We never know what trouble awaits us in the future.
Who would have thought on September 10, 2001 that the next day we would be attacked by an enemy that we never heard of? Who would dream that nine years later would still be trying to come to grips with it?
In our spiritual lives too, we face a silent and unknown enemy. In some periods, that enemy has been mostly hidden, but in our time the Devil is increasingly coming out in the open.
What does it mean? Is it a sign of the End Times? Is it because of the failure of the church? Or is it something else, simply a predictable counter-attack in a country where God has done amazing things in the past? What we need to remember is not what caused this attack, but who is behind it, and what can we do about it.
The first thing we should do is to equip ourselves by studying Ephesians 6.
The book of Ephesians was written by Paul to converts made by a church he once pastored. It is Paul’s blueprint for the Christian life.
The book is written in three parts. Chapters 1-3 can be summarized in one word—Sit. It describes the position that we have been given by our loving Father. Chapters 4-6:9 can also be summarized in one word—walk. The blessings God have given us lead us to act in certain ways.
In Ephesians 6:10 though, we come to a “9-11” moment. We encounter a resistance that we did not know existed. If all we had were Ephesians, we would never dream that there were spiritual powers who hated us until this moment.
What Paul says in response to this can also be summarized in one word—stand. It is not enough simply to sit upon the promises, or even to walk in the love. We must sit and walk while we are simultaneously standing against an enemy. We didn’t start it, but we will finish it.
We behave differently in war and in peace. In peace, we relax. In war, we must be on guard. We must train and sacrifice for victory.
If there were no Devil there would be no war. But because we are at war, we have to be strong, or we will lose our spiritual blessings.
The Devil is a real person. In heaven he was once called Lucifer—the Light Bringer. He rebelled against God, because he wanted to be equal with Him. He was cast out of heaven and onto the earth, where he seeks to cause havoc in God’s creation.
Lucifer does not work alone. Unlike God, the Devil cannot be everywhere at once. Instead, he has a legion of fallen angels who do his bidding. They tempt us daily. Paul calls this organization of Satan and his demons “powers and principalities, world rulers of darkness.”
The Devil has two principal means of operation. The first is social. He creates a “world spirit: that is in opposition to God. He does this through the media—our means of communication. He is also working through communication, government, commerce, and education to create a world spirit hostile to goodness
The story of the Tower of Babel gives us a preview of what Satan is trying to accomplish. This was an attempt by Satan to create his version of heaven on earth. By bringing people together in one place, he could deceive them all at the same time. God confounded their languages and broke up the power of a single world government under Satan.
In our time, the Tower of Babel has been reborn. It began with the first worldwide civilization—the Roman Empire. It was carried forward by the printing press. It gave us the ability to spread ideas over a large area. This led to the Bible, the Protestant Reformation, and great scientific knowledge. But it also led to pornography, skeptical literature, and anti-religious propaganda. Bibles could be printed, but so could books on the occult. The Devil took advantage to create a world spirit.
Next came rapid travel--the railroad, the automobile, the superhighway, and the airplane. Now people could travel farther and faster than ever before, to preach the gospel or attack it. Next came the breakthroughs of communication—the telegraph, the telephone, radio, television, and finally the internet. Now the world is at our fingertips. Once again, we have built a civilization that can reach up into heaven.
Through the internet, the vast sum of human knowledge is at our fingertips. But so is every human depravity. The new tower of Babel is all but complete. All that it needs is a new Nimrod to led it.
This world spirit is just one method of his attack.
The second is what the Bible calls the Flesh. Ever since Adam and Eve fell, we have always had a wild side. We see this in the smallest baby. We are inherently selfish creatures. But the Holy Spirit gives us faith and discipline. We overcome the flesh with the spirit, By admitting our sins and turning them over to God.
This is where Satan had achieved his greatest triumph. He has constructed a world of shadows, where our sins can hide in the darkness. In his world of the flesh, love becomes lust, anger becomes wrath, courage can be fear, righteousness hypocrisy, and thrift becomes greed. The motivations behind our actions go unnoticed.
Our flesh betrays us. We never know how weak we actually are. Temptation comes upon us like a bull, and our resistance is like a Chihuahua. No wonder we fail! Our flesh, encouraged by the world spirit, betrays us.
That is why Paul wrote Ephesians 6--to give us the tools to resist the Devil, so we can experience the promised blessings and live the lifestyle he wrote about in Ephesians 1-5.
He begins with two exhortations.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Paul is telling us something positive and something negative. On the negative side, he is telling us that we cannot resist the Devil, the world spirit, and our own flesh. We could as soon keep back a tsunami with a shield as resist the waves of temptation and persecution that comes against us.
But on the positive side, he is telling us that God can resist, and overcome the Devil. There is a power available to us that can break the power of temptation--the power of the Lord, Who is greater than the whole world.
Christians complain about the behavior of non-Christians. We tell them they ought to clean up their act, to straighten up and fly right. We tell it to each other, too, as if our telling will make any difference. But without God’s strength in us, what can we expect? When a man squashes a bug, does he mock the bug for not being strong enough to resist the pressure of his shoe? A non-believer has no power to resist.
But we can do better. We can resist, not by our power but by His.
John Calvin put it this way :
“Paul therefore adds, . . . ‘You have no right to reply that you have not the ability; for all that I require of you is, be strong in the Lord.’ To explain his meaning more fully, he adds, in the power of his might, which tends greatly to increase our confidence, particularly as it shows the remarkable assistance which God usually bestows upon believers.”
God does not expect the believer to be strong, only to be strong in the Lord. God does not expect us to resist, only resist in the Lord. We cannot do what Go has not given us to do. He is our strength. We are not His.
The second command Paul gives is this:
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's scheme.
I did some internet research over the concept of armor. There are all kinds of exciting new inventions in the field of personal armor. For example, the Japanese have a “power suit,” essentially a metal exoskeleton, which can multiply the power of the human strength many times. Within five years, they will be selling a version for farmers to assist them with the lifting large objects. The US military also has one that will be used for carrying supplies. Another kind of armor is built into clothing—shirts, vests, and overcoats that are impervious to guns or knives. One kind of armor, designed for women will give an unwanted attacker an electric shock, making her a kind of human electric eel. Another kind of armor covers the entire body and includes built-in weapons and even and air-conditioned helmet. All of this sounds like science fiction, but it is has actually real.
If the armor of human invention can do all that, imagine what the armor of God can do? God covers us with protection like an exoskeleton. We can walk through the world spirit, though the internal temptations of the flesh and through the wiles of the Devil and we will not be harmed. He covers us and protects us fully.
The wonderful thing about such armor is that it does not depend upon the strength of the person inside it. You are never too old or too young. You are never too weak or too undisciplined. You think personal faults do not matter when it comes to accomplishing God’s purposes.
Over the next several weeks, we are going to put on the armor of God. It will surprise you what God can do through His mighty power.
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