Giving & Gaining Spiritual Ground

Eph 4:22-27

Put on the whole armor of God. (Eph 6:10-18)

· Each day put on the full armor of God thru prayer one piece at a time:

The belt of truth: only way to stand against a liar is with the truth.

The breastplate of righteousness: we’re totally dependent on God for true righteousness.

The sandals of the gospel of peace: Pray you’ll display God’s peace wherever you go.

The shield of faith: your faith is in Jesus Christ’s authority & victory… He is faithful.

The helmet of salvation: hope & assurance of God’s deliverance & salvation.

The sword of the Spirit: thank God for His living Word & that He gives light to your path.

Pray in the Spirit: pray for your prayer targets… people God has put on your heart.

The cloak of zeal (Isa 59:17): wrap yourself in cloak of zeal… love God with all you heart.

Giving ground to the enemy. (Eph 4:27)

· Can a Christian be demon possessed?

· The NT does not directly answer the question, but it does teach that when we are saved we receive Jesus as Savior & Lord (master); & it teaches you can have only one master.

· So a Christian cannot be demon possessed… they are already possessed by H Spirit.

· Christians can be influenced to one degree or another by Satan... a continuum.

· Why we are instructed to put on the armor of God & stand firm (Eph 6:10; take every thought captive to Christ (2Cor 10:5; & to resist the Devil (Ja 4:7)

· If we don’t stand firm, we are easy prey for Satan & his influence.

· Unbelievers are held in Satan’s grip, under his control, blinded in their hearts & minds, & utterly dead to spiritual truth until quickened by H Spirit.

· Influence… evil spirits can only influence (not possess) believers.

· Demons can only influence believers to the extent that we allow them to do so.

· Act of allowing Satan to take any amount of control in our life is called “giving ground”.

· Any sinful activity that we don’t deal with by power of Spirit can be exploited by Satan & turned into means of entry & control… giving ground.

· Giving ground to Satan allows him to attack us with destructive temptations & lies.

· Ground is yielded to Satan when we cling to sin rather that confess it & turn from it. Then if we persist in our sin, Satan has the time & opportunity he needs to build a stronghold.

· Stronghold: lies that produce a mindset of hopelessness that causes us to accept as fact something we know is contrary to God’s will.

· He builds his stronghold of lies & attacks our relationship with Jesus.

· Our biggest problem is not Satan… but ourselves. If we desire to hold on to sin, we give Satan the ground he needs to launch his destructive attacks against us. If I cherish sin in my life, Satan will seek to exploit it. Since we must serve someone (Josh 24:15), any area of your life that you don’t yield to H Spirit’s control… Satan will control.

· When you give ground to Satan, you give him legal permission to attack you.

· With a firm foothold, Satan can turn an act of sin into a regular practice of sin, & from there it degenerates into a habit which leads us downward into bondage. (Pr 5:22)

· Addiction is a secular concept that suggests we are powerless victims of our problems.

· God calls it sin, the world calls it bad genes. If it is sin… there is hope.

· Deception is a big part of strongholds… strongholds are built on a foundation of lies.

· Satan cannot take ground without our cooperation & permission… all he can do is influence us (thru evil thoughts, suggestions, temptations).

· We aren’t Satan’s pawns & don’t want to be fixed on him… keep your focus on Christ!

Five biblical steps to freedom in Christ.

· These steps are part of the spiritual weapons God has given us… weapons with divine power to demolish strongholds. (2Cor 10:4)

· Satan is a defeated foe… rendered powerless at the cross of Christ!

1. Genuine repentance: there must be genuine repentance of all known sin.

· Turning from sin includes confession & cleansing by the blood of Christ (1Jn 1:9; 1Pet 1:18-19), & a commitment to let go of the sin.

· Without true repentance spiritual ground can’t be regained, nor freedom achieved.

2. Taking back ground: ground is taken back by an open declaration to God that what you did was sin.

· Verbally ask Him in His name & power to take back any ground you have yielded to Satan

· Renounce Satan’s works & ways in your life, & declare you want nothing to do with them

· Once all ground has been taken back from Satan (his legal right to attack me), this is the time to command the enemy in name & blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to leave & go where Jesus sends him.

3. Tearing down strongholds: a stronghold is a fortress of lies Satan builds in your mind.

· Power of deception is broken only when you recognize that it is a lie.

· Only Truth believed & acted on will set you free. (Jn 8:32)

· Accusing thoughts in your mind are from Satan…the accuser of the brethren. (Rev 12:10)

· We must renew our minds by thinking God’s thoughts. (Rm 12:2; Phil 4:8)

4. Building towers of truth: reprogramming your mind with truth about yourself, about God & about Satan & his ways.

· God’s Word is the ultimate source of truth we need to replace Satan’s lies. (Ps 18:1-3)

5. Taking thoughts captive: your mind is the battleground in spiritual warfare. (2Cor 10:5)

· We are to bring our thoughts in line with what Jesus desires & what pleases Him. (v.5)

· Our thoughts can come from one of three sources: ourselves, God, & Satan. (Mt 16:13-23)

· You are in danger if you cannot tell the difference between your thoughts & Satan’s.

· God doesn’t want us to be controlled by our thoughts… we are to control them. (10:5)

· Don’t let Satan set your agenda… take intruding thoughts captive, “I rebuke that”.

· Train your mind to think on those things listed in Phil 4:8… then you’ll be able to increasingly discern when the enemy is attacking your thoughts.