Ephesians 6:10 (NKJV)10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

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1 Introduction The great theme of the book of Ephesians has been Christ and His Church. In sweeping terms Paul has encouraged the believer to know our blessings in Christ (Eph.1:18). To remember our experience of salvation (Eph.2:18); to faint not growing in knowledge and strength (Eph.3:13). We are to walk worthy in our Christian conduct (Eph.4:1) and now we are to put the armor for the certain conflict all Christians encounter (Eph.6:11). Paul has prayed that all believers would be filled with the Holy Spirit; walk in newness of life. Paul has exhorted the Saints to be imitators of God as dear children (5:1). The Spirit-filled life leads to the Spirit-filled walk; where believers submit to God and to one another in reverence to God. The walk of God includes wives, husbands, parents and children, master s and slaves; living and loving and obeying and respecting each other in such a way that the results include peace and joy. But the walk of the Believer will always lead to the warfare of the Believer. The supernatural life will always lead to supernatural conflict. What Jesus has united in His glorious life, death and resurrection; Satan seeks to divide and deceive and destroy. Just as Jesus has purposed to promote harmony and purity and peace; Satan has purposed to destroy our lives. The faithful life described in chapters 4:1-6:10; leads to the warrior life described at the end of chapter 6. Christian count on this: If you are living with Jesus in a manner that is pleasing to the Father; if your life is Spirit-filled characterized by love instead of fear; sacrifice instead of selfishness; generosity instead of selfishness; joy instead of gloom; love instead of lust; light instead of darkness; fullness of the Spirit instead of intoxication by drugs or alcohol; you will antagonize and prompt opposition and conflict from your flesh from this world from the devil. If you are not facing conflict from your flesh from this world from the devil it is because you are living a life of immorality or laziness. The reason the devil doesn t bother with you is because you are no threat. Corrie ten Boom famously said; Satan wastes no ammunition on those who are dead in trespass and sins. But if you find yourself in a bitter conflict, a raging battle, relentless attack; then welcome to the world of Spiritual Warfare. Ladies and Gentlemen you are in the army now. Paul will introduce us to the Believer s power (v.10) and protection (v.11) and a brief look at your enemy (v.12). The Warrior s Power (v.10) Ephesians 6:10 (NKJV)10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. All Christians will fight spiritual battles. All Christians must make preparations. The prepared warrior; the well trained warrior is the most effective warrior. When Paul writes; Finally, my 1

2 brethren we might translate this phrase from now on... Jesus has returned to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father from the time Jesus left to the time Jesus returns from now on the Christian life will include unceasing conflict with the world with our flesh with unseen forces malignant invisible. Paul states an important principle: behind earthly conflicts are invisible powers. Since Jesus comes to heal and forgive and restore and bring truth Satan does everything in his power to rob, divide, destroy and deceive. Paul doesn t provide a biography on the devil or a history of his activity. You will note that Paul assumes the existence of evil angels, wicked supernatural powers, unseen enemies, and takes it for granted that the reader will do so as well. Paul points to the source of power; the warrior s secret source of strength; be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. The Christian must not trust his or her own power; if you do Satan will succeed in overwhelming and overcoming you! God s commands are God s promises! The moment the Scripture invites you to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might be assured His strength and power are available. In Joshua 1:6 the Lord told Joshua Be strong and of good courage in order to possess God s possessions! He repeats the command Only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or the left, that you may prosper wherever you go (Joshua 1:7). Be strong in order to follow God s orders. When God speaks our response is Sir yes sir. We are strong in the face of difficulties because the Lord will see us through to the end (Joshua 1:9). Over and over the Lord exhorts be strong and fear not for the one who is for us is greater than the ones who are against us. Be strong the Lord says for the Lord has sworn to give us what He promised (Deuteronomy 31:7). The first lesson the Christian must learn is that God s power and strength are available to us by His Holy Spirit; the knowledge of His Word and by joining forces in prayer with the Saints of God. Remember Paul wrote; I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:3). The presence of Jesus includes the power of Jesus. Nature obeyed Him (Mark 4:39); the demon possessed man worshipped Jesus (Mark 4:6); demons acknowledged His Deity. God s power has already been described as exceeding in its greatness (Ephesians 1:19) and effectual in its working (Ephesians 1:20); and mighty in its essence (here verse 10). The amount of power is not nearly as important as the source of power. You will remember that Jesus told the Church at Philadelphia I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name (Revelation 3:8). A little power or a lot of power you will always have just what you need in Jesus. We are in Christ. We need not fear Satan. Satan has power but he does not have the power to send you to hell. Satan has power but Christ defeated Satan on Calvary s cross. Our victory is certain. Our future is secure in Christ. The death and resurrection of Jesus destroyed the ultimate Satanic weapons blindness and bondage to sin. A Christian who trusts Christ, strong in the Lord need not fear Satan s tactics. Satan has taken his best shot and lost. We are at war we have a fierce and determined enemy. We are at war but it is a hopeless confrontation for the Prince of Evil. He has lost. Our power and strength does 2

3 not simply come from the knowledge that Satan has lost but from God s unfailing grace, from prayer and knowledge and obedience to God s Word and faith in His promises. The Warrior s Protection (v.11) 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The prepared warrior knows God is the source of power and the source of protection! In order to take full advantage of our enemy, we must put on the full armor. That is the Believer must take and use all the equipment that God has made available to us. The expression put on means to put on once and for all. Unlike a football player or baseball player or even a soldier s uniform you put on your armor and wear it at all times! Once you put it on you never take it off. Spiritual warfare is not a game and was never meant to be simply the subject of theological curiosity or scholarly considerations. We play games. We watch movies. We entertain ourselves in a variety of distractions that we hope never turn deadly. But warfare is always deadly. Warfare is combat. The armor of God is meant to be your lifelong companion. The Armor of God gives you supernatural protection. The armor of God is the protection of God who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before His glorious presence with great joy (Jude 1:24)....that you may be able to stand Stand firm was used in a military sense as a military metaphor. It means to hold a critical position in times of attack. The intent of the exhortation is like what Jesus says to the Church at Thyatira Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not this doctrine, who have known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come (Revelation 2:24-25). Paul was certainly a prisoner in Rome when he wrote these words. He has been around armored and armed guards. Scholars and Bible teachers have speculated that Paul is chained to one such guard and considers his captors armor as he writes these very words. Paul uses his guards armor to provide an in depth study on how to stand against our enemy. How will we stand against the wiles of the Devil? Paul uses the cognate methodia methods the word was used in Ephesians 4:14 and was rare in other Greek writings but seems to have a military usage. The word was used to describe a reasoned strategy we might say schemes or devices. The word is plural Satan has more than one way to deceive and destroy the Saint. The word contains the idea of craftiness, cunning, deception misdirection. The term was also used of the way an animal would stalk its prey and then unexpectedly pounce. Satan s schemes are built around deception and stealth. David Breese wrote a book entitled; His Infernal Majesty: Satan s Ten Most Believable Lies. David Breese includes some of Satan s most popular lies; including that God is a cosmic sadist that God doesn t really love 3

4 you, he hates you and only wants to hurt you. Satan would have you believe that God is a cosmic kill-joy that God wants to make sure there is no fun in your life at all. Clearly Satan is a liar and promotes lies intended to damn his victims. But there are other weapons in his arsenal of attacks. Satan s favorite weapons include lies; suffering, pride and accusation. His targets include the mind, the body, the will and the heart and conscience of the believer. What does Satan want? Satan wants you to be ignorant of God s will; or impatient with God s will; or to act independent of God s will or have your conscience indicted by God s will. Lies are meant to make us ignorant of God s will; suffering is meant to make us impatient with God s will; pride is meant to cause us to act independent of God s will and accusation is meant to cause our heart and conscience to either ignore God s will or to harden our hearts against God s will. Satan targets the mind with lies. Satan targets are body with suffering. Satan targets our will with pride. Satan targets or hearts and conscience with accusation. No wonder our defense against Satan is the inspired Word of God we have the truth to guard against lies. We have the grace of God the imparted grace of God when we are faced with suffering. We have the indwelling Spirit of God so that we do not succumb to pride s temptations pride demands its own way not God s way. We have the interceding Son of God praying for us in heaven when Satan serves as the accuser of the Brethren. The Warrior s Enemies (v.12) 12For 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. In the fog of spiritual war we forget that our battle is not against human beings. We listen to lies; we become overwhelmed by our physical or mental suffering; we feed our pride; we listen to the accusations of the enemy. How can we prepare for Satan s attacks on our minds? We need to make sure we have the right tools, the right weapons. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). Paul uses the image of a strong city with high walls and strong towers. The citadel seems impregnable the fortress unassailable....casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Paul uses the term for arguments logismos in context seems to mean speculations the word seems to mean the prejudiced thoughts that occupy our minds the twisted perverted, distorted philosophies placed in our mind by Satan that distort and then deny the truth 4

5 that appeals to our flesh or our life apart from God and causes us to ignore what is right and true. Spiritual enemies require spiritual weapons. Our most powerful weapon is the Word of God the Sword of the Spirit (talked about later). Most of our weapons are defensive but the the Word of God is our offensive weapon. It is in our arsenal (v.17). The Word of God was Jesus weapon of choice when facing Satan in the wilderness temptations (see Matthew 4:1-11). When Paul says; for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood he implies at least three things: 1. The struggle is supernatural. 2. It is a struggle a personal struggle. 3. The fight is futile if fought in the flesh. The word wrestle is not the playful or entertaining wrestling of our popular culture or even sports. In ancient Greece the wrestler would sometimes have their eyes gouged out where losing meant dying. The word s wrestling or struggling were used to describe types of fighting that were characterized by trickery or deceit. Spiritual Warfare is not limited to some warrior class of special forces Christians this is not the Christian SEAL team or Christian SWAT. All Christians must fight. The stakes are high. You are no match for Satan or demons. The first step in overcoming your enemy is to recognize and accept these fundamental premises. The warfare is supernatural. The warfare is personal and the warfare is futile if fought in the flesh. That is in conventional wisdom or human wisdom. Before you were saved did you ever sense that supernatural forces were at work in your life? You may have thought that you were in charge of your life and your decisions and your choices and your actions were fully and freely your own. The Bible says that the whole world lies in the lap of the wicked one. Paul lists four enemies that we wrestle: Principalities 1. Principalities. 2. Powers. 3. Rulers of the darkness of this age. 4. Spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. The Greek word is arche meaning first chief principal. It means sovereign it always meant first either in time or power or dominion. These are spiritual beings I suspect related to a fierce class of principal angels these are high ranking and authoritative angelic beings. Powers Here literally authorities 5

6 Rulers of the darkness of this age Literally world rulers (one word) of this darkness. Arndt and Gingrich define this as meaning: rulers of this sinful world. Spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places Literally the spirits of wickedness in the heavenlies or spirit beings who tempt human beings. Who and what are these beings? They are the invisible armies of Satan. They are demons. They are organized, numerous and committed to a malevolent plan of perverting and subverting God s people and God s plans. We have already hinted that Satan wants to make you ignorant of God s will, or impatient with God s will or to act independent of God s will. They are quite content to ruin your life in Christ. They are quite content to ruin your marriage, your health, your friendships and relationships. Satan s ultimate goal is for the damned to stay damned and the saved to be impotent in every way that matters. The spiritual forces of wickedness are possibly those demons that are involved in the most disgusting forms of sin and self-destruction; including perverse sexual practices. Demons that invite and empower those who take the journey into the occult; demon worship and let s not forget the film industry. This is the wicked hierarchy of demonic beings. People who practice witchcraft and other forms of the occult are merely dupes, and puppets of demonic forces. Paul s purpose is not to simply give a detailed list of the hierarchy of demons but to show their power and sophistication. We are up against a terrible host of wicked spirit beings. We must keep in constant mind that we are to turn to God for our protection and our provision. Much of what is called Spiritual Warfare has nothing to do with what the Bible calls spiritual warfare. Christians casting demons out of Christians is nonsense. There is no Biblical formula or Biblical example of Christians casting demons out of other Christians. There is not a single example of a New Testament Believer demonically possessed. Some cite Judas but remember Judas was called a devil by Jesus Himself. And even then Jesus does not expel the Satan from Judas. Demons do not procreate. Their number is fixed. But there are lots of demons. Bible students agree that one third of the angelic hosts rebelled against God in a great rebellion. These heavenly messengers were created by God to serve God and were seduced by Lucifer when he led an insurrection in Heaven. They are an ancient and awesome enemy. They are organized for the recruitment and destruction of human beings in their lost cause. Sadly even though their cause is hopeless they manage to recruit and deceive and destroy millions of lives. 6

7 Satan is God s enemy and our enemy. Satan is no match for God and we are no match for Satan. If God has a singular weakness it is His love for you and me. God loves you very much. Satan s greatest thrill is to cause you harm. God ultimately has no weakness. He cannot be overthrown. He cannot be ultimately defeated. We live in a culture that seems to gravitate to equal and opposite extremes. The first is to dismiss the supernatural on its face and to relegate talk of Satan and demons as ancient myths and superstitions. The other is to see Satan everywhere; under every bush and tree; behind every wicked and tragic event. The Bible does not grant Satan unlimited power or control. Does Satan have power? The answer is yes. Does Satan have limited control? The answer is yes. Do devils and demons really and truly influence and possess people today? The answer is yes. Conclusion How is a Christian to deal with demons? and 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 Hi from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:19-20). We submit to God. We resist the Devil (James 4:7). We have already received and experienced what the Bible calls the exceeding or surpassing greatness of God s power toward us who believe. The Christian does not find a way of merely sending them away. The Christian must be committed to the work of grace and holiness in his or her own life. Do you know what that means? That means you give no place no ground for the devil in your life. A Christian has been delivered from the Kingdom of Darkness. We are strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power (not your own). Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin (Colossians 1:11-14; NKJV). FOUR PRINCIPLES ON WHICH TO STAND 1. No Satanic Assault Is Stronger Than God. 2. NO Satanic Attack Can Penetrate God s Armor. 3. No Satanic Force Can Defeat God s Work. 4. No Satanic Evil Can Prevail Over The Prayers of The Saints 7