2003-02-10
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
We must understand that authority to do spiritual warfare is bestowed by and not used independently or contrary to the One Who gave it to us. The power and authority we have over Satan was given to us at the time of our salvation, that is, when we repented and came to faith in Jesus Christ. Real faith is a force more powerful than Satan can overcome, because it comes to us from the Father through Christ. This is quite different than pseudo-faith, which has its origins with Satan and comes down to a non-believer through man. These latter belief systems can often be traced right back to their human sources, as is the case with cults like L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientololgy or Jim Jones’ The People’s Church. Sometimes they are the product of a number of people as was the case with the Gnosticism and Anti-Nomian apostasies in the first century AD. Our false teaching red flags can go up anytime a human being is at the center of a belief system, as opposed to God or the Son being at its center. The Son is rightly characterized as fully man and fully God [JN 14: 9, 11; HE 4: 15].
I would never suggest that we shouldn’t be completely reverent in our attitude toward God, but there is a marked contrast between the approach a believer is urged to take in his interactions with our Deity and the stark fright encouraged in other belief systems toward theirs. We are told to approach Him boldly and with confidence when we are faithful. We were already told in JN 15: 7 and MT 18: 18-20 that when we are in line with God, that is, we’ve made His agenda our own, all we have to do is to ask Him for something, and He will grant it. We have been guaranteed of His constant presence with us too. 1 JN 5: 14-15 supports this and reveals the attitude of confidence we can take. “We have courage in God’s presence, because we are sure that He hears us if we ask Him for anything that is according to His will. He hears us whenever we ask Him; and since we know this is true, we know also that He gives us what we ask from Him.” As long ago as David lived, the situation was the same, and David, a man of obedient faith, knew it. PS 116: 1-2, “I love the Lord, because He hears me: He listens to my prayers. He listens to me every time I call to Him.” We have proof of that in the extraordinary protection God gave to David throughout all the persecution David suffered at Saul’s hand [1 SAM 18: 12-15 and beyond until Saul’s death in 1 SAM 31] and his battles to wrest back the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines [2 SAM 5: 17-6: 15]. When Saul proved himself unworthy of his kingship and disobedient to God, God used His power to shift authority to be the king of Israel to David [1 SAM 15: 22-23; 1 SAM 16: 12-13].
I share a particular fondness for JN 15 with Pastor Bruce Wilkinson, who wrote a wonderful little book that I recommend on JN 15: 1-17 called “The Secrets of the Vine.” It helps us to understand the basic message we all need to know. To begin, let’s look at JN 14: 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.” This is a concise statement of the origin of our faith. Let’s look now at JN 15: 10-17, which gives us illumination on this crucial verse. “If you obey My commands you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you. The greatest love a person can have for His friends is to give His life for them. And you are My friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because a servant does not know what His master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from My Father. You did not choose Me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of Him in My name. This, then, is what I command you: love one another.” Dear Ones, every time I read, write, or hear these words, my heart pounds a little faster in rich appreciation of the gift of faith, empowerment over Satan, confidence we can have in approaching the Father, sacrifice the Father made of the Son on the cross for us, and the authority to use that power against evil that we have been given. Are we special to the Father? You bet we are! Should He be the center of our lives? You bet He should! Should we spend daily time in His word and prayer? Yes, indeed!
PRAYER: O Lord, You allow us to clearly see that the line of authority is passed down from You to Christ and from Him to ordinary people to do specific tasks for You. We are not puppets on Your string, because You were unselfish enough to cede a portion of Your power over to us, so that we could decide if we would answer Your precious call to faith. Once we answered in the affirmative, then You opened Your heart to us and began showering us with blessings. You blessed us first with salvation through the physical death of Your Son on the cross. Then, You granted us Your Spirit to dwell in us. That is followed by Your presence, direction, correction, encouragement, compassion, patience, instruction, protection, provision, and so much more. As we mature in the faith, we begin to understand the empowerment and authority You have given us to do Your work, which involves engaging effectively in spiritual warfare against the forces of evil. While we know these things intellectually, You want us to experience them through a faithful heart-attitude, apostolic action, and confidence in facing the adversary. All the while, You use his foolish and evil actions against us in a highly controlled way to present us with the challenges to our faith that we need in order to become sanctified (perfected enough to be ready to answer the call of the last trumpet [shofar] at the time of the rapture) [meeting in the air with Christ in 1 THESS 4: 13-17]. In 1 COR 10: 13, You reassure us that we will not be put to a test by Satan that is greater than our ability to overcome. You reassure us in MT 16: 18 that Satan’s power is insufficient to overpower the Body of Christ, the church. Further reassurance is found in 1 JN 2: 8, “However, the command I know write you is new, because its truth is seen in Christ and also in you. For the darkness is passing away, and the real light is already shining.” 1 JN 4: 4 really clarifies any doubt that might linger in our minds, “But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit Who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world.” And what encouragement You give us in PS 55: 22, “Leave your troubles with the Lord, and He will defend you; He never lets honest men be defeated.” We trust You to intervene when Satan’s attack on us becomes too strong for us, and know that You will protect us from the experience we’ve already had. We rejoice in being Your servants and Your friends. We humbly confess our sins and offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, thanks, and praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Our need to submit to the Father is crucial to our success in spiritual warfare or anything else. The society we live in is offended by the concept of submission to any outside being, but I can boldly say from personal experience that submission to God is the only way to real happiness and contentment. This will be the subject of tomorrow’s message. My heart leads me to cite PS 56: 13, “You protected me from death and kept me from stumbling, so that I would please You and follow the light that leads to life.” Faith in God makes us capable of accomplishing things we never thought we could do, things that are helping to carry out His agenda. While we still have our free agency, the Holy Spirit teaches us how to use it in a way which does this and also illuminates our lives with the joy His light brings. It may sound strange to talk of joy at a time when we are dealing with Satan’s fiery arrows (no matter what form they take), but only God, through the Son, can produce this in us. Our joy is not the bliss of ignorance, but the foretaste of God’s glory that comes from knowing and living His truth. God’s word has become the joy of my life in the reading, thinking, and doing. Only a God Who adores those who love Him would deliver such joy. Thus, it is my prayer that each of you will have an experience in obedient faith something like He is giving Me. With all of this, I’m still a sinner and will always be until that Day when He gathers up all the believers in the air. Even with this, the Lord loves me, and I know He loves each of you too. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn