Walk Worthy of Your Calling in the World Part 2

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. As believers, we are well aware that the walk of faith will involve struggle. We will encounter a worldly system of thought that is contrary to biblical truth. Though the enemy works to undermine our faith, God has lavished us with abundant resources to stand and resist. Rich examines Ephesians 6, 10-17 to show us how we have been equipped for the hardships ahead.

Let's listen to the second segment of this message titled Walk Worthy of Your Calling in the World, first preached on January 21, 2017. Who is this captor? John tells us the whole world lies in the power of the evil one that is under the sway. He says that 1 John 5. He's the spirit, Paul says, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. The writer of Hebrews calls him him who has the power of death. Death is separation. He is bent on separating you from your maker who loves you and redeemed you.

He's bent on that. And that is true of you whether you're Christian or not. Him who has the power of death. He is called the God of this world. His purpose is blindness, darkness, error, and unbelief.

That's what he promotes. He is called the devil in this text, the devil. Devil is slanderer, accuser, deceiver. He is the father of lies. You know what his chief lie is? His slanderer, accuser, deceiver, his chief lie is for you to believe that your biggest problem is what other people are doing or not doing to you.

Now we're going to talk about that some more a little bit later, but let me say that again. His biggest lie is for you to believe that your biggest problem is what other people are doing or not doing to you. You see, if you believe that, that's why the Christian life can be such a monumental struggle, because you're believing a lie. And the struggle that we face is not so much an external one as it is a struggle of the inner man. This is the enemy.

It's not people. It's a powerful enemy. What is his ability? Look at verse 12 with me, Romans, Ephesians 6 12. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers over this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.

What is his ability? He has the power of death. The writer of Hebrews says the power of death, that's separation. That's what he wants. He wants to separate you from God. If you are a Christian, he is bent on making you a practical atheist, where you say you believe in God, but in the day to day, you live as if God doesn't even exist. You know what? That makes him dance.

That's the struggle. He is happy if you call yourself Christian and go to church, but during the course of the week, you completely forget about God. That makes him happy. He's over rulers and authorities, those of pride and arrogance, of self-importance and self-preeminence. And we see that through history, don't we? That's the problem of human authorities, because if they are not submitted to God, then those human authorities then present pride and arrogance and self-importance. Cosmic powers over the present darkness, it says, that's blinding, that's deceiving.

They block the light. He wants to do everything he can to distract you from seeing the light of God. Spiritual forces of evil, that is, they draw people away from God and his truth. His forces of oppression, of destruction, of injustice. He's in the business of consuming people. You see, as I said before, the struggle is not so much as with external circumstances as it is with the inner man. I want to make a point here that's very, very important, because he's talking about this. Something you need to understand is the devil, the adversary of your soul, is a created being.

Understand that, alright? He is a created being. Listen, he is not God's opposite.

Don't go there. He is not God's opposite, because he is a created being. A created being cannot be the opposite of an infinite sovereign. He is not God's equal opposite. He does not possess divine attributes such as the omnipresent, omniscience, omnipotence.

He does not possess those. He is merely a created being. Now, his ability is definitely limited, but his ability is actually very powerful, and one reason why it's powerful is because of his subtlety. His identity, we've recognized, and his ability we've seen here, but what about his subtlety? He is subversive in his dealings.

He'd rather take an indirect attack, an indirect attack against God's people. He knows your weakness. Listen to me, okay? He's an observer. I love to observe people.

I scare people sometimes, because I'm just watching. You learn a lot from watching people. You learn their value system. You learn their insecurities. Your adversary knows your weaknesses, not because he's omniscient, but because he's observant, and he's bent on distracting you away from God, and he is bent on using attractive things as counterfeit replacements for all the good that we have in Christ.

Do you see? That's why we need to know Ephesians 1 to 3, the riches of his grace, because if you don't know that, if you don't keep that in your mind, then your adversary is going to throw a bunch of stuff at you and say, look, here is your pleasure. Here is your satisfaction. Here is your safety.

Here is your security. And if you follow it, you've made him successful, and you become a practical atheist. It speaks of his schemes. The schemes mean that he goes to, he seeks to seduce and deceive, like the apple offered to Snow White. He seeks to undermine what God creates, and everything that God creates is good, right? But he seeks to undermine what God creates. If you look at 4.14, Paul speaks of cunning by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

The word here that he uses in this chapter is methodia. There is a method to his madness, deceit, craftiness. John Stott says that he is at his wildest when he succeeds in persuading people that he does not exist.

I agree with John Stott, and then I'm going to add another line to that also. That is true maybe for unbelievers, and maybe even some who claim to be believers. He's at his wildest when he succeeds in persuading people he does not exist. But for the believer, he is at his wildest when you're convinced that other people are your problem. Are you listening to me, Christians?

Listen, when I was writing, when I was studying this, I want you to know something. God was stepping on my toes. Your adversary is most successful when he convinces you that other people are your problem, and you need to think about that. That's his subtlety, because he doesn't want you looking at him as the adversary. He wants you to look at other people as your adversaries. What is his iniquity? His iniquity is just simply wickedness. He is seeking whom he may devour.

You see, Satan is the ultimate self-preeminent one. Whatever he proposes, whatever he puts in front of you to lure you, to entice you, to distract you, ultimately it is so he can consume you. Because that's what he wants. He wants to consume you. He works to keep you from faith or to undermine your faith. That's what he's all about.

That's the iniquity of his dealings. But this is why the Apostle Paul says, therefore take up the whole armor of God. The word here that he uses means being capable. Be capable in the Lord, able to stand and able to resist. Do not throw your hands up or throw in the towel and say, who can do this? Christian, listen to me. You can in Christ. You cannot on your own.

You cannot on your own. But you are called to stand, to recognize that it is a struggle. And to stand, to be capable in the Lord means two things.

Number one, able to identify his tactics, know his tactics. And number two, know God's defense of you in Christ. Know God's defense of you in Christ. This is why Paul's letters and John's letters, James letter, Peter's letters in the New Testament are so important to us because this is what they communicate. So the rest of the time, what I want to go over now are his tactics and God's defense of us. What are the adversary's tactics against you?

Because he would love for you to be a practical atheist in the day to day. Tactic number one is doubt. Doubt. You know, that was the original approach in Genesis 3, wasn't it? Has God really said? That's not what he said. No, that's not what God said. To doubt God's self-disclosure.

What does that do? That casts a shadow on him, casts a shadow on his character. And the way you and I can recognize that, are you listening to me? I want you to hear this, okay? The way you and I can recognize if this is happening in our hearts and minds, this is a tactic.

It is an attack by the adversary. The way you and I can recognize this, if this is the way we're being attacked, is when you and I are tempted to judge God by our circumstances. You know, that's a very natural propensity of the human flesh, to judge God by our circumstances. Are my circumstances uncomfortable? Are they hurtful?

Are they painful? Am I judging God's goodness and wisdom by my circumstances? You are being attacked by the adversary of your soul, who has the power of death to separate you. What is God's defense? Take the whole armor of God. The first one is truth. His defense against this is truth. It is the belt of truth. You're protecting the core of your being. Truth in the inner man.

This is where you move your mind. You must be rescued from bumper sticker and coffee mug theology, unless it's, of course, Ephesians one to three coffee mug theology, right? We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.