Christians are always engaged in spiritual warfare but it’s not what most people think. It does not involve pulling down strongholds over entire cities, or fighting large worldwide battles. It’s a personal fight of faith, and a battle that goes on in our own minds.
We have an enemy and too many Christians are not aware of this fact. Therefore, there is no resistance of the devil. There are demonic spirits watching us to find an entrance into our lives to harm and destroy us. First Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” Notice, he cannot devour everyone, but only someone who is not alert, not watchful and ignorant of his ways.
We must realize that the devastating storms, sickness and disease, and even the loss of a young child all come from the demonic realm. If we don’t know this, we will falsely accuse God of the loss. You might say, “God allowed it.” God allows what we allow. Many times, the evil we experience is because of our wrong choices, our lack of obedience or our lack of knowledge. There are consequences for our actions.
Establishing Our Foundation
In John 10:10, Jesus made it clear who is behind activities that steal, kill and destroy. Second Corinthians 10:4-5 reads, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments (imaginations) and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Did you read that? We immediately cast down every wrong thought that is in opposition to God’s commands and His promises to us. We must do this with our words.
One of the most prominent ways Satan attacks us is through fear. People fear all kinds of things. If he can get you trapped in fear, it will rob you of your faith. Throughout the Bible, we are commanded to “fear not!” The only thing we are instructed to fear is God. If we don’t fear Him, we will fear everything else.
The Bible calls fear a spirit—a demonic spirit. It can torment your mind and influence you to behave illogically, even in harmful ways toward yourself and others. It will eventually affect your health and invite disease into your body. Have you ever considered that worry, anxiety and panic are all different intensities or levels of fear? While they may have different names, they can all produce the same feelings of dread and despair over our lives. Fear and all forms of it, whether real or imagined, can produce a strong physical reaction within our bodies.
Why does it matter if we gain control over the fear that tries to invade our lives? Will the fear really cause that much damage? The answer is, yes! Fear robs us of peace, faith and joy. It is also a deceiver. Fear is not from God and He does not want any of His children to be in bondage to it. When fear is attacking our minds we must say, “Fear, you must go in Jesus name!” Then we speak the promise from God’s Word found in 2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind!” Philippians 4:6 tells us what to do: “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.”
Greater Is He Who Is In Us
We also need to understand our authority in Christ. One of the questions I had during my 23 Minutes In Hell experience involved the demons I saw. Some of the demons were enormous in size, 12 or 13 feet tall with tremendous strength. They looked so frightening. After Jesus appeared to me, I had the thought, “Those demons are so powerful.” He knew my thoughts and answered, “All you have to do is cast them out in my name.” Suddenly, they appeared to look like ants on the wall of the cavern. Even those that had appeared to be enormous now appeared so small. I wondered why.
I believe He was showing me that when we use the name of Jesus, demons are nothing, and no match for the name above all names. They are not to be feared, just as we would not fear an ant.
God gave all believers authority over demons. Knowing that, we need to learn to exercise our authority and avoid many of life’s problems. Satan’s desire is for us to doubt God’s Word and be weakened. God’s desire is for us to know His Word and walk in faith. The problem is stated in Mark 4:15 which says, “Satan comes immediately to steal the Word sown in our hearts.” The solution is found in Psalm 119:11 where David said, “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.”
The more Word we get in our heart, the less we’re going to sin. The devil wants us to sin because it separates us from God, and then God can’t give us His blessings. Once you get the Word in your heart, you understand your authority over the devil. You don’t have to put up with his nonsense anymore. The devil came three times to Jesus and Jesus ran him off by saying, “It is written” and then He quoted the Word to oppose Satan’s lie. We must know what the Bible says, and store it up in our heart to quote it.
What else must we do to protect ourselves from the devil’s attacks? We must live a life submitted and obedient to God and His Word. James 4:7 teaches us, “Submit yourselves to God, Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Submitting ourselves to God means we obey all of His Word, and not just the verses we pick and choose.
There are many verses throughout the Bible that instruct us how to live. These verses tell us the things we must do in order to stop the devil’s attacks, quench his fiery darts and receive God’s blessings.
One example is Ephesians 6:2–3 which says, “Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” This is a command with a promise. If we ignore the command, it will not go well with us.
This is not about performance, but obedience. Everything we receive from God is by His grace. Searching the Scriptures to be sure we are obeying them doesn’t nullify grace. Obeying His Word is a result of grace. Grace is not a cover up for sin; it’s an empowerment not to sin. Grace gives us the ability to say no to sin.
Shutting Any Open Gates to Our Enemy
There are many ways we give the enemy an opening into our lives. One way is to be unforgiving. Second Corinthians 2:10-11 says, “I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” If we don’t forgive people we are ignorant and don’t realize that Satan will take advantage of us. Forgiveness is so important. If we don’t forgive, then the Father will not forgive us. That’s big!
We all need to take responsibility, obey God’s commands and put a stop to the devil in our lives. We don’t just pray and ask God to do something about the devil. We run him off ourselves!
We must understand our position of authority in Christ. Jesus gave us authority over the devil in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (or schemes) of the devil.” Read about your spiritual armor in Ephesians chapter 6. We need each piece to protect us. The shield of faith is what will quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. This is why it is so important to be full of faith.
God gave the church authority over demons, and knowing this and exercising that authority will help us avoid many of life’s problems.
Jesus first gave the authority to His 12 disciples (see Matt. 10:1). He then gave the authority to the 70 (see Luke 10:17–18). The 70 Jesus sent forth returned and were amazed that they had authority over devils, to cast them out. He gave the authority to all those who believe (see John 14:12). Jesus told us that we could do whatever He did. That’s a powerful statement. It is hard to comprehend that we can do the same works that Jesus did, but it’s true! We do them as we are led by the Holy Spirit.
The Old Testament prophesied of our authority over demons (see Ps. 91:13). In the Old Testament, people didn’t have that authority over the devil because Jesus hadn’t come to earth, died on the cross and rose from the dead. Jesus took back the authority Adam forfeited to Satan, and has given it to believers. It has nothing to do with us, but only the power of His name. Even a brand-new Christian has authority over the devil (see 1 John 4:4)!
Demons should not be feared by a person who is walking with God. This doesn’t mean a Spirit-filled Christian who is obeying God can’t get attacked. We are all learning, and we are all in a spiritual war. Any of us can get wounded, but we can also stop a lot of what the devil throws at us once we know our authority, and use it. Sadly, an unbeliever or ignorant Christian can be afflicted, or even killed by the devil.
Stewarding God’s Gift of Authority
As a Christian, you might not quite understand your authority in Christ with this brief teaching. However, once you are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin studying the Bible you will gain clarity. You will have confidence in God’s Word and understand the power in the name of Jesus to command any evil spirit to stop its maneuvers against you.
You will begin to use that authority and run the devil off when he comes to attack your mind, steal from you or your family or bring sickness or destruction. The most important step in having this authority is to do what Jesus instructed the apostles to do.
The Holy Spirit teaches, empowers, instructs and comforts us. He is the greatest gift to the body of Christ against any form of spiritual warfare.
Bill and his wife, Annette, founded Soul Choice Ministries in 2000 for the purpose of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. With hundreds of requests to share the message of his 2005 best-seller 23 Minutes in Hell, they entered full-time ministry in 2007 and have witnessed this God-entrusted wisdom transform thousands of lives worldwide.
