Satan does not mind if you sit quietly in the pew on Sabbath, pay your weekly tithe and live an inconspicuous Christian life. 

He does, however, get very concerned, angry and aggressive when you decide to become actively involved in Jesus’ missional disciple-making movement and work together with Jesus in extending His kingdom.  Spiritual warfare is something that you are inevitably going to face if you sign up to be on Jesus’ mission team.

Satan’s ferocity and ability to destroy our lives is compared with a number of dangerous animals in the Bible.  Peter compared him to a lion: “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” 1 Peter 5:8. In Revelation, John compares him to both a dragon and a snake: “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” Revelation 12:9.  That ancient serpent was, of course, the being that got all of us into trouble back in the Garden of Eden, the serpent that tricked Eve into believing that God could not really be trusted.

Paul had a personal encounter with Satan’s anger in the form a snake-like being.  When he started sharing the good news about Jesus in the Macedonian city of Philippi with Silas and Luke, they caught the attention of a slave girl who was possessed by a pythonic spirit.  This spirit gave her the ability to tell the future what was going to happen in the future.  This was something which was really sought after by the local businessmen who wanted to have insider information about the upcoming trends in the stock market and which shares were the best ones to invest in.  Because the pythonic spirit knew that Paul presented the greatest spiritual threat, it manipulated the girl to start following Paul and shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”

Of course, that was absolutely true—Paul and his team were teaching people how they could be saved.  So what’s so bad about that?  The issue was that, true to its name, this pythonic spirit was starting to constrict the life out of Paul’s ministry.  Instead about having the opportunity to hear the stories of what Jesus had done and how He had died on the Cross for them, all the people who had gathered around Paul could hear was:

“These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”
“These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”
“These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”

Day after day.  Nonstop.  She just would not shut up.  The pythonic spirit kept tightening his grip, slowly squeezing the breath out of Paul’s mission.

Paul got so exasperated that he finally turned the girl and said ““I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!”  And instantly the pythonic grasp was released.  The slave girl was free.  There was peace again.  There is still power in the name of Jesus!

When you step out on Jesus’ mission here in Sydney, it may bring incredible joy to His heart, but it is also going to ignite the wrath of that ancient serpent, Satan.  Remember, though, you have nothing to fear.  The pythonic spirit’s power was completely neutralised at the name of Jesus.

When the seventy-two disciples returned to Jesus, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”  “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.” Luke 10:17-20

When your name is written the Book of Life in heaven and you are protected by the name of Jesus, you are in safest place you can ever be!

The book of Acts is drenched with the Holy Spirit.  Reading it is like taking time to play out in the tropical rain!  Read the full stories for today in:

Acts 16 NLT
Acts of the Apostles “Exalting the Cross”
Acts of the Apostles “In the Regions Beyond”

 Invite your friends to join this journey with you!  You can follow this journey on Facebook too.