Sunday Nov. 3, 2024 Spiritual Warfare

Ephesians 1:15–23 “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Ephesians 2:1–10 “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Ephesians 4:1–16 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Ephesians 6:10–18 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—”

Sit Walk Stand

Seated in Christ - Position

Walk worthy of being children of God - Lifestyle

Stand against the devil - Authority

1. Receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the experiential knowledge of God
2. Receive enlightenment in the understanding of your soul
3. Receive the experience of God’s calling you by name
4. Receive the experience in the glory, our glorious inheritance
5. Receive the experience of God’s power at work in you
6. God used this exceeding great power to raise Jesus from the dead
7. Christ Jesus is now seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly places
8. Christ Jesus is positioned in name, authority and power above all kings and princes, whether they be natural or spiritual whether they be past, present or future
9. All things are under His feet
10. Christ is the head of the church
11. The church is His body which is the fulness of Him who completes all
12. The church is the fullness of God filled with the One who makes all things complete an full
13. God, by nature, will not stop filling or completing you until you are complete and full of Himself
14. We have been made alive together with Christ Jesus
15. We have been raised up in Christ Jesus
16. We are seated with Christ Jesus in the heavenly places at the right hand of God
17. We are positioned in Christ over all principalities and powers of the air
18. This is true because God, who is rich in mercy, wanted to put His grace on display in and through us.
19. God, by nature is kind, and wanted to display that kindness to all people for all ages.
20. We are saved by grace through faith
21. Grace is God’s kindness toward us and faith is God’s gift to us.
22. God gave us the faith to receive His kindness.
23. We are the handy work of God. We are His poetry when His word is at work in us.
24. We are created for good works. “Greater works than these shall you do because I go to the Father.”
25. Our good works include walking worthy of being called sons and daughters of God.
26. This includes: humility, gentleness, patience, love, unity, peace
27. Some are Called to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
28. They train the church to grow up into the head even Christ.
29. They disciple the body to grow in the fruit and power of the spirit.
30. They teach the disciples by the word and the spirit to be one body and to complete the body in love
31. Finally, Be strong in The LORD and in the power of His might. “If you abide in me and my words abide in you.”
32. The word “Finally” tells us that what is about to be said stands on what was already said. We are growing up in Him. We understand our spiritual position in Christ and we have adopted the lifestyle of sons of God and we are ready to Stan in authority and wield the exceeding great power that is available through faith.
33. Our fight is not against flesh and blood. We war against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
34. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand. A warrior wear armor. A warrior stands against the enemy. The armor is a girdle of truth (God’s Word), a breastplate of righteousness (Faith in God’s Word - His word in our heart), shoes of the good news of peace (God’s heart an love for others everywhere we go), the shield of faith (to stop the attacks of the devil), the helmet of salvation (With the heart we believe unto righteousness and with the mouth we confess unto salvation - His word in our mouth), and the sword of the spirit which is The Word of God (His authority and power operating through the words of our mouth).

This is why we pray always with all manner of prayer and supplication. We keep His words in our hearts and in our mouths. We keep His decrees in our mouth. We say what He has said. His word is eternal. We use the shield of faith to defend ourselves and we use the word of God to attack a the gates of hell will not be able to withstand this type of attack. We are sons of God who have received the spirit of adoption whereby we speak with our mouths that God is our Father. We are spiritual positioned above all the powers of darkness. We are in Christ Jesus and all things are under our feet. We understand our spiritual identity and calling. We align our lifestyle with the kingdom of Heaven for our citizenship is Heaven. We align our conversation with Heaven. Our words come from the language of heave which is born in faith, hope and love. We are peaceable and kind, especially to those who are of the household of faith. We remain in unity, we forgive one another. We give no place to the devil in our relationships or in our personal conversation and lifestyle. And having done all, we stand against the devil and demonic forces and powers in the air, in government, insisters, in our families.

We make decrees and walk by faith. We stay in love and we bind and loose on earth.

Matthew 18:18–20 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Bind works in two ways. One, you bind something to yourself as in putting on the full armor of God. You would bind on your shoe or your breastplate. Two, you would restrain something from having access to something or put into prison.

Loose works in the manner of allowing something or in the manner of setting someone free from something.

These words are legislative and judicial and administrative. They are similar to the word “let” which is a gatekeeper word. The gatekeeper will either disallow or allow entrance.

This authority was given to the disciples upon them receiving the revelation that Jesus was The Christ and The Son of The LIVING GOD. As it is a granting of authority, it is dependent upon submission to the one in authority. There is a very broad sphere of authority that is granted - Power of Attorney. “What you bind on earth is bound in heaven.” However, the one with the authority must act on behalf of and in the interest of the one who grants the authority. The disciples spent three an a half years with Jesus and had come under complete submission to Him and to His words. Jesus explains this in John 15:7, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” Your authority is directly relate to your submission - abiding in Him and His words abiding in us.

So today, if you will hear His voice in these things, harden not your heart. Mix this with faith. Submit to God and resist the devil and he will flee from you.

How many of you were able to hang in there for this whole teaching? It was a lot. But, we need to understand spiritual warfare and our spiritual authority and the exceeding greatness of the His power at work in us who believe.

Why I you give us this all at once? Because you are not novices. If there are novices here to day, then we do not expect you to grasp all that was said. Let us repent. Let us change the way we think and receive the mind of Christ. Let us receive our identity as God’s sons. Let us walk worthy of this calling. Let us Stan against the wiles, schemes and works of the devil. For this purpose the son of God is manifest, to destroy the works of the devil. Christ in us, the hope of glory. The earth yearns for the manifestation of the sons of God because they, like Jesus will destroy the works of the devil.

Take the next few minutes repenting and receiving the mind of Christ for yourself and for this city a for this nation.

Ask Him for decrees to make from His word. Then write them down. Stand and bind and loose according to His word.

If the desire comes into your heart to bind and loose and to stand against the devil. Make sure you are submitted to God, abiding in Christ and His word is abiding in you. Make sure the decree is founded upon Scripture and that you believe it and will stand on it until it manifests. Then ascend the hill of God’s throne and sit with Christ in the seat at God’s right hand and make your decree with thanksgiving to God.