"The Doorways of the Devil"
Ephesians
6:10-18 is one of the most powerful and important passages of Scripture for the
victorious Christian. That is, the Christian who is living in victory for the
Lord Jesus Christ by winning the daily battle with the three enemies of the
soul, the world, the flesh and the devil.
These vicious
enemies of the Christian cannot be defeated without God's formula for victory
found in the book of Ephesians. In
Ephesians 6:10 & 11 Paul summarizes the entire book of Ephesians by
dividing it into three specific areas. These three distinct divisions are
especially designed by the Lord to give us the victory over the three enemies
of the soul.
The first
enemy is the world system and for this enemy Paul commands: "Be strong
in the Lord..." literally be continually strengthened in the Lord.
This phrase summarizes chapter 1:1-3:21 as Paul gives us the ammunition to have
complete victory over the allurement of the world system and all its trappings
by knowing our Position in the Lord as described in these first
three chapters of this epistle which is definitely "The Book for the
Battle".
The key
word for victory over the world is "Faith". Faith in who we are in
Christ! Our heavenly position and possessions are thoroughly described in
chapter 1-3 and beautifully pictured in Ephesians 2:6: "And hath raised
us up together, and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus". This is our present exalted position! We are "Right
now" supernaturally raised from being dead in our sins and seated in the
heavenlies in Christ with all the "Spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ."(Ephesians1:3.)
Faith in
our Position, who we are in Christ, and our Possessions,
what He has given us, are things that are eternal and will never change! We
must rejoice in these manifold spiritual blessings for there are at least (24)
mentioned in these first three chapters of Ephesians:
1. He hath CHOSEN us in Him
(1:3): Selected for Himself, Separated from the rest of mankind, Picked out
from among many. Illustr: Abraham (Gen
12); Demoniac of Gadara (Mark 5); Samaritan Woman at the Well (John 4)-All
Gentiles
2. Having PREDESTINATED us
(1:5): To appoint from the beginning, To foreordain, To decide beforehand (Rom
8:29)
3. The ADOPTION of children
(1:5): The act of making us His children accomplished by His own will, giving
the same relationship as the Israelites (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5)
4. He hath made us ACCEPTED
in the Beloved (1:6): To make graceful, charming, lovely, agreeable; To compass
with blessing, favor by enduing with grace
5. In Whom we have REDEMPTION
through His Blood (1:7): To buy back, ransom, liberate by paying a price He
already owned us by creation, but we were sold into the slave market of sin
through the transgression of Adam, He then purchased us w/His Blood!! (I Corinthians
1:30)
6. The FORGIVENESS of sins
(1:7): Released from bondage, imprisonment and given remission of the penalty
through the gift of repentance and through faith in His Blood (Luke 24:47; Rom
3:25))
7. Having made KNOWN unto us the
mystery of His will (1:9): He has given us the privilege to know the mystery of
His will concerning His gathering together in one all things in Christ.
8. We have obtained an
INHERITANCE (1:11): A portion allotted and given to the rightful heirs, those
who are in Christ are joint-heirs with Him (Romans 8:17)
9. Ye were SEALED with that
Holy Spirit of promise (1:13): To stamp permanently as a sign of ownership; To
set a seal upon; To mark w/seal for security
10. The REDEMPTION OF THE
PURCHASED POSSESSION (1:14): To keep safe, secure, to purchase for oneself and
preserve for a future day. The guarantee of glorification/glorified body is
given by the indwelling Holy Spirit's presence.
11. To have THE EYES OF OUR
UNDERSTANDING ENLIGHTENED (1:18): The spiritual eyes of the heart illumined to
experientially know: 1. What is the hope of His calling 2. What the riches of
the glory of His inheritance 3. What is
the exceeding greatness of His power-Illustration: (II Kings 6:17) Eyes of
Elisha's servant opened
12. He hath QUICKENED us
(2:5): To be made alive spiritually, To be energized with the life of God
13. He hath MADE US SIT
TOGETHER IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS (2:6): Our present position in the
eyes of God is in heaven in Christ, just as Christ is in us here on earth, we
are in Him in heaven!! (John 15:4)
14. We are His WORKMANSHIP
created in Christ Jesus (2:10): His work of art, His ‘poem’
(Greek for workmanship)
15. We are MADE NIGH by the
Blood of Christ (2:13): To be brought near, to be ushered into the very
presence of God before His heavenly throne i.e. ‘the throne of grace’ (Hebrews
4:16)
16. The Lord Jesus Christ is
our PEACE (2:14-17): Peace is not the absence of outer turmoil, trial,
tribulation, but the presence of inner rest in Christ Jesus (John 16:33). 'The
peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus' (Phil 4:7)
17. For through Him we both
have ACCESS unto the Father*(2:18): The act of bringing someone into the
presence of an exalted dignitary or person of power, bringing a peasant into
the King's court.
'We have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand' (Rom 5:2)
'In Whom we have boldness and
access by the faith of Him w/confidence (Eph 3:12)
18. Now, therefore, ye
are...FELLOWCITIZENS *(2:19): The reality of possessing citizenship the same as
others who were natural born. The Gentiles brought into the same position as
the Jew
19. Ye also are.an HABITATION
OF GOD through the Spirit *(2:22): To be built together with others to make up
the whole, All parts/pieces required to make up the entire Kingdom of God, God
dwelling place is His saints
20. That the Gentiles should
be FELLOWHEIRS (3:6): To be joint participants in the blessing of the Jews
'Heirs together of the grace of life' (I Peter 3:7)
21. That the Gentiles should
be...PARTAKERS OF THE PROMISES (3:6): To be joint participants of the O.T.
promises of the Jews
22. We take part in God's
ETERNAL PURPOSE (3:9-11): God demonstrates to the principalities and powers in
heavenly places His wisdom BY THE CHURCH, through Meditation on the Word,
Spirit-led Prayer, Preaching of the Word, Witnessing with the Word and Winning
of the Lost.
23. We have BOLDNESS, and
ACCESS, with CONFIDENCE by the faith of Him (3:12): God gives a Fearless
Confidence, Freedom to speak the Word, Courage with Cheerfulness, and a
Christ-like Assurance to His children.
24. That He would grant you
according to the RICHES OF HIS GLORY (3:16-19): Supernatural Spiritual
Strength, The Knowledge of the Indwelling Presence of Christ, Being Rooted and
Grounded in THE LOVE, Supernatural Comprehension, to experientially KNOW THE
LOVE OF CHRIST, that ye might be filled with all the FULLNESS OF GOD!!
Full
comprehension of our Position and Possessions as
completely described here is a must for victory over the "world".
When the world and all its allurements knock on the door of your soul, knowing
the reality of the eternal spiritual blessings found in Christ and turning our
desires and passions to these heavenly things, in essence “Setting our
affections on things above” (Colossians 3:3) will give us complete victory
over the sin of hungering and thirsting after the things of this present world.
Rejecting
our temporal worldly desires by memorizing and meditating on the reality of
these marvelous eternal blessings in Christ is the only answer for victory over
the world! Yes, it is our faith, faith in our exalted heavenly Position
and these eternal Possessions that gives us the victory over the
world! (I John 5:4). The key word to focus upon in order to defeat this enemy
is FAITH!
The next
progressive enemy Paul deals with is the "Flesh". For victory in the battle
with the flesh Paul again commands: "Be strong...in the power of His
might" (Ephesians 6:10). This next pointed command summarizes the
victory over the flesh found in Ephesians 4:1-6:9.
Literally,
being continually strengthened in the power of God's might can be found only in
the Person of the Holy Spirit. Five times in this section of Scripture Paul
uses the word "Walk" to
describe our practical victory over the "Flesh" by walking in the Power
of the Holy Spirit.
First of
all he commands us to "Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are
called" (Ephesians 4:1). A worthy walk can only be accomplished by the
Person of the Holy Spirit for Jesus said: "Without Me ye can do
nothing" (John 15:5).
We cannot
in the strength of the flesh please God! Only Jesus can please God! Only as we
yield to the ever present Power of the Holy Spirit will be able
to "Walk" with our Lord demonstrating the worthiness of the
vocation, the calling He has given us, as He commands! "This I say
then, walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh"
(Galatians 5:16).
The second "Walk"
Paul emphasizes is found in (Ephesians 4:!7) where he commands us to "Walk
not as other Gentiles walk". He then describes a multitude of flesh
works in (v.17-19) second only to his list in Galatians 5:19-21. The only
possible way to have victory over the flesh works described here is by fully
yielding to the Power and control of the Holy Spirit.
Being "Continually
strengthened in the power of His might" necessitates a full dose of
the Word of God! We must digest the "Living Word" by letting it "Dwell
in us richly" (Colossians 3:16). The result of memorizing and
meditating on the Word of God will result in "Teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord."(Colossians 3:16)
This is the
direct result of letting the Word dwell in us richly! It is also the direct
result of being "Filled with the
Spirit"! (Ephesians 5:18, 19) which are the key verses in this second
section of Ephesians, Paul's “Book for the Battle’.
It is
significant that being filled with the Spirit causes the same result as letting
the Word of Christ dwell in us richly: "Speaking to yourselves in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts
to the Lord."(Ephesians 5:19) So, if you want to have the Holy
Spirit’s Power over the flesh and be filled with the Holy Spirit
just fill your soul with the precious Word of God!
The third "Walk"
mentioned is in (Ephesians 5:2) where Paul gives still another astounding
command: "Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given
Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling
savor." This command brings to mind the Lord Jesus' great love that
only He could have demonstrated to us by His great suffering on the Cross of
Calvary.
We as lowly
men and women could never perform such an act as this in our own strength, but,
if we are "Continually strengthened in the Power of His
might" we can walk in love as Christ walked or else the command to do
it would never have been given!
What a
miraculous thought! We have the ability to walk in love as He walked if we "Present
our bodies a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1) just as Jesus did, to Him
who alone can do these marvelous things through us by the Power
of the Holy Spirit!
The fourth "Walk"
continues to challenge us to give full control to the Holy Spirit as Paul gives still another command: "Walk as
children of light" (Ephesians 5:8). Immediately following he
underlines the necessity for demonstrating the "Fruit of the
Spirit" in order to fulfill this most important requirement.
His
emphasis centers on separating from all "Unfruitful works of
darkness" in the process we should do the positive thing and "Reprove
them." Here again the Power and presence of the Holy
Spirit is the means utilized to have victory by walking as children of light.
The fifth
and final "Walk" Paul commands us to perform is found in
Ephesians 5:15: "Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise"
which directly leads into the closing passage of this section dealing with the
second enemy of our soul the "Flesh".
This
command is connected with wisdom and "Understanding what the will of
the Lord is." Unless we are filled with the Power of the
Holy Spirit where all wisdom dwells providing us with His full knowledge of
God's will we cannot expect to "Walk" as we are
commanded!
We must
digest the precious Word of God, allowing it to dwell in us richly providing
the food the Holy Spirit thrives on! It
is through this process of memorizing and meditating on the Word of God that we
have the ability by faith to yield full control to the Holy Spirit allowing Him
to sing a “New song” which is “Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
making melody in our hearts to the Lord" and thereby getting victory
over the "Flesh" the second enemy of our soul.
The ultimate command given by Paul in this
vital section for victory over the "Flesh"
is the most important: "Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but
be (continually) filled with the Spirit." The result of the filling is
not speaking in tongues, but “Speaking to yourselves in songs and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord".
Herein lies
the formula for victory! As mentioned
before, the result of the filling of the Holy Spirit coincides precisely with
the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly! So if you want to be filled with the Power
of the Holy Spirit, fill your soul with the Holy Word of God!
Please
compare these two passages: Ephesians 5:18, 19 & Colossians 3:16, 17. Allow
the Living Word, the Son of God to control your mind, and the Power of
the Holy Spirit will control your attitudes and actions! Besides, it's the only Biblical way to have
success and prosperity! (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2, 3; I Timothy 4:15)
Let us move
on to Paul's third summary command that deals with the final and most deceptive
enemy of our soul, the devil himself!
Paul gives us the only sure-fire way for victory over the wily, wicked
methods of the devil when he says: "Put on the whole armor of God that
ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11).
It is this armor, the Provision of the full and complete weaponry
of God centered in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ that will give us
victory over the last progressive enemy of the soul, the devil himself!.
This third
command summarizes the closing section of the book of Ephesians 6:10-18. This
vital section deals with the strongest and most vicious enemy of all, the devil
and his “Wiles” which literally means
methods, his trickery, his deceit, his plans to trip up the victorious
Christian! Once we get victory over the world by exercising our Faith in our
Position and Possessions, and victory over the flesh through the Power of the
Holy Spirit, we will step into the battle which rages continually in the
heavenlies for the souls of men.
We now can
have an impact on the Kingdom of God and the souls of other men women and
children when we enter into the spiritual battle with the devil and his demons
for souls! ‘Souls for Jesus’ must be our battle cry! Our love for Him must ever
be our motive for fighting in the war that has already been won on the Cross of
Calvary by the precious Blood of Jesus!!
Yes, the
victory has already been won, we know the end from the beginning. Jesus is
coming again to rule and reign on earth. He is the King of the Universe. He
controls the outcome of every battle, but we must fight in these small
skirmishes that are left as we enter into spiritual warfare through
intercession for the souls of men.
Intercession is the highest form of service and sacrifice as we give
ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ to take part in the same work He is doing at
this very moment for the souls of men for He ever intercedes for us before the
throne of God.
Our orders
are to "Stand against the wiles of the devil. For 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." as we intercede for the souls of men.
With this
most powerful enemy of our soul we must "Stand against" him, "Resist
him steadfast in the faith" (I Peter 5:9), "Resist the devil
and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). All of these significant
commands of Scripture are rooted in the same Greek word meaning "To take a
position in the battle, to oppose, to fight with a great struggle" while
we intercede. However, we must recognize beforehand that the devil seeks to
open "Doorways" to our soul by entangling us in sins that provide him
with the opportunity to set up shop in our lives, thereby defeating us in the
battle for souls.
These
"Doorways of the Devil" are specifically pointed out in the Word of
God. The first doorway is found in Acts 5:1-11 in the sad story of Ananias and
Sapphira. Here "Satan filled" the hearts of this couple "To
lie to the Holy Ghost". This sin of hypocrisy caused God to take the
lives of both Ananias and Sapphira in one of the most unusual demonstrations of
God's chastisement of sin.
Hypocrisy,
putting on an act, masking the truth from others, trying to impress others by
lying openly to the Spirit of God Who was mightily evident in His working in
the church there in Jerusalem. Their penalty for yielding to the spirit of
hypocrisy in this instance was instant physical death!
God, here,
exacted the degree of His penalty to the same degree His presence and power was
manifested to these two believers who had experienced all the miraculous
working of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the phenomenal occurrences of the day
of Pentecost, the presence and power of all the Apostles, witnessing the
multitudes that were being saved, seeing God shake the building wherein they
prayed, and the other unwritten acts of the Holy Spirit's power must have been
very inspiring to witness, but, they decided to yield to Satan and lie to the
Holy Spirit! The spirit of hypocrisy,
the most often condemned sin in Scripture, but one of the easiest to fall into
when we walk in the flesh instead of the Holy Spirit.
The second
doorway to the devil is opened in II Corinthians 2:10, 11:
"To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also:
for if I forgive anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in
the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not
ignorant of his devices."
Here Paul
clearly tells us that the sin of yielding to the spirit of unforgiveness
literally opens the door to Satan and his devices, his methods, his trickery
and deceit! If we are unwilling to forgive others Jesus tells us: "Neither
will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 7:15)
The weight
of our own sins, the dark deceitfulness of living in a sin-clouded world
without the fellowship of the Lord opens up the doorway to the devil into our
lives, giving him the ability to discourage, delude, and depress us, and
thereby destroy our walk and testimony! "Delivered him to the
tormentors" is how Jesus describes the punishment that comes to those
who will not forgive:
"So, likewise shall my heavenly Father do also
unto you, if ye from your hearts, forgive not every one his brother their
trespasses."(Matthew 18:34, 35)
The word "Tormentors"
literally means: Torture by use of the rack, to vex with grievous pains. This
vicious abuse of those who are unwilling to forgive is not done by the God of
heaven, no, He simply allows you to be delivered to Satan and he does his all
too familiar but torturous handiwork!
The third
doorway is mentioned in Ephesians 4:26, 27: "Be ye angry and sin not,
let not the sun go down upon your wrath; Neither give place to the devil."
The sin of wrath, oubursts of uncontrollable anger, opens up a
place for the devil to operate in our lives! Paul says righteous anger is not
sin, but allowing wrath to continue, letting the sun go down upon it day by day
does indeed give opportunity for the wicked one to "Set up shop" and
do business in and through the saint of God.
Yielding to
the spirit of wrath is not an uncommon doorway opened to the devil in the lives
of God's people. Paul mentions this same word in his list of "Works of
the flesh" in Galatians 5:20 proving that this too was one of the many
sins that was found there in the church at Galatia. This very attitude yields
control to the one who relishes the control of God's children, that he might
damn and destroy the testimony of one for whom the Lord Jesus Christ shed His
precious Blood and died!
The fourth
doorway opens in I Timothy 3:6: "Not a novice, lest being lifted up
with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil." Pride, is the
sin committed by the devil in the beginning causing his great fall. Pride,
is the root of most of man's sin. The attitude of taking credit for something
that we should not…exalting ourselves rather than the God of glory Who should
receive all the glory!
When we
think that, in our own strength and ability, we are the ones responsible for
some great thing when in reality what have we gotten that we have not received?
All good things come down from "The Father of Lights" the Lord
God of heaven! There is nothing we can take credit for, nothing we in and of
ourselves have accomplished!
This spirit
of pride certainly opens the doorway to the devil's working in our minds,
telling us lies that he "The father of lies" fabricates to
deceive us! Three common signs of the proud are:
1. Not giving God the glory for His working in
our lives
2. But instead taking credit for accomplishments
3. Blaming others for failures.
The Bible
lists seven devastating effects of the sin of pride:
1. Condemnation of the devil (I Timothy
3:6)
2. Shame (Proverbs 11:2)
3. Contention (Proverbs 13:10)
4. Destruction (Proverbs 16:18)
5. Deception (Jeremiah 49:16)
6. Hardens the mind (Daniel 5:20)
7. Resistance by God (James 4:6)
Might it be that this sin is running rampant in our
lives today?
The fifth
doorway to the devil is found in I Timothy 3:7: "Moreover he must have
a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the
snare of the devil." Falling into reproach refers to one
who has blemished their testimony through any kind of continual sin habit. Our
testimony is the most valuable thing we own and cannot be purchased with money!
Therefore,
if we continually sin and it is known by those "Which are without"
the lost, we will bring ourselves into the snare of the devil, the trap he has
set to cause us to be caught in our own sin! This will surely cause those who
are lost and saved alike to discount our words of so called religion thereby
damning the souls of those that we could have impacted for the glory of God! So,
we must have a good report if we are to witness and win ‘Souls for Jesus’,
otherwise the devil will claim another victory as we fall into his well baited
trap!
The last
doorway is found in II Timothy 2:24-26:
"And the servant of the Lord must not strive but
be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those
that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the
snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
The spirit
of opposition, actively opposing revealed truth, being hearers
only and not doers of the word, deceiving our own selves and playing right into
the hand of the great deceiver himself!
This spirit of opposition says: "I don't care what the Bible says I
know what I've experienced" or "I will not separate from these
worldly associations, music, friends, activities" or "Who does that
preacher think he is, telling me what to do with my life?" or "It has
been our tradition to...why must we change the way we always have done things,
just because the Bible says..."
Yes, one
who actually opposes the truth opposes himself, the one in whom the Spirit of
Truth abides, thereby causing them to fall into a trap, a snare specifically
designed to take one captive coming under the power of the will of Satan
himself!
How do we
enter into continual victory over the devil?
By putting on the "Whole armor of God"! which is our Provision
for victory over the devil. How do we put on the whole armor of God? Through praying and putting on the Lord Jesus
Christ (Romans 13:14) Who is clearly described here in the specific pieces of
armor.
It is an
action of simple childlike faith!
Through the prayer of faith we must have "Our loins girt about
with truth" believing that our vital spiritual lives will be protected
by Him who is Truth (John 14:6), the Lord Jesus Christ!
Then we
must have "On the breastplate of righteousness" the
righteousness of the One who is our Righteousness (I Corinthians 1:30). Our spiritual feet must be "Shod with
the preparation of the Gospel of peace" again through Him who is our
Peace (Ephesians 2:14). Taking the "Shield
of faith" the spiritual shield of faith is found in Him who is the
Author and Finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2).
The
spiritual "Helmet of salvation" here too is only through Jesus
that we can have salvation for "Neither is there salvation in any other,
for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved." (Acts 4:12)
In this
next piece of armor lies the secret for the putting on of all that went before,
for here, by the Sword of the Spirit is the very source of our faith, for "Faith
cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."(Romans 10:17) The
precious Sword of the Spirit is the source of our faith and thereby we gain all
that is necessary to perform the supernatural fetes of faith in winning the
battle with the forces of darkness!
The final
piece of armor mentioned is the method whereby we commune with the King! Prayer,
without it we would be still in our sin! It was prayer that brought us to the
foot of the Cross, it was prayer that gave us the ability to cry out to God in
repentance as we laid hold upon salvation by faith in what Jesus did to pay the
penalty for our sin as He bled and died for us upon the Cross!
Yes,
prayer, the humble utterance of faith brought us to salvation and now brings us
to Him who alone can save and deliver us from the presence and power of
sin! Put on this vital armor of God and
walk in victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil and his manifold
doorways of sin!
However,
intercessory prayer is the key to walking and continually communing with the
Lord as this verse underlines “Praying
with all kinds of prayer…praying always… with all perseverance…for all saints”
emphasizing the four alls of prayer!! We get our orders continually from the
King of kings Who alone knows the battle-plan for the day, hour and moment.
"Doorways of the Devil"-Paul made specific provision in this
closing section of Ephesians, with the armor of God in his " Book for the
Battle" so that we might have complete victory over the world, the flesh
and the devil with his six deceptive 'Doorways' which are specifically designed
to bring the Christian into submission to his will, instead of the blessed will
of God.
We must be
living victoriously knowing by faith our Position and Posessions
in order to have victory over the alluring ‘Rubble’ of this world vs. the
Righteousness of God. Once victory is secured the next progressive enemy which
is the animal that dwells within our soul “The flesh” rears its ugly
head. We must be filled with the Power of the Holy Spirit in
order to “Walk” in victory. Victory over the devil can only be realized
through the Provision the Lord supplies through His armor. The
first five pieces of armor are defensive and the last two provide us with the offensive
weapons to go to battle in complete confidence of the victory we have in Jesus!
Let us
examine ourselves thoroughly in view of God's Holy Word and see whether there
be any wicked way found in us, and if so, repent, confessing our sin, defeating
these enemies of the soul, and thereby allow the Lord to rule in our hearts so
that we might be powerful Holy Spirit-filled witnesses for Jesus sake!
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