The Real Warfare is Spiritual
UPDATED for 2020: Given the recent anarchy in our cities and streets. And in our colleges and universities, I felt the need to update and republish this post from 2017.
Who or what is behind groups like “Antifa” and “Black Lives Matter”? Why is violence and hatred characteristic of political extremists on BOTH sides.
Human beings live in an active spiritual war zone. All humans live on enemy held territory. How did this happen?
First, a quick word about “Dualism” so that you do not get confused. Dualism is the view that two equal but opposite intelligent, uncreated powers inhabit our universe and war against one another. In Dualism, one power is good and one equal power is bad. They have been opposed throughout eternity and neither has won. Here and there they have a loss and then a victory over the other. Some people choose the good power and some choose the evil. Though some untaught people believe that this is what Christianity believes, it does not. Dualism is completely foreign and contrary to biblical Christianity.
The biblical Christian knows that the two powers that war against one another are nowhere near equal. One is Creator. That would be God. The other is a created being. That would be satan or the devil (not the cultural devil of red union-suit, pitchfork. horns, and tail fame). Satan was created for a purpose which he chose to abandon. He is far below God in power, authority, and ability. He rebelled against God and drew other angelic powers after himself. They warred in heaven against God’s loyal powers.
The spirit-dimensional beings that fell in rebellion are now demons. Demonic powers are mainly disembodied, though they seek human habitation and animate some humans. Demonized humans are willingly and/or unknowingly used by these powers to wage war both on those who do not serve their cause and on those in fellowship with Christ.
Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul wrote of these supernatural beings:
Ephesians 6:10–13 (ESV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Understand, the voices of Antifa, Black Lives Matter, CAIR, and those who foster division and who hate our nation serve demonic powers. Even though deceived people are the glove, spiritual beings are the hand in the glove. The real war is against spiritual forces. Only those who are equipped to wage war spiritually will be victorious. The majority of people are clueless. Most of them have allied with Satan. A few serve the true and only King. And they are equipped to stand against the demonic effectively.
Jesus said:
Matthew 7:13–14 (ESV)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
In the excellent 2012 movie, “Act of Valor,” one of the Navy Seals presents a toast to his Seal team as they are gathered informally around a fire the night before their deployment. He lifts his glass and says, “To all those who have been downrange. To us and those like us . . . damn few.”
Genuine followers of Jesus Christ, who understand their calling to displace demonic evil, have been “downrange” in the spiritual warfare. And we are precious few.
Many can talk or write about spiritual warfare and the demonic but some of us are veterans of the spiritual war. For us it’s not theory or doctrine.
I have seen the joy in the face of a woman who was delivered from a demon. Before her deliverance, the demonic spirit caused her eyes to roll back in her head and her body to go stiff as a plank. I have seen the result when I confronted a violent man bent on attacking me. In Jesus’ name, I commanded the violent spirit controlling him to be bound. He and his friend turned from me and couldn’t leave the scene fast enough. The terror of Christ filled them and overpowered that violent spirit animating them. I’ll never forget the look of fear on their faces. I remember the grateful thanks to Jesus of a couple in Brazil who had their lives and marriage set free from a local Macumba priestess who had overcome them by demonic power. We saw the living Jesus Christ not only set them free, but later deliver and save the priestess herself.
Like it or not, this warfare is real. And we believers have not only authority but the assignment and responsibility to confront and displace demonic powers by the authority of Christ. We are sons of the Kingdom—the “sons of God.”(Romans 8:14) We are with Jesus and we gather with him.
Luke 11:23 (ESV)
23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
Revelation 6:15–17 (ESV)
15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Christ, the Lamb of God, will destroy Satan and all the demons that currently traffic with humans. To destroy Satan and his powers is to destroy the spirit of murder and terror.
This is the war we fight. Our spiritual battle is not against people, but against the spirits that animate them and use them to champion evil until Christ returns. We have authority over these demonic beings only because Christ gave it to us (Luke 10.19). It is our assignment to crush them through intercession and the command of Christ as we stand in our authority to displace darkness and the demonic:
Luke 10:17–24, ESV
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
Followers of Jesus, do not give up. Fight the good fight of the faith! You will be victorious! For nothing can succeed against the Church–the body of Christ. No weapon formed against us will prosper; all those who rise up against us will fall. We will sit enthroned with Christ to pass judgment on these spirit-beings–the enemies of all that is good, right, beautiful, and true–and send them to their final and ultimate eternal destruction in the Lake of Fire. In Christ we already have the victory!
© 2013, Dr. David C Alves, D.Min.
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The Fate Awaiting Radical Jihadists
One night recently, my friend and I watched “Obsession: Radical Islam.” The DVD showed the intense hatred and focused malevolence aimed at the United States and other western countries by radical jihadists. This threat is a clear and present danger not only to our country and economy, but to our way of life. Jihadists plan to sweep the world into their net of radical Islam. They claim to accomplish this by murdering any non-Muslims and the Muslims they consider to be nominal. They also want to destroy Israel, along with all Jews wherever they are found. It was this particular emphasis that reminded me of the historic sweep of Hitler’s National Socialism. Same goals, different people and time. Same violent, demonic base, different geography.
Of course, this didn’t just spring to life. History has always witnessed to movements that cycle through time yet give birth to this anti-Semitism and spirit of vengeance. Jihad literally means “struggle.” Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, translates literally—“My Struggle.” This is the “struggle” of Satan to overcome God, his ways, his people, his values, and his intents.
Satan has ALWAYS desired the death of human beings. The weird thing is, he doesn’t care which side they’re on. He destroys those who love the good. And he equally destroys those who embrace his evil—thus suicide warfare has always existed as well.
As recently as WWII the Japanese sent their kamikaze pilots against U.S. naval vessels in the Pacific. Vietnam saw little children, loaded with explosives, approach U.S. troops and civilians in South Vietnam. Now it’s radical jihadists sending children to their deaths. The men who have caused these children to hate are not only cowards; they have lost their souls and will be punished in the fires of hell after they have been sent into the outer darkness. They are weak ineffective vessels used by a spiritual enemy to deliver death and cause little ones to sin.
Jesus of Nazareth said:
17 . . . “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
–Luke 17:1–2 (ESV)
These demonized men hate women and children, because they hate themselves. Unless they repent and turn to God, they are beyond redemption. They are of their Father, the devil. He has been a murderer from the beginning. They are destined for destruction.
© 2012, David C Alves
Israel Surrounded Again: As Though Written Today
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Psalm 83:1–4 (ESV)
1 O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! 2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar; those who hate you have raised their heads. 3 They lay crafty plans against your people; they consult together against your treasured ones. 4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation; let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
Are YOU an enemy or a friend of God? Notice that the “enemies” of God–“those who hate” Him and have become proud are described in verse 3 and 4 as those who:
- work crafty plans against his people
- consult against his “treasured ones”
- Those plans intend to “wipe them out as a nation”
- to erase Israel’s memory from the earth
Ring a bell yet?
The Psalmist wrote Psalm 83 over 2500 years ago. He wrote about the nations surrounding Israel sometime around 590 BC. Yet, he could have been writing last week. Asaph’s soul was distressed at the constant hatred aimed at Israel.
Have you wondered at the constant hatred of the world against the Jews–against Israel–God’s people? What possesses those who so blindly hate? What is the source of antisemitism? How is it that its sources are so many? Islam, National Socialism, ne0-Nazis, Communists, occultists, all hate the Jews. Israel’s only friends are the followers of Jesus Christ and righteous people who are friends of Jesus. Notice, I did not say Christians. That’s because not all who have historically called themselves “Christians” were friends. Nor are some of those who today call themselves “Christians.”
My post entitled, Churchianity versus Christianity, , explains the difference between some streams of Christianity and the followers or disciples of Jesus. Even today, some “orthodox” believers in various countries persecute those disciples of Jesus who actually have a relationship with Christ. This too is an age old struggle–those born of the slave woman versus those born of the free woman (an allusion to the “Letter to the Galatians”). Jesus said that you will know the true believers by their fruit–the content of their character and their actions as defined by God’s Word–the Bible.
The Bible says that at the time Jesus returns Israel will again be surrounded by her enemies. Those enemies will hate her and want to end her existence. The reason this hateful antisemitism has outlasted many generations of humans is that antisemitism is spiritual, not merely human. The enemy of God, Satan, has always hated God’s people. And until he is finally destroyed by the power of God through his sons and daughters, and ultimately the direct intervention of the Messiah, Satan will continue to hate–not only the Jews, but all who support her and are friends to Israel. Satan’s hatred of God is why Evangelicals and many Catholics suffer a similar hatred and persecution. Satan hates what God loves. Not much is written about those Evangelicals and Catholics who suffered in Nazis concentration camps. Occasionally you hear of someone who has heard of Corrie Ten Boom or Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Many are the believers who have been beheaded for their faith in Christ at the hands of Mohammad and his evil religion. History has no shortage of Satan’s victims.
Make no mistake about this: I am not saying that all of any group are righteous or unrighteous. Human beings are simply the channels of spirits. We are either animated by the Holy Spirit of God or we are animated by the spirit of Satan. The Bible says that there is no middle ground. God is your source or Satan is your source. You are serving one or the other, either passively or actively. But you are serving. Bob Dylan wrote the song, “You Gotta Serve Somebody.” The lyrics make it clear that you are a servant of one or the other–of God’s kingdom or Satan’s.
Jesus said those who are not for me are against me. If you are not active for Jesus, the Son of the living God, then you are active against him. If you are against Him, then you are against the One he claimed as Abba–Father. If you are not for Jesus, then you are opposed to Yahweh. For Yahweh is the One who testifies that Jesus is His Right Hand of authority and power–His Unique Son. Allah has no Son. This is how you know that Allah and Yahweh are not the same God. Therefore Allah is NO god.
At another time, Jesus said that those who are not against Him are for Him. This is more passive. If you are not actively opposing Him, then you are not channeling Satan’s spirit. Understand that the way a person opposes Jesus is to deny who He claims to be. Opposing Jesus is being hateful toward those he loves. So if you are not hateful and mean spirited toward his followers or to the Jewish people, then you are “for Him.”
The Psalmist’s solution to the antisemitism of his day was to ask God to send upon Israel’s enemies the terrors and shame of being God’s enemies . . . SO
Psalm 83:18 (ESV) — 18 that they may know that you alone, whose name is the Lord [heb. יהוה ], are the Most High over all the earth.
We want God’s enemies to come to know Him. To let go of their false gods of the pagan world and come into a relationship to the One true and living God–Yahweh [heb. יהוה ].
Are you a friend of God or His enemy? Which spirit works through your life?
QUESTION: What can we do to defeat the spirit behind antisemitism? What are YOU doing?
©2011, David C Alves
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- Why I Despise “Religion“
- Clash of Kingdoms: Allah versus Yahweh – Part 1
- Clash of Kingdoms: Allah versus Yahweh – Part 2
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- Action Steps for “Peaceful” Muslims (davidcalves.com)
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Clash of Kingdoms: Allah vs Yahweh
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Part 1 of 2
DISCLAIMER: If you could hear my voice it would not be enraged, but insistent and urgent. I am deeply concerned for those Muslims and non-Muslims who I believe are asleep, or perhaps waiting on the sidelines to see how things shake down. I am most concerned for those who are followers of Jesus, to hear the Lord’s urgency that the time is short. My sincere desire is for ALL to come to a saving encounter with a loving God, not the god of Islam (where there is no love, no forgiveness, no assurance of righteousness and salvation). I want my readers to encounter the living God, Yahweh, and his truth expressed through loving engagement and most clearly in Yahweh’s Son, Jesus of Nazareth—Messiah.
Warmly,
David
Two Kingdoms have clashed since the beginning. Since his fall, Satan has always opposed God. God’s enemy may cloak himself in some new worldview, movement or genocide but anyone with eyes to see can recognize his strategy. Same old book with a different cover.
Satan’s M.O. is ALWAYS the same:
- Elimination of freedoms. Institutionalized bondage.
- Value system directly opposite God’s revealed values (in Scripture)
- Lies. Since he has been labeled by Jesus as “the father of lies,” we can expect the following: outright lies, covert deception, false witness, false prophets, false doctrine/dogma, false accusation, denials in the face of absolute proof. He twists truth to his purpose—the Lie.
- Stealing what is not his. Satan is a thief. He takes what should be God’s and makes it his. He sets up his own gods, his own government, and his own systems of punishment.
- Satan makes himself out to be God. He is a usurper. Satan fell because He wanted God’s throne. Allah is not just another name for God:
The Koran teaches that Allah and Yahweh are one in the same God. If there is only One God and Allah is the same God as Yahweh, then why are the Muslim’s requiring conversion to Islam and submission to Allah? Believers are already submitted to Yahweh (both believing Jews and Christians). Why did I emphasize believing? Because not all Jews love Yahweh and have embraced their Messiah; and, not all “Christians” are followers of Jesus and his Father, Yahweh. This is why God himself despises religion. Someone can claim inclusion in a particular faith community, without responding to what God says truly identifies believers and faithful followers.
Based upon my understanding of Scripture, Allah is either a manifestation of Satan or one of his demon gods, demanding submission and worship that is not rightfully his. Allah is the Arabic, pre-Islamic desert moon-god–Allah.
- Hatred against God’s people (believing Jews & Christians). Satan demonstrates this hatred by the following characteristic—persecution.
- Persecution. Satan ALWAYS stirs up persecution and human rights violations. He hates people because people are made in the image of Yahweh, destined to crush Satan’s dark kingdom. Jesus said that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning.” From the beginning” is most likely an allusion to Cain. The man who killed his brother Able because Able was the true worshiper of Yahweh and honored him correctly. Cain was jealous, envious, and despised God. His anger at God resulted in killing God’s grandson (Adam was God’s son). Both Jews and Christians are being persecuted in the name of the God that supposedly gave them birth and eternal life?
If you want to see Islam without restraints then look around the world. Look at the Sudan’s Muslim hordes. Look at the lawlessness and violence against Coptic Christians in Egypt. Look closely at the real face of Islam. Wherever in the world Islam is the majority worldview, human rights mean nothing. Wherever human freedom is in jeopardy, Islam is a key player. Wherever terror is valued, Islam is its best friend.
Islam is the bully of the world. Of all the worlds’ religions, Islam is the only one that dares to put to death those who will not submit to its god.
One article stated: “In the absence of law, you can understand how demolishing a church goes unpunished,” he said. “I have not heard of anyone who got arrested or prosecuted.”
Why, “in the absence of law,” would Muslims destroy a church? I thought Muslims were “peaceful.” We’re told over and over that we’re bigots, xenophobes or islamophobes when we point out the public and private behavior of the genuine adherents of Islam. How can we believe they’re “peaceful” when at every opportunity, in every country but the U.S. they show their true colors (for recent examples see: http://www.persecution.com/ see also http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/AboutSite.htm. [They are showing their true colors here in the USA now too.]
- Death & Murder. Satan is the lord of death. Death is Christ’s final enemy. He has been defeated at Calvary, but must be put under the feet of Jesus through supernatural power in the course of history and finally at his Second Coming. This coming is not far off. That is why Islam has been stirred to new life by Satan. The global surge of Islam at this point in history is not by chance. The Bible prophesied that kingdoms would clash and that a global tribulation would be the result (but this is another post or perhaps book).
Islam is a religion of hate, war, violence, revenge, wickedness, and murder—as seen in its unrestrained adherents.
On Feb. 23, less than two weeks after Mubarak’s ouster, a priest was found dead with several stab wounds and witnesses say masked men shouting “Allahu-Akbar” (God is Great) were seen leaving his apartment. The incident triggered protests in the southern city of Assiut [sic] where Christians scuffled with Muslims.
Not long after, in March, a Muslim-Christian love affair led a Muslim mob to torch a church in Soul village to the south of Cairo and set it on fire. When Coptic Christians held a protest denouncing the attack on the church, they were attacked by a Muslim mob wielding guns, knives, and clubs (peaceful hunh?). When the protest ended, 13 were dead and 140 injured. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/10/10/international/i142529D08.DTL#ixzz1bKWWbE21
Here in the U.S., we have a more covert, watered-down version of Islam. That’s why the term “stealth jihad” is so appropriate when speaking of their agenda here in the States. Muslims here realize the foolhardiness of exposing Islam’s historic purpose and, instead, practice subterfuge. Deception is not only permitted by the Koran, but encouraged. The doctrine of using deception to further Islam is known as El takria. Lies are the native language of its founder and its god–“War is deceit.” How can a Muslim ever rise any higher than either of those two, unless that Muslim recognizes the truth and turns to the love of Yahweh? Allah’s values reveal him to be, not God, but God’s adversary and enemy.
No matter which way you slice it, Islam has been, is, and always will be about death, because its god—Allah—is all about death for those who will not submit to his authority. Satan is a murderer and so are all his appointments, including Allah.
Just look at the people who have had their lives threatened because they have spoken against or blasphemed Allah or Islam. When was the last time you heard of a true, regenerate follower of Jesus threaten someone’s life for not believing or for blaspheming? NEVER!!! True followers of Jesus and of Yahweh leave it to God or Christ to take care of blasphemers. Who among us is wise enough to know who to put to death? But this has ALWAYS been the way of Satan through his puppets. You will know them by their behavior. And their behavior cannot rise above who they truly are in nature and character. Any honest person can see a HUGE difference between Yahweh and Allah, between Christ and Mohammad. They’re not even in the same universe of morality or supernatural power.
We who speak the truth of Christ Jesus have always had our lives threatened by Satan. He is the murderer behind all murder and killing in religion—including those of historic Christianity (both Roman Catholic and Protestant); Hitler’s pretense to be “Christian” and his demented Third Reich (now there’s a blasphemy for you); and now, true followers of Allah (those who really know their Koran and follow the life of Mohammed (I’m not talking about the many lapsed Catholic and fringe protestants who have “converted” to Islam. They don’t know Islam any better than they ever knew Jesus or the Bible. They simply rejected the worst of religion for something that offered a different, more mysterious reality regardless of its truth, righteousness, or the values and actions of its founder and god.)
Next post, I’ll suggest a response.
QUESTION: What are your thoughts given what you’ve just read?
Part 1 of 2 – ©2011, David C Alves
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- Our Culture Invites Self-destruction (davidcalves.com)
- Allah is NOT the name of God (paulmarcelrene.wordpress.com)
- Why I Despise “Religion” (davidcalves.com)
- The biggest threat to Islam (paulmarcelrene.wordpress.com)
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