Sunday Sermon notes from January 24, 2021
Basis for this discussion on Spiritual Warfare is from an article written by Erin Boado called: “60+ Bible Verses About Spiritual Warfare” found here: https://lullabylark.com/2020/10/22/bible-verses-about-spiritual-warfare/
Disclaimer - Spiritual warfare is a very popular subject that can easily go beyond what we find in the bible. We will be looking at what the bible actually says about spiritual warfare.
Read Revelation 12:7-12
- We are living in a spiritual battle that we cannot see and may not fully understand
- It began when Lucifer challenged God and was hurled down to the earth.
- While on earth his whole mission was to accuse and destroy humans
- The humans that decide to follow Jesus will triumph and those that do not, will die
- The real battle in Heaven was between Michael and angel and Lucifer, (Satan) another angel, not GOD. GOD is above all of this.
- On earth, the battle is between the “ woman and her descendants-humanity and Satan.
- Remember, Satan means accuser in Hebrew
- We have the power to impact this spiritual war through prayer and obedience to God’s word
- They won the spiritual battle through Jesus’s blood of salvation and by their spiritual testimony, telling others about God since we are increasing God’s words on earth
- Remember this entire book, written by John, is a prophetic message and full of symbolism throughout, so read with caution.
We have to know our enemies in order to win the war. There are four enemies in this war:
Enemy #1
- The Devil/Satan/Lucifer/the Dragon/the accuser
- Read 1 Peter 5:8- he is actively looking around to devour us
- God didn’t leave us alone to battle him alone
Enemy #2
- The Demons: they do the work of Satan
- Very popular in our culture today.
- They actively look around the earth to move into our hearts, especially when we are trying to keep our hearts in order: Read Matthew 12: 43-45
Enemy #3
- The Evil World/Spiritual evil earthly force
- Read Ephesians 6:12- There is a physical aspect to our enemies, the world is full of sinful concepts and forces trying to get us away from God.
- The World is dark, filled with the rulers and powers of a dark world
- Our battle is against the unspiritual and unholy things of the world like materialism, money, social media, TV, radio, music, the government, etc.
Enemy #4
- Our sinful nature
- Read Romans 7:14-25
- Our sinful nature leads us away from God
- We have to discipline ourselves to obey God
- Peter reminds us to train ourselves by looking into God’s word to prevent our sinful nature from winning
- Perhaps one of the strongest enemies that we face daily
We have Three Allies to help us win the Spiritual Battle
Ally #1
- The Holy Spirit
- Read 1 John 4:4- the Holy Spirit gives us power to fight the battle, it is stronger that the power in the evil world
Ally #2
- The Body of Believers
- Read Romans 12:1-5- we love each other as disciples, encourage and help each other through tough times
- We need each other and should offer our bodies to serve God and do his will
- We can hold each other accountable and help each other to overcome evil with good
- Our American culture is very independent which is opposite to the culture of community in the bible
Ally #3
- The Angels
- These are messengers from God, doing God’s work to help us.
- They minister to us and the can carry out God’s judgement
- We don’t know how they interact but we know they do
We Fight with Spiritual Weapons
- Colossians 3:15-16- prayer, hymns
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 - The Holy Spirit lives in us and Satan has no power over us
- 2 Kings 6: 15-17- We have a community of the Holy Spirit, Angels, believers to help us to overcome
- God’s victory has already been secured
- When we hold to Jesus’s teaching, we will overcome, 1 John 5:1-5 Jesus has already won!
For more verses on the biblical basis for Spiritual Warfare, please see Erin’s post in: https://lullabylark.com/2020/10/22/bible-verses-about-spiritual-warfare/