3. Spiritual Warfare
•Remember Casper the Friendly
Ghost?
•Seemed pretty nice and harmless, right?
•In truth, “ghosts” are demons pretending to be
people that once lived, and are in direct contact
and control from Satan himself.
•Last week we talked the reality of Angels; this
time, we’ll explore the reality of demonic forces
4. Spiritual Warfare
•They have very real jobs and very real
powers to carry them out
•Clear objectives Jesus described Himself:
•John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal, and
to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may
have life, and that they may have it more
abundantly.”
•This is the demons mission against you: Steal your
joy, kill your testimony, destroy your faith
5. “10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the
strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor
of God, so that you will be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil. 12 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. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of
God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil
6. “day, and having done everything, to stand
firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED
YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON
THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and
having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION
OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all,
taking up the shield of faith with which you
will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows
of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF
SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is
7. the word of God.
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all
times in the Spirit, and with this in view, [i]be
on the alert with all perseverance and
petition for all the saints…”
Ephesians 6:10-18, NASB
8. A. Power and Limits of Satan & his Demons
• God is omnipotent which means all-powerful
• Omniscient- means all-knowing
• Omni-present- means everywhere at once
• The devil and his demons are NOT any of
these
• They are smart, but have limited knowledge
• Their power is limited
• They can be only one place at a time
9. B. Satan and his Demons Beginning
•Where did satan actually come from?
•According Scripture, Lucifer was once a high
ranking beautiful and powerful angel in
heaven.
•But he was proud
•He wanted to be worshiped rather than
understanding his privilege to worship the
Lord God
10. 15 “You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.”
Ezekiel 28:15, NASB
11. “How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!
13 “But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of
God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
12. 14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to
Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.
Isaiah 14:12-15, NASB
13. C. Demonic Rank and File
•Contrary to how Hollywood portrays the
massive power of the devil, he is no match for
the Almighty God
•But he does have a very efficient and powerful
demon force
•According to Scripture, it is extremely well
organized too--
14. “ 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of
wickedness in heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12, NIV
15. “ 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against (1)principalities, against
powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of
wickedness in heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12, NIV
16. “ 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against
(2)powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of
wickedness in heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12, NIV
17. “ 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against (3)the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of
wickedness in heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12, NIV
18. “ 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against (4)the spiritual forces of
wickedness in heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12, NIV
19. “16 For by Him all things were created,
both in the heavens and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or rulers or authorities—all
things have been created through Him
and for Him.”
Colossians 1:16, NASB
20. “16 For by Him all things were created, both
in the heavens and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether (1)thrones or
(2)dominions or (3)rulers or
(4)authorities—all things have been
created through Him and for Him.”
Colossians 1:16, NASB
21. C. Wrong Demonologic Teachings
•Christian Demon Possession
•In the NT we see lots of people possessed
•Is it possible today?
•The only safe-haven from this is salvation
•John 10:28-29, “…No one can snatch them out…”
•They can tempt, harass, oppress, but CANNOT
take control over us
22. C. Wrong Demonologic Teachings
•Binding and Reviling Demons
Matthew 16:18-20 says, “And I also say to you that
you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My
church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it. And I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth
will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then He
commanded His disciples that they should tell no
one that He was Jesus the Christ…”
23. C. Wrong Demonologic Teachings
•Binding and Reviling Demons
•Charismatics sometimes teach this, that by
naming demons, we can end their power
•Wrong
•Saying, “I bind you demons in the name of
Jesus,” or reviling them is nothing more than
waste of your time. If you have that much
energy and time, pray to the Lord in faith that
He would fight the battle for you
24. D. Demonic activity will increase
•Paul told Timothy (1 Tim 4:1) that this would
become commonplace in the last days
•Look around us in America today!
•The Devil and his demons know their time is
short!
•They want to take as many to Hell with them as
they can
25. E. Jesus is our Defense
• Don’t worry! He said, “It is finished,”!!!
• Colossians 2:15 says, “Having disarmed principalities and
powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing
over them in it.”
• If you’re born-again, you have nothing to fear
• Instead of looking for the devil, seek the Lord in the Word
• Instead of looking for the Antichrist, seek Jesus Christ
• Instead of looking for the Adversary, seek your Advocate!
• Jesus is our Advocate and Defense Attorney
26. Take Home…
•The devil and his demons should not be
ignored, but at the same time we should
not be fearful of them-- our God can
protect us and keep us safe.
•2) Do not fall for men’s false theologies
regarding demons, or waste time on the
mysticism of the church. Spend your time
learning Jesus, not the Enemy
