Standing Firm (Eph 6:10-20)

[Announce text]

Please look with me in Scripture at Ephesians 6:10-20.

[Scripture introduction]

Paul wrote this letter while sitting in a Roman jail. In this passage, Paul tells the church in Ephesus how they should respond to spiritual attack because their faith has made them a target. If you have been a believer for any amount of time you know how it feels to have an X on your back so this message is for you.

[Re-announce and read text]

Let us read these Mighty words of God in Ephesians 6:10-20.

[Prayer for illumination]

Pray with me as we ask God to guide us in the study of His Word.

[Introduction]

The other day I read an interesting article

from a popular Christian news website that shocked me.

The article described,

what some now call

doom-scrolling and the effect it has on a Christian’s spiritual life.

The definition they gave came straight from Merriam-Webster,

who defined doom-scrolling as,

“the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news,

even though that news is saddening,

disheartening,

or depressing.”

During the height of the pandemic,

our news feeds were exploding,

with attention-grabbing headlines of evil and hatred.

Constant political scandals,

Constant reminders of death,

Constant news of disaster,

and so forth and so forth.

The message is clear.

There are evil forces are at work,

attempting to exhaust you

to the point you feel you can’t stand.

And if we are really being honest,

even though you know half the articles and images you see

are fueled by evil you can’t help but to click and scroll.

But thanks be to God who loves us.

Because...

[Proposition]

In Christ, we can put on the whole armor of God to stand firm, against the constant attack of evil forces.

[Analytical Question]

How should we stand firm against these evil attacks?

[Main point 1]. We should stand firm, in spiritual warfare (6:10-13).

In Ephesians verses 10 -13,

Paul gives two commands,

to be strong in the Lord

and to put on the whole armor of God

because we are in spiritual warfare with the devil.

[Sub point 1] Where do we get our strength during spiritual warfare? We find it In the Lord (10).

Look at what Paul says in verse 10,

“Finally,

my brethren,

be strong in the Lord

and in the power of His might.”

Paul’s command is to be strong,

to be enabled,

in the Lord

and in the power of His might.

Power in this context carries the sense of a controlling power.

A power that can direct.

A power that can determine.

Essentially, Paul is saying,

to fight in this spiritual war,

brothers and sisters,

you need to be enabled, by the Lord

and enabled,

by the influencing power of His might.

Don’t rely on your own strength.

Ephesians 1:3 says,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us

with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places

in Christ,”

A LITTLE boy one day was trying to pick up a rock. He said "Dad, it's too heavy."

He said, "Son, you can do it."

The boy strained and tried, but he said, "Dad, it's too heavy."

The father insisted, "Son, you can do it."

He tried again. "Dad, it's too heavy"

He said, "Son, you're not using all your strength."

"Dad, I am. I am. It's too heavy."

"Son, you're not using all your strength."

"Dad, why are you continually saying I'm not using all my strength? It's too heavy."

"I know you're not using all your strength, because you haven't asked me to help yet."

There is more strength available to you than what you have. Be strong in the strength of His might.

Sooner or later every believer discovers that the Christian life is a battleground, not a playground, and that he faces an enemy who is much stronger than he is—apart from the Lord. -Wiersbe

[Sub point 2] What must we put on to engage this enemy in spiritual warfare?

The whole armor of God.

Taking a look at verse 11,

we see Paul issuing his second command,

“Put on the whole armor of God,

that you may be able to stand

against the wiles of the devil.”

Put on the whole armor of God.

Paul doesn’t really explain what the armor of God is in verse 11,

but here he identifies the purpose of why

it is so critical to put on the whole armor of God

when engaging in spiritual warfare,

he says, “that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

In other words,

Paul is saying,

if you stand any chance of standing firm

against the wicked schemes of the devil during spiritual warfare,

it’s a must you put on the whole armor of God.

[Transition] And now that you have on the whole armor of God, the questions begs.

[Sub point 3] What kind of spiritual enemies will I face?

Enemies who are not of flesh and blood.

In verse 12,

Paul makes it plain who are enemies are,

“For you do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

but against principalities,

against powers,

against the rulers of the darkness of this age,

against spiritual hosts of wickedness

in the heavenly places.”

The New Living Translation said it like this:

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies,

but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world,

against mighty powers in this dark world,

and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

So beloved,

you are not wrestling with humans.

Your struggle is not against flesh and blood.

Other people.

Other believers.

Estranged family members.

Your Spouse.

Your children.

Or your parents.

No!

You are engaged in close hand-to-hand combat

with evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Culturally,

the people in Ephesus would have been familiar

with influencing gods or spirits,

then we are today.

In our culture

we are more prone to dismiss anything that we can’t see

or understand for that matter.

In Acts 19:11-12,

we see evidence of the evil spirits being cast out in Ephesus

by the apostle Paul,

Luke says,

“Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,

so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick,

and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.”

A PHENOMENAL magician presented an illusion to his audience.

He had a little box and put his assistant,

his wife,

into the box.

Then he began to fold the box in half,

over and over again,

until it could fit onto the top of his podium.

Then,

he offered to do the trick again,

this time with an aid for the audience--

a mirror on the other side of the box so that the audience had a full-sided view of the box.

He performed the illusion again,

folding it down to a small square,

holding it up for the audience,

and then unfolding the square to make a box again.

The magician opened up the box again and his life-size wife gets out.

The people watching are stupefied.

After his performance, a woman asked him to share how he does the trick.

The illusionist answers,

"Ma'am,

it's one of the secrets of the trade.

If you knew how I did it,

I'd lose my edge.

Because you don't know,

I control the audience."

Now, if our human brains cannot figure out how an illusionist can fold human beings into a box that a baby couldn't even fit in,

no matter how hard you look at it and try to figure it out,

what makes you think that you can figure out a cosmic being,

who not only is a spirit,

but who's been doing what he does for so long that he's become an expert at it?

You can't.

Lets pick back up in verse 13.

Paul reiterates his earlier point in verse 11,

saying, “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.”

[Application]

In the mist of spiritual attack,

we might be tempted to try to fight the battle ourselves.

Often times,

we discover that we lack the strength to withstand the attacks of the devil,

and we end up succumbing to either

satan,

self,

or the world.

Beloved,

your strength comes from Christ.

Be strong in Him and His powerful might!

He has already won the battle!

In Him you are victorious.

So whether you are coming out of a battle,

going in to a battle,

or in a battle right now!

Grab hold to the truth that God is greater than the devil

and He has offered to you His armor

to put on so that you would be able to withstand the devil’s schemes.

Give no opportunity to the devil.

Don’t entertain it.

Don’t go seeking him and his goons out.

Looking for a fight.

Instead,

seek to humble yourself before God

who is Victorious in all things.

[Transition] Now that we know who are strength is In,

what we should wear,

and who our enemy is

what’s next?

[Main point 2] We should stand firm, in God’s armor (6:14-18).

Up to this point,

Paul has made it clear

that in order to stand firm against the attacks of the enemy,

we need to put on the whole armor of God.

So now,

Paul transitions to listing the pieces of the whole armor of God

using figurative language.

If you would look at verse 14 with me,

Paul says “Stand therefore,

having girded your waist with truth,

having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

above all,

taking the shield of faith

with which you will be able to quench

all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And take the helmet of salvation,

and the sword of the Spirit,

which is the word of God;”

The vivid imagery of the body armor that Paul has in mind

is the type worn by Roman soldiers.

More specifically,

this armor was worn by emperors,

and generals,

and deities.

And this section of the passage is interesting

because much of the language Paul uses here

are direct allusions

and echos of prophecies in the Old Testament

depicting God as a warrior.

[Transition] Let’s briefly take a look at each individual items of the armor of God.

[The belt of truth]

The first piece of armor we need to put on to stand firm,

in verse 14, Paul says “having gird your waist with truth.”

In other words,

having put on the belt of truth.

In those days,

the girdle or belt was tied around a wool tunic and worn to support the soldiers sword.

Unlike the other pieces of armor the soldiers belt was usually worn all the time.

Even when the rest of his armor wasn’t on.

We also, should keep the belt of truth

on at all times.

[The breastplate of righteousness]

The next item, still in verse 14,

he says“having put on the breastplate of righteousness,”

The breastplate was sewn into a stiff leather vest

and put on like a jacket

to protect the vital organs.

In the book of Isaiah 59:17

the prophet said this of God,

“For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,

And a helmet of salvation on His head;

He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,

And was clad with zeal as a cloak.”

It is sobering to know that in Christ we are offered His righteousness.

When Satan accuses the Christian, it is the righteousness of Christ that assures the believer of his salvation. But our positional righteousness in Christ, without practical righteousness in the daily life, only gives Satan opportunity to attack us. - Wiersbe

[The shoes of the gospel of peace]

The third item Paul mentions in verse 15,

“and having shod your feet

with the preparation

of the gospel of peace;”

In more contemporary language, the NLT translate it this way,

“For shoes put on the peace

that comes with the good news

so that you will be fully prepared.”

The shoes they wore were actually sandals with thick leather soles,

and hobnails or bits of rock embedded in the bottom of them for better traction.

The sandals were made to be worn for marching and fighting.

A fresh pair was pretty unconformable.

But the more the soldier wore the sandals,

the more comfortable they were.

Likewise,

when we first share the gospel with others

it’s uncomfortable,

but the more we share

the more comfortable it gets.

[The shield of faith]

The fourth item in Paul’s list, verse 16,

he tells us “above all,

taking the shield of faith

with which you will be able to quench,

extinguish,

put out,

all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”

Take notice that here in verse 16,

the focus shifts from putting to taking

For a soldier,

the shield was a very important item for defending against incoming arrows

and other projectiles.

By overlapping their shields,

soldiers could advance together.

The shield defended the entire body,

including the back.

We too, need to take up our shield of faith.

Together.

To quench the fiery arrows of the devil.

Remember the classic story of the great hero,

Achilles,

who seemed to be invincible.

The legend is that his mother, when he was a baby,

dipped him into some kind of magical potion

that coated his entire body with an invincible shield.

But when she dipped him into this substance,

she held him by the tip of his heel,

so that one portion of his body was not covered with the magic solution.

It was there that, in the course of a great battle in the Trojan War,

Achilles was struck in the heel

by an arrow

and was slain.

He had one uncovered point on his body where he was vulnerable.

When believers are living in unconfessed sin,

they are vulnerable

to the assaults of Satan. -Sproul

In 2 Sam 22:31 the writer says,

“As for God,

His way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield

to all who trust in Him.”

[The helmet salvation]

Picking up in verse 17,

for the fifth item, Paul says,

“Take the helmet of salvation”

The soldier wore the helmet in hopes

that it would protect his head or neck from fatal wounds.

Because of Christ’s glorious work on the cross,

the Just brought the unjust to God,

so that we may put on the helmet of salvation.

Protecting us from an eternal fatal wound.

[The sword of the Spirit/The word of God]

And for the final piece,

verse 18,

“And the sword of the Spirit

which is the word of God.”

The sword the apostle Paul probably has in mind

is the Roman Gladius sword

which was a powerful offensive weapon

when in the hands of a skilled soldier.

The author of Hebrews 4:12,

said this,

“For the word of God is alive and active.

Sharper than any double-edged sword,

it penetrates

even to dividing soul and spirit,

joints and marrow;

it judges the thoughts

and attitudes of the heart.”

[Application]

As believers,

we need to be intentional about wearing the armor of God

to stand,

to withstand,

and stand firm

against the attacks of evil forces.

Wearing the armor of God means we should be vigilant in our ministries

knowing that an attack is eminent.

So beloved,

stand firm against these attacks

by storing the word of God in your heart.

Sharpen the sword of the Spirit

by spending more time to memorize scripture.

This might mean taking a break from consuming media news coverage.

Taking a break from doom-scrolling.

[Transition] Instead of quenching the Spirit.

[Main point 3] We should stand firm, in the Spirit.

[Analytical Question] So how are we to stand firm in the Spirit?

[Sub point 1] We stand firm by praying for the church (18)

In verse 18,

Paul says “praying always

with all prayer and supplication

in the Spirit,

being watchful,

to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints”

Prayer is an act to be done in the Spirit.

If you’ll notice,

the word supplication is used twice in this verse.

Once when referring to praying always in the Spirit.

And again, with watchful perseverance for all the saints.

Supplication is a form of prayer

and usually means to make an urgent request to God

on behalf of someone else or yourself.

Glory to God,

that even when we don’t know how to pray

the Holy Spirit does.

In Romans 8: 26-27,

Paul in speaking about how our suffering now

cannot compare

to the future glory to be revealed in us,

he says this about prayer,

“In the same way,

the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

We do not know what we ought to pray for,

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us

through wordless groans.

And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,

because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people

in accordance with the will of God.”

[Sub point 2] And finally, to stand firm we should pray for our pastor

Look at the final verses, 19-20 with me.

Paul says,

“and for me”,

pray,

“that utterance may be given to me,

that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,

for which I am an ambassador in chains;

that in it I may speak boldly,

as I ought to speak.”

Even while shackled in a Roman prison,

the apostle Paul doesn’t ask them to pray for his own well being.

Instead,

his request is spiritually focused.

Pray that I can speak boldly.

Pray that I can speak freely and make known the mystery of the gospel.

The wonderful mystery of the good news,

revealed in Christ Jesus.

[Transition] And what is this mystery?

Turn with me to Ephesians 3:16-20.

Let’s put eyes on this in our Bible.

I’d encourage your to highlight it.

Starting in Verse 16,

speaking of the revealed mystery of the gospel,

Paul says, “that He would grant you,

according to the riches of His glory,

to be strengthened with might

through His Spirit in the inner man,

that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;

that you,

being rooted

and grounded in love,

may be able to comprehend with all the saints

what is the width

and length

and depth

and height—

to know the love of Christ

which passes knowledge;

that you may be filled

with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able

to do exceedingly

abundantly

above all

that we ask

or think,

according to the power

that works in us,”

[Conclusion]

One of the worst things we can do as believers,

is not pray.

Sometimes praying can feel like a burden.

The time,

the place,

the settings never feel quite right.

We live in a world full of distractions fighting for our attention.

But we you are not on the losing end of a cosmic battle.

We have victory in Christ!

So stand firm in the Spirit!

Stand firm in the whole armor of God!

Stand firm,

in spiritual warfare!