07282019 Eph 6:10-12 Prepare For Battle - Know the Enemy

Living in a War Zone

Watching and listening to the news this past week, I can’t tell you the number of times I heard this phrase: We are living in a war zone.

Mass shooting outside a Chicago Funeral home

Medical personnel describing hospitals overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients

Flooding and hurricane force winds wiping out entire communities

Areas in the city - burned out, abandoned, and falling apart

It does appear that we live in a war torn world.

But you know, this shouldn’t surprise us - I seem to remember someone reminding us, it will be this way till the end, at His second coming.

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

Matthew 24:6–8 NASB95

6 “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

Luke 21:9 NASB95

9 “When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.”

Advance to Next Slide

Ecclesiastes 3:8 NASB95

8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

Prepare for Battle

So now, in this final section, the Apostle Paul exhorts his listeners to prepare for battle as he sets in context all that he has said so far about our living in this world as adopted children in the family of God. Stand firm because there are going to be struggles for the sanctity of our selves, our homes, our families, our relationships.

We live in a war zone.

We are reminded that we battle against our own sinful selves - that we live among a people who are sinners themselves - that we are called together as members of the church, the body of Christ, but that it is within the church that we become all to aware of our imperfections and sins among us. We live in a world that is corrupt and deceitful - this present evil age - where “the Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9) dwells.

Paul tells us here that behind this war that is being fought are principalities and powers, rulers of this present Dark Age, and ultimately, the evil one himself.

As we continue to look at this passage this morning, I’d like to draw our attention to four things in particular that we will consider them over the next few weeks.

We looked at the first last week:

First is this Call to Arms to be Strong in the strength of His might - his power;

Second is the nature of the struggle.

Third, the armor necessary for that struggle; and,

Fourth and finally, the call to vigilance - never underestimating the enemy.

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

Preparation for A Mission

Imagine being dropped behind enemy lines Preparing for a mission - dropped behind enemy lines and not told anything about the enemy.

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

It was Benjamin Franklin who said...

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” ― Benjamin Franklin

God has not left us to our own imaginations to figure out who this enemy is.

This enemy that we battle against is devious, deceptive and deadly.

It behooves us to know the enemy as best we can....

Ephesians 6:10–12 NASB95

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

Knowing the Enemy

If we expect to be victorious in our battle against our terrible enemy, then we need to know something about him.

1. Our Enemy Is Powerful

2. Our Enemy Is Wicked

3. Our Enemy Is Deceptive

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

Our Enemy Is Powerful (6:11-12)

Earlier in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul mentions the devil.

In Ephesians 4:26–27, he wrote,

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”

Paul understood that Satan is real.

Jesus also acknowledged the devil as a real being. In fact, immediately following his baptism, Matthew records that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

During his ministry, Jesus often cast demons out of people.

Advance to Next Slide

Throughout all the Bible from Genesis to Revelation the reality, presence, and work of the Satan and his demons is acknowledged.

We first see and hear Satan tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

1 Chronicles 21:1 - “Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel”

Job

Daniel

Zechariah 3:1 NASB95

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

So, when we get to the end of this letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes a summary statement about the devil and his demons against whom we battle.

He writes:

Ephesians 6:12 NASB95

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The first thing we must understand about our terrible enemy, the devil, is that he is powerful.

Satan’s minions are described as rulers, authorities, spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

In his commentary on Ephesians, John R. W. Stott says that some contemporary theologians view Paul’s statement here in verse 12 as referring to “to structures of thought…especially as embodied in the state and its institutions” rather than to personal, demonic beings.

After giving four examples from four theologians, he concludes,

“I confess to finding the reconstructions of the new theorists not only ingenious, but artificial to the point of being contrived.”

Satan and these spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places ARE REAL!

The reality is that we do not wrestle against structures of thought, the state, institutions, or even human beings, but rather against the devil and his demons.

Paul’s first century readers were familiar with this fact. They doubtless remembered—or would have heard about—the incident of the Jewish exorcists in Ephesus who were foolish enough to try to dismiss an evil spirit in the name of Jesus without themselves knowing the Jesus whose name they used.

Instead of succeeding in their attempt, they were overpowered by the one who was demon possessed and fled in panic, naked and battered.

Paul’s Ephesian converts had previously dabbled in the occult and then made a public bonfire of their valuable books of magic. Such a direct challenge to the forces of evil would not have gone unheeded.

The workers of Satan are described as rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

Our enemy is powerful, but he is not God’s equal.

God is omnipotent. That is, he is all-powerful. The devil is not. God is able to do whatever he wishes. The devil is able to do only what God permits him to do.

God is omniscient. That is, he knows everything. The devil is not. Of course, he knows a great deal, and he has been around for a very long time, but he does not know all things.

God is omnipresent. That is, he is present everywhere at the same time. The devil is not. He is able to be only in one place at one time. That is why he operates through a vast network of demons to carry out his diabolical schemes.

Even though our enemy is not omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent, he is still very powerful because he knows our fallen humanity very well.

We must never take our enemy lightly. We must realize that we are not able to stand against him in our own strength because he is ....

Advance to Next Slide

Our Enemy Is Wicked (6:12)

In verse 12, Paul wrote that our enemy controls “the rulers,…the authorities,…the cosmic powers over this present darkness,…the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Darkness and evil are the realm in which our enemy and his demons operate.

Advance to Next Slide

John Stott wisely notes, “If we hope to overcome them, we shall need to bear in mind that they have no moral principles, no code of honor, no higher feelings. They recognize no Geneva Convention to restrict or partially civilize the weapons of their warfare. They are utterly unscrupulous, and ruthless in the pursuit of their malicious designs.”

Our enemy is wicked but he does not always operate in a ways that appear wicked...

The Apostle Paul warned the Corinthian Church that

“Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

He said this after he told the Corinthian believers,

“And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:12-13).

In other words, those who claim to represent Christ and teach false doctrine are actually being used by our enemy to carry out his wicked purposes and this even in the church...

The Enemy is Powerful - He is wicked. He is...

Our Enemy Is Devious (6:11)

In verse 11a, Paul told believers to “put on the whole armor of God.” And the reason believers must put on the whole armor of God is so “that [they] may be able to stand against the schemes (μεθοδείας) of the devil” (6:11b).

Advance to Next Slide

Ephesians 6:11 NASB95

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

Advance to Next Slide

Paul has used this same word in Ephesians 4:14

Ephesians 4:14 NASB95

14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;

So, what are the schemes - the methods of the devil?

The Puritan William Gurnall, in his 1,200-page commentary of The Christian in Complete Armour, helps us understand the schemes of the devil.

He suggests that our enemy attacks in two ways.

Advance to Next Slide

His Timing

First, our enemy attacks when the Christian is newly converted.

Prior to our conversion we were in Satan’s army. We belonged to him. We were dead in our transgressions and sin. We walked in darkness. We did not desire fellowship with God or his people.

But, then by God’s grace, we were gloriously converted. We became new creations in Christ. We were transferred and transformed into soldiers of Christ. Those who are in Christ now belong to Jesus. We are alive in Him. We have no desire to continue in our sin. We are children of the light rather than the darkness. We enjoy our fellowship with God and his people. We love God’s word. We speak to him in prayer.

But then we commit a sin, and our enemy whispers in our ear, “See, you really are not a Christian after all. Your ‘conversion’ was fake. You have fallen away. You might as well give up and follow me, as you did before.”

And that attack may continue for years.

Advance to Next Slide

His Accusations

When things are going well, our enemy often leaves us alone. But, when affliction comes, as it always does and will, our enemy suggests to our minds that God really does not love us or care about us.

These afflictions don’t always have to be physical illness or struggles with sickness. These afflictions can come by way of circumstances in our lives that try and test us. The Apostle Paul understood this full well...

Advance to Next Slide

2 Corinthians 4:17–18 NASB95

17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

It is during these times that the enemy says, “If God loved you, he wouldn’t let this happen to you.”

Think of Job in the Old Testament. He was very prosperous. But, then God allowed Satan to afflict him, and he lost all of his possessions, his children, and his health.

Then his wife—being the mouthpiece of our enemy—said to him,

“Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die” (Job 2:9).

Some of our fiercest attacks from our enemy come when we are going through trials or difficulties.

Advance to Next Slide

Our enemy attacks when the Christian is successful at doing what God has called him/her to do

Sometimes, things may seem to be going really well for the Christian. And our enemy then suggests that what we have accomplished - what we did was because of our own innate ability or skill or expertise or knowledge or our own dogged determination.

And he leads us to believe that we accomplished what we did without God’s help.

Advance to Next Slide

Our enemy attacks when the Christian is idle.

It has been said, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”

Satan loves to find things for people to do.

Remember King David’s idleness led him into adultery with Bathsheba, and that resulted in the murder of her husband Uriah. The enemy attacked him when he was idle.

Advance to Next Slide

Our enemy attacks when the Christian is isolated from other Christians.

There’s a reason when we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, that we are adopted - drawn together into the Lord’s family - that we are no longer alone, but have become part of the body of Christ - something bigger than ourselves.

There is an expectation that those called will desire to meet with together every week for worship, and also to be in regular contact for fellowship and support and mutual encouragement.

But then, since Christians are not perfect, sooner or later someone will hurt or even sin against another you. And our enemy will say, “See, these ‘so-called Christians’ are just a bunch of hypocrites. You are better off finding your own friends and activities. You’re better off being a ‘Lone Christian’ not having anything to do with those sorts of people.

There is no need to stay connected to people in the church.” And that’s a lie from the mouth of the deceiver - the Father of lies.

Advance to Next Slide

Our enemy attacks when the Christian is seeking to serve

Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh

ADVANCE TO NEXT SLIDE

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 NASB95

7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Experience on MMI campus - Bible Study and attempted diversion

Our enemy attacks Christians at many different times and in various ways...

Our Enemy Is Devious in the Manner (Method) of His Attacks

Advance to Next Slide

He attacks as a roaring lion.

Peter warns Christians,

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Our enemy does not always appear as a lion, but he does want to frighten Christians so that they forget to whom they really belong.

Advance to Next Slide

He attacks as a friend.

That is how our enemy came to Eve. She thought that he was helping her see things about God that she had not seen before. He would help her “be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). But, of course, when she followed Satan’s advice, she fell for the scheme of the devil and sinned against God.

Matthew 7:15 NASB95

15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Advance to Next Slide

He attacks as an angel of light.

I have already mentioned that Paul warned the Corinthian Church that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light”

2 Corinthians 11:14 NASB95

14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Colossians 1:12 NASB95

12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

Acts 26:18 NASB95

18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

All of this is to prepare us for battle - to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might so we might not be overcome by the powerful, devious, wickedness of the enemy, Satan and his minions.

Conclusion - Submit to God

In our day people generally don’t believe that he exists any more than they believe God exists.

Some people may even laugh at Christians for believing such old-fashioned mythology. Some people put all the blame on Satan and like Flip Wilson used to say, “The Devil made me do it.”

And Satan is delighted when more and more people believe in that lie that he is not real. He knows that he has been defeated. He knows that his time is short. He knows his ultimate end - that he will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. 20:10). But this doesn’t keep him from trying to take as many with him as he can.

So what are we to do? Prepare for Battle - put on the full armor of God - stand firm, but that standing firm is not idleness.

Advance to next slide

James 4:7 NASB95

7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

If we were left to ourselves, we would fail in our battle against our terrible enemy. However, God has made provision for us in our spiritual warfare.

Paul doesn’t say - go into battle unarmed and be unharmed - he says, Put on your battle gear - prepare for battle - know the enemy...

Ephesians 6:13 NASB95

13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.