The Enemy
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Question: What gets in your way from living out a wholehearted, unswerving, faith-filled relationship with God? In other words, what gets between you and God?
Fear, coveting, disappointment, doubt, plus temptation (usually connected to human effort), can lead toward the opportunity to disobey God.
Powerful emotions and opportunistic temptations is the battleground of spiritual warfare.
And, the enemy of our souls has had thousands of years of perfected experience to wage war upon you. Intimidating, isn’t it?
However, defeat does not need to be a foregone conclusion in spiritual battle.
Knowing your enemy and knowing who you are in Christ is essential in knowing how to overcome adversity and experience genuine spiritual victory.
[Prayer: Right now, there are those of you in this room that is experiencing intense spiritual warfare.]
Text: Ephesians 6:10-13
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
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.
13 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.
This Scripture informs me of three realities: There is an enemy; he is a work; I need to know what to do in the face of that enemy; and, cannot quit.
What about this enemy?
The Devil and this Present Darkness
The Devil and this Present Darkness
The enemy has many different names.
Devil means “accuser,” because he accuses God’s people day and night before the throne of God (Rev. 12:7–11).
Satan means “adversary,” because he is the enemy of God.
He is also called the tempter (Matt. 4:3), and the murderer and the liar (John 8:44).
He is compared to a lion (1 Peter 5:8), a serpent (Gen. 3:1; Rev. 12:9), and an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:13–15), as well as “the god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4, niv).
Where did he come from, this spirit-creature that seeks to oppose God and defeat His work?
Many believe that in the original Creation, he was “Lucifer, son of the morning” (Isa. 14:12–15) and that he was cast down because of his pride and his desire to occupy God’s throne.
Many mysteries are connected with the origin of Satan, but what he is doing and where he is going are certainly no mystery!
Since he is a created being, and not eternal (as God is), he is limited in his knowledge and activity.
Unlike God, Satan is not all-knowing, all-powerful, or everywhere-present.
Those aligned with Satan
Paul called them “principalities … powers … rulers … spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).
Charles B. Williams translates it: “For our contest is not with human foes alone, but with the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark world; that is, with the spirit forces of evil challenging us in the heavenly contest” (wms).
This suggests a definite army of demonic creatures that assist Satan in his attacks against believers.
The Apostle John hinted that one third of the angels fell with Satan when he rebelled against God (Rev. 12:4), and Daniel wrote that Satan’s angels struggle against God’s angels for control of the affairs of nations (Dan. 10:13–20).
A spiritual battle is going on in this world, and in the sphere of “the heavenlies,” and you and I are a part of this battle.
Satan’s Abilities.
The admonitions Paul gave indicate that Satan is a strong enemy (Eph. 6:10–12), and that we need the power of God to be able to stand against him.
Never underestimate the power of the devil. He is not compared to a lion and a dragon just for fun!
The Book of Job tells what his power can do to a man’s body, home, wealth, and friends.
Jesus calls Satan a thief who comes “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10).
Not only is Satan strong, but he is also wise and subtle, and we fight against “the wiles of the devil.” Wiles means “cunning, crafty arts, strategems.” The Christian cannot afford to be “ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11).
Some men are cunning and crafty and “lie in wait to deceive” (Eph. 4:14), but behind them is the arch-deceiver, Satan.
He masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) and seeks to blind men’s minds to the truth of God’s Word.
The fact that Paul uses the word “wrestle” indicates that we are involved in a hand-to-hand battle and are not mere spectators at a game.
Satan wants to use our external enemy, the world, and our internal enemy, the flesh, to defeat us. His weapons and battle plans are formidable.
Question: So, how can we overcome this ENEMY?
Be Strong in the Lord
Be Strong in the Lord
The rest of this series is going to be about this point!
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul has spoken of the greatness of the purpose of God in Christ, of the glory of his high calling, and the life that should follow from it.
The standards have been set, the standards for personal life, for life in the fellowship of the Christian community, and in the more intimate circle of the home.
Yet he wants still to remind his readers that such a life cannot be lived without a spiritual battle, of whose intensity he has become more and more conscious in his own experience.
The one paramount necessity in this is the power of God. Be strong, or, more literally, ‘be strengthened’ (cf. Acts 9:22; Rom. 4:20; 2 Tim. 2:1).
People cannot strengthen themselves; they must be empowered, and that not once for all but constantly, as the tense of the Greek indicates.
Furthermore, he says, not ‘by the Lord’, though that would be true enough, but again in the Lord.
When life is lived in union with him, within the orbit of his will and so of his grace, there need not be failure due to powerlessness (1 John 2:14).
Apart from him the Christian can do nothing (John 15:1–5), but there is available all the strength of his might.
Conclusion
Question: As with so much to this theme of spiritual warfare, each one of us are faced with a choice:
We can choose to live life our way—or the way of this culture and world, or
We can choose to be strong IN THE LORD.
Living in union with God through His Son Jesus Christ is the only way.
Jesus said:
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Questions for Reflection and Group Discussion
Why do you think so many people no longer believe that there exists an enemy—and his name is Satan?
For what purpose do you think Paul wrote that we wrestle NOT against flesh and blood (people)—but against demonic/satanic forces (see Eph. 6:12)?
In Ephesians 6:10, what should the believer do? Why?
Where does the source of power to overcome the enemy come from?
What should we do to access that power?