Sermons by Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Ephesians 6

Recently, I had to preach in a church family conference. One of my sermons I preached was on Ephesians 6:10-11 and the title was "Stand against the schemes of the devil". Those verses are:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil".

In my preparation I read sermons by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on these very verses. He preaches around 15 sermons on this phrase "the wiles (schemes) of the devil". He is most helpful and you can sense his previous vocation as he applies the Word of God. He used to be a diagnostic physician and he was very gifted in that profession, however, the Lord called him to preach instead, but those previous skills shine through his preaching at this point most helpfully. We need to grow in our discernment as to what may be sin, our flesh, the world or a scheme of the devil.

I highly recommend these sermons because the professing evangelical and reformed church often suffer from two extreme positions, both of which are unbiblical.

1). To live as if the devil either does not exist or that he is of no consequence. This attitude is never found in the pages of the New Testament. While we love the sovereignty of God as a truth, we must not downplay the schemes of the devil, which are used to outwit Christians and the church.

2). Another problem is where Christians blame the devil for everything. This is unbalanced and it is not biblical. Sometimes, when something goes wrong, like the car breaking down, some professing Christians immediately blame Satan. This is misplaced zeal.

However, this teaching by Paul the apostle is needful for the church and it deserves further mention: "Stand against the schemes of the devil". Just like an army officer recruit needs to be trained in warfare and the tactics in war, so the church need to be aware of the many schemes of the devil. The devil is subtle (Genesis 3:1) and I hope that these sermons which are published by the Banner of Truth, especially the volume on chapter 6, will be of great profit to you.