Spiritual Warfare 1 - The Truth About the Devil

Today we are starting a mini series on what has become known as Spiritual Warfare. Some of you will rejoice at this as you think that we have not taught enough about the wiles of the enemy. Others will be shocked that there is such a thing as spiritual warfare. Some will need to be told that the devil is real. Some will be disappointed that I don't go far enough or into so called higher level revelations. All of us will learn something!

When I was young our family home was not a Christian place. It was the opposite. My Mum was into spiritualism and so from a young age I attended seances, including ouija boards or 'glassy-glassy,'  held in the house. She read tea leaves and palms due to her Romany Gypsy heritage. By the time I was 10 I was adept at channeling a spirit and predicting doom. I then became a Christian just before my 13th birthday. All that stopped and, yes I did undergo some deliverance ministry, but the day I gave my life to Jesus it stopped. When I became a Christian I discovered several things:
Many Christians did not believe in a literal devil. God yes, devil no. Having been in the opposite camp I knew there was a dark force, which for a while I thought was God, but I did not need convincing there was a devil. This was the enemy's favourite tactic - convince people he did not exist.

I discovered some Christians only ever spoke about the devil. They seemed fixated. There were, in their mind, demons in every nook and cranny. I met Christians who spoke more about the devil than I did before I was saved. I was not sure it was healthy. The was the enemy's second favourite tactic - for in constantly talking about him he was receiving vicarious glory.

I discovered some who felt very mental illness was demonic, which it is not. This another favourite tactic - for it gives him more credit than he deserves.

I found some who blamed the devil for everything. If they had a bad day it was the devil's fault. If they dropped a cup and it broke it was the devil's fault. If something was not perfect in life it was the devil's fault. Again, the enemy likes that kind of talk because it gives him some glory and power in life that he does not deserve.

Finally, I met Christians who believed the devil s equal to God - at least in the language they used to describe him. They talk about him in terms that imply there is a duality wth Jesus, that they are at one and the same level. Again, he loves this idea but he is not equal to God in any way, he is a created being not a pre-existent one.

We need to be careful that our views of the demonic are based on Scripture, not on the the theology of the Hollywood. In the case of The Exorcist, apparently a true story, the diaries of the Jesuit student have been examined and many researchers believe the basis for the story is a hoax. It's a sad story of a troubled boy (although a girl in the movie) but not of possession (Joe Nickell, Exorcism! Driving Out the Nonsense,http://www.csicop.org/si/show/exorcism_driving_out_the_nonsense, volume_25.1.)

Furthermore many other popular movies about the subject of demonic activity have been found to be hoaxes (http://theweek.com/articles/461862/real-story-behind-conjuring-four-other-horror-movies-based-true-story),

What these films do though is to create an idea, an expectation of what these things are really like, and drip feed that into our culture. Sadly many in the Christian world take their knowledge from these films even if they haven't seen them - they are influenced by them.

So this morning I want to set out some simple ideas for us to build upon in the next few weeks to understand what spiritual warfare is and how we do spiritual warfare. We will start by looking at the devil.

Truth One:
Here's the truth! The devil is a liar.
John 8:44: You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (See also 2 Cor.11:3; Ephesians 6:11; Revelation 20:3).

Jesus tells us the devil is the father of lies. This means nothing coming out of his mouth about himself or about you is true!

You do not take the word of a liar when they describe themselves or their abilities! You do not take the word of a liar when they tell you a story about you or someone else.

It has been said that the devil is the Angel of Light - after all this is what his angelic name, Lucifer means:
Isaiah 14:12: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations (KJV).

The light he shone with was the glory of God, reflected by him. This was not enough for him and he wanted to be God, part of the trinity.
As a result of his heinous sin against God, Lucifer was banished from living in heaven (Isaiah 14:12).

He became corrupt, and his name changed from Lucifer (“morning star”) to Satan (“adversary”).

His power became completely perverted (Isaiah 14:12,16,17). And his destiny, following the second coming of Christ, is to be bound in a pit during the 1000-year millennial kingdom over which Christ will rule (Revelation 20:3), and eventually will be thrown into the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41).
(See also Ezekiel 28:11-19).

He is not the angel of light anymore! His status has changed!
2 Corinthians 11:14: And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

The word here for masquerades is translated in different versions in different ways:
KJV and NKJV: transformed.
NLT, GNB and RSV: disguises.
MSG: dressing up.

The Greek word is mētaschēmatizō literally meaning to change appearance.

He is not the angel of light anymore. He pretends to be!  He now pretends to be what he formally was.

He is a liar remember! Don't call him the angel of light any more, he's not.

He masquerades as an angel of light to lie, deceive and the manipulate.

He is the father of lies and has no good intention towards you.

Truth Two:
Here's the truth! The devil is a slanderer!
Revelation 12:10: Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.

Who is this accuser of the brothers? Who is this slanderer of the Church? The devil.

The enemy will constantly stand before God trying to accuse you. He will vilify you, run you down, and tell stories about you. This is why gossip is so insidious: it is a fruit of the accuser (Proverbs 26:20-22).

He will constantly remind you of your past, your failures, your struggles. He will tell you people will find out about your deepest secrets.

Here's something for you to remind him of: his future!

Your past and failures are covered by the blood of Jesus. Psalm 23 tells you that the only thing trailing along after you in your life are goodness and mercy (Ps. 23:6).

He is a slanderer and has no good thing to say about you

Truth Three:
Here's the truth! The devil has power but not authority!

What is the difference? He has the power to lie (deceive), to accuse and so on but has not authority now.

Why? Because at the cross of Jesus uses the keys of sin and death - signs of authority over these things - and breaks the power of the deception of the devil (Rev.1:18; Col 2:15). The enemy has been disarmed!

This means that the devil is the ultimate wannabe.

Two examples:
He wants to steal, kill and destroy:
John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (See context John 10:7-18).

Notice that the thief in this passage is not the devil. In this analogy, Jesus says that the earlier false messiahs were the thieves. Certainly, these false prophets were working under Satan's direction, but it is incorrect to say that the thief in John 10:10 is the devil. In fact, it is the one who falsely claims to be Christ.

He wants to steal, kill and destroy but has not authority to do so. He has power, illegitimate power, and will try to steal, kill and destroy.

He wants to be like Jesus, God!
1 Peter 5:8: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Why is this significant? Because Jesus is described as being a lion in heart, character and majesty (Rev.5:5).

The devil pretends to be a lion; Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah

Truth Four:
Here's the truth! He is defeated at the Cross!

Colossians 2:14-15: ...having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. [15] And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

When Christ died for our sins, Satan was disarmed and defeated. The eternally destructive weapons that he had were stripped from his hand:
his lies over you are cancelled out,
his accusations and slander about you are null and void,
his desire to steal, kill and destroy you has been thwarted,
his plan to separate you from God's love have been foiled:
Romans 8:37-39:
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Wrapping this up!
So where do we go from here?
We know that the devil is defeated and disarmed.
We know that he still uses his old tactics but also that these are nullified for the Christian who resists him (James 4:7).
The victory is won!
But there are skirmishes, battles to be won against a enemy forces who don't want to surrender.
It is these skirmishes that spiritual warfare centres on.
We will consider these in the coming few weeks.

Blog Bonus:
The KJV refers the Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12 but the NIV (and others) use morning star, a title Jesus uses for himself (Revelation 22:16). How can this be? Go to https://gotquestions.org/morning-star.html for a useful explanation and recommended further reading.
So where did Satan come from? John Piper has some useful thoughts on this and examines the sphere of the devil's power. Go to http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-fall-of-satan-and-the-victory-of-christ