Defeating Satan
We should be alert
to Satan's continual evil efforts
to destroy local churches
and other Christian ministries.
Here's Gene:
At this point in Paul's letter,
after talking about apostolic authority.
He addresses a very significant aspect
of this whole problem.
And that's Satan's involvement.
Very direct involvement.
There's satanic deception going on here
in a very unusual way.
And he addresses that.
Notice in chapter 11, verse 12:
But I will continue to do what I am doing,
in order to deny an opportunity to those
who want to be regarded as our equals
in what they boast about. ...
In other words, he is simply saying:
They are not true apostles.
Now this is a touchy situation for him
in having to defend himself.
And to simply say that: I'm a true apostle.
And I'm trying to verify that for you.
I didn't choose this. God chose me.
But they're false apostles.
And I'm going to have to address that issue.
That's what he's saying.
...For such people are false apostles,
deceitful workers, disguising themselves
as apostles of Christ.
[And they're not.]
And no wonder!
For Satan disguises himself
as an angel of light.
So it is no great surprise if his servants
also disguise themselves...
That is, Satan's servants.
...also disguise themselves
as servants of righteousness.
Their end will be according to their works.
Paul knows he's dealing with a satanic involvement.
Working through false teachers--
individuals who claim to be
true apostles and they're false.
Immediately, I think we can think
in terms of application:
Number 1: Satan attempts to destroy unity
in the body of Christ by generating
bitterness and unforgiveness.
He was doing that in the Corinthian church,
through these false apostles.
And notice this is why Paul wrote earlier,
way back in chapter 2:
Anyone you forgive, I do too.
For what I have forgiven--
if I have forgiven anything--
it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ,
so that we may not be taken advantage of
by [whom?] Satan.
For we are not ignorant of his schemes.
Satan is very active in trying
to destroy this church.
And the unity in this church.
It's totally opposed to what
Jesus prayed for.
In John 17, we've looked at
this prayer many times:
"I pray not only for these, [that is the apostles,]
but also for those who believe in me
through their word. [That's all of us.]
May they all be one, as you, Father,
are in me and I am in you.
May they also be in us, so that the world
may believe you sent me."
And so Satan always tries to destroy unity
because he knows that people
will come to Christ because of our
love for one another.
And he doesn't want that.
Secondly, Satan also seeks to blind the minds
of unbelievers so they will
not respond to the gospel.
Paul addressed that earlier
in chapter 4 of 2nd Corinthians:
But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled
to those who are perishing.
In their case, the god of this age [Satan]
has blinded the minds of the unbelievers
to keep them from seeing
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God.
Satan is at work, blinding unbelievers.
But he's also working at blinding
those who are believers.
And that leads to this third point:
Satan also seeks to corrupt
the minds of true believers so that
they are not fully devoted to Jesus Christ.
And here is where Paul addresses that
with the Corinthians, who he believed
were Christians but led astray. He says:
But I fear that, as the serpent
deceived Eve by his cunning,
your minds may be seduced
from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
So at this point here in the letter,
he addresses the root cause
of all of this--Satan's deception.
Which leads to a question to reflect on.
And that is:
How can we defeat Satan
and keep him from being successful
in carrying out his evil intentions?
The good news is we can--with God's help.
Now Paul knew the power of Satan.
And that's why he was fearful.
And the reason he was fearful
is that they weren't applying
what God says we should do
to avoid satanic deception.
When he wrote the Ephesians,
at the end of that chapter,
he wrote to these Christians.
And most of these Ephesians,
by the way, were converted out of demonism.
Remember they had that bonfire
and burned about 5 million dollars
worth of books in the main street of Ephesus.
Occult books.
These were the people
that had come to Christ.
And Paul is writing to them
and warning them and saying:
Be encouraged.
You can defeat Satan. Even though
at one time you worshiped him.
He says: Put on the armor of God:
Stand, therefore, with truth
like a belt around your waist...
In Corinth, they were listening to
untruths from false teachers.
...righteousness like armor on your chest...
Certainly there was a violation of that
in Corinth because of their unrighteous behavior.
...and your feet sandaled with readiness
for the gospel of peace.
[Paul goes on:]
In every situation take up the shield of faith
with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one.
Take the helmet of salvation
[your position in Christ]
and the sword of the Spirit--
which is the word of God.
Something that Satan cannot withstand.
That's why Jesus used that when
he was tempted by Satan and says:
God says. God says. God says.
And then he ends the metaphor,
which is the metaphor of a Roman soldier,
with spiritual application.
And goes right directly to a process
that's so important--
the power of prayer:
Pray at all times in the Spirit
with every prayer and request,
and stay alert with all perseverance
and intercession for all the saints.
We can defeat Satan.
And Paul wants the Corinthians
to know this as well.
Another passage that's so encouraging
comes from James chapter 4, verse 7:
Therefore, submit to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
That's a wonderful promise.
And it's based on first of all, what?
Submitting to God.
At the same time, resisting Satan.
By submitting to God,
you're actually resisting Satan.
That's the process.
And I love what Peter wrote
which relates to the way
we stated the Principle:
Be sober-minded, be [What?] alert.
Your adversary the devil
is prowling around like a roaring lion,
looking for anyone he can devour.
So here's the Principle that I believe
comes right from this passage:
We should be alert to
Satan's continual evil efforts
to destroy local churches
and other Christian ministries.
And I might add to that, our own families.
It applies in that situation as well.