Ultimate Spiritual Warfare

By: Steve Hill

Recently several friends have asked questions about spiritual warfare. Some of the questions are being prompted by the calls from several ministries for "round the world", "violent praise" events on June the 6th. (In case you missed it June the 6th this year will be the 6th day of the 6th month of 2006 or 666!) One brother said that if he were satan he would just do something big on June 5th!

My question is why do so many people want to spend so much time shouting at the devil? The Old Covenant revelation is that he is under our feet!

Do we believe that Jesus is above all principalities and powers and that we are in Him? If so we need to pray for revelation of that! That is the message of Ephesians one and two. Ultimate spiritual warfare is revelation of the glorified Christ! Do we believe that He has disarmed the powers of darkness by His cross and that we are complete in Him? That is the message of Colossians one and two. Ultimate spiritual warfare has already been accomplished!

Do we believe that He became flesh "that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil"? That is the message of Hebrews one and two! We face a defeated foe! The strong man is already bound!

If we believe these things then our attempts to bind the devil and his henchmen are really acts of unbelief. We are trying to do what Jesus has already done! We are empowering our enemy! We are acting as if the cross has not happened!

Yes we have the tension of the now and the not yet. That is Hebrews 2:8 & 9, "But now we do not yet see all things put under Him. But we see Jesus...!" And if we see Jesus we know that it is all done in Jesus! Do you believe your circumstances or do you believe the cross?

How does this work out?

When we went to Central Asia I asked how the gospel had first come to them. They replied that it had come courtesy of "Apostle" Stalin. The phrase startled me and I asked them what they meant. They said that Stalin had sent out the first missionaries. He had arrested Christians around Moscow and sent them to Central Asia. About one third died on the journey. Another third died once they arrived since there were absolutely no provisions made for them. The remaining third survived and shared their faith with those around them. Did they suffer? Yes! Did Stalin have the last word? No! Jesus had the last word!

John 12:23- 26 is as true now as it ever was! But suffering and death to self is not a popular message!

We want a path to victory by a triumphal exercise of power! We would rather stand on platforms and engage in spiritual theatrics (and call it prayer and prophecy) than lay our lives down to practically love people.

A few days ago I asked a young man to tell me his testimony. He had been a gang member but after descending into addiction he ended up living on the streets of Amsterdam. One day a young woman asked if she could pray for him. After her simple prayer of blessing she gave him a hug. That hug broke him. He told me that his body stunk like that of a dead man. If God's love could motivate a lovely woman to hug his stinky body, he wanted to know that love.

Love never fails!

Jesus has paid the price so that we can go and do!

May you have continuing revelation of the glorified Christ!

That is ultimate spiritual warfare!

Harvest Now

Steve & Marilyn Hill

 

PS: Want to think through the issues raised by spiritual warfare teaching? We have placed a full article on our website under "Resources" called "Ultimate Spiritual Warfare".

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