HONOURING FATHERS 2_ OVERCOMING SATAN’S RESISTANCE OF FATHERS
(mr 02/08/18)
OLUBI JOHNSON
Satan comes to resist Joshua, a type of a father, for a reason. But the angel of the Lord stood with him to remove his filthy garments. A garment is symbolic of our righteousness. A righteousness that has been spotted with sin. It has to be cleansed by the Blood of Jesus for the high priest to have a new garment so he can be an effective high priest over his wife, children, even his business. One is not a father only at home but also in the office; for example, if you own a business then you are a ‘Father’ over that business. In every sphere of influence they are part of, it is important that fathers take control and spiritually enforce God’s dominion by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom.14.17)! This issue of fathers has a multiple implications, and that is why as Christians we need to take prayer seriously, so we can function effectively as high priests. Over the years, I have come to see that Satan is strategic. He attacks fathers all over the world. It is shocking what some fathers do to their children, and their families! We must, however, understand that it is not just them acting alone; Satan is in control of and working through such men. That is why you find irresponsibility and infidelity of all kinds. So Satan must be resisted and overcome:
Zechariah 3:2 KJV: And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: [is] not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
My prayer is that the Lord will rebuke the Devourer in your home, in your family and your generations in Jesus Name! Some sins are generational: spiritual forces working through fathers. The same spiritual forces that worked in the life of the grandfather, is passed on through the father and now works in the son; so that the mistakes which the fathers made are replicated in their sons and grandchildren! It is so uncanny, but it is the devil, Satan, working from generation to generation and that is why as Christians, we must to take a stand, especially Christian men! This is not the time to play around or to relax spiritually! We Fathers must be on our guard and watch in prayer over ourselves, our children and households! We must repent and take very seriously, praying in the Spirit. Unless we are very watchful and prayerful, we may discover, (God forbid!) that the mistakes of our grandfathers and fathers are repeated in the lives of we their seed!
Zechariah 3:3 KJV: Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
Joshua here is a type of the high priest and by extension in this message, a type of a father. Filthy garments indicate that his righteousness has been compromised, but the good news is that those compromised filthy garments will be washed white as snow as by the Blood of Jesus! The angel in the above scripture typifies a messenger, somebody who is in divine authority, like a pastor or other fivefold ministry. We see this in the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3, where the heads over each of the seven churches of Asia Minor that Apostle John was sent to were referred to as ‘angels’. It is the angel, the divine messenger, that sets Joshua free.
Zechariah 3:4 KJV: And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
Can an angel, a messenger of the Lord do the above? Yes! Consider the following scripture:
John 20:23 KJV: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Pastors and those in positions of spiritual authority have the power to remit sin! More accurately, every Christian can and should bestow a change of garment or, remit sins! Garments here represent our righteousness: rightdoing based on a foundation of rightstanding with God by the cleansing of the blood of the Lord Jesus (Rev.19:8); this is one understanding. Another understanding of what garments represent, and which is very important in this message, is the flesh, or more accurately, the sin nature in the body and the soul. Your physical body is the garment of your spirit and this physical body has the sin nature in it. However, as we clean frequently with the Blood of Jesus (Heb.13:20-21; 1Jn.1:7-9), use the Word of God (1Jn.2:5; 2Pet.1:4-10) and the power of the Holy Spirit (Eph.6:18; Rom.8:26; 1Cor.14:2), we can change our raiment so that righteousness will reign in our mortal body (Rom. 8.11; 2 Cor. 4.10-11, 2 Cor. 7.1) I challenge every father to change his raiment, remove the sin nature from our flesh and put on God’s righteousness! It is actually one of the rewards of the overcomer (See our message on ‘Becoming an Overcomer’).
Revelation 3:5 KJV: He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
This is available now; we do not have to wait till we get to heaven! I challenge you to stay under covering. As you stay under covering, the grace to do will be given. Fathers must get rid of their filthy garments. When all the filthy garments have been removed, cleansed by the Blood of Jesus, then we can move forth in light. The scripture further says:
Zechariah 3:5 AMP: And I [Zechariah] said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with [rich] garments. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.
To understand this, we must have a knowledge of the priestly garments in the Tabernacle of Moses. One item of the high priests apparel was a turban with golden inscription which said, ‘Holiness to the Lord’.
Exodus 28:36 KJV: And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
What this signifies is having the mind of Christ and having pure thoughts. This is what was being given to Joshua. God is removing our dirty thinking. The Mosaic Law high priest had three garments: a white tunic, a blue one and the curious girdle of the ephod, representing three anointings: one, when we get born again, secondly are baptized in the Holy Spirit and thirdly, attain unto inheriting the Spirit without measure, the full anointing upon the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn.3:34).
