Ephesians 6:12-13 "The Armor of God" pt.2

Introduction

One of the great difficulties of warfare is to have a knowledge of yourself as well as your enemy.

In the ancient Chinese war manual “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu, it says: “Know yourself and know your enemy. You will be safe in every battle. You may know yourself but not know the enemy. You will then lose one battle for every one you win. You may not know yourself or the enemy. You will then lose every battle” (Art of War 3:6:1-6).

Knowing yourself is crucial in order to be aware of one’s abilities and limitations. And knowing the enemy is crucial in order to be aware of the abilities and limitations of your enemy. It is this understanding that gives the warrior guidelines for the plan of battle.

Truth is spiritual warfare is of little difference. And the Apostle Paul was well aware of this because as he uses the imagery of the Christian warrior dressed in the armor of God, he describes and identifies the real enemy of the believer in verse 12. Look back to verse 12 of our text this morning:

I. The Identification of Our Enemy (12).

Notice that he begins by describing who our enemy is not at the beginning of verse 12: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood”

The term “wrestle” refers literally to engaging in a challenging contest. This is why it is translated “wrestle” because there is a conflict that believers are engaged in as we live in the world.

And I know you may think that in your spiritual warfare people are the real problems. But in the truest sense of spiritual reality this is not the case. Because our conflict is not with flesh and blood. When you are battling with people there are spiritual forces that are at play behind the scenes.

These spiritual forces are what Paul is referring to as rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Now this list is not referring to a hierarchy of demonic forces but the list serves to inform us of the devil’s spiritual attacks in the heavenlies that war against us as believers. The evil one has many venues by which he attacks and he does at times use people but it is not the people in and of themselves but they are being used by him to attack us.

Before we go any further let me say that you don’t need to get intimidated by this list. Jesus Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and exaltation has already demonstrated His sovereign power and authority over them all as we have already seen in Ephesians 1:20-21 where we are told what God has done through Christ: “20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

See also: Romans 8:38, I Corinthians 15:24, Colossians 1:13-16, Colossians 2:10-15, I Peter 3:22.

He has redeemed us Christian, and we once were under the dominion of darkness but no longer as we are reminded from Ephesians 2:1-3 “1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Sometimes the devil uses this fallen and cursed world. Like famine or disasters or sickness to attack. Or he may use this world system to promote immoral activity through temptation. And at times there are even battles in the heavenlies like in Daniel 10:13-21 where an angel describes his battle on Daniel’s behalf.

But understand that the Daniel account is prior to the Christ event and His exaltation seated far above all authority as in Ephesians 1:21. The Christian context has changed the nature of the battle.

In Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress a pilgrim named Christian comes to a narrow place on the path where many had turned back because there were two lions guarding the path of the journey. They were ferocious creatures and Christian is gripped by fear and stops in His journey because he perceives there is no way for him to continue on to the celestial city. But then at that moment a porter at the nearby lodge calls to him. Listen to Bunyan’s description:

Then he was afraid, and thought also himself to go back after them, for he thought nothing but death was before him: But the Porter at the lodge whose name is Watchful, perceiving that Christian made a halt as if he would go back, cried unto him saying, “ Is thy strength so small? Fear not the Lions, for they are chained, and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for discovery of those that have none. Keep in the midst of the Path, and no hurt shall come unto thee” …Then I saw he went on, trembling for fear of the Lions, but taking good heed to the directions of the Porter; he heard them roar, but they did him no harm. (John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, London : Dent, 1954 (1678) page 47)

Christian know that Christ has not removed the Lions but he has chained them and they have their limitations. Staying in the middle of the path is tantamount to living in light of our place in Christ and staying in the word of God so you can combat the lies of the devil with the truth of the word.

A person can be a Christian and still think and live in line with a secular worldview. But a Christian that has a biblical worldview knows themselves and knows the enemy. And in this case it is similar to what my old football coach used to say, “the best offense is a good defense”. Look back at verse 13 of your text:

II. The Implication of Our Defense (13).

The implication is that, due to the spiritual and cosmic nature of our enemy the Armor of God is absolutely necessary and it must be taken up in preparation for warfare (13a).

And you may be one of those Christians that say, “I try to steer clear of spiritual battles”. You may do that for a time but eventually the battle will come to you. And God will use that battle to test your faith to prove it genuine and to sanctify you in it.

This is one of the key reasons God allows battles in our lives. He uses them to move us out of our spiritual complacency and to drive us deeper into reliance on Him in the security and sufficiency of His grace. Nothing can expose the fallacy of self-reliance like a good spiritual battle can.

Second half of verse thirteen we see that the command to take up the Armor of God has a purpose. The Armor of God is what enables us to stand firm on the evil day. What is the evil day? It is the day of the battle or the day of our warfare. That Armor is what fortifies us against the schemes of the devil.

When you join the army there is an intense time of what is often referred to as basic training. Basic training is physical and mental conditioning as well as training for using weapons in combat. They destroy you and build you back into a lean, mean, fighting machine. It is all training and once you graduate there are still times of training to hone your skills for the day of battle.

This is all done in preparation for the day of battle. So that you can overcome the enemy and live to fight again as we advance the Kingdom of God upon the earth.

This is also why when physical war breaks out as a nation we send in the trained military and not the cub scouts. No offense to the cub scouts but they are not trained to stand firm in such battles.

Once upon a time I was a cub scout and it was fun but it was also very different from the military. I mean we learned how to tie knots and build a campfire and how to balance on an eight foot 2x4 turned up on its edge.

In America today the Christians are training at the cub scout level but they are not being trained as the regular army. Because to be cub scout Christians it takes dying to self and submitting to God’s gospel of grace to build us back as a lean, devil resisting, fighting machine.

We stand firm in the onslaught of the battle only by the Armor of God in Christ and nothing else.

Among the Cheyenne Indians there were fierce warriors who were referred to as “Dog Soldiers.” And even if they were outnumbered they would fight on. If the battle was so intense to the point that they knew they were going to lose; it is said that they would take their sash and tie one end around themselves. And and they would stick their spear through the other end and pin themselves to the ground.

This was the sign to their enemies that the would not move from their position. They would fight to the death from that very spot.

Conclusion:

Christian this is exactly what the Army of God does. It stand firm in the Armor of God in Christ bound to the Cross of our Lord saturated in His grace. He is the only firm foundation in the midst of the battle. He is our only defense and security when the devil attacks.

God in His grace is calling the Church away from cub scout Christianity. To be the Army of God for His glory in the world. Come away from self reliance and trust in Him. Come away from conspiring with the enemy into the full fellowship with Him through Christ Jesus our Lord. Come to Him!

Unbeliever today is the opportunity for you to flee the kingdom of darkness and run for refuge to the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Believe the gospel! Let’s pray!