Spiritual Warfare – Part 4

Continuing What Are God’s Secret Weapons Against Our Real Enemies

Daniel 10:2-13,19

I. Introduction (2 Cor 10:4,5)

A. The weapons of our warfare are NOT physical – List some physical weapons: Fists, Yelling, Tears, Fingernails, Silence, Poison, And that is just over-the-counter stuff!

B. A Christian’s weapons are ONLY spiritual – just as real, but not made out of hands, metal, stone, wood, explosives, etc. But rather, spiritual in construction

C. If you feel naked, and worthless in the battle’s you face as a Christian, it may be only because you do not know just how powerful the spiritual weapons that God has given you really are!!!

II. Review – Discerning Spiritual Attacks – Last week we learned:

A. Spiritual attacks affects our Attitude toward God - Our Heart!

1. Brings on Depression

2. Gets us to think about Quitting

3. Brings up Anger and Bitterness about people and the past

4. Makes us numb to the voice of the Holy Spirit

B. Spiritual Attacks affect our Ability to Live (Job 3:20-22; 1Kg 19:1-4; Jonah 4:1-3, 8) – Our Resolve

C. Spiritual Attacks affect your ability to Think (1Cor 14:33; 2Cor 10:4,5) – Our Mind - clouds your minds.

D. Spiritual attacks affects others (Josh 7:20-26; Heb 12:14,15) – Our World

E. Christians don’t HAVE to let this happen (Romans 6:14; 5:20; 2Cor 12:9)! We need to amass some stronger weapons against this attacks – props/walls that can hold us and our families up against this barrages. Talk about that more next week

III. Basic Outline of Our Weaponry

A. Righteousness – Spiritual Breastplate (Dan 10:11; Eph 6:14)

B. Prayer – Spiritual Reinforcements (Dan 10:12; Cf Ps 66:18,19)

C. Fasting – Spiritual Activation (Dan 10:3)

D. Chastening – Spiritual Cleansing (Dan 10:12; 1Cor 11:30-32)

E. Humbleness – Spiritual Openness (Dan 10:15-19; 1Pet 5:5)

F. Kindness – Spiritual Attack (Rom 12:21, 17-20)

G. Commitment – Patience – Faith – Spiritual Signal to God (2Tim 2:3,4)

H. The Word of God - Spiritual Sword (Eph 6:17; Mt 4:4)

I. The People of God – Spiritual Army

IV. Message – More Weapons

A. Humbleness – Spiritual Openness (Dan 10:15-19; 1Pet 5:5)

1. This is probably the second most powerful weapon in our arsenal!

2. God resists the proud – fights AGAINST YOU when you are proud

3. God helps the humble! That’s the only kind that gets HIS help!

4. Humility is not thinking low of yourself, but not thinking of yourself at all! Just thinking of others, and of Christ!

5. Pride opens the door for the devil to take over

6. Humbleness opens the door for the Lord to come in and get all the glory in the battle!

B. Kindness – Spiritual Attack (Rom 12:14, 17-21; 2Kgs 6:14-23)

1. Go against your flesh and do good to someone that hurts you

2. That’s heaping piles of hot coals on the head of your enemies

3. It changes them the best – defeats them

C. Faith – Spiritual Shield (Eph 6:16)

1. Confidence in God and the promises of His Word

2. Faith is trusting God enough to obey Him no matter the odds, knowing He will give the victory!

D. Commitment – Patience – Faith – Spiritual Signals to God (2Tim 2:3,4) that we are serious about winning

1. We signed up at salvation for the battles of life as good SOLDIERS

2. Let’s determine to win the war

3. Let’s take our Christian life, our prayer life, our Bible seriously!

4. Commitment, faithfulness means everything to God (1Cor 4:2)

5. There is a measure of contentment where He has me at the moment that we all need (Isa 30:15)

E. The Word of God - Spiritual Sword (Eph 6:17; Mt 4:4)

1. The word of God Cuts not only people (Acts 5:29-33; 7:54)

2. The word of God also Cuts the devil – hurts him BAD!

3. Cuts through demonic attacks

4. Why? Because it is the truth, and can cut through all the fears and lies and deceptions that the devil uses to try to defeat a Christian

5. The sound mind of a Christian is ONLY provided by means of the truths of Scripture – not by any other way!!!

F. The People of God – Spiritual Army

1. Don’t neglect to use this weapon

2. A Church is a mighty army – not because they are mighty, but because their confidences are in stronger spiritual weapons than our enemies

3. Other Christians caring enough about each other (Heb 13:3)

4. Get other Christians to pray with you, fast with you, go with you into battle – two are better than one!

5. There is a mighty army in this room – and all over the world (Heb 11:24,25)

V. Conclusion

A. There is a lot of battles going on – no one is above spiritual attacks

B. There are some pretty powerful enemies out there

1. Not your mother-in-law, or your neighbour

2. But devils (lots of them), darts, the world itself, and the flesh, and Satan himself

3. Without defences, we are history!

C. Start treating each battle as a SPIRITUAL Battle, and use only spiritual weapons!

D. We have some incredible weaponry to use against the attacks of Satan

1. Righteousness – Spiritual Breastplate (Dan 10:11; Eph 6:14)

2. Prayer – Spiritual Reinforcements (Dan 10:12; Cf Ps 66:18,19)

3. Fasting – Spiritual Activation (Dan 10:3)

4. Chastening – Spiritual Cleansing (Dan 10:12; 1Cor 11:30-32)

5. Humbleness – Spiritual Openness (Dan 10:15-19; 1Pet 5:5)

6. Kindness – Spiritual Attack (Rom 12:21, 17-20)

7. Commitment – Patience – Faith – Spiritual Signal to God (2Tim 2:3,4)

8. The Word of God - Spiritual Sword (Eph 6:17; Mt 4:4)

9. The People of God – Spiritual Army

E. Let’s start using them AS weapons against each and every dart that comes our way

1. Not our anger and bitterness and fists, and verbal slams

2. But us only spiritual weapons

3. Our battles really are all spiritual battles anyway

4. And we are supposed to be more than conquerors

Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church