Welcome to the Spiritual Soldier Series where we go through battlefield training to prepare you to fight the spiritual battles that come our way. We have been talking about Jesus and His blood. Now we will talk about the third member of the Trinity.
As we jump into this battle filled training on the Holy Spirit and how He is involved in our spiritual warfare we want to look at the Person of the Holy Spirit. So many people don’t know the Spirit in a personal way. But hopefully this training will get you excited about your relationship with the Spirit and how He ministers to and through you. Let’s dive in!
- The Spirit is greater in you than the world.
A powerful Scripture concerning the Holy Spirit and spiritual warfare tells you that the Holy Spirit dwells in you (John 14:17). And because He dwells within you He is greater in you than anything we encounter in this world (1 John 4:4).
We often mistake the Holy Spirit for some spiritual force. But He is a Person with power. Like Jesus, the Spirit fights for you. He does amazing things within you that prepare you for the spiritual battles you face. But as we walk in this dark world as lights for Jesus the Holy Spirit’s presence within you gives you power you may not have known you have.
No matter what spiritual force you go up against, whether Satan, demons, or other evil spiritual forces the Holy Spirit’s power is greater than theirs. John places this truth about the Holy Spirit in a passage dealing with the antichrist and testing the spirits.
As we distinguish between spirits, testing them against the truth, the Holy Spirit speaks to you. We stand against the evil ones in this world. The antichrist is not just a person. The antichrist will be a person in the end times. But there is a spirit of antichrist, everything that opposes God.
Our fight is with evil spirits that darken the understanding and hearts of people. We fight against the spirit of antichrist, and we find them in the world because this world at this moment is in the control of Satan and his demons.
No matter where you know what spirit you deal with the Holy Spirit living in you is greater than any spirit you come against. You don’t need to be afraid because the Spirit dwells in you. You have the light of Jesus’ gospel and no demon or evil spirit can stand in God’s presence.
- The Spirit gives you insight into the battle.
There are many spirits that are not from God. We must distinguish between godly and evil spirits. The Holy Spirit gives you the ability to distinguish between spirits. This is actually a spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 12:10).
But every Christian has the ability to distinguish between the thoughts and arguments that oppose God and the things that are godly (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). The Holy Spirit gives you the weapons of spiritual warfare to defeat these ideas and philosophies.
The Holy Spirit reveals mysteries to you (1 Corinthians 2:10-13). He knows your deepest thoughts and He knows God’s thoughts. The Holy Spirit has wisdom for you that you can’t get anywhere else. And He gives you that wisdom to win spiritual battles and be victorious behind enemy lines in this world.
This hidden godly wisdom the Spirit makes readily available to you. The Spirit comes alongside you (). He comforts you in your times of weakness. He builds you up so you are ready to withstand the onslaught of the enemy.
The Spirit shows you God’s plans and reveals God’s strategies for defeating the enemy. You stand victorious against evil spirits, temptation, sin, and anything else the enemy can bring against you. The Holy Spirit encourages you.
The Holy Spirit testifies with your spirit that you are a child of God (Romans 8:16-17). He confirms that your name is written in heaven. He reminds you of your identity in Christ and your strong status in God’s army and family. If the devil tries to trick you or challenge your identity in Christ, the Holy Spirit reminds you who you are in Christ.
- The Spirit guides you into holiness.
As we have discussed in previous battlefield trainings, the Holy Spirit helps you defend yourself against temptation and your former fleshly desires. The Bible declares you are free from sin and temptation (Romans 6:1-4). But the Holy Spirit helps you to remain dead to sin (Ephesians 2:1-5).
One of my seminary professors described it this way. Before you were freed by Jesus from temptation and sin you would like a person bound in chains you could not tear off. But when Jesus saved you He took your chains off. Now you do not struggle against the chains of temptation and sin. You fight as a free person.
The Holy Spirit gives you the power to live a holy life and be victorious over temptation and sin. Just as the hunter pokes the dead deer and it does not respond, so you’re dead to sin. When temptation comes knocking, your door is closed and locked. Temptation finds you unresponsive.
Holiness is the greatest weapon against temptation. God gives you a way of escape from temptation, but you must take that escape (1 Corinthians 10:31). The Holy Spirit helps you to see that we of escape and gives you the courage to take it.
Satan and his demons would like nothing more than to distract you from your battles and victory in Christ with temptations. He wants to renew those former desires you had before you met Christ. His greatest victory is a nominal Christian, a Christian unaware of the spiritual battles around them.
If you are an ineffective and distractive Christian Satan has won. When you are fighting temptation and sin instead of focusing the power of the Spirit on the battles with evil spirits and demons that are torturing the people around you Satan has won.
The Spirit keeps you aware of the spiritual battles around you. He keeps the battlefield before you and exposes the tactics of the enemy. He helps you remain holy, walking the path of righteousness with Jesus. Satan can’t distract you. He can’t stop you.
- The Spirit is our “secret weapon.”
The Holy Spirit does all the heavy lifting in spiritual warfare. Your weapons of warfare are to pray and share your testimony of Jesus. But you cannot change the hearts of the people you share the gospel with and pray for.
You cannot save a single individual. No matter how much you love that person and want to wish them into heaven it’s not your job to save them and bring them into the light. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
He convicts the world of sin (John 16:8). The Spirit has already condemned Satan, the ruler of this world (John 16:11). In Jesus’ temporary absence the Holy Spirit comes to your advantage, ministering to you as He dwells in you (John 16:7).
The Holy Spirit is your secret weapon because He is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 John 4:6). He will always tell you the truth about your walk with Jesus, keep you from listening to the lies of the enemy, and show you the difference between truth and error.
One of Satan’s chief weapons is to lie to you (John 8:44) and accuse you of your sins (Revelation 12:10). Do not be deceived about him. He is a roaring lion seeking to devour you (1 Peter 5:8). If you are nonchalant about Satan and his demons you will be consumed by him before you even know what’s happening.
You may be deceived about him but he knows exactly how to handle you. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to combat the wiles and fiery darts of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16).
The Holy Spirit is your secret weapon because the world has no idea about Him (John 14:16-17). The world cannot see the Holy Spirit working in and through you. Unlike those around you, you can see the lies of the enemy. The world doesn’t know the Spirit.
People in the world, Satan, and his demons cannot understand the things of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14-16). The Spirit gives you the mind of Christ. You understand spiritual matters. You see how to fight the enemy in victory. The Holy Spirit reveals to you things no one in the world understands.
Wrapping Up
The Holy Spirit is your partner in spiritual warfare. He guides you into all truth so you will not be deceived by the enemy. He leads you into holiness to abstain from temptations and the former desires of your flesh.
Praise God for the Holy Spirit! He is greater in you than any evil spiritual force you will come against. You have victory because the Holy Spirit dwells in you and reveals every part of the spiritual battlefield to you. How has the Holy Spirit helped you in your spiritual battles?
Up Next
We have talked about the Holy Spirit and His power and presence with you on the spiritual battlefield. Now we turn to discuss how God’s angels are involved in spiritual warfare. Tune in next time to see how these mighty warriors break down strongholds alongside you.
