Crushing Attacks of the Enemy
About this sermon
In “Crushing Attacks of the Enemy,” Pastor Dean Odle presents a Scripture-centered message about the condition of the church, Satanic opposition, prayer. Drawing especially from Revelation 12, the teaching emphasizes that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. Odle connects that foundation with the conviction that Satan’s work is described through deception, accusation, temptation, and opposition to God’s purposes.
Chronological teaching outline
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Odle focuses on Satanic opposition. The message argues that Satan’s work is described through deception, accusation, temptation, and opposition to God’s purposes. It connects this with the conviction that faithfulness in the home requires instruction, loving correction, protection, and a consistent Christian example. The practical emphasis is to seek God in prayer and act on what Scripture requires.
Odle focuses on endurance. The message argues that faithful endurance is necessary when obedience brings testing, opposition, or suffering. It connects this with the conviction that the Holy Spirit leads, equips, corrects, and strengthens believers who yield to God. The practical emphasis is to seek God in prayer and act on what Scripture requires.
Odle focuses on the condition of the church. The message argues that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. It connects this with the conviction that true worship centers on God and is expressed through reverence, surrender, and obedience. The practical emphasis is to test the teaching by Scripture and apply it through faithful obedience.
Odle focuses on the gospel. The message argues that the gospel announces Christ’s saving work and calls every hearer to repent, believe, and obey. It connects this with the conviction that repentance involves turning from known sin and bringing conduct into agreement with God’s word. The practical emphasis is to respond with honest repentance and concrete obedience.
Odle focuses on the beast system. The message argues that Revelation’s beast imagery is connected with coercion, worship, and end-time deception. It connects this with the conviction that Satan’s work is described through deception, accusation, temptation, and opposition to God’s purposes. The practical emphasis is to practice patient, truthful love in relationships and conflict.
Odle focuses on the condition of the church. The message argues that the church is called to recover biblical faithfulness instead of accommodating compromise. It connects this with the conviction that leaders are accountable to teach faithfully, serve the flock, and model the character they proclaim. The practical emphasis is to test the teaching by Scripture and apply it through faithful obedience.
Odle focuses on Satanic opposition. The message argues that Satan’s work is described through deception, accusation, temptation, and opposition to God’s purposes. It connects this with the conviction that demonic influence must be answered through Christ’s authority and the freedom He provides. The practical emphasis is to seek God in prayer and act on what Scripture requires.
Odle focuses on Satanic opposition while working through Revelation 12. The message argues that Satan’s work is described through deception, accusation, temptation, and opposition to God’s purposes. It connects this with the conviction that biblical faith trusts God’s character and acts upon His promises. The practical emphasis is to seek God in prayer and act on what Scripture requires.
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everybody i want you to go ahead and take your bibles and i want you to turn okay let's go and turn to uh second corinthians chapter one second corinthians chapter one good to see you guys here how many of you know that it's important for your your minister to be honest with you that's a good thing right here some people just won't tell you the truth and they have reverend in front of their name some of them do but i'm going to endeavor to tell you the truth this morning and this is good and i'm going to show you that paul did it too but you know what i want to talk to you about this morning is just about crushing attacks of the enemy crushing attacks and i'm not talking about you know something like some big huge thing that's that's uh that's obvious you know some big like a car accident or something like that i mean those things god you know god intervenes but the devil can throw all kinds of stuff but what i'm talking about this morning is there can be satan knows how to plan crushing attacks mental emotional attacks he knows where to hit you and he knows where to hit you hard and i just want you to understand that even sometimes that it's not only you going through it that your pastor and people who have been in the lord a long time sometimes go through very crushing oppressive attacks of the enemy and i just felt like the lord as i was sitting there i really had a complete different message to preach to you this morning but the lord is kind of laid on my heart if you've been going through this in the last few weeks i imagine that somebody else in the room might be going through not just the normal stuff but a little above normal and i just want you to see that paul talked about this in his own life and i want you to see that that it is it's great difficulty it's great difficulty to try to put the truth into the world it's a great difficulty listen to plan a church to oversee a church to try to stand for the truth and to put that truth not only into church folk but put it into the world and i want to tell you there are times and over the years i've faced some pretty serious attacks of the enemy but i mean even in my own life and i want you to know this in my own life right now that there are crushing emotional attacks there are attacks you know my daughters getting the swine flu you know um there are financial things that i can't even go into all of them how many financial issues are in my own life and how many needs are coming up with you know my my children nancy's children you know the
- 0:03:02
pressures of having a baby you know it's come upon me as as an old fellow that i am now and um you know what i'm saying is there's these crushing attacks and i know that you guys face them and sometimes sometimes they're more in your thought life than you even realize and the whole thing the whole reason satan does this is because you're a threat to him if you're not a threat to the devil he's pretty much going to lead you down a gentle path of destruction okay he's just going to guide you you're already going down that path but he's just going to see to it that you continue but someone who tries to go the complete opposite path of truth and life and relationship with jesus and want and they want to share that truth with the world you're going to experience seasons of intense it seems and almost impossible attacks of the enemy and i want to put up a quote here we're going to put up this is by charles finney some of you may have seen it i think i put it on my my facebook this week but this is one of the probably one of the best books if you want to read a book from the 1800s is revival lectures by charles g finney it's one of the one of the christian classics that was put out there but of course finney was pretty much the spearhead and the leader of the entire second great awakening he was pretty much the spearhead of the anti-slavery movement before we ever reach the civil war i mean charles finney spoke to the whole nation without radio and television i mean he would go into places and he had a guy named father nash who would go ahead of him and literally pray him and father nation another guy would pray sometimes in 12 hour shifts over the city and over the lost and then finney would come and hold a meeting that might last two or three days it might end up lasting six months just to give you an example of some of the things that god used finney to do in 1831 finney went to hold a few days of meetings in rochester new york he ended up being there for six months and one hundred thousand people got saved okay and that wasn't just in rochester the the population of rochester wasn't even a hundred thousand but people from all around the area got saved people in rochester new york to this day talk about that changed the course of their city back in 1831 so just to give you a little background on charles finney but revival lectures even to this day i mean it's over 150 years old and to this day when i read this book the the spiritual understanding and discernment this man had of the scriptures and of what was going on in the spirit realm blows me away as he was a presbyterian minister who did not believe anything that presbyterians believe it was funny they tried to kick him out of his denomination but it didn't work because he was getting so many people saved so they had to leave him alone but none of the ministers around him liked him none of the colleges liked him he was hated
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by so many people i mean there were certain ministers that would would uh you know say if finney's gonna come to my town i will oppose him with cannons i mean they didn't like charles finney but charles finney preached the truth but this is a man that understood what it means when you make up your mind to stand for the truth and he did even against the slavery issue in a time that wasn't popular and he stood for the truth and he preached the truth and he took that truth not just to the church but to the world and finney understood what it meant to be a man of prayer and he knew he understood about praying in the spirit he was baptized in the holy spirit actually and spoke in tongues he testifies to that in his journals so we're talking about a spirit-filled man at a time when that was just not really understood okay but this is something he said in revival lectures in chapter four on being filled with the spirit and he says if you're filled with the holy spirit if you have very much of the spirit of god on you and in you and you go after souls like he did he said this right here go ahead and put it up he said you must expect very frequent and agonizing conflicts with satan satan has very little trouble with those christians who are not spiritual but lukewarm and slaughterful and worldly minded and such do not understand what is said about spiritual conflict if you're going this you must expect it now see here i want to tell you we whine and whimper and complain when attacks come but what is this great man of god saying here we should expect it we should expect that there will be seasons that the enemy comes in like a flood i mean from all directions and more than anything he's coming in on your mind the primary warfare is in your mind and your thoughts and they come subtly they come sneaky the devil knows just how to slip through your defenses to get into your thought life to start tearing you up and actually angel and jordan and i guess dante was at a couple but we've been talking about in the youth meetings about controlling your thoughts and how important this is and i just want to say that i'm going to tell you your pastor at times goes through some very agonizing conflicts with the enemy agonizing now i'm going to show you where paul did too in second corinthians chapter 1 are you there let's just start reading it verse 3. paul said here blessed be god even the father of our lord jesus christ the father of mercies and the god of all comfort who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of god for as the sufferings of christ abound in us so our consolation also abounds and whether we be afflicted is for your consolation and salvation which is effectual in the
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enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer or whether we be comforted it is for your consolation and our hope of you is steadfast knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings so you also be of the consolation now look at verse eight that's what i want to focus in on for we would not brethren have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in asia that we were pressed out of measure above strength in so much that we despaired even of life but we have the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in god which raises the dead who delivered us from so great at death and dost deliver us in whom we trust that he shall also deliver us you also helping together by prayer for us for that the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons that thanks may be given by many on our behalf now i know this is a lot of words but i want you to see where paul said i didn't want you ignorant and guys i don't want you ignorant paul said i don't want you ignorant that when we went into asia and what was paul going into asia to do well what was the he was going into asia to do what plant churches to start new churches you have to remember that the synagogues were all over the place they had synagogues the jews had synagogues in all of these uh in all of these places you know you see where paul goes through the book of acts he went to thessalonica he went to ephesus he went to all these different places there were synagogues of the jews which the jews worshiped jehovah they worshiped the true god they worshiped the creator but what had the synagogues become the synagogues had become the old wine skin god had developed now a new move of his spirit he had brought forth new truth new revelation jesus christ the messiah now the church was the new church you get what i'm saying the the the what paul was trying to do what uh barnabas and those they were trying to plant a new church that was led by the spirit full of the spirit and would preach the truth and they were opposed primarily by the synagogues quote the other churches that said that you know again we're talking about two entities here the synagogues and the church both worshipping the same god but one worshipping in death and the other worshipping in life one that had an old truth one that has the whole truth you get what i'm saying is it any different today no see we are trying to plant a church that wants to be led by the spirit that's willing to stand for the whole truth we stand against many churches in this in this united states of ours in this region that yes they were say they worship the same god we worship but it's in death they will not tell the whole truth they
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