What Does the Bible Say About: Spiritual Warfare?

What does the Bible Say About… Spiritual Warfare What the Bible Says: • The Bible teaches that Jesus has already ______________ the powers of this world. (Ephesians 1:20-23) • Through Jesus we can be _____________ from the oppression of evil powers. (Ephesians 2:1-5) • The church’s role is to ___________________ the victory of Jesus through the way we _______. (Ephesians 3:8-10) • Spiritual warfare is a _____________ battle: to resist intimidation and _____________ while we stay on mission. (Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Peter 5:8) August 8, 2021 The Question Behind the Question: • The Bible seems to describe a spiritual war between good and evil being fought _________ and _________ us. (Ephesians 6:12) • Many are convinced that spiritual warfare is a _______________ of the Christian life. Many others aren't ___________. • How ___________ is spiritual warfare? What is our ________ in the war? What the Bible Doesn’t Say • The Bible doesn’t explain the ___________ or ___________ of our spiritual opponents. • The Bible does not provide details on a _____________________ between angels and demons. (Revelation 12:7-8) Conclusions: • There are real spiritual powers that effect our world—and Jesus • The Bible doesn’t say that all spiritual warfare is _____________. (1 Thessalonians 2:18, Acts 16:7, 1 Corinthians 5:5) ___________ over all of them. • We don’t need to defeat the powers, or ___________ over them; we need to ________ them and stay focused on the Gospel. • The Bible doesn’t tell us how to ______________ or __________ demonic possession. (Mark 9:17-18, 29) • The Good News is that there is ______________ for anyone who seeks in in _____________. (Luke 4:18-19). Discussion Questions • Verse 17 says that the failure of the Jewish exorcists magnified the name of Jesus. How so? • Does this passage teach us anything about how to perform exorcisms? If not, what does it teach us instead? 1. Getting Started: • What did you find most interesting about the sermon this week? The most helpful, eye-opening, or troubling? • How do you feel about spiritual warfare? Does it fascinate you, bore you, make you feel uncomfortable? • Have you ever had an experience (you’re willing to share) with spiritual warfare or opposition? What happened? 3. Going Deeper • How do demonic powers intimidate or distract us from fulfilling our mission? 2. Into the Bible (Read Acts 19:11-20) • In verse 12 we see a very strange method of exorcism. Why do you think Paul’s handkerchiefs could cast out demons? Is Acts trying to teach us the cast out demons this way? • What does spiritual bondage look like in our world today? Where have you seen it? • The Jewish exorcists used Jesus name, but their exorcisms were unsuccessful. Can we tell what they were doing wrong? (Compare to Luke 9:49-50) • How can we help people in those kinds of bondage today? If the Bible isn’t an exorcism manual, how do we bring them freedom?