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SPIRITUAL
WARFARE
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Everybody likes a fight. No one knows this better than movie producers. That's why nearly every
western movie, spy thriller, or even comedy situation has its fight scenes. In many cases the picture builds up
dramatically to the big fight– the all-out fist fight, where tables, chairs, windows, lamps, bottles, and nearly every
other thing in sight is smashed to pieces.
People love it. But most do not know why children love fights. We can witness their fighting nature on
any playground or schoolyard. Even women like fights. Take a look at the front row seats of any boxing or
wrestling event. Listen to the high pitched screams from the audience as woman get very involved with their
favorite contestant. All that is a part of human nature
Believe it or not, God made us to be fighters. He put it in man's nature to want to fight and conquer. In
fact, we cannot be happy without fighting and conquering. The problem is– that most do not know what to fight.
Watching the daily news shows us man is fighting the wrong things. Mankind has cat fights with his
neighbor. Fights start over jealousy, and envious of others. There is fights and arguing over politics. There
are fights and quarrels with our married mates. People just seem to want to fight and argue. They want things
to be done their way, period!
God made humans fighting creatures, yet He commands us to live in peace. God says, “Follow peace with
all men” in (Heb.12: 14). And again He says, “Be at peace among yourselves” (I Thess. 5:13 ). God admonishes
us again in Romans 14:19, “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith
one may edify another.”
God intends that we fight! But He does not want us to fight one another and especially not our own
brethren, the scattered called Children of God! Notice Eph. 6:10-12, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places.”
You and I have enemies, vicious, clever, murderous enemies. They are spirit beings called demons. they
are fighting you and me on a spiritual front. They are assaulting us causing doubt, division, and discouragement.
Nothing gives Satan and his demons more pleasure than to divert our energy and attention away from our
spiritual fight. He loves to see us get involved in a battle against other brethren. Jealousy, envy, hard feelings
greatly pleases our enemy Satan.
God intends for us to fight, but not on our own strength. He means we have to put on the whole armor
of God. He supplies, the tools and means for us to battle against the devil and his demons. The day we were
baptized, the enemy Satan and his demons set out to kill us spiritually. They are relentless in this pursuit,
therefore God admonishes us to use His armor and to fight!
Here are the weapons of God's warfare. God gives us the truth with which to gird our loins, and
righteousness as a breastplate. Our feet are encased with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We are also
given a shield to protect us from the darts of the wicked. That shield is made of faith. Our head is covered with
the helmet of salvation along with hope for eternal life and our looking forward to entry into God's kingdom. One
other of our most powerful weapon is the sword God has given us. That is the Word of God! These are all listed
in Eph. 6:14-18. God’s called must pray for one another and help one another in this all - out struggle for eternal
life.
Yes, the devil is our enemy. We have to fight him and the demons. But there is yet more. Notice in
Romans 12: 2, “Be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by The renewing of your mind, that
you may prove what is that Good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Renewing our mind is putting on
the converted new man. New thinking, along with a new active righteous life. Once called we are to keep from
being conformed to this world and its pleasures. And that's not easy to do!
Looking at the society around us, we see its attitudes, its way of doing things, its trends, its styles, and
government policies, political orientation, religious differences and educational philosophies, ect, ect, ect! These
are all lumped into one gigantic pressure pot which the Bible refers to as “THIS WORLD.” The world is like
a gigantic press trying to squeeze us, to conform us into its worldly patterns.
God clearly tells us “come out of her My people” (Rev. 18:4). There is only one way for you and me to
keep from being crushed and conformed by this world. That is– we have to fight it! The world never ceases from
pressuring us into the wrong way of life. It reaches out for us constantly putting pressure on us through the media
of television, the computer internet radio, advertisements, books and magazines, and association with worldly
people.
This world is reaching out to grab our children. We need to fight for our families safety, as well as for
our own life’s safety! There is a war going on! A war in which you can be made a slave, if you don't fight back,
you will not win. You and I not only have to fight the devil and his demons, but we likewise have to fight to
resist the pulls and pleasures of this world pressures.
We also have to fight another very powerful and insidious enemy. That enemy is our own human nature.
Here is how the apostle Paul describes this war in Romans 7: 21-23, “I find then a law [a working principle],
that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the in―ward man: But
I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members.”
There is a war going on inside every one of us that has been called by God. A fight against human
nature! Human nature resists us in our efforts to do good. It is a pull in the opposite direction— always trying
to pull us into the way of sin that’s warring-against all of us! Paul further explains this battle in Galatians 5 :17,
“For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these [two] are contrary the one to the
other: so that you cannot [it is difficult to] do the things that you would.”
Once we were called and started working on converting, we received the Holy Spirit of God. That
spirit imparted to us the divine nature of God. But we are still flesh, we are still human, we are filled with the
nature of man– human nature. The spirit and the flesh are contrary, enmity is constantly present. There is a
fighting hostility between the things of God and the things of the flesh. They actually thrust themselves, one
against the other. In other words, there is a constant war going on! Human nature pulling on us, trying to
maintain our bondage to sin and the divine nature leading us, showing the way to live through the laws of God.
We must fight our human nature! We must resist the pulls of the flesh! And it is a constant battle!
The day you and I were baptized, we were drafted into an on going war! A spiritual war! On that day
God made available to us the equipment with which to fight the three battle fronts. Satan and his demons, the
world, and our human nature. But it is difficult for us to recognize that we are truly in a war. And too often we
fail to conduct ourselves like the onward Christian soldier we should be. God gives important principles for His
soldiers. Listen to what we are admonished to do in 2 Tim 2:3, “You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier
of Jesus the Christ.”
Here is one of the first principles a soldier must learn. He must be willing to “endure hardness.” Look
at our men that fight in war zones, like Afghanistan, Iraq and past wars Japan and Germany, Vietnam,
orea. They had to be willing to fight in dry hot barren
waste lands, rocky hills and desert wildernesses. Other times they have to endure sloshing through mud, endure
jungle heat, fight insects and jungle rot, and put up with uncomfortable sleeping conditions, while having to eat
aged canned foods.
What if a soldier had a attitude like this? I'll fight for my country if I can have my three hot meals a
day,box spring and mattress, to sleep on at night, a warm fire and stuffed easy chair to sit in? And 1 don't mind
going shooting as long as it's not being done in the rain or under muddy conditions, and, I can't stand blood, nor
can I afford to miss my favorite programs on Sunday night TV!
Such statements are laughable when you think of them coming from a soldier. But what about our self?
Are we willing to endure hardness? Or do we say, “I'm willing to be a soldier of God as long as everything goes
my way! As a soldier of Jesus the Christ, we must be willing to endure hardness, go through trials and tests and
still keep fighting the enemy.
We must recognize that there will be obstacles to hurdle, problems to overcome. We have been called
and made for this fight! And with God's help we can conquer! Conquer our enemy Satan! Notice another
principle in warfare. “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may
please Him ho enlisted him as a Soldier” (2 Tim 2: 4 Nkjv).
In World War 2, both the Germans and the Japanese realized the importance of this principle of warfare.
Thus the Germans used Axis Sally and the Japanese used Tokyo Rose to cause American soldiers to violate this
cardinal principle of war. Here's how it worked. Tokyo Rose would broadcast over frequencies readily available
to American troops. She would play American music the kind that GI's at that time liked to listen to. She would
talk in her soft, sexy voice to the GI's themselves. Sometimes she had factual information and other times she
made up names and places, I guess we could say “Fake news” like we hear today!
Her object was to get the minds of the American fighting men onto their problems back home. To do this
she sought to bring about doubts in their minds as to the faithfulness of their wives and sweet hearts and families
at home. She would say things like: “Why should you soldiers be fighting out here for a lost cause? Why should
you have to go through all this suffering while other men back home are taking your wife out to dinner and
dancing? Hey, Bill, Do you know who's dating your girl now? And Johnny, your wife has been seeing your best
friend for the last three nights.”
Many of the soldiers just laughed at the statements made by Tokyo Rose and Axis Sally. But a good
number were actually affected. They got to thinking about the last letter they received from their family, wife,
or sweetheart. They began to entangle themselves with the affairs of this life, the problems back home. And the
next day on the battlefield their attention was not totally on the war. As a consequence many were killed or
wounded.
Since the devil knows this principle of warfare, it is his purpose to see to it that we become concerned
with the affairs of this life. He would like to see us bog down, getting our minds on our finances, or our personal
feelings and well being.
We can't get our minds off the warfare and onto the affairs of this life, or we will surely be exterminated!
Reward goes to the winners. In God's church we hear a lot about overcoming. But do we get the real meaning
of this term? Both the Greek word used in the New Testament writings and the English word “overcome” means
“to conquer”
Now notice Jesus Christ's statement in Revelation 2:26, “And he that over―comes [conquers, subdues],
and keeps My Works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.”
Who gets power over the nations?
Who will rule with Christ in His kingdom? Who receives the prize? Does it go to the losers? Rev. 3 :21,“To
him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne, even as I also overcame [conquered], and am set
down with My Father in His throne.” Who gets to sit with Christ on His throne ? To whom does this reward
go? It goes to the conquerors, the ones who win in this warfare.
Have you ever seen a boxing match, a wrestling match, football game, basketball game or other sporting event,
where the cup or prize or crown went to the loser? Losers just don't win! If we lose in this our spiritual fight,
it will mean that we have been conquered. Christ makes this statement in Revelation 21: 7, “He that overcomes
[conquers, wins] shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.”
Notice, the prize to the conquerors goes the grand prize– inheritance of all things. It is a joint inheritance
with Jesus the Christ, who is the great conqueror! Jesus the Christ was the greatest warrior that ever lived. He
met the devil on a spiritual battle front unparalleled in history. He conquered, He went up against His own
human nature time and time again, and came out the victor.
He resisted this world of Satan, He fought against its pressures all of His life. He was victorious! He did
none of these things on His own strength. He Himself said “That by Himself and of Himself, He could do
nothing” (John 5: 30). He knew that He had to have on God’s armor– God's instruments of warfare and God the
Fathers help!
This same help is available to you and me. But we must recognize we are in a war. We must recognize
it is a fight for eternal life! And the reward goes to the winners. Losers get nothing! Today our battle front is
on a spiritual plane as described earlier. But it is interesting to note that all of God's great men were warriors.
Some of them were fighters on a physical plane, but they also had to fight the spiritual fight of faith.
Joshua had to fight his way into the land of Canaan. David had to fight in order to preserve his kingdom.
Samson fought. Jephthah fought. Even Abraham was a fighter Gen. 14 tells us.
God has called us not to fight other human beings, but to fight the spiritual fight of faith. How do we get
into God's kingdom? Do we fall in? Do we slide in? Notice Matt. 11:12, “From the days of John the Baptist
until now the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence [margin: is gotten by force], and the Violent take it by force
[or, it is gotten by men of driving Force.” Here is the comment from the Expository Dictionary on this verse.
“Those who are possessed of eagerness and zeal, instead of giving Up to the opposition, press their way into the
kingdom.” It is a fight, a press, a driving effort to get into God's kingdom!
God made man to conquer. Even a noted psychologist understands this about human nature. He said,
"We are engineered as goal-seeking machines, we are built that way. When we have no personal goal that means
something to us, we are apt to find life itself purposeless. We are built to conquer environment, solve problems,
and achieve goals and we find no real happiness or satisfaction in life without this. People who say that life is
not worthwhile are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals that are worthwhile."
How true! Man loves things that are challenging, things he must overcome. Notice sports. Would people
go hunting if all animals were tame? Would golfing be interesting if every swing were a hole-in-one? No, We
are attracted by the adventure of accomplishment, the adventure of overcoming. Right or wrong we will fight.
Man has a fighting nature. He will fight something, and if a person is not fighting the right things, he ends up
fighting other people.
Take, for example, people who are lonely and have no hobbies or outside interests. What do they do?
In most cases they end up minding other peoples' business, causing problems through gossip and envy. Since
they have no other worthwhile goals, they turn inward and want to fight and argue with their fellow man. There
are millions of such unhappy souls in this world. Their human nature cries out for something to conquer. But they
don't know what to fight — what to conquer.
What about us? We are designed to conquer and overcome. We must win against our human nature! We
are pitted against the devil and his demons and we must come out the victor! The world is pressing and trying
us to conform us to its sinful ways. We must fight and resist! We are to be driving, intense, and forceful when
it comes to overcoming these obstacles! But be loving, kind and patient with other people.
Notice Paul's statement shortly before his death. “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my
departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: And
not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing” (2 Tim 4: 6 - 8).
Paul described his life as a spiritual fighter. He did not say,“I have lived a good life.” He said, “I have
fought a good fight.” He had won. He had conquered. And he knew there was a crown in store for him, as well
as for all others who fight the good fight and keep the faith.
Brethren can we realize we are in a fight for eternal life? Can we get rid of the lethargy that is
characteristic of our times ? Can we see the goal before us ? Again, God's admonitions us to “Fight the good
fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim. 6:12). ☜
James Russell