Winning Spiritual Warfare

Winning Spiritual Warfare:

Scripure Reference: Genesis 3:1-7

’Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent,We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, Knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food,and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did it. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they know they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.’

Introduction:

When an individual confesses of his sins, and repents and turns away from those sins and seeks the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, he instantaneously, in the snap of a finger, becomes a child of God, and his name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He is a NEW CREATURE in Jesus Christ and has for an enemy of his soul, Satan.

Satan did not want to lose his control and his power and dominion over them so he immediately begins a counter- attack --- a spiritual warfare -- to regain that one back into his clutches once again. From the moment he accepts the wonderful grace of God and becomes a joint - heir with Jesus Christ, a war begins and will continue as he fights for his life and death against Satan and all of his demonic forces

for his spiritual survival.

(Ephesians 6:10-13) ’Finally be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand firm against the wiles of the devil. For we battle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world’s forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take unto you the whole armor of God,that ye may be able to stand against the evil day, and having done everything to stand, stand therefore."

When you got saved and sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit, God gave you so many things that you became spiritual heirs of through Jesus Christ; however Satan has determined to steal those very things away from you. He does not want to see you happy in Christ and neither does he want to see you enjoying the good life you have been called to enjoy. Jesus came that YOU may have abundant, enjoyable LIFE. Satan wants to see you sad, depressed and miserable. We will now look at different strategies Satan uses to destroy our joy and our happiness and our peace, and if at all possible; destroying even ourselves.

Let’s look at four persons in the Old Testament and see how they were attacked by Satan and see what can be learned from their experiences. Satan uses the same old tactics against us all. He just adjusts them every now and then to make them taylor made for you and me.

Let’s Look At:

1:) The targets Satan aims at in our

lives

2:) The weapons Satan uses to attack us

3:) The purposes Satan wants to achieve

4:) The defenses God has provided for us

SATAN’S STRATEGY: #1: (Genesis 3:1-7)

#1: SATAN’S TARGET: YOUR MIND:

Notice when Satan set out to destroy the first man and the first woman he began the battle by attacking the woman’s mind, Eve’s thoughts.

( Ref. II Cor. 11:3 and I Timothy 2: 13-14)

<> Why would Satan want to attack your mind?

Because it is part of the image of God that God uses to communicate with us and reveal His will and His purposes unto us. God speaks to our mind. Also, our thoughts have an affect upon the rest of our lives. Proverbs 4:23 "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." The word "HEART" in the Old Testament deals with your thought life and it is used that in that manner in over 200 of the 800 times the word "HEART" is used.

Another reason, because your thought life dominates and controls your attitude and how your view things and how you accept things and how you deal with things and issues that come your way. Your attitude leads to action and your action leads to achievement.