This sermon gives an overview of the topic of spiritual warfare, covering the different types of spiritual warfare (ground-level, occult-level, and strategic-level), the reasons why Satan targets particular people, and six powerful tools that we can use against Satan's intimidating tactics.
This sermon on Acts 16:16-24 walks through Acts' third example of "high level spiritual warfare" — the taking on of the demonic prince of a given area (like when Peter confronted the sorcerer, Simon Magus, whose demon had complete control over the whole region of Samaria, which then opened that region up to the gospel.) Down through history, God has led missionaries to cut down a sacred tree or in other ways to slap a demonic strong man in the face and claim that territory for King Jesus. At the same time, it is terribly dangerous to rush in where angels fear to tread, especially for the spiritually or morally vulnerable. This provides a theology of the Python spirit as well as a correction to the two extremes on this subject.
In Acts 19, a demon responded to those attempting to exorcise him by saying, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" Why did he know Paul? And why did he acknowledge Paul but not these exorcists? This sermon examines the major contrasts between the world's ways of dealing with the demonic and God's way, showing all the components that gave Paul the integrity and authority to deal with demons the way he did, and the powerful results.