Key: Recognize

RECOGNIZE you have entered Satan’s turf

Jesus warned the 72 workers: “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” [1] The team knew they must be discerning, aware that Satan and his demon hosts had been in control of these people for unnumbered generations. He would not release his captives without a fight.

One team member put it this way: “Our fight must not be against the people, we are commanded to love them! Our fight is with the one who has kept them in deception.”[2]

They were in the midst of a spiritual battle. During the language learning time, while personal evangelism was at a minimum, the team took on spiritual warfare as their main “outreach.” They prayed for their new friends that God would “open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith….”[3]

Spiritual warfare also means spiritual welfare. The team members were careful to maintain right relationships with God and with one another.

[2] Ephesians 6:10-12

[3] Acts 26:18