“Battle Lines”
Ephesians 6:10-11 November 22, 2009
OPEN: Today as we continue in our study towards the end of the book of the Ephesians we are to going to be talking about the topic of spiritual warfare. I want to spend a couple of weeks on the topic. This morning all we will do is basically do an overview and introduction. I think that to some degree the entire book has been building up to this topic. The task of leadership is what? To prepare God’s people for works of service, right? If you’re going to serve the lord – you’ve just stepped up to the battle line. If you attempt to live as a true Christian as defined in chapter 1,2, and 3, and if you are living the way a true Christian should live as defined in chapters 4, 5, and 6, then you can be sure of one thing - you are going to run right into the enemy. It is impossible to live in the manner that Ephesians outlines without having conflict with Satan -- it's impossible. And that's why, having said all this, he says the final thing you need to know is that you have to be strong, you have to put on the armor of God, because you're in a spiritual war. It's a war. And the battle is real.
The moment you decide to get serious about your faith and walk in humility, in unity, and put on the new man – the moment you decide to walk in light and not in darkness, wisdom not in foolishness – to not drunk with wine but filled with the Spirit, if we're committed to glorifying the Lord in worship, thanking God for all thing and rather than being proud and individualistic we are begin to submit ourselves one to another, when couples decide to live their marriages according to biblical guidelines and parents begin to raise their children according to biblical standards and employers and employees begin to relate to one another in a biblical manner, you will run against the grain. And that's exactly what's happening in our society.
It Is Impossible To Be An Authentic Christian Without Being Engaged In Spiritual Warfare.
The battle is real. The context of the passages we have just previously studied remind us of the areas that are most dear to us. Marriage, children - our workplace. Many of us are very familiar with how the enemy works in each of these areas. Every one of us can think of a list of families of men and women who started out in the marriage relationship determined to love each other and vow to spend the rest of the lives together on earth. Only to have their relationship fall to the wayside either because of sin or neglect or distraction. Instead of loving one another they end up in a war with one another. The battle is real. Some of us have children whom Satan has deceived with his lies and he has caused them to either wonder away from the faith or they have fallen prey to his evil temptations. We live with the every day heartache of seeing our children make decisions we know are not in their best interest, yet we seem unable to at times to even communicate with them, because of invisible wall that somehow separates us from them - the very ones that we birthed into this world and love with every cell in our body. The enemy is somehow snatching them away. The battle is real. And in our workplaces – so many Christians see the troubles their coworkers face and they long to be able to comfort them with a word from the Gospel – to point their coworkers towards faith in Christ, towards real food, real relief, real hope – and they are muzzled – restricted in their ability to speak a word of hope - they can’t because they’ve been so restricted by their employers they know if they even mention the name of Christ they are apt to loose their position entirely. Play by the world’s rules or pay the penalty. The battle is real.
Every once in awhile a wounded soul crawls in out of the battle for a few moments. Looking, hoping to find some relief from the never ending battle against sin. You can see the woundedness in their countenance – the brokenness in their eyes. A near casualty – yet still hoping there still might be a way out of the never ending battle they face day to day and you’re reminded that the battle is real. Or you hear one more heart-rending story about some collection of believers who were ministering well in their community until something happens – one person becomes disgruntled at another, and all of a sudden the entire congregation is picking sides. More often than not, it doesn’t really matter what the issue is really all about. But instead of battling the spiritual forces at work in their community, the redeemed end up battling amongst themselves - becoming so preoccupied over their petty personal issues that they forget what the battle is all about. Too many Christians end up AWOL in this battle. Absent With Out Love. We hear it on almost a daily basis on our news stations -the never ending war of worldviews. The world pridefully demanding that its views are right and that it has a right to do anything and everything without restriction or boundary. Demanding that Christ, the Christian and the Church keep quiet behind our stain-glassed walls. We are not in anyway to bring our worldview one inch beyond the confines of our parking lot and if we dare to try – it’s all out war. The battlefields are the classroom, the media, and legislation. These are the tools and the stomping grounds of our modern enemy.
When God begins to bless a church Satan begins to attack the same church, and if you think you've started coming to EBC so that you can just settle in your little nest out here in the northeast corner somewhere and get real comfy, you're wrong, The Bible talks about the believer being a soilder. Paul said to Timothy, “Endure hardship as a soldier” From the cradle to the grave, life is war. Your soul, your mind, your body, your family, your career are fields of conflict. Until Satan is finally thrown into the lake of fire, our peace with God will have to be a vigilant peace. Because Satan will certainly give us no peace if we are at peace with God.
1 Peter 5:8 says, Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Ill - There’s a notice from the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, which warns hikers and campers to be on the alert for bears in the Alaskan wilderness. It advises hikers to wear noisy little bells on their clothing, so that they don’t stumble on a bear and startle him, and also advises hikers to carry pepper spray in case they do encounter a bear. The warning goes on to say, It is also a good idea to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings. Black bear droppings are smaller and may contain berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear droppings contain little bells and smells like pepper spray. Be Alert.
Maybe you say, “I’m not even sure if I believe in Satan, I’m not even sure if I believe in a literal devil, who goes around trying to wreck people’s lives. I don’t know if I believe that Satan can actually affect my life, so maybe if I just ignore this whole area of spiritual warfare, and if I just ignore the devil, maybe he’ll just leave me alone, because I don’t want to fight.” I’m sorry to say that you don’t have a choice. Spiritual warfare is not an option in the Christian life. You’ve got an enemy who is out to get you, and if you ignore him you’re just making his job easy.
Spiritual warfare is not an option in the Christian life. The fact is, If you are a believer you are involved in spiritual war. and it’s a war that you have to fight. no one else can fight the battle for you. In this war there are no civilians who can sit at home and send others off to fight the battles for them. You’re in the battle and whether you like it or not we have to fight. We can’t just ignore spiritual warfare. When we try to ignore the devil, or ignore the fact that we’re in a spiritual war, its like a little child covering his eyes and going You can’t see me, You cant find me. The devil doesn’t go away just because we don’t believe in him, and he won’t leave us alone just because we leave him alone. In spiritual warfare, ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance can lead to bondage and defeat, and pain in our lives.
The Battle Calls For Total Commitment In The Face of Opposition.
It never gets easier. The longer you serve in this army, the harder Satan works to undermine you. He never stops prowling – never stops roaring – and it isn’t always me that he attacks – it those that I love. It’s my friends, my loved ones, the ones I minister to – the ones I do business with. Anything and everything I’m involved in to cause frustration and discouragement - anything to get me so discouraged that I’ll walk away. But as long as I’m on earth I want to be on the front line – I want to be in the midst of the battle. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. (1 Cor. 16:8) He says I've go to stay here because this is where the war is the hottest. There's a lot of people in the Christian life that say – “hey there are problems we must be doing something wrong.” That’s not what Paul says – he says the exact opposite; “because there is so much opposition I must be doing right – so I’ve got to keep on fighting.” Spurgeon used to say, “Satan never kicks a dead horse.” And that’s true – he’s going to focus his energies on people who potentiality to wreck his evil plans.
The Battle Is Manifested in the Physical, But Grounded in the Spiritual.
For the weapons of our
warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4,5)
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10 the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but they are spiritual and we are dealing with imagination and we are dealing with high things, he says, and we are dealing with bringing our thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We are fighting a war that is not simply physical, not simply fleshly. It can have that element. The battle against the enemy can come through human beings. It can come as it did through Jesus through the persecution of men, it can come in the form of spit, it can come in the form of mockery and cursing and abusive language. It can come in the form of blows to the face; it can come in the form of nails and spears in the side. It can come to the Christian today as it did to the apostles in the form of being beheaded or being killed for the sake of Christ. It can come in those ways and maybe as we continue to preach Jesus Christ faithfully in increasingly godless humanistic society, it will come to that. But behind the physical, behind the hatred and the persecution we see from people there is a domain of spiritual beings that are at war with the believer. And they simply use the physical world as a means to their ends. It is not so much that men hate Christ as that Satan hates Christ and uses men as his pawns. He is the force behind the warfare. It never ceases to be warfare, living for Christ is not waltzing through a meadow picking daisies, it's walking through a mine field with snipers all around you. Snipers you can't see or perceive because they belong to a supernatural realm beyond your ability to conceive. This is war and the enemy is hell-bent on destruction of every divine purpose.
GET PREPARED
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. (Eph. 6:10-11)
This is basic. You do not want the battle to begin when you are unprepared. You don't want to be just sort of lollygagging around and all of a sudden you're half way defeated before you wake up and realize you are in the war. So, preparation comes first. You need to recognize that there is no such thing as neutrality in this war. Ill of farmer who was caught between battle lines of North and South during Civil War. He didn’t want to leave his farm – and he didn’t want to choose sides. So he put on a grey shirt and blue pants – trying to show he sympathized with both sides. He didn’t want to pick sides. Both sides shot him. –You say, “I don’t want to be at war” It doesn’t matter. The battle lines have been drawn. They were drawn a long time ago – even before the Garden of Eden. There is no neutrality in this battle. You better get yourself prepared.
Get Prepared By Changing Your Attitude.
The Problem of Indifference.
One of the common mindsets we come across these days are people who basically say, “Look I don’t know about all this talk about spiritual warfare. And I don’t want to know. I just want to be left alone in my cozy little comfortable faith and I don’t want any trouble with anyone. I don’t want to cause any trouble. I don’t want to get into any trouble. If you want to go off and fight demons in your world – have at it. But leave me out of it. As long as it doesn’t affect me and mine I don’t really care what you do.” And what some Christians do is kind of hole up in their safe sanctified environment and don’t really get into the warfare. And they are kind of lulled into thinking that they can somehow avoid this battle by taking on an attitude of indifference.
I want to show you what I’m talking about: Turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings 20:12-19 Ill. of Hezekiah opening up his palace to show emissary from Babylon everything he possessed. The king of Babylon hears that Hez. is ill so he sends him a get well card and some flowers. Hez. is so impressed that the king of Babylon thought about him that he gives his ambassadors a complete tour of the palace. He shows him his treasury, his shows them his armory, he shows his storehouses. He’s kind of bragging about how much God had blessed him as a king. The prophet Isaiah hears about this little tour of his and he says “Who were those men and what did you show them?” “Ah they’re from a place far away from here – a little place called Babylon. You probably never heard of it. And they saw everything in my palace.”
This is how Isa. responds:
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD : 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” “The word of the LORD you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”
I mean you have to look at that and just shake your head in disbelief, don’t you? How could anyone be so callous to his own nation? His entire nation? His own family? I mean if someone says to you, “Your children – your own flesh and blood are going to be emasculated and sold into slavery.” – wouldn’t that move you into action – into doing something? How could anyone be so indifferent to say, “As long as it doesn’t affect me personally I don’t really care”? Could that kind of indifference legitimately be defended by anyone? Those are the last recorded words of Hez. in the Bible. Hezekiah was not a bad king, he did many good things. He ‘rated’ out much better than his father. In spite of all the other very positive influences he had in his life, history remembers him as a self-centered, indifferent egotist. His last recorded words were “I don’t care what happens to others because it’s all about me. As long as I can live my life undisturbed and in comfort - I’m a happy little camper.”
Many in the Church today have become infected with the Hezekiah syndrome. – a callous attitude of indifference towards others – Characterized by an all consuming focus on “self” and “comfort.” We have become so consumed with our own ideas, our own comfort, our own sensitivities that we’ve adopted a Hezekiah attitude. The oncoming invasion of the enemy should have jolted Hez. that if a battle is on its way, the time to get prepared is now – not later when the enemy is at the gates. If a great battle is on the horizon, it’s time for every soldier to be trained and equipped and engaged in service. If a great battle is on the way, there is no time to waste – no one can sit idle while others are preparing to engage the enemy. If a great enemy is advancing against the kingdom, there is no excuse, no rationalization, no reason for not showing up for duty.
Oh how the enemy delights in lulling you into some kind of sleepy complacency. Filling your mind and your heart with distorted reasoning - causing you to sit on the sidelines while others engage in the battle. Whether the rationalizations rest in your own comfort level or you harbor feelings of resentment or unforgiveness or simply your dissatisfaction that something hasn’t been done the way that you would like it to be done – nothing really justifies sitting on the sidelines while the battle rages around us.
Consider how history might have changed had Hez shown them, not his wealth, but a glimpse of God Almighty. Consider how revival might once again sweep through the New England area if every single Christian soldier would rise up and take his/her place on the battle line. New England, which is now known as the least spiritual place in the nation, could lead a country in a great revival – we can lead a nation back into right relationship with our Great and Mighty God. We currently live in the least spiritual area of what is quickly becoming one of the least spiritual nations on the planet. Which translated means that there has never been a better opportunity for us to experience the greatest revival this country has ever seen. But it can’t happen if the soldiers don’t show up prepared for battle. And that can’t happen if the primary focus is us and not others. It can’t happen if we are content to send our children into the universities of this land totally unprepared to confront the lies and schemes of the godless professors who desire and goal is to strip them of their faith before they put the graduation sheepskin into their hands. Revival can’t happen if the 80% are content to sit back and allow the 20% to exhaust themselves trying to teach, trying to couch, trying to train.
Revival can’t happen if when there is a need for a Sunday School teacher, and mature Christians sit back and say “not me” and allow those little one to go untrained -or to be trained by those who have not yet fully grown into maturity. Revival can’t happen if all the little churches in New England keep thinking “We have to do what we need to do to survive.” We’re called to be invaders not survivors! We’re called to storm the gates of hell. We’ve been given the promise the gates of the enemy will not prevail. When did the purpose of the local church ever become survival? Paul told the Ephesians “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.” They were trying to stop him from continuing on to Jer. They were trying to tell him – you have to survive – He says, “No – I don’t have any desire to be a martyr – but I’ve got a job to do and I must go on. I’ve got a race to run. I have a task to compete. I can not leave behind unfinished work. I’ve got to take the Gosple of Peace to people who are still living in war with God. Yes the price may be high if I continue, but the price is even higher if I do not continue to fight the good fight God has called me to fight. I can’t retreat from the front of the battle.”
The greatest tragedy that could ever happen to any believer would be part of a church and enjoy what is going on and yet be indifferent about the battle. Do you see it as a warfare? Are you invested in the war effort? It's easy to see, look at your life. Where do you invest your time? Where do you invest your money? Where do you invest your talent? Where do you invest your energy? If it's all in the things that are passing and mundane then you don't understand the warfare at all. You can't just let the war pass in front of you without ever fighting it. – the love of Christ constrains us to battle on. Every child of God is a soldier and we've all been drafted and you can't dodge the draft and there are no deferments. This is war. And if you don't know that there is a war you just lost the battle.
Get Prepared by Changing Your Source of Power.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
(Eph. 6:10-11) Paul is like a commanding general who is overseeing his troops before going into battle, issues his first command to be strong, a present imperative which is to be carried out by the Christian soldier continually. Two times he uses the word “in” – “in the Lord” and “in His mighty power.” And that is a fundamental reality in the book of Ephesians, we are in Christ, we are one with Him. His life is our life. His power is our power. His truth is our truth. We are one with Christ in Him. And so it is in Christ that we are strong. It is in Christ that His might becomes our might.The word “power” (endunamoo) means “to put power in” (like a car needs gas for power) and so to make strong, vigorous, to strengthen. The idea is to cause one to be able to function or do something.
Before a soldier is given a gun or shown how to fire a missile, he goes through basic training. One great purpose for basic training is the build up the recruit’s physical strength. It is as if the army says, “Soldier, we are going to give you the best weapons and armor possible. But first we have to make sure that you are strong, and that you can use what we give you.”
I want you to turn back in your Bibles for moment to chapter one of Ephesians: 1:18-23
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
Why in the world is Paul so concerned about the Ephesians understanding God’s power? He’s preparing the troops for battle. Using the same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead, God wants to use you as you stand on the battle line. Every believer now has the resources within to deal with Satan, no matter what the devil may bring. Satan has no power to withstand the resurrection resource that dwells in the life of every believer.
Ill of little boy who was trying to pick up a rock. “Dad it’s too heavy.” “Son you can do it.” He tried again. “Dad, it’s too heavy.” “Son you’re not using all your strength.” “Dad, I can’t it’s too heavy.” “Son you’re still not using all your strength.” Exasperated, he said, “Why do you keep saying I’m not using all my strength? It’s to heavy!” “I know you’re not using all your strength because you haven’t asked me to help yet.” There is more strength available to you than what you have. Be strong in the strength of His might. You plus God equals everything you will ever need to face your battles. No giant can withstand you when you are empowered by God’s power. In Phil. 4:13 Paul says – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Get Prepared by Changing Your Resolve.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
The word “stand” there has the idea not of a casual standing but of a digging in. The sandals of the Roman soldiers had spikes on them so they could dig in and hold their ground and not be knocked off course. It was a military term for holding one’s position. “Hold your ground! Don't give an inch of territory to the enemy!” That’s the picture.
Schemes (methodeia) refers to an orderly, logical, effective arrangement, usually in steps followed to achieve an end. It describes deliberate planning or a systematic approach and can have a positive or negative outcome. - implies the use of clever methods or strategies to attain the desired end. The Scripture always uses methodeia with a negative connotation.
Think about this simple definition in the context of spiritual warfare. Satan is orderly and logical in his steps employed against you to achieve his nefarious purposes. This realization should prompt each of us to be even more appreciative of the fact that we cannot stand against our invisible enemy in our own intelligence, our own strength or our own human "methods" or "schemes". We must put on the full armor that God supplies in Christ.
If you could sneak into Satan’s office, wherever that might be (he’s not in hell yet), and take a peek into his files, you might be surprised to find a file folder with your name on it. I’m not exaggerating. He keeps a file on you, and inside that file are all the strategies he’s tried on you—the ones that have worked and the ones that have failed. He doesn’t waste his time with the ones that don’t work anymore. Instead, he uses variations on the strategies that have caused you to stumble in the past. As long as they keep working, he keeps using them. Somewhere in that file cabinet there’s a file labeled: Vamosi, Timothy. In this file, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if there was a notation that reads something like this: Subject may be prone to discouragement, especially if he becomes overly weary. This has worked several times before and seems a promising method of attack. Suggestion: Make sure he stays very busy, overcommitted, and physically tired. At all costs, keep him from extended times of Bible reading and prayer. - So what is Satan’s strategy for me? He looks for ways to discourage me, and if possible, cause me some depression. He will use whatever people, means, or circumstances it takes to achieve his goal. It’s the same for you. Maybe your file says, “Frequently tempted to gossip,” or “quick temper,” or “prone to coveting and jealousy,” or “weak in the area of lust.” Don’t kid yourself, he knows very well where your vulnerabilities lie. It’s all in his file. You’ve heard, perhaps, that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. That’s very good news, but it is also true that Satan hates you and has a plan and strategy to destroy your walk with Jesus Christ. Let me show you some:
Satan Attacks God’s Program, The Church, By...
False philosophies - Col. 2:8
False religions - 1 Cor. 10:19
False ministers - 2 Cor. 11:14-15
False doctrine - 1 John 2:18
False disciples - Matt. 13
False morals - 2 Thess. 2:7
Producing sects/cults - 1 Tim. 4:1
Satan Attacks God’s People By . . .
Deceiving men - 2 Cor. 4:4
Destroying life - Heb. 2:14
Persecuting the saints - Rev. 2:10
Preventing service - 1 Thess. 2:18
Promoting schisms - 2 Cor. 2:10-11
Planting doubt - Gen. 3:1-2
Provoking sin and Anger - Eph. 4:26-27
Pride - 1 Tim. 3:6;
Worry - Matt. 13:22;
Self-reliance - 1 Chron. 21:1;
Discouragement - 1 Pet. 5:6-8;
Worldliness - 1 John 2:16;
Lying - Acts 5:3;
Immorality - 1 Cor. 5:1-2
- add to that seldom does Satan ever attack openly with an overt frontal assault (and by the way most of us will probably never be attacked by Satan himself as he is a finite not omnipresent being. But he does command a host of fallen angels who share his evil design for mankind). In contrast, Satan's schemes are nearly always unseen, shrewd, and perfectly tailored to ensnare his victim like a trapper carefully camouflaging his trap to catch an unsuspecting animal. Evil rarely looks evil until it accomplishes its goal. It gains entrance by appearing attractive, desirable, and perfectly legitimate. It is a baited and camouflaged. Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 11:14, Satan masquerades as an angel of light. You have to have resolve. You have to refuse to be indifferent. Tap into the power that God has given you and you have to take a stand. You have to have resolve to not back up even when you’re knocked down. Not shut up even if you’re locked up. You can’t give up even if you’ve given all you got. You have to stand.
CLOSE: But we don’t fear the battle – And I’ll tell you why – because we are on this side of the cross.
SPIRITUAL WARFARE is not a struggle against POWER. It is a struggle to maintain the TRUTH. The truth of a victorious resurrected Lord. The believer needs to be aware that Satan is around. We are told that by Peter in his epistle. We need to be aware of the demonic. We need to be aware of darkness. We need to be aware that it has infected a world system and is in our face daily. We need to be aware of that, however, our focus is not to be on that. Our focus is to be on the resurrected, ascended, glorified Lord Jesus Christ and on His resurrection power in each individual life. “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free”
Focus On The Victory Of Jesus
