Spiritual Warfare

And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. STAND still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” - Exo 14:13-14

Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s... You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, STAND still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you... - 2 Chronicles 20:15, 17

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to STAND against the wiles of the devil. - Ephesians 6:11

There is no more battle that we need to fight. Every battle belongs to the Lord. Yet the enemy is constantly trying to make us think that we have to war and fight against what he is doing. We called it spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is simply the enemy's way of engaging us TO fight with him. By doing so, we forget our identity and authority in Christ.

When Jesus died on the Cross, He had disarmed every principality and power (Col 2:15). The work is finished (John 19:30). Victory is already won in Christ (2 Cor 2:14).

Why do we need to STAND during a battle we face?

1) It is not our battle. Neither do we need to fight. In the Old Testament, God would fight for His people. In the New Testament, God has already fought for us on the Cross once and for all. 

2) To stand is to be still. We can only be still if we are confident of the outcome. 1 John 5:4 tells us what the outcome will be for every believer. "Whoever is born of God overcomes the world..." When we can't stand still, when we see a need to fight, we have let fear take over. That's when the enemy gets his way. He is the prince of fear. But Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

3) To stand is to know our true identity in Christ. We are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph 2:6-7). As Christ is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). The moment we move away from our position (stand), we fall into the trap of the enemy.

4) In the OT, to stand is to SEE what The Lord would do. In the NT, to stand is to SEE what The Lord has done on the Cross. When we are simply seeing, we are resting. Resting is the hardest thing to do, especially us Singaporeans. Yet the Bible tells us that the only striving we should do is to REST (Heb 4:11).

David, in Psalm 23, revealed the secret to overcome any spiritual attack by the enemy. "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies..." - Psalm 23:5

To sit in the presence of Jesus, fellowship with Him over a meal (communion) and enjoy Him is simply RESTing. When that takes place, the enemy can only watch us enjoying victory. It must be very painful for him to see, because he desires that we will spend time engaging him by fighting with him.

When we war against the enemy, we are placing our focus on him. When we STAND and REST in The Lord, we are placing our focus on the One who always causes us to triumph.