Beware of the Dogs # 4

Beware of the False Cross

So "the dogs" encircled Christ, and they hedged Him in, and the Lord cries: "They pierced My hands and My feet." Now in this Psalm, we find that satan and his evil host of wickedness not only caused the Lord's hands and feet to be pierced by the Roman soldiers, but in the invisible realm of the warfare in the heavenlies that encompassed the Cross of Christ, they were also doing their all to pierce the hands and feet of the Son of God. This means that "the power of the dogs", the hand of the  dogs, were doing their evil all to stop Christ from ascending to the Right Hand of God. Furthermore, in this unseen realm of the warfare that was taking place when our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was upon the Cross, satan and all of His evil host were doing their all to keep themselves from being made the footstool of Christ, which meant their total and absolute subjection and defeat!

Remember, David had prayed another prayer, and the Eternal Lord had spoke through him: "The Eternal Lord says to My Lord (the Christ): 'Sit at My Right Hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet' " (Psalm 110:1). And, beloved, when satan and his evildoers surrounded the Cross of Christ, every evil strategy, every abomination, every wickedness, every malignant, venomous, deceitful, deadly thing ascended out of the depths of satan, as satan and his satanic host encompassed the Cross of Christ. And their full intent was to kill the Son of God and, thereby, destroy everything that the Eternal God had purposed in the Christ. The supreme battle of all battles that had even been fought or ever will be fought - in the visible and the invisible realm - took place at the Cross and the resurrection and the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:19-23; Hebrews 1:3; 2:7, 8).

But satan and all of his evil host could not kill Him, because not long before Jesus was to be crucified, He said: "Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:17, 18). Then when He was being crucified, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, "I thirst." Then they offered Him vinegar. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, "It is finished": and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost (John 19:28-30). Christ, Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High" (Hebrews 1:3).

Beloved, let us never forget, because satan and his satanic host that pierced Christ's hands and feet can never forget it: It was, and is, and ever shall be, the Lamb as it had been slain - bearing the wounds of the Cross in His Glorified Body - Who is standing in the midst of the Throne" (Revelation 5;6). And the One Who is standing in the midst of the Throne is also "in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks" - which "are the seven churches" - and He is saying: "Fear not; I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:13, 20, 17, 18). Beloved, all that satan had ever done, and could ever do, and would ever do was triumphed over by the death and the resurrection and the ascension of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. No wonder "the dogs" are the enemies of the Cross of Christ.

Every Knee Shall Bow, and Every Tongue Shall Confess

The Bible says that Christ, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient - submissive - unto death, even the death of the Cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth [every being in every, whether in the visible or the invisible realm, shall bow their knee; and that every tongue should confess that  Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:6-11).

Now we know that every one that accepts Christ as their Saviour will be among those who willingly, adoringly bow their knee, and confess that Jesus is their Lord and Saviour, He is their supreme Master and Lord of all - to the Glory of God the Father. But we want to also understand that the Word of God says that every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This also includes the unwilling, evil realm of satan who is the ruler of the kingdom of darkness, because the phrase, "and every thing under the earth," speaks of the dark realm that is in the depths, the bottomless pit of satan's heart.

Consequently, there is no doubt that we are involved in a great conflict with the enemies of the Cross of Christ, and because of this we need to comprehend what it means for us to bow our knee, and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And, it is absolutely essential that we learn what it means when the enemy and his hosts must bow their knee, and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But we must also realize that there is a complete and total difference when the people of God willingly bow their knee, and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, than there is when satan and his hosts must bow, and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The main difference is that the Cross of Christ is the Glory of God the Father, but satan and his hosts are the enemies of the Cross of Christ. One of the greatest examples of this difference between the people of God and the servants of satan can be found in Exodus 11:4-8, when the Lord established the Passover.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 5)