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

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

AT THE END OF THIS YEAR, I WILL RECOUNT 12 WONDERFUL THINGS FOR WHICH I AM THANKFUL

This is my last end-of-year Pastor’s Desk post. When the leader of our Live-stream ministry, Sari, asked me what I was thankful for this year, my immediate answer was obvious and predictable. But since then, I have considered that I also have eleven other things for which I am grateful to GOD for. In my last ever end-of-year Pastor’s Desk please indulge as I share my heartfelt thanks to God and for those God has used to bless me in my role as pastor of Legana Christian Church this year.

¶ I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 9:1

When David penned this psalm he was clearly under pressure. He and his nation were under constant attack from surrounding enemy nations. Added to this, he wrote he was also being afflicted and near “to the gates of death” (Ps. 9:13). Yet his psalmic song is a song of thanks to the Lord (Ps. 9:1) in which he expresses his “praise to Your name, O Most High” (Ps. 9:2) and “recounts all Your praises” (Ps. 9:14). Despite his personal and national adversities he wanted to thank the LORD with all of his heart! And so do I.

The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in You,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
Psalm 9:9-10

In the midst of all that David was going through he knew that “the LORD sits enthroned forever” (Ps. 9:7). It was God who surrounded David with faithful and loyal friends who gave him the support that he needed when he most needed it. And I too can thank God that He gave me my best friend who cried with me, assured me that God was still in control (“enthroned”) and that He had not changed His plans for us, and that we would get through this trial! Indeed, Kim was a model of a godly woman. As David was also thankful to God for his colleagues, I too am so thankful to Pastor Phil Hills who prophesied to Kim what she had to do, and then on several occasions prophesied by phone and text messages to me in some of my darkest moments. In addition to this, I am extremely grateful to Bishop Richard Condie for his pastoral care and for taking the time to travel up from Hobart to lay hands on me and anoint me with healing oil. Tasmania is blessed to have such a godly bishop.

¶ Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his deeds!
Psalm 9:11

I have only just recently been discharged as an outpatient of the Launceston General Hospital. I have but high praise for all of the staff of the LGH. The doctors, nurses, orderlies, radiological and neurological teams were brilliant. I am particularly thankful to Dasha in the Neurology Department who wrote down on a sticky-note superficial siderosis and then said it would be best if I went home and Googled it for myself, which Kim did and then read it out to me. I then realised why Dasha didn’t want to tell me what it was. And speaking of my gratitude for the LGH staff, when I was first admitted into the Emergency Department at the LGH it was Queen Karen Dickson who, while taking leave from her regnum mãternus to visit the provincial parts of her realm (E.D.) where I was a guest, who then took full advantage of my temporal suboptimal incapacity as I lay there with a dozen wires glued to my head and chest that Saturday morning, who regally told me that she was “preaching tomorrow.” To which I responded with the correction, “No no no, I’m being discharged later today and I’ll be able to preach tomorrow.” Karen H.R.H. then shot back,“For someone who is so smart, you can be really really stupid! Have you noticed where you are?” And I am deeply appreciative of Karen, and I was very proud of her for doing exactly what she said she was going to do the next day during church service when she delivered an outstanding sermon on the text of John 5.

There are many parallels between Christ and king David. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that the coming Christ would possess “the key of David” (Isa. 22:22). This “key” was the ability that David had to inspire others and bring the best out of them. Jesus told the leaders of the church at Philadelphia that He was the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy:

¶ “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the Holy One, the True One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.”
Revelation 3:7 

My diminished capacity enabled Kim to do for our church what I have never been very good at – inspiring others and bringing the best out of them. Since my return on March 26th many people have commented to me how thrilled they have been to see  so many of our young people used in our pulpit ministry — and I share their sentiments. King David had his “mighty men” (2Sam. 23:8) – but Legana is now blessed to have many (young) mighty men and women! Jared and Alexandra Nielsen have also made a significant contribution to this enhancement. This is another wondrous thing for which I am thankful to God for.

And it is not just from our pulpit that we now have mighty men and women, I am recounting my thanks to our ten elders and overseers who now share the pastoral burden of oversight for our church. I am particularly thankful to God for Dr. Ali Kidmas for his years of faithfulness as our senior elder. We now also have a team of seven deacons overseeing our various ministries and several intercessors committed to praying regularly for our church. (Our deacon responsible for our Worship Team, Thomas Ferguson, deserves much encouragement for his countless hours of dedication each week to prepare for our weekly Sunday worship services.)  I cannot begin to express just how grateful to God I am for our Board who have been outstanding in their level of care for, vision for, and oversight of, our church and our resources. Also, I am overwhelmed by the many unseen volunteers who have laboured to make our grounds so presentable (Lydia, Alan, and Paul Chatwin) for whom I am ever thankful to God.

Finally, my twelfth thanksgiving prayer point is for those largely unknown to our church but ocassionally mentioned in our church’s prayer points. This group of people are comprised of my local ministerial colleagues:
particularly Noel and Beckie Eagling, Anson van Delden, Steve Fitzallen; and interstate, pastors including:
Chris Maynard (“Pastor Encouragement”), Sean Wood, Ted Pangilinan, Kevin Thomas, and Michael Ridley. Most of these precious people have prayed daily for me and been in contact with me weekly (or every other week) to see how I was going. In addition to these colleagues I have been so encouraged by Prof. Stuart Piggin who has been very gracious toward me in his encouragement and prayers. As no doubt king David would have experienced during the background to his writing of Psalm 9, I too have felt unusually and supernaturally strengthened by the prayers of God’s people.

As you can see from these twelve thanksgiving prayer points I, like king David in Psalm 9, have a lot to be thankful to God for. And I hope that you will join me in prayer for the future of our church as the mantle of leadership is transferred to a new senior pastor. 

 

OUR SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Finally, many many people have raised with me their sense that what has happened to me (and our church) this year has been a spiritual attack by the evil one. I do not disagree with them. And this might surprise some people because I don’t talk about this very much. The reason is that I have an understanding of how the Bible says we should engage in spiritual warfare. I see king David employing this practice in Psalm 9. Rather than directing our attention at our enemy, the spiritual warfare encouraged and modelled in the Bible is to direct our attention and increased devotion to God! And this has been my practice and encouragement for others to do the same.

¶ Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail;
let the nations be judged before You!
Put them in fear, O LORD!
Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah
Psalm 9:19-20

Thank you for indulging me by reading about my twelve wondrous thanksgiving prayers for this past year. 

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

WANTED, NEEDED, WELCOMED, APPRECIATED

 

In C.S. (Jack) Lewis’s best-selling book, Mere Christianity, he described Christianity as being like a great house with a large hallway. Off the vast hallway there are many doors. Behind each door there is an even larger area where a set dining table awaits in front of an inviting open fire-place which complements the aroma of the just cooked roast dinner about to be served. Behind each of these doors in the hallway there are similar rooms yet each with their distinctive differences. God calls, Lewis states, each of His children not to linger unnecessarily long in the hallway, but to actively seek the door that they are meant to enter through into the room where they belong. In that particular room is the place where each believer is wanted, needed, welcomed, and appreciated. Lewis wrote-

“In plain language, the question should never be: ‘Do I like that kind of service?’ but ‘Are these doctrines true: Is holiness here? Does my conscience move me towards this? Is my reluctance to knock at this door due to my pride, or my mere taste, or my personal dislike of this particular doorkeeper?’ When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still In the hall. If they are wrong they need. your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house.”
C.S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity”, Harper-Collins

Each of these rooms follows what Lewis referred to as “the rules which are common to the whole house” yet each has its particularly ways of worship, leadership, and organisation. The rules which are common to the whole house are the means by which a believer lives a holy, Christ-honouring, God-pleasing life. (Keeping rules, by the way, is not what many mistakenly refer to as legalism — which is the false belief that a person can be saved by keeping rules.)

¶ Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another,
agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Second Corinthians 13:11

Although raised as a nominal Christian in Northern Ireland, when CS Lewis was 9 years old, his mother, Flora, died at the age of 42 of cancer. As a young adult, C.S. Lewis enrolled to serve as a British soldier in WWI and was injured in the Battle of Arras, in France. He was sent back to England and discharged from the army in 1919. By this time after the tragic death of his mother and witnessing the horrors of war, Lewis had become an atheist. After completing his studies at Oxford, he became a Don at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1925. He tutored in philosophy and English and went on to specialise in classical literature. But Lewis was increasingly troubled by his atheism. If atheism was an accurate way of understanding the world, then why was there so much evidence undermining it? Lewis’s understanding of philosophy and language led him to seriously consider the claims of Jesus of Nazareth. Then, in 1929, he announced to his brother, Warnie, that he was now a theist (someone who believed there was a God). It would be some time after this announcement that he professed his conversion to Christianity, describing what happened in his book, Surprised By Joy, “In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God … perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” Lewis knew from his understanding of the teachings of Jesus just how integral to living the Christian life it was for a believer to then be committed to a local church. Once someone had accepted the teaching of Christ and His apostles, Lewis reasoned, they were ushered into the hallway of the great house of God’s Kingdom. It was their duty then to knock on the various doors leading off that hallway to find where they were wanted, needed, welcomed, and belonged. 

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with
the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the
whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
Ephesians 2:19-21

Lewis developed a keen awareness of the spiritual realm and the intense spiritual battle that was taking place over every human soul. His later book, The Screwtape Letters, is a masterful insight into how the Enemy tries to hinder people from coming Christ. It is the story of a senior demon, Screwtape, writing to a junior demon, Wormwood, on how to undermine the attempts of their Enemy (God) from snatching a soul out of their grasp. The things these demons feared most was when a non-believer came in contact with a Christian because the light of Christ would shine so brightly through them that their captured soul (the unbeliever) might be enticed and attracted to turn to the Saviour. But worse than this, these demons were terrified when one of their non-believing captives accepted an invitation to go to a believer’s church. For it was the intense presence of Christ in the midst of His gathered redeemed followers that did the most damage to their evil schemes for their deluded captive because when Christ’s church gathered their worship and the attention they gave to God’s Word brought the clearest vision of the Saviour to those gathered. Even if they should lose a previously deluded soul to the ‘Enemy’ (God), Screwtape writes to Wormwood, hope is not lost. Do all you can, Screwtape tells Wormwood, to keep this believer from associating with Christians — especially when they meet as the church! And most of all, do all you can to hinder him from enjoying the Enemy’s pleasures such as enjoyable walks, good meals, fine company, and even sunshine. What Lewis exposed to millions of readers was just how central the local church was to the great spiritual conquest which God has assigned to the church to defeat the forces of darkness by leading a soul to Christ. This was, the apostle Paul earlier wrote, God’s “manifold wisdom” to “the rulers and authorities in the spiritual realm” (Eph. 3:10).  

So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might
now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 3:10

It is still the Enemy’s strategy to keep Christ’s followers from gathering together. And little wonder! The Enemy of God and His Church knows full well that there is great damage done to the forces of darkness when God’s people assemble to worship Christ, be filled afresh with the Holy Spirit, and give attention to the life-giving Word of Christ. The Enemy will use condemnation, trickery, deceit, delusion, lies, and offence from keeping a child of God from being washed, strengthened, and renewed by Spirit led worship, Spirit anointed ministry, and Spirit inspired preaching of God’s Word.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 10:10

God has chosen in His wisdom to entrust the penultimate conquest of evil in the world to His Church. It seems that God loves to work with others in community. He is, after all, the Triune God. He has always worked in community. When He created the heavenly creatures in their various ranks, Archangels, Seraphim, Cherubim, Messengers, Watchers, Recorders, Guardians, they formed His heavenly family with whom He chose to rule. But when He created mankind, He created unique beings who bore His image and uniquely reflected His glory. God would be their father, and they would be His children. But then they rebelled against their Heavenly Father. As impossible and hopeless as it looked, God had a plan to redeem and rescue mankind through the ministry of His eternal Son becoming one of us who was then uniquely able to atone for our sins since He was now both God and Man. It was through Christ that God’s plan to rule the world with His children was re-instigated. A major part of this plan was for the church to learn that we are better together. This is why God places believers together whom He desires to cooperate with each other and pool their gifts, talents, and efforts to enact Christ’s triumph over evil. This is done every time a soul is rescued from the Enemy’s domain of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Christ.   

Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance
of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and
transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:12-14

This is why God has designed for every believer to be wanted, needed, welcomed, and appreciated in a local church — and why our Enemy does all he can to keep us from realising this. It’s also why every local church would do all they could to ensure that behind their door off the hallway every visitor would discover that they are wanted, needed, welcomed, and appreciated as a new member of their new church family, where, as C.S. Lewis said, they will find true doctrines, the means of holiness, the antidote to pride, and an opportunity to become who God has created them to be. This is why you are wanted, needed, welcomed, and appreciated by your church!     

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God
was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses
against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Second Corinthians 5:18-19

Your pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

SCHEMES, PLOTS, AND TRICKS THAT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF

SCHEMES, PLOTS, AND TRICKS

Most people are unaware that they are the focus of an insidious scheme by an enemy who uses any and every trick possible to harm them! The ancients knew of this scheme and warned as many as would listen. Back in a time when people were generally more spiritual, this vile plot to undermine people’s welfare was frequently exposed; but now in our day, when such things are dismissed as the mere rants of a by-gone era of silly superstitious simpletons, the tricks of the enemy are actually embraced and welcomed by a culture now drunk on the enemy’s liquor of deception. But we hav no reason to fear our Enemy and he has every reason to fear the One who is in us!

so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Ephesians 4:14

JESUS AND THE ENEMY

Jesus didn’t think that the enemy or the enemy’s schemes were ‘silly superstitions’. He had several first-hand encounters with this vile enemy and on several occasions warned His disciples not to be complacent about how their enemy manipulated people’s actions, attitudes, and thoughts.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 
Matthew 4:1-3

Jesus rebuked Satan with the Word of God and returned from this wilderness experience in the ‘power of the Spirit’ (Luke 4:14). But this was not His last encounter with Satan directly or even indirectly. Just before Christ embarked on the climax of the Father’s plan of redemption, the enemy was already at work to manipulate Christ’s disciples. When Peter spoke on behalf of the Enemy, Christ retorted-

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 16:23

And even though Jesus had pastored Judas Iscariot daily for over three years, Judas was still susceptible to the Enemy’s manipulation because off the Enemy’s appeal to idolatry in his heart.

¶ Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them.
Luke 22:3-4

Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
John 13:27

Even after Jesus directly warned Peter that Satan was going to attack him with fear, Simon-Peter lowered his guard with his pride and almost scoffed at Christ’s warning-

¶ “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.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death.”
Luke 22:31-33

As Jesus trained His disciples to be ‘fishers of men’ He cautioned them that they were engaging in a supremely spiritual activity to reconcile men to God and in the process they would be opposed and hindered by this Enemy who would constantly attack the truth of the Gospel with his lies.

And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.Mark 4:15

THE TACTICS OF THE ENEMY

so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs (‘schemes’ NET).
Second Corinthians 2:11

There are two very predictable aspects about the Enemy’s tactics. Firstly, he lies, deceives, and misrepresents. Secondly, he distorts, twists, and destroys that which God has created as good for mankind. Christ put it this way when speaking to the Pharisees who opposed Him –

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

The Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians that Satan repeatedly hindered his attempts to preach the Gospel in Macedonia.

because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.
First Thessalonians 2:18

Our Enemy has blatantly lied to and maliciously deceived the potential members of our harvest field about 5 key truths: God, Bible, the After Life, Sex, and Church.

1. LIES ABOUT GOD

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Romans 1:19-21

The Enemy has thoroughly tricked a gullible world about who God is. The truth is: God is the Creator, the Redeemer; the One who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the One who ‘so loved the world that He sent’ His Son to die for the sins of the world and freely offer the forgiveness He has purchased on behalf of all humanity. In the Old Testament He identifies Himself to the Hebrews as Yahweh — the Eternal Self-Existent One — but the Enemy distracts people from encountering the True God and lures them into thinking that he is their god and even accepts any name (preferably a false name to match his character) that they might call him.

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Second Corinthians 4:4

2. LIES ABOUT THE BIBLE

The Enemy has deceived people into thinking that the Bible is a book of rules when, the truth is, it is the story of redemption comprised of what initially appears to be disconnected stories which, when a reader becomes acquainted with them, are actually a vital part of the  grand meta-narrative of how the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has redeemed mankind through Jesus Christ. The Bible is therefore a love story.

¶ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him.
John 12:16

The Enemy has deceived people into believing that the Bible is an out-dated, error-laden, irrelevant, encrypted code book – when in fact it is nothing of the kind – because the truth is it is a divinely inspired and preserved revelation from our Creator for us.

3. LIES ABOUT THE AFTER-LIFE

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6

The Enemy has utterly fooled people with despair about the point to living and dying. Our lives have been designed to behold the wonder, the magnificence, the beauty of the Creator’s precious and extravagant gift of life to each of us. In God’s eyes we are all His children. Jesus revealed the Father’s heart for each of us in His story of the Father with two sons, a dutiful but distant older son and a wayward yet repentant younger son. The Enemy has manipulated sin-stained human hearts to enforce cruel artificial and alien divisions between us on the basis or ‘race’, skin colour, ethnicity, gender, social class, nationality, age, professions, and religion. And it’s the latter, ‘organised’ and ‘unorganised’, which he has used deceived people about the after-life. The religiously atheist has been tricked into thinking that humans are mere animals devoid of a soul and therefore incapable of existence beyond the grave. Using the platform of one religion he has hoodwinked certain people into believing the lie that the after-life is essentially an erotic paradise where men can be rewarded with up 70 celestial female sex-slaves if they kill themselves while killing others to spread their false religion. Using a different religious platform he has deceived people into believing that there is no heaven or hell, just a perpetual cycle of rebirths. But the truth has been revealed by Christ who described life beyond the grave as our eternal destiny where we are invited to enter into His Kingdom and enjoy the unbroken experience of infinite delight and satisfaction; or, to reject our Creator’s offer of reconciliation and experience an eternity enduring the consequences of this regrettable choice.

¶ “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Matthew 7:13-14

4. LIES ABOUT SEX

I guess that there are only a few people in the universe who truly appreciate the profundity of the enormity and theological implications of sex — and my estimate would include the Enemy in that number — which explains why he is so hell-bent on distorting it! With apologies to the late C.S. Lewis, it’s as if the Enemy has convinced the world that playing in a mud puddle outside a beachside holiday house is better than enjoying the beach on the side of the house! When sexuality is misapplied, it not only misrepresents God’s covenant faithfulness, His gift of creativity, and His design for human flourishing, it also tragically brings great hurt. (Dr. Nancy Pearcey has well documented this in her book, Love Thy Body.) The apostle Paul warned that untethered sexuality has lamentable consequences (1Cor. 6:18).

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
First Corinthians 6:18

Our Heavenly Father has designed the gift of human sexuality as a profound expression of who He is. Just as He is Father, Son, and Spirit in perfect union, human sexuality is uniquely designed to bring unity between one man and one woman within the bounds and blessing of covenant love. Just as God is a Creator, He has gifted humankind with the ability to procreate through His gift of sex. Throughout the Old Testament God seems to have placed an almost incomprehensible stress on guarding the purity of sexuality that only becomes obvious as the New Testament unfolds.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:31-32

The glory of the Christ’s gospel is though, that for all those who have been entangled in the web of the Enemy’s deceit, there is the availability of forgiveness, cleansing, and restoration.

¶ Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.First Corinthians 6:9-11

5. LIES ABOUT THE CHURCH

The Enemy has manipulated vulnerable church leaders to disgrace the Lord of the Church and cause untold harm on those they should guard, shepherd, feed, lead, and protect. Recent high profile court cases involving clergy abuse of the vulnerable only serve to remind a cynical watching world of this sad truth. But the vileness of our Enemy is that he has spread the misconception that all church leaders are wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing. 

Reinforcing this devilish scheme to besmirch the Church and its leaders is today Breakpoint commentary from John Stonestreet who writes-

“My pastor recently told me that 25 years ago, the first person that people would contact when they faced a marriage crisis was their pastor. Ten years ago, he continued, it was their counselor or psychiatrist. Today, it’s their lawyers.

A recent study conducted by the Associated Press and the University of Chicago concurs. “Doctors, teachers, members of the military,” and scientists are, according to the survey, esteemed “more positively than clergy.” Among infrequent churchgoers, clergy are viewed as negatively as lawyers. (For the record, that last line came from a member of our editorial team who’s been admitted to the bar in two states.)

As my pastor observed, the declining respect for clergy is a trend both in and out of the church, including among those who attend church frequently. While 75 percent of churchgoers “hold clergy in high regard,” they aren’t as positive when it comes to personal attributes and character qualities of their clergy. Barely half consider clergy to be trustworthy, and only slightly more regard them as “honest and intelligent.”

Remember these are people who attend church at least once a month! Among those who seldom or never attend church, the respective numbers on those questions are 23 and 30 percent.”Breakpoint

And sadly, this devilish deception has beguiled younger believers into a tremendous reluctance to commit to their church as a matter of weekly priority. Yet Christ’s heart for His Church reveals why the Devil is so determined to draw spiritual lambs away from it.

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places…to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.Ephesians 3:8-10, 21

HOW TO BE SPIRITUALLY INVINCIBLE AGAINST ANY SCHEME OF THE ENEMY

Jesus described Himself as a Shepherd who kept His sheep safe, well fed, well led, and protected (John 10). He has ordained under-shepherds to continue this ministry (John 21:17; Ephesians 4:11). There is great safety and protection for the follower of Christ when they are in the fold. 

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Ephesians 6:12-13

Secondly, the Apostle Paul detailed the spiritual armour and weaponry with which the believer is equipped when they have their minds renewed by the Word (the ‘helmet of salvation’ Eph. 6:17), their hearts covered by their Spirit-enabled obedience to Christ (the ‘breastplate of righteousness’ Eph. 6:14), their confidence informed by the solid teaching of God’s Word which bolsters their faith with good reasons to believe (the ‘shield of faith’ Eph. 6:16), their feet shod with the gospel enabling them to transmit a highly contagious faith (Eph. 6:15), and their hands trained to defend their faith in the God of the Bible and destroy devilish lies with the truth (the ‘sword of the Spirit’ Eph. 6:17). In description of the believer’s armour there is no protection for our backs — because together, as a church, we stand back-to-back in this battle. That is, I’ve got your back, and you’ve got mine. John the apostle could remind his congregation, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1Jn. 4:4). And he could say this because the One who was in them was the One who defeated the devil through His victory on the cross.

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.
Colossians 2:15

Amen!

Pastor Andrew Corbett