Spiritual Warfare

As we approach the end of the ‘church age’ (the true blood bought born again believers in Jesus Christ) will be and are now facing “perilous times”. While the church is not appointed to wrath 1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, and will be called up in the rapture 1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

These “perilous times” of the “last days” will become an assault upon the church, and a dark and sinful time for mankind. 2Ti 3:1-5 1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection,trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,4Traitors, heady,highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

I believe that in these perilous times of the last days we will experience an increase in demonic activity and paranormal events. This belief is not without doctrinal support. 1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Some key points in this verse are the “spirit speaketh expressly” this is the Holy Spirit speaking distinctly that some will depart from the faith giving heed to “seducing spirits” not seducing men, but seducing spirits. The Spirit that speaketh expressly is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is always singular. The seducing spirits spoken of are evil spirits and the doctrines mentioned are not doctrines of men, but rather doctrines of devils. The word devil is daimon from STRONGS G1140 meaning a daemonic being, deity , and is a derivative of STRONGS G 1142 a demon or supernatural spirit (of a bad nature –devil). God does not leave us without warning for He tells us what our warfare is to be and whom it will be against, Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

It is interesting to note that the belief in supernatural and paranormal activity is on the rise especially among the secular. A 2005 Gallop poll indicated that 3 out of 4 Americans believe in the paranormal, 37% believe houses can be haunted and 21% believe they can personally communicate with the dead. In another Gallop poll comparing belief in the paranormal from 1990-2001 there is an interesting trend in that paranormal belief increased in all areas except one, which declined – the only decline in paranormal belief was in DEMON POSESSION. What is the setup here? Demons are real and they are active doing the work of Satan. Also a 2009 BARNA survey on VIEWS OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS showed the following:

Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” and most Christians do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a living force, either. Overall, 38% strongly agreed and 20% agreed somewhat that the Holy Spirit is “a symbol of God’s power or presence but is not a living entity.”

We are not prepared for the coming spiritual battle. SunTzu one of the greatest military minds of all time said “All war is based on deception”, “Know thy self, know thy enemy”, “A thousand battles, a thousand victories”.”If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril."

The point of this article is not to debate what demons are (maybe another time for that) whether they are the spirits of evil dead or the spirits of the fallen angels or their offspring the Nephilim is not the focus here. We do know that they seek to control and influence human beings, cause mental anguish suicidal mania, Luke 8:27-29 and Mark 9:22, cause physical disabilities muteness, blindness, deformities Mat. 9:32-33, Mk, 9:17-29, Mat. 12:11, Lk. 13:11-17, Mat. 17:15-18, and Lk. 9:39. We should be aware of the enemy and his devices and that we are in a spiritual warfare and we the church (the blood bought born again, worshipping in spirit and truth church) had better prepare individually and collectively. Troubled times are coming and it is time to wake up to the coming reality that we will be and are in a spiritual war. May we be prepared for the battle until the LORD calls us home and our job here is finished. 2Ti 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2Ti 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Also a brief mention of the UFO\Alien Abduction phenomenon which I believe is nothing more than interaction with demonic forces (more on this at another time) Research shows that some people professing to be Christians were indeed reporting that they had encountered this experience in their lives. The same experience that people of all faiths or no faith had been reporting over the many years of UFO research. Research polls through the years have shown that upwards of 5 million people may have experienced some form of this phenomenon Through the research into the case testimonies it was found that some of the experiencers were able to stop or terminate the experience. There was a recognized commonality in the method that was used among the Christian experiencers. The experience was shown to be able to be stopped or terminated by calling on the name and authority of JESUS CHRIST. Not as a magic word but by their allegiance to and personal relationship with Him.. This is compatible with scripture Luk 4:41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. Mar 3:11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. Perhaps the worst thing when dealing with these spirits is not to be known Act 19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? Act 19:16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Do you know Christ and are you known of Christ? Are you under His protection? If you know Christ as your Savior then the demons probably know you and that’s a good thing. God Bless and may we be found faithful as good soldiers of Christ. - RG

JESUS SAVES