| SPIRITUAL WARFARE: Who's Who? HIS GLORY REIGNS B. Childress Jun 20 2008 08:00AM Who is God? First, let's consider the various sides of God's character. By studying who God is, we can get a clear picture of how He deals with us in a given situation. That is not putting God in a box nor are we saying it is all God will ever be. One of the wonderful features of Heaven is that God will continue revealing Himself to us throughout the ages of eternity. God is so great that we will never know all there is to know about Him. But the features of God's character that we will consider now are those God has revealed about Himself to this point in His Word. GOD IS SPIRIT We are not dealing with some kind of super human being. God is in a category all by Himself. If we want to communicate with God we must do it on His terms, "God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24). That is why it is so important to recognize where we hear God's Voice in our being so the devil cannot trick us by sounding God-like. When we know in our spirit that this is really God we are communicating with, we can be absolutely sure that we are hearing and walking in Truth. GOD IS HOLY He has never been touched in any way by sin nor will He be involved with sin. So if what you are experiencing has anything to do with sin you know God is not the author of it, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:" (James 1:13). This is also a tipoff on how to get along with our heavenly Father. If God doesn't like sin, the less we are involved with sin the better our relationship! GOD IS ETERNAL He was not born and He will not die. He has always existed and always will exist. Time, therefore, may not have the same impact on God as it does on us. We are pressured by time, but God isn't. That may be one of the reasons we have trouble with God's timing in some of our situations. The fact is, though, that God's timing is always perfect (Psalms 90:2; 102:25-27). GOD IS INFINITE His Power is without limits except when He limits Himself. For instance, God has the power to force every person in the world to accept Christ as their Savior in an instant. But God wants us to accept Christ because WE want to do it, not because we are forced into it. So he has limited Himself to allow us to choose, by our own freewill, what we will do with Jesus (Psalms 103:19). GOD IS OMNIPRESENT He is everywhere in the Universe at the same time. "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." (Psalms 139:7-10). GOD IS OMNISCIENT He has all knowledge. He knows everything there is to know about everything in the entire Universe (Psalms 147:5). GOD IS OMNIPOTENT He has all power. Therefore there is not anything God cannot do if He has promised it to us in His Word (Colossians 1:16,17). GOD IS TRUTH He never, ever lies. We can count on His Truthfulness in His dealings with us. On the other hand we can be absolutely sure that wherever a lie is involved, we are dealing with the devil, not God (John 14:6). GOD IS JUST He is 100% fair in His dealings with us, "For there is no respect of persons with God." We always receive justice from Him. He doesn't play favorites (Romans 2:11). GOD IS GOOD He is totally good, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17). A good God does good things, not evil (Mark 10:18). GOD IS UNCHANGEABLE "...with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17). He is "...the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." (Hebrews 13:8). That is why it is necessary to understand God's character. When we do, we can be sure that He won't act out of character because He's had a bad day - He will always be the same as He has always been. If you or I were God and someone came to us with some insignificant request on a day when we weren't feeling good, we would cut them off in mid sentence with, "Oh get out of my face, I'm having problems in Europe. Can't you see I'm busy?" If we come to Him according to His Word He is always ready to listen to us and do what He has promised (Malachi 3:6). GOD IS LIFE He isn't just alive. He is life. All life flows from God. If God ceased to exist, the Universe would stop existing in an instant. Whatever God touches, turns to life because He is the, "...way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6). GOD IS SOVEREIGN He is the absolute supreme ruler of the Universe. Many feel this is where God occasionally does bad things to people because He can do whatever He wants. But understand that God's Sovereignty is in complete harmony with His other attributes, such as Love, Justice, and Mercy. His attributes never get out of balance with each other. As humans, we have days when we do things that are "out-of-character" because we are under pressure or tired; things we would never do when we are our normal selves. But God never does any thing that is "out of sync" with the rest of His characteristics. He is the most perfectly balanced personality in the Universe (Daniel 4:35). GOD IS LOVE God is not just loving, He is the very personification of love. Think of the most loving person you know and he or she will not even begin to compare with our Loving Heavenly Father. One of the most difficult areas the Pharisees had a problem accepting in the teachings of Jesus was about His Father. How is it possible for a loving God to do the terrible things people have attributed to Him? (I John 4:8). This does not mean that God can be manipulated or that He is soft, as happens when humans are blinded by their love for unreliable people. It is impossible to "pull-the-wool" over God's eyes because He has all knowledge and sees exactly what is in our heart. GOD IS FAITHFUL He is absolutely trustworthy. We must understand that God does not take, He gives. The only thing He ever takes from us is sin and we want that taken away. God the Father is the greatest Giver in the Universe. We can have complete trust in God and His Promises. He will never take unfair advantage of us in any facet of our life. He longs for us to just relax like a baby in His Arms, unafraid, trusting, secure in the fact that He will take care of our every need as He has promised. "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Therefore take no thought saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?...for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:26,31-33). We should not carry this to the extreme that we don't do our part and work for a living. The scripture also says, "...that if any would not work, neither should he eat." (II Thessalonians 3:10). GOD IS MERCIFUL His Mercy is beyond human comprehension, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us..." (Ephesians 2:4). GOD IS PROVIDENT He did not create us only to go off and forget us. He watches over and cares for His Creation. The Salvation of mankind is the number one priority in God's Mind. This scripture applies not only to this characteristic, but to His Mercy. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (II Peter 3:9). There is no such thing as luck in the Christian life. We do not have luck, we have God. We have bad luck when, because of ignorance, being deceived or willfully sinning, we allow the devil to have his will in our life. The Bible also says that God gets angry and jealous, but this is a righteous anger and jealousy because God does not sin. It is not the same kind of sinful anger and jealousy that we usually experience. However, Paul acknowledges that there is a righteous anger that is not sinful. "Be ye angry, and sin not:" In answer to those who feel God does terrible, vicious, cruel things to people, we must understand that God would never be found guilty of doing things He commands us not to do. What kind of an example would that be? Would He tell us not to kill, lie, steal, and cheat and then do it Himself? You can be sure He would not. God is not a child abuser. He doesn't abuse His children under any circumstances. Who Is The Devil? "...Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." Ezekiel 28:12-19. ***** We are going to see, as we review the devil's character, that many times people have attributed to God the actions of the devil. Can you see what a terrible, insensitive act that is: to blame God for things He is not guilty of doing? That is why we must be careful to know who is doing what in our lives so that we can cooperate with God and resist the devil instead of resisting God and cooperating with the devil. Let's look at the devil now. I warn you in advance, it is not a pretty picture. Some feel that we should not talk about the devil because it gives him glory. But we must examine the enemy so that we know what to expect from him and as a result, be able to shut him down when he begins his activity in our life. "General Matthew B. Ridgeway in his autobiography Soldier wrote, 'There are two kinds of information that no commanders can do without - information pertaining to the enemy which we call combat intelligence and information on the terrain. Both are vital.'" "Accurate and up-to-date intelligence on the enemy is crucial in making tactical decisions in war. A thorough knowledge of the strength of your opposition, the enemies probable line of attack and the enemies tactics, all help determine the course a nation's land, sea, and air divisions will take." (Christ for the Nation, by Kay Arthur). Ignorance is not bliss in spiritual warfare, it is deadly! The devil is a liar, cunning, a tempter, deceitful, totally evil, a thief, an adversary, wicked, cowardly, a murderer (he does the killing), without principles, rebellious, fierce, cruel, a sower of discord, a destroyer, and proud. Whenever we encounter these areas of behavior, we can be sure we are dealing with the devil in one form or another. God is never involved in any way with these character traits! Somewhere Before Time Before there was time - before there was anything - he was the brightest of the brilliant, the highest of the exalted. He stood at the throne of the Most High, consumed in its glory. All that surrounded him burned with the holy intensity of the presence of God. He was perfection; his beauty was such that it can scarcely be described by the tongues of men. His appearance was as thousands of precious stones of every hue and color, refracting and magnifying the unapproachable light of the Creator. He was the personification of worship itself, covering the very throne of God. His worship was the reflection of God's glory. To him was given wisdom and authority above all others. He stood at the place of ultimate influence in heaven. He was the joy of his Creator - a being created for adoration and given a place at the apex of all that there was. He was Lucifer, the morning star, the supreme servant of God. A Moment's Glance Somewhere in the vastness of eternity, the anointed cherub was distracted from his worship of the Sovereign of heaven and caught a fleeting glance of his own image. His heart was filled with the wonder of his own appearance. He beheld his own beauty for an instant - and changed eternity. Though he had all wisdom and authority, it would never again be enough. He coveted the worship and honor of heaven. In that momentary deflection of adoration, the crookedness of iniquity was born in him. He said in his heart, "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." (Isaiah 14:13,14). Lucifer's priority shifted from reflecting the glory of God in worship to seeking glory for himself. This one who had stood at the place of ultimate influence at the throne of God perverted his position, lusting after the adoration that filled Heaven. He took his eyes off his Creator and sought his own glory. He thought, I can be just like God! And, turning his eyes from God for an instant, he lost all. He who was exalted was now cast down - fallen below the others whose devotion was stayed on the throne of God. Now, this son of the morning, this brilliant cherub, would be banished to lesser domains, to lesser lights. There were others who were fascinated with Lucifer. They diverted their focus from the throne of God and became converts to mutiny. Perhaps as many as a third of heaven's warring host joined Lucifer and was cast down with him. "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:7-9). And there was a void in heaven - a chasm of adornation to be filled. It's All About Influence All that happened at the throne of God, all that resulted in separation and war, was tied up in one word: influence. Lucifer, or Satan, was at the pinnacle of influence in heaven. The purpose of heaven was worship of God, and Lucifer was the instigator of worship. In a primordial instant, Lucifer turned away from God, and iniquity was born. The Hebrew word for iniquity, avon, denotes a crookedness, a perversity. It specifically indicates a turning or a deflection in another direction. In heaven everything was flowing toward the throne of God in worship. There could be no other direction, no other object worthy of praise. Then came a change in course: Lucifer deflected his worship away from God and onto himself. As a result, the peace of heaven was shattered (Isaiah 26:3 says, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You."). This diversion, this other, less worthy self-worship, is the very definition of iniquity. It is a diversion from God or the ways of God. Iniquity has been Satan's nature and diversion his strategy since creation. He uses whatever he can to influence us away from God. Consider the events surrounding the fall of man. Lucifer exchanged his eternal beauty for the skin of a snake and slithered into the Paradise of God. He left his place in the adornation to God and took up a place in the accusation of man, hence his name changed to Satan, the accuser. Satan saw man enjoying God's attention and fellowship as they visited in the cool of the day. Man stood in the place of intimacy that Lucifer had lost. Now Lucifer sought to bring down the new object of God's affection: man. Note Satan's words to Eve: "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4,5). Does this sound familiar? What Satan was saying to Eve was an echo of what he said to himself, that he could be "just like God." Satan told Eve, "You will be like God," and for an instant Eve believed him and disobeyed God. Now man was infected with the disease of iniquity, the crookedness inspired by Satan. The devil is all about influence. His desire is to have us take our eyes off God and put them on ourselves. Notice that he was filled with "I will" as he fell. The issue was not what God willed, but what he willed. Our enemy encourages and influences us to move into this self same self-willed way. We are more concerned about "I will" than about God's will. So we spend our lives, inside and outside the church, getting what we will. This leads us toward all kinds of man-centered doctrines and strategies for personal gain. However, whatever serves to enrich us at the expense of God's glory is iniquity. There is a war being waged in the heavenlies for our minds and hearts. The devil and his minions of fallen demonic servants are at work on us, in us, and through us. If they can, Satan's host will divert us from giving glory to God and cause us to believe that we are not as close to Him as we think we are. They assist us in getting our will accomplished in pleasing our carnality. The result is that our personal lives, our families, and our churches have become spiritual war zones. Most of the time, however, we are ignorant of the war raging around us. In fact, we believe that conflict and sin are normal. We even jockey for position within the community of God's people and think nothing of trampling a brother or sister under the feet of our ecclesiatical ambitions. We defend our turf, and we lose sight of God in the process. Satan lost his place and wants us to lose ours as well. He is much like a jealous woman who sees another woman enjoying an "old flame" of hers. Satan hates to see the loving relationship between God and His saints and does everything in his power to destroy it. The very thought of God's creation enjoying any part of what Satan once enjoyed himself deeply angers him, and like a jealous woman trying to rip apart a relationship that she wishes she could have, Satan seeks to destroy the love and fellowship God has with His saints. The reality is that those who have accepted the grace of God through Jesus Christ cannot be separated from Him. As Paul wrote, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, FOR THY SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL THE DAY LONG; WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor thing present nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35-39). Satan's Power Source A very basic yet important question we must ask is: Where did Satan get the power he is using to deceive and enslave mankind? The answer is: from God Almighty. Next we might ask: Why does God allow the devil to have such power? Perhaps the best way to reach an understanding of this question is to refer to Adam and Eve's transgression in Genesis 2:16-17. "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:16,16. Of course, Adam and Eve did disobey and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Because they did, we, as their offspring, also have a knowledge of good and evil and a nature that strays toward evil. Since God is good and there is no evil in Him (see James 1:13,17), He cannot tolerate the evil in us. He has allowed the devil to continue to exist to show us the difference between good and evil to help us make a proper choice. "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; ...I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:" Deuteronomy 30:15,19) Although Satan has power, the book of Job reveals that he is under God's authority and that God can limit and prevent his attacks (See Job 1:6-12). This is because God has sovereignty and truly holds the reins, not Satan. Nothing can be done apart from Him. A Powerful Illusion Satan wants to make us believe that he has power. And he does. But his power is tied up in heaven's legal system. He can't use it any way he'd like to because he's held in check by God, who has our interests in mind. A good example of this is a will. I could die tomorrow, leaving all my money to the benefactors of my will. But if other members of my family wanted to, they could contest my will in favor of their own interests. This would then lock up my willed money until my rightful heirs got a lawyer and straightened things out. Those wanting to alter my will would probably try to prove the unjustness of my choice. But once my heirs got a good lawyer on the case, the legality of my will would defeat their arguments. Similarly, God has willed salvation and blessings to those who receive His saving grace. But Satan has contested the will of God. As a result, you have to petition your advocate, Jesus, to take him on. But Jesus has never lost a case! He will seal your court papers with drops of His sacrificial blood and the case will be closed. You see, no matter how powerful Satan seems to be he is nowhere near as powerful as our Lord. So many believers have this notion - whether they realize it or not - that Satan is equal in power to God. They have what could be called a Star Wars view of spiritual things. Just as there is a "light side" and an equally powerful "dark side" to the Force in the Star Wars movies, these Christians think there is a "light side" (God) and an equally powerful "dark side" (Satan) that make up the cosmos. This is not biblical! Although Satan retained his intelligence and power after the Fall, his power never did and never can exceed the power of almighty God. Satan may have knowledge, but he is the greatest fool of all. No matter how powerful Satan may seem, He is under divine control and cannot do anything outside of God's permissive will. Satan may have caused the Fall, but he is not all-powerful. We must understand this as we engage in spiritual warfare. We must always remember that Satan is already defeated! However, although the devil is not all-powerful, he can still influence us. He can tempt us, mislead us, and even make us believe that we are separated from God. This is his tool for robbing God of His rightful worship. And this is how he diminishes our effectiveness in the kingdom of God. We must always remember two things when we're dealing with the topic of spiritual warfare: 1) Satan is not all powerful. All power and dominion belongs to God and God alone. 2) Although Satan is not all powerful, he can still influence us so that our lives are marked by disobedience and rebellion to God. It is important that we remember both of these points. We cannot give Satan too much credit, but we cannot ignore him either. It is our responsibility, aided by guidance from the Holy Spirit, to keep these two in balance. Now that we know why Satan does what he does, Let us spend some time learning how he does it. It is only when we are equipped with knowledge that we will be able to fight him effectively. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." I Peter 5:8-11 Satan's Kingdom Satan has a highy organized kingdom. In that kingdom, there are various areas and levels of authority. The headquarters of this kingdom are in the heavenly regions. That is a staggering fact, but it is quite clear. The fact that Satan heads a highly organized kingdom astonishes some people, yet there are many clear indications of this in the Scriptures. In Matthew 12:22-38, the following incident in the ministry of Jesus is recorded. Jesus had brought healing to a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute by driving out the evil spirit, "And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." (verses 23,24). Beelzebub means, literally, "lord of flies." It is the title of Satan particularly as the ruler over demons because the demons are compared to the whole insect domain. Jesus responded to the Pharisees in the following verses, "Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them,'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:'" (Matthew 12:25-26). There is a clear implication that, first, Satan has a kingdom. Second, it is not divided but highly organized. Third, it stands and has not yet been overthrown. Jesus continued, "And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." (verses 27,28). Jesus here mentioned another kingdom, the kingdom of God. In particular, He described one point where the conflict between these two kingdoms is brought out into the open. He said, "When I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then you know the kingdom of God has come." The implication is that the ministry of driving out demons brings the forces of Satan's kingdom out into the open and also demonstrates the superiority of the kingdom of God because the demons are driven out under the authority of the kingdom of God. In the final analysis, there are two kingdoms in opposition: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. When we understand that God is not doing bad things to us or it is not something we have to put up with because everyone in our family has it or it isn't bad luck, we can begin living life as God wants us to live. One pastor described his experience (to the authors) saying, "When I realized it was actually a demonic spirit working on me and that I had the Power through Jesus to stop it, it changed my life. What a wonderful feeling to know I do not have to put up with the devil's tricks anymore!" Some people believe the devil is a negative equivalent of God, with the same attributes as God - the opposite pole from God so to speak. The truth is that Satan is only a fallen angel. He is not even as powerful as a good angel. Where did we ever get the idea that when Lucifer fell from his position of power because of sin, he got stronger? Does sin make you stronger? No! Sin makes whatever it touches weaker. Satan is only a shadow of what he once was. On top of that, Jesus defeated the devil so thoroughly that just the mention of His Name sends shivers of terror through the kingdom of Satan, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2:19). Satan's Headquarters In Ephesians 6:12, Paul made it very clear that, as Christians, we are involved in a life-and-death struggle with a highly organized kingdom inhabited by evil, rebellious spirit beings and that the headquarters of this kingdom are in the heavenly realm. The phrase, "the heavenly realm," raises a particular problem in the minds of Christians. If Satan was cast out of heaven long ago, how then can he still occupy a place in the heavenly realm? We can answer that question by looking at some passages that describe events that took place long after the initial rebellion and casting down of Satan by God. These passages indicate that Satan still had access to the presence of God in heaven at that time. Look at Job 1:6-7, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." Almost exactly the same incident is recorded again in the second chapter of Job, "Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause." (Job 2:1-3). So, at that time, which was in the days of Job, we see that Satan still had direct access to the presence of the Lord. When God's angels came to present themselves and report to the Lord, Satan was there among them. The passage seems to indicate that the other angels did not identify Satan. We can understand this because in II Corinthians 11:14, Paul said that Satan is transformed as "an angel of light." The passage creates in our mind the impression that the only one who could identify Satan was the Lord. Apparently, he could appear in the presence of God mingling with the other angels and not be detected. The Lord said, "Where have you come from, Satan?" In other words, "What are you doing here?" The Lord did not immediately banish Satan from His presence, but actually had a conversation with him. Therefore, we know that in the time of Job, Satan still had access to the presence of God in heaven, "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." Revelation 12:10. The "Accuser of our brethren" is Satan. Notice that, at present, he is still accusing God's people before God day and night. Revelation 12:11-12 continues with the following, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." (Revelation 12:11,12). This passage indicates that Satan still has access to the presence of God, and he uses his access to accuse God's people in the presence of God. Clearly, all the above passages that were quoted refer to periods long after the original rebellion of Satan. So what is the answer? There is more than one heaven. This seems clearly indicated all through Scripture. In the first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." God's Headquarters In II Chronicles 2:6, we have this utterance of Solomon in his prayer to the Lord at the dedication of the temple, "But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him?" The word heaven of the phrase, "heaven of heavens" suggest a heaven that is as high above heaven as heaven is above earth. In II Corinthians 12:2-4, Paul was even more specific, "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." We can then, conclude, that there are at least three heavens. Apparently, the third heaven is where paradise, the place of rest of the departed righteous, is now located. It is also where God Himself dwells. Ephesians 4:10 speaks about the death and resurrection of Jesus, "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." Notice that phrase, "all the heavens." The word all can only be correctly used of at least three heavens which is clearly indicated by the whole tenor of Scripture. Which leads us to the question of how Satan's kingdom is still in the heavenly realm. What are the three heavens? The first heaven is the visible and natural heaven with the sun, the moon, and the stars that we see with our eyes. The third heaven, we know from II Corinthians 12, is God's dweling place. It is paradise, the place of rest of the departed righteous. It is the place to which the man was caught up and heard God speaking words that could not be uttered. So we are left with the second heaven. Clearly, this must be between the first and the third. It appears to be an intermediate heaven between the heaven of God's dwelling and the visible heaven that we see here on earth. This intermediate heaven is where Satan's headquarters are located. This would explain why we often find ourselves in an intense wrestling match when we pray. Sometimes, we do not realize how hard it is to break through to God. Sometimes, we pray a prayer that is in the will of God, we believe God hears, and yet the answer tarries. There can be more than one explanation for that, but one major reason for experiences of this kind in the life of sincere, committed believers is that we are involved in a warfare and that the headquarters of Satan's kingdom are located between the visible heaven and the heaven of God's dwelling. To illustrate how far Lucifer has fallen, it requires only one good angel to cast Satan into the pit at the end of the Great Tribulation. "I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:1). Notice that this is just one, plain, ordinary angel and it only takes one of his hands to grab Satan by the scruff of his scrawny neck and throw him into the pit. The other hand is holding the key to the bottom less pit and a great chain. What Are the Works of the Flesh? It is a different proposition if we get into the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) and sin. That is the devil's area of expertise because he invented Sin. Speaking of the devil Jesus said, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is not truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44). He is a master at tricking us once we are away from the protection of God's Word. The devil knows how to push the buttons of our flesh to present temptation in it's most appealing light. But when we keep the devil within the boundaries of what God's Word says about the situation, he is helpless and we are more than conquerors over him through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 8:37). God's ultimate purpose in our life is more than keeping us from going to Hell. His greatest desire is that we have a loving, Father-child relationship with Him that is so deep and open that we will have absolute, total confidence in Him as our Heavenly Father. As the years go by and throughout the endless ages of eternity our relationship will grow and deepen as He reveals Himself to us and we respond with our love, worship, and fidelity to Him. The more we truly know God, the more we will give Him the honor and obedience He deserves and the less we will sin or disobey Him. Once we understand that He wants to lavish His Love on us and help us become what He knows we can be, so that we can experience Life in the fullest sense of the word, it is easy to give our life fully to Him. He is the greatest Friend we have in the entire Universe and we can never thank Him enough for what He has done for us. The blatant lie of the devil is that it is not intelligent or even fun to live for God - that it is more satisfying to sin. To expose that nonsense, all we need to do is ask the devil what sin ever did for him. Sin knocked the devil out of heaven, caused him to lose every good thing he ever had, and will separate him from God, in Hell, for eternity. God wants us to miss the tragedy of sin, so He warns us in His Word, "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23). "Don't do it!" He pleads, "It will kill you!" Can you hear the concern in God's voice as He tries to guide us away from the evil deceptions of the devil so that we can experience the abundant life that is available to us if we will just trust and obey Him? The Israelites are a prime example. As long as they obeyed God's rules for living, their quality of life was outstanding because that's what God's Life is. When they followed the devil, they were abused, beaten-up, carried into slavery and killed. God did not want that for them - they chose it when they chose to believe the devil's deception and sinned. Two Reasons People Do Not Trust God One of the problems some Christians have in all of this is that they really do not trust God for a variety of reasons. The two major ones are: 1) their earthly fathers abused them and this has carried over into their relationship with their Heavenly Father or, 2) they have been taught that occasionally God does such bad, evil, terrible things to His children that it would get an earthly father jailed if he did it to his children in our evil society today. How anyone could ever think that a Just, Holy, Loving God would ever be guilty of crimes our society considers so evil that the perpetrators are locked away from the rest of the citizens. We must understand beyond a shadow of a doubt that God doesn't do devilish things to His children nor does He ask the devil to do it for Him. God does everything possible to protect His children from the devil, provided they don't chose to follow the devil by sinning. In that case God has no other alternative but to allow His children to not only choose what they want, but to also receive what that choice brings - harassment by the devil and eventually - death, if they continue their rebellion against God and His Word without repenting. We read about this in I John 5:18, "We know (absolutely) that anyone born of God does not (deliberately and knowingly) practice sin, but the One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him - Christ's divine presence within him preserves him against evil - and the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch (him)." (Amplified Bible). John adds that we know the Son of God came to this world to give us, "...understanding and insight...to know better and more clearly Him Who is true;...the true God and Life eternal." (verse 20). Pay particular attention to what Jesus said about God the Father because mankind had gotten a mistaken idea of who God is and what He actually does as opposed to what the devil does. Jesus said that if we want to know what God the Father is really like we should just look at Him (Jesus), "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." (John 14:9). We know that Jesus did only good things for the human race while He was here on earth, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him." (Acts 10:38). And that is what God the Father does also. We can trust Him to do what is right in our life. God wants to keep the devil from even touching us and will do so as long as we choose God's way of living and have faith in His ability to protect us. Now, let's apply this close relationship with God to our everyday life and spiritual warfare today. If we truly believe that God loves us, protects us from the devil and doesn't let us down in the clutch, then we can be sure that the Promises of His Word will come to pass in our life when we place our life in His Hands. It is absolutely necessary to know this down in your heart when the battle is raging around you and the bullets or "fiery darts" of unbelief, temptation and deception are flying all around you. The enemy tells you all kinds of things are going to happen to you and your family if you don't cave in to what he wants you to do. But you know God is there to protect and deliver you! All you have to do is make your stand of faith according to your rights as a child of God and then stick to that no matter how the circumstances appear in the natural. From that moment on you refuse to believe anything that is not supported by what God says about the situation in His Word. "But, but, but..." There are no "buts" about it. The enemy can not wipe you out. He absolutely can't win because our Father says the devil was whipped - totally humiliated by Jesus according to Colossians 2:15 - and now we are applying that victory to our personal life by faith in God's Promises (Colossians 2:15, I John 3:8). We believe the devil is defeated, not us. We are the conquerors through Jesus over the devil and we don't let up the pressure on the enemy until that victory is visible in the natural realm. When All Looks Lost - Do This! When it looks like everything is going wrong and it looks impossible, we know our Father has not abandoned us. We never quit because of natural circumstances as long as we are walking in Truth. We trust our Heavenly Father to do exactly what He has promised in His Word. That takes all the fear out of our lives, "...perfect love casteth out fear:" (I John 4:18). When we are totally convinced God really loves us, we know He will do everything possible to protect and provide for us just as He has promised. Trust your Heavenly Father. He loves you and has provided for your every need. He doesn't give you bad things - only that which is good for you. The truth is, the closer you live to God, the better and sweeter life is! For those of you who have been angry at or fearful of God because of terrible, evil things that have taken place in your life, it will be of benefit for you to ask God the Father to forgive you of those feelings. He understands that you thought these things about Him because of a lack of information, but it will still help you begin a new, healthy relationship with Him to humbly ask for His forgiveness. Just talk to Him as you would to the most loving person you have ever known. Say, "Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for being fearful of you and for harboring anger in my heart toward you for the bad things that have happened in my life. I can see now, according to Your Word, that You love me more than I can ever understand and that it is Your Will to protect me from the devil. I'm so sorry for ever blaming you for what the devil was actually doing to me. "Thank you for your forgiveness for my sins. Help me to draw ever closer to you and to trust you with every part of my life. I give myself completely to You because You will not take advantage of me, but will help me to become all that You know I am capable of being. I love you with all of my heart, Father. Amen." "I rebuke you devil for deceiving me about my Heavenly Father and from this point on I'll resist you because now I know when you are doing your dirty work in my life. I have repented of fear and anger in my life so you cannot use those open doors to harass me anymore. I am free from your bondage forever because the Word of God says, 'If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.'" (John 8:36). "Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your freedom. I open my heart to Your Holy Spirit to lead me into all Truth so that I can be used of You to accomplish You will in my life. Amen." God................The Devil God and the devil never exchange characteristics. The devil will try to convince you that God is involved with evil, but do not believe it. The devil uses the same tactics children use when their parents catch them in wrong-doing. They point their finger at their brother or sister and say, "He did it!" The devil has been doing this for centuries. Only when you know who your Friend is and what you can expect Him to do, in accordance with His characteristics that are according to His Word, will you be able to shout back at the devil, "That was not God's action, devil, that was you. Now get out of here in the Name of Jesus. I will not tolerate that in my life anymore. Jesus has given me freedom and I receive that freedom now into my life. Thank you Jesus for your Love and Mercy, etc." Source: Spiritual Warfare, by George Bloomer, Copyright 2004, Whitaker House. Spiritual Warfare, by Derek Prince, Copyright 1987. Whitaker House. Strongman's His Name II, by Drs. Jerry & Carol Robeson, Copyright 1994, Whitaker House. |
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2010 - HIS GLORY REIGNS
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