"The Prince Of The Power Of The Air" Series

I know it sounds like the same thing. Think of it this way. If you have a man using a power saw, the word in 1:19 would best describe the electrical energy being exerted to keep the saw going and useful. The word in 2:2 would refer to the actions of the man who is pushing the boards through the spinning blade.

The spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, is in them to use them to accomplish his purposes. Not to bring about something in them; not to effect some good for them, but to use them as instruments of unrighteousness, and to accomplish the things we talked about earlier. Death. Disunity. Ineffectiveness. Impotence. All the things that are diametrically opposed to God.

Just let me point out clearly here, that Paul is talking to believers, and he is reminding them; reminding us; that we once were these things.

We were dead in trespasses and sins. We formerly walked as sons of disobedience, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air. And he once worked in us...used us like puppets...to war against God.

Do you see in verse 3, the fruit of his working? We indulged in the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and by our very nature we were children of wrath. That is, deserving of God’s wrath against sin, and simply awaiting the day of wrath when the sons of disobedience will be finally judged .

But I want to close today, assuring you that:

THE PRINCE OF PEACE HAS TRIUMPHED

We’ve spent the bulk of our time today talking about Satan. That is the most unpleasant of topics, so I want us to kind of purge our pallets, so to speak, by turning our thoughts back to the Prince of Peace.

Verse 4 begins with two of the greatest words in the Bible. “But God...”

I won’t go further than that today because we’ll study these coming verses in more detail than I have time to give them now.

Just, for the moment, consider what we’ve been saying today.

The prince of the power of the air brings the fear of death and deals in death. He hates life and wants only to frustrate it. He works hard to nullify growth and effectiveness in the work of Christ’s church. He blinds the minds of the unbelieving and deceives them in any way he can, just to keep them out of Heaven.

BUT GOD...

Let’s go away from this today, carrying in our hearts these two words. “But God...”

We were dead in trespasses and sins... But God...

We walked according to the course of this world... But God...

We walked according to the prince of the power of the air... But God...

The spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience worked in us... But God...

And we will spend eternity, raised from the lowest depths to the highest heights, because as helpless and hopeless as our situation was, God intervened.

I want to give you an illustration, and I have to warn you that it is graphic and unpleasant, so forgive me, but get the message.

When I was a police officer, I was on patrol one day, and as I negotiated my patrol car around a gradual bend in the road, I came upon a cat that had apparently just been hit by some motorist ahead of me.