Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

116 • P LANTING C HURCHES AMONG THE C ITY ’ S P OOR : V OLUME 1

2. The strong man must be bound: Jesus’ authority over Satan must be enforced (even though he is defeated), 1 Pet. 5.8 with James 4.7. 3. The Church is the Deputy and Agent of the Kingdom of God: she has been granted the right and authority to represent Christ authority in the earth, to do violence against all powers and entities which defy God’s knowledge and authority, 2 Cor. 10.3-5. 4. Church planting is the insertion of God’s troops into enemy territory. Satanic opposition to Christ’s victory and authority is vehement and malicious; only those commissioned with his sovereign Word and Kingdom authority can stand in the evil day, Eph. 6.10-18. According to the Bible, our lives are lived in the midst of an invisible spiritual war. One of the most dangerous things we can do is simply to ignore this reality. We accept the Bible as true but we often live as though the battle existed on some far-off mission field, not here in our city. The fact is, there is a battle raging over your city and it is affecting you right now. . . . Every one of us faces demonic forces in our local environment, but as Christians we are called to a bigger battle. We are contending for our whole generation. We are called to act locally but to think globally.

~ John Dawson. Taking Our Cities for God . pp. 27, 29.

D. The weapons of our warfare, 2 Cor. 10.3-5

2 Cor. 10.3-5 (ESV) – 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. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

1. The whole armor of God, Eph. 6.11

2. Authority (by identification and organic unity with Christ), Eph. 1.13