Allen Jackson - Spiritual Terrorism
It’s good to be with you again, we’re continuing our study on «Angels, Demons and You». It’s that end «You» part that makes all the difference. This is not a theoretical discussion, we’re trying to understand how spiritual forces influence our lives. In this session, we’re going to talk about spiritual terrorism, it’s an awkward truth but it’s an important one. You know, there are some truths we’d just rather not think about, we try to avoid them, maybe you avoid doctor’s appointments or dentist’s appointments or you don’t like to read the letters that come from the IRS, but the reality is all of those things are really helpful pieces of information. Well, knowing the truth about the spiritual forces that are shaping your days and will determine the outcome of your future is not just important, it’s essential. So grab your Bible, get a notepad, most of all open your heart, and let’s see what God has for us today.
We’re working through a series on «Angels, Demons, and You». And the end «You» is the important part, it’s not a theoretical discussion. We’ve spent some time talking about how to invite the Spirit of God into our lives, how to be aware of the angels that God has at his disposal as our helpers, but we need to equally be aware of the spiritual forces of darkness that are arrayed against us, because they’re just as certain. It’s not theoretical, we need to understand how to engage in that conflict. So the title for this particular session is «Spiritual Terrorism». I don’t intend it as a threat, one of the ways of understanding history is in methods of warfare. World War I was about trench warfare, Vietnam was about guerrilla warfare in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
For several years, we’ve been involved in conflicts in the desert and those are wide-open spaces, so distance matters and covering that distance. And well, terrorism, the way it’s being practiced today is changing how conflict happens. You know, in the Revolutionary War, when the farmers and the woodsmen in the colonies had to fight the British Regulars, the British Regulars lined up in bright red coats in straight lines on the battlefield, the woodsmen from the colonies had been shooting squirrels in the forest so they stood behind trees and shot the officers. It was an effective strategy but it was against the rules. And one of the ways of understanding the changing course of history is when different types of warfare have been implemented, and terrorism, as we watch it today, is a change.
Terrorism is about combatants on the field of conflict who don’t wear uniforms, who don’t identify with the nation, they’re identified by an ideology, they don’t acknowledge the Geneva Convention. If you don’t know what that is, there’s an agreed upon humanitarian conduct during conflict. Even in the midst of wars that decide the futures of nations and empires, we have agreed upon a manner of conduct that’s appropriate. Modern day terrorists don’t recognize that, they have a different moral code. Women and children are not off-limits, they’re used as weapons, they’re used as shields, it’s a part of the conflict. You may look at that and say, «Well, it’s not fair».
I agree, but it’s a change in strategy and tactic, and we’re naive if we don’t acknowledge it. Well, there’s a spiritual struggle taking place in the earth, it’s between good and evil, and it aligns itself more and description with what we see in the nature of modern day terrorists than it does a conflict where the principles participate in the Geneva Convention, it’s evil. By definition, it’s a conflict between good and evil. And in the church, we have been very vulnerable because we’ve heard the phrase that we should, «Love everybody,» that, «God is love,» and it’s true that God is love and we have assignments to love our enemies, but it doesn’t say that we always have to be kind.
Jesus wasn’t always kind, Jesus said some rather harsh things, God certainly throughout Scripture is not always kind, he’s a God of judgment just as certainly as he’s a God of love. And the church is gonna have to mature a bit, we’re gonna have to grow up, we’ve had so much, so much affluence, so much security, our threats were distant, that we’ve been able to have a rather theoretical faith. But the world has changed, many components have spoken into that but the reality is we are in a new world, and the church is gonna have to grow with that. It’s a rather awkward truth, and when I say awkward, not that it is any less significant or less important, it’s just one we would rather not hear. You ever gone to the doctor and gotten an awkward truth? You know, «You’re too heavy». No, I’m too short; I’ve never won that argument, but it makes perfect sense to me, at 6'5″ I would be healthy.
Awkward truth. Awkward truth is truth a lot of times you wanna avoid, you don’t want to think about, you’d rather not dwell on it, you’d just rather move on. Can’t we think about something happier? that’s a little awkward. But the reality is, awkward truth, typically the best way through is to embrace it as soon as possible, to meet it head on, to embrace it fully and completely and totally. And I would submit that’s true with this particular discussion. Awareness is a key, maybe you prefer vigilance, but being aware matters. In John chapter 10, in verse 10, Jesus is speaking and he said, «The thief,» Satan, he, «Comes only to steal, to kill and destroy, but I’ve come that you might have life and have it abundantly».
Now, Jesus defined the broad parameters of our lives, we’re caught between this conflict between the kingdom of light, the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of darkness. There’s not a third option, there’s not a third rail, and Satan and his entire host, his entire kingdom have one ultimate objective, your destruction. If they can’t totally destroy your life, they’ll do their best to disrupt it, to steal from you what God intended you to have; they’ll try to discourage you, diminish you, limit your effectiveness, hinder you, hamper you, torment you. It’s a kingdom of torment and diminishment and destruction, and when you entertain ungodliness or immorality or wickedness or darkness you invite that into your life just as certainly as when you invite the Spirit of God into your life and you choose Jesus as Lord that you choose deliverance and restoration and forgiveness and wholeness.
Jesus said it, this isn’t some abstract notion of a preacher, «The thief comes to steal, to kill and destroy». Jesus said, «I have come that you can have life and have it to the full,» the fullest possible life for a human being is yielded to the lordship of Jesus of Nazareth. He won’t diminish you, he won’t take something from you, he won’t limit you. In fact, he’ll take the limits off of your life. So as Christ followers, then, we are engaged in a conflict, you don’t have to choose it, simply by your participation in the Kingdom of God you have an enemy who has targeted you. Say, «Well, I don’t like that, I’d rather not think about it». I know, it’s awkward, but ignoring it won’t change that reality.
In Romans chapter 12, in verse 21, it says, «Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good». Multiple assignments in that short little sentence, «Don’t be overcome by evil,» don’t allow evil to overcome you, recognize it for what it is, don’t yield to it, don’t accommodate it, don’t give it greater authority. But then we’re given another assignment, we have to overcome evil, that’s not a passive response, that’s not just withdrawing, that’s not just isolation, we’ve been given an assertive role to overcome evil. It seems to me that the 21st century church and much of the 20th century church chose a different path, we chose to overlook evil, we’ll just accommodate it. Nah, I didn’t notice, didn’t pay much attention, wasn’t affecting me directly so I just didn’t look. But that’s not the assignment, I believe we’ll be held accountable if we spend our lives overlooking evil. «Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil,» not with anger, not with hate, not with violence, not with politics, «Overcome evil with good».
I’ll give you one more verse thats right into this discussion, Revelation 21, that’s very near the end of the book, it’s the identification of who the victors are, who is triumphant at the end of the entire story, who is gonna receive the blessing and the benefit of participating in the kingdom of God. It’s Revelation 21:7, «He who overcomes will inherit all of this, and I will be his God and he’ll be my son». «He who overcomes,» we’ve rewritten that, «He who is born again, he who’s saved, he who gets baptized».
I believe in all of those things, I believe in conversion, I’m very much an advocate for baptism, they’re biblically directed, but we’re not done there, that’s just your entry into the journey. The objective of being born again, the objective of salvation, the objective of the obedience and baptism is to add momentum so that you will have the tools you need to lead the life of an overcomer, not just in overcoming the challenges that present to you; every life has challenges to overcome, every one of us, disappointments, hardships, things that we didn’t intend to be a part of our journey that encroach upon our lives, those things we all have to deal with. The kingdom assignment is standing together, shoulder-to-shoulder as the body of Christ, to see evil overcome. We don’t yield to it, we don’t accommodate it, we intend to see it diminished, I intend to see Jesus welcomed into our public schools, into our college campuses. I look forward to having multiple choices in public elections between godly individuals.
Why would we yield? God is capable of doing that. We’ve embraced immorality, ungodliness and wickedness for too long. The Bible is so clear, God has made abundant provision, we don’t have to lead lives of fear. I’m telling you, fear stalks the streets of our nation today, we’re afraid to say what we think, we’re afraid for our own physical health, we’re afraid for our children, we’re afraid for our resources. Fear is walking our streets, church. We have an answer. Listen to what the Scripture says, Psalm 98, verse 1, «Sing to the Lord a new song». Now you don’t need to sing a new song if you’re old song is perfect, we need some new songs. «For he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations».
I intend to be a part of the generation that sees the righteousness of our Lord declared to the nations. It would be a good thing, it would be a good thing, it would be a good thing. We’ve apologized for it for too long, «Well, we don’t want to be appropriate another’s culture». If the culture is destructive and diminishing and facilitates evil in the lives of people, there is a better solution. All worldviews aren’t the same, all belief systems don’t have the same outcomes. There aren’t many approaches to God, Jesus said, «I’m the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me». If the church doesn’t believe that, who will? God will work salvation. Again, not angry, not critical.
Isaiah 42, «I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness». Righteousness is a big old word. In the biblical sense, it’s the ability to stand in the presence of God without fear, without guilt and without shame.
Now, we’re all broken folk, nobody here wants the darkest chapters of your life on the big screens at church. In fact, if we had spiritual detectors at the door like they have metal detectors at the airport and when you walked through that little rascal it would flash on the screen the dark parts of your heart, building would be empty today 'cause pastor’d be outside. But righteousness comes to us as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ, and then there’s a power that takes up residence within us, the Spirit of God, to help us begin to learn. And we have to learn to do this, we have to choose to do this to lead righteous lives. You can’t accept the gift of righteousness and then give yourself to unrighteousness and think that you will receive the benefits. We receive the gift of righteousness so that we might have the help, the power, the authority of the Spirit of God. Then we can begin to learn to lead righteous lives.
There’s a conflict in the earth today, a battle raging; it’s not a new struggle, this is not the first time, we’re not the first generation. Are we approaching the end of the age? I think there’s a very real argument for that, but not because of just the struggle we see in the world, there’ve been generations where tremendous, awful destructive forces have been unleashed on humanity. It’s just our selfishness that when that bumps into us we say, «Oh, it has to be the end of the world,» and then we craft a theology that says, «Well, I’m not gonna have to deal with the end of the world so I don’t have to pay any attention, let’s go back to the party». What a destructive notion. When we see darkness increasing we have to understand we have an assignment to be light, this is not a new thing.
In Acts chapter 4, very near the beginning of the church initiative. Jesus went back to heaven in Acts 1, Acts chapter 2 is the day of Pentecost when the church goes public. In Acts chapter 4, it says, «The priest and the captains of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead». They were disturbed, angry because they were talking about Jesus being raised from the dead, declaring him to be the Son of God. The opposition hasn’t changed much in 2,000 years, that story’s resisted right now all over our nation.
«They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening they put them in jail until the next day». They put them in jail overnight 'cause they were talking about Jesus, «But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about 5,000». You willing to spend the night in jail so the Gospel can proliferate? Are you willing for me to? A different question, sorry. We’ve gotten a little soft, we think suffering is parking two rows farther away from the building than we wanted to, not sitting in the sanctuary where we want it to be, not having the people participating in worship that we wanted to hear. Acts chapter 14, a little further in the story, says, «They preached the good news in that city and they won a large number of disciples».
We’d like to see that happen, large numbers of new disciples. «Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith». This was their message, it’s in quotes, «We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God». We gotta go through many hardships. «Well Pastor, that’s a little awkward, can’t we talk about something else»? Why do we go through hardships, because life is hard? No, because there’s a conflict in the earth, there are spiritual forces influencing your life today, some for you, some opposing you. We’re gonna talk about that battleground and how they intersect with your life in a little bit more detail.
But let’s go to Acts chapter 19, Paul is in the city of Ephesus and he’s having some success with his Gospel message. It says, «He entered the synagogue,» in Acts 19, verse 8, «And spoke boldly there for three months, he argued persuasively about the kingdom of God». It’s a kingdom message, not a church message. «Some of them became obstinate; and they refused to believe, and publicly maligned the Way». Please note the choices, they refused to believe, «I’m not going to believe that». You see, when you choose against God what you do, whether you have done it on purpose or not, you’ve aligned yourself with the kingdom of darkness. Unbelief is not a casual thing, the Bible calls it, a heart of unbelief, «Wicked».
You see, when you believe God, when you believe his Word, when you’re faithful to God and faithful to his Word you bring alignment with his kingdom. When you refuse to believe, you’re reading your Bible, say, «You know, I just don’t know if I believe that,» you’re standing in a very dangerous place of aligning yourself with those forces in opposition to God. So they’re in Ephesus, many people are believing but some refused to believe, and typically, then they become opponents because they’ve given themselves over to a spirit that opposes that message, they began to publicly malign the Way.
«So Paul left them. He took disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and the Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the Word of the Lord». An entire region of the world has heard the Gospel. «God did extraordinary miracles through Paul». Are you up for that category, not just miracles, extraordinary miracles? That’s another day. «Even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and evil spirits left them». Could you receive that Way? Are you willing to receive that Way? «I want somebody to pray for me while I pray over this cloth, lay it on yourself». «Wait a minute, I mean, I know it’s in the Bible but it’s not what I want».
I understand that but I think a part of what God is awakening us to is not just to get what we want in the way we want it, but how to cooperate with him. It seems to me we’ve had an 18-month seminar and «What you want,» doesn’t get to go to the head of the line. And in the midst of not getting all of our wants, are we willing to follow the Lord in some new ways? Are we willing to open our heart and our mind? Are we willing to interact, are we willing to serve, are we willing to change our routine? Or are we just gonna close our fist and stomp our feet and say, «I want what I want»?
Well, «Some Jews went around driving out evil spirits and they tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. And they would say, 'In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.'» Then they turned the page. And, «Seven sons of a Jewish high priest». There’s a Jewish priest that has seven sons and they were watching this and they’re engaging in this. And, «One day the evil spirit answered them, 'Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you? '» It’s not apparent in English, but in Greek there’s two different words there. When it says, «Jesus I know,» there’s one Greek word used, when it says, «And I know about Paul,» there’s another word used. «Jesus, I understand, Paul, I know about him, but I don’t know you». «The man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all».
Seven brothers against one stranger, that’s a humiliating outcome, but it gets worse. «He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. When this became known to the Jews and the Greeks living in [the city], they were seized with fear, and the name of the Lord was held in high honor». God took something that was a disastrous failure and used it for his purposes. «Many of those who believed,» hope you’ll circle that word, «Those who believed,» because the rest of what we’re about to read is something that took place in the community of believers; not amongst the pagans, amongst those who believed. Because Paul has been preaching for three months, there’s quite the community of believers.
«Many of those who believed came and openly confessed their evil deeds». Do we have the imagination that in the midst of those who believe there is still the intentional cultivation of evil deeds? Yes is the answer. «A number who’d practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to 50,000 drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power». It’s a remarkable little story, it’s helpful for our circumstance right now. It says the fear of the Lord grew in the city in verse 17. That would be a primary objective, we want the respect, the reverence, the awe of God to increase all over our communities.
Throughout the book of Acts, almost every place that Paul visited it seems there was a riot or a disturbance of some kind. I think the church needs to recalibrate a little bit, our goal is not to be well-liked, our goal is to be effective. And I think we have adopted an attitude of rather than being overcomers we have become overlookers, we just overlook sin, we overlook uncomfortable things. If we will face the truth and invite God in he will bring victories and we will see a changes of hearts that will impact our homes, our communities and our nation. Let’s pray:
Father, I thank you for your Word, for its truth, its power, and its authority. I thank you that the Spirit that brought life to Jesus’s body lives within us. Give us the boldness to give first place to Jesus in each place you send us. I thank you for it. In Jesus’s name, amen.