The Church Triumphant — Glenn Meldrum

The Church Overcomes by the Blood of the Lamb

For more messages by Glenn Meldrum and in his presence ministries, go to www .IHPMINISTRY .com. You are welcome to make additional copies of this CD for free distribution. Turn to Revelation.

The 12th chapter in the 11th verse Says they overcame him referring to the devil By the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives. So much as to shrink from death.

And then jump over to the 17th verse. Then the devil was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring. Those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

And so we're gonna look at the church triumphant what the church triumphant is how the church is triumphant and what defeats the church. The first thing I do want to look at is the 17th verse there where it refers to a battle.

The Church Must Expect Spiritual Warfare

Very recently talked to an individual that in their discussion They gave the mentality that well hard times must mean that something's not right. That's something spiritually wrong. And I thank God that the early church didn't have that view or we wouldn't be in existence today.

Because if the early church would have the view that hard times must mean that God isn't blessing. They would have ceased To evangelize and reach out to a perishing world. They would have ceased because they had all kinds of trouble.

We have to realize that God has called us to war. Why do we think that there should be peace? You see we have a mentality in America that we're called to peace. We're not called to peace. We're called to war.

Why are we shocked when there's battles? Why are we shocked when there's tribulation and trouble? Why are we shocked when there's their spiritual warfare that goes on? Why should we we be shocked in our life when when things are falling apart?

What happens so many times we go to God when hard times are hitting us and we say God why me? Rather than understanding says you are a fallen person living in a fallen world. Not just that is you have angered the evil one because you've changed sides.

You've been a traitor against him now. So he's not going to be happy with you and he's going to come against you and as him being a hater of God. He hates all that God has and owns and all that God is and he's going to attack all of that.

Everything that he can so why should we be shocked. An Author is named Stephen Lawhead. He says how do you appease an enemy who will not be appeased by anything less than your death? How do you appease the devil who will not be appeased by anything less than your destruction.

It becomes so ludicrous so ridiculous for the church to think that somehow we can compromise the gospel. Somehow we can compromise Christianity and not have it be that bad. But how do we compromise with the evil one who wants nothing but our destruction?

His goal is not just to make the church weak and powerless. His goal is ultimately to do away with it. But the promise of God stands against him and the grace of God stands against it that the church has still remained.

Even through the time where it has been horrendously ugly. How much more is he not going to be able to do it now, but we have to see that we've been called the war. Why should we be shocked? Because there's war.

We have to change our way of thinking we have to understand. This is war. Now the reason why we have some problems because we always live our lifestyle is in peace. We expect that we're gonna go home from work when have a nice time.

Everything's gonna be great. Everything's nice and easy, but when was the last time you heard of war happened like that? When a nation is really at war. Everybody's affected. I mean as if all of a sudden Russia started bombing us.

I Guarantee you people wouldn't be sitting down in front of their televisions the way that they used to. I guarantee you things would be different. All of a sudden we would refit all of our country all of our all of our our factories for wartime.

Productions everything would be dealt with and accepted as far as rationing and and all the other things because of war. How much more is it that we shouldn't have that mentality for the greatest battle that we face?

God has called us to just the opposite of what so often we think. We think that we're to be in peace and we're to be in comfort. God has called us to be the total opposite not just that war but to be the aggressors in the war.

So often we wait for the devil to be the aggressor so often. We're always responding to his attacks. When is the church gonna come to a point where it is so sick and tired of what the devil has done to our world?

That we get on the aggressive we get on the the the offensive rather than staying in the defensive. You see we're not taking ground from the devil because all we're trying to do is hold our ground. And if all we're trying to do is hold our ground we might get mighty weary of trying to hold the same ground.

We've been fighting year after year after year after year after year. Think of an army these nations at war and think of this one army that for years all they've been doing is trying to defend this one hill one hill.

I Mean these men that are on that hill trying to defend that one hill they're gonna get so tired so weary and they're gonna say What's the use of this one hill? I mean we can start start wanting to give in and cave in because all we've been to is trying to occupy.

But God does not want us to occupy. He wants an aggressive church an Aggressive Christianity that says enough Devil, I'm coming after you. I'm tired of you coming after me. I'm coming after you now. You're on my hit list rather than it being the other way around you want to come at me, that's all right.

But I'm gonna attack you first. I'm gonna come after you with everything. I got games over the church has become determined and it has to see the purpose it has to have a Determination in their heart that they're not going to sit anymore in apathy, but that they're going to become aggressive in their Christianity turn to Hebrews 11 and I want to look just for a couple of minutes at a Triumphant church or the triumphant churches as scripture relates it.

Faith That Endures Persecution

Hebrews 11 verse 32 and what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon Barak Samson Japheth David Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms administered justice and gained what was promised.

Who shut the mouths of lions quenched the fury of the flames and escaped the edge of the sword? Whose weakness was turned to strength and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead raised the life again.

Others were tortured and refused to be released. So that they might gain a better resurrection. Some were some faced jeers and floggings while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned.

They were sawn in two. They were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins destitute persecuted and mistreated. I want you to listen to this 38th verse. The world was not worthy of them.

The world was not worthy of them. I Want you to think about this church here for a minute this body of believers now. This is relating to the Old Testament Saints, but nonetheless it was God's Church at that time.

What does he relate as victorious? You have a few of them in here that were armies or kings that were conquering. But so much of it was those who were faithful in the midst of battles as being saints of God.

You have the testimony here that's brought out or the tradition that Jeremiah was sawed in two. You have other prophets that were thrown in pits. Jeremiah was also thrown a pit. They were persecuted they were rejected.

They went around in nakedness and peril and sword and you have these these people that live such a life and then God says the world wasn't even worthy of these people because the faith that they had and the trust that they had and Their willingness to stand and be triumphant even in light of the worst tribulations.

We can read the Bible and We can be used to the Bible and read it over again and over again and not really be moved a whole lot by it. But then once in a while God does these wonderful little things and and just for whatever reason opens the scripture to our understanding.

More Than Conquerors Through Christ

Well, God did this with a simple verse one that that's really common one I quoted and I know Christians quote time again because it's a one of those Christian cliche verses. It's Romans 8 37 says no in all these things.

We are more than conquerors to him who loved us. How many times have we taken that verse when people suffer and we go to them says all Jesus will make you more than a Conqueror, I mean how many times have we done it becomes a cliche a words some words.

We say because that's what we think is apropos in a time of suffering. But I was reading this one day and it just came to the point to me the reality of saying I Win, I win devil I win. Period. I win you will never ever beat me never no matter what you do.

No matter if you touch my body if you touch my family if you give you if you give me a job experience. If I remain true, you will never ever ever ever win never no matter what you do. You are defeated.

You see it's so simple. It's so simple, but sometimes we just have a hard time understanding. We will win period. We will be triumphant if we remain true to the faith the devil will never be able to do it now.

He wants to lie to us and make us think that he'll win or that we're losing or whatever. But we have to see no matter what devil. I don't care what you do. I will never ever bow my knee to you devil in the worst tribulation.

I'll bow my knee only to Christ. No matter what you do if it be that I'm thrown to the lions. Then I will never bow my knee to you. All those Saints were triumphant that went to the Lions all those Saints were triumphant that were drowned or persecuted or had their tongues ripped out.

They were all victorious. They did not lose and you know why the devil did that because he knew that he was losing and he in such wrath and such anger if I can't make you deny me that I'm gonna mutilate you and yet you have people like like Huss that's being burned at the stake and and before they put the torch to John Huss.

He ends up making the statement. He says what I preach with my lips. I now see with my blood and as they put him the flame they heard him singing joyfully unto his God. The devil doesn't win. You see the issue is not whether we can be triumphant.

It's whether are we being triumphant because we're walking in that place of victory or have we been defeated? The early church their testimony was a testimony of triumph, you know. And I'm not gonna take the time to go through it.

But but you read the second chapter and you read 41 on and you find a church that's triumphant. The Lord added 3 ,000 to the church and then it says later that he added daily to the church and that they walked in unity and harmony and.

And signs and wonders followed it speaks of a triumphant Victorious church that is an example of triumph. That is an example of victory. That's an example of the church being aggressive in its Christianity and overcoming.

Taking ground rather than just trying to defend ground. It's interesting when you get into the Chinese Church and the persecution that goes on there and The majority of times when the Chinese become Christians.

They know they will be persecuted one way or the other whether it's the taking of their possessions or whether they're thrown in jail or whether It's death. They know there's a price the chance of persecution for them is tremendous.

So you all know a song they sing and I wonder if we put it on our Sunday morning list of songs and if it become one of our most popular ones. Says I want to be a martyr for Jesus. I Mean, how many of us would joyfully sing such a song unto the Lord?

I want to die for Jesus. I want to be a martyr for Jesus. Our mentality in America has been so Comfort oriented that we're against suffering. But yet we're told in Philippians that we are to walk in the fellowship of the sharing in the sufferings of Christ.

But that's not good Pentecostal theology. It's good Bible theology. But Pentecostal theology is is God wants to prosper us and make everything happy and fun and it's not necessarily reality. He wants to make us triumphant.

The Church Triumphant in Missions and Evangelism

This church in the South Seas Built a church of a thousand and put a cornerstone in that church. They had an inscription on it. And I want you to hear this inscription. He says when John Getty landed here in 1848.

There were no Christians here. When he left in 1872. There were no heathen. That's a triumphant church. That's a victorious church. Now. That's not the the way that it always goes. I mean you can go to Adoniram Judson.

Adoniram Judson he goes to Burma and His wife dies his children die. You know, he's he's imprisoned and and and the things that he goes through is seven years until he gets his first convert. Seven years but as a result of a man who would not be defeated to the worst trials that we could even imagine now there's over a million souls that have been saved as a result of Adoniram Judson.

A Million people were saved because the man paved the way even for other missionaries to come because he would not cave in. He would not bow his knee to to the devil nor would he turn tail and run and give up.

Many times we we yield to the devil by just giving up by just stopping. I'm tired of the fight. I'm tired of trials. I don't want it anymore. But that's defeat. What defeats the church. Ezekiel 37. Probably set of scriptures familiar with some of you at least it's the vision that God gave Ezekiel of the valley of dry bones.

The Valley of Dry Bones and the Need for Spiritual Life

Now, what would a valley of dry bones speak about? What would a valley of dry bones actually be? It's death. We have to see that it was a battle that went on. It was two armies that came against each other and the bones that are left in that valley are the defeated army.

What would end up happening is a conquering army would go through after the after the battle was over and they would remove their dead. And bury them properly. They would go then and strip all the the dead warriors out there of their valuables.

And they would leave their bodies out there to rot and be pecked by the birds and tore apart by the animals. They would leave it out there to be a testimony of their defeat the shame of the people. This was a symbol of Israel.

Defeated. It becomes a present testimony of the church in America. I believe I believe predominantly the church in America is a defeated church. It is no more an aggressive church. It is no more a church going after the land.

It is a church that has succumbed to the culture and just given in to become seeker sensitive to go after what is easy. Rather than being an aggressive church seeking the loss and saying I'm tired of what the devil has done.

I'm taking back the land. And so God sends the Prophet and the Prophet prophesies by the word of the Lord and all sudden bone comes to bone and Flesh comes upon the bones and all sudden you have an army of corpses.

No life. What good is a church of a thousand if they're all dead corpses. You could have a church of ten that's dead corpses and a church of a thousand of dead corpses. You know, the only difference is the one a thousand smells worse.

God's not glorified in numbers itself. Now. God wants to save multitudes. That's the reality of it, but it's not numbers of itself. It's not the aspect that we just try and get them for the sake of of putting notches on our belt in essence.

The church could only become an army when the breath of God is breathed in it. Only when the breath of God was breathing to that army of corpses become of any value. Try and get an army of corpses to do anything.

You see they don't do anything. Oh, they feel pews. They don't do anything. They do not do anything. Corpses do not do anything and you know what corpses cannot produce babies. They cannot produce babies only living.

Breathing people can produce children. So you have a church of a thousand dead corpses. They are not going to produce children of faith. If people come into the church, it's either transfer growth or it's the aspect.

They're producing dead babies just like they are not living babies. Dead people cannot produce living children. Only living breathing churches living breathing individuals will begin to birth living children.

What good are we if we're just a corpse? God told Ezekiel to prophesy again and when he prophesied he prophesied to the four breaths of God in the four corners of the world to breathe and life came in to the people and.

Then they became a living breathing army. Then they could hear their commander and respond only then. But you see there's a difficulty when we look at it in the New Testament light. To have the breath of God we have to do something.

There's a journey we have to go through and the journey we have to go through to have the breath of God is we got. To go through Calvary you get the Pentecost. We got to go through Calvary. Jesus died rose again stayed with the Apostles and the disciples for 40 days.

Then he told him says go and carry in Jerusalem till you get the power of God to be a witness. Only when they had the power of God only when the breath of God came amongst them. Did they become a breathing living army to become aggressive and take the land?

Until the breath of God was truly breathed on them. They were a cowering group of people unable to do anything. It was not until the breath of God breathed in them. But what was the means by which God told him to do it?

He says you get away on your face and you tarry to the power of God come. You know why the church in America does not have the power of God because it does not tarry. Does not tarry to get the Pentecost.

Pentecostal Power and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

I Believe in it. I believe in the baptism the Holy Ghost. The church needs to be Pentecostal. I used to think that it was good that we're all part of the evangelical church. I've come to the conclusion that the Pentecostal Church is not to be evangelical.

But I believe that the church is to be Pentecostal. It is to be New Testament Christianity. That God has done a work in bringing about the true church once again in Pentecost that it could have power to be a witness and That he does not want the church to compromise the Pentecostal power just to be accepted by the world.

Accepted by the by the community of churches. But that we are to be true to the New Testament pattern of faith to be true in the power of God to change the world. The people thought bad about Azusa Street.

So what but from that Revival the world was changed and one of the greatest revivals that ever happened swept the world. The greatest missionary effort that has ever happened in history swept the world as a result of that God wants his church to be triumphant.

What Defeats the Church: Spiritual Death

But the church has become a valley of dry bones. Or maybe he's called us back and we've come to a point to be corpses. What we have to do is we have to look at what slays the church. What is the thing that that brought that army to the point of defeat that it was laying out there as a as a valley.

Of dry bones what defeated the church? For the sake of time. I I'm only going to touch on a couple of things because I want to get into the means of victory. But the first thing is we've got to come to the reality of the state of the church if we remain ignorant of our own Death, how will we ever come to life if we can try to convince yourself?

Yes, we're alive. But we're really not and the fruits not there then how are we going to ever get the life that God really wants first? We've got to see where we're really at and I want to put a little microscope Upon us that we might look and examine ourselves in one simple area I want to look at and I'm going to touch some other things that defeats the church, but one particular area and That is the loss of the power of God.

The loss of the power of God means one thing. That the Holy Spirit has not been powerfully present in his church. I'm not going to say he's been absent, but I will say he's not been powerfully present.

That his arm his right arm has not been laid bare to save that his right arm has not been laid bare to deliver to heal. That his arms not been bared to fill with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Every time that you see the power of God manifested people are saved people are filled people are healed.

Signs and wonders happen whenever God is not powerfully presence with his people the signs and the wonder and the power of God is absent from the church. We have to see that that becomes one of the signs of sickness within the church that we have to look at the power of God missing and so what do we do?

What do churches do across this country. The whole idea of seeker sensitive is just it's it's trying to take the place of The Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is gone. He left. So since he's not around how else can we do the work so we come up with human inventions human plans human ideas.

But the real issue is that the Holy Spirit is left rather than dealing with the trio issue saying we have no power God because we've not gone through our Calvary to really get to our Pentecost and we've not carried to the power of God's come.

But you see we've got to go the only path that he told us to the power of God and that's coming to our Calvary. And coming to the point of tearing for the power of God to be birthed in us again. What I mean by Calvary is that we come to a point to understand our wickedness.

We have become many times Pentecostal Pharisees. But you know, there's a health and I'm going to deal with this in a couple minutes. There is a health and understanding who we are in our wickedness. There's a health in that when it's used correctly.

Stanley Jones made this interesting statement. He says we inoculate the world with a mild form of Christianity. So that it will be immune to the real thing but no matter what the world thinks is God's calling his church wants his church to be the real thing and to settle for nothing less than to be triumphant and victorious and so I want to look at a couple of issues here that slays a church and I want to deal with what I see as the core issue the core issue.

Surrendering Worldly Ambitions to God

If you if you really want to get down to it everything in your life that is contrary to what God would want. Everything is a hard issue. It's a hard issue. God constantly went to the children of Israel and called them a hard unrepentant stubborn people.

Constantly did that. I want to take you to a situation here again for time's sake you can just jot down the chapter. This is a very interesting chapter. It's Exodus 33. And I'm just gonna relate to you the story.

God goes to Moses and tells Moses says, okay Moses. What I want you to do is pack up all the people and go over to Jordan and go into the promised land. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna send a couple angels before you and they're gonna kick out the people and you can go in.

And take the land. That means you're going to houses that are you know. Full of the furniture and and all the things that you need the crops are all ready to harvest. Just go on and take the land because I'll drive the people out and I'll bless you in the land.

But Moses I won't go with you because if I go with you I'll destroy you because you are stubborn stiff-necked people. I want to ask you a question here. What would you do if God went to you now and he says I'll tell you what?

I'm gonna give you the best house you ever want. I'm gonna give you all the cars you want whatever kind you want George. I'm gonna give you a bank account you wish you had Everything I'll set you up. I'll bless you till the day you die.

But I won't go with. How many Christians would sit down and say Pretty good deal there Lord, you know, man, that sounds right. You know, that's just what I've been looking for. You know, I'm tired of battling with the bills and I'm that's not.

Why don't we go for that one Lord? I mean how many of us would would really pick? To go into that promised land and leave God back there. Okay God. I got your blessing. I got your possession. I got all kinds of stuff.

It's fine. Everything is gonna be good. Well, we'll take care of the worship later. It's it was a heart issue. God went to Moses and asked Moses. He didn't ask the children of Israel this he asked Moses.

Yes, because he knew if he asked the children of Israel the children of Israel would choose to go in the promised land and leave God behind. He asked Moses because Moses had a living Relationship with the Lord and Moses says if you don't go with us, I don't want to go.

I'd rather dwell in the desert and be in poverty and have you. Than to have all the wealth of the land and be poverty struck spiritually in that. And it was right after that that Moses ended up asking the thing that should be the cry of a heart Lord.

Show me your glory. Show me your glory. Which reveals the heart of Moses? He was a man who longed and desired the move of God. But the stubbornness of the children of Israel was always the issue that made God leave one way the other.

There's stubbornness in the heart problem that they had one way of the other got them into various sins various areas of Compromise that brought upon them the plagues and all the problems that they suffer under themselves.

Sin in the Camp and Corporate Holiness

And so we find in Joshua the situation of a man Who was a warrior and he disobeyed God? His name was Achan and God told the people to go in and take the land but don't take of this one city of its spoil.

But he went in and took of the spoil. The next time Israel took a small army against a small city called AI and They were severely defeated and Joshua gets on his face and says God what is going on that?

We have been defeated like this and God says that there's sin in the camp one man's sin Brought the entire community of Israel to their knees. I want you to hear what Joshua 22 20 has to say about it says Achan Acted unfaithfully regarding the devoted things did not wrath come upon the whole community of Israel.

He was not the only one who died for his sins. The lesson that's really taught here is that there's no such thing as private sin. It does not exist when I sin. I just don't hurt my life. I hurt my family's life.

I hurt my church's life. There is no such thing as secret sin does not happen. I cannot have a secret pornography habit and not have it affect my entire family and and every person that I come in contact with.

Even the loss because it'll be the absent of the presence of God will be one of the greatest thing. That God will be absent from me because of my sin that has made him flee in the night. 1950 Belgian Congo revival they didn't have at that time.

The Old Testament translated in their native tongue just the New Testament but a thing that was astounding about this revival is that Many of the natives had visions and the visions they had was the Old Testament being enacted before their eyes.

There's this one account of this Native woman and she's in the middle of a Bible school. Everybody's looking at her as she's weeping and she's staring up at the sky and she she starts describing the book of Ezekiel seeing a wheel within a wheel and the glory of God and seeing it hoovering right there in.

The presence of God and she's weeping and all sudden she starts watching and everybody's watching her. She's as she alone is seeing the glory of God and she's watching it. She says it's leaving. It's going out of the building.

It's leaving out into the hall. It's going in as she watched it go into into the jungle and she fell to her knees and she says the glory of God. It's leaving it's leaving it. It's because of our sin that it has left the glory of God leaves when sin is in the camp.

If you don't see that your sin can affect every person in this room. Then that secret sin is no big deal or bitterness or hatred or whatever there's there's another story that I can give you real quick Jonathan go forth.

He was a missionary to Korea and China and he saw the he was a part of the the Korean revival of 1905. Before revival came he started reading Charles Finney's lectures on revival and from reading those lectures He was convicted in his own heart and he says God whatever these promises of revival are I want to fulfill them all that your power would be revealed.

The problem is is God showed him something. He didn't want to deal with. He showed him longtime bitterness he had against another brother another fellow missionary that had wronged him and God dealt with him and finally he went and got right with that brother.

After he got right with that brother the revival fire started to fall in the nation. Because Jonathan go forth himself was being the obstacle. There's no such thing as secret sin it does not happen. But just the opposite.

Robert Murray McShean made the statement he says according your holiness so shall be your success. A holy man is an awesome weapon in the hands of God. A Holy man is an awesome weapon in the hands of God when we truly become holy not by popular standards.

But by the standards of the Word of God not just what we we don't do but also by what we do. Do I? Can be not pleasing to God and not smoke not drink and all the other things. But I can fail to keep the promise and the commandments of go into all the world and preach the gospel.

You see I can be guilty before God of sinning against him in that way because I won't open my mouth. So when I become holy and all that I do in my lifestyle. So what I'm supposed to do and what I'm not supposed to do and that becomes my lifestyle.

Apathy and the Loss of Evangelistic Passion

We become powerful weapons in the hands of God. There's two more things. I want to deal with before I move on. The next thing that I see that slays at army. Is apathy? We just don't care. We just don't care we care enough to come to church to a certain extent.

But when a heart grows cold and we grow full of apathy. Well, we don't have time anymore. It doesn't work in my schedule. I Mean what it is is you should look at the writing on the wall see what's what it's saying.

Apathy is a slayer to the church because what it does it makes the church self-centered it makes the church look only at itself preservation rather than the propagation of the gospel. Whenever the church Becomes consumed with its own self-preservation it dies.

Because you know what happens it actually starts to eat itself up. Paul referred to it as biting and devouring one another it starts to self-destruct. The way the church is healthiest every single time you can look at every single time in history when the church is healthy.

It's because it's reaching out. It is dynamic in taking the land. That reaching out gets our eyes off of us our own need and we start seeing what real pain is. We stop the whining. We stop the complaining because we start seeing people who were eating their lives away by drugs and they have nothing left.

We start seeing people that have so much hurt and pain from relationship after relationship after relationship. That their lives are just a wreck and we start seeing agony like we haven't even remembered because it's been so many years since we were in it.

We start seeing the reality of what's in the world when we start caring once again. I really don't believe that the church believes in hell. I believe the church believes in hell here. But I don't believe it's gotten here because if we really really really believed in hell.

We would live like we believed in hell. We would live like I don't want to take more time than that. I could take a lot of time in the aspect of apathy. But I want you to see that and some of you need to examine yourself as apathy got in hold of you.

Do you really care when was the last time you wept? You wept over the lost in the workplace. When was the last time you were on your knees and you saw you realize this man this man? I work with. I work with day in day out year after year.

He's going to hell dear God. I've been so blind to it. Jesus break into this man's life. When was the last time we were so broken if we understood the reality of an eternal damnation. That we were motivated in our prayer life like that.