The Two Seekers – Chapter 9, Spiritual Warfare
The True Tale of the Two Seekers – Chapter 9, Spiritual Warfare.
“The Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost… On the other hand, the devil, our great enemy and accuser, is constantly prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone, anyone, to devour. This adversary is like a thief whose only purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. But the almighty Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, was revealed to us for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil, to undo his evil activities, and completely put an end to everything that the Evil One has accomplished.” (quoted from Luke 19:10, 1Peter 5:8, 1 John 3:8, and John 10:10).
The Spiritual Warfare between the Followers of the Seeker-Savior and the Powers of the Seeker-Destroyer.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For this 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. Therefore, 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. Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And 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.” (Ephesians 6:10-20).
Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago – War (Live)
Engaged in War. When a country declares war, the citizens don’t have much choice… the citizens are called to go into battle if one wants to remain a free citizen. When someone starts following Jesus, that believer becomes a citizen of God’s kingdom. In our fallen world, the kingdom of Satan has declared war on the kingdom of God, so warfare comes with the territory. Only, Satan’s fighters in this spiritual battle don’t have bodies, they are invisible. These fighters of Satan are headquartered in the heavenlies where Satan has his hideout, and conduct constant warfare on Christian believers here on earth. So our war is not against flesh and blood, it is fought with spiritual weapons in the unseen world. God has given us all the supernatural weaponry we need, which includes the armor of God. Most of the armor is protective equipment, but two are aggressively offensive in nature: the Word of God and the ability to pray. These two spiritual weapons are empowered by the Holy Spirit and are divinely effective in the unseen battle.
Soldier and Priest. There are two traditional ways of picturing our part in spiritual warfare… the military version and the priesthood version. St. Paul focused on the believers as soldiers ready to do battle against the powers of darkness. But there is also the version which puts the believer in the role of priest in our inevitable spiritual battles. Both pictures of the armor of God are helpful to us, since as soon as we believe in Jesus Christ, we find ourselves on the devil’s radar. In his pride, Satan doesn’t yet accept that he has been forever defeated by Jesus, so he continues to wage these after-battles to make things as miserable for us as possible. So on the one hand, we believers are pictured as soldiers of the Cross, engaging in battles in the spiritual realms. On the other hand, we are in the fellowship of the priesthood, wielding the power of the Lord to put up a stiff resistance to Satan and his demonic horde. What makes this armor of God interesting, which is all protective equipment except for Scripture and prayer, is that in Paul’s classic Ephesians 6 passage above, the spiritual equipment could be understood as the clothing and equipment of either a soldier or a High Priest.
Soldier in the Army of the Lord – Blind Boys of Alabama
1st – Protecting Ourselves by Standing Firm in Holy Stubbornness: The three Greek words that are all translated “stand firm” all mean pretty much the same thing: to be immoveable; to stand against someone or something; to fix oneself firmly; to set one’s face resolutely in a certain direction; to hold one’s ground with determination; to maintain one’s position; to withstand compromise; to refuse to change; to be steadfast in one’s resistance; to hold fast without giving in; to be strong and steady in what is important.
Johnny Cash – I Won’t Back Down
When a soldier stands firmly, s/he refuses to change his position or retreat. When a priest stands firm, s/he cannot from his/her duties as a servant of the Lord. In both cases, to be cowardly instead of courageous is out of the question. If the Lord wants me here, I will stay here! Parents who have strong-willed children should count themselves fortunate. The Lord God is on the lookout for those determined souls who have a holy stubbornness and a strong will that can be molded for good. Without a righteous resistance to evil, how else can one stay pure or faithful to God? How else can someone stay strong against temptation and respond with a firm ‘’NO!” Only those who are resolute of mind while also submissive to God will be able to stand one’s ground against that which is wrong or harmful or disobedient. If one is passive and weak-willed, it is important to strengthen that will before it’s too late. We are told to resist the devil, to not compromise one’s conscience, to not yield to temptation. Standing firm in the Lord means saying “No” to sexual temptation, to moral compromise, to deceit and dishonesty, to a spirit of unforgiveness. Standing firm means bravely declaring “Yes” to God and “No” to our Adversary the devil in the spiritual realm. It takes a strong will to plant one’s feet in the ground and remain immoveable, and that strength can only come from the Almighty God.
2nd – Preparing Ourselves with the Truth: The original Greek wording of this piece of armor is not to “put on the belt of truth.” Instead, Paul declared that we should “gird up our loins with truth,” or “have your loins girded with truth.” To gird your loins meant at that time to tuck your long tunic or robe into your girdle, or belt, that is around your waist. So “girding up” was done every day… hitch your tunic up and tuck it in, which is only common sense. If one didn’t gird their loins, one would not have the freedom of movement needed to take long strides, or run, or work, or fight. That was the whole purpose of that belt around your hips… to remove the hindrances of those long, restrictive tunics worn by everyone in those days. This very common practice turned into a sort of metaphor, an idiom used by everyone to say: prepare for action, get ready to move, do what you need to do in readiness for work and movement. These days, one might say roll up your sleeves, hitch up our pants, be on your toes, tighten your belt, keep your eyes peeled, or the classic Boy Scouts motto: Always be prepared.
TRUTH: (Hebrew, “emet;” Greek, “aletheia”) Truth is the only absolute in the world. If everything else in the world falls apart, only Truth will remain standing. The building blocks of all creation; the framework upon which we build our faith; the true Reality that has established the world’s reality; that which can never be truly altered or changed; that which is universally trustworthy as facts of life; the foundation of what is truly real in our experience; the plumblines from which to measure our lives; that which is common knowledge in God’s mind; that which lines up with God’s perspectives; established facts from God as opposed to a person’s changeable opinions or preferences; that which is solid and certain as opposed to a lie, deceit, an illusion or superstition; the tangible fundamentals issued forth from the intangible mind of God. Truth is always true even when discounted or disbelieved. Since the Almighty God is the ultimate source of all truth, then it follows that the Father God is Truth, the Lord Jesus is Truth, and the Holy Spirit is Truth.
3rd – Protecting the Heart with Righteousness and Justice. Breastplates actually get a lot of attention in Scripture… “the breastplate of faith and love” in 1 Thessalonians 5:8; the High Priest’s breastplate of Judgement in Exodus 28; the “breastplate of righteousness” in Ephesians 6:14 (in most translations); the “breastplate of holiness” in Eph. 6:14 (the Passion Translation); God Himself, as well as the coming Messiah, would “put on righteousness as a breastplate” (Isaiah 59:17). As believers, we know that each of us is a warrior priest, a member of a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). Each of us is a soldier of Christ in the unseen warfare against our spiritual enemies (Eph. 6). As holy soldiers, we put on the spiritual armor provided by God, including the breastplate that protects the life-giving heart of our spiritual lives. Our spiritual breastplate protects our vital core from grievous attacks and sin. The breastplate keeps us from being assaulted by the evil one. And as holy priests, we are likewise wearing clothes provided by God. We priests are “clothed with righteousness” (Psalm 132:9), set apart to wear the “robe of righteousness” of Isaiah 61:10. As priests we are called to serve God wearing our sacred garments given to us by God. As both priests and soldiers, we are given a protective layer of righteousness and holiness, keeping our hearts in the right place, shielding us from the Adversary’s deadly assaults. “Dikaios” is the Greek word for both justice and righteousness, can be translated as righteous, just, fair, blameless, innocent, uprightness, heart that is right with God.
4th -Wearing the Battle Shoes of Shalom. There are a few different ways one could say the traditional passage about having your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace… Put shoes on your feet in preparation to face the enemy with firm-footed stability; Protect your feet from the evil one during the spiritual conflict so that you can be quick to spread the good news of God’s peace; Stand on your own two feet, alert, then you’ll always be ready to share the blessings of peace; keep your shoes on so that you are motivated and prepared to proclaim the true peace that is available in God; wear the shoes that will best enable you to follow through on your eagerness to spread the good news of God’s peace. “SHALOM” is the ancient Hebrew word translated as peace and means much more than absence of war: completeness or wholeness, as in the joining together of opposites; integrity, as in the effective holding together of separate pieces; to give/restore harmony; fulfillment; health; security; abundant well-being; the state of having the vitality needed to thrive and flourish; tranquility; freedom from disquiet and disorder; reconciliation; resolution of conflict; healing of division; prosperity. The Greek word for peace in the New Testament is “Eirene,” and means the same thing as “Shalom” in the Hebrew Bible.
Alison Krauss -Shield Of Faith. (Lead ‘Ron Block’)
5th – Shielding Ourselves with a Steady Trust in God. Faith is not merely believing that God exists, it is steadfastly trusting Him with your life; Faith is that which brings our Biblical hopes into reality; Faith is accepting all the evidence we need to prove what is still unseen; Faith is our reliance on God’s faithfulness to keep all His promises, even if we haven’t experienced the fullness of those promises yet; Faith is the absolute conviction that there are divine realities which exist but are unseen; Faith is the acceptance of the fact that the invisible fashioned everything that we see; Faith is the attitude that pleases God the most; Faith is trusting in God’s character, power and presence; Faith is convinced that past experiences, even despite appearances, reveal God’s presence and love; Faith is the confident response of our reliance on God after His initial gesture of grace; Faith is when we move toward God in trust after He first moved towards us in love; Faith is the confidence we have in God that guarantees the blessings we hope for, whether here on earth or later in heaven; Faith is the practical ability in the ups and downs of life, to find peace in those beliefs our reason had already accepted; Faith is perceiving as real fact that which is not revealed by the senses; Faith is when we find it reasonable to cling to God, while accepting the truth that there is more to God than we know; Faith is daily commitment to remain loyal to the God of Scripture; Faith is being firmly persuaded that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are the ultimate and eternal truth that is the foundation of the world; Faith is declaring “AMEN!” (ie, That’s true! I believe it! So be it! That’s the truth and I accept it!) when we hear Scripture being read; Faith is the steady trust in God that allows a believer to remain faithful. In mentioning the fiery darts of the enemy, Paul was referring to anything that would present a challenge to one’s faith. It could be one’s thought life without anyone else involved, or perhaps insults and accusations or unfairness directed toward you. Or it could be difficulties at home, at work, in finances, in relationships, or whatever makes life difficult enough to doubt God’s love or care. When receiving these fiery arrows, stand firm in your trust, in saving faith, and ask the Holy Spirit to give you strength to hold up your shield that is drenched in the fountain of God. Strap that shield of faith to your forearm so you won’t let go. Keep holding it up so you remain protected.
6th – Strapping on Protection for Our Minds: “But let us who are of the day be clear-minded, sober in our thinking, and put on as a HELMET the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). The spiritual battlefield is not the time to lose your head. It is most important to put on your helmet of hope, assured of God’s eternal salvation, so our minds are protected from the demonic spirits that love to mess with our minds. Many, if not most, of the assaults from our Adversary and his minions are at the intellectual level, our thought life. In his Second Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul told them that our spiritual weapons given to us by God are able to take down demonic strongholds that try to work against the knowledge of God. Paul said that we have been given divine power to combat every argument, every pretentious and lofty thought that are exalted against what we know to be the truth. Instead of taking prisoners, Paul instructs us to capture every Christ-centered thought we can while in the midst of our warfare, embrace every thought that brings us closer to obedience and trust in Christ. It is essential that we know the truth, that we have solid and accurate knowledge of God so we have a reference point during those arguments that are clearly intellectual assaults from the evil one. To adequately defeat the assaults on our mind from Satan, we need to know in the biblical sense, so to speak. We need to possess the true knowledge of God as we continue the process of acquiring the “mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16).
HOPE: (Greek, “elpis”); Biblical hope is not what the modern people think of as hope… merely wishful thinking or crossing the fingers: Biblical hope is often called “Blessed Hope” and it is absolute certainty and confident expectation of God’s faithfulness; hope is an optimistic desire for a future good with an expectation of fulfillment; it is a faithful response to God’s promises; hope is trust in God’s promise of salvation and ultimate rescue. Hope isn’t simply a matter of the will, it is a gift of God. Faith is a gift, love is a gift, and so it follows that the third Theological Virtue, hope, is also a gift. God provides the helmet of hope to us to protect our mind. God gives us the helmet of hope, and all we have to do is ask the Holy Spirit for hope and the ability to live into that hope, to participate in the hope of God as found in Christ. The three Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Love are found in 1 Corinthians 13:13, and are called theological because they all point to God as their source, and consider God as the One who infuses those virtues into us through the Holy Spirit.
“Prepare your minds for action:” “Therefore, gird the loins of your mind, be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so you be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16; Leviticus 19:2)
St. Peter makes a significant addition to Paul’s discussion of spiritual warfare. Peter advised us to “gird up the loins of our mind.” Could we have better marching orders as we prepare for our battles with the devil? For the devil tends to attack our minds before anything else, he likes to mess with our head: sowing seeds of doubt; creating confusion in our thinking; blatantly, and sometimes very convincingly, lying to us; making us uncertain in our beliefs; dissuading us from even believing there is a truth. So Peter highlights the fact that in our Christian life, it is a sin to be mentally lazy and complacent. Laziness in our thinking plays right into the hands of Satan. Instead, we are to be ready to outthink our opposition. We are not to settle for intellectual mediocrity in any way. We are to have our loins girded by committing ourselves to the truth of Jesus. We are to have a settled conviction of the truth so that it is a much-used reference point in the warfare of the mind. We are to be clear thinkers, we are to have our minds engaged at all times. We are to have our loins girded in order to be agile and free in our thinking, and ready to fight the devil. We simply are not ready for the devil’s clever warfare if we are not mentally prepared and thoughtfully ready for action.
You’ve Already Won | The Worship Initiative (feat. Davy Flowers)
7th – Wielding the Spiritual Weapon of God’s Word: This spiritual dagger is an offensive weapon, our reference point of truth so sharp that it can help us cut between truth and deception. It can help us separate the substantive meat of God’s message from the fatty distractions. The Sword can cut away the foolishness that the devil tries to feed us, from the true wisdom if the Lord. The Word-Sword can help us divide the eternal knowledge of God from the lies of that ignorant devil. The Spirit-Sword can go far in helping us distinguish the righteous mind of God from the warped mind of Satan. The Word can reveal to us what is life-giving and what is death-dealing. The Sword of the Spirit, the Word of the Lord, is truly a “weapon of righteousness.” (2 Cor. 6:7). Our holy weapon of God’s Word can penetrate any type of resistance in the demonic realm. The Word of the Lord stands forever, but it can easily be misused. Yes, the Spirit-Sword is a weapon against the enemy, but we need to be reminded of just who that enemy truly is. We fight not against flesh and blood, so therefore God’s Word is not meant to humiliate or shame any human person. No one should be disrespectfully hit over the head with Scripture as if the Word is a club. The Word is meant to inspire and enlighten others, not hurt or demean or harm in any way. The Lord doesn’t “dominate” or “control” anybody, so neither should His Word. Sharing the Word at the opportune time is not to be done in pride, self-righteousness, or competitively, as if to reveal who is more knowledgeable or saintly. The Christian believer wields the Word of God the same way as Jesus at His Temptation… logically, aptly, shrewdly, righteously, mightily in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The RHEMA Word: … “Take the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word (rhema) of God.” (Eph. 6:17). The Greek term Paul used for “word” in his spiritual warfare passage was “rhema,” and we need to take a close look at this word in order to understand Paul. Rhema literally means “a word uttered by a living voice, a thing spoken that has a definite meaning,” and is used seventy times in the New Testament. The rhema word is different than logos, and in fact is based on logos. Rhema is the word that is inspired by the Holy Spirit that speaks to a specific situation. Rhema is a written or spoken word taken from Scripture by the Holy Spirit that speaks to a particular time. Rhema is a passage from the written Word that speaks truth that needs to be said at that time. Rhema is an inspired word from the Holy Spirit that is intended to be directly applied to a situation or a person. The rhema word is a wise and timely passage from the Bible that has special relevance at that moment. Paul is instructing us to be so familiar with Scripture that the Spirit can inspire us at any opportune time to apply a passage at just the right moment. If we don’t have the Word “dwelling richly” in us, then we won’t have the raw material that the Spirit can use for a rhema word. As unpacked by Rev. Bill Johnson, the word “nothing” in Luke 1:37 (“For nothing is impossible with God”) is actually the Greek words “no-rhema.” One translation puts the verse this way… “No word of God shall be devoid of power.” In other words, Rev. Johnson preaches, rhema words, the freshly spoken words from the Holy Spirit, will have the power to fulfill what the word says, and has the ability to accomplish God’s intention with that word. “No freshly spoken word is impossible. God equips us, as we ask Him, to wield the fruitful rhema word, which itself is based on the inspired logos Word. Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the rhema word of God.” General biblical knowledge, Logos, is foundational, but the rhema words inspired by the Spirit of God are vital, because it is what God is telling us personally from Scripture. The rhema word is the Holy Spirit whispering to us an important application of the logos word.
LOGOS and RHEMA: Contrasting the two Greek words might be helpful at this point. We live by logos (Scripture), we speak by Rhema. Logos is the foundation of Rhema, so without logos, we would have no rhema. The Holy Spirit inspired Logos Scripture for our general benefit, and the Holy Spirit continues to inspire rhema for application. The Spirit-Sword is double-edged: the first sharp edge is Logos, and that is followed up by the second sharp edge, Rhema. When the two edges are wielded together, the devil is helpless. The Holy Spirit is the One who turns the logos word into a rhema word. The logos has potential application, the rhema has specific application. One anonymous writer put it this way: “Logos is speaking the Word of God, and rhema is speaking a Word from God.” It’s interesting that John uses both words, logos and rhema, in his passage here in Ephesians 6: in verse 17, ”the rhema word of God;” and in verse 19, “that logos utterance may be given to me.”
8th – The Weapon of Praying in the Spirit: “Proseuche” is the Greek word for “pray” in Eph. 6:18. The first part of the word, “pros,” means moving toward, a sense of closeness; it is the word used to describe the intimate relationship that exists between members of the Godhead; the sense is to be face-to-face, extremely close; the second part of the word for pray is ”euche,” which is the Greek term for prayer, a vow, a promise. So the two terms together translate to the prayer that brings us face-to-face with God, into very close contact with the Godhead. The word implies that when we pray, we are immediately in communion with God. Evidently, the Greek term assumes surrender, sacrifice, and thanksgiving on the part of the person praying.
SURROUNDED (FIGHT MY BATTLES) – UPPERROOM LYRIC VIDEO
Prayerful Loyal to God. There is little doubt that Paul intended for prayer to be understood as the other offensive weapon in the spiritual warfare he describes in Ephesians 6. When we openly acknowledge our allegiance to God, the unseen enemy is alerted to a new spiritual foe, another soldier to fight in the spiritual realm. Whenever I sense I am being harassed or hounded by forces of spiritual darkness, or am fearful, or I simply want to confirm which side I’m on, I recite the opening words of Isaiah 12: “Surely it is God who saves me; I will trust in Him and not be afraid. For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, and He will be my Savior.” With these triumphant words of faith, I am declaring to the spiritual powers that I trust in the Lord to save me, to remain my refuge and dwelling place. These words remind the spiritual forces that God is my Savior, and that I am sheltering my spirit in Him. When used this way, as a spiritual declaration, it is important to sing or speak the words aloud. When you are merely thinking these words in your head, they will not reach the ears of our foes. Satan and his forces are not omniscient, they can not read minds. Speak or sing these words aloud, and you are declaring to the spiritual world that God is your strength, and there is no point to trying to assault someone hidden in the stronghold of the Lord. With these words, you are telling the evil one that you are not fearful, that God has become your salvation. You are telling the Accuser that he may as well surrender in his battle, since God has already won the victory.
Praying In the Spirit: There are many different ways of describing what it means to pray in the Spirit. We can safely assume that the power of our prayer life is rooted in the Holy Spirit, and that the privilege of praying in the Spirit is a gift given to us when we accept and trust in Christ. Here are some of the descriptions of what prayer in the Spirit means: to pray according to the Spirit’s leading; to pray in the power of the Spirit as a weapon in our spiritual warfare; to pray by means of the Spirit; to pray in submission to the Spirit; to pray in harmony with the Spirit; to pray in cooperation with the will of God and Scripture; to pray under the spiritual influence of the Spirit; to pray under the guidance of the Spirit; to pray as directly inspired by the Holy Spirit; to pray with the assistance of the Spirit.
Inside the Spirit. When we are baptized in the Name of the Trinity, we are restored into God’s own bosom, received into the triune life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Their relationship is now our relationship. Their reality is now our shared reality. We thus have a joyful place within their circle. When we are baptized in the Name of the Trinity, our eyes have been opened to our permanent destiny within their life. We thus celebrate our adoption into God’s trinitarian family. So when we pray “in the Spirit,” we are praying “inside” the Spirit. We are talking with God inside the Trinity, participating in the life of the Holy Spirit. When we are “in” the Spirit, we are within the sphere of God, in the atmosphere of the Godhead, surrounded by God’s presence. In a sense, the “prayer closet” mentioned by Jesus (Matthew 6:5-8) is the Holy Spirit. He is our Place of prayer, the sacred space in which to talk to God. When we are praying in the Spirit, we are in our spiritual hiding place, praying with the mind of the Spirit, led by Him, inspired by Him, guided by Him.