Spiritual Warfare (Olin Giles)

0:00All right, well, as you heard, this is my topic and You know, I just want you to know right here in the beginning that this is something that weighs heavily on me almost daily. I mean this is Something that's constantly on my mind. I spent 16 years as an automatic transmission technician. I rebuilt automatic transmissions So I'm a I'm a fix it kind of guy. I want to I want to fix things and and I just believe that God's word still has the solution. It's the kind of the Owners manual to life is is you know, you've probably heard If we want to know how to respond to Islam if we want to know how to Not be deceived we turn our attention to the word of God. I mean where else can we go? I mean this is just plain and simple to me and So in the time that I have tonight I want to begin

1:02By sharing with you really what the New Testament says about spiritual warfare just one particular Passage from second Corinthians 10 3 through 5 if you know me at all. I talk about this passage a lot And then we're gonna look at some lessons from Genesis and how Islam Um Kind of parallels what happened in the garden Islam attempts to find Vulnerable people it attempts to create an atmosphere of spiritual confusion It attempts to divide and conquer and then it introduces a competing narrative of course the standard Islamic narrative So that's kind of where we're going tonight and as I said, I'll begin with second Corinthians 10 3 through 5 and here Paul is talking about spiritual warfare. I mean this is the context you And he says we do not war according to the flesh

2:02So the the weapons of our war the weapons of this spiritual warfare are not Guns they're not knives. They're not bullets But they are intellectual and I think this is where a lot of Christians Really struggle today. I think this is where we are following short. I think we are missing this um particular aspect of spiritual warfare. I mean I've attended many Bible studies Many Sunday night services. I've heard many sermons. I know at least one um movie that was made on spiritual warfare But rarely do we talk about this passage And folks, I think we need to to be like the barriens and we need to search the scriptures to see if these things are so we don't need to just dismiss them We don't need to just dismiss an entire passage of script You're not like this is the only one. There are many many more that support this idea

3:02We are at war and it's a battle of ideas people are being deceived And there are terrible consequences to this deception just like there was in the garden So we don't war according to the flesh, but it is an intellectual war and I hope you can see this From just several of the terms that I've tried to highlight here in this passage First of all the word war here is it is a military term obviously It means to wage war in a strategic manner You know nobody goes off into war without really preparing themselves without thinking You know strategically this is uh, you know the word we get strategy strategic comes from this Greek word So we as Christians have to be strategic in how we respond to Islam and other false ideologies or belief system set up against God

4:05This is very plain in this passage I think I've brought in Ephesians 614 All here also says stand therefore having girded your waste with truth truth alithia Literally that which is not hidden The Roman soldiers of the first century war these long robes and they would fold them up and and tie um tied the their belt around them gird their waste so to speak and that way they were able to freely fight without being tripped up Jesus said the truth will set you free. That's what comes to my mind when I look at this word here Truth as far as what God has revealed the reality Of spiritual blessings and spiritual cursings Are not hidden God has went above and beyond revealing to us who he is who we are

5:06The problem the solution And of course the person in work of Jesus Christ This is a battle of ideas we we have to recognize this and He goes on to say That um these deceptive strongholds we are fighting against in verse 4 He says for the weapons of our warfare are mighty in God for pulling down Strongholds now again. This is another um intellectual word and and every time I I I read this passage and I come across you know this idea of a stronghold Some translations talk about fortresses I'm reminded of Islam I mean we we've all tried to deal with Muslims. We've all tried to you know have these intellectual conversations with About what is true about God what is true about Jesus? And of course this is you know relevant to any unbeliever people just want to build this fortress

6:07around the um The false belief system that they have and defend it they're more interested in being Right than they are embracing what is true but You know one of the most sobering thoughts that I have is that God is chosen to work in and through us To help these people come to the knowledge of the truth and Paul says here He you know will look at first five here next But he describes these fortresses as Logus moss these are arguments Set up against the knowledge of God now. They're not good arguments. They're based on human reasoning human philosophy and and they're set up against the knowledge of God the standard for all truth but we As far as engaging in spiritual warfare. I'll call to destroy argument set up against the knowledge of God I folks. I think we just have to recognize this as a church And realize that we're never going to make a difference

7:11With Muslims coming into the United States if people first of all Don't read this passage and understand it correctly and secondly if pastors are not equipping their people to do the work of the saints to do this type of work This is part of spiritual warfare and our children our families our country is being destroyed because people are just not equipped They think of spiritual warfare As something I mean there's there's there's many things that could be said there But they don't think it involved them And they don't think that it's intellectual But God's word here certainly disagrees it tells us that we are to destroy arguments set up against the knowledge of God That's how we engage in battle that is the warfare that we are involved in This is very plain and inverse five we are destroying Now I have I have one pastor tell me that I Had some kind of survey or something and I use the word confront. He said well. I wouldn't use the word confront there

8:16I said well, how about destroy that's that's what we find in verse five and this is forcefully tearing down Or destroying ideas. I think this is a very important point. I think it's something that a lot of Christians struggle We were destroying ideas Not people We're destroying Islam not Muslims now Muslims are deceived they are You know they want to do the desires of their father to use the you know the words of Jesus and John 8 They're not totally disconnected from You know the devil in his system But we're not destroying people we're destroying the ideas that They hold to that they have fortified and they're trying to defend And just to show you what um what kind of word this is. I mean it's the same word that's used in act 1319 in reference to God I'm destroying the seven nations in the land of Canaan

9:19This is a very forceful word and I think You know again when it comes to Islam We cannot be passive we cannot be passive as a church We cannot be apathetic towards this belief system that is destroying our country destroying our families deceiving people outside of the church We have to engage in this spiritual battle by destroying the arguments of Islam And so Here's my question for the global church if the body of Christ is the pillar and support of the truth As second Timothy 315 says and divine and truth is so obvious How does Islam deceive Two billion Muslims worldwide and even enlist non-Muslims to defend their faults believe system You know sometimes I'm just shocked at the people who will defend Islam who are not Muslims They have done a very good job of engaging in this battle of ideas If folks the church has to wake up and recognize that this is where the battle is at and this is nothing new

10:24I mean this is again nothing this you know totally dependent on this one passage But this is what has been going on from the very beginning so I want to transition now to talk about some lessons from Genesis What can we learn about spiritual warfare and not being deceived Guarding our families guarding our churches guarding our nation. How can what can we learn from Genesis? That will help us in that area And if we begin with Genesis 2 25 here with three one there is a deliberate word play In the Hebrew literature this is this is really obvious. It's not so obvious if you're just reading an English translation But Genesis 2 25 the chapter ends by saying and the man and his wife were both naked a room meme And then the next chapter of course there were no chapter in verse divisions

11:25These come along much much later But Genesis 3 1 says the serpent Was more crafty a room so this a room mean and a room is kind of a poetic Part of the Hebrew literature here and it was used to you know kind of highlight these two texts and show you that these two are connected in some way And I would say that the text is highlighting how Adam and Eve were exposed They were vulnerable They were naive They had yet to encounter evil And the serpent was well equipped and ready to take advantage of them folks This is exactly how Islam operates now I do want to be careful here. I don't want to come across as if I am demonizing all Muslims. I tried to make that clear in the beginning

12:29But I'm just telling you this is from my experience. This is how Islam operates Islam depends on vulnerable people you've heard the saying without wise Islam dies They want people who do not know Anything about Islam Dawah tables generally target non-Muslims who do not know Islam those who are vulnerable and naive We just returned from New Jersey This is a Dawah table on the campus of Rutgers University I literally did a Bible study on this table you can't see it but it's under the uh The little poster there on the right hand side. I saw you had a Bible in the table and uh Says that a Bible. He said well. Yes, it is and the conversation was about Abraham and whether or not he was a Muslim So I said well you might if I show you something in the Bible And we opened up that Bible And I showed him Genesis 151 where the word of Yahweh appeared to Abraham and showed him

13:34Took him outside showed him the stars. It said you're you know You're offspring's gonna be as numerous as these stars. I showed him Genesis 156 where Abraham is saved by faith Genesis 181 where Yahweh appears to Abraham as a man Genesis 1924 Yahweh on earth is working in conjunction with Yahweh and heaven to reign fire in brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah and folks it was just like the most awesome thing I totally enjoyed it. There were like 15 Muslims behind me. They were taking pictures of the Bible the passages that I was showing them But I could tell That the people behind this doll of table didn't like it And the very next day this was like a week-long event that they were having on campus the very next day We went back and they wanted nothing to do with us They wouldn't talk to us the fact they ended up calling the police on us and of course there was nothing The police could do we were on a public sidewalk But I've encountered the same thing

14:34That I'm asking boom the the mosque that I was sharing with you about When Laura was talking about the young lady confessing this shahala I went into this mosque two or three times. I had numerous conversations with the mom with Muslims They're very respectful conversations never This respectful never a heated argument of any kind But once they realized That I knew a little something about Islam and I could defend my faith in Christ They blocked my email and cut off all communication with me They don't want to talk to people who know Islam and know how to defend their faith. They're looking for vulnerable people There's much it could be said to you about America and our nation You know, it's just sad but most Americans do not know that a significant portion of Islamic sources are political in nature That is the text is devoted to the unbeliever 81% of the syrup is devoted to the unbeliever 64% of the Quran 37% of the Adidas

15:39Now you would think these sources would tell you how to be a good Muslim You would think they would tell you things about that are religious in nature But instead we find that they are largely political in nature They want to tell the Muslim how he can make us or how they can make us submit Enforced their views on us. We have to expose this darkness Paul says in Ephesians that we are to have no part in the unfrutable deeds of darkness instead Expose them Again, this is an ideological battle People are deceived because they don't know these things And so if we go back to the book of Genesis we see Also that the Sturper questions and changes God's word now notice how he begins here It doesn't come out With a blatant contradiction. He's very content to move slowly

16:40Genesis 3 1 has him asking did God really say So his strategy is not an outright denial but a question that is going to lead people to doubt and confusion Deception folks rarely starts with a blatant contradiction but with ambiguity that is misleading And I'm sure by now you can see where this is going. I hope But then you know the serpent does go on to question and change God's word in Genesis 2 17 God said but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat Or in the day that you eat of it You will surely die I mean you don't Need to understand the Hebrew here. This is plain and simple and it's just as plain in the Hebrew God spoke plainly And then in Genesis 3 4 through 5 the serpent comes along and he changes God's word. He says You will not surely die

17:40And Eve you can see that she's perhaps confused here She adds neither shall you touch it in 3 3 We don't have any record of God Saying that perhaps he did and it's just not recorded. I don't know but It certainly seems like she's spiritually confused here and she's adding to God's word Because the devil has deceived her He's taken her down that path And If we take all of this again and apply it to Islam This is exactly what they do The Quran uses biblical vocabulary but not a biblical dictionary I know I talk about this quite a bit. I know it's not profound. I know it's not anything really deep Folks, this is perhaps something very simple, I think But Muslims are deceiving Americans and people worldwide By using the same

18:42Cabulary and then and then redefining these terms In a way that fixes the Islamic context or talk about God seeing Messiah Jesus gospel etc But these terms mean something entirely different within the context of Islam. It's very deceptive You know, I just kind of think through some of the things here that this does I think it creates the illusion of agreement I can't tell you how many people I've had say well they believe in Jesus they believe in one God They got the same Bible stories and in the Quran that you have in your Bible This creates the illusion of agreement But Secondly, it blurs the distinctions between truth and error It's hard to discern What's true and what's false because if you read these stories in the Quran, there's a lot of truth in there

19:44But there's a lot of error in there as well and then thirdly it allows Islam to borrow credibility I think I've already pretty much touched on that Most importantly, it makes meaningful conversations difficult The vast American the vast number of American Christians. I don't think really Understand this simple point Islam uses biblical vocabulary, but it does not use a biblical dictionary They already see when they Muslims says we believe in Jesus How many people have I heard say well there are three Abrahamic religions? No, they're not We have to learn how to ask clarifying questions. What do you mean by Abraham? What do you mean by Jesus? Again, this is not anything that's really deep, but I think it is crucial It's absolutely crucial to what's happening in our country It's simple things like this

20:45That lay people can understand and embrace and fight back We have to equip our people to to recognize these things And then the serpent goes on to attack God's character For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil You know, this is three five So the serpent here speaks a half truth First couple did become like God in the sense of knowing Both good and evil as Genesis 322 tells us But the implication here was that God could not be trusted You know the first time I saw it as I thought well, that's that's interesting. How are we restored Relationally with God through faith through trusting in his son and what he has done for us through the person and work of Jesus Christ

21:45folks again Such an important point for us to learn This is how the devil operated and this is how Islam operates today Immediately after the fall there is division and conflict Genesis 315 is Very popular passage is known as the first gospel The good news. I mean is You know if you could just Take the time and read Genesis 1 and 2 And then read up to Genesis 315 and think about How this contrast the fall of man. I mean over and over again We're told in in the first two chapters after God created it was good. It was good. It was good It was good and immediately after they fall Immediately after sin and evil and death entered into the world God promises to send a Redeemer But notice what he says here God says I will put enmity

22:46Between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring So there's going to be this ongoing conflict between The serpents seed that is those aligned with rebellion and deception those aligned with the serpent And the woman's seed those aligned with God and of course you see this switch here to He Your head there's going to be a fatal blow to the serpent and you shall bruise his seal Not so fatal Folks, this is clearly pointing to the cross and the work of Jesus Christ on the cross He is that Redeemer promised here And this is the same battle that's taking place right now Every single day This is the battle that's taking place in the world that we live in There is enmity between Those who follow Christ and those who follow the serpent

23:53Take a look at some of the Islamic sources Out of the Islam operate they attempt to divide and conquer they are Certainly not Certainly don't view us as friends Seraph I 51 says oh you who believe in other words Muslims Take not the Jews and Christians for your friends or protectors They are but friends and protectors to each other And he I mean I was just thinking of this young lady who in Larus talk who Was dating a Muslim Thinking about marrying him And if he's a Muslim this is in the Quran I mean this is not even the Hadith this is what Allah says Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends or protectors If he really believes this is he going to protect her No, I don't think so And they're they're enumerous sources like this here's one from Muhammad Sahib Muslim 21 67 do not greet the Jews and the Christians before they greet you

24:54And when you meet them meet any one of them on the roads Or seem to go to the narrowest part of it Ematee hatred Sir a 48 29 We know that Islam is here to dominate not to assimilate He that is Allah is the one who has sent his messenger that is Muhammad With right guidance and the religion of truth Don't miss this Making it prevail over all others This is the goal of Islam But they can't do this without deceiving people So we have to recognize this If we go back to Genesis again to Genesis 3 14 through 19 We You know here is listed the The curse that God pronounces

25:54The difficulties for humanity are introduced here What's the enmity God tells the serpent he says I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring 315 we've talked about that But he also talks about the reproductive pain God tells Eve I will greatly multiply multiply your pain and child bearing 316 and then he tells Adam there you know the curse on the ground He says cursed is the ground because of you And I want you to see these three things and how God Response to them when he makes this covenant with Abraham Now what I'm trying to show you here is What might be called or what some might refer to as a scarlet thread of redemption you know from Genesis 315 forward we not only find this enmity between these two groups of people But we also find a promise of a redeemer and how God is going to overcome

27:01These three things that I just gave you So this this enmity is going to be overcome through a conquering seed You're going to find these three things land seed and blessing that continues on Throughout the Old Testament and they are ultimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ But again what I'm trying to show you here is how God would overcome through Abraham The enmity would be overcome through a conquering seed or offspring and you all the families of the earth shall be blessed This is what y'all we told Abraham in 123 The reproductive pain would be overcome through the covenant family God told Sarah I will make of you a great nation Already told Abraham and Sarah this despite Sarah being barren And a wife that was barren in this thing was really the functional equivalent of death The death of the family line. We know that um

28:03Abraham and Sarah were old and aged and it seems like oh all hope is lost They even try to take things into their own hands with a gar And And we see these things continued on I mean if you look at the the family line of Abraham we see this ongoing theme of a barren wife and God opens her womb He brings life where there is none He's telling us how he's going to overcome this reproductive pain this curse that was placed on humanity Um, in Genesis 3 and then he also talks about the curse on the ground to your offspring I will give this land 1227 land seeding blessing you're gonna you're gonna find all three of these that just March on there's this scarlet thread That points to Christ

29:03and If we think about how the Quran compares to this how how does it hide this now? We know that there is no scarlet thread in the Quran Well the most part the chapters are arranged from the longest to the shortest There's no metanarrity. There's no overarching story And they're using these terms Abraham God Jesus sin gospel and And this lack of chronological order gives a false impression of continuity It presents the standard Islamic narrative in a way that even seems feasible Secondly, it becomes harder to detect contradictions And now the Torah and the gospel are read through a different framework our Muslim friends I don't know how many Muslims I've asked Have you ever read the prophets?

30:03I told this Imam at that mosque that I you know that I've been talking about He said we believe in all the prophets it's like no you don't you believe in one prophet a false prophet Muhammad I encourage you to read all the prophets read Zachariah Jonah Isaiah If you if you open up the Bible and you read the prophets You see this story Unfolding how God is going to overcome Death and sin Through the promise that he made Abraham through the covenant that he cut The Quran very easily Heides this kind of thing For the most part the chapters are arranged from the longest to the shortest And you don't notice these things So I think we have to talk about them

31:04Um Romans 16 in closing. I'll share this Again the church has to engage the enemy by resisting deception Handing firm in the truth And of course obeying God's word God is chosen to work and then through us We are the body he is the head We are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. We are the mouthpiece of Jesus Christ He has entrusted us with the gospel. We are to share it and to defend it This is a intellectual ideological battle that we're fighting And we look forward to the day that the God of peace Will crush Satan under his feet as Romans 16 20 says Just as the offspring of the woman Shared in the enmity Praise God believers will someday share in the victory

32:07We're going to share in the victory Oversighten Over is long But of course we won't As many Muslims as possible To come to Christ. That's the reason we fight this battle. That's the reason we do these things We have to get involved as a church folks Our nation is being deceived right now. I mean, I'm just amazed at how quickly things seem to be moving Everywhere I travel mosque or popping up Everywhere I travel Christians are saying things They're just not right Islam may claim to believe in Jesus. It's not our Jesus And anybody that says that they believe in Jesus has been deceived But as a pastor Teacher church leader evangelist

33:08Every day Christian we have to expose this darkness That is Spiritual warfare that is a primary part of spiritual warfare that we just cannot ignore So with that I will close and