The Seven Spiritual Experiences of the Overcomers

The closing chapters of the Book of Revelation describe the glory of the New Heaven and New Earth. Also they describe in detail the beauty of New Jerusalem. To prepare us for the coming New heavenly Kingdom the Holy Spirit is operating in us and bringing forth new things. They are: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his Goad, and he shall be my son” (Rev. 21:7). Some time ago I heard of this emphasis of the book of Revelation and feel it is very important and helpful for the last days. As we see the signs of the last days approaching, we will find much help in reading through this book again and again. Even if we cannot understand it, we are promised a great blessing in Rev. 1:3: “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: tor the time is at hand” and again in Rev. 22:7 we read “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book”. So there is a special exhortation by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to all believers to pay extra attention to this book. As we read it prayerfully again and again mysteries will be unveiled that at first were not clear. The whole message of the book can be summed up in Rev. 21: 7, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things”. That is of the new creation; not of old creation because in verse I of the same chapter the apostle says: “AND I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea”. Then He says in verse 3; “Behold, I make all things new” and again in verse 7, ““ He that overcometh shall inherit all things.” It seems to be the longing in the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ to give us all things, for the same message is repeated in 1 Cor, 3:22-23, “Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or fife, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” All these things of the new creation can only be enjoyed as we learn to overcome. Then we will be qualified to claim our full share in the inheritance of the coming new creation.

First, we learn to overcome by faith. That is how we begin the life of victory; “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4- the more faith we have, the stronger it grows, and we learn to overcome, because all things of God ure received by faith. Similarly all gifts of God are enjoyed by faith. In fact, without faith we cannot understand or enjoy the gifts of God. The Word of God comes to us so lovingly and freely.

In this book we are told in a sevenfold manner how to overcome. God uses many illustrations to help us. The phrase “he that overcometh” is repeated seven times in Rev. 2 and 3. These two chapters can again be subdivided into seven parts. Even though here are seven messages recorded, we can say there are altogether forty-nine messages in the two chapters. First of ali we find the whole church history summed up in the messages to the seven churches. It can be divided into seven periods. The first period is the apostolic period till about 95 A.D. The second period is the period of the martyrs, the suffering period, from 95 A.D. to 325 A.D. There were extreme sufferings and persecutions against the believers, and they were scattered or imprisoned and many were killed. They Jost all they had, and that persecution went on for about 240 years. With the third period came the downfall of the church.

When Constantine became the Roman Emperor, many became Christians only because the emperor had become a Christian. The downfall during this period was because every kind of Babylonian practice was introduced in the church. This period lasted from 325 A.D. to the beginning of the Sth century. The fourth period, from the beginning of the 5th century over the next thousand years was called the Dark Age, when every abominable practice was introduced by Christians in the Name of Christ. The fifth period was the period of the Reformation. After that came the sixth period, when the Gospel was taken to other countries. We are now going through the last or the seventh period. In Rev 2:3 the first message to the church at Ephesus speaks of the first period, and the last message to the church at Laodicea speaks of the last period.

There are seven titles given to the Lord Jesus Christ in those seven messages to the seven churches. The Lord says. “I am So and So!” to each church, and by these seven titles which the Loni has given to Himself, His sevenfold greatness is revealed to us. How great He is and how wonderful, is made clear to us in His seven messages. Then there are seven charges the Lord makes against the churches. “I have somewhat against thee” He says to each church. The seven charges are recorded in His seven messages. There are also seven great weapons the Devil uses against God's people, and we are told of seven weapons given to us, by which we are to defeat the Devil, The Devil has got his weapons to discourage us and lo take away our peace. and to bring barrenness, But at the same Ume we are given weapons to defeat the devil. Similarly there are seven rewards for those who overcome, and there are seven great spiritual experiences which we will have to go through in order to overcome. Let us consider these seven experiences,

What are these seven spiritual experiences? We do not require the knowledge of Hebrew and Greek or any other thing to understand these secret yet simple things. God’s Word is simple, it is compared to water in Eph. 5:26 “That he might sanctify and cleanse (the church) with the washing of water by the word.” The Bible is compared to water, not to tea or coffee that some like with more sugar, and some with no sugar, others like strong or weak, cold or hot. There are so many different tastes in tea or coffee, but it is not so with water. Everyone must have water. From our childhood to old age we must have water. Even dying persons long for water. When a man cannot take food, still he wants a glass of water. Whether people are civilised or uncivilised they require water. It has the same taste for all people. That is why the Word of Gud is compared to water, that all may be equally profited, benefited, refreshed, inspired, strengthened, and encouraged by reading it. We do not need to be highly educated to benefit by reading God's Word. By listening to it and obeying 1, we can be blessed.

We will now see one by one what these seven simple spiritual experiences are. It is hard to understand what a great inheritance is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ. Suppose you are the son of a very wealthy man; would you not expect to get your share of your father’s property sometime, even though it may take some years? You can say: “My father owns so much land and so many buildings and I know one day, I will get my portion.” You may have to wait for 75 years, but you can say truthfully: “I will get my portion because I know my father has left me an equal portion with my brothers.” You must understand and believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is your Creator, Saviour and Lord. and that you are “joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Rom. 8:17). We are joint-heirs. What a mystery! What belongs to Him belongs to us. We can claim our share in that inheritance in heaven. “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:4, 5), and “Giving thanks unto the Father. which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col,1:12). We have an inheritance, a real inheritance that we will enjoy when we overcome. God gives us eternal life, which is free; “Whosoever believeth on me hath everlasting fife.” But the promised inheritance is enjoyed and received when we overcome. God permits in our lives sufferings, sorrows, and hardships of all kinds to teach us how to enjoy our inheritance and how to be worthy of this wonderful, glorious, spiritual, eternal and heavenly inheritance. On one hand He offers us what He has for us, and on the other He also shows how any one of us can enjoy it.

The first great spiritual experience is love. “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (Rev. 2:4). In Ephesus people had all the qualifications which any believer could have. Verses 2 and 3 say, “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.” Nine qualifications are recorded here which the early believers outwardly professed - sound in Scriptural knowledge, very zealous, no toleration of any wrong doctrine yet longsuffering. But the Lord says, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” Most of us become hard-hearted believers. We are believers and no one can question our salvation, or doubt our experience of the new birth. (thank God we are born again) and no one can question our doctrine, - we are so correct, exact, and proper - but love is not there.

In England everything is in order. The food is served on a nice bright dish and there are so many knives and forks. When in England, on the dining table I found on my right side at least five knives, and I was getting all mixed up! I didn’t know which one to start with, even though I was told again and again to begin with number one, then number two, I was so nervous that, I used the bread-knife for taking butter! Everything is in order and there is a nice table, set beautifully; but the food is tasteless, only boiled potatoes and boiled cabbage and boiled cauliflower. It looks nice, but has no taste.

Now a Christian may be very nice, very good, well-dressed, and scholarly - but without love. The Lord says, “This is my charge against you.” You muy be God’s servant, young or old, but be very careful; the devil can make you a hard-hearted believer. We become so unkind - we speak unkind, hurtful, painful words, and say things that hurt others to give ourselves pleasure. The Lord is also hurt and wounded by these things, and says: “I have somewhat against thee.”

The main object of the devil is to make our labours barren and unfruitful. People shake hands on Sunday morning when they are very nice and ask us, “How are you?” But on Monday they ask; “Who are you?” There is no love on Monday, or Tuesday. Only on Sunday they are very sweet and show “love and kindness.”

I remember very clearly the first message that I gave in India in 1943. I was praying, “Lord give me Your love. I do not mind what words You give me, but let me feel love for those to whom I preach, even if they make fun of my broken words.” In India if you go for the open air Gospel preaching sometimes people mock you, laugh at you and ridicule you. They will even go on laughing and joking while you are speaking. So I knew what I had to face in that first cottage meeting. But I went on praying, “Lord I don’t mind what they say; You give me Your love, give Your love for them, Let me feel Your love, as You feel for them. They are in darkness, they do not know their way. They do not know that they are responsible for their behaviour.”

Can you say truthfully that your love today for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible and God's people is more than in the earlier days of your salvation? It is not so. For example, some couples show more love in the first month of their marriage, they work together, sit together, but after three months they get tired of each other. The husband looks one way, and the wife looks another way. They spend the whole evening at home just sitting but not talking, yet before marriage they could not stop talking. Now after three months, they act as if they are dumb. Love has become less and less, and still less, and the result is an unhappy home. This is a very poor illustration but our love for the Lord Jesus Christ should not become weaker but stronger, richer and purer day by day.

If people hate us we can pray for them, if they curse us, we can bless them. If they do not want us we can ask the Lord to have mercy upon them. This is the experience of spiritual love, which is eternal and longsuffering, as we are reminded in Col. 3:12-14. “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity (love). which is the bond of perfectness.” This is spiritual love which God demands of us. There can be no excuse. If we want the heavenly inheritance, we hive got to be loving, kind, tender, gentle, sympathetic all the time, and not occasionally. Paul defines love in 1 Cor, 13:7 and 8, “Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity (love) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.”

“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). This comes by experience. It will not come easily, We have to pray. When we find our hearts becoming hard, we must pray, “Lord make my heart soft.” That is my daily prayer, “Lord keep my heart tender.” We talk so much that we become very hard-hearted. We say so many hurtful things, without any regard for the feelings of others. It is only by prayer that our hearts remain tender, loving and kind. This gift of God is possible, God’s Word says so. The Lord Jesus Christ loved us so much that we must also love like Him. “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses” (Matt, 18:35). We have got to forgive. “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven” (Matt. 18: 21, 22). Four hundred and ninety times! We find it hard to forgive even twice. We say, “I forgive you, but I will not talk to you. Yes, I for five you, but do not come to my home any more. Come, but go away afterwards.” Oh to be kind, loving and gentle! Love knows how to forgive. If He forgave us, why should not we forgive each other? That is why loving and forgiving others is the first and fundamental experience in becoming an overcomer, for we cannot overcome merely by long prayers and fastings.

The Lord tells in Rev. 2:5: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent”. What a serious charge! “ I will take away thy candlestick.” That means He will nat be able to use us any more. He will not take away our salvation: thank God we are forgiven, but we cannot be a candlestick. We cannot shine any more, and people will not see divine light through us any more. We will remain barren spiritually. Please take warning. This is a very solemn charge to all of us, and there is no exception. The enemy knows how to make us hard-hearted, finding it hard to forgive and forget. So we must make sure we have our first love for the Bible, for the Lord Jesus Christ, and for God’s people.

The second experience is found in Rev. 2:9-10, “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” The Lord Jesus tells us not to fear any of those things which we may have to suffer, He does not even say that He will lessen it, but He says. “Fear nat. I will reward you. I will give you eternal life if you suffer joyfully.” We find the same thing in 1 Peter 4:12-14: “Beloved. think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch us ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings: that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” It is a privilege to suffer. “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41). They were even thankful when they were being threatened; they suffered yet they were thankful to the Lord; “We thank Thee for the privilege given to us of suffering for Thy Name’s sake.”

It is an honour and privilege to suffer for His sake. And we cannot escape it. “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?” (Matt, 10:24, 25). What we suffer cannot be compared to the shame He has borne for us. Also, the more we suffer, the more joy we receive. “Yea, and all that will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matt.

One day a man came to see me, a Mohammedan whoa was a graduate. He said, “I want to be a Christian.” I asked him, “Who gave you the desire to become a Christian?” He said, “I was visiting a friend in the neighbourhood, and there was a poor Christian sweeping the room. A Hindu passed by and his garment happened to touch the dust. He got so angry with the Christian, that he began to beat him. So I said to the Christian ‘That is not your fault. You are doing your duty, by sweeping the floor. The other man is at fault. He has to walk on the other side if he is so particular about his garment. Why did you allow him to beat you?’ He said, ‘Sir, my Lord was spat upon, He was reviled and mocked at, and yet He never retaliated. I am a Christian. I cannot talk back; Pve got to pray for him!” That made the Mohammedan to come to me. I taught him, he became a Christian and I baptised him. Can we say truthfully that for His Name’s sake we will suffer joyfully? We are going to be persecuted. The disciple is not above his master, but let us rejoice in our suffering. Let them hate us, despise us, and curse us. But let us bless them. It is by this attitude we become stronger spiritually and at the same time qualify for a share in the heavenly inheritance.

The third spiritual experience is found in Rev, 2:12-13. “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.” This experience speaks of the third period of Church history when emperor Constantine became a Christian. We are told that he was about to be defeated in a battle when he saw a very bright cross in the sky. He made a vow that if he won the battle he would become a Christin. He won the battle and became a professing Christian, but with no real experience of faith. Many more in his army followed him and they also became Christians, As a result they brought with them many heathen practices, and through these the downfall of Christianity. Most of these Babylonian heathen rituals, rites and practices came in during that period. Here we must learn how to be separated, how to keep ourselves undefiled from the world, from worldly practices, and all kinds of heathen ways. Many Christians these days imitate the world, They think they have a strong argument. “We can’t be different!” they say. But we have to be different, if we want to have our heavenly inheritance, for we are God's people, a peculiar people: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9). We are a different people, and we cannot deny it. We live in this world, but we are not of this world. We are a peculiar people and must live a life of separation. We should not be defiled by worldly habits, customs, ways, manner, dress, haircut and what not. We are a peculiar people. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world, And the world passeth away, and the Just thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever’ (1 John 2:15-17). It is because of all these lustful, evil and impure desires that people follow the worldly fashions. There is no need to fool ourselves saying: “It is fashion.” It is not fashion, it is lust and only lust and impurity that is responsible for these worldly garments and expressions and ways. It is not fashion. Hearts have become impure and full of evil. The manufacturers who want to advertise their product make use of lustful pictures. We cannot escape seeing them. Modern music is lustful, pictures are lustful, modern books and magazines are lustful, habits are lustful, and modern half-naked dresses are shamefully lustful. If we go after the world we cannot expect to qualify tor God's Kingdom. We will be enticed by worldly people, but thank God for the grace He has given us to keep ourselves undefiled, and to keep our garments unspotted from the world.

If we go after the world we cannot preach freely, give our testimony boldly, nor concentrate on God’s Word. That is what happened during the third period of Church history. They began to imitate worldly people and gradually they fell lower and lower and introduced many abominable practices. Mark 7:6-9: “He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” We learn from tradition and ignore simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord gives us true beauty. We do not need soap, face powder, beauty cream and all the worldly products for our beauty. We do not need gold and silver for beauty. If we obey God we gain truce beauty. The more we obey the more beauty we have. God gives us heavenly glory and heavenly beauty. “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10). He is my beauty. The Lord Jesus Christ, the living Person, becomes my bright shining light day by day.

We as believers must live a life of separation. We cannot imitate the world, we cannot be unequally yoked with unbelievers 2 Cor. 6:14-17: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” We have to live a life of separation and remain undefiled by worldly friends, neighbours, relations and habits. We are a peculiar people, heavenly people and not worldly people. When people visit our homes they must know that it is a house for the God, not a worldly house. They look around and get impression as to whether God lives there or not.

“Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire: hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 8, 12, 13, 20-23). This is the third experience - living a life of complete separation, In habits of dress, manner, custom and conversation we have to be governed by God’s Word, because we are God’s people. By our conversation, dress, taste, music or interest of any kind, His Name must be glorified.

One day a child came to me and asked for money. I said “Why do you want the money?” He suid, “I want to go to cinema.” “Alright, you pray for the money” I told him. When he began to pray, he said, “My tongue does not move.” Then he said; “We can’t pray for what we know is wrong.” tie was only a small child but he knew it was wrong. We can ask the Lord: “Lord is Thy Name being glorified by my dress, by my habits?” We have to live a life of separation, even though we are mocked, ridiculed and made fun of, because we are a peculiar people, a holy people and we should show forth God’s glory through our lives.

Now the fourth experience. “And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols” (Rev, 2:18-20), That is how Roman Catholicism began. They started to worship the cross, and gradually they brought many images into the church and began to worship them. But all these heathen customs must be put away. Many Christians, rather than obeying the Word of God, have brought all kinds of practices into the church. That is why there is so much barrenness among them. All these things take away the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. God is a Spirit and we have to worship Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24 says: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Keep your worship simple, free from meaningless rituals, rites and practices. Often the holy communion becomes only a ritual. Many never go to a church service, except on Easter Sundays. They put on a new suit and new shoes (but not a new heart), and take part in the holy communion. They are smokers, drunkards, and adulterers, and even the pastors who give the holy communion smoke. We must worship God in spirit and in truth, and only then are we qualified for our share in the heavenly inheritance, God is preparing for us. Pray in the Spirit, watch in the Spirit, worship in the Spirit.

The filth experience we find in Rev, 3:1-2, “AND unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that arc ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” Be watchful. That is our fifth spiritual experience. People who know us may think very highly of us, but is God satisfied? He said: “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain.” “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockerowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch” (Mark 13:35-37). This is a parable about the Lord’s Second Comming, as we see from verses 34-35: “For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh.” Let us watch for His coming,

The Lord says here three things: 1.He has given authority or power to His servants to be His witnesses and to do His will. Every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has been given some job. While He is away, He has given every one of us some job to do and when He comes back we will have to give Him account of our time, money and energy. Then we will know whether our time was well spent or not. Are my time and money being spent in God’s will? “Lord, You gave me ten talents, here are ten more talents; You gave me five talents, here are five more talents.”

2. We are told to watch for Him. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb.9:28). Note, those who look for Him! See also 2 Timothy 4:7,8: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” Note again, those who love His appearing. If I want my full share in the heavenly inheritance I must live for His appearing. If I want my inheritance I must love His appearing, look for it and wait for it.He is coming for me. I must be found ready, for He may come at any ime. Sometimes when we go to any house unexpectedly, we must first give a knock and ask: “Can I come in?’ “Please wait” answers our friend, “let me comb my hair” So we wait, while our friend combs his hair and puts his coat on. But we should always be ready for the Lord’s coming. “Lord, I am ready, You come even now, I’ll be so happy to see You.” I shall jump with joy when I meet Him and see Him. There will not be a question of even one minute, and we, who watch for His return, must be ready. That is why we ought to take part worthily in the Lord’s Table and search our hearts saying: “Lord, search me, have I grieved Thee by any word? Have I grieved Thee by my hands or feet? Have I done anything that is shameful or unworthy? Then please forgive me.” But many believers have no guilty conscience. They have said hurtful things, told lies, misused the Lord’s money and yet have taken part in the Lord’s Table. But watch! Watch for His coming and get ready. By watchfulness we enjoy our share of the heavenly inheritance. This is our fifth experience.,

For the sixth experience we see Rev. 3:8. “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name” (Rev. 3:8), “Behold, I have set before thee an open door” - a door that is opened by the Lord Jesus Christ, There are many hungry hearts and thirsty souls ready for the message. We have to go out. But not for wasting time and throwing the tracts here and there. We must pray. “Now Lord, will You please show me the street and the locality where someone is ready today for the Gospel?” Seek His will and guidance in your service, and He will tell you. We have found by experience that as we pray together the Lord tells us where and when to go, and we have found souls ready for the Gospel. Early in the morning I used to take gospels, Bibles, books and tracts, and walk the whole day giving out tracts, and selling books, but without any result. So I prayed: “Lord why no result? I have worked so hard; I walk many miles every day and give out gospels and tracts and miss many meals; yet I see no fruit. Why?” The Lord said, “I never told you to walk many miles. I never told you to miss any meal. You are doing it on your own and that is why you see no fruit.” It was true. I repented, “Lord, please forgive me,” I said, “Now I will go only at Thy bidding.”

One day I was praying, “Lord tell me where to go.” I and my friend went out for an open-air meeting and I said to my friend, “Let us stand here and preach.” My friend said to me, “If we go a few yards further under the shady trees many people will come there.” I said, “No, the Lord is telling us to stay here and preach,” even though there was no one there. We stood together and sang a hymn and then I began to preach. After I had finished the message, a very short man came to me and said, “I was behind the wall listening to you. I am a Roman Catholic. God has sent you for my sake.” Then he added: “There is a Hindu family next door to me and they are beg:ang me to tell them the way of salvation, but I don’t know how to. Will you please come?” We all went happily. The man and his wife and children, in tears, gathered around us. “We are so thankful that you have come to give us the Gospel” they said.

The Lord has set before us an open door in many homes, but we should find this out by prayer. “Lord, shall I go north or south, east or west? Guide me where I should go, anoint me and give me Thy message.” And He will give us souls, It is by entering those doors that we become qualified for the heavenly inheritance. The souls we win under God’s guidance are for God and He knows them. I could tell you many stories how God Ied us and we went and it was such a blessing. We have found that through one person, many more have been saved.

Now the last or seventh experience we find in Rev. 3:18: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” This is a threefold experience. The Lord says; “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire.” Why gold? Read 1 Peter 1:7. “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” It is a picture of strong and living faith. Gold has to be purified seven times. We cannot purify gold by soap and water. The goldsmith puts the gold in a vessel and melts it. When it is fully melted, he brings out blue flame with a blowpipe until every tiny bit of sand is burned away. The goldsmith will go on purifying it till he can see his own face clearly as if in a mirror. Because one tiny grain of sand can make the gold dull, he keeps on blowing the blue flame. In the same way, God says if we want such clear faith we have to go through many refining fires. In these last days, we require strong faith. There are many doubters these days who like to put doubts in our mind too. Some look for signs, some for dreams. A simple, strong and active faith comes by going through the refining fires of suffering. When the Lord says, “ I counsel thee to buy of me gold”, it means that we should have His faith, and then these men will not succeed in putting doubts in our mind.

Please look up Rev. 39:8: “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” We become righteous with the Lord’s righteousness. not by our own good works. First of all our sins are forgiven, for the Lord Jesus Christ is our atonement, but now we have to become more righteous by receiving more of His life. If we want to become more righteous we should not depend on our own efforts. Is my raiment white? Is my light bright? That will show me if fam righteous! His light will be shown to us more fully and more clearly as we become more righteous. And this is our true specification: As the lite of the Lord Jesus Christ flows into us in full measure, He Himself, the living Person, is my righteousness. 1 Cor, 1:30: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” So when the Lord Jesus Christ takes complete charge of all our purposes anc plans, He becomes our wisdom. He becomes our righteousness. We leave it to Him to use us as He likes.

Then He says further to buy of Hum eyesalve. “Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (Rev.3:18). People in eastern countries use some kind of ointment when their eyes begin to get somewhat dim. With the help of this ointment, they do not require glasses. I have seen many people in India without glasses, who can see more clearly by applying eyesalve. My mother. at the age of 89, could see clearly without glasses. She used lo apply eyesalve. There are many things in God's Word which we do not understand. So we go to Him and He gives us the spiritual eyesalve, and we begin to understand these things. As the Psalmist says: “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law” (Psalm 179:18). When the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord touches our eyes, we are able to see many mysteries in His word. “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1215-18). We require heavenly sight to see our heavenly inheritance and glory. Similarly we require heavenly vision to understand the great saving knowledge of Christ and His resurrection, so we need to pray every day, “Lord Jesus, will You kindly touch my eyes, that I may see hidden mysteries from Your Word?” This will not come by knowledge. Go upon your knees, do not be ashamed, do not seek to be in too much comfort; then pray: “Now Lord, this is Your Word. I am foolish. please touch my eyes now, I want to see Your hidden things:” and this is the Lord’s promise: “blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your cars, for they hear” (Matt. 13:16). The Lord must touch my eyes. Only by allowing such a touch can I see His heavenly mysteries, I have myself never read any book on Revelation, only the Book of Revelation itself. I have just knelt down with a few pages here and there, but I kept on praying again and again: “Lord, please show me things which I can never see in any book, or hear from any preacher, or learn by any professor. Lord teach me, teach me Yourself” and then I began to see. I saw so clearly how God had hidden in His Word so many mysteries. You also must claim by faith for that revealing, and day by day you will see in different passages and different portions many hidden messages, many heavenly mysteries, to cheer you, to lead you and strengthen you along the way.

Now you have these seven simple experiences. The first is love: the second is suffering joyfully without murmuring; the third is separation from the world; the fourth is freedom from man-made customs, traditions, rituals and ceremonies. The fifth is watching to be ready for His coming, The sixth is entering open doors and learning how to win souls for Him by finding who are prepared by Him; and the seventh is strong active faith, a living faith and life, using spiritual eyesalve, so that we can understand His heavenly mysteries. By these simple things we are qualified for our share in the spiritual, heavenly, glorious inheritance in the Lord Jesus Christ.