Worship and Spiritual Warfare
I. Worship: 1st reference: Genesis 22:5 5And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. 6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
A. Abraham was teaching his son to know how to worship his God who is the one true God. It consisted of offering a burnt offering.
1. We must remember that this is before the law was given to mankind. It shows that God has been speaking to men to give them direction and to fellowship with them. (Of course Noah and Enoch are other examples).
B. Isaac is found here in Genesis 22 verses 6-10 6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. 7And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. 9And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. 10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
1. Isaac is willing to be the sacrificial lamb—there is no verse that shows the boy objected to his father of the arrangements.
2. Isaac is the picture of Messiah and is what we should aspire to which is stated in Romans 12:1 to be our reasonable service…
C. Giving up our own efforts acknowledging that the LORD is the only One who can win over an adversary because we must understand that our battles are not physical but spiritual…
1. King Jehoshaphat shows this form of worship in II Chronicles 20 verses 18, 19 18And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. 19And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
2. II Corinthians 10:3-6 reveals, 3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
II. There are many forms of worship and many ways to war in the Spirit.
A. In songs and with instruments
1. II Chronicles 20:20-29 20And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. 21And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. 22And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. 23For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. 24And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. 25And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. 26And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day. 27Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies. 28And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. 29And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.
B. Declarations, Proclamations and commands
1. Declare His doings or works Psalms 9:11 says: 11 Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings. Acts 15:12 says, 12Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.
2. We can use the various Names of the LORD and declare His position as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Ruler over all…Psalms 120:17-22 reports: 17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.
19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
22 When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
3. John 17:26 shows us what Y’shua says, and we are to be like Him: 26And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
4. Declare our unrighteousness: Psalms 38:18
5. Declare the attributes of the LORD: Ps. 88:11 lovingkindness,
Ps.50:6 righteousness, Ps. 40:10 faithfulness, His glory, Ps. 96:3 says, 3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.
6. Command: Isaiah 45:11 says, 11Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One
of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
a. We are to do as we saw the LORD Y’shua do. He commanded spirits, the elements, etc.
b. Joshua commanded the sun to be still in space until they were victorious over the enemy. Joshua 10:12
III. Calling Those things which be not as though they were…
Romans 4: 17 says, 17(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
A. We are to call forth the things that the Lord directs us to according to the plans and purposes He has for someone or something for the Kingdom’s sake.
IV. Binding and Loosing The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven–Matthew 16:15-19
reveals, 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
A. Peter is an apostle and at this point he doesn’t have the baptism of the Holy Spirit as is easily seen in the next few verses when Y’shua tells him to get thee behind me Satan…
B. When he denies the Lord he also does not have the Baptism
C. Once he is empowered, he is the one that brings forth the Word of God to the Rabbis and learned holy men who were gathered in Jerusalem for the Shavuot Feast, and 3,000 souls are added to the Kingdom that day!
1. This day 2,000 yrs. Prior was the very day that the LORD gave the law unto Moses and because of the disobedience of the children of God 3,000 people were killed at the direction of God.
D. The foundation of the church is built on the apostles and prophets
1. This means that they are given the spiritual authority to do the prayer work required to break the strongholds and build the church or work of God.
2. They are servants of the church and not elevated above it. As foundations they are beneath it. When money is thrown at their feet they are not supposed to keep it. What happens is that if they do keep it their prayers for the work and the work itself becomes corrupted by temporal things like money.
3. When someone who is not an apostle or prophet starts a work or church the Lord will send one to come along side the Pastor to do the spiritual warfare to establish the work.
4. Binding and Loosing is a powerful tool or key of the Kingdom
a. Binding the enemy and loosing one of the 7 Spirits of the Lord into the situation or over a person’s life. Isaiah 11:2 2And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins
b. Binding a person to the will of God and loosing the enemy from them…both ways are correct to the best of my understanding of the Word.
V. Fasting combined with our prayers equals power
A. We have the example of the Lord’s disciples who were given authority over all the enemy still could not cast out a demon from the boy who had epilepsy. They didn’t understand why not and the Lord reveals that this kind come out by fasting and prayer. The actual account is found in Matthew 17:14-21; 14And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. 16And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. 18And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
B. Fasting can take many forms: from food, drink, sleep, to even laying down our rights to respond out of a sense of righteous judgment.
1. How should martyrdom be done? Is it only in the physical? If someone does something horrible to us what do we do? Mt. 5 tells us. It is easy to love those that love us…the LORD wants us to love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us. A fasted lifestyle is one in which we lay down our right even if we are the so called door mat. It is for a sacrificial offering…a fast of our rights.
2. Daniel’s fast for the people of God was to give up the rich foods of a King which were his for the enjoying as decreed by that King. Moses started his ministry by foregoing the riches and lifestyle of a King’s Kid and remembering his slave heritage.
How do we recognize the false? I have noticed a trend of ministers who choose to operate outside the Spirit of the Living God and utilize other spirits to minister to people… They focus on prosperity, the rapture, and their own ministries rather than bring forth a teaching from the Word of God which will feed His lambs…
They sweep into the church with mood altering and wit dimming music. The music is repetitive, and soulish, which means it appeals to the soul of a person-not the spirit. It is designed to bring about a trancelike state in the people who open themselves up to it. There will be many “manifestations of the spirit” which are actually soulish areas of unsurrendered territory which because they are strongholds in the individual the demonic beings will take the opportunity to boast.
The strongholds can be based in the unclean spirits of lust, greed, false teachings and pride.
The tare ministers have false motivations for what they are doing. Do you realize that you can do all the right things for all the wrong reasons? Selfish Ambition is the beginning of every evil work. These people give ear-tickling prophetic words which again appeal to the soul of a person.
They use verses from the Word of God to validate their tactics and methods of trying to make everyone laugh and “get into the river” and “flow with the “Spirit”, etc.
They are very dramatic, using acting resources and theatrics to be convincing and to show all the people how anointed they are. They often will have twitches, shaking and other obvious signs that they are flowing in the “anointing”. Their anointing is not of the Holy Spirit-usually.
They often travel with another minister who operates in “signs and wonders”. There is more “power” in numbers.
The thing is, we are to know them by their fruit. Are you witnessing the Word of God coming forth with truth and authority? Are you seeing salvations? I just feel led to add here that the Fruit of the Spirit is singular as a noun…there are nine attributes that should be evident but it is one fruit. Ever had a sour apple?
