“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh; (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (II Corinthians 10:3-4)
Near to the closing of his final letter to the church at Corinth, the great Apostle Paul gave some sobering advice. He reminded them that their quest for eternal life was not going to be easy. Instead of using a “bless-me” philosophy, Paul spoke the plain, simple truth that the church is called by God to a battle, indeed the battle of the ages. Notice how he phrased it, “...though we walk in the flesh, we do not WAR in the flesh. (v.3)
In other words, our battle is not a conversational one, its not the battle of church business meetings or even councils such as the General Assembly of the saints....rather it is a conflict that is absolutely fought in the spiritual realm.
It seems that so much of our time these days is spent on conflict resolution, on “dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s,” on making sure we all understand the exact meaning of a particular word...whether it is a noun or a verb, an adjective or a dangling participle.
Now, don’t get me wrong in what I’m saying...I do believe that we need to communicate clearly, and I still hold that the Bible is our only rule of faith, practice, government and discipline. It is an absolute must that we rightly divide the word of truth. (cf. Hebrews 4:12) Holding God’s word up to reveal His will to us so that we might walk in it.
I’m just saying that behind every conflict, there is a spiritual “tug of war” taking place. Principalities, powers and rulers of darkness are waging war with the angels of heaven in a realm that is unseen by the natural eye, but is very much played out in this visible world!
We often blame it on personality differences, or on cultural misunderstandings, but the truth is WE ARE AT WAR! In fact, Jesus even said it this way; “...the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12b)
The battle rages all around us....it plays out in many ways, most noticeable is when it is a POWER struggle. Now it might manifest itself over a disagreement on whether the church carpet should be blue or gold or mauve, or whether the church should have a keyboard or a traditional organ, whether we should sing from the hymnals or from projected words on the screen. These types of struggles will then spread to the finance, holding tithes and offerings back from the work of the Lord, then spiraling downward into name-calling and outright division in the church.
Now you might think I’m crazy, but I have to tell you, I’ve seen it first hand. Behind the POWER struggle is the struggle for CONTROL. Once this is clearly understood it can be battled effectively. How? I think the Scripture again gives us the answer.
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 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, and watching thereunto will all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” (Ephesians 6:13-18)
Each and every element of our spiritual tools described in the book of Ephesians is ABSOLUTELY necessary. You cannot take only one element of the armor to win this war. You must take it all!
It must be put on as a daily preparation for battle. Fought out through prayer, study and meditation of the Scriptures, faith-filled declarations of your position in Christ and then walking humbly before the Lord, covered and empowered by His grace. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
You can do it! You can overcome the devil! You can overcome the slander and the accusations of “...the accuser of the brethren.” (Revelation 12:10)
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the devil. For we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ” (Ephesians 6:10-12)
As the old preacher once said, “I’ve read the back of the book....and we WIN!
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