Continuous Enemy Confrontation

I was reading it over and praying about what the Lord would have me share with you this week, really set the tone for me. You’ll notice in verse 10 of Ephesians 6, which is the next verse in our continuing study, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies.

And we’ll stop there, and I was reading that I was saying to myself, that really is the way to end the book of Ephesians, because what the Apostle Paul is saying is this. If you are a true Christian, as defined in chapter 1, chapter 2, and chapter 3, and if you are living the way a true Christian should live, as defined in chapter 4, 5, and 6, then you can be sure of one thing, and that is that you are going to run right into the enemy. It is impossible to live in the manner that Ephesians outlines without having conflict with Satan.

It’s impossible. And that’s why, having said all of this, he says, the final thing you need to know is that you have to be strong. You have to put on the armour of God, because you’re in a spiritual war. It’s a war. A few years ago, I woke up and realised it isn’t a honeymoon, and it isn’t work. It’s war. We’re in a battle. It’s a war, and that’s essentially what Paul is saying here. If we are, as Ephesians 4 fun says, walking worthy of the vocation to which we’re called, if we’re walking in humility and unity, not in the vanity of our mind as the Gentiles, if we’re putting on the new man, if we’re walking in love, not lust, if we’re walking in light, not darkness, if we’re walking in wisdom, not foolishness, if we’re not drunk with wine, but filled with the spirit, if we’re not singing the world’s songs but psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and if rather than being proud and individualistic, we are submitting ourselves one to another, and if we are submitting as wives should to husbands as to the Lord, and if husbands are loving their wives as Christ loved the church, and if children are obeying their parents, and parents are nurturing and rearing their children to the things of God, and if employees and employers have right relationships biblically and with spirit-filled impact, then believe me, we will counter the system.

We will run against the grain. And that’s exactly what’s happening in our society. The point that I’m making is that we have begun to take a stand against some things in the world. We’ve always done this. It’s just that our size and our impact and the great blessing of God has made all of this something the world can’t ignore anymore, and so we’re starting to make waves in the world. And it’s kind of exciting, but believe me, when God begins to bless a church, Satan begins to attack the same church, and if you think you’ve started coming to our online Bible studies and events, just so you can settle in your little nest out there in the corner somewhere, and get real comfy, you’re wrong.

I think that we’re being tested, maybe in ways we’ve never been tested before. The Bible talks about the believer being a soldier, and I think that’s right, and Paul said to Timothy, as soldiers endure hardness, and that means suffer with. And I really feel that, because of the fact that God has blessed us, he is requiring much of us. You know, the world watches this church. It’s amazing to me. I receive mail every day from foreign countries, from pastors, from every imaginable country in the globe. I think about the Apostle Paul, the same town of Ephesus.

He went into Ephesus, and incredible things happened. He went into that town, and he began to preach the word of God in the synagogue. And some hardened their hearts, it says in Acts 19. But some believed, and the ones that believed, listened to him. And he taught, but finally the others were so antagonistic, they ran him out of the synagogue, and he went to the school of Tirannus. And for two years, he taught every day, probably from one in the afternoon to five in the evening, for two solid years. And it says that great things happened, miracles were wrought by the hands of the Apostle Paul, the people who were involved in incredible kinds of magical worship began to burn their magic books.

There was a riot, and the guys who sold the little silver gods that were part of the trade found that they weren’t able to do it anymore. People were really becoming iconoclastic, they were smashing their idols, and the city was an incredible uproar. And it says in Acts 19, so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. And that great Ephesian church founded by Paul, later on given direction by Aquila and Priscilla, and finally by Timothy and Apollos, knew the best of men and the best of circumstances and the greatest history.

And yet when they began to really move, Satan began to attack. And he began to attack in very subtle ways, because that’s always his plan. You know, I believe in Ephesians 3.20, now in him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church. I believe he wants glory in his church, and I believe he gains that glory by allowing the church, through his power, to do things beyond what we can even dream.

And I think God wants to go way beyond where we are now. I think we’re just beginning to see what God would do when a group of people is totally committed to walk a worthy walk, when a group of people is totally committed to live the kind of life that Ephesians 4, 5 and 6 calls for. But as soon as that begins, Satan will oppose it. We see it all around us. You go back into the Old Testament, for example, and you see God sending an angel in Daniel chapter 10, and a demon withholds that angel so that that angel cannot accomplish the divine purpose.

And God had to dispatch a greater angel, a stronger angel, to blast that demon out and send that angel on his way. You’ll find in Jude 9, Michael the archangel having a battle with Satan over the body of Moses, Satan trying to restrain Michael from claiming the body of Moses for God. So there is a high-level spiritual struggle, and we’re even involved. Ephesians 6, 12. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness and the heavenlies. So we are engaged in this tremendous conflict, and that’s why I say it’s war.

I think American Christianity has become very smug and very content and almost subcultural, rather than confronting, we’re just kind of waltzing along with the system, trying to accommodate it. We believe we can win them by becoming what they are, but just the opposite is true. We have to counter the system. Well, we need to be aware of the fact that Satan’s going to attack. You know, James in chapter 4 says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8 and 9, Peter says, be sober, be vigilant. Why? Because your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour.

Whom resists steadfast in faith, knowing the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. In other words, Satan is going to be there. Resist him. Be sober, be vigilant, be aware, be alert, and know what he’s doing. 2 Corinthians 2, 11 says that we should not be ignorant of his devices lest he gain an advantage of us. In Acts chapter 20, Paul was talking to those same leaders in the Ephesian church, and he said to them this. He said, I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in, not sparing this flock and of your own selves, shall men arise teaching perverse things.

He says, I know as well as I know my name, I know as well as I know the sun comes up tomorrow, you’re going to get it as soon as I leave from outside and inside, wolves from the outside, and false teachers from the inside. Therefore, verse 31 of Acts 20, I have not ceased to warn you night and day for the space of three years with tears, he says. Part of the ministry is a warning ministry. When God has blessed us as he has, when God has multiplied his audience as he has, and God is using us to cut a path through this evil world, then believe me, Satan is going to come after us, and we have to be ready and we have to get the armour on.

But first of all, we’ve got to understand his attack. We’ve got to understand his ploy. We do not want to be ignorant of his devices. Thank you for joining us in this exploration of continuous enemy confrontation. Until next time, remember to keep the faith, stay strong, and continue to shine your light in the world. To hear these daily devotions of your daily bread, please log on to goddessgovernment.com. Goodbye, and may your faith always lead the way. [tr:trw].