What Is Wrong With the World?

Part 2

The Ultimate In Spiritual Warfare

Friend, everyone of us who has been given new life in Jesus Christ is locked in a battle to the death with spiritual entities. Christ, and the apostles made it very plain, there is a literal war raging all around us. And we cannot afford to be oblivious to these evil beings. We have to wake up to this reality.  I believe this training on spiritual warfare is very likely to be like nothing you have been taught before. Please read the entire message.

Come with us on this path to a new spiritual awakening.

If you missed Part 1 of the mystery of the spiritual world, you can find it the link below.

Take This 2 Question Survey

About Dr. Michael Heiser

Doctor Michael Heiser was perhaps the preeminent Biblical scholar on the spiritual realm. It was his passion to wake Christians up and return us to a Biblical understanding of the spirit world that exists around us and exerts great forces on the activities of men and of nations.

Ready to go with me into REAL spiritual warfare now?

Ready to go with me into REAL spiritual warfare now?

your brand.

Let’s follow this revelation of the greatest Cosmic battle in human history. I believe we are hitting on the greatest aspect of spiritual warfare that is to be waged in human history. We are. each one of us, either committing to the war against the kingdom of darkness and ushering in its ultimate destruction by helping to expand the kingdom of God. Or, we are allowing Satan to delay his coming judgement. Three scriptures nail it down tightly for us. Admittedly, this is not something many Christians today think seriously about.to add more details about your site, a customer quote, or to talk about important news.

Which Dots To Connect?

You could reasonably begin to rethink your own commitment in contributing to the gospel going to the ends of the earth. Let’s develop this Bible study you likely have never seen before.

Understanding Your Battle

There are TWO very big truths to grasp about Spiritual Warfare that most of have missed. The first is that the greatest, the ultimate form of spiritual warfare is spreading the Gospel. Mark 16:15 says, “Go therefore (because of what I just announced) and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” We have to see this is the ordained method by which “making disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19)  And this in turn, is the manner which God has ordained that “the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas (Habakkuk 2:14).”

To grasp this we have to grasp a larger view of the purposes of God in creation. We have to understand what God wants with man. God cannot commune with an otter, or a dog. It takes something more like God to more fully appreciate Him and to grasp what God wants. Man is made in God’s image. Satan cannot hurt God. But he can harm what is precious to God, people. The relative position and importance man and Satan, with his angels and demons, is crucial to understanding the depth of mortal combat with Satan. God is all in on your behalf in your personal warfare with Satan. And Satan is all in on doing you all harm that he can. God wants to and will redeem all that has been lost in man due to the work of the evil one. And God will gain it all back and it will be better for us than before this battle royale with Satan.

It is God’s will to reclaim the nations that were rejected and scattered at the tower of Babel. God indicated His power is available to recover them by reversing that curse at Pentecost. When all of this is accomplished, by God’s enabling power and in accordance with His will, Christ will return. I wonder if you have considered that world missions and world evangelism is inextricably connected to Christ’s glorious return?  I wonder now if you have an increased sense of the the importance of global missions? We each can be a contributor in “hastening the Day of God.”  We all should have known already that Christ commanded the church undertake the discipleship of all nations. We should all have know already the eternal benefits to those who receive the gospel in areas where there are no practicing Christians native to their land. We all should know already that God is supremely invested in all nations, tribes, and tongues coming to honor Christ and Glorify Him.

But there has still been something holding up this global cooperative (Co-mission) work between God the Holy Spirit and the messengers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is that the church has not been very much interested or engaged in this work.  Perhaps you now understand that this disinterest, this complacency toward global missions is the the most prioritized work of Satan in the world. He not only attacks and thwarts missionaries “in the field”. But he attacks the churches with disinterest and complacency toward the revealed will of God. The average person will hear a missions story and think, “that is an inspiring story, I’ll give them twenty dollars.” But what if churches were taught, and believers believed that this work is the Churches hand on the handle ready to open the door for the return of Christ? Do you see how urgent and vital evangelism, discipleship and church planting is? Not just overseas, but everywhere.

There is one more aspect of this higher understanding of spiritual warfare.  It relates directly to how Satan thwarts YOU from entering all that God has willed for you in this life. Watch this 1:29 second video to see how Satan has you in shackles and chains instead of the liberty and power that God wants for your to live in.

Why This Battle Matters

We just looked at the union of God’s purposes, His purpose in creation; to have communion with intelligent beings who are capable of appreciating his glory and communicating his glory. His purpose in the fall of man, to have a purified race. His purposes in Christ’s blood bought redemption of us so the Holy Spirit can transform us into his image. His purpose for us to be co-laborers with him in “his vineyard”, in his fields- the Great Commission. To reclaim the whole earth and all of mankind. (Not universalism, this is only by the redemption in Christ Jesus). And in tying his purpose with us working with him into his design for “all nations”. All of this is culminated and inextricably connected to the return of Christ, his 2nd coming. Many evangelicals today seem to focus on the negative prophecies surrounding the return of Christ. This prophecies are NOT intended to terrify us. If we read them in fear we read them wrong. God said he tells us the end from the beginning so we can rest in confidence that he alone is God. Jesus said I have told you these things beforehand for our comfort, our encouragement, to strengthen our faith to alert us and to warn us.

All of which is a paradigm shift in most people’s view of end times prophecy. The return Christ being something that Satan desperately, perpetually schemes to delay. And we need to be strong enough to face the fact that the things Christ commanded, taught and exhorted us to do, when we do no do them, we are chained up by Satan for is purposes. Can we stop and acknowledge that everything I do is not for me? I was bought with a price and I am not my own. In every thing I do, I am either furthering the purposes of God or furthering the purposes of Satan. Many Christians today have this twisted reality. On the one hand they are committed to living life for themselves. Oh, the flesh loves that. The devil loves when you do that. This independent attitude of complacency toward God was the height of evil and insurrection against God. This is the fatal and toxic mindset in Satan that he injected into Adam- and we received it handed down as “like begets like”, “after its kind”. Christians are stuck in this worldly, evil mindset. They have become so comfortable in it that they resent God’s servant pointing it out to them. On the one hand they have decided determinately to live apart from God. But when God brings it to their attention, they revolt. They are so attached to their sin and rebellion that they hate being reminded to turn again to God.

The 2nd part of this aspect of spiritual warfare and the return of Christ is that Christians, churches and denominations are not serious about evangelism, discipleship and missions.  Whose face do you suppose this brings a smile, Jesus Christ or Satan? It is valid, and it is necessary and it is important, it is even urgent. You can help in these matters. In fact, God has given you a new identity in Christ, having forgiven all your sins and making you fit to stand in his presence without the sense of guilt, shame, condemnation or inferiority. This is the Grace of God.

I believe every person has 2 primary needs that drive and motivate much of their life. They are; 1) Love and acceptance [We will discuss these in depth on my Substack page]

2) Meaning and purpose. We desperately long for a meaningful life with purpose.

These two are the driving forces of much of our subconscious mind. There is not much more sad than a meaningless, aimless life. What give purpose and meaning to your Christian life? Is it all the love and blessings of God toward you and coming eternal happiness? What if your personal purpose shifted from what God has for me to “How can I serve God?” All the heroes and heroines of the Bible and church history were people who loved God AND they also were passionate about the purposes of God.

God said of King David, “He is a man after my own heart.” God’s words! Why did he say that? “ I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, who will fulfil all my will. (1 Samuel 13:14).”  Do you see the great man to God connection there? Man has found his highest purpose in fulfilling God’s purposes.

Ok  Christian, what are we to do with this knowledge?

Yes, Satan is very much invested in making sure the church goes about their Christ given commission to evangelize the world very slowly. It is said that “The greatest tool that Satan has ever exercised over humanity is to convince them that he does not exist.” That is true. 2 Corinthians 3 talks about the “god of this world blinding the eyes of humanity.” His greatest weapon is to make you not even interested in the Great Commission, or in being obedient to Christ. Satan’s greatest, last desire is for you to not give it a thought.

How has Satan built up “strongholds” and “fortifications”, employing “stratagems” to keep you enchained? As Ray Comfort said, has he already defeated you, or thwarted you in the area of serving Christ? You can break free sisters and brothers. Christ has called you to be free.

But, child of God, you have a higher calling than to be under Satan’s thumb. God wills to lend you HIs own power and His own armor to do combat with Satan (Ephesians 6:10, 11-18). God gives us His own power to do this mortal combat with Satan against his soul killing “imaginations and thought and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).

You may find all of this to be new. It may be familiar. The bottom line is, what are we doing with it? Our prayer for you is that you begin to awaken to all that Christ has purchased for you. And that you grow in the power of the Lord and take back ground the enemy of souls has robbed you of.

You can find materials on my webpage and Substack to help you grow in these things.  You will find it helpful to find other believers to pursue these things with. If they are not there yet, give them this teaching. Then begin to search the scriptures for the authority and power Christ has given you power of attorney to wield. Reach out to us also. We would love to walk through life with you in these divine things and your fellowship.

You may begin exercising your new found power and purpose by making your generous, secure, taxfree contribution or this global and local ministry. Hopefully have followed our previous newsletters and you know how the teams we have recruited, trained and led to the spiritually darkest places on earth have proclaimed the gospel to thousands, seen thousands saved, thousands discipled, hundreds of leaders trained and dozens upon dozens of churches planted. We also recruit churches here to do these things in their communities. If your church is willing, let’s connect and glorify the Name of Jesus together.

This kind of powerful faith may be new to you. Hear well the words of Hudson Taylor, the young missionary who revolutionized missions. This is the faith and power the Lord revealed to him. And it is the same that God has for you. Do not disqualify yourself.  

Americans Hardly Grasp Spiritual Warfare

James shares 3 quick events that baffle American rationalism. As a high risk missionary, James has witnessed and experience many dangers and  times of just being overwhelmed physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. The first couple of times John Wesley encountered evil spirits he did not know what to do. So he fell on his face and sought hard after God. One demon possessed man circled him, mocking and challenging him. “I’ll pray with you John Wesley.” That is till the Lord empowered Wesley to exorcise him.

When I first became a career missionary my trainer was Bus Dawson, Director for Asia for Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT). Just before Bus began training me he was working on a remote Island in Mindanao.  One evening while he was up late working on translations, Bus heard strange sounds like someone shaking out a blanket, at Midnight though. He stepped out of his hut to see a huge eagle looking creature, 10 feet wide at least, flying low to the ground following the central trail of the village.  The huge bird made loud “Ack, Ack” calls.  Bus heard blood curdling screams at each hut as the bird flew past it. Then the bird soared off.  The next morning bus learned that all of the babies under 1 year old had died as the bird flew by. The villagers are well aware of this apparition, which is known as the Ack Ack bird. It is said it steals the souls of the babies. Now Bus Dawson teaches linguistics and languages at some of the best universities in the world. This is no superstitious guffaw. And he is a man of God.

At one time in my early years with WBT there was a young couple, typical intellectual bible translators, who went to Bolivia in the Amazon valley that locals call “the Swamp”. After 2 yrs of working among the villages they heard a local shaman was very upset they were telling “his” people about a strange god. One day he visited the missionaries. He warned them to leave. The missionary was Presbyterian and quite modern.  He and his wife did not take his threats seriously because they were far too sophisticated for that superstitious nonsense.  The shaman told them if they did not leave his son would did. That evening the 10 yr old boy grew very ill. The next day he was airlifted to La Paz, the capitol. For days the hospital tried to treat the boy, with no results. After 5 days the boy was airlifted to Atlanta, Georgia for medical care. The boy was in a coma, and he never awoke. The family underwent quite a lot of counseling, Their commitment to missions was so strong that after 2 years they returned to their village in Bolivia. After some time the shaman came around again. He told the missionary couple that if they did not leave their daughter would die also.  As soon as the shaman left they grabbed their 5 yr old daughter and moved back to America. How did he know their boy had died? One interesting end to this testimony is that these young missionaries then learned as much as they could about spiritual warfare. They led an initiative to raise awareness in missionaries who came from denominations that teach that these things cannot happen any longer. These are principally Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopalian and some UMC denominations.

James and his teams have had to exorcise people in the field who were obstinate, mocking and/or threatening to the team.  I was  a leader on a team to Afghan refugees in Athens, Greece. Our ministry was over and the team was purchasing goods for the refugees. Winter was coming and they had no warm clothes. We stopped at a sidewalk cafe. (Every restaurant in Athens is a sidewalk cafe it seems.) As the team sat around at empty tables and had snacks a gypsy woman ran up to me and stood right against me. She never said a word. I looked at her to figure her out, but she looked dead ahead. I stepped a pace over. She did also. I stepped 2 paces over and she did also.  I looked at her and spoke to her. She had no response at all. I went and stood on the opposite side to the table. Then here she came again. An older woman on our team who is Brethren looked at me said, “He knows we are here.” I walked to another table where two of our Iranian believing translators sat. Vahid was occupied talking to his girlfriend. I asked him, “What do you think of this?” I stepped over a pace and so did my shadow. He rose and looked right in her eyes, nose to nose, and spoke to her in Farsi, then Greek. Vahid went inside the pastries shop and brought out our other 2 coleaders. They were very kind to her. When they began to ask her to leave she began to yell obscenities and blasphemies.  I started thinking to myself, “Am I going to have to exorcise this woman right here in public in the sidewalk cafe?”  How did she know we were Christian missionaries? She grew louder and more profane. Some kind Greek men and the manager began to try to escort her off the property. She grew louder and more vile, fighting with them to look back at me and hurl insults. Four men took her off the property, so I did not exorcise her that day. This is something I witness a lot, especially among people from non-christian lands.

Your Bottom Line

The enemy comes only to steal, to kill and destroy. Satan wants nothing more than to destroy your identity as a powerful Spirit-filled child of the living God. If you are in Christ, then your identity is one of abundant life, power and victory. Do not be deceived.

The bottom line for you is the “Power in the Blood of the Lamb.” and the Power of the Name of Jesus. (Coming soon to these pages is my book, “The Wonderful Name of Jesus.” This book will inform you of the power that God has invested in YOU by the finished work of Christ on the cross for you, and the unsearchable depths of His love and his purposes for you and your life.

We began this eye opening study with the Great Commission:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you. Matthew 28:19

But notice how that great Co-mission begins with the conjunctive, “Therefore?” Christ is sending us just as God sent him, to the world. (John 20:21) Christ’s therefore, the basis of His sending and our being sent is the previous verse.

Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”

Jesus said he has been given all power. This means that if any person or demon from hell seems to have power it is solely because the deputies of the power of Christ have not halted them, yet.   And our commission in verse 19 is neatly sandwiched between to promises of Christ omnipotence committed to us, as his emissaries.

And lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.” (vs 20)

See how our commissioning is bookended in His omnipotence? “Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on [a]serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.” (Luke 10:19) Does Christ really have to tell us when to listen up? Yes. He knew our propensity to being “slow of heart and dull of hearing” the words of God.

Satan’s name in Hebrew means “the malignant accuser”. His first ploy is to convince you that you are unworthy to do anything for God or in the service of Christ. That is true, but like all things Satan, it is only a half truth. The whole truth is that the blood of Christ, the cross of Christ, and His rising from the grave has made us worthy in the eyes of God. Hebrews says you were made perfect, forever, to God. You were made holy, spotless, and pure by the unfathomable offering of Jesus for your sin.

Return Home