(Ephesians 6:10-18)
A few years ago a movie came out that was based on a true story. The movie, Operation Mincemeat (2021), focused on the allied effort of a team trying to convince the Germans of a fake location where the allied invasion would take place. The group concocted a plan to dress up a corpse as a soldier who would be staged to wash ashore and be discovered by the Germans, carrying what would be bogus plans of a fake invasion. If the Germans were to fall for the deception, they would be forced to allocate a considerable portion of their army and resources to the false front, thereby cutting back on the amount of resistance the allies would face at the real point of invasion. The plans for misdirection and deception were intended to give the allies an upper hand over their enemies.
Similar tactics are very effectively still pulled off in war today. Many battles are lost because of it. Many die as a result – all because of misdirection and deception. One side is convincing the other to prepare to fight a battle on a fake front, which is nothing but a distraction from the real war.
And you know, don’t you, because of the verses from Ephesians, that I am not referring to the war between Russia and Ukraine, or ongoing hostilities between Israel and Palestine, or any potential conflict involving China. I am referring to a battle that has much more at stake – the battle for souls. And, so that we don’t lose sight of the gravity of the situation, let’s be more specific: the battle for your soul. And Satan will attempt to pull off any strategy he can to win.
When we talk about all this spiritual warfare stuff, it’s rather easy for us to focus our attention on lost souls and be convinced that the battle is really about them. But do you think that’s where the primary focus of the enemy’s strategy is? Put yourself in his shoes as the tactician fighting this battle for souls. Where do you direct the bulk of your resources? Are they going to go toward the lost souls already being held in the concentration camp of unbelief? No! You’ve already got them! It doesn’t require the same amount of resources to keep them contained in unbelief as it does to go after the believing souls you’re trying to kill or capture.
So the bulk of the Satan’s resources aren’t being directed at unbelievers, who are already his, but at you, believer, the one he is determined to make his. And, if you want to make his job easier, Paul provides a battle plan for you to ignore to help ensure your spiritual downfall. If you want to help the enemy, Satan, win, simply ignore Paul’s advice in these three ways: Rely on your own strength. Pass up God’s protection. Fight the wrong enemy. If you can just do those three things, Satan will gladly count you as an ally.
The first part of Paul’s battle plan Satan wants you to ignore is in verse 10. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Set that aside and disregard it, because an ally of Satan doesn’t need the Lord’s help. You’ve got this on your own. You’re good to go. After all, check out our resume, right?
As we look back over the course of our lives and consider our win/loss record against temptation, we imagine ourselves to have a pretty solid record. When we trust in ourselves and in our mighty power, temptation doesn’t stand a chance, does it? We simply determine not to do that ever again. We tell ourselves this is going to be the last time we sin that sin, and just like that, we’ve conquered it. We resolve to do the right thing when in a similar situation next time, and to hold our tongue and filter what comes out, and once we make the decision to do these things, it’s as good as done, right? Because we don’t need the Lord or his mighty power when we’ve got more than enough of our own mighty power…
Honestly, that’s hard to even type with a straight face! When we rely on our own power to overcome temptation or to make progress in our lives of sanctification, the only thing we get better at… is lying to ourselves. We acquire spiritual amnesia and lose track of how many times we’ve already told ourselves “never again” to that sin. We drum up an imaginary win/loss record that pretends we have far more wins than losses. No, when we rely on ourselves, we only get better at lying and we ultimately lose.
Remember the same guy that wrote these words from Ephesians is the guy that opened up about this very struggle in the seventh chapter of his letter to the Romans. When he relied on himself, even though he knew what he was supposed to do, he couldn’t, and what he knew he was supposed to avoid, he couldn’t. That’s what happens when we rely on ourselves. So to keep Satan’s job easy, rely on your own strength.
Second, in addition to relying on your own strength, make sure you ignore more of Paul’s battle plan from Ephesians by passing up God’s protection. “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (v.11). It’s quite a list of armor with which Paul follows these words, isn’t it? But you know what? I bet all of that gear for spiritual warfare is probably pretty heavy to be carrying around all the time, so you’re likely better off without it! And never mind the fact that Paul repeats his encouragement to put on the armor right before he lists it all for us, as if to emphasize how important it is.
I mean, really, does anyone even know what Paul’s talking about with all of this spiritual armor stuff? How does one actually even wear a belt of truth or breastplate of righteousness? A shield of faith? A helmet of salvation? The sword of the Spirit? This all sounds nice and poetic for a spiritual picture, but what real, practical good could any of this do, assuming we could ever even figure out exactly what Paul is talking about?
Nah – who needs to read the Bible regularly when you know it as well as you do? Who needs to go to church when you’ve got the service pattern down so well that you can pretty much anticipate what’s going to be said before it’s even spoken? When you know the teachings of the Bible so well, who needs to carry all of that armor unnecessarily into a conversation with someone who is well-versed in challenging your Christian faith? And, when your faith is already an issue for an unbelieving spouse or family member, the last thing you want to do is offend them by lugging around a bunch of spiritual armor that’s only going to make them feel more uncomfortable and awkward. Besides, surely you know the basics well enough and better than they do. Yes, just keep Satan’s job easy and pass up God’s protection.
Third and finally, Satan really appreciates it when you exert the bulk of your energy fighting the wrong enemy. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (v.12). Forget the spiritual war that is going on beneath the surface and be sure to just focus on the flesh and blood individuals, organizations, or parties that are the real enemies.
After all, the spiritual decay of our country is not nearly as big a an issue as who is in the White House. Putting down the opinionated celebrity who has brainwashed so many followers should really be our number one job. Your constant fighting and bickering with the same individual? That isn’t really a spiritual issue as much as it is a personality conflict. And, if we can just wake up the woke, we can win the war.
As if we weren’t already making his job easy enough as it is by relying on our own strength and passing up the protection God provides, let’s essentially hand Satan the victory by focusing on fighting the wrong enemy.
Dear friends, please understand the seriousness of what is at stake. Anyone ignoring any combination of those three approaches is not waging a winnable war. To put it more bluntly, you will lose. Not maybe. Not possibly. Not a slim chance of loss. No, you will lose the war that is being waged right now and tomorrow and the next day. And what is at stake is your soul.
Would it help if I listed by name some of the casualties who have lost that war? Not the name of someone who knows someone who knows someone else. Not statistics from other churches more willing to compromise on the Bible’s teachings. No, I mean the names of individuals who have in the same seats you sit in on a Sunday morning. Individuals who at one time confessed both their sins and their faith in Jesus. Individuals who at one time beamed brightly in the joy of their salvation right here in your midst. Individuals who heard the same stuff you do week in and week out. Individuals who have since been lost, because they weren’t waging a winnable war.
At some point they began to rely on their own strength, passed up God’s protection, or focused on the wrong enemy, and Satan captured them. They are now POWs in his camp, and if nothing changes, that’s where they will remain for eternity. That isn’t a scare tactic. That’s the reality of the war going on right now. That’s how serious it is.
So when a sister in Christ cares enough about you and your spiritual battle to check in on you when you’ve been absent from worship, don’t blow her off. When your pastor reaches out to you to personally invite you to Bible study, don’t keep coming up with a new excuse each week of why it won’t work this week, but pretend that next week should work better. When we talk about the blessing of personal daily devotions, make an effort to make it work, and stick with it when you fall short. When there’s an opportunity to use your unique gifts in a meaningful way to serve your church family, jump at it, so that it might serve to remind you that none of us is waging this war alone. We have each other, the body of Christ.
Most importantly, we have Christ himself.
And if there is one thing we never want to forget, let it be this: in him we have already won. In him we have the victory. The prophet Isaiah promised it would come. “The Lord will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies” (Is. 42:13). The Lord WILL triumph!
I won’t ruin Operation Mincemeat by telling you if the Germans fell for it or not. If you haven’t already, you can watch it and find out for yourself.
But one ending that is never in question, never uncertain, is the victory we have in Jesus. What Isaiah promised, Jesus provided through his life, death, and resurrection. “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). The war has been won! Do not be deceived by Satan. Do not allow him to convince you to jump ship from the winning side to the side that already lost. Are you waging a winnable war? You are when you follow the Victor who already won the war for you.
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