This is
part of a series of discussions that can be used for study among ministry
leaders or small groups.
Spiritual Warfare
“And the leader must know how to help those under his
charge who are also involved in that same spiritual warfare.”—J. Oswald Sanders
from Spiritual Leadership
A. Offense
1. Who is the “strong man” in the analogy given
in v. 29?
(Devil)
2. What has to be done to rob the strong man of
his possessions?
(tie
him up…bind him)
3. How can we use this knowledge to fight Satan
as we wage our battles with him?
(pray
to BIND Satan by Jesus’ name…nothing we can do will bind him, but through
Jesus’ power we are empowered to do God’s work of “gathering” v. 30)
"The
doctrine of Christ teaches us how to construe his miracles, and when he showed
how easily and effectually he could cast the devil out of people’s bodies, he
encouraged all believers to hope that, whatever
power Satan might usurp and exercise in the souls of men, Christ by his grace
would break it: he will spoil him, for it appears that he can bind him." –Matthew Henry Complete Commentary of the Whole Bible
B.
Defense
1. What is the other way to cause the Devil’s
plans to fail, alluded to in verse 25?
(to
cause division)
2. How can this also apply to us as
individuals? Ministry team members?
(-when
we are not in unity with our family and friends it can cause a foothold for
Satan- “In your anger do not sin: Do not let
the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a
foothold.” – Ephesians 4:26-27
-if
as leaders we cannot be unified we divide the church body and become
ineffective in our ministry “the health and long-term effectiveness of any
ministry begins with the health and unity of its primary leadership teams.”-
Larry Osborne in Sticky Teams, p. 19)
3.
What caused the disunity between people who asked, “Could this be the Son of
David?” and the Pharisees who blasphemed against the Holy Spirit (v. 24)? What was at the heart of the Pharisees?
(Pharisee’s
envy-wanting the praise of man and not wanting to lose it to someone else)
“The
Pharisees were a sort of men that pretended to more knowledge in, and zeal for,
the divine law, than other people; yet they were the most inveterate enemies to
Christ and his doctrine. They were
proud of the reputation they had among the people; that fed their pride, supported their
power, and filled their purses; and when they heard the people say, Is not this the Son of David? they were
extremely irritated, more at that than at the miracle itself; this made them
jealous of our Lord Jesus, and apprehensive, that as his interest in the people’s esteem increased, theirs must of course be eclipsed and diminished;
therefore they envied him, as Saul did his father David, because of what
the women sang of him.” –Matthew Henry Complete Commentary of the Whole Bible
4.
How seriously does Jesus take unity in verse 30?
(unity
with Him is required to be saved)
5. What or with whom should we be unified with?
(we have to be looking out for His interests, His kingdom,
and His plans…and His people/bodyàsee when He prays for believers in John
17:20-26)
“but in
the great quarrel between Christ and the devil, no peace is to be sought, nor
any such favourable construction to be made of any indifference in the matter;
he that is not hearty for Christ, will
be reckoned with as really against him:
he that is cold in the cause, is looked upon as an enemy.” –Matthew Henry
Complete Commentary of the Whole Bible
C. Bottom line:
Unity with Christ and with His body is essential to
spiritual warfare.
(Good
description of what this looks like in a ministry team is this: “team members
often disagree, but they know how to fight fair. When the battle of competing ideas is over,
they march out and present a united front, setting aside their personal
preferences and agendas in light of the greater good and the bigger mission.”
–Larry Osborne in Sticky Teams p. 20)
“He that gathereth not with me
scattereth. Note, (1.) Christ’s errand into
the world was to gather, to gather in his harvest, to gather in those whom the
Father had given him, Jn. 11:52 ; Eph. 1:10 . (2.) Christ expects and requires from those who are with him, that they
gather with him; that they not only gather to
him themselves, but do all they can in their places to gather others to him, and so to strengthen his interest. (3.) Those who will not appear, and act, as furtherers of Christ’s
kingdom, will be looked upon, and dealt with, as hinderers of it; if
we gather not with Christ, we scatter; it is not
enough, not to do hurt, but we must do good.” –Matthew Henry Complete
Commentary of the Whole Bible
Verses for Study
Matthew
12:22-32
22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute,
and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of
David?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by
Beelzebub,[d] the prince of demons, that this fellow
drives out demons.”
25 Jesus knew
their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be
ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can
his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do
your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of
God has come upon you.
29 “Or
again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions
unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
30 “He who
is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but
the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but
anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this
age or in the age to come.
NOTE: Blasphemy= an indignity offered to God by words or
writing; reproachful, irreverent words uttered impiously against God- Noah
Webster; a sin immediately touching God’s name and honour- Matthew Henry
John
17
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray
also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father,
just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world
may believe that you have sent me. 22
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are
one: 23 I in them and you in me. May
they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and
have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me
to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me
because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does
not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will
continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in
them and that I myself may be in them.”
No comments:
Post a Comment