Were You There? by John Woodward

March, 2010

One of the hymns that depicts Christ's passion and resurrection is the traditional song,Were You There? The hymn's author is unknown, but the words are based on the New Testament narratives of Matthew 27:31-56; 28;1-15 and parallels. The first stanza asks:

"Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 
Were you there when they crucified my Lord? 
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. 
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?"

This African American spiritual was written prior to 1865. Those who were oppressed by slavery would sing together for encouragement. Believers would reflect on Christ's sufferings and the consolation of the gospel.

Imagine the heart-felt singing of this hymn before the civil war. The All Music Guide recalls, "The song opens in the traditional 'lining out' style of American country congregations in which the preacher or choir leader sings the first line and the choir or congregation responds. Thus, the (usually) solo voice sings 'Were you there when they crucified my Lord?'... Then the chorus responds in full harmony echoing the same words..."

The memory of Calvary's events follow in each stanza:


(2) Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?


(3) Were you there when they pierced Him in the side?


(4) Were you there when the sun refused to shine?


(5) Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?


(6) Were you there when they rolled the stone away?


(7) Did you know He is risen from the dead? (repeat)


Oh! Sometimes I want to shout, 'Glory, Glory, Glory!.'

These lines pose the rhetorical question, Were you there? The assumed answer was "no," but the song takes the singer back by envisioning those redemptive events by faith.

I still remember a Bible teaching workshop years ago when the speaker quoted this hymn. Then he made this startling announcement: "You were there!"

"What was that? How could I have been there some 2000 years ago?"

Before we answer that, consider another mystery: Everyone was in Adam at the dawn of history! Although our personal life began in the recent past, we were all in Adam positionally and spiritually.

Study Romans 5:12: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." The historical narrative of Genesis 3:1-24 is crucial to understanding the bad news of the Fall of mankind. Adam was constituted by God to represent all of the human race (which came from his loins).

Romans 5:15-19 brings this pivotal doctrine out repeatedly: "... by the one man's offense [Adam's] many died... For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation ... by the one man's offense death reigned through the one... through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation... by one man's disobedience many were made sinners..." Since God had placed the world under Man's dominion, the breaking of this original covenant brought a divine curse on the earth as well.

The Fall also explains why all are born spiritually separated from God and in need of re-birth: "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1).

How blessed I was to learn of the heavenly contrast: Adam was "a type of Him who was to come"--Jesus! (Rom 5:14b). "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22). Therefore, Christ is the positional and spiritual head of all the redeemed!

As a born again believer, the Bible teaches that you were there at the Cross positionally and spiritually (just as you were in Adam prior to salvation). As the apostle Paul declared, "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death... For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him...." (Rom. 6:4-6). "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above... For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Col. 3:1-3). "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, andmade us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-7). Amen!

When you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior by faith, you become identified with Him in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. This is the open secret of victorious living! Reckon this "gospel for the believer" to be true of you personally!

As God brings this New Covenant revelation from your head to your heart, you'll be able to reinterpret that old spiritual. The lines will still take you back to Christ's suffering and resurrection, but you can now take it a step further.

"Where you there when they crucified my Lord?" Your answer can be ... "Yes. Yes, I was there in Him! Hallelujah!"

….YOUR DESIRE SHALL BE FOR YOUR HUSBAND…. II.

January, 2010

Last month we meditated on the Scripture of Gen.3:16 where part of the woman’s curse reads that her desire shall be for her husband.
And we surmised that what she was looking for in her husband was the Life of God, the Life of the Spirit, that eternal Life that was lost by the disobedience of taking and eating of the forbidden fruit.
We saw also that the Life she desired, what she was looking for in her husband, was no longer present in him. Sin had done its devastating work of death in him as well.

In this meditation we hope to explore the truth that even though sin caused man to be separated from the Life of God, that the Lord God who cannot be but merciful and gracious and faithful had already made provision for the redemption of sinners.

The covenant of grace which went into effect immediately provided for a future Mediator who would bruise the serpent’s head, Gen.3:15.
There will come a day, God promised when I shall be your God and you shall be my people, a people whom I will jealously guard from all evil, Jer. 31:33.
I will forgive your iniquity and I will remember your sins no more.
The Lord God promises that he will cleanse his people from all their filthiness and idols.
He promised: And I will put my Spirit within you and he will cause you to keep my commandments, Ez.36:27.

And prophesy continued even up to shortly before the Messiah’s birth: “….., to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. To give Light unto them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death……”, Luke 1:79.
The Gospel of John, chapter 1:4 tells us: In him (the Word, Jesus) was Life, and the Life was the light of men. (5) And the Light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. (9) He (Jesus ) is the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world; (10) He was in the world, the world was made by Him and the world knew (recognized) Him not. (11) He came to His own (people) and His own received Him not.
(12)But as many as received Him, gave He the privilege to become the sons (children) of God, to as many who believe on His name.
Life, eternal Life had returned to the world, just as God had promised on the fateful day long ago when Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, Praise the Lord!
Life, the desire of the nations, the desire of so many prophets and visionaries for so many centuries had become a reality in visible, touchable form.
Light, Life, Grace and Truth had returned to this sin-darkened world in the person of God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

But what do Scriptures tell us?
That the world did not and still does not recognize him.
Even his own people the Jews, rejected him as an imposter.
Their leaders concluded that even though he did many miracles, he could not be the Messiah, because the Messiah would not transgress the law by healing people on the Sabbath.

And what about us? Would we be different? From the Scriptures we know that we would not act differently in similar circumstances.
In John 1:5 we learn that Light ( the Lord Jesus) shined in the darkness (you and me) and the darkness comprehended not the significance of that light.
In John 3: 19 we see that Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light ……
If it was a matter of human salesmanship, the whole offer of salvation would be a lost effort. You cannot sell anything for which people see no need.
In Eph. 2:4 we read that God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead (in sin), has raised us up together with Jesus, calling us out of darkness, into his marvelous light.
He opened our spiritual eyes to allow us to see Jesus and accept him as our personal Savior, Lord and Life.
In John 14:6 he says : “I am the (only) way to the Father, I am the Truth and I am the Life of God”. I am come so that you may again enjoy that Life that is with the Father and that you may enjoy that Life in abundance.

And again, God allows us to choose, now that he has revealed himself to us, will we choose to live this new, heavenly life in dependence upon Jesus, who is our Life, or will we choose to continue to live out of our own resources?
Trusting our own understanding in deciding what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong? The choice is ours, for each one of us.
Prov. 3:5 tells us to trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
Abundant Life, Life in everyday dependence on God’s limitless resources is available to every believer who chooses to say : yes Lord, not my will, but yours only.
This Life is available only in Jesus Christ and is not to be found anywhere or in anyone else, not in spouses, or reputation, or achievements, or possessions, only in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“ ….. Your desire shall be for your husband …..”. To Eve it was part of the curse, she would look to her husband for something he could not give her.
Our blessing consists in that we may look to Jesus for Life, he has it in abundance,
It is all there just for the asking.
That Life is not just a promise for the future, it is a present reality, eternal Life begins for every one at the moment of repentance and submission to Jesus who is eternal Life.
Who also delights in fulfilling our desire for that Life that is in him to the utmost.
In him we have complete love, acceptance, value, security, in him we have hope, in him we have a future.


St.Thomas, Jan.’10 Simon VanderKooy.

“.….....YOUR DESIRE SHALL BE FOR YOUR HUSBAND…….”

December, 2009

Your desire shall be for your husband, so the Bible records for us in Genesis 3:16.
These words are a part of the curse that God spoke over the woman as a penalty for her disobedience to God’s command.
The man and his wife had been warned: do not eat from this one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For, God said, in the same day, in the same hour, in the same moment that you eat of it, you shall die.
They did transgress and the consequences were immediate and terminal, they died, that is to say, their vital connection with the Source of their life, the Lord God their creator was forever severed.
Their physical existence would continue on for some time to come, but the sparkle was gone, from here on life would be little more than bare existence, it would bring trouble, discord and struggle.
Spiritual darkness descended on them and from that time on humanity would be shut up in this darkness.
Light and Life were lost due to disobedience, but humanity keeps frantically looking for it, because they know it (that Life) has got to be somewhere.
But where?
The tragedy of humanity is that they look and grope around in this thick darkness for something that is not even there, for death is absence of Life by definition.

Gen. 3:16 : “And to the woman God said: I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception, in sorrow you shall bring forth children, and your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you”.
Here we see that “….your desire shall be for your husband…” is part of the curse that God spoke over the woman.
In our meditation on this phrase we need to keep this foremost in mind, that the woman’s desire spoken of in this verse is not a blessing, but a part of the curse because of sin.
The question is: what would the woman desire from her husband? What would she be looking for in her husband?
I would submit, that her husband is looking for the same thing, not in his wife, but in other places, for instance, in his achievements.
So, what are they looking for?
The same what their descendants have looked for and are still looking for.
When any of us loose something of great value, we start looking for it to find it back. The greater the value of the loss, the more effort we put into finding it back.

By their disobedience Adam and his wife Eve lost Life, the Life of the Spirit within them, the lights had gone out, they were now cut off from the Source of light and life, the Lord God himself.
And yes, the Lord God did promise immediately that the day would come that Light and Life would return to this darkness in a day yet far in the future.
This Light and Life of the Spirit expressed itself in the garden in giving man a real sense of love, acceptance, value, peace, security, happiness, to name a few of the attributes of real Life.
But for now, man was left to his own resources to cope with life after loosing the real thing. And the search began for an acceptable substitute, something that would satisfy the longing for the real thing.
And where would the woman look for the substitute of the Life lost?
I would submit that she desired this Life from her husband, that he would give her what she was looking for: love, acceptance, value, security, etc., in short, the Life that is in the Spirit.
And she found that he could not give her much of anything and often it was conditional, you look after me and in return I will look after you.
The problem was that he, the husband no longer possessed this Life of the Spirit either and what you do not posses, you cannot share.
Besides, he was so busy trying to find these same values in his occupation, tending his crops, struggling to keep weeds and thistles under control.
He wanted so much to impress his wife with the results of his efforts, but the thistles were constantly opposing him.
What was he looking for? We know that already: love, acceptance, value, etc.
Exactly what his wife was looking for from him.
“…… Your desire shall be for your husband…….”.
Adam and Eve, our earliest ancestors and all their descendants after them have been looking for this Life that was lost on that fateful day when the fruit looked good and their appetite for it caused their downfall.

And humanity is still looking for this Life, looking for it in all the wrong places.
Man is looking for this Life everywhere, they call it something like the meaning of life, satisfaction, self-esteem, fulfillment, happiness and a number of other things.
But regardless of the term used, Life cannot be found in wealth, reputation, profession, family, or any other effort that man might engage in.

As God promised, Light and Life would one day return to this sin-darkened world in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that will be the subject of the next issue of Reflections.


St. Thomas, Dec./’09. Simon VanderKooy.

CHRISTMAS 2009

CHRISTMAS 2009.

At this time of year we again celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
He who himself is God, who humbled himself and was made in the likeness of man, Phil.2: 7.
John 1:4, 5 : “In him was life; and that life was the light of men.
And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend
what it was that came to them, (free translation).
It is only by a work of the Holy Spirit in any one of us that we will begin (with emphasis on “begin”) to understand what this light of life is about.

“In him was (and is) life”.
Interesting that this message does not say: “In him was forgiveness of sin”.
Most of us believe that we need forgiveness of sin to enter heaven when we die.
The gospel of John, chapter 1: 1 – 18 speaks of “The Word of God who became like one of us, took on a human body and came to live among us”.
Why? For what reason?
Sins and forgiveness is not mentioned in this passage of Scripture at all.
What is mentioned is Light and Life and Grace and Truth.
And as many as received him, (Jesus) gave he (God) the privilege to become sons of God, born of him, not of the flesh or human will, but born of God.
Those who are born of God (born of the Spirit, John 3:5), have the Life of the Spirit.
The same Life that was lost when man first sinned in the garden of Eden.

This is the reason why Jesus came into the world, to bring Life where there was only death, death in sin and condemnation.
To bring Light where only darkness existed.
To restore relationship between God and the people he created.
Christmas must lead to Golgotha where the death of Jesus on the cross and his subsequent resurrection secured eternal Life for all those of us who received him.
And yes, the cross also dealt with the sin question, once for all.

The Life of the Spirit mentioned earlier, what does it look like?
Being born again, raised with Jesus to newness of life, (Rom.6: 4), what is that resurrection life, that Life in the Spirit, what is it like in daily experience?

Some random observations:

Resurrection Life is a present reality available for every believer, to experience it on a daily basis is dependent on what the child of God chooses to do, trust Father and his Word explicitly, or trust his/her own intelligence and ability more.

Resurrection Life flows from believing that I am joined spiritually to the Source of Life – God himself.

Resurrection Life flows from believing what God says, period.

Resurrection Life, this new Life is embodied in a Person, his name is Jesus Christ.

Resurrection Life is to know that in Jesus I am loved and accepted and that I have value.

Resurrection Life is to experience living by and out of the Father’s provision.

Resurrection Life is to know and to trust that victory over sin and self cannot be achieved, it can only be received from his Father hand, it is there for the asking.

Resurrection Life is living by and out of God’s grace, there are no pre-conditions except that I choose to accept his grace, after that there are no expectations to live up to or duties that I must fulfill.

Resurrection Life is like soaring on eagle’s wings above my circumstances, for I know and may trust that all these circumstances work for my good.

Resurrection Life is to rejoice in the assurance that I am in my Father’s presence all the time and that without fear. Or that he will never leave me or abandon me.

Resurrection Life is knowing and trusting that the evil One cannot touch me, my Father who rescued me, will always be my Shield and Protector.

Resurrection Life is to know and trust that it is God who sanctifies himself in me.

Resurrection Life is to have no expectations about life in heaven, except being in the physical presence of Jesus, the One who loves me and gave his life to make me his bride.
Father has planned a wedding day when his Son shall be joined to his bride, Halleluiah!

Resurrection Life is being dead, dead to the law of sin and dead to the world and alive to Jesus Christ who is my Life.

Resurrection Life is the freedom of knowing that in the day of judgment nothing will be laid to my charge, for the penalty for all my sin and sinfulness has been paid in full in my Lord Jesus Christ.

Resurrection Life is also the freedom of knowing that in that day there will be nothing to receive credit for, for there is not any good that I could have done except it had been done through Jesus Christ who is my Strength (my Life).





This Resurrection Life is characterized by peace, His peace, for He is our peace. Peace about hurts and guilt for sins in days gone by, peace in he challenges of today and peace for the uncertainties of tomorrow. Peace that is beyond human understanding or explanation.


This resurrection Life is beyond our comprehension, we can observe it in others, or experience its effect in our own life, but we cannot rationally explain it.
It remains a mystery, even to us to whom God has revealed the riches and the glory of this mystery, the mystery of “Christ in us, our hope (sure expectation) of glory”.


St.Thomas, Dec./’09. Simon VanderKooy.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE II, or LIVING VICTORIOUSLY

November, 2009

Ephesians 6:10-12. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (NIV).

Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this dark world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (KJV).

First, a couple of observations. The NIV Bible translation speaks of the “schemes” of the devil.

“Scheme” is defined in the dictionary as “a carefully arranged and systematic plan”.

The KJV Bible uses the word “wiles”, a clever trick or words intended to lure or deceive.

( I believe that the word “wiles” is more consistent with the overall tense of Scripture.)

II Chronicles 20:15 says that the battle is not ours, but the Lord’s and I Cor. 15:57 says this: Thanks be to God who GIVES us the victory THROUGH our Lord Jesus Christ.

Or in Isaiah 30:15, “For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…..”.

All this clearly indicates that Jesus the Lord is the one who fights our battles and he would have us receive victory, rather than that we would achieve victory by our efforts.

Which brings us to the all important question: “Would we, God’s children allow him to actually fight our battles and rest in his almighty ability”?

First, we will attempt to define the enemy from this Scripture passage, then define our spiritual armor and then how to use this armor in order to “receive” the victory.

The “enemy”, principalities, powers and rulers of this dark world are generally believed to be demonic forces controlled by the devil.

Few of us have met and wrestled with demonic entities in the heavenly realms, so let us in this study focus on powers and rulers of this dark world.

Anyone who has been faced with depression, covert or overt rejection, un-forgiveness, anger, insecurity, the hurts of loosing a parent or child or spouse through death, the lasting effects of having been abused as a child, marriage or business failure, (to name a few), knows that these emotional wounds are powers and rulers in our lives that many sincere believers desperately wish to be free from, but they do not know how.

It is true that time heals many wounds, we also know that time makes other wounds worse. The cycle of un-forgiveness leads to being delivered to tormentors, according to Matt.18:34.

We must recognize that these wounds are the result of sin, sometimes our own sins, sometimes the sins of others who have victimized us and sometimes just living in a sin-scarred world. Whatever the origin of these rulers , it is all the result of sin.

Eph.6:13 “…..therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that, when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand, (take it, without being overwhelmed).

The day of evil: those days when we tend to be overwhelmed by our hurts, guilt feelings, bitterness, sense of loss, etc.

Therefore, this passage tells us, be prepared for those days by being clothed with the full armor of God all the time, preparedness is not a part-time occupation.

Preparation takes place during the times when all is well. It is too late to buy fire insurance when the house is going up in flames.

Our armor consists of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.

Everything taken from the metaphor of a Roman soldier’s armor.

It is a metaphor, nothing more, a figure of speech.

What then, is the real message?

Jesus said in John 14:6 “ I am the Way, the TRUTH and the Life”. I Cor. 1:30 “…..But of Him (God) are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and RIGHTEOUSNESS and sanctification”.

Or Gal.2:20..”…..it is no longer I that live, but Christ, who lives in me…..”.

Our spiritual armor is a PERSON, his name is JESUS.

That is that way because He is our LIFE, He is our TRUTH, He is our RIGHTEOUSNESS, He is our PEACE (Eph.2:14) , He is our SHIELD (Ps.3:3), He is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebr.12:2), He is our salvation and also our SWORD of the Spirit (Hebr.4:12).

And the way to “put on” our spiritual armor is to be conciously aware at all times, even moment by moment that Jesus is all of these attributes in each one of us at all times.

The term “spiritual warfare”, as it is mostly understood, focuses on sin and the devil.

The Word of God teaches us to keep our eyes focussed on Jesus at ALL times.

There was a time when the apostle Peter was actually walking on water, when suddenly he became aware of his circumstances and in so doing he took his eyes off Jesus.

And at that moment he began to sink, which caused him to re-focus his attention almost instantly to where it should have remained in the first place: on Jesus.

Christians have a tendency to adopt the “whiles” of the devil by letting circumstances overwhelm them, take their eyes off Jesus and “take charge” of the situation.

The schemes or the wiles of the devil that our human nature (flesh) would adopt and use against ourselves is to doubt that Jesus is really trustworthy in every circumstance.

Eph. 6:12 also says that we wrestle against spiritual wickedness in high (or heavenly) places. Wickedness is sinfulness, or more specific when a believer is living after the flesh. When a believer is trusting in his own wisdom, craftiness and ability to live his (or her) life as a Christian.

And even though believers are spiritually seated with Christ in heavenly (high) places, such behavior will have a profound effect on their fellowship with Jesus when they prefer to try to live this life from the basis of their own resources and abilities, rather than trusting Jesus to live this life through them.

We believers constantly wrestle with self and it’s propensity to do our own thing, do what we think works best and we will make it work, somehow.

That, I believe is spiritual wickedness in high or heavenly places.

Eph. 2:6 says that God’s children are seated with him in heavenly places.

Consider Hebr. 12:2, Looking unto Jesus, who is not only the Authort and the Finisher of our faith, he is our very life and the source of living a life that pleases God.

“Being strong in the Lord and the power of his might” and not be trusting in our own abilities for being obedient.

A Christian displayes great wisdom when he/she gives up on themselves and admit to their Father in heaven that they are a failure at trying to please him and would he take over from this day on and cause them to live the Christian life by his supreme ability.

Becoming strong in trusting the Lord and depending on his ability.

Phil 2:13, “For it is God who works in you to will and to do of his good pleasure”.

Again the question: “Are we willing to let him take over?”

Do we trust him sufficiently?

And how do we find healing for the wounds we mentioned earlier?

Sadly, churches usually refer hurting Christians to professionals who seldom deal with the root problem which is sin.

And Jesus is God’s answer for sin and sinfulness.

When Jesus says: “Seek and you will find, ask and it shall be done unto you”, He is always referring to the abundant life that He promises in John 10:10.

When we ask our Father to give us spiritual and emotional healing of wounds, it also means that we surrender, yes, abandon ourselves to his mercy.

Something like: “Lord do with me whatever you desire and let me find grace to accept my circumstances”.

He may also ask from us a willingness to forgive others. Willingness is a necessary choice, but that is all He will ask. The rest He will do in us.

Believing is trusting, trusting in Father’s supreme willingness and ability to do as we ask.

And the day will come when the memory of the hurt will come back to us, like untold other times, but the pain of it will not be there any more.

That is what it means to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power, vs.10.

Always being aware of Phil. 1: 6 “Being confident of this very thing that he that began a good work in you, will perform (or complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.

That is the day when we shall see him face to face, when our faith turns to reality.

What a day of rejoycing that will be!!

St.Thomas, Dec.2007.

Revied November 2009. Simon VanderKooy.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE I.

December, 2007

This is a subject that seems to become more popular all the time. The “why and how to” do it most effectively is the subject of many books.

But when all is said and done, is it really all that spiritual, or is it just an other exercise of the flesh?

And that is what we wish to explore in this article.

The basis for this spiritual warfare is in various forms the premise that God and Satan are engaged in a battle for supremacy in this world and in the life of believers.

We Christians know that this battle was already won at Calvary where Jesus suffered and died for our salvation.

But as long as Satan is alive and well the battle rages on.

It has also been said that Satan didn’t “get” the message (of Calvary) yet.

And since we Christians are on God’s side, it would be expected of us that we do everything in our power to oppose Satan’s designs and purposes and help to bring the message of his defeat home to him.

How this warfare is properly and effectively conducted is still subject to various discussions.

However, it is safe to say that these efforts are solely directed at Satan, the god of this world and his helpers, called evil spirits or demons.

All of which begs the question: Can all this be Scripturally substantiated?

And that is where I have serious doubts.

Therefore let us explore that aspect of this very contemporary subject.

First we see in Hebr.2:14 these words: “….so that by His (Jesus’) death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil”.

Then in I John 3:8 “….The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work”.

It would be very rash to say that the devil no longer exists, but generally speaking, Christians ascribe far to much power and authority to him.

When the Lord Jesus was hanging on the cross, He uttered these words: “It is finished”.

Far be it from us to even think that when Jesus said these words, he had only won a battle in the cosmic struggle between good and evil in this world and that the “war” is still to be won.

When Jesus cried out “It is finished”, it was FINISHED!

When Jas.4:7 tells believers to : “Submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you”, we take that as our marching orders for battle, for binding Satan when we do not want him to attend our meetings, rebuking him, etc.

And then, when we enjoyed a really good meeting, we claim credit for keeping the devil out of it.

And all the while we have overlooked the first part of this verse: “Submit yourselves then to God….” and fail to grasp that our submission to God is equal to resisting the devil.

And, who is able to tell that Satan would respect our orders of binding and rebuking?

Col.3:1 and 2 : “Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Jesus says in Matt. 28:18 “All power and authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth”.

He has promised to be always with us, even to the end of the age.

We may also always trust him to exercise that authority to protect our meetings if we will only submit to Him.

And that certainly does not just apply to meetings.

II Peter 5:8 says this: “Be self-controlled and alert, your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”.

So…? It is certainly not that he sneaks up on us! He is a corralled lion to us and when you come to close to that corral you might get hurt!

When we submit ourselves to God, set our minds on heavenly things, then when we hear the roar of the old lion in the coral, we won’t even need to pay attention to it.

Eph.6:10-12.

This is really the place where we derive the term “spiritual warfare” from.

This aspect of spiritual warfare is a subject that we will discus in a following article.

When Jesus in Matt. 16:19 says: “I give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and what you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven”, Jesus did not at all specify that this pertained to the devil or evil spirits.

The same principle applies to the subject of binding and loosing spoken of in Matt.18:18.

It gets even worse when leaders display the audacity to “loosen” the Holy Spirit to allow Him to do His work in a given situation.

Matt.12:29 speaks of binding the strongman before one could enter his house.

Let not any one of us make ourselves any illusions about being able to do such a thing, at any time it would be a serious underestimation of our own spiritual weakness.

Jesus was at the time referring to Satan and Jesus was the One who bound that strongman, entered his “house” and spoiled it, I John 3:8.

It is with good reason that Jesus taught us to pray in Matt.6:13 ….And deliver us from the evil one….

Our aggressive binding, rebuking, resisting, shouting and the likes of that can be likened to a little boy on his father’s hand screaming at an intruder to get out of their house.

When Jesus teaches us to pray like this, it also implies that the Father is to deliver us from the evil one and that our assistance is not required.

Is there a place for believers to rebuke evil spirits?

Yes, but it will be the exception, rather than the rule.

I Kings chapter 18 gives us a good picture of spiritual warfare.

450 priests did all kinds of things for a whole day to get the attention of the god of their world, Baal. All to no avail.

Then the prophet Elijah prayed one short prayer to the God of Heaven, he did not rebuke Satan or bound him or any such thing, Elijah’s focus was solely on his God. And God’s response was swift and dramatic.

Two Scripture verses are emphatic about not using the name of Satan or addressing him.

One is in Exodus 23:13 “….Do not invoke the name of other gods, do not let them be heard on your lips”.

The other is in Jude 9. : “But even the archangel Michael…..did not dare bring a slanderous accusation against him, (Satan), but said: The Lord rebuke you”.

These verses should be sufficient to make us understand to leave Satan alone. Believers are not in his jurisdiction and the Bible is quite clear as to where the focus of believers ought to be, on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Is there a place for spiritual warfare in a believer’s life?

The answer is yes, but the nature of this warfare may be a surprise to some.

That will be the subject of the next Reflection issue.

St. Thomas, Dec. 2007.

WALKING IN THE SPIRIT.

September, 2009

Gal. 5 : 16.

Walk (live) in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Traditionally, believers have placed the emphasis on the second half of this verse, something like this: “Thou shalt not fulfill the lust of the flesh”.

Avoid disobedience, be careful to keep all God’s commandments,(and often some man-made ones as well).

The problem has been and still is, that we become so pre-occupied with being obedient and keeping commandments and avoiding fleshly lusts, that walking in the Spirit ends up on the backburner of our daily lives.

The irony of it all is that our avoiding to live a sinful life is not the same as walking in the Spirit.

The truth of the matter is that when we focus on the second half of this directive of Scripture, our minds are focussed on the sin to be avoided and my own ability (or inability) to do the avoiding.

Just the opposite of what walking in the Spirit is all about.

And we are just not aware that when we concentrate on “Walking in the Spirit”, then avoiding walking in the flesh is really not such a problem, because we can set our mind on only one thing at the time.

We know by experience what it means to fulfill the lust of the flesh, that is no mystery. Even though I wonder if we really grasp the full extend of that reality.

Walking in the Spirit is often a different matter.

Most Christians seem to believe that walking in the Spirit is to love God, keep all his commandments, daily ask for forgiveness of all sins, love your neighbor and be witnesses for the cause of Christ, among many others.

Trying to do all that, and trying to do all that in a God pleasing way is a recipe for constant failure, frustration, guilt and misery.

Not at all how God would desire for us to live our Christian life.

I would like to suggest that walking in the Spirit is a constant, moment by moment awareness of certain truths about God and his relationship to his children as revealed in the Scriptures.(1)

Much like the awareness of some other truths about ourselves, like the identity of our parents, spouses, children, home address, etc.

Then, what would be those Scriptural truths or realities?

First, that Jesus’ blood was shed for a COMPLETE remission of ALL my sins, past, present and future.(2)

Secondly, that when Jesus died, I died with him and that through his death and resurrection I received a new eternal life.(3)

That my heavenly Father is my provider, regardless of my circumstances.(4)

That He is the Source of my provision, it is not found in a secure source of income.

That God loves me and accepts me regardless of my behavior,(5) unconditionally, just as I am, without one plea…….

That, being in Jesus, God regards me as a righteous person.(6)

Walking in the Spirit……believing God when his Word declares that it is God who works in me to will and to do of his good pleasure.(7)

That only IN him I live and move and have my very being.(8)

Walking in the Spirit…….

Believing constantly, by an act of my will, that when Jesus uttered the words: “It is finished”, everything was accomplished to secure my salvation. That I need add nothing to it. And since I am saved by grace and grace alone, God imposes no further requirements.(9)

It is accepting as a present reality that God began a good work in me and that he will complete it until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.(10)

That God made me complete in Jesus: completely forgiven, completely holy, completely righteous, completely justified, completely whole, completely accepted, completely lovely.(11)

When I am constantly aware of these truths, then the temptations of the lust of the flesh fade away.

When the eternal things, the things that are not seen are on the front burner, then the things of this world, the things that are seen, with all their enticements and fascination will not be attractive to me any more. That is because the Holy Spirit will give witness to my spirit that these worldly things are now incompatible with my new nature, which is in Christ Jesus.

Walking (living) in the Spirit……. It is to let go and let God.

Let go of our own ways and let God establish his ways in me.(12)

It is a new way of living, it is a new life devine…….

Have thine own way Lord,

Hold over my being, absolute sway.

St.Thomas, Sept./’09. Simon VanderKooy.

Scripture references:

(1.) Col.3:1, 2, Prov.3:1-8, Matt.6:33. (2.) Col.2:13, 14. (3.) Gal.2:20, Rom.6:3, Col.2:12. (4.) Ps.23:1, Phil.4:19. (5.) Eph.1:6, Rom.15:7. (6.) II Cor.5:21, Phil.3:9. (7.) Phil.2:13, I Cor.1:8, Jude 24. (8.) Acts 17:28, I Cor.1:30. (9.) Ps.23. (10.) Phil.1:6, Eph.3:14-21. (11.) Col.2:10, John 1:16. (12.) Hebr.13:20, 21, II Thess.3:3, I Thess.5:24, I Cor.1:8, 9.