I obviously have no expertise to add to the question of our military strategy in Iraq; even if I had an opinion worth discussing, this would not be the forum to do so. Rather, I am interested this morning in the study group's recommendations for more theological reasons. I understand the logic of working with our adversaries to promote a greater good, and the ultimate goal of withdrawing our troops out of harm's way.

The spiritual conflict raging for humanity will not end before history closes. In our Halloween series we learned that demons are real, destructive, and defeated. In recent days we have been discussing the origin of Satan, their general and our archenemy.

And so we're discussing spiritual warfare these days, specifically the origin of Satan. We've looked at Isaiah 14. The other passage which seems to relate to the question is Revelation 12. Nearly the entire chapter is relevant to our discussion, and will cause today's essay to be a bit longer than usual.

God and Satan are in a war, and you and I are the battleground. If you have chosen for God, and I hope you have, your decision did not remove you from the battle.

Where did Satan come from? The following passage in Isaiah 14 answers the question. Except that it doesn't.

We have seen that Satan is a very real enemy. He claims every unclaimed soul, blinds our minds to the truth, lies about God's word, seeks to defeat and destroy God's people, and opposes God in every way. Satan is real, but he is also defeated.

This week we've been talking about demons and Satan. Our first step in dealing with our spiritual enemy is to acknowledge his existence. Our second step is to learn more about him. The Bible lists five facts we all need to know in predicting his next attack.

We've been discussing spiritual warfare for several days, learning about demons, the foot soldiers of Satan. Now let's discuss their master, the devil himself. Who and what is he? Where did he come from? Where is he going?

Today is "All Saints Day" in church tradition, the annual celebration of those who have lived holy lives as models of faith. On this day we are to look even farther than Hubble can see, focusing on God's faithful across history.

In our Halloween series we have seen that demons are real, and that they are evil and unclean. A third fact is crucial: demons are stronger than we are.