Spiritual Warfare

Take your Bibles, if you would please, and turn to Ephesians chapter 6. As I mentioned to you, Greta is playing the piano today — she's from Kentucky — and today we're going to be on spiritual warfare. I mentioned to her where the phrase "get your goat" comes from. "I got your goat" — have you heard that before? Well, she knows about horse racing back home. And I said to her, my wife told me where that phrase comes from, and that those who race horses would put a goat beside their horse to help calm the horse's nerves. And if one of the competitors stole the goat, then — "Ha! I got your goat" — because the goat calms the horse somehow. And so nevertheless, when it comes to spiritual warfare, sometimes people can get our goat, or Satan can do things to get our goat, to disturb us, to set us off, and we're not able to run the race with excellence. And today we're going to open up this wonderful subject of spiritual warfare in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10 and following.

As a brief introduction to today's message, I hope to give you some take-home points that will really truly help you. So I invite you to examine with me the reality call for Christians to stand in this world. This is not a reality check — it's a reality call. The Scriptures call us to stand firm, and so today we'll examine that in the Scriptures.

Read with me if you would, Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 20, and look at how we are called to stand strong in the Lord. In Ephesians 6:10, the Bible says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength, or in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes, or the wiles, of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, and against the powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

And if you pause right there in verse 12 with me — this is not against flesh and blood. I hope to be able to convey through this time of explaining verses 10 through 20 in the upcoming weeks that you cannot fight the right fight in the wrong way. We're going to be fighting the right fight against the evil one and against the world and against our flesh and such. But so many today fight incorrectly, and it's not according to the Scriptures. I hope to make sure that we are aligned with the Word of God and are enabled and equipped to fight the right fight — to fight the good fight scripturally and not in the flesh.

In verse 13, the Bible says, "Therefore, take up the full armor of God." Now, if you could pause there with me for just a moment. Have you ever thought that you have to pray on your helmet or your breastplate of righteousness, pray on your belt, put on your shoes, the gospel of peace, put on all this armor, take up your shield, and grab a sword before you head out the door in order to make it through a day? The imagery is real, but how you fight is not quite like that — in the sense that if you forget to put on these pieces you're going to have a terrible day, or if you're going to win or lose based upon whether or not you have actually prayed them on. That's not the context. You're not actually praying on these pieces. This is part of your life. This imagery is how you are in Christ. So don't think that you have to do something in the flesh in order to win. This is actually who you are becoming in Christ, and so the fight is you just being a Christian. You wielding your sword, you have the belt of truth, you have the shield, you have the helmet, you have the shoes, you have all these things. And so I hope for us today that we will be able to see that we want to fight the right fight in the right way and not be subject to perhaps shallow theological approaches to fighting the evil one in the flesh, because it simply does not work and it will end in discouragement rather than being encouraged in Christ.

So let's continue in the text if you would. Verse 13: "Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Also receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, and to this end being on alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, as well as on my behalf, that the words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel." May the Lord add His blessings to the reading of His Word.

Some theologians separate verses 18 and 19 from the context of spiritual warfare, and that is just not so. Prayer is how you start — and how you finish — and so at the end of this passage you have Paul requesting prayer. It certainly is true that as he enters into this whole spiritual realm of spiritual warfare — which is called waking up and leaving the house, and sometimes it's even before you get out of bed — he is asking for prayer, and that is him employing what he just described: all of the spiritual armor. And so the alternative title to today's message — if you're taking notes, you can write down "Spiritual Warfare," or you could put "Called to War."

The church is called into active duty warfare. This is wartime for our nation. Perhaps on Capitol Hill they think it's peacetime — maybe it's wartime, depending on where you're at — but it is definitely wartime for Christians. So we're drafted into this active duty war with evil.

Now there are some convincing metaphors that I would like to share with you as to how we are in active duty war, and it's important for us to understand that we are at war. Even the Reverend John Bunyan wrote a 328-page allegory titled The Holy War. I encourage you to read anything that John Bunyan wrote. The subtitle of this book is The Battle Between God and Satan for the Souls of Man, and so John Bunyan wrote an amazing allegory — 328 pages just on explaining this war between God and man.

Not only that, but in the 1930s, one man — only one man in England — kept begging for his country to be warned of what was going on in Germany. The pubs, however, were filled with joy, filled with people, overflowing with drunkenness, and nobody wanted to hear of the potential evils that were going on. They were having a great time, so to speak, in England. Well, in the 1940s was when they nearly lost to Hitler. Nobody wanted to hear of what was happening on enemy territory. And folks, I'm saying to you that is history, but it is also something more important — it is vital. It is astronomically more important for Christians to be aware of what is happening on enemy territory. Know your enemy. You've got to know. So point number one I would like for you to take up is: study the enemy. Point number one is study the enemy.

As Paul was held captive in Rome, he was in a praetorium, and there were armored soldiers who served as the source of this allegory. So as Paul looked at the armored soldiers, he envisioned the belt, the breastplate, the shoes, the shield, the helmet, and the sword allegorically — or metaphorically — as representing spiritual warfare.

Isaiah used similar imagery in Isaiah chapter 11, verse 5. The Bible says, "Also, righteousness will be the belt around His loins." Isaiah 11:5 shows that Paul is not doing anything new in regards to attaching a spiritual concept to a physical thing. King David used similar imagery, and he poetically portrays the real-life application of how to be strong in the Lord in Psalm chapter 18. It's a long psalm — I won't read the whole psalm — but Psalm 18 portrays how to be strong in the Lord. Jesus tells a parable in Luke chapter 14, verses 31 to 33, about how it is wise for a king to consider the strength of the enemy before going to war. So in Luke 14:31–33, Jesus even says it's wise to think about the capability of the enemy. And so I am proving to you that we should study what Satan is capable of in order for us to be wise.

The Ephesian church was not the only church that Paul taught spiritual warfare to. He also taught it to the Corinthian church, and he taught them how to win the battle in a specific way. Turn with me if you would to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 speaks of a particular battle with which we are all familiar, and it's a rough one. Sometimes this particular battle will keep you up at night. Sometimes it'll confuse you. Sometimes it'll leave you depressed. You know Satan's first aim is to cast doubt into our minds. But in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 3 to 6, we're going to see how to win the battle in the mind. There is a battle that goes on — it's not the only battle — but when it comes to spiritual warfare, I want you to know that you can win this battle. Look at how to do this in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 3 and following. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh." That is so important to highlight in your Bibles. We need to know how to fight these battles. We need to know which battles we're fighting so that we know how to fight them. You can't wage the right war in the flesh. So there are a lot of wrong ways going on. There's a lot of spiritual war fighting in the name of God that's been done in the flesh, but we cannot walk in the flesh — well, we live in the flesh, we breathe in the flesh, we exist here in the now — but we do not wage spiritual warfare in the flesh.

Verse 4: "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh." In fact, this is already settled in the Old Testament, in Zechariah chapter 4, verse 6: "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord." Also in verse 3 of 2 Corinthians 10: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh." Verse 4: "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the tearing down of strongholds, as we tear down speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. And we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is fulfilled."

And so we see that spiritual war does in fact happen in the mind. Verse 3 clarifies that. Verse 5 talks about this idea of having a thought taken captive, and so you can win this spiritual battle in the mind — take your thoughts captive. In verse 5 you can cast them down, you can bring them to Christ. And in verse 6 you can have them brought into obedience, and then this obedience can be fulfilled. And so it is disobedience to let your thoughts run wild. Do not allow an assumption to lead to another assumption and then finally draw an incorrect conclusion that is completely defeating. You'll end up empty. And so the battle in the mind starts with your thoughts being taken captive.

In Philippians chapter 4, verse 8, you have the things that help us to categorize what we can think about. And so those are guardrails. You can't let your mind run wild — the same way you can't let your feet just run wild. We can't go anywhere and we can't think anything. These are very important things. And so you can win the battle in the mind, and it's important to take your thoughts captive.

If you're a young man, you struggle with lust. Take that thought captive and just cast it out into the depths of the sea. Cast it out of your mind. Take it captive, throw it away, ask God to forgive you for it. The actual element of being tempted is not the realm of sin, but when you give way to temptation — you dwell upon it, you think about it — then it's sin. So at the very conception of being tempted, cast it out. Get out from underneath it, and don't be one who is taken captive by lust. It'll ruin your life. It'll ruin your life. It'll ruin your marriage. It'll have you distracted and unproductive, and most importantly, not blessed by the Lord. Satan plays to win, and he's going to keep pounding you with temptation unless you get this thing under control. And the way you do that is: you ask for forgiveness right away, you root it out of your life, and you remove everything that's going to compromise your mental state of being with Christ. Christ should be dwelling in your hearts and in your minds.

So Paul taught the Thessalonians how to win the spiritual war in the mind as well, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 8. Turn back to there if you would. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 8. This is nothing new. Spiritual warfare is at every church and within every Christian. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 8: "But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation." And so we see that this spiritual warfare fighting is happening, and we want to be ones who are prepared to do this, and it starts a lot of times in our minds.

The wonderful preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones emphatically contended that the ultimate cause for Christian failure and unhappiness was that believers were unlearned and had some type of romantic, non-combatant view of Christianity. That's the exact opposite of what Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 to 20, is calling you to. So we're called to war. But isn't that true? A lot of times when you first get saved, you think, "All my problems are gone. I'm not going to have any problems at all. Now everything is going to be fluffy, clouds are always going to be bright, and the sun's always going to be out." And that's not true. In fact, if anything, you're going to have more wars.

And so some would also say that at the conclusion of this letter, Paul says "finally" and gives a little tag-on — like a random thought — as if to say, "Let me share this with you as well before I close the letter," as if all of the important information has already been covered. I want to share with you that that's not true. This is the climax of the letter. Everything that Paul has been teaching and expecting — everything that he has taught us to believe and how to behave — now he is truly driving home how you live it out. How you live out is not spiritual warfare everywhere? And so as you think logically with me, contextually through the passage, you'll see as well that this is most certainly the top of the theological hill here.

Turn back to Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15, and let's just think: is this placement of spiritual warfare out of place in the letter, or is it in the right place? Is it the climax of the letter, or is it just a random thought that's been tagged on to the Scriptures? I contend with you today that it is most certainly the climax of the letter, and this is very, very, very important. It's not as if Paul was not leading up to this, and he had a thought, "Oh, before I close the door, before I stop writing this letter — one more random thing." He didn't have one more random thing. He has been thinking about this in his mind and leading up to this.

In chapter 5, verse 15: "Therefore, look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise." When it comes to walking as a Christian — are we not our own worst enemies? Are we not warring against the flesh, oftentimes every single day? It's a spiritual battle. How do you walk in a Christ-like manner? How do you live in this world? So yes, it's starting back here and culminating — it's coming together. And so there is a war within ourselves not only in how we walk, but in verse 16, the Bible says "redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Is there not a war between good and evil going on every day? And so we see that the days are evil. There is a spiritual war.

In verse 18, it says, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." And so there is a war on humanity, and it is waged through alcoholism, drug addiction, pornography, and all these different methods. There is a war going on. In verse 22, it says, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands." Is there not a war going on within wives when it comes to submitting to their husbands, from the very beginning? The curse that has been laid upon that is a real war between the husband and wife, and it must be won. And then in verse 25, husbands are to love their wives. Is there not a war on husbands — the temptation to do other things, or to not love their wives, to be given to hobbies, to make money, to do all these other things and neglect their primary duty? That is a war. And so the husbands have a war that they are waging.

And the same thing when it comes to marriage in verse 31 — two are to be joined together. Is there not a war within our own marriages? Two becoming one is a self-denial process, and there's a war against the flesh and the self and the selfishness and the self-centeredness. It's as if we are to listen to the world or to listen to the Word. If you listen to the world, the marriage exists to make you happy, and the other one exists to serve you and fulfill your needs in every way. It's self-centered instead of Christ-centered. When two people bow to Christ and serve Him together, those things happen — it's beautiful. But the worldly view of marriage is that it's all about me, and people act like that, communicate that, expect that. There's a war going on on both sides, on both fronts.

Is there not a war going on to turn children against their parents? In chapter 6, verse 1, children are to obey their parents. Is there not a war on children — trying to medicate all the children, diagnose all the children, convince all the children their parents are evil? It's in movies, it's in commercials, it's in education — it's everywhere. There's a war going on to take children and turn them against their parents.

What about in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 4? It says, "Fathers, teach your children about God." Is there not a war trying to keep fathers distracted from teaching their children about God, disciplining them and teaching them correctly? And in chapter 6, is there not a war in the workplace? The workplace war makes Christians silent and isolated, and so that war — which is definitely a spiritual war — would cause a Christian to think, "Well, if I speak up, I might get fired. If I stand, I might get isolated." Hey, who's your God? Is it money or is it the Master? If you get fired because you're a Christian, frame it. And I dare say, we had better not go into heaven without any battle scars. We had better not go into heaven without any wounds.

You know that we have a High Priest who, in the flesh, came and dealt with all these things and is able and capable to minister to you wherever you're at. And so this is a spiritual war that is in every single area of our life — not only the workplace, not only in parenting, not only in marriage, not only in our daily walk — it's everywhere. And so it's hogwash to think that the Christian life has no problems. In fact, you can expect that the evil one will come against you. You can expect to be confused, and you can expect the world to come at you. So you have a three-front war, no matter what you think.

And so my point in going through these scriptures is just to say to you that in the upcoming weeks, as we unfold Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 20, before the conclusion, look at this as the most important part of how to live out all that Paul has taught in the book of Ephesians, because it culminates in the spiritual warfare. Six chapters have built up to this Christian reality. The reality of Christianity is that we are called to spiritual warfare.

Spiritual warfare is not just on these fronts. Think about the agenda for depopulation and the agenda for abortion. Think about the intentional, systematic deconstructionism that has happened in our country. Praise the Lord for DOGE — I think there's about a hundred and sixty billion dollars that has been saved because of the Department of Government Efficiency. So perhaps the Lord is working to preserve our country and our way of life — I don't know — but it sure looks like it. I praise God for it. We can hold on to our Christian foundation and roots. We still have things like evolution. We still have humanism, which is taught as if it's not a religion — which is false. Humanism is a religion, and education is discipleship. And then we also have the terrible ideologies of wokism that have not gone away. We didn't make it through the COVID and wokism season without consequences. All of those realities are still real, and they have changed our way of life. These woke ideologies are still separating and dividing families, separating and dividing marriages, separating mothers against their children and fathers against their children. All of these are a real, present spiritual war. We're not to shrink back from these wars — we're to engage in them. We're not to go find them, but we're to engage in them.

Some suppose that the spiritual warfare section is somewhat abrupt, and it's inaccurate to think of it as anything truly vital and important. I'm telling you, the placement of the spiritual warfare section has perfect placement, and it is vital that we give the accurate amount of weight to understanding how to wage the wars that we're engaged in scripturally, and not in the flesh. We see that this war is not in the flesh.

In Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength. And put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand." So we are called to stand. But those who are questioning — perhaps even sarcastically rebutting this — say, "Really? War does not belong in our daily walk. War does not belong in being Spirit-filled. War does not belong when it comes to speaking hymns and psalms. War does not belong in marriage — it comes to the tenderness of husbands toward their wives and wives toward their husbands. War is not the subject that belongs there. And war is certainly not what you want to be thinking about when you're going to the workplace." But I'm saying to you, it is. You will miss reality without understanding that this is vital to your walk. Yes, Satan has declared war in all of these areas, and if you don't realize that he has already declared war and is actively pursuing to destroy your life in an attempt to get back at Christ, then you're missing reality. This is the Christian's reality. Those who fight in the flesh will lose every time, but those of us who fight in Christ will win.

And so the text explains the source of strength and the strategy for spiritual fighting. Point number two is: strength is in Christ. So not only do we need to study the enemy and his strategy — point number one — but we also need to know that our strength is in Christ. The primary charge is to be in union with Christ. That's how you're going to win.

The spiritual warfighter who is a loser runs at the demons as if he is stronger. The spiritual warfighter who is a loser comes at Satan and his evil angels and those who are possessed by demons in his own flesh, in his own anger, in his own strength. But the spiritual warfighter who is a winner fights by prayer, remains under the authority of Christ, and uses this armor as an everyday way of living.

And so "in Christ" is the key to winning. A Christian soldier who is isolated is no longer in the strength of the local church. The Christian who believes the evil one and becomes one who shrinks back from the church, rather than clinging to the church — when there's trouble in the home, a lot of times you will see people pulling back. That's the wrong approach to fighting these spiritual wars. We need to cling to our Christian brothers and sisters. In Galatians chapter 6, verses 1, 2, and 3, we're commanded to bear one another's burdens. You can't fight this alone. And so if you start to engage in some serious spiritual warfare — trouble in the home, trouble in the marriage, trouble in the workplace — cling to one another. Talk with one another, pray together, because the church is God's number one plan to equip you through this world.

So don't run from your Christian brother. Don't try and put on a facade. None of us is perfect. We all know that. We've all got dirty laundry. We've all got baggage. Nobody's perfect. You don't have to be perfect to come to church. You don't have to be perfect to come to a prayer meeting, and you don't have to be perfect to come to Bible study. In fact, come — and let the Word of God work in your mind and work in your heart, and let brothers and sisters in Christ love on you even when you least deserve it. Let's just say you deserve what you're going through. All right? Even when you least deserve it, one of the primary means by which God restores those who drift away from Him is His mercy. Find mercy in Christ. Find mercy in the local church. Find reconciliation. Find the way, the Word. This is your primary concern — yourself coming back to Christ. Stay in Christ. Stay in the church. Don't let yourself be isolated and separated. A separated soldier is vulnerable. The devil, like a lion, prowls in search of those who are isolated, fallen behind, weak, and vulnerable. 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8 says that he is a lion who is prowling, and Satan uses all of his strength and his might against the weak ones. Is he not a coward, or what?

We're going to be pulling back the drapes on Satan's strategies, exposing them, and getting to know them so that we know just how important it is for us to stick to the Book. Stick to the Scriptures. Don't allow yourself to drift away. Don't allow yourself to fight in the flesh. All these different things that we see on display daily on TBN and all these other channels — charismatic chaos, all this garbage — is not how you are to be a spiritual warfighter. In fact, if you follow their false theological framework, it's going to end in depression. It's going to end in feeling like a failure. What happens if you don't have enough faith to heal yourself? Doesn't that leave you depressed? What if you can't speak what you think should be coming into existence, and it doesn't actually happen? Aren't you going to end up depressed? What if you declare something in Jesus' name to happen today — "I declare that Satan is to leave this place; I take authority of this in Jesus' name!" — and if you are fighting in the flesh, as if your words have any power, and you declare something and it doesn't happen? It brings shame upon Christ and the church, and it's going to leave you deflated. This stuff doesn't work. It's in the Word of God that we find how we are to be spiritual warfighters.

So I wave a red flag, a red alert, to those who are drifting. Satan will pounce on you. So the next time you find yourself drifting or falling away or becoming a little bit more isolated, just know that that road leads in a downward, depressed direction. It doesn't get better until you repent and return, coming close to Christ. The farther away from Christ you are, the more vulnerable you are. Have you ever pulled away from the church, by the way, when you're going through a hard time? You think, "I've got to get this right before I can come back around," or "Everybody will know I'm not perfect," or "I've got something going on in my life — I'm going to be embarrassed" — or whatever the case might be. Hey, listen — did that work for you? It doesn't.

So the church, the local church, the strength in numbers — did you know that corporate prayer is an essential part of being a Christian? In Acts chapter 2, verse 42, you see that they prayed together, they worshiped together, they studied God's Word together, they took communion together, they participated in the ordinances of communion and baptism together. All these strengthening elements are for us to be together in Christ, and that is to fan into flame your faith, your strength, and to keep you encouraged, to keep you going. And so that's there for you when you fall off the wagon. That's there for you when you fall into the valley. That's there for you when you are faced with some evils. Don't pull away when you are faced with spiritual warfare — pull toward Christ. Because the source of our strength is Christ in our spiritual warfighting.

In John chapter 15, verse 5, the Bible says, "I am the vine, you are the branches, and he who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." Don't pull away from Christ — pull toward Christ. You cannot do anything apart from the vine. So John chapter 15, verse 5 says, "Apart from Me you can do nothing." You'll find out real fast just how much you are capable of — or shall I say, incapable of — apart from Christ. So we cannot fight spiritual wars in any other way than what the Bible says to do.

In John chapter 10, verse 10, the Bible says that "the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but I came that you may have life."

Point number three that I'd like to point out to you today is: maturing requires warring. Maturing requires us to engage in this war, because God uses evil's means for our good and His glory ultimately, and we know that. In verse 11, look with me in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 11. We're going to go systematically through this, but I want to continue to point out small things as we get warmed up here on the subject. "Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand, able to stand." And so you see that we are now standing. Prior we were talking about walking. Now, when the evil one comes, you're required to stand — not flee. You're required to stand. Walking — and how we walk in our character, in our marriage, in our parenting, in our living — is in chapter 5. Now we are in chapter 6: standing. This is a logical, exegetical progression in your maturity in Christ.

If you're going to mature, then you must engage in these wars. If you're going to be refined by Christ, He's going to use these battles to help you, not to harm you. I promise. Oftentimes I could look back and see someone having a terrible time, and I know inwardly and am able to counsel pastorally with confidence, because I know the Bible is true in that Christians are made better through the battles, not bitter. Christ is King, and no matter what weapon has been formed against you, as a true Christian — you stick with Christ — I guarantee you will be better at the end of these battles, and God will not allow you to become bitter.

And so we make progression in our walk of faith, and we don't lose ground when Satan attacks us by standing firm. Notice, as you go through this section and read it, that it's all frontal armor. Okay? So we're standing. We're to do battle. This is to engage in the areas for which we are to hold firm. And so if you have made progress in your spiritual walk, and now here comes the evil one — stand your ground. If you have developed in your understanding of what the faith is and you have apprehended some sound doctrine — hold your ground. Do not let the devil create doubt in your mind to where you back up and question that biblical truth. Hold your ground, stand firm. If you've made progress in your marriage, in your parenting — hold the ground, because Satan is going to come right at that point. Hold your ground. Fight the good fight of faith.

And so our armor is for fighting, and so we lead our marriages and our children and our co-workers forward in the faith. It's frontal armor — we're not cowards. Cowards are characterized as unbelievers in the book of Revelation. And so we hold our ground, we truly fight the good fight of faith. But we don't fight in an ugly way. We put on these things that are called armor. We stand against, we take up, we resist, we stand firm, we have our feet ready, we extinguish, and we pray. We do all of these action verbs in the text in a way that is glorifying to God and not in the sinful flesh.

I like this phrase: "Don't get drawn in." If there's a battle being waged against you, don't get drawn into the flesh. If someone's cursing, doing ugly things, do not retreat or reduce yourself to fighting in the flesh. Don't fight in the same way that they fight. You'll lose every time. If you fight in the flesh, you'll lose. If you fight in the Spirit, you'll win. It's always a temptation to rear back and punch back, or to be sarcastic back, or to be ugly back. It's always a temptation to get into the flesh. Don't get drawn in. Stand firm, stand firm, and wage the war according to what the Scriptures say.

And so there is an unseen war — it's often misunderstood. I want you to know that there are three main enemies. I've got a sub-point here for you — three sub-points. There are three main enemies. Many people don't understand this war. Oftentimes you're using the wrong strategy for the wrong battle. What are these three main enemies? The world, the flesh, and the devil. Those are your three main enemies. So every Christian has a three-front battle going on. It's called an overarching war, and this war is being waged on three different fronts.

The world — 1 John 2:15. The flesh — Galatians 6:8. The devil — 1 Peter 5:8.

When it comes to the world, we are in the world but we're not of the world. The word "of" means belong. We don't belong to the world. We're here, but our heavenly citizenship is where our home is, and our identity is in Christ. And so we are not of the world — we're just here. So when the problems of the world come against you, what's the strategy for fighting the world?

Well, the strategy is twofold. It's simple. It's evangelism and discipleship. When you leave your corporate worship here at church and go into the world, the Great Commission is to evangelize and disciple. And you're going to use the armor as who you are in Christ, and then as you face the world, you're going to wage war with evangelism and discipleship.

If you've got a family member who has a myriad of attacks against you — they're a non-believer — are you obligated to go down every rabbit hole that that person offers? Or perhaps a friend has got a million questions and wants to tie up your time and drag you through all the swamps of life and exhaust you mentally, exhaust you spiritually? What is your battle? How do you wage war against the world? Is it not evangelism and discipleship? And so the first line of strategy for waging war in the world is: just share the gospel. "Do not be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God and the salvation" — Romans 1:16. So share the gospel, talk about the gospel, stay on that subject, and do not be the tail of the dog but lead in these conversations. Have frontal armor; move forward with the gospel. They may take you on a rabbit trail — answer it quickly, use it as apologetic bait, get back to the gospel. And so that's where you're going to make progress — when they get saved, and then you disciple them. So when it comes to the world, that is how you fight. That is the strategy: the twofold strategy for the world.

Think of the world kind of like a boat in water. You do not want the water to get in the boat, right? Well, you don't want the world to get in you either. Think of yourself kind of like a boat — don't let the world get in you. Don't let the water get in. We're in the world; we're not of the world.

So that is the world. Well, what about fighting the flesh? Galatians chapter 6, verse 8, talks about how we have this fight in the flesh. We're constantly fighting the flesh, and the sin that still dwells in us is in the flesh. Our eyes look for sin. Our ears listen for sin. The tongue speaks what the heart dwells upon, and sin — our minds can conjure up sinful things. How do you wage war against your own flesh?

It's a twofold strategy according to the Scriptures on how you spiritually war against the flesh, and I'll summarize it as fight or flight. Romans 8:13 says, "If you are living according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." So do you see how you are to wage war against the sin that still dwells within yourselves? You either fight the flesh or you flee from the flesh — fight or flight. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 18, it says to "flee immorality." You do not stick around and fight immorality. You don't stay where immorality is — you leave. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 22 says, "Flee from your youthful lusts." Back to 1 Corinthians 6:18: "Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?" We belong to the Holy Spirit. The word "of" means belong. We are of the Holy Spirit. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." And so we cannot stick around and try to fight in the flesh against immorality — we leave. You change the channel. You stop the conversation. You walk away.

Some Christians are guilty of waging the right war in the wrong way. If you're trying to fight against the flesh in a way that you are not fleeing, you're not fighting correctly. See what I'm saying? Fight or flight. So these two scriptural strategies for warfighting against the flesh are fight or flight. You are to kill and mortify the immorality, or flee from it if it is in front of you.

And so Christians war against the world — number one — the flesh — number two — and number three is the devil. You have to discern which enemy you're engaged with. You have to fight, but how do you fight? So deploy the effective strategy in order to win the battle. I'm going to review with you. Number one: you evangelize and disciple the world. Number two: you fight or flee the flesh. But how do you fight Satan? Three-front war — you've got the world, the flesh, and the devil. How do you fight against him?

Easily said: stand with Scripture. Stand with Scripture. In Matthew chapter 4, verses 1 to 11, Jesus replied to the devil three different times with the Word of God. He wielded the sword right there and quoted from the Old Testament, and that is sufficient, my friends. You stand firm with the Word of God. Stand with Scripture. Say what the Bible says. It's enough. You stand, stand firm against the schemes of the devil. In Ephesians chapter 6, verse 11, you're to stand. And when Satan himself is waging war in the areas we just read about in chapter 5 — children, marriage, all these different things, your workplace — quote Scripture. You are bound by a code. You have a book. You have a law book. You have an order of operations. If you abandon the Bible, then you could be disciplined, and rightfully so. You could lose a battle, and you could go back to your war strategy and see why you lost — "Oh, I abandoned the book. I didn't fight correctly." Or perhaps you didn't know how to fight correctly.

In Hosea chapter 4, verse 6, it says, "For lack of knowledge, My people are destroyed." And so sometimes we find ourselves fighting the right war in the wrong ways. And if you get these points mixed up and do not know — if you have not discerned exactly who you're fighting and how to fight — then you could engage incorrectly and lose. And we've all lost many wars. Perhaps you've lost some wars. Perhaps it was due to not discerning the enemy correctly and deploying the strategy. Perhaps you've had some compounded errors in your life. It's fine. Just continue in the Word.

Point number four, my last point, is: pray, pray, pray. In Ephesians chapter 6, I mentioned that we are, according to verse 18, to "pray at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, and to this end being on alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." Verse 18 is connected to the spiritual warfighting — it's not separated. James chapter 4, verse 2 says, "You have not, because you ask not." Oftentimes we do not ask our loving Father, and we do without.

Picture prayer as laying down protective fire for yourself and your family. Picture prayer as a powerful self-guided missile that's going to hit the target every single time. Picture prayer as something so effective that it is going to blow the enemy back. Picture prayer as pushing back the evil — that is what Christ is doing. You see, when Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan" — Satan had to get behind Him. Christ did it. It wasn't Peter's words, and neither are yours. There is a huge movement today that thinks you can speak something into existence. It's a "little gods" doctrine, as if we are gods as well and can, as God spoke things into existence in Genesis chapter 1, do the same. It's false doctrine. So when it comes to spiritual warfighting done incorrectly, we don't bind Satan and tell him to get behind us. You don't act out in the flesh as if your words have any power. You don't talk to Satan — that's where Eve went wrong. You talk to Jesus. And when you pray, you pray in Jesus' name and you ask Him to do these things. Spiritual warfighting has to be done scripturally, and if you fight in the flesh, you will lose and you'll wonder why.

This is so important for us — to be bold. Paul here asks for boldness in the text in verse 19: "As well as on my behalf, that the words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel." And so for us to be bold in our faith is to truly stand and speak what the Scriptures say. And even the bold Apostle Paul had to pray and ask for boldness. So I think we can take note of that — that even the strongest among us must be confronted with their fears and say, "This is rightfully a trepidatious thing when you're entering into something called war." Because there are literal casualties. If you do not fight correctly, there are casualties. If you do not fight correctly, it affects you and your family. If you do not wage war correctly, then there's a result to that. And so we have to be bold to do what the Bible says in the right ways.

Titus chapter 2, verse 1 says, "Speak sound doctrine." So if you are going to be bold and perhaps you are fighting against the world, you know that the first strategy for fighting against the world is evangelism and discipleship — then you are going to share the gospel. And everything that we do is going to be done in love, done gently, accurately, done all together as ones who are representing Christ. And so pray, pray, pray.

I have often found in my own life that the worst things never really happen. So worry is futile. But I have also found in my own life that prayer is where the battle is won. And so if I would just be faithful to spend more time and ask Christ to take care of these things, it's like a self-guided missile that hits the target every time. And so, Lord, help me in this way. Spend time asking God — like perhaps David did in his imprecatory prayers — "Get them, God. Get them. Back them off. Back evil away. Preserve our families. Keep peace in the local church. Contend for what is worth contending for. Help, help, contend." And what's worth contending for is peace and unity in the local church. And by the way, the way that you do that — the way that you contend — is one way is to pray and say, "Lord, keep the wolves from fooling us. Keep them outside the church. Preserve doctrinal integrity. Preserve all that You have established here in our church and our families." Go through and specifically pray, and get the coordinates right. Pray exactly. Pray specifically for what needs to happen.

It's often been said as well, "What if you had tomorrow what you have prayed for?" Oftentimes we would be without a lot, right, if you only had tomorrow what you have actually prayed for. I think that'll help us in regards to praying more often and praying specifically.

Okay, three take-home truths. Number one is: keep close to Christ. Verse 10 qualifies all of this as "in the Lord." "Finally, be strong in the Lord." Say that in reverse: "You're weak outside of Christ. You can do nothing." John chapter 15, verse 5: "Apart from the vine, you can do nothing." In this whole spiritual war with the world, the flesh, and the devil, you can't do anything apart from Christ. So I say to you today, the take-home truth for which you should focus on is: keep close to Christ. And that is exactly what Jesus prayed for His disciples in John chapter 17 in the High Priestly Prayer. And so if you're walking with Christ, you will be able to win. Walk with Christ, you'll be able to win.

Point number two is: fight the good fight. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 12, it talks about fighting the good fight, and this is to remain in your lane. Fight the good fight. There are a lot of battles out there that are nothing but distractions. There are a lot of battles going on that are not your lane, not your area. You are a disciple of the Lord Jesus, and so you remain in your lane. Part of that is not allowing anything to come into your family that is going to take you and your family away from serving and honoring Christ. And so we have to protect our hearts, protect our families, educate our families, stay on track — to remain in our lane, to fight the good fights.

You should not be engaged in all these futile battles in the world. There's a theology out there for that — it's called post-millennialism — as if you can win all the wars in the world and somehow convert the world to Christ and usher in, in your own flesh and your own strength, Christ's return. No — Christ is in control. He's going to determine these things. So we are rescuing the remnant and simply being faithful. And so discern the right battles to be in. If it's not the right battle, don't engage. Stay faithful.

You realize that the great things that God has called us to are often compromised through a lot of good things. If you have too much going on in your life — too many good things — it will be at the expense of the great things, like the Great Commission. So do not get distracted by humanitarian aid, all these different things that can be good. These battles can be good, but they're not great. So if you're going to serve Christ and be part of the Great Commission, we don't get on the wrong battlefield. We're not casting demons out and doing exorcisms. We're not engaged in all these endless arguments online. We're not engaged in all these things. We share the gospel, make disciples, stay in our lane. So fight the good fight.

My last point, point number three: don't start fights. In verse 11, the Bible says to put on the full armor of God "so that you will be able to" — start fights? No. It says "so that you will be able to" — what? Stand. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 3 says, "Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." And so the battle plan for a Christian soldier is to endure. The battle comes to you — you stand. The battle comes to you — you don't run away. The battle comes to you — you fight with the right strategy. But you don't go starting fights. You don't go after the devil as if, in the flesh, you could defeat him.

One of the craziest things going on in Christendom today — or pseudo-Christianity — would be antagonism and arrogance and audacity. All of these things are so ungodly, and you can spot a prideful, arrogant person from a mile away. They're fighting in the flesh and not in the Spirit. Did you know that you can use God's Word in the flesh and it would be dishonoring to Him? Okay. Christ was meek and mild. He was strong. And if there was ever any area where He was purposely sharp and aggressive, it was towards those who were using religion for profit. In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus sliced and diced the Pharisees and Sadducees to pieces, calling them whitewashed tombs and vipers. So did John the Baptist in Matthew chapter 3. If there's ever a point where you use the Word with all of its strength like a hammer — Jeremiah the prophet used God's Word as a hammer against false religion — if there's ever an area where you are strong and aggressive, it is against those who are abusing God's Word for money and pride and power and position, like the Pharisees and Sadducees. And the false prophets of this day, the self-proclaimed prophets — give them the Word of God with all of its strength. Call them to repentance and call them out publicly. Explain to everyone what heresy looks like.

But when it comes to our everyday life and wearing the full armor of God, we are Christians. We're not ones who are going to be looking for confrontation — that's unhealthy. We're not ones who are looking for controversy. Mark Driscoll is a marketing genius in creating controversy so that he can capitalize monetarily off of it. We're not to do those types of things. We cannot stir up controversy and capitalize upon that — that's not Christ-like. We can't be ones who are contentious, looking for a way to get someone's goat, to steal their peace, to stir them up. That is not Christianity. That's just starting fights. And so we engage when we are attacked — period. We don't go looking for fights.

We out-pray the enemy. We outlast the enemy. We simply remain faithful. We continue in the Word. Our church verse, John 8:31 — "Continue in My word, and so prove that you are disciples of Mine."

In Matthew chapter 4, verses 1 to 11, you see that after Jesus remained faithful and stood upon the Word of God, Satan left Him. Right? The battle was won. Yes, He was worn out. Yes, if you read the chapter, you'll see there is recovery — an angel had to minister to Him. Yes, there are true physical and emotional strains. Yes, you have read the book of Job and you know there are casualties in this spiritual warfight. But you remain faithful by not going and starting fights, because you see how capable Satan is. You remain faithful with frontal armor, and you stand firm in the faith.

To end with a little bit of encouragement, I would like to share with you that David said this in Psalm 119:71: "It was good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes." If you have come to the point in your life where you have so much confidence in the sovereignty of God that you could say what David said — even when his enemies hurt him and he was afflicted — that "it was good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes" — then God teaches us oftentimes through pain and suffering that which cannot be learned through everyday ease. The strain brings you to prayer. The strain brings you to seeking Christ more passionately.

Joseph said it like this in Genesis 50:20: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." And so if you have the absolute belief that God's sovereignty is ruling over all, His kingdom ruling over all, then you can also say the same thing that David and Joseph said.

And Isaiah — in Isaiah 54:17 the Bible says, "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh." This is our heritage. This is the covenant that we have entered into — the protection of Yahweh, God taking care of us. Even when He sends us into battle, even when we have to fight, the wars and the outcome belong to the Lord. And so this heritage is an inherited protection — God takes care of us. He keeps His promises. He does everything for His glory and our good. For those who love Him — Romans 8:28 — just keep loving God. Stay in His Word.

And so this life is guaranteed suffering — Philippians 1:29 — and we know that He works all things for good. And so by way of encouragement, say what David said, say what Joseph said, say what Isaiah said, and even say what Job said: "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him." If you would simply determine, "Whatever this world has to offer, I believe God is good and I belong to Him — everything's going to work out fine. I believe." Come to that realization in your life — that you're going to hold fast to your faith no matter what — and then you'll be in great company.

Let's pray together. Lord, thank You for opening to us today Your Word in Ephesians chapter 6, on the subject of spiritual warfighting. And I pray, God, that You would help us to remain faithful no matter what. Help us not to be drawn into the world. Help us not to sink in battle but to stand firm. I pray, dear Jesus, that You would help us to fight against Satan in the right ways, which is simply standing with the Scriptures, doing the same type of spiritual war strategy that You demonstrated for us in Matthew chapter 4. I pray, dear Jesus, that we would not be given to anything of the flesh, that we would not fight in the flesh, that we would not do spiritual battle in the flesh, that we would not give in to the fleshly, sinful desires, that we would remain faithful to You. Help us to be ones who repent really fast whenever we mess up. Help us to be ones who stay within the protective realm of the local church, which You have designed for our spiritual maturity, which You have designed to equip us to go and evangelize and make disciples. Help us to stay ones who are continuing in Your Word, so that we can continue to keep Scripture at the forefront of our minds and be faithful to hide God's Word in our hearts, so that whenever we are pushed or shoved or come against, Lord, whatever comes out of us is Scripture. Keep us, dear Jesus, I pray. Keep us honoring You. Help us, I pray, dear Jesus. This is a spiritual war and it's a real reality that we want to learn more about, and I pray Your blessings upon this finishing of the book of Ephesians. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.