Crocodiles Gather Where the Water Is: The Spirit of Leviathan

Sermon outline

The pressure that tries to make believers give up is often not people at all but a high-ranking evil spirit, and the first step to overcoming it is to recognise it for what it is.

1. We wrestle not against flesh and blood: four kinds of rebel spirits

   Much of what a Christian fights is not physical, even when it shows up through people or groups of people. The word 'wrestle' speaks of warfare between the saints and the spirit rebels cast out of heaven when Lucifer fell. He lists four ranks from the Greek: principalities, the chief rulers of the highest rank in Satan's kingdom; authorities, who carry out the will of the chief rulers; the world rulers of the darkness of this age; and the wicked spirits in the heavenlies. He gives references for private study.

   “Many things that you would fight as a Christian are not physical things, although you might be dealing with people or groups of people.”

   • Ephesians 6:12
   • Galatians 1:16
   • 1 Corinthians 15:50
   • Colossians 2:10
   • Daniel 10:13-21
   • Ephesians 1:21
   • Colossians 1:16-18

2. Paul informs us, he does not frighten us

   The new believer enjoys answered prayer and the sense of God's presence, but after that babyhood stage God expects you to fight the good fight of faith. Evil spirits are loose in the world and promote the spirit of the world, while the Christian belongs to another kingdom as Christ's ambassador. When you are attacked, encouraging yourself that better days are coming is not enough: you take the weapons God has provided and use the Word as a sword.

   Illustration: People who loved the church and were on fire for the Lord suddenly 'go ballistic', and everyone wonders what happened. When you try to teach them they insist they are right and walk on in darkness. It was satanic spirits that took them out, and they did not even know it.

   “He's trying to inform us, so that if you're informed, you're better equipped to deal with the onslaught of the devil when he comes against you.”

   • 1 Timothy 6:12
   • John 17:14-16
   • 2 Corinthians 5:20
   • Ephesians 6:17

3. Identify the source: it is not God, and it is not the person

   Teaching the new creation life and how to confess the Word does not mean you will never be challenged: your character, marriage, work and finances will all be tested. The first thing to do is identify the source. Only light, love, goodness and mercy come from God, so the attack comes from the devil. In a disagreement you are not fighting the other person but a spirit working through them, which is why you keep walking in love. Nothing changes until that person recognises it, repents and asks God for help.

   Illustration: You can hold all the meetings you like and read every book on people skills, good manners and body language from cover to cover, and it still will not work, because a spirit is at work in the other person.

   “We are not fighting the person. We are fighting a principality.”

   • 1 John 4:8
   • James 1:17

4. Who Leviathan is and what he does

   Leviathan is a spiritual creature who ranks high in Satan's order of fallen angels, and he says some of the most stubborn problems Christians face are driven by such powers: insanity, sin, depression, thoughts of suicide, drug use and division in families and churches. These spirits are loosed against God's children and against church ministries, to pile on enough pressure that you throw in the towel. When an avalanche of turmoil and confusion comes against you or your family, remember what you are dealing with.

   Illustration: Jesus cast the demon out of the boy and the legion out of the madman among the tombs, and the townspeople begged Him to leave because about 2,000 pigs had gone over the cliff. In the same way a town may not applaud when you preach the gospel or plant a church. He describes a crocodile thrashing its victim from side to side and dragging it under, and tells of a man of God who wrote a book about seeing, in a vision, this spirit attacking his church as a large, white, thick-skinned crocodile.

   “They were more interested in the safety of the pigs rather than the deliverance of a human being.”

   • Matthew 17:14-18
   • Mark 5:1-17

5. Leviathan in Scripture: many heads, a piercing and crooked serpent

   Psalm 74 is the first place the spirit is named: God broke the heads, in the plural, of the monster in the waters and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert. Psalm 104:26 and Isaiah 27:1 name him again, as the piercing serpent, the crooked serpent and the dragon in the sea. He says this is not a dinosaur or an extinct animal but a demonic spirit. He takes the desert creatures to be believers in a wilderness season, called by God yet groping for the way and blaming church members, leaders or the pastor, and the sea to be large groups of people such as nations. God will finish him off one day; until then the church must recognise him.

   “The only relief is to first recognize it as an evil spirit and then they can effectively deal with it.”

   • Psalm 74:12-14
   • Psalm 104:26
   • Isaiah 27:1
   • Revelation 13:1

6. The greater the anointing, the more crocodiles

   He used to think that the more anointed he was, the fewer problems he would have. It is the other way round. Rivers of living water speak of God's Spirit and anointing, and crocodiles gather where the water is, so whenever God's Spirit is moving, Leviathan will come looking for a gap. The Holy Spirit will lead you out, but you must stay in the Scripture and walk in obedience. When the pressure comes to make you weary, you get more on fire for God and press in.

   Illustration: The greater the body of water, the greater the population of crocodiles. A crocodile's victim kicks furiously at first, then loses hope and gives in to the pressure, and that is how the devil tries to make a believer throw in the towel.

   “Wherever there's water, what do you get? Crocodiles.”

   • John 7:38

7. Five character traits of Leviathan (the recording ends during the first)

   He begins a list of five character traits. The first is that Leviathan has many heads, and many heads mean confusion and distrust: everybody wants to be boss and churches are troubled by rumours. The recording stops here in the middle of a sentence, so the other four traits and the promised teaching on how to overcome this spirit are not on it.

   Illustration: When Jesus was arrested there were many witnesses against Him and each had a different story, hence the confusion.

   “Many heads speak of confusion and distrust.”

   • Mark 14:56