Introduction: Today I want to talk about how to overcome the enemy through spiritual warfare! Unfortunately for many, a message like this will seem utterly worthless… because according to Gallup poll… basically 60% of all Christians… don’t even believe in the devil. They think that the devil is only a symbol of evil.
Now I find that absolutely amazing considering that all the other major religions believe in the devil. Even Buddhism believes in the devil… which is quite fascinating… since they don’t believe in God.
Yet they do believe in the devil and He even has a name… which is Māra, which means “Bringer of Death”
Add to that… Both Old Testament scriptures and Jesus believed in a literal devil. Satan is referred by name at least in four different portions of Old Testament scripture… Genesis where we have the story of him deceiving Adam and Eve, Then in the book of Chronicles we see Satan leading King David astray.
Add to that the book of Job where we see Satan actively trying to get Job to turn his back on God. And lastly you have the prophet Zechariah giving us a picture of heaven where we see Satan as the great accuser of mankind… only to be rebuked by God.
In the New Testament… One third of it consists of stories where we see Jesus delivering people from demonic bondages. Add to that, we witness Jesus battled him personally when Satan came to tempt him right after he was baptized.
And adding to that… We see Jesus giving specific teachings about Satan and his purpose and how he works… which we will reference later. And then you have this unique verse where Jesus is talking with Peter about a conversation Jesus had with Satan concerning Peter.
Luke 22:31-32 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
Now I ask you… if Satan is just a symbol of evil… How does a symbol ask Jesus permission to sift Peter? Obviously it can’t! Clearly Satan is a very real entity.
The apostle Paul certainly believe this to be true as well and was actually concerned that some Christians were being led astray from their faith in Christ.
2 Cor 11:3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
And not only did Paul believe in a real living entity called Satan… But he also believed that Satan has a whole army of demonic beings under his control… Each having different ranks and power ascribed to them.
Just like in the natural… like what we would see in a modern day army… where you have whole classes of privates and sergeants and lieutenants and generals and so on… Each class having its own rank, purpose and realm of the authority.
Many believe this is what Paul was getting at in the passage we referenced last week out of his letter to the Ephesians. Eph 6:11-13 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places NKJV
According too many scholars… the terms… principalities, powers, rulers and spiritual hosts… refer to different spiritual entities of different ranking and authority. And regardless of whether we want to think about them or not, the fact is… they exist to create havoc in our lives! They are out to destroy you, your families, and your faith!
This certainly has been true concerning my own experiences as well! I have personally encountered then enemy throughout my entire Christian life, starting before I was a Christian. During that time where I was seeking, trying to figure out if there was a God and if so… who was he really.
I remember coming to my homeroom… I was only 16 at the time… And so it was during that time where we all had to go to our homeroom to take attendance and hear announcements before school started. And there lying on the table where I sat every morning… was a book on witchcraft.
Now I have always been fascinated with the supernatural… so this book… at that time… during that specific phase of my life… was a real temptation. But after riffling through the pages I decided that I didn’t want anything to do with that book. So I put it down and said no. It was soon after that I got saved!
Once I got saved… I used to go down to Lutheran Church late at night and spend 1 to 5 hours every night playing piano and praying and seeking God. I did that for about two years.
And during those two years… there were a number of times where I felt an evil presence come into that building for the specific purpose of scaring me out of that place.
But instead… I learned from the Holy Spirit… how to resist the devil in the name of Jesus… Until he literally fled… And my heart was once again filled with peace and joy and worship.
And then as I became pastor… throughout the years I have had the privilege of seeing many people delivered of spiritual entities. Whether it was in my Counseling office, or college campus, or in our church or even on the streets… I have seen God’s power do some pretty amazing things in people’s lives.
But probably the biggest experience of my life where I became intimately acquainted with this whole idea that there are different spiritual entities with different levels of authority was during the Vineyard conference that I was hosting in the late 1980s.
This conference was entitled “Power Evangelism”… And was being held at the copper top church in Duluth. We had over 40 different churches involved… Represented not only by people from their congregations, but by the pastors themselves.
On the last night of the conference… There was this amazing lightning storm over Duluth. And I remember sitting at home thinking… That this storm felt different than a normal storm. That this actually felt like something spiritual. Not unlike the storms that Satan sent Jesus when he was crossing the Galilean sea… But dispersed as soon as Jesus rebuked it.
I went to the conference that night… feeling very unsettled. I knew we had to do some intercessional prayer before hand. When I got there… I discovered about 80 other people from different churches all feeling the same way I did. They were dispersed all through the sanctuary… praying quietly to themselves. There is no hype or emotionalism going on. It actually was very low-key. The speaker, was the pastor at that time of the Vineyard in Aurora Colorado, was sitting on the platform in front.
While we were praying… I don’t know if any of you ever been in the copper top church… But as the lightning was flashing all way around the building you could see the light coming into the sanctuary during the storm.
At one point I remember Gary looking at but everybody and saying… I believe that God is just revealed to me that we need to take authority against two principalities. The spirit of ambition and competition that is specifically targeting the pastors of the city. And so in a very quiet low-key voice… He simply prayed… In Jesus name I bind the powers of ambition and competition and break their powers! Just as he said that… Lightning hit the copper top… All the lights went out… And then came back on as the storm became completely silent at that moment.
Just like that… the storm was over! And needless to say… the evening ministry was probably one of the most powerful things I have ever seen. As 30 or 40 pastor stood up for prayer during ministry time… And the Holy Spirit fell on all of them as they wept and cried as they were being set free through the power of the Holy Spirit from the enemy’s schemes.
Now the story doesn’t end there. Being the host of the conference which basically means I was always the last person to leave. So I was closing up with one other guy… Who I believe he was a worship leader from Denver Colorado. As we got into my car, we were talking about how the Lord really kick the enemies butt that night, and how neither one of us ever seen anything like that. In a sense… we were gloating over this victory over the enemy! And as we were driving away… all of a sudden the back window of my car shattered and this strange sense of an evil presence came across. Now mind you… We were in the middle of the parking lot at the copper top. There was no wind, there was no bad weather and there were no people around.
And the impression both of us got that moment… Was that… as we were gloating over this victory over the enemy… that the enemy was so upset over what had happened that night… that in frustration… kicked in the back window of my car as we were driving away.
So as you would imagine... I have no doubt that there is a real life entity called Satan and that he has whole army of demons waging war all around us.
So whether we want to accept it or not… The evidence is clear… That You and I are engaged in a battle… of cosmic proportions. So it becomes vital that we understand that we are facing a real opponent who is out to do real damage! And the evidence of that damage is all around us. Our world bears the bloody, painful scars of this conflict: as seen in the wars among nations, genocide, hate, shattered lives, broken homes, suicide, rape, abuse, addictions, and immorality of every kind.
Unfortunately to our own demise… The church often loses sight of this truth, the truth of spiritual struggle, especially the church in America. It seems for the most part that… Christians in America have become so comfortable in their Christianity that the thought of spiritual warfare… rarely even crosses their minds.
For those of you who can relate to this… you might be wise to heed the words of… Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones… who was a Welsh Protestant minister and medical doctor… Once said: A man who does not understand the nature of the problem he is confronting is a man who is already doomed to failure. Christian people are like first-year college students—they think at first that every subject is quite simple, there is no difficulty. Well, we know what is likely to happen to such when they face an examination! The first thing you have to do is to understand the nature and character of your problem. So we have to realize that we are called, in the Christian life, to a battle, not to a life of ease; to a battle, to a warfare, to a wrestle, to a struggle.
Therefore it is paramount that we understand as the church and as Christians that we are truly a part of spiritual battle, a cosmic conflict, and the Lord has called all of us to fight the battle, to wage war against the forces that oppose Gods righteousness and rule.
So today’s message is titled… “Accomplishing Victory through Prayer” but before we go any further let’s pray…
What does spiritual warfare looks like!
I want to open up as I have been over the last few weeks with the clip from the movie war room.
The two main characters we have been focusing on have been… Ms. Clara, an elderly woman who has taken it upon herself to mentor a much younger woman named Elizabeth.
In the first two weeks we focused on how Ms. Clara was trying to prepare Elizabeth to become a prayer warrior on behalf of her family and marriage.
In this clip we are going to get a glimpse of the kind of prayer that sometimes we have to do to find victory over the enemy.
We all know… that there is a distinct difference between acquiring knowledge and applying it. In this clip… we watch how Elizabeth takes the truth she has learned from Ms. Clara... home with her. We are also going to see how Elizabeth transitions from one kind of prayer to another to another. And interestingly, the transitions happen every time she moves to a different part of the house.
She starts in her prayer closet… And then ventures out into the living room… And eventually ends up outside of the porch. So what I want you to do as you watch this clip… is to take note at how with each change of location… came a change in her prayer.
She starts out by pleading with God and praying Scripture… She then transitions into what I call authoritative prayer over her life and her family’s.… And then ends with praise and worship, extolling the wonders of God!
Clip… Elizabeth doing spiritual warfare
Definition of spiritual warfare: Spiritual warfare is that conflict being waged in the invisible, spiritual realm that is being manifest in the visible, physical realm.
In other words, spiritual warfare is a battle between invisible, angelic forces that affect you and me. The cause of the war is something you and I can’t see. But the effects are very visible in the kind of problems we have to deal with all the time.
Nevertheless, even though we might not be able to see what’s going on… Scriptures tell us
2 Cor 10:2-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
In other words… what Paul’s saying… is that we have the advantage over our opponent! We have the ability to take our opponent to the mat and win the fight. And that’s great news…
But unfortunately… For the most part… we don’t always feel like we have the advantage. Especially when we are struggling with things close to home… and the hardship or pain we are experiencing feels overwhelming. In those times… We tend to feel inadequate!
But Paul says: Not only are you NOT inadequate… you are VERY adequate. You have the weapons to take the enemy down. The reality is this… if we fight the way we should…we can NOT LOSE against our enemy.
Going back to our clip… It is not an accident that Elizabeth use scripture to gain confidence and boldly stand up to the enemy. In fact it is essential that…
1. She began her warfare by praying Scripture!
Eph 6:17-18 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Now based on what I just read… What do you think is one of the weapons we have been given that has divine power to demolish strongholds? Anybody? (The word of God)
That’s right… God has given us given us his word. So filling your mind with scripture… is one of the best ways to ready yourself for battle. We know this to be true because of Jesus example.
Matt 4:1-11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
How did Jesus respond to the devil’s questions? Jesus used scripture as a weapon against Satan. And significantly… He not only knew Bible verses, but knew their context. Clearly He had meditated on them and’s studied them. Why? Because He understood that Scripture was to be used as a weapon to defeat temptation and Satan.
This is exactly what we see Elizabeth doing in her prayer closet. She prayed Scripture. Unfortunately for us, our clip didn’t start early enough, because if it had… we would of seen that she actually prayed three different Scriptures.
First she prayed… John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Secondly she prayed… 2 Thess 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
And then lastly she prayed James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Those words from the Bible provided all the ammunition Elizabeth needed to stand up and fight against the enemy in the manner Miss Clara had his prescribed.
Now when you read those verses in the order Elizabeth recited them, it makes a great deal of sense. The first reference unveils the true nature of the enemy’s game. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
John 10:10 also reveals to us God’s promise in response to the evil one. Jesus has come to give life, Jesus to us has come to offer back what sin takes away.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 explains how that life as possible. When the devil attacks, the Lord provides strength. It is he who guards us.
Finally, James 4:7 gives us the prescription for how 2 Thessalonians 3:3 works. The believer must submit to God and resist the devil. Then he will flee.
Catch this now… even though this is a fairly simple plan… It is often difficult in its application:
1. We need to understand the enemy… John 10:10
2. We need to trust in God’s defense by… 2 Thessalonians 3:3
3. Submitting to God’s will… James 4:7
You see… Satan’s battle strategy is simple. He is out to deceive us, to trick us into buying his lies and temptations. He’s been at his plan for countless years, and he’s good at it. He knows exactly how to feed us halve truths… Or how to ever so subtly distort truth to make it something different than what it was meant to be.
This is why Scripture is such an important weapon for us. The only thing that can help us separate lies from the truth. It is a light that guides are path. Part of the power of God’s word is that it literally vanquishes darkness or confusion!
So this is where all spiritual warfare must… By using the word of God. Secondly…
2. Based on her confidence in Scripture she began to exercise her God-given authority!
Once again listen to the dialogue that Elizabeth had after she left her prayer room… I don’t know where you are devil, but I know you can hear me. You have played with my mind and have had your way long enough. No more. You are done.Jesus is the Lord of this house. And that means that there is no place for you anymore. So take your lies and your schemes and your accusations and get out. In Jesus name.
You can’t have my marriage. You can’t have my daughter. And you surely can’t have my man. This house is under new management and that means you are out.
Do you see what she’s doing? Based on her confidence in the word of God… She is now exerting or exercising God-given authority over the enemy! To do this, we must have an understanding of who we are in Christ.
Eph 1:18-22 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,(now what does that mean? It means that now he is…) far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Now I want you to jump down just a few verses to the next chapter where Paul continues his line of thinking…
Eph 2:4-8 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him (Where?) in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
What does this all mean? It means because we are in Christ… We have been given his authority to do the same works he did when he was here! This is what Jesus was getting at when he drew the disciples together last time before he ascended said…
Matt 28:18-20 "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
In the gospel of Mark… he was even more specific… Mark 16:15-17 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons;
Luke recorded another very interesting statement that Jesus said concerning the authority that he gave his disciples…Luke 10:18-19 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
For those of you to whom this might sound new to you… Authority is simply defined here as God’s delegated power.
A power that came to live within us when we surrendered our life to Christ and got filled with the Holy Spirit! You see our authority comes from Jesus… who now dwells within our hearts through the Holy Spirit
1 John 4:4 Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist], because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world. AMP
Meaning that when a believer actually understands this… then he or she can face the enemy fearlessly. You see… This authority is a possession of every child of God. It’s ours whether we act on it or not. You have this authority, but if you don’t know it, you won’t ever act upon it. In other words… it will never do you any good.
And so of course the enemy will do everything he can to prevent you from learning about or acting on the authority of Christ has given you!
Now some of you might be asking… How does one discover how to use the authority of Christ in one’s life? My answer that… Studied the Scripture. How Jesus used his authority every time became aware that he was dealing with spiritual forces.
There is no dialogue with them, he simply rebuke them or expel them from his situation! You can do the same thing. And lastly…
3. She ended her time by giving praise to God!
And another thing, I am so sick of you stealing my joy. And that’s changing too. My joy doesn’t come from my friends, it doesn’t come from my job, it doesn’t come from my husband. My joy is found in Jesus. And just case you forgot he has already defeated you. So go back to hell where you belong. And leave my family alone
For those of you who have not yet discovered this… There’s tremendous power in praise and worship. One of my favorite Old Testament stories that illustrates this is found in 2 Chronicles chapter 20
The king of Israel at that time was a guy named Jehoshaphat. He was a very godly king. During the latter part of his reign in vast army consisting of three different nations came against him. Of course this scared both him and Israel and so they humble themselves and begin to seek God and his wisdom to see what they should do.
God responded… 2 Chron 20:15-16 This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.
He then went on to instruct them to send his army out against the enemy the next day. But before he did that the Scripture says that King Jehoshaphat organized a worship band to lead the Army!
2 Chron 20:21-22 Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: "Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever." As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
You see… there is real power in praise and worship! Things happen in the unseen realm when God’s people enter into worship and praise. Especially when their circumstances are dire… And the situation looks impossible.
Yet God’s people walk in faith by clinging to his promise of him being there for them. At that moment their praise and worship become an expression of faith in God. And wherever there is faith express… God’s power is released! This is exactly what we see Elizabeth doing in this last section. She was in face… declaring and extolling the wonders of God.
She said that God was going to be victorious in her life and not allow the enemy to steal her joy any longer. She declared that he was the source of her joy, not her friends or job or even her husband. And then finally she proudly proclaimed that God had already defeated the enemy!
So in conclusion: I would like to end our time here by giving you a gift to help you in your prayer life. As many of you know… Wally has been doing a jail ministry with a Catholic brother down in Two Harbors every Wednesday. This Catholic brother makes little wooden crosses to give to all those they minister to.
I believe the story behind these wooden crosses… Is that a priest was praying for an elderly lady using a rosary. And at the end of the rosary is a little cross. As he was praying for this lady, she continued to stretch out her hand and grab the cross while he was praying for her. He then decided to ask this guy to make a wooden cross for her for her own prayer life. Which he did, and gave it to the lady. And she held onto that cross right up to the very moment that she died!
I think these crosses are a great visual reminder of two amazing truths. When you pray, use the cross to both remind you of just how vast his love is for you and that he was completely victorious over the enemy his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave!
Now for those of you who are struggling right now and are experiencing spiritual warfare in some aspect of your life… and need extra support and encouragement… I want to invite you to come up and get prayer. Let’s pray…
OUTLINE
Accomplishing Victory Through Prayer
Part 3: War Room: The Power of Prayer
2 Cor 10:2-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
Definition of spiritual warfare:
1. She began her warfare by praying Scripture!
2. Based on her confidence in Scripture she began to exercise her God-given authority!
3. She ended her time by giving praise to God!
Final thoughts: When you pray, use the cross to both remind you of just how vast his love is for you and that he was completely victorious over the enemy.
