Hi Mike,

Hope the conference went great! I just had a quick question for you that has been posed to me regarding a statement you made on an audio and perhaps other places on the site. 
The statement you made was that you have overcome the beast. The question was asked how can you say that when we must ‘endure till the end’, etc. I do know that you believe that we struggle with the flesh until the day we die, but how does that mesh with overcoming the beast; wouldn’t that mean the struggle would be over?
I wasn’t sure how to answer this and wanted to get it straight from you. Thanks, Mike!
M____

Hi M___,

The conference was wonderful. When brothers come together with the understanding that God is sovereign and that we are all nothing without Christ, then there is bound to be a lot of good fellowship.
I read the letters your friend sent to you, and I thank you for sending them along. Frankly, I am very pleased that he is determined to follow Christ and not any man. I have no doubt that you are of the same mind. You were in Marshall. You heard what I emphasized again and again. I said that we had all better be in our Bibles, or we would be swept away and destroyed by the coming earthquake. Those are not words which apply only to this generation. Those are, were and will always be words to live by:

Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

To quote Ephesians:

Eph 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

… and not also bring in the Truth revealed earlier in this very same book…:

Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

… denies the ‘Is, Was and Will Be’ character of the Word of God, and at the same time demonstrates what Paul meant when he spoke of men deceiving us with “vain words.”
As far as my saying that I have “overcome the beast,” I too, would ask that anyone who is quoting me, please do so in the light of the sum of what I say and teach. Here is what the scriptures teach:

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Will I be condemned if I claim that I no longer ” continue in sin?”

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Are we to deny that we are “free from sin” simply because this is aorist tense?

Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Should we not reckon ourselves dead to sin because we are dying daily?

Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [ as] instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Since this is a process, should we be sinning or should God’s chastening grace have the ascendancy in our lives?
God has humbled me to be able to admit to making mistakes. If you can read these verses and still be uncomfortable with saying that the beast has been overcome and that “sin shall not have dominion over you,” then that is between you and God. I have no problem telling you that the beast in Mike Vinson is no longer in charge. “Sin shall not have dominion over you” is not just a “Will Be” Truth. It is also an “Is” Truth. None of this denies that it is an ongoing process. I think that Michael will be able to see the truth of these statements. Surely Michael would not advocate that we are not to overcome the beast. I do not think that he would expect me to tell everyone that because this is a process, therefore the beast within me has overcome me. There is nothing, either unscriptural or untrue, with saying that “I, through Christ, am overcoming the beast within.” After all we are told “be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good.” Yes, it is all aorist tense. But aorist tense never denies the ‘Is’ component of Christ’s Words. If Paul tells us that he “labored more abundantly than they all” is this never to be taken with an “Is” understanding? When I say that I have overcome the beast within, where in that statement am I claiming that I have done anything of myself? Where in that statement have I denied that there is no longer a beast within? It is only someone looking to find fault who ignores the hours of teaching which emphasize the fact that none of us can do anything apart from Christ. I point that out simply because I know that if one goes back and look at the overall tone of my letters and articles, then one will have to admit that any statement that I have made about overcoming the beast will be preceded by and followed by the assurance that this is an ongoing process that will continue till the day we die and relinquish this vessel of clay. If ever I have failed to do so, then I beg to be forgiven. But the Lord knows my heart, and my letters and articles are filled with these admonitions.
One of the heads of the beast receives a deadly wound. But this ‘Mike Vinson beast’ has seven heads and his deadly wound is healed. The death of this beast is a process that is reinstituted through the “fiery trials” we all must “endure till the end.” But this “fiery trial” is the judgment which is even now on the house of God, and that “eighth beast which is of the seven and goes into perdition” had better be experienced while yet in this vessel of clay. If this is not accomplished while yet in this vessel of clay, then our own words will condemn us and we will not “live by every word of God” and we will not “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book” and “our part in the sayings of the prophecy of this book will be taken out.”

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

“I come quickly… keep the sayings of this book.” I ask you and anyone else, simply what part of the saying of this book are not for you? Whatever part that is, according to the idol of your heart “God shall take away your part from the things which are written in this book.” Your own words will condemn you” to have to experience the sayings of the prophecy of this book along with all others at the great white throne judgment in the lake of fire. That is what any who deny their part in this book have yet to face. If you deny Eph 2:3 then you deny that you ever “walked according to the prince of the power of the air… even as others;” you deny that you were ever a “child of disobedience… even as others;” and you deny that you have ever been a “child of wrath… even as others.”

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

I hope you can see that since I am “not under the law” I can also say that I have overcome the beast, and yet at the same time not be denying that the beast is still “dying daily” and is even now “going into perdition” as Christ is increasing in my life. Let us never be guilty of saying that we have not overcome the beast within. There are no promises given to those who do not overcome. For many years I could not make that claim. The beast had the dominion in my life. That is simply not the case any longer. I would be condemning myself, and I would be lying to say otherwise. And once again, let it never be said that Mike Vinson does not believe that this is a daily, ongoing process. It is a process. But during this stage of this process, Mike Vinson is not being dictated to by the beast within as he once was. Truly it is even now true that “sin shall not have dominion over you because you are not under the law but under grace” (Rom 6:14).

Mike