Are Your Trials Teaching You Warfare?
..God has to permit trials and pain to get us desperate. To listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church. God is making soldiers out of us, the Holy Spirit is disciplining us, .. ‘ Are Your Trials Teaching You Warfare? ‘
Pastor Kim L. Page
2Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 2Timothy 2:2
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2Timothy 2:3
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 2Timothy 2:4
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. 2Timothy 2:5
The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. 2Timothy 2:6
Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. 2Timothy 2:7
Are Your Trials Teaching You Warfare ?
TRIALS AND WARFARE
Comment: What’s the point of going through a trial unless I learn from it? I may not have fully overcome in that trial but my heart is to be open to learn nevertheless. To fight the good fight of faith and to endure is integral to this walk. My trials may take a very long time before I’m fully delivered. The picture’s bigger than I thought. I am in need of an enlarged outward looking heart in order to receive it.
“…The Holy Spirit is always teaching us deeper things with regard to the trials that we go through. It’s when we switch off that God cannot teach us the deeper principles of why He’s permitting and allowing us to go through what we’re going through. And one of the key things God is trying to show us through our trials is what our weapons are…”
Listen and Learn through Trials and Pain
“We’re not really listening when we’re feeling fine or when we come to a meeting or when we go to conferences. Or seminars and have teaching on spiritual warfare. That is fine and has it’s place, but so often we’re not really taking it in…”
“..The cross teaches us warfare, we learn warfare as we are willing to put self last. As I am willing to yield over to the Spirit and allow Him to crucify the flesh. Then I’ll start to really learn what warfare is about and what these weapons are that God has given me.”
Lessons In Spiritual Survival
We can recite Ephesians 6 and what our weapons are, but they have to become real. The early church quickly learnt what their weapons were because they faced great tribulations and persecutions. They were thrown spiritually and literally into the arena.
Lessons are learnt pretty quickly when it’s all about spiritual survival. You throw the flesh into deep water and you will see human flesh struggling to survive. Likewise, for the truly born again overcomer there will be something about him/her that is going to fight and survive in a trial. Desperate to hear God’s voice – that salvation kit for salvation sown within kicks in.
WARFARE IS BY GOD’S GRACE
2Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
In trial I need to channel all my strength and being into the grace of God. It is only drawing from God’s grace that will teach me warfare. His graciousness mercy and longsuffering gentleness and love.
Blessed be the LORD my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalm 144:1
who is going to teach you – the Lord – and that is who you look to. He is ultimately the one who will reveal how you effectively get into warfare
He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. 2Samuel 22:35
GRACE TO THE HUMBLE
James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
James 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
James 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
My trials are to humble me and dispose me to learn about my weapons and become effective in spiritual warfare. I’m impotent so long as I’ve got pride. If I’m going to continue selfishly striving or sinning with the tongue, then I’d better forget warfare. I’m resisting the Holy Spirit and it’s not going to work.
THE RULES OF WARFARE
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. 2Timothy 2:5
.. the same in spiritual warfare – there are rules that are attached to it, and you have to learn those rules. These rules are teaching you what these weapons are about and what they are capable of doing. You see many Christians know about these weapons but don’t know the rules of effective warfare. They don’t know how to use their weapons.
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? Luke 9:54
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. Luke 9:55
WARFARE AND THE WORLD DON’T MIX
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 2Timothy 2:4
And there is the problem. Why so few really understand, experience and enter into true spiritual warfare. Do you know why? Because it’s about consecration, they’re still too involved and entangled with the world. How the world is, how the world acts and so on. We still want to live and act like the world, but we can’t. Not if you want to stay in this.
There will be something within you where you will find that light and darkness do not mix. You cannot get involved in the world it’s ways it’s politics and all the social things that go on. You have to step back from it.
The world is being judged, it’s on a downward spiral. There’s nothing in the world that should appeal to the overcomer. You cannot put your trust – your future in it at all. Why therefore do we get entangled in it, why do we still get affected by it.
Why does the world still affect our moods each day as Christians? We should be free from it. When we are free from that we are disposed as soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ to be ready to learn about those spiritual weapons that God has given us. That is how He teaches us every time.
…we’ve got to be unfettered, set free. At the end of the day your going to be where your heart is – where your affections are.
WARFARE AGAINST JEZEBBEL
And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. 2Kings 9:32
And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. 2Kings 9:33
God is breaking the hold of witchcraft – Jezebbel – in this church. It is the spirit of this age that is paralyzing … This requires warfare … we must break through – it was the captivated weak and impotent eunuchs that threw Jezebbel out
When you’re weak you’re desperate, when you’re weak you listen. When you’re weak you’ve got no more power to give God some good ideas or suggestions to get in the way. And God can say right your out of the way now I can take over. That’s how it works every time. So why do we think it strange when we go through these trials and tribulations?
I believe God – like the eunuchs has allowed and used that spirit of Jezebbel to deliberately weaken the body of Christ – the overcomers. Because in that weakness then God can judge her – amen – I believe that – He can judge that spirit that demon.
That’s why were rising up in the spirit of Elijah. We’re no longer running away like churches are doing from this demon that tries to paralyse and control, particularly the charismatic church. There’s coming a day and an hour when this demon will be judged, and this will be a tremendous breakthrough. I am convinced of this. I am convinced that this hinders so much of the greater works. So much of the true gospel of Jesus Christ going out. ‘ Are Your Trials Teaching You Warfare? ‘
THE DOORWAY TO WARFARE – BAPTISM IN THE SPIRIT
We have to learn how the Holy Spirit baptises with the power of tongues to be able to use them in spiritual warfare. You can’t use these weapons. You can’t deal with the powers of darkness in your own intellect and mind and imagination. We’re dealing with spiritual forces, with spiritual wickedness in high places. You have to be of the spirit because they are of the spirit. We worship God in spirit and in truth. These things can only be dealt with by the spirit not by flesh – human intellect
This is where so many go wrong. They don’t want that because they would then not be in control. But when you go into the spirit and you use those tongues then the Holy Spirit becomes the one that is in control.
Yielding
If we yield over to the Spirit He will lead and guide us into all truth. Speaking in tongues – warfare in tongues – is absolutely paramount to the pulling down of strongholds. Some of you have come to me and said you’ve found different languages coming out (diverse tongues) – knowing that you are addressing these. Where does that come from – it comes by the Holy Spirit. This is why Satan hates Christians speaking in tongues because it bypasses the intellect. He doesn’t understand it, only the Holy Spirit knows because it’s the Spirit that gives utterance. He knows it’s damaging his kingdom – dividing it
The church has got to learn that she is the one that has to rise up with these weapons that God has given to divide Satan’s stronghold in these last days. Jesus put it in motion, we now have to execute and finish it. But most are asleep on this one, or they run away, they don’t want to know. ‘ Are Your Trials Teaching You Warfare? ‘
His Victory Is Your Victory
If you yield to the life of Christ within you, His victory is your victory. He is the victor, He is the one who has overcome death. O death where is thy sting – the grave cannot hold us any longer. You have been baptised in the Holy Spirit, you have been given spiritual weapons so that you may not finally taste of death – that the church may be translated. That’s what it’s ultimately for. The victor now lives in us – the one who has overcome death lives in His fullness in us
All He asks of us is to yield over to HIM and let Him take over. It is the one in us who is going to win this battle. But we the church have to get out the way. Pride is the biggest problem that still hinders – but God will do it – He will do it.
Know Your Weapons
And that’s why the Holy Spirit is essential for this and it’s not just stopping there. It’s going on into the deeper walk which we teach. You can go as far and as deep as you want through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It’s an open door that no man will shut
When we talk of our weapons, when we talk of the whole armour of God we’re really talking of Christ in us. He is my armoury, He’s the one that has the weapons. He’s going to work those weapons through me. Many times it’s speak unto that mountain and be cast into the sea
We are coming into a ministry where we are going to speak these things into being. If we do not know our weapons – if we do not know the one who is within us – we’re never going to enter this – never.
Addressing The Powers Of Darkness
The Holy Spirit teaches you when to war the same as soldiers. They go through drill over and over and over again, but a lot of that training they will not necessarily use. They need to know under command when it’s right to attack. We have to be taught by the Holy Spirit when to start addressing the powers of darkness. You can’t just rush into this. Sometimes it requires prayer and fasting – that then places you into a position of authority. Then you will know as the Holy Spirit rises up – that this is the hour, this is the moment. We’re now to address Satan – not in our strength but in the strength and power of the Lord Jesus Christ..
The Authority Of Christ
….He will only let go when he sees the authority that he will yield to and he has to yield to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ because He overcame him at Calvary, but he’s got to hear that from Him through you – through the church, not in your zeal – not in your so called authority or good idea
One of the things that they discerned in Jesus ministry was that He spoke and was a man of authority. What was that, that was the Father in Him revealing Himself… so when they see these things in us all we will be able to say is “That’s Christ in me the hope of glory”. That is what it’s about.
… This is a warfare in the spirit by the overcomers as they rise up. And I’ve said one of the greatest things that will divide Satan’s kingdom is that you endure to the end. Just simply stay with it. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, it doesn’t matter how bad, because by simply staying with it that weakens Satan’s kingdom. What can he do when you don’t run away?
Divide Satan’s Kingdom
We will find that then God will begin to reveal – our discernment will become more sensitive. We’ll begin to see things in these last days that God will require the church – you me the overcomers to start to war and address against. There are still demonic forces that God can’t introduce us to yet because we’d run a mile. We’re not fully yielded yet, but there’s coming a day and an hour we will and boy is Satan trying to fight against this. Why – because this divides Satan’s kingdom – and as you break his kingdom then God’s kingdom will be established upon the earth…
There’s a spiritual tenacity, spiritual stubbornness that God is building within us – holding on in there by the grace and mercy of God…
Are Your Trials Teaching You Warfare?
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Comment: This message gives me the hope that as I learn to hear and apply the Holy Spirit’s battle commands in my trials I will change from that impotent eunuch to a true soldier of Christ.
