Moving on with the church.
Many believers have the idea that they can have a relationship with Jesus Christ without becoming part of a local church. While it is true that our relationship with Jesus is an individual matter and is not conditioned upon becoming part of a local church, it is also true that our relationship with Him is not complete without the local church.
1 Peter 2:5 tells us that we are being built into a spiritual house. "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5).
The word "church" has gained a twisted definition during the past 2000 years. Quite often people define the church in light of what their traditions and cultures have taught them.
The word for church in Greek is ekklesia. Ekklesia has a multi faceted meaning. It means a group of people called out to gather. However, just stopping there does not do the word justice. A study of history and of the first century church reveals more. Many of today’s churches have copied historic pagan customs that were introduced in the third century.
Humans were created to live in family units. We are not designed to be content as loners; God made us that way. That is one reason you see so many people pack into bars every night and have fellowship around drinking beer and hard liquor. They are in "family." That family accepts them just the way they are. They find that there is always someone there to listen to their hurts and pains, and give them mercy.
This is what the ekklesia is supposed to provide. I like to define it this way. "To be called out of your worldly family in order that you may get together with your new spiritual family." Just as families have never been perfect, churches and church families are not perfect. Nevertheless, they are God’s plan for our lives.
Man has used many different forms of church organizations. Denominations have been useful in establishing authority and the orderly ownership of land for church buildings. Some denominations have promoted humanistic and ungodly doctrines, but God has not thrown them away. There seems to be a move of God in the earth now that is breaking down denominational barriers. I have heard C. Peter Wagner call it "post denominationalism."
In his book The Gift of Apostle, Dr. David Cannistraci makes the following comments about what he calls the "apostolic" or New Testament Church.
"In the coming years, the church will be the vehicle God uses to accomplish his will. The New Testament reveals that the Church is God's instrument and the apple of His eye. He calls us the royal priesthood (Revelation 1:6, 5:9,10), the holy nation (1 Peter 5:3), the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27, Colossians 1:18), God's heritage (1 Peter 5:3), the temple of God (Ephesians 2:20-22), the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:22,23) and his peculiar treasure (1 Peter 2:5-9). Jesus loves the church, and gave himself completely for its existence (Ephesians 5:25). Nothing will ever be greater in the heart and purpose of God than his church.
Many writers have seen mission (outreach) at the heart of the life of the church; none, however, more graphically than the Emil Brunnner: ‘the Church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.’"
The book continues to describe the earmarks of an apostolic Church. Some of them are:
1. A church primarily concerned to reach all people with Christ. They have a passion to see entire cultures embrace Jesus in His saving, healing and delivering power.
2. They are churches completely committed to the Lordship of Jesus.
3. They are churches made up of completely activated members of the Body of Christ. They are not held back by any sense of a clergy-laity split. Their people preach, teach, serve and prophesy according to their spiritual giftings as members of the Body.
4. These churches have an intense relationship with the Holy Spirit. They experience supernatural power because they're deeply devoted to prayer, fasting, spiritual gifts and faith.
Program based church buildings. Often a denomination or a group of believers build a new church building in a neighborhood and then promote church growth. God has greatly used this method to infiltrate neighborhoods with the Gospel. As the church grows it produces programs for children and the varied interest groups. This is called a "program based church." Some of these program-based churches have embraced principles from the Word of God, especially the Book of Acts, and many of them are doing an important, powerful and wonderful work.
Cell Churches. Today there is a recent explosion of believers meeting in small groups in homes and workplaces as they did in the Book of Acts in the First Century Church.
These are called cell churches (not all home churches are cell churches however). These have been widespread in (but by no means limited to) areas like China, where it is not practical to build church buildings, and where the government forbids the assembly of believers.
In cell churches, believers meet in homes or workplaces in small groups and minister one to another. Each believer has special gifts and callings that God uses. The small groups make up a larger body of believers who meet from time to time in a larger congregation. Often, as the assembly grows, they purchase a large building for meetings on Sunday. There is authority and organization through apostles, pastors, elders, etc.
The successful cell churches have grown rapidly for two important reasons. First, each believer was given the opportunity to do more than just sit on a pew. Second, the groups keep the vision of evangelism. Once they grow beyond fifteen people, they split much in the same way the cells of the human body split and multiply. Members reach out to people in their realm of influence and bring them to the meetings. Often, unbelievers are more likely to attend a home meeting than they would be to enter a church building.
My wife and I have personally been involved with planting cell churches in Haiti. Through International School of the Bible we are planning similar works in several African countries. We have witnessed God doing a sovereign and supernatural work.
The following are three outstanding books on the subject of cell churches:
Successful Home Cell Groups, David Yonggi Cho, Bridge-Logos Publishers, North Brunswick, NJ, 1981.
The Cell Church, Larry Stockstill, Regal Books, Ventura, CA, 1998.
Where Do We Go From here? Ralph W. Neighbor, Jr., TOUCH Outreach Ministries, Houston, TX, 1990.
I am in no way promoting one type of church over another. With whatever type of church you become involved, the important thing is that you use discernment to look for the following character traits in church leaders:
1. Integrity of character. 2. Integrity with money.
3. Integrity with the Scriptures.
4. If the leader is attempting to control the members’ lives, stay away. The leader should be available as a shepherd without violating a person’s free will. He should be trying to put his members under the control of the Holy Spirit.
5. A passion for the lost. Mission and outreach should be the heart of the ministry.
6. A style of leadership that encourages members to be involved in ministry.
7. The leaders should be people controlled by the Holy Spirit and not by doctrines and denominations.
8. The leaders should be mature in the mercy, grace and love of God. They should shun legalism, but promote growth in the character of Christ by grace.
I like the mission statement of my church, Mt. Paran North Church of God in Marietta, Georgia, U.S.A.
"To embrace all people at their point of need, lead them into the presence of Christ, love them as the people of Christ, grow them up in the person of Christ and send them out with the proclamation of Christ."
Benefits of being in fellowship. Being in fellowship with other believers can be both rewarding and painful. I have had both experiences. When a brother or sister in the Lord hurts you, it is most painful. However, these are tremendous opportunities to learn and to be taught by God. If you were in the wrong, God will correct you if you allow Him. If you were innocent in the matter, there will be a great learning opportunity for patience and forgiveness.
Satan’s plan is to bring offenses to people so that they stop attending church, or at best go "church shopping." There is nothing wrong with church shopping, but do it at the leading of the Holy Spirit and not because you are running from someone who offended you. If you run every time you become offended, Satan will be your guide and not the Holy Spirit.
It is good to stay planted in a local assembly; doing so will produce fruit and blessings. "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flowering; to show that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and no unrighteousness is in Him" (Psalms 92:12-15).
How to treat other believers.
It is extremely important to your spiritual well being to relate to all people with love. I can guarantee you that in your church fellowship you will have an opportunity to have disputes with other believers. It may be your fault or theirs; that is not the issue. The issue is that the enemy may use this type of dispute to hurt you.
We need to remember that we have entered into a blood covenant with Jesus, and we are in covenant with other believers through Him. If we mistreat other believers, gossip about them, talk negative about them or hurt them in any way, we can be in danger. I Corinthians chapter 11 gives a warning for us when we take communion. Taking communion is remembering the blood covenant with Jesus, but it also causes us to remember that through Him we are in covenant with other believers. "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing [discerning] the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Corinthians 11:29).
Judgment can come in many ways. It can come in your relationship with your spouse, your children, or in your finances, health, business, etc., when you do not rightly discern the Lord’s Body. That is, when you do not consider the other person to be part of Christ’s Body. When you discern the Lord’s Body according to what you see and not by what the Word of God says, you are in danger.
The priesthood of believers.
There are a lot of churches that promote one class of people to serve God and call them the clergy, and they call the rest of the people the laity. Yet the Word of God makes it clear that all who belong to God should serve Him.
In Exodus chapter 3, God told Moses to speak to the Israelites and tell them that the reason they were to be freed was so that they could serve Him. In Exodus 19:6 God said, "…you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."
Let’s not look at the word priest in the traditional religious way. A priest is simply a person who represents God to man, and man to God. The priest acts as a bridge. He intercedes to God on behalf of man, and he brings God’s Good News to man. The priests ate, lived, and slaughtered the sacrifices, all in the service of God. Their entire vocation was to serve God. If they had other professions, such as teachers, physicians, etc., those were to be avocations.
However, all the Israelites did not accept the call. Only the Levites answered the call by forsaking all their idols and their other inordinate relationships. Even then, only a handful of them, the Sons of Aaron were allowed to minister in the Holy of Holies where the presence of God was. For some reason the same mindset still exists today. In the New Testament, and as the Body of Christ on this earth, all believers are priests.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9).
"…and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen" (Revelation 1:6).
Jesus is the only mediator between God and man (refer to 1 Timothy 2:5). But as part of the Body of Christ, we are indeed ambassadors for God to bring to lost humanity the Good News of the grace of God (refer to 2 Corinthians 5:20).
The "ministry" today is not reserved for people who have degrees from seminaries (or from anywhere), nor for people who work fulltime for a church. That is church tradition. The ministry is for all believers. Ephesians chapter 4 makes this clear. Paul is telling us that the work of the apostle, prophet, pastor, etc is to prepare God’s people so that they (God’s people) can work in ministry. "And truly He gave some to be apostles, and some to be prophets, and some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11,12).
For sure, this is a lot easier to talk about then it is to implement. But I have found in my experience that if you will take God at His Word on this subject, He will put you into your ordained ministry. There is a ministry waiting for you to step into. You are the most qualified person for this ministry. However, if you do not answer the call, God’s work is not decreased, He will send the work to another. On the day of judgment you will have to give account of your reasons for neglecting this calling.
The first church with which I became involved was a very small one. I had a strong desire to serve. I did not have any maturity in spiritual gifts, but I knew how to mop and clean. So I mopped the church and cleaned the rest rooms. I loved every minute of it, and felt the Lord’s pleasure as I was doing it. Little by little He increased my scope of service. I do not have to seek for promotions in serving God; I am not comfortable with people who do. I am very comfortable with being a servant and watching God take care of my needs.
One of the greatest ways we can serve Jesus is to serve the people in His Body. The natural tendency for people is to be selfish and think that the world revolves around them and their own problems. Many churches are filled with people who are running around looking for blessings and looking for people to bless them. This is not God’s plan. His plan is outlined in Matthew chapter 25: 14-30 in the parable of the talents. This is the law of increase. We are to use what we have in our hand to serve others, and when we do, Jesus gives us more.
The Church needs to keep a burning vision of outreach instilled in all its members. Without this, apathy and backsliding are the common results. Our forefather in the faith and the first Hebrew was Abraham. God promised to bless Abraham, which was a profound promise to him. However, God made it clear that he was not to bottle up his blessing, but he was rather to bless others. "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2). Abraham’s descendents, Israel, had the same call, but they did not rise up to it. Instead they took God’s blessings and became inward with them, not sharing the good news with Gentiles. The ultimate seed of Abraham was Jesus. Through Jesus we are also Abraham’s seed (refer to Galatians 3:16 & 29).
When I met the Lord I owned a small grocery story (that was until 1983). In just two months I had cleaned off an entire grocery shelf and replaced the groceries with free Bibles and Gospel tracts. I held a Bible contest. I held Bible studies in one of the back rooms. I felt that I had received something so valuable that I wanted everyone to share in it!
One day a pastor came by and asked me if I was afraid of losing my business by being so bold for Jesus. I thought about it and told him, "Well, if I lose my business, then I will get a job. If I cannot get a job, then I will have no food to eat. If I have no food I will die and be with Jesus. Anyway you look at it I win!" He scratched his head and left.
Please read Ezekiel Chapter 16, which shows God speaking to Israel about His abundant blessings to her, and yet He says of her, "‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done. Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy’" Ezekiel (16:48,49).
People cannot exist without purpose. If your purpose in life is not God’s purpose for you, you will end up miserable and perhaps even like the Israelites. There is no purpose in life with enough significance to keep you from self-indulgence, except for God’s purpose!
God has designed every believer differently. Not all of us are evangelists or pastors. But each one of us is a vital part of His Body. As a matter of fact, pastors and evangelists are not at the top of the spiritual "food chain." This is confirmed in 1 Corinthians 12:20-24. You and your ministry are very important to the Kingdom of God and to the Church.
God has bestowed gifts on each one of us in a customized way, and has given us a custom made personality. The only way to find expression for your gifts is by the fruit bearing process. Fruit in ministry is the only thing that is of real value to God. John Chapter 15 says that if we abide in Christ and obey His Words, fruit will be the result. Working up plans in our "flesh" will not produce fruit for God. Fruit only comes by a life laid down for God, and by allowing the discipleship process to take place in your life. Fruit is a result of trusting the Word of God to supply all of your needs. As the Word grows in your life, the life and character of God will be formed in you, and His life is always reaching out to the lost. Jesus is a missionary, and His Bride should be His helper! "My children, for whom I again travail until Christ should be formed in you" (Galatians 4:19).
Other benefits of Church life.
"His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly" (Proverbs 26:26). This Scripture lets us know that there are areas in our lives that can only be exposed in the assembly. Before we can truly be free, we need all of our wickedness to be exposed, no matter how painful.
"Let the assembled peoples gather round you. Rule over them from on high" (Psalms 7:7).
"I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people" (Psalm 35:18).
"I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation" (Psalm 40:10).
"Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints" (Psalm 149:1).
"God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him" (Psalm 89:7).
"Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders" (Psalm 107:32).
"Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation" (Psalm 111:1).
The church gives us an opportunity to express the supernatural power of unity.
The Holy Spirit works powerfully through the unity of believers in the church. Jesus prayed in John 17:20-23 that the world would know God’s love through Jesus Christ when believers came into unity with one another. When believers come into unity, they manifest a small mosaic piece of the Body of Christ. The result is the Holy Spirit is unleashed to do what He does best. The Holy Spirit lifts the veil from the eyes of unbelievers, sets prisoners free, and heals the brokenhearted. The Holy Spirit makes Jesus real to us and to the world around us. He makes us whole, spirit, soul, and body, and sends us out to proclaim the Good News to others. I feel that this picture is worth a thousand words.
Finally, we need to remember that the Church, or the Body of Christ, is also the Bride of Christ. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:31,32). "…Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:9b).
We need to understand how passionate Jesus is about the gathering of His bride and His anticipation to see her in all her glory. Let us keep this in mind when or if we ever become frustrated with the Church or church life.
Usually people in a nation who may be divided come into unity when they are faced with war. Let us unify around the fact that Jesus has made a "beachhead" on earth in this war with Satan, and that we are called to finish up the victory.
Spiritual War.
No Victory without Conflict. We must recognize that we dwell in an enemy’s territory. His aim is to keep lost people lost and going to Hell. His aim for Christians is to get them so interested in the Kingdom of the World and its systems of money, entertainment, power, popularity, etc., that they are not even aware that they could live by a higher kingdom, the Kingdom of God. Satan can neutralize Christians by getting them to depend upon the Kingdom of the World and their own resources.
Satan was able to convince Adam and Eve that they could operate their lives without the Word of God (Genesis Chapter 3). Satan tempted Jesus with the same issue in Luke Chapter 4. He will use the same tactic on you. If Satan can get you to act out of your own independence without putting the Word of God first in your life, he has succeeded.
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?’" (Genesis 3:1).
Doubting the Word of God is Satan’s main weapon. This is the essence of spiritual warfare. Without getting too complicated, spiritual warfare is primarily about believing or doubting God’s Word. God wants us to trust His Word above all other evidence. Sometimes it is difficult to believe the truth we cannot see and feel with our five natural senses.
If you want to get in shape physically, there are some helpful steps you can take such as, eat properly, get adequate sleep, take a multi-vitamin capsule every day, etc.. But in the final analysis, there is no substitute for exercise or working against a resistance. The same is true in the Christian life. Proper nourishment from the Word is essential, but so is "exercise." In God’s strength, facing and conquering trials and difficulties, God, the perfect coach, knows exactly what kind of "workout" you need in order to turn an area of weakness into an area of Christlikeness.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:2-4).
Satan does not always use "bad" things to tempt us, sometimes he uses the "good" things of the world to lure us away from God’s Kingdom. Satan uses circumstances and ideas to convince us that we are not SITTING with Christ (our position in Christ), that we should not WALK like He walks (our responsibility), and that we should give up instead of STANDING on the promises (our warfare). We are heirs of the Kingdom of God. Why should we live like those people who are not heirs?
Here is how it works:
Jesus was teaching His disciples in Mark chapter 4. He told them that THE mystery of the Kingdom of God was contained in this parable. He asked them in verse 13, "And He said to them, ‘Do you not know this parable? And how then will you know all parables?’" Jesus used this very visible agricultural example of seed being sown to explain and unveil the mystery of the unseen world. Mark 4:9-11 says, "And He said to them, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’ And when He was alone, they who were about Him, with the Twelve, asked Him concerning the parable. And He said to them, ‘To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to those outside, all these things are given in parables.’"
The entire Kingdom of God works like this parable. God plants the seeds of His Words in your heart (regardless of the condition of your heart). These seeds represent all of God’s purposes for your life. Being born again is the first purpose. Next is being filled with the Spirit, being healed physically, emotionally, and mentally, and having your needs provided. The Word brings you into your proper relationships in life, and provides all of God’s further purposes for you. God uses His Word to impart His purposes to you.
Mark 4:14-20 says, "The sower sows the Word. And these are those by the wayside, where the Word is sown. And when they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts. And these are those likewise being sown on stony places; who, when they hear the Word, immediately receive it with gladness. But they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Afterward when affliction or persecution arises for the Word’s sake, they are immediately offended. And these are those being sown among thorns; such as hear the Word, and the cares of this world, and the deceit of riches, and the lust about other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. And these are those sown on good ground, who hear the Word and welcome it, and bear fruit, one thirty, one sixty, and one a hundredfold."
Notice that Satan comes to steal the Word. This is really the only weapon that Satan has against mankind; to steal the Word or to blind us from the Word (2 Corinthians 4:4). If any person would receive and act upon the Word of God, they would be saved and go to Heaven. If any person would receive and act upon the Word of God, he/she would be made whole, spirit, soul, and body, their needs would be provided, and their life would be in order. Satan cannot hurt you if you believe and act upon the Word of God. He can and will tempt you, he can put signs on you that make it look like the Word is not true, but he cannot hurt you if you are totally submitted to the Lordship of the Word, Who is Jesus Himself!
Once the Word is planted in your heart, you must "stand," or wait against adverse circumstances, until the plant matures. "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Ephesians 6:13).
We will always need to overcome difficulties, but we can overcome and win! The way in which we overcome, the results, are God’s business. Often things do not work out according to our plans. However, we can trust Him in all things!
So in a very simple, childlike way of looking at spiritual warfare, let’s focus on Satan’s only weapon and on our response to his actions. Standing, or spiritual warfare, is not reserved for the saint of God who has been walking with God for 20 years. No, it is for every child of God. God makes it possible for all of us to perform warfare in His might and power. We do not have to be experts. Remember God gives grace to the humble. James 4:6 says, "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble."
So how do we fight this war?
1. First we must know something. Wisdom.
Wisdom is knowing and relying on the fact that the Cross of Jesus absorbed all the evil and everything must turn out to be a blessing. The law of gravity says that whatever goes up MUST come down. The law of reconciliation (which is the law of the Cross - Colossians 1:20) says that all evil has been disarmed, and now must be a blessing, IF you believe.
Wisdom is knowing that all things have been reconciled through the Cross. Not just people, but all things. "And through Him having made peace through the blood of His cross, it pleased the Father to reconcile all things to Himself through Him, whether the things on earth or the things in Heaven" (Colossians 1:20).
Reconcile is a powerful word. Strongs Concordance calls it "to bring back a former state of harmony." It is defined "to repair, to put back into working order, making peace between two opposing views or groups." Vines Bible Dictionary defines it "to change from enmity to friendship." The Cross of Jesus Christ takes all of our "enemies," whether they be people, demons, circumstances, sickness, poverty, everything, and changes them into a friend. This is Wisdom! Christ crucified!
2 Corinthians 5:18 says, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…." So this is our ministry here on earth, to take all the enemies of our lives, dip them into the blood and Cross of Jesus Christ, and turn them into friends. I can tell you by the Word of God and by my own experience that this is true. It works if you stand.
Wisdom is knowing that the blood of Jesus has defeated Satan. What does it mean to have victory over Satan? How does the blood of Jesus give us power? "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death" (Hebrews 2:14,15).
"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him" (Romans 6:8,9).
These verses say that Satan was "destroyed." What does that actually mean? He seems to be running around doing a job of destroying others.
The word destroy is defined in Strongs Concordance as:
1) to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative.
1a) to cause a person or thing to have no further efficiency.
1b) to deprive of force, influence, power.
When Jesus and you and I were raised from the dead, we were born again as a new race that is no longer subject to Satan. He has no more dominion over us. We have dominion over him. Satan used his ultimate power on Jesus at the Cross, and then Jesus was resurrected. Satan has no more power to exert. He is out of tools and weapons.
He can still destroy an unbeliever, and he can deceive a believer, but if we know the truth, he cannot harm us any longer. As far as we are concerned, he is destroyed. If we stand on the truth, all Satan can do is lie to us. Satan has no power over the new creation; that includes you and me!
"And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy" (Colossians 1:18).
This is the script of life. We need to recognize where we are in it. It will make suffering more compatible. Yes, Jesus is returning to earth someday, but He will also "return" for you now to turn your problem into a blessing.
A good example of this kind of overcoming is Daniel in the lion’s den in Daniel chapter 6. Daniel was wholly following God and was persecuted by his enemies and God’s enemies. Rather than being delivered from the lion’s den, he overcame in the lion’s den. The result was that his enemies were totally defeated.
"At the king's command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions' den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations and men of every language throughout the land: ‘May you prosper greatly! I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures for ever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.’ So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian" (Daniel 6:24-28).
I doubt that Daniel would have prospered and that his enemies would have been defeated if he had not gone through the lion’s den.
2. Second, we must do something. "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead" (James 2:26).
Warfare, or standing, requires that we do something, we are not to just wait around. Hebrews 6:12 says, " We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."
a. We must maintain our "virginity." That is, we must stay clean before the Lord. We must keep short accounts with our sins, and keep them confessed and cleansed before God and man. I use the word "virginity" because I want you to remember that Jesus makes you as if you had never sinned every time you are forgiven!
We must live our life worthy of the Lord and dwell in His presence. "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (Ephesians 4:1). "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalms 91:1). You should stop now and read the rest of Psalm 91.
If Satan can get you to act according to your old nature (flesh) and the way of the world, he can separate you from the living presence of God and he can steal God’s promises. Galatians 5:19-21 says, "Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, fighting’s, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (The seed of the Word bearing fruit in your life.)
b. The Bible teaches us that there is a waiting period in warfare and that we are to use the Word of God as a sword. Ephesians 6:17b says, "…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
We are told in Hebrews 3:1, "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." Jesus takes our confession to the Father as our High Priest, and the Father sees to it that it is accomplished, provided it is the Word of God. The enemy also takes our confession, our negative confession, and accomplishes what we say.
When the Word of God is confessed and prayed over a person or a situation, it is powerful! Jesus created everything by His Word. Jesus IS the Word. Jesus gave us the authority to use the Word as if it were Him saying it!
John 1:1-3 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being."
When the Passover was administered to Israel in Exodus 12, the Israelites were told to put the blood of an innocent lamb over their doors and the death angel (demon) would "pass over" and not hurt them. Jesus is the Lamb of God, and we can put His blood over our doors and over the doors of our loved ones and those for whom we pray. How?
Revelation 12:11 says, "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony. And they did not love their soul to the death."
The words of our mouth will apply the blood. Notice in Exodus 12 that as long as the lamb’s blood stayed in the basin, it did no good. But when they took the hyssop, dipped it in the blood and applied it to their door, then God and the devil could see it. The hyssop was a common weed that did not seem to have much value. The words of our mouth do not seem to have much value, but when we dip them into the Word of God (Who is Jesus Himself) and apply them as blood, God sees it and the devil sees it!
Jesus takes our confession and makes it powerful. Hebrews 3:1 says, "Therefore, holy brothers, called to be partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus."
When we speak God’s Word, Jesus takes it to the Father and asks Him to perform it. John 16:23 says, "And in that day you shall ask Me nothing. Truly, truly, I say to you, Whatever you shall ask the Father in My name, He will give you."
Then we can enter into rest and let the Word do the work.
Hebrews 4:1 says, "Therefore, a promise being left to enter into His rest, let us fear lest any of you should seem to come short of it."
Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
Angels go to work when they hear God’s Word. Psalms 103:20 says, "Bless the LORD, O angels of His, who excel in strength, who do His command, listening to the voice of His word."
Demons flee! Psalms 149:5-9 says, "Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to carry out vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples, (representing our spiritual enemies) to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with iron-bands, to carry out on them the judgment written; this is an honor for all His saints. Praise the LORD!"
Remember that you are not trying to win a battle, Jesus at the Cross has already won the battle. You are called to "stand." That means to be established in your position of victory in front of a court of law, so that the lies told about you cannot prevail. You will experience a lot of mental pressure, but you will win if you stand.
Standing against the wiles of the devil.
Ephesians 6:11 says, "Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."