Spiritual Warfare Series - the Winners — Jim Cymbala

Last week, we started a series on spiritual warfare. And this is a battle that is going on which is invisible, but which is intense. In fact, when I think of the courage that you need to fight this battle, when I think of the inevitability of this fight, it really makes you want to encourage Christians.

And God knows the words I'm about to say, I want so much for them to encourage you and strengthen you and help you. I'm speaking not only from the Bible, but I'm speaking from my own experiences, my own failures, my own victories that I've gained through Christ.

So I really want you to listen. And really, it should make all of us look at each other differently because we're all in an invisible battle. So I wanna just read two verses in one chapter and then two verses in another chapter.

The Christian Life as Spiritual Warfare

Let's look at the most famous portion of Scripture when it comes to spiritual warfare to get our bearings. And we're talking about winners and losers because in every fight, there's a winner and there are losers.

That is very, very critical to our thinking. You can't just be in the fight. You have to realize in the end, you will either win and overcome or you will lose. There are losers. History is littered with losers in this fight.

And there's no escaping it, as we'll see. Look at Ephesians 6, verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord. He's writing to Christians now, Paul, in a city called Ephesus where he had spent three years. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes, the devil's schemes or strategies. So now, notice this war is not only like power, be strong in the Lord, but it needs much insight because it's not just the devil, it's his schemes, his strategies, his knowledge of us, where we're weak, the moments where we're best to be tempted and approached.

He's got this down like a science because he's been around like for almost forever. We are creatures of time. He's been around, he's not eternal, but he is created by God and then turned against God as an angel, maybe the foremost of all the angels.

And now, as anti-Christ, anti-God, we are the target because we Christians belong to Christ. So it's not only be strong, but now understand, you're gonna need much insight from God to stand against the devil's schemes.

This guy, this person, this devil, is smarter than all of us put together. So now, Paul is not just saying, oh, since you're Christians, you don't have to worry about it, oh, you go to church on Sunday?

Don't even think about it then, everything is cool. No, put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the devil's schemes. Verse 12, for our struggle, that's another name for the Christian life, not just praising God and singing, but our struggle is not against flesh and blood, not human, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

So we're dealing now with ranking of powers. We're dealing with like the army has brigadier generals and then down and lieutenants and corporals and whatever, we have gradation of power, which we don't understand totally, but behind it all is Satan, the devil, who has all his minions working on his behalf, they're invisible, and just as God has ministering spirits called angels that go out and do his bidding, Satan now has demonic powers and spirits that work on his side to bring us down, especially to tempt us.

Let's just analyze that for a second before we look at this other passage. We have Satan, devil, with you as the target and me as the target. It's an invisible warfare, trying to separate us from Christ, he's trying to break down our faith, he's trying to hurt us, trying to hurt our families.

He's cunning, he's powerful, he's invisible, has a lot of folks working with him. I don't like this idea, I'm not making this up, it's in the Bible. Some people say, well, do you mean you still believe in the devil or Satan?

Yeah, I do, because Jesus did and confronted him. If we're deluded and if this is some primitive, superstitious idea that's been carried on through the centuries, then Jesus was fooled too and he's the son of the living God.

Read the teachings of Jesus, see if you think he's a fool and read what he taught and see the insight that he has. And he not only mentioned the devil, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but he actually was tempted himself.

So imagine if Satan has the chutzpah, the nerve to tempt the son of the living God, do you think you and I intimidate him? No, no, not at all. And this is the battle going on because of the background that we have, the way we were raised, because of sins that we indulged in, because of the sexual activity we had, because of the house that we grew up in, all of us have a different structure to our spiritual being, our moral character.

He knows all about that. He's not omniscient, he doesn't know everything, but the Bible teaches that he is a keen observer, has very demonic, devilish strategies, and he knows that one person would be never tempted to steal, that's just not in their character, but their mouth will destroy other people.

So he will work that. Another person would never touch drugs, never. They have a fear of drugs. Never put a needle and go mainline heroin in their arm, never, but promiscuity and sexual looseness is their weak spot.

Other people have indulged things as children in their mind, and he knows the power of pornography. So he knows the fallen nature that we have. He's called the God of this world. He manipulates things and people.

He controls probably most of the media, and he's stirring up all of us to draw us away from our faithfulness to Christ. These are evil forces. He hates the word Christ, he hates the thought of holiness.

Holiness is what he's not because he's evil. When he speaks, he lies. Jesus said he's the father of lies. So he's full of cunning, he's the father of lies, and this is whom we are pitted against, and we didn't ask for it, it's just a fact of life.

It is what it is. You have to throw away a good part of the Bible if you're gonna try to negate what I'm saying to you today. Jesus faced this, and that's why we need to put on the whole armor of God, which I'm not gonna talk about today.

I wanna just talk about winners and losers, and this enemy that we face, Satan, the devil. We first see him in the pages of Scripture tempting Eve and then Adam. We find out from the Bible that he has access somehow to our minds.

He can plant thoughts in our minds and try to actually get things into our heart. Peter, when he rebuked Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts, he said, why has Satan filled your heart with this kind of lie?

When Judas carried out his final betrayal of Jesus Christ, the Bible says that Satan, in some sense, entered into him to do this. Just like there are people who are God-inspired, there are people who are demon-inspired.

Not even just demon-possessed, but demon-inspired, used by Satan to discourage us. I just talked to a young lady recently who really needs the Lord and really needs love and encouragement, and all her, she told me, her view, all her father ever does is put her down and criticize her and tell her that she could do better than another person, and why did she fail at this and fail at that?

And that father doesn't even know that Satan's using him to discourage his own daughter. Because if we follow some of the lame-brain thoughts that come in our mind, we can be used by the enemy to hurt someone we actually love.

Proof of that is in the Gospels, when Jesus said, I have to go to the cross now, and Peter took him aside and said, what, you're talking about being spit on and being crucified and all of that? And he took Jesus aside and he said, no, no, no, Jesus, you don't have to go to the cross, there's another way, and Jesus said, you get thee behind me, Satan.

Now, Peter wasn't demon-possessed, but Jesus knew where that thought came from. He said, you're interested in the things of that men are interested, you're not thinking of the things of God. I have to lay down my life or there'll be no Brooklyn Tabernacle, there'll be no Christian church, there'll be no choir, there'll be no ministers, there'll be no Christians around the world.

Peter actually had that planted in him from Satan. So this is the warfare that we have. He has somehow access to our minds and can present things, and always remember, brothers and sisters, the thought presented to you is not sin.

I never understood that early on and I thought every time I was tempted and something not nice was presented to my mind, I thought, what's wrong with me? That's what temptation is about. Resist the devil and he'll what?

He'll flee from you. So when these thoughts or images or wrong motives are presented to us, that's not sin, that's temptation. Lord, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. So we stand against the tempter and this is what the battle is about.

Satan can't come and overpower a Christian and kill him. All he can do is tempt us with the permission of God and somehow God has said, I'm gonna use even the work of Satan to make you stronger in faith so you can help more people and I'm gonna draw you closer to me and my name is gonna be glorified even as you're standing and fighting against the enemy.

So this is what we're all involved in and if you don't feel this involvement, either you're not a believer or you're just in a sleepy position. But every Christian knows that once you become a Christian, you are in a fight.

How many have had that? As your experience lifts your hand, you're in a fight. It's invisible, it's subtle, and it's very hard for us to even talk about it with other people because we have this false sense of victory and what a victorious Christian is.

We're not fighting against flesh and blood. Humans are not the enemy. Fighting culture wars is not what God wants us to do. He wants us to fight spiritual battles, see people converted, see God in the name of Christ glorified.

Satan as Accuser and the Call to Overcome

Now, one of the main names for the devil is the accuser. He's the tempter, he's the prince of darkness, he's called the God of this world. That's why the Bible says don't love this world, neither the things that are in this world.

If you're in love with this world and this world system, the love of the Father is not in you. That's what the Bible says. But among his names stands out this name. He's the accuser. And before we go into what that means, doesn't that make you pause and think that whenever you accuse somebody and you judge somebody, you're standing in a satanic place?

You ever meet someone who just accuses everyone? You ever meet anyone like that? Or have you had your own little fits with that yourself? Maybe you and I, we get just accusatory. This is, that one, they don't mean, they're not real.

Why are they, what is she singing that song for? How'd she get in the choir? Ah, whatever. That minister's not real. That one is, that, Satan's name is the accuser. Why? Why? This is one of his ministries to make himself powerful.

Why he accuses is that he has found that to put us in a position of weakness and to have us lose, accusations are a powerful tool in his hand. Because it leads to guilt and condemnation and fear. So one of his main names is the accuser.

He's the adversary, he's the tempter, but he's the accuser. And now I wanna tell you about some folks in a very mysterious part of the Bible who we know overcame him. Remember, all of us here, we will either overcome or we will be overcome.

There is no third position. The people who go to heaven are those who have overcome. Blessed are they who have overcome. How happy are those who have fought the battle and won. That's why we meet together, we study, we pray together.

Jesus said to the disciples in the garden, watch and pray with me, because this is a very critical moment. Watch and pray so you won't give in to temptation. The spirit is willing, but the. And prayer, spending time with God, strengthens us.

That's why the church that prays together really sees victory together. So here are some people, I don't understand the meaning of this entire chapter myself, but it's chapter 12 of Revelation, and we come to this part.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ for the accuser of our brothers, fellow Christians, for the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night.

He not only accuses us to ourselves, he accuses us to before God. He's bad-mouthing you and me right as we speak. Thank God we have a Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father who can stand up and say, no, they belong to me.

You be quiet. So who accuses them before our God day and night has been hurled down? They overcame. Who overcame? The brothers, the believers in this period of time. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. They even paid the ultimate price. They were martyrs. They, who's they? The believers who are overcomers. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them, but woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short.

So now we have the devil filled with fury. We have the devil angry because his time is short, but it's not gonna stop him from trying to do his evil, nefarious work. But there was a group of people there on earth who belonged to God and they overcame him.

Listen, more than anything in this world, I want everyone who's listening to my voice, I want us all to be overcomers. I wanna be a winner through Christ, not a loser. I don't wanna fall by the wayside.

I wanna finish the race. They overcame him. They fought in the arena. They fought those invisible powers. Satan threw his best stuff at them and they overcame. They didn't run from the fight. They were in the fight, but they overcame.

Oh, brothers and sisters, before I just conclude this, no one knows the battles that go on in the spiritual realm because it all happens in here and in here. Nobody knows. Not only my own battles, but I know from ministers and well-known authors and people who open up and you talk and you become friends and you talk and you learn the battles that people go through, it takes courage to be a Christian.

We've reduced it sometimes to a trite, sloganeering, praise God, he's on the throne, God is good all the time, do a bump and whatever. And that's all true, but how many know? It's fight time, too. It's fight time.

It's fight time. They overcame these people. How did they overcome so we could learn? Because everyone who's overcome has to overcome the same way. And here's some precious truths. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.

Overcoming Condemnation Through the Blood of Jesus

The only remedy to the accusations of Satan is the blood of the Lamb, the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. You have to not only understand it, you have to appropriate it, you and I have to put our faith in it.

It is the only thing that can still our consciences and cleanse our hearts when we have messed up. Because we are all frail, we have all messed up. Since we've been Christians, we have been messing up, some greater than others less.

But we have all messed up and sinned. John, writing to Christians, says, if anyone says, any believer says he's not sinned, he's a liar and the truth is not in him. How many have needed cleansing from God since you've been a Christian?

Lift up your hand, all right? And we can't look down on another person because their sin was, quote, more grave than ours or different than ours. Oh, we like sheep have gone astray. It's a matter of conditioning and how we were raised.

But sin is sin. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. When Satan is accusing and hurling accusations at you for what you've done, what you thought, what you watched, what you said, you can cry a river and it won't change one thing.

You can have a pity party. You can promise that you won't do it again until the cows come home. It won't change a single thing. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb because they took their stand, not in any self-righteousness, but they were able to say, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and his righteousness.

The only thing that permits us to go to heaven, the only thing that washes away all of our sins is the blood of Jesus. In the Old Testament, God never said, when I see you get serious and promise you'll do better, I will pass over you.

When I see you going to church on Sundays, I will pass over you. When I see you start seriously reading the Bible, I will pass over you. Never, he said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And that was the blood of some silly lambs.

Imagine the power of the blood of his own son sprinkled on my heart and my life. There are only one thing can cleanse, listen to somebody who's telling you the truth, there's only one thing that can cleanse your conscience when you fail God, and that's the blood of Jesus Christ.

Nothing else can do it. No church, no minister, get prayed for by everybody in the world. It won't help you until you put your faith and you take your stand. Satan, I rebuke you, I resist you, you will not bring me into condemnation.

Your accusations are right, but they're wrong because everything you're saying about what I did is right. But guess what? God has washed them all away because of the blood of his own son, Jesus, and now I stand perfect in his sight.

Say that with me, I stand perfect in his sight. Say it louder, I stand perfect in his sight. Not because of me, because of the blood of Jesus Christ. That's how you have to overcome. They overcame him by the, any other, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb.

Any other foundation, you even start talking with Satan, start explaining to God why you did it. Say how your upbringing was and how hard your job is. If you go that way, Satan will be cheering you on.

He'll be saying, keep making excuses, keep talking about it, keep doing it. But the only way to shut him up is say, the blood of Jesus is against you. The blood of Jesus is against you. He can never overcome the blood, never.

If we go on any other foundation, those accusations start going in there. And then you will start to be condemned. You'll lose your joy and you'll lose your peace. Now you are a piece of putty in his hands.

For the joy of the Lord is our strength. You can't have joy when you're in condemnation and you're full of guilt. But Pastor Cimbala, you don't know how many times I've done that and then said I wouldn't do it.

The blood of Jesus washes away all sin. Whether you did it one time or a million times, that's how deep the love of God goes. Now you have to appropriate it every day. The Bible says if we Christians confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all.

So there's the application of the blood in my life as I become a Christian and then there's the daily accusations that are hurled at me, my own mistakes, my own rebellions, my own stubbornness, my own selfishness.

There's only one who can free me from that. I gotta have a daily sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ in my life. This is why a lot of Christians are argumentative and fuss and fight and are mean to their spouses because they're battling with condemnation.

And when the devil starts working that, he makes you miserable inside and there's a rule in life. Whenever you're miserable and unhappy, usually the people around you, you try to make them miserable and unhappy with you.

You ever meet anyone like that? I'm sure you have. But when they act like that, you gotta feel bad for them because they're trying to bring you down to their level of misery. Satan is so cunning. Every day we overcome him by the blood.

Every day we bring our sins and... Now listen, last thought on this one before I bring this to summation. He will even impersonate the Holy Spirit in trying to accuse you. You know you did that. God saw it.

Aren't you sorry for it, Stephen? Stephen, you're not sorry enough for it. If you really were sorry, you'd be deeper sorry. Well, how sorry should I go? See, now you're looking in. How sorry should I be?

No, and you would promise deeper. You would have more tears. You only have 20 tears. You should have 50 or 80 tears. And now you're looking in. You're looking at tears. And the Bible says that's the way to be defeated.

No, you look away to Jesus. Satan, you're right. But the blood of Jesus is on my life. I've confessed my sins. I've asked God to forgive me every day. If you're here today and you're in that fight, you can't win if you're in condemnation.

If you're living in guilt, you gotta run to God. Say, God, save me. Have mercy on me. I turn to you. I wanna live the right way, but you have to give me strength. But let your blood wash away this sin, this guilt.

Overcoming Through a Public Testimony

And they overcame him, not only by the blood of the Lamb, but by the word of their testimony. What does that mean? It means that the only people who overcome Satan are the aggressive people who open up their mouth and testify that the word of God is true and that what Christ has done in their life is true.

No closet Christian can be an overcomer. The only people who overcome are the ones who, no matter what it costs, say, no, I believe in the word of God. I tell you the word of God. I read the word of God.

I meditate on the word of God. The word of God is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And I wanna tell you what Jesus has done in my life. No, but people don't wanna hear that. I don't care what you wanna hear.

I am gonna testify to you what Jesus has done in my life. I was once this, and now I'm that. I'm not perfect, but I'm not what I used to be. And by saying that, we become overcomers. Come on, put our hands together.

We speak to the people on the job. We speak to the people on our job. We need wisdom. We need to know when to say it. We need wisdom. We have to say it in love. But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, the testimony of the word of God, which is true, and the testimony of what Christ has done in your life.

Brothers and sisters, you wanna see a more victorious today and tomorrow? Start telling people about how good God has been to you. Tell them what Christ has done in your life. I don't know a lot of verses, Pastor.

I gotta learn more. Fine, I'll give you a verse. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Use that one. But tell them what Christ has done in your life. Open your mouth and say it because only the aggressive win the war.

You can't go in a defensive position. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. A vocal Christian, someone who's steadfast. I don't care what anyone says. Mock me, laugh at me.

I don't care what anyone says. I don't care if the government says everything is legal. I don't go by the government. I don't go by the Congress. I don't go by the White House. I go by the word of God.

This word is a lamp to my feet. I'm going by the word of God. But Pastor, people don't like to hear that. They laugh, they mock, and you can even lose some friends. And that comes to the conclusion, which is probably linked together with this, they overcame him by the word of their testimony.

Selfless Commitment and Readiness to Suffer

These winners won because they understood the blood, they appropriated the blood, and what it meant in their life to avoid condemnation. And then they were aggressive. They fought back. They had Holy Spirit boldness.

They spoke. Just say, God, tomorrow, before you go to work, just say, God, give me two or three people. I can tell something good to them about the word of God. Some truth you've made real. Something that Christ has done in my life.

But it seems to me that that third thing is also very important. They love not their life, even to giving it away. Oh, woe unto you, earth, for Satan has come down with great fury, knowing his time is short.

I've come to this conclusion now. It's been verified by some men of God that I really trust. The only ones who are gonna make it when the really going gets tough are gonna be crazy Christians. I don't think any halfway position pastors are gonna make it.

We're worried about what people think. They were ready to die. We're worried how someone might look at us and say, I'm not inviting you to the party. You're like a holy roller. Or, oh, I don't have lunch with you.

Don't give me that Jesus stuff. And we're all like falling apart. And they were ready like, yeah, feed us to the animals. Feed us. So? I'm gonna have to die anyway. But I'd rather die for Christ than live a compromiser, live a coward.

They overcame him by the blood of the lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they love their lives even to giving it up. So, brothers and sisters, there it is before us. Do you wanna be an overcomer?

Do you wanna win? You're gonna have to be a local Christian. You're gonna have to be someone who is, yeah. My life is about Jesus. Yeah, I have a job, but it just keeps my body and soul together. Yeah, I have a family.

I thank God for that. But people who are not Christians have families. I wanna do my best by my family. But why I'm really alive is to shine like a light for Jesus Christ. Come on, can we put our hands together?

Yeah, what goes on in my church is the most important thing because that's how the kingdom is spread. Kingdom isn't spread by the stock market, by Congress. Kingdom is spread by local churches. So, I'm gonna find the one I belong in.

I'm gonna get involved. I'm gonna pray with the prayers. I'll sing, I'll work, I'll visit. I'll do whatever needs to be done, but I'm gonna be all out because knowing His time is short. I could tell you some things, but I don't wanna even go into it now.

Maybe next week. Just some things I've read and learned that are happening in the country right now. Anti-Christian pressure is mounting. If you stand for the principles of this Bible, you will be attacked.

Maybe the day will come where they'll start firing people who believe in the Bible. Hey, listen, I wish it was otherwise, but it is what it is. Es lo que es. Let's say it in Spanish. Es lo que es. It is what it is.

This is the fight we're in. I didn't ask for it, but I'll tell you one. I'm gonna fight with Jesus. We're gonna fight. We're gonna fight this good fight, and we're gonna be overcomers because we're gonna overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.

We're not gonna hide our lights under a bushel. We're gonna be up in your grill kind of Christian, right? Telling people in a kind way, loving way. No, no, no, no. I stand for Jesus. I follow Jesus. I love Jesus.

Come on. You can laugh, mock, do whatever you would like. At the end of the day, you will not be mocking at me. You'll be saying you wish you were with me where I'm going because I know where I'm going.

The Altar Call for Spiritual Victory

Let's close our eyes. If you're in a fight right now, and look, we're all in a fight, but if it's really hot right now where you are in your spiritual walk, if the accuser is coming in like a flood, if this sermon had your name on it, if I said a sentence that you'd say, why would he say that?

That describes exactly what I'm going through. If there's a battle going on, Satan trying to just destroy you, compromise you. If there's some secret thing he wants to use to destroy you, come on, we're with friends.

You're with brothers and sisters. It takes so much courage to fight. Sometimes everything in you wants to give up. You wanna go the easy route, indulge the flesh, but the Holy Spirit keeps saying, no, fight the good fight.

Don't give up, don't quit. Don't compromise. If you're here in the balcony or downstairs and you just say, pastor, I wanna sing that song in the front. I wanna acknowledge to God, I am not quitting and I'm not afraid.

I'm gonna overcome that accuser. I'm gonna overcome the enemy by the blood of the lamb and by the word of my testimony. God, give me the strength to do it. And I want a selfless kind of living now where I am just like a torpedo for Jesus.

Just out and out. You get out of your seat from the balcony or downstairs. Pastor, pray for me because I'm not going under, I am going over. I am gonna win this battle. Get out of your seat and just come and stand here.

I'll wait. You could be a visiting pastor. You could be a deacon of the church. You could be whatever, whoever. I'm not gonna live in guilt. No, I'm not. Yeah, I messed up, but the blood of Jesus washes away and cleanses all my sin.

I'm not living with a consciousness of sin. I'm living with a consciousness of Jesus. Thank you for the blood of Jesus. Satan, we overcome you. We overcome you not in our own strength. We overcome you by the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

You have no grounds of accusation for us. We've confessed our sins. They're under the blood. God, we thank you for your word today. Give us insight into what we've read. Make us bold and strong. Hold to the testimony of your word.

Let the word of our testimony be strong. Let no one intimidate us, for you have not given us a spirit of fear. Help us to be aggressive, but in the right way, Lord. Full of love and compassion, judging nobody, putting no one down.

Thank you that we belong to you today. We're in a fight, but we know we're not alone. Our captain stands with us, and he gives us joy and peace as we walk with him. Grant the shalom of God to all your people today.

Thank you for those who have walked forward to those who might be standing across the street. We have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. We have decided to follow Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for your love for us.

We pray all of this in Jesus' name, and everyone said, let's give God one last, come on, victorious hand clap. Be blessed. Greet one another, hug one another. God bless you.