Be Alert to Spiritual Warfare Part 1

26 Sep Be Alert to Spiritual Warfare Part 1

Blog Series

Moving from Checkers to Chess

Five Steps to Unleashing the Power of an Eternal Perspective

Last week we looked at the final issue in Step 3 to Unleashing the Power of an Eternal Perspective, and we are now ready to dive into:
Step 4: You Must Fight the Invisible.

As you have probably come to expect, there is more than one issue Christians must be attuned to in “fighting the invisible.” We must:

1. Be alert to Spiritual Warfare
2. Put on Spiritual Armor
3. Resist the Enemy

Let’s dig into Part 1 of becoming “Alert to Spiritual Warfare.”

There is an invisible world that is just as real as the visible world

In the room you are in right now there are television signals, radio signals, Wi-Fi signals, smart phone signals. As we sit here, we can’t see them, hear them, touch them, taste them, or smell them. We have no capacity within our five senses to know that the electronic signals are in the air.

But if I have the right device, I could turn on a television show, a radio show, connect to the Internet, or ask Siri what the weather is going to be tomorrow. And, it’s not magic. It’s electrical airwaves. The fact that we cannot perceive them with our five senses has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that they are all here, right now, in the room with you. Most of us don’t have any idea how it all works. We just accept it and move on from there.

In the same way, while the Bible does not say as much, it is likely that there may be angels and demons in the room with us right now. Demons to look for opportunities to deceive, distract and defeat us, and angels to protect us. We cannot see them, hear them, touch them, taste them, or smell them. But the fact that we cannot perceive them with our five senses has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that they may likely all be here, right now, in the room with you.

In 2 Kings 6, the king of Aram had gotten angry with the prophet Elisha and sent horses and chariots and a great army to the town of Dothan to capture him. They came by night and surrounded the city.

In the morning, the attendant of Elisha got up early, went out and saw the army with horses and chariots circling the city. He went back to Elisha and said “Master! What shall we do?” Elisha replied: “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “Oh Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. The horses and chariots of fire were there all along, but they were invisible.

Members of the spirit world are not normally visible to members of the physical world. But just like television and radio waves and internet signals, that doesn’t mean they’re not there.

Part of cultivating a mature and complete eternal perspective includes being aware of the spirit world and accepting the reality of ongoing spiritual warfare, with demons trying to deceive, or discourage, or defeat us, and with angels here to protect us.

There are three central passages that teach us the reality of spiritual warfare

The three central passages in Scripture regarding spiritual warfare are:

1. Ephesians 6:12 “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
2. James 4:6-8 “’God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
3. 1 Peter 5:7-9 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith…”

We must accept and prepare for the reality of spiritual warfare

C.S. Lewis said, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”

Lewis also said, “Every square inch in the universe and every split second of time is claimed by God and counter claimed by Satan.”

This suggests that spiritual warfare is not occasional, but constant. One of most important mental shifts a Christian must make is the shift from living for the American Dream to fighting the spiritual battle. It is one of the major mental shifts a person must make if he/she is to have an adequate eternal perspective. To fall short on this point is to set yourself up for endless disappointment and discouragement.

Conclusion

Life is not a waltz; it’s a war. It is not a playground; it’s a battlefield! The goal is not success in the American Dream but victory in the spiritual war. And, the Christian with a mature and complete eternal perspective will live with this continuous awareness.

Next week in Part 2, we’ll look more closely at the choice before us: spiritual warfare or the American Dream. Until then, remember, “You are from God, little children and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). See you next week.

Get a Moving from Checkers to Chess At-a-Glance-Overview: Click Here

As we have been studying these concepts for quite some time (including in some prior blog series), and I am excited to now be connecting all the “moving parts” from those posts and combining them into a “spiritual game plan” in this “Moving from Checkers to Chess ~ 5 Steps to Unleashing the Power of an Eternal Perspective” series.

For an overview of the game plan, so you can see at a glance where we begin and where we’re headed, I’ve created an overview/outline you can download for free: Click Here

For the full discussion of each of the steps, begin with the first post in this series, Moving from Checkers to Chess, and then continue with the following posts thereafter.

In case you’re new here, below are two resources I’ve created for additional help in your Christian discipleship journey:

Share this Blog