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Spiritual
Warfare
Spiritual Warfare
A letter from a missionary
out in the jungles of New Guinea writing to his friends at home caught the
nature of spiritual warfare:
“Man
it is great to be in
the thick of the fight
to draw the old devil’s heaviest guns
to have him at
you with depression and discouragement
slander
disease. He doesn’t waste time
on a lukewarm bunch. He hits good and hard when a fellow is hitting him. You
can always measure the weight of your blow by the one you get back. When you’re
on your back with fever and at your last ounce of strength
when some of your
converts backslide
when you learn that your most promising inquirers are only
fooling
when your mail gets held up
and some don’t bother to answer your
letters
is that the time to put on mourning? No
sir. That’s the time to pull
out the stops and shout Hallelujah! The old fellow’s getting it in the neck and
hitting back. Heaven is leaning over the battlements and watching. ‘Will he
stick with it?’ And as they see who is with us
as they see the unlimited
reserves
the boundless resources
as they see the impossibility of failure
how disgusted and sad they must be when we run away. Glory to God! We’re not
going to run away. We’re going to stand!” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Spiritual Warfare
Bobby Leach
an Englishman
startled the world some years ago by his daring feat of going over Niagara
Falls in a barrel. He came through the experience miraculously unscratched.
Some time later
Leach was walking down the street and slipped on a small
orange peel. He was rushed to the hospital with a badly fractured leg.
Believers are more
frequently brought down by a minor skirmish than by a major battle. ── Michael
P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Spiritual Warfare
The story has been told of
a mental hospital that many years ago devised an unusual test to determine when
their patients were ready to go back into the world. They brought a candidate
for release to a room where a water faucet was left on so that the sink
overflowed and was pouring water all over the floor. Then they handed the
patient a mop and told him to mop up the water. If the patient had enough sense
to turn off the faucet before mopping up the water
he was ready to be released.
But if
as in the case of many
the patient started mopping while the water was
still flowing
they kept the patient for more treatment.
Ad Christians
all of us
face the world in which we live and are confronted with the need to do battle
with the evil that dominates it. But
like the patients in the mental hospital
until we realize where the source of the evil is
we will make no real
contribution. To see less evil in the world means that we must conquer the evil
that is pouring forth from our own heart. That is conversion. Then
to deal
with the evil around us
we need a “mop and bucket
” the spiritual armor that
God has provided for us. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Backward Christian
Soldiers
1. Backward Christian
soldiers
Fleeing from the fight
With the cross of Jesus
Nearly out of sight.
Christ our rightful master
Stands against the foe
Onward into battle
we
seem afraid to go.
Chorus: Backward Christian
soldiers
Fleeing from the fight
With the cross of Jesus
Nearly out of sight.
2. Like a mighty tortoise
Moves the church of God.
Brothers we are treading
Where we've often trod.
We are much divided
Many bodies we
Having different
doctrines
but
Not much charity.
3. Crowns and thrones may
perish
Kingdoms rise and wane
But the cross of Jesus
Hidden does remain.
Gates of hell should never
'gainst the Church
prevail
We have Christ's own
promise
but
we think it might fail.
4. Sit here then ye
people
Join our sleeping throng.
Blend with ours
your
voices
in a feeble song.
Blessings
ease and
comfort
Ask from Christ the King
But with our modern
thinking
We won't do a thing.
Backward Christian
soldiers
fleeing from the fight
With the cross of Jesus
nearly out of sight!
Christ our rightful
Master
stands against the foe
But forward into battle
we are loath to go.
Like a mighty tortoise
moves the Church of God;
Brothers
we are treading
where we've often trod.
We are much divided
many
bodies we
Having different
doctrines
not much charity.
Crowns and thorns may
perish
kingdoms rise and wane
But the Church of Jesus
hidden does remain.
Gates of hell should never
'gainst the Church prevail
We have Christ's own
promise
but think that it will fail.
Sit here
then
ye people
join our useless throng;
Blend with ours
your
voices
in a feeble song.
Blessings
ease and
comfort
ask from Christ the King.
With our modern thinking
we don't do a thing!
Backward Christian
Soldiers...
George Verwer.
True story. A Christian
leader -- we'll call him Steve --as traveling recently by plane. He noticed
that the man sitting two seats over was thumbing through some little cards and
moving his lips. The man looked professorial with his goatee and graying brown
hair
and Steve placed him at fifty-something. Guessing the man was a
fellow-believer
Steve leaned over to engage him in conversation. "Looks
to me like you're memorizing something
" he said. "No
actually I was
praying
" the man said. Steve introduced himself. "I believe in
prayer too
" he said. "Well
I have a specific assignment
" said
the man with the goatee. "What's that?" Steve asked. "I'm
praying for the downfall of Christian pastors." "I would certainly
fit into that category
" Steve said. "Is my name on the list?"
"Not on my list
" the man replied.
Common Ground
Vol. 10 No.
7.
Recently National Geographic ran an
article about the Alaskan bull moose. The males of the species battle for
dominance during the fall breeding season
literally going head-to-head with
antlers crunching together as they collide. Often the antlers
their only
weapon are broken. That ensures defeat. The heftiest moose
with the largest
and strongest antlers
triumphs. Therefore
the battle fought in the fall is
really won during the summer
when the moose eat continually. The one that
consumes the best diet for growing antlers and gaining weight will be the
heavyweight in the fight. Those that eat inadequately sport weaker antlers and
less bulk. There is a lesson here for us. Spiritual battles await. Satan will
choose a season to attack. Will we be victorious
or will we fall? Much depends
on what we do now--before the wars begin. The bull-moose principle: Enduring
faith
strength
and wisdom for trials are best developed before they're
needed.
Craig Brian Larson.
In the Greek Orthodox
tradition
the day after Easter was devoted to telling jokes. . . .They felt
they were imitating the cosmic joke that God pulled on Satan in the
Resurrection. Satan thought he had won
and was smug in his victory
smiling to
himself
having the last word. So he thought. Then God raised Jesus from the
dead
and life and salvation became the last words.
William J. Bausch
Storytelling:
Imagination and Faith.