Everything visible and physical is first preceded by something invisible and
spiritual. So if you want to rectify something in the visible physical realm,
you must identify and address its invisible spiritual cause. Failure to
identify the invisible spiritual cause will leave you lacking in properly
addressing the visible physical cure. And that's why this principle of spiritual
warfare and understanding it is so critical. In the spiritual realm, of what
Paul calls heavenly places, that's where all the action is. That's where all the
activity is. That's where the conflict exists according to Ephesians
chapter 6 verses 10 to 12. And Paul wants us to understand that it's that realm
that's causing chaos in this realm. But if he can keep us so focused on this
realm that we never see what he's doing in that realm, he knows we won't address
the cause properly. The beautiful thing about victory in spiritual warfare is
that God has already gone before us and created the victory. So you see, the
Scripture says that on the cross Jesus defeated the devil. But even though he's
been defeated positionally, it's our responsibility to defeat him practically.
And the way we do that is by putting on and utilizing the armor of God recorded
in Ephesians 6. There's this belt called truth. Why? Because Satan is a liar, and he
can't handle the truth. So when you hit him with the truth, he's got to back up,
because he and truth don't jive together, they don't get along. There is this
breastplate of righteousness. Why? Because the devil is unrighteous, so when you
apply truth by making right decisions, he's got to back up further because you
protected your heart, breastplate, from his invasion. And then there are the shoes,
the gospel shoes that bring peace. As you make your steps in life, movements
in life, the way God confirms that you're moving the right way is by the calm He
gives you in the middle of a storm. This is not talking about peace with no conflict.
This is talking about peace when you're not supposed to have peace,
the peace that passes understanding because you don't understand why you
have it right now. But the reason you have it is because
you're taking your steps with truth along the right road and God confirms it
by giving you solid footing of calm in the midst of chaos. Then, of course,
there's a shield of faith. Faith is more than a feeling. It's acting like God is
telling the truth. When you act like God is telling the truth, you're exhibiting faith.
And when you exhibit faith, then you get God's attention. For without
faith, it's impossible to please God, and who cometh to God must first believe
that He is and that He is a rewarder to them who diligently seek Him. When you act on
what God says, you have gotten God's undivided attention. Of course, then
there's this helmet of salvation. Helmet, of course, covers the head, the head
covers the brain, and in the brain is all the thoughts, and what we do is determined
by what we think. You see, Satan wants you to get the think wrong, because if we
can get you to think wrong, have confusion of the soul and the mind,
he can get you to act wrong. Most of our wrong actions come from wrong thinking, so
that's why you've got to think salvifically. That's just a big word that
means think in concert with your saved status not your unredeemed status.
Then pick up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The word for "Word" there
is the word Rhema. That means the Word of God used, not the
Word of God merely known, understood, studied, or repeated. It means you must
wield it like a sword, like Jesus did in the temptation when He had a Bible study
with the devil. By the way, when's the last time you've had a Bible study with
the devil? When you actually quoted Scripture to him? Most Christians have
Bible studies with one another or with themselves—and while that's
appropriate—in spiritual warfare, it's not enough. You need a dagger. That's the
Greek word for sword. It means up close battle. It means you're in each other's
face and you're going for the kill. Get in the devil's face with the Word.
He can't handle the Scripture, in fact, he's pretty allergic to it. Verse 18 says, "And
all you do, cover it with prayer." Prayer is earthly permission for heavenly
interference. You're telling God up there to join you down here cause something's
happening down here that you can't handle, and you need up there to partner with you.
You put on the full armor, you're ready to go to war. In fact, you're more than
ready to go to war. You're ready to win one.