My dear readers, 

(Extracts from RPG Workbook Vol II No. 7 June 12 – July 9 1983, edited by Dr SH Tow)

1.     SPIRITUAL WARFARE – OUR  ENEMY (EPHESIANS 6:10-20; 1 PETER 5:6-11)

Christians must realise Satan is real. His very name means adversary, or opponent. Devil or “diabolos” means slanderer. He is full of wiles (cf 4:14), deceit, or cunning craftiness. He is the fallen arch-angel of God, (Isa 14:12-15), disguising himself as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14).

One-third of God’s angels fell with Satan (Rev 12:4) and became demons or evil spirits. They are ranked variously, e.g. principalities (rulers), powers (authorities), and rulers of the darkness of this world.

They are not flesh and blood, but spiritual hosts of evil possessing humans and infesting the heavenlies (6:12; cf 1:3-20; 2:6; 3:10). They are the power (authority) of the air, and now circulate in the atmosphere over our earth, seeking to thwart God’s purposes regarding man.

Satan’s weapons are:

1. Lies. He seeks to deceive people (Rev 12:9):

(a) by idolatry,

(b) by cultism to believe they can work part of their way to God,

(c) through occultism to seek powers from Satan through horoscope, palmistry, fortune-telling, black magic, white magic, the ouija board, spirit of the ink-cap or of the coin, reading tea leaves, etc,

(d) by fetishism, to wear talismans/charms, to trust in superstitions,

(e) Satan tries to damn people’s souls into the Lake of Fire, because he is going together with his hordes of fallen angels (Matt 25:41b).

2. False gospels, to deceive

3. Doubts to make the believer unsure of his salvation

4. To attack the Holy Bible by teaching that the Bible (the Sword of the Spirit) has mistakes

5. To discourage prayer and attendance at prayer meeting

6. To hinder the proclamation of the Gospel

7. By promoting carnal worship (through Contemporary Christian Music) prevalent in many churches today.

Are you a victim of Satan’s attack? BE ON GUARD!

THOUGHT: Don’t fall for Satan’s tricks. Keep within God’s Word.
PRAYER:  Keep me alert, Lord, to the tricks of the devil.

2. “PRAYING  ALWAYS”  (by Charles Spurgeon) (EPHESIANS 6:18; PSALM 103)

What multitudes of prayers we have put up from the first moment when we learned to pray. 

Our first prayer was a prayer for ourselves. We asked that God would have mercy upon us, and blot out our sin. He heard us. But when He had blotted out our sins like a cloud, then we had more prayers for ourselves. We have had to pray for sanctifying grace, for constraining and restraining grace. We have been compelled to go to God for our souls, as constant beggars asking for everything. 

Bear witness, children of God, you have never been able to get anything for your souls elsewhere. All the bread your soul has eaten has come down from heaven, and all the water of which it has drank has flowed from the living Rock — Christ Jesus the Lord. 

Your soul has never grown rich in itself; it has always been a pensioner upon the daily bounty of God; and hence your prayers have ascended to heaven for a range of spiritual mercies all but infinite. Your wants are innumerable, and therefore the supplies have been infinitely great, and your prayers have been as varied as the mercies have been countless. 

Then have you not cause to say, “I love the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplication”? For as your prayers have been many, so also have been God’s answers to them. He has heard you in the day of trouble, has strengthened you, and helped you, even when you dishonoured Him by trembling and doubting at the mercy seat, upon repentance. Remember this, and let it fill your heart with gratitude to God, who has thus graciously heard your poor weak prayers. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

THOUGHT: For how long can I go without praying?
PRAYER: I thank Thee, Holy Father, for always hearing my prayer when I pray. Keep me praying.

3. EPILOGUE (EPHESIANS 6; PSALM 8)

Paul has just lifted us up to show us it was in heaven that:

1. God’s blessings were given (1:3),

2. Christ has been enthroned beside the Father (1:20),

3. Believers are positionally seated with their Lord Jesus Christ (2:6),

4. God’s Plan of Salvation for mankind has been announced to angels good and bad (3:10), and

5. Satanic and spiritual resistance also are working against us (6:12).

What wonderful revelations! That God had a wondrous plan to redeem lost humanity, including you and me, unto Himself. How sobering to realize that there was nothing good in us when He found us. Out of His great love and mercy, He sought us and now He is making poetry out of us to reflect Himself. Praise His holy Name!

Imagine us, unworthy humans, lost and undone, called to be His adopted children! What grace! Thank God for Jesus who willingly died on the Cross to reconcile us to the Father, and for the Holy Spirit who sealed us. And now He wants us to be as a HOLY BUILDING for His habitation, as HIS BODY the Church for His use and be prepared as His BRIDE, holy and without blemish for His fellowship. Thank God for the life of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit within us to change our attitudes and our lives to be like Jesus.

Thank God for the new insights into old relationships as husband and wife, parent and child, employer and employee. Thank God for revealing to us the spiritual warfare so that we can be on guard.

By God’s grace, may we faithfully grow to be like Jesus in the knowledge of God, of God’s Word, of God’s will and of God’s way. Being effective in God’s work and warfare, may our lives be pleasing to God now and in eternity future, all to God’s glory.

THOUGHT: Am I, like Paul, also an ambassador for Christ?
PRAYER: Father, help me not to live for self, but for Thee. 

God bless you dear readers.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,
Dr SH Tow, Founding Pastor