Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare

The Origins

A war is being conducted in the spiritual realm – this Spiritual Warfare is being waged on mankind by the forces of evil led by the enemy of mankind, Satan, who, in the Bible, has over 30 designations (names).

These names include Abaddon (‘destruction’); Accuser; Adversary; Can appear as an Angel of Light; Apollyon ‘destroyer’; Beelzebub (‘Ruler’); Deceiver; the Devil; the Great Dragon; Evil One; Father of Lies (Liar); Lucifer; Murderer; Power (Ruler) of the Darkness; Ruler of this world; Serpent of Old; Fallen Star; Tempter; Thief.

I mention ‘the beginning’ in the next paragraph. To many people the story of the first man and woman in the Garden of Eden is a myth. Having studied the alternative version of how it all began, I find that I don’t have enough faith to believe it all just formed out of some primeordeal soup, not to mention that to prove a theory, the experiment has to be repeated. No-one was there in the beginning and the establishment of our Earth cannot be repeated. Even if it is just a story, the scene in the garden is a plausible metaphor of where the evil is coming from and who’s responsible.

From the beginning this Evil One has been lying, stealing and murdering. He has been deceiving mankind with every weapon in his armoury, doing everything he possibly can to keep people from finding the truth and to keep the Christian population from being an effective witness. ‘The Devil made me do it’ is an excuse for when we do something wrong, but have you ever wondered where then constant chatter is coming from, trying to convince you that right is wrong and wrong is right? It’s usually depicted as a little cartoon devil on one shoulder whispering in your ear and an angel on the other shoulder trying to persuade you to do the right thing.

Spiritual Warfare

The Weapons of Our Warfare

There are plenty of references in the Bible showing how we are to fight in the war. There is a contemporary song which has the words ‘this is how I fight my battles.’ The second pat of the song declares that ‘it may look as if I’m surrounded (by the enemy, the forces of evil) but I’m surrounded by you.’ There is a story in the Old Testament that illustrates this in 2 Kings 6. It shows that even when we think the battle is lost we remember that we have a Father who is fighting for us.

It was a time when the King of Aram was at war with Israel. He made plans to set up an ambush at a certain place, but it was revealed to Elisha the prophet who warned the King of Israel. This happened several times until the king decided to plug the leak and take Elisha out. He found out where Elisha was and surrounded the place. Elisha’s servant was afraid when he saw the Aramean army, but Elisha simply told his servant that they were in the majority. He prayed that the servant would have his eyes opened to see what the reality was. The servant immediately saw that horses and chariots of fire, God’s army, surrounded the enemy.

What this says to those in the battle is that we are never outnumbered, be still and know that I am God sort of approach.

There is a parallel spiritual realm beyond the physical world we live in. In my first novel, ‘Six Against the Darkness, the Coming of the Light’, the main character is a teenage girl who is able to see into this world and all its darkness. The story relates how she leads a chosen force against the demons who have infested her hometown of Norhaven.

It is fantasy but the weapons they use are those listed in Ephesians 6. St Paul, who wrote the letter, makes it plain that spiritual warfare is not a struggle against flesh and blood but against powers, rulers and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Spiritual opponents can only be defeated using spiritual weapons. Because we are always under attack, we need to be constantly alert because the enemy is always scheming. Certain qualities named in the individual pieces of armour are needed if we are to succeed:

• Truth (the belt) Satan is the father of lies – don’t be taken in by those lies. Stick to what you know is true;

• Righteousness (breastplate), Be in right standing with the God. This alone would take another blog if not a small volume;

• Readiness (the shoes). Be alert to the devil’s tricks/schemes. He does prowl around looking for someone to devour. Don’t be the Devil’s dinner.

• Faith (the shield) The constant chatter that can be so annoying comes at you like fiery darts or flaming arrows. Faith in God’s presence and protection quenches these darts so that they do no harm.

• Salvation (the helmet) Salvation gives you the protection you need from any possibly harmful sights, sounds or conversations what you might see, hear or say.

• Sword (the word of God) The only offensive weapon. There’s no use complaining that you don’t know what God is saying to you. If you have a Bible or a Bible app, that’s what he’s saying.

Whether we like it or not, we are all involved in the great cosmic battle that is Spiritual Warfare. Using the weapons that have been made available to us, we can be assured of victory.

#writingchristianfiction #philipsbaker #sixagainstthedarkness #ChristianFriendlyYABooks #spiritualwarfare