The Believer's Guide To Spiritual Warfare -
by Thomas B. White
1. Approach to spiritual warfare
There are 3 distinct levels of spiritual warfare.
1. The prehistoric and ongoing conflict between God
and His faithful angels and the rebellious hierarchy
of evil forces under Satan.
2. The battle between the demonic realm and the redeemed.
This level is the tempting and trying, the taunting
and haunting of men. Satan will invest his limited
power where it will reap the greatest reward. He
will attempt to undermine values, promote godless
ideologies, and moral decay to pollute and pervert
the minds and wills of people.
3. To deceive and bind non-Christians. This is an
invisible wrestling match for the souls of men and
women. This battle is the cutting edge of spiritual
warfare.
Spiritual Warfare involves a constant multidimensional battle
against the world (system of ungodly values), the flesh (sin inherent
to our humanity), and the devil (supernatural personification of evil).
Discernment enables us to identify the primary cause of a particular
problem. (It is naive to attribute most of life's hassles to the devil.
It helps to consider potential sources of various problems
people face. There are three possible sources.
1. Self - Even after giving our lives to Christ we deal with
a mixture of old habits, thoughts, and temptations.
2. Sin - Sin appears to be an alien force that has infected
us all. (Romans 7:15) Sin is the willful violation of God's law. It
seems to have a life of its own, because it works against our will.
3. Satan - takes advantage of our sin nature.
Our best defense is to submit to God, repent of sin, and resist Satan.
Evil spirits are present for a reason. The bondage traces back to a
particular cause, a point of entry, of a lapse of moral life.
2. Understanding Principalities and Powers
What exactly to we struggle against? Who, or what, are these
principalities and powers? Fallen spiritual beings that operate in
Satan's domain, opposing the redemptive purposes of God. Daniel 4:13
and 17 call these powers the "Watchers". They were angels of a high
order endowed with divine authority and appointed to watch over
certain segments of humanity. They were spiritual governors. They lost
their positions of authority and came under satanic influence. (Jude
6; Ps 82:1-2) These powers coincide with pagan gods and goddesses
worshipped by the Greeks and Romans, territorial 'princes' (Daniel 10:
13,20) who sought the worship of men.
Principalities (archai) - high level satanic princes set over nations
and regions of the earth.
Authorities (exousia) - carries a connotation of both supernatural and
natural government; supernatural forces that stand behind human
structures.
Powers (dunamis) - operate within countries and cultures to influence
certain aspects of life.
Spiritual forces of evil (kosmokratoras) - evil spirits that commonly
afflict people, e.g. spirits of deception, divination, lust, rebellion,
fear, and infirmity.
These are responsible for major movements of deception and destruction
in our world. Intelligent spiritual beings work to influence and
control the attitudes and behavior of people. But, the Holy Spirit is
also present in every place, orchestrating the work of the faithful
angels intent on revealing truth to men and women whose hearts hunger
to know the living God.
Christians have a role of prayer and authority as they co-labor with
the Holy Spirit to break through the demonic blindness that separates
men and women from the light of the gospel.
Christians are to reveal, or demonstrate God's grace through the cross.
(Eph 5:11); to expose the designs and deeds of darkness (Eph 3:10-11);
to resist and stand against the devil's schemes (Eph 6:10-18); and to
overcome the evil one (1 John 2:12-14).
The Christian walking in obedience to the Spirit of God, abiding in
prayer, and committed to the kingdom stirs enemy opposition. Any
servant of Christ who poses a serious threat to the powers of hell
will be targeted and will encounter resistance, and must be equipped
to discern and deal with the efforts of the enemy's kingdom. If we,
however, persist in sin, we may give the devil a foothold (Eph 4:27).
If our hearts are submitted to him in humility, if we are willing to
cleanse our hands of sin and stay committed to his Lordship, thin we
speak the word "devil be gone," and it is done (Jas 4:6-10).
3. Preparation for Battle
Believers remain subject to the influence of the devil. Evil
spirits gain the influence through pre-conversion sin. The Christian
can thus be "demonized", but not possessed. Demons cannot indwell a
Christian in the same sense the Holy Spirit indwells. They cannot have
influence over any part of a Christian's life that is yielded to the
Holy Spirit.
At conversion, we gain positional victory over the devil. But practical,
experiential victory must be appropriated and entered into by the
exercise of faith (Eph 6:16).
Satan always seeks to maintain leverage once gained. He does not quit
easily. A Christian, saved but not fully sanctified, may experience
bondage to besetting sins or the partial "demonization" of evil spirits.
Faith in the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus' name (Mk 11:22-24;
Mt 18:18-20); confidence in the power of his atoning blood (Rev 12:11);
courage to claim and use our authority in resisting evil (Lk 10:19);
and total trust in the immanent power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38)
will break oppression. You have the authority to resist the devil.
Plan of attack
1. Pray. Reaffirm through praise that God is your source.
Repent of any known sin. Holiness removes enemy handles.
2. Put on the Armor of God. When you let down your guard, you
are vulnerable.
a. Belt of Truth - the Word of God
b. Breastplate of Righteousness - conscience cleansed
of guilt through the blood of Jesus.
c. Gospel of Peace - ready to reconcile strained or
broken relationships. To restore peace robs the
devil of a device.
d. Shield of Faith - unwavering confidence that what
God has promised, he will accomplish.
e. Helmet of Salvation - absolute certainty that you
belong to Christ.
f. Sword of the Spirit - Jesus used scripture
exclusively to resist and repel Satan.
g. Pray in the Spirit - guided missiles that penetrate
enemy strongholds.
3. Realize your position in Christ. You are enthroned with the
Savior (Eph 2:6). Mighty angels are assigned to us (Heb 1:14).
4. Rely on the Supremacy and Sufficiency of Jesus' name (Phil
2:9-11).
5. Remove the ground of oppression. Moral compromise, deception,
and exploitation of vulnerabilities are the chief avenues used to
influence must be shut.
4. The Battle Within
Two primary weapons Satan uses against us internally are the
underming of our conscience and sin-based oppression. Increased
exposure to immorality and vulgarity leads to a diminished ability to
discern good from evil. Compromise gives room for the devil.
A. Erosion of conscience
Dealing with it:
1. Realize your compromises.
2. Repent of lines crossed in your conscience.
3. Regain the perspective of holiness, and recommit
your heart to hunger first of all for a pleasing relationship with
the Lord. Return to godly values. Your heart will follow after what
your mind chooses to dwell on.
4. Reaffirm kingdom values.
B. Sin-based oppression
Unresolved sin gives Satan a 'legal' ground on which
he can stand and a position from which he can oppress you. Thorough
repentance and renunciation of sin will separate us from the habits of
the past and break the influence of evil spirits. If Satan's footholds
are not dealt with, you remain a target for oppression. Watch out for
unresolved bitterness and hatred toward others.
Dealing with it:
1. Be willing to separate your life from the world and
be a friend only to God.
2. Submit to God in brokeness and humility.
3. Wash your hands of any known sin. A clear
conscience is a key to victory in warfare.
4. Purify your heart from any doubleminded wavering.
5. Realize how serious your struggle with the world,
the flesh, and the devil is.
6. Resist the devil.
C. Generational Sin
Demonic powers often work within a family bloodline
for many generations. Certain family behaviors, both desirable and
undesirable, are repetitive. If sin remains unresolved, the enemy has
legal right to accuse and oppress. Evils spirits, in such cases, will
claim a right to remain in a family line.
Dealing with it:
1. Recognize sources, or entry points, of possible
oppression.
2. Pray according to the instruction of Lev. 26:40.
Confess your sins and those of your fathers.
3. Deliberately forgive those in your ancestry who
sinned.
4. Partake of the Lord's Supper - a time of
reaffirmation of your commitment to the Lord.
5. Pray with authority in Jesus' name to separate your
life from the sins of former generations.
D. Post-Conversion Sin
The Lord gives the persistent backslider to the
oppressive power of Satan, for the primary purpose of correction. When
a sinning Christian ignores or resists the Holy Spirit's conviction
and does not confess, there is a very real danger of temporarily
coming under the adversary's power.
5. The Battle Without
"Flaming arrows of the evil one" describes the attack against
our minds, wills and emotions. This commonly takes the form of excessive
or unfounded irritation, bitterness, criticism, lustful impulses,
jealousy, and fear. Satan uses abuse and attacks to harass us and to
undermine our confidence. The Lord has graciously provided us with
spiritual armor for defense, spiritual weapons for offense, and the
Holy Spirit to guide us as we grow in wisdom and discernment.
Flaming arrows: Thoughts leap into your mind that seem c
ompletely out of character, bizarre, and shocking. These emanate from
the weakness of our own character or the temptation to sin. These
weaknesses may be exploited and stirred up by the invisible enemies
that surround us. When we do not yield to the control of the Holy
Spirit, we become potential targets for evil spirit influence.
There is a constant, day in and day out battlefield in the
mind. My own evil desire will probably be all too familiar to me, a
predictable pattern I've battled with. Flaming arrows, on the other
hand, come like a shot out of the blue, with a nearly irresistible
intensity. We have a responsibility either to cut off our thoughts
before they give birth to sin, or to rebuke the whisperings of the
enemy. Remind yourself, and the devil, whose you are.
Dealing with direct assaults:
1. Trace the presumed spiritual attack directly to
the source. Spiritual oppression does not occur on
a coincidental or haphazard basis.
2. Face the attack head-on. The right response is to
stand up to the devil and speak the Scripture, as
Jesus did.
3. Erase the effects of the assault.
4. Break the power of any curses you sense may have
been placed on you. Verbally bless the perpetrator
and pray for his or her salvation.
On the Cutting Edge
We can break down or we can break through to a deeper level of
character in the midst of trial. True spiritual victory emerges from
the crucible of suffering.
Dealing with trials:
1. Ask the Lord if this suffering is purposeful. What
am I to learn here? How can I grow in light of this
trial? If, on the other hand, this is enemy
harassment, we have the authority to rebuke it.
2. Make a choice to turn your self-pity into triumph.
3. Anchor your soul in God's unfailing attributes.
4. Rebuke the father of lies.
6. A Checklist for Testing Spiritual Bondage
Discernment involves more than just recognizing the activity
of the enemy. It also means understanding the many forms of suffering
and affliction which can beset human beings. Accurate discernment is
the important first step in spiritual warfare.
When we can't see the cause clearly, we should ask the Lord
to remove any oppressive influence that may be present. Sometimes
evil spirits will take advantage of an existing physical or emotional
problem.
Possible Causes of Problems:
Spiritual:
Unconfessed sin
Unbelief
Temptations
Relational conflicts
Spiritual starvation
Psychological/Emotional
Emotional scars
Psychological disorders (anxiety, obsessive-compulsive,
etc.)
Physiological
Organic brain syndromes (epilepsy, senility, etc.)
Biochemical (chemical imbalances)
Stress or Fatigue
(see book Pages 84-88 for more)
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