What Is Wrong With the World?
Part 1
If I had a nickel for every time someone said to me, "I can't believe how quickly morality in America disintegrated."
This likely plays into a personal worldview that does not accurately reflect reality. Truth always corresponds to reality. See?
What is most often missed by us in our busy self conscious days is the extent to which human behaviour is driven by evil spirits. This is also the single greatest weakness (fallacy) of rationalism. Rationalism does not, and cannot, account for the influence of evil personas who exercise cunning and manipulative power and influence over the hearts and minds of men. The Bible refers to these powers and influence as the “stratagems” of the evil one.
𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 lived [𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲]. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 [𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐞], 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫. [𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟] 𝐭𝐡𝐞 [𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧] 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 [𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝].
Ephesians 2:2
Before you came under the Lordship of Jesus Christ YOU, even you, were constantly under the direction of evil spirits. Not only that, you had NO power to free yourself from their power and influence. Here is the application to this generation around us now. Whenever a nation casts off the Lordship of Jesus Christ, evil spirits RUSH back in. There CANNOT exist a vacuum of spiritual authority and power. Jesus said that when the evil spirit is cast out of a man it wanders the waste places. That means evil spirits consider human occupancy like moving from the outhouse to the penthouse. When it comes back around to the man and finds it cleaned out by the power of Christ but Christ is not in residence. Jesus said the devil brings 7 other demons even more vile than itself and reoccupies that man. So, the latter case of that man is worse than its initial demon possessed state.
Today we have history, ancient and current, of nations that were formerly Christian, but they "threw off the yoke" of God. And they quickly became more vile than in the beginning. Modern apostate nations are more vile than their heathen, pagan ancestors. Ancient Roman military journals show that the Germanic tribes and Gauls of Northern and Western Europe were very family and marriage oriented. They were fiercely loyal to husbands, wives and children. Compare that to the way moderns view marriage and family. You also may want to consider WHY Western society soured on marriage. The reason was the damage that the sexual revolution did to the morality that once held homes, families, and marriages together. Relationships began to focus on the personal enjoyment of the sensations of sex far more than the value of the other human being in the relationship. The vileness of anti-God philosophies of life, such as the sexual revolution ruined human character, and that had devastating effects on marriage and the family. You see, a nation consists of its families. And the strength of the family structure equates to the strength of a nation. Because of this fact our mortal enemies, both human and spiritual, are deadset on destroying marriage and the family.
That great missiologist, Roland Allen, wrote that when a nation or people turn to Christ, the conversion is driven by supernatural power, the Living Word, the Holy Spirit, and the will of God. So that the gospel spreading is nonlinear. But when a nation apostatizes, the departing of the Spirit leaves with His empowerment. So, the decline is nonlinear also. Our problem is so often that we do not truly have the real lens of the Word of God for how we view the world around us. And when we don't, we cannot understand spiritual things- they remain a mystery. Maybe you never really thought of Jesus exorcising cities, states and nations before. He did, and He still does. There are Church historians who refer to this aspect of Christ exorcizing nations as “Christ Jesus the god slayer.”
Hundreds, literally thousands, of devilish, pagan, and heathen practices were exorcised by the advent of the gospel of Jesus Christ making landfall in Europe. The same thing has been recorded in Africa, South America, and Asia. Primitive people stopped the ubiquitous practice of female infanticide. Cultures halted the practice of burying a surviving wife with a deceased husband. The primitive shaman practice of deflowering every adolescent female ceased. Societies become benevolent instead of malevolent. Thieves become contributors. I often remind my ministry supporters that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the real community development. The point is that Christ Jesus, by His resurrected life and power is not only able, but does in practice exorcise homes, families, cities, states, and nations.
What makes this truth about the power evil personalities exercise over humans is compounded by the apostasy of the church in our day. The institutional church today in many cases, really in most cases, does not hold the worldview that the Bible describes. The moderns consider such ideas as ancient. And therefore it must be inferior. Well, so is breathing. So is eating and drinking, and I highly recommend them still. Moderns consider themselves so sophisticated and educated they cannot lower themselves to believe what they term as superstitious. What they miss is that God is eternal, and what is eternal does not age, grow stale, weak, or lose any of its luster like material things do. It is impossible to shave the shine from any of the eternal attributes of Christ Jesus.
The good news in this story is that Christ Jesus has power over “all power of the enemy.” “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and earth.”
This is THE Jesus statement after His resurrection from the grave. All authority, All power! That means if He has ALL of it there is none left for the others. And you are going to struggle to wrap your head around that. It is not going to help if you have spent much time in a half-believing Christian church. I can point you to hundreds of missionaries and church leaders who have served the Lord in non Christian lands. We have all seen, heard and touched the power of the Lord revealed in miracle after miracle. I can tell you true stories that would make your modern, sophisticated head swim. Healings, weather changed immediately, officials blinded or losing interest in gospel work being done right in front of them. Why don’t we see them here (in America). Jesus taught this great principle, “Be it done unto you according to your faith.” Overseas we find people who still have a supernatural worldview. And miracles follow. This should strike fear into the heart of every Western Christian: Jesus could work no great miracle, “works of power”, in His home town, “because of their unbelief.”
We should find this great spiritual principle to be alarming to our Western worldview. Another thing we should find alarming is this. To what degree has the arch-enemy of God and of the souls of men trapped my thinking in a pattern that robs me of the best that God desires for me? Don’t you think that to this day, even after we have come to Christ, that Satan desires fervently to stop me from becoming strong in faith and in the power of God?
There is a source of power that is unlimited! God is infinite power, omnipotent. And He wills to give to you His own power that can and does subdue devils.
The final thought for you and your personal deliverance from ALL the power of the enemy is this. God wants to give you His own power. Christ did not live a perfect life of sacrifice for Himself. He did not suffer torture and crucifixion for Himself. He did not die for Himself- He had no sins to die for. He did not rise from the dead for Himself because He already had everlasting life. Everything that He did in His earthly life, His incarnation, He did for us. He did for you. All the benefits of His perfect death, His blood, His resurrection power are available to you. Now, apostate Christianity will not teach you that. They do not possess, have not been taught it and do not know it. In fact, they teach AGAINST IT.
The disciples learned by watching Jesus Christ heal the sick, preach the kingdom, and cast out devils. But they never would have imagined that He was about to give them power over demons! But He did. And He has given us that same authority. We, as new creations of God, are superior to demons and spirits. There is a difference between power and authority. A policeman may be old and have arthritis. He may be physically weak. But the second he puts on that police uniform he can step out in front of a 70 ton 18 wheeler and make it come to a screeching halt. In Christ, we are invested in THE authority of Christ. We are deputized with Christ’s authority. I have witnessed this power over powerful demonic witch doctors (shamans) in Borneo and Mindanao. I have seen Christ’s authority overpower evil spirits in people in Africa, Cuba, and South America. I am convinced that with America becoming more and more post-Christian that we are going to begin to see more and more demonic activity and possession in America. In fact, we already are.
Christ Jesus has WON for us who believe, the right to use the power of God in our battles with evil. Most Christians I talk with are very confused about ''Spiritual Warfare”. They are most confused about the battlefield where this battle takes place. The Bible says the primary location of this spiritual war is in our minds. The place that Satan attacks is in our thoughts. That is where deception happens. That is where spiritual death first takes a foothold in us. We allow a lie, a deception by Satan to take root in our thinking. Then it grows deeper and stronger- till it becomes a “stronghold”. That means those thoughts, those lies, become fortified in our thinking. Friend, listen to me now. The ONLY thing on earth that can root these strongholds out of a person’s mind is the actualized and applied power of God.
We will go deeper into how to get out of the grip of these strongholds of Satan over our thoughts. They chain us up and lock us out of the full blessings that God wishes for our lives. I encourage every reader to begin to seek God about the strongholds that Satan holds over their thinking. “Seek hard after God.” It is the blood of the cross that has made us clean and perfect in the sight of God so that we can approach the throne of Grace with confidence.
This is our God ordained way of escape. We plead the blood of Jesus for our cleansing. His righteousness has been given to us so that we stand in the full light of the love of God without any guilt, condemnation, or sense of inferiority. And when we begin to do that and to study that “living word” by which we were born again unto a new and living hope”, we will begin to learn to live in the perfect liberty of the sons of God.