SPIRITUAL WAR
by Tony Alamo
Resisting Satan as being the only true safety for Christians in spiritual war is the true doctrine from the pages of the Holy Bible. Our warring is against Satan’s temptations and against sin. This war is a spiritual war; to win it we must fight using our full knowledge of spiritual combat derived from Holy Scripture. Satan must be strongly resisted and is in no way to be yielded unto. The command directly from God is to resist (to oppose) “stedfast in the faith,” with faith in God's instructions for spiritual war (I Pet. 5:9).
The first instruction to the Christian soldier’s war effort is that Jesus said, “Ye must be born again [spiritually born]”(John 3:7). We must walk, soar in the Spirit of God. By warring spiritually, that is, lawfully in the life of Christ, a Christian soldier lives through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling power (grace), the life of Christ in Him. Christ in the saint will set Himself in battle against Satan and sin. This newly regenerated Christian soldier is no longer under the command of Satan, but Christ is now his General. Christ hath made him a fully armored Christian fighter, and he will be successful in his warfare because, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:1).
The Words of Jesus are spiritual bullets and armor. We, the saints, are to fight using them to bring forth life by our preaching of them. Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
The Spirit of God is life and is the spiritual seed, the life-giving substance within the inspired Word, spoken by God to Moses, to the prophets, to the apostles, and to every born of God servant, with Christ Himself being the very Word of God. The spiritual life which is the instruction to war against God’s enemy for all who desire eternal life, is only to be found in the Word (Christ), Who also is the way of spiritual life.
In this spiritual realm is found a spiritual Sabbath, a rest and an assurance to the soldier that the work and the precise timing of when work and rest for the body will be taken is not set, but rather is discerned spiritually by those who walk in the Spirit, pleasing the Lord. The Lord saith, “For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matt. 12:8). This is meant Jesus is the boss of the Sabbath when rest is to be taken and when rest is not to be taken. Jesus worked on the known Sabbath stating, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” meaning we have a new Sabbath spiritually guided by Heaven (John 5:17). The spiritual Sabbath is not discerned by the carnal man. He cannot know it, for it is spiritually discerned. “But the natural man [the unsaved man] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual [born of the Spirit] judgeth all things [by the Word of God which is Spirit and Life], yet he himself is judged of no man [because we too are judged by the Word of God]. For who [of the unsaved world] hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we [the Christians] have the mind of Christ” (I Cor. 2:14-16). It is by this Spirit that we are successful in the war.
Jesus, the Lord of the spiritual Sabbath, also knows the moment of the Christian’s duty and also knows the time for the Christian’s spiritual Sabbath (rest), and will, through the Holy Spirit, let the Christian soldier know the spiritual time. There is “a time of war, and a time of peace” (Eccl. 3:8).
As servants of God, we who are moved by the Holy Spirit, have an open ear to God’s throne for His message of errands to run, and trust the Lord for His wisdom in the message and in its timing. There is a “time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7). There also is a time to work and a time to Sabbath (rest). We know that Jesus cares for us because He died for us, went to Hell for us, conquered death, Hell, and the grave for us, and ascended into Heaven for us. And in His time, according to His will which we seek to do always, He in His multitudes of mercies and promises for our obedience will make us to rest (to Sabbath), “to lie down in green pastures, ” leading us beside the still waters (Ps. 23:2). It is there that He will restore our souls. This most essential, spiritual place we share with the Lord will give us a true, heavenly rest, the only rest that will truly restore, rebuild, completely furnish, and make ready His servants for the mission that is to come.
The time of this Sabbath changes from season to season. It is not a cut and dry time such as Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but is what the Lord sees in His wisdom to be the time of the Sabbath. We walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh (Rom. 8:4). We walk by faith, not by sight (II Cor. 5:7). And in this profound, sure walk by faith, trust, and knowledge of Him, we are confident that His presence will be with us in our next duty on the front with our enemy, in the next battle.
We have faith that He is “The Way” (John 14:6). “His way is perfect” (Psa. 18:30). Of this restful way of the Lord of the Sabbath (our walk in the Spirit of Life), Jesus bids all those who receive this unspeakably comforting repose from Heaven. Then will they, with joy, hear (understand His spiritual invitation to Sabbath) and will come worshipping unto Jesus with the entire heart, soul, mind, and strength for it. Be not Christians halfway, but go through with it. The thorough Christian is the true Christian.
Jesus said, “Come unto me [the Sabbath]... and I [the Sabbath] will give you [Sabbath ] rest...unto your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). This new Sabbath was promised by God in the New Covenant mentioned in the Old Testament which reads, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant [new testament, new agreement] with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah” (Jer. 31:31-33). Isaiah prophesies of God’s New Testament supreme ruler who is the Christ, “Unto us a son is given: and the government [the Law of God] shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government [New Testament] and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever” (Isa. 9:6-7).
The Supreme Ruler of this New Covenant Testament is Jesus, who stated regarding the spiritual Sabbath, “We [God the Father and Myself] will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Again, Jesus saith “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I [the Sabbath, the Rest] will come unto him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20).
It isn’t the Christian only taking life, with its work and its Sabbath, but it is the Christian who KEEPS THE LIFE with its work and its Sabbath. Those who wish to remain carnal (sinfully lost) will argue regarding which day the Sabbath is and will unscripturally debate regarding all Christ’s doctrines. These rebellious ones have no fear of God. They are not wise. God's commands are not debatable. They only are received if one is to attain eternal life. The walk of and in life is not carnal, but spiritual, and is declared to be a spiritual war. “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal [not guns, bullets, or any other of Satan’s weapons such as lies], but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting 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” (II Corinthians 10:4-5).
Jesus commands the mortification and the dying out of every carnal (sinful) way. He informs His listeners that if they are His friends, they will do all that He bids. Jesus says, “Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14). And His command is “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). Spiritual (lawful) warfare is fought by those who seek to be in full service to God in the spiritual way, which is in Christ. The Samaritan woman by the earthly well was instructed by the Holy Spirit through Jesus the Lord that “Ye [the worldly] worship ye know not what...the true worshippers shall worship the FATHER IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH” (John 4:22-23).
God’s Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Life (John 6:63). God’s Holy Spirit is the only life in the entire universe. All life is derived from the Holy Spirit, and God’s will is that you daily drink from His well of life. “This is he that came by water and blood” (I John 5:6). We become born of the water from God’s spiritual well by the Word of God, by Jesus, the Tree of Life, but we first must be cleansed from all sin by the blood from Christ Jesus who died in our place, because the Law of God demands death and Hell to the sinner. The Law will not tolerate sin. Even Christ could not escape this deadly bite of the Law’s penalty, amplifying the Law’s perpetual existence and the necessity of going and sinning no more. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezk. 18:4). “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).
Jesus assures the eventual soon dissolving of the present heaven and earth, yet assures vehemently the perpetuation of the Law’s eternal authority and the Law’s eternal establishment. God’s Word “is settled in Heaven” (Psa. 119:89). “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent” (Num. 23:19). God’s Spirit dwelling in us after salvation is “the Kingdom of God” and “cometh not with observation... the Kingdom of God is within you” when you become born of the Spirit (Luke 17:20-21). Now the kingdom of God, which is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, moves the spiritual man where the indwelling Spirit will (Col. 2:9). And where the Spirit is, is life, eternal life, to the keeper of it.
Many in the world have not sought God through these heavenly, life-giving, spiritual waters, nor from their souls hath sin, by Christ’s atoning blood, been removed. They quote Words of God, but are not moved by the Holy Spirit, for they need to be born of the Spirit of God, and must first be forgiven of their sins through the atoning blood of Christ. False prophets run, but God saith, “I sent them not” (Jer. 14:14). The message from God is to be by the Spirit and not by the letter, for “the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life” (II Cor. 3:6). The same words, spoken without God’s inspiration, will send away the soul that God would have drinking Life from Him (the Living Well). “For the prophecy [the Bible] came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (II Pet. 1:21).
Eternal life is found immediately by those who reach out for it. Won’t you receive yours now by saying this prayer? God will hear and fill your spirit with it, the waters from Heaven that are eternal life.
Prayer
My Lord and my God, have mercy upon my soul, a sinner. 1 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God. 2 I believe that He died on the cross and shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of all my former sins. 3 I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit 4 and that He sits on the right hand of God at this moment, hearing my confession of sin and this prayer. 5 I open up the door of my heart, and I invite You into my heart, Lord Jesus. 6 Wash all of my filthy sins away in the precious blood that You shed in my place on the cross at Calvary. 7 You will not turn me away, Lord Jesus; You will forgive my sins and save my soul. I know because Your Word, the Bible, says so. 8 Your Word says that You will turn no one away, and that includes me. 9 Therefore, I know that You have heard me, and I know that You have answered me, and I know that I am saved. 10 And I thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving my soul, and I will show my thankfulness by doing as You command and sin no more. 11
Now that you are saved and forgiven of your sins, raise your hands and praise the Lord. Christ now lives in you through the Holy Spirit. There is a way you can receive a fuller portion of the divine nature of God in you. God the Father lives now in you also. The more of the divine nature of God that lives in you, the more you will be able to stand against the temptations that so easily have moved so many millions of Christians away from salvation. This is caused by more man in us than God in us. Mankind has become so wicked that if Satan and his impish army were abolished, we would be our own devil.
Now that you are saved, pray for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Prayerfully study the Word and pray always for more of the divine nature. For instructions on how to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and to receive more of God’s holy nature, ask for our literature or call. For without holiness no man shall see God (Heb. 12:14).
Now that you are saved it is a commandment to be fully submerged, baptized in water in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit. Follow all of God’s commandments and live.
You've just completed the first step in a series of five steps which are necessary to receive salvation. Your second step is to deny yourself and take up the cross daily for the purpose of mortifying yourself, that is, for putting to death your own will, your soulful self, and the world with all of its lusts. All these must be baptized into the death of Christ.
Step three is your resurrection from the satanic life of Adam unto the sinless life of Christ. Step four is your ascension into a position of authority to reign for God on earth, and the fifth step is to reign for God on earth to the end for the purpose of bringing about the kingdom of Heaven on earth. You must learn the Word of God, then submit yourself and do what the Word says, so that the Church and the world may see evidence of your submission to God's Word, His order, and His authority in and by you.
Praise the Lord. May God reward you abundantly.
Pastor Tony Alamo
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"Prayer" Footnotes:
1. Psa. 51:5, Rom. 3:10-12, 23 return
2. Matt. 26:63-64, 27:54, Luke 1:30-33, John 9:35-37, Rom. 1:3-4 return
3. Acts 4:12, 20:28, Rom. 3:25, I John 1:7, Rev. 5:9 return
4. Psa. 16:9-10, Matt. 28:5-7, Mark 16:9, 12, 14, John 2:19, 21, 10:17-18, 11:25, Acts 2:24, 3:15, Rom. 8:11, I Cor. 15:3-7 return
5. Luke 22:69, Acts 2:25-36, Heb. 10:12-13 return
6. I Cor. 3:16, Rev. 3:20 return
7. Eph. 2:13-22, Heb. 9:22, 13:12, 20-21, I John 1:7, Rev. 1:5, 7:14 return
8. Matt. 26:28, Acts 2:21, 4:12, Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:14 return
9. Matt. 21:22, John 6:35, 37-40, Rom. 10:13 return
10. Heb. 11:6 return
11. John 5:14, 8:11, Rom. 6:4, I Cor. 15:10, Rev. 7:14, 22:14 return
12. John 14:6 return
13. Acts 4:12 return