2003-01-22
Good Morning Dear Ones,
For the last eleven messages, I have been led to write about how we can use the “sword of the Spirit,” God’s word, defensively against Satan. Today, we will begin looking at how we are empowered by God to use it offensively. The very best way to see how this is done is to continue looking at the example our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and others who used it offensively. When Christ cast out demons, He reclaimed souls for the Kingdom. This way of describing what He did helps us to keep our eyes on God’s plan, His big picture. Satan had to have known he was losing ground and on his way to defeat-defeat that was to be settled for all eternity at Calvary. This defeat would be a gift of God’s grace and involve a huge sacrifice for the Father to make. That doesn’t even mention the pain of the suffering of the Son, pain of a degree unheard of in history.
Before Christ was to sit at the right hand of the Father, so that God could make His enemies a footstool under His feet [PS 110:1], He commissioned us to “occupy” the enemy’s strongholds and wage spiritual warfare with Him and his army. 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 an age.” These familiar words of the Great Commission can be applied to everything from serving a mission in a foreign land to the very use of God’s word with people right here at home. There are no life circumstances where God’s word doesn’t apply. Our desire to want to use God’s word and the self-discipline we must have to spend time with it every day and to pray often are a direct result of the inward transformation God has wrought in our minds and our need to conform ourselves to the standards set by Christ and not those of the world [RO 12: 2]. Any wisdom we gain in doing this, any discernment we have, and any understanding of what we learn is directly attributable to the gift of the Holy Spirit [JN 14: 15-17]. The latter is one more of many extensions of God’s most excellent grace.
We read about how Christ cast out demons from those they possessed, but those who don’t fully understand the empowerment Christ gave us ask: Just because Christ could do it, why should I think I can? The answer lies in the fact that we are given enormous power, the same power that God used to raise Christ from death to life, to use the sword of the Spirit [God’s word] to wage war against the devil and his followers [EPH 1: 18-20]. There are some truths we must understand. The first one is that we have a Messenger to carry our prayers to God’s throne room in Christ Himself. That is because He was called, trained, and obedient to being our Advocate and Intercessor in the heavenly Holy of Holies [HE 4: 15, 8: 1-2, and 9: 12]. Secondly, we have a direct line to that Messenger-prayer [JN 15: 7]. Prayer only works well if we are willing to listen to God’s commands first and then, convey what is in our hearts to Him. Refusal to do this is a form of arrogance, a way of conveying that we are unwilling to take the advice God gave us through Solomon in PR 3: 5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way.” Thirdly, we are fully equipped to do that battle when we don God’s full armor [EPH 6: 10-20]. None of these truths mean anything to a person without faith, but with faith, we may claim PHIL 4: 13, “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me.” That certainly includes taking the offensive against evil.
When we realize that we can look back on Christ’s public ministry, the example that He set for us, and learn all the teaching contained in the NT, we can’t help but have huge respect for the faith demonstrated by those who were faced with evil in the Otwho didn’t have the benefit of this hindsight. Isaiah comes to mind as a good example. Upon hearing God’s question, “Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?” he stood up an volunteered by saying “Here I am, Lord. Send me. I will go” at the time of his commission [IS 6: 8-9]. God beautifully equipped Isaiah with the faith, obedience, and courage to spend his life sending a very unpopular message to his people, Israel. Isaiah never knew the Son as Jesus Christ in his lifetime, but I’m willing to bet he does now. However, he was able to give us one of the most meaningful and descriptive prophesies about Christ in IS 9: 6 and 11: 1-10, of this Messiah, Prince of Peace, and the peaceful eternal Kingdom He would one day rule that we have in the Scriptures. It was Isaiah who, inspired by God, wrote IS 53: 1-12, a perfect description of the Suffering Servant and what He would accomplish. Isaiah’s words and those of the other OT prophets go hand in hand with the teaching in the NT as being perfect weapons of offensive warfare against Satan. Dear Ones, God has blessed us with His sword of the Spirit and with the ability to pray. These are two of the most powerful offensive weapons known to mankind, and they are ours to use under the Lord’s direction.
PRAYER: O Lord, the destruction of evil is not an easy task, but still, you have called us to be involved in it. We know that You love us, so that you wouldn’t lead us to our own destruction as we do battle. Instead, You are wise enough to allow just enough evil to come into our lives that we are sanctified, that is, spiritually matured and perfected, in the course of doing this battle. In addition, by Your gift of the Holy Spirit, You have given us the ability to study Your word, to understand it well enough, that we can use it to do what is necessary to be victorious in Christ’s holy name. Your goodness and Your protection are always extended to those who endure in obedient faithfulness to You. PS 91: 14-16, “God says, ‘I will save those who love Me and will protect those who know Me as Lord. When they call to Me, I will answer them. When they are in trouble I will be with them. I will reward them with long life; I will save them.’” Oh how we hang on those words, especially when our warfare brings us pain, suffering, and loss! The OT prophets, long before Your Son’s public ministry, knew of Your love for us and Your will for our lives. JER 29: 11-13, “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. Then you will call to Me. You will come and pray to Me, and I will answer you. You will seek Me and you will find me because you will seek Me with all your heart.” Dearest Lord, we know from reading about them that many of Your servants, people like Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the apostles, Paul, and even Christ Himself, endured much suffering at Satan’s hand. But, none of them have been lost in hopelessness and despair. We know that because You taught us through Paul, “There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.” You have given me the conviction that none of those who died in faith before Christ’s incarnation are kept from the blessing of salvation through His Atonement. We need only look at MT 17:3, and who appeared with a glorified Christ in the Transfiguration to support this assertion. Long before Christ’s earthly ministry, David uttered his words in PS 18: 1, “I love You, Lord; You are my strength.” PS 68: 19 is on our hearts today, “What a glorious Lord! he who daily bears our burdens also gives us our salvation.” We humbly confess our sins and pledge You our eternal adoration, worship, diligence, loyalty, obedience, trust, glory, honor, thanks, and praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
I am led in tomorrow’s message to write about a very human example from history of what can happen when we rest on human understanding instead of God’s. We can look at this example I’ll write about, asking how would it have been different if God had been sought for direction. It will help us to have a good look at how God’s word would have put people on the right track to victory in one of the bloodiest battles in recent history, the WW II battle at Arheim on the Rhine in northern Holland. There is a very special piece of God-inspired advice that has been given to us out of God’s profound love for us in PS 37: 34, “Wait for the Lord and keep to His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land.” David wrote this in the context of the Jews inheriting their homeland, but may not have realized his words were very prophetic. When we look at the larger view of God’s plan for all who love him, none of whom will be condemned to the lake of fire and sulfur, it applies to His promise that we will inherit and rule in His eternal Kingdom with Christ [RO 8: 17]. We must be patient, waiting for God’s time, have faith that He will make good on His promises. We must never forget that His love for us is constant and wholly righteous. That is our awesome God! Peter and I send each of you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn