OFFENSIVE WEAPONS OF WARFARE

The Bible records various weapons of our defence.  In this section, however, we look first at the weapons of our offence, and then in the passing we shall also discuss our weapons of defence.  The summary of our weapons of offence could not be better presented as in Rev. 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” One thing comes very plainly from this scripture:  victory is already ours: “they overcame him.” To overcome is to prevail over or to be victorious over someone or something.  We are overcomers in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can deduce at least three levels of our engagement from the preceding verse, namely:  power, truth and allegiance.

Power Engagement:

Although blood is only a life fluid which flows in our bodies, it is used figuratively to represent the power of life.  For this reason it was used as a sacrifice in substitute for its offender (Lev. 17:11).  Blood is life, it never dies.  Even after the death of Abel, his blood still cried out to God for revenge (Gen. 4:10).  The Hebrews recognised the immortality of blood when they demanded that Christ’s blood should be upon them (Matt. 27:25).   Apart from its cleansing power (1 John 1:7) and its power to give us access into God’s throne room (Heb. 9:12), the blood has the power to make evil and the devil shudder.  By the blood of Christ we defeat all evil.  For the believer, Jesus’ blood is the cleansing, protecting and healing fluid, but for the devil it is a missile, an atomic fluid that destroys all that have interests with evil.  When the devil comes, we won’t plead our goodness, not even our innocence if any, but we will plead the blood of Jesus.  There is power in the blood of Jesus.  With the blood of Christ, we are engaging the enemy with power!

Truth Engagement:

At this level, we are talking about the Word of God.  In particular here we are dealing with what God has said about us and certain things.  We take the written scriptures and through our mouth we make them a weapon against Satan and his interest.  The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17).  It is alive, powerful and sharper, cutting through dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and in the process discerning all thoughts and intentions of the heart!  (Heb. 4:12).  With it, we conquer spirits as well as physical problems.  The Word of God has the power, according to this verse, to heal the body, soul and spirit.  The Word of God used in context, disintegrates all manoeuvres, strategies and all plots of the enemy.  The Word of God is the truth that proceeds from God to attack all lies that have their foundation in the devil, the father of all lies (John 8:44). In the wilderness, Jesus used truth to defeat Satan (Luke 4:4, 8, 12; Matt. 4:4, 7, 10).  What is written, or what God has said, is the only guarantee that the devil will back off.  Nothing else has power to silence the enemy apart from what God has said.  The word has it is written in our Bibles, has immense power to destroy all evil.

Allegiance Engagement:

The first part of (Rev. 12:11) reads, “By the blood of the Lamb” and the second part, “… by the word of their testimony” make up the first two engagements of power and truth respectively.  But the third, and usually the most overlooked, is as powerful as the other two, “…they loved not their lives unto the death.”  This is allegiance engagement.  Allegiance means loyalty to a person or a cause.  Allegiance is the duty of the subjects to their masters.  Believers in Christ are allegiant to their God.

Allegiance is the highest of our offensive weapons.  It is the part which a few have done and only very few have reached.  Jesus, in His submission to God, died on the cross.  Peter says we need to submit to God if we are to resist the devil (1 Peter 5:6-9).  And Paul, in his great spiritual warfare treatise, comments that evil powers are only capable of bowing to us if our submission to God, what may be termed unconditional obedience, is fulfilled (2 Cor. 10:6).  Allegiance engagement is the level where we are willing to resist the devil even to the point of our own discomfort.  It is to die for the divine cause, if need be!

Power, truth and allegiance engagements are all aspects of offensiveness in spiritual warfare.  Our defensive weaponry are righteousness (Eph. 6:14), salvation (Eph. 6:17) and faith (Eph. 6:16).  Prayer is the atmosphere through which our weapons, whether offensive or defensive, operates.  The name of Jesus is what gives power to our weaponry; it’s the power of attorney.  Without the name of Jesus, our weapons, though potentially powerful, will be blank! Our offensive and defensive weapons put together have tremendous power to demolish Satan’s arsenal (sin, accusations and strongholds).  In Paul’s mimicry of the Roman soldier, salvation is the helmet; righteousness is the breastplate; truth is the belt and faith is the shield. The Word is the sword and we must have good cheer because Jesus has overcome the world (Eph. 6:10- 18; John 16:33). And our weapons are

not worldly (2 Cor. 10:3). So far what we have explored is how the ground and magic levels operate, but in the following chapter stress shall be laid on the third level or the Heavelies.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

War is not a relative term because it  is understood the same everywhere.  War is war in Africa as it is in Asia or Europe or America or as it shall always be on any part of the world.  It is an open and armed struggle.  In war blood is shed, peace is disrupted, communities are disintegrated, families are broken apart, life literally comes to a halt and death is never requiem!  Men and women lose property and sounds of mirth and merriment are rare.  Plans and purposes find no fulfilment and everybody lives for today, this minute, perhaps.  Many books I have read on spiritual warfare are very vague on the definition of spiritual warfare. In fact many of them just go on talking about it as if everyone knows what they are saying.  To many the term ‘spiritual warfare’ is synonymous to energetic declarations, heavy stamping of the feet, and or binding or loosening of the enemy.   Spiritual warfare is battle between the members of the Kingdom of God on one side and an extensive network of spirit beings that are loyal to Satan on the other side which is fought in the realm of the spirit. The Church exists in a spiritually hostile environment.  As part of God’s Kingdom, its existence and growth is contested and inhabited by satanic forces. Thus spiritual warfare is a hostile contest between spiritual forces.

Warfare, whether legal or spiritual is always a state. In traditional terminology, war is supposed to produce a state of war, and all the legal effects of war are then deduced from this state of war.  In other words, while battles are named according to place or which generals led them, war, once declared is always in a state of potential conflict.  To be in war is to be ready to fight at any time.  It does not mean that when there is war there are always confrontations, but sometimes there could be flashes of peace and order, yet potentially war is looming.  In International Law, if there is a declaration of war, the commencement of war can be readily determined. This is a fundamental fact.  Once war has been declared, to begin it is just a matter of time.  But remember, the effects of war, especially in international relations manifest themselves on three levels: In relations between belligerent states; between belligerent states and enemy nationals; and between enemy nationals.  Thus war affects all, those peoples at war and those at peace.  Hence once war has been declared, there is potential conflict and no one will be spared in its effects.  Wars are therefore won and lost. 

Spiritual warfare is a state of declared spiritual war; fought spiritually but whose effects manifests in the natural. It affects those engaged in it directly and those who are neither part to it nor are aware of it.   In the “School of Intercession”, we define spiritual warfare as the total displacement of satanic forces and the complete eradication and evacuation of the systems that ensure their survival. Moreover, in the “School of Intercession”, we make distinction between the terms ‘war’ and ‘battle’.  War and battle do not mean the same thing.  War is potential or a state.  It is declared hostility and involved parties are aware of its existence and know that it could break out any time.  But a battle is the actualisation of war.  It is the doing of the war.  It is not potential, but experiential.  Casualties are recorded in a battle.  In other words, a battle has a place, time and is named likewise. Despite making this distinction in the “School of Intercession,” the dividing line between the two terms is a very thin one.  This is because every state of war leads to actual confrontations we call battles; and all spiritual battles are due to spiritual warfare.  In this vein, it is very correct to say that we are in a state of spiritual war every day and do battles every time we gather to pray during our prayer meetings and every other time that the enemy attacks us. Casting out of demons is a battle yet we are in a constant state of warfare.

Even after the defeat of Satan and his forces on Calvary we are still potentially in a state of warfare, especially for souls. Some disregard this claiming we do not need spiritual warfare any more, what deception! How can we reach out to the lost, to organised religions, to satanic agencies and overcome world apathy without spiritual warfare? What these saints mean is that positionally we are on the winning side. Paul calls this being more than conquerors! It’s like the war on terror between the USA and Iraq: potentially the USA has won the war, but practically there are still casualties on either side. If the USA should sit recklessly and simply recite statements that they have won, they will in no time discover that they are losing. So it is with believers in Christ. Surely our Saviour has won for us the ultimate victory, but practically we are still on earth and Satan and his forces are still active. We are in a spiritual warfare, but it is a good one because we fight from a position of victory, glory to God!

LEVELS OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Many experts on spiritual warfare and writers on this subject actually agree that there are various levels of spiritual warfare. These are three, namely: Ground Level, Occult Level and Strategic Level

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Ground Level Spiritual Warfare

At this level we confront demonic spiritual forces that molest individuals.  It is an aspect of personal deliverance and the casting out of demons.  (Acts 19:11-12) says: “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and diseases departed from them, and evil spirits went out of them.”  Paul here, like all of us who are saved, is a soldier (1 Tim. 1:18, 2 Tim. 2:3-4, Eph. 6:11, 13) and through him the power of God is working to ‘evacuate’ diseases and demonic spirits from people, according to our definition of spiritual warfare.

Occult or Magic Level Spiritual Warfare

At this level of warfare we confront and expose organised forces of darkness such as Witchcraft, Shamanism, Satanism, Freemasonry, Eastern Religions, New Age Movements, spiritism and the like.  Here we are not only dealing with people who consciously have been conscripted into the satanic army, but with high spirits who in conjunction with humans can make use of several demonic spirits to torment men.  (Acts 19:18-20) says: “And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds.  Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.  And mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”  Here, Paul is encountering an occult situation.  The magicians are giving up their magic books and burning them.  This is the kind of warfare which could be encountered every now and then.

Strategic or Cosmic Level Spiritual Warfare

This level of spiritual warfare involves wrestling with principalities, powers and rulers of darkness, as defined by Paul in (Eph. 6:12).  This is the highest kind of warfare.  In (Acts 19:24-41), there is commotion in Ephesus because Paul has confronted Diana whose effect has become less and her adherents are getting infuriated. This situation vindicates the concept of stationary spiritual ruler-ship over physical domain, what is referred to as the Concept of Territoriality. Like in (Daniel 10:3-12), certain principalities may be assigned over cities or nations.  These act as spiritual rulers over certain localities.  These princes become territorial spirits, who control vast areas, and know whatever takes place in those areas. They are stationed to fight against the will of God in those localities. Strategic-level Intercession will dislodge such satanic forces.  Winning at this level involves the employment of strategic manoeuvres.  Research in the history of the area through spiritual mapping (details on this are available later), identification repentance, breaking of covenants and curses and the sacrifice of comforts and even being ready to die are all part of the arsenal that dislodges the forces of evil.  Strategic-level warfare is central to world evangelisation, and this level alone gives a clue to how great world religions like Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism have had such a tremendous impact on their followers. Principalities at this level influence and determine the customs, traditions and the cultural behaviours of the peoples.  They control marriages, births and deaths.  The weapons mostly used by these satanic forces at this level is strongholds so that certain beliefs become entrenched on people’s hearts and are passed on, sometimes are even passed in parliaments as laws. In these parts of the world missionaries and evangelists risk their lives to bring these beliefs down. This is where the authority we have in Jesus Christ comes into play, because we are encountering warfare in a practical way.