Four Ways that Prayer is Nurtured, Part 2

Introduction: The Purpose of the Sermon Series and the Place of Prayer

0:02 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, March 18, 2001, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:15 Now will you turn with me, please, to a passage in the Word of God to which I will be making reference several times in the message. I am not going to expound this chapter, but I would like us all to have the basic contents of the chapter fresh in our minds. So please turn to the book of the Revelation, and chapter 12, Revelation chapter 12.

0:42 And we're going to read about John's vision of the activity primarily of a great red dragon. And so that you will know from the outset what the dragon symbolizes, verse 9 of Revelation 12 tells us very clearly. And the great dragon was cast down. And the old serpent, he that is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.

1:12 So this is a vivid, graphic picture, not of some literal dragon that's going to come on the scene of human history. But that one introduced to us in the third chapter of Genesis, the serpent, the devil, the deceiver. Here then, the reading of God's Word, Revelation chapter 12. And a great sign was...

1:34 And there was seen in heaven a woman arrayed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she was with child, and she cried out, travailing in birth and in pain to be delivered. And there was seen another sign in heaven. And behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his head seven diadems.

2:03 And his tail... And his tail draws the third part of the stars of heaven, and it cast them to the earth.

2:10 And the dragon stands before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered, he may devour her child. And she was delivered of a son, a man-child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God and unto his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had...

2:34 And a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand, two hundred, and threescore days. And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon. And the dragon warred and his angels, and they prevailed not. Neither was their place found any more in heaven.

2:58 And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the devil, and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. And I heard a great voice in heaven saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night.

3:33 And they overcame him. Because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony. And they love not their life, even unto death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you that dwell in them.

3:47 Woe for the earth, and for the sea. Because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man-child. And there were given to the woman the two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

4:19 And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river, which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon cast out of his mouth, and the dragon waxed angry with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus.

4:51 Now let us again pray and ask God for his help in the ministry of the word. Those of you who know my normal vocal range will know that I'm struggling with the back end of a severe cold that I've been struggling with all week, and I feel that this apparatus, this apparatus is very thin, but God has said his strength is made perfect in our weakness. Will you join me in prayer that God will not only give us the help of the Spirit in understanding his word, but give me help in my vocal cords to be able to preach it. Let's pray together.

5:26 Our Father, we are so thankful that you welcome us again into your presence, and we do together ask that your Holy Spirit would now attend the teaching and the preaching of your Holy Word, that you would, be with us as we have prayed that the seed of your truth may be blessed with the dew of heaven, even the present powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit. And Lord, I would ask you to undertake for my vocal apparatus, you know the effects of the cold, you know all of these factors, and we thank you that you have bidden us to come and cast all of our cares upon you, so we would cast this care and this concern upon you, and trust you that your grace will prove sufficient for us, as together we look to you in faith through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. We come this morning to the 18th message in a series of sermons that I have entitled, Living Together in the Father's House. The reason for preaching this series of sermons is that our church constitution requires that we as elders responsible for the public ministry, will, every five years, bring a series of sermons and studies in our adult class,

6:52 in which some of the major biblical truths embodied in our church's confession of faith, what we believe, and our constitution, how we agree to walk together, that truths contained in those documents be taught and preached for a minimum of 15 consecutive Lord's Day mornings. And since nothing, nothing is more crucial to the life and ministry of any church than understanding its purpose. I have parked on that initial section in our constitution for a number of weeks as we have been seeking to grapple with what the scriptures say the purpose of the church of Jesus Christ is in this present age. And I have organized the biblical materials set out in our constitution under the title, These Heads. We look first of all at the supreme and all-encompassing purpose of the church. It's stated in our constitution as follows.

7:56 The purpose of this church is to glorify the God of the scriptures. And nothing is of greater importance than the commitment of the church to glorify the God of the scriptures. Then secondly, we looked at some of the God-appointed activities by which, we pursued that purpose. And I gave you the imagery of a circle and arrows.

8:21 Those activities that are focused upon our worship of God. Those that are focused upon our edification of one another. And those that are focused upon our outreach in evangelism, in the planting and strengthening of churches. Then we went on in the third place to consider the commitments essential to the ongoing pursuit, the pursuit of that purpose.

8:48 And our constitution speaks of our commitment to enunciate God's changeless standard of right and wrong, His holy law. Our commitment to propagate and to proclaim that one method God is given whereby sinners may be made right with Him. That is the gospel. And our commitment to the preservation of that body of revealed truth given in the scriptures, contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

9:20 Then we went on to ask the question, by what means is the church to fulfill its God-given purpose? And our constitution answers that there are basically two categories of those means. There are the primary and indispensable means, identified in the scriptures as in our constitution, prayer and the ministry of the word. Then there are the discretionary and dispensable means.

9:48 And we mentioned some of those, the sale of books, the training of men for the ministry, radio broadcast, etc. Those are discretionary and dispensable. Prayer and the public and private ministry of the word are primary and indispensable. We come now this morning to our third message focusing on the place of prayer as a divinely appointed means, by which the church is to pursue her God-given purpose.

10:20 In the first study, I sought to demonstrate that no church can claim to be a healthy, biblical church that is not a praying church. And we did a flyover of the book of Acts and the epistles, and we saw that when we pick up the documents of the New Testament, where the apostles founded churches under the blessing of the presence and ministry of God, that the church was born in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. Secondly, that the churches grew and flourished in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. And thirdly, that the churches were exhorted to continue to maintain a pervasive atmosphere of prayer.

The Fourth Taproot of Prayerfulness: Prayer as a Strategic Weapon in Spiritual Warfare

11:04 Then last Lord's Day, we began to wrestle with this question. If a church is going to continue to give itself to prayer, what convictions must be well-rooted and constantly nourished in the hearts of the members of that church? I use the analogy of a tree. When you see a tree bearing large, well-shaped, luscious fruit, you know that that tree, among other things, has a healthy root system.

11:36 And whenever you see a church in which there is a pervasive atmosphere of prayer, it's because there are some biblical tap roots that are well-nourished in the soil of that particular congregation. And so we began to look at some of those roots. We saw that prayerfulness is nurtured by the conviction that the church is totally dependent upon the power of God in order to fulfill the purpose of God. When Jesus said, Without me you can do nothing, that was not rhetorical exaggeration.

12:20 It is a blunt statement of reality. And insofar as the church maintains this conviction, not a matter of a truth to which we point and say, I believe it, but a truth that is there drawing its very substance and life from the internal persuasion of the Holy Spirit, the persuasion of the heart, that we as the people of God are totally dependent upon the power of God in order to fulfill the purpose of God, when that conviction wanes or dies, there will no longer be any true prayer in any church. There may be the form of prayer, there may be the ritual of prayer, but there will be no true engagement of God. Secondly, prayer is nurtured by the conviction that there is a discernible relationship between the power of God and the prayers of the people of God. The Scriptures teach us that there is a discernible relationship between God's working in mighty power and the prayers of His people. As long as we are nourished in our souls with that conviction, prayerfulness will continue among us because we are persuaded that without God's power we cannot fulfill His purpose, and that there is this intimate relationship between His power and our prayers. And then thirdly, prayer is nurtured by the conviction

13:49 that the conditions for answered prayer are real, reasonable, and attainable by the grace of God. If a church is praying and living in the atmosphere of answered prayer, it is being nurtured by the conviction of its members that those conditions for answered prayer are real conditions, they are reasonable conditions, and they are attainable by the grace of God. We are to pray according to the will of God. We are to pray with no unresolved conflict with God, and we are to pray in faith of the promises of God.

14:31 Now, that's distilling into eight minutes, a number of hours of instruction, and I hope it hasn't just flown over the head of those who come in cold turkey to our study this morning. Now, what we want to do this morning is to focus our attention on what I'm calling the fourth taproot of prayerfulness. If a church, if this church, Trinity Church, is to maintain and grow in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer, it will not only be as those three taproots, already described, are healthy and flourishing in the subsoil of our corporate heart and life, but this fourth taproot will be equally present in us as a church. Let me describe it, and then tell you how I propose to open it up both this morning and, God willing, again this evening. Prayer is nurtured. Here's taproot number four.

15:34 Prayer is nurtured by the conviction that God has appointed prayer as a strategic weapon in the church's warfare with the unseen powers of darkness. Now, again, this is a typical Martin heading. It's wordy. But I've chopped out all the words I know to chop out.

16:00 I tried to chop out a phrase by just using an indefinite pronoun, and it lost its teeth. So I write and scratch and write, and scratch and write and scratch, and this is what is the product of the write and scratch process. Prayer is nurtured by the conviction. You see, again, we're back to conviction, the things you're ready to die for, not the things you say, oh, yeah, believe that, believe that.

16:22 No, it's the things that are here that mold and shape you. Prayer is nurtured by the conviction that God has appointed prayer as a strategic weapon, not just one weapon among many, but a strategic weapon in the church's warfare with the unseen powers of darkness. And I'll attempt to convey the teaching of the word on this point under two major headings. First of all, the reality of the warfare demonstrated.

16:57 That will be this morning. And then this evening, the weaponry for the warfare identified. So we begin. With the reality of the warfare demonstrated.

17:12 I'm asserting that prayer is nurtured by this conviction that God has appointed prayer as a strategic weapon in the church's warfare with the powers of darkness. Now, that statement assumes that the church does indeed have a warfare, and that there are realities described by the words the powers of darkness. And so I want to establish this morning from the scriptures the reality of the warfare. I want to demonstrate from the word of God that there is such a warfare.

The Commencement of the Warfare: Genesis 3:15

17:51 It is real. Tonight, God willing, we'll look at the weaponry for the warfare in which we will focus upon the unique place of prayer. Now as we try to think of this subject and steer a straight course erring neither on the left nor the right with an excessive preoccupation with the powers of darkness or a simplistic, naive ignorance of the operations of the power of darkness, I want you to think with me in terms of four C's. Those of you who take notes, four C's.

18:30 We're going to look at the commencement of the warfare. Secondly, the concentrated engagement of that warfare. The continuation of the warfare. And fourthly, the consummation of the warfare.

18:46 First of all, then, the commencement of the warfare. I stand before you persuaded from my Bible that sitting here today we are not only a congregation of men and women, boys and girls, gathered in a building with hymn books and Bibles before us, but that in the very real sense we are an army at war. That there are real beings that have no physical existence that are even present in this building. That are present with you when you walk out and get into your car and go home.

19:23 And that we are engaged in a warfare with those beings. And we'll never understand the teaching of the Word of God on this whole issue unless we have a clear perception of the commencement of the warfare. Where did our warfare begin? Well, like almost every other major issue in life, we go back to the early chapters of Genesis for the answer to that question.

19:49 So as we consider the commencement of the warfare, turn with me to the book of Genesis. I trust all of you are familiar with the opening two chapters. We have the account of God's marvelous work of creation over which He says, it is all good, it is very good. In chapter two, we have a zoom lens on the creation of the man and the woman.

20:16 And God's putting them in a special place called the Garden of Eden. And God charging them with a special directive concerning this matter of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And then in chapter three, we have the account of the serpent who becomes the instrument of the devil. That foul fiendish, the prince of darkness.

20:40 And embodying himself in the serpent, he comes and he speaks to Eve. And Eve is deceived and deluded. And Adam then blatantly disobeys and we have the tragic account of the intrusion of sin into the human race in verses one to eight. Now in verse nine, we have a record of the response of God to the intrusion of sin.

21:07 Verse nine. And the Lord God called unto the man and said unto him, Where are you? And he said, I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And he said, Who told you that you were naked?

21:25 Have you eaten of the tree whereof I commanded you that you should not eat? Adam, have you blatantly, willfully, high-handedly disobeyed me? Verse twelve. And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat.

21:46 And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent. Now you see what he's going to do?

22:03 He speaks to Adam, speaks to Eve, speaks to the serpent. Now when he's going to show how he responds to their actions, he speaks to the servant, then to Eve, and then to the man, in reverse order. Do you see that? That's the way the text unfolds.

22:21 Now when he's speaking to the serpent, verse fourteen, The Lord God said unto the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon your belly shall you be and thus shall you eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

22:59 One of the most amazing passages in all of the Word of God. Here in what men have come to call that first ray of gospel light comes when God is talking to the devil. The first pronouncement of the gospel comes in God's cursing of the devil. He says to the serpent, and notice what God says he's going to do.

23:31 In the masterful outline of Professor Murray, once you read it, you can't think of the passage without these words. We have enmity injected, I will put enmity, enmity perpetuated, your seed, her seed, and enmity consummated, the crushing of the head of the serpent, the bruising of the heel of the seed of the woman. Now note, it is God who comes and in judgment and in grace says, I will put enmity between you, speaking to the serpent and the woman. Think of it.

24:12 The woman had aligned herself with the devil. The woman had believed his lies, had come under the spell of his insinuations about the character and the intention of God in the prohibition about that tree. She has aligned herself with the devil and God in grace comes and says, I'm going to break up that alignment. I will inject enmity.

24:39 I will do something in the woman that will set her against you whereas by her sin she has aligned herself with you. So the first word of gospel deliverance is couched in the language of warfare. I will put enmity. He didn't need to put anything in the serpent.

25:02 By his very nature and disposition he is a murderer who comes, the thief, Jesus says, who comes for no other purpose than to destroy and to kill. Jesus said of the devil, he was a murderer from the beginning. The enmity to God and toward the man and toward his wife was already there. So God is saying, with respect to redemptive grace, I will break up Eve's alignment with you.

25:29 I will put enmity where now there is amity. And furthermore God says, I'm going to perpetuate that. Look at the text. And not only between you and the woman, but between your seed and her seed.

25:44 The devil has a seed. He has a progeny. He has offspring. He does not have them physically in terms of ordinary propagation and generation.

25:56 But as Jesus said in John 8, 44, You are of your father the devil and the lust of your father it is your will to do. Or in John, 1 John chapter 3, he speaks, These are the marks of the sons of God and the children of the devil. And here we see that that enmity is going to be perpetuated into two distinct seeds. There will be a seed of the serpent and there will be a seed of the woman.

26:27 And then he speaks of enmity consummated, comes back to the individual. He, that is, the ultimate seed of the woman, he, not they, but he, an individual, shall bruise your head. When you are out to kill a snake, what do you do? You chop its head off.

26:45 You crush its head. Cut its tail off. It will still live. Crush its head.

26:49 And he dies. He will crush the head of the serpent, but in the process, the heel of the seed of the woman shall be bruised. So what is God doing in this initial announcement of his gracious intention to rescue people from the effects of sin? Martin Luther said, this text embraces and comprehends within itself everything noble and glorious that is to be found anywhere in the scriptures.

27:21 God is here announcing that he is not going to allow all of the sons and daughters of Adam to go on in alignment with the devil, but that in redemptive grace he will have a seed that will ultimately crush him and crush the head of the serpent. But what I want you to see is that in this initial announcement, the climate of warfare is set before us from the very outset. There is enmity between the serpent, the woman, the seed of the serpent, and the seed of the woman. And in a very real sense, if you read the rest of the Old Testament in the light of this, you'll understand what it's all about. From that initial promise, God begins to make it plain in real history how he is going to preserve a seed of his own redeemed ones, leading to the time when the seed, Jesus Christ, Messiah, would come and crush the head of the serpent by his person and by his saving work. And all the way through, you read this history of tragedy and triumph and redemption and declension. What's going on with all of these individuals and the motion of nations and the development of the nation of Israel

28:48 and their apostasy and their going into captivity and coming out of captivity? What's all of this about? It's all a commentary on Genesis 3.15.

28:57 There is a war. And in that war, God is purposing to preserve a godly seed till he brings the seed, the Lord Jesus, into human history. And the devil is determined that he will frustrate and thwart the purpose of God. Enmity marks the seed of the woman against the seed of the serpent.

The Concentrated Engagement of the Warfare: Christ's Earthly Ministry

29:21 But then secondly, as we try to understand the reality of this warfare, consider with me not only the commencement of the warfare, but the concentrated engagement of the warfare. Or the most critical part of the period of the warfare. I struggled with what words to use. I wanted to give you four C's so it would stick.

29:44 When I say the concentrated engagement of the warfare, what I'm saying is this. This warfare finds its most concentrated conflict in the period of time bounded by the birth of our Lord Jesus, His death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father. Within that period of time, there is an engagement of the devil and of God in Jesus Christ that is the most concentrated theater in the entire history of this war. When the seed of the woman appears as the incarnate word, what follows immediately upon the history of the so-called Christmas story?

30:29 One of the serpent's seed named Herod hears that someone is born a king. And he is immediately threatened. And what does he do? He tries to kill the king.

30:43 He sends out a decree that all the children two years old and under should be slain in that whole general area where the wise men, the magi, would have visited who had spoken to him of their seeing the star of Messiah in the east and that they were come to worship Him. Here the serpent seeks to kill, to crush the head of the very seed of the woman. But he fails. And when our Lord Jesus comes into His official ministry, He is no sooner clothed with power by the Spirit than the Scripture says, He is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

31:28 He goes forth designated as God's champion. He is not reluctantly backed into the wilderness. The Greek verb is vigorous. He is driven.

31:40 He is passed by the Spirit into the wilderness. And God's champion comes forth and encounters the devil. And in the three concentrated areas which undid our first parents, our Lord Jesus conquers and we read that the devil left Him for a season. And then as our Lord begins His public ministry, He goes into a synagogue where they had not seen any disruption like this before.

32:10 Mark chapter 1 records it. And there as He comes into the synagogue in the presence of a demon-possessed man, the demon cries out, What have I to do with you? And we find throughout the ministry of our Lord Jesus this tremendous emphasis upon demonic powers being confronted and conquered and cast out by our Lord Jesus. Why?

32:34 Because in Jesus Christ, the King of grace, the kingdom of darkness is being dismantled. And our champion is showing that He is the one who will ultimately totally crush the head of the serpent. And our Lord makes this abundantly clear in His own statement in Luke chapter 10. And here I want you to turn to the passage with me rather than just quote it in your hearing.

33:01 He's conferred His conquering power upon seventy. He has sent them out with power to preach and to heal and to cast out demons. And we read in Luke 10, 17 these words. The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in Your name.

33:25 And He said unto them, I beheld Satan falling as lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. You see the language of warfare. I've sent you out in a warfare context.

33:48 And I've given you power over the enemy. And nothing shall in any wise hurt you. Here is our Lord exercising His authority as the Messianic King who is going to dismantle the kingdom of darkness. And He says that He has given this authority that He possesses in Himself.

34:11 And then in Luke chapter 11, the next chapter over, we have the incident of our Lord casting out a demon. And the multitudes marveled when this man whose demon made him dumb so that he could not speak, not stupid, but unable to speak. But verse 15 says, some of them said, By Beelzebub, the prince of the demons, he's casting out demons. Others trying him sought of him a sign from heaven.

34:38 But he, knowing their thoughts, said every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against a house falls. If Satan is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say, I cast out demons by Beelzebub.

34:54 And if I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall they be your judges. Now here's our text. But if I by the things of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you.

35:11 When the strong man fully armed guards his own court, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he takes from him his whole armor, wherein he trusts it, and divides his spoils. You see what Jesus is saying? No, I do not cast out demons because I'm in cahoots with the princes, with the prince of the demons.

35:37 I cast them out because I am stronger than the strong man. Please turn this cassette over to continue the message. I do not cast out demons because I'm in cahoots with the prince of the demons. I cast them out because I am stronger than the strong man.

35:59 I am binding the powers of darkness in my person and in my mission. If I by the finger of God cast out demons, then has the kingdom of God come among you. That kingdom that is going to confront the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom in which demonic powers hold men subject to them. And Jesus is manifesting his conquering power throughout his entire earthly ministry.

36:30 And then that conflict comes to its most heightened expression in the events surrounding the death of our Lord Jesus. Notice what he says in John chapter 12, trying to show you that in this conflict that began in the garden, we have in the period of our Lord's life and ministry the most concentrated theater of that entire warfare. John chapter 12 and verses 31 to 33. Now is the judgment of this world.

37:08 Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself. But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die. When our Lord says, now is the judgment of this world, he's not talking about the last great day of judgment.

37:36 When we shall all stand before God to give an account of the deeds done in the body. He's speaking about his cross. The whole context indicates this. Now is the judgment of this world.

37:48 Now, in conjunction with my being lifted up in death, the prince of this world shall be cast out. In conjunction with the death of Jesus is the casting out of the prince of this world. Not his ultimate demise. There is a consummation of the warfare.

38:11 But in this concentrated theater of the warfare, in Jesus' death, there is a conquering of the prince of this world. Notice how this is affirmed in Colossians chapter 2 in very graphic language. Speaking of the implications of the death of the Lord Jesus, we read in Colossians 2 and verse 14, that Christ has blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us. He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.

38:48 Now notice this language. Having despoiled the principalities, having put off from himself, having set aside the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them, triumphing in it. And what is the it? His death.

39:14 His death by which he despoiled the principalities and the powers, and made an open show of them. In his cry to telestai, it is fixed. He exhausted all of the claims of the devil against those for whom he died. He broke the back of the power of darkness.

39:37 And therefore, the writer to the Hebrews in similar language can speak of Christ's death as the triumph of the prince of darkness. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14. Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood. He also himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death he might bring to naught him that had the power of death.

40:04 That is the devil. Through death he might bring to naught him that had the power of death. That is the devil. Now as surely as we cannot understand the Old Testament without the light of Genesis 3.15, this introduction of warfare that blossoms out in the history and movement of nations leading to the coming of Christ, we can make no real sense out of the gospel record. After all, the other two chapters are just as complete as they once were. And they are in their concentration upon the significance of the death of our Lord Jesus unless we see it in terms of this ongoing warfare that has its most concentrated period of action in conjunction with the person and work of our Lord Jesus. But now thirdly, consider with me the continuation of the warfare.

The Continuation of the Warfare: The Church Age

40:58 The Lord Jesus is not here. He has gone back to the right hand of the father. He has sent his holy spirit to indwell the Lord Jesus Spirit to indwell his people. Where is the warfare? Where is the indication that this warfare continues, that the promise of Genesis 3.15 is still casting its shadow over the present hour, that there is enmity between the two seeds?

41:26 Well, if you turn to Matthew chapter 16, a pivotal passage, you'll see a very clear answer to that question as we focus our attention now on the continuation of the warfare. The Lord has just drawn from Peter the confession concerning the identity of his person and his mission. You are the Christ, the anointed Messiah, at your office, your mission, son of the living God. That's the identity.

42:00 Of his person. Verse 17 of Matthew 16. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood is not revealed unto you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say unto you that you are Peter, and upon this rock, not upon you, but upon this rock, that is, the confession you have made of who I am.

42:25 Upon this rock of who I am as anointed Messiah, son of God. I will build my church, now look at the language used, and the gates of Hades, or hell, shall not prevail, shall not overcome it, shall not prevail against it. Now, what's the imagery used by our Lord? He says, Peter, based upon who I am as Messiah, as son of God, I am going to establish my church.

43:01 And as I establish my church, I give you this promise. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. What's the imagery? I believe the commentator Hendrickson has captured it beautifully.

43:16 The imagery is this. The gates of hell is a figure of speech standing for the devil and his kingdom of darkness. It is like a walled city. And he holds his subjects within it.

43:30 And they are safe within the wall. Led captive by him, unto his will, Paul says in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 26. He speaks of conversion as being delivered out of the power of darkness. Or in Acts 26, to open their eyes, to turn them from the power of Satan unto God.

43:50 And the picture is of his minions, his subjects, safe within his walled city. And the Lord Jesus, in the person of his church, in the institution of his church, his church, in the ministry of his church, is coming upon that city, because within its walls and its protection, lorded over by the prince of darkness, are those for whom Christ has shed his precious blood, those who have been given to him by the Father, whose debts and liabilities he assumed when he became enfleshed in Mary's womb, those on whose behalf he lived that perfect life under the law, those on whose behalf he died under the curse of the law, but they are still captives of the devil, and along comes the people of God as an attacking army, and the prince of darkness and all of his servants and all of his soldiers see that their position of security is being threatened, and so there is a shout and the gates fly open, and out come the hordes of darkness to say, we'll mow them all down. Rather than lose one of our subjects, the gates of hell, the combined powers of darkness shall not

45:09 prevail against it. The church will conquer and will lay hold of those for whom the Savior has shed his blood, and they will be delivered from the grip and the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God's dear son. And as long as the church is in the world, seeking to fulfill her God-given mission, she's in a warring state. The hostile powers of darkness will do all they can to overcome and subdue the church. But Christ says the gates of hell shall not overpower it. That's the real sense of the Greek word. Shall not overpower it. By power, push it down and conquer it.

46:00 They shall not prevail. Hence Paul can say to the Roman Christians a cryptic, wonderful little word of promise. Romans 16.20, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Tying in that church in Rome with the ancient promise of that conflict initiated, begun there in the garden, carried on with intensity. During the life history of our Lord Jesus, but now continued through the church. And then there is a second passage that I want us to look at that demonstrates the continuation of the warfare. The familiar words of Ephesians chapter 6. And I may say as we turn there, I was thrilled in talking to

46:54 Pastor Len Byerly, who'll be preaching next Lord's Day while I'm out in Michigan ministering. And I asked him what he felt he was going to preach. And he said, I'm going to preach the Lord's Day. And I said, I'm going to preach on, and he said, I'm going to preach on two pieces of the armor from Ephesians 6. I said, it will be a wonderful follow-up from our study in the word of God today. Note now what Paul says. Here's a church that has been given what some regard to be the most glorious, concentrated body of truth concerning the greatness of our salvation in Christ, individually and corporately. In the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians, we are taken up in the word of God. And we are taken up in the word of God. And we are taken up in the into the heavenlies to see all that we are and have in Christ individually, and all that we have and are in Christ corporately as the new humanity, the middle wall of partition, broken down, constituted one new man in Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, made a living temple. Marvelous truth. And in chapter 4, Paul begins to lay out the implications of this. In the light of all you are and all you have, this is what you're to do and to be the old indicative imperative motif you've heard about till it comes out your ears well it's there this is what you are this is what you have this is what you're to be this is what you're to do

48:14 and after giving a whole string of exhortations about church unity and about separation from the world and husbands and wives and servants and masters and fathers and kids he now comes to his final exhortation what are people to do and think in their life in the light of all they have in christ and in the light of all of their privileges that flow out of that and their responsibilities piggybacked on their privileges well he's going to come to his final word of exhortation verse 10 of chapter 6 finally here's the capstone of all i'm going to say to you you are in christ seated in the heavenlies with him ready to go raised up and even now join to the exalted christ but now finally in that position with all that privilege be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might that's the first imperative be strong in the lord in the strength of his might second imperative put on the whole armor of god why paul in order that you may be able to stand against the the wiles, the stratagems, the scheming plots and plans of the devil. Oh, wait a minute, Paul.

49:38 Haven't you been teaching us that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, chosen in Him, foreordained to the adoption of sons, redeemed by His blood, sealed by the Spirit, delivered, quickened from death, saved by grace, united to all believers with no middle wall or partition? Now you're telling me, as your capstone exhortation, I'm to be strong and put on the strength of God's, I'm sorry, and in the strength of God's might, I'm to put on the whole armor of God that I may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil? You're telling me that I'm going to have some kind of first-hand dealings with the scheming, plotting, hellish, devil? He said, yes. And if you doubt it, let me tell you the reality of it. Verse 12.

50:30 For. For. I'm giving you this final capstone exhortation, and I'm not playing games when I tell you you need to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. You must put on the whole armor of God in order to stand your ground against the efforts of the devil to dislodge you from your ground for our, for wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places.

51:15 See what Paul is saying? This final exhortation is not going beyond the realm of your truths, the realm of your faith, but within yourselves, the realm of your feet, and the zephy kur kins, and the temple of God, and believe and turn to your G-d, to get to God, to return in the new mankind, and to say to our God, I want us to overcome the dust. Before, and after, and right now, of these unseen but real powers of darkness. He describes them as principalities, powers, world rulers, spiritual hosts of wickedness. You can't touch them, can't see them, can't feel them, can't taste them with your physical senses, but they are there. And you are engaged in combat with them.

The Consummation of the Warfare: Christ's Return

52:23 You are part of God's ongoing army. These two texts, the Matthew 16, the Ephesians 6, there are many others, but these two texts establish that there is a continuation of the warfare and you and I are part of it. But now briefly consider, fourthly, the consummation or conclusion of the warfare. It's not going on forever.

52:47 That warfare commenced in the garden between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. All of history is moving toward a grand climax and it's described in many ways in Scripture, but perhaps the most graphic is found again in the book of the Revelation, chapter 19. The book of the Revelation, chapter 19. The warring imagery is dominant in this passage.

53:14 Verse 11. I saw the heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sat thereon called faithful and true and in righteousness does he dwell. He judged, now notice, and make war. His eyes are as a flame of fire and upon his head are many diadems and he has a name written which no one knows but he himself.

53:38 He is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood and his name is called the Word of God. John chapter 1. This is Jesus, exalted, coming now under the imagery of a warrior sitting upon a horse and the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen white and pure and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp sword and with it that he should smite the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron and he treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty and he has on his garment and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Then verses 17 and 18 give the picture of all the armies of the opposers of God in the world. The rod and of his Christ gathered together and then verse 19 I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war with him that sat upon the horse and against his army and the beast was taken and with him the false prophet and then we have the description that they are cast into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone and the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse even the sword that came forth out of his mouth and the birds were filled with their flesh and at the end of chapter 20 we see the devil himself is cast into the lake of fire and all who follow with him

55:08 here's the consummation of the warfare a moment is coming in human history when Jesus Christ in the company of his own will finally and eternally conclude this warfare when the devil and the devil and all who are the seed of the serpent shall be forever banished and then we read the wonderful account in chapters 21 and 22 of the ushering in of the new heavens and of the new earth well that's a poor attempt but at least an attempt to give you this overview of the cosmic warfare that we as God's people are involved in we've looked at the beginning of that warfare the commencement of it in the garden the concentrated engagement in that warfare in the life history of our Lord Jesus culminating in his death resurrection ascension and the descent of the spirit the continuation of the warfare through the entire period of the church's existence and then the consummation of the warfare at the coming of our Lord Jesus now in the light of the reality of the influence of the devil and the host of darkness it should not surprise us to see that those sinister powers are taken very seriously in our Bibles

The Practical Reality of Demonic Influence in Everyday Life

56:35 what I've given you up till now has been primarily didactic that is teaching I didn't know any other way to do it but now as we draw the message to a conclusion this morning I want you to look with me into your Bibles and see how this warfare is not something that is theoretical to the biblical writers example number one when you see people worshiping God worshiping God worshiping God worshiping God worshiping God worshiping idols literal idols bowing down to an image of wood or stone or straw when people bow down to the idols of money and power and sex what is behind the worship of idols the apostle Paul gives us the answer in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 in verse 20 look at his answer 1 Corinthians 10 in verse 20 but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice the things which the Gentiles sacrifice to demons and not to God but I would not that you should have communion with demons you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons see what he is saying when those heathen go in before their altars and sacrifice to their gods that they name this and they shape this or that way behind the idols are demons evil powers that hate God they don't want the true God worshipped they want to suck away

58:03 the worship of God to themselves demonic powers are behind idol worship why do people refuse to believe let me make it more personal why do some of you sitting here this morning why do you refuse to believe you know why you know why I'll tell you why listen I'll use Paul's words 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4 and it says if our gospel is veiled it is veiled in them that are perishing in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God should not dawn upon them when Christ is set before you week after week day after day some of you around your table in family worship and mom and dad and pastors and Sunday school teachers you speak of the glory of Christ the loveliness of Christ the sweetness of the salvation of Christ and they urge you believe upon him cast yourself upon him trust yourself to him you don't believe you refuse to believe why because you think you're cool and you're not one of these stupid people that becomes

59:32 no no it's because you're blind it's because you're blind he knows blinding you the devil that's what Paul says in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds you say my mind's not blinded I get straight A's ah yes your mind is very much enlightened with regard to history to math to geography but when it comes to Jesus and his salvation you don't see anything as it really is you're as blind as the person who thinks he knows a mathematic equation when he sees two and two and writes seventeen and thinks he's right what would you think of someone? put his equation two plus two and put seventeen and ready to die to prove he's right you'd say there's something wrong up here my friend you and your need Christ in the fullness of his grace put them together the only rational thing to do is to believe cast yourself upon him you won't do it why? God of this world has blinded your mind that's the apostle's explanation furthermore why do people go on stubbornly in their sins when their sin is going to destroy them and damage them and Christ will free them forgive them cleanse them break the power of sin why do they go on in their sin? well the apostle tells us in 2 Timothy 2.26 I'm giving you all the answer of the Bible

61:00 not my theory on it Paul is exhorting Timothy that as the Lord's servant he must not be argumentative combative but be gentle meekly correcting those that oppose themselves 2 Timothy 2.25 and 26 in meekness correcting those that oppose themselves if peradventure God may give them repentance to the knowledge of the truth and they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil having been taken captive by him unto his will taken captive by him unto his will that's why you go on stubbornly in your sin you're the devil's lackey you're the devil's slave in 1 John 3.8 says for this purpose the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil Christ comes to you in the gospel and says I'll break your chains I'll set you free into the freedom of a son and a daughter and a willing bond slave of me and of my gracious and easy yoke but you go on stubbornly why? you're the devil's lackey why do people love the world and its ways you look around you see the emptiness the frustration the hollowness yet you go on in the very coarse and pattern of this world why? Ephesians chapter 2 let the word of God answer us

62:29 verse 1 you did he make alive who were dead through your trespasses and sins wherein you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the powers of the air of the spirit who is now working in the sons of disobedience among whom we also all once lived you see what Paul is saying he is saying that behind your commitment to live by the world's standards behind the commitment to think like a worldling to carry out your desires of mind and of flesh like a worldling there is a spirit at work in you and the same Greek verb is used in Philippians 2 God is at work in you the people of God he works in us powerfully to will and to work the spirit of God's enemies at work in you that's what drives you that's what keeps you wedded to the world where do unscriptural teachings come from 1st Timothy 4 1 Paul says it's demons who influence the thinking of people when they propagate believe and propagate false teaching the spirit says expressly in the latter times some shall fall away from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons behind the twisting of scripture

63:57 behind the manipulation of the very truths of God there is demonic power demons that love darkness and error and are establishing and maintaining their rule by means of the lie what lies behind serious lapses among the people of God and here I'll just quote several texts quickly Paul is writing his counsel in 1st Timothy 5 as to why younger widows should not be married and bear children and rule the household he said because some have already turned aside after Satan when a widow became a gossip and morally loose he said see behind that the work of the devil seeking to discredit the name of Christ Jesus said to Peter Peter Satan has desired you to sift you as wheat what lies behind wrong attitudes of the people of God to their fellow brethren Paul says Paul is writing to the Corinthians and says look I want you to do this with the sinning brother that's repented we don't want him swallowed up with over much sorrow for we are not ignorant of his that is Satan's devices 2nd Corinthians 2.11 that's just a quick overview of seven incidents and I didn't have to spend hours digging those out there are many more that in the mindset of the apostolic guides of the church

Conclusion: The Cruciality of Prayer in Spiritual Warfare and a Call to Alignment

65:25 this matter of the warfare was very much very real so that when Peter writes be sober be watchful your adversary the devil prowls about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour he's not using exaggeration for effect that's reality now dear people can I bring this all around tie it up and send us home to think what I've tried to do this morning is to show you why I feel it's so crucial that we consider this fourth taproot to a prevailing spirit of prayer men and women who know God will pray when they are convinced that God has assigned to prayer a strategic place in the ongoing warfare with the powers of darkness and all I've attempted to do this morning is to establish from the scriptures that there is a real warfare with the powers of darkness we've surveyed that warfare from its beginning in the garden to its concentrated expression in conjunction with the person and work of our Lord Jesus in the ongoing experience of the church even to the consummation and then I've given you just this sampling of how that mentality

66:52 was obviously present in those who wrote our New Testament epistles now let me give this word of caution you will find that you will find that you will find that you will find that you will find that you will find that you will find that you will find that you will find nowhere in the New Testament that sins that are sins of the flesh are blamed on the devil you've got these people going around saying you've got a problem with jealousy let's cast out the demon of jealousy you've got a problem with gluttony let's cast out the demon of gluttony you've got a problem no no no no that is totally unfounded by the scriptures there are many of our temptations that come from our remaining sin we are not to call those temptations directly demonic and we're not to be casting out the demons of lust and of envy and the rest no on the other hand we cannot be ignorant of this emphasis that I've shown in these seven passages almost at random and it's when we are gripped with this reality that when I stand here and preach there are unseen powers of darkness determined to keep men and women boys and girls thrown blind to Jesus what a stupid fool I'd be to preach and hold hope that my preaching can do something it will be preceded with prayer accompanied with prayer followed with prayer and what is true of me will be true of you and all of us as a congregation our children are not going to be released from the prince of darkness because we're doing it all right

68:20 there's got to be the wielding of this weapon of all prayer as we shall see God willing tonight may the Lord help us and may the Lord help you if sitting here this morning you see hey I'm a man on the wrong side of this war my friend and here I hear old John Murray in my ear what are your alignments he was Scottish and very precise and he concluded his sermon on Genesis 3 15 with the words what are your alignments where are you aligned see to the woman in Christ see to the serpent in Adam dead which side if you're in Christ it's a trite little saying but you're on the victory side you're on the victory side in Christ you'll be part of that glorious consummation when the prince of darkness and all the host of darkness and all the followers of that prince will be banished to the lake of fire and will be ushered into the glory of the new heavens and the new earth oh may God grant that you're aligned with the Lord Jesus let's pray our Father we have sought albeit imperfectly

69:49 to teach to preach your truth and we now commit to you and to the work of your spirit that truth we pray that you would help us as your people to face realistically the conflict into which we've been conscripted by our Lord Jesus and that we will learn in new ways how effectively to wage warfare against the prince of darkness and all the host aligned with him we will learn and we will be bold to pray that even this morning you Lord Jesus would reach into that kingdom of darkness and rescue some unto yourself seal then your word to the prophet of each of our souls and may your blessing rest upon us as we leave this place and throughout the remainder of this your day we ask in Jesus name amen