We Must Fight For This; Ephesians 6:10-24

Introduction

Recap series

Chapter 1

Salvation is the plan of God

The Father chose us, the Son redeemed us and the Spirit has assured us that we are his

Chapter 2

You were spiritually dead, “But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love that he has for us, made us alive!”

We were a people alienated, now we are adopted children of God

Chapter 3

Paul speaks to us about the grace of God, it gives us what we need to accomplish his will

Chapter 4

transitions to talk about how we are to live now that we are saved

that we should live in the unity of the Spirit, in doctrine and love

Chapter 5

We are to be imitators of God, exposing the sin of the world by reflecting the light and love of Jesus, not shouting out in condemnations

this should effect our relationships as well

submitting ourselves to one another and joining in with one another in singing to encourage each other

that our marriages should reflect the love between Christ and his church

Chapter 6

not only the marriage, but the way that parents deal with their children and masters and their slaves

Toady we get to the last week of our series and it begins with a word that so many of you are saying silently, “Finally.”

We must fight for this...

Ephesians 6:10–24 (CSB)

10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.

11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand 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 cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest,

15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.

16 In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.

18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

19 Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.

20 For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

21 Tychicus, our dearly loved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me so that you may be informed.

22 I am sending him to you for this very reason, to let you know how we are and to encourage your hearts.

23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

24 Grace be with all who have undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have been saved by the grace of God and created for good works that will glorify him. Satan will do anything that he can to destroy that testimony. We must fight in the strength of the Lord to keep that from happening.

PRAY!

Understanding We are in a Battle

Withdrawing our troops out of Afghanistan has been in the news lately

There are many people who did not know that we were involved in a war in Afghanistan

Even for those of who know, for so many, unless they had somebody serving there, it did not effect your everyday life

There are a lot of Christians that are living this life without a thought to the war that they find themselves in

Ephesians 6:10–13 (CSB)

10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.

11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand 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 cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

Strength in the Battle

When entering a war you have to decide if you have what it takes to defeat your adversary

only a fool would go up against an enemy that has them out numbered, out armed that is way more powerful then they are

that would be us if we enter this battle on our own strength

Only comes from the Lord

he tells us to be strengthened by the vast strength of the Lord

it literally means the strength of his strength

that when we look at how strong his strength is, it gives us courage to stand

Coaching Football… Look how big their coaches are

We will not withstand Satan on our own

What are we up against

Spiritual forces - Evil, Satan and Demons

we preach that Hell is a real place, that those who do not trust in the Lord will spend eternity there

we preach that Satan is real, yet then we live our daily lives as if he is not

he is real and he is constantly scheming up ways to defeat you

like an opposing team watching game tape trying to come up with all your weaknesses

Schemes, craftiness, intentionally trying to get us

Prepare now for the battle to come

Not the battle for salvation, Jesus has won that victory

Thief comes to kill steel and destroy

The evil attacks are relentless and we must be prepared

We have to understand the type of battle too

Not a battle of long range bombs

struggle = close hand to hand combat

Temptation and doubt

Take up the full armour

to take up = grab hold and lift

knowing who we are against, knowing that we are in a battle… we take it up!

Dressed for Battle

We know how to dress for different occasions

we wear nicer clothes to church, we have clothes that we work outside in

kids have school clothes, play clothes

When your kids are in sports, they begin to need a different type of shoe for different sports, some are even different in the same sport depending on if you’re playin on turf of natural surface

We know when the weather changes we have to put on a coat, or wear less and drink a lot of water

yet when it comes to spiritual warfare, so many Christians do not dress appropriately

we look like we are stepping out on a secret mission in a blizzard wearing a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops

Ephesians 6:14–17 (CSB)

14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest,

15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.

16 In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.

How we are to dress

Belt of truth

the first verse that comes to mind is John 14:6

It is right in the verse, that had to be what Paul was talking about

I believe that it is more than knowing that Jesus is the truth

In the past I have used the illustration that the belt holds together the other pieces of armour, you might have heard that before

that the truth of Jesus is what holds us together

I think that it is a combination,

theological truth (truth about God)

spiritual truth (truthfully acknowledging our need for God)

truth in character (how we live within our community)

regardless, Satan the father of lies wants us to be people of lies

Tony Evans “To live in truth means to live in authenticity before God. Satan cannot function in an environment of integrity

Breastplate of righteousness

Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, yet that does not make us righteous

Jesus was righteous because he fulfilled the law and did not commit one sin

when he died on the cross, he took our sin and debt, and gave us his righteousness

we must put on the righteousness to avoid that fatal blow

Feet fitted with the gospel of peace

put on readiness of the gospel

foot soldiers are to be agile, the more mobile armies of this day was, the more successful they were

Korean war was infamous for having our US soldiers struggling because of their feet

they cold wet climate, feet would get wet, then cold, then frostbite

Sproul illustration - runner at the end of battles coming in with a report

Shield of faith

A long time ago, the armour had pictured more like a night on a horse ready for jousting

big long sword and a small shield

the roman shields of the day were 6-8 foot tall and 3-4 feet wide

they would be carried in front of them and nothing could hit them

as they approached a city, they would pick them up and nothing could be dropped on them

flaming arrows were shot at people at that time so that their clothes would catch fire, they would be seared, burned deeply wounded

This is what Satan wants to do to us and Paul’s answer to that is our faith

R.C. Sproul, “The only protection against accusations of Satan is that we are justified by our faith.”

Helmet of salvation

Not living in the world’s wisdom, which is foolishness to God

but in God’s wisdom

Sword of the Spirit

word = spoken word

we must be ready to speak the word of God

Jesus in the desert, Matthew 4

We are in attack position, not retreat

we do not run

we do not battle on our own, there is no need to fear

We Battle on Our Knees

With all of this battle talk and illustration of this armour, it is easy for some to then take a battle position

like we are ready to attack

but like so many other things in scripture, our actual posture is on our knees with our heads bowed

Ephesians 6:18–20 (CSB)

18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

19 Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.

20 For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.

Constantly in tune with the Spirit

no indication that this means tongues, but that we are praying, communicating with God in a way that is for his will not ours

God glorifying prayers, not selfish prayers

stay alert with perseverance and intercession

perseverance = persistant determination

intercession = a plea, related to beg

Constantly for al the saints

That is each other… your brothers and sisters in Christ

we put prayer requests in the bulletin, we announce those that are put in the prayer box

it is our obligation and privilege to pray for others

For the gospel to be boldly proclaimed

Paul, who is a blunt a person as could be

who claims to be an ambassador in chains

says pray for me that I might speak the gospel with boldness

everyone faces spiritual battles and can fall victim to the schemes of satan

Paul, who is in prison, is praying for strength to continue

it is for this reason that Heather and I are entering a time of sabbatical

we will be stepping away from the church for six weeks

One of the things that I am looking most forward to, is worshipping with my family

I will not have my phone on me, so I will not be answering any phone calls, texts or email, I am going to take a fast from all social media

I love puritan theology, so I am going to take an online history class, read up on some puritans, why they made the trip on the mayflower

I will be spending some time with my wife and kids

Heather has what she has called a Dougie do list

More than anything, I am going to spend some time with the Lord.

I do not think that it is specific to me, but Pastors have a terrible time applying the gospel to their own lives

what I mean by that is that I need a refreshment on God’s grace in my own life

that his message of grace and salvation is not something that I am only to preach about but rest in myself

For all of these things, we seek your prayer for our family for these next six weeks