The Believers Warfare
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The Believers Warfare
Message 4
The Heavenly Realm
The Heavenly Realm
Me:
My least favorite bible subject.
Demons
Demons
It was either a preacher of a professor that scared me away from the subject
He said if you would spend too much time on the subject then Satan could come in and possess you and ruin your life.
“I can remember a Wednesday night bible study and this was the subject. The bible has a lot to say about this subject. Tina told me to move on to something else”
I have avoided the subject most of my ministry
However, I have talked about demons more in the last couple of months than I have in the last couple of years.
We:
A flawed thinking
A flawed thinking
The reason Satan can influence someone’s life
They are invited in
You allow Satan and his demons to have access to your life
They don’t show up with a tail and pitchfork
They show up with an apple that is delicious to eat.
They show up as your best friend
“Your BFF”
“Your BFF”
It will make you feel so good and right
Satan doesn’t want us to talk about him
Satan doesn’t want us to talk about him
It’s a strategy of Satan
Many churches today don’t mention sin, Satan, or demons
We want to hear how to have a happy life. The motivational speaker. Unicorns and Rainbows
Btw I love to preach that kind of sermon.
We don’t want to hear about demons, and who wants their sins exposed or their hurts or their habits or their hang ups.
There is an invisible world
There is an invisible world
The bible calls this the “heavenly realm”
Some translations will call this “heavenly places”
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.
10 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
One commentator put it this way.
“We are under the delusion or ignorance that this heavenly realm is nonexistent or that it doesn’t matter to us.”
The reality is that it effects our everyday lives
God:
The war that is raging
The war that is raging
Struggle
Struggle
When I think of the word struggle, I think something giving me a hard time.
I struggled to drive to work in the snow
What the word actually means is hand-to-hand combat, to wrestle, to war
The image here is a Roman gladiator fighting to the death
Image
Image
What are we in hand-to-hand to combat with?
Spiritual forces of evil
Spiritual forces of evil
Here’s the line up
Against evil rulers, Authorities of the unseen world, Mighty powers in this dark world, Evil spirits
Against evil rulers, Authorities of the unseen world, Mighty powers in this dark world, Evil spirits
Notice the hierarchy
Jesus fought these spiritual forces during his temptations
5 Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please.
7 I will give it all to you if you will worship me.”
8 Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
Jesus was doing hand-to-hand combat with the spiritual forces
You:
Your greatest danger
Your greatest danger
The thinking that this heavenly realm is nonexistent, or it doesn’t affect you
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat;
32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
3 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.
4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
8 Be careful—watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart.
The struggle is not flesh and blood
The struggle is not flesh and blood
The vices of our community are not our struggle
It’s the battle of your heart in the heavenly realm
We:
The full armor of God
The full armor of God
If we are to win this battle for our soul
Arm yourselves
Trust God’s mighty power
16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him.
10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority;
Are you trusting the Lord?