(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Hello, everybody, it's me, it's Toll23 back there video, I just want to quickly do a sound check as usual. Okay, so the sound is working. So in this video, I want to talk about a term which is used in the Bible and talk about the subject of spiritual warfare, which is something that the Bible touches on a lot, and why we should understand this as Christians and what it means. So in Second Corinthians chapter 10, verse three to five, it says, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exulted itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. So breaking down these few verses, we know that we do not war after the flesh. Now what that means is that we don't use the flesh to fight battles in our Christian life. Our flesh is wicked, the Bible says that the carnal mind is enmity against God, and that they which are in the flesh cannot please God. The flesh is useless when it comes to serving God. That's why Jesus says that we must worship God in spirit and in truth. And Paul explains in verse four that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Now the word carnal, that means fleshly. So again, we do not use our flesh in the battles that we fight. And since we don't use the flesh, we do not battle against flesh either. The Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood. And I'll get into that a bit later when I go to Ephesians six, which is where that phrase appears. So if our weapons are not carnal, then what are they? We do not fight according to the flesh, but according to the power of God. That's why it says in verse four, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. So what are strongholds? Well, the vast majority of times that term strongholds appear in the Bible, it's referring to a literal stronghold, which would be a fortification. So just as Paul is using the imagery of weapons of our warfare, he's using war imagery of strongholds. We pull down fortified things, spiritual strongholds through the power of God, and he goes on to explain what he means that this involves casting down imaginations and bringing into captivity every thought until the obedience of Christ. So most of what Paul is talking about here is resisting against temptation and seeking help from God, the power of God, instead of wrestling against the people of this world, like some Christians think that we ought to do, the battle that we should be fighting, the battle that we should be focusing on is a spiritual battle, it's not a fleshly battle. Our battle is against the devil, it's against the wickedness of this world, and we're to win that battle by casting down the imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought until the obedience of Christ. So us as Christians, since our flesh is not born again, we still have temptations, we can still fall into sin because of our sinful flesh that remains. And therefore wicked thoughts can still enter into our mind, you know, it can happen to any born again person, we can still have these wicked thoughts, but the Christian, since we have the Spirit of God inside of us, has the power to destroy these thoughts through the weapons of God, the weapons of our warfare that God has given us. So this is part of walking in the Spirit, of setting your mind on things above and not on things of this earth, as it says in Colossians 3.2. Now one of the principle chapters of the doctrine of two natures and walking in the Spirit is Romans 7, and it uses similar language about warfare. It says in Romans 7, 22 to 23, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me to in captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. So notice those talk about warring, or the members warring against the law of mind, and notice also that the language is used of bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. That's very similar to what's said in 2 Corinthians chapter 10. We see the picture of this battle, that when the flesh overcomes the inward man, then it brings one to captivity into the law of sin. But contrariwise, when we walk in the Spirit, we use the weapons of God, the weapons that God has given us, and we fight against our members, we fight against the flesh, we fight against the temptations of our flesh. Our thoughts are instead brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So there's an opposite captivity there. And the obedience of Christ is the law of God mentioned in Romans 7, 22. So there's a constant inward battle inside of us. It's not an outward battle. It's not a literal war which we wage against flesh and blood. Now it says in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 11 to 12, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul, having your conversation on us among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they behold glorify God in the day of visitation. Now notice together this passage shows us that this is an inward battle. The fleshly lusts war against our soul. That's exactly what Paul was talking about in Romans chapter 7, when he talks about the law of the members, the law of sin warring against our mind. So there's a spiritual battle between the flesh and the spirit. And the only way that we can overcome that, the only way that we can win this battle as Bible believing, born again Christians, the only way that our soul can win that battle against the wicked flesh and the wicked things of this world is through the Lord who is able to cast down these fortifications that are made. Now because of the spiritual battle, the Bible also uses the imagery of calling us soldiers of Jesus Christ. It says in 2 Timothy 2 verse 3 to 4, thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, no man that worth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. Now notice the phrase, no man that worth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life. Now that's again speaking about the things of the flesh, the things of this earth. If we're doing what God has called us to do, if we're being a good soldier of Jesus Christ and we wage the war that we are supposed to wage, we will overcome and won't let these affairs of the life of this earth distract us. So essentially what it's saying is that we need to wage this war, not a carnal war, but a spiritual war. So you may be asking, what are the weapons of the warfare? What is the passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 talking about? What does it mean in verse 4 where it says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal? What are the weapons of our warfare? We know that they're not carnal, they're not fleshly. We know that we don't fight with literal swords, we don't fight with little bows and things of that nature. They're not fleshly instruments of war, but that the battles which we fight are against the evils of this world whether they be our own flesh which seeks to subdue us or evil spirits or things like that. Now Ephesians chapter 6 actually explains this in detail. It uses again similar imagery of warfare to show us that this is a conflict that we need to fight in. It says in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10 to 20, finally my brother, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all taking the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation of the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication of the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints and for me that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. Now notice firstly in verse 10 he says be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and recall in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 which says that the weapons of your warfare are mighty in God. So what Paul goes on to write throughout this chapter concerns the might of God, the spiritual weapons God has given us and not just the weapons but the armor as well the whole armor of God and he says that we should put on the whole armor of God and if we do so we shall be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Now the word wiles that means enticings and temptations so essentially what he's saying is that if we put on these things of the whole armor of God and we put on the whole armor of God then we'll be able to resist the devil and of course the scriptures say I think it's in James chapter 4 resist the devil and he shall flee from you. Now in verse 12 it says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood so again it's not carnal warfare it's spiritual warfare. Our enemies are principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places. So these are all spiritual things that we're fighting against and through the power of God and the mighty weapons that he has provided we can battle successfully against spiritual wickedness. So here are the things which are given. He says truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the word of God and prayer. So we fight using these things. If you want to resist the devil, if you want to bring every thought into captivity as it says in 2 Corinthians 10, if you want to subdue the wicked spirits that are gone out into this world you can use these this this gear and the weapon that's mentioned here because notice that all the things mentioned in this chapter in Ephesians chapter 6 are pieces of armor. They're all described as armor but only one of them is described as an actual weapon and that is the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. So we can defend ourselves with truth, with righteousness, with the gospel, with faith, salvation, prayer and things like that but we can only attack the devil and fight back using the word of God, the Bible. So the Bible is the most powerful weapon that we have as Christians. It's more powerful than many Christians make it out to be. According to Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discernment of the thoughts and intents of the heart. So that in itself is a very powerful verse. So the word of God is our weapon. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. It is the sword of the spirit. The spirit attacks the flesh and attacks wicked things using the word of God. The word of God has the power to lead people to Christ. It has the power to bring into remembrance the truth of God's word. It has the power to rebuke the wicked. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness according to 2 Timothy chapter 3. So the only way that we can win the spiritual warfare is by not just putting on the whole armor of God, to put on all these things that it mentions in this chapter to defend ourselves but also be equipped with the Bible, the word of truth as the sword that we're using to attack the devil and the spiritual wickedness of this world. So as a Christian, if you're saved, if you have faith in God or if you're saved, you need to have faith in God, you need to pray to him, you need to make supplication with thanksgiving, you need to read God's word, live righteously, stand up for the truth. No matter what, go out and preach God's word, go out and preach the gospel, bear much fruit in the world and that's the battle that we should be fighting. That's the spiritual warfare. It's not a literal battle against flesh and blood. This is against the spiritual wickedness in high places. Now a lot of Christians unfortunately don't fight this spiritual battle. They focus more on the things of the flesh, on the things of this earth. Even if they may be saved, they're not putting on the whole armor of God. All they have may be, what is it the thing mentioned about salvation, it says the helmet of salvation. They may have the helmet of salvation, they may be saved but they don't have all these other things put on in regards to the armor of God. So they try to fight, there's not just that that they focus on earthly things but there's also Christians who actually try to fight a carnal battle. They use carnal weapons and now that goes both with true Christians and there's a lot of fake Christians out there who will use carnal weapons to try to spread the truth that the convert or die method will they're just try to kill as many people as possible and then try to force people to convert. Of course you see that with fake Christian in the all throughout history heretics who reject God's word particularly Roman Catholics who have used brutality and murder throughout history. They don't take the name of Christ but they claim that they're Christians yet they do all these wicked things. They try to fight against unbelievers physically, they fight against the wicked physically. Sometimes even they fight against their own physical body physically and what I mean by that is you'll have Roman Catholics who will whip themselves like the flagellants and people like that throughout history who believe that you need to torture your own body in order to subject it but the Bible teaches that it has nothing to do with the flesh. It's all about the spirit. That's the only way we can bring the flesh in a subjection. That's the only way we can fight against spiritual wickedness not using swords and guns and axes and bows and things like that to hurt people and hurt yourself. That's not biblical at all. Right now we're supposed to fight according to the spirit. Jesus said in Luke 17 21 neither shall they say lo here or lo there for behold the kingdom of God is within you. So Jesus Christ he didn't come the first time on this earth to establish the kingdom of God. He came to preach the gospel and to witness the truth. He came to die for our sins and be revealed as the Messiah and as the son of God. So as of now under the New Testament until the return of Jesus Christ the kingdom of God is not a kingdom made with hands but it's within us. Jesus said in John 18 36 my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews but now is my kingdom not from hence. So what is he saying here? He's saying that his kingdom is not of this world and if his kingdom were not of this world or if his kingdom were of this world his servants would fight for him. Now since he just said that his kingdom is not of this world that means that we're not supposed to physically fight in this world. We're not supposed to fight for Jesus Christ with physical weapons. The kingdom of God is within us. It's a spiritual battle. The warfare that we wage and the battles that we would be fighting are spiritual. They're not carnal things and we know that it will be different when Jesus comes. The scriptures say that he will appear from heaven with flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God or that obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ. See Jesus came the first time to establish the kingdom of God within us to die for our sins to be revealed as the Messiah to seek and save that which was lost. He didn't come to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. That was not the reason why he came the first time. The second time that he'll come he will rule with a rod of iron according to the Bible. But until that day, until the day when Christ destroys the wickedness of this world we're to fight a spiritual battle using the things that God has given us. Using the armor of God and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, the Bible. Once we do that we can subject all the spiritual wickedness in this world and serve God. We can cast down strongholds, bring into obedience every thought into the obedience of Christ, every captivity into the obedience of Christ. So that's what the Bible teaches about spiritual warfare. I hope this has been a very interesting video. I don't really have anything else to say. That's it for this video. Thank you everybody for watching and goodbye. God bless you.