Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of
His might. Put on the full armor of God so that
you will 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. Therefore, take up the
full armor of God so that you will be able to
resist in the evil day and, having done everything,
to stand firm. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Father, we come to you this night. Father, we
thank you so much for the freedom and the opportunity
to gather together in fellowship as believers.
Father, we thank you so much that each and every
one of us can come here tonight and eagerly anticipate
hearing from you and singing praises to you,
Lord. Father, though many may be tired, worn
out, Father, we ask that you would, by your Spirit,
make this time profitable. And beneficial to
the souls of the saints. Father, use your word
to sanctify and edify and build up. To quicken.
But even tonight, Lord, we ask that you would
use your word to save sinners through the preaching
of the gospel. Father, we ask these things not
in any merit or right that we innately possess.
But Father, we ask these things in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that you would
be with us this evening. We ask these things
in his name. Amen. We have been working our way
through Ephesians chapter 6. If you recall, many
months ago we did an overview of spiritual warfare,
kind of throughout the book of Ephesians. And
then we had a message on spiritual warfare and
pastoral ministry and how the two interact. And
then we also had a message on the importance
of being strong in the Lord, where Paul says
in verse 10, Finally, be strong in the Lord and
in the strength of his might. And in that message
we... came to the conclusion that the strength
which we need for this fight and for this battle
is wholly and completely outside of us, and the
Lord has invested it in the armor that he has
given to us to put on. He's invested it in truth,
righteousness, the gospel of peace. Faith. He's
invested it in salvation, the word of God, and
in prayer. So the believer has been given resources
and we're constantly reminded in this text that
the believer is in a battle. He's in a fight.
Paul presents the Christian life as warfare.
And that's something we have to get our minds
around. The Christian life is not intended to
be an easy life. The Christian life is always
going to be warfare, which means it's always
going to be difficult and hard. But it also means,
brothers and sisters, that we have... An enemy
that opposes us as the church of Jesus Christ.
Tonight, we have to consider this enemy. The
text says this. Put on the full armor of God
so that you will be able to stand firm against
the schemes of the devil. So our enemy is the
devil, and he's a little bit later in Ephesians
6 referred to as... the evil one, and the method
the devil attacks us, the method he opposes the
church, is through schemes. And that's what we
find here in this text. So the first thing we'll
consider is the enemy of God's people, the devil,
Satan. He's referred to as the evil one. He's
referred to as the father of lies. in the Gospel
of John, alluding to the fact that he's always
been a liar and that lies originated with him,
that he's a deceiver. We find that he's also
referred to as the accuser of the brethren, meaning
that the devil works by bringing accusations
and seeking to bring Shame on Christ and his
church through condemning the saints. So he's
called the accuser of the brethren. In 1 Thessalonians
3 .5 he is referred to as the tempter. Paul talks
about how he's afraid that the church at Thessalonica
has been tempted. And that his work has been
in vain. So he's known for. He has definitively
characterized our enemy as the one who tempts
the saints in the church of the living God. We
could think about two particular instances of
this, couldn't we? Think about the garden and
Eve. It was the tempter who came in and tempted
the woman. and deceived the woman. He tricked
her. And then her husband straight up sinned
without deception. He knew what he was doing.
He was crafty then, and he is crafty now. But
we can also think of another instance that uniquely
expresses his character as the tempter. Think
about early on in the Gospels and right before
the ministry of our Lord begins. What takes place
in the wilderness when Christ is driven out into
the wilderness? He is tempted by the devil in
various ways in an onslaught that we cannot fathom
and we will never know. yet he was successful
and victorious. So he's known as the tempter.
In 2 Corinthians 4, he's referred to as the god
of this age, lowercase g, or the god of this
world, or the ruler of this world. John 12, 31,
1430, and 1611 all refer to him as the ruler
of this world, meaning Christ has real authority.
Meaning the devil has real authority, real power
in this world among fallen sinful men. There's
real demonic activity that takes place in this
world. He is referred to as the sower of evil.
We could think about... The parable of the tares
and the wheat. It characterizes the entirety
of the gospel age. This parable. And it talks
about how the good seed is the sons of God. But
then there's those. The tares. Or we could say
the weeds essentially. And those are the sons
of the devil. Or the evil. So we find that. During
the gospel age, the devil will be present and
working and actively sowing evil in this world.
He is the arch enemy of God's people. He is the
leader, seemingly, or the chief. enemy of God's
people that leads a force of hierarchical authorities
and spiritual forces. This is why we read in
verse 12, 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. Notice there's organization.
There's structure. There's hierarchy in the forces
that oppose the church of Jesus Christ. The devil
is a real enemy, brothers and sisters. We have
to remember that. And we need to constantly remind
ourselves of that and we will see why. The enemy
of the church throughout this entire age, brothers
and sisters, is not preeminently men or a man.
The enemy of the church throughout this age is
Satan, the devil. He is the enemy of God's people.
Believers must be those who look beyond men to
see the enemy behind the world. To see what's
taking place behind that which is visible and
that which is obvious. That which is seen to
the eye. It's important for us to grasp this,
isn't it? Because we have a tendency to personify
certain things and to make it personal with regards
to men. And to think that our sole enemy in this
world is a man or men or anything we could say.
a nation, or a leader, or a party, or a group.
You could name any of it. And to think that is
the enemy. But brothers and sisters, there's
something behind that which is visible that's
taking place. There is the demonic. There is
the satanic work that is occurring behind. That
which is seen to the eye. And it is only understood
and it is only recognized and it is only grasped
by faith, brothers and sisters. One of the dangers
of politicizing Christianity and we see this
in our day occurring and we have seen it taking
place is that men become our enemies and not
our mission field. That they are the issue, they
are the problem, they are the enemy, therefore
I must stand against them, I must oppose them,
and I must do whatever it takes to destroy them.
But brothers and sisters, there's an enemy that's
working behind them with a much more malicious
intent. With much more ability. With much more
intellect. With much more power. And much more
authority. And much more knowledge. Believers
must be those who look behind men and see the
one pulling the strings in a sense. As God providentially
allows. We must be those who look behind. what
we might call the enemies of this life, to see
the one true great and ultimate enemy of God's
people throughout this age, which is the devil.
Now, knowing that we have this enemy, it's important
that we understand how he works. It's important
that we understand how he operates or how he
attacks us as the church. What are his methodologies
in opposing Christ's church? How does he come
against the people of God? The Bible clearly
teaches that we have such an enemy. He's not
a figure of speech. He's not symbolic, but he's
a real personal being that hates the church of
Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus. So how does
this unseen enemy operate in this world to oppose
the church of Jesus Christ? Well, we can think
about this in a general sense first. We learn
a little bit about how the devil operates from
this term, the schemes of the devil, in verse
11, but also how he's described elsewhere. Throughout
the scriptures. This word schemes. Has the idea
of. Craftiness. It has the idea. Of cleverness.
It has the idea. Of deceit. Intent. Strategy.
Well thought out. Methods. Now we also read.
In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 13 through
15, this of the devil. For such men are false
apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves
as apostles of Christ. So he starts with the
apostles who are disguising themselves as servants
of Christ. They're not real servants of Christ.
But he uses them as an example. And then he says
this, no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself
as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising
if his servants also disguise themselves as servants
of righteousness, whose end will be according
to their deeds. Sometimes I don't think we speak
quite clearly or quite frankly enough as the
Apostle Paul did. of Satan. And how did these
servants of Satan present themselves with regards
to Paul's apostolic ministry? They were seeking
to present themselves just like the Apostle.
They mean good for the church at Corinth. They're
there for their benefit. The truth they're proclaiming
is for their good. It's a blessing to them. They
mean well. They want what is best for the church
at Corinth. No, we don't have any malicious intent.
We're just like Paul who planted the church,
but we're going to subtly jab him and degrade
his ministry on the side and share malicious
slander regarding his ministry throughout ours.
They're presenting themselves as... False prophets
in sheep's clothing. And Paul says the devil
does the exact same thing. That his ministry
is built upon disguises. His ministry is built
on masquerading as an angel of light. Now we'll
see. That's not always the case, but largely
it is true that the devil does, in fact, work
in subtle manners, not that which is clear and
obvious and that which is overt. Again, thinking
back to the garden, the devil didn't come to
Eve as a massive, terrifying, fearful bear, did
he? shaking her out of her booth, trying to run
her out of the garden. No, that would have been
too obvious and that would have been too clear.
He did not come saying, God is evil, God is a
liar. No, he came as her friend. He came as a
subtle creature that would whisper into her ear,
that would subtly pervert her thinking. This
is good for you, Eve. This is what is best for
you, Eve. I don't mean anything harmful for you.
I want what's best for you. And what's best for
you is eating this fruit. Listen, you're going
to be like God. Don't you want to be like God?
He came as an angel of light and craftiness,
brothers and sisters. He does the same today.
That is unchanged in his mannerisms and in his
methodologies in this world. So generally, the
devil works in a deceitful, in a crafty manner.
But we also see some specific examples throughout
the book of Ephesians. And we'll try to constrain
ourselves to the book of Ephesians for the most
part with these specific examples. reference
other places periodically. So what are some of
the specific methods that the devil uses to attack
the church of Jesus Christ? Well, first, and
I think I put this one first because I think
it's probably the most overt and the most common
one. The enemy appeals to the lusts of the mind
and the lusts of the flesh. In a sense, we could
say he dangles a carrot in front of the desires
and longings of men. We see this in Ephesians
chapter 2, where Paul says, And you are dead
in your trespasses and sins. in which you formerly
walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that is now working in the sons of
disobedience. Listen to this. Among them we too
all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh,
indulging the desires of the flesh and of the
mind, and were by nature children of wrath even
as the rest. How does the devil work in the life
of individuals? He appeals to their carnality,
brothers and sisters. And this is important.
That doesn't just mean sensuality. That doesn't
just mean sexual immorality, though that is a
big one in our day, in our age. There are many
things that appeal to the carnal man and the
carnal woman, like prestige. Power. Influence.
Riches and wealth. Influence in a society. A
name. A legacy. There's any number of things
that the devil can appeal. He can dangle in front
of a person. Success, brothers and sisters. Oh,
just keep focusing on success as he dangles the
carrot. Don't worry about your spiritual well
-being. Don't worry about your spiritual life.
Don't worry about prayer. You've got to feed
your family and make the bucks. Don't worry about
growing in holiness and godliness. You are the
big guy on the block. Brothers and sisters, the
devil has many, many schemes to trick people
into reaching out. and grabbing the carrot. We've
all fallen for it. But he still uses this strategy
because he knows the corruption that remains
in our hearts. He knows that we're sinners. And
I believe that he knows that much better than
we know that. He knows the desires of our heart.
Maybe not the explicit details and the explicit
statements, but He knows our hearts are bent
towards evil and corruption because we were born
as children of wrath and we were once under His
rule and reign. He's well aware, brothers and
sisters. He is not ignorant of that fact and
ignorant of that reality. He knows what the heart
of man is like. and he knows how to appeal, how
to allure to that nature, that remnant of sin
and corruption that remains in us. I think of
Proverbs chapter 5, and I'd like to read that.
It seems a good illustration for what we're discussing.
It's largely talking about the call and the voice
of the harlot, the immoral, ungodly woman. And
listen to the call, the alluring, the appeal
that takes place in this text that draws in the
naive or the unwise. My son, starting in verse
1, give attention to my wisdom. Incline your
ear to my understanding that you may observe
discretion and your lips may reserve knowledge.
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. And
smoother than oil is her speech. Flattering.
Something sweet comes out of her mouth. Something
that... That persuades a person. It's appealing
to an individual. But in the end, she is bitter
as wormwood. Sharp as a two -edged sword, her
feet go down to death. Her steps take hold of
shield. She does not ponder the path of life.
Her ways are unstable. She does not know it.
Now then, my sons, listen to me and do not depart
from the words of my mouth. Wisdom. Keep your
way far from her. And do not go near the door
of her house. Or you will give your vigor to
others. And your ears to the cruel one. We get
the idea, don't we? There is an appeal. There
is an allurement that the devil uses to draw
out the carnality and the flesh. Of man's heart.
We must understand. How our enemy works. Brothers
and sisters. He knows. Where to pull the strings.
And when to pull the strings. So what must we
do? Put on the armor. Wear the armor. It's vitally
important. Now I believe the devil operates.
With this methodology. Uniquely. In the life
of young people. We see this throughout history.
And we see this in our day. And in our culture.
The devil knows how to ruin young men and young
women. And how does he do that? He appeals to
the lust of their flesh. And the lust of the
mind. Images and thoughts and desires of the
heart. For things that are good. in the right
context, in the right setting, but things that
are bad in the wrong place, in the wrong time,
in the wrong setting, and it will bring destruction
into your life. The devil knows how to do this.
He knows how to work this. We must be on guard.
The second way... specifically that the enemy
seeks to oppose the church of God, is he seeks
to distort our thinking and to lead us away from
Christ with false teaching and erroneous doctrine.
Now, we think about this, and this is a very
prevalent method or tactic. That the devil uses
in our day. And in our age. Again we could go
to. Second Corinthians. Chapter 11. And we read
this in verse 3. But I'm afraid. That as the
serpent deceived Eve. By his craftiness. Your
minds will be led astray. from the simplicity
and purity of devotion to Christ. And then listen
to what verse 4 says. For if one comes and preaches
another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or
you receive a different spirit, which you have
not received, or a different gospel, which you
have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.
What is Paul saying? He's saying the devil leads
men's... minds astray through false doctrine
and bad preaching, brothers and sisters. False
understanding regarding who Christ is and the
Holy Spirit and the work of God in their life.
Different gospels, brothers and sisters. The
devil works through false teachers and false
doctrine. To lead the mind of God's people away
from Christ so that they think wrongly about
Christ and who he is and his work and what follows
our thinking, our living. If we can lead our
mind astray regarding how we see Christ, regarding
what is true of the gospel, he can lead our souls
right into hell. Isn't that what takes place
with Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses? That very
thing. He deceives them into believing that this
is the true Jesus. That this is really how a
person is saved. Or any other false religion.
The devil works to lead men astray and away from
Christ by first leading their minds away from
Christ with wrong thinking and then leading their
lives and their souls away from Christ and their
living because he first got their doctrine in
their head. We also see that one of the... unique
methodologies of the devil in opposing the church
is that he seeks to gain a foothold through unresolved
anger and sin. If we turn to Ephesians chapter
4, this is explicitly addressed. In Ephesians
chapter 4, verses 26 -27, we read these words.
And the language is very, very interesting. Be
angry and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun
go down on your anger and do not give the devil
an opportunity or a foothold. as some other languages
or some other versions of the Bible state. The
devil works through unresolved anger that is
not dealt with quickly because he has a way of
drawing it out to bring and to enter in the person
into bitterness. That's why the book of Hebrews
explicitly states, Don't let bitterness take
root. That's why James says the anger of man
does not achieve the righteousness of God, brothers
and sisters. Because the devil uses hardness
of heart and anger and bitterness to draw men's
hearts away from Christ and to sow seeds of discord
and disunity in the life of God's people. This
is why Paul says, In Colossians 3 .8, put away
anger, wrath, malice, and slander. Put it away.
And then he goes on and he says, put on Christ.
The context of Ephesians 4 is in the context
of the local church, brothers and sisters. And
this is very similar. to 2 Corinthians 2, verses
10 -12, which says this, But one whom you forgive
anything, I forgive also. For indeed, what I
have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I
did it for your sakes and in the presence of
Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of
us by Satan. for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
The devil loves a hard, angry heart, brothers
and sisters, because he loves to work through
unforgiveness, unbelief, and bitterness to bring
about separation and discord in the life of God's
people. The manner... In which the devil gets
in. The church of the living God. Is through
the heart. Of bitter men and women. Through unforgiving
souls. Forgetting what Christ has done for them.
Brothers and sisters. This is a great stumbling
block for many of us. We must be quick to forgive.
We must, as Paul says further in Ephesians, let
all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor
and slander be put away from you, along with
all malice. Be kind to one another. Tenderhearted,
forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also
has forgiven you. Brothers and sisters, this
is one of the unique and distinct methodologies
the devil uses in the life of God's church. We
must be on guard, personally and corporately,
against such things. Another way that we see
the devil works uniquely is the enemy seeks to
keep Christians miserable in doubt and despair
in their lives. We see this at the end of Ephesians
chapter 6 verse 16. In addition to all, taking
up the shield of faith with which you will be
able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of
the evil one. Doubt and lack of assurance, brothers
and sisters, despair in the life of an individual.
If the devil can't ruin your life, then the devil
is going to make you miserable by causing you
to forget and neglect the promises of God from
the pages of Scripture. He can't take you out
of Christ's hand, brothers and sisters, but he's
going to do his darndest to make you a poor witness
for Christ in this life and to demonstrate and
show that there is no joy in Christ. Why would
you go to Christ? They're just miserable and
they're despairing. The devil will do everything
he can to keep the Christian down in the pit.
Where there is no hope. And faith stays small.
Causing them to overshadow and forget. The gloriousness
of their Lord and their Savior. And the fact
that it is Christ who saves. Not the strength
of their faith. But the object of their faith.
The devil works in a variety of ways. To oppose
the people of God. If we were to summarize all
of these, then I think that we could do that
in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation
says that there's three primary modes or ways
that the devil opposes the church. It's the harlot,
the beast, and the false prophet. Those are the
three things the devil uses. To attack and oppose
God's church. Persecution and suffering. Immorality
and the world to allure them and to cause them
to fall and apostatize and backslide and bring
disrepute on Christ and the false prophet to
take hold of their minds and to lead them away
from Christ because of false doctrine, false
religion, and false teachings. You know the methods
of our enemy. Don't be deceived, brothers and
sisters. Study how he works in the pages of Scripture
and ask God for help in putting on the armor.
Persevere and be diligent in your life. God has
provided for us in this battle. He's provided
for us in this fight. Now, as we think about
the enemy and his methods, there's one last thing
I want to emphasize, and this is important. As
we think about these things, it's vitally important
that we keep on the forefront of our mind both
the doom of the devil and the victory of Christ.
We have to keep these things in the forefront
of our thinking. We have to remember and keep
at the forefront of our mind the fact that Christ
has been exalted over and above every malicious
and every benevolent authority and power in the
spiritual realm. We read that in Ephesians 1.
We have to remember and recall that the devil
and all his hostile powers have been defeated
at the cross in his death and in the propitiation
of God and the removal of sin guilt in the life
of God's people. Colossians chapter 2 verses
13 through 15. We have to remember brothers and
sisters that we are no longer Blinded by the
devil. Unbelievers are. But the believer has
had the veil taken away. The veil removed in
2 Corinthians chapter 3. And the power of God
has illuminated our minds to see Christ and the
glory of the gospel. We are no longer blinded.
We are able to see Christ and all his glory and
be transformed from one degree of glory to the
next. By the spirit that dwells within us. That
can't be taken away. And that can't be ripped
away from us. By any enemy brothers and sisters.
We have to remember. That we have been transferred
from. The domain of darkness. And into the kingdom
of the beloved son. According to Colossians chapter
1. We must remember. That the activity and the
work of the devil is restricted and restrained
so that the gospel can go out to the Gentile
nations and God's elect can be called in. And
we must remember, brothers and sisters, that
the day of judgment is coming for our enemy as
the church. Doom is sure. It is fixed. It is
guaranteed. It will come when Christ Jesus returns.
He will be judged alongside of unbelieving men.
And unbelieving men will be judged alongside
of our enemy, the devil. Now, I don't say any
of these things. to minimize, or to make irrelevant,
or to make insignificant the realities of spiritual
warfare. Because we can't ever look at the cross
and allow that to take us to a place where the
devil is insignificant and irrelevant. We can't
do that, brothers and sisters. Because we have
Ephesians 6 and the rest of the Bible which says
it's very, very important. I think oftentimes
when we talk about these things, especially spiritual
warfare, we come to this idea, well, what's the
big deal then? Christ has died. He's defeated.
Why? Why do I need to worry about this? Why do
I need to... Think about this. Because brothers
and sisters. Real suffering. Real pain. Comes
about as a result of the devil. Real loss. Because
we have a real enemy. Real discord. Real division.
Real brokenness. Real heartache. Real backsliding.
Real apostasy. takes place because we have a
real enemy. You can really fall into sin because
of the temptation of this enemy. But we can also
really put on the armor of God and look to the
Lord Jesus Christ who has in fact won the battle
and gives us strength to fight. As we near our
heavenly home. There is a balance to be struck.
But brothers and sisters. We must not forget.
We are in a fight. For our lives. We have a real
enemy. But we have real armor to put on. And
Christ has really. Died. For the sins of his
people. And really guaranteed. Our eternal salvation.
And that's really guaranteed and made sure the
devil will be judged.