Spiritual Warfare 属灵的争战
Author: : Ps Andrew Xu
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
Dear ECF Holy Word Church, I always give thanks to our Lord Jesus for the chance to strive and partner with every one of you in God’s mission for us. When we are serious and passionate about doing God’s word in unity, the evil one will be very disturbed. Therefore, we will meet with many disturbances from the evil one. Every time when we are doing God’s work, somehow something “dreadful” happens. In such times, how do we respond to these “dreadful” events? Our usual ways of responding to such situations would be to try and “solve” the problem with all our might so that we may be able to remove all barriers and continue to serve. Such an attitude is admirable, but we often neglect an especially important aspect. We forgot that this is first and foremost a spiritual warfare.
In the scripture above, it is from a letter written to the Corinthians church by Paul. Paul at that time is facing attacks from all fronts, both internally within the church and from without surrounding him. There are leaders in the Corinthians church who are leading the church through fleshly means by persuasiveness. Yet, Paul dealt with them with meekness, gentleness and humility. But some of them look upon Paul as “weak and powerless” a leader. Though Paul is facing many challenges and attack, but he did not use fleshly ways against them. In the scripture above, Paul affirmed that “though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power. “ Paul did not choose to use fleshly ways against the attacks of the evil one when they come but rather use weapons from God.
Church, when we continue to march towards fulfilling God’s vision for our church, we will face attacks from the evil one. We might meet personal difficulties in our lives, we might be misunderstood in ministry like Paul, the attacks can come in varied forms. But the key thing is that when the evil one strikes, what would our response be?
Dear brothers and sisters, our weapons for this spiritual war is not of flesh but from God. Let us come together before God to look out for each other, intercede for each other and encourage each other with the Word of God. When we face the attacks of the evil one, hold tight to the hand of Jesus as we walk through the storms with Him!
文/许燕杰传道
“我们虽然在世上行事，却不是按照世俗的方式作战，因为 我们作战所用的兵器，不是属于这世界的，而是在神面前有能力的，可以攻陷坚固的堡垒。”
亲爱的中国布道会，我时常向主耶稣感恩能够与大家在神所赐的大使命中一起同工和奋斗。当我们认真为主的缘故大发热心，同心同工的时候，恶者会很紧张。因此，我们必定会遇到许多的属灵争战。每一次我们想要为主工作的时候，似乎都会遇到一些所谓“不如意”的事。在这样的时候我们又会如何的反应呢？我们惯性的反应就是尝试解决问题，尽全力用自己的方式，排除万难继续服事。我们这样的态度的确精神可嘉，但我们却忽略了一个很重要的层面，就是：这是一场的属灵争战。
以上的经文是保罗写给哥林多教会的书信中记载的。当时的保罗面对许多来自各方面的攻击，教会中的内忧和处境中的外患四周围绕他。哥林多教会中有一些的领袖以强势并人为的方法来带领教会，保罗却不是如此。他乃是以温柔和谦卑对待他们，也因此被一些教会中的会友定为“软弱和无力”的领导。虽然保罗面对这么多的问题和攻击，但他却不用属肉体的方式去解决。经文中，保罗肯定了我们是在世上行事，但我们却不按世俗的方式作战。我们作战的兵器不是属于这世界的，而是在神里面才有的。保罗不因为遇到一些恶者在肉体上的攻击而因此使用世俗的方式去解决。
当我们继续往着上帝给我们教会的异象前进时一定会面对恶者的攻击。可能我们会在自己的生活中面对一些的挑战，也或许如保罗一样在服事的过程中被误会。恶者的这些攻击，都很有可能发生在我们的身上。但关键的是，当恶者的攻击临到的时候，我们的反应会是如何呢？
亲爱的弟兄姐妹，我们作战的兵器不是属于这世界，而是在神里面才有的。我们要多来到神的面前彼此守望、彼此代祷、以神的话语彼此勉励。在面对恶者攻击的时候，牵着主耶稣的手，跟他一起度过每一场的风暴！