Taking Unto Us the Sword of the Spirit II: On the Holy Spirit; Who Is He?

And take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. (Eph 6:17)

SHIRAN: To whom does that Voice belong, that stops you in your tracks when you are about to sin? Who is responsible for what the world calls “coincidence”, when, for example, you get the urge to go and visit someone, and then they say that they have been praying for company all day long? How come that scripture that you read last night popped into your mind at a difficult point in your day, reminding you to be strong and go on? Who gives you the answers that silence unbelievers in a random argument that ensues during a lunch break? Whence do you get the sudden urge to stop what you are doing and pray for someone you haven’t thought of in a long time?

ZACK: You know Shiran, coincidence and luck are words that I am working out of my vocabulary since the profundity of this scripture hit home with me; And we know that in all things, God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28.) And to answer your questions there, the Spirit of God, I believe He rouses the saints then!

SHIRAN: Zack, most people refer to and think about the Holy Spirit as “It”! I was once like that. It took me a while to realize that the Holy Spirit is a Person, i.e. He has a personality, and is as much God as Jesus Christ and God the Father are.

ZACK: Worse than you there Shiran, before I received the Holy Spirit, I feared even the mention of Him. My perception of Him was of a ‘force’ that would make people shake and utter unintelligible words and basically not be themselves for a good amount of time. I dreaded that.

SHIRAN: Hahaha! I thought that, too, to an extent. That's funny... thank you for sharing; I am sure many soldiers will be consoled in realizing we all go through these moments - and grow from them! Go on...

ZACK: It was only until I began to study this subject further that I actually found out He (the Holy Spirit) actually has a personality and is really as Jesus said He is, the Comforter. Then I saw how enormously wrong I had been the whole while; I received Him almost immediately.

SHIRAN: Bless God for that revelation. The Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost, is not a “force” that people get when they are born again. The Holy Spirit thinks, feels, knows, IS. Remember Ananias and Sapphira? Quick story for those who don’t: Grab your Bibles (or click on the Bible in the sidebar if you can’t… tangible Bible is always better!) and check out Acts chapter 5.

(Zoom in:)

Ananias and Sapphira were married Christians. Their story is set just after Jesus ascended into heaven. The number of believers was growing steadily in Jerusalem. The believers were “of one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32), just like we should be today! They shared their possessions, and those who had land and houses sold them and gave the money to the apostles. The money was shared “as everyone had need” (Acts 4:35).

So Zack, as you know, these guys decided to sell a possession so that they could also lay the money at the apostles’ feet. At some point, they must have conspired to give out just a part of the money they earned, instead of the entire amount. For some reason, this story right now reminds me of Adam and Eve and how they both hid from God after eating the fruit of the garden.

Ananias took the money to Peter, Jesus’ disciple. But Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost, and knew immediately that it was not the entire amount. He said to Ananias, “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and keep back part of the price of the land?... Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”

(Zoom out)

So, lying to the Holy Ghost is the same as lying to God.

ZACK: Definitely Shiran.

SHIRAN: Another piece of evidence? Paul tells us in Romans 8:26-27 that since we are men and do not know what to pray for as we ought to, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

ZACK: If we may, I’d like us to look again at that piece of scripture very carefully Shiran. Romans 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth out infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Because I know how to pray doesn’t mean I know what to pray for. You know too often our prayers can be like the old farmer John’s: ‘Oh God, bless me and my wife and my son John junior and his wife, us four and no more’ [we might not all say the exact words but this is what it amounts to]. But this scripture here tells us the Holy Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered in articulate speech. This agrees with what Paul said in I Cor. 14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

Shiran, when people pray in tongues, it is the Holy Spirit within them who gives them utterance to speak out of their spirit. In other words, when a person is praying in tongues, it is his spirit praying by the Holy Spirit who is within him. By this, the Holy Spirit is helping them to pray according to the will of God for things that should be prayed for. Which brings me to another point of the spiritual battle that we’re onto discussing through these series now; too often we think (erroneously) that we can fight a spiritual battle from only a mental or carnal perspective. This is wrong. Our physical bodies could not even last that long in such a battle, this is the reason why the Lord’s Holy Spirit comes to the rescue here (bails us out if you like) when He helps us to pray in the spirit. It is also important Shiran, that we know the Holy Spirit is not going to do the praying for us. He does not groan or speak in tongues apart from you. The Holy Spirit is sent to dwell in you. He is a helper, an intercessor –but He does not intercede apart from you. The way He helps us pray is by these groanings that escape our lips. They come out of our spirit, born of the Holy Spirit. Thus we can boldly say, ‘speaking in tongues’ is Holy Spirit-directed prayer. It eliminates the possibility of selfish prayer or inadequate prayer.

SHIRAN: I am learning, Zack. I could not have put that any better.

The Holy Spirit, Paul says, gives us gifts as He wills. Different people have different gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who gives them. God is loving… and constantly giving to us, His children. Remember John 3:16? He loved us so much that He gave!

ZACK: Interesting there that you should talk about giving and gifts Shiran. But we’ll come back to that. Well, yes Shiran, the Holy Spirit gives different people different gifts, each as He wills. If I recall correctly there are nine different gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians. Some are given one, others more; Jesus in his life ministry on earth had all. But it’s important we note that phrase, ‘as the Spirit wills’. Well getting back to giving and gifts there… you know Shiran, there are a lot of misconceptions out there when it comes to receiving the Holy Spirit: some people say you have to do certain things, or somehow clean up your life before receiving the Holy Spirit. If this was the case then Christ would have shed his blood in vain. But a lot of people get the notion that they must do something to receive the GIFT (mark that word) of the Holy Spirit. I’m of the view that something ceases to be a gift if you have to work for it. What do you think there Shiran?

SHIRAN: I agree. For example, salvation is a gift - not of works, lest any man should boast.

ZACK: When you are born again, there’s a change that occurs on your inside. Your spirit is recreated. And if you’re saved, you’re ready to be filled with the Holy Spirit; you don’t have to do anything but ask to receive! When Jesus promised us the comforter before He ascended to heaven, all the waiting was done between the time of Jesus’ ascension and the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was sent into the world as our Comforter on the day of Pentecost and it’s been upon believers to receive Him since then. See Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

SHIRAN: I like that word - "endued" - it does not have anything to do with forcing God to give us something. To endue someone with something means to put it on them. I am checking dictionary.com and one of the definitions is "to clothe"! Go on, Zack.

ZACK: After the day of Pentecost, there is no other instance in the Bible where people had to tarry (wait) for the Holy Spirit! Evidences: Acts 8 (Eight years after Pentecost, Phillip went down to Samaria and as a result of his preaching, people were saved and baptised in water. Then Peter and John went down from Jerusalem, laid hands on the Samaritans), verse 17: and they received the Holy Ghost. Without agonizing, without tarrying, without disappointment, without exception, they all were filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 10, Cornelius and his household were filled with the Holy Spirit without praying, without waiting, without exception. Also see Acts 19. God does not have any trial-and-error methods, He doesn’t have any method of coming, seeking and not finding, and then going away empty.

SHIRAN: That is very true, Zack. I had never really thought about it like that. My mind seemed to stress the fact that the apostles were commanded to wait, but you point out something very important there.

Paul warns us not to grieve the Holy Spirit, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph 4:30).

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. God destroys those who defile His temple. (Remember those strange fires?) We are bought with a price, and as such, we cannot carry ourselves like the world does (1 Cor 3:16-17, 6:19-20).

ZACK: Romans 12:1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. I like the way the KJV puts that, “…which is your reasonable sacrifice”. Put in other words… a small price to pay for something as precious as God’s Holy Spirit indwelling our bodies.

SHIRAN: Before Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples that He would not leave them comfortless, or orphans. He promised to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who would remind them of all things, and reprove the world, and show them things to come. (John ch. 13-ch.16.)That promise is available to us as well, for we are disciples of Christ. We will get into that a little later.

ZACK: Shiran, I’m sure we’ll be covering more on this when we get to tackling the other aspect of the Christian warrior’s armour - praying always in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication…looking forward!

SHIRAN: Me, too! I have realized that I am learning a lot more than I thought I would! But to answer the question, Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is God. Plain and simple. We daren’t joke around with Him. He is to be respected and revered. The Holy Spirit is God.

ZACK: Also He is our Helper, He is our Comforter and He is our Friend.

Taking Unto Us the Sword of the Spirit (I)

“And take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” EPH 6:17

ZACK: You know Shiran there’s that line in the Bible just before the piece of scripture that we are onto in Ephesians that blesses me abundantly whenever I read or hear it said. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. (Eph. 6:10). I wonder whether folk have heard this scripture to where it has power in their lives, to where they can spiritually take hold of it, activate it in their lives. You know a car is no good to one unless they put in the ignition and turn the engine on, put it into gear and drive it away. That also means a car is no good to one if they can’t drive it. That is what God’s Word should be for us. Power in operation.

Perhaps you’ll find it a little odd Shiran that I started out this way but I meant to lay the plinth for verse 11 that says, Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. God warns us to put on the whole armour meaning that we have an enemy. One that doesn’t rest, doesn’t need sleep and never quits. He looks for every crinkle and crook in our armour. If he’s shooting bullets, he’s not going to shoot just to warn you. He’s going to try to kill you. Do you realise what that means Shiran? Let’s say you sloppily wear God’s armament today, say you decide to put on oddly the Helmet (of salvation) because it messes up your hair or perhaps because you don’t ‘look cool’ in it and as you get out, arrows are shot (by the enemy obviously) to your head. So as the arrow hits at your oddly-worn helmet, you get lucky and it ricochets off. It doesn’t kill you but it knocks you down. Do you realise how fatal that can be? I’m sure this is what God is warning us about. That we don’t just put on bits and pieces of this armour but rather, the whole armour. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through God. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Eph. 6:12.)

SHIRAN: That's some serious food for thought! And yet so many take it for granted. Thank you for the reminder. It does get me thinking!

ZACK: Onto the Sword of the Spirit now Shiran…

SHIRAN: Alright! Like everyone knows, a sword is a weapon, used to inflict injury during war by cutting the enemy. It is like a long knife, sometimes with one edge, sometimes with two (double-edged). According to Wikipedia, swords were developed from daggers during the Bronze Age, when the construction of longer blades became possible.

A sword is

- a defensive weapon, used to protect oneself when attacked. In old movies (why does Zorro come to mind?) the first thing a man did when he met a stranger was to reach for his sword, which was probably kept in a sheath on his side,

and

- an offensive weapon, used to attack and catch the enemy by surprise, also used to “finish off” the enemy. for example, after David killed Goliath, he cut off his head with a sword. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. (1 Samuel 17:50-51)

ZACK: You know, it’s interesting you should whip out such a description. Also I thought I’d add that ‘a sword is only good once out of its sheath’.

SHIRAN: Like the car! Only makes sense when it’s driven!

ZACK: That said, I find it most amusing that the concept of the sword is still maintained even in our modern-day world. Have you ever noticed the remarkable resemblance of the bayonet on the AK-47 (the commonest gun in the world) to the sword? I’m told it’s used as a sword in close combat when all other options run out, to fight until the end. I guess as they say when the chickens come home to roost, there’s not a thing you can do about it. So the Sword will still be arguably the most prolific battling tool in any war. God in His infinite wisdom must have known this aspect of the armour would survive generations of extinction to maintain its use even in this our generation.

SHIRAN: Wow! I know nothing about guns but that right there is very interesting! Most people are right-handed, and so that means that they use their right hands to operate their swords, and their left hands to hold on to the shields that protect their bodies. There has to be significance to the fact that God inspired Paul to refer to the Word of God as “the Sword of the Spirit.”

ZACK: As I’m sure you already know Shiran, we are not to take any word of God’s words to us lightly. Everything, however big or small has such great significance.

SHIRAN: It just hit me, Zack, that Paul did not say, “the stone of the Spirit,” or “the Cannon of the Spirit” or “the Sling of the Spirit” or “the Arrow of the Spirit” or even “the Spear of the Spirit.”

Notice, all the above weapons are used from a distance. You throw stones… arrows… spears… cannon-balls. Slings, too, are used from a distance. To use a sword in combat, you must approach the enemy and attack from a short range. David “ran” – he was far away when he slew Goliath with the stone from his sling – “and stood upon the Philistine” Goliath. And then he “cut off the head therewith.” That, to me, sounds like David making sure that Goliath was 'completely dead' and not just injured by the stone from David's sling.

ZACK: I guess it’s called ‘hand-to-hand’ combat. Personally, when I think of swords, the word 'slice' comes to mind… I’d imagine ‘to slay’ and ‘slew’ are not very far from that. So with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, I reckon we are to slay our enemy too!

SHIRAN: We, too, as soldiers, should use the Sword to “cut off the head” of the enemy; of sin; of anything that tries to steal God’s glory. We should not just wound, we should extinguish completely, snuff out the life from these things. The reason that some sins come back to haunt people is because they have not cut off the heads, they have only used their slings to throw a stone, and then left the “injured” sin, or devil, or situation, lying down, able to get back up after a while.

ZACK: ‘cut off the heads’ = ‘slain’. There, again! Spot on Shiran.

SHIRAN: Reader, please don’t tire. Notice, Zack, that Paul did not say “the Knife of the Spirit” or “the Dagger of the Spirit.” Not even “the Panga/Jambia (slasher) of the Spirit”! Swords are superior to these two cutting instruments. Note that, soldiers!

ZACK: I’m thinking we should take another good look at that picture of the sword atop this post.

SHIRAN: We should! Now, the Bible emphasizes repeatedly the spiritual nature of God. Jesus told the woman at the well, God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)

ZACK: It’s important for us to get this picture right Shiran. The Sword of the Spirit is the (spoken) Word of God. I just collected these pieces of scripture that I’m sure once we’ve read again further clarify this issue:

John 6:63 - It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Isaiah 59:19 - So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

Rev 2:16 - Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

2Thess 2:8 - And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Hos 6:5 - Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.

ZACK: Then the bigger question becomes, How do we take up this Sword? When we read further through verse 18 of the same (i.e. 6th) chapter of Ephesians, we see that we are told it’s by means of praying in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. This is mostly so because sometimes, in fact most times we do not know what and how we ought to pray as fallible humans. God Himself tells us this in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Rom. 8:26. So as the Spirit makes intercessions for us, He knows whatever prayer and supplication there needs to be offered, so we are assured as we pray in the Spirit of this.

I’m sure Shiran, some people might be all questions about this new aspect of prayer in the Spirit that we just hit on. Perhaps we should further elaborate on this (praying in the Spirit) in our subsequent conversations. But one thing we must all know, that this Sword of the Spirit, we use to wrestle with our spiritual enemies as well as to keep our flesh under and keep on glorifying God. It’s little wonder that in all victory monuments and pictures that I have ever seen, the soldier has always gotten their sword raised far high above their heads.

SHIRAN: As we wait on Part II of this series, think and pray on the above, soldiers! It seemed simple in the beginning, didn’t it? A sword… not just another weapon, now, is it?

ZACK: Ask me and I’ll tell you.

Been A While...

Hey, soldiers!

We know, our post for this weekend is a little late, but we are working on it (and learning a whole lot, too!) . We'll have something up soon. Sorry for the delay... Keep the faith, and don't forget, you need that armour on every day! As usual, feel free to email us if you have anything you'd like us to pray or praise with you about.

May the peace of Christ dwell in your hearts. Fight on! You are never alone.

Love in Him,
Shiran & Zack.

PART II: And Take the Helmet of Salvation...

(continued from previous post...)

SHIRAN: The enemy knows that he is defeated and his end draws closer with each passing day. But he does not want to go down alone. And that is why he tries to get Christians in his camp – influencing people to become deceivers like himself, and then planting them unawares within the believers’ camp and getting unwary believers deceived.

For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets… insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matt 24:24)

ZACK: A lot of times Shiran, I think even the believers miss that last line.

SHIRAN: Deceit, if you ask me, has to do with changing a person’s mind, so that they are deluded and go along with something they think will be fruitful, but end up discovering that it is not.

ZACK: Uh huh…

SHIRAN: I mentioned earlier the things that are going on in the world today. Given the fact that Christ’s return is much closer than “around the corner”, and that the devil does not want to go down alone, does it not make sense that so many people are being deluded? The many religions – Buddhism, Sikhism, New Age, oh, I don’t know… Sai Baba – everyone is looking for the truth but not finding it – remember how in the last entry we were reminded that Jesus Christ alone is the truth?

ZACK: I came across this yesterday Shiran, as I was reading a piece on warfare…“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” II Cor. 4:3,4. Because we have us two worlds here; the physical one and also spiritual one, of which we are part given we are people of the spirit. These two worlds collide. Now if those people are blinded, that also means they are in spiritual darkness and we are in spiritual light. And it is the miracle of salvation that brings one’s spiritual eyesight back.

SHIRAN: The media – children are becoming anorexic at tender ages; five- and six-year-olds already thinking they are too fat and need to lose weight. They are being taught witchcraft by movies such as Harry Potter, and they are being lured into the world of imagination and fantasy by all the animation movies out there.

Our adults are not left behind in this quest for the mind. The music people listen to, the fact that many are entertained by a barrage of curse words and tunes that insult mothers, women, children even… tunes that insult God. It’s all over, this deception. A worrying large number think that they cannot be happy unless they have a certain amount of money in their bank accounts. Even sadder is the fact that many people are willing to denounce Christ and turn their backs to follow a trend or a friend.

ZACK: Very true there Shiran. And you know we are constantly engaged in that spiritual war and one of the most effective weapons that the enemy and his evil empire of demons aim at us is today's entertainment. Entertainment supplies the devil’s ammunition in this spiritual war. It's tempting to dismiss it as simple amusement. But even while Christians are entertaining themselves, we are often learning to conform to the immoral values of this world. In other words Shiran, the Christian community is spiritually entertaining itself to death.

God's Word clearly warns us to avoid such dangers. "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" Colossians 2:8. What is the vast majority of today's entertainment except some man or woman's vain philosophy expressed in music, movies, or TV programs? This Scripture warns us that if we continue to entertain ourselves with philosophies that are against Biblical values, this will undermine our faith and joy in Jesus Christ. Deuteronomy 6:7 tells us to teach our families about the laws of God whether we're at home or on a journey, from the time we get up to the time we go to bed. Instead of teaching His values in this manner, too often we let the enemy teach his values to our children (and to us) through the world of entertainment. And because immorality is presented in such an entertaining manner, we believe it doesn't affect us -but that just isn't true! We are losing our children, family, and friends and if we’re not careful even ourselves in this spiritual war without even realizing we are in this battle already. Remember that lion from the Safari lessons? It loves to conceal itself in the tall Savannah elephant grass as it ‘looks around for whom it may devour’. The devil isn’t any less different.Remember I talked about sobriety earlier? The love for alcohol… who pays for all the commercials that say alcohol is good for our health? The beer and wine makers, of course. It is a lie from the pits of hell. I don’t see how drinking wine can add years to one’s life. And another thing, Zack… I don’t believe Jesus drank alcoholic wine, after saying through Solomon that "it is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink". (Prov. 31:4) Jesus is the King of kings. He would never go against what He says. He does not change.

ZACK: Sure He doesn’t. Neither is he a man that he should lie nor a son of a man that He should change His mind.

SHIRAN: Where can this salvation be found? What, WHO can rescue man from this nonsense?

Centuries, eons ago, God saw man in this state. He knew this would happen.

…he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him. (Isaiah 59:15-16)

That verse just blesses me, Zack. I had never really looked at verse 15 properly before today. He that departs from evil makes himself a prey of the enemy – but God sees that, and the Blood of Jesus Christ saves His children.

ZACK: And that God foresaw all of that and planned for our salvation as His beloved is even the more blessing. “Before I formed thee in thy mother’s womb, I knew thee” and “I know the plans I have for you; plans of peace and not of war, plans to prosper you,…” Jer. 29:11

SHIRAN: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Isn’t He a loving Father? He gave His begotten Son, that we might become His adopted sons, and heirs of God through Christ (Rom 8:15-16, Gal 4:6-7). When we accept Jesus Christ, and believe in Him, we find salvation, and we are not condemned (Rom 8:1). We are rescued, and the liberation of knowing that we are new creations and have hope, greatly influences our thoughts. Suddenly, there is clarity. Suddenly, there is peace, and a sense of our positions in the spiritual battle.

ZACK: Very well said there Shiran! And even more I’m reminded of the imperial order in the days of the ancient Roman Empire. All soldiers wore helmets, but with those helmets came marks of authority often emblazoned or running from the one end to the other. One look at a soldier’s helmet would tell you from what company and what rank he came and held respectively. Even better, we as Christian Soldiers with the helmet of salvation, are reminded of that authority that we hold… authority accompanied by signs. “He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:16,17.

Isn’t it just so amazing, almost to such crescendo levels, Shiran, God’s love for they who believe on Him?

SHIRAN: Zack, that Jesus loves me so much blows my mind! Two things remain constant:

1. We talk too much
2. We serve a Great God!

And Take the Helmet of Salvation...

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Shiran: Sobriety – what a virtue.

Zack: And I think the allegory in this verse is spot-on. You know Shiran I was just recalling lessons from a Safari experience the other day and the facts on the African lion, Simba, are very startling… of how the lion will wait around stalking its prey, waiting for that opportune moment while the prey is unguarded and then pouncing on them for the kill. And in others how the lion(s) will chase after a herd of prey and work hard to eliminate the one and finally pounce on them for dinner. Remarkable!

Shiran: Helmets are used to cover people’s heads when they go into battle, ride motorbikes, play sports. Without them, the risk of injury in such activities is much greater. Paul spoke about the helmet of salvation, but he did not literally mean it was to cover our physical heads. He knew the importance of the mind, and how tampering with it can affect our actions.

Zack: True there Shiran.

Eph 6:17(a): And take the helmet of salvation…

Shiran: Zack, I think the mind is more powerful than most people care to imagine. It is where everything we do begins. We spoke about truth in the last entry. Remember the garden of Eden? The serpent used a lie to convince Eve to partake of the fruit of the garden. He used words and played around with her mind and thoughts, twisting God’s words to convince her to directly disobey Him.

“Ye shall not surely die,” he said to Eve (Genesis 3:4-5). “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” And Eve “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise…”

And what an end to that story! Zack, I don’t think Eve really had a desire to eat of the fruit before she met the serpent and he got her thinking about it.

Zack: Eve, there, let her mind be penetrated by a non-truth, something other than what the Lord had commanded them. And so did her husband Adam when he too listened to and acted upon his wife’s coaxing to eat the fruit. I’d say this was also the beginning of the great battle over control of the minds of mankind.

Shiran: The minute we gave our lives to Christ, Zack, we became prime targets of the enemy. We became aliens in this world, “strangers and pilgrims” (Heb 11:13)… “for here we have no continuing city” (Heb 13:14). We became soldiers in Christ’s army. We know that this battle is not a physical one – it’s a spiritual one, “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph 6:12). We are not fighting against our fellow brothers and sisters, but against forces in the spiritual realm. The only way that these forces can attack Christians who cannot physically see them is by influencing their minds – their thoughts, beliefs, ideas, opinions – and therefore their actions.

Zack: You know Shiran, and that’s one of the biggest deceptions that the enemy would have God’s people and inevitably all the world to believe, that he is only myth or perhaps a creation of the minds of deluded Christians. Subtle. That’s how he works, that Satan. Using the mind as his battlefield only adds to his subtlety; there is nothing more satisfying to the devil than to be allowed to work his evil unannounced and undetected. But we are reminded not to be ignorant of his devices. "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." II Corinthians 2:11. He starts in the mind. He must have your thought life, then he slowly erodes your emotions and takes your will. After that, it's calamity unless you are delivered from him. He is a mastermind of destruction when you make a place for him to invade.

Shiran: Zack, this – the battlefield of the mind – is a topic that is very important, yet mostly ignored by many Christians. 24-7, 365, there is a war going on for the control of people’s minds. When you look at it like that, don’t many of the things going on in the world right now make a lot of sense? (Wait, let’s get to that later. )

Zack: Sure they do Shiran, make sense that is… the music, the entertainment, a lot of what keeps us occupied most of the time. And it’s amazing how we don’t seem to notice the time that goes by as we’re occupied by these things but notice the very moment or a few moments before for some, a pastor or anyone speaking the Word goes beyond his allocated time. Please go on…

Shiran: The obvious conclusion, therefore, is that our minds are to be protected at all times. Hence the helmet – but not just any helmet; it must be the helmet of salvation. Our Captain would not ask us to do something He does not think we can handle, and He, being our High Priest, lived as a man and was tempted like we are, but knew no sin. (Heb 4:15). He, too, wore the helmet of salvation upon His head (Isaiah 59:17).

Zack: And Shiran, not only people that do not know God are captive to the devil. True, they often are terribly in bondage and being utterly destroyed, but we mustn’t forget, that devil, “as a roaring lion that walks around seeking for him he may devour” never gives up. Satan is after every believer and every saint of God to turn you back and destroy your faith. The good news though is You can recognize your captivity and be free by the name of Jesus and partake of His Glorious Victory. Through salvation.

Shiran: Zack, what is salvation? And why would Jesus need to wear the helmet of salvation? The verses in Isaiah say He came to save us because there was no intercessor for us.

The words salvation and Saviour have the same root and concept behind them – to save.

To save from what?

The sin that Adam passed on to us, for which human beings, as his descendants, deserve punishment and damnation, because all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). Without this salvation, all are headed for a fire prepared for the devil and his angels (note: it is NOT prepared for human beings! – Matt 25:41).

Zack: Go on there Shiran… but before you do, I think it’s important for us to know that no amount of self-righteousness too is enough to please God for we all have fallen short of His glory. But because God so loved us and knew about this hindrance of mankind from His love, “He gave his only begotten Son, that whoseoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3:16...

(Part II coming up soon)