Ephesians 6:11-12 (Amplified) Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.
When engaging in spiritual warfare, Christians must first learn to be seated with Christ, then walk or enforce Jesus’s victory.
We rarely associate our life’s challenges with the works of the devil because we are so accustomed to seeing everything in the natural. We fail to realise that the spiritual realm can also influence people to commit evil acts, and think that only flesh and blood are our enemies. However, we need to remember that the prince of the power of the air can influence people, especially unbelievers and even believers who walk in the flesh.
Lucifer and one-third of the fallen angels fell with him when God expelled them from heaven. Lucifer desired to be like God and be worshipped. Because he rebelled against God, all forms of rebellion, insubordination, and division are the works of the devil. The devil and his demons strive to overrun the world with evil, and deceive people into thinking that evil is an act of God.
Their primary goal is to steal, kill, and destroy in people’s lives. Therefore, we should not be surprised if they attempt to steal our joy and peace, including taking away the Word that has been planted in our hearts through preaching and teaching. The devil will also try to cause you to drift from God by deceiving you into thinking that God is the source of your tribulations in life. Unless we understand the devil’s activities and schemes, we might wrongly blame God for our tribulations when they are the work of the devil. This explains why those who don’t know God and His character, and who cannot rightly divide His Word, tend to blame God, become offended with Him, and walk away from Him!
Nevertheless, we need not attribute to the devil those troubles that are the result of our own breach of the divine law or sowing into the flesh. The Bible tells us that we reap what we sow, and if we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption (Galatians 6:7-8). Therefore, we need to renew our minds to overcome sin and temptation through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and self-control. This is how we walk, or enforce the victory, after knowing that we are seated with Christ.
The devil is a schemer, strategist, and master of deception. Fiery darts will come our way in our personal lives, our loved ones, and our jobs. There are physical attacks upon the saints by the evil one on our bodies and minds, which we must take seriously.
However, praise the Lord that Jesus has won the victory for us. Therefore, we don’t have to try to win or tire ourselves out in spiritual warfare in the flesh, but simply enforce the victory of Jesus!
Sermon Series: Cell Group Campaign (Stand)
认识你的仇敌
以弗所书6:11–12 （扩展版）“要穿戴神所赐的全副军装，使你们能成功地站立得住，抵挡魔鬼一切的诡计、策略和欺骗。因为我们并不是与属血气的争战（不是只与看得见的对手争战），乃是与那些执政的、掌权的、管辖这幽暗世界的，以及天空属灵气的恶魔争战。”
在属灵争战中，基督徒首先要学习“与基督一同坐在天上”的属灵地位，然后才是“行走”或执行耶稣已经得着的胜利。
我们很少把生命中的挑战与魔鬼的作为联系在一起，因为我们已经习惯只用属自然的眼光来看问题。我们常以为只有属血气的人才是仇敌，却忽略了属灵领域同样能影响人去行恶。圣经提醒我们，空中掌权者的首领能影响人，尤其是不信的人，甚至是那些顺从肉体而行的信徒。
当路西弗被神从天上赶出时，有三分之一的天使与他一同堕落。路西弗渴望与神同等，想要受敬拜；因此，一切的悖逆、不顺服与分裂，都是魔鬼的工作。魔鬼和他的邪灵竭力要用邪恶充满世界，并欺骗人，使人以为邪恶是出于神。
他们的主要目的，是偷窃、杀害、毁坏人的生命。因此，当他们试图夺去我们的喜乐和平安，甚至藉着各种方式夺走已经藉着讲道和教导栽种在我们心中的神话语时，我们不必感到惊讶。魔鬼也会试图使我们远离神，欺骗我们以为人生的患难是出于神。若我们不明白魔鬼的作为和诡计，就可能错误地把属灵攻击归咎于神，而这正是魔鬼所做的事。这也解释了为什么许多不认识神、不了解祂性情、也不能正确分解神话语的人，容易责怪神、对神产生冒犯，最终离开神。
然而，我们也不能把所有问题都归咎于魔鬼。有些困难，是因为我们违背了神的法则，或顺从肉体而撒种所带来的结果。圣经清楚告诉我们：“人种的是什么，收的也是什么；顺着肉体撒种的，必从肉体收败坏”（加拉太书 6:7–8）。因此，我们需要更新心思意念，靠着圣灵的能力与节制，胜过罪与试探。这样，我们才能在明白自己是与基督一同坐在天上之后，真正行在得胜中，执行基督的胜利。
魔鬼是诡计多端的策士，是欺骗的高手。火箭会射向我们的个人生活、家人和工作领域；恶者也会攻击圣徒的身体与思想，这些都是真实存在、需要认真对待的属灵争战。
但感谢主，耶稣已经为我们赢得了完全的胜利！因此，我们不需要靠着肉体的努力去争战，也不必在属灵争战中疲惫不堪，只要站立在基督已经成就的得胜中，去执行祂的胜利就够了。
讲章系列：细胞小组主题活动（站立得稳）