Prayer and Spiritual Warfare – 3

                                                         Prayer and Spiritual Warfare – 3

Subject – Fleshly Weapons verses Spiritual Weapons

By Rick Welborne

Ephesians 6:10-13 (NKJV) 

¹⁰  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
¹¹  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
¹²  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
¹³  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

--I hope you came tonight prepared to do true Biblical warfare and to, again, push back the forces of darkness.

--Tonight, let’s establish from the get-go that what we are trying to accomplish thru spiritual warfare is not what we can do thru the flesh but by the Spirit of God…Paul to the Galatians:

Galatians 3:1-5 (NLT)
¹  Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.
²  Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.
³  How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
⁴  Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
⁵  I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. 

--Simply, what Paul is saying here is this: It is not thru your human effort or flesh that you have been set free but thru Jesus shedding His blood on the cross and thru the power of Holy Spirit.

1. We must avoid legalism in spiritual warfare.

Legalism – adding one’s own works to the already completed, perfect work of Christ.

--Legalism was trying to attach itself to the Church is the region of Galatia and Paul was teaching against it because of how it saps the spiritual strength and joy out of the people.

--There are churches (even locally) that are known for being very legalistic and I have sat down with many of these people who have felt as though they were in bondage and oppressed.

--The women have 90% of the rules that have to be followed…your hair has to be like this, your dress must be like this…you can’t wear make-up…you can’t do anything that is not a sin…Man’s rules.

--The men can have no facial hair (I guess they have to shave their eye brows) and wear long sleeves…those sexy arms. Example: Lady invited mothers of girls she was teaching…church police would not let them in.

--As ridiculous as this sounds this is what people do with spiritual warfare…they try to attach these man made rules to a person who needs to be free or those praying for them.

Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)
¹  Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 

--The Galatians show us how easy it is to hear erroneous doctrines and swallow them hook, line, and sinker. Christ had set them free but now they wanted to return to the law.

Colossians 2:23 (NIV)
²³  Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Rick Renner – The religious nature of man loves that outward show! The religious person wants to believe that, by his own work and merit, he can somehow attain a perfection that makes himself acceptable to God. 

--This is why you will hear about Far Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism require those who follow their beliefs to live such lives of self-denial, abasement, and humility. Climbing stairs on their knees.

--This same attitude and spirit attaches itself to people trying to engage in spiritual warfare…Let me do something to be worthy of my freedom. What Christ did was surely not enough to set me free.

--Maybe I can find higher places to do spiritual warfare, maybe I can shout loud enough to deliver myself or others, and maybe I can purge myself (puke) to get clean and free.

2. We can add absolutely nothing to what Jesus did at the cross of Calvary.

--How many of you will agree with me that Jesus death, burial, and resurrection was a total, perfect, and completed work!

--Hear me, His work was so complete that He purchased our complete and total deliverance from the powers of darkness. Look at what the writer of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 2:1-4 (NCV)
¹ So we must be more careful to follow what we were taught. Then we will not stray away from the truth.
²  The teaching God spoke through angels was shown to be true, and anyone who did not follow it or obey it received the punishment that was earned.
³  So surely we also will be punished if we ignore this great salvation. The Lord himself first told about this salvation, and it was proven true to us by those who heard him.
⁴  God also proved it by using wonders, great signs, many kinds of miracles, and by giving people gifts through the Holy Spirit, just as he wanted. 

--Notice verse three…we also will be punished if we ignore this great salvation. How great was your salvation?

How great is your salvation if principalities and powers still have control over you?

--How great is His salvation if we are still under the heavy hand of our enemy and we must fight every day to get free from him?How great is our salvation if we have to scream, yell, or vomit to maintain our freedom? 

--By Jesus work on the cross and His victorious resurrection from the dead, He completely broke the dominion of Satan and the bondage of sin over us.

3. So our goal in this spiritual warfare is to freely accept the deliverance that has already been obtained for us through Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:9-13 (NLT)
⁹  So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God.
¹⁰  For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.
¹¹  So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. 

¹²  For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
¹³  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. 

--There is a special place of rest waiting for God’s people…a place where we cease from our labor, our struggling to try to accomplish what Jesus took care of on the cross.

--Really, that is what faith is all about…after having received Christ’s redemptive work for us, we simply walk in the freedom He has already purchased for us.

--God has given to all of us a measure of faith and He has graciously provided His Word for us. As we read it, believe it, and walk in it, we see we are truly free from the chains of darkness. Verse 12 above.

--Make no mistake about it, Satan and his imps will try to come and steal, kill, and destroy the life of every believer…he will try to make you go backwards or add to God’s redemptive work…don’t do it.

--Remember Jesus has provided everything you need for this life:

2 Peter 1:3-8 (NIV)
³  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
⁴  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
⁵  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
⁶  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
⁷  and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
⁸  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

--He has provided everything we need but let me give this sober warning:

Hebrews 10:26-31 (NKJV)
²⁶  For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
²⁷  but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
²⁸  Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
²⁹  Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
³⁰  For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people."
³¹  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.