There is a spiritual veil upon the minds of men. The vast majority
have no idea as to why they are here, what their purpose should be, why we age and die,
what happens after death, why humans can go to such inhuman depths of behavior to one
another, why there is war, selfishness, greed, betrayal, infidelity, perversion,
deception, why there is this confusing array of religions, and yet on the other hand why
there is some measure of unselfishness, kindness, peacefulness and love manifested also.
Human existence seems to be under a great mystery of conundrums.
This article’s purpose is to show how the veil of understanding
can be lifted and a significant measure of light given to the apparent conundrums of life.
For this author believes that the veil is lifted through Jesus Christ. When one becomes a
true Christian you enter an unseen spiritual struggle whose main battleground is the mind.
For once the veil is lifted off the mind, one finds oneself in the midst of a battle that
has raged long between God and Satan. And like it or not you are a target till the day you
leave the dark planet.
But first we must speak on how this spiritual veil came over the human
race, how four humanly insurmountable barriers have been erected between God and man. Then
we will seek to bring to light just what happened in the coming of Jesus Christ
into the world, his death, and his resurrection. What was the purpose and what did the
life of Jesus Christ accomplish? And most importantly how does it affect me? The purpose
as we will see was to take down the four barriers that separates God from man.
To offer the opportunity for each person to be restored to a right and just relationship
with the God who created them. These four barriers have arisen from Adam and Eve’s
disobedience at the beginning when as representatives of the human race they withdrew
their submission to God and broke their spiritual relationship with God. A spiritual veil
came down upon the minds of men and the four barriers have arisen as a result of that
initial sin.
The first barrier erected is God’s holy character versus my
character. When Adam and Eve sinned the Holy Spirit which indwelt them departed
leaving them powerless to live a holy life. Since every person descended from Adam and
Eve, each one of us is born without the Holy Spirit and under our own selfish independent
natures or what the Bible calls the sin nature. Understanding God’s character and
then examining our character will illuminate the barrier. Let’s first look at
God’s character attributes, then we’ll look at God’s Ten Commandments which
are a measuring stick to compare ourselves to God’s character.
God describes himself as sovereign. He created everything by an act of
his will and has determined physical laws and moral laws and the consequences of violation
of each of them. He has a purpose for his creation, he allowed man to have free will, and
he allowed the fall of man into spiritual and physical death. He has decreed that his
creation will be restored to sinless perfection. In the Bible he has laid out this plan in
advance and has guaranteed that it will come to pass. No other religious book predicts the
future in advance with 100% accuracy like the Bible does. God declares his ability to
predict the future and bring it to pass in Isaiah 46 v 9, 10, "Remember the former
things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me.
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet
done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Read Revelation
chapters 19-21 for the end of the human story.
God describes himself as morally perfect or the Biblical term commonly
used is "righteous". This means he can never do anything morally wrong or would
cause or influence man to do anything morally wrong. He is the standard to determine what
is right or wrong.
God describes himself as just. He is the perfect judge that never makes
a mistake because he did not know something. He judges based on full knowledge and
according to his moral character.
God is love. He loves all people and desires all to be reconciled to
him. He always has the best interests of his creation in mind and is not selfish i.e.
pretending to be loving to get something. However he cannot violate his justice at the
expense of his character of love.
God is eternal. He has always existed and always will exist. He has an
infinite life. He existed before he created space, time and matter.
God describes himself as omniscient. God knows everything. He knows
every thought and deed of every person and created spirit who ever existed. He has perfect
knowledge of the past, present and the future. Nothing can take him by surprise.
God describes himself as omnipresent. God is present everywhere at once
because he is spirit but yet personal with a mind, will, and emotions.
God describes himself as omnipotent. He is all-powerful, holding the
stars in place by the span of his hand. The nations are as a drop of water in a bucket to
him. His power sustains the material universe except for the slow decay that has been
allowed due to sin. (See Isaiah 40)
God describes himself as immutable. God never changes his moral
character and laws; he never bends the rules for someone, he never goes back on his word
as found in the Bible. What he says will come to pass.
God describes himself as absolute truth. Any thought or deed that is
contrary to his character or what he has said in the Bible is untrue and sinful.
The measuring stick that God has given to reveal our shortfall of
character and behavior is the Ten Commandments. Would any of us say that we measure up to
the perfect moral character of God as laid out by the Ten Commandments? Let’s look at
a few. They are found in Exodus chapter 20. Consider this commandment, "Thou shalt
not take the name of the LORD in vain; for the LORD not hold him guiltless that taketh his
name in vain". How many of us have used the Lord Jesus Christ’s name as a curse
word or combined with a string of curse words when circumstances cross us. I know I have
many times. Consider this commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy
days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." How many of us
have rebelled against our parents authority, in fact against most people in authority and
scoffed at their counsel and admonishments." I know I have many times. Consider this
commandment, "Thou shalt not kill (murder)". Did you know that just to be angry
without a just cause is considered murder by God? And believe me what you might consider a
just cause is probably not. So just your thought life can make you guilty of this
commandment. What do you think God would call the murder of unborn babies? The most
defenceless people on the planet are coldly killed by trained medical people with no
conscience and hardened hearts. Just to get rid of the alleged problem caused by sexual
immorality. Has there been anything worse done in human history? Consider this
commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery". This commandment can also be
expanded to include all forms of sexual activity outside of a married man and woman. God
also calls just looking on a woman and lusting after her body without even physically
doing anything as a sexual sin. Do you think the pornography industry and those who buy,
participate and look on these things fall short of God’s character? Have any of us
not fallen short in the sexual area many times? I know I have fallen short in more ways
than one. Consider this commandment, "Thou shalt not steal". Can any of us say
we have never even once stolen anything from a store, a person, or an employer. I know I
can’t. Consider this commandment, "Thou shalt not lie". Have you ever told
a lie? Come on be honest, or I’ll call you a liar for saying you have never told one!
Galations chapter 5 v 19-21 gives a good description of our character,
we read, "Now the works of the flesh (our sinful independent nature) are manifest
(clearly seen), which are these; adultery, fornication (sex outside of a married man and
woman), uncleanness (our unacceptableness to God because of our moral failures),
lasciviousness (sexual excess or indulgence without a care what others think), idolatry
(putting religion, career, success, our own goals, fame, power, and fortune ahead of the
one true God), witchcraft (occult practices and drug use, see Deuteronomy ch 18), hatred
(wrong inner attitudes such as hatred of Jewish people), emulations (jealous and malicious
behavior), wrath, strife (seeking to provoke and prolong contentious issues, looking just
to win the argument), seditions ( rebellion against parents, police etc.), heresies
(holding false ideas and teachings about God), envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings
(living to party, self seeking pleasure) and such like: of the which I tell you before, as
I have told you in time past, that they which do such things (practice these as a general
lifestyle) shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Well, if we are honest, all of us have fallen very short of God’s
character. This barrier between our character and God’s character has resulted in the
penalty of spiritual and physical death as a consequence. God says the soul that sinneth
shall surely die. God’s purpose in showing us our character compared to his is not to
load us down with a bunch of rules and regulations for us to chaff and fail at, but to
show us our need for the Lord Jesus Christ and the new life he can bring to the inward
heart. We read in Galations 3 v 24 "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring
us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith". There is a very real barrier of
character between God and each one of us.
However a remedy to remove this barrier has been accomplished in the
life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect righteous life as a human being. In 2
Corinthians 5 v 21, we read, "For he (God the Father) hath made him (God the son) to
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him." We can have the perfect moral life of Christ given to our account and remove
this barrier but first let’s continue on with the other three barriers.
Barrier number two is called our "debt or penalty of sin".
We need to enter into God’s courtroom to better understand this barrier. God is both
100% just and 100% loving. But he cannot override his "just" character at the
expense of his "loving" character. God has to do things in such a way that he
can be both just and loving at the same time. In God’s courtroom when a law is broken
a penalty is assessed and must be paid. In God’s courtroom the penalty for breaking
his laws is spiritual and physical death and eternal separation from his loving presence.
This penalty that is due to me is called my "debt of sin". In Roman times when
you broke Caesar’s laws and the penalty was a prison sentence they made up list of
your crimes called a "Certificate of Debt". This they nailed to your prison door
so people could see your crimes and the length of your penalty. When the time had expired
the prisoner was freed and on the Certificate of Debt it was stamped "Paid in
Full". This person could never be imprisoned again for those same crimes because he
could show his Certificate of Debt which had "Paid in Full" indicated on it.
Each person who has ever lived has incurred a "Certificate of Debt" in
God’s courtroom by failing to keep his laws in thought, word and deed. The penalty
decreed is death and eternal separation from God. The penalty has to be paid by each one
of us or by someone qualified to take our place. See Ephesians 2 v 14-16. The question
becomes, how can God be just and yet loving and merciful at the same time? The barriers
are looking pretty insurmountable but there are yet two more.
Barrier number three is called our "Slavery to Satan and
Sin". Satan is an angel created by God who led a third of the angels in rebellion
against God’s authority. Satan was the first self-willed being, the self-willed part
is an important concept, keep that in mind. Satan’s character is described as being
self-willed, a liar, a murderer, a deceiver, a flatterer, a promoter of false ideas
against God’s word, a promoter of false religions and ways to God, a promoter of
humans to engage in sins of all kinds and on and on. As one person has said "Satan
has a trip for everyone." If you don’t really like the grossly sinful lifestyle,
he has a respectable false religion you can join or perhaps the cloak of a respectable
atheistic scientist would be more to your liking. Just relax and enjoy the journey is
Satan’s motto. And because Satan and his demons also covet the place of the true God
they come to your mind pretending to be God or the Holy Spirit or a spirit guide or an
ascended master or as your inner self. But their purpose is to deceive, lead astray and
give you a counterfeit spiritual experience. An experience that is contrary to the way God
has laid out for us to approach him.
But are we really in "slavery to Satan"? This sounds pretty
extreme, aren’t we all part of the brotherhood of man? I know this is going to rile
some feathers but let me explain and look at some scriptures. First off, yes, we were all
created by God and in that sense we are the same but the scriptures do not indicate that
God is our spiritual father. The scriptures indicate that there are two spiritual fathers,
God and Satan. In Genesis 1 v 28 God gave Adam and Eve legal dominion over the earth and
every living thing upon it and they were directed to care for it. However in a legal sense
when Satan tempted Adam and Eve to sin and they bit he gained legal control over the human
race. At this point the human race descended into the same dark spiritual realm that Satan
reigns over. A realm which is separated from God by sin and disobedience. The beginning
of the age of the Dark Planet. We see this in Matthew 4 v 8-10 "Then was
Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Again, the
devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of
the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things I will give unto
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence,
Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve". Jesus did not dispute Satan’s claim of control. In Acts 26 v 18 it
reads, "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the
power (or dominion) of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins…
Colossians 1 v 13 reads, "Who hath delivered us from the power (or dominion) of
darkness (Satan), and hath translated (adopted) us into the kingdom (family) of his dear
son." 1 John 5 v 19 reads, And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth
in wickedness (in the power of Satan)." 2 Corinthians 4 v 4 reads, "In whom the
god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the
glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." These
verses indicate that the whole human race is in the kingdom of Satan and subject to his
dominion and power. Jesus did not correct Satan when he offered to give him the kingdoms
of this world for worship. And Colossians 1 v 13 indicates that when we come to Christ we
are "transferred out of the kingdom of Satan and into the family of God." Now it
must be said that Satan does not have absolute power over this world and the human race
nor does he own the physical world. God has the ultimate sovereignty as we see in the book
of Job. With Job, God limited the testing that Satan could do, however Satan was allowed
to take lives, bring disease, and destructive weather. We do read in Romans chapter 1 that
when man rejects God’s light he gives them over to their lusts and I’m sure that
entails Satan using his power to influence even more depths of sin. We would also say that
Satan and his demons can only be one place at a time while God the Holy Spirit is present
everywhere seeking to convict each person of their sinfulness and the need to be
reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Depending on how a city, tribe, ethnic group or
nation responds to the Spirit’s conviction determines the degree of freedom or
bondage from sin and Satan. History is strewn with the wreckage of nations and tribes who
resisted the Spirit of God and were given over to their desires for sin and to be further
deceived by Satan. Can you think of the AID’s epidemic in Africa. The last stages
generally reflect a total absence of moral discernment and hearts hardened by practicing
sin. Our generation reflects this with the murder of the unborn, sodomy arising with no
shame, false religions, sexual immorality of all kinds, the exclusion of the Bible from
education and media, drug use, occultic practices, lusting through extensive pornography,
and on and on downward it goes until God moves in judgment. One might think Satan is
working overtime in our generation as you look around.
Romans 7 v 14 reads, "For we know that the law (God’s
commandments) are spiritual (right): but I am carnal sold (into slavery) under sin."
Romans 8 v 7 reads, Because the carnal mind is enmity (a state of rebellion) against God:
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." These two verses
describes the whole human race as in a spiritual state of rebellion (active and passive)
against God and combined with the other verses mentioned above, under a confederate
kingdom, with Satan as the head of this world kingdom. An episode with Jesus and the
Pharisees of his day will bring the fatherhood of Satan to a head. The Pharisees were the
religious leaders of Israel and if anyone in Israel had God as their Father these appeared
to be sure bets. Let’s read the dialogue in John 8 v 39-44, "They (the
Pharisees) answered and said unto him (Jesus), Abraham is our father (Abraham was called
the friend of God and started the nation of Israel). Jesus saith unto them, If ye were
Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a
man that hath told you the truth, which I heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the
deeds of your father. Then they said unto him, we be not born of fornication (slanders the
Lord’s virgin birth); we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were
your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of
myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my
word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own (inner nature): for he is a liar, and the
father of it."
Wow, here we have probably the best people on outward appearance that
could be produced and Jesus says that their father is the devil! God puts human character
and Satan’s character in the same boat. Separated from him, self-willed, rebellious
inner state of mind, and manifesting slavery to various sins and lusts.
We read on Ephesians 2 v 2 "Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." Is the "spirit of
disobedience" working in your life?
God describes the world as a dark miserable human slave market with
Satan as its taskmaster and the whole human race having been sold into slavery or bondage
both to sin and Satan. The Bible describes it this way and Satan does all he can to
obscure and cloud this awful state and keep this knowledge from lodging into the minds of
men. Have you ever wondered why there is this conspiracy of silence in the media, the
schools, and among men themselves as to God and the Bible? Mindless entertainment and
empty things are substituted to keep the masses busy. In Western culture Satan has
disguised himself as a myth or a fairy tale from an outdated book yet what better ruse to
then work undetected in the minds of people. You see my friend; not every thought you have
is your own. Who can break the power of sin and Satan and set the prisoners free?
The fourth barrier is spiritual death. Let’s go back to
Adam and Eve in the garden. I am assuming you have heard of the basic account, if not it
is found in Genesis chapters 2 and 3. Have you ever wondered how they could be naked and
walk around the garden in perfect peace and in perfect friendship with God? If everybody
in your town doffed the clothes it would not make for a peaceful nor pretty sight. A lot
of people would be embarrassed and ashamed at the sight, a lot of people would be lusting
in their minds about this naked person and that one. And frankly a lot of us would be
saying, "Oh no, you would be much better with your clothes on, because what I see is
hard on my eyes!" So, what happened to Adam and Eve? They were given one prohibition
in the perfect world God had created, one test of loyalty and obedience you might say.
Let’s read about the one commandment in Genesis 2 v 17,18 "And the LORD God
commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Now let’s read about the failure of Adam
and Eve. It’s found in Genesis 3 v 1-7, Now the serpent was more subtil than any
beast of the field which the LORD God hath made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God
said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is
in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch
it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die (calling God
a liar): For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Satan insinuates that God is really
withholding this special blessing). And when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he
did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and
they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."
A change had happened but what did it entail. Physical death followed
as it has to the entire human race but there was also a spiritual death caused by Adam and
Eve’s sin. You see Adam and Eve were created with the Spirit of God dwelling in their
hearts and what is called the "Shekinah Glory" around them. The Shekinah Glory
is the strong and unique presence of God. It has the aspect of being "clothed in
radiant light". When Moses spent 40 days on the mountain receiving the 10
commandments written on stone his face shone with light when he came down to the people.
Let's read Ezekiel 34 v 28,29 "And he (Moses) was there with the LORD forty days and
forty nights; he did neither eat bread nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the
words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. And it came to pass, when Moses came down
from Mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down
from the mount, that Moses wist (knew) not that the skin of his face shone while he talked
with them." In Matthew 17 v 1,2 we see Jesus reveal just a glimpse of his glory
state, it reads, "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother,
and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and
his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment (clothes) was white as light." Israel,
when they had their temple had the special Glory of God dwelling in the inner temple part
called the Holy of Holies. We can read in Ezekiel chapters 9 and 10 that when Israel
sinned greatly the "Glory of God" departed from the temple as part of the
judgement to come upon Israel for her sins. You see, sin separates us from God and when
Adam and Eve sinned they separated themselves from God. The Holy Spirit indwelling them
had to withdraw and God’s special presence around them also departed. We then find
that every human being born thereafter is born dead spiritually with the same broken
relationship with God. Every descendent of Adam is born with what God calls the sin nature
(also known as the sinful independent nature), and physically destined for the grave. The
term is called "born in Adam". We read in 1 Corinthians 15 v 21,22, " For
since by man (Adam) came death, by man (Jesus) came also the resurrection of the dead. For
as "in Adam" all die, even so "in Christ" shall all be made
alive."
Well, if you’ve made it this far I know the picture is not a
pretty one. I know also that the history of the human race does reflect the sinful
independent nature as the wills of little gods collide. The history of man also seems to
reflect a spiritual adversary who the Bible calls Satan and the god of this world. The
depths of inhumanity that litter the history books point to a special demonic energizer of
these events.
Surmounting the Insurmountable
Well, the barriers do look impossible don’t they. It really
puts an end to trying to be a good person and hoping God okays it at the end. And did you
know that is exactly what God wants. He wants you and I to know that it is impossible to
humanly remove these barriers. He doesn’t want you on the futile treadmill of good
works as a way to remove the barriers between Him and yourself. That is impossible. Yet,
one of Satan’s biggest lies is that you can surmount these barriers by your own good
works type religion. And you can see how popular this idea is amongst the religions of
this world. It sidesteps the depravity of man and our foolish pride and arrogantly offers
up the fruit of our hands on the altar of God just as Cain did. It sidesteps the need for
a blood sacrifice to pay for our sins as righteous Abel recognized. Let’s view the
"by my good works I will get into heaven" idea by entering into both an earthly
and heavenly courtroom. Suppose you were caught speeding with your car and came before the
judge. And your defense before him is, "well I have been good for the past month and
haven’t driven my car over the speed limit even once". Will the judge let you go
free because you obeyed the law for the past month? Of course not! You are before him for
the law that you did break and a penalty must be paid. You are before the judge strictly
for the law that you have broken. The fact that you did not speed for the past month has
absolutely no bearing in a human courtroom. And no human judge would be fooled by such an
argument. Do you suppose you would be successful in God’s heavenly courtroom with the
same reasoning? Do you think that in God’s heavenly courtroom you will be able to
say, "well hopefully my good works will outweigh my bad". No, you will be
declared guilty and assessed penalty strictly for the laws you broke regardless of the
ones you kept. That is unless you have an advocate.
Now that we’ve digested the bad news, I want to bring the good
news. Jesus in his life, death and resurrection has removed the barriers, at great cost to
him and because of his great love for you. I will explain how those barriers have been
removed and also speak on the cost for you to become a follower of Him.
Who would be qualified to remove these barriers? Well, it can be said
that since all humans are guilty before God no human could pay the penalty of sin for
others for each is already guilty in God’s courtroom themselves. It would take
someone who was truly human and yet not guilty of sin. And since the penalty was death, it
would take someone who could overcome death and not be held in the grave. It would seem to
call for a perfect human with an infinite life. It would lead us to a need for someone who
was both human and God at the same time. And we do have testimony that Jesus was sinless,
claimed to be God, accepted worship, forgave people’s sins and resurrected from the
dead. Let’s read just a few scriptures of many, 1 Timothy 3 v 16 "And without
controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest (seen) in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, received up into glory." Matthew 1 v 23, "Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us." John 10 v 30-33 (Jesus speaking in v 30) "I and my
Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many
good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The
Jews answered him, saying, for a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and
because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." Matthew 8 v 2,3, "And
behold there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." Mark 2 v 5-7, 10, "When Jesus saw
their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there
were certain of the scribes there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man speak
blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? V10 Jesus speaks to the scribes, "But
that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins."" The
Jewish leaders and the Romans could have easily quashed the resurrection claim by
producing a body. But it would not be easy to get over 500 people to lie that they had
personally seen him after his resurrection especially when it would bring more persecution
for you from Jewish leaders and the Romans. Yet we read in 1 Corinthians 15 v 3-6,
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose
again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas (Peter),
then of the twelve (Apostles): After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at
once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some have fallen asleep
(died)." Jesus was God’s barrier breaker. Did you know that it only takes 2 or 3
independent witnesses in a courtroom to attest to an event being true?
The first barrier was removed when Jesus as a human being lived a
perfect sinless life. His life as a human was equal to God’s character because he was
divine, the second person of the Trinity. Though tempted and attacked in many ways he
responded without sin. We read in 2 Corinthians 5 v21, "For he hath made him to be
sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
The perfect moral life of Jesus made him acceptable to pay the penalty for sin. We will
see later that we may receive his perfect righteousness put to our account.
And finally Roman 3 v 22 which speaks of Abraham coming to God in
faith, "And therefore it was imputed (put to his credit) to him (Abraham) for
righteousness. But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."
The second barrier brings us into God’s courtroom where the legal
debt of sin stood against you and I. Jesus when he died on the cross "paid in
full" the debt of sin for every human who would ever live. God’s just character
was fully satisfied with the payment made by Jesus for the whole human race. Jesus stood
in my place in God’s courtroom and took the penalty due me upon himself. There are
two terms God uses to describe this payment by Jesus for our sins. The words used are
propitiation and justification. To understand their meaning will bring spiritual freedom
to your mind. For propitiation let’s read a couple of verses. In 1 John 2 v 2 we
read, "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for
the sins of the whole world." And in 1 John 4 v 10 we read, "Herein is love, not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins." The word propitiation means that the payment that Jesus made on the cross fully
satisfied the penalty in God’s courtroom. And also, the payment was large enough
and infinite enough to pay for the sins of every human being that would ever live! God as
the Judge in the courtroom of the universe looked upon the shed blood of Jesus on the
cross and declared that the penalty for sin had been fully and completely paid for all
eternity. There was no need to add anything to it. Reading Hebrews 10 v 12,14 "But
this man (Jesus), after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the
right hand of God. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
sanctified." Jesus fully satisfied the debt of sin that was against me and God can
put that payment to my account when I come to him through his Son. The stamp reads
"Paid in Full".
The other side of this coin is called "justification" and
relates to how I can have my sins declared "Paid in Full" and receive a pardon
from God. Let’s read Romans 4 v 25, 5 v 1, and Galations 3 v 11, "Who was
delivered for our offences (sins), and was raised for our justification. Therefore being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. But that no man
is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, the just shall live by
faith." In God’s courtroom we can be acquitted and pardoned on the basis of the
penalty paid. God can legally justify setting me free as my penalty was paid by another.
But for a pardon to be received the guilty party must confess his guilt and be willing to
take the pardon with the term attached. The term attached is the word
"repentance". More will be said in a moment on that.
The third and fourth barriers are covered by the word "redeemed or
redemption". The word redeemed has the concept of freeing a person from the slave
market by paying the required ransom to secure that freedom.
Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, the human race has
been enveloped in a cloud of spiritual darkness. Man is both in slavery to the power of
his sin nature inside and will bow to the god of this world as soon as it is demanded.
Only the restraining power of the Holy Spirit present in this world has kept things from
descending into total rottenness. In the time before Noah’s flood the human race had
so resisted the Spirit of God that the time arrived for judgement. I keep thinking of a
song written by a worldly writer called, "It’s a Wonderful World". Have you
heard that one? Check out the lyrics sometime. It is so delusional and far from reality
and yet the world calls it a hit song! God’s word describes a scene that would be
better called "The Dark Planet". A planet in the swirling throes of death and
sin, humans under a dark delusion in their minds, in slavery to the power of the sin
nature in their hearts. And with the whole scene overshadowed by an organized group of
demonic spirits casting a spell of blindness upon the whole human race. Reading John
chapter 3 v 19, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, lest his deeds should be reproved (exposed)."
It is into this darkness that the piercing light of Jesus Christ entered on a mission to
light the way back to the true God for all who would come. It is from this true reality
that the word "redemption" finds its meaning. For only through Jesus Christ can
one be freed from the power of Satan and the power of the sinful nature. The word
redemption has as its main meaning "to be set free by payment of a ransom". The
whole human race is in bondage to sin and Satan, a virtual slave planet with a Slave
Master. Jesus entered the Dark Planet and made the ransom payment required, his shed blood
on the cross. That ransom payment will deliver a person from the slave market of the Dark
Planet and will break the power of sin and Satan. We read in 1 Peter 1 v 18,19 "
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed (bought or purchased) with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation (behaviour) received by tradition
from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ (ransom payment) as of a lamb
without spot or blemish (sinless)." Also, John 8 v 34-36, "Jesus answered them,
Verily, verily I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant (slave) of sin. And
the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the Son abideth forever. If the Son
therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." And finally, " He that
committeth (practices) sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For
this purpose was the Son of God manifested (came to the Dark Planet), that he might
destroy the works (power) of the devil."
Counting the cost and Receiving the Pardon
Before I lay out the way to escape the Dark Planet, you must
carefully consider the cost. In order to escape it will mean the surrender of the throne
of your will. The term used in the scriptures is "repent or coming to
repentance". Many have watered down the meaning of repentance to where it just means
that you change your mind about sin and the direction of your life. But I say this falls
crucially short of its real meaning. If Romans 6 v 11-13 clearly teaches you must daily
yield your will to the Holy Spirit in order to walk in the Spirit surely repentance must
involve the surrender of the throne of the will to Jesus at salvation. Surely it cannot
mean you just grab the "free gift" and continue on down the same self-willed
road. Surely God cannot save a rebel who fully intends to continue to run their own lives
but with a cloak of Christianity on? Or does God give you the free gift of salvation like
a Christmas present but them turns around and says, surprise, you have to surrender the
throne of your will daily to actually live the Christian life! You see, the heart must be
exercised before real repentance takes place. One must be firmly convinced that they are a
lost sinner on the way to perdition. One must come to the realization that their sin and
character is not unlike those attributed to the devil himself. Yes, the gift of salvation
was paid by another and is free in one sense but it is not given without real repentance.
So I am constrained to conclude that if there is no heartfelt surrender then Jesus cannot
deliver you from the Dark Planet. He is unable to provide deliverance if he sees that you
just want fire escape insurance but not his will for your life. If you don’t see
yourself to be quite as sinful as the scriptures say but have some self confidence in your
own righteousness then he cannot deliver you. If you hold to the idea that you in some way
can gain merit with God with your religious observances and performance then he cannot
deliver you. He can only deliver when you see yourself as a slave to sin on your way to
perdition. Some scripture to read, Matthew 3 v 1,2,5-8, "In those days came John the
Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of
God is at hand. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region around
Jordan. And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees (the rituals and good works crowd) come to his baptism, he
said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance." Also Luke 13 v 3, Jesus
speaking, "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish." And Acts 3 v 19, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins
may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the
Lord." You see the gospel message that Paul preached is summed up in Acts 20 v 21,
"Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." The repentance part is seeing your spiritual
condition as God sees it with the subsequent willingness to abdicate the throne of your
life. How would you say that you have done enthroned and running your own life? How well
do you see others handling it? I like these insightful lyrics from a song called "Let
Go, Let God" by a Christian band called Hokus Pick.
This is the kingdom of my heart
No longer bright, It’s cold and dark
The carpet is not royal red
It’s soiled by the thoughts of my own head
I know that I’ve been a fool
For what I’ve done and how I’ve ruled
I tried to make this all my own
Forgetting that this is your throne
Here are the keys
To a kingdom grim and ghastly
I give to you all my estate
You are the King – I abdicate!
The faith part is trusting and believing that Jesus died to pay the
penalty for your sins. They are the two sides of the salvation coin. You can’t have
one without the other. However many have watered down the message by excluding sin and
repentance in their message and have filled churches with false converts. If you read
about the last church of the church age called Laodicea you will see the fruit of easy
believism. The description of this church is in Revelation 3 v 14-22. Here we find Jesus
in large measure asking most of these people to let him into their hearts so he can bring
them salvation.
If you are willing to this point you must also understand that it could
instantly cost you your life. In some cultures it is a death sentence for changing your
religion. But think about it for a minute. Any religion, which has to hold its members by
fear and intimidation, couldn’t possibly be true. It looks more like a tactic the god
of this world might use. Do you think the true God tries to hold you with fear,
intimidation and threatening to kill you if you leave? No, he reaches out with nail
scarred hands and says let me rescue you. You must also consider that family, friends and
relatives may reject and persecute you. In Western culture you will be ostracized
socially. Many who pride themselves in earthly knowledge will look down upon you in a
condescending manner. All manner of persecution may come upon you as many countries have
and are beginning to make unjust laws, which will result in the persecution of Christians.
Hate crime laws are just starting to be used as a ruse to exclude, then vilify, and
eventually to persecute the Christian worldview. You will face misunderstanding and
persecution within the religious Christian realm for Satan has started many false cults
and religious groups which wave the Christian flag. Although the false teachings are many
in these groups there are a few major ones which identify them. Some would be along these
lines, Jesus was not God, Jesus plus good works will get you to heaven, Jesus plus the
sacraments, Jesus was a being God created and the half brother of Lucifer, salvation must
be accompanied with speaking in tongues, you must be baptized in the name of Jesus only,
you can’t know if you are saved for sure and many more could be listed. You see the
scriptures say the devil is the author of confusion. It is his plan to offer many ways to
God through many religious groups. Here are just a few scriptures on the cost of becoming
a disciple of Jesus. Luke 14 v 26,27,33, "If any man come to me, and hate not his
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own
life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after
me, cannot be my disciple. So, likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all
that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." Matthew 10 v 34-36, "Think not that I
am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace but a sword. For I am come to set
a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against the mother, and the
daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own
household." The cost is high on earth but compared to eternity it is insignificant.
What profiteth a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul? He is no fool to
give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
You can receive God’s pardon when you personally agree with God
that you are a rebellious sinner. When you are willing to abdicate the throne of your life
and receive Jesus as Lord (which means you are the servant, he is the rightful master) and
Savior (which recognizes his payment for your sins). The first part is called repentance
and the last part is called trusting in Jesus alone for a restored relationship with God.
The moment genuine conversion takes place the Holy Spirit comes to indwell and make you a
new person from the inside out. He delivers you out of the slave market of sin and out
from under the dominion of Satan. The Holy Spirit breaks the power of sin and Satan in
your life. You no longer have to obey sin and Satan as you yield your will to the Holy
Spirit daily and walk with Him. Romans chapter 6 is your freedom manifesto, a good chapter
to memorize as the battle begins.
The Battle for the Mind Begins Part 2
The Condition of the Mind
Man’s mind, soul and spirit operate the physical human body.
As such, the human mind is the immaterial part of man. The mind of man is not something
that you can physically treat. The mind operates the brain but is not the product of the
brain. It is part of the spiritual realm and needs to be dealt with as such. Man
originally had the Spirit of God indwelling him and the Spirit worked in harmony with
man’s mind, soul and spirit. When man was separated from God’s Spirit his whole
inner spiritual makeup was disrupted and soon corrupted. It became so that none of us are
in our right minds as God originally intended. This is the view of the scriptures but
let’s take a brief side trip into the worlds’ view of man. There is a profession
that has decidedly opposite view of the mind of man. It has built up a vast profession of
error with the "label" game. It likes to label problems with the human mind as
"mental illness" or "mental disease". If the human mind is part of the
immaterial soul and spirit of man could you label it with terms like "illness"
or "disease"? Now, if you had say, a nerve disease or a brain disease you would
be "medically ill" right? But you could never be "mentally ill"! God
has already given us a true picture of the fallen human mind as a "sinful" mind,
a "selfish" mind, a "reprobate" mind, a "proud" mind, a
"demonic" mind, and a "rebellious" mind. Let’s look at more of
the label game with this profession. With regards to human behavior it’s got a label
for everything. Whereas God identifies most of human behavior as sin and manifestations of
the sinful nature the worlds’ profession labels these same behaviors as diseases or
phobias or disorders and then claims to be able to treat them! Through labeling sins as
disorders or diseases they absolve people of responsibility for their behavior!
Unfortunately God will not see it that way when each of us stand before him. This
allegedly scientific profession of the immaterial world even has its own high priests and
bible. The high priests are the Godless humanists of evolutionary behavior the most famous
being Freud, Jung, Maslow and Rogers. The bible which is used is called the
"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual" or DSM for short. It’s a manual of
disorders, phobias, and mental diseases. Think on this, the first edition published in
1952 was only 100 pages long, the latest version from 1994 is now 900 pages long! Are we
getting crazier or what! Anyways, you have to give them credit for building their house of
sand at taxpayer’s and medical insurance companies’ expense. Would you like to
preview a few of the disorders? Consider this one, "Intermittent Explosive
Disorder". Want to guess what it is? Well, God calls it the sin of "anger"!
Consider this one, "Histrionic Personality Disorder". Another guess perhaps?
Well, God calls it the sin of pride and exalting oneself. How about this one,
"kleptomania"? Well surprise, it’s actually one of the ten commandments,
"Thou shalt not steal". A final one perhaps will make the point, "the
disease of alcoholism". God calls this one the sin and bondage of drunkenness. It is
very unfortunate that this profession has also become the modern day
"Tobiah’s" of the professing Christian church. The book of Nehemiah covers
the return of the children of Israel from Babylon to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.
Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite who had taken up residence in that area
during the Jewish exile from the promised land opposed them. When that failed Tobiah
sought an alliance with the Jews and even had an office at the Temple so he could
undermine things from within. When Nehemiah returned from Babylon and found this out he
threw Tobiah out of the temple (Nehemiah ch 13). It is not an exact picture, but the
"Christian psychologist" has a similar office in the church undermining the work
of God and should also be thrown out. The world’s profession and God are
diametrically opposed on the nature of man and the solution to this dilemma. If you would
like to further investigate this area I would highly recommend the book by Martin and
Deidre Bobgan called "Psychohersey – The Psychological Seduction of
Christianity".
Building upon what God says is true and real with regards to the human
mind lets consider some of the states of mind in the scriptures. In the days before
Noah’s flood Genesis 6 v 5 says the state of man’s mind was only evil
continually. Violence and sexual immorality filled the earth in Noah’s day. The
Psalmist describes his uncomprehending mind about the things of God as a brute beast
compared to his master (Psalm 73 v 22). Not a very flattering comparison to say the least!
And it doesn’t get any better as you move through the Bible. In Romans 1 v 20-32 we
have a pretty horrifying picture of the state of the human mind living in willful
darkness. It’s worth reading and commenting on.
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him]
not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their
foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image
made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the
lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even
their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the
woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is
unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in [their]
knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity;
whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters,
inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural
affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such
things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
In verse 20 we see that the willful rejection of God leads to an ever
downward spiral to an evil mind. Our generation has witnessed the vain imaginations of
darkened minds with the pushing of evolution. In verse 22 we see the human mind seeking
knowledge without the knowledge of the creator, claiming to be wise when God says they are
fools. Our modern education system fits the description perfectly. A further darkened
state of mind occurs with the worship of the creation as if it made itself. We hear of
those who speak of "Mother Earth" as if it is somehow alive and worthy of
worship. Definitely a sad state of mind. And in verse 26 God gives them up to a vile
reprobate state of mind. In this vile state of mind sodomy, sexual immorality, murder,
pride, disobedience to parents and stubborn mindedness blossom. And finally the state of
mind is so far gone that it actually promotes others to do the same sins, glorying in them
that do such also. Is this not a picture of our generation? And yet another more
horrifying state of mind is also coming. With the seeking of occult experiences through
drugs and enchantments as forbidden in Deuteronomy chapter 18 we will see increased
demonic possession. This path of seeking spirituality God warns about because it can bring
a person under tremendous demonic deception, oppression and possession. One example can be
given in Luke 8 v 27-35. Jesus meets a man "who had devils a long time". What do
you think this man’s state of mind was like? Well it says he wore no clothes, lived
in the graveyard, and was fiercely violent. Definitely not your ordinary citizen! Well do
you see my point? Do you want to escape the Dark Planet and have your mind restored? The
demon possessed man experienced the restoration of his mind through Jesus. In Luke 8 v 35
we read of this wonderful event, "Then they went out to see what was done; and came
to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of
Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind…". That’s right he was in his
right mind. He was restored to a relationship with the God who had created him. The Spirit
of God had replaced the demonic spirits and brought his soul, spirit and mind to a
peaceful state. And God brings this to every one who will bow the knee to his Son. Isaiah
26 v 3 reads, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee;
because he trusteth in thee. 2 Timothy 1 v 7 reads, "For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power and love, and of a sound mind."
Appointed Unto Battle
Much of this section will not be as meaningful to you if you are
not born again, for you are not in a battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. Only
a true Christian enters into this battle by virtue of his restored relationship with God.
While I’ve mainly directed my thoughts in this second part to the
Christian much of the tactics that the god of this world uses can also be of benefit to
the non-Christian. As both the Christian and non-Christian walk through the same
spiritually dark wilderness the Holy Spirit can bring light to anyone who will receive it.
For spiritual light is provided before conversion from the outside while after salvation
it is from the inside.
And by Christian I mean one who has seen the awfulness of their own
sinful nature, has confessed their sins and abdicated the throne of their will to Jesus,
acknowledging his love for them through standing in their place and taking the penalty of
sin for them. Through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 20 v 21) you have been
born again by the Holy Spirit (John 3 v 3-8), escaping out of the kingdom of Satan and
being adopted into the kingdom of God (Colossians 1 v 13). I qualify this paper in this
way because the scripture indicates that many who are under the Christian banner have been
given an easy believism message and have been joined to the visible Christian church yet
not born again. An easy believism message would be "just ask Jesus into your
heart" or "Jesus will be your friend for life" or "Jesus will give you
a wonderful life" or "Jesus will heal you". Or perhaps through audience
manipulation you have felt coerced into "walking down to the front of the
Church" or perhaps you were sold on only the benefits of Christianity such as getting
to go to heaven so you joined for the "fire insurance". All these offers fall
short of the true gospel that causes you to be born again.
The scripture that bears this out is found in Matthew 7 v 13,14, 21-23.
It reads, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the
way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few
there be that find it. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy
name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. And also we
can read Matthew 13 v 20-23, "But he that received the seed into stony places (his
heart), the same is he that heareth the word, and anon (at once) with joy receiveth it;
Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation and
persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended (abandons the faith). He
also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this
world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful."
In these scriptures we have three different types of individuals who have made a
profession of faith in Christ and yet were never truly born again. Each came to the
visible church but had reserved the throne of their lives to themselves for various
reasons. The first group had never really seen or wanted to see that they were a lost
sinner under the bondage of sin and Satan. They had a cloak of Godliness but not the Holy
Spirit. They were busy making a good show in the flesh by their religious works. They are
the Jesus plus my good works crowd. The second group that received the word of God with
joy did not want to stay around when they found out the cost of following Christ. They
joined for the God is love message; the God who wants to give them a wonderful life and
then take them to heaven. They will likely end up in a watered down church where sin and
hell are never mentioned but only God’s love. The third group was open to receiving
the word and coming to church but in their heart of hearts they really loved the world
more than the Lord. They want to be like the world from Monday to Saturday and put on the
Christian show on Sunday. They will think nothing of loving the latest unHolywood movie on
Saturday night and singing hymns at church on Sunday. Each of these groups you will find
to have a common theme throughout. They will be experts at compromise. They will adjust
their Christianity to the world. They will compromise with the world on evolution,
psychology, Bible versions, the sin nature of man, the all roads lead to heaven doctrine,
and the list could go on. It is because in their heart of hearts they have never been
truly converted and the world still speaks to them. The old saying, "birds of a
feather flock together" would be an apt application. The world and these groups (even
though dressed in a cloak of Christianity) still have the same heart.
The key point I am trying to make is that you need a true vision of
your spiritual state before God and Satan. This will bring the acknowledgment that when
you are in control of your life all you do is sin! In fact being self-willed and doing
what you want is the same nature as Satan has. He was the first self-willed independent
being. Seeing yourself in this way is the key to true repentance. True repentance turns
from being self-willed to putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and committing
yourself to do God’s will no matter what the cost but with God’s power not your
own. 1 Peter 4 v 2,3 reads, "That he no longer should live the rest of his time in
the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our
life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in
lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.
When you enter into the kingdom of God, a number of things change. You
receive a permanent new nature through the indwelling Holy Spirit. You are forever adopted
into the kingdom of God. God’s purpose is to conform you into the image of his Son.
You have given God the right to discipline and chastise your behavior. You obtain an
adversary the devil, who knows you are now saved. You enter into internal conflict between
your "flesh" and the Holy Spirit. The narrow path you walk with Jesus is headed
in the opposite direction of most of humanity and apostate Christianity and going against
the flow is not popular.
John 14 v 16,17 reads, And I will pray the Father, and he shall give
you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him;
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Colossians 1 v 13,14 reads, Who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated (adopted) us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we
have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
Romans 8 v 19 reads, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he (the Son) might be the firstborn among
many brethren.
Hebrews 12 v 6-10 reads, For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as
sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without
chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore we
have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not
much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a
few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he (God the Father) for our profit,
that we might be partakers of his holiness.
1 Peter 5 v 8-10 reads, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist
stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren
that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory
by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish,
strengthen, settle you.
Galations 5 v 16,17 reads, This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye
shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary to one another: so that ye cannot do the
things that ye would.
Romans 12 v 2 reads, And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Knowing the Ground of Victory
Understanding your "position in Christ" is foundational
to experiencing freedom from practicing sin and from Satan causing you to fall down
whenever he comes to attack. Your position in Christ is the ground from which you fight
from. When you are born again a number of truths become active and real in the spiritual
realm.
The first is that you have died to obeying the flesh. The power of the
flesh positionally has been broken. We read in Romans 6 v 11-13 says, Likewise reckon ye
also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but
yield yourselves unto God… This is your daily moment by moment abdication of the
throne of your life to the Holy Spirit.
The second is the eternal security of a real believer’s salvation.
This is very important ground to understand because in the battle you will fall and
dealing with it in a Biblical way is crucial to getting back up and continuing the battle
and walking after the Spirit. It is foundational to recognize that a true believer hates
sin and wants to experience freedom from sin. Any other persistent attitude than this
would bring into question if a person was truly born again and perhaps just a professor
not a possessor of true living faith. Eternal security is assured because the Holy Spirit
indwells a believer forever. John 14 v 16 says, And I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another Comforter (the person of the Holy Spirit), that he may abide with you
forever. Hebrews 13 v 5 says, Let you conversation (behavior) be without covetousness, and
be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, not
forsake thee. Obscure scriptures that may at first glance appear to say that you can lose
your salvation are never to be used to contradict a clear scripture. Proper interpretation
forbids obscure scripture being used to override clear scriptures on a particular
doctrine. Unfortunately this is a common approach of false teachers as well as fallen
angels. The "lose your salvation crowd" likes to toss you to and fro with a few
favorite verses in Hebrews 3, 6 and 10.
Therefore, when you are dealing with a particular sin or a besetting
sin (one that you keep yielding to) you must understand how God wants you to handle it.
When a true child of God sins or has a besetting sin he does not lose his salvation but he
quenches his fellowship with God. Salvation is 100% paid for on the cross but our daily
relationship with God is hindered. Sin quenches God’s power in your life. One of
Satan’s goals is to get you to sin because he knows this also. Sin also reveals that
we again have exalted our will over the throne of our lives. The old-self-willed flesh has
asserted itself with all its usual bad fruit. The remedy is to quickly abdicate the
throne, thanking Jesus that he paid for that sin on the cross and asking the Holy Spirit
to take the throne of our life and produce good fruit in us. You see God wants us to judge
ourselves quickly and be restored to fellowship. Sometimes this will have to be done many
times in a day but over time the Holy Spirit will produce a more consistent walk. As I
like to say that God took me out from under the law and put me under his grace which means
I have the "freedom to fail". He wants us to confess, be filled, and continue
down the narrow path.
The third is that Satan’s power and authority over you has been
broken also. We read in the second half of 1 John 3 v 8 that, For this purpose the Son of
God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Satan and his fallen
angelic realm wield great power. Look at these verses for the breadth and extent of it. 2
Corinthian 4 v 4 reads, In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them. 1 John 5 v 19, and we know that we are of God, and the whole world
lieth in wickedness (or under the power of the evil one). Ephesians 2 v 2, Wherein time
past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power
of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Where previously
our own will power was no match for Satan and we could not even recognize his presence, we
now have the Holy Spirit who is infinitely more powerful than Satan and will prompt us to
discern a fallen spirit’s presence. In James 4 v 7 the Holy Spirit counsels us to
submit our will to Him, respectfully resist the devil with the truth of God’s word
and the devil will retreat. "Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from
you" per James 4 v 7.
The fourth is that you are absolutely powerless to resist sin and
Satan’s attacks unless you are moment by moment yielding your will to the Holy
Spirit. John 15 v 5 says, I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Our source of spiritual strength is not our own will or self confidence but the power we
receive when we are properly yielding our will to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the
third person of the Trinity, co-equal with God the Father and has infinite power to
prevent us from bowing to the demands of our sinful flesh and also to the attacks of
fallen angelic beings. Fallen beings who the Holy Spirit helped to create in the first
place. 1 John 4 v 4 reads, Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because
greater is he (the Holy Spirit) that is in you, than he (fallen angels) that is in the
world.
The fifth is that God is sovereign over what Satan can do towards you
and also God will never allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear. And in
each and every circumstance we should recognize there is a purpose and a proper response,
which needs to be discerned. Although the purposes of some trials may only be learned on
the other side of eternity our response is the important part in the battle. We read in
the book of Job chapter 1 where God, unbeknownst to Job at the time, allowed him to be
tested by Satan but only within the limits that God set not Satan.
Job 1 v 6-22
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. (7)
is] none like him in the earth, a perfect
and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? (9) Then Satan answered the
LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? (10) Hast not thou made an hedge about him,
and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work
of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. (11) But put forth thine hand
now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. (12) And the LORD
said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is] in thy power; only upon himself put
not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. (13) And there
was a day when his sons and his daughters [were] eating and drinking wine in their
eldest brother's house: (14) And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were
plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: (15) And the Sabeans fell [upon them],
and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I
only am escaped alone to tell thee. (16) While he [was] yet speaking, there came
also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the
sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. (17)
While he [was] yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made
out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the
servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. (18) While
he [was] yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy
daughters [were] eating and drinking wine in their
eldest brother's house: (19) And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and
smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead;
and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. (20) Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and
shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, (21) And said, Naked came
I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD
hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. (22) In all this, Job sinned not, nor
charged God foolishly.
1 Corinthians 10 v 13 reads, There hath no temptation taken you
but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation
also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].
1Peter v 6-8 reads, Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a
season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: (7) that the trial
of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried
with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ: (8) Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory:
1Peter 4 v 12,13 reads, Beloved, think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: (13)
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory
shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
Romans 8 v 18 reads, For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Satan’s Methods and Spiritual Attacks
1. In some cultures Satan promotes that he doesn’t exist. What
better concealment to subtily work on the minds of men if you can get them to believe you
don’t exist! In other cultures he is a spirit or god to be appeased through offerings
and rituals. In other circumstances he presents himself as a spirit guide or an ascended
master or the higher self. And of course his favorite deception is to counterfeit true
Christianity with a works based version or a signs and wonders version. In our generation
as we move towards the very end he and his ministers will emphasize great signs and
wonders. You see at the beginning of the church age when the scriptures were not yet
finished (Revelation was written circa 95 A.D.) God used signs and wonders to authenticate
the apostles’ message. At the end of the church age we have the false teachers and
Satan doing the signs and wonders to deceive people. And of course these false teachers
will claim that they are doing it through God but it is not true. In 2 Corinthians 12 v 12
it reads, "Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in
signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. And also, Ephesians 2 v 20-22, speaking about the
church as a building, "and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the
prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for
an habitation of God through the Spirit." You see the apostles and prophets with
signs and wonders were necessary at the beginning of the church age for the foundation of
the church and the completion of the scriptures but are not needed after this. The signs
and wonders crowd claim they are prophets and apostles but sorry, the foundation has
already been laid. We do not need to go back and relay the foundation of the building when
it is almost finished. We read about the last day’s version of signs and wonders in
these verses. In Matthew 24 v 11,24 it speaks of the end of the church age and on into the
7 year tribulation. Reading it says, "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall
deceive many. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew
great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect." This will prepare the way for Satan’s great peacemaker from the revived
Roman Empire. Part of his work is described in 2 Thessalonians 2 v 9, "Even him,
whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders."
2. Satan has great power in being able to deceive many people at one
time with a false idea. In 2 Chronicles 18 v 5, 18-23 one lying spirit put the same
message in 400 counsellors of Ahab directing him to go out to battle and win a great
victory. A modern day example in our generation is the idea, that the visible Christian
church should have unity without doctrine as one of its main goals, misinterpreting John
chapter 17.
3. Satan has the ability to snatch the Word of God out of a
person’s mind. In Mark 4 v 14, 15 we read "The sower soweth the word. And these
are they by the wayside, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh
immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts." Yikes,
invisible beings who can erase thoughts from your mind. Science fiction takes a distant
second place to this!
4. Satan comes pretending to be the Holy Spirit or God and those who
serve him also portray themselves as Christians. This is the ultimate deception to have a
person think they are in touch with God when it is really Satan and for his servants to
masquerade as Christian but secretly being there to do subterfuge and water down or
confuse the word of God. Have you ever listened to a preacher speak about the Bible but
after the message is finished it was like nothing was said? You came for a spiritual meal
but went away empty and confused. We read in 2 Corinthians 11 v 13-15 "For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness; whose end
shall be according to their works." His ministers of unrighteousness promote such
doctrines as losing your salvation, easy believism with no repentance, undermining the
book of Genesis with evolutionary compromise, introducing psychology especially "self
esteem", teaching against the pre-tribulational rapture of the church just to name a
few.
5. Satan will seek to tempt and pressure you to sin, then turn around
and accuse you before God laying the old guilt trip upon you. We read in Revelation 12 v
9,10 "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and
Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation,
and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of
our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
6. Satan will offer power, wealth, pleasure and fame if you will serve
him. In Matthew 4 v 1, 8-10 "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted of the devil. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high
mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith
unto him, All these things I will give unto thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve". Many a rock star and unholywood
entertainer has said the opposite to gain fame, riches, and pleasure. In 2004 it was
revealed that the author of the Harry Potter material is now a billionaire! How rewarding
the god of this world is when you promote the occult practices of Deuteronomy chapter 18,
which are forbidden by God.
7. Satan can capture a person’s mind with wrong ideas so strongly
that he will use them to oppose those who are rightly dividing the word of God. In 2
Timothy v 17,18,24-26 we read "And their word will eat as doth a canker; of whom is
Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection
is past already; and overthrow the faith of some… and the servant of the Lord must
not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the
devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. In our generation some of the fiercely
held ideas from Calvinism would fall into this type of snare as well as views on Bible
Prophecy which oppose the pre-tribulational rapture of the church. Even a true Christian
can be held captive by wrong ideas when they are unaware of what the scriptures say on an
issue.
8. Satan seeks to create doubt about the word of God, the Bible. He
suggested to Eve that God was lying to her about death if she disobeyed. He has used the
theory of Evolution to create doubt about God’s eyewitness account of beginnings.
Satan’s has tremendous power with his ideas over the minds of men as we witness the
incredible pushing of evolution through the schools, and the media as we move towards the
return of Christ. Satan used the same method in Germany with Adolf Hitler. Paraphrasing
Hitler it was said that if you repeat a lie often enough especially a big one, eventually
it becomes true in people’s minds. Evolution has achieved a measure of that status in
our generation. A vast illusion compared to what really happened.
9. Satan will motivate persecution first through unjust laws, then
applying them to persecute men of faith. In Revelation 2 v 10, "Fear none of those
things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that
ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and
I will give thee the crown of life." In North America we are witnessing the beginning
of the unjust law phase with special rights being given to sodomites and making those
opposed to this sinful behavior guilty of hate crimes. We also are witnessing the ACLU
(American Communist Lawyers Union) seeking to remove every vestige of Christianity from
public life using a false doctrine called "separation of Church and State".
Everybody has a belief system from which they act from and the humanists want their
religion as the government endorsed one. They have done this by hiding behind the
"science mask" when it’s really a religious philosophy on the same ground
as the Christian worldview. And also by hiding behind the "separation of Church and
state" which really means that my atheistic worldview is tax supported but your
Christian worldview is not. As a result the religion of atheistic evolutionary secular
humanism has taken control of the taxpayer’s purse and has sought to exclude other
viewpoints from rightful taxpayer dollars. They have unrighteously usurped the
taxpayers’ purse and public education needs to be freed of its stifling grip.
10. Satan wants to keep everybody busy with the cares of this life with
endless, mindless entertainment on TV and film. He promotes the idea that it’s the
journey not the destination that is important when the exact opposite is true. A
person’s destination is infinitely more important than the journey. Satan knows that
to feed the sinful nature of men he can slowly bring them into deeper and more gross
acceptance of sin. He also knows he can quench a true Christian’s spiritual life by
feeding their minds with empty, perverse things through the media. We read in Philippians
4 v 8 about what to feed our mind with: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any
virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Pollution of the mind
destroys a nation.
11. Satan will infiltrate a church with false teachers and doctrine.
Churches who accept anyone who can merely quote John 3 v 16 are in open danger and will
eventually lose their pulpit and building to a counterfeit. We can quote just a few
scriptures of many. Romans 16 v 17 "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which
cause division and offences contrary to sound doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid
them." 1 Timothy 4 v 1 "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils." 2 Timothy 4 v 3,4 "For a time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching
ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto
fables." Jude 1 v 4 "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were
before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God
into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." Here
are just a few items contrary to sound doctrine, any position on prophecy which does not
have the removal of the church before the 7 year tribulation of Revelation 6-19, any
compromise with Evolution, any position holding that a believer can lose their salvation,
any marriage of the Bible with psychological ideas of unredeemed men such as "self
esteem", any position where you can claim to be a Christian and still practice sin
with no long term change of life, false doctrines such as Calvinism which are fiercely
held, the tongues movement, the signs and wonders movement, the claim of the coming great
revival when God’s word says the church age ends in apostasy, etc..
12. Satan will seek to have you rely on your feelings or inner
impressions, as if from God, in your decision making, rather than first measuring these
against the word of God. To be sure a Christian can and should have the inner peace which
passeth all understanding and can be led by the Holy Spirit with inner impressions but
they must be carefully weighed upon the word of God before acted upon. Satan induced
feelings or impressions will always involve a compromise of some sort to fulfil them. I
can think of a number times where I’ve had a feeling that I might meet someone soon
for a possible relationship. But when the apparent answer came, it involved being
unequally yoked.
13. Satan can recognize when a person is close to coming to Christ and
he will send members of false religion into that person’s life to entice, lead
astray, or turn them off. Satan will also do the same to a new believer to bring confusion
and religious bondage.
Spiritual Attacks a Christian Faces
Although Satan attacks from without he has an ally within the
Christian called the flesh. The flesh is that as yet unredeemed part of us, which acts
independently of God. The flesh is utterly selfish, utterly sinful, an ally of Satan and
seeks to bring us back into slavery to sinful practices. We read in Galations 5 v 16,17
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For
the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Positionally
in Christ we have been freed from the flesh but to experience freedom daily we have to
learn to walk in the Spirit. Because of this daily internal battle that a Christian has
entered Satan has an ally within that he seeks to strengthen and use. He seeks to
strengthen the flesh in people by what they view with their eyes, what they hear with
their ears as well as the other senses we have. Satan knows that feeding of the flesh
through rebellious movies, TV, music weakens a person spiritually. He knows that a
Christian’s flesh will get the upper hand because disobedience in what you view and
listen to quenches the Spirit’s power. Daily confession of any known sin is essential
to an experiential vital relationship with the Holy Spirit. Confession of sin needs to
acknowledge taking control of the will and following the flesh and conversely must follow
with surrender of the will to the Holy Spirit in order to experience the victory over sin.
There is a whole realm of spiritual attacks that Satan will be allowed
to put you under. So the ones I mention here will not be all-inclusive but hopefully will
cover enough ground for you to recognize when you are being attacked. 1 Peter 5 v 8-10
reads, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that
the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God
of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye
have suffered a while, make you perfect (spiritually mature), stablish, strengthen, settle
you." While Satan seeks to have you fall into sin and to control you, God seeks to
build your spiritual muscle and teach you to walk in the strength of the Holy Spirit and
to be conformed to the image of His Son. The scripture calls us to keep every thought
"captive to Christ". This means knowing the scripture and putting to death
thoughts that come from Satan or your flesh.
1. The main battlefield of attack is your mind. Satan will bring to
your memory your past sins in very vivid detail. He wants to torment you with your past.
What is really gauling is that it is likely one of his demonic spirits was there when you
actually did the sin and was using his power to influence you to sin. So, we are dealing
with some really malicious beings here. Our defence has to be to own that sin and say my
Savior Jesus has paid for that one. In fact Satan are there any of my sins that Jesus has
not already paid for? Then respectfully ask him to withdraw. We have mentioned James 4 v 7
earlier.
2. Satan will seek to move your focus to things of lesser importance
till all you think about are lesser things and activities. If your goal for living each
day is anything but to do the will of God and be conformed to the image of his Son then it
is likely you are off track on lesser issues.
3. Satan will flood your mind with impure, lustful thoughts and imagery
seeking to get you to yield to the persuasion. The Bible calls them the "fiery darts
of the evil one". Ephesians 6 v 16.
4. Satan will try and give you a "running" mind where
thoughts just rapidly come and go as if they are being fed into your mind and you
don’t control them.
5. Satan will put subtle thought suggestions in your mind seeking to
get you to think that they are your own or worse yet from God. We need to examine thoughts
to see if they conform to the likeness of Jesus, pure, unselfish etc.
6. Satan will offer you a relationship with an unbeliever, if you
resist and refuse, not wanting to be unequally yoked, he will question your sexuality.
7. Satan will come and bring intense mental thoughts of dissatisfaction
with God because of unanswered prayer or a myriad of other circumstances and then attempt
you to accuse God of wrongdoing. He will try to create a storm in your mind as he assails
with negative thoughts.
8. Satan will attempt to get you to be dissatisfied with God’s
will and provision for your life by showing you all the wealth and possessions of other
people who don’t know God. He wants to elicit you to envy and to seek the same goals
as the world. (See Psalm 73)
9. Satan will throw thought darts at you through other people just as
he used Peter to attack Jesus about going to the cross to make payment for our sins. A
popular one he uses today is to "just love one another, forget this sound doctrine
stuff, it divides". What is particularly gauling is that he delights to attack you
this way using a carnal Christian who has yielded to their flesh or maybe someone who just
professes to be a Christian. Another one is "Don’t judge lest you be
judged". Satan uses this to try and suspend thinking and discernment. Yet there are
many scriptures which call us to judge ourselves, judge doctrine, judge spirits, judge
speakers, judge those within the church who are practicing sin, as well as many more. The
only caveat God calls for is to judge righteously with kindness and gentleness and a
motive to restore relationships. Yet Satan seeks to suspend all judgment.
10. He will seek to tempt you to be proud about your education, your
looks, your job, your spiritual knowledge, your latest sermon, your children, your
possessions, your country, your city, and a myriad of other things. The root of pride is
the fleshly nature which boasts in itself, yet the Lord says that let him who boasts,
boast in the Lord. For what do you have that was not given unto you by the Lord? He seeks
for you to take credit for things instead giving all credit to God.
11. Satan will try to advance our vain imaginations towards grandiose
plans for business or doing God’s work. Of course we would be lifted up into a
powerful position in the scheme of things. Yet Jesus would say, take my yoke upon yourself
and learn of me, for I am meek, humble, and a servant to others.
12. Satan will seek for you to be impatient with God. A lot of times we
pray for God to meet some of our legitimate desires and yet we receive no answer. In our
time of waiting on God Satan will invariably step in and offer a shortcut to the answer.
He will provide apparent answers to your prayers but there is always a compromise
involved. Generally Satan’s answers come before Gods as a test of your discernment.
God wants you to learn the difference between the two.
13. Satan will seek to divide true Christians from each other. Just as
Satan used Peter to speak through and oppose Jesus, he will use the tongues of his
children or a carnal Christian to speak opposition to someone who is seeking to do
God’s will. One common approach is to bring up the past sins of that one seeking to
do the will of God to another. While each of us in the flesh have done many unsavory
things Satan knows that some might think their sins are less offensive than others and
exalt themselves condemning the other. This has been an effective way of breaking
relationships and God’s work. If a person does not discern the intent of other
people’s words and recognize Satan speaking through them they will be deceived into
following those words.
14. Satan will oppose you as you seek to communicate God’s word to
others. Many times he will wait until you are home alone then enter your presence for a
wrestling match of the mind. You cannot expect to freely call people out of his kingdom
without opposition.
15. Satan will come and seek to knock you down after you had a mountain
top spiritual experience with God. Perhaps you have seen some spiritual growth in a area
that the flesh was dominant and have experienced through the Holy Spirit more consistent
victory. Satan will seek to oppose you by getting you to stumble into sin.
16. Satan will seek to masquerade as the Holy Spirit’s voice in
your mind. Sometimes he will seek to give you a strong impression about a direction for
your life whether it be a job or a certain place to move to or a certain person to relate
to. Many times the direction will be along the lines of your own inner desires. This makes
it very difficult sometimes to discern what to do because of the subjective nature of the
leading combined with our own desires. What I have learned is that if the leading is
persistent, slightly pushy, and your mind becomes slightly stressed it is time for
caution. It is also important to share with a spiritually minded person your leading and
ask them to pray about it for you. In one instance I had a strong impression to leave a
job and move to another city. The strong direction keep my mind preoccupied quite a bit as
to whether I should make the move. Two things led to resolvement. I shared my direction
with some friends and I recognized that if I bailed on my job at this point in time I
would be leaving in the middle of the project. As my friends prayed the strong leading
left from my mind and I realized that God’s timing is perfect and to bail out half
way through a project did not seem to fit God’s character and my previous experience
with his timing. If inner leading is from the Holy Spirit it is peaceable to the mind,
honoring to current responsibilities and not pushy, impulsive or have a shady side to it.
Have you recognized some of these methods and attacks of Satan? If you
have the Spirit is showing you these things. And he wants to also show you the way of
consistent victory through not just abiding in Him but through the Armor of God.
Putting on the Armor of God
Besides asking to be filled with Holy Spirit on a moment by moment
basis, God commands each one us to put on the armor of God each day. Just as by faith you
yield to the Spirit and trust the Spirit will produce the fruit of the Spirit through you,
the same goes with the armor of God. By faith you put on each piece of armor and through
that obedience trust the Holy Spirit to make each piece of armor real in the daily battle.
For a long time in my Christian walk I did not take seriously the commands of Ephesians
chapter 6 v 10-19. Since I have been daily putting on my armor I have experienced much
more mental and emotional self-control as well as freedom from practicing sin. I have been
able to resist the devil when he comes into my presence and seeks to harass and oppress my
mind. When do you put the armor on? Well, when do you enter the battlefield each day? If
you guessed the moment your eyes open in the morning you are correct. That is provided you
went to sleep filled with the Spirit, with no unconfessed sin and having asked God to
protect you during your sleeping hours. If so, you enter the battlefield the moment you
awake and sometimes Satan doesn’t wait for you to use the washroom or have breakfast.
He’s there instantly to attack your mind and emotions and your trust in God.
Let’s read the scriptures on the armor and make comment on the purpose of each piece.
I do not intend to be exhaustive as to every aspect of the armor of God as that is not the
intent of this paper. It is but a brief commentary to open up the resources of God to your
daily experience in the battle for your mind and to leave you standing at the end of the
day.
Ephesians 6 v 10-19 reads, v10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might. V11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil. V12 For we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. V13 Wherefore take unto you the
whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all,
to stand. V14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness; V15 and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace; V16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked one. V17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God: V18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all
saints; V19 and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth
boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.
Paul says at the start that we "wrestle" against the
invisible forces of the Dark Planet. The wrestling ring of this battle is your mind. When
these fallen spirits are in your presence they seek to influence your mind, to lead you
into sin, to toss you to and fro with every wind of false doctrine, to turn your emotions
into a roller coaster, to harass you over past sins, to lead you into bad choices, to
bring confusion (for the devil is the author of confusion), to control your mind so it is
running, to take away a peaceful mind and the list could go on. God, the Holy Spirit
indwells and wants you to learn how to win this wrestling match in daily experience
through the spiritual armor of God.
The first piece of armor God says to put on is to "girt your loins
with truth". The concept here is to renew your mind in the word of God and build your
thinking on the great truths of God’s word. The mind does work in measure to the old
axiom "garbage in garbage out". If you are feeding your mind with the corrupt
media of the world your fruit will be rotten. However if you feed your mind on the word of
God and with teachers of sound doctrine and yield your will to what it says you will have
in good measure a renewed mind. It is for this reason that you need to read the word of
God daily to keep your mind fed with true reality. For the Bible is an accurate
description of true reality versus the vain illusions and imaginations that fill the dark
planet. The second piece of armor is the "breastplate of righteousness". This
piece of armor is for emotional stability. A major source of emotional upheaval and
instability is caused by the true guilt as a result of our personal sins. When Jesus comes
in and cleanses that guilt we receive his righteousness and peace with God. This
recognition that my guilt was placed upon another and I am eternally secure and free is my
main source of emotional stability. The ancients believed that the main organs of the body
were the seat of the emotions. Having this armor on keeps your life from being an
emotional roller coaster as you face the circumstances of daily life. If Satan can get you
to believe that you can lose your salvation and has enticed put you on to the daily
performance roller coaster he has gained a major victory over your emotional security. The
truth of salvation being eternally secure is the sure ground needed in the daily battle.
The third piece of armor is "having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace." The concept here is to be looking for Spirit led opportunities to give the
gospel to people you meet in your daily life. God is everywhere convicting the world of
their sin, their need for righteousness and the judgment that is coming. God may want to
use you to give spiritual light to an individual that is in your circle of influence.
I know that I’ve missed a few opportunities by thinking that
nothing much was going on today. An yet God does not want us going around trying to corner
people and blasting them with the gospel. It has to be led by the Holy Spirit, which is a
learning process. One time I felt led by the Spirit to head to the mountains and scramble
the East End of Rundle. It was foggy high up on the mountain but I had a zeal to hurry up
the ridge. Since this seemed unusual I sensed there was some purpose. As I reached the
upper slopes I met a couple who did not know the last way. I both showed them the way and
gave them some spiritual light through my web site address. The fourth piece of armor is
the "shield of faith". Its purpose is to "quench the fiery darts of the
wicked". The fiery darts are what I call thought bombs. They can come through people
as Satan used Peter to oppose Jesus or they can be just a fallen spirit in your presence
throwing evil or seductive thoughts into your mind. There are many types of darts but all
will be contrary to the sound doctrine of the word of God. The point here is to resist or
reject these thoughts at their onset as not from God but from the enemy and therefore
repulsed. Sometimes I find myself just lifting my arm as if it has a shield on it and
saying ‘I reject these thoughts as not from God". And then I respectfully ask
the spirit to leave in the name of Jesus. If the thoughts persist I use whatever truths of
scripture that will address the lines of thought I’m being attacked with. The fifth
piece of armor is the "helmet of salvation". The helmet of salvation is for the
protection of your mind and also the security of your salvation. If Satan can get you to
believe that you can lose your salvation he will have gained a major victory on your peace
of mind. He will have brought you into the fear and bondage that you fall into and out of
salvation based on your daily performance. So, the recognition and understanding of the
full payment that Jesus made on the cross and the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit
give the peace of God in your mind that passeth all understanding. Another aspect of the
helmet of salvation is having a peaceful easy working mind not over stressed by this worry
and that anxiety or this fear. When you by faith put on the helmet the Holy Spirit gives
you that peaceful easy thinking state of mind as long as you don’t quench Him by sin.
The sixth piece of armor is called the "Sword of the Spirit". This sword allows
the Holy Spirit to bring the right scripture to your mind for the particular need of the
moment. When Jesus was led out into the wilderness to be tested by the Devil he kept
quoting to the Devil the particular scripture appropriate for the need of the moment. I
will give you a common example you will face. God will allow you to be put through adverse
circumstances. You may be a little bewildered as to why this is happening to you. At this
point in time Satan will come along and seek for you to blame God or he will say that God
has abandoned you or that God cannot be trusted. The Holy Spirit however will bring
scripture to your mind about being appointed to trials and that God will never leave thee
nor forsake thee. The correct scripture will blunt and turn back the attack upon your
mind. The seventh piece of armor is an attitude of prayer. It involves asking the Holy
Spirit to make you aware of things and people that you should pray for as you walk through
your day. God wants us to learn about what things to pray about. We need to ask the Holy
Spirit to keep us aware of things we should be praying about and through that learning
process we grow in grace and spiritual understanding.
Conclusion
My prayer for you is that having escaped the Dark Planet, having
escaped from the kingdom of the god of this world, having your darkened mind restored,
that you would walk worthy of the Prince of all Peace. That you would commit yourself to
be a mature ambassador for Christ. That you would commit yourself, dependent upon the true
counsellor, the Holy Spirit, to learn to rightly divide the whole scriptures from Genesis
to Revelation. For we read of our resources to live the Christian life in 1 Peter 1 v 3,
"According to his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and
godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue."
That you would leads others into the battle and teach these things also, enduring all
things as a good soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ. Maranatha pilgrims of the heavenly way!
