Welcome back to this class on Spiritual Warfare. We’ve been looking at a variety of things—engaging in spiritual warfare and how we engage the spirits in the world—the evil spirits.

Just to recap from the last session, because this is a vitally, vitally important point:
We are not fighting for victory—we are fighting from victory.
I want you to think about that.

There’s a relatively new song out that captures this beautifully. It gives that sense:
We’re fighting not for victory, but from the victory that was won on the cross.

So take a listen as we begin this session. It’s going to be rather devotional today.

🎶 (Song excerpt)

“Yeah, You already won
No matter what I've done
There’s future grace that’s mine today
That Jesus Christ has won
So I can face tomorrow
For tomorrow’s in Your hands
All I need, You provide
Just like You always have.”

“When the sea is raging,
Your Spirit is my help
I’ll fix my eyes on Jesus Christ
And say that it is well…”

“I know how the story ends
We will be with You again
You’re my Savior, my defense
So I don’t have to be afraid
No more fear in life or death
You already won.”

🎶

Thank you for indulging my love of music and how it fits so well. Some of the new music that’s coming out these days is just marvelous.

Now, I have to tell you—the last several sessions I’ve recorded, it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve been in the studio—and there have been challenges. As I said at the beginning, there have been challenges with doing this class. Things happen. All kinds of things.

Well, last time I recorded, in three out of six sessions, the power went off here in the studio. Now, as you watch these, those glitches may be there. So I just want to take a moment and make sure we are free from any influence of the enemy here right now.

So—any demons that have been deployed in this place for this time—in the name of Jesus, I command you to leave. I command you to go to Him, that He might deal with you as He sees fit.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s go. We're going to turn the tables just a little bit.

Up to now, we've been looking at the enemy. We've been looking at his strength. We've been looking at his tactics and strategies. We've considered the extent of his power. And that could feel a little scary, couldn't it?

But now, we’re going to turn and start talking about the weapons we have to do battle with.

🛡 Defensive Weapons (Ephesians 6)

Let’s begin with the defensive weapons. This is how it’s described in Ephesians, chapter 6—and we’re going to spend some time here, because this is a very important passage for us.

Paul writes:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world,
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Now—is that an intimidating description of the enemy we’re up against?
Wow. Rulers. Authorities. Powers. Spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Paul continues:

“Therefore, put on the full armor of God,
so that when the day of evil comes,
you may be able to stand your ground,
and after you have done everything—to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me
so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
for which I am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” (Ephesians 6:10–20)

It was written in 1864 as a song—a marching hymn for children going into children’s ministry. But you may already know it. It’s an old hymn:

“Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle, see His banners go!”

“Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.”

Then the next stanza:

“Like a mighty army moves the Church of God;
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we—
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.”

“Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.”

Another verse:

“Crowns and thrones have perished, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the Church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never ’gainst that Church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.”

And the final stanza:

“Onward, then, ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, praise, and honor unto Christ the King—
This through countless ages men and angels sing.”

“Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.”

Now, you have to know—it’s been a controversial hymn. In fact, the last time the United Methodist Church revised its hymnal, the hymnal committee left it out because of the polemic, army-style metaphor. That whole “we're always fighting” theme made some uncomfortable.

But here’s what’s interesting: they received over 11,000 letters protesting that decision. So, they put it back in.

But here's the real question:
Is this your church?
Is your church marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before?

Because in the U.S. right now, the church doesn’t look much like that.

In our national census every 10 years, one of the questions is:
“What is your religion?”

In the last census, 30% said “None.” No religion at all.

Of those:

  • 7% identified as atheists,

  • 7% as agnostics,

  • and 16% said “Nothing in particular.”

That’s a huge increase compared to the 2010 census. And in that same time frame, the church has declined.

Evangelism statistics in the U.S. are plummeting. So… what happened?

One man even wrote a parody of Onward, Christian Soldiers called:

“Backward, Christian Soldiers”:

“Backward, Christian soldiers,
Fleeing from the fight,
With the cross of Jesus
Nearly out of sight.
Christ our rightful Master
Stands against the foe—
Onward into battle?
We seem afraid to go.”

“Backward, Christian soldiers,
Fleeing from the fight,
With the cross of Jesus
Nearly out of sight.”

And another verse:

“Like a mighty tortoise
Moves the Church of God,
Brothers, we are treading
Where we’ve often trod.
We are much divided,
Many bodies we,
Having different doctrines,
But not much charity.”

“Sit here, then, you people,
Join our sleeping throng,
Blend with ours your voices
In a feeble song.
Blessings, ease, and comfort
Ask from Christ the King,
But with our modern thinking,
We won’t do a thing.”

Is that your church?

Because we are called to be at war—spiritual war.
And I pray daily for the Church of Jesus Christ—both in my country and around the world—because sometimes I think we’ve lost the mission.

We’re caught up in political influence, in drawing lines—who’s in, who’s out—and we’ve lost sight of the fact that we are on a mission together.

Having said that, in the next session, we’re going to start turning to the pieces of armor that can make us effective in this battle.

Modifié le: jeudi 29 mai 2025, 07:43