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Skip Heitzig: According to the Bible, the devil is a real person, an entity with personality—not just an evil force, not just the metaphorical summation of all that is wrong with the world. We just like to call that the devil. No, according to Jesus, he's a real person with personality, a spiritual being, highly malevolent, incredibly intelligent, who has been doing this a long time and studying human nature a long time, and knows how to craft a custom salvo temptation on you.

Our enemy, the devil. Jesus, speaking of Satan, said, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. I was there. He fell. I saw it." So according to Jesus, he is real. Whenever Jesus spoke of Satan, he didn't say it, but him, he. He's real, he has personality. Not only is he real, but he is personal.

You recall at the Last Supper with the disciples, Jesus turned to his friend Peter and he called him by his first name, his old name, Simon. He said, "Simon, Simon, Satan has been asking for you, that he might sift you like wheat. But I've prayed for you, Peter, and when you return to me, strengthen your brothers." So Satan is real, Satan is personal.

D.L. Moody, Dwight Lyman Moody, that evangelist from Chicago so many years ago, said, "I believe in the devil for two reasons. Number one, because the Bible says he's real. Number two, because I've done business with him." Have you done business with him? We all have. If you're God's friend, and if you're a Christian, you are God's friend, then you are his enemy because you are God's friend.

So I believe in the devil for two reasons: because the Bible tells me he's real and because I've done business with him. Oh, by the way, Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, "When it comes to the devil, it's good news that he's our enemy. I'd much sooner have Satan as my enemy than as my friend." So take refuge in the fact that God is your friend, even if Satan is your enemy. But he is your enemy. So he identifies our enemy in these verses.

Be strong, be strong in the Lord, in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God—he's about to list it—that you may be able to stand against the wiles. What are they? What are the wiles of the devil? The Greek word is methodia, methods, schemes, plottings, plannings, stratagems. It speaks of somebody who would study somebody else to figure out the proper attack. It was sometimes used of an animal who would study its prey before it would launch an attack. And Peter identifies Satan as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. These are the wiles of the devil.

Now Paul, in another place, did say that we are not ignorant of Satan's devices. Yet, I must confess, I believe one of the problems of many Christians generally speaking is that we are ignorant of Satan's devices, or at least unaware of them when they come to us. We might know them on paper, but when it comes to practical day-to-day living, we are sometimes ignorant of his devices.

So what are his devices? Well, they're variegated, they're many-colored. There's a variety of them, all, as I said, custom-made. But I think I can generally sum it up by saying Satan has two main lines of attack: one is an outward assault, a frontal assault; one is a more stealth-like attack. One would be persecution, an all-out assault, frontal attack to persecute the believer, intimidation.

And the other would be infiltration. If the outward assault, the frontal attack, the obvious attack through trials and temptations don't work, well, if you can't beat them, join them. And so get unbelievers in churches to influence true believers in those churches. So you sometimes have pretenders in the pew and in the pulpit. Or we might say pretenders in the pew, predators in the pulpit.

Paul said that Satan is an angel of light. It's no marvel that his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of light. So we put everything said and every person to the test to find out if there's truth or not truth. So you remember when Jesus gave the parable of the sowing of the seeds and he said some seed fell by the wayside, that is the hard compacted ground, the walkway, the pathway. It didn't penetrate the ground, so he said the birds come along and snatch the seed. He said that's the devil, that's Satan. He comes and steals the seed before it can penetrate the heart. That's more or less an outward assault.

But then he gave another parable of a man who sowed tares into the garden of seed that was sown by the Son of Man, the good seed. Next to the good seed, the true believers, were tares that grew up and they were almost indistinguishable from the legitimate plants. And when it was discovered and the servant went to the owner and said, "Should I pull up the tares?" He said, "No, leave them alone. Let them grow until the last day, the judgment day, lest when you pull up the tares you also pull up the wheat along with them." So you have infiltration as well as that frontal assault that we talked about.

He says, he explains in verse 12, "For," this is why you should put on the whole armor of God, "because" or "for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood." No, this is not a human battle. This is not fought in the world of humanity and politics, although Satan does infiltrate humanity and politics and he does use people who are aligned with his value system to wreak havoc in the lives of believers.

But we do not wrestle against flesh and blood per se, but there's something behind the flesh and blood, that is principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this age. We've told you before, these are rankings of demonic beings, spiritual beings in high invisible places like the book I told you about, The Invisible War. A hierarchy of demonic beings: some are principalities, some are powers, some are rulers of the darkness of this age.

You remember back in the book of Daniel when the angel came to Daniel and said, "21 days ago I was dispatched when you started praying, but the prince of Persia withstood me for 21 days and I couldn't come. I was fighting him. We were in a battle locked in battle until Michael, the prince of your people, came and bailed me out and here I am to give you further revelation."

I just find that interesting that there was a principality or a power, a demonic being, over Persia at that time, controlling what is ancient Iran today. The prince of Iran, the demonic prince of Iran. Which, when I read that, now I start thinking, well, then I wonder what is the demonic prince of New York, San Francisco, Santa Fe, your neighborhood? There seem to be geographic locations where certain sins, activities are marked, perhaps because of the influence and infiltration of principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. So these are all rankings in the demonic realm.

Now in Revelation 12, John gets a vision of Satan whose tail, the dragon whose tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and flung them to the earth. And by that and by other scriptures, we ascertain that when Satan fell from the place of God's glory as the anointed cherub that covers, prehistoric times, that a third of the angelic host fell with him and that third of the angelic host are what we call demons.

And that frightens people when we start talking of these things. They see that as such bad news that a third of all the angels that ever were created by God are part of the demonic horde poised against us. And if you've ever read C.S. Lewis's excellent book, The Screwtape Letters, there's reason to get a little antsy as he describes in that book the wiles of the devil and the demonic hordes.

But I suggest that you don't look at that fall from heaven as—don't think of it just the bad news, think of the good news. The bad news is a third of them fell. The good news is two-thirds did not. Which means they're outnumbered.

Promo Voice (Male): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Your support helps reach people every day with biblical truth that speaks into real life, bringing clarity, strength, and lasting hope. And this month, we'd love to thank you with two resources designed to help you trust God in difficult seasons and move forward with confidence. When you give today, you'll receive the Expound: Nehemiah seven-message series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip's booklet Overcoming an Anxious Mind.

These resources will help you see how God is at work even when life feels uncertain, and how to experience His peace instead of anxiety as you follow Him. Your gift helps extend the reach of Connect with Skip Heitzig, connecting more people to God's word. Request your resources when you give $50 or more at connectwithskip.com/offer or by calling 800-922-1888. Now, here's more from Pastor Skip.

Skip Heitzig: Never forget that they are outnumbered. Pause for a moment. Let that sink in. You are so afraid of the devil and temptation and "I heard this last night and saw that and what if," okay, could be real. Two-thirds did not fall. They're on your side. They're sent, it says in Hebrews, to minister to those of us who inherit salvation. They're on our side.

So when Satan knocks at the door, ask Jesus to answer the door. Or just one of His angels. They're outnumbered anyway. Don't worry about it. Don't worry as much as you have been worrying. There's a great story that comes to us from the book of 2 Kings. If you remember that far back in our Wednesday night Bible study, I'll refresh your memory in 2 Kings chapter 6, Elisha the prophet is being used by God to tell secrets of the enemy to the king of Israel.

So the king of Syria up north made battle plans to attack Israel down south. And he said to his commander—the Syrian king told his commander, "Get your army set over here. We're going to have a surprise attack on Israel." Well, the Lord revealed the battle plans to Elisha, who told them to the king of Israel. And so every time the king of Syria was going to make an attack, the troops of Israel were there to counterattack.

And so the king of Syria said, "Okay, I want to know who on my team's a snitch. Which one of you is selling secrets to the enemy? Who here"—this is up in the area of Syria and Lebanon—"who's telling secrets to the Israelis?" And the commander says, "Nobody's a snitch, Your Majesty, but there's a prophet in Israel who tells the king of Israel the words you talk to your wife about in your bedroom."

And the king of Syria said, "Find out where he is." And they found out where he was. He was in the city of Dothan down south, down in the middle of the country, not far from Samaria. He's in that town of Dothan. So the Syrians surround the city of Dothan where the prophet and Gehazi are located, his servant. And early in the morning, the servant of the prophet looks up and he sees the chariots and the horses of the enemy all around and he says, "Oh, alas, we're dead meat basically. Woe unto us. We're surrounded."

And he went and told the prophet Elisha, and Elisha prayed, "Lord, open his eyes that he can see the reality of what's going on in this battle." And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, his servant Gehazi, and he looked around and he saw chariots of fire, the angelic hosts around the Syrian army, outnumbering them. So instead of saying, "Oh, woe is us," he's going, "Oh man, woe unto them. They're dead meat." You see, perspective matters. Truth matters. Knowing your Bible matters. They're outnumbered.

And so sometimes when you're scared, the prayer needs to be, "Lord, open my eyes that I might see what's really going on, what's really taking place." So yes, bad news, a third fell. Yes, bad news, there's principalities and powers and we have a devil and he's wicked and he's in the heavenly places. But the good news is if God is for us, who can be against us? And greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world, and they're outnumbered two to one.

Therefore, verse 13, knowing all that, therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. You need to withstand and you need to stand. You need to stand your ground, stand against the attack, and not cede ground to the enemy, but march forward. Stand, therefore.

Now, here is the first item, the first defensive weapon. Stand, therefore, having girded your waist with truth. The soldier wore a belt around his tunic. And the belt was called the—if I can remember the Roman Latin word was singulum militare. Singulum militare was the soldier's belt that he wore around his tunic. Now, a tunic was basically a square cloth with a hole in it for his head and it was like a robe.

So for a soldier to be mobile, to fight in a battle, he had to be able to move freely. His legs had to be able to move so he could run and dart from different place to place. So what he would do is he would take his garment and tuck it into his belt, his girdle. That's why it says the old King James says girdle. Belt is better. His singulum militare, he'd tuck it in so he would have the ability to move and to fight.

Try to run a race with a bathrobe and you'll see the problem. You'll trip over it. So you will take and bunch up that cloth and it would hold the sword and also it was located at the center of your body and it held every other piece in place. It had a place to rest the large rectangular shield. It had a place that notched up to the breastplate that rested upon it for protecting the vital organs. We'll get to that in a minute.

But the belt was central. It tied and held everything together. What is our belt? It is the belt of truth. The idea is be prepared for the battle, be prepared for action, be prepared to fight. How? You need truth. You need to know truth. And when you know truth, you'll know the scope of the battle, you'll know the outcome of the battle before you get into it.

You'll know that you're on the winning side, that Satan is outnumbered and has an end game where he is doomed for life. You need to know that going in. And so it's the belt of truth. Have your waist girded. By the way, that idea, that terminology is used in the New Testament when it says, "Gird up the loins of your mind." That's what my version says, "Gird up the loins of your mind."

And it means the idea is taking your robe and tucking it in so that you are ready to be on the move. So be free to think clearly, gird up the loins of your mind. In this case, gird your waist with truth. That's number one. Second piece, also verse 14, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Now the breastplate went from the singulum militare, the belt, and it covered the chest, it covered the abdomen.

It was made out of leather, sometimes it had plates of metal in it. It was sort of fashioned and formed to fit the muscles of a soldier, so it had relief to it. Sometimes they were custom fit to match the torso. But the breastplate protected the vital organs. It protected the heart. It protected the abdomen, the organs, the viscera. In Greek, Roman, and even Jewish thinking, the heart was the center of your thoughts.

Your thoughts. Now in the West today, we don't think of the heart as the center of your thoughts, but your feelings. But not back then. The center of your thoughts was in your heart. The Bible says as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So the heart, in ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish thinking, was where you think all your thoughts. Where you feel all your feelings was in your guts, your viscera.

The Bible talks about, the old King James, the bowels of mercy, and uses the term bowels or abdomen or organs to speak of how you feel, your emotions. So the breastplate of righteousness protects your thought life and how you feel. And I have discovered that Satan attacks those two areas a lot: what we think, how we feel. He's on the attack. He whispers to you and he says, "You're not good enough, you're not righteous enough."

And you go, "You're right." It's like we're saying amen to the devil. "Amen, devil. I agree with you." We get so beaten down because he says, "You're not good enough, you're not righteous enough. You don't pray enough." So you're to put on the breastplate of righteousness. Whose righteousness? His righteousness. Listen to this, get this, understand this: His righteousness that is imputed to you.

That's the word Paul used, imputed to you in the book of Romans. So God sees you in the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. So it's not about your righteousness, but it's about His righteousness. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. That's what Paul said in Romans chapter 8.

So to protect my vital organs, my thoughts, my emotions, I need the breastplate that I am in the righteousness of Christ. Now I'll just add a little bit to that because any of these could be developed and it could be a long series. I've even done many years ago a whole series on this. I do see something else. Not just justification where it's imputed to you, but there's a practical sense in which because His righteousness is imputed to you, because you don't stand in your good works—we are not saved by righteous deeds, it says in Titus chapter 3 verse 5, but by His righteousness—so it's not by our righteous works, works of righteousness, but He has made us that way.

That's one sense. Because that's true, our lives should become more practically righteous. And when, because we know we're justified and we become holier and holier and more righteous on a practical level, that gives us confidence when we're attacked.

Promo Voice (Male): We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, here's a reminder. When you give $50 or more this month, we'll send you the Expound: Nehemiah seven-message CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip's booklet Overcoming an Anxious Mind as our thanks. These resources offer biblical insight and encouragement to help you trust God in challenging seasons and experience His peace as you follow Him.

Your support helps keep this Bible teaching ministry on the air, connecting more people to God's word. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.