Sermon: Spiritual Warfare

Transcription

1 Study Guide for the Central Church of Christ October 8 we will study Ephesians 6: (I will be out of the pulpit Oct. 15 & 22. Blake will preach Oct. 15 and Cameron will preach Oct 22. They will each be sending out discussion questions.) Discussion questions for October 8 are: 1. Eph. 6:11 refers to strategies of the devil. What are some of his strategies that you are aware of? a. What advice would you give a parent who seeks to educate a child about strategies of the devil? 2. What is the significance of believing Satan is not a living being but merely the concept of evil? a. Does Eph. 6:12 sound like we are battling a living being or a concept? 3. Remind your class of the leading factors contributing to teen suicide listed in today s sermon. How does this list affect your understanding of spiritual warfare? 4. Why does Jesus speak to Satan when Peter is the one who spoke the offensive words in Matthew 16:16-19? 5. How do you see Satan at work in the story of David and Bathsheba? 6. Agree/disagree: He works on people who isolate themselves from other Christians. He works on people who never get to know other Christians except superficially, never attend a Bible class, never join a small group, never develop a close friendship with another Christian. A Christian who lives in isolation from fellowship with other Christians is easy pickins for Satan. 7. What Biblical evidence is there that Satan s power is limited? (The conversation between God and Satan in Job.) a. Was it news to you that Satan is not omnipotent, omnipresent, nor omniscient? 8. How do you implement putting on the armor of God as described in Ephesians 6:14-17? 9. How do you understand pray in the Spirit? (Ephesians 6:18) Sermon: Spiritual Warfare In any event where you have an opponent whether it s merely competition as in an athletic event or if its life and death as in a war it s not enough to know what your own strengths are, you also need to know the strengths of the opposition. There is a scene in the movie Patton where General Patton is looking over a battlefield while a battle is taking place and he is aware that because of his strategy he is going to win this battle against the German military genius Rommel. He is sort or thinking out loud and says to an imaginary Rommel, I read your book. And then he watches battle take place as his army wins just like he planned. He was saying, I am winning this battle because I read the enemies book and I knew what he would do and I outmaneuvered him. The Holy Spirit says in Ephesians 6:11, Put on all of God s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Are you standing firm against all the strategies of the devil? Do you know what he is up to and how he goes about his warfare? Do you

2 understand that he does more than introduce a little temptation into the world and then go away? A deist is a person who believes God set the rules of nature in force and then retired to his heaven never to exert any energy to change anything. That s a deist one who believes in God but doesn t believe He does anything. You have to pray because He said to but He will not respond to your prayers. There is a counterpart to deism and I don t know that it has a name but it is the thought that following the resurrection of Jesus, Satan went back to Hell and became inactive except through whatever temptations he had already introduced into the world. Ten years ago only 30% of Americans believed Satan is a living being. Most believe Satan is merely a symbol of evil. The typical American mindset today is the belief that there is a God but He does not respond to our requests and Satan is merely a concept. Listen to what the Holy Spirit says about that, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 Three times in Ephesians Paul uses the same kind of language as he speaks of cosmic powers of evil. We don t take his words very seriously. We even use Satan as a source of humor. We think it is cute to dress little children up like devils on Halloween. But the Bible says he is an accuser, an adversary, a tempter, a murderer, and a liar. The Bible compares him to a roaring lion whose purpose is to devour. The Bible compares him to a serpent who is crafty. And the Bible warns us that he sometimes disguises himself as an angel of light. He is assisted by rulers, by authorities, by something called cosmic powers and by something called spiritual forces of evil. Does he have any power to do anything? Why did a 64 year old man open fire with an automatic rifle from the 32 nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel killing 50 people and wounding 400 others? Do you not think Satan was involved in that? Why would a mother leave a 3 month old baby beside a busy interstate highway? Do you not think Satan was involved in that? Why is there a dramatic rise in teen suicide? Do you not think Satan was involved in that? Here are the leading factors contributing to teen suicide: Divorce of parents. Violence in the home. Inability to find success at school. Feelings of worthlessness. Rejection by friends or peers. Substance abuse. Death of someone close to the teenager. The suicide of a friend or someone he or she "knows" online. Do you not think Satan is involved in that? We are dealing with a real enemy and we are in a real war. It s imperative that we be armed and alert. Here are 5 things you need to know about the enemy: The devil is real.

3 Forget the cartoon character with horns and a pitchfork. The Bible does not call him a lion and a dragon simply for dramatic effect. If you want to know how real he is read the book of Job and look at what he did to a man s body, his home, his wealth, and his friends. If you want to know if he is real, listen to Jesus who said Satan is a thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy. John 10:10 The Bible says he masquerades as an angel of light. Satan is driven by a determine opposition to everything God is for. If God created a new community called the church, Satan wants to destroy it. If God wanted to break down the walls that divide people, Satan wants to build walls. If God wants His people to live together in harmony, Satan wants discord. It is no coincidence that in Ephesians the section on Satan s activity immediately follows the section on what a Christian home should look like. Can you tell me any institution in America that is under greater attack than the family? We are at war like never before! If you would know the enemy first, you must know that he is real and second, you must know He operates on more than an empirical level. His power is not confined to what you can see and hear and touch and taste. our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness. Ephesians 6:12 Do you remember who Jesus replied to when Peter responded to Jesus announcement that he was going to die with Never Lord!? Jesus speaks, not to Peter, but to Satan saying, Get thee behind me Satan! operates on more than an empirical level and third, you must Believe the Devil is crafty. Look at how he works with new converts. The first time a new convert sins you know what the Devil does don t you because he probably did it to you. He whispers, You weren t sincere were you? He attacks people when they hurt. How many times have we seen those who have suffered great loss question the goodness of God? Who do you think plants that question in the minds of those who suffer? Satan works on people who have experienced success. When Jesus spoke that stinging rebuke, Get thee behind me Satan. do you know what had happened to Peter right before that? He had just had the greatest spiritual high of his life. You talk about success just listen to Peter s discovery and Jesus response to him, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. 17 Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 16:16-19 Right after that success comes, Get thee behind me, Satan.

4 You talk about crafty, just look at how he works on those who are idle. All the other kings had gone to war but not David. He was just hanging around the castle and you know what happened as the tragic David and Bathsheba story evolves. He works on people who isolate themselves from other Christians. He works on people who never get to know other Christians except superficially, never attend a Bible class, never join a small group, never develop a close friendship with another Christian. A Christian who lives in isolation from fellowship with other Christians is easy pickins for Satan. operates on more than an empirical level and third, you must believe the Devil is crafty and fourth, you must Understand the Devil is limited in power. The last thing I want to do this morning is exaggerate the power of Satan. He is not the counterpart of God. He is a created being. Do you remember learning in Sunday School that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-present? Satan is none of those. Those qualities belong exclusively to God. Satan does not have all power. He can t do anything he chooses. He is very restricted. He is not present everywhere all the time like God is. That s why he has to have all those agents, principalities and powers and forces of evil. He is not all knowing like God is. He can t read your mind. operates on more than an empirical level and third, you must believe the Devil is crafty and fourth, you must understand the Devil is limited in power and fifth, you must Wear the armor that protects you. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:14-17 When Paul wrote those words I think he was alluding to Isaiah 59:17 which is describing something God himself did. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head. What he is saying is, When you go out to fight the Devil don t wear your own armor but wear God s. Do you remember when a young David who is about to go out to fight Goliath he tries to put on Saul s armor and he can t even walk but when he takes it off and puts on God s armor he defeats the giant. Our armor is truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. We wear truth. We wear righteousness. He is our righteousness. We wear the gospel, the good news of Jesus. We wear the helmet of salvation. Jesus is our salvation. The point is don t try to fight with your own weapons, with your own ability. War God s armor.

5 If we are going to win the spiritual war it requires that while we rely on God we also put out some effort ourselves. James said, Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Ephesians 6 gives us 4 commands about our part in the spiritual war. Commands like, Be strong, put on, take up, and stand firm. It s not enough to just say, God protect me. He wants you to do something too. Listen to the great conclusion of this discussion about fighting the devil: pray in the Spirit on all occasions. Ephesians 6:18