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This podcast is a production of Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas, USA. Watermark exists to be and make more fully devoted followers of Christ, looking to God's Word as our only authority, conscience and guide.
Several years ago, when we were living in College Station, it was pretty normal for me to wake up early on Sunday mornings and drive to a church in Houston to speak. I would do that several Sundays throughout the year, which meant I was waking up, leaving, and driving to Houston in the dark. Because it was a Sunday morning, there weren't normally many people on the road.
One particular Sunday, I woke up really early, and I'm making my way toward Houston from College Station. It's pitch dark outside. I'm one of the only cars on the road. As I'm driving, I get an iPhone emergency weather alert that says, "Tornado warning in this area. Take shelter now." I just want you to think about that. I'm driving in a car. It's pitch dark. I get a warning: "Tornado warning in this area. Take shelter now." I don't know how _you_ would respond, but I began to evaluate options very quickly.
One option was, like, "Is it really in this area? Because it could be 20 miles away, but I just happen to be kind of in the area where they send the warning." That's one thought. "So maybe I should just keep driving." But the next thought is "If I keep driving… I'm trying to look and see if there's a tornado, but it's pitch dark. I can't see a thing. So, am I driving straight into the tornado? I mean, I've seen the movie _Twister_. Is it going to be me and the cow being lifted up into the eye of the tornado?" So, that's another thought.
Another thought is "Well, I've heard that if you're driving in a car, you should stop the car, get out of the car, and curl up in a ditch. But I'm supposed to preach, so I'm wearing my preaching clothes. If I do get out and get into a ditch, and now I'm covered in mud going to guest-speak at this church, and there ends up being no tornado, what am I going to do? Just stand up and be like, 'Well, there was supposed to be a tornado. There wasn't. That's this deal. Jesus loves you. Glad to be with you this morning'?" So, I'm processing all of those things.
But here's what I'll tell you. In that moment when I got that message on my phone… I was not completely asleep, but those Sunday drives took me a minute to wake up. When I got that warning, I was alert. I didn't blink. I was glued to the windows, trying to see anything I could see. I chose to just keep driving. That's the decision I made in that moment, but I'll tell you this. The reality in that moment was there was a force at play in the darkness, and its aim was destruction.
When I became aware of that, I was alert and watchful, and I was thinking about, "What do I need to do in this situation to live?" The reason I tell you that is because as we step back into the book of Acts today, we're in Acts, chapter 19, and Acts 19 is going to prompt a conversation today about Satan and demons. So, if you're visiting today, I'm so sorry. If you brought your friend, really encourage them to come back, but I'm glad you made it. Welcome to Watermark.
Acts, chapter 19, is going to prompt this discussion about Satan and demons. What you need to understand is there is a force of darkness that is at work, and its aim is destruction. What I hope happens today is I hope our eyes will be opened, that we will live awake, that we will be watchful, but even more than becoming aware of Satan and demons' work, my hope is more than ever you would become clear on Jesus Christ's work and the power available to you because of the relationship you have with him.
So, if you have a Bible, I want to invite you to turn with me to Acts, chapter 19. I'm just going to warn you today, people. I'm going to teach a lot more than I'm going to preach. I am about to inundate you with content. We're going to rifle through so much Scripture, but it's so important. We're going to let the Word of God do the talking for us today. So, I just want to read you the story first so you can see what we're dealing with. We find it in Acts 19:11-20. Here's the story.
**"And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, 'I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.'**
**Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?' And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks.**
**And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily."**
So that's the story. In the story we see evil spirits. Those are demons. There are Jewish exorcists. I don't know if you knew that was a thing. What we see happening is these Jewish exorcists see Paul casting out demons in the name of the Lord Jesus, and they like what they see happening and want to experience it themselves, so they try to exert the authority they saw Paul had, but it doesn't go well for them.
They're trying to drive out a demon. Instead, what the demon does is overpower them, beat them up, and send them out naked. I still remember the first time I heard this passage taught over 20 years ago. I will never forget Matt Chandler saying, "If you leave a fight naked, you lost." I can't say it any better than that. He was right. Well said.
So, when we read this, the question becomes…_What do you do with a passage like this?_ What do you do with this kind of story? Is the conclusion that this was an extraordinary circumstance in the midst of an extraordinary season in the life of the first-century church? Is that how we respond to it? That might be true, but the reality is, if you were to go and read the rest of the New Testament, what you see is the same dark forces that are at work in Acts 19 are still at work today, and we need to wake up to it. We'd better live awake to the destructive darkness at work.
French poet Charles Baudelaire said, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." We don't want to be those people who either disbelieve in the Devil and demons, at worst, or ignore them altogether, at best, yet we need guardrails. I think C.S. Lewis puts it really well. He gives us the guardrails.
He says, "There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."
If the people of Watermark were to lean one way or the other, I think our tendency would be to lean toward the materialist. It's to disbelieve in the Devil and demons, at worst, and to ignore them, at best. Yet, what I don't want to do today is talk about the reality of the Devil and demons and cause you to swing toward being a magician, where you become obsessive about spiritual warfare. So, I feel like I'm walking a tightrope today, where I want you to become aware without becoming obsessed.
So, where I want to start today is I just want to talk about the reality of the Devil and demons. I want to unpack for you what the Scriptures say about the one called the Devil, Satan, the Accuser, the ancient Serpent, the Evil One, the Tempter, the Father of Lies, the prince of this world, the god of this age, the Enemy, and his workers, demons.
First, I want you to know that the _Devil_ _schemes_. With each point, I'm going to use the name for the Evil One that the Scriptures use. So first, the Devil schemes. Ephesians 6:11 says, **"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."** Do you ever think about the fact that there are dark forces strategically working and scheming every day to deceive you, tempt you, and lure you away from God? Strategically. Strategically scheming to lure you away from God.
_The Devil_ _lies_. John 8:44: **"When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."** Have you ever thought about the fact that there is a voice in your life that is lying to you about God, lying to you about himself, and lying to you about you? Have you ever thought about that, that there is a voice in your life lying to you about God, himself, and yourself?
Just think. If you're frustrated with God, bitter toward God, disappointed with God, bored with God, too busy for God, uninterested in God, or unmoved by God, let me tell you what's happening. What's happening is you've been lied to, and you've believed the lie you've been told about God. I think about 2 Corinthians 11:3, which says, **"But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ."** You have an enemy who's consistently lying to you to lead you away from God.
How does he do it? Well, what we find out about demons in the Scripture is that _demons spread false doctrines_. So, Satan lies and demons take those lies and spread them. First Timothy 4:1: **"Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…"**
How does this play out? I think about people we have known, who we've seen walk with Jesus, love God's Word, and be very invested in Christ's church. Then something happens where they get enlightened. They get enlightened to the point where now the Bible doesn't mean what they had been taught it means, and there's now a better way to understand Jesus, and now they've come to understand that the church is dysfunctional and can no longer be trusted, so you shouldn't go.
_Satan_ _accuses_. Zechariah 3:1: **"Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him."** Do you realize you have an accuser in your life? Do you know what's interesting? If I were to ask by show of hands… I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to ask you to participate right now, but I just want you to think if you would raise your hand.
If everyone in here were to be completely honest, if I were to ask by show of hands, "Who here consistently battles feelings of being a failure?" or "Who here consistently battles feelings of being unlovable?" I bet it would be sobering the number of hands that would be raised in this room of people saying, "I consistently feel like a failure" or "I consistently feel unlovable." Where do you think that comes from? You have an accuser who is accusing you, telling you you are a failure and you are unlovable.
_Satan_ _plants sinful plans in minds_. Think about this. Acts 5:3: **"But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?'"** What's interesting is Ananias and Sapphira were part of the church. They thought they could somehow still glorify God and sin against God at the same time. What happens is the Enemy will plant sinful plans in people's minds to where they think they can glorify God while sinning against him.
Here's what this can look like. There are people who can believe it is actually God's will for them to leave their spouse for a mistress because they've grown to believe that mistress is their true soulmate. So, it's God's will for them to be with the person they were supposed to be with in the first place, which is the mistress.
Think about this. _Demons inspire false wisdom_. This is interesting. Did you know these verses are in James? James 3 says, **"But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic."** Isn't that interesting?
What this is saying is, hey, there can be jealousy in your heart, there can be bitterness in your heart, and that jealousy, insecurity, and bitterness can grow and cause you to think, "You know what? I _should_ do this," or "This is the best thing for me to do," and it seems wise to you. It seems wise to cut this person out, to ghost _this_ person, to be rude to _this_ person, to lash out. It seems right for you to operate in certain ways.
What James is saying is when there's that jealousy and bitterness, and you're operating according to what seems best in the moment, that isn't wisdom coming down from God. You're actually operating based on wisdom that is demonic in nature.
_The god of this world blinds the minds of unbelievers_. Second Corinthians 4:4: **"In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."**
This past week, my wife called a family member. This is someone who has been antagonistic to the faith ever since I joined the family 20 years ago. We've been praying for this person. She has some stuff going on right now that prompted Kat to call her. Kat told her straight out, "I hope you find Jesus during this time," and she said, "We have different Jesuses." Do you know what that is? That is Satan blinding her to the truth about Jesus Christ.
_The Devil and demons can cause sickness_. The Devil and demons can cause physical sickness, mental sickness, and emotional sickness. Let me give you a couple of examples in the Scriptures. Luke 13 is talking about a woman who has been bent over for 18 years, unable to stand up straight. Here's what 13:16 says: **"And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?"** Jesus is saying the reason she has been bent over is she has been afflicted by Satan. She is physically afflicted by Satan. Mark 5:1-5:
**"They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones."**
Do you see it? You have a man who is afflicted physically, mentally, and emotionally by demonic forces. Now, here's where I want to be clear. Not everything is demonic. Not all physical pain is due to a demon. Not all mental illness is because of Satan's work. The reality is we still live in a broken world, which is because of the work of the Devil. I'm just saying not everything is demonic. Sometimes there's trauma, and trauma is trauma. It has come about by some darkness that has happened, but there's trauma, there are family-of-origin hurts, and there's mental illness, which are realities of what's going on in our world.
Look. I'm going to do something really quickly, because I feel the Lord pressing on me right now after reading this passage. I didn't do this in the 9:00 a.m. service, but I just feel like I need to do it. There's a homeless guy who stands on the corner right here, who so many of us see every Sunday when we're leaving. He's consistently yelling, and he's clearly not in his right mind. I just want us to pray for him right now for the Lord to have his way.
Lord, you know his name, and, Lord, if there is any demonic activity in his life, I pray right now in the powerful, mighty name of Jesus Christ that you would drive it out and you would set him free, just as you did in Mark 5, that you would restore him to his right mind and you would bring about hope and healing. In Jesus' name, amen.
Next, _Satan attacks marriages_. Some of y'all are like, "Uh, yeah," because you have your best fights on the way to church. Sunday morning is prime fight time. First Corinthians 7:5. This is talking about sexual intimacy. It says, **"Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control."** Satan will seek to tempt one another away from the marriage.
_Satan divides_. Second Corinthians 2:10-11: **"Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs."** Do you know what Satan does to the people of God? He seeks to divide the people of God.
Let me just tell you, if you belong to this church, and you're letting bitterness grow inside of you… If you have cut someone out of your life, if you're refusing to enter into reconciling conversations, let me tell you, the Evil One is at work seeking to divide. The Spirit of God unifies. The Spirit of God allows hurts to be healed and us to be reconciled, because the gospel is a message of reconciliation.
Finally, _Satan tests our faith_. _God_ tests our faith, but you look at the life of Job, and Satan tested Job to see the genuineness of his faith. Why do I spend the time going through all of that Scripture about the works of the Devil and demons? It's because I think Clinton Arnold has said it really well.
He says, "Spiritual warfare is all-encompassing. It touches every area of our lives…our families, our relationships, our churches, our neighborhoods, our communities, our places of employment. There is virtually no part of our existence over which the Evil One does not want to maintain or reassert his unhealthy and perverse influence."
Now, this is where I want to be careful, because if we only spent all of the time talking about the works of the Devil and demons, the response would be fear and obsessiveness. People would become preoccupied with spiritual warfare. What I want to do right now is I want to talk about something so much more important than the works of the Devil and demons. What I want to talk about is Jesus' victory over Satan and demons.
This is why we don't become obsessed with spiritual warfare. This is why we don't become preoccupied with it. When we talk about Satan and demons, and then we talk about Jesus' victory over Satan and demons, the right response is worship. It's reverence. It's gratitude for Christ. It's inviting his rule and reign into our lives even more.
Where do we see this in the story? Well, if you think about how the story started, the story started with Paul driving out evil spirits in the name of Jesus. We know Paul was driving out evil spirits in the name of Jesus because the seven sons of Sceva tried to do what they had seen Paul do. They were trying to drive out evil spirits in the name of Jesus.
What's interesting is the response we see people have when they hear about the seven sons of Sceva getting beaten up by the evil spirit. Listen to the response in verse 17. It says, **"And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled."**
Isn't that interesting? Their response was fear. Fear of what? Fear of evil spirits? No. Fear of Jesus. What's the response? They extolled Jesus Christ. Why? Because Jesus Christ is more powerful. That's instructive. We don't fear Satan and demons. We become aware of them, but we fear Jesus. We revere Jesus. Why? Because Jesus has conquered Satan and demons. We fear Jesus because 1 John 3:8 says, **"The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."** That's why Jesus Christ came.
We see this in the Gospels as he drives out demons. We see demons tremble at the sight of Jesus. We see demons powerless before Jesus. Demons met their destruction when they met Jesus. Colossians 2:15 tells us, **"He** \[God the Father\] **disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him** \[in Christ\]**."** Do you see what this is saying? It's saying God through Christ has disarmed Satan and his demons.
How has he disarmed them? This is important. He has disarmed them by taking away our sin. The sin Satan and demons would use to accuse us and condemn us and hold us in slavery has now been taken away. He put them to open shame, triumphing over them. Listen to what this is saying. This is telling us how effective the cross and empty tomb truly were. It's telling us how effective the perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ truly were.
It says Christ has already triumphed over Satan, sin, and death. It's not that Jesus is winning. It's not that Jesus will win one day. He has already won. Satan has already lost. But we're still waiting for a day when Christ's rule and reign is realized throughout the earth. When it is… You might not realize this, but if you go and read Revelation 20, the end result for Satan and demons is that they themselves will be permanently thrown into the lake of fire where _they_ will be tormented forever.
So, it's theologically incorrect to think that in the lake of fire, Satan and demons are going to have a great time while everyone else is miserable. No, they themselves will be tormented forever while the people of God experience unending joy in the presence of Jesus with no more sin, no more pain, and no more death.
One of my sons reminded me recently, just in the last week, that if you cut off the head of a snake, it can still bite even when the head has been severed. So, I went and looked it up, and in 2018, there was a man in Texas who came across a rattlesnake and cut the head of the rattlesnake off. Ten minutes later, he picked up the head, and the head bit him and injected venom into him, to where it had really intense side effects. He lived, but there were still side effects.
In Genesis 3:15, Jesus is foreshadowed as the one who would come and crush the head of the Serpent. When Jesus Christ went to the cross and rose from the grave, he crushed the head of the Serpent, yet Satan still has a bite for a little bit longer. He still has a bite. He can't kill you, but it can still hurt. Because of that, we move forward sober, we become aware, and we live on guard. But isn't that good news that Christ has already claimed victory over Satan, sin, and death? I'm asking you. That's good news, right?
Now, I want to continue the good news. What I'm about to tell you… Some of you are going to hear this and be like, "Yeah, I don't know what to think about that." Some of you are going to immediately be like, "Mm, this sounds kind of… I don't know what I think." Okay. I'm great with that. This is really good news. Now I want to talk about our authority in Christ over Satan and demons.
The reason I want to talk about this is, if you think about it, the story is in some ways a story about authority. The seven sons of Sceva are trying to claim authority over an evil spirit. The reason they're trying to do that is because they had seen Paul exercise authority over evil spirits. Yet, when they tried to exert the authority they had seen Paul exert, it didn't work out for them. Why? Because they didn't know the Jesus that Paul knew. What I want you to know is if we know Jesus Christ, our reality is very different than the seven sons of Sceva.
We have authority in Christ over Satan and demons. Let me tell you where I get that from. Follow me on this. I want to start in Ephesians 1:20-21. We're starting halfway through a passage, but here's what it says. **"…that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come."**
What I want you to see is that where Christ is seated is tied to his authority. The text says he is seated, and the wording is "…far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion." That is a reference to earthly power and also power in the spiritual realm over Satan and demons. What this is saying is that Jesus Christ is seated far above them. In the very next chapter of Ephesians, Ephesians 2, listen to what Paul goes on to say. Now he's talking about us.
He says, **"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…"** So, Christ's authority is tied to where he's seated, and where he is seated is far above all rule and authority. That includes Satan and demons. When we were raised with Christ, we were raised up and seated with him in the heavenly places.
So, I finally brought the tubs back out. I've teased them a lot, and I figured it was time. No more teasing. Let's just get them back out here. If you're like, "You're talking like we've seen this before," that tells me you missed, like, 10 sermons here at Watermark. What the tubs illustrate is a concept known as _union with Christ_. I just want you to live with an understanding of your true reality in Christ. So let me remind you. Let's assume this is you and this is me.
According to the Scriptures, when we know Jesus Christ, we have been united with Christ. When Christ died, through faith in Jesus, we died with him. The old you died. The life of sin died. When Christ was raised from the dead through faith, we have been raised with him to walk in newness of life. The Scriptures would say when you put your trust in Christ, God comes to live inside of you. Christ lives inside of you by the presence of his Spirit.
So, that is Christ in you, which is incredible news. If this is all that was true of us, this is an incredible reality that God lives inside of you. Ephesians 1 says because of the Spirit in us, the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives inside of us. But the Scriptures don't stop there. It's not just that Christ is in _us_. We are actually _in_ _Christ_. Colossians 3 would say we are hidden with Christ in God.
So, if you know Jesus Christ, this is your reality. You have been so united and tied up with Christ that you have been buried with Christ, you have been raised with Christ, but you have been raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. Christ is seated far above all rule and authority, including Satan and demons.
Now, thinking about that, see John's words in a different light in 1 John 4:4. He says, **"Little children, you are from God and have overcome them…"** That's talking about evil spirits or demons. **"…for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."** Now think about Luke 10. I want you to follow me on this, because Luke 10 is extremely important and powerful. Listen to Luke 10:1. **"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go."**
All I want you to see about these 72 is that these are just normal followers of Jesus. These are nameless followers of Jesus. These are not the twelve disciples. They are not future apostles. They have no seminary training. They have no special position in the church. These are normal, average, nameless followers of Jesus Christ. Listen to what verse 17 tells us about them.
**"The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!' And he said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'"**
That's one more reminder not to become obsessed with spiritual warfare. Let your rejoicing be in the fact that you've been saved by Jesus Christ. What I want you to see is that Christ gives these nameless followers of Jesus the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions. Is that talking literally? Do you need God's power to step on a scorpion, just a little scorpion? No, this is talking figuratively. Serpents and scorpions were symbolic of demonic beings. Some scholars think these 72 were foreshadowing the church, us today, and the authority the people of God would have in Christ over Satan and demons.
What's amazing is in Luke, chapter 10, Christ hasn't even gone to the cross yet. He hasn't walked out of the tomb yet, yet these people have authority. Now think about us, post-cross, post-resurrection. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we have the Spirit of the living God, resurrection power living inside of us. We have been united with Jesus Christ. We have what the people in Luke 10 didn't. We have authority in Christ. Not on our own, but in Christ we have authority over Satan and demons.
Listen to how Neil Anderson says it. "Spiritual authority is not a tug of war on a horizontal plane; it is a vertical chain of command. Jesus Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth. He's at the top. He has given his authority and power to his servants to be exercised in his name; we're underneath him. And Satan and his demons? They're at the bottom, subject to the authority Christ has invested in us. They have no more right to rule your life than a buck private has to order a general to clean the latrine."
So, if we have authority in Christ over Satan and demons, why does that matter? Don't miss what I'm telling you. Here's why it's so important. It matters because it means we can go to battle with the authority and power we only have in Christ, and we can drive out the darkness at work in one another's lives.
Let me just share. Over the past month, our family has experienced some heightened spiritual attacks at different points. It has been good for us to be able to recognize it for what it is. I want to be clear. Not everything is a demon. Sometimes bad days are just bad days. If you go to lunch, and then you have a stomachache after lunch, it's probably not a demon. It _could_ be. Probably not. If traffic is bad tomorrow, it might not be a demon. It's just reality. People, we live in a broken world. That's the way it goes.
At the same time, our battle is not against flesh and blood. We have a real enemy. Satan is at work. There is demonic work. Over the past month, it was good for us to realize it for what it was, spiritual attacks in our lives, and it was so helpful for us to call on people who understood the authority they have in Christ.
Let me read you a text I received from someone. What I want you to hear is their understanding of the authority they have in Christ. Here's what they wrote: "In the name of Jesus and his authority over all, we ask that you protect and eradicate any demonic activity around the Ateek household right now. Thank you that they are yours, and extinguish all flaming arrows in their midst." What has been amazing is we've seen the effectiveness of people's prayers, the prayers of those who have understood that Christ has given them authority to tread on serpents and scorpions.
When I was preparing, I debated spending as much time as I did on what Satan and demons do, but the reason I did it was so you could recognize his work in your life and in the lives of your loved ones and in the lives of your community members. Again, not everything is an attack. Sometimes difficult children are just difficult children. Sometimes sin is just us walking in the flesh instead of the Spirit. Yet we have an enemy.
If you recognize a spiritual attack in your life, the great news is you can pray with authority in Christ, and you can invite others to pray, and when you pray, you can pray with confidence. When I'm praying for people when it seems like it's more than just a bad day, when it seems like there is an attack in their lives, what this looks like for me… There's no formulaic prayer. You don't say it in just the right way.
For me, what this looks like is I say, "God, we are reminding ourselves. We pray, Lord Jesus, you are the one who has come, you have died, and you have conquered Satan, sin, and death through your resurrection. Because of that, you're the King of Kings, and you're the Lord of Lords. So, we claim your rule and your reign, and because of the authority we have in Christ, any demonic activity at work right now must leave."
Look. Don't just go back and play the video and say exactly what TA said. What I'm trying to tell you to do is understand the authority you have only in Christ. This changes the way we pray and engage in spiritual warfare. The final thing I want to talk about is protecting ourselves from Satan and demons. Let me just remind you what happens. Verse 18:
**"Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily."**
Don't miss what I'm telling you now. What I'm telling you right now is so important. Please track with me until the end. Do you know what we see the Christians in Ephesus doing? They sever all ties with the Devil and demons. The magic here is dark arts. What we see in them is zero tolerance for anything associated with the darkness. They didn't sell their books; they burned them. To have kept them would have kept a door open in their lives for the schemes of the Devil and his demons.
The reason I'm bringing this up is I think there are ways that we, as Christians, open up doorways for Satan and his demons to influence and affect our lives. I want to identify a few of the ways we open up those doorways. First, through demonic practices and objects. I want to start with demonic practices and objects. What I want to do is move from the most obvious to the most subtle.
The most obvious things are the things that are explicitly spiritual in nature that have nothing to do with Jesus. If you are a Christian, and you're engaged in astrology, palm reading, fortune-telling, Ouija boards, tarot cards, witchcraft, seances, incantations, purification rituals, energy cleansing, or ayahuasca spiritual retreats, you need to know all of these things are influenced by Satan and demons. Do not take them lightly. Whether you realize it or not, you are opening up a doorway for demonic activity in your life.
What I would include in that are any objects in your possession that have been created for a spiritual purpose that has nothing to do with Jesus…crystals, good luck charms, amulets, spiritual dolls, other spiritual jewelry, dream catchers, and on and on. You need to know these things are associated with Satan and demons. My strongest encouragement to you is to not take them lightly. Do not sell them. Don't give them away. Destroy them and discard them. You are inviting demonic activity and influence into your life through them.
Another way we open up a doorway is through unrepentant sin. James 4:7 says, **"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."** But you can choose not to resist the Devil. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." You can choose not to resist him, and if you don't resist him, he won't flee from you. So, what does it look like to not resist him? It means to take sin lightly. It means to rationalize sin. God has told you no, and you keep saying, "No, he's fine with it. I like it, I want it, so I'm going to keep it."
You need to remember 1 John 3:8. **"Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil…"** Does that mean if you sin you're of the Devil? No. It's saying if you make it your practice; meaning, if you choose this is the way you're going to walk no matter what God has said. To walk in unrepentant sin is to walk in step with the Devil.
Another way we open up doorways is by failing to wear the armor of God. Go read Ephesians 6. **"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."** If you read the armor of God, there are things that protect your mind, your thoughts. There are things that protect your heart and your soul and things that protect your body and your faith. Another way we open up doorways is failing to pray for protection. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells us to pray, **"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."**
Knowing I was going to be talking about this, this past week I've been praying every day, multiple times a day, for God's protection in each one of my family members' lives, and it has been convicting to me that I don't pray for protection like I should. It's such a reminder that prayer is our greatest weapon in spiritual warfare.
The final one I'm going to address some of you are not going to like hearing, but I feel a responsibility to say it as your pastor. One of the ways we open up doorways for the Evil One's influence in our lives is by enjoying darkness. Let me tell you what this looks like. I want to ask you to think about movies and shows we watch. Some of y'all are going to automatically label this as legalism, but I want you to hear me on this.
Have you ever thought about what you watch as opening a door to Satan's influence or demonic activity in your life? Have you ever thought about how watching some shows actually glorifies Satan? Let me give you an example. I'm not going to name shows, but I want you to think about shows that make graphic sex, casual sex, and infidelity a normal part of the plot.
In Genesis 2, God created marriage and sex as some of his greatest gifts to humanity. What has Satan's goal been all throughout history? To take God's gifts and twist and distort them in the lives of God's people. So, think about how Satan is glorified when Christians find themselves entertained by TV characters casually having sex and even cheating on their spouses. It is us finding enjoyment in Satan's distortion of sex and marriage. I'm just telling you, Satan will use it in your life.
Think about horror movies that make demonization entertainment. When you become desensitized to and entertained by Satan's work, he will use that in your life. Let me just encourage you with the words of 1 Corinthians 10:31. It says, **"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."**
Eating and drinking are the most basic functions of a human being. If you're to glorify God in the most basic aspect of life, it means you can actually dishonor God in the most basic aspects of life. Our tendency is to say there's an aspect of life which is glorifying to God, which is just a small aspect; there's a small aspect of life that could be glorifying to Satan, and then everything else is neutral. As followers of Jesus Christ, we're to glorify Christ in _everything_.
So, I want to invite us to respond. I'm going to invite you to close your eyes. Here's how I want to respond. If there are ways you need to repent, if there are any ways that you have opened a door to Satan's influence, I want to invite you right now to confess that to the Lord, to repent of that. You're welcome to come down front and get on your knees if that's how you want to respond, but I want to invite you to respond in repentance.
If you're here this morning, and you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ… Maybe Satan blinded you to the truth for a long time, yet God, in his kindness, is allowing you to see clearly for the first time. I pray that you would trust in Christ. If you're here, and you just have something going on in your life that you want someone to pray for you for, our Care Team is going to be down front afterward. I invite you to respond.
Lord, we come to you in the authority we have solely through our union with Christ, that we have died with Christ, we've been raised with Christ, and we've been seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. I ask and pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you would drive out any darkness in this room.
For those in the room who don't know you, Jesus, who have been blinded to the truth, I pray right now you would open their eyes to see. For anyone walking in unrepentant sin, would you gently, clearly convict them and call them to repentance? I pray for your hope and healing in this room where it's needed.