Last Lord’s Day, our sermon was based on the Gospel of Mark 1:12-13 and Luke 4:1-13, where we learned about the temptation of Christ. Immediately following Jesus’ baptism with water and the Holy Spirit, he was led by the Spirit into a barren, desolate, desert wilderness. There, he fasted for forty days and encountered the enemy Satan. The enemy tried to tempt Jesus to sin, which, had our Lord complied, would have been the end of his ministry as Messiah and Savior.
We learned that the devil had no chance against the Son of the Almighty God and that Jesus emerged triumphant, thus suitable to give his own sinless life in the place of guilty sinners. That forty-day finale was the beginning of the greatest warfare ever waged in this world. Our Lord Jesus, on our behalf, battled the enemy in a spiritual battle literally of cosmic proportions. But not only did Jesus win the victory over sin and Satan, he also, by his example, teaches us how to do the same.
Having learned about our Lord and King’s spiritual warfare last Lord’s Day, it seems only fitting that now we address spiritual warfare on a personal basis. Each of us must, by the power of Christ’s Spirit within us, engage the enemy when tempted to sin.
As followers of Jesus, who are to learn how he lived and then “go and do likewise,” we must understand that we are engaged in a war that began in the most ancient of times, a struggle to the death with powers of darkness intent upon ruining and destroying all that God deems good, especially Christ’s followers and his blessed Church. The adversary desires to inhibit the advancing work of Christ’s kingdom in the world.
For us soldiers of Christ’s army to be victorious for the cause of our King, we must grasp the existential reality of the only confrontation which can accurately be called a ‘world war.’ We have had two terrible conflicts in the past that were dubbed World Wars I and II, but that is not completely true. Not every human being on earth was involved in those massive battles.
Our conflict is the only truly world war, not a world war and not one of several world wars. No, our conflict is the World War. No person—angelic, demonic, human, or even divine—is exempt from this war. You are in it by the mere fact of being a human. All the other wars of men in this world are the result—the outgrowth—of this one, all-encompassing World War that is fought spiritually and invisibly.
We must, therefore, have a clear apprehension of our adversaries and our role in this war before we can understand how to wage our warfare successfully and effectively. If not, we might expect at best little advancement in our relationships with God and our neighbors and limited positive change in society. The Apostle Paul thus explained (Ephesians 6:10-13):
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
The Present Condition of the War
Let’s begin by examining the present condition of this great cosmic war. No doubt, the world at large has made great progress over thousands of years. The war is going our way in the world at large. But the armies on the Northwestern quadrant of the globe are struggling to hold the line, and some retreat is occurring.
The Church is triumphing and growing exponentially in the global South and much of the East. But the North and West appear to be weakening. Why are we seeing such a lack of robust spirituality in our present society? What’s happening here?
Jesus said to his believing followers, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”(Matthew 5:13-15).
Christians are to be the salt and light of the world, living agents and luminaries for the preservation and advancement of justice, righteousness, and peace in the world. We are to be God’s heralds to this present world of darkness. We are to be holding forth the gospel, the good news of Christ’s kingdom. We are to be shining forth the light of salvation and propagating the soul-redeeming, world-transforming power of the mercies of God through Jesus Christ, his Son, our glorious King.
Christians are to be God’s instruments of positive change and kingdom progress in the redemption of the world. It appears, however, that in this Northwestern corner of the globe, the salt is losing its savor and the light is waning dimmer. Much of the Church, having lost its saltiness, is now cowering before the eyes of a hostile society and being trampled underfoot by men. Much of the Church, having ceased showing forth the light of God’s revelatory Word and power, is allowing the world to cover over and conceal the light of Christ that is supposed to be emanating from us.
Part of the reason for the present chaos and disillusionment of this great society, which once devoutly and boldly called itself by the name Christendom, is that many who are called by Christ’s name have exchanged an active spirituality for a numbed, lukewarm life of self-comfort, affluence and ease, entertainment and amusement. The attitude of a great part of confessing Christianity appears to be “as long as I can remain comfortable and prosperous and content, why rock the boat?”
Our prayer is that our Almighty God and Savior will awaken his sleeping Church, and that she will increasingly shine forth the truth, beauty, and virtue of Christ and the gospel, of true spiritual Christianity, and not the worldly counterfeit. May the embers of true spirituality be ignited into flames in each heart and life of those who are in a covenant of membership with Dillingham Presbyterian Church.
Basic Truths
Let’s now discuss some basic truths of spiritual warfare. Talk of spiritual warfare conjures up in the minds of many Christians things like sensational jousting matches with gruesome demonic spirits, creepy and scary exorcisms, public protests and activism, and exposing global conspiracies. It is not as if any of the above situations and activities are not real or even proper if done biblically and within their rightful contexts.
A great problem in our day is that the truth of this matter of our spiritual conflict is so grossly misrepresented, frequently for the greedy self-gathering of filthy monetary profit. More simply stated, sensationalism sells. Melodrama can be very profitable for opportunists and shysters who make merchandise and personal gain off the Word of God.
Today’s Christians have been so bombarded by the sensationalized, melodramatic stories, lies, and media matter that they are often quite surprised to learn the simple truth. The truth is that spiritual living in general, including the effective engagement of the powers of darkness, is detailed in God’s Holy Scripture in simple, understandable, and doable terms.
Christians are often amazed when they learn how radically different the biblical truth of spiritual living and warfare is from the false portrayals of Christian fiction novels and Christian radio and Christian television, prophecy broadcasts, healing services, and all the other deceptive ways men have invented to deceive God’s people and steal from them.
Another surprising discovery for many need-to-be Christian soldiers is unearthed when they learn where the gist of the great spiritual battle is actually fought. Where is spiritual warfare really fought? The main battlefield, ground zero, lies within oneself.
The war we must join is a war waged within. True, the war that has its beginnings within the Christian reaches outward to combat the forces of evil around us, but the starting point is within us. Unless and until we are gaining ground on the war within ourselves, all our self-proclaimed and self-deceived struggles with the powers outside and around ourselves are merely shadow boxing, vainly swiping at an invisible wind.
Spirit and Spirituality
If we are to discuss, contend for, and practice true Christian spirituality, we must begin with some very basic definitions and explanations. A good, necessary, and obvious first question must be: What is spirit? What do we mean when we speak of things like ‘spirit’ and ‘spiritual’ and ‘spirituality’?
The Bible uses the root term ‘spirit’ both broadly and specifically. Broadly speaking, the language of Scripture sometimes uses the word to describe expressions and attitudes or convictions and commitments. For example, when the Apostle Paul instructed the Corinthian Christians to excommunicate an impenitent sinner who, due to the church’s negligence, was still among them. Paul assured the brethren that even though he could not be with them in person when they dealt with the impenitent offender, he was with them in a spirit of agreement and accord, very supportive of the leadership’s actions. He therefore exhorted them (1 Corinthians 5:3-5):
3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Next, in a more objective, tangible sense, we find the word as related to living things in the world with bodies. Both the New Testament Greek word (pneuma) and the Old Testament Hebrew word (ruach) can mean “spirit, wind, or breath.” For example, when the Lord God revealed his eminent judgment by a worldwide flood, he declared to Noah, “And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath [wind, spirit] of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die” (Genesis 6:17).
As judgment upon the wickedness of mankind on the earth, God was going to destroy all animated life, everything in which the spirit (or breath) of life existed and stirred. By a deluge of judgment, every animated creature—man and animal—all that God had given the breath or spirit of life, except Noah and his family, was going to die.
What we want to learn about pertaining to our present subject is an even stricter sense of ‘spirit.’ We are speaking of spirit as it pertains to beings who are persons. A person is a being who is self-conscious and capable of reasoned thought. An animal is not a person. Animals have brains but they don’t have reasonable minds. Animals can learn survival skills or how to do relatively impressive tricks. But they can’t do trigonometry, they can’t understand the Ten Commandments (they have no sense of what is moral and immoral), and they cannot communicate with God by his Holy Word and Sacraments and Prayer.
God is a person, the Divine Person who created all other intelligent persons. A person is a being who is capable of intelligent thought and of a relationship and communication with God. He has the ability to know God, whether said person loves God or (as with the devil and evil spirits) hates God as an enemy.
Unlike God or angels, who are completely spirit, man was created differently as a complex being, consisting of both a material body and an immaterial soul or spirit. This makes physical human beings capable of serving and worshiping God in spirit and with bodies.
Jesus took unto himself a physical body along with the nature of divine spirit, and in his famous dialogue with the woman at the well, spoke as a flesh and blood human to a fellow human about God as Spirit. He explained that rational beings, who live in a body endowed by their Creator with spirit, must worship him with their bodies and with their spirits. He told her of physical locations—Jerusalem and Samaria—where people traveled bodily to worship God, and then told her: 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The Bible speaks of angels and men as spirits. Hebrews 1:14 says of the angels, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? And also of humans (1 Corinthians 2:11; 6:29): For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Spirit is an entity that is very much real and alive, intelligent and immaterial. Spirit has no physical properties or features; it cannot be weighed, measured, or detected by physical means or senses. When you, assuming you are a believing and regenerated Christian, pray and praise God, when you read his Holy Word (which is spiritually revealed and received), whenever you worship and communicate with God your Creator, a holy communion and intimate conversation are occurring that involves persons who are spirit. Spirit communes with Spirit. Human spirit communes with Divine Spirit who is God. This holy communion occurs in life while you are in the body.
Being spiritual, then, means what? It means to have a holy frame of mind and a life characterized by being in accord with the nature of the All-Holy God, who made you, redeemed you, and sustains you as his own treasured possession forever. You can discover God’s person, nature, and will and harmoniously conform because you, a spiritual being, can know, speak to, and hear from God, who is Spirit.
Being spiritual means, therefore, practicing a manner of living—a lifestyle that is characterized by a holy desire for God and for fellowship and communion with God. Also a desire and a devout determination for loving and pleasing, worshiping and adoring, exalting and glorifying God. And daily learning from and humbly obeying and honoring God with a devoted and thankful heart. In short, being spiritual means to be—as much as is possible for a fallen yet redeemed sinner—set apart unto God. It means to be set apart unto God in all our living.
How, then, do you avoid following the devil? By being set apart unto God. The more you are devoted to him, the less area the devil has for gaining a foothold.
Set Apart
Now, moving ahead, to speak of being set apart unto God logically means and necessarily requires being set apart from other things. This, brothers and sisters, is why today’s Christians too often lose the battle with the devil. They are not set apart enough from things in this world. The offerings of the world occupy too much space in their souls while the Holy Spirit is ignored, thus not allowed to occupy their minds enough.
The Bible, when speaking about the Christian’s manner of spiritual living, defines a radical separation that we must practice in our daily life: And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11). For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you (2 Corinthians 6:14, 17).
There is the tension that lies within us. There is an inner struggle of the Christian when it comes to departing from wickedness and clinging to righteousness. While dependent on God’s power and grace, we must—with great spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and physical effort—keep ourselves uncontrolled, undominated, and undefiled by immorally defiled things. Things which, left ignored, could so influence our mind and so charm our fallen self to indulge in our own sinful pleasures that we would find ourselves first thinking and then speaking, acting, and living in ways contrary to the holy nature and will of the Divine Spirit who made and saved us.
As Christians, having a human spirit, which furthermore is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, our reasonable and enlightened minds know fully well that our whole life and being must be yielded to the will of God our Creator. We know that we must be separate from anything that might have an effect on our spirit, anything that is not 100% Christ like. We know that to say, think, or do anything that is contrary to God’s holy nature and revealed will is wicked, that we must avoid it, and at all costs put it to death.
Knowing these necessary requirements, we are nonetheless faced with the reality that we do not and cannot always attain them. We are always reminded of and burdened with the great inner struggle between the ‘is’ and the ‘ought’. It is the ongoing struggle within us between what we are and what we ought to be. The struggle between what we do and what we ought to do. The struggle between what we think and what we ought to think.
Every inheritor of the guilt of our first human father, Adam, is subjected to the worldwide results and sorrows of sin. This tragic condition includes all the human race of ordinary generation. Furthermore, every regenerated and redeemed person of the human family, because of the love between himself and his God, lives daily engaged in an inner conflict that never seems to go away. We are never truly comfortable. We must not be comfortable until we arrive in glory. There the discrepancy between what we are and what we ought to be will be gone.
Our heart, our mind, our spirit—that enlightened and reasonable part of us given by God and saved by his grace—experiences in this present world an undeniable sense of discontentment, because we know that the ‘is’ is not on level with the ‘ought’. That deeply rooted sense of discontentment with our moral condition while in this earthly body is the dynamo, the central motivator that drives us to declare a war, a lifelong and bloody war to the death, against the devil and against everything contrary to the goodness and righteousness that God desires.
At this point, the question becomes: war declared against what or whom? We have mentioned the devil, but is there someone besides him with whom we must so battle? You might find the answer to this question surprising, maybe even shocking. Because God so loves us and we so love him, and because our sin-weary souls strain to the point of dying and long to the point of crying to be in peaceful accord with our God, we must declare war against ourselves.
We must die while in this life. We must, in fact, kill ourselves—not our bodies—but that part of our self that constantly rebels and insurrects against God our Creator. This warfare that we wage must be fought by turning the weapons of the Word and Spirit of God against the devil—true indeed—but also against ourselves. We must put our sinful tendencies to death. That sinful part of our thinking that resists God, his commands, and the righteousness he requires—it must die.
It must die so that the righteousness of God and his blessed Spirit will more exert a holy control over us. Everything about us and within us, and that is a part of us that is not in accord with the holy nature and will of God, must die. And we are the ones who must take those unacceptable features of ourselves and kill them, put them to death, and never let them be resurrected. Not by our strength or power alone, mind you, but by the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
Notice this, first, in Romans 8:12-14, the great Apostle writes, “12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
Likewise in Colossians 3:5-10: 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Also Romans 6:7: For he who has died has been freed from sin.
You Can Win the War
Can you do it? Yes, you can! So be encouraged. This war is winnable! You can overcome, and if you are regenerated, justified, sanctified, and on your way to being a glorified child of God, you will overcome. This is because God promises us in his Holy Word that he will equip us with the one weapon alone which can lead you to victory. It is his own power, the divine power of God.
Notice this truth from 2 Peter 1:2-4: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
You can win this war in two ways: progressively and completely. As long as the redeemed child of God is in this present life and following his Lord’s ways and will, he will grow progressively more in sanctification. He will grow more and more to be set apart unto God and away from all things not of God and his Spirit. The more the Christian does this, the less ground the devil has on which to stand against him.
Also, you can win completely. When you depart this life, your warfare will be over. You will be received into glory and made perfectly holy and blessed by your God and Savior for all eternity.
Until that blessed day of final and complete redemption, as long you live in this present fallen world, wage the good warfare, fight the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith, knowing that there is laid up for you the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to you on that day…also to all who love his appearing and know that (1 Timothy 1:18; 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:7; 8). Amen.
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.