Timothy J. Clarke - Spiritual Warfare: The Battlefield of the Mind

This weekend, beloved, we are beginning a new series of messages that will address the issue and subject of spiritual warfare. The most condensed definition of spiritual warfare that I can give, Rahmel, is that spiritual warfare is the battle we are engaged in with the enemy of our soul, who seeks to defeat and destroy us both spiritually and ultimately physically. Last night, in the message, I quoted Pastor Jim Raley from Orlando, Florida, who wrote that one of the great dangers of the modern Church and of Christians today is that so many do not believe in a real or personal devil. Mike goes on to say that the tragedy of that is Satan enjoys it that way because if he is not believed in, he will not be prepared for. Okay, you missed it; if I don’t believe in the devil, then I will never prepare myself for the devil. There are many believers, and I hate to say this, Deacon Ernest Williams, but there are many preachers and pastors occupying pulpits today who do not believe in a personal, actual devil. However, I have come to serve notice on every child of God that to do that is a mistake of huge proportions. In fact, the Bible tells us that there are three things about the devil you and I must understand. First of all, he is real. The Bible says our adversary, the devil, goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The devil is real. Now, let me say this, Ronnie; I need to hit this one quick note, which I talked about last night. The devil does not look like the image on the red hot sauce bottle. Come on, Larry, not now; y’all need to get that because if that is the caricature of the devil we hold in our minds, then watch this: we will treat the devil like those kids who ring our doorbell on Halloween dressed in costumes. We will think the devil is something to play with. The devil is real.

The second thing the Bible tells us about the devil, Mary, is that he is at work. Oh God, the devil is at work! In fact, I’m going to say this, and I hope you’ll get my drift: the devil never takes a day off. He’s working right now; in fact, he’s in this room seeking to distract you, trying to make you not listen, whispering in your ear that the pastor is up there talking a bunch of nonsense, that you’re too intelligent for that. The devil is real, and the devil is at work. In fact, much of what we see going on in our world today is not the hand of God; it is the work of the devil. God, I want to say something: that man who climbed the Mandalay Bay elevator and went up to the 32nd floor of that hotel to shoot over 500 people, killing over 50 of them, that was not God. Okay, you might inquire, because some of you have been walking around Columbus saying, «I don’t know why God let that happen,» or «I don’t know why God did that.» Well, I’m going to help you: the same reason God let you do what you did. Now y’all show me some love—the same reason God let you go out and act wild, doing stuff you knew you shouldn’t do and living contrary to how you were brought up. We are not puppets on a string; God is not controlling us. We are not robots or avatars; we are made with free will and volition. We are moral agents, and God doesn’t make us do anything nor stop us from doing what we want. That was the devil; that was evil that made that man do that. The devil is real; the Bible tells us the devil is at work. The Bible also tells us, Uncle George, that he is already defeated.

I’m waiting for that to rumble through the crowd. Years ago, I can’t remember who wrote that book, but I almost called his name. He wrote that book titled «Satan is Alive and Well and Living on Planet Earth,» and I read the book. It’s a good book, but I take one exception to the title: he is alive, he is at work on planet Earth, but he isn’t well. Satan is alive; he is active, he is working, but ever since Calvary, he has had a very sick existence because the Bible says—oh, I feel like preaching this—that when Jesus got up from the grave, He took the sting out of death, He took victory from the grave, and He broke the back of the devil. I wish somebody would help me here. So, I am NOT dealing with a champion who is undefeated; I am fighting a foe that is already defeated. I’m just waiting for the bell to ring. Satan is real; the Bible tells us Satan is at work, and the Bible tells us Satan is already defeated.

Now, unconvinced deacons, one of the things that will greatly aid and assist us in our battle with the devil is that, even though he is defeated, we still have to fight. It’s sort of like yesterday with the Buckeyes, where the score was 61 to 40; in order for them to win, they couldn’t quit just because they had already won. Somebody told me the game was over in the first half, but they had to show up for the second half to qualify for the win. Y’all can count on me; the game!