
          Is still our shining shield.

“Fight the good fight of faith!” urged Paul.  “Put on the armor of God,” and stand your ground against the enemy no matter what weapon he may use against you; it is no match for the power of God.  Millions have been where you now stand.  They faced the same onslaught of the devil, and they through Christ came out victorious because of their faith.  Take time today to read Hebrews 11.  Faith meets, fights, and vanquishes the foe before us.  We don’t give up–“never, never, never give up” (Winston Churchill).

          On ev’ry hand the foe we find
          Drawn up in dread array;
          Let tents of ease be left behind,
          And onward to the fray;
          Salvation’s helmet on each head,
          With truth all girt about
          The earth shall tremble ‘neath our tread,
          And echo with our shout.

It was during the Korean War and the Marines found themselves in a desperate situation at the Chosin Reservoir.  A messenger came to Lt. Gen. Chesty Puller with dire news.  “Sir, do you know they’ve cut us off?  We’re entirely surrounded.”  To which Puller smiled and remarked, “They’ve got us right where we want ’em.  We can shoot in every direction, now.”  We are not weak–we are strong in Christ.  The enemy all around, so what–“the earth shall tremble ‘neath our tread.”
       Maybe we should be reminded, as Elisha had to remind his servant,

                     “‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’
                     And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray open his eyes that he may see.’  Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw.  And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
                                  –2 Kings 6:16-17 (NKJV)

Look up, and see the salvation that the Lord has for you.  It may not come in the manner that you expect but He will not let you suffer more than you can endure.  Fight to the end then when the days of life are over walk triumphantly into the realm of glory where the saints who have already made the journey await.
 
                    Faith is the victory!
                    Faith is the victory!
                    Oh, glorious victory                
                    That over-comes the world.

There are tides in the affairs of men, tides of restlessness and awareness; there are thin threads of thought that reach out across the distance and, like the threads of a weaver, are drawn together tight.”

                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Key-Lock Man)
 

       “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.”

                    –Hebrews 4:1 (NKJV)
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How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:  “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”  –1 John 5:19 (NASB)

       Do you ever wonder if you’re going to make it?  This old world is tough sometimes, and it can wear you down.  Disease, sickness, suffering, sorrow, battles, storms–shall I go on?  The fight is there, and it is constant.  Oh, there may be a slight reprieve from time to time, but those moments are dangerous for they can lull us to sleep, they can place within us the opinion that we can take care of things ourselves, and even with the reprieve the enemy is working.  Are you ready?
       Turn your minds to the following Scriptures and meditate on them.  Get them down deep into your souls.

                    “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith.  Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
                              –1 John 5:4-5 (NASB)

Remember the words to the chorus of the old hymn by John H. Yates:

                    “Faith is the victory!  Faith is the victory!
                     Oh, glorious victory That overcomes the world.”

Friend, we live by faith, not fear.  Faith is the core of our walk with the Lord.  We believe in Him.  We want to please Him and that starts with faith.  We may understand the enemy’s tactics, locate his snares, fight the good fight, but we do not look to the enemy for Christ is the focus of our faith.  Faith is not some super-hype, or a gimmick, or something magical that we can conjure up to fight the devil.  But faith is our victory!

                    “This belief that He is the Son of God and all the consequences that follow from that belief, enables us thus in practice to overcome the world.”
                                  –D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

       Faith is both passive and active.  Oh, we like to see the “active” part.  But when we have to put it to use we groan, or we murmur and complain.  Grumbling becomes our lot that the Lord would dare put us through a situation and we can’t “claim it away.”  
       First, the passive part of faith.  It is simple.  There is no special ritual, no incantations that give us faith.  Yes, it is true that we receive faith by reading, studying, and growing in the Word of God and this is part of that passive simplicity of faith.  Christianity is so easy–eternal life is so easy to gain.  The price has already been paid.  The sins of the world, of all time, were laid upon Jesus at the cross–the easy thing now is simply to believe–simple, passive faith.
       This faith is when we abide in Christ.  Come what may, we know that He is with us.  Life or death, He is there.  Defeat may come at times in our life, especially if we do not run to Him, and I want to say–running to Him (abiding in Him) is the strategy of faith.  The simplicity of it all–we can go to Jesus.  When we realize our weaknesses and helplessness–we cry “Jesus!”  We do to Him!

               “I need Thee every hour;
                     Stay thou near by;
               Temptations lose their power
                     When Thou art nigh.”
                         –Annie Sherwood Hawks

Life is dangerous, from the second we are born until the moment we leave this world, but we can’t let fear rule our lives, or it won’t be a life worth living.”

                         –C. J. Petit  (The Gunsmith)

        “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.”
                         –2 John 8 (NKJV)
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The preacher asked last Sunday if anyone knew where the richest place on earth was.  He named a few places that may have been in the minds of some then proceeded to say that the richest place on earth is the graveyard.  Ponder that–the graveyard.  How many unfulfilled dreams lie beneath the sod?  How many minds left untapped?  How many talents lie buried beneath the sod, never put to use?  Oh, think of the many things that are buried, never put to use, and now useless.
       The key to his message was the concept of POTENTIAL.  Everyone has some kind of potential, but so many just go through life never putting their potential into action, or to the wrong action.  One of the things that drove me “crazy” as a teacher was the many, many kids who decided that their best was mediocrity.  Those kids who had so much potential and were satisfied with just getting by.  Sometimes the “spirit of slap” would come upon me and I would have to control my impulses.  Waste, just like so many of the lives that are dead and gone never using the potential that was within them.
       The preacher went on to bring a discourse on Matthew 25:14-30, one of the most sober parables of Jesus.  There are, of course, two servants who were given talents and doubled what they had.  They were profitable servants.  They used what they had been given.  But there is that one, that one that would eventually be cast out because he had been given a talent, but he had failed to use it.  In verse 25, he tells his excuse:  “And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground.  Look, there you have what is yours.”
       He was afraid!  Fear caused him not to act on his potential.  Fear made him not put to use the potential that had been given to him.  One of the greatest deceptions used by the devil is fear.  Man doesn’t use his potential because he is afraid of failure.  He doesn’t use it because he won’t take the time to develop it–he is mediocre.  Some, today, are using fear for not following the Word of God.  People are not going to church because of fear.  How then are they to grow in discipleship?  How are they to pray and help other believers and allow believers to pray and help them?  There are some so fearful that they have cloistered themselves in their houses, fearing to venture out and be salt and light unto the world.  They have hid their talent, their light, under a bushel.
       One has to question if they are truly believers for they are acting completely contrary to that very word–believer.  Let me give you a few words from the apostle John as he writes his epistle.

                    “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
                                    –1 John 4:18 (NKJV)

                    “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.  And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith.”
                                    –1 John 5:4 (NKJV)

If you are hiding your life because of a virus–shame on you.  If you are living in fear–shame on you.  It is time for you to trust in Christ.  Do not hide your potential–do not go to the grave with it and allow it to be buried with you.  Jesus finishes the parable with a somber note.  The Master has the one talent taken from the man, the one that should have been put to use and tells his other servants, “Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  (Matthew 25:30, NKJV)
       The servant had been given potential and he failed to use it.  Now…now it is too late.  Too late!  What could have been has been taken away, and remember that he was one of the Master’s servants.  He hid himself, fear gripped him, and now he is in darkness.  Oh ye of little faith–use your potential.