Part 6: “How to Stand Against Satan’s Attacks”
Neh. 4:16-23
Intro – want to finish ch. 4 today and the message I started last week on How to Stand Against Satan’s Attacks…built on the principle from the passage that… When we begin to see some real progress happening in the rebuilding our broken lives, we will encounter Satanic opposition.
-the minute we get serious about seeing God bring wholeness, healing, restoration to our lives, we then enter a realm of spiritual warfare designed by the enemy to stop our progress and keep us living in brokenness and in ruins.
Review: 4 practical steps we can take to find victory in the spiritual battle:
1. alert, constant prayer v.9
1 Pet 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
the Lord wants to train us in the ministry of Spiritual Warfare Prayer…I use the phrase sp. warfare prayer to distinguish this from regular, routine prayer…
-warfare prayer has the quality of urgency to it, of intensity, of crying out to God for help in the face of trouble....
-warfare prayer is taking our stand against the devil and his schemes in the strong name of Jesus: “In the name of Jesus…”
-it is based on scriptural truth… it is Jesus saying to the Devil during His wilderness temptation, “It is written”......
-warfare prayer is the kind of prayer in which God wakes people up in the middle of the night with this overwhelming urge to pray specifically for a certain person.
…when practiced in agreement with 2 or 3 other believers, it is a unstoppable heavenly force…because it lays hold of God’s power and authority…
eg I received it last Tuesday night…sleep issue…
-you can learn it…you have to learn it…best learned by practise…by seeing it in action from others who are further along in their experience…
* I believe we are often weak, defeated and oppressed in our lives and church because we fail to pray in this way…we rely on feeble, half-hearted praying (or less) and hope for great results…or we rely on the prayers of others instead of praying ourselves…
cf two blind men calling out to Jesus in Mt. 20:29-34… ”Jesus, Son of David have mercy on us…”
-it’s not about yelling louder…it’s about longing and desparation and dependent faith in God’s strength…needing Jesus to intervene…that if He doesn’t come through then we’ve got no other hope…
* one of God’s great purposes for trouble, crisis, being attacked by the enemy…so that we learn to pray…no motivation in times of ease and peace…
cf Judges 3:1-2…the Lord leaving enemy nations in the newly occupied promised land in order “to teach warfare to the Isrealites who had no previous battle experience…)
2. extra support at the weakest places v.13
1 Thess. 5:14 “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
3. weapons of spiritual warfare v.13
2 Cor. 10:3-4 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 power to demolish strongholds.
-two of our greatest spiritual weapons are: the word of God and prayer…
Eph. 6:17-18 “Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions…”
4. remember our great and awesome Lord v.14
-esp the cross of Jesus Christ…Christ’s victory on the cross…remember what He did on the cross…
-Jesus has “frustrated Satan’s plot” (v.15) by His victorious death and resurrection…
** Maybe the most important thing that I said last week was:
-this is not your battle to win or lose…it’s God’s…and He has already won…
1 Jn 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Today we finish the chapter by discovering three more things God has provided for our victory in the sp. battle against Satan and His evil schemes…turn to ch.4…
…turn to Neh. 4…prayer…
I Builder and Warrior vv.16-18
-the first one is our God-designed dual-identity as a builder and warrior…read vv.16-18…
-this is a picture of who God has made you, dear child of God…how God has fashioned you for His kingdom…the way He wants you and I to function in our Xn life…
-as a builder and a warrior…not one or the other, but both…learning how to incorporate our work for God with the constant spiritual battle we are facing…learning how to work and fight…
-the picture couldn’t be clearer: God’s people under Neh.’s leadership did their work, served their God, lived their everyday lives equipped with both a tool and a weapon…
Sadly, many Xns live their lives so far below this victorious place…some live as passive spectators…sitting back uninvolved, unimpressed, waiting to be entertained by the church service or the pastor…not willing to lift a finger to serve God and help out with the ministry of the church…
-others sadly are self-appointed critics who see their role as being members of the opposition party, determined to speak against and resist what the church and leaders are doing…for whatever reason…these people have no idea how discouraging that can be for those who want to go forward in the work of the kingdom…
-others sadly are lone ranger Christians who see themselves as beyond the group, better than the group…not needing to be part of the community, living outside of the main body…preferring their own self-guided practise of faith not necessarily in harmony with the rest of the church family…
God has called you and I, Christian friend, to be both a builder and a warrior…
a. builder
-to be part of the building up of the church…building up of God’s people…to contribute to their well-being and growth…
-to help you understand what being a builder means, think about the image from Neh., and the work being done on the broken city wall by the people…how each person added a brick…they built up that wall one brick at a time…
-that is what God wants you and I to be doing in our church, adding a brick to build up this ministry and advance God’s kingdom…not throwing a brick…tearing down bricks…
You add a brick everytime you:
• serve others acc to your sp. gift
• volunteer where needed
• encourage, pray for someone
• offer friendship
• talk to someone about Jesus
• respond to a practical need for food, clothing, shelter, money…
• endless list…
God has called each of us here at Northgate to be a builder…to add a brick…to build up and not to tear down…
b. warrior
-but He’s called us to be a builder who is also a warrior…someone who fights on behalf of the work that God is doing here to protect and safeguard and stand against any attacks that come against us…
-and to do that fighting with the spiritual weapons of warfare that God provides (word of God and prayer), not our own human arsenal…to fight in the power of the HS with the strength that God provides…
May the Lord help you and I see ourselves in the way He has designed us…and to rise up to that calling: to be a builder and warrior…
II Rallying Point vv.19-20
- the second thing God has provided for victory in the sp. battle is a rallying point…read vv.19-20…
-the rallying point for Neh. and all the builders was a certain place -- a gathering place where they could all be together in the event of an emergency in order to calm down, regain courage, feel safe and protected…find the support of one another…be given directions…
-God has provided multiple rallying points for us as His people: small group, youth group, young adults, JOY group, ministry team, men’s group, accountability partner…Tues prayer group…more…
The Sunday Service Rallying Point
But, one of the main rallying points God has provided for us is this gathering right here on a Sunday am…
-I believe this regular gathering of God’s people can become a place of help, encouragement, equipping and commissioning so we can continue on with the work…
-this gathering is meant to be a place for spiritual victory over the attacks of the enemy…
-many of you have stumbled in here after a week of fighting some very real spiritual battles....others of you haven’t had such a hard time, whatever the case....there are times when we are really hurting and times when we’re not --but we still need the gathering together of God’s people....
-it is here God wants to settle you down, calm your spirit, give you peace and rest, dress your wounds, renew your faith and courage, give you perspective by His word about what’s going on out there with your life...point us back to Him…minister to you by His HS…
-and He wants to do that by inviting us into His presence…into His life-giving, healing presence…through worship, word…
…and thru the love of others…who will come alongside the hurting and struggling with love, prayer, etc…
** just in case we get the wrong impression by what I have just said and think that this gathering is mainly for us and just what we want and need…that we’re the main attraction and God is meant to meet our expectations…then let’s read
v. 20 again… “our God will fight for us…”
-the rallying point is meant to place our focus back on God and renew our faith in Him…
…and He does all this in order to send us out again....back out into the battle.....to be victorious over the enemy.....
-maybe you’ve never before thought of the gathering of God’s people as a spiritual weapon God gives us for victory…
III Battle Ready vv.21-23
-the final thing God has provided for victory in the sp. battle is the reminder once again to be battle ready…
…read vv.21-23…
eg. story from Tim Guenther…(picture of Tim)
…joined the Canadian infantry in 2007…deployed to Afghanistan from September 2009 to May 2010, where he was a LAV driver and dismounted patrol member in a district near Khandahar…was released from the Military in July 2011 as a corporal.
Conclusion
Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of all these things…
• the Master Builder
Ps. 127:1a Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.
• the Ultimate Warrior
Dt. 3:22 Do not be afraid of them; the LORD your God himself will fight for you.”
• the Rallying Point
2 Chr. 20:12 For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.
• Ready to help us in our battle…
Ps 121:4,7 …he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life…
Response, Prayer and Worship…