Thu, Mar 19th - 11:01PM
WHO IS OUR REAL ENEMY?
WHO IS OUR REAL ENEMY? 
Ephesians 6:12 - " 12 For we do not
wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places." One of the church’s greatest demands is to discern between
the spiritual struggle and other social, personal, and political difficulties.
If not, individual believers and groups become too easily detoured, “wrestling”
with human adversaries instead of prayerfully warring against the invisible
works of hell that are so busy behind the scenes. The word
"Wrestle", means to throw or swing. It is a contest
between two opponents that continues until one hurls the other one down and
holds him down. The term is used of hand-to-hand combat,
emphasizing the personal and individual nature of spiritual warfare waged
against each Christian, local church and the Church universal. We are
not engaged in a human, physical warfare. Wrestle Flesh and blood, of course, refers to humanity, which is not the church’s
adversary, at least, not directly. It is true that spiritual influences and
entities manifest themselves through people, who sometime are aware of it and
are a willing vessel; or sometimes
through people who are unwitting and ignorant vessels of these influences and
entities. The word against presents the idea of a personal foe,
face-to-face and hand-to-hand conflict to the finish, a life and death
struggle. Paul is not describing a Sunday school picnic. But against
principalities. Principalities refer to the high-ranking hierarchy of
demonic authority. Powers. Invested with authority. Rulers of the
darkness of this world. The world rulers in revolt against God and limited
to “this darkness” here on earth. Spiritual wickedness. The army of
invisible wicked spirits. In high places. The sphere of this conflict is
in the heavenlies, where life in Christ is lived (2:5–6). So, the Church's real battle is directly with
principalities (demonic rulers), powers (authorities), rulers
(world-rulers), spiritual wickedness (wicked spiritual beings), in other
words, fallen angels, demons, and Lucifer himself. When faced with setbacks, people often tend to blame God for
their circumstances, or other people, or even themselves. Granted that sometimes we are "our own
worst enemy", and the fault for many of our own problems may be a result
of our own doing, however, Scripture urges us to consider another, more
sinister source for troubles. Paul
called them “principalities” and “powers” in the heavenly places. Our struggle
is not against God or other people but against “spiritual hosts of wickedness”
(Eph. 6:11–12). There is certainly a place for human responsibility, but
Paul is telling us that ultimately, people
are not our enemy, sin and Satan
are. That is what those of us must
remember, who are involved in the PPB movement, or perhaps some other activists
causes, such as the Pro-Life movement, Protection of Natural Marriage or any
kind of Godly movement that is supported by the Scriptures! Although it is people who appear to be the
enemy, they are only surface obstacles. The real enemy is deeper and more hidden, simply using these human
vessels as their instruments of warfare, and many times, as distractions. Distractions from the root of the cause which
is in the spiritual realm. If we intend
to stand up to the onslaught of these powerful adversaries, we must fight them
on their own turf—the spiritual—with weapons appropriate to the conflict (see
Ephesians 6:14–18). Of course, it can be very difficult to persuade people of
that in this day and age. Secular thinking dismisses all talk of the
supernatural realm as mere superstition from the ancient world. People who openly stand up and speak out
against God, the Bible, Godly principles and God's holiness and righteousness,
so many times do not even realize, in fact, they even scoff at the idea that
they are being used as pawns in an eternal game of destiny, that really isn't a
game and has eternal consequences. Nevertheless, the Bible is very clear-cut. It declares that evil forces exist in the spiritual realm
that have a substantial influence on the world and human events. Again, they are known as “principalities.” Sometimes the presence of evil powers is evident, as in demon
possession (see Luke 11:14).
However, Satan and his hosts have numerous other ways to influence human
activity and carry out their ultimate purpose, to incarcerate people away from
God. For example, two means through which they can work are: Belief systems. Philosophies and worldviews
have a powerful effect on the way people live. By introducing lies into the
very principles upon which entire societies are based, the evil one can wreak
incredible havoc on the world. For example, consider the beliefs that fueled Nazism.
Eventually they led to the most destructive war in history, which claimed tens
of millions of lives. They brought about extermination camps in which millions
of Jews and others were slaughtered. They disrupted entire nations and economies.
Indeed, even today we still are seeing some of the repercussions of that dark
era. And again, just look at what has happened to our public
school system, overall, since prayer and the Bible were removed from their
rightful place, which extended to the moral degradation of the nation as we are
seeing it today! Just as Abe Lincoln
declared, "the philosophy of the classroom in one generation, will be the
philosophy of government in the next." Let me reiterate that none of this is to suggest that humans
are excused from responsibility. However, behind the visible, knowable element
of human choice, one can detect or at least suspect the activity of forces with
supernatural ability and evil intent, prompting people to accept and act on
falsehoods.
That’s why we cannot be too careful about the ideas we
embrace, whether they come from religious teachers, educators, government
leaders, or the media. Ideas have consequences, both in individual lives and
entire nations. Our best protection against deception is a grounding in
biblical truth (Eph. 6:14). Human institutions and leaders. Human systems and people in authority
make ideal targets of Satanic activity because of their influence on others. In
the first century, one has only to consider the character and especially the
spiritual choices of such groups as the Pharisees (Matt. 23:13–15, 31–36), the
Jewish council (Acts 7:51–60), the Herods (see Acts 12:1–2), Caiaphas (see
Matt. 26:3), Pilate (John 18:37–38; 19:10–11; 1 Cor. 2:8), and the Caesars,
especially Nero (see Acts 25:12), to appreciate the counterattack that Satan
must have launched after the coming of Christ and the founding of the church. Scripture asserts that human authorities are established by
God to carry out good purposes (Rom.
13:1–7). But because they are operated by humans, they are vulnerable to the
influence of evil spiritual forces. Paul knew that all too well. As he wrote the Ephesians, he
sat chained to a Roman soldier for no other crime than the preaching of the
gospel (Eph. 6:19–20). On another
occasion, he instructed Timothy, the pastor at Ephesus,
to have the people pray “for kings and all who are in authority, that we may
lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” because God
“desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim.
2:1–4). There are many other ways in which the powers of darkness
attempt to subvert the purposes of God. It can sometimes be pointless for us to
try to determine at any moment whether something is being “caused” by a wicked
spiritual power. A preoccupation with that can, in fact, lead only to foolish
guesswork. Paul gives us a far more positive, constructive strategy for
“standing firm” against our spiritual enemies: “put on the whole armor of God”
(Eph. 6:11). That armor is made up
entirely of spiritual weapons: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace,
faith, salvation, the word of God, and prayer (6:14–18).
Make no mistake about it, we are fooling ourselves if we
think that re-introducing the freedom of prayer and Bible reading in the public
school system is not going to be a fierce battle. It will be very taxing. However, by learning to wear and to wield
these powerful armaments, we can resist the carefully laid plans of the devil
and, when the fight is over, still be standing. 1 Thess. 5:17 - "Pray Without Ceasing" Next: Is It A
Winnable War? Michael Parnell, B.Th. Chairman, PPB Initiative
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Name: Michael Parnell
