Satan's Working to Destroy

1986

Jesus said that in order to carry off the strong man’s possessions, satan’s possessions, we have to first bind him up. We have to tie him up. If we don’t do that, if we don’t bind up satan, then we’ll never accomplish anything spiritually. Because anything we accomplish spiritually is to carry off one of satan’s possessions that he’s stolen from us originally. And in order to do that we’ve got to bind him up first.

Now how do you do that? 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine or supernatural power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Paul says we don’t use earthly weapons. We’re not using hand grenades and mortars and machine guns, but we’re using supernatural or divine weapons that have supernatural power to demolish satan’s strongholds. Whatever stronghold satan might have in your life or in somebody else’s life in the world that we’re living in, it’s going to take supernatural weaponry to demolish those strongholds. But Paul says we have those. As disciples of His, we have those.

I think it’s important to realize that we are, in fact, waging supernatural warfare. And it’s kind of a scary thing, but it’s not if you ignore it. If you ignore the battle that we’re in, for one thing, you’re going to get slaughtered. But for another thing, you’re just not going to take your part in it very seriously. You’re going to underestimate what God has called you to do in the midst of that battle. I believe satan knows how to wage that war, and I believe satan’s followers know how to wage that war. It’s an infiltration kind of thing, but also it’s more than that.

I found this article in a magazine last week. It says, “Satanist church has mission to break up families of Christian leaders.” How many of you have ever heard of Joni Eareckson Tada, the singer? She wrote a letter to a guy and here’s how it goes. There was a guy named Thomas Capella who was visiting the United States from Germany last year. During his flight, Tom sat next to a gentleman who refused his meal. Tom asked the man if he was not hungry, and the man replied that he was fasting. Tom then asked if the fast was of a religious nature to which the man responded, “It sure is. I’m from the church of satan and we’re fasting and praying for the breakup of the families of Christian leaders in the United States.” “Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered” Zechariah 13:7. The Bible clearly warns. It should be no surprise therefore that the enemy would concentrate his efforts on leaders in its attempt to thwart God’s purposes. May this testimony serve to provoke each of us to take seriously the warfare in which we’re engaged in and to specifically intercede on behalf of God’s appointed leaders and their families with fervency and persistence. “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12