| Ephesians 6:10-20
There's a War Going On--We're in a War, a
Raging Battle
In Jim Wilson's "Principles of War" he says
this "war" we're in is more deadly than any man has ever fought--the
war of the soul. ["Principles of War: How to Use Proven Military
Strategies in Spiritual Warfare" by James I. Wilson, available
online from http://www.amazon.com
] The spiritual warfare in New England appears to be more
intense than in southern California. It is harder for Christians
to do things for the Lord in this area than it has ever been
for us out in California. Daniel 10 shows us there is a battle
going on that we don't even see. I have seen a great opposition
to us right here in New England. It is very intense. [Another
very well written book on this subject which takes this study
even further and looks at the same material covered here is
a book titled "SPIRITUAL WARFARE" by Brian Brodersen, available
online at http://www.thewordfortoday.org/product_nav.html
. Look under the section Calvary Basics and you'll find this
book listed. This short book (for $3.50) is a must. It can
be read by most at one sitting, but you may find yourself
reading it over and over again.]
Ephesians 6:10-20, "Finally, be strong
in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor
of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's
schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities, against
the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full
armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may
be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything,
to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled
around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness
in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that
comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this,
take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word
of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my
mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make
known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador
in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."
"Finally Brethren, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty
power." Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:1-7, 14-20 cross references
to this thought. Ephesians 1:15-23, "For this reason, ever
since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your
love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks
for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may
give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you
may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart
may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to
which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance
in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us
who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty
strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from
the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly
realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,
and every title that can be given, not only in the present
age but also in the one to come. And God placed all
things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything
for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who
fills everything in every way." Ephesians 3:1-7,14-21.
"For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for
the sake of you Gentiles--Surely you have heard about the
administration of God's grace that was given to me for you,
that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I
have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will
be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
which was not made known to men in other generations as it
has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles
and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the
Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together
of one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ
Jesus.
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's
grace given me through the working of his power…"(vs.
14-21) "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from
whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen
you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I
pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have
power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and
long and high and deep is the love that surpasses knowledge--that
you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we
ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within
us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout
all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
You can know about the power of God, but you need it in
you to accomplish victory. Our opponent is too great
for us alone, but he and those that are his are not too great
for God's power.
When I think of New England, I think of Gideon. He was the
least of the least in Israel. 130,000 Midianite soldiers opposed
him. There is a direct correlation between physical warfare
and spiritual warfare. Jim Wilson outlines 11 principles of
warfare every army must follow to succeed. I managed to get
8 of them here:
- Every army or fighting unit needs an objective.
- You must be on the offensive, not defensive.
- Concentration of forces [brings max. fire-power
to bear on the target]
- Mobility [for when you meet an obstacle, you can
go around it.]
- Cooperation [team work facilitates mobility, concentration
of forces, being on the offensive, economy of forces and
pursuit of the enemy. This one’s very important!]
- Economy of forces [no wasted actions, firepower
or manpower]
- Pursuit of the enemy [cousin to being on the offensive.
Taking the battle to his doorstep, instead of letting him
show up on yours.]
- Obedience [Our marching orders in detail, showing
the specifics of the territory and battle we’re to
fight, including minefields to avoid and other pitfalls
and snares the enemy has laid out. The Law of God contains
all of this information. Jesus indwelling in us through
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes obedience possible.
On our own it is not possible.]
- What is our objective? Evangelism and reaping the harvest
(making disciples), isn't it? This is the stated mission
assigned by our Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ. Matthew
28:18-20. "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age." [refer to link article "What is Evangelism?" for an
in-depth description of our marching orders, evangelism.]
- An army on the offensive has a military advantage.
God's crippling blow against Satan was Christ's death, burial
and resurrection. A very good analogy was the crippling
blow the United States Navy delivered to the Japanese Navy
at the Battle of Midway. This one naval battle ended Japanese
Naval superiority. The rest of the war, although extremely
deadly, was a mop-up operation. The carriers the Japanese
lost in that battle was their famed Kido Buti, their famed
fast powerful carrier strike force which had hit Pearl Harbor.
After that battle, the Japanese had lost their offensive
strike weapon--from experienced pilots to the carrier force
itself--they lost the whole offensive strike weapon.
Our armour is intended to be offensive in nature, helping
us to go into harm's way. It is God's
will that we be exposed to attack, but not defeated. It's
quite likely Paul was chained to a Roman soldier as he wrote
this passage in Ephesians 6. We are told to put on Christ
here. We're told to put on the whole armour of God. Romans
13:11-14. "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is
high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is
nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent,
the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works
of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and
drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not in
strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts."
We can see here that putting on the armor of light is accomplished
by putting on Jesus Christ. Jesus is the armor of God, the
armor of light. King David put off his armor in his castle
when he should have been in battle and he was hit harder
than ever by Satan (the Bathsheba incident). To put on the
armor of God is to hang out with the Lord. We don't have
a choice here. John 14:6. "Jesus said to him, 'I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me.'" Hebrews 12:2. "Let us fix our
eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who
for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, and sat down a the right hand of the throne of God."
Hudson Taylor finally learned what it is to "put on Christ."
Refer back to the section about Hudson Taylor to more fully
understand this essential priciple.]
Standing militarily equals:
- Having good intelligence, knowing your enemy's plans.
- Having good protection, offensive armour. [putting on
Jesus.]
- Having good offensive weaponry.
Who's our enemy? Isaiah 14:12-15. "How you
have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low
the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars [angels] of God; I
will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost
heights of the sacred mountain [Hebrew: sides of the north].
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself
like the Most High.' But you are brought down to the grave,
to the depths of the pit." Revelation 12:3-4, 7-12. "Then
another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with
seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His
tail swept a third of the stars [the word stars can symbolically
refer to angels when used in certain contexts] out of the
sky and flung them to the earth…And there was war in
heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,
and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not
strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great
dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil,
or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled
to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud
voice in heaven say: 'Now have come the salvation and the
power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his
Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them
before our God day and night has been hurled down. They overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone
down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that
his time is short.'"
There could be billions of angels in existence. Satan deceived
and drew one third of all of them to himself. Satan or his
demon allies are not Omnipotent, or omnipresent
like God is. Satan may have been the counterpart of Michael.
Satan is called a roaring lion by Peter. 1 Peter 5:8. "Be
self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist
him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your
brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind
of sufferings."
2 Corinthians 11:13-15. "For such men are false apostles,
deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And
no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
It is not surprising then, if his servants masquerade as servants
of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions
deserve."
2 Corinthians 4:3-4. "And even if our gospel is veiled, it
is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age
has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot
see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God."
The mind of the enemy: Read Job 1:6-22; 2:1-10. God uses Satan.
Look also at Joseph's life. His brothers meant evil, but God
worked it to the good. Satan's weapons are ignorance,
and lies. The external weapon he uses is the world,
his societies which make up the world we live in. The internal
weapon he uses against us are the desires of the flesh. God's
ultimate weapon is Love, Agape Love, and forgiveness. Forgiveness
and love disarms the enemy and his works.
Your battle is never against people. Daniel 10:4-14. "On the
twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on
the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there
before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of the finest
gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face
like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and
legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like
the sound of a multitude. I Daniel, was the only one who saw
the vision; the men with me did not see it, but such terror
overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. So I was
left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength
left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. Then
I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into
a deep sleep, my face to the ground.
A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.
He said, 'Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully
the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I
have now been sent to you.' And when he said this to me, I
stood up trembling.
Then he continued, 'Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first
day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble
yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have
come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian
kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of
the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained
there with the king of Persia. [A spirit king, the prince
of Persia] Now I have come to explain to you what will
happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns
a time yet to come.'"
Ephesians 6:12-13. "For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the
full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you
may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done
everything, to stand."
Vs. 14-19, "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled
around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in
place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes
from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up
the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers
and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep
on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever
I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly
make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador
in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."
The first article of our armor is the "belt of truth". There
are two interpretations for this belt.
- The Word of God [but the "sword of the Spirit" is defined
as the word of God.
- A true sincere life without hypocrisy.
A hypocritical life will lead to defeat.
You're an easy target for Satan if you're a hypocrite. Satan
is "the accuser of the brethren." Don't give him ammo! John
defines spiritual hypocrisy pretty accurately. 1 John 1:1-8.
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which
we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our
hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of
life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it,
and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the
Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we
have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship
with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to
you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If
we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness,
we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from
all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him
out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
John here either gives you confidence that you are in the
Lord, or a hypocrite, with you pants down around your ankles!
It's hard to fight with your pants down around your ankles.
That's why the admonition to put on the "belt of truth." Our
heart should be to do the truth, to live it. God is not into
lip-service. Obedience is very important in warfare, especially
spiritual warfare. When the church is girded in truth it is
strong. When it is girded in disobedience it is broken down
and weak. Obedience is like a soldier’s marching orders
for a particular upcoming battle. You follow them. You don’t
neglect specific details in these orders which tell you to
go this way or not to go that way—to avoid pitfalls in
the terrain or enemy entrapments and minefields. Remember,
obedience is the 8th principle of waging successful
warfare. Being 8th doesn’t make it less important.
Missing any one of these points can cause failure. If you
don’t think so, watch a real war movie about soldiers
who unknowingly walked into a minefield.
A Roman soldier's belt also held the famous Roman short-sword.
This weapon was a superior weapon in close combat situations.
Vs. 17, "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God." Jesus took up and
used the "sword of the Spirit" against Satan in his titanic
battle with the devil in the desert. Matthew 4:1-11.
This
is recommended reading for Messianic Jewish and Sabbatarian
Churches of God brethren prior to and during the Days of Unleavened
Bread (starting at Passover).
This book is all about putting spiritual "leaven"-sin-out of our lives.
It shows just how evil sin really is, how devastating
it is to our very lives.
"Go
And Sin No More" book review
"Go and Sin No More
is a masterful book on an unpopular subject.
Speaking as one who has and is experiencing a revival
of cleansing and deliverance, Michael Brown brings to the
table a rich resource for all who seek a biblical view of
sin and its absolute consequences to the believer's soul."
FRANK DAMAZIO Senior Pastor, City Bible Church, Portland,
Oregon.
"Personal holiness is the key to God's
ultimate plans for us all.
"Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:16 KJV) is a
command, not a suggestion.
Romans 8:29 clearly emphasizes this great truth: "For
those God foreknew He also predestinated to be conformed to
the likeness of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brothers." Conformed
to His likeness! That
is what God's call to us to live holy lives is all about. It's the central element of God's wonderful
plan for our lives.
How can we be holy? In ourselves, we cannot. We can only do so by the ministry of the Holy
Spirit within us. [So
if you try-all on your own--to apply this book to your life
to break the chains of a sin or sins that are binding you,
it will not help. You
must be born-again, filled and indwelt by the Holy Spirit
of God before this book will do you any good whatsoever. But if you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, this
book is powerful. It
is spiritual weaponry of immense power, it is a cutting torch
which directs the Holy Spirit in your life, cutting those
chains of repetitive sin that may be binding you.]
That is why for 47 years Campus Crusade for Christ-now
in 172 countries with a staff of 19,000 and 181,000 volunteers-has
strongly emphasized the ministry of the Holy Spirit. "For it is God which worketh in you both to
will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13, KJV). We cannot
effectively do anything, even witness for Christ, without
the enabling and power of the Holy Spirit.Go and Sin No More is a magnificent, comprehensive
work on the important but oft-neglected subject of holiness. Dr. Michael L. Brown's wonderful insights make
this one of those rare life-changing books. Every Christian who reads it will be blessed
and will never be the same.
I believe it is God's message for this hour.
[the late]
DR. BILL BRIGHT
Founder
[and former] President
Campus
Crusade for Christ International"
A Few Excerpts.
"This book
provides a massive spiritual assortment of ammunition we can
use to wage war against the flesh, the devil, and the world."
"There
are three things sin will always do.
It will keep you longer than you intended to stay,
take you further than you intended to go, and cost you more
than you intended to spend.
Sin is treacherous!
And since we know we're in a daily battle,
let's arm ourselves with all the ammunition we can to help
us submit to God and say no to the flesh, the devil, and the
world." (pp. 60-61)
"Paul
wrote that a little leaven leavens the whole lump (see 1 Cor.
5:6; Gal 5:9), and the Word tells us that one man's sin-Achan
in Joshua 7-caused thirty-six Israelites to die, since his
transgression stopped the Lord from going out to battle with
His people. There was
an enemy in God's own camp!
Yet he sinned secretly, none of the leaders knew anything about it-meaning
that our secret sins can have public consequences too. This is a deep spiritual matter, my friend."
(p. 65)
".sin
can render the anointing ineffective.
It is literally poison to our whole spiritual system. There are tragic stories, stories that we know
too well, of men and women who were mightily used by God until
sin drained them dry. [and
I might add, this is talking about repetitive sin, not the
occasional slip-up which we confess and don't keep repeating.].Think
of a godly woman mightily used to heal the sick.
How much suffering is relieved through her ministry,
how much torment lifted.But she gets caught up in greed, mishandling
the ministry funds an lying to her constituents. Before you know it, the anointing is gone! For a while it appeared as if she could mess
up and minister at the same time.
But no, the pollution gradually drove the Holy Spirit
away. Sin saps the anointing, be it the anointing
to preach or teach, the anointing to heal or deliver, the
anointing to counsel or lead-sin will steal it and leave nothing
in return. Worst of all, by destroying the anointing on
one person's life, hundreds, thousands, even millions of others
who could have been blessed through that vessel will have
to turn elsewhere.you have a sacred duty not to squander that
divine enabling. Many
lives are dependent on your faithfulness.
So don't let sin put out the embers that burn in your
heart; rather, fan them into flame (see 2 Tim. 1:6)."
(p. 66)
"Why sin
if you know that sooner or later you're going to get caught? Why do something in secret that eventually will
be known in public? Why
defile yourself under the covering of darkness if your unclean
act will eventually be brought to light?.You see, in God's
universe, nobody really "gets away" with anything.
"The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place
of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind
them" (1 Tim. 5:24). One
way or another, what we do will catch up with us, either in
this world or in the world to come.
"In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even
those that are not cannot be hidden." (1 Tim. 5:25).Of course,
if you truly repent and turn from your sins, the Lord will
wipe them away, sometimes even softening the blow of the negative
consequences of those wrongful acts." (pp. 72-73)
"God shows
us the traps in advance [through his Word]. Satan only shows us the bait." (p.85)
This book
is all about those traps and bait of Satan, sin, and the reasons why we should avoid
them at all costs. Reading
this book in a slow, meditative way will actually give a believer
the ability to cut through the chains of longstanding habits
of sin. If you find
yourself bound by a particular sinful habit, a secret sin-habit
no one knows about, do read this book. As the late Dr. Bill Bright said, it
will change your life.
The full
name of the book is:
GO
and SIN NO MORE
A
CALL TO HOLINESS
By Michael
L. Brown
A Division
of Gospel Light
Ventura, California, U.S.A.
http://www.gospellight.com
or call 1-800-4-GOSPEL
ISBN 0-8307-22389-7
For more information on ICN Ministries, or for a complete resource catalog
of other books and tapes by Dr. Michael L. Brown, write to:
ICN Ministries
8594 Highway 98 West, Pensacola, FL 32506
Phone: (850) 458-6424: Fax: (850) 458-1828
Email: RevivalNow@msn.com
To order
online you might also try http://www.christianbooks.com or
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