POWER ENCOUNTER
ACTS 1:8
The good news Jesus proclaimed was the gospel of the kingdom of God. Mark, in the first chapter of his gospel, summarized Jesus’ preaching at the beginning of his public ministry by quoting Jesus in vs. 15 "The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe."
Jesus was proclaiming the hope of Israel’s salvation, that God was coming to redeem and bless them and establish his reign over all the earth. Then for the duration of his public ministry, Jesus demonstrated that the kingdom of God was nearby healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead.
Every miraculous act had a purpose: to confront people with his message that the kingdom had come and that they had to decide to accept or reject it. Jesus was saying that the kingdom of God had come in Him. The authority of God had come to claim what was rightfully his. The kingdom of God was invading the kingdom of Satan.
Christ had a two-fold ministry that was repeated wherever He went: first proclamation, then demonstration. First He preached repentance and the good news of the Kingdom of God. Then He cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead...which proved He was the presence of the kingdom, the Anointed One.
Jesus came as a Jew to Israel, and kingdom rule was first offered to the Jews, but they rejected Christ and his kingdom. But while Israel as a nation rejected Him, a remnant did accept Him, and these were the foundation of the New Testament Church.
By choosing the twelve disciples Jesus taught that He was raising up a new people to replace the nation that was rejecting His message. Christ’s blessing of Peter and His giving him the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" is where the church entered into the covenant blessings of Israel.
Kingdoms have 3 elements: a king, authority, and subjects. If one of these is missing, we don’t have a kingdom. Jesus is our king; all authority in heaven and earth has been given him by his Father; and Christians are his subjects.
Some Christians who are unclear about the relationship between the kingdom of God and the church, confuse the two and teach that the church is the kingdom. This leads to serious error, such as equating church membership with salvation. The church can be an avenue to salvation, but it is not the source of salvation.
The church is the primary place of God’s rule, which means that the church witnesses to the kingdom. But it does not have the authority in itself to build the kingdom...only God has that authority.
It is when the church is confused with the kingdom that leaders begin to assume that God’s authority resides in their office...that they are the rule of God. This is where church leaders develop an authoritarian attitude...and also where cult leaders, like David Koresh, can speak and demand whatever they wish because they’re supposedly God’s earthly authority.
I have power...but it doesn’t come from my position of pastor...it comes from the kingdom of God, and that is what keeps me from leading in my own authority. Now, the church is also the instrument of the kingdom. The disciples not only proclaimed the kingdom, they demonstrated the works and miracles of the kingdom.
Jesus told Peter in Matt. 16:18 that "the gates of Hades (Hell) will not overcome the church." The "gates of Hades" are the strongholds of evil, death, and all the satanic powers that seek to destroy us.
(Eph. 6:10-12)
As Christ’s instruments, we war against these strongholds, replacing their dominion with the kingdom of God. It was with this in mind that Christ commissioned the twelve (Matt. 10:5-15) The seventy-two (Luke 10:1-20) and now commissions us (Matt. 28:18-20).
Now, the proclamation of a faulty gospel will produce faulty, or at best, weak Christians. And this all too often the case today. Instead of a call to the lordship of Christ and membership in his kingdom, people are hearing a gospel that emphasizes self: come to Jesus and get this or that need met, be personally fulfilled, reach your potential.
While this may be evidence of having met Jesus in a personal way, it is not the costly kingdom gospel that Christ proclaims: "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for the gospel will save it."
Often the kingdom is likened to a Caribbean cruise on a luxury liner. People change into their leisure clothes, grab their suntan lotion, and diddy-bop on down to the dock. What a shock it is when they find that entering the kingdom of God is really more like enlisting in the Navy and doing battle with the enemy.
And the enemy follows no rules of war. There is no Geneva convention. Satan considers nothing unfair, he is no gentleman. The sooner we understand this, the more serious we will become about being equipped and properly trained for the kingdom.
Although he follows no rules, we know Satan attacks on three fronts: through the flesh, through the world, and by direct assault. The Flesh:
In the 1936 Spanish civil war, Franco’s Loyalist Army defeated the Republican Army in Madrid. It was the key battle of the war and led to the establishment of Franco’s gov’t in Spain.
When asked what the key to victory was, he replied, "The fifth column." He had 4 columns of troops engaged openly and a fifth column of loyalists inside who, through sabotage, seriously weakened the Republican Army.
Satan has a fifth column - the sinful passions that reside within us. Paul said in Romans 7 that "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature." The enemy loves to exploit our fifth column through temptation, but God has given us the power to walk by faith and resist the temptation.
The World: Psalm 137 says, "How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?" ...How can Christians serve God’s kingdom while taking on the values and life-styles of the world? We can’t!
We have been given the keys to the kingdom, the authority and power over the enemy...but if we don’t exercise that power it is of no use!ƒ` The kingdom of darkness is organized to distract us, to prevent us from doing God’s will. Through the glitter of materialism and power, sexual immorality, and the promise of self-fulfillment, Satan diverts our attention from the kingdom of God.
Fellowship with other Christians in the local church is a primary defense against being taken in by the world. Prayer, Bible study, and spiritual disciplines like fasting are necessary to gain not only God’s power and insight...but also to equip us to resist the world.
The Devil: In John 10:10 we read that Satan has well-defined objectives: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." We also see that it is the devil and his demons that we wage war against...not men and women!
Our situation is similar to that of the French underground’s role after D-Day during W.W. II. The Germans were still capable of committing horrible atrocities on the French even though it was certain the Germans would eventually be defeated.
Even though there was no hope for victory, hundreds were tortured and murdered - including children. In our war with Satan there are no demilitarized zones. There is never a lull in the fighting. We are born into the fight and we will die in the fight...unless we’re raptured out during it.
To fight effectively, we must correctly understand power and authority in the kingdom. In Luke 9:1-2 we read: "When Jesus had called the twelve together, He gave them power and authorityƒ` to drive out demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick."
Everyone, according to Acts 1:8, can receive power from the Holy Spirit. Power is the ability, the strength, the might to complete a given task. Authority is the right to use the power of God.
For example, a traffic cop doesn’t have the physical power to stop cars. But he does stop them because he wears a badge and a uniform given him by a higher authority. (Relate to our authority)
Our difficulty is that we have not learned to receive or give orders. To a great extent, we practice a cosmetic Christianity, because we misunderstand our initial call to Christ. We think that the key for maturity and power is to be "good." We then focus on our behavior, but our behavior never meets the high standards of Christ’s righteousness.
I did this for years. I first believed in Christ because I wasn’t good enough to receive eternal life, yet after becoming a Christian I still struggled with not being good enough. I was always struggling with guilt.
But the issue is not being good...it is being God’s!!! We need to begin to listen to his voice rather than trying to distill the Christian life down to a set of rules and regulations. Following His commands doesn’t leave much time for sin. But we must make sure we’re listening to what He is saying to usƒ` - there must be constant communication with Him so we know where He’s leading us.
I want to ask you a question. Who is attacking the territory of the other...Christ or Satan? And what difference does it make in the life of a Christian? Many believe that we are constantly under attack by Satan. That puts us in a defensive mode. And it’s interesting how people react to this. (Help, he’s after me, Get away, leave me alone...)
But I believe that Jesus is the invader and that Satan is put on the defensive. I know that it’s when I really begin to do serious work for the Lord, which means tearing down the strongholds of the enemy, that that is when I come under attack.
We should be the ones on the offensive. Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 11:12: "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it."
Nowhere in the N.T. do we see Satan attacking the kingdom of God or exercising his power against the kingdom itself. God is the aggressor and Satan is on the defensive...and our mission is to rescue those who have been taken captive as a result of the war.
It’s time we had a power encounter.ƒ`An analogy that may help you to understand what I mean by power encounter is found in nature, and one we’ve experienced recently. When warm and cold fronts collide, violence ensues: thunder, lightning, rain, hail, even tornadoes or hurricanes.
There is conflict and a resulting release of energy. Power encounters are much like that. When the kingdom of God comes into direct contact with the kingdom of the world...there is a conflict.
The greatest instance of this was the crucifixion of Christ. It was at that moment that Christ’s ultimate sacrifice utterly defeated the enemy. Great power was released that day...
All of creation rocked: the earth shook, rocks split, the sun stopped shining for three hours, the temple curtain was torn in two. Even tombs were opened, releasing the dead. Two kingdoms hit head on. And in the resurrection and ascension, Christ came out the victor.
But before the kingdom comes in all it’s fullness, the victory over Satan needs to be applied in the lives of people still under it’s power. Many do not realize that though Christ’s victory is irreversible, it’s application to everyday events is ongoing. Satan is still alive and well, even though his time on earth is limited. He still has great power that, if left unchecked, can kill.
In World War II, victory was assured for the Allies on D-Day, when they successfully landed at Normandy. But it took eleven months for the Allies to actually end the war. During this time thousands of men lost their lives in the bloodiest battles of the entire conflict.
The coming V-E Day was assured, but not realized. We are in a similar position as Christians...the final establishment of the kingdom of God was assured at the resurrection, but we have yet to realize it’s fullness in our day.
There is a war yet to be fought, an enemy still capable of inflicting great harm...if we allow him to. We must equip ourselves by allowing the power of the Spirit to come into our lives and work through us to defeat the enemy.
