Category: Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare

We are evidently no friends of Satan. Like the kings of this world, he wars not against his own subjects. The very fact that he assaults us should fill our minds with hope.   J.C. Ryle
 
There is a war going on. All talk of a Christian’s right to live luxuriously “as a child of the King” in this atmosphere sounds hollow — especially since the King himself is stripped for battle.   John Piper
 
Many of us are hunting mice – while lions devour the land.    Leonard Ravenhill
 
All the water in the world, however hard it tries, can never sink the smallest ship unless it gets inside, and all the evil in the world, the blackest kind of sin, can never hurt you in the least, unless you let it in.   Anonymous
 
Satan dupes his victims. He stalks through the land, dabbing the pleasure of sin with a delusive sweetness, and soon after his victims, intoxicated with the poisoned draught and hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, lose all consciousness of their terrible danger.    Anonymous
 
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” I’m not afraid of the devil. The devil can handle me – he’s got judo I never heard of. But he can’t handle the One to whom I’m joined; he can’t handle the One to whom I’m united; he can’t handle the One whose nature dwells in my nature.   A.W. Tozer

(Spiritual strongholds) begin with a thought. One thought becomes a consideration. A consideration develops into an attitude, which leads then to action. Action repeated becomes a habit, and a habit establishes a “power base for the enemy,” that is, a stronghold.   Elisabeth Elliot

If God were not my friend, Satan would not be so much my enemy.   Thomas Brooks
 
The devil is not terribly frightened of our human efforts and credentials. But he knows his kingdom will be damaged when we begin to lift up our hearts to God.
Jim Cymbala
 
Winning against Satan is not a question of claiming some kind of imagined authority over him; we simply need to pursue righteousness, avoid sin, and stand firm in the truth [1 Tim. 1:18-19; James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:9].   John MacArthur

Satan, like a fisher, baits his hook according to the appetite of the fish.   Thomas Adams

The devil is relentless. No sooner have we resisted one temptation than his demons come after us with another. He is persistent. If we show the slightest sign of weakening, he will keep pressing us until we sin. He is crafty, gradually leading us down the road of destruction. He starts with a small temptation. When it succeeds, he presents us with a slightly greater temptation, slowly drawing us deeper and deeper into sin. He is subtle, so subtle that sometimes we find ourselves sinning before we are even aware of being tempted. Satan is also creative. He offers us a complete line of transgressions to choose from: greed, lust, hatred, despair, and anger.   Philip Graham Ryken

Satan doth not tempt God’s children because they have sin in them, but because they have grace in them. Had they no grace, the devil would not disturb them… Though to be tempted is a trouble, yet to think why you are tempted is a comfort.   Thomas Watson

As in all warfare, the two essential elements in victory are knowing your enemy and knowing your resources.   Sinclair B. Ferguson

I  learned as never before that persistent calling upon the Lord breaks through every stronghold of the devil, for nothing is impossible with God. For Christians in these troubled times, there is simply no other way.   Jim Cymbala

Whenever I am conscious of Satan’s presence, I try to follow the formula once offered by a little girl: “When Satan knocks, I just send Christ to the door.”   Billy Graham

What then is the killing of sin? It is the constant battle against sin which we fight daily-the refusal to allow the eye to wander, the mind to contemplate, the affections to run after anything which will draw us away from Christ. It is the deliberate rejection of any sinful thought, suggestion, desire, aspiration, deed, circumstance or provocation at the moment we become conscience of its existence.   Sinclair Ferguson

It is easier to cry against one-thousand sins of others than to kill one of your own.   John Flavel

The mere act of prayer is abhorrent to the forces of evil, and you will find that there will be all kinds of hindrances (depression, doubt, frustrations and so on). Many of those hindrances will have the smell of sulfur smoke about them.   Steve Brown

This is the great business of life – to ‘put our mouths out of taste for those pleasures with which the tempter baits his hooks.’ I know of no other way to triumph over sin long-term, than to gain a distaste for it, because of a superior satisfaction in God.   John Piper

If Christ has died for me–ungodly as I am, without strength as I am–then I can no longer live in sin, but must arouse myself to love and serve Him who has redeemed me. I cannot trifle with the evil that killed my best Friend. I must be holy for his sake. How can I live in sin when He has died to save me from it?   C.H. Spurgeon

Look to the cross, and hate your sin, for sin nailed your Well Beloved to the tree. Look up to the cross, and you will kill sin, for the strength of Jesus’ love will make you strong to put down your tendencies to sin.   C.H. Spurgeon

Imagination is a God-given gift; but if it is fed dirt by the eye, it will be dirty. All sin, not least sexual sin, begins with the imagination. Therefore what feeds the imagination is of maximum importance in the pursuit of kingdom righteousness (Phil. 4:8).   D.A. Carson

In heaven we shall appear, not in armor, but in robes of glory. But here these are to be worn night and day; we must talk, work and sleep in them, or else we are not true soldiers of Christ.   William Gurnall

The strength of all sin, whether simple or scandalous, is the lie that God can’t do what it can.   Sam Storms

We are too apt to forget that temptation to sin will rarely present itself to us in its true colors, saying, “I am your deadly enemy, and I want to ruin you forever in hell.” Oh no! Sin comes to us like Judas, with a kiss; like Joab, with outstretched hand and flattering words. The forbidden fruit seemed good and desirable to Eve; yet it cast her out of Eden. Walking idly on his palace roof seemed harmless enough to David; yet it ended in adultery and murder. Sin rarely seems (like) sin at first beginnings. Let us then watch and pray, lest we fall into temptation.   J.C. Ryle

When the devil is called the god of this world, it is not because he made it, but because we serve him with our worldliness.    Symeon

The devil is aware that one hour of close fellowship, hearty converse with God in prayer, is able to pull down what he hath been contriving and building many a year.   John Flavel