When we were unbelievers the devils paid us little heed except to try and thwart any attempt of our hearing the gospel message. Why mess with humans when they are already under their sphere of influence? Upon salvation, however, it seems like we are all appointed a small army of demons to plague and distract us from growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
They are masters of deception in their attempts to have us view Christianity critically and unrealistically. They will try to show you the unattractiveness of piety and the beauty and freedom of sin. They do their job well. The tactics they use seem to be innumerable and they never let up. They batter their way into our hearts and minds then cackle with an hellish glee when they succeed in tempting us to sin but then wail and moan and shriek in horror when we repent and ask forgiveness from God. They have yet to realize that any obstacle put in our path to hinder us only gives us an opportunity to be overcomers and every time we overcome we get greater strength to overcome the next obstacle. When they try to get us to fail, they are in fact enabling us to prevail in our Christian journey.
To be an effective Christian warrior it’s important to understand the methodology of satanic attacks and the different arenas of battle where he deploys his forces. There are five major battle arenas where Satan likes to attack. They are:
The Physical: James 5:14-15: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” (NKJV)
If you’re too ill to do God’s work then you are too ill to bother Satan.
The Moral: 1 Co. 10:13 - “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (NIV)
The heart can conceive of every possible sin under the sun.
The Theological: Gal 1:6-8: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (NIV)
Satan will consistently attack our intellect and our knowledge or lack thereof of the Word of God.
The Psychological: 2 Cor. 10:5 - “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (KJV)
2 Tim 1:7 - “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear ; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (KJV)
The devil likes us to believe and imagine the worst. Pessimism is one of his favorite demons. Christians more than anyone else in the world should be optimists.
The Spirit: 1 John 4:1-3 - “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” (NIV)
Evil spirits are real and they just love to terrorize the believer however we are overcomers who see through his vain attempts to cause us fear and we learn to lean and trust in God’s loving arms.
Within these arenas are several kinds of skirmishes that we need our armor to defend against. Many of these battles are spoken of in God’s letters to the churches found in Rev. 2 & 3. With every trial comes a promise.
1). Rev. 2:4-7: The Problem: the church at Ephesus has forsaken their first love.
The Promise: those who overcome receive the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.
The Battle Arena: Theological - they have become satisfied with their walk and are getting weary of persevering.
Type of Attack: Spiritual laziness and apathy.
Armor Protection: Sandals of the gospel of peace. Their old shoes have gotten worn and if replaced they will receive a spirit of revival and renewal that will help them to overcome the apathy and remember and yearn for their first love.
2). Rev. 2:8-11 & Rev. 3:7-13: The churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia are having the same type of experience. In these two churches God does not find them lacking but encourages them to continue in their struggles against evil.
The Problem: tested by Satan, suffering persecution, enduring patiently the trials and sufferings.
The Promise: those who overcome receive the crown of life and will not be hurt by the second death and will be made a pillar in the temple of God and will have written on them a new name and the name of the city of God which is New Jerusalem.
Battle Arenas: Theological, Physical & Psychological.
Types of Attack: Calamities, accidents, persecutions and suffering. When the devil fails in his attempts to tempt you to sin then he steps it up a notch to make your Christian walk as unpleasant as he can in an attempt to cause you to believe that the price of salvation is too high.
Armor Protection: Helmet of Salvation and Shield of Faith
3.) Rev. 2:12-17: The Problem: the church at Pergamum allows false teaching in their midst.
The Promise: those who overcome receive hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it.
Battle Arena: Theological, the importance of being well grounded in the Word as a protection against false teachings can not be overstated.
Type of Attack: Lies and errors of doctrine
Armor Protection: The Belt of Truth
4). Rev. 2:18-29: The Problem: the church at Thyatira was falling into sexual immorality.
The Promise: those who overcome will receive authority over nations and the morning star.
Battle Arena: Moral & Spiritual
Type of Attack: evil and sinful desires
Armor Protection: the Breastplate of Righteousness.
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