Spiritual
Warfare!
Revelation 12:7-12, 17 “And war broke out in Heaven: Michael and his
angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they
did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in Heaven any longer. So the
great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and satan, who
deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out
with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in Heaven, ‘Now Salvation and
Strength, and The Kingdom of our GOD, and The Power of His CHRIST have come,
for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our GOD day and night,
has been cast down. And they overcame him by The Blood of The LAMB and by the
word of their testimony, and they did not love their liver to the death. Therefore
rejoice O Heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the
earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath,
because he knows that he has a short time. And the dragon was enraged with the
woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the
commandments of GOD and have the Testimony of JESUS CHRIST.’”
Most
Christians understand that we are in a spiritual war against the enemy of GOD. The devil rebelled against
GOD and he hates us
because we are made in GOD’s
image. When the devil was a servant of GOD he was beautiful because he reflected the Glory of
GOD. When through his
rebellion he lost his position he no longer was beautiful because he no longer
reflected GOD’s Glory.
So he has been at war with humanity ever since our creation because we are made
in GOD’s image and he is
not. Genesis 1:26-28
For those
who do not believe we are in a spiritual war with the devil – read the words of
JESUS and the Apostles.
To those who believe Jesus defeated the devil and all we have to do is claim
the victory – read the words of JESUS and the Apostles. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear! He
who has eyes to see, let him see!” Mark 1:12-13.
We know that
we have the victory in JESUS
and that we are told to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. (1
Corinthians 15:57; Galatians 2:19-21, 5:1; Philippians 2:12-18; 1 John 5:1-5) We
know that we have spiritual armor for our warfare and there is lots of teaching
on the warfare and our armor. My understanding of why many of us do not have
the victory is that we do not properly use our armor therefore we have less
than good results in our warfare.
What is our
spiritual armor? In Ephesians 6:10-20 Paul describes our armor and why we have
it. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the LORD and in the Power of His Might. Put on the whole
armor of GOD that you
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For, we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of GOD that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore
having girded your waist with Truth, having put on the breastplate of Righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace; above
all, taking the shield of Faith with which you will be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of Salvation, and the sword
of the SPIRIT, which is
the Word of GOD; praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the SPIRIT, being watchful to this end with all
perseverance and supplication for all the saints – and for me, that utterance
may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery
of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak
boldly, as I ought to speak.” NKJV
Study 1 Thessalonians
5:1-11.
The Whole Armor of GOD:
Belt
(girdle) of Truth – Jesus is The Truth. How do we put on Jesus? In baptism we
crucify our old nature and rise a new person in Christ, in the power of His
resurrection we are conformed to His death, in the fellowship of His suffering
we learn to be true to the Father’s will. We must live in GOD’s Truth for our belt to be
effective. Study Luke 22:39-45; John 4:34; Galatians 2:20-21; Philippians
3:7-11.
Breastplate
of Righteousness – We are the righteousness of GOD in CHRIST
or the rightness, the justice of GOD in CHRIST.
We must live rightly and justly this has to do with the Law, the 10
commandments and the commandments of JESUS (read the gospels). While we are set free from the obligation
of the law by JESUS’
life, death and resurrection we are still required to keep them for our
breastplate to be effective. Study Romans 5:18-19; 1 Corinthians 3:11-17; 2
Corinthians 5:9-11, 5:21; 1 Peter 1:13-17.
Shoding our
feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace – “How lovely are the feet of
them that being good news?” We must know the good news of the Gospel and have
the peace that passes all understanding to be ready to share the hope that is
in us. Knowing the Gospel is the preparation so that our sharing will be
effective and the Peace of GOD
is the shoding so that we can go wherever He sends us. Study Isaiah 52:7, Romans
10:14-17; Ephesians 2:14-18; Philippians 4:6-7.
Shield of
Faith – “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen.” “By faith…” JESUS
said “if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed…” He also said “Have faith!”
If we want to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one then we must just
believe and do, that is what faith is, in fear, in doubt and our shield will be
effective. One of the problems with faith is that it has become some mystical
force that we are trying to call on or muster up. In many Bible translations
faith is translated as trust in both the Old and New Testaments. Trust is
easier for us to understand and practice; we trust GOD, JESUS and HOLY
SPIRIT because of our
experience and GOD’s
Word. Trust becomes habit by experience and does not have to be conjured up to
work, that is what Faith is! Study Mark 9:23-24, 11:20-24; Luke 8:22-25, 17:6; Hebrews
11.
Helmet of
Salvation – Salvation is the gift that GOD gives to all who believe in and confess JESUS, who repent of their sins
and are filled with His SPIRIT.
When we allow HOLY SPIRIT to renew our mind and we
meditate on the Word of GOD
our helmet will be effective in keeping our mind on CHRIST and His Kingdom so that we understand the
Will of GOD for us.
Study Isaiah 26:3-4; Romans 12:1-2, 16; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Ephesians 4:17-24; Philippians
2:5-7.
Sword of the
SPIRIT – “For the Word
of GOD is living and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division
of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.” NKJV The Word of GOD read it, study it, live it and speak it! As
Jesus demonstrated that is the only way to resist the devil effectively. Study Isaiah
34:5-6; Matthew 4:1-11 (4,7,10), 10:34-39; Luke 4:1-13 (4,8,12); John
1:1-5; Hebrews 4:12-13; 1 John 1:1-4; Revelation 12:11, 19:11-16.
Praying
always in the SPIRIT –
Paul said he was glad that he spoke in the SPIRIT (tongues) more than anybody in Corinth; and
“Likewise the SPIRIT
also helps in our weakness. For we do not know what we should pray for as we
ought, but the SPIRIT
Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” He
also said to pray without ceasing. We must pray in the SPIRIT as much as we can for our praying to be
effective. Study Matthew 6:5-13; James 5:13-18; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; 1
Thessalonians 5:14-22.
So the armor
is not something we say and act out each morning as we start our day (as I did
for many years). Putting on the armor is not done by repeating the above scripture
passage in Ephesians, it is the result of knowing, living and speaking the Word
of GOD and doing the Will
of GOD. The warfare we
are in is the devil trying to prevent GOD’s Will from being done so that people will not be
redeemed from eternal damnation into eternal life. So to fight the good fight
we must know and do the Will of GOD which is found in His Word the Bible Philippians 2:13.
Not that we
never have to do warfare face to face with evil in the natural and spiritual
realms. JESUS said that
we would cast out demons and that some would only come out through prayer and
fasting . But, this should not be our daily activity; that should be worship
and praise, reading and studying, and doing what GOD has called us to do. Study
Matthew 5:11-12, 10:16-31, 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29, 16:14-18.
We find the Truth
of GOD, the Rightness
and Justice of GOD, the Peace
of GOD, the Faith of GOD and the Salvation of GOD in the Bible which is the Sword
of GOD.
The
advantage is ours because when we are born again we are filled with the SPIRIT of GOD Who leads us into all
truth, reminds us of what JESUS
said, instructs us in the Will of GOD and gifts us so we can serve GOD resulting in natural and spiritual fruit.
