The Devil and the Nations
A Sermon on Ephesians 6:10-13
Scripture
10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against …
Sermon Description
Secular politicians, newspapers, and the media look at conflict and wars around the world and cite economic and political factors as the cause. In this sermon on Ephesians 6:10–13 titled “The Devil and the Nations,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones states that this sort of reductionism demonstrates that natural humanity is preoccupied with the symptoms but not concerned with the true cause. Great conflict and war, according to the Scriptures, is the arena of a much deeper reality than economics or politics. The answers provided by politicians to a restless world will never be sufficient. Only the Bible gives an adequate answer to these things. The apostle Paul says that Christians wrestle not with flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. At the levels of the individual and national, this world is the arena of spiritual conflict. The devil and demonic powers are at work together with the pride, greed, and lusts of people to usurp God’s authority. God has responded to this demonic influence by instituting human government to restrain and punish evil. Ultimately, however, God has answered this demonic threat by sending Christ to crush the seed of the serpent. Listen to Dr. Lloyd-Jones as he expounds this text and answers important questions for what these truths mean for today.
Sermon Breakdown
- The Christian views days like Remembrance Day differently from non-Christians.
- The Bible teaches that the ultimate cause of wars is spiritual, not merely human or economic. Wars are the result of the devil and evil spiritual forces operating in the world.
- The devil causes wars by promoting lawlessness, pride, greed, selfishness, and distrust between people and nations.
- Examples of how the devil has caused wars include: Cain and Abel, King Ahab taking Naboth's vineyard, the people before the flood, the tower of Babel, and wars between Israel and other nations.
- The devil not only generally promotes sin and evil, but sometimes directly inspires demonic leaders like Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus Epiphanes, and Hitler.
- God has instituted temporary measures to restrain evil like establishing human governments and allowing the rise and fall of world powers. But His ultimate solution is the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ.
- Christians should avoid and restrain the causes of war, refuse to fight in aggressive wars, but aid governments in restraining evil. Pacifism is unbiblical.
- The future will continue to see wars and turmoil until Christ returns, so Christians should not put their hope in human peace efforts but look forward to Christ's return.
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.