In the Old Testament the enemies of Israel were visible; their warfare was with a physical enemy; the combat was earthly, identifiable with the eyes and even fought with physical weapons. David saw Goliath and defeated him with a literal stone and slingshot; Samson pushed against actual pillars and brought down a temple which killed many Philistines; and Jael actually put a tent peg through the head of Sisera while he slept in her tent. Enemies you can see may seem more easily defeatable, but they are not any less intimidating. Remember Nehemiah and the words spoken by Sanballat and Tobiah intimidating the workers on the wall around Jerusalem? Their words paralyzed the people and one decree from the king stopped the work they were doing.

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6, our battle is not physical, but spiritual. We have moved from ground warfare, hand to hand combat, from a physical enemy we can see, to a spiritual enemy we hear. Voices seek to initimadate, lies seek to paralyze, and words seek to torment. The rise in mental illness in our nation is due to the onslaught of voices people are hearing, believing and obeying. We are in psychological warfare on a daily basis. Is it any wonder Joyce Meyers book Battlefield of the Mind was so popular?

Praying Psalm 3 this morning the psalmist said, “O LORD, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, There is no deliverance for him in God.” The Holy Spirit said to me, “Adversaries are vapors without substance what waft in but are easily rebuked and resisted. If you don’t resist and rebuke adversarial vapors, they will rest and remain in your thoughts.” Immediately I heard the verse, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you!”

Friends, we have been given authority to resist and rebuke the lies of the enemy. They are only vapors, they are easily rebuked and resisted, but we must stop entertaining them; echoing them; and believing them. The adversary told the psalmist, there is no deliverance for him in God. That is a lie. What is the adversary that is increasing and arising telling you? Write it down, read it, look at it, it is not true, it is a vapor you are to resist and rebuke. The warfare is real, the vapors are wafting in, but we must rebuke and resist them for he is the father of lies, so nothing he says will come to pass. Repent of letting the lies of the adversaries rest and remain in your thoughts. We have a Savior and His name is salvation, Jesus!!!!