Sermon Notes: May 24, 2009
Sermon Series: Sermon on Spiritual Warfare
Sermon #1: Standing in the Evil Days
Scripture Ref: Ephesians 6:10-18
10] Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. [11] Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. [12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. [13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. [14] Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; [15] And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; [16] Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. [17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: [18] Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
II Corinthians 10:3-4
{3} ‘For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: {4} For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.’
Introduction:
These verses are great verses to memorize & to keep in mind when we are battling something ---- that is BIGGER than we are. They assure us that these Spiritual Weapons which we have given to us ----as Christians ---have the power ---to DEMOLISH DEMONIC STRONGHOLDS. When the devil sends out his big forces ---- we can get out our big weapons in the LORD & then STAND ASSURED ---- that they are MIGHTY THROUGH GOD & they have THE POWER to give us ABSOLUTE VICTORY & ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH over DEMONIC STRONGHOLDS. There is NO STRONGHOLD ---- that is TOO BIG for GOD to BRING DOWN. We can WALK in VICTORY!
You might say: “That looks like a mighty ROSY PICTURE --- BUT --- it doesn’t look anything like MY LIFE. Hopefully these sermons centered upon SPIRITUAL WARFARE will help us to LIVE in the VICTORY---- CHRIST has PROVIDED for us.
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How many of you KNOW there is a devil out there – because you have come face to face with him a few times yourself? We KNOW that he is real. We may not have seen him face to face but we have most certainly experienced his influence & his impact. I wish there was a place of safety away from him but I don’t know of any. We cannot flee & escape his presence. Everywhere we turn there is the devil’s footprints & fingerprints. There are times when you can literally smell his foul & rank odor.
Why does the devil come about us? [ work – home – church – dark hours of night alone]
It’s NOT that he enjoys our company. It’s NOT that he was in the neighborhood & thought he’d stop by & say “hello.” NO, the devil comes with an agenda & a plan in mind.
John 10:10 ‘The thief comes not, but to steal & to kill & to destroy.’
I Peter 5:8 ‘Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary [enemy] the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.’
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Notice the way in which Paul writes in Ephesians 6:13 [N I V]
‘Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.’
The DAY of EVIL --- STANDING in the DAY of EVIL:
The apostle Paul writes about that day as IF it is a “specific day” that is on its way. A day that has been planned by the devil & has great design to it. A day which the devil has planned for our defeat & our destruction. The day of EVIL. It’s ABOVE & BEYOND any normal day, IF there are any normal days. There are some days when I can SENSE the devil’s presence MORE SO than at other times. You can SMELL a FOUL & RANK ODOR. I think that’s the WAY of the HOLY SPIRIT to tell us to be ON GUARD SPIRITUALLY. “Walk carefully!”
We live in a WORLD of EVIL. All around us every day there is EVIL taking place.
But there are those DAYS when the devil has called together all his demonic imps & demons & he has given them a plan to carry out – a spiritual trap has been set for us ---- & a BAIT has been set to LURE us in to it. It could be his most influential attack upon our lives IF we are NOT PREPARED for it.
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All throughout the O T & the N T we see that. There was a DAY in the lives of GOD’S PEOPLE that would CHANGE them in a NEGATIVE WAY forever IF they were NOT PREPARED on that EVIL day. There is some times when GOD gives us a SPIRITUAL WARNING, SIGNAL but MOST of the time we aren’t notified.
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It might come to you like it did to:
KING UZZIAH: OT He was a good & a godly king. Until one day pride arose within his heart & he walked into the Holy of Holies, a place reserved only for the priests & was struck by the LORD with a DISEASE that would CHANGE the REST of his life.
The place “Holy of Holies” reserved only for the Levite Priests: II Chronicles 26: King Uzziah went into the Holy of Holies & burned incense & was struck with leprosy in his forehead. Azzariah the Priest & 80 other priests went in & forced him out & he lived the rest of his life in an isolated place & died of the leprosy. Before that DAY of EVIL King Uzziah had been a good king. But ONE EVIL DAY:
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It might come to you like it did to:
KING DAVID: O T
King David was taking his innocent evening stroll on the roof top one night but his EYES got away from him & he was UNABLE to DISCIPLINE himself & he didn’t rely on the strength from the LORD & so what occurred was an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, murder & lying & a painful reproach that never left throughout his reign as king. That one EVIL DAY had an effect upon David & his family forever. Before that DAY of EVIL King David had been a man of spiritual integrity that trusted in the LORD. But One EVIL day.
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It might come to you like it did for Ananias & Sapphria in the N T:
They had just gotten saved & joined the local church BUT in a MOMENT of wanting self exaltation --- in a MOMENT of wanting to be GLORIFIED by the church they LIED about the amount of offering they had brought before the LORD.
People were voluntarily selling their houses & lands & giving all the money to the local church. They kept back some of the money & then lied & said they had giving it all. They wanted the glory without making the sacrifice.
Peter said to them: Acts 20 “You have NOT lied to men but to the Holy Ghost” & immediately they dropped dead & were drug outside. Their EVIL DAY came & they were NOT prepared! One EVIL DAY:
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It might come for you like it came for Samson in the O T:
Samson was called by GOD to be a religious leader -- one of the judges of Israel. He lived his life by a NAZARITE VOW. His hair had not been cut & he maintained a very restricted diet. He was a man of GOD. Until a prostitute named Delilah moved into the neighbor & Samson was struck with lust. & his life was changed forever. & his life was cut short. One EVIL DAY:
An EVIL DAY could CHANGE YOU forever & it could CHANGE YOU for the worst. It could bring about GREAT SPIRITUAL DISASTER in your lives.
There are EVIL DAYS planned for us.
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The message this morning is STANDING in those EVIL DAYS:
Ephesians 6: 13-14a ‘Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the EVIL DAY & having done ALL to STAND, STAND therefore…’
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It seems from the way Paul wrote, There are some things we must DO PRIOR to the arrival of the EVIL DAY so that we might be prepared to STAND when it comes.
We cannot WAIT until the EVIL DAY comes & THEN hurriedly try to PREPARE ourselves.
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HOW do we PREPARE ourselves for those EVIL DAYS?
HOW do we PREPARE ourselves for the WORSE THING the devil could bring against us?
HOW do we PREPARE ourselves so that we can STAND STRONG when the devil shoots his biggest gun at us?
STANDING STRONG on EVIL days:
I want to list for us 3 THINGS that we must do to be STRONG in those DAYS when the devil is ATTACKING US with all his might:
& they WILL come.
Job 3: 25 ‘The thing I have feared the most has come upon me.’
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#1: We Must RECOGNIZE the DEVIL’S SCHEME so that we are NOT CAUGHT OFF GUARD & by SURPRISE
1st we must establish the REALITY that we do have a SPIRITUAL ENEMY:
& the devil --- Satan --- has a hoard of DEMONIC SPIRITS who are at his disposal just as the LORD has ANGELS at HIS disposal. They EXIST to serve him & to WORK AGAINST US & to DESTROY US.
Again John 10:10 ‘..he has come to steal & to kill & to destroy us.’
It is NOT a SOCIAL VISIT to catch up on old times.
Have you ever been in a literal knock down drag out fight with somebody?
The devil’s purpose is to knock you down & to knock you out!
& the devil has a plan --- a detailed plan designed especially for our WEAKNESSES.
GOD has a PLAN for our lives.
SATAN has a PLAN for our lives also.
RESIST the PLAN of the devil!
When the DEVIL comes at us the HARDEST is WHEN we are the least EXPECTING it.
SURPRISE ATTACKS by the enemy is going to occur.
We don’t have time to GET READY once he has already attacked. "I wished I’d prayed more & studied the Bible more & gone to church more & done more & been more dedicated & more faithful."
The devil is trying to do something in our lives right now!
Do you KNOW WHAT it is he is trying to do?
He ATTACKS us at our WEAKEST PLACE. Pounding & Pounding & Pounding Away.
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#2: Once we RECOGNIZE the DEVIL’S SCHEMES & PLANS …… we must then RISE UP AGAINST HIM in DIVINE STRENGTH:
We cannot DEFEAT the DEVIL in OUR OWN STRENGTH.
HE can ONLY BE DEFEATED by the STRENGTH of the LORD.
It is GOD that HELPS US to OVERCOME the plans, the schemes & the snares & temptations of the DEVIL.
These Scriptures:
After the Israelites crossed the Red Sea they sang this song of praise unto the LORD.
Exodus 15: 2-3 ‘The LORD is my STRENGTH & song, & HE is become my salvation: HE is my GOD, & I will prepare HIM a habitation: my father’s GOD, & I will exalt HIM. The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is HIS name.’
II Samuel 22:33 ‘GOD is my STRENGTH & power…’
Psalm 18: 2-3 ‘The LORD is my rock, & my fortress, & my DELIVERER, my GOD, my STRENGTH, in whom I will trust; my buckler, & the horn of my salvation, & my high tower, 3: I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be SAVED from mine enemies.’ V#6: ‘In my distress I called upon the LORD, & cried unto my GOD, HE heard my voice out of HIS temple, & my cry came before HIM, even into HIS ears.’ V#17-19 ‘HE DELIVERED me from my strong enemy, & from them which hated me, for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my STAY. HE brought me forth also into a large place, HE DELIVERED me, BECAUSE HE DELIGHTED in me.’
Psalm 27:1-5 ‘The LORD is my light & my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the STRENGTH of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies & my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled & fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, & to enquire in HIS temple. For in the time of trouble, HE shall hide me in HIS pavilion; in the secret of HIS tabernacle shall HE hide me, HE shall set me up upon a rock.’
Psalm 29: 11 ‘The LORD will give STRENGTH unto HIS people….’
Psalm 46: 1 “GOD is our refuge & strength, a very present help in trouble.’
Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all things through CHRIST which strengthens me.’
& with HIS STRENGTH comes ASSURANCE & CONFIDENCE that we are going to WIN the VICTORY over the DEVIL!
NONE of THIS: “Oh I just don’t KNOW what I’m going to do.”
“I don’t KNOW what going to happen next.
Declare by faith & spiritual confidence, we’re going to WIN the BATTLE. VICTORY is in the LORD.
We can’t SING the song: VICTORY IN JESUS & then WORRY about WHAT HAVOC the DEVIL is DOING in our lives.
Romans 8:37 ‘Nay, in all these things we are MORE than CONQUERORS through HIM that loved us.’
Not just CONQUERORS but MORE THAN CONQUERORS:
Little DAVID’S CONFIDENCE in the LORD:
I Samuel 17: 37 ‘David said, “The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, & out of the paw of the bear, HE will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine”…..’
Verses #45 & 46: ‘Then said David to this Philistine, Thou come to me with a sword & with a spear, & with a shield: But I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the GOD of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. THIS DAY WILL the LORD DELIVER THEE INTO MINE HAND, & I WILL SMITE THEE, & I WILL GIVE THE CARCASES OF THE HOST OF THE PHILISTINES THIS DAY UNTO THE FOWLS OF THE AIR & TO THE WILD BEASTS OF THE EARTH; that all the earth may know that there is a GOD in Israel.’
KNOW that we’re going to WIN the BATTLE through the POWER of GOD.
I Corinthians 10: 13 ‘There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, BUT GOD is FAITHFUL, WHO WILL NOT suffer you to be tempted ABOVE that ye are ABLE, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.’
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#3: We must RESIST in the DAILY STRUGGLES:
Most of the time we are TEMPTED by the SAME TEMPTATIONS. They are NOT NEW.
If we were TEMPTED with "X Y Z" today then tomorrow we’ll STILL BE TEMPTED with X Y Z."
The DEVIL DOESN’T GIVE UP EASILY.
II Corinthians 2: 11 “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are NOT IGNORANT of his devices.’
he devil is a DETERMINED ENEMY:
He will keep coming at us with the same WEAKNESSES & STRONGHOLDS again & again & again.
WHEN will we be able to STOP FIGHTING the devil? HEAVEN
& UNTIL THEN we must KEEP ON RESISTING HIM in our daily STRUGGLES:
Don’t GIVE UP NOW ---- HEAVEN could be just over the NEXT HILL.
My TEMPTATIONS are DIFFERENT from yours’ & yours’ are DIFFERENT from mine.
Alcohol – BUD LIGHT & BAR HOPPING are NOT MY WEAKNESSES:
BUT they ARE many people’s WEAKNESESS.
Ephesians 4: 27 ‘Neither give place to the devil’
DON’T LOWER YOUR STANDARD – DON’T GIVE AN INCH
I Corinthians 15:58 ‘Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye STEADFAST, & UNMOVEABLE…’
Have you MOVED?
Just because the MAJORITY is doing it doesn’t mean we have to do it.
KEEP ON RESISTING the DEVIL.
We’re TOO CLOSE TO HOME to FAIL NOW! BE DETERMINED!
Psalm 55: 22 ‘Cast thy burden upon the LORD, & HE shall sustain thee, HE shall never suffer the righteous to be MOVED.’
Paul mentions the word STAND 4 times.
Ephesians 6: 11 ‘Put on the whole armor of GOD that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.’ V13. ‘Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of GOD that you may be able to stand in the evil day, & having done all to stand, Stand therefore.
BUT IF you have FALLEN DOWN--- Don’t listen to the LIES of the devil.
“You’ll never make it.”
“No need to try any longer. You keep on falling down.”
GOD, JESUS, the HOLY GHOST can give us DIVINE DELIVERANCE.
GET UP --- STAND STRONG & PUT THE PAST in the PAST & DECLARE YOUR VICTORY through JESUS CHRIST.
STAND STRONG for JESUS.
When the devil comes against you & reminds you of what you used to do – Your Past
You Remind Him of His Future.
Say: Devil, get behind me. Lean on the LORD.
Declare your VICTORY! Tell the devil:
“I’m NOT the person I used to be. I’m a NEW CREATION in JESUS CHRIST.’
We can ALL FALL DOWN --- ALL of us. & HAVE many times.
But there is the LONG ARM of GOD that REACHES WAY DOWN!
