Ephesians Part 96

INTRO: We are learning about the battle that every Christian faces. Paul has told us what to do: We are to be empowered or enabled in the power of God's might. Then he told us how to do that. We are to put on the whole armor of God in order that we might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Going to church; reading the Bible; spending time in prayer, all these things enable us in the power of God's might.

In verse 10 Paul told the believer what to do. In verse 11 he told him how to do it. Now in verse 12 Paul will tell the believer why he needs to be enabled in the power of God's might. It is because we have an enemy who is more than a match for us. There is no match for Satan and his fallen angels but God. But God does not automatically overcome the devil for us. We have a vital part in it.

It is my view, and I would be happy to hear a better explanation, that God created man in order that through man, that is those who become true believers, He will ultimately and finally be able to justly cast the devil and his fallen angels and all who fall for his subtle schemes into hell. There is a reason why Satan sought to kill Jesus. There is a reason why he today puts in every possible effort to destroy Israel. The antisemitism of today is explainable only in the devil. The relentless effort of the devil to destroy the Church is explainable only in the devil.

Listen to the great thinkers of modern time and see them struggle to answer the question of evil. They stammer and struggle and stumble over evil and over truth. And why is that? Because the devil keeps them in darkness. It is simply amazing, as Pastor Daryl pointed out, that people fear physical darkness