Rules for Kingdom Warfare

God’s principles of Kingdom Warfare:

• From our study of Jesus and Gideon in Judges 6-8:
  • At the beginning of all spiritual war – acknowledge God.
    • Do not go into battle leaning on your strength, ability, or understanding.
    • Acknowledge and lean on God.
    • Proverbs 3:5-6; Proverbs 14:12.
  • Identify, tear down, and replace the idols.
  • You cannot fight according to what you see in the mirror or what you feel.
    • Remember when Gideon was doubtful and afraid and felt that his enemy was too big for him? What did Jesus call him? Mighty warrior, Man of valor.
    • In Christ, you are who He says you are. In Christ, you are capable of what He says you are capable of (not what your eyes or your feelings say).
  • Next, humility. All of that can’t go to your head or cause you to think you are something when you are nothing (Galatians 6:3).
    • Gideon said, “I am no one. I am the weakest member of the weakest tribe.”
    • God dispenses grace, exalts the humble, and humbles the proud (1 Peter 5:5-6).
  • God is the primary fighter, winner, victor, and receiver of glory in all Kingdom warfare. 

• From our study of Deuteronomy 20 – God’s rules for Holy War:
  • Note that it’s “when” (not if) you go to battle.
    • There is consistency and persistence of battle in the promised land and the Christian life.
  • You will see and feel that you are outmatched (which is a form of fear).
    • Fear must be dealt with. That’s a command. Why are you commanded to not be afraid? Because God is with you in holy war against sin (the devil, the world, and the flesh).
  • Remember what you have seen God do in your life (your history with God). These memories are trophies to His glory.
    • These will strengthen you and replace fear with boldness.
  • On the verge of battle let the priest come to encourage you and remind and assure you of His presence with you and in you. (The Holy Spirit will do this by directing you to the truths found in the living, written Word of God.)
  • All distractions that would keep you fearful in the battle or from being fully committed to the battle MUST be removed.
  • Your attitude must be in alignment with God’s: that this enemy must be destroyed utterly with no remnant left remaining.

• From our study of David versus Goliath in contrast to Saul and the army of Israel in 1 Samuel 17:
  • Your enemies are liars:
    • The devil, the world, and the flesh = liars.
    • Goliath and the Philistines did not serve Israel as was Goliath’s promise.
    • This is a part of why they must be destroyed utterly.
    • They cannot be tamed, rehabbed, controlled, and so on. They will ALWAYS lie.
  • The Holy Spirit had already come upon David from that day forward (1 Samuel 16:13).
    • If you are truly born again, your experience and relationship with the Holy Spirit is greater than what David experienced.
    • Because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, David was bold and clearly filled with righteous indignation toward this “uncircumcised Philistine” who was defying the Living God.
  • David was unfamiliar with Saul’s armor; so, he decided to fight in the armor that he WAS familiar with…armor that he had cultivated and experienced in his relationship with God. He had confidence in God and His armor.
  • All spiritual warfare is the Lord’s battle. He will fight on our behalf, if we fight His way, while relying solely on Him and trusting Him enough to step onto the battlefield and fight.
  • David picked up five stones, not because he lacked faith but because of great faith. David was willing to fight as long it took to drop Goliath, because he KNEW God would win the battle.
  • David kept Goliath’s armor in his tent to remind himself when he was faced with new battles how God had won the battle and delivered him just as God had delivered him from the lion and from the bear. This was David’s habit.

• From our study of the full armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18:
  • Spiritual warfare must be fought with spiritual weapons, specifically God’s weapons.
    • The armor is endued with the power of His might.
    • We are told to be strong in Him and in His mighty power, not our own.
  • The armor is the character and conduct of Jesus (Romans 13:14).
    • It is also the character and conduct of the new man or new creation (Ephesians 4:20-24).
  • Since we, as the new creation, already possess this armor because it has been placed on us and in us by the Holy Spirit at the moment of our new birth…
    • We don’t have to put it on as though it were off.
    • We are to put it on in battle, which means we are to use it or fight out of it.
    • This is to fight out of that which we already possess through God’s grace.

• From our study of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11:
  • Jesus is our supreme example in all things…
    • When He was confronted by temptation, He relied on His Father’s power by relying on His Father’s Word.
    • Jesus answered, resisted, and fought this battle against the lies of the enemy by countering with the written Word of God.
    • Jesus overcame these lies with truth. He spoke/quoted the Word.
    • We should treasure and internalize the Word and hide it in our hearts just like Jesus and David did (Psalm 119:11).
  • In part, Jesus did this in His humanity to be an example for us and demonstrate how to be victorious.

• From our study of retaking our thoughts captive to the obedience of Jesus in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:
  • Spiritual warfare takes place in the mind.
    • The enemy wants to build a fortress of lies in our minds in which our thoughts are taken captive by believing and living according to these lies instead of according to the truth of God.
  • The only weapons that will tear down these fortresses and recapture our thoughts for God and His truth as manifested by our obedience to Him and His truth are His mighty weapons.
    • These weapons are found in Ephesians 6:10-18.
    • Note especially the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
  • If we, in humility before God, fight this fight by relying on Him, by relying on His mighty weapons…
    • We do not have to be victims of our minds or thoughts.
    • But we can, by His strength, control our minds and our thoughts with His Word.
    • The truth of God’s Word is greater and bigger than our thoughts and feelings.
  • To win this spiritual warfare, we must actively seek out these fortresses and fight against them daily.
    • We must engage in the battle like Jesus and David did.
    • We cannot stand on the sidelines and shrug our shoulders or be afraid like Saul and the army of Israel.
    • We must know and believe that the battle is the Lord’s.
    • That truth should send us out onto the battlefield with boldness in faith, intent on not only attacking these “Goliaths”, but on destroying them completely. This may take one stone, or it may take five.