The Cracked Door Conference 2011 - Grenada: Faith Science - The Invisible World

The Cracked Door Conference 2011 - Grenada

Faith Science: Where Faith and the Scientific Method Collide
Day One: The Invisible World

1. What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 and Romans 10:17 - Biblical faith is "complete trust in the invisible evidence provided by the Word of God confirmed by commensurate action."

2. An Introduction to The Invisible World

Colossians 1:15-17 - God created both the visible and invisible worlds
2 Corinthians 4:18 - The visible world is temporary while the invisible world is eternal

Excerpt from Faith Science
Biblical faith is "complete trust in the invisible evidence provided by the Word of God confirmed by commensurate action." Based on the Scriptures, there is an invisible world that exists simultaneously with the visible world we live in. In that world are thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Thus, if we believe the Word of God, we cannot ignore it. In the same way that Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, what we see in our lives are visible images of what's happening in the invisible world. Even if we choose not to acknowledge it, our lives are directly affected by what we cannot see with our natural eyes.

3. Case Study #1 - Elisha and his servant

2 Kings 6:15 - Elisha's awareness of the invisible world around him gave him confidence in the face of great odds. In contrast, his servant could only see with his physical eyes and was terrified.

4. Case Study #2 - Daniel

Daniel 10:1-9 - Daniel's intercession

Excerpt from Faith Science
For three full weeks, Daniel went through an intense season of fasting and prayer. In a fascinating display of discipline, he put his natural desires under subjection and focused his life on deep spiritual intercession. Fortunately, the hierarchy of heaven noticed, and God sent an angel with a message that blows this teaching on the invisible world wide open.

Daniel 10:10-14, 20 - The battle lines were drawn in heaven.

Excerpt from Faith Science
Carefully observe the name of the spirit that opposed the angel of God, because it will become very important as we move along. Daniel's vision reveals so much wisdom that it can change how we approach the spirit realm altogether. The angel asserted that even while he spoke with Daniel, Michael the archangel was still fighting against the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. The heavenly war was far from over, and once he was done with delivering his message he had to return to the battlefield.

Nonetheless, the hidden message in this portion of Scripture begins in verse twenty. Since there is no time in the spirit, the angel knew exactly what would happen after they were finished with the territorial spirit over Persia. An intense battle with the territorial spirit over Greece would follow. Why is that so significant? I'll show you.

Daniel 11:1-2 - Identical battle lines were drawn on earth.

Excerpt from Faith Science
The spiritual battle that was taking place in heaven was a precursor to the physical battle that was coming. In the spirit realm, God's angels were already in the middle of a heated fight with the fallen angel assigned to Persia. Soon after, the Grecian fallen angel was on his way to the battle. In the natural realm, after the reign of Cyrus, the current king of Persia, three more Persian kings were rising to power. Then a war with the kingdom of Greece was next on the schedule. What looked like random wars between opposing earthly kingdoms was really a reflection of the spiritual war. The real war was invisible and was being fought between God's angels and the spirits behind these kingdoms.

That is so important for us to understand because in these few verses dwells the entirety of spiritual warfare and its effects in the natural realm. While Daniel prayed, angels were fighting for the people of Israel. They were being physically controlled by the Persian kingdom on earth but may not have been aware of the spiritual consequences. The territorial spirit in control of the Persian kingdom used that authority to resist Daniel's prayers from being answered. Once he was defeated by the angels in heaven and the Greek spirit took over, it was only a matter of time before the Persian kingdom on earth lost its power over God's people to the Greeks. So many conclusions can be drawn from that, but I'll leave it right there. The mystery revealed here is the direct connection between the invisible and visible realms.

5. The Connection Between the Visible and Invisible Worlds

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 - Don't evaluate people from a human point of view
Ephesians 6:10-12 - What we see in the natural is just a reflection of the spiritual battle taking place for our lives.

It doesn't matter what it is. If you face trouble on earth, take the battle into the spirit realm and you will win. Keep it in the natural realm and you will struggle.

6. Pray about everything

Ephesians 6:18, Luke 18:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - Pray all the time about everything.

Excerpt from Faith Science
Why must we always pray? It's our connection to the invisible world. We cannot see it with our natural eyes, so we can't do anything about it with our natural strength. However, we have to do something because what happens in it directly affects our lives. When we don't pray, life happens to us and we have to respond to circumstances after they take place. Yet, when we pray we determine what happens in our lives. God gives us the authority to plug into his eternal kingdom and change our future.

Considering what was just discussed, the idea of the spiritual armor of God should make a little more sense. It's more important than any natural armor because we can fight a spiritual battle and determine the outcome of a war in the earth before it even starts. The enemies we face on earth are driven and directed by our spiritual enemies. Until we defeat the spirits behind them, we will exhaust ourselves fighting battles that will never end.

When we fight against people, the spirits just leave the people we defeat and get behind others. It will go on and on just like that until we follow the advice of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 and stop seeing people from a human point of view. Our fight is not with flesh and blood but with the spirits that rule invisible kingdoms that control the kingdoms we can see. Before we start fighting we should have our spiritual armor on.