Living a Christian Life in Enemy Territory

Paul starts this section of Ephesians by saying, “Finally.” (6:10). Paul is signaling that the end of his letter is near. A little like a preacher who says, “In conclusion.” That’s the point where everyone starts closing their Bibles and putting and folding their pens in their notebooks. The preachers almost done and its almost time to go. And if you are not careful, you don’t really here anything else after those words, “In conclusion.” But, we can’t afford to miss what Paul is saying as he begins the concluding remarks of this letter. What he says impacts the way we are to understand everything else that he has said in the letter.

If we take a moment and think back about the message of the letter, you’ll remember that chapters 1-3 are about how God is working to redeem in Christ what was so broken by sin in the world. Jesus is King and he has come to bring all things under his reign and in dominion to him. We experience his power as King as we bow our knee to him in faith and put total trust in him as our Lord and Savior. By his grace we are saved through faith. Then in chapters 4-6, we are taught what it looks like to live as a citizen of the Kingdom of God. What it looks like to live out the new identity we have in Christ. What it means to put off the old life and then put on the new. This is how God wants us to live in his Kingdom.

Now at the end of the letter, Paul sets the entire Christian experience on this earth in proper context. And the context we are to live it out in makes all the difference in how we approach our mission. In his sermon on this text, Tim Keller gives this illustration to explain this.

Let’s say that you sent a group of people off to build a fort. You tell the people, “You are the masons. You are the carpenters. Here are the blue prints. You have the materials. Now go get to work.” Now just before they turn to leave you say, “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, the place you are going to build the fort is enemy territory. So, while you are working, there are going to be people shooting at you and trying to kill you.”

They will say, “You are just telling us that now?” We will still get the work done but that is definitely going to affect the way we go about the work.

That is the reality of the Christian life. That is the reality of living in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God on the earth doesn’t have boarder lines around it. It doesn’t exist as a geographical location on the map. The Kingdom of God exists in the hearts of people. The Kingdom exists wherever people bow the knee to King Jesus. It’s not as if when you become a Christian that you get transported to some safe tropical island somewhere where all Christians live and you are completely safe there forever.

No. God grows extends his Kingdom in every nation on earth. So that when we get to heaven there will be people from every tribe, tongue, people group and nation. But for now, all Christians bow the knee to King Jesus. But, we do it behind enemy lines.

So, we must understand that the context in which we are called to live out the Christian life is spiritual warfare. We have an enemy that wants to destroy us.

Paul wants us to fight. And, he wants us to understand the power that we have to fight with.

Now someone mights ask, “if Jesus has already won the war, why do we have to fight? Why can’t we just eat, drink, and be marry?”

One commentator wrote this: “Assurance of Christ’s superiority does not deminish the seriousness of any given conflict on any evil day nor give certtain assurance fo victory in any particular battle.” The way I interpret that is that the war for the salvation of believers has been won. But, the battle over your faithfulness today has still yet to be fought. It can be won or lost. The battle of whether or not you even continue in the faith has still yet to be won or lost. I have had several friends over the years who have abandoned the faith in Christ that they said they had when they were young.

How do you know whether your faith is truly saving faith? You fight and you persevere with your faith. The superiority of Christ is not in question. The eternal plan and counsel of God will never fail. Please remember that God’s plan from eternity is that victory is given to those who overcome. That’s how we know who true believers are.

In , his ending words to the church of Ephesus this:

Revelation 2:7 ESV

7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Conquerers are believers. Therefore, believers must fight. We must fight for everyday holiness though our flesh is plagued with temptations to sin. We must fight with home with hope though our world seems hopeless at times. We must fight knowing that this is not our home, but one day we will be home. And until then, we live on mission fighting the fight of faith making ground against the enemy every chance we get.

2 Exhortations for those Following Christ behind Enemy lines.

I. Be strong (v.10)

Ephesians 6:10 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Notice

“Finally, be strong.” (v.10) Notice that he doesn’t say, “Get strong.” He says, “Be strong.” At first that sounds a little strange to me. You don’t put someone in the gym for the first time and go, “be strong.” You might say, “get strong.” But Paul says concerning our spiritual warfare, “Be strong.” Because the strength needed for your spiritual fight today, you already have access to. We don’t have to muster up the strength ourselves. He says,

Ephesians 6:10 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Notice v.11

Ephesians 6:11 ESV

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

He doesn’t say craft your own armor. Next week we are going to go into detail and discuss what this armor is that we have access to. But today, I just want to get the point that putting on God’s armor requires humility. It says to yourself, God, and the devil that I’m not strong enough to win a single spiritual battle. But, I know my God is. It takes the weakness of humility to experience the almighty power of God.

One of the best things I’ve ever read on this comes from A.W. Tozer, in his book, “We Travel An Appointed Way.” A compilation of his writings.

not how strong we are, but how strong he is. But it is also whether or not we put his strength on us.

Tozer Topical Reader in Two Volumes 614. Humility; Pride: Human; Spiritual Warfare

The enemy never quite knows how to deal with a humble man; he is so used to dealing with proud, stubborn people that a meek man upsets his timetable. And furthermore, the man of true humility has God fighting on his side—who can win against God? Strange as it may seem we often win over our enemies only after we have first been soundly defeated by the Lord Himself. God often conquers our enemies by conquering us.… When God foresees that we must meet a deadly opponent, he assures our victory by bringing us down in humbleness at His own feet. After that, everything is easy. We have put ourselves in a position where God can fight for us, and in a situation like that, the outcome is decided from eternity.

Be strong. And strength requires the humility to recognizing that you are not. But, God is. Like it or not you are going into a battle that you can’t win. Be humble enough to fight with God’s armor not your own.

II. Know Your Enemy vv.11-12

Ephesians 6:11 ESV

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

A. The Devil is not your friend.

Our enemy is the devil. Let me say that again. The devil is your enemy. He is not your friend. He does not want the best for you. The reason I say that is that anytime that we entertain temptation, it’s because we see the devil as a friend, and of course, why would you fight your friend?

The devil is like, “Come here, I’ve got something for you.” We are like, “Really, What is it?” It’s sexual sin, you’ll love it! Really, Ok!. Or, it’s tearing down someone you know to your friends, it will make you feel so good! “Great! Thank you.” He is not your friend.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

He wants to devour you.

Notice v. 12 starts:

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

12 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.

The Bible says that we wrestle with the Devil.

B. The Devil fights dirty.

1. The Devil lies to us.

Ephesians 6:11 ESV

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

He wants to devour you.

He fights with “schemes.” The word used for “schemes” here means, “crafty scheming” with an intent to deceive.

The devil can’t force someone to sin. But he can trick you into it. He is smarter than you are. He will tell you lies that cause you to doubt the goodness of God so that you happily choose to sin.

He will tell you lies that cause you to doubt the goodness of God so that you happily choose to sin. Because you’ll think that he’s doing you a favor. He’ll make you think that he knows better than God does. Or, even that you know better than God does.

The devil can’t force someone to sin. But he can trick you into it. He is smarter than you are. He will tell you lies that cause you to doubt the goodness of God so that you happily choose to sin. Because you’ll think that he’s doing you a favor. He’ll make you think that he knows better than God does. Or, even that you know better than God does.

Paul told

Understand that he is not your friend, he is your enemy. He’s not looking out for you good. He doesn’t want you to happiness, joy, peace, and all the other things that you want. But he want tell you that. He will act like your friend to destroy you.

Spurgeon

In , Paul deals with this issue in terms of forgiveness. It feels good not to forgive someone that has wronged you. And the devil tells us that it is our right not to forgive that person because we don’t have to and they are the one’s that did us wrong! He’s a crafty devil. Notice what Paul says:

2 Corinthians 2:10–11 ESV

10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

I forgave so that I would not be outwitted by the devil. We are hip to his game.

V. 12 says, we “wrestle against him.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

12 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.

If you listen to the devil, you’ll think that he’s doing you a favor. He’ll make you think that he knows better than God does. Or, even that you know better than God does.

Case and point is Adam and Eve in the garden.

Genesis 3:1–7 ESV

1 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’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 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.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 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. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

v.1- He came as a serpent because the devil is a crafty trickster.

v.1- “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” That’s not what God said. Eve corrected that.

v.4. “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.” That’s a lie! Not only did sin kill Adam and Eve in time. It kills all of their descendants.

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

He is a liar. Jesus actually called him a liar and the Father of lies.

*When he comes to you and says, “This sin that I’m offering you is your pathway to joy. Trust me.” You have a choice. Do you believe him or do you believe God? You must decide, “Does sin bring joy or misery and death?”

To which I’ll remind you. He’s a liar and he’s not your friend. He is your enemy. He’s not looking out for you good. He doesn’t want you to happiness, joy, peace, and all the other things that you want. But he won’t tell you that. He will act like your friend to destroy you.

2. He doesn’t fight alone.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

12 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.

We don’t just fight him. He is like fighting against a street gang. You have to fight him and all his friends. Notice that this is governmental language. There is more to that than I want to get into today, just note that the powers at play against you are colossal! Do not fight them alone. You can’t win.

Next notice in v.12 that we “wrestle” against the devil. When you wrestle someone, they want to put you on your back. They want to overcome you. But in Christ God has called us to be overcomers. We don’t have to end up on our backs in sin. In this text, 4 times we are called “to stand or withstand.” We can do that if we fight in God’s armor.

Let me conclude with Spurgeon:

There is something very comforting in the thought that the devil is an adversary (). I would sooner have him for an adversary than a friend. O my soul, it were dread work with you if Satan were a friend of yours, for then with him you must forever dwell in darkness, shut out from the friendship of God. But to have Satan for an adversary is a comfortable omen, for it looks as if God were our friend, and so far let us be comforted in this matter.-Spurgeon