11. Battle Lines Must Be Drawn
11
BATTLE LINES MUST BE DRAWN
I will never forget staying with a family as I was traveling to preach in conferences in the United States. As I went to bed that night in the room that was given to me by this family, I discovered for some reason I could not sleep. I felt as though I were in a haunted house. I began to have nightmares, and soon a terrible and unreasonable fear gripped me. In a short time, I woke up and realized I was under attack by what the New Testament calls the fiery darts of the wicked one.
I was not alone in my room, but demon spirits were attacking me. Recognizing Satan as my enemy, I rebuked him in the name of Jesus and eventually went back to sleep.
The next morning I got up, and I heard a demonic rock and roll beat coming out of the room next to me. The door was open, and I looked in as I walked by.
I was shocked to see, plastered all over the walls in that room, many lewd posters of rock stars. Some were half naked, and others were dressed in leather and chains. From the very expressions of arrogance and sinful pride on their faces, I could see that the pictures resembled idols of the demon gods worshiped in the darkest temples of Asia!
The room belonged to the teenager of the family. All of a sudden it dawned on me why I had to face such a spiritual battle in order to sleep the night before.
Here was a Christian teenager, unknowingly adoring and worshiping demon gods. Yet this was the same family I went to church with during their missions conference. They sat in the pews and were partaking in the whole service. It looked all so good, as if they were really committed Christians; and I’m sure that they considered themselves in harmony with the true God. Yet their home was under demonic power!
How many millions of our Christian homes are similarly enslaved? How many call themselves Christians, yet their homes are trampled over by the powers of darkness? The lives of so many youth are being destroyed and derailed before they even know what has happened. Suddenly, they find themselves enslaved to alcohol, drugs, immorality and all kinds of lusts for material things—for fame and for power.
Millions of beautiful, bright Christian teenagers are being destroyed today—just at the moment in life when they should be launching out into lifetimes of productive Christian service.
In Christian homes, untold hours are being spent worshiping before the television idol. Through the advertising and programming, every kind of wickedness and vice is coming into our minds and lifestyles. The media are developing appetites in the hearts of Christians that give footholds for demons to control and ruin precious lives. Christian mothers and fathers should have discernment to see what Satan is doing to their children. But the god of this world has blinded their eyes. Indeed, most Christians are so far away from God that they no longer seem to be able to see the devil in the art, music, fashion and pop culture of our day.
Through the mediums of television and the Internet, many Christians are letting down the barriers of separation and holiness that should be protecting their lives and families from the attacks of the evil one. Their homes have become dens of Satan, and their minds and morals are the next things that go. This is the story of all sin and spiritual defeat. The Bible faithfully records it from the Garden of Eden until the end of time.
The Urgent Need for Restoration
Where are the fathers who will stand against this flood of uncleanness and say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15)? Where are the mothers of Titus 2:3–5, women that “be in behaviour as becometh holiness,” who “teach the young women” to live godly lives as well? Where are children who remember to honor and obey their parents?
We must choose to restore holiness to our families as well as our personal lives and churches.
Holiness is not a gift of the Spirit. It is not a feeling that comes mysteriously over us. It is not something that God does to us. It begins with a deliberate choice—an act of the will. The seed we sow will come up and produce the fruit of holiness as the end result.
Battle lines must be drawn in our lives and in the lives of those we are commanded to protect. It is vitally important for every reader of this book to embrace this responsibility as his or her own.
And I am especially concerned that those of us in positions of leadership take the responsibility to purify our own individual lives and homes. If we don’t, how can we minister holiness to others whom we counsel?
In Ezekiel 34:2–3, God speaks clearly, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.”
Like never before, we need godly shepherds who will cry out against sin and call God’s people to repentance, to live holy, separate lives.
As we read through the Old Testament, how often do we find God pronouncing judgment against the false shepherds who are scattering the flock and destroying their lives? In Matthew 7:15, Jesus warned of false teachers who come in sheep’s clothing, but actually they are wolves. The greatest tragedy in this land today, I believe, is that pulpits are filled with men who are speaking their own words and do not have a word from the Lord. They flatter their congregations with words in order to fulfill their selfish ambitions in the flesh.
When our motives are mixed and our personal lives are filled with hidden sins, the powers of darkness have a direct inroad into our ministries. They can thus control our thoughts and words, bringing death to individual lives, congregations and ministries.
Such a minister is defenseless in spiritual warfare. He will welcome the thoughts and suggestions of the Enemy and do everything to build his own reputation. At the same time, he will water down God’s Word and will back off from anything that is of serious consequence, such as preaching against sin, confronting a brother or sister who has fallen into error or calling his people to a life of separation and holiness. He can easily be deceived into misunderstanding God’s blessings, even taking pride in the size of buildings, the number of people in his congregation or the size of his church budget. The approval of men, big titles and popularity can simply take over his whole heart and mind.
Paul, speaking to the Thessalonians, tells them:
We were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness: Nor of men sought we glory (1 Thessalonians 2:2–6).
In Jeremiah 10:21, we read, “For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.” In Jeremiah 12:10, the prophet continues, “Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.”
This, I believe, is the sad picture of what we all too often are seeing in our churches today.
As never before, we need God’s servants who are willing to risk their lives to preach the uncompromising Word of God, calling people once again to total separation and purity in their lives.
As lay Christians, we need to seek out courageous shepherds like this and put ourselves under their ministries. We need to encourage them, pray for them and submit to them as Paul urged in Hebrews 13:17, “For they watch for your souls.”