Stand Firm Against the Devil

Introduction

Tonight we will be looking at the importance of standing firm.

At first glance, this might seem a little bit boring. After all, parents usually celebrate more when babies walk, not so much when they stand up. At work, if someone is just standing around, we question their productivity.

However, when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005, standing firm became a crucial issue.

My mom’s family lived in that area, and my grandmother’s house had to be remodeled after losing part of its roof.

While Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, the rain and wind were not the main reason for devastation. It was the flooding.

80% of New Orleans was flooded, and 95% of the parish. It was 15 feet deep in some places.

The city is built on drained marshland, and the Army Corps of Engineers was responsible for administering a system of levees and floodwalls in and around the area.

Unfortunately the storm surges breached the largest canal an hour before the storm made landfall, and by the end over 50 locations had been compromised.

More than 1,500 people died, though many were rescued from their attic or roof after days of waiting.

In the years leading up to that catastrophic storm, I am sure many people thought that levees were boring. All they did was stand strong. No exciting developments for mankind there. Nobody landed on the moon afterward.

Afterward, though, when the tactics of the enemy were realized, standing strong became a vital priority.

The city chose to invest $14.5b into rebuilding and fortifying their levees and floodwalls.

This past January, just a couple months ago, they added another $2.7b for it.

Tonight, God is going to warn you of the need to stand strong, and he is doing it in advance. You are going to need to decide whether you’re going to pay attention and obey, or imagine that God is crying wolf.

This passage is different from the sections we’ve been looking at lately. Previously, we were discussing earthly things with a spiritual mindset (wives, husbands, children, parents, slaves, masters). Now, we are going to look at spiritual things with an earthly mindset. We are going to discuss spiritual warfare in terms of human armor.

However, there is also continuity because we are still studying our responsibilities in light of Christ’s accomplishments.

Be Strong in the Lord

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength.

“Finally” (v. 10)

In addition to being different from the previous sections, this one is also the climax.

Politicians hold political rallies, sports teams have pep rallies, and battle commanders would often deliver speeches. You might recall Aragorn’s famous speech in “Return of the King” at the Black Gate of Mordor.

Often in speeches, the most rousing arguments come at the end. We even have a saying that we “save the best for last.” This pericope, or paragraph, is the filet mignon of Ephesians. Let’s dig in.

“Be Strong” (v. 10)

Definitive call to prepare yourself for a particularly challenging task (i.e., not for something easy). Get ready!

How do we do this? Eat our spiritual wheaties? Head over to the Streets of Gold Gym? Earlier, Paul has already prayed for this:

Eph 3:16-17, that He would give you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith

The power of the Holy Spirit in our inner man is a gift that only God can give. We cannot conjure it up.

For example, Paul used the same term when he described a crisis in his final years:

2 Ti 4:16-17, At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the preaching might be fulfilled, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.

In these passages, God’s Spirit is in us and the Lord is with us. We must depend on him for this strength.

That is why Paul immediately goes on to say...

Be Strong “in the Lord” (v. 10)

From the beginning of the letter, Paul has emphasized that we must depend on divine resources:

Eph 1:3, our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ

Eph 1:6, the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved

Eph 1:7-8, the riches of His grace which He caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight

This has always been the privilege of the people of God, esp. when they are faced with an overwhelming task:

1 Sam 30:3-6, In a bleak day, raiders captured David’s wives and the families of his men too. Then his men wanted to mutiny against him and kill David. However, we read, “But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.”

Paul was deserted and left all alone, and David’s men wanted to kill him. They grew strong as they entrusted themselves to God. Peter describes what this looks like for believers who are facing suffering and persecution:

1 Pet 4:12, 19, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you… Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God must entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing good.

Important to understand because the verb is passive (“be” strong or strengthened), but it is still a command. By ourselves we are not strong, but we can relate to God in such a way that we may avail of his strength.

It is interesting that Paul uses the phrase “in the Lord.” Throughout his epistles, the phrase “in the Lord” is typically used in reference to action and responsibility on our part, while “in Christ” is the alternative that just refers to our status. This further confirms the fact that we do have a role to play in obtaining strength, while the source is still the Lord.

Be Strong “in the Might of His Strength” (v. 10)

Yours might say “in the strength of his might”; the words are nearly synonymous.

Stated for emphasis, this phrase confirms the fact that it is NOT our strength; it is entirely his

Important in the context of war and armor; you must be able to wield your weapons

So in light of these things, we need to understand better how we can become strong in the Lord. How do we obey this command?

Look with me at verse 11…

Put on the Full Armor of God

11 Put on the full armor of God,

“Put on” (v. 11)

This verb is the answer to that question. This is how we become strong, by putting on God’s armor.

Eph 4:20-24, But you did not learn Christ in this way⁠—if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus⁠—to lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

In order to put on the armor of God, we must lay aside our former articles of defense. We wage war on his terms.

No recruit shows up to the frontlines with his own outfit. He is dressed in uniform.

We bear the likeness of God now; as it says here, our coat of arms is “righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

Put on the “full armor” (v. 11)

This specific term for “armor” is only mentioned one other time in the NT, though the Ephesians would have easily been able to imagine a Roman soldier:

Lk 11:21-22, When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder.

Armor plays an important role. Here, it is the thing on which the strong man relies for protection and defense.

Despite the lone cross reference, this concept of spiritual armor is not new in Ephesians. Paul had already mentioned it in earlier epistles:

1 Thess 5:8-9, the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation

2 Cor 6:4, 7, the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left

2 Cor 10:3, 4, the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh

Our text in Ephesians draws together these previous themes and clarifies the use of this spiritual armor.

Put on the full armor “of God” (v. 11)

This is not the armor of man, nor is this some package of tools that God stuffed into an Amazon prime box.

This is the hallowed armor which Yahweh himself has worn to battle, like a better Saul offering it to us as to David

Isa 4:4-5, He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, / And with the breath of His lips He will put the wicked to death. / Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, / And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

Isa 59:16-17, Then Yahweh saw, / And it was evil in His eyes that there was no justice. / And He saw that there was no man, / And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; / Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, / And His righteousness upheld Him. / He put on righteousness like a breastplate, / And a helmet of salvation on His head; / And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing / And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.

These passages describe Jesus, our captain and example, the Messiah whom Yahweh sent, and his divine armor.

Earlier we briefly touched on the phrase “be strong in the might of his strength” (v. 10)

This phrase is used only one other time in the whole Bible. Paul prays in Eph 1:19-23 that we would know,

“what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of the might of His strength, which He worked in Christ, by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

This is why the Messiah put on righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, vengeance, and zeal.

The might of God’s strength was demonstrated in raising Christ from the dead. His resurrection was the crucial victory; the turning point in the war.

Jesus, our captain, rose from the dead and was seated in the heavenly places above all enemies for all time, and he won as his prize the church, His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. He won the grand prize.

And now, having been seated in the heavenly places, Jesus has provided his armor for us (the “armor of God”) to defend his church, the prize for which he died. We are following him to war against all the hordes of hell.

Speaking of which, look with me at the second half of verse 11 and verse 12 too:

Stand Firm Against the Devil

11 so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

So that you will be able to “stand firm” (v. 11)

“Stand firm” is repeated 3x in four verses; it is the main theme of our text this evening, the reason for everything else

In a battle, think about which side needs to stand firm. Is it the offensive or the defensive? Is it the men on the wall or the men charging at the gates? Is it the men crouched behind sturdy shields, or racing on horses? When we stand firm, we are defending territory that is already our own.

As we saw from Isaiah 59, Jesus has already won the victory. We are standing to defend the territory He has won.

Against the schemes of the devil (v. 11)

From the beginning, this serpent has been “more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made”

In the garden, he looked like a serpent, and at other times he takes on other not-so-secret identities:

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Thirteen: You’re in the Army Now! (Ephesians 6:10–24)

The enemy has many different names. Devil means “accuser,” because he accuses God’s people day and night before the throne of God (Rev. 12:7–11). Satan means “adversary,” because he is the enemy of God. He is also called the tempter (Matt. 4:3), and the murderer and the liar (John 8:44). He is compared to a lion (1 Peter 5:8), a serpent (Gen. 3:1; Rev. 12:9), and an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:13–15), as well as “the god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4, NIV).

As a result, we must be on guard at all times. We cannot let our guard down and afford for him to slip past us.

This is a heading for all of verse 12 which follows. This is the devil with his hordes of hell, in four categories.

Not against flesh and blood (v. 12)

This is just included for clarification, the Spirit intends for us to focus on the soldiers of Satan.

We must understand that we are not being urged to anarchy and political insurrection against worldly governments.

Paul has no intention of creating a bunch of 21st century Zealots.

Against the rulers, against the authorities (v. 12)

Wait, but now this sounds like we are supposed to stage a coup d’etat!

However, if we just flip back to chapter 1, we can see what Paul really means here:

Eph 1:21, God seated Christ “at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet”

It is clear from history that Christ has not yet been made King of a physical kingdom. We heard just on Sunday that, in fact, his kingdom is not of this world. Instead, these are spiritual rulers and authorities in the domain of the devil.

We explored this concept briefly a couple years ago toward the end of our study in Daniel 10:13-20 when the angel spoke to Daniel about “the prince of the kingdom of Persia,” “the kings of Persia,” and “the prince of Greece.” It is likely that rulers and authorities on earth have spiritual counterparts, and it is these we stand against.

Paul clarified that we are not standing against “flesh and blood” precisely so we could understand this meaning.

Against the world forces of this darkness (v. 12)

The term “world forces” occurs only here in the entire NT, but one commentator noted that it “is used in ancient literature of world-ruling gods and of spirit beings who were said to have parts of the cosmos under their control.”

The plain fact is that God simply has not revealed many details about the angelic forces in the spiritual realm. We catch glimpses of them in various texts of the Bible like this one, but we do not know names and responsibilities.

The point is that they are of the darkness, but now we are light in the Lord and must expose their works (Eph 5).

Against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (v. 12)

Note the progression from bad to worse. Rulers and authorities seem ordinary at first glance. World forces of darkness begins to sound a little ominous. Now the description is downright blatant.

These spiritual forces have a wicked agenda; they infiltrated the heavenly places, and now one commentator notes that “their impact, influence, and activity are very much directed to this concrete human sphere."

While these forces are spiritual, it is not as if we fight from earth going “pew pew” at the heavens.

We have been awakened in the spiritual realm and equipped with God’s spiritual armor, the armor Jesus already used to win the war! Saul’s armor may not have fit David, but Jesus armor fits us. We have what we need.

These groups fight for the devil, and they are the reason we must stand firm in God’s strength and armor.

Conclusion

13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Circular statements: do this because of that, which is why you should do this

We need to alternate back and forth in our thinking, it helps us to make progress (walking, Calvin’s institutes)

Therefore (v. 13)

We should be motivated to action when we consider our foe

Take up the full armor of God (v. 13)

Previously, we were commanded to “put on” the full armor of God

Now, we are being urged to make a move, to do something, to at least pick it up! There is no time to lose.

Urgency implies necessity. Like a parent who commands to put on shoes, and then whisks the kid out saying at least bring them with you. Whether you like it or not, whether your shoes are on or not, we are leaving right now!

Whether we like it or not, whether we are ready or not, we are going to battle. Be ready.

So that you will be able to resist in the evil day (v. 13)

The question every commentator wants to ask here is, “Which evil day is he talking about?”

While there is an undoubtedly eschatological tone, it is also true that the days now are already evil, and have been for 2,000 years:

Eph 5:15-16, Therefore look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Similar to the already-but-not-yet sense of the evil day(s), we have already studied the day(s) of redemption:

Eph 1:7, In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our transgressions

Eph 4:30, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

We have been redeemed today, and yet we are waiting for the day of redemption. The days now are evil, but there is also some uniquely evil day that will take place sometime in the future. Either way, our duty remains the same.

We need to be ready today, and we have no excuse for procrastination.

And having done everything (v. 13)

Note what this command is not:

It is not having made everything

It is not having gathered everything

It is not having called everyone

Your own obedient action is the only objective.

If you are collaborating on a project, and your group misses the deadline, the immediate temptation is to say that you couldn’t do your part because you were waiting on someone else. Perhaps it is true that you could not finish your part until they were done. However, could you have at least started? Isn’t there something you could have been doing?

The implication here is that you have done everything you can. God is sovereign, but you are still accountable.

You don’t want to be standing in battle formation and hear the drill sergeant shouting at you, “Double-check your armor, soldier!”

Therefore, as we prepare for the day of battle, we need to give careful thought to our objective.

To stand firm (v. 13)

In fact, at times, we may forget and need to be reminded. In the rush, we may get disoriented.

What is the final goal, the last objective? Why so many commands? It is this: to stand firm. This is the final phrase in our text.

This is all! No more; no less. Jesus has won it all; there is no more to take, but we must not fall back even an inch.

This section in vv. 10-20 is the capstone of the entire epistle, and it sums up a lot of the themes using a powerful metaphor that fixates our attention. We can find a number of these themes appearing in earlier chapters:

God’s strength in Christ’s resurrection, Paul’s apostleship, and God’s work among us (ch. 1, 3)

Commands to put off the old man and put on the new, like putting on armor (ch. 4)

Jesus as our example, breaking down barriers, putting enmity to death, and building the church (ch. 2)

Warnings about the schemes of evil men in the church, just like the devil (ch. 4)

Powers, rulers, and authorities working in unbelievers and humiliated by God through the church (ch. 2, 3)

Darkness as evil, similar to the Gentile lifestyle prior to salvation (ch. 4-5)

Days of redemption and evil now pointing toward the eschatological days of redemption and evil (ch. 1, 4, 5)

All of these themes and everything we have studied in this book culminates with this message: stand firm.

John 16:15-18, Jesus said that the gates of Hades will not overpower [the church].

Jas 4:7, Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

1 Pet 5:8-9, Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in the faith, [and after we have suffered for a little while, God will restore, strengthen, confirm, and ground us.]

Jesus’s message for us is this: take up his armor, stand firm, and resist the devil. In time and by God’s power, his church will prevail.

Application

At the beginning we talked about how important the levees of Louisiana were after the dangers were realized.

Too late, they realized that it was important to stand firm and resist the devilish floodwaters.

I want to note one more observation from our text for you: all the verbs are plural. They are addressed to the church.

Standing firm together is as important as standing firm at all. Levees can stand firm, but if there is a gap between them, then it is useless. The water will still get in. Similarly, if there is division or disunity in the church, the devil gains a foothold.

This is why husbands and wives are commanded to maintain the unity of physical intimacy in 1 Cor 7, lest the devil tempt them.

This is also why Paul graciously forgave the offending believer(s) in Corinth. He said,

2 Cor 2:10-11, For indeed what I have graciously forgiven, if I have graciously forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

The devil’s scheme is disunity. Soldiers in formation become weak when their lines are broken.

As a result, you will know Satanic activity when you see it. It looks like division within the home and within the church.

Wives, Husbands, Children, Parents, Slaves, Masters: are you united in the truth or fighting against one another?

Are you grateful for the “apostles, prophets, evangelists, and for the pastors and teachers” that God has given to our church to equip us and build us up in the body of Christ?

Are we united together, or are we dividing amongst ourselves, leaving room for the devil to creep in?

They say the devil is in the details. Well, he’s also in the cracks, trying to separate us even more.

Listen to how Paul described our life in the flesh prior to salvation:

Eph 2:1-3, And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Prior to God’s gracious intervention, we were drafted recruits in the dungeon of the Devil, enslaved minions.

Now that we have been freed in Christ and given a job to do in the Lord, will we help our church or hurt it?

This is what it means to stand strong. We must be united, each fulfilling the role we have been given. We are soldiers with varied responsibilities, but all part of the same army. We grow stronger in the Lord and stand firmer as we practice walking in the Lord, obeying all the commands we’ve studied in this epistle.

It is only when we do this that we will be able to resist the devil, strong in Lord and standing firm.

Postlude

O church, arise, and put your armor on; Hear the call of Christ our captain. For now the weak can say that they are strong In the strength that God has given. With shield of faith and belt of truth, We'll stand against the devil's lies. An army bold, whose battle cry is love, Reaching out to those in darkness.

Our call to war, to love the captive soul, But to rage against the captor; And with the sword that makes the wounded whole, We will fight with faith and valor. When faced with trials on every side, We know the outcome is secure. And Christ will have the prize for which He died: An inheritance of nations