LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5, We are human, but we don’t wage war with human plans or methods. We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the devil’s strongholds. With these weapons we breakdown every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ. (New Living Translation)

 

 I have been thinking through the last several pages of the blog and have seen an unintended pattern – that of spiritual warfare in these last days. Seek wisdom from above not earthly wisdom. Train yourself for godliness. A famine of God’s Word. Seek to know God with your mind, guard it and get head knowledge down into your heart. Today we use God’s weapons to fight the spiritual forces that are trying to keep us from doing these things. Whether we want to acknowledge or not, you and I must fight a spiritual battle to walk on the narrow way that leads to eternal life in God’s kingdom. Because it is a spiritual war, we must use God’s weapons to fight; human plans and methods are ineffective.

 

First let me define human plans and methods. These would include “aggression, violence, political solutions, human ingenuity, talents, wealth, organizational skills, eloquence, propaganda, charisma, and personality” (from the notes in LSSB) which in themselves are inadequate to fight against the schemes of the devil. The devil’s schemes today include deception, false teaching, and unrighteousness in all phases of society. We even see this in the teachings within the church. We need the weapons, plans, and method that God gives each of His people to fight; He gives us the authority of Jesus’ name, the power of the Holy Spirit, and spiritual gifts, He gives His wisdom from above, His spiritual armor, and the godliness we must train in.

 

These weapons are powerful because they are spiritually given and come from God. It is, therefore, extremely important that each of us be committed to the truth of His Word, righteous living, sharing His gospel, and persevering in prayer. As Christians, we conduct spiritual warfare with God’s weapons in faith and obedience in order to tear down the strongholds of the enemy. We actually become God’s soldiers that are defending the truth against the attacks we are seeing in our world today. The spiritual warfare being “fought in the heavenlies” (Ephesians 6) are being seen in the world around us in the arguments and philosophies becoming so prominent today. Look carefully and see that these philosophies are being preached as good; the reality is they disguise or hide their rejection of the knowledge of God’s truth. The world’s philosophy – humanistic wisdom, philosophy, exciting attractions, entertainment, even church “performances” – often serves as a substitute for our uncompromising commitment to God’s Word.

 

Worldly weapons cannot bring about the kingdom of God because they cannot destroy sin’s stronghold in our lives nor in the world. They cannot overthrow the evil running rampant in the world today. It is tragic to see the church trying to use worldly tactics to draw the unsaved into their services. Their teaching, use of music, and other worldly weapons has only secularized the church and made the weapons of faith, righteousness, and the power of the Holy Spirit ineffective. Any and every teaching that tends to promote and elevate itself above or against the knowledge of God must be cast down.

 

In the next blog I want to explain one of the first things we must do. Hint: it has to do with our thought life. 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible.  I have added Jimmy Swaggart’s Expositor’s Study Bible to be referred to from now on as JSESB.