Spiritual Warfare in the Church

Spiritual warfare is a real thing. Satan & his followers are battling against the will of God and His followers. Ephesians 6 tells us that we aren’t fighting flesh and blood, but spiritual forces of evil. The enemy is fighting to divide God’s Church and in many ways he’s winning. Today I want to talk about the enemy’s strategies to steal kill and destroy. In Ephesians 6, Paul is talking to the church and calling them to fight this battle against the enemy. The best way to fight this battle is in the context of community – being involved in and connected relationally to a church. Why does the enemy attack the church?1. To direct our focus away from the mission Matt 28:19-20- The Great Commission The task is to make disciples, teach them to observe, and baptize them. Jesus gave all of these tasks to the Church. Satan doesn’t want the Church to be passionate about evangelism. He wants us to criticize and fight over opinions, so our energy is focused on small issues instead of the bigger spiritual problem of separation from God. 2. The unity of the church is a witness to Jesus’ love John 13:35 - Our love for one another, our unity, is how other people will know that we are followers of Jesus. John 17:20-23 – Jesus prayed that you and I, the Church today, would be unified so that the world would believe in Him. Satan wants to create division in the Church to counter our witness in the community. 3. The church teaches the life-changing Word of God Satan can entice the Church to ignore, neglect, and distort the Word of God. All over the world, he’s leading people to doubt the authority of Scripture. 1 Tim 4:1 – Demonic power is what stands behind false teachers. When members and staff are divisive, pastors are forced to focus on mitigating problems instead of teaching and strategizing. What’s Satan trying to do? Create division. Matt 12:25 – A divided church will not stand. You will not be effective in reaching people for Christ if there’s unresolved conflict. Churches in conflict are unable to grow or start new ministries. Division happens when... 1. Believers sin against each other Eph 4:35-32 – Paul explains how Christians should treat each other. Anytime we don’t immediately deal with conflict, we are giving the devil a foothold. Instead of venting, Scripture calls us to go to the person and have a conversation. Don’t let anger linger. Forgive and let it go, or discuss it. Eph 4:3 – Make an effort to keep unity. 2. We stop showing love for one another Col 3:14 - Unity comes when church members love each other. No storm or trial will separate friends who truly care about each other. If our love for our brothers weakens, we can begin to tolerate disunity and if it goes unchecked we can eventually justify division. 3. We put our needs before the needs of other people James 3:15 – Anytime we’re being selfish, we’re engaging in demonic thinking. Phil 2:4 - Don’t just look out for your own interests. 4. We act immature 1 Cor 3:1-3 – Paul can’t give them the deeper truths of scripture because they’re like infants. The result is that non-believers will have no interest in Jesus. The world will not be attracted to disunity. When we’re not united around the gospel we’re not able to be effective evangelistically. Next time: How to put on the armor of God and truly fight for unity.