Fighting Fire

Ephesians 6:11-13  CSB

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.  For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.”

One the things that cause us to great threat when it comes to temptation and false teaching is that we understand neither the real enemy nor how he works.  Our passage reminds us:

Ephesians 6:11

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.”

We are going to fully discuss the Armor of God in future devotionals, so today, let’s zero in on the 2^nd part of that verse.  “Stand against the schemes of the devil.”

In that verse, we are told that we can understand the Enemy and how he works.

If there is one personality over course of humanity that has garnered more attention than God Himself in popular cultural references, it’s His enemy, the devil.

So much fan-fiction has been created over the millennia of this character because it’s an unsettling thought that there’s an unseen powerful being out there that is trying to destroy us. So much bad theology has been created over this scary dude in a red jumpsuit that we probably have a hard time separating fact from fiction. Let’s face it, we were all discipled by Saturday morning cartoons and cheesy horror movies!

Worse, I’ve heard it said “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing people he didn’t exist.”

Let’s do some good theology today and separate fact from fiction.

A solid doctrinal statement I read put it this way:

We believe the Devil is a real person. He is also referred to as Satan. Originally, he was the highest angel but because of his pride he was removed from his place. He will remain God’s enemy until his defeat when he is thrown into the lake of fire forever. The Devil hates God and all who are dear to Him. He is a liar, a murderer and a great pretender, fashioning himself to be the ‘god of this world’. The Devil is utterly determined to destroy people and oppose God’s Work. In this He is like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). We are warned to be wary of his devices.

God’s victory over the Devil can never be in doubt. If God chose, He could bring about His downfall in a moment. When Christians sin they give the Devil a foothold (Eph. 4:27) in their lives. The Devil is very strong and clever but God enables us to overcome Him if we depend on Him.

There’s a couple of statements in there that identify who the Enemy is and how he works:

• Full of pride
• God’s enemy and hates his people
• Liar
• Murder
• Pretender
• False “god of this world”
• Determined to destroy and oppose God’s work

Satan is all about deception. He’s an arrogant liar.

An ancient Chinese general named Sun Tzu wrote a book full of warfare one-liners called “Art of War.” One of his most famous quotes from the book says this:

“All warfare is based on deception.”

So, our first challenge in winning this firefight is to understand the Enemy and his strategies. Recognize today that perhaps you’ve been a victim because you’ve not faced the fact that the Enemy is real. We are so prone be distracted by the smoke and not see the flame.  Satan is a real spiritual being that is out to destroy you.

The second thing we have to be real about is that we’re in a spiritual firefight and the battle is fought in the spaces between truth and deception. That’s the battleground. Everything that happens in our lives is a direct result of how we fare on the field of truth.

But there’s another super important point in there.  It says that God enables us to overcome him.  We are promised that we can “Stand against the schemes of the devil.” Someday, sure, God will finally defeat Satan and his followers. Go read the end of the book. But here… now… you can also send him packing because you have the power of God and the truth of His Word to stand up to the enemy’s lies.

You don’t have to be afraid of this guy. If you are a believer in Jesus, that you’re truly saved, then you have the Holy Spirit living in you. And the Bible says

1 John 4:4

“You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Debrief:

1. Consider how the adverse moments in your life started with a believing something that turned out to be untrue. Every sin begins with believing a lie.
2. What’s the obvious answer to being prepared to not fall to deception?
3. How can you today be mission ready to go on the offensive with God’s Word against the Enemy’s attacks?

Report to the Chief:

Commit to the Lord today to really begin to learn, trust, and deploy His Word to combat the Enemy’s lies.

Feedback

Please use the comments below to give me some feedback. What could have made this post more powerful in your life? Anything not make sense or flow well? Any comments to make it more faithful to Scripture?