Guiding the Sure Gift of Prophecy

Every move of God, outpouring, time of refreshing and relevant truth for a particular generation has battled its own particular demonic resistance. That also holds true for prophetic ministry.

Apostles and prophets are both apostolic gifts, apostolic in the sense of being sent-ones, foundational in calling, and given to serve the body of Christ and equip the born-again believer in distinct ways. One particular, yet pervasive tactic of the enemy against prophetic ministry is the introduction of faux prophetic operations and unhallowed defilement.

True prophetic people have seen false prophets precede them. This makes the acceptance of their ministry much more difficult. The reason for this is because prophetic ministry is a stalwart opponent of Satan. To stop the prophetic ministry, the enemy must interpose a counterfeit, something that looks and sounds like Christ’s true prophetic ministry but is not. Satan is the master deceiver and knows ancient weapons of seduction needed to deceive all save the most mature and discerning.

Christ is still calling, training, activating and sending His prophets into the world He loves. Even as prophets are sent into the world there remains a continuing effort by the prince of darkness to introduce prophetic defilement into prophetic ministry. This is why emerging prophets need to learn from seasoned prophets and established spiritual leaders. These prophetic contaminants are deceptive cancers sent to vitiate true prophetic ministry. Like cancer, prophetic debasement is progressive. Sometimes prophetic defilement is dormant or hidden and at other times hideously apparent.

Once I was with several people praying and heard some of them prophesy. I was uneasy in my spirit because there was something that wasn’t quite right. Maybe you have been in meetings like that too. Something appeared foreign and strange. I couldn’t seem to put my finger on it at the time, so I continued to pray. As time went by the Holy Spirit began to talk to me ever so softly. “There are things in their lives defiling them. There is no longer a desire for holiness, they have a blend, an unholy mixture.” That unholy concoction He called “prophetic defilement.” It can be likened to that “strange fire” the sons of Aaron brought into the temple that ushered God’s judgment on their lives (Leviticus 10:1). As you read this work pray, the Holy Spirit increases your spiritual discernment. You may be familiar with the spirit of Jezebel that attacks prophetic ministry but let’s examine these less familiar and unholy contaminates too.

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SHARPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT

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SEDUCING DECEPTIONS

Satan has been diligently implementing his strategy of prophetic defilement. For you to be effective in prophetic ministry, you must not be seduced by his deceptions. Throughout this essay, we will unmask various demonic assignments that introduce unholy mixtures into the prophetic ministry. “How could it happen,” you ask? Are there any early warning signs? Can we protect ourselves? Are there foreign spirits training prophetic people? How do we discern the true from the false? These are some of the questions we will explore. Let’s get started.

We are in the times of “the restitution of all things,” including prophetic ministry (Acts 3:21). There continues to be a restoration of prophets and prophetic grace released in our generation. Christ has not changed since his resurrection and ascension. God is still giving gifts to men. He continues calling, training, activating and releasing prophets into His Church.

There was a time, not too long ago, when the only five-fold ascension gifts embraced within the Church were evangelists and pastors. Many didn’t even identify the unique ascension gift of teacher. Yes, many believed there were evangelists, but some taught there were not any prophets and certainly were no apostles. Today this has changed and many agree that there are five distinct ascension gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers all called to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12). As a prophet, you already know that. Christ didn’t remove any ascension gifts from His Church, and all five are still vital and functioning today. With the restoration of all five gifts working together, we can expect at least five things to happen:

1. There will be a greater release of true prophets, speaking with true prophetic utterances throughout the Church.
2. The devil will oppose prophetic ministry by releasing deceitful spirits into the prophetic ministry speaking with mystical voices.
3. There will be a danger of true prophets speaking with false prophetic utterances. These false prophetic operations will release defilement and discredit the true prophetic ministry.
4. There will be a strong prophetic release that will make a way for restoring God’s apostolic government within local churches.
5. There will be a separation of true prophets from deceived prophets into different companies leading to a prophetic confrontation with foreign spirits of divination such as Jezebel and Baal.

Spiritual confrontation within the prophetic ministry is historic. Examples include Micaiah, Elijah, and Jeremiah. Micaiah contended with King Ahab’s prophets, and Elijah and Jeremiah battled the prophets of Jezebel and Baal. The Apostle Paul and Barnabas also confronted Elymas the sorcerer who withstood them at Paphos. The true will always face-off against the false. Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry is an example of that face-off. His apostolic assignment and prophetic confrontation took place because the prophetic ministers of his day:

• Failed to address sin
• Pursued idols
• Concentrated on amassing personal wealth
• Pursued power, status , and prestige
• Did nothing to turn the people from sin toward God
• Led the people of God astray

Because of neglect of God’s house and self-centered idolatry in the land, God anointed Jeremiah to oppose an erring prophetic movement that was leading people astray. Let’s take a look.

“Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness.” (Jeremiah 23:9)

Jeremiah, speaking by the Spirit of God said, “My heart is broken because of the prophets.” Notice he didn’t say false prophets. The word prophet means prophetic voice. In other words, Jeremiah’s heart was broken because of the false prophetic operations of these wayward prophets. We can see the anointing of the Spirit on him as he shakes under the power of God. He looked like a “drunken man.” This shaking is an indication of the powerful anointing that engulfed him.

He had the Word of the Lord in his mouth and was made ready to address the prophets in the land. A prophetic showdown was about to take place. Prophetic ministry can’t avoid spiritual confrontations with worldliness, carnal Christianity and faux prophetic operations. This is part of prophetic ministry. Scripture says God seeks for a voice that “calls for justice and pleads for truth” (Isaiah 59:4). Prophetic ministers answer that call.

ROOTING OUT

Let’s review Jeremiah’s confrontation with sullied prophets. Remember, this is the same prophet that God called to root out, pull down, destroy and throw down (Jeremiah 1:10). Let’s see that calling in action because you may face the same battles.

The Spirit of God said “the land was full of adulterers.” An adulterer is an unfaithful spouse. Serving God in spirit and truth is serving Him from a pure heart. One becomes a spiritual adulterer by putting something, someone or something foreign between them and God, even their ministries. 

“For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.” (Jeremiah 23:10) 

Abandoning God for something or someone else is committing spiritual adultery. God said these adulterers were evil and their acts erring. As their corruption continued without interruption the nation became full of adulterers, the land mourned and the people lacked true spiritual revelation of God. “What brought about this corruption,” you ask? It happened because the people became apathetic, self-centered, and idolatrous.

HARD HEAVENS

During Jeremiah’s confrontation the heavens were brazen because the prophets and priests led people away from God. The consequences for the nation was grave, the heavens became as brass. Spiritual climates are affected by the actions of prophets, priests and inhabitants of the land. Sin, rebellion and idolatry will harden spiritual climates. Scripture says, 

"And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass...” (Deuteronomy 28:23). 

You are probably familiar with the list of blessings in the book of Deuteronomy including blessing and prosperity but this verse makes it clear the heavens turn as brass for the disobedient. As a prophet you understand spiritual climates. Those who have ministered in various meetings notice big differences in spiritual climates. Some churches are wonderful to preach in having open heavens, while others are hard as stones with closed heavens. A brazen heaven is a spiritual climate that must be plowed through strong intercession, confronting sin and living right. Hard heavens are the result of:

• Sin
• Rebellion
• Demonic influence
• Strong territorial spirits
• Evil principalities and powers
• Practicing idolatry
• Backsliding
• Worldliness
• Upholding deceitful doctrines of devils
• Legalism, self-righteousness and hypocrisy

Hard heavens have little, if any, revelation. When you pray hard heavens feel like your prayers hit the ceiling and fall back into your lap. When you prophesy the words come out of your mouth and seem to fall to the ground. Not only are the heavens hardened because of sin and idolatry but spiritual strength and maturity is hindered too.

“...the earth under you shall be as iron.” (Deuteronomy 28:23) 

When the earth is like iron nothing grows. The land was defiled because of the fruit of sin and the ministry of deceived prophets. Where there is no growth there is can be no spiritual maturity in the people. Prophets are the ministry gifts called to war against principalities and powers in the heavens. To win those battles, however, requires spiritual confrontations with opposing spirits even within prophetic circles.

Every nation, including North America must beware the fruits of idolatry and sin caused by rebellion. When prayer was removed from our public schools June 25th, 1962, for example, the alternative was lawlessness. Whenever one rejects what comes from God they have to live with the opposite. If they don’t want the Prince of Peace they get the prince of calamity. The same holds true in prophetic ministry. If true prophets don’t guard the prophetic ministry the Church will suffer under the whoredoms of Jezebel and the merchandising prophets of Baalim.

AVOIDING SLIPPERY WAYS

God revealed to Jeremiah that His house was full of wicked prophets, priests and corrupted ministers. Surely this grieved the man of God. Scripture says,

“For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:11) 

The word “profane” means soiled, polluted, defiled and corrupted. These prophets and priests crossed God’s holy threshold and entered the dark side. A threshold is the divider between two rooms. When you walk through a doorway there is a metal or wooden threshold on the floor that separates one side of the room from the other. There is a spiritual threshold that is a separation between the Holy and the unholy. When one is profaned they have stepped across the threshold of holiness and entered the realm of the wicked. This scripture teaches that some prophets morally abandoned holy operations and crossed the boundary from holy living into prophetic defilement. Both prophets and priests were living in sin but they didn’t quit the ministry. Their sullied lives hindered God’s plan for them, the Church and released spiritual divination into the land. This is the environment that the spirit of Jezebel and false prophets flourish. This is the spiritual climate God sent Jeremiah. As a prophet you may face the same.

From studying this we discover two different prophetic operations. First, we see that Jeremiah was very different from the other prophets in the land. Jeremiah managed to live a holy life whereas the others fell into sin and idolatry. Second, we discover there were true prophetic operations and false prophetic operations in the land. It’s interesting that God never addresses the erring as false prophets instead He focuses on their prophetic operations. The true prophetic operation released blessing and the false corruption. Jehovah didn’t turn his back on His Church. He prophesied to the corrupted ministers.

“Wherefore their way will be to them as slippery ways in the darkness: they will be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:12) 

God pronounced that these prophets would have “slippery ways” and lack true spiritual discernment because of their corrupted lifestyles. They had no spiritual insight because they were walking in darkness having defiled themselves. Spiritual darkness opened the way for foolishness.

“And I have seen folly in the prophets…” (Jeremiah 23:13). 

“Folly” is acting rash, stupid, foolish, senseless and lacking common sense. These prophets sounded spiritual, looked the part, had the prophetic buzzwords, yet were void of biblical soundness, stability and discretion. They acted foolishly and lacked spiritual and emotional balance in their lives. Their idolatry produced amoral behavior that caused them to lose true spiritual discernment and right prophetic operations. The problem was the average person didn’t know these prophets were not speaking the truth. This can happen today if prophets get caught up in the glitz and glamour of celebrity Christianity. Satan waits for opportunities to entice both prophet and priest by seductions for public attention, admiration from men and the deception of earthly riches. Others are deceived because they seek the supernatural rather than Christ our Savior.

ANOTHER SPIRIT

God revealed the finale of their contaminated state, they prophesied by another spirit. He told Jeremiah, “They prophesy by Baal and caused my people to go astray” (Jeremiah 23:13).

“If they were prophesying by another spirit why didn’t the people turn away from these ministers,” you ask? It’s because many good people don’t know the Word of God good enough to tell the difference. If the delivery or mannerisms of the minister appear spiritual they let their guard down and don’t judge the biblical accuracy of the message. We have this problem in the Church today and it’s getting worse every day.

Because of God’s love for people he sent Jeremiah to deal with deceived prophets. Can you imagine Jeremiah telling these prophets they were prophesying by a foreign spirit? Could you do that? Baal is a spirit of divination. A true prophet of God will not allow people to go astray. Even if their heart is not open to God’s representative, he will speak to them without compromise and out of a right spirit. True prophets are not trying to win the fancy of men rather they are actively pursuing the approval of God. Jeremiah was one of God’s faithful prophets sent to confront corrupted voices who were ministering to God’s people by another spirit.

CONCLUSION

• Every move of God, outpouring, time of refreshing and relevant truth for a particular generation has battled its own particular demonic resistance.
• To stop the prophetic ministry the enemy must interpose a counterfeit, something that looks and sounds like Christ’s true prophetic ministry but is not.
• Satan is the master deceiver and knows ancient weapons of seduction needed to deceive all save the most mature and discerning.
• The devil will oppose prophetic ministry with a release of faux prophets speaking with mystical voices.
• There will be a separation of true prophets from false prophets into different companies leading to a prophetic confrontation with foreign spirits of divination such as Jezebel and Baal.
• Spiritual confrontation within prophetic ministry is historic. Examples include Micaiah, Elijah and Jeremiah.
• Prophetic ministry can’t avoid spiritual confrontations with worldliness, carnal Christianity and false prophetic operations.
• A brazen heaven is a spiritual climate that must be plowed through strong intercession, militant preaching and right living.
• Baal is the spirit of divination.
• It's time for a forward shift. We can no longer sit idly by watching our world sink into moral decay and overcome by false religions. The Church is called to lead change and reform in our nation and throughout the earth. The Kingdom of God is not a future event. The Kingdom of God is here and now.
  
  
  Kings are destined for total conquest. This world is desperate for good people like you to enter their kingship as an image-bearer of Christ. Jesus loves this world, and He has made provision for its restoration. You were born a winner. The whole world is waiting for you to exercise your believer’s authority to act like a son of God (Romans 8:19).
  Every member of the human race, whether he knows it or not, is a member of one of two kingdoms: the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness. There is no middle or neutral ground. Scripture declares, “He that is not with me, is against me” (Matthew 12:12).
  As kings (Jesus is King of kings and Ruler of rulers), we need to grab hold of our responsibility by invading this earth with God’s purpose.
  We have a kingship mandate; establish the Kingdom of God, right here and right now. An understanding of the biblical influence and the kingship of every believer is a must. Kings apply God’s Word to the land (Deuteronomy 16 & 17). Scripture uses the terms “salt” and “light” to teach us our responsibility to be proactive, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16).
  We provide salt and light around us through kingship influence and by invading our society, and the world with the Gospel of the Kingdom.
  Jesus taught us that the greatest in the Kingdom of God was a servant (Luke 22:26). We can become great servants by getting involved with Kingdom business. We can build schools, hospitals, clinics, banks, media outlets; we can become politically active, involved with international relief efforts, enter the business world, and a myriad of other such things. Tommy Reid in his book "Kingdom Now but Not Yet" said, “The Bible must become more than a handbook of personal salvation. It must become a mandate for the re-establishment of Christ’s rule and reign over the earth and the rebellious portion of the universe over which Satan now asserts dominion.”

  PUSH TO THE FRONT

  We can no longer sit idly by watching our world sink into moral decay and overcome by false religions. The Church is called to lead change and reform in our nation and throughout the earth (Ephesians 3:10). The Kingdom of God is not a future event but is now. John the Baptist proclaimed the coming Kingdom and Jesus announced its arrival (Matthew 3:2, 4:17; Mark 1:15).
  Like John Calvin, who went to Geneva to “establish the Kingdom of God in a decadent society,” we too must involve ourselves with its establishment. Let’s be like John the Baptist and make ready a people for God (Luke 1:16-17) and like Isaiah who prophesied of the anointing’s purpose to “repair the waste cities that have been trodden down” (Isaiah 61:1-10).
  You are in the Kingdom, and the Kingdom is in you. When you exercise your delegated authority as a king, all other kingdoms must submit. The Kingdom of God can be seen by a demonstration of His Kingship in your life. Jesus said go and tell John the things you both hear and see (Luke 7:18-22). Jesus announced the reestablishment of His Kingship rule and government on earth, and that was only the beginning, now you’re involved.
  Jesus came as the last Adam to regain all His creation, many sons, and the earth. Now, through His priesthood of kings, He is restoring all things back to Himself. What a profound statement. Jesus had a revolutionary ministry. He preached the Kingdom of God, gave His life for the atonement of sin, birthed His Church, and planted a small seed that would grow and grow called the Kingdom of God. What’s beautiful is that you and I, born again believers, can find our place and purpose in life. No longer are we wondering who we are or why we were born. We are a royal priesthood of kings being trained as representatives of His Kingdom government (1 Peter 2:9).
  How exciting to know that you are being equipped to rule and reign with Christ on the earth, right here and right now. Throughout history, God has been restoring truth to His Body, getting us ready to take dominion in His name. Just think about this, it took over 20 centuries to get us to a place where we could receive this truth about the kingship of Christ through His priesthood of kings. Jesus will return to the earth as the Lord (Ruler) Supreme for a glorious Church without spot nor wrinkle, not a defeated shadow lost in the umbers of defeat (Ephesians 5:27). You have been liberated and given talents to affect the world around you (Matthew 25:15). Determine in your heart to do something mighty with them.

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  SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY AND KINGDOM DOMINION
  

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  CROSS AND KINGDOM

  One day John the Baptist was in prison about to lose his life. He sent two disciples to Jesus asking Him, “Are you he that should come, or do we look for another?" Jesus answered saying, “Go and show John again those things which you do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me” (Matthew 11:3-6).
  I was wrongly taught that John asked that question because he was having a bad day. He was in a prison filled with discouragement. But Jesus taught us something important about John’s character. Jesus said that John was not like a reed that could be shaken in the wind. John wasn’t staggering in unbelief. John knew who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the King of Glory. He knew that Jesus was Immanuel, God with us. John sent these two disciples to ask Jesus why He wasn’t taking dominion. After all, the entire nation was waiting for the Messiah, who would come and release the nation from the strongholds of Roman rule. Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God continually. Even the Pharisees came to Jesus demanding to know when the Kingdom of God would appear (Luke 17:20). In the days of Jesus’ ministry, everyone was looking at Christ’s dominion and missed the cross of Calvary. Today, thousands of Gospel sermons are focused on the cross and miss the Kingdom. We need both. Yes, we need both. When Jesus returns will He find faith? Will He find His bride busy about the Father's business? I believe He will.

  POWER OF CONQUEST

  Possessing God’s promises requires a fighting spirit. Don’t accept every thing that comes your way. Submit to God, engage all opposition to Christ’s Kingship through you: invade, occupy and influence. Then, after you have done all, stand rock solid in your faith refusing to break rank. Christ will not fail. You have been predestined for conquest.
  We must stop acting like defeated second class citizens. This earth does not belong to Satan but to Jesus (Psalm 24:1). We are destined for a victorious occupation. Jesus’ prayer will be answered and we will see the establishment of the Kingdom of God on this earth (John 17:15-20). You are part of the army of the Lord and the army of the Lord is invincible. It’s time to beat your plow shares into swords. You are not cursed, but blessed. Jesus didn’t pray the Father to take His disciples out of the world but to protect them from the evil one. He said, “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (John 17:18).
  The apostolic is restoring the truth of a kingship people with a kingship agenda. We are not being equipped to escape this world but to change it. Scripture teaches us the power of conquest in the parable of the leaven.
  “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened” (Matthew 13:33).
  Notice the leaven didn’t give up and quit, it was progressive in its work and destined to take over the entire meal. We, too, as a priesthood of kings, are destined for total conquest. 
  
  ACTION STEPS
  What an exciting time to be alive. To make that forward shift into kingship start by acknowledging that Jesus has called you to be both salt and light in this world. Don’t put your kingship under a bushel. You are a king because Jesus has made you a king. Now let your light shine. You have a bright future. As you step out in faith, know that you cannot fail. The Father is well pleased to give unto you the Kingdom. You are in the Kingdom and the Kingdom is in you. Arise, king, and give Jesus something to rejoice about.

  IT’S A NEW DAY

  Kingship is your path to a rich life full of success and significance. As life battles against you on your journey to Zion, remember what Sir Winston Churchill Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War said, “Kites rise highest against the wind.” You were born to win. You are a king and you were created for dominion (Genesis 1:28). Push to the front of your calling and bring glory to your father. Jesus made it clear, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12).
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  We have also a more sure word of prophecy] Better, And we have yet more steadfast the prophetic word. The force of the comparative must have its full significance. The “prophetic word” was for the Apostle, taught as he had been in his Master’s school of prophetic interpretation, and himself possessing the prophetic gift, a witness of yet greater force than the voice from heaven and the glory of which he had been an eye-witness. He uses the term in its widest sense, embracing the written prophecies of the Old Testament and the spoken or written prophecies of the New. It is a suggestive fact that the Second Epistle ascribed (though probably wrongly) to Clement of Rome, contains what is given as a quotation from “the prophetic word” (chap. xi), and that that quotation presents a striking parallel to the language of St James on the one hand, and to that of this Epistle on the other. “If we are not servants to the Gospel of God because we believe not the promise, wretched are we. For the prophetic word saith, Wretched are the double-minded, those who doubt in their heart (Jas_1:8); who say, All these things we heard in the days of our fathers, but we, waiting day by day, have seen none of these things” (2Pe_3:4). Was the Apostle referring to a “prophetic word” such as this, which was then actually extant, and was to him and others as the sheet-anchor of their faith? The words quoted by the pseudo-Clement prove the existence of such a document, as held in high authority, and, though the book itself is lost, there is nothing improbable in the thought that the Apostle should refer to it, and the continuous guidance of the Spirit of which it was the token, as confirming all his previous belief, and assuring him that he had not followed cunningly-devised fables nor been the victim of an illusion. In any case we must think of him as referring to the continuous exercise of the prophetic gift, the power to speak words which came to the souls of men as a message from God, which had been given to himself and others. We can scarcely fail to note the identity of thought with that expressed in the Apostle’s speech in Act_2:16-21.
  whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place] Better, as to a torch shining in a gloomy place. It may be noted (1) that the “torch shining” is precisely the term applied by our Lord (“the burning and the shining light,” Joh_5:35) to John the Baptist as the last in the long line of the prophets of the older covenant; and (2) that the Greek word for “dark” or “gloomy” (not found elsewhere in the New Testament) is applied strictly to the squalor and gloom of a dungeon. Interpreting the word, we find in the “gloomy place” the world in which the lot of the disciples was as yet cast. For them the “prophetic word,” written or spoken, was as a torch casting its beams athwart the murky air, preparing the way for a radiance yet brighter than its own.
  
  until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts] The imagery reminds us of that of Rom_13:12 (“the night is far spent, the day is at hand”), but with a very marked and manifest difference. In St Paul’s thoughts the “day” is identical with the coming of the Lord, as an objective fact; the close of the world’s “night” of ignorance and darkness. Here the addition of the words “and the day star arise in your hearts” fixes its meaning as, in some sense, subjective. The words point accordingly to a direct manifestation of Christ to the soul of the believer as being higher than the “prophetic word,” as that, in its turn, had been higher than the attestation of the visible glory and the voice from heaven. So understood, the passage presents an interesting parallelism with the “marvellous light” of 1Pe_2:9, as also with the “day-spring from on high” of Luk_1:78. The word for “day star,” the morning star (literally, Lucifer, the light-bearer), the star that precedes and accompanies the rising of the sun, is not found elsewhere in the New Testament or in the LXX., but it is identical in meaning with the “bright and morning star” of Rev_2:28; Rev_22:16, and the use of the same image by the two Apostles indicates that it had come to be recognised as a symbolic name of the Lord Jesus as manifested to the souls of His people.
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The Glory of the New Creation

                                                                 

                                                                          Galatians 6:15

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
A new creature

I. What the apostle here means by the new creature. It is not a mere reformation, but a creation—not a partial, but a complete, entire, and radical change. This new creation is of God. It is—
1. Divine in its origin. Its commencement, its progress, its consummation, belong to God.
2. God has various methods in effecting this change. Here we might mention the afflictive dispensations of Providence; the admonitions and expostulations of friends.
3. It is a total and universal change. It is complete in its purpose.
II. In what ways this important change is discovered and manifested. It is the new world of grace, springing into existence with all its rich furniture, and increasing in beauty. The subject of this glorious change is led to the adoption—
1. Of new views. No new faculties are bestowed. There is what is called the eye of the mind, which is the faculty by which the mind views the objects presented to its notice.
2. In the new creation there is a change in the affections. These, it is true, existed before, but now they flow in a new channel, and are directed to other objects.
3. In the new creation new principles are implanted. The new creature is governed by the principles of the Christian religion. Love and gratitude to God, and benevolence to mankind at large. The principles of the new creature are gathered from his relation to eternity.
4. In the new creation there will be a new and holy life. There the change will be visible. “By their fruits ye shall know them” (see Eze_36:25-27; 1Jn_3:9-10). (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)
The recreation of the soul
This world was created beautiful, and holy, and good. To understand, therefore, in any degree what this moral creation of holiness and God-life is, we must study the characteristics of the first material creation of this world. And that must be in a great degree its type and model. Now the first thing which we may notice in the creation of our system, as recorded in Genesis, is that the Three Persons in the Holy Trinity were all separately and collectively engaged. As then the first creation was the work of each Person in the blessed Trinity, so we are led to believe and feel sure that the moral and spiritual creation of any one soul must be by the whole Trinity. If we may say it reverentially, and venture into those deep mysteries, the Father wills, and plans, and ordains; the Son executes; the Holy Ghost applies and appropriates the restoration, the re-formation of the body and soul. Therefore in Trinity you receive it. Another feature which we may observe in primeval creation is that it was gradual and progressive. Six days it took, which some understand to be six years of time. First the inanimate, then the animate, then the rational, then the spiritual and immortal. Just so we must expect it to be in that new creation for which we look. We must, therefore, have patience. It is a gradual, a slow process. But, remember, it is a sure one. The selfish man will be full of sympathy and energy in good work with all around him. He who thought himself the first will be content always to be the last. The miser will be the generous man. He who seldom had God in his thoughts, and perhaps really never said a prayer, will be in constant communion with God, either silent or expressed. Where the world was once, holy things will be. Heaven and earth will change their places,—heaven being the substance, and earth the shadow. A new creature will testify to “a new creation,” and the Creator will be glorified. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

The new creature
The particle “but,” in the front of my text, is exclusive and restrictive; it excludes everything in the world from pretending to avail anything, from being believed to do us any good. The substance of all the apostle’s discourse, and the groundwork of mine, shall be this one aphorism—Nothing is efficaciously available to salvation but a renewed, regenerated heart.
I. It is observable, that our state of nature and sin is in Scripture expressed ordinarily by old age, the natural sinful man; that is, all our natural affections that are born and grow up with us, are called “the old man,” as if, since Adam’s fall, we were decrepit and feeble, and aged as soon as born; as a child begotten by a man in a consumption never comes to the strength of a man, is always weak, and crazy, and puling, hath all the imperfections and corporal infirmities of age before he is out of his infancy. Now, the new principle, by which not the man, but the new man, the Christian lives, is, in a word, the Spirit of God; which unites itself to the regenerate heart, so that now he is said to be a godly man, a spiritual man, from the God, from the Spirit; as before a living reasonable man, from the soul, from the reason that informed and ruled in him; which is noted by that distinction in Scripture betwixt the regenerate and unregenerate, expressed by a natural, or animal, and a spiritual man.
1. Whence comes the new creature? From above. Since Christ’s ascension, the Holy Ghost, of all the Persons in the Trinity, is most frequently employed in the work of descending from heaven; and that by way of mission from the Father and the Son, according to the promise of Christ, “The Comforter whom I will send from the Father.”
2. Where does the new creature lodge? In the heart of man, in the whole soul, ruling and guiding it in all its actions, enabling it to understand and will spiritually. As the soul of man sees in the eye, hears in the ear, understands in the brain, chooses and desires in the heart; and, being but one soul, yet works in every room, every shop of the body, in a several trade, as it were, and is accordingly called a seeing, a hearing, a willing, or understanding soul; thus doth the habit of grace, seated in the whole, express and evidence itself peculiarly in every act of it, and is called by as several names as the reasonable soul hath distinct acts or objects. In the understanding it is, first, spiritual wisdom, and discretion in holy things; opposite to which is νοῦς ἀδόκιμος, an unapproving, as well as unapproved or reprobate mind, and frequently in Scripture spiritual blindness. Then, as a branch of this, it is belief or assent to the truth of the promises, and the like. In the practical judgment it is spiritual prudence in ordering all our holy knowledge to holy practice; in the will it is a regular choice of whatsoever may prove available to salvation, a holy love of the end, and embracing of the means with courage and zeal. Lastly, in the outward man, it is an ordering of all our actions to a blessed conformity with a sanctified soul. In brief, it is one principle within us doth everything that is holy—believes, repents, hopes, loves, obeys. And, consequently, is effectually in every part of body and soul, sanctifying it to work spiritually, as a holy instrument of a Divine invisible cause; that is, the Holy Ghost that is in us and throughout us.
3. When does this new principle enter? It comes into the heart in a threefold condition.
(1) As a harbinger, it comes to fit and prepare us for itself; trims up, and sweeps, and sweetens the soul, that it may be readier to entertain Him when He comes to reside; and this He does by skirmishing with our corruptions before He comes to give them a pitched battle; He brandishes a flaming sword about our ears, and, as by a flash of lightning, gives us a sense of a dismal, hideous state, and so somewhat restrains us from excess and fury—first, by a momentary remorse, then by a more lasting, yet not purifiying flame, the spirit of bondage.
(2) When the Spirit comes a guest to lodge with us, then He is said to enter; but, till by actions and frequent obliging works He makes Himself known to His neighbours, as long as He keeps His chamber, till He declare Himself to be there, so long He remains a private, secret guest. And that is called the introduction of the form, that makes a man to be truly regenerate, when the seed is sown in his heart, when the habit is infused; and that is done sometimes discernibly, sometimes not discernibly, but seldom, as when Saul was called in the midst of his madness, he was certainly able to tell a man the very minute of his change, of his being made a new creature.
(3) The third condition in which this Spirit comes into our hearts is as an inhabitant, or housekeeper. The Spirit, saith Austin, “first is in us, then dwells in us: before it dwells it helps us to believe; when it dwells it helps, and perfects, and improves our faith, and accomplishes it with all other concomitant graces.”
II. And for the necessity of renewedness of heart; to demonstrate that, I will only crave of you to grant me that the performance of any one duty towards God is necessary, and then it will prove itself; for it is certain no duty to God can be performed without it. For it is not a fair outside, a slight performance, a bare work done, that is accepted by God: if it were, Cain would deserve as much thanks for his sacrifice as his brother Abel; for in the outside of them there was no difference, unless perhaps on Cain’s side, that he was forwardest in the duty, and offered first. But it is the inside of the action, the marrow and bowels of it, that God judges by. Be the bulk and skin of the work never so large and beautiful to the eye, if it come not from a sanctified, renewed, gracious heart, it will find no acceptance, but that in the prophet, “Who hath required it at your hands?” In brief, the fairest part of a natural man, that which is least counterfeit, his desire and good affections to spiritual things (which we call favourably, natural desires of spiritual obedience), these, I say, are but false desires, false affections.
1. They have no solidity or permanency in the will, are only fluid and transitory; some slight sudden wishes, tempests and storms of a troubled mind, soon blown over; the least temptation will be sure to do it. They are like those wavering prayers without any stay of faith; “like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.”
2. That being which they have is counterfeit; they are not that which they are taken for. We are wont to say that acts are distinguished by their objects: he sees truly which judges the thing to be that that it is. It is true, indeed, that another man sees that he takes blue for green, but he does not see truly; so also he only willeth a good thing that wills that in it which is truly good. Now the natural man, when he is said to choose spiritual things, as heaven, happiness, and the like, desires not a spiritual but a carnal thing: in desiring heaven, he desires somewhat that would free him from misery in happiness, a natural or moral good, that would be acceptable to any creature under heaven: and so a Turk will desire paradise, and that very impatiently, in hope that he shall have his fill of lust there. (Dr. Hammond.)

The new creature

I. Let us examine what is implied in “a new creature.” Four explanatory questions may, be asked upon this subject.
1. In what sense is a Christian a new creature? Is it a physical or a moral one? It is only a moral one. New faculties are not given him; but his faculties have new qualities and applications. Compare Paul after his conversion with Paul before his conversion: his body and soul, his learning and abilities, and the ardour of his disposition, continued the same; and yet, was there ever a being so different?
2. How far does this change extend? A new creed, or a new denomination, does not make a man a new creature. The new creation is not a change from vicious to virtuous only; but from natural to spiritual, from earthly to heavenly, from walking by sight to walking by faith.
3. Is this work produced instantaneously, or is it gradually advanced to perfection? Scripture describes Christians as going “from strength to strength:” as “renewed day by day:” as “changed into the same image, from glory to glory.”
4. Who is the Author of this new creation? Creation is a work of omnipotence, and belongs exclusively to God.
II. Observe what is to be inferred from its unrivalled importance. And, “if in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature,” this should regulate your inquiries—your prayers—your praise—your esteem, and your zeal. (W. Jay.)

The family title

The great difference between the bulk of professors and real Christians is this, the former are patched, and mended, and decorated, and ornamented, and transformed; nay, not transformed, but rather changed, or metamorphosed into the appearance of something that they are not. Will you bear with a familiar simile before I enter immediately on my text? Suppose that in some of our Sunday Schools the children had a doll that they had nursed and dressed very prettily, after their own fashion, and some one had beaten it, and bruised it, and torn its dress, and then painted it again, and put it on a new dress, they could not say it was a new doll, it would only be a mended one. This is just the character of religion in our day—it has no new life. What, then, does avail? “A new creature.”
I. The title of a real Christian. A new creature—a new creation—the workmanship of God. The prominent characteristic of this new creature is spirituality. It is the reigning principle, and it will manifest itself wherever he goes, whatever he does.
II. The household which all such new creatures constitute. The living Church of the living God. The Temple of Jehovah. The Body of Christ.
III. Their employments and their destiny. Now if God has made you a new creature, the first end and employment He has in view, is the glory of His own name. Ye are not your own, says the apostle, but ye are bought with a price—wherefore, glorify God in your bodies, and in your spirits, which are God’s.” Again, “Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God, giving thanks to His name.” Look again, for a moment, at the very salvation of the soul itself. More ought to be said and taught about the perfections of Deity being glorified when I get home, than the mere fact of my escaping hell and getting into rest. The latter is glorious to me, but the former is glorious to Him. Moreover, among the employments, and the end of God’s new creation, is the obtaining of spiritual blessings. Are you, a new creature, employed thus in God’s vineyard? Then do you ask how every day is employed for such a purpose? One thing more, and I close—the destiny. I dwell upon that with especial delight, and it fires my soul with sacred joy. What is it? Why just to dwell with my God. I do not want any other explanation. I know I must enter heaven to understand it. (Joseph Irons, D. D.)

New creation alters the whole man

“A new creature” does not mean that one clothes himself differently, and puts on a different air from before; but it means the renewal of the mind which is brought about by the Holy Ghost. From that there follows an alteration of the outer life. For where the heart through the gospel obtains a new light, there it never fails that the outward senses also are altered. The ears have there no longer pleasure in hearing human dreams and fools’ tidings, but God’s Word alone. The mouth no longer boasts of a man’s own works and righteousness, but of God’s compassion in Christ Jesus. This, then, is an alteration, which consists not in words, but in work and in power. (Luther.)

Source and result of new creation

This spiritual renewal springs out of living union to Christ, and it is everything. For it re-enstamps the image of God on the soul, and restores it to its pristine felicity and fellowship. It is not external—neither a change of opinion, party, or outer life. Nor is it a change in the essence or organization of the soul, but in its inner being—in its springs of thought and feeling, in its powers and motives—by the Spirit of God and the influence of the truth (2Co_5:17). This creation is “new”—new in its themes of thought, in its susceptibilities of enjoyment, and in its spheres of energy; it finds itself in a new world, into which it is ushered by a new birth. (John Eadie, D. D.)

A new creature.
Re-creation not merely reformation

There is such a thing as what we call reformation. This necessarily presupposes the indulgence in some bad habit, or the following in some wicked course of life. When it is said a man has reformed, it is well understood that he has abandoned his previous evil habits, and become a different man. And you may suppose this reformation to be so complete and radical, that the man may be regarded as being a new creature as touching all his relations to human society. He will, if he is thoroughly reformed, be a different husband, a different father, a different friend, a different member of society; and his influence, in all these relationships of life, will be for good. In this sense we understand what reformation is. He may be all this without becoming a religious man. He may be all this, and yet remain an absolute stranger to the renewing power of that Divine grace which alone constitutes him a Christian, and places him in a condition of safety before God. If we were to trace the origin of this reformation, we should see that it sprang from some prudential policy; we should see that the man had been influenced by the power of external relationships, or that such influences were brought to bear upon him, that he was enabled to realize the terrible end to which the course of life he was pursuing must inevitably lead. Or he may have felt the growing effects of these vicious habits, and that they were taking away even the power of self-indulgence, and the capacity for relishing forbidden pleasures. And so he changes his course of life. But that does not constitute him a religious man. Many mistake reformation for reformation, a new creation; but there is a great difference between the two. The change of which we have spoken does not constitute a man a new creature. It merely affects his relations with his fellow-men; it does not produce the slightest change in his relationship to God. He is no safer in his virtue than he was in his viciousness. If he is to be saved, he must be made a partaker of God’s renewing grace. (Wm. Y. Rooker, M. A.)


The non-essential and the necessary in genuine Christianity
I. The non-essential.
1. No ritualism is of any avail.
(1) Not even the most ancient.
(2) Not even the most Divine.
(3) Not even the most significant.
2. Not that ritualism is to be wholly condemned; but that it is of minor importance.
3. The same applies to the isms of men. Neither Catholicism nor Protestantism, Conformity nor Nonconformity, availeth anything. Christianity is
(1) independent;
(2) older;
(3) greater;
(4) sublimer than all denominations.
II. The necessary.
1. Unless a man is a new creation it matters not
(1) what theology he accepts.
(2) What ceremonial he observes.
(3) What church he attends.
2. Every man who is in Christ Jesus is a new creation.
(1) He has a new life, new loves, aims, hopes, fears.
(2) He has a new sphere.
(a) He is no longer materialistic but spiritual.
(b) Even the material in him is full of spiritual significance.
(c) He walks after the Spirit.
(d) His citizenship is in heaven. (D. Thomas, D. D.)


The new creation
is—
I. God’s work and therefore—
1. Complete as being by the activity of the undivided Trinity,
(1) The Father (2Co_4:6).
(2) The Son (Eph_2:6).
(3) The Holy Ghost (2Co_3:18).
2. Present (Joh_11:25-26).
3. Glorious.
II. Effected by union with christ.
1. This is not—
(1) Membership in any ecclesiastical society.
(2) The mystic sprinkling of water.
(3) To be attained or tested by ritualistic performances or theological beliefs.
2. But by faith in Christ Jesus (Gal_3:26).
III. Not perfect, but is the beginning of a new life which is to grow to perfection. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)


I. Negatively.
1. It is not a common work, but a creation.
2. No innovating humour.
3. Not the restraint of the old man, but something new.
4. Not moral virtue, and what we call good nature.
5. Not outward conformity to the law of God, but something inward.
6. Not a partial change of the inward man.
II. Positively.
1. A new mind—
(1) New apprehensions.
(2) New judgments and assents.
(3) New valuations.
(4) New designs.
(5) New inventions.
(6) New reasonings and thoughts.
(7) New consultations.
2. A new will.
(1) New inclinations.
(2) New intentions.
(3) New elections.
(4) New determinations.
3. A new heart, affections, etc. (D. Clarkson, B.D.)


I. The efficient cause of it—God (Eph_2:10).
II. The act—creation (2Co_5:17).
III. The effect.
1. New qualities (2Co_4:17; Col_3:10; Eph_4:23-24).
2. Gracious qualities.
(1) Not the natural endowments or moral qualifications, but
(2) Divine, and hence holy (Eph_4:24; Col_3:10).
IV. The subject—the whole soul, not one part or faculty (1Th_5:23). (D. Clarkson, B. D.)


New creations

I. Christ himself, a new Person: His Being and character were unique.
II. The world, by Christ’s advent: a new era: new thoughts, hopes, aspirations, possibilities, institutions, for the race.
III. The christian: the new man through Christ’s crucifixion: a new heart, view, purpose, interest, and attainment in life. (Dean Stanley.)


The Christian a new creature
There is a churchyard where the passenger who reads the inscriptions on the tombs, that stand up amid the long rank grass beneath the shadow of waving elms and an old gray steeple, will find one to surprise him; which, though quaint in form, I doubt not is true in substance. Here no angel flying through the heavens sounds a trumpet; no figure of old Time, with bald head, shoulders a scythe or shakes an hour-glass; no crossbones rudely carved, nor sexton’s spade, nor grinning skull, give point to the trite “Memento Mori.” Stranger still, the monument which is raised to the memory and virtues of one person bears the date of more than one birth: with long years between, it says, speaking in name of the dead, I was born the first time on such a day, and born the second time on such another day of another year. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)


Conversion more than restraint

A vicious horse is none the better tempered because the kicking straps prevent his dashing the carriage to atoms; and so a man is none the better really because the restraints of custom and providence may prevent his following that course of life which he would prefer. Poor fallen human nature behind the bars of laws, and in the cage of fear of punishment, is none the less a sad creature; should its Master unlock the door we should soon see what it would be and do. A young leopard which had been domesticated, and treated as a pet, licked its master’s hand while he slept, and it so happened that it drew blood from a recent wound; the first taste of blood transformed the gentle creature into a raging wild beast; yet it wrought no real change, it only awakened the natural ferocity which had always been there. A change of nature is required for our salvation—mere restraints are of small value. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Glory of the Kingdom

Mat 11:11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

There hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist.

The least in the kingdom of heaven
Is it contrary to any true theory of John’s prophetical mission that he should be for once seized with a spasm of doubt? Great men are not at their greatest at all times. The heavenly treasure is in earthen vessels. There are two sufficient reasons for his doubt:-
1. Things were turning out somewhat differently from his own programme. He was falling into the mistake we often make of fancying ourselves architects in God’s world, whereas we are only day labourers.
2. John’s message came from the inside of a prison. A man of his temperament, flung back from great activities to mope by himself, was almost sure to get a little strained in his views of things. For such men the difficulty is not to do hard things, but to be kept back from doing them. Note, now, the way in which Christ deals with this message.
How is the doubter received? No word of anger or remonstrance.
1. He gives the messengers clear proof of His Messiahship, and then, when their back is turned, He speaks to the multitude of John in terms of commendation.
2. Observe what Christ says concerning John-“What; went ye out for to see.” Men go out to see what there is to see: what we bring to a thing conditions what we shall bring away from it. “Notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” We are all of us higher up than John. We are so by virtue of belonging to a dispensation beyond his. The baptism of Pentecost lifted the world to a higher stage, and we are on that higher stage. It is a glorious thought that, under God, the human race is continually advancing.
3. Take two particulars as regards our dispensation:-
1. We have the advantage of John in the testimony we bear, from the facts we deal with, as compared with those of which he spake. He sketched the Christ in outline; we have the picture filled up.
2. The advantage of the worker in the Christian Church over the Baptist is seen in the kind of effort to which he puts his hand. John’s work was to bring men to repentance; this its limit. But in the Christian Church this work is to be carried on through all the process of sanctification, till it lifts the soul to the topmost heights of holiness. The element of the remarkable and extraordinary is not always the measure of real value. John’s career was extraordinary. We do a work thousands have done before. Yearn not to be eccentric, but deep and real. (J. Brierley, B. A.)


The infinite possibility of manhood

Each generation is on higher ground than the last. Fathers, respect your children, they are older than you. Do people speak of me as some forty years of age, more or less? Nonsense. I am 6,000 years old, at least. I have in me the sum of the lives and consciousness of all who preceded me, and something new added besides. We are trees which, through the root, drink up the virtue of the soil around them-soil made up of the buried generations of trees-and bring forth also something new in their own fruit and flower. In the light of this, what business have we to be always looking to the past, as if there were nothing of goodness or value in the world but what is hundreds and thousands of years old:’ You get people who, in religion, are nothing if not antiquarian. If Quakers, they think there were never such days as those of George Fox; if Methodists, there will never be the like again of John Wesley and his fellows; if Churchmen, they grope about amongst the fathers, and hold that wisdom and worth died with them. This is a wrong mood of mind. We want to take in all our predecessors can teach us: hut, oh, if we have faith in the living God we shall have belief in the boundless possibilities also, of the present and of the future. Man is going on. He is pushed up from behind. He is drawn up from above. Yes [ John is mighty in his generation. But those who come after are higher than he. Onward, upward l Oh, that we may not hinder the progress in ourselves, but spread every sail, stretch every stitch of canvas to the breeze that bears us along to the celestial country! (J. Brierley, B. A.)


Greater than the Baptist.

I. The meaning of the text. The first clause is simple enough; it states that John Baptist was greater than all who preceded him. The second clause is the difficulty least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” What is intended by “the kingdom of heaven”-the kingdom of glory, or of grace, or both? It is of course true that the least in heaven is greater and more privileged than John. It is better to he with Christ than on earth. But the kingdom of glory is not meant here. The term is almost universally used with reference to the kingdom of God on earth. “The kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God, cometh not with observation.” This refers to earth: the heavenly kingdom will come with splendour. The gospel dispensation is intended. Who are the least:’ Not the apostles, but the saint.
II. The reason. In what sense John was greater than all who preceded him.
1. One might take the personal character of John, and his superiority will be seem His zeal was great, he was the messenger before our Lord. This establishes the great superiority of John. No prophet actually prepared the way of the Saviour. Real greatness is approximation to God. The man who knows God best is greatest. Who was ever brought into such near connection with God as John? He was the friend of the Bridegroom. The dispensation of John was peculiar; he stood between the law and the gospel. How is it that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John? Observe the expression “least in the kingdom of heaven.” John was not in the kingdom of heaven. It all turns upon this. Our Lord draws the contrast. John was the greatest of all who went before him; but the least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than he-hot in heaven, but on earth.
The kingdom of heaven, in the sense here intended, commenced with the day of Pentecost; it is essentially connected both with the in-dwelling and out-pouring of the Holy Ghost. John said. “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”

1. The least in the kingdom of heaven is participator of all that the God of heaven can bestow. Nothing more can be given him.
2. The least in the kingdom of heaven is a member of the bride’s.
3. The least in the kingdom of heaven is a temple of the Holy Ghost.
4. The least in the kingdom of heaven has the spirit of adoption-the spirit of a son.
5. The least in the kingdom of heaven is brought into relationship with each of the Persons in the Trinity, in a sense which John was not.
6. The least in the kingdom of heaven may therefore become the greatest. Let us realize the greatness of the gospel dispensation. (Capet Molyneux, B. A.)

The Victory of the Blood

                           Victory Through the Blood

"They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and they loved not their Uves unto death "-Rev. xii. i i .

FOR thousands of years there had been a mighty conflict for the possession of mankind, between the Old Serpent, who led man astray, and " The seed of the woman."

Often it seemed as though the kingdom of God had come in power; then at other times the might of evil obtained such supremacy that the strife appeared to be hopeless.

It was thus also in the life of our Lord Jesus. By His coming, His wonderful words and works, the most glorious expectations of a speedy redemption were awakened. How terrible was the disappointment which the death of Jesus brought to all who had believed in Him! It seemed, indeed, as if the powers of darkness had conquered, and had established them kingdom for ever.

But, behold! Jesus is risen from the dead, an apparent victory proved to be the terrible downfall of the prince of darkness. By bringing about the deaths. of " The Lord of Life," Satan permitted Him, who alone was able to break open the gates of death, to enter his kingdom. " Through death he has destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil," In that holy moment when our Lord shed His blood in death, and it seemed as if Satan were victorious--the adversary was robbed of the authority he had hitherto possessed.

Our text gives a very grand representation of these memorable events. The best commentators, notwithstanding differences in details of exposition, are united in thinking, that we have here a vision of the casting out of Satan from heaven, as a result of the Ascension of Christ.

We read in verses 5-9 : The woman "brought forth a man-child, who . . . was caught up unto God, and to his throne . . . . And there was war in heaven; and Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought, and his angels, and prevailed not ; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

Then follows the song from which the text is taken: " Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB, and by the word of their testimony ; and they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell therein."

The point which deserves our special attention is, that while the conquest of Satan, and his being cast out of heaven, is first represented as the result of the Ascension of Jesus and the war in heaven which followed, yet in the song of triumph which was heard in heaven, victory is ascribed chiefly to THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB; this was the power by which the victory was gained.

Through the whole book of the Revelation we see the Lamb on the Throne. It is as the slain Lamb that He has gained that position; THE VICTORY OVER SATAN AND ALL HIS AUTHORITY IS BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.

We have spoken about the blood in its manifold effects ; it is fitting that we should seek to understand how it is that victory is always ascribed to THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.

We shall consider victory:

I. AS GAINED ONCE FOR ALL.

II. AS BEING EVER CARRIED ON.

III. AS ONE IN WHICH WE HAVE A SHARE.

I. THE VICTORY WHICH WAS GAINED ONCE FOR ALL.

In the exalted representation given in our text we see what a high position was once occupied by Satan, the great enemy of the human race. He had entrance into heaven, and appeared there as the accuser of the brethren and as the opponent of whatever was done in the interests of God's people.

We know how this is taught in the Old Testament. In the book of job we see Satan coming, with the Sons of God, to present himself before the Lord; and to obtain permission from Him to tempt His servant job (Job ii). In the book of Zechariah (iii. i and z) we read that he saw " Joshua the High Priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him " (R.V., " be his adversary "). Then there is the statement of our Lord, recorded in Luke x. 18, " I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Later on, in His agony of soul, as He felt beforehand His approaching sufferings, He said, " Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out" (John xii. 3 z).

It may, at first thought, seem strange that the Scriptures should represent Satan as being in heaven ; but to understand this aright it is necessary to remember that heaven is not a small, circumscribed dwelling place, where God and Satan had intercourse as neighbours. No 1 heaven is an illimitable sphere, with very many different divisions, filled with innumerable hosts of angels, who carry out God's will in nature. Among them, Satan also still held a place. Then remember, he is not represented in Scripture to be the black, grisly figure in outward appearance as he is generally pictured, but as " an angel of light." He was a prince, with ten thousands of servants.

When he had brought about the fall of man, and had also transferred the world to himself and became its prince, he had real authority over all that was in it. Man had been destined to be king of this world, for God has said, " Have thou authority." When Satan had conquered the king, he took his entire kingdom under his authority; and this authority was recognised by God. God, in His holy will, had ordained that if man listened to Satan, he must suffer the consequences, and become subject to his tyranny. God never in this matter used His power or exercised force, but always took the way of Law and Right; and so Satan retained his authority until it was taken from him in a lawful manner.

This is the reason why he could appear before God in heaven, as accuser of the brethren and in opposition to them for the 4,000 years of the Old Covenant.

He had obtained authority over all flesh, and only after he was conquered IN FLESH, AS THE SPHERE OF HIS AUTHORITY, could he be cast out for ever, as accuser, from the Court of Heaven.

So the Son of God, also, had to come IN FLESH, in order to fight and conquer Satan, on bis own ground.

For this reason also, at the commencement of His public life, our Lord after His anointing, being thus openly recognised as the Son of God, " was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." Victory over Satan could be gained only after He had personally endured and resisted his temptations.

But ever this victory was not sufficient. Christ came in order that " through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil." The devil had that power of death because of the .Law of God. That law had installed him as jailor of its prisoners. Scripture says : " The sting of death is sin, and the POWER OF SIN IS THE LAW." Victory over, and the casting out of Satan, could not tak: place till the righteous demands of the law were perfectly fulfilled. The sinner must be delivered from the power of the law, before he could be delivered from the authority of Satan.

It was through His death, and the shedding of His blood, that the Lord Jesus fulfilled the law's demands. Ceaselessly, the law had been declaring that " The wages of sin is death " ; " The soul that sinneth if: shall die." By the typical ministry of the Temple, by the sacrifices with the blood-shedding and blood sprinkling, the Law had foretold, that RECONCILIATION and REDEMPTION could take place only by the shedding of blood. As our Surety, the Son of God was born under the law. He obeyed it perfectly. He resisted the temptations of Satan to withdraw Himself from under its authority. He willingly gave Himself up to bear the punishment of sin. He gave no ear to the temptation of Satan, to refuse the cup of suffering. When He shed His blood He had devoted His whole life, to its very end, to the fulfilling of the law. When the law had been thus perfectly fulfilled, the authority of sin and Satan was brought to an end. Therefore death could not hold Him. " Through the blood of the everlasting covenant " God brought Him " again from the dead." So also He " entered heaven by his own blood," to make His RECONCILIATION effective for us.

The text gives us a striking description of the glorious result of the appearing of our Lord in heaven. We read concerning the mystic woman: " She brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne . . . . There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought, and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world : and he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast our with him." Then follows the: song of victory in which the words of our text occur : "They overcame him by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB."

In the book of Daniel we read of a previous conflict between this Michael, who stood on the side of God's people Israel; and the opposing world powers. But only now can Satan be cast out because of the blood of the Lamb. Reconciliation for sin and the fulfilment of the law have taken from him all his authority, and. right. The blood, as we have already seen, that had done such wonderful things in heaven, with God, in blotting out sin, and bringing it to naught, had a similar power over Satan. He has now no longer any right to accuse. " Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down . . . . And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb."

II. THERE IS A PROGRESSIVE VICTORY: which follows on this first victory. Satan having been cast down to earth, the heavenly victory must now be carried out here.

This is indicated in the words of the Song of Victory, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb." This was primarily spoken concerning " the brethren " mentioned, but it refers also to the victory of the angels. The victory in heaven and on earth progresses simultaneously, resting on the same ground.

We know from the portion in Daniel already mentioned (Dan. x. 12, 13) what fellowship there exists between heaven and earth in carrying on the work of God. As soon as Daniel prayed the angel became active, and the three weeks' strife in the heavenlies, were three weeks of prayer and fasting on earth. The conflict here on earth is the result of a conflict in the invisible region of the heavenlies. Michael and his angels, as well as the brethren on earth, gained the victory " by the blood of the Lamb."

In the twelfth chapter of Revelation we are clearly taught how the conflict was removed from heaven to earth. "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth" exclaimed the voice in heaven, " for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." "And when the dragon saw that he was cast down unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child."

The woman signifies nothing else than the church of God, out of which Jesus was born: when the devil could not harm Him any more, he persecutes His church. The disciples of our Lord, and the church in the first three centuries had experience of this. In the bloody persecutions in which hundreds of thousands of Christians perished as martyrs, Satan did his utmost to lead the church into apostasy, or to root it out altogether ; but in its full sense, the statement that " they overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and they loved not their lives even unto death " applies to the martyrs.

After the centuries of persecution, there came to the church centuries of rest and worldly prosperity. Satan had tried force in vain. By the favour of the world he might have better success. In the church conformed to the world everything became darker and darker, till in the Middle Ages the Romish apostasy reached its climax. Nevertheless during all these ages there were not a few who in the midst of surrounding misery, fought the fight of faith, and by the piety of their lives and witness for the Lord the statement was often established: " They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives even unto death."

This was no less the secret power by which, through the blessed Reformation, the mighty authority which Satan had gained in the church was broken down. " They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb." It was the discovery, and experience, and preaching of the glorious truth that we are " justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood," that gave to the Reformers such wonderful power, and such a glorious victory.

Since the days of the Reformation it is still apparent that in proportion as the blood of the Lamb is gloried in, the church is constantly inspired by a new life to obtain the victory over deadness or error. Yes, even in the midst of the wildest heathen, where the throne of Satan has been undisturbed for thousands of years, this is still the weapon by which its power must be destroyed. The preaching of " the blood of the cross " as the RECONCILIATION for the sin of the world, and the ground of God's free, forgiving love, is the power by which the most darkened heart is opened and softened, and from being a dwelling place of Satan is changed into a temple of the Most High.

What avails for the church, is available also for each Christian. In " the blood of the Lamb," he always has victory. It is when the soul is convinced of the power which that blood has with God, in heaven, to effect a perfect RECONCILIATION, and the blotting out of sin; and to rob the devil of his authority over us completely and for ever ; and to work out in our hearts a full assurance of the favour of God ; and to destroy the power of sinit is, I say, when the soul lives in the power of the blood, that the temptations of Satan cease to ensnare.

Where the holy blood of the Lamb is sprinkled, there God dwells, and Satan is put to flight. In heaven, and on earth, and in our hearts, that word as the announcement of a PROGRESSIVE VICTORY is valid:-" They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb."

III. WE ALSO HATE A SHARE IN THIS VICTORY-if we are reckoned among those who have been cleansed "in the blood of the Lamb."

To have the full enjoyment of this we must pay attention to the following facts :--

i. THERE CAN BE NO VICTORY WITHOUT CONFLICT.

We must recognise that we dwell in an enemy's territory. What was revealed to the apostle in his heavenly vision must hold good in our daily lives. Satan has been cast down into the earth, he has great wrath because he has but a short time. He cannot now reach the glorified Jesus, but seeks to reach Him by attacking His people. We must live always under the holy consciousness that we are watched, every moment, by an enemy of unimaginable cunning and power; who is unwearied in his endeavour to bring us entirely, or even partially-however little it may be-under his authority. He is literally " the prince of this world." All that is in the world is ready to serve him, and he knows how to make use of it in his attempts to lead the church to be unfaithful to her Lord ; and to inspire her with his spiritthe spirit of the world.

He makes use, not only of temptations to what is commonly esteemed to be sin, but he knows how to gain an entrance into our earthly engagements and businesses ; in the seeking for our daily bread and necessary motley; in our politics ; our commercial combinations; our literature and science ; in our knowledge; and all things, and, so, to make all that is lawful in itself into a tool to forward his devilish deceptions.

The believer who desires to share in the victory over Satan "through the blood of the Lamb" must be a fighter. He must take pains to understand the character of his enemy. He must allow himself to be taught by the Spirit through the Word what the secret cunning of Satan is, which is called in Scripture " The depths of Satan," by which he so often blinds and deceives men. He must know that this strife is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, `c against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places " (Eph. vi. y z). He must devote himself, in every way, and at all costs, to carry on the strife till death. Then only will he be able to join in the song of victory, " They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and they loved not their lives even unto death."

ii. VICTORY IS THROUGH FAITH.

"This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ? " (z John v. q and 5). " Be of good cheer," said our Lord Jesus, " I have overcome the world." Satan is pan already y conquered enemy. He has nothing, absolutely nothing by right, to say to one who belongs to the Lord Jesus. By unbelief, or by ignorance of, or letting go my hold of the fact that I have a participation in the victory of Jesus, I may give Satan, again, an authority over me which otherwise he does not possess. But when I know, by a living faith, that I am one with the Lord Jesus, and that the Lord Himself lives in me, and that He maintains and carries on in me that victory which He gained; then Satan has no power over me. Victory " through the blood of the Lamb " is the power of my life.

Only this faith can inspire courage and joy in the strife. By thinking of the terrible power of the enemy; of his never sleeping watchfulness ; of the way in which he has taken possession of everything on earth by which to tempt us; it might well be said-as some Christians think-that the strife is too severe ; it is not possible to live always under such tension; that life would be impossible. This is perfectly true, if we in our weakness had to meet the enemy, or gain the victory by our own might. But that is not what we are called upon to do. JESUS IS THE VICTOR; so we need only to have our souls filled with the heavenly vision of Satan being cast out of heaven by Jesus ; filled with faith in the blood by which Jesus Himself conquered, and with faith that He Himself is with us, to maintain the power and victory of His blood: then we also " are more than conquerors through him that loved us."

iii. THIS VICTORY OF FAITH IS IN FELLOWSHIP WITH THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.

Faith is not merely a thought of which I lay hold, a conviction that possesses me-it is a life. Faith brings the soul into direct contact with God, and the unseen things of heaven, but above all, with the blood of Jesus. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO BELIEVE IN VICTORY OVER SATAN BY THE BLOOD WITHOUT BEING MYSELF BROUGHT ENTIRELY UNDER ITS POWER.

Belief in the power of the blood awakens in me a desire for an: experience of its power in myself; each experience of its power makes belief in victory more carious.

Seek to enter more deeply into the perfect RECONCILIATION WITH GOD which is yours. Live, Constantly, exercising faith in the assurance that " the blood cleanseth from all sin " ; yield yourself to be sanctified and brought nigh to God through the blood; let it be your life-giving nourishment and Dower. You will thus have an unbroken experience of `° victory over Satan and his temptations. He who, as a consecrated priest, walks with God, will rule as a conquering king over Satan.

Believers, our Lord Jesus by His blood has made Las not only priests but kings unto God, that we may thaw near to God not only in priestly purity and Ministry, but that also in kingly power we may rule Or God. A kingly spirit must inspire us; a kingly courage to rule over our enemies. The blood of the Lamb must increasingly be a token and seal, not only of .RECONCILIATION for all guilt, but of victory aver all the power of sin.

The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus, and the casting out of Satan, were the results of the shedding of His blood. In you also, the sprinkling of the blood -will open the way for the full enjoyment of Resurrection with Jesus, and of being seated with Him in the heavenly places.

I once more, therefore, beseech you to open your entire being to the incoming of the power of the blood of Jesus, then your life will become a continual observance of the Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord, and a continual victory over all the powers of hell. Your heart, too, will constantly unite with the song of heaven, " Now is come salvation, and strength, r-ad the kingdom of our God, and the power of his, Christ, for the accuser of the brethren is cast down.. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. x11. I o, I I).