Spiritual Warfare

by Dag Heward-Mills

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Copyright 2008 Dag Heward-Mills

Published by Dag Heward-Mills on Smashwords.

E mail Dag Heward-Mills

info@daghewardmillsbooks.org

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http://www.daghewardmills.org

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Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible

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Contents

Chapter 1 - Identifying the Enemy in Spiritual Warfare

Chapter 2 - The Weapons of our Warfare

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Chapter 1

Identifying the Enemy in Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual warfare is the art of fighting against spiritual forces on the earth. These forces have captured the souls of millions. Like the Bible says, the devil has deceived the whole world.

We may not be able to get rid of him now, but we will definitely weaken his grip on the masses through our prayer. We know that one day he will be dealt with permanently.

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.

And cast him into the bottomless pit, and SHUT HIM UP, and set a seal upon him, that he should DECEIVE THE NATIONS NO MORE, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season…

Revelation 20:1-3

…And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Revelation 20:10

Let me now share with you ten facts you should know about our battle with the demonic hordes on this earth.

1. Our principal enemy is Satan and not other human beings.

He is the leader of the hordes of demonic forces on this earth. Satan is a powerful being who fell from a glorious estate.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.

But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.

Isaiah 14:12-19

2. Satan, an intelligent being, has resorted to the warfare of deception, tricks and fantastic schemes.

Satan, who is our principal enemy, knows that he does not stand a chance against the might of the church.

Put on the armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the WILES of the devil.

Ephesians 6:11

3. In order to defeat our enemy, we must know as much as we can about him.

This is one of the most important rules of war. This is where secular armies engage in reconnaissance and intelligence work. Without this knowledge you will be defeated easily. Ask the US Army what happened to them in Vietnam.

4. Satan has a contagious nature or character which he passes on to his followers.

Know your enemy so that you can defeat him. A lot of information about our enemy can be gleaned by analysing the twenty names and titles of Satan. w Devil (John 6:70) w Satan (Job 1:6)

- Accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10)

- Adversary (1 Peter 5:8)

- Angel of the bottomless pit (Revelation 9:11)

- Belial (2 Corinthians 6:15)

- Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24)

- The god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) w Murderer (John 8:44) w Prince of devils (Matthew 12:24)

- Prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2)

- Prince of the world (John 14:30)

- The old serpent (Revelation 12:9)

- The tempter (Matthew 4:3)

- Unclean spirit (Matthew 12:43)

- The wicked one (Matthew 13:19)

- Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-15)

- Father of lies (John 8:44)

- Abaddon (Revelation 9:11)

-Principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, wicked spirits (Ephesians 6:12)

5. Satan has a right to be on earth.

He told Jesus that. He showed Jesus the nations of the world and offered them to Him. Jesus did not tell the devil that he was lying. He knew that the devil had the power to hand over the nations of the world. He did not argue about that. If it was not so, Jesus would not have been tempted.

And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

Luke 4:6

6. The Devil knows that he has a lease on the earth.

This lease will expire soon and the devil knows it. Our enemy in spiritual warfare is the devil. Satan is aware of the expiry date on his lease.

And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us BEFORE THE TIME?

Matthew 8:29

7. It is not our duty to rid the earth of Satan and his demons.

Even Jesus did not try to do that! You do not try to get a tenant out of your house before the lease expires. You know that he will fight you in court.

Our duty as ministers is to weaken the grip of demonic powers over the souls on this earth. At best our spiritual warfare can dislodge, displace or temporarily relocate demonic forces so that God’s kingdom can gain ascendancy for a season.

…pulling down of strongholds.

2 Corinthians 10:4

8. Satan is a very wicked lessee.

A lessee is a person who holds a property by lease. Satan is the god of this world for a period. The Bible tells us that the whole world lies in Satan’s wicked arms because of this.

...The whole world lieth in wickedness.

1 John 5:19

The property that Satan the lessee has is trembling under his evil tenancy. One day that power will be broken forever.

9. Even though we cannot get rid of the Devil permanently, we can engage him in different kinds of warfare.

We can wrestle with him (Ephesians 6:12). We can cast him out of people (Mark 5:13). We can bind him (Matthew 18:18). We can pull downor weaken his strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4). We can fight his deception with the Word (Hebrews 4:12).

10. Satan’s main strategy is to capture the world into groups of “strong holds” which think in a certain way.

The devil’s strategy is to make the world think in a certain way so that he can lead them into self-destruction. The great philosophies of this world: humanism, atheism, communism and Marxism are manifestations of the imaginations of the devil. It is these imaginations (trends of thinking) that lead masses of people into self- destruction.

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

CASTING DOWN IMAGINATIONS, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:4,5

Chapter 2

The Weapons of our Warfare

1. Ministers must understand the role of the Word in spiritual warfare.

The church must destabilise and weaken strongholds on territories, nations, people and churches.

All ministers must ensure that the Word of God gains pre-eminence. As the Word of God increases, Satan loses his grip over the souls. Read the amazing Scripture below, and believe in the power of the Word.

And the WORD of God INCREASED; and the number of the DISCIPLES MULTIPLIED in Jerusalem greatly…

Acts 6:7

As the Word of God increases, the number of Christians will multiply. That is why I write books and preach as hard as I can and as many times as possible. I know what it does to the kingdom of darkness.

2. Christian leaders must use the two-pronged weapon of prayer and the Word to defeat Satan in spiritual warfare.

The ministry of prayer and the ministry of the Word is real ministry. That is the two-edged weapon that God has given to us. The apostles practised this! They refused to be drawn away from the ministry of the Word and prayer.

Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

But we will give ourselves continually to PRAYER, and to the MINISTRY OF THE WORD.

Acts 6:2,4

3. The best example of spiritual warfare wasChrist Jesus.

He taught and He prayed.

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

And Simon and they that were with him followed after him.

And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee.

And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.

Mark 1:35-38

If we want to have the results that Jesus had, we must use the methods that He used. And His methods were praying and teaching.

4. Apart from weakening strongholds, ministers can dislodge, displace or temporarily relocate demonic forces so that God’s kingdom can gain ascendancy.

In the ministry of Jesus, He relocated demons from people’s bodies into swine.

And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

Mark 5:13

5. Anytime you defeat (weaken or dislodge) the Devil, you can expect a counter-attack.

When Jesus defeated the devil in the wilderness, the Bible says that Satan relocated for a season. The devil did not leave him forever. If you were the devil would you leave your enemy forever? No! You would retreat, regroup and attack again another day.

And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him FOR A SEASON.

Luke 4:13

6. Prayer and fasting are weapons that weaken and dislodge demonic forces.

Jesus taught that demons could be dislodged by prayer and fasting.

Howbeit this kind GOETH NOT OUT BUT BY PRAYER and fasting.

Matthew 17:21

7. The Word of God also weakens and torments Satan.

You will notice how the demon shouted out when Jesus taught the Word.

And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, LET US ALONE; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

Mark 1:23-25

In this story, Jesus did not pray or bind the devil. But the devil said, “Stop it! You are tormenting me! You are hurting me!”

The Bible describes the Word of God as a sword. Anytime you are speaking words, you are releasing swords into the atmosphere. Every pastor must use this great sword to achieve success in ministry.

8. Every minister must be careful of operating in the natural.

The Bible has warned us that we have no weapons in that realm.

(For the weapons of our warfare ARE NOT CARNAL, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

2 Corinthians 10:4

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Other Best-Selling Books by Dag Heward-Mills:

Loyalty and Disloyalty

Leaders and Loyalty

Transform Your Pastoral Ministry

The Art of Leadership

Model Marriage

Church Planting

The Mega Church

Lay People and the Ministry

These titles are also available in Spanish and/or French. Information about other foreign translations of some of the titles above may be obtained by writing to our email address.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Identifying the Enemy in Spiritual Warfare

Chapter 2

The Weapons of our Warfare