The Weapons of our Warfare

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (NKJV) ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,

This week our discussion has been on the full armor of God and spiritual warfare. We have been looking at how these things apply to living our Christianity from a position of strength. Walking in strength is one of the factors that can lead to favor coming upon us.

The full armor of God will help us stand against the wiles or plans of the devil. Our adversary is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The devil does come against us in frontal assaults. He is like a lion. Cats of all kinds stalk their prey. The word “wiles” implies this kind of action by the devil against us. I believe it is within our power to tell the devil, “You may not devour me.” James 4:7 tells us if we resist this “phony lion”, he will flee from us.

I heard a story from a man who had been a game warden in a wildlife preserve in Kenya. He said they were taught that if a lion should attack them and he was about to bite, they should grab his tongue and pull on it. Apparently, lions do not like having their tongues pulled and the wardens were told that the lion would leave them and run away. This game warden had not been required to try this tactic and was not in any hurry to do so.

I have no idea if this would work with a lion, but I like the picture it presents for our adversary who Peter tells us is like a roaring lion. When the devil roars his lies, grab his tongue and start quoting the Word of God to him. That is one way in which we resist him. The Word of God is one of the offensive aspects of our armor. Instead of taking what he has to say and believing it, take the Word of God and begin to resist him. James says he will flee from you. Just like a real lion, he does not like to have his tongue pulled.

In weeks to come I will talk about the various weapons available to us in the full armor of God. Today I want to look at the verse quoted above. Ephesians 6:12 tells us something about the enemy the armor was designed to defeat.

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

We cannot be successful in our warfare if we do not know the enemy. One of the devil’s favorite tactics is to make people doubt his existence. Although there is a great deal of interest in the supernatural today, just ask an unsaved friend if he believes in a real devil. He will probably tell you that you are being silly. The idea that there is a spirit being that is the source of all evil is considered foolish.

The idea of casting out devils is considered a wrongheaded response to psychological problems. Only the naive and backward would do such a thing. Jesus cast out devils. They exist and they can be dealt with. However, Satan is quite comfortable being seen as a cartoon character that does not really exist. You will not fight against a cartoon character.

Satan would much rather you saw his opposition as luck, astrology or karma. Sometimes things that happen to us are just the product of bad decisions or the ebb and flow of life. Nevertheless, the devil does exist and his influence is behind most of the negative we see happening in the world around us. Paul makes it very clear that we wrestle against the forces of this evil army.

Peter says specifically that our adversary is the devil. We have seen this week from Daniel that there are real spiritual forces at work against the will of God in the earth today. The full armor of God is not given to us to protect ourselves from flesh and blood. It is to be used in warfare against our designated enemy.

Tragically, the church has been deceived into thinking that people are the enemy. We should do our political duty, but our enemy is not a political party. Many marriages have ended in ruin because believing people allow themselves to think that their spouse is the enemy. One partner or the other may well be at fault in a marriage. If that spouse will not repent of sin, there can be valid reasons for divorce. My 35 years of experience as a pastor tells me that most often the problem is simply a failure to identify the enemy.

One of the reasons this kind of deception is so effective is our tendency to discount the power of spiritual weapons. We can see the flesh enemy. We can feel the emotions that come from attacks by flesh and blood. We can blame the employer or the government for our economic situation because we can see them and hear them. It feels like we must deal with them in order to overcome the circumstance. It is hard to see that spiritual weapons will do any good. That is exactly the conclusion to which the devil wants you to come

Paul tells us our fight is not with flesh and blood. Peter tells us our adversary is the devil. In today’s verse, Paul gives us something else we need to believe. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they are powerful. We need to believe that and make use of the power of these weapons.

There are times when we must take some kind of physical action. In personal situations, decisions have to made and acted upon. In the political realm, we must vote, run for office or even take to the streets to express our beliefs. In ministry, there are times when we need to preach, pray for the sick or testify to the unsaved. However, even when we take such actions this is not where the battles are won. These actions should be a result of our warfare, not the warfare itself. If we understand this truth, the actions we take will be much more affective.

The weapons we have are not used in the flesh but in the spirit. We use them in prayer and worship. We apply them as we walk by faith and praise God in all things. These things can often seem powerless to our natural mind but Paul tells us they are mighty. Every time we make use of them they are putting pressure on strongholds in the spirit. If we keep the pressure on, the strongholds will fall.

Jesus had no power in the natural. He had no army, no political strength and in the end only 11 disciples who stayed with him. After the resurrection, 500 people were invited to the upper room to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Only 120 came. With no natural strength at all those 120 spiritual warriors turned the world upside down. They used the spiritual weapons of warfare to pull down strongholds.

You have mighty weapons at your disposal. Use them. The devil will tell you that prayer is doing no good. He will tell you that it is foolish to praise and thank God when you see no change in your situation. He will try to make you focus on flesh and blood as your enemy. Do not fall for his wiles. He is a liar and the father of lies. The spiritual weapons you use are working right now to bring about the changes you need. They may take time. You need to be consistent and persistent. Do not give up! Strongholds are coming down as we wield our mighty spiritual weapons.

Practical Wisdom from the Word of God

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