Thank you for listening to the Riverbend Church Podcast.
Riverbend Church exists to lead all people to know, love, and
live new life in Jesus Christ. We hope that you enjoy this
message. One of the ministry partners
that we have, that we so gladly support is.
Is Moyo Missions you? If you've from this area, you
may know them by the previous name and title.
It was Helping Hands Ministry couple years ago.
A few years ago, I guess they they rebranded to Moyo.
Here's what I would tell you about about Moyo.
Several things. Number one is we're currently
working with them to try to find opportunities and, and dates to
where we can take mission trips as as Riverbend Church to serve
alongside the people of Moyo #2. I would tell you that that
Brenda, she's the real deal. Probably the greatest compliment
that I could that I could ever give anybody is she is the real
deal #3. Here's what I would say that if
you're on the fence about, I know that maybe you're in here
and there there may be a stirring or you're joining us
online and there's a stirring there to where God is slowly but
surely giving you a discontent over what you have been doing
and you just really feel that he's moving your heart to
serving him and in in vocational ministry.
One of the one of the main pieces of advice that I give any
person, any guy, any girl that feels like, hey, I don't know,
like what to do with this. Like it is God calling me.
To step out to serve him in ministry.
Number one, I always encourage, I always say man, that is
incredible, continue seeking God.
Number two, the first prayer that you should pray is if you
feel that God is calling you to step into some form of
vocational ministry is God. Do you want me to serve you in
the capacity of missions somewhere overseas, taking your
gospel to, to, to, to, to people that they may not have heard of
your of your son. They may not have a copy of
God's word. Maybe they have heard of Jesus
and they do have a copy of God's word, but there's certain things
that are in their lives that are prohibited from them really
stepping in and surrendering that I can I can go and I can be
their hands and feet. In the meantime.
Here's what I would tell you is Doctor Kowalski.
She is she's back there at our table team from Moyo missions as
in that front lobby stop by there talk with them get
involved sponsor. Stay tuned to the the ways in
which we're going to be able to go serve alongside of them
Brazil and Uganda. So incredible, incredible
ministry. Something that if you're looking
to get involved with a ministry and a work, could not recommend
Moyo any higher than that turn. You may have seen out in the
lobby, depending on which lobby you walked into.
We got a bunch of kids wearing neon and glow necklaces.
It is glow Sunday so we never want you to feel left out.
There's a glow necklace. Good catch.
There's a glow necklace for you and also I know that that all
the parents out there, y'all are such super fans of daylight
savings time. So sorry that your kid woke you
up an hour before they had to. But you know what?
Just take their candy from from last week.
That'll get them back. Anyway, if you are new to
Riverbend, my name is Ben. If we haven't had the chance to
meet yet, we'd love to connect with you.
We'd love to talk with you. I'd love to personally thank you
for choosing to be here with us. Probably the best way that we
can connect with you is through that connect card that came with
your bulletin. We don't make that weird or
anything like that. We just, that's just kind of our
tool. Just get a snapshot of who you
are. So whatever info you feel
comfortable passing on. If you're with us online for the
first time, just drop in the comment section name and then
just an address that we can send a small thank you gift out into
the mail to you just for you choosing to be here with us.
But if you are new to Riverbend, we are in the middle of a series
called The Unseen World. We're in the middle of a series
called The Unseen World, and we've been looking at this whole
world or this whole reality, the spiritual realm that is
happening at this very moment that we cannot see.
But just because we can't see, it doesn't mean that it's not
real. And just because you may be new
to new to church or you may be new to Riverbend, or maybe
you're just seeking and, and when you hear us talk about the
spiritual world or this unseen world or the spiritual realm
there, there's a little bit of skepticism.
And here's what I would tell you.
Like we get it. We really do.
Like, first of all, thank you for being here with us.
But our hope and our prayer and our desire is that you would
just be open to, maybe just open to the possibility of the fact
that just because you may not be able to see it, it doesn't mean
that it's not real. And just because you may not
acknowledge it, it doesn't mean that it's not impacting your
life. You see, we're we're here in
week 5 of this series and the first four weeks up until this
point in time, they have been much more informing in nature.
So we want to have the right information as as as the Bible
impacts it For us this morning is going to be kind of a hinge
and a pivot, A hinge that pivots us from the informing to the
equipping. This morning what we're going to
be concentrating on is this whole element of spiritual
warfare. You see, over the last several
weeks we've taken a look 30, 1000 foot fly over look at key
essential elements of the spiritual world, elements like
God and angels in heaven. Last week, if you were with us,
we took a look at Satan and demons in in hell.
This morning we're going to talk about and we're going to take a
look at what the Bible says about how these elements, how
Satan and God, how demons and angels held heaven and hell, how
there is a war that is raging all around us.
And we're going to talk about kind of the origins of that of
that world and how it impacts us.
So before we get started and before we go any further, I just
want to ask that you join me in a word of prayer.
God, we thank you for bringing us here.
And God, we thank you God for everything that has LED up to
this point. God, some of us, we had
incredible weeks. Some of us had weeks that we
would just much rather forget about.
We got whether they are they are weeks that we're just incredible
or weeks that we're we're just glad that are over.
God, what we know is you. You've been faithful and you've
never left us. You've never abandoned us.
God, you work all things to the good to those who love you.
So God, I pray that as you have worked throughout this week to
bring us together for this time and in this place and in this
space, God, whether it's live or in the room or online, got to
pray that you would bring clarity.
Got to pray that you would illuminate your word to us.
God, that you would make your word come to life.
And God, I pray that Lord, that you would do the deep work in
every single one of us. God, where we need to be
encouraged, you would encourage us.
Where we need to be convicted, you would convict us.
But God, I pray that you would always move us, every single one
of us. God, that your Holy Spirit would
do something within every single one of us, whether in the room
or online, that moves us closer to you as a result of being.
With you and. It's in Jesus name that we pray.
Amen. Just to bring you up to speed.
If you're new to Riverbend, maybe just new to the series,
bring up to speed. Make sure that we're all on the
same page. If you're taking notes with this
on the back of the bulletin, I want to show you the kind of the
big truth or the main truth, the big idea that we've been riding
along those rails for the for this series.
And here it is. The unseen world is just as real
as the one I can see and it's shaping my life every day.
This unseen world is just as real as the one I can see.
So even though we may not be able to see God or see angels or
see Satan or see demons with our, with our, with our physical
eyes, they are just as real as the things that we can see.
They are just as real as you and I are in this room together.
They're just as real. And not only are they real, but
they are shaping our lives everyday, every single one of
us. And whether you, whether you see
them or not, they're there and whether you acknowledge them or
not, they're having an impact on your life.
And like I said earlier this morning, what I want to do is I
want to use this morning in our time together kind of as that
hinge that pivots us from the informing to the equipping.
So this morning we're going to be talking about spiritual
warfare. So if you, if you're new to the
series, I would highly encourage you go back to the church's
website or the church's app or YouTube channel, wherever you
listen to podcasts. And you can listen to the last
four weeks together or last four weeks.
And together they'll give you a better foundation of where we're
going to be heading this morning.
But here's what I want to talk about.
I want to give us 4 essential elements to what is spiritual
warfare. What is spiritual warfare?
If you're taking notes with us, here's the first thing that you
and I, we need to understand. There is an unseen spiritual war
that's raging all around me. There is an unseen spiritual war
that's raging all around me. And here's what I would tell you
about this unseen spiritual war from the time that God created
mankind, from the time that God created humanity in his image.
By the way, the only example or the only part of God's creation
that the Bible tells us that God created in his own image is
humanity. It's, it's mankind as incredible
as, as, as the animal Kingdom is as incredible as nature is.
None of those are created in the image of God.
Mankind, you and me, all of humanity are creating the image
of God. You see, I believe that after
God, soon after God created mankind in his image, that's
when you have going back time it back to last week, you have
Satan, who in his pride launched A rebellion against God.
Because Satan, as we discussed last week, he sought to make
himself equal and even above God himself.
I think that Satan was motivated this pride.
He was motivated because of all of creation, including angelic
creation. The only part of creation that
God created in his image is humanity.
And I believe that the Bible teaches us that Satan launches
this rebellion against God. And with Satan, he takes a third
of the angels and they rebelled against God and, and the, and
the heavenly hosts. And like we talked about several
weeks ago that that this rebellion, Satan was overcome in
this rebellion and he and his angels were exiled from heaven
and they were cast down to earth.
And these angels, they were twisted beyond their original
form and became demons. Now, when they were cast out of
heaven and down to earth, this spiritual war that once started
in heaven began to expand to now the earth.
And like we talked about last week, Satan hates most what God
most loves. And what God most loves is you
and me. And like we talked about last
week, maybe, maybe you need to be reminded of that.
Maybe you, you, you. Come in here and you feel like a
failure. You feel lesser than or lesser
loved and you need to be reminded that and the God of the
universe, His most prize and treasure possession is you.
When he looks at you, he does not look at you through the lens
of anger. He looks at you through the lens
of love. And what God loves the most,
Satan hates the most. So the spiritual war that
started in heaven has now made its way to earth.
Second thing that we need to understand about spiritual war,
there is no neutrality in this spiritual war.
There is no neutrality in this spiritual war.
And you may say, well, Ben, this whole thing of spiritual war,
this is kind of new to me. And honestly, it's kind of
scary. And I'll just be honest with
you, Ben, I don't want anything to do with it.
I didn't sign up to be a part of a spiritual war.
I want nothing to do with it. Listen, on the one hand, I get
it. I really do.
But on the other hand, I'm going to say this as lovingly and as
compassionately as a as I possibly can.
It doesn't matter if you want to be a part of the spiritual war.
The fact of the matter is. You are a part of the spiritual
war. You are part of the spiritual
war. So you can choose, you and I, we
can choose whether or not we are going to be just, we're going to
be engaged in the spiritual war or we're just going to be
collateral damage of the spiritual war and we're going to
get to the differences between the two in just a moment.
But there is no neutrality in this spiritual war.
The Bible is very, very clear on the fact that you and I, we are
either on the side of God and angels in heaven, or we're on
the side of Satan, demons and hell.
And the differentiator, the, the, the main decision or the
main hinge that that that creates that decision or that
aligns us on one of those two sides is what you and I do with
Jesus. It's what we do with Jesus.
You see, if there's been a point in time to where you've asked
Jesus to forgive you of your sins and you have committed to
following Jesus for the rest of your life, then the Bible tells
us that you will be saved, that you are saved, that you have the
Holy Spirit of the living God living in you.
And that is how you are on the side of God and Jesus, God and
and angels and and heaven. But if you reject Jesus and say
I'm, I'm going to do it on my own, I don't really believe in
Jesus, I don't need Jesus, then by default you are going to be
on the side of Satan, demons, and hell.
Here's the thing. The span of time in which you
and I live and exist. What you and I, what we call a
lifetime, that span of time, that lifetime that is the
measure of time that God gives us to choose our allegiance.
There is no neutrality. There is no such thing as
spiritually riding the fence in this spiritual war.
There is no neutrality #3 the spiritual war is shaping what I
see, what I feel, and what I face in this world.
Remember that big idea that that we keep coming back to?
This is the fifth week that we've come back to it.
This unseen world is just as real as the one that that I can
see. And it's shaping my life every
single day. This is how it's shaping my life
every single day is when I recognize that there's a
spiritual war going on, then my eyes are open that the things
that are going on around me actually have spiritual roots to
them. So like we talked about in our
first week together, what Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 6,
verse 12, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood.
And he goes on to talk about how our true enemy is spiritual in
nature. So we look at the evils and we
look at the atrocities in this world, and it's not about
letting anybody off the hook. It's not about a lack of
accountability for actions, but we look at the spiritual roots
behind the evil in this world. And the more we recognize the
spiritual world, the more that we will connect those spiritual
roots to it. You see, this is not a
Republican and a Democrat thing. This is not a race thing.
This is not a, this is not a, an America versus everybody else or
an everybody else versus America thing.
This is a spiritual roots thing. And the more I recognize the
spiritual war, the more I will start to see those spiritual
roots kind of behind the scenes. It also tells us that the
spiritual wars impact how I feel.
It impacts how I feel in, in other words, that you and I, we
need to understand that one of the greatest tactics in
spiritual war comes in disguise as discouragement, comes in
disguise as discouragement or frustration or just unhinged
anger. That one of the main tactics of
spiritual war is if Satan and demons and and the forces of
hell itself can get a hold of our emotions, can get a hold of
our emotions. No matter if those emotions or
feelings, we know that they're powerful, but what we may not
know is, are they true? You see this whole notion, the
more I start to recognize the spiritual war, the more I see my
emotions and my feelings as just another spiritual battleground
for this war going on around me. He also tells us not only is the
spiritual war shaping what I see, what I feel and what I
face, but what I face in this world.
You see one of the things that we start to understand, we start
to see when we understand and recognize the spiritual war is
one of the main combatants in the spiritual war is a or one of
the main battlegrounds of the spiritual war is a war over my
priorities. It's a war over my priorities
and it is a war that every single one of us we face every
single day. Am I going to choose comfort?
Am I going to choose the easy way or am I going to choose
obedience to God? And a lot of that has everything
to do with what you and I will face in this world. 4th
essential element of spiritual war.
What's at stake in the spiritual war is not temporary, it's
eternal. What I would tell you is this is
this is the most important component of spiritual war.
It's the most important component of spiritual war
because spiritual warfare, yes, it is true.
It's shaping every single one of our lives each and every day.
It is having an effect on my day tomorrow.
It will have an effect on my day next week, next month, next
year, next season. But the stakes are actually so
much higher than affecting next month.
You see, the stakes are eternal in nature.
The stakes are eternal in nature.
And again, going back to the second component, there is no
neutrality in the spiritual war. What I choose to do with Jesus,
that is the only litmus test that determines eternity.
You see, every single one of us, one day we will die.
Every single one of us, we, we, we are.
We are created as temporary beings with bodies that will age
and and and breakdown and, and, and one day die.
But our soul, that part of us that is made in the image of
God, that deep part of us that makes us, us, will go on and
live forever. God created our soul to live for
eternity. I had the honor and privilege of
being able to, to, to, to speak at A at a dear lady's funeral
yesterday. She passed away at the age of 93
and here's why. I would tell you not a doubt in
her mind that she was ready, that she was ready to, to to
meet. Jesus face to face.
So as we're in this Chapel and as we are yesterday, as we're in
this Chapel and as there are tears in the room, there are
more, There are no more tears for her.
You see, she lived her life devoted to Jesus.
She gave her life to Jesus. And, you know, for a while there
were stories being shared about this woman and how incredible
she was and how loving she was and, and, and what a great
example she was to her family. But make no mistake about it,
when she took her last breath here on earth and opened her
eyes for the very first time in the presence of God, God did not
ask her, hey, how good of a woman were you?
How good of a wife were you? How good of a of a mother were
you? How good of a of a grandmother
and a great grandmother? How good of a church member?
How many times out of out of 52 weeks a year, how many of those?
What was your church attendance? Average.
All those things are really, really important.
Make no mistake about it. All those things are really
important. The number one question is this.
What did you do with Jesus? That's the litmus test.
Every single one of us, our bodies will break down, but we,
we will die one day, but we will stand face to face with God.
And the number one question is, what did you do with Jesus?
You see? What we're talking about in
spiritual warfare, it does affect today and it does affect
tomorrow and next week, next month, next year, next season.
But the stakes are so much higher than this temporary.
The stakes are actually eternal. So with the stakes so high and
you and I facing spiritual warfare.
What we need to know kind of the tactics of our enemy.
I want to show you something we've gone through back to this
verse before. This is what first Peter 58
reminds us. Be sober minded.
He's talking to the church, he's talking to followers of Jesus.
Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary of the devil, he
prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
Seeking someone to devour. So here's the main question in
front of us. It would do us a lot of good to
understand what are the primary tactics that Satan, demons and
the forces of hell use against us.
Because if you were with us last week, we talked about the number
one objective is to keep you and I to keep people, to keep the
things, the people that God loves the most away from the
heart of God. So how does he do that?
What we're about to walk through today or in just a few moments,
is not an exhaustive list. This is really probably the six
most prominent tactics, tried and true tactics across time and
history that Satan and his demons employ to use and deploy
to keep people away from the heart of God.
If you're taking notes with us, I want to show you the first
one. The first one is keeping us
ignorant to His existence. Satan is Satan and his demons
would love nothing more than for you and I to sit there and go.
Man, what a great fairy tale. 2000 year old ruse is just
trying to control the masses. It's not really real.
To keep us ignorant of his existence, How do we see?
How do we see this tactic being deployed in in in our lives in
in, in our world? I think it's several ways there
there is an increased sense of skepticism and mockery.
There's a there's an increased sense of skepticism and mockery.
We see this in in comical depictions of Satan.
The more. Casual We, we, we, we, we.
We think about Satan in terms of like cartoonish characters or
bumbling idiot in A, in a, in a red suit with horns in A, in a
tail and pitchfork. There there's a inherent
skepticism and sense of mockery. I think that there's also a
tactic of distraction, that the more Satan can keep us busy, the
more that his demons can keep us busy, the less time that we have
to really think about and meditate on like the deep
matters and the deep questions of life.
There's an old saying to go something like this, that if
Satan can't destroy you, he'll distract you.
If Satan can't destroy you, he'll distract you.
What's that all about? It's keeping you ignorant of his
existence, and it's keeping you ignorant of his activities in
our lives. The second effective tactic that
Satan and his demons use is to keep us paralyzed by fear.
You see Satan and his demons, really, really crafty masters of
swinging that pendulum from wanting to keep you ignorant of
their existence to trying to get you to attribute everything to
their activity. And that that keeps you
paralyzed by fear. If you're always fearful, you're
going to hunker down and, and you're just going to, you're
going to become isolated to kind of like a, an ecosystem and a
ecosystem of your own. And there's going to be a
paralysis of fear that goes on. This whole notion that maybe,
maybe you've been a part of church for a while and you've
heard the phrase like somebody trying to see a demon under
every rock, you know, attributing all, all things to
demonic activities and sit there and go, man, Satan and his
demons, they are everywhere and they're, they're in full force
and they, they, they are doing everything.
And there's a paralysis that comes over us.
There's a fear that comes over us.
How about this one? I am the master at this is
getting us in our minds to play out all the what if scenarios.
Anybody there with me like if you're if you're if you are a
what if master, we should have like a contest, right?
I can what if I can out what if anybody and you know what it
always leads to fear. It always leads to fear if if
you're one of those if you're in the what if master club with me.
Have you ever noticed that you can what if something to death
and you become more and more fearful?
But have you ever noticed that all those really bad what ifs,
they never come to fruition? What is that?
That that that is a That is a sense of.
A paralysis by by fear. That's a sense of paralysis by
fear. I would tell you that this takes
place in different stages of our lives too, right?
Like if you if, if you're, if you're young or you're single in
here with us, you know those what if games of what if I never
found a spouse? If it, if you, if you, if you
get. Married what?
What if my spouse doesn't stay faithful to me?
If you have kids. What if this really bad thing
happens to my kids if you have grandkids?
What if this really bad thing happens to my kids or my
grandkids? I don't think that the what if
game is exclusive to any single person or any stage of life, but
all of it is a tactic to keep us paralyzed by fear.
Here's the third very effective tactic.
If he can't keep us paralyzed by fear, wants to keep us chained
in sin. So what is sin?
Sin is living in a way that is counter to God's ways for us.
It's living in a way that are count that are counter to God's
ways for us. Typically we think of sin as
doing things that God tells us not to do.
That's true, we call those sins of Commission.
But sin is also not doing the things that God tells us to do,
though we call those things of sin of omission.
But Satan want and his demons, they want to keep us chained in
sin. They want to keep us chained in
sin. Because here's one of the things
that I would tell you when you and I, when we give into
temptation, by the way, temptation and sin, 2 totally
different things. We're all tempted, but we don't
have to sin. Jesus was tempted.
Yet we know that Jesus lived a sin, a sinless life, right?
So temptation is is is the opportunity to do things our
way. Sin is actually giving in to the
temptation. But here's what sin always does.
Sin always comes with a cost. Sin always builds a wall up
between US and our heavenly Father and and these.
Tactics, these temptations of sin, they're they're deployed
in, in in several different ways There there's kind of the the
quiet whispers, Hey, nobody will ever find out how many marriages
and relationships have been blown apart because people
listen to the lie. Nobody will ever find out.
How about this whisper? Hey, you deserve it.
You've been working. Really hard, man.
Those kids have been really stressful.
You deserve just another, just another drink, just another hit.
You deserve it. And what ends up happening is
the more and more that we give into temptation, the more we
find ourselves chained by addiction, to where we're
controlled by something, by substance that we have a hard
time seeing our Savior. And when we give.
Into temptation and cross the line from temptation to sin.
That's when hell swoops in and attacks us with this next tactic
is to keep us isolated by shame. You see, shame always happens on
the backside of giving into temptation.
Can I tell you something? I think that we're in a room
full of people. People join us online that when
we start talking about being chained by sin or having a
secret sin struggle, there's a sense of shame that starts to
like creep over us and and overlay.
And we're so fearful of people finding out to where we have to
create this alternate version of us because if we revealed the
true us to the people around us, we feel that they would reject
us. That's what shame does.
Shame whispers to us, You're a failure.
You're a loser. Here you are again.
If only the people around you knew.
So what ends up happening is we withdraw and we isolate
ourselves in shame. We create the.
Shell version of our self that may look happy and joyful on the
outside, but on the inside man, we are crying.
It's almost like. We're, we're, we're.
In the fetal position, in the corner, crying.
Why? Because of shame.
And if Satan and his demons can keep you locked in shame, you
will never and I will never, we will never experience the
victory that God has for us. This is why, This is why one of
the greatest things that we see all throughout Scripture is
God's command that when we do crossover from sin, from
temptation into sin. One of the.
Greatest tools at our disposal is confession.
Is confession, and I'm not talking about airing out all of
our dirty laundry for everybody, but having a trusted person in
our lives to, to where we say, listen, I'm struggling with
this. Can you pray for me?
I just, I, I know that it's sin and I don't want it to be
present and have its grip on my life anymore, but I'm, I'm
struggling. That's confession.
You know what confession does? Confession drags the sin out of
the dark into the light. Shame.
Shame is that part of us that wants to keep sin actually in
the dark. Shame will call sin to, to, to,
to be drug kicking and screaming into the light, kicking and
screaming. Into the light and we're going
to come back to, in just a moment, a key truth that you and
I need to understand about sin and confession and shame.
But then there's a fifth component or 5th tactic.
And this kind of goes into shame is Satan and his demons in the
force of hell want to keep us prideful in ourself.
I think that this tactic right here, this tactic is so evident
and so prominent in our nation and in our culture, in a nation
and culture to where there's there there's opportunities for
upward mobility and a nation and culture that is that is far
wealthier than way over 99% of the world around us.
And in a nation and culture that prides itself on the American
dream, it is this pride in self is hey, I got this, I got this.
How do the forces of hell, how, what is their way?
What are the mechanisms that they use to keep us prideful in
self? I, I think it's several, I think
it's number one. I think that one of the major
tactics there is, is, is that is that spirit within us that, that
temptation, that fault that that creeps into our minds.
And, and, and make no mistake about it.
If you were here with us last week, we talked about how Satan
and demons, they can't read your thoughts, but they do know your
patterns. They do know your ways.
Like if Facebook and Instagram, if the algorithm has you pegged,
make no mistake about it, Satan and demons know you.
So they're going to be, they're going to know what temptations
are going to be most effective in your life.
And one of the major temptations is a sense of pride.
This thought of hey, you got it. This notion of hey, you're not
being prideful, you're not being prideful, you're just being
strong. No, this pride or distorting
pride as weakness, hey, a real man or a real woman, they
wouldn't need anybody else. They wouldn't need this church
thing. They wouldn't need, they
wouldn't need religion. They wouldn't need Jesus.
They wouldn't need the Bible. They get through this on their
own. Here's another pride one by
trapping us by comparison and whispering to us and causing
many of us to become convinced this this whisper of they don't
deserve that. If anybody deserves that, I
deserve that. What did they do?
I've been working so hard. I've been putting in the hours.
I've kind of laid the groundwork.
I've paid my dues, yet they're the ones with the.
With the bigger house and the nicer truck and you know the the
the kids that take good pictures, they don't deserve
that I deserve that you know what that is That's that's
that's pride. That's pride.
Here's that 6th tactic. I think this is probably the
most effective is to keep us doubtful of God's goodness is to
keep us doubtful of God's goodness.
You go back very beginning, Genesis chapter 3.
God creates Adam and Eve, puts them in the midst of paradise,
gives them one commandment. Do not eat the fruit of that one
tree. And what do we know that they
do? They eat at the fruit of that
one tree. But if you go back to.
Genesis chapter 3 In verse one, Satan comes on the scene in the
form of a serpent. And did you ever notice how
Satan started the conversation with?
Eve, he didn't say. Eve, you look hungry.
Man, that fruit looks really good.
Have you tasted? I know that you've tasted all
the other fruits. But you haven't tasted that one.
If you read Genesis chapter 3 verse one, Satan approaches Eve
and he says several just simple words.
Did God really say that's how the conversation?
Started did God really say don't eat of the fruit?
And we when when Satan said that to Eve, what he triggered in
Eve's mind was this notion that God was somehow holding
something good back from her, that God was holding, holding,
holding out on. Her and Satan tempted Eve, and
Eve gives into the temptation. He tempts Eve into questioning
the goodness of God. Now here's the question.
Was Satan was God holding something back from Eve?
Absolutely he was. But what was he holding back
from Eve? A sense of shame and guilt and
sin. You see what God held back from
Eve. He wasn't withholding his
goodness. He was withholding undue
suffering from Eve. But the tactic of Satan was to
get Eve to question God's goodness.
That tactic is so used today. I think that that tactic is is.
Used in ways like getting you and I to really focus in on what
we don't have and getting us to think, God, if you were really
good, then I would have this in my life.
God, if you were really good, I'd have a husband or a wife.
God, if you were really good, we'd have kids.
God, if you were really good, I'd have a solid job.
If you were really good, then I wouldn't struggle with this,
with this emotional or this mental issue.
That I'm struggling with. And, and getting us to think
that what we don't have is sometime, sometimes a type of
evidence that God isn't good, or many times he'll, he'll get us
to to question God's goodness. He'll get us to question God's
goodness by by causing us to focus.
In on our pain and twisting our thoughts into thinking if God
was really good, then you wouldn't have to go through
that. If God was really good, your,
your, your son, your daughter wouldn't have to face that.
If God was really good, all these bad things wouldn't be
happening. And I think a lot of times what
Satan and his demons, what they do is they try to fool us and
they try to trick us into focusing in on the temporary and
making us think that the temporary is permanent.
You. Want to know one of the reasons
that one of our most treasured treasures, and I know that
that's redundant, but it's true. One of our greatest treasures
here at Riverbend. You know who you know what it is
or who they are. It's our senior adults.
You want to know why? Because our senior adults have
lived enough life and walked long enough with God to where
they can give a perspective that what?
You may be. Going through right now.
It stinks, it hurts, it stings, but it's not forever.
You see Satan and his demons, they want you to think that the
that all the bad that you're going through right now, it is
forever. And if you.
Think that what you're going through right now is forever.
Then you'll start to question God's goodness in the time we
have left this morning, I want to pivot because these tactics
are very real and they seem very.
Scary. But you and I, we do not have to
be bait to these tactics. So what can you and I do?
What can we have in our lives, what can we institute in our
lives to make sure that we are not bait or just mere casualties
of the spiritual war, but we're actually offensive forces in the
spiritual war. And here's why I would tell you
it's going to start with our defense.
And over the next 4 weeks together, we're going to talk
about how you and I engage in the spiritual war.
But I want to give you 4 quick items and four quick essentials
to our defense. Here's the first one taking
notes with us. We've got to maintain parallel
vision. Here's what I mean by parallel
vision. My weakness, God's power.
The first part of that parallel vision is I've got to know
myself. I've got to be aware of where I
am weak, and I've also got to be aware that where I'm weak, God
is strong. Let me show you a passage that
the Apostle Paul writes in Second Corinthians.
He goes so to keep me from becoming conceited because of
the surpassing greatness of the revelations, we kind of jump
straight in midstream mid thought with Paul.
Let me kind of explain what he's talking about.
The apostle Paul, greatest missionary that the earth is
ever known, he got to see God do some incredible things, some
awesome things, raise the dead to to back to life, heal the
sick, bring families together, start revivals in cities.
And basically Paul is saying, hey, to keep me from thinking
that I had anything to do with that and that I'm something
bigger than I really AM because I got to be a part of this and I
got to see it. That's what he's saying to keep
me from becoming conceited because you're passing greatness
of the revelations. A thorn was given me in the
flesh. Now, most scholars believe this
was not a physical thorn. This is not a physical thorn.
It's a metaphorical thorn. It's a it's a struggle.
It was a lifelong struggle for Paul.
And nobody really knows what that thorn in the flesh really
was. Some would say that that that it
was poor eyesight. Some would say that it was poor
health. Some would say this or that, but
it was a it was a it was a very real impediment to Paul.
But check this out. He says a thorn was giving me in
the flesh a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep reminding
me. Paul, you're not really all that
you people say that you are to harass me, to keep me from
becoming conceited. Check this out verse 8.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should
leave me. He went to God and pleaded 3
different times. God, I believe you are who you
say that you are. You are all knowing, all
powerful, everywhere present. It is nothing for you to remove
this thorn from my flesh to remove the struggle.
God, if you remove the struggle, I can be so much more effective
for you. I feel that this struggle is
holding me back from serving you in a way that I know and that I
can and that I really want to. Three times he prayed that to
God. Check out God's response.
But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power
is made perfect in weakness. He goes on to say, therefore I
will boast, I will brag all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so
that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
For the sake of Christ then I am content with weaknesses,
insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
This maintaining parallel vision is understanding.
I have to be honest with myself enough and self aware to where I
realize where I'm weak. I have to own those weaknesses.
I have to then turn those weaknesses over to God and then
rely on God's power to fill those areas, to fill those areas
with His power. Can I go ahead and tell you
probably your most effective area of ministry is going to be
your most personal weakness. Why?
Because it's not your strength, it's God's power in you.
What is the aim of God of using our weakness?
The aim of God is for the people that know you best and know that
you struggle in those areas of weaknesses to look at you and
look at what God's doing in and through you and go, I don't get
it. I don't get it.
I knew that guy back in middle school and high school, and he
could barely read, and yet he's telling people about Jesus.
I don't get it. We've got to know our
weaknesses, own our weaknesses, turn our weaknesses over to God
by prayer, and then expect God to use those weaknesses for His
glory and His power. Second area defense is we've got
to stay fueled by Scripture and let Scripture shape my life.
I've got to, you've got to, We've got to stay.
Fueled by scripture and let scripture shape our lives.
I didn't write this in your notes, but you may want to jot
this out to the side. If I want to grow closer to God,
I have to read my Bible. We make it so hard so many
times, don't we? If I want to grow closer to God,
I've got to read my Bible. He may say, well, Ben, I've
tried. And then I got stuck in
Leviticus. Don't start in Leviticus.
If I want to grow closer to God, I've got to read my Bible.
Here's why. I have got to know what God's
Word says about me, about Him, about the spiritual world, about
life around me and my purpose. And I've got to know it and I've
got to read it to where it makes its way from here into the deep
parts of me. Here's why.
Most of us in this room, we know that if you really want to know
what a man or woman is truly made of when they're squeezed,
pay attention to what comes out of them.
Listen, I'm not telling you something that you don't already
know. You and I, some of us will sit
there and go, I'm already there. I'm ahead of you.
We will be squeezed by life and here's what we want.
We want when we are squeezed, we want the Word of God to come out
of us. That cannot become a reality if
we are simply fueled weekly. We've got to be fueled on the
daily. We've got to be fueled on the
daily, but check this out. That's not where it ends.
Our goal is not to become champions, world champions of
Bible trivia because the Bible tells us we do not want to
simply be hearers or readers of the word only.
We also want to be doers. That means that I've got to take
the word of God and I've got to read it and I've got to digest
it and I've got to lay my life up beside the word of God and go
where are the inconsistencies in my life and what the word of
God. Says.
So when it comes to the issues of marriage, I've got to do
marriage the way that God defines marriage.
When it comes to the issue of raising a family, I've got to do
family. When it comes to the issues of
finances, I've got to manage my finances the way that God's word
says. When it comes to the issue of
friends and what God's word says about the the core group of
people that are our most primary influencers, I've got to follow
the words of God there because they are for my good.
I've got to be fueled by Scripture and to allow scripture
to change and shape my life. Third, I've got to establish
wise and godly boundaries in life.
I've got to establish wise and godly boundaries in life.
All right, every single one of us in this room, does it matter
if you're a male or female, young or old, veteran of church,
new to church, We all struggle and in some way, right?
We may not struggle in the same way, but we all struggle.
But we all struggle. Like I said, Satan can't.
Satan and his demons, they can't read your thoughts, but they
know your ways, they know your habits.
They know what? Temptations are going to be most
effective against you. We have got, we have got to
establish wise and godly boundaries in our lives because
some of us some of the time. We are making it way.
Too easy for Satan and his demons.
Here's why we're fearful of establishing wise and godly
boundaries. We're fearful of establishing
boundaries because somehow we think that boundaries are
legalistic. They're not legalistic.
They're wise. So if you struggle, if you
struggle with alcohol, don't go to a bar.
If you struggle with pornography, do not use your
phone or your tablet or your laptop in your bedroom.
If you struggle with lust, do not be alone with someone of the
opposite gender behind closed doors.
If you struggle with materialism, stay off Amazon.
Like, listen, we have got to make it harder for Satan and his
demons. And I'll go ahead and tell you,
many of the people around you, they won't get it.
That's why you're establishing these boundaries.
But the people that truly love you, they will.
The people that truly love you, they will. 4th and final a
central tired offence. Hell cannot handle a unified
church. Hell cannot handle a unified
church. God will not heal What?
You keep hiding. Let me say that again.
God will not heal what you keep hiding.
I didn't say he can't heal. Of course he can't.
He will not. God will not heal what you and
I, what we keep hiding. That's where confession comes
in. Who do we confess to?
A godly brother or godly sister? Maybe not literal bio family,
the spiritual family, The church.
You want to know why? We could probably go on and on
and on about war stories of different churches that we may
have been a part of. Three hour yelling, screaming,
fighting business meetings and you sit there and go, Oh my
goodness, like this was not in the book of Acts.
You want to know why Satan attacks the local church so with
such vigor and ferocity? Because the local church
matters. The local church matters.
Let me let me say this as clear as I possibly can.
There's not a single one of us, me, you, none of us in the room
online that does not need the local church.
We need one another. We need one another.
But I want to show you something that that is actually.
An even bigger deal than the local church.
And when we say local church, we're talking about like
Riverbend Church. This past week I had the
opportunity to, to, to do last week was discover Riverbend and
we had the opportunity to to sit down here with several families
and walk through membership class and had just great
discussion there. As important, as good as that
is, man awesome Jesus. Actually, when he's talking
about the church, he loves Riverbend Church, but he's
talking about a capital C church.
Do you realize that the only thing that the Messiah, the
Christ, the Son of God ever started, founded or instituted
was the church? The church is the only thing.
This capital C church, which is all people of all languages, of
all cultures, all throughout time and history, who've
surrendered their life to Jesus Christ and have been forgiven of
their sins by Jesus. They belong to this, to this big
C church, this capital C church. I want to show you where Jesus
starts this church. There's a conversation between
Jesus and his disciples back in Matthew 16 to where he's saying,
Hey, who do people say that I am?
And his disciples give him several answers.
And then he turns it to the personal and says, but who do
you say that I am? Peter said this, you are the
Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you Simon Barjona, or
blessed are you son of John or son of Jonah, For flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father, who is in
heaven, and I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my church in the gates of hell shall not prevail against.
It. Now let me tell you what Jesus
wasn't talking about. Jesus wasn't saying, hey,
blessed are you Peter. And on this rock and pat him on
the chest, I'm going to build my church.
You see, the Church of Jesus Christ was not built.
The foundation of the church is not a man.
It's a confession. It's a confession.
What's the confession? That you are Jesus.
You are the Christ. The.
Son of the living God throughout all time, throughout all
language, throughout all cultures, we're going to have
denominational differences. But at the core of it all, the
Church of Jesus Christ is made-up of men and women all
over the globe, all throughout language and cultures that have
said, I believe that Jesus is the Christ.
He is the Messiah. He is the only way to God.
He is the Son of God, and he is the only way that I can be
forgiven to my sins. And on that confession, the very
gates of hell shudder. They cannot advance against it.
Can I ask you a question? Are you a part of that church?
I'm not asking. Are you a member of?
Riverbend Church, Are you a part of that church?
Are you a part of like the Capital C Church to where you
say, Ben, I know that there's been a point in time to where
Jesus has forgiven me of my sins because I asked him to, and he's
taking control of my life because I asked him to.
Are you a part of that church? In just a moment, we'll give you
an opportunity. If you have questions about that
or, or doubts about that, I would love to talk with you down
here at the front. I think that many of us in the
room are online that we would say, you know, praise God, I'm a
part of that church. Like I, I gave my life to Jesus
maybe last year, last month, maybe when I was younger.
Praise God that I'm a part of that church.
Let me ask you a question for you.
What are the effective tactics that Satan and his demons are
utilizing against you? Can I tell you our first line of
defense prayer? Hand them over to God.
I hope one of the things that you get out of this last section
that we just walked through is there's not a single one of us
that has enough within us to combat hell itself head on.
Some of us, we sit there and go, man, I wanted, I just want to go
charge Satan in hell with a water pistol.
You're going to end up being bait.
You will become overcome. But if you rely on God's power
and God's strength in your life, the gates of hell can't move
against that. So in just a moment, we're going
to give you an opportunity. We'll pray together, give you an
opportunity. Is there something that you're
facing in your life that you just need to ask for God's
protection on you? Maybe ask for God's protection
for someone else? Before we enter into this, I
just want to say and I know trying to be very cognizant of
time. A lot of times when we get to a
time like this, an invitation, I think there's a misnomer out
there that I only come forward and I only pray when there's
something wrong. Can I tell you as your pastor,
when you come down and when you pray, I know that there's
something right. I know that there's something
right. In other words, that you realize
that the only way to engage in this spiritual war, not to
become bait, is to hand it over to God.
So I don't want there to be any walls, any hesitancy there, any
any pride that crops up to where you start to think, well, I just
don't know what people are think or people are going to like talk
or gossip or whatever. That's their problem and they're
wrong. You be obedient.
To what God's calling you to do, Let's pray.
God, we love you and we thank you for the clarity of your
word. God, you don't tell us about
spiritual warfare and Satan and demons in hell to to frighten us
or to scare us. But God to, to, to inform us,
God, you want us to know what we're up against.
And God, every single person in this room, whether we are
cognizant of it or not, we're in the thick of it.
We're in the midst of the spiritual war.
And the more you move in our lives and the more that you move
in Riverbend Church, the bigger the target we have on us.
But God, that just simply means that we get to experience the
bigness of you. So God, I pray if there's anyone
in this room or online, as we talked about this Capital C
church that is doubting or wondering if there really has
been a point in time to where Jesus has forgiven them of their
sins and that they are following him.
God, I pray that they would step out and they would come down and
pray for the pastor God for those that have made that step
and they, they know they have the, the, the secure sureness of
that decision. God, we know that the attacks
don't stop there. God, so many of us, we feel
bombarded by these tactics of Satan and his demons and the
forces of hell. God, and we admit in this time
that we are not big enough to stand up against any of it.
We need you. So God, I pray that this would
be a time to where we would release our pride and that we
would surrender the battle over to you.
And it's in Jesus name that we pray.
Amen. Thank you for listening to the
Riverbend Church Podcast. Learn more about who we are as a
church and how to connect. You can head over to our
website, Riverbend Church dot Life.