NCF South City, May 05th 2007

Text: Ephesians 6, 10-13

Spiritual warfare

I am standing powerless and weak before God, and without him I can not even talk about things that I have seen and believe, why? Because the power of darkness can only be overcome by Him. And I need his grace, mercy and protection especially when I am aware of my nakedness and sins. Pray with me: Lord help me to "be strong in you and in your mighty power. 11 Help me to put on the full armor of God so that I can take a stand against the devil's schemes. 12 It is true oh Lord that our struggles are 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 Help us therefore to put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, we may be able to stand for you. Lord Help us. Lord when I am weak your word says I am strong in you; therefore, we are standing against the powers of darkness in Jesus Christ’s name.
One of the great lies of Satan is to put confusion in people’s minds about who he is. The bible called him the father of lies; he will make sure that people won’t know the truth about him. And because of that confusion, many people--even Christians-- will take some positions in their beliefs and will neglect to search the truth about who he is. I am not suggesting that we should put all our attention to know who Satan is, because our real focus as Christians is to know God and God alone. Satan is not the point of my message this morning, even if we want to spend our time in the topic of spiritual warfare.
At the same time I am suggesting to get a clear view or presentation of this reality of spiritual warfare.
Some people-- even some Christians-- will say that they don’t believe in the existence of Satan, evil power, demons. For this category of people I have two objections:
- The bible talks about it, and because I believe that all the Scriptures are inspired by God himself I will question their seriousness about the word of God. Do you believe that the Bible is the word of God or not? If yes, I am urging you to read your bible again and again!
- My second objection is related to my own experience with demonic power and evil forces. Science taught me that if you pour gas on an object and you set fire to it, that object will burn. I still remember that day when we received a very small idol to burn. Science did not help us that day to burn that small talisman. We tried and tried and tried but nothing happened. We knew that day that some thing unnatural was happening. After a while, we circled the object and we prayed, and God heard our prayers and we saw that small thing jumping by itself without any visible force to lift it up, and then finally it burned.
The second category of people will go in the other extreme: for them Satan and demons are every where. I have concerns about this position or approach as well.
- The bible does not mention anywhere that Satan has such power to be present every where. I don’t know the exact number of demons that were fired from heaven; at the same time I don’t think that demons are every where!
- The main point of my worship is God alone; therefore, I should not focus my attention to search Satan, demons and principalities everywhere. Even in this fallen world God remains the only one in charge and has absolute control over all.
For sure spiritual warfare is not a game; at the same time we don’t want you to give too much power to the devil because he has limited power and God has defeated him publicly on the cross. Today and in these coming weeks Kevin and I want to unfold the truth about spiritual warfare, as a conclusion of the book of Ephesians.
All this being said let us come back to Paul’s writings in Ephesians 6, 10-13:
Reading: Ephesians 6, 10-13: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For 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. 13Therefore 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."
This is the last chapter of the book, and the last instruction from Paul to the church of Ephesus.
FINALLY said Paul, be strong in the Lord:
- Last point, last instruction, don’t forget this. From an African’s perspective, our last point is the main point. I don’t know if Greek literature is close to my dialect, but if I have something very important to tell you, I will say it at the end of our conversation. I know that this sounds so foreign to an American’s perspective: when you have a point to make, you go to the point immediately. Reading this portion with my background glasses, it means that this point is really a key point: FINALLY be strong in the Lord.
- Our strength comes from the Lord. This is not about us; it is really about God himself. If you want to stand against the power of this dark world, your strength is in the Lord, not in your knowledge, nor even in your spiritual gifts, nor in your natural, mental, or intellectual capacities. What that means for us is simply that we have to acknowledge our total dependency on God. One of the dangers of spiritual warfare is to point people to men, or to Satan, not to God.
A man came to me one day and asked me to pray for him. I said that’s fine, I will do so. Then he added that he knew that I could cast demons out of his life. I looked at him and told him I am afraid that I can’t pray for you any more because I can’t cast out demons. During our conversation I knew that he was only oppressed by demonic forces, not possessed. I gave him some scriptures to read at home and I asked him to pray as he never prayed before. He left my place very discouraged. Two days letter he came back to me with a big smile and said, "It works! I was discouraged last time, but I decided to follow your instructions: I read the portion you gave me, I prayed and I can’t feel the presence of these demons or spirits when I am sleeping".
Our strength is in the Lord, not in a preacher or televangelist. The power is in the Lord. Finally be strong in the Lord. The Lord is our refuge, he is our fortress, he is our strength, and our salvation. Whom shall I fear because the Lord is on our sight. We are not afraid because of the spiritual authorities, the powers of this dark world or the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms because of Him. One day a witch told me, "Macklann we will kill you if you keep saying things like that". I looked at him and I told him, "by myself you can kill me, but before you can reach me, you have to go through one gate, where Jesus-Christ stands with his blood. There is no way for you to pass or walk through that gate". He who is in us is greater than he who is in this world; therefore, we should not be fearful.
For those who are afraid to go to the mission field because of such stories, listen: there is no power in this world that can stand against Jesus-Christ. It is just not possible. Can I tell you something that may shock you a little bit? I don’t believe that demons or spiritual principalities are living only in Africa or elsewhere. They are here, too. With all the respect that I have for psychiatric practices, I am really suspicious about some of their patients’ cases. Some of their patients are just possessed with demons. We can talk about it at any time after the service if you have questions concerning possession. Do you know what really "free masons" and other esoteric groups do in terms of spirituality?
If our security is in God’s power we need to be constantly under his Lordship. Do not try to fight the devil if Jesus-Christ is not your Lord and Savior. You all know the story of the sons of Sceva in Acts 19, 13- 16: "13Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." 14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15(One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" 16Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding."
I am not pointing this out to scare anybody, but we must understand that spiritual warfare is a real battle between us and the devil. Praise the Lord that we are not alone in this battle against principalities.
- Therefore you can take your stand against the devil's schemes or strategies and attacks. The word "schemes" means strategies or tricks of the devil. And to be able to stand, to claim our victory or to defeat them again, God is giving us what we need to face Satan and his demons. God is giving us weapons that I can qualify as offensive and defensive weapons: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the word, and prayer are the weapons that ward off the darts of the unseen enemy. Next week Pastor Kevin is going to unfold the meaning of these weapons.
For today, God is asking us to put on the full armor of God. Read with me in v 11: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
First it is a command to have all the weapons we just named. Any thing that a soldier or a policeman has with him is useful for some thing. From his uniform to whatever is on him means something. If a policeman shows up in normal civil clothes in the middle of traffic and lifts his arm and tries to stop cars, nobody will look at him. Some people will probably call 911 to report him. In time of war, if you are a General in a battle field, and you don’t have on your commandment symbols, soldiers will not follow your instructions. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s attacks.
I want to open an invitation for whoever is aware of spiritual warfare in his life, to not lose hope because Jesus-Christ is Lord, and can give you your freedom, even today as you are listening to his voice now. He can set you free. Some people in the middle of the night cannot sleep, and this is so clear to them that something bizarre is going on, or they see some really scary staff, please receive this word, Jesus can set you free. If medicine is not helping your depression, I suggest to you to have brothers and sisters pray for you. Possession and oppression are not funny games brothers and sisters. When the Bible calls demons evils spirits, they really do evil stuff, and their goal is to destroy, to kill, to make life miserable, and take away any hope and joy.
If you are obsessed with suicidal thoughts, please wake up and stand in God’s strength. If your mind is always full with obscenities, please watch out and cry out for help. If you are always pushed to see blood, it can be a red flag in your life. Money and material possessions can become your demons.
In Africa, it is well known that the practices of witchcraft are under the rule of demons, and they are killing people. Some women and men have night husbands or night wives, and these kinds of spirits are fighting against stable marriages. People who are possessed with such spirits will describe to you how they are forced by spirits to marry them. In most of the cases they can’t get married with a physical person. I met a man who fell in love with a lady, and that lady has a night husband. Whenever he tried to stay with that woman or sleep with her, during the night he always got beaten, and the next morning you would see bruises all over his body. They are enslaved by spirits and only Jesus can set them free.
We do not struggle 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. Praise be to God in Jesus-Christ, in whom we have victory over all spirits.
I want to make a quick remark here about the flesh and blood statement in this passage. Some people, even Christians, will abuse this passage by saying, "well, the devil is the one who is forcing me to sin". There is a difference between our flesh sins and what the devil can do in us or against us. James 4, 7 puts it very well: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
What is the point of Paul’s final word? Authorities, powers of this dark world and spiritual forces of evil are real, but God put us in a position of victory. The image of that position can be related to the story of Joshua in the O T "1 after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to you—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you."
The fall of Jericho in chapter 6 of the same book was not related to Joshua’s plans and strategies, nor his army skills. The victory came from God. The only thing they did was to obey the voice of the Lord, period. Humanly speaking we cannot stand against all these forces in this fallen world. This is possible only because of Him. Our strength is in Him who died on the cross, and bought us with his blood. Without him Satan will crush us like dust. He is like a lion who seeks who he can devour. But we serve the Lion of Judah. On that cross he defeated the power of Satan and his demons. Let us come and celebrate the victory we have in Christ.

Macklann Basse