Series: Supernatural     

 

Title: Spiritual warfare

 

Theme verse:

 

Ephesians 6:12

 

¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 

 

What is spiritual warfare?

 

We can begin to understand what spiritual warfare is by looking at that word wrestle.

 

Wrestle- (pale) wrestling (a contest between two in which each endeavors to throw the other, and which is decided when the victor is able to hold his opponent down with his hand upon his neck)

the term is transferred to the Christian's struggle with the power of evil.

 

Wrestling" implies that it is a hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot struggle for the mastery: Each is attempting to defeat the other.

 

Know Who Your Enemy is Not

 

First off, the war that we face is not in the flesh. 

 

Flesh- (sarx) the flesh, denotes mere human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God

 

You are made of flesh and blood; you work in a field or go to school with others who are also made of flesh and blood.  It would most certainly seem like most of the conflicts that we face on a day-to-day basis is with other people.  Certainly, you may get angry at office equipment for not working right, or at the t.v. when your favorite team is losing.  But ultimately our biggest struggle is getting along with other people.

 

So, yes, we are in a war but the war that we fight is not necessarily against the person who just cursed you out or who came against you, but the war that we fight is certainly against spiritual darkness that opposes the light that is in you.

 

Know Who Your Enemy Is

 

Your enemy is satan.  He is a liar, a deceiver, he is an accuser.  Therefore, the war that you fight is against satan, and his forces of evil. 

 

Spiritually speaking, satan our adversary is trying his best to defeat us.  He will use various tactics to turn us against God.  Satan knows your area of weakness and will attempt to use your weakness for his advantage.  He lies, condemns, accuses, distorts the truth, temps etc.… all to weaken our faith and demolish our trust in the Lord.

 

John 10:10

 

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

 

There are many examples in the bible that deal with the subject of spiritual warfare.  We can go all the way back to the beginning with Adam and Eve to find an example of mankind wrestling with forces of evil. 

Satan came to them both in the form of a serpent and persuaded them to eat of the tree which God had forbid them to eat.  We all know the outcome of that struggle, Adam and Eve failed to resist the devil and gave in to the lies of the deceiver.  As a result of their disobedience, sin entered the world and death came consequently for their sin.

 

This was the first recorded struggle between mankind and the forces of darkness.  Though it would not be the last. 

 

Furthermore, the powers of darkness consist of more than satan himself.  Satan’s forces are organized and powerful.  Paul describes the rankings of the powers of darkness.

 

Ephesians 6:12

 

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 

1. “principalities.” This word is taken from the Greek word archai, an old word that is used symbolically to denote ancient times. It is also used to depict individuals who hold the highest and loftiest position of rank and authority.

 

By using the word archai, Paul emphatically tells us that at the very top of Satan’s kingdom are powerful evil beings that have held their lofty positions of power and authority since ancient times — probably ever since the fall of Lucifer.

 

2. “powers.” This word “powers” (exousia) and it denotes delegated authority. This describes a lower, second-level group of evil beings — demon spirits — who have received delegated authority from Satan to carry out all manner of evil in whatever way they desire to do it.
3. “the rulers of the darkness of this world.” (kosmokrateros)and is a compound of the words kosmos and kratos.
   1. The word kosmosdenotes order or arrangement, whereas the word 
   2. kratoshas to do with raw power.
   3. Thus, the compounded word kosmokraterosdepicts raw power that has been harnessed and put into some kind of order.

 

This word kosmokrateros was at times used to picture military training camps where young men were assembled, trained, and turned into a mighty army. These young men were like raw power when they first arrived in the training camp. However, as the military training progressed and the new recruits were taught discipline and order, all that raw manpower was converted into an organized, disciplined army. This is the word Paul now uses in his description of Satan’s kingdom. 

 

What does it mean?

It tells you and I that Satan is so serious about damaging people, made in the image and likeness of God, that he deals with demon spirits as though they are troops! He puts them in rank and file, gives them orders and assignments, and then sends them out like military soldiers who are committed to kill. Just as men in a human army are equipped and trained in their methods of destruction, so, too, are these demon spirits. Satan sends them forth to do their devious work against human beings.

 

But don’t let this intimidate or produce fear in you. 

 

1 John 4:4

 

⁴ Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

There is an example in the Old Testament which depicts this so well. 

 

2 Kings 6

 

¹¹ And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” ¹² And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” ¹³ And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” ¹⁴ So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. ¹⁵ When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 

 

The first thing we see in this passage is that the king of Syria (who is a picture of our spiritual enemy satan) plans an attack against the man of God Elisha.  Just as satan plans his attacks against believers. The King attempts to destroy Elisha by using fear and intimidation much like our adversary the devil.  He brings a large army well equipped with chariots and horses.  He brings his large army against one prophet of God and his servant. Elisha is outnumbered and out of options, so it seemed to his servant.

 

The most incredible thing about spiritual warfare is not the overwhelming feeling of having satan as an enemy, but rather the total confidence that God is our ally. 

 

If He is for you then it is a fixed fight.  If you are on the Lord’s side, then you are on the winning side.  In fact, you have already won.  Look at what Elisha tells his servant.

 

¹⁶ He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” ¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 

 

When you feel like you are surrounded in the natural, you must open your eyes to the supernatural and realize that God is for you.  His army is bigger, His power is stronger, His angels are mightier.  If He is for you then who can be against you.

 

 

Romans 8:31, 37-39

 

³¹ What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

 

³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

³⁸ For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ³⁹ Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Are you on the Lord’s side? Or are you the Lord’s enemy?  There are no other choices.  There is no straddling the fence.  You can’t pretend to be on the Lord’s side while living like the child of satan.

You can’t be on the Lord’s side and not be engaged in the cosmic battle between good and evil. 

If you are on the Lord’s side there will be a fight, there will be struggle, there will be some wrestling.  But there will also be victory!  Because there are more that are with us than with them.  For God is for us!

 

The truth is there is a very real war which happens in the heavenlies between the forces of good and evil.  The good news, if you are a believer in Christ then you are already on the winning side.  

 

How do we wrestle effectively against spiritual forces of evil?

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

 

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.  (personal fight)

 

The war that we fight is not against flesh and blood, nor do we use earthly means to fight our war. 

 

Luke 6:27-28

 

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

 

From these two verses we see that the answer to our conflict with another person is not to punch them in the face when they upset us but rather, we are to overcome by loving them, doing good to them, blessing them and prayingfor them. 

 

The real war is in the heavenlies.  The real war is against satan and his army of demons.  A person may come against you in the flesh, but know that the root of the problem is spiritual in nature.

 

To fight a spiritual battle you need a spiritual weapon.

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

 

⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, ⁶ being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

 

Our weapons have divine power- God’s power (dynatos) having power for something

 

Before we talk about what this weapon is let’s talk about what our weapons accomplish –

            Destroy strongholds (footholds to which an individual has given the enemy)

            Destroy arguments and opinions which are against God

            Take thoughts captive

            Punishes disobedience

 

Our weapon is the Word of God. 

 

Ephesians 6 tells us to take up our weapon …the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

 

This is how Jesus overcame the three temptations of the devil. 

Matthew 4:3-4, 7, 10

³ “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁷ “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Jesus found himself in a spiritual fight against satan and He overcame him with the word of God.

It is the Word of God which destroys strongholds

It is the Word of God that destroys arguments and opinions which are against God

It is the Word of God which enables you to take thoughts captive.

It’s the Word of God that teaches us obedience

 

Christ has the final say so and we win as we firmly stand on the Word of God.

 

1 Corinthians 15: 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.