Stand free.
Galatians 5:1:
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
自由を得させるために、キリストはわたしたちを解放して下さったのである。だから、堅く立って、二度と奴隷のくびきにつながれてはならない。
Stand free. Paul told the Galatian church, who was getting itself involved in all sorts of messy religious tradition, that Christ Jesus had set them free, so don’t go back.
Matthew 12:43-45:
When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”
汚れた霊が人から出ると、休み場を求めて水の無い所を歩きまわるが、見つからない。
そこで、出てきた元の家に帰ろうと言って帰って見ると、その家はあいていて、そうじがしてある上、飾りつけがしてあった。
そこでまた出て行って、自分以上に悪い他の七つの霊を一緒に引き連れてきて中にはいり、そこに住み込む。そうすると、その人ののちの状態は初めよりももっと悪くなるのである。よこしまな今の時代も、このようになるであろう」。
Jesus said in Matthew and Luke that when an evil spirit goes out of a man, it tries to find a home (probably in another person). If it can’t find one, it goes back to its original house and found it empty. My question is: if it was empty, what–or who–was supposed to be in it? If a ‘who’ (a demon) left it, then perhaps another ‘what’ or ‘who’ was expected to be in its’ place.
Acts 2:4 and 4:31:
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
すると、一同は聖霊に満たされ、御霊が語らせるままに、いろいろの他国の言葉で語り出した。
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
彼らが祈り終えると、その集まっていた場所が揺れ動き、一同は聖霊に満たされて、大胆に神の言を語り出した。
In Acts, Jesus’ disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Bible is clear on what we are to be filled with. Despite the goodness of God’s Word, it doesn’t say to be filled with it. It says to know the Bible, but not to be filled by it. One is intellectual, the other spiritual. Both are absolutely required and inseparable from each other.
Acts 1:4-5:
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
そして食事を共にしているとき、彼らにお命じになった、「エルサレムから離れないで、かねてわたしから聞いていた父の約束を待っているがよい。 すなわち、ヨハネは水でバプテスマを授けたが、あなたがたは間もなく聖霊によって、バプテスマを授けられるであろう」。
Note that this was after Jesus had risen again. The disciples already believed in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, therefore they were already ’saved’. Jesus was saying, “so you’ve been saved, and that’s awesome! …but hold on, there’s one more thing.” We need to be baptized (immersed in) the Spirit.
We must be filled by the Holy Spirit. Possessed, as it were. If one can be possessed (thus, in a way, filled) by a demonic spirit, then how much more can we be filled with the Spirit of God Himself? I’m up for that!
How do we receive the Holy Spirit?
Luke 11:9-13:
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
そこでわたしはあなたがたに言う。求めよ、そうすれば、与えられるであろう。捜せ、そうすれば見いだすであろう。門をたたけ、そうすれば、あけてもらえるであろう。すべて求める者は得、捜す者は見いだし、門をたたく者はあけてもらえるからである。あなたがたのうちで、父であるものは、その子が魚を求めるのに、魚の代りにへびを与えるだろうか。卵を求めるのに、さそりを与えるだろうか。このように、あなたがたは悪い者であっても、自分の子供には、良い贈り物をすることを知っているとすれば、天の父はなおさら、求めて来る者に聖霊を下さらないことがあろうか」。
All we have to do is ask. There’s some waiting involved, too. In my case, I had to wait until I repented of some obvious sin. There are prerequisites to all of God’s blessings. If my kids are smart-mouthing me or have destroyed their room, I am not automatically inspired at the moment to bless them. I tell them to clean up their attitude or pick up the mess and then we’ll talk about it.
But I still have it in mind to bless them and give good gifts to them. And that’s what God the Father desires to give us. In this case He gives us His Spirit, the essence of who He is.
So there’s the initial filling: ask and God will fill us. But Paul says to take it one step further.
Ephesians 5:18:
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
酒に酔ってはいけない。それは乱行のもとである。むしろ御霊に満たされて、、、
In Ephesians, Paul says to be filled with the Spirit. The Greek here indicates that we are to be filled continually with the Spirit. Over and over and over and over again.
How do we stay filled with the Spirit? Paul continues in vv. 19-21:
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
詩とさんびと霊の歌とをもって語り合い、主にむかって心からさんびの歌をうたいなさい。そしてすべてのことにつき、いつも、わたしたちの主イエス・キリストの御名によって、父なる神に感謝し、キリストに対する恐れの心をもって、互に仕え合うべきである。
By worshiping together and individually, keeping a song in our heart, continually being thankful to God for everything He has done, and submitting to each other (keeping ourselves accountable).
I mentioned knowing the Word earlier? Jesus reminded us in Matthew 4:4:
“It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
「『人はパンだけで生きるものではなく、神の口から出る一つ一つの言で生きるものである』と書いてある」。
If we’re to live on every one of God’s words, then we need to know it. It’s critical for every area of our life, especially our spiritual defense, as Jesus illustrated above when he was getting hammered by the devil. Ephesians 6:11 says:
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
悪魔の策略に対抗して立ちうるために、神の武具で身を固めなさい。
One of the most critical parts of a Christian’s spiritual armor is in verse 17:
…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
御霊の剣、すなわち、神の言を取りなさい。
We have to use the Word just like Jesus did. We need to know it and build our life upon it.
So you’ve been saved. Awesome! Maybe you’ve received deliverance from one form of demonic bondage or another. That’s great! But in order to maintain the victory you have, you must, MUST be filled with the Holy Spirit, and you must know the Word of God. When you cast a demon out, or if one particular mental stronghold is cast down, the battle’s not over yet.
Luke 11:21-22:
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.”
強い人が十分に武装して自分の邸宅を守っている限り、その持ち物は安全である。 しかし、もっと強い者が襲ってきて彼に打ち勝てば、その頼みにしていた武具を奪って、その分捕品を分けるのである。
There are several interpretations of who the ’strong man’ is in this passage (all of which could be valid), but since in context it’s talking about demons, I’m looking at the ’strong man’ being us, and the ’stronger’ one being the enemy.
We have to stand firm and guard our house (our body, soul, and spirit), because we will have numerous enemies both spiritual and natural that will come against us. What do we do when we have enemies stronger than we are? We use our armor, the spiritual armor described in Ephesians 6. What if we decide to rely on faulty armor, such as our natural personality, our multivitamins, or untrustworthy people? The enemy overpowers us and takes our armor away.
Once you attain a measure of freedom, no matter how small, don’t think that the battle is over yet. There will be a counterattack. We have to stand firm.
James 4:7:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
そういうわけだから、神に従いなさい。そして、悪魔に立ちむかいなさい。そうすれば、彼はあなたがたから逃げ去るであろう。
Submitting to God is a huge message in itself, but that’s for another time. James says here that we have to resist the devil. God won’t do it for us. We have to do it. We have the promise of the Word that if we stand firm, using our spiritual armor and our weapons of the Word and prayer, and resist the devil, no matter how hard he is hitting us, that he will flee.
This is easy to say, but not so easy to live out. For me, it’s taken almost ten years. I was filled with the Holy Spirit in early 2000 and it’s taken almost ten years of nearly constant daily battles. I have been under more spiritual, physical, mental, social, and financial attack than I care to elucidate here. How was I able to fight? Through the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Through constant study of the word of God (mostly by cassette tape, CD, and mp3).
And by understanding God’s love.
Galatians 5:6 says that “faith works by love.” In context it’s talking about us expressing our faith through our love, living out our Christian life, but I think that this is also a true statement in and of itself. If your faith doesn’t work, it’s because you don’t have love. You don’t know how much God loves you.
It’s easy to say, “sure, God loves me.” Most Christians don’t understand, though, that the key to success in the Christian life, from start to finish, is the constant study of and apprehension of God’s love. The only reason I’ve made it through the hell I’ve been through is because I knew God loved me. I know He has a purpose for me. I know the devil wants to kill me, steal everything I have, and destroy me and all around me. If he’s expending all this effort, I know that God has bigger plans for me and for my family than I can realize.
Stand firm. Receive the Holy Spirit. Study and meditate on the Word, and especially about God’s love. John 17 and 1 Corinthians 13 are good places to start. If you do this, you’ll be freed…
…and stay that way.
what they said