Cross or Crosses? Part 2 Kathryn Kuhlman Inner Transformation

and beloved no matter how dark the night no matter what happens to you always remember to whom you belong in our last little heart -to -heart talk you will remember that i was answering a letter having been written by a man in new york And he was talking about the reality of God in an individual's life. And how to receive that reality. The life of power. Oh, there's so much counterfeit. Honestly, beloved, when you come to this thing of counterfeit, I think you'll find more counterfeits in religion than in... Anything else I know anything about today? Oh, the counterfeit. And when it comes to the counterfeit in this thing of being a Christian, there is also the counterfeit when it comes in to this thing of real victory and false. Real victory and its counterfeit. And sometimes I think, That much of this that we think as being victory in the life of a professing Christian isn't real victory after all. When you take the thing apart and analyze it, you'll find it's counterfeit. Now for everything for which there is a genuine, there's always a counterfeit. And when it comes to the spiritual, you'll find the genuine, whenever Jesus has given a genuine, when it comes to spiritual things for an individual, the devil has come right along with a counterfeit. And I'm not going to read you one thing that I gave you in our little heart -to -heart talk when I left your home the last time, but we're going to go right on with this thing of... Crosses. It is not crosses that Jesus was talking about. He spoke of only one cross for you. One cross for me. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Again. Whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. As we see from this, it's our duty to take up the cross, not to carry crosses. So many professing Christians are going around daily talking about their crosses. No. There is one cross. And whenever one sees a cross, one always thinks of death. The cross is a symbol of death. That cross on which Jesus died was a symbol of death. That was his cross. When he spoke regarding your cross, It means the death to you. Your own death upon that cross. Death to self. And there can be no great spirituality, there can be no great spiritual experience until there is a death of self upon that cross. And it's just like that. If you'd seen a man in the Lord's day carrying a cross, you'd know that it meant death to someone, probably for the man himself. And it's just like that. And before anyone can really follow Christ, really be a disciple, he must be dead with Christ. and risen with him. That's what Paul meant when he said, I have been crucified with Christ. Yet I live. Yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me. Search the scripture. You'll never find Paul speaking of his crosses in spite of his persecution. In spite of his experiences, Paul never referred to any one of those experiences as being crosses. Never. You and I err when we speak of experiences that we have as being our cross that we must carry, the crosses that we must bear. Paul never did. When he spoke of his cross, he said, I have been crucified with Christ. He was talking to that experience of death to self. Yet I live. Yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me. It's one thing, you know, to be saved from the... Penalty of sin. That's wonderful. But it's another thing to follow Christ. And you will never follow Him in a daily, consistent life of victory until, first of all, there has been a death of self on that cross. You know, some Christians are monstrosities. Really, I mean that. They are no more like Christ 20 years after their conversion than they were when they began the Christian life. That's true. They have not taken up the cross, have not been crucified with Christ. The taking up of the cross, your cross, is the end. of crosses and the beginning of discipleship. And there can be no discipleship until there has, first of all, been the cross. The cross on which you died and Christ began to live in you, through you. A living reality. A very vital part of you. Yeah? Now. Now we're going to come to something that I hope will mean an awful lot to you. We're going to come to this thing of real victory and what it means. Let us be quite clear regarding this thing. of a victorious life. For the devil does all that he can to entice us to accept a counterfeit victory. And by that I mean a victory which we think we're getting ourselves by our own efforts. I want you to stop whatever you're doing right now because You can't be washing your dishes and be doing something else and fully concentrate on what I'm going to say in the next five minutes. And this is something that's vitally important. Because there's many a precious professing Christian who feels that they are living a victorious Christian life. And yet that victory that you are so proud of counterfeit victory. How do I know? It's because you're so miserable. You are so unhappy. And you make everybody else miserable around you. That's the truth. There are honestly some Christians that are professing Christians. Who am I to say whether... They are Christians or not. We dare not judge each other. But one thing I know, when I see you coming, I think, oh, dear Lord, they make me so miserable just being in their presence. I feel so happy. I feel so wonderful. Oh, I just can't tell you. How wonderful I feel on the inside of me. And then when you come into the presence of that one, it's like you're being overshadowed by the blackest cloud that you ever saw in anybody's sky. And yet, they'll swear that they live a life of complete victory. Yeah. But when you analyze their victory, It's something that they are accomplishing or trying to accomplish through their own efforts. And that is not real victory. That, my friend, is counterfeit victory. That's why when young people write to me and say, now, is it a sin to do this? Is it a sin to do the other thing? Beloved, This is always my answer. If the desire is there, if you have to strain and struggle and just use all the willpower that you have, and if you practically have to be tied to a chair to teach from doing it, then for pity's sakes, go ahead and do it. Go right ahead and do it. I do exactly what I want to do. And I could go right on down the line. It's amazing. I don't want to do those things. And it's like that. That's the reason I'm the funniest kind of a preacher that you ever heard preach in all of your life. a negative gospel. I never preach against sin. I never preach against a certain thing. Never. You have never heard me preach a sermon against liquor. And yet I dare say that we have had more men and women delivered from liquor in this ministry than in any ministry in the United States today. We have proof. We have evidence. I can show you every Sunday a huge stage filled with men. Practically every man in our men's chorus has been delivered from liquor. Those men today drink all the liquor that they want to drink. but they don't want to. They had no desire for it. They don't have to say to the one next to them as they pass a liquor joint, hold me, don't let me go in, ooh, don't let me go, keep me from going in. I have to walk on the opposite side of the street to keep from going in. If that's the way you feel about it, go on in, bud. Oh, you say, Miss Kuma, do you know what you're saying? Sure. Let's be practical about the thing. Now you take the question of a bad temper. Oh, many Christians pride themselves on the fact that they exercise such self -control that their temper never gets the better of them. No, never. They're so sweet. They're so wonderful. And they pride themselves on it. And the greatest sin? is not the temper, but their spiritual pride. The spiritual pride that they are enjoying because of the fact that they can exercise self -control over their temper. And they never let their temper get the better of them. By this, they mean that they never show it. Oh, it's there, all right. Oh, I'll... Look at their face. All you have to do is just look at their face. It's as red as a beet. They're so mad on the inside, they're ready to explode. They can hardly contain themselves. Now watch something. The victorious life is not one which merely makes our outward actions right. It's the life which gives us victory in the... inner realm of the heart so that our very desires are right. We're right at the core of the thing, not just outward. To want to do wrongful things and to restrain from doing them is not real victory. The wonderful thing is, That God takes the want to out of our very hearts. The want to goes. And in the place of that desire, he has put a love. And we long only to do his will. No, beloved. Surrender alone is not enough. Willpower alone is not enough. Decision is not enough. Willingness is not enough. We are neither saved or filled with the Spirit. by what we give up, but by what we receive. True victory, really true victory, takes the want to out of our hearts. And instead, the person that Jesus fills that part of us with his love. And that's exactly what Paul meant when he said, I have been crucified with Christ, yet I live, yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me. That's not counterfeit. That's The Genuine.