GOING DEEPER: The One Who Wars Through Us

Introduction
Today is the last message in our Going Deeper series, based on the final chapter in the book we’ve been reading together. The chapter and the message this morning is entitled The One Who Wars Through Us. It is a very important topic and one that is largely misunderstood.

Spiritual Warfare

Chris Johnson writes in the Christian Reader:

A friend of my eleven-year-old son called one day, announcing he had a problem with spiritual warfare. I asked him what I could do to help, and he replied he wanted to speak with my son, Scott. Proud that my son was being asked for spiritual advice, I later made a point to ask him how the conversation went.

"Oh, fine," Scott replied. "He just needed help getting to the next level of the 'Spiritual Warfare' Nintendo game." Chris Johnson, Britt, Minnesota. Christian Reader, "Kids of the Kingdom."

Battle imagery

There is a lot of battle imagery and language used in scripture to refer to our spiritual lives in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is a frequently recurring theme. There is a reason for that. Let’s look at one familiar passage:


Ephesians 6:11-18 (NKJV)
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—



OPS BRIEFING (Operations Briefing)

A great mistake that we could make today, and that has been made many times, is to treat this teaching as theological or theoretical. That idea couldn’t be more deadly. This is not about philosophy but is about practice. It is not about suggestion but is about survival. We would be wise to take it very seriously.

We are not distant, disinterested learners today but we are studying warfare techniques as those who are currently and actively involved in warfare. Don’t you think that should make a great difference in our attention and our application?

So, this is not a sermon today but an OPS BRIEFING (Operations Briefing). As a regular part of warfare, units will call their troops together for an OPS Briefing. That’s what we’re doing today.

Our OPS Briefing will have three parts:

- Sitrep. This is a situation report that gives the current status of things.

- Mission. A reminder of the focus and purpose of the military assignment.

- Tactical Orders. Instructions to observe for maximum effectiveness.


Let’s begin our briefing.

SITREP: (situation report)

1. Hell is at war.

They say, “War is Hell.” That may be true. It is also true that hell is at war.

There would be no need for spiritual warfare if there were no war. There is a spiritual war. Notice in verse 11 it talks about the wiles of the devil (New King James Version). The devil is wiley. It reminds me of Wile E. Coyote. He is the coyote on the Road Runner cartoons that is always trying to get the Road Runner. He is bent on that one thing. His existence is only to capture that roadrunner. He uses any devise possible, and some that take a ridiculous imagination, to capture his prey.

The devil is our Wile E. Coyote, but not so loveable. The word ‘wiles’ of the devil there means crafty, cunning, deceitful trickery. It is translated in other versions and commentaries as ‘schemes’ (ESV, NASB, NIV), ‘evil tricks’ (GNT, New Century), and ‘strategies’ (Int’l Standard Version and Wuest’s Word Studies). Like Wile E. Coyote, the devil never stops thinking up ways to capture unsuspecting people.

The book of Revelation describes this cosmic battle that began in the garden of Eden and will continue until the end of time.

Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Revelation 12:17 (NKJV)
17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The bible also tells us that we have an adversary, or enemy, who is looking for whomever he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). He is here to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). He is a murderer and the father of all lies (John 8:44). He accomplishes his mission by taking prisoners (Luke 4:18, 2 Timothy 2:26, 2 Timothy 3:6). This is why Jesus told us to pray, “Deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13).

MISSION:

Verse 13 of our passage says, “having done all, to stand.” That word ‘stand’ is actually a military term. It doesn’t mean to stand passively by, or stand still, it means specifically not to run away or retreat. It means to hang in there and not give up on the mission.

2. Liberation.

Jesus came to set the captive free (Luke 4:18, Eph 4:8). He is still doing it today, and we are called into His liberation mission. It is a rescue mission.

Freeze tag

Remember playing the game of freeze tag as a kid? The way we played it, one person was ‘it.’ That person would try to tag the other players. The slow ones usually got caught first. That was me. Once you were tagged, you had to freeze in the position that you were in when you were tagged. You couldn’t move. You were no longer free to run around in the game but became a statue. If someone who was free came along and touched you, then you were set free to join the game and you could tag others and set them free.

Our liberation mission is like that. Someone comes along with the message of Jesus and sets you free from the captivity of sin and guilt. Then you can go along and set other people free. God’s liberation force is (1) people who (2) were once captive, but now have been (3) set free.

Liberation, not occupation or domination

It is a mission of liberation, not of occupation or of domination. Our mission gets off-track when we focus on occupation or of domination. We are not staying here. This is not our home. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:3). Don’t become preoccupied with making a life for yourself here.

Don’t think Jesus came to give you power so that you could dominate or be superior to anyone else. They are not the enemy, the devil is. They are the ones in need of rescue. They are the ones that you have been called to serve.

3. Infiltration.

This liberation mission has been perfectly planned by our Commander, Jesus. It will happen through infiltration. He wants us to infiltrate the very world that the captives live in to bring the power that He has given us right to them.

Jesus in the Marketplace

Mark 6:56 (NKJV)
56 Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.

Isn’t this interesting? When people heard that Jesus was coming they brought their sick out for Him to heal them. Where did they take them? Not to a hospital. Not even to a church but to the marketplaces. Why? They knew that Jesus would be in the marketplaces and that He would heal people there.

Imagine those business owners who went to work, wanting to make a few bucks, and they saw a bunch of sick people lying around. They had to walk around and step over hurting people in the course of their day. When Jesus came by with His disciples He didn’t say, “Hey, I’ll meet you in church next Sunday and heal you.” It says, “As many as touched Him (right there in the marketplace) were made well.”

When you and I go to the marketplace, we are often walking around and stepping over hurting people. Jesus will heal people right there in the marketplace. That’s where spiritual warfare is needed. We are the delivery system to bring the power of God to the place of greatest need, like the guided missles we see on the news.


TACTICAL ORDERS:

4. Keep weapons in good order.

When I was in basic training, they drilled into your head over and over the importance of your weapon. I remember the day we went down to the armory and everyone was issued an M-16 rifle. That’s when reality set in. It was exciting but also a little bit scary.

Throughout basic training we were taught how to fire our M-16’s, how to handle them, how to clean them, and how to care for them. We were timed on how quickly we could completely unassemble and reassemble our weapons. We were taught the most important thing we carried was that weapon, because it meant the difference between life and death.

We are in a spiritual war and our weapons are spiritual weapons (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). Those spiritual weapons are exciting and also a little bit scary at times.

The whole armor of God

Two times in this passage it talks about the whole armor of God. First in verse 11 it says, “Put on the whole armor of God.” Then, in case you missed it the first time, in verse 13 it says, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God.” We think of armor as protective clothing only. This phrase literally means all the weapons of God (English word: “panoply”). There is a strong focus on completeness. In other words, don’t leave anything out. The whole armor not parts of the armor. The whole set comes together and nothing should be neglected.

In this passage there are five defensive weapons and two offensive weapons.

Defensive weapons: The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation.

Offensive weapons: The sword of the Spirit (the word of God), and praying in the Spirit.

These seven weapons, five defensive and two offensive, make up the whole armor of God. Scripture says use them all together. Don’t neglect any of your weapons. They mean the difference between life and death.

5. Keep comm (communication) lines open.

In a battle situation it is easy to see the importance of clear communication lines. If the enemy can cut off the comm lines or intercept messages, then there is confusion and the mission is in jeopardy. It is easy for me to see why praying in the Spirit is such an important part of our arsenal. Scripture says when we don’t even know how we should pray that the Spirit Himself prays through us, in words only heaven can understand (Romans 8:26-27). Praying in the Spirit also builds me up (Jude 20). This is an essential and powerful comm link with our Commander.

Conclusion
We are at war. Our mission is liberation through infiltration. To be successful we must keep our spiritual weapons in good order and keep communication lines open.

Testimony of deliverance

I received an email this week from a member of our congregation. It begins:

Hi Pastor Jim and Prayer Team, I am writing to announce my dad has stopped drinking. For over 42 years he has been an alcoholic. On June 5 my dad celebrated one full month of not drinking! He says his drinking days are over.

She also wrote this:

Do you know how else I know it's a God-thing that he has stopped drinking? I looked up the symptoms of alcohol abuse and I found all the things that my dad should be going through right now. Things like hallucinations, tremors, and physical damage to his body. After so many years of drinking, my dad is healthy, he is not experiencing any of the damage someone his age with his drinking experience should be experiencing!

God has been working greatly in this woman’s life over the last few years and is using her to infiltrate the power of God into her family. This is just one of the works of deliverance that God has been doing in her family. Her dad is now excited about reading the bible and coming to church. She says that she is now having conversations with her dad that they have never had before. She ended the email this way:

The book we are studying all fits in with what has been happening in my family. There's a story in it where Ted Roberts talks about how his son Brian was healed from horrible food allergies. It made so much sense and confirmed in my heart the miracles God has performed for my dad and my family.

God is on a deliverance mission to set the captives free. Once freed, God will empower us with spiritual weapons to bring deliverance to others. It is urgently needed. It is life or death. Will you be fully equipped for power to set captives free?