Spiritual Warfare, Call of God.
March 31st, 1999. I’ll never forget that day. My life changed that day because it was the day I entered into service for the US Air Force. Over the next several weeks of my life, I woke up at 530 AM. I did cardio workouts for almost an hour. I ate whatever was put in front of me. I marched everywhere I went. I wore a uniform all day long. I no longer had any hair. I did everything I was told, without question. I was a soldier in the armed forces. Why all the training? Why all the pushups and the running and the marching? I was preparing for service and I was preparing for war.
Our military is the backbone of our country. Our military serves and protects us and is sworn to do so against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. We train, we learn, we breathe preparation for war. We constantly train for real life scenarios and in the end, we are better prepared for it.
Well, Christians, there’s another war going, right now. There is a battle going on-a battle that you and I can’t see with our eyes. There is a battle going on, and there two sides-heaven and hell are fighting. It’s not just angles vs. demons, God vs. Satan-the war includes you and I. There is a real battle going on right now, souls and lives are at stake. We are in the midst of an invisible war.
This isn’t an easy topic; it’s not a pretty sermon. War never is fun to talk about because war brings casualties, pain, and separation. War is nothing something that people like talking about, it’s something people like to forget. We want so much to live in a world where war is a fantasy and not a reality. But, that’s not reality though. we live in world where there is a war going on-there was a war going on before you came to Christ and when you trusted Him to be your Savior, you switched sides. The war didn’t end, you just switched sides. You join the winning side when you trust Jesus.
The Word of God is very, very clear on the subject of an invisible world all around us. It is confirmed in both the Old and New Testaments. Why is this war being waged and why is it being fought? It is because the devil wants to disrupt the plans of God and steal his glory. Satan and his demons are behind unbelief, temptation, deception, fear, false religions and persecution. Satan hates God, Satan stands in complete opposition to God and to His church. While it’s much easier for us to ignore Satan and attempt to go about our lives ignoring him, the reality is this: if we deny Satan, his demons and angels, we just judgment on the Holy Spirit’s revelation to us.
This isn’t a pretty sermon-it’s graphic and it needs to be because our culture and our world is doing anything and everything it can to desensitized the world concerning the reality of the evil one who seeks to destroy lives. Someone actually stated that Jesus’ miracles, parables and stories are 25 percent about the spiritual wars going on. This is a war that you and I cannot see but nevertheless, the war is real, it is serious and it has consequences. There is an invisible and an indivisible world that intersect. We live in that intersection.
Conflicts, relationship struggles, flat tires-there are so many circumstances in this life that often, we brush aside as nothing big-and it is actually a spiritual or demonic attack on us. Hear me out here-while there is a war going on, that doesn’t mean you avoid personal responsibility. If you need a job and you don’t get one right away, that’s not always spiritual warfare. But we have to understand this: the war going on right now is real and we have a real enemy out there as well. His name is Satan. So I want to begin there-looking at Satan so we can unravel his identity together.
SATAN’S IDENTITY
He was created as a perfect angel named Lucifer (Ezekiel 28:12-13)
He was the guardian of God’s glory (Ezek. 28:14)
He had more power than anyone else, other than God. He was the number 2 guy.
In the Scriptures, Satan was the most intelligent and beautiful being God created. He is a powerful angel who committed treason against God Almighty.
Satan deceived a third of the angles in heaven. He deceived a third of the angels who lived in the very presence of the Almighty. If he could that to the angels in heaven, do you think he could deceive you?
SATAN’S CHARACTER (Isaiah 14:13-14)
The Five I will’s
I will ascend to heaven…He wanted to occupy God’s place and have equal recognition.
I will raise my throne above the stars of God…The stars actually meant other angels. Satan wanted to have the same allegiance and respect from all of creation.
I will sit on the mount of assembly…the assembly is where God ruled. Satan was looking to occupy the highest position of authority.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds…Clouds in the Scriptures often indicate God’s glory and as such, Satan wanted the glory of God.
I will make myself like the Most High…that is Satan’s goal-to replace God.
When Satan tempted Eve he said you will be, like God. Satan wants you to commit his sins.
When Satan can’t deceive someone, a people, or a nation-he will use subtle ways of deception. He will use tolerance and that will be his key to getting in. Let me be brutally honest here-when I was growing, being homosexual was not cool, it wasn’t okay. Today-that is a different story. If you’re gay, the rule of tolerance says its okay, it’s cool-that’s who you are, its how God made you.
Satan will use little things or sneak in the backdoor to get his way. We, generally, believe that God loves us and that we’re going to heaven, based on the notion that we are good people. On the surface, that’s what it looks like as well. We don’t go around hurting others intentionally. We don’t cheat on our taxes or steal money. So, that’s the surface living Satan wants-because he wins in those cases because the reality of Christ is neglected in those circumstances. We desperately need an understanding of who we are without and with God in our lives. Without God, we are nothing, we are hopeless. With God, everything changes. Satan is content with hiding in the shadows of a worldview if he can exploit that worldview to his own ends. Likewise, Satan is not opposed to good morals. He is opposed to Jesus Christ.
SATAN’S ACTIVITIES
First and foremost, he deceives. His goal is to produce bitterness and hard hearts. He uses others to cause issues of bitterness, unwillingness to forgive, anger, and attitudes that lead to divorce, depression, church splits and to cause people to turn inward. Satan is always on the defense attacking God and His church.
He accuses believers of their sins. The Bible states he is before God, telling him about every misstep we take in our journey. He wants us to feel bad about ourselves-about our situations and what we’ve done. He wants us to feel unworthy and unable to come to the cross of Christ.
Satan is a Sweet Tart. Sweet on the outside, sour on the inside. He wants to come at us with beauty-he likes to exploit and make sin popular. He uses the media to portray him as evil but not really all that bad. He uses the media to hype up demonic activity and its always winning against God. He uses and exploits sex to make it pleasurable and desirable, but outside the context the marriage. He causes division among families and churches. He uses our pride against one another.
Satan has convicted us that life is playground and our primary goal should be for us to be happy. We want that as well-we want life to be a playground and to be happy. Somewhere along the way, Christians have bought into this assumption and this deception Satan has given out. I know Christian couples looking for divorce and they’re okay with it because while the Bible says God hates divorce, He wants me to be happy. And I’m not happy with my spouse.
Satan’s activities are “ME FOCUSED” and not “GOD CENTERED.” Does God want us to be happy and find fulfillment? Of course! Jesus himself said he came to give life to the fullest. However, happiness and fulfillment are by-products of a relationship with Christ.
Let me sum this up for you like this: Life isn’t a playground. It’s a battle field. There is a war going on.
Have You Enlisted?
Are you in God’s army? I know this wasn’t a pretty sermon to listen to but let me tell you something-Satan is a created being. He has a creator, God Almighty. He does nothing but try to throw God curve balls and God keeps swinging and hitting them, one by one. God’s army is an army of passionate and authentic followers of Jesus Christ. The church is the army of God and we move forward on our knees.
In the Army of God, Jesus Christ is my commanding officer. The Bible is my code of conduct. Faith, prayer and the Word are my weapons of warfare. I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity and tested by fire. I am a volunteer in this army, and I am enlisted for eternity. I will either retire in this army at the Rapture or die in this army; but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out, or pushed out. I am faithful, reliable, capable and dependable. If my God needs me, I am there. I serve a king and a kingdom that cannot and will not be stopped. God is my shield, His Word is my sword. I am a soldier in the army of God.
Let me ask you this-have you answered the call of God? Have you enlisted in the army of God? Are you up for the training and the exercises?
