In fact, the day I ‘gave my life to’ or ‘invited Jesus in’ to my heart, ...within those first 12 hours I was schooled in Lesson # 1 that there was indeed a spiritual enemy of evil and darkness and that I would do well to pay attention. It was a lesson that made a very strong and sobering impression on me early on. But even ‘wise virgins’ can slumber and fall asleep (Matt. 25) and we know that when ‘men sleep, and enemy comes to sow bad seed’. (Matt. 13:25). I would imagine that is why Peter exhorts us to be ‘sober, be vigilant (alert) because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour...resist him...” (1 Pet. 5:8)
Jesus Himself warned “if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broke into.” (Matt. 24:43). So when Paul writes we are to ‘give no place to the devil’, (Eph. 4:27) he was serious about it.
Scripture makes no attempt to hide information from us concerning who this enemy is and what he does. It is Satan himself, a.k.a. the ‘devil’, that ‘serpent of old’ who deceives the whole world and the whole world is under his influence and control ( if they are not following Jesus) and that he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (Rev. 12:9; 1 John 5:19; John 10:10)
Paul gives us much insight as to the fact our struggles in this life are not so much with ‘flesh and blood’ but rather with spiritual elements and powers of darkness. (Eph. 6:12). So if you are spending more time battling with and raging against politicians and political systems and anti-gun rights people and wealthy individuals like the George Soros’s and Bill Gates of the world, you are barking up the wrong tree. I’m sorry if that offends you, but it’s true.
Your enemy is not ‘flesh and blood’. And for ‘Christian conservatives’ that want to ‘make it about those individuals, you are sounding just like the folks you detest when they want to ‘make it about the gun’ and not the deranged person behind the gun. If an individual is not a true follower of Christ, then they are ‘blind puppets’ being used by an unseen enemy. We ALL were in that place at one time. (Eph. 2:1-3). Why do you think Jesus looked on those who were taunting Him at the foot of the cross when He prayed “Father, forgive them...they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
And while my focus today is not on ‘spiritual warfare’, it would be good to be reminded that this enemy is not one to be ‘feared’. Nor are we to obsess or be consumed with him. But we are told that we are not ‘ignorant of his schemes’ and if we are we may be taken advantage of by him (2 Cor. 2:11). And one of those ‘schemes’ that he is proficient at is perverting, twisting, and misusing the word of God. In fact upon our first introduction to this spiritual foe back in Genesis 3, that is exactly what he did to deceive Adam and Eve which brought death and darkness upon this world we live in. He simply got them to believe ‘another gospel’. You should be familiar with that story now...God made it clear up front...’Don’t eat off this one tree or you will surely die.” (2:17). The ‘serpent’ popped up and first thing he did was cast doubt on God’s word. “Did God really say that?. Surely that is not what He meant...what He was really saying was this...so you shall surely Not die...” (Gen. 3:1-5)
Please note...it’s one thing to come across scripture that is confusing or unclear because you lack understanding of it. It’s another thing to just dismiss, reject, or toss it aside because you lack understanding of it. This happens often and the parable of the sower in Luke 8 shows us exactly what is happening when this occurs. We come across scripture we don’t understand...and then the ‘devil comes immediately to snatch the word from our hearts lest we believe and are saved’. (8:12; Matt. 13:19)
Before you know it, everyone is picking and choosing what works for them from the word. That might explain why we have so many denominations in the church world today and ‘recipes’ on ‘how to get to heaven’.). It’s reminiscent of the days when men tried building a tower into heaven and ended up speaking all kinds of confusing words. (Gen. 11- Tower of Babel)
Take for example...we all know John 3:16 and how ‘God so loved the world...He gave His Son...and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life’. So the message of salvation gets reduced to ‘just believe’...(whatever that means). Remember the big signs waving around in the end zone at football stadiums. “John 3:16”. Why do we never see Hebrews 5:9 that reads where Jesus became the author of eternal salvation to all them who ‘obey’ Him? So now what is it...is it ’just believe’ or ‘obey’? Why not both?
Another example of how the enemy can so subtly pervert our understanding of scripture...is when we hear ‘prominent voices’ declare something that we don’t study out for ourselves in light of scripture. I mean, Jesus did say many would come in these days in ‘His name’ and deceive many with distorted teachings and gospels. (Matt. 24 and 2 Cor. 11:2-3). I heard not long ago a very well-known and popular pastor draw this conclusion regarding sinful behavior and bad things happening as a result. He cited the case in John 9 where Jesus declared that the blindness of this one individual man who He healed was not a result of ‘his sin or his parent’s sin’. The pastor then said Jesus was ‘dispelling the idea that sickness or affliction could be associated with sin’ or ‘bad behavior’.
The problem with making such a blanket statement like that is he chose to ignore another incident just four chapters earlier in the same gospel where He healed a lame man and then told him to ‘sin no more or else something worse might happen to him.” (John 5:14). Do you see what I’m getting at here?
All that...to lead us back to our discussion from yesterday and trying to gain a better understanding as to what the ‘fear of the Lord’ really means. If it is an essential component to our relationship and understanding as to who God is and how we relate to Him, would it not be expected for this enemy of ours to distort and pervert this concept of ‘fearing God’? It takes little effort to ‘cherry pick’ an assortment of verses from the bible to establish a narrative that we want to propagate...be it a ‘health and wealth’ message or ‘positive thinking and speaking’ to ‘get what we want’ formula. It has been happening for a long time. So you can see the potential danger when we ‘grow at ease’ in Zion (Amos 6:1) and ‘settle in complacency’ (Zeph. 1:12) where we trust the ‘smart guy up front’ to tell us what to believe and we end up trusting in misguided doctrines of men that are designed to lead us astray and walk in a ‘form of godliness’ as opposed to being truly conformed into the nature and likeness of Jesus. (Rom. 8:29). Then you can see how that narrative plays out in Matt. 7:21-23 where Jesus said “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he that does the will of My Father in Heaven...”
I believe when we begin to study out the ‘whole counsel of God’ and see so many more verses that our hearts have grown callused to or been blinded from...and the reality of them begin to hit home...it awakens or introduces us to this thing we call ‘the fear of God’. Again, without trying to define the word, maybe just discussing what it seems to ‘do’ in us is another approach? For me, it’s been this revelation of...”Wow...there is some really serious stuff in here...and it seems to me that God really means what He says...”. It’s not like I become ‘afraid of God’ as much as it seems to stir an awakening to how serious all this faith with obedience really is and the potential consequences if ignored.
How many of you remember taking Driver’s Ed in high school or...maybe more recently a ‘defensive driving’ course because you got a ticket? There is an approach offered up, especially with younger ‘about to be drivers’, where graphic images and video are shown to them of ‘what could happen’ if they grow careless and ignore various laws that are set in place to keep them and others alive.
Are we trying to teach the kids to be ‘afraid of driving cars’?...or is there something else, perhaps? Maybe a ‘healthy respect’ for what is at stake here? We have no problem drilling into them that if they get distracted with their phone while driving, for example, that they could cause devastating pain and suffering as well as loss of life for themselves and others. Is that not what God was basically doing when He was drilling it in to His people before they crossed over the Jordan? “Do these things and you will live and be blessed...but if you do these things...this will happen to you.”
When God instructed Moses to ‘gather the people together that they might hear” what God had to say so that ‘they might learn to fear Him all the days of their lives’ (Deut 4:10) it was a defining moment in their introduction to God...as to who He was and what He was all about and...what He expected of His people if they wanted things to go well for them.
When did God change?
Modern day theology has taught us that Jesus is basically some ‘get out of jail free’ card and that as long as we said we believed in Him, that it was not only a ‘free pass to heaven’ but oddly enough...some kind of immunity to the consequences of sin. You know, sort of like the rebel teenager who continues to drive recklessly because ‘his dad is the local judge’. Nothing could be further from the truth. When we come to a point where we truly recognize there is more to this ‘walk of faith’ besides just ‘believing’...and that we are expected to ‘follow and obey...or else’...it is then that you might actually get a taste for yourself of experiencing a genuine ‘fear of God’. In turn, it can fuel a greater passion to draw near to Him, learn of Him, love Him and follow and obey Him...because you have come to the realization as to what really is at eternal stake here.
We live in a truly dark and broken world. And there is more happening out there than meets the eye. You may think you will ‘get through’ on your own but Jesus makes it clear that none of us are getting out of here without Him. (John 14:6) When one’s eyes are opened and begin seeing for real...the truth of God’s word which includes both promises and warnings...the 'fear of God' will propel you to draw even closer to Him and give ‘more earnest heed’ to His word. And the result of drawing near and abiding in Him results in more freedom...more peace...more joy...and more love that flows from His heart to ours. And isn’t that what we are all searching for anyway? Have a great day. :- )
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