Alba 7-2-2023
STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL
Ephesians 6:10-13
This Tuesday many people will be celebrating Independence Day in a variety of ways. We celebrate this holiday because of what happened 246 years ago in 1776.
On this holiday we celebrate the actions of people we can only read about in history books. We celebrate the actions of people who lived without electricity, without regular mail service, and even without Walmart.
We celebrate those people for having the courage to break the existing hold of Europe on the wilderness colonies that had struggled to survive, and were being choked by rules and unfair burdens by the king of England.
We celebrate the ideal of the prize that was worth everything to the men who would sign the document, knowing that it was something worth risking wealth, and even life, to gain.
In their desire to be free, the founders of our country were pretty specific in the Declaration of Independence. If you read through that document, they refer to oppression, abuse, removal of rights, false justice and punishment.
You find a precisely stated set of charges against the king, and their justification for separation from the rule of such a king. They declared a break from the strangle hold of a tyrant.
The first sentence of the Declaration of Independence sets the stage for the rest of the document, basically saying when things are bad enough, people have to take action.
Now years later we still enjoy the freedoms that the Declaration of Independence called for on behalf of the colonies and future citizens: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
However, there are still a few problems in our country. First, we still have a lot rules that we have to deal with. There was an article called, “12 Ridiculous Government Regulations That Are Almost Too Bizarre To Believe” on businessinsider.com that shared the following example:
“The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin makes it incredibly difficult to go out of business. In order to close down a business, Milwaukee requires you to purchase an expensive license. You must submit a huge pile of paperwork to the city regarding the inventory you wish to sell off. And you must pay a fee based on the length of your "going out of business sale", plus a two dollar charge for every $1,000 worth of inventory that you are attempting to sell off.”
We have plenty of burdensome rules. The Washington Examiner has an article on their website published January 20, 2022 stating: “President Joe Biden has blown past both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump in adding regulatory costs in his first year, a new analysis shows.”
It continues saying the “administration is finishing off its first full year in office with more than $201 billion in regulatory costs, and approximately 131 million hours in new annual paperwork, according to research by the American Action Forum.”
The list could go on and on. It can be hard work to pursue life, liberty and happiness when we have so many rules. Add to that having an economy that is unstable, and the increasing cost of things because of a high inflation rate. And also the flood of people coming illegally across the border.
But much worse than any of that is that, whether they really all know it or not, those in government are giving encouragement to the moral decline of our nation.
Things that used to be understood as evil, or at least not considered normal, are now being praised. From allowing and encouraging drag queen reading hours for children, to mutilating children trying to make boys into girls and girls into boys.
During a “Pride Parade” in New York last Sunday, a large group of drag queens were chanting, “We're here. We're queer. We're coming for your children.” Those supporting the march have said that it was a joke. Well if so, it is a poor joke indeed!
How can all this be??? How could we go from having a country that seemed to understand that we live in a nation under God to rebelling against godly behavior.
Guess what? God saw that it could happen. Of course. He knows all things! In His Word, He warns us all the time. He has told us that there is a continual battle going on for the souls of the people of His creation.
That is why He tells us to be aware, and be ready for the battle that we are in. So He gives us this instruction in Ephesians 6:10-13 where it says:
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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.”
Here we are told that the devil is scheming all the time to find ways to turn people away from God. The apostle Peter knew something about that since he had his own troubles. Remember that once He told Jesus that nothing bad could happen to Him. Jesus rebuked Peter saying, “Get behind me Satan... you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23)
And when Jesus was taken for trial before His crucifixion, Peter, afraid for his own life, gave into the the devil's temptation to deny that he even knew Jesus.
Well it appears that Peter finally learned his lesson about the devil's wiles, because in 1 Peter 5:8 he wrote, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
Satan will do his worst to cause confusion in this world so that what is right will be called wrong, and the wrong will be called right. And he is very happy to use people who are willing to do his bidding to increase evil in the world.
As Romans chapter one says, those who are “filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness” (vs. 29) are those who “did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (vs. 28).
And then it says, even though they know “the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them” (vs. 32). Isn't that what we are seeing today?
Sadly, evil exists in our world today! It always has existed, and always will exist until the Lord calls a halt to this world as we know it!
So we are in a battle. There is a struggle going on. We see it, but at times we feel unable to do anything about it. Making a change of those who are in charge could help. But sadly we have seen this march downward for some time. While it has accelerated recently, it has always been here.
So again we have to ask, why is that? Well Ephesians 6:12 answers that question. It says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
J. B. Phillips translation has this verse this way: “For our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organisations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil.”
People are not the enemy. As wicked as some people are, they are just a tool of the real enemy, Satan, and the forces of wickedness in the spiritual realm.
So while we may focus on particular people as the ones who are causing all the problems, it goes beyond them. There are other forces at work here. Unseen by human eye, but just as real as what is seen, and more powerful.
One man once observed: "Sicknesses are tied to viruses and bacteria - can’t see them, but I know they are there, and my doctor advises me how to respond. So also with Satan - we can’t see him, but God assures us he is there and that he is a formidable enemy."
Many are only aware of the world that is observed by the five senses, but there is a battle raging all around us. It is the duty of Christian warriors to be aware of the invisible war, one that requires a sober vigilance.
There are people who like to think that Satan is just a figment of someone's imagination. But Billy Sunday once said, “I know the devil is real for two reasons. Number one, because the Bible says so. And number two, because I’ve done business with him.”
We are in a real war. A war made all the more dangerous since we cannot see the enemy with our physical eyes. In order to mount a successful defense and counterattack we need to locate our enemy. We need to know who our enemy is.
Of course, the devil tries to make that as difficult as possible for us. As II Corinthians 11:14 says, “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” The New International Version says that he “masquerades” as an angel of light.
“Transform” or “masquerade”, because of this, the devil is able to deceive people, causing them to turn what is right upside down into something it was never intended to be.
Even Christians can be led into supporting ideas that should be considered immoral. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 tells us, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.”
The strength of demonic strongholds is rebellion against God’s rule and direction. Whenever we resist God’s direction, we open ourselves up to an attack of the enemy.
The devil’s ultimate mission is to keep people from believing in and yielding to Jesus as Savior and Lord. Satan’s strategy is to use division and diversion. He diverts our attention away from the things of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4, “…The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (NIV)
We are living in enemy territory. Satan, the god of this world, is the Prince of the powers of darkness. We are called to be spiritual commandos, infiltrating enemy territory.
If we have been losing some battles along the way, the beginning of the way back is to humbly acknowledge our failure to submit to the Lord, and to re-submit ourselves to His agenda for our lives.
This world is not our home; we are just passing through. We need to remember that at the name of Jesus, devils tremble. And in Jesus, we are on the winning team.
The war against these unseen forces is not defensive. The army that plays only defense will eventually suffer defeat. Scripture calls us to aggressively engage the kingdom of darkness; to call sin sin. And to stand for the right.
In a way it is the same as the battle of the Revolution. A battle to be free. But in this case, free of Satan's control.
The church is built by saints confidently marching against the devil’s gates to recapture the territory stolen by him. Ephesians chapter six prepares us to do that.
Verse ten tells us “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” Be Strong! Not just to be strong alone, but be strong in the LORD. Be strong in the power of His Might!
We are not told to be strong because of our faith; or because of our works; or because of our position as Christians. Rather, the assurance of victory is knowing from where our power comes.
In Ephesians chapter one verses 19 and 20 the apostle Paul prays that Christians would know, “what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.
Jesus knew all the ways that the devil would try to do his dirty work. When Jesus died on the cross, the devil must have thought, “I've won!” But he didn't! Praise God! It is Jesus' victory over sin, death and the devil that gives us hope in our struggles.
The devil knows he is defeated, but he continues to fight on. The war is not completely over. And we had better not let down our guard. The only way we’ll ever defeat Satan is to lean on Jesus. Otherwise, we’re an easy target for the wiles of the devil.
We must put on the whole armor of God and prepare for battle. There is no doubt about this war! The outcome is certain! We can trust Jesus!
We may not know how each battle will go; whether we will win every one or whether we’ll sometimes fall and allow Satan a victory in our lives. But we do know this! Satan will be, and has been, defeated once and for all! So stand strong against the wiles of the devil!
CLOSE:
Josiah Perkins was celebrating his one-hundredth birthday when a reporter called and interviewed him. “Do you think you’ll live another hundred years?” the reported asked.
“Don’t see why I shouldn’t,” Josiah replied. “I’m a heap stronger than I was a hundred years ago today.”
The only way we’ll be strong in the future is to continue to find our strength in Jesus. That’s the kind of strength that will help us stand against the wiles of the devil!
