The Reality of War
Notes
Transcript
I think there are times where we believe we are removed from the conflict of warfare.
Last week we learned who the enemy is and how he is described.
He is no friend of humanity, he does not have our best interests in mind.
He is a liar and a deceiver and has been from the very beginning.
We have to come to understand that we really are in a war.
Ephesus clearly had to learn this lesson as they had in their city the great temple of Diana or Artemis depending on if you Greek or Roman.
The culture of the tie city was wrapped up in pagan worship of this goddess.
Through the worship of this false god Satan was able to influence many in the city.
Even though pagan worship may look different and go by different name Satan is still today influencing nations through worship of false gods.
Consider what Paul tells the church at Ephesus in our text today: Ephesians 6:10-12
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
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.
Are you ready for the message God has for us today?
Cool, get your Bibles, get out your sermon sheet or note pad, and let’s dig in!
The Influence of Satan
The Influence of Satan
Ephesians 6:12 provides a reason for the command to be strong and deploying the armor provided by God.
This verse contains a list of supernatural forces with similar words as Ephesians 3:10
10 so that the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
It has been an unfortunate fact of church history that often churches tended to view human opponents as the enemy.
They see in this verse structures of government as the enemy.
Others see this as permission to lash out against anyone who opposes them.
These errors should have been prevented by the phrase “not against” in verse 12.
Paul is really clear, the enemy is not visible and weak humanity, or human authorities.
The enemy is in the heavenly realms and therefore unseen!
In this way Satan seems to have a tactical advantage over those whose vision is earth bound.
Hear me Church: Christians are not at a disadvantage we are reminded repeatedly our perspective, source of life, and power reign supreme in the same heavenly places because of Christ!
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Satan’s Forces Called out
Satan’s Forces Called out
Look again at the list in Ephesians 6:12
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.
This is a complete lists
Paul did not use the conjunction “and”, an unfortunate error in some translations.
It is a list which enumerates the forces of influence at Satan’s disposal!
You could see this as a list that describes the same group in different ways.
In a way it really does because this group of supernatural forces are led by Satan.
Let’s consider this list more closely.
“Rulers” — Demonic powers, since they were thought of as having a kind of political organization.
Used by Paul for demons holding dominion entrusted to them in the order of things.
“Powers” — The leading and more powerful among created spiritual beings, demons with authority in other heavenly places.
“World forces of this darkness” — Scholars generally agree that the Greek word translated by this phrase has roots in astrological thought.
In which this world was considered to be under the influence of the planets.
Planets themselves represented supernatural forces as they are named after gods.
The word would go on to be used in reference to the Roman Caesar and then to pagan gods in general.
Historically magical arts were practiced in Ephesus along with pagan worship.
Considering all this prepares us for the mention of supernatural forces.
The last phrase “spiritual forces of wickedness” could be a summary phrase for the whole list.
For us this becomes sobering then as it sheds light on the influence of Satan in this world and the forces at his disposal.
Paul would understand, by the way, that there were demons behind pagan gods — 1 Corinthians 10:20-22
20 No, but I say that things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?
Behind the veil
Behind the veil
In Ephesians 6:12, Paul states, “Our struggle is…”
The verb “is” is a state of being that is real.
We have a hard time because for something to be real it has to be what we see.
Well consider the Holy Spirit — Develop this!
We are being shown is what is going and is happening in the spiritual or heavenly realms.
What happens there effects what happens here!
Behind the veil we see then the demonic influence of Satan in the world and the nations, our nation included — Develop Our nation has blindly given Satan control!
We know from Revelation 20:3 that Satan deceives the nations.
Given these realities, it would be not only wrong but foolishly dangerous to live a Christian life unprepared for spiritual warfare!
Our enemy is a spiritual being but he is not God!
Conclusion
Satan is real!
Satan is characteristically described in the pages of Scripture as a liar and the father of lies.
He is called out as a liar from the very beginning.
Satan is also clever and crafty.
Thus the spiritual beings in our passage of Ephesians 6:12 are powerful and evil emissaries of Satan.
These spiritual forces of evil can only be resisted with the full armor of God.
While it may be difficult for us to distinguish between the powers at play, the point is clearly made that whatever supernatural forces are in the war, Christ is victorious over them and thus so are we!
We fight this spiritual war from victory not to victory!
What are you going to do based upon what God has said!
