Which Side Are You Fighting On? False Spiritual Warfare and True Spiritual Warfare, 03

Which Side Are You Fighting On? False Spiritual Warfare and True Spiritual Warfare, 03. We continue with our series Spiritual Warfare: Training Your Hand for Battle. Today's title is, Which Side Are You Fighting On? Today we will be talking about true spiritual warfare and false spiritual warfare. It is possible to be fighting the spiritual battle […]

Which Side Are You Fighting On?

False Spiritual Warfare and True Spiritual Warfare, 03

We continue with our series Spiritual Warfare: Training Your Hand for Battle. Today's title is, Which Side Are You Fighting On? Today we will be talking about true spiritual warfare and false spiritual warfare. It is possible to be fighting the spiritual battle and yet fighting it on the wrong side. In other words, there is a true war and a false war. We have to stay alert so that our adversary does not gain the advantage. The Word tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:11, "so that Satan might not gain any advantage over us, for we are not ignorant of his schemes."

Today we will be sharing the following points. Beware of the leaven of the religious Pharisees. Be careful not to find yourself fighting against God. The use of idols and unbiblical rituals in spiritual warfare. Do not fight with those you love. Do not fight in the flesh — mind control. Beware of hatred, resentment, and unforgiveness. Through these things Satan manages to make even people who genuinely want to resist him, who genuinely want to serve God, who genuinely want to intercede for their loved ones, and who want to live a life pleasing to God, end up fighting against themselves and even against God.

On the first point, where I share the warning to beware of the leaven of the religious Pharisees, we have Mark 8:15, where the Lord says, "Watch out. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." When the Lord first shared this word, the disciples did not understand what He meant. Then in Matthew 16:11-12 the Lord answers them, because they were confused — they thought He was talking about bread — and the Lord says to them, "How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak about bread when I told you to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?" Then they understood that He was not talking to them about the leaven of bread, but about the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees — about the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

It is important to guard against this leaven — that is, to guard against the doctrine of people who are not true disciples. The Pharisees had a form of piety. They were experts in the law and convinced that they served God — so convinced that they even argued with God. But we must walk in humility and understanding. Humility is one of the very, very important virtues, because we do not want the enemy to gain an advantage over us. If he manages to set some trap or create some confusion, but we have humility, then as soon as the Lord admonishes us, we will receive it. The greater error of many of the Pharisees was that even when hearing the Lord's admonition, their heart was hard, they were stubborn and obstinate, thinking they already knew the truth and were doing things right.

So they refused to listen to the admonition and rejected the Lord. They refused to hear the word of life that the Lord shared with them. In Matthew 12:30 the Word says, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." Here the Lord is once again speaking to the religious leaders of that time. They thought they were serving God, but the Lord told them "whoever is not with me" — in other words, what you are doing is not for me, and since you are not doing it for me, you are against me. In other words, whoever is not gathering, whoever is not serving the Lord in spirit and in truth, those whose service the Lord is not receiving because the doctrine is false — they are leavened with that leaven of the Pharisees. They are against God and not with Him.

In Matthew 15:14 He says to the disciples once again, "Leave them; they are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit." So we are warned in many Scriptures about the importance of being very careful about whom we follow, whom we listen to, and what doctrine we receive. Here the Lord is saying that if a person allows a blind man to guide them, the end is a pit. But what is that pit? What pit is the Lord talking about? I would tell you that pit is the lake of fire. The Lord is saying that if we follow false religious teachers and follow their doctrine, we will stumble. They are headed for that pit, and we will fall into it with them.

In 2 Peter 2:1-3 the Word tells us, "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words." They want to please God, but if the doctrine is false, they end up fighting against God. That is what I want to bring to each of your attention — the importance of evaluating our conduct, our behavior, and our doctrine before God. Of evaluating whether our fruits are truly worthy of salvation, and whether the fruits of the Holy Spirit are truly developing in our character, our person, and our life.

Is what we are doing truly pleasing to God, or are we deceiving ourselves the way the Pharisees did? I know these are topics that are often not addressed in churches, and that almost no one would want to think about them, because we all want to believe we are doing things the right way, and that if we are serving, we are serving God. At least, in my experience with every person I have had the opportunity to speak with about this, I feel that each one — the majority of them — has been sincere in believing that they are serving the true God. But often we can be sincere and sincerely deceived, and be opposing God. Can you understand what I am sharing with you?

It is wise to evaluate ourselves. It is wise to evaluate our doctrine. To seek the presence of God for confirmation and understanding. In 2 Peter 2:18 it says, "For speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error." These people live in error. Some teachers, some prophets, with words that please the flesh, that appeal only to the lusts of the flesh — what the flesh desires, what the flesh wants, what pleases the flesh — give flattering words that sound beautiful, but even though they are beautiful and sweet, they suddenly give a kind of satisfaction because they offer a false hope. But in truth they are bitter and bring death to the soul. They promise freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption.

For whoever is overcome by someone is enslaved to whatever overcame him. So if you try to learn to fight the battle in the wrong places, you are receiving this promise of freedom from someone who speaks against the Word of God. They promise you freedom through their knowledge — even through the supposed spiritual warfare they wage. But as the Word says, they promise freedom, yet they themselves are slaves. How can someone who is a slave, who does not truly serve the true God, help you become free, when they are in error and are serving evil either through ignorance or through deceit in their own heart? In what way, then, could they help you serve God?

This brings us to the second point of this teaching: be careful not to find yourself fighting against God. This is serious, and it certainly happened in the Bible, and it will certainly happen again in this end time if we do not have humility. If we do not humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and do not seek the Lord with all our heart, we can find ourselves fighting against Him even while believing we are serving God. In the Word we have, for example, someone who later became a servant of God but who at first fought against Him. I'm speaking of Paul, who wrote fourteen books of the Bible by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Word says in Acts 8:1-3, "And Saul approved of his execution" — the execution of the disciples. "And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison."

Those who fight the false spiritual war end up fighting against God without even realizing it. Until Paul had his encounter with the Lord, he was zealous for the Law. He even approved of the death of the disciples, just as he approved of the death of the martyr Stephen. But he did this in ignorance, because he held a false doctrine. And because he held a false doctrine, he followed the commands and orders of the religious leaders of his sect. And in following those traditions and doctrines, he persecuted the disciples. And the Lord said to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you kicking against the goads?" And Saul said, "Who are you, Lord?" And He said, the Lord answered him, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." In short, Saul believed he was serving God, but he was persecuting Jesus Christ.

How terrible this is. This can happen, and I do not want it to happen to any of you. If we are humble of heart, God gives grace to the humble. It is true that, through the deception of false doctrines, we may have sinned — even in this area of religious service we performed believing it was for God, when in fact, through ignorance and deception, it was not for Him. But God gives grace to the humble. If we humble our hearts and seek Him with all our heart and humility, He has mercy. In Acts 5:38-39 the Word says, "And so in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God." Here even the Pharisees and the religious leaders — one of them understood that it is possible to oppose the things of God while believing you are serving God.

That is something we need to understand. We are training our hands to fight the true battle. But we want to fight on the side of the one who is true. We want to serve the true God. What we desire as the fruit of our service is the crown of eternal life. More than anything, we want to be sure that we are following the true word of life, and that what we do is received as a pleasing aroma of offering before the Lord. We do not want to be deceived. We do not want to fight against God. In John 16:2-3 the Word says, "They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me." Look here once again — the Lord prophesies that the hour will come when whoever kills us will think he is doing a service to God. That is possible.

Here the Word shows us how, in this time, there will be some who will believe they are serving God and doing God a favor by killing His disciples whom He sent to preach His word. So here is another example. The Lord very clearly prophesies that this will happen. If we are sober-minded, if we stay alert, if we humble our hearts and have humility within us, we will understand and meditate on these words I am sharing with you. And the Lord does not share these words so that we would judge in one way or another. Rather, ahead of time, the Lord is giving us understanding that we must be careful — that these things will happen and that we will be persecuted.

But I share this word with you in the love of the Lord, because I do not want any of you to find yourselves persecuting the disciples or fighting against God. And if you have done so, there is still time to repent. I invite each of you to evaluate, with all your heart, the service you render, in the light of the Word, and to see whether your fruits are truly worthy of the kingdom of heaven.

The third point is the use of idols and unbiblical rituals in spiritual warfare. This is another strategy the devil uses to deceive. This, too, comes through false doctrines. People who feel oppressed by Satan, or who have family problems, health problems, or who in various ways believe they are serving God, pray and carry out certain religious activities. But through the deception that once again comes from false religions, false denominations, and religious leaders, they use certain rituals that are not biblical.

For example, they use sugar, milk, leaves; they pray to saints, they light candles, they use amulets and crosses supposedly to rebuke demonic entities. To cleanse themselves they use eggs. They do all sorts of different things. They read the eyes — what they call iris reading. Things like these are some of what I have heard is done in certain churches. They do these things believing they are perhaps cleansing themselves of witchcraft, cleansing themselves of the evil that Satan does to them, but they do it in deception. All of these are different types of witchcraft and are occult activities. They are activities that fight against God rather than fighting on God's behalf. Instead of fighting for themselves, they are training themselves further into Satan's hand.

Because where does the Word say, take a milk bath so that you may be cleansed of evil? Where does the Word say that with a cross you will be able to cast out demons? There are well-known ministers who use a cross and supposedly even sell the cross for more than 100 dollars because it has supposedly already been anointed. And with that, they cast out demons from the people who receive it. When does the Word say this can be done with a cross, with an object, with an idol? The cross is an idol. The cross is on every grave. On the grave of those who "lived a decent life" and on the grave of the wicked, a cross is also placed. Because the cross itself is a profound deception. It does not represent God. It represents death. The cross was used long before the Lord's coming.

On the very day the Lord died, two others died as well. The cross itself is an instrument of death that was used to kill the worst criminals of that time. They also light candles for saints, pray to saints, to virgins, perform rituals with salt supposedly to cleanse themselves, bathe even with salt, or perform various other rituals — where does the Word say to do these things? These are occult rituals. That, in itself, is witchcraft. Those are the things witches do. Satan has simply disguised it further by bringing it into the churches.

If we do these things to fight against Satan, we are not fighting against him — we are practicing witchcraft. We are fighting against ourselves. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit, which was poured out upon those who are faithful to the Lord and who hear the word of life, do we have authority to rebuke demons. There is no object made by human hands that has power to cast out demons, to heal, or to deliver. This is a blasphemy against God.

There are things that are indeed biblical, such as anointing oil. The Word says, "Is anyone among you sick? Let the elders of the church anoint him with oil." The Word also says that the disciples anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. It is biblical to use anointing oil. A person truly anointed by God, as Paul was — even when people touched a handkerchief of his, those who touched it were healed. But that happens through the anointing of God, of the Holy Spirit. It is not because the handkerchief itself has power. It is because the Holy Spirit is in those who are anointed by God. And that anointing, according to the will of God, can work even through a handkerchief. That has nothing to do with a salt bath. What is in accordance with the Word of God is not a stumbling block.

But those things that the Word does not command are a stumbling block. That is witchcraft. I know that some of you have done these things in ignorance while reading about them. I do not judge you, nor does the Lord, as long as you repent. That is the purpose of this teaching, and my invitation, if you have performed rituals like these. Supposed covenants that can be made in a church for money — give this amount and you will then have three houses. That is also witchcraft. It is deception. That is not how we fight the true battle, which is the title of today's teaching. Which side are you fighting on? The true battle or the false battle?

Here I am exposing to you how the false battle operates. Because we can be fighting, but in ignorance. And we are not doing any harm to Satan. On the contrary, we are cursing ourselves and our family. Just look, for example, at those in the Catholic religion. They pray to saints, to idols. They have crosses, images of virgins representing different angels supposedly in heaven, and they pray to them. They light candles for them. But the Word speaks of a curse on the third and fourth generation of those who do these things. In short, they are doing something they believe will help them and their children. But in ignorance, they are cursing themselves and cursing their children and grandchildren. They are cursing the generations for four generations. That happens through deception.

Those who call themselves Christians are in the same situation. It is easier for them to understand that others are deceived. But now, Satan is cunning, and even in the Christian church he has many subtle strategies — disguised so they seem innocent and harmless, but they are stumbling blocks. The truth will set you free. In 1 Corinthians 10:14 it says, "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." It is because of these things that the wrath of God is upon the world. We must flee from all idolatry. Satan is cunning even with those who want to fight against him. He leads them into idolatry, and while trying to flee oppression and sickness, they end up becoming idolaters — which carries the penalty of death if they do not repent in time.

In Matthew 15:7-9 it says, "You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" Here, above all, I share this word with you. It is a strong word that the Lord spoke. He called that generation hypocrites because they followed the doctrines of men and not His word. The same thing happens in churches today — in many that have certain traditions supposedly meant to fight against demons, but that are not from God. Because of this, we all need to walk in humility.

Once again, being wrong is not the greatest problem. The problem lies in whether, when we are wrong, we have the humility to recognize our error once we are admonished. We must be humble of heart when we are wrong. Because if we repent and turn away from evil, we find mercy. Blessed are those who have ears willing to listen — who listen to the admonition. And even though at times the flesh does not like it, because they love God and do not want a place in the place of torment, they say, "Lord, forgive me, I was wrong. Lord, I had idols, I prayed to these saints and lit candles. I bathed in salt. I did such-and-such supposedly for good luck. I did such-and-such because I was taught to in church. I had my eyes read because that's what they told me at my church."

I have seen churches — some of them Pentecostal — and someone I know brought in a visitor from Mexico who read the eyes of everyone in the church. But that is witchcraft. It is divination. It is a curse and a blasphemy. Where does the Word say to have your eyes read? Or to have your palm read? We must not do these things. If we did, let us repent. Satan is cunning. He employs many strategies to try to reach us right when we already feel overwhelmed. Today we understand that we have an adversary, and we want to resist him. He has various strategies to try to confuse us and make us fight against everyone except him.

If he manages to use us, he can manipulate us and make us fight with the very people we love. As it says in 1 Corinthians, "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds." For example, someone runs to a family member and says, "Look, these idols are no good." But Satan uses things like this to make them angry. Suddenly there is retaliation. We know we should be gentle. We should be quick to listen and slow to speak.

Above all, if we must admonish people, we should, in the love of God, expose the deception of darkness to everyone, including our loved ones. But we must avoid contentiousness at all costs, because strife does not edify. Strife does not draw us closer together. We must avoid fighting in the flesh. We must, and we want to, fight in the spirit.

The Word says in Proverbs 6:16-19, "There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers." We must be watchful of the enemy. If we do not pay attention and do not examine the fruit of our actions, he can suddenly manipulate us — manipulate us into doing even these very things the Lord detests. So we must evaluate ourselves. We must use the Word of God as a mirror by which we examine our actions and behavior, to make sure our fruits are worthy of the Lord. And if we happen to be doing something that is wrong, once again, we have the opportunity to repent.

The most important thing is to have a contrite heart, and to have the humility to acknowledge it when we are wrong. Whether we ask forgiveness of those we offended, or at least ask forgiveness of God with humility, and truly strive to resist the devil until he flees from us — so that we do not continue doing what we do not want to do.

The fourth point: another strategy the enemy uses is mind control. Through this, he leads a person into self-opposition. He leads the person to fight against themselves. Satan is cunning. If you understand this, you will notice it especially among those of us who share the Word and who want to help our loved ones and other people come to salvation, or who intercede for them simply in prayer. Satan also uses those very people to come and want to fight against us. He controls their minds. This is called self-opposition.

The Word tells us in 2 Timothy 2:23-26, "Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels." Here we are being warned. We must be shrewd. As far as possible, we should not speak or enter into every conversation. Once we understand that the enemy can distort a certain conversation to create unnecessary confusion or strife that will bear no fruit, we know it is better to say, "I have no answer," or, "Let's talk another time." Simply set it aside, as the Word instructs us. We have to be shrewd; if we understand this, many times we will not even notice when the enemy is already starting a conversation. Suddenly, it is not really meant to be a conversation — it is meant to create strife, a division.

Verse 24 says, "And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil." We must also be willing, if suddenly they don't want to repay evil, or something happens because the enemy manipulates, to resist that thing. Not to receive it, so that it does not harm us, but to resist it without needing to repay evil for evil. Verse 25 says, "correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will." He entangles the person mentally, and this person becomes agitated and wants to fight against us. They reject us. They take offense at what we say — but it is the devil who holds them captive. It is mind control.

Finally, to conclude this teaching, beware of hatred, resentment, and unforgiveness. In Matthew 5:44 the Word tells us, "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you." Here once again the Word commands us to bless and not to curse. We must not be filled with anger. We must not repay evil for evil. We must not curse, for we are called to bless. Through these things — if we allow hatred, resentment, and unforgiveness into our lives — we will have a hard time fighting against the devil, fighting the true spiritual war. Unfortunately, the greater your calling, the more people — and even a person close to you — he will stir up to try to turn against you. In a way that will be very unjust, so unjust it will be plain and obvious to you, in order to try to make you angry, to make you frustrated, to make you want to repay evil for evil.

Instead of our obeying the Word and praying — instead of being a blessing to those who, we see, act wrongly, speak wrongly against us, behave badly toward us — Hebrews 12:15 says, "See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled." Unforgiveness, hatred, and resentment lead to a root of bitterness, and because of it, a person can end up not only failing to fight the true battle, but even losing their salvation. May the Lord bless you. Thank you for being with us. I'll see you on our next broadcast.

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Pastor Francisco Gomez

Thank you for reading our posts. It is our greatest desire that you be edified and blessed. Greetings in the name of our whole congregation, Jesus King of Kings.

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