Word Count: 2198

Contact Paul George

Spiritual Warfare - Part 2 of 7

by Paul George  
12/03/2008 / Bible Studies

Ephesians 6:10-13

Quotes from World English Bible unless noted otherwise

"Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand."

The Apostle Paul's instructions to the church at Ephesus:

The word wrestling means, to struggle with an opponent at close quarters; the opponent is not flesh and blood. Our opponent is the demonic hosts of Satan, consisting of rulers, powers, world forces, and spiritual forces in heavenly places (v 12). Rulers stress the authority of our opponent. Powers stress the strength of our opponent. World forces of this darkness stress the influence of our opponent. Spiritual forces of wickedness stress the character of our opponent. The heavenly places refer to the space between the earth and the stars.

According to some interpreters, the goal of Satan and his demonic forces is to prevent our ascent to heaven, to deprive us of heavenly blessings and to obstruct our communion with God. This interpretation is based on Daniel chapter ten.

One of the problems overlooked in the struggle against Satan and his demonic forces by many readers of the Bible, is the Biblical fact God uses spiritual beings to fulfill His purpose in creating the heavens, the earth, and humanity; this includes those attempting to frustrate God's purpose in creating the heavens, earth, and humanity.

Another problem overlooked in the struggle against Satan and his demonic forces is the failure to recognize the primary goal of the demonic forces of Satan, the advancement of the kingdom of Satan and extending their sphere of influence in the world.

Another problem overlooked in the struggle against Satan and his demonic forces is the primary method used against us, distracting us from a sincere devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ. The distraction of sincere devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ results in making us ineffective in our struggle with the demonic forces of Satan and enables his forces to advance his kingdom and their sphere of influence while hindering the Church's influence on the world and our society.

The major problem in many local churches today is the lack of total commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ. Instead of being strong in the Lord and putting on the full amour of God, there is compromise. Instead of dependency upon our Lord Jesus Christ, there is self-reliance. Self-reliance enables the demonic forces to get a foothold in the community of believers. When our eyes are upon self, we are depending on self-reliance, our eyes not upon our Lord Jesus Christ, we are not standing firm in the faith, and we are not able to discern the schemes of the devil.

The Apostle Paul told Timothy, "This instruction I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to you, that by them you may wage the good warfare; holding faith and a good conscience; which some having thrust away made a shipwreck concerning the faith; of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I delivered to Satan, that they might be taught not to blaspheme" (1 Timothy 1:18-20). In these troubled times we should heed Paul's instructions to Timothy.

Why should we heed Paul's instructions to Timothy? The first area that Satan and his demonic forces attack is our faith. In the attack upon our faith, the number one weapon is doubt. In the Garden of Eden, the serpent used doubt to defeat Adam and Eve. In the wilderness, Satan tried to use doubt to defeat Jesus and turn Him from the purpose He came to earth. Adam and Eve were defeated because they doubted the Word of God. Jesus defeated Satan because He did not doubt but stood firm in His faith. Judas betrayed Jesus because he left Satan plant seeds of doubt in his heart. In the incident of a terrifying storm, Jesus told Peter he had little faith and asked, Peter and the disciples, why they doubted Him. Jesus told the disciples, if they had faith and do not doubt they will not only do what was done to the fig tree, they could say to the mountain, "Be taken up and cast into the sea" and it would be done (Matthew 21:21).

In this journey we call life, there are many mountains encountered. When we encounter these mountains, what is the first question asked, "Why did the Lord permit this to happen?" What do you think would happen if those mountains that become a source of doubt we would ask the question what is the Lord trying to show me, in other words not why but what.

How can we have the faith Jesus refers to? Peter has the answer to the question; he told the first century church, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you. Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings" (1 Peter 5:6-9).

The second area that Satan and his demonic forces attack is our influence upon society. It is important we know what weapons Satan and his demonic hosts uses to attack our influence on society. The weapons of Satan and his demonic hosts are unresolved anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, envy, pride, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, and mistrust. It is also important we know how Satan and his demonic hosts advances his kingdom. He uses the lies and twisting of the truth by false teachers to advance his kingdom and undermine the influence of the Church. He uses miracles to blind unbelievers and deceive lukewarm professing believers. He uses blatant occultism, the New Age Movement, and Christian mysticism to gain influence over the world and our society. Through the introduction of occult practices, New Age theories, Eastern mysticism, and Christian mysticism that are doctrines taught by demons, the agenda of the Church is being slowly changed. The agenda of the first century church was, proclaiming the gospel, making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them the commandments of the Lord.

A third area Satan and his demonic forces uses in his attack upon the body of believers is religion. While it is difficult for the finite mind of men and women to understand, the Lord is not interested in religion. In fact, religion has interfered with His number one interest, the deliverance of humanity from bondage in the kingdom of darkness and everlasting separation from God. It is difficult to understand, when this is one of the major agendas of twenty-first Christianity, God is not interested in multi-million dollar buildings, stained-glass windows, and numbers on church membership rolls. He is interested in the producing of men and women who can live godly lives in the midst of a dark and evil world. His goal for our lives is that we be people of undefiled minds and undefiled hearts, living and projecting His truth and His character in a sin-ridden world.

In this sin-ridden world, Satan, through his demonic forces, both spiritual and physical, wants to convince people they do not struggle against demonic forces. He wants people to believe the lie he does not exist. He wants people to believe the lie there is no resurrection, there is no heaven and hell, and our struggles in this life are against flesh and blood and nations. The evil and wickedness in this world are the results of this flesh and blood struggle between nations.

If we are struggling against demonic forces and not flesh and blood who are these forces? In the Old Testament, we are told, "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts; I am the first and I am the last, and there is no god besides Me" (Isaiah 44:6 NASB). Many readers of this verse and others verses in the Bible that refer to gods mistaking interpret these verses as referring to idols. However, most of these verses refer to existing realities, real spiritual beings with minds of their own. The Apostle Paul refers to these spiritual beings as rulers, powers, world forces, and spiritual forces.

In Psalm eighty-six verse eight 8, the psalmist wrote, "There is no one like you among the gods, O Lord" (NASB). In Psalm ninety-six verse four he wrote, "For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods" (NASB) "Our Lord is above all gods" (Psalm 135.5 NASB). In Exodus twelve verse twelve, God told Moses He would execute judgments "on all the gods of Egypt." The author of Numbers then declares that is indeed what happened; He executed judgments against their gods" (Numbers 33:4). When God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments, He told them, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20.3 NASB) In Exodus twenty-three verses thirty-two and thirty-three Israel is told not to covenant with or worship other gods. In Deuteronomy six, the Israelites are told when they enter the Promised Land, "You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. You shall not follow other gods; any of the gods of the peoples who surround you (vv 13-14 NASB).
What we find when we read the Old Testament with our eyes open there are other beings in the universe besides God and humans. The Old Testament speaks freely, about the existence of gods other than the God of Israel. However, the supremacy of Israel's God over all other gods is everywhere asserted. It is also implied, the neighbors of Israel have their own gods that God probably created. There is also the attitude, which is present today, "all the peoples walk each in the name of his god" (Micah 4.5 NASB). An example of this attitude is found in Jonah chapter one.

The Lord told Jonah to go to Nineveh, instead Jonah went to Joppa, boarded a ship with the intent of going to Tarshish in an attempt to flee from the presence of the Lord. Jonah soon learned there is no fleeing from the presence of the Lord. The Lord's response to Jonah's attempt to flee from His presence was great storm that brought fear into the hearts of the sailors and each sailor prayed to his god and asked them to protect the ship. The captain of the ship asked Jonah why he was sleeping instead of praying to his God to protect the ship. What do we see in this incident? According to the captain, like today, all gods are equal. We also see this in Elijah's defeating the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, "When all the people saw it they fell on their faces; and they cried: "Yahweh He is God; the Lord, He is God" (1 Kings 18:39). In other words, there is no reason to worship Baal; Yahweh has more power than Baal does.

A third approach to the idea of other gods is the denial of the reality of other gods. It is the attitude that there is indeed only one god, and His name is Yahweh. All other gods are figments of the imagination of non-Jews. Yahweh alone is in the heavens, as it were. No other supernatural powers exist, except perhaps for Yahweh's angels.

However, there is still another view, not necessarily in complete distinction from all the preceding, but different in emphasis. This is the "cosmic war" view. It rejects the Yahweh alone view that denies the existence of any other gods. It might refuse to call them "gods," but claims the cosmos is full of supernatural powers, and that they oppose God and His purpose in creating the heavens, earth, and humanity. However, according to the Old Testament Yahweh defeated the cosmic forces that these powers represented, but at the same time, the Bible suggests the war is ongoing. The point of this "cosmic war" seems to be that while the pagan stories of these powers are largely false, they are also partly true. The pagan stories are wrong when they suggest a high god is still struggling with monsters and other gods. However, they are right when they suggest that a cosmic war is still being fought between supernatural beings and Yahweh. The major difference, however, is that Yahweh has defeated these hostile powers. The present situation is Yahweh's past victories over these hostile powers were decisive, but there are continuing battles to reinforce and reaffirm those first decisive conquests.

Retired pastor,Church of the Nazarene

Author of web site Exploring God's Word

www.thewordofgodonline.net

New American Standard Bible

King James Version

The World English Bible

Sermons and Bible studies preached and taught by author

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! Click here and TRUST JESUS NOW

Read more articles by Paul George

Like reading Christian Articles? Check out some more options. Read articles in Main Site Articles, Most Read Articles or our highly acclaimed Challenge Articles. Read Great New Release Christian Books for FREE in our Free Reads for Reviews Program. Or enter a keyword for a topic in the search box to search our articles.

Enter comments below. Due to spam, all hyperlinks posted in the comments are now immediately disabled by our system.

Please type the following word below:

Not readable? Change text.

The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

Hire a Christian Writer, Christian Writer Wanted, Christian Writer Needed, Christian Content Needed, Find a Christian Editor, Hire a Christian Editor, Christian Editor, Find a Christian Writer