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.

Dr. Ray Steadman spoke this truth about the character of God. He said,

"God is not interested in religion but he is tremendously interested in life. You cannot read the New Testament without realizing that the Lord Jesus did not care a whit for the Sabbath regulations of his day when they were set against the need of a broken man for healing. In that, He revealed the heart of God, for certainly God is not interested in stained glass windows, organ solos, congregational hymns, or even pastoral prayers half so much as he is in producing love-filled homes, generous hearts, and brave men and women who can live right in the midst of the world and keep their heads and hearts undefiled."

This passage has to do with the things we need to know and do to be brave men and women in a world that is defiled and treacherous in so many ways. Paul begins by describing the nature of life itself, and then he gives some instruction to the believer.

The Certainty of Struggle
To begin with he could easily have summarized the nature of life as we know it in one word "struggle". We would like to think that life is a bed of roses. But we know that is not true. Some of us were under the impression that when we got saved, everything would jut turn out great. That all the dark clouds in our life would roll away. That every obstacle would disappear. But instead, we realize that the clouds seemed to increase and obstacles multiply. As much as we may try to escape it by dreams of some utopia somewhere some day, struggle seems always to be with us. Though there are days when we seem to be able to escape the conflict for a time, we continually find ourselves being shocked back into reality.

Always, there is a day that comes when everything seems to be consumed with evil. This is what Paul is alluding to here. The days that come uninvited and unexpected, when we don’t know where to turn. We thank the Lord that by His grace alone, not every day is like that. Notice that he says "when the day of evil comes". He is not speaking about an end time day of evil, but rather the day that everyone of us here this morning has already experienced. And if you have not had a bad day yet, it will come. But you do not have to be defeated by it. You do not have to be overcome by it. In fact it is possible to stand up to it and overcome.

The Nature of Struggle.
We look for a moment at the nature of our struggle. If I were to ask you now what is the nature of your worst problem, you would probably point to some person or group of people. The Republicans might say it is the Democrats. The Democrats may say it is the Republicans. It may be the neighbors kids. For some it could be the IRS. For others the INS. Always a person or a party or institution. The truth is, that is not wherein our real trouble lies. These are just symptoms of the real problem. These are merely pawns of the real enemy, and it is high time that we got to know who our real enemy is. Paul is about to explain that there is a real enemy. And the real enemy is not a physical one, but a spiritual one. The enemy is in fact the devil. Now you may choose not to believe that, but it does not change the facts. You may feel like you are too intelligent to believe that there is a demon behind every bush, but that doesn’t change the fact that there may well be.

Paul addresses four areas of interest regarding this unseen army.

1. Our Problem --- God's Enemy 2. Our Provision --- God's Strength 3. Our Protection --- God's Armor 4. Our Prize --- God's Victory

I. Our Problem - God’s Enemy.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (6:12)

For he says that the conflict is not against flesh and blood, i.e., it is not a human problem, it is not a struggle of man against man. It may be a struggle within man, but it is not between men. He assures us that it is not against flesh and blood.

The Invisible Behind the Visible

As we look at life in our superficial way we are tempted to say that our problem is other people, that we struggle against flesh and blood. But the apostle says that there is more to it than that. He reminds us once again as he has done so many times throughout this study, that there is an invisible constantly at work behind the visible. To form conclusions based upon the visible alone is to have only half the story. The problem is not against flesh and blood. It is not in the seen, but the unseen. The unseen enemy which is pitted against the entire human race consists of principalities and powers, world rulers of darkness, wicked spirits in high places. This is our problem, says Paul. These are the enemies we are up against., and they are against every man in every place. The whole race is opposed by the principalities and powers, the world rulers of this present darkness.

A Liar and A Murderer

Jesus identified the problem when he said to certain men of his day, in John 8:44 "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

In one statement of the truth Jesus stripped the devil of his disguises and revealed his true character---a liar and a murderer. What the devil does is because of who he is. Because he is a liar and a murderer, the devil's work is to deceive and to destroy. This has been the problem since the beginning of time. We are at war in the spiritual realm because God has an enemy. An enemy who is powerless against God, so he throws all that he has at God’s creation. And he is subtle in his attacks. The Bible calls him, "the god of this world." The world is captivated by him. They listen to everything he says, and nothing he says is true. His lies are very clever, very beautiful, very attractive, and they make the world drool with desire. But the end of his lie is destruction, murder, death!---death in all its forms, not only physical, but also death in its incipient forms of restlessness, boredom, frustration, meaninglessness, and emptiness. And those he cannot deceive, he tries to destroy. John 10:10 describes his tactics with ruthless honesty. "The thief come to steal, kill and destroy…" And he does not work alone.

He Does Not Work Alone

When our text speaks of rulers, powers, and forces it is referring to the organizational structure of Satan's hierarchy. The word which is translated "world forces" is kosmokratoras. In our vernacular we could use a play on the word and call them "cosmocrats. Many, like Professor F. F. Bruce, think that these terms refer to the hierarchy of fallen angels. One such cosmocrat could have been the angel-prince of Persia who hindered the angelic messenger sent to Daniel. In Daniel 10:12-13 we read that the angel said to Daniel, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia."

The demonic cosmocrats of Satan's army are deployed everywhere in our culture. They infiltrate every segment of society, both secular and ecclesiastical. They have but one purpose: to destroy God's work. Their attack takes many forms. They attack God's work directly and indirectly. They are after you and your walk with God. They are after your family and your relationships with others. They attack you through your emotions and your circumstances. And they do not sleep. It is a very real and personal struggle. In our own strength we are over-matched. In the first verse of that immortal hymn of Martin Luther which is printed on the cover of today’s bulletin, we are struck by this truth.

For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

This past Wednesday I experienced a very real example of what I believe was one of satan’s plots to attack Christians by destroying life.
Church, this is very real and we had better come to terms with who our real enemy is.

I am reminded of the story of Billy Graham tells when he hears this idea that there is no demonic warfare. It is a story of a boxer who was engaged in a boxing match and was being badly beaten. Battered and bruised, he leaned over the ropes and said to his trainer, "Please throw in the towel! This guy is killing me!" The trainer said, "Oh no, he's not. He's not even hitting you. He hasn't laid a glove on you!" And the boxer said, "Well then, I wish you'd watch that referee---because somebody sure is beating me up!" The questions we must ask when we are challenged with the notion that there is no spiritual enemy are, "How do you explain what is going on in the world? How do you explain what is happening? How do you explain the entrenched evil in human affairs?"

Have you not personally felt the onslaught of Satanic attack in your life? This is our problem. This is our warfare. But we do not stand in our strength alone. Provision has been made for our support. We have back up. So we see in the second place,

II. Our Provision --- God's Strength

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in His mighty power. (6:10)
Because we struggle against God's enemy, we must walk in God's strength. The discomforting thing about our spiritual warfare is that we are terribly over-matched. In the second stanza of that hymn we read,

Luther understood that this spiritual war is very lopsided. The Christian is over-matched. Be careful not to be presumptuous and think that you can whip the devil. You can't even whip one of his subordinates. This is why we are exhorted to be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.

The order here is clear. We are first to be strong in the Lord. Our focus must always first be on Jesus. We must cultivate our relationship with Him. Until we have taken care of that, nothing else will do. Cultivate your personal relationship with Jesus. Then you are able to operate in the strength of his might. The power of God comes from a relationship with God. We will only be able to face the challenge of the spiritual warfare we fight if we are filled with God's strength.

In Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. The idea expressed in this passage is that those of us who wait upon the Lord will exchange our strength for His. This is what we must have if we are to fight successfully. It is in His strength that we stand. So in the third place Paul speaks about:

III. Our Protection --- God's Armor

[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.

Not only must we walk in God's strength, we must put on God's armor. The armor of God, which we will address later, is our protection. We must put on the full armor of God for a very important reason. This armor will enable us to be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

Satan is not simply sitting idly by. Neither is he randomly going about his work. He is not only ultimate evil; he is ultimate evil with a plan. Satan has many schemes. He is organized and prepared to discourage and frustrate every effort we might undertake for Jesus. He is an intelligent being, and he is out to kill and destroy. How do we combat his plans? How do we stand against his schemes?

We must be clothed in the armor of God. Only God can protect us. Only God can empower us. The right armor and the right weapons must come from God. We dare not fight with weapons of our own choosing, nor do we dare to leave ourselves exposed to his attacks.

2 Cor. 10:3-4 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. [4] The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

We must clothe ourselves with the armor of truth, righteousness, the Gospel, faith, salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Only then will we be prepared to stand.

Finally, Paul speaks of the victory that is available to us in Christ.

IV. Our Prize --- God's Victory

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. (6:13)

Not only must we walk in God's strength, and put on God's armor, but we must stand in God's victory. Our call is to stand firm. Now that we have appropriated God's strength, put on God's armor, we may stand in the victory which is ours in Christ Jesus. Look at the third verse of Luther’s great hymn.

And though this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The prince of darkness grim, We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, For lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

The battle is not ours, it is the Lord's. In reality, He has already won the victory. We simply must stand in that victory. We must recognize who we are in Christ. We must recognize the power of the Church, the Body of Christ. This is the Church of which Jesus spoke when He said, "Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it." The Church is more powerful than the gates of Hell. The Church of Jesus Christ, not merely the organizations called churches, is the mystical, mighty army of God.

In C.S. Lewis' book, The Screwtape Letters, a senior devil named Screwtape is instructing a junior devil on how to tempt and trap humans. He says, "One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy. But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans."

We must understand the power of the risen Lord in His true church. We must ask God to help us see the invisible. The army of God is truly on the march, and you are a part of that army. We must stand firm. Let Satan do his worst. "The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure." We are privileged to stand in the victory of Christ.

So, take courage! Fight the fight of faith. Although the enemy is armed and dangerous, so are we. And we also have all the mighty angelic warriors battling for us. From Heaven's fortress the mighty armies of the Lord of Hosts array themselves for battle. These angelic warriors with their flashing swords and brilliant armor surge forth in battle array against the host of Hell. As the army of God's Church on earth falls to its knees and as the prayers of the saints ascend heavenward the battle is engaged. The struggle ensues. One foe after another is pierced through by the awesome power of the mighty God. These invisible, supernatural creatures groan in intense struggle with the souls of men and women hanging in the balance. But God's Word is sure. The gates of Hell absorb blow after crushing blow as the mighty phalanx of God's soldiers burst upon it. First the gates are buffeted, then they begin to groan under the mighty surge, and finally they crumble under the onslaught of this army of God. It is the Church, terrible as an army with banners. This is our destiny. The shout of victory fills the air. "All hail King Jesus! All hail Emanuel! King of kings, Lord of lords, Bright Morning Star. Through all eternity I'll sing your praises. And I'll reign with You throughout eternity."