THE REALITY OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE

War is a fact of life; most countries has been involved in many different conflicts including Civil War, World Wars 1 and 2, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf Wars, Iraq and literally hundreds of other conflicts throughout the history as a human race. Some of you have fought for your country in this way and know war firsthand. Those who are engaged in military conflict have no doubt who their enemies are, have a plan to defeat them and are trained to do battle. But there is another battle being waged all around us in the spiritual realm. Unfortunately, those engaged in spiritual warfare most often do not know who their enemies are, have no plan for victory and have little, if any, training. There has been a war going on since before the fall of satan that many are not even aware of. Paul gives us this instruction about spiritual warfare that we need to take to heart: -- Finally, my brethren, be strong in Elohim, and in the Power of His might. Put on the whole Armour of YHVH that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, 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. -- Ephesians 6:10-12

5 BASIC TRUTHS:

There are five basics truths that everyone should learn about spiritual warfare.

1 -- There is an invisible world that is just as real as the visible world:
Many people, including many believers, tend to accept as reality only those things that we can see, hear, touch, smell, or taste. The Bibles in our homes are real, the clothes on we wear are real and the food we eat is real. We know that they are real, because we can experience them with the senses YHVH has given us. But when we begin to talk about that which is invisible, those things that cannot be seen, heard, touched, smell, or tasted, we tend to think that those things are not real or somehow at a lesser level of reality than the visible world. Nothing could be further from the truth: -- 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. -- Ephesians 6:12. While we exist in this present visible world, we also exist simultaneously in the unseen world that Paul describes here. The unseen world is described as the place where evil beings exist, but it is also the place Moshiach, and all believers exist. -- Blessed be YHVH and Father of our Adonai Yeshua Moshiach, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Moshiach. -- Ephesians 1:3; -- And what is the exceeding greatness of His Power to us-ward who believes, according to the working of His mighty Power, which He wrought in Moshiach, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. -- Ephesians 1:19-20; -- And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Yeshua Moshiach. -- Ephesians 2:6. Beyond this world of our senses is the unseen world where all that is of a spiritual nature dwell, both good and evil and it is in this invisible world that spiritual warfare takes place; it is in this unseen world that we fight against the principalities and powers that seek to do us harm.

2 -- We are involved in an invisible war, a cosmic conflict that has eternal implications:
The Bible tells us that once Daniel had been praying to YHVH and not receiving an answer to his prayer; an angel came to him and explained the delay in terms of spiritual warfare: -- Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy Elohim, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. -- Daniel 10:12-13. There is much here we do not understand, but what is obvious is that a spiritual war was taking place between these spirits and angels. This reveals that in the world which is unseen by us there is a conflict going on, a conflict of the ages between good and evil, light and darkness, YHVH and satan. It reveals that there are satanic forces and heavenly forces, and it reveals that we are right in the middle of the whole thing. The Bible tells us Elisha and his servant was confronted with the army of King Aram which had surrounded the city. The servant saw the chariots of the enemy and began to despair. -- And when the servant of the man of YHVH was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, alas, my master! How shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Adonai, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And Elohim opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. -- 2 Kings 6:15-17. YHVH revealed to them that He was ready to do battle on their behalf from the world that was unseen with human eyes. The spiritual battle that we are in is no less real than it was for Daniel, Elisha, or any of YHVH's people down through the ages. -- In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Moshiach, Who is the Image of YHVH, should shine unto them. -- 2 Corinthians 4:4. Maybe reading this message this moment and you are not in a relationship with Moshiach or perhaps you have trouble even understanding, or maybe you once felt close to YHVH and have been straying away. It just might be that you are engaged in a spiritual war that you are not even aware of, and satan is blinding your mind to the truth. Those of us who are in Moshiach are here to battle, not those of you who are not believers, but the satanic presence that is keeping you from understanding. -- For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through YHVH to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of YHVH and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Moshiach. -- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. It is obvious that YHVH is calling His church to engage satan in warfare so that we will be strong in Elohim and will be able to break satanic strongholds. Our weapons are not of this world, are not visible, but are unseen weapons like prayer, the Word of YHVH, and faith. The decisions that we make every day, as to whether we will or will not begin to take up the weapons of our warfare has eternal implications for those who are not yet in a relationship with Moshiach. We need to begin by honestly considering that some of the struggles, relational conflicts, and misunderstandings about YHVH are caused by satanic opposition.

3 -- Our foe is formidable, and his goal is to destroy us and discredit the cause of Moshiach:
Years ago my favourite rugby team, the Blue Bulls, played the Cheetahs in the Curry Cup Final 2005. I thought the Bulls would walk onto the field and clean house. I have a feeling the Bulls’ players were thinking the same thing, they were not taking their opposition seriously and as a result they got beaten. A similar problem comes when believers underestimate the power of our enemy. While we do not want to give him more power than he really has, we make a huge mistake if we think he and his demonic army have no power at all. -- Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour -- 1 Peter 5:8. Satan is a present reality in our lives whether we like it or not. He wants nothing more than to destroy our faith, take away our credibility and lead us to stumble into sin. We must be prepared for his attacks, and we need to show him some level of respect as far as his abilities are concerned. -- Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, YHVH Elohim rebuke thee. -- Jude 1:9. This is a remarkable section of Scripture that does not give us as many details as I would like, but it does shed some light on how we should treat satan. Satan is a fallen creature and an avowed enemy of YHVH, yet Michael the archangel, when disputing about the body of Moses, would not dare say anything that would impugn the dignity of satan. In a sense we could say that he respected his position and his power. We would be foolish to do anything less. I have seen many people saying they rebuke the devil; it is pure idiocy to think they can do something that the archangel Michael would not dare do.