The Enemy
A Sermon on Ephesians 6:11-12
Scripture
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 powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places …
Sermon Description
There is a sharp difference between the symptom and the disease. History teaches that humanity is stuck focusing on the symptoms instead of the disease. In their quest to understand evil and various forms of paganism, fatalism occupied the minds of people in ancient times. Modern people are too sophisticated to believe their problems can be located in the spiritual realm, so they locate the problem in lack of education and ignorance. The belief is that the spread of culture and rationalism is the cure to all problems. Some Christians are likewise guilty of such optimism in the human spirit. To believe in a real devil and spiritual foes is ridiculed. Blinded by hubris, modern humanity marches forward with education with all the hope of “progress” as comfort. In this sermon on Ephesians 6:11–12 titled “The Enemy,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones contests such ideas by reminding the listener of the apostle Paul’s words, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world…” Dr. Lloyd-Jones gives a scathing critique of the solutions many put forward today while grounding believers in the sure truth of God’s word. The listener will find courage, comfort, and confidence as they listen to this helpful sermon on the Christian and the true nature of the disease.
Sermon Breakdown
- The apostle Paul urges Christians to be strong in the Lord and put on the whole armor of God.
- This is because Christians are in a constant spiritual conflict and wrestling against the devil and his forces.
- The world does not believe in this spiritual conflict and sees problems as merely human and solvable by human means like progress, education and reason.
- But the Bible teaches that the real problem is spiritual - it is the devil and his forces like principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness.
- This teaching is ridiculed today but it is essential to biblical Christianity and a right understanding of sin, salvation, the Bible and world history.
- To not believe in the devil and his forces is to not fully believe in the authority of Scripture.
- The Bible teaches about the devil and his forces from Genesis to Revelation, especially in Jesus' own teaching.
- Belief in the devil is necessary to properly understand the biblical doctrines of sin, salvation and why Jesus had to come.
- You cannot understand world history and current events without understanding the devil and his forces.
- While this is a sobering truth, it is also comforting because it means we can have victory and stand against the devil in the power of the Lord.
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.