This sermon by Cedrick Baker addresses the reality of an unseen spiritual realm and the need for spiritual eyes to see it. We are invited to cultivate a spiritual awareness of the spiritual battle that is transpiring all around us.
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The Struggle for Spiritual Awareness
• Cedrick Baker
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In this passage, Cedrick Baker explains how John uses the images of a dragon, angels and a war to demonstrate the reality of a spiritual realm, one which we cannot see with our physical senses. This war was a kind of civil war in the heavenly dimension. We are not told how this battle is fought, only that there is some kind of unseen space where spiritual warfare occurs.
This vision shows that Michael and the angels win, which means that God is victorious. As a result of their rebellion, the dragon and all the fallen angels are hurled out of heaven and tossed down to the earth. This imagery points to a crucial truth about how we are caught in the middle of this cosmic civil war. The great dragon is the instigator of conflict and deception, and we are pulled up into it.
One way Satan deceives is by tempting us to focus on the material world rather than having an awareness of what is transpiring in the realm of the spirit. Our eyes are not trained to see it. Like the servant of Elisha in 2 Kings 6:15-17, we can only see what is happening in the physical world.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:18 that we are to fix our eyes on what is unseen because the seen is temporary, but the unseen is eternal. The struggles of the physical world will not last. The suffering that we now face will not endure.
Cedrick leaves us with three things to remember. First, we must be vigilant in remembering that there is a cosmic battle in progress. This civil war is older than creation and therefore, it is much larger than any one of us. Secondly, deception is taking place. This is the dragon’s chief weapon against the people of God. The lie that we can get everything now in the physical world pervades our existence. We must embrace the reality that agape love is the only thing that will last. Third, we must cultivate spiritual awareness. One way to do this is to practice the discipline of previewing the day. Cedrick offers these steps to get us started with this discipline:
- Schedule 15 mins at the start of your day with your Bible, journal, and/or calendar.
- Identify each part of what lies ahead during the day and invite Jesus into it.
- Surrender yourself and your plans to the Lord.
- Pray over the day and pay attention what God is saying to you.
Topics: Pain & Suffering, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation
Sermon Series: The Unveiling, Dragon Slayers
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The MuseCast: October 21
Focus Scripture:
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Revelation 12:7-9
Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
