Our Life under Fire – Spiritual Warfare
by
Rev. Mark Hiehle
How many times have you had someone say: “I have some Good News and some Bad News”? There was a husband who had a very difficult day. When he came home his wife said to him, “I have some good news and some bad news, which do you want to hear first?” He responded by saying, “I have had a horrible day. I don’t want to hear any bad news.” She thought for a moment and said, “Well, you know our new car? The airbags work.”
School is about to start for many people, and that is good news for most. Families will again be able to get back onto a schedule and learning will begin. When I was growing up however, that was not good news. I didn’t care about school and I never applied myself. My dad told me that I got through by the skin of my teeth. It wasn’t until I got married and I was in college that I started to really study and take school seriously. Back then, if someone asked me about “pie – r- square”, I would have thought, no, “pies-r-round.”
Let me share with you some good news:
Good News: God loves you
Believes in you
Is using you
Has plans for you
Will never leave you or forsake you
God is with you
He knows every hair on your head for they are all numbered
He is thinking about you constantly – you are always on his mind
God loves you so much that He gave His Son for you
You are the apple of his eye
He is working to make you just like Jesus
Jesus is interceding for you before our Father – Jesus is our advocate
Now, the bad news… Just as we have an advocate, we also have an adversary.
` Bad News: We have an enemy – Satan: I Peter 5:8 Satan is like a roaming lion, who is out to steal, kill and destroy.
Foundational texts: Revelation 12
1 Peter 5: 8-11
Ephesians 6: 10-20
Understanding the war :
Why did it begin? Isaiah 14:12-14
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. [a]
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."
Satan, a created angel desired to replace God and elevate himself above God. As a result, Satan was cast out of heaven. His thought then was to destroy that which meant the most to God, and so he focused his attention upon Adam and Eve in order to destroy them. Thus, he tempted them to violate God’s laws and commandments. As punishment, the first couple was cast out of the garden and a curse was placed upon the serpent, Satan.
What was told of Satan’s future? Genesis 3:15
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [a] and hers;
he will crush [b] your head,
and you will strike his heel."
The prophecy was given that the seed of the woman, Jesus, would crush his head, but Satan would only strike at his heel. Now Satan knew what he had to do. He had to either destroy the woman or her seed, so that his head would not get crushed. Satan then tried to destroy the people of Israel throughout the Old Testament, for the seed would come from God’s chosen people. God however always had a remnant. Therefore, Satan watched for the “seed” to come. Jesus, the Messiah was born. Revelation 12 tells of this account. Satan then influenced King Herod to kill every male child 2 years old and younger. The target was Jesus. God gave a dream to Joseph and Jesus was taken to Egypt and saved. Satan tried to destroy Jesus later, but he never was able. Finally, Satan entered one of Jesus’ disciples Judas, and Jesus was betrayed. After a kangaroo trial, Jesus was executed on a cross and buried. Satan thought he won, but three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. Satan was outraged and so his hatred turned us.
Why are we targets in this war? Revelation 12:17
17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Because we love Jesus, and we look like Jesus more and more, we have a bulls-eye on our chest. Because we have accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we are now Satan’s main target. He is out to destroy us. Thus, we were “born again” into a battle – the war is on.
Understanding the enemy
“Unless we know who the enemy is, where he is, and what he can do, we will not be able
to defeat him.” How does he operate? Think with me about lions, and how they hunt. Lions hunt in packs and they look for easy prey. First, a pride will creep through tall grass as to hide themselves while they approach a herd of animals. Through the grass, they look for the old, the young, the sick or the disabled. Then they have a lone lion move toward the herd, out in the open. The herd begins to run leaving the easy prey behind. The lion then “pushes” the prey toward the other lions laying in wait, and then the ambush is sprung upon the animal who is unaware of the danger.
Satan “hunts” us in the same way. First, he looks for easy prey. If we are not reading our Bibles, spending time in prayer, missing church and not getting together with other believers, we are becoming easy prey. As we gather together as family, we have the opportunity of building each other up, supporting each other, strengthening each other – together we are strong. The problem is, that when we sin, and we all do, we are tempted to pull away from accountability and each other. The result is that we become easy prey. That is why Hebrews encourages us:
Hebrews 10:25 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
When we are struggling with a problem, and everyone has problems, we need to come together all the more – not separate. That is what family is supposed to really be all about. Our attitude should be: “Satan, if you want to get to my brother or sister, you are going to have to go through me first, cause we are family, and nothing is more important than family!”
Understanding the weapons of warfare
How do we fight this war? 2 Corinthians 10:4
4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
Putting on the full armor Ephesians 6:10-18
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Understanding how to be victorious
How can we win the battles?
James 4:7 - 7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The key to winning against Satan is not to simply resist him, but to first submit yourself to God. Say to the Lord, “I cannot stand against this temptation or attack and I need you! I give myself to you and to your authority. I will obey your word and trust you to see me through.” After you first do that, you then resist the Devil and he will flee. He is not fleeing from you because you are so strong, he is fleeing from Jesus, because He is SO STRONG. This is what Paul understood when he was tormented by Satan.
2 Cor. 2:7-10 - 7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul learned that in the midst of his weakness, God’s power took over. It was like a light bulb went off for Paul and he said – I get it! When I surrender, God comes to the rescue. I will immediately confess my weakness, give it to God and allow him to take over. He can handle it – I can’t.
Encouragement for the warrior
Practical tips on doing warfare well. (Read these following Scriptures!)
Prayer (& Fasting)
Mark 9
Exodus 17:8-16
Praise
2 Chronicles 20:22
Position
Romans 8:31
