"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
This is a theme that I have written about before, but it needs reiteration. We are in a never-ending war with Satan and the forces of evil. As the generals would say, “We are on a war footing.” In fact, we must stay on a war footing. I want to share what this does not mean and what it means. It does not mean that we are to hate the people who are in the kingdom of darkness. Throughout the gospels, Jesus called His followers to love people. Our war is not really against people, but against, “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Satan declared war on God’s people, beginning in Genesis one and continuing into today. If we hate the people to whom we are called to witness and minister, then we are joining Satan in his desires for us. There are certainly people we should be wary of, but we are still called to pray for them and witness and minister to them as best we can. It does not mean that Satan is so powerful that we cannot overcome him. When Jesus died on the cross, He ultimately defeated Satan; therefore, Satan is a defeated enemy. It is because of this that he continues his spiritual warfare against the people of God, and why he continues to blind the world to salvation in Jesus Christ. It means that we are not in this battle alone. Jesus is with us, as He promised before He ascended. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus promised: “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world – of the ages.” Also, before He ascended, Jesus gave His followers, which includes us, the Holy Spirit to live in them/us in order to, among other things, empower us to witness. He gave us this power to enable us to fight Satan as he dabbles in our lives, and as he endeavors to deceive the world. Jesus is present with us on good and bad days. Jesus is with us, even when we are downhearted and feel alone. We are never alone in this spiritual war. It means that God has not left us without weapons with which to fight Satan. In Ephesians 6, Paul tells us about some defensive weapons that we have. It is called the “armor of God.” It is a spiritual armor, but that does not mean that it is not real armor. We have: “the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness; …the gospel of peace, the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation.” God has given us each of the pieces of armor to protect us in the battle. Satan knows when we have the armor on and when we do not. Each piece of armor is a gift from God to help us live victorious lives. Look back over these defensive weapons and ask God to clothe you with them as you meet Satan in battle. It means that God has left us with offensive weapons with which to fight Satan. In Ephesians 6:17b Paul shared an offensive weapon that we must use if we are to fight effectively: “and (take) the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” God has given us His written word, inspired by the Holy Spirit, with which we can fight Satan. Jesus illustrated the importance of this in His temptation experience in Matthew 4. With each temptation, Jesus quoted a scripture verse from Deuteronomy to combat Satan. (Read about it in Matthew 4:1-11.) This doesn’t mean that we are to just throw scripture at Satan in times of great temptation. It means that we need to read and study the scriptures daily in order to know how to fight our spiritual foe. There is no substitute for the word of God in this battle. Another offensive weapon that we have to fight Satan, and that is prayer. Satan trembles when God’s people pray. There is no substitute for the power of prayer in our lives. We are in a war. The good news is that we are on the winning side, but we need to continue the fight daily for ourselves and for the lost world. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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