Save America Ministries

Chuck Crismier: On the back cover of my book, Messiah Unveiling the Mystery of the Ages, are these words. The mystery of Messiah. Messianic fervor is exploding worldwide, yet the details remain shrouded in mystery. Jews await the Messiah, Muslims await the Mahdi. Christians await Messiah's second coming, and many await a Messianic Age.

And history seems to hide its mysteries, yet mysteries demand to be solved. The shroud that has veiled this Messianic mystery for mankind's entire sojourn on the planet must soon be drawn back in an apocalyptic unveiling. A revelation of reality that has escaped our understanding, a sweeping away of persistently frustrating blindness. This is our moment.

The leaders of the nations are trembling on the precipice of global conflagration. People are terrified. Nothing seems certain except chaos, catapulting the planet to the precipice of a chasm so sheer as to shake the confidence of the most courageous. We need a ray of hopeful light in the encroaching darkness. Indeed, this is our moment of truth, where the valley of decision, every single one of us.

Multitudes are now called to spiritual arms so as not to suffer defeat and unwitting destruction in these latter days of the End Times. The spiritual assaults are unrelenting and attack our minds, our wills, and our emotions. They invade through fear and anxiety, trials and testing of our faith, economically, relationally, culturally, and loyalty, consummating or culminating in outright persecution.

And we are to count it all joy when these assaults come. Those are words from my new book, The Power to Overcome. Two years ago, when I came out with the book, When Persecution Comes, it was to prepare the minds and hearts of God's people because of the warnings that Jesus and the apostles had given concerning what is going, what we will face in terms of opposition.

In terms of external opposition. Now we focus on what we must face primarily because of internal opposition. So we have to have a battle plan for End Time living. The battle is raging to capture the souls of every man, woman, and child, consigning all to Satan's dominion and ultimate destruction. And unbelievers and disbelievers are not the battle prize.

Rather, those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ as Messiah, who through victory over sin and therefore death, gives us, you and me, the victorious hope of reigning with Him if we likewise follow in His steps. If we likewise follow in His steps. So the battle ahead involves many zones in your life and mine, which become fields of battle.

We have to be alert, enduring hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, not entangling ourselves with the affairs of this life. And every battle that you and I are going to face, and already facing, demands endurance, sacrifice, and a measure of suffering which our flesh naturally resists. For this reason, the Apostle Peter sought to prepare us, you and me, for the inevitable battles ahead.

So that we might not be deterred from being overcomers. He said, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial or testing which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you. But rejoice insofar as you're partakers of Christ's sufferings that when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy."

So the End Time battle of the ages as prophesied in ages past is lying straight ahead, friends, for all who claim allegiance with Christ and His Kingdom. That's where we are, and that's why this book, The Power to Overcome, was written: how to triumph in troubled times. Question: Do you think we're living in troubled times? You ain't seen nothing yet.

If you think we're living in troubled times, which we are, you ain't seen nothing yet, because it's going to increase. Jesus said so, His apostles said so. It's going to increase. Therefore, if that be the case, which it is, you and I have to be prepared to be overcomers. But you say, "Well, what should I overcome? Why do I have to overcome anything?"

Well, listen to this. These are the closing words of Jesus in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 21. Listen very carefully: "He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. But, but the fearful and unbelieving, disobedient, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, sexually immoral, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

This very day, friends, I received notice of two very prominent pastors, one in South Africa, and the other in the United States, both losing their ministries and their marriages after 30-plus years of marriage. Why? Because of sexual immorality, adultery. That's why. Are they prepared for the coming of the Lord? Absolutely not. Not according to the scriptures.

They have already lost the battle with the flesh. You see, we face three open battlefield areas in our lives: the world, the flesh, and the devil. And the devil did not make them fornicate. The devil did not make them adulterize. The devil did not make them go into a long-term two-year adulterous marriage, a pastor's wife, and also on the prominent staff with another member, a minister of the church.

The devil didn't make them do that. They chose to do that. They chose to do that. How about the pastor here that just, what was it, a month ago? A very prominent pastor in the black community. Not going to mention his name, but apparently, and he admitted it, he had been involved with a young lady. I think also a member of his congregation and on the ministry staff for 14 years.

He was married, but he also was involved with this young lady for 14 years. Had a baby with her. They tried to cover it all up, and they each kind of felt like they were entitled. "Well, we just have, we just have to live, you know. We just have to follow our passions, we just have to." Yeah, well, that seems to be the spirit of the age. Just do it.

"Got to give me what I want." It's called the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Not of the Spirit, but of the world. So we have a collision of culture, we have the carnality of the flesh, and we have the conquest of Satan. That's why it's called spiritual warfare. And quite frankly, most of what we talk about as spiritual warfare today is not spiritual warfare at all.

It's just that something happened to us, maybe the, for instance, we just had a water heater go out. It serves our bathrooms. So we have no hot water. Well, is that spiritual warfare? No. That's just the breakdown of equipment. Equipment breaks down. So if I want to say, "Well, the devil's after me to do that," that, that, quite frankly, is probably not correct.

That's not genuine spiritual warfare. The fact that we just had to have a new roof put on the property after we purchased it about five years ago, the roof is about 30 years old. Is that the devil attacking? No. It's just the way life is. Things deteriorate. Moth and rust corrupt. That's not spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is something very, very different.

And that's why generally, generally, we do not recognize it for what it is. And we just kind of drift along. But the spirit of the world defines the arena of spiritual warfare in which you and I will either overcome or be overcome. Question: Are you an overcomer? Remember, Jesus said that the blessings are only going to be awarded to those who are overcomers.

"He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son." But, is that you? Are you one that overcomes? Or are you overcome? Are you an overcomer or are you overcome? Let me ask you this question, driving the message a little bit closer to home. Since 70% of professing Christian men claim to be involved in pornography.

Since 34% of professing Christian women claim to be involved in a woman's form of pornography, whether it's romance novels or whatever, or just plain pornography. Since 30-plus percent of pastors claim to be involved in pornography. Are they ready? Are they overcomers? Is that you? Are you beginning to see the point? The point is, we're not ready.

This is serious business. It's not business as usual. And if you were to look at the front of the cover of this book, it's so dramatic. The Power to Overcome. You're just going to, you're going to be gripped as you look at the front cover of this book. How to triumph in troubled times. We got to take it seriously. It's not something to be trifled with.

This book is a very encouraging book to help us, all of us, get ready, prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. He is not coming back for a bride with spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. Did you hear that? He's not coming back for a bride, a fornicating, adulterizing bride. He's not going to come back for such a bride. So we've got to get ready.

You say, "Well, what's my hope? I've already been involved in those things." Well, come clean about it. Take it seriously. Become a victor, not a victim. You're not a victim. You did it to yourself. You yielded to the world, the flesh, or the devil. And in yielding in any given thing, we're all in the same thing together, friends, including yours truly.

This isn't a game. We're preparing to meet the God of creation in the universe in the form of Jesus Christ. Are you ready? Get a copy of the book, The Power to Overcome. $25 will put it in your hands. It's on the website, saveus.org. Call us 1-800-SAVEUSA. Write to us. Add $6 for postage and handling. The Power to Overcome.

Chuck Crismier: Have you ever considered what the early church was like? Many people are developing a heart longing for a greater fulfillment in our practices as Christians. A recent study showed 53,000 people a week are leaving the back door of America's churches in frustration. What is going on? Why has there not been even a 1% gain among followers of Christ in the last 25 years? Could it be that God is seeking to restore first-century Christianity for the 21st century? Jesus said, "I'll build My church." Is Christ by His Spirit stirring to prepare the church for the 21st century? The early church prayed together and broke bread from house to house. They were family, and it was said by all who observed, "Behold how they love one another." Incredible, but the same can be found right now. Go to saveus.org and click Cell Church. We can revive first-century Christianity for the 21st century. It's about people, not programs. It's about a body, not a building. That's saveus.org. Click Cell Church.

Chuck Crismier: Welcome back to Viewpoint. Today we're talking about The Power to Overcome, and what to do, what you and I should do before the coming of the Lord, before Jesus shows up in power and glory. We get all excited and we have a titillated kind of a feeling when we think about Jesus coming in grand glory with the angels of Heaven and the sound of the trumpet. Yeah, He is. So, are you ready? That's the issue. The issue isn't whether He's coming, He is. The issue is whether I'm ready, whether I've done my best to prepare my children, my grandchildren, those in my sphere of influence, whether I'm a pastor, whether I'm involved in some form of parachurch ministry, or in the place of my business, in my neighborhood, whatever it is, the people that God has placed in my, my place, how am I responding? Do I truly have a Kingdom viewpoint? Am I seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, or am I playing pretend, not taking it seriously, playing pretend, kind of having an, "Oh well, what can I do about it?" No, that's exactly the point. This book tells us what we can do about it. The Power to Overcome. How to triumph in troubled times. We're in those times and they're going to get worse. Jesus said they're going to get worse. They're going to get worse in your families. Jesus said so explicitly, there's going to be division within families. Uh, this is part of the warfare that we're going to experience. Families are already experiencing it. It's it's pretty amazing. I just heard a report today about kids that have been put in a position of counseling with a therapist and so on, and they come away and they reject their parents. And they attribute the turning against their parents based upon the so-called therapist that's leading them into, shall we say, uh, proper and right living. Some of those therapists actually are not called therapists at all. They're called professors in our colleges and universities. Yes, even in Christian colleges and universities. That's right. They're leading our kids astray, and we're letting them. We're actually participating in it because we're paying the freight, and we're doing nothing about it. Are you beginning to see that this is a much bigger deal than any of us would want to admit? But the question is, what am I doing in my own life? How have I been seduced? Have I been seduced? What is it that has been seducing me, if anything? Can the saints be seduced? The answer is, absolutely, the saints can be seduced. The Bible says so. Seducers will rise up, seducing and being seduced, the Apostle Peter said. Right in the church house. Our enemy is very creative. Considering if you were Satan, what would you do? Well, the answer is simple, lead the people to render God's own warnings to the sheep inapplicable to them while claiming biblical authority for their belief. That's right. That's what you, that's what Satan would do. And that's exactly what he did in the Garden of Eden. "Hath God said?" Satan is subtle, but he's not that subtle. The essential and overarching nature of our spiritual antagonist was clearly proclaimed as a warning to all who would follow Adam and Eve in the soon-to-be climax of human drama on the planet. The climax that we should be most concerned about is not a sexual climax in marital beds. It's the climax of history, when everything converges in the final moment, whether glorious or cataclysmic, when Jesus returns. So, you say, "Well, you're talking so straightly. You're talking, it's scary." Well, friend, have you not read the Bible lately? What Bible are you reading? What messages are you listening to? Have you somehow cut out with a mental razor blade the portions of scripture that both Jesus and His apostles have given us to prepare us for these times? It's almost as if we have, uh, you know, censored the Bible. We've blacked out, either actually or mentally or emotionally, blacked out all of those portions we didn't want to hear that God said were the most important things. And the, the geopolitical stakes right now have never been higher. But they pale in the presence of the spiritual stakes that will echo into eternity. Yeah, we can focus on the geopolitical stuff out there, and we do here on this program. Yeah, we talk about Iran, we talk about, uh, their pursuit of the Mahdi and what their goal is to rule the world under Sharia law. Yes, we talk about that. We talk about, uh, what's happened in Ukraine and Russia. We talk about those, China, and so on. We have not hesitated to do that here on this program. But they're not the ultimate issues. The geopolitical stakes haven't ever been higher. That's true. But they pale in the presence of the spiritual stakes that will echo into eternity. And that's what we need to deal with, and that's what this book will help you to deal with. It helps us to lift us over and give us a God's-eye view. That's good. A God's-eye view of life. A God's-eye view of life, and what we need to do. In the book, The Power to Overcome, we deal with three main issues. We're familiar with those, but what we're not familiar with is how they work. The details of how they work, why it is that we're so easily driven by the world, the flesh, and the devil. The problem is not just with the devil, friends. In fact, I would dare say that the majority of our problems are with the world and the flesh. The world and the flesh. Look, God wants you and me to be pure and holy. The Apostle Paul said, uh, I believe it was to the Corinthian church, he said, "Look, I'm preparing you as a chaste virgin for Christ." He knew they weren't virgins. He knew that they were fornicators, adulterers, sexually immoral. He knew that. He spoke about that in 1st Corinthians 6 and 5 and 6. In fact, he even warned about it. He said, "Don't be deceived. Neither fornicators, sexually immoral, or adulterers, or practicing homosexuals, lesbians, and so on are going to inherit the Kingdom of God." He made it very clear. But then he said, "Now, you can't live like that. You got to repent. You got to come clean before God because he's not going to welcome you into his arms when Christ returns, if you're living an immoral life from God's viewpoint. Not from the world's viewpoint, but from God's viewpoint. And this speaks to every single one of us, friends. Yours truly lives in the same culture that you live in. We swim in the same filthy water. We understand, we hear the words, we hear it on television, we hear it everywhere. So what are we going to do about it? This is why, this is genuine spiritual warfare. So, again, concerning the coming of Messiah and unveiling the mystery of the ages, get a copy of the book Messiah, $22 book, yours for $18 on our website, saveus.org. Uh, and the brand-new book, The Power to Overcome, hasn't even been released out there in the market yet. It's the only place you can get it is right here on this program. The Power to Overcome. How to triumph in troubled times, $25 will put it in your hands. Well worth the price because, friends, it is, well, it'll provide deliverance for you if you respond from the heart. It really will. My wife was reading the book and she says, "Chuck, this is so amazingly written. Anybody could read it and it's, it's not negative." She said, "It's it's just what we need." I hope you see it that way as well. On the website, saveus.org, The Power to Overcome. If you want to be part of the overcomers project, your gift of $250 to Save America Ministries will enable us to put, uh, ten of these copies in your hands. Your gift will be completely tax-deductible, which it is not if you just purchase one copy of the book. It's just, that's just a quid pro quo. Uh, the other puts you in the position of total ministry and you're spreading the, the, uh, news about yourself to those in your sphere of influence. That is a good thing. That is a wonderful blessing that you can be involved in if you desire. Go to the website, under donations, indicate that's what you want to do. Send a check. Make sure you write on it, Overcomers Project, $250. We'll put it in your hands, and we'll cover the postage. God bless, and be a blessing. The Power to Overcome.

Chuck Crismier: You've been listening to Viewpoint with Chuck Crismier. Viewpoint is supported by the faithful gifts of our listeners. Let me urge you to become a partner with Chuck as a voice to the church, declaring vision for the nation. Join us again next time on Viewpoint as we confront the issues of America's heart and home.