Cecelia Estillore is a medical doctor who has a Bachelor of Ministry
degree from Christian Heritage College through the School of Ministries (now
Citipointe International Institute of Ministries) in Christian Outreach Centre,
Brisbane.
Cities are central to
God’s redemptive strategy. The Great
Commission begins with a city – Jerusalem - and culminates when another city -
the new Jerusalem - becomes God’s dwelling with his people. In order to fulfill the Great Commission, we
must reach every city on earth with the gospel. In order for the gospel to reach every creature, The Church is
called to engage the forces of evil.
The battleground is the heavenly places. This is where the battle for our cities is won or lost (Silvoso
1994:21, 97)
The Great Commission for
worldwide evangelisation was thrust into the hands of the early church by Jesus
Christ prior to his ascension. A study
of the New Testament reveals several keys to fulfilling this mandate. One of those keys is spiritual warfare and
its relationship to the Great Commission and in particular, to revival and
evangelism.
As Christians living in this
fallen world we are caught in the spiritual war raging between the kingdom of
darkness under Satan’s rule and the kingdom of God. This spiritual battle is described by Paul in 2 Corinthians
10:3-4:
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the
flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.
The church, ministering in
the power of God’s Spirit, has many answers to human needs and problems,
including personal and community health and wholeness, if we take seriously the
ministry of Jesus and how he has commissioned us to do what he did (Matthew
28:18-20). This does not ignore
God-given medical ministries and resources, but acknowledges they are only a
part of God’s provision for our needs.
Satan is a master strategist
in perverting God’s plan and purposes for the nations. His kingdom consists of a hierarchy of
principalities, powers, rulers and wickedness in high places which he has
assigned over people, cities, and nations, veiling their eyes with deception
and lies from seeing the truth of God (Ephesians 6:12; 2 Cor. 4:3-4).
Unfortunately, Christian
ignorance and complacency have given the enemy ground to advance. The New Testament exhorts believers not to
be ignorant of the schemes of the Devil whose main aim is to kill, steal and
destroy mankind and all creation.
Therefore, Christians are called to be proactive and militant in waging
war in the heavenly places.
The real battle is spiritual
and all evangelistic crusades regardless of their high technology will be
minimally effective unless the battle is won in the spirit realm.
How then do we go about
doing spiritual warfare? In doing
spiritual warfare a few basic principles need to be understood.
First, we need to understand
that we must have a personal intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus
Christ. We need to be yielded and
humbly submitted to his Lordship.
Second, we need to resist
the devil and flee from his evil ways.
Holiness and purity of heart are important in maintaining strong armour
as we advance into spiritual warfare (James 4:6-7; Ephesians 6:11-12).
Third, we need to know and
understand our identity, position and victory in Christ Jesus. In short, our worship of God should lead us
to warfare against evil.
These principles must be
backed up by our knowledge and understanding of the fact that Christ has won
the victory through his death on the cross and his resurrection from the power
of death. According to Colossians 2:15,
Jesus defeated and disarmed Satan and his cohorts and made a public spectacle
of them. Through our belief in Him, we
are delivered from the kingdom of darkness and translated into the kingdom of
light, forgiven and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (Colossians
1:13-14).
With that same power over
sin and death, we are also given the delegated authority and power over the
devil and his kingdom just like Jesus modelled in his life and ministry.
With this authority comes
responsibility. According to Peter
Wagner, “if we do not pray against our spiritual enemies, they will, indeed,
prey upon us.”(1996:121).
Wagner identifies three
levels of spiritual warfare, namely: ground level spiritual warfare which is
involved in casting out demons from people, occult-level spiritual warfare
which centres on warfare against the occult and, strategic-level spiritual
warfare which deals with territorial spirits (1992:17-20).
Spiritual warfare is not an
end in itself but just as Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John
3:8) it is a means towards the end of seeking and saving that which is lost
(Luke 19:10). Just as in any battle,
spiritual warfare can lead to casualties.
Although everyone is called to intercede and pray, not everyone is
called to do front-line strategic-level spiritual warfare. Neither is it for the faint hearted and
immature.
Prayer and intercession are
constant features of revival. Prayer is
the number one weapon of spiritual warfare.
Although not everyone prays for the lost, it has been proven that
innovative strategic warfare for the lost has brought revival and societal
transformation in many places all over the world. In fact, revival has never been birthed without prayer and
intercession, for God acts on the prayers of the saints. Spiritual warfare creates the climate over
regional areas, paving the way for God’s sovereign movement to come.
What is the relationship of
revival and evangelism? John Dawson
says,
Revival is what the church first experiences; evangelism is what she
then engages in. Revival is periodic;
evangelism is continuous. Revival
cannot last; evangelism must not stop (cited by Pratney 1994:17).
On the other hand, Roy Fish
states that “the requirement for securing
revival becomes the requirement for sustaining revival” which is supported
by the saying that “what is gained by intercession
must be maintained by intercession” (cited by Deiro 1998:27). In other words, revival can be continuous.
Personally, I believe that
revival can become ongoing just like the early church times. Revival should not really be an exception
nor should it be limited to being periodic.
Admittedly, history reveals its periodicity and it is a challenge for
the Church to be in continuous revival.
As Vance Havner states, “revival is simply New Testament Christianity,
the saints getting back to normal”(cited by Pratney 1994:15).
What is normal? The New Testament Church says that the
disciples turned the world upside down as revival broke out and Christianity
spread. The church was then in
continuous revival and outwardly focused.
Today, the 21st century church is being pointed to a new
apostolic wineskin of doing church.
Pablo Deiros supports this
emerging perspective and states that “authentic spiritual revival cannot be
separated from the mission of the Church.”
He considers three things that are instructive for revival movements:
the destruction of spiritual strongholds over cities and nations, revival for
the common people, and evangelism (1998:53).
In addition, Erickson says
that the heart of the ministry is the Gospel.
He goes on to describe the example of the ministry of Jesus and how he
was anointed to preach the Gospel.
Moreover, Jesus charged his apostles to continue his ministry and gave
them the Great commission (1985:1059-1060; Luke 4: 18; Mark 16:15-18).
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me. Go therefore, and
make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:18-19). “And he called the twelve together and gave them power and
authority over all demons…and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God”
(Luke 9:1-2).
A study of the above
scriptures and Luke 10:1-22 shows the relationship between spiritual warfare
and evangelism. Jesus actually trained
his disciples to be aggressive in spiritual warfare and evangelism before he gave
them the mandate for worldwide evangelism prior to his ascension.
Today, history records a
startling convergence, beginning in the 1990’s, of the Church toward worldwide
evangelism. Currently, the 21st
Century church is going on strong in fulfilling its Great Commission. Unity and the love of Christ in the Body of
Christ is becoming more visible and the Devil hates it. He knows his time is short and he is
launching his attacks on the Church from all directions especially on those
involved in spiritual warfare and worldwide evangelism. Nevertheless, the victory belongs to the
Church and on this promise she will stand until Jesus Christ returns again.
We much to learn about the
ways of God and the ways of humanity, including spiritual warfare, revivals,
and evangelism. We need to engage in
spiritual warfare in the army of God.
My past and present ministries include this.
It’s not always easy but
obedience is the key. We need much
discernment, wisdom, holiness, purity, humility, godly character and
faith. It is a lifetime process of
learning and maturing but we must persevere until the end. I cannot do it alone. I have much more to learn from all those who
are experts in the field and from the Lord.
In conclusion, the New
Testament gives a lot of examples and scriptural basis for spiritual
warfare. Jesus modelled it and the
early church lived it. The disciples
practiced all levels of Spiritual warfare, were mindful of the principles
involved, and used it as a powerful weapon in bringing the continuous revival
and the explosive spread of the Gospel in the early Church times.
Today, the believers still
have the same delegated authority and power over the Devil as won by Christ
Jesus on Calvary. We are still called
to engage in spiritual warfare which is a means to bring revival, win the lost,
and fulfil the Great Commission.
Erickson,
Millard. 1985. Christian
Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Book
House.
Pratney,
Winkie. 1994. Revival. Its
principles and personalities.
Lafayette: Huntington House Publishers.
Silvoso, Ed. 1994.
That None Should Perish. Ventura: Regal Books.
Wagner, C.
Peter. 1992. Warfare Prayer. Ventura: Regal Books.
Wagner, C.
Peter. 1996. Confronting The
Powers. Ventura: Regal Books.
Wagner, Peter
& Deiros, Pablo (editors).
1998. The Rising Revival.
Ventura: Renew.
© Renewal Journal #17: Unity (2001:1) www.renewaljournal.com
Reproduction is permitted
so long as the copyright acknowledgement remains intact with the text.
Back to main page