Often in our Christian walk we find people are opposed to us. They may ridicule us or ostracize us. They may thwart our plans and make our lives difficult. If we live in one of the countries where Christians are in a minority, they may do far worse, denying us employment or education, even throwing us into prison and killing us.

As we face that opposition, however mild or severe it may be, we need to understand that our primary problem is not the people, but the forces that lie behind them. Certainly, the people have a free will and have chosen to align themselves with those forces. But having made that choice, they are now captives. (What, you’ve never made a wrong choice in your life?)

What lies behind them is nothing less than the army of satan – an army which has its generals and commanders, and ranks right down to the lowest private (demon). This army is highly organized, mercilessly disciplined, and bent on just one thing: world domination. In the effort to achieve that end, its forces will manipulate and maneuver the people who are available to it to attack the people of God in every possible way.

The closer we get to the return of Jesus, the more active the forces of satan are in the world. I see it as I read the news from the persecuted church: more Christians are suffering torture, imprisonment and death for their faith today than have at any other time in church history.

If we try only to deal with the human side of the equation, we are only putting Band-aids on a cancer. The truth is, Jesus Christ defeated satan at the Cross. Satan continues to get away with his attack on God’s people only because we are silly enough to waste our time battling with people, instead of standing in the victory that Jesus has already won for us, taking up the Sword of the Spirit, and tearing down the demonic strongholds that are our real opponents.

Called to Battle Spiritual Warfare Seminar
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Free e-course: Put on the Armor of God
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There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which 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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

Let me start by saying that, as long as he kept to the role of teacher, he was quite good. Unfortunately, he was not prepared to remain in that role, and kept trying to venture into the office of prophet: and every time he did, he became an accuser of the brethren.

In the two messages I watched (there were five more in the series, which I didn’t even bother with) he repeatedly named both individuals and organizations that he claimed were away from God. He did this giving very little reason for his judgments, and in the few cases where he did give explanations they frequently related to events in the individual’s life before he or she was born again.

Now I am the first to acknowledge that there are many things in the church today that are not according to the Word of God, and that should not be acceptable to the people of God. I am also the first to say that, in relation to the “revivals” of the last fifteen years or so, there has been much accompanying them that has not been of God. In fact, for a while I left the Pentecostal movement because of the excesses that came with the Toronto revival. And yes, I very definitely believe that we should be willing to expose false teaching and ungodly practice.

That does not, however, mean that we can write off entire movements as “not of God”. The fact that there are counterfeits and excesses may actually be evidence that the movement itself is of God – you can only counterfeit that which is real. (Ever seen a counterfeit $99 note? Nope – because there are no real $99 notes!)

Nor does it mean that we have the right to attack individuals. Something about “judge not lest you also be judged”! There is a great difference between saying that what someone is doing or teaching is wrong, and saying that the person himself is not of God or is unsaved.

What does this have to do with spiritual warfare? Simply this: the Word tells us that the devil is the accuser of the brethren. (Rev. 12:10) When we accuse the brethren, we are standing on the devil’s side against the Body of Christ. We cannot be on both sides of the battle at once: either we are in God’s army, or we are in the devil’s.

Satan does his job as accuser very well. He really does not need the Body of Christ to help him with it. In our warfare we should be seeking to pull our brothers and sisters out of the devil’s clutches, not condemn them to hell with him. By all means, denounce ungodly practices and false teaching; but when it comes to our brothers and sisters in Christ, don’t tear them down – just pray for them that God will bring them into truth.

Called to Battle Spiritual Warfare Seminar
Find it at http://christianspiritualwarfaregtk.com

Free e-course: Put on the Armor of God
Find it at http://armorofgod.lynnbfowler.com

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which 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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)