Tag Archive: spiritual warfare


Jesus The Holy Place Of Empowerment And Truth

Filed under: Jesus, spirtual warfare, Tabernacle, Table of Showbread, The Golden Altar, The Golden Lamp Stand, The Holy Place, The Truth — Leave a comment
January 23, 2008

Jesus The Holy Place Of Empowerment And Truth

We now have completed our section on Jesus “The Truth”, so let’s summarize the things that we have covered prior to moving on to the next section which is entitled, Jesus “the Life”.

Jesus proclaimed to be “the Truth” and this section was a search to find out what this actually means. It just so happens that the name, “the Truth”, is also used to identify the entrance into the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. In the days of the Tabernacle only the priest could pass through the Truth and enter into the Holy Place. Even then entry into God’s house was a serious thing and required preparation to become worthy of entry (see postings on the Way). Entry was momentous as it signified the establishment of a closer relationship with the all mighty God. The Holy Place was sacred. It was the place of empowerment and bring down the forces of evil through prayer before God.

So with all of this understood, we can come to understand what Jesus meant when He said “I am the Truth”. He is saying that by coming through Him in prayer, that we can find the empowerment necessary to reach the spiritual maturity necessary to attain our mission on this earth.

In the Holy Place we find the Golden Altar which enlightens those in the Holy Place to the presence of the Table of Show Bread and the Golden Altar of Incense. We find that in Jesus we have a far better replacement of all of these things.

We find that in Jesus our Golden Altar, that we are enlightened by the “Light of the World” to understand our purpose and the steps we must take to be effective in ministry. This light was displayed at the Transfiguration on the Mount before His disciples and revealed who Jesus is. Jesus calls each of us to be a light of His Truth to others.

We find that in Jesus our Table of Show Bread, that we develop a close and personal relationship with “the Bread of Life”. This relationship helps us to understand that all of our provisions come from Him and that without Him we can do nothing. Jesus the Bread of Live was revealed when He multiplied the loaves and the fish for the five thousand who were hungry. Jesus calls us to be the bread of life for others by feeding them the truth of who He is.

We find that in Jesus our Golden Altar, that we are empowered for spiritual warfare through our prayers that go up to heaven. This empowerment comes through the examples of Jesus praying prior to taking action in ministry. His prayers in the garden for example, delivered instructions that were hard to accept and yet, were exactly what was needed to accomplish His mission on earth. Jesus demonstrated this empowerment by healing the sick, raising the dead, confronting an evil establishment and raising Himself from the dead. Jesus asks us to enter into His spiritual warfare by revealing the truth of Him to others and by taking action to support the direction He has given.

Putting it all together, Jesus is the truth about our relationship with the Father. He is our Lamp that will enlighten our mission and pathway toward God. He is our empowerment that comes to us in the form of the Holy Spirit and guides us to bring down the forces of evil in this world.

In our conversation of the Truth, we saw examples of these things in the life of Jesus. Miraculous things like the casting out of demons, healing the sick, confronting evil religious leaders and even dying on the cross for us. From all of this we can conclude that spiritual warfare requires action that is based upon our prayer life. For example, Jesus prayed in the garden prior to taking the action (He went to the cross for us). Jesus was enlightenment in the Transfiguration (the Golden Lamp Stand) with the truth about His identity (the Son of God). More importantly, Jesus had a close personal relationship with the Father (the Table of Showbread) that gave Him the perfect faith to know that the His actions would be supported by the Father in miraculous ways.

In the Holy Place of Jesus we are enlightened with spiritual truth, we receive our communion with God and we exercise our power over evil everywhere.

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Have Perfect Faith in Jesus

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January 17, 2008

Have Perfect Faith in Jesus

 

The world is a stage in which each of us has the opportunity to choose what our life is to be. Every person has the ability to change their world and world to the others around them. No mater how insignificant, uneducated, poor, sick, imprisoned, or ashamed you may be of yourself, I tell you that with pure faith in God you can rock the world. All it takes is for you to step out in faith based on God’s leadings. Consider that Peter was able to walk on water until his faith was shaken by the circumstances around him. He lost his trust in Jesus when he felt the winds blow and saw the waves roaring around him. When Jesus reached out to save him all He could say was: “Why did you doubt”?

 

Our faith in God must be absolute; it must be without doubt and worry, especially for the consequences of our actions. One thing is sure, when we step out in faith in the direction God leads us, we will be met by sharp opposition from the spiritual realm. The winds of contrary opinion may blow around you and the waves of unforeseen obstacles will roar and crash against you. These are the forces of evil engaging in spiritual warfare. This is precisely why we must enter into the Holy Place that is in Jesus. We must pass through the passage way called the Truth, which is Jesus, into the place of empowerment. As indicated in previous postings, we must have our pathway illuminated by Jesus our Golden Lamp Stand. We must have a close personal relationship with the Father through Jesus our Table of Showbread and our Bread of Life. We must be empowered for spiritual warfare through Jesus our Golden Altar. When Jesus said He was the Truth, this is what He meant. 

 

So you want to step out into ministry? You will have to enter into spiritual warfare to be successful. Consider that even Jesus, after being baptized by the Holy Spirit in preparation for His ministry was led into the desert where He was tested by the devil. Yes, even Jesus had to be victorious over the devil prior to entering into ministry. Therefore, each of us that step out in faith can also expect that our faith and readiness will be tested. This is why it is so important to be inside of the Holy Place that is in Jesus. Only those who know that have perfect faith in Jesus and know that He will support their actions will see the immovable objects disappear at their approach. They that enter in will be the ones that see the miracles transform the circumstances around them.

 

Remember the story of Moses leading the nation of Israel to the Promised Land? He got them to the doorstep but they would not enter because their scouts had reported giants in the land. They had fear in their hearts which is the opposite of faith in God. They ignored the demonstration of God’s power that had freed them from the bondage of Egypt. They ignored God’s display of provision for them in the dessert for the previous forty years. They apparently forgot that it was God’s desire that they enter into this land. In other words they trusted more in their own ability than they did in the power of their Lord. Here is the story:

 

Then they told him, and said: We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan. Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. “There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!  (Numbers 13:27 – 14:1) 

 

Think about this for a moment: Does God give us direction because we have the natural ability to get there without Him? What would such a thing prove except that we are highly capable and do not need God. I don’t think that this is the case. He gives us direction so that we can demonstrate our faith in Him so that He can display His awesome power in our behalf. God gets the glory when others can see that His miraculous works. So, step out in faith and know that when the impossible stands before you, that your perfect faith in God will deliver a miraculous work. Here are a couple of Bible passages that support this position:

 

This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of Grace, grace to it!  Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying: The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it.

 

In another example, David saw the giant Goliath and stepped out in faith knowing that he served a mighty God:

Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. (1 Sam 17:40-51)

 

David had perfect faith in the Lord. He knew that the Lord would support him and that the battle was the Lords, not his. He achieved this by announcing that he came in the name of the Lord, and that the result would prove that God supported the nation of Israel. David also prophesied the result, which meant the he had received his direction from God. His steps were illuminated at the Golden Lampstand.

Walk in faith toward your God given mission. Do not trust in your own abilities but rather have the perfect faith that David displayed by announcing that the mission is being done in the name of the Lord. Tell the world that the work is His and that its accomplishment is proof that God supports the mission. Do not initiate activities without these steps. If you engage the mountain in battle without Him you will exhaust yourself. Only after you have given up and turn things back over to Him will His support be returned.

 

If you are considering entering into a ministry then it may be a good idea to ask yourself the following questions first: Ask yourself if it is possible for you to accomplish this on your own. If so where does God fit in? Also ask how your initiatives will give glory to God? The world will not change much based on the things that we do on our own, but rather, it will change when it sees what God can do through the people that have perfected faith in Him. So in this regard be like David!

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The Victory Of Jesus Empowers Us

Filed under: Jesus, spirtual warfare, Tabernacle, The Golden Altar, The Holy Place, The Truth — 2 Comments
January 9, 2008

The Victory Of Jesus Empowers Us

In our previous postings we have presented some of the spiritual victories Jesus had over the forces of evil. To date we have discussed Jesus being victorious over an evil establishment, healing the sick and lame, casting out demons and of course, His final victory on the cross. All of these examples support our proposition that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Golden Altar of Incense, the Holy Place and the Tabernacle of Moses. Since the entryways into the Tabernacle and the Holy Place are called; “the Way” and “the Truth” we are well on our way toward explaining what Jesus meant when He claimed to be, ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life”.

We will now look at the implications of Jesus’ victories over evil and identify there is a direct impact on us. The victory of Jesus on the cross set us free from the domination of the forces of evil. More than this however, Jesus has also empowered us to be victorious over all evil as well:

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:17-19)

You are empowered! The things that Jesus did by the power of the Holy Spirit are available to those who can enter into the Holy Place of Jesus in prayer:

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:12-14)

Victory in Spiritual Warfare

Victory in spiritual warfare comes through prayer at the Golden Altar. When we look at the life of Jesus we find Him in prayer with the Father prior to taking action. Here is an example of this:

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me. He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, “What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.” And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. (Matthew 26:36-47)

Jesus was in prayer just prior to going to the cross. Therefore, He was enlightened and knew the things that were about to unfold. He knew that He would be betrayed and He that He would have to choose between His life and the salvation of all of us. He sought the guidance of the Father in prayer to ensure His steps were in the Fathers plan. In being faithful to the Father Jesus knew that He would be victorious over Satan and the powers of evil. He knew that He would set us all free by giving His life in exchange for ours.

Jesus also communicated that the way to victory in spiritual warfare is through prayer and fasting:

Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:15-21)

In still another example, we find Jesus staying behind to pray prior to entering into spiritual warfare with the demon named Legion the following day.

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid. And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, Lord, save me! And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God. When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. (Matthew 14:22-34)

The storm was fostered by evil spirits that attempted to sabotage Jesus victory by preventing Him and His disciples from getting to the other side. The battle with evil rages but with Jesus we have power over evil.

In this example, the passage presents strong evidence about the power of the saint’s prayers in spiritual warfare:

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

Note the reference to the smoke and incense that are a reflection of the prayers at the Golden Altar. These prayers are not for enlightenment or for forgiveness of sin but rather for victory in spiritual warfare. They are effective in generating the wrath of God to be manifest upon the earth.

In the next passage, Paul calls us to prepare ourselves for spiritual battle by putting on the uniform of the spiritual solider. Again, this includes constant prayer:

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints; and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:11-20)

So in summary, anyone seeking to be like Jesus should know that Jesus was victorious in a spiritual fight that we could not win for ourselves. This victory restored dominion back to us and therein empowered us to become victorious over the forces of evil. However, just because we have dominion does not mean that all of the battles are over. Satan is still deceiving the world and as a result a war rages between the forces of good and evil. The difference now is that Jesus has given us the power to be victorious in spiritual warfare.

The only problem is that we have to know that we are in a battle and we have to know how to prepare. Like soldiers that have to go through basic and advanced training to become effective in battle, we must also be adequately prepared for warfare. This comes through prayer. We must pray ourselves through the Courtyard and into the Holy Place where the Golden Altar is found. Once there, our prayers will enable us to be able to put on the whole armor of God. But it is up to us to enter into Jesus by seeking to become like Him. All of eternity in the garden with God lies in the balance.

It is up to us to choose. On the one hand we can choose to become spiritual soldiers or relax, enjoy ourselves, live the good life and ignore the evil that is all around us. After all, is this not what Jesus was talking about in the following passage:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Matthew 16:24-28)

Jesus wants us to take up the role of spiritual warrior and overcome evil. In our next posting we will enter into a discussion about why we should be entering into spiritual warfare.

So until then, may God bless you.

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Jesus is Victorious on the Cross

Filed under: Jesus, spirtual warfare, Tabernacle, The Golden Altar, The Holy Place, The Truth — Leave a comment
January 7, 2008

Jesus is Victorious on the Cross

In today’s posting we will present the victory on the cross as yet another example of the victorious spiritual warfare of Jesus.

If you are new to our site you may want to review our prior postings in an effort to help in putting everything into perspective. If this is the case there are two avenues you can take. The best option is to drill down as necessary on the indented subheadings under the “Pages” section of the site (look at the right hand column). In addition, the preceding ten postings can be found immediately following this post on the main page.

 Now on to the subject of this posting, Jesus is our Golden Altar of Incense. Today we investigate the spiritual warfare aspects of His victory on the cross.   

The Victory on the Cross

The spiritual warfare waged between Jesus and the religious leaders of His day culminated with Jesus freely giving up His life on the cross. While it is difficult to understand, this sacrifice of the sinless Son of God was the spiritual sacrifice required to restore what man had lost with the fall of Adam. For Adam had been deceived by the devil into disobeying God and lost his dominion over the earth and his relationship with God. The devil on the other hand was victorious in deceiving them and as they say, to the victor goes the spoils. In this case the spoils were the earth and dominion over everything in it, including man. The following passage from Paul may help clarify this a bit:

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned; (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)  Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 5:6-21) 

In other words, men would no longer have to live under the dominion of Satan because Jesus, our advocate, defeated Satan at the cross. His victory in spiritual warfare came from living without sin and not succumbing to the temptation of evil, even in the face of a cruel and painful death. For one sinned and all fell into bondage to the devil, and one died in righteousness so that all could live free inside the loving grace of God. Even those who died prior to the life of Jesus were saved:

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended”; what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? (Ephesians 4:7-9)

That is correct; Jesus went into Hell to set the captives free, as the following passage communicates:

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:50-53) 

Talk about a victory of spiritual warfare! The dead in Hell were raised and appeared to the living. The spiritual victory of Jesus over evil was total. It even included the salvation of the righteous dead. Jesus has all power and authority over the devil, hell and the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. He has power and authority over everything. He is our Golden Altar through which our prayers are transferred to our loving Father in heaven. It is through Jesus and His Holy Spirit that we become empowered for spiritual warfare.

As we have communicated previously, the Golden Altar and all of the other objects inside the Holy Place of the Tabernacle are places of prayer. In our next posting we will look at the prayers of Jesus that enabled this and other victories over evil. Additionally, we will open the subject of how His victory empowers us in ministry.

Until then, may God’s blessings be upon you. 

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