Chapter 8: We Are At War

I once saw a movie where a teenager could put on special glasses and see all the angels and demons that surround us everyday.  He went to a club and it was, of course, completely filled with demons talking to people. 

We do not see them but they are there.  Satan tries to get into our minds.  He tries to get into our dreams.  He tries to make us fear anything and everything.  He uses movies to make us fear.  He uses music to stir up our emotions of anger or lust.  He uses commercials to drive us to buy more and to never be content.  He uses other people in our lives to hurt us and make us feel worthless.  Satan may even use people in the church to turn us away from God, but we can’t let him.  He knows exactly where our vulnerabilities lie and exactly what buttons to push.  He is not God but he is incredibly smart. 

Satan was actually given the place of vice president in heaven under God before the creation of the world.  In Ezekiel 28 the Bible says, “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…your heart became proud on account of your beauty” (Ezek. 28:12, 17).  Satan was essentially God’s best angel in heaven.  However, since God exquisitely created Satan, Satan grew prideful.  He must have seen that compared to the other angels he was better.  Angels were given free will just like human beings.  His pride caused him to think he was even better then God.  He boastfully stated, “I will make myself like the Most High” (Is. 14:14).  When he tried to become God he was “cast down to earth” (Is. 14:12).

Satan is now the ruler of this world.  Once Adam and Even sinned, Satan was placed in charge of this world.  He is referred to as “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4) and “the father of lies” (Jn. 8:44). 

Scripture states, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).  He is one to be feared in the sense that we cannot ignore that he is there.  If a lion were in the room with you, you would not ignore it and go about your business.  Well little do we realize, a lion is always in the room with us, always.  Whether we want to admit he is there or not, he is.

It is interesting that it is Peter who wrote the verse about Satan being a roaring lion.  He and Judas Iscariot were the only disciples that we have an account of Satan deceiving.  Judas betrayed Jesus physically and Peter betrayed Jesus verbally.  He told three people he did not know Jesus before the rooster crowed.  Perhaps he knew very well how powerful the devil can be.  Why would Peter, who acknowledged that Jesus was “the Christ, the son of the Living God” (Mt. 16:16) deny him?  He must have had a fierce battle inside his own mind going on at that time.  

Scripture states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).  The heavenly realms are all around us.  A professor I had at Biola once asked, “why do we always think heaven is way out there.”  He had a good point.  God is everywhere.  He does not reside in one location.  He is all around us.  The heavenly realms in scripture are simply used to describe the air. 

If we were given eyes to see, as some people are, we would see heavenly beings everywhere we go.  Just because we do not see them, does not mean they are not there.  There are occasions where some peoples eyes will be opened for a moment to see what is really there.
            My grandma was flying in a two-seater plane when she was in college.  They were flying through thick rain clouds.  The plane was running out of gas and they could not find a place to land.  Then she saw an angel part the clouds revealing an open plane below them where they could land.  She discovered after they landed that that was the only place for miles where they could have safely landed the plane.

Another day her van was not fully put in park.  It started to roll backward into the street.  She then literally saw a host of angels holding back the traffic so they did not hit her van. 

I also heard a story of a worship leader leading worship at a conference.  While he was singing, all of a sudden there was a huge angel standing behind him that everyone in the audience saw.  I have listened to the music several times of the concert and it certainly sounds like angels were singing with him.  It does not seem like any instrument could have made that sound.  What a cool thought is that?  I get chills now even thinking about it.  That man’s worship was so amazing and so pleasing to God that the angels even decided to join him in singing!  I would love for that to happen to me. 

In the Bible the shepherd saw angels.  We all know the story of Christmas, that they were out in their fields watching their sheep when a host of angels appeared to them.  I wonder, were the angels always there, but just for that few minutes the shepherd were given eyes to see them.  Oh that we would all have eyes to see God’s kingdom!

There is an invisible war all around us that we do not see. 

Everyday we are at war, whether we realize it or not.  I love what John Eldridge says in his book Waking the Dead.  He says the men who landed on Normandy Beach on D-Day would not look around and ask, “Why are people shooting at me?”  But we do that everyday at Christians.  We are “why are we being shot at” or “why is my life so hard” because we do not realize we were born into world war three, but it is not a physical war, it is a spiritual war for over our souls.

We struggle with sin partly because of our own flesh, but partly because of Satan’s attempts to essentially drag us to hell with him.  We will never be perfect in this life, but as Neil Anderson says, “we have all the resources in Christ we need not to sin.” (Victory Over the Darkness pg. 54)  Once we are “in Christ” we are no longer slaves to sin.  John states, “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4).  Meaning Jesus in us is greater than the forces of evil, Satan, that are in this world.  Satan cannot have power over us as Christians unless we let him. 

Thus the Bible says, “In your anger do not sin, and do no let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold” (Eph. 4:26-27).  I can understand this analogy first hand.  For a summer I was a summer camp counselor and once a week we would go to a rock climbing gym.  If you did not have a foothold, you could not get very far up the wall.  Paul tells us to not let Satan essentially climb up over us and conquer us.

It is interesting that it when we are angry that we can give Satan a foothold.  Anger, I would say, is the most powerful emotion.  Anger causes people to do all kinds of insane things.  One example would obviously be killing another human being.  Anger comes from pride.  As long as we remain humble we can respond to insults or stress with patience instead of anger. 

In Ephesians Paul talks about putting on the armor of God.  Paul tells us to put on the “belt of truth” (Eph. 6:14).  Have you ever wondered why truth is on the belt?  A belt is over one’s stomach.  Our stomach can act like an unruly child.  It gets hungry and screams for us to feed it.  It will not wait.  It wants food now! 

Satan attacks the unruly, infant part of us with lies.  The part of us that is not our mind, but our emotions.  The two year old inside every one of us that is selfish and emotional.  He tells that part of us, “you’re not being treated fairly,” or “you deserve better,” or “don’t let him treat you like that, fight back!”  And we give in. 

But God says, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil. 4:8).  God says there is a truth that you could think about.  Don’t believe the lies.  Don’t even listen to them. 

Why do we worry or complain?  Jesus says of Satan’s lies, “the devil was a murdered from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn. 8:44).  Satan cannot help but lie, because everything he is, is in opposition to God.  God is light, he is darkness.  God is truth, he is a liar.  God loves people, Satan hates people.  He acts like he likes us in order to entice us, but really he absolutely loathes us.  He wants to destroy us. 

Neil T. Anderson says in his book The Bondage Breaker “If we only tell Satan to leave with our thoughts, he may not leave because he can’t hear us.  We must defeat Satan by speaking out” (TBB pg. 87).  He mentions several that the magic phrase for stopping at attack from Satan is to say “by the power and blood of Jesus Satan be gone.”

I told my co-worker once about this phrase.  A few weeks later she said she was woken up in the middle of the night and something was literally pulling her hair and jerking her head back and forth.  She spoke these words and whatever it was left her. 

I have never had such a dramatic experience but when I begin to feel fearful I speak these words aloud and the fear is gone.  It is a very effective way to combat Satan.  If you turn the light on, the darkness will flee. 

Neil Anderson says about Satan, “He knows that if he can deceive us into being afraid of him, fear will control us instead of faith” (TBB pg. 113)  The truth is that we have nothing to fear since we are in Christ.  Satan is a created being so he cannot have more power then the Spirit inside of us. 

Paul also tells us to wear “the breastplate of righteousness” (Phil. 6:14).  A breastplate is worn in battle to protect the vital organs, most importantly the heart.  Proverbs says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23).  If Satan can get at our heart, he has us, just like if we are stabbed in the heart. 

The heart is symbolically also where our deepest emotions lie.  Scripture says to, “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength” (Luke 10:27).  Many “Christians” who think are saved only know about God in their head.  The heart is the difference between knowing about God and knowing God. 

In love we say to our spouse, “I love you with all my heart.”  That means I love you with all that I am.  I would give my life for you. 

Paul makes the breastplate out of righteousness.  To be righteous is to be right with God. 

The world is the opposite of righteous.  It is true that man apart from God can seem to do good.  However, God says, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Is. 64:6).  Apart from God we are completely bent on the self.  What can I do to better myself?  We might help someone else out but only if it will benefit ourselves. 

To be truly righteous is to do good selflessly.  To be righteous is to be right with God.  It is vital that our heart is right with God above all else.  Jesus said, “For it is out of the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks” (Mt. 12:34).  Our heart controls all our actions.  If it is not righteous, or right with God, our whole being will be out of sync. 

Paul also tells us to have our “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15).  Why does Paul call is the gospel of peace?  Augustine once said, “our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.”  Man apart from God is always searching for what will make him happy, but nothing fulfills us apart from God, nothing satisfies.  It is like we are born with this unquenchable thirst.  Jesus said, “whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again” (Jn. 4:14).  Symbolically once we are born again we will never thirst again, meaning we will never be left wanting more.  God is sufficient to meet all our needs.  Paul tells us to pray about every “and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).  God is a God of peace.  War came into the world due to sin, but in the garden of Eden there was perfect peace.  Some scholars say all animals were benevolent in the garden.  Adam and Eve did not have worry about being bitten by a spider or being attacked by a lion.  There was perfect peace. 

            Neil Anderson says, “How did Jesus deflect Satan’s temptations? By shielding Himself with statements from the Word of God.  Every time you memorize a Bible verse, listen to a sermon, or participate in a Bible study…you increase your knowledge of God and enlarge your shield of faith” (TBB pg. 86).