We Are Declared NOT Guilty by the Highest Court – by AW Tozer

We Are Declared NOT Guilty by the Highest Court – by AW Tozer

After just finishing preaching through Ephesians last Sunday and the Great Warfare Passage of chapter 6, thought I’d pass this along… enjoy!!!

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11

The Christian believer cannot be happy and victorious in the true liberty of the children of God if he is still quaking about his past sins.

God knows that sin is a terrible thing—yes, and the devil knows it, too! So the devil follows us around and as long as we will permit it, he will taunt us about our past sins.

As for myself, I have learned to talk back to him on this score.

I say, “Yes, Devil, sin is terrible—but I remind you that I got it from you! And I remind you, Devil, that everything good—forgiveness and cleansing and blessing—everything that is good I have freely received from Jesus Christ!”

Everything that is bad and that is against me I got from the devil—so why should he have the effrontery and the brass to argue with me about it? Yet he will do it because he is the devil, and he is committed to keeping God’s children shut up in a little cage, their spiritual wings clipped.

Brethren, we have been declared “Not guilty!” by the highest court in all the universe. It is good to know that on the basis of grace as taught in the Word of God, when God forgives a man, He trusts him as though he had never sinned.

The Bible does not teach that if a man falls down, he can never rise again. The fact that he falls is not the most important thing—but rather that he is forgiven and allows God to lift him up! That is the basis of our Christian assurance and God wants us to be happy in it.

 

Also check out the Book: I Talk Back to the Devil by AW Tozer

Here’s a Brief Excerpt:

I Talk Back to the Devil! Tozer

“The devil makes it his business to keep Christians in bondage, bound and gagged, actually imprisoned in their own grave clothes!”
WHY DOESN’T THE OLD DEVIL, SATAN, give up and bow out of the picture when a person becomes a believing Christian?
Although he is a dark and sinister foe dedicated to the damnation of humans, I think he knows that it is no use trying to damn a forgiven and justified child of God who is in the Lord’s hands.
So, it becomes the devil’s business to keep the Christian’s spirit imprisoned. He knows that the believing and justified Christian has been raised up out of the grave of his sins and trespasses. From that point on, Satan works that much harder to keep us bound and gagged, actually imprisoned in our own grave clothes.
He knows that if we continue in this kind of bondage, we will never be able to claim our rightful spiritual heritage. He knows also that while we continue bound in this kind of enslavement we are not much better off than when we were spiritually dead.
This is one reason why the Christians in today’s churches are behaving like a flock of frightened sheep—so intimidated by the devil that we can’t even say “Amen”!
I admit that occasionally you find a few who are just childishly happy about everything, but that is not what I mean. Often these are just like children playing in the market places, having never been seriously engaged in the conflict on the spiritual battlefield.
Show me an individual or a congregation committed to spiritual progress with the Lord, interested in what the Bible teaches about spiritual perfection and victory, and I will show you where there is strong and immediate defiance by the devil!

Centered on Christ By T. Austin-Sparks

Centered on Christ By T. Austin-Sparks

The disciples came to Him and asked, “Do You realize You offended the Pharisees by what You just said?” Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by My heavenly Father will be uprooted.” (Matthew 15:12,13 NLT)

Organized Christianity as it is today cannot understand anything that is not organized, that is not advertised, that is not run. It must have names that carry weight, that mean influence. If you can get people with some title, you are going to have the guarantee of success for your Christian enterprise. And so the letters and the titles strung on are a necessary requisite for the success of the Lord’s work. You must write it up in the press, you must give a report of it, you must be able to make some kind of return that people can read, and say, "This is a successful thing." If you cannot do that, the whole thing is doomed to failure. They say, "You must advertise, you must have publicity, you must organize, you must bring in all these things to support it, to carry it on." If you did none of those; if you were never heard of in the press; if you never had a report; if you never had any names; if there was nothing at all that came out in a public way for people to take account of, what is the verdict of organized Christianity? "Nothing is being done. You are doing nothing. It is a-hole-in-a-corner sort of thing." Is that true? What must we say about that? There was a striking absence of all that in the beginning, and a marvelous manifestation of power, of progress, of effectiveness, so that nothing could stand in the way. We must only conclude, we are driven to this extremity, that the Lord can do His own work. Evidently the risen Lord is able to carry on His own work; the Holy Ghost knows how to manage things. What a surprising discovery! Forgive my irony. I say, this is that upon which Hebrews 12:26-28 is fixed. “I will shake the earth and the heavens”; that which can be shaken will be shaken; that which cannot be shaken will remain; and what is that? It is what God has done. “Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever.” What God does is done in a spiritual way; it is spiritual, it is heavenly, it is eternal.

That may leave you perhaps in a vague, perplexed position, not knowing where you are, but I have no doubt about the truth of the message. If you do not feel you can accept it; if you disagree; if you revolt; if you feel it cuts clean across all your training, all your acceptance; if you feel that it runs counter to all that you know, all I ask of you is honesty with God. I ask you to come and ask Him to open to you the meaning of the letter to the Hebrews, why it was written, what its significance is, why God has preserved it, what its application is now. Have honest dealings with the Lord. Please do not go away hot in spirit, antagonistic; do not lay this at the door of any man. At least give God a chance.... May the Lord give us His own interpretation, give us honesty of heart, and show us His meaning in having brought us to this consideration.

Warfare Spirituality part 10

Warfare Spirituality part 10

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:6-8

Symptoms of Demonic Activity include, but are not limited to the following

·        Self-destructive, suicidal, or murderous thoughts

·        Uncontrollable anger or fits of rage and violence

·        Compulsive cursing and blasphemy

·        Strong aversion to the name of Jesus, Bible reading, or prayer

·        Profound depression, gloom, or despair

·        Intense and irrational bitterness and hatred

·        Obsessive temptations or excessive cravings

·        Overwhelming feelings of guilt and self-reproach

·        Inability to renounce a dominating sin

·        Sudden and unaccountable physical symptoms (e.g., pressure,

·        Choking, seizures, spells of unconsciousness)

·        Uncontrollable fear or dread

·        Recurring nightmares

·        Supernatural knowledge; clairvoyant or mediumistic powers

·        Rapid changes and distortions of facial expressions or voice

·        Multiple personality disorders

·        Unnatural physical strength

·        Poltergeist phenomena and apparitions

There are numerous Causes of Demonic Activity, here are some that we find in Scripture

For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,  greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. Mark 7:21-22
 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21
 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, "This is what God says: 'Why do you disobey the LORD's commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'" 2 Chronicles 24:20

for Deliverance from Demonic Activity there must be a “Stronger Man” and there is One – JESUS, and He provides for us…

Salvation

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

Willingness

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" John 5:6

Confession

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Matthew 3:8
 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. James 4:8-9
 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah Psalm 32:5

Renunciation

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 4:2
 "You shall have no other gods before me.  "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, Exodus 20:3-5
 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds.
 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. Acts 19:18-19

Forgiveness

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15
 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"  Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.  "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.  Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
 "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'  The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.  "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.  "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'  "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.  When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.  "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'
 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.  "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." Matthew 18:21-35

Submission to God

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."  Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:6-7
 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

Resistance

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5:8-9

Confrontation

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; Mark 16:17
 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." Luke 10:17
 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. Acts 16:18
 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, Philippians 2:9-10
 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Matthew 12:28

Weak Christianity Tends toward Humanism by AW Tozer

Weak Christianity Tends toward Humanism by AW Tozer

… That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and in all judgment…that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. Philippians 1:9, 10

I am in disagreement with many when I insist that the flaw in current evangelism lies in its humanistic approach. It struggles to be supernaturalistic but never quite makes it. It is frankly fascinated by the great, noisy, aggressive world with its big names, its hero-worship, its wealth and its garish pageantry.

In this quasi-Christian scheme of things God becomes the Aladdin lamp who does the bidding of everyone that will accept His Son and sign a card. The total obligation of the sinner is discharged when he accepts Christ. After that he has but to come with his basket and receive the religious equivalent of everything the world offers and enjoy it to the limit.

Those who have not accepted Christ thus must be content with this world, but with the view held by many today the Christian gets this world with the one to come thrown in as a bonus!

This gross misapprehension of the truth is back of much of our present evangelical activity. It determines directions, builds programs, decides the content of sermons, fixes the quality of local churches and even of whole denominations, sets the pattern for religious writers.

This concept of Christianity is little more than weak humanism allied with weak Christianity to give it ecclesiastical respectability. It may be identified by its religious approach. Invariably it begins with man and his needs and then looks around for God; true Christianity reveals God as searching for man to deliver him from his ambitions!

 

Learn the Truth About the Enemy of Your Soul by AW Tozer

Learn the Truth About the Enemy of Your Soul by AW Tozer

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:11

The devil is declared in the Scriptures to be an enemy of God and of all good men. Because he is a spirit he is able to “walk up and down in the earth” at his pleasure.

While we must not underestimate the strength of our foe, we must at the same time recognize that we need not live in constant fear of him! If he cannot make skeptics of us he will make us devil-conscious and thus throw a permanent shadow across our lives, for there is but a hairline between truth and superstition.

We should learn the truth about the enemy, but we must stand bravely against every superstitious notion he would introduce about himself. The truth will set us free but superstition will enslave us!

The scriptural way to see things is to set the Lord always before us, put Christ in the center of our vision; and if Satan is lurking around he will appear on the margin only and be seen as but a shadow on the edge of the brightness. It is always wrong to invert this—to set Satan in the focus of our vision and push God out to the margin. Nothing but tragedy can come from such inversion!

The best way to keep the enemy out is to keep Christ in! The sheep need not be terrified by the wolf; they have but to stay close to the shepherd. The instructed Christian whose faculties have been developed by the Word and the Spirit will practice the presence of God moment by moment

Warfare Spirituality part 9

There are Degrees of Demonic Activity

To deny the existence and influence of demons would be to ignore or mythologize the many gospel accounts of Christ's ministry of delivering people from demonic bondage. These were more than psychological delusions or hallucinations. From the first-century church in the book of Acts to the present day there have been clear evidences of demonic oppression and control. 

The Bible does not actually use the term "demon possession."

The usual expression is that he or she "has" a demon or an unclean spirit. The Greek word, daimonizomenoi simply means, "to be demonized." This term allows for different degrees of demonization ranging from influence to oppression to control.

there is Demonic Influence

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3
 Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 1 Corinthians 7:5
 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:2-3
 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.
 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan. 1 Timothy 5:14-15

there is Demonic Oppression

Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Acts 5:3
 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
 and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:26-27

and there is Demonic Control (domination in the mind)

the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. John 14:17
 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9
 The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.
 All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 1 Corinthians 16:19-20