In 2 Corinthians 2:11 we are warned by the Apostle Paul about Satan’s desire to “take advantage of us”. He writes: “for we are not ignorant of his devices.” And, church, we’d better be sure that WE, likewise, are not ignorant of Satan’s devices! 1 Peter 5:8 says that “he goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” He’s active – he’s playing for keeps – you’d better be on your guard.
In the world today there is an increasing appetite for the supernatural. You’ve just got to look at the success of the now multi-billion dollar HORROR film industry; the burgeoning popularity of occult practices (including fortune-tellers, séances, ouija boards, horoscopes, etc., etc.); the so-called “new age movement”, which is simply the occult re-marketed for modern society. All of these things are feeding this appetite for the supernatural that is rising in our society.
Let me take this opportunity to issue a warning today: Christians need to be aware of the dangers of ANY involvement with the world’s fascination for these things. THIS MAY SOUND NARROW TO SOME PEOPLE - but I don’t mind being labeled “narrow” on this. I’ve said it before - I have a very strong conviction about it - I don’t believe Christians have any business watching horror movies! (Just the ads for those things disturb my spirit.) And don’t read horoscopes or play around with fortune-telling. The Bible calls all of that junk the sin of divination; it is strictly forbidden by God, and ACTS 16:16 confirms that there are evil spirits behind it.
There is an appetite in the world today for things supernatural.
We surely believe in the supernatural - GOD IS A SUPERNATURAL GOD! And the Bible reveals that there is a spiritual realm in which God has created beings of a supernatural order. WE BELIEVE IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM. We must be careful, however, that we don’t get into an extreme in our understanding - that we maintain balance and sound judgement. The two extremes we Christians are prone to is either to have our head “in the clouds” or to have our head “in the sand”. We either get so obsessed with this realm that we see demons everywhere and everything’s the devil’s fault (which is very convenient for us sometimes), or else we go to the opposite extreme and don’t even acknowledge there IS a spiritual battle raging. Some Christians even deny the existence of a personal devil and a real enemy. BOTH of these positions are extremes and will not do. C.S. LEWIS wrote (in his introduction to “The Screwtape Letters”), the devil “receives a skeptic and a mystic with equal delight”.
Evil spirits DO exist, and they are the sworn enemy of God and His people. Our lives are being lived out on a battleground, and it is vitally important that YOU and I know how to overcome the enemy. And that’s what I want to address this morning in very practical terms … HOW TO OVERCOME THE ENEMY. The Bible says: “Resist the devil and he will FLEE from you.” The question, this morning, is HOW do I resist him? Let’s look at that together.
Would you come with me in your Bibles to …
READ: Revelation 12:7-12
This passage is all about the continual “casting down” of Satan. I don’t believe that it describes just one event, but in fact Satan has been continually humiliated by the hand of God in judgment, and this passage describes three key moments in the “casting down” of Satan. The past, the present and the future are all in view here.
- The first “casting down” is described in verses 7 to 9. “And war broke out in heaven”. There’s only been one time that God has ever tolerated war to break out in heaven. “Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old (there’s another clue that places this “casting out” in history for us), called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” This event took place thousands of years ago, before Adam and Eve fell from grace in the Garden of Eden. The occasion is described in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. Have a look at those two passages … they tell us that Satan was once a magnificent angel called “Lucifer”, who served in the immediate presence of God. The Bible says he was “the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” But, you probably know the story, his heart was lifted up in pride against God. He said: “I will be like the Most High.” He led a rebellion against the throne … WAR IN HEAVEN! Incredible! But God disposed of him. He was ejected from the Heaven of heavens down to the earth realm … God says: “I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God.” And the Bible says that he took up residence in the “lower heavenlies” surrounding earth. Ephesians 6:12 tells us: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against … spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (OR in the “heavenlies”). This is not talking about Heaven, the city of God – it’s the lower heavenlies. Ephesians 2:2 describes Satan as “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” He was cast to that place in judgment by God. That was the first “casting down”. God is absolutely sovereign, and he expelled Satan from Heaven in a moment of time. That is described in verses 7-9 of our reading.
- The 2nd “casting down” is then described in verses 10-11. [Read] Do you remember Jesus’ words as He was preparing to go to the Cross? He said: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” (John 12:31) When Jesus died on the Cross and rose again, Satan was “cast out” – this time it’s not from one location to another (he still occupies his place in the lower heavenlies), but this “casting out” was the stripping of his authority. In the first “casting down” Satan was deprived of his PLACE, in this second “casting down” he is deprived of his POWER over believers. Do you remember in the Book of Job how it says that Satan went before the presence of God to accuse Job? Satan had been expelled from Heaven and cast down to earth, but he still had entrée to appear before God and accuse. But when Jesus went to the Cross, that entrée was closed. Satan has no more authority to come before God and accuse any believer. That’s what Romans 8:33-34 says: “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Listen to me: Satan never comes before God now to make accusations. Jesus stripped him of that prerogative when He died on the Cross. There is now a threshold of blood – the blood of Jesus – that bars his access. The only one talking to God about me is Jesus, and He is FOR me because my trust is in Him. Satan is “cast out”.
- The 3rd “casting down” is in verse 12 of our passage, and it is a “casting down” that is still to come. [Read v12]. This is when Satan shall be cast to the very earth itself. When Jesus descends from the Heaven of heavens, and we the Church are caught up to meet Him in “the air” (note the expression), there will be no place there for Satan and his cohorts, they will be cast to the earth. And all restraint is gone on earth – the Church (the “salt”) is gone – and all hell breaks loose. “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea.” The Great Tribulation. Satan knows his time is short – he’s know his ultimate doom – filled with hate for the Nation that brought forth the Messiah, Satan takes up his final assault on Israel.
This powerful passage, then, is all about the ongoing downfall of Satan. See the contrast between Satan and Jesus. Put this passage up against Philippians chapter 2. Jesus chose to humble Himself, taking intentional downward steps … from the glory of Heaven … to the earth as a man … to the humiliation of the cross … to the grave. And Philippians 2:9 says: “Therefore, God also has HIGHLY EXALTED HIM and given Him the Name which is above every Name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow … and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
Satan, on the other hand, sought to exalt himself. Grasped for power and position that never could belong to him. And God has continually humiliated him. Cast him from his position in Heaven. Stripped him of his authority. He will soon be cast from the heavenlies altogether. And finally, one day, it tells us in Revelation 20:11 that Satan will be “cast down” in one further judgment … he will be cast into the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The tragedy is that anyone who does not receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour will receive that judgment with him! Thousands of people in our city of Devonport – unless we reach them. Hell was not created for them, but Satan has their eyes blinded to their need of Jesus and he’ll take them there.
You see that’s what he’s about today. In all wars it’s the same. Just think about World War 2 by way of illustration. After the decisive battles had been won and lost – the outcome of the war was no longer in any doubt, Hitler and the Axis countries had lost – but the fighting continued on for weeks. In the Pacific it continued for months. And you know that’s when some of the dirtiest battles were fought. The enemy could not win, so they just tried to destroy all they could.
When Jesus died on the Cross, the decisive battle was won. Satan’s judgment was sealed. Victory is beyond any possible doubt. And the hateful, bitter enemy is just destroying all that he can. He’s desperate, because he knows his time is short.
But I still haven’t told you HOW to overcome the enemy have I? That’s what I said I was going to do. Well the way you overcome the enemy is the way God’s people have ALWAYS overcome him, and always will until Jesus returns. It’s found right here in Revelation 12:11 …
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
Let’s spend our remaining time today on this. There are THREE KEYS HERE to overcoming the enemy.
1. We overcome the enemy by the power of THE CROSS.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb…”
The blood that Jesus shed on the Cross, dying for the sins of the whole world, that blood is against Satan. It is the beginning and the end of our victory.
Now some sincere people have missed the point here, I think. Some people have used “the blood of Jesus” in prayer as kind of a “magic word” to defeat the enemy. “Pleading the blood of Jesus” becomes kind of like “abracadabra”. But the words “the blood of Jesus” do not have power in themselves – we overcome the enemy by our faith in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. THAT’S where our victory is.
Remember: when Jesus died on the Cross, Satan was “cast out”. He has no more entrée into the presence of God to bring an accusation against me. He can’t accuse me to God, so what he WILL try to do is accuse me to ME. He’s the accuser of the brethren. “You low-down sinner … God could never forgive you. Why you’ve done this and that the other thing. You’ll never be worthy enough for God.”
When the enemy tries that on, I overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. I stand in faith because of the Cross. I know that there is now a threshold of blood that stops him accusing me to God. His authority over me is broken. I am the righteousness of God in Christ.
I say: “Satan, the blood of Jesus is against you.” But it’s not just magic words – all my faith is in the victory of the Cross. I stand on what Jesus has done.
At the Cross the devil was judged. His sentence awaits full and final execution, but he IS under sentence already. Folks, when the enemy is busy in your life reminding you of your past, I suggest you remind him of his future. He is a defeated foe.
2. We overcome the enemy by the power of OUR CONFESSION.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony …”
Romans 10:10 tells us that: “with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.”
“Do I really have to tell anyone that I’ve asked Jesus to be my Saviour? Can’t I just keep it to myself? I mean, my faith is a very personal thing!” NO. There needs to be that confession of faith.
Jesus said: “If you deny Me before men, I will deny you before My Father in Heaven.” Jesus is my Advocate before God. He stands as my defense lawyer in the court of the universe. When I stand before the bar of God, I don’t want Jesus to stand silent and offer no defense. I want Him to shout so that all of Heaven hears it – “PHIL MORGAN IS MINE. He trusted in Me. I am His Saviour.” So I’m confessing Jesus now. Openly. For all the world to know.
There needs to be that confession of your faith.
But when it says “they overcame him by the word of their testimony”, there is something else here as well. It relates to the confession of God’s written Word.
In Luke 4 we read about how Jesus overcame the devil when he came to tempt him in the wilderness. THREE times Satan tempted Him, and three times Jesus answered Him from the Bible. He confessed God’s Word. It’s the sword of the Spirit that we use to drive the enemy away.
But confessing God’s Word is MORE than just quoting Scriptures – when Jesus answered the devil it was not with mere words off a page, but the Word of God had become a living reservoir within Him. He had imbibed it so that it was a part of Him, and it flowed out in response to Satan’s attack.
“Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11)
3. We overcome the enemy by the power of OUR COMMITMENT.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
Another way we might talk about this is the power of FULL SURRENDER. Whatever the cost, we are following Jesus.
This matter of commitment is vitally important in the overcoming life. 1 Peter 5:8-9 is where it tells us that the enemy goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and it promises us that if we RESIST him he will flee from us. But would you notice what it says just BEFORE those verses (in verse 6) … “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” Before we can effectively resist the devil and see him flee, we must be submitted to God. That’s why some Christians can’t get the victory they long for … because some area of their life is not fully surrendered.
Think about what our text says again: “they did not love their lives to the death.” Can you say that you are more committed to the Lord Jesus Christ than to life itself? HE comes first. You’d rather die than deny Him.
Many many people have literally given their lives for Jesus down through the centuries. And that’s the commitment that it takes to follow Him and overcome the enemy. That’s how we overcome.
In times of war, when men in battle have given up caring any longer whether they live or die, they have come to be known as “dead men walking”. You get a whole army full of such men – “dead men walking” – and that army is invincible.
When Christians “do not love their lives to the death” – but say “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” – when nothing in their lives is allowed to compete with their commitment to Him … THE CHURCH IS UNSTOPPABLE.
Amen.
