Matthew 10:34-38
34  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.
35  For I have come to ‘SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW’;
36  and ‘A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THOSE OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD.’
37  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

Although our weapons are spiritual, not carnal, and our fight is with principalities and powers, not flesh and blood. As Christians we will still experience the fight we have entered, as the powers of the enemy manifest through the evil desires of the flesh, both our own sinful desires, and sinful desires of other people. If we are truly in Christ, then we shall most definitely experience the reality of being in the midst of battle. Whereas if this is not our experience on a daily basis, at the very least this should cause alarm bells to sound in our spirit, for it is a clear indicator that all is not right in our walk with Christ.

Whilst in this battle, we will be face to face with all sorts of manifestations of the enemy principalities and powers, as they work their way out in the desires of our own flesh, and that of other people too. The enemy will attempt to drag us away by tempting us in our weaknesses and past addictions on a personal level, and will cause the manifestations of the flesh in others, such as jealousy, hatred, bitterness etc., to rise up against us. But the important thing we have to remember is, if we are truly dead to ourselves and alive in Christ, this battle is no longer our own, but the Lord’s. We simply become as soldiers who are subject to the orders of their Commander in Chief, and our orders are written clearly throughout the teaching of Scripture, and through the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit.

From the perspective of our own internal battle, we must learn to embrace the act of dying to ourself, for this is the command of Scripture. We must surrender fully to the prospect of putting away every desire of our flesh, every earthly need, and every selfish ambition, in favour of seeking to pick up those of the Lord. And in return we must learn to trust that, as we commit ourselves to this act of humble obedience, He will take care of those needs we once considered above all in our lives.

1 Timothy 6:10-14
10  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11  But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
12  Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
13  I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
14  that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,

(The “love of money” mentioned in verse 10 above, could just as easily apply to any other worldly desire in our life that we put before our desire for the Lord.)

When the Lord revives us from our slumber, the internal fight is what we notice more than anything else. As we surrender to the Truth of His Word, and apply it obediently to our life, we begin to experience the Spirit of God cutting away the things of offense within us. We will find a growing awareness of our own weakness and failure, and our need for Him alone. We will grow in our understanding of the reality of sin, death, and the judgment of God against such things, and our dire need for Him to extend His great mercy towards us constantly. And a passion and hunger for His truth and righteousness will begin to grow within us, which will in turn drive us to His Word alone as the Truth, where we will begin to feast with all our might.

It is this process in our lives that, in the Lord’s timing, will bring us to a place of fighting, not just to work out the salvation in our own lives, but to stand and fight for the salvation of those around us too. As the truth of His Word renews our mind, we grow in confidence in Him, knowing in a deeper way that which He has secured on our behalf, and the power of the Holy Spirit within us to work out those purposes in our life, all for His glory. He will lead us to a place of fighting for the salvation of others, by standing upon and contending for the truth according to His Word, boldly proclaiming, exhorting and teaching others, including some who are already professing Christians, to embrace the Lord in the same manner.

This is the reality of “making disciples of all nations” that Jesus Christ commands us to carry out. It is not our own wisdom or power that will acheive anything, but it is the instruction of Christ Himself, passed on directly to the apostles for the edification of the Body of Christ, and through the proclamation of the instruction they passed down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we instruct and guide others by that same wisdom.

Contrary to what we may first think, we actually find that our battle in this arena lies not so much outside, but inside the boundaries of the visible church. As we grow in maturity and godly wisdom, purely by clinging to His Word as the Truth alone, the Lord begins to use those believers to come against the ungodly deceivers that are rampant within the confines of the church across the denominations, that those who are genuinely His are woken up from their slumber.

Jude 1:3-4
3  Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
4  For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 7:15
15  “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

Acts 20:29-31
29  For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
30  Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.
31  Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

As we enter more fully into this area of the battle, we will experience many painful times, for we are dealing with the true strongholds the Bible speaks of, and those that the devil will protect with great force. But providing we remember that the battle is the Lord’s and not our own, and we remember to fight in the power of His might, and not our own; then we will be victorious. Also we must remember that as we experience a growing sense of liberty in our own lives as we submit to God in this way, we must realise that it is for the specific purpose of serving Him here and now, by entering into the mission of Christ Himself to set the captives free by proclaiming this time of Grace that has been given to us, and exhorting every creature to repent and believe the Gospel.

Amongst other things, this external battle to further the Gospel and make disciples of all nations, must have at its heart a constant travailing prayer for one another, and for those around us. We must also truly begin to realise how precious is even one soul to God, and how greatly He desires all men to be saved.

James 5:16-20
16  Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17  Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
18  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19  Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
20  let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Finally we have to remind ourselves often that the battle we are in will not be forever. It may feel tiresome at times, we may feel tired and weary at times, and if we are faithful, we will most definitely enter the Kingdom of Heaven exhausted and battle scarred! But there we will be revived, and if we are faithful to the end, we will witness others at our side that are there because we fought for their salvation, just as Christ and other faithful believers fought for ours. And at that time, the long, hard battle we have been in during our life in this world will disappear like a puff of smoke in the wind!

If anyone reading this feels a heaviness of heart at the prospect of such a battle, it would serve you well to remember that the blessed hope we have is for a time to come, not necessarily now, and how great is the hope that we have! I will let the apostle Paul remind you in the same words He so reminded the church in Rome in his own day:

Romans 8:15-39
15  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
16  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17  and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19  For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
21  because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22  For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
23  Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
24  For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
25  But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26  Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27  Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33  Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34  Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36  As it is written: “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER.”
37  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sourced from: Townhill Christian Fellowship Blog

Originally posted 2009-11-22 22:45:57. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Sourced from: The Sacred Sandwich

Originally posted 2009-11-10 19:07:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Sourced from: The Sacred Sandwich

Originally posted 2009-12-07 09:57:19. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Success in God’s eyes is being totally fulfilled in ministering to him. Such servants aren’t striving to “make it” or seeking earthly security. They only want to know their Lord and to minister to Him.

Think about the 100 prophets hidden by Obadiah (1 Kings 18:4). They lived an isolated existence in caves for at least three to four years, during a severe famine. These men had no outside ministry. They were completely out of the public’s view, forgotten by most people. They couldn’t even share in Elijah’s victory on Mount Carmel. No doubt, the world would call them failures, insignificant men who hadn’t accomplished anything.

Yet God had given these devoted servants the precious gift of time. They had days, weeks, even years to pray, study, grow and minister to the Lord. You see, God was preparing them for the day when he would release them to minister to his people. Indeed, these same men would shepherd those who returned to God under Elijah’s ministry.

Years ago, the Lord blessed me with this gift of time. Before I ever pastored a church, I went into the woods and preached to the birds and trees. I had no plans, no agenda, no dreams. I only wanted to get to know God’s heart. So I prayed daily, seeking the Lord and ministering to him. And I marked my Bible from cover to cover. I was hidden, not seen by anyone. But God knew my address all along.

My advice is, “Quit looking for ministry. Spend your time seeking God instead. He knows where to find you. He’ll summon you when he sees you are ready. Forget what others are doing. Strive to be a success at God’s throne. If you’re ministering to the Lord and praying for others, you are already a success in his eyes!”

Originally posted 2009-08-22 13:14:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

We must remember as Christians that we are creatures of both spirit and flesh, and whilst those born again from above are new creatures in Christ, fully redeemed by His blood and justified in the sight of God, the same is not true of our flesh. Our flesh is as corrupt after becoming born again as it was prior to this happening, and until the time comes when Christ calls us into His eternal glory, no good thing shall ever be found within our flesh.

The reality a Christian believer has been called into, is that of putting to death the members of his flesh on a daily basis, by the power of the Spirit of God Who dwells within them.

Romans 6:19
19  I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

Colossians 3:4-5
4  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
5  Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

The crucial thing we often tend to miss however, is the role the mind of a believer plays in bringing the flesh into submission. In truth, the mind of a true believer becomes the battleground on which spiritual war rages, and is only won as the Spirit of God is allowed to wield the Sword of Truth against all the lies of the flesh that have been allowed to fester there.

Contrary to the popular teaching of spiritual warfare, where the believer is encouraged to bind the devil in every manifestation of evil around, as though some sort of spiritual Wyatt Earp. Instead the believer is exhorted to a constant process of self examination in the Light of Scripture, whilst maintaining an attitude of total surrender to the Holy Spirit, that He may cut away everything within the believer’s heart and mind that is offensive to the Lord Himself. This may well be a long hard process, but it is this very process of bringing the believer into the Kingdom through many tribulations, that prepares each one of us for an eternity spent with Him.

There will always be an urgent need for us to lift up those around us in our families and communities to the Lord, that He may impact their lives for His glory. And for those who sincerely want to live as beacons reflecting His glory and love in the community surrounding them, ongoing, fervent prayer must be as second nature as breathing. However if we are sincere in our desire to take the offensive, and put to death our members in the earth, bending the desires of our flesh to the will of our Lord instead; we must focus on serving the Lord with our minds in order to acheive this.

Contrary to the popular tendency within much of the charismatic church to bypass the mind and intellect, to focus solely on the spiritual, we must learn to harness the mind as a tool that drives down our flesh for the glory of Christ. But if we are not careful how we do this, we may find ourselves simply on a path of operating in the flesh still, like some sort of guru using the power of his mind to dominate matter. Or alternatively, we could find ourselves as many in the emergent church, who use their own intelligence and reason as the benchmark for what is right or wrong in the eyes of God, and end up attempting to create God in their own image.

It would be an absolute fool who would suggest their mind has no power in their lives, for it is the very part of us that, whilst completely invisible, has a control over every action of our body like nothing else. It would also be just as big a fool who would suggest that God has no desire for us to train and use it for His glory, for the Scriptures tell us quite clearly we are to serve Him completely with body, spirit and mind. The way we will find the victory in this then, just as with every other area of our lives in Christ, is through complete surrender.

With these things in mind, it is clear to see how the following portion of Scripture is primarily talking about the battle within the mind of the believer, where the goal is complete surrender to the will of God, revealed through His Word. And not necessarily talking about us binding and loosing external elements we can neither see nor touch, but simply “sense” as being some sort of spiritual activity.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6
3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6  and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Let every sincere Christian serve the Lord with all their mind, surrendering totally every thought and preconceived idea willingly in faith, choosing to believe that the Word of God alone is true, and every man a liar if necessary. For if this attitude is predominant in the believer, the Holy Spirit is able to renew his mind, and through the truth of God’s Word, conform the mind of the believer to the mind of Christ.

Romans 12:2
2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

1 Corinthians 2:9-16
9  But as it is written: “EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
10  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
11  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13  These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15  But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
16  For “WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD THAT HE MAY INSTRUCT HIM?” But we have the mind of Christ.

One last thing to consider on this subject which is also in relation to spiritual warfare, is that of the spiritual armour of God spoken of in Ephesians chapter 6. In Ephesians 6:17 we are instructed to “take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God;” When we persevere and abide in the Word of God, earnestly seeking to find out what the Lord has to say concerning the salvation Jesus Christ has secured for us, we grow in confidence in Him. We find that the promises of His Word shore up our minds, as a helmet protects the head of a soldier in battle. As the lies of the devil creep into our thoughts, with the aim of turning us to fear and robbing us of our blessed assurance, the mind of Christ established within us by the knowledge of His Word, rises against all the lies of the enemy and makes their power of no effect.

Sourced from: Townhill Christian Fellowship Blog

Originally posted 2009-11-19 02:13:15. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Romans 1:16-18, 32

(16)  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
(17)  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
(18)  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
(32)  who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Since we began studying the Book of Romans earlier in the week, certain aspects of God’s truth have jumped out at me, and I believe have been highlighted and focussed upon in the passage above from Matthew 18.

One of the things that seemed to strike us all during the Bible study, was that the Lord is fully aware that there are those, professing to be Christians, that are leading people into sin, by teaching that which is contrary to the Word of God. These are the “wolves in sheep’s clothing” that Jesus refers to elsewhere in the Bible.

Also it can be truthfully stated that as we go through our lives, there will be times that we are wronged by others, sometimes even severely, where that persons sinfulness towards us, causes a sinful reaction to be provoked within us in return.

The passages above speak clearly about this situation, and in both Matthew 18:7 and Romans 1:18, we read how the wrath of God will be revealed from Heaven against those who cause others to turn away from Him and embrace sin.

This vicious circle of cause and effect is common throughout the whole earth, and the only thing that can release us from the midst of it is the power of God unto salvation, which is to believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and Saviour.

Romans 1:16-17
(16)  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
(17)  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

The part we have to play in this is to excercise the faith that God has given us, by becoming obedient to the call of His Son Jesus Christ, who is the Living Word of God. In other words, our obedience to His Word demonstrates that the faith within us is genuine.

We are clearly warned in Matthew 18:3 that unless we become like little children, we “shall by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” This is a stark and blunt warning, given by Christ Himself, that we simply cannot afford to ignore and cast aside. So the question we must earnestly ask ourselves is; “how do we become like little children?”.

Once again, Jesus pre-empts this question and gives a crystal clear answe:

Matthew 18:8-9
(8)  “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.
(9)  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.

We must examine ourselves harshly in the light of Scripture, and refuse to compromise the truth of His Word because of the desires of our flesh, no matter how justified we may feel in doing so. Sin is sin, and our duty as a Christian, and as a slave to righteousness, is to identify sin in our lives by the light of Scripture, and mercilessly put it away.

As God’s children, we must believe that He knows when we have been wronged, and will pour out His wrath against those who have wronged us and failed to repent. Vengeance is His alone to take, and all who have been wronged will find justice in the Day of Judgment. However at the same time, we must also remember that if we refuse to heed the call of Christ and put away our own sin, His vengeance will turn upon our own heads in the same way!

Our calling as Christians is to become innocent like little children, and the only way to do that is to examine ourselves diligently according to His Word, and cut off or pluck out everything that offends, by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we are not strong enough or determined enough to do so, then we must cry out for His grace that will strengthen us for the task. If we fail in this, and choose instead to unrepentantly cling to our own sin, make no mistake whatsoever, we will perish!

Each of us will stumble into sin, sometimes quite drastically, and God’s grace is sufficient to forgive us and cleanse us:

1 John 1:9
(9)  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

However if we continually fail to heed His call to repent, one day He will allow our hearts to be hardened, and will abandon us to our sinful desires and the judgment of His wrath that will surely come.

Sourced from: Townhill Christian Fellowship Blog

Originally posted 2009-11-11 07:16:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Message is preached by Simon Lawrenson, my pastor at Calvary Chapel, Southampton, U.K..

In this post I simply want to point to a couple of links that may be of interest to anyone with a similar unease to my own. One is to a recent article Chris Rosebrough wrote for his “Extreme Theology” blog, and the other is to an mp3 of his recent radio show for Pirate Christian Radio, where he explains more fully the reason for writing the article. Before anyone thinks this is just one man’s mission against emergence however, I would simply like to point out even at these links, what you will find are links to historical fact about an almost identical movement in Germany shortly after the first world war. A leading figure of this movement had a frighteningly similar manifesto as one Brian MacLaren today, who also had an overwhelming desire to see a deconstruction of historic Christianity, and the authority of the Bible be brought into question, in order that a “new” Christianity be revealed, which in truth was no Christianity at all.

Anyway, I will leave an mp3 player below containing the recent episode from Pirate Christian Radio [only about the first half is about this subject] , and also the link to the article I mentioned too. If you have time, please try listening to the mp3 shortly after reading through the article, or even while reading it, in order to make perfect sense.

http://www.extremetheology.com/2010/03/socialism-comes-in-another-color.html

Click here to view the article.

At Calvary Chapel, Southampton, we are just coming to an end of the Gospel of John, preached by our senior pastor, Simon Lawrenson. The whole series of messages can be found by clicking the logo to the left of this post, however last weeks message can be heard directly below in its own player. The message was a particular blessing to me personally, and I hope that you are so blessed to.