<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Mark 1;23&amp;24<div><br></div><div><b>23. &nbsp;And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit;</b></div><div><b>24. &nbsp;and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? &nbsp;Have you come to destroy us? &nbsp;I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”</b></div><div><br></div><div>Our warfare is Christ’s warfare. &nbsp;In Christ, we are at war with our enemies, the devil, this world, and our own flesh. &nbsp;The hymns of the Church speak often of this ongoing struggle between Heaven and Hell, light and darkness, life and death, clean and unclean:</div><div><br></div><div>“Just as I am, though tossed about,<i>&nbsp;</i>With many a conflict, many a doubt, &nbsp;Fightings&nbsp;and fears, within without,<i>&nbsp;</i>O Lamb of God I come, I come<i>.” &nbsp;</i>(#570 v.3,&nbsp;LSB,&nbsp;&nbsp;Just as I Am, without One Plea)</div><div><br></div><div>“See round Your ark (the Church and the gospel) the hungry billows curling; &nbsp;see how Your foes their banners are unfurling&nbsp; And with great spite their fiery darts are hurling, &nbsp;O Lord preserve us.</div><div>“Lord, be our light when worldly darkness veils us; Lord, be our shield when earthly armor fails us; And in the day when hell itself assails us, Grant us Your peace, Lord:” &nbsp;(#659 vs.2&amp;3 &nbsp;LSB, Lord of Our Life)</div><div><br></div><div>“The Church shall never perish! &nbsp;Her dear Lord, to defend, &nbsp;To guide, sustain, and cherish, &nbsp;Is with her to the end. &nbsp; Tho’ there be those who hate her, &nbsp;False sons within her pale, &nbsp;Against both foe and traitor. She ever will prevail.</div><div>“Though with a scornful wonder &nbsp;Men see her sore oppressed, By schisms rent asunder, &nbsp;By heresies distressed, &nbsp;Yet saints their watch are keeping; &nbsp;Their cry goes up, ‘How Long?’ &nbsp;And soon the night of weeping. Shall be the morn of song.</div><div>“Mid toil and tribulation. And tumult of her war. She waits the consummation. Of peace forevermore, &nbsp;Till with the vision glorious &nbsp; Her longing eyes are blessed. And the great Church victorious. Shall be the Church at rest.” &nbsp;(#473 v.3,4,&amp;5 TLH, The Church’s One Foundation)</div><div><br></div><div>Sadly, too often our&nbsp;battle field is within the Church herself<span>. &nbsp;Some,</span><span> are heretics with false teachings, infected with worldly values, and outright satanic lies. &nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span>O</span><span>ther enemies&nbsp;</span><span>are unbelievers, pretenders within&nbsp;our holy assemblies</span><span>, themselves&nbsp;actually possessed by demons, (as in our reading today). &nbsp;</span><span>&nbsp;Often, the war rages within ourselves, our lusts, passions, and appetites, a struggle</span><span>&nbsp;between the old nature and the new nature of the born-again Believer. &nbsp;</span><span>Sometimes,</span><span> Believers themselves are assaulted spiritually with demonic oppressions, evil thoughts and emotions which we often fail to rightly recognize. &nbsp;(These are some of the most deadly attacks, within our minds.)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Notice how the demon (not the people) in today’s reading instantly knows who Jesus is, “The Holy One of God”&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>with authority to cast them into eternal outer darkness, hell, (<u>not</u>&nbsp;‘destroy’ them. &nbsp;That,&nbsp;was a satanic false accusation. &nbsp;It was designed to portray God as an evil violent&nbsp;‘destroyer’ of his own work). &nbsp; God will not destroy the spirits, they, along with all human souls are created eternal. &nbsp;What he will do is separate them from Himself and from&nbsp;us, forever in outer darkness. &nbsp;<i>“Then the King said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness; there, men will weep and gnash their teeth.’” &nbsp; &nbsp;</i>(Matthew 22;13)</div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>We will see tomorrow how Jesus conducts his war against Satan and his hosts. &nbsp;Those of you who&nbsp;are or&nbsp;have been watching the series, “The Chosen” will want to pay careful attention.</span></div><div><br></div><div>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, teach our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits to find their peace <u>in</u>&nbsp;Jesus, not in our sinful dying&nbsp;flesh, or the approval of men, or the strength of armies, or even the troubled churches we attend. &nbsp;Bless us to find the peace of Jesus from His Word and the Spirit&nbsp;alone. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</div><div><br></div><div>Love,</div><div>Dad/Baba/Eric</div><div>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</div><div>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</div><div><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Mark 1;23&24
23.  And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit;24.  and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”
Our warfare is Christ’s warfare.  In Christ, we are at war with our enemies, the devil, this world, and our own flesh.  The hymns of the Church speak often of this ongoing struggle between Heaven and Hell, light and darkness, life and death, clean and unclean:
“Just as I am, though tossed about, With many a conflict, many a doubt,  Fightings and fears, within without, O Lamb of God I come, I come.”  (#570 v.3, LSB,  Just as I Am, without One Plea)
“See round Your ark (the Church and the gospel) the hungry billows curling;  see how Your foes their banners are unfurling  And with great spite their fiery darts are hurling,  O Lord preserve us.“Lord, be our light when worldly darkness veils us; Lord, be our shield when earthly armor fails us; And in the day when hell itself assails us, Grant us Your peace, Lord:”  (#659 vs.2&3  LSB, Lord of Our Life)
“The Church shall never perish!  Her dear Lord, to defend,  To guide, sustain, and cherish,  Is with her to the end.   Tho’ there be those who hate her,  False sons within her pale,  Against both foe and traitor. She ever will prevail.“Though with a scornful wonder  Men see her sore oppressed, By schisms rent asunder,  By heresies distressed,  Yet saints their watch are keeping;  Their cry goes up, ‘How Long?’  And soon the night of weeping. Shall be the morn of song.“Mid toil and tribulation. And tumult of her war. She waits the consummation. Of peace forevermore,  Till with the vision glorious   Her longing eyes are blessed. And the great Church victorious. Shall be the Church at rest.”  (#473 v.3,4,&5 TLH, The Church’s One Foundation)
Sadly, too often our battle field is within the Church herself.  Some, are heretics with false teachings, infected with worldly values, and outright satanic lies.   Other enemies are unbelievers, pretenders within our holy assemblies, themselves actually possessed by demons, (as in our reading today).   Often, the war rages within ourselves, our lusts, passions, and appetites, a struggle between the old nature and the new nature of the born-again Believer.  Sometimes, Believers themselves are assaulted spiritually with demonic oppressions, evil thoughts and emotions which we often fail to rightly recognize.  (These are some of the most deadly attacks, within our minds.)
Notice how the demon (not the people) in today’s reading instantly knows who Jesus is, “The Holy One of God”  with authority to cast them into eternal outer darkness, hell, (not ‘destroy’ them.  That, was a satanic false accusation.  It was designed to portray God as an evil violent ‘destroyer’ of his own work).   God will not destroy the spirits, they, along with all human souls are created eternal.  What he will do is separate them from Himself and from us, forever in outer darkness.  “Then the King said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness; there, men will weep and gnash their teeth.’”    (Matthew 22;13)
We will see tomorrow how Jesus conducts his war against Satan and his hosts.  Those of you who are or have been watching the series, “The Chosen” will want to pay careful attention.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, teach our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits to find their peace in Jesus, not in our sinful dying flesh, or the approval of men, or the strength of armies, or even the troubled churches we attend.  Bless us to find the peace of Jesus from His Word and the Spirit alone.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”
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