SATAN, THE ACCUSER AND ENEMY OF OUR SOUL: Part Two

SPIRITUAL WARFARE:
SATAN, THE ACCUSER AND ENEMY OF OUR SOUL: Part Two


2 Corinthians 2:11 says that “we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices.” Therefore, Peter commands us to “be sober and vigilant because our enemy the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And we are also warned that “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

Christians, don’t be indifferent to this: we are involved in a cosmic battle that has raged through the ages and your adversary, your accuser, is laying siege to your soul. Be diligent, be a good soldier, learn to use the weapons that have been entrusted to you so that you can resist him..

Last week I directed your attentions to the origins of evil and the dawn of Satan so that we could grasp the nature of Satan’s fall and its effects on all of creation.

The implication for us is that pride is a menacing evil. “By pride comes nothing but strife” (Proverbs 13:10). Jesus lists pride among sins suvch as murder and adultery saying,
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man." (Mark 7:21-23)

Pride led to open rebellion in heaven. It caused the fall of man and has produced suffering and chaos ever since. If we are ever to have victory over Satan and the forces of evil, we must learn to temper our pride. “A man's pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor” (Proverbs 29:23). “…all of you,” Peter says, “be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). That is the power we have in the battle against the forces of evil and Satan.

With that said, I want to turn to the topic of Satan’s Dominion and how we can defend ourselves from him and then I want to talk about Satan’s ultimate destiny.

Listen to words to this song, you might recognize it:
Please allow me to introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
I’ve been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man’s soul and faith
And I was ’round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
I stuck around St. Petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank
Held a general’s rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name,
what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made I shouted out,
Who killed the Kennedy’s?
When after all
It was you and me
Let me please introduce myself
I’m a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name
But what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game,
….
Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
’cause I’m in need of some restraint
So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I’ll lay your soul to waste, um yeah
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, um yeah
But what’s puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, um mean it,
…
What this song captures well is the fact that Satan is a person, a living being who is active in the unfolding of human history- an ugly history to be sure.

I. His Dominion

So let’s look this morning at the dominion of Satan: Turn in your Bible to Ephesians 6:10-18.

1. Be Strong in the Lord! What is being communicated here is not that we are to be strong in our own strength, but that we are to receive our strength from the Lord.

When Israel was wandering in the desert and they sent 12 spies into the Promised Land to scout out the territory? Ten of the spies came back and said that the land was flowing with milk and honey, but that the people there were numerous and strong and some were giants. Those ten spies discouraged Israel from taking their inheritance in spite of Caleb and Joshua who said to them, “We can take these guys, we’ve got God on our side.” So Israel rebelled and refused to take their inheritance.

2. Satan is called the prince of this world and the god of this world (John 12:31; 1 Corinthians 4:4). He apparently has some limited authority and rule over the world. When we read the parable of wheat and the tares we learn that Satan is able to multiply the wicked and place them among the righteous so that, as the saying goes, a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

But something changed after Jesus emerged from his time of temptation. Satan’s rule was greatly diminished. In Mark 3 Jesus tells the Pharisees that in order to enter a man’s house you must bind the strong man. When Jesus came to earth and performed his miracles, he had to first bind Satan.

Then he said, if I cast out demons by the finger of God then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. In other words, Satan’s kingdom is being invaded by the kingdom of God and the evidence that the Kingdom of God is advancing is that Christians, who are indwelled by the Spirit of God, have power over demons.

Satan’s power is limited and his time is short. Whatever he is to do, he must do quickly. Nevertheless Satan has some residual power. Let me quickly list some of the areas that he as at work today:
1. 1 Satan tempts Christians to walk away from the faith- Thessalonians 3:5
2. He brings people into bondage of sin- 1 Tim 3:7
3. He invades people’s bodies- John 13:2; Acts 5:3
4. He blinds people to the gospel- 2 Corinthians 4:4
5. He steals the seed of the gospel from the hearts of some- Mark 4:15; 2 Corinthians 11:3
6. He multiplies the wicked and sends them in among the righteous- Matthew 13:38
7. He empowers evil- 2 Corinthians 11:3
8. He poses as an angel of light -2 Corinthians 11:14
9. He can obstruct and resist our efforts Zech 3:1

But, praise God, He does not leave us vulnerable against these fiery darts from Satan. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against, principalities and powers. It’s not like a political battle or a war of words, it’s nothing like a fight with a coworker or family member or a friend, this is a spiritual conflict and we need spiritual weapons.

“The bible says that the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20)

So put on the whole armour of God. What is that armour? Its spiritual armour:

• The belt of truth, because the truth shall set your free. On the other hand, lies come from the father of lies; they are the doctrines of demons that lead people into false religions, and false knowledge.
• The breastplate of righteousness. This speaks of justice, doing what’s right even when it hurts.
• Having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel. Should I ask everyone to raise their feet so we can see how beautiful they are? Having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel means being ready in season and out of season to tell people about Jesus. How beautiful are the feet of them who bring good news.
• The Shield of Faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. “faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). “Stand firm in the faith, be brave and strong” (1 Cor 16:13).
• Put on the helmet of Salvation: this helmit covers your head and your heart. It is the knowledge that you are a sinner; that you can never earn your way into heaven; that Jesus, God, took on the nature of a man; he lived a sinless life and died for your sin on the cross. He exchanges his righteousness for your unrighteousness so that when you believe in him, he sets you free and gives the pledge of eternal life.
• The Sword of the Spirit- the Word of God: reading His Word will shape your thought life. The word of God is the best defense against Satan’s temptations and accusations. Consider that when Jesus was being tempted by Satan- his sole defense was to recite scripture- oh that you would take up that sword and defend yourself.
• Pray Always: How often do we pray? Pray once in a while right? It says pray always. Henry Blackaby always asks, “How often is always?” In the book of Acts the early church was daily together in prayer- not just alone. If our church is going to have spiritual victory together our church needs to pray together always. You know the Spanish are here every day- and that’s a powerful church; it’s a growing church- a soul winning church. They think that we don’t pray because we’re Baptists. I wish we could dispel that.
• Finally, being watchful: Remember that your enemy roams to and fro throughout the earth seeking whom he may devour and sometimes he is so cunning that he poses as an angel of light- being watchful means using discernment- sooner or later Satan will give himself away and the way that he does it is through deceit- a lie. He’s the father of lies, that’s his weapon. And the only way to spot a lie is to know the truth. Be watchful of the notion that good doctrine is expendable; once you have removed biblically essential truths it leaves a vacuum that is inescapably filled with the doctrines of demons. When truth is subjectively expelled, falsehood quickly takes its place. People who quickly excuse the truth about doctrine, about abortion, about homosexuality- will readily accept lies in their place.

So resist the Devil and he WILL flee from you. God will crush him under your feet. Satan is a loser. That’s the truth; and the truth will set your free.