SPIRITUAL EYES

(Chapter 4)

"Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit." (Isa 31:3a)

IN THE BEGINNING

In the Garden of Eden before the fall, Adam and the woman communed with God. They did not speak with vocal words, they "understood," they were in total harmony with God. They had spiritual eyes. That is a fact! How do we know that? Well, let us look at Genesis 3 before the fall:

*And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, THEN YOUR EYES SHALL BE OPENED, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman SAW that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the EYES, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (Gen 3:4-6)

We note that the serpent said to the woman "then your eyes shall be opened." Do we conclude then that she was presently blind? No, because we read that she "saw that the tree was good for food" and "that it was pleasant to the eyes." She was obviously "seeing" with some type of vision. Let us go on to after the fall:

*And the EYES of them both WERE OPENED, and they knew.... (Gen 3:7)

Yes they were "seeing" before the fall, but their "eyes... were opened" after the fall. What does that mean? Well, they had spiritual eyes through v.6 and communed with God. In v.7 they fell from His Holy Presence, from the Most Holy Place, from communing with God, from seeing with spiritual eyes. They were thereafter separated from God. Sin separates from God. Sin stood between God and them. Sin is a barrier between God and man. Sin is opaque. There is no light in sin. As a consequence, their spiritual eyes were cut-off, closed, darkened, and their natural eyes "were opened." Now they could only communicate with God.

Both ate of the tree. The woman did not believe God. Adam disobeyed God. "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (I Tim 2:14). The woman was in the first transgression. Adam chose to disobey God.

*And unto Adam he said, BECAUSE THOU HAST HARKENED UNTO the voice of thy wife, AND hast eaten of the tree.... (Gen 3:17)

"Harkened unto" means that Adam chose to heed, submit to, bow the knee to the voice of his wife over the voice of God, for he was not deceived. Adam disobeyed God. The woman chose to heed, submit to, bow the knee to the voice of the serpent over the voice of God, for she was deceived. The woman did not believe God.

THEIR EYES WERE DARKENED

The following Scriptures reach back to the woman and Adam, and forward to those "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." (II Cor 4:4).

*Let their eyes be DARKENED that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. (Rom 11:10)

*Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became VAIN in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was DARKENED. (Rom 1:21)

*Having the understanding DARKENED, being ALIENATED from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the BLINDNESS of their heart. (Eph 4:18)

THE LIGHT

When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, the inner candlestick, the Holy Spirit is lit with a glowing ember from the brasen altar of sacrifice. "For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness." (Psalm 18:28). We were once completely darkened, the candlestick in our holy place without oil. But now we are being continuously transformed from that darkened condition toward full enlightenment, from darkened through darkly into God's Presence. "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil 1:6). From darkened through darkly, because of the ever present sin in our lives. Unforgiven sin makes opaque. Unforgiveness makes opaque. Present sin (I John 1:8) obfuscates.

*For now we see through a glass, DARKLY; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (I Cor 13:12)

Adam and the woman fell from what we are attaining to. They had spiritual eyes, and fell to natural eyes. Their spiritual eyes were closed, darkened. It is into this fallen state that we are born. We are born fallen with natural eyes and our spiritual eyes are closed, darkened. When we are born again our spiritual sight is fully restored positionally by the grace of God, but only just barely opened experientially. We are newborn spiritual babies. Everything spiritual is blurred, fuzzy, and out of focus. As we are fed the Word and grow in the Lord we learn to center our focus on Him. Full positional spiritual sight is an immediate reality, whereas, full experiential spiritual sight is a becoming reality.

FOCUS

*The LIGHT of the BODY is the eye: if therefore thine eye be SINGLE, thy whole BODY shall be FULL OF LIGHT. (Matt 6:22)

The Word of God is the body of Christ Jesus (John 1:14; Rev 19:13), literally. The word "single" is translated by the Holy Spirit in only one instance: Matthew 6:22 and the comparable passage in Luke 11:34. It was spoken by Jesus Christ and it means focused. If your eye is totally focused on Jesus Christ, who is the "light of the world" (John 8:12) then everything that enters into you will be Him. And you will be full of Him. Glory. When you are full of Him, you are like Him. Peter was full of Him:

*And he [Jesus] said, COME. And when PETER was come down out of the ship, HE WALKED ON THE WATER, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. (Matt 14:29,30)

Great prayer! Peter was full of Him when he walked on the water. Peter did and became Matthew 6:22. Peter was full of Him, temporarily, just as the disciples were in Acts 2. When Peter was full of Him, he was Like Him and walked on the water. Peter could have remained full of Him if he had not allowed the thorns of this world (Mark 4:18,19) to distract his focus. They pricked him! As he looked to the pricks he lost focus on Jesus Christ and became a double-minded man (James 1:6-8). However, when our present trials and tribulations are completed, we shall be forever Like Him:

*For I reckon that the sufferings of this PRESENT TIME are NOT WORTHY to be compared with the GLORY which SHALL BE REVEALED IN US. (Rom 8:18)

THE BLIND MAN

*And he [Jesus] cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he SAW AUGHT. And he looked up, and said, I SEE MEN AS TREES, WALKING. After that he put his hands AGAIN upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was RESTORED, and saw every man CLEARLY. (Mark 8:22-25)

Do you see what happened here? How many mistakes did Jesus Christ ever make? Was he not perfect? Yes! Therefore, this was no mistake, it was intentional. He gave the man spiritual eyes and then restored him to natural eyes. He gave the man spiritual eyes positionally, just as the angel of the Lord named Gideon "thou mighty man of valour" positionally. Then Jesus Christ restored the man to his natural experiential state that he would grow into his already attained positional state. By doing this, Jesus also blessed us with a preview of spiritual sight.

MEN AS TREES

"I see men as trees, walking." That is how spiritual entities perceive us, if we are to believe the Word of God, as walking trees. We have already spoken extensively about our relationship to trees in the Bible. We now learn of an additional dimension to that perception. We appear like trees but not to ourselves of course. We here are like trees to those there. How can we be perceived "as" or like "trees" by the spirit realm? Let us pose this possibility:

*For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)

*But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that ONE DAY is with the Lord as a THOUSAND YEARS, and a THOUSAND YEARS AS ONE DAY. (II Pet 3:8)

A POSSIBILITY

Can we say that God is not only omniscient and omnipresent, but also fast? Very fast. Should you care to do the mathematics, light travels at the speed of 186,000 miles per second. Anything traveling beyond that speed is totally invisible to our natural eyes. If a thousand of our years is as one day to God, how fast does that indicate that He can move? And how about the rest of the spirit world? Scientists tell us that the faster one moves toward that 186,000 miles per second speed of light, the slower things around him not moving at that same speed appear to be. In fact, as the speed of light is approached, actual chronological time slows for the traveler. Time slows down.

Now consider, if you will, a tree. Trees grow slow. They move slow. Very slow. Did you ever go out into a forest with some friends to watch a tree grow? Take your lunch. According to our time-frame trees move slower than snails, much slower. According to the spirit world's time-frame, we move like trees. Chronological time is not the same as spiritual time. Some people can be saved and become a High Priest with the Lord in three days, as did Gideon. Others may take thirty years to arrive at that same office. Still others may take a life-time and never make it close to that office. Some children of God remain babes forever, some become young men, and some become fathers (I John 2:12-14). When we ask a Brother how long he has been saved, we are being carnal. We are conforming (Rom 12:2) a spiritual occurrence into natural light. Conforming the light to darkness.

CITY OF DAVID

Let us transform a natural occurrence into spiritual light. King David's intention was to move the capital of the united kingdom from Hebron to Jerusalem, but the Jebusites (Heb: he will be trodden down) maintained an impregnable fortress atop mount Zion. Mount Zion is the highest of the mountains which form the environs of Jerusalem and is thus the tactical position of greatest military advantage. The Jebusites rashly taunted David by calling out to him that their fortified stronghold was so impossible to take that even blind men and cripples could successfully defend it from David's mighty army.

*And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: THINKING, David cannot come in hither. NEVERTHELESS David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter [the water supply trough channeled through the rock], and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind [of the Jebusites which they taunt us with], that are hated of David's soul [for the taunting], he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, THE BLIND AND THE LAME SHALL NOT COME INTO THE HOUSE. So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward. (II Sam 5:6-9)

"The blind and the lame shall not come into the house" of the Lord. We are informed that this phrase became a proverb with the people of Israel after the taking of Zion. Does it mean that God won't allow the blind and lame into Heaven? Yes. Sure does. Why? Because we are all born blind and lame. Those willing to receive Jesus Christ as Lord will be saved, healed (Isa 33:24), and restored to whole! Those unwilling will remain spiritually blind and spiritually lame: devoid of sight and crippled in their walk and work.

LAME FROM THE WOMB

The disciples received a taste of the fullness of Him in Acts 2. After that, the first recorded miracle done by any of them is the healing of a man lame from his mother's womb who was laid daily at the gate of the temple to beg alms. We are all born beggars lame from the womb. The action here is prophetic. It was done through Peter who was once again full of Him. It was done to and for all unsaved men who are willing to receive: "And he [the lame man] gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them." (Acts 3:5). And he did.

*Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but SUCH AS I HAVE GIVE I THEE: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the RIGHT HAND, and LIFTED HIM UP: and IMMEDIATELY his feet and ankle bones RECEIVED strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and ENTERED with them INTO THE TEMPLE, walking, and leaping, and PRAISING GOD. (Acts 3:6-9)

THE EARNEST

At this present moment each of us has an "earnest" of the Holy Spirit inside us (II Cor 1:22; 5:5; Eph 1:14). Any way you cut it, an "earnest," a deposit, is definitely not a fullness. A blind man can tell the difference between a full glass of water and a partially full glass, experientially. But he cannot tell the difference spiritually. Each of us has sin inside us (I John 1:8). That present sin is what the Holy Spirit is cleaning out of us (Phil 1:6). That is one of His jobs: housekeeper. This present "earnest" of Him will become the fullness of Him when we are thoroughly purged of all sin on the Day of Atonement, when we are thoroughly cleaned out. We must prepare a perfectly clean house for the Lord to dwell in. We shall be made perfect. This shittim wood will be thoroughly burned in the fire and then we shall be perfect pure gold vessels fit for His perfect use. Jesus Christ said:

*BE YE THEREFORE PERFECT, even as your Father which is in heaven is PERFECT. (Matt 5:48)

HEALING

The words are commune, communicate, and command. The Holy Spirit communes with our spirit, who communicates with our soul, who commands our body. Like God toward us, each upper has to speak to the lower in a language which that intended recipient can understand. We do not speak to babies in the same language as we do adults. Nor to horses or dogs as to babies.

Our spirit is yielded to and in compliance with the Holy Spirit. There is no separation between Holy Spirit and spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in the house of our spirit (I Cor 3:16; 6:19). This is an intimate knowing relationship. This is husband and wife. This is the "them" of Genesis 1:27,28. When a healing activity occurs, we are immediately and perfectly and fully healed positionally which means spiritually. That positional spiritual healing is affected by the Holy Spirit who communes with our spirit, Light to light. To commune is to co-operate and to share. To commune is to love.

Sin dwells in the soul. Our soul is in rebellion to the Holy Spirit. There is separation between spirit and soul (Heb 4:12). The Holy Spirit never directly interacts with sin. He cannot, for He is God's Spirit. Experiential healing is affected by the Holy Spirit who communes with our spirit who in turn communicates to our soul, light to darkness. Our soul in turn issues orders, as in commands to our body. The presence of strongholds of sin which are rebellion block, obstruct, hinder, and otherwise interfere with the perfect immediate healing of the Holy Spirit. Full experiential healing is therefore not immediate.

The spirit hears and receives "a still small voice" (I Kings 19:12) and converts that into a code in the form of a suggestion and transmits it to the soul. The spirit does not control the soul. The soul is willing to receive suggestions but is not willing to receive commands. The soul then selects a suggestion that it is willing to comply with and converts that into a code in the form of a command and issues that to the body. The soul controls the body. The body follows the command. It is thoughtless. It is a vehicle in which the soul rides and drives. The spirit is a passenger. Most men drive while the wife gives suggestions as "how to" drive from the passenger seat.

At the beginning of the millennia when we have been purged from all sin and are full of Him, this healing activity will immediately occur both positionally and experientially exactly as the prophetic example given us in Acts 3:5-9. The lame man was completely and immediately healed spiritually and physically: he "immediately...received strength" to his body "leaping up," and spiritually "entered with them into the temple...praising God." Hallelujah! Please note that the lame man was healed and delivered all at the same time. He was made whole. When we now receive salvation, we are fully healed and delivered at the same moment positionally. The experiential reality lags behind the positional reality. We have learned that there are no blind, or lame in the house of God (II Sam 5:8). Neither are there demonically inhabited saints in the house of God.

FAITH

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." (II Cor 5:7). Our faith is that we are made perfect and made whole in our position in Christ Jesus at the Father's right hand. Faith is positional. Sight is experiential. Our sight is always contradicting our faith. Our sight is always accusing our faith of being a liar. Faith and sight oppose one another. They are enemies. That is why we are not to walk by sight which is focused on Satan's worldly realm and under his dominion as did the old man. We now walk by faith which is focused on God's Heavenly realm as a new creature in Christ Jesus. We focus on the finished work for our truth. What you see is not what you get!

WHAT YOU DO GET NOW

Let us take a look at some down-to-earth practical realities. Jesus has purposefully left the saints in this world (John 17:15,18). We are here to do a job. Saints are the agents of God. Saints are soldiers in God's army (II Tim 3,4). Demons are the agents of Satan. Demons are soldiers in Satan's army. These are two actively opposing armies presently on this earth and this is spiritual warfare:

*For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of STRONG HOLDS; CASTING down IMAGINATIONS, and every high thing that exalteth itself AGAINST the knowledge of God, and, BRINGING INTO CAPTIVITY EVERY THOUGHT TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST. (II Cor 10:3-5)

What weapons do we use in this warfare? "The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph 6:17). Each Word of God is a spiritual weapon, a Sword of the Lord. These are the only weapons a Christian can and will ever employ. Where, do you suppose, does all this spiritual warfare take place? Well, the Apostle Paul speaks of "imaginations" and the "knowledge of God" and "every thought" in connection with this warfare. Those three things have in common that they exist in the mind. Whose mind? My mind, and, your mind. The battleground of spiritual warfare is in our mind, for our mind. God's objective in this war is to fulfill us, to fill us with Himself. Satan's objective in this war is to destroy us, to stop us from being filled with God. The strategy necessary for the saints to win this war is for them to bring "into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

OBEDIENT SOLDIERS

The enemy has established strong holds in our mind. These strong holds are enemy fortresses like the Jebusites had occupying territory in the land of our mind. We must allow these strong holds to be pulled down. We do this by obediently answering His Trumpet (Rev 1:10, Jesus Christ) call to arms and putting on the whole armour of God. We are yielded to and obey the Holy Spirit who is our field commander, our General. As an obedient soldier of God under orders, we stand watching:

*And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word [rhema] of God: PRAYING ALWAYS with ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION in the Spirit, and WATCHING thereunto with ALL PERSEVERANCE AND SUPPLICATION for all saints. (Eph 6:17,18)

That is, we stand watching always in worshipful prayer, earnestly and persistently praying and petitioning for all saints continually. Prayer, supplication, and perseverance are experiential actions. We experience them as we do them. They are supportive actions. They are obedient actions. These actions that we do, place us experientially in compliance with the Holy Spirit. Our obedience to Him experientially allows the Holy Spirit to perform His perfect work in us. End of strong hold. Our Lord God has reclaimed the land. We win! That is why "to obey is better than sacrifice." (I Sam 15:22).

TITHING IS OBEDIENCE

That is why the tithe is so extremely important to God's purpose in us. The tithe is physically manifested experiential obedience and therefore allows the Holy Spirit to perform His perfect work in us experientially. God cannot work in disobedient and therefore rebellious children. One may be a saint and not tithe. But can one be an overcomer and not tithe? We shall receive measure for measure. The tithe is the literally the least that the Lord our God asks of us. For some, the least is too much.

*And he said unto them, TAKE HEED, and BEWARE of COVETOUSNESS: for a man's LIFE CONSISTETH NOT in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. (Luke 12:15)

*If ye then be NOT ABLE to do that thing which is LEAST, why take ye thought for the rest? (Luke 12:26)

*He that is FAITHFUL in that which is LEAST is FAITHFUL also IN MUCH: and he that is unjust in THE LEAST IS unjust also in MUCH. (Luke 16:10)

OFFERINGS

*If we have sown unto you SPIRITUAL THINGS, is it a great thing if we shall REAP YOUR CARNAL THINGS? (I Cor 9:11)

SHEEP AND SHEPHERDS

There are sheep and shepherds. Both are God's children. Sheep walk mostly by sight, and some faith. Shepherds walk mostly by faith, and some sight. Mostly, because sight and faith are two opposing extremes of the spectrum of our walk with the Lord. Sight is experiential. Faith is positional. Sight is natural, one-dimensional. Faith is spiritual, multi-dimensional. "Howbeit that was not first that was spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual." (I Cor 15:46).

*But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To HIM the porter [door guard] openeth; and the sheep HEAR HIS VOICE; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and LEADETH them out. And when he puteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep FOLLOW HIM: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they NOT FOLLOW, but will FLEE FROM HIM: for they know not the voice of strangers. (John 10:2-5)

Sheep walk by sight and faith. They follow the shepherd. The sheep are called by his voice. They hear his voice. They recognize his voice. They recognize their name. They recognize his voice saying their name. This is Spirit in spirit to soul. The voice is invisible. They respond. This is faith. The sheep see the shepherd and follow him by sight. If they stray out of sight of the flock and lose sight of the shepherd and do not hear the shepherd, they are lost. They trust the sight and the voice of the shepherd. They follow the shepherd and the voice. This is sight and faith.

Shepherds walk by faith. They are undershepherds. They follow the voice. The shepherds are called by his voice. They hear his voice. They recognize his voice. They recognize their name. They recognize his voice saying their name. This is Spirit to spirit. The voice is invisible. They respond. This is faith. The shepherd hears the voice and follows it by faith. He hears the voice that speaks of a lush green pasture in a valley half a day journey to the northeast, of a quietly flowing brook to the east of the valley, of a sheepfold in the rocks to the north. He trusts the voice. He follows the voice. This is faith.

SATAN

Satan is the god of this world (II Cor 4:4). Satan was given power over this world by the woman when she bowed the knee to him (Gen 3:6), for she "was in the transgression." (I Tim 2:14). Satan has the power to enter into and inhabit every person in this world, as long as there is sin in that person. "Neither give place to the devil." (Eph 4:27). Sin gives Satan a "place" to inhabit within that person. Sin is the door through which Satan enters into our minds. Only in one instance in the history of the world was Satan not able to enter into a person. That person had no sin: "the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." (John 14:30). That person was Jesus Christ. He was perfect. He is "the door."

Satan was not given dominion over positional reality. He was given dominion over experiential reality. His power affects all the experiential reality of this world. It is because of his opposition to God's Will that experiential reality lags far behind the already accomplished positional reality. Satan opposes and inhibits God's Will in us with his army of demons. They occupy the strong holds of our mind. Therefore, our present experiential reality is a becoming reality.

Satan has limitations. He is a spirit. He is not God. He is not omniscient. He is not omnipotent. He is not omnipresent. It is his lack of omnipresence that we shall discuss. Satan cannot be inside everyone at once. He can only be inside one person at a time. However, he does have an enormous army of fallen angels called demons who are also spirits able to enter in. Satan's army is counted as the third part of the angels of Heaven, an innumerable host. These are Satan's soldiers. These fallen angels are the ones that enter into us and inhabit us as our sins give them a "place" to dwell. We call those places in our mind, strong holds. This is the enemy army that invades and occupies the land.

FLEAS

Demons are like fleas. Internal fleas. They inhabit unsaved men. All unsaved men. There is no water, no Holy Spirit in the unsaved. They are dry places, dry bones, like the dry wilderness of the desert where shittim trees are found. We are born dry and withered and must be born again "of water and of the Spirit" (John 3:5). An unsaved man has a bunch of demonic fleas dwelling inside him. A bunch? Well, lots! The man in the country of Gadarenes had Legion dwelling inside him. A legion is about 6,000. That is a lot of fleas. When we are saved, the Holy Spirit enters into us and begins to clean us out of fleas, as we are willing to release them. Some become extremely fond of their fleas. Even dumb animals know better than that (II Pet 2:16;Mark 5:13).

THE GREAT COMMISSION

*And he said unto them, GO YE into all the world, and PREACH the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW THEM THAT BELIEVE; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:15-18)

Verses 15 and 16 are the Great Commission. They are what we are commissioned to do. Verses 17 and 18 are the five signs, i.e. immediately observable results of verses 15 and 16 that could be experientially seen at that time. Why do we say "at that time?" Because immediately after Acts 2, the disciples were full of Him and were distributing a fullness of Him to the new convert, however, to an ever lessening degree just as a full glass of water diminishes with each sip given.

The original disciples had great capacity. Peter, James and John had greater capacity than the other disciples (Luke 5:4,10; Matt 17:2; Mark 14:32,33). A full of Him convert is immediately full of Him both positionally and experientially. Even a drop of water may be fullness to a very small vessel, one with little capacity. As the fullness of the glass continued to diminish with each sip given, Satan maintained his unrelenting pressure. The experiential reality began to lag increasingly behind the always fully accomplished positional reality. As the water of that particular filling of the Holy Spirit diminished in the glass, the atmospheric air pressure (Eph 2:2) filled the glass with Satan. This world is being rapidly filled by Satan. That too shall end.

MULTI-DIMENSIONAL SIGNS

Each of these five experiential signs is multi-dimensional. They are spiritual as well as literal. They all are definitely for today, spiritually. We definitely should be doing them all now. However, a problem does arise in that if we persist in a linear, literal, one-dimensional interpretation of these signs, lots of us are going to die rather horribly. We do not have the fullness of Him that the early believers had nor the fullness of Him that we will have. We are in-between. We are in the drought season of apostasy (Joel 1:9-20; Hag 1:11).

*Therefore the SHOWERS have been WITHHOLDEN, and there hath been NO LATTER RAIN; and thou hast a whore's forehead, THOU REFUSEDST TO BE ASHAMED. (Jer 3:3)

We therefore cannot successfully exercise immediate physical powers that are in opposition to the god of this world who has experiential dominion. However, every one of these signs has a spiritual dimension in which we can exercise full immediate power.

CASTING OUT DEVILS

We were currently discussing demons, devils, and we note that one of the signs is that "In my name shall they shall cast out devils." We have also seen that even unsaved professing Christians can cast out devils in the name of Jesus Christ (Matt 7:21-23). That is precisely what happens to a newly saved man. Devils are cast out. Before conversion the man's body is "full of darkness" (Matt 6:23), i.e. unrestrained demonic activity and occupation. At conversion the man willingly allows the Light of the Holy Spirit to enter in through a crack in hard bark of the self-protective armour of his pride.

When the Holy Spirit enters in, all the demonic strong holds within the boundaries of the relinquished property are immediately cast out. The pivotal action occurs when the man asks for forgiveness. This is the break in the armour. This is a humble little bit of self-sacrifice: the sacrifice of a tiny piece of pride. To ask is to submit, to bow the knee. Praise God. The Holy Spirit is invited into the habitation of darkness, fleas, demons, devils, and somebody has to leave to make room for the Light.

Darkness flees from the Light. Light a candle in a dark room and see experientially for yourself. Every time a man receives salvation, demons are cast out by the Holy spirit. However (the hammer), not all the demons are cast out. Please note in that dark room that you (obediently) lit with a candle, that it did not become completely light, full of light (Matt 6:22). Every saved saint is walking around with demons inside him. What else? Otherwise we would be a finished work experientially full of Him, as well as positionally and therefore perfect like Him. No sin, no sickness, and no demons. Perfect. These thorns and internal fleas (Mark 4:18,19) enter into and distract us and divert our focus from the finished work, Jesus Christ. Fleas perform the exact same function as thorns. Whenever we are bitten or pierced, we look to them.

CONTINUING THE BAD NEWS

Where do demons live? Fallen angels. Well? Where? Standard doctrine which is in good part the pharisaical traditions of men would have you believe that demons dwell way down deep somewhere towards the center of the earth in some immensely hot type of fiery inferno. Logically speaking, how then could they affect us, tempt us, control us, in any way? Do they cup their hands and bellow up orders from the depths? HEY YOU UP THERE!! me? YEA, YOU! I WANT YOU TO...SMOKE A CIGARETTE! YEA YOU, YOU HEARD ME! what?-when?-now? YES! DO IT NOW!! HEH HEH HEH, WE'RE GONNA DEFILE YOUR TEMPLE!! (Strange incense you know: Ex 30:9; Lev 10:1,2; Num 3:4; 26:61). Well, as you can see, that is a little impractical and improbable. Or, how about if they continually loom angrily and invisibly around us, glowering and screeching nasty imperatives into our otherwise pristine ears? The unsavory truth of the matter, the bad news is that demons live inside us. Well, we certainly do not want to hear that, do we? They lived inside us when Jesus cast them out as our example. They still live inside us. However:

FEAR NOT

Fear is a snare. How many times did Jesus say "fear not"? What is there to fear from a fallen angel, a devil, a demon, or Satan? These have been expelled from the Presence of God where we dwell! They cannot go where we are! We have the accomplished victory over them inside us and seated at the right hand of the Father. Positionally they are a completely defeated enemy. Yes, they do have limited power in this experiential world, power that we allow them to have, power that we are deceived into allowing them to have. They are low insignificant things that crawl on their bellies in the dust. They are thorns and fleas and termites, little things. They inconvenience us, as they attempt to distract us from the finished work. "Fear not." Paul was more than inconvenienced, he was beset! Nevertheless, where was his focus, and where do you suppose Paul is now?

WHAT IS TO FEAR?

*And the LORD God said unto the SERPENT, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; UPON THY BELLY SHALT THOU GO, and DUST THOU SHALT EAT all the days of thy life. (Gen 3:14)

Seems to me that we ought to be looking down for him, rather than up to him. But, you see, he magnifies himself. Once he has "place" in the sin in us, he magnifies himself through fear. Fear is the magnifying glass. Fear is a magnifier. We look through it to the world. The more we have fear of him, the larger he appears. The larger he appears, the more fear we have of him, etc., etc., etc. Fear is a circular snare. He is on his belly, in the dust. God spoke it. I believe it. He is "as a roaring lion" (I Pet 5:8). "As" means that he appears like a roaring lion. It does not mean that he is a roaring lion. This is indeed a grand deception.

WE ARE DECEIVED INTO MAGNIFYING THEM

The giant Goliath roared like (appeared like) a lion and arose like (appeared like) a bear to those who saw, but David believed God. Let us turn to I Sam 17 which literally identifies those who walked by sight and therefore not by faith. Samuel employs the word "saw."

*And ALL THE MEN OF ISRAEL, when they SAW the man [Goliath], fled from him, and were sore AFRAID. (I Sam 17:24)

*And when the Philistine [Goliath] LOOKED about, and SAW David, he disdained him.... (I Sam 17:42)

*And when the Philistines SAW their champion was dead, they fled. (I Sam 17:51b)

*And when Saul SAW David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner.... (I Sam 17:55)

All the men of Israel saw, Goliath saw, the Philistines saw, and Saul saw. These all walked by sight and not by faith. David never "saw," he believed: he walked by faith, not by sight. David walked with his focus on what he believed, the positional realm, God's realm. God's realm has authority over and is higher than the experiential realm because it created and includes the experiential realm. Everyone else walked with their focus on what they saw, the lower realm, the experiential realm, the realm in which Satan has temporary limited dominion.

There are some things that God just won't allow Satan to do (Job 2:6), else we all would be immediately destroyed. Goliath is a type and shadow of antichrist. Antichrist is corporate just as we are corporate. He is like a leopard, has the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion and Satan's power and seat and great authority (Rev 13:2). Goliath was magnified by those who walked by sight as they looked at him through the magnifier of fear. They believed what they saw. The body of antichrist is now being magnified through that same magnifier.

PRIDE

Satan magnifies himself. That is called pride. That is what got him into trouble in the first place. He thought to magnify himself instead of God. He said in his heart, "I will be like the most High." (Isa 14:14).

*Thy POMP [Heb: arrogance, excellency, majesty, pomp, pride, proud, swelling] is BROUGHT DOWN to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou FALLEN from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou CUT DOWN to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (Isa 14:11,12)

He swelled himself up in pride. He puffed himself up. He and his demonic host puff themselves up in our minds through fear. Fear is a distraction. Seven times Jesus taught for us to "fear not." Why don't we believe Jesus? Because we walk by sight and not by faith.

*For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, TRANSFORMING THEMSELVES into the apostles of Christ. And NO MARVEL; for Satan himself is TRANSFORMED INTO AN ANGEL OF LIGHT. Therefore it is NO GREAT THING if his ministers also be TRANSFORMED as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (II Cor 11:13-15)

They are deceivers. Satan and his ministers can appear to be angels of light to our sight. If we walk by sight and not by faith, we shall be deceived. "The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes." (Gen 3:6). Satan's demonic host now minister their puffed up "good" and "pleasant" doctrine in Christian churches throughout this world, till the whole be leavened (Matt 13:33).

LEAVEN

Leaven is yeast. It puffs up. It portrays an outward appearance that is in reality, false. It pretends. It appears to be something that it is not. It deceives us by our sight as to its true nature. Leaven is an actor.

*Then Jesus said unto them, Take HEED and BEWARE of the LEAVEN of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the DOCTRINE of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. (Matt 16:6,12)

*And he charged them, saying, Take HEED, BEWARE of the LEAVEN of the Pharisees, and of the LEAVEN of Herod. (Mark 8:15)

*BEWARE YE the LEAVEN of the Pharisees, which is HYPOCRISY [Gr: acting, deceit]. (Luke 12:1b)

The Pharisees were a dominant Jewish religious group at the time of Jesus. They were anti-Roman. They believed in the Old Testament writings and the legal validity of traditional oral commentaries by venerated men. They believed and espoused the doctrines and traditions of men. The Pharisees were self-righteous and hypocritical. The Sadducees were another Jewish religious group. They were pro-Roman sympathizers. The Sadducees denied the authority of oral tradition, the resurrection of the dead, and the existence of angels. The Herodians were an influential Jewish political group of Roman sympathizers.

*Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto LEAVEN, which a woman took, and HID in THREE MEASURES OF MEAL, till the WHOLE WAS LEAVENED. (Matt 13:33)

Pride is hidden in the foundation of a leavened house. The meal is the pure Word of God. The three measures are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The woman "took" of the leaven as she "took of the fruit" (Gen 3:6). "Hid" is deception. The woman is deceived into deceiving. The woman was originally deceived, is still deceived, and will continue to be deceived. She walks by sight. The woman is an unknowing agent of Satan. The leavening process will continue until the whole Word of God is completely leavened. The church is a great tree. She is the "greatest among herbs" and has lots and lots and lots of birds lodging "in the branches thereof." (Matt 13:32).

*And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE, that ye be not PARTAKERS OF HER SINS, and that ye RECEIVE NOT OF HER PLAGUES. For HER SINS have reached unto heaven, and God hath REMEMBERED HER INIQUITIES. (Rev 18:4,5)

Amen