Fight the Devil (Ephesians 6:10-17)

Fight the Devil (Ephesians 6:10-17)

 

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.

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 you 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

 

Intro)

1. It is in our nature to become accustomed and desensitized to the things that constantly surround us. A fish pays no attention to the water it lives in and we give little concern to the air we breathe daily. As such, we can become unaware of the spiritual evils and perils in our lives if we are constantly exposed to them and if we fail to be mindful of them. We mistake what should be red flags for the norm. But we must not fall victim to such apathy. We must always be vigilant of the evils that may attack so we can be prepared to fight back.

 

Paul tells us in today's scripture, "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." We must always be aware and prepared.




2. Throughout history, we’ve seen that the people God used in great ways were people who fought and defeated Satan's spiritual hindrances in a very real and physical way. But in the present 21st century, most people deny the real existence of the devil and claim evil is only manifested in the form of humans and human actions; there is no such thing as supernatural entities or powers.

 

They do not believe there are actual supernatural forms and forces like the devil.  We need to know that the devil very much exists and it is not a mere concept; just because it is not tangible, it does not mean it is not real. Today, we will take a look at the existence of Satan and how we can fight him.

 

Body)

A) Those Who Have Experienced Satan First Hand

 

1. Martin Luther was once taunted by the devil so badly he threw his ink bottle at him in an attempt to make the devil go away, causing the bottle to hit the wall and shatter. He had so clearly seen and experienced Satan. The hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" was written by Luther as a recount of his battle and victory against the devil.

 

2. one of Korea's most famous Methodist pastors, Yong-do Lee, had once been an evangelist (lay preacher) at a church in Tongchon, Gangwondo. For a year he had fervently preached, prayed, and visited congregation members. He had been lauded for his diligence and sermons.

 

Yet he saw no progress in his church. Then one Christmas Eve, Pastor Lee (Lay Preacher Lee at the time) woke up at 3am and started his early morning prayer at church as usual. He had been praying for hours alone when he saw the haze of a strange figure in the worship hall. 

 

The creature was neither human nor any animal he had seen. It was a huge, ferocious-looking monster with claws protruding from its hands and feet, and it looked ready to tear Pastor Lee apart at any given second. Pastor Lee was seeing a demon. Wherever he moved, the demon would block his way. He commanded, "Satan! Be gone!" but when he took a closer look he saw that the entire worship hall, and even the outside, was filled with demons and they were all staring him down.

 

The pastor began throwing his fists and feet all over the place, and ended up hitting the walls and breaking the glass windows. In the end his hands and feet were bloodied and mangled, and the night had become day. The exhausted pastor saw one demon still lingering in a corner, looking for a way to escape. The pastor followed the fleeing demon to the nearby house of a higher deaconess who had long been corrupted. The demon was sitting in the doorway pointing at the children in the house saying, "Which one shall I take?"

 

The pastor yelled, "Be gone Satan! These are children of God and you cannot hurt them!" At this the demon finally left the house. The pastor followed the demon further and saw it disappear down the road.

 

The next day was the Christmas service, and for the first time the church was filled and the entire congregation cried tears of repentance. Those who were in despair, including the corrupted deaconess, found new strength and the church experienced a great revival.

 

3. Pastor Lee had a strange experience again at Yang Yang. He was invited as a guest lecturer for a Sunday School Instructor teaching course at the church in Yang Yang. Pastor Lee had been lying down in a room when he saw a strange sight: An army of demons came into the church and attacked, killing everyone inside. Pastor Lee immediately faced the demons and blew a breath of air. The demons collapsed on the spot and died. 

 

He woke up from the dream with a start, and it was time for his lecture. When he proclaimed and taught the crowd God's message, the Holy Spirit worked through the people and since then the church went through a great revival. Ever since, all of the revivals Pastor Lee led were massively successful.

 

B) What is Satan?

 

1. Whenever we try to carry out a mission of God, Satan is always the first to get in our way. If we do not defeat him immediately, it is impossible to fulfill God’s mission. But Satan is no easy opponent; he has own gang under his command. We typically refer to Satan as the devil and his cronies as demons. The Bible identifies Satan as follows:

 

① He has power through and over groups and gangs.

The Gospel of John describes Satan as the “King of the World”. Revelation tells us that he brings confusion and infatuation to all the nations. But of course his authority cannot and will not last. Communism, atheism, and other ideologies that deny God and create distrust and confusion are all mere puppets under Satan’s realm of authority.

 

There was a city of believers in Britain. Most of the citizens had faith and went to church. But slowly, atheists moved into the city and began publicly denouncing the existence of God. They put up PA systems in front of the church and proclaimed, “The Bible is a lie!” This swayed some of the weaker believers, and one by the one the church congregation dwindled in numbers.

 

Seeing no other route, the remaining congregation gathered together and prayed against Satan and his attacks through these protesting atheists. Amazingly, the atheists started arguing and fighting amongst each other. Eventually, they ended up arrested by the police and the groups scattered. Soon, they were all gone.

 

Like this, Satan, to this day, is constantly trying to lead astray believers of new, weak, or uncertain faith by utilizing the groups in his command and convincing organizations to induce confusion.

 

② He has power and authority.

Of course, true power and authority belongs to God, but the devil is constantly trying to make this power his own. He uses authority to persecute Christians or create chaos and disagreement within Christianity, eventually leading to cults being formed. Those who take on or succumb to the devil’s authoritative power take on his ideals and commit sins like murder.

 

 ③ He is the ruler of darkness.

Satan convinces us to create idols and praise them in place of God. He sends false prophets who make false prophecies and leads believers astray from the truth. He brings confusion, despair, despondency, and darkness to the world. If he succeeds of clouding and darkening a person’s heart, he succeeds in separating them from God.

 

2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “⁴ The god of this age [,Satan,] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The devil does everything in his power to lead one more person to Hell.

 

John 10:10 also says, “¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…” Satan’s only goal is to bring chaos, hate, pain, and sickness to the world. He creates disagreements and pits families against each other. If we do not recognize the devil’s schemes and actively fight against it through the Word and prayer, our lives, our families, our church, and our world will be filled with suffering and darkness.

 

C) We Must Fight Satan

The Bible clearly tells us to confront and fight the devil and his demons. But how?

 ① Fight him through the name and blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 12:7 tells us that we defeat Satan through the blood of Jesus Christ. When we declare the name of Jesus Christ and believe in His sacrifice and cleansing blood, the devil will retreat. When we sing praises of the power of His blood and command them to be gone in His name, they will run away in fear.

 

② Fight him through words supported by your faith.

You can believe in Jesus’ blood and declare His name, but you must do so boldly with confidence. You must show Satan you are a child of God, saved by Jesus’ sacrifice, thus you do not fear him. Declare and prove your faith, “Be gone Satan! I am a child of God. You have no business with me, so leave. Through Jesus’ blood, I have already defeated you!” Don't just say it; command it.

 

③ Fight with all your might, fight for your life, and fight with your life.

This means that to overcome the devil, we must first be true followers of Christ who have cast aside the greed and lusts of the world. We must first be true and complete servants of God. Our lives must be completely for God.

 

You can’t live in Satan’s world, take part in and enjoy his worldly pleasures and then expect him to take you seriously when you tell him “Be gone!” You cannot be a lukewarm Christian and expect the devil to fear you just because you say Jesus’ name. The devil and his demons would merely laugh in your face; you would be a hypocrite who is already under their power.

 

You must turn your back to the worldly temptations and fully serve the Lord, and the Lord alone. God must be the center of your life; you can’t serve both God and Satan and enjoy the “perks” of both sides.

 

④ Fight him with God’s Word.

God’s word is the sword that will defeat the devil. When Satan was tempting and testing Jesus, Jesus was able to overcome everything by remembering God’s word.

 

Matthew 4:1-11:

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.”

 

Read and learn His word regularly. Read it and learn it well enough so that you can remember and refer to it whenever you face trouble or temptation. Hearing Bible verses during sermons once a week is not enough. You must fight Satan with faith like fire; lukewarm dedication won’t do anything and God will not stand beside you.

 

⑤ Fight him with prayer.

Prayer is another strong weapon with which you can fight the devil. When we are faced with worries, anxiety, or trials, we must pray because prayer is the ultimate weapon God has given us. Constant prayer in the Holy Spirit is what will give us the wisdom and strength to overcome Satan.

 

The harder Satan attacks us, the harder we need to pray. If the devil attacks you with his demons or through his power and authority on earth and you are outnumbered, it is all the more necessary to pray and pray with help of other believers. When we come together in prayer, we can defeat any evil that tries to tear us down.

 

There are many hardships and temptations we have faced and will continue to face throughout our lives. There are times when we despair, feel hopeless, exhausted, and simply want to give up. Satan seeks to weaken our spirits by making us question our faith, tearing us away from our family of faith, and making us idle in prayer and the Word.

 

Only through God’s Word and prayer can we win each battle. The Word, prayer, a life of discipleship and dedication to God is what keeps us alert, armed, and prepared for any attack Satan may have for us. Face the devil and his demons boldly with courage, and with Jesus beside us we will all be victorious.

 

071617 by Ik Sun Ahn