R19@Papatoetoe Community Church: 2026

Luke 9 : 37-56

Bonjour from Vannes in Brittany, France. We arrived last Friday, travel went well with Malaysian Airlines, luggage arrived, the flat was in good order, the internet and mobiles worked, and the Summer is here! It should be a bit more comfortable than last year now that we have a proper kitchen and completed a lot of maintenance since last time, including replacing the hot water cylinder. Our body clocks are still adjusting to the new time zone so please excuse the brief sermon this week. You might think that’s a good thing anyway! Now that we have finished our 101 series on Spiritual Warfare, let’s return to Luke with eyes open to the extent of spiritual warfare going on and how Jesus dealt with each situation.

Luke 9:37-42

Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.

Jesus' response seems to be directed at the disciples suggesting it was a lack of faith on their part that prevented them from casting out the demon, he even called them perverse! According to Matthew's account of this same incident (Matthew 17:14-21), the disciples later asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast out the demon and he told them that for that type of demon, they needed preparatory prayer and fasting to drive it out. As we learned in our 101 series, do not engage in spiritual warfare if you are unprepared! Jesus makes mention of an extra weapon to the armour of God found in Ephesians 6. Fasting is required in some cases because some demons are powerful. I remember when we were young going on a mission trip to Fiji with Every Home Crusade. One of the Fijian guys told us the importance of fasting to him before going out evangelizing. Jesus has authority over all, so he was able to cast out the unclean spirit, but we know from his time battling Satan in the desert that he was accustomed to fasting and I’m sure that’s why he mentioned it.

Luke 9:43-45

And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

Having watched him take control of such a difficult situation and overcome a powerful demon, and at another time a Legion of demons all at once, the disciples did not understand when Jesus told them he was about to be betrayed into the hands of men. Surely if he can defeat demons that easily, he wouldn’t have any problem with mere mortals? But they were too afraid to ask him that question, he had already called them faithless and perverse. No doubt they had other questions they wanted to ask him but didn’t want to display their ignorance so they left the question unanswered. However, sometimes we have to humble ourselves and this was a question about their understanding of the Messiah and what he would do, and I don’t think we should ever be afraid to ask the Lord such a question as that. It’s not wrong to ask the Lord a question! But sometimes he’s going to give us an answer that humbles us. At other times though, we just have to put our doubts aside and simply trust him.

Luke 9:46-48

Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.”

The Kingdom of God is upside down compared to this world. Here on Earth, people contest for higher status, a better house, a better job, sadly even a better partner, one with better looks, more money, a higher social status. When we think of the GOAT’s in sport, we think of the ones who won the most championships, scored the most goals and so on. That’s how the disciples were thinking when they argued about who was the greatest. Their argument may even have had a spiritual twist to it. Who had won the most souls, who had cast out the most demons, who would get the most rewards in Heaven. But Jesus told them that the least would be the greatest, the one most like a little child. A child doesn’t naturally worry about performance or status but just loves people for who they are, loves and trusts their Mum and Dad and goes where the family goes. Those early days of our innocence should hold the best of memories for everyone, woe to anyone who ruins that for a child. How we treat the least is a test of our true character. We can learn something important from anyone, but we should pay special attention to the ones the World considers the least because they don’t contribute economically, the kids, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the ones with low paying jobs, the elderly in rest homes all fall into this category. They are often the least in our society, but they are not overlooked by the Lord. Jesus affirmed in the Sermon on the Mount that the least are the ones who are blessed.

Matthew 5:3-10

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 9:49-50

Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”

We can spend a lot of time criticising other Christians, can’t we? We tend to think we’re right about everything, I’m guilty of that as much as anyone. We are supposed to keep an eye out for false teachers, false doctrine, that’s important. But we must be careful that doesn’t cross over into sectarianism, where we believe only our group is right as the disciples were doing here. That’s a mark of a cult. If someone is doing the work of God, and here it was casting out demons, let’s remember they are on our side, and think twice before opening our mouths to criticize. I’m looking at myself in the mirror here!

Luke 9:51-56

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. ” And they went to another village.

James and John were next level, weren’t they? They wanted revengeful judgment on those who rejected the Gospel. Unfortunately, the church today is seen to be a little like James and John in harshly judging others. But Jesus told them to move on, his purpose is to save people not destroy them. God alone will judge people in the end, and he gives them Grace to repent in the meantime because he is not willing that anyone should perish. God is long suffering and merciful and so do we need to be and aren’t we relieved about that when all is said and done?

Let’s pray.

Father, help us as we do battle for you to remember you are a God of mercy as well as justice. Help us to be like children in how we present your message to others.

Help us to recognise the real enemy and to be prepared whenever we have to face him.

Amen.

Spiritual Warfare 101 - The Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit

Today we’ll wrap up our teaching on Spiritual Warfare after which we shall be better equipped for these times especially as the battle intensifies leading up to Jesus’s return.

Yesterday was D-Day, the moment in World War II when the allies landed on the beach in Normandy. Code-named Operation Overlord, the massive assault successfully breached Nazi Germany’s "Atlantic Wall" defenses, ultimately paving the way for the liberation of Western Europe.

Similar, at the Cross, Jesus defeated Satan, liberating us believers but now the Church has been given the mission to go out and take the World for Christ, making disciples of all nations, to baptise in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

But this talk of war can get confused with earthly wars that have been going on for time immemorial and Hollywood movies where the allied and enemy soldiers are killed and blood is shed.

The Bible says;

1 Peter 5:8-9

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

We are not to run away from our enemy but to face him head on and this may initially seem a daunting prospect.

Ephesians 6:10-13

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Once you become a Christian your enemy changes from being God to being Satan and you enter a cosmic war. When you’re not a Christian, the Devil won’t bother you too often until such point that you are on Death’s Door. He is quite happy for a nonbeliever to be at ease and think he doesn’t exist.

The Bible is a soldier’s manual and provides insight into the Cosmic War we are fighting in every one of us individually and as a Church.

Spiritual Warfare 101 begins with putting on all the parts of the armour of God before we find ourselves at the front line in hand to hand combat with the enemy.

Ephesians 6:14-18

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Carefully notice that the weapons underlined are actually humble and loving in nature. They are harmless to flesh and blood but they stand in opposition to our true enemy who is the opposite in nature to all of them.

Last week we understood the shoes of the Gospel of Peace means that we need to be ready at all times to share the Gospel in an effective way, balancing words of sin and judgement with the overall message of the offer of peace with God through faith in his Son in a manner like Ray Comfort uses. We can do this by our testimony and by knowing some key scriptures but we have to take the time to prepare so that when the opportunity arises, and it will, we are fully ready.

In addition to the shoes of the Gospel of Peace, it says above all take the Shield of Faith. This affirms faith is a priority as the Bible says.

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Faith is not only central to our salvation; it is our shield in day to day living and fighting in the war against the Devil.

Our faith is in God; he is the object of our faith. We can have disappointments, but we know we are on the winning side, we are going to be with him forever.

The Devil tries to attack us when we’re suffering, that’s when we need the Shield of Faith the most. Faith works in tandem with the first weapon we’ll look at today.

The Helmet of Salvation

The helmet of salvation protects the mind (just like the breastplate of righteousness protects the heart).

Helmets are required by law when riding a bike or motorcycle in New Zealand. If people didn’t wear them, our road toll would be a lot higher because if you come off a bike at speed, you’re likely to break your head. When someone gets wounded in the head, it makes it very difficult to use the other parts of the equipment effectively.

You wouldn’t go on a building site without your safety helmet. To be a minister of Jesus, you must wear your hard hat, the helmet of salvation.

If we become prey to depression, mistrust of others, or believe that we are less capable than others, or maybe even are not saved, it will make us less effective and sometimes stop us altogether. This is a problem in the mind and why we need the helmet of salvation for protection.

When you go into Spiritual Warfare you are going to enter into a battle for the Human mind. We have so many mental health issues in New Zealand, our suicide rate is the highest in the world for adolescents, that’s a shocking statistic for such a beautiful country and more evidence of the foothold the Devil has gained here. But we have the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ who read from Isaiah when his ministry first began.

Isaiah 61:1-3

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Ever been in a place where there’s a spirit of heaviness? Everything seems too hard, expectations are low, a gloomy tiredness descends.

That’s when we need protection on our head. What is the helmet of salvation?

1 Thessalonians 5:8

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

The protection of the mind is hope. The protection of the heart is faith.

Hope is a quiet steady expectation of good based on the promises of God’s Word.

When we face depressing thoughts, we need to reject them by remembering our hope. This is what the young people of New Zealand need to hear today, scriptures of hope like;

Romans 8:28

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.

In this struggle, we need to protect our minds with the helmet of salvation or we can easily become depressed ourselves by what we may encounter. Our hope is sure and steadfast whatever difficulty we may encounter.

Romans 8:35-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 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.

More than conquerors means we come out of the battle with more than we went in.

Isaiah 54:17

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.

That we cannot lose is something to remember when we’re in the heat of a spiritual battle! His promises are 100% reliable.

Hebrews 6:17-20

Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

People of the World have put their hope in temporary things like their possessions, their jobs, their bank accounts, their pension plans and in other people.

But we have our hope in 2 immutable things;

1. It is impossible for God to lie

2. Jesus is our High Priest forever

Our hope is in the eternal. The only security in this world is the hope found in Christ.

Being an optimist protects our mind. Having God’s Word stored in our hearts gives us the wisdom we need to outmaneuver the Devil.

2 Timothy 3:14-15

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

The helmet of salvation is wisdom, and the good news is that if you think you’re not wise, it is just a prayer away!

James 1:5

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Most of us will need to pray for wisdom because Satan has won some ground in battling for the minds of people and has them accepting certain things like;

1. Social justice (rather than biblical justice)

2. Love is love

3. Evolution

4. Hell and the Devil don’t exist or alternatively, all Roads lead to Heaven.

Are there others you can think of? Every one of these can be deconstructed with the different weapons in our spiritual armour.

2 Corinthians 10:4-6

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 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, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Out of all the pieces of armour, there is one weapon of attack and is the one thing that drives the Devil back.

The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In the desert, Jesus was tempted by Satan and every time Jesus answered « It is written ».

Satan never questioned the authority of scripture because Jesus was able to stand firm on it.

In the Garden of Eden, although Eve remembered the word that God had said, she didn’t know it well enough, adding to it and was not able to ward off Satan. We need to not only remember it but believe it and stand firm on it which Eve didn’t do but Jesus did.

This is why we all need to memorise scripture and get used to applying it when Satan attacks us.

Every temptation was an invitation to doubt using the word « if ».

Satan knows Scripture but he misapplies it. Watch out for people who misapply scripture.

Jesus didn’t use reason; he didn’t rely on a bachelor's degree. He used scripture every time. We have to take the Sword, and the Holy Spirit will direct us when and how to use it.

Never give up and walk away in a battle with the devil. if you do that, he will get you from behind where the armour of God doesn’t protect.

In the Body, we do have people who will protect our back. Let’s not be a person who would stab another Christian in the back.

We will revisit this topic in the future. There is homework in the meantime!

You will need to write your testimony and learn some scriptures, so you are prepared

Part 2 we’ll do on groups with some real-life examples.

And Part 3, well that sounds like a project to me !

Through this Spiritual Warfare series I have learned of how we are to use the armour and my thinking of what that means in practical application has changed. Truth, righteousness, the Gospel of Peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God are not weapons like in war movies where people get shot to bits and blood is everywhere. Our weapons are not against people but they stand in opposition against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Finally, a passage from Philippians, which is like a prayer;

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Spiritual Warfare 101 - Shoes of the Gospel of Peace and the Shield of Faith

We’ve been studying the Gospel of Luke and and got as far as Luke 9 when Jesus sends his 12 disciples out to preach the Good News of the Kingdom, heal the sick and cast out demons and realising that as disciples of Jesus too, we will engage in Spiritual Warfare at times in our lives and there is a need for us to be better equipped for these times especially as the battle intensifies leading up to Jesus’s return.

When we look at the things that open doorways to demons, we can easily see that in New Zealand, as in many countries that have abandoned their Christian foundations, we have allowed the Devil in and once again we are in the position of having to suffer to win back lost ground that our forefathers gained.

The Bible says;

1 Peter 5:8-9

Why are we having to fight Satan if he is a defeated foe?

Yes, Jesus defeated Satan at the Cross. However, it is our responsibility in our generation to demonstrate and administer the victory of Jesus (The Great Commission). This is what Paul instructed the Church so clearly.

Ephesians 6:10-13

When you become a Christian your enemy changes from being God to being Satan and you enter a cosmic war. When you’re not a Christian, the Devil won’t bother you too often until such point that you are on Death’s Door. He is quite happy for a nonbeliever to be at ease and think he doesn’t exist.

The Bible is a soldier’s manual and provides insight into the Cosmic War we are fighting in every one of us individually and as a Church.

Spiritual Warfare 101 begins with putting on all the parts of the armour of God before we find ourselves at the front line in hand to hand combat with the enemy.

Ephesians 6:14-18

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

I underlined the weapons and point out again that they actually humble and loving in nature. They are harmless to flesh and blood but they stand in opposition to our true enemy who is the opposite in nature to all of them. Can you think of a word to describe the Devil that is the opposite of each of the underlined words?

Last week we understood we need the weapon of truth against that liar and how Christ’s righteousness protects our heart against Satan’s weapon of guilt by freeing us from the condemnation of the Law.

Let’s continue on to the next two pieces of armour the shoes of the Gospel of Peace and the Shield of Faith.

Ephesians 6:15-16

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

Roman soldier’s were instructed to sleep with their shoes on. If you were awakened in the night because the enemy was attacking, the last thing you needed was to spend 10 minutes fluffing around in the dark finding your shoes and putting them on. The shoes also had spikes on them so that a soldier wouldn’t slip in combat.

In order to bring the gospel of peace we need to be ready at all times to share the Gospel in an effective way. We can do this by our testimony and by knowing some key scriptures but we have to take the time to prepare so that when the opportunity arises, and it will, we are fully ready.

Peter said to be ready to provide a reason for why you believe as you do.

1 Peter 3:15

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

Could you give your testimony in 3 mins?

What would you say to give hope to a dying man?

Could you recall scriptures that could lead the person to Christ?

These are questions I ask myself!

Note that the gospel is of peace. Harsh words about sin and judgement will provoke a reaction, that’s a normal human defensive response. But if our delivery of the Gospel is balanced by the overall message of the offer of peace with God through faith in his Son, then it’s possible the hostility is from something darker.

Jesus said something interesting in his instruction to the 70 disciples he later sent out in the next chapter of Luke;

Luke 10:5-6

But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.

This is using the authority of Jesus to give protection over yourself and the house. Remember we are not fighting flesh and blood. Yet there is nothing to fear as Satan is already defeated and God has promised;

Isaiah 55:11

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

The Gospel delivered in Peace is a seed that God can use even if at first the person doesn’t appear to have listened.

But if we don’t have peace ourselves, we won’t be able to convince anyone. At least half the impact of any message is dependent on the demeanour and honesty of the person delivering the message. If the demeanour and the message contradict, or the character of the person and the message contradict, then people will have a hard time believing us.

With 1001 things on our mind, anxiety can easily rise up. Anxiety is the real pandemic of our time.

Matthew 6:25

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

God has given us everything we need, that is life, food, drink, a body and clothes. Can you see that is true? God provided all those things for you. And more then that. A home to stay in, a family, friends, simple pleasures like the sun and the ocean and so on. We can see him looking after us over many years, will we trust him for the future. So why are we worried about so many things ? Isn’t it ultimately because we don’t trust the Lord as we should?

And that’s a problem because it is impossible to give 100% to something or someone we don’t believe and have confidence in.

Peace comes from trusting the Lord.

Isaiah 26:3

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

If Jesus is your focus, if your mind is stayed on Him, you will have peace. If you have the Holy Spirit, you will have peace.

Put on the shoes of peace. Walk in confidence in the Way.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Satan tries to attack us and disturb our peace by causing us to doubt God.

Perhaps the greatest challenge that the atheist throws at the believer is the problem of suffering. It is during life’s darkest moments that Satan attacks us trying to make us doubt God. His call, his promises, his salvation, our understanding of the world itself.

In addition to the shoes of the Gospel of Peace, it says above all take the shield of faith. This affirms faith is a priority as the Bible says.

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

There is plenty we can say about faith, Hebrews 11-12 is devoted to the topic of faith, I don’t need to stress it’s importance.

But Faith is not only central to our salvation, it is our shield in day to day living and fighting in the war against the Devil.

The Roman soldier had 2 types of shield. One was small and circular, useful in hand to hand combat because it was light and maneuverable. But the other type is the word used for shield in this passage. This shield was as big as a door. It could be locked to a soldier next door forming an impenetrable wall against arrows as a company advanced. This is the type of shield that can ward off the fiery darts or arrows of the enemy and it is the shield of faith. We are stronger together, our faith combined will keep us safe. It is so important to be in Church. Out of Church, you are a lone soldier and it is much easier for Satan to take you out.

Satan loves to attack us when we’re suffering. He tells us that either God is not all powerful as he cannot prevent the suffering or else he is evil for allowing the suffering when he could prevent it. You’ll actually hear the atheist use this very argument. It is Satan attacking us from above by twisting the intention of God to make us think he is against us. We counter the attack with faith. Faith in God’s promises such as

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

And this favourite of mine

Exodus 20:12

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

We have to take up the shield of faith. Now it is true that we have been given a measure of faith and that might make us think that some Christians have a bigger advantage than others

Romans 12:3

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

But if we use the measure we’ve been given, if we’re trustworthy in the small things, then we will be given more. If we want more faith we have to use the faith we have ! Just like with our body which only gets stronger through eating well and exercising same principle to make our faith stronger.

Faith is not based on feelings. Our emotions can fluctuate from minute to minute based on how things make us feel.

Faith is not the type that people talk about when they talk about their favourite sports team. One year your team wins, the next it loses, if you put your faith in a sports team you are going to experience a lot of disappointment and ultimately they will carry on without you. That kind of faith won’t save anyone.

Our faith is in God, he is the object of our faith. We can have disappointments but we know we are on the winning side, we are going to be with him forever.

David Jeremiah asked a good question.

He said would you rather have a whole lot of faith standing on a quarter an inch of ice or a tiny bit of faith standing on four feet of ice.

He said that the answers are split 50/50 believe it or not. He said he always takes note of the ones who said they would rather have a whole lot of faith in a quarter of inch of ice and put them on a list and never go fishing with them!

The size of our faith doesn’t matter as much as the object of our faith which is in the Almighty Lord God. Our faith can be the size of a mustard seed but if it’s in the Lord, then it will grow big and strong.

So what or rather who is our faith in?

But in order to enter a battle with the Devil, your faith in God does need to have grown or you’ll be mincemeat. We need the courage that comes from faith as David showed when he went into battle with Goliath.

1 Samuel 17:45-47

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

David surely had a faith that had grown strong and he was able to say in the face of the enemy that he would defeat him because the battle is the Lord’s, and the Devil will fall down. Amen.

Spiritual Warfare 101 - Girdle of Truth and Breastplate of Righteousness

Sermon and Communion 24.05.26

Communion

1 Corinthians 10:21

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.

You are either on the Lord’s side or Satan’s. Are you on the Lord’s side?

If so, our enemies are the World, the Flesh and the Devil.

Ephesians 2:1-3

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

When we come to the Lord’s Communion, we affirm our allegiance to him and we renounce/reject the Devil. We declare the Devil is our enemy.

Colossians 2:13-15

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Christ has already defeated Satan and all his evil principalities and powers totally and forever, we need to get this fact straight in our minds. Because of Christ’s victory on the Cross we have peace with God. Satan’s weapon against us is guilt, he is the accuser of the brethren, but Jesus has already forgiven us all our sins! Guilt is the key to our defeat but Christ’s righteousness is the key to victory.

When the law was taken out of the way as the requirement for righteousness and replaced with faith as the requirement for righteousness, Satan could no longer use the law against us.

Communion is a time when we can have rest from the battle, lay aside our spiritual armour and come to Jesus knowing his forgiveness through the Cross makes a way for us to have friendship with God.

John 15:15

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Jesus has reconciled us to God, he has made peace between God and us.

Taking Communion doesn’t save us. Luke’s Gospel records that even Judas took part in that 1st Communion but not fully. John records he left after he ate the bread when Satan entered him.

Satan is not welcome at the Lord’s table that is why. After Judas left, Jesus gave the disciples deeper teaching, prayed for them and not just them but us also as future believers and sang hymns with him on the Mount of Olives. Through Communion they had close friendship, which Judas did not experience.

So as you take Communion today, examine your own heart before the Lord.

1 Corinthians 11:27-32

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

Lord have mercy on each one of us, forgive us our sins and grant us grace and deliver us from evil.

Spiritual Warfare - Girdle of Truth and Breastplate of Righteousness.

I’ve been spending a bit of time over the last while thinking about Spiritual Warfare and the need for us to be better equipped in these times especially as the battle intensifies leading up to Jesus’s return.

I’m seeing the Bible both Old and New Testament in a new light as a soldier’s manual and seeing the insight into the spiritual realm we are fighting against every one of us individually and as a Church. When God told Israel

Deuteronomy 20:16-18

“But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

Today, that is not an instruction against flesh and blood but against the evil spiritual principalities and powers that rule over flesh and blood.

We have to be ruthless against a ruthless enemy, you must be equipped and have a strategic plan to win. It is true that Jesus defeated Satan at the Cross once and for all but we still need to appropriate that in our own time because even though final victory is certain, there can still be many casualties if the enemy is able to gain or maintain strongholds as we can see in many places throughout the world and even here in New Zealand.

1 Peter 5:8-9

Why are we having to fight Satan if he is a defeated foe?

Yes, Jesus defeated Satan on his own behalf in the Wilderness.

Yes, Jesus defeated Satan on our behalf on the Cross.

However, it is our responsibility in our generation to demonstrate and administer the victory of Jesus (The Great Commission). This is what Paul instructed the Church so clearly.

Ephesians 6:10-12

Because the forces we are up against are mighty, Paul goes on to say in

Ephesians 6:13

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Because of our struggle against the wicked spiritual forces, we must put on the full armour of God.

When Paul says the evil day, that is not just the final tribulation in the future but today in our own lives. We will all face trials and tribulations, where life is turned on its head. We have to be prepared to go through it, our lives will be tested on which foundation they are built and Satan will always try and destroy us when he has us at our weakest where we have built on sand.

This is Spiritual Warfare 101 but we need to remember to put on all the parts of the armour of God before we find ourselves at the front line in hand to hand combat with the enemy. I’ve underlined them because you will notice that they are actually humble and loving in nature. They are harmless to flesh and blood but they stand in opposition to our true enemy who is the opposite in nature to all of them. Can you think of a word to describe the Devil that is the opposite of each of the underlined words?

Ephesians 6:14-18

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

As you learned last week, the first part of the armour is the girdle or belt of truth. Truth is solid rock, a firm foundation to build your life on. If you build your life on worldly philosophy, pension plans, insurance, share markets, people, that is sand. Those things aren’t solid rock to build your life on, that is the Truth.

« On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand »

If a Roman soldier did not put on his girdle first, his clothing would flap around and hinder his movement. Imagine trying to put on other parts of the armour without having done that first. Trying to put your shoes on while your tunic gets in the way. Trying to put your girdle on while holding your shield.

The world says that is your truth, I’ve got mine. Jesus says « I am the Truth ». We have to make a choice on Jesus whether what he said is true or not. We need the truth to make right decisions. Sincerity, honesty, frankness, integrity, having a clear conscience, these are part of the girdle of truth. Letting our yes be yes and our no be no. Not spouting meaningless words but words that we’ve thought about, that we are committed to. Saying « I’ll pray for you » is just a cliché if we don’t do it, don’t expend any effort to help. This is a hard thing to do especially because the more reliable we are, the more people will come to us.

We need to be honest with ourselves and others about what we can do. People can see through us. If we don’t practice what we preach, the truth is not in us and people will find it hard to believe anything else we tell them.

The second part of the armour is vitally important also. The breastplate of righteousness protects the most vital organ in our body, our heart. What we have in our hearts ultimately determines the direction of our lives.

Proverbs 4:23

Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

We have to guard our affections and boy we have a job to do there because as the Bible says;

Jeremiah 17:9

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

You can’t trust your own heart. So many people are fooled into sin by what they feel in their hearts.

Without the Word of God to hold us accountable, we are Lion’s dinner. How many lives have been ruined by sexual immorality? In these days of social media, Tinder and goodness knows what else is on the internet, it is a huge matter for the heart. We must make a sober assessment of our own character and guard our affections with the Breastplate of Righteousness. Anyone can fall in matters of the heart.

1 Thessalonians 5:8-10

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

Note that it’s not a righteousness that comes from the law but from faith in and love for Christ.

If we try to fight the Christian life by being good, we’re going to be easy targets for the Devil because he will always find ways to condemn us in the law when we fail. Then we will become discouraged, because Satan hit us in our core, in our heart. Instead we look to Jesus who is the breastplate as he is the only righteous one. Satan cannot get at us then.

2 Corinthians 5:21

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

All of our sin was placed on Jesus at the Cross but not only that, in exchange we receive the righteousness of Christ.

We are going to fail if we keep looking at the law because every day, in so many ways, we break the law, sometimes we know it, sometimes in ignorance we don’t even realise. But if we can only grab hold of the truth that we have been given the righteousness of Christ, we will stand when Satan accuses us.

This protection only comes from faith and love as Paul said. Faith is essential for our protection. Christ died for you and for me and has given us his righteousness, that is a liberating truth.

Galatians 5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

Song of Songs 8:6

Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame.

Yes and I think you can say love is stronger than death. Death and Hades will be thrown into the Lake of Fire but there are 3 things that remain;

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Luke 9 v 18-36 and Spiritual Warfare 101 Introduction

You know there comes a moment in the night, which happens quickly, when the sun begins to rise and the darkness starts to retreat, that nature joins in and the birds begin to sing and the flowers begin to open and the fresh perfume of the morning fills the air that you can see the world outside again and you know with excitement that a new day has arrived. The light keeps getting brighter and we go into the day refreshed and ready for work.

We have reached that type of moment in the Gospel of Luke. Up until Chapter 9, it has been Jesus who is doing all the ministry of preaching the Good News of the arrival of the Kingdom of God and proving it by healing the sick, raising the dead and casting out demons. Suddenly in Chapter 9 a new dawn arrives and Jesus sends his disciples to work.

As a young person starting out, that first day at work is one of learning the ropes and at the end of the day you are pretty tired having not worked an 8 hour day before. Even though they had success on their first Mission, when the disciples arrived back it was easy for them to let Jesus do the work again and sit back and watch as he did the ministry. But at the end of the that day, he told them to feed the crowd and maybe for the first time they realised their responsibilities in the Kingdom of God.

In order to do the work in the Kingdom of God, you need to know that you have the backing of Heaven. You need to know who Jesus is and the authority delegated to you and then you need confidence to step out in that authority.

Luke 9:18-20

And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

Peter had been given the spiritual eyes to see Jesus for who he is before anyone else. You have to know Jesus is the Christ of God when you go out in His Name.

You’ve also got to know of the challenges you will face, this work does not succeed without opposition and suffering and that will continue until Jesus comes again.

Luke 9:21-27

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”

It was around this time that many disciples turned back. In the Gospel of John, John specifically says that was because they found his teaching on him being the Bread of Life offensive (John 6:66). However when you put the Gospels alongside each other in the same timeframes you can see other events going on that led to the many disciples turning back because the Mission was not going to turn out as they had been expecting. Many followers were seeking a political leader who would overthrow Roman rule and provide material benefits (like the free bread from the miraculous feeding), not a spiritual Savior demanding self-denial and sacrificial commitment.

We need to persevere through difficult times with Jesus. When that day arrives and we see Jesus come on the clouds in his glory, we do not want to be ashamed because we couldn’t face the pain and do the work. In order to endure, we need a vision of hope for without a vision, the people perish.

Luke 9:28-33

Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

What a surreal moment that was to have the curtain pulled back and get a glimpse of Heaven.

But the 3 disciples were half asleep having just woken up from heavy sleep.

When you first wake up you stagger around not really knowing what’s going on. How true that must have been when Peter woke up and saw Jesus transfigured in his glory talking to Moses and Elijah. He must have thought he was still dreaming and just blurts out some nonsense about making 3 tents. I think we’ve all done something like that when we’re half asleep and someone has to bring us out of dreamworld and into reality.

Luke 9:34-36

While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.

When a new day dawns, we need to hear the voice of God to bring us clarity for the day. We need to at the beginning of the new day to listen to Jesus before we listen to anyone else.

I hope you remember that before you come to Church and listen to me on Sunday mornings !

Now the second part of today’s message is on spiritual warfare which will be a sub-series for the next few weeks.

Last week we read how the disciples were sent out with nothing but the clothes on their backs to preach the Good News of the Kingdom, heal the sick and cast out demons. Like me, you might feel a bit inadequate in these areas but the Lord has all the resources we need. In our day, more than ever, we need to learn more about spiritual warfare.

For a long time in our generation, the Church lived comfortably in New Zealand. Life continued peacefully and we didn’t have much to contend with as Christians other than to witness to the people around us. The Church had no competition with other religions like Hindu and Muslim. Most of our witnessing was based on winning rational debate with people of no religion on the authenticity of Jesus, evolution, atheism, morality and so on and of being of good character to shine a light and draw people to Christ. Most people we met were living steady lives with similar daily problems to us and encounters with disturbed people seemed rare. Compare that to today. People are living in isolation through broken families, in distress brought on by the media and social media, job losses, explosion of debt, the cost of living, drugs and pornography are mainstream. We have a mental health crisis in New Zealand like never before.

When we think of the doors to the demons that we talked about in the last couple of weeks, looking down the list, would you agree there is more of all of those things in New Zealand today than there was when you were growing up? The Devil is having a field day and is it any wonder when people don’t believe he exists and do the things that open the door to him. The nation has not heeded the warning.

1 Peter 5:8-9

It is to be expected that as the end of the age draws near that we will see an increase in the intensity of this spiritual conflict. More than ever before in history, I believe all Christians need to learn how to combat the enemy.

In bygone years, we had a few specialised ministers like Bill Subritzky who took care of spiritual warfare, but encounters with the demonic were few and far between for most of us unless we went to a Bill Subritzky service.

I mentioned last week how the Wesley Methodist Church played Onward Christian Soldiers at the ANZAC parade. It was quite funny considering the audience but most of us underestimate the scale of the war we are in which is not limited to a single campaign like Gallipoli or a Global war like World War I, but is in fact Universal.

Ephesians 6:10-13

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

The picture of Satan’s Kingdom is of one that is highly organised and structured. With different rulers and sub-rulers responsible for different areas of their territory.

Paul shows that Satan’s Kingdom extends to places in the heavenlies, into countries and regions (principalities) and governments (rulers, powers and authorities) and without doubt even into organisations.

This statement Paul makes about spiritual wickedness being in the heavenlies is surprising since doesn’t it say in Revelation and in Isaiah 14 that the Devil has been cast down to the Earth?

Revelation 12:10-12

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

Derek Prince explained this by saying that this passage refers to the future and possibly our very near future, during the last 3.5 or 7 years of the age depending on your eschatology since what it really shows is that the Accuser of the Brethren, that is the Devil, is still able to accuse the brethren day and night in the presence of the Lord, that is in the heavens, but he will be cast down and literally all Hell will break loose on Earth.

How is it possible that the Devil is in the heavens? Derek Prince explains this by saying that there are different heavens, pieced together by the following scriptures.

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Heavens is plural therefore there is more than one heaven.

Job 1:6-7

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

In Job’s time, Satan had access to God and was able to move between Heaven and Earth and was able to come into the Lord’s presence, possibly unrecognised by the other angels because he is able to transform himself into an angel of light.

Solomon said at the dedication of the temple

2 Chronicles 2:6

But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?

This also indicates more than one heaven and even a highest heaven which can also be heard in

Luke 2:13-14

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Paul also spoke of a 3rd heaven.

2 Corinthians 12:2-4

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

So there are at least three heavens, and Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God in the highest heaven.

Ephesians 4:10

He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

The word all can only be used if there are at least 3. If it was one it would be singular not plural. If it was 2 it would be “both”. But “all” indicates at least 3.

Derek Prince concluded that

• The first heaven is the sun, moon and stars that we see.

• The third heaven is God’s dwelling place

• The second heaven is the heavenly place where Satan dwells.

We know from our earlier study from the letters to the churches that Satan had his throne at Pergamos. The overall picture is that Satan can still move between the earth and heaven during this age.

Derek Prince summised that this would explain why sometimes we have difficulty in our prayers getting through from Earth to God in Heaven because Satan has blocked the way at the 2nd heaven. Daniel gives an intriguing peak into the spiritual warfare that goes on in the unseen realm and shows that our prayers are powerful in defeating the enemy.

Daniel 10:12-13

Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.

This is why we need to have the armour of God because he is the only one who has defeated Satan and help us to do so in our daily living.

1. The conflict involves all Christian’s not just a few leaders

2. The conflict is ongoing (even though Satan was defeated at the Cross)

3. When you drive out demons, Jesus said it was a sign that the Kingdom of God has come

Luke 11:14-20

And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven. But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Driving out demons established the Kingdom of God. It is impossible to live with your feet in both Kingdoms since the two are in complete contradiction to each other. So the Devil must be driven out of areas he controls. When a person or a group of people get saved, the Kingdom of God takes over and the Darkness is driven out.

Colossians 1:13-14

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

We are not to fear our enemy. The Cross is the most powerful weapon against Satan. He is reminded that he has been defeated once and for all, he cannot be restored back to his previous place at the throne of God.

Colossians 2:13-15

Satan’s total defeat at the Cross and through the Resurrection is final and one day he will be thrown into the Lake of Fire once and for all.

In summary, we need to understand our enemy and our position in this universal war. We need to prepare ourselves as individuals and as a Church to be equipped for the fight even more so in the time we are living in. We will dig deeper into Ephesians 6 and the armour of God in the upcoming weeks.

Please pray for us as a Church to be strong and ready for battle so that little old Papatoetoe will be established in the Kingdom of God in New Zealand.

Luke 9:1-17

"The war to end all wars" was an idealistic phrase coined during World War I (1914–1918) to describe the belief that the conflict's unprecedented destruction would compel humanity to end all future conflicts. Popularized by British author H.G. Wells, it became a rallying cry for the Allied forces, though its promise failed to materialize when World War II began roughly 20 years later. War is the history of mankind.

Yesterday was ANZAC Day. During the Gallipoli campaign alone more than 130,000 men died. This total includes at least 87,000 Ottoman soldiers and approximately 44,000 Allied soldiers.

About 1 in 6 New Zealand men didn’t come home.

Total casualties—including those killed, wounded, missing, or taken prisoner—were far higher, with both sides suffering more than 250,000 casualties each.

What a tragedy war is. If you visit Wellington, go to the Te Papa Museum and the ANZAC display, it is very moving.

War on Earth is a real illustration of Spiritual War that is in the heavenlies and here on Earth. As Christians we need to be careful about proclaiming God is on our side when it comes to war though at times it is obvious he is as it was when we fought against the Nazis in World War II. Jesus taught us to love our enemies. Our primary focus is the spiritual war which is not against flesh and blood as we read a couple of weeks ago.

Ephesians 6:10-13

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

We went over 6 main ways that can open the door to demons. It is a subject that requires a lot of discernment because we noted that not all, such as severe trauma, are the persons fault. So it should not be assumed the person has a demon or is even an evil person but may be just a victim and be suffering mentally.

It is part of the Lord’s Prayer to deliver us from evil, so this is something we should all be praying for and the Lord will answer our prayers.

I’m currently reading a book called « Deliver us from Evil » by Pastor Don Basham who was thrown in the deep end of spiritual warfare when he was called from Toronto in Canada to go to a small church in Pennsylvania in the 60’s.

He soon came to realise that the turmoil in his church and lack of success in his ministry there was because he was coming up against spiritual opposition that had found it’s way into the church.

We can see that even more today with the progressive church which has abandoned the Bible and embraced the world’s philosophy. I read this week of one minister, Bishop Yvette Flunder, a United Church of Christ (UCC) minister and presiding bishop of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries in the US, who has called for a "Third Testament," arguing that the Old and New Testaments have become "problematic" in their traditional interpretation.

Sadly that is exactly what opens the Church to apostasy to follow the doctrines of demons as prophesied for the end times;

1 Timothy 4:1

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,

I’ve been very aware of that spiritual war this week and I do believe in the times we are living in with so much works of the devil going on with the occult, pornography, drugs, immorality and other darkness being pushed through into law like that we will need to be more prepared than ever as individuals and a church to engage in spiritual warfare. We are going to encounter people who have become victims to the demonic and need prayer to be set free.

The enemy attack can come in all shapes and sizes, sometimes its our response that allows it to become a spiritual attack. It’s not that we should blame the devil for everything that goes wrong in our lives but we need to be on guard and praying.

For example something minor happened this week to do with our preparations to go to Sean’s wedding. On the very day we decided to book train tickets to get from France to England, the train app. stopped working, so alternative means to book the tickets had to be used and the affect was to cast doubt on whether the tickets paid for had actually been reserved. My response was to get stressed which opened the door to spiritual attack. We prayed about it and thankfully that was resolved within 24 hours so the Lord won that one quickly.

There is more demonic activity in New Zealand today. Family First regularly encounter irrational responses to our work which reminds the team of the war we’re in which is front line in New Zealand. I just want to acknowledge too that South Auckland Christian Foodbank who Tanya works for are also frontline in spiritual warfare and I’m sure she would have testimonies of that. As our Family First audio and video technician Gordon Clark says, we need to cover ourselves in prayer because you don’t turn up to the frontline in your t-shirt, shorts and jandals.

In the last few months I was contacted by a girl who used to be in our youth group. Through things that happened to her and by her own choices, she finds herself in deep difficulty today. Her struggles with mental health are partly the physical affect of drugs and alcohol but not all. She can switch very quickly from sweetness to cursing Jesus in a moment and that is the most obvious sign that something evil is present trying to harm her.

Without doubt, she needs prayer to be set free but all attempts so far to get her to that point have failed and I’m sure this is because these principalities and powers in her life evade any chance of confrontation. So please pray for her because she really wants to find hope and wellness.

Jesus has authority over all demons, whether they are more the nuisance type or the more serious.

In our series on Luke, up until chapter 9 we have heard of what Jesus had been doing - the messages, the miracles, the healings. It’s so entertaining to sit in the grandstands and watch a game, shouting out what the players and ref should be doing but it’s not so easy when you’re the one on the pitch. Today the tables are flipped and it’s the disciples who have to deliver the goods.

Luke 9:1-6

Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

When any of us go away on a holiday we spend a lot of time preparing, packing all the things we think we’ll need. But on God’s mission, we’re not to rely on our own resources. Jesus said to the disciples to take nothing with them, not even food, just the clothes on their backs. The Lord’s mission is done by inadequate people who depend on Jesus. Spiritual warfare requires us to rely 100% on God, the authority of Jesus and on the goodwill of others. It is counter to all we have learned from our life in the world to be self-reliant. Some situations we face are going to be very difficult. Some demons are very powerful as we can read in Mark where the disciples could not cast out one of the demons they encountered out.

Mark 9:28-29

And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

In this particular case in Mark, the boy had a mute spirit and would fall to the ground, convulsing, foaming at the mouth, gnashing teeth and becoming rigid. The boy had been possessed since childhood and the demon would cause him to jump into fire or water to kill himself. So the demon had total control. Obviously in such a serious case as this, you must be prepared. It was this kind of demon that would only come out with prayer and fasting. Fasting is an additional weapon to the spiritual armour found in Ephesians 6.

In some cases, the disciples were rejected by the townspeople just as Jesus had been by the Gadarenes as we heard a couple of weeks ago, so we have to be prepared for failure on God’s mission. Some people accepted Jesus while others rejected him. That will always be the case. And we could beat ourselves up when we don’t have success on a mission Jesus sent us on. What we have to do is remember that they are not rejecting us, they are rejecting Jesus. The fault is with the people not with us, that’s why Jesus said to shake the dust from your feet when you leave. Literally shake it off. Don’t take it to heart. Move on to the next town.

But know this, when you do have success in this war, you will get a hostile reaction from the Kingdom of Darkness sometimes from the very top.

Luke 9:7-9

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. Herod said, “John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?” So he sought to see Him. And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.

The successful ministry of Jesus and his disciples came to the attention of Herod, the one who cut off John the Baptist’s head, whose father had murdered all the young infant boys in Bethlehem. This was not Herod becoming interested in following Jesus. This was Herod who saw a threat to his power and was prepared to kill to maintain it.

Knowing this, when the disciples came back from their mission, Jesus wisely retreated the group to a deserted and safer place outside of Bethsaida, away from discovery by Herod.

It is a fact that when we engage in Gospel Mission it is spiritual warfare and we need to be wise at times.

Luke 9:10-17

But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” And they did so, and made them all sit down. Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

As soon as the disciples came back from their mission, they reverted to a place of comfort letting Jesus do the ministry for the day. They had been empowered to do healing and cast our demons but they let Jesus do all the work and the day was long because of it. When it came to the end of the day, they came to Jesus telling him to send the crowds away. They hadn’t done any work up to that point ! But Jesus hadn’t finished training them. He told them to go and give the multitude something to eat. The disciples should have had the faith to do it, given that they just experienced success in mission with no resources of their own. Instead they saw that the fact that they could only find 5 loaves and 2 small fish as a major problem. Aren’t we just like that. God does give things to do that seem impossible with our own resources, will we have the faith to carry out the task. We can if we remember it’s Jesus who has the authority and the resources.

What they could offer was broken and multiplied and fed more than 5,000 that day. What we have to offer may be broken as well but it can be used to multiply the Kingdom of God.

Twelve full baskets at the end for twelve disciples. Just a little offering from us can go a long way and will be more than enough.

Our experience in France feels similar. We don’t have much to offer either. We are inadequate, we have very little that seems useful.

Jesus has promised that though he is not with us physically to do his work (which would be a lot easier for us by the way!), he will be with us as we go into all the World to make disciples. We will see great miracles and experience his presence if we go where he sends us.

Matthew 28:18-20

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Luke 8:40-56

This week as I was preparing the message, the Lord said for me to read the story of Naaman first, the man who was healed of leprosy in the Old Testament. I didn’t make the connection to today’s passage at first but it did resonate as I read it.

2 Kings 5:1-5

Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. And the Syrians had gone out on raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman’s wife. Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.” Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he departed and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.

Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army, a position of prestige and wealth but all the fame and money in the world can’t buy your health. As a last resort, when Naaman heard that a prophet from Israel could heal him, he went to see the King to see if he could be relieved of his duties and go and see the prophet. The King agreed and Naaman went on his way with a letter of endorsement and a lot of money and gifts to pay the prophet.

2 Kings 5:6-10

Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said, Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy. And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.”

The King of Israel recognised the situation was humanly speaking, hopeless. He was afraid that if Naaman was not healed, it would put him in a precarious position with the King of Syria and his reaction was to tear his clothes in despair.

So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.”

When Elisha heard that the King was in despair, he saw something else. An opportunity for the King of Syria to know there was a God in Israel and that Syria better not take Israel on.

Are you a glass half empty or glass half full kind of person? In every crisis there is an opportunity so they say.

The King liked Elisha’s perspective and So the King sent Naaman on his way to Elisha.

Now Elisha gave Naaman a simple instruction to go down to the Jordan and wash seven times and he would be healed.

Notice the simplicity. The Lord does not make things complicated for us. It’s we who tie ourselves up in knots. That confidence in the Lord is what we all need. Nothing is too difficult for him.

2 Kings 5:11-14

But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

A lot of people want God to do something for them, they have in mind what God will do. But his ways are not our ways.

You know a lot people react badly to the Gospel when they hear they have to repent of their sins and come to Jesus to be made clean. It’s too humbling to think there is nothing they can do to buy their salvation, it’s too simple to think that all you need to do to be saved is to come to Jesus and be made clean at the Cross.

But they should listen to the servants words. If they were to be told to do something great to earn their salvation they would do it, why then don’t they just do the simple thing and do what the Lord says. Repent of their sins and trust in the Lord to save them because he has already paid the price for their sins which they can’t afford anyway for all the money in the world.

Simple faith, that’s what it takes, that’s what Jesus responds to. That’s what makes us born again, like a little child, just like what happened to Naaman.

Let’s go now to the Gospel of Luke. If you remember last week, Jesus had just healed the demoniac and sent a legion of demons into pigs on the other side of Lake Galilee. But the people of the that region were afraid and rejected Jesus sending him away. So he got back into the boat and sailed across back to his home on the other side of the lake.

Matthew 8 tells us he had been in Capernaum on the northern side of the lake prior to their departure to the land of the Gadarenes on the Southeastern side. Mark 5 tells us that the return was by the sea. So it is assumed that our story today takes place in Capernaum.

Luke 8:40-44

So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.

There seems to me to be a significance in the commonality of the 12 years. The woman had been sick as long as the girl had been alive. I don’t think the two persons are related or I’m sure Luke would have mentioned it. I just think it’s an example of how God weaves his story together which is one of faith and of Jesus being able to heal all.

Jairus was a man of status in the community, he was probably quite wealthy as well. But in contrast to Naaman, he was ready to humble himself.

The woman had probably been quite wealthy too but for 12 years she had been going to the doctors to try and buy her health back. She was from Capernaum and had no doubt heard of the miracles that Jesus had done there and had the faith that Jesus could do something for her.

Everything that was important to the woman—her health, her money, and her status in the community—was gone, not for a month or twelve months, but for twelve years. She was as desperate in her condition as Jairus was in his. The girl was Jairus’s only daughter.

The woman had no logical reason at all to trust any man she had ever met to heal her. She spent every penny that she had on professional healers who were vexed by her condition and unable to help her at all. Yet, when she saw Jesus, she said: “I don’t need to go to any more doctors. I just want to touch the hem of his garment, and I’ll be healed.”

That is remarkable simple faith. Most people would have given up hope years before. All she wanted was to touch the hem of his garment believing that simple act would make her well.

Luke 8:45-48

And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.”

When Jesus used His power to redeem people from whatever condition they were in, it cost Him something. When He calmed the storm, it cost Him something. When He healed the man of a legion of demons, He was drained of the power that left Him.

Ministry costs. It is natural to feel tired afterwards. It is is natural to need time alone as well.

Jesus was instantly aware that power had gone out of him as if the woman had put a plug in a socket and flicked a switch. Ministry uses energy, even if you pray for someone, it uses energy. This is why ministers need rest but more importantly need to send time with Jesus everyday and get the batteries recharged.

Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

Jesus wasn’t angry with the woman even though she felt fear at being exposed. In fact it was for her own good as she made a public confession that she had been healed. And then he confirmed her healing and told her to go in peace.

There was no mention of sin.

In fact he called her, « Daughter » welcoming her into God’s family. How old was the woman? She had this condition for twelve years. She was almost certainly as old as Jesus and more likely older, and yet Jesus called her daughter. That is significant. We are not by nature sons and daughters of God. God is not the Father of us all. We are not all God’s children though it’s popular to say that. Jesus told the Pharisees their father was the devil and that is true of anyone who has not yet been born again.

In biblical terms, God is only the Father of His only begotten Son. All the rest of His children, His sons and daughters, are adopted. There is no other way to get into the family of God except through adoption. The only way you can be adopted into the family of God is through God’s only Son.

Luke 8:49-53

While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.” But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.

This was a moment when all appeared lost which is so often the case with God. Our faith is tested. We have a choice to make. Will we give up and despair or will we trust God in the most difficult moments in our lives?

Luke 8:54-56

But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.

This was not a resuscitation; this was a resurrection. This little girl was dead because her soul had gone. Jesus called it back and reunited her soul with her body, and she arose immediately.

The reaction of the parents of the girl was in contrast to the reaction of the people on the other side of the lake when the demoniac was healed which was one of fear and of telling Jesus to go away.

It was very revealing of what they believed about God in the first place.

What is our fundamental belief about God? Is it one of judgment and fear or is it one of Grace and love?

This was a foretaste of the last judgment, when all who are in Christ will hear the same effectual call, and the dead in Christ will rise at the sound of His voice when He says, “My little ones—little boy, little girl—get up.” We will rise on that day.

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