Spiritual Warfare

FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH 1. Spiritual Warfare This week’s Bible Reading Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat.

Psalms 74-75 Luke 1 Luke 2 Luke 3 Luke 4 Luke 5 Luke 6

Memorise Ephesians 6:12 “For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

As we begin this third book in the series of study volumes, we need to make some opening comments. We hope you have studied the first two volumes of this Course. The first volume contains some very important teaching on the Foundations of Faith, which we will not repeat here. It is important to have strong foundations if you are to construct a good building. This Volume begins with the important subject of Spiritual Warfare. Clearly, you cannot understand Spiritual Warfare unless you understand some other things first. That would be like fighting a battle before you have declared war – or learning to run before you have started to walk – or eating tough meat before you have learned to drink milk. So we begin with some fundamental truths that you must understand before we begin our study of the spiritual conflict. 1. Choices in our lives We face many choices and have to make many decisions in our lives almost every day. But there are some big choices that change the whole direction of our lives. We are looking at one of the biggest choices that we all face – and I hope you have already made a clear decision. The Bible says that the world is like a room plunged in Darkness. In the beginning, when God began to create, the first thing He made was light. Read Genesis 1:3. God looked at it and He said: “Light is good.” Why? 1 John 1:5 gives the answer. What is it? If God the Creator is Light, why is there so much Darkness in the world? Look up the following Bible verses and then answer the questions beside them. It is important to understand what is going on in the world, and these Scriptures will help to explain the nature of the Darkness in the world.

1

John 1:1-5

These verses describe the coming of Jesus Christ (the Word) into the world. Christ is described as LIFE and LIGHT. How is the world described?

Why do you think that God and Jesus Christ are described as Light? What qualities of Light do you see in Jesus?

John 3:19-21 What do people normally prefer? ___________________________________ Why? _________________________________________________________ What do you prefer?______________________________________________ John 8:12

What happens to those who follow the Light

Ephesians 6:12 Who is controlling the power of darkness in the world? _____________________________________________________________ Acts 26:18

When the apostle Paul was called by God to preach the gospel, this is how he described what he was to do. The Gospel is a message of deliverance “to open their eyes, that they may turn… from _______________________to ____________________ and from_____________________________to________________________”

This is just one way in which the Bible describes the nature of the world and all of us who live here. Because of human evil, we have walked away from the light of God and into the darkness of the great Enemy of God, known as Satan. He is the Ruler of Darkness and His Kingdom is described as a Kingdom of Darkness. But “God is Light and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5) and He calls people to turn away from the darkness of sin and the power of Satan and to become children of the light. Have you responded to God’s invitation? Have you turned from your sin (darkness), put your faith in Jesus Christ (the Light of the world) and determined to follow Him (as a child of Light)? The apostle Paul wrote: “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13) When did that happen to you? _______________________________(date) How do you know that you have been transferred to the Kingdom of Christ – and are therefore a child of God? 1. The Christian life is a battleground

2

You may not have realized it when you decided to become a follower of Jesus Christ, but that decision was a declaration of war against the enemies of God. You joined the Light in order to fight against the Darkness. This is one way in which the Bible describes the Christian life. The Darkness of sin and the power of temptation are powerful enemies, and their master is God’s enemy Satan. In order to win spiritual victories it is important to know who are our enemies and how they operate. Look up the following Bible passages and see who or what are our enemies, and how we can identify them, in order to be better prepared to fight the fight of faith and to win spiritual victories. There are three great enemies of God with whom we must do battle and over whom we must gain victory. We will look at them each in turn. 1. Read Ephesians 6:11-12 Who is this Enemy? ____________________________________________________ Who is fighting against whom? How is he described in verse 11?_________________________________________ His power is described in verse 12 in four pictures. What are they? 1. ____________________________________________________________ 2. ____________________________________________________________ 3. ____________________________________________________________ 4. ____________________________________________________________ This Enemy is not made of human flesh and blood. He is a spiritual force that seeks to hurt and destroy us and the Kingdom of God. He is very powerful. Are you frightened of this enemy? How can you overcome this fear? The Bible makes it clear that the believer in Christ has victory over this Enemy. Read Hebrews 2:14 and Revelation 12:11. How can we gain the victory according to these Scriptures?

You can study more about this great Enemy in Volume 2, lesson 11

2. Read Galatians 5:16-18

3

What Enemy is described here? ______________________________________________ The first Enemy (which we studied above) is a spiritual power that can do us great harm. This second enemy is not so spiritual and is very close to each of us. What is the nature of the battle described in these verses? How would you describe the ‘flesh’ in other words? We all have experience of the battle inside our own lives that is described here. Even the great apostle Paul experienced of this kind of warfare. Read Romans 7:14-20 Who is fighting against whom in these verses? _________________________________ against __________________________________ Paul knew what he should do. Why did he not do it?

Why is this such a battle? Have you ever experienced this kind of warfare? What secret of victory does Paul give us? Read Romans 8:5

3. Read John 15:19-20 What is this third enemy?__________________________________________________ How would you describe this enemy? Is it people? Things? Attitudes? Beliefs? Culture? If this is our enemy, where do we belong? John gives further advice which leads to victory over this Enemy in 1 John 2:15-17 How does he describe the Enemy?

What advice will lead to victory in our lives over this Enemy? We will look at this subject in closer detail in Lesson 10

4

I hope you understand more clearly now why we say that the Christian life is a battleground. It has been said that the best way of protecting ourselves is to prepare our minds. If we know what is happening, we will be better equipped and prepared to face it. Before we end this lesson, we will look at a few more secrets of victory. 2. Secrets of Victory We have already seen the example of the apostle Paul. He fought many spiritual battles in his life and wrote about his experiences in his letters. His advice on how to be equipped to fight is invaluable help for us all. Study what he taught – read the Bible passages and note what Paul advises for us to win victory in the fight. Bible reference

What is the secret of victory?

1 Timothy 6:12-13 What does it mean to “make a good confession”, as Paul advises and as Jesus did in his trial before Pontius Pilate?

2 Timothy 2:3-4 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Ephesians 6:13-18

List the equipment we need to win the spiritual victory ______________________________________(verse 14) ______________________________________(verse 14) ______________________________________(verse 15) ______________________________________(verse 16) ______________________________________(verse 17) ______________________________________(verse 17) ______________________________________(verse 18)

Are YOU equipped to fight a good fight and win victory? Study again the verses above and write down what you personally need to do to be better prepared to fight and win:



Apply this lesson to your life 1. If the Christian life is like warfare, then you must be certain on which side you are fighting. Are you certain that you have given control of your life to Jesus – including forgiveness for the sins of your past, personal knowledge of Christ as your Saviour, and experience of the power of the Holy Spirit in your life? Examine your heart. 5

2. Are you frightened of the power of Satan? The Bible says that he “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) “Be sober, be watchful… Resist him…” says the apostle Peter (1 Peter 5:8-9) You will conquer him “by the blood of the Lamb” and “by the word of your testimony” (Revelation12:11). 3. The flesh is the seat of temptation in your life. Some temptations are very powerful. Even the apostle Paul was sometimes in despair about his own failures (Romans 7). Be sure of this: 1. When you fail, there is total forgiveness if you confess your sins to God (1 John 1:9), 2. When you set your mind on the things of the Spirit, there is life and peace.” (Romans 8:5), 3. never give up the battle (Matthew 10:22) 4. Is the world a great attraction to you? Read 1 John 2:15-17. Remember that the world is here today and gone tomorrow – “he who does the will of God abides forever.” Victory is worth fighting for. A prayer while you study this lesson Lord Jesus, we are overwhelmed, and maybe a little frightened, by the power and threats of the enemies of God that threaten us. But by faith we know that Jesus Christ overcame all His enemies at the Cross – He overcame the world, defeated the devil and crucified the flesh. Help us to shelter by faith in His victory In Jesus name, Amen Team group study questions: 1. Why do people love darkness more than light (John 3:19-21)? Share your personal testimony and experience of darkness and light. Are you attracted to the darkness? Why? 2. The Bible says that we have been “delivered from the dominion of darkness and transferred… to the Kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). Share together when this happened to you? 3. If we have been transferred to the Kingdom of Christ, why is life such a battle – battles with the world, the flesh and the devil? Jesus said: “My peace I give to you.” (John 14:27) Is the Christian life a life of peace? Or of war? What is your experience? 4. The world, the flesh and the devil are our enemies, yet we live in the world, we are made of flesh and the devil is the prince of this world. How can we live in victory seemingly in the midst of enemy territory? Share your secrets of victory in battle.

6