It was an uneventful day. It had been 50 days since Passover. The streets of Jerusalem were busy with people rushing around preparing for yet another festival, all except for a few who were gathered in an upper room at the Temple. They were called people of The Way because they had followed a man who claimed to be the way to God.
The room where these people were meeting was suddenly filled with a loud noise. It sounded like a massive wind storm. Then they witnessed tongues of fire settling on each other. They began speaking in a language they did not understand.
At that time there were devout Jews from every nation, all with different languages, living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, they came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. Some thought these believers of the way were simply drunk.
Peter, their leader, preached a message that everyone heard and understood in their own language. That day 3,000 people became followers of The Way. One day they would be called Christians.
We know this day as the day of Pentecost. It was the day that the church was born. And in the spiritual world it was the day of a great invasion. It was the day that the power of the Holy Spirit was delivered to individuals to begin overthrowing the kingdom of darkness that Satan had established. The believers had been transformed from vessels of flesh to spiritual warriors. Their mission became to enforce the victory that Jesus had already won. In one swift moment the Kingdom of God had arrived in the midst of Satan’s kingdom. And thus the spiritual warfare began.
Satan immediately begins seeking forces to use to destroy this new element called the church. He realized that the most effective method was to use those who felt the most threatened by it. He would use God’s own people, the Jews. He had a great ally in a Pharisee named Saul. But Jesus proved himself to be more powerful and converted Satan’s ally into his own. And Saul became Paul.
Now Satan switched gears. Paul was too effective in establishing the church. So Satan geared up his attack to shut all doors of opportunity for Paul.
Paul found himself in Rome in 64 AD. Rome was on the verge of a horrific disaster. On July, 14th of that year the great fire of Rome breaks out. The great fire ravaged Rome for six days, destroying 70 percent of the city and leaving half its population homeless. Hundreds were killed.
There is no evidence that the Roman emperor, Nero, started the fire. Still, he did use the disaster to further his political agenda. Nero did not like the art work of the city and used the devastation of the fire in order to change much of it and to institute new building codes throughout the city. Nero also used the fire to clamp down on the growing influence of Christians in Rome. He arrested, tortured and executed hundreds of Christians on the pretext that they had started the fire. Caught up in this attack on Christianity was Paul.
Paul would never leave prison. In fact, he would spend his life shackled to a Roman guard and having no one but the Holy Spirit to talk too. It was under these circumstances that he wrote from prison the books of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Second Timothy, and Philemon. Satan thought he had shut the door of opportunity in Paul’s face to reach others. Paul is still reaching others today through his writings. In his final letter to Timothy he writes; 2 Timothy 2:9 “And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained.” Paul writes my flesh may be restrained but my spirit is free. My flesh may be restrained but my ministry is free.
There are others in the Bible that Satan tried to close the doors of opportunity on. Domitian, the Roman emperor, sent John away to live on the isle of Patmos. It was there that John was given the Revelation of the End Times. Satan never wanted that written. Something I am learning through this study for my self is that a closed door does not mean you failed. In fact, Satan may be setting me up to be even more of an impact for the Kingdom of God.
Paul reminds us of who we are in Romans 8:35, 37. “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
Despite any closed doors, we have overwhelming victory. Despite any problems, we have overwhelming victory. No matter how we feel in the flesh or what attacks we encounter in the flesh, we have overwhelming victory.
Overwhelming victory comes from the combination of two Greek words, hyper and nikao. The word hypernikao is only used one time in the Bible. In fact, scholars believe that it was first used here in all of Greek literature. Basically, Paul made up a word to describe how overwhelming our victory is through Jesus.
Now hyper meant over, above, and beyond. It meant superiority. Nikao meant over comer, conqueror, champion, victor, or master. The words together could translate that we are a “phenomenal, walloping conquering force.”
And it is for that reason we can state Romans 8:38-39.
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We have overwhelming victory at our disposal. But as we exercise that overwhelming victory we can expect Satan to try and discourage us.
I knew of an individual who recently felt led to give a rather hefty contribution to a worthy cause. They felt strongly that the Holy Spirit was leading them to do so. The next day a major appliance quit running and it was going to cost them 4 times the amount they had given. They began to feel doubt about their decision. Was it really the Holy Spirit instructing them to give such a large amount? If so, why did God not protect them? I am sure if they had ignored the leading of the Holy Spirit they probably would have wondered if they were being punished for not being obedient. Satan’s desire was to discourage them for their obedience.
James 1:2 “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”
Notice James doesn’t say if troubles come but when troubles come. You are not immune from his attacks. The church is not immune from his attacks. In the past two years I have seen attacks on this ministry by Satan. A man deeply entrenched in our church torn away by an unhappy bride. A couple’s marriage destroyed by fleshly desires. People who supported this ministry suddenly no longer giving or attending without any cause given to me. All of these are spiritually rooted acting out in the flesh.
Remember the mega-storm that hit the disciples when crossing to the other side? These attacks come when we least expect them. They come from a direction you never would have dreamed of. They are designed to catch you off guard.
But most importantly they are designed to take our focus off of being victorious. I have allowed myself at times to be distracted by circumstances that I have no control over. Satan does that so I will not be focused on the primary purpose that I have been placed here, and that is declaring the word of God to his people. When we are accomplishing our primary purpose we should expect spiritual warfare to take place and be prepared mentally to respond. Even though the victory is won the warfare will never cease.
Read Luke 4:13 “When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.” As long as we are in the flesh, human, these attacks will not stop.
Before Paul begins describing all the components to spiritual armor, he tells us why we need to do so in Ephesians 6:11.
“Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”
The Greek word for strategies is a compound word, meta (with) and odos (road). Together their literal interpretation is “with a road.” What this means basically is that Satan’s attacks against us does not come from all sides but rather on one road. He has one front on which to attack us. He has one way to disrupt our spiritual well being. So how can he be so effective?
We get that answered in 2 Corinthians 2:11“so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.”
The Greek word for schemes meant mind. It carried the sense of a mind filled with confusion. You might say “We are familiar with the mind games that Satan plays.” That is why Paul warned those in Corinth to capture rebellious thoughts. Rebellious thoughts lead to deception.
2 Thessalonians 2:10 “He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.”
We have discovered that Satan’s attacks will be on a road headed in one direction. That direction is our mind. Once he arrives at his destination he begins playing mind games through deception.
Let me share an example from the book of Acts.
“There was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.
Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!’
As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.
About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, ‘Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?’
‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘that was the price.’
And Peter said, ‘How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.’
Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.”
To better understand this story we must discover what happened previously. Barnabas had sold his land and gave the proceeds to the apostles. This opened the road that Satan could use to their minds. Unquestionably, they felt in competition with the generous act of Barnabas and wanted to get favor also.
However, there must have been a bit of greed inside of them also. So Satan took this direct road into their minds and planted thoughts of deception. “No one knows how much you really got. Keep a share for yourself. Everyone will praise you as they did Barnabas but you will retain some wealth also.” And they listened to Satan’s deceptive lives until it became a reality. This action led to their destruction. Satan loves to make a playground out of people’s mind.
Anytime you are considering possibilities of things going wrong, you may have allowed Satan to access your mind. “Things are going well at work. Am I about to lose my job?” “ My spouse seems distracted lately. Is there someone else?” “I’m not feeling well. Do I have something bad wrong with me?”
What we categorize as worry may actually be spiritual warfare. That’s why Jesus said not to worry about what we will eat or the clothes we will wear. That’s why He said not to worry about tomorrow. That’s why the Bible tells us “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”
Doing these things is taking your thoughts captive. They derail Satan’s plans to play mind games with us. It closes down the road that leads into our thoughts and makes his attack ineffective.
The flip side to that is allowing him to play those mind games. You are constantly worried about your job, marriage, and health. This worry becomes a reality when it begins to affect your job performance, your relationship, and eventually your health. When you embrace those mind games you give power to them. Instead of worrying, pray. When you tell God what you need reflect on what He has done in the past. Take your thoughts captive and win the battle against Satan.
