Page 61 - Ephesians

like flies. The air is full of them. That’s why Satan is called
‘Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies’. Because there are as many
demons under him as there are flies in the air”.

Here’s what I think God means in this context. Paul looks back at
the Christian’s past, before salvation, and declares, “Dead in sin
and transgression”. When you were dead in sin, how much
influence did Satan have over your life? The answer is. As much
as the air has on my body. I think that’s the point. He’s “The
prince of the power of the air”. As we live and breathe in the
atmosphere of the earth, the unbeliever lives in the atmosphere of
Satan. It’s just another illustration of how hopeless we were.
What a mess we were in! We haven’t begun to understand, how
much we’ve been delivered from.

There was a time when you were dead in sin, and Satan was
influencing you, whether you knew it, or not. We paid as little
attention to his influence on us, as we did the air around us. A
horrible, and hopeless situation. Look at verse 2 again. The third
expression,
“Sons of disobedience”.

I have six children. Let me illustrate by my youngest son. On
Aug. 14, 1977, the Lord gave Lillian and me, Stephen Edward.
When he was born, he belonged to me as a son belongs to a
father. He belonged to Lillian, as a son belongs to a mother. He
was the “son of Edward”. Before you were saved, you were “sons
of disobedience”. You belonged to disobedience, as a child
belongs to a parent. That’s what he’s trying to say. You were
related to disobedience. Kissing cousins. You had no choice, you
had to sin. And your father’s name was “disobedience”.

Let me ask this. Have I ever disobeyed the Lord since I’ve been
saved in 1958? Indeed I have! I tell you, to my shame, that I’ve
disobeyed the Lord many times. But listen. Not once, have I
disobeyed the Lord, as a “son of disobedience”. I’m no longer a
son of disobedience. I’m a child of God. You’ve disobeyed the
Lord since you’ve been saved. But before you were saved, that,