JD: David, we have a question on spiritual war fair from one of our listeners correct?
DJ: Well that’s right Jimmy. This is what our listener wrote, I hear a lot of my friends say I rebuke you devil in the name of Jesus, can you please explain this. So Jimmy this is a common approach to spiritual war fair and most charismatic circles. We do see Jesus rebuking satan and other demons in several places for example, when He was tempted in Matthew 4 and then in Mark 1 when He healed a demon possessed man, and then of course there are others. When this is put together with passages where Jesus gives authority over demons to the apostles in Matthew 10 and the 70 in Luke 10 they conclude that this is for every believer but its not. Those are unique cases.
Believers are to take a defensive stance to hold our ground but not to go on the offense. That’s the nature of the armor of God in Ephesians 6 for example. In James 4, 7, and 8 we read, summit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Then in Jude 9 we read this, yet Michael the archangel in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses did not bring against him a reviling accusation but said the Lord rebuked you. So Jimmy we’re to stand affirm in faith and submit to the Lord and He will provide protection we need from the enemy.
JD: David James explaining how Christians must approach the devil, it must be defensively and not offensively.
We report this information because it is setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
Spiritual war fair is an activity for Christians in the end of times. The writers of the New Testament give us not only warnings of satanic and demonic activity as we await the return of Jesus Christ but also instructions on how to deal with satanic attacks. The apostle Paul warned that the devil will appear as an angel of light and his demons as false teachers deceitful workers and are able to transform themselves into an apostle of Jesus Christ, that’s II Corinthians 11:13-15. Remember that we are to put on the whole armor of God to defend ourselves against the devil and resist the devil. In James 4:7 says he will flee from us. All of this is evidence that we are living in the end times.
