The goal of this teaching is to: Learn the tactics of the enemy, learn our part, and learn from God’s point of view on what spiritual warfare means.
Our Authority and Why Leaders Are So Important
We don’t want to get out of turn of what God has called us to—we need to rely on His grace to operate in the areas we are called to. We need to operate in our authority in our sphere. If you haven’t bump into Satan, you and he must be going in the same direction. There are two thrones at war here. God is claiming the earth for His dominion—His Kingdom authority is here.
Colossians 1:12-13says, "[A]nd giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves…” We were delivered from the power of darkness. We were translated to Heaven. We are not under the enemy’s authority. We pray with God’s authority—this is very destructive to Satan.
With these two thrones, it is our job to kick the devil out. (Chapter 7 in Watchman Nee’s The Normal Christian Life is very instructive here.) We are filled with His life to go forward and defeat the devil. We were not originally created for redemption. We are redeemed, but we were created to fight in this warfare.
The Kingdom of God is not a democracy. The King decrees. All kingdoms have an army. The army here on earth has a structure with generals all the way down. In this Kingdom, all are important to His army. The pastor is not more important—all are equally important. We have a job to do in the Kingdom, and it is structured like the military. The Body of Christ, when united, gets things done. There is no continuity in the church and it is our job to bring “decency and order” into the church. That is why we need to train up leaders! 1 Chronicles 17:10 says, “[A]nd have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies. I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you…”
Who Our Adversary Was
This is our adversary as described in Ezekiel 28:13-19:
"You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.
19 All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.”
Isaiah 14:12-16 describes why Satan was kicked out of Heaven. These passages describe who he was. He is a created being, and he came to earth to raise havoc:
“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
16 Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble…”
How Satan Operates
Satan’s technique is to play games with your mind. He has to have a body to function. If he doesn’t have our eyes to lust, our hands to murder, then he can’t operate on this planet. He is powerful in the techniques of persuasion through human beings. We must snatch children away from the devil. We must teach, preach and demonstrate through our lifestyle. We must demonstrate and if not, then you’ll sit down. Christ is returning for His church, the church as it was in the beginning. The devil uses mind games and has perfected this technique.
His main objectives are to steal the Word and try to breach of divine laws He cannot touch the new man—the new man is surrounded by the Holy Spirit. So, the devil goes after the old man. His capacity is that of the power of persuasion. His power and his money come from us. We were under his authority. Once, we were his slaves to sin. After we became born-again, the devil is now under our authority. He must obey us! Our job is to go out there and teach this.
We must go out in the whole armor of God. God’s armor is available to us because of our covenant relationship with Him—just like David and Jonathan. King Saul tried putting his armor on David…no! They were not in covenant. With the helmet of salvation, the devil can’t see your face. Satan sees the armor and thinks it is God. That is, until we open up our mouths… The language we speak—in truth—the Devil cannot understand it. The truth confuses him. Stay in the armor, and don’t come out from underneath it.
The devil will go after you like a roaring lion. As God’s children, we need to know who we are and the authority we have. Satan cannot understand truth. The truth is not in Satan.
First Tactic: Steal the Word
The parable in Mark 4:3-8 is instructive on how Satan achieves his main tactic, which is to steal the Word:
"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
He wins at this all the time. He cannot allow the Word to get in. But, you can get the Word into you and then the less he can influence you. He likes dry places—the Word is like water. He doesn’t like a “wet” environment, watered by the Word. The devil understands the Word, and he’ll drag your head away to steal the Word. Offense, persecution and problems, the cares of this world will choke out the Word. The devil seeks to steal the Word out of your heart. Without the Word, there is no stance against the devil, and we have no authority.
Second Tactic: The Breach of Divine Laws
Keeping on the armor of God and keeping our mouth right is essential. Satan will stick you to see what will come out of your mouth. We need to keep our mouth right. Isaiah 6:5-8 tells us what happened when Isaiah saw God high and lifted up and he saw he was a man “of unclean lips”:
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
The devil can’t read your mind. Your mouth must be kept right.
In Proverbs 6:16-19, we read:
"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community."
In Revelation 21:27, we read: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” This is the New Jerusalem, where “the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8) These people will not be allowed in. Don’t get caught in gossip with anybody. Proverbs 18:21 reminds us: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Plant the Word
Read the Word out loud. Proclaim it. The Word has the power of a seed. It goes into the ear, and then into the heart. Put the Word in there…don’t let Satan steal it. Your heart is like a garden. What’s in it? Weeds? Read the Word out loud to get it into your spirit. Luke 17:6 says we can uproot the weeds: “He replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.’”
