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Spiritual Warfare Know your enemy Third Sunday after Pentecost, June 1, 2008 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5:8 Last week we started a new sermon series called “Spiritual Warfare” and we saw that we as Christians and as a church are both dangerous and in danger. We are dangerous to the devil and because of that we are in danger of being attacked by him, both as individuals and as a church. One of the biggest points we made is that though the war against the devil was already been won when Jesus died and rose, we are still fighting battles. And we looked at the armor God has given us in Ephesians 6 and saw that we have been given armor of defense and a weapon of offense that is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Then came the fateful question: how big is your sword? If the sword you have to engage your enemy is the amount of the Word of God You have in your life, how big is your sword, and are you really comfortable going into battle against the evil one for yourself, for your spouse, for your children, for your parents, for your friends, with a sword that size? Some of you have huge swords, I know. We’ve talked and discussed the deep things of God and you can quote the Bible chapter and verse. You know the truth of God’s Word because you’ve read and studied it; you’ve made it the most important thing in your life. Because of that you have a sword that is strong and sharp and you can pull it out and send the evil one and his minions and his influence running with the power of that sword you have, because of the Word of God in your life. Others have sometime more along the lines of a stick pin for a sword. They don’t have the Word of God in their lives and when they realize they are under attack, their weapon of offense is that little pin, which does very little. Oh, you may stick the devil a little, but it’s pretty easy to get at someone with a stick-pin for a sword because the Word of God has not taken precedent; the effectiveness of a stick-pin for a weapon of offense when you are being attacked is minimal. It’s a little harder to get at someone with a SWORD for a sword. That doesn’t mean the devil won’t try again and again, but it’s going to be harder for him to succeed when you have a SWORD. Today we’re taking a look at the enemy. Since we’re in a battle, we need to know who our enemy is. For some of you this will be review, but for others it will be new. Who is Satan? We learn from what God tells us in His word that Satan was once an angel. But he wanted more. He wanted it all and so he tried to overthrow God. In Ezekiel chapter 28 we read this about the devil. God says to him, and notice all the past tenses with the word, ‘were’: “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God… You were anointed as a guardian cherub, (an angel) for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you… you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth[1]
And in Isaiah 14 it says: How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”[2]
So Satan was once a beautiful and powerful angel who got too full of himself and sought to overthrow God. We find in Revelation, talking about this event, that in this attempt he rallied a third of the angels to his side, and when he was thrown out of heaven, so were they and are what we now call demons.[3] So what do we do with this? I invite you to pull out your swords this morning and turn to the book of 1 Peter, chapter 5. 1 Peter is the 20th book in the New Testament if you count forward from Matthew, and the 7th book from the end of the New Testament if you count back from Revelation. So, let’s go back to our chart we’ve projected recently. The order goes Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – the Gospels that tell about Jesus life and ministry, his death and resurrection; Acts – the early history of the Christian church; and then come the Epistles, literally the “Letters” that explain how we are to live in light of what we learn in the Gospels, in light of what Jesus has done for us. It goes, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon (just a quick note here – all of these Epistles so far were written by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul), then comes Hebrews, James and then 1 Peter. If you’re going backwards from the end of the New Testament (which might actually be the quickest way to find 1 Peter), the order would go Revelation – a book that’s not really an Epistle, but instead is what’s called “Apocalyptic” literature and was written by the disciple John when he was shown things that would take place in the future at the end of the world. Before Revelation is Jude, an Epistle written by the brother of Jesus; before Jude are 3rd, 2nd and 1st John, Epistles written by the disciple John; and before 1st John comes 2nd Peter and 1st Peter 1 & 2 Peter were both written by the disciple Simon Peter: the one who was the leader of the disciples; the one who denied that he even knew Jesus when Jesus was arrested and taken away to be tried, convicted and crucified; and the one who was restored to leadership by Jesus Himself when Jesus rose from the dead. Again, we are looking at chapter 5, verses 8 & 9: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. After the devil was kicked out of heaven, he got more than a little upset. Now he’s actively looking for the opportunity to devour his enemies. You can make a note of this in your Bibles: the word “roaring” in the Greek is the word used for the howl of a beast in fierce hunger. He has one thing on his mind: to destroy God’s people by any means possible. We talked about some of those ways last week. If you were not here, or if the copies of last week’s message were gone from the back of the church, you can go on-line and look at the sermon for the way we see him attack us. So, in light of this roaring lion and the sword of the Spirit you personally have, how do we respond when the devil roars and when he attacks? You can make notes of these in your Bibles next to these verses. First, be alert! You can underline “Be self-controlled and alert.” We must keep our eyes open and not relax our guard. Understand that our enemy knows us pretty well. So here’s the question: What are those areas in our lives where we are especially vulnerable to be tempted and lured into sin? Where have we exposed ourselves? For some, thinking about these things and answering these questions honestly may mean getting rid of the internet, or moving the computer to the wide open spaces in the middle of the living room so nothing can be hidden from the family. Maybe this will mean getting rid of certain channels from the cable line-up. Maybe it will even mean distancing or even breaking off friendships with people who are actually leading you and your family away from Jesus. When are you at your weakest, or when you are most susceptible to listen to the devil’s lies and attacks? Is it at the end of the day or the beginning? Certain times of the day or certain days of the week? And what are those lies or things you most susceptible to? Do you know which day of the week is the worst for me, personally, when it comes to being attacked; when it comes to being in the thick of spiritual warfare? It’s not Sunday. Sundays are usually pretty good days for me: I wake up excited and ready to be here with you, and I walk out of here and go home riding on a cloud. It’s not Monday as I return to the office, or even Thursday when we have our evening service at 7:30 during the summer months. The day of the week when I am attacked most is Saturday, and the ways I am most susceptible to be attacked are in the forms of discouragement, anxiousness, and frustrations. Why Saturday and why in these ways? Because the devil knows if he can ruin my Saturday with my family and get in my own head, then I’ll have a ‘bad’ day that will translate into a ‘bad’ night of restless sleep, or sleep plagued with nightmares, which, in turn, will culminate in a ‘bad’ day on Sunday – the day I’m here with you leading worship, administering the sacraments and preaching the Word. If the devil can mess up my Saturdays, that means it will mess up my Sundays, which will mean I may cause someone here to have a bad or wrong impression of Jesus, of the church, or of the office of the pastor. How many times have you heard people say things like “I visited a certain church one time, but the pastor was so boring/stand off-ish/scattered/non-professional, etc., that I never went back.” Score one for the enemy. But I know when I’m at my most vulnerable, and I know what I can expect to be attacked with. It doesn’t mean the attacks don’t come, but it does mean as long as I’m aware and alert, I can be ready during those times – as well as other times – and not be as susceptible to being devoured by this roaring lion. The same is true for you and all who call on Jesus as their only Savior. When we know how that roaring lion is going to attack, when he does we can say two things. One, “Oh look, the kittty’s upset.” Because that’s about all the danger he is to Christians who are firmly grounded in the Word of God. The second thing we can say is “Here’s my sword of the Sprit – get back!” Just make sure your sword is a big one, not a little stick pin. The second thing we can do when the devil attacks is resist. Underline the words, “Resist him.” How do we resist him? We use a simple, but very powerful word: “ In Jesus name, No!” “No, I will not believe the lies you are telling me!” “No, I will not go down that path of behavior!” “No, I will not turn a blind eye to that sin!” “No, I will not forget about Jesus for a minute to get something or do something Jesus doesn’t want me to!” How about these: “No, I will not believe that I am no good to God or anyone else!” “No, I will not believe that I am too sinful to be saved!” “No, I will not believe that Jesus does not love me.” “In the name of Jesus, No.” It’s a powerful phrase to use on the enemy, but it’s only powerful for the Christian – for the one who trusts in Jesus as their only savior from sin, eternal death (that is, hell), and the power of the devil. We say “No” in the power of the Holy Spirit given to us as those who have had the word “Yes” pronounced over us. “Yes, you are my child with whom I am well pleased!” “Yes, I love you now and forever!” “Yes, I gave my life for you, and then came back to life for you, because I would rather go through and to hell for you, than to be in heaven without you!” “Yes, I am coming back to take you to your Home with me!” “Yes, you are the apple of my eye, the one I will rejoice over with singing!” You have a big “Yes” pronounced over you by God the Father Himself. It’s the “Yes” He said at your baptism; it’s the “Yes” He says when you come to the altar to take His Supper and ask for your sins to be forgiven and forgotten; it’s the “Yes” He will say to anyone who seeks a new or renewed relationship with Him through Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Third, we simply believe. You can underline “standing firm in the faith.” We resist the devil by standing firm in the faith, that is, by believing in and trusting in the victory of Christ. Trusting that when Jesus died on the cross He was taking the punishment for all our sins, and his coming back to life showed God the Father’s acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice for us by not leaving Him dead. If God didn’t leave Jesus dead as a result of our sins, then that means He’s not going to leave Christians who put their faith in Jesus on their own to deal with their sins. Why? Because their sins have already been dealt with, and they are not remembered by God anymore. The devil will remind you of your sins, attacking you with memories of how you’ve failed, how you’ve hurt others, and how you’ve turned your back on God and His Word. But when we repent of those sins – when we genuinely ask to be forgiven of them and turn away from going to those same sins and practices again – God forgives and forgets. You’ve heard me say this before, but it’s a good thing to remember: the next time the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. In the margins of your Bible you can write Revelation 20:10, “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into a lake of burning sulfur…{and will be} tormented day and night forever and ever.” Finally, we can remember. Remember that other Christians are going through the same trials and that you are not alone. If the devil can get us to feel that we are alone, that God has singled us out or abandoned us, then he will have sown the seeds of discouragement and defeated us. In the margins of your Bible next to verse nine you can write 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Another translation puts it this way: No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; He’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; He’ll always be there to help you come through it.[4] I’m also going to add here, remember the Word of God. When we speak the Word of God it is like fingernails on a blackboard to the devil and his demons. They cannot stand to be in the presence of the truth of God on the lips of the redeemed. When we speak the Word of God, we speak the truth of God into whatever situation we are in at the time. We need to read it, to study it, to live it and to speak it. We need to harden, sharpen, polish and wield our sword instead of relying on a stick-pin. Finally, remember that Jesus and the devil are not equals. The devil is a created being who has been defeated by God Himself. He knows he has only a little time left before he is destroyed, and so he’ll do whatever he can to take as many people away from Jesus as possible. It’s the battle we are in. The war has already been won, but the battles still rage. Be alert, resist, believe and remember. Most of all, don’t forget your sword. Amen
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