"And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember I am with you always, to the end of the age."

    Anyone who becomes a Christian has openly swapped their allegiance from the dark world to the light and confirmed themselves as an enemy of Satan. Anyone who takes up their marching orders and actively seeks to rescue others from Satan’s realm themselves experiencing resistance. Satan will not let go easily.

    Anyone who accepts the challenge of Matt 28 needs to see these verses in the context of warfare as well as an obedience call.

    - You are taking on the authority of God in heaven and on earth. Satan is someone we have authority over - regardless of how dirty he fights.

    - You are making disciples for Jesus Christ, in effect stealing them from satan by rescuing them from an eternity with him.

    - Baptising them is to bring them to the point of accepting the authority gained by Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.

    - Teach them to obey everything. Obedience is not a one-time event but a continued relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

    - And remember, I am with you always - to the end of the age. Jesus has promised never to leave us nor forsake us.

    Jesus told us we have his authority to go and make disciples. He also told us that our fight is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers and authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. And in this context of warfare we are given some armour to wear. Some of this armour is for defensive purposes and some is for offensive. The armour of prayer is for both.

    The defensive weapons of Ephesians six are well documented and utilised. But all too often people enter the "missionfield" without really exploring the possibility of needing to use offensive weapons. I believe this is especially true of people moving into more primitive and tribal areas.

    Offensive weapons suggested by Derek Prince:

    1) Prayer: "This is what we must understand. The promises of God’s word are not a substitute for our prayer, they provoke our prayer, and it takes our prayers to make the promises of God’s word effective in our spirit. It also takes our prayer to release the intervention of angels on our behalf."

    2) Praise: "Psalm 149 v 6: ‘Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands.’ "

    3) Preaching: "Jeremiah 23 v 29: ‘Is not my word like fire, says the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks a rock to pieces’ or Heb 4 v 12

    ‘Sharper than any two-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit’ "

    4) Testimony: "Revelation 12 v 11 ‘They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death’ "

    Once unreached people groups are reached it is discovered that they are in fact very spiritual. But their spirituality is based on fear and not love. God has not given us a spirit of fear and in fact tells us many times that we have victory and authority.

    It is very difficult for tribal people to exchange service to a God of love from service to spirits of fear who must be appeased and coerced. That the offer of salvation and freedom from the penalty of sin is a free gift is a concept hard to grasp.

    Here is an example from a South American tribesman:

    "Witch doctors parted from their witchcraft die. This was fact; just as it was fact that people died from spirit-eating and farawa. He was a companion of Jesus now; still, he knew these things happened. He knew the spirits of evil were real. "Jesus Christ is greater than any spirit," Bahm had said. "God is the only good spirit." And God’s paper had said it, too: "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." If Jesus was in him now, could kworokyam, though savagely angry at being abandoned, kill him and eat him as Elka had once thought? Of course he could not, Elka reasoned. Jesus was in him. But just as he began to feel more confident, old Machere met his awful death and Elka’s fear returned."

    Even though Satan may resist the advance of the gospel, the offensive weapons that God has given us are more powerful. I would use them in a missions context in the following way:

    Prayer:

    a) Have a prayer support team back at home who are well informed and committed.

    b) Have a prayer team on the field who are ‘there’ and can offer practical advice because they understand.

    c) Find a prayer partner - someone who I can share with at a deeper level.

    d) Maintaining my personal relationship with God. He know my needs before I ask so it is important that I go to Him first.

    e) Family devotional and prayer times. To keep the family working for each other, encouraging and seeking to protect.

    f) It is also important that prayer is not just words but also action. As Adeney says, "True prayer is not prior from or separate from struggle against evil, it’s part of the struggle. Prayer without involvement is like faith without works. It’s dead (James 2 v 17)."

    Praise:

    Satan and his workers can’t stand praises being given to God. Many time in Scripture we see God’s people giving praise to God in song after tremendous victory over the enemy (Moses, Deborah). The psalms are full of verses about praising God. And Jesus told the Pharisees that if the people didn’t praise him, the stones would cry out.

    For me, music and singing is a major part of my worship to God. I would need to know that in a missions context I would have access to this worship. While power may not be available to play cassette tapes, corporate singing and the lyrics of many hymns and songs I already know may satisfy this need.

    Also, an example of praise being used in a ‘warfare’ setting was seen when my husband visited Vanuatu. During a church meeting the team were counselling various members while the rest of the congregation sang. There was one particular girl who had been dedicated to Satan at birth and had been abused emotionally, spiritually, sexually and physically by her family of witchdoctors - satanists. The process of setting her free involved the whole church. When the praises and worship of Jesus was strong among the congregation the deliverance went far easier. When the praise and worship died down the forces of evil seemed stronger and more able to resist.

    Preaching:

    "But how can they call on the one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to preach?" Romans 10:14

    The whole purpose of spiritual warfare is setting people free from the power of Satan and bringing them into the kingdom of light. This is no easy task, and, as seen by Paul’s missionary journey to Ephesus (Acts 19) it may take years. First: he spoke in the Synagogue for three months. Then: he spoke in the lecture hall of Tyrannus for two years. God was doing extraordinary miracles through Paul (not just ordinary ones!!) And the end result was that:

    - the name of Jesus was praised v 17

    - people made confessions v 18

    - people gave up their magic / sorcery v 19

    It was only when the spiritual strongholds were dealt with that Paul moved on v 21.

    Testimony:

    The testimony of people who have come out of witchcraft is a powerful weapon for helping others who are thinking of doing the same. In the Challenge Weekly Oct 12 1999, there was a testimony of a lady who came out of witchcraft into Christianity. She knows the struggles and temptations this involves and her testimony is powerful and effective in helping others do the same.

    In the context of people from animistic religions where they are controlled by fear of the spirits, the testimony of those who have already broken free is an effective weapon.

    When it comes to obeying the great commission of Matt 28, I think it is really important when making disciples, baptising them and teaching to obey God that we equip these people with the knowledge of all that God has given us in preparation for the battles we will face in His name.

    God doesn’t want us to accept our salvation and then merely sit back and wait for the end of the world to come. We are encouraged to battle for the salvation of others and because this is so God has given us armour and weapons.

    And in the words of Ephesians 6 - And having done everything, to stand or as Nike puts it - Just Do It!

     Dowdy, H Christ’s Witch Doctor (Oregon: Vision House Publishing, 1994)

     Prince, D Spiritual Warfare (Springdale: Whitaker House, 1987)

     Tippett, A The Deep-Sea Canoe (Pasadena: William Carey Library,

1977)

     "Breaking the witch’s curse", Challenge Weekly

October 12, 1999