🎉 This is It – The Last Session

You’ve made it. It’s the last session in this course on Spiritual Warfare.
I can’t tell you how much growth I’ve experienced in preparing this class. Doing the study has been a joy, an absolute joy, and it’s also been a time of challenge.
I’ve had things happen—falling out of bed, hitting my head. I’ve had problems with things going wrong in the house, things that distracted me, viruses on two of my computers…
Apparently, the enemy didn’t want me to complete this. In the studio here, we’ve had power outages, we’ve had problems with the camera, we’ve had all kinds of things.
But we made it! My goal was to tell you a little bit about spiritual warfare to equip you, hopefully, to be more effective in the ministry that you have as a Christian leader as you acknowledge the realities that we face as leaders.

📝 Conclusions to Keep in Mind

In this session, I really just want to talk about conclusions for a few minutes, and then you’ll be free.
First of all, conclusion things to keep in mind:
Number one: We’re in a war with a real enemy.

🙏 A Story of Prayer and Healing

I put down our example of prayer for healing because I was reflecting on a prayer.
A woman who had gifts of healing had a person sent from a newspaper to talk about writing a story about her, and he was very, very doubtful.
Then she just got a call that somebody needed a prayer for healing, and so she invited him along.

They were going to pray, and the problem was in the woman’s leg.
She invited the reporter to put his hand on her leg, and then she said to him, “Now, if anything happens here, if anything happens here—
No, that is not me; it’s God who’s at work.”
So she began to pray, and as sometimes happens with healing prayer, the leg began to get warm.
This shocked the reporter so much, he let go, and then he said, “I’ve got to go get my life in order,” and he left.

💡 What I Hope You’ve Seen

Well, I hope you’ve heard and seen enough evidence.

⚔️ We’re in a War with a Real Enemy

Is my point here that we're in a war with a real enemy—a real enemy who has come to kill, steal, and destroy.

🛡️ You Are in a Battle

Secondly, you are in a battle, whether or not you realize it, whether or not you're aware of it day to day.
So you best be prepared, and you best be ready.

🔥 Start with the Filling of the Holy Spirit

That’s the third thing to keep in mind.
You've got to start with the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus did not begin His ministry until after He'd been baptized, and the Holy Spirit came down upon Him as a dove.

Now, you know, we believe He was the Son of God the whole time, but that was a significant event.
And it was then that He was driven by the Spirit out into the wilderness for that time of fasting and temptation, and all that prepared Him for ministry.
It was when He had the Holy Spirit that He went out and did ministry.

When you read about the disciples in Acts, Jesus tells them, "Stay in Jerusalem until you are imbued with power, for the Holy Spirit will come upon you."
Now, they had ministered before that—they had cast out demons, they had healed people—but now they're going out, and Jesus is not right by their side physically.
And so they waited till they were filled with the Spirit.

Sometimes that happens in Acts with the laying on of hands, that you pray for each other, and you say, “Pray, be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

But you know, in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he seems to indicate that this is something that's going to happen for us over and over and over again.
Ephesians 5 says:
Be very careful then how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
And here's how you do that: speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.
Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

🙏 Pray for the Spirit Daily

Pray for Him daily to fill you, to make you the expression of Jesus Christ on this earth.
Be prepared. You never know when you're going to encounter the enemy in a significant way.

🧡 Check Your Own Life

Which means, check your own life.
Are you wearing the armor of God?
Are you depending on God?
Are you following His choices for you?
You're not going to do that perfectly. But then, thank God, there's confession and repentance, and then our sins are in the past.

👑 Remember You Are a Child of the King

Remember that you are a child of the King.
In other words, you know what happens as you engage in spiritual warfare is not going to happen because you're such a great person.
You're not. You are incredibly limited.
It happens because of whose you are. You belong to the King—and the One who is in you.

💪 Greater Is He Who Is In You

I've said it many times—that Bible verse:
"He who is within you is greater than he who is within the world."
You don't have to enter this battle with fear or hesitation because you know that it's God—through Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit in you—who is going to win the battle.

🏆 We Are Destined to Win

And number six: Remember that we're destined to win.
When I was in high school, there was a song—
I was just experiencing a spiritual awakening.
I grew up in a family of faith, but there was this song that came out:

🎶
We win, we win, hallelujah, we win.
I read the back of the book and we win, we win.
We win, hallelujah, we win.
I read the back of the book and we win.
🎶

Simple truth.
Remember, as you engage in battle: We win.

🎶 Worship Reminder: You’ve Already Won

Now, having said those things, I want to remind again—
I'm going to end with a blessing for you,
but I want to go back to that song I played at one point:
“We’re fighting a battle You’ve already won.”

🎵 Music speaks powerfully to me.
Thank you for allowing that throughout this course.
You’ve tolerated it with me during this time.
So here it is again:
We're fighting a battle You've already won...

🎶 Anthem of Hope and Victory

There’s peace that outlasts dark days,
Hope that’s in the blood.
There’s future grace that’s mighty, that Jesus Christ has won,
So I can face tomorrow, for tomorrow’s in Your hands.
All I need, You will provide—just like You always have.

🙌 Overcoming Through Christ

I overcome.
Don’t know what You’ll do, but there’s mercy in the way,
Manna for today, You are my hope, my hope.
And still, when the sea is raging, Your Spirit is my help.

✨ Fixing My Eyes on Jesus

I’ll fix my eyes on Jesus Christ.
I’ll say that it is well.
I know how the story ends:
We will be with You again.
You’re the one who saves.
You’re my Savior, my defense.

🕊️ Fearless in the Battle

So I don’t have to be afraid.
No more feeling life’s all gray.
I know how the story ends:
We will be with You again.

🔥 All In—With Everything You’ve Got

All right—with everything you’ve got!

🌟 Final Blessing from the Course 🌟

Wow, on My Story, I want to close this session—this class—with five blessings for you. These are adapted from Charles Kraft’s Christianity with Power, where he highlights the need for spiritual warfare in a world of brokenness:
🌍 families, cities, nations, and the globe.

Here are my blessings for you:

🙏 Blessing #1: Desire for the Fullness of Christianity

May God give you a strong desire to discover and practice all that Christianity was meant to be.
I spent most of my life unaware of spiritual warfare.
May you be blessed to see and step into it!

🔍 Blessing #2: Shifts in Worldview

May God bless you with the ability to make whatever worldview shifts are necessary to move into a ministry of spiritual power.
May you, like Elisha’s servant, have your eyes opened to the spiritual reality around you.

⚔️ Blessing #3: Daring Adventure

May God bless you with a sense of daring—a willingness to take risks and launch into unfamiliar territory.
Though this may be new to you, may you embrace it with boldness.

💪 Blessing #4: Authority and Patience

May God bless you with great authority and power in ministry, so that the wrongs and evils around you may be transformed by His Spirit working through you.
May you also be blessed with patience with yourself and with God, as you experiment, learn, and grow.
Remember, victory may not always come immediately, but keep trusting.

❤️ Blessing #5: Deepening Relationship with God

May you experience a renewal and growth in your relationship with our Lord and Savior.
May the fruit of the Spirit—especially love—become more evident in your life, filling you with compassion for the oppressed, the controlled, and the hurting.

🌿 Go Now in Power

So go now.
Go to the battle—knowing that the victory is already won in Jesus.
And one day, when He returns, He will say:
“Well done, good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful in a few things.”
And you’ll respond:
“Oh Lord, You’ve done more than I ever thought or dreamed of!”

✝️ Amen. Amen. Amen.


Last modified: Thursday, May 29, 2025, 1:50 PM