Spiritual Warfare…. A Battle for Our Lives!

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6:10-13

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Col. 1:15-16
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

*What is SPIRITUAL WARFARE? In your definition, how would you describe it?
*Do you believe in it?
*Why would people NOT believe in it?
If you believe the Bible is real, then you MUST believe in it! Simple as that!

*What do you picture in your mind when you hear the words, spiritual warfare? Does it look like something out of a Frank Perretti book or a scene from Constantine? Do you think back to horror flicks like Emily Rose or the Exorcist?
OR, do you think about daily decisions, thoughts and actions that you are constantly making?

What I want us to realize in this class is that spiritual warfare is very very real and it is ALL around us!
Far too often we only think of spiritual warfare on GRAND battlefields. People will allude to it on days like Sept. 11, 2001, or on days like the one that happened in Columbine. The other 364 days of the year, it is something that rarely ever crosses our minds. Here is the key point I want you to realize: SPIRITUAL WARFARE IS MUCH BIGGER THAN THAT! IT TAKES PLACE IN OUR DAILY LIVES AND THE ACTIONS AND DECISIONS THAT WE CONSIDER MUNDANE!
That is the HUGE battlefield….. We are in it DAILY, even when we aren’t thinking about it, and whether you like it or not, you are a soldier in the fight. The purpose of this class is to make us all aware of that! It is all around us, whether we acknowledge it or not. EX: David and Bathsheba. If you’re looking for a class of cool ghost stories and tales, this is not it! This class will be based on and steeped in God’s holy word! The study will have 4 sections:
• Learning to see the unseen
• The forces at work against us
• The forces at work within us
• The forces at work for us

Let’s read one of the Bible’s most vivid stories of a full scale spiritual assault. Turn to Mark 5, and let’s read vs. 1-20.

Legion

Now that is a crazy story! Can you picture what this dude must have looked like? There was some serious evil involved in his life! Now let’s consider the shape he was in, and as a result, let us assume all of the things that Satan had stripped from this man’s life:

He had lost his:
name
clothes
home
family
friends
mental health
physical health
self-worth
freedom
peace
purpose

DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR???? Look around us!!!!!!!!! This is the state of our world. These are things we can view in the lives of many of our friends, our families, and even ourselves! Are you starting to believe me that this battle is real, and is alive and well today!?!?!?!?!? Satan is trying to steal our lives out from under us, and he will, IF WE ARE NOT READY FOR HIM!

You ready for battle training? It is time for boot camp!!!!!!!!!

Spiritual Boot camp

The 1st thing we gotta’ do is develop a Spiritual Vision.
Do you ever wish you could see things like Constantine did in the movie? That God would open your eyes and reveal all the things around us????? NOT ME! But a little clarity would be nice I think! God does not do that... but he does give us a different version of Spiritual Vision that involves the ability to discern good and evil and the ability to read and understand his word. That is the first weapon we gotta’ learn to wield! Here is the formula:

Spiritual Vision = Discernment + Biblical Knowledge
God did not leave us defenseless or at a disadvantage. In fact he gave the edge to us….sadly, that advantage is seldom used! We have to be trained to fight...we gotta’ develop this vision!

We must CHOOSE to see…..”we are the only barriers that cannot be overcome in opening our eyes to the unseen” (Joe Beam).

So…as we prepare for next week, your homework is to start working on your SPIRITUAL VISION. Spend time each day in God’s word, preferably in a text involving our topic and God’s nature involved in this. And secondly…learn to start opening your eyes.

This is your big “test question” for the week:
IF GOD OPENED YOUR EYES TO SEE ALL THE SPIRITUAL BEINGS AROUND YOU FOR THE NEXT WEEK, WHAT WOULD YOU SEE?
Are you gonna’ so someplace where God’s angels are out of place? A place where Satan’s angels feel right at home? Ask yourself who is present there, both seen and unseen. Are you planning on doing something that neither God nor his angels would happily watch? Ask yourself what kind of spiritual beings are smiling? I PROMISE you that if God’s angels aren’t, then Satan’s are! All next week when you sense any sins mulling in your ol’ cranium, ask yourself “WHAT BEINGS WOULD I SEE RIGHT NOW OF GOD HELPED ME OPEN MY EYES?”

Honestly, the truth might scare you to death. Or, it just might bring peace. But either way, it is a truth that we MUST face before we can move on! THIS IS REAL. And we only have a fighting chance if we learn to unleash the Power of God in our lives!

This will be our study and our mission………I hope you want to join me……





Suggested reading:
The Holy Bible (always a good starting point)
Seeing the Unseen- Joe Beam
The Screwtape Letters- C.S. Lewis
The Invisible War- Chip Ingram
Rumors- Phillip Yancey
Piercing the Darkness- Frank Perretti