Spiritual Weapons

To Defeat the Enemy

Overcoming the Wiles, Devices,

and Deception of the Devil

Rick Renner

A book company anointed to take God’s Word

to you and to the nations of the world.

a division of

RICK RENNER MINISTRIES

Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Spiritual Weapons To Defeat the Enemy

Overcoming the Wiles, Devices, and Deception of the Devil

ISBN 978-1-937267-05-6

Copyright © 1993 by

Rick Renner Ministries, Inc.

P.O. Box 702040

Tulsa, Oklahoma 74170-2040

Published by Teach All Nations

P. O. Box 702040 • Tulsa, OK 74170-2040

New Edition 2012

Editorial Consultant: Cynthia Hansen

Cover Design: Debbie Pullman, www.ZoeLifeCreative.com

Printed in the United States of America.

All rights reserved under the International Copyright Law. Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter One

Put On the Whole Armor!

The ‘Whole Armor’ of the Roman Soldier

Spiritual Weapons at Our Disposal

A New Set of Clothes

How Do You Put On the Whole Armor of God?

Chapter Two

Understanding Your Enemy

An Eyeball-to-Eyeball Confrontation!

Taking a Stand Against the Wiles of the Devil

The Devices of the Devil

The Deception of the Devil

Chapter Three

Cutting Off the Giant’s Head

The Hard Facts of Spiritual Warfare

The Flesh Counts for Nothing

Moving Beyond the Flesh

Prevailing Over the Philistines in Your Life

The Devil: His Mode of Operation

Chapter Four

Wrestling With Principalities and Powers

The Survival of the Fittest

Principalities and Powers

The Rank and File of the Devil

Chapter Five

Who Is the Devil?

Satan’s Destructive Bent

Satan’s Perverted Nature

Satan’s Desire To Control

Satan, the Mind Manipulator

A Prerequisite to Spiritual Warfare

Reference Book List

About the Author

A Word About Our Work

A Note to Booksellers

For Further Information

Preface

Many believers and partners of my ministry have expressed how much they have benefited from my book Dressed To Kill but wished I had a shorter version of the same material ― something less than almost 500 pages! They wanted to be able to be built up and encouraged reading a small book the same way they were when they read Dressed To Kill.

For this reason, I have taken the portions that are the heart of Dressed To Kill and revised them to become this powerful little book called Spiritual Weapons To Defeat the Enemy. I pray this book will be a blessing to you!

Rick Renner

Introduction

When the Church of Jesus Christ first emerged on the scene on the Day of Pentecost, it was born into a world very similar to ours. Nations were in revolt; national boundaries were disappearing; violence in entertainment was popular; and godly morals in the Roman world were nearly nonexistent.

The Roman army was quickly conquering much of the civilized world of that day. Homelands were being seized, plundered, and occupied by this mighty army, and the world was being united politically and economically by the prevailing government of Rome. Meanwhile, the occultic paganism of the hour was far worse than any historian could ever state.

Satan used all these factors as a part of his plan to destroy the Church before it could destroy him. Nevertheless, his plan to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ failed miserably, for God had another plan! Rather than being destroyed, the Early Church arose in the power of the Spirit to meet the challenge — just as we will rise in our own day to meet any challenge the enemy would attempt to put before us!

Equipped with “the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10-18), these early believers lived victoriously for the Lord in the midst of the worst predicaments — predicaments more difficult than anyone reading this book has ever known. Satan buffeted the Early Church with unimaginable torture and outward persecution, but he could not destroy her!

“The whole armor of God” that worked so effectively for these early believers is the very same set of spiritual armor worn by the Church of Jesus Christ today. Just as these early Christians were fully equipped with the whole armor of God for the troubles of their day, we also have the whole armor of God to live victoriously for Jesus Christ during our day. And this armor still works just as effectively as it did then!

Each element of God’s spiritual armor — the loinbelt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and the lance of prayer and supplication — are still vital, effective, and powerful weapons for the Body of Christ today.

Second Corinthians 10:4 talks about these spiritual weapons: “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds).” With these “weapons of our warfare” in hand, we are more than able to defeat any foe or demonic stronghold that would challenge our faith!

Chapter One

Put On the Whole Armor!

Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).

The phrase “whole armor” is taken from the Greek word panoplia, and it refers to a Roman soldier who is fully dressed in his armor from head to toe. Since this is the example Paul put before us, we must consider the full dress, the panoplia, of the Roman soldier.

Because of Paul’s many imprisonments, this was an easy illustration for him to use. Standing next to these impressive-looking soldiers during his prison internments, Paul could see the Roman soldier’s loinbelt; huge breastplate; brutal shoes affixed with spikes; massive, full-length shield; intricate helmet; piercing sword; and long, specially tooled lance that could be thrown a tremendous distance to hit the enemy from afar.

The Roman soldier of New Testament times wore all seven pieces of this armor. This armor, which included both offensive and defensive weaponry, can still be seen in our museums today.

The ‘Whole Armor’ of the Roman Soldier

First of all, the Roman soldier wore a loinbelt. Although it was the least impressive and most commonplace piece of weaponry that the Roman soldier wore, it was the central piece of armor that held all the other parts together. For instance, the loinbelt held the breastplate in place; the shield rested on a clip on one side of the loinbelt; and on the other side was another clip on which the Roman soldier hung his massive sword when it wasn’t in use.

This first piece of armor was so ordinary that no soldier would have written home to tell his family about his new loinbelt. Yet the loinbelt was the most important piece of weaponry the Roman soldier owned because of its importance to the other pieces of armor. Without it, the other pieces of weaponry would have fallen off the soldier!

The Roman soldier also wore a second weapon — a magnificent and beautiful breastplate. The breastplate of the Roman soldier was made out of two large sheets of metal. One piece covered the front of the soldier, and the other piece covered his back; then these two sheets of metal were attached at the top of the soldier’s shoulders by large brass rings. Frequently these metal plates were comprised of smaller, scale-like pieces of metal, causing the surface of the breastplate to look very similar to the scales of a fish. Later on, the breastplate was most often referred to as a “coat of mail.”

This heavy piece of weaponry began at the bottom of the neck and extended down past the waist to the knees. From the waist to the knees, it took on the resemblance of a skirt. The breastplate was by far the heaviest piece of equipment that the Roman soldier owned. Depending upon the physical stature of the soldier, this piece of equipment could weigh in excess of 40 pounds! In First Samuel 17:5, we are told that Goliath’s breastplate weighed “five thousand shekels of brass” — or the equivalent of 125 pounds!

In addition to this beautiful coat of mail, the Roman soldier also wore a third weapon — a pair of very dangerous shoes. These shoes were not like the Roman sandals that people wear today, which are merely a flimsy little piece of twine wrapped around the heel and the toe. The shoes that the Roman soldier wore were primarily made of two pieces of metal.

The first piece of the Roman shoe was called a greave. This was a piece of bronze or brass that had been wrapped around the soldier’s lower legs. Beginning right at the top of the knee, it extended down past the calf of the leg and rested on top of the foot. Because this tube-like piece of metal covered the lower leg of the soldier, the Roman soldier’s shoes looked like boots made of brass!

In addition, the top, sides, and bottom of the foot were encased in a very thick piece of heavy metal. On the bottom, the Roman soldier’s shoes were affixed with extremely dangerous spikes. The spikes on the bottom of a civilian soldier’s shoes were approximately one inch long. If, however, the soldier was involved in active combat, the spikes on the bottom of his shoes could be between one and three inches long! These shoes, which Paul amazingly calls “shoes of peace” in Ephesians 6:15, were intended to be “killer shoes.”

The Roman soldier also carried a fourth important weapon — a large, oblong shield. This massive shield was made of multiple layers of animal hide that were tightly woven together and then framed along the edges by a strong piece of metal or wood.

The fifth weapon that the Roman soldier wore was his helmet. This all-important piece of armor, which protected the soldier from receiving a fatal blow to the head, sometimes weighed 15 pounds or more.

Whereas the breastplate was the most beautiful piece of weaponry the Roman soldier possessed, the helmet was the most noticeable. It would have been very difficult to pass by a Roman soldier without noticing his helmet!

The sixth weapon of the Roman soldier was his sword. Although there were many kinds of swords during that time in history, the sword that the Roman soldier carried was a heavy, broad sword specifically designed for jabbing and killing an adversary or foe.

Finally, the Roman soldier also carried a seventh weapon — a specially tooled lance designed to strike the enemy from a distance.

Most have not recognized the presence of the lance in Ephesians 6:10-18 because it isn’t specifically stated. But the lance must be present in the text, because we are told to “put on the whole armour of God....”

There is no doubt that the lance was a part of the whole armor of the Roman soldier. In order for Paul to carry through on this illustration of the “whole armor of God,” it would have been absolutely necessary for him to include the lance in this text.

Spiritual Weapons at Our Disposal

God has not left us naked before the enemy.

God has not left us naked before the enemy. He has provided us with spiritual weaponry that has the ability to counterattack and defeat any scheme that the devil would try to use against us. God knows that in order for us to successfully fight the unseen powers that have been marshaled against us, we must have His special supernatural power that He has provided for this fight. Let’s examine the specific pieces of armor that God has given to the Church.

Loinbelt of Truth

The majority of your spiritual armor is invisible. For instance, you can’t physically see the breastplate of righteousness. You can’t physically see your shoes of peace, your shield of faith, your helmet of salvation, your sword of the Spirit, or your lance of intercession. These are invisible weapons. But you can see one weapon. In fact, there is only one spiritual weapon that is visible to the sight — the loinbelt of truth.

The loinbelt of truth is the written Word of God! This is the only spiritual weapon that has taken on a physical, natural form and has passed tangibly from the spirit realm into our hands! It is the most important piece of weaponry that we possess.

When you ignore the Word of God and cease to apply it to your life on a daily basis, you have willfully chosen to let your entire spiritual life come apart at the seams.

Remember, the Roman soldier’s loinbelt held all the pieces of his armor together. He might be wearing all his great weaponry, but if his loinbelt was not in place, everything would fall apart. Thus, it was said that the loinbelt was the most vital part of all the weaponry the Roman soldier wore.

Similarly, when you ignore the Word of God and cease to apply it to your life on a daily basis, you have willfully chosen to let your entire spiritual life come apart at the seams. You absolutely cannot function as a believer without the Word of God having an active and central role in your life. You may run on a little steam from the past for a while, but you won’t run very far.

If you remove the loinbelt — the Word of God — it will only be a matter of time until you begin to fall to pieces spiritually. Demonic assaults will break through that invisible barrier that used to protect you, and chaos will take over in your life.

The Bible must be the governor, the law, the ruler, and “the final say-so” in your life.

If you want to walk through life clothed in your spiritual armor, you must begin by taking up the Word of God and permanently affixing it to your life. You have to give it a central place and a dominant role, allowing it to be the “loinbelt” that holds the rest of your weaponry together. The Bible must be the governor, the law, the ruler, and “the final say-so” in your life.

Breastplate of Righteousness

When a believer knows that God has made him righteous — when he has his breastplate of righteousness fixed firmly in place — it doesn’t matter how many arrows the enemy shoots against that believer because not one arrow will penetrate. No word of condemnation, no false allegation, and no guilty thought will penetrate a believer’s heart or lodge in his mind when he is equipped with his breastplate of righteousness.

Unfortunately, it seems like about 90 percent of the Body of Christ is walking in condemnation with their shoulders slumped over and their heads hanging low. The enemy has victimized many to the point that they can no longer pray with confidence. He has convinced others that they will never be good enough to be used by God. Yet the Word plainly tells believers in verse 14 of our text to “stand — throw back your shoulders, hold your head up high, and walk tall and confident, as all proud and victorious soldiers do!”

When you understand that God has freely imparted righteousness to you and that this God-given righteousness now serves you as a gorgeous breastplate, it will affect your attitude quite positively and profoundly. You will discover that your level of confidence rises dramatically because an attitude of righteousness imparts both confidence and tremendous authority.

So before you run out to engage in warfare with the enemy, make sure you possess this kind of assurance. The enemy will try to slander and accuse you. He will try to tell you that you are a good-for-nothing. He will try to convince you that God won’t use you and that no one will listen to you.

That’s why it is so vital for you to know that God has given you a breastplate of righteousness. And when you walk through life wearing that breastplate, everything changes for the better.

Shoes of Peace

Paul had in mind the Roman soldier’s “killer shoes” with spikes and protective greaves when he said, “And having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (v. 15). When you realize what those shoes looked like and how dangerous those sharpened spikes could be, you begin to understand why it is so amazing that Paul would use this illustration to describe “peace”!

Peace not only protects     you, but it also provides you with a brutal weapon to wield against the enemy when he attacks.

According to Paul, “peace” is an awesome weapon, both defensive and offensive. Peace not only protects you, but it also provides you with a brutal weapon to wield against the enemy when he attacks. If you use the weapon of peace correctly, it will keep spiritual foes where they belong — under your feet! One good kick, and the enemy’s strategies against you will be crushed!

The brass greaves enabled the soldier to walk through the rockiest of places and never get hurt. And because of these protective greaves, the enemy could kick repeatedly at the Roman soldier’s shins, and his legs would never be broken.

Do you see why Paul viewed peace as a weapon of defense? When you are walking in the peace of God, that peace protects you from cuts, scrapes, bruises, and hurts. It is like a protective greave, shielding your mind and your emotions from wounds and fears that could impair your life of faith.

When the peace of God is ruling in your life, you can walk through those thorny situations that the enemy devises to destroy you, your family, your business, or your church family. During those times, you will wake up and realize, “I’m going through some extremely difficult times, and I’ve never had more joy! Why haven’t I been more bothered by all this trouble? Why haven’t I been bruised by this situation? I seem to have total peace!”

The sharpened spikes on the bottom of the Roman soldier’s shoes helped hold his footing in place. When a soldier had three-inch spikes on the bottom of his feet and those spikes were firmly planted into the earth, that soldier became very difficult to knock over or to move!

God's peace enables us to say, “Regardless of what I see or what I hear, I’m not moving    !

God gives us supernatural peace to firmly plant our feet in the ground. His peace enables us to say, “Regardless of what I see or what I hear, I’m not moving! I don’t care how hard it becomes, the peace of God keeps me here, and I’m not moving until the work of God in this area of my life is finished.”

In other words, the peace of God gives you a firm footing! The devil may attack and attack, but when you have the peace of God functioning in your life, you will never be moved. That peace will hold you in place!

There will be plenty of opportunities for you to hear the adversary’s slanderous accusations during the course of your Christian life. Therefore, you must learn how to plant your feet firmly into the soil of God’s Word and then by faith to stay right where you are — unmoved and unhindered by the devil’s threats and lies.

Peace is a divine weapon that will insulate you from these vicious attacks. The peace of God will keep you when Satan tries to shove doubt into your mind. The peace of God will guard your heart and mind, even when Satan is doing everything he can think of to make you lose your mind. The peace of God is a KEEPING peace!

Peace is also an offensive piece of weaponry. In Romans 16:20, Paul said, “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly….”

Your God-given mission is to reinforce the victory that Jesus already won and to demonstrate just how miserably defeated Satan already is!

Jesus completely destroyed Satan’s power over you through His death and resurrection. Satan was utterly smashed, crushed, and bruised by Jesus’ victorious resurrection from the dead. Now your God-given mission is to reinforce the victory that Jesus already won and to demonstrate just how miserably defeated Satan already is!

The enemy may try to lord himself over you, and he may attempt to exert his foul influence in your life. However, most of his attacks are merely empty threats and illusions he uses to feed fear into your mind. If Satan can get you to believe his hellish tales, your faith will dwindle, your strong stance will waver, and he will truly begin to take a temporal position over you that does not belong to him. But the only place that rightfully belongs to the devil is the small space of ground that is right underneath your feet!

The victory is already yours! Your healing, your miracle, your financial blessing — all of these are already yours! Jesus accomplished a total, complete, and perfect work on the Cross of Calvary and in His resurrection from the dead!

The Shield of Faith

The shield of faith is your “way to escape” from the fiery darts of the adversary. When your faith is out in front and covering all, it quenches every temptation and every fire-bearing arrow that the enemy tries to send your way.

However, here’s a crucial point to remember about the Roman soldier’s protective shield: It was made of leather, so it would have become hard, stiff, and brittle without proper care. If not correctly maintained, over time the leather would have hardened until, when put under pressure, it cracked and fell to pieces. This is why the end result of a soldier’s failure to care for his shield was death on the battlefield. If the Roman soldier wanted to live a long life, it was imperative for him to pick up that vial and apply the oil to his shield every single day of his military life.

Because the shield is representative of our faith, this analogy tells us that our faith requires frequent anointings of the Holy Spirit.

Faith that is ignored nearly always breaks and falls to pieces during a confrontation with the enemy.

Without a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit’s power on your life, your faith will become hard, stiff, and brittle. If you ignore your faith and allow it to go undeveloped, never seeking a fresh anointing of God’s Spirit to come upon your life, your faith won’t be soft, supple, and pliable enough to stand up under attack when a challenge comes your way. Faith that is ignored nearly always breaks and falls to pieces during a confrontation with the enemy.

On the other hand, when you are carrying your well-maintained shield of faith, Satan’s deadly arrows lose their power and fall to the ground. Thus, you escape, and his strategies against you are thwarted!

This is why the Word of God commands us to cast down “…imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How much damage can the devil’s fiery darts do to you if you by faith immediately cast them down? Those arrows can’t harm you if they are lying on the ground around your feet. That’s what the shield of faith does for you. It puts out the fire of the devil’s hellish accusations and knocks them down to the ground, where their deceptive powers cease to influence you.

Perhaps you felt the stab of the enemy’s evil arrows in the past because your faith wasn’t out in front where it belonged. Those malignant arrows may have brought sorrow, pain, suffering, or mental distress. They may have assaulted your soulish realm, hitting your mind and emotions.

The devil knows that the mind is the strategic control center of your life. If he can seize your mind, he can then begin to wage warfare against the other parts of your being.

In order to keep your mind from being struck in the future by those vicious fiery darts that come to deceive and destroy, it is imperative that you pick up your shield of faith once again. But you can’t stop there. You have to keep your faith strong with a daily soaking in the presence of the Holy Spirit and in the water of the Word. Then you have to hold your shield up before you continually so that it covers and protects every area of your life.

As you do all these things and begin to walk in strong faith, you can be assured of this: You will not be affected mentally, emotionally, or physically by the fiery darts of the enemy!

Helmet of Salvation

Remember, Satan knows that your mind is the control center for your life. He knows that if he can seize control of your thought life, he can then begin to extend his influence to other areas. From this position of control, he will try to manipulate your emotions, send sickness and disease to attack your body, and so on.

To protect us from such attacks, God has given us a helmet of salvation. The fact that Paul likens salvation to a helmet means that we must learn about our salvation and find out all that it includes, inside and out.

Once the knowledge of our salvation and all that it is becomes a part of us, it won’t matter how hard the devil tries to hit and whack away at us. We will know — beyond a shadow of a doubt — what Jesus’ death and resurrection purchased for us. At that point, the enemy will no longer be able to attack our minds as he did in the past, because he won’t be able to get past our impenetrable helmet of salvation.

When the helmet of salvation is wrapped tightly around your mind, the devil’s strategies to take you captive cannot work! That is why salvation is depicted in Ephesians 6 as a defensive weapon. It’s a weapon that protects your mind from such hellish assaults.

With the helmet of salvation firmly in place, you will be completely surrounded — both mentally and emotionally     — by the unassailable truth of all that is yours in Jesus Christ.

The devil wants to rob you of every blessing that God has prepared for you. Satan wants to take every good thing from you that he can. So it’s up to you to fill your mind with all that God has done for you. Let that knowledge of salvation and all of its benefits become like a helmet of bronze on your head to protect your mind from the “battleaxe” of the enemy.

As you faithfully meditate on the Word of God and allow it to work in your thought life, your mind will be renewed. Salvation will become so real to you — you will become so convinced of your salvation and of all its benefits — that your mind will be able to rest securely in God, no longer capable of being penetrated by doubt and unbelief.

Those questionable areas in your mind that the enemy used to attack regularly will no longer be attackable! With the helmet of salvation firmly in place, you will be completely surrounded — both mentally and emotionally — by the unassailable truth of all that is yours in Jesus Christ.

Sword of the Spirit

Paul goes on to say, “...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The term “word” is taken from the Greek word rhema, which is one of the most familiar Greek words used in the New Testament. It describes something that is spoken clearly; spoken vividly; spoken in undeniable language; or spoken in unmistakable, unquestionable, certain, and definite terms.

In the New Testament, the word rhema carries the idea of a quickened word, such as a word of Scripture or a “word from the Lord” that the Holy Spirit supernaturally drops into a believer’s mind, thus causing it to supernaturally come alive and impart special power or direction to that believer.

Rhema     words are both given and supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit to enable you to withstand the adversary’s spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical attacks.

A genuine rhema — a word or verse that the Holy Spirit quickens in your heart at a specific time and for a specific purpose in your life — is so strong and powerful that it is as if God has put a supernatural sword in your hand. With that sword in hand, you have a powerful weapon with which to repel Satan’s attacks against you. These rhema words are both given and supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit to enable you to withstand the adversary’s spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical attacks. They are the Holy Spirit’s powerful rebuff to the devil’s attempt to penetrate your mind with slanderous lies and accusations!

When the Word of God gets in your heart and mind, that Word begins to impart light and direction to you. It will rise up from within as a sword — a specific word of divine guidance. It doesn’t matter how dark the situation is that you’re facing, when this sword of the Spirit comes up from YOUR spirit, it will show you the way to go.

The devil may try to use all kinds of lies, accusations, and allegations against you. But when the divine light of the Word is working in your spirit and mind, that light will come forth like a mighty blade out of your mouth, giving you the very words and direction you need to overcome the devil’s attacks at that precise moment.

People who receive frequent rhema words from the Lord are people who have made the logos    , the written Word, a central part of their lives.

A believer’s ability to walk in this kind of supernatural direction and revelation is completely determined by how much Word he has inside of him. People who receive frequent rhema words from the Lord are people who have made the logos, the written Word, a central part of their lives.

So refuse to allow the devil to beat you down in defeat any longer with his lies and accusations. Instead, allow the Holy Spirit to wield a powerful rhema word — like the blade of a mighty, two-edged sword — through the faith-filled words of your mouth. Then the enemy will be the one who leaves the scene defeated and demoralized, while you keep moving forward, walking victoriously in the light of God’s Word!

The Lance of Prayer and Supplication

When you wield “the lance of prayer and supplication,” this powerful prayer tool is thrust forward into the spirit realm against the malevolent works of the adversary.

Although the lance is not specifically mentioned by name in these verses, it has to be in this text; otherwise, we do not have the whole armor of God. In my studies of Ephesians 6, I came to realize that the lance is included as a part of this set of spiritual equipment. It’s found in Ephesians 6:18: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit....” I call this last weapon “the lance of prayer and supplication.”

When you wield “the lance of prayer and supplication,” this powerful prayer tool is thrust forward into the spirit realm against the malevolent works of the adversary. By forcibly hurling this divine instrument into the face of the enemy, you exercise the power God has given you to stop major obstacles from developing in your personal life.

There are many forms of prayer available for us to use in our fight of faith.

So as Paul moves toward the end of this text on spiritual weaponry, he urges us to pick up our final weapon — prayer — and utilizes the imagery of the different kinds of lances a Roman soldier used to portray different kinds of prayer. Just as Roman soldiers used all different types of lances in battle, Paul now begins to enlighten us to the fact that there are many forms of prayer available for us to use in our fight of faith.

Although the following list isn’t exhaustive, some of the various forms of scriptural prayer include:

- The prayer of consecration

- The prayer of petition

- The prayer of authority

- The prayer of thanksgiving

- The prayer of supplication

- The prayer of intercession

Yes, it is true that our victory has already been won through Jesus’ death and resurrection. But regardless of how skilled, bold, and courageous we think we are when it comes to the issue of spiritual conflict, we simply cannot maintain a victorious position apart from a life of prayer. In fact, without this vital spiritual weapon, we can be sure of absolute and total defeat! On the other hand, as we seek God in prayer to receive His direction and His power for our daily living, we get ourselves in position to victoriously reinforce Jesus Christ’s triumphant victory over Satan and gloriously demonstrate Satan’s miserable defeat. To assist us in maintaining this victorious position, God has given the Church various kinds of powerful prayer.

The lance of prayer and supplication is equal in importance to these other pieces of armor. Prayer is a part of our spiritual equipment. In fact, this piece of weaponry is so crucial that Paul urges us to use it continually and habitually — at every possible moment.

A New Set of Clothes

These weapons are clearly taken from Paul’s mental picture of a Roman soldier who is dressed in full armor — a soldier who is dressed to kill! Having set this example before us, Paul now gives us a powerful word of instruction. He says, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).

Especially notice that Paul says, “Put on....” The phrase “put on” is taken from the Greek word enduo. The word enduo is frequently used throughout the New Testament. In fact, it is the exact word Luke used when he recorded Jesus saying, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).

The word enduo refers to the act of putting on a new set of clothes. In light of this, one expositor has properly translated Luke 24:49: “...But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be clothed with power from on high.”

We can “put on” the fruit of our new life in Christ in the same way we might put on a brand-new set of clothes.

Paul used the word enduo throughout his writings to symbolically depict the “putting on” of the new man. In both Ephesians 4:24 and Colossians 3:10, he urges us to “put on the new man.” By using the word enduo in these two particular passages, Paul tells us we can “put on” the fruit of our new life in Christ in the same way we might put on a brand-new set of clothes.

Now Paul uses the word enduo in Ephesians 6:11 in this same way — to denote the act of putting on a new set of clothes. However, this time he uses this word in connection with spiritual armor. He instructs us to “put on the whole armour of God....”

Moreover, Paul uses the imperative tense in this text. This means he is not making a suggestion; rather, he is issuing the very strongest kind of command that can be given. In the strongest tone of voice available, Paul is commanding us with great urgency to take a particular kind of immediate action. This action is so important that when Paul speaks to us, he speaks in the imperative tense — commanding and ordering us to be clothed with the whole armor of God.

We can reject Paul’s command — or we can accept it. But if we choose to take his command to heart, we must then learn how to put on the spiritual armor God has provided for us.

How Do You Put On

the Whole Armor of God?

Paul describes this weaponry as “the whole armour of God.” Especially notice the phrase “of God.” This little phrase is taken from the Greek phrase tou theo, and it is written in the genitive case.

Simply put, this means our supernatural set of weaponry comes directly from God. God Himself is the Source of origin for this armor. Thus, the verse could be accurately translated, “Put on the whole armor that comes from God....”

As long as our fellowship with the Lord is unbroken, the Power Source for our spiritual weaponry also remains intact.

Because this weaponry has its origin in God, it is vital for us to remain in unbroken fellowship with Him in order for us to continually enjoy the benefits of our spiritual armor. If we break fellowship with the Lord, we step away from our all-important Power Source. But as long as our fellowship with the Lord is unbroken, the Power Source for our spiritual weaponry also remains intact.

I am amazed by people who ignore their spiritual lives and cease to walk in the power of God — and then complain because it seems like all kinds of trouble are breaking loose in their lives! They often look for deep, dark reasons for this trouble that has erupted in their lives — when the explanation for this outbreak of confusion is actually very simple. Spiritual armor has its source in God. So when a believer temporarily ceases to walk in fellowship with and in the power of God, he is choosing to temporarily step away from the Source from which his armor comes!

Just as we draw our life, our new nature, and our spiritual power from God, this spiritual armor also comes from God as well.

What happens to your spiritual life when you temporarily cease to walk in fellowship with the Lord? In that condition, do you enjoy abundant life as you once did? Of course not!

While abundant life still belongs to you, this state of stagnation will pull the plug on your spiritual walk, allowing the abundant life you once enjoyed to drain away until you eventually feel empty inside. Why does this happen? Because abundant life has its source in the Lord! When you temporarily cease to walk in fellowship with God, you are electing to temporarily walk away from His divine flow of abundant life.

What happens to the power of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life when he develops a “who cares?” attitude about his spiritual development? Does that believer continue to enjoy the operation of God’s power in his life? Certainly not!

Although the power of God is still available to that believer, his “who cares?” attitude temporarily pulls the plug on his Power Source. Why? Because this spiritual power has its origin in the Lord! Thus, when a believer stops walking in fellowship with the Lord, he is choosing to temporarily stop the flow of this divine power into his life.

Furthermore, consider what happens to a believer’s ability to walk in his spiritual armor when he temporarily suspends his fellowship with the Lord. Does that believer continue to reap the benefits of his God-given spiritual armor in this state of spiritual suspension? Of course not!

Yes, this believer’s spiritual armor is still available for him to use and enjoy. But because he has suspended his fellowship with the Lord, he is also opting to temporarily suspend his ability to walk in the armor of God — the very armor God gave to protect and defend him. Why is this? Because spiritual armor has its origin in the Lord!

Whenever you put your spiritual life temporarily “on hold,” you are opting to lay aside your spiritual armor. And you will only be able to pick up your armor again when you repent and begin to walk in fellowship with the Lord once more.

Many Christians begin each new day by pretending to put on the whole armor of God. As soon as they get out of bed in the morning, the first thing they do is to act as though they are actually putting on each piece of their weaponry.

A person who does this reaches down to his waist and pretends like he is actually wrapping the loinbelt of truth around his body. Then he reaches around his chest as if he is actually placing a breastplate of righteousness across his upper torso. He bends down and acts as if he is putting shoes of peace on his feet. He pretends to put on a helmet of salvation and then reaches over and “picks up” a shield of faith to carry throughout the day. Finally, he simulates the movements of one who is placing a sword in its scabbard at his side.

There is nothing wrong with this daily routine of pretending to put on spiritual armor. In fact, it may help some people focus better on their spiritual walk (especially children). However, this daily simulation of putting on a suit of armor does not actually put “the whole armor of God” on anyone.

The armor of God is ours by virtue of our relationship with God!

This is the reason Paul wrote in the genitive case. He wanted us to know that this armor originates in God and is freely bestowed upon those who continually draw their life and their existence from God.

Your unbroken, ongoing fellowship with God is your absolute guarantee that you are constantly and habitually dressed in the whole armor of God.

Also notice that in Ephesians 6:11, Paul says, “Put on the whole armour of God....” God has provided a complete set of weaponry for us, not a partial one. He has given us the whole armor of God.

Remember, the phrase “whole armor” is taken from the word panoplia and pictures a Roman soldier who is fully dressed in his armor from head to toe. Everything the soldier needed to successfully combat his adversary was at his disposal. Likewise, God has given us everything we need to successfully combat opposing spiritual forces! Nothing is lacking!

It is unfortunate that some denominations and Charismatic organizations have majored only on certain parts of the armor of God. Some teach incessantly on “the shield of faith” and the “sword of the Spirit” while neglecting the other pieces of armor God has given believers. Other groups and denominations seem to preach and teach on nothing but the “helmet of salvation” week after week. They have their helmets on — but otherwise, they are stark naked!

We are commanded to put on the WHOLE armor of God.

- Thank God for our loinbelt of truth, but He gave us more than a loinbelt.

- Thank God for our breastplate of righteousness, but He gave us more than a breastplate.

- Thank God for our shoes of peace, but He gave us more than shoes.

- Thank God for our shield of faith, but He gave us more than a shield.

- Thank God for our helmet of salvation, but He gave us more than a helmet.

- Thank God for our sword of the Spirit, but He gave us more than a sword!

We have been given the whole armor of God — and it is this complete set of spiritual weaponry that Paul commands us to pick up and use continually in the course of our Christian lives!

Chapter Two

Understanding Your Enemy

As Paul continues in this passage, he tells us why we need this armor. He says, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

When we are equipped with the whole armor of God, we have explosive and dynamic power at our command!

Especially notice the phrase “…that ye may be able….” The word “able” is derived from the word dunamis, and it describes explosive ability and dynamic strength or power. This Greek phrase could be more accurately translated, “...that you may have incredible, explosive, dynamic power....” By using this word dunamis, Paul declares that when we are equipped with the whole armor of God, we have explosive and dynamic power at our command!

This dunamis power is so strong that it equips us, for the first time in our lives, to confront and pursue the enemy rather than to be pursued by him. Because of this dunamis power that is at our command when we walk in the whole armor of God, we become the aggressors! This is why Paul goes on to say, “...that ye may be able to stand against....”

The phrase “to stand” is taken from the word stenai, and it literally means to stand. In this verse, Paul uses the word stenai to picture a Roman soldier who is standing upright and tall with his shoulders thrown back and his head lifted high. This is the image of a proud and confident soldier, not one who is slumped over in defeat and despondency.

There is no reason for us to live our lives slumped over in defeat. We are equipped to beat the living daylights out of any foe that would dare assault us.

This word stenai depicts what we look like in the spirit realm when we are walking in the whole armor of God. This armor puts us in a winning position!

There is no reason for us to live our lives slumped over in defeat. We are equipped to beat the living daylights out of any foe that would dare assault us. Hence, we can walk boldly and confidently — with our shoulders thrown back and our heads lifted high — because we are dressed in the whole armor of God!

There is something else important about this word stenai that must be pointed out. This word was used in a military sense, meaning to maintain a critical and strategic military position over a battlefield. Why is this so important? Because this meaning of stenai implies that we have a responsibility to stand guard over the battlefields of our own lives!

Until the job is finished and the battle is won, you must stand guard     over the will of God for your life.

If God has called you to fulfill a specific assignment in the Body of Christ, you must stand guard and maintain a critical position over that assignment until it is completed. The devil doesn’t want you to fulfill the call of God on your life, so he will try to attack that divine call and turn it into a battlefield. Therefore, until the job is finished and the battle is won, you must stand guard over the will of God for your life. You must determine that you will not give the enemy an inch. This is your responsibility!

Remember — the most important battlefield of your life is your mind!

Spiritual warfare is primarily a matter of the mind. As long as the mind is held in check and is renewed to right thinking by the Word of God, the majority of spiritual attacks will fail. However, when the mind is left open and unguarded, it becomes the primary battlefield Satan uses to destroy lives, finances, businesses, marriages, emotions, and so on.

This is why one of your most important responsibilities is to stand guard over your mind. In doing so, you are actually placing a guard around every other battlefield in your life!

An Eyeball-to-Eyeball Confrontation!

Notice the next word in this verse! Paul continues, “...that ye may be able to stand against....” The word “against” is derived from the word pros, and it denotes a forward position or a face-to-face encounter.

By employing the word pros in this verse, Paul is portraying a soldier who is looking his enemy directly in the face — eyeball to eyeball! This is a soldier who is standing tall. His shoulders are thrown back, and his head is lifted high. He is so bold, daring, and courageous that he is glaring fearlessly right into the eyes of his adversary. This is the eye-to-eye confrontation that the word pros undoubtedly depicts!

This clearly demonstrates that, with God’s mighty power and His armor on our side, we are more than a match for the enemy. In fact, we are a fearsome and terrible threat to Satan’s domain! We should never shudder at the thought of what the devil can do to us, because this spiritual armor puts us in a super-powerful position that makes the devil shudder and tremble at the very thought of what we can do to him!

With the armor of God in hand, we are so mighty and powerful in Jesus Christ that the devil and his forces don’t have a chance. When we are dressed in this suit of armor, we become mighty spiritual warriors who are dressed to kill!

Taking a Stand

Against the Wiles of the Devil

Why do we need this armor? What are we supposed to “stand against” in this conflict? Paul tells us: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).

But what are “the wiles of the devil”?

The word “wiles” is one of three key words you must know and understand when studying the subject of spiritual warfare. The other two words are devices and deception. It is impossible to have a correct and balanced view of spiritual warfare without having an understanding of these three foundational words.

The word “wiles” is taken from the Greek word methodos. It is a compound of the words meta and odos. The word meta is a preposition that simply means with. The word odos is the Greek word for a road. Compounded together, they form the word methodos. Literally translated, the Greek word methodos means with a road.

It is from this word methodos that we derive the English word “method.” However, the word “method” is not really strong enough to convey the full meaning of methodos. This Greek word was carefully selected by the Holy Spirit because it tells us exactly how the devil operates and how he comes to attack and assault a believer’s mind.

The word “wiles” (methodos) is often translated to carry the idea of something that is cunning, crafty, subtle, or full of trickery. However, the most basic translation of this word is its literal meaning, with a road.

By electing to use this word methodos, Paul tells us how the devil puts his cunning, crafty, subtle, and tricky deception to work. The word “wiles” clearly reveals that the devil operates with a road or on a road.

What does this mean?

Contrary to the common belief of most people, the devil does not     have as many tricks in his bag as he would like us to believe.

This means that contrary to the common belief of most people, the devil does not have as many tricks in his bag as he would like us to believe. The word “wiles” (methodos) plainly means that the enemy travels on one road, one lane, or one avenue. In other words, he primarily has only one trick in his bag — and he obviously has learned to use that one trick very well!

What is that one trick the devil uses against people? Or perhaps we should more correctly ask, “If the devil operates on one single avenue, what is the destination that diabolical road is headed toward?” These questions lead us to the second important word to understand when discussing spiritual warfare: the word devices.

The Devices of the Devil

In Second Corinthians 2:11, Paul gives us a clue as to where this road leads that the devil is traveling on. Paul says, “...We are not ignorant of his [Satan’s] devices.”

The word “devices” is taken from the word noemata, which is derived from the word nous. The word nous is the Greek word for the mind or the intellect. However, the form noemata, as used by Paul in Second Corinthians 2:11, carries the idea of a deceived mind. Specifically, this word noemata denotes the insidious and malevolent plot of Satan to fill the human mind with confusion.

The word “devices” (noemata) actually depicts the insidious plots and wicked schemes of Satan to attack and victimize the human mind. One expositor has even stated that the word “devices” bears the notion of mind games. With this in mind, you could translate the verse, “...We are not ignorant of the mind games that Satan tries to pull on us.”

Paul used this word “devices” to describe attacks that he had personally resisted, so we know that even he had to deal with the adversary’s mental assaults from time to time. Paul knew from experience about the mind games the devil tries to pull on people!

It was for this very reason that Paul said, “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 10:5).

We must make a mental decision to take charge of our minds.

The devil loves to make a playground out of people’s minds! He delights in filling their emotions and senses with illusions that captivate their minds and ultimately destroy them. He is a master when it comes to mind games.

Like Paul, we must make a mental decision to take charge of our minds, “…bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” We must stop listening to ourselves and start speaking to ourselves! The devil always tries to manipulate our emotions and physical senses in order to pull a mind game on us. Therefore, we must speak to our emotions and senses, dictating to them exactly what to believe!

We must stop listening to ourselves and start speaking     to ourselves!

By considering the words “wiles” and “devices,” we have now seen two vitally important things that we must know about the devil’s strategy to attack and victimize the human mind.

First, the word “wiles” (methodos) explicitly tells us that the devil travels with a road or on a road. This road the devil is traveling on is obviously headed somewhere.

Where is that road headed? The word “devices” clearly demonstrates that this road of the devil is headed toward the mind.

Whoever controls a person’s mind also controls that person’s health and emotions. The enemy knows this! Therefore, he seeks to penetrate a person’s intellect — a person’s mental control center — so he can flood it with deception and falsehood. Once this is accomplished, the devil can then begin to manipulate that person’s body and emotions from a position of control.

When this penetration into the mind is accomplished, and once the adversary has paved a road into that person’s mind and emotions, the process of mental and spiritual captivity is well under way. If this devilish process is not aborted by the power of God, and by the renewing of the mind, it is only a matter of time before a solid stronghold of deception will begin to dominate and manipulate that person’s self-image, emotional status and his overall thinking.

This leads us to the third word which we must understand when discussing spiritual warfare: the word “deception.”

The Deception of the Devil

The moment someone begins to accept Satan’s lies as truth is the very moment those wicked thoughts and mind games begin to produce the devil’s reality in his life.

Deception occurs when a person believes the lies that the enemy has been telling him. The moment someone begins to accept Satan’s lies as truth is the very moment those wicked thoughts and mind games begin to produce the devil’s reality in his life.

For instance, the devil may assault your mind by repeatedly telling you that you are a failure. However, as long as you resist those demonic allegations, they will exert absolutely no power in your life.

But what if you begin to give credence to these lies and to mentally perceive them as the actual truth? Those lies will then begin to control you and to dominate your emotions and your thinking. In the end, your faith in those lies will give power to them and will cause them to create a bona fide reality in your life — and you will become a failure. This is a manifestation of completed deception.

Many marriages fail because of false allegations that the enemy tries to pound into the minds of each spouse. As long as the couple repels these allegations, the devil’s lies exert no power in that marriage. However, when one of the spouses begins to pay attention to and dwell on those lies, he or she has taken the first fatal step toward deception.

Take, for instance, the example of a marriage that is in tip-top shape until one of the spouses starts dwelling on unjustified questions and suspicions about the other spouse. This is clearly the work of the enemy to deteriorate the couple’s confidence in their marriage.

At first, this spouse absolutely knows that these suspicions are outright lies of the devil. Indeed, he or she thinks, Our marriage has never been better!

But the enemy continues to pound away on this spouse’s mind:

- “Your husband [or wife] isn’t pleased with you.”

- “Your marriage is in trouble.”

- “This relationship can never last.”

- “It’s too good to be true.”

Sadly, as this dear Christian continues to pay attention to those lying insinuations, the door remains open for the devil to continue pounding away at that person’s mind and preying on his or her emotions. After a period of time, the person’s mind — battered and weary from worrying — begins to believe those false allegations. That spouse’s faith in those lying emotions and suspicions may then empower the lies to become a reality in his or her marriage.

By mentally embracing these false insinuations, this spouse opens the door for the enemy to penetrate his or her mind. Thus, the process of confusion is implemented; mind games are set in motion; and that believer’s perception of things becomes twisted and bent. If this seducing, deceiving process is not stopped at this point, it is probably only a matter of time before the weary-minded believer begins to embrace these mental lies as though they were really the truth.

What is the end result of the devil’s deception? When believers falsely believe that their marriage is on the rocks, that they will die of a terminal disease, or that they have no hope for the future, they open the door for the enemy to move these lying suggestions from the thought realm into the natural realm, where they become a bona fide reality. These believers’ false perceptions empower the lies, and the devil uses those false beliefs to create HIS reality in the natural realm!

Perhaps the enemy has constantly bombarded your mind about sickness. Perhaps his lying allegations have repeatedly told you that you are going to contract a terrible disease and die an early death. When these lies first assaulted your mind, you resisted them and refused to believe what you were hearing. Now, however, you have begun to wonder if these thoughts may have some validity.

When you embrace the devil’s mind games and perceive them as truth, you give power to them!

If you don’t stop this process, it will only be a matter of time until you truly begin to feel physically sick in your body. Do not give credence to those lying insinuations! When you embrace the devil’s mind games and perceive them as truth, you give power to them!

If you do not take charge of your mind and begin to speak God’s truth to yourself to combat the devil’s lies, the complete process of deception will continue working in your life. Eventually that process will be complete, and your fears will become reality. When this occurs, you will be deceived in that area of your life.

You can see now why these three words — the wiles, devices, and deception of the devil — are extremely important for us to understand — especially when studying the subject of spiritual warfare.

Let’s review: First, the word “wiles” (methodos) tells us that the devil operates with a road, or primarily with one avenue of attack.

Second, the word “devices” (noemata) reveals where that avenue is headed: It is headed toward the mind. Once that road is paved into a person’s mind, the enemy begins to regularly travel in and out of that person’s mind and emotions to confuse and scramble his thoughts with wrong thinking, wrong believing, and false perceptions.

Third, “deception” occurs when a person embraces the lie that the devil is telling him. The false perception that this person has embraced empowers that lie to become a bona fide reality in his life. This is completed deception.

Chapter Three

Cutting Off the Giant’s Head

Perhaps the best biblical example of the wiles, devices, and deceptions of the devil can be found in the story of David and Goliath.

By studying the true-life story of David and Goliath, you will see all three of these negative forces at work.

In First Samuel 17, we see how the devil used Goliath’s lying allegations to intimidate and confuse the armies of Israel. Goliath’s outlandish, arrogant, boastful, and proud declarations of the Israelites’ demise were so effective that not one soldier from the Hebrew camp was willing to stand up to this aggressor. The Israelite army was rendered functionally paralyzed for 40 days — until a courageous young man named David came along with the power of God to challenge those lies!

And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, WHOSE HEIGHT WAS SIX CUBITS AND A SPAN.

1 Samuel 17:3,4

No wonder the Israelites were intimidated by Goliath! The appearance alone of this giant would be intellectually and emotionally overwhelming. Goliath was “six cubits and a span” tall — which is 9 feet 9 inches tall!

And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

1 Samuel 17:5-7

Goliath was armed to the max! Notice that the “coat of mail” he wore weighed “five thousand shekels of brass.” As I mentioned earlier, 5,000 shekels of brass is the equivalent of 125 pounds!

In addition to Goliath’s helmet and his breastplate that weighed 125 pounds, he also had greaves of brass and a target (javelin) of brass slung between his shoulders! The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam — which means the long staff of his spear weighed at least 17 pounds. Additionally, the scripture specifically says that the spear’s head weighed 600 shekels of iron — which is the equivalent of 16 pounds.

One scholar has speculated that the weight of all these pieces of weaponry together — his helmet, breastplate, greaves, brass javelin, spear, and shield — may have weighed in excess of 700 pounds!

In every respect imaginable, Goliath was a very frightful sight! How would you feel if you were challenged by a foe who stood 9 feet 9 inches tall and wore more than 700 pounds of weaponry? And if Goliath wore weaponry weighing that much, imagine how much the giant must have weighed himself!

Yet it wasn’t Goliath’s size or his weaponry that caused the Israelites to shrink back in fear. What did cause the Israelites to fear? The constant threats and mental bombardment that Goliath hit them with every single day. This mental harassment crippled the Hebrew soldiers so that they lost sight of the awesome ability of God.

Concerning these continuous threats of Goliath, the Bible says:

And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.

And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

1 Samuel 17:8-10

These threats of the huge, menacing Goliath were so emotionally overpowering that the next verse declares, “When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid” (v. 11).

Goliath mentally and emotionally immobilized the armies of Israel without ever using a sword or spear!

Goliath mentally and emotionally immobilized the armies of Israel without ever using a sword or spear! With words alone, he incapacitated, disabled, stunned, numbed, and disarmed the Israelites. The giant’s flagrant and preposterous distortion of his own greatness was so outrageous that his words bewitched the listening Israelite army until they were spellbound under his verbal control.

In effect, Goliath said to them:

“Who do you think you are to fight with me?”

“Come on, just try to do damage to me, and you’ll find out what I’ll do to you!”

“What’s wrong? Are you afraid to face me and take me on?”

Where do you suppose Goliath learned this kind of foul behavior? From the devil! The devil is a slanderer and an accuser! Today the devil still seeks to incapacitate, disable, stun, numb, and disarm believers the same way he paralyzed the Israelite army through Goliath. The devil’s flagrant and preposterous allegations are so outrageous that they often bewitch listening believers until they become spellbound under his control.

This outrageous conduct is still the mental tool the devil uses to assault the minds of believers. He bombards them with threatening thoughts, such as:

- “You think you’re so tough — but I’ll show you who the tough guy really is!”

- “I’ll use this bad situation to beat the life right out of you!”

- “I’ll strike you down so hard and fast, you won’t know what hit you!”

Lying threats and false accusations are the enemy’s attempts to beat a hole through your mind and emotions so you can’t think rationally. He comes to pave a road of fear into your mind; then he plays his mind games, trying to fill your mind so full of fear and confusion that you eventually lose the courage you need to step out in faith and obey God’s call on your life.

Throwing one slanderous accusation after another at your mind, the devil will do everything he can to slander and belittle you. He will defame, malign, revile, and smear your faith in order to drive you back into the ditch of self-preservation where you never do anything significant for the Kingdom of God.

If you meditate on the devil’s threats long enough, you will become “dismayed and greatly afraid,” just like the children of Israel who listened to the words of Goliath and became functionally paralyzed by fear for 40 days. You’ll find yourself living on the low side of victory — unwilling to take on any new challenges for fear that you might fail, for fear of what others might say, for fear of potential catastrophe, etc.

The devil wants to take you captive and destroy you with the same tools Goliath used against the Israelites. Satan wants to ruin your effectiveness with deceptive suggestions and lying allegations!

The Hard Facts of Spiritual Warfare

In the midst of all Goliath’s lies, the giant did make one statement that was true in verse 9. He said in effect, “If one of your number is able to fight me and win, we will serve you for the rest of our lives. But if we win, YOU will serve US!”

These rules of battle that Goliath laid out were the hard facts of warfare during David’s day. Whoever won the battle was the champion – whether it was the aggressor or the one who accepted the challenge. Whoever fell in defeat would forever serve the other as a slave. These hard facts of battle are still the rules of spiritual warfare today.

Once you pull the plug on Satan’s intimidating threats and lies, he will no longer be able to hold your mind captive.

If you conquer all the lying emotions, slanderous accusations, and deceptive suggestions that the devil tries to use in his attempt to neutralize you, you will be able to keep the enemy in a subordinate position for the rest of your life. Once you pull the plug on Satan’s intimidating threats and lies, he will no longer be able to hold your mind captive.

If, however, you do not learn how to take your thoughts captive, your mind and emotions will be used as tools of Satan to dominate your thought processes for the rest of your life. If you do not take charge of your mind — learning how to SPEAK God’s truth to yourself rather than LISTEN to the enemy’s lies — the devil will continue to use lying emotions and illusions to manipulate, dominate, and control you for the rest of your life.

Notice that Goliath said, “…I defy the armies of Israel this day...” (v. 10). Today the devil is still breathing out the same kind of blasphemous and terrorizing statements against the people of God, such as:

- “Just try to walk in divine health!”

- “I defy you to believe that your financial situation is going to turn around!”

- “I defy you to succeed in the ministry!”

Although the wicked Philistines never lifted a sword, threw a spear, or budged from their encampment, they conquered the people of God with mental and verbal attacks of intimidation. The Israelites wrongly considered and meditated on Goliath’s threats, allowing those threats to flood them with fear. As a result, they were neutralized without a ground war ever taking place!

How often did Goliath come to make these threats? The Word says, “And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days” (v. 16). Day and night, morning and evening, Goliath came to mentally undo the people of God.

This, of course, is how the enemy still attacks people’s minds and emotions. He doesn’t strike once and then come back a week later to strike again. Instead, he strikes fast and repeatedly — again and again and again. Morning and evening the devil attacks, intent on his goal of irreparably damaging people’s faith and confidence.

The Flesh Counts for Nothing

Let’s read on in First Samuel 17 to see what happened next:

Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons…. And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem….

And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him [to take food to his brothers]; and he came to the trench…

And as he talked with them [his brothers], behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

1 Samuel 17:12,14,15,20,23

Notice that verse 23 says, “...And David heard them.” This was David’s first encounter with the foreboding giant, and something in Goliath’s words incited anger in David’s soul. What a shock it was for this young shepherd to hear a pagan Philistine insulting the God of Israel and to realize that no one was doing anything about it! In fact, the Israelites weren’t just sitting around doing nothing about Goliath. Verse 24 says they actually ran in terror: “And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.”

But young David wasn’t afraid of this Philistine giant — he was annoyed by Goliath’s verbal arrogance!

And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to that man that killeth the Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

1 Samuel 17:26

Immediately David’s elder brother took offense at David’s confidence and reprimanded his younger brother for acting too boldly.

And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightiest see the battle.

1 Samuel 17:28

Quite often when young men and women of God step out to challenge the foe, they are accused of acting too boldly. Their elder leaders may be correct in pointing out the vast difference between spiritual boldness and rude arrogance. Nevertheless, there is a true boldness that the Holy Spirit gives to surrendered vessels.

David was one such yielded vessel. He was so surrendered to God’s power working through him that a Holy Spirit-inspired confidence rose up within him. At that point, David simply could not hold back his righteous anger!

David was stunned by his elder brother’s hostile reaction and the fear that possessed the huge Israelite soldiers surrounding him. He asked Eliab, “…What have I now done? Is there not a cause? And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him against again after the former manner” (vv. 29,30).

In essence, David was asking: “Isn’t there a cause here that is worth fighting for? Isn’t there one soldier in this camp who is man enough to face this uncircumcised Philistine? Why aren’t we fighting?”

David apparently began to turn from one soldier to the next, asking, “How about you? Will you fight Goliath?” It quickly became clear to him that no one had the faith or courage to believe that this vile giant could be killed.

Word of David’s confidence and boldness immediately spread through the Israelite camp like wildfire. In the same way, you can be sure that when you make the decision to move in the power of God and to pull strongholds down from your life, it will make news! Everyone around you will be talking about your boldness. Some may even try to talk you out of it!

Notice what the Bible says next:

And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

1 Samuel 17:31,32

In David’s heart was a willingness to be used of God and a burning desire to see the enemy slain. Saul was so amazed by the young man’s supernatural courage that he said to David, “…Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth” (v. 33).

Naturally speaking, David was too young and unskilled in the natural weapons of warfare to do battle with this giant. King Saul knew this. Therefore, looking on things from a fleshly, worldly perspective, Saul knew that David — naturally speaking — was no match for Goliath!

David had Heaven’s     perspective. He knew that the outward man — the flesh — counted for nothing when it came to moving in the supernatural power of God!

However, David had Heaven’s perspective. He knew that the outward man — the flesh — counted for nothing when it came to moving in the supernatural power of God! So David responded to Saul’s doubts with words of faith: “…Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him…” (vv. 34,35).

Goliath wasn’t the first enemy David had faced in life — he’d already had eyeball-to-eyeball confrontations with both a lion and a bear! As a shepherd, David had determined that those devourers would not steal one thing from him — not one. That was the winner’s attitude David needed to defeat his enemy every time his enemy struck.

We must have this same attitude when the devil comes to manipulate our minds and emotions, to strike family members with disease, to devour our finances, or to internally destroy our church or ministry. Our attitude must be the same as David’s attitude. We have to boldly declare to the enemy:

- “Satan, you cannot have this ministry!”

- “Devil, you cannot have our finances!”

- “You cannot kill our family members with sickness or disease!”

- “You cannot, cannot, CANNOT!”

If the devil doesn’t willingly release that which is ours when we tell him to do so, we will have to respond as David did when the lion and the bear attacked his sheep. David told Saul, “And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear…” (vv. 35,36).

David had already experienced so much of God’s power and victory in his life that this Philistine was no threat to him. He had already faced a ferocious lion — and had experienced God’s faithfulness as he was empowered to kill the lion. David had already faced a bear — and had experienced God’s faithfulness as he was empowered to kill the bear.

In the same way, we have to “go out after” the devil in the authority Jesus has given us and force him to release whatever he has seized from us against our wills!

Moving Beyond the Flesh

As David looked back on his past experiences and reflected on the goodness of God that had already been bestowed on his life, he could now look straight into the face of this conflict with Goliath and declare to King Saul:

Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

1 Samuel 17:36,37

Notice Saul’s response to David’s desire to be used of God:

And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour….

1 Samuel 17:38,39

David had already killed the lion and the bear without the use of any natural armor or weaponry. However, because of the size of the menacing Philistine giant, Saul thought that David needed more than God’s faithfulness!

It was as though Saul was saying to the young man who stood before him, “David, this fight with Goliath is going to be far more intense than your conflict with the lion and the bear, so let me help you! Let me put my helmet on your head and dress you in my coat of mail. And, here, David — take my sword with you, too, and use it like it’s your own!”

Can you imagine how silly young David must have looked in Saul’s massive armor? You can be sure that Saul’s intentions were pure. He wanted David to be safe and adequately equipped with armor equal to Goliath’s armor. However, Saul’s counsel was extremely defective. David had never worn such armor before. Had he gone to battle clothed in the king’s heavy armor, he would have been so weighed down that he would have been unable to successfully wage warfare.

This is the reason verse 39 goes on to say, “...And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.”

Previous to this time, David had defeated his enemies without fleshly weapons. Knowing that he was unaccustomed to these kinds of natural weapons and that they would therefore do him no good, David took off Saul’s armor and “…took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine” (v. 40).

Notice it says that David “…drew near to the Philistine.” David, a young man in his teenage years, charged a giant with 700 pounds of weaponry — with nothing in his hands to kill this giant but a sling and five stones!

According to the natural realm, David was not equipped to fight this kind of foe. But according to the spirit realm, David was dressed in the armor of God and empowered by the power of God. Goliath could not see these spiritual weapons with his physical eyes. Therefore, he had no idea that David was “dressed to kill”!

And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

1 Samuel 17:41-43

Goliath was expecting more! He thought the Israelites had finally found a match for him. This is the reason the man who bore his shield went before the giant; this shield-bearer was to protect Goliath from the blows of his challenger. But when Goliath looked around and saw only small, young David, he was shocked. Immediately the Philistine giant began to mock both David and his God!

Goliath began to use his tools of mental and verbal harassment, just like the devil does today. Attempting to intimidate David and paralyze him with fear, “…the Philistine said unto David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field” (v. 44). Just as the entire army of Israel had been functionally immobilized for 40 days by Goliath’s outrageous claims, now the Philistine giant was proceeding to use that same strategy again in an attempt to immobilize and paralyze David with preposterous, bloated boasts and lying allegations!

Before the giant’s threats had an opportunity to take root in his soul and produce paralyzing fear, David spoke forth his declaration of war against the enemy.

If David had turned his eyes from the Lord and stopped meditating on His faithfulness, he would have begun to consider what Goliath had to say. Soon those threats would have immobilized David, just as they had immobilized the armies of Israel.

But before the giant’s threats had an opportunity to take root in his soul and produce paralyzing fear, David spoke forth his declaration of war against the enemy:

…Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and He WILL give you into our hands.

1 Samuel 17:45-47

Prevailing Over the Philistines

in Your Life

Once David made his declaration of war, he wasted no time. Verse 48 says, “And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to David, that David hastened....”

This must have shocked Goliath! Most challengers ran away from him, but David “hastened.” In other words, when the moment of conflict finally came and David saw Goliath coming, he picked up his sling and his five stones and RAN toward the giant. It was as though the young man was saying to himself with relish, “Now the action begins!”

The Word continues: “And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him...” (vv. 49,50).

But wait — David wasn’t finished yet! While Goliath lay with his face to the ground, stunned by the small pebble that had been hurled from his young opponent’s sling, David seized the opportunity to make sure the job was finished!

…But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

1 Samuel 17:50,51

Are you tired of being mentally harassed and emotionally tormented by the lying insinuations and slanderous accusations of the adversary?

How about you? Are you tired of the Philistines in your life? Are you tired of being mentally harassed and emotionally tormented by the lying insinuations and slanderous accusations of the adversary? How would you like to sling a stone into the head of those accusing thoughts and drop them stunned to the ground — and then cut off their heads so that they can never harass you again?

This is precisely why Paul urges us, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11)!

We must move beyond the realm of our fleshly means of defense and enter into the realm of spiritual armor.

Natural training and education is good, and we all need to receive as much of it as we possibly can. However, we must all eventually discover that natural weapons and natural education will not help us in our fight with unseen, spiritual enemies.

In such moments, we must move beyond the realm of our fleshly means of defense and enter into the realm of spiritual armor. This armor will empower each one of us to successfully “…stand against the wiles of the devil.”

The Devil’s Mode of Operation

It would be a great injustice to conclude this chapter without explaining what the name “devil” means. Once you have an understanding of this name, you will know it was the nature of the devil himself that was working through Goliath to intimidate the armies of Israel.

The name “devil” is taken from the Greek word diabolos and is a compound of the words dia and ballo. The word dia carries the idea of penetration, and the word ballo means to throw something, such as a ball or a rock.

Literally, the word diabolos describes the repetitive action of hitting something again and again — until finally the wall or membrane is so worn down that it can be completely and thoroughly penetrated.

Thus, the name “devil” (diabolos) is not only a proper name for this archenemy of the faith, but it also denotes his mode of operation. The devil is one who strikes repeatedly, again and again, until he finally breaks down a person’s mental resistance. Once that person’s mental resistance has been breached, the enemy then strikes with all his fury to penetrate and take captive that person’s mind and emotions.

This is how the enemy works! He will repeatedly try to hit you with lies, suggestions, accusations, and allegations, bombarding you with one slanderous assault after another. In this way, the devil attempts to wear you down — looking for an opportunity to make his move and take you captive in one of your weaker moments.

If the enemy can find you with your guard down, he will then try to pave a road into your mind (methodos) so he can confuse your emotions with “mind games” (noemata). His goal is to deceive you to the point that you actually begin to believe his threats. If he succeeds, your false perceptions will empower his lies to become a reality in your life.

Now you can better understand the sense of urgency behind Paul’s command in Ephesians 6:11. If you’re ever going to live free from the enemy’s tormenting lies and accusations, it is absolutely imperative that you “clothe yourself with the whole panoply — the loinbelt, breastplate, shoes and greaves, shield, helmet, sword, and lance — that comes from God, that you may have explosive and dynamic power to stand proud and upright, face to face and eyeball to eyeball against the roads that the slanderer would try to pave into your mind!”

Chapter Four

Wrestling With Principalities

And Powers

As Paul continues in Ephesians chapter 6, he reveals the next key in understanding true spiritual warfare: the identity of whom our battle is against. He says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Especially notice how Paul begins this scripture. He says, “For we wrestle....” From the very outset of the verse, Paul makes a very strong, pointed, and dramatic statement!

The word “wrestle” is taken from the old Greek word pale, and it refers to struggling, wrestling, or hand-to-hand fighting. However, the word pale is also the Greek word from which the Greeks derived their name for the Palaestra, a famous house of combat sports.

The Palaestra was a huge building that outwardly looked like a palace. But it was a palace of combat sports, dedicated to the cultivation of athletic skills. Every morning, afternoon, and night, the most committed, determined, and daring athletes of that day could be found there, working out and training in this fabulous building.

Three kinds of athletes primarily worked out at the Palaestra: boxers, wrestlers, and pankratists. These were exceedingly dangerous and barbaric sports. Why? To quote from Chapter Seven of my book, Living in the Combat Zone:

First, their boxers were not like ours today. Theirs were extremely violent — so violent that they were not permitted to box without wearing helmets. Without the protection of helmets, their heads would have been crushed.

Few boxers in the ancient world ever lived to retire from their profession. Most of them died in the ring. Of all the sports, the ancients viewed boxing as the most hazardous and deadly.

In fact, these boxers were so brutal and barbaric that they wore gloves ribbed with steel and spiked with nails! At times the steel wrapped around their gloves was serrated, like a hunting knife, in order to make deep gashes in the skin of an opponent. And as time went on, boxers began using gloves that were heavier and much more damaging.

If you study the artwork from the time of the early Greeks, it is quite usual to see boxers whose faces, ears, and noses were totally deformed because of these dangerous gloves. You will also frequently see paintings of boxers with blood pouring from their noses and with deep lacerations on their faces as a result of the serrated metal and spiked nails on the gloves. In addition to this, it was not unusual for a boxer to hit his opponent’s face so hard, with his thumb extended toward the eyes, that it knocked the opponent’s eye right out of its socket!

Believe it or not, even though this sport was so combative and violent, there were no rules — except that a boxer could not clench his opponent’s fist. That was the only rule to the game! There were no “rounds” like there are in boxing today. The fight just went on and on and on until one of the two surrendered or died in the ring….

An inscription from the First Century AD said of boxing: “A boxer’s victory is obtained through blood.” This was a thoroughly violent sport.....

Next, there were wrestlers! Wrestling was the most ancient of the combat sports. Because it was an essential part of the education of Roman boys in the wealthier classes, every adult male in those classes learned to wrestle. However, combat-sport wrestling was very different than simple wrestling. Although not quite as ugly and bloody as the other two combat sports, combat wrestling was still very aggressive and dangerous. Certain rules applied to the competitions of this combat sport. For instance, some of the most violent fighting techniques weren’t allowed in wrestling, such as blows, kicks, thrusts, throttle holds, twisting of the joints, and fighting on the ground. But although less injurious than the other combat sports, wrestling was still a bitter struggle to the end.…

Then there were Pankratists. Pankratists were a combination of all of the above. The word “pankratist” is from two Greek roots, the words pan and kratos. Pan means all, and kratos is a word for exhibited power. The two words together describe someone with massive amounts of power; power over all; or more power than anyone else.

This, indeed, was the purpose of Pankration. Its competitors were out to prove they could not be beaten and were tougher than anyone else! In order to prove this, they were permitted to kick, punch, bite, gouge, strike, break fingers, break legs, and do any other horrible thing you could imagine.... There was no part of the body that was off-limits. They could do anything to any part of their competitor’s body, for there were basically no rules.

An early inscription says this about Pankration: “If you should hear that your son has died, believe it, but if you hear he has been defeated and retired, do not believe it.” Why? Because more died in this sport than surrendered or were defeated. Like the other combat sports, it was extremely violent.

The Survival of the Fittest

Now Paul uses this very illustration to describe our conflict with unseen, demonic powers that have been marshaled against us for our destruction. He says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

By using the word “wrestle,” the old Greek word pale, Paul conveys the idea of a bitter struggle and an intense conflict. In other words, he is describing our warfare with demonic forces as a combat sport similar to those fought in the ancient Palaestra!

This means when you are fighting demonic foes, there are no rules! Anything goes! All methods of attack are legal, and there is no umpire to cry “foul” when the adversary attempts to break you, choke you, or strangle you.

Whoever fights the hardest and the meanest and whoever lasts the longest is the winner in your confrontation with the enemy. Therefore, you’d better be equipped, alert, and prepared before the fight begins. (For more on how to prepare for this conflict, read all of Chapter Seven in my book Living in the Combat Zone.)

Notice that Paul goes on to say, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood....” At first, this statement of Paul may seem to be in conflict with what I have been saying in this book. Earlier I stated that the majority of spiritual warfare is with the flesh and the mind.

Is there a conflict between the apostle Paul’s statement and what I am saying? Absolutely not! Indeed, our real adversaries are an unseen host of wicked spirits that are working behind the scenes. These are the foul forces of darkness that work covertly behind every damnable disaster and moral failure. However, they can’t do anything unless our flesh cooperates with them! That’s why they come to tempt, seduce, deceive, and assault our flesh and our minds.

By living a crucified, sanctified life on a continual basis, we are able to neutralize any attack the enemy would try to wage against our flesh.

This is the reason we must deal with the flesh before we attempt to deal with the devil! By living a crucified, sanctified life on a continual basis, we are able to neutralize any attack the enemy would try to wage against our flesh. Why is this? Because dead men and women do not have the capacity to respond! You can kick dead people; spit at dead people; curse at dead people; or try to tempt, deceive, and seduce dead people — but no matter what you do, they do not respond!

Likewise, the majority of demonic attacks against us will never produce anything of serious consequence if we are living a crucified life and reckoning ourselves to be “dead to sin” on a daily basis (Romans 6:6,7,11).

Principalities and Powers

Who are these evil forces that are constantly working behind the scenes to seduce, deceive, control, and manipulate the flesh and the mind? Paul answers that question as he continues: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Paul tells us that there are four classifications of demon spirits:

1. Principalities

2. Powers

3. Rulers of the darkness of this world

4. Spiritual wickedness in high places

Before we deal with each of these individually, something else must first be noted. Notice that Paul mentions the word “against” in Ephesians 6:12 four times in connection with the devil! Why is this important? Because grammatically, he could have used the word “against” once in reference to all four levels of demonic spirits. But rather than do this, Paul chose to repeat the word “against” again and again four different times!

When a truth is repeated in Scripture like this, it is always for the sake of emphasis. For instance, in John chapters 14, 15, and 16, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “the Comforter” four different times. This clearly means that the Lord Jesus Christ is trying to drive a very important truth into our hearts about the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, in those same chapters of John, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of Truth” three different times. Once again, Jesus repeats Himself for the sake of emphasizing a very important truth.

We also see in the Bible that, whenever God calls out to notable biblical characters, He always calls them by name not once, but two or three times. For instance, when God called Moses, He said, “…Moses, Moses...” (Exodus 3:4). When God called Saul of Tarsus, He said, “…Saul, Saul...” (Acts 9:4). And Samuel was so important to the plan of God that God called him by name not once, not twice, but three times. In the middle of the night, God called out, “Samuel...Samuel...Samuel...” (see 1 Samuel 3:4-8).

So when God is dealing with truth that is of paramount importance, or when God calls out to an extremely important biblical character, He always repeats Himself. This, of course, leads us back to Ephesians 6:12, where the Holy Spirit repeats the word “against” four times within the context of one verse! This means the Holy Spirit is telling us something very, very important.

The word “against” that is used four times in this verse is taken from the Greek word pros. The word pros always depicts a forward position or a face-to-face encounter. In fact, this very word is used in John 1:1 to describe the preincarnate relationship between the Father and Jesus. It says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God....”

The word “with” in this verse is taken from the word pros. A more accurate rendering of John 1:1 would be “in the beginning was the Word [Jesus], and the Word [Jesus] was face to face with God....”

This word pros clearly reveals the intimacy and close relationship that exists between the Members of the Godhead. It gives us a picture of the Father and Jesus in a relationship so close and intimate that the Father can almost feel the Son’s breath on His face! Now this same word of intimacy, this word that is used to denote a face-to-face relationship between the Father and the Son, is used to describe a face-to-face encounter with unseen, demonic spirits that have come to assault us.

At some point in our Christian experience, we will come into direct contact     with evil forces.

This means that at some point in our Christian experience, we will come into direct contact with evil forces. Ephesians 6:12 could thus be translated: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but face to face with principalities, eyeball to eyeball with powers, head-on with rulers of the darkness of this world, and shoulder to shoulder with spiritual wickedness in high places.”

The Devil’s Rank-and-File Forces

All serious scholars agree that the language of Ephesians 6:12 is military in nature. It seems evident that Paul received a revelation of how Satan’s kingdom has been aligned militarily.

At the very top of Satan’s dark domain, there is a group of demon spirits that Paul calls “principalities.” The word “principality” is taken from the word archas, an old word that is used symbolically to denote ancient, ancient times. Furthermore, it is also used to depict individuals who hold the highest and loftiest positions of rank and authority.

By using the word archas, Paul emphatically tells us that at the very top of Satan’s domain is a group of demon spirits who have held their lofty positions of power and authority ever since ancient times — probably ever since the fall of Lucifer.

Then Paul goes on to mention “powers” as those evil forces that are second in command in Satan’s dark dominion.

The word “powers” is taken from the word exousia, and it denotes delegated authority. This tells us that there is a lower-ranking group of demon spirits who have received delegated authority from Satan to do whatever they want to do, wherever they desire to do it. Thus, the demon spirits in this second group use their delegated authority to carry out all manner of evil and wickedness.

Next, Paul mentions “the rulers of the darkness of this world.” What an amazing word this is! It is taken from the word kosmokrateros and is a compound of the words kosmos and kratos. The word kosmos denotes order or arrangement, and the word kratos has to do with raw power.

When these two words are compounded together into the word kosmokrateros, the new word depicts raw power that has been harnessed and put into some kind of order.

This word was technically used by the ancient Greeks to describe certain aspects of the military. The military was filled with young men who had a lot of natural ability — raw power, if you will. In order for that raw power to be effective, it had to be harnessed and organized (kosmos).

Thus, young soldiers with abounding energy were taught to be submitted, disciplined, ordered, and perfectly arranged. This is the picture of rank and file. In the end, all of those men, with all of that raw ability, were turned into a massive force.

Now Paul uses this same idea in Ephesians 6:12. By using the phrase “rulers of the darkness of this world,” Paul tells us that the devil deals with his dark legions of demon spirits as if they were military troops. Satan organizes his demon spirits in rank and file, gives them orders and assignments, and then sends them out like troops who are committed to kill.

It is a spiritual reality that we have more authority than the devil; we have more power than the devil; and we have the Greater One living within us. As I pondered these truths one day, I asked the Lord, “If we have more authority, if we have more power, and if we have the Greater One living inside us, why does it seem that the Church is full of so much defeat?”

I will never forget what the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart. He said, “The reason the Church is experiencing so much defeat is that the devil has something the Church does not have!”

I quickly asked, “Lord, what is that?”

It was then that the Lord quickened Ephesians 6:12 to my understanding. The word kosmokrateros came alive in my heart, and then I understood!

The word kosmokrateros (“rulers of the darkness of this world”) is a military term that has to do with discipline, organization, and commitment. The devil is so serious about doing damage to humanity that he deals with demon spirits as though they are troops! He puts them in rank and file and organizes them to the hilt. Meanwhile, the average Spirit-filled believer often doesn’t stay in one church for more than one year at a time!

Yes, we do have more authority than the devil has; we do have more power than the devil has; and we do have the Greater One living in us. The Church of Jesus Christ is loaded with heaps and heaps of raw power. But at this particular time, that power is disconnected and disjointed by a Body that lacks discipline, organization, and commitment!

As Christians, we have no power shortage, nor are we short of God-given authority. We simply have a great lack of discipline, organization, and commitment.

As Christians, we have no power shortage, nor are we short of God-given authority. We simply have a great lack of discipline, organization, and commitment. In order to change this, we must buckle down in the local church and begin to view ourselves as the troops of the Lord! Once we match the discipline, organization, and commitment that the enemy possesses in his camp, we will begin to move into the awesome demonstration of God’s power!

Finally, Paul mentions “spiritual wickedness in high places.” The word “wickedness” is taken from the word poneros and is used to depict something that is bad, vile, malevolent, vicious, impious, or malignant.

It is significant that Paul saves this Greek word until the end of this verse. By doing this, he is revealing to us the ultimate aim of Satan’s dark domain: These demon spirits are sent forth from the spirit realm to afflict humanity in all manner of bad, vile, malevolent, vicious, impious, and malignant ways.

Chapter Five

Who Is the Devil?

The devil’s entrance into the life of a believer is allowed primarily through that believer’s negligence.

Virtually all reputable scholars of the Church, past and present, agree that we have an adversary who hates the Gospel, detests the presence of the Church, and works around the clock to discredit the message of Jesus Christ.

The devil’s entrance into the life of a believer is allowed primarily through that believer’s negligence. He slips in through an uncommitted, unrenewed area of the mind — a loophole — and then begins to wage warfare against the mind and flesh of that individual.

Rather than hide from this foe, we must turn our eyes to the Scriptures to see what God has to say about him. There are many names, symbols, and types for the devil throughout the Old and New Testaments, each revealing a different facet of the devil’s twisted, perverted nature and his mode of operation.

Our enemy is known as:

- Abaddon (Revelation 9:11)

- Accuser (Revelation 12:10)

- Adversary (1 Peter 5:8)

- Angel of Light (2 Corinthians 11:14)

- Apollyon (Revelation 9:11)

- Beelzebub (Matthew 10:25; 12:24)

- Belial (2 Corinthians 6:15)

- Devil (Ephesians 6:11; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:9)

- Dragon (Revelation 12:9)

- Evil one (Matthew 6:13)

- Murderer (John 8:44)

- Prince of this world (John 12:31)

- Prince of demons (Matthew 9:34 NIV)

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

- Roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8)

- Satan (Luke 10:18)

- Serpent (Revelation 12:9)

These names, symbols, and types of Satan can be divided into four categories:

1. Satan’s destructive bent

2. Satan’s perverted nature

3. Satan’s desire to control

4. Satan, the mind manipulator

Satan’s Destructive Bent

Of the 17 names, symbols, and types given above, two are devoted to Satan’s insatiable desire to destroy.

The names Abaddon and Apollyon are used to describe the devil in Revelation 9:11. The name Abaddon is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek name Apollyon. Both of these names mean destroyer.

Demon spirits, over which Satan rules as a king, possess the same destructive nature as their master. They also operate according to the instructions Satan gives them as he sends them forth to destroy    .

In reference to Satan, Revelation 9:11 says, “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.”

You can be certain that demon spirits, over which Satan rules as a king, possess the same destructive nature as their master. They also operate according to the instructions Satan gives them as he sends them forth to destroy.

Satan’s Perverted Nature

Of the titles given in the list above, five of them have to do with the devil’s twisted, perverted nature. Those five are found in the following names, symbols, and types: “Beelzebub,” “Belial,” “dragon,” “evil one,” and “murderer.”

Beelzebub

The name “Beelzebub” was initially used by the Philistines of the Old Testament to describe the god of Ekron. It literally meant lord of the flies (2 Kings 1:2-6). Originally it was spelled “Baalzebub.” As time progressed, the Jews altered Baalzebub to Beelzebub, which added an even dimmer idea to this particular name of the devil. This new name “Beelzebub” now meant lord of the dunghill or lord of the manure.

Two powerful and important images of Satan are presented in these two names. First, he is presented as “Baalzebub,” the lord of the flies. This is clearly the picture of Satan masquerading himself as the lord of demon spirits. Obviously, the Philistines looked upon demon spirits in the same way one would look upon nasty, dirty flies that bite, torment, and irritate.

Secondly, he is presented as “Beelzebub,” the lord of the dunghill. By adding a twist to this particular name of Satan, the Jews revealed a very important characteristic of the devil. Just like nasty, dirty flies, both the devil and his evil spirits are attracted to “dunghills,” or environments where rotting, stinking carnality pervades. This is the environment where Satan thrives best.

Belial

The name “Belial,” which is of Greek origination, means worthless. This name is always used in connection with filthiness and wickedness. Whenever it is used, either in the Old Testament or the New Testament, it is used to depict extremely evil men. For instance, First Samuel 2:12 tells us that Eli’s sons were “sons of Belial.”

What an example Eli’s sons were of this word “Belial”! They were fornicators and thieves, full of idolatry and rebellion. These terrible traits were ingrained into their character to such an extent that God’s judgment came upon them, and they were removed from the scene in one day’s time. Because First Samuel 2:12 calls them “sons of Belial,” we know they obtained this horrid behavior from Satan, who is himself the origination of the name “Belial.”

Dragon

The word “dragon” is also used in Revelation 12:9 to depict the devil. It says, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

It is clear from this verse that the terms “dragon” and “serpent” are used interchangeably in reference to Satan’s twisted, demented, and perverted nature. By employing both of these pictures, the Bible presents the devil as a deadly, poisonous, ready-to-strike-and-kill creature.

Evil One

The next biblical example of the devil can be found in what is traditionally called “The Lord’s Prayer.” In Matthew 6:13, the Lord Jesus prayed, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” The Greek language more accurately reads, “…but deliver us from the evil one.”

From this usage, we know that Jesus looked on the devil as the “evil one.” No one was more familiar with Satan than Jesus; hence, it is important to us that Jesus, knowing the devil so well, would label him thus.

Murderer

It was also the Lord Jesus who told us that Satan is a “murderer.” In John 8:44, Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him….”

The murderous nature of Satan was first manifested in Genesis 4:8, when he inspired Cain to slay his brother Abel. It was also Satan’s murderous nature that inspired Herod to kill all the babies in Bethlehem-Ephrata. We continue to see the devil’s murderous nature in the deaths of millions of early Christian martyrs and still today wherever murderous injustice prevails on the earth. Murder is a part of Satan’s demented nature.

Satan’s Desire To Control

Satan’s strong desire to control the spirit realm, the world, and every human government and human institution in this world system is evidenced by the fact that the Bible calls him “the prince of this world,” “the prince of demons,” and “the prince of the power of the air.”

The Prince of This World

By calling Satan “the prince of this world,” even Jesus recognized his temporal control over certain things in this earthly sphere.

You might remember that Satan himself personally offered Jesus the “kingdoms of this world” during Jesus’ 40 days and nights of testing in the wilderness. Jesus was confronted by this “prince of the world” during those 40 days and resisted the devil’s power until His adversary fled. Jesus spoke from personal experience when he referred to this temporal claim of Satan.

The Prince of Demons

In Matthew 9:34, Satan is also called “the prince of demons.” The word “prince” is taken from the Greek word archontas and refers to one who holds the first place or one who holds the highest seat of power.

The title “prince of demons” most assuredly reveals that Satan holds the highest-ranking seat among a host of diabolical spirits. The word “prince” denotes that there is rank and file and some form of organization to Satan’s system of governing his kingdom. We have already seen this in Ephesians 6:12.

Prince of the Power of the Air

The apostle Paul called Satan “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). Again, the word “prince” is taken from the Greek word archontas, meaning one who holds the highest seat of power.

This is in complete agreement with Ephesians 6:12, which states that under Satan’s control, there are varying degrees of spiritually wicked power: principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.

Satan, the Mind Manipulator

Finally, we come to the last and largest category of the names, symbols, and types of Satan in the Bible. In this last category, we discover that Satan truly is the master of mind games.

Let’s look at five names, symbols, and types of our enemy that specifically have to do with his ability to twist, deceive, and lie to people’s minds. He is called the “adversary,” “roaring lion,” “angel of light,” “devil,” and “Satan.”

Adversary

The name “adversary” is extremely important as we attempt to understand the devil’s mode of operation. It is taken from the Greek word antidikos, which is a compound of the Greek words anti and dikos.

The word anti simply means against. However, in the older and more classical Greek language, it was used to denote the mental condition of a man or woman who was on the edge of insanity. This, in fact, was a terribly dangerous person who would do someone great harm if he or she was not restrained. Therefore, the word anti is quite a nasty word.

The second part of the word “adversary” is taken from the Greek word dikos. Dikos is the root of the Greek word meaning righteousness. It refers to justice, rightness, fairness, and righteousness.

When the two words are compounded together, they portray one who is adamantly opposed to righteousness. Because the word anti carries the idea of hostility, this tells us that the devil is one who is hostile toward righteousness or who desires to destroy righteousness and obliterate it.

The devil is not just passively opposed to the presence of righteousness or righteous people. He is actively pursuing them and doing all within his power to wipe them out!

This means that the devil is not just passively opposed to the presence of righteousness or righteous people. He is actively pursuing them and doing all within his power to wipe them out! He hates righteousness!

In one way or another, Satan mentally tries to devour us with present temptations or with past memories. He does all of this in order to assault our sense of righteousness. His ultimate goal is that we would eventually be left high and dry with no confidence before God, devil, or man.

This is precisely why Peter said, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

A Roaring Lion

This leads us to the next title of Satan. Peter says he is like unto “a roaring lion.” What awe and fear the mighty roar of a lion strikes in the heart of frail man!

However, in the case of the devil, his roar is more fearsome than his bite.

Colossians 2:15 victoriously declares, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he [Jesus] made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

By means of the Cross and the resurrection, Jesus Christ stripped these demonic powers bare of the authority they once possessed.

By means of the Cross and the resurrection, Jesus Christ stripped these demonic powers bare of the authority they once possessed. Jesus’ victory over them was so thorough that He even “made a shew of them openly.” (For a more detailed description of this phrase, see Chapter Nine of Living in the Combat Zone).

However, this has not stopped the devil from trying to sound dreadful. Through his continuous hassling of our thoughts, his insinuations about failure, his concoction of unrealistic fears in our souls, and his constant onslaught against our minds, Satan tries to beat us down into defeat. This constant “roaring” in our souls is just another attempt of the adversary to wear us down, wear us out, and then swallow us up in self-pity.

Notice that the object of the adversary is to seek those “whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The word “seek” implies that not everyone will fall prey to these tactics.

Satan is not seeking just anyone to devour; he is seeking those whom he may devour. In other words, the enemy is looking for those who are weak in faith, ignorant of the Word of God, isolated unto themselves, and not mature enough to stand in the face of his constant, hassling allegations.

These are the individuals this “roaring lion” is seeking after, and his object is to devour them. The word “devour” comes from the Greek word katapino, and literally means to swallow up completely.

Angel of Light

Satan is also called an “angel of light.” In dealing with the problem of false prophets, false teachers, false apostles, and deceivers who were trying to worm their way into the Corinthian Church, Paul says in Second Corinthians 11:14, “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

This is another clear picture of this master mind-manipulator. Satan disguises himself to be something that he really is not! Again, this kind of attack normally comes against a person’s mind. The portrayal of Satan as an “angel of light” is a vivid example of his deceptive power to twist people’s thinking.

The Devil

Of course, Satan is also called “the devil.” In fact, the New Testament refers to him as such more than 40 times!

The name “devil” is taken from the Greek word diabolos. It is a compound of the words dia and balos. Dia means through and carries with it the idea of penetration. The word balos is taken from the word ballo, which means I throw, as in throwing a ball or a rock. When the two words are compounded, the new word depicts the act of repeatedly throwing a ball or rock against something until it penetrates that barrier and breaks through to the other side.

Therefore, in the name “devil,” we are not only given the proper name of this archenemy but also his mode of operation. His name means that he is one who continually strikes and strikes and strikes again — beating against the walls of people’s minds over and over again — until, finally, he breaks through and penetrates their thought processes.

Satan

This enemy of both God and man is called Satan, which is taken from the Hebrew word shatana and means to hate and to accuse. It is used more than 50 times in the Old and New Testament, and it also carries with it the ideas of slander and false accusation.

A Prerequisite to Spiritual Warfare

It was because of this archenemy that Paul wrote to the Ephesian church and urged them to “put on the whole armour of God…” (Ephesians 6:11).

However, keep in mind what Paul told the Ephesian believers to do before he ever told them to put on the whole armor of God! Paul urged:

- Put away lying (4:25).

- Speak truth with your neighbor (4:25).

- Be angry, and sin not; don’t let the sun go down on your wrath (4:26).

- Give no place to the devil (4:27).

- Let him who stole steal no more (4:28).

- Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth (4:29).

- Grieve not the Holy Spirit (4:30).

- Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, and malice be put away from you (4:31).

We must not forget that a consecrated life is a prerequisite to real spiritual warfare. If these areas of our lives are left unattended, uncommitted, and unsurrendered, we have left gaping loopholes through which Satan is able to continue to exert his hellish schemes in our lives.

Screaming, yelling, screeching, stomping, and shouting at the devil will not accomplish one single thing if we have deliberately, or simply by negligence, allowed “the loins of our minds” to go unchecked and ungirded. Our lack of commitment and the secret places of our lives that have never been fully surrendered will stop us dead in our tracks whenever we try to deal with the devil’s attacks.

No matter what challenge we encounter, our ultimate victory depends on whether or not we use the spiritual weapons God has provided for us.

On the other hand, when we choose to live holy and surrendered lives — carefully guarding our minds and equipping ourselves with the whole armor of God — we become AWESOME weapons in the hands of an Almighty God!

No matter what challenge we encounter, our ultimate victory depends on whether or not we use the spiritual weapons God has provided for us. Therefore, if we want to live as more than a conqueror in this life, Paul’s words in Ephesians 6:13 must define the way we face every situation: “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, TO STAND”!

REFERENCE BOOK LIST

1. How To Use New Testament Greek Study Aids by Walter Jerry Clark (Loizeaux Brothers).

2. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible by James H. Strong.

3. The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament by George Ricker Berry (Baker Book House).

4. The Englishman’s Greek Concordance of the New Testament by George Wigram (Hendrickson).

5. New Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Joseph Thayer (Hendrickson).

6. The Expanded Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words by W. E. Vine (Bethany).

7. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by Geoffrey Bromiley; Gephard Kittle, ed. (Eerdmans).

8. The New Analytical Greek Lexicon; Wesley Perschbacher, ed. (Hendrickson).

9. The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament by Cleon Rogers Jr. (Zondervan).

10. Word Studies in the Greek New Testament by Kenneth Wuest, 4 Volumes (Eerdmans).

11. New Testament Words by William Barclay (Westminster Press).

12. Word Meanings by Ralph Earle (Hendrickson).

13. International Critical Commentary Series; J. A. Emerton, C. E. B. Cranfield, and G. N. Stanton, eds. (T. & T. Clark International).

14. Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament by Marvin R. Vincent, 4 Volumes (Hendrickson).

15. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology; Verlyn D. Verbrugge, ed. (Zondervan).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rick Renner is a prolific author and a highly respected Bible teacher and leader in the international Christian community. Rick is the author of more than 30 books, including the bestsellers Dressed To Kill and Sparkling Gems From the Greek, all of which have sold more than 3 million copies combined. In 1991, Rick and his family moved to what is now the former Soviet Union. Today he is the senior pastor of the Moscow Good News Church; the founder and director of the Good News Association of Pastors and Churches, with a membership of several hundred churches; and the founder of Media Mir, the first Christian television network in the former USSR that today broadcasts the Gospel to a potential audience of 100 million people and to countless Russian-speaking viewers around the world via multiple satellites. Rick’s wife and lifelong ministry partner, Denise, and their three sons — Paul, Philip, and Joel — lead this amazing work with the help of their committed leadership team. Rick and Denise, along with their sons and families, all reside in Moscow.

A WORD ABOUT OUR WORK

From inception to its current role in the Body of Christ, RENNER Ministries’ purpose and vision has been to teach, strengthen, and rescue people for the Kingdom of God. Although the Renners’ ministry began much earlier, in 1991 God called Rick and Denise Renner and their family to what is now the former Soviet Union. Since that time, millions of lives have been touched by the various outreaches of RENNER Ministries. Nevertheless, the Renners’ ever-increasing vision for this region of the world continues to expand across 9 time zones to reach 300 million precious souls for God’s Kingdom.

The Moscow Good News Church was begun in September 2000 in the very heart of Moscow, right next to Red Square. Since that time, the church has grown to become one of the largest Protestant churches in Moscow and a strategic model for pastors throughout this region of the world to learn from and emulate. Today outreaches include ministry to families, senior citizens, children, youth, international church members, specialized ministry to businesspeople, and an outreach to the poor and needy. Rick and Denise also founded churches in Riga, Latvia, and in Kiev, Ukraine, both of which continue to thrive.

Part of the mission of RENNER Ministries is to come alongside pastors and ministers and take them to a higher level of excellence and professionalism in the ministry. Therefore, since 1991 when the walls of Communism first collapsed, this ministry has been working in the former USSR to train and equip pastors, church leaders, and ministers, helping them attain the necessary skills and knowledge to fulfill the ministries that the Lord has given them.

To this end, Rick Renner founded both a ministry training center and a ministerial association. The Good News Training Center operates as a part of the Moscow Good News Church. It specializes in training leaders to start new churches all over the former Soviet Union. The Good News Association of Pastors and Churches is a church-planting and church-supporting organization with a membership of pastors and churches that numbers in the hundreds.

Rick and Denise Renner also oversee Media Mir, the first and one of the largest TV outreaches within the territory of the former USSR. Since its inception in 1992, this television network has become one of the strongest instruments available today for declaring the Word of God to the 15 nations of the former Soviet Union, reaching 100 million potential viewers every day with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The network also reaches an untold number of Russian speakers on almost every continent of the world via satellite.

The Renners also founded the “It’s Possible” humanitarian foundation, which is involved in various outreaches in the city of Moscow. The “It’s Possible” foundation uses innovative methods to help different age groups of people who are in great need.

In addition to conducting their work in the former Soviet Union, Rick and Denise Renner continue to expand their outreach throughout the world. They are teaching God’s Word to people in the United States through a variety of means: producing books and audio resources; conducting meetings in churches, seminars, and conferences throughout the country; and appearing frequently on nationwide TV programs, such as Believer’s Voice of Victory with Kenneth Copeland, Enjoying Everyday Life with Joyce Meyer, 700 Club with Pat Robertson, and Life Today with James Robison. The Renners also reach out to English-speaking people around the globe through their eBooks and MP3 audio teachings; their online IMPART network, designed to help ministers; their various Internet video programs; and the meetings they conduct in other nations around the world.

If you would like to learn more about the many aspects and outreaches of RENNER Ministries, please visit our website at www.renner.org, or call 918-496-3213.

A NOTE TO BOOKSELLERS

A book company anointed to take God’s Word

to you and to the nations of the world.

A Division of

Rick Renner Ministries

P. O. Box 702040

Tulsa, OK 74170-2040

Phone: 877-281-8644

Fax: 918-496-3278

Email: tan@renner.org

Website: www.tanpublish.com

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

For additional copies of this book

or for further information

about this ministry

and other Renner products,

please contact the RENNER Ministries office

nearest you, or visit the ministry website

at www.renner.org.

(Note: For online orders,

digital downloads are available.

All physical product orders

are available only in the U.S.

If outside the U.S., please contact

a RENNER Ministries office near you.)

ALL USA CORRESPONDENCE:

RENNER Ministries

P. O. Box 702040

Tulsa, OK 74170-2040

(918) 496-3213

Or 1-800-RICK-593

Email: renner@renner.org

Website: www.renner.org

MOSCOW OFFICE:

RENNER Ministries

P. O. Box 53

Moscow 109316, Russia

7 (495) 727-1470

Email: mirpress@umail.ru

Website: www.mgnc.org

RIGA OFFICE:

RENNER Ministries

Unijas 99

Riga LV-1084, Latvia

(371) 780-2150

Email: info@goodnews.lv

KIEV OFFICE:

RENNER Ministries

P. O. Box 146

Kiev 01025, Ukraine

380 (44) 246-6552

Email: mirpress@rrm.kiev.ua

OXFORD OFFICE:

RENNER Ministries

Box 7, 266 Banbury Road

Oxford OX2 7DL, England

44 (1865) 355509

Email: europe@renner.org

A LIGHT IN DARKNESS

VOLUME ONE

$79.95 (Hardback)

ISBN 978-0-9779459-8-6

Step into the world of the First Century Church as Rick Renner creates a panoramic experience of unsurpassed detail to transport you into the ancient lands of the seven churches of Asia Minor. Within the context of this fascinating — and, at times, shocking — historical backdrop, Rick outlines challenges early believers faced in taking the Gospel to a pagan world. After presenting a riveting account of the apostle John’s vision of the exalted Christ, Rick leads you through an in-depth study of Jesus’ messages to the churches of Ephesus and Smyrna — profoundly relevant messages that still resonate for His Church today.

Rick’s richly detailed historical narrative, enhanced by classic artwork and superb photographs shot on location at archeological sites, will make the lands and the message of the Bible come alive to you as never before. Parallels between Roman society of the First Century and the modern world prove the current relevance of Christ’s warning and instructions.

A Light in Darkness is an extraordinary book series that will endure and speak to generations to come. This authoritative first volume is a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge — a definitive go-to resource for any student of the Bible and a classic must-have for Christian families everywhere.

Faced with daunting challenges, the modern Church must give urgent heed to what the Holy Spirit is saying in order to be equipped for the end of this age.

For more information, visit us online at: www.renner.org

Book Resellers: Contact Teach All Nations at 877-281-8644,

or email tan@renner.org for quantity discounts.

MINING THE TREASURES

OF GOD’S WORD

$34.95 (Hardback)

ISBN: 978-0-9725454-2-6

Author Rick Renner unearths a rich treasure trove of truths in his remarkable devotional, Sparkling Gems From the Greek. Drawing from an extensive study of both the Bible and New Testament Greek, Rick illuminates 365 passages with more than 1,285 in-depth Greek word studies. Far from intellectualizing, he blends his solid instruction with practical applications and refreshing insights. Find challenge, reassurance, comfort, and reminders of God’s abiding love and healing every day of the year.

Sparkling Gems From the Greek

Electronic Reference Edition

$29.95 (CD-ROM)

ISBN: 978-0-9725454-7-1

Now you are only a few short clicks away from discovering the untold riches of God’s Word! Offering embedded links to three exhaustive indices for ultimate ease in cross-referencing scriptures and Greek word studies, this unique computer study tool gives you both convenience and portability as you read and explore Rick Renner’s one-of-a-kind daily devotional!

For more information, visit us online at: www.renner.org

Book Resellers: Contact Teach All Nations at 877-281-8644,

or email tan@renner.org for quantity discounts.

A BIBLICAL APPROACH

TO SPIRITUAL WARFARE

$24.95 (Hardback)

ISBN: 978-0-9779459-0-0

Rick Renner’s book Dressed To Kill is considered by many to be a true classic on the subject of spiritual warfare. The original version, which sold more than 400,000 copies, is a curriculum staple in Bible schools worldwide. In this beautifully bound hardback volume, you will find:

- 512 pages of reedited text

- 16 pages of full-color illustrations

- Questions at the end of each chapter to guide you into deeper study

In Dressed To Kill, Rick explains with exacting detail the purpose and function of each piece of Roman armor. In the process, he describes the significance of our spiritual armor not only to withstand the onslaughts of the enemy and but also to overturn the tendencies of the carnal mind. Furthermore, Rick delivers a clear, scriptural presentation on the biblical definition of spiritual warfare — what it is and what it is not.

When you walk with God in deliberate, continual fellowship, He will enrobe you with Himself. Armed with the knowledge of who you are in Him, you will be dressed and dangerous to the works of darkness, unflinching in the face of conflict, and fully equipped to take the offensive and gain mastery over any opposition from your spiritual foe. You don’t have to accept defeat anymore once you are dressed to kill!

For more information, visit us online at: www.renner.org

Book Resellers: Contact Teach All Nations at 877-281-8644,

or email tan@renner.org for quantity discounts.

EVERY DREAM

IS TARGETED BY A THIEF —

ARE YOU ON GUARD?

$24.95 (Hardback)

ISBN: 978-0-9779459-3-1

In his revised and updated classic, Dream Thieves, Rick Renner identifies thieves lurking along the road to your destiny and reveals the strategies that you must adopt to ensure that you achieve your God-given dreams. He explains that every dream God plants in your heart has a significant purpose, leading ultimately to a specific destination. That’s why dream thieves show up early and repeatedly along your journey to shift your focus from opportunities to obstacles. Their goal is to overwhelm and intimidate you until you’re either immobilized and stuck or moving in a direction that’s ineffective. These thieves try to make you challenge your call, doubt your dream, and question your capacity to deliver on the vision that consumes you — until eventually the fire in your heart flickers and fades away.

Whether your dream has been delayed — or even if it seems to be dead — this book will revitalize your vision, steering you back on track with renewed momentum to see it through to its fulfillment. You can — you must — fulfill your unique purpose in life by walking in your God-ordained calling. Too many abandoned dreams litter the road of life. Don’t let your dream be one of them.

For more information, visit us online at: www.renner.org

Book Resellers: Contact Teach All Nations at 877-281-8644,

or email tan@renner.org for quantity discounts.

BOOKS BY RICK RENNER

Books in English

Dream Thieves*

Dressed To Kill*

The Dynamic Duo

If You Were God, Would You Choose You?*

Insights to Successful Leadership

You Can Get Over It*

A Light in Darkness, Volume One

Living in the Combat Zone*

Merchandising the Anointing

Paid in Full*

The Point of No Return*

Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Demons

Sparkling Gems From the Greek Daily Devotional*

Spiritual Weapons To Defeat the Enemy*

Ten Guidelines To Help You Achieve

Your Long-Awaited Promotion!*

365 Days of Power*

Turning Your God-Given Dreams Into Reality*

*Digital version available for Kindle, Nook, iBook, and other eBook formats.

Note: For audio and video teaching materials by Rick Renner,

please visit www.renner.org.

Books in Russian

Dream Thieves

Dressed To Kill

The Dynamic Duo

Good News About Your New Life

If You Were God, Would You Choose You?

Insights to Successful Leadership

Let It Go

Hell Is a Real Place

How To Test Spiritual Manifestations

A Light in Darkness, Volume One

Living in the Combat Zone

Merchandising the Anointing

Paid in Full

The Point of No Return

Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Demons

Sparkling Gems From the Greek Daily Devotional

Spiritual Weapons To Defeat the Enemy

Ten Guidelines To Help You Achieve

Your Long-Awaited Promotion!

365 Days of Power

What the Bible Says About Healing

What the Bible Says About Tithes and Offerings

What the Bible Says About Water Baptism

What To Do if You’ve Had a Failure