2002-11-29
Good Morning Cherished Ones,
One of the blessings of our salvation is being given enough power by God to overcome whatever kinds of fiery darts that Satan sends our way. That doesn’t mean that we won’t suffer or experience losses, but it means that God will keep his promise of 1 COR 10:13 that He never allows us to be tested beyond our limits to endure. Yesterday, we took a look at the Kingdom organization that God set up and how Christ was given the authority by the Father that He has. Today, we will look at Paul’s situation when he was carrying out the great commission of MT 28: 19-20, “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them My disciples; baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.” Despite all of Paul’s trouble and the strikes against him, God empowered him to get the job done so well that he is remembered today as one of the greatest figures of the NT. We will then look at some basic principles in spiritual warfare.
As with Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others, Paul was carrying a message that was not always well-received. He endured a lot of terrible conditions to do this too [2 COR 11: 23-33]. It helps us to see the context of Paul’s challenges when we realize that he wasn’t greatly liked among the non-believers of his day, any more than the Son was well-received in His own hometown of Nazareth [LK 4: 16-30]. When Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans, it was clear that there was opposition to him even within the church from Judiaizers (who felt all males should be circumcised and tried to force the church to accept old Jewish practices, such as when to observe the Sabbath and keeping a Kosher regime) and the Anti-Nomians (who believed in grace without license) [RO 2: 25-29; RO 14: 13-23; RO 6: 15-18]. Paul also didn’t fit the physical ideal of the average Greek of his day, and his speech lacked eloquence. It is a fact that the old trite saying, “it is lonely at the top,” is true. Leadership is never easy, and the adversary certainly saw to that with regard to those in leadership in the early church. But, God gave Paul His full armor, the kind found in EPH 6: 10-20, and Paul, like Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Christ Himself, put it on and used it to the best of his God-given ability. By doing so, he and these others set an example for what we should do today. Anyone who has carefully studied Paul’s writings knows that he was given the ability to construct his letters as the very best of lawyers can, presenting precept upon precept of God’s teaching in a way that preconceived any objections made to them and answered them beyond argument. In other words, God was able to use Paul to do His work.
There are some basic principles of spiritual warfare that we must understand. When others misunderstand us, it may be due to Satan’s interference. In counseling others, I soon came to realize that many terrible family problems or problems on the job are caused by simple misunderstandings that get blown up beyond reasonable proportions. The real basic problem is miscommunication, but the results can lead to years of painful bickering or even relationship breakdown. For example, a man and women get married, but the woman soon begins withdrawing from her husband’s efforts to show affection. He believes she is at fault and levels a barrage of continuing criticism including name calling at her. She withdraws even more. In the course of counseling this couple, it is revealed that the woman comes from an emotionally abusive background. This whole problem could have been solved by the woman being open with her husband and by the husband taking the time to consider more than his immediate needs by being an interested, concerned listener and practicing the principles God gives us in EPH 5: 21-33. Here’s a blurb from a church bulletin which really says it like it is. “Give Satan an inch and he'll be a ruler. God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called. God doesn't want shares of your life; He wants controlling interest!”
We also need to know that people can be held captive by wrong thoughts, worldly philosophies, worldly wisdom, wrong doctrine, and all sorts of lies from the “father of lies” [JN 8: 44]. Let me repeat a passage that really applies to this situation. 2 COR 10: 3-5, “It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. The weapons we use in our fight are not the world’s weapons but Gold’s powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” I have often written about how alluring New Age churches are. They are made to look like Christian churches, and it takes awhile before one can figure out the real message within is evil. We need only look at societies like that found in Nigeria, Haiti, Iraq, and other places which are fraught with government greed and corruption to see what damage worldly philosophies can do to the quality of life people experience. And we don’t need to look too far from home to find the effects of wrong doctrine already working Satan’s evil upon people. A case in point are the suicides and ritual murders that arise out of practice of the occult or the horrific fates of such groups as Jim Jones’ People’s church in Guyana or the David Koresh’s group, the Branch Davidians, in Waco, TX. The latter is a subject I’ve experienced first hand, as I was in a cult and felt the oppression that brings in my youth. Thankfully, the Lord showed me a way out of it. Not all people in this situation escape it. Dear Ones, when we understand these principles of spiritual warfare, we are ready to wage it successfully.
PRAYER: O Lord, today You lead us to begin to see a pattern to the suffering that Your servants, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Paul, and even Your own Son experienced. If we look at our own suffering at Satan’s hand, it is much smaller in global impact, but it is still important to You. Your perspective on what we must endure is that we should not lose sight of the plan You have for us or forget to realize that our efforts to work through that suffering result in 1) getting Your work done and 2) furthering our sanctification. Through 1 PET 4: 16, You want us to understand what attitude toward it is right with You. “However, if you suffer because you are a Christian, do not be ashamed of it, but thank God that you bear Christ’s name.” When You changed Abram’s name to Abraham [GN 17: 5], the Hebrew letter used to denote You was added to his name. It was Your way of claiming ownership on Him. By His death on the cross and our repentance and faith in Him, Christ has claimed ownership of us. If we ever needed proof of that, it is found in REV 7: 2-3, when the action of the judgments is stopped momentarily to give time for the angel to obey Your command to mark the foreheads of those who are Your servants. As with the Jews at Passover [EX 12: 26], these faithful believers will be protected throughout the Tribulation. Dearest Father, we place our trust in You that You will protect, equip, guide, defend, and carry us through whatever attacks Satan attempts on us. We pledge You our undying devotion, confess our sins in humility, listen intently to Your commands, will take action when and how You direct, and offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, honor, glory, trust, obedience, thanks and praise as Your soldiers in Christ. In His holy name, amen.
As I am led to continue discussing the blessings of our salvation, I will take up some specific strategies for dealing with Satan’s attacks on our minds in tomorrow’s message. It is one thing to be commanded to “take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” God even tells us in the Scriptures how to do this. We have good reason to believe that our Deity experiences many of the same emotions that we do, including pain and disappointment. That doesn’t weaken Him; instead, it gives Him the compassion that He has. That’s why Christ became incarnate and experienced the same temptations and pain we do, and then was able to go back to the Father to be our Advocate and Intercessor in the heavenly Holy of Holies [HE 4: 15]. We can take comfort in knowing that our Creator understands our pain and is using it for only the most righteous of agendas. He has even told us in RO 8: 18 that our pain is small in comparison to the glory He will share with us. So, Dear Ones, never feel like God’s love has been withdrawn or that He has forgotten those of us who love Him, whose names are written in the palms of His hands [IS 49: 14-16]. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn