Spiritual Street Fight

Blueprint

Come to the last week in our study of Ephesians

When we started, I shared that I was referring to this series as Blueprint

The book of Ephesians, in so many ways, serves as a blueprint for the church

The first half is a beautiful theological discourage on the saving work of God and then in chapters 4-6, he works out the implication of the gospel for our relationships

Recap of Ephesians

In chapter 1 we saw the beauty and the power of God’s electing love to adopt us as his own children

Then in chapter 2 we saw the mercy and kindness of God that took us from dead in our sins to alive with Christ

Chapter 3 ends with Paul bursting out in a prayer for the Holy Spirit to fill us with his strength that we would know how high and long and deep and wide is the love of God

With chapter 4 he turns the focus on how the gospel works itself out in us with a call for unity

The church is one church under our one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

Chapter 5 opens with a call to walk in love, walk in light, and walk in wisdom before moving specific discussions of family relationships of marriage, parents and children, and masters and slaves in the latter half of chapter 5 and beginning of chapter 6

Which brings us to the last section of the book of Ephesians

Because the Blueprint of who the church is, what we are to believe, and what we are to do includes this important realization: war is here!

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6:10-24

Ephesians 6:10–24 ESV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. 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. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 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, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. 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. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts. Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

Pray

Transition

In the old Monty Python tv show, they would move from one comedy sketch to the next

And sometimes, there would just be no natural segue from one to the next, no natural connection or handoff

So they would simply say, “And now for something completely different”

It was a lighthearted way to say that what came before and what comes next are in no way connected

That is not what is happening here as we come to the concluding section of the book of Ephesians

I’ve said this a few times in our study of Ephesians and I’ll say it one more time

This passage, as abrupt as it may feel, is not a case of “now for something completely different”

Rather, for Paul, this passage on the armor of God is Paul attempting to equip the church for the battle that is coming and is here

That is, there is a reason this discussion on spiritual warfare flows immediately on the heels of Paul’s discussion of how the gospel works itself out in our relationships

Because that is the predominant area that the enemy will use to attack us!

Spiritual Street Fight

I am calling this message here tonight Spiritual Street Fight

Being a child of the 80s and raised on the original NES, spent many hours playing classic games like Street Fighter or Double Dragon

Double Dragon was a personal favorite - classic side-scrolling fighter game where twin brothers were working their way through street gangs to save the one brother’s girlfriend

It was, if what I read is correct, the first game that let you knock the weapons out of an enemy’s hands and then use those weapons

So you could pick up baseball bats, whips (I can still hear the sound effects of those whips in my head even now), knives, rocks, and more

But here is one of the things that made Double Dragon so unique

As you walked through streets, enemies would jump out from unexpected places, not just in front of you

Sometimes come from behind

Sometimes from behind an oil barrel or through a fence

These enemies didn’t just come in an orderly fashion one after the other and from the same place

The spiritual battles we find ourselves in are not like old wars where the two opposing forces lined up opposite each other and charged

This is guerrilla warfare where our enemy doesn’t fight fair

It’s a street fight where the enemy may come out of nowhere with brass knuckles

The Bible describes Satan as a prowling lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8)

He doesn’t give warning he is about to attack

Instead he often looks for those moments where you are either on a high from a success or victory or you are tired and vulnerable

He doesn’t need to reload or respawn

He doesn’t wait until you are prayed up and ready

He is out to steal, and kill, and destroy both our witness and our very souls

Listen to this description of lion hunting from lionlandscapes.org

“Lions are stalk-ambush predators. Once a lion has spotted a potential target, they will usually approach the animal slowly and carefully, crouching low to the ground with their ears flattened, to avoid alerting the prey to the imminent danger. Once they are within striking range, they launch the attack.”

Main Point

So here is what I want us to see from this last section of Ephesians

Reality of war (it is here and it impacts our relationships)

Role of believer in war (offense and defense)

Result of the war (Jesus wins)

Quick Caveat

Ok, so quick caveat here

Discussions of spiritual warfare are tricky

There are 2 sides to this where Christians tend to go to the extremes

On one end of the pendulum, there are some who think everything is spiritual warfare

I mean, dude, maybe you just stubbed your toe not because you are being attacked by the devil but because you are a klutz!

On the other end of the pendulum, there are some who think nothing is spiritual warfare

They chalk everything up to an unfortunate sequence of events

We need to avoid both ends of the pendulum here

Why? Because war is here!

Reality of War

War is Here

Ephesians 6:10–12 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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.”

Notice here that Paul is not guessing that there may be a spiritual street fight

It’s not be ready in case

No, it is the fundamental underlying presupposition of the this passage

War is here

When he says to be strong in the Lord, when he says to put on the armor of God

It is not just in case

It’s proactive so that if it does come you are ready

It is a promise - War is here

And the more on mission you are, the more you are about growing the kingdom of God, the more the enemy will fight back and fight dirty

CS Lewis wrote a book entitled The Screwtape Letters

It is basically framed as a series of letters from an older, veteran demon to his younger nephew demon who is just starting out in the business and has been assigned his first human to tempt toward evil

While obviously a work of fiction, it does provide some poignant insight into the schemes of the devil that are active and intentional

For our purposes here tonight, one particular insight

Basically, the old, veteran demon says that while the first preference is that the human never become a Christian, the next best is to make him comfortable

But the more active the human becomes on the mission of serving God, the more active the attacks that the young demon must make to distract or discourage the human

Well here’s the thing: we are planting a church!

There may be no more important kingdom work that any of us will do in this life than to pursue the birthing of this new church

Our enemy does not want New Creation Church to happen

He does not want the people of Skye Ranch, and 3H Ranch, and Hi Hat Ranch, and all throughout Sarasota, to know how high and long and deep and wide is the love of God

Let me go so far as to say this: the enemy was pretty content to just let all of us stay in previous churches and previous roles

He was content to let us be comfortable

But we are here because we believe that the mission matters more than our comfort

And as soon as we step into that, the enemy steps into fight

War is here

Attack on our Relationships

As I said a few minutes ago, Paul is just coming off a discussion of unity in the church and then of family relationships

Why transition to this topic of a spiritual street fight?

Because the primary place the enemy attacks is our relationships

If a husband and wife start quarreling, they take their eyes off the mission

If parents start provoking their children or children refuse to obey and honor their parents, they take their eyes off the mission

If he can distract us with other things and mess with our relationships, we are less a threat

So he goes for our relationships

Maybe no better and yet harder moment than when I realized that what my family has been going through is not just a bad sequence of events

It’s not Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

It is spiritual warfare

What makes it a street fight is that the enemy doesn’t fight fair

How many parents see their kid bullied and wish they could take it on themselves?

I know that I would do anything as a parent to take the pain and sorrow of life in a broken world from my kids

But I can’t

And sometimes that sequence of events is not just some dumb luck, it is an enemy who doesn’t fight fair and he comes for our kids instead of for us knowing that is where we are most vulnerable!

So right now, for each of you, what relationships of yours are under attack?

Marriage?

Parent/child?

Work?

Friends?

The relationships where you are vulnerable are the relationships where you will be attacked!

Role of the Believer in this War

Call to Defense

Ephesians 6:13–17 “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. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”

Breastplate of righteousness

Shoes of gospel of peace

Shield of faith

Helmet of salvation

Ok, we could look at each of those individually and would encourage you to go do a study on each of them

But let me group them together for the moment with one observation

They are defensive

This armor is designed to protect you in the fight

Hear those words at the start?

The goal at the end is just to still be standing!

We are called to defense because the enemy will attack us in this fight

Call to Offense

But just as we are called to defense, we are also called to go on the offensive!

Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The gates of hell

Gates are for defense

So if we are knocking down the gates of hell, it is because we, the church, are on the offensive!

So how do we go on the offensive?

Ephesians 6:17–19 “and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 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, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,”

Paul gives us 3 tools for going on the offensive

Sword of the Spirit

The Word of God

The Bible is able to reach and transform, by the work of the Holy Spirit, lives in a way that you and I cannot

So we go into the street fight armed not with a weapon of our own making, but with the Word of God

Pray

At all times in the Spirit

Interceding before God for people

And if our relationships are a primary place where we are attacked, encourage you to identify those relationships where you can focus your prayers

Here is something I am working on, adopted from Paul Miller’s book, The Praying Life

On a separate index card, put:

Name of person you are praying for

Any specific prayer request

A verse to pray as a promise for that person or relationship

Proclaim the gospel

Call people to trust in the God who saves sinners

Just as he has saved you, so he can save your neighbors

Result of the War - Jesus Wins!

And here is the really good news

We are in a fight

We will be on both the defensive and the offensive

But winning the war is not up to us

Mukala’s song - Skip to the End

If we skip to the end of the Bible, we find out 2 important things

We are on the winning team

But it is not us who wins the war

It is Jesus who wins the war

The result of this spiritual street fight: Jesus wins!

Even better, his victory is already guaranteed

Notice the language

“Be strong in the Lord”

“In the strength of his might”

It’s easy to gloss over phrases like that but it is the Lord who does this

Even more, told both to “put on the armor of God” and “take up the armor of God”

Whose armor is it?

“Of God” - it’s God’s army

He is the one who clothes you with an armor that can withstand the attacks of the evil one

I know my temptation when I find myself in this spiritual street fight

It’s to power up and go for it

Satan, watch out!

But I am weak, and feeble, and broken, and mostly powerless on my own

But Jesus?

He is not!

He is power where the devil only feigns for power

He is victorious when the devil thought he had won at Calvary

He rose when the devil thought there was only death for Jesus

It is Jesus, both captain of the army and head of the church, who is victorious

It is Jesus who wins the war

Conclusion

Paul then closes with a blessing, as he does all of his letters

Ephesians 6:23–24 “Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.”

Words of peace and grace

Two thoughts here

First, he ends the way he started

Ephesians 1:1–2 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

He opened his letter with words of blessing - of grace and peace upon the church in Ephesus

And then he ends with words of blessing - of grace and peace upon the church in Ephesus

Second, and maybe way more profound

He moves from this cosmic war that is being waged, this spiritual street fight

To peace

How? How can he move so quickly from preparing us for war to words of peace?

Because he knows that the war is not his to win or lose

It is Jesus who, by his death and his resurrection, has won the war!

And so let us end our study of Ephesians as we opened it

Looking to the book of Ephesians as a blueprint for the church we are planting

And what is that blueprint?

That Jesus is the one who builds his church

And we, his people, get to see him work his grace and peace into us that we may be agents of grace and peace to Sarasota

And that through it, Jesus would get all the glory

Pray