Spiritual Warfare (5 page)

Some Christians aren’t aware that they have been given the gift of righteousness. It is important to understand that just because you have Jesus, it doesn’t mean that you will walk in the blessings of that righteousness. You can have righteousness, and still be distressed and oppressed because you are not conscious of what you have.

You Cannot Become Unrighteous

Do you know that once you are made righteous, you cannot become unrighteous? It is like a caterpillar that turns into a colourful butterfly. The caterpillar has reached the next stage in its life when it becomes a butterfly. It cannot turn back into a caterpillar. It is a butterfly for the rest of its life!

You were once a caterpillar. In other words, you were once a sinner. One day, you went through a born-again experience. You metamorphosed into a butterfly. In other words, you were born again as a Christian. You are not a caterpillar any more. You are not a sinner any more. So you can’t go around saying, “I’m a sinner saved by grace.” Why? Because you were
once
a sinner, but no longer! You were
once
a caterpillar, but no longer!

Once in a while, a butterfly may fly onto a rubbish heap, instead of a nice flower in the garden. Is it still a butterfly? Of course! It doesn’t transform back into a caterpillar just because it lands on some rubbish. And it won’t remain on the rubbish heap for long because it won’t like it — it is just not its nature to like rubbish and to hang around flies. In the same way, a Christian sometimes does sinful things, but that does not make him a sinner again because he has already metamorphosed into a new creation. He is just a Christian who has done sinful things. The opposite is also true: If a sinner does good deeds, it does not make him a Christian.

My friend, when we know that we are righteous, we will reign with Christ. (Romans 5:17) And when we walk in His righteousness, oppression will be far from us. (Isaiah 54:14) Do you want to reign in life? Do you want the devil’s attacks to have no effect on you? Then, get a deeper understanding that you are righteous in Christ. And wear that breastplate of righteousness with confidence!

chapter
5

The Gospel Of Peace

chapter 5

The Gospel Of Peace

“Stand therefore… having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”

Ephesians 6:14–15

Remain In His Peace

T
he next piece of the armour is the gospel of peace. In John 14:27, it says,
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace, gave us His peace!

Now, this particular piece of the armour is actually on your feet. Ephesians 6:15 says,
“And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
Romans 10:15 says,
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
Many of us are given opportunities to share the gospel of peace with our friends and relatives. That is what this scripture is referring to. Your feet are always ready to bring good news to people. That is why God says that your feet are beautiful! You are wearing your
“gospel of peace”
shoes.

Why the gospel of
peace
? Because God knows that it is so easy for us to become troubled in our minds and our hearts. John 14:27 says,
“Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Philippians 4:6 says,
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
The devil cannot manage a Christian who remains in peace. He can’t do it because the devil himself has no peace. In fact, he is restless. Matthew 12:43 says that evil spirits go about seeking rest, but find none.

The devil wants to disturb your mind, trouble your heart and agitate your emotions. No wonder the Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 that he goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. But the verse before that says,
“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
So a Christian who practises casting all his cares to the Lord cannot be devoured by the devil.

In spiritual warfare, it is vital you put on your gospel of peace shoes. Soldiers take their feet and boots very seriously. In fact, keeping their feet healthy and boots in good condition is very important during war. You never know where the battle will take you. You could end up fighting in swamps or walking for days up and down rough terrain. And if you can’t walk or run because your feet are injured, your whole body will be in danger when the enemy strikes.

Boots are also useful for crushing scorpions, snakes and cockroaches. That is what believers are meant to do. Luke 10:19 declares,
“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
So put on your spiritual boots!

Peace Is Your Umpire

In fact, when you walk in peace, you are unconsciously allowing God to lead you. You don’t have to be smart to follow God. Often, the Holy Spirit leads us by the presence of peace within or the absence of it. That is how I make decisions for my church. Some things sound very reasonable, but if I don’t have peace in my spirit about them, I don’t do them. Likewise, some things don’t sound very wise, but if I have peace about them, I do them.

The peace that Jesus bequeathed to us includes well-being, health and prosperity.

Colossians 3:15 says,
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts…”
The word “rule” here in the Greek means “to be an umpire”. So in everything you do, let the peace of Christ rule or decide as an umpire. We have all seen umpires preside over tennis matches. If the umpire calls “out”, there is no point arguing with him. You can shout “in” all day to no avail. You can throw down your racquet like John McEnroe used to and shout, “It was in!” but the umpire has the final say. So let the peace of Christ rule or decide as an umpire in your heart.

‘My Peace I Give To You’

John 14:27 says,
“Peace
I leave
with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
For years, I didn’t fully understand what the word “leave” really meant in this verse. One day, I studied the word and found out that it doesn’t simply mean “allow to remain behind” or “not take along with” the way someone would say, “Okay, I’ll
leave
my bag here with you.” No, the word actually means “bequeath”. In other words, Jesus is saying, “I bequeath My peace to you.”

But what does the word “bequeath” mean? A dying man may have his children gather around him so that he can bequeath his estate or business to them. That is what the word “bequeath” means — to give or leave an inheritance by will after one’s death. So when Jesus was about to die on the cross, He bequeathed to us our inheritance — His peace. It was not just any peace. Jesus said, “My peace”. It was literally
His
peace that He bequeathed to us.

I also discovered something else about the verse. I had always thought of “peace” as “peace of heart” or “peace of mind”. Now, it does include that, but one day, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes. I began to realise that Jesus was talking to His fellow Jews. So He would have used the Hebrew word “shalom”. He would have said to them, “Shalom I leave with you, My shalom I bequeath to you, not as the world gives, do I give to you.”

In Strong’s Concordance, we find that the definition of the word shalom includes “well-being, health, prosperity”, not just peace in the usual sense. The peace that Jesus left behind for us is literally His health and prosperity too! So when He said, “My shalom I leave with you”, He bequeathed to us as an inheritance, His very own health and prosperity too.

I also looked up the word “peace” in a Greek lexicon and found out that it means peace and rest in contrast with strife. The word denotes the absence or end of strife. And as influenced by the Hebrew word “shalom”, it also means a state of health, a state of untroubled, undisturbed well-being. Now, I like that! God wants you in a perpetual state of shalom. That is what Jesus left behind for us. But always remember that the devil will try to disturb that sense of peace.

One day, my wife returned home from our daughter’s school and told me that the teacher had just informed her that our daughter Jessica enjoys chasing a particular boy around in school. Not only that, when she grabs the boy, she kisses him. I said, “What! My four-year-old girl is chasing a boy?” I immediately realised that my heart was troubled. Now, I had already shared this particular revelation of peace with my wife. So when she saw my anxious response, she turned to me and said, “Let not your heart be troubled!” I felt all right after she said that.

Not long after that, I attended a Father’s Day presentation at Jessica’s kindergarten. The children were outside in the field playing when my wife came to me and said, “Darling, see that boy Jessica is running after? That’s the boy!” I took a good look at the boy. I saw my daughter chasing after him and he was running away from her. I have to admit, I didn’t like it at all! I didn’t want my daughter running after any boy! You see, I would prefer the boys to run after her!

On the way home, I stopped the car, turned to my daughter and said, “Jessica, that boy is ugly!” She looked at me with her big eyes. I said to her, “He doesn’t even look like Prince Charming!” My wife looked at me and shook her head. Before the day ended, I repented before the Lord. I said, “Lord, I’m sorry I called that boy ugly.” Can you believe that even a pastor like myself can be troubled by something so small? My friend, in big or small things, God wants us to walk in peace.

Healed Of Insomnia, Panic Attacks, Sinusitis, Gastritis

For nine years, a man in our church was afflicted with insomnia. For nine long years, he could hardly sleep. His doctor gave him sleeping pills. He would take three pills and get about one to two hours of sleep. Then, he would wake up and not be able to go back to sleep. So he would take more pills. He ended up popping six pills every night and became addicted to them.

It all started when he was retrenched in 1995 and couldn’t find a permanent job after that. Without a proper job, he could not provide well for his family and that stressed him out.

Then, he suffered from bad sinusitis with mucus trapped behind his cheekbones and he couldn’t clear it. So he had three operations to fix the problem, but it didn’t improve. His left cheek became constantly infected and he had to take expensive antibiotics to clear the infection. He also had to visit the hospital regularly to drain out the mucus. His money was also being drained away!

Due to the antibiotics he was taking, he started to suffer from gastritis. His stress level increased and he simply couldn’t sleep naturally. A psychiatrist said that he was suffering from stress and depression, and gave him more pills. Every day, he was taking up to 30 tablets for depression, stress, insomnia, gastric pain and infection!

Being broke, he went into the construction business, hoping that the situation would improve. It didn’t. He had more stress at work and he began to wish that he could just die in his sleep. Then, he started having panic attacks. Whenever they struck, he couldn’t leave the house, drive or do anything. His wife had to stay home and look after him. So his family suffered too. And although he could not eat well, strangely, he began to put on a lot of weight. He ballooned from 46kg to 56kg!

Then, in April 2003, he felt the Lord telling him to just speak in tongues. He obeyed and began to pray in tongues regularly, although he could only speak a few syllables initially.

He told me, “Pastor Prince, the moment I began to speak those few syllables in tongues, I felt a rest!” He said that sense of peace inspired him to pray in tongues even more. The more he prayed in tongues, the more he felt peace. So he kept praying in tongues. His sinus problems began to clear up and he was also healed of gastritis.

This man said to me, “Every day, I did two things: I prayed in tongues and I listened to your sermon tapes.” Whenever he dared to drive somewhere close by, he would play the tapes in his car.

Slowly, the fears and panic attacks left him too. He also started to have quality sleep without the sleeping pills! The Lord even taught him how he was to eat — two meals a day, but to eat whatever he wanted. Today, he is back to his normal weight and waist size!

Then, the Lord led him to start a business. Because his previous employment had led to more stress and anxiety, he was reluctant to return to the same job. The Lord asked him, “What is in your hand?”