Spiritual Warefare

    I would like to bring to light a combination of the revelation that C.S. Lewis had through his book the Screwtape Letters, and Oswald Chambers’ book, Biblical Psychology. We will look at the logical supposal that C.S. Lewis makes about the way demons truly work against our minds in ways and thought patterns that are quite foreign to today's common teaching and preaching.

     So let us examine and digest the reasoning Oswald makes as to why demons and angels are the way that they are, and how they came to be; and then analyze Lewis' revelation on demons carrying out such a task that they have been given. Then we will look at scripture about how to combat these creatures and where we stand in the hierarchy with them.

     Oswald shows in Job 4:7 there are references to beings known as the sons of God. Nowhere in the Old Testament does the concept of man being "a son of God" appear. The first part of this verse shows that there was an entire universe before the earth was conceived; it fell in the first couple of verses of the Bible: "when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy."

This alludes to the fact that there was a time before time. It could be said: When all that existed was God and his first creations, the angels. The angels existed and fell even before man or earth was made a reality. Oswald in this book shows us a different kind of fallenness that the angels have than man has.

When man sinned, Eve was in ignorance and had a different kind of relationship with creation than Adam did. She was more of a caretaker and close to nature. Adam, on the other hand, was the responsible one who was not deceived. He was fully aware that God had commanded them not to eat the fruit – this is why the blame falls on Adam as a sin.

     This sin was recognized, and was not an act of rebellion. That is the difference between man and the angels. The angels choose an all-out rebellion, eternal condemnation in which they wished to overthrow God's glory and power. Being all spirit, they are eternally indignant and were of a different order than man. (This is another subject to be explored at a different time.)

     So, Satan is in total rebellion trying to bring mankind – a matter-spirit being – into the same line of rebellion as himself. Let's go to C.S. Lewis and examine a supposal on how they do so.

Because the demons’ fallenness gives them this desirous notion to take all man down with them, they use every tactic of folly to bring us down. That is not the revelation here; the revelation is the manner in which they use these tactics. Self pity, self loathing, and self deserving are some of the strongest weapons in the demonic arsenal.

     It’s the concept of how we use our time, and how we believe that the things we have are our own. Getting us to look at a person in the pew in front of us as just someone who wears goofy earrings, instead of a person who might need prayer. Or as an individual with the potential to be a powerful man or woman of God. These tactics keep us in a sense of complacency in sin, keeping us in a torrent of misery through influencing our own decisions.

     Another tactic that is prominent (even for Lewis in his day), is that demons try to keep you from realizing that they truly are that little voice in your head, and to keep reason out of your mind about certain topics. True reason leads from truth to truth about the reality that we live in, not the deformed idea that the demons are trying to get across.

In his writings, Oswald Chambers suggests that perhaps Satan even dislikes when we commit monstrous sins and fall all the way down because he knows that we will eventually seek a savior, or a redeemer. Rather Satan’s plan is to slowly, but constantly turn up the heat and boil us without our being aware. These ideas are not absolutes, but logical supposals evidenced in scripture and in our own lives. Also, as we can see in Job, the devil tries to not only corrupt our view of God, but also God's view of us, to his very face (Job 2:1-3).

Since we are beings, as it says in Psalms (8:5) and quoted in Hebrews, (2:7) that are made slightly lower than angels, because we are also made of matter and spirit, we have the tendencies of the flesh, cultured by the spirit through the medium of transformation called the soul. As we come to acknowledge our full spiritual-ness being the very "form" of Christ, then we become something that the angels cannot even understand. Oswald states that our essence and ability to become "Christ-like" is where we become something greater than the angels. Christ came down, identified with us, and released his spirit onto Christians, and His authority onto the church (John 20:21-22) and (Luke 9:1,2) giving them power to cast out all devils, cure diseases, and preach.

     You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. (2 Timothy 2:1-4).

We are human, but we don't wage war with human plans and methods. We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds, to break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God, to conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

      These verses are good examples of how the early church fathers saw spiritual warfare, not as something to fear and should be worried about – including spirits – but as an area Christians can work in and thrive. Christians are the only ones who can bring the peace of God with them and let it rest on places (Matthew 10:13). God's grace to us is something we can bring and represent to others. We are to fight the good fight against principalities and powers through Christ alone. He is the One we draw our strength from. Through prayer and faith we can move mountains; however when our faith is lacking, a demon will not be moved. Not all spirits just bow to our whim, let alone any. You must be clothed in the armor of God and wielding the sword of the spirit.

 "I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18 KJV)

We do know though, that there will be attacks against the church as the scripture above insinuates, that through all his might Satan will come against it, but will not prevail. It is our job as Christians to be ready and able to fight against the passageway of hell. It is our job to make our stand, stay awake and sober and fight the good fight. 

     ...now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Romans 13:11-14 NKJV)