The Wiles of the Devil
A Sermon on Spiritual Warfare from Ephesians 6:10-13
Originally preached Nov. 6, 1960
Scripture
10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against …
Sermon Description
In times of battle and great war, military leaders will do all that is necessary in order to obtain information about their enemy’s strategy. Likewise, in the spiritual warfare of the Christian, they have to know how the enemy will attack. Thankfully, they have been told in God’s word who the enemy is and how he operates. Therefore, there is great encouragement in considering the works of the devil. In this sermon on spiritual warfare from Ephesians 6:10–13 titled “The Wiles of the Devil,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones uses this Scripture to aid the Christian in their understanding of the fiery darts that come from his hand and his evil army. While Satan is not omnipresent and is always subservient to God, he nevertheless has much power. His attacks on the world and Christian people specifically are strategic. Based upon the authority of God’s word, Dr. Lloyd-Jones systematically exposes the devil’s strategy. He demonstrates how the evil one manifests his power over humanity. This practical message is encouraging as Dr. Lloyd-Jones lists some of the ways evil spirits affect the minds of humanity.
Sermon Breakdown
- The devil has power over nature and the elements. He can cause lightning, hurricanes, etc. The Bible does not teach that all natural disasters are from the devil, but that he has the power to cause some.
- The devil attacks man's mind. He blinds people to the truth of God. He causes bitterness, hatred, and animosity towards God and the Gospel.
- The devil insinuates doubts into people's minds. He has done this since the beginning, tempting people to doubt God and His Word.
- The devil overwhelms people with fear to lead them into denial of God. He frightens people away from following God's will.
- The devil promotes false teachings and doctrines to lead people astray. He tries to detract from the glory of Christ and confuse people about the truth.
- The devil hurls evil thoughts and imaginations at people to make them miserable and captive. These thoughts are not from us but from the devil.
- The devil holds people captive through irrational fears and phobias. A world without Christ is a world filled with fear.
- The devil causes depression, discouragement, and a sense of hopelessness. He makes us focus on ourselves and our failures to make us feel unworthy and like failures.
- The devil puffs people up with pride which leads to many sins like jealousy, envy, and oversensitivity. Pride has caused much damage in the church.
- The devil plays upon man's moral nature by tempting him with lusts, passions, and evil desires.
- The devil has the power to inflict physical suffering, sickness, disease, and bodily harm. Not all suffering is from the devil, but some is.
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.