Spiritual Warfare
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Introduction
Introduction
The christian walk is not an easy one…
The christian walk is not all sunshine and rainbows...
Our walk with God is battle field.
Since the Old Testament there has been a battle going on.
From the early chapters of the OT it is seen that Satan is the enemy of God and he is actively seeks to oppose God, His purposes, and His people.
This battle has taken place before Adam and Eve
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
From this moment, we see Lucifer starting a war.
“Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
“You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
These verses are speaking of someone who possess much power. They are speaking of Satan.
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
Satan was cast down and then was found in the Garden, and we know what happened there.. Eve ate the fruit, while Adam was there saying nothing.
Then, in we see Demons, probably possessed people, have sexual intercourse with women and creating nephilim, trying to corrupt the seed of the woman, who was promised to defeat Satan.
Satan has been at war with God since forever.
We see the Spiritual Warfare (war in the unseen) take place in 2 Kings chapter 6...
Syria was waging war against Israel. God gave Elisha infomration that nullified all of Syria’s attacks… The king of Syria found out about it, and went to go seize Elisha.
Elisha’s servant got up early, he saw the army around the city. Then, he ran and told Elisha what he had seen.
And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
Now Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” But he led them to Samaria.
2 Kings
Then in 1 chronicles we see a glimpse of Satan using God’s people.
Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.
1 Chronicle
Behind David’s actions, we find Satan, seeking to oppose God through His people.
God allowed satan to tempt David, and David fell into sin.
The same thing happens today… God allows the enemy to tempt us, either you pass or fail, either you please God or please satan.
Last story… I love the Old Testament, so many great stories.
In the book of Daniel, we see one of the most dramatic examples of Spiritual warfare.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”
They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”
“Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.
Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.
Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince.
Daniel
In Chapter 3, we see the Lord himself, or angelic being, sent there to save God’s People.
IN CHapter 10, we see an angel was sent to Daniel in answer to his prayers. He would have been there sooner, but he came into opposition.
Angels are very much involved in the affairs of men and of nations.
The godly angel came in response to Daniel’s prayers and the ungodly beings opposed this angel. It even seems that unholy angels seem to have a link with political kingdoms and their kings.
Spiritual Warfare in the New Testament
Spiritual Warfare in the New Testament
In and we see Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. Satan tried the same thing he tried in the garden, but our Lord would not give into the lies of the enemy.
Then, we read many passages about Jesus casting out demons.
Spiritual war in the church
Spiritual war in the church
, we read about Ananias and Sapphira who gave a certain amount to the Lord, but who had lied about the amount.
Peter rebuked him for lying to the Holy Spirit, and Peter attributed the source of his lying to satan.
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?
In acts 13:10, we see Paul rebuke Elymas, a magician opposing the gospel, calling him “Son of the devil.”
Ephesians 6:10-
All throughout the Bible we see that there is a War that is waging.
We need to decide which side of the war we are on.
Either you are for God, or against God.
What our text tells us about Spiritual Warfare
What our text tells us about Spiritual Warfare
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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.
Coming to Faith means you have every spiritual blessing in Christ, but it also means that you are entering into a war.
The church is engaged in a war, and the enemy is Satan and his angels, and their power exceeds our own.
Demons have great power, angels have great power. Satan has the greatest power of the angels, so it seems.
We cannot underestimate this power.
Stupid quotes like, “oh no, she’s awake.”
All these cliche quotes are trash. You are no match for the enemy. We have no power over the enemy. The only way demons flee is in the name of JESUS, because it is His power that crushes the enemy.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
People forget that the enemy is a lion...
When I was at Bible college, I went to someone’s house for bible study, a student was teaching on this verse… He talked about how the enemy is like an old lion.. He’s laying there, because he knows his time is almost up…
I looked at the guy thinking, what are you saying… That verse is not saying that, you’re underestimating the enemy...
We should not be underestimating the enemy.
3. In this war, satan has many strategies to oppose and defeat the christian.
When we look back to Jesus being tempted in the desert, satan had a few different ways he approached him, he took every opportunity he could.
When Jesus was hungry, he came.
When Jesus was thirsty, he came.
Jesus had to suffer, satan presented him with an opportunity to not suffer.
Satan then came to tempt him into proving he was the Son of God.
The enemy will take every opportunity it can to get you to fall.
4. There is coming a day, an evil day, when the spiritual warfare will be worse… The danger for believers will increase immensely.
The days we live in are evil now… I think we can agree with that. However, there is a day coming where the enemy’s attacks will intensify.
5. This text tells us that the Christian’s weapons have been divinely provided, in Christ.
Our weapons are found in Christ. We have the whole armour of God so that we can withstand the enemy.
How are we able to stand against the Enemy?
How are we able to stand against the Enemy?
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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.
We cannot be like the Christians who aren’t aware of the spiritual battles that take place. If that is who we are, we are losing that battle.
Sometimes people think satan is working in the problems at work, every sickness, or every breaking down car… That’s not necessarily true.
“Oh man, I really want to cuss out my co-worker.. Satan is testing me today!” No, you just don’t have patience with people.
“I didn’t get that job I applied for, satan is against me.” Or, maybe there was someone better? I mean there’s always someone better.
Or my favorite… “The devil made me do it.” mmm.. No, you’re just a sinner who was disobedient to God.
Then, you have those who act like satan doesn’t exist.
Other people act as if satan doesn’t exist. They know he’s real, but have no awareness of what is going on.
We have to recognize that he is real. He is an enemy of God, an enemy of the church, and an enemy of every believer.
He temps, traps, deceives, and kills, and nobody is exempt from his wraith.
So, how should we live, knowing that the enemy is out wanting to destroy us?
So, how should we live, knowing that the enemy is out wanting to destroy us?
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
2 Cor.
One major part of walking inn victory is by walking in the Spirit.
It is easy to walk in flesh. Live your own life without any thought of God, that’s what walking in the flesh is, doing whatever pleases.
If we want to have victory over the enemy, we need to be walking in the Spirit.
How do we do that?
Gonna say it again… You need to be in your Word and in prayer.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
If you aren’t spending time in the Word of God, or in prayer… You have already lost the battle.
Or.. I would venture to say that the enemy doesn’t care about you, because you aren’t doing anything for the kingdom.
Look at Jesus… When he was tempted by the devil, what did he do?
He quoted scripture. The enemy will flee if we stand fast and lean on the power of God.
Secondly, we need to be alert.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
The enemy is constantly seeking an opportunity to attack, we need to be sober minded and alert.
It’s hard to be defeated when you are alert and ready for battle.
It’s easy to be defeated when you don’t even know there is a battle going on.
Thirdly, we need to Submit to God and resist.
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
The enemy can be resisted.
Yes, Adam and Eve didn’t resist, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t.
We are able to withstand the enemy, if you are depending on Christ.
If we are to depend on Christ, we can withstand the enemy, but only if you’re willing to depend on Him.