OVERCOMING THE WORK OF EVIL SPIRITS

This morning, I chanced upon this draft of the talk I was asked to deliver in May, 2006  (more than 10 years ago).  I find this very relevant because of the CFC Theme this year "Stand Firm in the Faith", and with some  CFC leaders repeatedly reminding us to "put on the full armor of God! (Ephesians 6:14-18)"-- CFC Theme of 2011. 

This was actually my own reflection and collation of related materials on the CFC PFO- issued Foundation for Christian Living Talk 7-OVERCOMING THE WORK OF EVIL SPIRITS  Expanded Outline. 

It had taken me  seven (7) years to prepare and deliver this talk. 

And it resonates more than ever, now, ten (10) years after.  

COUPLES FOR CHRIST 

FOUNDATIONS FOR CHRISTIAN LIVING

TALK No. 7 :  OVERCOMING THE WORK OF EVIL SPIRITS

        Good evening.

       The topic for this evening is “Overcoming the Work of Evil Spirits.”   

      Allow me to start by asking why we need to discuss this topic. For this, I want us to go back to our CLP Talks.

     Remember what we say our goal is as Christians?  To morph. To change.  To repent. To become who we should be in accordance with God’s plan. The goal is to be like Christ, so that we can be with Christ, in paradise. For Christ to be “formed in us.”

   We can summarize this concept through the very simple prayer of Soren Kierkegaard: “And now Lord, with your help, I will become, myself.”

       We must become “ourselves”. 

           

    What is the big deal then? Can we not become ourselves basta-basta? The answer is NO. Why ?

           

       It is because we have to overcome three (3) obstacles: the first is the FLESH. The Second, the WORLD.  And the third, EVIL SPIRITS. These are the things that keep us away and separated from God.  When we overcome them, we can be “ourselves”.

        Note that we can never overcome them on our own. Not even with you being a member of a Christian community. To overcome them, we need the Lord’s grace. Kaya nga, “And now Lord, with your help, I will become, myself.”

        Tonight we shall focus on the third: Overcoming the Work of the Evil Spirits. And I tell you, the talk tonight took me seven (7) years to prepare.

Years ago, when I was a new CFC member, I heard this talk when it was given in Fatima. No big deal, actually, but I was intrigued – who really is Satan? what’s wrong really with freemasonry and new age?

So what I did was to try studying anything on Satan and Freemasonry. I went to the CFC center and bought a book Michael Brown’s  “Prayer Warrior”. And then I read the Diaries of Sister Faustina. I asked my brother to look for the Encyclopedia on Frremasonry and planned to have it purchased.

One night, after having read Brown and Sis Faustina’s Diaries, I had a nightmare. Bangungot.  I saw a man’s  face substituted by another face and another in a lightning speed; there must have been hundreds of faces I saw, until it ended and paused with the face of the devil.

Admittedly, I was frightened. I talked to my chapter head about it. He advised me not to push through with the plan to study evil. Hence I dropped it and put back the books on my shelves. I decided to get back to it only when I am ready, as per my chapter head’s advice.

You could just then imagine how I trembled when Bro. Joey emailed to me the talk outline and I saw that the talk tonight is about the topics that I had dropped before. But then again, maybe, the time is ripe. Maybe, after six years in CFC,  I am now ready. Just maybe.

So, I went back to my book shelves and retrieved these books. And read them. Every night.

Fortunately, I did not have nightmares. Indeed, I was reading them in a new light. And this time prayerfully, to have that confidence that I could somehow impart something… to my brethren now gathered and assembled.

Or so I thought. For I realized that after having read books, and be mesmerized by all these information, I still do not know how to present them, in accordance with the CFC teachings and outline. Honestly, I still do not know what to say.

            So, I will request of you to please bear with me. We are all students here. We will try to study the matter together.

            Allow me to start now thru the Gospel of Mark.

MARCOS 5: 1-20

         Dumating sila sa lupain ng mga taga-Gerasa sa kabilang ibayo, at pag-alis niya sa bangka, sinalubong siya ng isang lalaking inaalihan ng demonyo, na galing sa mga libingan.  Sa mga puntod siya nakatira at di siya maigapos kahit na ng mga kadena.  Madalas nga siyang ikinakadena at ipinoposas ang mga paa pero nilalagot niya ang mga kadena at sinisira ang mga posas sa paa kaya walang makasupil sa kanya.  Nasa kaburulan siya araw-gabi, sa mga libingan.  Nagsisisigaw siya at sinasaktan ang sarili sa mga bato.

               

Pagkakita nito kay Jesus sa malayo, patakbo itong lumapit at nagpatirapa sa harap niya at sumigaw:  “Ano ang kailangan mo sa akin, Jesus na Anak ng Diyos!  Hinihiling ko sa iyo sa ngalan ng Diyos na huwag mo akong pahirapan.”  Sinabi nga sa kanya ni Jesus:  “Lumabas ka sa tao, maruming espiritu.”  At nang tanungin siya ni Jesus, “Ano ang pangalan mo?” sumagot siya, “Hukbo nga ako, marami kasi kami.”  At hinihingi niya kay Jesus na huwag silang palayasin sa lupaing iyon.

               

Maraming baboy na nanginginain doon sa burol.  Kaya hiniling sa kanya ng mga demonyo:  “Ipadala mo kami sa mga baboy at papasok kami sa mga iyon.”  At pinahintulutan sila ni Jesus.  Kaya pagkalayas ng mga demonyo’y pumasok ang mga ito sa baboy; at nahulog sa bangin ang mga baboy papuntang dagat at nalunod na lahat. 

Tumakas naman ang mga nagbabantay sa mga baboy.  At ipinamalita nila ang lahat sa bayan at sa mga bukid.  Naglabasan ang mga tao para alamin ang nangyari.

Kaya pinuntahan ng mga ito si Jesus at nakita nila ang dating inaalihan ng demonyo na nakaupo at nakadamit, matino na siya na sinapian ng Hukbo.  Kaya natakot sila.  Ibinalita naman sa kanila ng nakakita kung ano ang nangyari sa inalihan ng demonyo at pati sa mga baboy.  Kayat hiniling nila kay Jesus na umalis sa kanilang lupain.

Pagsakay ni Jesus sa bangka, nakiusap sa kanya ang inalihan ng demonyo na isama siya.  Ngunit hindi siya pinayagan ni Jesus, kundi sinabi niya:  “Umuwi ka sa iyong mga kamg-anak at ipahayag sa kanila ang lahat ng ginawa sa iyo ng Panginoon at ang pagkahabag niya sa iyo.”

Kaya umalis ang tao, at sinimulang ipahayag sa buong lupain ng Decapolis ang lahat ng ginawa sa kanya ni Jesus, at namangha ang lahat.

WHAT ARE THE LESSONS THAT WE MAY LEARN FROM THESE VERSES:

FIRST.  THE WHOLE STORY IS AN EXPLICIT LESSON TO US THAT EVIL IS REAL.

              There is such a thing as demons. Satan exists. The Bible says so.

1.   Previously, we have seen 2 major sources of personal wrongdoing: the world (our social and cultural environment whose trends, values and ideas are opposed to God), and the flesh (self‑sufficient human nature which operates independently of God).

2.   Now, it is made clear that    We are not only a psychological, social and cultural being.  We are also spiritual creatures.  We need to confront a 3rd source of personal problems: Satan and evil spirits.

Brothers and sisters, There is such a thing as a spiritual war. Each one of us is in it.

SECOND: I want you to focus on the verse again and look what the villagers did to Jesus after he cast the demons out. “hiniling nila kay Jesus na umalis sa kanilang lupain.”

We ask why? Why would the villagers ask Jesus to get out of that village? I can only think that they do not want have anything to do with realities as frightening as demons and devils, evil and Satan.

            It is the same thing now. Can we not identify with the villagers? Tayo mismong mga Kristiyano, we do not think much about evil and Satan and demons and devil.

B.         The reality of Satan

1.   The modern world dismisses the notion of a personal evil force as fantasy.  Even Christians share this view.

And it is wrong.

Arellano:

                  Pope Paul VI 1972 address: “What are the greatest needs of the Church today? Do not let our answer surprise you as being over simple or even superstitious and unreal: one of the greatest needs is defense from that evil which is called the Devil.”

                  The Christian view of the cosmos and life is triumphantly optimistic; and this view justifies our joy and our thankfulness in living… but this view is not complete and exact… Evil is not merely a lack of something, but an effective agent, a living, spiritual being, perverted and perverting. A terrible reality, mysterious and frightening.

                  …

 It is contrary to the teaching of the Bible and the Church which refuses to recognize the existence of such a reality, or regard it as a principle in itself,.. or to explain it as a pseudo reality, a conceptual and fanciful personificiation of the unknown causes of our misfortunes.

I can think of three (3) reasons why we do not even discuss, much less believe in Evil and Satan and demons.

      (1) They are simply unknown and even, unknowable. In 2 Thes St. Paul calls it “mystery of iniquity”.

Arellano: “The problem of evil…is the greatest difficulty for our religious understanding of the cosmos. Not for nothing did St. Augustine suffer over it for years “I sought the origin of evil, and I found no explanation.”

      (2) We are not comfortable with it. Okay na the flesh and the world. They appear to be harmless. But Evil Spirits who are active agents? That’s too frightening for comfort.

“Today people prefer to appear strong and unprejudiced, to pose as positivists.. People are afraid of falling into..frightening deviations of fancy and superstition.”

(3) Third. (2 in outline). This modern disbelief in demons is largely attributable to the increasing secularization of society.  Our culture has tried to reduce all of life to natural cause and effect, the interplay of atoms, the reactions of chemicals.

            A word on Lee Strobel’s “The Case for a Creator”

All these are wrong. Evil is not fantasy nor superstition. It is real. Satan is not imagination. He exists.

There is a particular reason why our most repeated prayer (Our Father) ends with “Deliver us from evil.” For evil is real.

            In fact, we live in a time when evil is prevalent, and Satan is-- according even to the Bible, --“The Prince of the World”

Mother Nadine: Pope John Paul II (while not yet a pope then) warned us of the terrible affect the evil one would have on our society and Church back in 1972. He said:

                  “We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think wide circles of American society or Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel. This confrontation lies within the plan of divine Providence; it is a trial which the whole Church must take up.”

      Pope John Paul (1987)

      “The evil that is in the world, the disorder existing in society, the incoherence of man, the interior fracture of which is a victim, are not only consequences of original sin but also the effect of the dark infestation  of Satan of this treacherous evil being destabilizing the moral equilibrium of man. This fighting against the devil whose main opponent is the Archangel St. Michael, is actual also today because the demon is still alive and acting in the world…”

Brothers and Sisters, “Satan is Alive and Well in the Planet Earth”

3.   Yet Scripture, tradition and personal experience all testi­fy to the presence of a personal evil force opposing God.

Scripture:

a)         1 John 5:19b.  Rev 12:7‑9.

Mother Nadine: We probably think of him more as Lucifer, because that is the name that he obviously had as the angel of light before the fall.

Is 14:12-15

           “How have you fallen from the heavens, O morning star, son of the dawn! How are you cut down to the ground, you who mowed down the nations! You said in your heart, “I will scale the heavens;  Above the stars of God, I will set up my throne; I will take my seat on the Mount of Assembly, in the recesses of the North. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” And God replied, “Yet down to the nether world you go, to the recesses of the pit.”

           So here we see his fall, but he’s not chained. He’s roaming. He’s very active. And when he fell, he took quite a few others with him. Rv 12:4 –“It’s tail (the serpent’s) swept away a third of the stars.” A third of the angels went with Lucifer – by their choice.

Rev 12, 9

           “The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth and its angels were thrown down with it.”

And please note this:

           FARONI (The Likes and Dislikes of the Devil)  All these is expressed by the words: “I will not serve” Jer 2-20 (context is Israel forsakes God)

“Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said: “I will not serve you!” Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree youb lay down as a prostitute.

1 Pt. 5:8-9

           “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, be steadfast in faith.”

Tradition

           

Show book on early Christian Views on Satan.

 

Personal Experiences

            Sis Faustina ; Divine Mercy

From all of these, we can learn that:

b)         Satan wields tremendous power.  A fallen angel.

c)         Satan opposes God everywhere and fights Him with all the weapons he can find.  Satan's ultimate goal is to de­stroy the kingdom of God.

Hence, there is God, there is Satan. And a spiritual war is on the loose. It rages. Everyday.

It starts with individuals, then families, societies, nations all throughout the world.

4.   This spiritual war rages in world events.  Satan is the "prince of this world".

a)   Satan is implicated in political events, in internation­al crises, and in the causes of human suffering: war, racism, famine, crime, poverty, disease.

Pope John Paul has a very succinct way of putting these: “eruption of evil.”

Said he in “Memory and Identity” – “The 20^th century was the theatre in which particular historical and ideological processes were played out, leading towards the great “eruption’ of evil, but it also provided the setting for its defeat.

The ideologies of evil that he referred to are Nazism and Communism.

b)   Satan also works more subtly to undermine the social order, often using well‑intentioned individuals and popular movements for his destructive purposes.

*     Freemasonry

*     New Age

*     Contraception

New Age:

Nadine: It is an attempt to undermine our faith. It has so many faces and is manifesting itself in so many ways, particularly under the guise of good. …

We should note then that:

NADINE: Satan can strike at Christians through good things. Satan comes disguised as an angel of light and he’d bring us seemingly good things. Satan takes God’s word, and he changes it. He’ll take truth and he’ll distort it, ever so slightly. Our fault, we do not check it out with God. Eve could have easily said to the serpent: I’d better check this out with God.

c)   Satan's schemes affect even the body of Christ, causing division and spreading weakness.

Mother Nadine: Satan rarely changes his tactics particularly because they’re so successful. The generation might change, the country might change, the faces of the people might change, but he doesn’t change that much. He is a destroyer and his activity will always destroy.

Number 1 tool is division, which we might not spot as easily as some of his other tools because it isn’t destructive in the early stage. With this tool, he can slow us down.

In fact, our own Frank Padilla said in his new book –

“Friend or Foe”: “Those who serve Christ in the mission of the Church have their good intentions. But be warned. There will be times when in spite of all our good intentions, Satan can still manage to use us to do his work….WE CAN HAVE ALL THE GOOD INTENTIONS BUT WE MIGHT STILL BE USED BY THE ENEMY”

d)         Satan also works in the lives of individuals.

*     He tries to distort man as a creature created in God's image.

*     He subjects men to emotional, physical, mental and spiritual bondage.

C.         Obvious areas of Satan's work.

1.   The occult.

           

a)   Satanism, witchcraft, spiritualism, divination.

b)   Do: renounce it, destroy any objects associated with its practice and be prayed with for freedom from its ef­fects.

2.   The bizarre.

a)   Uncanny and inexplicable happenings which involve changes in our normal sensory perception.

*     An eerie sense of the presence of someone or some­thing.

*     An unusual perception change in sight, sound or smell.

*     A hallucination‑like experience, sometimes involving temporary loss of sight, hearing or smell, or a new intensity of sensory perception which alters or mixes together colors, sounds or smells.

b)   Such can be induced by drugs, alcohol, fatigue and illness.  If these are not the cause, then may be the work of evil spirits.

3.   Irrational feelings.

a)   Satan lies at the root of many crippling, persistent, neurotic fears which have no rational basis: fears of people, high places, dogs, death, etc.

b)   Satan also causes sudden irrational impulses: to drive a car off the road, to leap from a tall building, to commit a homicidal or suicidal act.

c)   Such may have complex psychological causes.  But very often are caused by evil spirits.

D.         Hidden areas of Satan's work.

1.   Temptations.

a)   Not just to sin, but to become anxious, frustrated, doubting, depressed, fearful, condemned.

b)   Satan is "the accuser of our brethren" (Rev 12:10) and "the father of lies" (John 8:44). He is often behind unfounded guilt feelings, self‑condemnation, and false or evil thoughts about God, oneself and others.

Padilla (Fulfilling the Mandate): One of the greatest weapons in the devil’s arsenal is disunity. Satan has learned well from Jesus, who taught that “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid to waste and house will fall against house.” Lk 11:17

Satan works at disunity. He knows disunity will geatly affect the witness of Christians and will weaken or even destroy its mission. Unfortunately for us, he has been successful in many ways:

·          Christendom itself is split. The Eastern Orthodox Churches broke away in 1054, Protestants in 1517, Anglicans 1535, Pentecostalisn, 1901. Plus the thousands today.

·          Christian marriages have been ravaged by divorce and separation.

·          Families breaking up.

·          Christians within countries fight and kill each other as is Northern Ireland.

·          Parish groups, ecclesial movements and covenant communities have broken up.

Satan targets specially those in leadership or authority, in order to affect a greater number of people. When a marriage breaks up, the children too are affected. When two Christian leaders in the same group fight, their respective followers or loyalists break ranks and form factions under them.

CFC itself has often been a target for disunity and break up by Satan.

 But by God’s grace, CFC has been protected and has not experienced any actual break-up or split in its membership. (Some members and leaders have left CFC, but the body itself has remained intact.) In fact, oftentimes the departure of some leaders and m,embers has paved the way to a smoother and stronger forward momentum.

(THE MINISTRY OF UNITY.—SPOUSES, FAMILIES, RICH AND POOR, SECTORS, RIFT IN CHRISTENDOM.)

-          We must always be mindful of Satan and his wiles, and of his use of disunity as one major weapon. And so when we are in heated argument, whether between spouses or between community leaders, and we notice things are makinga turn for trhe worse, we must step back from the brink by recognizing Satan right there with us, grinning from ear to ear, savoring his impending victory, prodding both parties to keep the heat on. And we must make the move, whether reciprocated by the other party or not, to stop what we are doing. We pray, we repent, we become more tolerant, we humble ourselves, we forebear, we do whatever is need at the time. But we consciously deprive Satan of his victory.

(Remember “my way” “your way” and the “Lord’s way” as the three (3) sides in arguments.)

2.   Addiction.

a)   Gal 4:8.  Such spirits are often strongly implicated in addictions to alcohol, drugs, compulsive eating, homo­sexuality, masturbation, etc.

Homosexual, Lesbian and Transsexual dimension;

Nadine:  Paraphrased. This is deception (on one’s sexuality) and coming from the enemy. We are tricked into believing that  it came from his background, or inherited or that it won’t change.

b)   We need to consider also many natural and psychological factors behind addictions.  But often Satan is at work.

3.   Emotional problems.

a)         Depression, self‑hatred, anger, etc.

b)         Satan often complicates psychological and emotional disorders.

4.   Illness.

a)   Satan can hold people's bodies in bondage.  Lk 11:14; 13:11.

b)   No foolproof method for discerning when an illness is the direct work of an evil spirit.

5.   Spiritual problems.

a)         Satan works to enslave Christians in their spiritual lives.  Ways:

*     Incite overly rigorous self‑denial or a severely legalistic approach to Christianity.

*     Foster self‑condemnation disguised as humility.

*     Judge each other harshly.

*     Adopt an extremely self‑righteous posture toward others.

6.   Fear of God's work in our lives.

a)   Whenever God is beginning to work in power, Satan can be expected to try to obstruct the path.

b)   Some experience unnatural fears before giving their lives to God, being baptized in the Spirit, taking some significant step in their Christian lives.

HOWEVER, and let us now go back to the verses, we can see that, while Satan and his legions may be powerful, they simply are no match to God.

Mark 5:1-20

Lucado: The encounter is explosive. The disciples’ boat beaches near a graveyard and a herd of pigs. Both are ritually and culturally unclean for Jews. As Jesus steps out, a crazy man storms out of a cavern.

They are horrified but Jesus isn’t. Read the next few verses carefully, for they provide a rare privilege – a glimpse into the unseen warfare. For just a few minutes the invisible conflict becomes visible and we are offered a position overlooking the battlefield.

Jesus speaks first: “You evil spirit, come out of the man.” (v.8)

The spirit panics: “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Moist High?” (v.7)

Jesus wants the man back. The demons muster no challenge. They offer no threat. They’ve heard the voice before. When God demands, the demons have one response. They pleaded. They “begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of that area” (v.10)

Jesus’ mere appearance humbles the demons. Though they had dominated this man, they cower before God. Though they had laced a region with fear, they beg for mercy from Jesus. His words reduce them to sniveling, groveling weaklings.

Feeling safer in a herd of pigs than in the presence of God, the demons ask to be sent into the swine. Jesus consents, and two thousand possessed pigs hurl themselves into the sea.

NADINE: He is powerful but lest we forget, Genesis 3: “Now the serpent is the most cunning of all the animals that the Lord God had made.” (v.1.) God created satan. We don’t want to forget this. Satan would like us to forget this and believe God and he are equals.

FARONI: The Devil cannot do whatever he wishes and with no limits, but he has his precise limits. E.g. Job (“Behold all that he has is in your power, only do not lay hand upon his person.” After the sufferings, God blessed Job with material goods, seven children. Then Job dies, old and full of years.”

            JUST THE SAME, GOD HAS GIVEN US THE ARMOUR TO OVERCOME THE WORK OF THE EVIL SPIRITS.

E.         The Solution: The Armor of God.  Eph 6:10‑17.

                “Sa wakas, sa Panginoon kayo kumuha ng lakas, at sa bias ng Kanyang lakas.  Isakbat ninyo ang mga sandata ng Diyos upang malabanan ninyo ang panlilinlang ng diyablo.  Sapagkat hindi laman at dugo an gating mga kalaban, kundi ang mga Pamunuan at Kapangyarihan ng mga pinuno ng mundong ito ng dilim; sila ang masasamang espiritung nasa kaitaasan.

                Kayat isakbat ninyo ang mga sandata ng Diyos upang sa araw ng kasamaan ay hindi kayo umatras at maging matatag pa rin kayo sa paggamit ng mga ito.  Ang katotohanan nawa ang maging sinturon ninyo, kabanalan ang maging baluti ninyo, at ang pagkamasigasig sa Ebanghelyo ng Kapayapaan ang maging sapatos ninyo.  Lagi ninyong hawakan ang kalasag ng pananampalataya para patayin ang lahat ng nagliliyab na palaso ng Masama.  Isuklob din ninyo ang helmet ng kaligtasan at hawakan ang tabak ng Espiritu, na salita ng Diyos.

                Kaya lagi kayong manalangin sa espiritu sa lahat ng inyong pagdarasal at kahilingan.  Magbantay kayo sa gabi sa matiyagang pagdalangin alang-alang din sa akin.  Ipinalangin ninyo na sa pagbuka ng aking bibig, maipangaral ko nang walang takot ang lihim na yaman ng Ebanghelyo.”

Eph 6:11 “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.”

Mother Nadine: We know that we have already won, because the victory has already been won by Jesus, and truly, the battles is the Lord’s!!

1.   Truth. (Eph 6:14:    Stand fast, with the truth as the belt around your waist…)

a)   Satan is a liar and the father of lies.  He tempts Christians by deceiving them about God, themselves, other men, and the external  world.

Remember Satan can quote the Scriptures perfectly. Look at the Desert – Scripture also has it…” (Mt 4:7)

b)   Sometimes Satan is able to make a Christian believe a lie by attaching it to a truth.  "You shouldn't have yelled at your wife yesterday.  You sure are a poor husband".

c)   God's truth‑‑our awareness of His love and protection‑‑ shatters Satan's lies.

Mother Nadine: When we speak of truth, we do not just mean “facts”. By truth means the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. (I am the truth the way and the life Jn 14:6)

In war, the belt holds everything together.

§  Discernment: knowing the difference between light and darkness, truth and deception. It means we check everything out with the Holy Spirit who is active within us.

·         It’s interesting that it wasn’t until after the Charismatic Renewal began in the Catholic Church that this whole concept of evil began coming into the light. All of a sudden, we became more aware of things arounbd us, and even within us. With the coming of the HS, we started to see deception.

§  In John 18:37 Jesus says “Anyone committed to the truth hears my voice.”

2.   Justice or righteousness. (Eph 6:14 “Stand fast with… justice as your breast plate”)

a)   We live righteously when we submit to the commandments of God.  Sin is an invitation to Satan.

NADINE: The breastplate covers an extremely important area: the heart. If that arrow shoots through the breast plate into the heart, that could be it.

This means purity of heart. Cf. “Blessed are the singhearted for they shall see God. Mt. 5:8

The model of sanctity is the child “Unless yuou change and become a little child, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven”

§  Babies don’t sin. The Lord is after a pure heart.

·         Nice prayer: “Make me a saint inspite of myself.” St. Claude de Colombiere

                              * They are imperfect but they do all the best they can.

Another model will be Zaccheus. Hurry down! and he immediately descended.

The only way this is possible is through transforming union, where we become one with God.

AMS: Cf this with John Paul’s Memory and Identity the 3 stages involved  in following Christ: Redemption: Victory as a Task of Man

1.      Purgative

Observance of commandments; conquering sin  and moral evil in various guises which lead to inner purification.

Also enables us to discover values, hence leading to the next stage

.

2.      Illuminative

Values are lights which illuminate our existence. Side by side with observing commandments, we develop virtues. E,g. You shall not kill – value for life; You shall not commit adultery- purity; You shall not bear false witness- truth

3.      Unitive

With the passage of time, if we preserve in following Christ, we feel less and less burdened by the struggle against sin, and we enjoy more and more the divine light which pervades all creation. This is most important, because it allows us to escape from a situation of constant inner exposure to the risk of sin… so as to move with ever greater freedom within the whole of the created world.

The final stage in our journey, when the soul experiences a special union with God. “God will be all in all”

Nadine: Hence, we discern not with the mind but with the heart, and the pure heart can see God. (Cf. Tobit 13:6-8 our theme) Tip from St. Ignatius – “In time of desolation, we should never make any change, but remain firm and constant.” I.e. never make any change on your discernment while it is stormy. When youre at peace and calm, you may find then a change in course. E.g. when you are angry, you want that person called right there and then and let things talked about.

NADINE: “One of the main things I love about the Catholic Church is that it’s a church full of sinners, and that was my ticket in. God loves sinners.” He wants to go to sinner’s house like Zaccheus.

3.   Faith. Shield of Faith

Eph 6:16 “In all circumstances, hold faith up before you as your shield.”

Mother Nadine: Faith is a beautiful gift. Since we were tiny babies, we had this. We did have faith in our parents. We belived that when they picked us up, they were not going to drop us. When we were hungry, we believed they would feed us. We knew they would take care of us.

            Faith keeps us protected. It is a weapon, and an important part of our armor.

Best example is that of Peter walking on water. He started with faith, then realized “I was walking on water”, lost it and sank.

            Trusting someone else’s goodness and strength other than our own, that is faith.

AMS:  But note that this “faith” is used in a spiritual war. It is not for use in your own selfish wants. It is not “I prayed that I may be able to close this deal; hence, God will do and allow that.”

No. Faith has to do with obeying what God is asking of us. Peter was asked to walk on water. (Imagine if you would walk on water just to test your faith). If the Lord asks us to do something, we have faith that He would shield and protect us, and use us mightily. Faith is manifested in obedience. Hence, check to see under whose authority you are moving. Id you are moving under your own authority, be very very careful. You may not be moving in a faith realm at all. Remember that “everything about satan is disobedience”. The best way to come against disobedience is through our obedience.

a)         The source of our authority over Satan is the power of God.

b)         1 John 4:4.  We need not fear Satan.

4.   God's word. (Sword of the Spirit)

Eph 6:17 “Take the sword of the spirit, the word of God”

Obviously this refers to the Bible.

a)   The Bible.  Search the Scriptures and find out God's truth about an area under    attack.

b)   Authoritative preaching, teaching and prophecy.

c)   A verbal command spoken directly to Satan or an evil spirit.  Deliverance.

Nadine: But there’s a lot more mystery in it than just that. It is not just reading the bible like any other book.

Go to John 1:1,2: “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was in God’s presence, and the Word was God. He was present to God in the beginning”
 

We all know that this refers to Jesus. The Sword that the spirit uses is Jesus himself. He is the weapon of all weapons.

Hence, we need the strength of God, we need the power of the Spirit, but we need the sword of the spirit to actually do the fighting, the combat itself.

In practical terms, we must then begin our prayer with Scripture by asking the Holy Spirit to overshadow us. The Spirit will direct us and use us through the Word.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit is activated through the Word, Jesus. We become stronger and start to grow, and Scripture becomes alive. This happens very much in silence. “Silence in the presence of the Lord God! For near is the day of the Lord.” (Zep 1:7) “Be stll and know that I am God. (Ps 46:10)

            5. The Helmet of Salvation Eph 6:17- “Take the helmet of salvation”

This refers to the mind of Jesus Christ. To reason like Jesus, in constant presence of the Father.

The mind is where Satan got to Eve and this is where he gets to us too.

“Romans 12:2: Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.” Good decisions are made this way.

Satan can work and cause much destruction through our thoughts when get discouraged, when we feel depressed or angry. These are the times we go downhill.

We must use these emotions in a positive way.

Satan also controls us through fear- the bottomline of most of our emotions. This is where he gets most control because fear is the opposite of love. It causes us to doubt God’s love for us. Once we are afraid, we’re into the enemy’s camp.

So we need that helmet of salvation. Christ’s mind which grants us the deep belief that God loves us.

Indeed the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3,8)

            6. Footgear of Zeal (Eph 6:14-15: “Stand fast with … seal to propagate the gospel of peace as your footgear.”

Nadine:          If we are going to stand fast (firm, solid stand; holding ground), we need the right footwear. Zeal is our footgear. It’s what moves us, it’s what enables us to go where we might not normally go.

Look at Revelation. We never read it. We do not believe that it will even happen in our generation. But now ever word of it has a meaning. That book is for our time. We are lkiving as we know in Chapter 12. We are going to defewnd the Church.

Note: “propagate gospel of peace”. It is not just enough for us to just love God and to be loved by God. We want others to have that experience.

AMS : “Whoever does not gather with me scatters”

The antonym of standing fast is running scared. This temptation to run is the last tool of satan. And we run from pain and something we do not want to confront. Zeal runs toward Calvary, not away.

Sometimes, we do not run but ask: “How long O lord? Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Ps 13:2) It is then our zeal that will make us finish the race.

Mother Nadine: But Look at Mark 9:14-29, the apostles tried to cast out a demon and they couldn’t do it. When they asked Jesus what they did wrong, He said “This kind you can drive out only in prayer.” What did he mean “this kind”? There is “this kind of evil” and it’s very, very powerful. The Father alone can deliver us from “this kind.”

F.         Conclusion.

1.   Be aware of spiritual realities.  Satan and evil spirits do exist, they operate in our personal lives.

2.   Do not over‑simplify or over‑spiritualize the causes of personal problems by attributing every difficulty to Satan.  To attribute everything to Satan can itself be his decep­tion.

3.   Do not be afraid.  Satan has already been defeated.  Lk 10:18.  Respect Satan's power, but have the confidence of God's greater power.

4.   Be faithful to your life in CFC.  The body of Christ is a fortress against the onslaughts of Satan.  To be outside its walls is to be dangerously vulnerable to enemy attack.

N.B. Nadine: Desert. Lk 4:13 – “He left Him, to await another opportunity.” We’re always going to be subject to the attack. To the temptation, but this  is very much oart of the plan, too. When we are in the midst of temptation, in the trial, then we grow; we get stronger and our faith grows in the struggle and God will be able to better use us. After the battle, we are stronger. Temptation is not a sin. It’s our opportunity to grow.

Go back to the verse:

And all the while the disciples do nothing. While Jesus fights, the followers stare. They don’t know anything to do.

Can you relate? Are you watching a world out of control and don’t know what to do? If so, do what the disciples did. When the fighting is fierce, stanmd back and let the Father fight.

God wants us to do the same. He wants us to focus our eyes on him. What good does it do to focus on the storm? Why study the enemy? We won’t defeat him. Only God will. The disciples can’t destroy Satan; only God can.

Just look, who was the first missionary Jesus ever sent?

Let me give you a hint. To find him don’t go to the Great Commission. Don’t turn to the names of the apostles. This vanguard spokesman was not on the list.

Where did Jesus go to find his first missionary? (You won’t believe this.) A cemetery.

The first ambassador? A lunatic. A madman turned missionary.

CFC GMT May 2006