The wonderful gift of music God has given us is being used in the churches as a substitute for the Presence of God. In fact, music is serving to entertain the saints while the sermons preached are, in many instances, either the dry straw of the traditions of men or the poison of error and deception. None of this will produce the strength required to overcome sin and self-love.

The strength to exercise dominion comes from continual feeding on the Word of God; from the body and blood of the Lord; from the Spirit of God; from our determination to love not our own life to the point of death; from the knowledge that it is possible through Christ to conquer all sin and self-will; from the understanding that apart from overcoming the world, Satan, and our lusts and self-will we will not inherit the promises of God; from the constant exhortation by the elders to forsake all and follow the Lord Jesus; and from all else God has given us through the Lord Jesus. All these are necessary if victorious saints are to be produced.

We do not have the option to choose whether we wish to rule evil. Man has been created to have dominion over the works of God's hands. If we are willing to be ruled by sin, by self, by the world, by Satan, by people who distract us from complete adherence to Christ, we are failing in the commission given to man.

A "man" is a creature who rules the creation under Christ. He is a son of God. He is the ruler of the works of God's hands. He is a son of the greatest of all kings and is not allowed to choose to be ruled by lesser creatures.

While we are coming to maturity we are to obey those whom God has placed over us until the Lord emphasizes He is making some kind of change in our life. If we will not obey those whom God has placed over us we are in disobedience to Christ Himself. When we disobey those whom we should obey we are not free at all; we are being governed by our self-will.

The Kingdom of God is the doing of God's will in the earth, the obeying of God. Our role in the universe is to obey God ourselves, and then to walk in the Spirit so our environment is brought into the likeness of God's will. Bringing our environment into the likeness of God's will may take a long time and sometimes is not accomplished in this present life. We must be patient and keep our trust and hope fixed firmly on the Lord Jesus.

The world is in chaos today. The spirit of Antichrist, which is the spirit of lawlessness, of man making himself a god, is emerging from the "sea" of mankind. As a result, desolation is being produced—moral, financial, intellectual, artistic, social desolation. People are seeking happiness through lawlessness, through self-centeredness, through throwing off all rule. Whatever people want they take. "Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us," they cry (Psalms 2:3).

To be continued