Question: What is the most important thing about spiritual warfare? This.

Transcription

1 Question: What is the most important thing about spiritual warfare? This.

2 Next question: Why is that the most important thing about spiritual warfare? Because so many Christians get overly obsessed with Satan and demons, when the attention should be given to the victorious Christ. Because the victory over all evil was secured once and for all on the cross. Because the doom and judgment of Satan, demons, and even evil itself is determined by the cross. Because in His crucifixion and resurrection, Christ secured the safety, protection, and security of all believers of all the ages throughout all eternity. Because Satan is way stronger than you and you are no match for him but Jesus is.

3 Can Christ be in thy heart and thou not know it? Can one king be dethroned and another crowned in thy soul and thou hear no scuffle? William Gurnall And so what is the scuffle? What do we face? Christians face three deadly foes: 1. The world which is what? world, or kosmos in Gk, carries in the NT some nuances of meaning: In Acts 17:24 it is the created universe the God who made the world and everything in it Most often though, it is the sphere of human life and humanity itself Matt. 4:8; Mark 8:36; John 3:19; 2 Cor. 5:19.

4 Christians face three deadly foes: 1. The world which is what? the world is the place where God has come to do His redeeming and transforming work It often has a negative sense: it is this passing, evil age that is opposed to God 1 Cor. 3:18-19; Eph. 2:2. The kosmos resists God John 1:9-11, 7:7. It is ruled by the evil one John 12:31, 16:11. Christians live in this kosmos and so need to resist being caught up in its lusts, loves, desires, values John 17:15-17; 1 John 2:15. And yet in astonishing grace, God so loved this kosmos that He gave His only Son.

5 Christians face three deadly foes: 2. The flesh which is what? Well, just like with world, the Gk word sarx sometimes has a very literal meaning in 2 Cor. 12:7 it s the stuff that covers up your bones. More broadly, it can refer to the entire human body Acts 2:26, 31; Col. 2:5; Heb. 10:20. It is also used to describe the human nature, like in John 1:14, 2 Cor. 4:11, or Heb. 2:14. But we know it best figuratively as that in a human which is opposed to God and can do nothing to please Him. Paul contrasts life in the Spirit with life in the flesh Rom. 8:4; also 1 Pet. 2:11.

6 Christians face three deadly foes: 2. The flesh which is what? So in this sense of sarx, our flesh is a willing instrument of sin. In Rom. 6:19; 7:5, 18, 25; 8:3-9, Paul uses flesh to indicate that humanity lives in self-sufficient independence of God. So flesh is a sphere of activity defined and driven by sin, as opposed to God s Spirit Rom. 8:4-5. For example, the mind set on the flesh (Rom. 5-7) means to think continually about, and constantly desire, the things characteristic of fallen, sinful human nature thinking like the unbelieving world thinks.

7 Christians face three deadly foes: 3. The devil which is what? Steve Lawson describes the devil like this: a fallen angel who presides over the kingdom of darkness. What does he do? It s both simple and complex: he uses both the world and the flesh to, hopefully, devastate, defeat, and render completely ineffective, believers. Unbelievers are already all of them blinded by Satan to the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4). But since Christians have had the blinders removed, it is Christians he seeks to devour - 1 Pet. 5:8.

8 So this goal of devouring believers when does it start? And when does it end? You know the answer it begins at the moment of conversion and ends at the moment of death. As a believer, your life is continually (and by continually I mean continually) under attack. No believer is exempt; every disciple of Christ is in the arena all day every day. Let s be accurate: Satan does not do all the tempting we re pretty good at it ourselves (James 1:13-15) and often do too much of his work for him, but we can t forget that our true fight is not against flesh and blood Eph. 6:12.

9 C.S. Lewis makes an important observation on the reality of this constant spiritual conflict: There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight. Question: What is the dominant worldview in the western world today? (hint: you can answer it with one word) It s this: naturalism. What is naturalism? How would you define it? What are its characteristics?

10 Naturalism the dictionary puts it like this: a philosophical viewpoint according to which everything arises from natural properties and causes, and supernatural or spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted. Everything has a natural cause, and nothing exists beyond what we can see with our eyes. This has influenced, and infected, us more than we might like to admit. But the biblical worldview is just the opposite: A sovereign God who rules over all creation and the events of our lives, along with acknowledging angels, Satan and demons.

11 What happens if we have a naturalistic worldview? We give little room in our thinking for the supernatural. We believe in God, but the spiritual & supernatural really don t play a role in the way we view life. And then there s the other error: Spiritual warfare becomes the lens through which all of life is viewed. Everything that happens is attributed to demonic activity and spiritual warfare. David Powlison: A great deal of fiction, superstition, fantasy, nonsense, nuttiness, and downright heresy flourishes in the church under the guise of spiritual warfare in our time.

12 So we know there is a devil, and we know there are demons and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). What are we supposed to do? Perform exorcisms? Bind the devil? Rebuke demons? Map the locations of territorial spirits? Cast out generational spirits? Do spiritual cleansing? Well there is no mention of any of that in the NT, which should suggest something. And here s a very sobering passage of Scripture which should give us pause when we think about the things listed above Matt. 7: It tells us that unbelievers are actively engaged in ministries that involve spiritual warfare. Be careful here.

13 Our goal in this class is to do our best to take a biblical look at a very real issue: spiritual warfare. If we dismiss the whole topic as irrelevant, we do so to our own spiritual peril. Any doctrinal excess leads to imbalance in the Christian life magnifying one aspect of Biblical truth results in minimizing or ignoring others. If we err on blaming Satan for every problem we face, we can leave out the biblical truths of personal responsibility for our actions, the issue of remaining sin in the Christian, the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, and the importance of the centrality of the gospel.

14 Spiritual warfare where did it come from? Somewhere in between Gen. 1:31 ( it was very good ) and 3:1 ( now the serpent was more crafty ) something massive and creation-rocking happened. There must have been some sort of rebellion in the angelic world with many angels (inexplicably) turning against God and becoming fixed in evil. Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19 have been suggested as passages that allude to this rebellion. That rebellion in the angelic world makes its disastrous intrusion into the human race in Gen. 3. It s easy to trace through the OT in every sin, murder, crime, complaining, murmuring it s there.

15 Spiritual warfare where did it come from? Gen. 3:15 tells us that there would be an ongoing battle for some indeterminate amount of time between those who follow the serpent/devil, and those who follow the seed of the woman/christ. The next recorded event in Scripture in Gen. 4 is the birth of Cain & Abel and the 1 st murder. Notice how John describes it in 1 John 3: Rev. 12:7-17 describes an ongoing war between the dragon and those who hold to the testimony of Jesus. An ultimate battle between Satan and Christ would be fought Rev. 12:1-6

16 Spiritual warfare where did it come from? We often say that when Jesus went to the cross He did so to bear the penalty for our sins and we re right. But that is not all He accomplished there: John 12:27-31 & 16:11 Jesus states His purpose for His crucifixion. Col. 2:15 Along with everything else, the cross publicly reveals that Satan and the demons have failed miserably in their attempt to stop God s plan. Heb. 2:14-15 tells you that Satan s death grip on you was broken and your slavery to sin has ended. 1 John 3:8 notice the connection here with v. 5: they are one and the same.

17 The strange time we live in So we see Satan s decisive defeat on the cross (1 John 3:8) and his ultimate banishment to an eternity of punishment in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10) but we still see him active in our world and clearly tempting and enticing believers. We live in this strange in-between time, the time of already/not yet. Rom. 16:20 is coming, it hasn t happened yet, but it will. For now we are aware that 1 Pet. 5:8 and Eph. 6:12 are realities that we have to deal with. Acts 17:31 tells you that Rom. 16:20 is coming. Neither has taken place, but both are fixed and sure

18 The first thing to remember about spiritual warfare: In everything else that we say during this series, don t forget this one thing look at these verses and simply feel the weight of what they are saying: Exodus 14:25 Exodus 15:3 Deuteronomy 3:22 Joshua 23:10 1 Samuel 7:10 1 Samuel 17:47 2 Chron. 20:15 Psalm 24:8 Psalm 135:10 Isaiah 42:13 Jeremiah 46:15 Revelation 19:11 Do not forget the sovereign rule of God and His unlimited power: Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf 2 Chron. 20:17

19 Ok what do we have so far? We are involved in spiritual warfare. Jesus Christ is the triumphant Deliverer and King. The modern age deadens people to the reality of spiritual warfare. Errors & excesses occur in deliverance ministries. In order for us to get a balanced Biblical perspective on all of this, it is essential that we look at a few things very carefully: 1. What is the purpose of evil? 2. Who/what are we fighting? 3. How do we fight?

20 To finish up What are the 3 most important things you can do, right now, today, in spiritual warfare? A little disclaimer here: these 3 things are not what you ll hear from the so-called Apostles of the New Apostolic Reformation or from prominent deliverance ministry websites. And they don t sound too exciting, not like the smart-bomb prayers some advocate 1. Personal evangelism tell people about Jesus. John 5:24; Col. 1:13; 2 Tim. 2: Make disciples help others learn to keep their hearts with all vigilance. Prov. 4:23; 1 Pet. 5:8 3. Personal growth stuff your head full of Scripture. Psalm 1:1-2; 119:9-11