Title: Understanding Spiritual Warfare
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2Understanding Spiritual Warfare
- As Children of God, We must Understand that our
Heavenly Father is GOOD - His chief Goal is to make us the BEST people we
Can possibly be - Everything He does as he deals with our Christian
lives is to develop our potential to the greatest
degree possible
3Understanding spiritual warfare
- As children of God, we must understand that Satan
is totally EVIL - His Job description is revealed in John 1010
- The thief comes only to steal and kill and
destroy
4Understanding spiritual warfare
- Attributes of God
- ?Spirit ? Holy ? Eternal ? Infinite ? Everywhere
at once ? All knowing ? All Might ? The Truth ?
Just ? Righteous ? Life ? Unchangeable ?
Sovereign ? Love ? Faithful ? Merciful ? Caring - Gods Attributes never get out of BALANCE with
each other - He NEVER acts out of Character
- For this reason we can trust and have confidence
in Gods judgment concerning our lives - He will ALWAYS do what is best for us
- His love is so great it is beyond understanding
and he is absolutely trustworthy -
5Understanding spiritual warfare
- Attributes of Satan
- ? A Liar ? A Murderer ? A sower of conflict ?
An Adversary ? Cunning ? Wicked ? Malignant
totally evil ? Cowardly ? Tempter ? A Thief ? No
Principles ? Proud ? Deceitful ? cruel ? A
destroyer - The Devil is NOT a negative God he is a Fallen
Angel - As a result, he is not more POWERFUL than God
- Sin always WEAKENS whatever it touches
- But it doesnt nullify his power because the
works of the Flesh are his area of experience - Some of the works of the devil are Sin, Sickness,
Fear, Death, Depression, Murder, Temptation,
deception, lust, and rebellion -
6Understanding spiritual warfare
- Jesus came to destroy the works of the Flesh 1
John 38 - He who does what is sinful is of the devil,
because the devil has been sinning from the
beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was
to destroy the devils work. - In Christ, we have VICTORY and POWER of the works
of the Flesh if we choose to USE that power - We can trust that God will NEVER use the works of
the flesh to deal with his Children - God wouldnt have sent Jesus to destroy the works
of the evil only to use them on those whom he
loves
7Trust god in spiritual warfare
- Many have unfairly attributed the devils acts to
the works God - What can a person do if he believes it is God who
sent the sickness into his life to teach him
something? - It is possible, that because we LACK the trust in
God in spiritual warfare, we fall into the works
of the Flesh thus causing our current condition.
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9Open doors in spiritual warfare
- Paul says something very important concerning
spiritual warfare Ephesians 427 - Do not give the devil a open door/foothold
- When we have OPEN DOORS in our spiritual lives,
the Devil feels he has the right to take
advantage of us - If we keep them closed, He cant do what he wants
to do
10Open doors in spiritual warfare
- Open Door principle introduced Gen. 47
- If you do what is right, will you not be
accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin
is crouching at your door it desires to have
you, but you must master it. - God told Cain sin was crouching at the door,
waiting to leap into his life. Cain had the
choice, but he chose to open the door to
JEALOUSY, And Satan lead him to murder - Sin is PROGRESSIVE One things leads to another
until we find ourselves in big trouble - For this reason, we must keep the doors closed
before they develop into something harmful
11What are open doors?
- Lineage Inherited weaknesses from our family
lineage - Ex Our parents were Alcoholics so we are
sensitive to Alcohol - Crisis An emotional or Physical Crises can
cause us to leave open doors - Ignorance Ignorance of the word can leave Open
doors that are DEVISTATING - Paul urged believers, Not to be ignorant of the
word, six times!
12How to close open doors
- Put on your ARMOR Ephesians 610-13
- Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his
mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so
that you can take your stand against the devils
schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark
world and against the spiritual forces of evil in
the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full
armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes,
you may be able to stand your ground, and after
you have done everything, to stand - Recognize your enemy, put on the Armor, quit
feeling sorry for yourself WE UNDERSTAND THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SIN! - James 47 Submit yourselves, then, to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8
Come near to God and he will come near to you. - 2 Timothy 215 Do your best to present yourself
to God as one approved, a workman who does not
need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the
word of truth. - Hosea 46 - my people are destroyed from lack of
knowledge
13Insert video Spartans What is your profession?
- http//www.youtube.com/watch?vIReMfvamQ28
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15How to close open doors
- FAITH is the Key
- Our Power source is faith in Christ that comes
form the Word - Putting on the Armor of God (Which is the word)
Ephesians 610-18 - Matthew 41-11 Jesus resisted with the word
- Not Just because he knew the word, but LIVED the
word - Ephesians 617 the word is the Sword of the
Spirit
16Our part
- God doesnt do Everything He gives us the TOOLS
There is a part we must do Romans 1312-14 - The night is nearly over the day is almost
here. So LET US put aside the deeds of darkness
and put on the armor of light. 13 LET US BEHAVE
DECENTLY, as in the daytime, not in orgies and
drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and
debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14
Rather, CLOTHE YOURSELVES with the Lord Jesus
Christ, and DO NOT THINK ABOUT how to gratify the
desires of the sinful nature - Positive Action is required So be determined to
ACT!!!!
17Strong man is his name
- The Strong Man? - Luke 1121-22
- When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own
house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when
someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he
takes away the armor in which the man trusted and
divides up the spoils. - Jesus calls the demonic presence a STRONG man.
18Strong man is his name
- We have to take care of this problem strong
man, or the problem will RETURN and even worse.
Luke 1124-26 - When an evil? spirit comes out of a man, it
goes through different places seeking rest and
does not find it. Then it says, I will return to
the house I left. 25 When it arrives, it finds
the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then
it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked
than itself, and they go in and live there. And
the final condition of that man is worse than the
first.
19Strong man is his name
- As we saw from the scriptures, it wasnt enough
just bind the strongman and cast him out with all
of his belongings - FOLLOW-UP WORK is necessary. We must learn to
maintain the freedom God has given to us, whether
it is a case of harassment or possession
20Strong man is his name
- Some people can get passed a certain point in
their spiritual livesor they begin to fall
behind. - Something seems to Kick their spiritual legs out
from under them, and they land back at square one
again - After the house is cleared by obedience to the
Gospel, we must then feed on the word so that the
house is transformed into the temple of God
21Can Christian be possessed
- Dont misunderstand, its not that demons are
everywhere and in everybody Not everything is
caused by Demons - Here is the point - When an Evil influence is
that is operating we can recognize it and deal
with it according to scripture
22Can Christian be possessed
- Christians (true Christians with the H.S.)
CANNOT be demon-possessed but we certainly can
be attacked in our minds, wills, emotions, and
bodies - These parts of the Christian body can be
troubled, pressed, buffeted, harassed, depressed,
obsessed, in bondage, and bruised.
23Can Christian be possessed
- The people who are in a state of possession
have long severed their relationship with God
they may still hang onto a form of Godliness, but
its only an empty shell camouflaging their true
spiritual condition
24Can Christian be possessed
- Some scriptures to Consider
- Matthew 624 Luke 613
- James 311-12
- 1 Corinthians 316-17
- 1 Corinthians 1021
- 1 Corinthians 619
- 1 John 44
- 1 Corinthians 212
- 1 John 518
25Concluding spiritual warfare
- We cant make the mistake that the works of the
Flesh can be attributed to Demon possession (the
flesh has some strong ideas how it wants to
live). - If we dont use the Power of the Holy Spirit to
keep the FLESH subdued, it can raise Havoc - We have to remain on the Altar of a Living
sacrifice Romans 121 Be A living Sacrifice - We are free of possession and Slavery if we have
Christ John 836 The Son therefore shall make
you free, ye shall be free indeed.
26Concluding spiritual warfare
- PAUL didnt beat around the bush, Put on the
whole armor of God, they ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the Devil (Eph. 611) - PETER said, Be Sober, be vigilant because you
ADVERSARY the devil, was a roaring lion walks
around, seeking whom he may devour Resist him by
standing strong in the faith (1 Peter 58-9) - JAMES said, Resist the Devil, and he will flee
form you (James 47)
27Remember
- For though we walk in the flesh, we are not
waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the
weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but
have divine power ?to destroy strongholds. 5 We
destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised
against the knowledge of God, and take every
thought captive to obey Christ - 2 Corinthians 103-5