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We have been talking about the reality of spiritual warfare, and how the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world are in conflict with each other. We saw that when we do things to build God's kingdom, those same actions tear down the devil's kingdom, such as healing someone who is sick. The devil had worked hard to make that person sick so he could build a stronghold in his/her life.
When we come along and tear down the devil's stronghold by releasing God's free gift of healing, we have just attacked the devil's work. We have just taken territory away from him, and he doesn't like that. In fact, the devil doesn't like any activity that advances God's kingdom, because he looses ground anytime God's kingdom advances. So when we heal the sick, in the devil's eyes we have just attacked him--and he responds by fighting back. We call that "spiritual counter-attack."
The problem is that the devil's counter-attacks can be nasty. He doesn't really believe that he was defeated at Calvary and he is still trying to win. And the devil fights dirty...he will do whatever he can to hurt you or to take you out...after all John 10:10 says that the devil came to "steal, kill and destroy." If you attack him by "doing what the Father is doing" to advance God's kingdom, the devil will try to hurt you however he can. That is the nature of spiritual warfare.
But God doesn't want us to be taken out by the enemy's attacks. So He has given us spiritual weapons that we can use to defend ourselves, such as the spiritual armor of Ephesians 6. In addition, there are definite things we can do to prepare for the enemy's attacks so that we can win the battle.
I'd like to share 9 of those "things we can do to prepare" with you in the remaining lessons:
So, let's take a closer look at each of these. We'll cover the first one in this lesson and look at the others in subsequent lessons.
DON'T BE CAUGHT OFF GUARD, PREPARE FOR BATTLE
We have to acknowledge that there is a spiritual battle going on for people's souls, and that healing the sick and evangelism are both a part of that battle. Most of us don't think of evangelism and spreading the good news of the Gospel as a warfare activity. Then we are surprised (and often taken out) when the enemy counter-attacks us for our efforts.
We cannot allow the fact that warfare exists to sidetrack us from doing what God is doing. We cannot allow it to keep us from being His witness. Jesus commands us to be His witness in the great commission. He also commanded it in Acts 1:8-9, where He said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
You can see the reality of this command demonstrated in the Book Of Acts. It shows how warfare accompanied the "spreading of the gospel," and that warfare came in the form of enemy attacks and persecution.
For example, Peter and James were arrested and imprisoned overnight simply because the healed the lame man at the temple gate (Acts 4:3). Then in Acts 5, the early-church had the equivalent of a huge revival meeting where people were getting healed and saved left and right (Acts 5:12-16). They were thrown in jail for their activity (Acts 5:17-18), but God sent an angel to release them from prison. God sent them back out to preach again, and they were arrested a second time for the same "crime" (Acts 5:26). They were put on trial for it, where they were physically beaten and commanded not to evangelize or heal anymore (Acts 5:40). That experience was came at the hands of men, but it was really an enemy attack. It caused them physical pain and suffering, but it did not keep them from preaching the gospel, as per Acts 5:41-42. "So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ."
Along the same lines, Stephen was martyred because he was "full of faith and power, [and] did great wonders and signs among the people" (Acts 6:8). The other reason was because those disputing with him "were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke (Acts 6:10). So they falsely accused him of blasphemy and stoned him to death. What was his "crime" against the devil? He did miracles (like healing the sick) and he proclaimed the gospel. And the devil attacked him for that and took him out by having him executed.
Immediately after Stephen's death, great persecution came on the church (Acts 8). Believers lost their possessions and were forced out of their homes, but they did not stop being His witness. Acts 8:4 says, "Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word." And as a result, the church grew, even in the midst of persecution and enemy attack. One of those who was scattered was a man named Philip, who refused to be shut down by the devil's attack. He continued to do what the Father was doing; he moved in God's power and anointing to accomplish God's purposes in the midst of enemy counter-attack, and he saw results. Here is what Acts 8:6-8 says:
6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.
If you continue to read the book of Acts, you will see accounts of all sorts of enemy attack against the evangelism efforts of the early church (especially in the lives of Paul and the other early church leaders). You will also see that healing the sick and casting out demons were fundamental parts of that evangelism effort.
All of this is to demonstrate the reality of the battle. God wants us to count the cost. We need to be aware that moving in God's power and in obedience to Him yields enemy counter attacks. We must not be afraid of those attacks. We just need to be aware that they will come, and we must not allow ourselves to be caught off guard when it happens.
We must not allow the reality of the war as an excuse to disobey God's command because we hope to avoid counter-attack. That would be a very bad idea. In fact, if you do that, the enemy will probably end up attacking you anyhow, because you are still a soldier in God's army, even if you refuse to fight. If you obey God and do what He is wanting to do through you, then He is right there with you, teaching you to war and helping you overcome. But if you haven't learned how to fight because you are busy running away from God's call on your life, you will suffer much worse in that seemingly unprovoked attack--because you won't be able to defend yourself.
I am suggesting is that we prepare ourselves spiritually and mentally for this fight; that we put ourselves in a position to successfully defend ourselves against many of the enemy's attacks. We shouldn't be surprised or frightened when counter-attacks come, and we should be able to stand in God's power and authority and (most of the time) come out victorious.
We Have God's Power And Authority
God has given us two things to accomplish His purposes: His power and His authority. "Power" is the ability to do the works that Jesus did, like casting out demons, healing the sick, multiplying food and performing other miracles. We don't do these things to "look good" or to "impress people." We do them in order to advance God's kingdom and to demonstrate the reality of the gospel. And as we are use God's power to back up the message of the gospel, we also need to proclaim the good news of salvation. People will listen to (and respond to) the message of salvation because we back it up with a demonstration of the reality of God's power.
Authority, on the other hand, is about winning victory over the devil. Jesus gave us His authority over the devil in Luke 10:19 so that he is not able to harm us. In short, Jesus gave us His authority so that we could successfully fend off the enemy counter-attacks that He knew would could against us as we did with Him what the Father is doing.
We need to be balanced in our use of these things. On one hand, we don't want to just do the power stuff that advances God's kingdom and never defend ourselves from enemy attack. But on the other hand, we don't want to get so caught up on the warfare aspect that we don't do the stuff God commands us to do (be His witness, heal the sick, proclaim the gospel). We don't get want to get so focused on the devil and his activity that we stop looking to God. We need to see/sense/hear what the Father is doing and saying, then do it with Him. That is the only way to be effective.
So if we use just one or the other of power and authority, then it is like sitting in a rowboat and rowing with all of our might using just one ore. We might apply ourselves and work very hard, but we will only end up going in circles. We need to use both God's power and His authority in order to accomplish His purposes.
Along with that, we shouldn't be using either of them (power or authority) if we are not in good relationship with God. We need to be in tune with the Holy Spirit and led by Him in order to use God's power and His authority effectively. If we are estranged from God, then we can't hear the Spirit's leading and we can get ourselves in all sorts of trouble if we step out to engage the enemy. We can bring needless attack and harm on ourselves, and not be in a position to defend ourselves from it. That happens when we are not properly tapped into God to draw on His power and authority.
Peter Wagner, one of my professors from Fuller Seminary, summed it up very well. He said, "We should never engage in a level or intensity of spiritual warfare that is higher than our intimacy with God."
Let me explain what he meant: When our intimacy with God is not that well developed, we should not go out of our way to engage the devil in warfare (or go looking for battles). Instead, we should engage God, to build relationship with Him and to draw closer to Him. We need to do this because He is our source and our strength in battle. But by the same token, we must not avoid the devil and warfare as we grow in intimacy with God. If we do, we get lopsided in our walk with Him, because true intimacy with God involves "doing with Him" what He shows us that He is doing. In short, we can't have a proper relationship with God if we are so afraid of enemy counter-attack that we hold back from doing the kingdom things that God asks us to do.
We need to keep our focus on God, not on the devil. We must not cower in fear that the devil might attack us. Likewise we don't go out looking for battles that God has not called us to. Instead, we watch our Commander and Chief; we follow Him and do what He is doing. When the attacks to come, then we fight in His authority, using the tools and weapons that He as given us and fully expecting to overcome and win.