{"id":18295,"date":"2020-01-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-12T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/angelology-25-demonology-7\/"},"modified":"2022-01-12T17:15:32","modified_gmt":"2022-01-12T23:15:32","slug":"angelology-25-demonology-7","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/angelology-25-demonology-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Angelology 25 (Demonology 7)"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[106],"series_event":[499],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18295","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-2-peter","series_event-angelology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Angelology 25 (Demonology 7)","sermon_date":"20200112","sermon_month":"1","sermon_year":"2020","sermon_notes":19962,"sermon_slides":19963,"sermon_mp3":19964,"sermon_id":"112201448113054","series_or_event":499,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":106,"chapter_and_verse":"2:10-11","sermon_transcript":"Angelology #25\nDemonology\n2 Peter 2:10-11\nJanuary 12, 2020\nDr. Andy Woods\n\nOpening Prayer<\/strong>\n\n\u201cFather, thank You for today. We\u2019re grateful for Your Word that You\u2019ve allowed to be recorded over a period of 1500 years. You've done a lot to encapsulate Your truth for us, so the least we can do is give ourselves to Your Word, study it, and try to learn what it says. In that vein, I pray You will be with us during Sunday school and in the main service that follows so we can learn the things You\u2019d have for us in Your Word.\n\nWe\u2019re claiming Your promise this morning that Your Word equips us not for some<\/em> good works but for every<\/em> good work<\/em>. We ask that the Holy Spirit would be illuminating Your truth today as it's taught, and I pray that we would leave here different people\u2014changed people\u2014having understood in a better way Your mind on things.\n\nWe\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name.\u201d\n\nAnd God's people said, \u201cAmen.\u201d\n\nLocate Luke 22:31-32. We\u2019re continuing our study on angelology. Having spoken of the good angels and Satan we\u2019re now in a section dealing with demons. We\u2019ve looked at the existence of demons; they\u2019re clearly spoken of in the Old Testament and New.\n\nWe\u2019ve looked at the origin of demons. The best guess is they are the one third of the angels that fell with Lucifer.\n\nWe've seen that demons have the elements of personhood\u2014although they are not human beings, obviously\u2014they\u2019re real personalities.\n\nWe\u2019ve looked at the characteristics of demons, the different really vile terms that the Bible uses to describe them.\n\nWe\u2019ve seen they\u2019re much more powerful than us in every way, but obviously they're not as powerful as God is.\n\nThen we took a look at their works and some of the things that they do, including allowing people to traffic in what is called the occult.\n\nFrom there we moved into the subject of demon possession. I made a lot of comments about demon possession and even looked at the characteristics of demon possessed people\u2014last week I think it was\u2014making the case that a Christian cannot<\/em> be demon possessed. Although a Christian can be oppressed or influenced by the realm of demons.\n\nWe\u2019re at the last part of this material on demonology where we\u2019re looking at the defense. If demons and Satan are really as powerful as the Bible presents them, how do we defend ourselves?\n\nThe first thing to understand is that when it comes to defending ourselves in the area of spiritual warfare, God is already doing stuff. Even before we do our part\u2014which we\u2019ll talk about\u2014God is already doing things to protect us, which I'm very grateful for, aren\u2019t you?\n\nSo, what is God doing? For one thing He's already put a restraint on Satan. We know that from early Job. Job 1:10 was Satan's complaint to God concerning Job when God was bragging about Job to Satan. Be careful when God starts bragging about you! If God is ever bragging about me, I would like Him to not do it in the presence of Satan!\n\n\u201cThen Satan answered the Lord, \u2018Does Job fear God for nothing?<\/em> Have You not made a hedge <\/em>[that\u2019s a very important word] about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.\u2019 \u201d <\/em>(Job 1:9-10)\n\nSatan could not do what he wanted to do to<\/em> Job, because God had placed a hedge of protection around Job's life. And I don't see how that's changed for us today because we obviously wouldn\u2019t even be meeting here given the power of Satan and his hatred for what we\u2019re doing here. So there obviously must be some kind of protection that God is doing. Satan can't just do whatever he wants to<\/em> us.\n\nOne of the things that inhibits Satan is the Restrainer in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7. This is the passage that tells us that Satan\u2014yes, he's the ruler of this world, but not in an absolute sense. There are handcuffs on Satan as I speak.\n\nBeyond divine restraint, God is doing something else for us that I'm very, very grateful for. He's interceding for us\u2014or He's praying for us. It always makes you feel good when you know you're going into a difficult situation but you\u2019ve got a person or two praying for you! That's always comforting.\n\nAnd yet, what the Bible tells us is Jesus and the Holy Spirit\u2014two Members of the Trinity\u2014are praying for us around the clock. Are you happy about that? That makes me very<\/em> happy! And you see this mindset in Christ even during His earthly ministry in Luke 22:31-32 where Jesus tells Peter, \u201cSimon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat\u2026\u201d <\/em>Kind of the accusation that Satan brought up to God concerning Job.\n\nThen, in verse 32 Jesus tells Peter, \u201cbut I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.\u201d<\/em> In other words, \u201cI'm praying for you throughout this ordeal that you're about to go through. I'm praying that you come out of it, and you\u2019re going to be better for it because you're going to be a better minister\u2014or a better strengthener\u2014of your brothers because of it.\u201d\n\nPeter went through what he went through, survived it, and actually became a better person for<\/em> it because of the prayer life of his Savior for him. Three decades later when Peter wrote 1 Peter, he would say, concerning us, that we are \u201cprotected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.\u201d<\/em> (1 Peter 1:5)\n\nSo, as we\u2019re on our way to our inheritance, we are currently being protected by the power of God. Peter would know something about that, having received in Luke 22 this information from Jesus that he was going into a trial, and yet the Lord was praying for him. So, not only is the Lord acting as a restraint against Satan, He is interceding for us as we go through difficulties in life.\n\nYou might want to flip over to John 17:15. Jesus, in what is called the Upper Room Discourse, prayed what really is<\/em> the Lord's Prayer. Most people mislabel the Matthew 6 prayer as the Lord's Prayer, and that really isn't<\/em> the Lord's Prayer. It couldn\u2019t be the Lord's Prayer because there's a provision in it that says, \u201cForgive us of our sins.\u201d Jesus wouldn't have prayed that for Himself; He was instructing the disciples to pray.\n\nIf you really want the Lord's Prayer, it's in the Upper Room right near the end of His life prior to His crucifixion in the Passion Week. It's fascinating to work through this! We've done it when we studied John's Gospel in this church. He says, in John 17:15, as He\u2019s praying to the Father, \u201cI do not ask that you take them out of the world<\/em> [that would be us\u2014the future church], but to keep them from the evil one.\u201d<\/em>\n\nJesus prayed for Peter, and there He's praying for His future church just before His death. Then Jesus died, He rose from the dead, and He ascended back to the right hand of the Father. So, what's He doing at the right hand of the Father? Just kind of sitting around and doesn't have anything to do, right? No. He's entered into His High Priestly ministry.\n\nHe's not functioning as Davidic King, but He is functioning as High Priest. Not after the order of Aaron, but after the order of whom? Melchizedek. If you want a good book to study on that subject, it would be the Book of Hebrews. I think one of our ladies\u2019 classes is currently going through the Book of Hebrews.\n\nOne of the things Jesus is doing in that High Priestly ministry is He's involved in a ministry of intercession. Let\u2019s look at Hebrews 7 for a minute. Notice one of the many things Jesus Christ is doing currently\u2014right now as I speak.\n\nWe know a lot about what He did 2000 years ago. We know a lot about what He will do when He comes back. What we\u2019re blinded to, for whatever reason\u2026 Most systematic theologies (unless they\u2019re dispensational theologies) don\u2019t even go into this. What is He doing right now, which is what we call His present session? He\u2019s functioning as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.\n\nOne of the things He's doing is intercession. Hebrews 7:25 says, \u201cTherefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives\u2026\u201d<\/em> Now, if someone lives for something, that means it's the most important thing in their life.\n\nYou\u2019ve got a lot of people who live<\/em> for weekends, right? If someone says, \u201cI live<\/em> for weekends,\u201d then the weekend is the most important thing in their life! And here we learn what Jesus lives to do! What's the most important thing in His life now at the Father's right hand?\n\nIt says, \u201csince He always.\u201d Not sometimes! This is what makes His priesthood different than Aaron\u2019s. The Aaronic priests had to retire at a certain age. The Aaronic priests would have to go to sleep to recharge the battery, but Jesus doesn't have to do any of those things.\n\nHe doesn't have to retire, He doesn't have to go to sleep, so He's available around the clock to do the very thing that He lives to do! And what He lives to do is right there in Hebrews 7:25, \u201c\u2026since He always lives to<\/em> make intercession for them.\u201d <\/em>\u201cThem\u201d is us\u2014members of the church.\n\nWhat is intercession? When you intercede for somebody, you\u2019re praying essentially to God the Father on behalf of a third-party. That's what intercessory prayer is. Here we learn that this is part of Christ's High Priestly ministry, it's the very thing that He lives to do, and He always does it! If that doesn't communicate divine restraint on Satan's activities, I don't really know what will.\n\nNow let\u2019s go to Romans 8:34, \u201cwho is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God<\/em> [which is His ministry that we just described], who also<\/em> [does what?] intercedes<\/em> [for whom] for us.\u201d<\/em>\n\nYou take Hebrews 7:25, you put it right next to Romans 8:34, and you learn that Jesus is doing something right now called divine intercession. And it's not just the Son\u2014God the Son\u2014Who is doing this! When you go to over to Romans 8:26-27, what you learn is that there's an entirely different member of the Trinity interceding for us also.\n\nNotice what it says in Romans 8:26-27. \u201cIn the same way the Spirit also\u2026\u201d <\/em>Also relative to what? Relative to what Jesus is doing in verse 34. \u201c<\/em>\u2026helps our weaknesses\u2026\u201d<\/em> Boy, we\u2019ve got a lot of weaknesses, don\u2019t we? So there's someone Who is helping us in the midst of our weaknesses.\n\n\u201c\u2026for we do not know how to pray as we should\u2026\u201d<\/em> You think of all of the things going on in the spiritual realm\u2014all of the methods of Satan\u2014all of the attacks that come against us! As a human being I have no way of navigating my way through any of that! I don\u2019t even know how to pray for myself most of the time, but Someone helps!\n\nIt says, \u201cIn the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He<\/em> intercedes for the saints\u2026\u201d<\/em> Who are the saints? That\u2019s us!\n\nAs J. Vernon McGee says, \u201cYou\u2019re either a saint or you\u2019re an ain\u2019t!\u201d If you\u2019re in Christ, you're a saint because the positional righteousness of Jesus has been transferred to us at the point of faith. So the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to what I want Him to do for me, right? No! It doesn\u2019t say that! End of verse 27, according to Whom? \u201c\u2026according to the will of God.\u201d<\/em>\n\nThis is a fascinating discourse on Trinitarianism\u2014where we have one God. We believe in monotheism, but that one God has expressed Himself in three personages\u2014God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. They all share in the essence of deity; but at the same time the Son is completely unique in His Son-ness, the Spirit is completely unique in His Spirit-ness, and the Father is completely unique in His Father-ness. It\u2019s the mystery of the Trinity!\n\nHere we learn that two Members of the Trinity\u2014first the Son and the second Member of the Trinity (Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25) and the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26-27)\u2014are both involved in the active ministry of intercession\u2014petitioning God the Father on behalf of a third party. Who is that third party? It\u2019s little ol\u2019 me\u2014and little ol\u2019 you! This is just fascinating information the Bible has given us concerning the restraint that God is already providing in our lives.\n\nGod, right now, is doing two things to protect us from Satan even before we do anything<\/em> to protect ourselves. We have the hedge of protection which cannot be lowered without His divine sovereignty. And then we have this valuable ministry of intercession by two Members of the Trinity as They intercede for us according to the will of God to<\/em> God the Father. So I feel pretty safe! We\u2019ve got a pretty good security team at this church, but not this<\/em> good!\n\nHaving said all that, let's move away from what God is already doing for us in the area of spiritual warfare to what we should do for ourselves. Just because God is already doing for us to protect us in the midst of spiritual warfare doesn't mean I just sit, soak, and sour. I don\u2019t fold my hands, sit down, and say, \u201cGod's doing His thing; I\u2019m just going to do whatever I want!\u201d That's not what the Bible teaches either! The Bible does<\/em> teach, through our own behavior, we can open the door to satanic activity.\n\nSo, what am I supposed to do? There are at least five things that we are supposed to do. The first of which is to understand something that most spiritual warfare models, books, or teachings don't really communicate well, in my opinion, because many of them come from a hyper charismatic background where they're not clear on the dispensations of the Bible. So you get a lot of teaching about, \u201cWe\u2019ve got to bind Satan. We\u2019ve got to cast Satan out of here. We've got to get together and pray down the territorial spirits over Houston. Because, after all, Houston has the biggest Planned Parenthood! So, as Christian leaders, if we would all get together and we would pray down that territorial spirit, abortion would disappear in Houston! We\u2019ve got to give the devil a black eye and run him out of town!\u201d\n\nJack Hayford, The Church on The Way, who has a lot of good things to say, was doing all of this stuff in the 80s and the 90s\u2014praying down territorial spirits over Los Angeles. I have a feeling that those territorial spirits haven't moved one millimeter in Los Angeles when you look at the state of Los Angeles today. Ironically, Los Angeles, \u201cthe city of the angels,\u201d is not exactly the most angelic place on planet Earth.\n\nIf you are a dispensationalist, you understand that we\u2019re in the Church Age and we\u2019re in a time period where Satan is the prince and power of the world, with limitations as we have described. So we don't waste our time binding Satan, yelling at Satan, screaming at Satan. We don't waste our time praying down territorial spirits over Houston or Sugar Land. We understand that we are primarily on defense<\/em>.\n\nOffense takes place when Jesus comes back and establishes His Kingdom. Jesus comes back and establishes His Kingdom at the end of the Tribulation period\u2014which is not now! If you're confused on the Millennium, you\u2019ll get confused in spiritual warfare.\n\nPremillennialism is the way we teach it here. We\u2019re teaching the Book of Revelation, which goes perfectly with what I'm saying. When Jesus returns and establishes His Kingdom at the end of the Tribulation period, then and only then will Satan be bound. And after the thousand years runs its course, as we've studied, Satan is kept around for pedagogical reasons. And then finally Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire.\n\nSo, Satan's defeat has seven steps. First, he's evicted out of heaven (Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28); we\u2019ve studied those passages. Then there's the pronouncement given to him in Eden that there is coming One, the Seed of the woman\u2014Jesus\u2014Who\u2019s going to crush his head.\n\nAnd then Satan is running a genetic experiment prior to the flood that failed. Now you say, \u201cWhat's that all about?\u201d I\u2019m going to have more to say about that than you\u2019ll want to know a couple of weeks down the road.\n\nSatan is defeated at the Cross. But it's not until the midpoint of the Tribulation period that he permanently loses access to heaven, because he can still go into heaven to accuse and to communicate. He just can't go into heaven to worship and serve as he once was able to do as a high-ranking cherub.\n\nThen, after the Tribulation period runs its course, Jesus will establish His Kingdom. Then, at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, Satan will be bound. And at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, he\u2019ll be cast into the Lake of Fire.\n\nWe are still waiting for events six and seven to happen. In fact, we\u2019re actually waiting for events five, six, and seven to happen. We\u2019re living in between event four and event five in the progressive defeat of Satan.\n\nWe are not<\/em> in the Kingdom now; we are in the Church Age. Satan is a defeated foe, but his sentence hasn't been imposed. Therefore, it's a complete waste of time to try to do something to Satan (like binding him, etc.) that only Jesus can<\/em> and will<\/em> do when He establishes His Kingdom.\n\nBut in the interim, as we\u2019re waiting for those things to happen, God has left us with defenses. One of those defenses is simply to understand that we\u2019re on<\/em> defense<\/em>, because Revelation 11:15 hasn't been fulfilled yet. The Kingdom of this world has not<\/em> become The Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. The events of the Book of Revelation bring that to pass, but we\u2019re living in a time period before those events have taken place.\n\nThat's why I like to make a big<\/em> deal\u2014and I won't walk through every single one of these\u2014about the parallels between the Book of Exodus and the various judgments in the Book of Revelation. There is no doubt that when you read the Book of Revelation it sounds an awful lot like the Book of Exodus\u2014sores, rivers to blood, darkness, frogs, hail, etc. You'll find those in the various bowl judgments in Revelation and in the various ten plagues in the Book of Exodus.\n\nI think the reason the Spirit of God, when He inspired the Book of Revelation, gave us these parallels is to show us something here. That just as the ten plagues liberated Israel from 400 years of Egyptian bondage, the 21 judgments in the Book of Revelation are liberating the entire planet from the grip that it's been under (the satanic dominion) ever since the Fall in Eden. And these judgments haven't taken place yet!\n\nWe\u2019re living in a time period where\u2014unless God puts a hedge of protection around, intercedes, etc.\u2014we\u2019re living in Satan\u2019s heyday. We\u2019re living almost at the zenith, if you will, of his power. As I speak, he is still the prince of this world, the god of this age, the prince and power of the air, the one that we wrestle with. He\u2019s the one who roams about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 John 5:19 says, \u201cthe whole world lies in the power of the evil one.\u201d<\/em>\n\nSo, the very first thing to understand, when dealing with spiritual warfare, is you have to understand our defensive posture. We are not on offense; we are on defense! When you understand that, it gets rid of all of the silly talk about screaming at Satan, yelling at Satan, talking to Satan, giving Satan a black eye, running him out of town, binding Satan, praying down territorial spirits over your city. There are no instructions in the Epistles to do anything like that!\n\nIn fact, in Jude 9 you read something that Michael himself would not even do relative to Satan. \u201cBut Michael the archangel\u2026\u201d<\/em> Michael is not just an angel\u2014he's an archangel. \u201c\u2026when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment<\/em> [or accusation],<\/em> but said, \u2018The Lord rebuke you!\u2019 \u201d<\/em>\n\nNot even Michael himself as an angel (and an archangel) wanted to get into any conversation with Satan or to pronounce any railing accusation against Satan. He simply put Satan in God's hands. If our power is less than Michael's (which it obviously is) how much more should we be following that mindset and wait on Jesus Himself to bind Satan and ultimately cast him into the Lake of Fire?\n\nIn fact, if you\u2019re in a ministry or following a ministry which is engaging in all of this aggressive behavior against Satan, that ministry has more in common with false teachers than it does the truth! Where am I getting this from? I\u2019m getting it from 2 Peter 2:10-11, \u201cand especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties\u2026\u201d <\/em>Reviling or slandering Satan is offensive activity against Satan\u2014talking to Satan, yelling at Satan, screaming at Satan, binding Satan, etc.\n\nVerse 11, \u201cwhereas angels who are greater in might and power<\/em> [like Michael, as we just read in Jude] do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.\u201d<\/em> Peter, here in chapter 2, is describing false teachers and how they act. So, if you're doing all of this offensive activity against Satan, then your ministry has more to do with a false teacher than it does someone who understands the true nature of spiritual warfare.\n\nWe\u2019re not to bring railing accusations against Satan and his minions. We have no biblical basis for that. Even some of the songs we sing? We used to sing a song in church when I was a kid. It went something like, \u201cIf the devil doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack,\u201d those kinds of things. They're very cute because the kids are singing, but you wonder how biblically informed that kind of a song is. To me, that kind of a song goes directly against what you read about in Jude and 2 Peter 2:10-11.\n\nI have no idea why people would want to talk to Satan anyway! Isn\u2019t that what got the human race into all the trouble it got into with Eve in Genesis 3:2? I read through Genesis 3\u2014the Fall of man\u2014and I usually can't get beyond verse 2! \u201cThe woman said to the serpent\u2026\u201d <\/em>I always wonder why she's talking to him! Why is she even talking to him? Think of the trouble that could be spared if our forebears did not get into conversations with Satan.\n\nThere's a lot of confusion today on the issue of spiritual warfare for the simple reason that people don't understand the doctrine of dispensations. I get no renumeration for this plug at all; I just happen to feel it's the best book out there on the subject. It's called Spiritual Warfare<\/em> by Robert Dean and Thomas Ice. It's gone through three titles; I think the original title was called A Holy Rebellion<\/em>.\n\nWhy is it called a holy rebellion? Because if you understand spiritual warfare, you're rebelling against\u2014in a holy sense\u2014your three enemies. What are those three enemies? The world, the flesh, and the devil. The original title was A Holy Rebellion:<\/em> Strategy for Spiritual Warfare<\/em>. Then the same content was republished under a new title\u2014I like this title too\u2014Overrun by Demons:<\/em> The Church's New Preoccupation With the Demonic<\/em>. Now it just has this third title, Spiritual Warfare<\/em>.\n\nThere are a lot of \u00a0spiritual warfare books out there, and I\u2019ve read a lot of them. Of all of them, I am very drawn to this book because it's the most balanced. Number one, it's dispensational so it doesn't get you into all these activities\u2014binding Satan, etc.\n\nNumber two, it's biblically-based. Because so many spiritual warfare books you read? Suddenly the author will start talking about his counseling experiences. And it's all interesting reading, but now you're getting into not what the Bible says; you're getting into personal experiences. This book doesn't do that\u2014it sticks to the Scripture.\n\nThe third reason I like it is that it has a high view of the sufficiency of the Scripture. It basically teaches the idea that what God has given us to defend ourselves in the area of spiritual warfare\u2014 one of those things is His written Word\u2014is enough<\/em> or is sufficient<\/em>!\n\nOne of the things that we have in spiritual warfare is the shield of faith by which we can extinguish\u2014not some but\u2014all<\/em> the fiery darts of the wicked one. You don't need to feel like, \u201cGosh, what God has given me in spiritual warfare isn't quite enough. I\u2019ve got to get in touch with some prophet,\u201d or \u201cI've got to get in touch with modern-day psychology,\u201d or \u201cI've got to get in touch with this or that.\u201d The reality is that God knows our predicament, and He's given us everything<\/em> we need for all matters of faith and practice\u2014including how we handle spiritual warfare.\n\nSo, the very first thing we do to defend ourselves against Satan is we have to understand that we are defensive in posture, because we are living in the devil's world. And that cannot change. It doesn't matter how many good people you elect to office. And I'm in favor of doing that<\/em>, by the way!\n\nBut that's not going to change! I mean, if Nancy Pelosi gets voted out of power, it\u2019s still the devil's world. Amen? I didn't get much of a reaction on that one! It doesn't matter what party controls the White House; it\u2019s still the devil's world! Now, in a sense it does<\/em> matter what party controls the White House\u2014you ought to be concerned about that\u2014but that's not the change of binding Satan that will be ushered in when Jesus comes back.\n\nThis is why we are called ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). If I am America's Ambassador to Iran\u2014how would you like that job right now? \u2014I am representing American values on Iranian soil. I'm not on Iranian soil to do regime change. (Maybe that wouldn't be a bad idea when you look at what's going on in Iran right now.) But I'm there to represent America on hostile territory.\n\nThat's why you're called an ambassador: you\u2019re representing Kingdom values which are going to come one day in the devil's world. When you understand that, it clears up so much confusion on the issue of spiritual warfare.\n\nThe second thing we do to defend ourselves is we avoid catering to the flesh. Because every time you take an excursion back to the sin nature, you open up a doorway\u2014not for possession, but for influence or oppression. And a lot of the things that we blame Satan for we've actually brought on ourselves, because we\u2019ve gone back to the sin nature.\n\nI hope by now we all understand that we\u2019re new creatures in Christ, but we still have a sin nature! Is there any disagreement on that? In fact, you feel the pull of the sin nature very strongly as you come to<\/em> Christ; because now you\u2019ve got another nature inside of you that's enlightening you to the fact that there is a struggle. Before you got saved there wasn\u2019t even a struggle.\n\nPaul has revealed to us all of these provisional truths about our identity in Christ. He says, at the end of that whole discussion, in Romans 13:14, \u201cBut put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.\u201d<\/em>\n\n\u201cYou mean to tell me that the flesh in regard to its lusts is still in me? Even though all of these positional truths have been declared about me when I trusted in Christ, as articulated in the Book of Romans?\u201d That's exactly<\/em> what we\u2019re saying! That's exactly what the Bible<\/em> is saying!\n\nThe sin nature has not been eradicated! The only difference now is through the provisions that you have in Jesus Christ, you're not a slave to the sin nature and you have the power to tell the sin nature, \u201cNo.\u201d You didn't have that power before; you probably didn\u2019t even recognize there was<\/em> a sin nature in you!\n\nBut now that you're in Christ\u2014you\u2019re a new creature, you have the new nature, you have the Holy Spirit\u2014you should not get the impression that the old nature just withers away and dies. It will be there until your dying day, or glorification, or the Rapture of the church\u2014whichever comes first.\n\nWe often go back to the sin nature because the sin nature involves some excursions in temporary enjoyment. What does Hebrews 11 say? It talks about Moses, who decided to identify with his people rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. There's always the passing pleasure that the sin nature gives, but the end fruit of it is death.\n\nSo, when I'm tempted to go back to the sin nature, I should tell the sin nature, \u201cNo.\u201d But that pull will always be there until my dying day. Here's something understand: the moment you go back to the sin nature is the moment you just cracked the door open for Satan to have an influence over your life. You say, \u201cWhere are you getting that from?\u201d We've gone through many of these passages already, but the key one is Ephesians 4:26-27. \u201cBe angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an<\/em> opportunity.\u201d<\/em> There is in black and white! If I go back to the sin nature, suddenly I\u2019ve cracked the door open just a millimeter for Satan to have an influence over me that he didn't have prior.\n\nAnother example of going back to the sin nature and giving Satan a millimeter of opportunity is the Apostle Peter in Matthew 16:13-23. Here Jesus says, \u201c<\/em> \u2018\u2026who do you say that I am?\u2019 \u201d<\/em> And Peter coughed out the right answer. Jesus says to Peter, \u201cThat was revealed to you from above,\u201d and He began to pronounce all of these blessings upon Peter.\n\nI think at that point it probably went to Peter's head a little bit, and the next time Peter thought he was in a position to correct Christ. The moment Peter opened his mouth the second time, Jesus said, \u201cGet behind me, Satan!\u201d\n\nNow what precipitated that? It doesn't say it as clearly as it could be said, but I think it was pride, given all the wonderful things that Jesus had spoken about Peter. It's very interesting that you can say one thing out of your mouth that glorifies God, and the next thing that comes out of your mouth? You just gave Satan a pulpit or a platform. That happens to us when we embrace the sin nature\u2014in this case, pride.\n\nI think that's the same kind of thing going on with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:3-4 and Acts 5:11, where they were tempted to misrepresent their level of generosity to the church. We\u2019re told there that Ananias and Sapphira were two believers that Satan had filled (PLEROO). PLEROO is the same verb used to describe the filling of the Holy Spirit in the Christian in Ephesians 5:18. In this case, it's talking about the filling of Satan, \u201c \u2018\u2026why has Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit\u2026.\u201d<\/em>\n\nSo, we have three examples in the Bible\u2014Peter, Ananias, and Sapphira\u2014where they went back<\/em> to the sin nature. They began to flirt or experiment with the sin nature, and they gave Satan a millimeter of opportunity\u2014not to possess them, but to influence them (Ephesians 4:26-27).\n\nThe very next thing\u2014besides recognizing that we are on defense\u2014is simply not to cater to the flesh. If you're not perpetually going back to the flesh, the amount of opportunity that Satan has to influence your life starts to shrink dramatically.\n\nWhat is the third thing that we are to do as we embark in spiritual warfare? We are to resist the devil. It is interesting to me that in the Epistles\u2014which govern the church, as we\u2019ve talked about\u2014there's no information on casting out Satan, binding Satan, talking to Satan, praying down territorial spirits, etc. If you want to know what we<\/em> do in spiritual warfare there's just three simple passages: James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8- 9, and Ephesians 6:13. All three of those passages say, \u201cResist the devil.\u201d The James passage says, \u201cResist the devil and he will flee from you.\u201d<\/em>\n\nNow that raises an interesting question, \u201cHow do I resist the devil?\u201d It may have to do with number two. Because when you study all of those passages in their context, the flesh<\/em> is mentioned in all those contexts. So, if I'm not experimenting with the flesh, if I'm not going back to the sin nature, then I in essence am resisting Satan. I'm playing defense against Satan, and the amount of influence that he has over me begins to shrink at that point.\n\nThe fourth thing we are to do? We are to understand that we, in spiritual warfare and spiritual combat, are not out there in our own strength. Because you run into people who will say, \u201cGosh! The Christian life is so difficult!\u201d I would correct that statement: \u201cThe Christian life is not difficult; the Christian life is impossible!\u201d And God understands the impossibility of us living the Christian life through our own strength. If that limitation wasn't there, He wouldn't give us resources to use.\n\nYou can't get anywhere in your progressive sanctification\u2014in the middle tense of your salvation\u2014simply by making the energy of the flesh more active. \u201cI\u2019ve got to do more religious activity. I\u2019ve got to work harder. I\u2019ve got to try harder.\u201d That's not what your Bible says to do!\n\nWhat does it say to do? Go with me to Ephesians 6:13. God never calls us to live the Christian life through our own power. He says, in Ephesians 6:13, \u201cTherefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.\u201d<\/em>\n\nActually, the verse I was looking for is verse 10. \u201cFinally, be strong<\/em> in the<\/em> Lord\u2026\u201d<\/em> WOW! I forget that so quickly! I go out and try to be strong, but I'm not doing it in the Lord.\n\n\u201cFinally, be strong in the Lord\u2026\u201d <\/em>And in the strength of your own willpower for 2020? No! \u201c\u2026and<\/em> in the strength of His might.\u201d<\/em> Oh! Well, that would all make sense! I\u2019ve got an adversary that's far more powerful than me. The only hope I have is to be strong\u2014not in my own self\u2014but in His power.\n\nOne of the things to understand about grace (unmerited favor) is that it\u2019s not just a yesterday thing. For years and years in my Christian life I understood grace as, \u201cYes, I trusted in Christ. I have salvation. I'm not going to hell.\u201d I trusted in Christ when I was 16 years old. \"Praise the Lord! Thank You, Lord, for Your grace!\u201d\n\nAnd grace is not just a tomorrow thing. \"Praise the Lord, one of these days I'm going to heaven (glorification)!\u201d We\u2019ve got a handle on grace past, a handle on grace future. For whatever reason, we fall short in understanding that grace is a today<\/em> thing!<\/em> Grace is a right now thing<\/em>!\n\nIn 1 Corinthians 15:10 the Apostle Paul writes, \u201cBut by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them<\/em> [in other words, the Christian life isn\u2019t passive],<\/em> yet not I, but the<\/em> grace of God with me.\u201d <\/em>So, when Paul taught the subject of grace? Yes, he taught it as a yesterday thing and a tomorrow thing, but he talked about it (divine enablement) as a moment-by-moment thing. You say, \u201cWell, I don't really deserve the power to overcome what I have to face in my life.\u201d Of course, you don't deserve it because that's the nature of what? Grace (unmerited favor)!\n\nIn 2 Timothy 2:1, Paul's instructing Timothy who is facing a lot of challenges, \u201cYou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/em> In other words, \u201cTimothy, you want to successfully pastor the church in Ephesus despite all these problems and enter heaven fully rewarded? Then you have to tap into grace right now! Not just grace yesterday; not just grace tomorrow; but grace right<\/em> now<\/em>!\u201d\n\nThat's why Ephesians 6:10 says, \u201cFinally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.\u201d<\/em> 1 John 4:4 says, \u201c\u2026greater is He who<\/em> [not was in you\u2014or will be in you but] is in you than he who is in the world.\u201d <\/em>So, how do we engage in spiritual warfare with God doing His part? We understand we\u2019re on defense, we avoid going back to the flesh, and we resist the devil and he will flee. And we rely upon His resources and understand that He's given us the grace we need for any conflict that we are in\u2014spiritually speaking.\n\nThen, the last thing we do is we put on the full armor of God. The big question is, \u201cAre you dressed for success?\u201d Over in Ephesians 6:10-20 are six pieces of armor that we are to appropriate on a moment-by-moment basis. You say, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to cover all that today, are you?\u201d No.\n\nWe\u2019re going to be moving into the various pieces of armor for spiritual warfare. But before we do that, today I want to conclude with making eight preliminary observations about the spiritual warfare chapter. You might want to study this week Ephesians 6:10-20.\n\nThe first thing to understand about this chapter is Paul is in prison; we know that from Ephesians 3:1 and Ephesians 6:20. It's in that place of confinement\u2014his first Roman imprisonment\u2014that he wrote the four prison letters: Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, Philemon\u2014in that order. And Paul, in those other letters, makes reference to his imprisonment (Philippians 1:13).\n\nI am of the view that Paul was looking at a member of the praetorian guard when he wrote this chapter, because he talks in the Book of Ephesians (and more in the Book of Philippians) how he was chained to this praetorian guard. The praetorian guard was the elite guard in Caesar's household.\n\nYou remember that Paul had petitioned a trial before Caesar, which he was allowed to do as a Roman citizen. So he's in this place of confinement, chained to an elite guard, and it's there he writes these four prison letters.\n\nSo, he's using, I believe, a soldier metaphor here. He's looking at the soldier that he's chained to, and he's developing in it a metaphor for the Christian life. When you understand those six pieces of armor, you'll understand your present tense grace of God in spiritual warfare.\n\nThere are six pieces of armor mentioned here. And it's interesting. He says in verse 11, \u201cPut on the full armor of God\u2026\u201d<\/em> \u00a0For years and years in my Christian life, I\u2019d become proficient in one or two pieces of armor; but that's not what the Bible says to do. It says to put on all six pieces of armor\u2014the complete<\/em> armor of God\u2014the full<\/em> armor of God.\n\nYou have to think the way they thought in Greco-Roman times, because armies won or lost based on the quality of their armament. In other words, if you did not have the right sandals, shield, helmet, that was a game changer in terms of whether you were going to be victorious.\n\nI\u2019ve gone through those first four points: Paul's in prison; soldier metaphor; six pieces of armor described; there's a huge significance of armor in the ancient world. When you look at Ephesians 6:11, it's not a suggestion in Greek. It's in the imperative mood. So, when he says, \u201cPut on the full armor of God\u2026\u201d<\/em> he's not saying, \u201cHey, why don\u2019t you try this on and see how it works? Why don\u2019t you take this out for a little trial and see if it goes well for you.\u201d That's not<\/em> what's communicated here! It is, \u201cPut this on, or you're going to be defeated!\u201d Just like if you went out to war without your armor on in the ancient world, you were as good as dead.\n\nBeyond that\u2014bumping up to bullet point number one. There\u2019s a lot of teaching on spiritual warfare and the armor of God, and a lot of it, in my opinion, is misguided because they start the study in Ephesians 6 (which is the sin we\u2019re committing here). To understand the armor of God, you have to understand how Paul is taking prior concepts in<\/em> the same book!<\/em>\n\nDo you not agree with me that before chapter 6 comes chapters 1-5? So, when Paul starts talking about pieces of armor, if you want to understand what this armor is, you trace the same word\u2014or the same concept\u2014to how it's used earlier in the book. The error that people make when they teach spiritual warfare concepts is that they start the study in Ephesians 6. They ignore what Paul said prior<\/em> to Ephesians 6\u2014in chapters 1-3\u2014and they go all over the Bible trying to figure out what this armor means.\n\nThere are some interesting interpretations of it\u2014some of it actually could be valuable\u2014but I'm convinced that's not<\/em> the way to understand this. Because Paul is a logical, linear thinker! When he gets into the subject of the armor, he is developing points, concepts, application; he is bringing to a head what had already been discussed in the first 5 chapters. As we go through each piece, I\u2019ll show you what he's talking about\u2014not<\/em> based on the Book of Leviticus, or Aaron's robe, or all this other stuff, but on what Paul said earlier in the same book<\/em>. That really is a very good Bible study methodology to embrace.\n\nI talked for a minute earlier about the Book of Hebrews\u2014the warning passages. We\u2019re not getting into that right now. But when people interpret those warning passages, they take you into every section of the Bible other than the Book of Hebrews. Yet, if you just pay attention to how the same words are used in those warning passages elsewhere<\/em> in the Book of Hebrews<\/em>, you'll understand the warning passages very easily.\n\nThe MacArthur Study Bible, for example, when it's going through Hebrews 6. This is a very difficult passage. Look at his notes on Hebrews 6; he takes you everywhere in the Bible other than the Book of Hebrews. That is not good Bible study methodology in the warning passages. And it\u2019s not very good Bible study methodology when trying to decipher, analyze, and understand the six pieces of armor.\n\nPaul is reinforcing a prior concept. I believe he's describing the pieces in the order that the centurion would put on himself. Because Paul is chained to this guy around the clock, he understood the procedure of how he put on the armor. Paul saw the order, so he\u2019s revealing the pieces of armor in that same order.\n\nFor each piece of armor I\u2019ll describe it, and I'll talk about what it represents from which book? The Book of Leviticus? No. The Book of Isaiah? No. The Book of Ephesians\u2014it\u2019ll be clear! Then I'll show you how to apply it moment by moment in daily life.\n\nThe bottom line to the whole thing? As we move into Ephesians 6 in the section of our study on angelology\/demonology, we have to understand that we have six aspects of our weaponry summarizing the key concepts of the letter. Which letter? Ephesians! Calling the church to action.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting that when you study Ephesians 1-3\u2014how many commands do we have in 1-3? None! You get to Ephesians 4:1 which says, \u201cTherefore\u2026\u201d <\/em>When Paul uses the word \u201ctherefore,\u201d you ask, \u201cWhat is the word \u201ctherefore\u201d there for?\u201d That switches us from doctrine to practice. You'll see Paul doing that same<\/em> thing in Ephesians 5, \u201cTherefore\u2026\u201d<\/em> He's taken us out of doctrine (chapters 1-4) and moved us into practice.\n\nYou'll see Paul doing the exact same thing in Romans 12:1, \u201cTherefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies\u2026\u201d<\/em> \u00a0What mercies? Everything he got finished telling us in chapters 1-11. So, when he says \u201ctherefore,\u201d he's switching us from doctrine to practice.\n\nWhat do you see in Ephesians 4:1? \u201cTherefore.\u201d So once you get into Ephesians 4-6, how many commands do you have? 38! No Greek commands (imperative mood) in chapters 1-3! Chapters 4-6? Now we\u2019ve got 38 things to do from the knowledge base he's already given us in chapters 1-3. Those commands culminate in the spiritual warfare section where he is taking prior concepts, analogizing it to spiritual armor, and telling us specifically what we need to appropriate to enjoy the middle tense grace of God in daily life as we go through spiritual warfare.\n\nYou\u2019ve got here six pieces of armor.\n
    \n \t
  1. Belt of truth.<\/li>\n \t
  2. Breastplate of righteousness.<\/li>\n \t
  3. Sandals of peace.<\/li>\n \t
  4. Shield of faith.<\/li>\n \t
  5. Helmet of salvation.<\/li>\n \t
  6. Sword of the Spirit.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nWhat do these things mean? We have to define them by how Paul has developed those same words\u2014truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and Spirit\u2014in which book of the Bible? The Book of Ephesians, particularly Ephesians 1-3. You start to understand that, and you see exactly what Paul is telling us to do.\n\nThat is the direction that we\u2019re going, starting next week. Give a read, if you could, this week to Ephesians 6:10-20. Let's pray.\n\nClosing Prayer<\/strong>\n\n\u201cFather, we\u2019re grateful for today. We\u2019re grateful for the truth that Your Word reveals about spiritual combat. We\u2019re grateful for grace in the middle tense of our salvation. Help us to be good learners of these things.\n\nBut beyond just being a learner, Your Bible tells us there's a blessing not just for the hearer but doer. So, help us to begin to apply these things to daily life. We\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory.\n\nWe ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name.\u201d\n\nGod's people said, \u201cAmen.\u201d","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t