22 Discerning The Nature Of The Enemy
The Three Battlegrounds • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
HITTING THE HEART OF YOUR ADVERSARY
In the spirit realm the name of an entity always corresponds to its nature.
You will notice that there are many names given to the Lord in Scripture. Yet, each revealed name was actually a deeper revelation of His nature
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
Amplified Bible Chapter 22
the Lord it will be provided.
14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Similarly, the names of the Lord's angels are also self-descriptive.
This principle of consistency between the name and nature of spiritual beings holds true in discerning the activity and purpose of evil spirits.
Discern: a power to see what is not evident to the average mind.
Merriam-Webster,
DISCERN.—To discern (Lat. dis apart, cernere separate) is to separate things so as to distinguish them,
‘It is not the sacramentes that discerne the children of God from the children of the devyll; but the puritie of lyfe and charitie.’
To defeat the rulers of darkness we must know their nature-what to expect, what their tactics are, and how they apply those tactics against our weaknesses.
In the Bible, the term unclean spirit is a generic term used simply to draw a distinction between angelic spirits and evil spirits.
But if you want to bring deliverance, you need to know the nature of a specific unclean spirit; that is, whether the unclean spirit is a spirit of fear or sexual lust, etc.
You do not need to ask it any more questions once you know its nature.
Consider that the name of the unclean spirit inhabiting the Gerasene demoniac was "Legion . . ." Why? "for we are many"
6 When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him.
7 With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!”
8 For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”
9 Then Jesus demanded, “What is your name?” And he replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.”
Knowing the name helped Jesus discern its nature, thus facilitating the actual deliverance.
When John describes the fallen angel in Revelation 9:11 as the "king" over the demons in the bottomless pit, he reveals this ruler's
name in Hebrew as, "Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon." In English, these names are "Destruction" and "Destroyer" respectively.
Again, the name and nature match.
Once you know its nature, however, you do not need to know its name.
If you were in warfare against Abaddon, you could identify the spirit with the name "Destruction" or "Destroyer" as readily as using the Hebrew name Abaddon.
Or, you could war against it, if God so led you, by simply calling it the spirit of destruction.
How do we defeat the enemy?
Victory begins with the name of Jesus on our lips; it is consummated by the nature of Jesus in our hearts.
as a Christian Once you know your nature, you do not need to know your name.
JOHN 13:35 For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you’re my true followers.”
New Living Translation Chapter 13
35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
FOLLOW THE LAMB!
We have touched on a few of the enemies of God in this book. It is very important to not charge ahead, attacking principalities in warfare without having strategies and without people praying for the protection of those doing warfare.
In Scripture, we have a clear picture of the proper balance in all warfare: "the armies which are in heaven ... were following Him"
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
In no other dimension of life will we find the phrase, "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing," more true than in spiritual warfare.
The armies which are in heaven follow!
Who do they follow? Jesus!
Therefore, let us be very conscious and very careful to be followers of the Lord.
So lets look at spirits we must be able to discern if its in our harts
it is vital that the people in our church be trained in warfare before laying a large-scale siege against the enemy.
Your attack against the strongholds of hell will be in the areas of your knowledge.
Satan, on the other hand, will counter-attack in the areas of your ignorance.
It is essential we understand the difference between being taught and being trained.
Reading this book is being taught; being personally led by the Lord Jesus is being trained.
David wrote, "He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze" (Ps. 18:34).
So lets look at spirits we must be able to discern if its in our harts
First Spirit:
Ignorance: lack of knowledge or information.
Hosa 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Do you think it bothers the enemy that Christians don’t study Gods Word.
30 “In the past God tolerated our ignorance of these things, but now the time of deception has passed away. He commands us all to repent and turn to God.
Second Spirit
Rebellion: an act of violent or open resistance to an established government or ruler. The action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim (household good luck images). Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.
New Living Translation Chapter 2
3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness* is revealed—the one who brings destruction.
3rd Spirit
Un-forgiveness: is when you are unwilling or unable to forgive someone for hurting, betraying, breaking your trust or causing you intense emotional pain. ...
Cancer - 61% of cancer patients have forgiveness issues.
Suppressed anger - people often get angry for any reason have issues associated with forgiveness.
Home Work
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness ness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph. 6:12 Kv).
Define the following:
HEAVENLY PLACES
DEMONS
DEVILS
PRINCIPALITY
POWERS
WORLD RULERS OF DARKNESS
SATAN
KINGDOM OF GOD