The Battle Field
Notes
Transcript
We are considering the subject of spiritual warfare.
Have you noticed it?
We have learned about our adversary, Satan how he is described and the names he goes by.
We have also considered that the war is real.
I hope in this series this will hit home for all of us, this war is a reality.
It’s hard because so much is spiritual, but because we can’t see it does not it not real!
We also learned a key phrase: We fight from victory not to victory!
Jesus IS victorious!
Today I want to consider the battlefield of this war.
There are places we fight Satan that are more than just our mind!
Let me share something with you from early in my ministry — Dwayne Moore.
I felt helpless! What do I do!
I was ignorant to this area of the battlefield!
I have learned that God does not want us ignorant.
Hear this warning from Peter, 1 Peter 5:6-9
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time,
7 having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 So resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world.
Are you ready for the message God has for us today?
Cool, open you bible, grab your pen, your sermon sheet, and let’s dig in!
The Tactics of Satan
The Tactics of Satan
There are various tactics used by Satan to get us to change sides in this war.
Let’s consider two of them:
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Temptation is a tactic we are probably most familiar with.
Satan has always tempted people!
We are all born with desires that we should not act upon that when we do leads us to sin against God.
Another tactic is more subtle fear! — 2 Timothy 1:7
7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
Over the course of my life this is a tactic that Satan has often used against me.
Like my being so terrified of God that I hoped I was saved.
There are have been more blatant ways Satan has used fear against me.
There have been times that things have happened which have terrified me and outside of Spiritual warfare I had no explanation.
Some might call it an over active imagination, but that does not explain the overwhelming presence of evil.
Then I started researching missionary testimonies of battling demons in small villages in places like Brazil.
I have come to understand that the overwhelming presence of evil I felt was a demon.
You see fear is a tactic that Satan uses — Romans 8:15
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
Remember: We have learned this world is the kingdom of Satan, he is its ruler.
Balance and Discernment
Balance and Discernment
There is a need for balance and discernment here.
There is not a demon behind every bush.
Yet, we should also not be so quick to write stuff off as an over active imagination.
My experiences I could no longer write off and saw it as an attack from Satan for me to give into my fear.
It was the presence of evil that was the key for me.
Like Satan, demons are real!
A family friend from Cambodia Buddhist and the “family Spirit.”
What makes considering this so hard are movies here in the West — The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, and other occult horror movies
TV Shows about demons, and witchcraft.
We have become desensitized to this area of the battle field.
If these things and their power are not real then why would God tell us not to dabble in them?
26 ‘You shall not eat any meat with the blood. You shall not practice divination nor soothsaying.
27 You shall not round off the hairline of your heads, nor trim the edges of your beard.
28 You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.
29 ‘Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land does not fall into prostitution, and the land does not become full of outrageous sin.
30 You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the Lord.
31 ‘Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.
Remember the ten plagues — Exodus 7:11
11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they too, the soothsayer priests of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.
Also for the first two plagues we are told that the soothsayer priests of Egypt did the same with their mystic arts.
DID THE SAME — Develop
If you think that is only the Old Testament then consider Galatians 5:19-20
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior,
20 idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions,
I believe there is a lie Satan has been propagating in the Western Church, “this is all ok, it’s not real!”
It’s like, “Did God really say…?”
Namely that witchcraft and sorcery, communing with the dead, fortune telling, etc are not real, there is nothing to it.
Or more blatant still that there is nothing harmful about it!
Witchcraft and necromancy are huge these days
Necromancy is the practice of communicating with the dead to gain knowledge or influence the future.
Mediums is the name people use today
It involves summoning the spirits of the dead as visions or apparitions.
The word necromancy comes from the ancient Greek words necro, meaning corpse, and mancy, meaning prophecy.
Here me church: It is communion with demons!
Resist Satan on the Battle Field
Resist Satan on the Battle Field
All of this fits with James 4:7
7 Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The word translated “resist” is a command to actively set yourself against or in opposition to Satan.
“Resist” is a military stance!
This is done by “submitting” to God.
“Submit” is a command to obey God’s orders!
Peter reminded us that on the battle field Satan is a predator —1 Peter 5:8
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
We must stand on the battlefield knowing this about Satan.
For this reason Peter commands Christians to be alert!
It is in the moments when we are unaware that Satan gets a hold of us!
Conclusion
Satan is gaining ground in the West.
Churches in the West are shrinking and closing.
9 For to this end I also wrote, so that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.
10 But one whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for your sakes in the presence of Christ,
11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
Ignorance is not an excuse in this war, it is a weakness used against the people of God!
Until churches take a stand on and start teaching the truth, standing on the battle field with the panoply of God opposing Satan and his forces the shrinking and closing of churches will continue.
God does not want us ignorant He wants us informed.
Next week we will see that God also does not want us unprepared and unarmed!
He has given us a panoply, a complete set of armor!
We will consider the importance of the panoply of God like we sang this morning!
When Satan attacks, remember we fight from victory not to victory.
So, what are you going to do based upon what has said today?
