Spiritual Warfare, part 2

"Be Strong in the Lord and His mighty Power!" This was the theme of the message on Sunday at Lifepointe Church in Carmel, IN. Here are notes designed to reinforce the teaching. May the Lord bless you as you use these for personal growth and ministry!


The devil and demons are just as real as Jesus and angels.

The devil is introduced in the first book of the bible – demons are throughout the gospels. The existence of the devil and demons, not as symbols of evil but as real creatures, is clearly established in the Bible.

Jesus had many personal encounters with demons. At least once, He was confronted, tempted, by the devil himself. You can read about it in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4.

The Lord has shown me three key lessons from this encounter:

1. The Devil opposes the Person of Jesus.
2. The Devil opposes the Ministry of Jesus.
3. The Devil opposes every ‘next step’ of faith!

The devil will oppose every decision you make to go further in your life of faith. This opposition could manifest in any number of ways, perhaps a criticism from a friend, an offending event, a strong temptation, a sudden crisis or illness. Whatever it takes to discourage or distract you from God’s purpose in your life. It is when you are stepping up spiritually that you can expect push back from the devil.

THIS CONFLICT is called SPIRITUAL WARFARE

The KEY TEXT on spiritual warfare is EPH 6:10-20. Turn there now in your Bible. These notes explore the meaning of these verses for our lives.

This text reveals a STRUGGLE and a STRATEGY.

OUR STRUGGLE

The apostle reveals by the Holy Spirit that there is an unseen spiritual world just beyond the visible. In that world reside both angels of light and demons of darkness. But don’t be fooled by non-biblical teaching: these forces of light and darkness are in no way equal. The Lord God Almighty reigns! Jesus Christ is the victor over every form of evil. He is the undefeated champion of love!

Still, the Bible makes it clear that there is a dark and organized plot to disrupt, distract, discourage and defeat the cause of Christ and every Christ-follower. The battle is real and all the more as the evil one senses that his time is short!

I want you to notice: One important word and Two important phrases

The Important Word: (v 12) – DARKNESS

The habitat of the demonic is DARKNESS -- moral darkness, emotional darkness, spiritual darkness. Beware! If you choose to go to a dark place in your life, you are inviting the company of evil!

IMPORTANT TRUTH about BELIEVERS:

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Col 1:13

You have received a transfer! Your spiritual address has changed!

Spiritual warfare is about staying at home spiritually!

This is what it means to ‘stand.’ The word is used three times in our key text. It means that you are to not be moved from your faith, you are to stay at home spiritually.

Two Big Phrases that are descriptive of OUR STRUGGLE:

1. The Forces of Evil (v 12)
2. The Day of Evil (v 13)

THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL (v 12)

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms Eph 6:12

RULERS refers to leadership within the demonic world

AUTHORITIES refers to demons that have been given authority or power or influence.

POWERS OF THIS DARK WORLD refers to demons who have a zone of influence, maybe over geography or an zone of darkness (like pornography) or maybe involved with areas of world culture or government.

Remember the lesson from last week: the devil cannot make you do it – but the devil does have influence and intimidation. The main lesson of this verse: there is an organized effort to oppose Jesus, the Church and all Christ-followers.

THE DAY OF EVIL (v 13)

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Eph 6:13

Notice: WHEN the day of evil comes Not IF but WHEN. The evil day will come.

What is the Day of Evil?

1. In prophecy: there is a final day of evil – or day of disaster – end times.

2. In your daily life: the evil day refers to any time that evil is wining out – anytime something evil or wicked or sinful is carrying the day.

THE DEVIL IS INVOLVED IN THREE THINGS:

TEMPTING
DECEIVING
ACCUSING

Any time that temptation is winning – it’s a day of evil.

Any time that lies are winning over truth – it’s a day of evil.

Any time that accusation is winning over grace – it’s a day of evil.

The day of evil is anytime something wicked rises up against your faith and your progress in Christ. The goal of the evil day is to destroy your faith. All evil is a means to that end. Every murder, rape, theft, betrayal, adultery, argument, hurtful gossip, deep disappointment is just a means to an end: destroy someone’s faith.

The teaching of this scripture is that there is an organized resistance to your faith and spiritual progress and that this resistance is manifest on particularly evil days.

That’s the bad news.

Here is the good news.

YOU ARE DESTINED TO WIN IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE!

In fact, every Christ-follower is fully equipped to win at spiritual warfare. Why? Because our strength for the fight is not our own.

OUR STRATEGY

The apostle makes the strategy for victory clear in verse 10:

BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT!

Your spiritual victory in every spiritual conflict is already assured as long as you stay at home spiritually.

Where is your spiritual home? You spiritual home is IN CHRIST! This is the primary teaching of the book of Ephesians. Jesus has never lost to the devil and never will! When you are securely in Christ, your spiritual victory is sure!

Look where Jesus is at this moment. He is, “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Eph 1:20-23

Jesus rules in authority over every demon! He cannot be defeated!

When I am IN Christ, I am identified with all the power and authority of Jesus. His strength and His mighty power are available for every spiritual confrontation! The key is finding your true spiritual home in relationship to Jesus – and to truly understand who you are in Christ.

Who am I in Christ? Ephesians one and two has answers.

In Christ, I am:

Blessed (1:3)
Chosen (1:4)
Adopted (1:5)
Graced (1:6)
Redeemed (1:7)
Forgiven (1:7)
Included (1:13)
Sealed (1:13)
Heaven bound (1:14)
God’s possession (1:14)
Loved (2:4)
Alive (2:5)
Saved (2:5)
And seated with Christ in the heavenly realm! (2:6)

Wow! What a spiritual identity! So, when the devil comes to attack and confuse and accuse, take a moment to review this list of who you are in Christ. Even more, read it out loud to the devil!

Then follow this simple scriptural pattern for defeating the devil:

SUBMIT TO GOD
RESIST THE DEVIL
and he WILL flee! - James 4:7