2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
I am directed this morning to continue writing about front line battle in spiritual warfare. The Lord led to Paul to write about Ephesus, so that we could have an example in the Scriptures of what goes on in the battle between Spirit-led and flesh-led belief systems. I assure you that is not the only example He gives us in His word. Yesterday, I wrote about the evil practices that go on in paganism both around ancient Israel (Baalism) and in Ephesus (pagan worship of the goddess, Diana). To understand the early church better, it helps to know that a portion of converts to it came from traditional Judaism. Anyone who has read the account of the evil kings in Jewish history in the Bible knows that what set them apart was often attempts to combine Judaism with paganism. This is the human effort to take the path of pragmatism and rationalization, both flesh-led.
Kay Arthur wrote about how Judaism was practiced this way in Ephesus when she quoted the Pseudepigrapha, writings outside the Bible often studied by the Jews of that time. I would like to include the quote she had in today's message to give you an idea of what was believed. "The earth is full of demons. Humanity is plagued by them. Almost all misfortunes are because of the demons: sickness, drought, death, and especially humanity's weakness about remaining faithful to the covenant. The region between heaven and earth seems to be almost cluttered by demons and angels; humanity is often seen as a pawn, helpless in the face of such cosmic force." How sad and lacking in faith this kind of writing is. And yet, it was studied almost as faithfully as the Old Testament. There was clearly increased fascination with the occult there just as there is on our society today. Understanding this gives us a better appreciation for the difficulties that Paul and the other believers met with in trying to make it possible for the Holy Spirit to bring Ephesus to faith.
When we examine what is going on in today's society right here in America, we can't help but see the spiritual warfare going on around us. We all know our country is fighting with a coalition of others against the evil of terrorism. That's front line battle right there. What happened in the election of President Bush is another example of spiritual warfare. We can take comfort in knowing God's will was done and that we are in good hands in this country's leadership. But there is less obvious warfare too. Games like "Dungeons and Dragons" are played by children and can even become an obsession with them. This happened to the son of a neighbor of ours in GA. "Pokemon" is clearly another example. We see New Age churches claiming people all around us by putting the devil's work in trappings that seem harmless. LV 19: 26 & 28 fly in the face of current fashion among young people. "Do not practice any kind of magic...or tattoo yourselves or cut cashes in your body to mourn the dead. I am the Lord." The argument might be offered that these things only applied to ancient times. But, God's word is not like that. It applies now and for eternity. There is no time limit on it. Believers will be disgusted if they are forced to listen to the words of heavy metal rock music. Certain pop artists take great delight in worship of the created and the downfall of God's institutions and teaching. All of this is designed to garner publicity and increase sales.
It is tough to write a message like this, but God tells me that it has to be done. In two places in Ezekiel, the Lord spoke to him about being a watchman [EZK 3: 16-21 and EZK 33: 1-9]. While this is taken in the context of watching over Israel to warn against her enemies, we can also take it to mean we need to be "spiritual watchmen" in discerning when God's adversary and his followers are on the attack. EZK 33: 3-6, "When he [the watchman] sees the enemy approaching, he sounds the alarm to warn everyone. If someone hears it but pays no attention and the enemy comes and kills him, then he is to blame for his own death. His death is his own fault, because he paid no attention to the warning. If he had paid attention, he could have escaped. If, however, the watchman sees the enemy coming and does not sound the alarm, the enemy will come and kill those sinners, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths." This is a powerful message to us to be responsible soldiers and watchmen for God in the course of spiritual warfare. All the while we must remember that when we live "in Christ," God will see us through this.
PRAYER: O Lord, we must remember what You gave David to say in PS 29: 4 & 11, "The voice of the Lord is heard in all its might and majesty...The Lord gives strength to His people and blesses them with peace." Imagine, Your voice heard all over every part of earth, land and sea! PS 31: 3-5, "You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as You have promise. Keep me safe from the trap that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care. You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God." Your power, compassion, might, sovereignty, and righteousness are on our minds this morning. You need to know that we acknowledge them today and always. You are an awesome Lord Who loves His children and prepares them effectively to do battle against the adversary and his followers for You. We are honored to do this battle in Christ's name, never forgetting the great sin sacrifice that You called Him to be for us or His faithfulness in obeying You. We place Him before us as our Paradigm and pledge to live out His example in our daily lives. You are our Rock and our Redeemer. We offer You, in humility: confession of our sins, adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, honor, glory, praise, and thanksgiving. In Christ's name, we pray, amen.
Tomorrow, we continue with discussion of front-lines battle in spiritual warfare. This time we will look at some seen and some unseen from the Scriptures. By saying the things that I do in these messages, I know that I am placing myself on Satan's "wanted list." However, I can do so boldly not because of any special prowess on my part, but because I have faith that God is behind me protecting me from Satan as long as I stay connected by speaking His word accurately and expressing His will. We all can take this same kind of comfort in knowing that our loving Abba is a key part of our lives and very necessary to our sanctification and eventual glorification. He has given us the faith we have out of His love for us. We must meditate on how that impacts our own individual and congregational lives. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn