Untitled Sermon

Warfare of the Saints Part 11

Introduction:

Last week we were able to spend some time looking at verse 11 and the first part of verse 12 and see the command to put on the whole armor of God, as we have been given access to it as his people. We noted that we need to use this armor because the weapons of this spiritual warfare are not of the flesh, and nothing that we use of our own devise is sufficient in this battle. Not only are we commanded to put on the whole armor so that we have the full protection that we need, but we have to stand firm against all the schemes which the devil throws at us. The schemes of half-truths, doubts, discouragement etc… We then ended by looking at how we are not struggling against other people, but rather against the devil and his demons, which we will continue to examine today.

Verse 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.”

What we have in this verse is a description of the demonic hierarchy if you will of the devils fallen angels. The first on the list is “rulers” we know that the devil is described as the ruler of this world in both John Ch. 12, 14. He is the one who has been permitted to rule over the kingdom of this world. In fact this is what he says in Luke 4:5-6

“And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.”

God has permitted the devil to have rule over this world, this temporal kingdom for a time, and the devil has other fallen angels which are beneath him which also influence and have variant levels of authority throughout. Why do we see a hierarchy with the devil and his demons? Well, in Scripture we find description of not only a hierarchy of demons but also of God’s holy angels. The hierarchy of the holy angels is described in similar terms, for instance it we see that 1 Peter 3:22 seems to be describing these

“who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.”

So, Christ has been given the authority over the holy angels in heaven, and they are subject to him. We are also told in scripture that there are different types of angels. We have mention of the Seraphim in Isaiah Ch.6, and the Cherubim in Genesis, Ch. 3 which is the angel that was used to keep Adam and Eve from entering back into the garden of Eden. They are also mentioned in Ezekiel’s vision of heaven and are the angels which were placed on the mercy seat in the holy of holies in the tabernacle/temple which we looked at a couple weeks ago. There is also mention of and archangel in 1 Thessalonians CH. 4 which will come with Christ in the clouds at the time of the rapture of the church and in Jude 6 where the name of at least one of these archangels is given, that being Michael. So, The LORD has had a ranking system or hierarchal structure for his angels for a long time. We also know that the devil is a counterfeit, and he attempts to imitate and distort God’s character and kingdom, therefore it is likely that he has also created for himself a hierarchy of demons who are under his control. This being one of his attempts to be “like” the Most High God. Going back to our text in Ephesians, this is what we have in this verse, the rulers, powers, world forces, and spiritual forces are the system of demons which are under the devil which he uses to influence and roam the earth. We have an enemy who is highly organized, which uses calculated means of attack and tactics against both lost humanity and the saints of God, therefore we must while we are here, continually be on the alert and always ready for battle. I want to point out the phrase in this verse which mentions “world forces of this darkness”. This darkness is the kingdom of darkness, the domain of darkness which is the present world we live in. Paul has already in the previous chapter, brought to our attention this contrast between darkness and light. He describes for us in chapter 5 that the sons of disobedience (i.e., the lost) are the children of darkness. We have this present world which is ruled by Satan and is the kingdom of darkness, and those who are apart of this kingdom are the children of darkness. Since we are no longer a part of this kingdom, and we are no longer subjects and ruled by Satan, we are therefore in opposition to everything which it stands for. We oppose it’s values, it’s ideologies, its religion, it’s way of life etc… In Acts 26:18 this is highlighted well for us, as Paul is recounting what The LORD Jesus commissioned him to when he saved him. Jesus said this concerning what his purpose was for sending Paul out to proclaim the gospel,

Acts 26:18

“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.’

This is what has happened to us, we have been set free from the domain of darkness, and are now in the Kingdom of Christ Jesus our LORD. The enemy doesn’t like that, and therefore he attacks us, and opposes us. So, we struggle against the world forces of this darkness, of this evil kingdom because we represent everything in which they despise. We shine the Light of Christ Jesus, and live according to a different law, we live not according the law of the deeds of darkness, but the law of righteousness and truth in Christ. The last part of verse 12 then says that we are also struggling against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. This term “heavenly places” has already come up a few times throughout this Epistle. It is used to reference heaven from where blessings come from in (Ephesians 1:3), it is used to describe where Christ Jesus now sits on His throne at the right hand of The Father in (Ephesians 1:20), it is also used to describe where the saints are already seen as seated with Christ in (Ephesians 2:6), and thirdly it is used to describe where the angels of God have their dwelling place in (Ephesians 3:10). In our text, this term seems to be used a little differently. We know of course that the fallen angels, or demons, no longer have their abode with God in Heaven, as they rebelled and followed the devil. So, this is not talking about heaven as in the abode or dwelling place of God, like it is in those other verses. This rather, seems to be speaking more so about what we could call the “celestial sphere” or spiritual realm. We know that in Ephesians 2:2 the devil is described as the “prince of the power of the air”, so this verse seems to be speaking to that same idea. This “heavenly places” is most likely referring to the area or region above the earth, but below the dwelling place of God. Therefore, as Paul has described this hierarchy of demons, who are under the leadership of the devil, the sense that we get from all of this is that this earth, is surrounded and ruled by the enemy. These evil influences, these demons are literally all around us, and influence the world. No wonder it is the kingdom of darkness, as it is totally saturated and influenced by these evil beings. We then, as believers are in enemy territory, as we are surrounded by them. We are no longer a part of this kingdom of darkness, and have rather been placed by Christ Jesus, behind “enemy lines” so to speak. We are no longer citizens of this kingdom, but citizens of the kingdom of God through our faith in Christ, and as we are here behind enemy lines, we are therefore ambassadors for Christ and His kingdom. We as the Church of Christ Jesus have been placed in this wicked kingdom to be the embassy or the guide post for the kingdom of God. The imagery that we get from this verse then, is that as we are then promoting and spreading the news of a different kingdom. We are in a foreign nation, telling people about a better one to come, telling people about our King who is far different than the ruler of this world. As we are spreading that news, as we are promoting the kingdom of God, we then experience push-back and resistance from the enemy. As the seriousness of this spiritual battle has been explained, the next verse gives us a further command to put on the armor of God.

Verse 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.”

There is urgency in this command as if to say that we need to take up and put on this armor immediately without any hesitation. We are warned of our enemy, of the opposition which we experience in this spiritual struggle and therefore, we must have on God’s armor. Now, with that being said, we are not to fear our enemy. We are not called to have on our armor and to be idly sitting in our fortress waiting for the enemy to attack us. We are not described as hiding out, no, we have in this text an image of a foot-soldier who is on the battle field attacking and defending himself. The reason that we are not to fear the enemy is because Christ has ultimately won the victory for us and he is far above and more powerful than the enemy and all the demons of the kingdom of darkness. So we are not to fear the battle, nor are we are to be complacent or idle, but actively engaged in the battle. The “evil day” in which we are to resist seems to be twofold. We know that according to Ephesians 5:16 that the current day and age which we live are evil. However, we also know that as we get closer to the tribulation period evil and lawlessness are going to increase. The point being that we must always be ready and to put on the armor, because it is the only thing which is sufficient to enable us to overcome both now and in the future. These attacks come at us really in the everyday routine of life. It is interesting that earlier before this this Epistle was dealing with family life, and children, with employment. These are where we experience the attacks, in these everyday area’s of life. We experience discouragement, disappointment, struggle with pride, temptation, as well as all the ideolog