2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Once again, I must express how grateful I am that you keep on reading the messages the Lord gives me to send you each morning. Each of you is a precious treasure to me and to Him. This morning, I am led to discuss some modern day examples of how Satan likes to lead us into false teaching. Discernment is the best weapon that we have to recognize what is happening and to combat it. As you all know, the devil is the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” that Christ warned us about in JN 7: 15. Be reminded that our battles are really with the evil spiritual forces of the unseen world who have control over the people who are false teachers [EPH 6:12]. There is nothing fake about this, and it is not from an over-active imagination. This warning is straight from the word of God itself.
Once again, I would like to share an anecdote from my personal experience. I once belonged to a church in which I taught the main adult Bible study course. It was a small, poorly-attended congregation of about 140 people at that time. Sadly, social issues were higher on its agenda at the time than the word of God. You may wonder why Peter and I remained in that congregation for two years. The reason is that we had been asked by the outgoing minister when we first arrived, if we could help this very dysfunctional group to work out its problems. His replacement asked me to teach a course to the adults on comparative religions. I was well-qualified to do this and had taught that subject before, but not with the text book I was given to use. We are told to obey authorities, because they are put in place by God in RO 13: 1. When I was teaching the two-year Precepts Ministries course on the book of Romans, we spent considerable time discussing the issue of what does one do when authorities in place ask you to do something that is not in keeping with God’s law. This can be a dicey subject, because correctly answering that question absolutely depends on a thorough discernment, gotten only by familiarity with the Scriptures. I was faced with this question when I saw that the text book I was given elevated New Age paganism to the level of world religion to be taught just like the others. To make my situation even more challenging, the text book had been authored by a friend of this minister’s, who was very proud of it.
After several sessions on my knees, God led me to two citations which gave me direction, RO 13: 5 and RO 14: 8, “For this reason [God punishes evil-doers], you must obey the authorities-not just because of God’s punishment, but also as a matter of conscience…If we live it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” While it is only Christ’s right to judge and not my own, I had to make a critical decision about what to do. Teaching New Age paganism as a world religion simply wasn’t acceptable to me. I chose to teach that course, omitting that chapter without saying anything ahead of time to the minister. The class was well-attended in spite of the poor overall attendance in that church at that time, and our discussions were lively and full of Scriptures that I brought into them. Our not fitting into that congregation became such a problem, that after this class was over, we chose to leave it. God blessed us with a wonderful new church home in which we have been allowed to serve and have been nourished spiritually and enabled to mature. It is interesting to note that the minister who had been at the small church, left. Another minister came there, and now, that congregation is beginning to flourish.
Many of you heard that awful story about the public school system in Byron, CA which recently required its students to take a course on Islam where they were encouraged to mount their own Islamic jihad (holy war against all non-Moslems). This is another way that people are led into false teaching. At present, there are a number of law suites pending in that case. Satan loves to cause as much havoc, pain, and misery as he and his cohorts can. He hates Paul’s prayer found in EPH 3: 14-21. “For this reason [the love of Christ] I fall on my knees before the Father, from Whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name. I ask God from the wealth of His glory to give you power through His Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make His home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you together with all God’s people may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love. Yes, may you come to know His love-although it can never be fully known-and so be completely filled with the very nature of God. To Him, Who by means of His power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of: to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.” Dear Ones, this prayer is powerful, and it’s meant for each of us. My example of how God’s word helped me make a tough decision is here to remind each of you that you can do the same. God is eager to help us in difficult and demanding situations. All we have to do is be willing to turn to Him.
PRAYER: O Lord, You give us a very clear picture in the Scriptures of how to live our lives “in Christ.” What these citations mean to us has deep and enduring ramifications in every facet of our lives. Your commitment to us as our Covenant Partner is pure, complete, and perfect. That is what You so righteously ask of us in our commitment. You have told us much about prayer. One citation that helps us to better understand this is 1 THESS 5: 16-22, “Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. Do not restrain the Holy Spirit; do not despise inspired messages. Put all things to the test: keep what is good and avoid every kind of evil.” The test You speak of here is how something sizes up to what You teach us in Your word. We understand that we should never challenge You. Your authority is ever-wise, always righteous, and supreme. We acknowledge what we have learned from DN 7: 13-14, that You have given Christ alone the authority to judge. Therefore, we withdraw from any attempt to arrogantly usurp His authority. There are times when You place us in a situation where we must make a difficult decision, as I did in the example in today’s message. We take joy and comfort in knowing that we can turn to You and seek Your help. It pleases us deeply that You use these situations to forward our sanctification, and we love You for it. We pledge to remain in the Scriptures and in prayer daily, knowing that You will protect us from false teachers and other attempts to gain strongholds in our lives by Satan and his followers. You comfort us with Your words through David in PS 77: 5, “For in the Day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle.” In humility, we confess our sin and offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, praise, and thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen.
Because there are so many important messages in this series on spiritual warfare, the Lord leads me to recap some of the key ones we have discussed in tomorrow’s message. This will help us not to lose sight of God’s big picture of this timely and crucial subject. So, stay with me, Dearest Readers, as our time is not being wasted. The prayer that God gave Paul to say in EPH 3: 14-21 is but one example of the love He has for us. The same could be said for every single citation in both the OT and the NT. The more time we spend in study and prayer, the more God reveals the details of His love for us and gives us some idea of its magnificent depth. How can we not recognize that our God is awesome?! He shows us that we don’t have to do evil to be happy. He protects us when Satan attacks and gives us vital “combat intelligence” to fight back successfully. He provides us with one opportunity after another to work through some challenges and mature spiritually, furthering our sanctification. He is there for us at every turn. We need only seek Him out and follow His advice. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn