let's look at Ephesians chapter 6. I'm going to read from verses 10 through 20 and then focus in on the beginning there. This is God's holy and inspired word. Let's give our full attention to its reading. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as the shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me. that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. People of God, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord remains forever, the word written for you and for me this morning. Beloved congregation and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christian life, the Christian faith is a battle. The way in which scripture speaks about the Christian life here and now is that we are in a fight. As I read this morning, there is warfare language being posited for the Christian faith and we need to understand that there is a war at hand which began from the beginning of time and continues into the present. Have you given much thought to this reality? How often do you think about the battle in which we are in? Oftentimes we don't see the battle, so it becomes easy to forget that there is a cosmic warfare happening, a cosmic spiritual conflict whereby the forces of darkness are coming against the kingdom of God for the sake taking those who belong to the Lord for the sake of causing those who are created in the image of God to find their allegiance with the evil one. This is the present reality. This is what's happening. And as we've walked through the book of Ephesians, we've been struck by the unfolding mystery of the gospel of our salvation. Right? We have seen time and time again that Paul wants us to understand that we have been brought from death to life. That we, that being brought from death to life is being brought from darkness to light. Being brought from one kingdom to another. That is cosmic warfare language that Paul is discussing. Now at the end of the letter, he is drawing these thematic strings together that he might end his letter by pointing us back to all the things that he has already told us. That's why he says, be strong in the Lord. In the Lord is that shorthand for you have been called from death to life. You belong to the Lord of glory. The immeasurable riches of the gospel have been poured out to you. So therefore be strong, stand firm. We've seen the indicative, that is the true statements about you for three chapters, and then we've seen the commands, the imperatives. Now, because of who you are, live in a certain way. And now in this final passage, we see those two woven together in a profound way. Be strong in the Lord. The in the Lord is the indicative. This is who you are, so therefore be strong. The mystery of the gospel is that we have been recreated into a new man. that we've been united in faith to the Lord Jesus and also to one another. The church united to Christ through faith and sealed by the Spirit, and we now await this glorious inheritance that Paul would have us remember. We are looking forward to the time in which the church is triumphant. And Paul prays throughout the letter. He prays two times. He prays back in chapter 1, and he prays at the end of chapter 3. And what does he pray for? He prays for spiritual strength, that we would be strengthened in our inner beings by the Lord of glory, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Why does he pray for spiritual strength? Well, because he knows he's about to expound on the spiritual battle in which we face. We need spiritual strength in our inner being because there is a spiritual battle waging around us, and we're urged in chapter 4 to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, you remember, and that we should be eager to maintain the unity and the bond of peace, and we've seen this consistent theme of domain transfer, domain of darkness, to the kingdom of God. And in every instruction, Paul reminds us, this is who you are. You no longer belong to the kingdom of darkness. You are in the kingdom of God. You are in the kingdom of light. Therefore, your life looks differently because you belong to the Lord. Yet the battle continues. Now in this final section, the theme of those domains is coming together. We see that those domains, those kingdoms, if you will, are battling against one another. So as we think, just picture for a moment, it's hard for our minds to even go there, but picture this battle that took place for your very soul, that you were transferred out of the kingdom of darkness. And as we think about that cosmic warfare, We understand that the battle continues because there are those that still belong to the enemy that the Lord is calling in and through the proclamation of his gospel. In other words, the kingdom is advancing as the word is proclaimed. And we see Paul's awareness of this reality, that there is great opposition in this life. that we wrestle, but we wrestle not against flesh and blood. If we think we are only wrestling against flesh and blood, we are being naive, but behind the flesh and blood is our great enemy, who is waging war for us, seeking to sift us like wheat, as Jesus tells Peter. The new creation, though, has broken into the present reality. For the first several weeks in Ephesians, we saw that the kingdom of God has come. Repent and believe for the kingdom of God is at hand, is what Jesus says, and we'll look at that a little bit later. The kingdom of God has broken into this present reality. Yes, we are now in a kingdom of darkness here and now, where the prince of the power of the air is reigning, but the Lord has come in glory and has broken into this present reality. That's what Paul would have us understand as he has showed us through the book. And because of that new creation reality, we are also new creation creatures. We should understand that this time of waiting, though there is a triumphant victory where Christ has come, we're in a time of waiting. And this time of waiting is characterized as a time of war. This is why theologians often distinguish between the church militant and the church triumphant. The church militant is the church as we know it now, which is waging holy war against the princes and powers of darkness. How? Through the proclamation of the word, taking up the sword of the spirit and proclaim against the evil forces of darkness. If that is the church militant, which we belong to, the church triumphant is in heaven, in glory, triumphant. where the songs of battle turn to songs of great praise and adoration for what the Lord has accomplished. So here and now we belong to the church militant. The peace that we have received, remember, there's a type of paradox here because we have received peace with God, hostility broken, but the experience of that peace is in the midst of a battle. The experience of peace with God that we have is in the midst, the context of war, and will be fully enjoyed in the time of triumph, in the time of glory. And what we'll see throughout this struggle as we look at Ephesians 6 is that we are not doing battle alone. That we're not doing battle alone, but that we're also waging war against an enemy who has been conquered. Hear me, we are waging war. In other words, the Lord is waging war against an enemy who has already been conquered. And we are not waging war alone. Though defeated at the cross, the enemy still is able to come against us in certain ways, to continue fighting against us. And it is the Lord of glory who has gone forth in battle, putting his divine armor on and slaying his enemies. He is the one fighting. And he is the one that has given us this armor, this armor that we're going to consider next time when we're in Ephesians. Understanding a bit how the armor works, how the armor should be then used against the enemy. But today let's focus on the enemy because as you know, to win a battle, to understand the context of war, we must first know our enemy. So let's give some time over to understanding who this enemy is. And to do that, we're going to consider three points looking at, The fact that we do face a real enemy, that we face a spiritual enemy, but that this enemy is also a resistible enemy. He is real, he is spiritual, and he is resistible. Those are the three points that we're gonna walk through. So first, a real enemy. The first thing we need to deal with is the very fact that we do face an enemy. Oftentimes we can forget this. We can deny this very truth that the enemy is out around prowling like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. This is not a figment of our imagination. As we think about a spiritual enemy, or as we think about, talk about spiritual warfare, this is not an over-spiritualizing of the Christian faith, but rather it's the reality of the text that's given in front of us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but there is this enemy who is waging war. So we need to reckon with that. If we are denying that an enemy exists, then we are blinded by the schemes of the devil. For instance, one of the schemes of the devil is to get the world to think that he doesn't exist. Just like Psalm 14 says, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. And in one way, we can also say the fool says in his heart, there is no Satan. As you know, in our pop culture, Satan has been constructed as one who is sitting in some dungeon somewhere. He has a red suit on with horns and he's eating hot Cheetos. This is not the enemy in which we face, but rather it's a scheme to get the world to think that this is who we're facing. What? Oh, we can take care of him. That's not how scripture speaks of him though. The clear testimony of scripture is that he is waging war, and there is no neutrality. Either we belong to the kingdom of God or we belong to the kingdom of Satan, and the war is waging. In other words, to stand firm, we need to know the enemy that we face. We need to know how scripture speaks of him, and we need to know how it is that we are to resist him, which we'll look at in the third point. Paul introduces us to the evil one. He says, put on, therefore, in verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes. Listen to how he says the schemes of the devil. The devil is a great schemer. And the language Paul uses is one of warfare. Knowing the enemy helps us to be equipped for the battle. We have an ancient foe who has been around from the beginning. Thinking about this ancient foe, we recognize that throughout Scripture he uses the same old tricks, and recognizing those tricks can help us. Scripture first introduces us to the enemy in Genesis chapter three. You remember, God creates out of nothing. God says, let there be and there was, creates heaven and earth and all that is in them. That includes the angelic realm, and he creates angels good. Nothing God created was evil, but he called it all good. And at some point after creation, Isaiah chapter 14 tells us that this star of morning as we know him to be Lucifer or Satan. He leads these angelic forces in a rebellion against Almighty God and plunges himself and the angelic angels who were good into great eternal destruction and punishment. Satan desired to place himself on the throne of God. He looks at the North Star and says, I want to be there. I want to be on the throne. And therefore God casts him down into eternal punishment. And it is in the good providence of God, we need to hear this, God permitted the fall of Satan and his minions, and he receives all glory and honor, even of their fall. Because in their own willful and irrecoverable state, they plunge themselves into eternal destruction, yet God gets the glory. thrown to the earth and removed from this position of excellency, the creation narrative then introduces us to the evil one. Do you remember how creation, the creation narrative tells us about the enemy? When does he first come? How does he first come? Remember, he comes in the form of a serpent, and he comes to Eve in the time of the garden, and what does he ask? Has God really said? From the beginning, he is a liar. He is a schemer trying to get Eve to reject the clearly revealed word of God. Has God really said? And thus in willful disobedience at the instigation of the devil, Adam and Eve fall into sin. Being removed from this perfection that they had with God, and then God comes in judgment. He comes in judgment against the serpent. You shall remain on your belly forever. And then he says, I am going to put enmity between your seed and the seed of the woman. Why does he do this? Because for Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit, which the serpent then instigated them to eat of, they put themselves in the league with Satan. They found allegiance with Satan. And what God says is, no, you are mine. Therefore I'm putting enmity between you two because they belong to me. So this enmity is for the sake of, protection of God's people, protection of the seed of the woman, yet the judgment is that there is going to be enmity. a fight, a constant struggle between Satan and the seed of the woman. Why do we go back to creation? Well, because that battle at creation is still waging. This is the battle that we face. The enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman is continuing. That's what we see in this spiritual warfare. God's people are opposed by their enemies, yet God preserves the seed of the woman. It is the seed of the serpent. It is the serpent himself that is behind the wickedness in this world. It is him that is the great deceiver. It is him that is trying to deceive God's people throughout the ages. And despite this wickedness, God protects, preserves, gathers, guards, and keeps his own. Though the people of God are met with great forces because of this enmity from the fall, they are never left or forsaken by God." And we see that, don't we? Time and time again throughout Scripture, God is always preserving His own, though they are faced by this enemy. Remember, it is Satan who comes to Job as the great tempter. It is Satan who comes to Job to devour his faith, yet Job perseveres, keeping his eyes heavenward, which is a type of Christ and the obedience that Christ earns for us. It is Satan who stood against Israel and he incited David to take a census of the people, therefore sinning against God by taking, by numbering the peoples. 1 Chronicles tells us it was Satan who came to David and incited him. It is Satan who is behind King Herod. Remember what King Herod does to all the males in Israel who are under two, he kills them. for the sake of killing the Lord Jesus. It is Satan behind this wickedness, and it is Satan who attempts to destroy the ministry of Christ by leading him into the desert, that he might tempt him, that he might say, look at my kingdom, you can have it all. He wants to destroy the ministry of Christ, and the list goes on. All of these examples are meant to highlight the reality that we do face a great enemy. enemy that our Lord Jesus did consider serious, and we too ought to consider serious. Remember what he says to his disciples, watch and pray that you might not be led into temptation. An enemy that now prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour is how Peter speaks. And this real enemy, the difficulty is, so now we've established that, are you with me, that we have an enemy. We've established that he's real. But one of the difficulties is that it is a spiritual battle. Therefore, we have a spiritual enemy, which is our second point. We find ourselves in a time where we have great technological advancements, great advancements in our society, and that has led to, in some ways, a rejection of the supernatural. the spiritual has been rejected. One of the prevailing views among our unbelieving neighbors is that they only believe in this natural world. It's a naturalistic way of thinking. Only those things in which we can touch and see and go out and get are the things that actually exist. And though we've seen a shift in the last several years where people are willing to give that there is a spiritual realm, you know these as the spiritual but not religious people, Still, there is a prevailing view that the spiritual realm, the supernatural does not exist. Have you interacted with this view? Several of our unbelieving friends have this view. We ought to be prepared as to how we might engage them. The anti-supernatural worldview is why we spent a whole first point and why we're spending a whole second point speaking about the real enemy and his supernatural nature, his spiritual nature. Scripture speaks of the battle in which we are engaged in as a supernatural battle. as a spiritual battle, and the world scoffs at this supernaturalism. Really, what they're scoffing at is Christianity in and of itself. Not just supernaturalism, but they're scoffing that we actually believe in a God who created out of nothing. They're scoffing at the fact that we believe in a Bible that is inspired by God Himself, that is His very Word. And so when the world scoffs, we can respond with great confidence in the living and the active and the objective Word of God. We need not be ashamed of Christianity's supernaturalism. In other words, supernaturalism is intrinsic to Christianity. Or as one theologian said, supernaturalism is the breath of air from Christianity's nostrils. Christianity breathes supernaturalism. In fact, we do believe in a God who created with his very word. We believe in a God who became man in the flesh of Jesus Christ. We believe in a God who raised Jesus from the dead. So goes supernaturalism. There goes Christianity. The reason why we have to understand supernaturalism is because that is the realm in which we face this enemy. And Paul tells us so, right? In verse 12, look at verse 12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. We look around And we don't necessarily see this cosmic battle waging, right? We see people that are quite happy with the lives that they're living. We see people who are quite happy with the materialism that they are so infatuated with. We see people who are quite happy with leaving their families behind for the sake of going to get more. That, friends, is the enemy behind this materialistic world, forcing those things to happen. We're engaged in the spiritual battle and the realm in which it is taking place is the spirit of the air. Ephesians 2 tells us that Satan himself is the one who is leading this battle. He is the ruler of the realm of darkness from which we have been delivered. And remember, though, remember what Ephesians 3 said. through the domain transfer, through you being brought from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, the church, now, I mentioned at the beginning of worship that we are joining the heavenly realm in worship to our God. Well, it's no coincidence that Ephesians 3, verse 10 says that the church is on display for the heavenly realm. What does that mean? Well, think about it. We're fighting, waging war in this spiritual battle, and the church as she gathers, the church militant, lifted up with the church triumphant, that is on display for the spiritual powers of darkness. And the light has overcome the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome the light. That's what we're engaged in, people of God, even now as we gather. Thinking of Ephesians 3, our experience of the war occurs in the mind oftentimes, right? If you were to try to explain your mind to me, it's some invisible reality. You can't necessarily quantify it. And in that same way, the spiritual battle occurs there. That's why Paul in Ephesians 4, verse 23 says, to be renewed by the spirit of your what? Minds. To put on the new self created after the likeness of God and true righteousness and holiness. Satan comes in the realm of the mind as the great tempter and the great accuser. Have you experienced this? Being tempted to sin, being accused when you do. Satan is twisting the scriptures that he might bring confusion, that He might cause you to doubt the truth. And when He tempts you, He does not leave you in this time of sin, but rather He comes to accuse you of that sin in which you fell into. The great liar and accuser that He is wants to continue to beat you down. Our own conscience is enough to accuse us of the ways in which we've sinned against God. Our own conscience tells us that we have sinned against a holy God, yet Satan comes and wants you to revel in the very fact that you have sinned. So you ask, why is it important that I gather? Why is it important that I go to church? Well, because it is here that you hear from outside of yourself the word proclaimed that you are forgiven. It is here that the word comes and you receive this rest in Christ not allowing the enemy to continue to beat you down in accusations. That's also why we need fellowship with one another, that our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week might point us to Christ and say, stop listening to the evil tempter, stop listening to the world and the flesh and the devil, for this is who you are. We are communal people that we need others to tell us this. For the word from our brother and sister, from the word from the pulpit is sweeter than any word that we can tell ourselves because we like to accuse ourselves. He is the master schemer who deploys the weapons of darkness. Listen to how Jesus speaks of the evil one in John 9. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies. That is our enemy. Jesus tells Peter, Satan demanded to have you. Satan would like to sift you like wheat. What does Jesus tell Peter? But I've prayed for you that your faith may not fail." Who do we have praying for us at the right hand of the Father? The Lord of glory intercedes on our behalf that our faith may not fail. We'd be naive to think that the enemy, Satan himself, is not currently on the prowl. Our spiritual battle is against this threefold enemy, the world and the flesh and the devil and the lust of the world appeals to our sinful flesh. And Satan takes advantage of that. And we need to understand that the schemes of the devil are not always obvious, right? He's not often coming in ways that we think he will come. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, walks through the front door of the church as a wolf in sheep's clothing. So we must watch and pray. How is it that Satan attacks the church? Well, he'll make you feel alone. He'll make you feel as though you are the only one that is struggling with a particular sin. And he will make you want to depart and withdraw from the body because no one there sins like I do. Therefore, I can't go there. I'm not worthy to be there. He will tempt you to think that you're not good enough, to be with the other people of God. He will accuse you of past sins and he will beat you down in the present sins in which you engage. And if that's not enough, he'll also tempt you to think that you are better than others. This week I've done pretty good. Him coming as the great tempter and saying, look at those people. They didn't do as good as you this week. That's one of his great schemes causing you to revel in your deep rooted pride. He'll tempt you to gossip about others in the church. He'll tempt you to find commonality with one brother or sister in the church. As you look at another brother and sister and you see what they engage in and define this gossiping for the sake of a prayer request, maybe. He is scheming. He'll cause great distraction and boredom as you come to the house of the Lord in worship, tempting your mind to wander, tempting you to think about the things in which you have to get done for the sake of planning, thinking about the lunch that you might enjoy, thinking about the ways that you failed God even this week. And he will tempt you by a love for the world. The desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life. These are the things that he tempts you with. But beloved, the world with her desires are passing away. Therefore, watch and pray. As you think about the enemy, what this is not meant to do is to create fear and anxiety. So we're going to shift a bit and we're going to see that our enemy is conquered. Yet we need to understand who the enemy is, that we might then face him. Instead of sinking into fear and anxiety, we need to understand that our real spiritual enemy has been conquered. So therefore, we don't need to shrink back in shame, but we can fix our eyes to heaven, who our almighty God has already gone before us. We know that God promises that the devil will flee when we resist him, that God has given us the spiritual armor that we might resist the flaming arrows of Satan. I want us to think about, to find great comfort in the Lord as he engages the spiritual warfare. Think of 2 Kings 6, so the prophet Elijah. I want you to picture this, which helps you as you consider the warfare. So you remember that Elijah is in the city and the Syrian army had surrounded him. And Elijah's servant comes out and he says, alas, my master, they're surrounded us. They have surrounded us. What shall we do? And as we've thought about our enemy, we can ask that great question. We can ask, he has surrounded us. What shall we do? How are we to respond against this great and spiritual enemy? But do you remember how Elijah responded? He said, do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. For those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And in the same way, we can say that same thing, that more are with us than are with our spiritual enemy. Elijah prays, oh Lord, open his eyes that the servant may see. The Lord opened the eyes of Elisha's servant and he saw on the mountain myriads, of horses and chariots of fire, that were with the servant of the Lord." What are we peeking into in this text? We're peeking into the spiritual battle that started in the beginning with Satan and has continued through redemptive history, continuing now, yet we get a peek behind the curtain, as it were, just knowing enough to know that the Lord and His army is with us. the Lord Jesus leading this army, conquering Satan. That's why we do face a resistible enemy. So let's think in this final point, as this enemy is, yes, real and spiritual, he is also resistible. Scripture testifies to the power and dominion of Satan in this world. And so Paul commands us in verse 10. Look at there. He says, finally, be strong in the Lord in the strength of his might. And a better way to translate this word finally is to say henceforth from now on. So he is ending his letter, but he is also saying he is pointing the church to this very fact that from this point forward, they are in this spiritual battle. They are waging war, and that's why he goes into the armor that they have been given. There's an overwhelming emphasis, though. Do you see the emphasis? Is the emphasis on your own strength? Gird up your own loins and stand in your own strength? No. In the Lord, he says, you are in the Lord. It is the Lord's strength that is for you. The evil one is resistible because he has been conquered. He has not been conquered by you. He doesn't need to be further conquered by you. He has already been conquered by the Lord of glory. You've been set free from the bondage of sin, transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of God's beloved Son. To be strong in the Lord means to remember, to meditate on, to rest in, to dwell in the powerful workings of God in Christ Jesus as the immeasurable riches of God's grace has been poured out to you as you hear it proclaimed. As your faith is strengthened, you are standing firm in the Lord. built up in the faith by the word. This is where the fun happens because we get to reflect on the very fact that Jesus is the serpent crusher. It is Christ, listen to the language of Colossians, who canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. Listen what he says. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. Where did he triumph? Paul's language in Colossians further illuminates our passage. We have a spiritual enemy, but this enemy has been put to shame. This enemy has been disarmed. And it was through the cross and the resurrection that Christ triumphed over his enemies, which is why Paul prays in Ephesians chapter one for this strength. And then he says in verse 19, that we would understand the immeasurable riches of his greatness toward us who believe according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ. Listen, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and domain. Paul's used this language before, but he's told us that Christ is above those things. You notice how he starts the letter that way, and he ends the letter saying, yeah, we're facing this spiritual enemy. Yet Christ has been exalted over him. Christ has already conquered him. Jesus came to bind the strong man. Who is the strong man? Well, it's Satan himself. Listen to the language of Mark. As the great serpent crusher, Jesus is on a mission. What is he on a mission to do? It's to crush the head of the serpent, which is the promise in Genesis 3.15. He would bind the strong man that he might plunder his goods." Plunder the goods of his house, and the house being this present darkness. Jesus, remember, is led into the wilderness, tempted by Satan. He is led there that he might, that Satan might unravel his entire ministry. Does Jesus obey? Perfectly. And then on the heels of that obedience, what does he proclaim? In Mark 1, he says, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe. Do you notice how the obedience of Christ is the very foundation for which the kingdom of God is breaking into this present reality? The obedience of Christ in the wilderness is the first blow to the serpent. and there are going to be many more blows to come in the obedience of Christ. That is His active obedience for you. It is through His wilderness obedience that Jesus begins to strike a blow, but that obedience is going to run through His entire life and it's going to culminate at the cross. It is at the cross where he is ultimately the obedient one. It is at the cross that he is the slain lamb who is worthy to open the scroll of revelation. Remember this language of Philippians. He is obedient to death, even death on a cross. So he establishes God's kingdom on earth by way of his obedience. And it is the culminating event of the cross that subdues and disarms the evil one. Revelation 20 speaks of this great dragon. Verse 2 of Revelation 20 speaks of a dragon who is chained up and who is no longer able to deceive the nations. Do you remember what happened after the death and resurrection and ascension of Christ Jesus our Lord? What happened with the gospel? it went to the nations. Satan no longer able to deceive. A thing is what it is by what it does in the book of Revelation and therefore the binding of the strong man allows the gospel to go forth. In Mark chapter 3 we're told that Jesus can't enter the house unless the strong man is bound. So Jesus binds him, goes into his house, which is this present evil age, and plunders his goods. You people of God are the victorious plunder of God's victory. Set on display for the evil powers of darkness to see. In an ancient battle, that's what would happen is the victorious side would take the plunder and put it on display. And the church is on display because the evil one has been defeated and plundered. The cross and the resurrection dealt this cosmic death blow to Satan. Yet remember, we experience this victory in the context of war. We are still the church militant, but the outcome has been settled. The battle has been won. We still yet face this time of great struggle and temptation. Yet the reason why I mentioned the conquering and the subduing of Satan is because if we look to that very reality, it helps us. It keeps our perspective in place that the Lord is reigning, even now, and you belong to him. Our enemy is resistible because he has been defeated, and the power with which he was defeated. Scripture is very clear about this. He is defeated through the resurrection. And the power which raised Christ from the dead is now given to you. You see these strings coming together now. The immeasurable power is communicated to us through gospel proclamation. not going around and commanding demons to flee, but rather standing firm on the Word of God, trusting that God's Word does that. It is God's Word who brings the light and the darkness flees. And to that end, O people of God, we do rest in the context of this war as the church militant, knowing that Satan is defeated. And so we rest looking at our great foe and asking who can bring a charge against God's elect. For I am sure that neither death nor life, this is Romans 9, angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful that you in Christ have subdued the enemy, that you have disarmed him on the cross, that you've allowed now your gospel to go forth to the nations, that it is because of that gospel proclamation to the nations that we are even gathered here today, thanking you, Lord, that in a time of redemptive history, you have brought all things to where they are now. As we wait for the full consummation of the kingdom of God, we do trust in the sure foundation of the resurrection of Christ Jesus our Lord pleading his blood on our behalf pray that you would strengthen our faith as we hear the word that you would impress these truths deep into our hearts that we might trust you all the more we pray in Jesus name amen