Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

We have come to the closing of the Armor of God, and really it is the closing of the Book of Ephesians.

And it is fitting that the closing theme to this entire magnificent letter on The Essential Resources of the Believer in Jesus Alone, is prayer.

This is more than an additional weapon, Prayer is the very air that we breath as God’s children.

For 36 weeks we’ve broken down the victorious and abundant life of the believer in Jesus Christ and no where during do that time did Paul ever lead us to believe that are to rely on our own spiritual resources.

God has given us everything we need, but it all still depends on Him.

In the midst of this marvelous victory over death, sin, eternal hell, the flesh, and the forces of Satan himself, the Apostle Paul tells us that God has given us His armor to withstand every spiritual attack our vanquished foe, Satan can throw at us.

I pray and I hope that if you received any bit of spiritual understanding out of this study, it is that you understand that the forces of Satan are real and powerful.

Our enemy is real and the battle that is occurring all around us is real.

This isn’t some allegory nor is it trivial.

It is happening now over the battle for the eternity of every person made in the God’s image and the demonic forces are immersed, even celebrated in our culture.

The war against the satanic forces is happening in the heavenly realm through prayer, worship, music, and the prophetic.

We see the battle in the sanctity of the union of a man and a woman and even in the very identity, the imago dei, as a man or a woman.

We see the battle happening over our children, their lives, their souls, their innocence.

We see the battle over our school, churches, town, and in the geo-political forces; stronghold that are oppressing God’s people and blinding them to the truth of our day.

It is happening now and all around us and the Apostle Paul does not tell us to cower in the face of these enemies, but to stand firm with the armor God.

Stand firm with the Belt of Truth, holding everything together.

Stand firm with the Breastplate of Righteousness, keeping yourself pure in the righteousness of Christ.

Stand firm and on solid ground with the Shoes of the Gospel, taking up the Shield of Faith to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the enemy and provide a unified front as the Army of God.

Stand firm with the Helmet of Salvation guarding your mind and the Sword of the Spirit to defeat the enemies attack.

Stand firm in the Full Armor of God and at ALL TIMES be in intercessory prayer.

The armor is not mechanical and the armor is not magical.

It needs God.

God infuses into the armor and God infuses into our resources His power and that only happens when you pray.

Intercessory prayer confronts the demonic powers in the heavenly places and sends them fleeing away.

We must be a church engaged in prayer!

Revelation 12:9 reveals that Satan was cast out of heaven with a third of the angels.

These “fallen angels” are enemy forces who obey Satan and come to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

Jesus encountered these forces in His earthly ministry when He cast out demons.

Our contact with these forces is continual.

Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

While Satan is the archenemy of God and of the saints, he is not omnipresent.

His forces make up the kingdom of Satan (Matthew 12:26).

Ephesians 6:12 reveals four distinct levels:

1.         Principalities:  The Greek word here is “archas” which describes the highest order in Satan’s kingdom.

We get the English word “architect” from this word.

Principalities are delegated rulers assigned over geographical nations and regions (see Daniel 10:1-21).

They are the master s or“architects” of Satan’s rule in these regions.

Regional religious and political systems will be influence principalities that rule over them and unless there is active intercession they will take on their nature and worship these principalities.

2. Powers:  The Greek word here is “exousias” which means “authorities.”

These “powers” are delegated authorities in Satan’s kingdom under principalities.

They might be described as the “contractors” who follow the “architect’s” plan.

Satan is called the prince of the power (“exousia”) of the air (Ephesians 2:2).

3.         Rulers of the darkness of this world: The Greek word for “rulers” is “kosmo-kratoras” which means, “word rulers.”

It can also be translated “lords of this world” and “princes of this age.”

“Darkness” includes the concepts of destitution, lack of light, obscurity, concealment, covering, secrecy, murkiness, shadiness, dimness, and death.

In other words, spiritual darkness is the spiritual atmosphere that is void of the true wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and authority of God.

Rulers of the darkness of this world are demons assigned to cover this world in darkness in order to conceal the true knowledge of God and of salvation through Jesus Christ.

(2 Corinthians 4:4) These rulers of darkness are masters of human deception.

This darkness is rooted in “philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

(Colossians 2:8) False religions, political mindsets, humanistic philosophies, New Age and the Occult, and man-made traditions are means which Satan blinds people and binds people.

4.         Spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places: “Hosts” is a word that can also be translated “armies.”

“Wickedness” describes the nature of these spirits as being morally bad or evil.

The English word for “wicked” is derived from the root word that means, “twisted.”

Spiritual hosts of wickedness are armies of wicked spirits sent forth to twist the truth of God into a lie.

They work to twist man’s behavior, thinking, and character against the moral standard of God.

These are the front line demons that oppose our pursuit after God.

(Edward Hassell)

Our defense in the battle against these forces is God’s Armor, our Weapon is the Word of God, and our strength and power in these battles is prayer.

Here in verse 18, four times the word ALL is used to define the believer’s prayers.

Pray at all times

The Bible tells is that we are to remain in constant prayer at all time and for all things.

Ephesians 6:18 (ESV)

18 praying at all times in the Spirit,

Luke 18:1 (ESV)

1 they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

1 Samuel 7:8 (ESV)

8 “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us,”

2 Timothy 1:3 (ESV)

3I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.

Colossians 1:9 (ESV)

9 we have not ceased to pray for you,

Prayer is to permeate our lives as a universal practice that is as natural to us as breathing.

We need to be in constant communication with God because the enemy is at constant war with us with powers of deception and temptation.

I guess we should pray that God would give us enough success to know He’s there and enough failure to desperately need Him.

We have so many things going for us in our society, in our church, in our lives.

We’ve seen such tremendous blessing that we’ve become smug to reduce everything to gimmicks, programs, methods.

We’ve got it all.

To the point that the United States has become spiritual atheists.

There’s no passion, no deep longing or yearning that brings us to earnest prayer.

With All Prayer and Supplication

Our prayers are to be more than a list of people who are sick or have physical needs.

These are important, but they are not the principle purpose of prayer.

In fact, if we only pray to ask for things, we’re missing out on the greatest blessings that come with intercessions.

Make your prayers in concert with Christ.

Praying in the Spirit is not talking incoherently or babbling.

Praying in the Spirit is being in tune with the heart and plan of Christ to the point that you are praying for His victory and will.

For reasons I can’t fully begin to explain, our Almighty and Sovereign God employs the prayers of the righteous saints.

The intercessor knows that God’s priorities must be the priority of our prayers.

It is living your life consciously in the will of God.

It is that your whole life rises before God in communion and communication and you are struggling with God in the deep issues because you want your own life to be in harmony with God.

Then when the urgent needs arise you are so aware of God’s own will you pray in that manner.

Jesus taught this when he taught his disciples to pray using the Lord’s prayer.

The first direction of the prayer was toward the nature, character, majesty and will of God.

The more you know and understand who He is and His will and the more you see this world against the back drop of HIS holiness, the more you are driven to pray and interceed on behalf of the needs of this world.

If warfare in the heavens was all it took to get this earth free from Satan’s hold, then the battle could have taken place there without the cross.

But Satan’s spiritual hold on human lives had to be broken in the earthly realm.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was manifested in order to destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8).

The issue behind every temptation of Jesus in the wilderness was to deceive Jesus into exercising His authority independently of God.

Jesus submitted Himself to the authority of God’s Word in every temptation.