Make no mistake, there is evil in the world.
Mass shootings, the sex trade, children being
abused. Are we in fact in a spiritual battle?
Is Satan, demons, are those things that are real?
Yes, you need to learn how to protect yourself
and win the battle. Stay with me. Welcome to
this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip
Ingram. The mission of this daily program is
to intentionally disciple Christians through
the insightful Bible teaching of Chip Ingram.
Let me ask you, does the wickedness of our world
panic you to your core? Do you feel that evil
is running rampant everywhere, not just on the
nightly news, but at work, church, or even in
your home? Well, over the next several programs,
Chip will dispel our fears and provide us with
some helpful insights into this topic as he begins
his series, The Invisible War. Join us in Ephesians
chapter 6 as Chip highlights the vital theology
believers need to know about spiritual warfare.
So with that set up, grab your Bible and notes
as Chip kicks off this series with his message,
What is the Invisible War? If you want to open
your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6, There was
one key text, verses 10 through 20, where the
Apostle Paul is going to explain spiritual warfare.
Now, what you need to understand, if you will
mentally go with me here, is chapters 1 through
3. He's telling them, this is who you are in
Christ. You're a brand new creature. You've been
redeemed. You've been sealed with the spirit.
You have an inheritance. God has made this brand
new thing called the church of Jew and Gentile.
And then chapter four says, in light of all that
God has done for you, I want you to walk in the
manner worthy of your calling. The word worthy,
we got our English word axis. It's a picture
of those balances. And it's saying chapters 1,
2, and 3 is all that God has deposited in you.
You are new in Christ, seated in heavenly places,
loved more than you can ever be loved. It'll
never, ever change now. Live in a way where your
belief and your behavior tell the same story.
And then in chapter 4, he'll talk about how that
has happened and the role of the church. And
then he'll talk about life change and how that
occurs. In chapter 5, he'll talk about walking
in purity. He'll talk about walking in the light,
being filled with the Holy Spirit, what that
looks like in your marriage, what that looks
like with your children, what that looks like
in your employment in that day with slaves. And
then after giving all that, he's going to say,
This new life and all those relationships and
the Spirit of God living His life out through
you is going to occur in a hostile environment.
You're in a battle. And so, beginning at verse
10 through verse 20, He's going to teach very
clearly what the battle is, where the battle
is, how to put on spiritual armor, and how to
actually experience the victory that Christ has
also given us. So with that, you'll notice verses
10 to 12. It says, finally be strong in the Lord
and in the strength of his might. Put on the
full armor of God that you may be able to stand
firm against the schemes of the devil. For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against
the world forces of this darkness, against the
spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places. I'd like you to underline the phrase,
be strong in the Lord and put a number one above
that. And then I want you to move over and it
says, put on the full armor of God. I want you
to underline that and put a number two. There's
two commands in this passage. The first is a
general command and it's grammatically what's
called the present tense and a passive voice.
And I'm going to give you, for some of you Bible
students, you'll appreciate that. And others
will go, I don't know what that is and it really
doesn't matter. Here's what it means. It means
this is something that you are commanded to do
right now, but the passive voice, it's something
that you have to allow to happen to you. I'm
commanded to do it, but I can't make it happen.
So for example, right below the general command,
I basically took the text, and let me give you
an expanded translation. Allow yourself. To be
continually strengthened by the power already
made available to you in your new position in
Christ, in your relationship with Him. The power
that raised Christ from the dead now also dwells
in you. First and foremost, there's a general
command to be strong in the power that God has
already given us. Allow that power to work in
and through your life. And then there's the specific
command. This is, well, how do you do that? You
put on the full armor of God. And we're going
to spend some time talking about what that is
and what that looks like and very practically
how to do that. And then notice the purpose clause,
that you may be able to stand firm against the
schemes of the devil. Circle the word schemes.
We get our word strategies. And literally, it's
a picture of literally holding fast or standing
firm, it's the idea that if you would understand
that you, when you trusted in Jesus Christ, were
taken out of the kingdom of darkness and you
were placed in the kingdom of light, then you
were sealed with his spirit. His spirit was deposited
in you. Spiritual gifts were given to you. You
were made a part of the body of Christ. You are
now protected and a part of it. Now he says,
this is all that you have. I want you to stand
firm or hold on to what you already have. And
then he says, the way you do that is by putting
on the full armor of God. And then he gives the
reason. He says, for our struggle, put a circle
around that word, is not against flesh and blood.
In other words, the... men and people and material
world, but against the rulers, against the powers,
against the world forces of this darkness, against
the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places. And so the specific command, if you want
sort of a little broader interpretation here,
okay, I'm going to be strong in the Lord. How
do I do that? By continually and repeatedly putting
on this at specific points of time, the spiritual
protection God has provided for you. The spiritual
armor. This is what's called an aorist imperative,
and I'm not going to throw a lot of Greek words
around, but here early on it's really important
because an aorist imperative has a sense of urgency.
In other words, what you need to do is be ready
and be urgent and ready and continually when
the battle comes, you need to be strong in the
Lord and you do that by appropriating this armor
at any time, at any moment, when the darts of
the enemy come. Goes on to say, for the express
purpose of holding on to the position in Christ
as you're bombarded by satanic strategies designed
to destroy you and or render you ineffective
in kingdom pursuits. The reason is, it's because
there is a real struggle. And that word struggle
that you circled literally is a picture of a
wrestling match. They would have the gladiators
go in and wrestle to the death. And this is that
word. This is serious stuff. This isn't a little
man in a red suit with horns and a plastic tail.
This is against the physical, material adversaries.
That's not the problem. People, circumstances,
organizations. But he's literally giving us a
hierarchy. You know, if you're in the military,
there's generals and majors and lieutenants and
sergeants. He's giving us a hierarchy of demonic
forces. Rulers. powers, world forces of darkness,
spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenly
places. And so what I want you to do is, okay,
we've got a general command, be strong in the
Lord. We have a specific man. You do that by
putting on the armor of God. You do that so that
you can stand firm against the scheme strategies
of a personal angelic being with a third of the
angels who are seeking to destroy your life,
render you useless. Hurt you emotionally, spiritually,
relationally. Discredit Christ and do anything
possible to make your life miserable. And get
you to trust anything or anyone other than Christ.
Now, with that said, I want to give you five
basic truths. Five things. This is 101. This
is just directly what the Bible teaches about
spiritual warfare. Are you ready? Good. Basic
truth number one is there is an invisible world
that is just as real as the visible world. There's
an invisible world. There's a world that you
can't see and that I can't see that's just as
real as the visible world. There's a system.
There's angelic beings. There's a... A world
that is real as touching your skin, kissing your
child goodnight, cutting a steak, watching a
sunset, that's very, very real. And let me show
you that from both Old and New Testament. If
you have your Bibles, you can look at 2 Kings
6. And as you turn there, I'm going to be looking
at verses 14 through 17. And it's about the prophet
Elisha. And Elisha has been used by God to frustrate
a certain king's plans multiple times, multiple
times, multiple times. And they can never figure
out where he is and they want to get him. And
so they finally find out what city he's in. And
I mean, he sends cavalry, chariots, soldiers,
and they surround the whole city. And so now
they've got him. And the story will... pick it
up, is his servant goes out early in the morning,
and he looks out in the city, and he goes, oh
my, we're done. And so notice we pick it up.
Now when the attendant, verse 15, of the man
of God had risen and gone out, and behold, an
army with horses and chariots were circling the
city. And his servant said to him, alas, my master,
what shall we do? So he answered, do not fear,
for those who are with us are more than those
who are with them. Now I don't know exactly where
this servant was coming from, but I imagine he'd
been with Elisha for a while. He'd seen him do
miracles. He's a great prophet of God. But I'm
guessing right at this point he'd think, you
know, my master is very godly, very wise, very
close to God. He's just really bad in math. Because
best I can tell, it's you, and it's me, and it's
all of them. And you're telling me there's more
with us than them. And then it's very, very interesting.
Verse 17, Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord,
I pray, open his eyes that he may see. And the
Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw,
and behold, the mountains were full of horses
and chariots of fire. all around Elisha. And
when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to
the Lord and said, Strike this people with blindness,
I pray. So he struck them with blindness according
to the word of Elisha. And then Elisha led them
back to that king. All I want you to get is there's
two realities. And there's one going on all the
time that we don't see. You're listening to Living
on the Edge, and Chip Ingram will be back to
continue our series, The Invisible War, in just
a minute. But let me quickly tell you that we
are more than a broadcast ministry. We're supporting
pastors globally, developing helpful resources,
and sharing the gospel with this next generation.
So if you'd like to join us in these efforts,
become a monthly partner by going to livingontheedge
.org. And thanks for your support. We'll hear
again as Chip. In the New Testament, we'll look
at it in a minute. In 2 Corinthians 10, the apostle
Paul will write to this church and he'll talk
about a warfare that's going on. Not only is
there an invisible world, but there's a battle
going on. And in Ephesians, he says, look, it's
not about flesh and blood. I don't know if any
of you remember Francis Schaeffer. He had a great
impact in my early life. And he wrote a lot,
but he had a tiny little booklet. And his booklet
was called Two Contents, Two Realities. And it
really changed my life. I read it and he was
a philosopher and a brilliant guy and did Labrie
and all those things and traveled all around
the world. But it was just, he said, there's
two contents, two realities. There's a material
world and an immaterial world. There's a visible
world and there's an invisible world. And what
happens in the invisible world has direct correlation
and impact on the things that we see. Premise,
basic truth number one, there is an invisible
world that is just as real as the visible world.
Basic number two, we are involved in an invisible
war, a cosmic conflict that has eternal implications.
He says in 2 Corinthians 10, for though we walk
in the flesh, we do not war according to the
flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not
of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction
of fortresses. We are destroying speculations
and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge
of God. And we're taking every thought captive
to the obedience of Christ. So the apostle Paul
is saying, I'm in a battle, but I don't battle
flesh and blood in the same way spiritually.
He says, and notice the key words. He says we
have divinely powerful, pulling down fortresses,
speculations, knowledge, and thoughts. Here's
what you need to get. So often when people think
about spiritual warfare, they think of some scary
movie, and in the old, old days, it was The Exorcist,
and now it's like, have you just noticed on TV
just how many dark, just dark stuff, and there's
all kind of spiritual beings doing all kind of
spiritual things? And what you need to understand
is that the great, great majority of all spiritual
warfare is not like that at all. There are some
overt times we're going to talk about that. 90
% of spiritual warfare in the battle is in your
heart and in your mind. The number one thing
Satan is is a deceiver. And he has a world system.
He has a world system that he takes what God
says is good and he twists it. And he wants to
give it to a good thing at a wrong time in the
wrong way or with the wrong person. He takes
beauty and he twists it. He takes what is right
and twists it to make what is wrong. He takes
truth and makes it relative. And then he makes
it different. And then he has all kind of things
where what he's doing, deception, deception,
deception, deception. And if he can get you to
believe lies about God, his goodness, his kindness,
how could a good God let this happen? Lies about
you, you're worthless. You're a nobody. You'll
never amount to anything. Or if that doesn't
work, you are wonderful. You're entitled to everything.
You're the most important person in the world.
Lies about what makes you secure, what makes
you successful. If you just had enough money,
if you just had bigger muscles, if you just had
those little purses that had the insignia on
them so everyone would know how important you
are. If you just had a car that had a little
different emblem than the car that you have,
if you go public and have so many patents, then
you're a somebody. If your kids make the traveling
team, you'll finally really be worthwhile if
you get all A's, right? And the lies are some
way, somehow, your performance, you can either
possess something or be something or impress
people, and somehow, some way, the lie is. That
will bring joy and meaning and purpose and happiness,
which is why we have people that are, I would
say, in the less than top 1 % of the gene pool
that are beautiful and talented. go through relationships
like other people go through underwear. Because
no amount of money and no amount of beauty, or
they put white powder up their nose, or we have
athletes making 20 or 25 or 30 million dollars
a year that struggle in relationships. Well,
I won't mention any names of current pros that
seem to have their life completely... Remember
when the sports page was about sports? I watch
ESPN, I find out more about who's getting beat
up by what player. My point is, if that brings
you what, it's the when -then theology of the
enemy. When you have, when you become, when you
look, then you'll, but even if the then arrives,
I remember I did the chapel for the Seahawks.
The guy who normally does it was hurt or out
of town or something. I got a call from Seattle
and a guy said, hey, the normal chaplain can't
do it. Would you do it? And they won the Super
Bowl the year before. I said, sure, do that.
And so I was doing the chapel and, you know,
kind of all the names and people you would know.
And they had a lot of believers. And the guy
who's sort of the right hand assistant to to
the coach there was a really good guy. We built
a good relationship. And so I was doing the chapel
and I said, well, what kind of what what are
the issues? Tell me a little bit about what's
life with you guys. And one by one by one, they
said, you know something? I mean, we're believers
on the team. And so we thought this wouldn't
happen to us. But he said, one of the most depressing
things that happens in the world is winning a
Super Bowl. Because it's like, this is the thing.
This is the thing. Man, we're world champions!
And he goes, sort of the depression that happens
like it's, this is it? I mean, I got a ring and
I went to Disneyland. And I got a bonus. But
we thought it would be here. And the believers
said, you know what? We thought we'd be immune
to that. But we all buy the lie to some degree.
And so that's what he wants us to know. He says
you're in a spiritual battle. Look, speculations,
knowledge of God. And here's the deal. What you're
going to find is much of spiritual, much. of
spiritual warfare is about you putting good things
in your mind and renewing your mind so you look
at life the way God looks at life. So you are
focused on the truth because when you know the
truth and practice the truth, it makes you free.
Notice the Apostle Paul goes on, there was a
situation with a brother who had sinned. And
the church was not handling the reconciliation
very well. And Paul's writing to them to correct
that. And he says in 2 Corinthians 4 .4, in whose
case the God of this world, Satan, has blinded
what? Their minds of the unbelieving, that they
may not see the light of the gospel of the glory
of Christ, who is the image of God. Here's a
little application that I would just like you
to ponder. Because when you see that, there's
eternal implications. People not believing in
Christ is not primarily an intellectual issue.
It's a moral issue. It's not that people don't
understand, but there is an enemy blinding people
from understanding, making the connection. I
mean, if you just look at it logically, the proposition
of the gospel is like a win -win -win, how do
you turn it down, unless your brain's not working.
We all know we mess up. The Bible calls it sin.
We all know we fall short. We've all said things,
thought things, done things, hurt other people.
We all know that we long to be forgiven. We want
life and purpose. God, in His great mercy, sent
God the Son who lived a perfect life to reveal
what the Father is like. And then living a perfect
life, dies on the cross in our place to pay for
our sin. Literally, the word is atone. He covers
it. He rises from the dead and proves it's true.
500 eyewitnesses. And this isn't some fairy tale.
This isn't another religion. This isn't like,
oh, can I ponder this? And then it starts out
with this mustard seed of a ragtag group of semi
-uneducated people, save one. They transform
the world. It's the largest movement in the world.
And we have some people in the name of Christ
that have done a lot of negative things. But
I will say, boy, when you see what's happened
to the last, go around the world with me. And
hospitals, orphanages, language. Man, it has
been Christians, God's people, salt, light, loving.
And he makes this offer. I want you to know that
no matter what you do, you could never make yourself
right with me on your own. So my son died in
your place and he paid for your sin. He rose
from the dead and proved that it's true. And
the offer is whosoever by faith would believe
and receive that gift has eternal life. I mean,
if someone said, excuse me, sir, you could never
have a billion dollars because no matter how
long you work. And so I have a friend, he would
like to give that to you, but you need to receive
that by faith and put your trust in him in order
for him to give you a billion dollars. That's
too easy. It's probably a robocall. And yet,
that's the gospel. It's clear, it's simple, it's
the substitutionary work of Jesus. But the issue
is people's minds, They're blinded. This is why
intercessory prayer is so important. There's
a correlation between praying and beseeching
God, asking the Father to cause His Spirit to
work in the heart of someone to open their eyes
and open their mind where they could lay down
their pride or feeling unworthy in order to believe
and to trust in what Christ has provided. The
question I have, and you'll see this in your
notes, when is the last time you honestly considered
some struggle or relational conflict that was
rooted in satanic opposition? And what I mean
by this is that C .S. Lewis has wisely said,
the greatest error when it comes to spiritual
warfare is to think far too much about Satan
or to think far too little. And I'm amazed that...
We have a modern mindset and somehow we just
think everything's cause and effect. I did this
and this happens. I did this, this happens. Look
at the pervasive evil in the world. All human
beings are made in the image of God and have
amazing dignity and value. But there's some unspeakable
evil historically and currently. I mean, I remember
reading the story of a little 10 -year -old boy
who took a hammer. and smashed the head of a
little six -year -old girl and killed her. That's
evil. And we've seen ISIS beheading people. That's
evil. We know about what's happened. I mean,
whether it's Idi Amin or whether it was the Holocaust
or things that we're seeing. I mean, there's
amazing, amazing. There is evil in the world.
And it's pervasive. And what I want to say is
that Everything that happens isn't just cause
and effect or human problems. Now, again, extremes
over here. I've been with some groups that, yep,
that's right, brother, I agree with you. I had
a flat tire. You know, those flat tire demons,
they'll get you every time, you know? And, you
know, my wife burned the eggs, but, you know,
we got the burn the egg demon. They really do
that. And, you know, I lost my job. That's the
bad boss demon. I didn't come in on time, didn't
do a very good job, but, you know, the devil.
Listen very carefully. We take absolute personal
responsibility for our behavior and our choices,
and that there is a cause and effect to those
things. And some things happen very difficult
in the world because it is a fallen world. Bad
things happen to good people. There are tornadoes
and hurricanes. God never designed the world
to be this way. But there's also an enemy that
tempts you in ways. Have you ever had a really
close friend and you just can't explain it? That
there's a wedge that comes between you and no
matter how many conversations, you just can't
get it? Have you ever been about your life and
maybe you're taking some spiritual steps and
you have what feels like an almost irresistible
urge to sin? Or have you ever, and this is a
confession, have you ever had a really deep time
and you feel like I'm really talking with God
and have... cuss words start to flow through
your mind? And then you go, oh gosh, I'm the
worst person. I was in the presence of God. Cuss
words were going through my mind. We didn't bring
them there. Just my point is, have you ever seen
good people in a marriage or good people in a
church or good people in a small group? And you
know, they're godly and they're godly and they're
both great people. And it's just like, no matter
what happens, there's this and there's division.
or at least in my case, this used to happen about
nine out of 10 Saturday afternoons, and I was
a very slow learner. We had a Saturday night
service, and I would review everything, work
on my message, review it two, three hours in
the morning, and then I would go in, and when
I had kids, we would do all the sports and things
you do on Saturday, and then about 2, 2 .30,
I would drive to the church, pray, get my heart
right for an hour, hour and a half. But about
1 .30, and often when I was driving in, I'd be
driving into church. And literally, it would
be like I'm in the light. And then just, whew,
I get depressed. But I don't mean like, oh, I'm
starting to feel a little blue. I mean, it'd
be like, you know, life's not worth living. I
don't want to preach this message. I'm the worst
person in the whole world. And I mean, it was
dark, dark, dark. And it was like. Boy, what
happened? And then I would struggle, and you
know, you didn't study long, and condemnation,
and boy, you're a loser. And it was just like,
you know, I'd pray and pray and get the guys
to pray with me. And you know, I'm a pastor,
and I don't know how many weeks it took me to
realize, wait a second, what are you doing? I'm
going to preach God's Word. This is demonic activity
to really get me off my game. And I remember,
then it happened multiple times. I'll tell you
other things later. But I remember that would
happen, and finally I got, okay, I refuse to
allow this to happen, and I'll share you how
to do this. I would quote two or three verses
about who I am in Christ, command the demonic
spirits to leave, bam, they're gone. But if you
would have asked me growing up, that's weird
stuff. I mean, only weird people have those kind
of experiences. Do you realize that addictions,
Some deep -seated issues of hurts that maybe
happened years ago? Maybe some shame that you
feel like you can never get over? There is an
adversary. I am not saying in any way everything
is caused by the enemy. But just for our purposes,
would you consider if there are struggles that
you've worked very hard, you're trying all that
you can, or a relationship or a situation, would
you just possibly consider? that there is an
enemy that's seeking to destroy you. And you
can go the physical, the psychological, right?
The spirit, you know, you can do all these things.
But if you don't address this, maybe nothing
changes. This is Living on the Edge with Chip
Ingram. And you've been listening to part one
of Chip's message, What is the Invisible War?
From our series, The Invisible War. Chip will
be back shortly to share some helpful application
for us to think about. Right now, there's a spiritual
battle happening all around us. We can't see
it, but it's an epic struggle for our hearts
and minds. So what are we as believers supposed
to do? Well, through this eight -part study,
Chip shares some insights from Ephesians chapter
6 for how we're to think about, prepare for,
and respond to spiritual warfare. Learn why we
don't have to be afraid because of the armor
God's given us to fight back. And fight well.
To learn more about this series, visit livingontheedge
.org or the Chip Ingram app. Well, Chip's joined
me in studio now. And Chip, given that you're
addressing the reality of spiritual warfare over
the next several broadcasts, why should believers
dig in with us and get a better grasp of what's
going on around them every day? Well, Dave, this
is important because there is a real battle happening.
We need to understand that Satan is a fallen
angel with extreme power who led one -third of
the angels in rebellion against God, and his
goal is to destroy the work of God, the work
of Christ, you, your family, even your physical
life. And you're in a battle, and it's an invisible
battle. And my experience is the average believer
is either unaware or because it feels a little
scary, tends to be frightened from it. This is
a very biblical, practical series that will help
everyday believers understand, one, what's going
on. Two, that you don't have to be afraid that
Christ has accomplished victory. Three, that
there is a process and a journey you need to
understand on a daily basis to say no to lies
and to even be able to confront the evil that's
in the world in a way where you have a life.
that demonstrates the power and the love and
the light of Christ. I think few things are more
misunderstood or there's been such extremes in
the teaching that people literally don't understand.
Spiritual warfare is a reality. You need to understand
it, learn how to live it out, and win. We have
the victory. But if you're deceived or if you're
in bondage or if you're not aware of what's going
on, you are fair game to have the enemy literally
destroy your life. I can think of few series
I've ever taught that the church needs more than
this one right now. Absolutely, Chip. Well, as
we dive into this vital teaching, let me encourage
you to get your family or a few friends together
and listen to this series either at livingontheedge
.org or wherever you listen to podcasts. Get
ready to have your thinking about spiritual warfare
forever changed. Well, with all that said, here
again is Chip to share a few final words. As
we close today's program, I ask you a question.
I ask, when was the last time you considered?
that possibly some of the things that we think
are just everyday occurrences might in fact have
a spiritual warfare component. And as I ask you
that, no, for sure, we're not saying there's
a demon under every bush or all our problems
are because of Satan or demons. What we're saying
is, yes, it's a fallen world and bad things happen.
Yes, we make bad decisions and there are consequences.
But in addition, we are in an invisible battle
and we need to recognize it and learn to deal
with it. So right now, I want you to pray. Dear
God, will you show me if any of the issues I'm
struggling with today, any relationship, any
circumstance, could be rooted in demonic opposition?
He'll show you. Great challenge for us to think
about, Chip. Well, be sure to join us next time
as Chip continues his series, The Invisible War.
Until then, I'm Dave Drewy, thanking you for
listening to this edition of Living on the Edge.