This presentation presents the reality of spiritual warfare

1. Ultimate Fighting
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might
“ Ephesians 6:10

2. The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

3. quot;Look upon my enemies, for they
are many, And they hate me with
violent (cruel) hatred.quot;
Psalm 25:19
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal
- A Mighty Fortress is our God
Martin Luther
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

4. quot;For though we walk in the
flesh, we do not war according
to the flesh, for the weapons
of our warfare are not of the
flesh, but divinely powerful
for the destruction of
fortresses.quot;
(2 Corinthians 10:3-4)
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

5. The Triune God
Father
God
Spirit Son
Is not
Devil
Body
Enemy
Man
World Flesh
Spirit Soul Is not
Is not
The Triune Nature The Triune Opposition

6. The Plan of Attack
Flesh World Devil
Body Soul Spirit
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

7. God’s Enemies
Rebellious Mankind / Devil & Demons
God Bible Church
Truth Marriage/Family Israel
Life Christ Revival You…
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

8. Attack on God
Strategy: Eradicate or twist the existence
of God so that man becomes the measure of
all things. Man becomes God, the body
becomes the soul, and time becomes
eternity.
“Humans have always wondered about the
meaning of life...life has no higher purpose
than to perpetuate the survival of DNA...life
has no design, no purpose, no evil and no
good, nothing but blind pitiless
indifference.”
- Richard Dawkins
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

9. Attack on the Bible
Strategy: Discredit God’s Word, elevate
man’s philosophy, and leave no ultimate
source of moral or salvivic authority that
anyone can turn to.
“What do I care what some
Bronze Age text says about
homosexuality?”
- Christopher Hitchens
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

10. Attack on the Church
Strategy: Infiltrate the Church with
heresy, pollute the gospel, undermine truth
and doctrine, and create intellectually
flabby and self-centered adherents
“The Bible is still in the center for us”, Rob
says, “but it’s a different kind of center.
We want to embrace mystery, rather than
conquer it.” “I grew up thinking that
we’ve figured out the Bible,” Kristen says,
“that we knew what it means. Now I have
no idea what most of it means. And yet, I
feel like life is big again – like life used to
be black and white, and now it’s in color.”
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

11. Attack on the Truth
Strategy: Convince the enemy that truth is
relative, individualistic, and that
absolute truth only exists in the realm of
science and not religion or morals.
“We believe that each man must find the
truth that is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
excepting the truth that there is no
absolute truth.”
- Steve Turner
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

12. Attack on the Family
Strategy: Twist the concept of marriage and
the family as created by God to be
something contrary to His nature and
defined by society instead.
quot;Sometimes what you hope and pray for
actually happens, which is kind of
overwhelming,quot; Michael Thorne, 55, of Cape
Elizabeth, Maine, said after telling his 6-year-old
son his parents could soon get married. Thorne
and his partner of 25 years, James Theberge,
have an Aug. 18 wedding planned in
Provincetown, although the repeal will not take
effect until 90 days after Patrick's signature.
- Mass. House Votes to Let Gays ‘Marry’
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

13. Attack on Israel
Strategy: Persecute God’s chosen people
through political strategies, intimidation,
confiscation of their land, leading to -
ultimately - physical extermination.
“Those who think they can revive the
stinking corpse of the usurping and fake
Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party
are seriously mistaken … Today, the reason
for the Zionist regime’s existence is
questioned, and this regime is on its way
to annihilation.”
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

14. Attack on Life
Strategy: Attack and destroy innocent human
life with lies, red herrings, and other
meaningless arguments, and assert that human
life is no different than non-human life.
“To keep you is no benefit. To destroy
you is no loss.”
- Khemer Rouge
Cambodian Communist Party 1975
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

15. Attack on Christ
Strategy: Question the historicity and
truth of Christ’s actual personhood so that
He is either relegated to being just
another ‘great teacher’ or, at worst, a
mere myth.
“The reality is, Jesus was the Solar Deity of the
Gnostic Christian sect and like all other Pagan
gods, he was a mythical figure. It was the
political establishment that sought to historize
the Jesus figure for social control. By 325 a.d. in
Rome, emperor Constantine convened the
Council of Nicea. It was during this meeting that
the politically motivated Christian Doctrines
were established and thus began a long history
of Christian bloodshed and spiritual fraud. “
- Zeitgeist Transcript
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

16. ‚The apologetic task is first
and foremost a spiritual
conflict that sometimes shows
itself through competing
worldviews that seek to
undermine faith in Jesus
Christ.quot;
- Joe Boot, Beyond Opinion
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

17. Attack on Revival
Strategy: Squash any attempts at true
revival with counterfeit events and/or
heresy that end up showcasing false signs
and end up being discredited.
“Todd Bentley has also taken the decision to
step down from the leadership of his
organization, Fresh Fire Ministries, which stated
on its website that the evangelist had “entered
into an unhealthy relationship on an emotional
level with a female member of his staff.“…
Critics have also questioned his claims of
miraculous healing and raising people from the
dead… quot;What is plain is that he is teaching false
doctrine “
- Christian post, Aug 20, 2008
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

18. Attack on You…
Strategy: Keep you as far away from Christ
and God’s Word as possible; have you feed
and act in the flesh; keep your soul from
being saved or remove the joy of salvation.
quot;“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not
understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has
been sown in his heart.quot; (Matthew 13:19)
quot;Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from
fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.quot; (1 Peter 2:11)
quot;Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a
willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And
sinners will be converted to You.quot; (Psalm 51:12-13)
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

19. quot;Now when the attendant of
the man of God had risen
early and gone out, behold,
an army with horses and
chariots was circling the
city. And his servant said to
him, ‚Alas, my master! What
shall we do?‛ So he answered,
‚Do not fear, for those who
are with us are more than
those who are with them.‛
Then Elisha prayed and said,
‚O Lord, I pray, open his
eyes that he may see.‛ And
the Lord opened the servant’s
eyes and he saw; and behold,
the mountain was full of
horses and chariots of fire
all around Elisha.quot; (2 Kings
6:15-17)
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

20. quot;Then he said to me, ‚Do not be
afraid, Daniel, for from the
first day that you set your
heart on understanding this and
on humbling yourself before
your God, your words were
heard, and I have come in
response to your words. ‚But
the prince of the kingdom of
Persia was withstanding me for
twenty-one days; then behold,
Michael, one of the chief
princes, came to help me, for I
had been left there with the
kings of Persia.‚ … ‚But I
shall now return to fight
against the prince of Persia;
so I am going forth, and
behold, the prince of Greece is
about to come.quot; (Daniel 10:12-
13, 20)
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

21. quot;And Jesus asked him, ‚What
is your name?‛ And he said,
‚Legion‛; for many demons
had entered him. They were
imploring Him not to
command them to go away
into the abyss. Now there
was a herd of many swine
feeding there on the
mountain; and the demons
implored Him to permit them
to enter the swine. And He
gave them permission. And
the demons came out of the
man and entered the swine;
and the herd rushed down
the steep bank into the
lake and was drowned.quot;
(Luke 8:30-33)
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

22. quot;It happened that as we were
going to the place of prayer, a
slave-girl having a spirit of
divination met us, who was
bringing her masters much profit
by fortune-telling. Following
after Paul and us, she kept
crying out, saying, ‚These men
are bond-servants of the Most
High God, who are proclaiming to
you the way of salvation.‛ She
continued doing this for many
days. But Paul was greatly
annoyed, and turned and said to
the spirit, ‚I command you in
the name of Jesus Christ to come
out of her!‛ And it came out at
that very moment.quot; (Acts 16:16-
18)
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

23. quot;And I saw coming out of the
mouth of the dragon and out of
the mouth of the beast and out
of the mouth of the false
prophet, three unclean spirits
like frogs; for they are spirits
of demons, performing signs,
which go out to the kings of the
whole world, to gather them
together for the war of the
great day of God, the Almighty.
(‚Behold, I am coming like a
thief. Blessed is the one who
stays awake and keeps his
clothes, so that he will not
walk about naked and men will
not see his shame.‛) And they
gathered them together to the
place which in Hebrew is called
Har-Magedon.quot; (Revelation 16:13-
16)
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

24. Point 1 - Educate Yourself
quot;so that no advantage would be taken of us
by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his
schemes.quot; (2 Corinthians 2:11)
• Study the Scriptures – the ultimate source of truth.
• Educate yourself on the core doctrines of the
Christian faith. “How can you live out your faith if
you don’t understand it?” – John Hannah
• Read the great Christian thinkers and those who
understand spiritual warfare
• Become a student of other faiths so that you can
understand where they are coming from and
how/where Satan has taken them captive
• Become a student of philosophy to understand the
influence Godly and ungodly minds have had on
society and unbelievers
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

25. Point 2 - Train Yourself
quot;But solid food is for the mature, who
because of practice have their senses
trained to discern good and evil.quot; (Hebrews
5:14)
• Discipline yourself to be in constant study with God’s
Word. quot; In pointing out these things to the brethren,
you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly
nourished on the words of the faith and of the
sound doctrine which you have been following.quot; (1
Timothy 4:6)
• Discipline yourself to stay clear of sin and not give
the enemy a place in your life. quot;and do not give the
devil an opportunity.quot; (Ephesians 4:27)
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

26. Point 3 - Protect Yourself
quot;Finally, be strong in the Lord and
in the strength of His might.quot;
(Ephesians 6:10)
quot;Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able
to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of
this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full
armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the
evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.quot;
(Ephesians 6:11-13)
“The devil fears a soul united to God as he does God himself “ – John of the Cross
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

27. Point 4 - Remind Yourself
‚There are two equal and opposite errors into which
our race can fall about the devils. One is to
disbelieve in their existence. The other is to
believe, and to feel and excessive and unhealthy
interest in them.‚ - C. S. Lewis
“The scriptural way to see things is to set the Lord
always before us, put Christ in the center of our vision,
and if Satan is lurking around he will appear on the
margin only and be seen as but a shadow on the edge
of the brightness. It is always wrong to reverse this – to
set Satan in the focus of our vision and push God out to
the margin. Nothing but tragedy can come of such
inversion … The best way to keep the enemy out is to
keep Christ in … It is not the praying sheep Satan fears,
but the presence of the shepherd” – A. W. Tozer
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

28. Point 5 - Fill Yourself
‚I don’t fear you “ I fear the one
inside you.‚ “ Demon to exorcist,
during exorcism
quot;With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the
Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all
perseverance and petition for all the saints,quot;
(Ephesians 6:18)
quot;But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out
the desire of the flesh.quot; (Galatians 5:16)
quot;And do not get drunk with wine, for that is
dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,quot; (Ephesians
5:18)
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

29. Gospel
‚Good news of victory on the battlefield‛
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

30. And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us
The prince of darkness grim - “
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! His doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him
- A Mighty Fortress is our God
Martin Luther
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

31. For Further Reading:
• Gabriele Amorth, An Exorcist tells his Story
• Donald Barnhouse, The Invisible War
• Mark Bubeck, The Adversary
• Mark Bubeck, Overcoming the Adversary
• Chip Ingram, The Invisible War
• Jesse Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints
• John MacArthur, Facing the Enemy
• Chuck Swindoll, Demonism
• Merril Unger, Demons in the World Today
• Merril Unger, What Demons can do to Saints
- The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

32. Ultimate Fighting
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might
“ Ephesians 6:10