Discerning Spiritual Warfare Through Natural Signs

There is a spiritual war taking place right now. That spiritual war has real adversaries and casualties. And although many believers have been taught about the spiritual war taking place. Few have understood the theater of battle. We dance and sing and wave fake weapons pretending we are doing spiritual battle, when, in reality, we accomplish very little to defeat a very real enemy — Satan. Foolish?! Yes. What’s even more dangerous is ignoring or failing to discern the very real spiritual warfare taking place. That’s why it is extremely important to know how to discern the natural signs of spiritual warfare. That’s what I’d like to talk about in this post.

First, let me say, I’m not against singing, using symbolic weapons, or dancing. What I am against is failing to discern the enemy, knowing when our very real adversary is attacking us, and not addressing the very real spiritual warfare taking place around us. The Apostle Paul had a different approach in his teaching on spiritual warfare than we do today. How so?, you might ask. For one, he clearly defined the theater of battle. In (2 Corinthians 10:3), he states, “[T]hough we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh”. Now, he didn’t mean we don’t confront fleshly enemies. No! The Apostle Paul is clearly defining the theater of battle. In (2 Corinthians 10:4, NLT), he begins to define the theater of battle, “We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.” Right here, we learn where spiritual warfare takes place. It’s not out there — in the ether — rather, it’s in the arena of the soul — the mind, will, and emotions of men, women, and children.

Satan — our very real adversary — uses words, pictures, thoughts, imaginations, feelings, or other similar methods to attack people. That’s his primary way of accomplishing his will on earth — deception through the creation of false arguments. And the Church has done little to address those false arguments or present divinely empowered truth to persuade culture to turn towards Christ. Not only must we be against evil, we must address the underlying lie behind evil. Why? Because that’s how Satan causes men, women, and children to commit evil acts. Depraved individuals do depraved things. But their depravity began with a thought, a word, a picture, an imagination, a feeling, or something else that introduced evil to them. 

Jesus points to that in one of His parables. In (Matthew 13:27, NLT), Jesus states, “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’” In (Matthew 13:28, NLT), the farmer answer his workers, “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.” Right here, Jesus is pointing to the theater of battle. What is spiritual warfare over? What’s being produced in the field. That’s what the fight is about. In (James 5:7, ESV), the Apostle James, the brother of Jesus, writes, “the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.” God is looking for a harvest from the seed He has sown into the world.

How does this relate to spiritual warfare? Here, a picture is presented in scripture of how God and Satan view mankind — as soil. God sows His good seed — His Word. Satan sows his evil weeds — his words…lies. That’s the battleground. The battle is over the harvest. God expects a harvest from His Word in the earth. We’ve been given an assignment: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:19, Matthew 28:20). Go! Teach! Immerse! Then, teach! 

Why? Because God expects a harvest. Jesus said, “My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.” (John 15:8, Amplified Bible). The problem: we don’t know what we’re doing. It took a young man, someone no one knew, to take arguments to numerous college campuses. The Church had left young people to fend for themselves amidst the false ideologies of our day. Charlie Kirk was armed with a Bible, common sense, courage, wit, and wisdom. He spoke truth to his generation who was trying to wade through the sewage of American culture…and he became one of the greatest threats to the demonic agenda in our nation. He discipled young men and women who were lost without an anchor in an ideological storm. He became their anchor and turned them to Christ.

Isn’t that the Church’s calling: to wade in humanity’s sewage and recover those trying to escape. That’s our theater of battle. It’s not a pleasant place. No, it’s full of raw sewage. But, by grace, we can bring those stuck in the sewage of human waste out; we can see them delivered from the Devil’s deception. How? By confronting the lies; piercing false arguments; delivering men, women, and children from sick, twisted, vile, and vile imaginations; and bringing the One who’s stronger than the one bonds and blinds people with those things. Jesus is the stronger than he who tears down the strongholds of darkness. In the ideological war, He’s immovable, unshakable, unbreakable, and immutable. That’s our Christ. He defeated (and defeats) every scheme of Satan.

It’s time for the Church to learn about the theater of battle, unsheathe our swords, and fight for this nation and generation. It’s time! We must rise up and learn how to bridge the gap between those who are in darkness and we who are in the light. That light is the truth we carry in Christ. We must penetrate and pierce the darkness by not only knowing how to wield the armor of light but subduing the darkness that has overtaken those in the world who are bound in chains of darkness. Those men and women who are bound by the darkness, for they have “their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart”. (Ephesians 4:18, NKJV). They chose “the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19, Amplified Bible). 

             

             “Go! Teach! Immerse! Then, teach! Why? Because God expects a harvest”.—Scott Wallis

  Darkness defines the world until light comes. That light is what we are meant to bring. Where? In the understanding by combating the ignorance people hold in their hearts, due to sin. Ultimately, it requires us to confront sin, root it out of people’s lives, and bring the truth that sets them free. That work is spiritual warfare. It invades the ignorance in people’s minds and subdues arguments that prevent them from turning to Christ. Those demonic strongholds are what the Apostle Paul and Jesus taught us to  battle against through the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s our theater of battle. That’s where we win or lose the spiritual battles we face. Hence, we must sharpen our swords, our use of the Word of God, to defeat the strongholds of ignorance, blinded minds, and hardened hearts.

If we can do that, yes, a nation can be saved and a generation can turn to Christ. If not, then nations fall deeper into darkness. So then, we can discern our effectiveness in spiritual warfare by the penetration of God’s Word into the psyche and psychology of people’s hearts and minds. What say you about the effectiveness of our current means of spiritual warfare? I think we have a lot to learn from the true generals of the faith — Jesus, and the Apostles James, Peter, and Paul.

Let us pray!

— Scott Wallis