Part 2: APPLICATION

For those unfamiliar with football terminology:

Quarterback - the offensive player who hands the ball off and throws it to other offensive players

Halfback - the offensive player who normally runs the ball

Wide Receiver - the offensive player who normally catches passes from the Quarterback

Cornerback - the defensive player who normally guards against the Wide Receiver

VIDEO: Half Back Pass, UVA vs Miami (click this link to view in a new window)

The major key to guarding against this trick play: the Cornerback must stay with the Wide Receiver and not assume the play is a run until the Halfback crosses the line of scrimmage (where the ball was originally hiked to the Quarterback).  The rules of football allow the offensive player (usually the Quarterback) to make a forward pass as long as he is behind the line of scrimmage.  Once he passes that line, he can no longer attempt a forward pass.  Though defenses may have different strategies, one game plan would require the Cornerback to assume a pass until the Halfback crosses the line of scrimmage.  At that point, the Cornerback can abandon his responsibilities of guarding the Wide Receiver and pursue the Halfback.  In the video here, the Miami Cornerback falls for the trick, assumes the play is a run, and takes that one step towards the Virginia Halfback (watch closely at the 0:23 mark).  The trick play has worked, and it results in a touchdown.

It comes down to everybody doing their job.

Bill Belichick, New England Patriots coach,

on the key to defending the trick play

The same is true for us as Christians.  Our first key to guarding against the enemy’s tricks was PREPARATION; our second key is APPLICATION.  If we are going to guard against the enemy’s tricks, we must apply the principles and strategies that we’ve learned from God’s Word.

Ephesians 4:27  God’s Word Translation
Don't give the devil any opportunity to work.

And what can we do to ensure we don’t give the devil a place to work, or, as other translations say, give him a ‘foothold’?  By doing everything that Paul includes in the verses surrounding our text.

Beginning in Ephesians 4:17, Paul begins a section that the NIV translators call “Instructions for Christian Living”.  The instructions continue to chapter 5 verse 21.  If you want to know how to guard against the enemy’s tricks – to not give him an opportunity to work, as Paul says in our text – you must follow the instructions that God provides all throughout the New Testament, including the instructions for Christian living in this section of Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:17-5:21 (click to view these verses in a new window)

This is APPLYING the Word of God in your life.  Doing all that Paul tells us to do in this section of Christian living will ensure that the devil has no room to work in our lives – no chance to trick us.  Paul introduces this section by discussing how unbelievers live.  Then he begins in earnest the instructions for Christian living with these words.

Ephesians 4:20-21 NIV
That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

There’s that word we discussed in last week’s sermon and blog: truth.  It’s one thing to know the truth.  It’s something else to do the truth.  And to know the truth but not live by the truth allows the devil all kinds of room to work in your life.

James 4:17  God's Word Translation
Whoever knows what is right but doesn't do it is sinning.

To know what is right – in other words, to have been properly prepared – but then to not do right – to not apply what you have been taught – is sinning.  Many Christians live their lives rather pleased with themselves for not committing terrible sins.  But James 4:17 deals with another type of sin that we often ignore, the sin of omission – that is, not doing what you should do.

Back to our football illustration…

The Cornerback has been prepared – he’s been coached.  He knows that he is supposed to stay with the Wide Receiver until the Halfback crosses the line of scrimmage.  But if he doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do – if he doesn’t apply what he knows – then he will fall for the trick play.

The football player has a lot to remember.  There are a lot of assignments and a lot to apply.  And to be honest, there’s a lot that we have to apply in our lives as well.  Just look at all the instructions Paul gives us in our Ephesians 4-5 text:

What we aren’t to do – lie, have uncontrolled anger, steal, have corrupt longings, and grieve the Holy Spirit

What we are to do – tell the truth, work hard, help those in need, build one another up, be kind and compassionate, and forgive each other.

Then Paul gives us twelve more guidelines, beginning in chapter 5 – follow Christ in love, avoid all immorality, refrain from obscene language, don’t allow others to deceive you, walk in the light, seek God’s will and do it, use every opportunity for doing good, don’t get drunk on wine, be filled with the Spirit, encourage each other and worship God through music, be thankful for all things, and submit to one another.

Wow!  That’s quite a list.  Whoever thought being a Christian was easy hasn’t realized all that God requires of his children.  And I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to see God’s people not living their lives in accordance with God’s Word.  And it’s not because as a pastor I want to somehow, in some oppressive way, control people’s lives.  But to live right and not sin – to do what the Word of God says to do – will keep the enemy from working in your life and having his way with you.  And to be honest, doing what is right will keep you from tricking yourself.

James 1:22  NIV
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.

So those that don’t live (APPLICATION) according to the Word that they’ve heard (PREPARATION) actually become their own worst enemy.  In these situations, the devil can just sit back and do nothing, knowing that we are ruining our own lives.

Consider Cain…

He was angry that his offering was rejected by God, and he wanted to take it out on his brother Abel, whose offering was accepted by God.  Then God gave Cain this warning:

Genesis 4:7  NLT
You will be accepted if you do what is right.  But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out!  Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you.

Don’t let the devil control you.  Don’t put yourself in the position where you fall easily for his tricks.  You know the truth of God’s Word.  Apply that truth in your life and give the devil no opportunity to work.

Part 1: PREPARATION

Some people try to find things in this game that don’t exist, but football is only two things – blocking and tackling.

Vince Lombardi, NFL coaching legend

I’m fairly certain that Lombardi was only intending to emphasize the importance of those two fundamental aspects of the sport above all other parts, because football involves more than just blocking and tackling. Truth be told, football can be rather complicated, and one of the more complicated aspects of the game is the playbook. The playbook begins in youth football with just a few plays that aren’t usually even written down and grows at each level all the way to the NFL where it is often 700 or more pages.

There's little things we do differently, and we don't want other people to know. So you always have it with you. That's the one thing that's sacred to football.  It has all our secrets.
Chad Greenway, current Minnesota Vikings linebacker

And the biggest of secrets in the football team’s playbook would have to be their list of trick plays. If you aren’t too familiar with the game of football, you might ask, “What constitutes a ‘trick play’?” A trick play is a play that uses deception and unorthodox strategies to fool the opposing team. Trick plays usually have a high level of risk, where the reward is great if executed properly but if defended well often have negative results.

As much fun as it would be to do so, I didn’t write this blog or preach this series so that I could talk football for a solid month. But the game of football – and specifically the aspect of trick plays – provides an interesting and hopefully relevant platform to discuss our own lives and situations and to expose the enemy’s tricks. Our enemy – that is the Devil and the demons that are on his side – is not opposed to playing some tricks on us. It is important that we as Christians are able to identify and then guard against the tricks that the enemy wants to play. I’m tired of the enemy defeating us. I’m sick of the enemy pulling out all the stops, digging deep into his playbook, and stealing the victory that belongs to God’s people. If you are as well, then keep reading. And even if you don’t like football, I’m believing these four sermons and coinciding blog posts will help you in your life, your family, your job, and your church.

The first key to identifying, guarding against, and defeating the trick plays from the enemy’s playbook: PREPARATION.

I've never coached a defense where you tell the players, "Well,

we don't have a reverse on this play if they run it. That would be

a touchdown." ...I just don't think you could coach like that. 

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick,

discussing the Cincinnati Bengals tricky offensive sets and plays

What Coach Belichick is saying is that his team prepares for trick plays. They’re not going to just give up and allow the other team to throw a bunch of gadget plays at them and run them all over the field.

How many of you live your life feeling like your leg is constantly being pulled? Or the rug is always being pulled out from under you? Or that the enemy is once again tricking you? It’s “4th down and 1 yard to go”, and you’re certain that you’re about to get the ball back and move forward to advance and win the game – only to have the enemy “fake punt”, get his own first down, and continue to ram the ball down your throat.

The first step the defensive coach must take

to defend the gadget play is mental.

“Defending Gadget Plays”, from www.nflhspd.com

In other words, PREPARATION. This is where you get ‘coached up’ and get mentally and spiritually prepared for what tricks the devil may try to play against you. That’s what this first blog entry is about. If you’re going to properly defend the trick plays from the enemy’s playbook, you must prepare for them.

Ephesians 6:11-14a NIV

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…

Let’s begin with verse 14 and then work our way back to the beginning of the text.

Ephesians 6:14a NIV

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…

Like many smaller, private Christian high schools, Greenville Christian Academy (NC) did not have a football program, so I played basketball. I remember being taught that when you guard a player in basketball to always watch his waist. You know where the person you are defending is going by watching his midsection – not his eyes, hands, or even feet. Your midsection is where you find your balance. And for Paul, he wanted believers to be balanced in the truth. That’s why he begins the entire listing of the pieces of the Armor of God with the Belt of Truth. He starts with the midsection, a person’s balance. It determines where one is going.

Consider Satan’s first trick.

Genesis 3:4-5 NIV

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Eve had just told the serpent that she could not eat of the forbidden fruit or she would die. He then tells her she would not die. He lies to her – his first trick was a lie – but she doesn’t recognize his lie. Why not? Because she was not balanced in truth. Look at what she actually said to Satan before he lied to her.

Genesis 3:3 NIV

But God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”

(underline added for emphasis) 

She was not balanced in the truth, not grounded in what God had actually said. God had not said she and Adam could not touch the fruit. Sure, it was probably not a good idea to do so. That is not the issue here. The issue and problem was that Eve was uncertain of God’s actual words and it made her susceptible to the trick – to the lie – of the devil.

We must be certain of the truth of God’s word if we are to be prepared to defend against the tricks of the enemy.

Ephesians 6:13a NIV

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…

The key here is you have to put on the armor of God before the day of evil comes. This is PREPARATION. You can’t wait until the day the enemy is attacking you to decide to get ready for it. You have to have already done that, and then you will be prepared when the attack comes.

Remember when Saul gave to David his armor to wear into battle against Goliath? David took the armor off. Here’s how different translations record David’s reasoning:

He was not “used to wearing” the armor (NIV).

He had not “proved” the armor (KJV).

He had not “tested” the armor (ESV).

“I've never had any practice doing this” (God’s Word).

We all learned in Sunday School that David was too small to wear the grown man’s armor, but that’s not what the Scripture says. David had not prepared to use the armor. What he was prepared to do was to take a stone and put it in a sling and throw it. It’s what he did against lions and bears, so he did it against the giant.

Ephesians 6:11 NIV

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

The Greek word Paul used for 'scheme' is methodeia. It means “to be cunning, deceitful, crafty, tricky”. It is used only one other time in the New Testament, and that was by Paul earlier in Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:11-14 NLT

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds (pastors) and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

How are you able, as Paul said in chapter 6, to stand against the devil’s schemes? How are you able to ensure that you aren’t falling for every deceitful scheme, as Paul calls them here in chapter 4? By allowing the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip you and prepare you. Essentially, the church leaders can and should act as ‘coaches’ to help PREPARE you in identifying and guarding against the trick plays from the enemy’s playbook. How? By telling you the truth of God’s word. Just look at the very next verse in that Ephesians 4 passage.

Ephesians 4:15a NLT

Instead, we will speak the truth…

The first key to guarding against the trick plays from the enemy’s playbook: PREPARATION. And we get prepared by knowing the truth of God’s word. The enemy’s first trick was a lie, and he’s lying today. Let’s not fall for the lies. Let’s be grounded and balanced in the truth.

The will to win is meaningless without the will to prepare. 

Joe Gibbs, former Washington Redskins coach