Defence against the dark arts
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
The other day I received an invitation for a Halloween party, and I thought, 20 years ago no one in Australia cared about it. These days, Halloween is everywhere.
Obviously, American culture is influential, and it’s another money spinner for shops. But I also suspect that part of the reason why Halloween is growing is because many would like to believe, even if just for one night, that the world is not empty. For all the talk of the decline in religion in Australia, hard atheism isn’t increasing. Instead, people want to be spiritual. And perhaps even for those just playing dress ups, the idea that magic might actually exist, or that the stuff of horror movies might be real is better than a world of cold, meaningless matter.
But what about us? When we come to Ephesians 6, with its talk of Spiritual warfare, of Satan of darkness and cosmic powers, we may be tempted to think, that’s a bit much isn’t it? Afterall, we’re not Pentecostals, we’re Anglicans. We don’t do that. We believe in the Holy Spirit sure, but he helps us in the fight against sin. He reminds us of Jesus teaching, encourages us to keep going. Do we have to get all spooky?
Ever since AC/DC embraced the cartoon imagery of the devil to symbolise rock and roll rebellion and having a good time, no Australian can really escape the image of Angus Young pointing his fingers up as he plays Highway to Hell. We can’t take the devil seriously after that can we?
But what we have in Ephesians 6 is a wake up call. It’s a call to wake up and realise how convenient it is for him, don’t take Satan and his forces seriously. Because Jesus’ warns us that all of life is a spiritual battle. We have an enemy. He might have lost the war but he thinks he can still win some battles.
If we are not to be duped, manipulated by an enemy that is cunning, not some cartoon villian with goat hoves who wears red spandex and enjoy heavy metal music, but the father of lies - we need to be aware that we are in a fight, and we need to take up the weapons God has given us.
Know your enemy
Know your enemy
State
The first step in war is to know your enemy.
Show
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Explain
And few years ago there was that scandal where top public servants in the US turned out to be Russian spies. They operate freely because everyone thought the cold war was over. And when they were found out, a lot of their colleagues would say things like, ‘oh Jim, he can’t be a spy, he’s such a good guy!’
Satan is happy for us to stop believing in him. It seems respectable. We don’t want to be like those Christians of the past who denounced Waltz music or showing affection to ones children as ‘of the devil’.
What happens when we stop believing in Satan and his forces?
1. We think that other people are the real enemy
1. We think that other people are the real enemy
For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
If we stop believing in Satan, we start believing that our real enemies are other people, perhaps people we don’t like. People with different politics to our own. People who have more than us. And yes, understandably people who mistreat us.
While the bible never denies that humans are capable of terrible things, Jesus also insists that no human being is beyond his redemption. Salvation is open to everyone, no matter what they’ve done. And that makes everyone a potential brother or sister, even those who have hurt us. And at times in history, Christians like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and many others have realised that the people who hurt them are not the real enemy. They are in the wrong, but our struggle is against Satan and his forces.
2. We let our guard down
2. We let our guard down
Sun Tzu said, the best way to win a battle is not to let the other side know they’re in one.
If we don’t really believe in Satan, we’re likely to think that we’re just living our lives, what we do doesn’t really matter in the long run. Sure we might fail to live up to God’s calling sometimes, but Jesus forgives us, it’s all dealt with. I’m just going about my week.
But our actions matter. Our lives matter. Our sin isn’t just failure to live God’s way or missing out on God’s best, it’s treason. It’s serving the other side. It’s doing Satan’s work for him.
Satan is very happy for us to think that our lives don’t matter.
As Screwtape, the senior demon in CS Lewis’ imagined conversation between demonic forces puts it
“We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons”
If we stop believing in Satan, we let our guard down and are in danger of being duped.
But this warning to wake up to him is here because Jesus loves us, he cares about our wellbeing.
Apply
Satan is cunning. He is wiley. He is subtle. While terrorising people with nightmares of vampires and wearwolves, ghouls and gobblins might work sometimes, most of the time he is not that obvious. And for those of us who, practically at least, have stopped believing that he exists, it’s time to start believing again. It’s time to wise up, to wake up, to acknowledge that Satan is real, he is raging and he will exploit us given half a chance.
Transition
That’s why we’re told to don our armour. To be strong.
Don your armour
Don your armour
State
Be strong, suit up.
Show
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
Explain/apply
Paul has two things in mind in using this image. The first is Isaiah 59 where the prophet describes Yahweh as donning armour to protect his people. And the second is the Roman soldier [slide]. In effect, Paul is saying that God gives us his own armour to use against Satan and if we do, we will be safe.
But what are these things though?
1. The belt of truth. It’s the main thing about the Christian message. It’s true. Jesus really is God, he really was born as one of us, he really did die, he really was raised for us. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, if it isn’t true, if his followers just made it up it’s useless and we’re to be pitied more than everyone.
2. righteousness or justice. Everywhere in the Bible, and especially wherever Paul talks about the gospel, we hear that God is a God of justice. He is a good judge, he vindicates the innocent - and justifies those who are united to his innocent Son. For those of us who trust in Jesus, who are ‘in Christ’ as we’ve heard in Ephesians, we can be confident of our standing, we can be confident that just as God vindicated Jesus’ trust in his father, so God will vindicate us. This righteousness means that we can face any frontal attack.
3. the ‘gospel of peace’. Now we spent some time back in chapter 2 and 3 considering how the whole point of the gospel is to bring everything that’s divided in this world back together again. We saw how Jesus came to make peace between us and God, by being both God and man. And we saw how he came to make peace between all types of human beings, by inviting them to become a new human race in him. Where Satan tries to knock us down, the shoes, the gospel of peace allow us to out maneuver him - reminding us that unity is the whole point of the gospel.
4. the shield of faith. I learnt this week that the Roman shield was covered in leather, and soldiers would soak the shield in water to help make it flame retardant. When we believe in Jesus, when we are faithful and loyal to him, nothing the enemy fires at you can really hurt you.
5. And if all that weren’t enough, we’re also given the helmet of salvation, that knowledge that no matter what happens, Jesus has already triumphed, the war is won, he’s been exalted far above every ruler and authority, every power and dominion (Eph 1). If those powers and dominons and rulers under him are taking pot shots, you don’t need to worry. You are safe.
Apply
It’s interesting that Paul doesn’t say what these attacks are though. We might assume they’re painful things like getting sick or losing a loved one, or having a pscyhopath for a boss. But given everything Paul has said so far, Satan might also attack us by highlighting the fact that following Jesus makes us really weird. He might encourage us downplay our faith, maybe just not mention that you’re a Christian, its not really polite to talk about religion is it.
We’ve been given God’s armour so that we can combat this kind of attack. If we’ve put it on, none of Satan’s enticements should work.
But that still leaves the sword of the Spirit. Because while all these other things are defensive, there is one offensive weapon in the kit: the word of God - this is probably refering specifically to the gospel rather than the whole of the bible (which hadn’t been written yet). The word, the gospel, in the hands of the Holy Spirit is an offensive weapon. It is sharp, it is able to cut through Satan’s stranglehold on the world. The gospel tells people we know who are living as if they’re orphans that they can become beloved, dearly cherished children of God. It gives people stuck under Satan’s lies the truth. And everytime someone hears and accepts the gospel, Satan loses ground. Everytime you and I hear the gospel, and surrender that part of our hearts that was holding out against God to him, Satan loses ground.
Transition
Of course, the point of donning armour is to actually engage in the fight.
Plant your feet
Plant your feet
Illustrate
One of my favourite Aussie comedians is Glen Robbins. And some of you might know Glen’s character Russell Coight. Russel Coight is a classic example of a guy with all the gear and no idea. In his fictional TV show, he struts around like a bushman, constantly pooh-poohing ‘city slickers’, pretentiously coming to ‘help’ people in the outback. And really, the joke always boils down to everything he attempts going hilariously wrong because for all his big talk and fancy gear he has no idea how to use it. He’s all gear and no idea.
Explain
It would be a terrible irony if God have us his armour, everything we needed to defend against Satan’s attacks, but we didn’t use it.
Show
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
Apply
Now, there’s many different ways Satan attacks us, and we don’t have time to work through how to defend against everything, but I want to just spend the rest of our time focusing on one of Satan’s tactics that Paul singles out in chapter 4, and work through how to use God’s weapons to defend against it.
If the whole point of the gospel is to make one new united humanity in Jesus, then we can bet it’s Satan’s aim to keep us apart, to divide and conquer.
Now, we’re a church full of nice people, and I mean that sincerely, every single visiting minister - like Tom last week, Chris a few weeks before, Paul Sampson from BCA, they’ve all commented to me just how lovely people here at Christ Church are. From what I see, we’re not hopelessly divided into factions. Unlike one church I know of, I’ve not come across any of you having a screaming match in the carpark - true story. But Satan would love to divide us. And there’s a way that he attack churches that aren’t having pitched battles, that still ends up causing serious divisions.
It’s known as triangling.
Triangling is a concept from Family Systems Theory and it talks about what happens when we experience tension in our relationships. When there's tension or low level conflict between two people, a third person is often brought into the mix. I’m sure we’ve all experienced this. We find we’re having a hard time with someone, they don’t seem to get us, or we feel they let us down, or they’ve said something insensitive to us again. And it makes us feel bad. And so we go to a friend, someone we trust and talk to them about it, hoping to relieve some of that tension. Now there’s nothing wrong getting wisdom from friends and older wiser saints. Sometimes we need advice. But where Satan likes to attack us is right at this point where we are hurting.
Because when we create a triangle, instead of going to the person where the conflict lies, and dealing with it, ensuring we don’t let the sun go down on our anger, keeping short accounts with people, we take all of the emotion we are feeling and pass it off to someone else. Which makes us feel better, but it doesn’t deal with the underlying hurt.
And this is where Satan loves to come in, because what starts as us going to someone for advice, can very easily become a pattern where we list all the faults of the person we’re in conflict with, and have those complaints validated by the 3rd party.
Now, as the Family Systems expert Jenny Brown observes, all of us have experienced triangles. Afterall, it’s easier to express concerns indirectly and in turn to calm down if we sense that the third party shares our view. We might’ve had a fight with our spouse and we gone and debriefed with our children. Perhaps our parents did that to us. Or someone we work with might’ve complained to us on behalf of someone else. Whatever the case, triangles though common, aren’t healthy.
Triangles introduce wall between us and the person who really owns the issue. And what starts as a bit of awkwardness can grow. And that’s why Satan loves to use triangles.
So how does the armour of God protect us from this kind of attack?
Well, part of the armour is the belt of truth. The gospel reminds us that God didn’t send some 3rd party to us to save us, he came to us himself. Speaking the truth is not just about ensuring we only say factual statements. It’s also involves being truthful about our relationships, who do we need to speak with. Who owns this issue?
And this is why Jesus insists that when we have a problem with someone, we go directly to them and give them the opportunity to listen, to respond, and change if needed.
The armour also includes the shoes of peace.
Jesus says that if we learn that someone has a problem with us, even if we don’t think we’ve done anything wrong, we’re to stop what we’re doing and go and attempt to be reconciled with them. It’s what family systems theory calls de-triangling - getting yourself out of the 3 way dance and back into relating directly with the person where the tension lies.
The armour also includes the breastplate of righteousness. It reminds us that we do not need to prove ourselves to God or anyone else. And so we don’t need to be defensive. We don’t need to make excuses. We can listen openly, hear someone out and make sure we’ve understood them because we know that ultimately, whatever they are going to say is not going to affect our worth as a person, our standing in God’s family, or our future with him.
When we do this, when we de-triangle, when we go and deal directly with people, when we refuse to let the sun go down on our anger (Eph 4) we prevent any tension from festering away. When we do this, we prevent the devil from gaining a foothold. When we use the armour of God like this, we find ourselves better able to be who God has made us to be - a temple of the Holy Spirit, a united body.
Now that’s just one of Satan’s tactics, but when we stand firm like this, when each of us puts this into practice, each of us determines we are going to deal directly with each other, and ensure that we don’t let things fester, we create a community where others can find refuge from Satan’s attacks.
Transition
Because the armour we’ve been given is designed to be used together. Which is why Paul finishes this letter by repeatedly urging us to pray for one another.
Watch your mate
Watch your mate
Show
Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.
Explain
Roman legions were devestating because they could work so well as a unit. Their sheilds allowed them to form an armoured column that could advance while keeping the soldiers protected. The armour we have been given is designed to be used together. We are called to be strong, to stand. Plant our feet. But we’re not alone as we do that. Three times, Paul calls in these final verses to pray. v. 18 pray, v. 19 pray, v.20 pray. Pray for every situation - any attack you might face. Pray for those with you and everywhere.
Satan is dangerous. He is subtle. He is looking to attack us. But we are not in this fight alone, we are together. God has given us his armour, his Spirit and each other. Be strong in the Lord.