“Our Adversary – Satan”
Bible Boot Camp Series – Week 4
January 23, 2005
INTRO:
Illustration: “In the Dark”
A young soldier and his commanding officer got on a train together. The only available seats were across from an attractive young lady who was traveling with her grandmother. As the four engaged in conversation, the soldier and the young lady kept eyeing one another, as there was an obvious mutual attraction.
Suddenly the train went into a tunnel, sending the train car into darkness. Immediately two sounds were heard: the smack of a kiss, followed by the whack of a slap across someone’s face.
As the four came back into the light:
The grandmother thought, “I can’t believe he kissed my granddaughter, but I’m glad she gave him the slap he deserved.”
The commanding officer thought, “I don’t blame the boy for kissing the girl, but I wish her aim was better and that she’d slapped him instead of me.”
The young girl thought, “I’m glad he kissed me, but I wish my grandmother hadn’t slapped him for doing it.”
And as the young soldier sat in his seat smiling, he thought, “Wow, I can’t believe I got to lay one on such a hot girl, slap my commanding officer, and get away with both!
The Point:
It’s easier to get away with certain things in the dark. That’s why the Bible (John 3:19) tells us that many people love the dark because of how it hides their evil ways.
Today, we’re going to talk about something dark, something that I don’t particularly enjoy talking about, but something that we all need to have a certain level of understanding of. It is the concept of evil as embodied by our adversary, who is most commonly known as the Devil or Satan. The Bible also refers to him as: Lucifer, Beelzebub, the ruler of this world, the accuser, the deceiver, a roaring Lion, the father of lies, and our enemy.
Some Christians might initially think that the unbeliever or non-Christian is our enemy. But they’re not. That’s not to say that you won’t occasionally meet or hear of someone so full of rebellion toward God that they might seem to be an enemy of Christ.
The secular media and many of the world’s governments work relentlessly to undermine God’s truth, but they are not the enemy either – they may very well be some of the enemy’s favorite tools that he gladly uses for his purposes, but again, they are not our enemy. Our enemy is Satan and the spiritual forces of evil.
Ephesians 6:11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. 12 For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.
Our adversary is very real and the Bible tells us that he means business.
1 Peter 5:8 Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.
While this topic may not be as touchy/feely or warm and fuzzy as some, there are reasons we need to discuss it.
In Luke 14, Jesus explains how an army or a King would be foolish to not first study an enemy before deciding whether or not to go to battle against him…. in the same paragraph he also expresses how someone wanting to build a tower would need to first inventory what supplies they need and how much it’s going to cost.
Likewise, we need to plan ahead, and we need to be familiar with what we’re up against, so that we can withstand our enemy’s assault.
1. WHO THE ENEMY IS:
Let me briefly list for you a few of the things scripture specifically tells us about the devil.
a) He was an angel or cherub that God created. Ezek. 28:13,14
b) He was the perfection of wisdom and beauty. Ezek. 28:12
c) He is a fallen angel that once was good, just as are all the demons that he commands. Ezek. 28:13,14
d) He was named Lucifer before his fall, which came due to the sin of pride. Isaiah 14:12
e) He wanted to be like God and attempted to steal God’s throne. Isaiah 14:13,14
f) He possesses great intelligence, knowledge of scripture, will, pride, memory, desire and organizational ability. 2 Corinthians 2:11, Matthew 4:6, 2 Timothy 2:26, 1 Timothy 3:6, 1 Timothy 4:1
All this is documented in scripture.
Our enemy is not someone to take lightly. He is real, he is powerful and it is not wise to underestimate him, in fact, doing so can have deadly consequences.
This leads us to our second point:
II. WHO THE ENEMY IS NOT:
Many people today don’t even believe in the devil. You frequently see people wearing costumes that make light of him and the danger he represents. (see pictures)
A lot of you have probably laughed at Dana Carvey on Saturday Night Live as he, back in the mid 80’s, played the role of “The Church Lady” who always asked the question, “And who made you do that – could it be… Satan?”
And I’m right with you on that one, I’ve laughed at that kind of stuff too, but I also believe doing so can be dangerous.
Others may believe in the devil, but still take him way too lightly. People today are fascinated by horoscopes, fortune-telling, mediums, witchcraft, and bizarre cults. But we need to understand that Satan is no less dangerous today than he was in Jesus’ time. There are very practical reasons God warns us to not dabble with these kinds of things - they can be lethal.
Instead, we should take God at his word and:
James 4:7 Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.
Ephesians 4:27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
Illustration: “The Egg Toss”
During the waning days of World War II, thousands of Russian troops poured into the city of Berlin. Many of them were simple country bumpkins who had never been in a city before. They were amazed and confused by what they saw. Some soldiers unscrewed light bulbs and carefully packed them away to take home, believing they contained light and could be made to work anywhere.
One group of Russian soldiers burst into a Berlin chemical lab. Ransacking the offices and laboratories, they came upon a dozen eggs sealed in an airtight container, with bright red German words imprinted on them.
Like kids at a picnic, the soldiers put down their weapons, pulled off their heavy overcoats, and began playing an old-fashioned game of egg toss. Just then a lab scientist stumbled upon the scene. Horrified, he started shouting at the soldiers. But since the Russians could not understand German, they ignored him and continued their game.
Finally the scientist found a Russian colonel who could translate. The colonel ordered the soldiers to carefully replace the eggs in their containers and get out of the building, which was then locked up tight.
What the soldiers didn’t realize was that the eggs they were playing with so nonchalantly contained the deadly typhus virus. If even one of those eggs had been dropped or broken, the soldiers would have certainly all died and started a horrible epidemic that could have killed who knows how many thousands of people.
Many people today play around with sin as if it were some kind of game. And though it may look harmless—even innocent to them, they are, in fact, playing with death.
That is why God warns us about giving Satan any kind of foothold in our lives.
That is why the Bible is so emphatic about the consequences of sin. God isn’t trying to squelch our fun; instead, he wants us to live life to its fullest.
Romans 3:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Satan is cunning and always trying to deceive us and make sin look harmless, fun, even exciting. Don’t let him fool you. You may not be as lucky as those soldiers.
Some of you may have seen the movie “Bedazzeled”, with Brendan Frazier and Elizabeth Hurley a few years ago. I did not, but as I understand it, Elizabeth Hurly played the role of Satan and used her sensuality to tempt Brendan Frazier’s character into selling his soul to her/him.
That – is – a – great picture of how Satan attempts to deceive us.
2 Corinthians 11:14b Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (NIV)
…pretending to be whatever he believes will be effective in seducing us.
When he comes to tempt you, he probably won’t come wearing a big red cape with horns and a pitchfork, in fact, it’s more likely that he’ll come looking like Elizabeth Hurley, or whatever else you’re easily tempted by.
But the bottom line is that behind the fake veneer, lies the ugliest, scariest, and deadliest creature alive, and his sole purpose in life is to steal, kill and destroy.
John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.
So in a nutshell, that’s our adversary.
Now, the good news:
While he’s a formidable foe, Satan is no match for the Lord God Almighty. And this same God, who has already defeated Satan, and will someday soon defeat him again, once and for all, has given us battle plans, tactics, and weapons to help us stand firm against him.
III. DEFEATING THE ENEMY:
1 John 4:4 My dear children, you belong to God and have defeated them; because God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world. (NCV)
As Pastor Tim likes to have you do, I’d like to also have you read that verse out loud again, with me.
The Apostle John was allowed to foresee the future in the book of Revelation when he said:
Revelation 20:10 Then the Devil, who betrayed them, was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Satan knows that he is already defeated and that his doom is imminent, but as any other wounded animal, that also makes him more desperate and therefore dangerous.
He knows he’s goin’ down and his only aim is to take as many of us down with him as he can on the way.
If you’ve been with us here at Discovery before, you may have heard Pastor Tim say that his simple purpose in life is to do whatever it takes to get to Heaven, and to take as many people with him as he can.
- the exact opposite of Satan’s goal.
Tim’s purpose is not just a good purpose statement for a pastor’s life, it’s a great purpose statement for all of our lives, especially in light of how aggressively Satan is pursuing his objective.
As we read earlier, we are commanded to “resist” the devil, to take a stand against him. Now those intent on taking God at his word, might well ask, “how?”
Well, God has given us some very specific tactics and weapons to use in this Spiritual warfare.
He has not left us without battle plans, so let’s look at his instructions:
SPIRITUAL WARFARE TACTICS: (at least 5)
1) Refuse to accept Satan’s suggestion that we can be separated from Christ.
Romans 8:38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away.
2) Ignore the temptation to doubt God’s grace.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
If that’s not the definition of Amazing Grace, and endless grace, I don’t know what is.
3) Reject the lie that we are beyond forgiveness.
1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.
There is no limit to God’s love, nor to his willingness to forgive if we’ll but ask.
4) Pray before, during and after attacks from Satan.
Philippians 4:6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
5) Allow Christ to replace our way of thinking with his way of thinking.
Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
SPIRITUAL WARFARE WEAPONS: (list of 7)
The devil employs weapons of terror and illusion, but in Ephesians 6, God has given us a list of weapons to use in this spiritual battle: Now as compared to today’s man-made high –tech weapons, these may, at first, sound a little primitive – even unorthodox, but make no mistake, these are powerful and effective weapons if they’re used as God instructs.
Ephesians 6:14 Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.
1) The belt of truth— Satan fights with lies, and sometimes his lies sound like truth; but we have God’s truth in the form of the Bible, which Satan’s lies are no match for.
2) The body armor or breastplate of righteousness— Satan loves to attack the heart— the home for our emotions, self-worth, and trust, and God’s righteousness is the breastplate that protects our heart.
Ephesians6:15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared.
3) The footwear of the gospel— He’s talking about our ability to share the good news of Jesus with other. Satan wants us to think that telling others about Jesus is a worthless and hopeless job—the size of the task is too big and the negative responses are too much to handle. But he’s wrong. When we take the word of God to others and tell them about the Lord, it not only good for them, it helps us too in that when we look to the needs of others, we don’t have time to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves or dwell on the things that that we don’t like.
Ephesians 6:16 In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan.
4) The shield of faith— faith is a powerful thing.
Illustration: “Barry, Dad, and Hermit’s Cave”
My brother Barry, like me, is a pastor in Woodland Park, but unlike me, he’s a
weight-lifting, marathon-running, football-playing big – strong guy. I’ve always been taller than him, but other than that, he’s got me beat in about every physical way. But things haven’t always been that way… In fact, when we were kids, he was kind of a sloppy, overweight, un-athletic kid who got picked on all them time, especially by a group of older guys that for some reason, singled him out as their favorite target. They routinely ridiculed and teased him and even occasionally tried to physically hurt him. They even once threw his bicycle over a bridge and then dangled him over as well – by his feet, threatening to drop him – which as you can imagine, scared him to death. Well, one day, when Barry and I were at home, he got a phone call from who he initially thought was one of his friends. The voice on the other end asked him to meet them at this place called “Hermit’s Cave – an old historical little cave in our small Kansas town. Barry said he’d be right there – it was only a few minutes by bike from our house. So he started to head out, but he commented to me that the voice didn’t really sound like his friend Joe, so I stopped him and suggested he just call Joe’s house to confirm that Joe was really the one who called. He did, and he found that Joe had no idea what he was talking about. At this point, Dad got involved in the conversation and figured out what was going on. Anticipating that it was these same older boys setting a trap for Barry, he decided to act. He took Barry to Hermit’s cave and then had him go in alone as though he was looking for his friend Joe. As soon as he did, just as anticipated, these two thugs grabbed him from around the corner. But just as they did, our dad, who was just a few feet behind Barry, and who, by the way, is also a pastor, grabbed both of them! Now, our dad’s not a big guy, and he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, but when he got in their faces to chew them out and then literally dragged both of them down the street by an ear to their homes and to their parents, where he called the police, I can promise you they were not only in a little pain, they were scared to death! Now my brother, who had a lot of reason to be afraid of these boys before, was at least, not afraid of them that day – because he now had faith in someone bigger than his enemies. Someone he now, in faith, knew could and would protect him.
And just like Barry, if we go into battle armed with faith in a loving father who we know can and will fight for us, we can do so confidently!
Ephesians 6:17 Put on salvation as your helmet,
5) The helmet of salvation—God offers us salvation – eternal life with Him in Heaven, and that’s an incredible weapon of perspective.
My 6 year old son, Ethan has recently started worrying about bad guys and robbers and people that might break into our home… don’t ask me why, he just has. Anyway, just last week, as he was talking about this, Kim, my wife, told him that he didn’t need to worry about that kind of thing because God takes care of us. He thought about that for a moment and then responded by saying, “Well, ok Mom, but then why didn’t God take care of the people in the Tsunami?”
That’s a fair question - surprising that it came from a 6 year old, but a fair question! We ended up trying to explain to him that it is because God’s ultimate plan for us… and promises to protect us aren’t nearly as much about this life as they are about eternal life in Heaven with him. This 80 years, or however long we live here, is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. And it is eternity that he’s mostly concerned about, and understanding that, is what it means to wear the helmet of salvation.
Ephesians 6:17b …and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
6) The sword of the Spirit, God’s Word, the Bible— The sword is the only weapon of offense in this list of armor. The Bible is a formidable weapon when its truth is put to use.
Both of our boys, Ethan, and our younger son, Garrett, love to play with anything that resembles a sword. And when I once tried to explain to them how the Bible is a sword, to say that was a hard sell, would be an understatement! They looked at the Bible I was holding and pointed out that it was anything but sharp and dangerous, that it didn’t have a point on it, and that you just couldn’t really hit anyone with it, let alone hurt them with it!
Well, I tried, but I never did really get through to either of them on this one, or help then understand how it could figuratively be used as a sword,
But as grown-ups, we need to understand that with God’s word in our hands, we hold a powerful weapon.
Hebrews 4:12 God’s word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. (NCV)
But the Bible doesn’t do us a bit of good if it just sits on the shelf. We need to read it, we need to study it, we need to memorize it, and we need to live it.
Ephesians 6:18 Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit.
7) Prayer—in prayer we rely on God’s help.
James 5:16b When a believing person prays, great things happen.
Oh, there are so many incredible stories about the power of prayer I wish I had time to tell you… but I can’t. But let me share this:
Any military strategist will tell you that while you cannot win a war without ground troops, air superiority gives you an overwhelming advantage. Scripture describes our “air support” as prayer because God’s army advances on its knees.
C. S. Lewis wrote: “Enemy-occupied territory—that is what the world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”
And prayer is our means of direct, personal, free communication with our King – wouldn’t it be a shame to not take advantage of it?
CLOSING:
Let me close with this:
During the Vietnam war, there was an area that separated North and South Vietnam, called the demilitarized zone. It was kind of no-man’s-land, burned over and barren.
Since that time, rivers, mountains, and man-made walls have served the same purpose in other situations—neutral, open space where both sides watch and neither stake a claim.
No such space exists in the spiritual battle waged between God and Satan.
Jesus said we’re either with him or we’re against him. (Matthew 12:30)
It’s time to get over to God’s side if you’re wandering in the middle. You need to stay on God’s side when you find yourself curious about life on the edge. And if you’re already on the right side, you need to take your place on the front lines of this struggle, where you get dirty, where witnessing hurts, where you sometimes take hits that leave you scared, but where you can also serve hand in hand with the creator of all the universe – the Lord of Lords and King of kings and victor over our adversary.
