(So Great a Salvation) Victory Part 2 — Paris Reidhead

Abiding in Christ for Victory Over the Flesh

When you turn, please, to John 15, we are still on line eight in your outline. We are still dealing with victory. I want you to notice this fourth verse of John 15 and shall read for you the first four verses.

I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Abide in me, and I in you. Now it is these words I want you to keep in mind as we continue the study of victory through our identification, our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 14, verse 30, our Lord Jesus declared, The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.

This world, governed by an authority other than the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father, under the control given to him by Adam, he controls the world, the world system, and he has used it against us. And so we have to recognize that when God in grace wanted to provide us salvation, he had to include our three worst enemies.

This morning we talked about the worst of the three, and I always identify that one as me, as I. You can call it the flesh, you can call it the old man, you can call it self, I don't care what you call it as long as you don't try to escape the fact that it's you.

Anything else you want to give it, any other term, it doesn't affect anything. Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. Now what we saw then was that God's method of saving us from the tyranny of our traits and our habits and our attitudes and of temptation was by our union with the Lord Jesus Christ.

When he went to the cross for us, he was so totally and completely identified with us that we said, looking down on that scene from the throne, our God the Father saw two people on the cross, Christ and you.

We were crucified with Christ. Now it remains for us to see that. I shan't go further with that other than to say, if you understand how to have victory over you, that's only one of the three enemies with which you have to deal.

The World and Its Threefold Appeal

The second is in the world. In 1 John, the second chapter, and verses 16 and 17, we learn more about the world, not only that it's governed by this ancient foe, but something about the nature of it. We're told in verse 15, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world.

And the world passeth away in the lust thereof, but either doeth the will of God abideth forever. Now, if you ever see a picture of Satan with a pitchfork, and it has more than three times, you know it's not scriptural or the way it should be, all the times that he has on that pitchfork that he's used to drive or entice the human family into his stares and into destruction are these three, all that is in the world.

That's all he has to work with, the lust of the flesh, the desires of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. These correspond to certain ancient idolatries. We find the first form of idolatry in the scripture was that where Nimrod was said to be a mighty hunter, but actually the text is a mighty rebel against the Lord, and he led the race in an effort to set up another system other than God.

And the Tower of Babel actually was envisioned as the means by which they could tear God out of the heavens. And Nimrod, so we are told in some of the books, I don't know just where they get their authority, but it's been held generally, and I've never tried to challenge it, that Nimrod took his father's wife, not his mother, but in an incestuous relationship, he took his father's wife, Semiramis, and enthroned her as the goddess in this temple that had been erected, and gave a new theology, which was the theology of sexual indulgence as being the means by which they could fulfill religious obligation as well as satisfy their appetite.

Now it came down to us as the worship of Ashtaroth or Ashtarti and Juno and so on. All across the centuries there has been this form of idolatry which appeals to the flesh, which gives license and indulgence to the flesh and to the appetites and to sexual appetites.

That is one of the forms that's been characterizing idolatry through the centuries. And there was a second form of idolatry that's identified in the scripture, one of the tragedies of Israel in the land after they had crossed the Jordan.

Compromise and the Worship of Baal

It's said there in the book of Joshua that they feared the Lord and they served the gods of the land. Now you have to get a picture of that. Here they are, they've come in, they've displaced the inhabitants that were there before them, they've taken over their farms, taken over everything, their houses, all of it was there.

But the people were not killed the way they should have been, the way God had commanded them. And so some of them are still lingering around here and there. And can you see an Israelite family that have occupied a farm by one of the families that had been there?

And they're not doing so well. They didn't know all that much, they hadn't done a lot of farming in Egypt, and they hadn't been taught much about farming in the 40 years in the wilderness, and now they've taken it over and they're not getting along so well.

And the fellow that once farmed this land comes up and walks along and says, well, I see you're not running this as well as I did when I had it. And the Israelite who says there, well, I don't know, I'm doing the best I can.

No, you're not. You're not doing nearly as well as you should. Do you see that pile of stones over there in the fence corner? Yeah, I've often wondered about that. They're awful. They're dirty. What was that?

Well, he said, that's the altar to Baal. Well, what's Baal? Well, Baal is the owner of this place. That's the evil spirit that controls this place. And you can't have a crop here unless you get his cooperation.

And the way you get his cooperation is to bring a sheep and you kill it and put the blood there and make a sacrifice to Baal. And then you'll get a good crop. Well, obviously that Israelite isn't going to do that.

He wouldn't think of it. He tells his wife about the conversation that night, and she said, you know, if we had a good crop, I could get some of those things I've been looking at in the catalog, and we haven't had the money to get.

And I think maybe we might just give it a little thought. Let's not put it away too fast. And so it just happens, just happens that a poor little lamb jumps up on the top of those rocks and runs into a knife.

I mean, it was all accidental, you know. I mean, it wasn't intentional. Just runs right into it and it just cuts its throat. And so what can he do? He just leaves it there and lets the blood run. And sure enough, he gets a good crop.

And so the word spreads. And so here you've got a people at God's delivery, and they found a little compromise here, a little compromise there. And the result? They feared the Lord and they served the gods of the land.

They brought judgment on them because of that. Now, that's the world. That's the lust of the eye, things that they could see and get. And it corresponds to the worship of Baal. Well, subsequently, there was a third type of worship idolatry that crept into Israel and angered God.

The Pride of Life and the Worship of Moloch

It was called the worship of Moloch. Now, Moloch is composed of three Arabic, I call them Arabic radicals, R-M-L-K, Moloch. And it's a word that's current in Arabic. For instance, when we first arrived in Egypt in 1945, Egypt had a king.

And we were there on the day of the opening of Parliament when the king rode by right in front of the American University guest house where we were staying. And we stood inside the fence and climbed up on the fence.

And we could see the beautiful horses, Arabian horses, coming by in the gold coats. And as the king approached, the people took up a great cry, Malakabir! Malakabir! Same radicals as you had in Moloch, means king.

Now, best we can see, Moloch was in the form of a statue, quite large. Oh, maybe 20 feet high or even higher. And it was carved out of solid rock, and it had tunnels that had been drilled up from the back.

And they would put bellows on the back. And the way the figure sat, this regal figure, his arms out over his thighs and his hands clasped, made a kind of a fire basin. And they'd put charcoal in that and set it aflame.

And then the priest would get behind and work the bellows until they had a red bed of coal. And the person that wanted to make an offering to Moloch would come, husband and wife, baby, maybe eight days old, just a little one, and stand there and agree together.

And the priest would ask what they wanted. And what they wanted was to make a sacrifice to Moloch. Now, why? Well, you see, the worship of Moloch was associated with position, with power, with influence over people, or, if you please, the pride of life.

So, here's a mother, here's a father with their child, usually the firstborn. And the father would take the child the way a basketball player would try to establish a trajectory, and then would throw the little one up in the air with the purpose of landing right in that bed of coal and be consumed.

You say, that's horrible. That's horrible. Sure, it's horrible. But it's also horrible that parents in our day, in our generation, are sacrificing their children to their ambitions. We have a great deal of the worship of Moloch today.

Now, that's all there is in the world. The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, the worship of Astarte, the worship of Baal, and the worship of Moloch. Now, that's all he has.

He doesn't have any more. That's it. That's all that's in the world. Now, you and I once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince and the power of the air, that same spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, among whom we all had our manner of life in times past, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

So Great a Salvation from the World

But God, for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and sin, has provided us victory so that now that we've been washed in the blood of his dear son, we've been born into his family, we can go back into that world where once we were slaves, and we can be there safely and free.

Why? How could God work so marvelously that he could trust us, who once walked according to the course of this world, to go back into that world without fear that we were going to be forced back into slavery?

Well, it's marvelous to realize that when God purposed our salvation, he included everything that was necessary for us to be everything that he wanted us to be, and he called it so great salvation. And everything the Father purposed, the Son provided, has been made available.

And everything that the Son provided, God the Holy Spirit, is here now to make real and effective and operative in my life and in yours. And therefore, we have the text of the conference, how are we going to escape if we neglect so great salvation?

If God knew we needed it, and Christ provided it, and the Holy Spirit wants to make it operative in us, how in the world are we ever going to escape the consequences of doing nothing about it? Not even caring enough to find out about it, much less to appropriate it and act on it and live in it.

Well, that's where we are. Now, how did God design that we were going to have victory over the world? Well, I'll tell you. We found out that we have victory over ourselves by our union with Christ in his death.

We are crucified with him. Knowing this, that we are crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed and nulled, that henceforth we should not be the bond slaves of sin. So it's as we see ourselves on the cross, crucified with Christ, that we have victory in the moment of temptation.

Burial with Christ and Separation from the World

But that's not the only place he went. We saw in John 15, 4, he said, Abide in me. Now, he's not telling the branch to abide in the vine, because if it's been put there by God's husband, it's going to stay in the vine.

But he's talking about something that we consciously must do, something that is a responsibility to do, something to abide, to live, to dwell. Now, where do we find the Lord Jesus initially and find we were in him and with him?

Well, we were crucified with him. But did he stay on the cross? No. They took him down from the cross and they laid him in a tomb. Well, how many people were on the cross? Well, the proper answer would be Christ and me.

There were two of us there. He was dying there for me and I was dying there with him. That's historical. The day Christ died, you died. The day Christ died, I died. I don't have to think dead and play dead and try to be dead.

This is a history. When he died for me, I died with him. Now, how many people were in the tomb? Two. Who were they? Christ and me. We were buried together with him. As baptism is a picture, we were immersed and submerged in him in the tomb.

Why? Because as we understand that we're buried with him, it immunizes us to the attraction and the appeal of the world. Let me illustrate it. Here's a man who's been very successful in business. And he went back to the time of the first model, Model A Ford.

And ever since then, he's been buying a new car every year. And the salesman knows. He just writes it down. He's got one sold. But something happened. This is up here in Minnesota. My elderly relatives used to say, if you make it through March, you're going to make it for another year in Minnesota.

Well, this fellow never made it through March. Then September comes and the new models come out. And so the salesman looks at his book and it says, Boy, old Harry is not here. I can't give up that easy.

So he goes out to the cemetery and stands over the grave. And he starts to talk to Harry about how attractive the new models are. Tells them how high the tail fins are and how much power it's got and what mileage it gets.

Well, I assure you, where Harry is, wherever it is, he's not interested in the new models. There's something about being buried that puts a distance between you and the advertising. You're just not that excited about it anymore.

And so God's way of dealing with us and the world was that we were to abide in Christ, buried with him. Now, if that's the case, then there's a gulf fixed between us and the world we're in. And we can go back into it and not be susceptible to it.

So we've got to understand, then, that God had a method. But it's a method that demands obedience. He said, Abide in me. That means live. That means reside. That means make your home. Abide in me, crucified with me, to have victory over yourself.

But abide in me, buried with me, to have victory over the world. The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. And once you see this, and once you understand it, and once this becomes part of the affirmation in your daily prayers, Father, for this day, I see myself, by faith, in union with Christ on the cross, crucified with him and buried with him, that I might walk back into this world governed by your ancient foe and not be susceptible to its enticements.

It's astonishing the way God honors his word when we are simple enough and childlike enough to believe it and obey it. And he said, Abide in me. Well, we dealt with two of the enemies, the flesh and the world.

Victory over the Devil through the Blood of the Lamb

But we've still got a third one to worry about a little bit. But what are we going to do about the third one? Who is that? Well, that's the devil. The flesh, the world, and the devil. Now, how are we going to overcome this ancient foe?

I think you'd better turn to Revelation chapter 12 and verse 11 and let the word speak to your heart. And if you don't have it underlined in red or something else to see when you open the book, you better take care of that and get that so that you really are familiar with it and know it's there.

And what does it say? And they overcame him. Who? They overcame the great dragon, the serpent, the devil, Satan. In verse 9, they made no mistake. They wanted to know who they're talking about. So they gave him all of his names, dragon, serpent, devil, Satan.

They overcame him. How'd they do it? By the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. The blood of the lamb. Now, you see, the enemy didn't realize. Here, when the Lord Jesus went to the cross, he became vulnerable.

He reached out to you and made in the eyes of his Father to be what you were. He identified himself with you. And when he went to the cross, he was there in such a way that the Father had to see him as you and pour the wrath that he had against you and me upon his Son.

He was there as me to vindicate his law and his holiness and his righteousness and his justice. But at the same token, because he had identified with me and with you, it was thus that the enemy, this one that he'd cast out of heaven down to earth, now sees his opportunity.

Because God, the eternal Son, has identified with sinful men, and he's there made to be sin for us, he who knew no sin. And so it is that our Lord has caught him crossfire between two worlds. On the cross, therefore, the Father brought to him the cup of his wrath against sin, and our Lord Jesus drank it to its last bitter drop.

But also, because he was there as you, as me, and was God, thus I so identified, we find in the Psalms that all of hell gathered around the cross. And those three hours of darkness, I believe, are described in the Psalms when it tells us that his heart was melted like wax, he was wounded, he was bruised, he didn't even resemble a man.

Why? Why every arrow in the quiver of hell was loosed at the Son of God. Every spear was thrown at him, air buffeted him. Everything that could be done by the God of this world against the God of heaven and earth, who's identified with us as sinners, and thus become vulnerable.

And finally, when all the minions of hell didn't have any more arrows to shoot or spears to throw, and they couldn't do anything more, the Lord Jesus looked and said on the one hand, the justice of God, the righteousness of God is vindicated, and the power of hell has been loosed.

Life has said to death, do your worst. Light has said to darkness, this is your moment. Truth has said to the lie, have at it. And then our Lord Jesus said, it's finished. And he died, gave up the ghost, and his heart broke, and blood rushed out from his heart, and he died, and was taken from the cross, and he was buried.

And the third day, that God-life that could not die, return began. And when he came forth from the grave, he led captivity captive. And we follow in the train of his triumph. And what is our testimony?

That we were the ones for whom the Lord Jesus died. We once were the slaves of hell. We once were locked into the control of the God of this world. We once had chosen him to govern us, but we renounced him, we repudiated him, we've committed all we are and have to Jesus Christ, and Christ died for us, and Christ conquered that ancient foe, and so we overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony.

That's marvelous, and you need to understand that, and that's part of so great salvation. You have to recognize it and realize this. But that's not all. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ not only wanted to give us personal, personal victory over our defeated foe, but he also had another responsibility which was part of so great salvation.

Raised and Seated with Christ above Principalities

So you've got to turn now to Ephesians, the first chapter, and verse 20. Because here we're going to find that the Spirit of God has something very important to say to us. Paul, writing to this church at Ephesus, tells them that he's praying for them that the eyes of their understanding may be opened, that they may know as one of three things, the greatness of his power to us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things through the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.

So what is he saying? Now, I have the King James Bible, and I have in the second chapter, the first two words are and you. Anybody else have one? I'm often alone. Let's see if you got, have you got one?

Well, this is what I want you to do. I want you to put a little circle around and you, and then I want you to run a line up on the side there up to verse 20, and I want you to run that line over so that reads like this, that you might know the exceeding greatness of his power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him and you from the dead, and set him and you at his own right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality, and power, and might, because that's exactly what it is.

I used to wonder why in the world did the King James translator start the second chapter with and you, because and is a conjunction, and the function of a conjunction is to conjunct, and I couldn't see by looking at it what the conjuncts were conjuncted, but I found out that if you put that and you up there, you get the meaning of it, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him and you from the dead, and you're going to look at me, and you ought to, and say, aren't you playing fast and loose with the scripture to shift words around like that and get them all mixed up and put arrows here and there?

Well, I might, and I might be intimidated by your accusation if you had the temerity to make it, but I'm not counting on that and think you figure that I must have had a way out of this before I walked into it.

I want you to go down to verse five, will you, of the second chapter. You see, the way we read it is this, that we might know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us were to believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him and you from the dead and set him and you at his own right hand in heaven.

Now I want you to go down to the second chapter where we read, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love were with he loved us even when we were dead in sins has quickened us together with Christ and has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.

Now, you want to fight my hand, you? I don't think so. I got you. I got you right in the corner here. That's what he's telling you, that there were two people on the cross, Christ and you, that he might give you, provide you victory over temptation.

And there were two people in the two, Christ and you, that you might have victory over the world. And there are two people that were quickened and raised and seated. Why? That you might have victory over principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this age.

Enforcing Christ's Victory through the Church

Now, what's the purpose? What's the purpose of it? You see, he wanted to deliver you from the power of the enemy, but he led captivity captive and he's now at the right hand of the father with all power in heaven and earth in his hands.

And he wants his victory enforced in the world. And the very people that very human beings that sold themselves under Satan are the ones that have been redeemed from the power of Satan. And now they're the ones that have entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing the victory of Christ over Satan.

Now, isn't that marvelous, the way the Lord's designed this and devised this and set it forth? And that's part of salvation. Because what did he say? He said when he was there, that the spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach liberty to the captives.

How's he going to do that? There's only one way, and that's to lead captivity captive and come back and take that authority and take that power. Well, now who's going to enforce it for him? Obviously, he could have used angels.

He's got enough of them. As near as we can figure out, he's got about 200 million. Now, that ought to be able to find enough to do it. But you see, the ones that came under Satan are still under Satan and the ones that didn't revolt with Satan are serving God.

And so God in his wisdom and God in his love has turned the enforcement of his victory over to those that once were the slaves of Satan over time. And so the Lord Jesus said in John 15, you abide in me.

You abide in me, crucified with me to have victory over yourself, buried with me to have victory over the world, and quickened and raised and seated with me to have victory over principalities and power.

Now, it's interesting in the third verse of the first chapter, he said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. But that's where the spiritual blessings are, and that's where we're to abide.

That's where we're to live. That's our natural habitat in Christ, seated in Christ in the heavenlies. And he said, you abide in me. Now, you live in me, you dwell in me, you reside in me, you make your home there.

But it's much easier for us to make our home here and think those are just nice, pious words that really don't have great application to our daily lives. But I assure you, dear friend, that this is God's way of delivering the captains.

He's put you in charge, in trust with enforcing his victory. Now, how does it work? Well, there have been many times when I've been witnessing to someone, and they've said something like this. Well, I hear what you're saying, and I guess I could spell all the words you're using, but they don't make any sense to me.

I don't comprehend anything that you're saying. It's just words. I don't really see it. When I heard that the first times, I used to think, boy, these guys are stubborn, willful, man alive. They just won't listen.

And then I realized they were telling me the truth. You see, the Scripture says, if our gospel is hid, it's hid to them that are lost. The God of this world has blinded the mind to them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them.

And so without closing my eyes, without moving my lips, without changing expression in my heart, I pray, Father, this man is telling the truth. This woman is saying exactly the truth. They can't see, doesn't understand the God of this world has blinded their minds.

But just now, on the authority that's ours in the body of Christ to enforce the victory of the Lord Jesus, I take authority over the enemy and ask you to see to it that that hood of death is lifted, and this mind is open to perceive the truth and understand the truth.

And I do it in Jesus' name. Now, you notice, I didn't have any address to the enemy. I addressed the Father. I prayed to the Father. I never have been encouraged much to pray to the enemy. I just don't get involved with that if I can avoid it.

I know there are certain circumstances, but I'll tell you, those of us that have been in Africa where hell is a reality are a little bit, a little bit careful. We just, we've seen too much to go pushing around a lot.

But when I'm praying, I'm saying, Father, I'm claiming the victory of Christ for the release of this mind from this blinding effort of a defeated foe and ask you to see to it that this mind is open so they can understand the gospel.

Now, that doesn't mean I've got control over them to submit to Christ. God didn't take it, and He won't give it to us. But at least they can hear it. And I've had that same person say, I don't know what's happened, but it just seems so clear now.

Yeah, I understand what you're talking about. In just a few moments, God's answered prayer. Why? Because He's turned over to His body the responsibility to enforce His victory. Let me illustrate it. Years ago, I was down in Nashville, North Carolina, in the Alliance Church there having a meeting.

Intercession for a Troubled Family

And I had met some friends when I was with the Sudan Territory Mission in Augusta, Georgia. And one of these people from Augusta lived there, had the school year task of being the Bible teacher in the school, public schools, in Hickory, North Carolina.

And I knew that. She had been one of two people that had agreed to pray for me as I began the deputation ministry down there in the South. And they had prayed every day, she and this other lady who was at Wheaton College as a doormother.

Every single day they prayed for me. Now she's at the church in Nashville. Service is over. And she said, Brother Paris, can I talk to you? We went into the pastor's study. He said, now you know my sister.

And I did. A very prominent family, an old family in Augusta. And her sister was an alcoholic. And she said, sister has been just such a problem. Probably three or four times a month. She'll get up in the middle of the night, go out of the house in her nightclothes and wander on the streets of Augusta.

The police have been alerted when they find her. They bring her home. They don't take her. She was intoxicated. But it's just such a burden to us and such a cross. My brother, and I knew her brother was a businessman of great success in Richmond, Virginia.

My brother is continually writing me and calling me and telling me I've got to give up my Bible teaching ministry and go back to Augusta and take care of our sister. But the school board has passed a resolution that I'm the last public school Bible teacher they'll ever have in history.

And therefore, if I leave, there won't be anybody that can take my place. They won't have anybody else. But as long as I hear him here, I can continue to teach. And I just don't believe that God wants this school, these children to be without someone to give them the word.

Well, I explained to her what we were going to do. I read this portion of Scripture to her. Now I said, do you understand? Oh, yes, I do understand. Will you join me in prayer? Will you agree together in this that is touching it that the only purpose for this is that the Lord Jesus Christ should be glorified, that we should enforce his victory in this so that he can get the glory that is his due out of Hickory and out of your life and from your sister as well?

Yes. And so together we were there. We prayed. We asked the Father in the name of our wonderful Lord Jesus to just turn back every effort of a defeated foe, every spirit of darkness or deception or the enemy himself and release this so that Christ could get the glory that he deserves out of this ministry.

We prayed. I never heard anything. I left on the next day. That was the last day of the meeting. Went on my way. The next summer I was down in Hendersonville, North Carolina in a meeting there. And after the service was over, this lady came up to speak to me.

And she said, you know, Brother Paris, I don't think I ever told you what happened after that day we prayed in the pastor's study. I said, no, you've never told me a word. What happened? She said, before eight o 'clock the next day, my brother reached me on the phone and he said, Sister, I've had a very strange night.

I felt the Lord talking to my heart. And he has made it clear that you're to stay in Hickory and teach the children. I'm starting after breakfast, go down to Augusta to bring our sister up here to Richmond.

And I've already called the head of the local institution that takes care of alcoholics. And our sister can go in there and receive the best treatment there is in the country. And I just wanted you to know.