Power Over The Kingdom Of Darkness

Power Over The Kingdom of Darkness

Study Text: Luke 10:17-20

Introduction:

- As believers of Jesus Christ, we have been given the power and authority over serpents and scorpions and all the powers of the kingdom of darkness.

- We need to understand who we are, and what we have, to be able to operate and enjoy our authority over the kingdom of darkness.

The enemy Satan, knew that his power is inferior to the power of Jesus, and he does not have authority over any true Child of God.

- So, he tries to look for a legal ground in the life of the believers, so as to be able to oppress them. Thus, Satan has no authority over you as a believer unless you give it to him.

- When a believer is ignorant of the authority he has, Satan can have power over that person. That is why we must have the knowledge of our empowerment, and understand how to overcome the powers of darkness.

2 Corinthians 2:11

- We shall be discussing the topic under three subheadings:

1. Uncovering the Strategies of the Serpent

2. Unfolding the Story of the Saviour

3. Unraveling the Strength of the Saints

1. Uncovering The Strategies of the Serpent:

- Satan is the old Serpent, and one of the way of overpowering him is to understand who he is and what his strategies are.

- We need to be aware of the enemy’s strategies. The area where we don’t have revelation-knowledge is the area where he will establish a stronghold and take advantage of our ignorance. 2 Corinthians 2:11

- There are two errors the believers usually make concerning Satan:

- The first one is to underestimate Satan, while the second one is to overestimate Satan.

- The enemy has power, but we must remember that he cannot use his power against us unless we give him the right.

- Always be aware of his devices because he will look for a place to take legal access and have authority in our lives.

- When we sin, our disobedience gives Satan the right to attack our lives.

- The strength of Satan is the ignorance of the believers. When we have the right kind of knowledge of who Satan is, we will know how to prepare against him and we will not fall to his devices.

- Some of the strategies of Satan include:

1. The Strategy of Deception.

- Satan uses the strategy of deception to present himself as the Angel of light, and make the believers to relate with him in his deceptive identity.

- For instance, everyone in Samaria thought the Magician was of God and operating by the power of God until Philip came with the light of the Gospel. Acts 8:1-15

- It was Satan that spoke through the old prophet to deceive the man of God from Judah and made him to go against the Word of God. 1 Kings 13:1-16

2. The Strategy of Enticement.

- Satan can present to you a common thing in an uncommon way to entice you to take the wrong step and sin against God.

- He made Eve to see the forbidden fruit in a special way to be desired, despite the clear warning from God that they should not eat it. Genesis 3:1-6

- This is the major strategy the Devil uses in making the believers to be enticed with sinful things and then fall into the sin against the will of God. James 1: 12-14

3. The Strategy of Persistence:

- This is when Satan visits you persistently so as to succeed in getting you out of several attempts.

- Jesus was tempted by Satan three times in a day in a bid to get Him down in one of the attempts. Until Jesus commanded him to go away, he was still hopeful that he will succeed against Him. Matthew 4:1-10

- Similarly, there were several attempts against Joseph by Portiphar's wife until he had the opportunity of releasing his clothes and running away.

4. The Strategy of Afflictions:

- Satan do come against the believers with afflictions with the aim of making them to deny God, or look for solutions outside God.

- Everything that happened to Job was from Satan, and all he was looking for was for Job to curse God and deny him before he died. Job endured the afflictions and maintained his relationship with God all through, and the Lord delivered him thereafter. Job 1:1-10, 42: 10

- We are encouraged as believers not to allow anyone or anything or any situation to push us away from God or to make us to deny Him. Romans 8:35-39

5. The Strategy of Pride and Arrogance:

- Satan can fill our hearts with pride and arrogance to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, and to look down on other people because of our position or possession.