In spite of the fact that we are given armor of a spiritual nature (Eph. 6:11vss), and are encouraged to utilize spiritual weapons to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4), and that the spiritual gates of Hell cannot withstand our attack (Matt. 16:18), the Church of Jesus Christ is not very militant in the spiritual arena at all. It seems we prefer to do our warring in the natural realm where we can at least see our enemies. This is due to the fact that we abide more in the natural realm than the spiritual. It takes those who are well exercised in spiritual things to discern the spiritual causes behind the natural occurrence. Those who abide mainly in the natural realm, observe only the natural effects of the spiritual cause, and so, react to what they can see.

The enemy, to many of us, is : the other political party; those politicians; that other church or denomination; that other system of government; those nasty neighbors; those criminals; those New Agers, or Mormons, or JW's, that ethnic group or race, or what have you. It is much easier to vilify those that we can see with our eyes. It is easier to muster up a rejection and hatred of actual people who we think threaten us, our lifestyle, our beliefs, and our comforts rather than the invisible hordes really responsible for the misery in the world. And all the while we justify our fears and rejection of others with Scripture. We vote in legislators who will build up our nation's arsenal, judges who will be tough on crime, pastors and elders who will be hardliners against anyone with a differing interpretation of Scripture. We march and rally in support of just causes and our American liberties, often looking for an opportunity to tell someone off if our demonstration happens to encounter the other camp's demonstration. We engage in shouting matches, billboard bombardment, tee-shirt slogan campaigns, and bumper-sticker debates, all of which only leads to a further polarization of sides. We develop a 'them and us' mentality, only accepting those who measure up to our side's standards. Thus we have wastefully waged war with carnal weapons against flesh and blood, causing confusion, hurt, bitterness and anguish, instead of bestowing genuine love and reflecting our Lord's love. Rather than meet the needs of the hurting, we have rubbed salt in their wounds, caused distrust and acrimony among those we ought to have been encouraging to come to truth and hope and love. Yes, we should try to bring a standard of righteousness into our nations, churches, relationships and homes. We have a commission to do so, a Great Commission. But who our targets are, and how we go about warring against unrighteousness and deception, crime and spiritual darkness matters a great deal.

Too often, in our 'fundamentality', we are not defending the Faith as much as our American Way of Life. We cannot afford to be patient to let the Spirit of God change hearts in His time lest in the interim we lose our zeal, or reputation, or materialistic goods, or confidence in our system of belief. So, we try to hurry things along with clever sarcasm, or angry shouts, or defiant pronouncements. And the opposition only defends itself against what it perceives to be an onslaught of Christian dogmatism and accusation. Before long, we hate our 'enemies', and they hate us. Battle lines are drawn, and the cause of Jesus Christ lies trampled in the dust of human emotions.

That the world hates us, John states, is not to be wondered at, for it hated our Lord, and the disciple is no better than his Lord (Mat. 10:24). Being hated, rejected, and misunderstood by the world is to be our lot in life as servants and soldiers of the eternal Kingdom we are to inherit. We seem to have forgotten that fact when we rage against those getting away with murder in our sight. We react with bitterness and defensiveness when our monies, rights, positions, possessions, and families are threatened by real or imagined actions of others. It seems we have forgotten that we are soldiers placed behind enemy lines for the purpose of causing the Enemy's slaves to seek freedom under our Lord's amnesty. As soldiers, let us count everything as loss except doing our duty and contending earnestly for the Faith (Jude 3).

We employ every device of human wisdom and strength to accomplish God's eternal purposes, either forgetting, or else being totally unaware, that His ways are higher than ours, and His thoughts higher than ours (Isa. 55:9). We jam phone lines when aroused by some radio talk show host, or flood post offices with volumes of irate mail, we march down the street carrying placards and shouting slogans to declare "We're here! Deal with it". All such 'in your face' defensiveness (dare some call it evangelism?) only further alienates those we want so dearly to bring to the Lord, by intimidating them with a show of force. Oh, it may stop abortions temporarily, or cause a Congressman to rethink enacting gay-favorable legislation for the time being, but at the same time it causes a hostility in their hearts to arise against us and our Gospel. We need to be cognizant of how unbelievers perceive our actions. We need to be sensitive to their hurts and fears, not run rough-shod over them because of our own fearful reactions. We need to present the truth in a loving light, no matter how they respond. When we act out of immaturity, we forget that our opponents are merely doing what they have been deceived into doing. We have lost sight that we too were once in darkness, fighting and even killing to promote darkness. We forget all too soon how uneasy unbelievers feel around true believers, that many of us also once reacted negatively, in open hostility to the claims of Jesus Christ upon our lives. Above all, we must bear in mind that our real enemies are spiritual forces who have enslaved our visible opponents by deception, not the visible opponents who are deluded with humanism and various deceptions.

We do need to withstand such things as abortion on demand, gay rights, criminality in every form, teaching of evolution, injustice and greed. We do need to make a stand for righteousness, prepared to pay whatever price it costs us personally. But we will never make a dent in the gates of Hell using mere carnal weapons. And we will never be victorious spiritually until we engage the real enemy, not his flunkies.

When dealing with an enemy we need to draw upon similar and even greater forces if we are to achieve victory. Like forces must deal with like forces. And, we need to understand the whole battle plan of the enemy if we are going to repel it.Tanks, at the least, would need to be summoned to withstand an armored blitzkrieg, and even higher armament such as aircraft, capable of strafing and bombing with pinpoint accuracy. In the same way we Christians are acting foolishly when we react to the first flush of activity that occurs on the horizon among Satan's visible troops. So often we send our troops out to meet the enemy head on, thinking it is the whole attack when it is only the first wave of a multiple-fronted attack. We are unprepared, and thus, outgunned and confused. And defeated. We are fighting on the wrong front, attacking (or counterattacking, as the case may be) the wrong foe, using the wrong weapons, and not denting the real enemy of the Gospel. We need to learn and utilize the gifts of the Spirit in I Cor. 12 to wage war above the merely human level and deal with the true antagonists.

2Cor. 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;

Satan's strongholds are in the hearts of unredeemed men. When rulers in whom Satan has established a stronghold reign, wickedness overspreads the land, thus making the kingdom under the ruler a stronghold as well. Satan's kingdom operates on the basis of authority working through the various echelons of government (principalities). We can see this most clearly in Daniel, chapter 10:20 - 11: 1.

Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.

Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.

Here we see the messenger sent to Daniel preparing to go back and continue struggling with the prince-- that is, chief demon, appointed over Persia. He also mentions the prince, or chief demon, over Greece. The whole world, which Adam gave over to Satan , is divided up into nations. As there are human leaders of each nation, so too, by virtue of Adam's submission to Satan, there are demonic overlords over each nation as well. We know that Jesus conquered all the satanic hosts on the cross, making a public display of them (Col. 2:15), but Satan's temporary government and rule has not yet been removed. In effect, there are two forms of government over the planet-- God's and Satan's. These are the principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness of this world Paul refers to in Ephesians 6:12. They have organized their control and manipulation of mankind with a very sophisticated hierarchical chain of command that opposes everything God plans to accomplish. They work behind the scenes of human endeavor, unseen and unknown, weaving their nefarious webs of deceit and wickedness upon hapless mankind, causing misery, corruption, hatred, suspicion, rebellion, fear, and every negative thing that flooded upon humanity at the fall. This angel that was sent to Daniel had been busy wrestling with the evil spirit that was trying to influence Darius, ruler of the Medes Empire so that Satan's purposes would not just come to pass. God had his messengers over the government wrestling to keep ungodliness under some degree of control so that His purposes would come to pass. The mystery of Iniquity is that Satan wants to obliterate mankind through corruption, and through invoking the wrath of God upon themselves. Every plan of Satan's is to bring mankind to greater depravity, and he is ever working toward that end via various methods such as addictions, temptations, deceptions and his hierarchy of princes and powers that pressure human leaders and influence every government's policies. Abortion did not defile our land just because Satan wanted it to, it had to be enacted legally, as gay rights now are under legislation to further the defilement. Battling the human front lines will accomplish nothing. It is the generals of this ungodly thrust we must bind with spiritual weapons of faith and miracles.

Often Satan and his minions are characterized as hostile to one another, waiting for each other to slip up so they can devour each other. Nothing could be further from the truth. "How can Satan be divided against Satan?" our Lord asked those who accused Him of being in league with the Devil (Mk 3:23-24). Obviously, if this were the case, mankind would have nothing to worry about. Satan would soon fall. It is a testimony to devilish unity that Satan still reigns, for the most part, on earth. No, Satan's minions are very faithful to him, more faithful, alas, it seems at times, than the redeemed are to the Lord who bought them. They know that once their unity unravels, it is doomsday for them. They stick together and protect each other fiercely, going to extreme ends to keep mankind deceived and under their thumb. Elaborate schemes are set up to ensnare men in their traps, involving lies and supportive testimony so mankind only thinks what Satan wants him to think. How else could the spurious teaching of Evolution captivate the whole world? How else could a human zygote be considered as anything except human? Satanic lies have permeated mankind's thinking for generations, and it is to the point now that the sons of men will accept any notion that comes down the trail if there is enough support for it. "We are all gods." "There is no sin." "If I just believe hard enough my illnesses will disappear." "We need to contact the ascended masters who will lead us to the next evolutionary step." "Mankind is poised to take a Quantum leap into destiny and achieve godhood."

Sound familiar? It ought to. It's the same lie Satan used on Eve. Even though we have the Bible that clearly depicts the Lie and how cunningly it is delivered, mankind still falls for the same trick! You will be as God, knowing for yourself the difference between good and evil. Though many Christians think Satan and his hordes are ignorant , it is mankind that is ignorant to keep falling over and over, generation after generation for the same lie. That is why the Word became flesh. He lived among us and showed us, among other things, the satanic plots that kept mankind enslaved to a cruel overlord who only wants to destroy. Jesus exposed Satan and his tricks. It is a serious mistake to underrate Satan's intelligence. The very word demon comes from the Gk. daimon, and means 'knowing one'. Demons are very intelligent. Being spirit, they have no limitations as we humans have as regards the capability to remember facts and come to crafty conclusions. Satan, while he was Lucifer, was the 'light bringer' or 'Morning star' of heaven. It was probably one of his functions to reveal God's glory and character to lesser angels. He was certainly not ignorant. He was the one of the most powerful beings in existence. He was the Anointed Cherub.

Eze. 28:11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: 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.

15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee...

17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness:

Notice the terminology the Lord uses to describe Lucifer: full of wisdom; thy tabrets and pipes; anointed cherub that covereth; corrupted thy wisdom. We can see that Lucifer played a significant role in heaven before he fell. He was likely the minister of music. And, most amazing of all-- he was anointed! Could it be that he was Spirit led? I believe so. It serves as a dire warning to all believers that if Lucifer, a very powerful being, could become corrupted and fall having once been led by the Spirit of God, so could we if we do not diligently strive to be obedient to God's Word. Even though God casts Satan out from among the midst of the 'stones of fire', and states that his wisdom is corrupted, nowhere are we told that Satan has lost any of his wisdom. He is still very wise. Wiser than any mere man. Man was created a little lower than the angels (Psa. 8:4-5), even the fallen ones. This explains why they so easily control us. It is in the order of creation. Humans are a higher order of creation than animals, and so, dominate, train and control them. It is the same way with the spiritual realm over humanity. We are either 'trained and controlled' by God-- of our own free will; or else manipulated by Satan-- regardless of our will. Satan has not lost any of his 'smarts' in his fall. But his intelligence is corrupted, that is, used to promote evil, used to oppose God. Any believer who thinks Satan is a fool because he opposes God and is doomed, does not understand the nature of depravity. Believers tend to think that Satan must not be very smart if he can't see where all his rebellion is leading him. But that is not the way of depravity. Reprobation, by its very definition, means unwilling and unable to repent. It's not that Satan and his hordes don't know their doom is coming, for they do. Rev. 12:12 shows that plainly. But their perverted natures are such that they cannot do anything about it. All the more wonder that God sent a Redeemer to mankind when he did not do so for the angels that rebelled! This may be because the fallen angles knew fully what they were doing, while mankind had to be deceived into disobeying God. Man was largely ignorant of things beyond the sphere of this planet, while angels beheld all the glory of God's cosmic creation.

Christ has come to destroy the works of the Devil (1Jn. 3:8). The Church is the fortress of His army. It is interesting to note how often we Christians boast that the gates of Hell will not overcome us, as if the gates of the enemy's fortresses were marching against us instead of us marching on them. Jesus meant that we should be on the assault, crashing in the gates of the strongholds of wickedness that blind men's hearts. But, as we noted before, we are marching on the wrong enemy. It is not flesh and blood that we wrestle against, but spiritual wickedness (Eph. 6:12). When the angel came and delivered the message to Daniel, he stated that he had to return to a state of conflict in the heavenly realms above the earth. Michael, the prince angel over Israel, was wrestling in his place for a while till he could get back to resume his position. Why was it necessary for angels to wrestle with demonic overlords? There is a great battle going on in the regions of our atmosphere for control over the minds and hearts of mankind. Evil spirits are tempting, prompting and deceiving rulers to make unjust, ill-favored, and ungodly laws that will bring mankind to misery and chaos. God's angels are vying with them over the hearts of the rulers, persuading them to make just laws, godly laws, that truth might be honored and sought by mankind. Over every government in the world today this conflict in the spiritual realm is taking place. Revolutions occur, uprisings, overthrows of despotic rulers, ideologies arise and fall, crippling or else freeing millions in their cycle. When a nation follows godliness, it is blessed and the message of the Gospel prospers. When evil spirits prevail, Hitlers and Stalins arise, snuffing out the light for a time.

It is not the person who waves placards and marches for gay rights or abortion that is the root of the problem, it is the spiritual overlord that has been allowed to come into ascendancy. Topple that overlord, and the whole system of corruption falls with him! Our real enemy is spiritual, so our warfare must also be spiritual. We must demonstrate nothing but Christ's love to Satan's human dupes, knowing that they have been taken captive to do Satan's will. But at the same time we must tear down the spiritual strongholds over the people. We must go beyond loving the sinner but hating the sin, to tearing down the demonic stronghold that controls the sinners!

This is what Paul means when he writes: I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty... I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. (I Tim. 2:1-2; 8). Here is the kind of spiritual warfare Paul was talking about in 2 Cor. 10:4. These are our spiritual weapons--prayer and supplication, intercession and giving of thanks. The marches, demonstrations, shows of force and letter writing campaigns only lead to wrath and doubting, and rejection of our message. There is no real power in human methods. Oh, it looks and sounds like a great deal is happening when we join a march or carry a sign in protest to some ungodly practice, but it is only sound and fury, smoke and mirrors. Satan is not moved by Jesus marches, anti-this-or-that rallies, write-ins to Senators and Representatives (although this might be a good additional thing to do if the Spirit so leads), etc. These are human weapons, and only affect humans-- and more often than not, adversely. The real cause is still not dealt with. It is so much easier to join a march than to consistently hit one's knees day after day; it is easier to write a letter or make a phone call than to consistently fast and seek God to pull down evil from over our land; it is so much easier to engage other humans in argument than to overcome deception through earnest prayerful intercession. To engage human methods of protest take no faith at all, and yields no results either. To use only God-ordained methods is demanding and threatening to one's complacency. And it requires real faith. Faith that God knew what He was talking about when He had Paul pen those words, faith that His ways are powerful even though nothing visible seems to be happening for a long, long time; faith to not resort to human tactics of the flesh, but to wait on God to do His will through our prayers.

Paul wrote that we are to pray for kings, governors, magistrates, in short, all those in authority, so that we may lead godly lives and bless out Lord. Spiritual warfare is what he is talking about. We can join the fray in the ethereal regions of the planet by imploring God to assist the angels he has already sent to wage war on our behalf. If we war against Satan's kingdom form beneath, praying for goodness and truth to reign, and God's angels wage war from above, bringing judgment and righteousness to bear on the enemies of Christ and His Church, Satan will surely be dislodged. If we squander our resources by fleshly human efforts, the angels wage war alone, and that, at best, is a stalemate, as Jude 9 shows. Michael and Satan were wrestling over the body of Moses, and neither could prevail until Michael called upon the Lord to rebuke Satan. Michael is the highest archangel that we know of, yet he didn't have enough power in himself to overcome Satan. Yet, Satan did not have power to overcome Michael either. They were both created archangels, and so were equal in power and authority. This verse reveals a lot about spiritual warfare. In fact that section from Jude is quite revealing.

8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

There are those in Christian circles that have taken it upon themselves to castigate and vilify fallen angels, calling them mockery names such as 'Old Scratch' or 'Slewfoot', or other derogatory names. Those who do such things think it is a sign of their confidence in the Lord and of their spiritual maturity to mock evil spirits. They have much to learn from Michael. If anyone besides God had the right to rail against Satan and his minions, it would be Michael. Archangel, obedient servant of the Lord, faithful minister, true lover of God. All of these characteristics belong to Michael, and no longer belong to Satan. Michael stayed true to the Lord when Lucifer rebelled. He, if any had the right, could rightly revile Satan, being of the same created order, having retained what the other lost through sin. Yet he refrained from doing so. It was not his place. Like pawns that meet in the center of a chessboard, neither angel can prevail over the other, being of equal power and authority. Michael did not resort to scolding and mockery to make Satan yield, but recognized that calling on a higher order was the proper way to go about finishing the conflict. He called upon the Lord, and Satan was overmatched, and thus yielded his prey.

Now those Christians that go about railing against evil spirits do not realize that they are in rebellion themselves when they go against God's created order. This is why Jude refers to them as 'filthy dreamers' and 'brute beasts', as if to say they dream of being able to boss about evil spirits, that react on a purely animal level instead of a reasoned basis of recognizing God's order and submitting to it. Mankind is created a little lower than the angels-- all the angels, fallen and righteous. We have no business adding to the chaos started by Satan when he beguiled Eve to obey him in the form of a creature, and then Adam to obey his wife. For Christians to revile demons is out of order. In war time, when a captain captures an enemy general, every respect is shown him because of his rank. He is the enemy, and he is incarcerated, but at the same time his rank is recognized and respected. That is to be the way believers demonstrate their obedience to the Lord and an understanding of God's order. We are to resist evil spirits, cast them out of people, and seek to remove their influence from humanity, but nowhere are we told it is okay to rail against them, mock them, or treat them disdainfully.

Years ago there was a publication entitled New Wine Magazine. One of their covers depicted a strong warrior-type demon standing on a map of the United States. He was bound and incapacitated by thousands of threads encircling his body. Each thread trailed off to a circle of Christians on their knees. It was one of the most powerful magazine covers I ever saw. And the message was clear. The way to bind the strongman (Matt. 12:29) is on our knees, in prayer and fasting, using the weaponry God has given us, not Saul's armor of fleshly human methods.

So, where do we begin? Since authority is established in layers, we must start at the bottom layer-- our individual lives. We must identify the spirit lords who influence us, and by knowing who we are in Christ and utilizing the wisdom He gives us through His Spirit, overcome and be free ourselves. Then we need to seek victory in our homes, the next sphere of authority. We must be careful to submit to God's ordained authority, yet maintain a clear testimony of obedience to God. Children whose parents are not believers must obey and not rebel lest they bring the claims of their Lord into disrepute through their rebellion. Christ has ordered human life to be under authority, as He is under His Father. If a believing child or wife or employee or citizen acts in rebellion, how can they expect to attract their authority to the God of order? By rebellion we deny the very message we preach.

Once our homes are relatively free, then our churches need to be wrested from enemy control if they are under it. Sad to say that probably there are many more churches under Satan's thumb than not. If it is a true church, however, it must be won back by those with heart and faith enough to take up the fight. Deceptions, in-fighting, jealousies, hidden sins, lack of love, doctrines of demons, spiritual and/or scriptural ignorance, all these things are symptomatic of a church under demonic oppression. The enemy has invaded us instead of us invading and crashing in the gates of his strongholds. Yet so many of these bound churches sing about Satan's defeat, all while they themselves are in bondage. And the demons sitting in the rafters smile to themselves every Sunday morning as the saints proclaim their 'victory'. We must realize our true spiritual condition before the Lord, and repent, seeking His mercy and grace to overcome.

When a church is relatively free (for we are never entirely free from satanic attack, but we can get the upper hand and prevent any inroads by staying diligent and using the gifts of the Spirit) then it should seek out other churches for the purpose of encouraging and being encouraged in walking in victory. Then those joined churches can engage in warfare for their community. We are not talking about just claiming it and then dropping all activity. This will be a prolonged war until we see evangelism and spiritual growth taking root in the hearts of the local community as well as the church. We are to engage the enemy by faith, as God leads, and trust, and keep on praying and partaking in times of fasting until the gates of evil crumble before our eyes. Then a maintenance must be undertaken to keep spiritual freedom alive. Every revival has had a free flow for months, or even years, but eventually the darkness has reclaimed the territory. Europe was once the hotbed of revival under the Protestant revival. Today it is spiritually dead except for a few hard-pressed pockets of believers. The reformers did not go far enough in their reform, the guardians relaxed when they thought the peril over, the shepherds became selfish and self-centered, and the revival lagged, and died out. Primarily it was because the Church failed to realize it was a war they were in. We will be in that war until Satan is finally cast into the Bottomless Pit at Christ's return, and so we dare not rest, no matter how many victories we chalk up. We might indeed see our homes set free, and our churches, even our local communities, but precious and few were the revivals that went beyond local boundaries. The saints lost heart for the war, and were content with what they had gained. With each victory there comes a higher level of spiritual strength for pressing the battle further. Once the community is free, the county demons need to be engaged, then at the state level, the national level and so on. This sounds like an impossible task, and it is. Yet if each individual believer would begin to take the first steps of declaring his own freedom through warfare, then our homes, then our churches, there would be a groundswell of light and truth rising up that Satan could not stamp out. Yet we know that Scripture clearly teaches it will be otherwise in the latter days. apostasy will be rampant, and as for the true faith... even the Lord Jesus wondered aloud whether He find any when He returned (Luke 18:8).

We are called to spiritual warfare, and as we have seen, it is not a quick fix, but a prolonged commitment. We must, if we will take up the challenge, become prepared with spiritual gifts and a holy lifestyle. All other distractions must be put away so we can concentrate on obeying the One who calls us to this war. We must put away the weapons of the flesh, and use only the weapons of the Spirit if we are to see spiritual results. We must learn our Master's tactics, and become easily led by Him and His true servants, but no other.

2Tim. 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
 

©John MacLeod 1998