Bible Text: Daniel 10:14-11:20 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: Daniel, The Invisible War

1.  Daniel 10 is a fascinating look at spiritual warfare in action.  As one writer puts it:  “This report [of the angel concerning the delay in answering Daniel’s prayer] gave Daniel some insight into the unseen spiritual battles going on in this world.” 

2.  The Bible teaches the following about spiritual warfare:

-Demons are fallen angels who joined in Satan’s rebellion against God, who have great intelligence and power.  They promote Satan’s agenda in this world.

-They are spirit beings, however, they are not omnipresent (they can only be in one place at a time), nor are they omniscient (they are not all-knowing).  Their effectiveness is due to their long existence and their observations of humans in all kinds of situations.

3.  Dr. Charles Ryrie caterizes the work of demons as follows:

-they promote a system of false doctrine (teaching) that includes salvation by good works, denial of the deity or humanity of Jesus Christ, is deceptive (can promote evil or good to accomplish their purposes, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

-they promote destruction of men’s bodies and/or minds, they promote moral impurity, they will torment humans physically in the Tribulation (Revelation 9:11)

-they delude the nations (Daniel 1013,20; Revelation 16:13-14,16)

4.  The believer’s defense against Satan and his demons is as follows:

-don’t take Satan lightly, Jude 8,9

-be alert to Satan’s attacks, 1 Peter 5:8 (but see 2 Chronicles 16:9)

-use the armor of God, Ephesians 6:11-18, especially prepared by knowledge of the Word of God and prayer

-flee sexual situations, Genesis 39, 2 Timothy 2:22

-make no provision for the sin nature, Romans 13:14

-be careful about attitudes toward sin (especially repetitive sin), toward your mate, secret sin, the things slipping into your language, actions, thought life.