SPIRITUAL WARFARE 2:3

AUTHORITY AND CHARACTER – SECTION 2-3:

*** Character Development Through Spiritual Warfare ***

Questions:
When God wants something for our life,
how determined is He to bring it about?
How much effort will He make?
To what length will He go?
Will He use any means necessary?

God wants to develop character in us
and will use any means to do it.
He uses the Holy Spirit, the Word of God,
and other believers; but sometimes He uses Satan.

*** Temptations Occur For Our Development ***

(Matthew 4:1-11)
The first recorded encounter Jesus had with spiritual warfare.
    – The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness
      for the express purpose of being tempted.

    – Jesus didn’t just go there just to fast and suddenly the devil
      showed up; this encounter was pre-arranged by God.

    – (Luke 4:2)
      He resisted temptations from the devil for 40 days!

Question:
Why would Jesus be subjected to this intense temptation?
    – To develop His character?
      Note:
          Does that sound strange?
          Look at Hebrews 5:7-9.

    – To prepare Him for temptations
      that He might face during His public ministry?
      If He could win private victories in the desert, He would
      be able to respond automatically to the same types of
      temptations during His ministry.

    – Through temptation
       the righteous character of Jesus was strengthened,
       which gave Him a greater determination to obey.
       Note:
           His obedience was strengthened
           because the Father used Satan as a tool.

*** Personal Illustration (a man named John) ***

    – When he was 19, John’s earthly (and godly) grandfather died.

    – God’s presence was so real through that
      experience that John decided, if God is that
      good, he wanted to get to know Him better.

    – Immediately he entered the greatest crisis of his life.

    – He no longer had peace about whether he was saved.

    – He knew all the right answers, was active in church,
      and even served as a youth director, but he just
      couldn’t get any certainty about his salvation.

    – The constant anxiety hounded him relentlessly.

    – Outwardly, nothing appeared to be wrong, but inwardly
      a daily consuming fear plagued him (fear when he awoke;
      fear throughout the day; fear when he went to bed).

    – He was churning internally and for 5 years he tried
      everything he knew to get rid of this affliction.

    – He re-walked the aisle, was re-baptized, spent whole days
      in prayer and fasting, and even sought professional counseling.

    – In his desperation, he even enrolled in a seminary
      to do nothing but study what it meant to be saved.

    – Finally, in the second year of seminary, God revealed
      that his struggle was caused by 5 years of a demonic attack.

    – He wondered, if God loved him
      then why would He allow Satan to torment him?

    – Looking back, he discovered
      that God allowed it because He loved John.

    – Several things about his character prevented him
      from having a dynamic love relationship with God.

    – He discovered he was saved, but spiritual immaturity,
      complacency, and laziness, prevented him from pursuing God.

    – Before those 5 years,
      he had been occasional about spiritual things.

    – However, the constant inner turmoil
      became his motivation to earnestly seek God.

    – The pain spurred him to a daily habit of prayer and bible study.

    – Now, the pain is gone, but the habit became
      a part of his character that still exists today.

    – Without the prodding of trouble, he would never have known
      what it was like to have a love relationship with God;
      he would have missed out on the many blessings God
      gave him as a result of this new relationship.

    – God used Satan to develop some fundamental character
      qualities John needed to know in order to obey God more.

    – God continued to do His work in John…even after the turning
      point, John still struggled with doubt for three more years.

    – God continued maturing several other aspects of John’s character.
           – He became more compassionate
              toward people with problems.

          – He learned the benefits of transparency
            and admitting his own weaknesses.

          – He discovered what it means to walk by faith,
            (even when no answer is on the horizon).

          – He learned perseverance…God didn’t instantly
            remove the demonic attack because many of the
            qualities had not become part of John’s his character
            to the degree God wanted.

          – John realized all of the blessings he received
            would not have been possible if God had not
            used Satan for his benefit.

Note:
    As disciples of Christ,
    we are students being taught by the Master.

*** Character Development is A Process ***

(James 1:2-4; Romans 5:3-4)
    – These verses remind us that character development is a process.

(1 Peter 5:8-10)
    – Peter describes the sequence of the processes for developing
      character development as it relates to spiritual warfare.
          1. Satan seeks to destroy Christians.

          2. Believers are to resist him.
              Note:
                  Peter encouraged them by pointing out that
                  other believers are experiencing the same struggles.

          3. The trials would produce gains in Christ-like character.

*** Character Development Results in God’s Blessings ***

1. Character produces freedom.
    When our character changes, we can understand truth,
    and experience freedom. We develop an inner strength
    and are free to do the right thing, regardless of the
    temptation, or consequences.

2. The degree of our character determines
    the degree to which God will use us.
    The more we become like Jesus,
    the more He can entrust to us (Matthew 25:21).

3. Character has an impact on our future life in heaven.
    Our obedience on earth can determine
    what heaven will be for us (1 Timothy 4:8).
    Yes, Christians will face a believers’ judgment before Christ.
    For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say,
    and would prefer to be away from the body and at home
    with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether
    we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all
    appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us
    may receive what is due us for the things done while in the
    body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:7-10)

*** Please plan to join us in the “20 Days in 2 Hours” challenge – launching June 7, 2021 ***

*** It is a commitment between you and God for 20 consecutive days ***

*** Brief daily devotionals (to be read), will be posted to my Blog, so bookmark it today) ***

*** More announcements to come ***