Ephesians, A Users Guide To Spiritual Warfare

[mattfivefour]

I know what you say is true, yet it is sometimes hard to understand how the Lord's victory applies in practice. The one thing I am sure of is trusting His commands enough to do my best to live by them, trusting His Name in times of need, and trusting His intent in times of doubt. Those three things keep me going when I find it hard to understand my circumstances.

Exactly what you should do, sis. That is precisely the import of Isaiah 50:10.

[Meg]

Exactly what you should do, sis. That is precisely the import of Isaiah 50:10.

So I got it right? We all tend to think of victory in the Lord as a one-off that solves a problem. Is that perception inaccurate then?

[mikhen7]

So I got it right? We all tend to think of victory in the Lord as a one-off that solves a problem. Is that perception inaccurate then?

Jesus' victory was never a one-off thing and you are correct that sometimes we can feel that way. The confetti from the resurrection has still not settled! Hallelujah! 3 weeks ago I witnessed a $10.00 gift to a homeless man turn into bus tickets as he looked for work. He got two jobs by the end of the week and a promotion to assistant manager, and an apartment all in in a 3 week period! That is the power of God!! I prayed with a man 3 weeks ago that was sent home to die from the hospital. The doctor said he only had a short time to live and that the cancer had spread throughout his brain. Two days later I get a call, he is 100% healed! A middle aged woman came to me in doubt concerning why she had to take such a low paying job when previously she had such a good one. One week later she shows up to church with 10 new people, all met at her lowly job! God again! We decided to hand out tracts and bible passages to the trick-or-treaters on Halloween in front of the church. While doing this, a man showed up out of the blue and went into the sanctuary and fixed our sound, projector, and video systems, all un-asked. Wow! God again. The same night an interested onlooker walked over with his wife to see what all the action was about. He introduced himself as the General Manager of our Christian Radio station and his wife is a Christian author. He was in church with us on Sunday!! How many ways can we praise thee oh Lord! That is the tip of the iceberg of the past month. Sunday I was asked to be Sr. Pastor. Today I got a raise at work. All of these things are proof there is a God who is working out all things for good, daily. Sunday a single young woman who was raised in the Bronx shows up for church and is so overcome by the Holy Spirit that she stands up and testifies of the blessing she received just for coming to worship! Amazing!

Meg I wrote these things not to make you feel like others are getting all the blessings but to show you that in all circumstances from the lowly and homeless to the very blessed, God is always at work around us. You too have touched many lives. The plans and the future that God has prepared for you are in waiting. One day soon you will see with your own eyes the awesome power and salvation of God at work. Trust me in this, but better yet turn your eyes on Jesus and never look away. Just say Yes Jesus everyday, I will trust You! Sheila Walsh was on the radio last week and she said, "everyday I get up and the first thing I say Is, 'Lord, I do not know what you will do this day but I will be here to follow you through it'" Something to that effect. Everyday His mercies are new, all praise be unto Him.

I am still walking through the fire but I know He is carrying me even as I write. Though He slay me I will trust Him! (Job)

God Bless!

[mattfivefour]

Wonderful post, Mike! And yes, Meg, the perception that this is a one-time thing is incorrect. We have to walk it out every day. And always remember that you do not have to get the victory. Christ already did. So in the deepest sense we need to keep our eyes on Him and that fact. You see, Jesus is the source of everything we need. The Cross is the means by which it is imputed to us. And the Holy Spirit is the one who works it out in us. In practical terms our part, as you put it is "trusting His commands enough to do my best to live by them, trusting His Name in times of need, and trusting His intent in times of doubt" ... every single day.

[Meg]

I have been praying about this study, and I feel that the next point to be addressed is the importance of truth in our walk with our Lord. One of the most important verses in Scripture is John 8:31-32

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

It can be a real shock just how many lies the average person is hit with over the course of a lifetime. I really noticed the impact of the light of truth coming on when Robert and I got together, and I started telling him the truth about himself. His first reaction was shock and real anger. He had been lied to so many times in so many ways, bombarded with deceitful negativity to the point where in most ways he felt like one huge epic fail! That wasn't and isn't true about him at all either, but negative lies were all he ever heard, and he believed it to a point where he was creatively paralyzed! Here's an example; Robert went to a small community college for 2 years, studying art. Robert is a greatly gifted artist, I am sure of this because I have never been able to draw well, something that really frustrates me. Well, Robert's art teacher told him that artists are forbidden to do rough sketches, that they MUST get any artwork perfect in one try. Robert had suffered some severe blows to the head from his crazy older brother, combined with the overwhelming stress of caring for his parents, he was having real trouble drawing, and forgot many of his skills for a while. So when he moved down here and tried to get back to normal, he was having real trouble with his artwork. Trying to get anything perfect on the first try left him so intimidated that he was freezing up and couldn't draw a thing. I knew he was good, I had seen his work from years past, knew he's as good as any fine artist who ever lived, and I knew something was wrong but I didn't know what. Finally it came out about the rough sketch issue. When it finally sank in that doing rough sketches is not only permissible, it is a normal and necessary part of the development of any fine painting, Robert's gifts started to bloom once again! The truth set him free...

Then there's what has been happening in my own life. I grew up believing I am a failure. I honestly believed that I had some glaring flaw so terrible that I could never be loved or valued and that everybody could see it but me. I would actually tell Jesus Christ that He could find better people than me to serve Him and that He was wasting His time on me. Jesus wouldn't listen. At all. I'd beg Him to let me die and He would reply that He had conquered the grave. I'd tell Him I was useless and He'd tell me I wasn't. I had more trouble believing that I had any self worth, I really couldn't believe I had any value at all. Then after a pastor prayed for me in 2008, I think it was, the Holy Spirit explained to me what went wrong and why. He spoke over me about why my Mother criticized me and doubted me all the time, and how I had grown up believing the lies, and why they weren't true. Then in 2010, the Lord helped me learn how to get my hair properly cut so it flatters my face and how to wear makeup so I look professional. Now I knew I could present myself as well as any woman around me, attractive and mature. Then, early this year, He granted me a husband who honestly loves me. It has been through Robert's love for me that I am learning what is right about me and why. Through discussions and testimonies with Robert and Adrian in particular, I am also learning the brilliant importance of Sanctification, how that transforms us and develops us from the frightened, deceived, angry people we once were to loving, peaceful happy people we were meant to be.

When we are in darkness, hounded by all sorts of lies, we are frightened of others, insecure about ourselves, feeling unlovable and hostile. This all stems from satanic lies designed to destroy us. Satan doesn't just lie to the individual (us), he lies about us to other people, especially those family members and spouses closest to us. He'll toss cheap shots like your spouse isn't good enough, or isn't faithful. He'll tell you your siblings are more attractive than you are and you'll never measure up. He'll tell you all sorts of lies about your coworkers, neighbors, parents, whatever, anything to cause people to distrust each other. This is why Jesus admonition to get the facts is so important:

John 7:24

Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

How do you judge correctly? First, by getting the facts as close to the source as possible. Second, it is very important to stick to the truth in our dealings with each other as much as possible. Now telling someone something that is true in a cruel way isn't being honest in a Godly way, so it is wise to use tact and to choose your timing as carefully as you choose your words in a delicate situation. When in doubt, ask the Lord to point something out, He is faithful and He will do it (I have tested that theory in my marriage, and discovered it does work. Second, be very sure how much any given issue really matters, and in ALL relationships, let the little things go. Third, play it straight in all your relationships, because if you're trying to deceive another person, there is a very high probability that your "little white lie" will be found out. I had a Christian boss trying to witness to me in 2002 and he told me a "little white lie". I found out later that he'd lied to me, and I was FURIOUS!!! That was nearly enough to destroy any hope of me EVER getting Saved... What made the difference in my future was the man who actually did lead me to Christ being honest even when the truth wasn't flattering to his personal image. By admitting that every single thing in his life hadn't gone perfectly, but that he trusted the Lord anyway, I was able to trust his testimony and his God, Jesus Christ. It matters that much. Furthermore, I found the same candid honesty in God's Own Word, and was able to learn that mistakes are possible and that Grace covers human foibles....

Faith and victory in Christ was never about US getting everything right. Victory in Christ is all about Him getting everything right! This is why we depend so much on the Lord, as it is only His opinion of what is true and what is false that counts. This is why prayer for wisdom and insight that can only come from God Himself is so important. This is also why faith in God's character, intent and purpose in our lives is so important, and why obedience to His commands is so critical. Understanding these issues thoroughly is a very important element in winning at Spiritual Warfare.

[mattfivefour]

Exactly, Meg! Jesus Christ indeed "got everything right" on the Cross and thus everything we need is available to us as a result of that one consummate act of all history on earth! Jesus is our only source, the Cross is the only means, and the Holy Spirit is the only agent and He works within us to bring about the ultimate victory in us—and all of the things that victory encompassed—as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and what He did for us at Calvary. The Holy Spirit ONLY works within the finished work of Christ on the Cross: He NEVER works outside of it. Thus our faith is rightly placed ONLY in Christ and what Christ accomplished for us there. Anything else is outside of that work and thus doomed to fail for it relies on something other than what Jesus accomplished for us. (And if our new member Squeaky wants meat: that is it.)

[Meg]

People tell me that "I have achieved" a particular maturity in Christ... This bothers me, because folks get the impression that growth in Christ is "something I did", that others may not be able to accomplish. I maintain that I am not special, that Jesus Christ is, but there is still an element of how and why some people grow strong in the Lord and others seem to get stuck... My relationship with Christ came, as is usually the case with very mature Christians, out of a state of sheer desperation. In my formative years as a Christian, I didn't fit in churches at all. I had a background rooted in drug culture and the criminal element of the bad side of town and it showed -- I couldn't hide it and I didn't know how to suppress it. I'd go to church leaders and pastors begging for help and get brushed off, so I would come home and pray to the only One I had left to turn to. There is a dual tragedy here; first, this level of desperation and alienation is a primary reason many people who initially accept Jesus Christ fall away. Second, comfortable people really don't seem to see enough need for God's answers to seek Him...

Here is a keen and serious observation from the front lines of very serious Spiritual Warfare: when I really needed the Lord, when He was really coming through strongly, I could hear Him, fairly well, sense Him strongly, sometimes could almost see Him. Contrast this with normal life, where we easily see, hear, touch people we are talking with, and it becomes all too clear why many people have trouble believing that Jesus Christ is alive and well, has His own thoughts and His own priorities. This, then, is how we know the stark seriousness of the sin condition and the damage done.

The knee-jerk reaction to this realization is often strict legalism, "don't you dare sin!!" This is the point where Sanctification gets tricky, because legalism is totalitarianism, in other words, a strong desire to lock down control over our own and each other's flesh or sinful nature. Spiritual totalitarianism is actually the least effective solution because it is based on the attitude "because I say so, like a strict parent trying to control a child through harsh discipline. All too often, legalism backfires and makes the very sin we are trying to avoid more enticing, thus defeating the very hope for escape legalism is trying to accomplish... There is a very different approach required if we are to overcome sin, and the key comes from the deepest heart of God Himself:

John 13:34

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Love one another... How? Why? How does something as kind and generous as love, of all things, fit into the confrontational picture of Spiritual Warfare???

We must seek the benefit of others around us. This is what Jesus Christ is famous for getting right, and, tragically, what His church at large is famous for largely lacking! The institutional church is very accomplished at throwing money at problems, primarily because thats what they are told to do every time they look for truth, but the institutional church is utterly lost when it comes to seeking the emotional and social well being of the people around them... This tragedy is born in deeply rooted worldlieness, which is rooted in competitive capitalism. Now before anyone goes accusing me of socialism, I am absolutely NOT a socialist, I know where that system comes from, and I have little doubt that socialism or the veneer of socialism will be a primary lure of the antichrist himself, OK. That being said, Scripture doesn't back socialism either. Paul taught, in and through the Holy Spirit that people should be busy working for the things of life we want and need, not hanging around idle collecting welfare. So what we're seeking here is a balance. It is good and right to work hard to get ahead, to be ambitious and to strive to succeed, but it is sinful and harmful to destroy or devalue others around us as we seek our personal best. It was back when most people were pulling together that America became the great nation under God that, until recently, we were. But the good of the many has been sacrificed on the altar of the personal gain of the very few, and this nation is reaping the whirlwind of epic failure because of this deadly competition!

If we are to overcome lust, for example, we would do well to consider the damage an appetite for fornication can and will have on the person satan is tempting us with. No sane man would want his own precious daughter photographed with her most personal parts on display! Why then, is it OK for someone else's daughter to suffer such indignity??? No sane woman would wish her own husband to be tempted away by another woman. Why then, would she wish to tempt another woman's husband? If its not OK for someone else to do you harm, why is it OK for you to harm another. The tragically forgotten Golden Rule, Matthew 7:12. the words of our Lord and God Jesus Christ:

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

OK, so why does this matter so much? What does being so nice get us besides an evident disadvantage in the face of so much rampant lack of morals in today's society? The name satan, in Hebrew, literally means accuser. So should satan catch us sinning, he actually has grounds to accuse us, in other words he has a point upon which to stand. This means in practice, that there is a critical gap in the very armor of God that we are depending on to keep him out!!!!!! It matters that much!

This being said, now we are ready to go further with Paul's instruction in the precious Book of Ephesians.

[Meg]

Did God really say...

(Genesis 3:1

What if He did. How does that impact the world around us?

How does that impact our walk with Him, our service to Him...

How does the perception that God meant what He said change things?

Ephesians 4:17-18 outlines in just a few words the source of every problem, every grief suffered on Earth due to the harmfulness of sin:

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

"Futility of thinking, darkened in understanding, separated from the life of God, hardening of hearts"; the whole problem of sin in a nutshell. Then the Words of hope, real, tangible hope, in reach, available to all:

Ephesians 4:22-24

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

So Holiness isn't a style of music. Holiness isn't a posture we adopt by positioning our bodies. Holiness isn't the correct combination of decorating our churches or our homes. Holiness isn't just the right fabric in our garments.

Holiness is an attitude of our minds, our thinking, our actions. Holiness is a search for the mind of God, not in theory, but in practice. Holiness is a search for deception in the way we think and act.

Ephesians 4:25-32

25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Speak truthfully. We depend on God to tell us the truth, so how much more must God depend on us to do the same! How can we claim to represent the God of all truth if we are not willing to be honest with others regardless of how we think the truth may make us appear to others!

"In your anger do not sin..." A cautionary warning. The devil instigates others, especially unbelievers and even more especially compromised Christians to provoke us to anger in an effort to compromise God's people to sin, thereby undermining the credibility of God's Church. So anything that provokes our temper should be a warning to be careful of where our thought process is headed when we are irritated or enraged, and to be very careful how we respond.

"He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands"

Some of the most arrogant people I have ever encountered are people who delegate almost all the work to be done at a job to others while they themselves sit proudly on their laurels congratulating themselves on their power. So those who have risen to high places in their personal endeavors and have it in their power to delegate tasks to others should be especially watchful of the temptations they are afflicted with... Authority is a stewardship, not an entitlement.

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths"

This is one of the most overlooked commands in Scripture! James gave such a strong warning:

James 3:5

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

The things we are heard saying and not heard saying have a huge impact on the world around us! There are so many ways we can either heal or harm by the things we say! Gossip, for example, can be so exciting! This is a huge warning, because satan loves to provoke our emotions, and that evil provocation can and does feel extremely good! Beware the tingling enticement of such sin!! Many, many people fall for that, then are left to delve even deeper into sin in an effort to cover their guilt when the damage shows in shattered lives!!

Swearing often seems necessary to communicate strong feelings. This is especially tricky, especially because the need to communicate the seriousness of the issue is very real. On the other hand, one thing I have noticed over and over is that when I have been in situations where either there is no obvious opportunity to witness for Christ, or when I have been witnessing for Christ and unbelievers are deciding for themselves if my faith is credible, if I can refrain from swearing at all, they really notice that. This surprised me at first, but the fact that people do notice has happened often enough now, that I take it very seriously. A little thing like choice of language can strongly bolster our testimony to a watching world...

Ephesians 5:1-2

1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

It seems to me that being imitators of God and living a life of love in an unlovely and unloving world is a very real sacrifice to the Lord. The impact love makes will surely last longer than just about anything else we could possibly do, since it is through love, honesty and kindness we witness to the lost...

Then there is the opposite of love...

Ephesians 5:3-7

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

It has always interested me that Paul grouped greed in with sexual immorality and course joking. It is also hard not to notice that a Church which takes such a strong stance against abortion also takes such a weak stance against sex out of wedlock and adultery... Less than 50 years ago, should a Pastor get a divorce, his career in the church environment was over. Now divorces among pastors are a common feature of the church scene... In fact, among certain types immoral women, interfering with someone else's marriage is an accepted means of finding a "good" or "better" husband! And among high school college age youth, sex is considered a rite of passage of some sort... "Did God really say..." Well, yes, in fact He did.

"Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them."

Does this mean that if someone has already made the mistakes there is no hope? Of course not, but it is also very true that because things have already gotten so far out of hand, God's wrath is indeed coming down on this world with terrifying speed! Someone I love calls this "Snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory"... Indeed, this is exactly what has happened as sin has wormed its ugly deceptive way into the church at large.

I once heard a man speaking on a Focus On The Family program (sorry, I don't remember his name, I heard this show several years ago), about working hard to reconcile differences in his marriage related to handling money. He spoke of his doubts in this way: "Could the God of all perfection have made one little mistake in choosing my wife for me?" That dear man asked himself that question over and over, but deep down he knew that even if God could make a mistake, that wouldn't be it. So the certainty that he had married his wife in the center of God's will became the foundation of his decision to keep trying to break through to a place of respect and understanding that kept him in his marriage until he and his wife understood each other and reconciled their differences.

So being sure enough that God really DID say, that God really DID MEAN what He said is the critical foundation to all victory in Spiritual warfare, and by extension, the only means to unite with Jesus Christ in genuine and absolute victory in all things. It matters that much. Therefore, if we are to hope to put on the armor of God and use the Sword Of The Spirit which is the Word Of God, (Ephesians 6:17), we must insist that His Word is true no matter what else seems real.

Ephesians 6:16-18

16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 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.

Lord Jesus, I thank You for the privilege of writing this series. I thank You for all You have taught me and for all You have given me. I thank You for your inestimably precious Holy Spirit which has so consistently backed You in all You said and all You do. I pray for this series and especially for Your Holy Word, to reach the hearts of many and to spark a deep and widespread revival in and beyond Your Church as we anticipate the stunning miracle of Your Triumphant Return.

On this Christmas Eve, I pray for Peace on Earth and goodwill towards all men, in You, through You and To You alone Jesus Christ. Amen and Amen

[Robert]

It would seem the essence of spiritual warfare is God's words and whether we cling to them or let Satan cause us to question them. Satan's assault consists of "God is less than He claims, and what you are going through proves it". God's point, however, is "I'm more than I can possibly tell you in this life, but what I am telling you is the truth!"

Whom are we willing to listen to: the Liar, or the Truth?

[mattfivefour]

So being sure enough that God really DID say, that God really DID MEAN what He said is the critical foundation to all victory in Spiritual warfare, and by extension, the only means to unite with Jesus Christ in genuine and absolute victory in all things. It matters that much. Therefore, if we are to hope to put on the armor of God and use the Sword Of The Spirit which is the Word Of God, (Ephesians 6:17), we must insist that His Word is true no matter what else seems real.

[Elijah's Mantle]

I am so glad this thread is developing even more ,and greatly worthwhile

[myinnuendo999]

wonderful to see how God has been growing you and his faithfulness in your life Meg



The scarlet thread running through Meg's life~~~ as I've read some of this thread

it is an extremely profound truth to BELIEVE the truth and act upon it. That's faith in JESUS and that's how we know He is real and in our lives the solid object-the truth.

1 John says it so well when he says, in 1John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
1John 2:21 "I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.

this is why we can believe because we have genuine faith and not some superficial faith. our faith is tied to it's object-Jesus

and that's why I just absolutely love this verse--Rom 4:18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
WE are not always truthful and we don't always know truth but we know THE TRUTH-Jesus Christ

sorry if I digressed from your thread

[Meg]

We cannot fight evil be being like those or that which we are trying to resist, which is what makes finding victory in the Lord so tricky. When confronted by human wickedness, our natural inclination is to "fight fire with fire", or to attempt, in some cases to appease the opposition. Neither technique is effective.

First of all, if the devil cannot tempt us into sin, he can and will try to force us into sin, usually by instigating someone to provoke us into anger. The natural inclination is to fight back against the provocation, which can mean getting hostile right back. Yet, Romans 12:14 tells us "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." If we dare try that, we feel we are at a distinct disadvantage, but in spite of all that, love our enemies is precisely what Scripture instructs! The trick in this is recognizing the trap. If we allow hostile people to entice us into hostility of our own, we will come to resemble exactly that which we do not wish to resemble in the slightest, and satan's agenda is served.

Then there is the hope of appeasement, thinking that of we just give into sin, the devil will leave us alone. Appeasement never works, because satan has no interest in being satisfied in the first place. For this reason, blaming God and backsliding into sin can never and will never bring relief from satan's abuse. Therefore, any attempt to fight sin with sin can never be effective.

The devil doesn't care what works as long as it does work. So if at any point we are disagreeing with God, especially if we disagree with His Word, we are giving the devil a foothold. People like to say thats not a big deal, because Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin on the Cross, therefore come what may we are saved. OK, that is true enough, BUT, there's something in it for the devil to compromise Christians, that keeps him motivated to bring us down. I think the agenda is dual. In South Carolina, the reason people voted for Gingrich was that they cared more about beating Obama than they do about morals. So we have a state known for a heavy influence of Christianity that has largely denied that morality matters... That is a dangerous compromise that undermines the Gospel of repentance in the public arena. Score one for the devil... God's enemies are in hysterics this week...

Then there is the very real Eternal consequences, somehow so easily devalued. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 warns:

12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.[/B]

I have this idea that satan has a much better idea of the implications of "escaping through the flames" than we do, to say the least. Therefore, beware what you decide is an acceptable compromise, and be very sure whose side you are really on, and what you decide matters most. God didn't deliver these instructions and warnings lightly. Let us be careful, then, in the choices we make and the strategies we choose. Sometimes victory is costly and takes time to gain, but then the important things in life rarely come easily.

Ephesians 6:13

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.

[Robert]

We cannot fight evil be being like those or that which we are trying to resist, which is what makes finding victory in the Lord so tricky. When confronted by human wickedness, our natural inclination is to "fight fire with fire", or to attempt, in some cases to appease the opposition. Neither technique is effective.

First of all, if the devil cannot tempt us into sin, he can and will try to force us into sin, usually by instigating someone to provoke us into anger. The natural inclination is to fight back against the provocation, which can mean getting hostile right back. Yet, Romans 12:14 tells us "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." If we dare try that, we feel we are at a distinct disadvantage, but in spite of all that, love our enemies is precisely what Scripture instructs! The trick in this is recognizing the trap. If we allow hostile people to entice us into hostility of our own, we will come to resemble exactly that which we do not wish to resemble in the slightest, and satan's agenda is served.

(emphasis mine)

Yeah, it's human nature to feel "naked" and at a disadvantage when we don't use the same tactics that the world uses. That said, we cannot walk in the ways of this world and say that we serve the Lord. We have to recognize that those that are our "enemies" are no different than we, save for that we have taken God up on His offer of salvation and have humbled ourselves to His will. At one point, all of us were "enemies of the Cross", and thus hopelessly lost in our sin. If we can see that those that would oppose the Lord are in a sense reflections of our former selves, we would also see that they do not deserve our hatred, but instead compassion and mercy.

Then there is the hope of appeasement, thinking that of we just give into sin, the devil will leave us alone. Appeasement never works, because satan has no interest in being satisfied in the first place. For this reason, blaming God and backsliding into sin can never and will never bring relief from satan's abuse. Therefore, any attempt to fight sin with sin can never be effective.

The devil doesn't care what works as long as it does work. So if at any point we are disagreeing with God, especially if we disagree with His Word, we are giving the devil a foothold. People like to say thats not a big deal, because Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin on the Cross, therefore come what may we are saved. OK, that is true enough, BUT, there's something in it for the devil to compromise Christians, that keeps him motivated to bring us down. I think the agenda is dual. In South Carolina, the reason people voted for Gingrich was that they cared more about beating Obama than they do about morals. So we have a state known for a heavy influence of Christianity that has largely denied that morality matters... That is a dangerous compromise that undermines the Gospel of repentance in the public arena. Score one for the devil... God's enemies are in hysterics this week...

(emphasis mine)

Too true. For the Adversary, it is not about satisfaction but rather, a war against God. And it is one in which he will use any and all means to cause as much carnage and devastation as he possibly can. To that end, his interests do not lie in "satisfaction" with us, but instead spite and malice against the Lord.

Also, people tend to "categorize" things and put them into neat little "boxes" so that one instance where something is a sin does not appear to them to be as bad in another instance or concerning another person. That is a bad, bad mistake: the Lord does not see it that way. If scripture tells us that murder is wrong, it is wrong no matter who commits it. If it tells us that stealing is wrong, it is wrong no matter who is stealing. This applies to sexual immorality as well as everything else that the Bible warns us not to do.

"Repentance" is not simply saying "I'm sorry"; it is desiring to move in a different direction that is opposite sin and seeking to forsake that sin. If we are not seeking to leave sin, then all we are doing is to run to God so that we can scrape the old, stale sins off in preparation for piling a fresh, steaming heap of sin on our platters.

This could be a reason a number of folks cannot "gain the victory" over sin: they simply want victory over the consequences of sin!!!!

Then there is the very real Eternal consequences, somehow so easily devalued. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 warns:


I have this idea that satan has a much better idea of the implications of "escaping through the flames" than we do, to say the least. Therefore, beware what you decide is an acceptable compromise, and be very sure whose side you are really on, and what you decide matters most. God didn't deliver these instructions and warnings lightly. Let us be careful, then, in the choices we make and the strategies we choose. Sometimes victory is costly and takes time to gain, but then the important things in life rarely come easily.

Ephesians 6:13

As Christians, we need to allow scripture and the Holy Spirit to change our perspective from a temporal one to an eternal one. God demands quality over quantity at all costs, and He doesn't care how much time and effort it requires. This is because in Eternity, time has no meaning and things that are eternal need to be built to last. In this age of the "here and now", this world has sacrificed the eternal on the altar of the immediate, and it is with disastrous results....


...and we are seeing those results come into bloom now.

[king'sbloomingrose]

I so honestly don't know what to do. I'm surrounded by people that do talk trash and my problem is showing them Christ's love and being a living testimony to them. I wish that I knew what to do. I try and try...and it seems like I'm not getting anywhere. I'm so inadequate to do what God has called me to do this year. To be a witness for Him.

[Robert]

I so honestly don't know what to do. I'm surrounded by people that do talk trash and my problem is showing them Christ's love and being a living testimony to them. I wish that I knew what to do. I try and try...and it seems like I'm not getting anywhere. I'm so inadequate to do what God has called me to do this year. To be a witness for Him.

It's not what we can do, but what God can do through us, KBR. We're but clay pots that the Lord fills with His Spirit; our job is to simply offer ourselves as tools and containers for the Lord to use. HE will do the rest.

[mattfivefour]

I agree, Robert. One of the biggest mistakes in Christian service is to consider the difference that *I* am making. It is not up to *us* to make a difference. What we are or are not accomplishing should not be our focus. The people we serve should not be our focus. They are the object of our ministrations, yes, but our focus must always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS be on Jesus Christ. We make a big mistake when we try to consider the effectiveness of our efforts towards others. That is placing our focus on the wrong person. It is getting our eyes off Jesus. Our only focus and concern should be nothing more than to act as Christ leads us, in love, and faithful service. Any results are His and His alone.

In his Christian-shaking (yes that's exactly what I meant because that is exactly what it does) sermon Ten Shekels and a Shirt, the great Twentieth-century Holiness preacher, Paris Reidhead, in what has been called the greatest holiness sermon ever preached, spoke words that speak to the heart of what I have just said. The sermon is based on Judges 17:1- 18:6 where an Ephraimite named Micah hires a Levite to serve him as his personal priest in exchange for a payment of ten shekels and a garment. As you may know, the Levites were everyday priests under the headship of the High Priest. As such, if you have studied Bible typology, you will also know they are a type of us— the followers of Jesus Christ. Here is the portion of which I speak.

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The question comes then to this, what is the standard of success and by what are we going to judge our lives and our ministry? And the question that you are going to ask yourself, "Is God an end or is He a means?" And you have to decide very early in your Christian life whether you’re viewing God as an end or a means. Our generation is prepared to honor with single honor anyone that’s successful regardless of whether they settled this problem or not. As long as they can get things done or get the job done, or, "It’s working, isn’t it?", then our generation is prepared to say, "Well, you’ve got to reckon with this."

And so we’ve got to ask ourselves at the very outset of our ministry, and our pilgrimage, and our walk, "Are we going to be Levites who serve God for ten shekels and a shirt?" Serve men perhaps in the name of God, rather than God. For though he was a Levite and performed religious activities, he was looking for a place. A place which would give him recognition, a place which would give him acceptance, a place which would give him security, a place where he could shine in terms of those values which were important to him. His whole business was serving in religious activities so it had to be a religious job. He was very happy when he found that Micah had an opening. But he had decided that he was worth ten shekels and a shirt, and he was prepared to sell himself to anyone that would give that much. If somebody came along and gave more, he would sell himself to them. But he put a value upon himself and he figured his religious service and his activities were just a means to an end and by the same token God was a means to an end.

Now I ask you; What is the Philosophy of Missions? What is the Philosophy of Evangelism? What is the Philosophy of a Christian? If you’ll ask me why I went to Africa, I’ll tell you I went primarily to improve on the justice of God. I didn’t think it was right for anybody to go to Hell without a chance to be saved. So I went to give poor sinners a chance to go to heaven. Now I haven’t put it in so many words, but if you’ll analyze what I just told you , do you know what it is? Humanism. That I was simply using the provisions of Jesus Christ as a means to improve upon human conditions of suffering and misery. And when I went to Africa, I discovered that they weren’t poor, ignorant, little heathen running around in the woods looking for someone to tell them how to go to heaven. They were Monsters of Iniquity! They were living in utter and total defiance of far more knowledge of God than I ever dreamed they had! They deserved Hell! Because they utterly refused to walk in the light of their conscience, and the light of the law written upon their heart, and the testimony of nature, and the truth they knew! And when I found that out I assure you I was so angry with God that on one occasion in prayer I told Him it was a mighty little thing He’d done – sending me out there to reach these people that were waiting to be told how to go to heaven. When I got there I found out they knew about heaven, and didn’t want to go there, and that they loved their sin and wanted to stay in it.

I went out there motivated by humanism. I’d seen pictures of lepers, I’d seen pictures of ulcers, I’d seen pictures of native funerals, and I didn’t want my fellow human beings to suffer in Hell eternally after such a miserable existence on earth. But it was there in Africa that God began to tear through the overlay of this humanism! And it was that day in my bedroom with the door locked that I wrestled with God. For here was I, coming to grips with the fact that the people I thought were ignorant and wanted to know how to go to heaven and were saying, "Someone come and teach us!", actually didn’t want to take time to talk with me or anybody else. They had no interest in the Bible and no interest in Christ, and they love their sin and wanted to continue in it. And I was to that place, at that time, where I felt the whole thing was a sham and a mockery, and I had been sold a bill of goods! And I wanted to come home. There alone in my bedroom as I faced God honestly with what my heart felt, it seemed to me I heard Him say, "Yes, will not the Judge of all the earth do right? The heathen are lost, and they’re going to go to Hell, not because they haven’t heard the gospel. They’re going to go to Hell because they are sinners, who love their sin! And because they deserve Hell. But……I didn’t send you out there for them. I didn’t send you out there for their sakes." And I heard clearly as I’ve ever heard, though it wasn’t with physical voice but it was the echo of truth of the ages, finding it’s way into an open heart. I heard God say to my heart that day something like this, "I didn’t send you to Africa for the sake of the heathen, I sent you to Africa for My Sake….They deserved Hell! But I love them! And I endured the agonies of Hell for them!!!! I didn’t send you out there for them! I SENT YOU OUT THERE FOR ME… Do I not deserve the reward of my suffering? Don’t I deserve those for who I died?"

And it reversed it all!! And changed it all!! And righted it all!! And I wasn’t any longer working for Micah and ten shekels and a shirt! But I was serving a living God! I was not there for the sake of the heathen. I was there for the Savior that endured the agonies of Hell for me, who didn’t deserve it. But He deserved them, (the heathen). Because He died for them.

Do you see? Let me epitomize, let me summarize. Christianity says, "The end of all being is the glory of God." Humanism says, "The end of all being is the happiness of man." And one was born in Hell, the deification of man; and the other was born in heaven, the glorification of God! And one is a Levite serving Micah, and the other is a heart that’s unworthy serving the living God, because it’s the highest honor in the universe.

Why should a person come to the cross? Why should a person embrace death with Christ? Why should a person be willing to go, in identification, down to the cross and into the tomb and up again? I’ll tell you why – because it’s the only way that God can get glory out of a human being! If you say it’s because he’ll get joy or peace or blessing or success or fame then it’s nothing but a Levite serving for ten shekels and a shirt. There is only one reason for you to go to the Cross, dear young person – and that’s because until you come to the place of union with Christ in death, you are defrauding the Son of God of the glory that He could get out of your life. For no flesh shall glory in His sight. And until you’ve understood the sanctifying work of God by the Holy Ghost taking you into union with Christ in death and burial and resurrection, you have to serve in what you have and all you have which is under the sentence of death: human personality, and human nature, and human strength, and human energy. And God will get no glory out of that! So the reason for you to go to the cross isn’t that you’re going to get victory – you will get victory. It isn’t that you’re going to have joy – you will have joy. But the reason for you to embrace the cross and press through until you know that you can testify with Paul, "I am crucified with Christ.." (Galatians 2:20) It isn’t what you’re going to get out of it, but what He’ll get out of it, for the glory of God.

By the same token, why aren’t you pressed through to know the fullness of the Holy Spirit? Why aren’t you pressed through to know the fullness of Christ? I’ll tell you why – Because the only possible way that Jesus Christ will get glory out of a life that He’s redeemed with His precious blood, is when He can fill that life with His presence and live through it his own life.

The genius of our faith wasn’t that we were going to go through the motions like a Levite that was hired to serve God. No, No! The genius of our faith was that we’d come to a place where we knew we could do nothing, and all we could do would be to present the vessel and say, "Lord Jesus, you’ll have to fill it. And everything that’s done will have to be done by You and for You."

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See, we do not go to the lost to serve them, we go to the lost to serve Him. This is the only focus that matters, the only focus that bears eternal fruit. Martha strove to be useful, Mary sat to be used.

It is only the words and the actions that issue from the life He gives us after we give Him our lives (Galatians 2:20) that the Holy Spirit uses to minister to others. This is why the importance of seeking a pure walk with Christ, of daily seeking to surrender our will to His, of always daily focusing all our love and obedience on Him. For without putting Him absolutely first we cannot grow into full union with Him in love. And without daily reckoning that ALL we need for sanctification and service was won for us at the Cross, the Holy Spirit cannot produce the power of Christ in us nor bring glory to Himself through us. Our service will bear no eternal fruit.

I very, VERY, VERY HIGHLY recommend that ALL Christians who desire to walk closer with Jesus Christ listen to all of this most challenging sermon by Paris Reidhead as he delivered it back on January 1, 1980, twelve years before he went home to be with the Lord. You can find it here along with a text copy: Ten Shekels and a Shirt - SermonAudio.com. But be prepared. It is HARD preaching. Are you ready for that kind of commitment to Him?

[Meg]

Great post, Adrian! Truly great post. Thank you!

[king'sbloomingrose]

Thank you for that post, Matt. That was actually what God's been trying to teach me. To let everything else go but Himself. To go for His glory and cast myself upon Him alone and let Him take care of the rest. He alone is worthy and able to make anything out of our lives.