목양연가(牧羊戀歌)

1 John 5:1-5  “A Saint and Spiritual Warfare”

As we look at the history of the world or the history of Christianity we know there is continuous strife and war.  In history we see there is always a winner and a loser in war.  In this aspect we obviously know that we must be winners in war.  If we are not, losing brings sorrow and death.  This is the same in our life of faith.  Today, we saints must remember that we are fighting on the battlefield everyday in our life of faith.  Then what kind of war is this, how do we fight, and how do we win?  Let us think about this.  I pray that we prepare to win in our battle as the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts.

First, let’s think about what kind of war is going on in our lives.  We can see the whole world with one eye.  In other words, we see the communist side and the free world.  Look back once at both of these sides’ condition and history.  How are they?  The free world, in which we live in, has as its basic purpose to give the largest amount of freedom to everyone and to make a peaceable world.  They try to make the world peaceful and comfortable by helping poor people with their abundant material and freedom of faith.  That is why they make government housing and food stamps available, benefits for the seniors to ride free on the bus, and convenient parking spaces for the handicapped.  However, how is the communist world?  It is exactly the opposite in the communist world.  This is a dilemma for the world’s nations and its tragic fight has turned in to warfare.  Isn’t this true?  However, in the spiritual world it is totally different.  The character of warfare is totally different than this.  Our battle is not fighting with the world’s nations.  Our battle is spiritual warfare which is not visible with the eyes; it is a fight against evil forces in the heavenly places.  The apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  We human beings have flesh that is visible.  In this we have a spirit which is invisible.  This spirit dwells in our fleshly body and is led by the Holy Spirit.  With the Holy Spirit leading we are able to praise God and fight against the spiritual hosts of wickedness.  If the evil spirit enters our hearts, our spirit in us hates it and rejects it.  Hatred, murder, disputes, discord, and disbelief, when any of these enter one’s heart the spirit in one’s heart will fight against it and expel it with help from the Holy Spirit.  This is spiritual warfare.  Spiritual warfare is fighting against the spiritual hosts of wickedness with assistance from the Holy Spirit.  How is the war?  It is unseen.  Who is the enemy?  It is the devil.  These evil spirits in our hearts operate in secret by climbing in on the rope of unbelief.  Pride, jealousy, strife, malice, inferiority, disappointment, and a negative heart all move within our hearts and make us stumble.  We saints wrestle in a metaphysical war winning over the wicked power with our good hearts.

Secondly then, let’s think about how we fight.  First of all we need knowledge to fight the war.  This is jto know the character of the enemy, kto perceive the geographic condition of the battlefield and, lto establish the plan and strategy in order to fight the war.  A person going in to war has no guarantee to win because he has a gun and a sword.  He must have knowledge beforehand.  For example, in Joshua Chapter 8 we see the strategy to fight to win against Ai (Joshua 8:3-9).  Joshua led 30,000 mighty men of valor as he went up against Ai.  He took 25,000 men to Ai and prepared 5,000 men for an ambush (V. 12).  Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley, and when the king of Ai saw it he came with his men of the city to fight against Israel at the appointed place (Joshua 8:11-14).  However the king did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.  Joshua and his men made as if they were beaten before them and fled by the way of the wilderness.  So all the men of Ai pursued after Joshua and his men and they left the city open and pursued Israel (Vs. 15-17) and the city gate was not shut.  At this time Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city.  So those in ambush arose and entered the city and set it on fire.  Now Joshua and the army of 25,000 turned back and attacked them and the men of Ai turned back and saw the smoke of the city ascending to heaven (Vs. 19-20).  The men of Ai were surrounded by Joshua who struck all of them down.  This was the strategy of this war.  Then how do we fight in our spiritual war?  What strategy do we need to destroy and strike down the evil spirits?  Our strategy is similar; we have to draw away the power of wickedness from our heart like the men of Ai were drawn away from the city.  All the things that are evil (jealousy, envy, pride, lying, boasting, etc.) have to be drawn away to the outside.  It is the power of the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit that draws the evil powers to the outside.  So the evil is removed by the power of God’s word and the power of the Holy Spirit.  Hebrews 12:15 says, “Looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”  Therefore the root of bitterness is sinfulness which lies latent in our hearts and must be pulled out.  Then we will live and overcome in the spiritual world.