Our Enemy And Our Warfare

Our Enemy and Our Warfare

Study Text: Ephesians 6:10 - 18

Introduction:

- The Bible made it clear that as Christians, we are engaged in a spiritual warfare which can only be won with the strength of the Lord and the spiritual weapons He provided for us.

- Two notable things about the warfare are:

1. It is described as a wrestling.

- This implies that it is a warfare that will involve the whole of our bodies, and that winners are only declared when the opponent surrenders and is unable to continue with the fight.

2. In the spiritual weapons provided for us, no provision was made for the back.

- This implies that as Christians, we must not retire or turn back, but must continue to fight valiantly until the opponent surrenders.

- Nevertheless, we are not fighting for victory in this warfare, but we are fighting from victory to victory, because Jesus already conquered the Devil and Has given us victory over him. Luke 10: 19-20

- We shall be discussing the topic under three subheadings:

1. The Significance of Our Warfare.

2. The Strategies of Our Wily Enemy.

3. The Secret of Our Winning.

1. The Significance of Our Warfare:

- This warfare is very significant because it is unseen, spiritual and it determines the success and breakthrough of the Christian in all areas of life.

- How do we know that there is a spiritual realm? If we cannot see it, then, should we believe in it?

- Many believers and unbelievers today do not want to deal with a world we cannot see when the world we do see is hard enough to deal with.

- Before we can discuss the spiritual battle, we have to believe in the spiritual realm. Just because we cannot see the spiritual realm does not mean it is not there.

- However, if we choose to ignore or not believe in the spiritual realm, we will find ourselves confused, frustrated, and quenching the peace that God has promised to each of us.

- Our belief in the existence of the spiritual realm, and our adequate knowledge about it is the beginning of our journey to victory, and God gives us everything else we need to be victorious.

- As the Scriptures has enlightened us, we must all believe that there is more than what the eye can see. However, since we do not see it, we often fail to believe in it. If we do not believe in it, then we cannot be aware of all that is going on, for and against us.

- Whether we choose to believe in the existence of spiritual beings and places does not change the fact of their existence and their activities.

- As Christians, it took faith to believe in Jesus Christ. We cannot see Him but we believe that He died on the cross for our sins. We believe that God raised Him from the dead and we believe that He alone is the source of our eternal salvation.

- All those beliefs are not physically seen by us today. We believe Jesus accomplished these things in the spiritual realm when He lived in the physical realm on earth. We know that we too, need to believe in this physical realm to be welcomed into His spiritual realm.

- Thus, it is faith that confirms to our hearts that we will be going to a very real place called heaven someday. The Bible is filled with references to the heavenly realm or a place that is invisible to our eyes physically today, yet very real in its existence. We believe with the eyes of our heart, instead of with the eyes in our head.

- There have been others who were able to see with their physical eyes into the spiritual realm through the help of the Holy Spirit opening their spiritual eyes and giving them insight. For example, Paul was able to discern the lady with the spirit of divination.

- Moreover, some do have the glimpse of the activities in the spiritual realm through Satanic means and have been able to wreck havoc which can be felt in the physical realm. For example, the lady was able to identify Paul and Silas and their mission through Satanic means. Acts 16:16-18

2. The Strategies of Our Wily Enemy:

- The Devil and the agents of darkness are full of wiles, which the Bible reveals to us that we can only overcome by putting on the whole armour of God.

- The kingdom of darkness is a well organized kingdom with hierarchy of authorities with an effective network of operations.

- The believers need to counterattack the strategies of the enemy to avoid being defeated, or being caught off guard.