The Weapons of our Warfare – Tactics 7 – Our Armour part 3

Full discussion here https://youtu.be/Z4hMWC_62v0

Where does the wrestling take place and against whom? v.12

We considered that the principle place is our minds. Our enemy always needs a landing pad and we often provide a landing pad by the things that are in our intrinsic weaknesses like anxiety or fear. Everything around us that’s material is obvious but our minds and the Heavenly realms are invisible and we’re not that familiar with how things work

Some landing pads

• do things in My Own Strength – picture a box of tools and a manual of instructions. Our natural capabilities are the tools but the manual of instructions actually is God and His will, of course revealed through His Word. How often do we just get on using the tools without the checking the manual first because, hey, it’s easy! I know what to do and we just plow ahead. We need to recognize that we’ve been given these abilities, which may be spiritual gifts as well, but they are ineffective unless we look to God to help us to deploy them for His glory. Otherwise we end up picking up these tools and make a lot of noise and even do damage to others or ourselves from what we’re trying to fix in the first place
• trying to impress others (humility is the secret!)
• when you’ve been hurt badly hurt or let down and the wound is not entirely healed you may say or you’ve forgiven everybody and but it’s not necessarily forgotten and that’s a sensitive area
• rejection – people who’ve suffered serious rejection in their life see every time they’re not chosen to do something as rejection
• self-pity. which can be the result of being hurt or rejected, or result from criticism and anger against someone else
• unforgiveness

How to deal with some of these? Let go of the resentment that you’re holding against the other person; let them out of the prison of your unforgiveness! Although you think you’ve got them in a prison, you haven’t got them in a prison because they don’t think they’ve done anything wrong. You were the one that was in the prison by holding on to the unforgiveness and the resentment

We then went on to discuss the difficulty of discerning God’s will.

When we have to make decisions about which way to go, what to do, and we feel that we are being blocked in some way, at times it’s hard to know whether this is God stopping us doing something because it’s not the right time or whether this is the enemy stopping. The devil obstructs so it’s knowing whether it’s the Lord closing the door or the devil trying to.

But you do have to proceed down one route or another! If you’ve got a genuine heart after the Lord, you love the Lord, you want to follow the Lord, and you do start going down a path that’s wrong, you have to trust that He will close the door on it

The enemy forces we battle against

‘flesh and blood’ is not our enemy – it is our mission field! We are to pray for, and love, our enemies, but wrestle with the powers that control them! We need to be discerning about these spiritual powers because they can appear to be godly at times, especially when someone prefaces their statement with phrase like “God is saying”, which allows no argument! We need to discern as it’s possible that these are “false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” 2 Cor. 11:13-14

4 spiritual elements

Not explained, simply stated here. But elsewhere we learn:

• principalities arche – idea of first or chief in order, time, place or rank (often translated ‘beginning’ as in John 1:1). They were created by Jesus Col. 1:16 (also powers below) and He is head over them Col. 2:10 (also powers below); He defeated them at the Cross Col. 2:15 and has been exalted above them Eph. 1:21 (also power below). He is demonstrating His wisdom to them through the church Eph. 3:10 (also power below) and maybe that is partly due to us being subject to earthly principalities Titus. 3:1 (also powers below)
• powers exousia privilege, delegated authority, jurisdiction or strength. Used by Jesus in casting out evil spirits and was delegated by Jesus to the Disciples at various times. Human govt. power is delegated by God to Human rulers, to whom we are to be subject Rom. 13:1-3 In resurrection all power was committed to Jesus Matt. 28:18, and He will eventually deliver it all up to God the Father 1 Cor. 15:24.
  It is used of our privileges in Christ John 1:12, Rev. 21:14
  Our enemy is currently the prince of the power of the air Eph. 2:2 and his dominion is call the power of darkness in Col 1:13, but our Lord Jesus has been exalted above them all 1 Pet. 3:22, where it is translated authorities, with another word dunamis translated as powers there
• rulers kosmokrator a world ruler – only here in NT
• darkness skotos shadiness, obscurity therefore darkness – 2 Cor. 6:14; Eph. 5:8; Col. 1:13. We have been called out of it 1 Pet. 2:9
• spiritual pneumatikos non-carnal – describes our blessings Eph. 1:3 and our praises and service Eph. 5:19; Col 3:16 1 Pet. 2:5. Here describes wickedness
• heavenlies epouranios above the sky, celestial – our Father  Matt. 18:35; the Lord’s teachings John 3:12; the location of our blessings Eph. 1:3 and our calling Heb. 3:1, and our eventual eternal home Heb, 12:22; where Christ is seated Eph. 1:20 and therefore where we are seated Eph. 2:6; where the principalities and power are located to whom Jesus is demonstrating His wisdom in the Church
  The heavenlies are all around us but in a different dimension. It’s a dimension that we can’t penetrate with our bodies; something you can’t see but it’s actually all around you – but in that sense you can’t see and we said earlier your mind you can’t see so your mind is in the heavenlies; your mind is being influenced as that’s where all these powers are operating – in the atmosphere around us
• “spiritual wickedness” is like someone’s injected a poisoned gas into the air you’re living in it; the spiritual heavenlies within which we live and the spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies which is around us and these two things are present at the same time

Jesus has defeated them all and now holds all power (Matt. 28:18-20). As with Job, when God limited satan’s actions against Job, they only have limited power, although they will try to convince you otherwise!

What is the difference between standing and withstanding? v.13

These forces target us relentlessly but we can’t blame them for all our sins! James 1:14; Gal. 5:16ff but we withstand them when we stand our ground, oppose, resist, confront. We’re not to go out looking for trouble and battles – the trouble will come to us! We withstand when the enemy keeps coming at us, maybe from different angles.

The Scriptures encourage us to be steadfast, established, not blown about by the  schemes of the enemy (Eph. 4:14), described as devices or purposes in 2 Cor. 2:11, seen in the schemes of men Eph. 4:14 against which we don’t argue, but simply stand firm and live the life 1 Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 2:24-26; James 3:17.