Spiritual Warfare (2 page)

The problem with this teaching is that you can get all caught up in the discipline of putting on all these pieces of the armour every morning that you forget what the pieces really mean. If you read the passage in Ephesians 6 carefully, you will see that each piece of the armour has a specific meaning and purpose. Yet, instead of focusing on the teaching behind each piece of the armour, I focused simply on the process of clicking the pieces into place each day. Boy, did I click on the pieces every day! I even felt naked when I didn’t. And all the while, I was missing the point!

God’s Armour Has Seven Pieces

Do you know that there are seven pieces in God’s armour? It is been said that there are only six pieces. But six is the number of man. God made man on the sixth day. Goliath stood six cubits and a span tall, his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels and he had a six-piece armour. Seven, on the other hand, is the number of perfection or completeness. God made the world in six days and on the seventh, He rested.

Now, to be accurate, the armour has five plus two pieces. The first five are defensive. The belt is defensive — it holds the other pieces in place. The helmet is defensive — it protects your head. The breastplate protects your heart. The shoes protect your feet and the shield protects your whole being. But the last two — the sword of the Spirit and praying in the Holy Spirit — are offensive.

Before we look at each piece of the armour in detail, let’s first find out more about spiritual warfare myths and truths.

chapter
2

Spiritual Warfare Myths And Truths

chapter 2

Spiritual Warfare Myths And Truths

“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age.”

Ephesians 6:12

The Truth About The Father Of Lies

M
any things have been written about spiritual warfare. Some are myths, some are truths. Let’s look at some of them so that we will know how to stand victorious. First and foremost, know that there is a devil. There are some Christians who don’t believe that the devil is real! They don’t believe that he exists. Some people try to tell us that the devil isn’t real by saying, “Oh, that’s just poetic imagery in the Bible.”

At the other extreme, there are Christians who believe that the devil can do anything and everything! They believe in the devil so much that they think that he is active in their lives all the time.

Let me tell you the truth. The devil does not have the same attributes as God. God is omniscient or all-knowing. The devil is not. He did not even know that Jesus would gain victory through the cross. In fact, he schemed to put Jesus on the cross. Had he known that the cross would spell his defeat, he would not have crucified the Lord of glory! (1 Corinthians 2:8)

So the devil does not know everything. And he cannot read your mind. He does not know what you are thinking until you open your mouth. If you are fearful, he doesn’t know it until you open your mouth and confess it. He can only tell what is on your mind and in your heart by what comes out of your mouth. So watch your mouth! Watch your confession!

Second, unlike God, the devil is not omnipotent. He is not all-powerful. Do you know that the devil does not want you to read this book? He hates it when you hear God’s Word because the Word reminds you and him of his defeat! Can he stop you from reading this book? Well, you are reading it now, aren’t you? Congratulations!

If the devil is all-powerful as some Christians make him out to be, then he would also stop you from going to church. In fact, he would have stopped you from receiving Christ. But the fact that you got saved shows that he is not all-powerful. Now, if he is really all-powerful, wouldn’t he have killed you long ago?

No, the devil is not omnipotent. 1 Peter 5:8 says,
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
Notice it says,
“seeking whom he may devour”.
This tells us that he can’t just devour anyone he likes — he is not all-powerful.

The Bible calls him a liar too. (John 8:44) Think about this: Why would the devil need to lie if he has all the power to do what he likes to us? People lie when they don’t have the power to make things happen. People who don’t have the power have to lie or give an impression that they have the power. My friend, Christ has defeated the devil and disarmed him. (Colossians 2:15) The only “power” or weapon that he has against you are his lies.

Third, the devil is not omnipresent or everywhere all the time. Only God is omnipresent. You might say, “Well, Pastor Prince, last night I had a terrible attack from Satan in my home.” Friend, it was probably not Satan. Don’t flatter yourself. Satan was probably out last night picking on someone like Billy Graham. When Jesus was on the earth, it was Satan himself who personally attended to Jesus. Why? Because you and I know that we can’t completely trust our subordinates with the most important tasks. That is why I am telling you that it was probably not Satan who attacked you last night, but one of his junior evil spirits. He can’t be everywhere all the time, attacking anyone he wants.

God does not need you to defeat the devil because Jesus has already defeated him.

It is important to realise that God has given us resources to enforce the devil’s defeat. The devil once had a measure of power, but all the power he had was stripped from him at the cross. Colossians 2:15 says,
“Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
Who destroyed the devil’s power? Jesus did! Who de-fanged the devil? Jesus did! 1 Peter 5:8 says that
“the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”.
But don’t forget that he has no more teeth! That is why he roars — to frighten you. Some Christians are so full of fear that they allow the devil to gum them to death!

The Right Approach Leaves You Standing

The way in which you approach spiritual warfare is very important. If you enter it trying to win a battle that has already been won by Christ, then it is a form of self-righteousness. So your approach must be one of standing in the victory that Christ has already won for you.

There are some Christians who are trying to defeat the devil. They think to themselves, “Well, you know, God has given it to me to defeat the devil.” My friend, that is a form of pride. God does not need you to defeat the devil because he has
already
been defeated. Who defeated him? Jesus did! And He gave you the victory. Your part is simply to believe and stand in the victory.

That is why you find the word “stand” repeated four times in the passage in Ephesians 6. Verse 11 says,
“…
stand
against the wiles of the devil.”
Verse 13 says,
“… with
stand
in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand
.”
And verse 14 says,
“
Stand
therefore…”
Four times in this passage, the Holy Spirit tells us to “stand”. We are to stand, stand, stand and… stand! So when you take part in spiritual warfare God’s way, you will be left standing.

What does it really mean to “stand”? Have you ever watched the classic shoot-outs in cowboy movies? You know the typical scene: Two guys stand alone. Then, they slowly walk away from each other down the main street of town. Suddenly, they both draw their guns, turn and bang! For a second, no one knows who has been shot. Then, one of them drops to the dirt and the other guy is left standing. The guy left standing is the victor. My friend, if you face spiritual warfare God’s way, then you will be the one left standing too!

It is the same in Japanese samurai movies. Two guys face each other with their swords. They come together and clash their swords in a duel to the death. All of a sudden, you see one guy slash the other guy, but you are not sure who cut whom because they moved too fast. One guy is facing one way, the other guy is facing the opposite direction. They stand there for some time and for a while, you don’t know who has won. Is it the good guy or the bad guy? Suddenly, the bad guy smiles as if he has won. But then you see blood trickling out of the side of his mouth. He drops to the floor. He has lost the duel. The good guy triumphs again!

The devil’s number one tactic is to make you think that you don’t have what you already have.

The point is that the one left standing is always the victor. God wants you to be the one left standing. He mentioned the word “stand” four times in Ephesians 6:11–14. Now, to stand means that you don’t have to fight. So you don’t fight, you stand. To stand means that you have already won. The victory is already yours. Who gave you the victory? Jesus did!

Call The Devil’s Bluff

The Bible says in Ephesians 1:3 that we already have everything in Christ —
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”
. So the devil’s number one tactic is to make you think that you don’t have what you already have. Let’s say you are believing God for financial blessings in your life. You need to pay off your house and car loans. You look at the available balance in your bank account and you say, “It’s pathetic.” The devil comes and attacks you by saying, “Yes, it’s pathetic. You don’t have much financial supply at all. In fact, you also don’t have this and you don’t have that…”

What should your response be? You must call his bluff. So you say, “I am not
trying
to be rich. I
am
rich. In Christ, I am rich! In Christ, I have everything!” Remind yourself of God’s promise in Philippians 4:19 —
“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
It doesn’t matter if you have been retrenched. Why? Because God is the one who supplies. And He does it according to His riches in glory, not according to the state of the economy. So He will supply you with a better job and better pay. No man on earth is your source of supply. Man will only make you poorer. No, God is your source of supply and He supplies you according to His riches in glory.

My friend, it really does not matter how much you have in the bank. You are rich because you are in Christ. And as your need arises, you will find that the supply will be there if you believe that you are rich in Christ. It is the same with healing. The devil will try to attack you with symptoms in your body. He will try to place pain in your body or make you feel lousy in certain areas of your body. He will try to make you feel weak and make you think that you are coming down with a sickness. His aim is to make you believe that you don’t have your healing. What should your response be? Again, you must call his bluff there and then. Say to him, “No! I am not
trying
to get healed, I
am
healed! I am already on victory ground that Jesus gave me. I
have
healing! And you are not taking it away!”

Don’t Fight For Victory, Fight From Victory

It makes a world of difference when you enter spiritual warfare with the knowledge that you have been given victory. That is the way God wants you to “fight”. You are not fighting
for
victory, you are fighting
from
victory. If you think that you are not healed and you say, “I must persuade God to heal me. Oh, God, please heal me!” then you have actually fallen from your high ground. You have played right into the hands of the devil. He wants you to think that you don’t have what God has given you. So you must call his bluff. Say to him, “No, devil! I have the victory!”

Now, he might respond by saying, “If you have it, then how come you have this pain and that pain?” Well then, you declare, “In Christ I have it, devil. These are just temporal. Your words are lies. I am not
trying
to be healed. I
am
the healed!” Do that and you will find those symptoms you are experiencing going away in Jesus’ mighty name.

But if you fall for his trap and say, “Well, I guess I’m not healed. I do feel that pain and I do feel that weakness. Oh, God, please heal me!” then you just gave up your high ground. Why? Because now you are fighting
for
victory, instead of fighting
from
victory. There is a big difference between the two.

The Master Of Deception

Ephesians 6:11 says,
“Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
What are the “wiles” of the devil? They are his lies and deception. Remember, Christ has stripped him of his power, so he has to resort to deceiving you. He makes you think that you don’t have what God has given you, when you actually do because God has already given you everything in Christ. And because he is powerless, he will trick you into using your own power against yourself. The devil is the master deceiver, the father of lies. (John 8:44)