Confronting the Accuser of the Brethren Series
Spiritual Pregnancy, Part Two
I The enemy’s assault
A If all there was to launching a new move of God was prayer, we’d be in revival by now.
1 Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.4 And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Rev 12:3-5 (NASB)
a Most believe this one born is the person/work of Jesus Christ.
aa Savior of the world, sacrificial lamb of atonement was born a defenseless, vulnerable baby.
bb Easily hurt, harmed, killed!
b Ever since the fall of Adam, every one God has used to do a work in has started in a vulnerable condition, needed protection.
c So it is with us: God has begun doing something new with you, me, FBC...newborn.
aa Stumbled, shaky
bb The enemy seeks to destroy & assaults it!
cc The tool/form he uses is accusations.
2 It’s at this stage when we are at our most vulnerable, susceptible.
a The devil has positioned himself at the exit of the womb.
b In this chapter, he is identified as the accuser of the brethren.
B What is an accusation?
1 Can’t define it without the words “said”, “say”, or “saying”-can’t “say” without words!
a Words have power!
b Carry meaning to bless & curse.
2 When the devil accuses you, he doesn’t do it with accusations that are without some measure of truth.
a Points out flaws, littleness, lack of spirituality.
b Exploits our weaknesses, fears, ignorance, immaturity, & failures.
aa Frozen with someone else’s (his) words.
bb The birth/new beginning is stopped/halted.
3 When people witness, testify, speak, sing, they can be immediately bombarded with accusations of the enemy.
a Dumb, stupid, foolish, epic failure
b So we shut up, quit, fade into the background.
aa The enemy aborts the purpose God has put in us.
bb Instead of having awe of the Spirit of Christ, we settle for theology about Jesus Christ.
cc Being the Church-going to church
c Satan exploits our imperfections & buries our hope under accusations.
D You may have been hindered, have trouble in labor: Christ in you cannot die!
1 That’s why we have revival at one of our services where things get intense...
a We feel Him kick, stir, awakening, quickening.
b The enemy you’re fighting isn’t “lack of spirituality”, “failure”, “ignorance”...
aa Accuser of the brethren
bb Manipulate our shortcomings
2 He floods our minds/hearts/words
a Reduce us to hollow religion
b Void us of the reality of Christ’s life in us!
II How do we overcome?
A And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Rev 12:5 (NASB)
1 The son birthed was “caught up” to God’s throne.
a We too must be “caught up” in His abiding presence.
b We can’t allow ourselves to be deterred by the devil’s accusations or people’s opinions.
2 If the weapons of the accuser are his words, know our victory is in God’s Word.
a His Word says we are His children & His Son is within us.
b Brings us to justification, righteousness, holiness, & power.
3 Ever since we came to Christ, there has been an updraft of the Holy Spirit.
a Drawing us, lifting us upward to His presence.
b We’ve seen for ourselves:
aa All things work together for good
bb Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
c Just catch the wind & let Him lead you/carry you into your holy future.
B As we anticipate a rapture in our future, the real fact is that the rapture of the church awaits for what has already begun in our spirits.
1 ...and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...Eph 2:6 (NASB)
a Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies...” John 11:25 (NASB) The resurrection is not just an event-it is a person!
aa The resurrection/Jesus is in us.
bb Drawing us upward to the fullness of God.
b Satan’s strategy is to keep our eyes/mind off of that truth.
aa Carnal, religious, earthbound...but he’s too late!
bb We’re already taken, bound for promised land, born from above.
cc But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. Gal 4:26 (NASB) Heaven is now not only our destination-it’s our home country/place of our birth.
2 Our first strategy against the accuser is to refuse to allow any words other than the Word of God to define our future.
a When he reminds us of our past, remind him of his future.
b When he tries to bring you down, go up in praise to the height of Christ’s exaltation-flee into the presence of God.
C I believe He causes all things to work together for good.
1 He will use the assaults of the enemy to run us to higher ground.
a He’ll reverse the effects of the accusations
b Also, we’ll learn to abide with Christ in the heavenly places
2 In His presence we’re immune, protected, untouchable.
Conclusion
A Pray: Master, how I praise You for Your ability to take even what was meant for evil and use it for my good. Thank you for turning the assault of the accuser into a goad to push me toward Your presence. There is no place I would rather be than secure with You at Your throne. Grant me a humble heart so that, even when faced by the accuser, I might quickly flee to You for safety. Amen.
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