Wrestlers for Christ (continued)
Through Delusion of Mind
The world is being flooded by organizations and movements and fellowships, many of them satanic in origin, many of them containing half-truths and half lies, subtle counterfeits that deceive even the very elect. satan today will take even that most glorious truth, the truth of the Holy Spirit, and he will use it and capitalize it for himself. Thus, through cunning deception, satan lays hold upon many hungry-hearted people and leads them away from the Lord and His Word.
Through Distraction of Heart
There has never been a time of such universal distress upon the earth. Many of God's children have been caught in the vortex of it. The loss of position, money, or business; experiences of crushing sorrow or unprecedented conditions have so laid hold upon some and have brought such distraction of heart that people cannot even get their minds upon the Lord. I have had letters from people suffering from just this kind of distraction of heart.
Through Deflection of the Will
The supreme business of the Christian is to do the will of God. But what is God's will? That is the question that countless people are asking today. They are thoroughly distressed over matters of guidance. As a citizen, what is to be one's attitude toward world problems? There are things going on in the church that we cannot believe are according to the Word of God or according to the standard set by Christ. As members of the church, what are we going to do? Are we to protest? Are we to stay in the church or not? There are problems of the mission field - the relation of the missionary to the board, the relation of the missionary with his fellow workers, where, perhaps, there are two in the same station teaching exactly opposite things. A pastor's wife in Chine came to me and said, "What am I to tell the heathen women I am bringing to church Sunday by Sunday, when at one service one missionary preached on the deity of Christ, and the next Sunday a missionary living on the same compound denied the deity of Christ? What shall that pastor's wife do? These are problems which are facing us today as never before. There are the problems connected with our social life. Here is a home where the Word of God is believed and taught; and the children go out into the school and the university and into society and they are almost forced into things which are against the principles of those parents. What are the parents to do? stand out against these things, or yield to these things that their children are having to face today as members of society? As members of society, how can we keep unspotted from the world? So satan tries to darken the mind and to bring about discord.
Through Distress of Body
How many of God's saints are meeting real attacks from the evil one in the realm of the body?
Through Discord in the Home
Through alienation between husband and wife, parents and children, and through misunderstanding between members of the same family, satan causes discord in the home.
Through Division in the Church
Yes, there is division in that part of the Church that is sound and true and evangelical. It has been my privilege to travel in ten different countries in Europe. I am sorry to say it, but I have scarcely touched in any country any work that is absolutely sound and true and evangelical, that there is not somewhere at the heart of it, or within it, division that is caused by intolerance of workers one with another, by insignificant things, by jealousies. It is the devil's most deadly work within the evangelical part of the Church of Jesus Christ.
These are some of the ways in which satan is working today. They are enough to set before us the truth that we are in the midst of a spiritual warfare.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 26 - "The Wrestler: Equipment for Warfare")
Saturday, September 7, 2013
No Way Out But God
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day (Genesis 32:24).
God is wrestling with Jacob more than Jacob is wrestling with God. It was the Son of man, the Angel of the Covenant. It was God in human form pressing down and pressing out the old Jacob life; and ere the morning broke, God had prevailed and Jacob fell with his thigh dislocated. But as he fell, he fell into the arms of God, and there he clung and wrestled, too, until the blessing came; and the new life was born and he arose from the earthly to the heavenly, the human to the divine, the natural to the supernatural. And as he went forth that morning he was a weak and broken man, but God was there instead; and the heavenly voice proclaimed, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."
Beloved, this must ever be a typical scene in every transformed life. There comes a crisis-hour to each of us, if God has called us to the highest and best, when all resources fail; when we face either ruin or something higher than we ever dreamed; when we must have infinite help from God and yet, ere we can have it, we must let something go; we must surrender completely; we must cease from our own wisdom. strength, and righteousness, and become crucified with Christ and alive in Him. God knows how to lead us up to this crisis, and He knows how to lead us through.
Is He leading you thus? Is this the meaning of your deep trial, or your difficult surroundings, or that impossible situation. or that trying place through which you cannot go without Him, and yet you have not enough of Him to give you the victory?
Oh, turn to Jacob's God! Cast yourself helplessly at His feet. Die to your strength and wisdom in His loving arms and rise, like Jacob, into His strength and all-sufficiency. There is no way out of your hard and narrow place but at the top. You must get deliverance by rising higher and coming into a new experience with God. Oh, may it bring you into all that is meant by the revelation of the Mighty One of Jacob! There is no way out but God.
~L. B. Cowman~
Friday, September 6, 2013
Called Unto Holiness # 24
Wrestlers for Christ (continued)
This is where you and I come into this warfare. When Jesus Christ was upon earth every attack was against that precious physical body of His, the body He took upon Him in order that He might lay it down in death upon the Cross as your Saviour and mine. He rose out of the tomb with that same body, but a spiritual body. He is today at the right hand of the Father in that body; He is there as the God-man, as your High Priest and as mine. Now we are His mystical body; we are the only part of Christ that the devil can now touch. We are the visible part of Him on earth. That is why you and I come into this awful warfare; your life and mine are a part of that battlefield on which this spiritual warfare is being conducted.
satan's Tactics
How does satan work in this warfare? Our first necessity is to know the enemy's position, and the second is to know the enemy's tactics.
"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11).
We must understand satan's objective. The Lord tells us what it is. He said to Peter, "Simon, Simon ... satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." satan is hell's head gangster. He is in this world seeking to steal that pearl of great price that belongs only to the Lord Jesus Christ. And every bit of his work is done as a gangster of the underworld, one whose work is done through deception and subtlety. There is no mean and despicable trick he will not employ. He reveals in the torment of the saints. He bores his way trough into your life and mine in order to get control of them. He comes in, mainly through our imaginations, our thoughts, our attitudes. He comes into that innermost part of our being so silently and so subtly that we hardly know it is he, and we hardly know he is there. Then, once he is there, he attempts to overthrow and overcome us by the invasion of a sudden temptation at a time when he is likely to find us unsuspecting and unprepared.
Notice that God does not tell us to put on that armor of His in order to stand against the strength of the devil, but in order to stand against the "wiles" of the devil. That is what you and I need to guard against: the wiles of the devil. How does he get in through these wiles? I want to mention a few of the ways in which he is working today in us personally.
Through Depression of Spirit
Oh, the number of saints today in whom the devil not only has a place but has control through depression! He brings to them doubts and discouragements regarding their spiritual condition. Whenever such doubts and discouragements assail you, you may know that it is of the devil. God never torments one of His children. And when this depression of spirit means torment and torture for you and me, we may know that it is the devil at work in our hearts. It is his mark.
All he wants is that we should get our eyes off Christ. If he can do that through this concern about our spiritual condition, he has won his first victory in your life and mine. He will lead us on to morbid introspection and to a deadly dissection and analysis of our spiritual condition. This is fatal! The moment we find ourselves doing this, we should be on our guard. satan never asks for the control of your life and mine at the first. All he asks is for a place there. We have that command so simple and definite, "Neither give place to the devil." All he wants, first of all, in your life is standing room, and he knows if he can get standing room he will soon get control; and he can get that standing room through depression of spirit.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 25 - "Through Delusion of Mind")
This is where you and I come into this warfare. When Jesus Christ was upon earth every attack was against that precious physical body of His, the body He took upon Him in order that He might lay it down in death upon the Cross as your Saviour and mine. He rose out of the tomb with that same body, but a spiritual body. He is today at the right hand of the Father in that body; He is there as the God-man, as your High Priest and as mine. Now we are His mystical body; we are the only part of Christ that the devil can now touch. We are the visible part of Him on earth. That is why you and I come into this awful warfare; your life and mine are a part of that battlefield on which this spiritual warfare is being conducted.
satan's Tactics
How does satan work in this warfare? Our first necessity is to know the enemy's position, and the second is to know the enemy's tactics.
"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11).
We must understand satan's objective. The Lord tells us what it is. He said to Peter, "Simon, Simon ... satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." satan is hell's head gangster. He is in this world seeking to steal that pearl of great price that belongs only to the Lord Jesus Christ. And every bit of his work is done as a gangster of the underworld, one whose work is done through deception and subtlety. There is no mean and despicable trick he will not employ. He reveals in the torment of the saints. He bores his way trough into your life and mine in order to get control of them. He comes in, mainly through our imaginations, our thoughts, our attitudes. He comes into that innermost part of our being so silently and so subtly that we hardly know it is he, and we hardly know he is there. Then, once he is there, he attempts to overthrow and overcome us by the invasion of a sudden temptation at a time when he is likely to find us unsuspecting and unprepared.
Notice that God does not tell us to put on that armor of His in order to stand against the strength of the devil, but in order to stand against the "wiles" of the devil. That is what you and I need to guard against: the wiles of the devil. How does he get in through these wiles? I want to mention a few of the ways in which he is working today in us personally.
Through Depression of Spirit
Oh, the number of saints today in whom the devil not only has a place but has control through depression! He brings to them doubts and discouragements regarding their spiritual condition. Whenever such doubts and discouragements assail you, you may know that it is of the devil. God never torments one of His children. And when this depression of spirit means torment and torture for you and me, we may know that it is the devil at work in our hearts. It is his mark.
All he wants is that we should get our eyes off Christ. If he can do that through this concern about our spiritual condition, he has won his first victory in your life and mine. He will lead us on to morbid introspection and to a deadly dissection and analysis of our spiritual condition. This is fatal! The moment we find ourselves doing this, we should be on our guard. satan never asks for the control of your life and mine at the first. All he asks is for a place there. We have that command so simple and definite, "Neither give place to the devil." All he wants, first of all, in your life is standing room, and he knows if he can get standing room he will soon get control; and he can get that standing room through depression of spirit.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 25 - "Through Delusion of Mind")
The Priority of Obedience
The Creator gave two commands to Adam and Eve—first, to fill the earth and rule over it, and second, not to eat from a certain tree in the Garden (Gen. 1:28;2:17). Because they chose to disobey, their relationship with God was broken, and they had to leave Eden.
The first couple’s rebellion not only impacted their own lives but also had far broader implications: all future generations have suffered. In Romans 5:12-19, the apostle Paul explained the reason. Through the trespass of one man, Adam, sin made its entrance into the world, and death resulted for all mankind. Because Adam was head of the human race, his actions affected everyone born after him. His disobedience resulted in each of us having a bent away from the Lord and a desire for self-rule.
By contrast, Jesus made conformity to the Lord’s will the priority of His life. He obeyed God in both word and deed (John 8:28-29). Having lived a perfect life—one entirely without sin—He qualified to be our Savior (2 Cor. 5:21). Through the death of one man, Christ Jesus, payment was made for the transgressions of all mankind. God’s acceptance of the Son’s sacrifice brought us forgiveness and freedom from sin’s power.
Adam’s disobedience brought judgment and death upon us, whereas Jesus’ obedience resulted in new life for all who believe in Him (Rom. 6:4). Our Savior calls us to deny selfish desires, live sacrificially, and follow Him (Matt. 16:24). A godly life will bring Jesus honor and influence others for Him.
~Charles Stanley~
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Called Unto Holiness # 23
Wrestlers for Christ
Our Foe
The stage of the battle is set. We wrestle. It is an intense struggle; it is a hand-to-hand combat. We "wrestle against" - five times the word "against" is used. We have an out-and-out adversary; there is a fierce, aggressive, active, satanic opposition. Who here has not felt it? Who of us has not met it in his own personal life, in his home, in his work? But we are so apt to think that this conflict is with flesh and blood, that it is with some person in our home with whom we find it almost impossible to live, although it may be a blood relative. You dread to go back again to that person tomorrow; it is a comfort to be away from that person even for a short time. It may be some missionary is here who is glad to be on furlough because he is not living any longer with that person he has had to live with! The furlough means partly getting away from that person for a time. Let us be honest. We have considered that our wrestling was with flesh and blood, and we have been fighting against the human element, that is why we are defeated, and we have not won. But "we wrestle not against flesh and blood," not against a human, visible foe, not against a foe that is our equal or one on the same place with us. No, it is against a superhuman, invisible foe that we wrestle.
satan: A person
In this chapter there is revealed a distinct alignment between God and His hosts, and satan and his hosts. Supernatural persons are pitted against each other. It is perfectly foolish for us to underestimate satan's power. He is an actual, active, aggressive enemy. And this chapter reveals to us that he is the head of a host which is organized, mobilized, and energized by himself. Our adversary is a supernatural person. What are some of his names? He is the deceiver, the devourer, the temper,the accuser, a liar, a murderer. These names indicate his nature; they make us shiver with fear and recoil with loathing. All these names indicate what he is like. He seduces, he deceives. His work is destructive and diabolical, and this is our adversary.
satan: His Position
As a supernatural person he occupies a superior position. Christ Himself three times spoke of him as "the prince of this world," with governmental authority over men. He is "the prince of the power of the air," with governmental authority over evil spirits. He is "the god of this world," with spiritual authority over men.
satan: his Power
He is a person with supernatural power. The Bible does not deny it; it calls that supernatural power "the power of darkness." He is strong, powerful, and mighty. He is powerful in his methods, which are those of the gangsters of the underworld. He works by wiles, strategies, devices, and subtleties. The Bible says he is powerful in organization. He works through principalities and and hosts of wickedness. He is powerful in equipment; he has a stronghold, armor, spoils and goods. Our adversary is a supernatural person, occupying a superior position and exercising supernatural power.
satan: a Defeated foe
It is foolish to underestimate the power of satan, but it is fatal to overestimate it. There are people who talk too much about the devil and too much about his power. His power is mighty, but it is NOT almighty; he is powerful, but he is NOT all-powerful. He is an absolutely defeated foe. Christ is the stronger man, and He has bound the strong man, and has despoiled him of his goods. As the representative man in the wilderness, He met the devil and He won a decisive victory over him; and He won it in the only way in which you and I can win that same victory. He was led into the wilderness filled with the Holy Spirit, and the only weapon He had was the Word of God. Three times as He faced that tempter He said, "It is written!" And there is no man or woman here who may not go back and gain the victory in that same way, filled with the Holy Spirit and with the precious Word in the mind and in the heart, ready to be used in any moment of temptation. The devil can be a defeated foe for you and for me.
The death of Jesus Christ wrested from satan every vestige of his claim upon mankind. Through the resurrection and the ascension He returned to His Father as Victor over satan and all the forces of hell and of sin. He openly triumphed over all principalities and powers. Through His exaltation He was crowned Lord of lords, and King of kings; Lord of the universe, and "Head over all things to the Church" by the Father. Through His finished work, Jesus Christ entered satan's territory and won it back inch by inch for His Father. satan was judged and sentenced and doomed when Jesus Christ died upon the Cross, but the sentence has not been fully executed and will not be until Christ returns. So, in the meantime, he contests the Lord's victory and fights to retain sinners in his captivity and to regain saints under his control.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 24)
Our Foe
The stage of the battle is set. We wrestle. It is an intense struggle; it is a hand-to-hand combat. We "wrestle against" - five times the word "against" is used. We have an out-and-out adversary; there is a fierce, aggressive, active, satanic opposition. Who here has not felt it? Who of us has not met it in his own personal life, in his home, in his work? But we are so apt to think that this conflict is with flesh and blood, that it is with some person in our home with whom we find it almost impossible to live, although it may be a blood relative. You dread to go back again to that person tomorrow; it is a comfort to be away from that person even for a short time. It may be some missionary is here who is glad to be on furlough because he is not living any longer with that person he has had to live with! The furlough means partly getting away from that person for a time. Let us be honest. We have considered that our wrestling was with flesh and blood, and we have been fighting against the human element, that is why we are defeated, and we have not won. But "we wrestle not against flesh and blood," not against a human, visible foe, not against a foe that is our equal or one on the same place with us. No, it is against a superhuman, invisible foe that we wrestle.
satan: A person
In this chapter there is revealed a distinct alignment between God and His hosts, and satan and his hosts. Supernatural persons are pitted against each other. It is perfectly foolish for us to underestimate satan's power. He is an actual, active, aggressive enemy. And this chapter reveals to us that he is the head of a host which is organized, mobilized, and energized by himself. Our adversary is a supernatural person. What are some of his names? He is the deceiver, the devourer, the temper,the accuser, a liar, a murderer. These names indicate his nature; they make us shiver with fear and recoil with loathing. All these names indicate what he is like. He seduces, he deceives. His work is destructive and diabolical, and this is our adversary.
satan: His Position
As a supernatural person he occupies a superior position. Christ Himself three times spoke of him as "the prince of this world," with governmental authority over men. He is "the prince of the power of the air," with governmental authority over evil spirits. He is "the god of this world," with spiritual authority over men.
satan: his Power
He is a person with supernatural power. The Bible does not deny it; it calls that supernatural power "the power of darkness." He is strong, powerful, and mighty. He is powerful in his methods, which are those of the gangsters of the underworld. He works by wiles, strategies, devices, and subtleties. The Bible says he is powerful in organization. He works through principalities and and hosts of wickedness. He is powerful in equipment; he has a stronghold, armor, spoils and goods. Our adversary is a supernatural person, occupying a superior position and exercising supernatural power.
satan: a Defeated foe
It is foolish to underestimate the power of satan, but it is fatal to overestimate it. There are people who talk too much about the devil and too much about his power. His power is mighty, but it is NOT almighty; he is powerful, but he is NOT all-powerful. He is an absolutely defeated foe. Christ is the stronger man, and He has bound the strong man, and has despoiled him of his goods. As the representative man in the wilderness, He met the devil and He won a decisive victory over him; and He won it in the only way in which you and I can win that same victory. He was led into the wilderness filled with the Holy Spirit, and the only weapon He had was the Word of God. Three times as He faced that tempter He said, "It is written!" And there is no man or woman here who may not go back and gain the victory in that same way, filled with the Holy Spirit and with the precious Word in the mind and in the heart, ready to be used in any moment of temptation. The devil can be a defeated foe for you and for me.
The death of Jesus Christ wrested from satan every vestige of his claim upon mankind. Through the resurrection and the ascension He returned to His Father as Victor over satan and all the forces of hell and of sin. He openly triumphed over all principalities and powers. Through His exaltation He was crowned Lord of lords, and King of kings; Lord of the universe, and "Head over all things to the Church" by the Father. Through His finished work, Jesus Christ entered satan's territory and won it back inch by inch for His Father. satan was judged and sentenced and doomed when Jesus Christ died upon the Cross, but the sentence has not been fully executed and will not be until Christ returns. So, in the meantime, he contests the Lord's victory and fights to retain sinners in his captivity and to regain saints under his control.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 24)
Alone
The hill was steep, but cheered along the way
By converse sweet, I mounted on the thought
That so it might be till the height was reached;
But suddenly a narrow winding path
Appeared, and then the Master said, 'My child,
Here thou wilt safest walk with Me alone.'
I trembled, yet my heart's deep trust replied,
'So be it, Lord.' He took my feeble hand
In His, accepting thus my will to yield Him
All, and to find all in Him.
One long, dark moment,
And no friend I saw, save Jesus only.
But oh! so tenderly He led me on
And up, and spoke to me such words of cheer,
Such secret whisperings of His wondrous love,
That soon I told Him all my grief and fear,
And leaned on His strong arm confidingly.
And then I found my footsteps quickened,
And light ineffable, the rugged way
Illumined, such light as only can be seen
In close companionship with God.
A little while, and we shall meet again
The loved and lost; but in the rapturous joy
Of greetings, such as here we cannot know,
And happy song, and heavenly embraces,
And tender recollections rushing back
Of pilgrim life, methinks one memory
More dear and sacred than the rest, shall rise,
And we who gather in the golden streets,
Shall oft be stirred to speak with grateful love
Of that dark day when Jesus bade us climb
Some narrow steep, leaning on Him alone.
By converse sweet, I mounted on the thought
That so it might be till the height was reached;
But suddenly a narrow winding path
Appeared, and then the Master said, 'My child,
Here thou wilt safest walk with Me alone.'
I trembled, yet my heart's deep trust replied,
'So be it, Lord.' He took my feeble hand
In His, accepting thus my will to yield Him
All, and to find all in Him.
One long, dark moment,
And no friend I saw, save Jesus only.
But oh! so tenderly He led me on
And up, and spoke to me such words of cheer,
Such secret whisperings of His wondrous love,
That soon I told Him all my grief and fear,
And leaned on His strong arm confidingly.
And then I found my footsteps quickened,
And light ineffable, the rugged way
Illumined, such light as only can be seen
In close companionship with God.
A little while, and we shall meet again
The loved and lost; but in the rapturous joy
Of greetings, such as here we cannot know,
And happy song, and heavenly embraces,
And tender recollections rushing back
Of pilgrim life, methinks one memory
More dear and sacred than the rest, shall rise,
And we who gather in the golden streets,
Shall oft be stirred to speak with grateful love
Of that dark day when Jesus bade us climb
Some narrow steep, leaning on Him alone.
"There is no high hill but beside some deep valley. There is no birth without a pang."
--Dan Crawford
--Dan Crawford
~L. B. Cowman~
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Called Unto Holiness # 22
Wrestlers for Christ (continued)
The Call to Warfare
A few years ago in China I was asked to take a Bible class for young men in the professions. I never like to assume a task like that without entering into some new, deeper experience in my own life. I am afraid of giving to others from out of stale manna. I always want some fresh, new touch of God upon my own life. So, as I took this Epistle to the Ephesians for that Bible teaching, I asked the Lord to give some new message to me, to make some new demands upon my own life. When I came to verse 12, chapter 6 (Ephesians), the Lord gave it to me in that word "wrestle." "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." I said, Yes, that is a new call! I have been a witness; I have been a worker at home and in the mission field, but never before have I had a call made to me to be a spiritual wrestler. Friends, I did not know what it meant! I would have been a cowardly had I known all that it meant to make the promise to God that I would be a spiritual wrestler. But I did promise, and I asked Him if He could trust me, that He would put me out in the front line, in the firing line, in the thickest of the fight. In these last few years He has let me know a little of what it meas to be a spiritual wrestler in a real spiritual warfare.
This then is the message that He has given to me to bring to you today: simply to be His voice, making the last call to the people that you will not be satisfied with being merely a witness, with being even a worker, but that you will offer yourself to God to be a spiritual wrestler, a spiritual warrior, with all that may be involved in a real spiritual conflict, for the victory in your home, in your church, in your community, in your country, and in this world, in these last days before the Lord comes.
Our Foe
Let us turn, therefore, to chapter 6 and so learn about this spiritual warfare and all that it means from God's own Word. "Finally, my brethren." Paul does not say, "my fellow apostles," or "my fellow commanders." No, he says, "My brethren." Paul is saying there, "my fellow soldiers." No Christian is exempt from this warfare. God has no place for spiritual pacifists. He calls every saint to arms.
"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 23)
The Call to Warfare
A few years ago in China I was asked to take a Bible class for young men in the professions. I never like to assume a task like that without entering into some new, deeper experience in my own life. I am afraid of giving to others from out of stale manna. I always want some fresh, new touch of God upon my own life. So, as I took this Epistle to the Ephesians for that Bible teaching, I asked the Lord to give some new message to me, to make some new demands upon my own life. When I came to verse 12, chapter 6 (Ephesians), the Lord gave it to me in that word "wrestle." "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." I said, Yes, that is a new call! I have been a witness; I have been a worker at home and in the mission field, but never before have I had a call made to me to be a spiritual wrestler. Friends, I did not know what it meant! I would have been a cowardly had I known all that it meant to make the promise to God that I would be a spiritual wrestler. But I did promise, and I asked Him if He could trust me, that He would put me out in the front line, in the firing line, in the thickest of the fight. In these last few years He has let me know a little of what it meas to be a spiritual wrestler in a real spiritual warfare.
This then is the message that He has given to me to bring to you today: simply to be His voice, making the last call to the people that you will not be satisfied with being merely a witness, with being even a worker, but that you will offer yourself to God to be a spiritual wrestler, a spiritual warrior, with all that may be involved in a real spiritual conflict, for the victory in your home, in your church, in your community, in your country, and in this world, in these last days before the Lord comes.
Our Foe
Let us turn, therefore, to chapter 6 and so learn about this spiritual warfare and all that it means from God's own Word. "Finally, my brethren." Paul does not say, "my fellow apostles," or "my fellow commanders." No, he says, "My brethren." Paul is saying there, "my fellow soldiers." No Christian is exempt from this warfare. God has no place for spiritual pacifists. He calls every saint to arms.
"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 23)
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