Spiritual Warfare Part 2

Introduction

British novelist David Lodge, in the introduction to one of his books, tells where he was--in a theater watching the performance of a play he had helped write. In one sketch, a character demonstrated his nonchalance in an interview by holding a transistor radio to his ear. The actor playing the part always tuned in to a real broadcast. Suddenly came the announcement that President Kennedy had been shot. The actor quickly switched it off, but it was too late. Reality had interrupted stage comedy. For many believers, worship, prayer, and Scripture are a nonchalant charade. They don't expect anything significant to happen, but suddenly God's reality breaks through, and they're shocked.Spiritual warfare begins with a right understanding of who our God is. He is Almighty. No other person, entity or power can take that title. He alone is almighty.

Believers can often be nonchalant and willfully ignorant about the subject of spiritual warfare. Perhaps this is caused by laziness to learn our faith or fear of what might come our way if we open know too much.

But willful ignorance never produces anything but denial…and fear is never the normal working condition of the believer in Christ. Our God is ALMIGHTY!

Almighty — Have complete power, omnipotent.

We must have faith in God’s omnipotence and faith for its application or benefit upon our life and circumstance.

God is powerful and His power is available to the believer who will have faith for its activity in his or her life.

So let’s continue the journey into what constitutes spiritual warfare and how we are meant to prosecute the war against the enemy of our soul.

Step two...

We must put on the whole armor of God. This is how we actually come to be strong in the Lord. This is how the strength of God is worked out into our life.

But first things first...

Armor

Our armor is Christ Himself. Romans 13:14

Romans 13:14 CSB

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

We put on Christ. Paul does not teach us to put on sobriety and temperance in order to overcome drunkenness. He does not teach them to put on will-power and self-denial in order to overcome lust. He teaches us to put on Christ.

The grace of Christ is the armor of God and it is in this armor that we fight and win the battles against our various enemies.

What Paul us alluding to is what he taught us in Ephesians 4:24 We are to put on the new man!

Ephesians 4:24 NKJV

and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

We have been given grace to put on so as to fight the war with the flesh and spiritual principalities at war against us. The unregenerate person has no defense against temptations of the flesh nor the spiritual enemies who seek our destruction as human beings.

“A soul out of Christ is naked and destitute of all armor to defend him against sin and Satan.”

“As the first sin was completed it was written, “they were naked.” Genesis 3:7

Genesis 3:7 CSB

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

This nakedness is often seen as a physical one. They just realized they had no clothes on and were embarrassed. But this nakedness was so much more than a simple physical state of being.

“This is to say, they were poor, weak creatures, at the will of Satan, a subdued people, disarmed by their proud conqueror, and unable to make head against him.”

But God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins and clothe us in Himself. We are made new and once again covered in Christ. We are armed for the battle in the new man Christ has created us to be.

Only Way

The armor of God and new person we are in Christ allow us to stand up against and have victory over the “wiles” or “schemes” of the devil. “Paul warns of the "wiles? (v. 11) of Satan, which mean stratagems or specific plans directed toward each of us. In other words, Satan tailors his attacks to fit each person.”

Excerpt: While in a concentration camp in Germany, Betsie ten Boom was becoming frail. One day while doing heavy manual labor, she kindly said to her guard, “Don’t give me more to do than I am trying to do already, because I am not strong enough to lift these heavy parts.” The guard flashed back, “You don’t decide what you do. I decide.” At that, the guard brutally beat Betsie. Corrie ten Boom, her sister, watched and was enraged. When the guard left, Corrie went over to Betsie who now had blood all over her face. Betsie immediately said, “No, don’t hate, Corrie. You must love and forgive.” Corrie knew that she was unable. That night she went for a walk and told the Lord that she could not forgive “that brutal woman.” The Lord reminded her of a Scripture, “God’s love had been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5) Corrie knew that what she was unable to do, the Lord, in her, was able to do. She writes, “At that moment, when I was able to forgive, my hatred disappeared. What a liberation! Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness. What a liberation when you can forgive.” - Adapted from Oh How He Loves You, by Corrie ten Boom

This is an incredibly important point on several levels...

First — The lost person can claim absolutely no protection from God against the devil and his angels. Such a person can be possessed by demons but even before that be influenced, controlled, beaten up and devastated by sin, spiritual powers and their attacks.

We often hear people say, “The devil made me do it.” In truth, the devil can make a lost person do things. It is quite possible for a lost person to be under the influence and even actual control of powers of darkness.

It is possible that a lost person could be controlled by their sin as well. Sin is a power at work on humanity and it has enslaved those apart from Christ.

But for the saved person there is a new and different reality to live. Satan and his powers cannot make me do anything. Sin has lost all power over me. The kingdom of darkness has no rights to me anymore!

Second — The lost person is in spiritual darkness. They have no ability to appreciate or identify the enemy and their attacks.

This is why we now live in a world with dozens of genders, up is down and down is up. The lost person does not understand or recognize the enemy’s agenda or plan of attack.

The teaching of morality will do no good at this point. It might make a bad man better for a time but it will bring no cure to the disease of sin and death which ails him.

“As the eye of the body, once put out can never be restored…so neither can the spiritual eye…lost by Adam’s sin...be restored by the teaching of men or angels. It is one of the diseases which Christ came to cure.”

Third — The lost person is defenseless in himself. We must understand that apart from the armor and power of God human beings are impotent and helpless. Romans 5:6

Romans 5:6 CSB

For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

We were without any power or hope against our enemy. We had no sword nor gun with which to fight and defeat the conquering enemy of our soul.

It is only in the armor of God, clothed in the new man of Christ that we have strength, insight, power and victory over our enemies.

This makes sense of the world in which we now live doesn’t it? We need not ask the question “why people think or act as they do.” We need not ask the question, “Why is the world in the terrible shape that it is.” We know the answer.

Naked and without Christ the lost man is under the control and power of sin and spiritual forces of darkness without any power within or without to win a victory over that which conquers his or her soul.

Conclusion

We are born into a helpless estate. We are born naked both physically and spiritually. We are born without the ability to know our fight much less participate in it.

Satan finds the world unarmed, nothing to oppose him and disposed to surrender to his schemes.

By faith in Christ we are strong in the Lord, armed for the battle and disposed to oppose Satan and take back the territory he has claimed as his own…both in our life and the lives of those around us everyday.

We must put on the new man. This means...

First — Accept Christ as Savior and Lord of our life.

Second — Have faith to live a life wearing the :Armor of God.”