Identify The Enemy & Dress For War

Introduction

Introduction

Last week Rev. Charles preached that we are soldiers in the Lord’s army, brothers and sisters in Christ.

We know our place in Christ, we are; accepted, valuable, capable, and forgiven.

Now comes the time to tell you that WE ARE AT WAR! There is a battle going on and we are under attack. There has been a declaration of all-out war, but many of us are oblivious as to who this enemy is, how we are being attacked, what our battle strategy is, or how to effectively dress for war.

We are at war

Unless we know who the enemy is, where he is, what he can do, and know his strategy we cannot effectively do battle.

I believe it is important to know

There are two sides of this war. describes our condition and which side we are on outside of Christ.

Ephe

The Enemy Has Been Identified

The struggle against the forces of evil, which is a constant feature of the life of faith. Scripture locates the origins of spiritual warfare in the rebellion of Satan and his angels against God and affirms the hope of God’s final victory over such forces through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.

The Enemy Has Been Identified

God’s word has provided His soldiers detailed instructions about the enemy, so there is no reason to be caught off guard.

Ephesians 6:10–13 ESV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Ephesians

Ephesians 6:10–17 ESV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

Ephesians 6:10–12 ESV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians

Ephesians 6:

Exegesis

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

Right out of the gate Paul is saying that our natural strength will do nothing for us in this war. It doesn’t matter how strong you are mentally, physically, or emotionally. You are no match for what he is about to tell you. Which is why Paul calls us to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might, not your might. You alone are no match for this enemy. Only the Lord is, which is why we are instructed to be strong in Him.

This does not depend of the amount of will power you have, rather its about how much you rely on the strength of His might.

Put on the whole armor of God. That you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

That you may be able to stand against.....

The schemes of the devil.

So we have it. The enemy has been identified, the devil.

Names of the devil: Lucifer, ruler of the demons, deceiver, satan, accuser, prince of the power of the air, roaring lion, serpent, dragon, adversary, tempter, Beelzebub, wicked one

From the beginning of

Notice, we are not called to stand against the devil or even defeat the devil. We are called to stand against the schemes of the devil.

This enemy is a schemer! Which we will talk about later.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood

What else does this passage tell us?

This battle is not against other people. Its not against flesh and blood.

But against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

What is out for our destruction are spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Meaning they are invisible and in the spiritual realm. This isn’t just any type of warfare, this is a spiritual warfare.

What is Spiritual Warfare?

The struggle against the forces of evil, which is a constant feature of the life of faith. Scripture locates the origins of spiritual warfare in the rebellion of Satan and his angels against God and the separation/destruction of God’s people.

The Schemes of The Devil, Satan’s Strategy

The devil has one goal in mind when it comes to you and that is keeping you as far away from God as possible.

The way he does this is with the exact same scheme that he used at the beginning of mankind.

Genesis 3:1–6 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:

The devil is a spiritual being and has to manifest himself through the creation. Which is why Paul already told us that our war isn’t against flesh and blood, rather it goes deeper.

In this story the vessel that the devil used to carry out his schemes to Eve was a serpent.

Here was the devil strategy:

Did God actually say? He gets you to question God!

He contradicts God and gets you to doubt the trustworthiness of God

Then he tempts you with the lust of the eyes, a new knowledge, and fleshly desires.

Satan’s basic strategy is to get you to prefer your own passions and desires over God. And when you put something over God, its called idolatry.

The devil wants you to be an idolater. He wants you to put the things, people, or activities you have passion for or desire over God.

How to Discern the Deeds of the Devil

“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” ().

I.The Devil Distracts

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” ().

A.Satan is transformed into an angel of light. He attracts, distracts, and attacks ().

B.We must resist the devil and draw nearer to God by watching and praying ().

II.The Devil Deceives

“… Satan … shall go out to deceive the nations …” ().

A.Satan tries to frustrate God’s people. His deception may cause the wrong to seem right and the right to seem wrong.

B.Through prayer, faith, and God’s Word we are enabled to discern the difference. We are conquerors through Him ().

III.The Devil Disgraces

“… the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty …” ().

A.Satan uses temptation to bring many to disgrace. He tempts through illicit sex, the love of money, and the desire for popularity ().

B.We can defeat Satan through faith (). Let us declare as Christ did, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”

IV.The Devil Depresses

“… Satan … smote Job with sore boils …” ().

A.Satan discourages God’s people. He afflicts them with testing, trial, trouble, and torment.

B.God will help and heal, strengthen and sustain those who trust Him. He is greater than Satan ().

V.The Devil Destroys

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life …” ().

A.Satan is in the sin business. His ultimate desire is to defeat God and destroy His people ().

B.Since God is more than a match for Satan, Satan is doomed for defeat. He shall be cast down and destroyed ().

The Things Out For Your Destruction

The World Surrounds You To Destroy You

Your Sin Nature Rises Within You to Destroy You

And Satan comes against you to destroy you

The only foothold that the devil has in your life is your sin

I’ve mentioned that this is a spiritual battle and we are not called to kill or slay the devil rather stand against the devils schemes, but in order to do that there is something we have to kill! Our Sin

Colossians 3:5–8 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

We cannot fight an enemy we cannot see. So in this passage we will look at some of the disguises Satan wears, so that we can see behind his masks. We will look at some of the deceitful practices he uses, so that we won’t be fooled. Rev. Charles says that we wear masks to cover up our true nature. Satan also wears masks.

Sexual immorality - looking at other people when you are married, having sex before marriage.

Anger - You have a right to be mad.

Wrath - It alright to have outbursts at people, they deserved it

Malice - It alright to be hateful or desire to do harm to someone. They had it coming

Romans 8:13

Slander - Its okay for me to gossip and damage this persons reputation. The deserve that too. We would say, “Well, its the truth!”

Colossians 3:5–8 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Obscene talk - It alright for me to talk like that because I’m around the guys or I’m around the girls. Or maybe in church you would never dream about saying a curse word but outside of church you curse like a sailor.

Colossians

Romans 8:13 ESV

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The devil is out to destroy you with his schemes and he knows that this is not a war you can stay out of. There are no mutual sides.

Romans 8:13 ESV

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 8:13

Colossians 3:5–8 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

We can set our mind on two things the flesh or the spirit.

Colossians 3:

We cannot fight an enemy we cannot see. So in this passage we will look at some of the disguises Satan wears, so that we can see behind his masks. We will look at some of the deceitful practices he uses, so that we won’t be fooled. Rev. Charles says that we wear masks to cover up our true nature. Satan also wears masks.

We either set our minds on things of this world and its fleshly desires or we set our minds on the Spirit and the things that are pleasing to God.

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Just to be clear the fight isn’t against other people. It’s not against Muslims, it’s not against Hindus, it’s not against Buddhist, it’s not against atheist, it’s not against other Christians, it’s not against our wives, husbands, children, or friends, but against every impulse or desire in our souls to fight with other people

Ephesians 2:

but against every impulse or desire in our souls to fight with other people

This is not a war you can stay out of. There are no mutual sides.

There are two sides of this war. describes our condition and which side we are on outside of Christ.

There are two sides of this war. describes our condition and which side we are on outside of Christ.

ESV And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Lucifer, ruler of the demons, deceiver, satan, accuser, prince of the power of the air, roaring lion, serpent, dragon, adversary, tempter, Beelzebub, wicked one

Detecting the Deceiver

In spiritual warfare the most dangerous attacks come unexpectedly. Christians often focus their attention on spiritual enemies that are obvious and plainly visible. While our attention is focused on these obvious forms of evil, suddenly the most lethal attacks come from the sides, from satanic influences we didn’t even know were there. In other words, the greatest threats to our faith, our families and our church do not come from the demonic influences we can see but from those that we cannot see—the ones that are so cunning that they are virtually invisible.

We cannot fight an enemy we cannot see. So in this passage we will look at some of the disguises Satan wears, so that we can see behind his masks. We will look at some of the deceitful practices he uses, so that we won’t be fooled. Rev. Charles says that we wear masks to cover up our true nature. Satan also wears masks.

I’ve mentioned that this is a spiritual battle and we are not called to kill or slay the devil rather stand against the devils schemes, but in order to do that there is something we have to kill! Our Sin

The World Surrounds You To Destroy You

Your Sin Nature Rises Within You to Destroy You

And Satan comes against you to destroy you

The only foothold that the devil has in your life is your sin