Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20011202.htm

GOD'S ANGELIC CONFLICT CRISIS GUIDANCE GIFTS
Part I: An Introductory Overview
(Matthew 1:18-2:23 with Revelation 12:4b)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

In view of our exposure to the increasingly spiritually risky world of the occult in our culture, Christians are increasingly concerned about discerning God's guidance to avoid failure in the angelic conflict. Let me explain as follows:

(1) During our Adult Sunday School Class last Sunday, November 25, 2001, we spoke on the subject of what to do about the popular Harry Potter books and movie issue. A lot of us wonder how God wants us to respond to the issue. As you may know, a recent issue of U.S. News & World Report claims Harry Potter's author is heavily involved in witchcraft, and writes about that craft in her works.

Consequently, I ended up speaking with three different Christians in our Church who wondered what GOD would want them to do about this issue -- wondering if some exposure to Harry Potter works is fine, or if it is critically dangerous for one's spiritual life!

We may also wonder HOW to DISCERN whether God is concerned about such exposure of a believer to such a work!

(2) In Wednesday's mail, I received a postcard from a Christian ministry warning about "The Jesus Cult" which is allegedly permeating the Evangelical community itself. The card cited 2 Cor. 11:13-15 to warn of false apostles and ministers of Satan who "transform" themselves "as the ministers of righteousness."

So, if there IS such a "dangerous" cult infiltrating Evangelicalism, we may wonder, "HOW can we be sure to DISCERN it, and what would God want us to do about it?!"

(3) Following last Sunday's message, several believers talked with one another about what they felt was an angelic conflict issue in an event they witnessed earlier that day! Ideas flowed as to what to do or how to do it to combat the evil forces they perceived to be at work!



Well, IS there insight on this need for SURE divine guidance for CHRISTIANS to handle OVERWHELMINGLY THREATENING evil spirit influence and activity? IF so, HOW may I OBTAIN it?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "As we are exposed to our culture's dabbling in treacherous Satanic occultism, how may we get God's protective guidance?!"
  1. SATAN set himself to KILL JESUS the INSTANT He was BORN:
    1. We know Revelation 12:4b reveals Satan tried to kill Jesus the instant He was born by "decoding" its symbols from Scripture (as follows):
      1. From Rev. 12:9, we know the dragon of Rev. 12:4b is Satan.
      2. We see the woman of Rev. 12:1, 4b who is clothed with the sun, moon and 12 stars is Israel through Joseph's Gen. 37:9-10 dream.
      3. The child who will rule & is taken to heaven in Rev. 12:5 is Jesus!
    2. Thus, Rev. 12:4b shows Satan tried to kill Jesus as soon as (the Greek, hotan) Israel produced Him (UBS Grk. N.T., p. 864)!
  2. However, GOD led men to SHIELD Jesus from Satan, showing US His Christmas GIFTS of GUIDANCE in angelic conflict CRISES!
    1. Gift One - Dreams Aligned With Scripture:
      1. When Satan threatened the unborn Jesus, God sent a dream in keeping with Scripture telling Joseph what to do to protect Him:
        1. Mary became pregnant by God's miracle, so her fiancee, Joseph judged her to be immoral, and planned a divorce, Matt. 1:18-19.
        2. This divorce would have led to Mary's having a difficult and vulnerable life as an outcast to the risk of the unborn Jesus!
        3. Thus, God gave Joseph a DREAM in accord with Scripture that foretold a virgin would conceive and bear the Incarnate Immanuel (which means, "God with us"). This would lead Joseph to wed Mary and protect her AND Jesus, Mtt. 1:20-25.
      2. Four other times did God guide men by dreams to protect Jesus:
        1. God led the Magi and Joseph in dreams to shield Jesus from Herod, and that in accord with Scripture, Mtt. 2:12, 13-16.
        2. God told Joseph in a dream it was safe to return to Israel, Mtt. 2:19-20. He lastly warned Joseph in a final dream to bypass Jerusalem and settle in Nazareth so Jesus could be kept from dangerous Archelaus, Mtt. 2:22. These moves aligned with Isa. 11:1 on Christ's rising from David's "Branch" descendants who settled in Nazareth after the Babylonian Captivity [Natsarene,' Ron Allen, Kindred Spirit, Winter, 99, p. 3, 11].
    2. Gift Two - Biblically Accepted Overseers Aligned With Scripture:
      1. Though God sent the angel, Gabriel to Mary directly to inform her of her role in Christ's birth (Luke 1:26-38), after that, God kept BYPASSING Mary to speak to JOSEPH FOR the welfare of Mary and Jesus, Matthew 1:20-21; 2:13-14,19-21, 22-23.
      2. Why God bypassed her is seen in 1 Cor. 11:3: Joseph was Mary's rightful overseer, so God spoke to Joseph for her and her baby!
      3. Thus, Mary's and even JESUS' welfare even for life-and-death issues of the ANGELIC CONFLICT (cf. Mtt. 2:13 in light of Rev. 12:4b) was provided by MARY'S following GOD'S lead TO HER through JOSEPH, her spiritual and protective HEAD!
    3. Gift Three - Rare Events Aligned With Scripture:
      1. The magi were ignorant of the God of Scripture as seen in their not knowing the Biblical prophecy of Messiah's birthplace, Mtt. 2:1-6.
      2. Yet, God wanted them to find Jesus to worship Him without cunning Herod discovering where to find so as to kill Him!
      3. Hence, God miraculously moved the star they saw from the East to reveal the baby's location only to them as astrologers, Mtt. 2:2, 9; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Mtt. 2:1.
    4. Gift Four - Accurate Scholarship Aligned With Scripture:
      1. When the magi arrived in Jerusalem asking for the newborn king of the Jews, they na<\o>vely created a huge threat to the infant Jesus: (a) Herod's paranoia was intense as revealed in his killing some of his own sons to protect his power shortly before the magi arrived (cf. Hoehner, Herod Antipas, p. 9-11); thus (b) had the scholars been UNable to tell Herod where Messiah was to be born, Herod's paranoia could have led him immediately to try killing all of Judea's infants in an effort to hold onto his power base!
      2. Well, the scholars said Messiah came from little Bethlehem, 2:5.
      3. That left Herod feeling he could afford TIME to let the magi lead him to find and kill the infant with little political unrest so as to keep peace-demanding Rome happy! It also gave God time to get Jesus out of danger by His dreams to the magi and Joseph, 2:4-16!
      4. Thus, God used good scholarship to lead the magi toward Jesus in a way that yet could be used to protect the baby Jesus from Herod!
Application: (1) We must believe in Christ to become a child of God, John 3:16. (2) Then, if (a) dreams, (b) Biblically accepted overseers' actions, (c) rare events or (d) good scholarship CLEARLY align with what the BIBLE directs, view it as GOD'S emergency call in the angelic conflict, and heed His lead "STAT"!

Lesson: If GOD sees one faces a big threat to the spiritual welfare of himself or others he affects in the angelic conflict, God will CLEARLY line up (a) dreams, (b) Biblically accepted overseers' acts, (c) rare events or (d) good scholarship with Scripture to guide him protectively to victory! >

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 To illustrate how God guides believers who face risky angelic conflict conditions, I can describe some events that occurred this week:

(1) Last Sunday after the morning Worship Service, a lady in our Church met me in the Fellowship Hall to report on an unusually clear and troubling DREAM she recently had. The dream's plot had direct bearing on events she witnessed earlier that day! This dream coupled with the event contained an important Biblical lesson: the women of the Church should respect God's lead through the Church's male spiritual leaders! (cf. Hebrews 13:17; 1 Timothy 2:12-15)

(2) On Tuesday after I had typed this message in the computer, I started to prepare the Wednesday Prayer Meeting lesson. You can check last Sunday's worship bulletin to see I was scheduled to be in Numbers 12 for that lesson. In wonder, I saw the passage revealed God's male leaders were to wait on the Lord as God had led Moses for GOD to deal with women who used public, wrong, overwhelming criticism of their ministry efforts (God gave Miriam leprosy for publicly, wrongly criticizing Moses with overwhelming words)!

So in preparing that Prayer Meeting lesson, I saw the Lord had been busy teaching both the lady with the dream and me as follows:

(1) God had given this lady an EMERGENCY signal by way of her DREAM and the EVENT that FIT that dream in a Biblical way last Sunday so SHE might respond to an event that arose by honoring the Church's leaders and avoid SINNING herself!

(2) As for me, I saw GOD had USED this lady's recent experience to teach ME that GOD did NOT want me as a Church leader to REACT foolishly to overwhelming public DISRESPECT that came from women: as God had called Moses only to witness His discipline upon Miriam, so I was also to see it was His business to handle the unjust and sometimes overwhelming public criticism and disrespect from women I or other Church leaders might experience!

So, if GOD sees any believer facing an angelic conflict crisis of CRITICAL danger to HIM, GOD will use Scripture IN ACCORD WITH a STRONG CIRCUMSTANTIAL SIGNAL like a clear dream, actions by a credible overseer, rare events or insight from credible scholarship TO GUIDE that believer out of danger!