Spiritual Warfare Explained: What Every Christian Needs to Know

Austin Huang:
Welcome to Everyday Radical, a podcast where we help the everyday Christian follow Jesus and make him known everywhere. We pray that today’s episode encourages you to do just that. So let’s dive right in.
A couple of months ago, there was this TikTok trend about a day that someone had prophesied that Jesus was going to come back. I can say for sure that he did not come back on the day because we were sitting here recording this podcast. So I know that’s not new, that’s happened since Jesus ascended into heaven people have prophesied the day he’s coming back, yet he says “No man knows the day or the hour.” So this is more of a general question for you. Are we in the end times? And what does that actually mean? What does it mean to be in the last days before Christ returns?

David Platt:
Yeah. I remember that day too. I remember one of our pastors, we had kind of group chat and he was like, “You guys still here?” And so different guys start chiming in. But there’s one guy in particular that didn’t chime in very soon, I mean, all these brothers, they love Jesus, they’re walking with Jesus, and this brother in particular, if one of us was gone that day, it would’ve been this guy.

Austin Huang:
It would have been him.

David Platt:
And he wasn’t chiming in. They were like, “Oh no, oh no. We’re all here, but he’s not.” Anyway, all that to say, and I don’t know why we keep guessing. We think we know, when Jesus has made it clear. But I do think he has made clear amidst all the questions about the end times that we are in the last days. But I actually think the last days have been going on since Jesus left this Earth. So we’ve been in the last stage for a long time.
Now you might say, “Okay, well, does that mean we’re not close to Jesus coming back?” Well, I would say we’re closer than they were a thousand years ago. We’re closer than we were yesterday. But we’re in the last days. The last days I would understand biblically as the time between Jesus’ first and second coming.
And I do think that’s not just like a biblical theological question to think about, I think it has huge practical ramifications because I think that Christians in the first century and Christians in the 21st century are both supposed to live like it could happen any day. Like this is the…

Austin Huang:
It’s an urgency.

David Platt:
Yes. With a realization and an expectation, keep your eyes on the sky, Jesus is coming back at any point. Man, my thoughts are going over.

Austin Huang:
Yeah.

David Platt:
I’ll take one more step there. At the same time, the fact that we don’t know if he’s coming back today or tomorrow, maybe this podcast will never be released because he will come back. Yes, amen. Yes, really, come Lord Jesus, come quickly. This should be our continual prayer. But because we don’t know the day, that means we need to live anticipating the day, ready for it to be today, and faithfully working so that if it’s not today, we’re doing what he’s called us to do.
So I think the reality is if we really took it to its logical end, it could happen today. Okay, liquidate all assets, get the gospel to the nations, but then if it doesn’t happen, then tomorrow we have no more assets for the house, we don’t have… Whatever. So I think there’s a tension there that we are supposed to live in, but we need to make sure we don’t lose the first part of that tension that it could be today for any of us at any time.

Austin Huang:
I think that’s helpful to continue to remind ourselves, no one knows the day or the hour. But would you say that we do know kind of signs? Are there signs of the end, closer to the coming of Christ? Are there signs that we should be expecting? I know that people are throwing around the word revival a lot. I’m experiencing a lot of resurgence of belief in the city of Austin where I live, that people who definitely did not look like they were ever going to come to Christ are coming to Christ. Is that a sign of the end or is that … Where do you stand on all that?

David Platt:
Well, I think short answer would be, and part of this dovetails into how one might interpret, and there’s many different interpretations, revelation and other texts that talk about the end times, and not just Revelation, Matthew 24 and 25, Daniel, so part of it hinges on understanding those texts, how we understand those texts, which there’s room for disagreement among Bible believing Christians about that. But when I think about, say, revival, for example, I think that, by God’s grace, has happened at different points in history.
I think about Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, there was massive turning to Jesus of people and Jesus didn’t come back. And so do I want to see that? Yeah. Do I want to be a part of that? Absolutely. Do I think, okay, that means Jesus is coming back. I mean, this isn’t the first generation where God’s worked in mighty ways and drawing many people to Jesus. And think about it. I mean, obviously we always have just one particular glimpse on the world, whether it’s in Austin. I mean, we’re aware, and maybe there’s things happening, but there’s also a whole world where a variety of things are different.
I mean, just like we talk about on this podcast, whether it’s in Nigeria or Brazil or Yemen, well, what God’s work looks like in those places is pretty different right now. So all that to say, when I think about signs of the end times, I do think, now this will kind of start to give away a little bit of my understanding of some of these texts, but Matthew 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come.”
Okay, I actually believe that means the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaiming as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come. So I realize there’s different … Some who would say, “Well, that was fulfilled even in the first century in a particular way.” But I agree with George Ladd who was a New Testament theologian. He said, “That verse is the single most important verse in the word of God for the people of God today.” And he basically said, “The fact that the end hadn’t come means the task is not yet done. So let’s get busy and complete our task and make the gospel known among all the nations.”
We don’t know exactly how nations is defined there beyond the just New Testament word ethnic, but go make disciples of all the people groups of the world. So I think that is part of what I think should motivate us. And it squares with what Jesus said in Matthew 28, 18 to 20, “Go make disciples of all the nations because one day Revelation 7, all the nation’s tribes, tongues, peoples, are going to be represented around the throne of God singing praises for his salvation.” So I know one way to 2 Peter 3, “Hasten the coming of God or coming of Jesus is to live with zeal for the spread of the gospel among all the nations.”

Austin Huang:
And accompanying that, I guess, is the persecution of the gospel that we’re seeing.

David Platt:
Totally. Matthew 24:9–14, right before that.

Austin Huang:
And spiritual warfare is a topic that I feel like he’s very elusive. We don’t really know, what does it look like? But biblically, what does it mean that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers? What does that mean? What does that look like?

David Platt:
Well, and man, to make that connection, because Satan does not want the end to come. Revelation makes really clear what happens to him in the end, and it’s not good news. So he doesn’t want the end to come. So he’s working to keep the end from coming, which just to make the connection there, Satan is aggressively, actively, constantly working to keep the gospel of the kingdom from being proclaimed that all the nations.
Any effort in our lives to spread the gospel to those who haven’t heard it will be met with the force of hell because there’s an adversary who doesn’t want that to happen. So now to kind of come back generally, Ephesians 6, the principalities, there’s an unseen world is what Ephesians 6 is lifting our eyes to. I always think about Elijah and his servant in 2 Kings when the army is surrounding them, it’s two of them in a home, the whole Syrian army is around them and threatening to overtake them and the servant as scared as can be and Elijah is like, “Open his eyes so he can see.”
And God opens his eyes to see that there’s chariots, the Lord’s chariots, and horsemen all around. And because Elijah had said, “There’s more of us than there are of them.” And Elijah’s servant was like, “Really? What are you talking about? ” And yes, there were, because he had eyes to see that which was unseen. I really think, we need eyes to see what’s unseen, that there are spiritual forces of evil principalities, powers, we don’t know exactly how that works. And there’s a lot that’s written about that in spiritual warfare, like territorial powers or principalities or powers who are institutionally this, this…
So I think we’re pressing there biblically, but there are unseen forces of evil that if we could see right now, you and I, if we could see right now would blow our minds and terrify us. I think about Daniel, he saw an angel. He saw one of the good guys and he’s on his face like, “What’s going on here? I’m so scared.” He saw a good guy. So that’s like a reality around us right now, wherever we’re listening to this right now.
And so, okay, that changes your perspective on life. So there’s a spiritual battle. And so what is happening, there’s this adversary and devil and his demons, spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms that want to destroy us. They want to destroy my life, they want to destroy my marriage, they want to destroy my kids, they want to destroy the work I’m doing, they want to destroy… They want to pull us away from God. They want to deceive us, destroy us, and keep us from experiencing life, enjoying and exalting the glory of God.
So that’s happening. That’s a reality in every one of our lives and not just our lives, the lives of every single person around us. So whoa, man, spiritual battle then necessitates spiritual weapons. So yes, man, we got to pray. We got to be in the word because this is how we fight battles with our minds, with what we fill our minds with, with the word of God, with prayer, all the sort of the spirit, all the weapons that Ephesians 6 outlines.

Austin Huang:
With that being said, I guess a more practical note, how do we discern whether we are actually experiencing a spiritual attack, things that we can’t see that are actively going against us? How do we discern between that and just consequences of real life decisions that you made? So for example, I think back to, I never drank coffee ever in college, I drank Red Bulls occasionally, which is arguably worse, but I drank…

David Platt:
Arguably.

Austin Huang:
Arguably.

David Platt:
Yes, exactly.

Austin Huang:
I drank a coffee one time and it was like a quadruple shot of espresso. I had no idea. I didn’t know what I was ordering. So I got this and it was like a Cuban coffee. I drank it on an empty stomach and I have never felt so anxious in my life because I was going off this caffeine crash. And so that’s an example of what I mean. How do we discern between that is just a consequence of my own actions and a spiritual attack?

David Platt:
Well, I would say I do think we have to be careful not to find a demon under every bush.

Austin Huang:
Right.

David Platt:
So at the same time, the adversary is active in our lives, tempting us, trying to lead us in unhelpful ways. And I don’t know, so that circumstance, yeah, the adversary loves to use foolishness and sin. Which, I’m not equating those, that sounds like maybe not necessarily a sinful thing to do to drink that coffee, but probably not wise. But he wants to use foolishness and sin to lead us down unhealthy roads.
But I think the key though is how we respond to all that. Not like, “Okay, what do I label this?” But just like, and this is where I think the New Testament and all of God’s word points us practically is, “Okay, learn to be wise. That was not wise.” Proverbs just are helpful, and I’m not saying there’s a proverb about the quadruple shot or whatever you had, but just wisdom and his word that leads us to … So instead of like …
It’s interesting. We did a whole Secret Church on this, on spiritual warfare years back, but when it comes to the New Testament saying, “Here’s how you fight spiritual warfare,” it’s not by calling out demons and speaking to demons and telling them … It’s by repenting and believing. It’s by walking with Jesus. It’s by pressing in them, it’s by praying, it’s by being in his word. This is how we fight Satan.
So instead of figuring out what principality or power or do I need to call out here? How do I need to pray this down? Just, don’t repent, turn from sin, ask for wisdom and act on the wisdom God gives. Believe in the gospel, believe in his word, live, abide in his love. All the things we know to do. So that’s how we fight spiritual warfare. We don’t need to come up with creative, all this stuff out here and how to fight these unseen powers. The way we fight unseen spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms is by reading the Bible, praying, worshiping, pursuing holiness, being in the community, being in the church.
I mean, the list goes on, all the things that God has clearly told us to do. But then now it’s connected back to the end times, all of us trust in Christ, we want to be ready on that day. We want to be, and this is all the expectations, just be ready, be prepared, be watchful. And how can we be ready? Be doing what God has said to do. Be walking with him, be worshiping, be praying, be living in holiness, be doing all the things, and be making disciples of the nations. Be obedient to him so that you’re ready on that day.

Austin Huang:
And I think that’s the point that, going back to the whole TikTok prophecy, people were getting this spiritual paranoia because of that false prophecy, and that led them to not share the gospel, but to what, hoard toilet paper and canned goods. Have you read the Bible? That’s not what happens. When Christ comes back, he’s not going to just come and knock on your little bomb shelter in your backyard. So I think it’s this …
I’m afraid of biblical illiteracy that we just don’t know the Bible. And I understand that Revelation is a hard book to read and there’s different interpretations of what specific things mean, but what is the overall, what’s going to happen when Christ returns just to clear the air for anyone who might be anticipating that?

David Platt:
Well, I mean, that’s where there still are some differing views about when Christ comes back, what happens after Christ comes back, pre-tribulational rapture, post-tribulational rapture, millennial reign, pre-mill, post-mill, a mill. So I mean, there’s different views on that. I mean, the big picture is ultimately, ultimately, when it’s all been said and done, Revelation 21, new heaven, new Earth, we’re with him and with us, perfect, unhindered, glorious communion with God, free from sin. No more mourning, crying, pain anymore. All things have passed away. We’re just enjoying him for a new creation, and Jesus coming back will lead to that.
I think though, this is what I actually love about the Book of Revelation, it’s one of my favorite books that I’ve taught through, because I think when you look at that book in its context, it is Christians in the first century suffering, experiencing persecution. In the very beginning, John says, “I write this as your brother and your partner in the tribulation and in the patient endurance that are in Jesus.” We’re going through it together. We are trying to patiently endure. There’s temptations to compromise, if it’s sin, there’s temptations to not trust God if it’s suffering and it’s people dying.
And John is writing a book, not to say, let me confuse you with some charts about how all this works out in the end so that you’re just debating with each other all the time. He’s writing this to say, hold fast, hold fast, stay faithful, don’t compromise, fight sin, fight. I mean, the picture of Babylon in the end, Revelation 17 and 18, it’s all the glitz of this world that John himself is tempted to love. He’s like, “In a single hour, it will be laid waste.” It’s, don’t live for this world. This is 1 John magnified. “Do not love this world or the things of this world. Trust in Jesus. Keep proclaiming the gospel.” It’s worth it. It’s worth it. Every nation, tribe, and tongue is going to be ground to stone.
Even when you’re martyred, there’s martyrs around the throne. So you’ve got all these pictures that show Jesus wins and he’s saying it over and over again and all this imagery. So amidst all the disagreements and discussions about the end times, let’s not lose sight of that picture that I think has massive practical implications for the way we live today. Jesus wins. So keep fighting against sin, keep proclaiming the gospel, leading people to Jesus, trusting in God’s sovereignty over all history, including the details of my life, including the trials in my life and the things that I need to patiently endure through because I know they’re not the end of the story.
There’s so much there that is so encouraging and hope giving. Man, I’m just thinking about trials in my own life right now. Yes, I need to remember they’re not the end of the story. And they’re not all … There is, there’s a bigger picture happening here and one day no more tears, no more crying, no more pain. So I can live with that hope today.

Austin Huang:
The last question that I kind of want to land on, just setting it up, the book of Joel starts out with this end times picture of the day of the Lord, this darkness that’s coming over. And it’s in Chapter 1 or Chapter 2, he’s like, “Why do you want the day of the Lord?” The day of the Lord is destruction. It’s not fun and games. People are going to die.
So that brings, I think, a lot of people fear, but also as Christians, we have hope and we say, “Maranatha, Come, Lord Jesus.” That’s our literal scripture, that’s how it ends. So how do we, as Christians, what do we do so that we can proclaim this hope, but also have this sense of urgency that y’all, if Jesus comes back tomorrow, it’s not going to end good for you. Your bomb shelter is not going to cut it.

David Platt:
Man, that’s so important. And I think this is where Revelation, when it talks about God’s word like a scroll that’s both sweet as honey and bitter, the day of the Lord is both. It is sweet for all who trust in Jesus and it is terrifying for all those who don’t know Jesus. And okay, so I would just say, okay, let’s step into that today in our lives, let’s live with truly eager anticipation for that day. Let’s not love anything in this world more than we want that day. Let’s not think, oh Lord, come back, after this or that, or I really want to … No, there’s nothing in this world that compares.
This is Psalm 27, the culmination of it. I’m going to see your glory. So sweet, eternal life, free, and let that bring you encouragement in your trials, all those things. And then at the same time, yes, may that fuel urgency in our lives to share the gospel with those who are not in Jesus today so they can be ready for that day. This is Ezekiel, you’re a watchman on the wall and if you know judgment is coming and you know the army’s about to invade, you see it and you say nothing people will die.
He says you are responsible, not for what that army did, but for not warning them. So man, let’s warn people with urgency today, share the gospel with urgency today and not just around us, let’s work to make this day for the nations sweet through the spread of the gospel to them with urgency, again, knowing that this is that one day Jesus is going to come back to receive the reward. He deserves his praise, so let’s live to make him know then and let’s do it with realization that it’s not going to be easy, but it’s going to be worth it. Amen.

Austin Huang:
Thanks so much for joining us today on Everyday Radical. If this episode stirred your heart for Christ and his mission, our hope is that you would check out some of our previous episodes as well. And do not forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on what’s ahead. Let’s keep making Jesus known everywhere together. See you next time.