Spiritual Warfare and Territorial Spirits (~5.5 MB) - Moriel Ministries

Moriel AustraliaDusty Peterson & Elizabeth McDonaldTIME to LOOKatyourBy Dusty Peterson and Elizabeth McDonaldOur Lord declared, “[W]hat I say untoyou I say unto all, Watch.” Is our watchtelling the right time? Or have some ofus stopped watching altogether? Certainfolks believe that Christians shouldn’tbother watching the world’s slide towardsaccepting the antichrist. They argue thatsuch an activity is unhealthy because itcan become obsessive. They also contendthat it takes our eyes off the true Christ.Finally they claim it is pointless anywayand is therefore a waste of valuabletime. These are serious charges whichdeserve proper consideration. Hopefullythe following will be of use in this regard.CAN BE OBSESSIVEAn investigation into the differenttentacles of the New World Order cancertainly lead some people to become obsessedwith studying the topic. However,it doesn’t follow from this that we shouldall ignore the topic. Many other activitiescan become obsessive, but this doesnot mean all study of such things is intrinsicallywrong. As Bayith Ministries recentlypointed out in another context, “Ifwe take the argument to its logical conclusion,we end up with a very peculiar situation.For example, since some peopledevelop an obsession about keeping fit oreating healthily, does this mean it is wrongfor us to encourage exercise or a sensiblediet? Any truth can become an obsessionwith people, but that’s no excuse for concealingit.” In rightly seeking to avoidone extreme, let’s not end up at the other.TAKES OUR EYES OFF CHRIST?There seem to be four progressivelevels of argument made here:(1) We may initially be toldthat, since we should always focuson Christ, any activity whichdoesn’t focus on Him must be wrong.It is absolutely true that our focusshould always be on Christ. But manyother activities are compatible with that.Does learning to play the guitar necessarilytake our eyes off Christ? Does changing ababy’s nappy take our eyes off Christ? Orfeeding one’s family? Or applying one’sself in a secular job? Clearly we should bewary of sweeping statements on this matter.(2) The next stage is to argue that theNew World Order is, by definition, worldly.On this basis we are told we would inevitablybe taking our eyes off Christ sinceHe is separate from sinners (Heb. 7:26).Again, it is undeniable that the worldis at enmity with God and that God calls usto be holy and to be distinct from the world(2 Cor. 6:14-17). But again we need to bebalanced. Many non-evangelistic activitiesinvolve us associating with the world.Every time we shop in a store owned bya non-Christian we are interacting withthe world. Every time we obtain any servicefrom an unbeliever (e.g. a plumber,a waiter, or an air stewardess) we needto connect with the world. None of thisis automatically improper, so neither is itautomatically improper to watch the politicalmachinations going on in the world.Again, the Lord Jesus should be ourfocus, but that doesn’t mean we shouldbe “ignorant of [Satan’s] devices” (2 Cor.2:11). The Bible contains whole chaptersabout the enemy and/or his false church(e.g. Rev. 13 & 17), yet the Bible obviouslynever stops focusing on Christ.At its core, the New World Order is aspiritual issue. The proper study of anyspiritual issue will point us to Christ.(3) The third stage is to arguethat the Apostle Paul never concernedhimself with the affairs of theworld and therefore neither should we.On the face of it, this seems conclusive.But in fact there are several majorproblems with this line of reasoning.Firstly, Paul isn’t our only example inScripture. In the book of Revelation, theApostle John wrote extensively about theworld and about Satan’s efforts to controlits citizens. Secondly, Paul did indeedconcern himself with the world, else henever would have penned 2 Thess. 2:3-12.(Christopher Wordsworth’s superb booklet,entitled Is The Papacy Predicted by St.Paul?, goes into this point much more fully.)Thirdly, the institution at the heart ofthe New World Order claims to be Christian,and Paul was more than happy towarn of people who falsely claimed to beChristian.1 Next, the whole point aboutthe antichrist is that he will set himself‘in the place of Christ’ and pretend to beChrist. Again, anyone familiar with Paul’swritings will know that, had he been aliveto witness it, he would have had no qualmsabout exposing this man and his activities.Finally, Paul commanded us to prayfor good governance, yet people seeminglythen try to tell us we shouldn’t takeany notice of the governance we receive!(4) The last stage is to arguethat some limited study may be acceptable,but it should certainly nottake up a serious amount of time.There is a truth in this of course. EveryChristian needs to concentrate on becomingmore Christlike. Everything else willflow from this, including true (i.e. Spiritled)evangelism. If God is not calling aperson to undertake a particular activity,they should not try to perform it in theirown strength. But does this really meanthat no Christian should ever do seriousstudy into the New World Order? TheBody of Christ is meant to act like a body,where everyone performs their God-givenfunction to complement the whole. Ifno-one ever did any serious study, wherewould that leave the rest of the Body?God gives each Christian a specificministry (i.e. a burden on their heart toserve the Kingdom of God in one wayor another) in order to encourage eachof us to abide in Christ more and more– for otherwise we will merely generatewood, hay and stubble instead of producinglasting fruit and fulfilling the burdenHe has given us. Just as pursuing a coursein computer studies or foreign languagesfor a season can be entirely compatiblewith pursuing Christ, so can investigatingthe organizations behind the New WorldOrder for a season (especially if onehas been given a discernment ministry).WATCHING IS POINTLESS?The suggestion that there is no valuein watching, or being aware of, theNew World Order and its developmentsis very mistaken. Here are just some ofthe responses one can make to such acharge. (Note that several of these benefitsare of direct help in evangelism.)• As the Lord plainly stated in MatJune 2007 • Moriel Quarterly 41