The very last book in the Bible gives us a picture of what’s happened in the cosmic battle between our enemy and the one who is more powerful. It also explains why things are still so bad and why we have to continue to fight. It’s because there is one who won’t admit defeat. John records this in Revelation 12:7-17. This passage shows us why evil continues to persist. Why the battle continues to rage on. It’s because Satan is angry. He’s been constantly fighting and fighting without giving up. Why are things still so bad? It’s because the war has been won, but the enemy won’t surrender.
In this part of our series we’re going to talk about how to be strong against this enemy who continues to wage war against God’s people. The Bible shows us how to do just that. Let’s look at what it says about this in a 1st century military context:
10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:10-12
Schemes are methods used to kill, steal, and destroy. This passage is saying that the real struggle in this world is against layers of evil that oppose humans both in dimension that we can physically see and those that we can’t. Here’s a list of the schemes that Satan often uses. Notice that they fall into a few main categories that all have to do with accusation, deception, destruction, and death:
1. Present the bait and hide the hook. Present what looks so sweet and hide the misery that ensues.
2. Prepare a trap we believe we could never fall in. This banks on our pride and lack of humility and before it’s too late we are locked in the trap.
3. Place before our eyes a pleasure to covet. Look at this person or this object and boom, there it is: I want, and I deserve.
4. Promote false preachers, saviors, revelations, and powers. These enemies love to promote the platform of those who don’t tell the truth about God.
5. Pinpoint our weakness. These enemies know when we’re tired and hurting and lonely and hungry and it’s at that time when we’re incredibly vulnerable.
6. Put our past on replay. These enemies know our hurts and they want to expose them by setting up moments and messages that cause us to see the past and be stabbed in the back by our shame.
7. Poison a system. They can put one drop of a lie and that permeates the whole system.
8. Pollute a culture. Create division by confusing a nation, cause chaos by breaking apart families, and plant hate through the media.
9. Promise prosperity but create slavery. Bow down to this, cave on this, cheat and lie on this and you will be wealthy, but you are then chained to evil until those chains are broken.
10. Preach false ideas about God. He’s all grace or no grace. All judgment or no judgment.
11. Play dead. Make it seem like the immaterial doesn’t exist to keep people ignorant of the attacks.
12. Push for death. Make people so afraid to die that they will do anything to keep living including abandoning Jesus, turning on their loved ones, etc.
With these schemes in mind, we now get to the section in Scripture where we see how to respond:
13 “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after your have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:13-17
Here Paul uses the illustration of the armor of a Roman soldier (something very commonly known and seen at the time) and gives his audience a new picture that they can carry with them in their minds. Paul takes the same equipment used by Roman soldiers and gives it to us to combat each of the enemy’s schemes.
In the battle…
1. Truth holds us together. So many of the enemy’s schemes are built on lies and we must expose them.
2. Righteousness protects our hearts. Many of the enemy’s schemes are built on shame, but we understand that we have been declared righteous in Christ.
3. The Gospel is our marching order. Many of the enemy’s schemes are designed to get us when we’re inactive, lukewarm, or even just bored, so we need to stay focused with the Gospel.
4. Trust in Jesus stops the arrows. Faith or trust prevents us from believing we are doomed and without hope in the battle.
5. Salvation guards our minds. Salvation is about knowing we are saved and knowing who we are saved by. Jesus is our authority.
6. The Bible cuts through lies. It helps us understand how cultures thrive, how leaders should lead, and how families should be. It guides our morality. Devotion and delight are our best weapons in this war.
When these six things are part of our lives, we are ready to throw down on the one who has been thrown down. Here are a couple of questions that you can ask yourself as you continue to prepare yourself for the battle:
1. Which scheme is most effective on you?
2. Which piece of equipment do you need now?
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