Engaging the Spiritual Battle
YAFI 2025 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Did you know you’re in a battle?
Seriously, you’re in a battle, right now, that has cosmic implications. It’s a battle for your soul, for the souls of your children, your spouse, your family, friends, and neighbors. While this battle has much influence on the world around us, it is not waged primarily in the physical world, but the spiritual. Whether you like it or not, all of us, youngest to oldest, man, woman, child are part of a battle with cosmic scope.
YAFI
Question: I am a believer and good person… what is all this about enemies, captives, and deliverance?
This is a great question! It addresses three fundamental areas of the spiritual war that we are all a part of. We’ll answer these questions today by looking at the Bible and considering what God’s Word says about these things. But first, we must realize the big idea that drives all of this:
Big Idea: All of us are part of the spiritual battle.
All of us, from the biggest to the smallest, youngest to oldest are part of the spiritual battle. And there’s only two sides in the conflict: good and evil.
I’ll remind you of the story of the man who spent his life sitting on the fence of decision. Not really for God, but not actually working for the devil or something like that. When he died, he went to hell. He asked the devil, “Why am I here? I was on the fence! I didn’t pick a side!” The devil smiled, laughed and said “Buddy, I own the fence!.”
If you are a Jesus-follower, having given your life to Christ and confessed Him as your Lord and Savior, you’ve chosen your side in the spiritual conflict. If you’re a believer, you are not immune to the spiritual battle, you’ve picked a side in it! Today we’re going to talk about these concepts of enemies, captives, and deliverance as we understand that each of us is part of the spiritual battle.
Who is our enemy?
Who is our enemy?
In this world there are two kingdoms: God’s and Satan’s.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
What does this mean? When Jesus came, he brought the kingdom of God.
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Jesus ushered in with His coming the kingdom of God. He is the One who rules and reigns until the day that he turns it over to His Father at the very end, after doing away with sin and death forever. In this dark world, the Kingdom of Light (God) has broken in to the kingdom of darkness. One day, God will wipe away evil and sin and death and Satan forevermore. For now, we live in this already, not yet reality in which evil is allowed to remain for a time. We see some of the benefits of the kingdom through salvation, transformation, healing, deliverance, etc. Yet evil remains, and we are not yet totally perfected. This is by God’s grace, that there might yet be time for people to come to
…repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,
While evil remains, though it is defeated, it continues to try to fight. Remember our big idea:
Big Idea: All of us are part of the spiritual battle.
We have established Scripturally that there is a spiritual war going on - won on the cross by Jesus Christ - yet with evil allowed to remain for a time so that people may repent. Therefore, we have an enemy!
Scripture speaks to the idea of an enemy of God’s people this way:
Peter:
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
Peter, in speaking to part of the church in Asia minor (modern day Turkey), calls upon those in the church to be humble, and cast all their anxieties on God. Then, to be careful, so their adversary - the accuser - would not fool them. For their enemy the devil roams around seeking those to devour.
In Job 1 7 we read about Satan:
The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
Satan roams this earth, seek those who He can destroy and turn away from the faith. Yet we read earlier in 1 Pe 1 5 that we are those…
who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Wherever the church is, there will also be our enemy - Satan and his hoards - seeking to turn people away, waiting for them to be discouraged in their faith, or fall into sin. Peter calls on the church to resist the devil, standing firm in their faith, knowing that their suffering is experienced by other Christians across the Roman empire and indeed, to the ends of the earth. This is our enemy, but Scripture is not silent by any means on how to deal with him.
This week I’m sure many of you saw Wednesday that Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and a Christian was shot and killed on a Utah university campus. It is heartbreaking and horrifying. In times like these we might ask, “What are Canada and the US coming to?” or “Why? Why did this have to happen?” I don’t claim to have an answer for #2. #1 deeply concerns me. I think Paul’s words in Ephesians shed light on why the evil we see - especially at points like this - is so rampant.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Don’t get me wrong, all of us by nature are evil, fallen. For Charlie Kirk, there is a man at large who aimed a gun at him and took the shot, ending his life. Scripture is clear on how God views murder: it is sin. It is evil, and the actions of someone in league with Satan. Yet it is bigger than that. Someone, who gave into the temptations of Satan and evil, took that shot. Someone allowed themselves to be used by evil to do an evil thing. We would be blind not to see the spiritual battle in this incident, and raging over the western world right now! Can you not see the demonic forces, the principalities and powers that are in league with Satan in this cosmic conflict? Kirk’s death is an incident that clues us in to the spiritual battle raging across our nations. A battle for souls, faith, and the eternal freedom of every person. The enemy is fighting hard!
How then do we respond to this battle? By taking up the armor of God!
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
We should pray and engage the spiritual battle, taking up the spiritual armor Paul describes. Even as we lovingly speak truth to those who promote evil, we must pray that these people will be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth! The battle we wage is first in the spiritual, and that greatly influences the physical. We wage war with the principalities, the powers, the spiritual forces of darkness in this world. Only equipped with the armor of God can we stand before the devil, his schemes, and the temptations of evil in this world.
Big Idea: All of us are part of the spiritual battle.
Scripture is clear: God’s Kingdom has broken into the kingdom of darkness in this world. Yet while evil remains, we have an enemy. We must fight the good fight! Put on the armor and be equipped for the spiritual battle we are all a part of! Only through Jesus Christ can we defeat our enemy.
What are captives?
What are captives?
In Isa 61 1 Isaiah gives us a prophecy about the coming Messiah:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
This verse is speaking about people who are in trouble just before the kingdom of God comes. Who establishes that kingdom but Jesus Himself? So Jesus directly applied this verse to himself in Luke 4 18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
Notice what the Savior would do? Proclaim good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captive, heal spiritual blindness (and physical!) and free those who are oppressed!
I would like to zero-in on the idea of proclaiming liberty to captives.
As the second world war drew to a close, Canadian troops marched through the Netherlands, driving back the German occupying forces. After almost 5 years the occupation of the Netherlands was over and the people were free at last. They cheered and screamed. They were free again! (https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/classroom/fact-sheets/netherlands)
Talk about captives and liberation! Captive here is the sense of being captured in war and deported. Liberty then is to release slaves. Isaiah pictures something similar to that event in 1945: freedom, liberty for captives and slaves.
Isa 61 1 connects back to Lev 25 10
And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.
In God’s OT law, if someone was enslaved because of debt, or owed someone something, or had somehow become destitute, there was built in a year of reconciliation. The Year of Jubilee proclaimed freedom for the captives, freedom from debt, and returning to one’s own land! This foreshadows an even greater liberty that was to come - liberty from sin and death through Jesus Christ.
Greater than financial debt, Isa pictures captives differently. Who are these captives? Are they slaves? Prisoners of war? Yes, in a spiritual sense. Spiritual captivity looks like this:
Spiritual captivity is a condition that affects the soul, mind, and spirit, often manifesting through habitual sin, addiction, or adherence to false doctrines. It is a state of separation from God, characterized by a lack of peace, joy, and spiritual growth. The Bible teaches that spiritual captivity is overcome through repentance, faith in Jesus Christ, and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual captivity can take on different forms: First, those who do not know Jesus Christ remain in bondage to sin:
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Everyone who has not accepted the free gift of salvation in Jesus remains a slave. However, if you know Jesus as Savior and Lord, you are free indeed! In Christ there can be reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ! There is freedom from sin, from oppression, addiction, false doctrines, etc.; from the enemy. We get - as we have already read - transferred out of the kingdom of Satan - our enemy - and into the Kingdom of God’s glorious light!
It is still possible though for someone who is saved to experience spiritual captivity. Other examples of spiritual captivity include demonic oppression/possession. In the gospels we find many times where Jesus healed someone of an unclean spirit who had control over a person.
Addiction can also have roots in spiritual captivity. It’s like two sides of the same coin. Yes, addiction have very real affects on a person’s body and brain, but there is also a spiritual side that needs healing and freedom through Jesus.
False beliefs and idolatry are also spiritual captivity:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.
But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Paul reminds the Galatian church that they first started out practicing worship to those who are not true gods. However, they were set free by Jesus Christ. Paul then addresses a problem, they were being lead astray again into worthless, empty, and false religion!
False teaching and beliefs have ensnared many. We spent time last week talking about recognizing false teaching. For this week, we need to see that Christ sets people free from this through real faith and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Remember our big idea:
Big Idea: All of us are part of the spiritual battle.
All of us are part of the spiritual battle that is all around us. While evil remains, there remains struggle between the kingdoms of light and darkness. We have an enemy, of this we are very sure. He prowls around, he wreaks havoc. Yet Scripture give us tools and assurance for overcoming that enemy through Christ.
There are captives. If you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior now, you are a Spiritual captive. You are enslaved to sin, and the devil, and you need freedom. The best news? Christ did that for you! He bought your freedom with His blood shed on the cross. He offers you mercy and grace. Now, you have an opportunity to turn away from your sin, to ask God for forgiveness, and to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Are you ready to do that? Now is always the best time - don’t wait!
What is deliverance?
What is deliverance?
In the spiritual battle that we are all a part of, Scripture shows that many are captives. Many things can make us spiritual captives: Sin, false beliefs and teaching, addiction, demonic oppression. So when we talk about deliverance, we must first address the broad definition that covers all of this.
Broad definition:
Deliverance is defined as “a rescue from bondage or danger.” Deliverance in the Bible is the acts of God whereby He rescues His people from peril.
In the Bible, examples of deliverance abound. Throughout the Old Testament, there are many examples of God rescuing His people out of slavery and oppression from enemies. This points us to Jesus, who ultimately brings deliverance from spiritual captivity through His death on the cross. So we read in Rom 8 1-2
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Spiritual deliverance of any kind comes through the loving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Through Him we have the victory.
That said, often when we speak about deliverance, we are referring to freedom from demonic oppression/possession (or demonization). We certainly have examples of this in Scripture where Jesus freed people from this spiritual captivity.
And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.
And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
What we immediately see in this passage is the authority of Jesus Christ over demonic spirits. The people are amazed because Jesus commands the evil spirit, and it must obey. Jesus did deliverance! So did the apostles:
As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.
She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”
And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
Here Paul - in the power of Jesus name - commanded the unclean spirit to leave this girl. This is a story of deliverance.
We see that people can be possessed and oppressed. To explain the concept of deliverance simply then, it is the process of getting someone clean of any demonic oppression or possession.
This begs a question:
Can Christians have demons?
Can Christians have demons?
Yes, Christians can have demonic influences. Not owned, but occupied. This is called demonization. You can experience demonic influence as a Christian from an indwelling spirit. Sometimes part of the process of sanctification (or being made like Jesus - perfected) is getting rid of these demonic influences.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you cannot be possessed because you are already “possessed” or have the Holy Spirit inside of you. You are bought and paid for at the price of Jesus Christ. Still, there is the possibility of being oppressed.
Paul writes to the Corinthians:
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
Sometimes stuff from our old lives clings to us. Perhaps from sexual sin, abuse, generational sin, or past experience with the occult or other such practices can lead to someone having demonic influences in their lives.
Symptoms of oppression can look like feeling tormented or tortured, irrational fear, having unrelenting or uncharacteristic thoughts of suicide, murder, or perhaps blasphemous thoughts. Sometimes those thoughts are quite condemning. It can also involve physical pain or even emotional problems like rage.
Here’s the thing, sometimes some of this can also come from physical or emotional issues in someone’s life. We must exercise discernment. I appreciate Rob Reimer’s thoughts on this:
Some problems are spiritual and no amount of counseling or medication will help them find freedom. They need deliverance.
Soul Care, p. 209
As we have already seen, Jesus did deliverance. It was a large part of His ministry. As we move into the book of Acts, we see the apostles also doing deliverance. The story of Paul and the girl at Philippi is a good example:
Deliverance is a part of kingdom ministry. Scripture tells us that the devil will scheme and will seek to devour. Demon oppression is a real thing - experience should teach us this. But there is hope and freedom in Jesus Christ! It is not something for us to fear, but something for us to discern. Should we walk around casting demons out of every person we meet? Certainly not. But we should be watchful. If someone we know is struggling with those symptoms we talked about, talk with your pastor. It could be that that person is in need of spiritual freedom.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Remember our big idea:
Big Idea: All of us are part of the spiritual battle.
All of us are part of the spiritual battle. There are two kingdoms at war in this world. There’s the kingdom of darkness which inhabits this world and will be here until Christ does away with it at the end. However the kingdom of God has broken into the kingdom of this world, bringing restoration, healing, deliverance, and salvation. We have an enemy - the ruler of the kingdom of darkness. Scripture is clear about this. And there are those who are yet spiritually captive. Certainly those who have not yet accept Christ, but even for Christians there can be parts of our lives that are captive. Sometimes because of sin, or false teaching or because of demon oppression. Deliverance is the process of setting people free from spiritual captivity, particularly from demon oppression, through the authority given to believers in the Name of Jesus. Sometimes it might seem scary, but it doesn’t have to be. Jesus did deliverance, the apostles did deliverance, and part of being Christ’s hands and feet is to present the reality of spiritually freedom from oppression through Jesus Christ.
Big Idea: All of us are part of the spiritual battle.
I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, or what you believe. Whether you will admit it or not Scripture is clear that there’s a spiritual battle going on all around us! And you are either for God’s side, or on evil’s side. There’s no fence. As Christians, we should be aware of this spiritual battle. We don’t need to fear it or freak out about it. Instead, we should pray on the armor Paul gives us in Ephesians, get into God’s Word, and ask God to equip us to fight the good fight.
Perhaps you’re here today, and you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Friend, if that is you, you too are in this spiritual battle with cosmic consequences. But you are on the losing side. You need to be right with God and be delivered from your sin. You need to be made new and alive in Jesus. He can set you free! From sin, from torment by Satan, from false belief. Maybe you’re feeling Jesus moving today, drawing you to repent and ask God for forgiveness. If that’s you, would you raise your hand?
Let’s make this place a place of prayer now.
Close with prayer.
