I am Victorious

Ephesians 6:10–12 NIV

10 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.

Introduction: (How will I start?)

Not today SATAN!!! Pop Culture

What is Spiritual Warfare?

Billy Graham said “Spiritual warfare is not an option; it’s a necessity. If you’re a child of God, you’re in a battle for your faith.

Spiritual Warefare Definition:

The struggle against forces of evil, including personal forces like demons

The leveraging of everything that God promises against everything that opposes God’s purposes

The Problem:

Many of us are confused or unaware or just plain weirded out by the idea of spiritual warfare.

“CS Lewis — The Screwtape Letters, he wrote, There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.” Comer, John Mark. Live No Lies (p. 19). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

So either we don’t believe it at all or we believe it too much

Believing it too much is like when we blame the devil for our own dumb stuff — My wife and I got in a fight on the way to church — DEVIL — maybe the ruler of this world paid you a visit in your minivan…or maybe you were rushed…stressed out and said something dumb that made your spouse mad?

The Solution:

Remembering that our faith is SUPERNATURAL not PURELY ACADEMIC OR EMOTIONAL

Understanding that there is a real enemy of our soul and God’s purposes

Practicing our Spiritual Weapons

Praying so we are in constant communication with Jesus

CONTEXT: What do they need to know?

Paul has been setting us up all along to understand that our identity being ROOTED in Jesus gives us a VICTORY rooted.

Ch.1 God’s Plan & Paul’s Prayer

Ch.2 Two Problems — the Gap between God & Man / the wall between Jew & Gentile

Ch.3 Paul prays for heavenly perspective

Ch.4, 5 & 6:1-9 Paul describes our NEW LIFE and HOW we live it

Ch. 6 Get ready for a fight

1. We have a real enemy

Ephesians 6:10–11 NIV

10 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.

Ezekiel 28:14–16 NLT

14 I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. 15 “You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. 16 Your rich commerce led you to violence, and you sinned. So I banished you in disgrace from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire.

Isaiah 14:12–15 NLT

12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. 13 For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. 14 I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’ 15 Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.

The devil is...

liar .. accuser .. adversary .. tempter .. destroyer .. deceiver

He was created by God — NOT GOD’s EQUAL

— he was part of God’s crew — he chose to rebel — he is given the ability to exercise influence in our world

He exists to steal, kill & destroy God’s children and defame Jesus

2. We are in a real fight

Ephesians 6:11–12 YLT

11 put on the whole armour of God, for your being able to stand against the wiles of the devil, 12 because we have not the wrestling with blood and flesh, but with the principalities, with the authorities, with the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, with the spiritual things of the evil in the heavenly places;

Not against people

Struggle is ongoing

Rulers, Authorities & Powers

“R & A” — cosmic powers & demons in 1:21 — limited power

‘world rulers or cosmic’ — spiritual powers aspiring to world control

‘spiritual forces of evil’ — demonic dwelling, planets & stars from which they influenced the lives of people

The world ‘the culture’ is NOT NEUTRAL — If it isn’t surrendered to Jesus, it will oppose Him

STORY — How does the devil primarily fight? — Lies and Temptation

3. We have real spiritual weapons

2 Corinthians 10:4 ESV

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

Ephesians 6:13–17 NIV

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.

What do we DO?

Practice Putting on Your Spiritual A

Stand Firm

Build up our Spiritual Strength

Be covered in the Full Armor

Everyday for the next 7 Days:

Belt of Truth vs. Liar — Philippians 4:8 ‘whatever is true’

Breastplate of Righteousness vs. Accuser — 2 Corinthians 5:21 ‘I am the righteousness of God in Christ’

Shoes of Peace vs. Temptation — 1 Corinthians 10:13 ‘No temptation has overtaken me’

Shield of Faith vs. Adversary — Isaiah 54:17 ‘No weapon formed against me will prosper’

Helmet of Salvation vs. Destroyer — Isaiah 26:3 ‘my mind is in perfect peace / Romans 12:2 ‘Renewing of your mind

Sword of the Spirit vs. Deceiver — John 17:17 ‘Sanctify them by the truth’ / John 14:6 ‘I am the way, the TRUTH & the life

We have to practice because we won’t know how to use them and we’ll use them wrong....

Conclusion:

4. We have a real victory

James 4:7 ESV

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Spiritual warfare is actually STANDING FIRM in the VICTORY that JESUS has already WON.

BIG IDEA: We don’t fight FOR victory, we fight FROM victory

Pray for Salvation

Do you feel like you’ve tried Jesus…like you’ve been fighting and you are tired and discouraged?

Do you believe that there is no way that God is interested in you?

Do you feel disconnected from Jesus?

Honestly, do you feel Iike there is no way I’m interested in God?

Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, Believe in your heart that Jesus is God’s son

All you have to do is:

ADMIT your spiritual need. (I am a sinner),

REPENT and be willing to turn from your sin,

BELIEVE that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross and

RECEIVE through prayer, Jesus Christ into your heart and life.

SURRENDER your life to His leadership

Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son. By faith, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin and that you raised Him to life. I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord from this day forward. Heal every broken area of my life and Fill me with the Holy Spirit, Guide my life and help me do your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

The cross is not a pathway for a more comfortable life…it’s for a full one

Why do they need to know it?

To understand that our faith is a supernatural faith not just academic

To be aware of the battle around us

To know that the ‘culture’ of the world isn’t neutral

To know how to use the weapons we have

To know that we have already won

What do they need to do?

Discipline your Mind, Emotions & Actions — Take your thoughts Captive

Why do they need to do it?

If we don’t engage with our Spiritual Weapons, we’ll fight with our best ideas or human understanding

If our faith can be lived w/out the supernatural then we have a faith without power

What is my Bottom Line: We don’t fight FOR victory, not FROM victory

The bible doesn’t ask us to TRY, we are told to TRAIN

Try — make an attempt

Train — I’m engaged in a PROCESS over time — If I don’t quit I win