He Must Win the Battle

I finished another chapter in the Biblical Doctrine book recently, and I have 3 more chapters to go in the Ephesians commentary (by John MacArthur). 

It's been taking me years to go through these things.

Those who zipped right through, please don't laugh.

It always feels nice to finish a chapter! 

I got the commentary way back when they were having a good sale, and the other book was a gift. 

It's funny how some of the books and messages that I hear end up overlapping each other in what they talk about despite the fact that I'm crawling through the books.

The new chapter I'm reading in Biblical Doctrine (MacArthur/Mayhue) is speaking of angels (holy and not).

The chapter in the commentary that I finished today spoke of demons and the spiritual battle (and it's not about methods to try to get rid of demons), and Don Green (of Truth Community Church in the Cincinnati, OH area) has been teaching recently on the armor of God, etc. ...well from the same book of the Bible (Ephesians). 

Timing. 

And then with what is going on in this nation & even affecting churches, it is a reminder of the spiritual battle that is still going on. 

It's not just about political battles or earthly fighting or about COVID-19.

Satan wants to harm the church and do damage.

I've also been reminded more than once from a few sources about getting into the Word.

We need to not just be wading through it, but we need to dive deep.
The Word sanctifies believers, and it's the Sword.

I know I don't spend enough time in it.

How about you?

Prayer is also important.  God is the one who will win the battle.  

We can't fight in our own strength.

"What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

So much seems to be going wrong in the world lately, and there are a lot of stressful things going on in our own lives.
Reading the Bible and praying can help to relieve some of the stress.

I was reading in Matthew 8 today, and I thought the part about the disciples being in a boat with water pouring over could so relate to how many of us can feel...especially myself. They were afraid as most of us are when we think we might drown.  They too had weak faith. I have found myself singing lately, ♫"It never rains, but what it pours," ♫ when it seems the trials are piling up. Jesus' response to His disciples was an encouraging reminder for me to trust God (though it is also seems a bit of a necessary rebuke). 
I often do pray that I will trust God and love Him more. The Bible's reminders are better than my own reminders to myself. Reminding myself is good, but reading the source of Scripture is even more powerful. Jesus showed Himself trustworthy and caring of suffering people while on earth. Yes, I realize I'm one of those who has little faith, and I have also been reminded by Scripture that I can't add a cubit to my lifespan by worrying. That was the encouragement I received a different day. God provides our needs. He always has. He created the universe, the winds and the seas obey Him, and He even cares about me... a rebellious Christian who is so frustrated at being so sinful and wonders how God can keep forgiving.   It seems He often works it out for reminders to be there at the right times in my life...either directly from His Word or by hearing second hand  reminders based on the truth there.

  I was watching MacArthur last night online, and he was talking about reading the Bible being how you begin to understand it. I think that many Christians don't read the Bible much if at all, and they lose out on so much. They are easy prey for false teaching and out of context Scripture twisting. They also lose out on the encouragement that they might have had. It's so easy to be lazy, but you really do get more from drinking from the fountain itself than a bowl of stale water that someone else gives you (which may be contaminated by the filter of another person's mind). I was going through my things that I might share with blog readers today, and I found this rendition of an old hymn that was so peaceful.

A Woman's Perspective on Women's Role

This post is for my Christian women readers specifically.
I was reading 1 Timothy 2 today.  I once memorized the first 3 chapters of 1 Timothy, but I do not have them still perfectly in my mind.  They are still very familiar to me though, and in going over chapter 2 today, I want to address the role of women issue.

The role of women is a very controversial one in the church today, and some people try to twist the Scripture to suit their own desires.  I have found though that 1 Timothy 2 does not have qualifiers that say that it is only addressing certain women of the day.  In fact, it clearly points to creation and the deception of Eve, which is something from long before the time when I Timothy was penned.

"A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. 
But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.
And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint."
1 Timothy 2:11-15 NASB

So, it seems quite clear that women are not to teach men or exercise authority over a man not because of what the circumstances were at that time, but because of the order of creation and the fact of Eve's deception (who is representative of womankind). 
Naturally, women have pride and like to think that that only applies to certain women and not us.  We think about the fact that men can also be  deceived.  The thing is that there are consequences still from Adam and Eve's sin that affect all of us.  Since I believe that Scripture trumps personal feelings and any other experience that we have had, then I rely on Scripture as the authority over me as a woman.  Aside from that,  in recent times I have found that I have been deceived by someone online posing as different people.  I'm thankful for my Christian brothers who were there to point out the truth.

God has many roles for women to fulfill.  Even those of us who have never been married or had children can communicate with people in informal settings as Priscilla did with Aquila or serve the church by ministering in other ways.  It seems that women can teach children and mentor other women.  Do I believe that women should street preach?   I know a lot of people who believe there is an exception there too, but I do not.  There is still the order of creation and the matter of exercising authority over men. 
The reasons given in 1 Timothy 2:13-14 do not seem to be something that is negated when you step outside of a church building.
Definitely, it is a public setting where some of the audience can be Christians as well.  It is more than just explaining something in an informal setting with Christian men ready to help and correct in a discussion. 


I tend to go even further than some people in that it really bothers me when a woman reads Scripture up front in church or a woman is the head worship music leader.  I even have walked out of a service occasionally when  I have felt deeply troubled enough to not feel that I can properly worship thinking about it.
Here is a respected blogger and pastor's blog post on the subject of women and Bible reading in church: http://www.challies.com/articles/men-women-the-public-reading-of-scripture