Untitled Sermon (10)
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 3 viewsNotes
Transcript
A Study in Spiritual Warfare
We live in a world that is riddled with the effects of sin. It can become easy to see sin as a standalone product resulting from humanity and its unhealthy inclinations. While it is true that sin is often the outcome of our passions and desires, as stated in James’ letter to the church, the temptations we face often result from spiritual forces that are doing their best to sabotage our souls. This battle of good and evil occurs in the spiritual realm and is referred to as spiritual warfare. Over the following few pages, we will be looking into what the Bible has to say about spiritual warfare and determining a healthy doctrine about the subject so that we can be prepared to withstand the attacks of the enemy.
First of all let’s establish a working definition for what we mean when we refer to the term spiritual warfare. The dictionary of Bible themes defines the concept of spiritual warfare as follows;
The struggle against the forces of evil, which is a constant feature of the life of faith. Scripture locates the origins of spiritual warfare in the rebellion of Satan and his angels against God and affirms the hope of God’s final victory over such forces through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. (Manser)
Our enemy when it comes to spiritual warfare is named in the above definition. It is not the sinfulness of the world or the wickedness of our culture, but rather it is the enemy of our soul, Satan, and all of those angels who were cast down with him in the midst of his rebellion against God.
Let us there understand how our enemy came to be. The enemies we face in the realm of spiritual warfare were not always enemies of God. In fact, they were once a valued part of the angel bands in heaven. Lucifer was a high ranking angel within the angelic realm but at some point took on the idea that he was worthy of more authority and honor than he was being given and made an attempt to ascend the ranks to the level of God himself. This of course was one of the first examples of sin within the angelic realm that we find mention of and Peter describes the after effect of this decision by Lucifer.
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
The aspect that is seemingly missed by the writing of Peter is the fact that the angels of darkness are not sitting idly by waiting for judgment, but are rather looking for opportunity to cause the people of God to succumb to the ways of darkness. This of course is not because Peter has a lack of understanding regarding this subject. In his first letter to a group of believers Peter gives us one of the most quoted verses in regards to the concept of spiritual warfare when he says the following;
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Peter lets us in on the idea that we do have an enemy who is in a stealth mode of reconnaissance doing his best to formulate a strategy of downfall for the people of God who are doing their best to live in victory.
One aspect of note that I have pondered and done my best to research while considering spiritual warfare is where do those holding the cessationist view fall concerning spiritual warfare? It would not be an unbelievable logical leap to assume that if one believes that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased than so have the gimmicks of the spiritual world of darkness. However, I do not find any evidence that such a belief exists. Rather the belief is seemingly prevalent that much of the activity that is assumed to be “spiritual gifts” are actually the work of the dark kingdom. Prominent bible teacher John MacArthur is adamant about the fact that the kingdom of darkness is at work and believes that those who practice the gift of tongues are heretical at best and demonic at worst.
All of those supposed manifestations of tongues were identified with groups that were heretical, fanatical, or otherwise unorthodox. The judgment of biblically orthodox believers who were their contemporaries was that all those groups were aberrations. Surely that should also be the assessment of any Christian who is concerned with truth. Thus, we conclude that from the end of the apostolic era to the beginning of the twentieth century there were no genuine occurrences of the New Testament gift of tongues. They had ceased, as the Holy Spirit said they would (1 Cor. 13:8). The gift of tongues is not for today. (MacArthur)
We see above he finds the believers who practice spiritual gifts as heretical and fanatical but he goes even farther in his book “Strange Fire” where he says the following;
“It is a sad twist of irony that those who claim to be most focused on the Holy Spirit are in actuality the ones doing the most to abuse, grieve, insult, misrepresent, quench, and dishonor Him. How do they do it? By attributing to Him words He did not say, deeds He did not do, phenomena He did not produce, and experiences that have nothing to do with Him. They boldly plaster His name on that which is not His work.” (Macarthur)
So we can see a dichotomy of belief in this particular camp, MacArthur of course falling within the staunchly cessational and reformed group of theological thinking. The dichotomy I am referring to being that they believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased but the work of the spirits of darkness are still greatly active in our current culture.
However, I find this view to be errant. We can find several scriptures wherein we see the activity of darkness being prevalent but susceptible to the strength that is found through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. In many cases this empowerment seemingly refers to the practice of the gifts of the Spirit.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
Here we see Paul letting us in on who our enemy is. We are not fighting against people as we often assume. The constant frustrations we face with our families, spouses, coworkers, ministry partners, etc… are rarely based solely in personality clashes or shortcomings of those we are close to. We are actively engaged in warfare with spiritual forces and we cannot expect to walk in victory over spiritual forces as long as we are trying to fight spiritual battles through physical means. There is a spiritual response to the spiritual attacks we are facing.
Paul makes sure to turn our attention to the only resource for recovery when we are in a wrestling match against the kingdom of darkness. He tells us that in order for us to experience victory we must operate from a place of spirituality that he refers to as “in God.” We are not mighty in ourselves but rather we are mighty “in God.” The weapon that Paul refers to in this passage is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is not telling believers to form a rebellion of violence but rather love radically and preach compassionately to all of those who are outside of the faith.
These weapons appeared weak by worldly standards, but they were actually very powerful. The preaching of the cross brought great displays of God’s power in the lives of believers everywhere, including Corinth. (Pratt)
In another place Paul asserts that we are not “wrestling” against flesh and blood. Our battles are not with the physical but the spiritual. In his letter to the Ephesian church Paul says the following;
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.
The word wrestle here is related to the earlier verse we mentioned wherein Paul said the goal was to cast down strongholds. This greek term for wrestle is referring to the concept of throwing an opponent. It is carrying the weight of dethroning a powerful enemy in hopes of rethroning an alternate in it’s place.
In the word “wrestle,” (palē (παλη)), Paul uses a Greek athletic term. Thayer defines as follows: “a contest between two in which each endeavors to throw the other, and which is decided when the victor is able to press and hold down his prostrate antagonist, namely, hold him down with his hand upon his neck.” (Wuest)
Now that we have established what wrestle means let us look at the recipients of this act of aggression on our part. Paul lets us know that our warring is not just against some ambiguous group of spiritual beings but reveals to us that their is in fact a hierarchy of demonic progression that we are fighting against. Within the letter to the Ephesians Paul refers to at least four categories in this passage; principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. What are these categories and how can we best prepare to fight against them.
The principalities that he refers to are actually mentioned at the beginning of his letter to this very church
far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
This word for principalities is seemingly referring to the originator of all evil. The greek word used is: ἀρχηγός which is translated archēgos, n.c., beginning; ruler; head; or chief. (Mounce)
The first thing we are told to be preparing for is the originator of evil. We must be ready to dethrone the enemy from the throne of our hearts and minds. He has authority on the earth and will maintain that authority as long as we are unwilling to enact the power of God by welcoming the Spirit of our God to wrestle Him from the throne and take power back for the kingdom of heaven.
The second enemy mentioned in this passage is that of powers. This is the greek word ἐξουσιάζω (exousiazō), which is seemingly referring to those who have authority over. The enemy who is the prince of the power of the air has granted authority to other spirits in different areas. In many cases we are not wrestling Satan himself, but a power upon whom he has granted authority on the earth.
The third term is rulers of darkness of this world. It is the word kosmos which seems to be that there are atmospheric forces at work agains the child of God. We must dethrone them and carry out the kingdom.
The hosts of the heavenly realm seem to be fallen angels. These are the angels that fell with Lucifer when he was cast out of heaven for his rebellion against God.
His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
So what are we to do in order to withstand this onslaught of spiritual warfare? Are we to simply hope that we do not find our ways into the crosshairs of hell? Of course, this is not the solution and no sooner does Paul bring our attention to the spiritual aspect of Satanic attack than does he give us our prescription to walk in power. He tells us just a few verses later to get ready for battle by putting on the whole armour of God.
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.
We must understand that Paul is giving us the secret whereby we can accomplish that which is impossible. In the very same passage wherein he says that we have done everything to stand…he tells us to stand and how to do it. This is the benefit of being a people covered by the armour of God.
The purpose of investing ourselves with the divine armour is that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (verse 11), that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore (Stott)
In order for us to withstand the onslaught of our enemy we must protect ourselves with the truth of God’s Word. It is worth noting that the truth is represented by the belt. The belt is a protector of the intimate parts. The most susceptible areas of attack are best protected by the absolute truth of God’s Word. In a world of relativism and everyone having their own truth we must guard our most vulnerable selves by becoming equipped with the unadulterated truth of God’s Word.
Next we are told to put on the breastplate of righteousness. The chest of course being where the heart is possessed. In this culture the heart would have been the primary source attributed with emotions and feelings. We are told to fight against an enemy who attacks our feelings in an attempt to dismantle facts. We can guard against this by putting on the breastplate of righteousness. Of course the only true source of righteousness is Jesus. As we put on Christ as Paul would put it in another letter we are guarded against the attack of feeling that the enemy unleashes in our lives.
We are then told to have our feet shod with the gospel of peace. I have always found an interesting parallel that your feet are what leaves tracks. The track that we are called to leave in order to walk in victory is that of peacefulness. As followers of Jesus our impact should be one wherein peace is our residue. Wherever I have gone, peace should be more prevalent than it was before.
The last element of defense that is mentioned is the shield of faith. It’s important to have the belt of truth. We need the breastplate of righteousness. Our feet should be carriers of peace, but if we do not have faith than we are absent the currency of heaven. It is faith that is able to quench the worst attacks of our spiritual enemy. As we put our faith in God we are able to live as though what we are hoping for has already taken place. We can point to our faith as a means of evidence that God is good even when our circumstances are not.
Satan shoots “fiery darts” at our hearts and minds: lies, blasphemous thoughts, hateful thoughts about others, doubts, and burning desires for sin. If we do not by faith quench these darts, they will light a fire within and we will disobey God (Wiersbe)
Lastly we are told of the helmet of salvation. Our mind must be transformed in order for us to be able to walk in the newness of life that God has for us and in doing so re assume the glory that was given at creation. This glory is what gave Adam authority to overcome his enemy though he did not practice it. When we are saved we are given the opportunity to have our desires and though life changed. We do so by taking every thought captive to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God gives us a helmet to protect our thoughts from Satanic influence and interference. Satan usually goes after the mind. (Phillips)
Lastly we are given more than defensive weapons in our armor issued by our God. We have the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. We do not simply have to hope to always withstand the attacks but we can strike back at our enemy with a weapon so powerful that He has to cower at it’s weight. When we quote the scriptures as the written Word and walk in relationship with the one who John the apostle referred to as “the Word” we have a guaranteed victory over our adversary.
Yes spiritual warfare is real. Yes, there are very real threats to our spiritual health on every side. But as real as the attacks are, so to are the defenses that have been established on our behalf. If we are only willing to walk out the plan that God has for us, scripture promises us that we are more than conquerers. Through Christ, we are not hopeful to win the war of the spiritual…We are guaranteed to do so!