My Bible teaching notes for fellowship tonight.

We have an urgent message from our warrior God that is time to engage our enemy. It is not an impossible mission for He is with us and in us to guide us on the battlefield. God wants to rock Satan’s kingdom to the core and disrupt its operations on the earth. God wants to rescue the prisoners of war that Satan holds captive and set them free to live and breathe in the glory of God. God wants to dismantle the works of the devil in every home, every city, every country, and every continent on earth. This is the war of all wars, the battle of all battles, the combat of all combats and the struggle of all struggles and eternity is at stake, deliverance is at stake, and lives are at stake. Are you ready to follow the commission of your God and engage the enemy? We have been called to inflict serious damage on Satan’s kingdom that rules and dominates on the earth. We have been given the keys to set prisoners of war free, to melt his works and to shatter the influence of his kingdom. We have been called to make war against the kingdom of darkness.

CT Studd: Some want to live within the sound of a church bell or chapel.  I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.

DL Moody: “It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly unto Him.”

Acts 19:10-15¹⁰And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt inAsia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

 ¹¹And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:

 ¹²So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

 ¹³Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the LORD Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

 ¹⁴And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

 ¹⁵And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

Paul was preaching the word where all of Asia Minor had heard about the great deliverance and salvation in the Lord Jesus. He wrought special miracles, he healed people with diseases, he cast out spirits and he mightily demonstrated the power and might of the Lord. He was an absolute pain to the devil’s kingdom. All the ranks of the devil’s army knew exactly who Paul was because of his mighty stand for God demolishing enemy strongholds and shaking up Satan’s entire operation on earth.

Leonard Ravenhill: Paul declared, “I have fought a good fight.” Demons could have said amen to that statement, for they suffered more from Paul than Paul suffered from them. Yes, Paul was known in hell…Over this God-intoxicated man, hell suffered headaches. “Make me thy battleaxe and Thy weapons of war,” I hear Paul say. At the thought of eternity, language is beggared and imagination staggered. Paul could “write off” stripes, imprisonments, fastings, weariness and painfulness as “light affliction”-recompensed by the fact “so shall we ever be with the Lord.” All the “shot and shell” of demons was wasted against Paul. 

Are you known in hell as one that has inflicted great damage to the devil’s kingdom? Does the kingdom of darkness even care when you walk into a room or come into a city?

Billy Sunday: Live so that when the final summons comes you will leave something more behind you than an epitaph on a tombstone or an obituary in a newspaper.

David Brainerd: In the evening I was grieved that I had done so little for God. Oh, that I could be a “flame of fire” in the service of my God.  

Colossians 1:13: Lightfoot: Yes, by a strong arm he rescued us from the lawless tyranny of darkness, removed us from the land of our bondage, and settled us as free citizens in our new and glorious home, where his Son, the offspring and the representative of his love, is King.

We have been rescued by God from the lawless tyranny and authority of the devil’s kingdom by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and his resurrection. We have been birthed as glorious sons and daughters of God and given the birthright as free citizens in God’s kingdom. Now our job is to go out into the world and run a rescue mission for God, letting God work in and through us to crush every work of Satan and deliver those in bondage into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Are you ready for this rescue mission or would you rather never engage in the fight for the souls, hearts and lives of people?

Rescue(rhuomai or ruomai or rhyomai  from rhúo = to draw, drag along the ground) means to draw or snatch to oneself and invariably refers to a snatching from danger, evil or an enemy. This basic idea is that of bringing someone out of severe and acute danger, and so to save, rescue, deliver, preserve. Rhuomai emphasizes greatness of peril from which deliverance is given by a mighty act of power. In the NT rhuomai is always associated with God as the Deliverer and with a person as the object of His deliverance.

We were in acute danger, dead in trespasses and sins, in bondage to fears, worries, anxieties, and sin, imprisoned with no means of deliverance and God in his awesome love snatched us from the enemy, rescuing us from great peril with His mighty power.

Rhuomai was used to describe a soldier going to a wounded comrade on the battlefield and snatching him to safety.

Delivered is middle voice which conveys the great truth that God initiated the “rescue operation” and participated in the carrying out of the operation!  One could paraphrase this verse as “God Himself rescued us“.  The Founder of our Rescue Mission is God. 

Lawless tyranny-(exousia) is derived from éxesti = it is permitted, it is lawful meaning liberty of action.

Vine explains that exousia evolved:

from the meaning of “leave or permission” or “liberty of doing as one pleases” and passed to that of “the ability or strength with which one is endued,” then to that of the “power of authority,” the right to exercise power or “the power of rule or government,” the power of one whose will and commands must be obeyed by others.

The devil is the god of this world and exercises authority upon the earth that was given to him by Adam in the Garden of Eden. His whole kingdom on earth exercises authority and control over people, nations, cultures, ideas, movements and civilizations all in attempt to turn people away from God and the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and get them to worship false idols of the heart.  These idols bring bondage of heart and mind and we have the authority in Jesus Christ to go out and break these chains and crush these idols and free people to come back to God and be made whole.

Paul teaches in this verse that God has delivered believers from the right and the might of the darkness. The “domain of darkness” now has no right to “fasten” itself on a believer.

Transferred (methistemi from meta = denoting change of place or condition + histemi =place, stand) literally means to remove or transfer from one place to another.

Thayer says methistemi from

Homer down properly (means) to transpose, transfer, remote from one place to another: properly, of change of situation or place.

The verb methistemi  is in the aorist tense which points to an immediate transference from one spiritual region or kingdom to another.

We have the authority to go into the world and free people from the tyranny of being citizens by birth in Satan’s kingdom and bring them into God’s kingdom as free sons and daughters with all the rights of heavenly citizenship.

Matthew 10:1,7,8 (KJV):  ¹And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. ⁸Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Luke 10:1-3: (KJV): After these things the LORD appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.  ²Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.  ³Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. ¹⁶He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

 ¹⁷And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

 ¹⁸And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

 ¹⁹Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

 ²⁰Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

 ²¹In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

What made Satan fall from lightening from heaven? People were getting healed from all manner of sickness and diseases, lepers were being cleansed, the dead were being raised and the devil’s kingdom was getting tread on with a spiritual Mack truck tire and the power of the devil was being trumped like nothing the world had ever seen. People were delivered from every satanic bondage by the power of God Almighty living in Jesus Christ’s disciples. We have that same power to tread on the devil’s kingdom with relentless precision and effectiveness where it is crippled wherever the sole of our foot treads. It is Christ in you the hope of glory. God is on our side. Who can stand against us? We are more than conquerors and always triumph in Christ. Is Satan falling like lightening from heaven in your household, your neighborhood, and in your city? Or is it just business as usual?

I John 3:10: (Amplified): The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [has done].

We have Christ in us and we can undo, dissolve, and melt the devil’ works by proclaiming and living in the power of the gospel.

1 John 4:4 (King James Version):

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

God’s power is infinitely greater than the Devil’s. God’s power resides in you and is activated and connected to God by our faith.

II Corinthians 5:17-21 (NIV): ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation and the word of reconciliation. We are responsible to go out and reconcile men and women back to God as Christ’s ambassador. You are an ambassador of Christ! Never forget this awesome honor, privilege and duty.

Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV): Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, 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. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Our battle is against the entire kingdom of the devil not flesh and blood. This is a raging spiritual battle. We must stand with the full armor of God-truth, righteousness, salvation, faith, peace, prayer and the sword of the spirit.

II Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV): ³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Strongholds (ochuroma  akin to ochuroo = to make firm) was used in secular Greek to describe a strong military installation, a bastion, or a fortified place.

These are weapons of our warfare-this is spiritually a military expedition. We have a warfare as a Christian; we have a battlefront and we are in the middle of it. We have mighty weapons too so we can demolish enemy strongholds. We are not simply to stay in a foxhole to avoid getting hit or go AWOL or take a military leave to run and hide. We have been commissioned to demolish enemy strongholds. These are strong installations, bastions and fortresses set up by the enemy to accomplish His purposes. These fortresses exist in every life, every family, every city, every state and every country. The devil has a whole system of strongholds and God has sent us forth to take them down in the power of Christ just like the walls ofJerichowere demolished. We cannot do this in our strength, but in the mighty power of his holy spirit that dwells within us. We do this demolishing in His power alone.

Joshua 6:15, 20: (NIV): On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! ²⁰ When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.

The Lord gave them the city. They through the wondrous power of God collapsed the wall of this great city. God had destroyed this fortress; this stronghold and can do the same today.

How can we engage our enemy and disrupt, shake, demolish Satan’s kingdom as an ambassador for Jesus Christ? Here are ten ways to wreak havoc on the kingdom of darkness and shake it to its roots. There are many more ways then just ten, but this is a really good start in engaging our enemy’s kingdom.

1)    Be devoted to prayer and pray in faith, nothing doubting, for your God is faithful. 

Eric Ludy: Prayer is nuclear power, world renovating in its epic strength. When used according to the pattern of Scripture, prayer alters history, alters the natural world, and alters the human soul. Prayer is the catalyst behind everything Godly taking place in the earth.

James 5:16: ¹⁶Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. ¹⁷Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. ¹⁸And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Availeth-Greek-means “granting great power for extraordinary deeds.” No limits are set to the power of prayer. Devote yourselves to it with passion and see God work extraordinary deeds.

2)     Speak God’s Word of truth bringing light and deliverance to any situation. Think about it, meditate upon it, live it, obey it and speak it. Nothing has more power than the Word of God which God magnified above all His name (Psalm 138:2). The Word of God brings light and shatters darkness. The Word of God heals; the Word of God delivers; the Word of God scatters the forces of evil. Devote yourself to read and study the Word of God (I Timothy 2:15) for it is your Sword of the Spirit that you can go on the offensive against any wickedness that the devil throws at you. It can also demolish any enemy stronghold established in the mind, in the community and even in our churches.  Reconcile men and women back to God with the Word of reconciliation. Set them free from Satan’s kingdom.

3)     Help the helpless, reach out to the oppressed, look after the hopeless, rescue the orphan and help the widow. We are to be the hands, feet and heart of God to the world. We need to reach out with the love of God and make a difference in someone’s life. So many are waiting for a hero, a rescuer, a mighty man or woman who will find them in their hopeless state, rescuing and embracing them with the arms of God. Let me see the glory of God in you; melt their hearts so that God’s Word can begin to live and grow there. Be a difference maker in the hearts of the hopeless. Have the compassion of Christ to reach out to those in great need. God has not forgotten them and neither should we.

4)      Be kind and speak a kind word. Kindness is fading fast in our generation. To find someone that cares is more and more of a task. Be kind, be tenderhearted, be forgiving, speak kind and edifying words for this is what your Heavenly Father does. Ephesians 4:29-32: ²⁹Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.  ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).³¹Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).³²And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.

This is so radically different that the heart of the world. This type of kindness God loves and Satan hates with a passion and does everything he can to agitate our hearts so we do not walk in it. Acts of kindness can change people’s lives.  Words of kindness can heal their hearts. 

Guard your mouth and the words that come out of it. The words we speak have the power to heal or destroy, to build up or tear down, to bless or to curse, to make whole or to corrupt, and to cause the heart to rejoice or to mourn. Only speak that which will bless not curse. Avoid gossip like the plague, Never murmur, dispute and complain because it indicates a lack of trust in our God. Let our mouths be a wellspring of life, not a sewer of death.

5)    Ask God for the impossible and believe that you can do and see miracles daily. Walk out in boldness and believe to do extraordinary deeds for your God. God is still God and can still bear His mighty arm. He has not changed. He is just waiting for someone to believe Him with child-like faith. God wants to do the miraculous. God wants to do wondrous works. He needs us to walk out in faith and know that He can do far beyond what we could ever think, ask or dream of. Dare to be audacious with your God.

6)    Break the curse of idols in people’s lives. Idols will destroy people lives and bring them into bondage quicker than anything. An idol is anything we look to, cleave to, and rely on to give us what only God can do. Teach and instruct people how to put God first and turn and cleave to Him above all else and get rid of the idols that are controlling their lives. We must crush the idols like the great men of God in the Old Testament destroyed the groves of idol worship inIsrael. Only God deserves our devotion, love and commitment first above all else.

7)    Listen to the Voice of God and obey it. God is always speaking. He speaks primarily through His Written Word, but also speaks in many various ways. Do what God tells you to do both through His Written Word and through Him gently speaking to your heart. Rise up and be devoted to your God. Choose to follow God above all else. Be radical in your obedience. God always has our best interests in mind.

8)      Walk by the Spirit not by the Flesh. Cultivate the Fruit of the Spirit in your Life not the Fruit of the Flesh.  Walk in the Manifestations of the Holy Spirit  (I Corinthians 12: 7-11).

Galatians 5: 17-25 (NIV): For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Cultivating the fruit of the spirit in your life that is manifested in your thoughts, words and actions will absolutely disrupt the enemy’s kingdom.  Walk in all nine manifestations of the spirit listed in I Corinthians 12 and you will be walking in the mighty power of God.

9)    Love with the Agape Love of God Out of a Pure Heart. We are commanded by God to walk in love and love never fails. This is the agape love that is selfless, does not promote its own agenda, is flawless in purity and is giving beyond measure. The greatest act we can do on earth is to walk in love, first to God and then to our brothers and sisters in Christ and then to the peoples in the world. Our love is not to be hypocritical or arrogant or fake. It is the fathomless love of God living and breathing and pouring out of hearts, transforming, healing and accomplishing the things that please God. Love also activates and energizes our faith.

10)  Have an accountability brother or sister in Christ who will help you keep on the right path for God.  It is almost impossible to walk the Christian walk alone. God designed the church so we could love and encourage one another to good works and to deeper intimacy with our God. Have a brother and sister in Christ be an accountability partner and pray with them, share your heart with them and together move forward disrupting Satan’s kingdom. Jesus sent the disciples out two by two and we can move in great power with an accountability partner that helps us to be accountable to God.

NOW IS THE TIME TO GO AND DO THE WORK OF OUR MASTER AND WARRIOR GENERAL WITH GREAT FAITH, GREAT BOLDNESS AND GREAT CONFIDENCE IN THE POWER AND FAITHFULNESS OF OUR GOD.

Mark 16:14-20 (NIV): ¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

   ¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

   ¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. ²⁰ Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

Christian you have your commission; you have your mission; you have your orders; NOW GO. DO NOT DELAY. ENGAGE WITH THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS AND SHATTER IT TO ITS CORE. LET YOUR NAME BE KNOWN IN THE DEPTHS OF HELL AS IT IS KNOWN IN HEAVEN.