Date of message: 02 November
2003 Issue
116
Subject: We Have A Powerful Weapon
Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 16: 20, "and the God of peace will
crush Satan under your feet." Yes, Jesus by His death on the cross
and His resurrection had confirmed for us once and for all that the devil
had been defeated. Satan had been crushed under His feet and it is now
possible for us to crush Satan under our own feet.
On the Day of Pentecost, ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven and
went home to be with the Father, He poured out His Holy Spirit into the
world and the Spirit has remained with Believers since. He is a Gentleman
and he will only do whatever we allow Him to have control over in our
lives.
In Ephesians 6: 13-18, Paul wrote to the church and compared our Christian
walk in the Lord as the weapon that a Roman soldier of his day wore.
13. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on
the breastplate of righteousness,
15. and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16. Above all, take the shield of faith with which you will be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God;
18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being
watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the
saints.
The typical Roman armor has six pieces for his protection and for him
to do battle - the helmet, the breastplate, the belt or girdle, the sandals
or shoes, the shield and the sword. Each piece of his armor has been put
together for a specific function. Likewise, for us each piece of the armor
of God reminds us of certain truths about the Lord and His protection
for our lives.
Like many, I used to think that the armor of God stopped there with the
six pieces. The girdle or belt reminds us of the truth that Jesus died
and has set us free and because of that, we are now righteous before the
Lord. We dwell securely in the knowledge that we are eternally saved and
hence we walk in peace with the Lord. Our faith in Christ becomes our
shield of faith against the evil one and with the word of the Lord in
our mouth we can wage war against the accuser.
However, recently Pastor Joseph Prince of New Creation Church showed us
that there is actually a seventh piece of armor which a lot of us have
overlooked or not seen before. Read verse 18 above again (especially the
bold prints in blue): -
18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being
watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the
saints.
The seventh piece of the armor of God is a weapon - "praying in the
Spirit" - and with this attitude of constant prayer in the Spirit,
the devil will be defeated. He has no answer to the believer's prayer
because he does not have the slightest clue what we pray when we do so
in the Spirit and since he does not understand, he cannot stand there
and accuse us.
What then is this praying in the Spirit? In Romans 8: 26-27, Paul wrote:
-
26. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weakness. For we do not know
what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27. Now He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is,
because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of
God.
Praying in the Spirit is literally praying in tongues, in a different
language other than the ones we know or usually speak. Some of us pray
in a language or tongue that is literally out of this world; it can only
be described as heavenly. Humans do not normally understand the language
of tongues although I had heard of testimonies where unbelievers in a
foreign land heard the good news of Jesus preached to them when the believer
prayed in tongues but these are rare occurrences.
Because the praying in tongues is actually the work of the Holy Spirit
praying on our behalf to the Father, the believer could end up praying
for someone else whom he/ she does not even know personally but because
it is a prayer prompted by the Spirit, the Lord hears the prayer and He
is moved to action to fulfill what He wills for the situation.
No wonder the devil is confused whenever believers pray in tongues. Firstly
he does not understand what he hears because the word sounded very 'foreign'
to him (the words are heavenly words of the Spirit of God and since the
devil no longer live in heaven, he does not have privy to this language).
Secondly, not understanding what is going on around him, he is confused
and hence afraid of whatever is coming as a consequence and we can sense
his departure - there is usually a lightness in the spirit when we pray
in tongues because the 'oppression' is lifted at that moment.
Knowing we have such a powerful weapon, we would then be encouraged to
use this weapon more aggressively and more often. Indeed, we will come
to the stage where we can agree with the apostle Paul when he encouraged
the church in Rome that soon the Lord will crush Satan under our feet.
But first I would like to challenge you - have you received the Lord Jesus
Christ into your life? That is the starting point and unless you have
the Lord Jesus in your life, the Holy Spirit will not be able to come
in and dwell with you and if He is not there, how do you receive this
powerful weapon available for all believers in the Lord against the devil?
One day (and I personally believe that it will be very soon), after all
the Christians have been taken home to be with the Lord, and should you
perchance be reading this article, be assured that Jesus loves you so
much that He already demonstrated His love for you on the cross and there
will be no condemnation for you once you put your faith in Him but you
will have eternal life (Romans 8:1). The Lord cannot lie. For Him, whatever
He speaks will come to pass.
If you have not already received Jesus into your heart and you would like
to do so, then pray this simple prayer to invite Him into your heart and
immediately you will experience His peace coming your way.
O God our heavenly Father, thank you that Jesus came and died for all
our sins and because of His death, I have been forgiven and now I am set
free. Thank you that I am no longer condemned but I am now a child of
God,
Lord Jesus, come into my heart and make my heart Your home. Thank you
for giving me the Holy Spirit in my life to remind me of my special position
as a child of God the Father and as Your child, I can start enjoying all
Your blessings for my life.
Thank you because of what You had accomplished for us on the cross and
having risen from the dead for our justification, I am now eternally forgiven
of all my sin, greatly blessed among all men, a highly favored child of
God, deeply loved by the Father and completely protected in the Lord and
in the most precious name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha' Mashiah, I pray.
Amen.
If you have prayed this prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family
of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important
that you are not alone facing your personal challenges but that you can
obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your
own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together?
You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father,
for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
Start receiving the blessings of the Father as you walk with Him in faith.
It is your inheritance in Christ and He wants you to start enjoying these
blessings right now. You do not need to wait until you reach heaven and
there is more from where they come from.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all
your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 -26
Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
This and other archived messages can also be found
on the following URL
http://www.oocities.org/fibredrive/index.htm