Sunday, January 3, 2010

A Serious Reminder

Tonight I begin to give a series of talks at my church on the topic of spiritual warfare. Topics such as this always remind me of my constant and abiding need for the sovereign and all-sufficient grace of God. Speaking on spiritual warfare reminds me that my arms are too short to box with the enemy! My dependence on God is total and complete.

Yet, as Satan discovered in Job's case, when Satan does his worst, God achieves His best. Satan wanted a shot at Job to tear down God, but all he accomplished was to honor God all the more in Job's heart. What a joyful reality this is! This is the end of all spiritual resistance against God - God's glory. The glory of God shines through all the more richly.

Yes, we are warned by Paul in Ephesians 6:10-12 that we fight against spiritual entities, and this should cause us both to prepare our hearts in serious contemplation and prayer for the fight, and also to put on the armor of God by God's grace. But the victory is complete already; Christ has won the battle. He stands as KING of kings and LORD of lords. Christians are more than conquerors in and through Christ.

So, as Christians:
1. Let us not overemphasize the enemy and his power.
2. Let us not neglect to recognize the seriousness of sin and Satan's power in sin.
3. Let us seek to use the means God has provided for our spiritual health and service (Bible study, prayer, worship, biblical preaching, fellowship with believers, and confession of sin).
4. Let us seek to live in the light of Jesus' victory all along the journey of life.
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2 comments:

  1. debbieJanuary 4, 2010 at 6:25 PM

    If you have time could you explain what you meant by, "Let us not overemphasize the enemy and his power".

    Thanks

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  2. John GreeverJanuary 4, 2010 at 9:21 PM

    Sure...I meant by this that some ascribe too much power to Satan, or they ascribe too broad a scope to his activity. In other words, they see a demon behind every bush (so to speak). Satan is not like God; he is not omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient etc. In other words, Satan does not possess the incommunicable attributes of God (also, he neither possesses the communicable attributes of God either, but that is another story). If we give Satan too much credit, then we are on the verge of becoming dualists in which people think the power of light and dark are equal in power and are in a cosmic struggle with the outcome in doubt. This is NOT BIBLICAL. God is sovereign over all, including the devil. That is what I meant.

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