Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for Freedom in Christ
Know Your Enemy
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Note to reader: These sermons on Ephesians are not my typical verse-by-verse exposition. Most were preached in 1990 in a series on “Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for Freedom in Christ.” I used Ephesians as a springboard for this series but referred to many other passages as well. Some of the sermons in the series are stand-alone messages preached at various times and various places. The early sermons from 30-35 years ago are not well footnoted, as I never expected them to be published.
Introduction: I would like to begin this morning with a little test. I really miss springing pop quizzes as I used to do frequently when I was a college professor, and this opportunity brings joy to my heart. Seriously, I just want you to list on your Sermon Supplement or on a scrap of paper the three greatest problems you’re struggling with right now (and please don’t put down “staying awake”—I just got started). This is personal—you won’t have to show it to anyone. What are the three biggest crises in your life, the things which concern you most? Just take a moment to note them.
Finished? Did you list a job situation, a neighbor, your spouse, a financial crisis, a physical ailment, depression? If you did, then you have listed symptoms rather than root problems, in the same way a cancer patient’s problems might be listed as fever, nausea, weight loss, exhaustion, or pain. These are all problems, of course, but they are not the problem. They are symptoms, but they are not the cause.
Listen to Eph. 6:10-12: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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.”
The Apostle Paul makes it crystal clear here that our real struggle is not against flesh and blood. It is not with our children, our finances, our health, or our careers. Certainly, we all have struggles in those areas. But that is not where the struggle is; the struggle is against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. We are engaged in Spiritual Warfare, and the problems that consume us daily are, at least in part, merely the visible wounds from the spiritual battle.
For three months now we have been involved in a series on Spiritual Warfare, yet we have only indirectly mentioned Satan and his demons, focusing instead on the foundational truths of our position in Christ. That’s because I believe the best way to fight the darkness is by turning on the light. But I cannot conclude this series without addressing Satan’s schemes. We need to know what we’re up against. So, this morning I’m going to talk about the battle, the enemy, and the enemy’s strategy.
The battle
It is not with what we see but what we don’t see. We are not alone in this world. If you’re a biblical Christian, you know that. But knowing it intellectually and incorporating it into your philosophy of life are two different things. There is an enormous pressure in modern society to separate the natural from the supernatural. Secular humanism will occasionally pay lip service to a transcendent world of religion beyond the empirical world of our senses, but it absolutely refuses to acknowledge that supernatural forces, both good and bad, are active within our world. The Bible, on the other hand, makes it clear that there is a great deal of interaction between us and God, between us and Satan, between us and angels, and between us and demons.
You say, “Then why don’t we see more of it?” And I respond, “Because the very nature of the spirit forces is that they are invisible to human eyes, but there are plenty of fingerprints left in our world to indicate their presence if we are only spiritually perceptive enough to see it. On a couple of occasions God has removed the veil altogether, as with Elisha’s servant. He was full of fear as the Arameans sent an army to capture Elisha. He asked, “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” The prophet answered, “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. That account is recorded expressly that we might have the eyes of our faith opened.
When Paul says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood…,” he doesn’t mean that we have nostruggles against flesh and blood (he himself had plenty); rather he means that our primary struggle is not physical but spiritual. Perhaps a better way for me to put it is that most other kinds of warfare have their roots in spiritual warfare.
Allow me to illustrate this point from current events. Over the past twelve months (this was written in December, 1990) we have seen some of the most astounding political developments in our world that have ever been witnessed in any half century. One atheistic communist government after another has fallen without outside pressure and without force of arms. World leaders by the score have testified that they could never have predicted what has occurred. The CIA, the KGB, and Scotland Yard were caught completely off guard when over just six months, almost the entire Eastern European Community abandoned its course of the past 70 years and embarked on a wild dash for human dignity, economic opportunity, and spiritual and political freedom.
Do you know why all the political experts were left with their collective pants down? It’s because the developments were not political but spiritual. I firmly believe that what we have witnessed during 1990 is the result of God’s angelic forces breaking through the demonic grip which Satan and his demons had maintained over the communist bloc, and the evidence is seen in the unbelievable breakthroughs the Gospel is making in those countries today. People are flocking to hear the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Our friends from South Church who went to Romania this summer would go to a park to share their faith and people would stand in line to hear the Gospel and receive Christ. Billy Graham had a phenomenal response in Budapest, as seen on TV this week. I didn’t see the broadcast, but Steve Nelson told me the look on Graham’s face was almost like shock as thousands upon thousands streamed forward to profess faith in Christ.
Ronald Reagan claims credit for opening up Eastern Europe, Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize, and Lech Walesa sees himself as the catalyst for it all, but friends, I believe these were all just bit players in a drama that was essentially invisible, except for its effects. In fact, I wonder if what we are seeing in terms of openness to the Gospel, combined with the massing of forces in the Middle East, doesn’t make a strong case for the fact that we are in the last days. Those of you who have sat under my ministry for the past six years know that I am anything but a prophetic sensationalist. Nevertheless, what I see today shakes my sense of ease like nothing I’ve seen in my lifetime.
Now the second key factor we see about this battle is that …
It calls for human action and responsibility. Please consider the terms the Apostle uses to describe our part in this conflict: “be strong,” “put on,” “take your stand,” “our struggle,” “we wrestle,” “stand your ground.” The overwhelming thrust of this passage is action, not passivity. Jessie Penn-Lewis observed, “The chief condition for the working of evil spirits in a human being, apart from sin, is passivity, in exact opposition to the condition which God requires from His children for His working in them.” You’re familiar with the aphorism, “All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” That’s certainly true in the spiritual battle. We are to be in top condition, ready to fight, and fully equipped. Even when we achieve a temporary victory we must never say, “It is over. I can take it easy now and go on a holiday.” Never!
Now the third factor in this battle is that …
It demands faith and appropriation of God’s power. While we are called upon to actively engage the enemy, we are never expected to do so in our own strength—such would be suicidal. Verse 10 says, “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God.” This is a divine-human partnership. We cannot win on our own, and God will not defeat the Enemy for us unless we actively take up the armor He has provided.
Having gained a clear picture of the battle, let’s turn now to …
The enemy
The arch enemy is Satan, the devil, according to verse 11. I am going to assume this audience doesn’t need to be convinced of the existence of a personal devil. Satan is referred to by every single author of the NT, most of the authors of the OT, and he is the subject of much of the teachings of Jesus Christ Himself. One cannot accept the authority of the Bible and at the same time deny the existence of the devil.
Satan was once the highest of all God’s creation, but he was filled with pride and tried to assert his autonomy from God. Therefore, he was cast out of heaven and ever since has been the arch enemy of God and of God’s special creation, the human race. He is a personal being, for the Scriptures describe him as having intellect, emotions, and a will. To think of him as just an evil influence or the personification of all that is wrong in the world is totally inadequate.
In my own study I have found over 30 names for this mortal enemy of ours. Enumerating them would be pointless except for the fact that so many of his names are descriptive of his character:
Satan
Devil
Accuser
Deceiver
Dragon
Liar
The father of lies
Murderer
Prince of the power of the air
Ruler of this world
The wolf
The thief
The strong man
Ruler of the demons
Apollyon
Angel of the abyss
Roaring lion
Sinner from the beginning
Beliar
Leviathan
Lucifer, star of the morning, son of dawn
Serpent
God of this age
Angel of light
The tempter
The evil one
The enemy
While the Devil is a very powerful being, it is important for us to realize that he is not all-powerful. He has limitations because, as a creature, he must ultimately answer to God, because he does not possess divine attributes, and because he can be resisted. There would be no point in our putting on armor if the enemy were invincible.
No discussion of the enemy, however, would be complete if it stopped with the devil himself.
He has innumerable cohorts organized against us. They are called demons or evil spirits. Revelation 12:4 indicates that about 1/3 of all the good angels fell when Satan fell, and they are now available to do his bidding, except for those incarcerated in Tartarus for some unspecified heinous sin (Jude 6). Right here in Eph. 6:12 at least four classifications of demons are mentioned. There are “rulers” who apparently are generals in Satan’s army. Then there are “authorities,” those who possess delegated authority, who might compare with majors in an army. Thirdly, there are “the powers of this dark world,” which term may describe demons who have specific assignments with world governments, as discussed in Dan. 10; in fact, it may be the case that every nation is assigned an ambassador demon. And finally, there are “the spiritual forces of evil,” who may simply be captains in Satan’s diabolical army. These terms convey to us the fact that our enemies are organized and powerful, they foster spiritual darkness and ignorance, and they promote wickedness.
The enemy’s strategy
Why should we spend time this morning discussing Satan’s tactics and schemes? It is because we cannot effectively prepare for warfare with him unless we know how he attacks. The French in the 30’s built the massive Maginot Line between France and Germany. But when the attack came, it was by air and by way of Holland and Belgium, where there was no Line. France had prepared for the wrong kind of warfare! That is a danger, too, in the Christian’s warfare against the powers of Satan. How can we take our stand against the Devil’s schemes (v. 11) if we don’t recognize what he’s up to?
The quick overview we offer here should at least heighten our awareness of the fact that Satan does indeed walk around as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
He creates doubt about his own existence. Why would Satan do this? Clearly because it’s impossible to effectively combat anything if you’re not sure it exists. Satan creates this doubt by fostering the common notion that evil spirits are the primitive, ignorant person’s explanation for phenomena he doesn’t understand. Then he uses the advances in medical science, psychology, and psychiatry to fool the experts into thinking that all bizarre behavior can be explained naturally, given enough research.
But interestingly, when people do become convinced of his existence, despite all his efforts to the contrary, the Devil fights back by encouraging them to go to seed on the subject and to see Satanic and demonic influence behind every event. C. S. Lewis writes in Screwtape Letters,
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the demons. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”[i]
In another book of his, Miracles, Lewis writes,
“Our attitude should be that of the sensible citizen in wartime who believes that there are enemy spies in our midst but disbelieves nearly every particular spy story. We must limit ourselves to the general statement that beings in a different, and higher, “Nature” which is partially interlocked with ours have, like men, fallen and have tampered with things inside our frontier.” [ii]
I guess I would suggest that the spies are getting bolder, and therefore we must be even more wary.
He mixes error with just enough truth to make it palatable. (Gen. 3:4ff) Satan started this in the Garden of Eden and he’s been doing it ever since. When Eve told Satan of the prohibition against eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, on penalty of death, Satan responded: “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Mixed in with the lie that they would not surely die is the truth that their eyes would be opened and that they would know good and evil. Had Satan told only a lie, Eve would have probably been so shocked by the contrast with what God said that she would have immediately rejected the serpent’s counsel. But by mixing in truth, he gained a hearing and was able to create doubts about God’s motives.
We see this mixing of truth with error in our day also. Satan takes the truth that sex is good, an appetite created by God to be enjoyed, and mixes it with the error that all bodily appetites are equal and should be enjoyed whenever and with whomever we desire. The result is rampant sexual immorality.
He takes the truth that women deserve justice and equal treatment in our society and mixes that with the error that a woman should have complete control over her body, including the baby in her womb. The result is millions of deaths by abortion every year in our country.
He takes the truth that people should work hard, take care of their bodies, and love their families and mixes that with all kinds of doctrinal error, and the result is a cult like Mormonism which now ensnares millions worldwide.
He encourages heresy and false prophets in the church. (1 Tim. 4:1-5) In 1 Tim. 4 we read, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” And then he gives some examples: “They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.” Unbiblical demands for celibacy and legalistic requirements for vegetarianism are just two of many such heresies false prophets perpetrate.
He actually promotes religion, masquerading as an angel of light. (2 Cor. 11:13-15; Matt. 13:36-43). In 2 Cor. 11:13ff Paul writes concerning false teachers in the church:
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.”
If I understand that correctly, you’re as likely to find Satan in a pulpit on Sunday morning, or serving on a deacon board, or singing in a church choir, as you are to find him in a crack house, or at a New Age fair, or warming a bunk at Sunshine Mission. Religion is not the enemy of Satan; it is his friend, so long he can keep people’s minds on the ritual, the organization, the buildings, the politics, or even social issues—anything but personal commitment to Christ.
Since Satan cannot divert the whole church to his agenda, he employs a different technique, as evidenced in the parable of the tares in Matthew 13—he sows weeds among the wheat. Jesus Himself interprets the parable for us, telling us it refers to Satan hiding his followers in the church. He also makes it clear that it is not our job to uproot the weeds in an attempt to purify the church—that is the job of the angels at the end of the world.
He builds spiritual strongholds in the mind. (2 Cor.10:4). Since we had an entire sermon on this on October 28, we will move on to the next tactic.
He deceives unbelievers concerning the Gospel (2 Cor. 4:4), and he deceives believers about who they are in Christ. (2 Cor. 11:3). If there is one word that describes Satan’s role in the world today better than any other, I believe it is the word “deception,” and he uses it on unbelievers and believers alike. In 2 Cor. 4:4 we read, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” In fact, it is not until God says, “Let light shine out of darkness,” according to verse 6, that anyone can be saved.
But Satan also deceives believers. In 2 Cor. 11:3 Paul writes, “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” As we have seen throughout this series, if Satan can get our minds off Christ and the truth of who we are in Christ, he can defeat us.
He tempts believers to sin (e.g., pride, 1 Chron. 21:1-2; lying, Acts 5:3; immorality, 1 Cor. 7:5; rebellion, 1 Sam.15:23; and anger Eph. 4:26-27). One of Satan’s names is the Tempter, so it shouldn’t surprise us that we find him tempting believers to sin in many areas. In 1 Chron. 21 we read, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” The rest of the story indicates that this action on David’s part was a prideful action, and one which God disciplined him for rather severely.
Lying is another sin which Satan uses to tempt believers. In Acts 5:3 Ananias is asked by the Apostle Peter, “How is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?” He had represented himself as more generous than he really was, which God viewed as hypocrisy worthy of judgment.
A third sin attributable to Satanic temptation is immorality. 1 Cor. 7:5 speaks of sexual intimacy in marriage when it warns, “Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” Satan loves to target certain people with sexual temptation—those in ministry, traveling businessmen (and their wives back home), servicemen, and those whose spouses are sexually unresponsive. It’s another one of his schemes.
Rebellion is another sin with strong Satanic ties, for in 1 Sam. 15:23 we are told that “rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.” I would particularly warn the young people here this morning that rebellion against your parents is an extremely critical issue to God. It is as serious as black magic in His sight.
A final sin worth mentioning is anger. In Eph. 4:26-27, this sin too is attributed directly to Satanic temptation: “in your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” If anger and rage are a chronic problem in your life, I would suggest that you take very seriously the possibility that Satan has a foothold in your life that needs to be broken. It may be time to seek spiritual counsel and spiritual deliverance.
He plagues believers with physical illness, discouragement, and fear. (Job 2:7, 2 Tim. 1:7). We all know from the story of Job that Satan can afflict a believer with physical illness and discouragement. Why then do we so rarely consider that physical and psychological problems we face might be spiritual in origin? We immediately go to a physician or a shrink when perhaps we ought to first ask, “Have I allowed Satan a foothold in my life that could be manifesting itself in this symptom?” Certainly, I am not suggesting that all, or even most, physical ailments are Satanic in origin, but some are, and it’s a lot cheaper to pray than it is to visit a doctor. The problem with Christian Science as a religion is not that it teaches spiritual healing but rather that its spiritual healing is not based on Scripture, and it mistakenly assumes that all illness is essentially psychosomatic.
He accuses the believer and seeks to overwhelm him with guilt and shame. (Zech. 3:1-2; Rev. 12:10). Turn to Zechariah 3 near the end of the OT. I love this passage where the prophet records a vision in Heaven. I like to put my name in place of Joshua’s:
“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
This scene recalls a similar one in Revelation 12:10, where following the great Battle of Armageddon, a loud voice in heaven says, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
Unfortunately, Satan’s accusations are often true, and the result of being confronted with our sin is generally sorrow. But sorrow is of two kinds. In 2 Cor. 7:10 we read that “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Satan is glad to have us sorry for our sins so long as we don’t do anything about it but grovel in guilt and get depressed. Godly sorrow, on the other hand, recognizes we have an advocate, a lawyer, namely Jesus Christ the Righteous One, who defends us before the Father, pleading his own blood on our behalf. Such sorrow leads to repentance and leaves no regret. We can move on with joy.
I’m going to pass on this next item, simply asking you to look up the passages.
He hinders the ministry of believers through opposition and persecution. (1 Thess. 2:18, Acts 17:1-9)
He renders believers ineffective through extremism. (1 Cor. 5, 2 Cor. 2) We spoke earlier of the fact that Satan doesn’t care if people disbelieve in his existence or become obsessed with him, because either extreme serves his purposes. I would say that extremism is one of his greatest schemes. He doesn’t care if the church ignores sin in the lives of its members or disciplines them so harshly that there is no hope of restoration—either way he succeeds in destroying our witness. He doesn’t care if the church ignores the prophetic signs of the end times or starts setting dates for the return of the Lord—either way the church is discredited and the truth is ignored. He doesn’t care if we ignore secular humanism entirely or go nuts sending petitions to the FCC to stop a fictitious effort by Madalyn Murray O’Hair to shut down Christian radio—either way secular humanism continues unabated.
He promotes dabbling in the occult (this includes New Age phenomena). (Deut. 18:9-13; Acts 19:18-20). This is a major issue today. We are being bombarded by a flood of occultism, including psychic phenomena, like levitation, materialization, dream interpretation, seances, astral-projection, and psychic healing. We are also facing a revival in interest in extra sensory perception, including clairvoyance, precognition, telepathy, psychokinesis, automatic writing, apparitions, table-lifting, games like Ouija boards, card reading, palmistry, and astrology.
New Age medicine is promoting homeopathy, hypnosis, acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, iridology, and other practices that can have occult connections. If you will look at an acupuncture chart in a health professional’s office, you will generally see a reference to the yin and yang forces that are so prominent in Chinese occultism. I’m not necessarily putting these medical practices into the same category as the other occult phenomena I mentioned previously, but I encourage you to examine the issues carefully before submitting to such medical care. I would want to know where the practitioner stands regarding spiritual issues; otherwise, you may be opening yourself to spiritual influences that you will live to regret.
He influences the activities of human governments through his emissaries. (Daniel 10:12-13) If you read Daniel 10, you find that there are angels and demons assigned to different countries, and apparently the battles between these unseen powers at times render human activity irrelevant. I cannot help but wonder to what extent we are seeing the effects of this in many places in our world today.
Conclusion: In conclusion I want to read our text once more:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. 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 you have done everything to stand.”
As great as Satan’s power is, as varied and devious as are his schemes, and as weak as we are in and of ourselves, I would remind you that “greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Those who know Christ personally and have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in them need not fear him. We must, however, be watchful, sober, and courageous.
DATE: December 9, 1990
Tags:
Satan
Demons
Deception
Temptation
Extremism
Occult
[i] C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, Preface, 3.
[ii] Lewis, Miracles, 126.