Holiness and Spiritual Warfare

By John Bardsley

Do you believe in the devil? Does he have hordes of evil spirits? Do they hate you and try to ruin your life? Did Jesus totally defeat him by dying and rising again? Can we who belong to Jesus cash in on that victory? How? What preparation would we need? How can we pray with authority? How can we help our church grow? How can we get free from our compulsions, and set people free from theirs? These are the kinds of questions answered in this booklet. What's more, it is filled with stimulating stories of how it has worked in my life and the lives of my friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Bardsley
• Release date: Jun 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005821142

John Bardsley

At age 19 I discovered God is real, and asked him to run my life. It is so good! I want people to know! I taught a year at Batu Bible Institute in Java, and currently I'm teaching one month per year at Indonesia Cross-Cultural Institute. I love Indonesia. I have edited three magazines, told lots of stories, and joined the research staff for the amazing book 'Operation World'. Check out the OW website!I promised God an hour a week to pray for a demon-fearing tribe in West Africa, if God would teach me to pray. That straightened out my life some more. Others joined in, and the church out there finally began to grow. My boss asked me to write what I had been learning, and 'He Gives Us Authority' is the result! I have been invited to 30 countries to talk about Jesus, and how to pray when the devil seems to be winning.Unsolicited praise for 'He Gives Us Authority'Shord D, Lecturer, Worldview Centre for Intercultural StudiesThe book is great. The students each presented a 30 min tutorial on a section of it, and they were unanimous as to the value of the book and of that experience for them. As well the students need to write a term paper on their 'spiritual resources'. I expect that it will be cited by every student in the class.Geoff C, PastorYour book is an excellent and advanced insight into spiritual warfare. Having read widely on this area for many decades, I think yours is a unique and practical and mature missional contribution.Joseph B, NZ Candidate Director , WEC InternationalWe had Dr David Cashin, lecturer at Columbia International University, to speak to our candidates on the subject of Spiritual Warfare. As a thank you, we gave him the book 'He Gives us Authority'. I have heard that he was suitably impressed by it and has in fact made it his text book for the Spiritual Warfare course he teaches at CIU.Jackie R, Director, WEC UK (retired)When I started the book I was thinking 'This will be a good tool for helping others.' and that is true, but I have also found some bits were a challenge to me too! I like the format, and all the different illustrations bring it to life.Joy S, AuthorIt is magnificent. I have taken quite a while to work through it as there is so much to absorb and I shall read it again (and again and again!). It has made me feel a complete novice in the Christian life but I have learned a lot and want so much to be alert to the spiritual atmosphere around me and to be ready to minister both in the family and in the church.Jim D, Retreat manager"In a tribe where E has been planting a church, about a dozen kids began showing demonic influence, saying things like Satan paid for their sins, that he was 'soul flying' them around the valley, crazy stuff. The team had been praying for several days, re-sharing the gospel and the supremacy of Christ. Last night was the first night without any manifestations and they have been encouraging the kids with James 4:7 - submit to God, resist the devil. It's been an exhausting time and some of the new believers have also returned to some of their animist practices to appease the spirits. E picked up one of John Bardsley's books (He gives us Authority) and said it's been so helpful.Mal I, Mission leaderI think of you regularly as I study your book. I am being blessed by the teaching.

Book preview

Holiness

and

Spiritual Warfare

a Study Guide

John Bardsley

Copyright 2021 John Bardsley

Published by John Bardsley at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook has a small price on it because I hope it can be used as discussion guide in Bible Study groups. There will often be a sale when it is free. Watch the Smashwords website for those occasions, or follow me on my Facebook or Twitter page to discover the next sale. Thank you for respecting the study and experience that I have put into this. When I teach spiritual warfare as a course, these are the notes that I give the class. All of the material is based on my larger book 'He Gives Us Authority'.

Cover design by Jay Bee. 'Victory of the Cross' artwork at the top of this page was drawn for me in the seventies by a dear friend whose address I have lost. If you see this, mate, write in, and your name will appear here.

Scripture quotations taken from Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®

Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Parent title from which this book is taken: He Gives Us Authority

Sister title by John Bardsley: Kekudusan dan Peperangan Rohani

Holiness and Spiritual Warfare

Table of Contents

Goals

1 Worldviews

2 Authority

3 Know the enemy

4 Personal preparation

5 Holiness

6 Weapons of protection

7 Weapons of attack

8 Discernment

9 Intercession

10 Spiritual warfare in church planting

11 Power encounter and truth impact

12 Demonisation

13 Deliverance

14 Discussion and Questions

Introducing John Bardsley

Have you read the parent volume?

The purpose of the course. Would you like to set yourself some goals?

This is a practical course. You could set yourself the goal that at the end of this course you will:

1. Know and understand:

a. The authority of Christ, and the authority of a believer in Christ;

b. Spiritual weapons of defence and attack;

c. Discernment, intercession, power encounter;

d. Worldviews: Asian, Western, and biblical.

2. Be committed to:

a. Holiness as a way of life;

b. Humility, submission, forgiveness, unity, walking in the light, accountability;

c. Intercession, fasting, making disciples who are free and can set others free.

3. Be able to:

a. Discern tactics of the enemy of souls;

b. Stand, resist, bind, demolish, and overcome in biblical ways;

c. Deliver someone who is demonised.

Then ask yourself 'What outcomes have resulted in my life? Did it work?'

At the end you can ask yourself: 'What changes have I made in the areas of pride, rebellion, fear, false religions, occultism, compulsions, cultural strongholds, unforgiveness, criticism, disunity?’ It will be even more beneficial if you can find a trusted friend who will hear any confessions and statements of faith, and will then pray for you. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of someone right with God is powerful and effective (James 5:16).

Could you organise some discussion?

Do you have a small group that would like to discuss issues raised in this course? Imagine talking about the power of the Creator God, the Victory at Calvary, the authority of the risen Christ, the authority delegated to every believer, spiritual warfare as a normal part of Christian living, the power of the blood of Christ, the power of the name of Jesus, holiness and its link to joy, unity, forgiveness.

Your small group could also morph into a counselling practice session. One or two of you could be posed a counselling question based on the subject matter covered, and the rest of the group could evaluate their response and add what may have been omitted. Some possible questions:

A child is having nightmares. His mother is asking what to do.

Alec cannot seem to grow in his spiritual life. He comes for help.

Seemingly against her will, your beautiful 17 year-old daughter has fallen in love with a member of a different religion.

One of your teenage converts cannot stop looking at pornography.

You suspect that a respected older believer still has charms he hopes will protect him.

A new convert suddenly falls seriously ill. His father is a very wealthy businessman who may have made a sacrifice to his gods asking for prosperity.

back to top

Chapter 1: Worldviews

From the day we are born, we begin to learn about the world we are born into, the ethnic group we belong to, the environment and society around us. We watch. We ask questions. We have experiences. Subconsciously, we absorb impressions about our world, and explanations about why it is that way and how to deal with it. All these add up to our worldview.

Get together with a few friends and discuss each other's worldviews. Find which differences result from different ethnic origins, religions, city or country backgrounds, wealthy or poor backgrounds, levels of education, etc.

Fact or Superstition?

Is there any division between natural and supernatural? Can rocks, trees, mountains, gateposts, etc have supernatural powers in them? If so, are these spirits good or bad? Are humans at the mercy of these spirits? Can we placate them? influence them? control them? trick them? keep them happy? invite them? make them leave? If so, how?

Imagine how a shaman would answer these