Read Matthew 28 It's time for everyone to wake up!
We read the whole chapter together as a Church. It was noted that it was the women to whom Jesus appeared first. One up for the Women, the Men bombed!
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had said they would find him. 17 There they met him and worshiped him—but some of them weren’t sure it really was Jesus! 18 He told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. 19 Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this—that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”
Despite our very great human failings, Jesus has trusted us with a very big job! The question is, how are we going to get it done?
A few weeks ago I decided to record some messages in the build up to Easter. It happened that I started a journey through the Gospel of Matthew and it quickly became evident to me that more than anything else the Gospel is describing a War.
The BBC News from September 30th 1938
The British Prime Minister has been hailed as bringing "peace to Europe" after signing a non-aggression pact with Germany. PM Neville Chamberlain arrived back in the UK today, holding an agreement signed by Adolf Hitler which stated the German leader's desire never to go to war with Britain again.
The two men met at the Munich conference between Britain, Germany, Italy and France yesterday, convened to decide the future of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.
Mr Chamberlain declared the accord with the Germans signalled "peace for our time", after he had read it to a jubilant crowd gathered at Heston airport in west London.
The German leader stated in the agreement: "We are determined to continue our efforts to remove possible sources of difference and thus to contribute to assure the peace of Europe."
What happened?
The agreement reached between Britain, Germany, France and Italy was that the Sudetenland would be transferred in stages to Germany over the next few days. No wonder Hitler was happy with that!
Pact with the Devil
Adolf Hitler did not keep to the promises he made to Neville Chamberlain in September 1938. A year later the German leader derided the agreement as just a "scrap of paper" and invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany two days later and the Second World War began.
In December of 2010 the Arab Spring started and continued through until mid – 2012. These were civil uprisings in the Arab world aiming to bring down the governments in those countries. The changes were intended to bring freedom to the people similar to 1989 when Communism fell in many European nations. Change was rapid through the use of social media. Rulers were forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Usually the response from the governments was severe and much blood was shed particularly in Syria which continues today.
At first the US opposed the violent response of those governments to their people and joined the call for democracy. However things have changed. Into the vacuum has stepped the ISIS movement seizing control through violence in many areas. Their aim is to create a pure Islamic state where it is only possible to be a believer in Islam. Everything else will be fought to the death and removed. Their primary focus is to seize control in the Middle East but their ambitions extend beyond that region as the World is now waking up to.
When you consider the terrorist actions in Paris this year and the large Muslim populations in many European countries, it is entirely believable that ISIS ambitions extend beyond the territories of the Arab Spring. Obviously it is a threat to the tiny Nation of Israel but the rest of the World is being drawn into it. A new World War is looming.
It is very important for us to understand who this war is against because the Bible makes it very clear it isn’t people!
Ephesians 6:12 tells us
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”
Understanding we are fighting against evil principalities and powers helps us to understand our World better.
We are not fighting against people, not the atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews or anyone else. Jesus told us to love our enemies, to pray for them and turn the other cheek if they hurt us. When I hear of Christians forming their own groups and going to war against ISIS, this is Antichrist. Jesus said to love our enemies, do good to those who persecute us.
What about enemies like Adolf Hitler and ISIS. Is it wrong to go to war? No! Wars are started by Governments and we are taught to obey the Government. All Governments are put in place by God. It's a different situation if your government requires you to pick up arms. I won't go further on this topic (though I could) because I want to discuss how we are going to win the Spiritual War described in Ephesians 6 .
I started my journey through the Gospel of Matthew at Chapter 4 where Jesus was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by Satan. Since Jesus is God, Satan thinks that if he can kill Jesus or get him to sin, he will have the won the right to finally take over Heaven as he was able to take over Earth when man sinned. Similar to the deal Adolf Hitler made with Neville Chamberlain in 1938, Satan offers to make a pact with Jesus. Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the World but on his terms. Imagine if Jesus had come out of the desert holding high a white piece of paper saying “Peace for our time”. No Deal! Jesus sends Satan away then the war really starts.
We could call this the start of World’s War I.
Right after leaving the desert, Jesus makes the Declaration of War in the Temple. Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
I noticed something very interesting about the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus teaches this to his disciples during the Sermon on the Mount, which is also right after the temptation in the desert. They had been observing the miracles that he had been doing and they could see Jesus had a hotline to God, a power that had never been seen before. Huge crowds were following Jesus and they knew that change would be coming to their oppressed country.
I am sure many of you can recite the Lord's Prayer. Even a person who isn't a Christian would have a good chance : ) I've used the old version because this is the one I remember best.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen.
The recent experience in the desert being tempted by the Devil was fresh in Jesus mind and you can hear that in the prayer. There were 3 temptations Jesus faced and the response lines from the prayer are in brackets;
- To turn stones to bread ("Give us this day our daily bread")
- To throw himself from the temple so the angels would save him ("Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil")
- To receive all the kingdoms of the world if he would worship the Devil ("Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven")
No wonder then, having experienced the most difficult life and death struggle himself, Jesus taught his disciples to pray "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil".
In essence the Lord’s Prayer is one for Spiritual Warfare.
Then the fight really begins. John the Baptist is arrested and put in prison so Jesus takes up the work of John and goes out proclaiming John’s message “Turn from sin and turn to God for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”. And at the same time he begins healing every kind of disease whatever it was, including demonic possession, insanity or whether they were paralysed – whatever it was. This isn’t Jesus just being nice. He is rolling back the Darkness, chasing the Devil out of town. Taking the land back for God.
This Spiritual Warfare continued all the way to the Cross at Calvary.
From the very beginning, Matthew sets out exactly who Jesus is and the real reason his earthly enemies were trying to kill him. He traces his family tree back to Abraham. It is not easy reading too - Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac was the father Jacob, Jacob was the father of Judah etc. through 42 generations!
We know that this list includes many bible heroes and heroines including Rahab the prostitute who was the great great grandmother of King David.
Very importantly this list establishes that Jesus is Royalty and the rightful King of Israel. This meant that Jesus was locked in combat with the enemies of Israel from the day he was born until he died.
Throughout Jesus’ lifetime of course, Israel was a conquered nation ruled by Rome. The question on every Jew’s mind was, when was their Messiah coming to set them free?
In 33AD Caesar had appointed the following key people to rule over Israel;
- The impostor King Herod, king of Judea (not a Jew)
- The Roman Governor Pontius Pilate
- The Jewish High Pries Caiaphas
However it’s good to know because it explains why these three men crucified Jesus – their positions and very lives were at stake under Caesar.
Do you think the war ended at the Cross when Jesus declared “It is finished”?
“It is finished” relates to Jesus mission to reconcile the World back to God.
We could call it the end of World’s War I.
Anyone who believes in Jesus is 100% guaranteed to be saved. Why? Because Jesus is God and he himself has paid the price. He is the only one who could do it. He loves each one of us so much that he had to be sure he wouldn’t have one missing who believes! This week at the boys group we were talking about our desperate situation, that we are all cut off from God forever unless we believe. My son asked me what if we get to the Final Judgment and we’re turned away. I asked him if he believed that Jesus died on the Cross for his sins and was- raised again and he said “Yes”. That removes all doubt, our belief 100% guarantees our Salvation. It is finished!
But when we consider the fate of those who don’t believe and we look at the World around us I don’t think anyone can say that our work is over! When we realise all the evil going on in our World, I don’t see how anyone cannot be deeply troubled, even though we personally can have peace and hope for the future.
The day Jesus was resurrected was a victory day. World’s War I was over. What a wonderful day that was and that’s what we celebrate today!
But when Jesus gave the Great Commission in Matthew 28, that marked the start of World’s War II, and that is the War we are in which will continue until Jesus Returns!
Unfortunately many of us aren’t fully engaged in this War. Although we know that prayer is important, many of us are failing to put in the time. I did a quick survey with our boy’s home group to find out how much time they spend praying. The average was about one minute per day. This included Grace at meals and the school assembly prayer. Obviously not very good stats but these are just ordinary boys so my expectations weren't high.
Then I asked them how many people (adults) they thought came to the Sunday morning prayer session at 9 am before church. One said about 50%, another said 25%. They have a very good view of us!
My estimate would be that if you are praying 20 minutes per day, it's on the high side for most NZ Christians. I'm on the low side so I'm guilty of neglect.
Why is that I asked? They replied
- They didn't think God would answer them.
- They thought they were just hearing their own voice, that no one is listening.
- It's boring.
I introduced the topic of warfare at our boy’s home group which being boys, suddenly got their interest. I asked them what was needed to win a battle. They replied;
- Weapons
- More population (a bigger army)
- Tactics
- Focus / Attack
- In addition we need to be organised!
The war Jesus wants us to fight is against Satan, against the evil unseen principalities and powers that rule this world which are the real instigators of human misery. The purpose of the war is to set the captives free, the people who are bound up in darkness by Satan in sickness, mental illness, addiction, even religion.
To be successful in this war we have to be fully prepared, organised and armed. Our enemy is exceedingly powerful and dangerous. He's not going to let his captives free without a ferocious fight. Never forget, he wants to kill you!
Matthew 12
29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
Our enemy is strong but he also has some weaknesses;
- His strength is his ruthlessness and cunning.
- His weakness is his extreme selfishness and pride.
- The Belt of Truth
- The Breastplate of Righteousness
- The Shoes of the Gospel
- The Shield of Faith
- The Helmet of Salvation
- The Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God)
- Pray in the Spirit
However unless we focus our energy together, we will be fighting our own battles and be very ineffective. A few lone soldiers here and there won’t do the job. The army needs to get mobilised and organised and then we can be sure of some major victories!
If we are fully armed AND organised, we will be ready to do battle, to set the captives free. But if we enter battle unprepared and poorly armed, we will be slaughtered.
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