Home/Chat /Discussion /Links /Search /Resources /Order Form /SHRod /Audio /Contact us/ Espanol
Printed
December, 1955
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
2
@
THE
THREE REQUISITES TO VICTORY
From
time to time, as the Lord directs, it will be the privilege of The Symbolic Code
to publish certain sermons delivered by the late Brother V.T. Houteff through
the years before the Timely Greetings series was started. These sermons will be judiciously selected on the basis of
their current application to our present needs, from the most complete
collection of existing notes on his addresses since 1929.
These discourses should prove just as encouraging and helpful and perhaps
even more timely in view of the closing phase of the work for the church than
they were when they were delivered.
The
sermon selected for this issue is the one the servant of the Lord delivered May
13, 1944:
Prayer
Thought: "The time had come for the disciples who had been most closely
associated with Christ to unite more directly in His work, that these vast
throngs might not be left uncared for, as sheep without a shepherd. Some of these disciples had joined themselves to Him at the
beginning of His ministry, and nearly all the twelve had been associated
together as members of the family of Jesus.
Yet they also, misled by the teaching of the
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
3
@
rabbis,
shared the popular expectation of an earthly kingdom.
They could not comprehend the movements of Jesus.
Already they had been perplexed and troubled that He made no effort to
strengthen His cause by securing the support of the priests and rabbis, that He
did nothing to establish His authority as an earthly king.
A great work was yet to be accomplished for these disciples before they
would be prepared for the sacred trust that would be theirs when Jesus should
ascend to heaven. Yet they had
responded to the love of Christ, and though slow of heart to believe, Jesus saw
in them those whom He could train and discipline for His great work.
And now that they had been long enough with Him to establish, in a
measure, their faith in the divine character of His mission, and the people also
had received evidence of His power which they could not question, the way was
prepared for an avowal of the principles of His kingdom that would help them to
comprehend its true nature."--Mount of Blessing, pp. 11, 12.
From
this reading we can see what the Christian does before his conversion, and this
afternoon we are to study further what the Christian does after his conversion.
Heb.
11:1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20-23, 31--"Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. By
faith
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
4
@
Abel
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being
dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch
was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had
translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he
pleased God....By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he
condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing
whither he went....By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to
come. By faith Jacob, when he was a
dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of
his staff. By faith Joseph, when he
died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave
commandment concerning his bones. By
faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they
saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's
commandment.... By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed
not, when she had re-
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
5
@
ceived
the spies with peace."
This is
what faith wrought in the instances we just read about, but something else must
also be needed besides faith.
Num.
13:20--"...And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land.
Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes."
The
twelve spies whom Moses sent to investigate Canaan were commanded to be of good
courage. Had all the spies shared
in the courage Moses all along had possessed, they would not have been tempted
by unbelief at this time. And not
only the ten disheartened spies, but the whole multitude of Israel except two
who were over twenty years of age when they came up out of Egypt, died outside
the land of promise because of their lack of courage.
What a costly defeat! Here we can also see that it is just as fatal to
believe a disheartening report brought by others as it is to make the report.
Forty years later Joshua sent two men again to secretly "view"
Canaan and this was their report:
Josh.
2:23, 24--"So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and
passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that be-
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
6
@
fell
them: and they said unto Joshua, Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands
all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of
us."
This is
the report of these two spies. A
courageous report it was. God's men
knew that God had delivered the land to them when they saw that the people's
hearts fainted because of them as is recorded in the testimony of Rahab:
Josh.
2:8-11--"And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the
roof; and she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land,
and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land
faint because of you. For we have
heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out
of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the
other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither
did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your
God, He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath."
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
7
@
Yes, the
inhabitants of Jericho all lost courage--and that was the beginning of their
defeat.
In order
for Christians to be victorious they must possess (1) faith--Hebrews 11; (2)
courage--Joshua 2; (3) action--Exodus 14.
Ex.
14:11-16--"And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt,
hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus
with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell
thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had
been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the
wilderness.
"And
Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of
the Lord, which He will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen
to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
"And
the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto Me? speak unto the children
of Israel, that they go
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
8
@
forward:
But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide
it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the
sea."
Here we
see a picture of all Israel with no courage just at a time when they so much
needed it. To solve their problem
did God command them to sit down and pray?--No, the command was that they go
forward, that Moses first lift his rod and stretch forth his hand to divide the
sea, and that the multitude go on through.
To all human reasoning this command would seem utterly foolish in the
face of their predicament, but God knew all about it.
He knew what He was doing when He led them there, too.
He was about to bring to pass so great an event that it would bring fear
upon the heathen and thus help make possible God's people taking the land of
their promise, as well as to relieve them of the pursuing Egyptians.
This
lesson shows that unfailing faith, courage, and action is the cooperation that
is required from the converted Christian every advance step of the way in God's
leading, and it always brings success.
The
Midianites also lost courage and they were defeated.
Yes, discouragement does bring defeat.
Discouragement is one of the snares
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
9
@
of the
Devil to bring defeat to God's people if they allow it.
In the
days of King Belshazzar there was a war in which the Medes and Persians wanted
to break through the walls of Babylon and subdue her under their rule.
You recall that the Babylonians suddenly lost out because they were
over-confident. Yes, they had
placed all their confidence in their strong walls!
To bring
this lesson down to our time we find from Holy Writ that the cause of the
Laodiceans' downfall is due to the operation of the same principle that brought
Babylon's defeat--over-confidence. Yes,
they say they are rich in Truth and have need of no more although God says that
they are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
Thus they have fallen into the Devil's trap for them.
In
warfare you know that each side tries to confuse its enemy and break their
morale with the end in view of weakening the enemy and thus making its own
victory easier. And when they plan
their attacks and invasions they attempt to make them in the places they think
their enemy would least suspect.
In the
spiritual warfare the Christians' Adversary does not nap. He, too, seeks his
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
10
@
opportunity
to break down their courage and morale and thus make sure to accomplish their
defeat as we saw demonstrated in the examples we have cited today.
And do not think for a moment that he is not looking for the vulnerable
point in us, too, that he might strike and cause our defeat.
We could expect his assault upon us to come from the place we least
expect it. So, unless we know what our weakest spot is how could we know
where the Devil is going to attack us?
The
Enemy made Laodiceans believe they have no need of more Truth, that they have
all Truth that is necessary to get them through Heaven's portals, although God
has declared that they are in need of everything, and are about to be "spued
out" (Rev. 3:16).
Now we
really are enriched with Truth if we have studied and assimilated what has been
given us, for we have had made available to us the "gold that is tried in
the fire" that we might be rich, the "eyesalve" that we
"might see," and the "raiment" with which we may be covered
(Rev. 3), and the "extra oil" that our way might be lighted (Matt.
25). Therefore the Devil is not
going to attack us where he attacked Laodice-ans, but he will tell us that we
are poor in Truth. He will do this
in almost any way. The testimonies
I heard some give here last night showed just that.
Such testimonies would
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
11
@
not
spawn courage in anyone, but they rather would bring nothing but discouragement.
For anybody to come to a meeting and manifest discouragement, it is a
sure sign of his own personal spiritual bankruptcy, his personal defeat.
And what
kind of daily testimony do you give in your associations with others by word or
by pen?
There is
only one road, but it has two sides to it: On one side are the Laodiceans
saying, Fear not, everything is all right.
I saw some Davidians last night on the other side of the road discouraged
with everything. Neither is right.
Neither is trusting in God.
1 Tim.
3:7, 8--"Moreover he must have a good
report
of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the
Devil. Likewise must the deacons be
grave, not doubletongued,..."
Yes, the
men in God's service must be able to bring a good report of themselves and must
not be doubletongued--he must not bring a mixture of good and bad reports which
in nearly every case is calculated to serve his own selfish interest, or it
reflects his low spiritual condition. When
one starts giving bad reports he is either assuredly falling into a snare of the
Devil, or it is an index that he has already
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
12
@
fallen
into the snare.
Jas
2:17-20--"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith
without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also
believe, and tremble. But wilt thou
know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"
The only
way we can show our faith to others is by our deeds, our works.
What
does it mean to confess our faults one to another?--We do that when we make our
faults right with those whom we have wrongly influenced.
But last night this is not what we heard in some of the testimonies that
were spoken. The converted
Christian always has a good report; he is a man of faith, courage, and works; he
is a Davidian indeed.
Rev.
12:10, 11--"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come
salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His
Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night. And they
overcame him by
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
13
@
the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their
lives unto the death."
It is
for us to go through with these who shall be given sure and complete victory
over the Evil One. Let none,
therefore, fall into the snare he has set for us.
* * * *
* * * * * * *
Symbolic
Code, Vol. 11, No. 2
14
@