Responding To Spiritual Attacks Series

To fulfill the task of protecting us the angels fight against the devil and all our enemies, and carry out God’s vengeance. - John Calvin(1)

In Billy Graham’s book Angels: God’s Secret Agents, there is the story of a missionary named John Paton who was stationed along with his wife in the New Hebrides Islands. One night they were surrounded by hostile natives who were intent on killing the Patons and burning the station. Paton and his wife prayed through the night in hopes that God would deliver them. When dawn arrived the natives were gone.

One year later when the tribal chief was led to Christ, Paton asked him why they did not attack. The chief was very surprised by Paton’s question. He asked, “Who were all those men you had with you there?” Although Paton didn’t know of any other men, the chief stated he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments that encircled the mission station with their swords drawn. Billy Graham asks, “Could it be that God sent a legion of angels to protect His servants, whose lives were being endangered?”(2)

God’s Word this evening will portray an account very similar to this one, and what I hope we will discover is that there is an unseen war that is taking place around us at all times, and the devil is working hard against those who serve and obey the Lord. The main thing that I want us to see is how we should respond to the attacks of the devil, thus the title of our sermon is “Responding to Spiritual Attacks.”

Hearing and Obeying God (vv. 8-10)

8 Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.” 9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” 10 Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.

We read here of how the Lord was watching out for his people Israel, for as the Syrian king was planning on the location in which to attack Israel, the Lord spoke to “the man of God” here, who was Elisha, and He warned him of the location of the Syrian camp. In obedience to the revelation from God, Elisha then informed the king of Israel so that Israel would not be caught off guard or ambushed. The Israelite king then deployed a soldier in that area to check out the situation, and when he relayed back the information that Elisha’s report was true, Israel did not go that way.

We learn here that the Lord speaks to us, and He expects us to respond to Him in obedience. The Israelite king was obedient not to go the way in which Elisha had warned him, and Elisha was obedient as well, for he chose to speak to the king of Israel after God’s revelation was given. The Lord does speak. God will speak to our hearts in our prayer time; He will speak to us through the Scripture; He will speak through circumstances; and He will speak to us through His people, the church. When God speaks, we have a choice to be obedient or disobedient, and hopefully we will all respond in obedience to what He asks. This is what I encourage you to do – whenever the Lord speaks, step out in faith and do exactly what He asks!

The Enemy Will Attack (vv. 11-14)

11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 13 So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” And it was told him, saying, “Surely he is in Dothan.” 14 Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

The king of Syria was perplexed as to how the Israelites were avoiding his attacks, and he asked if there were a spy among his own royal court and soldiers. One of the servants replied that there was not a spy among them, but that Elisha the prophet was warning Israel of his planned attacks. After he found out what Elisha was doing, he sent some soldiers to go and find him. The king did not send just a few soldiers either; he sent “a great army there” (v. 14).