| Some Thoughts on Spiritual Warfare There are a lot of people today who are getting pretty careless in warfare with the devil. It is especially bad among Charismatic types and those on their fringes. While they make fools of themselves in their dealings, others who profess to be Bible believers ignore the possibility of even needing to do warfare with our adversary the devil, acting as if they have "charmed" lives and are immune to attack by simply being saved. They take the hymn literally when it says, "Jesus is the name that charms us..." He seems to be our "lucky" rabbit's foot to some. What we find in the Bible about personal confrontations with our enemy is quite different than what is being done by some and ignored or rejected by others.
When it comes down to it, many of these people of both view points share a common error in their thinking. It was best stated by a preacher who was warned by trust-worthy members of his church that he had a witch sitting in his church pretending to be a Christian. His response was, "I have more power in me than he has in him." Well, God does have complete power over Satan because Satan is God's fallen cherub and God created him. There is nothing of God's creation that He cannot control. What we find in scripture about dealing with the devil is far from what many people are doing and claiming, however. Our examples: 1) Michael the archangel -- Jude 1:9 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. 2) Jesus Christ our Savior in Matthew 4 when being tempted by Satan used scripture, the book of Deuteronomy, every time in his reply. The last one in particular, Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 3) The LORD (Jehovah) -- Zechariah 3:2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 4) The saints in the great tribulation -- Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Now if the archangel (who so much more powerful than we are) relies on the power of God's name in warfare with the devil, who are we to take this warfare so lightly or to think that we are somehow immune? But even more, if God Himself will use His own name and His own word in forcing His fallen cherub into submission, then how much more should we? We are to follow Christ's example (1Peter 2:21). Psalm 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. And then, of course, there is power in the blood of the Lamb!
In this warfare we must follow the example of our Lord God Himself, of His archangel and of His saints in the future who will probably see more spiritual warfare than we ever imagined. We must rely on the name of the Lord, on His word, and in His precious blood and upon the shield of faith, or we will end up giving place to the devil.
It is not a matter to pass over lightly, nor is it something to refuse to deal with. It is also not a matter to make into a superstitious circus. Thank God, that through His word, the blood of Christ, and His power we can fight the good fight of faith. 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. Mary Van Nattan |
