Kay Arthur - Spiritual Warfare: A Six-Week, No-Homework Bible Study—More Than 900,000 Sold in the Series

S PIRITUAL W ARFARE : O VERCOMING THE E NEMY
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
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All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org).

ISBN 978-0-307-72979-8
ISBN 978-0-307-72980-4 (electronic)

Copyright 2011 by Precept Ministries International

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

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Spiritual Warfare: Overcoming the Enemy

Who Is the Devil?

What Kind of Enemy Are We Dealing With?

What Does Satans Kingdom Look Like?

How Much Power Does Satan Have?

What Is Satans Primary Target?

How Can We Equip Ourselves for Victory in Spiritual Combat?

This small-group study is for people who are interested in learning for themselves more about what the Bible says on various subjects, but who have only limited time to meet together. Its ideal, for example, for a lunch group at work, an early morning mens group, a young mothers group meeting in a home, a Sunday-school class, or even family devotions. (Its also ideal for small groups that typically have longer meeting timessuch as evening groups or Saturday morning groupsbut want to devote only a portion of their time together to actual study, while reserving the rest for prayer, fellowship, or other activities.)

This book is designed so that all the groups participants will complete each lessons study activities at the same time. Discussing your insights drawn from what God says about the subject reveals exciting, life-impacting truths.

Although its a group study, youll need a facilitator to lead the study and keep the discussion moving. (This persons function is not that of a lecturer or teacher. However, when this book is used in a Sunday-school class or similar setting, the teacher should feel free to lead more directly and to bring in other insights in addition to those provided in each weeks lesson.)

If you are your groups facilitator, the leader, here are some helpful points for making your job easier:

• Go through the lesson and mark the text before you lead the group. This will give you increased familiarity with the material and will enable you to facilitate the group with greater ease. It may be easier for you to lead the group through the instructions for marking if you, as a leader, choose a specific color for each symbol you mark.
• As you lead the group, start at the beginning of the text and simply read it aloud in the order it appears in the lesson, including the insight boxes, which appear throughout. Work through the lesson together, observing and discussing what you learn. As you read the Scripture verses, have the group say aloud the word they are marking in the text.
• The discussion questions are there simply to help you cover the material. As the class moves into the discussion, many times you will find that they will cover the questions on their own. Remember, the discussion questions are there to guide the group through the topic, not to squelch discussion.
• Remember how important it is for people to verbalize their answers and discoveries. This greatly strengthens their personal understanding of each weeks lesson. Try to ensure that everyone has plenty of opportunity to contribute to each weeks discussions.
• Keep the discussion moving. This may mean spending more time on some parts of the study than on others. If necessary, you should feel free to spread out a lesson over more than one session. However, remember that you dont want to slow the pace too much. Its much better to leave everyone wanting more than to have people dropping out because of declining interest.
• If the validity or accuracy of some of the answers seems questionable, you can gently and cheerfully remind the group to stay focused on the truth of the Scriptures. Your object is to learn what the Bible says, not to engage in human philosophy. Simply stick with the Scriptures and give God the opportunity to speak. His Word is truth (John 17:17)!

T he first rule of battle is this: know your enemy. A thorough knowledge of the opponents strength, his probable line of attack, and his tactics are vital to achieving victory. So how complete and accurate is your understanding of your enemy, the devil? Did you even know you had an enemy?

The Bible clearly shows that every one of us lives in the midst of a spiritual battle, whether or not we realize it. Yet manyeven many believersmake the mistake of dismissing the enemy as a benign cartoon character with horns and a tail. Others become preoccupied with the enemy, fearfully focusing on his power rather than living in the reality of Gods strength. As youll discover in the weeks ahead, neither approach reflects the battle-ready perspective we need to walk daily in victory.

It is imperative that we have accurate information about our enemy, who is bent on destroying our ability to effectively serve God. For the next six weeks, you will dig into the Word of God to discover the truth about the devil for yourself. Knowing this truth will enable you to stand firm when you encounter the enemy!

Who is the devil? What do you know about him and where did you get your information? From movies? books? video games? As a follower of Christ, it is important that you know exactly who the devil isbecause his goals involve you personally. The Bible has a lot to say about him, and this week we will begin to discover those truths for ourselves.

We will begin our study in Genesis chapter 3. Keep in mind that the Bible is a progressive revelation of truth. In other words, God reveals truth little by little, building on what He has revealed before. We wont learn all there is to know about the devil in this lesson, but by the end of the course, you will be able to recognize him and his tactics.

Leader:Read Genesis 3:17 aloud.

Have the group say aloud and mark each mention of the serpent, including pronouns, with a pitchfork, like this: