Spiritual Warfare - 15

Fighting Methods

Even in the old testament, when God’s people faced their enemies, many victories were won through unconventional methods of fighting.

*    Sling and stone against the sword, spear and javelin of Goliath - seems rudimentary and old fashioned!

*          Trumpet, pitcher and torch against the midianite army with their camels without number – seems totally unrelated!

*                  A choir against the armies of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir – seems too spiritual and not practical!

Unquestioning obedience to the Lord when facing an enemy brings us to victory, even if the strategy may seem irrational and very different to the normal trend. In obedience to God, we need to use whatever tools and talents we may possess. When we follow our Commander –in-Chief, He fights for us and we find ourselves on victory side! This is the grace through which we overcome!!

Sling and stone – Spirit and word of God

One man full of faith is able to fearlessly stand against one big man and defeat him with one stone, bringing victory to God’s people.

 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.  Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”  1 Samuel 17:45-47

 Trumpet, Empty Pitcher and Torch – Prayer, Selflessness and the Holy Spirit within us respectively

One army of prayerful, selfless Christians through whom the light of the love of God shines makes one powerful army flee.

 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers—they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing—and they cried, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”  And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the whole army ran and cried out and fled.  Judges 7:20-21

 Choir – singing praises to God, exalting Him.

A united choir singing in harmony (may have been 3 parts, soprano, tenor and bass!)  Disunited and broke up the threefold army. God dwells in the midst of the praises of His people and scatters the enemy. If God be for us, who can be against us?

  And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.”  Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.  For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.   2 Chronicles 20:21-23

 Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints.  Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.  Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.  For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.  Let the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds.  Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand,  To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples;  To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron;  To execute on them the written judgment— This honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord!  Psalm 149

Marching in order – following the Commander-In-Chief

 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”  But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”  Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  Matthew 16:21-24

We have decided to follow Jesus, who not only taught us, but Himself took up His cross and denied Himself. When we are not willing to lose our lives for His sake, we tend to overtake Him. Thus we become tools of Satan and an offense to Him.

Kingdom against kingdom

  And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.  But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”  Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.  But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.  Luke 11:14-22

The demonic spirits of the kingdom of darkness keep people in bondage, but where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Jesus came to set people free from the oppression of the enemy. In the above instance the person was possessed by a demon and the manifestation of the bondage was muteness. He was totally under the control of the demon. Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, who is stronger than the unclean spirit, bound that spirit, cast it out of the man and set him free. The evidence of victory for the kingdom of God was that the man started speaking.

Jesus gives us the keys of the kingdom to bind such powers of darkness and set people free from the enemy’s bondage. We need to understand the spiritual dynamics of a person in bondage or oppression. We need to address the spirit or spirits controlling him or her. As we pray and speak under the authority of the Holy Spirit in us, demons will flee. There will be a physical sign of the spiritual release.

 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.  “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’  And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”  Luke 11:23-26

Once a person is released from the kingdom of darkness, it is important that he becomes totally part of the kingdom of light. If I am not in the kingdom of darkness, but not wholly following and serving the Lord, I would be a hindrance to the progress of God’s kingdom. When the unclean spirit leaves, the Holy Spirit has to come in.

  And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.  Judges 7:25

In this manner, we need to capture, defeat and behead the enemy so that he has no power over our lives. Let us seek spiritual insight to recognize the spiritual situation through physical manifestations so that we may specifically pray for victory.

May we diligently study the word of God and ask for the fullness of the Holy Spirit so that we may be free from the oppression of the devil to worship God.

       Set my spirit free, that I might worship Thee:

           Set my spirit free, that I might praise Thy Name.

               Let all bondage go, and let deliverance flow:

                   Set my spirit free to worship Thee.