Chapter 16: How To Fight
Rebecca Talks:
God called us to be soldiers not pacifists. No where does the Bible give room for "soft" Christians. As discussed in the previous chapter we are to be fighters and soldiers, and that, primarily, in the spirit world. We are living in a world ruled by satan and time is running out. satan is becoming bolder and bolder.
A believer dressed in spiritual armor standing firm against an onslaught of dark arrows.
"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 "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 God to the pulling down of strong holds."
II Corinthians 10:3-4 "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." II Timothy 2:3-4 "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood."
Jeremiah 48:10 As we take up the power and authority Jesus has given us in His name and take the offensive in warfare against satan, the persecution that inevitably will come will not come in the way we think. People will not stand up and say, "We are slandering you because of your stand for Jesus." No, you will be accused of doing all sorts of wrong things that you did not do, of being too radical and of becoming unbalanced in your mind. Schizophrenia and paranoia are favorite accusations of satan's. You will be discredited by your fellow Christians more than by avowed non-Christians. satan always deceives and lies, nothing is ever as it seems. His most effective servants are those who are supposedly the strongest Christians, the regular church goers, the financially successful and respected and revered members of your community. They are the ones who will accuse and persecute those fighting in spiritual warfare for Christ. But fight we must if souls are to be saved and brought to Jesus.
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
Matthew 5:10-12 Do not be surprised when the persecution comes from within your own church, from those who you thought were our Christian brothers and sisters and from your family. The Scriptures are plain:
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your oiun selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."
Acts 20:29-30 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."
II Corinthians 11:13-15 There is one point that vve both wish to make clear. We are not trying to dictate to you, nor control you in any way.
We are simply sharing with you what the Lord has taught us. You must ultimately get your guidance directly from the Lord. You must learn to hear the Lord in your spirit and mind. Only the Holy Spirit can teach you this, but you must ask for it and seek such communication earnestly. In fact, you must realize that you are responsible as an individual before the Lord to carefully study everything anyone tells you, to see if it is consistent with the Scriptures. That includes this book as well as anything your pastor says.
Paul himself instructed the Corinthians to do this:
"Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge." [Carefully weigh, evaluate, etc.]
I Corinthians 14:29 The reader would do well to read this whole chapter as it contains much neglected and overlooked commands applying to our church services of today.
Anyone involved in spiritual warfare must be prepared to fight in more than one area. But please remember, you do not control how or where you fight. Only the Lord controls that.
We simply make ourselves available to Him to use as He chooses. He is our commanding officer. Our goals are always to do the will of Jesus Christ, to bring glory to His name and to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
Remember Always, Jesus Is God! Anyone Who
would say He is anything less is false.
Be careful who you confide in, be wise, be alert to the Lord's guidance always. Our Lord warned us: "Lay hands suddenly on no man..."
I Timothy 5:22 Wait to see the fruits of a person's life; wait until the Lord gives you a complete peace with them.
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." I John 4:1 Remember, satan and his demons will always try to deceive you. Especially in spiritual matters.
There are at least 8 steps that should be taken by anyone seriously entering spiritual warfare.
They are as follows.
#1) You must accept total mastership of Jesus in every area of your life.
#2) You must be willing for a total dealing of the cross in your life. This must be an on-going day-by-day experience. There is a book by Dr. A.W. Tozer Called The Pursuit Of God, Which I think every Christian should read. The following quote explains this dealing of the cross in your life better than I could.
"Everything in the New Testament accords with this Old Testament picture.
Ransomed men need no longer pause in fear to enter the Holy of Holies. God wills that we should push on into His presence and live our whole life there. This is to be known to us in conscious experience. It is more than a doctrine to be held; it is a life to be enjoyed every moment of every day... "Similarly, the presence of God is the central fact of Christianity. At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for His redeemed children to push into conscious awareness of His presence. That type of Christianity which happens now to be in the vogue knows this Presence only in theory. It fails to stress the Christian's privilege of present realization. According to its teachings we are in the presence of God positionally, and nothing is said about the need to experience that Presence actually... What hinders us? 'The answer usually given, simply that we are 'cold,' will not explain all the facts. There is something more serious than coldness of heart... What is it? What but the presence of a veil in our hearts? A veil not taken away as the first veil was, but which remains there still shutting out the light and hiding the face of God from us.
"Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. We may as well try to instruct leprosy out of our system. There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Savior passed when He suffered under Pontius Pilate. ''Let us remember that when we talk of the rending of the veil we are speaking in a figure, and the thought of it is poetical, almost pleasant, but in actuality there is nothing pleasant about it. In human experience that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it is composed of the sentinent, quivering stuff of which our whole beings consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death at all.
It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free. "Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life, hoping ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified. But we must be careful to distinguish lazy 'acceptance' from the real work of God. We must insist upon the work being done. We dare not rest content with a neat doctrine of self-crucifixion. That is to imitate Saul and spare the best of the sheep and oxen. ''Insist that the work be done in very truth and it will be done. The cross is rough and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the presence of the living God." pp. 46 & 47
#3) A willingness to lay down both your own life and the lives of your loved ones if the Lord so chooses. You can probably expect a total change in your life situation.
"He that loveth Father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth Son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:3738 "... he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."
#4) You must learn to hear the Lord speak to you in your spirit. By "hearing the Lord speak to you in your spirit," I do not mean an audible voice which you hear with your physical ears.
What I mean is, the Lord says something to your spirit and then suddenly it is flashed into your mind in the from of a thought. That is one reason why it is so important to scrutinize our thoughts and ask the Lord to keep our minds and hearts pure.
"I [Jesus] have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." John 16:12-14 "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;" Hebrews 10:15-16 The Holy Spirit will put thoughts into our minds, that is how He speaks to us and is a witness to us. satan can also flash thoughts into our minds, but remember, the Holy Spirit will confirm to your heart and spirit what is from satan, and what is not. The Bible is our safeguard here. The Lord will never tell you anything that is not consistent with His word, the Bible. Also, if you are praying and talking with the Lord silently, satan cannot read your mind and thus will not be able to put in thoughts that are in context with what is currently going on in your mind as you pray.
This is another important reason why you must learn to control your mind so that it does not wander while you are in prayer and communion with the Lord.
"I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me." Proverbs 8:17 The literal translation of the Hebrew word for "early" means "diligently, with the implication of earnestness" according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. You must seek such a relationship with the Lord diligently.
Only the Holy Spirit can teach you to hear His voice. You may have to seek this type of relationship with much fasting, tears and prayer. Remember, the Lord never does anything in a hurry and He will probably test you to see how sincere you are. If you have not asked the Lord to do the work of a total dealing of the cross in you as described in the quote from Tozer, you will not be able to develop such a relationship with Him. Also if you are not totally committed to Him you will not be able to develop such a relationship.
When the Lord does speak to you and you have checked to see that what was said is consistent with the Bible, and the Holy Spirit confirms to your heart that you did indeed hear His voice, then you must stand in faith that this is so.
Otherwise satan will try to persuade you that you did not really hear from the Lord, that you were only imagining things.
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"
Romans 8:16 "Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:" Hebrews 3:8-9 The Holy Spirit will speak to us if we will hear His voice. Then when we do, we must not harden our hearts, but step out in faith and obedience in accordance with what the Holy Spirit said to us. Usually the Holy Spirit starts speaking to a believer by bringing to his or her attention something that is not pleasing to the Lord. The temptation is to ignore this communication and continue doing whatever it is the Lord is not pleased with. If you do this you are "hardening your heart" and will stop further communication from the Lord.
The Holy Spirit will bear witness with your spirit that what you have heard is from Him. If what you hear is not from Him learn to be sensitive to the hesitation or check you will feel. Too often we are anxious to go ahead and do something and pay no heed to these checks.
We must learn to be patient and wait for confirmation before taking any action.
Impulsiveness cannot have any part in spiritual warfare.
#5) You must learn absolute mind control. This will probably be one of the hardest things you will ever do. The Lord's command is clear:
A person taking a dark thought captive and replacing it with the light of God's Word.
"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 God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
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." II Corinthians 10:5 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind... "
Romans 12:2 The mind is a major battlefield, satan attacks everyone in their mind more than any other way. This battle is unceasing, unrelenting and will continue as long as we live here on the earth. No longer can you lazily allow thoughts to run through your mind willy-nilly. We are responsible before God to stop and scrutinize every thought that goes through our minds to decide if it is obedient to Christ.
Let's face it, basically we are lazy creatures. I can tell you that when God first began bringing this to my attention it was one of the most difficult things He ever asked me to do. To get through medical school, I had to study for hours on end. I knew how to maintain absolute concentration on something, but I still did not control my thought life.
Everyone has a continual "thought-life" going on in his or her mind, that is the way we are created. We are responsible to bring everyone of those thoughts captive to Jesus Christ. You must understand that satan can inject thoughts into your mind just the same as a doctor can inject medicine into your body. satan and his demons can do this from outside your body. They do not have to be inside you to do it. However, they cannot read your mind. Only God can know your thoughts and intentions.
(See Hebrews 4:12-13 and Jeremiah 17:9-10.)
Therefore, as in the example Jesus set for us when He was here on earth in human from, we must rebuke satan and his demons out loud. satan will put thoughts into your mind starting with the word "I" to make you think the thought was originated by you. For instance, a thought may come such as "I sure would like to do ______," something which you know is sin. As soon as you realize such a thought is in your mind, you need to attack the real source. Out loud say something like this:
"satan and you demons, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ. I will not accept that thought. Go away!" Then force yourself to think about Scripture, recite a passage out loud if necessary to control your mind.
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8 This is another example of controlling our minds. We must literally re-train and renew our minds as in Romans:
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Romans 12:2 This takes time and persistence, and hard work!
"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;" Colossians 3:12 Did you ever wonder how you would go about "putting on" such things as kindness, mercy, etc? I did, many many times. Finally the Lord gave me the answer. We must train our minds before-hand so that when situations arise in which people do us harm, we will not just react in our natural emotions of the moment. We will choose to act with God's mercy and return good for evil.
The well known Chinese Christian author Watchman Nee describes the battle for the mind as follows: (Please note, his works have all been translated from Chinese and therefore might be a little difficult to read.)
"According to the Bible the mind of man is unusual in that it constitutes a battlefield where satan and his evil spirits contend against the truth and hence against the believer. We may illustrate as follows.
Man's will and spirit are like a citadel which the evil spirits crave to capture. The open field where the battle is waged for the seizure of the citadel is man's mind. Note how Paul the Apostle describes it: 'though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.' (II Corinthians 10:3-5) He initially tells us of a battle - then where the battle is fought - and finally for what objective. This struggle pertains exclusively to man's mind. The Apostle likens man's arguments of reasonings to an enemy's strongholds. He pictures the mind as held by the enemy; it must therefore be broken into by waging war. He concludes that many rebellious thoughts are housed in these strongholds and need to be taken captive to the obedience of Christ. All this plainly shows us that the mind of man is the scene of battle where the evil spirits clash with God... When firmly held by satan the mind of man becomes 'hardened;' man follows the desires of body and mind (as) 'children of wrath' and so 'is estranged and hostile in mind' because 'the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.' (II Corinthians 3:14; Ephesians 2:3; Colossians 1:21; Romans 8:7)
"Upon reading these various passages we can see clearly how the powers of darkness are especially related to man's mind, how it is peculiarly susceptible to satan's assault.
With respect to man's will, emotion and body, the powers of evil are helpless to do anything directly unless they first have gained some ground therein. But with man's mind they can work freely without initially persuading man or securing his invitation. The mind appears to be their possession already. The Apostle in comparing men's minds to an enemy's strongholds seems to imply that satan and his wicked spirits already have established a deep relationship with the minds of men, that somehow they are using them as their bastions in which to imprison their captives. Through man's mind they impose their authority and through the mind of their captives they transmit poisonous thoughts to others so that these too may rise up against God. It is difficult to estimate how much of the world's philosophy, ethics, knowledge, research and science flow from the powers of darkness. But of one point we are certain: all arguments and proud obstacles against the knowledge of God are the fortresses of the enemy. "Is it strange to behold the mind in such close proximity to the authorities of wickedness? Was not the sin which mankind first committed that of seeking the knowledge of good and evil, and that at the instigation of satan? Hence man's mind is especially related to satan.
If we were to peruse the Scriptures carefully and to observe the experiences of the saints we would discover that all communications between human and satanic forces occur in the organ of thought. Take for instance, satan's temptation. Every temptation with which he entices man is presented to his mind. It is true that satan often uses the flesh to secure the consent of man, yet in each instance of enticement the enemy creates some kind of temptation and thought. All temptations are offered us in the from of thoughts...
"The original definition of repentance is none else than 'a change of mind.'... "But even following repentance the believer's mind is not liberated totally from the touch of satan. As the enemy worked through the mind in former days, so today will he work in the same manner. Paul, in writing to the Corinthian believers, confided that he was 'afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.' (II Corinthians 11:3) The Apostle well recognizes that as the God of this world blinds the mind of unbelievers so will he deceive the mind of the believers... The mind is the easiest avenue for them to accomplish their purpose. Eve's heart was sinless and yet she received satan's suggested thoughts. She was thus beguiled through his deception into forfeiting her reasoning and tumbling into the snare of the enemy. Let a believer accordingly be careful in his boast of possessing an honest and sincere heart, for unless he learns how to repulse the evil spirits in his mind he will continue to be tempted and deceived into losing the sovereignty of his will. Pp. 7-10 "God wishes to restore our thought life to the excellent state it had when He created it so that we may not only glorify God in our walk but may glorify Him in our thinking as well.
Who can estimate the multiplied number of God's children who, due to neglecting their mind, grow narrow, stubborn and obstinate, and even sometimes defiled. They fall short of the glory of God. The Lord's people need to know that if they want to live a full life their mind must be renewed. So whenever a child of God notes that he is no longer able to govern the mind, he ought to perceive at once that it is the enemy who is managing it... God's intention is for man to control himself. Man has the authority to regulate his every natural endowment, hence his mental processes should be subject to the power of his will. A Christian ought to inquire of himself: Are these my thoughts?
Is it I who am thinking? If it is not I thinking, it must then be the evil spirit who is able to work in man's mind. The person should know that in case he has not intended to think and yet there are thoughts arising in his head, he must conclude that these are not of him but of the evil spirit." pp. 12-13 The Spiritual Man, Volume III, by Watchman Nee.
Let me give you some examples.
A. There are 3 sources of the thoughts that come into the mind of a true born again believer. The person himself, the Holy Spirit, and, satan and/or his demons. Nearly everywhere we go to speak we always have people criticize us and tell us that we must not speak about satan because in so doing we are giving gloiy to him, etc., etc. Why?Because there are almost always some witches in every audience. They sit back and with a simple incantation send a demon to every person in the audience (please note, the demons do not go into the people). The demon shoots in the thought that "These women should not talk about satan because in so doing they are giving gloiy to satan." The person assumes the thought is their own and therefore must be true.
B. The roommate I lived with at the time I met Elaine was not a Christian, and frankly I did not like her at all. I had reluctantly agreed to let her stay with me for the school year hoping to bring her to the Lord but I had a most difficult year. Our personalities were very different, and she irritated me most of the time. During this time the Lord was teaching me to control my mind. One of the first things the Holy Spirit showed me was that most mornings as I was preparing to go into work, I had not even seen Sue yet, but in my mind I was going around and around with her having a fight in my mind so that by the time I did see her I was so mad at her I couldn't even say a civil "Good morning." Now where did those thoughts come from? Not from me. I had such a struggle to control them, there were times when I would say to myself, "Rebecca, shut-up!" But this wouldn't do any good, the angry thoughts would just keep on going. Why? Because by telling myself to shut-up I was resisting satan with my own strength. When we try to withstand satan with our own strength we lose the battle before we even get started.
But as the Holy Spirit taught me and trained me to recognize that those thoughts were from outside of me and from satan, I began to have victory as I rebuked satan out loud in the name of Jesus. Soon I learned that the instant that first negative or angry thought would come into my mind about Sue, I immediately out loud said, "satan and you demons I rebuke you in the name of Jesus! I will not accept those thoughts about Sue," and would force myself to think about some portion of Scripture and recite it out loud. Then I had victory because I was then resisting satan with the power of Jesus, and my whole relationship with her improved immensely. How many marriages and families and churches and whole communities have been destroyed by this one simple tactic? (See Figures /, II and III.)
#6) Scripture memory is another important point.
"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word... Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."
Psalm 119: 9 & 11 The way to hide God's word in your heart is to memorize it. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough. Believe me, when you are fighting with demons, you do not have time to go thumbing through your Bible. You may well lose your life or the life of the one you are trying to deliver if you have to take the time to even open your Bible.
There is an easy way to memorize Scripture. Set aside a certain time each day. For me, it is the 20 minutes or so I spend each morning blowdrying my hair. Write the section you want to memorize on a 3 X 5 card. I have my cards taped on my mirror. Write the section of Scripture you want to memorize with the reference both before and after the verses.
Usually it is best if you limit it to no more than 2-3 verses. Then, out loud say the verses and reference over and over until you can say it through once or twice perfectly with your eyes closed. For example:
"John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - John 3:16"
Do this once each day. Add a new section of Scripture once per week. If you do this faithfully each day for 3 months you will have that Scripture locked into your memory forever. You will soon find that the Holy Spirit will bring these verses back to your mind many times per day. You will find this a quick, easy, painless way to memorize Scripture.
#7) Authority. God always puts his people under authority. This is a lesson we must learn early if we are to survive in spiritual warfare.
Unless we learn to obey delegated authority we will never truly obey God's direct authority and thus we will lose many battles because we will neither hear or obey our captain, Jesus Christ.
I think it would be wise here to quote a section from the book Spiritual Authority, by Watchman Nee (Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc., 1972).
"God's children should not only learn to recognize authority, they should likewise be looking for those to whom they ought to be obedient. The centurion spoke to the Lord Jesus saying: 'I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers.' (Matthew 8:9)
He was truly a man who knew authority.
Today, even as God upholds the whole universe with His authority, so He joins His children together through His authority. If anyone of His children is independent and self-reliant, not subject to God's delegated authority, then that one can never accomplish the work of God on earth.
Each and every child of God must look for some authority to obey so that he or she may be well coordinated with others. Sad to say, though, many have failed this point." page 115.
If you are unable to come under the authority of a boss at your work, how, then, can you ever really come under God's authority? Also, be very careful who's authority you place yourself under. Do not be in a hurry to become a member of a particular church until you know without a doubt that that is where the Lord wants you. Once you place yourself under such authority God considers it very serious if you then disobey that authority. If you are disobedient to such authority you are then giving satan legal ground in your life.
The same holds true for women. So many young women feel that they cannot survive without getting married, therefore they tend to marry any man who shows an interest in them.
I have seen so many tragedies of young women earnestly desiring to serve the Lord who are tied in a marriage with a husband who is not interested in serving the Lord. However, because they have committed themselves to the marriage relationship, God will not honor any rebellion by them against their husbands. They will never be free to serve the Lord in the way they would have been had they not married the man.
If the time comes when you must obey God's authority rather than the governmental authority you have been placed under you must do so, but openly and willing to take the punishment coming. For example, Daniel refused to obey the decree by King Darius which forbid anyone to pray to God for a period of 30 days, but he did not do so in secret.
"Now when Daniel knew' that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber ttnvard Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did afore time." Daniel 6:10.
Daniel obeyed God before the government, but he did so openly, willing to take the punishment. God honored Daniel in this and saved him from the lions in the den into which he was thrown. Many martyrs have given their lives for obeying God over their governments.
How many of you reading this book would be willing to lose your job rather than agree to refrain from praying or sharing the gospel at work?
I strongly recommend that anyone involved in any way in spiritual warfare read the book Spiritual Authority, by Watchman Nee.
#8) Never under estimate satan's power, or treat him with disrespect, or think that he cannot or is not active in your life.
"Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 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, The Lord rebuke thee.' But these speak evil of those things which they know not..." Jude verses 8-9 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." II Peter 5:8 Never forget that the battle is real. If you get on the front lines you are more likely to get shot down. In almost every disaster I have ever seen where someone who was fighting for the Lord and then became deceived by satan, the first step was their loss of respect for their enemy. We are not giving any glory or honor to satan! But he is a formidable foe. He is much more intelligent than we. Don't forget what God said when he created satan:
"Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty." Ezekiel 28:12 satan is the most beautiful and intelligent creature God has created. We cannot hope to overcome satan with our small human intelligences, or to figure out his deceptions.
We must remain totally dependent upon the Lord to reveal to us satan's tactics. We can stand against and overcome satan only with the power of Jesus Christ.
As soon as someone stops respecting satan, he becomes careless and the doorway is opened for pride and a multitude of other deceptions by satan.
We will discuss here five areas of battle. We certainly do not claim that the following is complete, but the Lord has directed us to share with you what we have learned so far. It is our earnest prayer that the Lord Himself will lead you into all spiritual understanding. The areas are: demons, human spirits of satanists, physical creatures such as the wer animals (the word lycanthrope refers only to werwolves, not to other wer animals), humans, and directly on the spiritual battlefield in your spiritual body.
Two special sources of instruction on how to fight in spiritual warfare is the Psalms and the book of Joshua. Every weapon mentioned in the Bible is available for us to use in the spirit world. Study the Scriptures. Get a notebook and write down everything the Lord reveals to you as you read. That way you will have the information so that you can go back and review frequently. Otherwise you will have to waste a lot of time re-learning things you once knew but had forgotten.
Demons
Demons are very intelligent creatures. They are spirits, and do not normally have physical bodies although they can, for certain periods of time manifest as a physical body that we can see and feel. They were once angels in God's service. satan, their leader, was once an archangel. His is one of the most powerful and intelligent creatures God ever created. Man's intelligence is nothing compared to satan's.
Many, many ages ago satan chose to rebel against God and tried to exalt himself above God. A large number of angels followed satan to be in his service instead of God's. These angels are often referred to as "fallen angels" and are the various demons. They are all evil and tiers. They go by different names in various parts of the world. They have a wide range of strengths and abilities and can be defeated only with the power of Jesus. In Jesus we are in a remarkable position of authority over demons and we should make use of that authority, but always respectfully.
The number and various types of demons are so vast that we could never name them all.
Also, the same demon will take different names depending on what geographical area he is in. satan's kingdom is highly organized and very efficient. Very high demons referred to in the Bible as princes rule over various areas of the world.
Demons know the Bible very well, that is why we must also know the Bible thoroughly.
Demons are expert at twisting the Scriptures to try to make them mean something other than what God said. If we do not know the Scriptures we will be easy prey for them.
We find no need to attempt to list or name demons because not only is this an impossible task, but each time we need to deal with them the Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom we need.
Time and space does not permit us to talk much about deliverance here other than the details given in Elaine's case and the other cases I have given. We approach deliverance by areas of the person, and by the known doorways that have been opened in their lives.
Later publications will deal with this in more detail.
Human Spirits Of Satanists
Dealing with the human spirits of the satanists is about the same as dealing with demons except you must always remember that it is a human life and spirit you are dealing with, therefore the primary goal is salvation. We accept a lot more torment from human spirits without fighting back than from demons because we do not wish to injure them, and we always preach the gospel to them.
I remember on evening shortly after Elaine's final deliverance when I was standing in the kitchen after dinner doing the dishes. I was alone and crying into my dish water while praying to Father. It had been a particularly rough day. Elaine and I were being continuously tormented by the satanists' spirits. Nothing seemed to control them. We were almost constantly being picked up by these unseen forces and thrown against a wall or onto the floor or objects were thrown at us.
We were exhausted and battered. We could stop the demons rather easily by simply rebuking them in the name of Jesus, but these human spirits could not be stopped in the same manner. I cried out to the Lord in desperation, "Father please, what can we do?
I feel like my house is an open thoroughfare to any power or spirit of evil that wants to come through. You know how these spirits are tormenting us. I just can't stand it anymore!"
At that point the Holy Spirit flooded into my mind the story of the passover lamb in Exodus chapter 12. Then He said, "Since the death of Jesus, there are no more blood sacrifices. So, what would you say is the counterpart of the blood today?"
"The oil?" I asked.
"That is right." Then the Lord also reminded me of the Scripture in Exodus chapter 40 where he had instructed Moses to use the anointing oil also.
"And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy."
Exodus 40:9 As I pondered these Scriptures, the Lord showed me that I must take oil and anoint my house and sanctify it holy unto the Lord.
So I took the oil I had on hand (cooking oil) and placed some on the doorposts and lintels of all the doors, the doors themselves, and on each of the windows. As I did so, I asked the Lord to sanctify my home holy unto Himself, and to seal it with a shield of His precious blood. Then, leaving the doors open I went back into the house and stood in the middle of it and asked the Lord to cleanse it and drive out all the evil spirits currently in the house.
The change was immediate and dramatic. My house was sealed and no demons or human spirits could get in from that point on.
When we are involved in particularly heavy warfare and, as usual, have many people in and out of our house constantly, we sometimes find it necessary to re-anoint and cleanse our house occasionally. Anyone involved in spiritual warfare will find this most helpful. The Lord has also taught us that whenever we move to a different home we should walk around the edge of the property and claim that property for the Lord asking Him to sanctify it holy to Himself, and to seal and protect it.
If the Lord shows you that you personally are being afflicted by a human spirit (not only that of a satanist, but even of a fellow Christian who has hatred in his heart for you) you will find it most helpful to be anointed with oil by a Christian brother or sister, praying and asking the Lord for special shielding not only from demonic powers, but also from human spirits as well.
Be alert for the possibility of human spirits speaking and acting through an undelivered person. As for the rest, the Holy Spirit will give you personal guidance for each occasion as it arises.
Wer Beasts And Physical Manifestations Of Demons
Vampires and werwolves have been legend for many, many years. Much has been written about them and many movies and stories have centered around them. Unfortunately, most everyone believes they are simply "makebelieve" fantasy creatures, and almost everything told about them is inaccurate. These creatures do exist. Let me define what I mean by wer beasts and vampires, then let us look at some interesting scriptural references.
"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Psalm 51:5 Ever since the fall of Adam, humans have been born sinful, and their physical bodies shaped in and peculiarly affected by iniquity. (Iniquity means wickedness.) Because of this the demons have great power over our physical bodies.
People totally committed to satan can and do ask certain demons to live in them that are capable of bringing about tremendous physical changes in their bodies. It is well known that demons can give humans unusual strength.
Remember the demoniac of Gadarah in Luke 8.
Wer beasts are produced by these demons. The demons bring about the physical changes in the person's body that change them into animallike shapes and also gives them super-human strength and characteristics. There are some very interesting Scriptures on this subject. Of course the term wer animals or wer beasts is not used as that is a fairly modern term. But let us look at the following:
And I will give peace in the land... and I will rid evil beasts out of the land." Leviticus 26:6 "I will also send wild beasts among you... "
Leviticus 26:22 In these two references a clear distinction is made between evil beasts and wild beasts. God is here telling the Israelites that if they obey His commandments that He will rid the land of the Canaanites of evil beasts, but that if they do not keep His commandments He will send in wild beasts to kill them. Earlier on when God gave Moses the law, He designated certain animals clean and unclean among both wild and domestic animals. So evil beasts clearly means something different from unclean beasts.
"... [God speaking] the wild beasts of the field are mine..." Psalm 50:11 There are numerous references to wild beasts belonging to the Lord, but never to evil beasts belonging to Him.
Then we find a most interesting Scripture in Ezekiel. Here, the Lord is instructing Ezekiel to go into the temple at Jerusalem to see the evil that was being practiced there. At this time the Israelites were practicing demon and satan worship with all the perversions that accompany it.
"And he [God] said unto me, go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every from of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about."
Ezekiel 8:9-10 In a previously referenced Scripture in I Corinthians 10:19-20, it is clearly stated that these idols were images of the demons that were worshiped. I believe that the drawings which Ezekiel saw were not only of demons, but also of wer beasts. Israel has been in Egypt for over 400 years prior to this time. The hyroglyphics found throughout Egypt contain drawings of creatures part human part beast, especially of human bodies with wolf heads.
There are many references in Scripture to show that the Israelites carried the Egyptian traditions and forms of worship with them.
References to evil beasts are also made in the New Testament. I believe the following Scriptures are referring to what we call wer beasts today.
"One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, 'The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.' This witness is true." Titus I:i2-i3a "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities [demons]... But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam... [The error of Balaam was demon worship, specifically Baal.]"
Jude 7-11 An almost identical passage is found in II Peter 2:10-12. This passage shows how men are corrupted and turned into beasts by lacking respect for and consorting with and worshiping demons. There is also clear reference to a special defiling of the flesh and a reference to "strange flesh."
Much is hidden in the Scriptures and we must seek wisdom from the Lord to understand all this, but we believe these Scriptures make reference to the phenomenon of human beings literally turned into evil beasts with actual temporary physical changes brought about by demons.
Most people consider such things as werwolves, vampires and zombies pure fantasy. Christians need to understand that satan and his servants are deadly serious about these creatures and that they do exist. The satanic activity in the Dark Ages was so intense because the light of the gospel of Jesus was almost extinct.
Witchcraft was rampant during that time until God brought the Reformation and the gospel was preached again. The only accurate writings about the existence of wer animals we have been able to find are translations of writings by a few German Christians during the start of the Reformation period. Our Lord Jesus told us that in the last days before His return that evil would increase tremendously, far more than that of the Dark Ages. satan is on the move and we are going to see more and more manifestations of his power. The explosion of occult movies, satanic rock music, satanic role playing fantasy games, occult literature, Eastern religions and lukewarm uncommitted Christians should give us a good indication of the times we are in.
"[Jesus speaking about the last days before His return.] For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened... For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Matthew 24:21-24 Let us look at some of the lore that surrounds wer beasts - werwolves in particular. First of all, it is commonly said that if a person is bitten by a werwolf that he will become a werwolf. I feel this is completely in error. First of all, the Scriptures indicate that a man must be in a God-forbidden relationship with demons to be so affected. Secondly, from my own experience and that of others, a person is most unlikely to simply be bitten by a werwolf.
These demon-humans desire one thing only destruction of others. If a werwolf or other wer beast gets close enough to bite someone it will most likely tear them apart, not stop with just one bite. satan uses these wer beasts for discipline. I think that during the tribulation they will multiply greatly.
Other lore about these creatures includes such things as claims that they can turn into their beast shape only at night and only during the full moon. I know both of these claims are false, because I have personally met a werwolf fully turned during daylight and also at a time of the month when the moon was not completely full.
The obvious question is how can we effectively fight against these creatures? In the name and power and authority of Jesus Christ. I have not, to this date, known of the deliverance of any wer beasts, but, the work of Christ on the cross was so complete, that I am sure it is possible if the person involved is willing to lay down his life to obtain deliverance. These people have so given over their physical bodies into the control of the demon that apart from a total miracle of the Lord I doubt that the demon can be cast out without resulting in the physical death of the person.
As I mentioned, I have, myself, encountered a werwolf face-to-face once so far. Perhaps it would be helpful to describe that experience here. One evening at dusk I was driving from my office back to the hospital to see a patient who had taken a turn for the worse. I was alone in the car and was driving down a stretch of isolated country road where there were no houses or buildings within at least a one mile radius. Suddenly, about a block ahead of me a huge werwolf stepped out into the middle of the road. As I approached closer, he raised up and stood on his hind legs.
I put my foot down hard on the accelerator intending to swerve around him but the car didn't respond. It glided to a stop, motor still running, despite all my prayers and attempts to make it go. I sat there staring in horror at the most incredibly ugly and fierce creature I had ever seen. I felt as if I was drowning in the pure evil power that radiated from him. He threw back his head and howled - a terrifying sound which I shall never forget.
Then he looked straight into my eyes and told me, "You can't go anywhere - see, I have stopped your car and there's nothing you can do about it. Now I'm going to enjoy ripping your throat out and drinking your blood. You have been interfering with satan too long; I am going to punish you. You cannot stand against my power." Ending in a deep growl, he started walking from the front of the car toward my door.
Fear rolled over me in waves, but I knew I must stand, as I was certain it was not the Lord's will for me to die at that point. I knew I had work yet to do. The Lord had taught me well during my near fatal illness 3 years previously. As I made my decision to stand my ground, the Holy Spirit flooded such calm and peace and strength into my soul. He (the Holy Spirit) also flashed the understanding into my mind that the werwolf was trying to frighten me into panicking and running. If I had done so, he would have been able to kill me.
Taking a deep breath, I extended my right hand to point directly at him and cried out, "STOP!
In the name of Jesus STOP! you foul servant of satan! I am a servant of Jesus Christ who is God Almighty! It is not my master's will for me to die now. You may not touch me for I have work yet to do." The werwolf stopped in his tracks, unable to move, snarling and growling in fury.
Pointing at him again, I looked straight into his eyes and said, "In the name of Jesus I command you to get out of my way and be gone! My hour of death has not yet come. NOW GO!" He howled once more, then dropped onto all fours and disappeared off the edge of the road into a field of tall corn.
I was shaking so hard in relief that I could hardly drive. But as my car gathered speed I drove away praising the Lord for once again "Extending his right hand against the anger of my foes." Psalm 138:7. (I stopped about a mile down the road and had a "nervous breakdown" before going on to the hospital.) If only people would realize the power available to them in Jesus. Much has been written about various methods of effectively killing werwolves while they are in their wolf from. I would never consider even trying such a thing because in so doing I would be killing a human who's salvation is my deepest concern. Also, once such a person is killed, the demon would leave the body immediately and then the body would return to its human from. That, of course, would present a most awkward situation because who would believe that the dead body was ever in a different from? The killer would most certainly be accused of murder, and rightly so.
Vampires also exist. This, too, is a relatively modern term. Essentially, a vampire is a person who drinks blood, with a particular liking for human blood. Vampirism is a current rapidly growing fad amongst heavy metal Rock stars and fans. Many songs are written about the subject, blood drinking by Rock stars during stage performances is common and the altering of their teeth to become sharp pointed spears is also a growing fad amongst these people. Recent publications show pictures of Dee Snider, singer in the Rock group Twisted Sister, whose front teeth are now pointed. There is a fascinating reference to this in Scripture.
"My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows..." Psalm 57:4 When we remember that most of David's writings in the Psalms referred to spiritual warfare, and the fact that he says his soul, not physical body, was being attacked, makes me wonder if he could be referring to people inhabited by these same demons of vampirism?
Again, most all the lore concerning vampires is wrong. They certainly can function in the light of day, do not need to sleep in a coffin, etc. I have never personally met a vampire, but I have talked with several people who claim they have. In this case also, we must stand firm in the power and authority of Jesus Christ.
Demons can and do manifest in a physical form. The forms they chose to take can range from exquisite beauty to horrifying ugliness.
Demons can also manifest in a physical appearance identical to an existing human being. These demons are frequently referred to by satanists as changelings, incubi, or dopplegangers. We must also stand against these the same as any demon, in the name of Jesus.
Physical Battle
There is not much I can tell you about the inevitable conflict you will have with actual humans as a result of your involvement in spiritual warfare. You must earnestly petition the Lord to teach you to hear His voice clearly and you must obey, no matter how ridiculous it sounds at the time. Faith and immediate obedience are two keys.
I will never forget one afternoon in the month of July (just after Elaine's final deliverance) when I arrived home early from work. I went into the house and dropped off some things. As I had about 45 minutes before I had to go pick Elaine up from work I decided to run over to the grocery store. I did so and arrived back home in about 20 minutes. As I reached to put my key in the lock of the front door the Holy Spirit flashed one word into my spirit and mind. "NO!" I looked around. Everything seemed peaceful. The birds were chirping, a gentle breeze rustled the leaves on the trees, my two cats were sleeping on the front porch swing. I looked in the window next to the door but could see nothing unusual.
"I must be crazy!" I thought. "I haven't been away for more than 20 minutes and it's broad daylight." Immediately the command came again: "NO!"
"But Lord," I said, "I have ice cream and it will melt quickly in this heal."
"Do not go in" was the last command. Then silence. I knew in my heart that that was the last the Lord would say to me on the subject.
The Lord will never argue with us. So, with a shrug, I turned and went back to the car and went to wait until Elaine finished at work. I had been too well schooled by the Lord to disobey. Half an hour later when Elaine and I and the melted ice cream arrived home we found that the back part of the house had been ransacked! Whoever had been there must have been in the house at the time the Holy Spirit had stopped me from going in. We praised the Lord for His guidance. I might well have been killed if I had gone in earlier. I could give many other similar experiences, but the Lord will lead you in your own life.
Be very careful who you trust. Do not confide in anyone unless they have had time to prove themselves. What are the fruits of their life and Christian walk? Always wait until you have complete peace in your spirit and heart from the Lord before you take anyone into your confidence. Pray constantly asking the Lord to reveal to you satan's servants and lies. We can never outsmart satan. Only the Lord can show us his traps.
Battling In The Spirit World
This area of battle was discussed in chapter 14 for better continuity. However, as with all the other areas of battle, the eight steps outlined in the beginning of this chapter apply here equally.