Preparing Students for War

Walter G. Fremont, Ed.D.

In 1935, as an eleven-year-old paperboy, I was vaguely aware of war. The newspaper put out Extras when a significant news story occurred, and we could get out of school to sell the special editions: "Germany Invades Czechoslovakia"; "France Falls"; "London Bombed."

When I was sixteen, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and we declared war on Japan and Germany. When we heard the newscast on Sunday afternoon, December 7, 1941, my buddies and brothers and I knew that soon we would be enlisted as soldiers to fight in the war. I served for three years in World War II with fourteen months in Europe. The reality and horror of war—its death, destruction, hatred, cruelty, and misery—displaced the glamour and made me and thousands of others refocus. War helped change our goals from the futile, materialistic, physical sphere to the eternally rewarding spiritual realm (Matthew 6:18-33).

September 11, 2001, had the same effect on many Americans. Many non-Christians responded to the attacks on New York and Washington by looking for the real meaning of their lives. They took intense inventory and found that most things that had seemed crucial before 9/11 were really not important at all. Christians, too, refocused. Events yanked their attention back from small concerns to the greater scope: the spiritual war that has been ongoing since before time began.

The War of the Ages

A thorough study of Ezekiel 28:11-19 and Isaiah 14:12-17 reveals that Lucifer ("shining one" or "day star"), leader over all the angels, wanted to be equal with God. One-third of the angels sided with Lucifer and were cast down to the earth (Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:3-4). Lucifer and his demons have been at war with God ever since his fall. Satan’s eventual end is to be cast into the pit of hell as prophesied (Isaiah 14:15; Revelation 20:10).

In the meantime, Satan is the prince and the evil power behind the world system (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), the real, but unseen, instigator of evil among all the world powers and governments. He tries to thwart God’s redemptive plan for mankind and to prevent its proclamation to the world. In our modern, enlightened society we do not like to talk about Satan or recognize demon activity. We would rather camouflage the influence of the invisible realm with psychological terms to explain terrorists, serial killers, senseless shootings, bombings, and genocide.

The Enemy’s Methods and Weapons

Christians need to recognize Satan’s methods and the weapons he most frequently uses. His primary strategy is getting man to doubt God and His Word, thus creating a spirit of fear, weakening faith and clouding God’s love. He blinds the minds of sinners to God’s redemptive plan through false teachers who misinterpret the Bible, create cults or ignore the Bible, and start to promote false religions (II Corinthians 11:13-15).

Satan gets Christians to doubt their salvation and the promises of God, especially in God’s provision for their every need (Philippians 4:19) and His goodness in adverse circumstances (Romans 8:28).

Satan’s second strategy is promoting self-worship and dependence on self, the fruit of doubt. Pride keeps man from acknowledging God and accepting His perfect plan of salvation. The proud Christian trusts in his own strengths and abilities instead of trusting God. He then forgets that God created him, gives him all of his abilities and talents, and is willing to direct his path (James 1:17; Proverbs 3:5-6).

Satan knows that thoughts precede actions, and he will use the media, peers, circumstances, emotions, and anything else to influence our thoughts. His weapons against clear thinking are everywhere:

• Lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes
• Hate accompanied by anger, bitterness, vengeance, and prejudice
• Worry, fear, anxiety, depression, and hopelessness
• Negative thoughts and feelings about people and situations
• An evolutionary, humanistic worldview

The Bible warns in II Corinthians 10:3-5 that we are to pull down the strongholds by casting out imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We can counteract Satan’s weapons by putting our bodies and minds under subjection to Christ’s commandments:

• Reject lust by abounding in love to conquer hate
• Trust God with praises and thanksgiving to have victory over worry
• Have a positive faith attitude to defeat negative thoughts and feelings
• Look to Jesus Christ and His Word for wisdom, strength, and faith to acquire a godly worldview (Hebrews 12:2-4)

The Christian’s Protective Armor and Weapons

The U.S. Government provides for every need of its enlisted soldiers: food, clothing, housing, transportation, and medical care as well as leadership, strategy, armor, and weapons to achieve victory. God has promised to supply not only every need of His enlisted soldiers but also the victory in this spiritual war (Philippians 4:19; Ephesians 3:20). Satan is trying to take ground that Christ has already conquered and to make Christians his prisoners of war. We are told three times in Ephesians 6:10-17 not to attack but to stand firmly and to put on the Lord’s armor.

The crucial piece of armor is the helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17). One puts this on by receiving Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord. The helmet protects the mind, which is the control center of all our actions.

A second important piece of armor is the belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14). Truth, the Word of God, is an objective standard of reality that stands outside of our experiences and feelings and above our opinions (John 14:6).

A third piece of armor is the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). When we receive Christ, His righteousness becomes our righteousness (I Corinthians 1:30). It is then our job to exhibit Jesus Christ to the world with our witness and our lifestyle.

A fourth piece of armor is the shoes of the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15). To have the peace of God in life and in difficult circumstances, we must trust God and His promises, praying with thanksgiving about every matter (Philippians 4:6-7).

A fifth piece of armor is the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16). Christians have faith to deflect the devil’s fiery darts of temptation and accusations (I Corinthians 10:13; Revelation 12:11).

Of all the Christian’s weapons, the foremost is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). Christians need to be familiar with this weapon and to memorize its promises if they are to be effective in daily battles with the devil.

Another weapon is prayer (Ephesians 6:18). We ought to pray always, at all times

(I Thessalonians 5:17). Satan fears this weapon more than any other, for we are calling on God for help. Satan tries to make us too busy or too tired to pray; and when we do pray, he tries to distract our thoughts. When prayer decreases, worldliness increases.

Bible Principles of Our Spiritual Warfare

1. Give praise and thanksgiving to God immediately for every blessing and situation in life (Hebrews 13:15; I Thessalonians 5:18). God’s remedy for the ever-present tendency to be proud when we receive blessings from God (prosperity, promotions, honor, and praise of men) is to give thanks and praise to God immediately. When we decrease in our own eyes, He increases (John 3:30).

2. Do all things to the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31). Our motive for everything we do should be to glorify God instead of self.

3. Cast out negative thoughts and, instead, think about God (II Corinthians 10:5; Philippians 4:8). The Christian life thrives on faith, hope, and love.

4. Conquer the natural fear of death and judgment by realizing that Christ took our judgment on the cross and conquered death by His resurrection (I Corinthians 15:51-58; Colossians 2:12-15). Christians need to operate from the reality of Christ’s accomplished victory instead of from the devil-inspired imaginative fears.

5. Put off old habits of sin and put on godly habits (Ephesians 4:17-32), confess sin before it becomes a habit (I John 1:9), and eliminate worldly influences (Psalms 101:3). We know that God always provides a way of escape for every temptation (I Corinthians 10:13).

The Battle Is the Lord’s

The United States is able to field a war engine the likes of which the world has never seen. It inspires us with confidence. But even so, we are never completely sure of winning. But Christians are fighting their spiritual war from a perspective of victory. Christ has already assured our victory by His blood atonement on the cross for our sins and by His Resurrection. Satan and his demons are doomed (Colossians 2:15). By abiding in Christ we can experience daily victory. "The battle is the Lord’s" (I Samuel 17:47). Are you and your students prepared for daily battle in the war with Satan and his cohorts?

Reprinted from Teacher to Teacherr, Volume 6, Issue 1.

Used with permission from BJU Press. For permission to reproduce this article, please write BJU Press.