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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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. 

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Luke 8:26-39

Before Palm Sunday and Easter, we spent a couple of weeks in the book of Jonah. Jonah was given the extremely difficult task of going to the wicked city of Ninevah with a message of judgement. When you preach judgement, you are preaching against the works of the devil, you are sure to encounter hatred, often quite irrational hatred which is a sign of opposition from Hell. Jonah chickened out and did the sensible thing and ran the other way down to the port of Joppa bound for Tarshish eventually to be swallowed by a great fish before finally crying out to the Lord and being saved himself. Doing the sensible thing isn’t always the right thing to do and that’s true in life as well as in the Lord’s work. If we follow the Lord, sometimes we will have to take the greatest risk of all. Of losing our lives for his sake.

Today’s passage is about Jesus’s encounter with a demoniac once he reached the neighbouring country on the other side of Lake Galilee. Going on a mission to another country can be very dangerous. Some places have strongholds and if you stumble into them unprepared it’s like accidentally disturbing a hornet's nest, you will soon find yourself under attack from a swarm of angry hornets that can be life threatening. This journey to the other side of Lake Galilee was out and out spiritual warfare for which you must be prepared as Ephesians 6 describes.

Ephesians 6:10-20

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. 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— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Anywhere you go and preach the Gospel, there can be a violent hateful spirit like a guard dog waiting to attack. Where wickedness dominates a location, as it did with Ninevah, preparation for spiritual warfare is a must. You better believe that Jesus was prepared for his encounter with the demoniac.

Luke 8:26-30

Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 

The Gadarenes was a region controlled by the town of Gadara, one of the ten cities of the Decapolis. This is an area inhabited primarily by Gentiles, We know this to be the case because pigs are being raised nearby, and no self respecting Israelite would ever be so closely associated with these animals. 

And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 

The first thing Jesus did was to identify the demon by asking its name. If a devil is manifesting, we need to recognise that it is the separate hostile entity, not the individual who is simply its victim. The individual is trapped and you need to do what Jesus did and direct your words at the demon not the individual.

In this poor man’s case, there were thousands of demons living inside him, tearing him apart. Based on the Roman military term, a legion was 3,000 to 6,000 men—

Mark 5:11-13

Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.

In the context of about 2,000 pigs being drowned afterward, it often suggests a figure in the thousands, specifically 2,000–6,000. So at least 2000 demons.

Demons enter through "open doors" or "portals" created by specific actions, environments, or vulnerabilities. The drug world is known to open portals to the spiritual realm, that often appear to be good as Satan comes as an angel of light, but are actually darkness, from the darkest of places hidden in the Earth. Satan dwells in darkness.

Demons gain access through:

• Involvement in the Occult: Direct engagement with practices like Ouija boards, tarot cards, séances, witchcraft, or divination is cited as a major entry point (including music that has its source in the occult)

• Habitual Grave Sin: Persistent and unrepented lifestyles involving pornography, substance abuse, or violence are believed to create spiritual gateways. (Note that drugs including nicotine and alcohol play with fire and can quickly lead to substance abuse).

• Severe Trauma or Shock: Experiences such as abuse, neglect, or sudden emotional shock can create vulnerabilities that demons exploit.

• Generational Curses: Some beliefs suggest spirits can be inherited through the bloodline or passed down due to unrepented sins of ancestors.

• Unforgiveness: Harboring deep bitterness, resentment, or hatred is often described as a "foothold" for spiritual oppression. 

Ephesians 4:26-27

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

• False Religions or Idolatry: Engaging with teachings or objects associated with idolatry or false spirits is considered an invitation for demonic influence. 

Notice that not all of the doorways are the persons fault but can just be a situation that a demon can exploit. Just because something traumatic happens to a person, does not mean that the person becomes possessed. This is especially true of the child of God who has the Holy Spirit inside them. No demon can enter in that case. 

But there can be situations where a demon oppresses the person through the memory leading to choices that do give access to demons. For example, if a person has a traumatic experience such as a close family member dying that leads to them go to a seance to contact the dead, that would open the door to a demon.

As in Ninevah where the people could not discern between left and right, good and evil, you cannot assume the person knowingly opened themselves up to the demonic. Even if they have made an informed choice, Satan does not expose his true nature or purpose at first. 

Witches will tell you there are white witches, white and black magic but in fact, all of it is of Satan.

Our world today has opened the door and put down the welcome mat for the devil. We have an explosion of satanic activity with drugs, witchcraft, the occult in music and even in kids movies, pornography, sexual immorality all becoming mainstream. 

When we walk with the Lord, with the Holy Spirit, we will encounter the demonic in our World today. It’s not actually us but the Holy Spirit within us that causes the demons to react. The presence of Jesus makes demons afraid. We need to recognise when demons are manifesting so we can take action.

In this story, the encounter with Jesus made the demons manifest themselves. 

Luke 8:31-37 

And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned. 

All demons are subject to Jesus’s authority and are terrified of him so we don’t need to be afraid. In our day, we have people who claim to be the victim of aliens and have been traumatised. The interesting thing is that it has been found that these so called aliens are afraid of the name of Jesus. We stand in his authority and the demons have to go.

You would think that the region’s citizens should have been grateful for this miracle of the man being set free from a legion of demons, but they are afraid instead and tell Jesus to go away.

Some people are really only seeking material prosperity at the expense of true life, these men implored Jesus to leave (vv. 33–34). Regrettably, Matthew Henry comments, too many “prefer their pigs above their Saviour, and so come short of Christ, and salvation through him.”

Who do you care more about, people or pigs? All of us may be so concerned with our own lives that we fail to help the people around us in desperate circumstances, who may be suffering from demonic oppression and possession. 

Luke 8:38-39

Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

Jesus told him to go back. This was very kind of Jesus considering the people of the region had just told him to leave them. This shows Jesus's heart for the lost even when people reject him. 

For the man who wanted to follow Jesus, it was a hard call to return to the place where he had known demons, chains, tombs, self-mutilation, public humiliation, abuse, loneliness, and suicidal torment. But it was there that the grace of God in his life would shine the brightest. His daily life would remain a testimony to his country.

What Jesus wants us to know is that his salvation and his protection extend to those old, horrible haunts. If he can break the death-grip Satan once had on us and set us free, then he can redeem the places of our former slavery and make them showcases of God's Grace. 

We are not to be afraid. The Good Shepherd will walk with us and protect us on the darkest road. There are many verses we can use in spiritual warfare, just one example is;

Psalm 23:4

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Personally, I have not been involved in deliverance ministry though I believe it is much needed today and so I do think we should be equipped and organised with a plan of action whenever we encounter the demonic in our services (which is inevitable).

The disciples were sent out in two’s, church leaders should team up, worship leaders ready to back up, bibles out, the warfare verses above documented and memorised, Sound desk ready with worship music. All others ready to gather together and pray. Remember the Cross is a powerful symbol and the Lord’s Prayer that says « Deliver us from Evil »

Resurrection Sunday 2026

While we were in France last year we visited a few churches just to look at the very beautiful art and in one of them I found the Stations of the Cross that caught my attention. You’ve probably heard of the Stations of the Cross which originated from early Christian pilgrimages to Jerusalem, where believers would walk the path that Jesus took to His crucifixion.

There are 14 pictures in the story so I followed the pictures around the Church, considering each station which I’ve noted on the right hand side of the picture. 5 of those stations are asterisked because they are not in the Bible. It’s as if someone felt they needed to add to the story to give it more dramatic effect, a bit like the TV series The Chosen. 

1. Jesus is condemned to death
2. Jesus carries his cross
3. * Jesus falls the first time
4. * Jesus meets his mother
5. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry his cross
6. * Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
7. * Jesus falls the second time
8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
9. * Jesus falls the third time
10. Jesus is stripped of his garments
11. Jesus is nailed to the cross
12. Jesus dies on the cross
13. Jesus is taken down from the cross
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb

What !? Something very big is missing from their Gospel, I’m sure you would have noticed it, especially today (being Resurrection Sunday). It kind of left me disappointed, the Stations of the Cross end on a sad note, but surely that is not our message. Jesus rose from the Dead and is alive. This is the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

It’s like they read as far as Luke Chapter 23 and didn’t make it to Chapter 24.

Well we’re going to read Chapter 24 of Luke’s Gospel today - his account of the Resurrection. This is the biggest news in all of history. Jesus is alive. History has been split BC and AD. 

 Luke 24:1-7

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” 

Luke says two men but he obviously means angels because they are dressed in shining garments. The two angels tell the women « Why do you seek the living among the dead ? ». 

By the way, I have a personal experience of those words from a visit to Paris in 2018 but that is a whole other story !

There are at least 3 big facts proving the Resurrection;

1. The first big fact proving the Resurrection is the Empty Tomb - the enemies of Jesus could not produce his body. They knew where they laid him. They sealed his body in a tomb with a very heavy stone rolled down into place. They had placed a seal on the tomb and put an armed guard in place. Yet the stone was rolled away and the body was missing. 

They bribed the soldiers to say the disciples had stolen the body, but that is impossible because of the psychological state of the disciples at the time. In shock, grieving, afraid and in hiding.

The other big facts are; 

2. The Number of Witnesses as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15. All remaining 11 disciples and more than 500 other witnesses actually saw Jesus Christ alive and well after he had been crucified, died and been buried. The Bible says that you only need 2 witnesses to establish a fact, but here we have several hundred.

3. The Disciples were Martyred The disciples never backed down from their claim and most died for that. They had no choice – they had seen and touched him.

And of course, amongst those witnesses were the first to witness his resurrection, the women. When they heard the angels speak

Luke 24:8-12

And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. 

The women discovered the truth first. This is another big fact proving the truth of the Resurrection. No one at that time would have written that the women had seen the Lord if they wanted people to believe their story. That would have made the story barely credible. The whole society was patriarchal. All the leaders in Israel were men.

Luke says that Peter ran to the tomb as if to check that the women weren’t delusional. In his account Luke doesn’t mention John running on ahead and getting there first because he was faster than Peter, that’s only in John’s Gospel. John wanted us to know that. We all tend to build ourselves up in our own memories don’t we?

Luke 24:13-18

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” 

It is hard to have faith when bad things happen. And the truth is, without the hope of the Resurrection, the loss suffered when someone dies is immense. Especially when our own hopes and dreams are connected to the loved one lost.  Without faith, how does anyone cope with that?

Luke 24:19-24

And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.” 

To these 2 disciples, the testimony of the women was adding to their pain. They thought the women were hysterical and delusional. They had such high hopes for Jesus. He was the Messiah of Israel, the fulfilment of ancient prophecies. They had been expecting a glorious future. Now their hopes were crushed. 

Luke 24:25-27

Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. 

Wouldn’t you have liked to be in on that conversation as Jesus explained the mystery and how all things written in the Scripture were in fact about himself.  We ourselves have a lot of unanswered questions don’t we. There will come a day when Jesus explains all of those things to us and I suppose it will be very obvious then that we should never have doubted him.

Luke 24:28-35

Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 

That was the 2nd Communion. Just like the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus, the Communion we partake in every week at PCC is our opportunity to remember him, to recognise him at work in our lives, to renew our faith. 

By the way, it seems as though a resurrected body is capable of some pretty amazing things, that’s exciting!

And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. 

It says they went back to Jerusalem that very hour. It was by then evening, so the 2 of them went back to Jerusalem in the dark, unafraid of being attacked because at this point, all fear was gone, instead they were full of excitement and joy. That’s what happens the moment you first believe, all fear goes and peace comes in. 

They arrive back at the upper room excited and tell the 11 main disciples that they’d seen Jesus alive, but the 11 were unbelieving and afraid. That’s what happens when you don’t believe. You have fear.

Luke 24:36-43

Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. 

Emotions were all over the place. Their brains were having a hard time adjusting to Jesus being there with them. We tend to think of the afterlife as type of ghostly existence. So Jesus kindly did something to bring them into reality. He showed them the holes in his hands and feet and he ate some food in front them. Jesus was not a ghost, it was really him standing in front of them. This is our hope for our resurrection as well. We’re not going to be ghosts, we’re going to have real bodies.

Luke 24:44-48

Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. 

Repentance is part of the Gospel and must be preached with the message. Remission of sins means complete forgiveness, cancellation, and sending away of sins through Jesus Christ's sacrifice. When someone has cancer and they go into remission, the symptoms of the cancer disappear. In the same way, the symptoms of our sins   disappear when we repent and believe in Jesus. Yes we will die one day,  but we are in physical remission until then and actually we do not experience the second death, so we are actually healed of our real affliction, the one we inherited from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 

But there is something more that God has promised for us in this life. Luke concludes his Gospel and gives us a sneak preview of his next book.

Luke 24:49-53

Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.

Don’t let your life finish the story of Jesus at the tomb like in the Stations of the Cross. There is a new life to begin, a second chance to live the life you were meant to live by being born again by the transformation given by the Holy Spirit.