Give the Power of His Grace
Gen.1:26; Heb. 11; Luke 10:19
Dominion Over a 7-Fold Kingdom
| A. Dominion Over Demoic Kingdom B. Dominion Over Self Kindgom C. Dominion Over Animal Kingdom D. Dominion Over Chemical Kingdom E. Dominion Over Sickness Kingdom F. Dominion Over Space Kingdom G. Dominion Over Angelic Kingdom | Mark 16:17b; Luke 10:17 Mark 16: 17c; Js.3:8 Mark 16:18a; Luke 10:19 Mark 16:18b Mark 16:18c Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51 1 Peter 3:22 |
7 Channels of Dominion
1. Blood -----------------------Rev.12:11
2. Truth -----------------------John 8:32
3. The Holy Spirit ---------------Acts 1:8
4. Love ------------------------Rom.12:20
5. Submitted will ----------------James 4:7
6. Name -----------------------Acts 3:16
7. Praise -----------------------Acts 16:25-26
God's Restored Dominion
In prehistoric past the great Elohim, Creator of the heavens and earth, made a prophetic announcement that came to pass which contains a revelation for us today. God records this strange prophetic statement in Genesis 1:26, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness; and let Them have dominion over the fish of the sea....and over every creeping thing, that creepeth upon the earth." Then He continues in verse 28, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over....every living thing..."
In the fullness of time God's word came to pass, and Adam appeared in the finished paradise in full possession and dominion over all fowls of the air and every beast of the field. They were made to pass before him, and with his God-given divine knowledge and wisdom, he named each one (Gen.2:19-20). All of God's wonderful creation moved at the command of Adam's word of authority, for God had subdued all things unto him, except Adam's own life itself. Here is where mankind lost one of God's greatest inheritances to the human race, for Adam failed to subdue himself, and through the sin of disobedience, he betrayed the human race and lost man's dominion over all of God's creation.
God had demanded complete obedience so that His divine order would not be broken, but satan defeated Adam just as he is still defeating the Laodicean church, through the "willful transgression of, or the lack of conformity unto the will of God," which constitutes sin. satan approaches the present day Laodicean organizations of man as he did Adam with a question, "Hath God said?" (Gen.3:1). The questioning of God's Word or commandment put doubt in one's heart as to interpretation of true meaning of God's Word. This brings forth the evil fruit of mental reasoning, out of which comes man's intellectual interpretations of spiritual truth, which is the primal cause of the divided body of Christ in the earth today.
Today one sees on every hand an incomplete obedience, as is seen in King Saul's life in 1 Sam.15:1-15, when he spared the heathen King Agag and the best of the sheep after the battle. One also sees partial obedience as church systems hold partly to God's Word and partly to the tradition of the elders. God means every word He has spoken, and one cannot appease Him by partial obedience. Anything short of obedience means God's anointing power is lifted, and man is left with the dead letter of the law.
1. Total Obedience - The Bible is filled with truth characters who fully obeyed and live overcoming lives, and on the other hand, with men and women who failed to possess their rightful inheritance because of a lack of total obedience. In Noah, we find a man of God who fully obeyed and suffered in full obedience, building the ark exactly by God's dimensions. In return for full obedience, God gave Noah back that lost gift, dominion over God's creation, and when the ark was ready, Noah exercised his God-given word of authority, spoke the word, and the animals came two by two into the ark. Then with the same word of dominion, Noah spoke peace and caused the animals to be at peace together during their long sojourn during the flood. Moses was another who fully obeyed God's Word. He built the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and God gave him dominion over circumstances, over environments and over his enemies in the wilderness. This return to full obedience restored God's divine order wherein God releases His full grace, and out of the cloud full ten thousand tons of manna every day for food, and out of the rock Moses struck flowed a river. It was full obedience in the face of suffering and death that gave dominion to Daniel in the lion's den, when his word sealed the lion's mouths. The three Hebrew children with this restored dominion walked in the flaming furnace without hurt, and Joshua took authority over the sun and cried, "Sun, stand thou still."
What man lost through the obedience of Adam, he has regained through the obedience of God's son, the Messianic Jesus "Through He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered" (Heb.5:8). We have no record of Him performing any miracles until after His baptism in the Holy Spirit at the River Jordon. Having emptied Himself, not of divinity, but of the power of divinity, Jesus became subject to all temptations, as is any Spirit-filled man, yet he was without sin. He went forth under the mighty anointing of God that rests upon any Spirit-filled life that is lived in full obedience. With restored dominion over the earth, Jesus spoke the word with authority and took dominion over all manner of sickness, afflictions, circumstances and environments. Having over come the world, the flesh and the devil, He had dominion over the very things that have taken dominion over God's people today because of their breaking divine order through disobedience. Jesus fed the five thousand miraculously, walked on the water, spoke and caused the fig tree to wither, and held mastery over all of God's creation. By His death on the Roman cross and by His resurrection, Jesus took dominion over death, and purchased for us the highest calling of God, the same calling the Apostle Paul pressed toward (Phil.3:14). Now as every overcomer in Christ presses his way back through the labyrinth of man's lifeless creeds and dogmas he is rediscovering the old boundaries marked by the claim stakes of Paul driven into God's promises. We are finding our way back to the promise of dominion that God gave to those who would be in his image and after his likeness.
2. Assurance of the Promises - Our first step is total obedience, which restores God's divine order of worship and government. The second step is to prove to ourselves that this power and dominion over all the distempers of life is for the Spirit-filled believer now. Man-organized and man-ruled churches of today are teachings us unbelief, denying the apostolic experience of Pentecost as the early church experienced it, and telling us that the days of miracles are over and that apostles, prophets, and prophecy have all passed away. They take out the miraculous, leaving their thousands of followers with unpracticed revelations or doctrines. Christians want to know if this authority of dominion is for them today. Yes it is, and we see it in scores of the most precious promises of God in the New Testament. When a Christian has a pressing need, he can choose one of the precious promises of God, and try to apply it to his need. We all know that our deliverance is in the promise, but many are unable to appropriate it to their life. Their shall consecration will not release enough of God's anointing to make God's Word work deliverance for them.
Let us examine just a few of the promises. Understanding these benefits of Christ's finished works at Calvary holds the secret of our having dominion now. In Phil.4:19 we read, But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." This promise working in your life will give you full dominion over every problem and need. Then in Luke 10:19, "Behold, I give you power...over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you." You need a workable, practical faith to release that promise to give you authority and dominion over all that has dominion over you now. Read Mark 11:22-24, and believe that this dominion is for you now, purchased as a spoil of Calvary for every one of God's blood washed children. Believe our Lord's promise of John 14:12, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to my Father." Much of the church today is standing, as ancient Israel stood as Kadesh Barnes, viewing the promised land from a distance, yet unable because of unbelief to enter and possess it. "Having seen these promises afar off, and were persuaded of them embraced them"(Heb.11:13). Yet many will die without receiving the promise. So, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest [of faith], any of you should seem to come short of it" (Heb.4:1)
3. Understanding the Laws - Having approached this subject of our highest calling in Christ with dominion over the world, the flesh and the devil, through the full obedience and the assurance of the promises, let us now examine the third step by examining the operational laws of God through which victory flows. God's word of creation set everything that is seen into its place, but it is His operational word by His Spirit that maintains those created things their respective places through the centuries. Our sun, moon and earth appeared at the creative word of Elohim, but it is His Spirit's maintaining His word or will in motion that has kept them whirling in their orbits ever since. So, everything God has made continues on through the operational law. There are physical laws, mental laws, and spiritual laws. The Apostle Paul enters this study in Romans 5:8, where in progressive revelation, he shows us the first cause of the conflict within our lives. The natures of Adam and of Christ are struggling for control of our privilege, and to the one to whom our human will decided to yield we become servant. Adam's nature of inbred sin entered our lives through genes or carries of heredity by physical generation. Christ's nature entered through the new birth into the new creation by spiritual regeneration. Paul shows that spiritual victory comes to the believer only as the old Adamic nature is kept in the death state through faith reckoning.
In the seventh chapter of Romans the apostle shows us the confusion in the worldly Christian's life, as these two natures, with the flesh as the testing ground for the soul, strive through four laws which God has set in every believer's life. The four operational laws are named as the law of sin and death that originated in sinless Eden in Adam's disobedience, the law of the mind (consciousness) that is the deciding factor of our human will and intelligence, deciding which of these three other laws will govern our life each day, the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, [which] hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). This law was originated in the sufferings of Calvary and will deliver the believer from all dominion of the world, the flesh and the devil, the very same moment he learns how to stop one law and how to set the other on motion by the fourth operational law which is the law of faith.
Some of the brethren have found dominion over sickness and affliction through the study of the laws of healing that run through the Bible, yet the often fail to have dominion on the laws of supply. For that reason many have faith for miracles of deliverance for the body and soul in great revival meetings, but have to cry and plead for finances to carry on their ministry. If they will study carefully the laws of supply that flow from Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord of Supply, as they have the laws that flow from Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord who Heals, they can have dominion over their finances. Our assembly has proven this and has no need to pass a collection plate or ask anyone for money in several years, but has had abundance of finances for all needs through an offering box placed on a table at the back of the church. When we as Spirit-filled Christians fail in obedience to take dominion over something, it becomes a judgment curse instead of a blessing and takes dominion over us. Stop for an instant and think, just what do you have dominion over, and what has dominion over you? Paul admonishes us to "......walk not after the flesh {carnal life} but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1). Here he wants us to know that our victory or defeat depends on which law our mind allows to operate within us. When we worry, fear, hate, envy, or become jealous or greedy all of these mental distempers being sin, we instantly set in motion in our life that law of sin and death that begins its work of death through sickness and affliction. For this reason many good people who worry year after year, having set in motion that law of sin, also set in motion their own slow, suicidal death that is revealed later in rheumatism, paralysis, high blood pressure, arthritis and other chronic afflictions.
We often see the laws at work in our church services when we pray the prayer of faith over some sick believer, and the prayer of faith instantly stops the motion of the law of sin with its sufferings, and the believer walks forth free from pain. But later he fears or disbelieves he is healed and that sin instantly sets in motion again the law of sin with its death.
4. Be Patient - "Cast not away therefore your confidence (consciousness of deliverance), which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise" (Heb. 10:35-36). So we see the important place the law of the mind, consciousness, plays in controlling these laws, the law of faith, the law of sin and the law of life in Christ, within us. Your faith is the law that moves the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that has made us free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2 If you can fully believe and live in the consciousness of this law of life that flows from the spirit of Christ within the believer, having delivered you from the penalty of sin, which is sickness and sufferings, then you can be delivered now. Do not allow the devil to keep you fooled, but act upon this truth of DOMINION which our Christ's finished work of Calvary has purchased for you.
Another factor that will assist you in setting the proper law in operation in your life for total dominion over the distempers of life that have ruled over you is being able to understand the dividing of the soul from the spirit within you. When scientists were struggling to divide the atom and get powers from within it, I was struggling to understand the division of man's soul life from his spirit or inner man, knowing that in this truth there was power fro God's righteousness. The Apostle Paul shows the spirit and soul are separate in Hebrews 4:12 and in 1 Thes.5:23. The mental life is the soul-life, the seat of man's emotions, affections and feelings. It is the place where our intelligence and human will with it's God-given privileges is located. Soul comes from the Greek word psuche, and deals with the mental or psychic part of our life. Our spiritual life is centered in the heart of our being, in our inner man or human spirit. Spirit in the Greek is pneuma. With the heart or spirit man believes unto salvation. Out of the heart or spirit are the issues of life. Calvinists see the salvation of the spirit, which is justification by the blood, and the Arminianists see the salvation of the soul-life, which deals with sanctification and cleansing by the Word of God. We gain dominion through knowledge and not through confusion, so we need to know the power of the grace of God through the finished work of Calvary to seal the recreated spirit of the believer. "......whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Eph.4:30). John saw the dominion of Christ within the believer's sealed spirit and wrote in 1 John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit [practice] sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he [spirit] cannot sin, because he is born of God." John repeats this in 1 John 5:18. This helps us to know that the dwelling Christ had dominion over sin as far as our spirit is concerned, but our privilege of choice determines the consecration and sanctification of our would and its law of the mind.
If the fruits of our life show the works of the flesh, we should re-examine the principles of our life in the light of 2 Peter 1:5-10, where God sets forth the principles for faith. Spiritual principles will form habits of faith, which in turn will create an atmosphere in our heart or spirit, that is one of rest of faith through which God's Word will take dominion over all hurts of life.
5. Knowing Your Position of Adoption - This brings us to our next step of dominion over the earth, the air and the sea that God gave to Adam, which Jesus restored to the believers. Through Assurance of the Promises knowledge comes deliverance, so the Apostle Paul, moving on deeper into the eighth chapter of Romans, pictures a beautiful place of dominion of the overcomer in Christ. In Romans 8:18-23, Paul shows us our purchased place of adoption. Being a Hebrew, Paul was familiar with the life of the early patriarchs, and he knew the first born son was always the priest of the home and also received a double portion of inheritance of the father. The other sons who had been born into the home could be placed into equal legal rights of inhertiance as the firstborn by adoption (Gen.48:8-20). Thus we see that the Father and the Son, the firstborn Jesus, have at Calvary agreed and placed us into the family of God by adoption. We thus share equally with Jesus the first born in all his vast inheritance. Thousands of born again sons do not know they are placed by adoption into a place of dominion with Christ, and continue to live as servants, serving the very creation God desires to place them over. Even the priesthood of ancient Israel, although they were born as priests in the tribe of Levi, could not serve at the altar until they were anointed for service.
Our Lord's three primal ministries, out of which flow all others, were those of creation, redemption and restoration. There was a period of time for each, and we are now in that time of restoration. After seeking out the other avenues of restoring our lost dominion over the earth, let us return to the law of faith.
A simple matter of faith that will help us appropriate the promises of Calvary is the faith of childhood. In Isaiah 11:6 we are told that a little child shall lead them, and in Mark 10:15 our Lord shows us that the way into the kingdom of God, with it's truth, is to become as a small child. So let us remember the words of the ancient poet who said, "Turn back O time again, turn back in thy flight, and make me a child again just for tonight." Even as Adam, all pass through the age of innocence, when as a small child, God does not impute sin to them. In our childhood we played our games by visualizing, and everything was very real to us. Let us visually believe that Jesus is standing in front of us now, and with childlike faith we can actually see Him and hear Him say, "You are delivered now; go free." Or as the elder come to pray over us according to James 5:14, with childlike faith, we can see Him and hear Him speak through the elders words of faith. We can feel His nail-pierced hands as the elders lay their hands upon us. Now with childlike, visualizing faith we can hear Him say, "Arise, take up thy bed and walk," and we have dominion over our affliction.
6. Identification - Now, having taken five steps toward our complete restoration of God given dominion over all God gave Adam dominion over, let us take our sixth step in awakening our consciousness to our legal rights of our full inheritance in Christ through our indentification with Him. In Eph.5:30 we read, "For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones." Can you believe this statement of fact? Then you must realize that it is still the same Christ with the same dominion over all things as he exercised in ministering through His earthly physical body, Who still holds dominion over all things, exercising His authority through us His body, His flesh, His bones, His members now in the earth. As God breathed of His eternal Spirit into the still, lifeless body of Adam, making him become a living soul, so he had one to every person in the earth. This measure of the eternal in past prehistoric ages was a part of the great omnipotent Spirit of Elohim. Paul endeavors to help us see our indentification in Christ before the world was formed, by reminding us in Heb.7:9-10 of the fact that God saw and recognized as being present, the unborn grandson of Abraham, Levi, hidden within the life of his grandfather Abraham when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. If God could see Levi many years before he was born, hidden within the life of Abraham, why should we think it strange that God foreknew through divine foreknowledge all the Messiah as their Savior. God did foreknow them and wrote their names in His Book of Life before the foundation of the world.
Those who of their free will would receive Christ were predestined, as a company, to be a body through which His Spirit would administer and take dominion over the earth. Paul saw every believer hidden in the life of the Spirit of Christ when Jesus went to the cross, and wrote, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life [of dominion] which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Gal.2:20 We are awakening now to our power through sonship, and are bringing our state of growth up to our standing, for all have one standing in Christ through the blood, but some have different states. Some are in the babyhood state, some in childhood, and some have matured in Christ.
7. Take Dominion - We have now arrived to the seventh dispensation (or seventh period) of the church-age, the Laodicean period, and time is quickly running out. God's Word has prophesied that there will be a church body prepared for Christ to do exploits of faith. There must be this seventh remnant of overcomers for Christ to take dominion through, "That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish: (Eph.5:27). Our Lord always has much to impart through the body He chooses to use, and His gathering body of overcomers, coming out of man's orders and human headship, is forming into a body filled with and led by the Holy Spirit.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has restored His dominion over the world, the flesh and the devil, and over all suffering through the ministering of His own life, divided into the five ascension gifts of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher (Eph.4:11). And He still ministers victory with the enablement of His nine spiritual gifts (1 Cor.12:8-10). God is moving by His Spirit to bring His remnant body forth out of the sleeping Laodicean church, and He is proving His miracle word of dominion by His miracle work of deliverance. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [matured] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Eph.4:13). As you come into a oneness of Spirit by returning to your first love in Him, you can expect to move forward into divine order, not only of unity of the Spirit, but of unity of the faith or revelation of Christ and the fullness of His grace. "Rise ye up, take your journey and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon, the Amorite, king of Heshbon and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle....And the Lord said into me, behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land' (Deut.2:24-31). "You have circled this mountain long enough" (Deut.2:3). "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnessess unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts1:8).
In the fullness of time God's word came to pass, and Adam appeared in the finished paradise in full possession and dominion over all fowls of the air and every beast of the field. They were made to pass before him, and with his God-given divine knowledge and wisdom, he named each one (Gen.2:19-20). All of God's wonderful creation moved at the command of Adam's word of authority, for God had subdued all things unto him, except Adam's own life itself. Here is where mankind lost one of God's greatest inheritances to the human race, for Adam failed to subdue himself, and through the sin of disobedience, he betrayed the human race and lost man's dominion over all of God's creation.
God had demanded complete obedience so that His divine order would not be broken, but satan defeated Adam just as he is still defeating the Laodicean church, through the "willful transgression of, or the lack of conformity unto the will of God," which constitutes sin. satan approaches the present day Laodicean organizations of man as he did Adam with a question, "Hath God said?" (Gen.3:1). The questioning of God's Word or commandment put doubt in one's heart as to interpretation of true meaning of God's Word. This brings forth the evil fruit of mental reasoning, out of which comes man's intellectual interpretations of spiritual truth, which is the primal cause of the divided body of Christ in the earth today.
Today one sees on every hand an incomplete obedience, as is seen in King Saul's life in 1 Sam.15:1-15, when he spared the heathen King Agag and the best of the sheep after the battle. One also sees partial obedience as church systems hold partly to God's Word and partly to the tradition of the elders. God means every word He has spoken, and one cannot appease Him by partial obedience. Anything short of obedience means God's anointing power is lifted, and man is left with the dead letter of the law.
1. Total Obedience - The Bible is filled with truth characters who fully obeyed and live overcoming lives, and on the other hand, with men and women who failed to possess their rightful inheritance because of a lack of total obedience. In Noah, we find a man of God who fully obeyed and suffered in full obedience, building the ark exactly by God's dimensions. In return for full obedience, God gave Noah back that lost gift, dominion over God's creation, and when the ark was ready, Noah exercised his God-given word of authority, spoke the word, and the animals came two by two into the ark. Then with the same word of dominion, Noah spoke peace and caused the animals to be at peace together during their long sojourn during the flood. Moses was another who fully obeyed God's Word. He built the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and God gave him dominion over circumstances, over environments and over his enemies in the wilderness. This return to full obedience restored God's divine order wherein God releases His full grace, and out of the cloud full ten thousand tons of manna every day for food, and out of the rock Moses struck flowed a river. It was full obedience in the face of suffering and death that gave dominion to Daniel in the lion's den, when his word sealed the lion's mouths. The three Hebrew children with this restored dominion walked in the flaming furnace without hurt, and Joshua took authority over the sun and cried, "Sun, stand thou still."
What man lost through the obedience of Adam, he has regained through the obedience of God's son, the Messianic Jesus "Through He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered" (Heb.5:8). We have no record of Him performing any miracles until after His baptism in the Holy Spirit at the River Jordon. Having emptied Himself, not of divinity, but of the power of divinity, Jesus became subject to all temptations, as is any Spirit-filled man, yet he was without sin. He went forth under the mighty anointing of God that rests upon any Spirit-filled life that is lived in full obedience. With restored dominion over the earth, Jesus spoke the word with authority and took dominion over all manner of sickness, afflictions, circumstances and environments. Having over come the world, the flesh and the devil, He had dominion over the very things that have taken dominion over God's people today because of their breaking divine order through disobedience. Jesus fed the five thousand miraculously, walked on the water, spoke and caused the fig tree to wither, and held mastery over all of God's creation. By His death on the Roman cross and by His resurrection, Jesus took dominion over death, and purchased for us the highest calling of God, the same calling the Apostle Paul pressed toward (Phil.3:14). Now as every overcomer in Christ presses his way back through the labyrinth of man's lifeless creeds and dogmas he is rediscovering the old boundaries marked by the claim stakes of Paul driven into God's promises. We are finding our way back to the promise of dominion that God gave to those who would be in his image and after his likeness.
2. Assurance of the Promises - Our first step is total obedience, which restores God's divine order of worship and government. The second step is to prove to ourselves that this power and dominion over all the distempers of life is for the Spirit-filled believer now. Man-organized and man-ruled churches of today are teachings us unbelief, denying the apostolic experience of Pentecost as the early church experienced it, and telling us that the days of miracles are over and that apostles, prophets, and prophecy have all passed away. They take out the miraculous, leaving their thousands of followers with unpracticed revelations or doctrines. Christians want to know if this authority of dominion is for them today. Yes it is, and we see it in scores of the most precious promises of God in the New Testament. When a Christian has a pressing need, he can choose one of the precious promises of God, and try to apply it to his need. We all know that our deliverance is in the promise, but many are unable to appropriate it to their life. Their shall consecration will not release enough of God's anointing to make God's Word work deliverance for them.
Let us examine just a few of the promises. Understanding these benefits of Christ's finished works at Calvary holds the secret of our having dominion now. In Phil.4:19 we read, But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." This promise working in your life will give you full dominion over every problem and need. Then in Luke 10:19, "Behold, I give you power...over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you." You need a workable, practical faith to release that promise to give you authority and dominion over all that has dominion over you now. Read Mark 11:22-24, and believe that this dominion is for you now, purchased as a spoil of Calvary for every one of God's blood washed children. Believe our Lord's promise of John 14:12, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to my Father." Much of the church today is standing, as ancient Israel stood as Kadesh Barnes, viewing the promised land from a distance, yet unable because of unbelief to enter and possess it. "Having seen these promises afar off, and were persuaded of them embraced them"(Heb.11:13). Yet many will die without receiving the promise. So, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest [of faith], any of you should seem to come short of it" (Heb.4:1)
3. Understanding the Laws - Having approached this subject of our highest calling in Christ with dominion over the world, the flesh and the devil, through the full obedience and the assurance of the promises, let us now examine the third step by examining the operational laws of God through which victory flows. God's word of creation set everything that is seen into its place, but it is His operational word by His Spirit that maintains those created things their respective places through the centuries. Our sun, moon and earth appeared at the creative word of Elohim, but it is His Spirit's maintaining His word or will in motion that has kept them whirling in their orbits ever since. So, everything God has made continues on through the operational law. There are physical laws, mental laws, and spiritual laws. The Apostle Paul enters this study in Romans 5:8, where in progressive revelation, he shows us the first cause of the conflict within our lives. The natures of Adam and of Christ are struggling for control of our privilege, and to the one to whom our human will decided to yield we become servant. Adam's nature of inbred sin entered our lives through genes or carries of heredity by physical generation. Christ's nature entered through the new birth into the new creation by spiritual regeneration. Paul shows that spiritual victory comes to the believer only as the old Adamic nature is kept in the death state through faith reckoning.
In the seventh chapter of Romans the apostle shows us the confusion in the worldly Christian's life, as these two natures, with the flesh as the testing ground for the soul, strive through four laws which God has set in every believer's life. The four operational laws are named as the law of sin and death that originated in sinless Eden in Adam's disobedience, the law of the mind (consciousness) that is the deciding factor of our human will and intelligence, deciding which of these three other laws will govern our life each day, the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, [which] hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). This law was originated in the sufferings of Calvary and will deliver the believer from all dominion of the world, the flesh and the devil, the very same moment he learns how to stop one law and how to set the other on motion by the fourth operational law which is the law of faith.
Some of the brethren have found dominion over sickness and affliction through the study of the laws of healing that run through the Bible, yet the often fail to have dominion on the laws of supply. For that reason many have faith for miracles of deliverance for the body and soul in great revival meetings, but have to cry and plead for finances to carry on their ministry. If they will study carefully the laws of supply that flow from Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord of Supply, as they have the laws that flow from Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord who Heals, they can have dominion over their finances. Our assembly has proven this and has no need to pass a collection plate or ask anyone for money in several years, but has had abundance of finances for all needs through an offering box placed on a table at the back of the church. When we as Spirit-filled Christians fail in obedience to take dominion over something, it becomes a judgment curse instead of a blessing and takes dominion over us. Stop for an instant and think, just what do you have dominion over, and what has dominion over you? Paul admonishes us to "......walk not after the flesh {carnal life} but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1). Here he wants us to know that our victory or defeat depends on which law our mind allows to operate within us. When we worry, fear, hate, envy, or become jealous or greedy all of these mental distempers being sin, we instantly set in motion in our life that law of sin and death that begins its work of death through sickness and affliction. For this reason many good people who worry year after year, having set in motion that law of sin, also set in motion their own slow, suicidal death that is revealed later in rheumatism, paralysis, high blood pressure, arthritis and other chronic afflictions.
We often see the laws at work in our church services when we pray the prayer of faith over some sick believer, and the prayer of faith instantly stops the motion of the law of sin with its sufferings, and the believer walks forth free from pain. But later he fears or disbelieves he is healed and that sin instantly sets in motion again the law of sin with its death.
4. Be Patient - "Cast not away therefore your confidence (consciousness of deliverance), which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise" (Heb. 10:35-36). So we see the important place the law of the mind, consciousness, plays in controlling these laws, the law of faith, the law of sin and the law of life in Christ, within us. Your faith is the law that moves the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that has made us free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2 If you can fully believe and live in the consciousness of this law of life that flows from the spirit of Christ within the believer, having delivered you from the penalty of sin, which is sickness and sufferings, then you can be delivered now. Do not allow the devil to keep you fooled, but act upon this truth of DOMINION which our Christ's finished work of Calvary has purchased for you.
Another factor that will assist you in setting the proper law in operation in your life for total dominion over the distempers of life that have ruled over you is being able to understand the dividing of the soul from the spirit within you. When scientists were struggling to divide the atom and get powers from within it, I was struggling to understand the division of man's soul life from his spirit or inner man, knowing that in this truth there was power fro God's righteousness. The Apostle Paul shows the spirit and soul are separate in Hebrews 4:12 and in 1 Thes.5:23. The mental life is the soul-life, the seat of man's emotions, affections and feelings. It is the place where our intelligence and human will with it's God-given privileges is located. Soul comes from the Greek word psuche, and deals with the mental or psychic part of our life. Our spiritual life is centered in the heart of our being, in our inner man or human spirit. Spirit in the Greek is pneuma. With the heart or spirit man believes unto salvation. Out of the heart or spirit are the issues of life. Calvinists see the salvation of the spirit, which is justification by the blood, and the Arminianists see the salvation of the soul-life, which deals with sanctification and cleansing by the Word of God. We gain dominion through knowledge and not through confusion, so we need to know the power of the grace of God through the finished work of Calvary to seal the recreated spirit of the believer. "......whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" (Eph.4:30). John saw the dominion of Christ within the believer's sealed spirit and wrote in 1 John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit [practice] sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he [spirit] cannot sin, because he is born of God." John repeats this in 1 John 5:18. This helps us to know that the dwelling Christ had dominion over sin as far as our spirit is concerned, but our privilege of choice determines the consecration and sanctification of our would and its law of the mind.
If the fruits of our life show the works of the flesh, we should re-examine the principles of our life in the light of 2 Peter 1:5-10, where God sets forth the principles for faith. Spiritual principles will form habits of faith, which in turn will create an atmosphere in our heart or spirit, that is one of rest of faith through which God's Word will take dominion over all hurts of life.
5. Knowing Your Position of Adoption - This brings us to our next step of dominion over the earth, the air and the sea that God gave to Adam, which Jesus restored to the believers. Through Assurance of the Promises knowledge comes deliverance, so the Apostle Paul, moving on deeper into the eighth chapter of Romans, pictures a beautiful place of dominion of the overcomer in Christ. In Romans 8:18-23, Paul shows us our purchased place of adoption. Being a Hebrew, Paul was familiar with the life of the early patriarchs, and he knew the first born son was always the priest of the home and also received a double portion of inheritance of the father. The other sons who had been born into the home could be placed into equal legal rights of inhertiance as the firstborn by adoption (Gen.48:8-20). Thus we see that the Father and the Son, the firstborn Jesus, have at Calvary agreed and placed us into the family of God by adoption. We thus share equally with Jesus the first born in all his vast inheritance. Thousands of born again sons do not know they are placed by adoption into a place of dominion with Christ, and continue to live as servants, serving the very creation God desires to place them over. Even the priesthood of ancient Israel, although they were born as priests in the tribe of Levi, could not serve at the altar until they were anointed for service.
Our Lord's three primal ministries, out of which flow all others, were those of creation, redemption and restoration. There was a period of time for each, and we are now in that time of restoration. After seeking out the other avenues of restoring our lost dominion over the earth, let us return to the law of faith.
A simple matter of faith that will help us appropriate the promises of Calvary is the faith of childhood. In Isaiah 11:6 we are told that a little child shall lead them, and in Mark 10:15 our Lord shows us that the way into the kingdom of God, with it's truth, is to become as a small child. So let us remember the words of the ancient poet who said, "Turn back O time again, turn back in thy flight, and make me a child again just for tonight." Even as Adam, all pass through the age of innocence, when as a small child, God does not impute sin to them. In our childhood we played our games by visualizing, and everything was very real to us. Let us visually believe that Jesus is standing in front of us now, and with childlike faith we can actually see Him and hear Him say, "You are delivered now; go free." Or as the elder come to pray over us according to James 5:14, with childlike faith, we can see Him and hear Him speak through the elders words of faith. We can feel His nail-pierced hands as the elders lay their hands upon us. Now with childlike, visualizing faith we can hear Him say, "Arise, take up thy bed and walk," and we have dominion over our affliction.
6. Identification - Now, having taken five steps toward our complete restoration of God given dominion over all God gave Adam dominion over, let us take our sixth step in awakening our consciousness to our legal rights of our full inheritance in Christ through our indentification with Him. In Eph.5:30 we read, "For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones." Can you believe this statement of fact? Then you must realize that it is still the same Christ with the same dominion over all things as he exercised in ministering through His earthly physical body, Who still holds dominion over all things, exercising His authority through us His body, His flesh, His bones, His members now in the earth. As God breathed of His eternal Spirit into the still, lifeless body of Adam, making him become a living soul, so he had one to every person in the earth. This measure of the eternal in past prehistoric ages was a part of the great omnipotent Spirit of Elohim. Paul endeavors to help us see our indentification in Christ before the world was formed, by reminding us in Heb.7:9-10 of the fact that God saw and recognized as being present, the unborn grandson of Abraham, Levi, hidden within the life of his grandfather Abraham when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. If God could see Levi many years before he was born, hidden within the life of Abraham, why should we think it strange that God foreknew through divine foreknowledge all the Messiah as their Savior. God did foreknow them and wrote their names in His Book of Life before the foundation of the world.
Those who of their free will would receive Christ were predestined, as a company, to be a body through which His Spirit would administer and take dominion over the earth. Paul saw every believer hidden in the life of the Spirit of Christ when Jesus went to the cross, and wrote, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life [of dominion] which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Gal.2:20 We are awakening now to our power through sonship, and are bringing our state of growth up to our standing, for all have one standing in Christ through the blood, but some have different states. Some are in the babyhood state, some in childhood, and some have matured in Christ.
7. Take Dominion - We have now arrived to the seventh dispensation (or seventh period) of the church-age, the Laodicean period, and time is quickly running out. God's Word has prophesied that there will be a church body prepared for Christ to do exploits of faith. There must be this seventh remnant of overcomers for Christ to take dominion through, "That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish: (Eph.5:27). Our Lord always has much to impart through the body He chooses to use, and His gathering body of overcomers, coming out of man's orders and human headship, is forming into a body filled with and led by the Holy Spirit.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has restored His dominion over the world, the flesh and the devil, and over all suffering through the ministering of His own life, divided into the five ascension gifts of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher (Eph.4:11). And He still ministers victory with the enablement of His nine spiritual gifts (1 Cor.12:8-10). God is moving by His Spirit to bring His remnant body forth out of the sleeping Laodicean church, and He is proving His miracle word of dominion by His miracle work of deliverance. "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [matured] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (Eph.4:13). As you come into a oneness of Spirit by returning to your first love in Him, you can expect to move forward into divine order, not only of unity of the Spirit, but of unity of the faith or revelation of Christ and the fullness of His grace. "Rise ye up, take your journey and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon, the Amorite, king of Heshbon and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle....And the Lord said into me, behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land' (Deut.2:24-31). "You have circled this mountain long enough" (Deut.2:3). "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnessess unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." (Acts1:8).
Spiritual Warfare
Israel pictures the Church (1 Cor 10:1-6). Both collectively or individually we can draw lessons from Old Testament history. For instance, the crossing of the Red Sea speaks of Christ's death for us but the crossing of the Jordon pictures our death to self for Him. This is particularly experienced in our receiving the Holy Spirit. Then we, as was Israel, are initiated into a higher realm of living.
New power means new enemies. For example, an atomic age means atomic enemies. While Israel had overcome Egypt, a type of world, and the Amalekites in the wilderness, a type of the flesh, now they most overcome the devil. When Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit, immediately He was led by the Spirit to overcome satan. Until He actually met satan in combat, one could not see the value of His new power and weapons. Of course, the Spirit alone without the Word would never have conquered satan. Nor will the believer who rests only upon an experience of the Holy Spirit and has no time for the Word, conquer satan. God has given us both the Word and the Spirit, "we need a balance of both."
Paul says of satan "......For we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Cor.2:11). Our purpose here is to see just what satan's devices are. We shall compare the seven tribes of Canaan with the satanic spirits mentioned in the New Testament, to arrive at our answer.
There are armor pieces listed in Eph.6. We shall find that each weapon is for our defense against the particular kind of evil spirit that it matches. "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye m ay be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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" ( v. 11-12).
Eph. 6 should especially be applicable for us today since all this armor is needed against "the evil day." We are living in a space age of flying missiles and of enemy spy rockets. Wiles, in the Greek means "the traveling over, " and darts literally means "missles." And we might add, the greatest death ray of all will be the final, literal appearing of Christ when the antichrist will be consumed by the sword of His mouth, and all flesh will melt at His presence (Rev.19:15; Zec.14:12).
Notice the comparisons between the tribes of Canaan and evil spirits. Joshua 3:10 lists the names of the tribes with their meanings:
1. Canaanites: "Low, flat," from kana which means "to bend the knee," hence "to bring into bondage."
2. Hittites: "Descended from Heth," whose name means "Terror, fear."
3. Hivites: "Village, small town," from chavvah or "living place" (note the similarity to have a "hive" of bees in the English language).
4. Perrizites: "Rustic, inhabitant of the open country."
5. Girgashites: Creator of habits, lit. "dwelling in a clay-like soil."
6. Amorites: from amar or "to say" and associated with the sense of publicity and prominence.
7. Jebusites: Inhabitants of Jebus, which means "trodden down."
Now notice the evil spirits of satan recorded in the New Testament Epistles, and see how the armor of Eph.6 counteracts these spirits.
1. There is a Spirit of Bondage (Rom.8:15). No wonder God gives us the truth as weapon number one (Eph.6:14). ".....ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" (from bondage). One can be bound by physical, mental and spiritual bondage, which include being bound to the letter of the word without the Spirit.
2. "For God hath not given us the Spirit of Fear...." ( 2 Tim.1:7). Fear aims at the heart. "Men's hearts failing them for fear....." (Luke 21:26). So God gives us the breastplate of righteousness. Perfect love casteth out fear, so love also is part of this breastplate (1 Thes.5:8).
3. The Spirit of Slumber (Rom.11:8) was on Israel because they only wanted an earthly, material kingdom, not a spiritual one. They had commercialized the very house of God as a result of this spirit (Luke 19:45). It is obvious enough that the "spirit of bondage" and the "spirit of fear" are pictured by the Canaanites and Hittites, due to their name. But how is this "spirit of slumber" pictured by the name "Hivite," meaning "small town"? What is more conducive to slumber than slothfulness or having nothing to do? A small town would have less activity than a big town, and a man's own home, or "living place," the root word for Hivite, would be the natural place for the spirit of slumber, for there is his place of rest. Many foreign ministerial students come to the U.S. for training, and because of material comforts, they are hindered from returning to their countries by this spirit of slumber. This shows how the spirit of slumber is a spirit that seeks the best for one along material lines. Two instances in scripture concerning the Hivites tribe show this. One is in Gen.34; the other is in Joshua 9, where the Hivites of Gibeon sought alliance with God's people for their own self-interest. Both of these accounts came after God's people had won a great victory. After God has used a person, satan wants him to "coast" on the blessings so he will begin to slumber. But if we constantly shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace we will be encouraged by the signs and wonders following and we will shut the door for this spirit of slumber.
4. God has not given us the Spirit of the World ( 1 Cor. 2:12). This spirit is a rude, coarse, divisive spirit of hatred (Luke 6:22; 1 John 3:13). The Perrizite or "rustic" tribe pictures this spirit. Rustic has a slightly different meaning than rural, in that it also can mean "rude, coarse." The Hebrew word comes from perez, meaning "to separate." The spirit of the world in a church will cause carnal divisions. God grant that we hold the shield of faith, for it is our faith that overcomes the world (Eph.6:16; 1 John 5:4)k. Overcome and conquer are the same words in Greek. Just as Israel conquered the Perrizites, we are to overcomer the spirit of the world.
5. Paul says, "be renewed in the Spirit of your Mind" (Eph.4:23), or in this case, in our "attitude." This suggest that our attitude can be good or bad, Christ-like or satanic. For all practical purposes a satanic attitude is just as harmful as many of the other satanic personal spirits. Such as attitude operates bad habits. This is portrayed in the very meaning of Girgashites, "dwelling in a clay-like soil," as when Jesus answered to Peter, "Get behind Me satan! you are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." (Matt.16:23 NAS). Man was created and is compared to clay and he who sets his mind on man's interests becomes a "creator of habits" opposing to God's will. Of course, satan as an angel of light can give us some "high, lofty" reasoning which can produce habits that are moral, yet not spiritual. Here is where 2 Cor. 10:4-5 is important. (Our weapons are not carnal...) God's protection against an unrenewed "spirit of your mind" is a mind renewed by the hope of salvation, which is placing on the helmet of salvation (Eph.6:17; 1 Thes.5:8, and 1 John 3:3). The helmet is in three parts, even as our salvation is.
6. The Spirit of the anitchrist is a spirit that uses the tongue and likes to be conspicuous, as seen by the context of 1 John 4:3. So we clearly see that this spirit's type is pictured by the meaning of Amorites. Remember too, that Sihon and Og, both Amorite kings, tried in vain to stop Israel from entering in when they neared Canaan. Usually when someone starts hungering for the Holy Spirit and spiritual Canaan, this evil spirit that uses the tongue will get into his good friends, and through them try to keep the hungry one out. Mockery, lying, blasphemy, jestering instead of praising (Eph.5:4), and all the other sins of the tongue are often just a direct result of the spirit's moving upon a person. This is a "three-in-one" evil spirit (Rev.16:13-14). The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, rhema meaning, "spoken Word" of God. Since the Word is the weapon Christ uses against the antichrist, it should be ours also against the spirit of antichrist (2 Thes.2:8; Rev.19:15).
7. The Spirit of Error, John says, causes a person to refuse to hear him who has the spirit of truth ( 1 John 4:6). This reminds one of the Jebusites who despised David's authority. In 2 Samuel 5:7 we see David taking Mt.Zion away from them. Spiritual wickedness in high places characterizes this "Spirit of Error" in the Greek means "straying, roving (as a tramp)." By implications, a stray in the Bible is called "an imposter, deceiver or misleader." Just as one can stray in any four directions, so there are four basic types of error. They are:
a. Error of Vision (Is.28:7) will make dim God's will for service in the body of Christ and thereby will ruin one's ministry (Prov.27:8).
b. Error of Doctrine (Matt.22:29) is erring from the Word and will spoil one's message.
c. Error of Living (2 Peter 3:17) is erring from the way of holiness and will cause some to miss the mark of being in Christ's image.
d. Error of Spirit (Is.29:24and Heb.3:10) is errring from true worship and will make one miss the moving of God's Spirit, when all others around are being blessed.
We might notice that this spirit of error, as typified by the Jebusites, high on Mt.Zion, manifests in two seemingly different things, a highly centralized organization, but also an indpendent "air." Just as Joab was made captain of David's army to lead in a fight, so today God is raising up leaders in His army who have overcome this spirit of error. Joab has to pass through a deep moat before scaling Zion's walls, so God must work great depths into our hearts before we can fully overcome this spirit. But it is worth it, for when God got the Jebusites out of Zion, He could fulfill His heart's desire to bring all Israel to that sacred place. This spirit of error dies hard, as seen in the Jebusites' long stay at Zion. But God has an answer for this "spirit of error." We are to exercise the secret weapon of intercession for the body of Christ, and therefore be missile bases for God against satan. Our prayer primarily is to be that Paul's message be fully known (Eph.6:18-20). "Do not err, my beloved brethren" (Js.1:16).
By way of review, notice the results of yielding to the influence of these satanic spirits:
The Spirit of Bondage aims to bow one down under its yoke.
The Spirit of Fear aims to break one down by violence, confusion and fear.
The Spirit of Slumber aims to settle one down by lowering standards.
The Spirit of the World aims to burn one down with its fiery darts.
The Spirit of a Wrong Mental Attitude chains one by its habits.
The Spirit of Error aims to trod one down by imparting a false loyalty.
Do not forget that God commands us to invade these enemies with fire (Dt.12:3).
"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" Eph.6:11
New power means new enemies. For example, an atomic age means atomic enemies. While Israel had overcome Egypt, a type of world, and the Amalekites in the wilderness, a type of the flesh, now they most overcome the devil. When Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit, immediately He was led by the Spirit to overcome satan. Until He actually met satan in combat, one could not see the value of His new power and weapons. Of course, the Spirit alone without the Word would never have conquered satan. Nor will the believer who rests only upon an experience of the Holy Spirit and has no time for the Word, conquer satan. God has given us both the Word and the Spirit, "we need a balance of both."
Paul says of satan "......For we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Cor.2:11). Our purpose here is to see just what satan's devices are. We shall compare the seven tribes of Canaan with the satanic spirits mentioned in the New Testament, to arrive at our answer.
There are armor pieces listed in Eph.6. We shall find that each weapon is for our defense against the particular kind of evil spirit that it matches. "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye m ay be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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" ( v. 11-12).
Eph. 6 should especially be applicable for us today since all this armor is needed against "the evil day." We are living in a space age of flying missiles and of enemy spy rockets. Wiles, in the Greek means "the traveling over, " and darts literally means "missles." And we might add, the greatest death ray of all will be the final, literal appearing of Christ when the antichrist will be consumed by the sword of His mouth, and all flesh will melt at His presence (Rev.19:15; Zec.14:12).
Notice the comparisons between the tribes of Canaan and evil spirits. Joshua 3:10 lists the names of the tribes with their meanings:
1. Canaanites: "Low, flat," from kana which means "to bend the knee," hence "to bring into bondage."
2. Hittites: "Descended from Heth," whose name means "Terror, fear."
3. Hivites: "Village, small town," from chavvah or "living place" (note the similarity to have a "hive" of bees in the English language).
4. Perrizites: "Rustic, inhabitant of the open country."
5. Girgashites: Creator of habits, lit. "dwelling in a clay-like soil."
6. Amorites: from amar or "to say" and associated with the sense of publicity and prominence.
7. Jebusites: Inhabitants of Jebus, which means "trodden down."
Now notice the evil spirits of satan recorded in the New Testament Epistles, and see how the armor of Eph.6 counteracts these spirits.
1. There is a Spirit of Bondage (Rom.8:15). No wonder God gives us the truth as weapon number one (Eph.6:14). ".....ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" (from bondage). One can be bound by physical, mental and spiritual bondage, which include being bound to the letter of the word without the Spirit.
2. "For God hath not given us the Spirit of Fear...." ( 2 Tim.1:7). Fear aims at the heart. "Men's hearts failing them for fear....." (Luke 21:26). So God gives us the breastplate of righteousness. Perfect love casteth out fear, so love also is part of this breastplate (1 Thes.5:8).
3. The Spirit of Slumber (Rom.11:8) was on Israel because they only wanted an earthly, material kingdom, not a spiritual one. They had commercialized the very house of God as a result of this spirit (Luke 19:45). It is obvious enough that the "spirit of bondage" and the "spirit of fear" are pictured by the Canaanites and Hittites, due to their name. But how is this "spirit of slumber" pictured by the name "Hivite," meaning "small town"? What is more conducive to slumber than slothfulness or having nothing to do? A small town would have less activity than a big town, and a man's own home, or "living place," the root word for Hivite, would be the natural place for the spirit of slumber, for there is his place of rest. Many foreign ministerial students come to the U.S. for training, and because of material comforts, they are hindered from returning to their countries by this spirit of slumber. This shows how the spirit of slumber is a spirit that seeks the best for one along material lines. Two instances in scripture concerning the Hivites tribe show this. One is in Gen.34; the other is in Joshua 9, where the Hivites of Gibeon sought alliance with God's people for their own self-interest. Both of these accounts came after God's people had won a great victory. After God has used a person, satan wants him to "coast" on the blessings so he will begin to slumber. But if we constantly shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace we will be encouraged by the signs and wonders following and we will shut the door for this spirit of slumber.
4. God has not given us the Spirit of the World ( 1 Cor. 2:12). This spirit is a rude, coarse, divisive spirit of hatred (Luke 6:22; 1 John 3:13). The Perrizite or "rustic" tribe pictures this spirit. Rustic has a slightly different meaning than rural, in that it also can mean "rude, coarse." The Hebrew word comes from perez, meaning "to separate." The spirit of the world in a church will cause carnal divisions. God grant that we hold the shield of faith, for it is our faith that overcomes the world (Eph.6:16; 1 John 5:4)k. Overcome and conquer are the same words in Greek. Just as Israel conquered the Perrizites, we are to overcomer the spirit of the world.
5. Paul says, "be renewed in the Spirit of your Mind" (Eph.4:23), or in this case, in our "attitude." This suggest that our attitude can be good or bad, Christ-like or satanic. For all practical purposes a satanic attitude is just as harmful as many of the other satanic personal spirits. Such as attitude operates bad habits. This is portrayed in the very meaning of Girgashites, "dwelling in a clay-like soil," as when Jesus answered to Peter, "Get behind Me satan! you are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." (Matt.16:23 NAS). Man was created and is compared to clay and he who sets his mind on man's interests becomes a "creator of habits" opposing to God's will. Of course, satan as an angel of light can give us some "high, lofty" reasoning which can produce habits that are moral, yet not spiritual. Here is where 2 Cor. 10:4-5 is important. (Our weapons are not carnal...) God's protection against an unrenewed "spirit of your mind" is a mind renewed by the hope of salvation, which is placing on the helmet of salvation (Eph.6:17; 1 Thes.5:8, and 1 John 3:3). The helmet is in three parts, even as our salvation is.
6. The Spirit of the anitchrist is a spirit that uses the tongue and likes to be conspicuous, as seen by the context of 1 John 4:3. So we clearly see that this spirit's type is pictured by the meaning of Amorites. Remember too, that Sihon and Og, both Amorite kings, tried in vain to stop Israel from entering in when they neared Canaan. Usually when someone starts hungering for the Holy Spirit and spiritual Canaan, this evil spirit that uses the tongue will get into his good friends, and through them try to keep the hungry one out. Mockery, lying, blasphemy, jestering instead of praising (Eph.5:4), and all the other sins of the tongue are often just a direct result of the spirit's moving upon a person. This is a "three-in-one" evil spirit (Rev.16:13-14). The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, rhema meaning, "spoken Word" of God. Since the Word is the weapon Christ uses against the antichrist, it should be ours also against the spirit of antichrist (2 Thes.2:8; Rev.19:15).
7. The Spirit of Error, John says, causes a person to refuse to hear him who has the spirit of truth ( 1 John 4:6). This reminds one of the Jebusites who despised David's authority. In 2 Samuel 5:7 we see David taking Mt.Zion away from them. Spiritual wickedness in high places characterizes this "Spirit of Error" in the Greek means "straying, roving (as a tramp)." By implications, a stray in the Bible is called "an imposter, deceiver or misleader." Just as one can stray in any four directions, so there are four basic types of error. They are:
a. Error of Vision (Is.28:7) will make dim God's will for service in the body of Christ and thereby will ruin one's ministry (Prov.27:8).
b. Error of Doctrine (Matt.22:29) is erring from the Word and will spoil one's message.
c. Error of Living (2 Peter 3:17) is erring from the way of holiness and will cause some to miss the mark of being in Christ's image.
d. Error of Spirit (Is.29:24and Heb.3:10) is errring from true worship and will make one miss the moving of God's Spirit, when all others around are being blessed.
We might notice that this spirit of error, as typified by the Jebusites, high on Mt.Zion, manifests in two seemingly different things, a highly centralized organization, but also an indpendent "air." Just as Joab was made captain of David's army to lead in a fight, so today God is raising up leaders in His army who have overcome this spirit of error. Joab has to pass through a deep moat before scaling Zion's walls, so God must work great depths into our hearts before we can fully overcome this spirit. But it is worth it, for when God got the Jebusites out of Zion, He could fulfill His heart's desire to bring all Israel to that sacred place. This spirit of error dies hard, as seen in the Jebusites' long stay at Zion. But God has an answer for this "spirit of error." We are to exercise the secret weapon of intercession for the body of Christ, and therefore be missile bases for God against satan. Our prayer primarily is to be that Paul's message be fully known (Eph.6:18-20). "Do not err, my beloved brethren" (Js.1:16).
By way of review, notice the results of yielding to the influence of these satanic spirits:
The Spirit of Bondage aims to bow one down under its yoke.
The Spirit of Fear aims to break one down by violence, confusion and fear.
The Spirit of Slumber aims to settle one down by lowering standards.
The Spirit of the World aims to burn one down with its fiery darts.
The Spirit of a Wrong Mental Attitude chains one by its habits.
The Spirit of Error aims to trod one down by imparting a false loyalty.
Do not forget that God commands us to invade these enemies with fire (Dt.12:3).
"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" Eph.6:11
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire