2 Timothy 1:13 says to “hold fast the form of sound words.”  The book of Jude talks about all of the apostasy of the hour.  It’s a book of falling away.  It’s a book of rebellion of heart.  It’s a book of pride and lust.  And in the midst of all of these disastrous consequences of man’s self-will, He said, “But ye, beloved, (verse 20) building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost...”  Building up yourselves.  We’ve got to apply ourselves.  It’s not enough to know where to go.  It’s not enough to have a gym membership, you’ve got to go down there.  You know, you can’t call up the number on your membership card and say, “Can you deliver me some muscles this afternoon?”  To grow in our faith, we’ve got to use our faith.  We have to put ourselves in places where we can minister this Gospel.  Boldly lay our hands on the sick.  Amen?  Put ourselves in places where we can deny ourselves and prefer others and serve others and lift up others’ hands.  We don’t know how to pray for as we should, Romans tells us.  But if we’ll pray in the Holy Ghost, He will pray for us as it pertains to the things that we need most.  We don’t know what we need; we just think we do.

We’re praying, “O, God, you know, I’m looking for that advancement here in in the corporation; I just, you know, I’m believing You for that next step up.”  You may not need to step up.  In fact, you may need to step down.  A. B. Simpson once asked an old Scottish woman, as he was battling and warring in the ministry and looking how to advance it.  He told this one lady, knowing she was a prayer warrior, “Could you just agree with me and get into prayer and believe that the Lord would just give me a step up in this thing that I’m pursuing?” And she responded with, “Maybe it’s not a step up that you need; maybe it’s a step down.”  Instead of trying to make things happen according to your will, why don’t you step back and let God reveal His will and what He wants to do in you?  Are you willing for the demotion?  It may save your life.  I’m talking about your spiritual life.  Dear God, as I walked around in the midst of all of those people at the Formula 1 race—the power, the bondage, the deception, they’re going to a devil’s hell.  Many of them were Europeans.  There’s nobody that I’ve witnessed to in recent years that are harder to reach than the Europeans.  They used to be the bulwark of the missionary outreach to the world, and now they’re the hardest nations in the world to try to preach the gospel to; they’re humanists.  It makes sense that’s where Antichrist is going to be launched from.  And I was witnessing to some of these European guys while I was there, and they wanted nothing to do with the gospel.  The French are some of the worst.  Of course, the one thing we know about France is the moment the Antichrist steps up and says, “I’m in charge,” they’ll surrender.