THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT SATAN AND HIS HELPERS
Text: Ephesians 6:10 – 12
Introduction:
• Sunday morning March 29, I made a statement – “we are under attack”
• In past 6 months:
o Dealt with a crime spree in church neighborhood and my neighborhood
o Deaths of loved ones
o Family members losing jobs
o Illnesses
o Hospitalizations
o Family members battling drug problems
o Other problems
• In past several weeks:
o Two church members in car accidents
o Two visitors in arguments at church
o Andrea’s dad had heart attack
o Turmoil over family problems
• Easy to get discouraged and want to give up
• Good news is that God has been there through it all
o No one injured in accidents
o Andrea’s dad at hospital during heart attack
o Sick have gotten better
• I believe that satan and his helpers are behind all this
• Set out to glorify God, edify the church, and testify to the lost – wants to stop us any way that he can
• Ephesians 6:10, 11 says to “be strong in the Lord” and to “stand against the wiles of the devil”
• James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
• I think that is exactly what we should do – stand and resist
• Three things we need to remember about satan and his helpers:
I. satan and his helpers are powerful, but God is more powerful
o May be able to cause sickness and death
o May be able to cause accidents
o May be able to incite trouble and turmoil
o Satan is a created being:
i. Can only be one place at a time – God is everywhere
1. Psalm 139:7 – 10
ii. Has limited knowledge – God knows everything
1. Psalm 139:1 – 4
iii. Has limited power – God can do anything
1. Genesis 18:14 “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?”
o Satan and his helpers are powerful; but God is more powerful
o 1 John 4:4 “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
II. satan can take a lot away from us, but he can never separate us from God
o Job – satan took his cattle, his camels, killed his servants, killed his children, inflicted Job with boils and sickness, and sent “friends” to accuse him and discourage him
o Satan had to get God’s permission before he could do anything
o God allows satan to do things like this sometimes to remind us that we need to trust Him, to deepen our faith and our relationship with him, to make us stronger
o Satan may have gotten permission to cause Brian, Corie, and the kids to be in an accident, but God didn’t give him permission to injure them or to take their lives
o Satan may have gotten permission to cause problems at VBS, but God didn’t give him permission to stop it or to hurt anyone that was there
o God is still in control
o 1 Corinthians 10:13 “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 ye may be able to bear it.”
o Romans 8:35 – 39
III. satan may cause us heartaches and trouble now and then, but God wins in the end
o God’s Word tells us time and time again about how satan tried to destroy God’s people
i. Tried to kill all the Jewish males in Egypt, but God saved Moses
ii. Tried to kill the Israelites at the Red Sea, but God made a way and destroyed the enemy
iii. Afflicted God’s people through the Midianites, Amorites, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, but God always spared a remnant, and those nations were destroyed
iv. God was there when David stood before Goliath
v. God was there on Mt. Carmel when Elijah took on the prophets of Baal
vi. Satan possessed and afflicted maybe hundreds of people in NT times, but Jesus and his apostles cast him out and made him run away with his tail between his legs
vii. He tried to destroy the church, but God used the persecution to spread the Word
o He may cause us pain and suffering and sometimes even death, but:
i. Revelation 20:1 – 3, 7 – 10
o I’ve read the entire Book, and God wins in the end!
Conclusion:
• 1 Peter 5:6 – 9
• I don’t want to just stand and take it – I want to resist and fight back
• How are we going to do that?
• Satan wants to discourage and hinder us – we can resist him by recommitting ourselves to God
o We need revival
o Faithful in church attendance, prayer, Bible study, witnessing
o Serving others
• Satan wants to stop us from serving God – we can resist him by not giving up
o We are still going to have our Men’s retreat, our Red, White, and Blue day, our camping, our homecoming, our Christmas program, small groups ministry
o We are still going to have church and Sunday School, youth group, and Willing Hearts
o We are still going to have a baptism Saturday night
o We are still going to preach and teach God’s Word
• Satan wants to destroy our friends and family – we can resist him by praying for them and telling them about God
o We are still going to invite our friends and family to church services and activities
o We are going to pray for God’s protection for camping, King’s Island, and every other activity and church service
• Satan wants to be glorified and worshipped – we can resist him by glorifying and worshipping God
o Prayer and praise service – sing loud, come with a testimony, poem, or scripture reading, raise your hands, say Hallelujah, come with a list of things to thank God for
• I am going to pray for God’s protection, strength, and wisdom to get us all through this, and I want to invite you to pray with me, right now and every time you pray
