Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
We are witnessing a war as it unfolds.
The Russian army rolled its tanks across the Ukrainian border and invaded it.
Jets screamed overhead as massive explosions rocked theaters, hospitals, and schools.
Yet, one truth remains.
The Ukrainians are standing firm against seemingly overwhelming power.
Another war rages.
It is not captured by videographers or shown on Fox or CNN.
It is not a new war but centuries old.
And as Christians, we are not spectators.
Instead, as Paul teaches in this lesson, we are the front-line soldiers in this way.
Paul ends this letter in today’s lesson.
In verse 10, he says:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.”
(Ephesians 6:10, ESV)
Finally.
That word signals completion.
This may have been Paul’s last words to the Ephesians as far as we know.
The letter comes after Acts 20 when Paul provides his tearful farewell to the Ephesian elders.
He is headed to Rome.
What does he want to leave with them…and us…as we close the letter to the Ephesians?
In the book, he portrays two ideas, the last of which comes in our lesson today.
First, he spent much time describing the foundation of the church.
It was God’s mystery to put together all people under the blood of his son, regardless of Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female.
It was planned from eternity and now has been born.
The second idea is conveyed in our verses this morning.
God established it, but there is also a fight to continue its existence.
That fight is the subject of our text today.
C. S. Lewis wrote, “Christianity is a religion at a war.”
As unsavory as it sounds, it is accurate.
The battle is real and takes place on the battlefield of the human heart.
As Paul wraps up this letter, he wants us to consider “How do we defend God’s mystery throughout time?
It comes by realizing what it takes to fight the war.
Paul begins with something we need that is beyond our control.
Discussion
The Power
The lesson opens these words:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.”
(Ephesians 6:10, ESV)
What kind of strength do we have in this battle?
It doesn’t come from our intelligence, smarts, or savvy.
Instead, it is captured in three terms: strong, strength, and might.
Paul opened the letter with these exact three words.
It happens in Ephesians 1:19.
“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (Ephesians 1:19, ESV)
In that passage, Paul describes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that made the church possible.
He says God gives the same might and power as when he moved a stone on a Sunday morning and brought a new life to the body of Jesus in the grave.
When we fight our battle with evil forces, we do not go alone.
Instead, we employ the same might that caused Jesus to rise from the dead.
It should give us confidence in our living, knowing the dynamo of God’s power is behind anything and everything we do.
The Enemy
The old adage says, “know thy enemy.”
To be successful, we must know something about the force we fight.
In the Second World War, the allies were bloodied and beaten in North Africa.
They were outflanked and out commanded by the Germans.
So Dwight Eisenhower sent George Patton, the swashbuckling, overly confident general, to take command of a battalion to see what he could do.
Patton came and beat the Germans at their own game.
The reason was simple.
He had read the book on military tactics written by his opponent, a man known as The Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel.
We, too, must know who the fight is against.
Paul writes a cryptic description that stymies scholars to this day.
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
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.”
(Ephesians 6:11–12, ESV)
Much is packed into these two verses.
We notice in verse 11 that the devil is mentioned.
It is not the mention that is so surprising but the detail he provides about the devil.
The devil has schemes.
It is a word from which our English word “method” comes.
The devil plans and executes carefully.
He is methodical.
He knows the weak points of Christians and of the church.
He knows if he can stir up a quarrel, he can drive a wedge between brethren.
He introduces false teaching through charming words and people bite.
Never underestimate the devil.
He doesn’t go against God’s might with brute force.
Instead, he deceives, seduces, and coaxes the unprepared and unassuming to do his bidding.
But the second idea is more complicated.
Paul says:
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
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.”
(Ephesians 6:11–12, ESV)
He mentions that this is not about flesh and blood.
As much as many want to make Roman Caesar the enemy of this passage, Paul clarifies it is not a person.
But he says we do hand-to-hand combat against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces in the heavenly places.
Evil doesn’t have a face, although it could use one if necessary.
It is not a person or entity we would easily recognize.
It cannot be destroyed by human power or skill.
Whether we put the term angel on it or not, it doesn’t completely capture the essence.
Instead, this is the concept of evil, the kind that entered when the good God created was corrupted.
It is always present and always working, but is found in the first century and the 21st century.
It speaks all languages and appeals to all men.
Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote an acquaintance, ‘You know the Caledonian Railway Station in Edinburgh?
One cold, east windy morning, I met Satan there.’
I doubt he saw the personage of the devil.
Instead, we meet the devil in the glow of a computer screen, in a whispered conversation in a coffee shop, or in a crowded store.
Our weapons are useless before we attempt to fight with what we have because it is not fleshly.
Instead, it is spiritual, and only spiritual weapons can defeat it.
For that reason, Paul says, “be prepared.”
The Preparation
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