Ephesians 6:10-13
Notes
Transcript
Whole-church curriculum - Sunday sermons, NCK, youth, homegroups. One church growing from God’s word together.
Why a series on the armour of God, and why now?
Spiritual warfare can be a neglected topic. We need a better awareness and preparedness for this aspect of the Christian life.
As for why now: we had planned this several months ago, not knowing that we would have made this move to Oakgrove.
But in hindsight, the Lord was clearly in our plans. We’ve been celebrating the Lord’s provision, and the way the Lord has been building and growing his church. And we continue to celebrate and give thanks!
It’s good to celebrate. Like your favourite sports team winning - jump and cheer with every goal/wicket! But when one side is winning, the losing side doesn’t like it. Sometimes they hate it, and things can even turn ugly.
In the Lord’s providence, then, we’re thinking about spiritual warfare, the armour of God, at an important time. We’re riding on a bit of a high. We have an enemy who wants to bring us low. We need to be prepared and know how to respond.
Last year: series on Ephesians.
Ephesians: God’s cosmic blessings in the heavenly realms, God’s cosmic plan for the church and creation
Paul lifts ours gaze beyond the earthly realms, showing us the realities of the heavenly realms and how they affect us as God’s people:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Though Paul doesn’t spell out the precise nature of these heavenly/cosmic realities, he nevertheless alerts us to their existence.
And in chapter 6 he hones in on one particular aspect of the unseen realm - “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
When this subject comes up in naturally arouses our interest. We have lots of questions!
Who is the devil? Is he real? Are there really invisible evil forces working against us? Should we be scared of them? Do we have the same power as Jesus and early followers to cast out demons? And so on.
But for Paul this isn’t an intellectual exercise. It’s war.
And he’s warning us of the hostile forces that threaten us every moment, and he’s showing us how to resist, defend and overcome them.
God willing, this term we will be looking at each element of the armour of God that Paul describes in this passage.
Before that, we need to sure about exactly what we’re facing and how we should live in response.
Paul urges us to be strong in the Lord (10), put on God’s full armour (11), know the real enemy (12) and stand our ground (13).
Be strong in the Lord
Be strong in the Lord
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
‘Be strong’ might feel like too much responsibility is being placed on us, as the difference between winning and losing comes down to how strong we are on any given day.
Could be rendered “be strengthened.”
The key thing is where we are to find strength for the battle against the enemy: “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
Paul has already spoken a lot about God’s mighty power in Ephesians!
In 1:19 it’s his “incomparably great power for us who believe.” The same power/mighty strength...
he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
And Paul’s prayer at the end of chapter 3 is basically a prayer for God to strengthen them with mighty power, so Christ will dwell in them, knowing the full dimensions of his love. Ending with that great assurance and promise and God is able to do (lit. powerful) to do immeasurably more...”
So, when Paul says, “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power,” all of that should be ringing in our ears.
Instead of having to cower and saying, “But I’m not strong, I don’t have that kind of power,” we can look to the One who does!
More than that, we find strength, draw strength, and stake our lives on the strength and mighty power of the God who raises the dead!
Yes, the battle is real, the enemy is stronger than us. Yes, we face trials and temptations throughout life. Yes, if left to fight in our own strength we would fall at the first sign of fighting.
But, our God is stronger than every enemy. He is with us in every battle. And he provides us with all we need to stay strong in the face of it.
Put on God’s full armour
Put on God’s full armour
Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
There is an action required from us. “Put on the full armour of God.”
We have been provided with standard issue armour. We are to use it, or else suffer the consequences.
And notice that we can’t be selective!!
It’s the “full armour” we are to put on. Not the bits we think we need. Or the parts that match our outfit. Suit our personality or our assumed strengths!
We need the whole lot.
It’s worth saying at this point, that the armour of God is an illustration.
A good illustration takes something that we know to explain something that we don’t know, or need to learn, or be reminded of. That’s why Jesus talked so often about farming and agriculture - vines, olives, shepherds, sheep etc.
Being a Roman city, the Ephesians would have seen soldiers frequently, so these things would be very familiar to them.
And so Paul takes that common knowledge to explain an important spiritual truth.
The individual parts of the armour all describe some aspect of the gospel that saves us.
As Warren Wiersbe puts it, we are not fighting for victory, but fighting from victory.
In other words, all the protection that we need in the battle with Satan and his forces, has been decisively won for us by Jesus who died and rose again!
Our hope is not in mustering up enough strength to overcome. Our hope is not in employing the best military tactics or outsmarting the enemy.
Our hope is in Christ Jesus! Who died and is alive, who is seated at the right hand with all power and authority, who has sent his HS to empower each of his followers that we might take our stand against the devil’s schemes.
The gospel is all the armour that we need, and we need all of it!
Put on the whole armour of God. Know the gospel! And...
Know the real enemy
Know the real enemy
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.
First thing to notice is that this is no enemy that can been seen, and nothing like what we have witnessed in humanity. Not against flesh and blood.
John Stott points out that there are three main characteristics of the enemy.
First, they are powerful.
First, they are powerful.
Paul speaks of there being rulers and authorities.
There’s much that could be said about that, and not a great deal that is certain.
But at the very least it paints a picture of unseen evil, demonic powers that are present and active in the world.
And while we may not know exactly how they operate, or what kind of power they wield, or the precise nature of their rule and authority, yet they are nonetheless powerful and not to be underestimated.
Second, they are wicked
Second, they are wicked
Power itself isn’t wicked. It can be used for good or bad.
But these spiritual enemies are relentlessly wicked. Their goal is destruction. They operate out of darkness (“dark world”) with the express aim of extinguishing the light of the gospel.
Chiefly, Satan wants to rob God of his glory, and keep us from enjoying the spiritual blessings that are ours in Christ. He wants to keep people out of heaven and claim them for hell.
If you’re not a Christian, this might all sounds strange or maybe unsettling. The Bible is clear: there is an enemy of souls that is working day and night to stop people from discovering the good news about Jesus.
He uses all manner of tactics to achieve his aim. Today, memes and angry YouTube must be among his best tools. But you can outwit him by going straight to the source! Read the Bible for yourself. Ask God to help you to understand it. Outwit Satan, and meet Jesus in the pages of Scripture.
So, these forces are powerful and wicked, and...
Third, they are cunning
Third, they are cunning
Paul writes about the “devil’s schemes.” Older translations might have “wiles of the devil.”
Either way, it tells us something about how he tends to work.
We must not imagine that Satan is like an old cartoon villain. Coyote, Dastardly, Baron Greenback. Sneaky, but stupid.
Satan is not stupid. He is cunning and clever, and he knows exactly how to overpower his victims. Hence these warnings.
Again, Stott:
The Message of Ephesians 1. The Enemy We Face (Verses 10–12)
We must not imagine, therefore, that open persecution and open temptation to sin are his only or even his commonest weapons; he prefers to seduce us into compromise and deceive us into error.
That’s how he has worked from the beginning.
But again, we can’t hope to outsmart him. He’s been around a lot longer than us!
He knows human nature better than we know it ourselves.
But there is one thing he does not know, something he has never nor will ever experience.
That’s the mighty power of God on display and work in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no power like it, and nothing can overcome it!
The spiritual forces of evil may be strong, but the power of God is stronger still.
And with that truth firmly established in our minds and hearts, we will be able to...
Stand your ground
Stand your ground
Therefore put on the full armour 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.
What is “the day of evil”? And when will it come?
On one level it is already here. It is the age of the church, before the coming of our Lord Jesus in triumph. It is the atmosphere we live in, a perpetual state of war.
Which means that there is a never day when the Christian is off-duty. We don’t get days of leave when we can leave the armour of God in the wardrobe and expect to be safe and sound.
The Christian life is continual war. And Satan is particularly pleased when believers let their guard down. Or when they think they don’t need to be alert because they’ve conquered certain areas of life or have overcome certain temptations. He loves nothing more.
Look at David, staying behind from the war, getting lured into adultery and murder.
But there may also be times of particular attack on our faith, our church, in temptations, in trials.
We need to be ever-ready for this ongoing threat.
And we must stand our ground.
What does that mean?
Simply and ultimately, it is keep believing the gospel through every attack, trial, temptation and suffering.
We take our stand on Christ, who has conquered the devil once and for all. He is a defeated enemy! He can neither harm nor threaten the one who believes in Christ in any meaningful, eternal way.
There is now no condemnation!
And so, brothers and sisters, we can stand. Armed with faith in gospel, assured of God’s mighty power and limitless authority.
Though Satan should buffet,
Though trials should come
Let this blessed assurance control
That Christ hath regarded by helpless estate
And has shed his own blood for my soul.
It is well with my soul!
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin!
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
