Ephesians 6 Drip

A Look at This Series:

In the previous weeks:

Finally -

Not Our Strength

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

Not our strength, not our might. This is the culminating moment in Paul address to the Church of Ephesus, it would not be incorrect to call this church a megachurch, as Ephesus was the biggest city in the Roman Empire at this time, and as we witnessed in Acts 19 that the outreach that took place in —Ray Comfort style open air evangelism, multitudes were coming to the Lord and thousands of dollars worth of pagan and sorcery materials were being thrown at the Apostles feet… this was quick work and we are talking about a significant sized gathering (Church).

This now is the culminating Chapter and Paul says “FINALLY” —this is the strong finish...”BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND THE THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT”. He makes a full circle to an underlying theme in this whole letter.

Ephesians 1:18–20 ESV

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

There’s two things to consider about this verse.

Put it ALL on. Not just part.

It is not our armor. It is God’s Armor. When we attempt to fight the enemy in our own strength, with our own weapons, we fail. Look what happened when King Saul attempted to put his own armor of David to fight Goliath.

12 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.

It was of first importance, before even getting to the weapons and armor, to identify who the enemy is NOT and then who the enemy IS.

13 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. 

Paul restates that we must—for the reason of who the enemy is—put on the WHOLE armor.

Stand - Sometimes standing is what is called for. We will not always be marching forward and taking ground. This is what we are called to do - Go into al the world, tear down strong holds. But there are going to times when the fight is thick and the onslaught of the enemy is coming on so strong, and the arrows of the enemy have darkened our the midday sunlight...and in these moments, it is okay and even called for...to stop and STAND FIRM. (As in the movie 300, the enemy says “look at our archers, if you refuse to bow before Xerxes, their arrows against you will be so numerous they will blot out the sun.” and King Leonidas says, “Good, then we will fight in shade.”

Great saints have always been dogmatic. We need a return to a gentle dogmatism that smiles while it stands stubborn and firm on the Word of God.

A. W. Tozer

He who stands firm to the end will be saved’ (Mark 13:13), not because salvation is the reward of endurance, but because endurance is the hallmark of the saved.

John Robert Walmsley Stott (English Preacher)

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, - it is appropriate that Paul begins the armor with the Belt especially when he is making this segue from a ‘doing all you can to stand’ to the encouragement to ‘Keep standing.’

Belt of Truth: Jesus said that His Word is Truth. The truth holds your entire body in balance. The TRUTH is our equilibrium. When a man has no absolute truth the man is unbalanced; and any weight, even his own weight will cause him to fall. “A double minded man is unstable in ALL his ways.” Like a drunk.

PICTURE OF THE HIT POINT AT THE CENTER

Not only does the Truth protect our balance but having our loins girded with truth, it protects those sensitive areas of our bodies that (1) produce life and (2) expends waist.

Are there not attacks on the womb? Are we not seeing attacks on the sexuality, sexual identify, on the truth and sanctity of the bond of two becoming one flesh through the act of sex. The pricelessness of ones virginity being relabeled by the devil as worthless and a sign of immaturity and social inexperience?

Is there not a attack on the Authenticity, Reliability, Divinity, and Authority of the Scripture, attacking ones ability to identify false teaching and false ideologies so that we are able to expel them like waste from our thinking?

Truth helps center us, it helps re-enforce our center, it helps ground us.

and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 

Breastplate of Righteousness

15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 

Having put on - We have to take hold of the Gospel of Peace...having grasped this, we make ourselves ready to go forward and to hold our ground. Many believers do not even know why they believe the Gospel. Many don’t know how to share the Gospel, and when you do not know how to share the Gospel you don’t go into all the world, you don’t spread the message of the kingdom.

16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 

In All circumstances - Shield of Faith: Not only protects you from being struck, it says that it extinguishes the flames. It is not enough to deflect an attack by the enemy, sometimes it is the deflection of an arrow that leads to bigger problems, if we manage to deflect an arrow in our own strength, we tend to get excited, pat ourselves on the back and relax...not realizing that we’ve just helped the enemy spark the embers all around us that will become a raging fire of temptation. The Shield of Faith not only stops the arrows but extinguishes it’s flames.

The flaming darts, flaming arrows of the evil one. Because the enemy is a coward.

He is a coward BUT an expert marksman.

17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 

The Helmet and the Sword are both the Word of God

The Helmet of Salvation - the Word of God protecting our minds, our thoughts, the cognitive faculties that God had given us to use reason, logic, critical thinking, apply wisdom, knowledge, understanding in shaping, cultivating, maintaining, expanding our evolving perception of reality. The Greatest battle the enemy wars against us is the battle over control and influence of the mind. ideology.

The Sword of the Spirit - The Word of God that puts the enemy to flight. The Word of God is not only a defensive cover, protecting our minds as a sure and unbreachable fortress or stronghold...but it is an offensive weapon of mass destruction against the enemy.

If you are not in the WORD, if you are not devoted to the Scripture, if you are neglecting to read the Bible, you are stuck on the field of battle trying to dodge the enemies arrows that you cannot see coming, without a helmet and without a sword to stick back, and with a weak shield. [Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God]

This is one of the most successful strategies of the enemy—in my opinion—far above all the other attacks: Helping distract and keep you too busy or too uninterested to make the Bible a priority in your life.

18 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,