Spiritual Warfare
Then the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with her offspring – those who obey the commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus Revelation 12:17
“Spiritual warfare was a 70’s and 80’s thing,” I’ve heard people say. What they mean is: in the 1970’s and 1980’s there was a strong emphasis in preaching and practice on spiritual warfare but that’s behind us now.
Nothing could be further from the truth! What God did in the 70’s and 80’s was put spiritual warfare back on the agenda for Western Christians. In Africa and Asia it was never off the agenda.
The church has so downplayed spiritual warfare that before this time, and unfortunately since this time, any emphasis on spiritual warfare has been considered over the top, unwarranted and so unwanted.
There are extremes in both preaching and practice but don’t lose the fish as you spit out the bones. You and I are engaged in a spiritual battle every single day with demonic powers. Then the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with her offspring – those who obey the commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. That’s us. The devil is at war with us!
No wonder warfare themes keep popping up in the New Testament (e.g. Luke 4:2; 8:12; Ephesians 6:10-17; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8,9). The first Christians recognised the kind of battle they were in. Make sure you do too.
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