Our point in this series of Internet essays is to emphasize to God's people that we must live in victory in Jesus if we expect to receive the rewards normally associated with the Christian life.

The standard of Christian living in America is far, far below the Bible standard. We are living in the flesh. We have a fleshly hope (the rapture). We have a fleshly understanding of our destiny (eternal residence in a mansion in the spirit realm where we are surrounded with material wealth).

We have a fleshly understanding of Divine grace (God's way of receiving us even though we are making little or no effort to take up our cross and follow the Lord Jesus, little or no effort to live a righteous, holy, obedient life).

We have fleshly services in which we sit either quietly, passively, waiting for the minister to conduct the "service," or else we exhibit unrestrained emotionalism in an orgy of metaphysical-fleshly rejoicing which, on occasion, the elders are afraid to restrain.

We have a fleshly zeal for collecting members instead of bringing to maturity those believers whom God has brought to us to love and feed.

It is time now to pray, to seek the Lord, to hear and obey His voice. What He says may not be what we hear everyone else saying. Are we tough enough to do what Christ says even if it goes against the traditions of the elders?

Ours is a new day. We are close to the coming of the Lord. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Both the wheat and the tares are coming to maturity.

It is a new wine and cannot be put in old bottles.

There will be increased repentance, increased revelation of the Word, and increased evangelism in the days to come, for these three always accompany genuine revival.

There will be an increasing emphasis on spiritual warfare. As the Church brings forth Christ in the believers Michael and his angels will be empowered to cast Satan and his angels from the heavenlies.

As soon as Satan is cast down, and this may be beginning already from what we are seeing, it will be impossible to survive as a nominal Christian. You will be compelled to join the ranks of the militant remnant or else to remain in the Laodicean condition. In this case you will soon find yourself a part of Babylon the Great, the massive religious institution of the last days. The pressures will be too great to permit you to survive as a lone ranger.

Either you will be standing on the sea of glass singing praise to God or you will be moving about in a superheated environment, cursing God, suffering from huge boils and skin cancers, not permitted to escape by dying. Eventually mankind on the earth will come down to these two groups.

You can stand on the sea of glass and sing praise to God while yet alive on earth. Many spiritual realities are independent of whether we are alive in the body or at home with the Lord.

The symbolic images of the Book of Revelation portray what God sees in the spiritual realm. We behold the same thing or event in quite a different manner. God sees a white-robed angel (messenger) blowing the golden trumpet of God. We see the same individual as a preacher in a small church telling us what is on God's mind.

God sees an individual standing on a sea of glass mixed with fire, singing His praises. We see an ordinary church member, going through God's fire, lifting his or her hands in praise to the Father.

Revelation becomes a down-home, practical book when you understand that it is talking about ordinary things taking place now.

Soon it will be nearly impossible to resist temptation, especially lust. Soon it will be increasingly difficult to pray as the spirit of Antichrist reaches up into the heavens.

You will have to be a fervent Christian or you will default to the weakness and deception so common among the Evangelicals of our day.

Christ is ready to receive you and train you to be a soldier in His army. But you are going to have to mean business with God.

My burden is for you, that you will not miss the best God has for you.

You can be a victorious saint through Christ who is ready to strengthen you.

You can be part of the royal priesthood.

You can attain the first resurrection from the dead.

Go for it!