Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Finally = “from now on”
Paul is saying “from now on” after he has laid down for us the purpose, plan and function found in:
EPH 5:22, Wives, be subject to your own husbands, EPH 5:21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Husbands. EPH 5:25, Husbands, love your wives,
Family. EPH 6:1-2, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Members of the Church-age, EPH 5:18, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
Friendship. EPH 5:21, and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
Parents. EPH 6:4, And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Children. EPH 6:1-3, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
Labor. EPH 6:5, Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;
Management. EPH 6:9, And, masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
So after studying these principles and noting these things, Paul is saying toi loupou or from now on.
We now come to a position where we are ready to put on that armor, not just to handle marriage, family, and the work place, but also to recognize spiritual warfare.
When it comes to the pattern that Satan promotes, the problem many have is that Satan succeeds in wearing out and deceiving the saints of God.
We are told that he will do that during the Tribulation period DAN 7:25, “And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One”
The original Aramaic tells us that this is a very slow process.
He does not do it all at once.
He does it gradually, invisibly, but continually.
The verb to “wear down” = bela’ = that it is a very slow process, he does not do it all at once, he does it gradually, invisibly, but continually, little by little the saints are worn down.
Maybe he’ll use someone of the opposite sex as he did against Samson in
JUD 16:16.
If we could see in the invisible realm, we would be shocked at the satanic plot to cause Christians not to concentrate on the things of God but to set their minds on the things of the world.
ROM 12:2, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
COL 3:2, Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
1JO 2:15, Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father
is not in him.
One of the definitions of the word translated devil =
diaboloi = to “rip apart” and that psychologically is what Satan tries to do as he tries to tear apart the mind.
1. He creates discord.
2. He breaks up unity.
3. He destroys patterns.
He tears the mind apart.
He destroys the emotions.
He attacks the body.
He brings in “false concepts” as truth. He also tells people to live by those false concepts
and “be free.”
Anything that causes confusion and division and splits your thinking up is what we call cosmos diabolicus, or of the
“devil’s world system.”
In fact, his “wearing out” tactics are not even noticeable.
LUK 16:10, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.”
SOS 2:15, “Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, While our vineyards are
in blossom.”
Satan wears out the body of the saints through mental pressure, emotions, diet, lack of exercise, eat less, sleep less and then multiply pressure.
People begin to feel restless, unhappy, depressed… their joy is gone. This is because he wears out their spiritual life.
In fact, the “cosmic system” is organized to teach us to trust God, less and less, and self, more and more.
ROM 1:25, For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
By holding out bait, angelic enemies keep believers on the march in the cosmic system; then at the proper time, lie in wait to ultimately deceive them.
1PE 5:8…your enemy the Devil, prowls about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
Very few believers recognize that the details of life or the everyday affairs of this life are the situations used by our angelic enemies as their plans laid out for victory.
2TI 2:4, No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
By holding out bait and so-called “advantages” to the believer, our angelic enemies can cause the believer not only to live in the ways of the world or the cosmic system, but to be in bondage to it.
2TI 2:24-26, And the Lord’s bond‑servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
By bringing in situations of pressure and suffering and inflicting damage, angelic enemies can make it possible for the believers to draw near to them rather than draw near to God.
Being “double-minded” means to have some true doctrine while in the PPOG plus having some doctrine of demons also stored in the right lobe; therefore, there is conflict.
This is why you should “Know your enemy!”
and analyze the enemy’s plans so that you will know their shortcomings as strong points for yourself.