Our Battle is Spiritual

12 August 2014 by Mindy Oon CM – 

 

Dr. Femi Olowo from London spoke at FGA Ipoh on the 10 of August 2014. His sermon was on Spiritual Warfare, and touched on several important points with regards to this topic.

We are engaged in Spiritual Warfare because we have an enemy. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to ‘Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

 

 

Tools of the Enemy

There are several common tools that the enemy uses to attack God’s people. First, he uses temptation. When Jesus was in the wilderness, the devil tried to tempt Him. Matthew 4:3 says ‘The temper came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God       , tell these stones to become bread”.  Secondly, he uses deceptions. 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Thus, in order to make sure that we are not deceived, we need to know what the Word of God. Third, the devil uses accusation. He accuses us day and night, just as he accused Job, saying that Job only loved God because of the blessings that God had given to him. Revelations 12:10 refers to the devil as “…. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down”.  And fourthly, our enemy causes strife, especially in families. Proverbs 6:16-19 says “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

 

Objectives of the Enemy

The objectives of our enemy is stated clearly in John 10:10 (The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full) Many of us know this verse by heart, but we do not realize that the devil is going all out to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to steal our belongings, our joy, our peace, he wants to steal the good relationships that we have. He desires that we are down with sickness and diseases, and he wants to end out life prematurely. And last but not least, the enemy wants to destroy our spiritual life, and he wants to destroy our faith in God and our destiny.

 

The Enemy’s Camp is United

Satan’s kingdom is one that is united. Matthew 12:26 says “If Satan drives our Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?” Satan was once part of God’s kingdom and he learnt organization before he fell. Ephesians 6:11-12 tells us to “Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For 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.”  Our enemy is methodological, and he has schemes to attack God’s people.

 

Our Mind is the Battlefield

 

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 tells us that “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every though to make it obedient to Christ.” In this fight, our mind is one of the keys to win the battle. We need to start pulling down strongholds, casting down imagination, casting down high ungodly concepts and casting down contrary thoughts. Remember that God is on our side, and with Him, nothing is impossible. Spiritual warfare is not one that we can avoid. Satan has his plans and is going all out to steal, kill and destroy God’s people. Thus, we need to put on the full armor of God, and start fighting the good fight of faith!