Sermon Central
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Spiritual Armor For Spiritual War
Contributed by Curtis Kittrell on Sep 27, 2001 (message contributor)
Summary: Unfortunately, most of us don’t know the first thing about fighting the kind of war in this scripture. For, as Ephesians 6:10-12 says, it’s not a battle of flesh and blood, but of the spirit.
Spiritual Armor for Spiritual War
"For 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." -- (Ephesians 6:12)
Unfortunately, most of us don’t know the first thing about fighting the kind of war in this scripture. For, as Ephesians 6:10-12 says, it’s not a battle of flesh and blood, but of the spirit.
Most believers are so earthly minded (or carnally minded) that they never even realize the actual source of the enemy’s attacks. They blame circumstances and people. They waste their energy fighting natural conditions instead of supernatural causes.
We need to wake up to the warfare that’s going on in the heavenly realm!
We can get a glimpse of it in Daniel 10:12-20. There, we find that Daniel had been fasting and praying for 21 days, awaiting a word from the Lord. Then, an angel appeared to him 21 days later with the answer. What took him so long? He was fighting the enemy in the heavens.
That confuses some people. They say, "Devils fighting in heaven? I thought God reigned in heaven!" What they don’t understand is that the Bible teaches there are three different areas called heaven:
1. The heaven where God resides.
2. The stellar heavens (what we call "outer space").
3. The heavens around this earth (the atmosphere surrounding this planet).
This last heaven is where spiritual war takes place. (That’s why Ephesians 2:2 calls Satan the prince of the power of the air.) The air is where wicked spirits operate. From there, they attempt to rule the nations assigned to them.
And rule them they will unless the prayers of God’s people keep them from it.
God has an army marching in this land. If we band together, we can prevent the wickedness in high places from ruling our nation. The time has come for us to pray. So, put on your full armor and take your place in the ranks of the faithful in intercession for our country and the nations of the world!
Ephes. 6:12 For 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.
Ephes. 6:12
a[wrestle] Greek: pale (GSN-3823), wrestle. Only here. It refers to warfare in general between saints and spirit rebels who are against God.
b[against flesh and blood] Galatians 1:16; 1 Cor. 15:50.
c[against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places]
Four Kinds of Spirit Rebels
1.Greek: archas (GSN-746), principalities, chief rulers or beings of the highest rank
and order in Satan’s kingdom (Ephes. 6:12; Ephes. 1:21; Col. 2:10)
2.Greek: exousias (GSN-1849), authorities, those who derive their power from and execute the will of the chief rulers (Ephes. 6:12; Ephes. 1:21; Col. 2:10)
3.Greek: kosmokratoras (GSN-2888), world-rulers of the darkness of this age, the spirit world-rulers (Daniel 10:13-21; Ephes. 1:21; Ephes. 6:12; Col. 1:16-18)
4.Greek: pneumatika (GSN-4152) tes (GSN-3588) ponerias (GSN-4189), spiritual wickedness, that of the wicked spirits of Satan in the heavenlies (Ephes. 6:12; Ephes. 1:21; Col. 1:16-18)
d[high places] Greek: epouranois (GSN-2032), heavenlies (note g, §Ephes. 1:3).
SCRIPTURE READING: Daniel 10:1-14
Daniel 10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
a[third year] This was 5 years after the vision of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 (cp. Daniel 10:1 with Daniel 9:1).
b[Cyrus king of Persian] This was not Darius the Mede of Daniel 5:31; Daniel 6:1; Daniel 9:1. He was a Persian prince and became king of the Medo-Persian Empire after Darius had reigned two years. There are no less than four traditions about the birth of Cyrus. Herodotus says that he was the son of Mandane, daughter of Astyages who sought to kill the child because of dreams he had of his own defeat at his hands. Xenophon says he was the son of Cambyses, king of Persia, that he was educated in Persia and was later sent for by Astyages who made him commander-in-chief of his armies. Nicolaus says that Cyrus was the son of Atradates, a Mardian bandit, and that he became the adopted son of Artembares, cupbearer to Astyages, later becoming prominent in the service of Astyages. The truth of the matter seems to be that Cyrus was the son of Astyages and Queen Esther of the book of Esther (see Kings of Persia). This being true, then many prophecies of Isaiah take on new interest and meaning. Cyrus was the subject of a number of prophecies of Isaiah concerning the restoration of Israel from Babylon and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple after the captivities. See notes on §Isaiah 44:28-45:1. In the Bible his name was predicted 175 years before he was born, the prediction even foretelling his decree to liberate the Jews and rebuild Jerusalem (2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-8; Ezra 3:7; Ezra 4:3-5; Ezra 5:13-17; Ezra 6:3,14; Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1).
