The Enemy And His Schemes

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of

His might. Put on the full armor of God so that

you will be able to stand firm against the schemes

of the devil. 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. 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. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Father, we come to you this night. Father, we

thank you so much for the freedom and the opportunity

to gather together in fellowship as believers.

Father, we thank you so much that each and every

one of us can come here tonight and eagerly anticipate

hearing from you and singing praises to you,

Lord. Father, though many may be tired, worn

out, Father, we ask that you would, by your Spirit,

make this time profitable. And beneficial to

the souls of the saints. Father, use your word

to sanctify and edify and build up. To quicken.

But even tonight, Lord, we ask that you would

use your word to save sinners through the preaching

of the gospel. Father, we ask these things not

in any merit or right that we innately possess.

But Father, we ask these things in the name of

the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that you would

be with us this evening. We ask these things

in his name. Amen. We have been working our way

through Ephesians chapter 6. If you recall, many

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

months ago we did an overview of spiritual warfare,

kind of throughout the book of Ephesians. And

then we had a message on spiritual warfare and

pastoral ministry and how the two interact. And

then we also had a message on the importance

of being strong in the Lord, where Paul says

in verse 10, Finally, be strong in the Lord and

in the strength of his might. And in that message

we... came to the conclusion that the strength

which we need for this fight and for this battle

is wholly and completely outside of us, and the

Lord has invested it in the armor that he has

given to us to put on. He's invested it in truth,

righteousness, the gospel of peace. Faith. He's

invested it in salvation, the word of God, and

in prayer. So the believer has been given resources

and we're constantly reminded in this text that

the believer is in a battle. He's in a fight.

Paul presents the Christian life as warfare.

And that's something we have to get our minds

around. The Christian life is not intended to

be an easy life. The Christian life is always

going to be warfare, which means it's always

going to be difficult and hard. But it also means,

brothers and sisters, that we have... An enemy

that opposes us as the church of Jesus Christ.

Tonight, we have to consider this enemy. The

text says this. Put on the full armor of God

so that you will be able to stand firm against

the schemes of the devil. So our enemy is the

devil, and he's a little bit later in Ephesians

6 referred to as... the evil one, and the method

the devil attacks us, the method he opposes the

church, is through schemes. And that's what we

find here in this text. So the first thing we'll

consider is the enemy of God's people, the devil,

Satan. He's referred to as the evil one. He's

referred to as the father of lies. in the Gospel

of John, alluding to the fact that he's always

been a liar and that lies originated with him,

that he's a deceiver. We find that he's also

referred to as the accuser of the brethren, meaning

that the devil works by bringing accusations

and seeking to bring Shame on Christ and his

church through condemning the saints. So he's

called the accuser of the brethren. In 1 Thessalonians

3 .5 he is referred to as the tempter. Paul talks

about how he's afraid that the church at Thessalonica

has been tempted. And that his work has been

in vain. So he's known for. He has definitively

characterized our enemy as the one who tempts

the saints in the church of the living God. We

could think about two particular instances of

this, couldn't we? Think about the garden and

Eve. It was the tempter who came in and tempted

the woman. and deceived the woman. He tricked

her. And then her husband straight up sinned

without deception. He knew what he was doing.

He was crafty then, and he is crafty now. But

we can also think of another instance that uniquely

expresses his character as the tempter. Think

about early on in the Gospels and right before

the ministry of our Lord begins. What takes place

in the wilderness when Christ is driven out into

the wilderness? He is tempted by the devil in

various ways in an onslaught that we cannot fathom

and we will never know. yet he was successful

and victorious. So he's known as the tempter.

In 2 Corinthians 4, he's referred to as the god

of this age, lowercase g, or the god of this

world, or the ruler of this world. John 12, 31,

1430, and 1611 all refer to him as the ruler

of this world, meaning Christ has real authority.

Meaning the devil has real authority, real power

in this world among fallen sinful men. There's

real demonic activity that takes place in this

world. He is referred to as the sower of evil.

We could think about... The parable of the tares

and the wheat. It characterizes the entirety

of the gospel age. This parable. And it talks

about how the good seed is the sons of God. But

then there's those. The tares. Or we could say

the weeds essentially. And those are the sons

of the devil. Or the evil. So we find that. During

the gospel age, the devil will be present and

working and actively sowing evil in this world.

He is the arch enemy of God's people. He is the

leader, seemingly, or the chief. enemy of God's

people that leads a force of hierarchical authorities

and spiritual forces. This is why we read in

verse 12, 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. Notice there's organization.

There's structure. There's hierarchy in the forces

that oppose the church of Jesus Christ. The devil

is a real enemy, brothers and sisters. We have

to remember that. And we need to constantly remind

ourselves of that and we will see why. The enemy

of the church throughout this entire age, brothers

and sisters, is not preeminently men or a man.

The enemy of the church throughout this age is

Satan, the devil. He is the enemy of God's people.

Believers must be those who look beyond men to

see the enemy behind the world. To see what's

taking place behind that which is visible and

that which is obvious. That which is seen to

the eye. It's important for us to grasp this,

isn't it? Because we have a tendency to personify

certain things and to make it personal with regards

to men. And to think that our sole enemy in this

world is a man or men or anything we could say.

a nation, or a leader, or a party, or a group.

You could name any of it. And to think that is

the enemy. But brothers and sisters, there's

something behind that which is visible that's

taking place. There is the demonic. There is

the satanic work that is occurring behind. That

which is seen to the eye. And it is only understood

and it is only recognized and it is only grasped

by faith, brothers and sisters. One of the dangers

of politicizing Christianity and we see this

in our day occurring and we have seen it taking

place is that men become our enemies and not

our mission field. That they are the issue, they

are the problem, they are the enemy, therefore

I must stand against them, I must oppose them,

and I must do whatever it takes to destroy them.

But brothers and sisters, there's an enemy that's

working behind them with a much more malicious

intent. With much more ability. With much more

intellect. With much more power. And much more

authority. And much more knowledge. Believers

must be those who look behind men and see the

one pulling the strings in a sense. As God providentially

allows. We must be those who look behind. what

we might call the enemies of this life, to see

the one true great and ultimate enemy of God's

people throughout this age, which is the devil.

Now, knowing that we have this enemy, it's important

that we understand how he works. It's important

that we understand how he operates or how he

attacks us as the church. What are his methodologies

in opposing Christ's church? How does he come

against the people of God? The Bible clearly

teaches that we have such an enemy. He's not

a figure of speech. He's not symbolic, but he's

a real personal being that hates the church of

Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus. So how does

this unseen enemy operate in this world to oppose

the church of Jesus Christ? Well, we can think

about this in a general sense first. We learn

a little bit about how the devil operates from

this term, the schemes of the devil, in verse

11, but also how he's described elsewhere. Throughout

the scriptures. This word schemes. Has the idea

of. Craftiness. It has the idea. Of cleverness.

It has the idea. Of deceit. Intent. Strategy.

Well thought out. Methods. Now we also read.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 13 through

2 Corinthians 11:13–15

15, this of the devil. For such men are false

apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves

as apostles of Christ. So he starts with the

apostles who are disguising themselves as servants

of Christ. They're not real servants of Christ.

But he uses them as an example. And then he says

this, no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself

as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising

if his servants also disguise themselves as servants

of righteousness, whose end will be according

to their deeds. Sometimes I don't think we speak

quite clearly or quite frankly enough as the

Apostle Paul did. of Satan. And how did these

servants of Satan present themselves with regards

to Paul's apostolic ministry? They were seeking

to present themselves just like the Apostle.

They mean good for the church at Corinth. They're

there for their benefit. The truth they're proclaiming

is for their good. It's a blessing to them. They

mean well. They want what is best for the church

at Corinth. No, we don't have any malicious intent.

We're just like Paul who planted the church,

but we're going to subtly jab him and degrade

his ministry on the side and share malicious

slander regarding his ministry throughout ours.

They're presenting themselves as... False prophets

in sheep's clothing. And Paul says the devil

does the exact same thing. That his ministry

is built upon disguises. His ministry is built

on masquerading as an angel of light. Now we'll

see. That's not always the case, but largely

it is true that the devil does, in fact, work

in subtle manners, not that which is clear and

obvious and that which is overt. Again, thinking

back to the garden, the devil didn't come to

Eve as a massive, terrifying, fearful bear, did

he? shaking her out of her booth, trying to run

her out of the garden. No, that would have been

too obvious and that would have been too clear.

He did not come saying, God is evil, God is a

liar. No, he came as her friend. He came as a

subtle creature that would whisper into her ear,

that would subtly pervert her thinking. This

is good for you, Eve. This is what is best for

you, Eve. I don't mean anything harmful for you.

I want what's best for you. And what's best for

you is eating this fruit. Listen, you're going

to be like God. Don't you want to be like God?

He came as an angel of light and craftiness,

brothers and sisters. He does the same today.

That is unchanged in his mannerisms and in his

methodologies in this world. So generally, the

devil works in a deceitful, in a crafty manner.

But we also see some specific examples throughout

the book of Ephesians. And we'll try to constrain

ourselves to the book of Ephesians for the most

part with these specific examples. reference

other places periodically. So what are some of

the specific methods that the devil uses to attack

the church of Jesus Christ? Well, first, and

I think I put this one first because I think

it's probably the most overt and the most common

one. The enemy appeals to the lusts of the mind

and the lusts of the flesh. In a sense, we could

say he dangles a carrot in front of the desires

and longings of men. We see this in Ephesians

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, where Paul says, And you are dead

in your trespasses and sins. in which you formerly

walked according to the course of this world,

according to the prince of the power of the air,

the spirit that is now working in the sons of

disobedience. Listen to this. Among them we too

all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh,

indulging the desires of the flesh and of the

mind, and were by nature children of wrath even

as the rest. How does the devil work in the life

of individuals? He appeals to their carnality,

brothers and sisters. And this is important.

That doesn't just mean sensuality. That doesn't

just mean sexual immorality, though that is a

big one in our day, in our age. There are many

things that appeal to the carnal man and the

carnal woman, like prestige. Power. Influence.

Riches and wealth. Influence in a society. A

name. A legacy. There's any number of things

that the devil can appeal. He can dangle in front

of a person. Success, brothers and sisters. Oh,

just keep focusing on success as he dangles the

carrot. Don't worry about your spiritual well

-being. Don't worry about your spiritual life.

Don't worry about prayer. You've got to feed

your family and make the bucks. Don't worry about

growing in holiness and godliness. You are the

big guy on the block. Brothers and sisters, the

devil has many, many schemes to trick people

into reaching out. and grabbing the carrot. We've

all fallen for it. But he still uses this strategy

because he knows the corruption that remains

in our hearts. He knows that we're sinners. And

I believe that he knows that much better than

we know that. He knows the desires of our heart.

Maybe not the explicit details and the explicit

statements, but He knows our hearts are bent

towards evil and corruption because we were born

as children of wrath and we were once under His

rule and reign. He's well aware, brothers and

sisters. He is not ignorant of that fact and

ignorant of that reality. He knows what the heart

of man is like. and he knows how to appeal, how

to allure to that nature, that remnant of sin

and corruption that remains in us. I think of

Proverbs chapter 5, and I'd like to read that.

Proverbs 5 · chapter mention

It seems a good illustration for what we're discussing.

It's largely talking about the call and the voice

of the harlot, the immoral, ungodly woman. And

listen to the call, the alluring, the appeal

that takes place in this text that draws in the

naive or the unwise. My son, starting in verse

1, give attention to my wisdom. Incline your

ear to my understanding that you may observe

discretion and your lips may reserve knowledge.

For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. And

smoother than oil is her speech. Flattering.

Something sweet comes out of her mouth. Something

that... That persuades a person. It's appealing

to an individual. But in the end, she is bitter

as wormwood. Sharp as a two -edged sword, her

feet go down to death. Her steps take hold of

shield. She does not ponder the path of life.

Her ways are unstable. She does not know it.

Now then, my sons, listen to me and do not depart

from the words of my mouth. Wisdom. Keep your

way far from her. And do not go near the door

of her house. Or you will give your vigor to

others. And your ears to the cruel one. We get

the idea, don't we? There is an appeal. There

is an allurement that the devil uses to draw

out the carnality and the flesh. Of man's heart.

We must understand. How our enemy works. Brothers

and sisters. He knows. Where to pull the strings.

And when to pull the strings. So what must we

do? Put on the armor. Wear the armor. It's vitally

important. Now I believe the devil operates.

With this methodology. Uniquely. In the life

of young people. We see this throughout history.

And we see this in our day. And in our culture.

The devil knows how to ruin young men and young

women. And how does he do that? He appeals to

the lust of their flesh. And the lust of the

mind. Images and thoughts and desires of the

heart. For things that are good. in the right

context, in the right setting, but things that

are bad in the wrong place, in the wrong time,

in the wrong setting, and it will bring destruction

into your life. The devil knows how to do this.

He knows how to work this. We must be on guard.

The second way... specifically that the enemy

seeks to oppose the church of God, is he seeks

to distort our thinking and to lead us away from

Christ with false teaching and erroneous doctrine.

Now, we think about this, and this is a very

prevalent method or tactic. That the devil uses

in our day. And in our age. Again we could go

to. Second Corinthians. Chapter 11. And we read

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

this in verse 3. But I'm afraid. That as the

serpent deceived Eve. By his craftiness. Your

minds will be led astray. from the simplicity

and purity of devotion to Christ. And then listen

to what verse 4 says. For if one comes and preaches

another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or

you receive a different spirit, which you have

not received, or a different gospel, which you

have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.

What is Paul saying? He's saying the devil leads

men's... minds astray through false doctrine

and bad preaching, brothers and sisters. False

understanding regarding who Christ is and the

Holy Spirit and the work of God in their life.

Different gospels, brothers and sisters. The

devil works through false teachers and false

doctrine. To lead the mind of God's people away

from Christ so that they think wrongly about

Christ and who he is and his work and what follows

our thinking, our living. If we can lead our

mind astray regarding how we see Christ, regarding

what is true of the gospel, he can lead our souls

right into hell. Isn't that what takes place

with Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses? That very

thing. He deceives them into believing that this

is the true Jesus. That this is really how a

person is saved. Or any other false religion.

The devil works to lead men astray and away from

Christ by first leading their minds away from

Christ with wrong thinking and then leading their

lives and their souls away from Christ and their

living because he first got their doctrine in

their head. We also see that one of the... unique

methodologies of the devil in opposing the church

is that he seeks to gain a foothold through unresolved

anger and sin. If we turn to Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

4, this is explicitly addressed. In Ephesians

Ephesians 4:26–27

chapter 4, verses 26 -27, we read these words.

And the language is very, very interesting. Be

angry and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun

go down on your anger and do not give the devil

an opportunity or a foothold. as some other languages

or some other versions of the Bible state. The

devil works through unresolved anger that is

not dealt with quickly because he has a way of

drawing it out to bring and to enter in the person

into bitterness. That's why the book of Hebrews

explicitly states, Don't let bitterness take

root. That's why James says the anger of man

does not achieve the righteousness of God, brothers

and sisters. Because the devil uses hardness

of heart and anger and bitterness to draw men's

hearts away from Christ and to sow seeds of discord

and disunity in the life of God's people. This

is why Paul says, In Colossians 3 .8, put away

anger, wrath, malice, and slander. Put it away.

And then he goes on and he says, put on Christ.

The context of Ephesians 4 is in the context

of the local church, brothers and sisters. And

this is very similar. to 2 Corinthians 2, verses

2 Corinthians 2:10–12

10 -12, which says this, But one whom you forgive

anything, I forgive also. For indeed, what I

have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I

did it for your sakes and in the presence of

Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of

us by Satan. for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

The devil loves a hard, angry heart, brothers

and sisters, because he loves to work through

unforgiveness, unbelief, and bitterness to bring

about separation and discord in the life of God's

people. The manner... In which the devil gets

in. The church of the living God. Is through

the heart. Of bitter men and women. Through unforgiving

souls. Forgetting what Christ has done for them.

Brothers and sisters. This is a great stumbling

block for many of us. We must be quick to forgive.

We must, as Paul says further in Ephesians, let

all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor

and slander be put away from you, along with

all malice. Be kind to one another. Tenderhearted,

forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also

has forgiven you. Brothers and sisters, this

is one of the unique and distinct methodologies

the devil uses in the life of God's church. We

must be on guard, personally and corporately,

against such things. Another way that we see

the devil works uniquely is the enemy seeks to

keep Christians miserable in doubt and despair

in their lives. We see this at the end of Ephesians

Ephesians 6:16

chapter 6 verse 16. In addition to all, taking

up the shield of faith with which you will be

able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of

the evil one. Doubt and lack of assurance, brothers

and sisters, despair in the life of an individual.

If the devil can't ruin your life, then the devil

is going to make you miserable by causing you

to forget and neglect the promises of God from

the pages of Scripture. He can't take you out

of Christ's hand, brothers and sisters, but he's

going to do his darndest to make you a poor witness

for Christ in this life and to demonstrate and

show that there is no joy in Christ. Why would

you go to Christ? They're just miserable and

they're despairing. The devil will do everything

he can to keep the Christian down in the pit.

Where there is no hope. And faith stays small.

Causing them to overshadow and forget. The gloriousness

of their Lord and their Savior. And the fact

that it is Christ who saves. Not the strength

of their faith. But the object of their faith.

The devil works in a variety of ways. To oppose

the people of God. If we were to summarize all

of these, then I think that we could do that

in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation

says that there's three primary modes or ways

that the devil opposes the church. It's the harlot,

the beast, and the false prophet. Those are the

three things the devil uses. To attack and oppose

God's church. Persecution and suffering. Immorality

and the world to allure them and to cause them

to fall and apostatize and backslide and bring

disrepute on Christ and the false prophet to

take hold of their minds and to lead them away

from Christ because of false doctrine, false

religion, and false teachings. You know the methods

of our enemy. Don't be deceived, brothers and

sisters. Study how he works in the pages of Scripture

and ask God for help in putting on the armor.

Persevere and be diligent in your life. God has

provided for us in this battle. He's provided

for us in this fight. Now, as we think about

the enemy and his methods, there's one last thing

I want to emphasize, and this is important. As

we think about these things, it's vitally important

that we keep on the forefront of our mind both

the doom of the devil and the victory of Christ.

We have to keep these things in the forefront

of our thinking. We have to remember and keep

at the forefront of our mind the fact that Christ

has been exalted over and above every malicious

and every benevolent authority and power in the

spiritual realm. We read that in Ephesians 1.

We have to remember and recall that the devil

and all his hostile powers have been defeated

at the cross in his death and in the propitiation

of God and the removal of sin guilt in the life

of God's people. Colossians chapter 2 verses

Colossians 2:13–15

13 through 15. We have to remember brothers and

sisters that we are no longer Blinded by the

devil. Unbelievers are. But the believer has

had the veil taken away. The veil removed in

2 Corinthians chapter 3. And the power of God

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

has illuminated our minds to see Christ and the

glory of the gospel. We are no longer blinded.

We are able to see Christ and all his glory and

be transformed from one degree of glory to the

next. By the spirit that dwells within us. That

can't be taken away. And that can't be ripped

away from us. By any enemy brothers and sisters.

We have to remember. That we have been transferred

from. The domain of darkness. And into the kingdom

of the beloved son. According to Colossians chapter

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

1. We must remember. That the activity and the

work of the devil is restricted and restrained

so that the gospel can go out to the Gentile

nations and God's elect can be called in. And

we must remember, brothers and sisters, that

the day of judgment is coming for our enemy as

the church. Doom is sure. It is fixed. It is

guaranteed. It will come when Christ Jesus returns.

He will be judged alongside of unbelieving men.

And unbelieving men will be judged alongside

of our enemy, the devil. Now, I don't say any

of these things. to minimize, or to make irrelevant,

or to make insignificant the realities of spiritual

warfare. Because we can't ever look at the cross

and allow that to take us to a place where the

devil is insignificant and irrelevant. We can't

do that, brothers and sisters. Because we have

Ephesians 6 and the rest of the Bible which says

it's very, very important. I think oftentimes

when we talk about these things, especially spiritual

warfare, we come to this idea, well, what's the

big deal then? Christ has died. He's defeated.

Why? Why do I need to worry about this? Why do

I need to... Think about this. Because brothers

and sisters. Real suffering. Real pain. Comes

about as a result of the devil. Real loss. Because

we have a real enemy. Real discord. Real division.

Real brokenness. Real heartache. Real backsliding.

Real apostasy. takes place because we have a

real enemy. You can really fall into sin because

of the temptation of this enemy. But we can also

really put on the armor of God and look to the

Lord Jesus Christ who has in fact won the battle

and gives us strength to fight. As we near our

heavenly home. There is a balance to be struck.

But brothers and sisters. We must not forget.

We are in a fight. For our lives. We have a real

enemy. But we have real armor to put on. And

Christ has really. Died. For the sins of his

people. And really guaranteed. Our eternal salvation.

And that's really guaranteed and made sure the

devil will be judged.