Sin, Condemnation and Forgiveness Kathryn Kuhlman Victorious Living Part 3

You and I have been having some good heart -to -heart talks. And sure enough, it has been old -fashioned Missouri cornbread. And maybe doing some of those heart -to -heart talks, I upset your theology a little bit. Maybe. But I tried to give you scripture with... Everything that I have given you and one thing is sure. Never forget it. That if you've been taught one thing and the Bible says something differently, the Bible is always right. Always know that. If I say something and it's contrary to what is in the Bible, the Bible is right. If your church teaches. something that is contrary to what the Bible says, never forget the Bible, the very Word of God, is absolute authority. Now, this thing of living a Christian life is so simple that sometimes I think we make such a hard... out of something that should be so natural. The Christian life is the natural way to live. It's something that, I wouldn't say that it was easy living a daily consistent Christian life, yet it should not be a struggle, and it will not be. A life of struggling if you know how to live that life in Christ Jesus. A Christian should be the happiest person in the world. And you will be exactly that if you learn how to live this life of victory. And that's exactly what I've been talking to you about the past. Two days. This life of victory. Now, I'm not going to review one single thing. I told you yesterday, if you didn't hear the heart -to -heart talk the previous day, you should have been there. If you didn't hear it yesterday, you should have... Delayed your shopping just a half hour. You know, it's kind of like that. And I just somehow couldn't wait for you yesterday. I just couldn't do it. And so today we continue again talking about this wonderful life of victory. And I left you talking about this negative attitude that an awful lot of people have. Negative thoughts, they live a negative life and everything about them just oozes with a negative environment. It's just like that. You walk into their presence and you feel like, oh dear me, what is it, you know? a negative person. Don't practice a constant attitude of, well, I'm not even going to try because I might fail. I'm not even going to ask because I might be turned down. I'm not even going to make a request because I just don't want to be embarrassed by having somebody say no. And so you just sit in that rocking chair and you sit there all of your life. And then the last day comes and you never had tried to do one thing because you were afraid of being turned down, afraid of somebody saying no, afraid that you might be refused. Just get up from out of that chair and say, I'll try it. And you'll be surprised at what'll happen. You know why I can say that? Because that's the kind of life I've lived all of my life. Yeah? And I've lived that kind of life not because I have had my eyes on people. but because I've had my eyes on God. And in Him, there is no defeat. I'm talking to people right now. You have used as an excuse for not being a Christian the fact that you might not be able to live it. Then you talk about all the hypocrites that you've known all of your life. Well, really, I give those hypocrites more credit than I do you. At least they put forth an effort. You haven't even started. Don't talk about those hypocrites. They did more than you have done. At least they put forth some effort. And you haven't done a thing. You know? Oh, sure. There is always the possibility of temptation. And as long as you are in the flesh, there will always be the possibility of sinning. I gave you this scripture yesterday. That after I read it and had you picked up from off the floor and back in your seating, you, you... probably have read it several times since because you didn't know it was in your Bible. It's in the Old Testament, the fourth chapter of Leviticus, the third verse. If the priest that is anointed do sin as the people, God even made provision for those that he has anointed. Just because you've been anointed of God, or just because someone has been anointed of God and called of God does not mean that that one is never tempted or that that one can no longer sin. He's made it very clear. In this case, he talks to the priest and he makes it very clear that he has been anointed. and if he do sin. So you see, right here, it shows that sin is inevitable. No matter who the person is, if he's a part of humanity, then it's possible for him to sin. But the most thrilling part is that the Lord has made provision if that one sin. He's made provision for me if I sin. He's made provision for you if you should sin. That somebody sitting there and said, well, I can't be a Christian because maybe I won't be able to hold out. Remember, get your eyes on the provision and not the possibility of sinning. Oh, that's so wonderful. Jesus thought of everything. God the Father just thought of everything. He didn't forget a single thing. Not a thing. Now, the victorious life is secured by an act of faith. And this wonderful victorious life is only maintained by by a constant attitude of faith. There's got to be that constant trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's so simple. Suppose then that there's a failure. And you and I should, in that moment of temptation, yield to that temptation. In that moment of crisis, we yield to failure. And there's a possibility that any one of us could yield. Don't sit there in your self -righteousness and say, Oh, dear me, I've been filled with the Holy Spirit. I've spoken in tongues. I have this gift or that gift of the Spirit. I belong to an organization where we don't believe in sin. Well, I don't belong to that kind of organization. I find that in the body of Christ, and that body of Christ is still made up of human beings, And as long as we're still in the body of flesh, it's possible for any man or any woman to yield to temptation and to sin. And you're nothing more than a spiritual bigot if you feel that you are an exception when... The very Son of God was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. That's exactly right. You may be filled with the Holy Spirit. You may have had the baptism of the Holy Ghost. You may have spoken in tongues. You may have the gifts of the Spirit. Sometimes I think those are the folks that the enemy of our soul, the devil, attacks the most. That's right. Walk carefully. Walk softly. Guard well that which you have. If you're spirit -filled, if God has entrusted you with the gifts of the Spirit, if you've had great spiritual experiences, guard these things carefully. Walk softly. For you are the very person that the enemy will attack. The more... deeply spiritual you are, the greater will be the attack of Satan upon you. Because you have greater influence than that somebody who is perhaps just a little weak Christian someplace. Who has very little influence. That's consistent. That's logical. If the enemy can trip you and you are a spiritual giant, that's exact. what he wants. Some little somebody over here who has no influence, sure they're born again. Sure they've had that spiritual experience. But their temptation will not be the same as yours. And if the enemy of their soul will get them to yield to temptation, it will not be merely the victory for him, as it will be for that somebody whose spiritual influence is great. So be careful. Walk softly. Be not boastful. Be not boastful. Guard that faith well. for the victorious life is secured by an act of faith, and it's only maintained by a constant attitude of faith. All right, suppose there is a failure. Suppose we do fall into sin. What then? Like they right now. Satan will immediately try to follow up his victory. by trying to persuade us that there is no such thing as the victorious life, or that if there is, then we never had the blessing in the first place, or if we did have, well, it's all gone forever and we've lost. Somebody says, Catherine Kuhlman, how did you know that much about me? I didn't. But I know just exactly how the enemy works. And if he can convince you that you didn't have salvation in the first place, he's won a big victory. If he can convince you that you've never been filled with the Spirit in the first place, he's won a double victory. If he can persuade you that you've never been called of God in the first place, I'll tell you, he's won a tremendous victory. If he can put doubts in your mind, and remember, doubts are not of the spirit. Doubts are not of God. Doubts come. from the devil, from the enemy of your soul. Always remember that. Defeat is never of God. Depression is never of God. Oppression is never of God. Anything negative is not of God. Never. Victory. is the language of our God. We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. That's the spiritual language. So immediately after you've yielded to that temptation, Satan comes along and says, okay, now you're ruined. You're Absolutely ruined. Your testimony is ruined. What will your family think? What will the folk in the church think? Yes, sir. What will my friends think? And so you hang your head and your feet drag. Oh, you're the most miserable. person in the world. Maybe you're a missionary. And you did a tremendous job for God out on the mission field. But something happened to you out there. Or something happened to a member of your family. And the enemy of your soul says, you're ruined. You've lost your influence. And if he can get you off of the mission fields and get you back home again in a little rented house and can get you to live the rest of your life in defeat and discouragement, he's won a mighty big victory. Because think of all the soul that you might have gone on and won to the Lord Jesus Christ if he had not attacked you in your weakest moment and got defeat in your mind. Get up right now, sir, and start doing something about it. What? You say, what can I do? Well, in the first place, remember something. When a thing is confessed, it's forgiven. And it's just like that. It's just like that. Do not listen either to Satan or to those who may accuse you. We've seen that the Bible is... full of victorious teaching. It was taught by Christ. And it shows itself again and again in Paul's epistles and those of John. We remember that God gave us the victorious life after many, many falls. Will he then withhold it forever because of one more fall? No. It's like forgiveness. How many times should I forgive my brother if he sinned against me? Once? Well, maybe I can forgive him the second time. Lord, at the most, I'll forgive him seven times. That's... Stretches my power of forgiveness. That stretches my patience. What did the scripture say? Seven times seven. You keep on forgiving and keep on forgiving. As long as they'll confess it, forgive them. If the Master had withheld his forgiveness from us and promised to only forgive us once or to forgive us not more than five, six, seven at the most, all of us would be sunk. You cannot find in the Word of God where his forgiveness is limited. You cannot do it. You... cannot. He will not withhold from you his forgiveness. But if Satan can whisper to you and he'll do it so softly he'll convince you that you cannot be forgiven. I want you to know that He's won a great victory. Now we've conclusively shown that there's no striving, no struggling on our part. It's the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's His mercy. It's His grace. It must therefore be obvious that such Effort and struggling will never reinstate us. If we fall into any sin, our Savior wishes us at once to turn to Him in faith for forgiveness. Do it immediately. Even the Old Testament. Watch these precious words. I have sinned against the Lord. said the penitent king. The Lord also hath put away thy sin, replied the prophet. The very second that you are conscious of that sin, ask forgiveness. And immediately the Lord also hath put away thy sin. The sin is in not asking forgiveness. There is the sin. Is in not asking. to be forgiven. The minute that thing is confessed, that minute, that sin is put away.