Spiritual Warfare and the Family

What is Spiritual Warfare?

Love worth finding: Spiritual warfare is the inward and outward battle we face against the enemies of God.

Drew Larson with Intervarsity: Spiritual warfare is the leveraging of everything that God promises against everything that opposes God’s purposes.

Blog post from Justdisciple.com: Spiritual warfare is the act of fighting against Satan when he tries to keep us from God’s calling.

David Powlison in his book Safe & Sound: “Spiritual warfare is what happens when he enlists us in his cause and equips us to join his battle. It’s about light invading darkness. Often when people envision spiritual warfare, they think ‘I’m under attack’ and that is true. Satan does have his wily ways and he is out to get us. But we are also God’s invading army, and we are on the attack. We are bringing light into a dark world. The children of light, the army of light, the servants of light are on the offensive.”

1) Spiritual warfare is a real battle

a. Gen 3

b. Rom 8:12 / James 1:13-15

c. Rom 12:2

d. 2 Cor 10:3-6

e. 2 Cor 11: 1-3

f. 2 Cor 12:7-10

g. Gal 5:16-26

h. Eph 6:10-20

i. 1 Pt 5:8-11

j. Rev 12:1-17

2) Who is the enemy

a. 3-fold enemy

i. The Devil

ii. The World

iii. The Flesh

3) What is the target of the enemy

a. Jesus as the head of the church

b. The gospel as the message of the church

c. Making disciples as the mission of the church

i. Evangelism

ii. Edification

d. Believers as the body of the church

i. Corporately

ii. Individually

iii. Leadership

e. The family as the product of the church

4) False or wrong beliefs

a. Ignorance is bliss

b. Army of one, we don’t need others

c. Christian home is a safe space. Warfare is only outside the home

d. Those in a Christian home cannot be imprisoned by the evil one

e. No friendly fire rather intentional or unintentional

f. We lack instructions on how to fight

g. We can increase the Lord's army by having more children

h. Christians can be possessed by the enemy

i. The believer's heart is out of range for the enemy

j. The enemy doesn’t really know you or your weaknesses

k. The Christian doesn’t have to take sin seriously

l. The secret to battle is just prayer

m. God will automatically protect us and give us grace and strength

5) Strategies of Satan

a. Discord and Division

b. Doubt and Distrust

c. Distractions

d. Distance with God and others

e. Discouragement

f. Deceptions

g. Debauchery

6) Our Strategy

a. Personally

i. Loving and Trusting Jesus

ii. Persevere

iii. Never-ending prayer

iv. Pursue purity

v. Apply God’s word

vi. Fellowship

vii. Focus on the eternal

viii. Keep the main thing the main thing

b. With the Family

i. Pray in your home

ii. Do not isolate yourself. Create relationships

iii. Encourage one another

iv. Be involved with each other

v. Be humble

vi. Use God’s word to resolve issues completely and fast

vii. Communicate Biblically

viii. Recognize God's plan for your life and His design to have you where you are and with those exact people

ix. Be faithful to your spouse

x. Guard the Truth graciously

xi. Discern and address unbiblical philosophies with correct doctrine