Conflicting Kingdoms: Weapons of Combat

Spiritual Timing

Daniel 2:21 ESV

21 He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;

What season is it?

It is the season to reap the harvest.

It is the season to hear from heaven so we can reap the full potential of souls in all the earth.

It is the season to declare the works of God in the nations.

It is the time for the church to regain their sensitivity to repentance.

The trumpet has not yet sounded and we are not in a season to put on the wedding gown.

We are betrothed, but we are still wearing army clothes.

Wearing a wedding gown in a season of war and harvest makes you stand out as an easy target for the enemy.

The Spirit-filled life is likened to a battle-ship, not a cruise-ship.

2 Samuel 11:1 ESV

1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

What did David do?

He stayed behind.

And what happened when he stayed behind?

If you do not understand the season of transition, then you’ll miss the fact that you’ll need to engage in spiritual warfare.

You’ll end up like David.

A time of transition, a day of visitation from the Lord, always means spiritual warfare.

Hard work always comes before the harvest.

In Jesus’ day, Satan himself came to war against the Messiah. It was a time of transition.

Demons were stirred up everywhere Jesus went. He cast them out, taught His disciples to cast them out, and then made deliverance part of the Great Commission.

His final instructions of war to His “soldiers.”

Mark 16:15–18 ESV

15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Prophetic People

Prophetic People and Depression (expound and explain).

Gifts and Testing (expound and explain).

Are You Ready for War?

Today God is raising up a remnant that’s aware of unclean spirits roaming the earth. God is raising up a prophetic army that will hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the church today, and will answer His call to battle.

You have to know that this battle is a battle in the spirit realm.

You have to be ready for combat!

The Bible Teaches in,

2 Corinthians 10:3–6 (ESV)

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

Weapons of Combat

Quote: "The Mind is the battlefield of the devil. When you beat him in your mind, you beat him in your life!" - Bishop Bronner

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (AMP)

“3) For though we walk in the world, we do not fight according to this world’s rules of warfare.

4) The weapons of the war we’re fighting are not of this world but are powered by God and effective at tearing down the strongholds erected against His truth.

5) We are demolishing arguments and ideas, every high-and-mighty philosophy that pits itself against the knowledge of the one true God. We are taking prisoners of every thought, every emotion, and subduing them into obedience to the Anointed One.

6) As soon as you choose obedience, we stand ready to punish every act of disobedience.”

The weapons of our warfare are commitment to truth, godly living, bold witness for Christ, faith, love, hope of eternity with God, the Word of God and persistent prayer.

By using these weapons against spiritual enemies, we will be victorious through the battles and conflicts of life.

The church that fails to use the spiritual weapons available through Christ will be overcome by the spiritual powers of darkness, and its families will be battered and taken captive by worldly forces of evil.

Your mind is a battleground. Some thoughts originate from your own desires, imaginations and fantasies. Others come from worldly influences or directly from evil forces trying to influence your thinking.

Whatever the source, ungodly thoughts and temptations will resist, oppose and set themselves up “against the knowledge of God.”

6 Weapons of Warfare

A war is going on for our nation today.

There’s a war raging for our churches, for our families, and for each of us personally.

It’s a war in the spirit realm!

The devil has sent messengers, strong principalities and powers, to stand against you and to keep you from being and doing all that God has called you to be and do.

So what will you do about it?

Remember, the weapons of our warfare are spiritual, not carnal.

These 6 weapons are not the only weapons we have for spiritual warfare, but they are extremely important in resisting the enemy.

The name of Jesus

The blood of Jesus

Agreeing with God’s Will

Fasting

Praise

Word of God

Hell’s Primary Defenses

First, we need to understand that the kingdom of darkness is a defensive force.

Matthew 16:18 (ESV)

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Secondly, we need to understand that the enemy will primarily attack you in 3 ways.

Mind

Heart

Seed (Offspring)

Lastly, three spirits primarily attack the church.

Jezebel

Python

Religion

The Demonic Kingdom

KINGDOMS - Are jurisdictions of evil with a specific historical or purposeful intent.

“A demonic kingdom operates like an earthly realm of control. Just as a monarch acts unilaterally without consent, the Strong Man, or chief spirit, takes orders only from Lucifer, his master.? - Bob Larson

The demonic kingdom is a hierarchy.

Satan

Principalities

Powers

Rulers

Demons

Territorial Spirits

Territorial Spirits are principalities and powers that operate out of rebellion.

Ephesians 6:10–17 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil 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 firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

Submit to God

James 4:7 ESV

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:6-7 (AMP) - “But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD and HAUGHTY, BUT [continually] GIVES [the gift of] GRACE TO THE HUMBLE [who turn away from self-righteousness].” So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.”

Battle Plan

This passage mentions two relationships with seven verbs, five of them active and two passive.

The first relationship is upward and the second is outward.

The Upward Relationship—God Four active verbs are used to describe our relationship to God: submit, draw near, cleanse, and purify.

We are to submit to God. This means, first and foremost, to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and acknowledge that He is Lord. As we do, we enter the family of God. God is our Father. It is a comfortable situation for us to be at home on our Father’s lap, so to speak.

2. We are to draw near to God. This means we must spend time with the Father. We must get to know Him well, is to know from Him what has already been bound in Heaven so we can effectively bind on earth.

Cleansing our hands refers to what we do.

Purifying our hearts refers to our motives, what we think and feel.

Holiness is being so full of God that there is no room for anything else.

Without holiness we can expect very little power in spiritual warfare.

The opposite of holiness is worldliness.

If you open your life totally to the fullness of the Holy Spirit He will clean you and purify you.

If you submit, draw near, get cleanse, and get purified, the passive verb comes into play: “He [God] will draw near to you . . .” (James 4:8).

Our first movement in spiritual warfare should always be upward toward God, our second is outward toward the enemy.

Here we have only one active verb: resist. If we take steps to resist the devil, the passive verb comes into play and “ . . . he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

Weapons of Righteousness

In 2 Corinthians 6:4-10, Paul covers every challenge against a successful ministry.

2 Corinthians 6:4-10 (ESV)

4 but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,

5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;

6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love;

7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;

8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;

9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed;

10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

In verse 7, the phrase weapons of righteousness refers to weapons that equip believers to live righteously and resist the work of evil forces.

Revival Means Restoration

Revival for the church, not for sinners.

Revival means “restoration” and you cannot restore something that has never been.

The body of Christ always needs refreshing and restoration before great moves of evangelism and harvest.

God uses those times to prepare the “soil” in our hearts before He gathers in the lost.

Revival must not be confused with evangelism.

God revives local churches, then they go out and evangelize, gathering in the harvest.

Evangelism is the offspring of a church whose heart has been revived.

Share the dream about the harvest to the congregation.

End in Prayer.

Personal Notes:

Weapons of Combat

Battle Armour

Wrestling Match

Spiritual Gifts as a Form of Warfare

The Gospel & Spiritual Warfare