SC 9/5/2008
Winning your spiritual battles
2 Corinthians 10:1-5
Ephesians 6:10-20
Intro-
I want to talk to you about winning your spiritual battles. I want you this morning to understand a few facts- God loves you, more than you will ever know. Satan hates you, more than you will ever know. There is a physical realm. Life as we can see it. There is a spiritual realm, where there is war going on for the battle of our souls and eternity. I don’t mean to scare you, I am not a demon chaser. I don’t see demons behind every door, but I realize that we must know what we are up against and how God has provided every tool necessary to live a life not only pleasing to God, but also victorious.
Everything we need is told to us in the word of God. Guidance, wisdom, armor and weapons. We have the power to stand firm when we are under attack.
I think we must first identify the enemy.
1. In some cases it is demonic. Evil tempting us to fall away from our relationship with God.
2. Our flesh- our own personal desires that cause us to move away from God.
A lot of times, the devil didn’t make us do it, we just are weak in our own personal desires.
Read 2 Corinthians 10:1-5
Paul tells us as meek and gentle as I can ,that as a believer we are at war. We don’t fight like the world does, we don’t live by the same standards, we don’t use the same weapons. We have divine power as believers in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit of God is present and dwelling inside of us. Power to demolish strongholds, power to set captives free, power to identify the enemy, power to take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ.
It is not a question of if you will be attacked, the question is how will you handle it when it comes, and will you be able to identify it.
Christians today are living like they are on the playground, but they are really on the battlefield.
“Onward Christian soldiers , marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ, the royal master, leads against the foe, forward into battle see his banner go ”
Illustration-
Jack Handey in his book Fuzzy moments writes- “there use to be this bully who would demand my lunch money everyday. Since I was smaller, I would give it to him. Then I decided to fight back.. I started to take karate lessons, but the instructor wanted 5 dollars a lesson. That was a lot of money. I found out that it was cheaper to pay the bully so I gave up karate.
To many times, we find it easier to pay the bully than learn how to defeat him.
1999 Gallup poll
86-95 percent of people believe that there is a God.. 63 percent believe there is a devil. (He likes that.) Either Christians underestimate him ,and fall into temptations and traps or they overestimate him , run around in fear and live defeated lives.
We must acknowledge there is a foe, become aware of his tactics, but not be scared by them.
Spiritual warfare by definition is the battle that goes on in the invisible, and it affects us in our everyday lives.
We see attacks in our families
we see attacks in our workplace.
We see it in our churches.
Our shield against these attacks is the armor God has provided for each believer , lead by the shield of faith.
Illustration
There was once a boxer who was being pummeled in the ring by his opponent. Blow after blow his adversary left him with a bloody nose, swollen eyes, and an enormous amount of pain. The battered boxer’s trainer , trying to encourage his man between rounds, kept telling him, your doing great, Fred. That bum is barely touching you. The boxer responded , “then you better keep your eye on that referee, because somebody is killing me”.
Illustration-
In 2001 I collapsed at church from pain in my belly area. I went to the doctors office for test. The radiologist would not tell me what he saw, I knew it was bad. He sent me down to the emergency room and told me the doctor would tell me what is going on. He told me to call my wife and get her here as soon as possible. He told me I would be admitted.
Folks, listen to me That is not the time that we learn on the job training, that is not when we go - now what do I do That is the time that you realize it is serious and you begin to bombard heaven for direction and answers and healing.
The devil is a deceiver, crafty, corrupted 2 Corinthians 11:3
the devil strikes at our weaknesses.
1. He doesn’t say- I’ll lead you to have an affair that will ruin your marriage. No, he says she fine looking, I would like to spend some time to get to know that person better.
2. He doesn’t say I’ll make you a alcoholic- he says- that drink looks good, just try it you’ll like it. Maybe even put a pretty umbrella in it so it looks harmless.
Satan’s objection
1. Draw us away from God.
2. Ruin God’s purpose for your life.
3. Deny God any praise and glory
4. Seeks to destroy you
God’s objection
1. Draw you into a relationship with Him (He made the first move)
2. Give you purpose for your life.
3. Creates in you a heart of worship, exalts us to praise Him.
4. Seeks to give you life, not destroy it, but to restore it to what it should be.
We cannot defeat Satan in our own strength .in our own Intelligence, in our cleverness.
No- where does it tell us to take on the devil, go looking for trouble, to seek a fight with him.
God word says to resist the devil and his temptations.
Put on the whole armor of God. The armor God provides us. To stand firm when the fiery darts are thrown.
When we stand firm in the strength of the Lord- he will flee
The war was won on the cross Jesus has already done that. Bible tells us we are already victors in Jesus. We just need to live like it.
Our stance is I cannot defeat him in my own strength, but I can resist him and trust Jesus Christ to defeat him.
“I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me” phil 4:13
Book of Job
God limited what Satan could do
God limited the amount of time he suffered
God turned it around
God got the glory, Job was a testimony.
The fiery darts
fear, doubt, lust, loneliness, jealousy, rejection, guilt, greed, unforgiveness, anger, discouragement, pride.
When you are attacked- know this:
1. God will help you
“surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear to dull to hear.”
2. The attack won’t last forever
humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you.
3. You’ll be stronger afterwards
Peter says- even the angels long to look into these things(what things) the power of Jesus Christ working in the lives of the believers.
Jesus is the new birth, he is our living hope, he is our inheritance. He is the shield of faith by God’s power, our salvation to be revealed in the last days.
Submit yourself then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands sinners, purify your hearts, you double minded. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
God desire is that we are able to put out those fiery darts and flaming arrows in the power of God working in our lives.
Closing:
what can we do?
1. Realize that we need spiritual discernment.
2. Rely on the Holy Spirit to be our source.
3. Study God’s word
Psalm 119:66- “teach me good judgement and knowledge”.
Unbelievers cannot have spiritual discernment. They do not have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit who gives discernment.
1 Thess. 5:21
“Test everything, hold unto the good, avoid every kind of evil.
May God himself, the God of peace, Sanctify you through and through.
Illustration
a little boy who lived far out in the country in the late 1800’s had reached the age of twelve and had never in all his life seen a circus. You can imagine his excitement, when one day a poster went up at school announcing that on the next Saturday a traveling circus was cominig to the nearby town. He ran home with the glad news and the question, Daddy, can I go? Although the family was poor, the father sensed how important this was to the lad. If you do your Saturday chores ahead of time, he said, I’ll see to it that you have the money to go. Come Saturday morning, the chores were done and the little boy stood by the breakfast table, dressed in his Sunday best. His father reached down into the pocket of his overalls and pulled out a dollar bill- the most money the little boy had possessed at one time in all his life. The father cautioned him to be careful and then sent him on his way to town. The boy was so excited, his feet hardly seemed to touch the ground all the way. As he neared the outskirts of the village, ne noticed people lining the streets, and he worked his way through the crowd until he could see what was happening. Lo and behold, it was the greatest thing the lad had ever seen. Caged animals snarled as they passed, bands, beat their rhythms and sounded shining horns, midgets performed acrobatics while flags and ribbons swirled overhead. Finally, after everything had passed where he was standing, the traditional circus clown, with floppy shoes, baggy pants, and a brightly painted face, brought up the rear. As the clown passed by, the little boy reached into his pocket and took out the precious dollar bill. Handing the money to the clown, the boy turned around and went home. What had happened? The boy thought he had seen the circus when he had only seen the parade. Are you experiencing all that God has for you?
Do you know God’s voice? His Still small voice.
Most do not get quiet enough to hear him.
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord
today surrender to Jesus
take the authority we have in Jesus.
Take captive of your thoughts
