Listen to audio above while following along in the transcript below (also available for download in Word document at www.biblestudyministriesinc.com)
As we come to study God’s word, we need to remember that it’s only by the Holy Spirit that we can come, and He shows us Christ. Our brother, Jay Holloway, has gone to have surgery; he’s having a stent put in his neck, so we’ll remember him, as well. So, let’s commit our time to the Lord.
Father, thank You for who You are and for giving us the Bible and the Holy Spirit to show us the Lord Jesus. In a special way with this lesson, I just pray that You would instruct our hearts and draw us close to Your heart and deliver Your people from anything I might say that is not from You. We, also, pray for our brother, Jay, and just pray that Your presence would be very meaningful to him, and he would know Your presence, and we thank You for the technology and we ask You, Lord, to accomplish all Your purpose for Him. We commit out study unto You now, in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.
We’re going to be looking at the truth of spiritual warfare, and Exodus 15:3, “The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is His name.” Exodus 15:6&7, “Your right hand, oh Lord, is majestic in power. Your right hand, oh Lord, shatters the enemy, and in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You. You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff.” Just a reminder that the battle is the Lord’s, and it’s not ours.
I’ve been announcing for several weeks that we’d be stopping our little look, at least stepping back, from Elijah and Elisha and have this special lesson on spiritual warfare. This lesson was occasioned by my understanding of one of the events in Elijah’s life. 1 Kings 18:1, “It happened after many days, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, ‘Go show yourself to Ahab.’” That expression to go show yourself to Ahab, I took that to be that Ahab represents the enemy, and this is the first time in the Bible record that he had to stand face to face with the enemy. Up until this time he had been hidden away and protected, and he had been provided for, and he had been learning who the Lord was, but now he has a new experience, “Go stand face to face with the enemy.” I think Ahab just represents or can represent every enemy: the world, the flesh and the devil.
It wasn’t only Ahab he had to face, but verse 19&20, “Now, then, send and gather to Me all Israel at Mt. Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table. So, Ahab sent a message along with the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mt. Carmel.” He had to face all of the Israelites who were idolaters at the time, 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah and Ahab. He’s standing before the enemy. I think all of you know the history without me retracing everything, but only to say this much, that when God said, “Go stand before the enemy,” he was courageous. He actually did that. He stood before wicked Ahab and the wicked queen Jezebel and stood before the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah and a whole nation of idolators, but he repeated several times this comment, 1 Kings 18:22, “Elijah said to the people, ‘I alone am left a prophet of the Lord. Baal’s prophets are 450 men.’” That expression, “I alone am standing here as the only prophet left of the Lord,” because of that, I think it to be that he didn’t understand spiritual warfare. There’s nothing wrong with his dedication, and there’s nothing wrong with his loyalty and there’s nothing wrong with his zeal, and there’s nothing wrong with his love to the Lord. God said, “Go stand before the enemy,” and he did. He obeyed.
I’m not going to try to prove it, but I think in my understanding, the records shows that he obeyed, but in his own strength, in his own energy, “I alone am the one standing before the Lord.” Therefore, I think he didn’t understand spiritual warfare. It was followed, as you know, by a deep depression, because it didn’t work; it failed. He was in despair, and he cried out to the Lord, that the Lord would take his life. Everyone would agree with this, at some point Elijah took his eyes off the Lord. Some would say that it wasn’t on Mt. Carmel, like I’m suggesting, but later when Jezebel threatened him. Then he began to look at circumstances and took his eyes off the Lord. I’m not trying to prove that I’m right when I say that he fought in his own strength, but if I am right, his error was that he didn’t understand 2 Chronicles 20:15, “The battle is not your, but God’s.” That’s a serious error for any Christian. I think Elijah illustrates it, but even if he doesn’t, it’s still a profitable lesson that we should look at. So, it was the occasion for me, I don’t know where you stand on that, and I’m not trying to prove that I’m right, but what I thought was his failure, fighting, the war in your own strength, is a very serious issue. So, I think it should be addressed.
Many Christians think that they’re called to live for Jesus, and to fight for Jesus, and, if necessary, to die for Jesus, but you aren’t going to find that in the Bible. You’re not supposed to live for Jesus. He wants to live for himself. We’re not to fight for Jesus. He’s to fight for himself, in you and through you, in me and through me, but that’s not the same thing. It’s all about the exchanged life. Certainly, when God said, “Go stand before Ahab and all of this wickedness, that which represents evil, God was trying to teach Elijah how-to walk-in union with Him, and how to trust Him. So, I say understanding was spiritual warfare, and certainly it was necessary for Elijah, and for all of God’s children, and it’s necessary to me and for you, if we’re going to go forward in a heart knowledge of the Lord. Again, I think that was Elijah’s confusion, but I’m not going to fight for that. Even if I’m mistaken, this focus that we’re going to take this morning is misunderstood by many thousands of God’s people. So, a revelation of God’s heart on this subject is not out of place, even if we were studying something else, and we took a break. This is not out of place. I’m not condemning Elijah; I just want to safeguard your heart and mine. I guess another reason I’m doing this is because I was terribly burned in my own life, in my early understanding of spiritual warfare. If I can help somebody not get burned that way, I would like to do that.
I handed out reference notes on the topic of Spiritual Warfare, and I understand that Janet put that online, so many of you have probably already had those notes. I’m not going to teach from those pages. That’s simply for reference. I didn’t want to read all of those Bible verses that you see there, so I gave that to you, if you ever need it for a reference. I will probably refer to it now and then. I’m not going follow the outline, but I’m certainly going to include the heads that I put on the outline. We DO have an enemy, and we DO have a problem, and we DO have a Mediator, and we DO have a victory.
Let me begin by repeating again the main verse, 2 Chronicles 20:15, “The battle is not yours but God’s.” Of course, there’s more involved than that, but it’s not more complicated than that. The battle is not yours, but it’s God’s. Until every Christian is crystal clear on that, there is going to be confusion, just because of life, and because of the things we face as we go along.
I don’t know where any of you are on this matter of spiritual warfare, but from the time I first became a Christian I had an early introduction to it, because that’s what they were studying in the Bible group when I got saved. That was my first taste of the Bible. I learned pretty early that I had an enemy, and he hated my guts. Well, that scared the living daylights out of me. I was only a Christian for a couple of weeks, and you need to understand that I had no Christian background. I didn’t know there were two testaments in the Bible. As far as I can trace back, I’m the first one that was saved in our family, and that’s even looking back. God, in His mercy in the third or fourth generation visited the iniquities of the fathers, but He visited in grace, and not in judgment, and He saved me. Anyway, I was only saved a couple of weeks and I knew nothing, and I was involved in the Youth for Christ, and in those days, there were a lot of teenagers. I was called on to pray before a gathering of about 800 teenagers. I knew nothing. I was only saved a couple of weeks. I got up there and I’m thinking, “What am I going to pray?” So, I asked the Lord to save Satan. I thought that would be a great idea. That would save a lot of trouble, wouldn’t it, if the Lord saved the devil? Later they said, “You can’t pray that.” How did I know I couldn’t pray that?
Later, I was only a year a Christian, but I still had that early teaching in my mind, that Satan is out to get me, and he hates me, and I was on a city bus going from Wilke to Waterbury Conn., and I was the only one on the bus, and I was in the last seat in the bus, and I’m just enjoying the Lord. I was still in first love, and I’m enjoying the Lord and thinking about the Lord, and I looked in the mirror, and the bus driver is looking at me. Well, I began to get afraid. Fear filled my heart, the bus driver is looking at me, and I’m thinking, “I’m a Christian, and there’s a good chance he’s not a Christian, and if he’s not a Christian, he belongs to the devil, and he hates me. He wants to kill me.” In those days on the city bus, they had a cord that you could pull, so I stood up and I started yanking that cord. I wanted that bus to stop. I went up in the front of the bus and said, “Stop the bus. You belong to Satan and you’re trying to kill me. Let me out.” He was glad to let me out! You can see why! Those were my early ideas of spiritual warfare, that Satan is out to get me, and I better watch out because even the bus driver is trying to kill me.
Through the years, I didn’t do much better, because of that early study, the first reference I had to the scripture was studying warfare, and I was full of superstition and fear and imagination, and I didn’t know the Holy Spirit from the evil spirit from the human spirit, and I was in a big mess. Anyway, I started a study; I was interested, in the hard-core Satanism, and all these seances. So, I began to study all this demon activity, and then we had some missionaries come from third world countries, and they told us about missionary activity on the field. The more I heard, the more interested I got, and I wanted to do the occult, and I wanted to do magic, and all of that kind of thing.
Then, I heard that there is a way to break the generational curse. I didn’t know what a generational curse was, if there even was such a thing. There are hundreds of books on Satanism and warfare, and so on. There are handbooks, study guides, manuals, and if you go online, you can actually get a Bible that’s called, “The Spiritual Warfare Bible.” There’s a book out there called, “The Bride in Combat Boots.” It’s all about spiritual warfare. I began to read books. I’ll name a couple. I read, “The Christian in Complete Amour,” by William Gurnall. By far, that’s the most Christ-centered book on warfare that I read. If you’re going to read that, get ready to spend a lot of time; it’s more than 500 pages with small type. It’s a wonderful, wonderful book. Then I read, “The War on the Saints,” by Jesse Penn-Lewis, and “The Spiritual Man Volume 3,” by Watchman Nee, and then Charlotte Elizabeth wrote a book in 1846 called, “Principalities and Powers.” Then I read periodicals and sermons, and I was filling my mind with spiritual warfare, and I remained as confused and in the dark as that first days when I asked God to save Satan. I still think that would have been a good idea! I speak as a fool; I know better.
When the Lord began to open my eyes several years ago to what you know as, and I’ve often quoted it, the exchanged life, once the Lord began to teach me that it’s His life and not my life, much confusion dissipated, not only on spiritual warfare, but almost on everything. It’s amazing to me what a master key that exchanged life becomes to spiritual doctrine. Again, here we go; I’m not pretending that I have all the answers, and I can’t explain all the ins and outs of spiritual warfare. I shared some of this with my Lillian, and she said, “They’re going to be disappointed when they hear your teaching.” I don’t think you will, but she said that because all of those things that intrigued me, we’re not going to look at today. If you came excited to hear about that, you’re not going to hear about that. I discovered God’s heart on spiritual warfare, and I’m not interested anymore of all the ins and outs of spiritual warfare. I think most of that is off centered, so I wouldn’t give that, anyway. I’m still in the dark about a lot of things, but the light that God has dawned on my heart in terms of the exchanged life is more satisfying than anything I’ve ever heard, I have ever read, or I have ever experienced, and it’s that I want to share. With the aid of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, I just pray He’ll show us the Lord Jesus and His wonderful provision in Christ in terms of the all the details of spiritual warfare.
Let me start by just homing in on the focus. I want to talk especially about the war against Christians that the enemy has, Satan against Christians, Satan and his crew against Christians. The reason I’m making a point of that is because there’s a lot of warfare that takes place before a person becomes a Christian, and I’m not going to deal with that part. Before I was Christian, was I at war? Yes, but I was confederate with Satan; I was at war with the Lord. I was an enemy of God. I wasn’t an enemy of Satan. I was a friend of Satan; I loved to sin. I was on his side, but when God saved me, I changed armies. You changed armies when He saved you. Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates His love in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” When we were enemies, He loved us and He died for us. Colossians 1 :13, “He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” He reached out and took this enemy out of Satan’s kingdom and put him in God’s kingdom, the kingdom of His Son. Genesis 3:15, and the whole Bible, is based on that verse, that’s the warfare verse, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heal.” The whole Bible is nothing more than that verse developed, Satan, the seed of the serpent, going against the seed of the woman, Satan trying to corrupt and destroy, and Jesus God counteracting, trying to preserve and to purify. The whole Bible is a record of that back and forth. I love that verse because it says, “I will put enmity…” That’s grace; there’s no enmity there, unless God puts it there. I would still be loving Satan and loving sin, but God put enmity there.
Satan hates Christ with an infernal hatred, but he can’t reach Him. And he hates you because you belong to Christ. Revelations 12:17 illustrates that, “The dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children.” If I hate you and I can’t get to you, I’ll go after your kids. If I go after your children, I’ve hurt you, and probably have hurt you more by going after your children than going after you. So, that’s the war I want to speak about, the war between the enemy, Satan and demons and all, the world, the flesh and the devil and the Christian, after you’ve become a Christian, the war we face every day, as Satan accuses us and condemns us, and as Satan deceives us, and as Satan tempts us, that war.
On the second side of those notes I handed out, I called attention to the many descriptions in the Bible that prove there is a spiritual warfare. You can’t read words like, “the weapons of our warfare,” “Christian armor,” “a law warring in our members,” “soldiers of Jesus Christ,” “resist the devil,” and we’re described as, “those who wrestle with principalities and powers,” the word of the Holy Spirit is that, “we struggle, but not as those…” So, if you are a soldier, if you have weapons, if you have an armor, if the gates of hell oppose you, and if you’re in a struggle, I can’t say, “There’s not such thing as warfare,” because those words make me believe and know that there is a war.
The question isn’t, “Is there such a thing as spiritual warfare?” That’s clear. What I want to talk about is, “What provision has God made in the Lord Jesus Christ that I might be a victorious warrior, and that you might be a victorious warrior.” For the remainder of this study, I’m going to focus on two things: #1 God’s provision in Christ, obviously, and then #2 what it will look like if I embrace God’s provision in Christ. I want to start with what provision has God made for us to be victorious? There’s a double answer to that, two parts; it’s really two sides to the very same coin but let me give you both as a principle.
Part one, God’s provision is the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. What’s part two? Part two is the unfinished work of the Lord Jesus in my heart. He finished everything on the cross. The unfinished warfare is what He finishes now in the heart of the Christian. Both parts turn your eyes to Christ; everything turns your eyes to Christ, because He is everything, and He is ever, only, always God’s answer and God’s provision for the Christian.
When we say, “God has provided His Son, the Lord Jesus, as His provision for us for victory, we’re automatically saying, “If Jesus is God’s provision, then I am not God’s provision for victory.” We’re not qualified to fight Satan. You better understand that early. We’re not adequate to stand against him or his forces. If you look at the handout sheet, you’ll see that on the first sheet I mentioned 27 different titles of the enemy, and each of those titles emphasizes some qualification, some power, some hostility that Satan has and has advantage over us. Just think about it, brothers and sisters in Christ, how arrogant can we be? Do you think you can stand where heaven fell? Are you more qualified than Adam and Eve before they had their own sin nature, and stood before the tempter in the garden? Romans 7:18, “I know nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. The willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.” There’s nothing good in me. Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”
We’re combustible. You have an old sin nature, and I have an old sin nature, and that thing is ready to catch on fire at any minute and is ready to flare up. All Satan needs to do is throw one little spark, and poof, the old sin nature goes into a flame. Our passions, our anger, our impatience, our lusts, we are flammable, and we’ll just go. I like to relate that to 1 John 14:30, speaking about our Lord Jesus, this is one day before the cross, “I’ll not speak much more with you. The ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me.” That expression is so interesting in the original, “He has nothing in me.” One translation says, “…no claim on Me, no hold over Me, no power to appeal to, nothing to grasp on to.” In other words, He doesn’t have a sin nature. To use my own words, He’s fire-proof. He’s not combustible. Satan can go at Him with a blowtorch, and He’s not going to catch on fire, because there is nothing to latch onto. That’s what Jesus said the day before the cross, “The enemy is coming, but you are going to have the victory, because he can’t latch onto Me. You’ll find out that he’ll bruise my heel, but I’m going to crush his head, and he’s not going to be able to latch onto Me.”
The fact that you and I are combustible, and we have an old sin nature, it’s ludicrous to think that you or I in our strength can stand up against what the Bible describes as our enemy. He’s got at least six thousand years’ experience on deceiving humanity. He knows how to do it. His army, I don’t know how big it is. It’s 1/3 of an unnumbered host. I’ll leave it to you to figure that one out. I don’t know. He’s invisible. You are fighting an invisible enemy. 1 Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” That’s twenty-four seven. I’m going to use Satan as representative of the enemy. Do you think the enemy needs to eat food? You need food. The enemy doesn’t eat food; he doesn’t need any drink to stay alive. He doesn’t need to sleep. This is your enemy. He has no pity. He doesn’t care if it’s a child, if it’s a woman, if it’s widow, if it’s a crippled person, if it’s an old person. He hates Christ so much. He’s a murderer, a liar from the beginning, he’s a hater. It’s been tried to be explained this way, “Be care, now, because Satan is going to attack you in your strong points. Like Moses was meek, the meekest man on earth, and where did he fall? He spoke unadvisedly with his lips. And Job, his strong point was patience, and where did Satan go? It was after his patience. And Elijah was a man of zeal, and that’s where he fell. Peter was a man of courage. That was his strong point, and that’s where he fell. And Paul was claiming to be humble, and where did he fall? He had to get a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble, because he was really proud in his heart.”
The thing that’s wrong with saying that Satan attacks in your strong points, is to think that you have strong points. You don’t have any strong points, and you don’t have weak ones. We’re not divided up in strong points and weak points. We are nothing, and we have nothing. 1 Peter 1:24, “All flesh is like grass, all the glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, and the word of the Lord endures forever.” Psalm 39:5, “Every man at his best is a mere breath, less than vanity.” A breath, we’re nothing. We’re a worm. Psalm 140:7, “Oh God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.” It was that verse that got John Wesley to write this verse in the great poem, the song, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.” Second verse: “Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee. Leave me not alone, still support, and comfort me, all my trust on Three is staid. All my help from Thee I bring; cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.” And he got the “defenseless head” from that psalm. We are in a spiritual battle, but let me tell you, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, your head is defenseless without the Lord, and so is mine.
We can’t stand in our own strength against the enemy; we’re all POW’s. Jesus told a story one time about the strong man, where He called Satan “the strong man.” Matthew 12:28, “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, the kingdom of God has come upon you. How can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he’ll plunder his house.” Satan is pictured in that parable as the strong man. Every person is pictured as his property. You are stuck. You are in his command, in his hold forever, unless somewhere, somehow, some day there comes somebody stronger than the strong man. That’s out Lord Jesus, and that’s what He was saying. Satan is a strong man, and there’s no way to release his captives, unless someone stronger than the strong man comes and binds the strong. Our Lord Jesus is exactly that provision.
I’m going to pass over the first 33 ½ years, especially the record of the 3 ½ years when Jesus lived in His incarnate body on the earth. You know He showed absolute authority over the enemy at that time. I like Luke 10:18 where He said where He was describing to His disciples, who had, by the way, an inaccurate view of spiritual warfare, and He said, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. You don’t know who I am. I was there, and I saw him fall like lightning.” And then all through His ministry He’s casting out demons right and left. You know that just from the record. I want to look at the climax of the war. It took place on the cross, and I told you that’s the first part of God’s provision, the finished work of Christ on the cross. Here are a couple of summary verses that show what happened on the cross. 1 John 3:8, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” Hebrews :14&15, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Render powerless, our enemy. Colossians 2:15, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him,” and the context is the cross. Probably, the most important expression that I want to call attention to is from John 19:30 when Jesus was on the cross, “When He had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished.’ He bowed His head and gave up the ghost.” It is finished.
What was finished? Well, there are a couple of ways to look at it. Your debt was paid. Everything you owed God was paid in full. Everything that I needed to suffer because of my sin was finished, but in context the war was finished. He said, “I went to war with Satan. I wanted to destroy him, destroy his works, render him absolutely powerless, and I accomplished that on the cross.”
Hold that for a moment. It may seem strange that we’re studying spiritual warfare and Jesus says it is finished. That’s like saying, “We’re going to study something, but it doesn’t exist anymore. It’s over, it’s finished, it’s done, it’s through. He’s been victorious.” Hold that a moment, and we’ll come back to it.
We learned from 1 Corinthians 15:26 that the last enemy to be destroyed is death. I call attention to that because when Jesus died on the cross, He said, “The war is finished,” and three days later He conquered the last enemy. When He rose up from the dead, that’s the last enemy. There’s no enemy after that. Luke 24:34, “The Lord has really risen, and appeared to Simon.” The point I’m making is that on the cross Jesus won a complete victory, and He said, “It’s finished, and the war is over,” and when He rose from the dead, He took that victory all the way to the last enemy, and he rose from the dead. So, how great is the victory? It’s finished all the way to the last enemy, and you can’t get a greater victory than that. Death is swallowed up in victory. So, here’s the question, and I am trusting God will help me answer it, “If the war is over, why is it still raging? And if He has gone all the way to the last enemy and conquered the last enemy, why are people still dying? He’s won the war and He’s conquered the last enemy; in two weeks I’ve got to go to Massachusetts and bury and dear sister in Christ. Why? How could the battle be over, and the last enemy be defeated while the war rages on and people are continuing to die?
Let me back off and give two illustrations, and then come back and give you what I believe is the complete answer to the question, “How can the war be over, and still continue, and how can the last enemy be destroyed, and it’s still here?” Revelation 13:8, KJV, “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The reason I’m using KJV is that it says, “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Some translations say, “Your names are written from the foundation of the world.” I want you to see this. The Lamb slain before time, and Jesus already died, in the mind of God and in the purposes of God. That same truth is in 1 Peter 1:19&20, “You were redeemed with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world and has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.” Jesus not only died before the foundation of the world, in the mind and purposes of God you have already overcome by the blood of the Lamb before the foundation of the world. Again, if Christ was crucified in the mind and purposes of God before the foundation of the earth, why didn’t it end then? Why did He have to come? Why did He have to die? It was finished in the mind and purposes of God, but it has to be worked out in history. So, what was true, finished, and done in the mind of God, He now lets Him come to earth and accomplish what was already done.
The day before the cross Jesus prayed what we call the High Priestly Prayer. You see it there. The theologians call it, “The predictive past tense.” “I glorified You on the earth,” speaking to His Father, “having accomplished the work You’ve given Me to do.” He said, “I’ve finished the work.” He hadn’t been to the cross, yet. How could He pray that?
Rick Baker was going to build a study onto our home, Lillian laid it all out, and I said, “Do you understand what we want, and all?” And he kept saying, “Ed, it’s as good as done.” It hadn’t been done. There wasn’t one stick laid on the property, yet, and it was as good as done in the mind and heart of Rick Baker, he knew exactly, he was the contractor, and he knew exactly what it was. Paul, in Romans 8:30, “Those He predestined, he called. Those He called, He justified. Those He justified, He also glorified.” What? Are you already glorified? You say, “I’m justified, I’m called,” but the Bible also says you’re also glorified in the mind and purposes of God, but it hasn’t happened, yet, but it’s as good as done. It will be worked out in history. Let’s go back to the cross. Jesus said that it’s finished, He completely defeated Satan on the cross, He rose from the dead, He conquered the last enemy, the warfare is finished right up and including the final enemy in the mind and purposes of God, but it has to be worked out in history.
Now we come to the second part. He said that it’s finished right up to the end, “I did that on the cross, and now I live in your heart, and I need to work that out in history, in your history and in my history. It’s already true, you already have the victory, you’re already glorified. I’m not in heaven. My mom’s been in heaven for 35-40 years, and she’s no safer than I am. She knows more about Jesus, but she’s no safer than I am, and soon I’ll be there. The whole point is that now Jesus lives in your heart, the One who did it on the cross, now must do it again, and work it out in history. It’s not that you are in a warfare. It’s the One who finished it on the cross now is going to come into your life and finish it actually in history in terms of you and in terms of me. That’s what I mean when I said that the first part of God’s provision is the finished work of Christ on the cross, and the second part of God’s provision is the unfinished work of Christ in your heart, the unfinished work of Christ in my heart. The war is over and is as good as done. It was finished on the cross, but now He’s going to work it out in you and in me.
When we say that the war is over, and we quote the verse, “It is finished,” can I as a Christian say, “It is finished, the war is finished?” I can say it’s finished for me. It’s not finished, yet; it’s unfinished work, but it’s over for me, and the battle is not mine. The whole battle belongs to Lord. It’s finished in the sense that it’s finished for me. It’s my experience, but it’s His war to fight, and that’s why this exchanged life becomes so very important. It’s called in 1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith.” What’s our part? It’s faith; it’s believing in the Lord. 1 John 5:4, “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.” We don’t have faith in faith. Faith needs an object; the object of faith is Christ. It’s the Lord Jesus. He’s the object of our faith. We fight the fight of trusting Jesus. That’s your part. Trust the Lord; trust Jesus.
Some would say, “Well, I know it’s Christ, but He has given us authority, and in the name of Jesus we can stand against the enemy, and we can plead the blood of Christ, and in the name of Christ we can cast out demons, because we have kingdom authority. That is a good chorus, but that’s not good Bible. You don’t have any authority as a Christian, and neither do I. It’s better than that! You have the One who has all authority living in your heart. Matthew 28:18, “Jesus came and spoke to them saying, ‘All authority,’” that means there is none left for you or me, ‘has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’” So, in your heart, to win the battle and to fight the battle is the Lord Jesus, and He has all authority in heaven and earth. The idea that I can in the name of the Lord claim this and claim that is a very dangerous thing, because it’s not our war. It’s His war. The One who finished it on the cross lives in your heart to finish it again and work it out in history. 1 John 4:4, “You are from God, little children; you’ve overcome them because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” Do you see how that ties in? That’s the warfare, and greater is He who is in you.
Notice what He told His disciples in John 16:33, “These things I’ve spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you’ll have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world.” I like the KJV, “Be of good cheer.” I like it better than, “Take courage.” Be of good cheer, I’ve overcome the world. What is the world that He’s overcome? He spells it out in 1 John 2:16, “All that’s in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father but from the world.” What is in the world? Some say, “Some Christians are worldly because he goes there and associates with that.” Do you know what worldly is? We’re going to look at it. What is the world? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life. In 1 John you have light and darkness, you have up and down, you have good and bad; you have opposites. What is the opposite of the world? Notice the verse, verse 17, “The world is passing away, and also its lust, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.” So, on one side you’ve got the world, and what’s the opposite? It’s the will of God. Did you remember what Jesus said? He said, “Be of good cheer, I’ve overcome the world.”
Let me word it another way. Jesus has already overcome everything that stands between you and the will of God. Jesus has already overcome everything that stands between me and the will of God. He’s the overcomer. He didn’t say, “Be of good cheer, you will overcome.” He said, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome.” He didn’t say that you are dead in Christ. He said, “I’m dead in Christ, and you’re in Christ.” You’re in Christ; He’s the One that’s dead and alive to God, and you’re in Him. It’s Christ Himself.
Some may ask, “If it’s not our battle, what’s all this about the Christian armor? Ephesians 6:10-11, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” Then He gives the details of that armor; the breastplate of righteousness, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit and praying in the Spirit. Please, don’t make the mistake that I made. Actually, I was led into it. There are books written on this armor, Roman armor, but it could turn into a system of works; you make sure you have your feet shod, and make sure you have the shield, and make sure your back is covered because the breastplate included the back, and all that kind of thing.
God never intended you to focus on the armor. Why did Paul write that? Where was he when he wrote it? He was in prison. Where? In Rome! And who were his guards? Roman guards. He looked out at the Roman guards in their armor, and he said, “Wow, will you look at that guard in his Roman armor; that’s just like the Christian in his God.” The armor is not a bunch of pieces; it’s a Person. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It’s Romans 13:14, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.” I spent so much time making sure I had the helmet on and making sure I had the shield and figuring out what were the feet shod and how did they have these studs to keep me from tripping and stepping on snakes, and all of that kind of thing. It’s not that. Once again, the simplicity of it will blow you away. Your victory is named Jesus, and He’s the warrior. It’s Christ Himself, and that armor is Christ. Galatians 3:27, “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” We’re reminded to put on the armor to put on Christ, to make sure we’re looking to Him.
I think that’s a glorious truth that Elijah missed. I could be wrong, but I know it’s a glorious truth I missed for many years, and many Christians miss it. The battle, dear friends, is not yours; the battle is God’s. They say, “Doesn’t the Bible say, “Resist the devil?” Read the whole verse. James 4:7, “Submit, therefore, to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” You can’t resist the devil. Submit to God, and then He’ll enable you, as He works it out historically. It’s already done; He wants to do it again in you. The way you resist the devil, I resist the devil, is by submitting to God. It sounds radical especially today. You go to certain places, you couldn’t say something like this. Janet lets me say anything, so… It sounds radical to say, “There’s no warfare for you and me.” I spend so much time struggling with the flesh and trying to die to self, and trying to get rid of passion, and then stop being impatient, and stop being angry, and stop being bitter, and have a forgiving spirit, and I work so hard on all those things, and then someone comes along and says, “That’s not your battle.” I say, “It’s not? It sure feels like my battle.” It’s not your battle. You died to self two thousand years ago. You don’t have to die everyday to self. That’s ridiculous. You’ve already been dead. You need to reckon yourself dead by faith. You need to take it by faith, but you’re already dead. This is the fight of faith. It’s a fight trusting the Lord Jesus. He’s the One that lives in us.
A large part of our victory while under attack is answered because the way He works it out now is by present ministry, the Melchizedek priesthood of Christ. At the men’s conference, it’s unbelievable how much the spiritual warfare and spiritual prayer ties into the prayers of Christ. Jesus, the One who prayed, when Satan wanted, when he got permission to sift Peter, and Jesus said, “I prayed for you that your faith wouldn’t fail.” That’s your victory right there. The Lord is going to pray for you, and you’ll fall, and you’ll trip, and you’ll stumble, and you’ll fall and fall, but you’ll never fall further than the prayers of Jesus. There’s a great net under you that’s protecting you, and He is your keeper.
This is the part that I said was new life for me, just another illustration. There’s a graphic picture in the Old Testament of an enemy of God’s people that was relentless, and no matter how many times they fought Him, He rose up, and He kept appearing and appearing and appearing. I’m talking about Edom. You can trace it through the Bible, and I’ve done it, but I’ll give you the main points. He was descended of Esau, and he’s just a picture of the flesh and the enemy. It was a dreaded enemy. After they crossed the Red Sea, they are now on the way to the Promised Land, but there’s an enemy that’s going to stand in the way, and Edom was that enemy. Edom said, “You can’t pass through our land.” So, they had their conflict with Edom. Then King Saul went out and said, “I’m going to destroy the Edomites.” He tried but he didn’t destroy the Edomites. So, David stood up and said, “I will destroy the Edomites,” and he killed thousands, but they kept coming and coming. So, Solomon said, “I’m going to destroy them,” and they plagued him over and over all through his kingship. So, Joram, who was the next king, said, “They’ll not rise up in my land,” and the Edomites rose up again, and Joram tried to put them down. And Amaziah said, “We’re not being plagued by the Edomites,” and all of the Edomites surreptitiously went through and set up all their idols all over the land of Amaziah.
When Nebuchadnezzar finally came in to destroy God’s people, listen to what the Psalmist said, “They want judgment,” Psalm 137:7, “Remember, oh Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem who said, ‘Raise it, raise it,’ to it’s foundation.” Edom gloated when Babylon came in and took God’s people, and Edom was standing around gloating. Edom was a great enemy. Obadiah, the whole book, only one chapter, is about Edom, and the reason it’s about Edom is because it’s the enemy that’s entrenched, deeply entrenched and you can’t get him because he’s entrenched. God said in Obadiah, “Even if he makes his nest in stars and brings that together, I will reach up and pull him down. There’s no cave. I’ll reach into the cave and rip out the Edomites.” So, Edom was, to me, like my flesh. It won’t go down. You fight it, and then it comes back again. Isaiah describes it. I’ve got to read these verses, Isaiah 63:1-6, “Who is this that comes from Edom with garments of glowing colors,” the Hebrew word is crimson, “from Bozrah, the one who is majestic in his apparel, and marching in the greatness of his strength? It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Why is your apparel red and your garments like one who treads in the wine press? I have trodden the wine troth alone, and from the people there was no man with me. I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath. Their life blood is sprinkled on my garments. I stain with all my raiment. The day of vengeance was in my heart. The year of redemption is come. I looked and there was no man to help. I was astonished; there was no one to oppose. So, my own arm brought salvation to me. My wrath upheld me. I trod down the peoples in my anger, and made them drunk in my wealth, and I poured out their life blood on the earth.”
Israel was terrified; they were staring at Edom, because are they going to attack again? They’re always coming, “I can’t get rid of them.” As they looked, they didn’t see the Edomites; they saw a person, one person coming toward them, and they said, “Who is this that comes from Edom, and why are his garments crimson, why are they stained with red?” It’s a messianic passage and is talking about Jesus. He said, “I tread the wine press alone. There was nobody to help Me; My own arm bought salvation to Me.” Isaiah 63:3, “I’ve trodden the wine press alone.” Isaiah 63:1, “Who is this guy who is coming? It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” You know who it was. It was the Lord Jesus, and I said that He is going to work this out in history. Well, there comes a day when history is finished. Let’s go to the end of the Bible where history is finished. Revelation 19:11, “I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire. On His head are many diadems. He has a name written on Him which no one knows except himself. He’s clothed with a robe dipped in blood. His name is called the Word of God. The armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean, are following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, and with it He may smite the nations. He’ll rule them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe, on His thigh, He has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
Do you see the picture? Who is this One at the end coming on a white horse, and why are His garments stained with red. He’s the One mighty to save. Do you know why He’s stained with red? It’s because He faced the enemy. And who is behind Him on horses, white horses, in pure linen, white and pure? It’s you, it’s me, it’s the believers. There’s not a drop of blood on their garments. Why? It wasn’t their war. The One from Edom, the One in crimson, the One whose garments are stained red, the One on the white horse whose name is the Word of God, The King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, that’s gone forth in battle. His garments are red, and you ride behind Him on a white horse in garments white and pure, because it’s not your battle, and it’s not my battle.
Let me describe what it looks like. 1 John 5:18, “We know that no one who is born of God sins;” you might think that’s a Christian and you are born of God, but He’s not talking about Christians. He describes it: “He who was born of God keeps Him and the evil one does not touch Him. but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch Him.” He’s talking about the sinless Son of God, “…the One begotten, born of God, keeps you, so that the devil will not touch you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:3, “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” Psalm 121:5&8, “The Lord is your keeper;…The lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever more,” and that includes your last going out, my last going out.
Thanks be to God for 2 Corinthians :14, “…who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” Satan has only one target, 2 Corinthians 10:5 describes it, we are in a battle and in a war, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, and they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, “…against the knowledge of God.” That’s all Satan ever goes after, the knowledge of God. He doesn’t go after anything else. If you are knowing Christ, He’ll go after you, because it’s all about the knowledge of Christ.
I said that He finished it on the cross, and He’s going to finish it now in your life. Listen to this verse, Romans 16:20, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” 2 Corinthians 1:10, He has delivered us, He does deliver us and we have hope that He will yet deliver us.
I want to close with one more verse and a poem. Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exalt over you with joy; He will be quiet in His love, and He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” The One in your midst is the warrior. I think you all know the poem. I didn’t write it. It was written by Martin Luther. Listen in terms of what we just heard. “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing. Our Helper, He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe, his craft and power are great, an arm with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal. Did we in our own strength confide; our striving would be losing. Were the right man not on our side, the man of God’s own choosing. You ask who that might be? Christ Jesus, it is He! Lord Sabaoth His name, from age to age the same, and He must win the battle. And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure. One little word will fell him. That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them abideth. The Spirit and the gift are ours through Him with us sided. Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life, also. The body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever.”
Father, thank You, not for what we think Your word means, but for what You’ve inspired it to mean. Thank You that you live in our hearts to deliver us from the evil one. You live in our hearts to work out the victory that You won at Calvary’s cross, right to the last enemy, right until death is swallowed up in victory, when the mortal puts on the immortal, and the perishable puts on the imperishable. That You, Lord, for such a Victor as our Lord, Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SPIRITUAL WARFARE HANDOUT
“.. the battle is not yours but God’s.”
( 2 CHRONICLES 20:15)
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING NOTES ARE MEANT TO BE SUGGESTIVE, NOT EXHAUSTIVE. THIS IS A GENERAL OVER-VIEW; THESE NOTES DO NOT ADDRESS SATAN’S CONFEDERACY WITH EVIL SPIRITS; DEMON POSSESSION; DEMON INFLUENCE; EXORCISM; THE MANY COUNTERFEITS OF TRUTH; THE LIMITS AND EXTENT OF THE ENEMY’S POWER (WEATHER? DISEASE? VISIONS AND DREAMS? CIRCUMSTANCES? MIND CONTROL OR PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS? PREDICTING THE FUTURE?) WE DO NOT ADDRESS THE SPECIFIC BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS THAT SHOW SATAN’S DIRECT INVOLVEMENT: EVE (2 CORINTHIANS 11:3); JOB (JOB 1:6-12); BALAAM (JOSHUA 13:22; REVELATION 2:14); INFLUENCING DAVID TO NUMBER THE PEOPLE (1 CHRONICLES 21:1); DESIRING TO SIFT PETER LIKE WHEAT (LUKE 22:31) ; ENTERING JUDAS (JOHN 13:2); INFLUENCING ANANIAS AND SAPHARIAH TO LIE (ACTS 5:3); AND USING ELYMAS TO TRY AND TURN PEOPLE AWAY FROM THE LORD (ACTS 13:8-10). WE ALSO DO NOT ADDRESS SATAN’S FALL OR HIS CERTAIN DOOM. OUR PURPOSE IS SIMPLY TO PROCLAIM THE LORD’S PROVISION FOR THE CHRISTIAN TO APPROPRIATE THE LORD’S VICTORY OVER THE ENEMY.
WE HAVE AN ENEMY
NAMES AND TITLES OF THE ENEMY
SATAN (LUKE 10:18); LUCIFER/DAY STAR (ISAIAH 14:12); DEVIL (MATTHEW 4:1); TEMPTER (MATTHEW 4:3); RULER OF DEMONS (MATTHEW 9:34); BEELZEBUL (MATHEW 12:24); EVIL ONE (MATTHEW 13:15); ENEMY (MATTHEW 13:39); LIAR (JOHN 8:44); FATHER OF LIES (JOHN 8:44); MURDERER (JOHN 8:44); RULER OF THE WORLD (JOHN 14:30; god OF THIS AGE (2 CORINTHIANS 4:4); DRAGON (REVELATION12:9);ANGEL OF LIGHT (2 CORINTHIANS 11:14); RULER OF THE KINGDOM OF THE AIR (EPHESIANS 2:2) ADVESARY (2 PETER 5:8); ROARING LION SEEKING TO DEVOUR(1 PETER 5:8); ANGEL OF THE ABYSS (REVELATION 9:11) APOLLYON AND ABADDON (REVELATION 9:11; DRAGON (REVELATION 12:9); OLD SERPENT (REVELATION 12:9); DECEIVER OF THE WHOLE WORLD (REVELATION 12:9) ACCUSER (REVELATION 12:10); PRINCE OF THE WORLD (JOHN 12:31; MATTHEW 4:8-9; ACTS 26:18); PRINCE OVER NATIONS (DANIEL 10:13)
THE THREE-FOLD ENEMY OF THE CHRISTIAN
THE WORLD THE FLESH THE DEVIL
(1 JOHN 2:15-16) (ROMANS 7:24) (1 PETER 5:8)
THE THREE CHIEF TACTICS OF THE ENEMY
THE ENEMY IS AN ACCUSER THE ENEMY IS A DECEIVER THE ENEMY IS A TEMPTER
(REVELATION 12:10) (REVELATION 12:9) (1 CORINTHIANS 7:5)
(ZECHARIAH 3:1-7) (JOHN 8:44) (MATTHEW 4:1)
THE ENEMY IS REAL! NO WORDS CAN ESTIMATE HIS CRUELTY; HIS HOSTITILITY AGAINST THE SEED OF THE WOMAN; HIS DARING; HIS CUNNING; HIS POWER; THE NUMBER OF HIS HOST OR HIS INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD. THE ENEMY IS INVISIBLE, DOES NOT NEED SLEEP OR FOOD OR DRINK, DOES NOT GET WEARY, HAS NO PITY ON MEN, WOMEN, OR CHILDREN, AND RELIES ON MORE THAN 6, OOO YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN HIS SCHEMES TO CORRUPT AND DESTROY THE SEED OF THE WOMAN. APART FROM UNION WITH CHRIST AND VIEWING THE FACTS FROM THE LEVEL OF THE EARTH ONLY, IT MUST BE ADMITTED THAT THE FORCES OF THE ENEMY ARE OVERWHELMINGLY SUPERIOR IN NUMBER, WISDOM, VIGILENCE AND MIGHT.
WE HAVE A PROBLEM
THE DESCRIPTIONS OF OUR WARFARE PRO0VE WE ARE IN A WAR
THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE (2 CORINTHIANS 10:3-5); THE ARMOR (EPHESIANS 6:11-17); THE FIGHT OF FAITH (1 TIMOTHY 6:12); WRESTLING (EPHESIANS 6:12); A LAW WARING IN OUR MEMBERS (ROMANS 7:23); RESIST THE DEVIL (JAMES 4:7); THE GATES OF HELL NOT ABLE TO PREVAIL AGAINST THE CHURCH (MATTHEW 16:18); BE VIGILENT (1 PETER 5:8); SATAN AS DEVOURING LION SEEKING TO DESTROY US (1 PETER 5:8); SOLDIERS OF JESUS CHRIST (2 TIMOTHY 2:3)
SPIRITUAL WARFARE IS REAL! THE CONFLICT IS NOT AN ELECTIVE! EVER SINCE MAN FELL INTO SIN, THERE HAS BEEN AN ALL OUT OFFENSIVE WARFARE BETWEEN THE SEED OF THE WOMAN AND THE SEED OF THE SERPENT.
WE ARE BORN AN ENEMY OF GOD AND UNDER JUDGMENT
WE MUST BE BORN AGAIN (JOHN 3:3); THERE IS NONE GOOD (ROMANS 3:10-18); ALL HAVE SINNED (ROMANS 3:23); WE WERE BORN, DEAD IN SIN AND SEPERATED FROM THE LIFE OF GOD AND WITHOUT HOPE (EPHESIANS 2:1-2; 2:12); IN OUR FLESH THERE IS NO GOOD THING (ROMANS 7:18) WE ARE BORN UNDER CONDEMNATION (JOHN 3:18); NO PARTIALITY WITH GOD, ALL ARE GUILTY (ROMANS 2:11); WE ARE BORN IN SIN (PSALM 51:5); WE ARE UNCLEAN (ISAIAH 64:6); WE ARE BY NATURE, CHILDREN OF WRATH (EPHESIANS 2:3)
WE HAVE NO NATURAL ABILITY TO OVERCOME THE ENEMY
WE ARE HELPLESS (ROMANS 5:6); OUR HEART IS A DECEITFUL HEART (JEREMIAH 17:9); THE GOD OF THIS WORLD HAS BLINDED MINDS OF UNBELIEVERS (2 CORINTHIANS 4:4) WE NEED TO BE RESCUED FROM THE DOMAINE OF DARKNESS (COLOSSIANS 1:13); WE ARE BOUND BY THE “STRONG MAN (LUKE 11:21); SATAN DESIRES TO SIFT US LIKE WHEAT (LUKE 22:31-32); WE ARE NATURALLY RELATED TO OUR FATHER, THE DEVIL (JOHN 8:44)
WE HAVE A PROBLEM INDEED. WE ARE BORN IN SIN UNDER THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT OF A HOLY GOD; WE ARE HOPELESSLY SUBJECT TO LIVE UNDER SATAN’S DOMINION IN HIS KINGDOM. APART FROM THE LORD’S DELIVERANCE, WE WILL DIE IN OUR SIN. NO AMOUNT OF HUMAN RESISTANCE OR WORKS WILL AVAIL IN THE CONFLICT. WE ARE HOPELESSLY HELD UNDER THE WRATH OF AN OFFENDED GOD BY AN ENEMY WHO WILL NEVER VOLUNTARILY RELEASE US. WE MUST BE RESCUED! WE MUST BE SAVED! WE MUST BE DELIVERED! A STRONGER THAN THE STRONG MAN MUST SET US FREE! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!
WE HAVE A MEDIATOR
HE ONLY HAD TO DIE ONCE TO TAKE AWAY SINS FULLY AND FOREVER
HE DIED TO SIN ONCE (ROMANS 6:10; THIS HE DID ONCE (HEBREWS 7:27); THE PURPOSE OF HIS APPEARANCE WAS TO PUT AWAY SIN (HEBREWS 9:26); CHRIST OFFERED ONCE TO BEAR THE SINS OF MANY (HEBREWS 9:28); SANCTIFIED, ONCE FOR ALL (HEBREWS 10:10); CHRIST ONCE SUFFERED, THE JUST FOR THE UNJUST (1 PETER 3:18); WHO CAN LAY ANYTHING TO THE CHARGE OF GOD’S ELECT? (ROMANS 8:33-34); THROUGH HIM, FORGIVENESS (ACTS 13:38-39); INIQUITIES HE REMEMBERS NO MORE (HEBREWS 8:12) OTHER SCRIPTURES SHOWING HE WILLINGLY GAVE HIS LIFE AS A SACRIFICE (EPHESIANS 5:21; GALATIANS 2:20; EPHESIANS 5:2; REVELATION 1:5 AND JOHN 10:11-12)
THE LORD JESUS SINGLEHANDEDLY DEFEATED THE ENEMY ON THE CROSS
ONE GOD AND MEDIATOR (1 TIMOTHY 2:5); NO OTHER NAME BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED (ACTS 4:12); WHILE WE WERE SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US (ROMANS 5:8); THE PURPOSE OF HIS APPEARANCE WAS TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL (1 JOHN 3:8); TO RENDER POWERLESS THE DEVIL (HEBREWS 2:14-15); NOW, RULER OF THE WORLD CAST OUT (JOHN 12:31); RULER OF WORLD JUDGED (JOHN 12:31); DISARMED RULERS AND AUTHORITIES, HAVING TRIUMPHED OVER THEM (COLOSSIANS 2:15).
GOD COMMENDED HIS LOVE FOR US, IN THAT, WHILE WE WERE YET ENEMIES, HE DIED FOR US. THERE IS ONLY ONE SAVIOR—THE LORD JESUS. HE ALONE WAS QUALIFIED TO DEFEAT SATAN. HE DEFEATED THE ENEMY BY WILLINGLY OFFERING HIMSELF AS A SACRIFICE TO ATONE FOR OUR SIN. NO ENEMY TOOK HIS LIFE. HE GAVE IT; HE LAID IT DOWN WILLINGLY; WHEN THE ENEMY, EARTH, HELL, AND HEAVEN GANGED UP AGAINST HIM, HE DID NOT BACK DOWN BUT FOUGHT AND WON . EARTH’S RULERS; HER KINGS, AND PRIESTS, AND SOLDIERS, AND MALEFACTORS; HER JEWS AND GENTILES; EVEN NATURE SEEMED TO JOIN IN THE CONFLICT—THE FOREST PROVIDED WOOD FOR THE CROSS; THE CURSE OF THORNS WAS WRAPPED AROUND HIS HEAD; BITTERNESS WAS MINGLED IN VINEGAR AND GALL AND LIFTED TO HIS LIPS: ADD TO THAT HELL’S FURY AGAINST HIM AND HEAVEN’S GOD FORSAKING HIM—HE DIED VICTORIOUS. HE DID NOT DIE SUBDUED! HE SATISFIED GOD’S EXTREME JUSTICE AND ENDURED SATAN’S EXTREME INJUSTICE. THE LORD JESUS SINGLEHANDEDLY DEFEATED THE ENEMY ON THE CROSS. THAT WAS WARFARE INDEED!
WE HAVE VICTORY IN JESUS
THE BATTLE WAS HIS ON THE CROSS; THE BATTLE IS HIS NOW, IN OUR HEARTS
WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERERS IN HIM (ROMANS 8:37); HE HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD (JOHN 16:33); HE GIVES US THE VICTORY (1 CORINTHIANS 15:57); HE PROTECTS FROM EVIL (2 THESSALONIANS 2:3); OUR FAITH IN HIM IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD (1 JOHN 5:4-5); THE LAMB CONQUERS (REVELATION 17:14); WE OVERCOME BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB (REVELATION 12:11); HE PUTS ENMITY BETWEEN US AND THE ENEMY (GENESIS 3:15); DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY (1 CORINTHIANS 15:54) THE GATES OF HELL WILL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST THE CHURCH (MATTHEW 16:18); GREATER IS HE IN US THAN HE IN THE WORLD (1 JOHN 4:4); WHEN WE SUBMIT TO GOD, SATAN FLEES (JAMES 4:7); THE BATTLE IS NOT OURS BUT GOD’S (2 CHRONICLES 20:15); THE LORD IS A MAN OF WAR (EXODUS 15:3); THE LORD. . .HE WILL SAVE (ZEPHANIAH 3:17);THE LORD FIGHTS. . .TO SAVE (DEUTERONOMY 20:4); GIVE HELP, FOR VAIN IS THE HELP OF MAN (PSALM 60:11-12); VICTORY BELONGS TO THE LORD (PROVERBS 21:31) AND MANY OTHER PASSAGES.
WE ARE AS HELPLESS TO CONFRONT THE ENEMY NOW THAT WE ARE CHRISTIANS AS WE WERE BEFORE WE WERE SAVED. THE ONE WHO DIED AS OUR SUBSTITUTE ON THE CROSS TO WIN OUR VICTORY, NOW LIVES IN OUR HEARTS TO GIVE US CONTINUAL VICTORY. OURS IS A FIGHT OF FAITH AND FAITH NEEDS AN OBJECT. CHRIST, THE VICTOR, IS THE OBJECT OF OUR FAITH. ALLOWING CHRIST TO FIGHT THE ENEMY AS OUR SUBSTITUTE GURANTEES THAT WE WILL HAVE VICTORY FROM THE PRESENT MOMENT UNTIL SATAN IS CRUSHED UNDER OUR FEET (ROMANS 16:20) AND THE LAST ENEMY, DEATH, IS FINALLY DESTROYED (1 CORINTHIANS 15:26). OUR WARFARE IS HIS WARFARE!