Spiritual warfare
Whether you realize it or not, you and I are living in a warzone, and we are active participants in the conflict. This earth we live on is a battlefield and war rages around us on all sides. The difference in this war and the wars you studied when you were in school, is that this is not a physical battle, but is in actuality a spiritual one. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” We are in a constant battle in which Satan seeks to devour you. (See 1 Peter 5:8) These forces of darkness are working day and night to capture your soul and to control your mind, which in turn controls you.
Oh my, wait a minute, you say, I am not a Christian. I don’t believe all that crazy talk. Or maybe you do believe in God, you go to church every Sunday and even pray to God, but all that stuff in the Bible, that is just symbolism and hyperbole, nobody believes all that kind of talk. I hate to be the bearer of bad news (actually for those who understand, it is good news); but that talk isn’t just hype or symbolism, it is the truth of the Word of God. You can deny the truth all you like, but that doesn’t change the truth. Actually it proves my point that we are at war. One of Satan’s favorite methods is to deceive us. It was his ability to deceive Eve in the Garden of Eden that led to what we call the fall, which was the time when sin and death entered into the world. So if you do not believe what the Bible says, you have already become a casualty in the horrible war.
Never in the history of America, do I believe we should be more cognizant of this war, than today. We spend a lot of time, money, energy, and even the lives of men and women, fighting what we currently call the war on terrorism. This war on terrorism had been quietly being fought for years, but after the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, we suddenly were all aware of the need to protect ourselves. Drastic measures have been put into place, even leading to a new entity tilted Homeland security. While certainly I understand the threat of terrorism in the world today, it is amazing to me that many of God’s people are blind to the attack that Satan and his demonic army has been carrying on against us for so long. Take this a severe warning, we are on high alert, Satan is very active and wants your soul, your children’s souls, and everyone else in this world.
Having grown in up the sixties, I remember feeling the winds of change that were blowing in sometime in the latter part of that time. Things that were considered unmentionable on TV or in normal conversation were suddenly ok. Foul language became commonplace. Sexual freedom and drug use were accepted. I believe a major paradigm shift occurred in 1973 when abortion became legal. Then the development of the internet forever altered the temptation of pornography, making it available anywhere, anytime, and by anyone who has access to a computer or even a cell phone. The bottom line is that sin, always present in our world, has now been relabeled as ok. We are living in a post-modern day when right and wrong now depends on the individual’s perspective.
Maybe you don’t worry about this; you have raised your family with good Christian morals and led a fairly good life. I am here to warn you. The devil is prowling around seeking to devour your children and grandchildren. Your own life and marriage could be destroyed at any moment. Just look around at our society today. Marriages fail at an alarming rate and that number does not change in the Christian realm. Same sex marriage is being crammed down our throat. Somewhere near one million babies are aborted in America each year. One out of four women today will have had an abortion by the age of 45. Abortion is used as a birth control method. Many of the babies being born today, and I applaud the mothers and families who choose to raise these children, are being born out of wedlock and will never know what it is like to grow up in the family environment that God designed for them. Our prisons are overloaded, many incarcerated on drug related charges. Do any of these scenarios sound like something you would want your children or grandchildren to face? I think not.
Ephesians chapter six is our primary text on spiritual warfare. Verse 12 tells us explicitly that “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Listen to the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 which says. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” God has made this very clear; we are at war and it is a spiritual one and we have divine power with which we can fight with.
In his commentary, Albert Barnes says that we at war on three different fronts:
1 (1.) it is a warfare with the corrupt desires and sensual propensities of the heart; with internal corruption and depravity; with the remaining unsubdued propensities of a fallen nature.
(2.) With the powers of darkness-the mighty spirits of evil that seek to destroy us. See Ephesians 6:11-17.
(3.) With sin in all forms; with idolatry, sensuality, corruption, intemperance, profaneness, wherever they may exist. The Christian is opposed to all these; and it is the aim and purpose of his life, as far as he may be able, to resist and subdue them. He is a soldier, enlisted under the banner of the Redeemer, to oppose and resist all forms of evil. But his warfare is not conducted on worldly principles. Mohammed propagated his religion with the sword; and the men of this world seek for victory by arms and violence. The Christian looks for his conquests only by the force and power of truth, and by the agency of the Spirit of God.
Albert Barnes has hit on it exactly. In all reality it is safe to say that this war not only includes believers, it includes all of mankind. The only question that remains is to decide whether you will fight or just be a casualty of war.
I have more good news. The war is won; Christ won it on the cross on Calvary. The bad news; we still have to fight the battles of the war, and some we will win and some we will lose. Are you ready for some more good news? God has provided us with the battle equipment with which we have the ability to win every battle. The Apostle Paul gives us the briefing on our armor and on our weaponry in Ephesians, chapter six. Check it out. I have highlighted some of the important points in bold.
Ephesians 6:10-18 (NASB) “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…”
Let me reemphasize a few points. Our strength in is God. He has given us a complete suit of armor, we lack nothing. Our fight is not against men, but against a dark force of evil, which consists of the Devil and his army. There is a realm of existence that we are to realize is not visible to the physical eye.
What are we to do about what we have just learned? We are to stand firm. Our foundation for standing firm consists of truth, a righteousness that is imputed to us by the blood of Christ shed on the cross, and in the peace that we have with God that we know comes through the Gospel (see Romans 5:1). Then we are to hold in our hands our “shield of faith” and it is though our faith that we know we can believe the Word of God and its promises. It is God’s promises that, when we truly believe, will defeat the attack on our hearts and minds by Satan, when he accuses us and tells us we are too sinful to go in front of a holy God. Then wearing the helmet of salvation, our confidence is in our eternal destination and that protects our minds from Satan’s lies and deceptions. Satan attacks our minds, which is where the real battle is fought. We can fight both defensively and offensively by yielding the Sword of the Spirit, which is God’s Word. The best example of spiritual warfare being fought is seen in Matthew 4:1-11, as Jesus fights off Satan’s temptations by using scripture (Sword of the Spirit) to defeat him. Look at that encounter and see how Satan twisted scripture to mess with Jesus, but His response was to use scripture as well, but in the right context and in truth.
One more thing, which I think many miss from Paul’s dissertation on spiritual warfare. The final verse of that part of Ephesians is an exhortation to pray at all times in the Spirit, staying alert in these prayers for all the saints. Christians are the saints being referred to here. Do not, I say again, do not, try and fight this battle without prayer. Prayer is your communication line back to your commander in this war, God himself. An army that loses its ability to communicate with the higher command, becomes lost and in big trouble.
Spiritual warfare is real. The Bible is replete with examples, and I encourage people to search out the scriptures for the many stories where we see the battles of the Bible are of a spiritual nature. During my teenage years I dabbled in the occult quite a bit. Ouija Boards and Tarot cards were two of my favorite things, and I was fascinated with death and trying to reach the dead. Later I was involved with the Church of Scientology for a short time. I had an aunt who was considered a fortune teller, supposedly had foreseen the death of my Mom’s second baby, who died in childbirth. I have had some experiences in seeing supernatural things occur before I was born again, and I have seen supernatural things occur as a Christian as well, especially in the area of answered prayer. I believe in the Bible and what it says about the Heavenly realms. I also believe we must be careful when we step out of God’s law in dealing with these things, as I did as a youth. I was blessed, God saved me from own wickedness.
You may not agree with what I have had to say about this topic. I encourage you to seek out the Word of God for yourself. Do a bible study and learn all you can. As we near the end times we cannot afford to be uneducated in the Word of God.
Notes
1 Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament Explanatory and Practical, ed. Robert Frew WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "2 Corinthians 10".