THE POWER OF GOD FOUND IN THIS OLD BOOK (pt 2)
SPIRITUAL WARFARE
1. THE FACT OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE.
1 Pet 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
* Most don’t really believe in the Devil or demons today. The ignorance of the fact that we have an enemy makes one vulnerable.
* Others believe in him, but see him as a cartoonish red character with a pitchfork that weakly attempts to tempt us. Yes, demons are a source of temptation, but they are powerful, devious, and sly.
2 Cor 11:14 Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Because of disbelief or wrong beliefs about Satan, many people are fooled by his various attacks and sometimes mistake evil for good.
* Roaring Lion- Roars to frighten and confuse his prey. Then kills. Peter warns us that we should keep our guard up because Satan is powerful, deceitful, and clever.
* We should respect Satan’s power, but never live in fear of him because fear is a weapon that Satan uses to control us!
Eph 6:12 We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Satan and his army is waging war against heaven and against man. His desire to destroy man because he is made in God’s image and what God dearly loves. Whether we know we are in a battle or not, the war wages on and Satan is destroying lives and taking prisoners.
2. OUR WEAPONS OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE.
A. Our Armor.
Eph 6:13-14a 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore,
God gives us spiritual armor. Notice, our job is not to defeat Satan, that is Christ’s job. Our job is 2-fold. We are to “resist” and “stand firm”. We are to stand firm in this spiritual battle and not give in, not give out, and never give up! The weapons?
Eph 6:14-17 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit,
Truth- Jesus Christ is the Truth. God’s Word is true. We must be true!
Righteousness- must be saved. Christ’s gives us His righteousness. But, must also live righteously. Sin gives the devil authority over us.
Peace- We have peace with God when we repent. And we are able to experience the peace of God by drawing close to Him. His peace helps us to keep our heads right during this spiritual battle.
Faith- fear drives us to defeat. Faith dispels our fear so that we can stand in victory with Christ. Our strength in this spiritual war is proportional to our faith.
Sword of the Spirit- Word of God- defensive and offensive weapon. We counter the lies of the enemy with the Truth of God’s Word. We speak the Word of God as we stand in faith to disarm the enemy.
B. Our Tactics.
(1) Choose your Master.
Jm 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
* The Lordship of Christ gives you strength. Submit yourself to Him. If you are living in sin, you yield authority to Satan.
* Resist Satan. If you yield to him an inch, he’ll take a mile. If you stand firm in resistance in submission to God, he will flee.
(2) Remember Who You belong to.
Jn 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
When you are born again, you are adopted into God’s family. You are His beloved child! What benefits do we have as His children??
Rom 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
* When I was a child I was never afraid when my Dad was near. He was big and strong. I felt safe with him. I did things other kids were terrified to do because he was with me. I trusted him. Because of him, I grew to become someone that was scared of nothing.
* With God Almighty as your Father, there is nothing in this world, whether physical or spiritual, that you should live in fear of. Your Heavenly Father is with you! He loves you! And, He will strengthen you to stand and catch you if you fall! He’s got you and He’s got this!
(3) Prayer.
Eph 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
Prayer invites God into our situation. Prayer and faith are the greatest limiting factors of the power of God in our lives.
* When you’re struggling, pray! As you pray, you access the power of God. As your faith gets stronger, God’s power will flow.
(3) Claim God’s Promises. (Pray these verses to God!)
Are you feeling weak and powerless in this spiritual battle?
2 Thess 3:3 the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
Pray: God I know you are faithful. Your Word promises strength and protection. Please strengthen me for this battle!
Are you facing a seemingly impossible situation?
Lk 1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.
Pray: God I am facing an impossible situation but your Word tells me that nothing is impossible for you! Please make the impossible possible
Do forces of darkness seem invincible? Overpowering you?
1 Jn 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
Pray for Jesus to empower you and help you to overcome your enemy.
** And there are thousands of promises that God has given us in this Old Book. Read it. Study it. Claim the Word of God in your life and you will live in victory!!
* And remember, God has given you strong weapons of warfare....
2 Cor 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
Whatever strongholds Satan is trying to build, God has given you the weapons to tear them down.
* Stop living in fear and defeat! Rise up in the power of Almighty God and stand your ground! You are a child of the King of All Creation! Start living like it! Claim your birthright.
3. VICTORY IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE.
A. The Source of Victory...... JESUS CHRIST OUR KING.
Heb 2:14 Since the children share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.
Jesus left the glory of Heaven to come to earth as a Man, to become one of us so that He might redeem us. His death on the cross paid the price for our sins so that we might be forgiven, cleansed, saved, and made righteous. The Devil’s power comes thru man’s sin. With sin destroyed at the cross, the Devil’s power over believers has been destroyed.
* The victory has already been appropriated. We must live in it.
B. The Results of Victory.
Paul had been discussing Tribulation, distress, famine, persecution..
Rom 8:37 In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
* He then says that NOTHING can separate us from love of Christ
C. The End Result for Satan.
Rev 20:10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
In the final analysis, Satan is already a defeated enemy.
The victory was won by Jesus Christ.
That is why our part in the battle is not to defeat Satan, but to stand firm against him.
Yes, the war still rages. There are still casualties. But, we will be victorious if we claim and live in the promises of Christ our King!
