Spiritual Warfare and Territorial Spirits (~5.5 MB) - Moriel Ministries

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Moriel AmericaA m e r I C a n N e w sM O R I E L A M E R I C AU S AGreetings in Jesus preciousname,Recently at the new Morielchurch-plant in Pittsburgh I dida series of messages on the lastcouple of weeks of Jesus’ lifeand the instructions that he leftHis followers. The followingcame from one of those lessons.John 13 shows us somerelationships that Jesus hadand in those relationships wecan learn spiritual truths forour relationships with othersand for our Christian walk.The first relationship wasJesus and His Father in Heaven(John 13:1-5). With Jesus on adivine timetable, He knew Hishour was come (13:1). Andwith that knowledge He knewit was the time when He wouldbe glorified through His death,resurrection, and ascension. Jesusrelationship with His Fathertaught Him certain truths. Heknew who He was, where Hecame from, what He had, andwhere He was going, He wascomplete master of the situation.But, He wanted to teachsome last lessons to His own.These lessons are on Humility,Holiness, and Blessedness. Forus we are children of God, bornagain, and by knowing this factwe know where we are going.So by following Jesus’ examplesand having the type of relationshipHe had with the Father, wecan experience a blessed life.The Scriptures show us thatat this point of the evening duringwhat is called the last supper,Jesus gets up and lays asideHis outer garments, wraps atowel around His waist, takesa basin of water, and starts towash the feet of the disciples.This must have been shockingfor the disciples. No Jew, noteven a Jewish servant woulddo this, as this was left for theGentile servants to do. But, thedisciple’s master kneels downand gives them a lesson in humility.Jesus knew that therewas a competitive spirit in the16 Moriel Quarterly • June 2007David Listerhearts of His disciples. In fact, within afew minutes, the men were disputing overwhich of them was the greatest (Luke22:24-30). But He wanted to teach themand by extension, us! This lesson musthave sunk in for Peter because later inhis epistle he would write that we are to“be clothed with humility” (1 Peter 5:5).Jesus was Lord of all and He makesHimself a servant. All things were Hisand He picks up a towel to dry His disciples’feet. He was Master, but He choseto serve. It has well been said that humilityis not thinking meanly of yourself; itis simply not thinking of yourself at all.True humility grows out of our relationshipwith the Father. True joy can befound when we follow His example anddo the Father’s will. Out of this will comethe glorification of His name. We today,just like the disciples that night, desperatelyneed this lesson on humility. Thechurch is filled with a worldly spirit ofcompetition, a spirit that one seeks achurch that will meet one’s own need insteadof finding a church where one canserve. Also, we often vie to see who hasthe biggest and best ministry. If Jesusserved His disciples because of His humilityand because of His love so should we.During this time Peter spoke out withhis usual impulsiveness and ignorancegiving us the next lesson on Holiness.. Itshould be noted here that the word translated“wash” in John 13:5-6, 8, 12, and 14is nipto and means “to wash a part of thebody.” It is important as Jesus is not usingthe word louo(13:10) which means “tobathe all over.” He is drawing a distinctionin this lesson about the importanceof a holy walk! When someone becomesa believer he is washed all over (1 Cor.6:9-11; Titus 3:3-7). As we come in contactwith this world it is easy to be defiled,to get dirty. Jesus tells Peter, ““If I do notwash you, you have no part with Me.”(John 13:8). It is important to understandthe word here “part” for clarification. Itmeans, “participation, having a share insomeone or something.” What is beingsaid is what James says, that we have tobe “unspotted from the world” (James1:27). Our communion with Him is brokenby our sin. So it is of the utmost importancethat we be Holy as He is holy,that our walked is marked by holiness.I love Old Testament pictures andtypology and there is an illustration inExodus 29 that should help us to under-stand this passage’s meaning and theinteraction between the Lord and Peter.When the priest was consecrated, hewas bathed all over (Ex. 29:4), and thatexperience was never repeated. However,during his daily ministry, he becamedefiled; so it was necessary that hewash his hands and feet at the brass laverin the courtyard when he served there.(Ex. 30:18-21). After washing he couldtrim the lamps, top off the oil or performwhatever job the lot had fallen to him.For believers today the Lord cleansesus through the blood of Christ, fromHis work on the cross (1 John 1:5-10),and through the application of His Wordto our lives (Ps. 119:9; John 15:3; Eph.5:25-26). The “water of the Word” cankeep our hearts and minds clean so thatwe will avoid the pollutions of this world.Yet when we sin, we have we have an Advocatewith the Father, Jesus Christ therighteous; who will hear our prayers ofconfession and forgive us (1 John 2:1-2).Finally for our last lesson, want togive a definition: Blessedness: A stateof well-being and contentment. The primarysense of the word “blessed” hereis the sense of approval. It is saying thatGod has expressed His approval on theDisciples and those that do His will. Tobe blessed is to be approved by God!With these words, Jesus sums upthe first two lessons, “If you know thesethings, you are blessed if you do them.”(John 13:17). Jesus tells us very simply,a life lived in humbleness and holinessproduces blessedness. It is not just knowingthese things as Jesus clearly statesand James 1:22-27 restates for us, but theWord has to be put into action in the lifeof the believer to produce the desired effectof a blessed life. If the servant is notgreater than the master and the Masterbends down to serve where does that putus. It puts us into to a position to do whatour Lord did, serve others in humility andholiness. And in this we find the joy andthat state of being that our souls so desire.With the world and especially the westernworld so caught up in being served,this lesson ought to be on our hearts andat the forefront of our lives in order thatwe will experience life and life abundantly.By His service, He dignified sacrificeand service, so let us go and do likewise.In Peace,David
Dr. Thomas Ice CommentaryBy, Dr. Thomas IceFor the last fifteen years or so whenI have heard Hank Hanegraaff, host ofthe Bible Answer Man radio program,field questions on eschatology (end timesprophecy) it was very clear that he hasbeen against the futurist perspective fromthe get-go. Hanegraaff has told his audiencefor years that he was studying thefield of eschatology and would announcehis views in a book one day. Hanegraaff’sbook has now been released, entitled TheApocalypse Code [1] and has confirmedhis rhetoric and tone heard for the lastfifteen years on the radio as Hanegraaffhas been treating dispensationalism asif it were a cult. Yes, Hanegraaff hasbeen “culting” dispensationalism! Eventhough Hanegraaff always insisted thathe was open to and had not adopted aspecific view of eschatology, it has alwaysbeen equally clear to anyone whois schooled in the various views that hehad all along rejected dispensationalismand embraced his own version of a preterist/idealistscheme. Yet, he has neveradmitted this; and even after the release ofhis book still refuses to classify his ownconclusions in spite of the fact that he assignslabels to virtually everyone else.Some Factual ErrorsAs I first started reading the book, Inoticed a number of factual errors. Let mechronicle just a couple of them. Hanegraaffsays Tim LaHaye is “Unlike earlydispensationalists, who believed that theJews would be regathered in Palestinebecause of belief in their Redeemer.” [2]Hanegraaff gives no documentation forthis statement, which is factually in error.In fact, J. N. Darby (the earliest ofdispensationalists) believed that the Jewswould return to their land in unbelief. Hesays, “At the end of the age the same factwill be reproduced: the Jews-returned totheir own land, though without being converted-willfind themselves in connectionwith the fourth beast.” [3] HistorianDavid Rausch in his Ph.D. dissertationentitled: Zionism Within Early AmericanFundamentalism 1878-1918, says,“The Proto-Fundamentalist believedthat the Jewish people would return toPalestine, the ‘Promised Land,’ withoutconverting enmasse to Christianity.” [4]HANK HANEGRAAFF –THEA p o c a l y p s eCODEMore examples could be given, but it isclear that most dispensationalists have alwaysagreed with LaHaye on this matter.Another error in fact by Hanegraaffis his statement that Author James Balfour“was raised on a steady diet of dispensationalism.”[5] Lord Balfour wasforeign secretary when the British governmentissues a statement in 1917 supportingthe reestablishment of a Jewishstate in Israel called the Balfour Declaration.Balfour was a Zionist, but hisviews were not based upon eschatology,let alone dispensationalism. Hissister and biographer said the following:Balfour’s interest in the Jews andtheir history was lifelong. It originated inthe Old Testament training of his mother,and in his Scottish upbringing. As hegrew up, his intellectual admiration andsympathy for certain aspects of Jewishphilosophy and culture grew also, and theproblem of the Jews in the modern worldseemed to him of immense importance.He always talked eagerly on this, and Iremember in childhood imbibing fromhim the idea that Christian religion andcivilization owes to Judaism an immeasurabledebt, shamefully ill repaid. [6]Historian Barbara Tuckman tells usthat Balfour was “not ardent but a skeptic,not a religious enthusiast but a philosophicalpessimist, . . . that Christianreligion and civilization owes to Judaisman immeasurable debt, shamefullyill repaid.” [7] Hardly one influenced bydispensationalism as Hanegraaff wouldhave his readers believe. In fact, it isprobably true that none of the ChristianZionists of the early twentieth century inBritain were influenced at all by dispensationalism.Most of the Christian Zionistsin Britain at this time were usuallymembers of the Church of England. [8]Humble HankHumble Hank Hanegraaff ridiculesHal Lindsey’s 1997 book, ApocalypseCode [9] as one who claimed to understandthe book of Revelation. “Until thepresent generation,” declares Hanegraaffof Lindsey, “the encrypted message ofthe Apocalypse had remained unrealized”until Lindsey cracked the code.[10] Now Hanegraaff meekly declaresof the release of his new book: “I thinkIllustrated by: Grimdarit will create a major paradigm shift inour understanding of the end times thatis long overdue.” [11] He believes it willbe away from dispensational futurism andtoward his preterism/idealism scheme.Hanegraaff contends that his bookis about “Exegetical Eschatology to underscorethat above all else I am deeplycommitted to a proper method of biblicalinterpretation rather than to any particularmodel of eschatology.” [12] If that ishis goal then he has fallen far short ofthe mark! Hanegraaff’s proposed interpretativeapproaches, if implemented,would send the church back to the DarkAges hermeneutically. He may want toproduce only a method of interpretation,but the moment anyone applies amethod it produces an outcome or modelof eschatology. Further, the book of Revelationis not written in code (where doesRevelation say that?), thus, no need tobreak the code as Hanegraaff contends.The great majority of the book is arant against Hanegraaff’s distorted viewof dispensationalism in general and TimLaHaye in particular. There is preciouslittle actual exegesis, if any at all, to supporthis preterist/idealist eschatology,however, there are great quantities ofsome of the most vicious tirades againstLaHaye and many other Bible prophecyteachers that I have ever read in print.Hanegraaff appears rather proud totell readers that the principles of his methodologyis “called Exegetical Eschatologyor e 2,” [13] as if no one before hecame along had ever produced a view ofeschatology from proper exegesis. Interestingly,for someone who claims such adeep commitment “to a proper method ofbiblical interpretation” [14] it is stunningto realize that Hanegraaff’s “method” isstated as principles, rather than an actualmethod like the historical-grammatical.“I have organized the principles thatare foundational to e 2 around the acronymLIGHTS,” [15] says Hanegraaff.The letters of the acronym LIGHTSstands for the following principles: L refersto the literal principle, I represents theillumination principle, G stands for thegrammatical principle, H for the historicalprinciple, T means the typology principle,and S is for the principle of scripturalsynergy .[16] Only half of Hanegraaff’sJune 2007 • Moriel Quarterly 17
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Spiritual Warfare and Territorial Spirits (~5.5 MB) - Moriel Ministries

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