Good Morning, Meet Pastor Dan Readers… as I have mentioned before concerning the subject for my blog, I always count on the Holy Spirit to lead me down the right path – not to say this is any different – but the prompting for this topic has been particularly overwhelming. First…at Grace Church we are starting the second part of a church-wide study based on a book by Mike Bickle entitled, “Growing in Prayer”. We are picking up this week on chapter 12 entitled, “The New Testament Model for Spiritual Warfare”. I was particularly interested in, and moved by, the content of that chapter and started thinking about that topic for today’s blog. At church yesterday, Pastor Ron’s message was also entitled, “Spiritual Warfare”. Since this is such a powerful and important subject, I was convinced I would share my thoughts on that subject today. I believe it will be an eye-opener for anyone reading this.
I can’t help but think back on my BC (before Christ) days. As my regular readers already know, for most of my life I was a non-believer. In fact, I was a professed atheist – although in retrospect, I doubt that title when applied to me was thoroughly accurate. I always hoped there was a God, I just didn’t see Him behaving the way I thought he should behave, and I also was convinced he had given up on me…consistent repeat-offender as I was! So I was quick to challenge those who professed “their faith”, and I particularly mocked the idea of satan, the devil, or beelzebub (small first letters are intentional) claiming it was just something concocted by the church to instill fear and to keep the flock “in line”. In my mind, “the enemy” was even more of a myth than God! If I sound like I was a jerk back then…I was. If I sound particularly uninformed back then…I was! But the good news is…today my God is very real! The bad news is…so is our “Enemy”! To not be aware of that “Truth” can keep a person in bondage for their entire life.
So let’s just review a few pillars from Christianity 101 before we get started. In the Book of Genesis, it tells us (1:26-28), “Then God said, ‘Let us (the Trinity) make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life – the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals. He created them male and female.” “God blessed them and told them, ‘Multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” No doubt God’s plan was for Mankind to rule the earth. But as the story continues, Adam and Eve gave dominion over the earth to Satan when they exercised their “free will” and disobeyed God. (Genesis 3) With that one act of disobedience, the door was opened for all the sins of “natural man” (pride, anger, fear, hatred, jealously, desires of the flesh, desires for power, wealth, control, etc.) to also enter the world. Unfortunately that sinful nature is still alive and well because satan still has dominion over the natural world!
But because of the enormity of God’s love for us, – we are his “proudest creation” – he always had a plan to save us from our “self-absorbed” selves. And that plan – “even before the world was created” (Ephesians 1:4) – was to provide a Savior (Jesus Christ) to do for us what we clearly could not do for ourselves. Romans 5:6 tells us when God decided to implemented his plan: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.” With the death of Jesus on the cross, he (Jesus) took back dominion over this world and offered a new way of salvation to those who accept God’s Gift of Grace. And if we do accept God’s Gift to us, we are now capable of becoming his “masterpiece” because “we are created anew in Christ so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10) In other words, now we are capable of becoming the person God created us to be.
Sounds easy, right? Well it would be if it weren’t for our Enemy…satan. Even though he is a defeated foe, that doesn’t deter him from attempting to fulfill his sole, or in this case “soul”, mission: to keep us separated from God by keeping the focus on our self rather than on Him. And he IS a master at his work, even though his only weapon against us is lies and deception. We are told in John 8:44, “There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
But you might be asking yourself, “How can he do that?” Well, he does it by planting seeds in our mind (in a voice that sounds very much like our voice), such as… “go ahead, it will be different this time”; or “go ahead, you can control it”; or “go ahead, no one else will know” (the “it” might be alcohol, drugs, porn, gambling, cheating on a spouse etc.). Then when you “give in” and it turns out to be NO different from any other time…perhaps even worse, your emotions kick in and you hear, “look at you, you’re such a looser!”; or “How much longer do you think God is going to tolerate you? He must really be ticked”; or “Do you really think you can change? You’re so weak.”, or “Why fight it? You’ve tried again and failed again? The more we give in; the more we fail; the more we start believing the lies. In our mind we’re now believing we are a looser; that we’re weak and can’t change; that we’re a disappointment to God; that he must be ready to kick us out of his Kingdom. Unfortunately… if we believe that, our demeanor and our behavior will reflect that belief. But remember, it’s A LIE, A LIE, A LIE!
But the truth is…we have to know who we are in Christ: that we are a Child of God; we are forgiven; we are totally worthy and acceptable in His sight; that we are heir to all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm; we are heir to all the promises in the Bible; and that we are covered with the blood of Jesus. So even when we fall short, which we will, God doesn’t see us as a looser, or as weak, or as unworthy, but he sees us as a saint. He just wants us to get up and keep marching down that path of sanctification – becoming more Christ-like along the way. That, by the way, is a life-long process.
Because we have moved out of this natural world into the spiritual world of being in Christ, satan isn’t going to give us up without a battle – and it can be fierce! Galatians 5:16-18 describes our human dilemma. “So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just the opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Holy Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to your sinful nature.” Romans 8: 12-14 reinforces that message. “So dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you keep on following it, you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
As followers of Jesus Christ, we have three very powerful ways to defuse satan’s assault against us. First we have the authority to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. James 4:7 tells us, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” We also have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to empower us to resist satan’s tactics by asking the Spirit for wisdom, courage, strength, insight, patience, perseverance, whatever it is we need, to be victorious over satan’s temptation. 1John 4;4 tells us, “Greater is He who is in me (the Holy Spirit) than he who is in the world”. (satan) We are already victorious!
And finally, we can resist satan the same way Jesus resisted him in the wilderness. We can stand on the truth of scripture and say it back to satan in the name of Jesus. Let me give you some examples.
“I have given you authority to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Luke 10:19
Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations”. Matthew 28:18
“I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Romans 6:11
“I have received abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness and I reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17
When you were part of the natural world, satan and his demonic legion left you alone. Why? Because he already had you where he wanted you. You were self-absorbed and separated from God. But now that you are in Christ, it’s like you have a target on your back. And trust me when I tell you, you will live the truth of Galatians 5; 16-18 listed above. But true to his Word, you are already equipped to be victorious over his satan’s lies and deceptions. You just have to know your new identity in Christ (listed above), and stand firm on that rock.
Have you experienced assault from, and victory over, satan and his legion?
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May God Bless Ya….
Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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