When Darkness Pushes Back

When Darkness Pushes Back

Ephesians 6:10–20 | Series conclusion

Ephesians 6:10–20 NIV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Big idea: Wake up to the battle you are already in—and stand together in the strength and victory of Christ.

[Scripture is read by a lay member: Ephesians 6:10–20.]

Imagine that somebody intercepted a piece of correspondence from hell.

Not a horror story. Not a report of something dramatic and spectacular. Just a letter from a senior tempter to a junior tempter about how to keep an ordinary Christian asleep.

That is the premise of C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters. Screwtape writes to his nephew Wormwood about the best way to keep his “patient” from recognizing the spiritual battle around him. He tells him, “Our policy, for the moment, is to conceal ourselves… We are really faced with a cruel dilemma.”

The dilemma is this: If human beings become obsessed with the devil, they can be consumed by superstition and fear. But if human beings stop believing in the devil altogether, they can be shaped by him without ever recognizing his work.

Those are still the two lies available to us.

Lie number one: Everything is spiritual warfare.

The car will not start: spiritual warfare. You have a headache: spiritual warfare. Somebody disagrees with you: spiritual warfare. Every problem becomes a demon, and the language of warfare allows us to ignore our own choices, our bodies, our wounds, our relationships, and the human systems we have helped create.

Lie number two: Nothing is spiritual.

Every desire is only biology. Every pattern is only psychology. Every injustice is only sociology. Every temptation is only environment. Every evil can be explained without ever naming sin, Satan, or the powers that resist the reign of God.

One lie sees the devil everywhere. The other sees him nowhere. Paul refuses both.

For five weeks, Ephesians has been telling us to wake up: wake up to who you are, to what God has done, to God’s love and power, to the new life growing within you, and to the way God uses every relationship to make you more like Jesus.

Then Paul reaches the end of the letter and says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord.” In other words: Wake up, because everything God is forming in you is contested. When the light begins to advance, darkness pushes back.

Wake up to the battle you are already in.

When the light advances, why does darkness push back?

Have you ever wondered why obedience sometimes seems to make life harder before it makes life clearer?

You decide to forgive, and suddenly you remember every reason to remain bitter. You begin to pray, and distraction becomes louder than ever. You take a step toward holiness, and the old temptation seems to know exactly when you are tired. You try to have an honest conversation, and a small disagreement becomes a struggle for control.

If Christ has won, why does the struggle remain? If prayer matters, why do our prayers sometimes seem to disappear into the ceiling? If God’s power is available, why do so many Christians feel exhausted and vulnerable?

Paul does not answer by giving us a map of the demonic realm. He pulls back the curtain just far enough for us to see the real conflict—and then turns our eyes immediately to Christ.

This passage is not a strange appendix added to an otherwise practical letter. The powers have been in the background all along. In chapter 1, Christ is raised “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.” In chapter 2, Paul says we once followed “the ruler of the power of the air.” In chapter 3, the church displays God’s wisdom to “the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” Now, in chapter 6, Paul tells that church how to remain faithful when those powers push back.

Ephesians 2 gives us a sober picture of evil’s influence. Paul speaks of the course of the world, the desires of the flesh, and the activity of the devil. An unhealthy social environment, an inner propensity toward sin, and an intelligent spiritual adversary can work like three strands of one rope.

That keeps us from simplistic answers. Not every struggle is caused directly by a demon. Some suffering requires a doctor. Some patterns require counseling. Some injustices require changed laws and repaired institutions. Some wounds require time, truth, boundaries, and the slow work of healing. And yet Paul will not allow us to reduce reality to what can be diagnosed, measured, or seen.

The world, the flesh, and the devil exploit one another. A culture of outrage finds an ally in my pride. My unhealed fear becomes material for temptation. A technology designed to hold my attention can train envy, anger, lust, or despair. A sinful structure can take on a momentum larger than any one person who participates in it.

“Spiritual warfare is an integral part of the entire Christian experience. It is a fact of life.”

Clinton Arnold

He compares avoiding it to a gardener imagining he can avoid weeds. The goal is not obsession. It is sober attention.

The battle is real—but Paul’s first command is not “fight.” It is “be strengthened.”

The verb is passive. Paul is not shouting, “Try harder. Dig deeper. Find the power inside yourself.” He is saying, Let the Lord make you strong. Receive strength that does not originate in you.

And Paul has already named that strength. It is the power God exercised when he raised Jesus from the dead and seated him above every rule, authority, power, and dominion. The strength available to the church in chapter 6 is resurrection power.

God bestows his power as we depend upon him. When we recognize how vulnerable we become living independently of God and other believers, we are driven back into the arms of the Father who loves us and desires to manifest his power through us.

The first act of spiritual warfare is not a forward assault. It is dependence.

Name the enemy without making people the enemy

Paul says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” The word “schemes” matters. The enemy’s work is rarely announced with a flash of lightning. A scheme is indirect. It deceives, redirects, exaggerates, isolates, and divides.

Then Paul says something the church desperately needs to recover: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.”

The struggle he describes is close. The word evokes a wrestling match—not a distant enemy but pressure you feel against your body. Yet Paul insists that no human being is the church’s ultimate enemy.

Your spouse is not the enemy. Your child is not the enemy. Your coworker is not the enemy. The person whose politics make your blood pressure rise is not the enemy. The church member who disappointed you is not the enemy. The immigrant is not the enemy. The incarcerated person is not the enemy. The person whose experience of race, poverty, or injustice differs from yours is not the enemy.

That does not mean people never do real harm. It does not mean sin should remain unconfronted, injustice unchallenged, or wise boundaries abandoned. It means we cannot defeat spiritual darkness by destroying a person made in the image of God.

One of the devil’s oldest strategies is misdirection: persuade us to attack one another while anger, contempt, accusation, fear, and pride grow beneath the conflict.

And that means our deep political polarization—to the right or to the left—can become one of the devil’s schemes. Not because every policy disagreement is demonic, but because politics becomes spiritually dangerous when it trains us to despise our neighbors, excuse dishonesty from our own side, and imagine that the kingdom will come if only the people we dislike can be defeated.

If patriotism has become permission to withhold Christlike love from the immigrant, the incarcerated, or the racial minority, we are falling for a scheme.

If Christianity has become only living a respectable life or affirming the social-justice teachings of Jesus while ignoring the weight of sin, the necessity of the cross, and the call to holiness, we are falling for a scheme.

If we think we have everything figured out and have nothing to learn from the people we have mislabeled as enemies—people Jesus commands us to love as neighbors—we are falling for a scheme.

The schemes cut in every direction. The devil does not need you to vote for a particular party. He wants your allegiance, your fear, your contempt, and your unquestioning certainty. He is satisfied whenever a political identity becomes more determinative than our baptismal identity in Christ.

So when conflict rises, one of the most important acts of resistance is to pause and tell the truth: This person is not my enemy. I may need courage. I may need a boundary. I may need to speak plainly or oppose what this person is doing. But I will not surrender love in order to win this moment.

That is spiritual warfare.

And here is the good news: the powers are not equal to God. The struggle is not an uncertain contest between two evenly matched armies. Christ has already been raised and enthroned “far above” every power. The cross and resurrection are the decisive victory; the return of Christ and the renewal of creation will bring the final peace. We live between the decisive invasion and the final surrender. The enemy is defeated, but he has not stopped resisting.

That is why Paul’s repeated command is stand.

The controlling image of this passage is not hunting for darkness. It is refusing to surrender ground Christ has already claimed. Standing sounds passive until you have tried to remain truthful in a culture of deception, peaceful in a culture of outrage, holy when compromise would be easier, faithful in a season of doubt, or hopeful when despair feels more realistic.

Sometimes the bravest act of faith is simply to remain where grace has placed you.

Put on the life of Christ

Paul says, “Put on the full armor of God.” We often picture Paul looking at a Roman soldier and inventing a spiritual meaning for each piece. That image may be present, but Paul’s deeper source is the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah, God himself wears righteousness like a breastplate and salvation like a helmet. The promised Messiah is clothed with truth and righteousness.

This is God’s armor before it is ours.

God does not send us into battle wearing a costume we stitched together from positive thoughts and religious determination. He clothes us in his own character. The armor is another way of describing what it looks like to put on the life of Christ.

We wear truth by knowing the gospel and practicing honesty when deception is convenient. We receive righteousness because we are justified by grace and that grace forms holy character. We wear the gospel of peace by announcing and embodying reconciliation. We take up faith because fear and accusation lose their authority against God’s faithfulness. We receive salvation because our identity is secure in Christ. We take up God’s word because lies must be answered by the truer story of Jesus.

Every piece answers a scheme.

When the lie says, “You are what you produce,” truth says, “You are God’s beloved workmanship.” When accusation says, “God could never want you,” faith replies, “By grace you have been saved.” When temptation says, “This private compromise will not shape you,” righteousness says, “You were created for a life worthy of your calling.” When despair says, “Nothing will change,” salvation announces that the God who raised Jesus is making all things new.

But notice who receives these commands. Every “you” in this passage is plural. In Texas grammar, Paul is saying, “Y’all put on the armor of God. Y’all stand.”

Spiritual warfare is not individualized heroism. It is the church standing together. I need you to speak truth when I have begun to believe a lie. You need someone to hold faith beside you when your arm is tired. We need brothers and sisters who will call us back to holiness without condemnation, make peace without avoiding truth, and remind us of salvation when shame becomes loud.

The enemy isolates. God forms a people.

I’m new here to Marvin, but I am not new to the practice of discipleship bands and class meetings. You hear it all the time, but if you’re not part of a deeply forming discipleship community, you are trying to wage war alone.

That is why placing ourselves in the presence of God is preparation for battle. Worship, Scripture, Communion, confession, Christian friendship, fasting, and prayer are not ways of earning grace. They are places where God has promised to meet us and renew us.

If you are not in the habit of remaining for Communion when it is offered, begin today. Receive again the tangible declaration that Christ has given himself for you. Linger in worship when you do not have to. Resist the demand to hurry immediately to the next thing. In a busy and distracted culture, remaining present to God is an act of resistance.

Do not wait until the evil day to begin learning how to stand. Put yourself where grace can form your reflexes before the pressure arrives.

Pray like the battle is real

As we look at this list of spiritual armor, Paul names the belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, and sword. We expect the image to end. But the sentence keeps moving: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

Prayer is not an appendix to the armor. It is the primary means by which the church depends upon God’s strength. Prayer is the heart of spiritual warfare. It is the atmosphere of an awake life.

Prayer before the crisis is spiritual warfare. Pray for the marriage before it is breaking. Pray for the person in recovery before temptation peaks. Pray for the child before the pressure at school arrives. Pray for pastors and church leaders before conflict emerges. Pray for your city, your nation, and the world before fear becomes hatred. Pray for unbelieving acquaintances before you know what gospel conversation God may open.

And pray for one another to resist. In your bands or with trusted Christian friends, name the places where you are vulnerable. Do not wait until someone falls and then ask why they were not stronger. Carry one another before God while the battle is still hidden.

The enemy would like to convince us that speaking about Jesus is extremist, that everyone has already heard enough, that conflict inside the church makes mission impossible, that evangelism is the job of specialists, or that our neighbors will be fine without ever encountering the gospel. Prayer awakens us to the people and places God has entrusted to us.

Spiritual warfare is the church depending on God together.

Stand

Some of us have been fighting the wrong enemy. Some have been fighting with the wrong weapons. Some have been fighting alone. And some are so tired that the command to stand feels impossible.

Hear the first command again: Be strong in the Lord.

Before God asks anything from you, God gives himself to you. The armor is his. The power is his. The victory is his. Even your ability to stand is grace.

So where is darkness pushing back in your life?

What lie must be answered with truth? What compromise must be brought into the light? What relationship must be reclaimed from the category of enemy? Where have hurry and isolation kept you from the presence of God? For whom do you need to pray before the battle becomes visible?

[Pause.]

Satan’s strategy is concealment. Paul pulls back the curtain—but he does not leave us staring into the darkness. He lifts our eyes to Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and seated above every power.

Church, wake up to the battle you are already in.

Wake up to the risen Christ who shares his strength with his people. Wake up to the Spirit who teaches us to pray. Wake up to the brothers and sisters standing beside you. Wake up to the armor God has already provided.

When darkness pushes back, we do not panic. We do not deny it. We do not turn our neighbors into enemies. We stand in truth, holiness, peace, faith, salvation, the word of God, and prayer.

We do not fight for victory. We stand from victory.

And after we have done everything, by the grace of God, we will still be standing.

[Prayer]

Strong Lord, make us strong in you. Open our eyes to the battle without allowing our hearts to be ruled by fear. Keep us from turning flesh and blood into enemies. Clothe your church in truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation. Put your word in our mouths and love in our actions. Teach us to pray at all times, to stay awake, and to carry one another before you. Give us boldness to make known the gospel, whatever the cost. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, exalted, and coming again. Amen.