Eph 6:10-20
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Intro
Intro
What do you want out of 2026?
A lot of people make resolutions, though I talked with my students this last Sunday about resolutions and apparently that’s not as common today as it was when I was a kid
I guess everyone’s moms just decided to get soft
But generally speaking we know what we might want or at least don’t want out of the next year
Maybe the last year didn’t go the way that you wanted it to, or you had a great year
What is it that you want out of this next one?
How many of us when that question is asked think first about what we want our relationship with the Lord to look like?
In what ways are you wanting to grow in your relationship with Him? Where do you want to change ?
If that’s what you want, then where do we need to Go to learn what life with Jesus is like?
It’s in His Word. His Word is open and available to you. But many of us struggle to read it
However, it is perfect for your life
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Complete, doesn’t that sound amazing!?
It is also so deeply important because of what is coming against us, which is what we are discussing tonight
Open your Bible’s to Eph 6
This letter Paul is writing as instructions to the church in Ephesus on how to live the Christian life
Read 6:10-12
Your Enemy (6:10-12)
Your Enemy (6:10-12)
He’s beginning this section with the word, “Finally”
We’re stepping into the end of the letter, and Paul is ending his thoughts with this one here
This book walking us through things like:
The true believer which is described in chapters 1-3
The Spirit-controlled which is described in chapters 4-6:9
Now we come here being called to be strong in the Lord!
After the description of the true believer and what a Spirit-controlled life looks like… You’d think that after checking those boxes we’d be doing good.
But instead Paul is calling us to battle!
Why?
Because there is a spiritual battle around you with cosmic implications which directly effect your life
Read v. 11b
Satan is coming against you, but it’s not just him either
Read v. 12
What Paul is telling us is that we are not just up against Man
If it were only Man we are quite equipped already, hand to hand, sword against sword
But we are not against mere flesh and blood
We are faced against
The rulers
The powers
against the world forces of this darkness
You are up against cosmic powers of darkness who are constantly battling and vying for your soul
You don’t get a choice for whether or not you want to be in this war, it’s raging on all around you regardless of how you respond to your every day life
And for those of you who live without seriousness in this, the devil is perfectly content to entice you with slothfulness, so that you never join the fight
How have you responded?
Are you content in your comfortability?
Is the devil and his forces attacking you heavily?
Are you standing strong?
Paul is going to walk us through that further on what it looks like to stand against Satan’s attacks
Read 6:13-17
Put on Your Armor (6:13-17)
Put on Your Armor (6:13-17)
“Therefore” — because of these enemies coming against you,
put on the full armor of God
Paul goes on to describe different armor pieces
These pieces would have been identifiable to readers at the time who saw Roman soldiers often. However, the representation is not what is important, rather what is important is what these armor pieces are representing
The belt of Truth
So too we should be bound together in truth
We must bear truth and sincerity in our actions and in our speech
We move as Christ did
You cannot have your faith without this sincerity of truth
The breastplate of righteousness
This righteousness that we are covered is Christ’s
His righteousness is imputed to us
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The sandals of the gospel
In Paul’s commentary we are called to stand firm, what greater thing to stand firm on than the gospel
The Roman sandals were studded with many nails to help them stand firm.
What is going to keep you in place if not the gospel?
The Shield of faith
Our faith should stand out in all things, inspired by those whose faith shone before us
Hebrews 11 is a commentary on faith and what it is
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
By Faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain and though he died still speaks!
By Faith Enoch was taken into heaven so that he would not see death
By Faith Noah built an ark having been warned about the calamity by God
By Faith Abraham obeyed God when he was called out of his homeland
By faith he lived in the land of promise
By Faith Sarah received power to conceive though she was advanced in age
By Faith Abraham offered up his son Isaac believing that God would even raise his son from the dead
By Faith Isaac offered future blessings on Jacob and Esau
By Faith Jacob blessed his twelve sons
By Faith Joseph made mention of the Exodus at the end of his life
By Faith Moses, when he was born, was hid
By Faith Moses left Egypt and kept the Passover
By Faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land
By Faith Rabah hid the spies when they sought out Jericho
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
We know what that greater promise would be, these people looked to the future in faith, where shall we then hold our faith?
This faith is of primary importance to hold and bear
For with it we may quench every flaming arrow of the devil
These arrows are sharp and strike deep, but the shield of faith does not only blunt them, it extinguishes the danger of their flames
We stand on what we know, and where our hope is of the future return
Those that came before hoped in the first coming, that of the salvation of the world
And Paul tells us to take the helmet of salvation
This is not the only place that he writes about the helmet of salvation
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
We have hope in our salvation, that hope is in continued victory
For we know that though we are against these devils and demons, against the powers of the outer darkness victory has already shown her face
Victory was achieved upon Calvary when Christ spilled His blood for His people
There your sins were forgiven and your chains were broken, you no longer need to be enticed by the temptations of Satan
Furthermore your hope is in your continued salvation, that Christ defeated death and resurrected
As His children we will reside with Him forever in eternity
There’s your future hope in your salvation, you know what Christ has done and that He is returning for His people
and finally, take up The Sword of the Spirit
This is the only weapon described here for the soldiers of Christ
And what is that weapon? The Word of God
This is what we wield against the devil and his minions
It’s displayed perfectly when Christ wandered in the wilderness for forty days, and at the end of that time He was hungry. And Satan shows up to tempt Him, but what does He do? Jesus quotes back Scripture to Him
And when Satan twists Scripture Jesus corrects him by continuing to wield Scripture
Revelation will describe the Son of God bearing a sword of flame from His mouth, that is Scripture
This book, is our sword, this is what we wield!
This is the Armor of God, and what does Paul tell us to put on?
All of it!
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil
You cannot show up with only truth and faith, no you need to take on all of this!
It would not be wise for a soldier to stand and fight using some of his given armor
Neither is it wise for you to leave some of it behind, and you will need it.
This Armor is given to you by God, wear it well, put this on, and as you do you will be putting on Christ
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Put on Christ, and resist the flesh, resist the world, and resist the devil and he will flee from you
So how do we do this? Do we fight?
No!
For what can Man do against such evil?
We are standing against the powers and principalities of darkness, mere man can hope on nothing within ourselves to fight
But we are not being told to fight
Read 6:18-20
Method of Battle 18-20
Method of Battle 18-20
We are being equipped to do three things
We must Stand
Four times we’re told to do this
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
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,
We are not told to attack Satan, we are told to resist him
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
We must pray
Paul says to pray at all times
Yes that is at all times
There will be people that you cross paths at some point with that will tell you that Paul doesn’t mean that we should actually be praying at all times, rather that he means we should be praying often
NO! Don’t listen to those people. Should we not strive to be in constant communication with the Creator of the universe? With the One who saved you? It is in Him that we find our strength
Will you ever find yourself in a point where you are in constant prayer with the Lord? No, but it will give you something to continually strive for throughout your life
We are praying for ourselves and for those around us
making supplication for all the saints
Are you praying for those around you? They are facing their own battles. We are stronger when we are facing the devil and the world together
Pray for those around you
Paul also writes and asks for his readers to pray for him, that his words would be given to him and that he may declare the mystery of the gospel boldly
Pray for your pastors, for those who are teaching you, that they may share the gospel boldly! To all those around them and they won’t shy away for what it carries!
We must pray
We must watch
Keep alert with all perseverance Paul writes
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Keep alert for the temptations that will come against you and stand behind the defenses that the Lord has provided to you. That is what the Armor of God is for!
But keep alert for Jesus also
Christ tells us to keep alert for His return
Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
We must stay vigilant, this fight is a difficult battle. But hope rises as we remember that it is not forever. Christ will return and we will be lifted into the heavens with Him
So, watch the enemy, he is tricky and he will do his best to make you fall and keep you down
But watch also for the return of your King, because He is coming
If we do these things then we will be equipped to overcome:
The world
The flesh
The devil
Keep that in mind
Paul wrote this two thousand years ago but it continues to ring true
And do you think that the devil has gotten worse or better at tempting us into corruption?
Be alert, be vigilant, because cosmic forces of darkness are coming against you
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.
