“Spiritual Things: Part 5 – Spiritual Warfare” 

Series: Spiritual Things [on screen] 

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD 

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida 

June 7, 2020 

Introductory Comments: 

When it comes to spiritual things, there is perhaps no topic that attracts as much interest as spiritual warfare. Many sermons have been preached and many books have been written about spiritual warfare.

Yet, I dare say that the average Christian doesn’t understand the most important aspect of spiritual warfare. However, after this message, I pray that all those tuning in will properly understand spiritual warfare. 

Before we dive into this topic, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to teach us.

(prayer) 

We are continuing our series called “Spiritual Things.” [on screen] Thus far we have discussed Heaven, Hell, angels, and demons. Today, we’ll bring this sermon series to a close by discussing spiritual warfare. [on screen]

Now, bear in mind that this is part five of a five-part series. So, as we study this topic, we are doing so in the context of the four that we’ve already studied. 

As we examine this topic of spiritual warfare, we will discover three foundations upon which we can stand when facing spiritual warfare.

We’re going to start our discussion today learning about some of the popular aspects of spiritual warfare; then transition to something that is not as widely discussed, but is perhaps more important; and finally, we will conclude with a truth that should bring us great encouragement.

Here’s the first foundation of spiritual warfare for us to discover:

I. Be conscious of the presence of evil forces. [on screen]

We must first grasp the reality that there are spiritual forces around us, some of which are evil.

Over the last two sermons, we talked about the reality of angels, both good and evil, who are in the spiritual realm, and who are present on this earth. If you need to refresh your understanding of that you can do so by reviewing the previous sermons on our YouTube channel or our church website. 

So, we must be conscious that there are evil spiritual forces around us, perhaps even now in the place where we are watching this. We learned all of this in the last two sermons.

On that note, we must remember that God has allowed the devil to have dominion over the world to a certain extent and for a certain period of time. In fact, the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” [on screen] So, even though Satan is clearly not a deity, or a god, he is given authority to rule during this time to the point that he is called “the god of this age.”

The great Christian author and thinker C. S. Lewis said in his book Mere Christianity, “Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is.” The world in which we live is occupied by our enemy Satan and his demons. 

This reminds me of a scene from the great movie, The Lion King, where Simba and Nala, two lion cubs, venture into hyena-occupied territory. This place is called the elephant graveyard. Even though Simba’s dad, Mufassa, is the king of all the pride land, the elephant graveyard is controlled by the hyenas.

Indeed, God is in control of all things, but the world is not our permanent home, and while on the earth we face the reality of evil spiritual forces. We are in enemy-occupied territory.  

Yet, as followers of Jesus, we are not to live in fear.

God is sovereign and Jesus has ultimately conquered the devil. This is a truth that we will discuss more in a moment.

Still, we are to prepare for and engage in spiritual battle while here.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4,“3 For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, 4 since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful throu