Spiritual Warfare, Part III
Pray
Before Studying the Word and Other Texts
It is very important to align yourself with the
Holy Spirit before you read the Bible and other books that pertain to the
Word. There is a greater value with just
sitting in His presence. He knows what
you want, what you need, before you even ask.
Make sure that you have a ‘secret place”—a
place where you go and sit quietly with the Lord, waiting on Him and reveling
in His presence. The glory you sit in
will stay with you. The more you meet
with Him, the more will stay on you.
Ultimately, the spiritual work is waiting on
Him, and killing the flesh’s desire to do what it wants to do.
A
Definition of Spiritual Warfare and How to Fight
Using Watchman Nee’s book, Sit, Walk Stand as a starting point and focusing on the chapter
entitled, “Stand,” here is our definition of spiritual warfare:
·
We are constantly in it
·
We must look to His Word
·
Walk in love even when you don’t feel like it
·
It’s a tug-of-war between God and Satan
·
It is a weakness of the flesh versus the Spirit
·
We are just getting started in our overcoming;
Paul said even he had not achieved everything
·
Walk by faith, live in love
There are three wills here at war: God’s, yours and Satan’s. It’s a tug-of-war for your will to come into
compliance with God’s will.
“Christian experience begins with sitting and
leads to walking, but it does not end with these. Every Christian must learn also to
stand. Each one of us must be prepared
for the conflict. We must know how to
sit with Christ in heavenly places and we must know how to walk worthy of Him
down here, but we must also know how to stand before the foe…It is what Paul
calls ‘our wrestling with wicked spirits.’” (Nee 39-40)
The verse about sitting comes from Ephesians 2:6-9:
“And God raised us up with
Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the
incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ
Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have
been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of
God— 9 not by works, so that no one can
boast.”
The verse about walking comes from Ephesians
5:1-2:
“Follow God’s example,
therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and
walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
So, now we seek to stand.
We cannot hope to win this battle if we have not learned to rest—to
trust in His finished work (Ephesians 1).
“Our task is one of holding,
not of attacking. It is a matter not of
advance but of sphere, the sphere of Christ.
He has given us his victory to hold. In the sphere of Christ, the enemy’s defeat
is already a fact, and the Church has been put there to keep him defeated. Satan is one who must do the counterattacking
in his efforts to dislodge us from that sphere.
For our part we need not struggle to occupy ground that is already
ours. In Christ we are conquerors—nay, ‘more than conquerors’ (Romans 8:37). In him, therefore we stand. Thus today we do not
fight for victory; we fight from victory. We do not fight in order to win but because
in Christ we have already won.
Overcomers are those who rest in the victory already given to them by
their God.” (Nee 43)
In order to fight against the
flesh, we need to sit in Him in heavenly places in order to fight!
We must always remember that
there are two thrones at war.
Breach of Divine Laws
Most of the stuff we go
through are a result of us breaching one of God’s divine laws in some way. Do we engage in strife? Are we unwilling to forgive? We need to do a check-up with the Holy
Spirit, a self-diagnostic if you will.
If we do get attacked, we need
to rebuke Satan. But, sometimes the
attack is a result of our own actions:
“When tempted, no one should
say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God
cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but
each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and
enticed. 15 Then, after desire has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth
to death.” (James 1:13-15)
One of Satan’s ploys is to
prey upon our ignorance and encourage us to walk in darkness:
“Who is wise and understanding
among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility
that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you
harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it
or deny the truth. 15 Such ‘wisdom’
does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition,
there you find disorder and every evil practice.” (James 3;13-16)
Strife is defined as being at
odds over something. We are to be about
the work of the Kingdom and time is lost when we are in strife. It leads to confusion and “every evil work”
and its allows the Devil to come in.
You need to put on the armor
of God by sitting in Him.
The antidote to strife? It is forgiveness:
“‘Have faith in God,’ Jesus answered. 23 ‘Truly I
tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,”
and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen,
it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I
tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it,
and it will be yours. 25 And when you
stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your
Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.’” (Mark 11:22-25)
Proverbs 6:16-19 warns us:
There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
This is not love. You are not walking in love if these verses
apply to you. Love is the answer to all
things—love is the premier weapon. No
issues will arise of you are walking in love.
We stand on the victory Christ
has already won for us. We don’t fight
to get it; we have it! We don’t seek to
gain ground; we already have it and thus we stand on it. Satan will try to take away that ground, but
we hold it. This is spiritual warfare: We
hold the ground, knowing that the victory is already won. Pray as if it is already won. Sadly, most Christians are on the
outside, looking in, because they do not know what they already have.
Satan’s Mind Games
Satan plays mind games. We are powerful against Satan if we do know
who are and what we possess. We perish
from a lack of understanding. In John
13, we see how Satan entered into Judas’ heart, which is defined in the Bible
as the thoughts, will and emotions.
Part of Jesus’ ministry is to
teach and heal the “broken-hearted,” which means the “broken-minded.”
Satan hits you with fear and
he jabs you to see what you’ll say: “Out
of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
God has given us control over
the sphere that He has given us. Jesus
never went after the Devil. The Devil
and his minions came to Him, in His space, and He told them to ‘shut up.”
We need to learn from
Jesus: Don’t go looking for a
fight.”
We can move on once we know
this truth.
The story of Jehu is
instructive here:
“Jehu got up
and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu’s head and
declared, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of
Israel, says: “I anoint you king over the Lord’s people
Israel. 7 You are to destroy the house
of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets
and the blood of all the Lord’s servants shed by Jezebel.
8 The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will
cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. 9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of
Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. 10 As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot
of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’” (2 Kings 9:6-10)
Jezebel sent messengers to go
after Jehu. At first, they were
small. Then, over time, they become
larger and more intimidating.
If we are a threat to the
Devil, he will sent messengers to go after you and they can increase over
time. If the Devil is not bugging you,
then there is nothing he wants.
Our heart and mind are united. Remember, the Devil entered into Judas’ mind.
Last Words
On the pre-resurrected side of
the Cross of Christ, the Devil messes with our soul—our mind, our will and our
emotions. But on the resurrected side of
the Cross, our heart, our soul, is now under the dominion of our spirit, in
which the Holy Spirit inhabits.
We now walk in
spirit/Spirit. That is our power and our
position.
Spiritual Warfare, Part II
We are to not retaliate against someone who has
hurt us. We are to not act in the
flesh.
We
have to remember that the enemy comes to steal and destroy: family, life, everything.
When
the Word is served up, he comes immediately to steal it. The Word is our authority. We have to turn the situation around. We have been all four soils. The good ground is where God’s Word is
received to produce a harvest.
Remember
the six most hated things by God, and these things leave us open to
attack:
“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying
tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet
that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a
person who stirs up conflict in the community.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)
Show Satan his birth certificate to remind
him that he doesn’t have one. God
couldn’t be legal here on earth without a body to dwell in. The same with Satan. In John 10:1, it says, “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep
pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a
robber.” Satan is “a thief and a robber.” Satan is illegal.
Satan needs a body and your
cooperation. Satan wants to commit
terrible things: He seeks to destroy
both parties in a crisis. Our
response? Spiritual warfare is walking
in love. Know who you are and you have
averted his theft. He looks to take all
we have.
Satan is out to take us out. God’s purpose is to stand against the
Devil. God’s sons are filled with life
and light to defeat Satan. We cannot
outwit Satan. When we are walking with
God in love, the Holy Spirit will show you what is to come: “He [the Holy Spirit] will glorify me because
it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” (John
16:14) Walking in God’s love, joy and
peace means that you will see what the Devil is up to.
God has already shown us: We just did not hear him. Walk in love and He is in us. He knows what the Devil is up to. Pray every day for the defeat of Satan. Isaiah 54:17 speaks of our heritage: “‘[N]o weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every
tongue that accuses you. This is the
heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this
is their vindication from me,’ declares the Lord.”
If this heritage is available to the servants,
how much more is it available to the sons?
Pray out loud, and pray the Word, praying
the truth. The truth totally confuses
Satan. Pray in your own language: “It is written…” You speak the truth and it confuses
Satan. Whatever plans you have, say, I
bind you and I shut you down in Jesus’ name.
Matthew 16:19 says, “I will give you the keys of
the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
We can’t control others, but this
shouldn’t steal our joy and peace. The
Holy Spirit will show you what’s to come.
This is key: Keep hooked up with God. Something weighs heavy in your spirit—like a
rock—and you ask, What is this? Pray
until the burden is lifted. That is
spiritual warfare! Spiritual warfare
means listening to the Holy Spirit in your heart. Be close to Him so you can hear Him.
Remember:
Satan will poke you to see what you will say…
Teaching on Spiritual Warfare, Part I
The goal of this teaching is to: Learn the tactics of the enemy, learn our part, and learn from God’s point of view on what spiritual warfare means.
Our Authority and Why Leaders Are So Important
We don’t want to get out of turn of what God has called us to—we need to rely on His grace to operate in the areas we are called to. We need to operate in our authority in our sphere. If you haven’t bump into Satan, you and he must be going in the same direction. There are two thrones at war here. God is claiming the earth for His dominion—His Kingdom authority is here.
Colossians 1:12-13says, "[A]nd giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves…” We were delivered from the power of darkness. We were translated to Heaven. We are not under the enemy’s authority. We pray with God’s authority—this is very destructive to Satan.
With these two thrones, it is our job to kick the devil out. (Chapter 7 in Watchman Nee’s The Normal Christian Life is very instructive here.) We are filled with His life to go forward and defeat the devil. We were not originally created for redemption. We are redeemed, but we were created to fight in this warfare.
The Kingdom of God is not a democracy. The King decrees. All kingdoms have an army. The army here on earth has a structure with generals all the way down. In this Kingdom, all are important to His army. The pastor is not more important—all are equally important. We have a job to do in the Kingdom, and it is structured like the military. The Body of Christ, when united, gets things done. There is no continuity in the church and it is our job to bring “decency and order” into the church. That is why we need to train up leaders! 1 Chronicles 17:10 says, “[A]nd have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies. I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you…”
Who Our Adversary Was
This is our adversary as described in Ezekiel 28:13-19:
"You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.
19 All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.”
Isaiah 14:12-16 describes why Satan was kicked out of Heaven. These passages describe who he was. He is a created being, and he came to earth to raise havoc:
“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
16 Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble…”
How Satan Operates
Satan’s technique is to play games with your mind. He has to have a body to function. If he doesn’t have our eyes to lust, our hands to murder, then he can’t operate on this planet. He is powerful in the techniques of persuasion through human beings. We must snatch children away from the devil. We must teach, preach and demonstrate through our lifestyle. We must demonstrate and if not, then you’ll sit down. Christ is returning for His church, the church as it was in the beginning. The devil uses mind games and has perfected this technique.
His main objectives are to steal the Word and try to breach of divine laws He cannot touch the new man—the new man is surrounded by the Holy Spirit. So, the devil goes after the old man. His capacity is that of the power of persuasion. His power and his money come from us. We were under his authority. Once, we were his slaves to sin. After we became born-again, the devil is now under our authority. He must obey us! Our job is to go out there and teach this.
We must go out in the whole armor of God. God’s armor is available to us because of our covenant relationship with Him—just like David and Jonathan. King Saul tried putting his armor on David…no! They were not in covenant. With the helmet of salvation, the devil can’t see your face. Satan sees the armor and thinks it is God. That is, until we open up our mouths… The language we speak—in truth—the Devil cannot understand it. The truth confuses him. Stay in the armor, and don’t come out from underneath it.
The devil will go after you like a roaring lion. As God’s children, we need to know who we are and the authority we have. Satan cannot understand truth. The truth is not in Satan.
First Tactic: Steal the Word
The parable in Mark 4:3-8 is instructive on how Satan achieves his main tactic, which is to steal the Word:
"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
He wins at this all the time. He cannot allow the Word to get in. But, you can get the Word into you and then the less he can influence you. He likes dry places—the Word is like water. He doesn’t like a “wet” environment, watered by the Word. The devil understands the Word, and he’ll drag your head away to steal the Word. Offense, persecution and problems, the cares of this world will choke out the Word. The devil seeks to steal the Word out of your heart. Without the Word, there is no stance against the devil, and we have no authority.
Second Tactic: The Breach of Divine Laws
Keeping on the armor of God and keeping our mouth right is essential. Satan will stick you to see what will come out of your mouth. We need to keep our mouth right. Isaiah 6:5-8 tells us what happened when Isaiah saw God high and lifted up and he saw he was a man “of unclean lips”:
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
The devil can’t read your mind. Your mouth must be kept right.
In Proverbs 6:16-19, we read:
"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."
In Revelation 21:27, we read: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” This is the New Jerusalem, where “the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8) These people will not be allowed in. Don’t get caught in gossip with anybody. Proverbs 18:21 reminds us: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Plant the Word
Read the Word out loud. Proclaim it. The Word has the power of a seed. It goes into the ear, and then into the heart. Put the Word in there…don’t let Satan steal it. Your heart is like a garden. What’s in it? Weeds? Read the Word out loud to get it into your spirit. Luke 17:6 says we can uproot the weeds: “He replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.’”
Our Authority and Why Leaders Are So Important
We don’t want to get out of turn of what God has called us to—we need to rely on His grace to operate in the areas we are called to. We need to operate in our authority in our sphere. If you haven’t bump into Satan, you and he must be going in the same direction. There are two thrones at war here. God is claiming the earth for His dominion—His Kingdom authority is here.
Colossians 1:12-13says, "[A]nd giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves…” We were delivered from the power of darkness. We were translated to Heaven. We are not under the enemy’s authority. We pray with God’s authority—this is very destructive to Satan.
With these two thrones, it is our job to kick the devil out. (Chapter 7 in Watchman Nee’s The Normal Christian Life is very instructive here.) We are filled with His life to go forward and defeat the devil. We were not originally created for redemption. We are redeemed, but we were created to fight in this warfare.
The Kingdom of God is not a democracy. The King decrees. All kingdoms have an army. The army here on earth has a structure with generals all the way down. In this Kingdom, all are important to His army. The pastor is not more important—all are equally important. We have a job to do in the Kingdom, and it is structured like the military. The Body of Christ, when united, gets things done. There is no continuity in the church and it is our job to bring “decency and order” into the church. That is why we need to train up leaders! 1 Chronicles 17:10 says, “[A]nd have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies. I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you…”
Who Our Adversary Was
This is our adversary as described in Ezekiel 28:13-19:
"You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.
19 All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.”
Isaiah 14:12-16 describes why Satan was kicked out of Heaven. These passages describe who he was. He is a created being, and he came to earth to raise havoc:
“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
16 Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble…”
How Satan Operates
Satan’s technique is to play games with your mind. He has to have a body to function. If he doesn’t have our eyes to lust, our hands to murder, then he can’t operate on this planet. He is powerful in the techniques of persuasion through human beings. We must snatch children away from the devil. We must teach, preach and demonstrate through our lifestyle. We must demonstrate and if not, then you’ll sit down. Christ is returning for His church, the church as it was in the beginning. The devil uses mind games and has perfected this technique.
His main objectives are to steal the Word and try to breach of divine laws He cannot touch the new man—the new man is surrounded by the Holy Spirit. So, the devil goes after the old man. His capacity is that of the power of persuasion. His power and his money come from us. We were under his authority. Once, we were his slaves to sin. After we became born-again, the devil is now under our authority. He must obey us! Our job is to go out there and teach this.
We must go out in the whole armor of God. God’s armor is available to us because of our covenant relationship with Him—just like David and Jonathan. King Saul tried putting his armor on David…no! They were not in covenant. With the helmet of salvation, the devil can’t see your face. Satan sees the armor and thinks it is God. That is, until we open up our mouths… The language we speak—in truth—the Devil cannot understand it. The truth confuses him. Stay in the armor, and don’t come out from underneath it.
The devil will go after you like a roaring lion. As God’s children, we need to know who we are and the authority we have. Satan cannot understand truth. The truth is not in Satan.
First Tactic: Steal the Word
The parable in Mark 4:3-8 is instructive on how Satan achieves his main tactic, which is to steal the Word:
"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
He wins at this all the time. He cannot allow the Word to get in. But, you can get the Word into you and then the less he can influence you. He likes dry places—the Word is like water. He doesn’t like a “wet” environment, watered by the Word. The devil understands the Word, and he’ll drag your head away to steal the Word. Offense, persecution and problems, the cares of this world will choke out the Word. The devil seeks to steal the Word out of your heart. Without the Word, there is no stance against the devil, and we have no authority.
Second Tactic: The Breach of Divine Laws
Keeping on the armor of God and keeping our mouth right is essential. Satan will stick you to see what will come out of your mouth. We need to keep our mouth right. Isaiah 6:5-8 tells us what happened when Isaiah saw God high and lifted up and he saw he was a man “of unclean lips”:
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
The devil can’t read your mind. Your mouth must be kept right.
In Proverbs 6:16-19, we read:
"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."
In Revelation 21:27, we read: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” This is the New Jerusalem, where “the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8) These people will not be allowed in. Don’t get caught in gossip with anybody. Proverbs 18:21 reminds us: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Plant the Word
Read the Word out loud. Proclaim it. The Word has the power of a seed. It goes into the ear, and then into the heart. Put the Word in there…don’t let Satan steal it. Your heart is like a garden. What’s in it? Weeds? Read the Word out loud to get it into your spirit. Luke 17:6 says we can uproot the weeds: “He replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.’”
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