I have been reading and studying the book of Revelation for some time. It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the churches. It was revealed to John the Apostle, you may know him from the Gospel of John. He refers to himself as "the disciple who Jesus loved." I love that he knew he was loved and called himself that.
I have been studying it off and on since the Covid shutdown.
Recently, Jen Wilkin published her bible study of the book of Revelation, and I
studied it with a group of ladies in our church. I recommend it highly
for those looking for a great study to do.
One thing that stood out as I studied was our tendency to DO
things FOR Jesus instead of allowing him to do those things through us through
the power of the Holy Spirit. In the letters to the seven churches, the message
to the church in Ephesus from Jesus seems to say, “I don’t want you to do for
me, I want you to be with me.” (Perhaps that is why we are called human beings
instead of human doings) They were doing the work, but they had forgotten their
first love. Interestingly, in doing this study, it occurred to me that Paul went
to Ephesus in the early 50s AD. The letter to the Ephesians from Paul was written
around 60 AD, and Revelation was written around 95 AD. I find it sadly intriguing
that they lost their first love in a mere 35-45 years.
I believe the relationship we experience with Christ is
through Him doing things through us by the Spirit which builds a communal
connection between ourselves and Him. This is where I find the greatest joy and
freedom. Rest comes as He works in me; His work equals my rest. The outcome of
what we are doing is not my responsibility, rather I leave the results up to
Him. Regardless of the outcome, I grow closer to Him. I end up knowing more of
Him. It is worth it.
In the first week, Jen pointed out that the enemy uses three
weapons against us. This was very insightful, so I wanted to share it with you.
She quoted the theologian Iain Duguid when she noted that Satan only has 3
weapons to use against the believer. Those weapons are Seduction, Deception,
and Persecution.
She says the following of each:
“Seduction is the temptation to live like unbelievers.
Deception is believing a lie instead of the truth. Persecution is suffering for
the sake of our Christian witness.”
Seduction:
Our enemy, Satan, has an easy job when using seduction as a
weapon against us. Seduction automatically conjures up thoughts of sexual sin,
but she makes the point that we can be seduced to do any type of sin. Sin is
simply missing the mark of God’s standard. The enemy comes after God’s children
simply to hurt the Lord. However, it is easy to sexually seduce us in our
oversexualized culture. There is easy access to any temptation, but those sexual
temptations are easy for him and prevalent for us.
We need to be on guard against this tactic and know that the
enemy will try to seduce us to sin by the things of this world. These sorts of
temptations will feed our flesh which is our desires and our nature.
Deception:
The world system values us by what we “do,” but our value as
Christ's followers is in our covering and connectedness to Him by the Spirit. What
interferes with this beautiful connection within the church is the lie that we
are required “to do” to be accepted and approved. This comes from our deceiving enemy. I have
heard it said that if Satan cannot tempt you, he will just get you busy.
All sin interferes with our connection with the Lord. Sin
quenches the Holy Spirit who is with us. That interference can be remedied as
quickly as we repent. That means we stop
the sinful activity and turn back to the Lord.
Self-deceived is when we say, “I do not need anything.” It is when you convince yourself that you’re doing these great things for Jesus. The funny thing is, He never called us to do things for him. He called us to surrender to allow Him to do these things through us. He leads us and tells us what we need to do.
Isn’t it interesting that deception and lies simply take the
truth and distort it instead of creating a new idea?
Persecution:
So, we learn to walk with Jesus so we will not be seduced by
the things of this world or deceived by our efforts. However, when we get to
the point where we are overcoming the temptations of the world and overcoming
our efforts, we will face a different weapon. The enemy is smart and recognizes
those two weapons no longer are working. He pulls out the weapon of persecution.
It will come especially when the other two no longer work on us, but remember
Jesus is with us during the battle.
Sin causes me to become prey to the enemy. The world mixed with my natural desires seduces me, my focus on myself and the effort that I bring to the table enables me to be deceived, and when I’m walking hand-in-hand with the Lord and surrendering to Him, the weapon used against me will be persecution.
Conclusion:
So, I suppose my takeaway from this is that we need to be on
guard against the evil tactics that the enemy uses to attack us. Seek hard
after the Lord. Walk closely with Him and confess your sin. Take note of your self-deception
and lean into a healthy community of believers who love the Lord and submits
their lives to the Word of God. Look for a praying community to do life with. Do
not look for perfect people, look for loving and godly people to walk with. Look
for companionship among believers who will encourage you to grow up into a
strong follower of the Lord.
If you are looking to make some sense out of the days we
live in, I encourage you to do this study. Revelation is a book that looks back
in the Scripture to point us forward to our future.
As time permits, I will write more insights if this article
has enough interest.
Hope you have a blessed day today.
