Fighting the Unseen
Spiritual Warfare Week III

Last week, we took a hard look at the reality if Satan, and just who he was…we dispelled some childhood myths and unearthed some little known truths. We determined that he IS our #1 enemy! This week, we take a look at just how he works against us! We get to know his strategies, his lies and his weapons. We will learn just exactly what is at stake if God is already victorious. And we will try to learn while there is still a fight going on if the outcome of the war is guaranteed!

If it really is an actual battle, where do you think “Spiritual Warfare” takes place?

Spiritual warfare takes place in our minds and hearts! ***The very essence of spiritual warfare is: Lies vs. Truth! God gave us light and truth…Satan serves up darkness and lies. We said in week one that his primary tool was deception. Satan and his buddies are trying daily to find ANY way to delude us. They want to confuse our minds and capture our hearts.

First though, answer these questions for me:
What is at stake if God had already declared victory(I Cor. 15:54-57, I John 5:4, John 16:33)!
Why is there even still a war going on????

Some may use this excuse to count Satan out, ignore him and just sit on their tails and wait……but we know better right?  YES, the victory was accomplished on the cross, and NOTHING REALLY IS AT STAKE IN TERMS OF ULTIMATE OUTCOME OF SATAN”S REBELLION. But, what does continue to be at stake are the lives and souls of those still fighting! Do you think Satan doesn’t know that the war is officially over?!?!?!? He knows! And I think as a result he is fighting that much harder! He wants to wants to wreak as much havoc as possible while he still can! He is still dead set on destroying God’s people and church! ***Though the victory has been already been won, IT HAS NOT YET BEEN COMPLETELY ENFORCED!
Sorry….you’re still in a fight!

Why do you think Satan is SO bent on hurting us and leading us astray?
What do you think his #1 goal is?

His goal is to STEAL, KILL and DESTROY!!!!
John 10:10- “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full!”
• Have something good going in your life? He’d like nothing more than to take it away!
• Have a victory of faith to proclaim? He’d like nothing more than to shut you up! (martyrs)
• See any beauty in this life? He wants nothing more than to destroy it for us! (sex, food, etc.)

So…..if we want to be prepared for this, we need to study his master plan. Just how is he going to bring it at us?

How does Satan attack us? Is it the same every time? We know that Satan uses a variety of methods, but I do believe that for the most part, his ULTIMATE strategy is always the same. Let’s take a look.

Satan’s Master Strategy

Let’s read Ephesians 4:18-19….in these 2 short verses, I believe, lies his entire strategy!

Follow the logical progression that Paul laid out so clearly:
Darkened understanding leads to a hardened heart; hardened hearts lead to lost sensitivity and an immersion in sensuality (one that indulges every form of impurities with a constant lust for more); once here, we fall total victim to the lies, and having no more communion with God, spiritual devastation takes place! Here is a visual for you:

Darkening of understanding >

Hardening of heart>

Loss of sensitivity>

Immersion in sensuality>

Spiritual destruction

Let’s look closer at what these each really mean:

Darkening of the Understanding- We understand darkness. We try and avoid it. It scares us. Things seen in darkness and are murky, foggy and unclear. Satan’s 1st goal is to confuse and “foggy up” our understanding and reasoning. He uses his darkness to distort God’s truth. What are real ways that he does this?

Hardening of the heart- This, his 2nd step and step one are really almost one in the same. People in Paul’s time did not think of the hart like us. It was not all about emotions to them, in fact it was about a sense of discernment. Paul is saying that Satan wants to take away our ability to discern (what is right, wrong, best, etc)

Loss of sensitivity- This step is one of the saddest to observe. Have you ever witnessed a loved one completely losing their spiritual sensitivity? That is what sin does though! It WILL take control eventually…it just has to dull your senses first. Sooner or later, after the heart begins to harden, you no longer are capable of feeling natural emotions.

Immersion in sensuality- Paul describes this as an indulgence of every kind of immorality with a continual lust for more! A hardened heart, and de sensitized soul seeks more sin, more often, with more selfishness!

Spiritual Destruction- This what he wants the most! This is Satan’s touchdown! I don’t need to describe it. We have all seen it. All concern for God is gone. And the battle is lost and over!


So why would anyone ever put themselves through these steps? Why would they ever let it go this far? Who would really choose to start a path that ultimately leads to spiritual destruction? NO ONE!!!!! Yet, unarmed, unprepared people start this walk daily all around us, our own friends and family even….AND WE ARE NOT IMMUNE!

We have security in Christ, but it does not mean that Satan has no access to us! Trust me, he is watching and waiting for the chance to pounce!

So we now know his basic plan of attack. Next logical question would be what will he use as weapons? Just what power does this devil have?

What Power Does Satan Have?

Ever hear of Lonnie Weeks Jr? He was executed in Virginia in the year 2000. Here is his story:

“Virginia State Trooper Jose Cavazos was assigned to traffic patrol in the Dale City area on Feb. 23, 1993. At around 12:40 a.m. Cavazos pulled over a speeding 1987 Volkswagen Jetta traveling from Washington, D.C., to North Carolina. Weeks was a passenger in vehicle driven by his uncle, Lewis Dukes. Trooper Cavazos approached and asked Weeks to get out and the North Carolina man complied. Weeks, carrying Glock 9 mm handgun loaded with armor piercing ammunition known as "man-stoppers", fired at least 6 bullets at Trooper Cavazos, two of which entered his body beside the right and left shoulder straps of the protective vest he was wearing. The car stopped by Trooper Casavos turned out to be stolen. Both Weeks and Dukes were captured within an hour of the crime, tracked by dogs to a nearby motel. Weeks testified at his 1994 trial: "And as I stepped out the car, it was like something had just took over me that I couldn't understand. . . well, to me, I felt like it was an evil - evil spirit or something."

Later he also said:

"I guess I felt like I didn't need [the Lord] any more, and so, to myself I say, well, I'm paying for – by my turning my back on Him, I obviously have an indecent mind."

What do you think about excuses like these? We’ve heard them time and again, and honestly, we usually roll our eyes at them. We might even call them crazy or looney.
Can the Devil have that much power over a person- enough to make them shoot another person 6 times?

Before trying to answer that let’s read a few verses:
I Chron 21:1
Luke 13:16
Luke 22:31
John 13:2
John 13:27
Acts 5:3
I Tim 2:26

These verses sound clear that Stan can do things to humans: sift, incite, bind, fill, blind, work in etc. Don’t underestimate him or his power.
BUT…did you notice the words carefully? Read in their full context, I think these verses show Satan manipulating rather than controlling! I think it is not an act of “making us do something”, but rather an act of seducing us to it! Make any sense? If you aren’t possessed by an evil spirit, Satan won’t MAKE you do anything. But he does have AWESOME influence in human lives and he is very manipulating!

Lonnie weeks did not appear demon possessed at all. In court he was very calm, well spoken and in control f himself. (doesn’t sound like any possessed person I read of in the Bible). I truly doubt that an evil spirit FORCED him to shoot the Cop, but THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT EVIL FORCES/SPIRITS COULD NOT HAVE BEEN INVOLVED!

There is danger in doubting his power. Christians ARE NOT immune! Yet, many feel we are. I actually sat in an adult class here at W Main once, and listened to a lady very fervently argue with the teacher over this topic. While she fully believed Satan was real, she said that she did not see as effective in our lives, and viewed him as a powerless figure that posed no threat in her life, and she was not going to have any fear for him!
What do you think about that statement? If he is powerless, how did he do the things we read about in the verses earlier?

Read II Cor. 4:4--- Has Satan possibly blinded this culture today so we cannot see his workings around us?

Want some good news or bad news next? How about some good? How ‘bout some powers he DOES NOT have? Here you go:

SATAN IS NOT GOD!
Whew……..glad to hear that!

He doesn’t even have the same characteristics as God. Too often though I think we believe that he does in many ways. As kids we come up thinking that God heads one army and his equal adversary Satan heads the other. It is Jedis verses the dark side! But this is SOOOO untrue! There is NOTHING equal about them!

God is omnipotent----Satan is not! His powers are limited (Luke 22:31)
God is omnipresent---Satan is not! Just like any other angel, for all I can discern from scripture, they cannot be everywhere at once! They always had to travel to get somewhere (Daniel 10).
God is omniscient----Satan is not! Satan is limited in his knowledge! And I believe that is frustrating for him.

Yet….Don’t Slander Him!

One other interesting little side note here. Even with these glaring limitations, Satan is mighty enough that even God warned us about him.

Let’s read II Peter 2:10-12
Jude 8-10

If the archangel Michael is so careful not to bring a slanderous accusation against Satan, what should that say about us??????? Peter likened slanderers of Satan to false teachers…I think we should be careful not to preach about Satan like some limp weak dog! --------- Makes me think twice about singing “if the Devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack!”

I think God demands a healthy level of respect for all spiritual beings.

HOMEWORK

I think we all need to take inventory and to see if Satan is moving toward destruction. We need to see if we are anywhere eon his master plan radar! Remember the 5 stages from earlier in the notes. Then I want you to HONESTLY answer these questions! Tell the truth. This is for you and God alone to know. The truth may hurt a little, but it can be a step towards freedom too!

1- Are you confused about what is true?

2- Have your beliefs on God, the Bible or meaning of Biblical passages gone through significant changes lately?

3- Do your new views justify doing things that you once found to be wrong?

4- Are you reasoning things differently than you did when at your strongest spiritual walk in your life?

5- Do things that once really hurt and brought mourning now have little effect on you?

6- Is anything in your life absorbing so much of your emotion that almost everyone and everything else are losing importance to you?

7- Are you craving more of that something or someone which is becoming the focus of your life?

8- Is God losing his place in your life because the something or someone is crowding him out?

9- After becoming involved with this person or thing, did you emotion about God increase for a period and then gradually diminish so you no longer have a strong feeling of love for God?

10- Are you doing things you once would have argued as wrong, wanting to do them more and more, with more intensity, and no longer even consider if it is right or wrong?

The Score Sheet

1-3 help to discover if your understanding is being darkened. If any are answered yes I would advise seeking counsel to make sure you aren’t being deceived.

4-6 help see if your heart is becoming hardened and if you’re losing sensitivity. If any are a yes, seek counsel from someone who can help you discern whether you are buying a lie. (any hesitance to seek counsel may further be a sign of how much you need it!)

7-10 help decide if you are becoming immersed in sensuality. If any are a yes, seek immediate counsel before it is too late, from someone you rally respect as a person of God. This intervention may very well help you be delivered from Satan’s present grasp!


Thanks folks……the good news IS coming. Next week…we will take a glimpse at Angels!






More suggested reading:
The Three Battlegrounds- Francis Frangipane