1/28/18 – Eph 6:11, The Angelic Conflict, Pt 10. The Enemy,
Pt. 7, Lesson #18-011
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Stand in Warfare –
Eph 6:10-20.
Outline of Eph
6 :10-24
1. The Empowerment, vs. 10.
2. The Enemy, vs. 11-12.
3. The Equipment, vs. 13-17.
4. The Energy, vs. 18-20.
5. The Encouragement, vs. 21-24.
2. The Enemy, vs. 11-12.
Eph 6:11, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you
will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”
Another of Satan’s principal activities is to deceive the
nations, Rev 20:3, by making them
think they can govern righteously and bring peace in the world apart from the
presence and rule of Christ. Again, his tactic is to counterfeit, where he
employs demons in carrying out his deception, Dan 10:13, 20, as well as using governments to hinder the progress
of the Gospel, 1 Thes 2:18; Rom 15:22.
1 Thes 2:18, “For
we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered
us.”
In this case, the city of Thessalonica put out an edict to
ban Paul from entering the city. Paul recognized that Satan (the adversary) is
the real enemy behind all opposition to the gospel. As the adversary, Satan’s purpose
is to hinder the work of God and stop the forward march of the Church.
As the “god of this world,” he blinds the minds of
unbelievers, trying to keep out the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, 2 Cor 4:4.
2 Cor 4:4, “In
whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the
unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God.”
As the prince or ruler of the power or domain of the air, he
is the spirit who works in those who are disobedient to God, Eph 2:2.
Eph 2:1-2, “And you were dead in your trespasses and
sins, 2in which you
formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the
sons of disobedience.”
Satan, as “the god of
this world” and “the prince of the
power of the air,” (equivalent to “the heavenly places” in Eph 6:12), it speaks of his rulership
over the world system, the cosmos diabolicus, cf. John 12:31, “the ruler of this world.” Therefore, he rules the
cosmos of this age. The cosmos is that organized framework of things in which
mankind lives and moves, and that opposes God by eliminating and counterfeiting
Him. It includes, as R.C. Trench stated, “all
that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes,
impulses, aims, aspirations, at any time current in the world, which it may be
impossible to seize and accurately define, but which constitute a most real and
effective power, being the moral, or immoral, atmosphere which at every moment
of our lives we inhale, again inevitable to exhale, which is... the subtle
informing spirit of the kosmos or world of men who are living alienated apart
from God.” (R.C. Trench, Synonyms of the NT).
The phrase, “prince
of the power of the air,” may be in reference to Satan’s rulership of the
fallen angels and the world system, but when you think of the current day
technology of communication that is dependent on various types of waves moving
through the atmosphere, it gives you a different perspective as to Satan’s
rulership and control. The radio, TV, internet, cell phones, cloud data
storage, etc., are all utilizing waves moving through the atmosphere, which
Satan is desperately trying to control 100% of, if he does not already, but
more importantly, his control over your life.
Therefore, Satan is the enemy of nationalism, which he often
opposes with internationalism or globalism. This is because nationalism is a
Divine Institution, designed by God to keep the human race, believer and
unbeliever alike, from destroying itself. Nationalism is Divine Institution #
4, after #1 – Freedom of volition, #2, Marriage, and #3 Family.
The world is now divided into nations. Prior to this
division, the human race almost destroyed itself. The first United Nations is
found in Gen 11:1-9, at the Tower of
Babel, would have destroyed mankind.
Notice vs. 1, “Now
the whole earth used the same language and the same words.” In the technology available today, language
is becoming less and less of a barrier, because your IPhone can translate it
for you.
In vs. 6, “And the
LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language.
And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do
will be impossible for them.”
The “impossible to do” in context means sin and evil upon
the world. God recognized that the people had lost the true unity that once
caused them to join in the worship of the one true God. They were seeking to
retain a false unity by human efforts. This was but the beginning of their
defiance. Their imagination was taking off in the wrong direction and would
contribute to more and more defiance of God and evil in the world. God saw into
their hearts, hearts that were, Jer
17:9, “Deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”
As a result, the Trinity working in unity mixed up their
languages and scattered them over the face of the whole earth, creating Divine
Institution #4, nationalism, which frustrated the plan of Satan.
Therefore, today Satan is trying desperately to get back to
Babel, by destroying nations and nationalism, so that he can achieve a one
world government and rulership. That is why all world systems apart from the
laws of Divine establishment are a part of satanic policy and administration.
All environmental programs, socialism, globalism, health and welfare programs,
etc. are of satanic origin.
That Satan is the enemy of nations today in found in Rev 12:9; 20:3, 8, “And he will go out to
deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth.”
In fact, there is a new phrase being used to today to attack
and hopefully destroy nationalism in support of globalism, a one world entity.
It is called, “the weaponization of culture.” The weaponization of culture is
the theory that history and culture within a tribe or nation upheld and passed
down from generation to generation is a weapon to keep people from progressing
and the “new.” These new theorist want to destroy what is old and
generationally cultural to create something new, a new world order, a new one
world system that will one day be led by the “the man of lawlessnesss, the son of destruction,” 2 Thes 2:3, also known as the
Antichrist, “the beast from the sea,” Rev
13:1-10; “the beast,” Rev 17:8-13, (his religious title); “the beast on whom the scarlet woman rides,”
“the little horn,” Dan 7:8-9, 19-26, who is empowered and
backed by Satan himself. We are going to study the career of the antichrist
below.
Another term they are using is “popularism,” which means the
popular thoughts and culture of a nation, that are holding back progress;
progress to a globalization of the world.
As you know, the root of evil in the cosmos is the fact that
there is an all comprehensive system or order, the foundation of which is
complete independence from God. The battle cry for this system is, “what can
the creature produce independent of God.” And in fact, “how can the creature
become god.” Cf. Isa 14:14.
This was one of the themes given during a speech at the 2018
World Economic Forum in Davos Kloster Switzerland, by Professor of History at
the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Yuval Harari. In his speech, he clearly
outlines the vision and direction of science and many world leaders in both
business and government for the coming years. What he says I think will shock
you, but will also remind you of what Satan’s ultimate goals are.
Video
The cosmos represents the supreme effort of the supreme
creature in an intended segregation from the will and purpose of God. Rom 14:23, “Whatever is not from faith is sin,” is not recognized or
believed by the cosmos. The humanitarian enterprises, the culture, the laws,
and religious forms of the cosmos constitute no evidence that God is recognized
in His true position or honored.
This is a Christ-rejecting cosmos, where social ideals are
borrowed from God’s teachings, His purity and grace are held forth as a pattern
of life, but recognition of God and salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ
is rejected. The independent, self-centered, self-satisfied, autonomous cosmos
does not ask for redemption since it recognizes no need for it.
Luke 10:21, “At
that very time He (Jesus) rejoiced
greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, ‘I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and
intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was
well-pleasing in Your sight’.”
But remember, the cosmic
system’s power is impotent to achieve the ultimate goal of a kingdom on earth
and has many limitations. The primary one being sin and evil inside every
member of the Human race.
Satan and the Cosmos are
limited in their knowledge and understanding of things. However, God is without
limit in knowledge of all things, and He provides for us His wisdom from the
basis of His unlimited knowledge so that we might be His ambassadors on earth, Job 37:16; 1 Cor 2:14-15; 2 Cor 4:6-7; Rom
3:11; 2 Cor 4:3-4; 1 John 4:5.
Job 37:16, “Do you know about the layers of the
thick clouds, the wonders of The one
perfect in knowledge.”
1 Cor 2:14-15, “But a natural man (one in the cosmos) does not accept the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15But he
who is spiritual (a heavenly citizen)
appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.”
2 Cor 4:3-4, “And even if our gospel is veiled,
it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4in whose case the god of
this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
1 John 4:5-6, “They are from the world; therefore
they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are
from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not
listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
1 John 5:4, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is
the victory that has overcome the cosmos—our faith.”
This again tells us that
the believer must not be fearful of the Cosmos, because we have greater power
inside of us than can be imagined, 1
John 4:4.
Knowing that the cosmos is
impotent and limited in knowledge and understanding, while God is omnipotent
and omniscient, should give you (the believer) tremendous confidence to go
forward in God’s plan for your life. In the human realm, Satan is far superior
to man in power and intellect. Yet, in the spiritual realm, he is woefully
inferior to the power inside of us. We (believers in the Lord Jesus Christ)
have a far superior power to sustain and propel us inside God’s plan for our
lives.
So the question is, “are
you utilizing the power God has given to you? Or are you wallowing in the
inferiority of the Cosmos?”
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