Spiritual Warfare

 Is spiritual warfare scriptural?

 Is. 53:12 “…and made intercession for the transgressors.”
The word for intercession is the Hebrew word Paga. It means:

a. To strike up against. The devil is the only one you can strike up against and get violent with. It entails action.

b. Collide with. This talks about one force coming up against another force.

c. To come in between, intreat, pray, plead and travail.

Intercession is equal warfare and intercession. It consists of both.

James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

The word for resist is inthistemi. It means to set oneself against or to cause to stand. In Greek it is a military term which means to rage battle against, and to do it frequently.

Eph 6:l2 says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Who does the wrestling? WE DO!

Why do we do spiritual warfare?

Satan carries out guerilla warfare against the saints. The more you do for the Lord and live for the Lord, the more satan will oppose you. He carries out his warfare to stop the works of the Lord. It is carried out against those whom the Lord uses.

Guerilla warfare is battle where bridges, train stations, communication systems and supply systems are knocked out to paralyze the enemy and stop it’s communication system. We can carry out the same guerilla warfare on satan and his forces.

Jesus won the war and darkness is disarmed, but satan and his army didn’t just stop and sit down. They carry out guerilla warfare on me and you with sickness, thoughts, jealousy, difficulties, strife, fears, cares of this world and all kinds of things to disrupt our communication system with the Father and with each other. We must hold ground, enforce our victory, posses the land and enter into our inheritance. We must enforce what Jesus has already done.

Who does spiritual warfare?

All who get attacked.

Does talking about the devil give him glory?

No. We are to know our enemy and his tactics and not be ignorant of them. We are to try the spirits and discern. We are to discern both good and evil. We teach on the enemy and expose him for the purpose of enforcing what Jesus has already provided and to set the captives free from the power of satan. This glorifies Jesus!

Don’t you just need to call upon Jesus? You don’t need to speak to the devil do you?

We are the ones wrestling against principalities and powers and evil personalities. We are the ones who are to resist the devil. We are the ones who are to make captive our thoughts. We have a responsibility and part to play as Christians.

Luke l0:19-20 “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto vou, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.

Who has the power over the enemy? Believers do. Who does the treading over all the power of the enemy? We do!

Mark 16:17 “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Believers of the word are doers of the word. That is how you can tell the difference between a true believer and someone who just claims to believe.

Jesus spoke to the devil. Paul spoke to the devil and the disciples did as well. We are all called to be disciples. The word Christian means follower of Christ or disciple of Christ.

II Cor. 10:4 states that the weapons of OUR warfare are not carnal, but mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.

We are not to just call upon Jesus. We are to speak to the devil. It is OUR war or battle. Jesus does do battle for us also, but He expects us to be good soldiers and endure hardship as Timothy was told to do.

So then, where is the responsibility for warfare?

With us.

Why do we take such a passive stand when it comes to spiritual warfare?

Christians do not understand what Jesus provided, expects of us, or who has the responsibility. A Christian, when attacked, usually backs away.

It isn’t humility to make such a bold stand against the devil is it?

We are to submit ourselves to God and be humble before Him. The devil we are to boldly resist. There is no reason to be humble in front of the devil. Would you be humble in front of someone who was about to kill you? Or, would you defend yourself? If a rattle snake were to enter your home or your child’s bedroom, would you ignore it?

We are to be servants to one another and be humble before each other as well. But when you deal with the devil, let the Lion of Judah roar in you. It is a mockery to Christ not to enforce or acknowledge what He has done with His blood sacrifice in the name of humility.

Why do we have such authority?

Mat. l0:1 “And when he had called unto him his disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.”

The word “power” translated from the Greek means “authority”.

We are soldiers and we should be wearing our armor. We must wear all of it too. If one area is exposed, it could mean the soldiers death. All pieces of the armor are defensive except for the sword of the spirit, which is God’s word. This is our offensive weapon.

Armor:

Belt or girdle of truth: If we are in deception and have wrong thinking, strongholds or doctrinal error, then we do not have on this piece of armor. We will be attacked were we are deceived. Jesus said His people perish for a lack of knowledge of the truth, so we do not want to be in error.

Breastplate of Righteousness: We must be walking uprightly before the Lord. When we sin, we must repent, confess it and be cleansed. If we are living in sin we must repent or we do not have on this piece of armor. This piece of armor covers your heart and vital organs.

Helmet of Salvation: You must know without a shadow of a doubt that you are saved and Jesus is Lord of your life. There are many people who believe that they are saved and are Christians and they are not. If you are not yielded to Him and He is not Lord, you are not saved. Knowing about Jesus and what He did does not save you. Satan knows about Jesus and what He did. Satan is hell bound. It is in believing in Jesus in your heart, not your head, and asking Him into your heart and life that you experience salvation after you have realized that you are a sinner and there is no way of having right standing with God except through Jesus’ blood sacrifice for you. He bore your sins and the consequences for them. You should not be bearing your own sins and consequence for them. Knowing the word of God or your bible does not mean that you are saved. There are many who know the word of God and do not know the God of the word. Do you have an intimate relationship with Jesus and is he actively involved in your life and do you hear from Him? Does Jesus know you? How do you know? What proof do you have? A relationship is two way. Jesus said that his sheep would know His voice.

The helmet of salvation covers the head and the mind. Pardon my challenging your salvation. I would rather that I did and you be sure, because you can bet satan will. Let there not be any doubt. If you have doubt, please see me. We’ll get you a helmet. Satan will convince you that you have a helmet when you do not because you give mental assent to what Jesus did on the cross. There are many lost sheep in the house of Israel or the church you know. The lost sheep don’t believe they are lost though.

Shield of Faith: Faith quenches all that the devil will throw at you. Satan tries to remove your faith with fear. Faith comes from the word of God and having a relationship with the living God. Jesus is the Great I AM, not the great I was. Where you are lacking faith, renew your mind in that area and hang around faith filled people.

Feet Shod with the Gospel of Peace: If a soldiers feet are not shod with the gospel, he will have a hard time walking over tough ground. You will not be able to march and you won’t get very far.

Sword of the Spirit: This is God’s word. The sword of the spirit is quick (active), alive and sharper than any two edged sword. When Jesus resisted satan he used God’s word. He said, “It is written………..” Even satan acknowledges the authority of God’s word, even more so than Christians as a matter of fact.

You are the light of the world. Satan sees the light in you. Others do too, provided you walk in it. Satan is darkness. God is light in you. When you turn on the light, darkness goes away.

Satan is like a roaring lion. When a lion roars, fear paralyzes animals and they are easy prey. That is what satan tries to do to us; make us afraid with problems, sickness, etc. He comes with fear which is faith in reverse. Fear is having more faith in satan and what he can do than in God and what God can do. Fear comes as a result of feeling abandoned by God. Whenever Jesus ministers to someone in fear, He addresses the abandonment issue and lets them know He is with them.

You serve whom you fear. If you fear and reverence God above all else, that is who you serve and you will try to please. If you fear satan, you serve him and his purposes. If you fear man and what man thinks of you, you’ll serve man and betray Jesus, or the truth, when persecution comes. You can not say you love Jesus and hate the truth. You are deceived. Let me give you an example and show you what transpired in John 18:33-36:

Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, “Art thou the King of the Jews?”

Jesus answered him, “Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?”

(Jesus was trying to find out if the Holy Spirit was revealing this to Pilate or if Pilate heard someone say this. He wanted to know if God was working here and if He needed to do something in obedience to the Father to win over Pilate. This amazes me. On his way to his death and he is evangelizing.)

Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were if this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”

(Pilate did not want Jesus crucified. He found no fault in him. He even thought that they would pick Jesus over Barabbas. When the crowd picked Barabbas, Pilate had Jesus scourged and brought him before the crowd thinking that would satisfy them. It didn’t. They yelled for Jesus’ crucifixion. Pilate said to them, “Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. Pilate feared the people and the loss of his position. He served whom he feared and that was man. Herod was the same way.)

John l9:7-12 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid (Pilate had to decide who he feared the most, God or the people).

And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence are thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. (Pilate wanted to know if God did send Jesus)

Then saith Pilate unto him, “Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?”

Jesus answered, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” Jesus said this to Pilate in order to release him from condemnation for His death and so that the blood of Jesus was upon the hands of the Jews. Some of Pilate’s household later became Christians.

(Now Pilate was really shook up. He knew Jesus was sent of God. He had a choice to make.)

And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, “If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.”

(Pilate again tried to bring Jesus out before the people and plead for His release)

“….and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!”

But they cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him.” Pilate saith unto them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

(Then Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified. He feared man and the loss of his position more than he feared God. Pilate knew Jesus was the Son of God. Pilate served man and sought to please man and he betrayed Jesus. You will serve whom you fear.)

Satan is only like a roaring lion. He can only imitate a roaring lion. He is just trying to paralyze you with fear so you’ll be an easy prey, but you have the Lion of Judah inside of you.

Isn’t the devil bound already?

Only in Revelation is he bound for 1000 years. He is not bound yet.

The enemy has fiery darts, you have a shield. The enemy or satan is the Father of lies, but you have the truth. Darts or thoughts attack your mind, but you have the helmet.

Practical Use

Ps. 149 – True warfare always starts with true worship. Then take the sword. Worship first, then pray, worship again, and so on.

Worship brings you into God’s presence and He directs warfare in churches, your life, over cities, etc. He tells you main spirits to take authority over in these areas. Authority is only over evil spirits, not someone’s will.

A Christian cannot be demon possessed. Possession is when a demon has body, mind and soul. A Christian can be oppressed by an evil spirit though. Oppression is when a demon is in your body, but not in your spirit. Oppression is from the outside as well. What to say to the spirit:

I take authority over a Spirit of _______________ and I break your power over so & so’s life and render you powerless by the blood and name of Jesus. I command you to take your hands off so & so and to cease and desist your maneuvers in so & so’s life in Jesus’ name.

This I do when interceding for someone. There is no time or distance in the spirit realm. You can speak to a spirit in someone in England from Minnesota if you want to.

When casting a spirit out of someone who wants to be delivered I say:

You foul spirit of _______________, I cast you out of _______________ in the name of Jesus. I command you to go from him/her.

Then minister to that person and see that they get filled with the Holy Spirit. Never cast a spirit out of someone who doesn’t want to be delivered. You can take authority over it though and command it to leave the person alone and break that power over the person and then intercede so the Lord will move on them. If you have a spirit of Bondage, then you will not be able to cast a spirit of Bondage out of someone else. You must be free yourself.

You can cast a spirit out of your children and your home though because you have authority over your children and your home. The Lord may open your eyes and you may see demons darting rapidly back and forth causing trouble. Command them to go. This is a gift of the spirit called Discerning of Spirits. Don’t be afraid. This is a provision or gift given to you from the Lord to protect you and deliver you as you use your authority.

Once you’ve used your sword of the spirit or your authority, then intercede for that person. Then praise the Lord or worship again.

This can be applied to church warfare once the Lord has revealed the spirits that are operating in a church.

Once the warfare is done, truth must be taught or preached to pull down the strongholds of wrong thinking to loose the people from satan and sin and turn them toward God. Satan got in there because of wrong thinking or strongholds. Wrong thinking must have the truth of God’s word shed on it. Right preaching or teaching must be accompanied with warfare. If you do not pull down the stronghold of wrong thinking with the truth of God’s word, those devils will be right back in there. The two go hand in hand. God’s word or truth must be preached or loosed shall we say to tear down strongholds of wrong thinking or beliefs that have allowed that demon to operate in the first place. The door to satan in that person’s life or an entire church, city or nation must be shut with the truth of God’s word. Find out what the wrong thinking is then minister the truth.

Thus you have loosed the people from the power of satan unto God and opened their eyes and turned them from darkness to light. By wounding people, you can open up a door for them to be attacked by the devil as well. Many of the sins of the forefathers have been passed down because of the way we treat our children and wives and God has led me to write the “Turning The Hearts Of The Fathers” series in order to stop passing the sins and curses down to our children and future generations. It must stop with us and what we do in our homes and families NOW in obedience to God will dictate the future of our nation and world. Revival starts in the home and with the fathers and leadership, not with the children.

The battle ground, strongholds or area of attack is our mind or the mind of others. Satan wars in our minds and injects thoughts. That is why we must make captive our thoughts and discern where they are coming from, either from God, the person or the devil. You cannot do this apart from the Holy Spirit.

We are to cast down vain imaginations or anything that exalts itself against the word of God.

Vain imaginations are anything that is in opposition to what God’s word says. You cannot “make captive” your thoughts or have discernment apart from God. He is your helper and you must have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You must know God’s word as well.

Satan will attack your mind with thoughts. The Holy Spirit will give you discernment and ask you, “Is that thought true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, is there any virtue in it, is there any praise in it?” If there isn’t, don’t think on that thought. Seize that thought or make it captive. When you have realized that a thought that is coming to your mind is not good, then you should realize that satan is injecting them and he is hanging around your head. Command him to go in the name of Jesus. Read Phil. 4:8.

It is not faith in ourselves, our holiness or righteousness but faith in the name of Jesus that casts out devils and heals the sick.

God does not allow attacks on us to sanctify us, test us or try us under the New Covenant. Jesus’ blood sanctifies us. God cannot tempt us, but satan does to steal our faith and render us ineffective. Satan challenges our authority. If you let him, he’ll walk all over you. If you didn’t have authority, satan wouldn’t be challenging it.

If God needed satan to perfect us or test us, then that says that the blood of Jesus was not sufficient and the Holy Spirit is not the greater one.

Can we use our authority over cities or nations?

I believe we can. Jer. 1:10 says: “See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant.”

Yes, you say, but that was Jeremiah and he was a prophet. Just as we have prophets within the church, so the church has a prophetic call within the earth today under the New Covenant. For five years in a row I have been invited to speak to graduating seniors in a public school. They have voted me their favorite speaker and I have the privilege of going into the public school and talking to the kids about the Lord and I have a table of tracks and handouts. My table of material gets wiped out completely almost every year by those spiritually hungry kids. One year while speaking, there was one young man who kept raising his hand. He was a kid you looked at and said, “Oops, there is trouble.” This young man politely asked a question. The whole class laughed, and out of my mouth, before I could even think, the Lord said, “That is a very good question.” The class shut up. I realized that the Holy Spirit had given the young man the question.

I proceeded to let the Lord answer the question through me. The young man raised his hand again when I had finished answering the question. He politely said that he had two more questions and pleaded with me to answer them. He asked the second question which the Holy Spirit gave him. The Lord answered the question again through me. He asked the third question given him by the Holy Spirit and as the third question was being answered by the Lord through me, I watched as an evil, black spirit left the young man unwillingly through the top of his head. You see, the truth set this young man free. He was deceived in an area, yet his heart was open to the truth. When he heard the truth, and he received and believed it, satan couldn’t stay and operate there anymore. I believe the truth is imperative to setting people free from the devil. You can’t do battle with satan in a person’s life without giving them the truth in their deception or they never get set free. Where people are deceived, satan will operate. When people asked Jesus questions, the Holy Spirit was providing the questions and the answers through Jesus who was yielded and being used by the Father. We, as the church, can and should be doing the same. We all have the ministry of reconciliation and to expose darkness with light. We are all called to intercede and intercession is half warfare and half petitioning.

In this order in a person’s life, over a church, city or nation:

Worship God – he shows you enemy or gives you discernment.

Do your spiritual warfare with devils or powers of darkness that God has revealed to you or you see operating.

Intercede, pray, petition, plead, intreat, come between and travail for that person, church, city or nation.

Preach or teach the truth and pull down strongholds or wrong thinking with God’s word. You cannot leave this out or the devil will be right back.

In revival settings, intercessors could do steps 1, 2 and 3 while evangelists go forth on cities or nations to preach the truth. Talk about revival, we’re just enforcing the battle Jesus already won. Or someone could do all of the above in another’s life whether it is a family member or friend. God doesn’t move without prayer first. If things are not happening in your church, city or family, intercession should be made regularly. You’ll see God move when intercessors pray!

See the book, “My Glorious Church Without Spot Or Wrinkle” for descriptions, names and manifestations of the various evil, demonic spirits that are talked about in the bible. Find out how they operate, what other evil spirits they join together with to bring about a specific goal and what to do about them. Find out how to be delivered of them yourself. The TRUTH in this book will set you free as satan is exposed.

The key to deliverance is humility. You must be humble and teachable. You can’t be delivered from something unless you repent or change your mind. Your stronghold of wrong thinking about what you are doing must be pulled down. You cannot justify your behavior and heart condition. Where you are deceived, satan will operate in your life, family and situation. You can open the door to the devil in other members of your family, especially if you defend and justify your hurtful behavior. It causes hopelessness and despair in the other person which leads to anger and depression. You have given place to the devil. By repenting and confessing, you have closed the door to the devil and allowed God to heal the situation. God’s way is the only way to healing, restoration and true reconciliation. You don’t have to be wrong to repent and confess. If something hurts somebody, you need to repent (unless you are confronting their hurtful behavior and they are hurt because they are being confronted). In order to bring healing, you need to acknowledge the hurt that you have caused. Don’t just think that it will go away with time. It won’t! To repent means to change your mind and go the other way towards God and His way of doing things. Confession brings cleansing and God’s grace and mercy on the situation. You can’t be deceived unless their is pride. As I said before, humility is the first key to deliverance and staying free from deception. But………some people want to be deceived! How about you. You can humble yourself or be humbled. You can fall upon the Rock, Christ Jesus, or the Rock will fall on you and grind you to powder (not my words). Your choice, your will.