Spiritual Warfare (2) - Remember who the real enemy is

(Eph 6:12)

Last Sunday we looked at Ephesians 6:10–11, and we specifically shared about a subtle scheme of the enemy—transactional faith: “God, I’ve done this for You, so You must give me what I want.” That is a false understanding of faith. We are called to resist the devil and follow Christ’s footsteps of faith.  Today we come to the next verse, Ephesians 6:12: “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.”

Notice the first word: “For.” Verse 12 explains why Paul has just told us to put on the full armour of God. Why do we need spiritual armour? Because we are in a spiritual battle. And the first thing Paul wants us to understand about this battle is:

Remember who the real enemy is

Paul says: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” “Flesh and blood” simply means human beings—people. Paul is saying: People are not our ultimate enemy. When someone hurts us, our natural reaction is to focus on that person: “My spouse hurt me.” “My parents criticised me.” “My colleague rejected me.” “My friend betrayed me.” “My boss misunderstood me.” “Someone treated me unfairly.” Then we begin to think, “This person is my problem. This person is against me. If only this person were removed, everything would be fine.” But Paul says, No. Look with spiritual eyes. There is a spiritual battle taking place that is greater than the person standing in front of you.

The Greek word translated “struggle” is palē (πάλη). It refers to wrestling—close, hand-to-hand combat. Wrestling is personal. Your opponent is close. There is pressure and resistance. Someone is trying to knock you down. But Paul says, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” This truth changes the way we look at people. Satan wants to turn our attention away from the spiritual enemy and toward human beings. Because if he can make us fight people, he has already gained ground. Someone hurts you. Offence enters. Offence becomes anger. Anger becomes bitterness. Bitterness can become hatred. Then you begin speaking against that person. You want to defend yourself. You want others to take your side. Relationships are broken. Unity is destroyed. Marriages can break down. And while Christians are fighting Christians, the real enemy is delighted. This is one of Satan’s schemes: he attacks through conflict, then convinces us that the person is the enemy. When you start to show hostility towards the person in your heart, you actually have fallen into the enemy’s snare.  

My personal story: It’s taken me more than ten years to understand this truth. I was born into an atheist family. From a young age, I was taught dialectical materialism. There was absolutely no belief in God in my upbringing. My uncle was a well-known astronomer. I admired him greatly and wanted to follow in his footsteps. After high school, I studied hard and was accepted into the Department of Geophysics at Peking University. I was very logical and rational—a typical science and engineering person. I didn’t believe in God. I didn’t believe in spirits. I certainly didn’t believe in a spiritual world. I used to say, “You could make me sleep in the middle of a cemetery and I wouldn’t be afraid! There are no ghosts. People just imagine them!”

I believed only in what I could see. If I couldn’t see it, I didn’t believe it. So naturally, I relied heavily on my own reasoning, judgement and understanding. But the Bible says the gospel “is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” I thank God for His amazing grace that He opened the eyes of someone who had been spiritually blind. But how could someone like me understand Ephesians 6:12—rulers, authorities, powers of darkness and spiritual forces of evil?

God is good. After I became a Christian, He gradually began opening my eyes to spiritual realities. Before I believed in Jesus, I hardly ever remembered my dreams. But only a few days after becoming a Christian, I had an unusually vivid dream. More than twenty years later, I can still remember it clearly. Through that dream, I believe God was showing me something about myself. I was treating God and the Bible mainly as knowledge to be studied. Deep down, I still did not really understand the spiritual realm. Because of that, I naturally relied on myself. I thought, “If I work hard enough, think carefully enough and do everything properly, I can make things work.” But I began to learn that in God’s Kingdom, simply trying hard is not enough.

There is spiritual opposition, and we need the work and power of the Holy Spirit. I needed to learn to depend on the Holy Spirit and, through Him, stand against sin and the powers of darkness. God also needed to deal with the uncleanness, judgement and old patterns of thinking within me. As I continued walking with Him, I experienced His love. I wanted to love Him and give myself to Him. I gave my money, energy and time.

Yet a few years later, because I still didn’t really understand Ephesians 6:12, I often focused on people—what they said, what they did, whether they were right or wrong. I easily became judgemental and unforgiving in my heart, but I didn’t notice what was going on there. Eventually, I humbled myself and prayed: “Lord, I have given my money, my energy and my time to You. Why is there still no joy in my heart?”

That was when God began to open my eyes. One way He helped me understand spiritual warfare was through several dreams about members of my family who didn’t believe in God. In those dreams, I saw them under the influence of darkness.

In one dream, they were trapped in a dark room, oppressed by the power of the grave. In another, there were leviathans in filthy water guarding them. When I woke up, I realised something very important: Whatever my family might say about my faith or about God, I needed to pray for them, forgive them and love them. Why? Because my struggle was not against flesh and blood. They were not my enemy.

On another occasion, before visiting some of my family members, I dreamed that they were being held in a dark room by powers of darkness. There was even a small bed prepared for me, as though the darkness was waiting for me to come and also become trapped. When I woke up, I prayed. I rejected fear and reminded myself that there is no fear in love. During that visit, I was on high alert, praying and meditating on God’s Word all the time, so whenever I heard any hurtful words, I kept reminding myself: “My struggle is not against flesh and blood.” And I also remembered Jesus’ words: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Something began to change inside me. Instead of becoming angry or offended, God’s Word—“My struggle is not against people”—was no longer just head knowledge. It became truth in my heart, releasing faith within me and helping me overcome in spiritual warfare.  My struggle was not against people. So instead of fighting people, I needed to forgive them, love them, pray for them, and resist evil through faith and prayer. Gradually, my whole way of thinking changed. I used to become angry in my heart very easily without noticing it, but I became more peaceful. I stopped looking only at what my physical eyes could see. Instead, I began to build an altar of prayer in my heart.

I had gone from saying, “Where are evil spirits? Where are the powers of darkness? There’s no such thing!” to beginning to understand and experience spiritual warfare.

And as I practised not fighting against flesh and blood, I noticed that the judgement and anger in my heart began to decrease. I also experienced physical healing. My chronic sinusitis disappeared, a skin condition on my back cleared up, and other physical problems improved. I believe there was a connection between what was happening in my heart and what I experienced physically. In the past, I had lived with anger and unforgiveness without noticing it. I focused on judging people instead of allowing God to deal with my own heart.

But when I began taking God’s Word seriously, I stopped fighting flesh and blood. I brought my unforgiveness before God. I asked for the love of Christ to fill me so that I could love people, remembering that they, like me, can also be influenced by the enemy. Instead of fighting people, I began relying on the Holy Spirit and, through faith and prayer, standing against sin and the powers of darkness. As God dealt with the darkness in my heart, I also experienced healing in my body.

I’d like to finish with a small incident that happened one Monday. A huge black bumblebee flew into my house and became trapped against the window, buzzing loudly. I wanted to rescue it, so I took a towel, gently caught it and tried to release it outside. But suddenly—it stung me! It really hurt! That bee made me stop and think.

The bee couldn’t understand what I was doing. It was frightened and defensive. It misunderstood my intention. I was trying to save it, but it stung the very person who was trying to rescue it. And I thought, “Isn’t this sometimes how we respond to Jesus?” Jesus came into this world to save us. He called people to repentance: “The kingdom of heaven has come near. Repent.” When Jesus corrects us, He is not trying to humiliate or destroy us. He wants to rescue us from the things that enslave and destroy us. But because we don’t understand, we become defensive: “No! That’s not me.” “I haven’t done anything wrong.” “I’m a good person.” Even as Christians, we can still respond like this. I know I did. We can selectively believe God’s Word. We believe the parts that fit what we can see, understand and accept. But when God’s Word challenges something inside us, we become defensive.

Like that bee, we can “sting” the very One who loves us. We may attack the person who brings us God’s Word or become angry with someone who lovingly corrects us.

Brothers and sisters, may we come humbly before Him and acknowledge how limited our own understanding is. May we stop relying only on what our physical eyes can see. May we lay down our defensiveness and trust God’s good purposes for us. Let us not be like that bee—frightened and defensive, unable to recognise the one who is trying to help.

Instead, through the Holy Spirit who lives within us and through the Word of God, may our spiritual eyes be opened so that we understand what is really happening. “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.” All glory and praise belong to the Lord.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You that You came to rescue us from sin and the power of darkness. Thank You for the cross. Through Your death and resurrection, You have defeated the powers of darkness and won the victory forever.

Lord, Your Word reminds us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

Brothers and sisters, if you would like, you can pray after me:

“Lord, forgive me for the times I have treated people as my enemy. When I felt hurt, rejected or disrespected, I allowed offence, anger, bitterness and judgement to take root in my heart. I looked at the person and thought, ‘That person is the problem,’ instead of submitting my thoughts and reactions to the truth of Your Word and obeying Your command to love and forgive.

Today I repent and bring these things before You. By faith, I receive the forgiveness You have given me through Christ, and I choose to forgive those who rejected, misunderstood, betrayed or hurt me, or whom I felt had done these things to me, whether intentionally or unintentionally. I release them into Your hands.

Holy Spirit, cleanse my heart from offence, bitterness, unforgiveness and judgement. Renew my mind through Your Word and give me spiritual discernment. Help me remember that people are not my enemy and teach me to see beyond what my physical eyes can see.

Lord Jesus, if I have given the enemy a foothold through unbelief, disobedience, bitterness or unforgiveness, today I confess, repent and renounce these things. And if any sickness or weakness in my body is connected with these things, I ask You in Your mercy to touch me and heal me. As You restore my heart, bring healing and restoration to my body.

Teach me to love people, forgive people and pray for people, while standing firm against the powers of darkness. Sanctify me and make me whole. Fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit, and help me to walk in love, forgiveness and truth. Thank You, Jesus, for Your grace, Your forgiveness, Your healing and Your victory. In the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.”

Small Group Discussion:

1 According to Ephesians 6:12, who is our real enemy?

2 When someone hurts or misunderstands you, what is your natural reaction?

3 How can offence, anger, bitterness or unforgiveness affect us?

4 How can we stop fighting people and start fighting the spiritual battle?

5 Is there anyone you need to forgive, love or pray for this week?