The POWER of Biblical Knowledge... Know the battle plan!

The word knowledge in the Bible denotes an understanding, a recognition, or an acknowledgment. To “know” something is to perceive it or to be aware of it. Many times in Scripture, knowledge carries the idea of a deeper appreciation of something or a relationship with someone. 

The Bible is clear that the knowledge of God is the most valuable knowledge a human being can possess. But it is also clear that simply being aware of God’s existence is not sufficient; the knowledge of God must encompass the deep appreciation for and relationship with Him.

Knowledge of God is also a Christian’s front line of spiritual self-defense against the powers and schemes of Satan.  Growing in Knowledge and understanding of God enables followers of Christ to stand firm against the enemy.  There are three key ingredients that Christians must understand to avail themselves of the power of knowledge of God for spiritual self-defense.

Understanding God’s full provision of and access to His Knowledge is critical.  The Apostle Paul wrote in the first three chapters of Ephesians the necessary doctrinal foundation that God has provided for us in Christ.  Strong Christians are doctrinally grounded in the truth of Scripture. Unless you know the Word well, as Jesus did when He defeated Satan, you will not stand firm and strong when challenged by those who attack truth and offer plausible and fine sounding arguments (Colossians 2:4;8).

A Christian also must understand how Satan works and the nature of his schemes.  Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:11... “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” If you’re ignorant of his schemes, the devil will be able to take advantage of you, and you may not even be aware of it. 

His schemes invariably use cunning and deception. He often works through secular culture, to carry us downstream with the prevailing ideas of the day. In our day, many Christians are deceived by the ideas of postmodernism, which asserts that there are no absolute truths in the spiritual or moral realms (except for the absolute that there are no absolutes!). Satan launches repeated attacks on the credibility of Scripture, whether through evolution or by attacking the person of Christ. Satan lures us into sin by portraying it as pleasurable and by hiding its consequences. He uses discouragement, pride, selfishness, the love of money, lust, and many other traps to lure us away from the Lord. To stand firm against the enemy, we must understand his schemes, what they look like and how we can be drawn into his web of deceit.

We need to understand where to stand firm, when to stand firm and where to be tolerant of differences.  If Satan doesn’t get us through his scheme of going along with our tolerant culture, he pushes us off the other end by making us intolerant of anyone who does not agree with us on every point of doctrine. 

Anyone who claims to have “biblical discernment,” but then spends all their time criticizing godly men over minor differences in doctrine or practice are working for the “wrong” team!  

Standing firm against the schemes of the devil means that we stand firm on the core doctrines of the Christian faith. We cannot budge on the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, biblical salvation, or the inspiration and authority of Scripture. But the Scripture also tells us to show tolerance for one another in love (Ephesians 4:2). That verse implies that we will not always agree with one another on every point of doctrine or on every method of how to go about the Lord’s work. To stand firm, grow in understanding of where to do battle and where to be tolerant of differences.

Standing firm against the enemy is the result of putting on God’s full armor. We stand firm against the enemy by growing in biblical understanding... and love and patience with one another. 

Finally, we stand firm against the enemy with active practice.  In other words, put into practice what you believe.  Walk your Talk. Test your armor by gaining some victories in real life situations. Resist temptation. Avoid Satan’s traps. Get out of your comfort zone and do something where you have to trust God to get you through. As Hebrews 5:14 states, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Or, as James 1:22 puts it, “Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers, who delude themselves.”

How about you? Are you standing firm in your faith... in your walk with God? To stand firm against the enemy, you must be strong in the Lord and put on His full armor.

Standing GROUND against the Enemy!

Stand your ground... Hold your position... No retreat!  Stand firm and fast against the enemy!  Military jargon is a fitting way to describe what Christians must do in the face of God’s enemy... Satan and his schemes to ruin you.   No question about it, it takes courage to hold your ground and your allegiance to Jesus, even when others may be fleeing from the battle, wilting in defeat, because the enemy seems so strong.

It is the Christian way to rely on God’s strength and use His armor [power] to fend off the arrows of Satan. However, we must take the initiative to put on the armor and stand firm in the battle because we love our Lord. It’s not a matter of “letting go and letting God,” where you are passive and God does all the work for us. Nor is it a matter of gritting your teeth and doing it yourself, with occasional assistance from God. Rather, it is a blending of His power and our striving amplified in our total commitment and perseverance. As Paul puts it  “For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”  (Colossians 1:29)

Many have suggested that Paul got the idea of putting on the full armor of God from the Roman soldier that was chained to him as he dictated his letter to the Ephesians. That may be, but it also may be that he was meditating on Isaiah 11:5 which says of the Lord, “Righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.” Or, Isaiah 59:17... “He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head.”  Where even Paul got the idea to use “armor” in this way, his point is well made.

Armor is a graphic picture for illustrating what Paul said in Romans 13:14... “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” In other words, Christ Himself is our armor. He is the belt of truth (John 14:6). He is our breastplate of righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). He is the gospel of peace that we stand on (Ephesians 2:13-14, 17). He is the shield of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He is our helmet of salvation (Titus 3:6). He is our sword, the word of God (John 1:1). He, in all his superlative attributes becomes our full armor, capable of protecting us from every onslaught of the devil.

Putting on God’s armor means that in every trial and temptation by faith you appropriate Christ’s strength in place of your weakness. 

By faith you cry out to Him for deliverance and strength to persevere. By faith you rely on His promises, even as Jesus often defeated Satan by quoting Scripture (Luke 4:1-13).

Being Strong in the Lord

To be truly strong in the Lord, every one who call themselves a Christian must truly "be in" the Lord.

Paul’s command to be strong in the Lord rests on the first two chapters of Ephesians, where he makes it clear what it means to be in the Lord. To sum up his treatment, he wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9... “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

To be in the Lord means that He has saved you from God’s judgment by His grace through faith in Christ. Salvation is not based on anything that you have done or deserved.  One of Paul’s frequent expressions in Ephesians is the phrase, “in Christ,” or “in Him.”  You cannot begin to understand what it means to be strong in the Lord unless you truly are in the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ and submission to His plan of salvation... immersion “into Christ.”

For any Christian to understand what it means to be strong in the Lord, you must know and acknowledge your own weaknesses.  This is a continual, lifelong process that begins with understanding we need Christ in our lives. We cannot trust completely “in Christ” to save us until we come to some awareness that we are helplessly, hopelessly lost and unable to save ourselves by our own good works. 

Christians must know in a practical way their weakness, so that we grow to appreciate the only true refuge is found in the Lord’s strength. Jesus clarified this point by using the analogy of the branches abiding in the vine, and said in John 15:5... “for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Peter needed to learn this lesson. He boasted that although everyone else would desert Christ, he would remain true. But the Lord allowed Peter to go through his terrible denials so that he might not trust in himself, but in Christ alone. The apostle Paul had an amazing experience of being caught up into heaven itself. Because of this, to keep Paul from exalting himself, the Lord sent a messenger of Satan to torment him. The lesson that Paul learned was... “for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Our pride blinds us to our true condition. It makes us think that we have some measure of strength in ourselves. Pride makes us think that the longer we are Christians, the stronger we become. But we never become stronger in and of ourselves. In reality, the strong Christian is one who has come to see more and more of his own weakness and propensity towards sin. That awareness drives us to depend all the more on the Lord’s strength. To be strong in the Lord, you must know your own weakness.

Finally, to be strong in the Lord, you must know the Lord’s strength.  Satan is a powerful foe, but he is only a created being, whereas God is the eternal, almighty Creator of the universe. If the Lord so willed, He could annihilate Satan in an instant. He has already defeated him at the cross and resurrection of Jesus (Colossians 2:15).  In His perfect timing and plan, He will throw Satan into the Lake of Fire, where he will be tormented forever and ever (Revelation 20:10).

From start to finish, the Bible proclaims the mighty power of God. He spoke the heavens and earth into existence out of nothing. He delivered His people from Pharaoh’s clutches through the miraculous plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. He sustained them in one of the world’s harshest environments through the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, where He provided daily manna and water from the rock. When fierce enemies threatened to annihilate His chosen people, time and again the Lord provided deliverance. In one of the most dramatic instances, Sennacherib’s army had Jerusalem surrounded. It looked like Israel was doomed. But in response to Hezekiah’s prayer, the Lord sent His angel who killed 185,000 enemy troops in one night (2 Kings 19:35).

Throughout Scripture, the Lord reminds His people of the obvious, that nothing is too difficult for Him.  Paul has already spoken of God’s great power towards his followers, as seen in His raising Jesus from the dead and enthroning Him at His right hand (Ephesians 1:19-20). 

Paul has prayed that Christians in his time and today would know the power of the Holy Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ might dwell in our hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17). Proverbs 18:10 declares, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.” To be strong in the Lord, you must know His strength in a practical way.  You must trust that you can take refuge in Him and see His great deliverance in all aspects of your life.

So to be strong in the Lord, you must be in the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ. You must know your own weakness and you must know His mighty strength. 

What comes next?  The Apostle Paul adds something critically important... You must put on God’s full armor so that you may stand firm against the enemy.  

More on The Armor of God... next time.

Equipping for the Fight

Ephesians Chapter Six... The Armor of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Paul makes the point:  You must be strong in the Lord and put on His full armor, so that you may stand firm against the enemy. (vs. 10,11)

He begins the verse with “Finally” which means, “for the rest,” and shows that these passages are built on preceding chapters. Paul is saying, “Based upon your glorious position in Christ (chapters 1-3) and in light of the worthy walk to which you are called (chapters 4-5, plus 6:1-9), I want to conclude my encourage to you by explaining the serious conflict in which your faith engages you.” Because you are fighting in the Lord’s army…

You must be strong in the Lord.

Paul piles up words for strength in verse 10, using three of the four words that he employed in 1:19-20. There he mentioned “the surpassing greatness of His power toward those who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” 

Also, in 3:16 Paul prayed that God would grant you … “to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.” As in that verse, the verb in 6:10 is probably passive, meaning, “be strengthened in the Lord.”. In other words, we are not strong in ourselves, our strength comes from the Lord.

Yet, at the same time, I think that there is an active (Greek, middle voice) sense to the verb, in that we must take the initiative to be strong in the Lord. This is illustrated in the life of David. While he was on the run from Saul, David had wrongly allied himself with the Philistine king and was about to go into battle against Saul and the forces of Israel when God intervened. David and his men were sent home from the battle. But they arrived to find their city burned with fire and their wives, children, and possessions taken captive by the Amalekites. At that point, David’s men were so embittered that they were talking about stoning him.

Then, in the middle of the verse, there is a great hinge that turned things in a new direction (1 Sam. 30:6b): “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” What a dramatic turnaround! David was almost down for the count. God’s promise to make him king seemed null and void. “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” The Lord graciously directed David to pursue the raiders and recover all of their families and goods.  He did, his men followed him and all turned out well.

That same strength is available to every Christian. You may be at your lowest point feeling God is far off from you. You may be discouraged by circumstances you cannot change. It may seem that God’s promises are not true. But no matter how much may seem to be against you, you can “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” You can strengthen yourself in the Lord your God. 

More to come on this topic in next week’s installment.

Standing Strong, Standing Firm.

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13

General Dwight Eisenhower once said, “War is a terrible thing. But if you’re going to get into it, you’ve got to get into it all the way.”

There are mountains of evidence to suggest that many Christians are defeated in their Christian lives because they are not seriously engaged in the warfare to which we are called.  J. C. Ryle saw this in the 19^th century. He wrote... “The saddest symptom about many so-called Christians is the utter absence of anything like conflict and fight in their Christianity.” He went on to say that they go through the motions of attending religious services each week. Then he added... “But of the great spiritual warfare,--its watchings and strugglings, its agonies and anxieties, its battles and contests,--of all this they appear to know nothing at all.”

Perhaps they came to Christ under a false “sales pitch.” They were told, “Jesus will solve your problems. He will give you peace and joy. He will give you a happy family life. Come to Jesus and enjoy all of these blessings and more. He promises you abundant life.” And so they signed up for what they thought would be a wonderful life of peace and happiness.

All of those claims are true, but they’re only half of the picture and almost always misunderstood. Jesus promised to give us abundant life (John 10:10), but He also said that He was sending us out as sheep in the midst of wolves (Matt. 10:16). That picture might not fit your idea of an abundant life. Jesus promised peace, but in the same breath He said that in this world we would have tribulation (John 16:33). He assured us of His love, but He went on to say that the world would hate and persecute us (John 15:12-13, 18-21). In Ephesians, Paul has just shown how the Spirit-filled home is a glorious picture of the loving relationship between Christ and the church (5:18-33). But he continues by telling us that the Christian life is nothing less than warfare against the hideous enemy Satan the Devil... “the prince of darkness.”

It is vital for your survival as a Christian that you realize that when you became a Christian, you were drafted into God’s army. Daily you are engaged in a battle with an unseen spiritual enemy that seeks to destroy you. Otherwise, when trials hit, you will think that something is wrong. You will wonder why God has allowed this. You won’t understand the reality of your situation.

We have all known church leaders, pastors/elders and evangelists who think that because they are serving the Lord, God should bless them by keeping them from conflict and personal attacks. When that “shield” of protection does not come, and when they are criticized or slandered or when problems hit their families or their churches, they run from the battle. They don’t understand that when God blesses a work, the enemy will increase the attacks against it. 

When a man’s ministry is effective, the enemy will work overtime to bring him down. It may be through internal problems in the church or through key leaders who turn against him or through discouragement or through temptation to moral failure. When Paul was in Ephesus, he wrote (1 Cor. 16:9), “for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” He did not say, “but there are many adversaries,” but rather, “and there are many adversaries.” Adversaries go along with open doors for effective ministry!

So the apostle Paul closes his letter to the Ephesians with this great section on the Christian’s warfare.  The text falls into three sections: (1) The explanation for the fight (6:10-13); (2) The equipment for the fight (6:14-17); (3) the effecting of the fight (6:18-20). 

Beginning next week, we will examine each of these perspectives on Christian warfare.

Until next time... prepare yourself for battle!

Is the Christian life boring?

There are many misconceptions about the Christian life, and one is that it is boring. The truth is the Christian life is where we find true joy and lasting peace, hope and contentment. These things, like all good and perfect things, come from God (James 1:17). The difficulty is that, if you’re not a believer in Christ, you truly don’t know what you’re missing.

This is not to say that the Christian life is easy. One writer describes growing in the Christian faith as being “on a never-ending downward escalator. In order to grow we have to turn around and sprint up the escalator putting up with perturbed looks from everyone else who is gradually moving downward.” Christ never deluded anyone into thinking it would be easy to follow Him (see Matthew 10:34-39). It’s not easy, but the hardships help prevent boredom.

Those who believe the Christian life is boring have never taken God’s invitation to “taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8). Instead, they selfishly pursue whatever they think will make them “not bored” or happy or content. The problem is, the things of this world are temporary and can never truly satisfy. The Bible tells us that sowing to please our sinful nature will surely lead to destruction (Galatians 6:8). King Solomon, the wisest and richest person who ever lived, had everything a person could possibly want. He said, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure” (Ecclesiastes 2:10). Solomon had it all, but he concluded that it was “meaningless” and likened it to “chasing after the wind” (v. 11). In other words, he had everything this world had to offer, and he was bored.

Sometimes, a new Christian is surprised that his new life is not “more exciting,” as if the Christian life is supposed to be a thrill-a-minute extravaganza. No life is that. Boredom is something we must all overcome. Everyone stands in line at the grocery store, gets caught in traffic, or is given jobs he’d rather not do.

Part of the problem may be how “boredom” is defined. Is it a lack of excitement? Nothing can stimulate perpetual exhilaration. Is it inactivity? If so, then the key is to find something to do. Is it lack of interest? If so, the key is to be more curious. Is it a lack of “fun”? In that case, “fun” needs to be defined, since “fun” is itself a highly subjective concept.

Some people assume that being a Christian is boring because they’ve heard that Christians have to give up all the “fun” things in life. It’s true that Christians give up some things, but it’s not the fun. Christians give up their sin, their self-destructive behavior, their addictions, their negative attitudes and their ignorance of God. In return, they receive “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). They “live as children of light” in a dark world (Ephesians 5:8). The mistakes of their past no longer have a stronghold in their lives. They no longer live for themselves but for the One who died for them. They serve others and make a difference (Romans 14:7; Philippians 2:4). They are becoming everything that God created them to be. It is virtually impossible to be bored in such a life.

The only thing in this world that has eternal value is a relationship with Jesus Christ. A growing, committed Christian will find that life is never boring. There’s always another step of faith to take, another relationship to build, another person to serve.

Is the Christian life supposed to be “boring”? Absolutely not. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Raising the Bar on the Supremacy of Christ - The contributions of Music

We live in a postmodern, pluralistic culture that relishes the idea of being known as the most religiously diverse society in the world. Every religion is correct and no one has the right to say anyone else’s faith is wrong. Political correctness demands great care in the use of terminology when referring to deity; gender neutrality and inclusiveness are essential; exclusiveness is to be rejected. 

Postmodernism involves, among other things, the denial of absolutes. What constitutes ‘truth’ is determined by each individual’s personal experience. Therefore, truth becomes entirely relative; what is true for ‘you’ may not necessarily be true for ‘me.’ Pluralism is a concept which supposedly accepts every religion as equally valid. There is, however, one exception: Christianity. Christianity is not tolerated by those who boast of their ‘toleration’ because of its exclusivity. Unacceptable in a postmodern society, there is ever increasing pressure to marginalize Christianity in the Western world.  And in an ever increasing number of Eastern countries laws are being enacted outlawing ‘conversion activities’ of any kind by Christians. 

Today, as never before, all Christians should be deeply concerned by the subtle effect this social pressure is having within the church. Not only is there a marginalization of Christianity occurring in society as a whole, there is also a marginalization of Jesus Christ occurring within the evangelical community. This marginalization of Jesus occurred among the non-evangelical churches decades ago beginning in Europe.  However, its occurrence within the evangelical community is relatively recent. 

Let’s examine the evidence as seen every Sunday across America in the churches professing to be true representatives of the Living God.

Have you noticed the increasing number of songs in worship services that make no reference to Jesus Christ or His atoning work?   More and more of the ‘new’ worship songs are using an abundance of first person pronouns such as He, Him, Lord, and God. The number of times Jesus’ name is used in these new worship songs is seriously declining. A recent review of about two dozen popular contemporary worship songs revealed that the name of Jesus was only mentioned about six times. 

The churches that sing these new songs are marketing their worship as ‘contemporary’ which apparently means focusing primarily on the needs and desires of younger adults, eliminating hymn books, and marginalizing the desires and tastes of midage and senior adults in worship music.  

  

We should be concerned about the message being sent to the nonbelievers who are visiting the church.  The church is certainly marketing to a broadly diverse audience... a Muslim, a Jew or a Buddhist could easily worship in many of today’s contemporary services and not be offended by the name of Jesus! 

An article on Christianity Today’s website written by Michael Hamilton entitled The Triumph of the Praise Songs: How Guitars Beat Out The Organ In The Worship Wars  said this, “American churchgoers no longer sort themselves out by denomination so much as by musical preference.” He observed that since the 1950s “denominational divisions have steadily become less important in American church life.” But acknowledging that we are still sectarians at heart went on to say, “Our new sectarianism is a sectarianism of worship style. The new sectarian creeds are dogmas of music. Worship seminars are the seminaries of the new sectarianism; their directors are its theologians. The ministers of the new sectarianism are our church worship leaders.”  

What kind of theology are the “seminaries” teaching tomorrow’s church leaders?  The message of these new style contemporary “theologians” and “ministers”  presented to the people sitting in church pews is not one that promotes the supremacy of Christ! 

Hamilton goes on in his article to explain why he believes we are experiencing decline in the church today.  He identified the source of the changes when he said, “All of the changes that have precipitated our worship wars are in fact part of a long trail of cultural dislocations left behind by…the baby boomers.” He described the effect as being an  unwillingness of this abnormally large generation of Americans to follow their parents’ way of influencing society: “they reoriented our society toward peers and away from family. They have moved the psychic center of the family away from obligation to others and toward self-fulfillment.” He then observed that the generation that did this in society did the same thing with religion. “Surveys consistently show that baby boomers…attend church not out of loyalty, duty, obligation, or gratitude, but only if it meets their needs.” 

This raises the additional dilemma which the evangelical church must grapple with concerning the methods we are using to reach people. Are we giving people in the world, who we are trying to reach, more of what they already have, in order to attract them? Or does the church present a message that offers something different; something that the world doesn’t have? 

Are we simply attempting to ‘reach’ people or are we trying to make disciples of Jesus Christ out of people who are not believers? Too often it appears we are more interested in attracting people by giving them what they already have and then giving them more of the same to keep them coming back than we are in changing lives. 

Talking about the generation that finds its identity in its musical style Hamilton says, “the kind of music a church offers increasingly defines the kind of person who will attend, because for this generation music is at the very center of self-understanding.”  What kind of self-understanding is the church imparting to those it reaches? Is it truly helping people enter a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and discipling them to become mature followers of Jesus?   Not much evidence of that God-mandated objective exists in today’s church.

Churches today seem more concerned with aligning and merging the individual’s worship experience perfectly with the baby boomer generations luxuriant self-concern…one cannot sing praise songs without noticing how first person pronouns tend to eclipse every other subject.  The scripture passages from which many of the praise songs draw their inspiration originate in the Old Testament or the Psalms. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, except when combined with the self-centered focus of the songs, and the worship experience being centered on the “individual” instead of exalting Jesus Christ.  Worship has always been about Him.... not us.

I think a serious question needs to be asked... Are the people successfully drawn into the church, so called converts, ‘identifying’ with Jesus Christ and His atoning work on the cross, based on the music being sung in the church?  I have grave doubts when Jesus is being gradually removed from our worship songs and replaced with first person personal pronouns. 

Worship music, music in the corporate worship service and all of the assistant devices and formulas for expressing worship with music must help churches produce disciples of Jesus Christ.   Music is clearly a major distraction in producing  the ‘kind’ of disciples God wants, when the focus is so dramatically self-centered and minimally on the Savior and His work on our behalf. 

More to come on The Supremacy of Christ next week.  Until then, be attentive and active in the Lord.