TEXT: Ephesians 2: 1-3

You were dead by your trespasses and by your sins, in which you once walked, according to
the way of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit which now
works in the children of rebellion. We too were of their number, and we once lived according to
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the will of the flesh and our thoughts, and we were by nature
children of wrath, like the others...

SUBJECT: Spirit of rebellion

THEME: The acts of the spirit of rebellion

TITLE: What is the spirit at work in you?

INTRODUCTION

As an introduction to this message, we will use the revealing passage that tells of the
rebellion of the children of Israel found in Deuteronomy 1: 19-45. This passage can be
summarized as follows: After a brief stay in the desert, the sons of Israel arrived at the borders of
Canaan, at Kades-Barnea. In front of them rose the imposing mountain of the Amoreans. Moses
then told them to go up and take the mountain, but they suggested to him to send spies to explore
the country in order to know by where to go up. Twelve men were named after the number of the
tribes of Israel, one man per tribe. They returned at the end of forty days with the fruit of the
country. It is a very good land, they said to the people, where milk and honey flow, but we
cannot take it because the inhabitants are more numerous and taller than us. Despite the
unwavering confidence of Joshua and Caleb, the exhortations of Moses, and the remembrance of
the exploits of the Lord to deliver them, the people sank into discouragement and unbelief. The
Lord was angry and took the decision to bring the children of Israel back to the desert with the
will to destroy all the rebels there, except Joshuah and Caleb. On hearing the verdict of God, the
people resolved to go up to the mountain. Moses defended it by saying: do not go up to the
mountain, for God is no longer with you and your enemies will beat you. The people did not
listen to Moses and ignored the order of God after which he had to take the path of the desert
towards the Red Sea. They went up the mountain and were cut to pieces by the Amoreans. It was
the spirit of rebellion. The history of this people of Israel is full of examples of the manifestation
of this spirit among them. What are the acts of the spirit of rebellion? The acts of the spirit of
rebellion are as follows:
I) THE SPIRIT OF REBELLION CONTROLS THE EARTH

In 1 John 5:19, the apostle John states that the whole world is under the power of the evil
one. The Lord Jesus had said, speaking of Satan: I will hardly speak with you anymore; for the
prince of the world is coming. He has nothing in me (John 14:30). The spirit of rebellion is the
spirit of the leader of the rebels, the initiator of the revolt against God, Lucifer, a fallen angel
chasing from heaven and who came down to take the earth hostage by inoculating his venom of
rebellion against the Creator's authority to all humans.

a) The spirit of rebellion makes the world appealing (Ephesians 2: 2a)

By the expression "the train of this world", the apostle Paul makes it clear that the world has
a way of living which is unique to it, a way of living inherited from our ancestors and our
environment in opposition to the standards of God, our creator. Every human being, descendant
of Adam and Eve, is naturally inhabited by this spirit of rebellion, since our first parents were
infected with it from the beginning. For the other individuals, descendant of the monkey, like
Darwin, the spirit which animates them is the animal spirit. This spirit makes them act and react
according to their instinct; their condition is therefore worse than the former who succeed all the
same in reasoning in accordance with the capacities of the human mind.

b) The spirit of rebellion spreads through the air (Ephesians 2: 2b)

Using the phrase "the prince of the power of the air," the apostle refers to a power that travels
through the air like air waves and controls the thoughts of humans since their brain serves as a
receptor and transmitter at the same time. In one way or another, each of us is affected by this
spirit that travels through the air. There is no way out of its control, yet one can resist its
influence through the power of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ who overcame the prince of
the power of the air by his atoning death and his resurrection from the dead.

c) The spirit of rebellion works in rebels (Ephesians 2: 2c)

You often wonder why so many heads of state who had sworn to respect the laws of their
country and to work for the happiness of their fellow citizens have become bloodthirsty
executioners? It is the spirit of rebellion. Why are a group of men taking up arms to overthrow a
government that works for the happiness of the people? It is the spirit of rebellion. Why have
children brought up in honorable families, having received a good education, strayed from the
beaten track and become social dangers? It is the work of the spirit of rebellion whose aims are
to wreak havoc in human society, to draw the human race into open rebellion against the
righteous and holy laws of the Creator so that his judgment may rest on us with certainty as he
had reached Lucifer who was cast out forever from the presence of God. My brother, my sister,
what is the spirit that works in you, the spirit of rebellion or the Spirit of Jesus Christ?

II) THE SPIRIT OF REBELLION CONTROLS THE WILL OF HUMANS (2 Timothy 2:

24-26)
 Here is what the apostle Paul says in this passage: Now a servant of the Lord must not have
quarrels; on the contrary, he must have condescension towards all, be able to teach, endowed
with patience; he must gently straighten out adversaries, in the hope that God will give them
repentance to come to the knowledge of the truth, and that, having returned to their common
sense, they will free themselves from the traps of the devil, who has seized upon them to submit
them to his will. So when the spirit of rebellion takes hold of the minds of humans, it is with the
intention of submitting them to its will. However, some individuals have better exercise of their
wills than others; these become easy prey for Satan who manipulates them like a puppet. To
subdue others, the devil forced the illicit use of drugs. Many individuals who are promoted to
bright futures become human rags because one day they had the stupid idea of trying drugs.
Drugs are a dangerously effective weapon in the hands of Satan, who uses them to overcome the
wills of the most recalcitrants. So if you think you have a certain amount of willpower to resist
the appeal of evil, stay away from drugs. When our brains go numb and our wills surrender, two
actions will happen:

a) The spirit of rebellion stirs up the lusts of the flesh (Ephesians 2: 3a)

Having reached this state of submission to the will of the devil, man is overcome by the
excitement of lust. The apostle John confesses this: "For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1 John 2:
16) Since the human spirit has fallen into the power of the rebellious spirit, the body functions
like a ship that has lost its rudder and sails with the current and the wind. The sexual instinct is
heightened, the inclinations to murder until then controlled, the acts of savagery repressed by
education are freed from their chain and overflow like a raw river. Everything that catches the
eye tempts him: a beautiful car, a beautiful woman, a beautiful house, a beautiful bundle of
banknotes. He steals, he rapes, he slaughters, he kills, he sets fire to. He would like to become
the center of the world, worshiped by the crowd and illuminating under the eye of the cameras.
May his name and his image make the headlines of the newspapers and the media! He is a new
Cesar before whom every knee must bow.

b) The spirit of rebellion compels to fulfill the desires of the flesh and the thoughts
(Ephesians 2: 3b)

His mind invaded by lusts, man sees himself irremediably drawn by a powerful force which
obliges him to yield to the pressures of lusts. A voice suggests that the only way to have peace
and calm down is to let go. He therefore lets himself go to find himself prisoner of malicious and
pernicious desires which always demand more. No one can boast of having tamed this force, on
the contrary, when one believes oneself to be the strongest, the most assured, one fails the most
miserably. That is why the apostle Paul offers the following advice: He that thinks himself
standing beware of falling.(1 Corinthians 10:12) This is the reason why the Son of God
commands: "Watch therefore and pray at all times, that you may have the strength to escape all
these things that will happen and to stand before the Son of man." "(Luke 21:36) "Pray without
ceasing" continues the apostle of the nations in I Thessalonians 5:17. Prayer and meditation on
the word of God are the best weapons that will enable you to resist the spirit of rebellion, for
someone had to say that it is difficult for the one who struggles on his knees to fall because he is
already on the ground.
CONCLUSION

Beloved brothers and sisters, there is indeed a mighty spirit which influences the thoughts of
men and compels them to act in opposition to the righteous and holy commandments of the
Creator of the universe. The only way to resist him is to submit voluntarily to the lordship of the
Son of God, the Savior Jesus Christ, by obeying his commandments.

Copyright & copy; Jean Rousselin Hilaire 2012 All Rights Reserved.