Opening Illustration: Mom wakes me up with pots and pans. I’ve been given the gift of being a heavy sleeper. It’s proved its usefulness throughout my life, especially when my wife and I were in the newborn phase. Today, the kids know who to wake up in the middle of the night if they need something. It’s fun hearing about the nighttime activities in the morning! For my parents, I don’t think they saw it as a gift. I was the one that they had to wake up about 15 times for school. It was a daily battle that they didn’t always enjoy. There came a point when my mom, in particular, decided it was time to fight the waking up battle in a different way. I still remember that morning quite vividly. The sound I heard started in the kitchen. It was this faint tapping noise. But the closer it got to my room, the louder and more distinct it became. Eventually, my mom was standing the doorway of my room, banging pots and pans together – all while singing the children’s song “Rise and shine and give God the glory!” Oh, those lyrics: “The Lord said to Noah, "There's gonna be a floody, floody." “So Noah, he built him, he built him an arky, arky.” If you were here last week, it wasn’t my dad doing all things as a parent! My mom had to do what was needed to make sure I was awake and alert.

Today, we reach the part of Ephesians that sounds the alarm to make sure we are alert and awake. Paul, in a way, tells us to “wake up” and understand what’s going on around us. He tells us there is more going on in our lives that we don’t see. He tells us there is spiritual battle taking place, whether we realize or not. He tells us: There is a spiritual enemy who is waging war against you. With that reality, the two questions we are going to answer today: 1) Do you know what this spiritual battle is? 2) What do you do about it?  As you open your Bibles to Ephesians 6 – and before we sound the alarm – let me remind you we are nearing the end of Ephesians. Sermon Series: Ephesians: Masterpiece in Progress. I know we’ll have at least two more Sundays in Paul’s letter after today. Let’s look at three very important verses in Ephesians: Read Ephesians 6:10-12. Before I pray, I ask that your pray in your heart as well. We are talking about something today that demands for us to be grounded in Scripture and filled with the Holy Spirit. Spiritual warfare is not a light topic, so let’s allow Jesus to hold us. Pray. 

If you’ve been journeying with me through the book of Ephesians, this ending to the Paul’s letter may feel abrupt. Two weeks ago, we were talking about husbands and wives. Last Sunday, we talked about parenting. And now, all of the sudden, we are talking about fighting in a spiritual battle. To understand the fullness of these verses, let me recap how we got here. What is the book Ephesians about? Ephesians is about God’s plan to unite His people with each other and with Jesus. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we are united in Christ and through Christ. It’s what makes us a church family. Because of that unity, we must live a life worthy of the calling. The Holy Spirit must fill us up so that we can be light in our world, in our marriage, in our families, and in our workplaces.

There’s one major piece that Paul has briefly mentioned in chapters 2 and 4. Ephesians 2:2 says “You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.”  There is opposition that is set out to do two things: 1) Keep people from becoming part of God’s family; 2) Keep people from living out the calling to be in God’s family. Paul knows this quite well. So, in the final parts of his letter, we receive instruction on what to do. Before we get the instruction, we have to start with something that each one of us must know: You are in a spiritual battle. 

1) You are in a spiritual battle. (vs. 12)  We are covering three verses today, but in reverse order. Let’s read verse 12 again: ¹² For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Paul says we are not fighting against “flesh and blood enemies”. The term “flesh and blood” is referring to something physical – a human enemy. If you know Paul’s story, this should grab your attention because he clearly fought against human opposition. Paul was beaten, imprisoned, and abandoned – by humans. While Paul’s human enemies existed, Paul is pointing to another enemy all together – and enemy that is not flesh and blood. Who are these enemies in verse 12? Evil rulers and authorities, mighty powers, and evil spirits. Which each of those titles, Paul ties a spatial reference to them. What are those? “of the unseen world” “in this dark world” “in the heavenly places”. So what does Paul say about these enemies? They are of the spiritual realm. When Paul says “heavenly places” he isn’t talk about the heaven where God resides. Paul is talking about the spiritual realm.

There is something abundantly clear about verse 12: We are fighting against spiritual enemies. I’ve said this before and I’ll keep repeating it: We are more spiritual beings than we are physical beings. That’s not something we think about a lot because the physical is clearly seen. But what Paul is doing is drawing our hearts and minds to the reality of the spiritual realm. Who are these spiritual enemies? There are some godly scholars out there that believe verse 12 refers to human institutions, human traditions, and political structures. There is good reason to believe that, but where I lean for the meaning of verse 12 is that this verse is referring to the spiritual enemy, the spiritual opposition to Jesus and His followers.

So, who are these spiritual enemies? If we were to go back to when God created the world, at some point at the time of creation, God created angels. God created these spiritual beings to become worshippers, messengers, and helpers. But there was one angel, a powerful angel – some scholars believe he was the most powerful and glorious of all the angels. God created angels with free will – the ability to choose. Somewhere along the way, this powerful angel began to believe he was more powerful than God. His pride filled him and he rebelled against. Look at what Jude 6 says: ⁶ And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment. 2 Peter 2:4 also talks about these angels being cast out of heaven. Satan led a mutiny against God. Because of that, Satan and those angels were cast out of heaven. Since then, Satan has been on a mission to usurp God and God’s plan. Since Adam and Eve, Satan is finding ways to corrupt humanity. Satan has waged and is waging a spiritual war on God and God’s children. Here is the reality that verse 12 puts in front of us: Satan and his demons are real. For some of you, this may be your first time hearing about all of this and you don’t know what to do with it. Let me tell you what NOT to do with this reality: You can’t be ignorant OR curiously fascinated with spiritual warfare. Let me start with “not being ignorant,” and then I’m come back to “not being curiously fascinated”. 

Why can’t we, as Christ followers, be ignorant of the spiritual battle? Just because you can’t see Satan, doesn’t mean he isn’t there. Illustration: Handwashing 150 years ago vs. today. In 18484, there was a Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweis, who discovered an alarming trend in medicine. He discovered that about 1 out of 4 women who delivered a baby in a hospital were dying. He came with a theory called the “microbe theory”. He believed that physicians were carrying diseases on their hands from one patient to the next. He started to make interns wash their hands between patients. Do you know what he observed? The mortality rate dropped to less than 2%. Do you know what the medical world did when they heard his findings? They dismissed them because they didn’t believe in the theory of microbes because they couldn’t see them. At a famous conference, he pleaded with these doctors, “Gentlemen, for God’s sake, please, just wash your hands!” It wouldn’t be until two decades later that doctors started washing their hands. Even though you can’t see the battle, you can’t ignore the battle. Quote: “I am certain that one of the main causes of the ill state of the church today is the fact that the devil is being forgotten. All is attributed to us; we have all become so psychological in our attitude and thinking. We are ignorant of this great objective fact, the being, the existence of the devil, the adversary, the accuser, and his fiery darts.” – Martin Lloyd-Jones. Even though you can’t see the battle, you can’t ignore the battle. Here’s why: The enemy is cunning.

2) The enemy is cunning. (vs. 11) Let’s work back to verse 11: ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Verse 12 show us the battle that is taking place and why it’s taking place. Verse 11 shows us this battle isn’t simple. Satan is cunning. Verse 11 doesn’t say stand firm against “the strategy of the devil”. It says “all strategies of the devil.” I mentioned there are two things we can’t do when it comes to spiritual warfare. The first was be ignorant about the battle. The second was not to be curiously fascinated. There is a danger in engaging in spiritual warfare with curiosity and limited knowledge. No one in their right mind would have stormed the beaches of Normandy with water guns. Satan is formidable foe that we have to understand. Here are some things we know about Satan:

1. He has multiple targets 
   • Satan is waging war on Christ, the angels, God’s chosen people (Israel), the Church, and all believers
2. Satan is the ruler over the other demons
   • There are others under Satan who will carry out his attacks
   • Those other fallen angels have joined in Satan’s mission
3. Satan is smart and crafty
   • Satan is constantly shifting his plan of attack
   • He will do what he can to influence a person away from Jesus
   • Let me give you a few examples from Scripture I read this week[1]:
     • Jesus told us in John 8:44 that the devil is the father of lies.
     • 1 John 3:10 calls him the father of hatred and murder
     • 1 Timothy 4:1 says he spins out false doctrines and corrupts truth
     • 2 Cor. 11:14 -15, says that he imitates religious authorities, even giving them the ability to imitate signs and wonders
     • 1 Thess. 2:18 tells us he puts obstacles in the way of God’s missionaries
     • Romans 16:17 –20 tells us he sows discord & division over doctrine and leadership among God’s people
     • In Matthew 4 we see he tempts us with power and makes us question God’s love for us and our identity in Him
     • And there are plenty more examples throughout Scripture

So, what do we do? Know your enemy. Illustration: My kid’s Alexa has many names. Each of my kids have those Amazon Alexa smart speakers to listen to music. My kids love to boss the speaker around. “Do this. Play this. Be quiet.” And I know there are some of you that really want to tell me to unplug the speakers because they are always listening. Well, my kids unplug them whenever they are not using them, but if I do find them plugged in, I’ll just sit there and try to share the gospel with whomever is listening (kidding…!) I found out somewhat recently that you can change the name that you call the device. There are like five different names and there is one of my kids that is constantly changing the name. Whenever I walk into this kid’s room to stop the music from playing, I have to rattle off all these names just to get it to respond. “Alexa, Amazon, Echo, Computer, ZIGGY!!” “Turn off the music!” I can’t shut out the noise in my house until I am able to identify where it’s coming from. We can’t shut out the spiritual chaos in our lives until we are able to identify where it’s coming from. 

For me, it’s easy to look back and see these perfectly timed storms of chaos in my life. That temptation when I was riding high on life. That unrighteous anger when I was walking the valley. Think back… That wrong person that came into your life at the right time. That suspicion that didn’t need to be there. Those questions that took you off the right path. That fight with your spouse where you know they weren’t your enemy. That pride that wouldn’t allow you to say your sorry. It doesn’t take much to see there is an enemy at work. The challenge is to not see it after the fact, but to see it as it comes. You have to get ahead of it. Know your temptation triggers. That place or time – don’t go there. That conflict with your wife or husband. Stop seeing them as the enemy. Those things that numb you. Take back control. Know your enemy and know your enemy’s schemes. 

Before we go any further, let me remind you of something: Satan is defeated. Jesus has secured the final victory over Satan. That means two things: 1) He knows his fate – he knows his end. He also knows he’s not there yet, so he’s taking bringing as many with him as he can. A defeated enemy is a desperate enemy, and a desperate enemy is a dangerous enemy. We must be mindful of who he is and what he’s doing. 2) Stand in Jesus’ victory. Where all of this can feel big and overwhelming, let verse 10 encourage you. Here’s what we see in verse 10: God has given you the strength and power you need to fight. 

3) God has given you the strength and power you need to fight. (vs. 10) Paul started this section with a wonderful statement, but I want us to end with it. Take a look at verse 10 and the first part of verse 11: ¹⁰ A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm…Hear this clearly: Whatever power Satan possesses, God is more powerful. We, as followers of Christ, have the ability and privilege to stand in God’s power. God has given us His armor to wear. We don’t fight on our strength and power – it all comes from God. We are given two instructions on how to fight: 1) Be strong in the Lord’s power; 2) Put on God’s armor. I like how John Stott put it (it’s a long quote, so listen as I read it): Quote: “Both commands are clear examples of the balanced teaching of Scripture. Some Christians are so self-confident that they think they can manage by themselves without the Lord’s strength and armor. Others are so lacking in confidence that they imagine they have nothing to contribute to their victory in spiritual warfare. Both are mistaken… The power is indeed the Lord’s, and without his mighty power we shall falter and fall, but still we need to be strong in him and in it… Similarly, the armor is God’s, and without it we shall be fatally unprotected and exposed, but still we need to take it up and put it on.” – John Stott.  What does this exactly look like? That’s where we’ll be picking up next week. We’ll look at the armor of God and what it means for us.

For today, the best way we can fight against Satan is surrender yourself to Jesus. Surrender every part of yourself to Jesus. Satan loves to look for the weaknesses. Satan loves to look for the areas of life that are unprotected. Satan loves to look for the areas that you are living on your own power. Satan loves to look for the areas of your life that you haven’t surrendered to Jesus. I enjoy wrestling with my kids. Whenever I wrestle with them, they always look for my weak points. And one of them loves to slap my kidneys. Without fail, I come crashing down. I know that now, so I never let that kid out of my sight when we wrestle. What do you need to surrender to Jesus? Whatever just came into your head when I asked that question, that’s what you need to surrender today. Holding onto that pet sin isn’t worth the vulnerability you give to Satan. Let it go and surrender that part of your life to Jesus today. For some of you, it’s your entire life. Your life has felt like one big lost battle after another. You need to surrender to the One who will give you His victory.

GOSPEL PRESENTATION

From these three verses, my hope is two-fold: 

1. The spiritual battle alarm is going off
   • 1 Peter 5:8 says it well:
     • ⁸ Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
2. Your preparation to fight begins with your surrender to Jesus
• The last place that Satan wants you is in the arms of Jesus

You have a big future ahead of you. God has big plans for you in His Kingdom. Don’t let the enemy get in the way of God has for you. Let’s pray.

[1] https://summitchurch.com/GetFile.ashx?Guid=57e4e403-d068-49ba-a793-501ab182eca1

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