THIS IS HOW AN EXPERT SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT SPIRITUAL WARS

 THIS IS HOW AN EXPERT SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT SPIRITUAL WARS

The distance between the spiritual dimension and our earthly-material dimension is a lot thinner than most people realise! This means that there is a direct correlation between the state of your emotional, spiritual, intellectual, health and your physical health. As part of my ongoing PhD research into aspects of this phenomena I have been struck by how disconnected many people view these realms, and even more so by how many ancients saw it clearly! The forces of darkness who have, in the words of Jesus the Christ, “come to steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10) often do so literally—that is, physically and materially. Perhaps I am even more struck by how many today fail to recognise that they way to deal with such spiritual attacks often requires very physical and material solutions. When Jerusalem laid in ruins a hundred years or so after the Babylonians destroyed it, Nehemiah was charged with the rebuilding project. Almost immediately upon his arrival in ruins of Jerusalem he as confronted by three evil men who deceptively did everything they could to hinder him. Nehemiah knew these men were under the evil influence of dark powers. And while he certainly prayed to God for divine help to overcome these forces, he also set about to do something very physical involving much material interaction. Six hundred years before Nehemiah engaged in spiritual warfare in this manner, the young military leader, David, also employed a similar strategy. The result of David’s spiritual warfare was a very physical interaction with evil forces – so much so that he was forbidden by GOD to oversee the construction of the Temple because of it (1Chron. 28:3). But without David’s role in that spiritual war the Jerusalem Temple could never have been built. David was an expert in spiritual warfare and we today can learn much from him about how we should engage in spiritual warfare.

¶ And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD
delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said,
“The LORD is my rock and
my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my Saviour; you save me from violence.
Second Samuel 22:1-3

This portion of Scripture (2Sam. 22:1-3) occurred at a time after he had been delivered from an impossible situation where the army of the then king (King Saul) had brought his army out to capture David and execute him. After David had been delivered from this threat he recounted what he had prayed to God. In Second Samuel we get a glimpse of what he had been praying. But later, after David had become king, he wrote out his prayer in more detail in Psalm 18. Here’s a summary of Psalm 18 and why it is a great insight into how we should undertake spiritual warfare as well.

Some scholars have wondered why there is so little references to demons in the Old Testament—especially compared with Christ’s ministry described in the Gospels. There are three references to demons in the Old Testament (Lev. 17:7; Deut. 32:17; Ps. 106:37) and one reference to an evil spirit (Judg. 9:23) and three references to a harmful spirit (1Sam. 16:14; 18:10; 19:9). In regard to the references to a harmful spirit they each have a context to David as an exorcist – that is, David had the spiritual power to cast out demons! Thus, when David was violently pursued by King Saul and his murderous agenda, he of all people had every reason to understand that there were demons fuelling Saul’s hatred. With this in mind, consider how Psalm 18 reveals how David engaged with this spiritual warfare:

1. Psalm 18:1-6 ~ David wrote a poetic prayer celebrating God’s faithfulness. 
2. Psalm 18:7-15 ~ David’s poetically praises GOD.
3. Psalm 18:16-24 ~ David’s poetically declares his testimony to those looking to him for leadership.
4. Psalm 18:25-30 ~ David utters worship of God poetically.
5. Psalm 18:31-39 ~ David continues to share his testimony poetically.
6. Psalm 18:40-50 ~ David poetically praised God for his goodness.   

You’ll notice that I have emphasised that David wrote poetically. This is deeply significant. Poetry requires thoughtfulness. Poetry involves the careful selection of choice words. It is almost impossible for good poetry to be produced spontaneously. It would take an infinite intelligence to utter such great poetry spontaneously (which only God has and repeated is recorded as having done so according to the Scriptures).

He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have given me the shield of Your salvation
Psalm 18:34-35a

HOW DAVID ENGAGED IN DEMONICALLY-FUELLED
SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Psalm 18 provides some shocking insights into how spiritual warfare was conducted by David. While Second Samuel 22 describes David’s near-to-the-event poetic response, Psalm 18 was obviously written much later and with greater reflection. The insights that we can gain from a consideration of David’s method of dealing with spiritual attack are pertinent for believers today – who all-too-often have been misled into impotent methods of spiritual fancy rather than the truth prescribed in God’s Word.

For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made those who rise against me sink under me.
You made my enemies turn their backs to me
Psalm 18:39-40a

Firstly, when David was under attack, he worshiped GOD. Many Christians too easily abandon their duty to come together and worship GOD when they perceive that are under spiritual attack. If this is you, you are playing into our enemy’s hands!

Secondly, David was considerate of those he influenced and led and he reminded them about the times of GOD’s faithfulness and rescue. The enemy wants you to not recall GOD’s faithfulness and displays of greatness in your life because if you do you are more likely to exercise victorious faith!

Thirdly, David prayed to GOD, not against the enemy or even addressing the enemy! Too many believers are deceived into thinking that true spiritual warfare is simply shouting (loudly) at the devil!

Fourthly, David recognised that spiritual battles involved fighting with natural efforts. Believers today often fail to understand how susceptible our minds are to spiritual malnutrition and poisoning from such things as social media. Similarly we often fail to recognise that physical effort/discipline/exercise is also integral to genuine spiritual warfare. We need to learn from David the spiritual warfare expert and simultaneously heed what the apostle Paul taught about this:

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God,
and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
Second Corinthians 10:3-6

Amen!

Pastor,

Andrew

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DO NOT FEAR THE WOLF'S whisper

 

 Is it really a fair fight? I mean, seriously? Jesus described our spiritual foe as a ravenous wolf, and His followers as a flock of sheep! Seriously, is it really a fair fight for the unwitting, unrelenting, ravenous, blood-thirsty, devious wolf who has already been defeated by ‘the Lamb of God’? Is it really a fair fight for the spiritual demonic wolves who now know they have been de-fanged and de-clawed by the Lamb who has now given His authority and power to His flock so that “these signs will accompany those who believe: in My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17-18)? No. It is not a fair fight for the wolf, and the fight is only going to get worse for it. And this is why all members of the flock of Christ should never fear the wolf that Jesus warned us about or the wolf’s whisper!

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd,
who does not own the sheep,
sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees,
and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
John 10:12

THE WOLF’S DEVIOUS MISSION

The wolf’s mission is to undermine God’s will and plan by “snatching” and “scattering” Christ’s flock (Jn. 10:12). The wolf only has one strategy: deception. It uses this strategy in various forms, such as lying, stealing, killing, and destroying – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (Jn. 10:10a) which all begins with a whisper into the minds of people.

The picture of a wolf was only one of the descriptions that Christ and His apostles used to describe the forces of evil. The members of this defeated force of evil are also described as beasts, bulls, serpents, and their defeated enraged former prince was referred to as “a great red dragon” (Rev. 12:3, 9). We should be under no illusion that while Christ has defeated the enemies of our souls, we are still engaged in a dangerous post-war series of battles where our enemy seeks to plant deceptive thoughts into the minds of people – even believers. This is why the New Testament presents the battle-plan for every believer:

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God,
and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Second Corinthians 10:3-5

The wolves who seek to “snatch” sheep from Christ’s flock – the believer’s local church – also seek to “scatter” the flock of Christ through whispers of deception. We are in a cosmic battle that Christ expects we can win in His Name and strength because He has now sent His Spirit to aid us to to withstand these devious whispers of the evil ones!

What the closing book of the Bible reveals about this cosmic battle between the Champion of Good (depicted in Revelation as the ‘Arnion’ – translated into English as the [little] Lamb) and the villainous dragon, is that appearances can be misleading. (This was surely one of the main purposes of Christ giving this revelation to John to deliver to the beleaguered members of the seven churches of Asia Minor as they attempted to withstand the onslaught of Satan’s-puppet-Rome’s three-and-a-half-years of bloody persecution of Christians from AD64.) Despite appearances, the little Lamb who was brutalised then crucified on the cross of shame, would be ultimately be revealed as the all-conquering Victor over all evil, sin, death, wickedness, and especially the fallen-prince-turned-evil-dragon!

Saying with a loud voice,“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea,
and all that is in them, saying,“To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
Revelation 5:12-13

 

OUR UNSEEN ENEMIES DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW 

The truth is, our unseen enemies have now been defeated and have only one weapon at their disposal: lies. And they do not want you to know this!

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44

 These devilish wolves who whisper into our unseen ears with their subtle yet hideous lies, such as “God doesn’t really love you!” “You’re not really a Christian! If you were really a Christian you wouldn’t sin, or doubt, or worry!” “You can’t belong to church – church is only for true Christians who live holy lives – and you certainly don’t!” (Can you see through these lies? Can see that these invisible wolves are simply doing what Christ warned us they would try to do – snatch sheep from the fold, and, scatter the flock by isolating the sheep from each other through deceptions?)

Wolves love to hunt at night. Their howls are exaggerated by the darkness. The darkness also deceives their intended prey into thoughts of intimidation and unnecessary anxiety. Spiritual wolves are no different. Note how John’s Gospel often uses the word “night” to highlight deceptiveness of the evil ones (Jn. 9:4; 11:10:10; 13:30).

At the root of our worst fears is our greatest fear – the fear of the unknown. (I suspect that the popular support for the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill unfairly took advantage of this crippling fear!) The aged Dr. F.W. Boreham would write in his autobiography –

Like the medieval saint, we can testify that
we have had many and great troubles in our time,
but most of them never happened!
Dr. F. W. Boreham, “My Pilgrimage”, p.221

In support of this discovery about how we fear, we might paraphrase something that Mark Twain wrote as – 

“Our worst fears are the ones which never eventuate!”

 

“YOU SHEEP BEAR A STRANGE FAMILY RESEMBLANCE
TO THE AGNUS DEI!” When you gave your life to Christ, the Lamb of God, the apostle John tells us in his epistle that the Father did something profound to your soul. Not only was a dead soul made alive, not only were your blind eyes opened, not only was your indifferent and calloused heart taken out and a new healthy heart transplanted into you, but God placed the spiritually-genetic code with the likeness of His Son into your sou! Whether you realise or not, if you are a follower of Christ you are more than a follower of Christ! In the unseen realm you now have a striking resemblance to Christ!

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning,
for God’s seed [Greek word: ‘sperma’] abides in him;
and he cannot keep on sinning,
because he has been born of God.
First John 3:9

Thus, as the devilish wolves bear a resemblance to their defeated, evil, fallen, and former prince, we, the sheep of God’s pasture, bear an even more striking resemblance to the Lamb of God (in Latin: the Agnus dei). No wonder the forces of evil want to destroy you. You, we, because of our redeemed new natures, now bear a striking resemblance in the spiritual realm to the Lamb of God who defeated the dragon and his hordes of imbecilic and doomed beings! But what many redeemed sons and daughters of God may not be aware of is that we have all been gifted with armour and weaponry which makes us invincible to to schemes of the unseen wolf pack. Thus the apostle Paul could write:

If you forgive anyone for anything, I also forgive him—
for indeed what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything)
I did so for you in the presence of Christ,
so that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes).
Second Corinthians 2:10-11

 

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE WHISPERS OF WOLVES

 Let us never underestimate the ferocity of the unseen battle that we are in. Our invisible wolfish enemies are relentless in their efforts to deceive God’s people. The truth is that we far outnumber them. This is why they particularly target those they can manipulate to perpetuate their deceit. We have seen that it was the devil himself who continually encircled the original twelve disciples of Christ seeking the most the influential among them to do its bidding. We get a shocking picture of this revealed in Matthew 16 just after Jesus had asked His disciples who others said He was:

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 16:15-17

But within seconds it became apparent that Simon Peter had an unseen enemy whisper something false but appealing into his mind:

¶ From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed,
and on the third day be raised.  And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him,
saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me.
For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Matthew 16:21-23

Jesus later revealed to Peter, after He had dismissed Judas and Satan (Jn. 13:27) from the upper room where Jesus was delivering His Farewell Discourse, that Satan had actually wanted Simon Peter as his agent of betrayal of Christ: 

¶ “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again,
strengthen your brothers.”
Luke 22:31-32

It is difficult to miss then how susceptible we all are to the wicked scheming of the enemy—if even the leader of the apostles could have an undetected devilish whisper pass from his mind to his lips, then perhaps we could too. This is why Christ said that the devil would also seek to use Church leaders to also serve as his wolves (Matt. 7:15). However, Christ has ensured that we have an advantage that Simon Peter did not have at that time. After Christ ascended he not only led some of the most threatening fallen heavenly beings into permanent captivity (Eph. 4:8), He and the Father sent the Holy Spirit into the world to abide in each believer through the available baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4, 38-39). Thus, each believer, each sheep of the flock of God now has the authority and power to withstand the whispers of the devilish wolves! 

 

THWARTING THE WHISPERS OF WOLVES

The spiritually on-guard sheep within Christ’s fold know that these wolves which Christ described in John 10:12 scheme against Christ’s flock by attempting to whisper into the minds of vulnerable believers thoughts that would isolate them from the flock, and even seek to scatter their flock from their fold. Knowing all this, here are five ways that any believer can thwart the whispers of the devil’s unseen wolves, by fighting in the following ways:

1. Stay in the fold – resist the wolf’s whisper to separate from the fold (your local church).

2. Stay connected to your food source – resist the wolf’s whisper to neglect your daily feeding from your reading of God’s Word.

3. Stay in communication with the Lamb of God – withstand the wolf’s whisper to give up praying to God.

4. Stay behind the shield of God’s truth – detect and reject the lies of the wolf’s whispers compared to the truth of God’s Word.

5. Stay focused on the Lamb on the Throne – the wolf’s whispers seek to distract/divert/disillusion you from the One they hate, but the One you adore – who also adores you.  

For these reasons, you actually have no need to fear the whispers from a devilish wolf. But it is a constant, unrelenting battle that every believer is engaged in, which requires these five pieces of armour and weaponry. Our unseen enemies are more afraid of you when you in the fold of Christ, than you could ever be of them. This is why every time we baptise another redeemed soul we are taking “territory” from our invisible enemy. And this is why we need every battle-hardened senior follower of Christ to learn from what Jesus told Simon Peter who had also been targeted by the enemy, “Satan demanded to have you…but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32a). That is, we need to pray for each other also that our faith in Christ may not fail. And I pray that your faith may not fail either!

Your Pastor,

Andrew

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EDENIFICATION

GOD AND GARDENS

I love beautiful gardens. Although I appreciate walking through a temperate rain forest and admiring the natural flora, I especially appreciate a well-planted and maintained garden. And it seems that so does God. Throughout the Scriptures, garden language is used to describe God’s presence and blessing. This is powerfully seen in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And even after mankind fell from innocence and was expelled from God’s garden paradise, Eden, God’s original “Creation Mandate” still summoned mankind to Edenify the earth. Ultimately, in the new heaven/earth God’s dwelling place with mankind is described as being in a garden (Rev. 22:1-5). In fact, it seems that God went to great lengths to ensure that the earth could indeed be Edenified. Because, after God had created the universe, and He focused on our extraordinary planet, He designed our planet to have the unique qualities making lush gardens possible:

* a finely-tuned gaseous atmosphere;
* a perfectly tuned gravitational rate (9m/sec);
* a biosphere that ensures symbiotic replenishing;
* a water to land ratio which distinguished saltwater from fresh-water;
* water in three states (including icy snow-capped mountains located strategically around our planet near the equator ensuring a continuous supply of melting-ice fresh water);
* tectonic plates which help to distribute nutrients ;
* microbial life;
* sea life;
* volcanic and earthquake activity distributing minerals into the food chain and precious metals nearer to earth’s surface;

He then reserved a special mountain-top field where He planted a garden. It was a life-giving garden with  many fruit trees, a stream of mountain fresh water flowing through it (that would eventually flow down the Edenic Mountain and become four rivers – Gen. 2:10).  

And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,
and there He put the man whom He had formed.
Genesis 2:8

Into this divinely planted garden the Lord brought the man. This was a garden that God loved. He charged ’Adam — His image-bearer —  with the privilege of tending it, for it was a mystical garden. It had at least two supernatural trees and welcomed many supernatural heavenly beings, including the Lord Himself, as regular visitors. It seems that God was showing ’Adam that this is what He wanted him to do to the rest of the planet – to Edenify it.

¶ The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
Genesis 2:15

 

GOD CREATED MAN TO BE A GARDENER

Not only was the Lord a regular visitor to the garden He had planted (as intimated in Genesis 3:8), but even after mankind were expelled from Eden’s divine garden, gardens (and mountain-top gardens in particular) became associated with man meeting and walking with God. Even after Eden it seems that God loved to be associated with gardens and His blessing upon a land is frequently described in horticultural terms.

For the LORD comforts Zion;
He comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the LORD;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
Isaiah 51:3

JESUS, MOUNTAINS & GARDENS

Perhaps this is no more apparent than in the life of the incarnated Christ. He often met with His Father in a garden at the top of the Mount of Olives called Gethsemane – and especially as He approached His cross (Luke 22:40-46).

¶ Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to his disciples,
“Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”
Matthew 26:36

And it was not without significance that when the body of Christ was buried it was buried in a garden tomb.

Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
John 19:41

 

BUT WILDERNESS

If gardens are symbolic of God’s presence and blessing, wilderness, barrenness, deserts are symbolic of the devil and his presence. 

¶ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:1

But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel (the devil) shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel (the devil).
Leviticus 16:10

EDENIFICATION

But God’s original “Creation Mandate” for mankind was to take dominion over creation (Gen. 1:28-30). God introduced mankind to what this looked by bringing him into the garden He had planted on Mount Eden. It was a holy garden. In one sense Eden was a temple because a temple is where God dwells, and God and man can meet. This is actually an apt description of Eden. But if this is the case, then it might reveal that God not only wanted ’Adam to make the earth like Eden – a lush, fruitful, garden paradise – but also where people anywhere on earth could meet with God. Therefore, Edenifying, is not just about planting and maintaining (a) beautiful garden/s, it’s also about introducing people to God, so that they too can be reconciled to God and meet regularly with Him wherever they are. This is why I hope that our world increasingly experiences Edenification. And I hope that both aspects of this Edenification might be evident around our church grounds, our church’s 300 or so ambassadors, and especially from our pulpit for generations to come.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
Revelation 2:7

Your pastor,

Andrew

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