The Invisible War

“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”

– Luke 11:23

Back in the mid-1980s, Christian author Frank Peretti published a novel that rattled a lot of Christians—including me. The novel, “This Present Darkness,” is set in the small college town of Ashton. In the story, the chief editor of the local newspaper and the pastor of the town’s struggling church discover something very unnerving: Ashton is a ground zero for a flood of demonic activity. Thousands of demons are flying overhead and lurking in shadows, steering the course of events in their little town. Like puppeteers, these demons are pulling nonChristians’ strings to get them to do exactly what Satan wants them to do.

In one scene I don’t think I’ll ever forget, a demon hovers over someone’s head, sticks his bony little finger through his skull, and stirs his thoughts. As a teenager, that image just about gave me nightmares. In his book, Frank Peretti shared vivid and imaginative ideas of what demonic activity might look like in the invisible realm. And even though it was a fictional story, it opened a lot of Christians’ minds to the reality of spiritual warfare. 

Jesus understood spiritual warfare better than anyone. At the very beginning of his ministry, freshly baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus went mano-a-mano with Satan himself. He spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert battling Satan’s temptations, overcoming every one of them with the Word of God lifted up in prayer. Over the next three years of his earthly ministry, Jesus encountered demons time and time again. And in Luke 11:23, Jesus makes it clear that it is impossible to be on the fence in spiritual warfare: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”

In verses 24-26, Jesus tells of a demon who, for whatever reason, vacates a man’s soul. The demon wanders the desert looking for rest and doesn’t find it. So, he decides to return to the man he left. “When [the demon] arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order” (v. 25). In other words, the man had cleaned up his act since the demon left him. Perhaps he got off drugs, stopped cheating on his wife, and got himself a steady job. But his soul was empty because he still hadn’t invited the Spirit of Jesus Christ into his life.

In the parable, Jesus continues: “Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first” (vs. 25-26). In other words, the demon said to himself, “Easy smeezy! I’ll grab seven of my buddies, and the eight of us will have no problem storming the gates to this man’s soul and moving right back in.” The demons did just that, and as time passed, the man’s condition was worse than ever. What happened? Well, let me share three lessons that William Barclay draws from Jesus’ illustration:

#1: You can’t leave a man’s soul EMPTY. In our pride we think we have so much willpower against Satan’s attacks. We think we can sit on the sidelines of the great spiritual war and not take sides. We think we can leave our souls empty. But we can’t. If we don’t freely choose to join Jesus’ team and ask him to fill our hearts, whether we like it or not, Satan will drag us onto his team, and he will fill our hearts. If God is not in the driver’s seat of your life, one way or another, Satan will be in the driver’s seat.

#2: It’s not real religion if it’s nothing but NEGATIVES. The man in Jesus’ illustration thought that getting rid of the demon was all it took to be in a good place. The evil was gone. So, life must be good … right? No. It doesn’t work that way. Good isn’t simply the absence of bad. True religion does include the negative—NOT doing certain things. But it can’t be boiled down to a list of “Thou shalt nots.” Far too many nonChristians in our community have been given the impression that Christianity is just an oppressive list of “don’ts.” But Christianity is so much more. It’s not just about expelling the evil. It’s about being filled with our good Savior and penetrating this world with his mercy and grace and love and goodness.

#3: The best way to avoid evil is to do good. I don’t know about you, but I find that I’m not nearly as mean to people when I’m being nice to people. My actions tend to steer clear of evil when I’m busy doing what is good. My thoughts don’t wander off in depressed or bitter or lustful directions when I’m keeping myself busy doing God’s work. In James 1:27, God’s word tells us, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: To look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

You and I must choose a side: Either Jesus Christ’s side or Satan’s side. And the word of the Lord is this: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” In other words, “Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will come inside you and fill your heart and your soul. And when he does, you will be full of God, and there will be no room for the enemy.” So, choose Jesus. Be filled with Jesus. Obey his word, and you will be blessed.

  

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville and the author of "Holy Huldah: Lessons You Should Never Forget from Bible Characters You've Never Heard Of." For more information, visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com, and join us for our Worship Celebration Sundays at 10 a.m.

Jesus Is the Light of the World

“Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life.’” - John 8:12

The story is told of an atheist professor who tried to convince his students that the existence of evil proves that God Himself is evil. A quick-thinking student asked, “Professor, does darkness exist?” The professor responded, “Of course it exists.” But the student disagreed: “Darkness does not exist. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t that correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”

The student continued: “Evil does not exist either, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exists just as light does. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love in his heart. It’s like the darkness that comes when there is no light.”

Great food for thought! Just as it would be ridiculous for us to turn off the lights in our home and then proceed to blame them for the darkness, it is silly to blame God for the prevalence of evil after having removed Him from our schools, our homes and our government. The Old Testament records the history of the Israelites who repeatedly removed God’s light from their nation. And the results were disastrous. But in fulfillment of His promise, God sent into the world the brightest light imaginable—His Son, Jesus Christ.

At the start of his gospel account, the Apostle John introduces Jesus Christ in an amazing way: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” On that very first Christmas Day, Jesus Christ left the physical darkness of his mother’s womb and entered the spiritual darkness of this fallen world. He came as the embodiment of God’s Word and as the light of this dark world.

Thirty years later, Jesus stood in the temple courts during the Feast of Tabernacles and proclaimed, “I am the light of the world.” This revelation was particularly powerful considering the fact that the Feast of Tabernacles commemorated God’s guidance of Israel’s ancestors during their forty-year journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land of Canaan. Before the eight-day annual feast began, the Jewish leaders erected four huge golden candelabras in the temple courts. These candelabras were seventy-five feet high, and when lit, would light up the night sky over Jerusalem. Standing just a few feet from these city-illuminating lamps, Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world.” Wow! It’s one thing to light up a city; it’s quite another to light up the world!

Jesus came into this dark, sin-cursed world and pierced the moral and spiritual darkness. Every single human being who has ever walked this earth commits sins. Before Jesus came onto the scene, everyone on earth was living under the curse of that darkness. But Jesus’ light broke through the darkness. Jesus’ light broke through the hopelessness, the hate and the condemnation. His light broke through the racism, the fear, the pride, the lust and the idolatry. Jesus’ light broke through because Jesus is the light of the world.

And while preaching the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus turned to his followers and declared, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Yes, Jesus is the Light of the World, but every Jesus follower is also the light of the world because the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwells within us. He shines in us, and we are commanded to let his light shine through us. Sadly, most of us who claim to be Christians have a bad habit of shining our lights brightly in private and dimly in public. That’s one of the main reasons why Christians have had such limited impact in our culture in recent years. Let’s face it: Secret agent Christians don’t lead people to Christ’s salvation. Christians who disguise their faith don’t transform their families’ or neighbors’ morals. Jesus followers who only shine their lights within the four walls of the church building don’t penetrate the cultural darkness with the light of Christ.

We as Christians MUST shine the light of Christ outside the church building, and this light shining should be very practical. It involves sharing the Gospel with our mouths, but it also requires us to share the Gospel with our hands and feet. Christians who are serious about shining Christ’s light are serious about meeting people’s practical physical needs in addition to their deeper spiritual needs. Starving people need a full tummy before they’re ready to hear the Gospel. Injured people need a Band Aid before they’re ready to hear the message. People who feel they’ve been mistreated and betrayed by Christians need to experience your love before they can begin to understand Christ’s love.

Jesus is the Light of the World, and he has called you and me to shine his light in our dark world. We must allow Christ’s light to shine in us and through us. Darkness can only exist wherever Christ’s light is not allowed to shine. So, let your lights shine, Christians. Let them shine!

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,

visit www.fccvv.com  and join us for worship Sundays at 10 am.