#092 "Wake Up. Suit Up. Stand Up." (Armor of God Intro)

Series Verse: 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. (Ephesians 6:13)

In this powerful kickoff episode, host Kate invites you into a brand new 12-week journey through Ephesians 6:10–20—The Armor of God.

In this episode, Kate walks you through: The deeper meaning behind Paul’s “finally” and why it matters, The dramatic backstory of the Apostle Paul—from persecutor to preacher, The real spiritual climate of Ephesus (and why the armor wasn’t optional for them…or for us), and How this ancient passage speaks directly into our modern battles today 

This isn’t just a study—it’s an invitation. If you’ve ever felt spiritually tired, overwhelmed, or unsure how to stand firm in your faith, this series will equip you to: Understand the battle you’re actually in, Learn how to put on the armor of God daily, and Grow in confidence, clarity, and boldness in your walk with Christ 

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Transcript

Why Paul Starts With Finally

Kate 0:00

Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidible.com, and you're listening to the Abidible Podcast. I'm just a regular wife and mom who's had my life transformed by learning to study the Bible on my own. If I can, you can. On this show, I help you know and love God more by abiding in Him through His Word yourself. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. It's kind of weird to start a new study and series with a finally, don't you think? Welcome, let us begin. Finally. Yeah, we've got some work to do. Oh darn, not more Bible nerd digging and discovering. Welcome to Abidible, where all we do, what we love to do, is Bible nerd digging and discovering. And this new series, The Armor on Ephesians 6, 10 through 20 will of course be no different. Using our Bible detective skills, we're going to get to the bottom of not just this word together finally, but of what came before and everything that comes after it. Finally, is an adverb that in this case is used to indicate a concluding point. It signifies the settling of a matter conclusively. Synonyms include lastly and ultimately. So something beforehand has been building to this point, and often the concluding idea is of utmost importance to the author and his audience. It is a pay attention pivot point. So let's read what comes after finally, so that we can then do the work of understanding what came before, who the author is, who he's writing to, and when, why he's writing to them, and other important observations that we need to make in order to understand this passage. So here it is. This is our passage for our brand new study that we are beginning today. The armor will be in this passage right up to the week before the 4th of July. So here it is, Ephesians 6, 10 through 20. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 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. 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, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. Okay, so that's what comes after the finally. I know that I'm speaking to a broad audience with varying levels of familiarity with God's word and this passage in particular. Just because we may know that the Apostle Paul is the author of this letter and that his audience is the Ephesians, and that he's telling them to wear the full armor of God, that doesn't mean that we actually fully grasp what's going on here or that we know how to apply it and walk in it. At least I don't, not without further study. What we are about to uncover together over the next 12 weeks, if you invite the Lord to transform you and if you show up and stick with it, is going to radically transform the way you live. I hope that you will invite him to teach you to daily put on the full armor of God because these are his promises to you if you do. Take up, put on, fasten the full armor so that you can one be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Two, stand against the schemes of the devil. Three, withstand or stand firm in the evil day. Four, be dressed for the battle you're in against the rulers, authorities, powers, and forces of this present darkness and of evil in cosmic heavenly places. Five, extinguish all, all the flaming darts of the evil one. Six, pray at all times in the spirit, and seven, keep alert with all perseverance. It sounds too good to be true, but it's not. These are the promises of God as recorded by the Apostle Paul for the one who dresses in the full armor of God. I am desperate, desperate to know and to learn what it means to walk in this daily. There is so much in my life right now that I feel genuinely, seriously, way too weak to face on my own. Too many places where I'm exposed to the devastating news of this broken, evil world. Too many ways that I'm tempted to wave the white flag of surrender because enduring feels costly and hard and exhausting. I'm just super tired. Maybe you are too. I am so genuinely glad that you're here and I am committed to walking with you through this series. You're not in the battle alone. We, you and I aren't in this battle alone. Real quick, do you want to be a part of what God is doing here at Abidible? For just a few dollars a month, you can support our mission to help people know and love God by abiding in Him through His Word. Thank you. Truly, truly thank you to those of you who are our faithful monthly supporters who make all of this possible. You can check out the link in the show description to learn more. So we've briefly seen what comes after the finally by reading verses 10 through 20. And we'll spend some more time today focusing on that with like a 30,000-foot view of these verses as we dig a little deeper in annotation, which is found on page three in your study workbook. But before we get into annotation, I actually want to start by focusing on context or background information, which is what you find on page four of your study workbook. This is where you can fill it in. So feel free to take notes as you listen as well. What came before the finally? Not just in the book of Ephesians, but in the life of our author, Paul, and in the city of Ephesus, and for the saints in the church at Ephesus. Now we have to remember that this passage can never mean to us what it didn't first mean to the Ephesians. We want to drop our modern-day biases and understanding at the door in order to put ourselves in the shoes of Paul and of these faithful saints in the church at Ephesus in the first century A.D. So that's what we're gonna do. Pack your bags, grab a pen and some paper to jot down notes because off to Ephesus we go with one of our favorite traveling companions, the Apostle Paul. If you've been with us for any length of time, some of this story will be familiar to you. When we did Jars of Clay, we really got to know Paul and the city of Corinth. And here's a fun connection for you to that series. Paul wrote the letters to the Corinthians while he was here in Ephesus. Now, as a personal aside, I have been to three places where the Apostle Paul lived and walked and taught and established churches. All three will come up in our series: Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome. These are real places where the gospel really transformed real lives, real relationships and real communities. Places where the ancient saints wrestled not against flesh and blood as it sometimes appeared, but against the rulers, authorities, powers, and forces of their present darkness. The gospel was as offensive then as it is now and received opposition then just as it does now. These very real ancient cities, whose ruins you can find on modern maps, were chosen strategically by Paul, who of course was led by the Spirit and who endured incomprehensible suffering in order to share this gospel. The gospel that we now know and accept and live by. It is miraculous that it has made its way all the way to us in the cities where we live today, to you and to me in the 21st century. Understand that you and I were a distant, long off, 2,000-year-down-the-road answer to God's plan for the gospel to make it to the ends of the earth. You are an answer to the Apostle Paul's prayers. You are evidence of God's grace and the work of the Spirit that began 2,000 years ago and way before that, all the way back to the plan in the garden, right? But here in places like Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome. Acts 2024 tells us that Paul considered his life worth nothing at all if only he could finish his course and the ministry he received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God through Jesus Christ the Lord. He spoke these words as he said goodbye to the elders of Ephesus. He met them outside the city on his way to the finish line. He came to offer final words of instruction and encouragement and warning before he followed the Spirit to Jerusalem on his final journey, one that would lead to his arrest, trial, transport to Rome, and eventual execution. So beloved were these Ephesian elders to him, we're told in verses 36 to 38 that he knelt down and prayed with them, and there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all, because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again, and they accompanied him to the ship. And that was that. Off to Jerusalem he went, off to his death, willingly, joyfully, courageously, dressed for battle, following Jesus and the Lord's call on his life to the very end. But it wasn't always so with Paul, was it? You know, often in our battles, we feel ashamed of our past. We struggle to stand for the Lord because of what we've fallen for in the past. We think I'm disqualified. God couldn't use someone like me. If he could use the apostle Paul, he can use you, and he can use me. That's part of the beauty. Our God redeems broken testimonies. To understand Paul, we're going to go directly to Scripture. Who does the Bible tell us that Paul is? We are first introduced to Paul as Saul in Acts 7. This is just 13 chapters before what I just shared with you about the Ephesian elders. In Acts 7, first we're introduced to an anointed minister of the gospel, not Saul, but Stephen. Stephen was a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit and was chosen in ministry because of his excellent reputation and profound wisdom. Stephen was an integral part of increasing the Word of God and multiplying disciples of Christ in Jerusalem immediately after the resurrection and Pentecost. So integral was his role that we're told that he was full of grace and power and actually doing great wonders and signs among the people. And of course, this caught the attention of several opposing groups in the city. They rose up to dispute with him, but, and I love this, unable to oppose the spirit of God in him, conspired secretly to accuse him of blaspheming against Moses and God. These groups, which we'll see in a moment, included our Paul, then Saul, stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him, Stephen, and seized him and brought him before the council and set up false witnesses. Sound familiar? Who said, This man never ceases to speak words against the holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us. That's all kind of in the end of Acts six, and that chapter ends with a strange statement before Stephen gives his speech, which says, And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. Stephen was really special. So he begins to speak in Acts chapter 7, saying, Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia. And then he goes on and on and on. Stephen tells the whole story of the family of God, the history of the people of God and the law of God, and how all of it pointed to the coming of the righteous one, quote, whom you have betrayed and murdered, Jesus. His words enraged the council and they ground their teeth at him, plugging their ears and rushing at him. Acts 758 says, Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. The author of Acts, Luke, wants us to know who was there. He wants us to know who Saul really was and what Saul was really about. Stephen, the first martyr for Christ, is stoned to death, and standing there in the crowd is a young man named Saul. But Luke goes further. Saul wasn't just standing there accidentally or passively. He was actively involved. Acts 8, 1 through 3 says, and Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout all the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house. He dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. This Greek word for ravaging the thing Saul was doing to the church means to affix a stigma to, dishonor, defile, insult, treat shamefully or with injury, to make havoc of, devastate, ruin. Saul was wholly bent, zealously so, on ruining the early church. Luke picks Saul's story back up in Acts 9, saying, But Saul, breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. This man, Saul, is not passive in his opposition to the early church. He's actively taking a leadership role in the destruction of the quote way. He's seeking out new opportunities and new locations to breathe threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus in order to put them in prison, or worse, to put them to death. Now, before we read what happens next on this Damascus road, the pivotal moment in our author Paul's life, let's let Paul tell us himself who he was. The first thing we need to know about Paul is that he was a Pharisee. In fact, he was a son of Pharisees, plural. Yeah, his father and his mother were Pharisees. We learn this in his future trial, the one that I told you about, that would lead to the end of his life. As he now stands before the council in Jerusalem, we see a true full circle moment. Instead of hurling accusations against followers of the way, he now stands accused as a follower of the way. Perceiving that part of the council was composed of Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out to the council, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial. The tables have turned dramatically. The former Pharisee, the persecutor of the early church, who was ravaging the church and breathing out threats of murder and dragging men and women off to prison for following Jesus, is now on trial for following Jesus. So what is a Pharisee? Paul tells us, gives us more of a description in Philippians 3. He was a man who was confident in the flesh, in his religious pedigree and standing. Philippians 3, verses 5 through 6 tell us that he was circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Again on trial, this time in Caesarea, Paul tells us in Acts 26, 4 to 5, My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify that according to the strictest party of our religion, I have lived as a Pharisee. For a time, Paul's zeal for God that led to his persecution of the church of Christ was a badge of honor upon his chest. Raised as a Pharisee and apparently somewhat famous, known by all the Jews, he said, for a long time, he lived blamelessly according to Torah or the law of God given by Moses. He studied it, knew it backwards and forward, knew that a promised Messiah was coming, but certainly it wasn't Jesus. No Messiah would be crucified by the Romans. God's Messiah, the true Meshiach, would deliver Israel, not blaspheme God by saying he was God and then die on a Roman cross. It was offensive, a stench, idolatry, and a threat to all that Saul stood for. Jesus Christ of Nazareth was a perceived threat to all that Saul stood for, until Saul met him personally on the road to Damascus. Back to that story in Acts 9. Paul has just gotten letters from the high priest to go to Damascus and capture any followers of the way, followers of Jesus, and bring them back bound to Jerusalem. This is a strategically planned, well-organized mission. He's making about a six-day journey to do this, likely on foot. Damascus is not just around the corner from Jerusalem. It's roughly a 140-mile one-way trip. So think about this logistically. That is how zealous Paul had to be for God, how convinced he was that it was his duty to violently come against these teachings of Christ and against the growing movement led by his followers. He was so zealous about this that he's gonna walk for six days to get anyone adhering to the way, and then walk six days back with them to bring them bound in chains to Jerusalem. A hero. You know, he's not just meddling. In opposition here. He's actively leading the charge, seeking out places where he can ravage, destroy, and ruin this movement and the followers of it. Now, this would have been taking place sometime between 33 to 34 AD. Now, as he went his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him, and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. So Saul stands up. The men around him are totally speechless because they'd heard the voice but seen no one. And as Saul stands, they all realize that he's been completely blinded. He can't see a thing. They have to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus. For three whole days, Saul doesn't have sight, and he neither eats nor drinks. Let's keep reading here in Acts 9 to see what happens next. Now, there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him, Rise and go to the street called straight, and at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he may regain his sight. But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem, and here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. So Ananias departed and entered the house, and laying his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit. And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, and taking food he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus, and immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, He is the Son of God. And all who heard him were amazed and said, Is this not the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who call upon his name? And has he not come here for this purpose to bring them bound before the chief priests? But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. This is the moment. The pivotal, life-changing, miraculous, undeniable conversion of Saul. God has chosen this man to be the chosen instrument to carry his name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. What? Only God, you guys, only God can do something like that. There he is, headed to Damascus to persecute the church, and instead of persecuting the church, joins the church and starts proclaiming Jesus in the synagogue, saying the most blasphemous thing that can be said according to the Jews. He is, Jesus is the Son of God. He is God. The people have whiplash. Is this not the man? They even knew about Saul's crusades against the church all the way up in Damascus. They say, Is this not the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose to bring them bound before the chief priests? Everyone is completely and rightfully dumbfounded. Perhaps Paul, most of all. So, okay, maybe you've heard this story before. The persecutor of the church has just been met by the head of that church, Jesus Christ Himself. And a transformation takes place that is so radical it's hard for our human minds to comprehend. And because we've often heard it so many times, it can have the potential, there can be the potential, that we lose some of the wonder, the awe, the amazement at what just happened. So let's look a little bit more at what Paul says about himself. There are many places where he explains to us what happened to him. So take into consideration, for example, Philippians 3, 7 through 11. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Paul meets Jesus and decides everything else is garbage in comparison, knowing Christ was so valuable, in fact, that Paul was willing to suffer the loss of everything else and share in Christ's suffering, even to death. He put his confidence in the flesh aside to stand in the righteousness of Christ alone. And then he spends 30 to 35 years suffering through glorious ministry. Psych. Here's how his ministry actually went. Joking about his list of accomplishments in 2 Corinthians 11, 23 to 28, Paul says, Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one. I am talking like a madman, with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes lest one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I was adrift at sea, on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Something about this Jesus was worth all of that to Paul. Toward the end of his life, after being arrested for returning to Jerusalem and preaching Christ crucified, Paul stands trial, as I mentioned. Let me let him explain his life, conversion, and ministry in his own words. This is Acts 22. Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you. And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said, I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gomaliel, according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon, a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And I answered, Who are you, Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. Now those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Rise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do. And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me and standing by me said to me, Brother Saul, receive your sight. And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. And he said, The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the righteous one, and to hear a voice from his mouth, for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. And now, why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name. Again, on trial, a little bit later in Caesarea and before King Agrippa, Paul tells us in more detail exactly what it was that Jesus said to him on that Damascus road, and specifically what his mission was. So again, Paul is there seeing Jesus and he says, Now this is from Acts 26, 15 to 25, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. And then Paul turns to the king and says, Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here, testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that the Christ must suffer, and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles. Over and over, Paul calls himself the least of all the apostles and unashamedly owns his past. In Galatians 1, 13 to 14, he says, For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people. So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. Understand that though Paul remembered who he was, he never allowed it to disqualify him from the fight. In fact, and instead, it fueled him. Paul's ministry stemmed from deep love and gratitude, and an understanding of his new identity and new calling in Christ. He continues in Galatians 1 and verses 15 and 16 by saying, But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. Now, fast forward. Here is one of Paul's final letters before he's executed. It's written to his dear brother and friend Timothy. Paul writes it from Rome. I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent, but I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life, to the King of the Ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith. Do you hear his gratitude? Do you hear his love for Jesus? He knew who he was, and he knew who Christ called him to be. To God be honor and glory forever and ever. Fight to the end. My dear brother Timothy, my brothers and sisters, all the saints, Paul wants us to know this life is a fight. And he says in 2 Timothy, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now it's our turn to do the same. We'll be right back after this message. Hi, friend. Today's message is short and simple. I want to invite you into this study with me. Don't just listen to me doing the work because you are capable of studying the Bible yourself. At Abidible, that's our heart to help you actually abide in God's Word and hide it in your heart. So if you want to take a little leap of faith and work alongside me, you can grab this study, The Armor. There's a digital version for $10. You can download immediately in PDF form or a printed workbook for $20. And then use this podcast as your companion as we walk through it together. Inside the study, you'll also find QR codes that link to simple how-to-posts to guide you as you go. And if you're brand new to studying the Bible in this way, our 20-lesson How to Study the Bible video course is another option you can consider to help you walk through it step by step. I'll link both in this episode's description for you. God calls us to love him with all our heart and to treasure his word. He will lead you, his spirit will guide you, and we're here to come alongside you as you step into that. So come study with me. That's it. That's the invitation. I hope you'll accept. And now back to the show. All right. I hope that going directly to Scripture to read Paul's own words has been helpful in painting this picture for you of the man behind the words we are about to study in Ephesians 6, 10 through 20. His life, as we saw, was radically transformed by the righteous one, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Because of what Jesus had done for Paul personally, he spent the rest of the time he had on earth fighting the good fight and testifying to the gospel of God's grace that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, that he lived and died and rose again. But to understand this passage, we need more than just Paul's testimony. We also need to understand Ephesus, the city receiving this letter from Paul. Let me quickly add this here. It's pretty widely accepted amongst biblical scholars that Ephesians may have been a circular letter that was also shared with villages outside the city of Ephesus. The Ephesians actually controlled a large network of villages within a 30-plus mile radius of the city center. Ephesus has a lengthy history as one of the oldest cities in the region and was inhabited by various people groups throughout different time periods. But for our purposes, I'll fast forward to BC 27 when the Roman Emperor Augustus made Ephesus the capital city of the Roman province of Asia. This meant that the Roman governor or proconsul had his seat there, which made it the primary judicial and slash administrative capital of Asia, which at that time was the western part of the modern-day peninsula of Turkey. Why was Ephesus chosen for this role? Part of the reason was because of its strategic location on the west coast of Asia Minor. If you look at a modern-day map, you can find the ruins of ancient Ephesus. Spoiler alert, this grand city is no more, near Kusidasi and Selchuk in Izmir province of modern-day Turkey. This direct access to the Mediterranean greatly prospered Ephesus. Additionally, it was a densely populated ancient city. At the time of Paul, it was one of the largest cities in the entire Mediterranean, with an estimated population of a quarter million people. And finally, it was home to three very significant ancient landmarks. If you are in our Abidible Plus Facebook community, I'll be posting pictures of these that I took when we were in Ephesus in 2023. First, there's the Library of Celsus. This was the third largest library in the ancient world after Alexandria and Pergamum. Historians say it held around 12,000 scrolls. That tells you that study and literature and reading and education were very important to the Ephesians. The second important landmark was the great theater, first built by the Greeks but transformed by the Romans. It seated 25,000 spectators and was the city's largest venue for performances, political assemblies, and Roman gladiatorial games, as well as the site of a riot caused by Paul. More on that later. Culture and entertainment and sport and arts thrived in Ephesus. The third important landmark in Ephesus was the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, along with the great pyramid of Giza, the hanging gardens of Babylon, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. It had 127 columns, one of which is partially left standing today, and was renowned for its colossal size and Greek architectural and artistic beauty. This ancient building was significant not only for religious worship of the mother goddess of fertility, Artemis, but also functioned as a bank and treasury that stored vast riches and valuables of individuals, cities, and even kings. Merchants and tourists. Were attracted to the temple, and the temple itself was directly tied to the economic prosperity of the city. Again, hence Paul's preaching of Jesus as Lord over Artemis, causing a riot. So that's why Greek and Roman politicians and strategists honed in on Ephesus. But why did Paul? Well, we know he'd been called to preach the gospel. And clearly this was an economic and cultural and political center filled with people who needed to hear the gospel. So off Paul went. But first, let me just say you should try an open acts from chapter 7, which is Paul's story, or from the beginning of his ministry and missionary journeys around chapter 13, and just read through it to read it for the first time or to refresh your memory about Paul's multiple missionary journeys. Obviously, we're going to specifically focus on one city, our city of Ephesus, today. And when he arrived there, we get to read about it in Acts 19. So we'll go directly to the text so that we can read it together. But I wanted to say that we're jumping into a narrative that includes a story, the story of an eloquent man from Alexandria, competent in the scriptures and instructed in the way of the Lord, whose name was Apollos. He had come to the synagogue at Ephesus and was fervently and accurately, well, mostly teaching in the Spirit the things concerning Jesus. He had needed to receive some helpful correction from Paul's long-term ministry partners, Priscilla and Aquila. And then, with commendations from leaders in the church, Apollos left Ephesus and headed to Corinth to continue teaching there, greatly helping, it says, those who through grace had believed and powerfully refuting the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. I share all of this with you to help you understand the backdrop to Paul's arrival in Ephesus. Apollos had already been there preaching Christ. Other trusted leaders like Priscilla and Aquila were there discipling him and others. And so the news of the gospel had, to some degree, to some extent, been initially carried already to the city. So that's where we're going to pick up in Acts 19. Paul's arrival here in Ephesus is believed to have been around 53 to 55 A.D. So that would be about 20 years after his conversion on the road to Damascus. So that's why I say go back and read about his ministry from the time of his conversion up until now. A long period of time has passed. And this is not, Ephesus is not his first rodeo, and he's seasoned. Let's read all of chapter 19 together. I can't leave anything out because it's so good. It's too action-packed and it's too revealing about the climate and culture of this city and these people that we are about to study for the next 12 weeks. So again, this is Acts 19. And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said, No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. And he said, Into what then were you baptized? They said, Into John's baptism. And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus. On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all. And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, all the residents of Asia, heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks, and God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims. Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Siva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you? And the man in whom was the evil spirit leapt on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. And many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices, and a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. Now, after these events, Paul resolved, in the spirit, to pass through Macedonia and Achaea and go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. At that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsman. These he gathered together with the workmen in similar trades and said, Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trait of ours may come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship. When they heard this, they were enraged and were crying out, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, who were Paul's companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward, and Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash, for you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsul. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion. And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly. So that's the end of chapter 19. And the next thing we see is that Paul leaves Ephesus. But I want you to hear me when I say this. He leaves, but not before that he had already spent two years and three months there. This was on his third missionary journey, but of all the places where he stayed and went and visited and preached, Ephesus takes the cake. By comparison, the second longest amount of time he spent anywhere in one place was Corinth for 18 months. So he was in Ephesus for two years and three months. Ephesus was very special to Paul. So he leaves after the riot and he goes on to Macedonia, which are places in modern day Greece. But after a time, as we've seen, he then feels led by the Spirit to return to Jerusalem, which is very dangerous. We've already seen that this decision is the beginning of the end for Paul. Returning to Jerusalem is what triggers his arrest and the trial, and then he appeals to Caesar as a Roman citizen, and then he's shipped off to Rome, and he's eventually executed. So from Ephesus, okay, he goes to Macedonia after the riot. He goes to Macedonia, and then he turns back, he turns back, and he plans to go to Jerusalem. But do you remember what I mentioned to you happened before he went to Jerusalem? He had to make one final stop. Acts 20, 16 says, For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. But he did do something, do you remember? This is Acts 20, 17 to 38. Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them, You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance towards God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of grace of God, to the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the Church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them, and there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again, and they accompanied him to the ship. Okay. That's a lot of text based on all of this biblical narrative. Are we now ready to summarize who the Ephesians were, who Paul's armor of God audience was? Nope, not yet. Well, we, well, you have one thing left to do. You need to read the entire book of Ephesians before our next episode together. It's only six chapters. I am genuinely challenging you to be sure and set aside time to do that. Because while we're studying uh chapter six, verses 10 through 20, there is a lot that comes before that pours out of Paul toward this community at Ephesus that he so loved and discipled and risked his life to serve. You'll see that the first part of the book, the first three chapters of Ephesians is all about the gospel story and the believer's position in Christ. And the second half, which includes our passage, is our story and how we are to live practically in Christ as a response to the gospel story and our position in Christ, which, as I said, culminates with our passage dressing in the full armor of God. There's so much gold to dig up. I really, really challenge you to read the book of Ephesians. And also another thing, when it comes to the importance of the Ephesians to Paul and to God, I want you to consider the fact that Ephesus is the only church that received a letter from both Paul, the book of Ephesians, and from Jesus in Revelation. None of the other churches that are a part of the seven churches in Revelation also received a letter from Paul. Not only that, but both letters to Timothy from Paul are connected to Ephesus as well, as Timothy was the leader or pastor of the church at Ephesus. Paul left him in charge there. So we have a lot of additional content we can read to understand the Ephesians. I'll let you decide whether to authocheck out 1st and 2 Timothy, but let me at least read you Jesus' words toward the church at Ephesus from Revelation 2, 1 through 7. So, real quick, this is John, the beloved, the best friend of Jesus, writing in the spirit around the mid-90s A.D. So this is about 40 years after Paul had served there, and about 30 years after Paul had written the letter to the Ephesians. So this is Revelation 2, 1 through 7. To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write, the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands, I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have, you hate the work of the Nicolaitians, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. I promise you that at some point in this study I'm going to weave in the beautiful symbolism specifically tied to Ephesus, having to do with the tree of life and the paradise of God. Something very personal that Jesus was saying to the Ephesians. Okay, so what we see here is that the Ephesians from Jesus through John are still being called to conquer and to fight the good fight, to patiently endure and to not stand for evil. So now we're going to take all of this information and summarize it into five things that we need to know about the Ephesians to better understand why the armor of God matters. Number one, Ephesus was a city saturated in real spiritual darkness, not abstract, but active. This wasn't theoretical language for them, okay? They had seen demon possession, failed exorcisms, and the overpowering and scary reality of evil spirits. When Paul talks about spiritual forces of evil, they knew exactly what he meant. This battle was often visible, tangible, and terrifying for them. Number two, many believers came straight out of deep occult practices. These weren't people with clean slates. They had practiced magic, spells, idolatry, and spiritual manipulation. When they came to Christ, they burned their books publicly. That means that the pull back into darkness was real for them. The armor wasn't optional. It was necessary in order to leave their old life behind and stay free. Number three, idolatry wasn't just religious. It was cultural, economic, and it was everywhere. Ephesus was the center of worship for Artemis, one of the most powerful false gods in the ancient world. The entire city and economy was built around her. To follow Christ meant constant pressure to conform. So when Paul says stand firm, he's speaking to a people surrounded by competing worship every single day. Number four, Paul warned them the greatest threats would come from both outside and inside the church. In Acts 20, Paul tells the Ephesian elders that fierce wolves will come, even from among themselves, twisting the truth and leading people astray. This is key. The battle isn't just external opposition, it's deception. That's why truth, faith, and the word of God are central pieces of the armor. And number five, they were strong in doctrine and endurance, but in danger of losing their love. As we saw later in Revelation 2, Jesus commends the Ephesians for their discernment and perseverance, but he rebukes them for abandoning their first love. They were standing firm, but their hearts were drifting, which reminds us that the armor isn't just about resisting evil, it's about remaining in love for God, which is what fuels true victory. That's what we saw in our last study into the wilderness. Jesus' love for the Father is what helped him to experience true victory. So when Paul says put on the full armor of God, he's not just giving a metaphor to admire. Okay, he is giving a lifeline to a church living in real spiritual pressure, real temptation, and real opposition. And so as you hear all of that, you're probably thinking the same as me. In many ways, their story is our story, and we are as in need of the armor as they were. Our modern world is saturated in real, active spiritual darkness. We once walked in the flesh, and so did our fellow believers. The pull back to the life we left behind us is real. Our modern-day idolatry isn't overt or confined to single places or practices, but it's insidious and it's everywhere, cultural, economic, all around us, on every side, pressuring us to trade and cave and bow. And threats and attacks come at us from the world and sometimes even from within the church itself. And finally, just like the Ephesians, we can fall into the trap of having strong doctrine but weak love. Paul's words are inspired by the Holy Spirit, so it's no Wonder that they are as relevant to us today as they were to the Ephesians. And that's why I can't wait to get into this study with you. Now I know we did a lot. I mean, like we are over time. We did a lot of context and background info. So I will ever so briefly talk through a few of the observations and questions that I had during my annotation on page three. I hope you've gotten a chance to slow down and mark up the passage yourself. Remember, there is a free annotation key for you to use if you'd like. You can scan the QR code right there on the annotation page. Now, you may have had a question right off the bat about whether to mark God in the armor of God and the Lord in be strong in the Lord as God the Father or as Jesus. We've got a clear use of the Spirit in verses 17 to 18, but for the rest is the use of God and Lord here referring to Jesus or to the Father. It's okay to not know yet. As we get into our study, I'll clue you in that we're going to see that this armor really actually does belong to God. And in the context of that passage, you'll see who is most likely being referenced. But even still, some commentators will say that the armor belongs to the Lord Jesus because these are the things that He purchased for us through His life and substitutionary death, as well as through His resurrection. So I wouldn't get too hung up on whether you mark it with purple or with red. Then we see next a lot of commands in this passage. Essentially, the whole thing is a command to get dressed. So I had most of my passage underlined in red. For geographical location, I intentionally chose to underline this present darkness and in the heavenly places because I want to be more aware that these are real places, even if I can't see them with my eyes. The list of repeated words, phrases, or ideas is pretty extensive. There's a lot of focus on strength and might and power, including all the imagery of pieces of armor. There is also a continuous theme of completion or wholeness with whole armor that's repeated twice, as well as the use of the word all multiple times, especially from verses 16 on. The word choice for wrestle really caught my attention because that's such close, intimate, personal combat. And then I shuddered to take a deeper look at everything Paul says I'm wrestling against, like how he emphasizes dramatically that I'm wrestling against these things by using the word against six times. And then contrast that to what we think or perceive with our eyes. Like our fight isn't against flesh and blood, but it's against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers, against the forces of this present darkness and of evil in the cosmic heavenly places. So yeah, all of verse 12 is pretty sobering. I don't know if you felt the same way. It's like a big wake-up call. And I think Paul really draws your attention there with his dramatic word choices and repetition of that word against six times. He uses it. We also see that what we're up against in the thematic use of evil and its description as the schemes of the devil or the evil day or the flaming darts of the evil one. Paul also repeatedly commands the Ephesians to stand, to stand firm, to withstand, and to stand against. Dressing in the armor is described with action verbs like fasten, take, take up, and put on. So we can see that Paul is not certainly talking about passivity. It's clear that the reader, his audience, plays a role in the process of putting on the full armor. And then we see that prayer and supplication is repeated multiple times in verses 18 on. And so is the idea of opening your mouth to proclaim, to declare, to speak boldly the gospel with words. I didn't mark any place where love is mentioned or inferred, though I could argue that the whole thing is equipping of us for battle is loving, right? And then I made a list of all seven. So I included prayer in that as a weapon, of the elements of the armor that I am to put on, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes with readiness for the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit, aka the word of God, and prayer in the spirit at all times. So I made a list of that. I also made a list of some of the traits of God that I see demonstrated in this passage. Strong, dressed for battle, overcomer of evil, victor, prepared, alert, present, active, powerful, engaged, equipper. Is that a word? What traits did you guys list? Did you make any other lists? Let me know. And finally, I jotted down all my questions. Oh, questions. You know that I love asking questions. No question is dumb, and there is no such thing as too many questions. Stop, look, pray, ask, think, and write them all down. Here are some of mine. How do I practically put all this armor on? What do each of these items actually represent? What does wearing them do on a daily basis? Why is it called the armor of God? What does it mean that I wrestle with evil? What is the finally coming after? And why is this message saved for last? What is the evil day referring to? Why does Paul list out evil in such different terms? What's the difference between the belt of truth and the sword of the Spirit or the Word of God? Is there an importance to the order of putting these items on? What is the readiness given by the gospel of peace? How does faith extinguish flaming darts? What's an example of a flaming dart? Is that all temptation, accusation, or is it something more specific? Why is the word called the sword of the spirit? I mean, I could go on and on, right? Like, why is the helmet the helmet of salvation? There's lots of questions about each individual piece. I also thought, what do these protective pieces have to do with the body parts that they protect? What do those body parts represent? Or what's their significance? What is the difference between prayer and supplication? And why does he list that separately? How is keeping alert tied to prayer at all times? What is prayer in the spirit? Does Paul's prayer for boldness in proclaiming the gospel apply to me? Is that a prayer I should be praying? What is the gospel of peace? What is the mystery of the gospel? On and on and on. So many questions. Remember again, this is the place where we just write them down. Throughout the course of our study together, you'll find that you will most likely, we will most likely answer most, if not all of them. Come back at the end of the study to see if you have. I always think that's a fun and rewarding step to see how you answered all your own questions as you studied. Okay, you guys, we have thoroughly, thoroughly, I think this might be our longest podcast ever. We have thoroughly done it, haven't we? We've really laid the foundation for jumping into our study of Ephesians 6, 10 through 20. I'll close with this. You may be wondering why I haven't said this yet. It's because I wanted to save this for last. Paul is writing the book of Ephesians from prison. He's in Rome, likely under house arrest. And this is also the time the other prison epistles, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, were written. Later, in his second imprisonment in Rome, he will also write the letters to Timothy. Now I've been in that dark, dank, underground prison where he wrote those letters to Timothy. It's called the Mamertine prison, and it's in Rome. Paul, at the end of this passage, describes himself as an ambassador in chains, and that's not a metaphor. He truly is a prisoner. The one who proclaimed his plan to put people in prison for following Jesus is now ending his life in prison for proclaiming Jesus. And despite everything he's endured, and regardless of what he now faces, how does he wrap up his letter to the Ephesians? He asks them to pray for him to do more of exactly what landed him in prison in the first place, to open his mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel as he ought. If Paul can, you can, I can. We who were dead in our trespasses, who have been saved by grace through faith, can put off the former self, put on the new self, and live boldly in battle for Jesus with the full armor of God. That's the hope, that's the promise. And this letter is the know-how. In the book of Ephesians, Paul is crying out to the Ephesians, live in a manner worthy of the Lord, worthy of our calling and our identity in Him as chosen, redeemed, reconciled saints, and as people formed into one new, unified body of believers. He wants them, he desperately wants them to be alert and to endure. It's a call for all of us to open our eyes to the very real, as Spurgeon says, cosmic scope of God's plan, the unseen spiritual conflict shaping daily life and the call to walk in holiness, love, wisdom, and unity. You guys, we are to do this, to fight this fight out of love and obedience for the one who came to save us sinners. We must remember who we once were before him and who we now are because of him, just like Paul did. He reminds the Ephesians of this, of who they once were in chapter 2, verses 1 through 9. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and it is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Remember that Christ came to save sinners. Paul says he was chief sinner, complicit in the murder of Stephen, and guilty of ravaging the early church and breathing murderous threats to the disciples of Christ. He came to save Saul, and he did. Jesus came to save you and me, dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, following the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. He came to save us from that, and he did. He did save us. He has saved us. By grace we have been saved, not by our works, but definitely for our good works. Here's the end, Ephesians 2.10, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. To do that, to walk in these good works and live in a manner worthy of the Lord, we need to be suited up. Spurgeon asks, how can we walk in these callings while facing the relentless opposition of the world, the flesh, and the devil? That is where the armor of God comes in. We battle in the strength of our risen Savior, the one seated far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion. In his strength, the Christian cannot ultimately lose. Yes, the idea of being at war can be an overwhelming one, but we can't let the overwhelm detach us from reality. We are at war. That is our reality. Spurgeon says your life on earth is not a vacation, it is a war. You cannot afford to drift, delay, or live distracted. Idle persons can scarcely be said to be in danger. They are a stage beyond that. They are already overcome. And so we stand firm by suiting up. We stand firm in his strength, not ours. Luke 12, 35 echoes this language saying, Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning. Romans 13, 11 through 14 presses it even further. The hour has come for you to wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone, the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Proverbs 31:17 says, She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. And Ephesians 6.13, our key verse for this series says, 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. So that's what we are going to do. We will wake up, we will throw off what belongs to darkness, we will put on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will put on the full armor of God, and we will stand. We will stay alert, we will watch, we will pray, we will stay dressed for action, clothed in strength, with strong arms holding fast to burning lamps until the righteous one comes on the clouds to take his warrior bride home. May he find us awake, may he find us armed, may he find us standing firm, dressed for action, and ready for his return. That's what he'll find us doing. Fighting the good fight to the very end. In the name of Christ, let it be so. Amen. And that's it for this episode. If you know someone who would be blessed by what you just heard, please share the Abidible podcast with them. Keep spreading the word so we can make much of the word. Drop us a review, tell us what you love and what you're learning. Check out the link to learn more about partnering with us by buying us a coffee one time, by joining our Abidible Plus women's membership community for $10 a month, or by becoming a monthly supporter. For those of you following along in the workbook, go ahead and begin working on our first verse in this series, Ephesians 6.10, on pages 8 through 11 in your study workbook. Ideally, you would have this section done before you listen to the next episode, number 93. In that episode, we will take a look at what kind of strength Paul is commanding us to stand in as we take up the armor. Ephesians 6.10 says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. I'll pray for us and then send you on your way. Father, we come before you at the very beginning of this series with open hands and open hearts. You are the one who has called us out of darkness and into your marvelous light. You are the one who took us when we were dead in our trespasses and made us alive together with Christ. And so we begin here with gratitude, with awe, with humility. God, would you wake us up? Your word says that the hour has come for us to rise from sleep. And so I ask by your spirit, would you stir your people? Where we have been passive, make us alert. Where we've been distracted, make us hyperfocused. Where we've been weary, strengthen us in the might of your power. Teach us what it means to cast off the works of darkness. Show us specifically and personally what does not belong in the life of one who has been redeemed by you. And give us the courage not just to see it, but to lay it down. And then, Lord, clothe us. Cloth us with the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach us to put on the full armor of God, not just in theory, not just in language, but in the real daily moments of our lives. When we are tempted, when we are tired, when we are afraid, when we are under pressure, when we feel the weight of the battle. Make us a people who stand, who stand in truth, who stand in righteousness, who stand in faith, who stand in the gospel of peace, who stand with your word in our hands and your spirit in our hearts through prayer. God, we confess that we cannot do this in our own strength. We don't want to. We need you. So as we step into this study, would you go before us? Would you teach us and transform us? Make us alert, make us anchored, and make us armed. So that, Lord, when you return, you will find us awake and dressed for action and standing firm. We dedicate this entire series to you, every word, every listener, every moment of study. Be glorified in it, Jesus. Teach us to abide in you through your word. We love you and we trust you. And it's in the name of Jesus, our victorious, righteous one, we pray. Amen. We don't have any memory work yet this week. We'll begin it next week with Ephesians 6.10, but I would encourage you to letter out your verses as explained on page two in your workbook. Memorizing scripture really matters, which we will soon see because it's a part of the full armor of God. And remember, you are able to abide in the Bible. We'll see you next time. Until then, let's abide.