The Word of God 

both Written and Spoken (rhema)   
   
Hebrews 4:12    
For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

The Holy Spirit

Ephesians 1:16-19

I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

The Blood of Jesus

Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us.    
Revelation 12:10-11     
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our  God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."

Warfare Prayer

1 Corinthians 14:14-16   
• Praying in Tongues 
• Praying Scripture
For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say "Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying?

The Name of Jesus

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the 
Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknow-
ledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Praise & Worship

Psalm 149:6-9

May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them  —  this is the glory of all his faithful people.

The Christian Soldier's Personal Manual

Ephesians 6:10-18

Finally, be strong in the LORD and in his mighty power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the rhema word of God.  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the LORD's people.

The Christian Soldier's Personal Manual

 
The Gates of Hell  - Pan's Cave at Caesarea Philippi   Photos: Rick Barker by kind permission

Satan's Plan To Exterminate God's Chosen People

In Matthew Chapter 16  Jesus takes the disciples on a forty mile hike to the foothills of Mount Hermon to a place known as The Gates of Hades, or Hell. It was thought to be the entrance to the Underworld and was entered by a vast cavern dedicated to the Goat God Pan! [ Note: What a coincidence that the Baphomet, or Goat's Horns sign beloved of ravers and heavy metal enthusasists should be the sign of the G.O.A.T aka Satan! ]  It was a centre of idolatry and the worship of several deities, including a Temple to the Roman Emperor Augustus. The disciples must have wondered why Jesus had taken them to such a centre of occultism.

Jesus' Statement of God's Power Over The Enemy

The reason was to make a statement about the Church and God's overall dominion over everything Satan might do. It began by him asking the disciples who people thought he was. Some said he was Elijah or one of the Old Testament prophets or John the Baptist raised from the dead. But when he asked them who they thought he was, it evoked the famous confession of Simon Peter, who said: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!"

Jesus replied: "You didn't get that out of your head, Peter. That was my heavenly Father revealing the truth. And that's the rock of faith on which I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."  In other words, "none of the other deities worshipped at this hellish place, nor Satan, will be able to withstand the growth of my Church, which will be birthed after I have been crucified and raised from the dead"  When Peter said he wouldn't let Jesus die, Jesus rebuked him by saying that was Satan's attempt to abort God's plan of salvation for the whole world.

Living In The 'Now & Not Yet'

When Jesus died and rose from the dead, he gave his followers all authority and power over the enemy's forces to go throughout the whole world making disciples and building his Church. But Satan is still "the prince of this world" (John 14:30) and "the ruler of the power of the air," (Ephesians 2:2), and awaits the final battle and defeat of his forces,  when Christ returns to claim his own and to inaugurate a new heaven and a new earth at the Day of Judgment. Until then we live in what George Eldon Ladd called The Presence of the Future and 'The Now and the Not Yet.' 

Satan's Use of Persecution against the Church

Warfare at the local level includes prayer ministry through laying on of hands for healing         Photo: Lightstock

The Local Church

In Acts 2:42-47 we see the local church in action after the birth of the Church at Pentecost. It was characterised by  -
•  Teaching by the apostles
•  Fellowship
•  Celebration of The Lord's Supper
•  Prayer
•  Evangelism and outreach

Later in Paul's Letters to the churches in Colossae, Corinth and Ephesus, we see how the fellowships in these three cities spread the Good News of the Gospel and engaged in the ministry to which Jesus had called them to  -

A. Proclaim the Good News that Christ has won the victory over sin, death and Satan through his death, resurrection and ascension
B. Demonstrate the Good News by enforcing the victory of Calvary through saving the lost, healing the sick and suffering, and setting captives free from bondages of all kinds

Warfare at the Local Level

In the process of carrying out Christ's commission the apostles and Paul experienced enemy opposition of various kinds. These included:
•  Opposition from Jewish religious groups  eg Judaisers who refused to believe Jesus is the Messiah promised in Scripture and insisted on circumcision
•  False teaching  eg by some who taught ascetism and forbade the eating of certain foods
•  Chaos in services with people getting drunk at The Lord's Supper and abusing the gifts of the Spirit in Corinth
•  Opposition from pagan worshippers eg of Artemis/Diana in Ephesus and silversmiths who started a riot
•  Opposition from traders whose businesses were affected by people being delivered from demonic spirits  eg in Philippi
•  Opposition from the Roman civic authorities for Christians' refusal to swear allegiance to the Emperor by saying Caesar is Lord

Forms of Opposition

In the Book of Acts we see the apostles being subjected to
A. Natural attacks
•   Riotous mobs in the arena/theatre  eg Ephesus
•   Beatings  eg at Philippi
•   Imprisonment without trial  eg at Philippi
•   Attempts at stoning to death eg at Lystra
•   Execution in the arena by being burned at the stake eg Smyrna
•   Sacrificed at a pagan temple  eg Pergamum
All these attacks at the physical level were orchestrated by the enemy behind the scenes.
B. Supernatural attacks
In Acts 13:7-11 A sorcerer called Elymas/Bar-Jesus at Paphos in Cyprus had an influence on the Roman governor Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. The effect of this power encounter was the Proconsul was converted, demonstrating the reality of Christ's victory at Calvary over the enemy's forces.
In Acts 16:16-18 we read of a power encounter between Paul and a young slave girl, who was demonized and was being used by her masters to tell people's fortunes. She had been following them for several days and had actually been telling the truth when she said “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” But Paul realised she was being used by the enemy to distract people's attention from the message of the Gospel and so he commanded the demon to shut up and come out. Once again, the result demonstrated the victory of Calvary over all demonic spirits and led to conversions.

The Local Church & Spiritual Warfare