Spiritual Warfare – Standing against the Devil (Ephesians 6:11)

In 1968, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the popular Rock band; The Rolling Stones infamously wrote “Sympathy for the Devil” in which Mick personifies the Devil and boasts of His evil meddling throughout human history. In the song; the Devil has the audacity to demand sympathy from mankind for his crimes; then goes further to accuse mankind and blaming man for the problem of evil.

 

The character of the Devil – Murderer

Jesus Christ (who always speaks the truth) spoke of the Devil in this way in John 8:44:

⁴⁴ For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

By Jesus’ own words; we learn that the Devil’s core nature is characterized as being a “murderer” and a “liar”. God commands us not to aid murderers. (Proverbs 28:17)

¹⁷ A murderer’s tormented conscience will drive him into the grave.
    Don’t protect him!

 And God says He hates liars. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

¹⁶ There are six things the Lord hates—
    no, seven things he detests:
¹⁷ haughty eyes,
    a lying tongue,
    hands that kill the innocent,
¹⁸ a heart that plots evil,
    feet that race to do wrong,
¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies,
    a person who sows discord in a family.

Judging by these two truths alone; we must not offer the Devil any sympathy for the fact remains that He is the cause of evil in our world from Adam up until now. The Bible tells us in Ephesians: 6:11

Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

Among his many names and titles, Satan; which means enemy or adversary is primarily called the Devil in today’s society. Devil literally means "slanderer." Satan is called this because he slanders both God and humanity. In the Garden of Eden, he slandered God's character. (Source: Don Stewart: What are some of the different titles of Satan?)

During our current age; (the church age) The Devil actively accuses believers in Christ day and night before God’s throne.

Revelation 12:10

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens,

“It has come at last—
    salvation and power
and the Kingdom of our God,
    and the authority of his Christ.^[a]
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters^[b]
    has been thrown down to earth—
the one who accuses them
    before our God day and night.

One of Satan’s chief occupations is to bring damning accusations of the Saints before God’s throne. In hypocrisy; the Devil accuses the redeemed of sins they commit in a hopeless plan that God will somehow un-elect His elect children. The Bible teaches that God’s predestined purpose to save His elect cannot be thwarted by anything or anyone.

Romans 8:29-39

²⁹ For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn^[a] among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.³¹ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? ³² Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? ³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”^[b]) ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[c] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

The craft of the Devil – Deception (Genesis 3:1-4)

3 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”² “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. ³ “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”⁴ “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. ⁵ “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

Aside from being a murderer; Satan’s other primary characteristic is that He is a liar. (John 8:44) From the Devil’s first encounter with mankind in the Garden of Eden; we learn the Devil’s pattern of attack. First; Satan slanders God by misrepresenting Him in a negative way. (Verse 1)) Secondly; The Devil follows the slander of God with a lying substitute of God’s command with the intent to deceive. (Verse 4-5)

The attack of the Devil -Temptation

An ancient Italian proverb says, “Lord, deliver me from a man who has but one business to do.”

The Devil’s one track mind is to temp human’s to sin. Satan’s most powerfully honed skill that He has employed on every human being with near perfect success is temptation. The Tempter never succeeded in causing Jesus Christ to sin but has been successful on every other human being since Adam. Satan’s success in temping us is rooted in his tremendous knowledge of the divine. Satan usurps (takes by force) God’s Holy and perfect rule on earth by counterfeiting Gods kingdom with His own perverted kingdom through his perfected craft of deception. On top of that; Satan can attack us invisibly or disguised as an angel of light and commands a loyal army of demons numbering of one third of all created angels.

Ezekiel 28:12

“You were the model of perfection,
    full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty.

Revelation 12:4

⁴ His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth. He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born.

Ephesians 6:12

¹² For we^[a] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Types of temptations

Although it goes without saying; the enemy will tempt us at a point of weakness. Real or perceived needs are exploited by the tempter as well as past hurts or emotional wounds. Christians must be self aware in order to be able to defend or shore up areas of vulnerability. Mankind’s threefold area vulnerability to temptation is: The flesh, (what feels good) the eyes, (what looks good) and the pride of life. (Wanting to be a somebody)

1 John 2:15-16

¹⁵ Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

James 1:14

¹⁴ Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

 

Overcoming the Devil and his demons

The good news is Jesus Christ has already won the decisive victory against the enemy when He died and rose again for the sins of the Church age Saints and the First Testament Saints alike. None of the Devil’s slanderous accusations have any power over us because Christ’s blood has fully paid our ransom.

Romans 8:1

8 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

 Secondly; those of us who walk by the Spirit; that is those who are Born again through faith in the risen saviour Jesus Christ; no longer need to yield to the Devil’s lies and can instead choose to believe God and enjoy Jesus Christ’s reign in our hearts by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 10:13

¹³ The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

(James 4:7)

⁷ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.