Spiritual Wrestling In the Last Days Conflict: "Wrestling" With the Flesh, the World, False Christian Doctrines, and the Earthly and Fallen Angel "Kosmokratoras"

Posted : 7 Oct, 2012 05:46 AM

Spiritual Wrestling In the Last Days Conflict: "Wrestling" With the Flesh, the World, False Christian Doctrines, and the Earthly and Fallen Angel "Kosmokratoras"







"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against

the wiles of the devil.

12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against

principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of

this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be

able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and

having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able

to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,

which is the word of God:" Ephesians 6: 11-17



"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common

salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you

that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once

delivered unto the saints." Jude 1: 3



"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

4. (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through

God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

5. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth

itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every

thought to the obedience of Christ;

6. And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your

obedience is fulfilled." II Corinthians 10: 3-6



The follower of Jesus Christ who wrestles against his own flesh, the

world, false doctrines and the kosmokratoras, or world rulers in the

spiritual realm and their human minions, is not lukewarm. For Christ

says "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I

will spue thee out of my mouth." Revelation 3: 16



The lukewarm Christian is the one who avoids conflict with his own

flesh, with the world because it lies totally in evil, and with false

doctrines. But the one who is in love with the truth of Jesus Christ

revealed in Scripture is more likely to be found in the middle of a

controversy, where he is engaged in spiritual wrestling.



This does not mean, however, that the one that is in love with the truth (II

Thessalonians 2: 10-12) gets into continued arguments with those who

defend their false doctrines. The one in which the light of the truth

of Christ is alive and bright may repeat his positions because that is

how others learn the truth. But he does not engage in continued

argument with those who use the dialogue of the dialectic to defend

their false doctrines, because in doing so he can himself begin to be

processed by the dialectic of Transformational Marxism in Christian

clothing.



There are several texts in the Bible that tell us that when the truth

is presented, it will set off a conflict with those who do not want to

hear the truth, because they reject the authority of God or because

they claim to be Christians but are in false doctrines.



John the Baptist says in Matthew 3: 11-12 "I indeed baptize you with

water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I,

whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the

Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will

throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but

he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."



In giving us the Holy Spirit, Christ baptizes his people with fire,

with a faith that is not lukewarm nor cold.



But if the person who claims to be a follower of Christ and does not

have that love of the truth which is said to be live fire, he or she

will not usually go on the offensive with truth, and so no conflict

with others in darkness will develop. When a follower of Jesus Christ

shines some of the light of Christ into the darkness, conflict will

often result. "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness

comprehended it not." John 1: 5



"The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which

sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up." Matthew 4:

16



"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath

shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory

of God in the face of Jesus Christ." II Corinthians 4: 6



But the darkness will make a counter-attack upon the light, as Satan

who was restrained at the Cross, comes up again out of the bottomless

pit of Revelation 9: 1-3. A number of scriptures predict a falling away

from the truth (II Thessalonians 2: 2-4). Look at Luke 13: 21, for

example. "It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three

measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." The word "till"

indicates that the leavening takes some time to totally leaven the

churches.



Those in the churches who are lukewarm tend to accept the leavening

process and do not battle against it, but instead often use the

dialectic process to defend the false doctrines they have been taught

as part of the leavening.



These are some of the people who come to the center of the conflict

against those in love with the truth who shine Christ's light into that

darkness of leavening.



"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord:

walk as children of light: But all things that are reproved are made

manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light"

Ephesians 5:13



Those who are in love with Christ's truth, have Christ's

righteousness, have the Gospel and the shield of faith, the helmet of

salvation and the offensive sword of the Holy Spirit, the Word, will

stand. They stand in battle against false doctrines, unrighteousness

and sometimes even their own fleshly mind.



Many present day false doctrines involve the claim that the physical

descendants of Abraham remain the chosen people. Remember that the

first false doctrine problem during the early days of the Christian era

concerned the "Christian" Pharisees teaching that all Christians (men) must be

circumcised and keep the law (ceremonial law) of Moses in order to be

saved (Acts 15). The variations on the idea that the physical

Israelites are still the

chosen people include Christian Identity, which says people of Celtic

and Germanic

blood lines are descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel,

Christian Zionism, or

dispensationalism, the Sacred Name Movement, Hebrew Roots and Messianic Judaism.

The Mormon religion, one of the 19th century cults, which includes the

Jehovah's Witnesses,

and Christian Science, also claims they are descendants of some tribe

of Israel. Dispensationalism

became the biggest 19th century cult and took over so many

denominations it was then no

longer considered a cult. But there are false doctrines around which

do not derive

from the chosen people belief, such as the Purpose Driven Church

movement of Rick Warren

and the entire mega church movement which believes that church growth

is so important that

sound doctrine gets lost in the attempt to bring flesh into the

services. Then there has

been the Prosperity "Gospel" that also does not depend on a chosen

Jewish people.



Though some church members believe that what is meant by the flesh is

limited to sensual

desires, especially to sex, scripture really defines "flesh" as our

carnal mind. Paul talks about the carnal mind in Romans 7: 14, Romans

8: 6-7 and in I Corinthians 3: 1-3. In Mark 7: 21-22 Christ lists the

thoughts and behaviors which defile a man, and these are the things of

the carnal mind, or the flesh. The thoughts and behaviors do include

adulteries, and fornications, but also deception, pride, blasphemy and

covetousness. The emphasis upon self-esteem in our precent day

culture is a work of the carnal mind, the flesh. Self-esteem was

promoted by psychologized Transformational Marxism, starting in the

fifties and sixties.



Although the spiritual conflict will rage when one goes on the

offensive against darkness, the joy of the Lord is often greater when

one is on the offensive and inspired by the Holy Spirit and using the

Word.



Then, at some time in the last days, which Paul in II Timothy 3: 1-2

says will bring perilous times, when people will be lovers of their

own selves, proud, blasphemers, unholy, when the transgressors are

come to the full (Daniel 8: 23) and spiritual darkness is greater than

before, the Lord will call out his anointed Remnant of Israel. "And

they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they

shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil,

many days." (Daniel 11: 33) The anointed Remnant of Israel, with the

full armor of God on, will go into that spiritual battle with the

light of Jesus Christ burning in them brightly.



"Yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by

spoil, many days" in Daniel 11; 33 indicates that this is to be a

spiritual battle, though it is not totally clear who is to fall,

whether its only those who are instructed by the Remnant, called the

144,000 in Revelation 7: 1-8, or both groups.



Luke 10: 19 says "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents

and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall

by any means hurt you." If by "nothing shall by any means hurt

you"means physical harm as well as spiritual harm, then the members of

the Remnant will have the shield of the Lord to protect them from

physical harm. Yet, Luke 10: 19 may be saying that protection is only

from spiritual harm from the serpents and scorpions, who are those

that defend the false doctrines against the Remnant.



Luke 21: 36 can also be relevant to who might fall in this heightened

spiritual conflict in the last days.

"Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy

to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand

before the Son of man."



Note that Daniel 11: 33 implies that some who are in that spiritual

darkness during the great conflict of the end times will turn from

false doctrines to the truth as a result of being instructed by the

Remnant. Zechariah 13: 8-9 and Ezekiel 5: 1-5, 12 are broad

prophecies that predict some part of those in false doctrines will

turn to the light of Christ. Zechariah 13: 8-9 says "And it shall

come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein

shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I

will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as

silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call

on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and

they shall say, The LORD is my God."



Those who have come more fully to the light of Christ and have more

of his mind in them - Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:

27) - will be able to operate in the Spirit during the time of great

tribulation (Matthew 24: 21) when the spiritual conflict is greater,

while those fixated in the flesh and in false doctrines will have

tribulation.

Post Reply