Being built up... (26)

Not against flesh and blood...

This morning, we’re going to look at what Paul has to say about our battle. As Christians, we are in a battle. This battle, humanly speaking, started way back in the Garden of Eden. It started with a serpent coming to Eve, and placing a temptation before her that was too hard to resist.

We might look back and ask the question,

How could they fall?

Didn’t they realize the implications for the rest of us?

There was only one tree… and yet we give ourselves more grace when we fall into temptation?

What we will look at is very doctrinal. It is very theological, but it is also very practical for every day living. Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to look at our armour, the weapons that we fight with, today, we’ll look at the source of our strength, the enemy that wages war against us, and what we are called to do.

Let’s start by reading

Ephesians 6:10–13 NIV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 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.

In this final section of Ephesians, Paul makes it very clear that we are in a battle. Maybe you have heard it said that if you give your life to Christ, that everything is going to get better. Life will be easy. The truth of the matter is that when Jesus becomes our Lord and Saviour, we are brought from spiritual death to life. Our final destination has been changed. Jesus promised that He was going to prepare a place, and He promised that He would come again. The reason that Jesus is going to come again is to take us to the place where He is.

We could get into a study of the end times. We call this eschatology. There are a lot of views. We use words that aren’t in the Bible, but there is much teaching.

An example of a word you won’t find in the Bible but we believe is very clear is

the Rapture of the church...

This is when Jesus comes to earth for Christians, believers, his followers.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 NIV

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

The word

Rapture means caught up...

As Christians we believe that Jesus is alive, seated at the right hand of God the Father, and that He will come again. This is our hope, but what do we do until that happens.

That’s what we are going to look at this morning.

Let’s look at

The Source of our Strength...

Ephesians 6:10 NIV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Some translations would include...

Ephesians 6:10 NKJV

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Many commentators would say, My brothers or brothers and sisters, isn’t supported in the text, but I want to start this section by saying,

our strength comes from the Lord, but we can’t do this alone.

It is not God’s will for us as Christians to try to fight this battle alone. We need each other. It may not be impossible, but it’s more difficult to overcome alone.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 NIV

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

We often use this at weddings, but in the Christian life, we need each other.

We need

The Power of the Holy Spirit

to overcome.

We cannot overcome in our own power. We live in a society that has been inundated with self-help solutions for our problems. When we try to overcome in our own strength, we are often trying to overcome the symptoms rather than the problem.

Often we form habits, and habits are hard to break. We need to get to the root of why we struggle with certain temptations.

Diet and exercise are valuable. They are even necessary, but is there something deeper in why we eat the foods we eat, or consume the things we do?

I have no reason to blame my parents, or Grandparents for my eating habits. Often the habits we form are passed down from generation to generation. Some families struggle with certain health issues, which can be genetic weaknesses. It can also be habits that have been passed down from generation to generation. I don’t know much about generational curses. I do know this though, in my Mom’s family, alcoholism was a problem coming through the Petterson family.

When it started, I’m not sure, but alcohol had a grip on my Grandpa and some of his brothers. My Grandpa Gus married my Grandma, and the problem persisted. As the family grew, and it did, a couple of my uncles became alcoholics and some of my aunts married men that enjoyed their booze. This seemed to be a hopeless problem in the family, but God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love...

Some of Grandma’s family were Christians. My Grandma in Norway was a Christian, and I’m sure she was praying. Grandma Petterson encountered Jesus Christ and was brought from death to life. My Uncle Roy got saved. My aunt Alice went to Bible Camp and came to faith in Jesus. My Mom wanted what Aunt Alice now had. She became a Christian.

When Roy was about 20, he became very ill with a fever. He almost died. He was rushed to the Regina General Hospital some time in November of 1958. Just to let you know that this was no small sickness, he was released from the hospital the following June. He was only a shadow of what he had been. He weighed less than 120#.

While he was in the hospital, his twin, could see things weren’t looking very good, so he asked if there was anything that he could do for him. Uncle Roy brought him to the cross. 65 years later, they are still serving the Lord.

In these families, the curse of alcoholism was broken at the cross. It was the power of the cross that brought freedom. For our family, the foothold was great, but it didn’t have to continue. I still have family that have never been to the cross, and I still have family that is in the grips of alcoholism.

I want to encourage you today.

Ephesians 6:10 NIV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

How great is this power?

Ephesians 1:19–20 NLT

19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Romans 8:11 NIV

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Satan doesn’t want Christians to know that since we are in Christ, we have access to the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, and this power gives us the ability to overcome.

Ephesians 6:10 (NIV)

10 Finally, be strong IN the Lord and IN his mighty power.

We can be strong in the Lord. That’s where the power comes from.

Be strong - endynamousthe

The Strong’s concordance says

To fill with power, strengthen, make strong.

This can only happen when we are in Christ, by Christ.

Why do we need to be strong?

Ephesians 6:11 NIV

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

Next week we will look at the armour of God. The

Life Application New Testament Commentary The Whole Armor of God / 6:10–20

full armor, means complete equipment, head-to-toe protection, both defensively and offensively.

We need to put on the full armour of God so that we can take our stand against

the devil’s schemes

We have an enemy. We have and adversary. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

He is the accuser of the brethren. Not only does he tempt, he hurls accusations at us once we have given in to the temptation.

Where did the devil come from?

He has different names:

Satan, dragon, Beelzebub, Prince of the power of the air. God did not create the devil, the he is today.

He was created as an angel. He was known as Lucifer. Many believe that he was one of the Arch-angels like Michael and Gabriel. He was in charge of worship. He became proud and rebelled against God. He and 1/3 of the angels were cast down to the earth.

Many think of him as wearing a red suit with a pointy tail holding a pitchfork stoking the fires of hell. Satan is not equal to God. He is a powerful created being that one day will be bound and at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ, he will be thrown into the lake of fire. Hell is not just a swear word.It is a place that God has made for the devil and his angels.

He devises schemes to try to destroy people. At times he uses people, and sometimes the people of God to try to destroy people.

1 Peter 5:8 NKJV

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Our battle is

Not against flesh and blood...

Ephesians 6:12 NIV

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.