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Revival at Asbury
I have been following what has been happening at Asbury University in Wilmore the last week and a half.
If you aren’t aware, on February 8th a group of students decided to stay over after their regular Chapel service to worship and pray for a while longer.
That hand-full of students began to grow and the hours began to pass.
Now over a week and a half later, there has been continuous prayer and worship, led mostly by young adults and shepherded by the administration of the school.
The movement has spread to a few other college campuses and people from across the country have come to Wilmore to experience what’s going on there.
The testimonies coming our of Wilmore and other places talk a lot about the powerful presence of God and the peacefulness of the place.
God’s Spirit showing up in a powerful way.
We don’t hear about things like this happening much, a large scale movement of the Spirit of God on a group of people for a prolonged period of time.
But I think what we are seeing does happen on a regular basis, just in a much smaller and more intimate way in the hearts and lives of God’s people.
It happens when the Spirit of God allows us to see the Word of God in a powerful way, and in a way that speaks to something in our lives right now.
Some of you in d-groups this year have experienced that.
It happens when the Spirit of God convicts us of sin and draws us to confession and repentance.
Some of you have experienced this in your walk with Christ.
It happens when we experience God’s power and presence in the middle of a really hard season or difficult moment.
It happens when God blesses us with His peace that surpasses all understanding in the middle of our mourning or our despair.
I don’t mean to make light of what is going on in Wilmore
Rather, I believe we ought to be challenged as believers to not long only for Asbury to happen here, but for God’s Spirit to do what He is doing there in our hearts NOW.
Connecting to last week
Last week we looked at the meaty section of Ephesians between chapter 4:17 through 6:9.
In that section, Paul shares how the Gospel truths of the first three chapters are lived out in our lives and in our relationships.
But what this life we are called to in 4:1-6:9 really is a battle.
That’s Paul’s purpose in this last section, to help us to understand the nature of the battle and to help us to prepare to stand firm and stay strong in it.
Be AWARE
Paul says the battle we are in isn’t physical, it is SPIRITUAL.
The idea we are in an unseen, spiritual battle is something we probably don’t consider much in our everyday lives.
Andy Gullahorn wrote a song several years ago based off C.S. Lewis’s book “The Screwtape Letters”.
Lewis’s book is a fictitious conversation between Screwtape, a chief Demon of Satan, and his nephew Wormwood, who is also Screwtape’s understudy.
Lewis’s intention in the book is to confront our misconceptions about Satan and how he influences our lives.
Gullahorn’s song begins:
If I were the devil I wouldn’t wear red
I wouldn’t have horns or a pitchfork
I wouldn’t breathe fire cause it might give me away
But if I were the devil you’d never know
I’d befriend you quick and corrupt you slow
So you don’t notice until its far too late
— Andy Gullahorn, If I Were
Makes sense doesn’t it?
Cartoons and Hollywood have given us as image of the Devil that seems fictitious, un-powerful, and insignificant.
Lewis argues that is his central mission, to get us fixated on things that matter little in the scheme of what is eternal.
“Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have almost won your man, and it makes very little difference what kind of worldly end he is pursuing.
Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and charity, he is ours—and the more ‘religious’ (on those terms) the more securely ours.
I could show you a pretty cageful down here.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letter
The Battle we are in is a spiritual battle, but it isn’t just a satanic battle.
The battle we face really has 3 fronts as the Bible speaks of three influences we must be aware of: The World, Our Flesh, and The Evil One.
The World
the world we live in is corrupted by sin and ruled by the values and ethics of the Evil One.
It speaks lies to us about what will satisfy us, seeking to convince us that we do not need God.
We must be aware that we live in a world that is against God and His ways and is a trap for us if we are not seeking truth.
Our Flesh
Our flesh is not the literal flesh on our bones, but the inner part of who we are, as opposed to the Spiritual part.
It is the source of our desires, longings, and lusts.
And our flesh is speaking lies to us and is corrupted by sin and a tool for Satan to lure and tempt us.
Telling us we do not need God because we should be our own gods, calling our own shots.
Our Flesh leads us to rebel against Christ being Lord/King of our lives, and leads us to put ourselves and our desires on the throne.
Satan
The Bible is very clear on Satan’s influence in our lives.
Hollywood has caused lots of confusion in this area.
Leading us to think that satanic influence only shows up when you are levitating on a bed, cursing at a priest as he throws water on you.
The reality is, the bible speaks of Satan’s influence in much more subtle terms.
Satan and the demonic are liars that speak lies and telling us we don't need God, God is a liar and can't be trusted.
The Bible speaks of Satan as the accuser of the saints, speaking guilt, shame and condemnation over us to keep us from embracing the truth of the gospel and the identity is brings us.
It also speaks of Satan as the tempter.
He makes the world and our flesh more appealing than the things of God.
An awareness of Satan’s influence is where “Schemes of the Devil” comes from.
He has all kinds of schemes to keep us from following Jesus and trust Him.
As long as Satan can keep us from seeing Jesus then the world and our flesh will rule the day.
Be EQUIPPED
Have you ever walked into something totally unprepared for what was expected of you?
A ball game without the right shoes
A meeting without being prepared to speak
An interview with the wrong type of clothing on
If you were a solider in Rome 2000 years ago, the list Paul goes over here would have been items you literally couldn’t live without.
As believers fighting a spiritual battle in this broken world, these are the tools we need to prepare ourselves with if we are to stand firm and fight against the evil that effects us.
Belt of Truth
The belt in Romans armor was meant to hold up the robes and decorative aspects of a soldier’s attire to keep him agile and not trip him up.
As we have already said, the world, our flesh, and the demonic speak lies to us on almost nonstop.
We must be grounded and girded in the truth in order to know who we are, who God is, what He has done for us in Christ and why that matters.
the truth of the Gospel keeps us from stumbling and secures our identity in Christ.
Breastplate of Righteousness
The breastplate on roman soldiers protected their heart from attack.
The breast plate of righteousness is the assurance in our hearts that we are right with God, not because of our good works, but because of Jesus.
No condemnation for those in Christ is a declaration of our righteousness that protects our hearts from the guilt and shame of our sinful condition and gives us hope to security in Christ.
Shoes of Readiness
What a soldier wore on his feet was extremely important since it would either aide or hinder him from moving freely and readily.
Whether is was running away from evil or toward goodness, it was important that the shoes one is wearing freed them to run.
The factor that makes the shoes “ready” is the “gospel of peace”
The Gospel frees us to run away from sin and Satan, and run toward Jesus.
These are shoes of readiness and repentance, prompted and powered by the Gospel.
Shield of Faith
Archery is a distance strategy.
Not requiring the enemy to get close in order to attack.
Arrows were lobbed over walls and shot from high places in order to pierce the soldier.
The “flaming darts of the evil one” are the accusations and temptations he uses to draw us away from Christ.
Our faith in the finished work of Christ and the reminder of who we are in Christ because of that faith extinguish those evil darts.
We are “more than conquers through him” and our faith in who He is and what He has done guards us from the arrows of the evil one.
Helmet of Salvation
Just as a helmet would protect a soldier’s head from attack, the helmet of salvation is the Spirit’s way of protecting our minds from the schemes of the evil one
Lies, accusations, and whatever else seeks to dominate our minds are overcome as we understand the salvation we have received in Christ Jesus.
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