Spiritual Warfare - 2

1 Peter 5:8–9 NIV84

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Two Mistakes Regarding Satan

We can take him too seriously, as if he possessed God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.

The devil is an angel, and like all other creatures, he is in one place at a time, has areas of ignorance and has finite power.

Michael the archangel is presented as his peer in .

We can fail to take him seriously enough, reducing him to a cartoon villain.[1]

We have an enemy that we need to take seriously.

When it comes to spiritual warfare, what is our part, and what is God’s?

Do we have any power over the devil?

What can we or cannot do when it comes to dealing with the devil.

Work of Satan?

Times of trouble and suffering are not all the direct work of Satan.

We will, the Lord willing, learn this and more concerning spiritual warfare.

He is ultimately the source of all that is evil, but he does not need to be there recreating the evil each time it appears.

- Times of trouble and suffering are not all the work of Satan, at least in a direct sense.

Let’s not give him more credit or more attention than he deserves, and let’s not excuse ourselves from doing the things that God has commissioned us to do.

Ø He is ultimately the source of all that is evil, but although he introduced the corrupting influences into the world, he does not need to be there recreating the evil each time it appears.

Ø Let’s not give him more credit or more attention than he deserves, and let’s not excuse ourselves from doing the things that God has commissioned us to do.

Ephesians 6:10–20 NIV84

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. 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.

We are to put on the full armor of God, so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes.

Ø We can take him too seriously, as if he possessed God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.

§ The devil is an angel, and like all other creatures, he is in one place at a time, has areas of ignorance (see notes on ), and has finite power.

§ Michael the archangel is presented as his peer in .

Ø On the other hand, we can fail to take him seriously enough, reducing him to a cartoon villain.[1]

John F. MacArthur Jr., Ephesians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 331.

- We have an enemy that we need to take seriously.

- When it comes to spiritual warfare, what is our part, and what is God’s?

The faithful Christian life is a battle; it is warfare on a grand scale—because when God begins to bless, Satan begins to attack.[1]

Ø Do we have any power over the devil?

John F. MacArthur Jr., Ephesians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 331.

Ø What can we or cannot do when it comes to dealing with the devil.

Ø We will, the Lord willing, learn this and more concerning spiritual warfare.

[1] Daniel M Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary – 1 Peter, (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 2014), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 230-231.

The faithful Christian life is a battle; it is warfare on a grand scale—because when God begins to bless, Satan begins to attack.[1]

[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., Ephesians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), 331.

[1] Daniel M Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary – 1 Peter, (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 2014), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 230-231