There are various mental concepts of what spiritual warfare is
I used to think of spiritual warfare or when I
heard people talking about a war between
God and Satan, I used to imagine that God
was up in heaven and there was a long heavy
rope and Satan was down in Hell on the other
end pulling. Sometimes God would pull and
have the edge and then at other times Satan
had the advantage and this tug of war had
been going on for years. This was my early
Christian concept of spiritual warfare. Then I
remember reading that after Jesus had
accomplished his mission by coming and
dying on the cross for you and I taking our
punishment and then being resurrected, the
Bible says that he went back up into heaven
and he sat down in the place of authority or
the right hand. And of Jesus the bible says
that he is our great high priest and a priest
could not sit down until he had finished or
accomplished his priestly responsibilities.
Jesus sat down because he had defeated
death, hell, & the grave, & even Satan on the
Mount of Temptation. So knowing this we
see that it is really not a tug of war between
God and Satan because God has already
won!
A second concept of spiritual warfare is that
there is a supernatural war going on between
God’s angels and the devil & his angels with
powers and principalities and wickedness in
high places. You may wonder if this is true
and it is absolutely true. One of the greatest
examples of this is the battle between an
angel of God and a prince evil angel in the
book of Daniel chapter 10. Daniel’s answer to
prayer was being carried by a angel of God &
hindered by this prince angel for 21 days. We
see in the book of Revelation a great battle
that is going to take place between the host
of heaven and the angels who have fallen and
the bible tells us that God will win that
battle.
Warfare passages
2 Cor 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh:
4(For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strong holds;)
James 4:1 From whence come wars and
fightings among you? come they not hence,
even of your lusts that war in your
members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire
to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and
war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
1 Peter 2:11…abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul;
1 Tim 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee,
son Timothy, according to the prophecies
which went before on thee, that thou by
them mightest war a good warfare;
the Roman armor mentioned to us by the
Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 6. The
helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, the
shield of faith, the sword of the spirit, the
gospel shoes of peace,
But even outside of the spiritual armament
mentioned by the apostle Paul, there are
so many weapons afforded to the child of
God to fight spiritual battles. When
combined w/ what Paul taught you have a
mighty spiritual arsenal. One might begin
to ask ourselves…with all of this armor and
weaponry what might be the greatest
weapon that Satan fears the most, that a
Christian soldier has at his disposal.
FAITH?
First of all many people believe that the
greatest weapon that we have to fight any
adversary spiritually is simply our faith
because
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible
to please God:
There are 5 levels of faith in scripture..
a. There is no faith (Mark 4:40)
b. There is little faith (Matthew 8:26)
c. There is weak faith (Romans 4:19)
d. There is strong faith (Romans 4:20)
e. There is great faith (Matthew 8:10
Faith is powerful!!
Palsy was healed by faith – Matt 9:2
Blood problem was healed by faith – Matt
9:23
Blindness was removed by faith – Matt
9:29
Faith the size of a mustard seed is
recorded to remove a mountain – Matt
17:20
Faith established churches – Acts 16:5
There’s a Household of Faith – Gal 6:10
There’s Confidence by faith – Eph 3:12
There’s One Lord, One Faith, One baptism
– Eph 4:5
So we see that faith is absolutely necessary for every spiritual blessing you receive.
But however… we see in…
James 2:19 Thou believest that there is
one God; thou doest well: the devils also
believe, and tremble.
We see here that Satan has a belief in
God… He has faith….That’s right Satan
has faith. In fact Satan believing in One
God gives him more faith than most of the
Christian world… So we see that faith is a
WEAPON. BUT I’M HERE TO TELL YOU
THAT IT IS NOT THE WEAPON SATAN
FEARS THE MOST…
PRAYER All throughout the scriptures from cover to cover of your bible you can see the powerfulness of the weapon of PRAYER Matt 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven Matt 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: James 5:16..The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Certain demons & hindering spirits flee because of prayer - Matt 17:21 Zacharias prayer was heard, wife gave birth to John the Baptist – Luke 11:13 Cornelius prayer was heard, salvation open to the Gentiles – Acts 10:31 The church prayed & God sent an angel to get Peter out of prison – Acts 12:5 Peter backslid but Jesus prayed for his conversion & he later gave the plan of salvation on the Day of Pentecost - Luke 22:32, Acts 2:38. There are countless other places in
scripture which validate the awesome
power of praying and the results it brings…
prayer is the greatest weapon against
Satan.. It is a powerful weapon… we don’t
use it enough…We don’t underestimate it’s
results… However Matt 8:31 & Mark 5:10
says that there was a man full of demon
spirits that
Mark 5:10 And he besought him much that
he would not send them away out of the
country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the
mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying,
Send us into the swine, that we may enter
into them.
I don’t know if any of you ever realized it
or not but this was a prayer that demons
prayed.. THAT JESUS ANSWERED!! That’s
heavy… The bible says these demons
besought Jesus… or requested of Jesus…
Now let me ask you.. What is prayer? It
is a request…. It’s a petition a vow or a
request… And here are spirits
saying.."Please don’t let us leave the
country…send us into the pigs…" If you
read on you will see that Jesus did exactly
what the demons prayed for! So if Jesus
will answer the prayer of the devil how
much more will He answer you!
Prayer is a powerful weapon… but Satan
already knows how to use it! This does not
mean that God always answers his
prayer… Did not Satan go to God and ASK
to afflict Job? So demons understand
petitioning, they understand requests….
Prayer is a weapon… Prayer is Awesome
But PRAYER is not the weapon that Satan
fears the most!
PRAISE?
Ps 149:6 Let the high praises of God be in
their mouth, and a twoedged sword in
their hand;
7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen,
and punishments upon the people;
8 To bind their kings with chains, and their
nobles with fetters of iron;
Praising God… That’s it… That’s got to be
the most powerful weapon!!
We know that praise confused the enemy…
2 Chron 20:22
Israel sent out their praise and worship
team into the battle first and they set up
an ambush for the enemy.
We also know that Paul & Silas in the book
Acts 16 start praying & singing praises and
God whom the heavens are his throne and
the earth his footstool… Started patting his
foot to the praises of God and when God
patted his foot his footstool the earth
started shaking and Paul and Silas were
freed from prison because of their Praise
But if you look in Ezekiel…
Ezek 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the
garden of God; every precious stone was
thy covering, the workmanship of thy
tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in
thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that
covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast
upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast
walked up and down in the midst of the
stones of fire.
This scripture as you may well know is
speaking of Lucifer and the position that
he had in heaven before his fall. The bible
says that he was created with the ability
to make music… He was an anointed
cherub w/ distinction in that he was made
w/ music as apart of his nature since his
creation. My point here is simple…
Satan understands the power of praise &
Worship…
The entire brain is functioning and
operating when some form of music is
played…. Now that explains why the enemy
knows of the power of what we call Rock
N’ Roll music.. That kind of music has the
ability to stir the emotions and produce
illicit behavior in people…
Anointed praise & worship music has the
same power… When David would play his
harp and sing to Saul.. the bible says that
the evil spirit would depart out of him and
Saul would be refreshed in the Lord. So
there’s something about the power of
music that Lucifer understands… But here
is the point I want to make here…
In Mark chp 5 the man of Gaddara with the
greatest known biblical possession of devils
ever mentioned when Jesus came to the
shore it says…
Mark 5:6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
Now mind you this was before he was
clothed and in his right mind… The devils
came and worshipped the Lord! Satan
knows that worship is powerful
Worship as we read in Psalms 149 will
break chains of iron & fetters.. and I
believe it led to this mans’ deliverance…
But even the devil knows the power of
worship..
It is a powerful, powerful weapon… BUT IT
IS NOT THE WEAPON THAT SATAN FEARS
THE MOST!!
So by now you are saying.. JUST HURRY UP
AND TELL ME WHAT THIS WEAPON IS THAT
SATAN FEARS THE MOST!!!
Well all of these we mentioned are
important and essential… but there has got
to be a weapon that makes Satan say…
"HOLD ON NOW".. " What is this weapon…
Well now I’m ready to tell you
Now when I give this to you… You’re gonna
look at this and say.. "Man, that’s so
simple.." "I should have known that." In
fact the greatest weapon that Satan fears
the most is so simple that if you aren’t
careful when it is being preached… You’ll
hear it and it will just pass right over your
head… But w/ the help of God I can make
my point and you will understand why this
is the weapon that Satan fears the most…
Now here’s what happens… Samuel was a
young boy 12 years of age that God raised
up to be a prophet in a time that Israel was
corrupt And when Samuel began to mature
in his office he came across a young man
of whom the bible says was head and
shoulders above all the men of his tribe
which was the tribe of Benjamin. His name
was Saul the son of Kish, and the bible
says that God told Samuel you go take this
young man Saul and anoint him to be the
king of Israel. Early on Saul was very
tender toward God, he obeyed God, he did
everything God told him to do... mens
hearts were turned toward him and he
found favor in God’s sight.
Now there was a historical moment that
happened in Israel’s past that was going to
forever haunt Saul… The bible says that
when Moses led the children of Israel out of
Egyptian bondage.. on the way to the
PromiseLand there was a shortcut they
could have taken through the land of
Amalek… or what was known as the area of
the Amalekites. And according to the word
of God when Moses went up to ask them if
they could have safe passage they denied
them the shortcut thru their territory…And
in Deut 25:17-19 it tells us that not only
did Amalek not give them safe passage but
later he snuck up behind them and
attacked the weak and the older people of
Israel… Now these people were obviously in
the back of the massive caravan because
they were more feeble and weak and older
and could not lead so instead of hinder
they followed from behind…. And Amalek
snuck up an attacked the weak and
feeble…
God became so angry… Angry that Amalek
would attack old people and weak people
and prey upon the innocents that God
says.. alright Moses write this down in a
book and rehearse this before the children
of Israel…
Ex 17:14 And the LORD said unto Moses,
Write this for a memorial in a book, and
rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will
utterly put out the remembrance of
Amalek from under heaven.
Well hundreds of years went by and
nothing happened… but that doesn’t mean
that God forgot… The time came for the
Word to be fulfilled… And God says’ to Saul
thru Samuel…
1 Sam 15:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I
remember that which Amalek did to Israel,
how he laid wait for him in the way,
when he came up from Egypt.
3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly
destroy all that they have, and spare them
not; but slay both man and woman, infant
and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
So the command was very clear… UTTERLY
DESTROY THEM…
1 Sam 15:7 And Saul smote the Amalekites
from Havilah until thou comest to Shur,
that is over against Egypt.
8 And he took Agag the king of the
Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all
the people with the edge of the sword
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and
the best of the sheep, and of the oxen
, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all
that was good, and would not utterly
destroy them: but every thing that was
vile and refuse, that they destroyed
utterly.
So Saul did not do exactly as he was
supposed to do.. He did not obey the
Lord.
Samuel appears and says this to him
1 Sam 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the
LORD as great delight in burnt offerings
and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of
the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and
idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the
word of the LORD, he hath also rejected
thee from being king
Did you catch that…. Samuel starts
teaching a new doctrine to Israel.. God
demanding blood sacrifices.. but Samuel is
saying to obey is more powerful to God
than blood on an altar…OBEDIENCE IS THE
KEY…
Obedience is FAITH in Action!!
James 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain
man, that faith without works is dead?
Faith w/ out action is dead… OBEDIENCE IS
THE KEY…
Jesus Demanded Obedience First
Jesus would many times ask people to DO
SOMETHING FIRST, before He ever answered
their prayer
Matt 12:13 – Man w/ withered hand "Stretch
forth thine hand" You do something, then I’ll
do something…
Matt 9:6 – "Take up your bed and
walk"….Jesus says this to them while their
still paraplygic…He’s says this to them while
there still lying there w/ their legs twisted…
. He’s saying "You make the effort to do
something first… Then I’ll do something for
you"
John 9:7 – Jesus tells a blind man "Go wash
in the pool of Siloam" – He can’t see but Jesus
wants him to find a pool and go wash.
.. Jesus sends him off blind.. but his
obedience to wash in that pool… brought a
miracle.
Luke 17:14 – A bunch of lepors were told…
"Go show yourselves to the priest" They
weren’t supposed to come in contact w/
anyone.. but Jesus is telling them go up to
Jerusalem and show yourselves to the priest…
and the bible says "As they went" Their
obedience activated the miraculous!
ACTIVE FAITH TO GET JESUS ATTENTION
Often times people would act out there
faith to get the attention of Jesus
Mark 2:5 – They removed a roof off and
lowered a man into a house where Jesus
was at… and the bible says "Jesus SAW
their faith"…Their ACTION was what He
saw!
Mark 10 – Blind Bartimeus was crying out to
Jesus "Son of David have mercy on me" …
His ACTION caught the attention of God
SATAN DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SUBMIT
AND OBEY GOD!!
Job 36:11 If they obey and serve him, they
shall spend their days in prosperity, and
their years in pleasures.
12 But if they obey not, they shall perish
by the sword, and they shall die without
knowledge.
Jer 7:23 But this thing commanded I them,
saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your
God, and ye shall be my people: and walk
ye in all the ways that I have commanded
you, that it may be well unto you
SATAN FEARS OBEDIENCE!!!
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you.
If we could every learn how to obey… Satan
does not want us to be saved…
But if we obey God… We will never become
Satans servant…
bravenet.com