To strike a larger target, hell must first come after the individuals who make up that larger target. The bigger picture of any widespread spiritual conflict is a huge mosaic made up of individuals. The individuals that make up that mosaic are the real targets of hell’s assault. Nations fall because of one reason – individuals chose to follow the author of fallenness.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12).
The word “weakened” used in the verse above describes the work of Satan. His goal is to weaken. Weakened has been translated as to cause something to waste away, to become frail, to decay, or to be destroyed. In our personal lives when we believe the lies offered to us by the fallen one without investigation as to its source and fail to offer a righteous challenge, our faith weakens with each compromise we allow. A weakening of our faith also happens when we believe the bluffing from the bully of hell and shrink away in silent fear or allow our need for group acceptance to control our speech and actions with the fear of rejection.
While each of us should be concerned and involved in the welfare of our nation through prayer, service, and sacrifice, we should not forget the first and foremost assault on any nation does not begin with its institutions. The initial target is the faith of the Church. We hold the destiny of nations in our hands. With a successful assault against truth and faith on an individual level, a nation cannot stand.
The word “nations” was mentioned over 60 times in the New Testament, many times by Jesus. Most noted was His use of the word in The Great Commission. Nations is a word that can refer to a tribe, race, or nation. These are groups of people where we live and work. Our faith needs to remain strong and not compromised so that our tribe, race, or nation can survive long enough to flourish under the influence of God’s love. Maintaining a strong faith is what loving our neighbor as ourselves looks like and it is what will help a nation stand in challenging moments of history. One person with strong faith can become the ignition point of a wildfire of revival and reformation in any nation no matter how dire the situation of that nation might appear.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins
Featured Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay
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