Your Devil is Too Big!

Introduction:

At the start of World War II, the Junkers 87-B dive bomber was the Nazi's first mass-produced fighter aircraft, nicknamed the Stuka (from the German word for "dive bomber"), the Junkers 87-B would become the iconic Nazi warplane. It was less about its ability in the air (which was top of the line for the time) it was because of the sound the dive bomber made when zooming toward an earthbound target. The Nazis called it the "Jericho Trumpet" – and it was totally unnecessary. 

It was all for a propaganda effect.

Siren devices were attached to the wings' leading edge just forward of the Stuka's fixed landing gear. The sound was meant to be memorable, weaken the morale of the enemy, and cause mass fear of the German dive-bomber. It was so effective the sound became associated with the fast Nazi blitzkrieg across Europe and feared the world over, even across the Atlantic where newsreels entranced the American public. 

https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/wwii-dive-bomber-whistled

Fear is a weapon. There are many things people won’t do, because of fear. There are places people won’t go, because of fear. There are people who suffer great emotional pain, because of fear.

Fear: an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. (Webster)

There is a positive aspect of fear not reflected in that definition that involves awe, reverence and respect. In that sense to fear God means to serve and be faithful to Him (Joshua 24:14-15). We aren’t going to look at the positive aspect of fear today but the negative aspect.

Even the negative aspect of fear as an unpleasant emotion isn’t all bad. When we experience fear we activate our fight or flight mode. We understand we need to face the danger or run from it. Fear alerts us to danger.

Christians fear many things. One thing many Christians fear is witnessing. If you feel that way, you’re in good company. Timothy was afraid of sharing his faith. His mentor, the Apostle Paul, told him this,

2 Timothy 1:6–8 ESV

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

Timothy was fearful about sharing his faith. I can identify with him.

Another thing many people are fearful about is Satan. I don’t have statistics to prove this but my sense is that right behind the fear of sharing our faith, Christians fear Satan and spiritual warfare.

It is not uncommon to fear Satan, but it is unnecessary.

If I were to ask the question, “Should a Christian fear Satan?” my guess is that the overwhelming response, by Christians, would be “No, of course not,” yet we do.

I got the idea for the title of this message from a book by Erwin Lutzer. The words “Your Devil is too Big” is a play on a book written years ago “Your God is too Small” by J.B. Phillips. How do you know if your devil is too big? If you fear him.

How do we deal with fear. Consider these statements. There are many pithy sayings, tweetable sayings about fear.

List several

“Fear comes from uncertainty. When we are absolutely certain, whether of our worth or worthlessness, we are almost impervious to fear.” William Congreve

“Above all, don’t fear difficult moments. The best comes from them.” Rita Levi-Montalcini

“Fear is the main sources of superstition and one of the man sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” Bertrand Russel

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” Les Brown

“I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” Louisa May Alcott

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” Marie Curie

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Nelson Mandela

“Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is a lot of truth in those statements, isn’t there. Yet, does reading those make you any less fearful? For a moment, maybe.

The answer to how to not fear Satan is the same as how to not fear sharing our faith. Paul told Timothy and us how to overcome fear.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

God has given us what we need to be fearless in our faith.

We have an alternative to fear. God has not give us a spirit of fear. Here the word Paul uses has the sense of timidity or cowardice δειλία** (a NT hapax)

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 25.266 δειλία, ας

25.266 δειλία, ας f: a state of fear because of a lack of courage or moral strength—‘cowardice, timidity.’ οὐ γὰρ ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ θεὸς πνεῦμα δειλίας ‘for God has not given us a spirit of timidity’ or ‘… a spirit of cowardice’ 2 Tm 1:7.

What defeats fear? Paul tells us we have three things that defeat any fear. Today, I’m going to apply these to our fear of Satan. There are all in this verse. First we see that

1. We have God’s power to defeat Satan’s attacks. Luke 4:14; Acts 1:8; Romans 15:13, 19; Ephesians 3:16

God has all power. He gave some to Satan and He gives us access to His power. When we understand God’s power, we put Satan’s power into perspective as subservient to it.

The power of God is associated with the Spirit of God. Immediately after Jesus’s baptism and temptation we read

Luke 4:14 ESV

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

When we trust in Christ, the Spirit of God came into us in the same was as He did upon Jesus. We are living with the Spirit’s power as Jesus did. That’s why Jesus told His disciples and us

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

We have the power of God to witness. If we think about that when we try to share our faith, it changes how we do it. We can’t convince anyone of their need for Jesus or save them, only the Spirit of God can do that.

The power of the Spirit isn’t limited to witnessing.

Romans 15:13 ESV

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Hope is powerful. We have hope by the Spirit’s power. There are people who have survived great hardship because they didn’t give up hope. The Spirit of God gives us supernatural hope for any problem.

Another aspect of the Spirit’s power for us is ministry. Paul tells the Roman church about his ministry.

Romans 15:19 ESV

19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;

Like witnessing and hope, our ability to serve God in any effective way can only come by the Spirit’s power.

There are many things I could emphasize. One more is the power to have inner strength. Paul prays for the Ephesians

Ephesians 3:16 ESV

16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

Sometimes we are running on empty. We feel like we have nothing left to give. That’s not a bad thing if at that moment we turn to God and allow the Spirit to strengthen us, empower us in our inner beings.

To summarize the power we have from God as it relates to Satan, we have

Power to win our battles. James 4:7, Luke 10:17-18

Luke 10:17–18 ESV

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

The demons had to obey the 72 disciples yet Jesus said that was no big deal. What is a big deal is that your name is written in heaven!

Power to endure our battles. Ephesians 6:13

There are some battles that Satan appears to win. Job is an example. Revelation 2:8-10 speak of Satan’s apparent success in attacking believers.

Revelation 2:8–10 ESV

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. 9 “ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Suffering at the hands of Satan isn’t defeat.

Matthew 10:28 ESV

28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Power to recover from our battles. 1 Peter 5:8-10

1 Peter 5:8–10 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Fighting with Satan is hard, it’s a wrestling match. We will win by the Spirit’s power but we will feel like we’ve been through a fight. God will restore us!

We have strength through the Spirit’s power.

In addition to God’s power,

2. We have God’s love to displace Satan’s accusations. Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22; Colossians 1:8; 1 John 4:18

What is it that comforts a child frightened by a nightmare? To be held in her mother’s arms. God loves us an wants us to know how much He loves us.

Romans 5:5 ESV

5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

The Spirit pours God’s love into our hearts. Isn’t that a great image. The Spirit is pouring God’s love into our hearts. My guess is there is so much of it that He doesn’t have be careful. He’s splashing it around, getting it all over the place. Isn’t that a wonderful image?

The Spirit not only fills our hearts with God’s love, He enables us to feel love we can express to others. He produces love in and through us.

Galatians 5:22 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

The first quality the Spirit produces within us is love.

Colossians 1:8 ESV

8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

Love is observable, a quality known by others.

1 John 4:18 ESV

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Love is so powerful, it pushes away everything that isn’t loving. Fear isn’t loving, so the love of God throws it out. God’s love.

Love fills our hearts. Romans 5:5

Love replaces shame. Romans 5:5

There is no room for shame when a heart is filled with love. We may have done wrong, we may have hurt someone or done something really stupid, but when we are in the presence of someone who truly loves us, we feel no shame.

Love casts out fear. 1 John 4:18

The third thing Paul tells us we have from the Spirit is

3. We have God-empowered control to disarm Satan’s tactics. 1 Timothy 3:2; Galatians 5:23; Romans 12:3

This is an interesting concept. The idea of this word is we exercise control, we choose what we think and do. We choose our perspective on everything. That sounds like it is something we do on our own, yet the Spirit of God comes along side us and helps us here.

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 88.83 ἐγκρατεύομαι; ἐγκράτεια, ας

88.83 ἐγκρατεύομαι; ἐγκράτεια, ας f: to exercise complete control over one’s desires and actions—‘to control oneself, to exercise self- control, self-control.’

This word, is used only here in the NT but the concept is not unique.

1 Timothy 3:2 ESV

2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

Paul describes an overseer as one who should be self-controlled, meaning prudent, and thoughtful.

Galatians 5:23 ESV

23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Self-control as the ability to control one’s desires and actions is an aspect of the the Spirit’s work.

Romans 12:3 ESV

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

When Paul desires that the believer ascertain properly what the Spirit has given him (Rom. 12:3) and live and act accordingly, he uses the cognate verb σωφρονεῖν, “to have sound judgment,” which seems in that context to combine the characteristics of prudence and self-discipline.

The idea here is that we choose what we are going to think and ask for God’s help to think the right thing. We choose what to do and we ask for God’s help to do it. When we do, when we start thinking the right thing, doing the right thing, the Spirit of God comes along and helps us by filling what we are lacking.

You pick up a box to move it, it’s heavy, you don’t know if you can make it. A friend comes along and helps you. You’re still lifting, but so is your friend, helping you.

That is what the Spirit of God does.

We yield to God’s will in our thoughts, desires and actions.

The Spirit fills up what we lack enabling us to obey God.

Lastly, I’ve put together a list of statements

4. Why we shouldn’t fear Satan.

Christ is always with us. Hebrews 13:5.

Jesus and the Father keep us secure. John 10:28-30

God fights for us. Deuteronomy 20:3-4

God protects us. 2 Thessalonians 3:3, 1 Peter 1:5

The Spirit of God within us is greater than Satan. 1 John 4:4

God doesn’t want us to have a spirit of fear. Romans 8:15

Satan cannot touch us. 1 John 5:18

Satan cannot separate us from the love of God. Romans 8:38

Fear is the opposite of God’s peace. Galatians 5:22, John 14:27

God controls what Satan can do to us. Job 1:12, 2:6; 1 Corinthians 10:13.

We have the power of Christ available to defeat Satan. Ephesians 6:10

God gave us the ability to resist Satan. James 4:7

God gave us a defense to stand firm against all Satan’s attacks. Ephesians 6:10-17

Satan is under God’s control. Luke 22:31

Demons were afraid of Jesus. Matthew 8:29, Mark 4:7-8; James 2:19

Demons obeyed Christ. Matthew 8:32

Satan’s power is broken. Hebrews 2:14

Satan’s final judgment is assured. Revelation 20:10