Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit... (Ephesians 6:10-18)
We have been talking about the Christian in Complete Armor, and my talk today is part 5 in the series. And this of course comes from this passage of Scripture. It is not the only place in the Bible that speaks of spiritual warfare.
From Genesis to Revelation, God has revealed a fierce and unceasing warfare in the invisible realm of the heavens. This warfare involves God and Satan, angels and demons, truth and deception, heaven and hell, believers and unbelievers, the saved and the lost.
It is the Cosmic Conflict of the ages.
All of human history is involved in it. Each human being is impacted by it. Every single culture is influenced by it.
We wrestle against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
1. CORE - The battles of my life are spiritual at their core.
For the last two messages, I have been teaching on the subject of Strongholds, based on 2 Corinthians 10:4,5.
A stronghold is what happens when you a false view of God, and of your life, and of your world into your mind, and when you accept that false view as normal. An error connects to a lie which is bonded to a half truth, and rests on an untruth and layered over with a true truth so that you believe the whole pack of lies.
A stronghold is a deceptive philosophy that takes on a life of its own inside, you, right inside your soul. It's like a machine that keeps on running. It spits out confusion. Pain. Temptation. Fear. Anger. Sadness. And enough pleasure to keep you from noticing what's going on.
