2003-02-13
Good Morning Cherished Ones,
This morning I’m led to examine practical applications of God-given combat strategies in spiritual warfare. As I have said so often, anyone who accepts the Father’s invitation to repent and come to faith in Christ is faced with the need to join Him in His work of combating Satan and the other forces of evil. It’s not the only work we will do with Him, but it’s the one we’re looking at here. By the way, note that I said, “with Him,” not just for Him. If this sounds like a Star Wars movie, believe me it’s not! The vast majority of believers can tell others their stories of dealing with evil which take so many different forms in their lives. God gives us some practical strategies for dealing with Satan’s fiery darts sent to us.
1) When faced with the need to exorcise an evil spirit, as when tempted to immorality, we can repeat REV 12: 10b-11 aloud and with conviction. “Our brothers won the victory over him [the one who stood before our God and accused our brothers day and night and was thrown out of heaven] by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die.” Who is that accuser? It’s Satan, and his accusations will die by the wayside when the light of God’s word (truth) is shed upon them. Remember JN 8: 44, Christ’s words to the Pharisees who were slaves of sin, “You are the children of your father, the devil, and you want to follow your father’s desires. From the very beginning he was a murderer and has never been on the side of truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.” When we repeat REV 12: 10b-11, we let Satan know that we know exactly who he is and what he did. That’s the truth, and the truth is something that makes Satan and his followers want to run, just as he did from Christ in the wilderness when Christ used God’s word to bring this about in MT 4: 11.
2) Another strategy we can use to combat the devil is to recognize the power God has given us to beat Satan. 1 JN 4: 4 is surely worth repeating. “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.” There will always be false prophets and teachers. Some will come using slick, well-programmed formats designed to do what the devil loves best, deception. Remember how cunning the serpent is in GN 3: 1-6? He was capable of deceiving Eve, which led to his taking dominion over earth in the first place. But, our Lord is the One the Father appoints to take it back from this deceiver, which is why John is told in REV 5: 5 that the “Lion of Judah” [Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was slain] is the One Who can open the scroll with the seven seals, which represents the mortgage to dominion over the earth and read it. False teaching has taken a number of forms, such as the Tower of Babel [GN 11], Gnosticism in the time of the early church, and today’s humanism [the movement which is behind removing any mention of God in the public schools], for example. New Age churches are an example of the “wolves in sheep’s clothing” against which Christ warned us in MT 7: 15. While these things exist for awhile, we have plenty of Scriptural evidence that they will not last. We see this in Daniel’s interpretation of the kings giant statue dream in DN 2: 34-35. “While you were looking at it, a great Stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it, struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, and shattered them. At once the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away leaving not a trace. But the Stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole earth.” That Stone represented Christ, and its growth filling the whole earth represents the establishment of God’s eternal Kingdom, the one that replaced all the faulty human kingdoms. IS 64: 6, “All of us have been sinful: even our best actions are as filthy rags through and through. Because of our sins, we are like leaves that wither and are blown away by the wind.” Only Christ’s Atonement and our faith in Him can change this [JN 3: 16].
Our Lord has not left us in the middle of the battlefield unarmed and ill-prepared. By the profound love He has for His creation, He has done everything available to Him to bring us back to Himself through Christ. He has given us strategies, and there are more which I will write about in tomorrow’s message, to stand firm and answer His command when it is given to fight the forces of evil to victory in His Son’s holy name. The question for us to ponder today is: Are we doing what we can to understand and use every one of His strategies in the battles we must face in our own lives?
PRAYER: O Lord, because of our sinful nature, You are often forced to bring us to brokenness before we will listen for You and seek You out for help. We don’t make it easy for You with our stubbornness and willingness to choose the flesh over what You have to offer. And yet, You persist out of the love You have for us. You call us to faith and command us to spend daily time in Your word. The channel of prayer, two way communication where You speak first, is opened to us by Your most magnificent grace. Despite our sinful behavior, You offered Your Son on the cross, so that salvation would be possible for us. Your invitation to faith came with bated-breath eagerness on Your part that we would accept it. All too often, we disappoint You. Those of us who do accept it, repent of our sins, and come to faith give You relief. Still, You know that Your work with new believers has only begun. Every second, You watch over the adversary, allowing him to do just enough evil to provide a way for us to become sanctified, as we piece by piece overcome the challenges to our faith that he sends us. In 1 COR 10: 13, You make a promise, “Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps His promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.” In the course of giving us this opportunity to gain perfection, You also guide us in joining You in Your work. As we mature in our faith, You make us better aware of how You have armed us to do spiritual warfare [EPH 6: 10-20], the methods of dealing with Satan that work, and of many things of the Spirit that You know we need to know and believe. We become more and more aware of Your wonderfully loving presence in our lives and more willing to share Your message of salvation and peace with others. You supply us with all our real needs, whilst showing us the difference between wants and needs. PS 145: 8-9, “You are merciful, Lord! You are kind and patient and always loving. You are good to everyone, and You take care of all Your creation.” PS 84: 11 speaks the content of our hearts today. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” We must add to that, “not even His Son” [RO 8: 32]. We end this prayer with praise for You, because You so richly deserve it. PS 11: 2-3, “Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are His deeds, and His righteousness endures forever.” We humbly confess our sins and offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, thanks, and praise forever. In Christ’s name, amen.
As promised above, I’m led to write more about strategies God gives us to combat the enemy in tomorrow’s message. The doors to heaven to will be closed to the unrighteous. They will be relegated to conscious eternal torment in the lake of fire and sulfur from which there is no escape. The Day of Christ can come at any time [1 THESS 5: 2], which is sufficient reason for us expunge the sin from our lives in a timely fashion. If we do this, we will not only please God, but we will see just how many blessings He is eager to give us for eternity. Eternity is like infinity; it is hard for humans to comprehend. But, God knows what it is, and His greatest desire is to see as many of mankind who will open their hearts to Him come back to through Christ. What great compassion our Father has to have sent His Son to be incarnate, so that He could relate first-hand to the sorrows and pain we have. Then, the Father placed Christ by His death on the cross in the position to open the heavenly Holy of Holies to us and to act as our Intercessor and Advocate there [HE 4: 15, 8: 1-2, & 9:12]. God shows us His love every day of our lives in faith. Peter and I send each of you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn