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Then I beheld, as if in a dream, an heavenly army descending with
chariots of fire and weapons like lightening.
They were all clothed in white and shone like the sun.
Gratefully, I sheathed my sword, and fell to my knees.
"Thank you Father!"
Strong arms lifted me to carry me home.
Michael
(see II Kings 6:8-23)
"Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.
Put on the full armour of God, that you may 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 armour of God, that you may 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 missiles 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. . . Peace be to the brethren, and love with
faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love
incorruptible" (Ephesians
6:10-18;23-24).
"Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to
which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many
witnesses." (I Timothy 6:12)
Now that there is freedom from demonization on the inside, it is critical
that there is an understanding as to how to remain that way.
What has occurred in the deliverance is what Jesus explains in Luke
11:20-22: "But if I cast out
demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his own homestead, his possessions
are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers
him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied, and
distributes his plunder."
The Greek word for "all his armour" is the word "panoplia."
The only other time this word is used in the New Testament is in
Ephesians 6:11, where we are to put on "the whole armour."
From this we can see that, through Christ, and because of Christ's
finished work, we have an advantage over the devil. All his armour can be removed, while we can keep all our
armour on. In proper strategic
Christian warfare, we can be equipped for war and the enemy can be rendered
completely vulnerable.
By Christ's power and by His assistance, the kingdom of darkness can
again be overcome and the "spoils divided".
All the armour which was
used for demonization has been taken.
All that was within, is now without, most never to take up arms again
until the end of the millennium (Rev 20:7,8).
While those that were within are now defeated, there are still those
without which have not yet been overthrown and which still wield mighty weapons
of war. It is against these that we
must be prepared to fight.
It is imperative, then, that we understand what makes up our armour and
know how we are to use it so that we might stand.
Let's look at each of the pieces mentioned in Ephesians, as well as some
of the others mentioned in Scripture. BELT
OF TRUTH
The first area in which Satan will attack will be our grasp of truth.
Failure to comprehend the truth is Satan's primary snare.
The very first temptation involved Satan's twisting of the truth that man
would die if he ate from the fruit of the garden.
While God had said that man would die
(positionally and eventually) Satan said that man surely would not die
(immediately). Eve was thus tricked
by twisted truth. Satan will devise
a strategy to try to trick all of us into believing a lie.
We must be "on guard" and ready, filled with the truth, so that
we can recognize the attack when it comes.
The first attacks will be subtle and unassuming.
Be wary.
Paul writes to Timothy about those who have been led astray from the
truth (2 Tim 2:18), who are to be gently corrected (vs 25), so that through
repentance from their error in the wrong handling of the word of truth (vs
14-16), they can escape the snare of the devil (vs 26).
We are to be diligent, "handling accurately the word of truth"
(vs 15). When we are diligent to
cleanse ourselves from all that is ungodly, demonic and sinful (vs 20-24), we
are then in a position to be able to accurately understand God's Word.
But cleansing in and of itself is not enough - We must be in the Word on
a regular basis. With purity comes
understanding, and with understanding comes the ability to properly gird
ourselves with the truth. May
Christ be each man's example. He
knew the scriptures thoroughly and used them to identify and deflect Satan's
attacks during His forty days of temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11).
"These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying
to deceive you. And as for you, the
anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for
anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is
true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in him" (1
Jn 2:26-27).
"Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, `If
you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free'" (Jn 8:31-32).
There is no freedom without an understanding of truth and an
appropriation of it. It is through
truth that deliverance from demonization is achieved.
It is through truth that it is sustained. Christ prayed, regarding the disciples, that God would
"sanctify them in the truth. As
Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be
sanctified in truth. I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who
believe in Me through their word" (Jn 17:17-20).
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which
things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught
by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.... But he who is spiritual appraises all things...." (I Cor
2:12-15).
When the enemy is defeated within, the armour begins to take on a whole
new significance to the war without. So
many whom we have taken through deliverance comment how Scripture takes on a
whole new meaning once they are freed up. The
Holy Spirit is now able to fill areas of the mind that control the grasping of
truth, and thereby quicken scriptures to that individual's life. BREASTPLATE
OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
". . . and having put on the breastplate of righteousness"
1. "Imputed
righteousness." Any
righteousness which we can obtain comes only through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. This righteousness is a
free gift of God to those who believe. The
righteousness which we receive can be described by the phrase
"justification by faith." In
God's eyes, once we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we appear to Him
"just as if we had never sinned."
God made Christ sin for us. In
other words, all our sins - past, present and future - were placed upon Christ
at the cross (2 Cor 5:21). Positionally,
we are sinless before God. "There
is therefore no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1).
Because of the reality of what Christ has done, His righteousness was
imputed to us (in the same way that our sin was imputed to Him).
The book of Romans goes into extensive detail regarding righteousness. Initially, the Laws of God were given to show that man could
in no way be righteous. Obedience
to the law brought righteousness. But,
no one was able to fully obey the law (Rom 3:20).
Righteousness, therefore, was to come from the future sacrifice of
Christ's shed blood.
"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been
manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness
of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no
distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being
justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through
faith" (3:21-25a). The
individual who puts faith in Christ has "received the abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness [so that they] will reign in life through the
One, Jesus Christ" (5:17). Our
spirits are alive because of this righteousness (8:10).
The Lord "put on righteousness as His breastplate, and the helmet of
salvation on his head" (Is 59:17). By
putting on Christ we also are clothed in His righteousness.
We have become the "righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor 5:21).
So we see that, "positionally" we are clothed in righteousness.
But this is not a license to disregard the law and wallow in sin.
Because of the gift of righteousness imputed to us, we are now in a
position of freedom to obey the law and, through faith, obtain experiential
righteousness.
2. "Imparted
righteousness." Because
of our positional righteousness through faith, God is now able to work in and
through us the righteousness of His Son. He
makes righteousness a part of us. It
is put into us. With imputed
righteousness, our part was simply reception of the gift.
With imparted righteousness, our responsibility is to take an active
part. We are to "work out
[our] own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12b).
It is to be our practice to be involved with righteousness (I Jn 2:29).
". . . the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He
is righteous" (3:7). Righteousness
is the opposite of sin. Those who
practice sin are of the devil (vs 8).
We cannot, though, in our own strength become righteous. Without faith we are unable to abstain from sin.
By faith, God is able to work with us to keep us practising righteousness
and abstaining from sin. Through
Him we can put on righteousness as a breastplate to protect us from the attacks
of the enemy. By avoiding sin we
can protect our affections and our desires from luring us away from the truth
(to which the breastplate is attached). Through
Him we can have our emotions protected so that we can live by faith, not by
feeling.
Through God's imputed righteousness, we can have assurance of salvation.
It is a gift that will never be taken away.
Through imparted righteousness we can be strong in the Lord.
Emotionally, "the joy of the Lord is [our] strength" (Neh
8:10). By working to put off the
old and put on the new, we allow the Holy Spirit to fill all of our being.
The results are love, joy, and peace - all that we need to settle our
distraught emotions.
Christ's righteousness is imparted to us so that He might finally
sanctify us through the cleansing by truth and present us to himself as a
beautiful bride - without spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless on the day of the
great marriage feast (Eph 5:27). We
will then reign with Him in righteousness - forever and ever.
When we allow ourselves to become entangled in sin, our breastplate of
righteousness begins to develop weak areas.
We begin to get chinks in our armour through which Satan is able to
attack us. Positionally and finally
our breastplate of righteousness will take us into eternity, but experientially
and presently it is critical that we make sure that it is solid and strong.
The remedy for chinks that develop is confession and renunciation.
We are to be like Paul who said: "I also do my best to maintain
always a blameless conscience both before God and before men" (Acts 24:16).
Failure to maintain a clear conscience renders one vulnerable.
The longer a chink is left unattended to, the larger it will become.
Sooner or later an arrow will pierce through a vital organ and prove to
be spiritually harmful. Prolonged sin will result in our being turned over to
Satan for discipline (I Cor 5:5; I Tim 1:20).
When we do sin though, we know that we can confess our sins and be
assured "that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn 1:9).
When Satan comes to accuse us and taunt us with doubt or guilt, we can
tell him to flee, for we are righteous because of Him who made us righteous
through His blood.
Each of us know which areas Satan has, in the past,brought us into
bondage. These will be the areas in
which we will be tempted again. Righteousness
behooves us to remove ourselves as far from sin as we can get. We should never test ourselves to see if we are strong enough
to resist. Avoid any areas of
previous weakness. SHOES
OF PEACE
"and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of
peace."
Because we have positional peace with God, we are therefore able to have
personal and experiential peace before, during and after battle. Satan's first wave of attack will come upon one's emotional
life. There will be blows of fear,
anxiety, and worry. At these times,
we can stand fast in God's promises. "Do
not fear, for I am with you; Do not
anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely, I will uphold you with My righteous right
hand" (Is 41:10). "Be
anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:6-7). Our captain, the Lord Jesus Christ is the "Prince of
Peace" (Is 9:6). It is in Him
we stand, with confidence because of our relationship to Him.
No matter what Satan can array against us, we are assured that He is in
control and, by making our request known to the Father, our needs will be met.
To stand firm does not mean to simply plant one's feet and remain
stationary, but rather it means that, when we are swiftly moving and when we are
directly engaged in warfare, we will not fall down and become vulnerable.
God's word is to be a lamp unto our feet (Ps 119:105) so that we may make
our paths straight (Heb 12:13). We
are to follow God's leading and direction in the war.
The attitude of most Christians is that we are to simply stand and not
pursue. Rather, we are to walk in
the path which the Lord sets for us. If
that path means being on the advancing front lines against the kingdom of
darkness, then so be it. We are to
use our confidence in our peace with God to run over the enemy.
We are to fight, realizing that our Captain will put his feet upon the
necks of all our enemies (Josh 10:24,25). He
will eventually put all His enemies under His feet (I Cor 15:25).
As His body, we too will participate in this victory (Eph 1:22).
"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under [our] feet" as
well (Rom 16:20).
Another of Satan's attacks, which will come at the church, involves
dissention, conflict, unforgiveness, bitter envy and selfish ambition (Jam
3:14-16). Such problems are the
antithesis of peace and can give Satan an advantage (2 Cor 2:11).
We are commanded to be at peace with one another (Mk 9:50; Rom 12:17-18).
In order to do so, we are commanded to seek peace and pursue it (I Pet
3:11). This is accomplished through forgiveness, refusing to speak
evil of others, and always doing what is right.
It is important to be in fellowship, for it is harder to dislike a person
that we develop a relationship with than someone we hardly know.
We need to be aware that it is often the demonic that prompts people to
indulge in activities and attitudes that are not conducive to peace.
At such times we should act as Christ who said, "Get behind Me,
Satan! You are a stumbling block to
Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's" (Mt
16:23).
We also see here the instruction to be in readiness. We are to be watchful for anything that would remove peace
from ourselves or the church. "We
are not to be ignorant of his [Satan's] devices" (2 Cor 2:11).
We are to watch, for we don't know when the thief will come (Mt 24:43;
see also I Cor 16:13;I Pet 4:7;2 Tim 4:5; Rev 3:2).
"Keep watching and praying, that you may not come into
temptation" (Mk 14:38). This
watchfulness is not with tension or anxiety, but rather one of calm assurance.
"Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ;
so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you
are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the
faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents - which is a
sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from
God" (Phil 1:27-28). Our confidence and peace is Satan's destruction.
Christ is fearless, calm and bold going into battle.
We are to be likewise.
Finally, it is important to note that it is our feet that carry us into
temptation or away from it. It is
our feet that take us into or out of situations that will aid or hinder our
warfare. Paul writes: "No
soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so
that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier" (2 Tim 2:3-4). SHIELD
OF FAITH
In spiritual warfare our shields are taken up when we take up the faith.
It is by faith that we were saved. It
is by faith that we please God. "Without
faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must
believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him"
(Heb 11:6) It is important that we
have a firm grasp of exactly what faith is:
(1) Faith is belief plus. It
is more than just belief. It is
belief plus some form of action. True
belief will step out in faith.
(2) Faith is dependant upon the object of belief.
A proper belief in God, the object of our faith will result in a life
based upon stepping out in the truth. We,
therefore, must understand who God is and how He operates.
False beliefs, in which the object of the faith is false, will result in
stepping out upon falsity and error; such belief will result in destruction.
Christ said, "I am the truth, the way, and the life"
(Jn 14:6).
(3) Faith is thereby the action of walking in the belief of the
truth of the written Word (2 Cor 5:7).
(4) Faith results in power that brings the promises of God into
personal reality (I Pet 1:5).
(5) Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, when that hope is
based upon God and His faithfulness. It
is the conviction that what is believed is already a present reality in
the heavenlies (Heb 11:1).
(6) Faith brings about righteousness (Phil 3:9).
(7) Faith brings about justification (Gal 3:8).
(8) Faith is the working out the implications of one's beliefs.
(9) Faith is particularizing; it takes general truth about God
from scripture and applies it to specific situations.
(10) Faith results in a changed lifestyle (Gal 3:11).
(11) Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ
(Rom 10:17). The word must be
attended to and understood, then the results will be faith. The deeper the understanding the deeper will become one's
faith. It is also through faith
that we understand truth (Heb 11:3).
(12) Faith is a gift of God.
"God has allotted to each a measure of faith" (Rom 12:3).
(13) Faith is the only term that is both a fruit of the Spirit and
a gift of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23; I Cor 12:7-11).
(14) Faith is not static but growing (2 Thess 1:3). It grows through understanding and exercise.
Each of us have parts of our faith that are lacking (I Thes 3:10).
(15) Faith is present oriented.
Christ said, "believe that you have received" (Mk 11:24).
(16) Faith is contingent upon a right relationship with both God
and man. Sin and unforgiveness will
hinder the outworking of faith (Mk 11:22-26).
(17) Faith will only materialize when it is based upon truth and
operationalizes itself within the truth. We
must have faith to receive (Heb 11:11).
(18) Faith that is verbalized brings about results (Mk 11:23).
(19) Faith can subdue kingdoms.
Through faith we therefore can subdue the kingdom of darkness.
Without faith, the kingdom of darkness may subdue us.
(20) Faith without action is dead! (Jas 2:17-18).
It is important to realize that besides having a shield, God also
surrounds all people, both Christians and pagan alike, with a hedge of
protection. This hedge is built by
God (Job 1:10). Satan is not
allowed to do anything to anyone without the permission of Almighty God.
Personal and ancestral sin cause holes in the hedge through which attacks
may come. Avoidance of evil allows
God to build the hedge: sin tears it down. God is in control of the laws of the hedge and Satan is not
allowed to trespass without His permission when the walls are intact.
The flaming missiles are those things that Satan projects over the walls,
in hope of setting our spiritual houses on fire.
If we fail to raise our shield of faith, we soon will be so busy putting
out fires that we will have no time to attend to our business at hand or to
watch for advancing troops coming to batter down the walls.
There is also added protection given to certain people because of God's
covenants with them: To Abram, God
said, "I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great" (Gen
15:1). To the Israelites, Moses
said, "He is the shield of
your help, and the sword of your majesty! So
your enemies shall cringe before you, and you shall tread upon their high
places" (Duet 33:29). David
writes to God: "Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy Salvation, and
Thy help makes me great" (2 Sam 22:36).
We are protected also by the various covenants that relate to us as his
adopted children. But beyond that
we must take up our shield of faith to deal with our own fiery ordeals.
Such attacks need to be recognized.
Realize that whenever there is a sense of "unreality" or
"abnormality" it is important to check where the feelings, or
thoughts, or attacks are coming from. The
attacks will usually come at us to destroy our righteousness, our assurances,
and our peace. The most common
denominator is that of instilling some form of doubt, for Satan always attacks
the truth. `Resisting the devil'
can be translated as "refusing to believe the lies".
Our faith and salvation is based upon truth not feelings.
Our worth is based upon our position in Christ, not upon our own
righteousness. Our victory is based
in Christ, not upon our own strength. Our
freedom is based upon standing in the truth.
It is one of those strange anomalies of our faith that we are instructed
to "rejoice and welcome" the testing that comes at the hand of Satan.
While we are not to allow ourselves to get burnt or injured, we are to
exercise our faith and develop our endurance.
The closer we get to the front lines of the battle, the more time we will
have to remain crouched behind our shield.
The Greek words that are translated "endurance" or
"perseverance" in James 1:3 are two words, "meno" and
"hypo" which literally mean when combined "to remain under."
The shield of faith is our ability to remain under fire and keep
ourselves covered for as long as it takes.
In the ancient Greek world, the concept of `remaining under' was a
prestigious virtue evidencing courageous endurance. Endurance is an attribute of Godliness. God is unchanging, enduring through all generations (see Ps
102:12;Ps 136; 72:17; Is 40:8; Heb 13:8).
The promise of God is that he "who stands firm to the end will be
saved" (Mt 24:13). This is
done by keeping our eyes upon Jesus, the Object of our faith.
When things get tough in the battle, we need to "consider Him who endured
such opposition from sinful men, so that [we] will not grow weary and lose
heart" (Heb 12:3). We are to
live one day at a time. As the
mercies of the Lord are new every morning we are to pray, "give us this day
our daily bread." Take no
thought for tomorrow for we are safe in His hands.
"Through faith we are shielded by God's power" (I Pet 1:5), and
"in this [power] [we] greatly rejoice" (vs 6).
"Therefore we do not lose heart ... For momentary, light affliction
is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while
we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen;
for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen
are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). HELMET
OF SALVATION
It is important that we understand the sequence of what has been occuring
with the putting on of the armour. First,
we are girded with the truth. We
are then, by the acceptance of truth, protected by Christ's righteousness.
Because of this righteousness we can be emotionally at peace.
We are then ready to ward off attacks by our appropriation of what is
provided in the first three pieces of armour.
By warding off the distant attacks we are then able to gain perspective
and observe the big picture of the war. Then
we engage in the hand to hand combat with the enemy; this intense struggle goes
on in and around our thinking processes.
We are told in scripture that we possess the "mind of Christ"
(1 Cor 2:16). Just as
sanctification is a reality positionally, and is a process experientially, so to
is this condition of having the mind of Christ.
Paul instructs us to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect" (Rom 12:2), and "to be renewed in the spirit of your
mind" (Eph 4:23). Peter
writes: "Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix
your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ" (I Pet 1:13).
Whereas we have already grounded ourselves in the truth (belt), we are to
now fill our minds with that which we know to be true, noble, right, pure,
lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy (Phil 4:8). We are called to prove what is good, what is acceptable, and
what is perfect. Through the
process of applying proper logic in working with the truth, and through the
enlightening of the Spirit, we can come to conclusions regarding what God wants
and thus gain direction. This
direction will guide us into being able to do what is good and perfect.
This is exactly what Satan wants to stop; for when we do that which is
perfect and acceptable to God, Satan loses and has to retreat.
If he cannot stop us by hurling fiery darts at us, or by injuring our
feet, he will then engage us directly and try to get us off focus.
In this intense struggle, we will not last long without the helmet.
So what is the helmet? The helmet is our salvation.
The salvation that is to be `put on' is referring to more than just our
past and present condition of being saved and being in Christ.
Rather, it is our condition of looking forward to a future dimension of
salvation. Paul writes to the
Thessalonians of their having put on "the breastplate of faith and love,
and as a helmet the hope of salvation" (I Thes 5:8).
Jesus Christ is our Hope (I Tim 1:1).
Throughout all of the Old and New Testament you will see references to
the fact that salvation is always future looking and that God is our hope for
salvation. It is important,
therefore, that we have an understanding of what our future salvation entails. Paul writes: "...while making mention of you in my
prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to
you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge
of Him. I pray that the eyes of
your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope
of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in
the saints" (Eph 1:16-18). There
is knowledge and wisdom that comes through His enlightening, so that we may know
the hope of our inheritance. Part
of our inheritance is our final salvation from the war and eternal life with Him
in heaven.
Often, the war which comes upon our minds will intensify after there has
been a long, drawn out resistance with the shield of faith from fiery darts.
Satan wishes to wear us down and get us to despair that we will never
come out from under attack. We
should then, he suggests, " give up and pack in this warfare; for
if we leave the battle there will be no fiery darts and life can be
pleasant and enjoyable." Far
too many have fallen for this lie. We
are either in the battle or in bondage.
"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are
reproved by Him;
For those whom the Lord
loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son
whom He receives."
"For it is for discipline that you endure;
God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father
does not discipline? But if you are
without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are
illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore,
we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them;
shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He
disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet
to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness" (Heb 12:5-11).
From this passage we can begin to put everything in perspective.
None of us will ever battle Satan to the point that we will sweat blood
as Christ did (Lk 22:44). By
considering what Christ had to go through in order to obtain our salvation, we
shall not grow weary and give up. Christ
is our role model. We also see that
when we are under attack, God is in control.
He allows Satan to assault us in order to develop us and discipline us. This discipline brings about our growth and allows us to
share in His holiness. When in the
battle, our hope is that, all that is occurring will afterwards, if not in this
life, then in the next, yield the fruit of righteousness.
Our attitude should not be one of despair but of joy that we are under
trial. For the trials give us
endurance and, when endurance is perfected, we may "be perfect and
complete, lacking in nothing" (Jam 1:2-4).
Realize that "God causes all things to work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom
8:28). No matter what Satan does to
us, it is working for our ultimate good.
Realize that: "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become
conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom 8:29).
This process of being brought into "conformity" is not always a
pleasant experience. Often God has
to break us in order to remake us. God
did "not [even] spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all"
(Rom 8:32). It is not at all out of
God's character to allow pain, if the end result is good. In fact, in a fallen world, the pain of growth and refinement
is inevitable.
In the end Satan is powerless to hurt!
"If God is for us who can be against us?" (Rom 8:31).
Paul here even mocks Satan: "Who will bring a charge against God's
elect? ... Who is the one who condemns? ... Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"
(Rom 8:33-35). Because it is Jesus
who "is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us" (Rom
8:34), that we in "all these things overwhelmingly
conquer through Him who loved us. For
[we can] be convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 8:37-39).
He is with us every second of the battle and will be our ultimate
salvation. We are children of the
promise (Rom 9:8).
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I
give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch
them out of My hand. My Father, who
has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out
of the Father's hand" (John 10:27-29).
"...and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there
shall no longer be any death; there
shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have
passed away.... Behold, I am making
all things new.... I will give to
one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be His God, and
he will be My son" (Rev 21:4-7). SWORD
OF THE SPIRIT
"...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
Paul writes that the sword is the word of God.
The Greek word used here is "rhema" which refers to a word that
is both "spoken" and "living."
Elsewhere in the New Testament, the Greek word "logos" is used
to denote the entire word of God or to designate Christ who is the Logos (Jn
1:1). A rhema is a specific word
that is spoken to apply to a specific situation in someone's life.
Notice that the sword is referred to as being the "sword of the
Spirit." The Spirit is
involved with the word from start to finish.
All scripture was inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16).
The Spirit is the One that gives us understanding of the word (1 Cor
2:10-12). It is also the Spirit who
will bring certain truths from scripture to mind when they are needed during
warfare. The words of scripture are
"spirit and life" (Jn 6:63). They
are also referred to as a "fire" (Jer 23:29).
Christ is our example of how to properly use the sword of the Spirit.
In His temptation in the desert, while fasting for forty days, He
repeatedly countered Satan with "rhema" - saying, "It is written
... it is written ... it is written!" (Matt 4:1-11; Lk 4:1-13).
Satan attacked Christ's position, took scripture out of context, and
appealed to all the lusts of the flesh, but to each temptation Christ responded
with the sword of the Spirit, quoting a specific word of scripture to the
situation. In like manner, we also
are to hide God's word in our hearts (Ps 119:11) so that when we are under
attack, the Spirit can quicken it to our consciousness and we can speak it out -
causing Satan to flee. At the time
of Christ, young Jewish boys were expected to memorize the first five books of
the Old Testament. These were all
the books of the law. While I do
not suggest that it is a requirement that we do likewise, it is critical to
those who are in warfare that they memorize specific scriptures that relate to
all the individual doctrines and truths of Scripture.
When Satan attacks a certain truth, or tempts us to get involved in a
specific situation, the Holy Spirit can be like a disc jockey in our mind -
putting the appropriate record on the player of our mind.
Please refer to the Appendix for a list of truths from Scripture.
You may wish to write these out on 3" X 5" cards for
memorization.
It is important that these truths be spoken out in order to have power.
Any who have worked long in warfare have found that this is necessary.
Power is released by speaking out the living word.
Many have interpreted this to mean that Satan cannot read our thoughts,
so we must speak out loud for him to listen.
This is not the case. Satan
can read the minds of most people because he has access in one form or another
to them. He cannot read the minds
of those who are clean and protected. But
that said, it is very possible in spiritual reality to carry on conversations
through telepathy. I have done so
on numerous occasions as have others. The
reason we need to "speak out" is because we are created in the image
of God. When God speaks, His words
carry tremendous power. Through
speaking, He created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.
In like manner, our words carry a degree of power because of our
God-likeness. Speaking the truth
releases power. Speaking the truth
that is quickened by the Holy Spirit releases tremendous power.
When we speak "rhema", we become the mouth piece of God, in the
same way that the prophets were. God
would give them instructions of what to say, and then send them off to say it.
When it was said, the prophecies would come into reality.
We must realize though that we simply cannot take any verse of scripture
and speak it out expecting to manifest great power.
The sword of the Spirit operates when the Spirit quickens a certain
passage or truth of Scripture to mind. When
`that' is spoken, then there is power.
We also see that it is important to understand the scriptures so that
Satan does not deceive us with His oldest trick:
taking a truth and twisting it. He
tried this on Eve and succeeded. He
tried it on Christ and failed. May
he fail on us as well. WEAPON
OF PRAYER
Prayer is the second weapon that can be used for both defense and for
offense. It is through constant
communication with our Captain that we are able to gain information regarding
the battle and to receive our orders. It
is through our communication that we are able to request help and supplies, both
for ourselves and for others. Without
communication we are soon defeated. This was clearly borne out in the recent war that was fought
over Kuwait. The American military initially jammed all the communication of the
Iraq army - then began systematically `smart' bombing them.
Without communication, Iraq had no hope and was soon defeated.
In our own warfare with the enemy, we attempt to follow a similar
procedure. First, we remove all
legal grounds that the enemy has to the territory.
Then we jam all their communication and cut off all their supply routes.
Third, we smart bomb them to wipe out all their weapons; then we round
them all up and destroy them.
In the same vein, it is
critical that we do not allow our own lines of communication to become blocked.
Our communication can be blocked either by `sin in the camp', or by
cursings and bindings projected by the enemy.
Vigilance in keeping ourselves clean of filthiness, and in being in
continual communication with God's spirit, will result in our being informed of
the enemy's attacks before they occur. As
such we are then able to shield and protect ourselves and the communication
hardware. Failure to keep in communication will result in unexpected
attacks, lack of supplies, lack of backup support, and inevitable defeat.
Others around us, too, will fail if they are not strengthened through
prayer. Eventually, some will find
themselves all alone standing against the enemy.
These too will eventually fall. No
amount of armour can protect a warrior in the wrong place at the wrong time.
With no communication and no supplies, even without being attacked, we
can starve to death.
Christ taught us that men should "at all times pray and not lose
heart" (Lk 18:1). Without
praying we can lose heart and give up. Some
translations read "and not faint."
You cannot fight when you are out cold.
Paul instructs us here to pray with all prayers.
There are numerous kinds of prayers: long, short, silent, vocal,
petitions, praise, public, private, group, personal, common, etc., etc.
When asked how we should pray, the Lord gave us what has been called
"The Lord's Prayer". It
is a very orderly prayer and covers a number of points that are critical to a
warrior:
- acknowledgement and respect of God
- requests for food/supplies
- confession
- requests for escape from enemy attack
- reacknowledgement of God
- Amen
There is nothing elaborate here. The
prayer sticks pretty close to the basics. In
other passages of scripture we are instructed to "be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known to God" (Phil 4:6). I used to think, "Well God knows what I need anyways, I
don't have to be specific in asking."
But James 4:2 says that "we have not because we do not ask."
It is critical that we ask God and be persistent (Lk 11:5-13), and that
we ask with the furtherance of His kingdom in mind - not for our own misguided
pleasures (Jam 4:3). We know that when we ask according to His will, that what we
ask will already have been put into place and will soon be a reality (1 Jn
5:14-15; Jn 14:13-14; 15:7).
The Psalms are incredible examples of prayers that are offered up to God
in the face of attack. Read through
Psalm 27, 28, and 83. There is much
that can be learned about prayer through the study of the Psalms. One thing that I believe to be important is that we learn to
seek God early in the morning. David,
Isaiah and Moses all wrote about this:
"O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee:
my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and
thirsty land." (Psalm
63:1 KJV)
"With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit
within me will I seek thee early ..."
(Isaiah 26:9 KJV)
"O satisfy us in the morning with Thy lovingkindness, that we
may sing for joy and be glad all our days." (Psalm 90:14 KJV)
The mercies of the Lord are "new" or are "renewed"
every morning (Lam 3:23). We should
therefore seek God's mercies as early as possible each day. Let us get our petitions and requests to Him
so that His mercy will carry us through the entire day.
Those of us who have worked for a long time in the deliverance ministry
have come to realize that much of what we deal with in spiritual reality only
has an effect for about 24 hours. This
holds true for a lot of bindings, loosings, curses etc.
If you are going to take time and speak to the Lord, do it in the morning
and get the most mileage out of that communication.
The results of communion with God are two-fold.
First, "the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:7).
Both our breastplate and helmet will be strengthened.
Second, as we "draw near to God, He will draw near to [us]"
(Jam 4:8). By humbling ourselves in
His presence, we will then be exalted (Jam 4:10).
We will be victors.
I feel that it is important (again) to mention the fact that Satan
continually petitions God for access to attack mankind.
If we fail to counterpetition by praying for those that Satan requests,
God may turn them over - into Satan's hands.
Intercession can be rightly interpreted as "go between."
Sometimes there are fellow warriors - brothers and sisters in the Faith -
who need someone to be a link between them and the Father.
God is looking for those who will counter-petition Satan's requests. This is indeed a high calling and one of the most critical
aspects of spiritual warfare.
The greatest warriors of all time understood the importance of having
others pray for them and petition on their behalf before God. Paul writes: "and pray on my behalf..." (Eph 6:19).
The longer you are in warfare and the closer you are to the front lines,
the clearer becomes the truth that God's army moves fastest on its knees. OTHER
ARTICLES OF WARFARE
Here we see the Lord Himself dressing for war. Just like us, He puts on the breastplate of righteousness and
the helmet of salvation. But here
we see that He does this because there was "no man" - no one who could
intercede to the Father on behalf of the people - so He had to dress for the war
Himself. There are two articles of
clothing mentioned here that Paul does not mention in Ephesians.
The first are the garments of vengeance.
The word vengeance means "to return punishment for wrong; to
retaliate with severity, great force and violence".
It is interesting that, because there was no one to
"intercede", the Lord set out with vengeance.
By "interceding" we can become purveyors of vengeance for,
through our intercession, we can allow God to move.
"Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord" (Rom 12:19b). David continually prays destruction upon His enemies in the
Psalms. When it comes to the
kingdom of darkness and its evil outworkings we can do the same. By interceding, we can become partakers in the garments of
vengeance.
Jesus in Revelation 3:18-19 says: "I advise you to buy from Me gold
refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments that you
may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed;
and eyesalve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous
and repent."
Paul writes to the Corinthians: "For the sorrow that is according to
the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but
the sorrow of the world produces death. For
behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced
in you: what vindication of
yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what
zeal, what avenging of wrong!" (2 Cor 7:10-11).
May God give each of us holy and white garments, and a special mantle for
service as He sees fit. Amen! APRON
OF HUMILITY
Humility brings protection in the war.
Self-sufficiency and pride will result in the protection being removed
and will leave one defenceless against Satan and his army. TESTIMONY
AND THE BLOOD
Christ's blood is alive and living.
It was shed once and for all and since the resurrection, again courses
through His veins. It is alive and
powerful. It continually cleanses
us from all sin (I Jn 1:9), and sanctifies us (Heb 13:12).
By obeying Jesus Christ, we are "sprinkled with His blood" (I
Pet 1:2). This sprinkling covers us
in His holiness. Satan abhors the
blood and the blood covering. It is
thereby appropriate that we can plead the blood of Christ over us for
protection. When we are in true
obedience, we will be covered and protected.
Speaking out one's own testimony is also always powerful in repelling the
kingdom of darkness. When under
attack, inform the enemy of who you are and where you stand in Christ Jesus.
They will soon flee!
"Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps alight ....
Blessed are those slaves whom the Master shall find on the alert when He comes;
truly I say to you, that He will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at
table, and will come up and wait on them."
(Luke 12:35-37)
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