Either our heart is married to Christ or it is not. Either we are lusting after the things of the world or we are not. This does not mean we are to flee from earthly responsibility or perform our tasks in the world halfheartedly. We are to work in the world as to the Lord. It is our heart that is the problem. Our heart must be so devoted to Christ that there is no question as to where our treasures are.

If this is not the case with you, if you cannot find the spiritual strength to say an eternal yes to Jesus, do not despair. Do not faint. Tell Jesus about it. Tell Him out loud with your mouth that you need more strength for consecration. Or just cry, Help! If you really want to be an overcomer, God is willing to give you the necessary strength. God Himself will strengthen your asking and your receiving until you can say, "I love Jesus above all."

What, then, of the nonovercoming Christian, the defeated believer? We cannot say. There is a basis in the Scripture, such as the story of Lot, for the belief that some people will be saved by fire apart from any inheritance in the Lord. On the other hand, there are warnings in the New Testament that the lazy, the careless, the lukewarm, will be dealt with very harshly by the Lord. Do not let the spiritually lazy, the careless, the lukewarm imagine that their experience after death will be pleasant because of God's love, mercy, or grace. It will not be pleasant!

The Scripture is emphatic on one point: the promises of God concerning priesthood and rulership in the age to come, the Day of the Lord, are reserved for the victorious saints. Christians who do not press through to victory in the Lord Jesus have no scriptural hope of ruling with Christ or of being in the first resurrection (Philippians 3:10-14; Revelation 20:6).

Let us glance at some of the verses of Revelation that pertain to the promises to the overcomer. Remember, the term overcome must be defined as "maintaining continually through Christ victory over the world, the lust of the flesh, Satan, and our self-will."

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of [be harmed by] the second death. (Revelation 2:11)

And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. (Revelation 2:26-28)

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (Revelation 3:21) (Compare Revelation 20:4; Daniel 7:22)

To be continued.