🧠 Welcome Back: Knowing Our Enemy

Welcome back to this course on Spiritual Warfare.

We’re now in Session 12, and continuing the series on knowing our enemy.
If you’ve been following along, you’ll recall I began this portion of the course by talking about General Patton and Field Marshal Rommel.

🪖 Rommel, the brilliant German tank commander, had never been defeated—until Patton beat him. Why?
Because Patton had read Rommel’s book. He understood the enemy’s tactics, studied his patterns, and anticipated his moves.

In the same way, Scripture reveals Satan's strategies through the many names and titles he’s given.
Each name shows something about how he works—helping us prepare to stand firm in spiritual battle.

🌍 Today’s Focus: The Prince of This World

In this final name-based study of Satan, we’re focusing on the title:

“The prince of this world.”

This title appears in several key passages of Scripture. Let’s explore a few together to understand what it reveals about our adversary—and how we can fight back.

👑 The Prince of This World

Let’s look at what Jesus said in the Gospel of John about Satan as the prince of this world:

  • John 12:31

    “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.”

  • John 14:30

    “I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me.”

  • John 16:8–11
    Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit:

    “When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment... about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

These passages give us a sobering picture. Satan is called the prince—not a symbolic force, but a real authority figure over a world system in rebellion against God.

🏰 What Does “Prince” Mean in This Context?

In the modern U.S., we don’t have princes or kings, so the image might not hit as hard.
But in biblical times, a prince often wielded the full power of a kingdom—especially if delegated by a king.

In our world today, we can think of real-life examples like:

  • Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia
    He’s the Crown Prince, wielding great power—sometimes for progress, but also associated with horrific acts, like the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

This modern analogy helps illustrate what Jesus meant:

Satan is exercising real authority in this present world system—authority that opposes righteousness, truth, and justice.

🌐 What Does His Rule Look Like?

Look around:
Where do you see systems that are broken, that promote destruction rather than life, division rather than peace, injustice instead of justice?

This world’s systems—political, economic, social, even spiritual—often reflect the fingerprints of the prince of this world.
He is not building the Kingdom of God. He’s waging war against it.

🌍 Daily Prayer and Global Brokenness

Each morning, I spend time in prayer—lifting up missionaries I know, regions around the world, and current crises. As I write this, I’m deeply burdened by what’s happening in Gaza, where innocent children are dying every day. Images on the news show kids starving because food can’t get in. Regardless of political perspectives, the truth is clear:

Evil is at work.

🏜️ Slavery in Spain’s Greenhouses

A few years ago, my wife and I visited a missionary friend in Roquetas, Spain, a region covered in greenhouses that supply much of Europe’s produce. What we found was horrifying.

Behind the scenes are modern-day slaves—men working endless hours in sweltering conditions and women forced into prostitution. Many were promised freedom and opportunity but are trapped in a cycle of debt they can never escape.

Human trafficking isn’t just in history books—it’s alive in today’s food chain.

🏔️ Trafficking in the Himalayas

Author and pastor David Platt recounts a trek through the Himalayas in Something Needs to Change. He describes villages so poor that parents hand over their young daughters—some as young as eight—to men who promise domestic work in the city.

But these girls never see safety or wages.

They are forced into brothels.
They are betrayed, exploited, and discarded.

This, too, is evidence of the prince of this world at work.

⚔️ The Course of This World

We see the fingerprints of evil everywhere:

  • Wars erupting under fragile governments

  • Power-hungry leaders making decisions that destroy lives

  • Trafficking, exploitation, oppression

  • Widespread corruption and moral decay

These are not random events. There is a force—a malevolent power—guiding the course of this world, just as Jesus described.

📘 Recommended Read: The Invisible War by Chip Ingram

Chip Ingram’s book The Invisible War is a powerful resource that I recommend to every believer. He emphasizes what this course has tried to make clear:

There is a spiritual battle raging all around us—even if we don’t always see it.

This is not a visible war with armies and tanks. It is a subtle, persistent war—a war that seeks to enslave, deceive, and destroy.

📖 Following the Ruler of the Air

In Ephesians, Paul describes what life was like before salvation:

“You used to live…when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”

This verse introduces another name and description of Satan—
“the ruler of the kingdom of the air.”
It implies widespread spiritual influence among those living in disobedience to God. Sadly, many people live under that influence today.

👿 Accused of Using Demonic Power

In Matthew 9, Jesus cast out demons, and the Pharisees responded with accusation:

“It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”

This same accusation comes again in Matthew 12:

“It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

Even Jesus was accused of working under Satan’s power!
These passages confirm that there is a demonic order, and Satan, under names like Beelzebul, is their leader—“the prince of demons.”

🐉 War in Heaven: Revelation 12

The book of Revelation—difficult, yet revealing—offers insight into the origin of Satan’s rebellion:

“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.”

The “dragon,” identified as:

  • The ancient serpent

  • The devil

  • Satan

  • The one who leads the whole world astray

...was hurled down to the earth along with his angels.

Elsewhere in Scripture, we learn that a third of the angels followed Satan in this rebellion. They attempted a coup against God—a shocking thought, but one that underscores the cosmic scale of this spiritual war.

⚔️ An Organized Enemy Force

So what does this mean for us?

It means that when we talk about spiritual warfare, we’re not just talking about temptation or isolated attacks. We’re talking about a structured kingdom of darkness, led by:

  • The ruler of the air

  • The prince of demons

  • The prince of this world

He has legions of demons at his command and works systematically against God's people.

😈 How Many Demons Are There?

Truthfully? We don’t know.
Scripture doesn't give us a precise number. But we do know this:
There are many.

Remember the story where Jesus encounters a man possessed by a legion of demons?
The demons beg Jesus to cast them into a herd of pigs. He does, and the pigs rush down a steep bank and drown in the lake.
(See: Luke 8:26–33)

That word “legion” implies thousands—a chilling reminder that the demonic realm is vast.

🧊 Firsthand Experiences with Demonic Presence

The speaker reflects:

"I’ve encountered demons. It’s difficult to discern sometimes."

Some situations shared include:

  • Rooms unnaturally cold without explanation

  • Homes needing spiritual cleansing due to persistent unsettling presence

  • A sense of personal targeting: demons seem to study and exploit individual weaknesses

To respond wisely, he often partnered with people who had the spiritual gift of discernment when entering spiritually volatile environments.

“There are demons. And I have a feeling some know my weaknesses—and they target them.”

🧱 A Possible Demonic Hierarchy

A model—perhaps speculative, but based on Scripture and experience—offers this hierarchy of spiritual evil:

  1. 👣 Tempters

    • Possibly assigned to individuals

    • Know your weaknesses

    • Work to exploit pride, fear, lust, addiction, etc.

  2. 🌍 Minor Lords

    • Regional or territorial spirits

    • Possibly what Daniel refers to in Daniel 10, where the “prince of Persia” resisted an angel

  3. 👑 Lords, Dukes, Archdukes

    • Unclear in Scripture, but some believe in structured ranks above the regional level

  4. 🌌 Primal Emanations

    • Abstracted categories of evil—philosophies, ideologies, or spiritual strongholds that influence cultures

  5. 🔥 The King: Satan Himself

    • The Prince of this World

    • At the top of the demonic order

    • Actively working to oppose God’s purposes across the earth

⚙️ So… How Does All This Work?

We don’t fully understand the structure or mechanics—but we are warned:

  • Be alert

  • Stand firm

  • Know that spiritual evil is ordered, intentional, and personal

Just as God has an order among angels, Satan appears to have a mimicry of heavenly order—but twisted for deception and destruction.

📖 C.S. Lewis and the Power of Perspective

One of the speaker's favorite books, The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, was written in 1942—and still rings true today.

Lewis didn’t start out as a believer. Raised in an atheist home, he rejected the idea of God for years. But eventually, he encountered thoughtful Christian writers whose clarity and insight challenged his skepticism. He began to reconsider.

“You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalene... the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”
— C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

God drew Lewis in—reluctantly at first—but persistently and lovingly. And Lewis, once an atheist, became one of Christianity’s most beloved voices.

👹 A Demon’s Point of View: Screwtape & Wormwood

In The Screwtape Letters, Lewis imagines correspondence between two demons:

  • Screwtape — a senior demon, mentoring...

  • Wormwood — his nephew, tasked with tempting a human “patient”

The book offers brilliant satire and deep insights into the strategies of spiritual attack.

📺 Timeless Tactics of Distraction

Even in 2025, the speaker finds Screwtape’s letters strikingly relevant. Here’s one updated excerpt that still applies:

“My dear Wormwood, be sure your patient remains obsessed with politics... Make sure they live in constant frustration and disdain toward humanity, never noticing their own faults. Keep them from any form of charity or inner peace.”

How timely. Many today are consumed by external outrage, forgetting to tend to the condition of their own souls.

🧠 How the Enemy Undermines Truth

Another powerful excerpt reminds us how thinking itself has been manipulated:

“There was a time when humans knew when something was proven—and they believed it. They connected thinking with doing. But now, thanks to the media, they hold incompatible beliefs at once and care more about what is fashionable than what is true.”

This was written in 1942, but sounds startlingly modern. Lewis saw how confusion, distraction, and relativism weaken the human spirit.

🔥 A Battle You Can’t Always See

C.S. Lewis didn’t just write about temptation—he lived it. Like all of us, he wrestled with sin, doubt, and inner conflict. That’s why his insights remain so deeply relatable.

This is the heart of spiritual warfare:
➡️ An invisible war
➡️ With a real enemy
➡️ On a daily battlefield

There is a Prince of this World, and he’s actively working against God's people.

🧱 Three Levels of Spiritual Warfare

From the teachings of Dr. Peter Wagner, the speaker breaks down spiritual warfare into three categories:

1. Ground-Level Spiritual Warfare

🧍‍♂️ Demon vs. Person

  • Includes deliverance ministries and exorcisms

  • Modeled in the Gospels and the Book of Acts

2. Occult-Level Spiritual Warfare

🔮 Engaging demonic forces connected to false religion and spiritual practices

  • Involves confrontations with:

    • Satanism

    • Witchcraft

    • Freemasonry

    • Eastern religions

    • New Age beliefs

    • Shamanism

    • Astrology

3. Strategic or Cosmic-Level Spiritual Warfare

🌍 Targeting territorial spirits

  • These entities influence:

    • Cities

    • Nations

    • Religious systems

    • Cultural strongholds

We’re not just dealing with personal temptation—we’re confronting systems of oppression and spiritual bondage on a grand scale.

✈️ A Chilling Encounter

The speaker shares a personal memory from a class with Peter Wagner. One day, a student shared this unsettling story:

While flying over New England, a Christian traveler noticed the man next to him was deep in prayer. When asked if he was a believer, the man replied:

“Oh no, I’m a Satanist. I was praying for all the Christian leaders in New England to fall.”

Let that sink in. The enemy is active. Strategic. Intentional. Ruthless.

🙏 Closing Prayer

“Lord, open our eyes—just enough—to see where the battle is impacting us and those we love.
In Jesus’ name, we command the enemy to flee. May the Prince of this World be cast out.
Let your name be honored and your victory be seen in our lives.
Amen.”

🕊️ This concludes sessions 11 and 12.
Up next: Session 13 resumes the original flow of the course recorded last fall. Stay strong, and see you there.

آخر تعديل: الأربعاء، 4 يونيو 2025، 1:06 م