SATAN AND THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL!
Ephesians 6:10-18
INTRODUCTION: We are in a spiritual battle; an invisible war and we have an enemy that desires to destroy us. ! Peter 5:8-9. When Satan fell into sin he took a third of the holy angles with him into rebellion against their Creator God: Revelation 12:3-4; Hebrews 12:22. Satan’s army of demons is highly organized: Ephesians 6:12. The gods of the nations the Bible tells us are idols: Psalm 96:5; Deuteronomy 32:16-18; 1 John 5:19. Satan is the god of this world and so he controls much of what goes on in our fallen world. Satan will attack each of us sooner or later. Whether we fall or stand depends largely on our preparation for that battle.
I. THE BATTLE SET BEFORE US!
If you are a child of God you have been drafted into His army and you have an enemy who hates your God and so he hates you because you are a son or daughter of God. We must learn how to fight Satan and his demons: Ephesians 6:10-12. Our battle is not physical, it is spiritual. We are told in God’s Word that we must fight a spiritual battle in the spirit or lose. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. We must kneel so we can stand, then, we can stand so we can fight and fight so we can win!
II. THIS IS A PERSONAL BATTLE THAT WILL CONTINUE ALL THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES!
Remember, our enemy the devil is called our adversary: 1 Peter 5:8-9. If we fill ourselves with God’s Word, pray continually, and submit to the Holy Spirit, we will not give the devil a foothold in our lives: Ephesians 4:26-27. We must surrender to the will of God in order to be filled with His Spirit: Ephesians 5:15-18. Satan, much like our government today likes to give us handouts so we don’t learn to fend for ourselves. Then when the handouts stop, he takes over. We must fight this battle in the Spirit of God or we lose!
II. OUR ENEMY DESCRIBED!
The Word of God is not ambiguous about the reality of Satan. Satan was there in Genesis 3 tempting Eve. He was there in 1 Chronicles 21:1 inciting David to take a faithless census. Satan is still there in Revelation 12:7-9 being cast out of heaven to this earth. Our Lord Jesus certainly believed in Satan having referred to Satan twenty-five times and Jesus had a personal encounter with Satan in Matthew 4:1-11. Remember our enemy is not singular but plural: Satan also has his demons: Ephesians 6:12. “Rulers” is a high order of demons linked with authorities in Colossians 2:15. Our enemy is organized and motivated for battle. Satan is their leader, but there is a power structure beneath him. Remember; Satan’s tactics are still the same now as they were in the very beginning: 1 John 2:15-17 compared to Genesis 3:1-6. In Matthew chapter four Satan tried those same tactics with our Lord Jesus and lost. Now through our faith and obedience to our Lord we also can be more than conquerors: Romans 8:37. In the end the children of God will overcome Satan and his forces: Revelation 20:7-10. Yes we are at war. But the good news is even though we may fail sometimes in the battle we will win the war! Although Satan has a lot of power; He has no authority over the children of God other than what we give him. When we choose to sin we give him a foothold in our lives. When we confess our sin we take back the authority that is rightfully ours in Christ! 1 John 1:9. We will win the victory over Satan and his demons only as we chose to abide in our Lord Jesus Christ!