The battle we are talking about here is a spiritual battle that cannot be seen with our natural eyes. This is not a war between adverse countries that we see with our own eye’s breakout from time to time between flesh and blood, but this is an invisible war between good and evil. This war for our soul is in the spirit realm where there exist good forces represented by Father God (our creator), His Son Jesus (our savior), the Holy Spirit (our comforter), and their holy angels. The evil forces are represented by Satan (our enemy), his fallen angels, and demonic spirits. The bible tells us that we do NOT wrestle with flesh and blood but with demonic spirits and powers of darkness as revealed in Ephesians 6:12, “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.” Satan is not a red cartoon figure with horns and a pitchfork or a figment of our imagination that is ruling over hell. Satan and his evil dominions are very real and are not in hell but are roaming the earth as we read in Job 1:6-7, “Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ ” Satan is portrayed as a roaring lion traveling the earth pursuing prey as his victims as stated in 1 Peter 5:8-9, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” He seeks to steal, kill, and destroy us – John 10:8. Satan is an immensely powerful and deceptive being that appears as an angel of light as explained in 2 Corinthians 11:14, “…For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” Many times, we receive an attack or experience being trapped by darkness before we realize that Satan has ensnared us by our sins or temptations. Often, he sneaks in without a trace because he is more cunning than any other creature as we read in Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.” With his wicked and deceitful schemes, he was able to delude a third of heaven’s angels to follow him in this rebellion against God, his creator – Revelation 12:4. Satan, who was first known as Lucifer, was created by God as a perfect angelic and spiritual being for the purpose of serving God until sin was found in him as explained in Ezekiel 28:12-15, “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.” Satan ended up falling from heaven because he was filled with pride in thinking he could become like the Most High God as stated in Isaiah 14:12-15, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.” Satan, the serpent, sinned at the beginning of creation in the garden of Eden – Genesis 3:1-24.
So how do we prepare for this unseen spiritual battle? How do we fight against the evil forces of darkness? The apostle Paul tells us we must put on the full armor of God to stand against the wicked schemes of the devil – Ephesians 6:11. This is not a simple task for Christians to perform for if it were, we would all do it. First and foremost, everyday when we wake up to a fresh new day, we must choose whom we will serve, God or the world? – Joshua 24:15. For Jesus tells us that we cannot serve two masters and we must choose as we read in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” We cannot have fellowship with both God and the world – 1 Corinthians 10:21. The apostle John tells us to NOT love the things of this world since they are not from God. For if we desire the things of this world then God does NOT live in us as stated in 1 John 2:15-16, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” If we live in this world with fleshy desires, then we are blinded by the enemy who is the god of this world – John 12:31, John 14:30, Ephesians 2:2-3, 2 Corinthians 4:4. The devil is the father of all lies and deception – John 8:44. We are called to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh as explained in Galatians 5:16-18, “…Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” For our citizenship is not of this world but is in heaven with our Lord – Philippians 3:20. When we become born again Christians we are new creatures in Christ by carrying out the will of God the Father as Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” In order to truly fulfill God’s will in our lives, Jesus tells us that we must deny ourselves by putting Him first as we read in Mark 12:30, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.” This is the most important commandment. If we struggle or stumble with following through on this vital instruction, then we will struggle on everything else including being clothed with the full armor of God. For its not the armor of men but the supernatural armor of God. Therefore, our walk with God through His Son Jesus must be rock solid. This requires praying and reading God’s word daily by being a doer of His word and commandments while not letting worldly distractions prevail. Being baptized with the Holy Spirit (helper/comforter) comes with God’s power, love, and truth, and not of fear – 2 Timothy 1:7. Jesus tells us of what we are like if we carry out His will versus doing nothing as stated in Luke 6:47-49, “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
When we carry out God’s commandments and His will for us for furthering His kingdom, we are in the battle of spiritual warfare. We are true soldiers for Christ and deny ourselves by following Him – Matthew 16:24-27, Mark 8:34-38, Luke 9:23-27. Being on the frontlines of this spiritual battle, we are met with major evil resistance and temptations from the enemy. The bible tells us that following Jesus will not be easy, and we will endure trials and tribulations for Christ’ sake and the gospel’s sake as Christ also suffered. We are guaranteed to experience opposition from the evil one as a true soldier of Christ where our faith and Christian walk will be tested. We must walk in the light and let our light shine in this dark and lawless world – Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 5:8-14, 1 John 1:5-7. If we say we are a follower of Jesus but deny Him with our actions, He will deny us – Luke 9:26. As a result, we will not be a soldier for Christ and will more than likely not experience spiritual warfare nor resistance since the enemy will have us right where he wants us as being a follower of the world instead of a true follower of Christ. We will be considered as dead Christians. Jesus tells us that the path to heaven is a narrow and difficult path that only a few will find it as we read in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” We will all appear before Jesus at His great white throne judgement as explained in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” If we endure as a soldier for Christ, we will also live and reign with Him as Paul explained in 2 Timothy 2:3-13, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also, if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” As we follow and proclaim Jesus to the world, the world will hate us since it also hated Jesus first – John 15:18-19. We can stand because Jesus provided us with comforting words, that He will always be with us in Spirit until the end of time – Matthew 28:20.
Therefore, we must keep the faith while remaining holy before our Lord so that we will be counted worthy to soon experience our blessed hope of the Lord’s return (rapture) and escape the coming great tribulation – Luke 21:36, Titus 2:13. We must continue fighting the good fight of faith by our continued walk with the Lord Jesus – 1 Timothy 6:12. Daily, we must be equipped with God’s full armor for protection against the evil one as revealed in Ephesians 6:13-18, “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. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which, you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” For greater is He who lives in me than he that is in the world – 1 John 4:4.
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Do you know where you will spend eternity after you die on earth? Will Jesus be your Lord and Savior or your eternal judge – John 3:15-21, Romans 2:16, 2 Timothy 4:1? Jesus says He is the narrow gate to heaven where it is difficult to find and only a few will enter by it where many will enter the easy, wide and broad gate that leads to Hell and destruction – Matthew 7:13-14. Will you experience the second eternal death (spiritual death) – Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:6, Revelation 21:8? Do you know for sure that you are written in the eternal Lamb’s Book of Life – Revelation 3:5, Revelation 20:12-15? The place called Hell is NOT a myth and is very real and an extremely scary place – Watch this Video!
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