Overcoming the Devil

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

This morning we are going to be talking about victory and overcoming the Devi, Beelzebub, the serpent, that old snake, whatever you want to call him.

And we are going to be doing so on the backdrop of Revelation 12, specifically verses 7-11, if you want to start finding that in your Bibles.

First though, we need to ask WHO WANTS VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL?

And be careful how you answer that because, to overcome the devil, takes some work.

It involves more than just coming to church on Sunday morning, and even more than coming on Sunday morning AND Sunday night.

It takes some real effort.

Some real spiritual work.

Because we know from looking around us everyday that the world today is overcome by fear of the enemy.

And honestly in many places the church today is overcome by fear of the enemy.

People are living their lives in bondage whether they are Christians or not.

And that should not be so.

When Christ sets us free, we are free indeed!

We are no longer slaves to sin.

We are no longer in bondage.

But we have a bad habit of allowing ourselves to be placed back into bondage.

We become overcome by the fear of the world and the things of the world and because of this, we are made slaves again.

So, before we get too deep into things this morning, let’s take a look at our focal passage and then we will break things down just a bit more.

In Revelation 12, starting in verse 7, John tells us this . . .

Scripture Focus

Revelation 12:7–11 NIV84

And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Tactics of the Enemy

They (or we) overcame him by the word of (our) testimony and by the blood of the lamb.

Remember those words.

Let those words sink deep into your soul.

Never forget that God is stronger than Satan.

That God’s angels are stronger than Satan.

Listen, God Himself didn’t have to cast Satan out of heaven, he had an angel do it.

That’s how weak Satan really is.

But even in his weakness, he’s still very smart and very manipulative.

And he has many tactics in his arsenel to try and pry us away from God.

To get us thinking that God is not with us.

And one of the greatest of these is fear.

And to get a good glimpse of this, I want to back up to Exodus again for a few minutes and look at Pharoah and the Israelites as they were fleeing Egypt.

Remember, the Israelites had been in bondage for over 400 years.

The 10 plagues had occurred.

Pharoah had agreed to let them go, and then changed his mind.

And he was trying to chase them down . . .

Exodus 14:10–12 NIV84

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

And I know we have talked about this passage almost every week lately, but it reveals the tactics of Satan.

So, what's this got to do with the tactics of Satan? 

Pharaoh, himself is a representation of Satan, or the enemy. 

Pharaoh and his army were beginning to get closer and closer.

He was breathing down their neck and closing in.

They had Pharaoh behind them and the Red Sea in front of them and were trapped.

 And, instead of trusting God, they were "terrified" and they "cried out unto the Lord" in fear rather in faith for His deliverance. 

 And honestly, what more did God have to prove to these people?

Had the 10 plagues and passover not been enough?

 But they quickly forgot all God had done because they were afraid.

Quite frankly, they were afraid they were going to die.

And the fear of death causes you do say and do things, you probably would not normally do.

It is a natural survival instinct that kicks in and sometimes kicks out rational thought.

And Satan plans on this, every time.

And it really doesn’t have to be fear of death, it could be any fear really.

They were so afraid though, they began to say that it was better to be in bondage than to die in the wilderness.

 HAS ANYBODY EVER BEEN IN THAT PLACE BEFORE? 

SO AFRAID YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO— AFRAID TO DIE?

 Like I said, that is the plan of the enemy. 

He wants to keep us in bondage. 

He don't want us to be free. 

AND FEAR IS HIS TACTIC AND DEPENDING ON YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST, YOU WILL RESPOND IN ONE OF A FEW DIFFERENT WAYS.

The Response of the Lost

First, the response of those who are “lost” or those who have no relationship with Jesus Christ.

This could be someone who has never entered into a relationship with Christ, or someone who has fallen away from Christ.

Either way, the response is the same.

And we see an example of this in Acts 19 . . .

Acts 19:13–16 NIV84

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

And even though this is a very serious passage, my imagination makes me kind of chuckle.

Because I can picture these guys running away from this demon possessed man naked and bleeding.

But, here were seven brothers who had heard about the disciples and casting out devils.

They had heard about who Jesus was.

They took it upon themselves in their own power to overcome the enemy.

 Look what the spirit said.  "Jesus I know, Paul I know, but who are you?"

In other words who do you think you are opposing me? 

And the thing is, they were not even calling upon the name of Jesus, they were trying to drive out this demon “in the name of Jesus, who Paul preaches.”

They had no knowledge of Jesus Christ.

They had no relationship with Jesus Christ.

They saw Paul doing this and thought they could turn a quick buck and thought there was some magic in his words, so they thought they would give it a try.

They had no earthly idea what they were getting into.

LOST PERSON-HOW ARE YOU TRYING TO FIGHT THE DEVIL? 

On your own?

Under your own power?

Based on what the world is telling you?

That’s not going to work.

YOU CAN'T FIGHT HIM WITHOUT JESUS, NONE OF US CAN!

 And just because you know who Jesus is (head knowledge) you have no power.

Just like these seven the devil is going to leave you naked and wounded.

And it will only get worse and worse without Jesus, until you are destroyed.

And all of these things you are trying to overcome on your own without Jesus—you can’t do it.

And the devil knows it and he keeps you in bondage through fear.

DO YOU WANT VICTORY OVER DRUGS, ALCOHOL, PORNOGRAPHY, DEPRESSION, ADULTERY ..... 

IF YOU REALLY DO, THEN GET TO KNOW JESUS! NOT JUST ABOUT JESUS.

Otherwise, you are just spinning your wheels and going nowhere.

The Response of the Lukewarm/Dried Up Christian

And that’s the first response, but what about the second?

The response of the lukewarm or dried up Christian?

Here is something Jesus had to say about the issue . . .

Matthew 12:43–45 NIV84

“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Now, why did I choose to look at this passage?

Well, let’s look a little closer at what it is saying.

When the unclean spirit is gone, that represents deliverance. 

That person has been saved, set free, delivered from the evil one.

The evil spirit that tormented them and kept them in bondage begins to wander, looking for someone else to torment.

When it can't find anyone the spirit decides to return back to that person who was delivered. 

By the way, that is why living a Christian life is hard. 

Those enticements are drawing and pulling us away from God.

However as a child of God all the evil spirits can do is entice. They have no real power.

WE MAKE THE CHOICE TO LET THEM BACK IN!

We choose to engage and enter back into the same old sin, the same old life, the same old bondage.

Satan wants you to think you have no choice, but we do.

There is always a choice.

And looking at the passage, again, how does he find the soul of the person? 

Empty, swept, and garnished.

It looks good and proper and knows what to say and do, but the soul is empty.

The soul has been starved to death. 

No Word, No prayer, No fellowship. 

Alone and empty.

Then, the person gives in to the enticements and the spirit takes over again, but not only that one spirit but 7 more which are more wicked than the first.

Destroying that person.

And how does this manifest? 

Backsliding, but also in other ways. 

The spirit will oppress and depress and instill fear to the point that it paralyzes. 

He's got you then and you are worse off than before you were ever saved. 

 So, how do we fight against it?

EXAMINE YOUR WALK. 

Are you:

1.  Praying

2. Studying the Word.

3.  Assembling with other believers in worship and fellowship.

Or are you isolating yourself?   

If you are isolating yourself, then you are weak and have no power.

And are vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy.

How to Overcome the Devil

So, how do we find victory?

How do we overcome the devil?

YOU OBTAIN THE POWER OF GOD THAT HE HAS OFFERED.  

You give yourself wholly to God and let Him overcome the devil.

We call it Sanctification.

You get filled and you stay filled!

REMEMBER THE DEVIL'S TACTIC:  FEAR? 

Also, remember, the Bible says:

2 Timothy 1:7–8 NIV84

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,

And . . .

Romans 8:15–17 NIV84

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

And if we want to tap into God’s power, what do we do?

James 4:7–10 NIV84

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

And . . .

2 Corinthians 10:4–6 NIV84

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

And of course don’t forget the full armour of God . . .

Ephesians 6:10–17 NIV84

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Altar/Challenge

And we have to remember our focal passage . . .

Revelation 12:10–11 NIV84

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

So, the question is are you under bondage right now? 

Are you oppressed, depressed?

Do you have an addiction?

Do you want victory?

Are you ready to take the first step?

 If you are, I would invite you to come and pray, or come and pray for someone else.

Let’s pray . . .