Victory in the Spirit Realm
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To often we are too willing to set aside events that happen to us as bad luck
We say this always happens to me.
And we accept things the way they are.
Never recognizing that the Devil is out to get you
And not everything that happens to you is your fault or by accident.
But that the devil and his demons
„X Are constantly trying to lead you into sin
„X Deceive you into believing lies
„X Discourage you from doing God’s work
„X Oppress you
„X Place burdens upon you don’t need to carry
„X Help you to feel depressed and alone.
„X Worthless
„X Helpless
„X Hopeless
His aim is to get you to doubt God
Doubt that he cares
And to leave his paths behind
I have Good news
Jesus has provided a way so that you and I can have victory in the spirit realm
So that you can overcome the devil and his schemes
Ephes. 6:10-20
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [11] Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. [12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. [13] Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. [14] Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, [15] and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. [16] In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. [17] Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [18] And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
[19] Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, [20] for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
When the Apostle Paul would attempt things for God he regularly encountered Spiritual forces that would attempt to waylay him.
But Paul recognized them for what they were and here in Ephesians 6 he speaks to all Christians
"You don’t have to let the devil get you down or stop you" you can have victory in the Spirit realm.
I see three keys for having victory in the spirit realm from this text
1. Be strong -
2. Be prepared
3. Be alert
I. Be Strong
Ephes. 6:10-12
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [11] Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. [12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
A. We must recognize where our strength comes from.
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power
If you fill your body with a good healthy meal you will have the strength you need to - energy
If you are filled with the Spirit of God you will have - POWER
Some people eat their wheaties but give little thought to their spiritual tank.
In our busy lives we walk out into the busy world unprepared for what lies in our path because we are not Spiritually prepared.
If we attempt to face a spiritual battle without being connected to our power source can mean certain failure.
For example - when the people of Israel went into a battle they did it one of two ways.
1. having sought God/sacrifices
2. having not sought God
When they sought God they won, because the hand of God was with them. (Jericho)
When they were not in right relationship with God and went out on their own they lost. (1 Samuel 28)
It was not that they did not have the ability it was just that they forgot God.
We must remember where our strength comes from
3. Strength comes from recognizing who are enemy is.
Ephes. 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Who is our enemy?
1. the devil
Spiritual battles can take place anywhere but mostly they take place in our minds¡K.
A. When there is a spiritual attack going on the devil tries to divide and then conquer us.
B. He attempts to get you so worked up in your mind that the Spirit has no opportunity to speak to you (you couldn’t hear Him if you tried).
C. Satan tries to make you listen to him so that God, who speaks in a still small voice, can’t be heard over the clutter in your mind.
D. Satan tries to fill your mind with vane imaginations. -Evil purposeless thoughts.
E. Thinking that exalts itself over Christ
F. Fiery darts that bring up you’re past.
Ephes. 4:27
And do not give the devil a foothold.
Know your enemy>>>>>>>>>. His goal is to open a wedge into your being, by getting you to obey or follow a demonic prompting. Once he can get you to do that he has a stronghold
How do we recognize and respond to demonic promptings
ƒÍ be plugged into your power source
ƒÍ Rest upon his marvelous name - Psalm 44:5
ƒÍ Through you we push back our enemies;
ƒÍ through your name we trample our foes
II. Be prepared
Ephes. 6:13-17
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. [14] Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, [15] and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. [16] In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. [17] Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
1. In order to have victory in the Spirit realm you must be able to stand your Ground
Each Christian is born again with His armor on.
The statement "Put it on" indicates that at some point in a Christians walk with God they ma take it off
If we have are armor off when the inevitable evil day comes we are not going to be able to stand our ground.
2. The Bible gives us fair warning that battles will be a normal occurrence
They will sometimes come when we least expect them.
So we need to be sure that we are standing our ground
Interestingly¡K
God’s armor mentioned in this passage is in no way a defensive armor.
To take a stand meant to move into the enemies turf, dig in with your heals, rebut his attack and then to move forward.
I want you to understand what the armor actually is so that you might see how it can be removed by you thus making you ill prepared to stand your ground and have victory
1. Truth (belt of truth) The part of the armor that held all the other parts together
Truth is a character quality¡KWithout sincerity and truthfulness, no other part of the armor is effective
As long as you are living honestly and uprightly no matter what the enemy does he cannot run you through the mud.
2. Righteousness (breastplate) Literally it is referring to moral rectitude, someone who lives according to moral principles
If you live a sanctified then the devil has no ammunition with which to accuse you before God and the brethren and mortally wound your character.
3. Peace (Sandals) with long nails in the bottom so that you can take a stand.
Jesus made peace by the shedding of his blood on the cross.
Are we walking in peace? In other words walking in forgiveness.
No unrepented sin
No sins we have not asked forgiveness for
Isaiah 26:3-4
You will keep in perfect peace
Him whose mind is steadfast,
Because he trusts in you.
[4] Trust in the Lord forever,
For the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.
When we are at peace with God and the world we can be certain that we will be able to take a stand against t the devil’s attacks.
4. Faith (Shield) the devil is not content to perish in his own destruction, he wants to drag everyone else down with him.
The shield of faith describes the kind of faithful obedience to God’s word that will allow us to vanquish all of Satan’s temptations.
Faith gives us the ability to say no to the Devil, no to the world, no to the flesh and to choose to obey GOD.
5 Salvation (helmet) this is not referring to redemption -
Take up salvation everyday is nonsense.
But it is in accordance with Jesus’’ model prayer
"Lord deliver me from Evil¡KSave me from Evil¡K
The helmet of salvation is purposely being careful to ask God to direct you away from sin and away from anything that might be a stumbling block before you.
5. Word (Sword) We must master its use
Plug for Bible survey on Wednesday
We must know the word well enough to be able to both thrust it in and attack the forces of Evil, but also to Perry attacks of the devil as Jesus did when he was tempted by the devil.
As Jesus did when he was tempted by Satan.
The Third Key is
The most important and the most neglected.
BE Alert
Ephes. 6:18-20
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
[19] Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, [20] for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
When my Dad was in the Korean War his job was stretching telephone wires across battlefields from forward positions to the commander. They used those lines of communication to direct the troops. In this way the commander had recognizance and intelligence to guide them.
If there were no lines of communication between the commander and his troops, the battle would be lost because the troops would simply be blind as to the foe they were facing.
The same communications are absolutely essential for you and I to win the battles before us.
God knows what the Devils schemes are
Do you think he would withhold that information from you? If you but ask.
And how do we ask
Prayer
Two types of Prayer are mentioned in this passage.
1. Pray in the Spirit
Romans 8:26
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
2. Pray in the understanding
James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
A. submitting yourself to God involves praying to the Lord and standing in his strength
B. Praying for all the saints is lifting their burdens to the Lord and standing and fighting the enemy in prayer with Christians
Jesus Said
Matthew 18:19
"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
Conclusion
Acts 19:13-16
Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." [14] Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. [15] One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" [16] Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
They were religious men
But they did not have any authority or ability to have victory in the Sprit realm
Because they themselves did not have the Spirit
They were only the son’s of Sceva
And not Sons of God
John 1:12
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--
Unless you have asked Jesus into your heart and made him the Lord and savior of your life
There is nothing to keep the devil from leading you by the nose straight to Hell.
Evil days are at hand
1. Be Strong - by recognizing where our strength comes from.
2. Be prepared - by taking the full armor of Go.
3. Be alert - by keeping an open line of communication between yourself and God.
