Worship and the Forces of Evil - Part 2

Continuing on with the spiritual warfare topic, we're going to move forward speaking from the reality that demons do exist and that they can and do have an effect on the world around us. I think a large part of the church's ignorance of this reality and their lack of instruction on exercising God given authority over the powers of darkness in the spiritual realm is why we're not particularly strong, and why we're falling more into the patterns of the world, and why we're feeling more defeated than victorious.  So if you're still skeptical, read your bibles and ask God to open your eyes to the truth and the need for you to be able to exercise the authority we have in Christ over the work of Satan.

One key element about Satan is that he is the father of lies, Jesus tells us that in John 8:44. Knowing this helps us to recognize the business that the demonic forces are in, spreading lies, keeping people blinded to the truth, and keeping people in the bondage to their flesh (where sin resides).  So to do battle against that work, we must be able to identify lies, replace those lies with truth, and keep affirming that truth as needed, whether this attack of the enemy is in our own lives or in someone else.  My friend Tim touched upon this in his comments on the previous posts, so check that out if you get a chance.  

So we need to know the truth, we need to believe it and live in it, but please recognize the problem we have in Christianity.  We think that "believing" is enough, so to speak, and even what we "believe" half the time is incorrect or incomplete.  James told us that the demons believe that God is one, and tremble, but they are on the opposing side.  So what does it take to exercise authority over the work of the enemy?  Here's an outline of what Neil Anderson thinks it takes. 

Belief - This is a belief or faith in the authority that Christ has given you.  The analogy made is of a rookie cop who's nervous and weak in his perspective on his authority going out to direct traffic for the first time.  At the academy they told his that all he had to do was blow his whistle, step into the street and put his hands out.  Because he's not confident in this authority that he has as a police officer now, he blows his whistle a little, and lightly puts his hand out to a car that rushes right by him without noticing.  He can't even get into the road to start directing traffic.  Compare this to a seasoned officer, who takes a look around and assesses the situation, carefully but confidently steps out into the street and then puts his hands out in such a way that the cars stop at his command.  That's the difference in someone that has some head knowledge, and someone that has faith in the authority they have and exercise it.

Humility- this isn't humility that lays down and gets walked over by everyone.  Neil defines this as confidence that is properly placed.  Humility places that confidence (or belief) in our authority in Christ, the source of our authority.  Pride says, "I resisted or defeated the devil." True humility says, "I resisted the devil by the grace of God."  There's that balance of recognizing that we can do nothing apart from God (John 15:5), but that we can do and are called to do something because God has enabled us and called us to do something.  I'm sure you've met some healing type people or seen them on tv and got the sense that they were not operating out of this kind of humility. 

Boldness-  In Acts 4:31, as the apostles were going to share the gospel in Jerusalem, it says, "the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness."  The opposite of boldness as Neil puts it "is cowardice, fear and unbelief."  He shares that a lot of students who took his class come away with a new perspective, saying they used to be afraid of the demonic and dealing with it, but now that they know who they are in Christ, they're not afraid anymore and can operate boldly.  I find Neil's boldness idea and belief to be very similar.

Dependance-  the believer who has learned about their identity in Christ and the authority that comes with it is not called to be a sort of demonic ghost buster, trying to hunt down the enemy as their job.  We are to pursue the ministries that God has gifted us in and called us to such as loving, preaching, praying, worship, teaching, etc.  But, typically if you're doing kingdom work and living a life of faith, the enemy will challenge us or we will find demonic work in someone we're ministering to.  At that point we we need to deal with the enemy according to the authority we have in Christ and our dependence on Him, replace the lies with truth and remind the enemy that they are subject to Christ, and we are in Christ, so they have to back down.  Once the enemy is dealt with, we focus on the primary work again. 

You've probably met or seen people on tv that get so caught up in spiritual warfare, that they are distracted from any other more primary ministry focus.  It was Christ who disarmed the powers of darkness, so we have to be careful not think that we're called to eradicate demons from the face of the earth.  God will take care of that, He said He will.  But at the same time we need to be aware and put on that spiritual armor as we go about the work God has called us to so that we can exercise the victory of Christ in our own lives and help others who have been bound by the lies of the enemy, whenever that situation presents itself.

I know I said I'd get into how this ties in with worship, but I think this groundwork needed to be laid a little more.  I promise I'll get more into ideas about worship and the demonic in the next post.  Keep the comments coming, your different perspectives and questions are needed as we explore this issue.