Spiritual Attack

The moment you've decided to follow Christ and declare Jesus is your savior, is the moment Satan will begin to attack you. Beneath the veil of reality of our mundane everyday lives, is a spiritual war going on between God and the devil for your soul. Some may dismiss it and others may all together think it's ludicrous, but whether we acknowledge it or not, we are under constant spiritual attack.

There are distinct moments in you life where the devil will try to attack you.

1. Growing spiritually - Are you a nominal Christian? Do you live with a lukewarm faith? Despite what you may believe, the devil is not interested in you. Actually, he's quite content with where you are in your life. It's when you decide to take significant steps towards the Lord will he try to do everything in his power to dissuade you.
2. Invading enemy territory - There are two things that threaten Satan's work, evangelizing and interceding. Maybe he will try to stop you by finding people to ridicule you. Or maybe he will plant thoughts of laziness and complenceny to deter you from praying for others.
3. Exposing enemy schemes - Testimony is a powerful tool. It's one thing to hear or listen to accounts of spiritual attacks from books or TV. However, it's completely different when you hear about it from a fellow peer or family member. The devil will try to find ways to discredit you.
4. Repenting of sin
5. Being prepared for God's work

The devil will have many ways of deterring you from doing God's work. Genesis 3:17 chronicles the story about how the serpent tricked Eve into disobeying God and eating from the Tree of Knowledge. If you read the verses carefully you'll see how Satan will make you question God's authority. First, he will try to make you question God's word. In verse 1 he asks Eve ""Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" Then he will try and deny His words. In verse 4, after Eve has done explaining that she will die if she ate the fruit, the serpent tells her "You will not surely die." Finally the devil will try to change God's word.

So what defense do we have against these spiritual attacks? In Ephesians 6:16 Peter says to "take up the shield of faith." However, what exactly does he mean when he says "shield of faith?" To have a shield of faith requires you to have confidence in God.

1. Confidence in His Promises - Satan will try to tell you that the troubles you are going through are too much for you to handle. However, the Lord will tell you that no matter how dire the situation may appear, He will never throw something at you that you can't handle. Trust that the Lord will get you through the storm.
2. Confidence in His Power - Satan will try to diminish your faith in what the Holy Spirit is trying to achieve in your life. Believe in His power and you will witness a level of sanctification that can only come from His power.
3. Confidence in His Program - God has an amazing plan for you. It is not by chance that God went out of his way to save you. The devil will try everything to make you doubt His plan.

When Jesus spent 40 days in the desert being tempted by the devil, he used the Word to overcome His trials. You can not overcome temptation if you do not know the bible. Take heed to the pending attacks and take up your shield of faith. Because whether or not you acknowledge it, there is a spiritual war going on for you soul, and the only thing that will save you will be your faith.

--from Nakwon EM October 14th 2007 Sunday Worship Service
*To listen to this sermon in its entirety, please contact James Kim

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