THE BATTLE

An Anthology of Spiritual Warfare

Volume 2

Published by Hayes Press

The Barn, Flaxlands

Wooton Bassett

Swindon

United Kingdom

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First Edition 2012

Copyright © 2012 Hayes Press

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means; graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or review.

DEDICATION

To all those who have fought the good fight ahead of us and lived lives worthy of their calling, inspiring us to do likewise. To our fellow-soldiers around the world, each fighting their own daily battles on the Lord’s side – may this book help strengthen our hands in God. Above all, to God our Saviour and His Son, Jesus Christ, Who give us the victory!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to sincerely acknowledge the many people who have helped to bring this project to fruition.  The YFR Committee supported this vision wholeheartedly from the beginning, which was a great encouragement. David Webster ably reviewed the book for content and provided some helpful suggestions. Jennifer Jones proof-read and Ade Kukoyi (www.kukisart.com) designed the book cover. Kevin Hickling at Hayes Press (www.hayespress.org) has been very supportive behind the scenes, particularly in terms of publishing, marketing and distribution support. Finally, to our contributors, without whom most of the content would not have existed. We hope that you enjoy reading it and are blessed by it.

Martin Jones                                          Jon Neely

CONTENTS

1              Together We Survive

2              Israel’s Battle - Elisha

3              The Hidden Battle – Satanism

4              Battle Round 4 - Jesus v Death & Hades

5              Despatches from the Front Line - The Witch Doctor

6              The Battle for…God’s Word

7              Despatches from the Front Line  - The American Football Star

8              Battle Round 5 - The Early Church v Satan

9              Paul’s Battle - Fellow Soldiers

10              Battle Round  6 - Jesus v The Antichrist

11              Still Battling Against…Discouragement

12              Friendly Fire

13              Israel’s Battle - Ben-hadad and Jehoshaphat

14              Battle Round 7 - Judgement Day!

15              The Discipline of a Sound Mind

16              The Armour of God

17              The Hidden Battle - Demons

18              Battling Against…the Flesh

19              Raising the Banner

20              Battling Against…Lukewarmness

21              Battling Against…Depression

22              The Battle in Our Hymns - Jesus’ Battle

23              The Battle for…Church Life

Index of Contributors

1 TOGETHER WE SURVIVE

Trumpets sound as the crowd roars. The small band of men step from the comfort of the cool corridor into the ruckus of the stadium. They stand alone among the masses; soon they will be forced to fight as a spectacle to the Coliseum crowd. The dust rises with each unsteady step they take. The sun beats down on their weary backs. There is no place to take cover here. On this day, it will be their battlefield.

The grip on their spear grows tighter as their shields tighten towards their armour. White knuckles tell true what their faces do not: completely surrounded, there is no escaping what lies before them. The throngs encircling them gnash their teeth as the inevitable creeps closer. From behind the gates looms a powerful enemy, waiting on the signal that will release them. The men stand, nervously surveying the surroundings in anticipation. There is fear in their eyes. In front, one man stands tall, eyes peering from behind his well-worn helmet, focusing intently. The same fear does not rest in his eyes. With confidence in his voice and his gaze still locked on the gates ahead, he asserts to his allies:

“You can help me. Whatever comes out of these gates, we’ve got a better chance of survival if we work together,” he said boldly. “If we stay together, we survive.”

As the ground shakes and the crowd erupts, out from the darkness appears the enemy thundering toward them in the form of horse and chariot. The men ready themselves for battle. Weapons aimed, stance widened, they come together. Yes, this is their battlefield, and they will fight together.

This scene from the film Gladiator sees the fearless leader, Maximus, thrust into battle and forced to take action in order to survive. He takes what he learned from years of leading armies - all the times he has stood in this same position awaiting the riot before him - understanding that if this random band of combatants is to survive, they will have to fight together. It is how they will best defeat the enemy. And when it comes to our lives as Christians, we find ourselves in exactly the same situation. The anti-Christian nature of the world is extremely similar to what Maximus felt when he walked into that stadium in front of all those people: fully enclosed with all eyes watching his every move, the opposition just waiting to pounce. This is not news to any of us, we know we live in a world that largely laughs in the face of Jesus, and if we are truly living as we should, a world that laughs in our face as well. The Lord tells us we are going to face persecution along with the vicious attacks from the devil, but how often do we try and deflect it on our own, forgetting that we are also told how crucial it is to fight this battle together?

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

If we stay together, we survive. This is what Paul appealed to us to do, his brothers and sisters. To appeal does not mean to tell one what to do. When Paul appeals to us, it means he is asking us for help. With his gaze locked on the battle, Paul says, “you can help me.” As the battle scene in Gladiator continues on, and the men fall back together, a few fail to do so and are caught alone in the open. No one to watch their back, no one to hold up a shield in front of them, no one to fight with.

The enemy comes roaring by and they are picked off easily. Alone, they are no match for the well-orchestrated attack. It is important for us to notice that not only do they get picked off without a fuss, they get picked off first. It is those caught alone that the devil will take down first, because alone we offer little resistance. Christianity is not a solo mission; we are to be perfectly united, of one mind and thought. The men who refused to band together with Maximus probably thought they were about to put on a display of their own power and ability to prove that they did not need the aid of anyone else. No doubt it was merely seconds before they realized they made a poor and fatal decision.

Foolish, yes, but how often are we just as guilty? While others band together around us, our pride takes the lead and we convince ourselves that we can handle issues without any help. Everything is under control, we boast. Christ shakes his head. Satan flashes a grin. The one who is described as the great dragon heading right for us; are we sure we want to take him on alone?

“As iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpens…a friend.” (Proverbs 27:17 AV)

Want to be sharp? Stand with a friend in the name of Christ. When we think we can get through something on our own, instead of the strength we think we are showing, we actually show a lack thereof. Even Jesus, the man who held all the power in the world in the palm of His hands, found twelve friends and stuck close to them; and if the One with all the strength walked with others, why on earth would we not do the same?

Why on earth indeed. In today’s world, we simply flash our profile and the 983 friends we have online. Ah yes, enter the social media. Twitter. Facebook. Twitbook. We never go to bed at night worrying about anything, because we know that the army of online pals has our back, right? Well, uh, err. Of those 983, how many are we calling when a family member is sick and we need to talk? Would they all arrive on a moment’s notice when we find ourselves stranded at the side of the road? I mean, how many could we just sit silently with for an hour without suffering incredible awkwardness?

If we are being honest with ourselves, the twelve close comrades Jesus had was a pretty lofty number compared with us. To attempt to stay close to the many, robs us of the real, quality time spent with the few; and we probably only have a few real, good friends. Really, this is the way it is supposed to be. It has been said that if we can count our true friends with one hand, then we are truly blessed. There are only so many people in our lives to which we can dedicate the time deserved, and in this age, we so often forget that there is nothing that substitutes quality time, face-to-face. There is nothing more real than time spent together. No status update can ever replace that. Cherish these true friends and hold those closest to you, closest to you. The devil will attack and the best friends do not ask why they are being called to stand, simply where and when. Of course, all this is not to say social media is a bad thing, because clearly it is not. Staying in touch with hundreds, if not thousands of people all over the world is fantastic, and it has opened up avenues and relationships that never before existed. But just remember the friends in our lives with whom we have made a true connection, rather than focus so much time on the ones with who the only connection we have made is through the internet.

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24 ESV)

That friend is Christ. When He walked the earth He did so with a small group of friends with whom he ate, laughed and with whom He travelled long journeys. He, more than anyone, knows the importance of friendship - of staying together to survive - because the enemy fought against Him more than any other in history, and still does. He knew the importance of friendship to such an extent, that He left His throne in heaven and walked - actually, He crawled first - straight into a lowly, sin-filled earth full of lost souls. He came and found us, not the other way around. All His life we called Him a liar, banned Him from our towns and scoffed at His so-called powers. All that and He still brought Himself to us so we could humiliate Him. Beat Him and spit in His face. Punch a crown of thorns into His head, strip Him of His clothes and nail Him to a cross - yet none of that comparing to the pain He suffered in the following dark hours. A pain only He will ever know, when He took all we did to Him, forgave us, then died for us - His friends. He died, alone on that cross, so that we may never have to be alone again; so that we may spend eternity together with our Friend.

On earth, He walked with few; in heaven, He will walk with many. We were not just stranded at the roadside with a flat tyre; we were stranded in a world doomed to destruction. He took the beating that was meant for us. Think about that next time we get angry at our friend for ripping our favourite shirt.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)

The greatest example of friendship begins and ends with Christ. He came to earth to be our friend, to lay down a foundation and then lay down His life. Now, He asks that we stay together. Our survival rests on it.

As we stand nervously surveying our surroundings, dust rises, the sun burns; taking cover is not an option on this day. All around us, the crowd roars with gnashing teeth. Sweat drips from our brow. White knuckles tremble as we grip our spears and clutch our shields. From behind the gates thrashes a fierce and unforgiving foe. Fear pours from our eyes. But One stands in front. The same fear does not rest in His eyes. His scarred hands show no trembling, nor does He show unease in His step. He stands with confidence and power. He need not take cover, for it is the enemy that will soon lie quivering under His feet.

As the gates are opened and the enemy unleashed, He calls upon those of us with Him to come close and ready our swords. His power surges through us. We stand with one another, perfectly united. This will be our battlefield, and we will fight together.

Hebrews 2:14-15

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Matthew 5:16

“…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

1 John 3:8

“…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”

Acts 26:17-18

“…I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

2 ISRAELS BATTLE – ELISHA

Being conscious of God’s presence brings peace

There is a spiritual world around us which some people are more conscious of than others. The Bible says the things which we can see are temporary but the things which cannot be seen are eternal. However, the unseen, eternal things are every bit as real as the things we can see and handle; and they are infinitely more valuable - by as much as eternity is longer than time!

We need to often remind ourselves of this fact and to really keep in mind the instruction:

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3: 1-2)

We are reminded of this by an incident in Elisha's life (see 2 Kings 6:8-23). He had been advising the king of Israel where the opposing king of Syria was planning to strike. When the Syrian king found out how the secret information was reaching Israel's king he sent his horsemen and chariots to take Elisha captive. One morning when Elisha's servant looked out he found the city surrounded by the Syrian hosts.

“Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” he cried. Elisha's reply deserves our careful thought. “Don’t be afraid…Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” he said. But the young man could not see anyone with them. They seemed to be all alone and that was why he was so alarmed. Elisha could see what he couldn't see for the spiritual world around him was real to God's servant. He had seen the angels escorting Elijah to heaven as in a whirlwind and he had never forgotten it.

He was conscious of the presence of those same angels right now when his life was in danger and he simply asked the Lord to open the young man's eyes. And God did just that. He caused the servant to see what Elisha had been aware of all the time – a host of horses and chariots of fire, (doubtless angelic beings, for Habakkuk 3:8 speaks of the Lord riding upon His horses and His chariots of salvation). They formed a wall of protection around God's prophet and his servant.

The spiritual world is real. We know that. There are spiritual hosts of wickedness under the control of Satan which are against us. But thank God there are also spiritual hosts under His control which are for us. Elisha's word remains forever true, “those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” So, with the apostle Paul we say with confidence, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

We need the eyes of our hearts enlightened, don’t we, so that we will be more aware of our angel guardians, for “are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).

Let us pray for ourselves and for one another as Paul did for the Ephesians in chapter 1 of his letter, that the eyes of our understanding may be enlightened that we may know:

•“the hope to which he has called you”,

•“the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people”, and

•“his incomparably great power for us who believe”.

Yield Not to Temptation

Yield not to temptation,

For yielding is sin

Each victory will help you

Some other to win.

Fight manfully onward,

Dark passions subdue,

Look ever to Jesus,

He'll carry you through.

Ask the Saviour to help you,

He’ll strengthen and keep you,

He’s willing to aid you,

He’ll carry you through.

To him that o’ercometh

God giveth a crown;

Through faith we shall conquer

Though often cast down;

He Who is our Saviour

Our strength will renew;

Look ever to Jesus

He’ll carry you through.

Horatio R. Palmer

3 SATANISM

Using the word “Satanism” might offend many of those who practise the things discussed in this chapter. They would deny that there is any connection between them and the worship of Satan. But it is contended that all practices of witchcraft, spiritism and magic (except, of course, the entertainers' tricks called “magic”) involve communication with spirits who owe allegiance to Satan, and thus are forms of Satanism, even though their practitioners may not recognize it.

For the purpose of discussion, however, it is useful to differentiate between those who believe that their practices are good, or at least morally neutral, like scientific research, and those who deliberately cultivate evil.

Magical Practices

A practitioner of magic has given the primary meaning of the term as “the art and science of using little known natural forces in order to achieve changes in consciousness and the physical environment”. It involves such things as the invocation of gods, the evocation of spirits and ritual divination. Its devotees dedicate themselves to magical studies with an oath which promises “not to debase my knowledge of practical magic to purposes of evil”, but one formula of evocation recognizes that the spirits addressed are “infernal”, and some writers almost dismiss the existence of evil.

There is considerable difference between writers on these matters in the ways in which they regard magical practices; some believe in the truth of the whole system, while others take the view that “whether the gods really exist is comparatively unimportant; the point is that the universe behaves as if they do.”

However the beliefs are held, the rituals of invocation call upon a “god” to take possession of the devotee, so that he is completely identified with it; this is what a Christian would describe as demon possession. Having become unified with the “god”, the magician may then use its name to evoke a lesser spirit. The magical system envisages a hierarchy of spiritual beings, extending down from the Most High God to elemental spirits.

Although God is addressed using the Biblical names of Jehovah, Adonai and Elohim, numerous other names are used, and God is not viewed as a person who wills good and abhors evil, but as a personification of Nature, “beyond good and evil” and “simply cosmic duality.” The power of the gods may be directed to good  or evil purposes at the will of the magician.

The Place of the Will

In the magical system a central place is given to the power of the human will. Magical practitioners believe “that human will power is a real force, capable of being trained and concentrated, and that the disciplined will is capable of changing its environment and producing supernatural effects.” They are prepared to go to quite extraordinary lengths to train the will, such as taking an oath to avoid using some common word, and self-inflicting a cut with a razor every time the oath is broken.

The Scriptures reveal that such things were practised in the first century A.D., referring to “…an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body…” (Colossians 2:23). Magicians hope that they will be able to direct elemental forces at their command by discplining their will.

The Material World

Although there is no complete consistency, the magical system tends to see matter as evil, whereas the spiritual world is good. This idea is also shared by some pseudo-Christian cults, and isn’t new. The Gnostic heresy in the first century introduced it into Christian churches, and the apostle Paul wrote against it in the letter to the Colossians:

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” (Colossians 2:8-9)

This scripture emphasizes the bodily existence of Christ, and no Christian can accept the idea that matter is evil, since the Lord Himself is in bodily form. Modern magical writers point with approval to the Gnostic teachings as an example of the accommodation of a conventional religion to existing practices, but it is quite obvious that the apostles never tolerated this as legitimate.

Timothy was urged to “turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge”, and it is apparent that pure Christian doctrine was threatened by the tendency of some to bring in heathen beliefs in the guise of spiritual knowledge.

Satanism and Christian Worship

In the Upper Room, the Lord Jesus instructed His disciples to take the bread and wine and give thanks for them, as He had done, as a remembrance of Himself. This simple act has been developed by some churches in Christendom into a ceremony in which it is taught that the bread and wine are transformed into the actual body and blood of the Lord, of which the worshippers then partake.               Present-day writers on magic claim, possibly with some justification, that the idea of the mass is an adaptation to Christian beliefs of a much older ceremony in which “the magician invokes the god, thereby transmuting the material basis, then consumes the sacrament, and absorbs the energy and virtues of that god.”

Heathen rites of this sort have been revived, and “witches sabbaths” are held today in which “nature gods” are invoked. To make the participants feel at one with nature, rites may be carried out in which the participants are naked, and sometimes sexual unions between those taking part are involved.

Some heathen rites may resemble aspects of worship in Christendom, but they are not deliberate parodies of it. The rites of Satanism proper, on the other hand, are a deliberate attempt to parody the Mass. A writer on magic says “Satanists... are in reality as staunchly Christian as those who celebrate the real mass. Their rites, beliefs and practices are all modelled around the Christian religion... So in a way one could say that Satanists, worshipping a Christian devil, are in fact as religious as the most orthodox Christian. What the Satanist is saying is that he feels betrayed by Christian churches ... he has seen no relief from his spiritual burdens.”  Satanists enact blasphemous sacrifices, say prayers backwards, and spit at the cross to show their hatred of Christ and God; yet they must believe that the God they reject is real, and deliberately take the side of Satan as His enemy. Undoubtedly, many relish the tang of evil, and gain a perverted pleasure from such defiance of God.

Frauds, Fools or Fiends?

It is obvious that all of the practices reviewed are opposed to Scriptural teaching, which condemns, in both Old and New Testaments, any attempt to communicate with spirits or Satan.

It is difficult to determine the extent to which there is real communication with spirits by modern magicians. Practices of divination by various means may be mere devices to make money from the gullible, like fairground fortune-tellers and newspaper horoscopes. Their practitioners may deceive themselves as well as others, and honestly believe in the efficacy of what they do.

It is tragic that the decline in soundly based Christian faith in Western countries has opened the door to superstition of all sorts. It is ironic that people who think that simple faith in Christ is childish, but who will not take the trouble to study Christian doctrine more deeply, will devour any half-baked ideas about the “paranormal”.

There is some fraud, and more foolishness, in magical practices but no Christian will deny that the “spiritual forces of evil” (Ephesians 6:12) really do exist and that they are capable of influencing, or even possessing, human beings. For this reason occult practices are not to be trifled with. Contempt for the mystic gibberish in which these things are enshrouded should not obscure the fact that a man who offers himself to a “god” as a willing subject may find that the offer is taken up, with results that will be spiritually disastrous to him.

The service of Satan or any of his inferiors will lead to the judgement designed for the master. Even in this life it may lead to an unsound mind and a depraved manner of life, as some of the sensational newspapers bear witness.

The Antidote

The only effective antidote to the poison of Satan is Christ Himself. In reading occult literature, one is struck by the fact that although writers often refer to God and the gods, they have no place for Christ.

All the elements of the gospel are needed to oppose occult teachings: the holiness of God, the fact of sin against Him, the need for a Redeemer, the deity and manhood of Christ, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection, and the need for faith in Him. The squalor and obscurity of the magical system are revealed in the light of the rational clarity of the revelation of God in Christ.

Some men will deliberately choose the darkness, but it is the Christian's duty and privilege, by the help of the Holy Spirit, to bring to men who have been deceived by “doctrines of demons” the light of the gospel of Christ.

A Mighty Fortress is our God

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;

Our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe -

His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide our striving would be losing,

Were not the right Man on our side - the Man of God's own choosing.

You ask who that may be?  Christ Jesus, it is He,

Lord Sabbath is His name, from age to age the same

And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devil filled,

Should threaten to undo us, we will not fear,

For God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.

The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure, we know his doom is sure -

One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly pow'rs no thanks to them - abides;

The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him who with us sides.

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;

The body they may kill; God's truth abideth still;

His kingdom is forever.

Martin Luther

4 BATTLE ROUND 4 – JESUS V DEATH & HADES

Our previous Battle Rounds have covered pretty familiar territory and there is generally broad agreement on them in evangelical circles. This round, however, is very different and has been talked about for the last 2,000 years. What, exactly, happened between the moment that Jesus died on the cross and his resurrection three days later?

Your mind might instinctively go to thinking of the rousing section of the song “The Lion Of Judah” – “he descended to hell yet was raised up to reign at the Father’s side.”   Or, if you are of a slightly older vintage, you might think of the hymn which contains the words “he hell in hell o’erthrew.”  Is this poetic language strictly correct from a theological perspective?   One might think so if you simply looked at the Apostles Creed which contains the words “he descended to hell.”  But it is not as simple as that and this chapter may perhaps remind us that we should not base our beliefs on songs or hymns and not even theological statements that aren’t taken straight from the Bible!

Let’s deal with the Apostles Creed issue first. The Apostle’s Creed was a theological summary which has been used by many Christians as a statement of belief for over 1,500 years and right up to the present day. However, unlike the Bible, the content of the Apostles Creed was fluid for hundreds of years. The oldest available version is a Roman one from Bishop Marcellus of Ancyra (around A.D. 337) and it does not contain the clause about “descending into hell”. Apparently this clause first appeared in the Eastern church with Sirmium's version of 359 A.D. The first mention of the descent in the Western church appears in the writings of Rufinus of Aquileia, who included it in his baptismal creed around 400 A.D. Over time, the Latin church absorbed it and officially integrated it into the Creed in 750 A.D, over 400 years after the earliest version we have!  It has also been said that this clause was mistranslated from the original which makes the problem even worse!  The only option is to look directly at the verses in the Bible that could relate to this “alleged” event:

“’…When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.’ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)”  (Ephesians 4:8-10)

“…by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”  (Hebrews 2:14-16)

“He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits - to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also - not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand - with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” (1 Peter 3:18-22)

“For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ ‘Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God…”’ (Acts 2:25-33 NKJV)

“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:18)

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armour in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.”  (Luke 11:21-22)

“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” (Luke 23:43)

These verses have been interpreted in different ways by eminent theologians through history and here are just a few of them:

•Augustine believed Christ literally descended into hell but he admitted several uncertainties over the meaning of the proclamation to “imprisoned spirits” in 1 Peter 3:19. Why, for example, should these people be singled out for such an honor, and who, if anyone, did Christ save with his preaching in hell?

•Thomas Aquinas said that Christ descended to two places -hell and purgatory - and that his purpose in each was different. In hell, he put unbelievers to shame, while in purgatory, he gave sinners hope for glory and the righteous deliverance.

•Martin Luther, though he believed Christ descended to hell, would offer no clear cut explanation for the event.

•John Calvin went so far as to describe the descent as symbolic, pointing to Christ's suffering at Gethsemane and the cross.

So what are we to make of it all?  The nineteenth-century church historian Philip Schaff made an important distinction which really helps to clarify things. He deemed the translation “descended into hell” unfortunate and misleading saying: “we do know from His (Jesus’) own lips that He was in Paradise between His death and resurrection. The term Hades is much more comprehensive than Hell (Gehenna) which is confined to the state of the lost.”

Precise terminology in our use of Bible words is important here. “Sheol” and “Hades” and interchangeable terms which are quite distinct from “tartarus”, “gehenna” or the “lake of fire” – each of which refers to a permanent place of residence. Hades is a temporary holding place. We understand from the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 that there is a divide which we arbitrarily denote by upper, also known as Paradise or Abraham’s bosom (a place of rest), and lower designations (when it should actually be right and left!). Ephesians 4 makes it clear that Christ did descend – but where exactly? Acts 2 tells us part of the answer – Hades, temporarily for God would not leave Him there. Luke 23 gets more specific – Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in Paradise - so we deduce that Christ went to upper Sheol where Lazarus was - the (then) temporary abode of righteous departed souls. (We will have to leave aside the separate question regarding the detailed criteria to determine who is sent to Upper or Lower Hades and trust to the sovereignty and justice of God).

The next question to be tackled is what actually happened there and what do the extremely cryptic verses in 1 Peter 3 relate to?  The respected commentators, Gill, Clark and Barnes, take the same view as John Miller in his “Notes”, with the following general interpretation:

•Christ rose from the dead being made alive in the (Holy) Spirit in which He had (previously) preached in Noah's time (through Noah) to those who were then (once) disobedient to the preaching;

•As a consequence of this disobedience, the spirits of these contemporaries of Noah were imprisoned in (lower) Sheol;

•Christ never visited lower Sheol at any time and there was no opportunity for these souls to repent (see Hebrews 9:27).

In other words, 1 Peter 3 should not be linked with the descending of Jesus mentioned in Ephesians 4 at all – they are not related. Why mention Noah in the first place?  Perhaps Peter was trying to draw some parallels between Noah’s experience and his readers experience – readers who were going through a pretty tough time:

•A righteous minority surrounded by an unrighteous majority;

•God’s judgement near or may be near (1 Peter 4:5,7; 2 Peter 3:10);

•The need to witness boldly in the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 3:14-17; 4:11);

•Salvation will come in the end (1 Peter 3:13-14; 4:13; 5:10);

•The symbolic value of water - made meaningful by Christ’s resurrection.

But we digress. Having ruled out 1 Peter 3 as a commentary on the descent to hell, where next?  Are we to believe the various members of the “Word of Faith” movement who teach that Jesus endured three days and nights of unimaginable abuse at the hands of Satan and his hordes of demons?

Frederick K.C. Price explains it this way:  “Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price. No, the punishment was to go into hell itself and to serve time in hell separated from God...Satan and all the demons of hell thought that they had Him bound and they threw a net over Jesus and they dragged Him down to the very pit of hell itself to serve our sentence.”

Kenneth Hagin teaches that: “He (Jesus) tasted spiritual death for every man. And His spirit and inner man went to hell in my place. Can’t you see that? Physical death wouldn’t remove your sins. He’s tasted death for every man. He’s talking about tasting spiritual death.”

Kenneth Copeland asserts: “When Jesus cried, ‘It is finished!’ He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. There were still three days and nights to go through before He went to the throne...Jesus’ death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption.”

As ever, we have to go back to what the Bible actually says – and when we do, we find that the above teaching is wholly false. As a general point, this erroneous teaching seems to overlook the important fact that Jesus, even while taking on humanity, is an omnipotent being whereas Satan is not – the inequality in any “final struggle” would result in a complete mismatch and any “referee” would stop the fight before it had even begun. But, specifically, Hebrews 2 makes it quite clear where the battle was won. It was won totally, utterly and once for all at the cross – it was at the moment of Jesus’ death that Satan’s power was completely destroyed – it was here, not later, that the “strongman” of Luke 14 was overcome. The work was done and he was entering his rest.

It is Ephesians 4 which tells us what was also going on in those three days and any reader in the first century would have spotted the meaning of Paul’s picture language in an instant. Subjects of the Roman Empire would have seen a victorious conqueror returning to their home base with a string of prisoners in their train, proof and token of the victory just won on the battlefield – and freely giving gifts in celebration. But here, the scene is turned upside down – Jesus the Victor is not bringing His prisoners with him on his return journey back to the base of heaven, he is bringing those He has liberated from prison in two senses – the prison of the fear of death which had enslaved them all their lives and the actual prison of Hades which they had experienced once they had died.

And so we see this descent, in part, as a victory parade where Jesus collects the trophies of grace that were already won at Calvary, the gates of Hades having been opened by his victorious death. And the victory parade has one more set of gates to go through – the gates of heaven. What a scene for our minds to ponder on, as F.A. Perigo did in the following extract from NT magazine in 1951:

“Consider the welcome at the home-going of the Lord Jesus, so graphically illustrated in Psalm 24. Here are angels upon angels - there are perhaps 100,000,000 (see Revelation 5) all rendering homage to this great and glorious Person. They had, with wonder and amazement, watched His lowly, but holy, pathway on earth, while He mingled with the human race, supremely perfect in word and work, so dignified in every way that it even calls our cold, poor and unresponsive hearts to deep and glad worship! Yes, myriads of these celestial beings - seraphim, those so near the throne that they become the celebrants of God's holiness, and constantly cry, “Holy, holy, holy;” cherubim, executants of God's governmental dealings with this earth; these all, with welcoming joy, state how fittingly it is that the Son of God should be granted the overlordship of creation, by virtue of: (a) Creatorial right, (b) Redemptive right and (c) Right of birth. Perhaps the Spirit of God by the Psalmist gave a hint of this, in the words of Psalm 24:7:

“Lift up your heads, you gates;

be lifted up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?

The LORD strong and mighty,

the LORD mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, you gates;

lift them up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

Who is he, this King of glory?

The LORD Almighty -

he is the King of glory.”

His entrance into heaven was majestic, and He is lauded as “the LORD strong and mighty”. Truly, the triumphant entry of the Victor! Nor did He enter alone, for there were the spoils which He had won in His victory. Rising from among the dead, the glorious Victor led forth a multitude of captives from Satan’s domain, the Old Testament saints whose souls had been waiting in upper Sheol, to accompany Him in His triumphant entry into the glory. What a profound shock to Satan and the wicked spirits in the heavenlies as they witnessed the Son of God, His humiliation and sufferings over, passing upward to the heavens to the right hand of God!

We thank God for the truth of this and also the wonderful reality that, due to the cross-work of Christ we no longer have to face a temporary existence in Upper Sheol when we die – entry there is now barred because post-resurrection, all believers who die go straight to be “at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8) – what a prospect!  Hallelujah!

Battle Quotes

“The last battle is on. There will be no more battles when this one is won. You will have no opportunity after this life to march with a victorious army in the steps of the Conqueror of time and eternity.” John White

“Prayer is the communication with headquarters by which the weapons of warfare are deployed according to the will of God... Prayer is the walkie-talkie of the church on the battlefield of the world in the service of the word. It is not a domestic intercom to increase the temporal comforts of the saints. It malfunctions in the hands of soldiers who have gone AWOL. It is for those on active duty. And in their hands it proves the supremacy of God in the pursuit of the nations.  When missions move forward by prayer it magnifies the power of God. When it moves by human management it magnifies man.”  John Piper

“We are led by the Unconquerable One. And good General that He is, He knows His soldiers by name and concerns Himself with their safety and well-being. There is to be no cannon fodder among heaven’s soldiers.” John White

5 DESPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINE - THE WITCH DOCTOR

This is an interview with Mark Imoukhuede, a missionary in West Africa, about one lovely Thursday morning in August 1992, when the Almighty God displayed His wonderful work of grace when his Dad, Wellington Agbebakun Imoukhuede, was born again. He was about 75 years old when this great event took place which caused real and clear change.

Q: What led up to this change in his life?

A: It all started when I was informed about his ill-health. I rushed to his home where I met one of my sisters who is a Christian. She had come as a nurse to check his condition. After carrying out the necessary tests, she told my dad that the results were not good for his high blood pressure and his diabetic condition.

Q: How did you respond when you heard the bad news?

A: By this time I had already been speaking to him about the consequences if his condition should deteriorate further. I shared with him the Bible verse from Hebrews 9:27: “…People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement.” My sister then began to sing a song about the love of God. My dad listened attentively, and then he was in tears. This was quite unlike him. I felt the power of the Holy Spirit moving in my dad's room where this drama was unfolding. Now empowered by the Holy Spirit, I went on to challenge my dad about the goodness and mercies of God in his life. “What would you say to God when you leave this world?” I asked. “Surely you will have no-one to blame but yourself.,” I added.

Q: What kind of man was your father?

A: Perhaps it would be necessary to say that my dad had been an idolater, a witchdoctor and a leader of a secret cult. He was the power of darkness personified! For this reason many people who came in contact with him feared him greatly. Some of us, his children, had accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Over a period of 27 years, as believers in the Lord Jesus, we had prayed for his conversion, we lived out the Christian life as much as we could, and we spoke to him of the love of God in salvation through Jesus Christ, His only Son, as often as the opportunity opened to us. This lovely day in August 1992 was one of such opportunities. But this was different as this was going to be “D-Day”.

Q: It's not always easy to witness to a close relative. How did you know what to say to your father?

A: I was very sure of the leading of the Holy Spirit as I spoke to my dad of the need to give his life to Christ. He had heard the gospel many times, so without repeating what I thought he already knew, I asked him if he would give his life to Christ. He answered, “Yes!” Not satisfied with his answer, I challenged him about when he would take this step. To my amazement, he said, “Today.” “Why not now?” I pressed. That was it. He knelt down, eyes closed, and prayed to God, asking for the forgiveness of his sins and that God should make him His “child like my other children”. My dad knew that some of his children were saved. After this prayer I showed him some verses from the Bible to give him the assurance of salvation.

Q: You mentioned earlier that many people feared your father. How did he show that he had changed and that there was no longer any reason for fear?

A: To show evidence of this new life, he burnt up all the articles of trade in the witchcraft business. He withdrew from the leadership of the secret cult. His words to the cult members were: “I have now been reborn” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Tough days were ahead of him, but the Lord was with him. Not long after, he was also publicly baptised (Romans 6:4) and added to the Church of God at Surulere. Two-and-a-half years later, he died and went to be with Christ. Amazing grace!

Q: What do you think we can learn from your father's experience?

A: The worst of sinners is saved when they come to God in true repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus (Acts 17:30; 20:21). If Wellington Agbebakun Imoukhuede could be saved, “…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Romans 8:5-7

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

2 Corinthians 11:3

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

Matthew 16:23

“Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”’

2 Corinthians 4:7-8

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair”

6 THE BATTLE FOR…GOD’S WORD

The Faith that we are called to contend for is a divine revelation of truth. As the apostle John put it:

“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.” (1 John 2:21)

Our adversary strives to undermine confidence in that revelation or to obscure its true meaning. His fundamental strategy is to cause people to exchange the truth of divine revelation for a lie (see Romans 1:25, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). He knows very well that in doing this he will frustrate the purposes of God. For God's dealings with men are based on acceptance of His word as truth and a right understanding of its teaching.

The Devil's approach to Eve in the Garden of Eden illustrates his tactics in this conflict. He first cast doubt on God's word by saying, “Did God say?”; then he denied its truth, “You shall not certainly die”; then he supplemented God's word with a subtle mixture of truth and falsehood. Another tactic is seen during his temptation of the Lord Jesus in the wilderness when he misapplied God's word, quoting Psalm 91:11-12 totally out of context.

Today the spiritual conflict has developed into a vast and complex operation by the devil to discredit or confuse divine revelation. Yet through it all are recognizable the same skillfully applied tactics and the same masterly overall strategy. We are going to look at four of these tactics in more detail:

1)              Casting doubt on the Word of God

2)              Denial of the Word of God

3)              Supplementing the Word of God

4)              Misapplication of the Word of God.

Casting Doubt on the Word of God

The Lord Jesus Christ clearly accepted the Old Testament Scriptures as the word of God. From Matthew 5:7-19, 22:31-32 and John 10:34-36 it is clear that even the details of the written word, the “jot and tittle” (the dotting of the “i” and the crossing of the “t” as we might say today), the tense of the verb or the occurrence of a phrase - all were regarded by the Lord as holy and impregnable. The apostle Paul similarly handled the detail of the Old Testament, making a point about the use of the singular versus the plural in this verse:

“The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed” meaning one person, who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16)

To Him the Old Testament comprised “the sacred writings” which were God-breathed, or inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:15-16). The apostle Peter linked certain of Paul's epistles with “the other scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16), confirming that God was completing the written revelation through the New Testament writers.

The finality of John's words in Revelation 22:18-19 may be taken as having a general application to all Scripture as well as a particular application to that book. The sixty-six books of our Bible stand unique as a divinely provided revelation of all that is needed for spiritual guidance and instruction, “…that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17).

The devil has cleverly attacked this concept. By casting doubts on the authenticity of many parts of the Bible he has undermined confidence in its authority. He has given birth to the theory that whereas the Bible contains messages from God, readers may choose for themselves which parts of the book they accept as being God's word and which other sections may be discarded as unreliable or mythical. This is entirely contrary to the apostles' teaching about the Scriptures. To abandon the truth of the verbal inspiration of the original writings of Scripture is to leave us without any authoritative basis of spiritual revelation.

Denial of the Word of God

It is a relatively short step from casting doubt on God's word to denying altogether its claim to be a divine revelation. This position is taken by many today. The adversary has blinded their minds to the evidence which confirms the truth of Scripture. Some resort to human philosophy and investigation in an attempt to solve the mysteries of life's origin and purpose, inventing theories in direct denial of great Bible truths. Against this trend the Scriptures give clear warning:

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

“…Guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.” (1 Timothy 6:20-21)

The devil is using this method with great success; many have their minds conditioned from earliest impressions to regard denial of Bible truth as a mark of academic standing and enlightenment.

Supplementing the Word of God

Under the guise of spiritual advancement Satan has cleverly designed religious movements on the basis of claims to additional revelation from God. Only five hundred years after the completion of the New Testament, the Koran was introduced as further light, claiming to amplify and supersede the revelation in Scripture. While professing that Mohammed had received further revelation as a development of the Jewish and Christian faiths, the Koran actually proposed principles alien to the major spiritual truths of the Bible. For instance, the Christian gospel declares man's hopeless sinfulness in alienation from God, and calls upon all to repent and put faith in Jesus (see Romans 3:9-19, Acts 20:21, Ephesians 2:8).

In stark contrast, the Muslim faith urges its devotees to attempt, by religious observance, to merit favour with God. Romans 10:2-3 are true of the conscientious Muslim. He has a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish his own.

A similar method has been employed by Satan in widely varying contexts. Pseudo-Christian claims to supplementary revelation have been more pronounced in recent times, in keeping with the prophetic word that impostors would grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived (2 Timothy 3:13).

Typical examples are claims to revelation by Joseph Smith, leading to the Book of Mormon, and by Mary Baker Eddie, leading to “Science and Health”. To believers in such movements their spiritual guidance derives not from the Scriptures only but from the Scriptures as understood in the light of a later revelation. That Satan has deceived those who claim to have these further revelations is proved by the fundamental contradictions of scriptural principle inherent in them all.

Some great religious organisations have built up traditions over many centuries until this body of ecclesiastical tradition becomes tantamount to a supplementary revelation. A similar development had impacted Israel's spiritual life in Isaiah's day and had developed to an even greater degree in the time of our Lord. He rebuked the Pharisees and scribes because of it:

“…why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?...you nullify the word of God the sake of your tradition ... Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘saying ... they worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” (Matthew 15:3,6,7,9)

Misapplication of the Word of God

This line of attack against the great truths of the Faith has been brilliantly exploited by our foe! Religious groups all claiming to believe that the Bible alone is the word of God nevertheless adopt widely varying interpretations. This produces great confusion of teaching on major aspects of Bible truth. Certain religious groups have mushroomed by developing some new and distinctive line of Bible interpretation. One of these has even produced its own translation of Scripture to support interpretations which are difficult to maintain by reference to the generally accepted English versions. Such groups have an appeal to the unwary who have little grasp of Bible truth.

The Spirit-instructed believer will quickly spot the mind of the adversary behind them and recognize the obvious contradictions of vital divine principle:

“I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in him.” (1 John 2:26-27)

It is characteristic of several modern groups of this type that despite variations of teaching on many Bible subjects, they have in common a denial of the Deity of Christ, misunderstanding of His atoning work and rejection of eternal punishment. The devil has been so successful in misdirecting men's thoughts in their attempts to interpret the sacred writings without the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit!

The Full Knowledge of the Truth

One of the saddest effects of the devil's opposition to the Faith has been his success in hindering children of God from arriving at the “knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

Divisions among believers must grieve the Spirit of God for it is He who wishes to guide them into all the truth (John 16:13). Yet the adversary has so blurred the interpretation of Scriptures governing Christian unity that many of God's children find themselves bewildered without assurance as to how they should be associated for spiritual service. Some stumble at the very simplicity of the truth. For just as there is only one way of salvation and that through faith in Jesus (John 14:6, Acts 4:11-12), so there is only one scripturally authorised way of spiritual service for disciples.               This is by association in Churches of God following the plain pattern of Acts 2:41-42. Our New Testament presents a clear picture of this divinely ordained plan for Christian unity, showing it in effectual operation through Churches of God united as one people (1 Peter 2:9), one kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9) and one Fellowship (1 Corinthians 1:9).

Within this association they stood together in one spirit with one soul striving for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27) and contended earnestly for “the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude v.3). The command of our Lord Jesus Christ that His disciples should be associated in this way has never been rescinded.

Still today there is opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder in defence of the Faith, a spiritually strong phalanx to resist the devil's onslaughts, and to thrust out in offensive action by the power of the Holy Spirit. For our encouragement the victorious promise is sure that “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20), and the grace of the Lord Jesus is still sufficient for every circumstance of the conflict.

Romans 14:5

“One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.”

Ephesians 4:22-24

“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; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

James 4:8

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

1 Peter 1:13

“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.”

Isaiah 26:3

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

7 DESPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINE – THE AMERICAN FOOTBALL STAR

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also...They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me…But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’” (John 15:18-21, 25)

Last season, at the tender age of 24, this man became the starting quarter-back for the struggling Denver Broncos after a stellar college career. Time after time, he led the team to a number of remarkable comebacks which almost defied natural explanation. In September 2011, this man’s influence as a celebrity in the United States ranked only slightly lower than Lady Gaga's. Despite the fact that, according to most expert opinion, this man is a fairly average American football quarter-back, an ESPN poll named him “America's Favorite Active Professional Athlete.”  A spectacular team comeback, that he led, generated a mind-boggling 9,400 Tweets per second - more than any of the killing of Osama bin Laden, the death of Steve Jobs or the Royal Wedding. Rarely out of the news, this man is a hugely controversial figure – so much so that, even if you are not American, you might actually have heard of him.

The man is Tim Tebow and (get this) he’s a Christian. Not your typical hide-your-light-under-a-bushel type Christian. Not your typical I’ll-let-my-actions-speak-for-themselves type either. Tebow is a walking, talking advert for Jesus Christ and he is standing right on the very front line of the spiritual battle.

His long-held practice of bowing on one knee and praying on the field during the game has entered into the global lexicon as “Tebowing”. Before each game, until the NCAA banned the practice, he would write a verse reference on the black markings   (used to deflect the glare of the lights) under his eyes and after one match “Tebow 3:16” became the most googled search item of the day with 92 million hits. Biblegateway.com reported a massive surge in traffic to their site. At every after-game press conference, before any questions are answered, he still insists on giving glory to Jesus, his God and Saviour and thanking his team-mates.

Off the field, his testimony has been less high-profile but just as impressive. He leads several children’s charities, has traveled the world building hospitals and is a regular speaker at schools and in prisons; but no motivational speaker he – he’s there to preach the gospel. Tebow is also a very public advocate for the pro-life movement and openly promotes celibacy before marriage (despite being a star college quarter-back he professes to remain a virgin).

There is no doubt that Tim Tebow is a man under a lot of attack, which has come in different ways. And while there is nothing unusual about a celebrity attracting haters, it could be argued that the intensity of some of the seething rage against him without a cause, the blaspheming of his God and the mocking of his faith is nothing short of satanic. Take pundit Bill Maher’s Christmas Eve Tweet following the Bronco’s loss to the Buffalo Bills: “Wow, Jesus just…@#$% #TimTebow bad! And on Xmas Eve! Somewhere in hell Satan is tebowing, saying to Hitler ‘Hey, Buffalo’s killing them’” (Adult language removed).

Some people seem to hate Tim Tebow simply because Tim Tebow loves Jesus. His detractors call him a phony, fake and scripted and a goody two-shoes – they refuse to believe that he can be for real. Yet his teammates and coaches, who see him when the cameras and recorders aren't around, say he is absolutely sincere and don’t seem able to find anything to criticise him about. Team-mate Eddie Royal says: “He really is genuine...he has the same passion off the field with...charity things and the missionary things. The only reason I would think people wouldn't like him is because they don't believe that he's really all that he is. But to tell you the truth, he really is, being around him every day. There's nothing fake about him.”

Every aspect of his approach has been scrutinized and criticized. A day after former Broncos quarter-back Jake Plummer said in a radio interview that he wished Tebow would curb his references to Jesus Christ and his faith, Tebow responded:

“If you're married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife 'I love her' the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and every opportunity? And that's how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ...it is the most important thing in my life. So any time I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or given an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I'm gonna take that opportunity...”

Criticism has come from fellow Christians as well. Former Super Bowl Quarterback Kurt Warner of the St. Louis Rams is a Christian, yet he recently advised Tebow that he would be better off if he removed Jesus from his sleeve or at least put a sweatshirt over the top of his arms: “But I’d tell him, ‘Put down the boldness in regards to the words, and keep living the way you’re living. Let your teammates do the talking for you. Let them cheer on your testimony.’”  Thankfully, Tebow has ignored that “advice”, knowing that we are called to preach the word verbally as well as with our actions.

The purpose of this chapter is not to put one man on a pedestal – he is just a man and he would be the first to admit that – in fact he would be distraught if people saw him and not the Man he is trying to serve. The purpose is to make us aware of someone who is an ambassador for Christ, a fellow-soldier of ours who we can truly give thanks for and pray for every day - that he will be kept, his testimony will be kept pure and that people will come to Christ as a result of it. We also need to pray for other Christians in battle under the media spotlight that God will give them grace, patience, humility, wisdom in large measure - and a spirit of power and not of timidity.

Spiritual Power

The Bible leads us to expect greater spiritual warfare towards the close of the present age. This is confirmed by the present spiritual and moral decadence in the world. But the situation is beyond solution by mere human effort. Spiritual forces are being organized for the final battle. Paul's forecast of the state of human society in the last days is surely coming true:

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

The sin of our times has a bearing on the lukewarmness of the average present-day Christian. Don’t we all at times feel the chill to our spirits as the stream of filth and blasphemy flows around us? We cannot withdraw into isolation for we are the salt of the earth; but we can at least keep the foul stream from our homes. When we attempt to “get with it” our Christian loyalties suffer and we become miserable caricatures of the real Christian. We cease to be shocked by sin and gradually adjust our conscience to the lowering standards around us. A fresh spirit of sacrifice is needed, as was seen in many of those early Christians who were so powerfully used by God. Is spiritual power greatly lacking today only because we are unwilling to pay the price for it?

“Torchlight”

8 BATTLE ROUND 5 – THE EARLY CHURCH V SATAN

Before He went back to heaven, Jesus left His disciples the assurance: “Peace I leave with you”. But at another time He said: “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

For us, both statements are true; we know the deep joy of peace with God, but internally and externally there is a lifelong conflict with the flesh, the world and Satan. That is why the Churches of God are inevitably involved in unceasing struggle. They are golden lampstands of testimony in the eyes of the Lord so they are targets for the deadly assaults of the Adversary, who is bitterly opposed to all that is according to the will of God.

The attack on the early churches is frankly dealt with in the New Testament. From its very earliest days the Church of God in Jerusalem was subjected to violent attacks by the Jews. The leaders Peter and John were mocked, imprisoned (twice) and beaten. Stephen, who declared that it was always the lot of God's faithful servants to be persecuted, was stoned to death.

Saul, later to become the apostle Paul, tried to destroy the church in Jerusalem and pursued the Christians who had fled to Damascus. Later, Herod killed James the apostle and would have done the same with Peter had it not been for angelic intervention.

During this initial period, internal problems of an apparently minor nature arose but it was vital that they should be dealt with firmly under God’s guidance. Ananias and Sapphira attempted to deceive the apostles with a gift of the proceeds from the sale of a piece of land.

Severe judgement brought a sense of awe upon the church (see Acts 5). The church was growing in numbers so rapidly that practical difficulty arose and an opportunity came for jealousy to creep in. It was alleged that there was favouritism in the distribution of funds to the poor, with local inhabitants being better treated than foreign Jews. Seven excellent men were quickly appointed to take care of this with the result that nothing further was heard of the matter (see Acts 6).

The rapid spread of the gospel during Paul's missionary journeys roused the animosity of unbelieving Jews who, reinforced by ill-intentioned Gentiles, attacked Paul and his companions at Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, and Lystra (see Acts 13 and 14). Paul encountered physical violence and threats in many other places and similar ill-treatment was directed against the Churches of God from time to time in those early days.

In apostolic times, persecution was frequent and severe but was never a real threat to the progress of the Churches of God. By contrast, internal issues were potentially far more dangerous and severely taxed the wisdom of the very able men who, under God, had the task of resolving doctrinal difficulties.

From the beginning, some Jewish disciples had failed to grasp the essential nature of the new covenant. It was not an improved version of the old covenant but a completely new thing with a spiritual basis. Converted Jews and Gentiles were now equal but national and religious pride caused certain troublemakers to attempt to impose circumcision on Gentile believers and teach that eternal salvation was impossible without it. Acts 15 tells how Paul and Barnabas vigorously opposed this heresy. They realized how critical the situation was, not only for Antioch where the dispute was most serious, but for all the churches. They decided to refer the problem to the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.

Evidence of the relentless battle against sin and false teaching within the churches is found in many of the epistles. There were divisions, moral sin had to be dealt with, wrong behaviour needed correction (see 1 Corinthians 1, 5 & 6) and doctrinal error had to be exposed and countered. You can find some examples in Galatians 1:6-l0, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 1 Timothy 1:3, 2 Timothy 2:l6-l8 and Titus 3:10.

In Acts 20, Paul warned the elders at Ephesus to be on the watch for men who would behave like wolves among a defenceless flock and to beware of overseers who would embrace false teaching, enticing others to follow them. He urged Timothy to hold the pattern of sound words, reminding him of those who had defected from the faith (2 Timothy 1:13-15) and warning of future apostasy (2 Timothy 4:34). Throughout most of Paul's Christian life he was weighed down with a daily anxiety for all the churches:

“Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” (2 Corinthians 11:28)

He was a man of faithfulness and ability but there were a variety of problems and difficulties. The increasing intensity of the struggle can be sensed in the style and content of his second letter to Timothy. In 2 Timothy 2:3, he encouraged Timothy to suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, and summed up his own service in the words: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  (2 Timothy 4:7)

The Lord's messages to the seven churches in Asia give us a final picture of spiritual conflict. Some successes are recorded in Revelation 2 and 3, but also some failures; the final result was still in doubt.

This review of the challenges that the early churches had to contend with should warn us of the need for vigilance today. In spite of the ministry of the apostles and the special working of the Holy Spirit, heresies, divisions and sins of many kinds were a constant threat to their well-being, their progress and to their very survival. Today the Churches of God are engaged in a warfare which is even more critical for we are now in the “last days” spoken of in Scripture as being grievous or fierce. For us to relax our efforts in such a dangerous situation would be to risk disaster. We must “…contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”

Battle Quotes

“We and the world, my children, will always be at war. Retreat is impossible. Arm yourselves.” Leif Enger

“If we would endeavour, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we would feel the favourable assistance of God from Heaven. For He who giveth us occasion to fight, to the end we may get the victory, is ready to succour those that fight manfully, and do trust in His grace.” Thomas A Kempis

“However strong a castle may be, if a treacherous party resides inside (ready to betray at the first opportunity possible), the castle cannot be kept safe from the enemy. Traitors occupy our own hearts, ready to side with every temptation and to surrender to them all.” John Owen

“It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages hell; it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons.” William Gurnall

“As part of Christ's army, you march in the ranks of gallant spirits. Every one of your fellow soldiers is the child of a King. Some, like you, are in the midst of battle, besieged on every side by affliction and temptation. Others, after many assaults, repulses, and rallyings of their faith, are already standing upon the wall of heaven as conquerers. From there they look down and urge you, their comrades on earth, to march up the hill after them. This is their cry: ‘Fight to the death and the City is your own, as it is ours!”’  William Gurnall

“Be kind, for everyone you know is facing a great battle.” Philo of Alexandria

“Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight.” Bruce Cockburn

9 PAUL’S BATTLE – FELLOW SOLDIERS

Paul loved the Lord’s people and in his travelling years he was an outstanding leader of men and women in the service of God. He clearly put a high value on teamwork. When he was spearheading the extension of the kingdom of God he seemed always to have around him dedicated people of high, or potentially high, spiritual calibre – people that he often liked to call his fellow soldiers.

It was in fellowship with Barnabas that he was first separated out by the Holy Spirit to the work of the Lord. Maybe this initial pairing gave him the vision. Right away they chose young John Mark as their attendant to look after the more mundane matters. In due course Barnabas and Mark left the working party, so Paul chose Silas and young Timothy shortly afterwards. Then he encouraged Priscilla and Aquilla to accompany them until in due course they agreed on a specific assignment for that remarkable pair (Acts 18:19). When he left Macedonia for Asia (Acts 20:4-6), he was actually accompanied by seven named brothers. So it is evident that in his travels Paul loved the company of like-minded people; people committed to the cause, under the determined, demanding leadership of a man whose motto could have been, “My utmost for the Highest”.

Imprisoned For the Sake of the Gospel

After perhaps some 15 years of exhaustive, travelling ministry in spreading the gospel and the knowledge of the whole counsel of God, Paul was called upon to endure three terms of imprisonment. The first of these was spent in prison in Caesarea and covered a period of at least two years (Acts 24:27). He was awaiting trial, the outcome of which was that he was sent to Rome to be tried by Caesar.

The second was in his own hired dwelling in Rome (Acts 28:30), possibly in the Roman Camp of the Praetorian Guard (Philippians 1:13). There he was in chains for another two year period, still awaiting the same trial before Caesar. Certain references in his personal letters, such as Titus 3:12 and 2 Timothy 4:13 support the general understanding that he secured release from this imprisonment and for a time was free once again to cross over to Asia Minor in active furtherance of the gospel and advance of the truth.

Again he was arrested, some think in Ephesus because of the reference to Alexander the coppersmith (compare Acts 19:33 and 2 Timothy 4:14); but in any event he was brought back again via Troas (2 Timothy 4:13) to Rome for his third and final imprisonment; not this time in his hired room, but in the cold, common dungeon.

It is interesting to see how that in two of his prison experiences Paul still had companions around him, either voluntarily drawn to him or assigned to his company by the prison governors. We’ll now briefly review the three prison experiences and some of the companions to whom he refers.

Internment in Caesarea

These may have been among the loneliest years in Paul's Christian life. He enjoyed an early opportunity for testimony before Felix, the governor in Herod's palace, and shortly afterwards before Felix and Drusilla, his Jewish wife. From time to time Felix had private talks with him but he was after money rather than the spiritual riches Paul had to offer. The wretched man was basically trying to curry the favour of the Jews so he kept Paul in prison during his two year assignment as governor and then left Paul in prison for Festus his successor to deal with.

Again Paul had the opportunity of giving his personal testimony, this time before Festus and Agrippa the king and his wife Bernice. The finding of the court was that, since Paul had appealed to Caesar, he should be sent to Rome for trial. They’d probably been lonely years for the veteran preacher for although Felix authorized visits by any of his friends, there is no recorded reference to any Christians of a like mind spending any time with him. How he must have missed his former companions in travel! Yet how mighty before God must have been the prayers of the lonely man of God!

Incarcerated in Rome

It is generally accepted that it was during his first imprisonment in Rome, rather than in Caesarea, that Paul wrote his prison letters - Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. It is evident from Ephesians 6:21-22, Colossians 4:7-9, and Philemon that these three letters were sent by Paul at the same time. Opinions vary as to whether Philippians was written before or after them.

In Ephesians, Paul associates no brother with him in writing the letter and refers to no brother as being with him in prison when writing it. He mentions Tychicus only as the bearer of the letter and the terms in which he refers to him are repeated almost word for word in Colossians 4:7-9. Tychicus obviously carried the letters to both churches and the one to Philemon also. Paul regarded Tychicus as a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord; an excellent description. But in Colossians Paul makes some very appreciative references to several brothers who appear to have been imprisoned for the gospel's sake and with him in the same quarters.

There was Aristarchus the Macedonian, who had been with Paul in the tumult at Ephesus (Acts 19); on the journey from Greece through Macedonia and on into Asia (Acts 20), and finally on the fateful shipwreck journey to Rome (Acts 27). Paul now describes him as his follow-prisoner and, in the letter to Philemon, as his fellow-worker. He was in a special group of three who were in the prison in Rome together.

The group also included Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. Paul's confidence in him in earlier years had been shaken; but now he is a restored John Mark, commended by Paul in Colossians and described in Philemon as a fellow-worker. To be regarded by tireless Paul as a fellow in the Lord's work was praise indeed. Then the third was Jesus, known as Justus.

To these three brothers Paul pays the finest tribute. Of the Jewish brothers, only these three had been fellow-workers for the kingdom of God with him in the prison, men that had been a comfort to him. Moses said of Reuben, as he contemplated an unreliable tribe, “let his men be few”. But in the community in Paul's day, and, be it observed, in our day even more so, there can never be too many men and women who will be fellow-soldiers for the kingdom of God, who are at all times a source of comfort and strength to the people of God.

Another brother whose conduct in the prison deeply affected Paul was Epaphras. He had been used by God in the early days of the church in Colossae (Colossians 1:7-8) and, now in prison alongside him, Paul could hear him calling on the Lord, indeed striving with Him continually for the saints in Colossae. His burden was that they would stand firm in complete assurance of every aspect of the whole counsel of God. Paul describes him, and no wonder, as a beloved fellow-servant, a faithful minister of Christ, a servant of Christ Jesus and a fellow-prisoner.

Then there was Paul’s “dear friend Luke, the doctor”, a brief but deeply affectionate reference to the medical man who was appointed by the Lord in Acts 16:10-11 to accompany Paul in the subsequent hazardous years of his travelling ministry. How much Paul owed to the tender skill of this medical companion and how much God's children owe to the careful observations of this accurate historian!

The final reference was to Demas, described in Philemon as a fellow-worker, but strangely no comment whatever is made in Colossians as to the nature of his service. How greatly Paul must have appreciated the thoughtfulness of the Lord in providing for him companions such as these, in chains together with him, during the years of his first imprisonment in Rome.

Imminent Departure

Paul wrote 2 Timothy during this period of his final imprisonment in Rome. He sensed that the time of his departure had come. He had no regrets. In his letter to the Colossians he had included the most unusual personal message to Archippus -“See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.” Paul realized that he had now fulfilled his own - fought, finished, and kept. Strangely none of his companions had stood by him at his trial before the Emperor. But the Lord had been with him and had delivered him. Now he knew the end could not be long delayed.

Yet his longing for the growth and preservation of the kingdom of God which he loved, for which he had lived and for which he was now ready to die, was still there; and versatile as ever, he was still carefully and prayerfully observing the movements of former companions in travel. Various brothers had gone to several places in the pursuit of the noblest of all service. He longed for Timothy to come and see him.

But news of Demas had reached and saddened him, for Demas had forsaken him for the love of this present world. It may be the going had proved too tough for him or the comforts of this present world were just too appealing. So he had left the active, travelling service in which he had once been linked with Paul and gone back to Thessalonica. A sense of loneliness may well have come over the old warrior, an almost irresistible desire for the freedom, the vigour and the thrust of earlier years.

But he was not alone and we sense the deep pathos in the words - “Only Luke is with me”. Indefatigable Luke, appointed for the care of this great servant of the Lord as he bore His Name before Gentiles, kings and the people of Israel. Still they were together, now all alone.

Maybe they talked about their writings and wondered how the recipients fared and to what extent the writings had circulated. But of this we are sure - they had shared so much in common that they would have no lack of subjects for conversation, no shortage of matters for prayer.

Battle Quotes

“Life is war. That’s not all it is. It is always that...but most people do not believe this in their hearts. Most people show by their priorities and their casual approach to spiritual things that they believe we are in peacetime, not wartime...

Very few people think that we are in a war that is greater than World War II, or than any imaginable nuclear war. Few reckon that Satan is a much worse enemy than any earthly foe, or realize that the conflict is not restricted to any one global theatre, but is in every town and city in the world.

Who considers that the casualties of this war do not merely lose an arm or an eye or an earthly life, but lose everything, even their own souls, and enter a hell of everlasting torment?  Until we feel the force of this, we will not pray as we ought. We will not even know what prayer is...”  John Piper

10 BATTLE ROUND 6 – JESUS V THE ANTICHRIST

The darkest battle era of human history has yet to happen! Described by Daniel the prophet as “the appointed time of the end”  it will occupy the seven years immediately before the coming to earth of the Lord Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords (see Revelation 19:11-16).

Contemptible “Christ”

That dark era will be dominated by who 2 Thessalonians 2 calls “the man of lawlessness” (or the “man of sin” in some older translations of the Bible). Through him Satan will achieve his long-held objective of world acknowledgement of his supremacy in opposition to God and His Christ. He is also called the Antichrist, in 1 John 2:18-22 for example, because he will dispute the place given by the Father to Jesus, and claim universal allegiance and worship for himself.

Impressions of the Antichrist are given in many prophetic scriptures dealing with the end times. A sinister picture emerges. He is described as a contemptible person, who obtains power by intrigue (Daniel 11:21), speaks lies in political conference (v.27) and perverts by flatteries (v.32). In Daniel 8:23 he is featured as a “fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue…” He ruthlessly treads other rulers underfoot to grasp power for himself (Daniel 7:19). He magnifies himself above all (Daniel 11:37) and has no time for traditional religion or the desire of women (Daniel 11:37). He has no problem slaying millions who refuse to bow to his claims (Revelation 7:9-14).

Arrogant Authority

“He will become very strong, but not by his own power…” is the brief but revealing comment in Daniel 8:24. The apostle Paul expands on this:

“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendour of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8-10)

Satan could correctly say to the Lord Jesus, having shown Him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant, “I will give you all their authority and splendour; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.” John 12 tells us that he is “the prince of this world.”

World government during the final phase of the Antichrist’s rule is depicted in Revelation 13:1 by a beast that “…had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns…” The crowns that were seen on the heads of the dragon are now seen on the horns of the beast. These horns represent ten kings who will receive authority with the beast, the man of sin (see Revelation 17:12).

Their adornment with the crowns illustrates the delegation of this immense authority and power by Satan: “…The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority” (Revelation 13:2).

Political Power

The prophetic scriptures consistently identify the Antichrist with a political power base in the area formerly controlled by the ancient Roman Empire. For example, the four beasts described in Daniel 7 seem clearly to refer to Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman Empires, in that order. The fourth beast, representing the Roman power, had ten horns, among which arose another horn: the interpretation given in verses 24-28 shows that the dominant ruler will encounter the Most High at the time when His everlasting kingdom will be ushered in. We understand that in the time of the end there will be a resurgence of a political power, answering to the former Roman Empire, and the Antichrist will become its leading figure.

Under his leadership the area will be controlled by ten kings, who receive authority from the Antichrist: “…They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast” (Revelation 17:13). Again in Daniel 8 we see the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great represented by the he-goat with a notable horn. After the he-goat overcame the ram with two horns (representing the Medo-Persian Empire), the he-goat's great horn was broken. In its place Daniel saw four notable horns, representing, we understand, the four generals among whom Alexander's empire was divided. Then we are told that out of one of these four horns came forth a little horn which grew in power: in verses 23-25 the interpretation relates this “little horn” to the supreme end-time ruler, from which we learn that the man of sin will arise from one of the four areas into which Alexander the Great's empire was divided. Most of these were, of course, within the overall area later controlled by the Roman Empire.

If it weren’t for divine revelation on the subject, other nations would have seemed more likely to achieve supremacy and the centre of world power. Yet in relatively recent times we have witnessed the growth of political consciousness towards European unity, based on the Treaty of Rome. Many students of Scripture regard this trend as an early phase of development towards the ten-kingdom confederacy in the ancient Roman Empire area, which Scripture predicts will be the basis of Antichrist's political and military power. From this power base he will dominate the world.

Blasphemous Boasts

Satan will incite the Antichrist to oppose and exalt himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he will sit in the temple of God, setting himself up as God (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

These blasphemous claims reflect Satan's original folly, when, as the anointed cherub on the holy mount of God, he walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire (Ezekiel 28:14); when he said in his heart:

“…I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:13-14)

In similar spirit, the man of lawlessness will:

•speak boastfully (Daniel 7:8);

•speak against the Most High (Daniel 7:25);

•consider himself superior (Daniel 8:25);

•exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods (Daniel 11:36);

•be given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies…and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven (Revelation 13:5-6).

Worshipping the Wounded

John's vision in Revelation 13:3-4 refers to the Antichrist in terms of one of the heads of the beast seen coming up out of the sea:

“One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?’”

What is meant by this “fatal wound” may seem obscure, but both in Revelation 11:7 and 17:8 reference is made to the “beast that comes up (or is about to come up) from the abyss.” Ezekiel also prophesied about the “deadly wounded wicked one... whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end” (Ezekiel 21:25 RV). So it does seem that Satan will have power to restore the Antichrist from an apparently fatal wound, reinstating him in authority and using the phenomenon to convince millions that they should worship both the Antichrist and Satan himself.

Indeed it would seem that the whole episode will be a deliberate imitation of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus in order to establish Satanic claims to man's allegiance and worship.

Promoting Prophet

A second beast is described in Revelation 13:11, having “…had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon.” We understand this represents the false prophet spoken of in Revelation 16:13 and 19:20, an evil genius devoted to the promotion of the worship of the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. The false prophet displays spectacular signs which deceive those that dwell on the earth. He will be the ultimate fulfillment of the Lord's warning in Matthew 24:24: “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect”.

He will command the making of an image to the man of sin who had the stroke of the sword and lived. He will even give breath to the image, causing it to speak. Those who will not worship the image will be killed. He will also order all to have a mark on their hand or forehead, the mark of the beast. No-one will be allowed to buy or sell without it (see Revelation 13:14-18).

Deadly Destruction

In Revelation 17, John vividly describes the Great Prostitute, sitting on a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy and having seven heads and ten horns. This would seem to depict the world religious system supported by the political system under the Antichrist’s control. For it appears that he will patronise the apostate world religion during the first three and a half years of his power. Then he will:

“…hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.” (Revelation 17:16)

This will be in harmony with his claim to worship from all mankind; no rival religious worship will be tolerated.

Collapsing Covenant

As with the “prostitute” of apostate world religion, so with the Israel nation: the Antichrist will first conciliate and patronise. He will make a firm covenant for one week (meaning seven years) with many, as we learn from Daniel 9:27. He will pervert many of Israel by flatteries (Daniel 11:32). So will the Lord's words be fulfilled:

“I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.” (John 5:43)

Then in the middle of the week (i.e. after 3 1/2 years) he will renounce the covenant. With dramatic sacrilege he will sit in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.

“…In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” (Daniel 9:27)

About this the Lord Jesus gave clear warning to the God-fearing of Israel:

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation’, spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!  Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again.”  (Matthew 24:15-21)

Defying Deity

Satan, the Antichrist and the false prophet have been well described as a trinity of evil. In Revelation 16:14, we read that three unclean spirits were seen by John coming out of their mouths - spirits of demons that “…perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.”

Through the Antichrist, Satan will marshal the resources of his world-wide kingdom against the Lord and against His anointed, saying:

‘“Let us break their chains

and throw off their shackles.’

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

the Lord scoffs at them.

He rebukes them in his anger

and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

‘I have installed my king

On Zion, my holy mountain.’”

(Psalm 2:3-6)

Coming as King of kings and Lord of lords, He will overthrow the lawless one by “the breath of His mouth” and “the splendour of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). Both the beast and the false prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire: “The Dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan” will be bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years (Revelation 19:19-20:3). So the dazzling Satanic kingdom of the man of lawlessness will be crushed by the Stone cut out of the mountain without hands (Daniel 2:45). In triumphant anticipation of this, let us delight in the Spirit's assurance: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…” (Romans 16:20).

Battle Quotes

“The ancient city of Sparta had no walls. This was commented on by a foreign dignitary who was invited to inspect the famed Spartan garrison. Back came the answer from the commanding officer: “Sir, with our soldiers we need no walls for every man is a brick.” That’s the origin of the old expression “he’s a brick”, symbolising reliability and dependability in every circumstance. The Lord needs people who are “bricks” today.

“Therefore put on the full armour 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.”  (Ephesians 6:13)

Are some of us part-time Christian soldiers? Being in an army is a serious business; it is a job for professionals, not casuals.”

Reg Darke

“In our fellowship and service together in Churches of God, a continuing live and watchful exercise in prayer is essential as a defence against the adversary. He hindered Paul, he drew away some of the disciples, he devoured stray sheep, he laid snares for overseers, he played on the covetous natures of Ananias and Sapphira who wanted “kudos” among the church but at half price, so he fed them with lies and destroyed them.

We are no match for Satan ourselves, but our collective faith finds scope in prayer to resist him and curb his activities. The archangel rebuked the Devil in the name of the Lord, and we may withstand his attacks on saints or churches if our faith is strong in prayer to God. Overseers especially must keep their eyes open for signs of danger, knowing the way he works, and in prayer and other ways must come to the help of individuals or the defence of a church under attack.”

Eddie Merchant

11 STILL BATTLING AGAINST…DISCOURAGEMENT

Discouragement was no enemy to our Leader, the Lord Jesus, of whom it was prophetically written in Isaiah 42: “He will not falter or be discouraged.” He had enemies, defecting followers and unfaithful disciples. He was misunderstood and misrepresented. He was finally repudiated and rejected. Yet, remarkably, at no point was He discouraged! Built into this was the fact that at no time was there any personal failure. His life was cast in the mould of His Father's will, and He unerringly completed, day by day, the work which had been given Him to do. So His serene mind was unaffected by daily adversities and His great strength lay in this joy.

But with us the position is quite different. We are so slow to take on the character of our Leader. Unlike Him, we fail, and because of this we become discouraged. In fact, this could well rank among the main reasons why many of God's children give up the struggle. We take comfort that some of the great men and women of faith of all ages have battled their way against this same adversity. Discouragement is an intensely human failing and profoundly weakening. In this the mighty Elijah who towers among the pinnacles of faith, showed himself to be a man like us. He stood regularly in the divine presence, controlled the rain at his word, condemned the sin of the house of Ahab, challenged and killed the prophets of Baal then dejected and discouraged fled to the wilderness and “…prayed that he might die…” He felt he was the last of the line. “…I am the only one left…” He was discouraged by a sense of loneliness.

Lonely?

This can be most weakening. It may affect us from several causes. The assembly may be small and the hard core smaller still. There may be few at the prayer meeting, some too busy with trivial things. Or again, loved ones may have gone, one by one, from the home and there are vacant chairs. Maybe few call to spend an hour of friendship. From whatever cause, we are cast down, oppressed by a sense of loneliness. And then we remember that lovely, lonely Man of Galilee, who, now on God's throne, understands completely, for He passed this way. We think also of how we have innumerable fellow-members of the Body who are everywhere experiencing a similar thing; of how also we have been called into the Fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, so that there is an even closer “fellowship with hearts to keep and cultivate”. And we thank God, and take courage.

Little to show?

The last words of the Victorian businessman and politician Cecil Rhodes were reputedly, “So little done, so much to do”. And we think of the years passing over us with so little apparently to show for our personal witness. We just have to face this and not run from it. “…I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God” was the warning to Sardis. So we sense failure and grow discouraged – but better far to have a frank examination of our lives and seek by the Lord's help to rid ourselves of anything which may be impeding the flow of the Spirit through us to others. Then gather encouragement from Isaiah's call:

“Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear…’” (Isaiah 35:3-4)

These glorious words were picked up and pointedly applied by the writer to the Hebrews (12:12-13). So let us do what we can with a will, like our Leader, of whom it is written, “zeal for your house consumes me…” Mr J. C. Radcliffe used to quote to our delight in younger days, “Do what you can, being what you are; you can be a glow-worm if you can't be a star”. And, says Jeremiah: ‘“Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded’ declares the LORD…” (Jeremiah 31:16). Well did the Holy Spirit say for our encouragement, “…your labour in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Lack of Blessing in the Assembly?

This can be spiritually devastating to those who appreciate their high collective calling, appointed to “…go and bear fruit - fruit that will last…” (John 15:16). The spiritual impact of the assembly in the local neighbourhood may be visibly reducing. Useful personal contacts with those outside may be thinning out. Numbers in the children's and youth work may be at a low ebb. Any open-air witness seems ineffective and little, if any, response detected from the quantities of literature given out. Generally there are few being saved and fewer still discipled – this is really fruitful soil for a thriving weed of discouragement!

Nor is there any modern short-cut to weed it out. The assembly must go to the Lord about the matter, strong in their understanding as to what is required of us in the moral and spiritual sphere if prayer is to be effective. Not only that, but avenues of assembly outreach must be re-explored. Overseers and deacons must carry a basic responsibility for this but the saints generally are involved. Indeed from the exercised younger people may come suggestions as to openings for the Word which are well worth exploring. These all require study in the fear of the Lord as to their suitability in relation to God's house. A fresh appraisal of how best the assembly may take on the character of casting down strongholds is called for. Some fresh, approved feature may really help the gospel service; a new approach to various age groups in children's and youth work; openings for contact with the lonely, the aged, the sick; meetings in houses where the doors of friends or neighbours are opened.

Whatever we do, let us not give up by reason of discouragement, nor, on the other hand, fall into the trap of substituting entertainment for evangelising. Then again we may be cast down from a sense of the Lord's disciplining hand.

Lord’s Disciplining Hand?

As He loves, so He disciplines and always for our good. Sometimes it is irksome; always, to the exercised, profitable. It may be we are not yet wholly committed and He touches us in some way so that on self-examination a more dedicated person may emerge. Or we may be in danger of too much self-esteem and again He touches us so that a better sense of proportion will develop. Whatever it is, from a position of seeming strength we go into temporary weakness so that in the purpose of the Lord we may rise to greater and purer spiritual power. And it is when we are thus weak that the danger of discouragement is present.

Paul was conscious of it. By reason of the greatness of the revelation granted to him, there was also given him a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him, lest he be exalted overmuch. He might have felt discouraged, dejected. Actually it was only to be one of his many weaknesses, injuries, necessities, persecutions, distresses for Christ's sake. But Paul went to God about the matter; from Him he learned the secret. There was no need to be weak and no need to be discouraged for through these very experiences the power of Christ could rest upon him. There he said, “when I am weak, then am I strong.”

Low-spirited?

Sometimes disciples in whom we had placed our hopes turn back and walk no more with us. And we have recourse for comfort to the Lord's own long look at His retreating followers in John 6:66, or to Paul's steadfast spirit at Miletus despite the wolf-cries in his ears, as described in Acts 20:29. Or it may be God-fearing parents silently mourn over children who have, at least for the present, broken the family togetherness in spiritual things. And the weary hearts grope through tears for the promise of Jeremiah 31:16.

Or it may be the frequent mocking of those who cast doubts into even the strongest minds as to the need for separation in its many aspects if the whole counsel of God is to be given effect to. And our hearts yearn for an unquenchable faith which will bear us along in the path of the revealed will of God, until, without major regrets, we shall one day, please God, look back and say, “I have fought ... finished ... kept.” And so Bunyan wrote:

“Now they went on; and when they were come to By-Path Meadow, to the stile over which Christian went with his fellow Hopeful, when they were taken by Giant Despair, and put into Doubting Castle, they sat down, and consulted what was best to be done; to wit, now they were so strong, and had got such a man as Mr Great-Heart for their conductor, whether they had not best to make an attempt on the Giant, demolish his castle, and if there were any pilgrims in it, to set them at liberty, before they went any further.

So one said one thing, and another said the contrary. One questioned if it were lawful to go on unconsecrated ground; another said they might, provided their end was good. But Mr Great-Heart said, ‘Though that assertion offered last cannot be universally true, yet I have a commandment to resist sin, to overcome evil, to fight the good fight of the faith; and, I pray, with whom should I fight this good fight if not with Giant Despair? I will therefore attempt the taking away of his life, and the demolishing of Doubting Castle’.

Then they fell to demolishing Doubting Castle, and that you know might with ease be done, since Giant Despair was dead. They were seven days in destroying of that; and in it, of pilgrims, they found one Mr Despondency, almost starved to death, and one Much-Afraid his daughter; these two they saved alive. But it would have made you wonder to have seen the dead bodies that lay here and there in the castle yard, and how full of dead men's bones the dungeon was.”

We may not have long now to hold on in the face of discouragement, unconquering it may be, but, by God's grace, unconquered. And there comes vividly to mind brother Alan Toms telling an audience of Indian Christians of a missionary who was returning home on furlough. It had been a long, tough assignment. The ship was nearing the home port. There were many on board, pleasure bound, business bound, and many more to welcome them on arrival. But there was nobody there to greet the toiler from the field. He, too, might have been discouraged, till he heard an inward Voice say, “Son, you're not home yet”:

The sands of time are sinking,

The dawn of heaven breaks;

The summer morn I’ve sighed for,

The fair, sweet morn awakes;

Dark, dark hath been the midnight,

But dayspring is at hand;

And glory, glory dwelleth

In Immanuel’s land!

I’ve wrestled on toward heaven,

‘Gainst storm and wind and tide;

Now, like a weary traveller,

That leaneth on his guide,

Amid the shades of evening,

While sinks life’s lingering sand,

I hail the glory dawning

From Immanuel’s land.

With mercy and with judgement

My web of time He wove,

And aye the dews of sorrow

Were lustred with his love.

I’ll bless the hand that guided,

I’ll bless the heart that planned,

When throned where glory dwelleth,

In Immanuel’s land.

Soon shall the cup of glory

Wash down earth's bitterest woes;

Soon shall the desert brier

Break into Eden's rose;

The curse shall change to blessing,

The name on earth that's banned

Be graven on the white stone

In Immanuel's land.

Praise Be Unto Him

When Adam sinned great was the fall

And judgement came upon us all

Who’d rescue us from Satan’s thrall?

Praise be unto Him!

Praise be unto Him!

The lambs that on the altar lay

Could never take our sins away

Nor blood of bulls our ransom pay

Praise be unto Him!

Praise be unto Him!

The Father Sent Him from above

Spirit filled through Holy Dove

Daily showing out God’s love

Praise be unto Him!

Praise be unto Him!

A cross He knew He had to face

Dying in the sinners place

This is overwhelming grace!

Praise be unto Him!

Praise be unto Him!

To Him all praise ascribed be

Who won for us the victory

Acknowledge now on bended knee

Praise be unto Him!

Praise be unto Him!

O God, we long for that great day

When He will take His own away

For bright eternity we’ll say:

Praise be unto Him!

Praise be unto Him!

Anon.

12 FRIENDLY FIRE

It all started with a single bite. The serpent made it sound too good to pass up. The temptation grew as the doubt crept in. The defining moment of humanity, down to this moment, to this one fruit. One bite from her and another from him. That was all it took. The fate of the world sealed in a remarkably unremarkable moment. Perfection was destroyed. Paradise was lost. All it took was a single bite.

Arguably this is the most popular account from the Bible world-wide: Adam and Eve, the forbidden fruit, the fall of mankind. Even the least informed of people are likely to have some knowledge of the moment that changed humanity forever - whether they think of it as fact or fairy tale. One small bite for man, one giant bite for mankind. Earth was created by God, and there we were meant to spend our days walking freely in the most wonderful garden, dipping our toes in cool streams, plucking the ripest of fruit whenever we please - picture a summer at the cottage that never, ever ends. It was meant to be perfect. Instead, it took us less than three chapters to tear it down. It is uncertain the time between when Eve was created as Adam’s companion and when they fell victim to the serpent’s ploy. It could have been years. Maybe just days. Reading it now, though, makes it seem like mere minutes. God created man and, with the turn of a page, man had managed to shred the membership to our immaculate oasis. We fell for Satan’s first trick. As far as starts go, it is easily the worst of all time.

And since that fateful moment we have lived in a world full of sin and ripe with temptation at every turn. The forbidden fruit is dangled in front of our face and we still lick our lips and pluck it from the tree time and time again. Adam and Eve did not know what evil was when they took their last bite in utopia; it makes our doing so even more pathetic.

To dig deeper into the story of the fall of man is to better understand the battle between good and evil that truly rages in our lives today. First of all, if we ever questioned how the Lord feels about sin, we need look no further than when He tossed the couple out of the garden forever. In front of the gates God placed “…cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24). A “Do Not Enter” sign would have done fine: they would have gotten the message that they were no longer welcome. We are talking about two people who wore garments of animal skin and had not much else in the way of possessions, after all. They were hardly going to put up a fight.

But God does not deal with sin lightly, not then and not now. It is the work of the enemy and therefore it must be dealt with harshly. There stood an angel wielding a flaming sword - the battle had begun and now we all stood outside the gates.

We see how Adam and Eve dealt with the sinful situation and, oh boy, does it mirror what we go through on a daily basis. It started with the serpent approaching her, skillfully drawing her in. She knew what God had told them; that they were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She knew the consequence: death. And yet, the serpent simply replied with, “You will not certainly die…” (Genesis 3:4). That is all it took; one little fib and the seed of doubt in her mind was planted and grew rapidly. The ease with which this was accomplished should terrify us. One simple lie to get her to reach for the fruit. One single bite to finish the job. Might as well have been us.

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:6)

The weight of this verse is staggering. One single verse to seal the fate of the world. Inconceivable. We so often focus on the first half of this verse, where Eve succumbed to the temptation, and really, it is no wonder that we do. But the second part is absolutely jaw-dropping. It shows just how doomed a people we were right from the start. As men today we often (jokingly) give women flack that it was a woman at fault for the demise of the world. Eve took the first bite and therefore it was her fault - and the fault of all women. The fact of the matter is we could not be more wrong, guys. Eve was deceived, but Adam? He disobeyed without hesitation, he did not feel the pull of the devil, but rather, he simply saw what his partner was doing and joined in.

“…by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man…” (Romans 5:17)

The blame lies with the man, fellas. But what makes it so shocking is that it states ever so clearly that the two of them were together. Eve was not with the serpent alone, Adam was right there, likely a few feet away. This makes the story so much more baffling. God had made it clear from the beginning that the man was not to be alone. The woman would be his “helper” (Genesis 2:18), that the man was to be “…united to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). They were made for each other - literally - to help and protect each other. It was encounters such as this that their companionship in part was meant for. They were allies, assistants, partners, colleagues and friends. It was the whole point and they made a mess of it on the first go. How many times in a day do we do this?

There they stood, together, in the face of evil with a choice to make. They knew the right thing to do. They knew what God had warned if they were to disobey. They both knew it, yet they both blew it. Both of them. Yes, Eve could have - and should have - simply walked away, but Adam was no less at fault. He should have stepped in. He should have interceded and pulled her back, told the snake to slither somewhere else. But instead, she took some and ate it. Then she passed it to him and he did the same. Like it was nothing. That is the description of the scene we get. No other details. None. This is mind-blowing.

The questions that crop up from this scene make you want to pull your hair out. That’s it? That is all the fight they put up? Did they even discuss the matter? Did they give each other a look like, “maybe we should leave,” or did they simply fall to temptation without a second thought? When hanging on the cross centuries later, Christ lamented, “…Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34), and goodness, was He right. Not a clue right from the start.

Adam and Eve stood there, a simple decision to make, and instead of making the right one together, they brought each other down, together. Doomed themselves and each other with one pass of a fruit. It defeated the entire purpose of what they as humans were supposed to be and, in the process, defeated us all together. The “what-ifs” that exist in this situation are unbelievable. Imagine the impact of one of them simply refusing, and pulling the other away. Imagine. But the first two are not alone in this direct, utterly destructive blunder.

We bring each other down constantly. Temptation crops up and as Christians we always have a way out, an opportunity to walk away, but do we? Do we step up and tell our friends it is wrong? Do we dare speak up and suggest we go grab a non-forbidden fruit smoothie instead? Or do we simply pass the fruit with a smile on our face, and marvel at how good it tastes? You would think we would learn from our earliest of mistakes. Turns out we are Adam and Eve 2.0 - they took a bite, we use a cluster and make fruit salad.

In the military, they call this act of blatant harm to each other friendly fire. Firing on one’s own side, causing the loss of one’s own personnel. Adam and Eve were the first to fire on each other, simply by staying quiet and following the other’s fateful decision. As Christians, sadly, this is one of our specialties. The serpent, like he was back in the garden, simply drops temptation in front of us and watches with sinister glee as we let it spread from us to those around us like a computer virus. It comes in the form of things that are seemingly harmless. Gossip. A joke about another. “It is harmless,” he says, “you most certainly will not die.” Sounds so convincing, and makes the act seem so innocent. In God’s eyes, we might as well be passing around the nearest corrosive liquid and taking a swig. Sin is death and thus those who sin must be destroyed. Humanity? It did not look good for us.

“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11)

Thank God. Salvation: the act of saving from harm, loss, destruction or death. The words of these verses (and many like them) are so prevailing. Through our Lord Jesus we are saved from the sin in our lives. He died so we can live and not just live on our own, but live with Him together. Yes, together we may live. If Adam and Eve realized this in the beginning, they would have avoided the disastrous deception entirely. They foolishly wanted knowledge, tossing aside the gift of life.

“So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45)

Thankfully Christ - the last Adam - corrected the mistake that the first Adam made. He wiped it out, and now allows us to realize it for eternity: that working together for good is absolutely the best solution. He knows it and now asks that we do too. Not to stand by idly as our friends walk into the devil’s traps. Not to lead others headlong into sin. Not to fire on our own. No, we are to encourage one another and build each other up. Words straight from the mouth of the Man who is the cornerstone of what is being built upon.

“For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)

Friendly fire does more than open the door for Satan to enter our lives; it essentially allows him to use us as the weapons. It allows the serpent to slither his way into relationships and insert his lies and slander. Friendly fire does nothing good for us and certainly nothing good for Christ. Friends, let’s encourage one another. Build one another up. An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but sampling from the forbidden variety only keeps us away from Christ. He came to this world to clean up the mess Adam started. The single bite of that fruit has been forgiven and forgotten. Ours too, as long as we ask for it.

Let’s work together and help avoid the situation to begin with. Let’s be obedient in our walk. Leave the fruit where it lies. Besides, it goes straight to your hips.

The A-Z of Satan – L to R

Lawless one - “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth...” 2 Thessalonians 2:8

Leviathan - “In that day, the Lord will punish with his sword - his fierce, great and powerful sword - Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent…” Isaiah 27:1

Liar - “…When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44

Little horn - “Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the Lord; it took away the daily sacrifice from the Lord, and his sanctuary was thrown down.” Daniel 8:9-11

Lucifer – “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!” Isaiah 14:12 NKJV

Man of lawlessness - “…that day will not come until…the man of lawlessness is revealed…proclaiming himself to be God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

Murderer - “…He was a murderer from the beginning…” John 8:44

Power of darkness - “He had delivered us from the power of darkness…” Colossians 1:13-14 NKJV

Ruler of the kingdom of the air - “…you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air…” Ephesians 2:1-2

13 ISRAEL’S BATTLE – BEN-HADAD AND JEHOSHAPHAT

Youth and numbers do not limit God’s victories

“Meanwhile a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and announced, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will know that I am the LORD.”’ ‘But who will do this?’ asked Ahab. The prophet replied, ‘This is what the LORD says: “The junior officers under the provincial commanders will do it.’” ‘And who will start the battle?’ he asked. The prophet answered, ‘You will.’ So Ahab summoned the 232 junior officers under the provincial commanders.

Then he assembled the rest of the Israelites, 7,000 in all. They set out at noon while Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk. The junior officers under the provincial commanders went out first. Now Ben-Hadad had dispatched scouts, who reported, ‘Men are advancing from Samaria.’ He said, ‘If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive.’ The junior officers under the provincial commanders marched out of the city with the army behind them and each one struck down his opponent. At that, the Arameans fled, with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with some of his horsemen.

The next spring Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. When the Israelites were also mustered and given provisions, they marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped opposite them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside. The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, ‘This is what the LORD says: “Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.”’

For seven days they camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle was joined. The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day. The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek, where the wall collapsed on twenty-seven thousand of them...” (1 Kings 20:13-20; 26-30)

Ahab was not a good king. Egged on by his wife, Jezebel, he abandoned everything that was to do with the Lord’s commandments. Even so God was prepared to deliver him and Israel from the hands of the Syrian king, and in doing so showed that age, experience and numerical supremacy have nothing to do with victory in the work of God.

Ahab was afraid of the Syrians and he had little idea what to do to defend himself from their enormous army. God sends His man into the fray, and the message is given that God would bring about victory, and that Ahab was to start the battle. The most extraordinary feature of this battle was who would lead the attack! 232 young servants were to charge the enemy lines; they were just 3.3% of the entire army that Ahab had at his disposal! The Syrian king was as dismissive of them as Ahab must have felt about his chances of victory, and they were not seen as a credible threat. Both these kings left God out of the equation and those 232 young men led a rout that day that caused total panic in the enemy camp.

God could have told us that there were about 230 but He didn’t miss out one! When Jesus performed the miracle of the fish in John 21, God tells us that they caught 153 fish - not an approximation but the exact number! Every one matters to Him and in our own day every one of us matters to God and we are all included in His purposes to lead us to victory over our adversary today!

What about how we see ourselves? The story we are looking at tells us that another battle ensued; this time Israel lined up opposite the Syrian army and they looked like “two little flocks of goats” when compared with the 127,000 (at least) men of Syria! For 7 days they eyed each other before finally engaging in battle. Israel overran them totally and God made them the triumphant; a very different battle but numbers were still not the issue. Their reliance upon God was what mattered and, even though they had the time to have serious doubts, they didn’t falter as they entered into that war.

Very often we look at ourselves in comparison with the vast throng of people arraigned against us; what we see is a human view of things. God views it so differently. He is almighty and cannot be defeated and He has promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age. So youth, experience and numbers do not matter. All that matters is that we act in accordance with the will and purposes of God, never relying on ourselves but acting in complete faith in His power to bring us through to victory.

Prayer, Praise and the Spirit bring victory

“Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him. Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the LORD in the front of the new courtyard and said:

‘LORD, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you… Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.’ All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD. Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Jahaziel…a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, ‘Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.’ After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendour of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

‘Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.’ As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” (2 Chronicles 20:3-6; 12-14; 19-22)

It is a beautiful picture that is presented to us in this passage. The king, the people (including their little ones) and the priests and Levites are all gathered to seek God’s deliverance. The king fervently and passionately prays on their behalf. He knows that God has all power, that He ruled over the kingdoms and that He could act in judgement. He also knew that Israel was powerless to fight this battle. Is this a reflection of our own feelings when we consider the odds against us? Does the very idea take you to earnest, fervent prayer or does it make you want to run away?

Waiting upon the Lord in congregation isn’t one man praying alone - he had a multitude with him bowing hearts and knees before God in humble supplication for deliverance. It was a prayer meeting like no other and it should be the “norm” for the people of God as we consider the enormous challenges that face us today.

Amongst those gathered together was a man that God had His eye upon: Jahaziel (his name means “beheld of God”). He knew that the Spirit of God was driving him to speak the Lord’s message to the Lord’s people. Psalm 32:8 says:

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

This shows us how closely God watches over His people and over those He knew could receive and deliver His message in the power of the Spirit. God needs men like this who not only occupy themselves in the churches but who are prepared to stand in His presence, pray and faithfully deliver His word under the dynamic of the Spirit. But the king was not finished - prayer must go hand in hand with wholehearted belief and must prompt praise. When Gideon led his men into battle with a torch in one hand and a trumpet in the other, he could have been accused of being quite mad, but God had other purposes in what He was directing that day. This is no different: a praying, praising, Spirit filled army headed into the battlefield; they won a great victory, but never drew a sword!

We need to recognise that, very often, our greatest victories come through this route! Israel learned that total trust and obedience towards God did far more than they could in rushing off into the fight themselves. We need to learn that lesson as Philippians 4:4-7 so clearly teaches us:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

A Reasonable Mind

The Bible's view of our spirituality is consistent with the use of (sanctified) reason, for the word from which we get our word “logic(al)” is found in two key New Testament contexts. It seems plain that its basic meaning has to do with weighing up words (Greek “logos” = word) and the reasoning process associated with that.

The first occurrence of this “logical word” is in Romans 12:1, where we are told to “…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper (literally “reasonable”) worship”. This presentation of our bodies as living sacrifices can only be realized in practical terms by the rational decisions we each make in life, all of which have a distinct bearing on how we serve the Lord.

Our mind plays a key role in this, for the next verse refers to the danger of us allowing worldly thought patterns to impact the quality of our decision-making in service for the Lord. To guard against this danger, we must allow the renewing of our minds, so we can truly affirm that God's will really is best for us. That is a judgement that reflects spiritual logic not worldly logic.

A daily intake of God's Word will help us achieve this, for after stating that “…the living and enduring word of God…” (1 Peter 1:23) has brought us new life, Peter goes on to say that we should desire “…the pure milk of the word…” (1 Peter 2:2 NASB) or, literally, the reason-nourishing milk. By drinking in the reason-nourishing milk of God's Word, our perceptive abilities are adjusted from the influence of worldly thinking. Clear spiritual reasoning is vital for dynamic growth in our relationship with the Lord and living His will to the hilt in our service.

Brian Johnston

14 BATTLE ROUND 7 – JUDGEMENT DAY!

In every sphere in heaven and on earth the Lord Jesus Christ will have supremacy. This has always been God’s intention. The dream of  turning to God in this present declining world situation, as the result of faithful and sustained Christian preaching and testimony, is not destined to happen. In fact, things are going to get much worse. Total political chaos and religious apostasy in future times will only be removed by the intervention and judgement of Almighty God.

Satan is the worst rebel in the universe and the key instigator of all evil both in heavenly places and on earth. His insolent opposition has been tolerated by God up to now. But the end of that is in sight. His career is nearing its finale as the first prophecy given in Eden nears fulfillment. He, who at one time was the chief executive and custodian of the rights of the throne of God, will have the lake of fire as his permanent dwelling place. The principal offender of the created universe will be the greatest sufferer eternally. It is fearful to think of the descent from his former residence in inconceivable majesty to his final place in unimaginable degradation. Romans 16:20 assures us that “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…”

A Pre-millennium Judgement

The events of the opening verses in Revelation 20 are the natural and expected consequences of the momentous descent of the King of kings to earth, so graphically described in the previous chapter. The great political and religious leaders of Satan's doomed world empire, the Beast and the False Prophet, are transported alive to their place of eternal punishment.

These two henchmen of Satan had wielded their power autocratically. Men and women in the world who had at first been grateful for their strong-handed dealings in government now prove by bitter experience that they committed themselves to a more terrible tyranny than ever known before. The reign of terror of the Beast and the False Prophet will be abruptly terminated by the Lord's appearing from heaven. Two Old Testament men, Elijah and Enoch were taken to heaven without dying, to share in eternal glory and joy. Here two men are consigned to share torment forever without death or resurrection.

The preparatory step to the establishing of Christ's millennial kingdom is the apprehending and committal of the Dragon - the evil genius and master criminal - to “the abyss”. This period of imposed isolation will last for a thousand years. It is virtually impossible to visualize a world exempt from Satan's policies and cruelties and enjoying the benign and righteous administration of God's Son. The apostle John states precisely his vision of the arch foe; “seized”, “bound”, “threw”, “…to keep him from deceiving the nations any more until the thousand years were ended.”

Three symbols of divine authority - a key, a chain and a seal - ensure that the devil will have no access or influence upon earth. His fiendish plans and diabolical deeds stain the annals of human history. The climax of his work was revealed in the murder of the Prince of Life. With the removal of the Church the Body at Christ's coming, and consequently much of the Holy Spirit's activity, Satan will infiltrate every region of human society with great success. Now he is captive. “The key” opens and closes the abyss; “the chain” fetters Satan.

“The abyss” is a term used of a defined place distinct from the “lake of fire”. The word occurs nine times in the New Testament (Luke 8:31; Romans 10:7(RV); Revelation 9:1,2,11, 11:7, 17:8, 20:1,3). It is not figurative language. In most passages it is the place of captivity of demon spirits though in others it identifies the place of the departed.

The term “dragon” depicts Satan controlling earth's political empires. He seduces men from God in his character as the “old serpent”. He is also the devil, the father of lies, and as Satan he is the implacable enemy of God and man. World-wide peace will be the product of his imprisonment or “binding”. A binding of Satan took place at Golgotha. There is a clear reference to the triumphant victory of the cross in the words of Matthew 12:29. That binding was relative in the sense that Satan's house was spoiled, his power to hurt through the fear of death those who belong to Christ was dissipated and his fate was sealed. But he was not shut up from activity.

While at present he cannot touch the eternal security of believers in the Lord Jesus he can wreck their spiritual lives. In the coming time he will be powerless to afflict the nations. The strong angel, by divine command, shuts and seals the only entrance and exit of the abyss. He who once caused a seal to be placed upon the tomb of the Son of God has now a seal affixed upon his own domain.

The Millennium Period

No longer can Satan's evil deceptions drug the nations of earth. Whatever pockets of rebellion and outbreaks of immorality occur during the devil's imprisonment will certainly not be directly attributable to him. Christ's reign with His own for a thousand years is a prelude to His everlasting kingdom previewed in Revelation 22. The whole scene lies plainly across the page of Scripture of which Revelation 20:4-6 is a small part. This era of peace and prosperity was anticipated by Old Testament prophets and pictured in the transfiguration of the Son of Man (Matthew 16:27-28; 17:1-8).

The view that the Millennium will be a perfect state is based on supposition. Certainly rebellion will be dealt with summarily (see Isaiah 65:20), but man on his final probation even under the most favourable conditions will demonstrate the unavoidable corruption of the flesh. At the end of the thousand years Satan is released and stages a last but short-lived coup only to meet his final doom - the lake of fire - from which there is no re-emergence. This will be the precursor of the time described in 1 Corinthians 15:24.

A Last-ditch Effort

During the final rebellion the mastermind of deceit will again manipulate those who flock to his standard. He will have world-wide support – “…the four corners of the earth…” (Revelation 20:8). The words “God and Magog” represent the nations. They are not to be confused with references in Ezekiel 38 and 39 where events take place prior to the thousand-year reign in the invasion of Israel's territory by confederate powers. Satan's imprisonment had not made the slightest change in his hatred of God.

This vast conspiracy gathers momentum. It is earth's final revolt against the Lord and His Christ. Gigantic effort it may be, against the “camp of God’s people” that is, the millennial saints, and “the city he loves”, Jerusalem, but retribution is swift and decisive. Man's strength when directed against the Omnipotent is futile, even when planned by the skill and power play of the devil. Animosity towards “the land” has been consistent through the centuries. Pogrom-minded nations have been, are, and will be ignorant of God's purposes centred there.

The final means of judgement upon men who choose eternal death rather than life will be fire from heaven. Fire from the Lord consumed two companies of fifty men on a misguided mission, two hundred and fifty presumptuous rulers in Israel and two priests, the sons of Aaron. Those who have participated in the final affront to heaven after the millennium will be among the dead, the great and the small with the triumvirate of evil sharing the same end - the eternal fire spoken of by the Lord in Matthew 25:41.

The Abode of Eternal Suffering

The lake of fire is the same as Gehenna (Luke 12:5) - the place of eternal suffering and endless remorse. Somewhere in God's universe a restricted area is prepared for sin's last judgement. No sin will take place in the lake of fire even though the hearts of the sufferers, having chosen their own destruction, remain sinful. Neither repentance nor new birth is possible there. Total subjection will be divinely enforced (1 Corinthians 15:25). Eternal punishment is solemnly mentioned by the Lord Jesus in Mark 9.

How different Satan's path has been from that of his Conqueror! The self-existent Son of God willingly took the lowest place and has been awarded the highest honour. Satan, the most wretched being of all God's creation, will suffer most in that place of absolute and eternal separation from the God of unchangeable holiness. He has successfully deceived the unbelieving into accepting the theory of non-eternal punishment and implanting doubts as to the eternal security of those who trust in the Christ. “…Day and night…” (Revelation 20:10) describes perennial perdition. There is no doctrine of annihilation in the Bible.

In view of these things how important it is to have a right understanding of Christ's eternal Sonship, His present Lordship and future Kingship. We earnestly await the coming of Him “…the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”

Gideon’s Battle

Some army generals will only go into battle if they have superior numbers and equipment. This may be good human planning, but God doesn’t work that way. He is content to achieve His purposes through a minority, showing that He works in strange or paradoxical ways (Luke 5:26). He often does the very opposite to what man would do, and this is one of the divine secrets which we have to learn as Christians. Gideon might have felt more secure with the original 32,000 to meet the enemy which was like to a multitude of locusts (Judges 7:12). The number was reduced to 10,000 because the majority went home in fear and trembling. The army was still too large for the Lord, and so He whittled it down to 300 proven men. God needed less than one per cent of the original number to prove His victorious power.

After dividing the 300 into three companies, and equipping them with trumpets, empty pitchers, and torches - not the most formidable weapons by any means - Gideon spoke these memorable words: “Watch me…Follow my lead…do exactly as I do.”  This was the same man who earlier was so depressed and discouraged that he questioned the Lord with his “...why...where...which...” What brought about the change?  The Lord appeared unto him and looked upon him, and said, “Go…I am going to give it into your hands?” That look made all the difference and Gideon became a strong, determined, courageous warrior for God. And now he could say to his little group, “Watch me...follow my lead…” With 301 dedicated souls, the Lord defeated an enemy which was no doubt armed to the teeth. What is the lesson here? We who are in God's house today are a minority, and a very small one. We get discouraged just as Gideon did, and we begin to question and to doubt. Do we not need the Gideon experience - that look of encouragement from our glorious Leader, the Captain of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10, RV Margin)?   We must be willing to carry on the fight with Him and for Him, and with the divine equipment He has given us. Let’s not belittle what He has given to us. Gideon's men did not question, complain, or doubt the battle plan, their fewness of numbers, or the weapons. Nor should we. We must be prepared to blow our trumpets, break our pitchers, hold aloft our torches and cry out, “…victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Reg Darke

15 THE DISCIPLINE OF A SOUND MIND

G.K. Chesterton is attributed with saying: “The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid.”

Many Christians were open-mouthed and open-minded about an acclaimed landing of the Holy Spirit at a certain airport church fellowship a few years ago. One of the most disturbing features lay in the advice given to observers: “Don't analyze, don't ask questions; simply receive.” This is poles apart from the biblically endorsed attitude of those from Berea who examined their Bibles to check out if what Paul was saying was true.

Like the earlier charismatic and Pentecostal movements, this “third wave”, with its emphasis on signs and wonders, is decidedly anti-intellectual. It is claimed that by retaining rational control over our minds and actions we are inhibiting the work of the Holy Spirit; rational control must therefore be forfeited for tongues-speaking to occur and for ecstatic sensations in worship to be experienced. In some healing techniques, sufferer and healer alike must surrender their rational faculties to obtain a blessing, supposedly from God. Repetitive music and body-swaying are encouraged as means to sweep away one's defences and to become uncritically open to even the weirdest phenomena, which, although of dubious origin, are being made by some the test of spirituality today.

Many have rendered themselves highly gullible through laying aside the objective standard of God's Word and the facility of discernment which is brought into play by maintaining a disciplined mind. God has made His desire clear by giving us:

“…not...a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7, translated as discipline in the RV).

Let us take a closer look at this gift of a disciplined mind. After the redemption of the soul, the New Testament's focus shifts to the renewing of the believer's mind. The terms “renewing, renewal or made new” occur in five places in the context of regeneration (Titus 3:5), transformation (Romans 12:1-2), sanctification (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:23) and preservation (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Much of what is spoken about today under the label of spiritual renewal is far removed from these biblical contexts. The term has been hi-jacked. Scripturally, that which is to be renewed is our mind (Greek: nous), the seat of reflective consciousness, comprising the faculties of perception and understanding, feeling, judging and determining. Since the Greek root word that we are going to look at is the very word that is used in Luke 8:35 in the story of Legion, we might tellingly put it that the believer who is “in his right mind” is the one who operates from the mind of the Spirit, rather than the mind of the flesh (i.e. the carnal or worldly mind). As already hinted at, a chief characteristic of this spiritually renewed mind is soundness or soberness.

Soundness Through…Suffering

“The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind, so that you may pray.”  (1 Peter 4:7)

Peter, writing to believers suffering severe persecution for the sake of the Name, brings the suffering Servant into focus in a delightfully Christ-centred way in this chapter. Some today think that suffering is something to be avoided; with lack of faith often blamed on the part of the sufferer. How wide of the mark such a notion is - nothing could be further from the biblical truth. Peter's message here by the Spirit is that we are to allow ourselves to be changed by suffering; with the effect of our ceasing from sin and living more in the will of God. Suffering, as Peter remarkably presents it, is seen as a positive opportunity for acquiring the mind of Christ, resulting in a God honouring lifestyle, perhaps radically different from before. In stark relief against hedonism run wild, a Christian's right mind is seen to be a serious determination to do God's will, to go His way and to please Him - a determination that may often be sharpened by the experience of suffering.

Soundness Through…Subjection

“Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded.” (Titus 2:6 NKJV)

Paul says in Titus 3:3 that prior to our conversion, we were also found serving our own lusts and pleasures. How accurately this portrays the unrenewed (see Titus 3:5) mind of the flesh which is so hostile to the mind of the Spirit. Some in the Churches of God in Crete, reflecting their own notorious island culture, were still letting some of these traits of the old life show through: traits like insubjection, unruly quarrelsome behaviour, speaking evil of folks, even deception and corruption caused by greed. And these were believers, but not in their right mind! The sound or sober mind is recognizable throughout this letter as subject, moderate, controlled, loyal, true, kind and honest: overall a submissive attitude.

Soundness Through…Spiritual Renewal

“For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.” (2 Corinthians 5:13 AV)

Paul acknowledges that some might mistake his zeal for madness, but it is equally clear that he regarded himself to be sober-minded, not wishing to boast. Apart from this self-effacing attitude, what other characteristics of his sober-mindedness shine through this section of his second letter to Corinth? Well, in the slightly earlier setting of renewal (4:16), he has just been balancing the endurance of present afflictions over against the perspective of eternal glory. Only a renewed mind can do that. Paul also encourages everyone to be ambitious to please the Lord in light of His return and the transformation of our bodies. In all, the picture presented is one of spiritually renewed perspectives, priorities and ambitions.

Soundness Through…Straight-thinking

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one the measure of faith.”  (Romans 12:3 NKJV)

Side by side, at the beginning of Romans 12, we find a renewed mind and a humble mind. A mind conformed to the world, a worldly or carnal mind, is not the believer's right mind. Spiritual renewal has to do with transforming such a mind. It is a work of the Spirit of God in us that produces the mind of the Spirit in us. Again, the idea of soberness is prominent, revealed in thinking of ourselves no more highly than is appropriate.

This is an intensely practical subject since wrong behaviour stems from wrong thinking: our mind dictates to our members. It is a devotional one too, because it is the mind of Christ that we are considering: a mind that delights to meditate in the law of God (Romans 7:22). This sound mind is closed upon the solidarity of the sound teaching (e.g. 2 Timothy 4:3).

God's way is through the mind to the heart. Your mind does matter!

The Conflict of Prayer

Real prayer brings us into conflict with spiritual forces. The Psalmist learned this, for he described his exercise in prayer in the terms of a military operation: “O LORD... in the morning will I order my prayer unto thee and will keep watch” (Psalm 5:3 RV).

You will have noticed, probably, that when you get on your knees to pray you are seized with an inclination to get it over with as quickly as possible. You suddenly feel tired and it is a real effort to carry on. Yet if a friend called to see you at that moment no doubt you could converse for long enough. That urge comes from your great Adversary, and every time you yield to it he gains a victory. If you grasp this fact you will have learned the reason for the spiritual inertia which attacks your prayer-life, and you will know how to deal with it.

Always remember that your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask Him. So let prayer be simple and direct - don't try to imitate someone else. Pray over your simple daily problems as well as over what you consider to be the big issues of life. Pray not only for yourself. If you study the prayers of the apostle Paul you will see how he conducted a prayer campaign for others. There is much to learn from his method of address, his clear purpose and his intensity.

Another important point - don't confine your prayers to asking. When you learn something precious about the Lord Jesus Christ, speak to God about it. He delights in His Son and He loves to hear what you have discovered about Him. This is what we call communion. My experience has been that times of freedom and delight in prayer have followed a period of meditation on God's Word. When our minds are full of God's thoughts then we are in tune with Him and this is just the right condition for communion.

Tom Hyland

16 PAUL’S BATTLE – THE ARMOUR OF GOD

The armour listed in Ephesians 6 is drawn from the equipment worn by a Roman soldier in a state of readiness for battle. It has been speculated that Paul got the idea for writing this passage by observing the soldiers who would have guarded him whilst he was in prison.

The Girdle of Truth

The Roman soldier's girdle, or belt, was usually made of leather; it gathered his tunic together and held the sheath for his sword. Holding other pieces of armour in place, it gave the soldier freedom of movement, ensuring that he was not impeded by loose ends when marching.

In biblical times, girding up the loins implied preparation for action; it signified a state of physical alertness. Peter urged his readers to gird up “the loins of your mind” (NKJV); this implies a state of mental and spiritual readiness.

In his first contact with Eve, Satan was revealed to be a liar and a deceiver. Satan said, “you will not certainly die”, in defiance of the fact that God had clearly said they would if they took of the forbidden fruit. Eve believed the lie, and since the fall the natural mind prefers darkness to light.

One of Satan's methods is to induce men and women to accept the counterfeit by blinding their minds against the entrance of the truth.

The Breastplate of Righteousness

The breastplate was an indispensable piece of armour. It covered the vital organs, notably the heart and lungs. Believers have sometimes been encouraged “to fight and not to heed the wounds”. But in battle it depends on the nature of the wound whether or not it can be ignored. Superficial wounds may be only a minor hindrance. A more serious wound, while not life threatening, might render a soldier inoperative. But an arrow which pierced the heart or a lung could be fatal.

The breastplate is the evidence of the outworking of the righteousness of God in the sanctified lives of His children:

“…The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil…”(1 John 3:7-8)

Righteousness means actually doing whatever is right; sin is doing wrong. The Devil's Greek title diabolos means slanderer. Believers are to act righteously to protect themselves against his false accusations. The breastplate of righteousness helps the believer to preserve a good conscience and set the mind and the heart's affections on “…things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).

Footwear of the Gospel of Peace

The footwear of Roman legionaries is sometimes described as sandals, but they were not made for leisure. Some scholars believe that the Greek word “caliga”, used by secular authors to describe the soldier's footwear, would be best translated “half-boot”. They were made of leather, the toes being left free; the boots were tied to the shins and ankles by straps. They equipped the soldier for long marches; the heavily studded soles provided a firm foothold in battle thereby preventing his feet from slipping.

The believer's footwear is “the equipment of the gospel of peace” (RSV). The Greek word “hetoimasia” here translated “equipment” means preparation, readiness, or firmness. Living in the enjoyment of salvation provides a firm base to contend against evil; the believer should also be a bearer of the good news.

The Shield of Faith

Shields come in various shapes and sizes. The Greeks often used a small circular shield which covered only part of the body. Paul uses the Greek word “thureos” which describes the large rectangular shield, used by the Romans, which covered the whole body. According to the commentator Armitage Robinson, this type of shield “consisted...of two layers of wood glued together and covered first with linen and then with hide: it was bound with iron above and below”. They were sometimes saturated in water. Their purpose was to put out darts or arrows which had been dipped in a combustible material such as pitch, set alight and fired.

Believers need to anchor their faith in the promises of God to shield themselves from “…the flaming arrows of the evil one” who tempts into sin. The writer to the Hebrews refers to “…sin that so easily entangles" (Hebrews 12:1). If you or I have a “besetting” sin, an area of life where repeated failure has been experienced, the devil will be aware and exploit it. It seems probable, however, that for the author of Hebrews the “…sin that so easily entangles” is the sin of unbelief; believers are to “lay aside” this besetting sin. In chapter 11 he calls to mind the exploits of men and women of faith who took God at His Word and lived their lives accordingly.

God “…is a shield to those who take refuge in him” (Proverbs 30:5). By faith we realize that in God alone can we find refuge in the day of trouble. When temptation comes, faith lays hold of the power of God. When we are threatened by doubt or depression, faith lays hold of the promises of God. Resolute faith, Paul says, not only stops, but extinguishes Satan's flaming arrows.

One advantage of the large door-shield used by the Romans was that several could be placed side-by-side and even one above another. This enabled a group of men to present a united front to the enemy, whose missiles met a wall of resistance. The Devil attacks individuals, but he also attacks the families of believers and Churches of God. The serpent attacked Adam through his wife, with disastrous consequences. The Church of God in Smyrna was warned:

“…the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution…” (Revelation 2:10)

The only way the adversary's attacks can be repulsed is for each individual to put on the whole armour of God and for all to take shelter behind a protective shield of faith.

The Helmet of Salvation

The helmets worn by Roman soldiers were usually made of a strong metal such as iron or bronze. According to Barth: “an inside lining of felt or sponge made the weight bearable. Nothing short of an axe or hammer could pierce a heavy helmet, and in some cases a hinged visor added frontal protection”. The helmet of salvation provides protection for the mind.

The term “total depravity” is sometimes used to indicate that the fall affected all areas of man's being, including the mind. It does not mean that in the unsaved state men and women are incapable of a humanitarian gesture. It does mean that the mental outlook of the unsaved mind is hostile to God and His law. “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God…” (Romans 8:7).

The mind that shared in the devastating effects of the fall can be renewed. Paul could describe converts from both Judaism and paganism as having:

“…put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:10)

and as being: “…made new in the attitude of your minds” (Ephesians 4:23). The disciple of Christ who is relying upon the Spirit's guidance will become spiritually mature and exercise spiritual discernment. He or she can be described as spiritual or a spiritually minded person, and may even be said to have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:15-16). Character and behaviour are transformed by the renewal of the mind.

The believer must, however, always be vigilant because even though he or she may be growing into spiritual maturity, the devil never gives up the battle for control of the mind. Paul, a devoted servant of Christ whose spiritual attainments were of the highest order, was aware of a conflict in the arena of his mind. He wrote:

“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” (Romans 7:22-23)

Although Paul delights in God's law, he is conscious of another law which he describes as the law of sin which is in conflict with his total assent to the law of God, which he calls the law of my mind. The struggle will go on as long as he inhabits “the body of this death” which is his physical body. He longs for deliverance, which the redemption of the body will bring at the Lord's second coming.

Satan finds an undisciplined or undiscerning mind an easy prey to deception and delusion. He attempts to corrupt and confuse by inducing believers to accept his counterfeit, bringing them to a state of mind in which they “…will not put up with sound doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:3). The spread of false teaching has ruined the spiritual lives of many and led to the cessation of the Churches of God which were planted as a result of apostolic labours.

“Salvation” is the great gospel word that embraces deliverance from the penalty and power of sin, and also the very presence and effects of sin which will be experienced when the returning Lord takes the Church which is His Body to Himself. The enjoyment of salvation in Christ is essential to enable the believer to face the adversary, to attempt to win others for Christ and to distinguish between the true and the false.

The Sword of the Spirit

One weapon in the divine armoury can be used for attack as well as defence: that is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Paul's use of the Greek word “machaira”, which means the short sword, implies use in close personal encounter.

The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit in the sense that the Scriptures were originally inspired by the Holy Spirit. The human authors were men who spoke “…from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). They are to be used by the believer under the guiding influence of the indwelling Spirit of God. Rightly used, the sword of the Spirit is a weapon against which there is no defence. The sword metaphor emphasizes the activity and effectiveness of God's Word which is living, active, sharp, piercing and discerning (Hebrews 4:12). That the Word of God is living reflects the nature of God as the source of all life. The Lord said, “…The words I have spoken to you – they are full of the Spirit and life” (John 6:63). Some forms of life can lie dormant, but God's Word springs into activity to fulfil the purpose for which it has been spoken. God says:

“so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

God's Word is not a blunt instrument; it is sharper than a double-edged sword. Of the long promised Messiah it was prophesied:

“…He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.” (Isaiah 11:4)

In John's vision of the Conqueror whose Name is called the Word of God, the sharp sword which proceeds from His mouth to smite His enemies has the authority of Deity and is totally effective (Revelation 19:11-16). May we use this sword and the rest of the armour of God, skilfully and bravely so that we may be able to stand.

Colossians 1:10-11

“…that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience…

Titus 3:8

“This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.”

Hebrews 6:10

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”

Hebrews 13:20-21

“Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,  equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

James 2:14

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?”

17 THE HIDDEN BATTLE - SATAN AND HIS DEMONS

Satan is described on several occasions as a prince and he is called Beelzebub, a name of doubtful origin, but which means the prince of demons; in addition he is the god of this age. He is, then, in a position of considerable power and authority with a kingdom that was attested by the Lord Jesus, who said “If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand…?” (Luke 11:18).

Satan, however, is never called a king because nowhere is his authority absolute. His kingdom is not hell, as some have imagined (for example Dante and Milton), but it is the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13) which is in opposition to the kingdom of God. Satan rules over both unsaved mankind and the multitude of demons. When certain angels revolted against God they were cast down to hell and they remain chained there until the day of judgement (see 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) so they are restrained from further evil activity. Many other spirits have rebelled but God in His wisdom has allowed them to retain their freedom and to act as minions of Satan and assist in his wicked activities.

The prince and all his demons are totally united in opposing the purposes of God, and directing the affairs of the disobedient against Him. The tragedy is that mankind is naturally blind not only to the light of the gospel but also to the existence of demons and their evil influence. Demons are also called evil, unclean or familiar spirits and sometimes incorrectly called devils. Since there is no reproduction among spirits it would seem that each one had individually rebelled against God and given his allegiance to Satan; or, it has been suggested, they may have originally been subject to Satan and then defected together at his fall.

The kingdom of Satan seeks to copy the universal kingdom of God. For as the latter has a hierarchy of thrones, dominions, principalities and powers (Colossians 1:16), the former seeks to imitate with a rival organization of principalities, powers, world rulers and spiritual hosts of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12).

It would be difficult and highly speculative to define each of the above terms separately or even to differentiate precisely their functions, but it is evident that there are two great, but unequal forces working in opposition - one for good and one for evil. While God has provided the highest good for mankind, Satan is deploying his forces to hold down fallen mankind and encourage men in selfish greed, ambition and the other works of the flesh and indeed all that is hostile to the will of God.

Nature of Demons

The Bible tells us that demons:

•are spirits, having no material form, but they seem to desire physical contact, perhaps to give them greater means of expressing themselves (Matthew 8:31; 12:43)

•are personal and have names (Mark 5:9)

•are intelligent and possess powers of thought, speech and action, and they can distinguish between true and false (Acts 19:15)

•believe in God, but show no repentance, and they also recognize the deity of Christ (James 2:19; Luke 4:34)

•have some knowledge of the future as they are aware of their destiny (Matthew 8:29)

•exhibit degrees of wickedness, since some are described as more wicked than others (Matthew 12:45)

•are able to enter human beings and animals, but the mode of access is unknown (Mark 5:15)

•can voluntarily leave a possessed person and later return (Luke 11:24)

•can afflict both physical and mental disabilities on their victims (Matthew 12:22; Acts 16:16)

•are powerful and can exert supernatural strength in their victims (Matthew 8:28)

•can display emotions, such as fear and rage (Luke 8:31)

•can be exorcised by the power of God, however some are more difficult to expel than others (Mark 9:28); but in any case only a minute fraction of His power is needed, as is expressed by the finger of God (Luke 11:20)

•can influence people without possessing them (1 John 4:1).

Activities of Demons

These activities consist of both opposing the purposes of God and extending the authority of Satan. The scope of their work has varied from time to time depending on the strategy of Satan, who can assume many guises from that of a roaring lion to an angel of light; perhaps deceit is the most common characteristic. While these activities reached unprecedented levels in New Testament times, as Satan mustered all his forces to oppose Christ, there is ample evidence of the work of evil powers in the Old Testament.

The evil practices of the Canaanites were fostered by the powers and no doubt Satan specially directed his forces to corrupt the Israelites as they came to possess their promised land. There were severe warnings in the Mosaic Law against evil practices and also making sacrifices to idols, which were effectively offered to demons (Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:36). For, though the idols were nothing in themselves and completely powerless, they became potent through the demons. Later Paul confirms that offerings to idols are sacrifices to demons (1 Corinthians 10:20).

The corruption was very extensive involving human sacrifices, fortune telling, sorcery, spiritism, divination and necromancy; those who practised these things were to be cut off from the people and sometimes condemned to death (see Leviticus 19 and 20).

After Samuel was dead and King Saul had lost contact with God, the King, who had previously removed those with familiar spirits and wizards from the land, turned in desperation to the witch of Endor when pressed by the army of the Philistines. The woman, under pressure from Saul, sought her familiar spirit, but she was terrified when the spirit of Samuel appeared instead. This clearly shows that the spirit of a deceased person does not normally appear at a séance even though this may be claimed to take place. The sentence on Saul is a solemn warning to those who would indulge in the occult.

The Gospels present a very clear exposure of the activity of demons, with many references to the healing of those possessed by demons. The effect of demon possession appears in different ways as the victims variously exhibit insanity and mental disorders (Matthew 8:28), or blindness, dumbness, epilepsy and other physical afflictions (Matthew 17:15). Some victims appeared to recognize that they were possessed, but they were in fact only acting as instruments of the spirit. Sometimes the evil spirits overruled the whole personality to produce complete mental confusion, as in the case of the Gadarene, who said “…My name is Legion…for we are many”. The legion represented a considerable number of spirits, who changed the man into a maniac, but when they were expelled by Christ the man became completely normal; while the spirits in requesting entry to the pigs seem to have vainly hoped to escape their coming judgement (Mark 5:1-20).

It is most important to realize that not all sufferings were due to demons, for we are told that the Lord cast out demons and performed cures (Luke 13:32).

Demon possession was very wrongfully attributed by the Jews to John the Baptist because of his ascetic habits (Matthew 11:18) and to Jesus also when He said “…whoever obeys my word will never see death” (John 8:51), which they considered to be absurd. Some Bible commentators have maintained that demon possession required at least the initial consent of the person involved but, while this may sometimes be true, it will not always be the case, since young children have been affected (see Mark 7 for example).

While the death of Christ on the cross marked the sentence on the powers of evil (Colossians 2:15), God has still permitted them to operate until the future day of judgement. The practice of the occult was shown to be a lucrative occupation by three cases in the Acts:

•Simon the sorcerer, who offered money to the apostles for the gift of laying on hands to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8)

•the girl of Philippi, who brought much gain to her masters by telling the future (Acts 16)

•those who practised magic arts at Ephesus, and whose books were valued at fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19).

Since New Testament times there have been many references to the activities of demons by early Church teachers, such as Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Augustine, but some of the cases seem to be exaggerated. At the time of the Reformation there was a surge of demonic activity, which both Luther and Calvin recorded, and Calvin's treatment of the subject is particularly instructive. The current increasing fascination with spiritism and witchcraft is very disturbing. We are told that:

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

There can be no doubt that seducing spirits are behind many modern cults, as they were behind the idols of old, so that these cults not only deny the existence of evil spirits but they also attempt to refute many fundamental Christian doctrines. As Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light, so his minions can appear as servants of righteousness to corrupt the truth and produce most appealing teachings which are, in reality, doctrines of demons. The deceit knows no limits for even the fellowship of the Lord's table is counterfeited by the fellowship of the table of demons (1 Corinthians 10:21). Although possession by demons is impossible for believers, as saved people sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), we are not totally immune from the attacks of the evil one. But God has provided us with a defence. Paul could write “…we are not unaware of his schemes” and our prayer is that we all might be the same.

I Met Jesus at the Crossroads

I met Jesus at the crossroads,

Where the two ways meet;

Satan, he was standing there,

And he said “Come this way,

Lots and lots of pleasures I will give to you today.”

But I said “No! There's Jesus here,

Just see what He offers me:

Down here my sins forgiven,

Up there, a home in heaven;

Praise God that's the way for me!”

He’s alive!

He's alive, He's alive, He's alive forever more,

Jesus is risen from the dead.

He's alive, He's alive, He's alive forever more,

Now He's become our Living Head.

Death no longer hath dominion,

Satan's power has broken down,

He has triumphed, Hallelujah,

And He wears the Victor's crown.

He's alive, He's alive, He's alive forever more,

Jesus is risen from the dead.

18 BATTLING AGAINST…THE FLESH

“…We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

The Christian has enemies, and he must know who they are if he is to overcome them and be victorious. It is evident from the Scriptures that God wants us to be victorious Christians, not defeated Christians. Nearly every believer knows this, but many of us do not live the victorious life. We are all too conscious of frequent defeat and weakness. The abundant life of John 10:10, and being “more than conquerors”, sound very good, but is it possible for us to enjoy this experience? Let us take courage; this is the will of God for us.

Let us think about these enemies of ours, and as we think about them, let us remember the greatness of the power that is available to us, to enable us to be overcomers. True, it is a fight, but it is a good one! It is a constant warfare, but it is good warfare! If the Lord saves us in our youth, then we should engage in this warfare at once. Only by so doing and continuing can we become men and women of God.

Without doubt, the nearest and most troublesome enemy is in ourselves. It is our old nature, called in the Scriptures the old self (Colossians 3:9), or the flesh (Romans 8:4). Sometimes we hear it spoken of as “the old man”. This has been spoken and written about so often, that we are at risk of treating it lightly. But the flesh will not treat us lightly, it will try to slay the new man! Therefore we must deal drastically with it if we are to live. It is a life or death struggle, and we must realize this if we are to be victorious.

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like...” (Galatians 5:19-21)

How thankful we are that they are obvious! They can never be confused with the fruit of the Spirit. Like soldiers in opposing armies, each wears their own “uniform” so that we can easily discern our enemies in this conflict.

Sexual Immorality, Impurity and Debauchery

These are deadly foes, and we cannot very well fight against them; the only thing to do is to flee from them. Remember what Joseph did in Genesis 39. May the Lord save you, young disciple, in the hour of temptation! He will if you will flee. Do not stay to talk about it. Flee! Run away! And on your knees seek cleansing from the unclean thought and grace to overcome. If you do this you will be victorious and your life will be saved for the Lord's service.

“…be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” (Ephesians 6:10)

Seek the all-powerful aid of the Holy Spirit to overcome, for you cannot overcome in your own strength. Present your body to God (Romans 12:1), and walk day by day by faith, and then you cannot be overcome. You will grow in grace, and rejoice in the power of God in your life.

Idolatry and Witchcraft

Not all disciples of the Lord will be as directly affected by these. They are often the manifestations of the flesh in lands where the word of God is little known. But let us remember that “covetousness is idolatry”, a sin into which any of us may fall.

Dissensions, Factions and Envy

Are our hearts clear of these? If they lurk in secret in our hearts then we shall be defeated by them. If only we could always see them as enemies! True, they are different from the former; but they are just as deep seated and deadly. Humility and confession will be needed to defeat them. Victory is impossible unless they are overcome. Let us guard against criticism of others or a secret grudge. Criticism destroys the critic, and a grudge in secret is sin. When we see faults in others let us pray for them, and then speak to them faithfully and kindly. “Wounds from a friend can be trusted…” (Proverbs 27:6). Let all that we do be done in love, as the Lord's warriors (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). Let us also guard against bad temper, for this also is a manifestation of the flesh. It is a humbling process to overcome in these things, but if the conflict is great, so also will the peace be afterwards, and much fruit will be the result in our lives.

There are other manifestations of the old nature which will show themselves and we must “buffet” our bodies. We must never deal lightly with ourselves. It is a fight to the death - the death of this old nature, the flesh. We cannot do this of ourselves, but the Spirit of God will overcome in us, if we permit Him to have His way.

We should always remember that our old man was crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be done away, reckoning ourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:6, 11).

Let us prevail in ourselves, and then by divine grace we shall be able to prevail against greater foes.

Victory by the Spirit

Must the child of God resign him or herself to a life of defeat because of the existence and power of the flesh within him? This is far from the truth. Paul said:

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24)

This is not defeatism. This is triumph. How can this be accomplished? Does it mean taking oneself in hand, disciplining one's mind, and curbing one's appetites? Does it mean placing oneself in a self-made vice of repression? The answer of history and of experience is, No! How then is this triumph enjoyed? Paul gives the answer:

“…Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)

We cannot defeat the flesh by the flesh. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13)

The answer is clear: Victory by the Spirit.

John Drain

19 RAISING THE BATTLE BANNER

When Rahab asked the spies for “a true token”, she requested something which would indicate visibly to everyone that she and her family would be saved when Jericho was invaded. For that is what the word “token” means – “a flag fluttering in the breeze, a signal, a beacon, or a monument.”

So this courageous woman, who was miraculously translated from the line of judgement to the royal line of Judah, hung high in the window of her house a scarlet thread, which was a piece of the rope used to let down the spies over the wall to safety. Rahab hung the thread for all to see, and she was not ashamed of its testimony. If anyone asked about the reason for the scarlet thread, Rahab would boldly testify of its promise of deliverance from judgement because of her faith in the living God of heaven. She not only raised her flag, but virtually testified to the power and protection provided by Jehovah-nissi, which means “The Lord is my banner”.

The coming years are going to test the courage of God's people, and we are going to be challenged, perhaps as never before, as to the faithfulness of our testimony to God's way of salvation, and the truth of His house. What is our reaction going to be? Rahab did not hide her light under a bushel, and neither did Moses following the vital battle with Amalek, which typifies victory through prayer. After Joshua had defeated the enemy with the edge of the sword, Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi, “The Lord is my banner”. This was no ordinary heap of stones, but a visible witness to all around that Jehovah is the victorious One.

Another of God's people, who confirmed through experience that the Lord was his banner, was the young warrior David, who publicly testified to the great enemy Goliath, and the mighty Philistinian host, that “the battle is the Lord’s.” Many were the battles which David fought for his Lord, and after attributing victory to help received from the sanctuary, and support from Zion, he exclaimed with triumph, “…lift up our banners in the name of our God…” (Psalm 20:5). Like Paul, he wanted everyone to know that it is God that gives us the victory. When the camp of Israel was pitched in the desert sands of Sinai, the ensigns of the twelve tribes flew bravely in the wind as a united testimony of a strong, virile nation which acknowledged Jehovah-nissi as their divine Leader and Protector. What joy those banners gave to the mighty God of battles, Jehovah-nissi!

Now what of ourselves who in this century are God's people? Are we contending earnestly for the Faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints? Are we in the front line of the battle? Is our flag flying triumphantly? Or are we like Ephraim turning back in the day of battle and allowing the flag to drag in the mud? Our God is looking for people who, in this modern age, are prepared to play their part in helping to stem the tide of apostasy by fighting the good fight of the Faith.

The coming of the Lord is near, and how it would cheer His heart to see His people looking:

“…forth as the morning…awesome as an army with banners?" (Song of Songs 6:10 NKJV)

This is no time for despair, discouragement or defeat. Rather should we be buckling on the armour of God, grasping the sword of the Spirit, and in the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace, entering the battle with the enemy, assured, as young David was, that victory belongs to the Lord.

The battle we are in today as soldiers of Jesus Christ is a continuation of the one which has been fought by men and women of God down through the centuries, and many are the names written on the divine scrolls of honour because they overcame. And we must not fail even though the battle might rage fierce and long, but rather let us:

“Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God…” (2 Samuel 10:12)

Lift high the royal banner, and may it be said of us, too, that we have:

“…fought the good fight ... finished the race ... kept the faith; now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Give Me The Wings Of Faith To Rise

Give me the wings of faith to rise

Within the veil, and see

The saints above, how great their joys,

How bright their glories be.

Once they were mourners here below,

And wet their couch with tears;

They wrestled hard, as we do now,

With sins and doubts and fears.

I ask them whence their victory came;

They, with united breath,

Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,

Their triumph to His death.

Isaac Watts

20 BATTLING AGAINST…LUKEWARMNESS

Individually

There is a striking contrast between the book of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. In the first we read about “things” and in the second we read about “Him”. Wise man though Solomon was, he certainly failed when he sought satisfaction in things, and he had to confess:

“All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.” (Ecclesiastes 1:8)

He tried mirth, pleasure, wine, great works, building houses, planting vineyards and gardens (Ecclesiastes 2:1-6), but they all proved empty. He obtained great possessions, silver, and gold and treasures peculiar to kings, and became great, but found that they were like broken cisterns with no water. Surely as Christians we can find proof in Solomon's experience that there is no lasting satisfaction in material things, but the longing soul can only be satisfied by a living relationship with Christ as Master and Friend. This is one of the precious truths revealed in the Song of Songs. The beloved and his companion rejoiced in each other's fellowship because they loved one another. But then we find an occasion when her affections became lukewarm toward Him. One night he stood at her door knocking and calling, desiring her companionship, but her response was tepid. “I have taken off my robe; must I put it on again? I have washed my feet – must I soil them again?" (Song of Songs 5:3). Patiently he waited, but she found it too much trouble to go and greet him. And then he was gone. “…my beloved had left; he was gone….I looked for him but did not find him. I called him but he did not answer” (v.6).

Broken communion! What a warning to every Christian! If ever we needed the close companionship of the Lord Jesus, it is now. There is no better Friend, Counsellor and Guide. But is it too much trouble for us to respond to His knockings, His entreaties as He desires to come in and share our lives? Has He withdrawn from us? Are we walking alone, downcast, dispirited, unhappy? It is so easy to let lethargy, sleep, interest in other things, rob us of His company. Are we happy without Him, or are we concerned about broken communion? She was, so should we be. She sought him, so should we.

What inspired her search for him? It was a fresh vision of the one she loved. Read her description of him in Song of Songs 5:9-16. What do you think of Christ? Oh, beloved, how much we need a fresh vision of the Lord Jesus, that anointing with fresh oil (Psalm 92:10), which will give us a Spirit-filled view of Him that will cause us to say, “…I will search for the one my soul loves…I found the one my heart loves. I held him, and would not let him go…” (Song of Songs 3:2-4). We need Him and the warmth of His love. He is the answer to all our need. What is our choice to be - lukewarmness without Christ, or love, peace and joy with Christ? If we are keeping Him out of our lives, He stands today patiently knocking at our heart's door. Let Him in!

Collectively

It’s in the last book of the New Testament that we read of lukewarmness in God's people of this dispensation; and it’s in the last book of the Old Testament that we read of lukewarmness in God's people of the past dispensation. Malachi tells us they:

•questioned His love (1:2) and argued with Him (1:7)

•said His table was contemptible (1:6)

•despised His name (1:6)

•brought the worst of their flocks for sacrifices (1:8)

•wearied of their service (1:13)

•sighed and shed hypocritical tears (2:13)

The Lord was so distressed with the condition of His people that He refused to accept anything from them (1:9), and in despair cried out:  “Oh that one of you would shut the temple doors...I am not pleased with you and I will accept no offering from your hand.” (1:10)

The Lord didn’t leave His people without a solution. He knew that they were enjoying the best of this life and giving Him the left-overs. And so He appealed twice to them to lay it to heart, or they must suffer the consequences; and again twice He appealed to them, “so be on your guard” (2:15-16). Let us not be like Israel and weary the Lord with our words (2:17). Can this possibly happen today in our prayers and worship? Let us not weary Him with our service (1:13). Can it be too much trouble to attend assembly meetings and get-togethers?  Let us not bring Him the tired hours and minutes of our day, after we have spent the best of our time accumulating material benefits! Let us not bring a poor, feeble, appreciation of Christ in thanksgiving and worship, when there is so much of the best we can say about Him! If we have drifted away in spirit let us hear the Lord saying to all of us in His house:

‘“…Return to Me, and I will return to you...Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this’, says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’” (Malachi 3:7, 10)

Is this not what we long for? It surely is! “…All the nations will call you blessed” (3:12). Let us not walk mournfully, but rejoice (3:14-15). Let us speak one with another as those that fear the LORD and think upon His Name (3:16). We belong to Him, the living God. We are His peculiar treasure! Let us then live as warm-hearted, loving, Christians who are of value to God, whose minds are set on things above and not upon the earth, and who are seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.

Battle Quotes

“A blind, anemic, weak-kneed flea on crutches would have a greater chance of defeating a herd of a thousand wild stampeding elephants, than the enemy has of defeating God.”  Ray Comfort

“Prayer is not a collection of balanced phrases; it is the pouring out of the soul. What is love if it be not fiery? What are prayers if the heart be not ablaze? They are the battles of the soul. In them men wrestle with principalities and powers...The prayer that prevails is not the work of lips and fingertips. It is the cry of a broken heart and the travail of a stricken soul.”  Samuel Chadwick

“There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”  C.S. Lewis

“Our enemies are demonic, but the warfare against them isn’t waged by commanding them, mapping their physical location, invoking magic words to subdue them, claiming authority over them, or any of the other common tactics some people usually refer to as “spiritual warfare.” We are not fighting demons in a face-to-face confrontation, or by spirit-to-spirit conversation, or with voice-to-voice communication. We attack them by tearing down their fortresses of lies. What, precisely, are our weapons? The only power that will destroy such things is the power of truth: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  John MacArthur

21 BATTLING AGAINST…DEPRESSION

O Happy day!  O Happy day!

When Jesus washed my sins away.

He taught me how to watch and pray,

And live rejoicing every day; hallelujah!

Happy day! O happy day!

When Jesus washed my sins away.

This hymn is a favourite one and we sing it enthusiastically, invigorated by its note of happy assurance. But isn’t it true that sometimes our hymns soar to heights far above the average Christian's experience? We only have to ask ourselves: Am I always watchful and prayerful? Do I live rejoicing every day? As we all know, there are ups and downs in all our lives. Sometimes we are up on the mountain top; at other times we are down in the valley.

In his book, Knowing God, J.I. Packer has drawn attention to the danger of that kind of preaching which, with the best of intentions, so glamourizes the Christian life as to lead the young convert to expect that henceforth his life will be trouble-free.

“It is possible so to play down the rougher side of the Christian life - the daily chastening, the endless war with sin and Satan, the periodic walk in darkness - as to give the impression that normal Christian living is a perfect bed of roses, a state of affairs in which everything in the garden is lovely all the time, and problems no longer exist. This is to suggest that the world, the flesh, and the devil, will give a man no serious trouble once he is a Christian, nor will his circumstances and personal relationships ever be a problem to him; nor will he ever be a problem to himself. Such suggestions are mischievous, however, because they are false”.

The result is that young converts, after the early joy of the new life has passed, may become disillusioned and decide that the Christian life is not all that it’s made out to be or that they lack the “right kind of faith.” But it’s not only young converts with problems of this kind. Mature Christians too must fight the battle. I have been impressed when reading biographies of men greatly used of God in former days by references to periods of severe depression which sometimes overtook them in their service. Such experiences of spiritual depression are quite distinct from the ordinary despondency through which many of us pass from time to time. They seem to be the inevitable accompaniment of intense spiritual conflict, and are obviously used by God to cut away all self-reliance so that divine grace may flow freely from the empty vessel. I quote an example which came to my attention recently:

“.... this is the mystery; I never seem to have loved God. I never did. Therefore I never believed, in the Christian sense of the word. Therefore I am only an honest heathen, a proselyte of the temple. And yet to be so employed of God, and so hedged in that I can go neither forward nor backward...I have no direct witness, I cannot even say that I am a child of God.”

Who wrote that? Some timid half-believer? No - they are the words of John Wesley! Superficial Christians will be perplexed that such words came from a man that God used so much. Men of God will understand. As Isaiah 50:10 says:

“...Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God.”

Soldiers of Christ Arise

Soldiers of Christ, arise,

and put your armour on,

Strong in the strength which God supplies

Through his eternal Son.

Strong in the Lord of hosts,

And in his mighty power:

Who in the strength of Jesus trusts

is more than conqueror.

Stand then in his great might,

With all his strength endured,

And take, to arm you for the fight,

The panoply of God.

From strength to strength go on,

Wrestle and fight and pray:

Tread all the powers of darkness down,

And win the well-fought day.

Leave no unguarded place,

No weakness of the soul;

Take every virtue, every grace

And fortify the whole.

That, having all things done,

And all your conflicts past,

You may obtain, through Christ alone,

A crown of joy at last.

Jesus, eternal Son,

We praise thee and adore,

Who art with God the Father one,

And Spirit evermore.

Charles Wesley

22 THE BATTLE IN OUR HYMNS – JESUS’ BATTLE

An earlier chapter looked at some hymns that talk about our battle. This chapter switches the focus to mainly look at Christ’s battle and how it affects us.

111 - See Mercy, Mercy From on High (Robert Sandeman)

See mercy, mercy from on high,

Descend to rebels doomed to die;

‘Tis mercy free, which knows no bound;

How sweet, how pleasant is the sound!

Soon as the reign of sin began,

The light of mercy dawned on man,

When God announced the blessed news,

“The woman's seed thy head shall bruise.”

Brightly it beamed on men forlorn,

When Christ, the holy child was born;

And brighter still in splendour shone

When Jesus, dying, cried, 'Tis done!

Complete in power when He arose,

And burst the bands of all His foes;

Then captive led captivity,

And took for us His seat on high.

Till we around Him there shall throng,

This mercy shall be still our song;

For God shall every scheme confound

Of all that seek its course to bound!

You will note that the above version of the hymn differs from the PHSS version in a number of ways, most notably in the extra verse at the end. Some churches use the tune “Dusseldorf” by Robert Schumann - but the editors of PHSS elected to use “Mason”, which is an infinitely better choice!

The hymn was written by Robert Sandeman (born Perth, 29 April 1718, died Danbury, Connecticut 2 April 1771)who was a nonconformist theologian, born the second of twelve children to a linen weaver. He encountered the teachings of John Glas whilst at Edinburgh University and joined his Dundee congregation in 1735. At twenty-six, he became an elder of the Glasite church in Perth and ultimately its leader - outside Scotland the Glasite denomination was known as Sandemanian. The denomination spread to England, where the famous scientist Michael Faraday was a member, and to the USA when Sandeman went in 1764.

The Glasite churches aimed to strictly conform to a primitive type of Christianity as understood by them. Each congregation had a plurality of elders who were chosen according to what were believed to be the instructions of Paul, without regard to previous education or present occupation, and who enjoyed a perfect equality in office. Those who married twice could not be an elder. In all church activity, unanimity was compulsory; if any member differed in opinion from the rest, he must either subject his judgement or be excommunicated. To join in prayer with anyone not a member of the denomination was regarded as unlawful, and even to eat or drink with one who had been excommunicated was held to be wrong.

The Lord's Supper was observed weekly; and a love feast was held every Sunday at which every member was required to be present. This wasn’t symbolic morsels of wine and bread, as in other communions, but a (relatively) substantial meal, often of Scotch broth. At Glasite services, any member who “possessed the gift of edifying the brethren”, was allowed to speak. The practice of washing one another's feet was observed; as it was for each brother and sister to receive new members with a holy kiss.

38 – Low in the Grave He Lay (R. Lowry)

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Saviour,

Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,

With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,

He arose a Victor from the dark domain,

And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.

He arose! He arose!

Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Saviour;

Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Saviour;

He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Born in 1826, Robert Lowry attended the University at Lewisburg where he became a professor of literature. He was ordained as a Baptist minister and pastored at churches in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. He also worked as a music editor at the Biglow Publishing Company, and helped found the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in New York City. Lowry was a rare breed because as well as being a hymn-writer he wrote about 500 Gospel tunes (he also wrote the tune to “Low in the Grave He Lay”). Some of these are very special to us today, including the tunes to “All the Way My Saviour Leads Me”, “Here is Love, Vast as the Ocean”, “Saviour Thy Dying Love” and “We’re Marching to Zion”. Lowry also wrote the classic hymns “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus” and “Shall We Gather at the River?”

Despite his success as a hymn writer, it was as a preacher that Lowry would have preferred to be recognised. He once stated: “Music, with me has been a side issue. I would rather preach a gospel sermon to an appreciative audience than write a hymn. I have always looked upon myself as a preacher and felt a sort of depreciation when I began to be known more as a composer.”  Lowry died in 1899.

221 – He Lives, the Great Redeemer Lives (Anne Steele)

He lives, the great redeemer lives,

(What joy the blest assurance gives!)

And now before his father God,

Pleads the full merit of his blood.

Repeated crimes awake our fears,

And justice armed with frowns appears;

But in the Saviour's lovely face

Sweet mercy smiles, and all is peace.

Hence then, ye black despairing thoughts,

Above our fears, above our faults,

His powerful intercessions rise

And guilt recedes, and terror dies.

In every dark distressful hour,

When sin and Satan join their power;

Let this dear hope repel the dart

That Jesus bears us on his heart.

Great advocate, almighty friend -

On him our humble hopes depend:

Our cause can never, never fail,

For Jesus pleads and must prevail.

Not for the first time, the above version is different from the one in PHSS and notably so – verses 2 & 3 are omitted entirely. And, even if you do not know the lyrics, you may well know the tune – it is Maryton, the same tune as PHSS 99 “Oh Lord Thy Courts We Humbly Tread”.

The writer of the hymn was Anne Steele, born at Broughton, Hampshire, in 1717. Her father was a timber merchant, and at the same time officiated as the lay pastor of the Baptist Society at Broughton. Her mother died when she was 3. At the age of 19 she became an invalid after injuring her hip. At the age of 21 she was engaged to be married but her fiance drowned the day of the wedding. After this she assisted her father with his ministry and remained single. Despite her sufferings she maintained a cheerful attitude. She published a book of poetry in 1760 and the remaining works were published after her death in 1778. They include 144 hymns such as the Christmas carol “Angels We Have Heard on High”, and the PHSS hymns “And Did the Holy and the Just” and “The Head That Once Was Crowned With Thorns”. Some have also attributed the PHSS hymns “Father of Mercies in Thy Word”and “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow” to her as well, but this doesn’t seem to have been acknowledged by editors of PHSS.

295 – Jesus, Source of Life Eternal (Ernst Christoph Hamburg)

Jesus, Source of Life Eternal

Jesus, Author of our breath!

Victor o'er the hosts infernal,

By defeat, and shame, and death,

Thou through deepest tribulation

Deigned to pass for our salvation:

Thousand, thousand praises be,

Lord of glory, unto Thee!

Thou, O Son of God were bearing

Cruel mockings, hatred, scorn;

Thou, the King of glory, wearing,

For our sake, the crown of thorn:

Dying, Thou didst us deliver

From the chains of sin for ever;

Thousand, thousand praises be,

Precious Saviour, unto Thee!

All the shame men heaped upon Thee,

Thou didst patiently endure;

Not the pains of death too bitter,

Our redemption to procure:

Wondrous Thy humiliation

To accomplish our salvation:

Thousand, thousand praises be,

Precious Saviour unto Thee!

Heart-felt praise and adoration,

Savior, thus to Thee we give:

For Thy life's humiliation,

For Thy death, whereby we live;

All the grief Thou hast endured,

All the bliss Thou hast secured,

Evermore the theme shall be,

Of thanksgivings, Lord, to Thee.

The changes in the PHSS version are very subtle – the main change is that the “Jesus” in each of the first two lines was replaced with “Thou”, presumably because of some discomfort with using the name of Jesus in addressing Him directly – this seemed to happen quite often in the editing process. It is not a discomfort that we seem to retain today. The hymn was written by Ernst Christoph Hamburg (1605-1681) – not much is known of him from English sources but we do know that he was German and wrote 150 hymns. It is said that his hymns are “distinguished for simplicity, firm faith, and liveliness, but often lack poetic vigor and are too sombre” – this may be why only one of his hymns made it into PHSS, although the lyrics are very good in this case!  The hymn seems to be rarely, if ever sung in our churches these days and this might be because the tune is not well-known and the meter of the hymn is very unusual (8.7.8.7.8.8.7.7) – in fact this is a unique meter in PHSS so there is no alternative tune.

Having said that, could I suggest that you try and use the tune “Hyfrydol” to this hymn?  The meter, 8.7.8.7D, is almost the same and, once you navigate around the sixth line of the first verse with care, it is pretty plain sailing after that (as long as you make good use of the “be” at the end of line seven). “Hyfrydol” is a wonderful, well-known and very adaptable tune so give it a try and see if you can breathe new life into this beautiful old hymn.

42 – The Happy Morn Is Come (Thomas Haweis)

The happy morn is come!

Triumphant o’er the grave,

The Lord hath left the tomb

Omnipotent to save.

Captivity is captive led;

For Jesus liveth that was dead.

Who now accuseth them

For whom their Surety died?

Who now shall those condemn

Whom God hath justified?

Captivity is captive led;

For Jesus liveth that was dead.

Christ hath the ransom paid;

The glorious work is done;

On Him our help is laid;

By Him our victory won

Captivity is captive led;

For Jesus liveth that was dead.

Hail, the triumphant Lord!

Thy resurrection Thou!

We bless Thy sacred Word;

Before Thy throne we bow.

Captivity is captive led;

For Jesus liveth that was dead.

The major change made to the hymn published in PHSS was the changing of the last verse to avoid speaking directly to the Lord, in order that the hymn could be used in the Remembrance meeting of the Churches of God (when only God the Father is directly addressed, through the Son.)

The man who wrote this him was Dr. Thomas Haweis (1732-1820) who was born in Truro, Cornwall. He was a doctor prior to graduating at Cambridge University and then entered the Anglican priesthood. Haweis (the name rhymes with “paws”) also became active in the promotion of overseas missions with a particular interest in the South Seas, as the islands of the South Pacific were then known. Penal colonies had been recently established in Australia and more voyages were being made across the vast Pacific Ocean as trade was developed with various island groups. Often contacts between Europeans and native populations had unhappy consequences, but Haweis and others wanted to bring the gospel to dispel the darkness and also deal with the ravages of disease and alcohol among the natives. He was present at meetings held in September 1795 for the inauguration of the London Missionary Society, when he preached on Mark 16:15 – “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation”, and perhaps due to his influence Tahiti became the first place to which missionaries were sent by the Society.

56 - Crowns of Glory Ever Bright (Thomas Kelly)

Crowns of glory ever bright

Rest upon the Victor’s head;

Crowns of glory are His right,

His, who liveth, and was dead.

Jesus fought and won the day,

Such a day was never fought;

Well His people now may say,

See what God, our God, has wrought.

He subdued the powers of hell;

In the fight He stood alone;

All His foes before Him fell,

By His single arm o’erthrown.

They have fall’n to rise no more;

Final is the foe’s defeat;

Jesus triumphed by His power,

And His triumph is complete.

His the fight, the arduous toil,

His the honours of the day,

His the glory and the spoil,

Jesus bears them all away.

Now proclaim His deeds afar,

Fill the world with His renown;

His alone the Victor’s car,

His the everlasting crown.

You won’t fail to miss that the end of the third verse is quite different from the version in PHSS. The use of the word “car” does seem quite incongruous!  The tune in PHSS is excellent - “St George’s Windsor”, although it is apparently also sung to the rather ubiquitous “University College”.

The words of the hymn were written by the Irishman, Thomas Kelly. Born in 1769, Kelly was the son of a judge. He attended Trinity College and planned to be a lawyer. After converting to Christ, though, his career plans changed to the ministry. He became an Anglican priest in 1792 and wrote over 760 hymns. Miller’s Singers of the Church (1869) says of him:

“Mr. Kelly was a man of great and varied learning, skilled in the Oriental tongues, and an excellent Bible critic. He was possessed also of musical talent, and composed and published a work that was received with favour, consisting of music adapted to every form of metre in his hymn-book. Naturally of an amiable disposition and thorough in his Christian piety, Mr. Kelly became the friend of good men, and the advocate of every worthy, benevolent, and religious cause. He was admired alike for his zeal and his humility; and his liberality found ample scope in Ireland, especially during the year of famine.”

We owe a great debt of gratitude to Mr. Kelly. An incredible twenty-six hymns of his appear in PHSS, nineteen of which are in the first part. Special favourites include: “From Far We See the Glorious Day”, “Lo, the Infant Saviour Lies” and “Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted”.

Not to be content with that, Kelly also wrote the tune to three of his own hymns – “Hark, Ten Thousand Voices Cry” (Resurrection), “Look Ye Saints, The Sight is Glorious” (Migdol) and “The Mighty Work is Done” (Egypt). Kelly died in 1855, some thirty-seven years before the formation of Churches of God in 1892.

Are You Tempted?

Ever watch a food commercial on television and suddenly feel hungry? That's the power of suggestion. Whatever can grab your attention can capture you. Simply repeating, “I must stop drinking, or smoking, or overeating, or lusting”, doesn't work because it just keeps you thinking about what you don't want. Instead of trying to remove those thoughts, replace them. Once your focus is on something good, evil begins to lose its grip. Only by reprogramming your mind can you keep it centred on the right things. The Bible says:  “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).

Satan can't get and keep your attention when your mind is given to something else. That's why Paul writes:

“…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

Fighting a thought is futile; it only strengthens the connection between you and it. By dwelling on it you actually reinforce it. Hit the remote; change the channel! Furthermore, you don't overcome temptation by fighting the feeling of it. The more you fight a feeling, the more it engages and draws you. Turn your attention to something better!

Your mind is where the battle is won or lost. Start managing your mind and monitoring your media. The Bible says, “Be careful how you think, your life is shaped by your thoughts” (Proverbs 4:23 GNV). The Psalmist prayed, “Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word” (Psalm 119:37).

Is this easy to do? No, it takes discipline and practice. But with time and God's grace you can change the way you think and overcome temptation.

UCB Word for the Day

23 THE BATTLE FOR…CHURCH LIFE

It’s a sad fact that many Christians aren’t happy with “church life.”  There could be a large variety of reasons for that but we can be sure that the devil isn’t too far away from most of them; disabling the collective service of Christians has great advantages for him in the Battle. In a lot of cases across Christendom in general, what happens is that people simply move on and find another church in the hope that they will find a better experience elsewhere – and so they keep church shopping until they get the experience they are looking for. Few seem to follow Groucho Marx’s approach of refusing to join any organization that was willing to accept him as a member.

In the Churches of God, where a lot of the people reading this are numbered, the story is a little different. We don’t feel at liberty to simply “try another church” - because we are convinced that God has a pattern for church “practice and policy” (or “walk and talk” to put it another way) that is laid out in the New Testament (and pictured in the Old Testament too, in places like the Tabernacle service); we are trying to express this pattern to the best of our ability where we are, with God’s help, and so we’re possibly more prepared to put up with various kinds of issues because we believe, ultimately, in the value of who and what we are trying to be for God within the Churches of God. To put it another way, it is not the strategy that we struggle with – it’s more the execution. We also have it in our minds, perhaps, that we are part of the Churches of God for God’s benefit and glory, not our own – we are here to give and not to get; it is God’s experience we should be focusing on, not our own.

Well, there is a lot of truth in that, of course – we should be committed to God’s glory and what He gets out of it all. Some churches do seem to lose sight of this. The snag though appears to be that He surely gets great pleasure and delight in us enjoying the church life experience as well. Although it is God who chooses and calls out the church (ekklesia) and not us who chooses the church, one of the reasons he does so is that we can enjoy fellowship with each other as we all enjoy fellowship with Him and His Son. Another reason is so that we can operate effectively as a microcosm of the Body of Christ, a collective unit. In other words, pleasing ourselves (in this context) can please Him. This means there is no room for simply tolerating or accepting second best in your church experience.

We all come from different churches (or assemblies, if you prefer that term) and each of us will have our own moans and groans about them – and about how the churches function (or malfunction) alone or when they come together collectively at a district or even global level. Some of the issues might turn out to be issues with our own heart condition, and it is there we must examine seriously first. But it cannot be denied that there is room for improvement in our collective church experience. If improvement was an easy thing, it would all be done and dusted and we could put our feet up. If only it was so simple – it’s very complex and requires an almost unending cycle of self-assessment, assessment in the light of God’s word, resetting the compass, committing to change and trying to execute it. Contentment can turn to complacency after all. There is no foolproof roadmap to success, partially because of the unique circumstances and personalities that may exist in one church compared to another.

Having said that, the rest of this chapter is going to look very briefly at 4 assessment questions that could be applied to your local assembly, your district or indeed the Churches of God as a whole. The purpose of this is to give some food for thought as to where church life should be (you might have got so used to the status quo, you might have lost sight of a once-held vision). The hope is that this will spur us on to some solution development as to how we can get there if we are not where we need to be.

Invigorating or Insipid?

Family meals at my sister-in-law’s house are always quite the event. Last year managed to top even the most memorable of occasions – this was largely due to the appearance of “short ribs” on the menu; a delight I had not hitherto been introduced to. In combination with the deliciously rich gravy and slow-cooked vegetables, I could feel the short ribs “sticking to my ribs” (a northern English way of complimenting food that feels like it is doing you good). I felt invigorated, refreshed and energized, or at least I did until I had two helpings of my wife’s pudding, but that’s going to spoil the picture I am trying to build here.

Contrast this with home-made wine that was opened and consumed before it was really ready (not at my sister-in-law’s, I hasten to add) – it was certainly not invigorating, it was rather insipid; I believe the technical term for such an occurrence is that the wine is “thin”. It was definitely wine, there is no doubt about that; but it was a pretty poor substitute for the proper thing – you could imagine that sort of stuff would have been at the bottom of the menu at Cana of Galilee until Jesus had other ideas.

Going back to the short ribs, the interesting thing, as I found out later, was that short ribs are not really that expensive to buy, as cuts of meat go. What made the ribs special was not so much their special, inherent quality but the effects of the time and effort that went into cooking them – which by all accounts was quite an effort, including such wondrous technical culinary skills as marinating and reducing. In contrast, the ill-fated wine was a little rushed and insufficient time had been devoted to it to get the best result – but there was nothing especially good or bad about the grapes.

Is the life of your church invigorating or insipid?  When we talk about life in this context, we are generally thinking of “formal life” that is largely taken up with worship, teaching and gospel work. We want to be invigorated, don’t we?  We want to feel that it has been “good for us to have been there.”  We want richness, we want flavour, we want something to be savoured, we want quality!  And yet, sometimes, that doesn’t happen. If we are responsible for an aspect of church life, it might be that it is us who are falling short, but we fail to spot it, being much more adept at spotting failings in others.  Let us set the target, which we all aspire to, high.  Let us approach our service with the care of a master chef, willing to invest the time to prepare and make the most of the ingredients close at hand, whether they be basic or choice. Let us not do things out of a sense of duty or a tradition, but seek to be engaged in vibrant, relevant activity that each of God, the church and the people we witness to, can all enjoy.

Immersive or Institutionalized?

I’m afraid I don’t have any analogies left so you’ll have to just bear with me from here. What do we mean by immersive?  The first thing you might think about is baptism – there is the thought there of being completely submerged. But the last thing that we want people to feel is that they are in over their heads or that they are in the process of being drowned!  So what do we mean by immersive?  Perhaps the best way is to look at the opposite thing which is when church life becomes institutionalized. Let me walk through three things that occur when this happens:

1) Church life, largely or totally, revolves around the meeting place of the church. The only time you see the people in the church is at the church building itself. We know that the church is not the building, it is the people – but sometimes we struggle to separate one from the other. Why is this important?  One reason is that the quality of our relationships with each other will, quite possibly, be hindered. Perhaps it is the formality of the setting or the dire state of some of our buildings, or the busyness of a Sunday, but I can tell you from experience that you build a whole new level of relationship once you interact with your fellow saints outside of the normal environment. Even businesses know this truth very well, which is why many of them have off-site days to increase bonding and the capacity to work together.

2) Church life largely, or totally, revolves around the in-church meetings of the assembly. Of course, the Remembrance and the Prayer Meeting in particular are absolutely vital and central components of any church life. But there could be a danger of a ritualistic or even liturgical feel to these things if they operate in isolation from more organic and informal activities of the saints - which could be more fellowship based or could take a different format from the usual, such as street work, a group discussion or Christian movie night.

3) Linked to the two points above, there is an overall lack of regular touch-points (i.e. points of contact) between the individual and the assembly, district or whole Fellowship. In other words, engagement of any sort is limited both in terms of people and also material. In terms of material this could take the form of reading blogs, Facebook posts or Twitter feeds of fellow saints, reading church material such as NT, Intelligence or other books, or listening to podcast ministry or music downloads. Lack of engagement in these areas might be because there is insufficient suitable material, or simply because the individual is either not aware of them or doesn’t have access to them. Looking at some of the big “mega-churches” as an example, one of the things they are very good at is providing well-produced material in a variety of media, in large quantities and easily available. Are we good at leveraging and distributing the good material that is produced in various places, or do we accidentally hide these lights under a bucket?  The internet provides us with a wonderful opportunity to disseminate and increase the touch-points far beyond simply regular church meeting attendance. Let us, strategically, make the most of it.

Hopefully the above gives some idea of the inverse – an immersive community; a community which meets regularly in each other’s homes, for meals, movies, chats, helping with home reno projects or whatever; a community which has a range of activities beyond the “statutory minimum”; a community that is engaged regularly within and across itself and connects with quality resources that it has made available; forgive the clumsy retail metaphor but it means being a one-stop shop so that there is less or no need to go elsewhere – after all, you cannot really be immersed in two places at once, can you?

Integrated or Isolated?

Integration and isolation can work on two different levels (as if my writing isn’t confusing enough!)

1) The real world - now of course you have to be really careful about talking about integration with the world because people are bound to start talking about Christians being “in the world and not of it”. But that’s not what is in view here. What is in view is ensuring that a Church, District or Fellowship is not operating in a serene bubble, only occupied with itself and blissfully unaware of the challenges and needs of the community that it could (and should) be serving. What does your community know about who you are and what you are about – and vice versa?  Nobody likes someone who is totally pre-occupied with themselves!  Churches that have this external focus seem to be happier and seem to be able to pull together as a team towards a common goal. Wouldn’t it be great if our churches served as something akin to a spiritual citizens advice bureau (perhaps SCAB is not the best acronym though…) for people in our community?  Satan would love us to forget that we are supposed to be the hands and feet of Christ.

2) Within the church – there is a real danger that the Fellowship at all levels can suffer from a lack of integration – it could be young and old, it could be overseers and non-overseers, it could be tribal factions. Jesus prayed that we should all be one. That doesn’t mean that everything the church does should be aimed at everybody. The couple in their mid-80’s are unlikely to be thrilled by the prospect of an afternoon of paint-balling, neither are the teens going to get out of bed to attend a Saturday morning session of Rummikub! (I can see the teens googling that right now just to find out what it even is!). But, I would suggest that it is vitally important that there are some activities that everybody can participate in and no-one feels left out or that it’s not for them – an opportunity where you can perhaps see a different side to things. Sisters’ weekends or brethrens’ weekends can be an ideal opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to get together – and of course the wonderful Youth Fellowship Rally is a prime example of this. Satan would love to pigeonhole us into groups and factions, let’s not let him achieve that.

Involved or Inactive?

Our final challenge is to consider whether our church life is characterized by inactivity or involvement. Actually, the first question is whether we, ourselves, are involved or inactive – because if it is the latter, it seems that it is virtually guaranteed that we will not be enjoying church life within the Churches of God. But it might not be as simple as that – what is the underlying reason(s) why you are not active?  Let’s come back to that.

Assuming you, personally, are active, a happy church life may well be scuppered by the fact that no-one else seems to be getting “involved” and you seem to ploughing a lone furrow. The fields are white unto harvest, but the labourers are few. Church is not the only place where 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people but that does not make it any easier to swallow. The question once again is why are so many inactive?

It is a critical question.  Partly because the way our churches operate, we cannot afford to have people sitting on the sidelines. We do not have paid, full-time pastors or clergy like many other churches do (except, of course, for a relatively small number of travelling preachers and teachers) and it falls to the people in the church to do it for themselves!  And so the whole thing can grind to a halt or at least end up rather static as the active ones sink under all the weight of their responsibilities.

Unfortunately, there are not any easy answers. Part of the solution may well be to concentrate on the other three challenges (invigorating, immersing and integrating) because these will give ample opportunity for people to get involved outside the “normal sphere.”  If a sister is not gifted for youth work for example, and is not cut out for a life of service that consists largely of “praying and baking” as one bright spark put it, what is she to do?  Valid opportunities for service have to be found or else it is no surprise (and no fault of her own) that inactivity happens (can inactivity happen? Anyway, you know what I am getting at.)  And, for a brother that is not gifted for public speaking, what role does he have in the life of the church?  Everyone, male and female, young and old, has to have a role. It is not as though there is no work to be done in our churches, Districts and the wider Fellowship – there are stacks of it waiting to be done and stacks more waiting to be invented (if I can put it that way). Part of the issue is matching up the need with the gift or ability of the individuals and making the need very well known. As I write, I recall the words of that hymn saying “Let none hear you idly saying, there is nothing I can do” – how true that is. As individuals, we should be before the Lord asking Him to burden our hearts with a work for Him, to make the work available and give us the means to get it done. Leaders need to be alert to make sure that there is no excuse for people saying that there is nothing they can do!

So there we have it. Let’s pray that God will grant us an invigorating, immersive, integrated and involved experience as we try to serve God together in Churches of God.

Galatians 6:9-10

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

1 Corinthians 15:58

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.”

Galatians 6:4-5

“Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.”

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Philippians 2:30 (NKJV)

“For the work of Christ he (Epaphroditus) came close to death, not regarding his life.”

CONTRIBUTORS OF SOURCE MATERIAL

o Laurie Burrows – Chapter 8

o Reg Darke – Chapters 19,20

o Jack Ferguson – Chapters 9, 11

o Brian Fullarton – Chapter 14

o Peter Hickling – Chapter 3

o David Hyland – Chapter 16

o Mark Imoukhuede – Chapter 5

o Guy Jarvie – Chapter 18

o Brian Johnston – Chapter  15

o Martin Jones* - Chapters 4, 7, 22, 23

o Don McCubbin – Chapter 17

o Jon Neely* – Chapters 1, 12

o George Prasher Jnr. – Chapters 6,10

o Edwin Stanley* – Chapter 13

o Alan Toms – Chapter 2

o “Torchlight” – Chapter 21

Where an asterisk is present, the chapter was specially written for this Anthology. In other cases, the material was originally published by Hayes Press in NT magazine (www.neededtruth.info), and has been modified to reflect the NIV version of the Bible through-out the Anthology (unless otherwise noted). At times, minor changes have been made to the original text to maximise accessibility for today’s readers. Copyright for quotations from PHSS throughout held by Hayes Press, 1971, Bromley, England.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ABOUT YOUTH FELLOWSHIP RALLY

Youth Fellowship Rally (YFR) is an international event convened by the Churches of God (see www.churchesofgod.info). The first event was held in 1992 at Kinmel Hall, Wales and has been held every 4 years since at various venues.

This Anthology has been published in connection with YFR 2012 and directly linked to the event theme “The Battle”.

For more information about YFR, please visit www.youthfellowshiprally.com.

For publications issued by the Churches of God, please visit our publishing house, Hayes Press, online at: www.hayespress.org.

Table of Contents

Copyright

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1 TOGETHER WE SURVIVE

2 ISRAELS BATTLE – ELISHA

3 SATANISM

4 BATTLE ROUND 4 – JESUS V DEATH & HADES

5 DESPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINE - THE WITCH DOCTOR

6 THE BATTLE FOR…GOD’S WORD

7 DESPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINE – THE AMERICAN FOOTBALL STAR

8 BATTLE ROUND 5 – THE EARLY CHURCH V SATAN

9 PAUL’S BATTLE – FELLOW SOLDIERS

10 BATTLE ROUND 6 – JESUS V THE ANTICHRIST

11 STILL BATTLING AGAINST…DISCOURAGEMENT

12 FRIENDLY FIRE

13 ISRAEL’S BATTLE – BEN-HADAD AND JEHOSHAPHAT

14 BATTLE ROUND 7 – JUDGEMENT DAY!

15 THE DISCIPLINE OF A SOUND MIND

16 PAUL’S BATTLE – THE ARMOUR OF GOD

17 THE HIDDEN BATTLE - SATAN AND HIS DEMONS

18 BATTLING AGAINST…THE FLESH

19 RAISING THE BATTLE BANNER

20 BATTLING AGAINST…LUKEWARMNESS

21 BATTLING AGAINST…DEPRESSION

22 THE BATTLE IN OUR HYMNS – JESUS’ BATTLE

23 THE BATTLE FOR…CHURCH LIFE

Index of Contributors