1st Thessalonians 5:23, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Notice in our text Scripture that the Bible mentions SPIRIT, SOUL and BODY.
Most people mention the body first, and then the soul and spirit. Man is a
spirit with a body, not a body with a spirit. Sting from the band
The Police is correct when he sings in his song titled, Spirits In The
Material World . . . “We are spirits in the material.” Man is a spirit.
Ecclesiastes 12:7,
“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it
was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
It is important to understand that man is a spirit, and as such, our
spirit is susceptible to spiritual influences, both demonic and godly.
The Scriptures teach that believers live by faith and not by sight. I love the following passage of Scripture. 2nd Corinthians 5:6-8, “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” The Bible says that we are absent from the Lord's bodily presence while we are in this earthly tabernacle (body). This is why we must live by faith, because we are still living in the material world. The spiritual world is unseen and undetectable by the five human senses (smell, sight, hearing, taste and feel). A human being is a spirit living in a material body. Ah, but when our earthly body can no longer house our spirit, whether due to disease, an accident or old age, then our spirit returns unto God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
The physical world
in which we live exists within the spiritual world, where there are opposing
demonic forces and godly forces continually at work. Ephesians 6:12, “For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.” Angels are ministering spirits
(Hebrews 1:14). Fallen angels are demonic spirits (Matthew 12:43). Satan is a
spirit being. God is the Holy Spirit (John 4:24). As you just read in
Ephesians 6:12, our battle is not against each other (humans), but against the
spirit world.
Faith is Focusing On the Spiritual World
Hence, and this is an important truth to learn as a Christian, faith is working and living for the spiritual world. This is what Ephesians 6:12 teaches. Our battle is not against the flesh, the body; but rather, against the UNSEEN spiritual world. Our battle is against demonic forces and the power of Satan. These powers of darkness and not perceivable by the five senses, but are spiritually discerned. When we pray, we are working in the spiritual world. When we contend for the Word of God, we are entering into the spiritual world. The truths of God Word are spiritual in nature. Ephesians 6:12-17 list our seven spiritual weapons: prayer, the sword of the Spirit (the Bible), truth, righteousness, the Gospel, faith and salvation. These are spiritual weapons.
The world's weapons are drugs, money, sex and power. The greatest enemy of the Devil's New World Order is the truth. But the lions gird about with truth by itself is not enough. Men must obey the Gospel and be born-again, otherwise there can be no breastplate of righteousness (neither imputed or practical), nor will God hear their prayers until they get saved. And how can men be saved (the helmet of salvation) if no one preaches the Gospel? How can a man use the shield of faith to thwart the demonic arrows from Hell, if there is no faith in Christ? The unsaved man who has never been born-again, cannot use spiritual weapons if he doesn't have them. Prayer and the sword of God's Word in the hands of an unregenerate man is like a machine gun with rubber bullets. There is no effectiveness to spiritual weapons unless a man is in Christ Jesus.
Again, 2nd Corinthians 5:8 teaches that as Christians, “WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT.” Faith is having one's eyes opened to the spiritual world around us, and living our life accordingly for God. There are many unsaved people who are aware of the spiritual world, even worshipping Satan; but they have no faith in God. Thus, spiritual awareness is not faith. The Holy Bible defines “faith” in Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The Bible elaborates on the meaning of faith throughout Hebrews chapter 11. It was by faith that Noah moved with fear and built the ark for 120 years. It was by faith that the boy David fought Goliath. It was by faith that Moses fled Egypt, choosing rather to suffer with God's people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. It was by faith that others was sawn asunder, beheaded, raped, skinned alive, burned at the stake, imprisoned and martyred for Christ.
Faith is the
result (the evidence) of our conviction that the spiritual world is real, and
our desire to please God. Our faith can be measured by how we treat the Holy
Bible. Most people have no faith, so they disregard the Bible entirely as a
manmade fairy-tale. I view the Bible as God's inspired Words, every word, and
there are no portions of Scripture that were authored by men. God is the only
Author of the Holy Bible. God only wrote one book, even though approximately
40 men were used by God to pen the Bible in 66 separate books. God created men
to fit His Word, not His Word to fit men. Faith is accepting the Bible as 100%
authored by God. If you don't view the Bible as God's perfect, infallible,
preserved and inerrant words, then you won't live it either. That's why Satan
has published hundreds of different English Bible versions, to confuse
everyone and quench one's zeal in knowing that he holds God's undiluted,
perfect, incorruptible, inspired words in his hand. We have that book in the
dear KING JAMES BIBLE.
Our War is Against the Spiritual Powers of Satan
Hollywood is very spiritual in nature. I mean “spiritual” in the worst sense of the word, Satanic and demonic in nature. A demon cannot posses a born-again Christian, because God's Holy Spirit already lives there (1st Corinthians 3:16-17). The Holy Spirit will not co-habit with the spirit of a devil (2nd Corinthians 6:14-17). However, an unsaved person can be demon possessed and controlled by a demon, especially while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. A Christian CAN be influenced by demonic and unholy spirits, inspired to commit wickedness. A demon stirs human passions in the soul. Through illicit Hollywood movies, filled with sexual immorality, lewdness, violence and blasphemy against God, the human soul is vulnerable to demonic influence. A demon cannot make a person sin, because God has given to every person a freewill; however, a demon can stir lusts and unholy desires, hatred and envy, and a spirit of greed, to compel people to commit sin. As a black preacher once said: Adulterous producers make adulterous movies to inspire adulterous people!!!
Alcohol and drugs (legal and illegal) are commonly used in Satanic worship, because substance abuse opens up the soul for demonic possession. Literally, anything that causes a person to lose voluntary control over their own mind (and thus will) becomes a medium for demons. The word “sorcerery” in the Bible (such as Revelation 9:21) comes from the Greek word pharmakeia, which means “medication ('pharmacy'), that is, (by extension) magic (literal or figurative).” This is why the Satanic Rock music industry is saturated with drug and alcohol abuse, and submersed in sexual immorality. Infamous Satanist Aleister Crowley was an alcoholic, drug-addict, sex fiend, bisexual, child sacrificer!!!
Understanding these truths is important. Most professed believers live their life choked by the cares, riches and pleasures of this world (Luke 8:14). If we truly understood and stayed focused on the spiritual world around us, and the eternal results of the life we live, it would completely transform our daily life. The Bible teaches that there are two literal places in the unseen world, one being Hell and the other is Heaven. I believe the Bible. I know, according to God's promise of eternal life, that I am going to Heaven the moment I leave this earthly body. I am so glad that God saved my soul, so that I won't have to be tormented in the fires of Hell beneath forever. Many people don't believe in a literal Heaven or Hell.
When I read all the things in the Holy Bible that are verifiable, such as fulfilled Messianic prophecies, I dare not disregard those things which must be received by faith. The Bible has never been disproved, although many throughout history have desperately tried to do so. God said it, that settles it! I recommend that you believe it as I do. Is it worth risking eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire? We see signs of Satan everywhere we turn in this world. Any fool knows that if there's a Devil there must also be a God.
Satan's spirit is prevalent in Hollywood. END
