This Sunday service, Pastor Richmond Leigh continued preaching from the Book of Ephesians on the subject of spiritual warfare: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph 6:10-12)

Pastor Richmond Leigh said that to live successfully the Christian must be engaged in spiritual warfare. You must recognize the existence of the devil which is able to possess human beings (the unbelievers) or to influence them (the believers). You need to know that there is an enemy in this world and you must fight him. This is a call to battle! If you refuse to do spiritual warfare you will surely backslide. There are evil forces outside there that fight against you! They hate you! You cannot ‘settle’ with the devil! The evil spirits want to destroy your testimony. To live a successful Christian life you must fight and defeat them in the name of Jesus! Each time you win a battle God will reward you. You cannot afford to be ignorant about these wicked evil forces. The Lord spoke a parable about a king who went to battle unprepared. He did not understand his enemy and underestimated his power (Lk 14:31-33). You should not be like this king who went to war unprepared. You need to know the ‘wiles of the devil’, his tricks and manipulations. Failure to do so will result in defeat. The devil will capture you and make you his slave. According to the Bible, who is the Devil? He is the enemy of God. He is the chief of all evil powers that are set against us, the believers. He is known by many names: Beelzebub (Lk 11:15), Belial (2Cor 6:15), The Liar (Jn 8:44), The god of this world (2Cor 4:4), The Strong man armed (Lk 11:21, 22), The Tempter (Mt 4:3), The Great Red Dragon (Rev 12:3), The Accuser of the Brethren (Rev 12:10), Satan, That Old Serpent (Rev 20:2)… The devil is a person. It is wrong to think of the devil as just an influence. He has a superhuman personality. He is bigger and stronger than man. The devil has power. The name ‘devil’ means a traducer, a slanderer. He speaks only falsehood and wickedness. Satan means an adversary (the one who opposes you). On your own you cannot defeat the devil. Only in Christ you can fight and defeat him. Remember that the devil is not God. The devil is a created being. He is created by God. Also remember that on the Cross, The Lord Jesus Christ defeated the devil for us (1Jn 3:8).

Child of God, be filled with the Holy Spirit! Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! Put on the whole armor of God and in the name of Jesus, go and defeat the devil! You can do it! For the glory of God! Worship the Lord!

(Sermon preached by my husband, Pastor Richmond Sisan Leigh, on the 20th of August, 2017)