True Principles of Spiritual Warfare Part 2

Take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Exodus.

I’m not going to read a great many of the scriptures. Could I have my mic on, please, Chris? Thank you. I’m going to read a lot of scriptures for you this morning. I do want to call your attention to a number of them from the 7th chapter.

Just the first few verses, the first five verses. The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. Then you’ll speak all that I command you, and Aaron, your brother, shall speak to Pharaoh, that he must send the children of Israel out of his hand, out of his land.

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply my son’s signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, but Pharaoh will not heed you so that I may lay my hand on Egypt and bring my armies and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgment. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

Those five verses. Keep your Bibles open, though, because it’s a five-chapter section that we’re dealing with. And you may want to underline some other very important verses this morning. We’ve called this series of messages “Going Out to Enter In.” And that is not just a title; it is a theme that the covenant people of God themselves must experience deliverance if they’re ever going to have an inheritance.

And Satan has a great goal to get believers into Egypt, or into Egypt. And once he finds you in Egypt, he wants to keep you there. He wants you to be entrapped and to keep you from entering into your inheritance. I think we need to think in terms of that Egypt being something other than just the notorious kinds of things that believers get themselves into.

Anything that detours you from God’s inheritance. And of course, once a believer gets a word of deliverance… that God really wants him to be free from these kinds of bondages, then the fight gets more intense. He fights harder to make sure that you will not move from where you are. And so often, believers simply capitulate.

They give up. They surrender. They are saved, but they are servile. They are married to Christ, but they are barren. They are born again, but they are lifeless. They are enabled by all that the Holy Spirit makes possible, but they are fruitless. And as Ruth Pacton says in her excellent book on Ephesians, which I referred to last week, “Three things Satan has as his strategy for believers: to despoil you of your wealth, because God has prepared for you silver and gold that this world knows nothing about; but he wants to keep you from your reward. And then he wants to decoy you from your walk. Why?

Because Christ has a dynamic life for you that’s full of power, released in peace and in relationship. And then he wants to disarm you from your warfare. To take away the battle plans, to eliminate the weapons, to leave you unprotected. Because he knows the weapons of your warfare, as Christians, are not carnal, but they are spiritual, and they tear down his strongholds.

There’s nothing that can stand before a purposeful, full-of-faith Christian. He cannot—Satan cannot—stand against your weapons if you use them. And that’s why chapters 7 to 11 are such an important passage in Exodus. In fact, it is the clearest area for teaching on the course and the cause of spiritual warfare.

Now, that’s very, very important, the word “course” there. Some of you had—and we had some marvelous victories, incredible testimonies this week of what happened Sunday. But there’s a course to spiritual warfare, not just a cause. But it follows a predictable course, as we see in Exodus 7. And you remember, of course, 1 Corinthians 10 verse 11 gives us the hermeneutic for this series.

Everything that happened to Israel, all the things that happened to them, were written down for us. And they are meant to be admonitions upon us. Upon whom the end of the world has come. Eugene Peterson translates that so well. These are warning markers. Danger. In our history books, written down so we don’t repeat their mistake.

Our position and theirs in the story are parallel. They are at the beginning; we’re at the end, and we are just as capable of messing up as they are. In fact, if you don’t start with that kind of context, if you read the book of Acts, it’s kind of prouder. We have this, and we have that, and they didn’t have that, and that’s why they made these mistakes.

You won’t understand why the word “admonition” is used in 1 Corinthians 10. “Admonition” means an exhortation which is corrective. It’s meant to impart understanding and to teach us something. What is there about chapters 7 through 11 of the book of Exodus that is meant to correct us? What is there in this passage that will put right something that is wrong in the way we understand things?

That is the real question. And of course, last week we covered just the first two introductory points in the message. One is the topic of spiritual warfare, which absolutely frustrates most Christians. They are scared to death of it, and we looked at several reasons, one of which is that they think if they leave the devil alone, he’ll leave them alone.

Good luck, Turkey, if you think that. And secondly,

The second basic cause is that spiritual warfare is the believer’s turf, not only offensively (because we are to charge the gates of hell) but defensively, because we are often, as Christians, the victims of satanic bondage. Now, I can’t repeat last Sunday’s message. If you’re a part of this pulpit… needs to be a part of your understanding, not just skipping the Sundays you happen not to be here.

It’s very inexpensive to get a tape, but we can’t go back over that. Uh, we will get to repeat some of the points because I took some of the points from a latter part of today’s teaching and gave them to you last week. Let’s look at a brief outline of these five overwhelming chapters. First, in Exodus 7-11, we see the plagues themselves and their purposes.

Secondly, we see the issue of these false or pseudo-prophets who are in this story and play a large part – what their place is. Thirdly, we see the revelation of the plans of Satan as they are revealed through the words of Pharaoh in this instance. Lastly, and most importantly in our study this morning, we will look at principles of spiritual warfare.

And these are so important – twelve very specific and detailed things. But let’s get something settled before we go any further. There’s no change for people who are content where they are. You can rock on as you are, and some of you have for many, many years. You are saved. Some of you claim an experience in the Holy Spirit.

But your personalities have not been altered, nor your character altered. You’ve rocked on basically as you are, content with what you are. So, of course, for you, there is no change to happen. But if you study this series with a sense of holy discontent, “I want to be something different by God’s grace,” as Israel themselves were groaning at this moment, crying for deliverance, that becomes the potential of your life if you want it to be.

Well, first, let’s quickly look at the plagues themselves. There are nine plagues, and these nine plagues are divided into three triads. In other words, there are three sets of three, totaling nine, that are plagues in themselves.

Then, they are separated from a tenth act of God. It is not a plague; it is an act of God that is different in purpose and kind from the others. The tenth, which is separate from them, deals with the death of the firstborn son. God himself brings this to pass. Now, let’s quickly examine some of the startling comparisons from this. First, each of these plagues leads up successively. Each triad is more severe than the one that precedes it, and each judgment or plague within each triad is also more severe.

So when you go from the water turning to blood to the frogs, the frogs to the gnats or lice, as the King James translates it, in each instance, there is an ascending degree of severity within the triad itself. But each of the triads, from triad one to triad two, to triad three, also ascends in their degree of difficulty and trial, each greater than the preceding one.

The second thing that’s interesting is that each of these begins in the morning. If you study this carefully, you will see that before each of these – chapter 7, chapter 8, chapter 9 – each series begins with God’s instructions to Moses to go to Pharaoh in the morning. “Rise up in the morning,” He says. And of course, we saw last week that the indication is that Pharaoh went to the Nile River to do his morning exercises, so to speak. And that is probably because he’s a god and didn’t want the people to know that he had to use the bathroom, so to speak.

But, uh, for whatever reason, that’s where God ordered Moses to appear. The third thing that’s interesting is that in, um, the first triad, which is, of course, the Nile River becoming blood. Then the frogs and then the lice. There is no discrimination at all. In fact, in the first triad, as you will see (and that’s what this line marks), the entire land of Egypt suffers, including Goshen, where Israel was.

Whereas in triads two and three, Israel, or Goshen, is exempted. And that trial falls particularly upon what’s – I mean, upon Egypt. In the fourth place, The, the, rather, the fourth point is that Moses is out in front, or rather Aaron is out in front, in the first triad – the first three judgments. Aaron is the spokesman, the initiator.

He falls into the background in triads two and three. Moses takes over. Then in this tenth dealing, of course, which, as I said, is not a plague, God himself becomes the issue before that particular dealing. And fifth, you want to notice that before each triad, there is a severe warning before one; then a shorter warning before two; and no warning before three. That pattern repeats in each of the triads.

In other words, there’s a major warning before one, four, and seven. There’s a minor warning between two, five, and eight. And there’s no warning at all between three, six, and nine. Those three immediately happen without warning. So in each of these areas, we have an understanding of how God deals. And, of course, you and I have some understanding about that. And if you don’t have it in your own personal life, you need to know it, my friend.

A great dealing of God, a warning from God, and then a successive follow-through on that warning. But then there often comes a silence. Many Christians take that for God’s approval, but that silence precedes even harsher dealings – an extended, accentuated dealing of God in plagues. Now, the sixth thing, of course, is that the magicians were able to repeat the first two.

They produced serpents, but Moses’s serpent ate up their serpents. By the way, that’s interesting because the Hebrew changes there, and Moses’s serpent is referred to as a dragon. So, uh, this is a very interesting thing that takes place. In the instances of turning the water into blood, the magicians repeated that and the frogs, but in those two instances, I don’t know what it could have been because all the water had already turned to blood. Maybe they had a little vessel of water they turned into blood. I have no idea. But I’ll tell you this: Pharaoh knew the magicians could not undo it. And so when it came time, whatever these little magicians did to kind of try to take away the sting of this judgment of God, Pharaoh knew only Moses could lift the dealings of God.

And please note also, as well, that in each of these, a major god of Egypt was being dealt with: the Nile god, um, Osiris; the frog-headed god, which you see in so many of the Egyptian monuments, Heka; the earth god, Seb; the god of beetles and insects, Kephara; the cattle gods, Aphis; the human-like god, Net, who was being dealt with in the boils; the gods of the air, Isis and, uh, Shu; and then, of course, the darkness against the sun god, Ra. And, of course, the last dealing strikes at the whole pantheon of Egyptian gods, upon the firstborn son.

Now let me get something straight. If you think everybody in this congregation tonight – today, even those who are born again and spirit-filled, really see God as their provider, God as El Shaddai, think again. Many good, Bible-caring people – born-again Christians who are here – believe more in the sufficiency of the gods of this land. Whether it’s materialism, or the person who writes your check, or the government that you serve. And, like the kids say, when the chips are down, who is it that you really turn to?

Well, of course, that’s what this whole judgment is about. And so for one final time, let’s review these nine triads. First, the water to blood, frogs, and lice in the first one. And then in the second triad of judgment, the beetles or dogflies. And then this murrain against the livestock, this pestilence that came against the livestock, and then boils upon everyone.

And I think it’s amusing at this point because the magicians, who had not been able to reproduce after number two, but they stayed around to watch it until the boils came. And God just adds this interesting note that when the boils came, the magicians fled away. I mean, they had had enough. It’s all she wrote.

And they understand that at this point. And then, of course, in the third one, the hail, the locusts, and the darkness. Each of these plagues is addressing specific lessons. What do you have confidence in?

Now, you can say one thing about that. But our actions speak louder than our words. I told you last week about my friend Vernon Jardin, who is still living. He is in a very decrepit form at this point in terms of many things that have befallen him, and he requires a lot of assistance to live. However, he has given away everything he has.

He owned a building, in fact, I just passed it the other day. He gave a building so that home missions could be established. It is now a major piano company in San Francisco. He gave away his business. He gave away a significant piece of property that he had inherited in Canada.

He gave it away so that the Canadian Bible College could have something. His favorite saying is, “You do your living while you’re giving, while you’re living so you know where it’s going, right?” You know where it’s going. Well, of course, we don’t. Our answer is, “We’ll let our heirs make up the difference.” No, honey.

The answer is that you’re afraid of the gods of this land. Who’s going to take care of me when I’m old and gray? Who’s going to, you know, I want to make sure that until I’m in my grave, then somebody can put the check on me, you know? So what’s your confidence? What’s your security? What’s your hope? What’s your attention?

And, of course, what does it all point to? Idolatry! And if you think you’re free of idolatry because you don’t bow down to a little cement god before you get in the shower in the morning, or you’re not an idolater because there isn’t a little pot-bellied Buddha sitting over here by the right when you walk into your home, honey, idolatry is anything that’s God-shaped in your life. Anything that’s God-shaped. Including your fears. That’s idolatry. Remember back in Hosea, the wonderful story I’ve preached on several times? Probably we’ll come back to it again because it’s a passage that God often speaks to me through.

Do you remember how Hosea’s wife, this prophet, has married this woman? Perhaps there was immorality in her background. I can’t believe for a moment that she was openly a prostitute when he married her, but nonetheless, she slipped back into that lifestyle. But you remember in the second chapter—I’m not going to read this scripture, but it’s on the transparency, so you’ll see it—she thought all along that the wine and the bread she was getting were coming from her paramours. You see? God had to take that away before she would discover that everything she had was coming from Hosea, who is a type of God. In the third chapter, he says this wonderful thing: “I will allure her into the wilderness, and I will strip her so that she will again know me as she knew me at the first.” You see, that is a process of God. That’s what you call tough love. For His sake in your life, God will strip away, cut away the things that have become idolatry. And, of course, that’s what’s happening in the plagues themselves.

The second major point of the message, of course, has to do with these pseudo-prophets. I love their names. The names of these prophets are Jannes and Jambres. I love alliteration, so Jannes and Jambres are wonderful. I think somebody should give birth to twins, you know, and call them Jannes and Jambres. I don’t know, anyway.

How do we know their names, you ask? Some of you who are reading Exodus know we don’t learn their names from Exodus. But there’s an interesting passage of Scripture, very relevant to us, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 1 through 9. “Know that in the last days perilous times will come. Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful (there’s a word in itself), unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. They have a form of godliness but deny its power. Turn away from them, for these are those who creep into households.” The actual Greek says they wind their way in, and they make captives of gullible women loaded with sin, led away by various lusts, always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Now these were, like Jannes and Jambres, who resisted Moses, and they too resist the truth—men of corrupt minds, who disapprove, who are disapproved concerning the faith. But they will progress no further, for their folly will become manifest to all. Now read that in Eugene Peterson’s words. Don’t be naive.

There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed. There’s the key word. See? Love God. They’re just self-absorbed. Money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderous, impulsively wild, cynical, savage, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God.

I love that phrase. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes, they’re animals. Stay clear of these people. Smoothly talk themselves into the homes of unstable, needy women. Now look at verse 8. These men are like those old Egyptian frauds, Jannes and Jambres, who challenged Moses. They were rejects from the faith.

Now notice that line. And we’ll talk about it in a moment. They were rejects from the faith. Twisted in their thinking, defying truth, but nothing will come of these latest impostors. Everyone will see through them, just as the people saw through the Egyptian hoax. Now, let me say something to you. I don’t have any scripture for this, other than the phrase here in 1 Timothy.

I think Jannes and Jambres were Hebrews. I don’t believe for a moment they were Egyptians. Number one, Pharaoh was a very wise man. He knew he was dealing with God. Every god in Egypt had their priests, right? So if he was dealing with Ra, he called in the priests of Ra. If he was dealing with Osiris, he called in the priests or priestesses of Osiris.

I believe Jannes and Jambres were Jews. In fact, as this translation clearly says, they were rejects from the faith. I believe he knew he was dealing with the Hebrew God, and I believe very carefully and clearly that their own words later on confirmed that these were not people worshipping Egyptian gods; these were Hebrew sorcerers of sorts.

And there were always plenty of those around, even in the time of Jesus. Last week I gave you a very important point. We’ll come back to it. Christians are often subject to the demonic. I have heard as much from hell through the mouths of Christians as I have ever heard from any other source. And you need to understand that it always happens that when God begins to bring a word of deliverance, the counterfeit, the false prophecy, the false word, the resistance of Satan comes through those who imitate, who have all the outward appearances of being godly.

And this is what drains us spiritually. In fact, one of the great scholars I, I consult on every word, and he’s from two or three generations ago, C. H. Macintosh, writes concerning this: “In marking the forms of Satan’s opposition to the truth of God, we find his method has ever been, first, expose it to open violence, and then if that doesn’t succeed, corrupt it by producing counterfeits.”

Hence, Satan first seeks to slay Moses, and having failed to accomplish his purpose, he seeks to imitate Moses’ works. I’m gonna, I, I have a couple more reference points to Jannes and Jambres later on. But they’re in the church, and I don’t think you understand this principle if you think they’re Egyptians.

Thirdly, of course, Pharaoh himself—the personification of this opposition to God. I’ve told you something several times in this series: it is said seven times concerning him that he hardened his own heart before it is said that God hardened his heart. Now, of course, God said predictively before it all began that he would do this, but ten times or more there’s a phrase that has to do with the fact that Pharaoh strengthened his own heart until the dealings of God were completed.

Pharaoh had all kinds of evidence that God was Jehovah, that he had a right to demand obedience. God gave him full warnings. In fact, I’ve already told you each triad began with a tremendous warning, then a shorter one, and then none in each triad. We’re not without warnings. God’s judgments in the world are always sent in mercy, particularly to unbelievers.

It is sent in regards to truth. But he hardened his heart. Now I want to tell you something about what I believe the Hebrew says in this passage. You can check many scholars on it. I believe that what is really said here is that God kept him alive. God strengthened his heart. Now I can give you a dozen reasons, I suppose, why I believe that.

One of them is that God himself says, “If I wanted to get this over with, I would just eliminate you and the whole land of Egypt instantly and bring my people out,” but it would not accomplish the purpose. What I’m saying to you is that I believe God kept him alive. I believe it means that God strengthened him so that he could fulfill his purpose to stand against God.

I want to say two things about that. First, I believe the man of God is immortal until God’s finished with him. I’ve been on airplanes that most of you wouldn’t even look at. I’ve lived in situations that you wouldn’t stay in for a few hours, let alone weeks at a time. And that’s nothing compared to other missionaries and the unmentionable.

Your fear of death, or that you might eat something, or drink something, or do something—I believe the man of God is immortal until God’s finished with him. But I also believe this: If you’ve set your heart against the purpose of God, God will strengthen you until you fulfill that purpose against God.

I believe he strengthens some people because he knows their heart is already set against him, and he strengthens them so that the purpose of their heart will be fulfilled. Now, that’s a very critical thing for us to understand in this passage. Pharaoh says four things. If I had a morning to preach on the rest of this, this is the most revealing thing.

And I’m going to tell you something else later on when we talk about principles. Pharaoh says four things. Check chapter 8, verse 25. Pharaoh says, “Look, I will let you go as long as you sacrifice in the land. Stay in the land.” Then he says, later on in the 28th verse (a part of this same dealing), “Okay, you can go out of the land, only don’t go far away.”

Now there are two points. The whole business of holiness, the way it’s been done by Christians, has been more destructive to the gospel than anything else. It’s often just sociologically defined issues. It’s used to make people prejudiced. It’s used to give a false sense of spiritual security. But there’s genuine holiness.

And when God does a work in your life, you’re going to have to say what Moses said: “We can’t sacrifice in the land of Egypt; that would be an abomination to God. We must go up out of the land.” And then, of course, Satan says to us, “Well okay, go, but don’t go far.” We’ll talk about that by definition in just a moment.

I’m sorry this is going to insult some of you, but you know what most of us are today? We are mediocre. We like the word “median,” or “average,” or “moderate.” I think we’re going to hear a lot about that this week. Move to the middle, you see. Be moderate. And that’s acceptable to us. To me, moderation and mediocrity are more closely attached to each other than most of us want to admit.

Most of us like to be very moderate. We excuse ourselves. We’re average, we say. I’ve never been able to be moderate when it comes to preparation. I’ve said this to you before. If I were preaching for what you like, you know, after Anita and I have had dinner on Saturday night, I’d cast dice over what three-point sermon to give and illustrate. Most of you would come up saying, “Wow, what’s happened to you?”

“That’s wonderful, Pastor. You know, it was over in 20 minutes.” See, you’re not the audience. My audience is God. Now, that’s not to say you’re not important; please don’t misunderstand me. But I mean you’re not grading me—He is. That’s why I spend an average of 30 hours a week on sermon preparation. The rest of the stuff has to find its way somewhere among that.

And there’s some of you, as I mentioned in the 9 o’clock service, Tom Kleinheit was there. I like that about Tom Kleinheit too. You know, Tom, if you ask him to do something, it’s never done average. When Tom hung these things, I haven’t got the slightest bit of fear about being under these. Now, if some of you hung these things, I’d back the pulpit up into the baptistry somewhere.

When Tom built that cross, we used it at Easter. Everyone spoke about it. He didn’t have to do that. Don said, “I want this done.” All of us had an idea he’d do this and this and this. When he came up with what he did, we all said, “Wow,” because he has a principle. By the way, Tom Kleinheit is the one who put that lovely thing in the patio.

Do you like what happened in the patio when he put that up? What a wonderful thing. I wish he had more daughters to get married. We’d probably get a lot of things done right here.

You see, that’s most of us—average, moderate, median. Those are Pharaoh’s words. Well, you can leave the land, just don’t go too far; don’t be radical. This week, starting on Tuesday night,

Jay—Jay Rodney Brown, is it? Jay Rodney Brown, Howard Rodney, Rodney Howard. There we go. I know Howard’s in there somewhere. Rodney Howard Brown is going to be across the bay. Yeah, that’s right. He’s the laughing revival guy. Now, I know most of you wouldn’t consider attending a meeting like that. I mean, that is radical stuff.

So, watch the Democratic Revival; that’s a good one. The Democratic Convention—that’ll be a good laugh. You don’t need to laugh with Rodney Howard Brown; laugh with Bill Clinton this week. Should be about the same thing. No, I don’t think it’s the same thing. Please understand I meant that facetiously.

The third point, of course, is really the second major point. He says, “Pharaoh, now look at this, listen to Pharaoh. Don’t leave the land, go out, but don’t go far.” Then he says, “I’ll tell you what: you who are men, go—let the children and the wives stay behind.” In fact, let me give you the Living Bible translation of Exodus 10.

In the name of God, I will not let you take your little ones, Pharaoh retorted. I see your plot. Never! You who are men, go serve Jehovah, for that is what you ask for.

“I can’t keep you in slavery; I’ll just accept the next generation. I taught for fourteen years in a Christian college attached to the founding denomination of this particular church. In all the years I taught there, never once in the fourteen years were there more than twenty percent of the students attending who were born and raised in that denomination.

Eighty percent of them were kids who had been saved from drug addiction or had come from other churches. Do you know that in the 2,000 years since, a revival has never succeeded through the third generation? Not once in 2,000 years has a revival succeeded past the third generation. Go ahead, worship—just leave the kids.

And then the third thing—or rather, the fourth thing; it’s really the third issue raised by Pharaoh. He says, “Okay, take the children, if you insist. Take the wives, if you insist. Leave your flocks and herds here.”

Now, I know some of you think I have a thing going on with Woodside. No, not at all. I mean, I’ve dealt with them for ten years, and they’ve dealt with me for ten years. I just want you to understand, I recognize this has nothing to do with individuals; I recognize the principality behind that kind of affluent, cynical, secular, materialistic, divisive spirit.

Understand where it comes from. Moses straightens up when Pharaoh says this and declares, “Not on your life! Our livestock will not only go with us, but you will give us livestock for sacrifice. We won’t sacrifice our animals; we’ll use yours for sacrifice.” I don’t know how much God speaks to you through those four things, as I don’t know where you are at this moment in time.

It would be very revealing if I could know, I’m sure. But how could you see those things—those four things of Pharaoh—without them being convicting regarding your life and your family, and what God purposes for you? The fourth issue, of course, is the issue of spiritual warfare in general.

And there are twelve specific principles revealed to us in Exodus 7-11. I’m not being arbitrary about that. If you want to find 11 or 10 or 13 or 14, I’m telling you that in my sincere study of this passage, I see 12 things that are clearly declared, not just my idea, in which God himself says, “I declare this to be one of the things happening in this story.”

And of course, the first is that the reality, power, and glory of God are being revealed. That’s what Exodus 9 says. It’s the passage I referred to in which God says, “Look, if I wanted to, I could eliminate you overnight and resolve this, but it’s through the warfare that the whole world will come to know my glory.”

And you understand that fact. This story—the Moses versus Pharaoh story—has had more films written about it, more books, the entire world knows of that confrontation. God said, “I’m going to manifest myself through that power. Get excited about that, friends.” This has been a tough week for me, I’ll tell you that, to begin with.

And the letter to you personally, and some of the comments I’ll make tonight—it’s tough to let go of a dream that you believe is purposefully part of God’s plan for His people. Whether His people are ready to walk in it or whatever else, that’s not even the answer. But the point is… God doesn’t allow anything to ultimately frustrate His people.

And if there’s a detour here or there, it comes around again. In the mercy and provision of God, God wants to reveal His power, and I want you to be listening to this. In fact, in the book of Judges, there’s this marvelous passage. Four times, in the ending of chapter 2 and the first verses of chapter 3, God says, “I left the enemy here.”

Now, I know preachers tell you the enemy was left in the land of Canaan because the Jewish people didn’t drive out all the inhabitants and so forth, but not according to this passage. God says, “I left some of the inhabitants so that I could test you and see if you would walk in my commandment. See if you would walk by my word.”

But notice in chapter three, he says, one of the reasons I left the enemy is that I don’t ever want there to be a generation who doesn’t know how to do warfare. The fact is, most of you—and I’m not insulting you; I’m talking about the reality not of Peninsular Christian Center, but around this country—most of you have ridden in spiritually on somebody else’s horseback.

You didn’t build this church. A few of you were here when the education building was built, or the parking lot was finished. But this is somebody else’s dedication. Yesterday was a workday. Thank God for the Spanish church. They turned out in large numbers, and every inch of this carpet was cleaned. See, there are some folks who have known to come in and say, “Oh, that same stain’s been here for ten years.”

But I watched them work over this carpet for hours, literally being the last people who left yesterday to make sure that the carpet was clean for today and for this special weekend. You’ll never know the glory of God until you personally identify it. What God is saying in Judges is that there’s no second generation of Christians.

You have to do it yourself. And I leave the job unfinished because every generation has to do some of this battling themselves. Secondly, spiritual warfare declares the purposes of God. Which is, of course, as you recall, 12 times from chapter 3, verse 8, all the way through chapter 12, verse 31, God says, “My people will have to learn to serve me.”

And then he says another 12 times, beginning in chapter 3 and ending with chapter 10, verse 25, “My people will have to learn sacrifice.”

Interesting, isn’t it? People often say things to me like, “Well, you know, that’s a real sacrifice.” I honestly, I’ve been around here for 25 years. In my life, or your life, I have seen perhaps half a dozen experiences of sacrifice. I’ve seen many experiences of generosity. But sacrifice is when you have to change your lifestyle to make it happen.

That’s what sacrifice is. If I can pay it in any way and keep living my lifestyle, it’s not a sacrifice. It may be generous, but it is not sacrifice. God says, my people are going to have to learn sacrifice, and then he again says, “They will learn to worship me.” Chapter 4, verse 31. They will worship me. And chapter 6, verse 1 tells us that in spiritual warfare, the purpose of God for his people will be declared.

So, review it. Serve Him, sacrifice, worship, and see God’s work. That’s what’s going to happen in spiritual warfare. Thirdly, of course, is confirming our own spiritual relationship with God. In Hebrews 12, it says, I think three times, you only know you’re a son or daughter of God when He brings you under discipline.

That’s where the reality is. It isn’t a warm fuzzy feeling going down your spine. It’s when God the Father loves you enough to bring discipline into your life. Chastisement, as the King James says. And he says, if you don’t have chastisement, then you’re a bastard. You’re not a son or daughter. Because every son or daughter He’s received, He has begun a work in them.

Now that’s exactly what this passage says. Chapter 4, verse 22. Chapter 3, verse 7. Chapter 6, verses 6 and 7. All of these passages say, God says, “This is my son. These are my people. And by great judgments, they are going to really know who I am.” So spiritual warfare confirms our personal relationship with God.

Fourthly, it accomplishes the judgment of God.

I want to say something to you. Because some of you are confused about the difference between these two things. I do not pray for judgment on people like Woodside or that particular political group. And I know that there are wonderful people and saved people in that community, just like there are in any community.

But for the actions that bespeak them as a community, I don’t pray for judgment. Just the opposite. I pray grace on them because I know judgment will follow. Do you understand? In other words, that’s one and the same thing. God says, through spiritual warfare, my judgments are brought both upon my people and upon the world.

Spiritual warfare releases the just judgment of God. And that has to do with the church, that has to do with the world. So the judgment of God is released. And the Christian church is such to be a place where, as we live in fellowship with God and we respond in brokenness to what God is doing, we allow judgments to be released.

And again, God doesn’t judge anybody just to slap you up against the face. There’s no red, red anger in God’s throat, as it were, to be anthropomorphic. God judges to bring what? Restoration of relationship. But as we do spiritual warfare, we release judgment. Fifth, we uncover the plan of the enemy. I’m not going to go through this again.

If you didn’t get the clarity of the enemy’s plan revealed from Pharaoh’s words — stay in the land, don’t go far, let me keep your children — then nothing I’ll say will add to that. It uncovers the plans of the enemy. And it’s interesting, as you move into a dimension of spiritual warfare, you begin to understand what the devil’s up to.

I really do. I’ve never… How many chess players do we have here? Got some chess players? A few. Now if this were an Episcopal church, half the congregation would be chess players. Something about, uh, it goes with the territory. Gordon McAllister, who used to be on the staff, tried desperately to teach me to play chess.

For one thing, I can’t sit still long enough to play chess. It’s, it’s just, I, I’m fascinated by the idea, the idea of sitting there, thinking about this. But you know, if you’re a good chess player, you understand the principle. Somebody said to me, “Aren’t you really, in fact,” someone said this morning, “Rick, I know this has been a difficult week.

You’re probably really depressed.” No, I’m not depressed. I get discouraged when I do not see God’s people walking in the full plan that he would have for them, or when I feel I’m a part of the stupidity of… of what we often get trapped in. I get discouraged. I don’t get depressed. Because when something happens, in other words, when the devil fires a rocket, what’s the exciting thing the Christian immediately sees?

“What’s God going to reveal out of this? What am I going to come to understand through what the devil does that I’ll never forget again because of this experience?” You know, when you go through a situation, don’t scream, “Why is this here? Did the devil send this? Did the Lord send this? Did I do this myself? Who cares?”

You’re a child of God, aren’t you? Then get excited about what’s going to happen out of this. You know, the Moabites and the Ammonites may not let you come through their property, but God’s got something better for you. Get excited about that dimension. Sixth, of course, the deception of false religion and sin is revealed in spiritual warfare.

Jannes and Jambres were believers. I’m absolutely convinced of that, and that’s what becomes so obvious. When God really starts dealing, the counterfeit begins to get exposed, and the sin gets exposed. The seventh point, of course, is that warfare, spiritual warfare, separates the people of God from the people of the land.

Chapter 8, verses 22 and 23; chapter 9, verse 4; chapter 9, verse 26; and again, chapter 11, verse 7, God says, “I’m going to make a distinction between my people and the rest of the land.” Spiritual warfare enables God to make a distinction, and the people who are moving in the liberty of spiritual heritage become marked by the joy of God’s countenance.

And I said this morning that Mary Kay and Alina Rubinstein could not reproduce that. And someone looked at me as though to say, “Alina Rubinstein doesn’t even make things anymore.” So I don’t know the correct names. You help me, ladies. I shouldn’t limit it to ladies these days, should I? The point is, God delights in drawing a clear line between those who are really His and those who are not.

He marks us with the countenance of His provision. There’s a clear mark of distinction. Eighth, of course, He confirms God’s anointed leadership. In Exodus 4:16 and 7:11, twice we find the passage where God says, “I will make you as God,” to Aaron and to Pharaoh. And in the 11th chapter, verse 3, God tells us that because of spiritual warfare, the entire people of Egypt looked to Moses for leadership.

Can you believe this? If you read that passage correctly, because of the spiritual leadership, Moses replaced Pharaoh in the eyes of the people as the one who really knew what was going on. Now I know in our denomination, we determine pastoral positions through elections and our governments, boards, and so forth.

But that’s not God’s way; never has been God’s way. It’s man’s way, congregational. God places a man in leadership. It is a decision of God. Now we confirm that. We have the right to ratify that. But God places a man in leadership, and it is not the vote of man’s hand, ever. And, of course, it is in spiritual warfare that that’s made clear and manifest.

And then, spiritual warfare provides proof for succeeding generations. That’s what chapter 10, verses 1 and 2 say. Your son and your son’s son will hear of the mighty things I’ve done in Egypt and the signs done among you, so that you will know I am God. In other words, spiritual warfare lays the foundation for succeeding generations.

Most people come to the church with a “me” message. What are you going to do for me? What are you going to do for my kids? And I’m telling you, no matter what kind of church growth philosophy you buy, I’m going to tell you: “me” messages don’t work. Ultimately, people have to understand that God places you in leadership.

God also places you in a particular body. It has nothing to do with convenience; it’s an assignment. God assigns you by divine appointment. And the issue isn’t whether it provides for you, or does everything you want it to do. It’s God’s vision being released before you. Now I’m going to say something to you.

We love our young people in this church, and over the years, we have spent enormous amounts of money to bring the finest leadership available to our young people, and to continue the finest development of leadership possible in ministry. But I’m going to tell you this: you don’t raise a generation of God-fearing people by “funspirations” and dipping donuts in chocolate syrup and having beach parties.

You raise a generation who knows God by spiritual confrontation and spiritual warfare. That’s how it happens. It’s the only way it happens. So whether it is youth, single adults, or any other aspect of the church, the only way a generation grows up fearing God is through the spiritual signs of their elders confronting spiritual forces, so the reality of God is known.

Tenth, spiritual warfare demonstrates the concerns of God, and I’ll tell you, so much is revealed in these passages about God’s concern for all the people. I love the God who said to Jonah, “Why should you be concerned with sparing Nineveh when there are a hundred and twenty thousand people in that city who don’t know the difference between their left and right hand, and also much cattle?”

I love that kind of God. And, my friends, you don’t understand chapters 7 through 11 of Exodus if you don’t hear the heartbeat of God who says, “I will use this situation, but my desire is to confirm my knowledge to the world.” And eleventh is the point we talked about last week: spiritual warfare releases the people of God for their inheritance.

You remember, of course, Peter’s comment to Jesus in the same chapter in which he had said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus had said, “Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you.” And then later on, when Jesus starts talking about the cross, Matthew 16 says that Peter literally took Jesus, and the Greek word there is “he literally forced him.” He grabbed him and impelled him to go with him.

He rebuked Jesus for talking about the cross. And Jesus turned to him and said, “Satan, I rebuke you.” And the Greek is in the continuing tense: “I rebuke you, and I will always rebuke you.” Because you do not discern the things of the Spirit; you only discern the things that have to do with man. Can you imagine? Peter must have lost two or three years of his life, the blazing eyes of Jesus, when he saw hell speaking through the mouth of a Christian.

I think I have enough sense to know the difference between a Christian who’s simply acting out of offense or resentment or whatever problem they’ve yielded to, and a Christian through whom Satan has found a vessel to speak hell’s purpose. And, of course, as I told you last week, don’t get tied up with the idea of demonic possession in Christians, because the issue is bonding, not possession.

The issue is this thing of bonding in lives, and we looked at the word “bond” last week. The word “bond” basically means a tie, an influence, a loyalty, or a legal instrument—something that binds you together. And as we saw last week, this is still primarily used in the building industry. It talks about how bricks, stones, and parts of a structure overlap and are meant to be held together.

But in psychology, there has been a recent understanding that you’ve got to go deeper than that because people’s spirits are also bonded together, both positively and negatively. They are tied, influenced, and bound. Of course, in the sense of legal instruments, sometimes by generations.

And I asked last week, you know, I know Christians – I’ve known them for a period of time. Their response is always the same. I see it in their faces – anger, you know, and you see it. I’m not talking about being angry at legitimate issues. I mean, you see this thing. And you wonder how a Christian can be filled with the Spirit and not ask the question: where did that come from?

Why do I always respond in this abusive way? Why is my natural response criticism? That’s not God. Why do I automatically think the worst thing, automatically? There’s a tie, an influence, maybe for generations in your life. But of course, the interesting thing, and the thing you must know, is that bondage resolves.

And bondage, which comes from the same root word, means slavery, compulsiveness, and imprisonment. Your liberty is restricted by a form of compulsion. And of course, Paul dealt with this in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 when he said that when a person goes to another for a sexual relationship to whom they are not married, in God’s sight, the two become one.

Because sexual intercourse or sexual experience ties you and relates you to that person just like marriage. The two have become one. Now, that’s a good illustration of what the principle is: negativism, criticism, an evil spirit, false speaking – same thing. It’s the tie, the bond, the influence. And you, you’re saved, you’re going to heaven, you’re filled with the Spirit, perhaps. But the point is that because of a tie or a bond or an influence in your life, there is compulsiveness. And you’re not to be blamed because the compulsiveness is there sometimes.

But you’re to be blamed for not recognizing it and not hungering for freedom. In fact, as I said last week, the word is not “possession.” Throw that word out. Nobody is demon-possessed. Even unbelievers are not possessed. The word doesn’t exist in Greek. The word is “demonized.” It’s a verb form. In other words, demon activity upon your life, and that demon activity in your life comes because permission has been given and there’s a bonding.

And as we said in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, those little figures, the Lilliputians, take that great giant man and tie him down. When I was growing up, I was in love – my, it was, let me see, my third love, I think, second or third. I’ve forgotten now, but she was certainly in the first five.

And her name was Lovey D. What a name, isn’t that great? Lovey D. And I loved Lovey D. Only Lovey D had a very big father. In fact, Bill Hague was one of the biggest men I ever knew. He was huge, but he was very strong. Super strong. In our youth camps, they used to bring Bill Hague every year. And he did a thing – he would put a hanky in his mouth and he’d take an iron bar and bend that bar over his mouth. Of course, all of us little kids would go, “Ah, ah, ah,” you know. And he’d do all kinds of feats of strength for us. Then they would put a couple of strands of thread around him and say, “Do you think Bill can break this?” And we’d all laugh, ha ha. He’d just kind of laugh, and it would break.

But then they’d take that simple strand and repeat it enough times until he couldn’t move. The same man who had bent bars couldn’t break from a little piece of thread if it was repeated enough around him. That was the key, of course. The issue is bonding. Spiritual warfare releases the people of God for inheritance, and lastly, it frees the resources of the people of God.

God had said to Abraham, before this was even an issue in Genesis 15:4, even before Abraham had a son, “You’re going to have children that will be like the sand of the sea and the stars of the heaven. They’re going to serve another nation for 400 years, and when they come out, they’re going to come out with great possessions.”

A part of spiritual warfare is to release for the people of God the things which they have designed, which God has designed for them to have. Now, some of you are worried about that word “borrow” because God sent them and said, “You borrow from the Egyptians,” right? Well, it’s a mistranslation. The word is “ask.”

And God said, by the way, He didn’t tell them to do that until the last plague. He said, “Now you go to them and say, ‘Come on, pay us our wages for 430 years.'” And he said, “They will, they will pay you to get you out of the country. They will release you to get you out of the land.” And so exactly they did.

By the way, I’m always amused by people who have a perspective that if you’re really Christian or godly, you shouldn’t have anything very nice. You know, I’m very amused by that. I’m especially amused by that from a Biblical standard. Do you know that this group of slaves, when they got into the desert and God told them to build a tent for him to worship in, do you know that one piece of furniture in that tent, which was the golden candlestick, was made out of a solid talent of gold?

Do you know how much that would cost today? A million bucks.

Oh, I’d love to see your faces if I had a million-dollar candlestick put in the next church building. Some of you have problems as it is with a paint job. Imagine a candlestick that cost a million dollars. Where did these slaves get it? From the Egyptians. Spiritual warfare releases the power of God. And of course, out of that comes the resources for God’s people to have.

On the other hand, some Christians stay in Egypt unless somehow the wrestling of God frees them. But when it is freed, I’ll tell you, God intends for, in the freedom of that release, there is a release of resources. I am so delighted with what I know God eventually does. And that is when God’s people walk in God’s purpose, declaring God’s truth, and do God’s spiritual warfare, there comes a release of resources.

And you’re not going to be struggling anymore with this kind of thing, you know, this kind of mentality. But again, it comes because God’s people are doing the spiritual warfare. And because God’s people themselves are involved in that process of release that God wants for you. I’d like you to stand with me, please.

Every head bowed and every eye closed? No, I’m not going to ask you to do that. I’d like you to just join across the aisle. Take somebody’s hand, please. No, no, no, don’t join, don’t take their hand yet. I gotta get this straight in my mind.

No, I really, I’ve got to do this. I do want you to bow your heads just a moment. I want to ask you a question. Has what God said this morning about this principle of spiritual warfare identified, first of all, the fact of spiritual warfare in your life? And do you see from God’s Word, in God’s application to your spirit, what’s going on in your life right now?

May I see your hand? There’s an identity, specific, personal. Okay, good. You see it; it’s very clear. No preacher makes it clear; the Holy Spirit makes it clear. Secondly, how many of you have been given a word this morning? As you heard these twelve principles of spiritual warfare in this passage, God made one of those applicable to you.

One of those specific things. God wants to release this, He wants to bring forth this. May I see your hand? There’s a specific word in which God said, through these principles of spiritual warfare, this is meant to happen in your life. This is meant to happen. Release of resources, whatever. God bless you.

Put them down again. Now you can join hands. I just needed to do that. Last week we filled these aisles. We filled the prayer room with people who were praying. Many times, many of them stayed to pray for an hour or more after the service was over, and that was exciting. But this morning, the burden of the Holy Spirit is knowledge.

God wants to release in you an understanding of what’s going on. And he wants you to see it so clearly that you’re going to be absolved of this typical worldly response: “What’s happening? Why is this going on?” You know. And God wants to show you. He wants you to grasp that; it would be really neat to kind of stand back and say, “Oh, I see what’s happening. I understand this.” Because that’s when God begins to do a work.

It’s even a deeper work than personal ministry to you or prayer time at this moment. When God gives you understanding, that’s why Paul said in Ephesians, “I pray that the understanding of your heart will be enlarged and opened so you’ll know what his purpose is for you. And you’ll know the great power that’s released toward you through the resurrection of Christ, through the purposes of God.”

This is a place of spiritual warfare. Thank God for that. It continues to be. Weekly, weekly. And it’s a place of all these wonderful things happening: revelation of truth and understanding, knowing Satan’s plans and devices.

Having a release of resources, all these things that God promises will happen. Only I want it to be as true for you personally as it becomes true for us corporately. Right? Do you have a vision of what God wants to release for you? Do you know what Canaan would look like if he brought you in? Would you recognize the border?

Would you identify a Canaanite? Would you recognize them if you saw them? Right? If God initiates the work of releasing resources, do you understand what’s happening? Do you grasp its purpose? Do you know that God wants to release you so that you will serve Him, sacrifice, worship, and come to understand?

All of this has a reason to it. God’s judgment is also being released. And I tell you this, there will be days of witnessing the release of God’s judgment in this area. The smallest percentage of people in a church in the United States is in San Mateo County – only 4% attend church on any given Sunday. This is the smallest percentage of people attending church anywhere in the United States.

This affluent, elitist spirit is going to be confronted by God. Believe me, it’s going to happen. But the good news is that as God begins that confrontation, whole groups of people are going to be released and freed through the process of God’s dealings. And I say, “Whoopee! Go do it! Amen.” Let’s pray. Jeff, you have to do it.

Alright.

I feel that each of us has applied this in a very personal way. The area that I feel particularly strong about is the area of spiritual warfare, which releases the glory of God so that we can see the second generation, the next generation. As parents, of course, for those of us who are parents, this impacts us deeply.

God, we want our kids to witness Your glory. We want them to have stories of Your intervention in their lives. I’ve made a difficult decision this week. My oldest son, Jeffrey, is at a Pop Warner football game right now, and we brought this decision to prayer due to a conflict with being here.

I’m not advocating for this, but only suggesting that you pray and ask God. It’s not every Sunday, just three Sundays. We prayed about it and felt the Lord wanted us to release Him to bring church to the people. This nation has forsaken God on this special day, so the church needs to reclaim the presence of God in the world by taking church to the world.

Because the world isn’t finding its way here as it used to. So, I wrote him a letter this morning. I told him to lift his chin up, hit his opponent as hard as he can, play by the rules, and give Jesus the glory and honor. Pastor, I feel like He’s telling us to lift our chins up, hit our enemies as hard as we can with the armament God has given us, following the rules, and give Jesus the glory. Amen. I love it. Can you do that? Amen, me too.

Lord, thank you for these good folks who have come to this place of worship and learning. Lord, I feel like such a novice. I feel like I’m just beginning to understand how You want to bring people into freedom and how You want to reveal Your glory. But Lord, I do know, as Pastor Jeff has said, it is in my heart, Lord, that You manifest yourself to the world through the very struggle, through the warfare that we, as believers, are committed to.

Thank you for this congregation, Lord. Confirm what You’ve said today through signs and wonders. Give us a week of revelation. And grant that tonight, there will be moments of great spiritual liberty and freedom, in Jesus’ name. And everyone said, Amen. God bless you. Share Christ’s love with somebody right beside you before you leave.