Highlighted New Testament Bible

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Friday, March 18, 2011

St Matthew, Chapter 10, verse: 20, The Enemy and his Tricks.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Opposition foretold) Part 7.  

Christ now unveils the ultimate bombshell to his disciples.  He is training them for warfare with the spiritual enemies that they will face in their solo journey preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  He has instructed them to not become anxious about what they will say or how they will say it when they are delivered up to the enemy.  They will face the enemy in the kings and the governors that they will be brought before.  For the enemy is the spiritual evil that has occupied the men of power in the towns and villages of the lost sheep.  The evil one has conquered these peoples and occupied their towns and villages.  Now Christ is sending out his warriors to do battle with these evil spirits to cast them out and deliver the lost sheep back to the Lord.

Christ warns his disciples that they will be delivered up to kings and governors.  He tells them who they will face.  And he shows them that even in the face of the enemy they should not be anxious or allow fear to rule them.  They should not think about what they are to say in their defense.  They should only close the door to anxiety, keep their minds clear, keep their hearts steady and calm their spirits so that the Holy Spirit will come to them.  For the enemy will try to rattle them.  The enemy will try to confuse them.  The enemy will seek to open the door of fear in them so that they can have access to their minds and read their hearts.  But Christ tells to them to not be anxious, for what they will speak to the enemy will be given to them in the hour.  What they will say will come to them through their spirits.  What will be spoken will be given to them from the spirit of the FatherChrist tells them,  "For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks through you."  

Christ now reveals to his disciples that they are to be spokesmenn for the Spirit of God the Father.  This will be their weapon to defeat the enemy.  The enemy will not be able to defeat them.  The enemy will not see the weapon that they are carrying.  The enemy will not know what hit them.  They have brought the weapon into their midst not knowing that it is a weapon but thinking that they have captured lambs.  Christ has told his disciples that he was sending them like sheep amongst wolves.  But now he reveals to them that they are lions in sheep's clothing, carrying the voice of God with them.

This is an awesome example for us today.  Christ tells his disciples and also tells us today, through the writings of St Matthew, that we are not to worry about what to speak or how we should speak when facing the enemy.  We are only to remain calm and to not allow anxiety to enter into our hearts and minds.  By doing this and staying focused on his words we can open ourselves up to the Spirit of our Father to speak on our behalf.  What a wonderful gift.  What a wonderful weapon in our arsenal, to be able to deal with whatever we face in our daily lives.  Do not be anxious.  Do not allow fear to come in.  For the Spirit of the Lord will speak for us and through us to the enemy.  Are you ready to allow the Spirit of God to speak through you to your enemies?