Frankie Mazzapica - Spiritual Warfare - Part 1
The title of today’s message is «Spiritual Warfare: Part One.» Next week, I’ll do Part Two, and the week after that, I’ll have Part Three. Maybe it will go longer, but for those of you who attend church here, you know I don’t typically do series. Many of my friends do series, and I admire them; I know people enjoy series. However, by the time I reach Part Two, I’m bored with the topic and want to discuss something else. This is why I don’t do many series, but spiritual warfare is so important right now that I know you need to be well-versed in warfare to be victorious in 2025. So, let’s cover three major points. The first one is the awareness of warfare, the second one will discuss specific strategies that the enemy uses during warfare, and the third point will address the primary weapon that we have.
Let’s dive in. We need to acknowledge the reality that we are in warfare every time you wake up. Demons from hell are set out to rattle you, discourage you, tempt you, and destroy you. Let me state that again: every time you wake up, there are demons to tempt you toward sin, and there are demons to make your heart cold toward the Lord. Let me tell you that people who are cold toward the Lord, people who are indifferent—those who are not passionate—they don’t ignore it; they are just indifferent. That is a spirit from hell, affecting that person each morning, causing indifference. We must instill this mindset: life is not a picnic; it’s warfare. When we wait for smooth waters in our lives, they never come. From the moment you have been on this earth, you have been fighting battles.
What did you do right away? You cried! Then, you reach an age where it’s not appropriate to yell. I think we need to reconsider that as adults; we just want to yell like Bugs Bunny used to, in a brown paper bag, then open it. However, I want to get back to yelling again! Every day you wake up, the enemy is after your children. The enemy does not care about age; a baby can be 48 hours old, and you can be 44, 94, or 104. Every day—let me bring in some scripture to support this. In Ephesians 6:12, it says, «We are not wrestling against our mother-in-law, our father, our brother, our sister, our uncle, our neighbor, our boss, our co-worker.» That’s the Frankie International Version! We are not wrestling against flesh and blood. If you can touch them, that’s not your battle. We are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against evil spirits in an unseen world.
In Psalms 34:7, it states that there’s an angel above your head to deliver you. In that unseen world, there are also little critters, rats, and bats flying above your head—demonic spirits sent to torment us. We are not wrestling against flesh and blood but against evil rulers and authorities in an unseen world, against mighty powers in a dark world, against evil spirits in heavenly places. Often, we think we are unique, facing battles that are more intense than everyone else’s. I want you to know you are not unique! The person next to you is fighting an intense battle; they are believing God for a miracle. Why? Because they are in a war. The war may look different from yours, but they are in a war.
Let me say this: in 1 Peter 4:12, it says, «Don’t think that something strange is happening to you when fiery darts come your way.» Nothing strange is happening. In 1 Peter 5:9, it states, «Remember that all believers around the world are fighting the same battles that you are.» But as soon as one battle is over, the next one comes. I remember being around 13 or 14 years old, and I had 13 or 14-year-old problems. My dad had an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Do you remember Oldsmobiles? It had about 900,000 miles on it, and he had to pump the gas to get it to start. Some of you know what that problem is. It could have been a $10 problem or a $10,000 problem; we didn’t have either. I remember driving down the road, and my dad wanted to cover the inspection sticker with his hand because it was expired. It was like 40 bucks or something like that, and we didn’t have that!
I remember thinking, «God, if you would just please make sure my car was better than that, all my problems would be gone.» Then someone came along, and my dad said, «Someone’s going to give you a truck!» I was like, «Thank you, Jesus!» But then I got the truck, and I promise you, the cab of the truck did not match the bed. I don’t know how that happened. No rims matched each other; no tires matched each other. I had a boom box. You guys know what that is? Some of you have no idea—it’s a bigger iPhone! No, it’s a boom box with an antenna coming out of it. I’d put tapes in it and play it real loud, seat-belted into my car. I thought, «As soon as I get out of my dad’s car, everything will be fine.» Then my car was bad.
I remember saying, «God, if you would just let me get married, all my troubles would go away.» Some of you are laughing too hard; your spouse is sitting right next to you. We get married, and all of a sudden we realize we have no money! You could vacuum our whole apartment without unplugging the vacuum! Someone gave us a TV, and it was sitting on a box; we were sitting on the floor, and I said to God, «If you just give us some money, everything will be okay.» One thing after the next, I thought, «God, if you just give us ten people when we start the church…» That’s what I was believing for. Four showed up to the first service. Sometimes people tell me 120 showed up to our first service—praise God! But I’m like, «We didn’t even know 120 people!» Four showed up for the first service.
I remember telling Ally, «I can’t speak to four people; I just can’t. I can speak to ten, but I can’t speak to four!» That was our goal. «God, please give us a building; I promise I won’t want anything else!» Then we got a building, and we couldn’t pay for the dumb thing! If it’s not one thing, it’s another. We will always be in the middle of a war. We need to get that in our heads. Just say it to yourself in the middle of the day: «I’m in the middle of a war. I’m in the middle of a war. I’m in the middle of a war.» We need to establish this in our minds; we will never not be in the middle of a war. Did you get that?
Now, let’s move to the next point. My wife told me one time, «You don’t have to hit the same point over and over again. We’re smarter than you think we are.» Moving on to knowing the enemy’s strategy—this is fascinating to me! In 2 Corinthians 2:11, it says we should not be unaware of Satan’s schemes. We should not be unaware. You know, when a baby screams on its first day alive, it has no idea what’s going on. But when you get to our age, we should be aware! I know what you’re doing, devil! Sometimes we feel down and don’t know why we feel down; we feel discouraged, but we don’t know why we feel discouraged. That’s a spirit just pulling you down.
Have you ever had a good day, then go home and suddenly feel mad, depressed, or down? You think, «This isn’t right!» There’s a spirit in your home tormenting you. Or the reverse: you wake up, thinking, «God is good,» and you walk out the door, and there’s a demon waiting outside. Are you with me? It’s constant. We have to recognize, «I know what you’re doing.»
Let me introduce my third point: our primary weapon. In tandem with our primary weapon is filling our mouth with praise. What I’ve noticed is that my emotions follow my chin. When my chin is down, my spirit is down. When my chin is up, the Lord lifts my spirit! I want to let you know the enemy wants your chin down; he wants you looking down so that you can focus on him. When you’re looking down, he’s pulling you down, but when you look up, you’re looking at him, and he’s pulling you up. Warfare is not complicated; it’s fundamental. It’s basic! Like when you first play golf, the very first lesson will be to keep your head still. Twenty years later, when you’re not hitting well, someone will come along and tell you to keep your head still—back to basics! Are you with me?
One of the basics is filling your mouth with praise in the middle of warfare. Nothing makes the devil angrier than when he’s on a full-fledged attack, and you’re celebrating that God is good. God is good all the time! This truth must be in your spirit. Are you with me? David said this in Psalms 34:1: «I will bless the Lord at all times.» He doesn’t say, «I will bless the Lord when I’m having a good day,» or «I will bless the Lord when I’m getting all green lights,» or «I will bless the Lord when people are being nice.» No! He’s saying, «I’m going to bless him all the time! All the time!» Whether it’s raining or shining, I’m blessing the Lord.
The other day, I came across a guy who inspired me for the rest of my life. He picks up trash, and I hope he inspires you, too. He said, «Hey, John, when you get to heaven, what are you going to ask God?» I said, «Why did you choose me? Who am I that you chose me? I can walk on the streets made of gold! You’ve got a house for me up there! Look at those streams and rivers!» I can’t stop smiling down here; how am I going to stop smiling up there? What do you think God would say to you? «You could have done so much better; I had so much more for you, you big dummy!»
What do you have to say to someone who’s trying to believe in God but can’t? The simplest answer ever: I heard it from a young boy. «God, I need 15 seconds of your time. Bow down and say, 'Lord, if you’re real, make yourself real to me. Speak to me! '» I could keep you here all day with stories. My God has been great to me, and I appreciate you coming around to encourage me and invigorate me again about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
How are we doing, ladies? How’s life? Great! Did I turn my microphone off? Okay, now it’s on! You can’t get him down. Why do you think he has no problems? You think life is good for him, but it’s hard for you? We’re all in the middle of warfare! What’s the difference? Why is he so full of joy? He can’t stop praising God! He can’t believe how wonderful it is that he picked me! My goodness—he’s got streets of gold and rivers! Of course I’m going to keep on smiling here; I’ll keep on smiling there! When joy is coming out of your mouth, you are winning.
Those who praise the Lord do not lose. When you’re in the middle of warfare and praising God, you are winning! Are you with me? Let me say this about Satan’s strategies: sometimes he’ll whisper in your ear or to your mind, because your mind is the battleground of warfare. Every morning, without fail, before I open my eyes, I’m awake, but my eyes are not open. These terrible thoughts come to my mind—depressing, overwhelming, discouraging thoughts flood my mind. I haven’t even opened my eyes yet! I know there’s a battle, but can I at least have a cup of coffee first?
So, I start off with the most basic thing: «Thank you, Lord, for this pillow. Thank you, Lord, for this bed. Thank you, Lord, for my family. Thank you for my house. Thank you for always watching over me. Thank you that you’ve always protected me. I thank you for the angels I cannot see.» Gratitude in praise eventually pushes out these strategies and muzzles the enemy’s ugly mouth.
So far, we’ve discussed the reality of warfare and the strategies of warfare. Now, point number three: our primary weapon. Our primary weapon is the Word of God. In Ephesians 6:17, it says, «Take the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.» The Sword of the Spirit is the Bible; the Word of God.
Now, what I’ve learned over the years is that sometimes, we get stuck where we don’t grab hold of scriptures because we don’t think we know enough about them for them to work for us. That’s the enemy! One scripture can make you victorious. Here’s one: many of you already know it, and if you don’t, you will before you leave. «No weapon formed against me shall prosper.» That’s really the only one you need! But I want to tell you there’s something powerful when you also know the address.
We’re going to learn the address! It’s in Isaiah 54:17. It says, «No weapon formed against me shall prosper.» I want you to say it three times: «No weapon formed against me shall prosper.» One, two, three—go! No weapon! Say it again! No weapon! Say it again! No weapon! When thoughts come to your mind, like they do to me in the morning, remind the devil: I know what you’re doing. It’s not going to prosper! That thought is a weapon.
The enemy will use thoughts. He’ll whisper in your ear, and sometimes people will say things to you, and the enemy will say, «That’s true! That’s true!» I have a friend in this room right now. This person kept being told, «We’re poor. We’ll always be poor.» My friend recognized this as an attack from the enemy, using it as a weapon. «That weapon will not prosper! I will not be poor!» God is doing something in me that you don’t know about!
What would happen if, instead, that person walked up and said, «We’re poor, but we’re not going to be poor long!» What would happen one day if he walked up to her, holding a check written in his name for a million dollars? «No weapon formed against me shall prosper!»
The next time someone says to you, «You have a cold heart; you don’t love God,» just tell yourself, «I’m not the person I used to be; I’ll be stronger in the future.» I know what’s happening—right now, the devil is using that as a weapon! It will not prosper! People will come to you and tell you, «You’re a mean person; you’re abusive.» Every time you make me mad, I’m going to remind you of who you are!
You can step back and say, «That’s a weapon the devil is using against me! It will not prosper! I’m not that person anymore. I’m a man of God! You don’t know what God is doing in me!» For that matter, He’s doing things in me that I don’t know about.
Let me tell you, for those of you who have been poor or have been weak—people have doubted you your entire life, and look where you are now! Tell them to get in line; they’re with everybody else! There have been a few who tell me who I’m going to be in the future. You’re just like everybody else, and I’m proving them wrong! I’ll prove you wrong!
Every time you mess up, every time you stumble, every time you bring a check home, and someone says, «Look where you’re at!» You back up and say, «I know! That’s a weapon from the devil. Keep an eye on me! Watch where God takes me!»
In Philippians 2:13, it says that God is working in you, giving you the power and desire to please Him. God is working in you! I don’t know who else is saying that to you; I want to tell you God is working in you! When you need a scripture inside your soul, you say, «God is working in me!» When someone says something or when you think your own thoughts, back up and say, «God is working in me!»
You know what I love about how God formed you and how He formed me? Your brain can only think one thought at a time; it can’t think two thoughts at a time. So, you have to remove the bad thought and replace it with the good thought. When the enemy whispers something in your ear, you need to remove and replace it. Isaiah 54:17 is a weapon the devil will use. It will not prosper!
God is doing something in me that you cannot see, and when you trip or when you fall, people will come up to you and say, «Told you so! Told you so!» You step back and remember, «I’m not a finished product! God’s not done working on me!»
You can look right at the devil with those thoughts and say, «I’m not a finished product! God’s still working on me! He hasn’t made me perfect, but He’s working on me! He’s making me stronger! He’s doing things in me that you don’t know about, and for that matter, He’s doing things in me even I don’t know about. One thing I do know: John 5:17—God never stops working!»
Can I get a chair up here, please? Oh boy! I hear the same things you hear. There’s a scripture I want to encourage you with because with spiritual warfare, I want you to know the power of the believer—not the power of spiritual giants, but the power of those who believe in Him! In Ephesians 2:6, it says that when God raised Jesus, He also raised you! The Bible says in Romans 10:9 that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is in us!
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:6 that when God raised Jesus, He also raised us. Watch this; this is going to blow your mind! We are seated with Him in heavenly places! Let me illustrate. Where is Jesus right now? He’s at the right hand of the Father; He’s sitting at the Father’s right hand. Here’s the Father; here’s Jesus on the throne, seated in heavenly places.
For the sake of this illustration, He’s not taking up the whole throne; He’s only sitting on half of it because you are seated with Him! This is why Jesus said in John 14:12, «You will do greater things than me because I’m returning to the Father!» You have the same authority as Jesus as the believer! But we don’t walk in that authority because we don’t believe it!
We walk around getting our tails kicked with spiritual warfare. But just this one thought, this one sentence—because of the authority that the Lord has given you, the devil leaves so fast! Let me illustrate this with a story, and I’ll end quickly because I don’t like speaking this long.
I was sleeping one night, and I’ve told this story before, but it’s worth reiterating for this topic. I was in a dream, and my spirit came out of my body. I was in this house, and I didn’t walk; I just moved around the corner into another room. When I went into this room, there was a demon there.
Now let me tell you two things: Demons don’t look like you think they look. You might think they look like creatures from a bar at a Star Wars movie, but that’s not how they look. Depending on the type, they can all look different. The one that I saw was a flame. This makes sense because biblically, there are angels that circle the throne as flames of fire, and Satan took out one-third of those angels.
The demon I saw was a flame about that high, burning this way and that way. When I came around the corner, I froze. There is no fear on this earth comparable to the fear of being in the presence of a manifested demon. If I brought you into a plane 10,000 feet in the air and pushed you out—no parachute—the fear you would experience falling would be nothing compared to the fear of that moment!
I couldn’t even scream; I was frozen in fear! But from the depths of my spirit, deep down inside, the spirit of the Lord came out and burst from my mouth, and I shouted, «Get out of this house!» That flame left faster than you can blink! I’m telling you, it was quicker than that! The spirit of the Lord, the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead, is in you, and you are seated with the Lord in heavenly places with authority—authority that scares the enemy!
With one sentence—"Satan, I know you’re in this house. Get out!"—you reclaim your space. This is the church; get out! I know you’re in this car; get out! I know you’re whispering; get out! The authority of the believer is powerful!
Next week, I’ll talk about Part Two. Stand up and give the Lord a standing ovation! Come on, thank you, Jesus! Give Him a standing ovation! Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Lord!
As I mentioned, next Sunday, we will anoint every person in the sanctuary as the first Sunday of the year. But this Sunday, we are going to close the service by singing a worship song. There is no official dismissal—feel free to leave whenever you are ready—but let’s worship. Please, nobody leave; let’s sing one more worship song before anyone goes.
For some of you, the miracle you need is urgent. Sometimes you have a miracle, and you have enough energy and faith to sustain you for a few more days, weeks, whatever. But there are others who need it now! If that’s you in the room, there will be prayer partners coming down to pray with you.
Then there are others—if your heart were to stop beating in the next five minutes, you’re not ready to meet the Lord! No one needs to tell you that; you already know. I want you to know you’re the most important person in the room because someone your age on this planet died this week. You’ll know when you’re about to have that last breath, that last beat.
I want you to come down here and pray with a prayer partner. Prayer partners, would you come down? If all the prayer partners are busy, just go to the bottom of the aisle. We’ve got the finest ushers in the world who will stand there with you and point you to the first available prayer partner.
May the Lord bless you. May He keep you. May His face shine down upon you and be gracious to you. May His countenance be lifted up on you and bring you peace. In Jesus' name, amen.