In any military battle, it's important intelligence about your opposition. But when it comes to spiritual warfare, many Christians don't understand what we're up against. Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg begins a new series that explains what every believer can expect to face in spiritual combat.
We're in Ephesians chapter 6. The prevailing notion is at least skepticism, perhaps even a total disregard for the ideas that Paul is addressing—the notion of a devil, the idea of demonic, personal, intelligent forces, and so on. And yet at the same time as people find it easy to either poke fun at the idea or to disregard it entirely, they continue to make movies about these very subjects. And one of the questions that we must inevitably ask is, why the preoccupation with these things?
Why the interest in these things? Unless, of course, the very source of the preoccupation is an indication of the reality of the one about whom contemporary man likes to make fun. In 1978, the twenty-fifth of November 1978, The Economist magazine ran an article under the heading, Is Satan Dead?
And it was on the heels of the mass suicide of the James Jones cult, who all took their lives in Guyana. And the writer of the article is expressing the fact that in the vacuum that has been created—and he's thinking expressly in British terms—in the vacuum that has been created by the increasing decline in the influence of Christianity—he views that in terms of attendance at church and numbers of young people involved and so on—he says, what we've had then is the vacuum and then the desire for people to fill that vacuum. Because, you know, as Dostoevsky said, you know, when people cease to believe in God, they don't believe in nothing. They start to believe in everything. And he says, But perhaps there is more to come.
Perhaps there is worse to come. This is 1978. Some of you weren't even born.
I was twenty-six. What happened in Jonestown, Guyana, is a ghoulish cautionary tale for all these different people who in these differing ways are seeking God in a secular world. In… Here's the sentence. In that search for God, it is all too easy to blunder into the arms of Satan himself. And he concludes his piece, Is Satan not dead after all? For if Satan in some sense is not dead, that implies that God is not either. Now, here we are all these years later.
And that which was so staggering in 78 has repeated itself again and again and again. And when we turn to the Bible, we discover that the Bible is alert to these things. That the Evil One is at his wiliest, he is most skillful in his scheming, when he succeeds in persuading people that he doesn't actually exist. He then may be a figure of fun, a conjecture of imagination, but he is not a reality. Now, it's one thing for a secular world to have that perspective. What makes it all the more challenging and dangerous is the fact that within the framework of the church—big C—that within the framework of the church, little is known about the devil.
Little is known about the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Because, you remember, that is how Paul has begun his letter. If you turn back a couple of pages to the way in which he begins his letter, he's addressing not the man on the street in Ephesus, because the man on the street in Ephesus would think this was absolute nonsense, the way the man on the street in Cleveland thinks is nonsense. This is for the believer, who has been—verse 3 of chapter 1—blessed in Christ, with every spiritual blessing, in the heavenly places.
Now, notice that phrase. Because what Paul is making clear now as he comes to Ephesians 6 is that that is the realm in which this great spiritual battle is being fought. Because the same grace that reconciles a man or a woman to God antagonizes that man or woman to the evil one, to Satan, so that we then find ourselves immediately engaged in what the Westminster Confession refers to as a continual and irreconcilable war. If you think about it, when we say the Lord's Prayer together, it makes sense of one of the phrases in the prayer, doesn't it? Where Jesus says to his disciples, and you should pray this, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Or it may equally be translated, but deliver us from the evil one. Now, that is a prayer for a Christian to pray.
Why? Because Peter, who was on the receiving end of that instruction for Jesus, when he writes to his readers in his first letter, reminds them that the devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Therefore, he says, you need to know that, and your response to it needs to be, Resist him, firm in your faith. Now, again, you see, what faith? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ has now introduced me to a battleground.
Verse 10 follows verse 9, and verse 9 follows verse 8. And if you track back up through the beginning of the chapter and back into the fifth chapter, you will rehearse what we have been dealing with the practical implications of the Christian life lived in the realm of marriage, in the home, and in the workplace. And it is in that context that Paul now goes on to say—and I need to let you folks know—that the spiritual warfare in which you find yourselves engaged is not a warfare that exists outside the realm of these things, but it is a warfare that is there in the midst of them, thereby reminding us that we would be foolish if we were to be naïve concerning the desires and designs would leave us with a pass when it comes to marriage or to family or to work. And to do so would be to give to him an opportunity, which Paul has said in 27 of 4, make sure you do not give him an opportunity. One of the ways to give him an opportunity is to say, Well, this'll never happen to me, or this would never be a concern for me.
Do you ever wonder why it is that sometimes in your marriage it just seems like a royal war? He didn't mean to say that. And having said it, when you should have said sorry, he just said, No, I'm gonna back it up. And it was all my doing. Every sin is an inside job. Every time I sin, I sin. But in the midst of the world in which I live and you live as a Christian believer, there are dark, demonic, spiritual, intelligent forces that are seeking to undermine, to destabilize, to cause absolute chaos within your marriage, within your family, and within your work. That's what Paul is saying.
Before we consider the details, let's just fly by. First of all, let's consider the fight or the war or the struggle or whatever you want to call it. Spiritual warfare. Look at verse 12. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the authorities and the cosmic powers and so on. So in other words, the conflict in which we find ourselves rather than being a denial of our faith is actually, in a strange way, an evidence of our faith. And I hope none of us have fallen foul of the kind of teaching that says, you know, if you trust in Jesus and become a follower of Jesus, you never have to fly in turbulence again.
Or you can fly way up there with the Gulf Streams. You fly way above it all. That's the great benefit of being in Jesus. If anybody has told you that, I hope you have very kindly nudged them in the ribs at least and said, Well, what world are you living in? Because clearly the world that I live in is not that way at all. In fact, I've discovered that since I became a follower of Jesus, the turbulence has apparently increased.
Fresh air turbulence, clear skies, and yet seat belts on. Why is this? Because we are no longer Ephesians 2 to the sons of disobedience. We have been transferred from that. We are no longer in the kingdom of darkness. We've been transferred to the kingdom of light. We are no longer following the ways of the prince of the evil age. We are now followers of Jesus.
We are no longer in his camp. We are in Christ's kingdom. And having been placed in that kingdom, we now find ourselves in this intense struggle—not against human beings, but demonic forces, demonic intelligences.
Now, let's just pause and acknowledge that there are immediately two dangers when we read this and think about it. One is that we just set it aside and deny it. We say, Well, theoretically, I suppose, or this is a wonderful metaphor of the fact that life is difficult, thereby actually denying the reality of what the Bible is teaching.
Or, on the other hand, we become amazingly preoccupied with it. And you will find that there are people whose whole existence is explaining all the time what the devil is doing. The devil did this, the devil did that, the devil did the next thing, and so on. And sometimes it's just a scapegoat, just an ability to say, It wasn't actually me, it was him, when, as I've just acknowledged to you, every sin is an inside job.
Now, the great danger is that we're ignorant of what is an objective fact—the objective fact being the existence of the devil, who is an adversary, who is an accuser, and who has a complete array of fiery darts at his disposal. That's what the Bible says. Now, one of the ways in which we can always test something when someone is saying, Well, would you look at this? This is in the Bible. It's to ask the question, Well, how does this theory work in relationship to Jesus?
It's always a very good question. When someone says to you, you say, Well, how would that work in relationship to Jesus? Well, let's go to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. Mark's gospel begins, The time is fulfilled, The kingdom of God is at hand, Repent and believe the good news.
And what's the very first thing that happens? He is opposed. He faces temptation in the wilderness, he goes into the temple precincts, and he is opposed by demonic forces there.
Well, then, if it was true of Jesus, why would we be surprised if it was true of the followers of Jesus? Now, the word that is used here—and it's translated wrestle in our text, verse 12—I think in the NIV by memory it was struggle, but that's just memory. For we do not wrestle. In other words, it is descriptive of hand-to-hand combat.
Because that kind of wrestling was in Greece and was in Rome. But the evil one then comes in that kind of engagement. He comes to sneak up on us. He comes to ambush us. He comes to grab ahold of us. And when he grabs ahold of us, he comes to insinuate. He whispers in your ear. He comes to intimidate. He's the ultimate bully.
He comes to whisper in your ear some things that you can't even believe you would ever think. What's the answer to that? Says my friend Sinclair, we're not aware how or why we face times of temptation, stress, conflict, and evil pressure. There is little doubt that some of our irrational thoughts, fears, and doubts should be traced to the ambush in which Satan hides. I need to say this to you again.
You need to understand the sphere in which this is taking place. In verse 20 of chapter 1, he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead, seated him, and seated us with him. All right? So we have been raised there. And in verse 6, he raised us up with him of chapter 2 and seated us with him. And then, in verse 12 of chapter 6, and here we are, wrestling against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Okay, that's the fight, or the struggle—from struggle to strategy.
What is the strategy of the believer in these circumstances? Well, it's aptly summarized for us by the repeated statement or the repeated use of one verb, and that is the verb to stand. Look at verse 11, where he talks about being able to stand, and then in verse 13, that you may be able to withstand, or that you may be able to stand your ground. And then, in verse 14, stand therefore, having the belt of truth and so on taken to you. Phillips paraphrases that so that when you have fought to a standstill, you can still stand your ground. Now, how is this, then, to be done? Because most of us would immediately say, Well, I'm not sure that I can stand.
Or I can point to times when I have not stood, when I have actually collapsed. Well, he has already given the directive in verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. We've paid particular attention—in beginning the letter, at least—to understand that Paul is saying to these Ephesians, The most vital thing for you to understand is your union with Christ, that you have been united with Christ. We noted when we studied chapter 1 that Paul wasn't referring to these folks as Christians, but he was constantly reminding them of their position in Christ, in him, in the Beloved, and so on. And the reason that that is so important is because it is only a life lived in union with Christ that will be able to engage, as required, in the struggle. Calvin, in his Institutes, has a wonderful section on this.
I may just read part of it for you, and you can find it on your own if you choose. The tendency of all that Scripture teaches concerning devils is to put us on our guard against their wiles and their machinations. In other words, what the Bible does when it teaches concerning these things is not in order to arouse our curiosity, to give us something to debate and to discuss, but in order to warn us about what we're up against. For when Satan is called the god and ruler of this world, the strong man armed, the prince of the power of the air, the roaring lion, the object of all these descriptions is to make us more cautious and vigilant and more prepared for the contest. Being forewarned of the constant presence of an enemy—the most daring, the most powerful, the most crafty, the most indefatigable—let us not allow ourselves to be overtaken by sloth or cowardice, but on the contrary, with minds aroused and never on the alert, let us stand—not as a verb—ready to resist, and knowing that this warfare is terminated only by death. Since it is only terminated by death, let us study to persevere. Above all, fully conscious of what?
Our weakness and want of skill. So then let us invoke the help of God and attempt nothing without trusting in him, since it is his alone to supply counsel and strength and courage and arms. In other words, all of that is given to us in Christ.
And that is the challenge that runs from the beginning to the end of our journey. We're pilgrims. We're aliens.
We're strangers. We're not out of the world in all of its disinterest and opposition to God and his truth. We're in that world, and we have an enemy. And it's, as they would say in Scotland, it's a sore fact to the end.
It is a sore fight all the way to the end. As I was thinking along these lines, I went back to reread the second part of Pilgrim's Progress. And I was struck by the fact that part one and part two come to a conclusion in much the same way. The pilgrims, they come to the enchanted ground. And if you remember, the enchanted ground was a place of tranquility and enchantment and had a kind of soporific quality to it.
It could induce sleep and casualness and so on. And the point that Bunyan is making is that right close to the entry into the heavenly kingdom you have this place of enchantment. And the place of enchantment is there in order to try and seduce the pilgrim—to cause the pilgrim to fall asleep so close to the heavenly city. And valiant for truth and honesty come into the realm of the enchanted ground, and they come on a man who is on his knees, and his hands and his eyes are lifted up to heaven, and he's praying. And he's praying for help in dealing with this enchanted territory in which he finds himself, because he finds it very alluring. And as he prays for help, the help comes in the form of valiant for truth and honesty. And as they engage with him, they ask him, sensually, what's the deal? And he says, The problem is Madame Bubble.
So what's the problem with Madame Bubble? Oh, he says, She offered me her body, her purse, and her bed, right on the threshold of the heavenly kingdom. See, Bunyan was so, so aware of the truth of the Bible. Let he who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls. And the progress of a lifetime may be brought to a crashing halt when, unprepared for the battle, naïve about the opponent, with silly assumptions about one's own fortitude, we find ourselves collapsed. Do you know what the fellow said to him of Madame Bubble?
He said, She's a witch, a representative of a cosmic struggle that takes place in the heavenlies, that expresses itself in time and in reality in the moment. And so Paul says, Finally, I need to talk to you about this. It's all about your marriage. It's all about your kids. It's all about your job.
It's all about your entire life. How good of God, then, to provide comprehensive armor for engaging in the battle, and to the armor we will come later on. It would be foolish to head into battle without understanding the opposition, what we're up against. That's from today's message on Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. We are learning about the reality of spiritual warfare.
Believers are in a continual, irreconcilable war that endangers our marriage, our families, our jobs, our very lives. So we need a battle strategy. Part of that strategy, as Alistair mentioned, is to stay alert, to stay ready, to resist temptation as we stand united with Jesus.
We've found a book to help you do just that. The book is titled The Whole Armor of God, How Christ's Victory Strengthens Us for Spiritual Warfare. When you read The Whole Armor of God, you'll learn about each unique article of God's armor, like the belt of truth or the helmet of salvation.
And then you'll learn how to put them on for spiritual protection. Sinclair Ferguson calls the book a battle manual for every Christian. No believer should head into combat without it. So request your copy of The Whole Armor of God today when you join our essential team of Truth Partners or when you make a one-time donation. To enroll, visit truthforlife.org slash truthpartner or call 888-588-7884.
I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for joining us. Listen tomorrow as we continue this message and discover why it's necessary for us to put on The Whole Armor of God. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-11-03 21:36:40 / 2023-11-03 21:44:51 / 8