SPIRITUAL WARFARE 1.3

LAYING THE FOUNDATION – SECTION 1-3:

Question:
If I were God, how would spiritual warfare look to me?
    – I would have knowledge for all of eternity of every single
      encounter with evil that all my children would ever have.
    – I would know every possibility of every outcome
      when my children have an encounter with evil.
    – I would be ever present (omnipresent), all knowing (omniscient),
      and all powerful (omnipotent); I could do whatever I wanted to do.
    – I would love my children and would protect them from
      anything coming into their lives that is not in their best interest.

Question:
Then what could possibly motivate me
to allow Satan access to my children’s lives?
Note:
    We’ll try to examine God’s intentions
    for allowing warfare in a believer’s life.

(Luke 22:1-4)
– Satan orchestrated the arrest of Jesus. He laid the
  groundwork and was diligent to ensure his plan succeeded.

(John 13:27)
– He was active at the last supper.

(Luke 22:31)
– He was active after the last supper.
Note:
    We see Satan’s sifting when Peter denied the Lord three times.

(John 14:30)
– Jesus told His disciples
  that Satan would be present at the crucifixion.

Question:
Why would a loving God grant Satan access to His Son’s life,
especially to the point of succeeding in his plan to bring extreme
torture and a cruel death to Jesus?
    – He was in the process of working out His plan for
      world redemption; He used Satan to accomplish His Will.

*** God Uses Warfare To Accomplish His Will ***

Possible responses to spiritual warfare:
1. God will never allow Satan to severely test me.
   Since I have Christ’s authority, the minute Satan attacks,
   all I have to do is claim the blood of Jesus and he can’t touch me.

2. If God turned Satan loose on Jesus, then I’m in for it too.
    I shouldn’t expect Him to protect me;
    I’ll just have to endure the attacks while God accomplishes His Will.

3. That was Jesus and He is the Son of God;
    I’m not in His league so his experience doesn’t apply to me.

4. When Satan attacks, I have confidence in God and focus on Him.
    I know that God is up to something great and I have
    the honor of being chosen for what He wants to accomplish.

Question:
How did Jesus respond to warfare?
(Hebrews 12:2)
    – Confidence in God as He focused on the joy set before Him.

Question:
Why should we have confidence in God?
1. Whenever Satan commits evil against believers,
   God uses that evil to accomplish His Will.
       – The death of Jesus (salvation).
       – Persecution and scattering of the church (spreading the gospel).
       – Sifting of Peter and the disciples
         (break their pride about who would be the greatest).

2. God turns into good what Satan meant for evil.
    – Saul’s persecution of David (strengthened David’s
      relationship with God and prepared him for leadership;
      a position that of leading a nation to depend on God).
     – Crucifying Jesus (salvation of the world).
        Note:
            Satan must be the most frustrated being in existence.
            Not only does he lose,
            but God turns the evil he commits into good.

3. Satan’s efforts cannot thwart the purposes of God,
    even though he may appear to have success initially.
        – David went from being anointed king and
          killing Goliath, to being hunted regularly by Saul.
        – Jesus went from being proclaimed Messiah at His triumphal
          entry, to being crucified, in less than a week.
        Note:
            The rest of the story
                – David was anointed king; Jesus rose from the dead.

Possible responses to setbacks, injustices, or trouble:
1. When I have trouble,
    I should quit what I’m doing and try something else.
2. When I have trouble, I should try to fight back with Satan.
3. When I have trouble, I should stay mad at the person who caused it.
4. When I have trouble, I should rejoice because I know
    that God will bring about victory in the end.

*** God Uses Warfare To Reveal His Glory. ***

– He uses the actions of Satan and man to reveal His nature and character.
– When Satan succeeded with the crucifixion of Jesus,
   we came to know God in ways no one had up to that point in time.
– We could communicate with Him directly.
– We began to understand the depth
   of His compassion and forgiveness.
– We could see His great love demonstrated.