Ephesians 6:10-24 Study

Ephesians Study  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Verses 10-13

Be Strengthened for Battle

10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.

Here at the closing of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he seeks to prepare them for the spiritual warfare that is so evident in Ephesus.
Looking at Acts 19:11-41, Ephesus was filled with Gentile pagas and demon worshipers who hated the Gospel, hated Paul, and hated Jesus.
Paul knew very well the spiritual warfare that this church was battling, and so it was necessary for him to encourage them with the full armor of God.
Paul namely wants them to be equipped with this armor so that they can stand against the schemes of the devil.
He will expound more on this in the next verses

War is Our Reality

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. 13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

The stark reality is that this spiritual warfare that Paul is describing here was not only true for these Ephesian believers, but also very true for us.
In Ephesus, there was immense pagan demon worship and hatred for Jesus; with this, there was much temptation for sin for the believers. They had to be strong and careful.
For us, all of this is still very prominent. These rulers and authorities and cosmic powers of this darkness and spiritual forces in the heavens are all still against us today. They still hate Jesus and they still want us to turn away from Christ.
We are in a battle, today, right now. The church is merely a training ground for us to be prepared to go back out and fight more. But your schools, your homes, your workplaces; these are battlegrounds. And so, verse 13 is not only true for these Ephesians, but it is true for you:

13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

You must be ready to resist temptation and stand against all evil. The way of being ready Paul describes is in the full armor of God.

Verses 14-17

The Belt of Truth

14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist,

The truth is the truth of the Gospel. This truth is not subjective, meaning it is only true for some. This Gospel is objectively true. It is true for every person alive, whether they believe it or not. It is this truth that keeps us bound together and prepared.

The Chest plate of Righteousness

righteousness like armor on your chest,

When you give your life to Christ, you do not now become righteous by doing enough good; rather, Christ places His righteousness on you, like armor. His righteousness is our protection against judgement.

The Sandals of Readiness for the Gospel

15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.

This is another way of Paul saying that we must always be ready to share and defend the Gospel. If your shoes are untied, you are not ready to run. These sandals are for our own readiness to share and defend. Always be ready.

The Shield of Faith

16 In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

In our walk with Christ and this battle against the enemy, the enemy will fire many darts at us. The purpose of these darts are to kill us and draw us away from Christ. We must hold strongly our faith as these darts are coming at us. It is our faith that protects us from falling away from Christ. And so it must be strong.

The Helmet of Salvation

17 Take the helmet of salvation

This is another piece of armor that Christ places on us. He saves us, and we often forget that He has. And so we fight and are hit in the head for a killing blow, but we are already saved. The blow fails, for Christ has saved us. Do not neglect this helmet, but remember it daily.

The Sword of the Spirit

and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. 18

And here is how we fight, daily. Here is what kills our sin. Here is what draws us near to God—the Sword. We cannot expect to be killing sin and finding victories if we are not carrying our sword. This doesn’t mean keep your phone on you because you have the app; this means you bring your bible with you and read it and meditate on it and let your mind be saturated by it; let the Word of God consume all of you so that nothing is left but the Lord. Let it fill the space in between you and others in your family, friends, and the church. If you don’t carry your sword, you will die.

Verses 18-20

The Weapon of Prayer

18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

After going through all these pieces of armor, Paul takes a hard turn to prayer. In fact, he commands that they be praying for all the saints.
We are on the ground of this war, fighting for our lives. And something extremely important in battle is communication. Taking from a battle of sword to a battle of guns, consider how the affect calling in air strikes has on the battle. It can make or break the battle.
We must be in communication with the Lord regarding our battle, and praying to Him for our brothers and sisters on the front lines.
The truth is that here in the south, there are battles, but they are different. There are so many christians here, it is far easier to be a Christian. Now in the West, and the North, this is not the case. And we have brothers and sisters in those places being berated. They need prayer. Sometimes people here around you are going through hard times and are being berated—they too need prayer.
Do not neglect the weapon of prayer. It is far more powerful than we even give it credit.

19 Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. 20 For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

In fact, Paul himself needs prayer. He prays for a few different things:
The message may be given to him when he speaks
He be bold enough to speak
Paul was on the frontlines. He, despite displaying great boldness, had fear and needed more boldness. He, despite being very knowledgeable and in step with the Spirit, needed to know what to say.
In summary on prayer, be praying fervently for your brothers and sisters in Christ in the church, and for the missionaries and church planters going to the frontlines. Pray for others, constantly.

Verses 21-24

Tychicus

21 Tychicus, our dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed. 22 I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.

Tychicus was the one who delivered this letter to the Ephesian church. Paul speaks very highly of him and sent him to encourage the church.
These types of sendings for encouragement must still be happening in our churches. Not just texts, but going! Be like Tychicus—faithful servant in the Lord.

Farewell

23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who have undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

And Paul closes with praying peace, love, faith, and grace for those he is writing to. These things only come from our God; no where else.
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