Latest / Pastor John Piper's answers / Are My Struggles Personal or Demonic?

Transcript

Are My Struggles Personal or Demonic? · Pastor John Piper's answers

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Well, when it comes to the devil, there are a
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: lot of questions to work through, and there are a
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: lot of questions that we have worked through over the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: years on this podcast. Is Satan real? Is he powerful?
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Where did he come from? How did he first sin?
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: How did he fall? Is he limited in some way?
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Can he devour true Christians? Can he make us physically sick?
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: How do we fight him? Just paging through the APGA
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: book on that section on pages three thirty one to
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: three fifty three makes you realize just how much there
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: is to ask an answer about the demonic realm. And
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: we're not done because today we have a question about
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: a text in our Bible reading tomorrow, Ephesian six twelve,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: which tells us that our struggle is not against flesh
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: and blood. So how does this apply when it seems
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: like our enemies are only flesh and blood people who
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: are causing our relational, emotional, physical, or mental pain. Here's
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: the listener email today, Pastor John, Hello, and thank you
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: for taking my question on Ephesian six twelve. It reminds
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: me that our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: but against spiritual forces in the heavenly realms in real life.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: How do we apply this when we're facing tangible, everyday struggles,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: whether relational, emotional, or mental, where the people involved seem
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: like the problem. When we feel attacked by others words
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: or actions, how do we discern the spiritual roots behind
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: the conflict, especially when it feels so personal. How do
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: we respond in a way that reflects Christ's love and
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: truth without treating others as the enemy. How can we
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: fight invisible battles while dealing with visible consequences in our relationship, work,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: and personal lives? And how do we balance all of
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: this without seeing demons lurking around every corner or reducing
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: every tension to just interpersonal struggles. How do we maintain
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: that balance?
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: This question is not artificial in any way. It's right
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: there in Ephesian six. It demands our attention. It's a
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: good question.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: I like it.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: I like this kind of question. The question is do
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: we not actually wrestle against human adversaries as well as
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: supernatural demonic adversaries. So here's the text that raises the problem.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: For we do not and here's the problem. We do
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: So the question is, when Paul says we don't wrestle
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: against flesh and blood, but against demonic powers, does he
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: mean there's no struggle with human sin, sin in our family,
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: sin in our associates, sin in our religious adversaries. No, no,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: people give us any problems at all. We just got
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: damons that give us problems. Flesh and blood ordinarily means
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: human beings considered apart from divine or demonic reality. That's
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: what flesh and blood is. For example, when Peter identifies
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus responds, will blessed are you
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Simon Barjona? For flesh and blood has not revealed us
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: to you. My father did who's in heaven. In other words,
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: mere human thinking or human feeling doesn't penetrate to that
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: reality without divine assistance. God gave you this wisdom, not
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: flesh and blood. That is not your humanity. So when
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Paul says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. Flesh
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: and blood here first to human beings, over against supernatural,
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: demonic reality. But what about the fact that Paul did
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: have real human adversaries that threatened his faith and the
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: faith of his churches and his own life. For example,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: he says in one Grinton sixteen eight, A wide and
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: effective work has been opened for me. And there are
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: many adversaries, many adversaries. And now here's an example of
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: who they are, he says. He describes them in two
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Criston's eleven. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder for
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: it's no surprise that his SERVI now we're talking about
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: we're talking about human servants here. His servants also disguise
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: their deeds. So it's patently obvious. And everybody knows it
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: that Paul had real human adversaries to wrestle with, and
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: so do we. Paul is reviled, he's persecuted, he's slandered,
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: he's beaten, he's whipped, he's imprisoned, he's deserted, he's betrayed,
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: and all of those are humans doing the mass right.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: And not only does he experience that himself, he tells
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Timothy and Titus to rebuke those who persist in sin
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: or undermine the faith and unity of the Church. So
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: they've got real adversaries as well. And right here in Ephesians,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: just let's bring it home to the very book in
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: which he says he doesn't wrestle with flesh and blood.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: In chapter four, verses thirteen and fourteen, we're supposed to
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: pursue maturity so that we may no longer be carried
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning huh,
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Now that phrase is the
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: same phrase he used for the demonic schemes of the devil,
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: only here it's human cunning. So he explicitly says, one
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: of the things we must wrestle with and deal with
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: and guard against our schemes and cunning, which are not
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: only demonic but human. He calls them human. In fact,
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: I would go so far as to say I don't
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: think Paul believes there is any human sinning that is
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: not also influenced by Satan. In other words, I don't
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: think it's ever helpful to try to think of human
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: evil that's one thing, and demonic evil that's another thing.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: They're always interwoven. Listen to Phesians two. So this is
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: the same book. Now chapter two, you were dead in
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: the age of this World'll stop there, following the age
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: of this world. So before conversion to Christ, we are
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: in lockstep with the spirit of the Age. Now watch
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: how Paul describes that condition. Following the Prince of the
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Power of the Air. That's Satan, the spirit that is
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: now at work in the suns, all of them, the
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: the body and the mind. So there are three ways
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: to describe ordinary human beings outside Christ. One in lockstep
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: with the spirit of the Age. Two following the Prince
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: of the Power of the air the devil. Three carrying
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: out the desires of the body and the mind. Now
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: that sounds a lot like flesh and blood, and it
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: is flesh and blood apart from Christ, is always under
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: the sway of the spirit of the Age, and it's
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: always under the sway of the Prince of the power
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: of the air, and it's always acting out of its
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: own bodily mental desires. Therefore, in one sense, there is
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: no separation in our warfare with human sinfulness and demonic scheme.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: They overlap, they're intertwined. And here's an example from Tewo
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Corinthians two ten. Anyone whom you forgive, Paul says, I
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: also forgive so that we would not be outwitted by Satan,
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: for we are not ignorant of his designs, his schemes.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: What Satanic design are they not ignorant of? They're not
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: ignorant of Satan's design to destroy a community when we
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: fail to forgive each other. In other words, a person
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: who sins against us, a real flesh and blood human being,
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: is in a place where we have to doce some
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: kind of spiritual warfare against the Satanic community, destroying work
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: of Satan because we're tempted not to forgive them, we
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: want to hold a grudge. That's real flesh and blood,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: human opposit position and adversity and it is a satanic design
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: to destroy the church. So even though the presenting adversary
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: is the person who sinned against us, whom we need
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: to forgive, nevertheless, the design in it all is satanic.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: So in view of all of that, here's my effort
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: to understand Ephesian six twelve. When it says we do
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the demonic forces.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: I think Paul means this, We do not wrestle against
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: mere flesh and blood, mere humans. The opposition against us
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: in this world is always bigger than that when we
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: stand before a flesh and blood unbeliever, according to Sewod
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Corinthians four to four, we are before somebody who not
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: only is darkened by virtue of their own depravity, but
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: also blinded by the God of this world. Not sometimes
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: all the time, it's always both, and which is why
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: when Jesus commissioned Paul for his evangelistic ministry, he said
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: in Acts twenty six eighteen, I am sending you to
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: to light, and from the power of Satan to God,
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: among those who are sanctified by faith. In me, we're
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: always dealing with two issues, the darkness of sin and
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: the bondage of Satan. And the good news is that
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: in the death of Christ, the price has been paid
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: for the forgiveness of those sins, and the damning power
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: of the devil has been broken, since he has no
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: charge that can stick against us in the courtroom of heaven.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: We are justified by God through Christ. So we put
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: our whole armor on. That's what we should do. Put
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: on the whole armor of God and go triumphantly in
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: the Gospel and the power of the Spirit.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think bestor John, we have a triumphant hope
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: in Jesus Christ and in his Gospel. In the midst
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: of all our questions about the devil, some questions left
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: unanswered in the Bible, and some questions that are answered
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: in the Bible, like is Satan real? Is he powerful?
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Where did he come from? How did he first sin?
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: Is he limited? Can he devour true Christians? Can he
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: make us physically sick? How do we fight him? You
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: can survey the archive by flipping through the Aspestor John
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: book on pages three thirty one to three point fifty
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: three just to get a survey of the ground that
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: we have covered. If you want to catch up with
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: where we're at. Thanks for joining us today. If you
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: have a question to ask Pastor John, find a link
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: to email us at askpastor John dot com. Overcoming a
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: misplaced hope in Heaven, A misplaced hope in Heaven. That's
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: next time. I'm Tony Rinky. See you on Monday.