Basic Training

Basic Training - Ephesians 6:10-24 July 7, 2024 According to the US Army's website, "Basic Training is challenging and meant to push you to become the best version of yourself. It will help you develop mentally and physically to overcome things you didn't think possible. You'll also realize that the military and Drill Sergeants are not here to break you. Their goal is to build you up, help you find your inner strength, and teach you to succeed in both the Army and everyday life." I think the Christian life is a lot like basic training for the Army. I think that's really what Paul has been doing for the last couple of chapters in his letter to the Ephesians. He's been preparing us for our new life. And I'd argue that our new life is played out in three areas. First, within the fellowship of the church. Second, within our personal relationships. And third, in the physical world. Paul has already addressed the first two, and here he addresses the third. But Paul will reveal something to us in this final passage of Ephesians that - if we're not ready - will frighten us. But don't worry, Paul will provide much needed encouragement. Let's read Ephesians 6:10-24 to see what Paul encourages us to do: 10 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. 12 FOR WE DO NOT WRESTLE AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST THE RULERS, AGAINST THE AUTHORITIES, AGAINST THE COSMIC POWERS OVER THIS PRESENT DARKNESS, AGAINST THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES. 13 THEREFORE TAKE UP THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD, THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND IN THE EVIL DAY, AND HAVING DONE ALL, TO STAND FIRM. 14 STAND THEREFORE, HAVING FASTENED ON THE BELT OF TRUTH, AND HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 AND, AS SHOES FOR YOUR FEET, HAVING PUT ON THE READINESS GIVEN BY THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. 16 IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES TAKE UP THE SHIELD OF FAITH, WITH WHICH YOU CAN EXTINGUISH ALL THE FLAMING DARTS OF THE EVIL ONE; 17 AND TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION, AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD, 18 PRAYING AT ALL TIMES IN THE SPIRIT, WITH ALL PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION. TO THAT END, KEEP ALERT WITH ALL PERSEVERANCE, MAKING SUPPLICATION FOR ALL THE SAINTS, 19 AND ALSO FOR ME, THAT WORDS MAY BE GIVEN TO ME IN OPENING MY MOUTH BOLDLY TO PROCLAIM THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL, 20 FOR WHICH I AM AN AMBASSADOR IN CHAINS, THAT I MAY DECLARE IT BOLDLY, AS I OUGHT TO SPEAK. 21 SO THAT YOU ALSO MAY KNOW HOW I AM AND WHAT I AM DOING, TYCHICUS THE BELOVED BROTHER AND FAITHFUL MINISTER IN THE LORD WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING. 22 I HAVE SENT HIM TO YOU FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE, THAT YOU MAY KNOW HOW WE ARE, AND THAT HE MAY ENCOURAGE YOUR HEARTS. 23 PEACE BE TO THE BROTHERS, AND LOVE WITH FAITH, FROM GOD THE FATHER AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. 24 GRACE BE WITH ALL WHO LOVE OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST WITH LOVE INCORRUPTIBLE. On the surface, this passage seems to be starting a new section as he winds down his letter, but as we explore this a bit closer, it actually acts as a summary conclusion of the whole letter. Back in chapter 4, Paul urges the Ephesian Christians to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called, with humility, gentleness, patience, and unity. He urges us to mature and be equipped for ministry and service. He warned against the dangers of living the old life, and how in that old life we were separated from God, and through the renewing of our minds and hearts, we can put on the new self and put off the old. He urged us to imitate God, and to live pure lives. He then made it personal and spoke about those relationships that we've addressed the last three weeks. Frankly, that was the basic training, and now Paul is urging us to go into the battlefield and be ready to face the enemy. Let's build on this with our main idea: I can face the enemy because the Lord has given me the tools. With this in mind, I want to discuss three items this morning. First, THE ENEMY (vv. 10-13) Who is this enemy? * The devil o What Paul does here is clearly inform us that there is an active and present force in the world, and we are in the midst of a real and present spiritual battle. o And gratefully, Paul does tell us exactly who the enemy is - and who the enemy is not. o Paul also tells us what the devil is up to. o That word "SCHEMES" in the ESV (or "WILES" in the KJV), it implies that the devil is actively working and planning against God's people. o It literally means "work by method" or "to trace out with method and skill" o It's the same word used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 to describe how he deceived Eve. o As the adversary, his goals include deceiving, destroying, ruling, and accusing. * He does this by lying, as Jesus identified him as the father of lies * He does this through suffering, like we saw in Job * He does this through tricking us to believe we don't need God, as we see again with the example of Eve * And he does this through accusing us of sin or ill intentions, once again like we see in the example of Job, chapters 1-2. And just like Job, Peter points out that Satan is not idly sitting around. Here's what Peter says in 1 Peter 5:8: BE SOBER-MINDED; BE WATCHFUL. YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL PROWLS AROUND LIKE A ROARING LION, SEEKING SOMEONE TO DEVOUR. * So, Paul is clearly stating that the devil is actively working against the Christian. * Verse 12 describes how the devil accomplishes this. * I actually love the Williams Paraphrase of this verse, here's how that reads: "For our contest is not with human foes alone, but with the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark world; that is, with the spirit forces of evil challenging us in the heavenly contest" * Effectively, this means that evil is present and active - that's what he means in verse 12 when he says the PRESENT DARKNESS, and in verse 13 when he references the EVIL DAY. Because the devil is not omnipresent, he works through the fallen angels (demons), and works to deceive and to destroy, and accuse us, so he can rule over us. * While Paul begins with this warning against the devil, it is not before he reminds us to be strong in the Lord. o Alone, we cannot stand against the power of the devil. o He is not God, but he is powerful, and he will do everything he can do defeat you and I because he knows he cannot defeat the Lord. * As stated previously, Paul does not leave us with this horrid picture of the devil and his demons, but offers us a solution, namely: THE TOOLS (vv. 14-17) What are these tools? * The whole armor of God. o Twice, verse 11 and 13, Paul tells the Christians to put on the armor of God. * Because this battle is near and ongoing, we are to put this armor on, and keep it on. That's what the language here implies. * It's common for Christians to "pray on the armor," everyday, but that's not what Paul is emphasizing here. * He uses the same term in Colossians 3:12, when he tells us to put on the new self. We cannot put on and take off the new self, or in this case, the armor, as we are in constant need of its protection against the enemy. o Here are three qualifiers that I think are noteworthy before we get into the details of this armor: * First thing to note is that it is God's strength, and * Second, notice that it is God's armor that the Christian puts on, and ... * Third, the language and imagery of the whole armor implies an already trained soldier with his or her armor assigned, it's on, they're firmly standing and ready for anything that comes their way. o That phrase in verse 11 of STANDING AGAINST, and in verse 13 of STANDING FIRM are critical in our understanding that we are to be ready against the schemes of the devil. o So, we are told to put on this armor. Paul actually pulls this imagery from several passages in Isaiah in addition to the Roman soldiers. o Armor, as you would know, protects the individual from harm, mostly against physical elements. o Let's run through these pieces of armor that Paul tells the Christian to put on. * Belt of truth o The connection of the belt and truth reminds us that truth is what holds things in place. o Paul has mentioned truth earlier in this letter, at least 5 other times. o What is this truth? o It seems to refer to both the truth of God and truthfulness in character. o Knowing the truth, and standing for the truth is a critical piece of this armor of God, next, Paul speaks to the ... * Breastplate of righteousness o Some breastplates of that time covered the front from the neck to the waist, and sometimes even the back. o It provides protection against your vital organs o Paul says that righteousness is that protection. o Remember what we stated earlier that this is God's armor. God has given us righteousness. o Or, stated otherwise, God declares us righteous when we place our faith in Jesus, allowing us to be spared from His judgement. o When we have His righteousness, the devil cannot bring charges against us. Satan cannot deliver a fatal blow because God has defeated him in the resurrection of Jesus, and by grace, through faith, we are saved by the finished work of Jesus. o That leads us to the ... * Shoes of the gospel of peace o The phrasing of this verse is interesting to say the least. o It seems to emphasis the transforming power of the gospel, and the need for the gospel to be spread. o Knowing the gospel, speaking the gospel, allows us to be ready for battle. o It emphasizes the Message as a foundation to our faith journey. o If we were to go on a long walk outside, likely we're not going to put on sandals or flop flops, as they don't add much support. o Next, Paul says to take up the ... * Shield of faith o The shield that Paul is talking about, unfortunately is not Captain America's shield. This one is about 4.5 feet tall and about 2 feet wide. It's designed to be able to completely cover the soldier. o It's also designed to link up with the shields of other soldiers as to create a wall of protection. o Why? As to protect against the flaming (or fiery darts) o I can't help but think of the movie "300." The story of the 300 Spartans battling the countless Persian army and all her allies. There's a scene where they all link up and create a barrier with their shields while countless of flaming arrows fly towards them. Most of them just bounced right off the shields. * This shield gives us confidence, just as our faith give us confidence in God's promises. * The devil will toss everything he can at us, these flaming darts, to try and test our faith. These darts come in the form of doubt, temptation, lies, hateful speech and thoughts towards others, and so on. * He desires to take our eyes off of Jesus, and he'll continue to attack. * Therefore, we need to put on the ... * Helmet of salvation * This refers to the assurance of salvation. * In 1 Thessalonians, Paul calls it the hope of salvation * This protects us against discouragement, and the desire we get sometimes to just give up * There's no coincidence that one of the devil's schemes is to attack the mind, and we must protect the mind and everything that we put into it, as it directs our actions. * So, the helmet protects us, and gives us the assurance of our faith, which gives us confidence. Finally, Paul says to take up the ... * Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) * Notice that this is the only offensive tool that is provided here. This is an interesting term also. * The sword here is more like a dagger, a short sword meant for close combat. * This emphasizes the fact that the devil is present and near. * Paul maintains the weapon that we have when the battle is near, is the Word of God. * The word used for "word" does not refer necessarily to the whole Bible, but specific passages from the bible. * The best example of this is Jesus Himself. In Matthew 4 we read of the devil tempting Jesus in the wilderness. Just as the devil twisted the Word in deceiving Eve, he tried to do that with Jesus as well. But Jesus - knowing (and being) the Word - used the proper application of it to defeat the devil's schemes. * This is why we memorize Scripture. This is why we encourage reading the Bible in a systematic way. This is why we teach both the Old and the New Testaments, because they all point to Jesus, and Scripture interprets Scripture. If you don't believe me, read Matthew, chapters 5-7 - the Sermon on the Mount. * I want to emphasis one last thing before we get to the next item. * Paul, twice, specifically states that we must put on the whole armor of God. o It would do us no good to go into battle without the breastplate or the shield, for example. o We cannot be in a place of vulnerability, that is where and when the devil loves to work. o In fact, returning to Matthew 4 and his failed attempt to tempt Jesus, we read that he did this after Jesus' 40 day fast - when Jesus' human nature was at its most vulnerable state. * This is why Paul gives us, what I'm calling ... THE POWER (vv.18-20) What is this power? * Prayer. o Paul gives us a formula of prayer here. But he does so in a way that requires us to be alert and aware. Here is the formula: * Pray at all times in the Spirit * With prayer and supplication * With perseverance, and * For all the saints o Paul is saying that prayer activates the whole armor of God. o Prayer is like the fuel that powers the armor. o The bookends of relying on God's strength in verse 10 and Paul's exhortation of prayer in verses 18-20 should be all we need to know on how the Christian is to be effective in this spiritual battle. Not by our power, but His power. With His armor. With His plan. With His assurance. Wiersbe said this about the Christian life: "Sooner or later every believer discovers that the Christian life is a battleground, not a playground, and that he faces an enemy who is much stronger than he is-apart from the Lord." But we can stand firm and have confidence, because of what we saw earlier: I can face the enemy because the Lord has given me the tools. Just like basic training prepares soldiers for their battle, Paul provided us in this great letter with the basic training we need to be ready for the spiritual battle that is before us. Our strength is in the Lord. The victory is in our Savior. The tool is the armor pf God and the power of prayer that He has gifted to each of us who have faith in the Lord Jesus. Christians, be alert. Be ready. Put on your armor. Be prayerful. Let's pray. 2