Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO The spirit world (Fifth in the series, 'A Christian worldview') Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA September 5, 2004 Main Scripture text: Ephesians 6:10-18. A Christian Worldview Sermon Series Aug. 8, 2004 • The Power of Perspective Aug. 15, 2004 • The Holy Bible: Our Guide for Faith and Practice Aug. 22, 2004 • Origins Aug. 29, 2004 • Will the Real God Please Stand Up? Sept. 5, 2004 • The Spirit World Sept. 12, 2004 • A Warfare Worldview Sept. 19, 2004 • War Stories: Invasion and Liberation Oct. 10, 2004 • War Stories: At the Front Oct. 17, 2004 • The Enemy's Battle Plan Oct. 24, 2004 • Personal Defense Oct. 31, 2004 • Our Weapons: The Sword of the Spirit Nov. 7, 2004 • Our Weapons: The Name of Jesus Nov. 14, 2004 • Our Weapons: The Blood of Jesus Nov. 28, 2004 • Warfare Worldview: The Real Star Wars Many in the church do not accept the reality of the Spirit world. The reality of angels, fallen angels or demons, the prince of demons who is called Satan or the devil is not taken seriously. This is at odds with the Scriptures. Paul says clearly that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. He says the real struggle in life is against the devil's schemes, which come to us through spiritual forces of evil. This doesn't mean we can soft-pedal our own sinfulness or in any way avoid responsibility for our actions. But we cannot dismiss the fact that the devil and demons do exist and can seriously affect our lives. Surely, not all sickness and tragedy is directly caused by demons. Sometimes we suffer because of sin or stupidity. But some sickness and some destruction is caused by demons. We must stand firm and resist the push of the secular mindset that rejects the very existence of the spirit world. If there are no such thing as demons, then Jesus -- who the Bible declares to be God in human flesh -- wasted a lot of time casting out what is nonexistent. We must learn how to take up the armor of God and use the weapons God had given us to defeat our enemy. The most important thing to know about demons that they are afraid of Jesus, as the account in Mark 5 about the man with a legion of demons makes clear. Confronted by Jesus, the demons beg for mercy. His power over them is complete. If the life of Jesus is in us, His power is in us -- and that means the dominion of demons over us undone. As we close, listen to Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of today's text from Ephesians 6: God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Supporting text: Matthew 7:9-11 | Romans 8:28 | 1 Peter 5:8 | John 10:10 | Mark 5:6-10 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here (26:30). (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of this sermon is available free of charge (U.S requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 040905a: The Spirit World. © 2004 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us