Spiritual Warfare
Pride is a Grace Killer
The greatest necessity in the Christian life is grace. Many of you have heard grace definitions over and over again. Grace is the unmerited favor of God. We do not deserve God’s favor. We have not earned it. In fact, the only thing we ever earned from God is death. “For the wages of sin is death…”Romans 6:23a Every human being that has come to the knowledge of good and evil, (we reach this time as a young child), has earned death and hell. “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23b That, my friend, is grace.
I heard Bill Gothard describe grace as “The desire and the power to do the will of God.” In our spirit (heart) there is a desire, and as we obey that desire we find that we have the power to do so. We have the desire to be saved and we have the power to be saved. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him.” Colossians 2:6. We received Him by grace through faith. We walk in Him by grace through faith.
I like to look at grace as God doing for us and through us what we can’t do apart from Him. The Christian life is a total impossibility for the Christian to live, apart from grace.
- “…Love your enemies!” Luke 6:27b
- “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Ephesians 5:25
- “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” Ephesians 5:22
- “…Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15b
Every commandment God gives us can only be obeyed by trusting the Lord Jesus to live and love through us. The Christian life is Christ in us living through us as we are being filled with the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Christ.
We find in 1 Peter 5:5b, “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” I heard a Bible teacher give this definition of pride and humility. I believe this also. Pride thinks it deserves more than it has and is never thankful. Humility thinks it deserves nothing and is therefore thankful for everything is has. When I heard this, the Holy Ghost convicted my heart that I had natural pride and that pride was a grace killer. The Lord God only gives grace to the humble.
I believe the two major sins of the Church today are unbelief and pride. I know these two cause more defeat in my life than any other sin. God has wonderful ways of dealing with pride that is in the old sin nature of every Christian. Meekness, or humility, is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we are being filled with the Holy Spirit the Lord Jesus gives us meekness. He, being God Almighty, the God-man, was meek and lowly. We can come unto Him and learn of Him.
Through Circumstances and Through People
As we have major growth in this Christian life, pride has to be exposed and dealt with. Psalm 17:13 and 14 tells us, “Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked (one), which is thy sword. From men which are thy hand…” God brings us into humbling circumstances that we can’t handle in order to expose pride that is in the sin nature. As we see our sin and repent of it through the blood of our Lord Jesus, we are cleansed and filled with the Holy Spirit and therefore have the meekness of Christ instead of the pride of fallen man.
This does not mean that our circumstances will immediately change when we repent of pride and we are being filled with the Spirit. It has been my experience that we have to walk in our difficult circumstances for some time, or as we are about to see, due time. The Lord God led the Israelites into the wilderness to try them, to prove them so they could see what He already knew was in them. Whatever is in us will come out when we are squeezed.
Humble Yourselves
Therefore, 1 Peter 5:6a exhorts us to “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God…” God’s hand comes down on us and we need to stay under it until the work is complete. This is where pride is dealt with and exposed. Things we need to do by the grace of God we find that we can’t do, because grace has been removed. Not our salvation, the new birth, but the desire and power to do the will of God. When we see this happening we should repent, and then grace will return.
That He May Exalt Us
God’s goal is to exalt us. He has a plan for our life that is hid with Christ in God. He doesn’t take us down to leave us down, but to take us higher than we have ever been. We go from faith to faith. When the Lord God exalts us, we are now exhibiting the humility of our Lord Jesus. We are more mature, less critical and judgmental of others because we have now been through the same type of things that we judged them for and the fruit of the Spirit is more mature in us than before. “Before I was afflicted I went astray…” Psalm 119:67a
When we are in the affliction, trial, crisis, etc., we must remember, believe and confess to God that He will exalt us. On this higher level we will bear more fruit than ever before with a greater anointing and more love than we have ever experienced. John 15:16b is the Lord’s goal. “That ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain…”
In these times we are to act on what we already know to be true in the Word of God. “In everything give thanks” 1 Thessalonians 5:18a “…Count it all joy…” James 1:2b. If we are givers, “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19 If we are tithers, “…and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground.” Malachi 3:10b-11a Think it not strange. It is not because we are doing wrong, but it is happening because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us. Yes, God’s will is to exalt us and He will do so if we do not faint. “And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9
In Due Time
The Lord Jesus was born in due time or in God’s time. The test is about our faith in the faithfulness of God and His word. This will probably not be an overnight procedure, but it will be on time. God’s time. We must co-operate with Him during these days and fight the fight of faith. Our flesh (old sin nature) will want to quit every time the test comes. The flesh is at enmity against God. This means it hates God and His Word. We must throw our flesh down on a regular basis in the name of our Lord Jesus and trust Him to help us.
Your emotions will be a great enemy during these afflictions or hardships. The flesh will want to rise up and rule. God says through Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 If we do not fight the world, the flesh, and the devil, we will get off course and lose our fruit, not our salvation, in the Lord Jesus.
There is a denying of self, which includes selfishness, self-centeredness, self-sufficiency and self-pity. We are to take up our cross and follow our Lord Jesus. This is daily and moment by moment, especially when you are in the fire. Many have turned around and followed Him no more. Things weren’t turning out like they expected. The cross was in view and they had something else in mind rather than what they were experiencing. The Lord Jesus wasn’t fitting their mind set of the Messiah. This same type of thing happens to us. We think God is leading us into something wonderful and glorious, when in fact He is. We just do not see the valley that is between the two mountain peaks. The well has to be cleaned in order for a better flow or release of the Holy Spirit. Pride and unbelief that we didn’t even know we had must be exposed to make room for the humility and love of our Lord Jesus. Yes, there is a due time for exaltation and it will come if we continue to take God at His Word. This is not a one time experience, but it happens over and over as we grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus. We go from glory to glory, from one level to the next level. We must be stronger in spirit when we get there as the task is greater on the next level. It is like the body builder who is lifting 300 lbs. and wants to go to 400 lbs…He must get stronger in body and we must get stronger in spirit with the strength of our Lord Jesus. “…The LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” Isaiah 61:1b
We are not just attendees, but participants in the local church. We have to grow up in the Lord Jesus to be able to do this impossible task through Him who does the impossible. The only thing that will bring us through the bad times is the love for God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who loved us while we were yet sinners. The flesh, the old sin nature, will not want to suffer these things. We must continually die to this sin nature and a growing love for our Lord will lead us to do this. Many are fainting everyday and we can’t judge them. There is no guarantee we will make it through the trial without our Lord Jesus. We must get into His Word and let the Holy Spirit put His Word in us. Trust Him by His Word when you can’t see, hear, taste, touch or feel anything.
Cast All of Your Care Upon Him
The next step is to cast all of your care upon Him. Again, this is a continual thing in the trial because we keep taking it back. Every anxiety, every care, every worry, every concern, we must keep casting upon God. It is this care that will overwhelm you if you try to carry it alone. God’s design is the cross. It is not the devil’s idea nor is it man’s. The devil delivers trials through men, but God designs it. No death, no resurrection. The cross is a necessary instrument.
Ask God to show you someone who has had to come through this humbling time. The first time I remember God’s hand coming down on me was about 30 years ago. As I cried out to God, He told me while reading Isaiah that there was one man who could help me. I inquired who this man was and He impressed my heart with Manley Beasley. I called Bro. Manley and he took me with him the next week to a revival meeting. He paid all my expenses and ministered the Lord Jesus to me. You see, Bro. Manley had forty revival meetings canceled in one day earlier in his ministry, and I was totally shut down in my ministry under the hand of God. A preacher who hadn’t been humbled probably would have just thought there was something wrong with me. On the contrary. This is not for known sin in our lives, but is because we are following the Lord Jesus, bearing fruit that He produces and God wants to take us to a higher level. It is because we are anointed and the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us.
What care do you have today that you can’t handle? Cast your care on God. Do you have the sense that if you don’t handle your problems, nothing will be done? If you can handle it, go ahead. This is not the hand of God on you. When the hand of God is on you, you can’t handle the area of your life that is being dealt with. Whether it is relational, financial, physical or whatever it may be. Perhaps you have lost your job and your care is next month’s bills. Perhaps you are worried about what will happen in 3 or 6 months. Dear friend, if you are anxious about a period of time other than today, all of that evil is brought on in one day. That is why the Lord Jesus says, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:34 We have the grace of God to handle the devil today, but not days, weeks or months ahead. You are looking at a future that is empty. If your job is going to be terminated in 6 months, you are tempted to wonder how you will pay the mortgage, feed your family and how you will pay your bills. Everything you have care or worry about, cast them one by one on the Lord God. Call them out and give them to Him.
For He Cares For You
Now it is getting down to the nitty gritty. In times like this your emotions tell you God doesn’t care what happens to you. If He cares for you, He wouldn’t allow circumstances or relationship problems to happen. The very opposite is true, beloved. If He didn’t care for you, you wouldn’t be going through the trials. 1 John 3:16a tells us, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down His life for us.” The cross is the present and eternal evidence that God loves you. He gave His life for you. He shed His blood for you. “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 Again, this is not because you are doing anything wrong, but rather because you are following the Lord Jesus. The child God loves He chastens. Now there is a chastening for living in known sin, but this is not it. This is a chastening to make us grow. Let us co-operate with Him, knowing by faith, not circumstances, God loves us.
As Much as God Loves Us, the devil Hates Us
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 To be sober is not to be somber. It means to be serious. You do not find our military personel cutting up and laughing on the battlefield. Of course there is a time for laughing. “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” Proverbs 17:22a However, we should never let down our guard. We are in a war and there is no R&R. This war was won on the cross by our Lord Jesus when He shed His blood. There are battles today that we must fight by trusting the Lord Jesus who is the captain of our salvation. The battle is the Lord’s. We must let Him fight it for us.
The devil and his forces do not want to see us under God’s hand. The devil knows that if we stay under God’s hand and let Him exalt us, we are going to be used of God to do great damage to his domain. He knows that we will be more mature (perfect) and that the fruit of the Spirit will be greater in us. He knows that we will be stronger in spirit and a greater threat to his domain of darkness.
Therefore, the devil wants to lure us out from under God’s hand and move us over to his turf so that he can devour us or render us helpless in seeking the kingdom of God. The devil’s nature is identical to our fallen nature. He knows us and he knows how to tempt us and draw us away from God and out from under God’s hand.
Oswald Chambers said, “They will make God seem like an unkind friend, but He isn’t.” You may feel like you are left out, overlooked, pulled aside, not important, third string, etc. It is just the opposite, you are very valuable to God or you wouldn’t be going through this trial. The more intense the warfare, the greater evidence and confirmation that you are in the will of God. If you weren’t in the will of God the devil wouldn’t give you the time of day. Peter and the disciples counted themselves worthy (worth value) to suffer shame for the Lord Jesus. You are of great value to God when He puts His hand down on you and shuts you down, so to speak. During this time, do whatever your hand finds to do and do it trusting the Lord Jesus, but do not be shocked at being isolated and very little working out for your good.
Remember you belong to God and He is not caught off guard. He has a plan for you and your life. The fire will only consume what is bound in your life.
“By grace are you saved through faith; and that not or yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10
Our works and our life is planned by God, but we do not automatically achieve it. We must live by faith in God and in His Word. We must believe that God is faithful to us and that He loves us so much that He nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross for us. I actually believe that there are very few that fight the fight, finish their course and keep the faith. Many start out well, but few finish. We aren’t talking about going to heaven or being saved, but living out the life that God has planned for us. It should help us to know God has a plan for us in times like this. He is not caught off guard and we can trust Him with our lives, our families, and our church. We can trust Him in everything.
Resist the devil
“Whom resist steadfast in the faith…” 1Peter 5:9a “In the faith” is the key here. Make sure there is no sin between you and the Lord God. Be continually filled with the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit and agape love. We have the faith of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. Be steadfast in the faith of our Lord Jesus. “Submit yourself therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 A good way to submit to God is through thanksgiving. We should give thanks in everything and for everything. Giving thanks helps us stay in the Spirit. “Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6
Submission is receiving, not resisting, from God all He has to give you. The devil wants to get us worried, fretful, fearful, anxious and thus get us to panic and get out from under God’s hand. On the other hand, God wants to give us the grace we need, but He has to deal with pride because pride is a grace killer. Every dart the devil throws at your mind, turn it over to God and give Him thanks. Stay focused on the Lord God and trust Him to take you to a higher level of glory for His glory.
You Are Not the Only One
“…Knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” 1 Peter 5:9b One of the devil’s favorite wiles (methods) is to get us to think we are the only one. We may think, “Why me? I am obeying God and following the Lord Jesus as far as I know. Why am I going through this?” Remember, it is because you are following God and He wants to take you higher; but the way up with God is down. The Lord Jesus, being God, humbled Himself and came down to earth to be a man. He went further down to the shameful death of the cross and then He went further down to the tomb. Glory to God, He rose on the third day and is exalted at the right hand of the Father and is soon to come again, ruling and reigning forever. God’s plan for you and for me is to exalt us in the work He has for us to do. But now and then we have to suffer affliction so that we can handle the next level of ministry.
Your brethren throughout the whole world must go through these times of prepariation for the next level. One reason is so we will walk in the humility of our Lord Jesus. The Lord was never arrogant, prideful or looked down on people. He gets under us and lifts us up to God. He was the servant leader. When man is exalted in pride he makes others serve him. When we are exalted in humilty, we are servants to others like our Lord Jesus.
From the Biblical illustrations of people like King David, Joseph, Elijah, Peter, Paul and with most people I know that are being used of God, this is a necessary and repeated process in being more and more useful in the kingdom of God. The devil (actually the demons) will try to convince you that you are mistreated while everyone else has it so easy. God says your brethren throughout the world, every Christian who follows the Lord Jesus, will have this stretching or growing from faith to faith or from glory to glory. We like it when God’s glory is in us, through us and all around us. It is the silent times where little or nothing is happening, when God seems to be hiding, that we’d rather not have. We can’t see what others are going through, my friend, and be assured by the Word of God that they are going through trials also.
If we do realize that a brother or sister is having a hard time, we should stand with them in prayer and be available to help and encourage them. They are valuable to the Lord Jesus and His kingdom’s work. “…Because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the bretheren.” 1 John 3:16b
One way to do this is to share our afflictions, if not in detail, at least let people know that you are not on the mountain top all the time. Be sensitive in the Holy Ghost as to what problems other people might be facing. For example, telling people you were so blessed by God that you made $300,00.00 last year when they may be under God’s hand and are really struggling may not knock them down, but it could have a negative effect on them.
Another way to handle the accusations of the devil is to realize that you have a race to run, a course to finish that is not like any other persons. God designed your course. It may be thirty, sixty or one hundred fold, but one of these is not greater than the other in God’s view. I may be a thirty fold, but as long as I’m following the Lord Jesus and living by faith, He will accomplish through me what He has planned.
There are men that I started out with 36 years ago that are one hundred folders. It is amazing what God is doing through them. Praise the Lord God! However, I have a course to stay on and looking at them with anything other than praise to God will get me off course and trip me up in the race that I am running.
Finally We Are Confirmed
“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” 1 Peter 5:10 This verse reminds us that the grace we need, God has for us. He loves us because He called us. God is not willing that any perish, but that all men be saved. You and I have received our Lord Jesus and we are saved by Him. God wanted us very, very much. We are not second rate but first rate servants. We are not third string, but we are on the first team. Whatever the devil tries to convince us of, he is the liar and the father of lies. We truly are loved and of eternal value to Lord God Almighty. His goal for all of us is exaltation.
After You Have Suffered Awhile
The suffering is absolutely necessary. We must become more like the Lord Jesus and less like Adam. The only way this is accomplished is by seeing Adam, and the self life he exposed. When we are aware of this we should repent and confess the sin, and be filled with the Spirit. The suffering is real and it may last awhile, but we are under the hand of God, safe and secure. God is in control and He does not allow anything that is not good for us.
The Lord Jesus did not enjoy the cross. “…Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2b That is exaltation after suffering. God knows that I do not like it and you probably do not like it, but the next level of the glory of God is coming. It will be worth all of the humiliation.
I believe that one of the keys that you are about through the fire is when it doesn’t hurt any longer. We either become better or bitter. Let’s trust God to complete each work, (James 1:4) and may the Lord Jesus bring us all the way through the fire. Ask God according to James 1:5 to be your wisdom so that you can co-operate with the Holy Ghost in the trial of your faith.
Glory to God
“To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:11 When we give God the glory, (boasting on Him, praising Him) He gives us grace. When we take His glory, He removes His grace. Whithout His grace, we couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time. Grace is not an option, it is imperative in the Christian life. We must have it to even function properly. Whatever it cost the self life, let’s pay that price for the glory of God. It cost us nothing to be saved by our Lord Jesus. We have nothing to pay. It cost us everything to be a disciple, a follower and a learner.
The Lord Jesus says, “…If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24b The flesh (sin nature) of selfishness, self-centeredness and self-pity will throw a fit and try to rise up and rule over the Spirit. The price is self-denial and being filled with the Holy Spirit in the trial, through the trial, and on this side of the trial.
I’ll see you here, there, or in the air, dear friends. Remember, it will be worth it all when we see our Lord Jesus.
Addendum
When we are under the hand of God, one of His main purposes is for us to get to know Him better, love Him more and trust Him more. Job is a good example of this. Job was a perfect (mature) man, but as Brother Beasley said, he got more perfect.
The Shunammite woman took her husband for granted. He (type of the Lord Jesus) hid behind the lattice and did not reveal himself until she began to seek him with her whole heart.
When there is great activity in our lives and everything is going well, we live in the revelation of God that we have presently. We know God at the level of the last crisis and we function on that level.
Joseph had a God given vision as a young person. It took years as a slave and then a prisoner for him to get to know God on the level of ruling a nation.
Many times when the suffering comes, we turn around and follow the Lord Jesus no more. May we ask God for grace to go all the way through each trial of our faith. The more we know the Lord God the more we see His love for us. We begin to know how He sees us. Our value is put on work and when the work is abundant, we feel good about ourselves. God’s value is put on us and He sees us like the Lord Jesus, because that is how we are going to turn out. We must grow to the place that we see how valuable we are to God. So much so that He nailed His only begotten Son to the cross. Again, Brother Manly Beasley used to say, “Don’t waste your sorrows.” When we waste them, they are just sorrrows, but when we go through them trusting God, we come out knowing Him better and loving Him more. The things we do learn, however, will help us when the test comes again.
God’s goal is not to take everything away from us and leave us there. His goal is for us to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering. The circumstances are designed for us to grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder the devil works so hard to get us out from under God’s hand.
Let’s ask our Father to help us and give us grace to stay under His hand until we know Him on the next level He has planned for us. Do you remember when you were in school? If you went through the 10th grade and didn’t pass the material, you had to take the grade over again. A weight lifter is lifting 300 pounds, but he wants to get to 400 pounds. The day comes for the test and he can’t lift the weight. All that he has learned will help him to prepare for the test again and if he stays at it, he will one day be able to lift 400 pounds. He has a desire to do so.
A Christian should want to know God. When you fail the test, the things you have learned will help you in the next crisis and one day by the grace of God, you will know Him on a level that you have not experienced before. It is on that level you will experience greater love, greater fruit of the Holy Spirit and greater anointing than you have ever had before.
Our goal, however, is not the results, but God Himself. May God help us to make it for His glory and honor and for our good.
Annointing of the Holy Spirit
It is no secret that the New Testament Church had great power from God that resulted in turning the wrong side up world upside down which made it right side up. Every church since that day was to do the same thing–preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, cast out devils and heal the sick in heart and body. There are many Old Testament prophecies that point to this lifestyle, but let’s look at the one in Isaiah, chapter sixty one.
The first verse here is a prophecy that we will see fullfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ in Luke 4:18. This verse tells us why the Holy Spirit comes upon a person. Because He hath anointed him to do some things. I believe, as did Bro. Manley Beasley and Dr. Jack Hyles, that there is a difference between the Holy Spirit within and the Holy Spirit upon. As Bro. Beasley stated, the Holy Spirit within is for character and the Holy Spirit upon is for power or authority. The same Holy Spirit, but two different ministries. When we receive the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, the Holy Spirit comes into our Spirit, gives us a new birth, and seals us with Himself. When we begin to obey God, the Holy Spirit comes upon us to give us power to be witnesses unto our Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Hyles has an excellent book Meet the Holy Spirit that can be ordered from First Baptist Church, Hammond, Indiana, that explains this very well. Dr. John R. Rice also has a very good booklet on how Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit that you can order from Sword of the Lord that speaks of the importance of baptism as the first step of obedience to the new Christian.
Here we see the anointing is given for the following reasons:
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First of all to preach good tidings or “good news” unto the meek. Prideful man will not receive good news that he might be saved, because he believes he can make it on his own. Only the poor in spirit can be delivered by the Deliverer
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Next, the anointing, or the Holy Spirit upon, is given to bind up the brokenhearted. What a wonderful ministry this is. The anointing is given to proclaim liberty to the captives and to open the prison to them that are bound.
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Finally, the prophecy that our Lord Jesus quoted in Luke 4:18 tells us that the anointing was given to preach the acceptable year of our Lord.
The second part of verse 2 begins a prophecy about the Israelites or Jews that takes them into the millennium under the same anointing of the Holy Spirit. There will be thousands of Jews saved during the tribulation period after the Church is raptured and taken to the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is preparation for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb which weds the Church to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Although verses 2b through verse 11 are to the Jewish people, there are portions that fit the New Testament Church as well. (The blueprint for the Christian life is seen in Israel. Egypt is a type of the world. Pharaoh is a type of the devil.) The Israelites were delivered one way and that was through the Blood of the Lamb. That blood was put over the post and the lintel which symbolizes the Cross of our Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world. Remember that Jesus Christ was slain before the foundation or the world in the heart of God.
When delivered from Egypt they came to the Red Sea, which shows us baptism. Pharaoh and his army were on the Israelites trail to try to get them back in bondage. When Moses led them through the Red Sea (which typifies baptism), Pharaoh (the devil) and his army (demons) were all drowned in the Red Sea. The Israelites met the devil typed out in Amalek in the wilderness. This shows us the devil in war, but Pharaoh, the devil in bondage was left under the sea. This is one reason that New Testament baptism is very important and we’ll see this further when we get to the book of Acts. After the Red Sea, the Israelites went into the wilderness to come to the end of their self-sufficiency. When they came to the end of themselves, they went through Jordan which is death to self and went into Canaan, a land to possess.
Canaan is not Heaven. There are no giants in Heaven and no war in Heaven. God took them out in order to take them in. And so we see Egypt, Pharaoh, the Red Sea, the Wilderness, the Jordan River, and Canaan as the blueprint for the Christian life. The New Testament Church is to follow this pattern, end up in our Canaan, and possess the land in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is happening today in a few churches. Yes, there are churches today that really affect their area for God. I believe one reason there are not more doing this is because they haven’t seen that we are anointed by the Lord Jesus with the Holy Spirit.
Let me encourage you to read the rest of this chapter and you will see what else happens under this mighty anointing of the Holy “Spirit. The Jews in the millennium will have beauty for ashes, joy for mouning, and the garment of praise. They will be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, and He will be glorified. They will build up the old waste, raise former desolations, repair waste cities and in verse 5, they will prosper greatly. They will be named the priest of our Lord, the minister of our God and eat the riches of the Gentiles. (The New Testament saints are Kings and Priests and Ministers also.) The Church is described as a holy priesthood in 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
Because the Church has this authority today, we can obey our Lord Jesus when He said, “…………. all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and , lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. A’men. ” This is what is happening here at North Love Baptist Church in Rockford, Il. with Pastor Dr. Paul Kingsbury and the people of God. With ministries like Reformers Unanimous, the Church is affecting the entire world as a local New Testament Church is supposed to do. Glory to God.
The Anointing in the New Testament
The Lord Jesus was baptized in Luke 3:21. This is when He was anointed for service. He already had the Holy Spirit within, but at His baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily shape like a dove. I do not know how this bodily shape materialized, but I believe the term like a dove tells us it was very gentle like a dove. The manifestation was such that John saw the Holy Spirit coming on the Lord very gently. I believe this will be very important later on in this booklet.
The next step was to be led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil for 40 days. (Remember in the blueprint that the wilderness came after the Red Sea.)
In Luke 4:16, we find the Lord Jesus in the synagogue on the Sabbath day as was His custom. The book of Isaiah was given to Him as He stood up to read. In verse 18 and 19 He read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
The Bible is the progressive revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the Holy Ghost says here to preach the gospel to the poor instead of preach good tidings to the meek. The meaning is the same, but the revelation is clearer in the New Testament. In Isaiah He says to bind up the brokenhearted and here God says to heal the brokenhearted. The results of binding up is healing, but now He gives the finished product–those in captivity are delivered by the Lord Jesus. I believe this amplifies the Old Testament verse.
The Lord Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. God became a man to save us from sin, death and hell. He had a human body and He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for this reason” and quoted Isaiah 61:1. Where is the Lord Jesus now? Well He was crucified, dead, buried and raised from the dead; proved Himself alive by many infallible proofs; and is set down at the right hand (the power hand) of the Father. Today, His body on earth, which He inhabits, is the local New Testament Church. The Lord Jesus is in His human body in heaven, but He is in His spiritual body, the church, right here on this earth. Jesus Christ is the Head of His local New Testament Church and the born again baptized believers are the members of His Body. The Pastor is the overseer, and there is no one between the Pastor and the Lord Jesus, just like there is no one between the husband and father and the Lord Jesus. I personally believe that the Pastor is the feet of the body. This is the lowest member and the Lord Jesus says that in order to rule in His kingdom, you have to be the lowest and the servant. The Head, the Lord Jesus, tells His feet the overall direction of the Church and then we as the members kick in as we are gifted and grafted in the Body by the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Lord Jesus Christ is literally living His resurrection life through His Body, the local New Testament Church. He is Lord over His Body the Church, unless it is a Laodacean church, which means peoples rights, people rule. In this body the Lord Jesus Christ is on the outside knocking to get in His own Body. This is a headless body and has absolutely no power to get the work of God done.
When the Lord Jesus was here on earth, He did everything. He did the preaching, the teaching, the delivering from demonic spirits, the healing; setting captives free and turning prisoners loose. He then sent out the twelve and gave them this power and then He sent out the seventy, which I believe represented the Church that was to be birthed at Pentecost, and gave them the Holy Spirit in power. This Holy Spirit power had to be transferred from His physical Body to His Spiritual Body, the local New Testament Church.
Pentecost
This is what happened at Pentecost. The Heavenly Father had told His Son that He would give Him the Holy Spirit after He, the Lord Jesus, was glorified. The Lord Jesus in turn gave the Church the Holy Spirit after He ascended into Heaven.
Look at His promise in Acts. 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Remember the Lord Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1 in Luke 4:18 in reference to Himself in His human body. Now He is giving the anointing to the Church, His spiritual body. He lives in His body, the church, today, and the Holy Spirit is upon Her “To preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
This is the reason for the Holy Ghost upon the church. When you see a church that this is happening through, you see a church that is living under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. That is why Bro. Manley Beasley taught that there is a difference between the Holy spirit within and the Holy Spirit upon. “The Holy Spirit within,” he said, “is for character; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, faith, meekness and temperance. The Holy Spirit upon is for power or anointing which gives enablement to carry out Acts 1:8 in our day.” Every Christian has the Holy Spirit within and every Christian can have the Holy Spirit upon, as we shall see. Let’s recall that not all of the Old Testament saints had this anointing; just those who had a special task such as the prophets and the Kings. In the New Testament, this anointing is on every Church that walks in obedience as Acts 5:32 states,….”and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God has given to those who obey.”
Every church that I know anything about where the miraculous consistently takes place, knows about and lives under this anointing. The powerful Highland Park Baptist Church under Dr. Lee Roberson’s Pastorate was a good example. So was Temple Baptist in Detroit, Michigan with Dr. Beauchamp Vic as Pastor. Aggresive, knock down the gates of hell and set the captives free, local New Testament Churches to the Glory of God.
Another church of this nature is First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida. Their Pastor now and for the past several years is Jerry Vines, before and with him was Homer Lindsay, Jr. and before him Homer Lindsay, Sr. Perhaps you have attended the great Pastors Conference held yearly in this church and thus seen first hand this agressive, soul winning, disciple making, New Testament Church.
Another mighty New Testament Church was Thomas Road Baptist Church and Pastor Jerry Falwell. Thomas Road has baptized literally thousands of precious converts that our Lord Jesus has saved. The affect that the church had on Lynchburg and areas circling hundreds of miles out was really powerful for our Lord Jesus Christ and for the glory of God for 35 or 40 years. Dr. Falwell was a great influence on young soul winners as he personally knocked on every door in Lynchburg, Virginia during those years. The bus ministry of Thomas road reached out many miles bringing whole families to our Lord Jesus Christ.
An Explanation
We are living in a day of experimentation when Churches are believing the lie that you reach the lost world by becoming like them; by giving them what they want instead of what God wants them to have. Young preachers along with some older ones are falling for worldly, rock beat music to draw the crowds and by taking the cross out of discipleship. This philosophy impresses on preachers not to use the Bible, the very Word of God. Take the soft aproach and do not name sins or preach the Blood of Christ. In other words, do not offend the lost, hell bound sinner. Of course this aproach is easy because it brings the world into the Church which the Lord Jesus Christ never told us to do. He told the Church to go into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, not some watered down excuse for the very Word of God. This aproach is easy because it appeals to the flesh, whereas the Lord Jesus says in order to be His disciple you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him daily. The word witness in Acts 1:8 means martyr. In other words, you have to die to fear of embarassment, rejection, failure, loss of material posessions and every other fear demons try to put on you. 11Timothy l:7 says ” For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” When we follow our Lord Jesus Christ and learn of Him, we find blood, sweat and tears on the outside but joy unspeakable and full of Glory on the inside. Churches that are Book of Acts New Testament Churches are still getting the work done that our Lord Jesus told us to do and gave us the Holy Spirit to enable us to do it.
A church that many Christians know nothing about is First Baptist in Hammond, Indiana. Dr. Jack Hyles was pastor for over 30 years, I believe. This church baptizes 8,000 to 10,000 souls every year. I recommend Dr. Hyle’s book, Meet the Holy Spirit. This is truly a New Testament church in my opinion and Dr. Hyles said that everything that has been accomplished is to be attributed to the Holy Spirit, His power and His exalting of our Lord Jesus. (By the way, the Holy Spirit will always honor and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.) The Holy Spirit wrote the Word of God, the Bible, through holy men, and the Lord Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. First Baptist Church, Hammond, is a New Testament church that believes and lives the entire Word of God. Dr. Hyles relates that thirteen barren couples bore children after being anointed with oil according to James, chapter 5. Other times when Bro. Hyles was preaching, people who couldn’t speak English heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus in their language while the pastor preached in English. Sounds like Acts 2:8. “And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” There are two reasons that I see for the tongues or languages to accompany the Holy Spirit upon the Church and later upon others who were saved as in Acts 19. The first reason is for the Gospel to be understood clearly. The second reason is found in Isaiah 28:11-12 “For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people-to whom He said this is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.”
In the Old Testament every believer had the Holy Spirit within, but every believer didn’t have the Holy Spirit upon them. The Bible, the Word of God is progressive revelation, which means that our Lord Jesus is progressively revealed from Genesis through the Revelation. For example: 1Corinthians 10:3,4 states that ” And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” In Acts 19:4 the Holy Spirit says,”Then said Paul, John verily baptizes with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” They were saved by looking to the Cross and we are saved by looking back to the Cross, but nobody is saved without the Cross. Hallelujah!
God says that New Testament Christians are the children of Abraham. Abraham and all Old Testament saints were saved just like us, by the Lord Jesus Christ, the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Again, They were saved by looking forward to the Cross and we were saved by looking back to the Cross. The Bible is progressive revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and I believe that the gospel was preached to Adam and Eve in the seed of the woman. Then God put the animal to death by shedding the blood, which typified the blood of our Lord. He took the skins of the animals and clothed Adam and Eve which typified the Lord Jesus’ righteousness. There was no death upon this earth until they sinned, and then the wages of sin became death. The reason the devil wants folk to think this is an old earth has to do with the Blood atonement. Nothing died until man sinned 6000 years ago.
1 Corinthians 10:1-13 teaches us that they ate the same spiritual meat and drank of the spiritual rock and that rock was Christ. These were saved, born again believers. You may think well, the Bibile doesn’t say they were saved in the Old Testament, but the New Testament does. Verse 9 says, “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.” 1 Peter 1:11 says, “Searching what, or of what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when He testified of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” This is not an extensive study but I challenge you to do one on the Holy Spirit and the salvation of the Old Testament saints.
Why is this important? It has to do with the Holy Spirit upon all New Testament saints to give us power to get the Great Commission accomplished, to preach the gospel, to bind up the brokenhearted, to set captives free, to turn prisoners loose, to do the works of the Lord Jesus, now, today, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
What happened at Pentecost? The Holy spirit came upon the Church to give us power or anointing so that we could get done all that our Lord Jesus Christ commands us.
Our Sons and Daughters Are To Be Preaching
Acts 2:16-18 says, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, (I believe this means to preach the gospel of Christ to the lost, not the gift of preaching given to called out men in Ephesians 4:11) and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” (To declare truth through God’s Holy Spirit.) We have the complete revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and one who is saved has the anointing of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the truth that Jesus Christ came to the earth to save sinners.
Why Aren’t Our Sons and Daughters Preaching the Gospel?
I believe it is primarily because they have not received the Holy Spirit in power upon them and realized that by the Word of God, we have this authority. He has been given, but they have not believed the promise of the Father because they do not know that it is to them. You can’t walk in what you do not know you have.
Again, the word witness in Acts 1:8 means martyr. Yes, we have to continually die to self (the natural) to witness unto our Lord Jesus. You can talk about God all you want today, but when you share the Lord Jesus Christ, you are crucified. Despite the opposition by the world system, the flesh, our sin nature, and the devil we have been commanded to witness unto the Lord Jesus and He has given us the authority to do this when He gave us the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit came upon the church at Pentecost. What about those of us who have been saved since Pentecost? Remember, when we are saved, the Holy Spirit comes within us and brings our Lord Jesus in with Him. He raises our spirits from the dead and seals us with Himself. This is the new birth. This is not the Holy Spirit upon us but rather the Holy Spirit within us. Our Body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit and He will never leave from within us. Our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ dwells within us through the Holy Spirit. Glory to God.
The Holy Spirit Upon
God says in Acts 5:32, “And we are His witnesses of these things, and so also is the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey.”
The Holy Spirit within has nothing to do with obedience. It has to do with salvation. If we have not the Spirit of Christ, we are none of His. The Holy Spirit upon, or the anointing, or the Power, has to do with obedience. The church received the Holy Spirit upon at Pentecost. How does the believer since Pentecost get the Holy Spirit upon us? Let’s look in Acts chapter 19. Here the Apostle Paul found disciples and he asked them, “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? They said we’ve never heard of Him.” You see, you do not have to hear of the Holy Spirit in order to be saved. You have to hear of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Savior. You do not have to consciously receive the Holy Spirit into your heart in order to be saved. You receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior. The Holy Spirit comes in whether you’ve ever heard of Him or not. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” There is a time, however, that you hear of the Holy Spirit after you believe.
Notice what God said through Paul in verse 3. “Unto what then were you baptized?” And they replied to John’s baptism. Then Paul explained that John baptized with a baptism of repentance saying they should believe on Him which should come after Him, that is, on Christ. Christian baptism is a baptism of obedience, and if they had been properly baptized, they would have heard of the Holy Ghost in the baptismal formula: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
New Testament Baptism is Found in Acts 2:38
Here Peter was preaching “That same Jesus who ye have crucified is both Lord and Christ.” The message until that time was that the Lord Jesus was Messiah. Now the complete revelation is that He is Lord as well. This shook them up and sobered them up hearing that the Lord Jesus is God. They cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Then Peter said, “Repent (Jesus is more than a carpenter’s son; He is Lord and Savior of men, women, boys and girls) and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (or showing that your sins are remitted) and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Not a gift, but the Holy Ghost Himself as a gift upon you.)
“For the promise is unto you (those standing there) and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (That’s us, and everyone else who has been saved and baptized since that day)
Remember when the Lord Jesus was baptized, the Holy Ghost descended upon Him like a dove. This was when He was anointed for service. He already had the Holy Spirit within Him, but He needed the Holy Spirit upon Him. The Holy Ghost is a promise to be received and when received, we can then receive His power according to Acts 1:8. Let me hasten to say that I believe this happens whether we know it or not. We just do not know how to walk in power unless we see this and by faith receive the Holy Spirit. If I came home and started looking for something in my closet, and a huge box dropped down from the top shelf and hit me on the head, I would ask my wife Judy, where did this come from. Suppose she said that my good friend gave me that years ago, and so I tore into it to see what it was. It turned out to be something very valuable that I had wanted for years and now I see that I had it all the time and didn’t even know it. Since I didn’t know it, I couldn’t use it.
Many churches are powerless and impotent today even though the Holy Spirit in power has been given to us. All of the Old Testament saints weren’t anointed, only those who had a special task. In the New Testament, every single believer has and can continue to have the Holy Ghost upon him if he walks in obedience. Remember this anointing is given to those who obey, and baptism is the first step of obedience.
Dr. Hyles brings out that Luke 11:13 is continuous action. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father (continually) give the Holy Spirit to those who (continually) ask Him.” This beloved, is not for salvation which is a one time event; a real new birth into God’s family. This is for anointing, the Holy Spirit upon us, giving us power to be witnesses unto our Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost says the same thing in many different ways, such as Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on the whole armor of God.
The First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana, with Pastor Hyles, who has since gone to Heaven, walked in this power for over 40 years and still to this day, without Bro. Hyles, walks in this power. These supernatural results were attributed by Dr. Hyles to none other than the Holy Spirit and His wonderful power.
Addendum
A final note. You do not receive the anointing and the power by feeling. The Holy Spirit came upon the Lord Jesus like a dove. A dove is very gentle. You receive the Holy Sprit (receive the Lord Jesus for salvation and receive the Holy Spirit for anointing or power) by faith in the Word of God. Acts 1:8 is enough. “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you…”
This anointing does not bring ease and comfort into the life of the believer. It brings head on war with the world, the flesh and the devil. With this power you are a great threat to the devil’s domain, but greater is He that is in you (the Lord Jesus) than he that is in the world (the devil). Hallelujah!! If you want to know how your life will be when you walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, read and study the Book of Acts. Multitudes were saved, but the Church was heavily persecuted. You will have great results for the Glory of God, but you will have great opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil. I believe this is the reason that many start out to follow our Lord Jesus, and even though they do not know it, they have the power of the Holy Spirit to get the job done that He has given this to do. Because of the opposition, many turn around and follow Him no more.
The Churches have moved to the suburbs and let the cities go to the devil. Now the devil has moved to the suburbs. When the churches left, the light went out, and violence, pornogrophy, drugs, stealing and every other sin took over when the pulpits went silent. First Baptist Dallas, First Baptist Hammond, First Baptist Jacksonville, Fla. and others stayed in and the light stayed on. Glory to God. The Anointing brings opposition, but Greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world.
This anointing is the promise of the Father in Acts 2:35 where the Holy Spirit says “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promis of the holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” Again, this happened to the Church at Pentecost, but the promise was to them, to their children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts 2:39 Beloved, that is us. Amen? Now the personal question. Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? He came within you when you received the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, but you need His power today, His authority, to be a witness unto our Lord Jesus Christ. Can you say thank you Heavenly Father for giving the Holy Spirit to our Lord Jesus and thank you Lord Jesus for giving the Holy Spirit to me? If so, you can know everyday that you are putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and that you are dressed up in God. Your body is His tent and He is your tent. You are fully equipped to be affective as you obey God in the plan that He has for your life. Yes, the Lord Jesus has all authority, and He has given it to His Church and now to you as a member of His local New Testament Church.
You can not lose the Holy Spirit from within, but just as Samson did, you can lose the Holy Spirit from upon you; or lose the Holy Spirit in power. King David prayed, God, do anything but take the Holy Spirit from me. Now dear folk, God can’t take the Holy Spirit from within us, but He can and will take the Holy Spirit from upon us. If we walk in continued disobedience, we can lose the anointing, but if we will repent as Samson did, through the cross and the Blood of Jesus, we can ask for Him back and as we are being filled with the Holy Spirit and walking in obedience, once again know that we have the authority to obey God.
May the local New Testament Church realize that we have the power of the Holy Spirit and may we as active members of a local New Testament Church know this by the Word of God. The hour is late and the time is short. The Lord Jesus will return at any moment. Let’s get out in the field and get the harvest in before it is everlasting too late. For further material on fulfilling the Great Commission, visit my web site at joemurray. org. I’ll see you here, there, or in the air. Hallelujah!
Humble Yourself
General Wainwright was captured by the Japanese during World War II. He, along with scores of Americans and Allies, were put in prison camps. When Japan surrendered at the close of the war, the news was forwarded to the Japanese commandant where the general was held prisoner. The commandant, however, did not inform the prisoners, but continued to hold them captive and treat them with ill will and horrendous abuse.
One day, a small aircraft landed at the prison compound and informed the prisoners of Japanese surrender and that all of the prisoners were free now. General Wainwright walked into the commandant’s office and said, “My commander in chief has defeated your commander in chief and I am in charge now.” Hallelujah!
Dear Church, our commander in chief, the Lord Jesus Christ, has defeated their commander in chief, satan, and the church is now in charge. 1 John 3:8 says, “For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil”.
Now, if the works of the devil are destroyed, how can he and demons do so much damage? Because destroyed does not mean annihilated, but rather rendered inoperative and ineffective. As long as a person is saved and following our Lord Jesus, the devil can’t have any effect on him or her; he can only throw glancing blows. It is when we sin in the old nature and stay there a while that satan is able to do us harm. The flesh (sin nature) is at enmity (hostile) with God. We must judge our sins, take God’s side against them by agreeing with Him that the act we committed or omitted is sin (1 John 1:9). Thus, a Christian by repentance and faith through the cross and the blood of our Lord Jesus is filled again with the Holy Spirit. At any given time, a Christian is either in the Spirit or in the flesh. We are to walk in the Spirit and thus not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Yes, the Lord Jesus put satan and all of his demons (fallen angels) to an open show publicly on the cross. He defanged the devil, so to speak. But think of this: If a child runs away from home, the devil will destroy their life. As long as they are under dad or mom’s roof, they are provided for and protected. If they run away from home, however, they are on their own. The prodigal son is a good illustration of this principle. Through still a son, he had to go all the way to the pig pen to come to his senses. Then he arose and went back to his father, a son all the while, but no fellowship and no provision or protection. Oh, how the Christian needs to stay under our Lord Jesus and not run away from our Heavenly Father, which the prodigal son did, and almost lost his life. He did lose his fellowship with his father, but not his relationship. His father saw him coming from a long way off. He was looking for him, because he knew he would return. Have you run away from your Heavenly Father, and are you now living an independent, self willed life? Come to your senses, dear friend, repent and confess your sins through the cross and the blood of our Lord Jesus and come running back to God before the devil destroys your life and the lives of those you are influencing.
Perhaps you have never been saved. God is not your Father in heaven because you have never repented and received Jesus Christ as your Savior. There are only two things that you need to know in order to be born into God’s family. The first thing is that you are a guilty sinner, just like I was, lost and headed for a Christ-less hell. The Lord Jesus teaches us that the devil is our spiritual father when we are lost, without God and without hope (John 8:44). In the Word of God, the Bible, we read in Romans 3:19 that the law, the Ten Commandments, shows us that we are guilty sinners. Have you ever disobeyed your parents like me and every other human being that ever has lived, other than the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you ever lied? Have you ever hated anyone or have you ever looked on a woman with lust in your heart? These Ten Commandments are the schoolmaster that shows us we are guilty and brings us to Jesus Christ.
When you see that you are a guilty sinner, then you need to know that Jesus Christ, the virgin born Son of God, God in human flesh who never sinned, died for your sins on the cross, was buried dead and raised from the dead, the first born of a new creation.
Now, there are only two things to do. Repent to God. Change your mind. You are going away from God. Turn to Him and receive Jesus Christ as your Savior. This is explained fully on my website under “How To Go To Heaven.” When you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you are really born again into God’s family and then God is your Heavenly Father.
The Spirit filled life for a Christian is commanded in Ephesians 5:18 and described in the verses following. Be being filled with the Holy Spirit as you sing Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Give thanks in everything and for everything; submit yourselves one to another, wives to husbands and husbands loving wives as the Lord Jesus loved the Church and gave Himself for it. And then in Chapter 6, “Children, obey your parents; father, provoke not your children to wrath; work on the job under your boss, and boss, remember that you have a master also.” (See my booklet “The Spirit Filled Life”.)
Now, since you are being filled with the Holy Spirit, warfare is inevitable. In Chapter 6, verse 10, the Holy Spirit says, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” Notice that God does not say be strong in your own power. Why? One reason is because the war we are in is not a natural war; it is a supernatural war, and we are only natural beings. We have three enemies: the world system, the flesh, and the devil. The devil works through the world system and the flesh, which is our old sin nature. The world system has humanism as its religion and evolution as its doctrine or teaching. There are no absolutes, and since we came from a dead glob of ooze, man is his own god. All of this is satan inspired and he is able to work through those who say, “There is no God.” What they are actually saying is, “No, God, you can’t have my life.” If you are one of those people, know this, God loves you so much that He nailed His only begotten Son to the cross for you. Your sins, which you do not believe that you have, are paid for. You can be saved, forgiven, and cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, check my website and click on “How to Go to Heaven.” God will speak to your heart and draw you to Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so, this is a battle against a supernatural enemy, and the Lord Jesus Christ lives within you, dear Christian, to fight that battle through you. Our fith is in Him and His strength. The Bible principle is when I am weak, then I am strong. The reason is that none other than the Lord Jesus Christ is our strength.
We are in a war and so we are to put on armor. God says the same thing in many different ways in His Word, the Bible. For example, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. You shall receive power after that. The Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ) has come upon you. You will see in this passage of scripture that the armor is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is described in the next verses. We are to be clothed in God that we may be able to stand against the “wiles” or methods of the devil.
Remember that our enemy the devil and the fallen angels are very well organized. They know you and me very well. They have known us since we were born. These demons have been around during the past six thousand years. Lucifer was an angel of light, and I believe he was the choir leader of heaven. I believe that he led all of the angelic host to worship and praise God, and in particular to praise the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ ( John 1:1).
God created him a brilliant, beautiful, powerful being, and he began to look upon himself and forgot who created him (look at Ezekiel 28:12-19). In verse 13 you see that he was beautiful and musical. In verse 15 iniquity was found in him, and verse 16 he sinned. In verse 17 his beauty and his wisdom were corrupted.
This being, now satan, Beelzebub, that old serpent, the devil, has millions of demons (fallen angels), and they know how to set up methods (wiles) that will tempt you to get in the flesh (the old sin nature) and act natural and independent of the Lord God. They know how to get us to wrestle against flesh and blood, or human beings. If we fight the wrong enemy, we will get whipped every time. If we fight our wife, or husband, or children, or parents, or any other human being, we will be defeated. Why? Because the battle is not against flesh and blood. Who is it against? The battle is against very well organized fallen angels, demons, who have structure. They are principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places. This atmosphere is full of angels. Two-thirds are God’s angels, and one-third are fallen angels that the Bible calls demons or evil spirits. These beings never grow tired or weary because they are spirits. They scheme and plan to get you and your family into a position that they can destroy you.
The Lord Jesus says in John 10:10, “The thief came to steal, kill, and destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” The Lord Jesus is that life and when He saves us through His cross and the blood that He shed, the more we know Him, the more of His life we experience. When He saves us, we literally are married with Him. Romans 7:4 tells us that we are dead to the law and married to Him that was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God, or that we might have spiritual babies. The Lord Jesus is the producer, and we are the bearers. He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15). When our love relationship grows and grows, we bear His fruit, which are spiritual children. We bring the lost to our Lord Jesus through His Word and the Holy Spirit. He saves them. They are born into God’s family, and the kingdom of God is advanced.
The devil can’t stop you from going to Heaven, because you are born into God’s family through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. His goal is to stop you from bringing others to the Lord Jesus, your family and your loved ones, your friends, and even your enemies. If satan can get you in the flesh acting natural to the degree that you are backsliding, he will be able to hide your gospel from those around you (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
Remember, the angels and the fallen angels have known us since we were born. As we follow our Lord Jesus Christ, the holy angels minister to us. When we get in the flesh (the sin nature that is also in us), the fallen angels are able to trip us up. They know us well and they know how to set up situations (batttle plans) to get us to react with worry, fear, unbelief, pride, et cetera. we lose our temper and are harsh, rude, and negative to our loved ones. We claim our rights to a lost and dying world, and the devil hides our gospel from them.
A waitress told me one time that Sunday was her worst day of the week, because on Sundays the church people would come in. They would complain and be rude and unkind and negative, all dressed up in their best clothes, claiming their rights. Beloved, when the Lord Jesus saves us, He leaves us here for one primary reason, and that is to get others saved, not to make life nice and easy for ourselves.
I’ll say more about the schemes of these principalities and powers a little later on, but right now, let’s begin to look at the breakdown of the armor.
Taking On the Armor of God
We are to take on the whole armor of God that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Would anyone deny that we are living in an evil day? This evil comes from the evil one, satan. The killing of millions of babies by abortion; same sex marriages that are an abomination to Holy God who created man and woman and put them together and said be fruitful and multiply. Same sex can’t reproduce, they can only recruit, and the ones they go after are the children. Their behavior is demon empowered, as was Sodom and Gomorrah, and only the Lord Jesus Christ can deliver them and set them free. Thank the Lord God He can and will do it, when one turns to Him for mercy and receives the Lord Jesus as their Savior.
If you are caught up in this demonic lifestyle, turn to God. Admit you are a sinner and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. Call on Him right now by praying to Him. “God, I am a sinner. I have broken your law and I’m guilty. Lord Jesus, you died for me and you were raised from the dead. You said if I would ask you, you would save me. I ask you now. Come into my heart and save me Lord Jesus. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you for saving me. Teach me how to love you, trust you, and obey you in Jesus name, Amen.
Now ask God to lead you to a Bible believing, soul winning church, and share with the pastor that you have accepted the Lord Jesus.
You see, folks, we are not lost and separated from God because of our sins. We are separated from God because we are sinners. And “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The adulterer, murderer, homosexual, or self righteous hypocrite is not lost because of what we do, but because of what we are; a sinner who has earned death and hell. we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. It has well been said that sin is my claim to my right to myself. The whole human race is lost and separated from God. “But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
The Belt of Truth
When we are saved by the grace of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we are to put on this armor, who is none other than the Lord Jesus, starting with our loins. We are to girt our loins with truth. Now, the Lord Jesus is truth. Anything that contradicts Him is a lie, and the devil is the father of all lies and liars. The Lord Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. He is the Word of God made flesh, and the Word of God is and always has been alive and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword, and is able to divide the soul from the Spirit and to discern the intent of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
Dear friend, it doesn’t matter who says it, how great their credentials, how well known they are. If what they say doesn’t live up with the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a lie. The Lord Jesus is TRUTH.
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The next piece of armor covers our spiritual vital organs: the breastplate of righteousness. Remember that God says all our righteousness is as filthy rags before God. We do not have holy righteousness, which makes us right with God. The good news is that “Him who knew no sin was made to be sin so that we could have His righteousness.” The Lord Jesus never sinned, but on the cross, the Father of the Spirit put the sins of the whole world on the Lord Jesus so that He could put the righteousness of the Lord Jesus on us. God wills that all men everywhere be saved. (2 Timothy). Why then, isn’t everyone saved? Because one must receive the Lord Jesus, and those who reject Him as their Savior remain lost forever. Whosoever will may come. Whosoever won’t must sadly remain lost because the Lord Jesus is “the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 And so beloved Christians have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. Put on the breastplate of righteousness.
Feet Fitted With Readiness
The next peict of armor is for our feet. Verse 15, “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” Everywhere your feet go, make the Lord Jesus Christ known. The Holy Spirit is teaching us about the armor of God. Do you recall when the Lord Jesus washed the disciples feet and Peter declined? The Lord said to him that if he didn’t get his feet washed, then Peter had no part in Him. Peter then said, Lord, wash my whole body, but the Lord Jesus said all that was needed was to wash his feet. We get our feet dirty when we forget to put on our gospel shoes.
Think about it, dear saint, when we make Christ known in the power of the Holy Spirit, our feet stay clean and protected. We are on the offensive when we make the Lord Jesus known. When we confess Him, He confesses us to our Father in heaven (Matthew 10:32). when we confess Him, He confesses us to the holy angels (Luke 12:8,9). The Lord Jesus said, “If we are ashamed of Him in this adulterous generation that He will be ashamed of us when He comes to take us home” (Luke 9:21-26).
Now, dear saint,there are people we see in the course of the day that we can’t take an hour of their time to win them to Christ. They are to work unto their boss as if he were the Lord humself. We can, however, share a good salvation gospel tract with them. This is the Word of God, the seed of God, and we can plant it. Say something like this with kindness: “May I share a good word with you today?” The harvest is great (multitudes, multitudes in the valleyof decision), the laborers ore few. It is a white harvest, which means it is almos past ready. Let’s plant the seed of the Word of God everywhere, thus making Christ Jesus known. Ask your church to print some gospel tracts, and on the back page put your pastor, staff, time information, and a map to the building, along with phone numbers. The Word of God will not return void.
Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves in your witnessing or making Christ known to everyone. do not let anyone or anything stop you from wearing your gospel shoes and thus preparing the way for the Lord Jesus to save sinners. Realize that you have to die to yourself, your natural pride, fear of rejection, fear of folk saying you are a wierdo. The Apostle Paul went in fear and trembling and you will also. The moment you begin to speak, however, theHoly Spirit will join you in anointing (Acts 5:32). The word “witness” in Acts 1:8 is the word for martyr, and you will constantly be nailed to the cross so that you can die to self or let the Lord Jesus live through you. The flesh (old sin nature) is enmity against God or hostile to God. The last thing you naturally want to do is witness. As you die to self moment by moment and let the Lord Jesus use you, you will be greatly used of God.
Whenever possible, go two by two wherever you go. One puts a thousand, but two puts 10,000 to flight, and a three-fold cord is not easily broken. When we go alone, the Lord Jesus is in our heart through the Holy Spirit and He is upon us also. But when we go in pairs, He is in our midst. That is the three-fold cord: two saints and the Lord Jesus. All of God’s power is with you. Hallelujah!
You can find the plan of salvation with explanation at my website under “How to Go to Heaven” page. You can glean from this in making your gospel tract, and be sure to include the prayer of repentance and faith and the instructions of what to do next after they have prayed; i.e. attend church, be baptized, study the Word, pray, and witness to others.
The Shield of Faith
When you have your gospel shoes on, you will need the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Have you noticed thoughts coming to your mind from the outside? The mind is the battlefield in these battles with principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. These fiery darts will come in the form of accusations, because satan is the accuser. He is not an accuser, he is the accuser. And he accuses us to God; he accuses God to us; he accuses us to each other; and he accuses us personally. Any accusing thought comes from the devil’s domain.
The devil is the father of lies and liars. Any lie comes from the devil. (When we believe a lie, the enemy is able to set up a stronghold in our life that he can run in and out of at his will (2 Timothy 2:26). Recall how the devil tempted Eve with innuendoes like, “God didn’t really mean what He said.” The devil was accusing God to Adam and Eve. The Lord Jesus used the shield of faith when satan tempted Him. He answered with the Word of God, and thus threw up the shield of faith.
Where do we get this shield of faith from? “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Beloved, we must feed on the Word of God daily. When the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart, memorize and begin to meditate on that Word. When the devil accuses someone to you, throw up the shield of faith. He is tempting you to be judgmental, critical, and condemning against that person. You may say to that thought, “Judge not lest ye be judged.” Then take that thought captive to the Lord Jesus, which means give it to Him (2 Corinthians 10:5). I used to think that you gave bad thoughts to the Lord, but no, you give every thought to Him. Realize that the devil can give you a good thought that will set you up for a fall. Give them all to the Lord Jesus, remembering that God speaks from the inside out and the devil speaks from the outside in. Yes, above all, above everything that the Holy Spirit is saying in this passage, take the shield of faith.
The Helmet of Salvation
The helmet also covers the mind, which remember, is the battlefield. We must know by the Word of God that we are saved, beloved. Our enemy shoots many fiery darts at our minds accusing us personally, and the bottom line is to know that we are blood bought, born again, Spirit-filled children of the most high God. “By grace are we saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10. In 2 Peter 1:10 we read, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”
God has elected to save sinners by grace. Did you come by grace or by works? If you came by works, dear one, you are not saved. Was there a time in your life that you knew you were a guilty, lost, hell bound sinner who could do nothing to save yourself? Did you turn from your self righteousness to God in repentance, and did you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior? Did you put all of your faith in Jesus Christ and His shed blood alone, or did you put some of your faith in doing better, joining a church, being baptized, etcetera, etcera? When you asked the Lord Jesus to save you, did He?
2 Corinthians 13:5 teaches us this: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobate.” A Christian is one who has the Spirit of Christ dwelling in HIm.
When He comes to live in you, the Lord Jesus gives you a second birth into God’s family. The entire human race was born of Adam and Eve, and all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We must be born again in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. There are only two things we need to know in order for this to happen.
First, we must know we are a guilty sinner. We know this by the Ten Commandments. Have you ever disobeyed your parents, or told a lie, or disobeyed God on the Christian Sabbath, which is the day the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead; Sunday? Have you ever hated anyone in your heart or looked on a woman with lust in your heart? (Read Romans 3:19-23) Have you ever or do you now see yourself as a guilty sinner as described in verse 19?
Secondly, as a guilty sinner, have you ever received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? (“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”) When you receive Him, you are committing your life to Him. You are literally becoming married with the Lord Jesus. Romans 7:4, “We are dead to the law and married with Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.” And in 2 Timothy 1:12b, “I know in whim I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” When you receive Him or believe on Him, you commit your life to Him believing that He can and will save you.
When the Lord Jesus Christ saves you, God makes you a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17.) This doesn’t mean that you will never sin again, but it does mean that you will not want to sin. You are now born into God’s family, and the seed of God that you were born again by is incorruptible. You have to get in the old sin nature in order to sin, and since you do not belong there any longer, you will be miserable.
As a newborn baby in Jesus Christ, God will begin to conform you into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a lifelong process in which you become less like Adam and more and more like the Lord Jesus. As you begin to grow up in the Lord God, you will see things as sin that you didn’t know until the Holy Spirit revealed it to you. You see this through the Bible, the Word of God.
As you repent and trust Jesus in this instance, you are more like Him, or you are growing in grace and in knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, let’s examine ourselves whether Jesus Christ lives in us or not. This is one thing that we can’t be wrong about.
“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9-10, 13) Yes, the helmet of salvation is an important part of the armor of God. Knowing you are saved by the Word of God is the one constant in the Christian life. No matter what you go through or what the devil throws at you, you are still saved.
Fred Roan was known as the “world’s largest Dodge dealer,” and his company was in Mobile, Alabama. Fred has been a soul winner for many years, and was at that time in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Through some financial reversements, Brother Fred went broke financially. Mr. Belk offered Fred a nice house in the mountains and told Fred he would send him around the world preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Fred was impressed of God to stay right there in Mobile where he has lost his very fine home on a hill overlooking the city. Fred and his wife moved down into the low-rent district, and all he had to drive was a Jeep station wagon with the windows knocked out. From the world’s largest Dodge dealer to poverty, but Fred said, “I am still saved.” And he continued to follow our Lord Jesus in fishing for men. All Fred had left was a small amount of acreage outside of Mobile, and a couple of years later they struck oil on it, and the Lord God gave him back his material wealth.
Beloved, you can lose health, wealth, family and friends, but you can’t lose salvation that was bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. Glory to God! Do you have on the helmet of salvation? The Holy Ghost tells us in 1 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 4, that “God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” He will not force you or anyone else, but if you will repent of sin and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, He will save you, and you can wear the helmet of salvation in these battles against the world system, the flesh (old sin nature), and the devil.
The Sword of the Spirit
In our hand, in our heart and in our mouth, we need the Word of God, which is the Sword of the Spirit. “For the Word of God is quick (alive) and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even unto the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) Again, in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my Word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it.”
You can believe in and count on the Word of God. The Word of God is alive my friend, and when you share it, God accomplishes through it what no other book can do. Use the Word of God in your own life. Hear it preached and taught in your own life that is hid with Christ in God. Read it for yourself on a daily basis because it is your spiritual food. When you get saved by the Lord Jesus Christ you are just born again, a little baby in the family of God, regardless of your physical age. The Word of God is your milk and you need it daily, even more so than your physical food. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Make the opportunity to feed on His Word. And when the Holy Spirit feeds you, work out what He says by faith, by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God made flesh.
Share It
When you hear the Word of God in your heart, share it with folk all around you. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. As you share what the Holy Spirit has revealed to you, it is established in your heart. What you believe in your heart, confess with your mouth. Speak what you believe in the Word of God (Romans 10:9). As you share it and live it, trusting the Lord Jesus as previously stated, you are working out your own salvation. What God has put in, you are working out by faith in Christ our Lord.
Remember that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke the Word of God when satan tempted Him. This sword of the Spirit is a vital piece of the whole armor of God.
Prayer is Part of the Armor
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching there unto with all perserverance and supplication for all saints.”
A Christian at any one time is either in the flesh (the natural, the old sin nature) or in the Spirit. If there is no unconfessed sin in your life, you are in the Spirit. When we regard iniquity in our heart, God will not hear us. The Holy Spirit will convict us (make us aware) of sin. It is very important to take God’s side against sin immediately that you are aware of it. Judge it, and agree with God that it is sin and that you are the sinner. Because of the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are cleansed and filled again with the Holy Spirit. Now we can pray in the Spirit, yielding to Him, because we do not know how to pray as we ought.
Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the house of prayer, and when we pray in the Spirit, the things of God will come out of heaven into earth. And so, beloved, we are to watch, and whatever we see in the saints lives and circumstances, we are to pray about. Notice the Holy Spirit did not say, “Watch and say;” He said, “Watch and pray.” Whatever we see, we are to pray to our Father about. Of course, if we see a brother sin, we are to go to him or her knowing that we are capable of the same thing, and ask them to repent and get right with God through the cross and the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:1).
Pray For Preachers
The last piece of armor is prayer for preachers. I believe that we should begin with our pastor and staff. Our prayer, first of all, is that utterance may be given Him and them and that they may open their mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel (verse 19). We, our children, our grandchildren, all of our family, and everyone else needs to hear what God has to say today. This comes through prayer. I prayed this for my present pastor while I was still pastoring a church myself. The reason was that my children and grandchildren were under his ministry. I wanted them to hear the Word of God proclaimed boldly and in much faith. We must heare today what we need to hear, and not just what we want to hear. We need the whole counsel of God. We need to hear that heaven is worth going to, hell is worth missing, sin destroys us, and that there is a lost, dead world out there in desperate need of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
When a preacher studies and prays and seeks God, there is much warfare by the enemy. All kinds of things come up to prevent this close time, which is his most important ministry. Prayer of and by the people enable the preacher to do the main things: pray and minister the Word of God (Acts 6:4).
Pray for the preacher and pray for his family. Remember, the leader is under great attack in this war. A praying people will be used of God to stop the enemy’s advances.
Dear saint, we are fighting a defeated for, but we must remember that the war is still on. The four stages of the Christian life are:
1.A baby Christian who only knows that their sins are forgiven.
2.As they start to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, they become a young child where they get to know that God is their Father.
3.As we continue to grow, we become a young man where we learn how to fight the devil, the world system, and the flesh (the old sin nature) in this war we are in.
4.And finally, a mature Christian, a father who hasn’t arrived, but who is well on the way (1 Corinthians 2:12-14).
May God raise up more spiritual teenagers, young men as God says in His Word, who will fight in this war that we are in. You do not send children to war, you send young men. You do not send the old, you send the young. The old, or father in this case, knows how to do it, and they lead the young men, but the young men, spiritual teenagers, do most of the combat.
Our commander in chief is the Lord Jesus Christ. Church, let’s stay under Him and knock down the gates of hell and set the captives free and turn the prisoners loose until our Lord Jesus comes back to get us.
Four Stages of the Christian Life
First Stage – Infancy
I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. 1 John 2:12-14
In 1 John 2:12-14 we clearly see the four stages of the Christian life. As we shall see, it parallels the physical life, but actually has nothing to do with periods of time.
The first stage we see in verse 12 is that of a baby Christian. This is one who has seen themselves a guilty, hell bound sinner, lost without God and without hope. They have believed the gospel, the good news that our Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to save sinners. He shed His Blood on the cross and there died for the sins of the whole world. They have repented from self-righteousness and turned to God and put their faith solely in the Lord Jesus. They have been born into God’s family and they need the milk of the Word of God immediately.
Their first step as a newborn is to be baptized in water which identifies them with the life, death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. When they were saved, the Holy Ghost came into their spirit bringing the Lord Jesus in as their Savior, raising their spirit from the dead. When they are baptized, the Holy Ghost comes upon them and gives them the power (authority) to witness unto the Lord Jesus (Acts 1:8, 2:38-42 and 5:32). See Bro. Murray’s booklet, “Why the Holy Spirit Came at Pentecost”.
The Church, the Body of Jesus Christ, is to raise these infants up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are babies and they must learn how to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. They are not born full grown. They have to grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who are born again and do not start growing become carnal (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). These remain babies and live a natural life instead of a spiritual life being filled continually with the Holy Spirit. They can’t take in the meat of the Word of God as seen in verse 2 and there is envying, strife, and division among them as seen in verse 3. They only listen to one preacher as seen in verse 4 and so they reject new Pastors or other men of God sent into their life to help equip them for the work of the ministry. They are lovely as newborn babes in Christ, but never grow up in Him and therefore become wicked. They stand in the way of reaching the lost for Christ and the church growing and thriving for His glory. They are constantly under the chastening of their Heavenly Father and some of them are finally delivered from their selfish, self-centered lifestyle and finally begin to grow up and become useful to the Lord Jesus Christ by bearing His fruit.
I believe that the best thing that can happen to a baby Christian is to instruct them in the crucified life and teach them about the old sin nature that is in them. They need to be instructed how to confess their sins, keep short sin accounts, and be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.
Second Stage – A Young Child
As we begin to take in the milk of the Word of God and begin to obey what the Holy Spirit teaches us, we begin to grow up in the Lord Jesus. You grow in the human race by eating and exercising. You grow in God’s family by eating the Word of God and exercising. Another way to say it is, “Work out by faith what God has put in.” As you trust the Lord Jesus to help you obey, (for the Christian life is literally Jesus Christ living His resurrected life through you) the devil will come against that Word that the Holy Spirit has taught you and try to make you doubt it, just like he did Adam and Eve.
For example, the Holy Spirit teaches you to be baptized immediately, but the devil tells you it is not important and that it is not necessary. The Holy Spirit teaches you not to forsake the assembling of yourself together with other saints who are the church, but the devil shoots thoughts to your mind that it is not important to do this. When you go through the stress of belief and trust the Lord Jesus in doing what the Holy Spirit taught you to do, you grow. There is no time limit on your Christian growth. You eat and exercise; resist the devil and you grow. You can grow as fast as a Christian as you want to, as you trust and obey what the Holy Spirit teaches you to do.
As a young spiritual child, you get to know God as your Father (1 John 2:13c). When you were saved, all you knew was that your sins were forgiven because you knew the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. As you grow and become a young child, you will get to know God as your Father. This is really important in your prayer life because the Lord Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:9-11, “Would your Father give you a stone when you asked for bread or would He give you a serpent when you asked for a fish?” And again the Lord Jesus says, “If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give good things to you.”
God, who created this vast, limitless universe and who is the only living God, is your Father which is in Heaven. You were born into His family through your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross as He died for your sins, was buried and raised from the dead just like the scriptures said He would be. Glory to God! Keep growing dear saint by eating and exercising.
The Third Stage – A Young Man
The third stage of the Christian life is found in 1 John 2:13b…”I write unto you young men because you have overcome the wicked one.” When God talks about men in the Bible, much of the time He is talking about mankind. This includes men, women, boys and girls. In the context, the Holy Spirit is talking about spiritual teenagers. Notice the correlation between the spiritual and the physical. You do not send children to war. You send the young men to battle and the old men are the Generals.
Children of God, we are in a war. Our enemy is the world (system), the flesh (old sin nature), and the devil. The devil and his domain work through the world system and the old sin nature or the flesh. (See Bro. Murray’s booklet, “Warfare is Inevitable”). This is a war with an unseen enemy who never gets tired, sleepy or weary in doing evil. It takes those who are growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ to recognize the enemy and to fight him with God’s weapons. These weapons are the Name of the Lord Jesus, the Blood of Jesus, the Word of God and praise to God in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19.)
It is very evident today that the Holy Spirit has been poured out on all flesh. People are hungry for God and His Word. The harvest is truly great. It is just as evident, however, that lives are being destroyed and homes torn asunder. This is by the unholy spirit and his crowd of fallen angels. Lives are being wrecked by illegal drugs, alcohol that is legal, pornography and illicit sex.
Multitudes, multitudes are in the Valley of Decision, but they are behind the gates of hell, deceived and blinded by the devil. The Lord Jesus says that the lost have a spiritual father, and he is the devil, satan, Beelzebub, that old serpent. We must pray and do spiritual warfare for them that they might see, hear and believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is those who have grown spiritually to the level of young men whom God uses to come against satan. This requires every fiber of our being filled with the Holy Spirit to pray, go and tell these blind, deaf and dead lost sinners who are in captivity of the devil. That is why the Lord Jesus says in Mark 3:27, “Except you first bind the strongman, (satan) you can’t enter his house and spoil his goods.”
Pastor Lee Thomas has a powerful booklet, “Praying Effectively for the Lost.” I highly recommend it and you can order it from Bro. Lee at 337-433-8677. The young men have grown in the Lord Jesus to the degree that they can do battle against the enemy trusting the Lord Jesus for the victory that we have in Him. He is our Captain, and greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.
The Final Stage of Christian Growth – Fathers
We never arrive or become absolutely perfect on this side of Heaven. We can grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus, however, to the point of becoming fathers in the faith. These are mature Christian men and women who no longer think of themselves. They now think of the family of God.
Baby Christians need a lot of attention. As we grow to be young spiritual children, we still need to be taken care of. When we become young spiritual men, we are well on the way and have learned how to overcome the devil and how to do spiritual warfare. In fatherhood we are taking care of the spiritual babies and the young spiritual children. We are leading the young spiritual men in spiritual warfare and we are denying ourselves (natural self), taking up our cross daily and following the Lord Jesus. We are seeking His Kingdom, not ours. We have learned our purpose for being on this earth after we are saved and it is to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Remember, becoming a father in the faith has nothing to do with physical age. In fact, if a person is 75 years old when they are saved they are just born again. They start their new life in Christ our Lord as little babies, just like we did. Also, you may have been saved 40 years and still not be a father or a spiritual teenager. It all depends on how you hear the Word of God and then exercise it. As God says through Saint James, “Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.” What God puts in you, work out by faith trusting the Lord Jesus to obey the commandments through you.
David Brainerd was evidently a spiritual father even though he was only 29 years old when God called him home. A fifteen year old teenager can mature rapidly if they are willing to pay the price of dying to self and letting our Lord Jesus live His resurrected life through them. Again, a spiritual father takes care of the family. Babies make messes just like they do in the physical realm. A spiritual father doesn’t throw them away, but rather he or she cleans them up, restores them as they are reconciled to God and takes further care of them. This requires tremendous denying of oneself as he or she lays down their own life for others, just like our Lord Jesus did. The father of the prodigal son is an illustration of this, while the older brother is an illustration of a carnal Christian as described in 1 Cor. 3:1-5. He was jealous of the younger brothers acceptance by the father.
As you have read these four stages, ask the Holy Spirit to show you which stage you are presently in. This should also help you to be more patient with those who are not on your growth level as God is not through with them yet either. One of these days, every born again believer will be just like our Lord Jesus, totally conformed to His image by the power of God.
Testimonies
1,300 pastors per month are fired or forced to leave their work. satan’s modus operandi is destroying churches and families!
Testimony from a Pastor who enjoyed satan’s M.O., the book authored by Bro. Murray
Dear Brother Murray,
It was a joy to read your book on the devil. You have real discernment and a gift for making the scriptures plain as you apply them to present situations. May the Lord continue to bless and use you.
Sincerely in Christ,
Pastor Vernon C. Lyons
Testimony from a CHAPLAIN who HAS EXPERIENCED THE EFFECTS OF SATAN’S M.O.
Bro. Joe Murray
Thank you for your recent donation to our ministry. Your book is a need in every pastor’s library, home and church. It was such an encouragement to me when I read it to see what you have been through and myself. God’s word is true “vengence is mine”. May God bless you my brother . I’m sorry for the delay in sending this thank you, I recently had a stroke. I’m sure that the stress of going through what your book talks about is one of the reasons I had a stroke.
Please pray for me,
Chaplain Michael Taylor
About Joe
Joe Murray is Assistant Pastor of Harvest Baptist Church, he has a passion for teaching the Spirit filled life, and spiritual warfare. He lives with his wife Judy in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
