I think twins fever has infected whole new segments
of our society. I, last night, was listening
to one of the channels. One of the newsmen was
out on the street with this crowd of people.
And right in the front row was this little old
lady who was really a rooter for the twins. And
so he turned to her and he said, Now, how do
you think the twins are going to do? And she
said, Oh, just fine, just fine. And he said,
Well... how many games do you think it will take
them to wrap up the series? And she said, well,
I think they'll take it in, oh, in three games.
And he said, that would be remarkable. Normally
our services are 70 minutes in length here at
the church, more or less. Usually more than less,
huh? But tonight we're going to get out right
at 7 o 'clock because I have had death threats
and so Not wanting to knuckle under anything
but having a little bit of smarts We will end
right at 7 o 'clock to give you plenty of time
to get home and in your comfortable Easy chair
to watch the game if that's what you want to
do I hope you will be back with us tonight as
we continue the series on the end of the age,
tonight dealing with the coming kingdom and that
particular aspect of it that deals with the judgments
immediately preceding the millennial reign of
Jesus Christ. There are a series of judgments
that are not frequently talked about, and so
we want to focus on those this evening in our
study in the Word of God. in just about a month,
on November the 7th, sponsored by the Berean
League of Minnesota. Its title is AIDS, Its Implications
for You and Society. You've had a brochure about
that in your worship folder on a previous occasion.
If you're planning to go to that, it might be
helpful to you to turn that in to our information
desk rather than mailing it directly to the Berean
League. And in that way, if we can get as many
as six people, and surely we can do that, we
can get a group rate. So it'll save you a few
bucks, too. So if you're going to register, you
can do it through the church here and then make
out your check to the Berean League for the lesser
amount, and we'll go as a group to that particular
conference. If you want more details about it,
you can call the church office or directly to
the Berean League would be the best way, and
they can send you some information regarding
that conference. It has sparked a tremendous
amount of interest here. In the upper Midwest,
we have people coming from all the neighboring
states for the conference that day. It's dealing
with this infectious disease, AIDS, and its implications
for all of us. Let's open our Bibles together
to Ephesians chapter 6. The final three chapters
of Ephesians brings into daily life the doctrinal
truth of the first three chapters. The key verse
is undoubtedly chapter 4 and verse 1 where he
says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord entreat
you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling
with which you have been called. That is the
key truth that is developed in the last three
chapters. The key word is walk, that is conduct
yourself in a manner, he says, befitting of who
you are as a Christian. And so he tells us that
we are to walk in unity, chapter 4, verses 1
through 16. We are to walk in honesty, chapter
4, verse 17 through verse 29. We are to walk
in charity, chapter 4, verse 30 through chapter
5, verse 2. We are to walk in purity, chapter
5, verses 3 through 14. And we are to walk in
wisdom. Chapter 5, verse 15 through chapter 6
and verse 9. That brings us up to our text for
today, which is verses 10, 11, and 12 of Ephesians
6. And we begin a series entitled Spiritual Warfare.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength
of His might. Put on the full armor of God that
you may be able to stand firm. against the schemes
of the devil. For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly places. in our study of Ephesians,
not only of the truth that we are to walk in
the manner that God counts well -pleasing, but
of the fact that there are hindrances that all
of us face toward that kind of a lifestyle. Those
hindrances are both internal and external. Internally,
we all face the hindrance of our sinful pattern.
That sinful pattern that is still remaining from
the old self we were before we were converted,
before we were saved. The Bible calls that the
flesh. We can be dominated by this sinful pattern.
The potential to sin remains in all of us. We
can still involve ourselves in what the Apostle
calls in these chapters, our former manner of
life. However, we are warned that if anyone is
characterized by that manner of life as a habit,
as a complete pattern of his living, that it's
evidence of the fact he has no genuine relationship
with Christ. He has no inheritance in the kingdom
of God. But all of us from time to time can revert
to that pattern. And then we have the hindrance
of sinful pressure from the surrounding society.
That is, peer pressure. The darkness of the pagan
world involves things like immorality, impurity,
and greed. It involves filthy and insinuating
language. What he terms as all sorts of unfruitful
and disgraceful. actions. You and I face pressure
to conform ourselves to that. So we are exhorted
to be careful how we conduct ourselves, not with
foolishness, not with dissipation, but we are
to conduct ourselves in the power of the Holy
Spirit so that we will not yield to the sinful
pressure to conform or to the sinful pattern.
that remains within us. But now today, we come
to yet another hindrance to our holy walk. It
is spiritual powers. The Apostle asserts that
you and I are in a struggle. That word refers
to a wrestling contest in its original context.
Wrestling in that day was noted for trickery,
cunningness, and strategy. Today, at least professionally,
it's known for showmanship, for good acting.
But in those days, genuine wrestling involved
a great deal of cunning skill, of strategy, and
trickery. And, of course, there are wrestling
matches today that involve the same, at least
on the collegiate and high school level. He says
that you and I are involved in a wrestling match.
And, to put it in a little bit of a different
context, he says we are involved in a hand -to
-hand combat. This word struggle that he uses
has to do with an up -close fight. You and I
are involved every day of our lives. in such
a struggle with spiritual powers. Luis Palau
wrote to his mailing list in recent days and
said, Dear friend, I believe in spiritual warfare.
I have, like you, fought the forces of darkness.
Like soldiers who wrestle against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms, we have
an implacable enemy. His name is Satan. and he
is opposed to everything we do together in the
name of Christ. He challenged God in Eden, and
Christ confronted him in the Judean wilderness.
It's a constant, unrelenting attack. His battleground
is our hearts, our minds, our homes, our churches,
and our ministry. Each of us who seriously seeks
to serve Christ struggles in this fight. My friend,
to be unaware of this struggle, to be forgetful
of it, or to try to ignore it, is to play directly
into the enemy's hands. It is to misread and
fail to comprehend the true nature of life's
twists and turns. Every person who is a genuine
Christian is in the midst of spiritual warfare.
whether he realizes it or not. For every Christian
is in the crosshairs of the enemy's aim. He is
carefully scrutinized to gain some advantage
over him. Satan's ultimate aim being to destroy
that Christian's life's effectiveness for Jesus
Christ. Let's think for a moment regarding who
the enemy is. Notice that the Apostle says first
that it is not flesh and blood. He is saying
to you and to me that our primary struggle is
not with political movements. It is not with
human organizations. It is not with individuals
as individuals themselves only. But rather he
says that our struggle is with the devil. That
term means the slanderer or the accuser. It was
used previously in Ephesians in chapter 4 and
verse 27 where he warns us not to give the devil
an opportunity. There is no question as to the
identity of this one that is called the accuser
or the slanderer or the devil. It refers to that
being that is called elsewhere as Satan or as
Lucifer. There are those who like to think of
this being as a figment of the imagination of
fundamentalists. or of religious fanatics through
the centuries. If that is the case, then we who
are fundamentalists are in good company, because
Jesus Christ believed in the devil, spoke with
him, and conquered him. But where did the devil
come from? There are those cults which try to
tell us that the devil is but the brother of
Jesus, that they are both created by God. One
good, one evil. Is that true? Is the devil, on
the other hand, only an idea, a feeble attempt
by overly religious people to explain the wickedness
that exists in the world? Where did this devil
come from? We do not have in the Word of God
the kind of definitive answer that some would
like, but I do think we have an answer to that
question. Would you turn into the Old Testament,
please, to the book of Ezekiel first, and then
we will go to the book of Isaiah, but we will
begin in Ezekiel. And go to the 28th chapter.
We have here a word from God to the king of Tyre.
The words that are given to the king of Tyre,
however, are such that they cannot refer merely
to him as a human being. There is a supra -human
element in the paragraph that we are going to
read. Son of man, verse 12, take up a lamentation
over the king of Tyre and say to him, Thus says
the Lord God. And so now God is going to directly
speak to this person who is called the king of
Tyre, but who is more than a mere human sovereign.
You had the seal of perfection. The word seal
means pattern. The idea is you were the consummation
of created perfection. That's the thought. Full
of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in
Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone
was your covering. The ruby, the topaz, and the
diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper,
the lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald,
and the gold, the workmanship of your settings
and sockets, referring to those places in the
garment where those stones were laid, the sockets
and the settings for the precious gems mentioned.
The gold was in you. On the day that you were
created, they were prepared. So notice that this
being is a created being. You were the anointed
cherub who covers. Now in verse 16, he is again
called the covering cherub. The word in the Hebrew
means the one who leads or the one who guards.
And so he is saying, you were the anointed cherub
who leads or guards, and I placed you there.
God is speaking. You were on the holy mountain
of God. You walked in the midst of the stones
of fire. Undoubtedly a reference to the holy
presence of God. You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created. until unrighteousness
was found in you. By the abundance of your trade,
you were internally filled with violence, and
you sinned. Therefore I have cast you as profane
from the mountain of God, and I have destroyed
you, O leading, O guarding cherub, from the midst
of the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted
up because of your beauty. You corrupted your
wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you
to the ground. I put you before kings that they
may see you. And so we have what I think is a
very enlightening text regarding the origin of
this one that we call Satan or the devil. in
the highest order of the angelic beings, the
consummation of created perfection, one of indescribable
beauty and of wisdom, who it seems guarded the
very throne of God, but in whom there was found
sin ultimately, and violence, and because of
the wickedness within that created being, he
was cast out and down to the ground, it says.
Now let's go back to the book of Isaiah, and
we see a little more information here regarding
what was happening internally in this being.
If we look in Isaiah 14 and verse 12, where it
says, How you have fallen from heaven, O star
of the morning, sun of the dawn. You have been
cut down to the earth, you who have weakened
the nations. But you said in your heart. So now
there is a going back into the past. And here
is what was happening internally in this creature
that was mentioned. in the previous passage we
looked at. He was saying this, I will ascend
to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars
of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly in
the recesses of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will make myself
like the Most High. So we have five strong assertions
of self -will. by this same creature that was
mentioned in the book of Ezekiel. Here under
a different heading, a different name, but the
same superhuman creature being spoken to directly.
Because of the self -will, the pride, and the
desire to be as God, not being content with where
he was placed in God's created order. Therefore,
God says, you will be thrust down to Sheol, to
the recesses of the pit. And so where his sin
is mentioned, his judgment is mentioned, although
it has not been fully executed even yet to this
day, but will be one day. And we'll talk about
that briefly in this evening's message. So who
is this one? He is a created angel. who because
of sin was cast out of heaven down to the earth
sometime before the six days of creation, so
that he was present in the garden in the form
of a serpent there to tempt Adam and Eve. It
was he that brought sin into the human race through
Adam and the sin of Eve as well. Now I'd like
you to turn one other passage, please, in the
book of Revelation to the twelfth chapter, where
we look into the future and we see one more movement
that will take place in time before the final
judgment upon Satan. There is in Revelation chapter
12 a description of certain events that will
take place surrounding the earth in the days
of the tribulation. In terms of a calendar, it
seems that when we come to chapter 12, we are
about one half way through that seven year period
that we call the tribulation. In other words,
what we read here occurs about in the middle
at the three and a half year point of the tribulation.
Now it says in verse 7, And there was war in
heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with
the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged
war, and they were not strong enough, and there
was no longer a place found for them in heaven.
And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent
of old, who is called the devil. At the present
time, Satan, as we will see in a moment, has
access to heaven. He is able to use the spiritual
realm. He is able to gain, apparently, an entrance
into the very presence of God, at least on occasion.
But there is a day coming in the midpoint of
the tribulation when he will be barred at access
and will be limited in his activity to the earth
itself. And that will create tremendous anger
and frustration on his part, which we see then
carried out here in the rest of this chapter.
Ultimately, then, he will be consigned to the
lake of fire forever and forever. It is important
for you and me to understand that Satan is not
an eternal being. By that I mean he was created.
He is not like God who had no beginning. He will
exist forever, but he has not been from forever.
He had a beginning point as a created cherub
of God. Satan is neither omniscient. He does
not know everything. He knows what his plans
and schemes are. He knows his course for this
age. That is why those who represent him are
at times able to predict future events, because
he knows what he wants to do. But they cannot
predict them perfectly because he may change
his ideas or God may intervene and disallow them.
But people can predict the future because of
Satan's knowledge of what he wishes to do in
the future, if he is allowed, and decides to
continue and carry out his ideas. Satan has some
idea of what the future holds because he is a
student of the Bible. He knows what the Bible
says, and there are people who say, well, if
he knows what the Bible says, then he will ultimately
be judged and cast into the lake of fire. Why
does he not amend his actions? Well, the answer
to that is, in the first place, he is completely
evil. There is no redeeming grace about this
creature. And secondly, he is so thoroughly deceived,
by his own pride, that he actually thinks that
he will in the end outwit God. That is why he
does not amend his ways. But he is not omniscient.
He is not omnipotent, as God is. He has limitations
to his power. As we have just read in Revelation
chapter 12, he could not overcome Michael, the
archangel, and the hosts of heaven. and was cast
down to the earth. He is not sovereign. Yes,
he does rule over the course of this age, over
this world system, but that is within a carefully
prescribed boundary that God has set for him.
He is not absolutely sovereign, as God is sovereign.
Nor is he omnipresent. God is everywhere, present
at all times. Satan, not so. He is like you,
like me, limited to one place at a time. It takes
you and me a while to get to a different place.
It takes him much less time because he is spirit
and perhaps is able to move from one place to
the other at the speed of light or the speed
of thought. But he can be only in one place at
a time. Now the question is, then why does it
seem that he's everywhere at once? Because at
the same time he's tempting you, he's tempting
me, and that fellow and that lady and that young
person. How is it that he seems to be everywhere
at once? The answer to that is, he seems to be
everywhere at once, though he is not, because
of those powers that are aligned with him. in
his struggle against God. These are also fallen
angelic beings of lesser rank than he. They are
described to us in the words in verse 12, the
rulers. That seems to refer to the highest rank
of fallen angels under Satan himself, the rulers.
Then the authorities, which appears to be yet
a lesser rank. The world forces. The kosmokrotoras
is the Greek word. Literally, it means the lords
of the world. And then finally, the spiritual
forces of the wickedness, the pneumatica of wickedness.
the many, many, many wicked spirits who are under
these authorities in Satan's chain of command.
You say, how many of them are there? We do not
know. There is some hint in the Bible that as
many as a third of the angelic creatures may
have followed Satan in his rebellion against
God. But there are undoubtedly... multiplied
millions of them. What is your name? Boaz, Boam,
Beelzebub. Who are you? Boaz, God of death. Boam,
God of sex. Beelzebub, God of lies. Missionary
Royal Peck writes, Three demons responded to
the questions as a young man in his early twenties
convulsed. His eyes rolled and his facial features
contorted. He threw his head violently against
the backrest of his chair as he convulsed. Five
elders from several brethren assemblies stood
around Gasparri, the young man. We prayed, imploring
God through the power of the cross and the blood
of Jesus to set him free. Had one not known,
it would have been difficult to believe that
here were a group of non -charismatic and committed
dispensationalists who were involved in the exorcism
of a demon -possessed man. Occult practices have
been spreading throughout Italy so widely that
local church leaders have to come to grips with
the problem. In the name of Jesus Christ, come
out. No, was the reply in deep, growling voice.
that we had not heard Gasparri speak in when
he gave us his testimony and told us his story.
You are defeated. The blood of Jesus Christ on
the cross has won the victory. Do you not know
that you are defeated? Yes. The voice responded
slowly and gruffly. Then come out in Jesus' name.
No. The demons responded. Five and a half hours
the struggle went on. He goes on to describe
the struggle. We prayed, commanded, and wrestled
to the point of physical exhaustion. At 11 .30
p .m. when the question was asked, Who are you?
No demon responded. Instead, the response came
back, Gaspari. His eyes were clear, no longer
rolling. A smile was on his face. His convulsions
ceased. I am free, he said. I am really free.
And he wept, and we wept also. When I met Gasparri
earlier that evening, I had the feeling that
he was a mental patient. Unredeemed eyes and
minds would have simply concluded this young
man was a psychotic. But in battling the forces
of the unseen world, we have learned that the
demonic agents of Satan are really there and
are destroying the minds and souls of men and
women. My friend, do not think that that is isolated
to Italy. It is a battle that takes place in
our own culture, although less visibly. And I
have pondered the reasons for that and will not
go into them this morning. But it is a literal
battle that takes place. And indeed there are
those within our fellowship who have been involved
in exercising demons from people here in the
Twin Cities. What is the dimension of the activity
of these beings? Where do they operate? The Apostle
says, in the heavenlies. Do you notice that?
In the heavenly places, he says at the end of
verse 12. What is that? That's a phrase that
is unique to Ephesians, and we have seen the
phrase several times. It is used in chapter 1
and verse 20 of the realm where Jesus Christ
is presently seated on his throne of authority.
It is used in chapter 2 and verse 6 of the realm
of our enthronement with Jesus Christ, where
we are seated with him. It is used in chapter
3 and verse 10 of the place where angelic creatures
who observe the church of Jesus Christ. And it
is used here in chapter 6 of the place of the
warfare with demonic forces. Beloved, you and
I live in a tension between two realities. One,
the earthly. The other, the heavenly. The earthly
we know well because that is what our senses
are attuned to. Perhaps we don't know it as well
as we should because the earthly, is affected
by the heavenly. The realm of the heavenly is
the realm of the supernatural. It is the domain
of God and of angelic creatures. Around us this
morning in this auditorium, there are angelic
beings who observe us. They see us get sleepy
and snooze a few seconds. They see us get restless.
They see us take notes. They see us keen in interest
or yawning. They observe us intently. And they
are both good and evil. The heavenlies is not
a realm that is out there somewhere far removed
from us, but the heavenlies is right here in
the atmosphere of this room. We live in a tension
between the physical world where you and I are
very attuned and the metaphysical, the heavenlies,
the realm of the supernatural. Now there are
people who say, well, the demons work in the
heavenlies. That has nothing to do with me. I
live in the physical. But the fact is that what
happens in the heavenly realm The realm of the
heavenlies affects what happens in the world
where you and I live. They affect world history.
That is clear from the book of Daniel, where
Daniel is given just ever so brief a glimpse
at the warfare that is going on in the heavenlies
around the world powers. behind the United States
and Russia and Libya and Iran and Great Britain.
We do not understand fully how all of this works,
but we do know this, that behind the nations
of the world there are angelic creatures who
are battling for dominance and control. and it
affects what happens in the history of the world.
What happens there also affects the answers to
prayer that we have. Again, Daniel gives us that
insight. Daniel probably tells us more about
this than any other writer of Scripture. An answer
to prayer was held up for Daniel for three weeks
while two angels fought it out. You can read
about it, I believe, as Daniel chapter 10, as
I recall. My point is this, that what happens
in the realm of the heavenlies impacts where
you and I live every day of our lives. And though
our battle is not against flesh and blood, nonetheless
Satan employs flesh and blood to fight against
us and against the purpose of God. John Calvin
said, quote, Wherever the ungodly cause us trouble,
they are fighting under the banner of Satan.
and are his instruments for harassing us. Close
quote. An example. Jesus began to reveal to his
disciples that he must suffer and die, be raised
again. And Peter said, Lord, far be it from you.
God forbid that will never happen to you. And
Jesus turned to this friend of his and said,
Get thee behind me, Satan. Do you see at that
moment, Satan was using Peter. And Jesus recognized
it. That that thought had not come from Peter,
but it was given to him by Satan. And Jesus directly
addressed Satan when he spoke to Peter. Judas.
schemed and planned to betray Jesus. But on that
night when he went out, it says in Luke 22, verse
3, and Satan entered into Judas. He possessed
Judas to carry out the scheme. Flesh and blood
is not what we fight against, but my point is
that flesh and blood is what Satan often uses.
Not always, but often. In 1 Thessalonians 2 .18,
Paul writes to these beloved people and he says,
I tried to come to you once and then again, but
Satan hindered us. Now, we're not told how Satan
hindered, but likely it was through those who
were trying to kill Paul, the enemies of the
gospel, flesh and blood. In Revelation 3 .9,
Jesus addresses his beloved church and he warns
them of the synagogue of Satan. Those who say
they are Jews but are not, he says. The synagogue
of Satan. False religion. False religion is the
most severe persecutor of the true faith. Apostate
Christianity is the greatest threat that we have.
Not communism. But liberal apostate Christianity.
will do more to damage the cause of Jesus Christ
than all the communists in the world put together.
The synagogue of Satan is still here today. Those
who say they are Christians but are not. We do
not struggle against flesh and blood, but it
is flesh and blood that the spiritual forces
of darkness use often to advance their cause.
Now let me give you a word of warning. We are
not to perceive that every interference to our
plans is Satan. Indeed, the Apostle Paul and
his party were seeking to go in a certain direction.
You recall in Asia Minor, they were trying to
go back to the north and to the east, and they
were hindered. And on that occasion, he had identified
that which hindered not as the spirit of Satan,
that is the Spirit of Jesus. And so don't identify
every hindrance in your life as Satan. Don't
be turning over every stone looking for the devil
because he won't always be there in every difficulty,
in every trial, in every hindrance that you have
in your life. But he will be there at times because
he struggles against you. Now what are we to
do? Well, it's dangerous to think that you and
I can deal with this enemy in our own strength
or our own intellect. Likewise, it is unnecessary,
and please hear me, it is unnecessary for us
to be fearful. And it is foolish for us to become
overly obsessed with the devil. What are we to
do then? He tells us. Number one, be strong.
You notice that? Verse 10. Finally, be strong
in the Lord. It's passive and it's present, which
means be continually strengthened in the Lord.
That is the only name that Satan will recognize
and submit to. In Jude 9, we are given a brief
glimpse. of a struggle that took place over the
dead body of Moses. Now what Satan had in mind
with that corpse, we do not know, but he wanted
the body of Moses. And Michael, the archangel,
fought against Satan for it. But it says there
that Michael did not dare to come against Satan
in his own strength, but rather even an archangel.
who has power in the spirit realm that's very
high. Even he said, the Lord rebuke you because
it is the name of Jesus that has the power. Therefore
be strengthened in the Lord and in the power
of his might. How do we appropriate that power?
By putting on the full armor of God. That's a
second command in verse 11. He says, as a decisive,
urgent action on your part, recognizing the battle,
put on that armor of God. It provides complete
protection. To be without it leaves you vulnerable
to the enemy. You say, what is the armor of God?
Essentially, it is living an obedient life. It
is living obediently to the lordship of Jesus
Christ. My friend, there is no substitute for
obedience. When you and I live in disobedience
or in partial obedience, which is really disobedience,
then we do not have on ourselves the armor of
God to do warfare in the spirit realm. It is
the life of obedience to Jesus Christ that provides
us with that full armor. And it is only when
we have that armor on that we can be strengthened
in the Lord. And the result is when we do that,
we will stand firm against Satan's schemes. To
stand firm means to hold a critical position
on the battlefield. There have been multiplied
examples of soldiers who courageously... have
stood by that position assigned to them, and
because of their bravery and standing firm, the
battle was won because they did not give up.
And that is what you and I are exhorted to do.
We're not to run from Satan. We are to stand
firm in that assigned place by the Lord. We're
not to give up. But we are to hang on to that
critical position on the battlefield because
others are counting on us. And when you and I
flee, when we run, it may leave others in a weakened
position. You and I have no reason to experience
defeat because we have the name of Jesus Christ,
we have the armor of God, and can be strong in
the Lord to stand firm against Satan and his
schemes. If you and I choose to do so, we can,
however, live defeated lives. We can be fruitless,
cold, critical, discouraged and indifferent to
the things of the Lord. When we are so, we are
being robbed of the blessing that God wants us
to experience. We are wasting our lives. We are
set on the shelf as far as the advance of God's
work is concerned, and we are gaining no reward
in heaven. Therefore, how foolishly to live defeated
lives by choice. We can choose to be victorious
by doing what God tells us to do here. Because,
you see, we have already won the war in Jesus
Christ. Through his death and resurrection, the
war is done. Satan has yet to be convinced of
that, but it is over. Bless God. However, there
are still ambushes that he sets. He has not conceded
yet, and you and I can be taken in in the ambushes,
or we can share the victory. God has provided
so much more. than defeat. God has provided for
us victory in Jesus Christ. We need not be victims
of this enemy that we struggle against. We can
be victors through Jesus Christ. My plea to all
of us today is this, to examine our lives and
wherein we are living disobediently or in partial
compromised obedience. that we immediately go
to that area of our lives and we confess what
we're doing. And ask Jesus Christ then to be
the Lord of that area of our lives so that we
can walk in obedience and thus have on the armor
of God for our protection so that we can be strong
in the Lord and the power of His might. My friend,
the youngest Christian, who is walking that way,
causes Satan to tremble. And don't you ever forget
it. Because the strength is not ours. It's Jesus
Christ's. And when we are walking with him as
our Lord, his victory is given to us. Let's walk
that way this week in our spiritual warfare.
Let's bow together. What is that area of life
that you may need to talk to the Lord about,
my friend? You know that area where Satan has
scrutinized you and has found an opening. Will
you at this moment, right where you are, say
to the Lord, Jesus, I acknowledge the advantage
I've given to Satan in this area of my life,
and name it. Will you then submit that to His
Lordship? And if you cannot honestly say, Lord,
I will obey in that area, will you at least say
this, I am willing to be made obedient. I surrender
that to you. I pray that there will be some commitments
made here today that will cause hell to gasp.
because of the depth of the commitment to Jesus
Christ. Father, I thank you for the enlightening
work of the Holy Spirit as he teaches us through
the word. And may the result of our study this
morning be a walk in victory, the victory of
Jesus Christ over this enemy, the devil, and
all of his We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.