Spiritual Warfare for the Building up of the Church is Based on the Victory of Christ

In order for us to build up the church as the Body of Christ, there is the need for spiritual warfare; though many do not see this, spiritual warfare is needed in every step of the building up of the church, and this warfare is based on the victory of Christ.

Hallelujah, Christ has won the victory, and we are here to simply maintain His victory!

In our deeper study of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we see the matter of spiritual warfare when the building up of the wall was done.

If the Israelites who returned would just continue and live in the country, building their house and doing trade or working a job, there would be no opposition from the enemy; the enemies would even come in and mix with them, giving their daughters to them for wives.

But once the building up of the wall started, the enemy began to clearly oppose them; the same enemy that was mixing with them by marriage and trade, now persecutes them, plots against them, and seeks to even destroy them.

If we just want to live a normal Christian life on earth, if we want to be good Christians who are not too much for the Lord and for the church, the enemy may leave us alone.

He may even help us in certain things, and we may have certain successes in the world.

However, once we stand for the Lord and give ourselves to the work of building up the church as the Body of Christ and the city of God, the enemy will start to oppose us.

God’s building is a threat to the enemy, for once the house of God is built and the city of God with its great and high wall is established, God has a kingdom on earth, and the enemy is defeated.

We may think that we just want to build the wall because we want to preserve the next generation from the enemy’s attacks, or we want to build the wall to make sure God’s interests are preserved and safeguarded.

However, once we do this, the enemy will attack.

There will be stratagems, persecutions, attacks, and evil speakings from those outside, and there will be suspicion and discouraging words from some of those within the church.

The enemy hates God’s building, for he knows that, once God gains the built-up church as the house of God and the city of God, he is finished.

This is why he has been working tirelessly throughout the ages to persecute, attack, and discourage the saints for one main reason: that they would stop the building work.

The building up of the church as the Body of Christ has been discontinued and stopped for many years, to the extent that most Christians may not even know that this is what is on the Lord’s heart today.

Many Christians think that they just need to obey God, fulfil what the Bible says, go to the church meetings, and bring others to the church to be saved and escape eternal perdition.

Some others may focus on doing praise and worship to enjoy “the Spirit” and speak in tongues, even to have miracles.

And most Christians are looking for and listening to teachings that “tickle their ears”, encourage them, never expose them, and always give them a positive message. Oh, Lord Jesus!

May we come back to the divine revelation in the word of God and stand for the Lord, stand with the saints, and be those who build up the church as the Body of Christ, engaging in spiritual warfare and standing on the victory of Christ to declare to the enemy that he has been defeated. Amen!

For the Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ, there is the Need for Spiritual Warfare

Eph. 6:10-20 is a mysterious yet wonderful portion of the word describing the armour of God on the Body of Christ.

For us to build up the church as the Body of Christ, we need to engage in spiritual warfare.

For the building up of the church, there’s the need for spiritual warfare.

If you do some research in all the Christian books published out there concerning the matter of spiritual warfare and the armour of God, one thing will stand out: most books emphasize that it is a personal matter, that is, that we as individual believers fight the battle.

Pastors, theologians, reverends, bishops, and all kinds of Christian teachers tell us the same thing, that we fight the spiritual warfare by individually putting on the whole armour of God to be great spiritual warriors, even to be God’s mighty men, individual fighters.

But the spiritual warfare is in the context of the Body.

We put on the whole armour of God not individually but corporately, as the Body.

Each item of the armour of God is for the whole Body, and it is by our remaining in the Body and being one with the Body under the Headship of Christ that we are covered by the whole armour of God.

Everyone who wants to engage in spiritual warfare must first know the Body, for spiritual warfare is NOT an individual matter – it is a matter of the Body.

We fight the spiritual warfare because the Lord needs a Body, a built-up church; for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, there’s the need for spiritual warfare.

On one hand, we need to deal with the self, the flesh, and the natural constitution, and on the other hand, we need to know Christ as life, even to know the life of the Body and remain in the Body.

Regrettably, however, in the church today almost none of the believers know this spiritual warfare.

This is due to weakness in life, lack of spiritual strength, and insufficient clarity in the light of the truth.

We need to grow in life unto maturity, and the divine life in us needs to grow, develop, and be strengthened so that we may be strong and able to fight the spiritual warfare for the building up of the church.

We need to be clear concerning the truth in the word of God about the spiritual warfare, realizing that it is needed for the building up of the church.

And we need to take care of the dear saints around us, considering before the Lord where they are and how to bring them on with the Lord so that they would grow in life, be strong, and be clear concerning the truth.

Just as the Lord did in John 13, we need to set aside certain things about ourselves and wash others’ feet, serving them and opening the way for them to grow in life.

We all need to grow in life, be strong in spirit, and be clear concerning the truth in God’s word related to spiritual warfare so that we may engage in it as members of the Body.

Before the Lord comes back, He needs to gain such ones.

He wants to gain not only the loving bride who is spotless, mature, beautiful, and prepared; He also wants to gain the corporate warrior, the church as God’s army, who is ready to fight with Him against the enemy.

When the Lord returns, on one hand, He will have a wedding feast for one thousand years with the overcomers as His bride, and on the other hand He with His bride will fight against the enemy to deal him a final blow at Armageddon, and the kingdom of God will come in.

May we come to the Lord and offer Him many short prayers to open to Him and let Him grow in us.

May we learn to cooperate with Him in this matter so that He would grow in us, prepare us, equip us, and make us ready to fight the spiritual warfare for the building up of the church.

The building up of the church is a matter of warfare, for there’s a conflict between God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom, God’s will and Satan’s will.

On one hand, Christ is building His church, His Body; on the other hand, Satan with the gates of Hades are attacking, but they will not prevail (Matt. 16:18-19).

On one hand, the will of God needs to be carried out on the earth; on the other hand, men who are joined to Satan are ruling and reigning, and chaos, immorality, and injustice is prevailing.

There’s a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, between the will of God and the will of Satan; this battle is tied to the building of the church.

Lord Jesus, grow in us and make us strong in spirit so that we may be able to engage in spiritual warfare for the building up of the church. May we be clear in the light of the truth in God’s word concerning the enemy’s schemes and stratagems. Amen, Lord, we are here for the building up of the church. We stand in the Body, one with all the saints and under Christ as the Head, and we want to put on the whole armour of God. Thank You, Lord, the armour of God covers us as the Body, and we fight the battle in the Body for the building up of the church. We stand with You, Lord, and we desire for Your kingdom to come and for Your will to be done on earth. May we see the need for spiritual warfare for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. May we also help others see this spiritual warfare and engage in it for the Lord to gain a built-up church as His bride and as the corporate warrior! Amen, Lord Jesus!

Spiritual Warfare is Based on the Victory of Christ: we Maintain and Declare Christ’s Victory!

Spiritual warfare is based on the victory of Christ (Heb. 2:14; Col. 2:15; 1 John 3:8).

We are not here fighting for victory; we are here standing in Christ’s victory to maintain it, apply it, and declare it to the enemy.

The work and responsibility of the church is spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10-11).

We do not fight against flesh and blood but against spiritual beings whose dwelling is the air (Eph. 6:13-14).

And we fight not by attacking but by standing; we do not fight an offensive war but a defensive one, for the battle has been won, and we simply maintain Christ’s victory.

The Lord Jesus has already fought the battle and won the victory, and we as the church – His Body – are here on earth to maintain His victory.

We need to be clear concerning this. Yes, we do have weaknesses, failures, and defects, and the enemy has some ground to accuse us and condemn us.

But the Lord is the victorious One, and once we confess our failures, defects, and sins, we are one with Him and we stand in His victory, for we’re a new creation in Christ Jesus.

The starting point of spiritual warfare is standing upon the victory of Christ; it is seeing that Christ has already defeated the enemy (S. S. 4:8; Rev. 3:21; 5:5-6).

Christ as the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and He is victorious over Satan and his work.

In His incarnation and human living, Christ defeated Satan during the temptation in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11).

Through His death, He destroyed the devil, who has the might of death; Christ abolished Satan and brought him to nought (Heb. 2:14).

We need to know this. This is a fact, it happened, and we stand upon this glorious fact.

As the church, now our work on earth is to maintain Christ’s victory; He has already won the battle, and we as the church maintain the victory of Christ (Eph. 6:11, 13).

Our work is not to attack the enemy but to stand in the victory of Christ, maintain it, and declare it as the church.

There’s no need to attack – we simply guard and stand. We don’t deal with Satan but stand in the Lord by trusting in Him and maintaining His victory.

We don’t hope that we will one day win the victory; the victory has already been won, the devil can do nothing, and we stand in Christ’s victory.

Though today Satan seems to gain more ground and victories here and there, we stand in Christ’s victory, we declare His victory, and we stand against the enemy with his plans and stratagems.

This is our mindset when we build up the church.

Everything related to the building up of the church is a matter of spiritual warfare, and in this warfare, we stand in the victory of Christ.

We don’t just preach the gospel and minister the word of God; there’s a spiritual battle going on in our gospel preaching and ministry of the word.

We don’t just visit the saints and have meetings in the homes of the new ones to edify them; there’s a spiritual warfare raging behind the scenes as this takes place.

As soon as the Lord began to build the church on the day of Pentecost, warfare began.

The Lord’s words in Matt. 16:18-19 can be fulfilled in Acts 2-4, where we see that Christ built His church upon Himself as the rock, and though the enemy attacks, he cannot prevail.

Christ saved some and made them into living stones, and He is building them on Himself as the foundation of God’s building.

He poured out His Holy Spirit upon them and formed the church, and Hades was shaken.

Satan, however, attacked the church through the gates of Hades to bring in persecution and death into the church, but he could not prevail.

Hallelujah, the church has the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and the church can bind and loose on earth what has been bound and loosed in the heavens!

The church has the authority, and the church fights and wins the victory!

Lord Jesus, we praise You! You are the Victor! You have won the victory! Hallelujah, Christ has already defeated Satan! The Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil! Christ defeated Satan in His human living and through His death on the cross! Praise the Lord, Christ destroyed the devil through His death on the cross! Hallelujah, Satan has been abolished, brought to nought! Amen, Lord, we as the church stand in Your victory! You have won the battle, and we stand here one with You maintaining Your victory! Jesus Christ is Lord! Christ is Victor! And we as the church are one with this victorious Christ, declaring and maintaining His victory on earth! Amen, Lord, may the church exercise Your authority to bind what has been bound in the heavens and loose what has been loosed in the heavens! May the church use the keys of the kingdom of the heavens and exercise Christ’s authority on earth today!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by Ron Kangas in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1957, vol. 2, “The Testimony and the Ground of the Church,” pp. 64-65, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 9, entitled, Building and Fighting – the Need to Engage in Spiritual Warfare for the Building of the Church.
• Further reading on this topic:
  – A Harmonious Coordination between Generations to Advance God’s Move, article via, Shepherding Words.
  – The spiritual warfare and protection of the Body of Christ as the whole armor of God, article by Ed Marks via, Affirmation and critique.
  – 7 Steps to Build Up a Personal Prayer Life, article by Tom Smith in, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Q&R Sessions with Co-workers by Uni Students – question five speaks more on the spiritual warfare and the Lord needing a beachhead in Europe, via Living to Him.
  – The building of the church requiring spiritual warfare, a portion from, The Building Work of God, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
  – Spiritual warfare, rapture, preaching the gospel, and intercession, a portion from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 1) Vol. 13: The Spiritual Man (2), Chapter 10, by Watchman Nee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – For the Body is God’s armor, / Not for anyone alone; / When you wrestle in the Body, / All its benefits you own. / ’Tis the Church on Christ established / Satan shall not overpow’r; / ’Tis the Body built together / Which resists the evil pow’r. (Hymns #885 stanzas 2-3)
  – The vict’ry’s won! The Lord has triumphed o’er the foe! / The vict’ry shout is heard afar and near! / His blood prevails! It giveth us the victory! / And soon the mighty Victor will appear. / The vict’ry’s won! O Christian brothers, / The vict’ry’s won! This shout we raise! / In Zion’s city, proclaim His vict’ry / Till all the earth is filled with praise. / The vict’ry’s won! O Christian sisters, / The mighty work of Christ is done! / The Lord victorious has conquered for us— / Eternal joys have now begun. (Hymns #1289 stanza 1 and chorus)
  – Praise Him! praise Him! Christ is Victor! / He has won the victory! / Sin is judged, old Adam finished, / Full redemption now we see! / Vanquished all the evil powers / Thru the Cross triumphantly! (Hymns #124 stanza 1)