Find Ephesians 6 with me as I want to speak to you about Four Truths about Satan’s Lies
Here’s why you are alive: to gather around the throne of Jesus Christ at the end of history. All of life is about gathering around the very throne of God at the end of time – this is the purpose of your life, my life, and our lives. History and all of life stands for one reason to spread the good news that Jesus reigns and we joyfully submit to Him!
Jesus said there is no other name where any of us can be saved except through Jesus and the cross (John 14:6). And Jesus commanded every one of believers to spread the good news of gospel to every corner of the earth. This is your life’s purpose.
Satan does everything possible to lie and deceive us from life’s purpose. Let me show you his handiwork. The Bible says there’s a day coming when Christ will return and throw Satan into the pit. He will be shut and sealed in “so that he might not deceive the nations any longer” (Revelation 20:3b). Because our enemy is not sealed up, shut down, or thrown away. Instead, he’s busying deceiving the nations.
There’s no doubt his mission is crystal clear: to keep lost people lost by denying them access to Jesus.
Today launches our 8th annual missions week. Today, I want to take us to the tip of spear and the edge of the knife of this fight of spiritual warfare– missions and evangelism.
Today’s Scripture
“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… 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:10-14, 18-20).
In this classic passage on spiritual warfare, Paul details out for us all the equipment we need. In Ephesians 6 Paul introduces us to each piece of Roman armor and its spiritual counterpart. Paul wrote this letter was in prison and he was jailed for spreading the message of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire. He sees how the common Roman solider is dressed and helps us make the corresponding analogy of “whole armor of God.”
And he rounds out the entire section with the words to pray so “that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19b).
Like three points of a triangle, the Bible connects your life’s purpose is a triangle of spiritual warfare, prayer and sharing the gospel. Let me repeat that crucial triangle for all of us: the Bible connects spiritual warfare, prayer and sharing the gospel.
Remember, spiritual battle is the mother of all battles. We fight against invisible, spiritual forces. To fight in this invisible, spiritual realm we need the armor God provides us. When we become Christians we receive great benefits and privileges, but we actually have to learn the discipline of using those benefits and privileges. Knowing what to do with the armor God provides us is essentially learning the discipline we need to effectively use the armor of God.
While prayer isn’t listed as a weapon, we can think of putting each piece of the armor of God daily with prayer. We pray as we buckle the belt of truth. We pray as we take up the shield of faith. And we pray as we fasten on the breastplate of righteousness. We pray as we put on each piece of armor God provides to believers.
Again, I want to speak to you about Satan’s Four Truths about Satan’s Lies.
1. He Closes the Nations to Gospel Access
Satan convinces government leaders and cultural influencers that governments should restrict the gospel’s access. Each year, a group called Open Doors offers a list of the top fifty nations where it is hardest to be a Christian. Nations like North Korea, Afghanistan, Libya, Iran, Sudan, and India are all closed to the gospel.
How should you respond? The Bible encourages you to pray all times Some of you pray to start your day or you’ll pray here or there but it has little to do with real life. For others of you, prayer like a parachute – you keep it close in case you need it. But the Bible gives a very different view of prayer: “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…” (Ephesians 6:18).
1.1 Keep On Praying
Literally the words there in the beginning of verse 18 are you and I are to pray at every opportunity. The Bible stresses the need to pray continually. The Bible says we are to “be constant in prayer” (Romans 12:12b). The Bible calls on us to pray both day and night (1 Thessalonians 3:10). And we are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
For so many of us, prayer is like the national anthem at a football game. It gets the game started but it really doesn’t have that much to do with what’s happening on the field.
Instead, we are to remember to pray for one another constantly both day and night (2 Timothy 1:3). Paul tells the believers in Rome, “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers…” (Romans 1:9-10a). We are to constantly mention one another in our prayers (1 Thessalonians 1:2). And the earliest believers modeled prayer when they devoted themselves to prayer (Acts 2:42).
1.2 Constant Prayer Unrealistic?
Praying constantly seems like something that a monk, a priest, or a nun would do. Many of you think, “Real people cannot pray constantly!” But maybe the “how” of constant prayer isn’t as important as the “why” of constant prayer. But why should we pray constantly?
1.3 Closed Nations
The reasons we must pray constantly is because so many nations are closed to the gospel. One of Satan’s best weapons is to convince governments to close the doors on evangelism and missions. Christian believers face severe challenges to worship behind these iron doors. These believers are forced to have secret church in order to worship.
This is spiritual warfare.
Today, around 25% of the world’s population have never had the good news presented to them in a meaningful way. Iran was closed to the gospel starting in the 1970s. The government banned Christian radio and Bibles. Evangelism is illegal inside the country like so many other nations. But once the nation was closed, Iranian people become really interested in Jesus. A friend of mine was assigned the nation of Iran as he served as a missionary. He spoke of their interest in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ due to its supposed anti-semantic bent. There are reports of widespread conversions behind the Persian Iron Doors of Iran.
1.4 Rebellious Prayer
Any rebels in here? Calling all rebels! Prayer is a rebellion against the status quo. It’s a refusal to accept as normal what is completely abnormal.
No nation should be closed to the gospel. Let’s convert the world to religious capitalism! Turn the religions loose and let the best religion win! Why do certain government leaders think they need to put “their thumb on the scale”? The only reason a governmental leader closes his nation to gospel access is because he’s afraid of the truth.
Let’s get on our knees together this week to pray for the closed nations to open to the truth of God’s Word. Prayer is the absolute refusal to accept what isn’t God’s normal. When you pray, you are rejecting every agenda, every scheme, and every opinion that clashes with God’s established normal. Again, Satan’s strategy is to use totalitarian governments to keep countries closed to the gospel.
Constant prayer is needed for believers around the globe behind iron gates of the gospel. The Bible says we are to persist in prayer. “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you…” (Colossians 1:9a). And a man named Epaphras is held up as an example because he was “always struggling on your behalf in his prayers” (Colossians 4:12b). Back in chapter one, Paul talked about how he prays: “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers…” (Ephesians 1:15-16).
Be a rebel and CONSTANTLY pray for God’s normal. Pray on each and every occasion.
1. He Closes the Nations to Gospel Access
2. He Persecutes Believers
Satan’s second strategy is to persecute believers.
2.1 Abdullah
Abdullah was a Muslim who converted to faith in Jesus Christ in an unnamed nation in south Asia. After his conversion, he was highly influential in sharing the gospel of Christ’s cross and love with other Muslims. He showed his friends and family members that Jesus was more than a prophet, He was the Messiah crucified for our sins. His success stirred up local officials who had banned all evangelistic Christian practices. One believer was interrogated and his fingers were cut off in an effort to get him to expose the names of zealous evangelists for Jesus. Then Abdullah himself answered a knock on his door one night. As he opened the door, he was stabbed to death. Nine martyrs were soon offered to Christ alongside Abdullah but the movement of Christ continues in this nation.
This is spiritual warfare.
How should you respond?
Look for the second time the word “all” appears in verse 18 with me: “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…” (Ephesians 6:18).
Pray at All Times
Pray in All Ways
If you slow down to read these words carefully, it’s really confusing. Essentially, Paul is saying to pray with all prayer and supplication. It’s like saying I will run with all running. Or I will type with all typing.
2.3 Diversity Training in Praying
Essentially, he is calling on us to pray with every kind of prayer imaginable. We are to pray in all ways. There’s private prayer and public prayer. There’s morning prayers and evening prayers. There’s kneeling prayer and walking praying. There’s beginning praying and advanced praying. You can think of this as diversity training in the school of prayer!
The prophet Isaiah even says prayer is taking hold of God (Isaiah 64:7). In ancient times you might take hold of the cloak of a great man as you appealed to him. Or today, you embrace someone to show love. We can think of this as Major League praying if you will. We need to take hold of God’s coat and press into Him concerning the nations of the world.
2.4 Jesus the Model
The Bible shows Jesus praying twenty-five times while He was on the earth. Jesus prayed in private (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16) and in moments of crisis (Matthew 27:46). Jesus prayed before big decisions (Luke 6:12-13). And Jesus even prayed while hanging on the cross (Luke 23:34, 46). Now if Jesus needed to pray, how much more do you need to pray?
2.5 Persecuted Believers
Why do we need to embrace a wide diversity of prayers? Again, it’s because we need boldness in the spiritual conflict against Satan. Satan loves to threaten physical violence and intimidation against believers.
In recent days, a pocket of former Hindus were converting to faith in Christ in a South Asian location. As thousands were eventually converting to Christ, radical Hindus came into the villages and drug Christians out of their homes. They threaten to burn their houses if they did not recant faith in Jesus Christ and bow before a Hindu idol.
One of our church members has worked in a nation in SE Asia where a Buddhist couple embraced Christ. As a result, their hut was burned by the friends and neighbors with the approval of the local Buddhist monks.
And then in another group that is an extension of our church’s ministry, a pastor in India was recently simply placing up a sign above his church building when a mob violently attacked him. This is spiritual warfare and it calls for us to pray in all kinds of ways.
Think of it: the weakest Christian at his weakest moment can call out at any situation and at any instant. At that very instant you will have all the resources of the infinite, all-powerful God at your disposal.
Remember, the tip of spear and the edge of the knife of this fight is missions and evangelism.
2.6 Temple of Diane
Now, just a reminder: you are reading the book called Ephesians. This book/letter was written to young believers in the ancient city of Ephesus. Inside this town was the Temple of Diana, one of the seven wonder of the ancient world. It was a house of prostitution that operated in the name of religion. Ephesus was “a watering hole” for every kind of magician, witch, clairvoyant, and criminal. Con artists found the climate of Ephesus a haven. And Paul walks right into the city speak about Jesus crucified, buried, and risen.
In Acts 19, The Bible described when the gospel came into the city and people converted to Christ. As a result of their newfound faith, they burned around the modern equivalent of $110,000 in magic books. History tells us there was a riot and they nearly killed Paul because of his missionary efforts.
Imagine if I drove to Orlando and began to preach against the religious underpinnings of Disney. If in time, I were successful & many people left the religion of Disney to come to me way of thinking, what do you think the pushback might be. Essentially, Paul walked into ancient version of Orlando in a place called Ephesus and called on everyone to worship a new God. The very letter of Ephesians was written as a result of spiritual warfare.
2.7 Holy Boldness
The early church father Tertullian famously said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” We need a holy boldness in the face of even pressure here in the States to shut up about Jesus. Again, here the words of Paul: “[pray] also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel…” (Ephesians 6:19).
Live a life that where the citizens of hell know your name and your mug shot.
1. He Closes the Nations to Gospel Access
2. He Persecutes Believers
3. He Hides People from Our Sight
Satan’s third strategy is to hide entire groups of people from us.
3.1 People Groups
There are nearly 12,000 and over 7,000 unreached people groups are on the ground. A people group is a group of people who share the same language and ethnic identity. 3,000 of these groups are hidden from our eyes. Keep in mind the CIA only lists 267 nations around the world today. If there’s only 267 nations but there are nearly 12,000 people groups, you can do the math. The world is complex.
Satan had hidden these people so that Christians don’t see them! How should you respond?
3.2 You Are to Pray with All Perseverance
Pray at All Times
Pray in All Ways
Pray with All Perseverance
“praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…” (Ephesians 6:18). The Bible is calling on us to stay alert in prayer. Jesus taught His Disciples to always pray no matter what: “… they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). Even when He neared His death, Jesus instructed the Twelve to pray: “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:26). We keep praying – we do not stop!
Again, the tip of spear and the edge of the knife of this fight – missions and evangelism.
3.3 Ralph Winters
To understand how Satan had hidden whole groups of people, you need to know something of a man named, Ralph Winter. Ralph Winter was named one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in American by Time magazine in 2005. Born in California, Dr. Ralph D. Winter graduated from Caltech with a B.S. in Engineering. His interest and concern for the world grew, he helped organize a pioneer missionary effort to Afghanistan. He eventually graduated with a Ph. D. at Cornell in Structural Linguistics and later a seminary degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. Winter addressed Billy Graham’s Congress for World Evangelization in 1974 and this was a watershed moment. Trained as an engineer at Cal Tech, Winter presented an array of graphs and statistics to prove there were still 2.5 billion people cut off from receiving the Gospel in their own language and cultural context. He showed that the world was more like a waffle than a pancake. Everybody knows that when syrup is poured over your breakfast, it is so much easier to cover a pancake than a waffle. The waffle needs syrup in every pocket. Our world is more like a waffle than a pancake where the people groups are the pockets of the waffle.
Each nation has these pockets of people groups that need a gospel witness. Satan has blinded us to whole groups of people with no access to Jesus.
3.4 Frontline Praying
How should you respond? Again, you should “…keep alert with all perseverance …” (Ephesians 6:18b) in prayer.
There is a difference between “maintenance” and “frontline” praying. Maintenance prayer meetings are short, mechanical, and focused on physical needs inside the church. In contrast, frontline praying means we ask for grace to confess sins and to humble ourselves. Frontline praying means we have a zeal for the flourishing of the church and the reaching of the lost.
Again, we are in engaged in spiritual warfare. Satan blinds us to the reality of a world that is incredibly diverse. We ignore how many groups of people who have little to no access to the gospel.
We must overcome fatigue.
We must remain vigilant to overcome discouragement.
We cannot fall asleep spiritually.
And we cannot become complacent.
1. He Closes the Nations to Gospel Access
2. He Persecute Believers
3. He Hides People from Our Sight
4. He Hides Our Responsibility to Share
Here’s the fourth lie Satan tells to thwart you from your purpose: He hides your responsibility to share.
4.1 The Bible and My High School Yearbook
Satan does his most deceptive work when he causes us to treat the Bible like our high school yearbook. What do you do with your high school yearbook when it first came into your hands? You immediately turned to your picture. You looked in the index so you could find you. That’s how we treat the Bible: we make the Bible all about me, myself, and I. The deadliest lie Satan tells is that Jesus is all about me. When we read our Bibles we see the holy trinity of me, myself, and I.
One more time, the tip of spear and the edge of the knife of this fight is missions and evangelism.
Pray at All Times
Pray in All Ways
Pray with All Perseverance
4.2 Pray for the All Saints
“praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…” (Ephesians 6:18).
God calls on us to pray for all the saints. We are to continually and constantly pray that He sets the captives free. My believing friend, don’t make the gospel selfish. Don’t make the gospel all about you and your needs. Jesus commands you to pray for all of God’s believers: “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16).
Don’t take the blood of Jesus and be content that you are found when so many people are lost. Don’t tell everyone else to go to hell when you’re going to heaven. You must pray for people who have yet to embrace Jesus Christ by faith.
The Bible wants you to pray “for all the saints…” (Ephesians 6:18). You are called to pray for Indian saints, Persian saints, and Peruvian saints. You are to pray for Burmese saints, Mexican saints, and Russians saints. You are to pray for all the saints including ones who have yet to bow the knee to Jesus.
Many of you have never opened your mouth to share the gospel. You have thought the commands of Jesus to go around the world are for super Christians. What does Jesus have to do to convince you the Great Commission is real for you? Must God send snow on the 4th of July to convince you to share your faith? Must God turn your cat into a goldish to get you going and praying? What does Jesus have to do to convince you the Great Commission is real for you?
Conclusion
God is working despite to reach the nations. Several years ago, Jerry Rankin visited the Islamic-dominated area of Saudi Arabi and the United Arab Emirates. Both nations are closed to the gospel and especially any attempts toward Christians sharing their faith inside the borders of the two nations. Yet, there are many foreign workers there in their oil fields and house churches do exist. Just before Jerry’s arrival, a house church leader asks for Bible. Before Jerry could bring any copies of the Word of God, a foreign worker had a policeman come to his house. This was alarming because he knew his family was under constant police surveillance. The policeman said there was no problem. He explained that he discovered a stack of Bibles that were confiscated and placed in police custody. Since it was the early hours at the police station, he began to read the words of the book because he was interested why the Christian message was thought to be so dangerous. He wondered why his government would not allow their people to read it. The police then asked the foreign workers, “Can you tell me who this Jesus is I am reading about?”
Our God is working! Will you partner with Him?
