Enduring Through Spiritual Warfare | Ephesians 6:10-17
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
·
Context
Context
· “Finally,”—Paul is concluding the main section of the letter in general and the section on the “Spirit-filled” life.
o Paul has given instruction about the way Christians live Spirit-filled lives.
§ And that the way we live out Christlikeness is evangelistic.
· Our enemy, the Devil, wants nothing more than to destroy this witness.
o TO instigate false, fruitless worship.
o To stir up marital infidelity and breakdown.
o To break down the traditional family.
o To incite us to abusive authoritarian relationships.
· He believes that if he can take us down, then he will defeat the gospel in the world.
o He is cunning in this way, for it is in our private lives that we are often most inconsistent and vulnerable to sinfulness. (when we think no one is looking)
· Spiritual warfare is part and parcel of the Christian life.
o If it was good enough for Jesus, then its good enough for us. (Matt. 4:1-11)
o The Lord Jesus warned the church about what we would face.
· Luke 22:31 (ESV)
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
· Matthew 26:41 (ESV)
41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
· Paul will conclude by warning the church about the reality of spiritual warfare with a set of three imperatives; three “do this!” statements.
o These imperatives will serve as a strategy for successfully facing the enemy and enduring through his attacks.
Don’t Rely on Your Own Strength (Eph. 6:10)
Don’t Rely on Your Own Strength (Eph. 6:10)
Ephesians 6:10 (ESV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
· Be strong—A command to take action. “Strengthen yourself/Be made strong”
o The Christian life is not a passive one just because Jesus is our Savior.
o We have a responsibility; we are not passive partakers of the life of God.
§ It requires deliberate effort and preparation.
§ We must respond to His salvation with action.
o But don’t just act but act with knowledge of where the power to act comes from.
In the Christian life, we don’t find our strength within, but in Christ.
· Ephesians 3:16 (ESV)
16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
o Our strength comes from the riches of God’s glory in grace towards us in Christ Jesus.
· Ephesians 1:3 (ESV)—Paul has said before that God has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
· These blessing come in the form of many ordinary means of growth: Sound teaching, prayer, accountability, and serving.
o These blessed ordinances are the means of grace by which God nourishes Christlikness in us.
· We are not good enough on our own to pursue these means of grace.
o It is made possible through Christ. (“Be strong in the Lord”)
§ After all, it is in Christ that we are forgiven, made righteous, adopted and loved.
Knowledge of our unchanging relationship with the Lord is what will give us the strength to endure the trials to come.
Be Ready for the Real Battle (Eph. 6:11-13)
Be Ready for the Real Battle (Eph. 6:11-13)
Ephesians 6:11–13 (ESV)
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
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.
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.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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. 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.
· How are we to be strengthened? By putting on the whole armor of God.
o Putting on the armor of God is a metaphor for appropriating Christlike character that comes from being in union with Christ.
o The language of clothing oneself is associated with our salvation.
· Ephesians 4:24 (ESV)—a new man in the place of old.
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
· Romans 13:14 (ESV)—the new man follows the pattern of Christ.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
· Colossians 3:14 (ESV)—
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
· The whole armor image is closely identified with the panoply of a Roman Legionnaire.
o The image is one of complete protection.
· Moreover, it is the whole armor “of God”—That is it supplied by Him.
· The crucial importance of clothing oneself in God’s armor? So we can stand.
o We are not after victory…but endurance.
We have no need to win victory because the victory has already been won by Christ.
· What we must be able to withstand is the determined attack of the Devil.
o Satan is God’s implacable enemy, and ours as well.
§ He is actively scheming our defeat, retreat, and fall.
The famous Chinese general Sun Tzu wrote in his seminal work on warfare:
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. IF you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battles.
We must know the schemes of the enemy, the power of God, and most of all our own limitations.
· 1 Peter 5:8 (ESV)—Our enemy is ferocious; Satan is is described as a ravenous lion.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
· God’s people, both individually and corporately (as a church), face a powerful, evil, organized, and crafty enemy.
o We are fools if we don’t take him seriously.
· We have a supernatural enemy, which reveals the reality that we are in a battle that is well beyond our ability to fight in the flesh.
o The need for divinely supplied armor becomes clear.
· Flesh and blood have to do with human weakness.
o If the battle were against man, we would have reasonable hope of victory.
o It’s easy to see our enemies as “flesh and blood”
§ Godless authorities
§ Troublesome neighbors.
§ Belligerent fellows.
§ Indwelling sin.
o But behind these evils lays a greater power which stirs up these troubles against us.
§ Our real enemies are out of sight, making them all the more dangerous.
· We are in a battle with the supernatural powers at work in the unseen world.
o Rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces.
§ These active, personal, demonic beings.
· Not impersonal social forces (poverty).
· Not structures of thought (racism).
[O]ur difficulties are far greater than if we had to fight with men. There we resist human strength, sword is opposed to sword, man contends with man, force is met by force, and skill by skill; but here the case is widely different. All amounts to this, that our enemies are such as no human power can withstand. By flesh and blood the apostle denotes men, who are so denominated in order to contrast them with spiritual assailants. This is no bodily struggle.[1]
· Christians possess no strength or resources that would enable us to stand firm against such enemies.
· A supernatural battle requires supernatural strength to oppose and endure.
o The schemes of the enemy are temptation and accusation.
§ He wields them with deadly effect.
· Evil days will come upon us.
o This isn’t some climactic end-times battle.
§ It is those times in our lives when we come under the direct and determined attack of the enemy.
· When we are vulnerable, tired, weak, confused.
· Puritan John Owen wrote about this day:
[Temptations] will have a season wherein their solicitations will be more urgent, their reasonings more plausible, pretenses more glorious, hopes of recovery more appealing, opportunities more broad and open, the doers of evil made more beautiful than they have ever been.
o Some days, all we can do is hold on by our fingertips to Christ Jesus.
o Some days, we will feel like we are on top of the world and unbeatable.
o That is when He will come for us.
· 1 Corinthians 10:12 (ESV)
12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
A proper understanding of our own weakness and vulnerability is vital to withstanding is needed to endure the day of evil.
· Paul’s command to us is to be prepared for that day by taking hold of the strength God provides.
· 2 Corinthians 10:3–4 (ESV) We must cultivate utter dependence upon Christ’s power so that we can stand firm in that day.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
· Hebrews 4:15–16 (ESV)—Jesus is our Great High Priest in our day of trouble.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Only by the strength God provides will we endure the attacks of the Devil.
· Stand firm.
Avail Yourself of the Strength God Provides (Eph. 6:14-17)
Avail Yourself of the Strength God Provides (Eph. 6:14-17)
Ephesians 6:14–17 (ESV)
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
· So, since the church faces powerful supernatural enemies.
o And since God has supplied us all the resources, we could need to withstand their attacks.
· All that remains is to stand!
· Psalm 103:14 (ESV)—God knows our weakness.
14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
o And he has given us what we need to endure.
· So, what are the means to stand that God has given us?
o This is where Paul gives us a description of the whole armor of God.
This could be an entire series on its own.
If you want to have a deeper dive on the Armor of God, you can raise a great hue and cry and we will do it someday.
Belt of truth
· The act of girding oneself is the act of preparation for action.
o If we are to withstand the temptations and accusations of the Devil, we must prepare ourselves in the truth of God.
§ Thomas Hughes:
How can we fight truth and God, enthralled by lies and sin? He who would wage such war on earth must first be truth within.
o We must be deliberate in taking up God’s truth and bind it to our lives.
§ No compromising the truth.
· The root of our strength is the truth of God revealed in the gospel.
o We shape our attitudes and actions on the belief that what Jesus says about Himself and us is true.
We are secured, anchored by God’s revealed truth regarding His Son, our Savior.
· Ephesians 4:14 (ESV)— Apart from this truth, we risk becoming adrift.
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
o Jesus’s ministry was built upon an absolute commitment to God’s Word.
§ In the same way, our integrity is informed and shaped by the same.
· We must be ready to answer falsehood with truth.
Breastplate of righteousness
· This describes the ethical quality of our lives. That we imitate the righteous character of God.
o Shunning sin and cultivating personal holiness.
· We may do this because we have the truth; that we have been declared righteous in Christ and not on the basis of our works.
o We have Christ’s imputed righteousness to live a holy and righteous life before God.
Don’t build your life on transient feelings and experiences (how good a job you think your doing); build it upon the completed work of Jesus Christ.
Shoes for your feet—readiness given by the gospel of peace.
· A soldier’s shoes were meant to ensure that he would not lose his footing when in the heat of battle.
o There are two possible meanings here.
§ First, that we are prepared for the battle by the gospel…that the truth of the gospel ensures that we will not lose ground, and we can hold fast.
· 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
§ Second, that God prepares us to proclaim the gospel.
· That we may continue to move forward, proclaiming the gospel of peace.
· Matthew 16:18 (ESV)
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.
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.
Shield of faith—
· Faith is our confidence and trust in God which protects us at all times and in all circumstances.
· Too often, we focus on the quality of our faith rather than the object of our faith.
o We don’t find faith within, we look up…
o Salvation is not by faith alone, but by faith in Christ alone.
§ Faith in his completed work. (It is finished)
§ Faith in his continuing work as our Great High Priest.
Faith must be self-abandoning trust in Christ and not mere intellectual assent to God’s truth (not a wager).
o We need this confidence to defeat the destructive attacks of the enemy.
§ The “fiery darts” come in the form of suden, unexpected, and well-aimed temptations and accusations from the Devil.
· They aim to paralyze and confuse us.
· Persistent accusations that we are not really saved after all.
o That our sins are not really or fully forgiven.
§ This is a powerful weapon against the Christian for the precise reason that we are all too aware of our inconsistencies and failures.
Helmet of salvation—
· Romans 12:2 (ESV)—The Christian is called to be transformed by the renewing of their mind.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you might confirm what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
· Philippians 4:8 (ESV)—We are called to occupy our minds with the right things.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
· The truth of the gospel is that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in the finished work of Christ alone.
· The beautiful second verse of Before the Throne of God:
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.
o This is a warning to appropriate the truth of the gospel of our salvation continually.
In your time of trouble, let the focus of your mind be upon Jesus Christ rather than yourself.
Sword of the Spirit—the Word of God.
· Rhema: meaning the teachings of the Scripture.
o We must be ready to give an answer as Jesus did in the day of his temptation.
· Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
o By God’s Word, we may give an answer to the lies of the enemy in the day of trouble.
Conclusion
Conclusion
· Satan is a terrible and powerful enemy.
· He is supremely cunning, with millennia of experience in deceiving humanity to their doom.
· Martin Luther’s great hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great and, armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.
· We have no natural strength to withstand his attacks.
· But Satan is infinitely smaller a creature than his creator and has no natural power to oppose or contend with Jesus Christ.
· Martin Luther continued to proclaim the doom of Satan in the spiritual war:
The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.
o His defeat was sure in the moment when Jesus uttered that word upon the cross, “It is finished.”
§ With that word, Jesus made our salvation sure and disarmed the enemy.
· In Christ, we are properly equipped to endure the spiritual war that is raging all around us.
· 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 (ESV)—So we must depend on His gracious provision, and not on our own strength.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
· So, be strong in the Lord, find your strength in him.
[1]John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentaries on the Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 335.
