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 – Ephesians 6:12.

Is not life a warfare? It is so, for we struggle with the common calamities of human life. Is not our religion much more a warfare? It is so, for we struggle with the opposition of the powers of darkness. Spiritual strength and courage are necessary for our spiritual warfare. We have no sufficient strength of our own; all our sufficiency is of God. In His strength, we must go forth and go on.

Many Christians understand war in the natural because they can see and feel the devastation that’s left behind, but many don’t understand we’re in a spiritual war, a war you can’t see with natural eyes. Both nonbelievers, as well as some Christians, don’t believe in Satan or his co-hosts. The sooner the church, which is the body of Christ, realizes that when we engage in warfare, we are not dealing with men or ideologies, we will have the greatest victory this world has ever seen. We’re not in a natural conflict; we’re in a spiritual one, and it can’t be solved by religious or political gimmicks or any natural means. It must be met, and it can only be met by people who have power with God and men who can prevail.

We must respect our foe but not fear him. Balance and wisdom are crucial in our assessment of spiritual opposition. We do not fight for victory, but we fight from victory that was won by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Originally, Satan was one of God’s highest angels, possessing all angelic attributes (How art thou fallen from heaven, O’ Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations – Isaiah 14:12). Jesus told His disciples, that He saw Satan falling from heaven (And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven – Luke 10:18). Satan is not just a figure of our imagination, he’s real, and he uses temptations, fear, pride, and other influences to make believers disobey the Word of God. He uses nonbelievers who have rejected Jesus and the Word of God but have submitted themselves to be used by Satan in ways that are unimaginable to the human mind.

There was a priest by the name of Sceva, who had seven sons who traveled from town to town casting out evil spirits. They came upon an evil spirit one day and tried to do an exorcism by using the name of Jesus, but the evil spirit answered them by replying, “Jesus, I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye” (Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcist, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and a chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye. And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded – Acts 19:13-16.) Evil spirits are demonic spirits that control people without their awareness of what’s happening to them or have submitted themselves to be servants of Satan.

Although the sons of Sceva were priests, chosen by God because they were Jews, they didn’t have the authority to bind the spirit and cast them out of the individual. Most likely, they heard of Jesus but didn’t have an encounter with Him, like many professing Christians. They tried to use the name of Jesus, whom Paul preached about, to let us know they didn’t encounter the Lord or have the Holy Spirit. It’s the Holy Spirit that empowers us to fight against evil spirits.

As Christians, it’s our responsibility to fight for the nonbelievers as well as the believers that demonic spirits have attacked. We fight by prayer and using the Word of God; the Holy Spirit lives within us, takes the Word of God we speak, and gives it power that evil spirits must become subject to. Evil spirits are aware of those who have power and those who don’t have power. As Christians, we know God is all-powerful, and there is no limitation to Him, but we should also know about our adversary and what he’s capable of. We should know that Jesus has given us power over Satan and demonic spirits (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 – Luke 10:19).

We must be sensitive to the Spirit of God. He informs us what spirits we’re fighting against, and we must have the Spirit of God dwelling in our human spirit to go into warfare. If not, we will be like the sons of Sceva. We’re at war, and it’s time for Christians to put on the armor of God and become soldiers. A soldier is aware of his or her enemy, stays focused on who the enemy is, and is prepared for whenever the enemy attacks.