Spiritual Warfare # 3
09/11/02
Principles of the Blood of
Christ
Luke 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Matthew
26:28 For this is my blood of the new (the freshness of something new) testament, (covenant) which is shed for many for the remission
of sins.
· Testament In
the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the word for testament
is more correctly translated as covenant.
Matthew 26:28 For this is my blood of the new (the freshness of something new) testament,
(covenant)
which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
· Shed Means to pour out lavishly and abundantly. The blood of
Christ is poured out for us in this way.
I say, is poured out, rather than saying was poured out, because the
verb tense is in the present.
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship ( sharing in common) one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
· Greek
(my paraphrase): But if we should conduct our life in the light, in the
same manner as He (conducts Himself) in the light, we
associate one with the other.
This association allows for the Lord and us to participate and share
with one another. This sharing
in common allows us to obtain the things of God as the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son continuously cleanses us (so that we can obtain)
·
In
the measure that we order our lives in obedience to the Lord is to the same
extent that we will have fellowship with the Lord. Fellowship, or the sharing in common, allows us to participate in
the things of God so that we can obtain from Him. The blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us in proportion to our obedience and we obtain proportionally to the
cleansing by the blood. Conduct,
association, participation, obtaining, and the blood of the New Covenant
present with ever act of obedience so that we may obtain.
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our
bodies washed with pure water.
Greek: Let us
continuously approach God with a heart that is
genuine and real (not religious)
because we are fully confident. This
confidence comes through our faith in
all that Christ has done for us. We base
this faith on the fact that our hearts
were once in the past sprinkled from an evil conscience, but the impact of this
event has a lasting and eternal impact.
Likewise, our bodies were once in the past washed with pure water (the blood of Christ), but the impact of this event has a lasting and eternal impact.
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ
·
Greek paraphrase; you were once far off,
not only in distance but alienated from God and without access to the things
that belong to Him. Now by His blood,
you have become close to Him and enjoy full access to Him and His things.
The Offensive Strategies
of the Devil
2 Timothy 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
·
Greek:
That they may return to soberness or awake out of the snare of the devil, after
having being hunted down, taken captive, and caught alive by the devil, in
order to do his will.
·
The devil is always actively hunting in order to “catch alive” by
trapping our free will and make it to become passive, so that his will in us can
then become active. (This is always
His work with believers and non believers)
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking
whom he may devour:
·
Be temperate dispassionate and serious in your life, be awake and
watchful, because your opponent in a suit of law, the devil, (to thoroughly cast, throw,
or hurl) as a roaring lion, conducts himself around, arduously and earnestly seeking,
whom he may drink down, swallow, consume, and destroy.
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may
be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
· The word for wiles is methoedeia. The word is self-descriptive. It talks about methodology. It is obvious the devil’s methodology which has to with scheming, trickery, decei,t and so forth
Eph 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
topon opportunity, power, occasion for acting
·
Another version renders “giving place”, as our construction of a landing strip, or
an airport runway on our very being, for the devil to land upon! Only our sin and disobedience can do
that. Any time that we are in willful
disobedience to the Lord, we automatically open up an airport on our very
backs, where the enemy can land and take off at his personal whims and fancy!
Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
· Many of us imagine that Ephesians chapter two is Paul’s discussion focusing on unbelievers. I tend to disagree.
· The Greek word for worketh is defined as giving energy to.
· This particular verse is in the present participle. Simply speaking it signifies that the sons of disobedience energize the schemes or plans of the devil on a continuous basis. The word for disobedience is being non compliant.
· Please allow me to ask you a question? If a Christian is continually incompliant in an area of his or her life, will he or she energize the works of the devil? I believe that there is no difference; the devil is a legalist. He will always get in wherever he is given an open door.
2Thess 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already
work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom
the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
· Verse eight, of 2Thessalonians chapter two, is eye opening. Out of our Greek New Testament it tells us, that in the manifestation of the presence of God, the wicked one is destroyed. In actuality, the word for “destroy” means to render useless, idle or ineffective, the works of the Evil One.
· If it is the manifest presence of the Lord that renders ineffective and useless the schemes of the enemy, why are we bent on so many of our congregations to not allow the gifts of the Spirit to be in use? Are we ignorant of the fact that the gifts of the Spirit reveal the presence of the Lord? Spiritual gifts are activated through our obedience to the rhema or logos word, and they are always given to glorify or make the invisible God visible.
9 Even him, whose coming is
after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
·
Even him
whose arrival is in accordance to the energy of Satan in the sphere of every
type of dunamis power and pseudo signs and wonders,
10
And
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
·
And in
the sphere of every deceit belonging to unrighteousness, in them which are
continually perishing and being destroyed, because the love of what is genuine
and accurate about God they did not welcome, so as to result in their being
saved.
11
And
for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie:
·
Through
this, God will send to them an energy of deception, misleading, and wandering (from
the truth) in order that they would believe what is pseudo or false.
12
That
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
·
In order
that may be judged “every type of individual” who believed not in what is
genuine and accurate about God but rather had their good pleasure in unrighteousness.
Romans
1:28 And even as they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do
those things which are not convenient;
Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is
gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth
none.
·
He
travels continually throughout differing arid places “seeking a cessation of
his now unpleasant circumstances” (because he has been cast out of the man),
and in no way finds it (showing the necessity the demons have to posses a
living being).
44 Then he saith, I will
return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it
empty, swept, and garnished.
·
I will return into my house whence I came out, and having come, finds
it vacant and occupied, and in a perfected state of being swept, and cosmetically
adorned.
Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept
not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
·
The
angels who did not guard their exclusive “God given” roots and origins, but
forsook their own habitation, into the judgment of the great day are eternally
guarded in perpetual bonds, under “the cover” of darkness.
7 Even as Sodom and
Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to
fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example,
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
·
Having given
themselves over to fornication, and having departed after another type of flesh
(homosexuality) are appointed as a pattern, or example, of eternal fire through
a judicial sentence or decision that is sustaining in its verdict.
1 Thess 2:18 Wherefore we would
have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
·
Satan cut into and impeded Paul’s course by cutting off Paul’s way or
path.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that
deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and
the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
·
And the devil whose nature is to continually to mislead and
cause them to wander (from the word for planet which means “a wanderer”) was hurled into the lake of
fire and brimstone, where the wild animal or wild beast, and the pseudo- prophet
shall be tormented with tortures night and day, into the ages of the ages.
2 Cor 2:11 Lest Satan should get an
advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
·
Lest Satan should gain an advantage over us, for we are not ignorant of
his thoughts and evil purposes.
The Believers Offensive Strategies
Mat 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
· Please notice the sequence of events in
Mathew eight. First Jesus cast out the
evil spirit, and then He healed their physical sicknesses. Do you see the
order? The evil spirit had to be cast
out first in this particular case, before Jesus was able to heal the sick. I am saying then that all of physical
sicknesses are caused by demonic oppression.
Absolutely not!
John 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
·
In
John chapter fourteen we find Jesus discussing about His soon to come
confrontation with Satan through the hands of Judah, and his subsequent arrest
and crucifixion. In all certainty, the
words of Jesus are more emphatic in the Greek.
In His own words He says, “The
prince of the cosmos comes, and it is impossible for him to have even have the
tiniest connection with me.”
·
To
effectively cast out the enemy, our self-lives must be dead, and the presence
of the Lord must permeate our being. An
authentic casting out of the enemy is only completely executed when he finds no
more places within, or without us, to touch us, or to afflict us.
·
Please observe below
that Jesus claimed that the devil had nothing in Him. This is an authentic situation where the devil has been cast out!
This is the true meaning of binding, or of not permitting the enemy any legal ground
because of a holy and free life.
·
John 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
·
“About judgment, because the ruler of this world
is judged, condemned, and a sentence possessing a final verdict is already
passed upon him”
Eph 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men
Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of
them openly, triumphing over them in it.
· Please observe the verses above in Ephesians and Colossians.
· Both are related, and describe the victory that Jesus attained over the devil and his hierarchy of principalities and powers.
· The Lord as described in Ephesians, has within Himself and His victory, captured the demonic realm, which had once captured men. He has now placed the demonic in captivity.
· In Colossians this description goes a bit deeper. The word “spoiled” contains two different definitions.
· One is disarming someone, or confiscating weapons away from him. The Lord has effectively disarmed the hierarchy of demons.
· The other definition of the word spoiled has to do with stripping off something, or ejecting, kicking out, or pushing out another person out of one’s way and presence. As the Son of God arose from the pits of hell and into the highest of heavens, he effectively pushed away from Himself once and for all the demonic realm.
.· It is obvious then, that we have the weaponry, and the enemy does not!
· We only have one offensive weapon against the enemy, however!
Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the rhema word of God:
· It is imperative for us to realize that
the sword of the Spirit is the rhema word of God.
As we have discussed before, the rhema word of God is the living and
active personal word given to us by God to assist us in a specific situation. To
operate in the rhema word:
·
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
· It is important to realize that though the
enemy only has methodology and schemes available to him, the lies and deception
are constant, and are waged always at very close quarters.
· Wrestle: It is arm to arm combat in which the enemy endeavors to
throw us down and we must endeavor through our obedience, the rhema and logos
word of God, and the revealed person of Christ within our lives, to throw the
enemy down. The word for wrestle in the Greek is pale and it describes a conflict
that is decided, when the winner is able to grasp his opponent and hold him
down with his hand upon his neck.
· Wherein then is our victory found?
· The answer lies in the following verse of
Ephesians 6:13
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of
God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
·
We are encouraged here to take the whole armor of God
and having done all to stand, to stand therefore. "Having done all" is the
word "katergazomai.'
Simply stated, “having
done all, to stand,” is wonderfully depicted
by the cartoons of the coyote and the roadrunner. In one of their many scuffles, as a ball of dull is kicked up,
both of these guys always got lost in their dusty fights. When the dust finally settles, the
roadrunner usually remained standing. This is exactly what it
means to “having done all, to stand.”! We must fight by the Spirit without
compromise, or without discouragement, until we remain standing victoriously;
as Satan, sin and the world lay scattered at our feet in full visibility,
once our ball of dust finally settles!
·
The command
is to carry out all things to a complete victory!
Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
· The word for working out in Philippians two is
exactly the same Greek word as “having done all” found in
Ephesians chapter six.
· Here
Paul commands us to work out, carry out, and accomplish absolutely everything
to completion that pertains to our salvation, and that with utmost serious
cautiousness.
· The verb tense is in the present middle,
which simply means that the work must be our own. Salvation never comes out magical passivity, laziness, pew
sitting, and disobedience.
· We must hear and find out what the Holy
Spirit tells us to do, but the activity must be ours, and it must be constant
and in perfect agreement with the voice of the Spirit through the rhema word of
God.
1
Cor 5:8 Therefore let us keep the
feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness;
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
2Cor
1:12 ¶ For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in
simplicity and godly sincerity,
not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation
in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
2 Cor 2:17
For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God,
in the sight of God speak we in Christ
· In the above-mentioned three
verses, we see that the word sincerity
contains within its root the word for “sun”
in the Greek. The Greek word sincerity is defined as being “judged by the sun”. Only a life of purity before the Lord will make us into a clear
windowpane by which the rays of the sun or “The Son” can shine through. An impure life will make us into a dirty
piece of glass through which the image of the Lord can hardly be seen.
· If the enemy cannot see the
sunlight of the Son of God, he shall not leave us alone until the day and the
time that he does, and if he does.
Remember our enemy, the devil, is the greatest legal lawyer that this
universe will ever see, apart from God Himself. He will claw and cleave for every inch of us that has not pass by
death into resurrection.
· Secondly, part of our
responsibility for generating purity before God, is found in our
consciences. Our conscience contains
one of the most powerful manifestations of the voice of the Holy Spirit. Its purpose is to either defend or reprove
each, and every action of our lives.
Roman 16:19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all
men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto
that which is good, and simple
concerning evil.
20
And the God of
peace shall bruise Satan
under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
· Simple concerning evil, is our being harmless, and being matured
into a Christian life that eventually becomes unmixed with evil. It is as the purity of a wine that has no
sediment in it, and of a fine metal that has no admixture of alloys and so
forth. The simple person concerning evil
is one whom is free from guile, deceit and lives in innocence before
the Lord.
· What is the promise of God for this type
of a believer? God Himself will bruise Satan underneath
such a person’s feet.
· The promise of God is greater in the Greek
than in our English. To bruise
Satan, is to shatter and crush him to pieces underneath our feet. What an encouragement for us to continue to
purify ourselves before our God!
2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly
beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God.
· Notwithstanding, it is the Lord who purifies out. However, we must work out our salvation with
fear and trembling.
· The “let us cleanse ourselves” is in the subjunctive mood of
free will. Our failure, or success, in
purifying ourselves through obedience, and the work of the Holy Spirit, is
strictly tied up to the action of our will.
The subjunctive always warns us that the action is not automatic, but
conditional upon something else.
· God will not
automatically purify us. Through our
own volition and will, we shall obey God and become free, or disobey Him and
continue in bondage for the rest of our lives.
Luke 10:17 ¶ And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord,
even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
·
Even the devils are constantly subject to us in a military fashion as
long as we operate within the realm of your rhema word.
Mark 8:33 But when he had turned about and looked on
his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan:
for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve.
· What Jesus here commands Satan and his
minions is the following? “Get
so far behind my back that I wont be able to see you anymore!”. Out of sight, out of mind!
·
Bu the
admonition to Peter continues as follows; “for your mindset, and viewpoints are
on the things belonging to mankind and not to God”.
·
Matthew 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
·
What ever we have not permitted in the natural world either being “good
or bad”, is not permitted in exactly the same way in the “spirit world” with an
impact that is enduring and eternal in its verdict and outcome back for us here
on earth. (until
we change it)
·
What ever we have permitted in the natural world being, “good or bad”,
is permitted in exactly the same way in the “spirit world” with an impact that
is enduring and eternal in its verdict and outcome back for us here on earth. (until we change it)
Mat 6:9 ¶ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in
heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
·
I command
that your name be venerated and held in honor on earth exactly in the same way,
measure, and manner as it is in heaven.
10Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
·
Come thy
kingdom! Done be thy will! Exactly in the same measure and manner as it
is executed in heaven so be it upon the earth.
11
Give
us this day our daily bread.
·
We command
that the bread of our necessity, or the bread that suffices for the day, be
given to us today.
12
And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
·
And
release or dismiss from us our debts to the same measure that we release and
dismiss our debtors.
13 And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever. Amen.
·
And lead us not into a place where we can be tempted beyond our
strength causing us to do what is evil.
Acts 10:38 How God anointed ( PAST INDICATIVE TENSE; SHOWING THAT THE
ANOINTING IS ONCE AND FOR ALL WITHOUT A SHADOW OF DOUBT WITHIN US; We never ask
for the anointing, but that it would be manifested in us) Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about( WHO WENT CONTINUALLY THROUGH
DIFFERENT PLACES) doing
good (DOING GOOD WORKS IN THE SPIRIT), and healing ( CONTINUALY
CURING) all that were oppressed( EXCERCISING HARSH CONTROL AND
POWER AGAINST) of the devil; for God was with him.
1 Joh 5:18 ¶ We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he
that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
·
Anyone
having been begotten out of God in no way any longer habitually practices sin,
but he that was begotten out of God guards himself and the wicked one in no way
can grab and seize him.
1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
·
The word for overcome is the word that pertains to a
victor or conqueror. This verse is
resident in the past tense. It is
already an accomplished fact that our obedience to God will causes us to
conquer and come off victorious over the world system, the flesh and Satan.
·
Unbelief has a power
of its own, and it will cause us to be defeated if we are not careful. Please look at the following verse.