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An Insight On Praise & Spiritual Warfare By Pastor Tim Hodge The universal variety of praise and worship is quite intriguing. One culture may praise God in a fast-paced and rhythmic manner, while just down the street another culture may worship with a large pipe organ which makes music reminiscent of old horror movies. One culture may sing the songs which were passed down orally. Another culture may sing songs from the trusted, time-proven hymnals. And yet, newer generations in that same culture may sing songs whose words are computer-generated onto huge screens. No matter the form or fashion (or the lack thereof in spontaneity) one can see the hearts of mankind being lifted to their Creator and Savior. But why? Do we sing the songs because of tradition? Do we sing the songs just because it is Sunday morning? Do we sing the songs just when we feel compelled to do so? Or could there be a divinely inspired purpose behind this praise thing? To fully understand the answer to this we have to start with the fact that whether we praise God or not, it is not going to annul any portion of His God-ship. We can praise Him every second of every day and it won’t make Him any more God than He is. We can refuse to praise Him and swear our lives to atheism, but He is still God. The Psalmist declared, “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth (Psalms 83:18, KJV). There is none like Him! God is not on some ego-kick standing in heaven, lightning bolt in hand, demanding praise from all His creation… or else. Jesus said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4:23, KJV). The reason God “seeks” worshippers is because worshippers, through relationship, gain intimate knowledge of how awesome their God is. God is not looking for people who engage in religious role-playing, having the impression they can run into a sanctuary on Sunday morning and appease some level of spiritual conscience. God is searching for people who come to know Him. Understand this: your level of praise to God is in direct proportion to your level of faith and understanding in God! To sum this up - praise allows mankind to be intimate with God. Psalms 22:3 declares how God sets up house in the praises of His people. What else? Is there anything else to this praise thing? We must grasp this: God will go to any extreme to free mankind from the clutches of the powers of darkness! The purpose of the cross of Christ and His sacrifice thereon was not just to get us out of hell, but to destroy the potential of the powers of darkness in this life. Since it is God’s intention to free us from the powers of darkness we see He has given us “praise” as a functional tool, weapon, if you will, to triumph over the powers of darkness. There is irony in all this (purposed by God of course). Satan, the devil, was once known as Lucifer. Lucifer was created as a musical instrument so that when he moved music came out of him (Ezekiel 28:13). He was anointed as one of the guardian angels, which means he was almost continually in the presence of God (Ezekiel 28:14). From the fact that “music” was such an integral part of Lucifer’s creation it is speculated that he was profoundly important in heaven’s praise and worship. However, something went awry. Lucifer looked at God upon the throne and said, “I will be like Him… I will ascend the throne and throw God off.” This was not a spontaneous plot, but something planned out… a full out rebellion in heaven which ended with Lucifer and one third of the angels being cast out of heaven. Somewhere in eternity God created a thing called time and declared it to be “the beginning” (Genesis 1:1). In this new element of creation God formed the earth. On the sixth day God the Son scooped up some clay off the surface of this new creation, looked at the Father and the Holy Spirit, and began to mold the clay into the image He saw (Genesis 1:26-28; Colossians 1:16). When God finished this clay model He leaned over and breathed upon it… giving man the “kiss of life.” Man opened his eyes and looked straight into the eyes of Jesus who had just breathed into his nostrils. Man was now different from all other creation for inside of him was something eternal… a part of God from that moment of life. This man was named Adam; God loved him, and he was listed as a “son of God” (Luke 3:38). God gave Adam dominion over all the earth. The concept was that God, Who ruled over all creation, wanted man to live in a microcosmic representation of God’s kingdom and rule in it as God did over all creation. Satan, being full of pride, hated this new creation for three reasons. First, because God, Who had eternally embarrassed the ego-driven Satan, loved this new creation so much. Secondly, when Satan looked upon this new creation he saw the “image” of God. Thirdly, Satan saw in man something he wanted – dominion, a place to reign. Satan knew there was no chance at getting heaven after the rebellion so he set his sights on something else: man’s earth! Satan set a plan in motion through which he would get back at God and gain control of a kingdom of his own all at the same time. In the process of time Satan’s plan came to fruition. Adam disobeyed God by breaking the only rule in the garden. By that sin Adam abdicated the throne of earth’s dominion and gave it to Satan and the powers of darkness. Finally, Satan thought on that day… a kingdom of my own. But someone else entered into the garden on that same day. Someone who loved Adam and his wife, Eve. This someone would come daily to walk and talk with Adam and Eve. This someone was GOD HIMSELF! The events of the day had not taken God by surprise. He is the Omniscient (all knowing) One and the scripture informs us how the plan of salvation through the cross of Christ was established before the worlds were framed (1 Peter 1:20). From that time God has implemented awesome spiritual principles to rub His adversary’s nose in their defeat. The greatest of these God implemented-principles is PRAISE! Praise is an instrument of warfare designed to glorify God and continually remind Satan, the defeated leader of God’s adversaries, where he is, where he was, and where he could be today had he not rebelled against God! Every time Satan moves he hears music coming out of his being. His demonic cohorts hear the music coming out of him. God created music. Satan is not a creator. On the contrary he is a master at perverting creation for the harm of man. That is why music media is so morally and spiritually damaging in the lives of our youth. Psalms 8:2 declares of God, “From the lips of children and infants You have ordained praise because of Your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger” (NIV). This verse informs us that God has “sanctioned” praise BECAUSE of His enemies… that He might silence them. This Hebrew word for silence means much more than just "silence" it also means "to exterminate, to destroy, and to cause to desist." God has “ordained” the very thing Lucifer was in charge of in heaven to be the very thing used against him and his kingdom the most by the church: PRAISE! Someone may ask, “What is the importance of silencing the enemies of God?” Colossians 2:15 describes what Jesus did on the cross to the powers of darkness, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (NIV). Don’t let this come as a shock to you, but Satan and his legions of darkness have no weapons. Jesus stripped them all! However, a weaponless devil is still dangerous. Satan didn’t besiege the Garden of Eden…he talked his way into control. Still today the only thing the powers of darkness have to attack us with are their mouths… temptations, thoughts of fear, thoughts of failure, etc. What we must understand is that a “temptation” may not just be a natural desire, but a demonically inspired thought. A spiritual being whispering into your mind will come across as a thought. I submit to you that since Jesus disarmed the powers of darkness then the “flaming arrows” referred to Ephesians 6:16 are actually words spoken toward us by demonic powers. 2 Corinthians 10:5 states that we “cast down imaginations….” Where do these imaginations come from that would lure us to displease our God? They are the voices of the adversaries of God. God has ordained praise to silence our adversaries. The next time you start to feel a panic attack coming on, or you feel the fever in your body begin to rise, or you feel that adrenaline rush of fear in a certain situation…begin to sing praises to God. Begin to glorify Jesus Christ as the Sovereign Lord of your life. As you do this imagine God causing the devils of darkness to have lockjaw! Not only will praise bring relief when under attack, but praise will deter future plans of the enemies of God. To grasp what I am about to portray one must understand the heavenlies (from part one of this series): “1+2=3; Understanding the Heavenlies.”
Satan and his dominating demonic leaders are not in hell in the bowels of the earth somewhere. They are in the second heaven… a spiritual realm between the earth’s natural atmosphere and God’s heaven. We humans in a natural world think of praise only as words, music, prayers, etc. But in the spiritual realm we must understand, according to scripture, what is happening with praise. Revelation 5:8 describes how the twenty-four elders around the throne of God have vials in their hands. In these vials are incense. At a certain point they bow down and pour out this sweet smelling, visible incense. The narrative declares these to be the “prayers of the saints.” To us prayers are just words, but in the spiritual realm they take on a form. They are still “heard” (Psalms 3:4), but they are also physically seen! In Philippians 4:18 Paul informs the church at Philippi that their “monetary offering” (which is a form of praise) had a “sweet smell” to God. In Revelation 4:5 John saw coming from the throne of God “lightnings and thunderings and voices.” In the spirit realm words and worship are more than mere words and motions, they take on a type of manifested form. Hebrews 12:22, 23 states that we are “now” come unto Mt. Zion… the city of the Living God, unto the innumerable company of angels, the saints that have gone on before, and to God Himself. How can this be? We are not “physically” there. But when we praise God our voices “mingle” with voices of those in heaven. As you open your mouth to praise that praise takes on some visible manifestation in the form of incense (as well as maintaining its audible characteristics) and it dashes through the heavenlies into Mt. Zion… the City of the Living God… the heavenly Jerusalem. As you read this there will be millions upon millions of people all across earth who are lifting up their praises and prayers unto God. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine being away from the earth and able to see in the spiritual realm. Imagine seeing and hearing all that continual praise, worship, offering, and prayer blazing from the earth, zipping through the heavenlies and coming into the throne room of the Most High God. It is like that twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. You may be thinking, “What does this have to do with spiritual warfare?” I am so glad you asked! Remember the second heaven is where Satan and the powers of darkness have their headquarters… that area belongs to them… temporarily. But imagine what is happening in the headquarters of darkness as this praise is rising from the first heaven. In order for that praise to get to the third heaven it has to get through the second heaven! Imagine Satan’s demonic cohorts trying to sit down and strategize your family’s demise while all this continual praise is reverberating through their throne room. It almost like a Fortune 500 company trying to have an executive board meeting in the middle of a full-blown rock concert. What would that be like? It would be CHAOS! Minimal productivity would be the results of that meeting in the midst of such chaos. Imagine Satan’s top executives having to scream to hear one another because of all that praise passing through their “second heaven” and being hit with all that incense. Can you imagine the frustration of the powers of darkness? What futility. They eventually have to “shut up”… after all God has “ordained praise to silence His enemy” (Psalms 8:2). God has “ordered” the chaos of praise as it passes through the second heaven. I know some may label this as heresy. Some may label this as a fool’s babblings. My hope is that some will label it “renewal” to the area of praise and worship and will GO AND CONQUER! Go ahead, I dare you, praise Jesus like you’ve never praised Him before! |
