The Invisible War! Part

Transcription

1 1 The Invisible War! Part The Spiritual War We are busy with a series concerning looking at the three battlefields that we will find ourselves waging a war on! The war within - our old nature. The war without - in the world. The war in the spirit - satanic forces against you. Previously in Part 8 we carefully studied the mindset of a warrior. This morning, in Part 9, we are going to look a bit more in-depth into the topic of Spiritual Warfare. 2 Cor 10:1-7 1 Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ-- who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. 2 But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. 7 Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ's, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ's, even so we are Christ's. (NKJ) This weaponry that we have available to us is for brutal war not to be fought in the physical reality, but in the spiritual, so that we might wage warfare. Paul goes on to tell us that these weapons of war are mighty Dunamis: This word in the Greek refers to dynamite. In other words our weapons for this warfare have explosive power in the spiritual reality. Dynamite however is not powerful or explosive unless used. Your spiritual weaponry does not become explosive until you pick them up and use them. Just like dynamite is not explosive until you use it. You can have weapons and polish them, parade them, talk about them, but until you pick them up and go into battle it remains all talk and no action. Although the text here is in reference to strongholds in the mind, this is not the first and only reference Paul makes concerning our conflict and required spiritual weaponry in dealing with our enemy on the different battlegrounds. One of Paul s earliest references in regards to our weaponry is found in 1 Thess 5:8: But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. At this stage of Paul s spiritual development, he has limited revelation with regards to the subject. Many, many years later Paul is deeply stirred to write a letter expounding on this revelation concerning the church as God s instrument to confound and overthrow highly organized, disciplined and committed satanic military forces assigned against His righteousness on the earth, by using our spiritual weapons. He reveals this enhanced revelation through a letter to the Ephesians church, this letter was designed to be read by several congregations. This book of Ephesians unveils the mystery of the church as no other epistle.

2 2 God s secret intent is revealed to us three dimensionally: 1) To form a body to express Christ s fullness on the earth. 2) He intends to do this by uniting one people, both Jew and Gentile, among whom God dwells. 3) To equip, empower, and mature these people so that they can effectively extend Christ s victory over evil. Before we look at the might, power and spiritual weaponry available to us, we need to take note that before Paul tells the church to put on the whole armor of God, he also encourages and motivates us to: 1. (Eph 4:25) Put away all lying. 2. (Eph 4:25) To speak truth with our neighbors. 3. (Eph 4:26) He commanded the church to be angry, but sin not. 4. (Eph 4:27) Neither give place to the devil. 5. (Eph 4:28) Let him who stole steal no more. 6. (Eph 4:29) Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. 7. (Eph 4:30) Grieve not the Holy Spirit. 8. (Eph 4:31) Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Paul is revealing to us that this should be our walk and lifestyle before we enter into any war. Throughout this letter Paul guides us through basic maturing steps that are to be taken toward the churches appointed engagements in battle with the powers of darkness. Before the church is called to war, she is taught to walk, before being called to walk she is taught where she stands. Your lifestyle (walk) is a prerequisite to effective spiritual warfare. Your walk brings the growth necessary to develop disciplines essential to the triumphant spiritual warrior s life. Eph 6: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 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. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-- 19 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, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (NKJ) In this writing Paul uses the battle dress of the first century Roman soldier as a metaphor to describe our spiritual weaponry. It is clearly intended to show the reader that we are engaged in an active spiritual war now. All spiritual warfare waged today is victorious only on the basis of appropriating the provision of the cross and Christ s blood.

3 3 Paul begins this text on our spiritual conflict and available weaponry by using the word finally. finally is the Greek word Toilopon. This is an important phrase in the Greek. In other places it is translated now to the last and most important issue at hand. A good translation would be finally we come to the most important matter another translation says I have saved the most important subject till last. What he is saying is that right now, more important than all the other things you know, is what I am about to teach you. If you don t remember anything else that I have taught you take note of what I am about to teach you now. In this letter to the Ephesians church, Paul has touched on some very deep subjects that the church of today has not yet even been able to fully comprehend. Some of the subjects this church has been well taught on are: Predestination, Adoption, Election, Sanctification, The seal of the Spirit etc. In this communication he does not even pause to spend much time in teaching on these subjects. This is a well-taught church. However, the Ephesians church members heads were loaded, but their spirits had become empty. Paul has to remind them of the importance of the spiritual conflict that takes us beyond academic knowledge and the flesh realm only!! Eph 6:10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Be strong The Greek word for this phrase is enduoo. This is an old Greek word that originally had nothing to do with the Holy Spirit and the power of God. This was originally a sorcery word. This word originally meant to cast a spell on somebody that was so strong; it would cause the recipient to have their perceptions altered and cause them to see things differently. They would be under the control and influence of a powerful spell and be empowered to do whatever the sorcerer wanted them to do!! What Paul is saying by using this word, is that when we come under the divine influence of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit alters our perceptions and we see things differently. Not according to the natural realm of sight, but according to spiritual perception that relates to revelation. Things that seemed impossible, threatening, fearful in the flesh, would now seem possible as we are empowered to walk by faith and not by sight. It is important to understand that Paul is suggesting to us that if we are to enter into spiritual war we must begin the battle here, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Eph 6:10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Power The Greek word used here is kratos this speaks of power that can be experienced. It is resurrection power, eruptive power, demonstrative power, manifest power. Power that shakes buildings, breaks chains, opens prison doors, heals the sick by a shadow Of His Might The Greek word used here is ischuos which means: ability, force, strength, might. This word in early Greek meant muscles. To sum up what Paul is saying in this verse we could paraphrase it like this: When we allow the Holy Spirit s influence and baptism in our lives, He attaches us to God s arms and muscles so that we can have divine ability and strength. This strength is required so that we can pick up the armor of God and work signs and wonders and demonstrate His resurrection power.

4 4 Ephesians 6:11: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Put on the whole armor It is important to understand that there are seven pieces of weaponry in this text: The loin belt, The breastplate, The shoes, The shield, The helmet, The sword, The lance. In the Spirit you would need the muscles of God because if we do not have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives metaphorically we will never be able to carry this type of weaponry in the Spirit and enter into effective war. of God This phrase in the Greek reveals to us the source and origin of our weaponry. Our weaponry proceeds out of God. When you are clothed in the full armor of God, in the Spirit you resemble and look just like God. The suggestion is that you are actually clothed with a piece of God. that you may be able to The word able in the Greek is the word dunamis. Paul is telling us that if we are clothed in the full armor of God we have explosive ability and dynamite power against the devil. to stand This is the Greek word stenai. In its simplest form it means to stand. It carries with it in the Greek, the picture of a Roman soldier who stands upright and tall, head back lifted high in an attitude of victory. It describes what we look like in the Spirit. It suggests that we are standing in a winning, victorious position. Any enemy that attacks us when we are in such a state will be badly beaten. It is also used in a militant sense and suggests maintaining a critical, strategic military position over a battle field. This word tells us that we must stand guard over the battlefields of our lives and destiny as well as those in our care. We must stand guard over that which God has entrusted us with. It involves divine strategy. against This word comes from Greek word pros. It suggests a forward position or a face to face encounter. This verse is the picture of a soldier who has come upon his enemy face to face. His head is high, shoulders are back, and he is bold, daring, courageous, disciplined, and ready with a strategy. This position puts us in a super powerful state that causes the devil to shudder and tremble at what we can do to him should we discover this. What must we stand against? The wiles of the devil. wiles This is a Greek compound word taken from the Greek word methodos. This is where we get our English word method from but it is not strong enough to convey Paul s meaning here. meta This word means with. odos This word means a road or a route. The meaning that Paul has here is that there is a road or an avenue that Satan has been traveling on for many, many centuries. This avenue has a destination. The destination is our mind. We must stand against this road well traveled. The primary battle ground especially for a believer is our minds. We must effectively stop him from reaching this battleground by casting down vain imaginations. Whoever controls the mind controls the person, their health, and their behavior.

5 5 Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (NKJ) 2 Cor 10: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. As we pursue Destiny and God s will for our lives on this spiritual journey, the enemy will create strongholds through a variety of ways to contradict God s will; God s Knowledge and God s desire for our lives. Whatever tries to throw us off course must be resisted by obedience, which produces the power to punish the forces of darkness that try and govern our thought lives, dictate with images from the demonic and submission to the flesh. It is time to produce the judicial punishment of God attained on the cross against the forces of darkness. ngs you back to Jesus he will give you back the joy.