SPEAKER_00: C.S.
SPEAKER_00: Lewis, in his introduction to the screw tape letters, wrote that there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils.
SPEAKER_00: One is to disbelieve in their existence, the other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.
SPEAKER_00: They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail the materialist or a magician with the same delight.
SPEAKER_00: I believe Lewis so perfectly captures the two opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to understanding the supernatural and more specifically spiritual warfare today.
SPEAKER_00: Indeed, we could say we live in a culture that embraces both of these spectrums.
SPEAKER_00: On the one hand, especially here in the West, those are the wrong slides.
SPEAKER_00: We are done with 1 Corinthians, people.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: We'll just, I'll do my best to help you fill in those blanks as we go along today.
SPEAKER_00: On the one hand, we live in a culture today that is very materialistic, that in one sense very much so disregards anything supernatural or considers that anything supernatural really lands in the realm of fairy tale.
SPEAKER_00: On the other hand, we live in a culture that seems to express an unhealthy obsession with the spiritual, particularly in the realm of pop culture and media.
SPEAKER_00: It's interesting.
SPEAKER_00: Both sides of the spectrum very much present in culture today.
SPEAKER_00: We would say the same kind of uh the same kind of paradigm exists within the church today.
SPEAKER_00: That it seems as though there are these two opposite ends of the spectrum that tend to have churches and believers gravitate towards today.
SPEAKER_00: On the one hand, within the church, I think there are many who ignore the reality of spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: It's something they don't really consider, think about, pay attention to, or maybe even want to know about.
SPEAKER_00: While on the other hand, I believe that there are certainly many who have sensationalized spiritual warfare today, which has led to some unbiblical and unhealthy practices in the church and within Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: To state it bluntly, we live in an age of confusion.
SPEAKER_00: With this new sermon series, kicking off this morning on the topic of spiritual warfare, I have two primary goals.
SPEAKER_00: First, I want to clarify the confusion.
SPEAKER_00: I want to present to you a healthy and biblical understanding of what spiritual warfare really is.
SPEAKER_00: But then, secondly, I don't want this just to be an exercise in the intellect.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want this to just be something that we learn and study with our minds.
SPEAKER_00: In the second half of the series, I want to present what I hope is a heavily practical guide for how Scripture teaches us and instructs us to fight and to win spiritual battles.
SPEAKER_00: The spiritual battles that we are all engaged in, whether we realize it or not.
SPEAKER_00: So, this morning we'll begin with an introductory overview of the topic by examining three of the primary views of spiritual warfare today.
SPEAKER_00: Three of the primary views of spiritual warfare, and the view that I believe is the most faithful to scripture, and the one that we will be using as our basis for understanding spiritual warfare as we go on through the series.
SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, everybody with me so far?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: I believe the first blank in your notes should say Satan isn't real.
SPEAKER_00: View number one, Satan isn't real.
SPEAKER_00: Is that true in your notes?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, good, good, okay.
SPEAKER_00: View number one, Satan isn't real.
SPEAKER_00: This is what C.S.
SPEAKER_00: Lewis refers to as the materialist.
SPEAKER_00: This is the view that is predominant within what is known as liberal Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't necessarily mean liberal politically here, I mean that these are churches who have jettisoned beliefs that are essential to Christianity, such as the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, and even the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: Or, in other words, these are churches really in name only.
SPEAKER_00: Churches in name only.
SPEAKER_00: According to this view, Satan, when Satan is encountered in the Bible, they would say Satan isn't a real being.
SPEAKER_00: He's not a real personal being, rather, he's an allegorical image or a character that represents evil.
SPEAKER_00: He's a literary device that personifies evil in the text, but is not an actual being.
SPEAKER_00: When the church engages in spiritual warfare, they do so by fighting against the evils of our age, commonly identified as poverty, world hunger, and social, racial, gender, and climate inequality.
SPEAKER_00: This view says that evil is produced by corrupt systems, and those systems would include governments, economic systems, big corporations, various ideologies.
SPEAKER_00: These are where the sources of evil come from today.
SPEAKER_00: And then in order to fight them, as the church, we need to fight the evils.
SPEAKER_00: For the Bible-believing Christian, view number one is untenable.
SPEAKER_00: It's untenable.
SPEAKER_00: Why do I say that?
SPEAKER_00: Because for the Bible-believing Christian, we would have to disagree with the entire premise of this view.
SPEAKER_00: The entire premise of the view states that there is no such thing as the supernatural, that there is nothing miraculous that actually exists.
SPEAKER_00: That everything that we can see and touch and feel and observe is real, but anything beyond that is superstition.
SPEAKER_00: And so for the Bible-believing Christian, we have to recognize that the scriptures are steeped in what is supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: The scriptures are steeped in what goes beyond the physical material world that we can see.
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, we must accept the very real existence of angels, demons, and of Satan.
SPEAKER_00: There are several passages that indicate to us that Satan is more than a force, more than a power, more than just an evil philosophy or idea or an amalgamation of evil.
SPEAKER_00: If we go to Genesis chapter 3, we notice in the garden, Satan is depicted there as a serpent who has intelligence.
SPEAKER_00: He's depicted as an intelligent being that is able to converse, that's able to engage in discussion and argumentation.
SPEAKER_00: And if you remember the word that's used in Genesis chapter 3 to describe Satan, he's described as, anybody know?
SPEAKER_00: Crafty, crafty.
SPEAKER_00: So we see here a clear indication of this being who has intelligence, the ability to think and to reason.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah chapter 14, a passage that is commonly identified with Satan, we notice in Isaiah chapter 14 that Satan has the ability to exercise his own independent will.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, if you go to the book of Isaiah, chapter 14, Isaiah chapter 14, verse 13, we read, You said in your hearts, I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God.
SPEAKER_00: I will set my throne on high.
SPEAKER_00: I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north.
SPEAKER_00: What do we notice here?
SPEAKER_00: Satan exercising independent will.
SPEAKER_00: I desire what?
SPEAKER_00: What does Satan say he desires here?
SPEAKER_00: I desire to ascend to heaven above the stars of God.
SPEAKER_00: I will set my throne on high.
SPEAKER_00: So we notice independent will, which indicates personhood.
SPEAKER_00: And finally, in the book of Revelation, chapter 20, we know Satan's fate.
SPEAKER_00: Satan's ultimate destiny is to face judgment in the lake of fire.
SPEAKER_00: You can't judge a force.
SPEAKER_00: Moral accountability indicates personhood.
SPEAKER_00: He is a real personal being with real personhood who will face accountability for his actions one day.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine with me there's a crime scene.
SPEAKER_00: And imagine that a detective shows up at the crime scene.
SPEAKER_00: And at the crime scene, that detective can see a murder weapon.
SPEAKER_00: That detective can see the broken glass in the window.
SPEAKER_00: That detective can see the victim lying on the ground.
SPEAKER_00: The detective can observe and can notice that the safe has been busted open and all valuables have been removed.
SPEAKER_00: And imagine with me for a moment that that detective seeks to give an explanation for all of these things based off of the presupposition that there is no criminal, there is no person that is actually involved in perpetrating these crimes.
SPEAKER_00: We would all say that's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00: That's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00: You're missing a pretty key component to the investigation.
SPEAKER_00: And for those that seek to assume this view of spiritual warfare, they're missing a key component to their understanding.
SPEAKER_00: By removing Satan from the equation, you're actually doing him a favor.
SPEAKER_00: You're allowing him to operate in the shadows, which is exactly where he wants to be.
SPEAKER_00: This is a faulty and deficient view because it seeks to address, confront, and identify evil while missing one of the chief architects and contributors of evil in the world today.
SPEAKER_00: So you can take view number one, you can do a right nice big X through view number one.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's try another one.
SPEAKER_00: View number two.
SPEAKER_00: Satan and his demonic host are meant to be fought through direct and personal confrontation.
SPEAKER_00: And there are really two primary strands in this view.
SPEAKER_00: Did you guys just make all those up right now?
SPEAKER_00: Or did you find the right ones?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Colin.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, two primary strands.
SPEAKER_00: First is the strategic level deliverance view.
SPEAKER_00: That's the technical term.
SPEAKER_00: Let's explain it.
SPEAKER_00: This view is based on the premise that Satan and his demons have been given a measure of authority over the world, and they are the spiritual beings behind the scenes ruling over nations.
SPEAKER_00: Now, interestingly enough, we do see some biblical support for this concept.
SPEAKER_00: If you go in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, you'll notice one of the titles for Satan is 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 4, we read, and in their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
SPEAKER_00: So we notice here, who is this lowercase G God of this world?
SPEAKER_00: Who is this a reference to?
SPEAKER_00: This is a reference to Satan, the great deceiver.
SPEAKER_00: And why is he given this title, the God of this world?
SPEAKER_00: This indicates a measure of authority has been granted to him.
SPEAKER_00: That there is a measure of authority that Satan has been allowed to utilize in his work in the world today.
SPEAKER_00: In other places, he's referred to as the prince of the power of the air.
SPEAKER_00: These are titles that indicate that Satan has authority and power to influence and to work behind the scenes in the world today.
SPEAKER_00: To see the most clear example of this, you have to go back to the book of Daniel, chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel chapter 10, verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Daniel chapter 10, verse 12, Daniel is having an interaction with an angelic being.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what the angelic being says to Daniel in verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said to me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you're set that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.
SPEAKER_00: The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days.
SPEAKER_00: But Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia.
SPEAKER_00: So interestingly enough, we have ruler type language being utilized to refer to spiritual beings here in the text.
SPEAKER_00: And we have this reference to the prince of the kingdom of Persia, who is opposing the archangel Michael, which seems to indicate to us that not only do demons exist, not only do these spiritual beings we call demons exist, but they have been given a level of authority to influence and to work in the world today.
SPEAKER_00: And perhaps even in geographic specific locations.
SPEAKER_00: Here we notice this being tethered to Persia, which seems to indicate that if that's true for that guy, then that's probably true for other rulers and authorities in the world today.
SPEAKER_00: So we do recognize, we do acknowledge there is some biblical support for understanding how demons work and how Satan operates in this way.
SPEAKER_00: However, where this view ultimately gets off the tracks, I believe, is in its methodology.
SPEAKER_00: How it seeks then to respond to these spiritual realities.
SPEAKER_00: And the strategic level deliverance model teaches that Christians are meant to directly confront Satan and his demons essentially by evicting them from their positions of authority.
SPEAKER_00: The strategy or the method used is something called spiritual mapping.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've heard this term before, spiritual mapping.
SPEAKER_00: This is the method which seeks to identify the demon that is ruling over the city or region or country, and then seeks to drive that demon out through prayer and rebuke.
SPEAKER_00: So, for example, a group of uh strategists will come together and they'll do a deep dive on the history of a specific city or country or region.
SPEAKER_00: And so, say, for example, that within this deep study, this deep dive, perhaps they are discovering that this city, this city, has an abnormally higher rate of sexual promiscuity and adultery.
SPEAKER_00: And so, in their studying of the history of that region, these strategists will come together and they say, This points us to, this helps us to understand that there is a demon of lust that is ruling this city.
SPEAKER_00: It's a demon of lust.
SPEAKER_00: And knowing that, knowing now who this demon is, this demon, we've identified him, these strategists will then come together and they'll organize efforts of believers and churches to pray and strategically pray and rebuke the demon.
SPEAKER_00: Get them out, push them out.
SPEAKER_00: The strategy, the strategy goes, or the strategy says that that once you do that, once you remove the ruling authority, the ruling demon from that city, that then allows the gospel to spread, and it allows churches to begin to be planted, and it allows churches to grow, and it allows for spiritual health to now return to that city.
SPEAKER_00: So, but this is the this is the first thing you have to do.
SPEAKER_00: You have to evict the ruling power before you can see the work of the church really begin to flourish.
SPEAKER_00: So this is known as the strategic level deliverance model.
SPEAKER_00: You can see how the philosophy it really boils down to direct confrontation.
SPEAKER_00: Satan and his demonic hosts must be directly confronted by Christians.
SPEAKER_00: The other strand to this view is referred to as the ground level deliverance model.
SPEAKER_00: And this is this is, by the way, I hope you're not nodding off.
SPEAKER_00: This is kind of important to set the stage for where we're going for the for the next several months.
SPEAKER_00: So stick with me.
SPEAKER_00: Are you with me so far, church?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, good, good.
SPEAKER_00: The next model that is in this same strain of direct confrontation is known as ground level deliverance.
SPEAKER_00: So you have strategic level, you have ground level.
SPEAKER_00: Ground level is similar to strategic level in the sense that believers, Christians, are called to engage in spiritual warfare through direct confrontation, but the ground level model says that we do that at a personal level: believer to unbeliever, or person to person.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is the view that embraces deliverance model ministries.
SPEAKER_00: This is the view that embraces exorcisms as a legitimate form of spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: That we engage in spiritual warfare by directly confronting demons that are terrorizing, demonizing, and possessing people.
SPEAKER_00: And there are those who are gifted and have powers and abilities to rebuke those demons.
SPEAKER_00: So rather than evicting the demon from a city, ground level deliverance says you need to evict the demon from the person.
SPEAKER_00: And similar strategies are used.
SPEAKER_00: So this person, boy, they're steeped in this sin.
SPEAKER_00: You could take the same example, the same exact example.
SPEAKER_00: This person steeped in adultery, steeped in sexual perversion.
SPEAKER_00: And so the ground level deliverance model says that that person must be dominated by a demon of lust.
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, we cast out that demon of lust in order to free that person and enable that person to then either be saved or to be able to have a thriving, healthy, growing Christian walk.
SPEAKER_00: Both of these views, I believe, seek to engage in a method of spiritual warfare that is not what the Bible prescribes.
SPEAKER_00: I believe, and I use prescribe, I use that word specifically, because we're gonna get into, we're gonna see, because certainly we certainly we see demons being cast out of people in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: We see that especially in the gospel accounts, we see it in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna spend a whole sermon talking about that specifically.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but in terms of what the Bible teaches, commands, exhortations, teaching, doctrine that the Bible gives us for how to engage in spiritual warfare, I don't think that these views hit the mark.
SPEAKER_00: And so the result, the result is, I think, dangerous methods, and perhaps even worse than that, ineffective methods.
SPEAKER_00: Ineffective.
SPEAKER_00: It's a little bit like, I don't know, I'm assuming some of you got out yesterday and got some yard work done.
SPEAKER_00: A little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: You guys got out and got some, you couldn't, you couldn't sit inside yesterday, could you?
SPEAKER_00: It's too nice.
SPEAKER_00: Get outside, enjoy some good hard labor.
SPEAKER_00: And of course, if you are outside, you notice that right now we have the grass is growing, the flowers are growing, and what else is growing in the midst of all of these beautiful things?
SPEAKER_00: Lisa, you know, weeds.
SPEAKER_00: Lisa was like, I pulled them all day yesterday.
SPEAKER_00: Weeds are everywhere, right?
SPEAKER_00: Now, I will admit there's a temptation, there's maybe just maybe just for me, but there's a temptation to go into the shed and get out the weed whacker and just go to town.
SPEAKER_00: Just you know, just blast them all down, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's quick, it's easy, it's satisfying, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: But what happens if that's your method of dealing with the weeds in your yard, if that's your strategy, then what happens three days later?
SPEAKER_00: They're all back.
SPEAKER_00: And you're whacking weeds all summer long.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: We all know, we all understand.
SPEAKER_00: To get rid of the weeds, what do you gotta do?
SPEAKER_00: You gotta do what's actually effective.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta pull them out at the weed, at the root.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta get the weed, you gotta pull it out at the root.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what truly removes it.
SPEAKER_00: That's what's effective.
SPEAKER_00: And I think sadly, the problem with view number two is that there's good intentions, right?
SPEAKER_00: We recognize Satan is real, the demons are real.
SPEAKER_00: We want, we, we want to, we want to help believers who are struggling in sin, and we want to go into cities, and we want churches to grow, and we want churches to thrive, and we want churches to be planted, and there's good intentions in view number two.
SPEAKER_00: I just think the entire Strategy is completely ineffective.
SPEAKER_00: It's not helpful because it's not what God prescribes, it's not how God teaches us to engage in spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: And so you may be whacking weeds, but the roots are dug down deep and they're not being treated.
SPEAKER_00: And so people aren't being helped.
SPEAKER_00: People aren't being helped.
SPEAKER_00: So, if it's not view number two, Colin, you got view number three queued up?
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, good.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: The enemies of the Christian are resisted through the normal means of sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: This is also known as the classical model.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find a lot of this in the writings of the Puritans.
SPEAKER_00: This is the view I believe that is the biblical and therefore healthy, normative, and effective method of spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: This view states that there are three primary enemies of the Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Three primary enemies of the Christian.
SPEAKER_00: That includes the devil, he's one of them, but it also includes the world and the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: Three primary enemies of the Christian: the world, the devil, and the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: This view states that these three enemies work in concert to accomplish two goals.
SPEAKER_00: To keep unbelievers in sin and unbelief.
SPEAKER_00: We saw that in 2 Corinthians 4, 4, the God of this world blinding people to the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: But also, secondly, to draw believers into sin and unbelief.
SPEAKER_00: The three enemies of the Christian, the three enemies, they seek to keep unbelievers in darkness, and they seek to draw you, a believer, into sin.
SPEAKER_00: They want to turn you away from God and to sin.
SPEAKER_00: That's their goal.
SPEAKER_00: How do they do that?
SPEAKER_00: That's going to be the topic that we'll be addressing in this series.
SPEAKER_00: If you look in Ephesians, we have a couple of passages we want to look at in Ephesians as we close out the sermon this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: I want us to notice how these three enemies work together.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 2, look with me beginning in verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 2, beginning in verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
SPEAKER_00: As we went through those verses, did you pick out each of the enemies of the Christian in the text?
SPEAKER_00: What before you were saved, when you were dead in trespasses and sins, what ruled you?
SPEAKER_00: What ruled you?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 2, you followed the course of the world.
SPEAKER_00: The course of the world ruled you.
SPEAKER_00: You followed the prince of the power of the air.
SPEAKER_00: Who's that?
SPEAKER_00: That's Satan, enemy number two.
SPEAKER_00: And what else were you ruled by in verse 3?
SPEAKER_00: The passions of your flesh, your flesh, the enemy within.
SPEAKER_00: Three enemies, three enemies of the Christian, and notice how they all work together.
SPEAKER_00: They all work together.
SPEAKER_00: So we notice here that these are the enemies.
SPEAKER_00: The question then remains: how do we fight?
SPEAKER_00: How do we fight these enemies?
SPEAKER_00: What does the Bible say?
SPEAKER_00: According to Scripture, for the Christian, spiritual warfare is the everyday battle to resist the temptations of sin and to instead grow in holiness and in sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: That's spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: That's the battle you've been called to.
SPEAKER_00: And church, hear me.
SPEAKER_00: It's a battle.
SPEAKER_00: That is a battle.
SPEAKER_00: That is a fight.
SPEAKER_00: You say, boy, that doesn't feel like a fight to me.
SPEAKER_00: That's a problem.
SPEAKER_00: It's a fight.
SPEAKER_00: It's a daily fight to fight sin.
SPEAKER_00: Sin wants to dominate you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that?
SPEAKER_00: You may say, I don't want to get involved.
SPEAKER_00: I don't like fighting.
SPEAKER_00: I like to be neutral.
SPEAKER_00: If I just mind my own business, I'll be left alone.
SPEAKER_00: Wrong.
SPEAKER_00: You're wrong.
SPEAKER_00: This is dead serious.
SPEAKER_00: It's why John Owen, one of those Puritans, you know what he said?
SPEAKER_00: Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.
SPEAKER_00: Church, I hope you're hearing me this morning.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you're understanding how serious this is.
SPEAKER_00: It's why I've raised my voice a couple decibels.
SPEAKER_00: This is serious.
SPEAKER_00: We're in a fight, and it's a daily fight, and your enemies hate you, and they want to rule you and dominate you in sin.
SPEAKER_00: And you've been called to fight, fight, fight every day.
SPEAKER_00: Fight these enemies.
SPEAKER_00: That's the war.
SPEAKER_00: So how do we do it?
SPEAKER_00: How do we do it?
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: This is the chief passage.
SPEAKER_00: This is like the hallmark passage on spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: And it's very instructive to us today.
SPEAKER_00: It's very instructive.
SPEAKER_00: Ephesians chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: Look with me beginning in verse 10.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
SPEAKER_00: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
SPEAKER_00: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand firm.
SPEAKER_00: Notice, notice the language.
SPEAKER_00: This is war.
SPEAKER_00: You're in a fight.
SPEAKER_00: And what are you called to do?
SPEAKER_00: Stand firm.
SPEAKER_00: Don't allow the enemy to draw you away from your faith, to draw you away from your God, and to bring you into sin.
SPEAKER_00: Stand firm.
SPEAKER_00: Don't falter.
SPEAKER_00: Don't fall.
SPEAKER_00: Church, keep standing, keep standing.
SPEAKER_00: That's the fight.
SPEAKER_00: That's the fights.
SPEAKER_00: And we notice the prescribed method.
SPEAKER_00: This is extremely informative.
SPEAKER_00: This is very informative to us today.
SPEAKER_00: Notice how you fight.
SPEAKER_00: He mentions this armor you're called to put on.
SPEAKER_00: He's using the imagery of the armor.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to get into this a little bit later, but notice with me this armor in verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Stand, therefore, how do you stand?
SPEAKER_00: Stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication.
SPEAKER_00: To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
SPEAKER_00: Notice, notice the armor as it's listed here.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the armor pieces, but notice specifically what the attributes are.
SPEAKER_00: What is the armor?
SPEAKER_00: Notice what, notice what he doesn't say.
SPEAKER_00: Stand firm through directly confronting demons from for casting out demons.
SPEAKER_00: Notice this isn't prescribed in the text.
SPEAKER_00: There's an acknowledgement that they're real, they're very real.
SPEAKER_00: But how do you fight?
SPEAKER_00: How do you fight?
SPEAKER_00: What does this sound like to you?
SPEAKER_00: Truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, scripture, prayer?
SPEAKER_00: What does that sound like to you?
SPEAKER_00: Does that not sound like the normal means of growth as a Christian?
SPEAKER_00: Does that not sound like the day-to-day, ordinary, normal means by which you put off sin and seek to embrace holiness?
SPEAKER_00: How do you do it?
SPEAKER_00: We just we just looked in Sunday school this morning.
SPEAKER_00: How did the people of Israel do it?
SPEAKER_00: And Ezra and Nehemiah, what did they do?
SPEAKER_00: You know what Ezra did?
SPEAKER_00: He stood up and he started reading the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: And people started to weep because God was working in their hearts through the ordinary means of his word to convict them of sin and draw them back to himself.
SPEAKER_00: It was an amazing revival.
SPEAKER_00: And all Ezra did, he said, Hey, open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 1, people.
SPEAKER_00: We're starting in verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get busy, let's get to battle.
SPEAKER_00: Let's start reading.
SPEAKER_00: The normal means of sanctification, the normal means.
SPEAKER_00: God has given you ordinary means to fight.
SPEAKER_00: He's given you exactly what you need.
SPEAKER_00: So you're you're confronting lies of the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: What do you do?
SPEAKER_00: You go to the truth.
SPEAKER_00: You're seeking to fight the temptations of sin.
SPEAKER_00: What do you do?
SPEAKER_00: You walk in righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: You say, Lord, set my feet on the path of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: What do you do?
SPEAKER_00: You say, I am feeling crushed by the weight of temptation.
SPEAKER_00: I'm feeling crushed through the trials I'm going through.
SPEAKER_00: What do you do?
SPEAKER_00: You pray.
SPEAKER_00: You get on your knees and you start praying.
SPEAKER_00: That's warfare.
SPEAKER_00: That's the fight you're called to.
SPEAKER_00: It's the fights.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian that is regularly falling into sin.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian who is never putting off sin.
SPEAKER_00: Is the Christian who is losing the war.
SPEAKER_00: But the Christian who is battling sin, daily killing the flesh, daily putting on Christ-likeness from one degree to the next is the believer that's winning the war.
SPEAKER_00: One last note as we close this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Ordinary does not mean weak or ineffective.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you don't come away this morning thinking, wow, what a letdown.
SPEAKER_00: How deflating.
SPEAKER_00: I was hoping for some secret, enormous, massive like formula that'll give me ultimate victory.
SPEAKER_00: The cheat code for spiritual growth.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
SPEAKER_00: There isn't one.
SPEAKER_00: But ordinary does not mean ineffective.
SPEAKER_00: Used to get ear infections all the time growing up.
SPEAKER_00: And you know, if you've gotten ear infections before, those are pretty painful experiences.
SPEAKER_00: The inner, you know, the inner ear ones.
SPEAKER_00: Those ones hurt.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what the doctor prescribes.
SPEAKER_00: You know what the doctor prescribes for those?
SPEAKER_00: Little tiny eardrops.
SPEAKER_00: Tiny little drops, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm like, I want you to like perform surgery on my ear right now and remove the source of pain, please.
SPEAKER_00: And what's the prescription?
SPEAKER_00: Tiny little drops.
SPEAKER_00: And you put one drop in your ear, and are you healed?
SPEAKER_00: No, no, you're not.
SPEAKER_00: But what do you do?
SPEAKER_00: Three times a day.
SPEAKER_00: I know the regiment.
SPEAKER_00: Three times a day.
SPEAKER_00: You lay down on your side, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.
SPEAKER_00: Lay on your side for a few minutes, and you don't feel instant relief.
SPEAKER_00: But if you're consistent and you do that three times a day, maybe it's seven times a day, I can't remember now.
SPEAKER_00: Multiple times, maybe I did it seven times a day.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it was prescribed three times and I did it seven.
SPEAKER_00: That might be it.
SPEAKER_00: But you're consistent day after day after day, you know what eventually happens.
SPEAKER_00: The ear infection is cured.
SPEAKER_00: Not because you did one amazing, significant, incredible thing that took care of the pain, but through the regular, consistent use of the prescribed cure, you found relief.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we're called to as Christians.
SPEAKER_00: Regular, day-to-day, repeated over and over again.
SPEAKER_00: Utilizing the armor of God, utilizing the normal means of sanctification to put off the sin and to put on Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So where are we going?
SPEAKER_00: Where are we going?
SPEAKER_00: Well, next week we're going to start by looking at the three enemies of the Christian.
SPEAKER_00: And each Sunday is going to be devoted, each sermon is going to be devoted to one of those enemies.
SPEAKER_00: We're told that Satan is crafty.
SPEAKER_00: He's crafty.
SPEAKER_00: So in order to know how to win the fight, we have to understand who our enemies are, what they're trying to do and how they're trying to do it.
SPEAKER_00: So for the next three Sundays, we're going to be doing a deep dive on each of the enemies of the Krishna to understand their tactics, understand their strategies, understand how they're trying to get you to turn to sin.
SPEAKER_00: And then after we take some time going through that, then that's when we turn, we pivot in the series to what I hope is to be a very practical sermon series for us, where we delve into the text of scripture and we see exactly what the prescribed methods are.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, we've listed, we've stated generally ordinary means of sanctification.
SPEAKER_00: But what does that look like in the day-to-day fighting and battling?
SPEAKER_00: How do we actually utilize what God has given us in order to fight and have victory in spiritual warfare?
SPEAKER_00: That's what I hope to present to you, what I hope that God's word helps us with over the next several weeks.
SPEAKER_00: I'll leave you with this final definition.
SPEAKER_00: And if you like to write these things down, we'll make sure we get this on the screen next week so that you can have this with you as a reference.
SPEAKER_00: But if in terms of what is spiritual warfare, here's your definition: it's the believer's continual struggle against the devil, the flesh, and the world, won by standing firm in Christ through faith, obedience, truth, prayer, and the ordinary means of sanctification empowered by the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: I heard a few pens clicking.
SPEAKER_00: I know you were trying to write that down, but I know you didn't get it.
SPEAKER_00: We'll put it on the screen next week so you can make sure you've got a good definition to help help you for your reference.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, thanks for today.
SPEAKER_00: Thankful for this opportunity we had to open up a new sermon series and lay some of the groundwork for understanding what spiritual warfare is and how we're called to engage and fight in it.
SPEAKER_00: And uh just pray, Lord, that as we continue down the road of this next sermon series, I pray that your word will work in us, that we know it's your word, it's your word that helps us to grow, that changes us, and that ultimately gives us the victory in spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Father, we pray for your word to uh instruct us, to teach us, to guide us, to strengthen and encourage us and to help us to not be losers in spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we hate to lose.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to lose to sin.
SPEAKER_00: We don't want sin to gain a foothold over us and dominate us.
SPEAKER_00: But Father, we want freedom.
SPEAKER_00: We want to be free.
SPEAKER_00: We're so thankful, Father, that you have given us freedom through your Son Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Freedom to live for you, freedom from the domination of sin.
SPEAKER_00: We're so thankful for that victory we have in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's in his name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.