Standing Strong

Yn ddiweddaraf, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. Yn ystod yr wythnosau, mae'n bwysig i ni ddweud a ydych chi'n gwybod beth sy'n digwydd ymlaen. But it does mean that we are to the final section of the Apostle Paul's writing to this letter. And of course we have discovered the entire context of the book of Ephesians as the Apostle has spent all these chapters prior to this trying to explain to us and help us understand the realities of what we have gained in Christ Jesus. And we have some great realities that we are given because of Jesus Christ. We found all the way back in chapter 1 that first of all He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. We have been given adoption and we have been given love. And He told us that He has predestined us and He has forgiven us and He has enlightened us. He has fulfilled us with knowledge and understanding and power. And that we have been removed from this world of Satan and placed in the kingdom of Jesus Christ because of His wonderful grace. In Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8 He says, For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them. And so we have been created for good works. We have been saved by grace through faith. And as we look at this passage of scripture this morning, I want us to understand that we have been removed out of this world and this dominion of Satan. He is the prince of this world. He is the power of the air. And we have been taken and placed into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And so we have changed our position. And as we look at this and we understand this, Paul said in chapter 4, after he finished up the first three chapters, telling us about what all God has done and how God has done this, and how God has given us this new life in Him. We come to chapter 4 in verse 1 and he tells us there that we are to walk. Let me see here, my screen is messing all up. He said, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness of mind. Darby, I'm going to let you control it. I'm going to switch to a different program. That's driving me nuts. Huh? Okay, so I'm just going to let you do it. And I'm going to go to different notes here. So he said, verse 2, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And so we're commanded of this walk in unity, this walk that we have, that we are giving. And because of everything that Christ has done for us, we're to be different. We're to walk. We're to live differently than everyone else. And we find as he goes through here and he talks about this love, that we are to walk in love. We are to walk circumspectly. As a matter of fact, I look back, and it was back in October, five months ago, when we actually looked at this passage of Scripture, but kind of our theme for last year and our celebration of our 200th anniversary, he said, Paul said in Ephesians 5, that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. A walk that is wise, a walk that is aware of our surroundings, our obstacles, our weaknesses, that is a walk that we find that Paul told us can only be accomplished as we are filled with the Holy Spirit. And as we are filled with the Holy Spirit, it begins to make all of the relationships that we are in on this earth totally different. And as it begins to work in these relationships, our souls are even different. Our marriages are different. Our families are different. And so Paul is letting us know as believers in Christ Jesus that we have all these resources. We have gone from rags to riches, and God has given us all of these resources. He's given us all of the power and all of the principles that we need to live the Christian life. God has given us everything that we need in order to be a worthy Christian. There's only one thing left that Paul, writing to the church in Ephesus, wants us to understand. And that is not going to be easy. It's not always going to be a bad experience. It's not always going to be wonderful. And what Paul is wanting us to understand is that as we live this Christian life, we need to make sure that we don't take this life for granted. Redeeming the time because the days are evil. Proverbs 16 and verse 18 says, Pride doth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a foul. And so there is one basic principle that the Apostle Paul wants us to understand in order to walk, in order to even begin to walk, there is one thing that we have to understand before we can begin and move into the next process. And he starts that in verse 10 of chapter 6. Paul says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor 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 darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Listen very, very carefully. What Paul understands is a fact that we see in life every single day. You cannot walk if you don't know how to stand. Right? You cannot walk if you don't know how to stand. There is a very popular quote, and I looked to try to give credit to somebody, and they listed a bunch of names, and finally they just said, it's anonymous who said it. But you're going to remember this statement when I say it, if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. Right? And so man, there has never been a truer statement in Christianity than that. And Paul understands that we cannot begin to redeem the time. We cannot begin to walk. And we cannot begin to live the Christian life until first of all, we learn to stand. We learn to stand up before we can move forward. And Paul's wanting to remind us, the people of God, we are facing a very, very real enemy. We are in a very real battle today. And we are facing an individual that we call Satan, and he controls the evil kingdom of all of these demonic forces. And folks, we live in this world of forces. We live in this world that is controlled and dominated by Satan himself. And him and his legion of angels are doing all that they can to try to defeat and discourage Christian people today. They are trying to do everything that they can to hinder the church and the body of Christ. They are doing everything that they can to see that we, the people of God, fail in our mission to live for God and to bring Him glory. We are fighting real battles and facing real powerful enemies today. The Christian life is not in heaven. That's later. They say, man, if you'll be saved, everything will just be perfect and you can live in heaven. No, that's coming way on down the road. That is not right now. As a matter of fact, Paul describes the life that we live as Christians today as a battle, as a warfare, as a fight like we've never fought before. But before we can fight, before we can go against our enemy, we have to go to war. And before we go to war, we have to learn to stand. And I think the greatest thing that we see in the church today is that we, the people of God, the people that live for Christ, we're completely unable to stand. We don't know if we stand or not. We have to stand. And therefore, we don't know how to walk. But listen, this morning, if we're going to be victorious in the spiritual and physical battles that we face, if we're going to have victory, if we are going to ever live in practice of what we are in position of what Christ has given us, if we are ever to know the fullness of Christian living, we have to listen to what the Apostle Paul tells us at the end of this book. We cannot be so foolish as to think now that we've got all of this data. We can run out and make it the way that it ought to be. We're going to hit opposition and step one, and we're going to hit opposition all the way down the line as long as we endeavor to live in God's kingdom on God's terms because Satan will do his very best to withstand us. And so Paul tells us here in verse 10, the very first thing in learning to walk that he started back in chapter 4, because of who we are in Jesus Christ, this is how we ought to live and before we can walk and live the Christian life, he tells us here in verse 10 that we need to prepare for the fight. We need to prepare for the fight. We do not want the battle to begin when you are unprepared. There is nothing... I love boxing, and Paul uses a boxer in another letter to talk about this battle and fight that we are in. Here, he's going to use a soldier. A black soldier who is in a battle. But whether you are a soldier in a battle of hand-to-hand combat or you're in a boxing match with hand-to-hand combat, the one thing you do not want to do when you enter a fight is be unprepared. You don't want to be caught off guard. That's why Paul started back to wake up. Wake up. Redeem the time because the days are evil. And so we need to understand that this preparation to fight begins with realizing our strength comes from a person. He says there in verse 10, he says, Finally, my brethren, be strengthened in the Lord and in the power of His might. Be strengthened in the Lord. That word strengthened means to be empowered. To be strengthened. It literally is used to speak of a deathbed patient that all of a sudden recovers from their illness. That's what Paul taught us in Ephesians 2, right? That we are no longer dead, but we have been made alive in Jesus Christ. We have been made strong in the Lord. Where we were dead in the flesh, we are now alive in the Spirit. And he says, Be strong in the Lord. What gave us this life? Jesus Christ. And so this life can only come through Jesus Christ. It is the idea and the picture of someone that was completely weak before, but has now been made strong. And that sounds exactly what we need as Christians. Because when we study the book of Ephesians and we look at ourselves, we understand that we are weak creatures. We understand that we are weak emotionally. We understand that we are weak in the way that we think. We are weak in our spirits. We are weak when it comes to temptation and sin. We are weak in our ability to control our own wills. We are simply weak and we need someone to help us. None of us is capable of being strong on our own. None of us possess spiritual power within ourselves. We are weak. We are frail. We are fallible. We are foolish creatures. And we are often losing our sight of the battles of life. The strength we need to walk in victory in the battles of life will never come within ourselves. The strength we need can only come from the Lord. And this verse tells us, be strong in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord. That means any spiritual strength that you can ever hope to possess must come from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Spiritual power can only be ours through a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so what this means is that we trust Jesus Christ. We trust Him for His death and His resurrection to save us. That's the gospel message is. You have to believe that Jesus died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again to give eternal life. And once you start trusting Him there, then you also have to trust Him for His spiritual power that we desperately need in order to continue to live and to walk in this world. We have to have the power of Jesus Christ. Just like we need the righteousness of Jesus Christ to come boldly to the throne room of grace and mercy to make our requests made known unto God, we need His power to live in this earth today. We need His power to stand against the attacks that we face in life. Just as we need His blood that we sing about so much here in Kentucky to take away our sins, we need His power to defeat Satan. And so we need to realize, first of all, our strength comes from a Person, Jesus. But the second thing in preparation to fight is we need to understand and realize that our strength comes from a provision that Christ has given us. Look at what He goes on to say there. He says, "...And follow Me, my brethren, and be strong in the Lord." And what? The power of His might. That word power there refers to dominion. It speaks of a power to complete and perfect something. And the word might has the idea of force or strength. Someone who has an absolute ability. And when you take these two words and you put them together, it describes the kind of power that we so desperately need in this life if we are going to experience victory in the spiritual battles that we face. The question becomes, is how do we get this power? How do we get this power? We get it the same way we have our sins forgiven. Grace through faith that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. We get it the same way that we receive righteousness. His declaration. We get it simply by trusting Him and not ourselves. If I try to stand against Satan and his forces and my power, I will fail. I remember the disciples that went out in the book of Acts. You remember they are in the Gospels. They went to cast out devils. And what did the devils do? They turned on them. And they lashed on them. And they gave them a pretty good whipping. And they turned and they ran back to Jesus Christ and they rebuked the disciples. And the demons said, we know Jesus Christ, right? But we don't know who you are. And we're not going to listen to you. And we're not going to obey you. And a lot of times, that's how we end up in this world, isn't it? Satan doesn't know us, but here's what he does know. He does know Jesus Christ. And at the name of Jesus Christ, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. If I could ever learn to lean on the Lord Jesus Christ, if I could ever learn to confess my own weaknesses, to place my faith in His power alone, then I can become a candidate for victory. Then I can be on the winning side. One of the truths Paul has been trying to teach us is that when we are saved, we are made one with Jesus Christ. He's taught this from the very beginning in Ephesians 1. His life, the life of Jesus Christ, becomes our life. His truth becomes our truth. His way becomes our way. His power becomes our power. Christ's strength becomes our strength. We are made all things in Christ Jesus. And so here's what we forget. We forget that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for the dead. We forget that at that moment He defeated Satan. He defeated all Satan's works. This means that this war is already over with. And we sometimes forget this because we forget that Jesus Christ has already won the war. And we're not fighting for victory. What we are fighting for is from victory. We are fighting because the victory has already been given. If we could come to this place where we understand that our Lord has already defeated Satan, that when we are in Jesus Christ, we are partakers of His victory, it will help us to walk in that victory in our day-to-day battles. Now even though He has already won the war, we're going to have some upsets in the battle. We're going to take our lumps. And when you are in Jesus Christ by faith, saved as grace, you become partakers of His power, His strength and ability. But notice, true spiritual power only comes when you are in the Lord. When you are in Jesus Christ. And so the preparation for faith is Jesus Christ. It is fast in Jesus Christ. It is focused in Jesus Christ. In His power. And it's only given to those who are in a faith relationship with Him. You know, when I read this verse, I can't help but be reminded that we are foolish when we trust in ourselves. We are fools. The Bible says over and over, the fool has said in his heart that there is no God. And we think if we're powerful, we think if we can go out and have victory, then we become a fool by leaving God out of it. We think that we can fight the devil and his demons, sin, temptation, the world, the enemies of this life in our own strength. We are foolish. We think we can handle it on our own. We must realize that we can't handle it. We must realize that we are incapable of defeating Satan. And we must trust not ourselves, but in Jesus Christ who has promised us His power and His victory to us that are in Him. And He tells us here that if we're going to have victory, it's not about us fighting. It's not about us winning. It's about us simply standing in what Jesus Christ has already done for us and through us. Notice the second thing that He tells us in verse 11. The persistence to fight. We are prepared to fight because we realize that it comes in Jesus Christ. We are ready and prepared to fight because of His provision that He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of Him. We received His power. We inferred His power and His might because of our faith in Him. But then notice the persistence to fight. He says there in verse 11, Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the laws of the devil. He tells us in verse 13, Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, Stand therefore, verse 14, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Look, over and over and over. What does Paul say? We're in a war. We're in a battle. Put on the armor of God and stand. Stand. Stand. What does stand mean? Stand literally means standing firm, holding your position to the opposition, but also prevailing against it. Not only do you hold your position, but you will win. Any boxer will tell you the most important thing is not about not being able to take punches and stuff because you're going to get punched. The boxer works on his stance and his form so that what? When he gets hit, he can withstand that punch and he can be able to punch back and be able to go on in the battle. We are not standing around waiting to see if the battle will be won because we've already promised it was a victory. We can go to Revelation and see that guess what? The battle has already been won. Satan is going to be captured. He's going to be placed in prison and bondage for nearly a thousand years and God's going to release him for a season, but then what is he going to do? He's going to destroy him and he's going to take him and he's going to throw him and all those believers that followed after Satan, he is going to cast into the lake of fire which is the second death. We know there's going to be a victory. So we're not standing around as Christians and I think this is where we have totally misinterpreted this Scripture. Man, we are just standing around watching for God because God made the promise that what? If I build my church, the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And we are standing around watching when is God going to come back? When is this victory going to be won? And I'm here to entertain to you this morning that the victory has already been won. We're not standing to watch to see what's going to happen if the victory is going to be won, but we are standing in the fact that a decisive victory has already been won by God. And our task as believers is not to win. Our task is simply to stand. To not lose hope. To not give up. To not shrink back and go back to where we was before Jesus Christ. To persevere and maintain what has already been won. That's our job. That's our calling. It's because this victory has been won that believers are involved in the battle to begin with. It's because Jesus Christ said, I've already won, and I am going to go see this and run my hand through the fire and make intercession on your behalf. And I want to leave you here now with my spirit to fight this battle. But know this, you're not fighting a losing battle. I've already won. It's temporary. It's temporary. But a lot of you are fighting. You are ambassadors of another kingdom. You are pilgrims walking around in this land. You are different. And we are to be a witness of what God has done in and through our life. Go back to Ephesians 2. He says we're in and time passed. You walked according to the course of this world. According to the prince of the power of the air. The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. You cannot look at the news, read a newspaper, or look outside of your window and not see the spirit of evil working in the children of disobedience today. He says in verse 3, on whom also we all had our conversation in time past in the lust of the flesh, the fulfilling of the desires of the flesh and of the mind, who are by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Listen, where there could be no battle or resistance because we were in total bondage. At one time, we were completely controlled by Satan. And Paul is now calling for the reader to stand against the powers. He's also reminding us of the liberation that Jesus Christ has given us from them powers. For you are saved by grace through faith, not of yourselves. You are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. And so we're in this battle because Jesus Christ has already won this battle. The major victory has already been achieved. But the future tension, the problem that's caused today because of all of these indicatives and imperatives that He tells us to stand, to put on, all of these commands that He gives and all of this tension that we have with the world that we are already victorious in still remains because of the presence of Satan and his forces. Listen, Paul tells us here that we will be punched. He says the devil is a wily creature. He is a smart. He is a crafty individual. The Bible says that he is like a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour. One of the things I miss the most about Saturday morning TV is Mutual of Omaha. Anybody ever grow up watching that? Most of you guys in here don't even have a clue. But every Saturday, when everybody else got up to do other things, I wanted to watch Mutual of Omaha. And man, they would show this footage of these lions and these leopards and stuff and how they would hide and blend into that grass. And all of a sudden, this little gazelle would come out of nowhere, right? And just be eating and playing and having a good time and thinking, man, this is the best life anyone can live. And all of a sudden, instantly, what happened? That lion jumps out of the grass, and now they are in a fight for their life. And Satan is trying to do that to us today. And listen to me. We're going to get punched. We're going to get scarred. He's going to make his blows. But Paul is telling us in chapter 5, he says, Wake up! Wake up! Repeat what you just said. But that's what you're going to hear today. You're going to get punched in the face. I want you to understand this today. Satan is a real person. A real person. And that's why I want you to engage with us and do so against continuing assaults. And this is not automatic, folks. It doesn't just happen because you're a believer. There may be minor defeats along the way. Hence the urgency for Paul to give us these imperatives to stand, to put on, to live in such of a way that it's easier to withstand the blows of the enemy if we're standing properly. If our stance is found not in ourselves, but in Jesus Christ. And not only are we punched, but listen, Jesus promises here that we'll be protected. We'll be protected. How are we protected? He says, put on the whole armor of God. Put on the whole armor of God. Listen to me very, very carefully. And we're going to point this out over the next week or several weeks. I haven't really decided yet how we're going to break all this armor down. But I want you to understand right here and right now, it is not a bare armor. It's not a helmet. It's not a breastplate. It's not a pair of shoes. It's not a sword. It's not a mask. It's not a mask. It's Jesus Christ. And he's telling us to put on Jesus Christ. Stance in what you believe. Put on Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the foundation to receive. Jesus Christ said, I will be the true foundation. I'm going to be the cornerstone. I'm going to be the chief. I am the foundation of all foundations. Listen to me very, very carefully this morning. It is not easy. And, man, there are so many vacations. There are so many lessons out there. And, man, it's neat because it's illustrative. It's easy to see. But I think sometimes when we get to this passage of Scripture, we get to spend more time and focus on getting the physical aspect right and the armor right. And what does this armor do? And what is it covering? And everything else that we forget that Paul is making a spiritual illustration here. He's talking about what we have in Jesus Christ. And it starts with truth. It starts with truth. Understanding Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. You have to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Stand on that. Do you know how many people and how many Christians today are doubting whether or not Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man? Do you know how many are struggling today with understanding the simple fact that Jesus Christ was not only a good prophet, was not only a good man, but was the Son of God? Paul says, first of all, understand truth. And we find truth in Jesus Christ. He was fully God and fully man. And then he says, then righteousness. Listen, I can't make myself righteous. I can't make myself holy. Because I am a sinner. But guess what? Jesus Christ said, I can be righteous if I trust in Him. So he says, once we understand truth, then we understand righteousness. And if you take away these armors, if you take away these deals, and you look, Paul is fixing to lay out a spiritual checklist that there is absolutely no way that you can walk as a Christian or even fight as a Christian until you check off these boxes of what you believe about Jesus Christ. See, he spent three chapters talking about our position in Jesus Christ. And now he has spent three chapters on how we should behave. And your behavior is always affected by what you believe. And so therefore, he says, put on Jesus Christ. Put on the truth of Jesus Christ. Put on His righteousness. I'm not good. I'm not worthy. I am not a good adversary against Satan. I am weak. I am frail. I am fallible. But listen, Jesus Christ is not. Because at the name of Jesus Christ, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. And so understand that we are protected because of Jesus Christ. It's about our spiritual equipment that we get when we have gained Jesus Christ. And so lastly, right quick, I want us to understand the person that we fight. I want us to understand as we prepare for this battle, as we get persistent to stand in this battle that has already been won by Jesus Christ, we have to understand our enemy. We have to understand our enemy. And notice what he says there in verse 11. He says, Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the walls of who? The devil. The devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Notice this pseudonym. Notice the name that they give him. The devil. Do you realize what the devil translates and means? It literally means the accuser. The slanderer. The liar. He is the one that goes. That's why Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father and we're living to make intercession on our behalf because guess what? Satan is going up before hell and going to God and saying, look at this horrible creature you've got there. It could just be a missionary Baptist church. And Jesus Christ stops him right there and says, but listen, he's received my blood, and so he's holy. He's holy. You can't look at his faults. You look at what I have done and what he has accepted by faith. See, that's what he's making intercession about. He has already been victorious, but Satan still wants to bring up all the faults and all the failures because he is the accuser. He is the slanderer. He is a liar. He is diabolical. The enemy is Satan. And all of the spiritual forces that he controls. Listen, we don't need to get hung up on the individual classifications and ranks that's mentioned here. He goes into all of this stuff about the spiritual there in v. 12. He says these principalities, these powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual wickedness. We don't really need to spend time and we could look at each one of these classifications. Exactly what he is talking about in this battle. But what I want you to understand this morning is that there is a wreath of devil that is in control of all of these forces. And their whole purpose is that they hate God. They despise God with a passion and they are doing everything they possibly can to try to steal God's glory and undermine His kingdom. And he commands a vast army of demonic spirits that are actively seeking to destroy, to defeat us, to demolish us, to dismantle the kingdom of God. Do you realize that Satan has power? He does have power, but he doesn't have all power. That's given to Jesus Christ. Satan has authority, but he doesn't have all authority. That was given to Jesus Christ in John 1. Romans 4. He kills us there in the Word of God. He kills us. John writing, he is the God of those children. It was revealed, because the writer is He that is in you. It's He that is in the world. That's something you can hang your hat on this morning. But understand that Satan, being the God of this world, will one day have to bow before the God of the universe. And Satan has a vast kingdom, but God's kingdom is infinite. It says in 2 Corinthians 4, in verse 4, In whom the God of this world hath blinded the eyes of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Not only do we see His pseudonym, but we also see His personality. Satan, the devil, is a prudent enemy. He's a prudent enemy. He is out to destroy everything God is and everything God is doing in this world. And one of the ways He does it is by attacking the children of God. Look at verse 11. It talks about His wiles of the devil. And we've already mentioned, this phrase refers to deceptive tricks that He is scheming, that He is plotting, that He is setting traps for us. Satan wants to defeat you. He wants to ruin your testimony and who you are. And one way that he does it, and he does it well, is through deception. Through deception. Let me just mention a few ways Satan deceives us. Do you realize that Satan deceives us by lying to us about the consequences of our sins? Satan hasn't changed his tactics. He's been the very same from the very beginning. He will tell you that it's ok to experiment with sex. He will tell you that it's ok to do these things, but he doesn't tell you about the diseases that you can get. He doesn't tell you about the unwanted pregnancies. He doesn't tell you about the broken homes that it leads to or the broken hearts. He does this in any way, in any area where sin is involved. And that's what he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3 and verse 4, the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die. Why are you worrying about death? Right? What were you worrying about? See, what were you worrying about? The consequences. And you're the one who did it, right? You're the one who did it. The Almighty God deceives us by lying to us about the consequences of sin, but He deceives us by casting doubt on the Word of God. He'll tell you that truth is a lie. He'll tell you that truth is a lie. He'll also tell you that lies are the truth. See, it doesn't matter either way. The same thing can happen to anything besides the truth. And He'll introduce false doctrine. He'll cause you to believe good things and trust those good things to save your soul. That's what He did to Eve in chapter 3, verse 1 of Genesis. He said, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And He said unto the woman, Yet, as God said, I don't know how many Christians that have started a conversation with me after church on a Monday morning through a text or an email or a phone call, does the Bible really say that? Is there a verse that really deals with this? One of the greatest hindrances of Satan is trying to get us to cast doubt on the Word of God and question the Word of God and try to put it into boxes and formalities and all of that. It goes on in verse 4, chapter 3 of Genesis. And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die. Did God really say you would die? Listen, God doesn't really know what He's talking about, right? Did they really die? I bet it wasn't a physical death. It was a spiritual immediate death. They were kicked out of the presence of God. Immediately, they were freed from His presence. The result of death is still the same. Listen to me, we can go against God and His Word all day long, and we may think that we got away from it. We may think that we got away from it. We may think that nobody saw us or nobody feels, but guess what? God promises, that shall He also reap. Satan also deceives us by causing us to doubt God's goodness. He'll tell us that there's a better way than serving the Lord. He'll make you think that God is holding out on you. You know, that man, this is the better way. That's what he did to Eve in chapter 3, verse 5 of Genesis. He said, for God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, and your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. He deceives us by causing us to think that we achieve salvation or victory on our own. He'll cause you to try to be good enough to be saved. He'll cause you to try to live a life and earn your salvation through good works, through self-righteousness. Even after we're saved, He will deceive us into thinking that we really don't need God any longer. I have eternal life, and so now I can do and live however I want to, and I can make it up to God, and I can say this, or I can apologize for that, and everything is going to be okay. That's what he did to Eve in Genesis 3, verse 6. He said, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, gave also unto her husband, and he did eat. Man, Satan is deceptive. He's good at his job. He is good at his job. I mean, can you imagine a serpent, a devil, that God had promised Adam and Eve of everything in the garden you can eat and enjoy. I created it all for you and given you dominion over it, except one thing. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Satan was so slick that instead of trying and enjoying everything that God had given them, Satan got her to focus on the one thing that God said you can't have. How many of us get so focused in life on the things that we can't have instead of focusing on all the wonderful things God has given us and done for us? By blessing us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. By adopting us as His own child. By predestinating us to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. To see Him and spend an eternity with Him. As a matter of fact, Peter well understood this battle with Satan. Peter well understood how powerful and how slick Satan really was. As a matter of fact, he tells us in 1 Peter 5, 8, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil is a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may divide. I think Peter would understand how powerful Satan is, right? When Jesus Christ looks at Peter and says, Peter, Satan desires to sift you as wheat. And Peter says, not so, Lord. I'll die for you. And the next thing, what do we find? Peter 3 times, he said, Peter, I understand you think that you're strong. You think you're bold because you have me here with you. But guess what? I'm not going to be here with you. I'm not going to be here. I'm fixing to have to leave for a little bit. I've got to go about and die. And he said, Peter 3 times, Satan is going to trick you into feeding into the snare. Listen, Brasley, not only has Satan accrued an enemy, but we have to understand that he's a spiritual enemy. He's a spiritual enemy. Too often, we are guilty of fighting the wrong foe. Too often, we focus on physical stuff, right? I mean, be honest. Church and opening the Word of God is an opportunity for us to repent and to do things the right way. To do things the way of God. How many times have we focused our attack on the government? How many times have we focused our attack on individuals? On physical beings? Listen, we're fighting the wrong foe. We will get in odds with our fellow believers in Christ when the real enemy is the devil. When the real enemy is Satan himself. He's the master of sowing discord amongst the brethren. There is no way that every one of us in this congregation this morning is going to agree on every single aspect of life. Much less everything about the Bible. Amen? We're going to have our arguments. We're going to have our disagreements. We're going to have our different ideas and stuff. And that's why Paul went back in chapter 4 and he gave us a thing. Remember, there's one God. There's one Lord. There's one thing. There's one mechanism. Unity gets to one of the basic stuff that we can agree on. Let's agree because Satan will have a field day trying to expose where we disagree and where we don't get along because he's a spiritual enemy. Matter of fact, Paul tells us here in chapter 6 and verse 12, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Our enemy... Listen to me very, very carefully. Our enemy is never, ever another human being. Our enemy is always spiritual and Satan. That's who we're fighting. That's who we're there. People will hurt us. People will lie to us. People are mean to us. People will do you wrong. People are just wicked, but that does not make them the enemy. They are who they are because they are sinners. And they are under the power and the influence of the God of this world. The Prince of the air. Under Satan himself. They may want to see our destruction, but they're not our enemy. They may hate us, but they're not our enemy. You remember when Pilate put Jesus Christ on trial? And he said what? I'll wash my hands of this innocent man. Jesus said I'm not trying to fight. I'm not trying to take your kingdom. He said this is not my kingdom. This is not my battle. He said I'm fighting for a bigger kingdom than what Rome is, right? He said I'm fighting for something so much better and I am willingly giving you my life. I am submitting to you. See, he understood that it wasn't about the evil wickedness in Pilate's heart. It was about he was defeating Satan. And when he had fulfilled everything on the cross of Calvary, he cried it is finished. It is finished. When other humans act against us, we have two choices. Either you can become angry. You can hope to grow again. Or you can try to get even. Resent it. Doesn't it come with it? It comes with the cross. You can be angry and resent it. Or you can take the opportunity to try to get even. You'll take hope. You'll take the opportunity. Yeah. Amen. Just one thing. Sit down and pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. Just pray. 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