Ephesians 6 - The Battle We Are In

We are in a battle, but God wants to make sure you are prepared.                                     
        
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Transcript

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Married for several years, and although they were in their late fifties, they both still looked very young. In fact, they absolutely loved it when people had mistaken them and think they were still in their twenties. And they especially loved it when they were taking their grandchildren around. People thought the young kids were their own children. They didn't want to grow old and they did everything they could to try to look young. One day, John and Joan had their five-year-old granddaughter with them, and they attended a celebration for veterans. While their granddaughter had a lot of questions, and one of them was asking them why they were there, and Joan began to explain to their granddaughter that when they were very young, even before they'd gotten married, John had been a Vietnam vet, Navy vet. And granddaughter wanted to know what that means. So Joan then went further to explain that when John was very young, John was on a boat when he fought in a war. Granddaughter's eyes got great big. She looked at her grandpa John and her grandmother Joan, and then she exclaimed very excitedly to Grandma, was Grandpa a Viking? You know, sometimes kids don't catch on. I read another story about a young child who heard that her dad once fought in a war. Her first question was, against which planet? She must be a sci-fi kid. I tell those stories because those kids are like many Christians still today. There are many Christians who do not understand the spiritual battle that we are in. They're just like those kids who can't understand that grandpa couldn't be old enough to have been a Viking, nor was her dad somebody who fought on a war in another planet. Some Christians fail to understand that we are in a spiritual battle not against flesh and blood, but against evil forces, and we have a huge need to do anything and everything to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Today I want to look at a passage from Ephesians chapter 6 where we see this battle that we're in and that we need to be doing what we need to be doing in this battle. But first, let's start with prayer. Lord, I thank you for the scriptures, and I thank you for passages like Ephesians 6. And Lord, I've read it many, many times. I've preached on it several times. But Lord, help us to remember. We are in a spiritual battle. Help us not to forget. Help us not to let this go in one year and out the other year, but help us, Lord, to act upon it. In Jesus' name. Amen. There are three main thoughts I want to get across from this passage today. First, come from verses 10 and 11 of Ephesians chapter 6, where we find that we need to stand firm against the devil's schemes. It says here, finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. We need to stand firm against the schemes of the devils. First of all, that means we need to take a stance. We must take a stance. How can we be firm if we haven't first taken a stance? We can't be like political people who flip-flop back and forth over issues. When it comes about what we believe about God, about Jesus, about sin, about salvation, about heaven, about hell, about what the Bible says, and even about the Bible itself, we have to take a stance. Either we believe the word of God or we don't. How could we possibly begin to stand after stand firm if we don't, first of all, take a stand on the word of God? You have to take a stance. We need to be people of committed to be putting on our full trust in the Word of God and the authority and the character of the very Son of God, Jesus Christ. We have to take a stance that we are going to be on the Lord's side on everything. We must take a stance that the Bible is right and is our final authority and final answer. We have to take a stance that we will be committed to following the Bible and being obedient to God's word, even if everybody else votes against it. It is impossible to stand firm if we haven't first stood up for something. We aren't supposed to be people who are tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine, as Paul mentions in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 14, carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by the craftiness and deceitful scheming. Instead, we must take a stance upon God's word. We have to stand firm. And then we also need to realize, we must realize Satan has battle plans. Satan has battle plans. We're in a battle. And we need to realize that our enemy, the devil, Satan, has battle plans. Here Paul writes about the schemes of the devil. That word literally means methods, plots, trickery, wiles, even lies in wait. When Satan attacks us with temptations, it's not just by accident. Satan is plotting his attack on us, and we need to be like soldiers who are always on the alert, watching out lest we are ambushed. Satan has a battle plan to try to get every one of us to sin, to get us to deny Jesus is the Christ. To get us to stop worshiping God, to get us to doubt the word of God, to get us to stop believing in God. And Paul warns us here in this book in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 14, about deceitful scheming, and again in chapter 4, verse 22, about deceitful lust, and again here in Ephesians chapter 5 about deceitful words. And Satan knows that most Christians are on guard against fortresses and full armies of Satan. And so Satan actually prefers to scheme against us in deceitful ways. Lying in wait, putting out snares, even using people who claim to be holy to tell us lies that will appeal to the lust of our eyes and lust of our flesh and the boastful pride of life. He knows that we're too smart to listen and follow people who will openly deny Jesus. And so he will find people whose claim they believe in Jesus but teach something different. They've added to God's word teachings that aren't in God's word. Or they have subtracted from God's word, removing parts of God's word so that we're believing only a partial truth. We need to open up our eyes and realize that Satan has battle plans, deceitful schemes, trying to get each and every one of us to fall. We need to stand firm against the devil's schemes by taking a stance, and we need to realize Satan has his battle plans, and we must also put on the full armor of God. He didn't tell us to go out and build a fortress. To fill that fortress with weapons and wear body armor as if we're in the military. He told us to put on the full armor of God. Very simply, put on what God has provided for his troops. He doesn't go into a lot of detail right here in verse 11 about this armor, but he does a few verses later. However, here where he is telling us to stand firm against the devil's schemes, he commands us, put on the full armor of God. Don't just put on some of it, but put on the full armor of God. The full armor, all of it. Be ready for battle because we're in a battle and we need to stand firm against the devil's schemes. Second of all, this passage then goes on to show us that we need to know who our enemy is and is not. Verse 12 points out, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Did you notice here that Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, made it very clear that our inning who our enemy is and who our enemy is not? Did you notice that it specifically states is we don't battle against flesh and blood? The battle we as Christians are in is not against human beings. We aren't called to fight it with bombs and metal swords and spears and guns. We aren't called to go out and fist fight other people, to beat them into submission, to hold to our stance. We aren't even called to beat up others who don't see eye to eye with us. In fact, what did Jesus say we should do with people who hate us and mistreat us? Didn't He command us to pray for them? Didn't He command us to turn the other cheek? Didn't He command us to return good for evil? We haven't been called to battle against human beings, to beat them into submission, to kill the infidels as one religion does, or to harm people who are doing evil things. We haven't been called to go out name-calling or hurling abuse and malice and slander against people who don't believe as we do. We aren't out to battle flesh and blood. People. Our enemy is not people. Our enemy is spiritual forces against us. He specific specifically states here, Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12, that we battle against rulers, powers, world forces of this darkness, spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Most versions, including King James Version, New King James Version, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard, American Standard Bible, and with only a couple of exceptions, follow the Greek here and leave out the word and. The Living Bible and the Navy have added the word and in this verse as if each of these is a separate enemy, but the word and is not in the Greek text in this verse. And Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, is telling us that these rulers and powers and world forces of wickedness and darkness and spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places are all part of the same enemy. A spiritual battle against demonic and satanic forces. Satan is not just one, a one-being army. There are many powerful beings in his army. And Paul knew that Satan was behind the rulers and powers and world forces of darkness. Paul knew that the rulers who were giving out orders to persecute Christians were simply following their leader. They were being led by spiritual forces of wickedness. And that's why Paul desired opportunities to speak the gospel to those rulers and authorities who were giving orders to persecute Christians. He didn't go out with a metal sword to try to kill their bodies, but he went out in a spiritual battle with them, and he would preach the gospel to each and every one of those. You read through the book of Acts. Find out how many times he was preaching to kings and to rulers and other people who were in power. And if we want to change this evil world, we can't produce that change by battling the fleshly people in fleshly ways. It's not about getting fists and knives and guns. Instead, our battle is using the gospel message, sharing the love of Jesus Christ with other people. The battle what we are in is against evil, and we need to teach the truth, the word of God. Let me put it this way. In the past several years, there's been a lot of debate on gun control. And people wanting to make laws to outlaw owning guns to prevent senseless murders. Sounds good. I read one person's ideas regarding this. If we outlaw guns, then people might resort to knives or fists to kill each other. So why don't we just make it illegal to murder? Sounds like a good idea. Oh, wait, we already have that law. But criminals aren't obeying that either. They probably won't even obey the laws to turn in your guns. In fact, the only way to truly stop evil is to go to the source. We're not battling against flesh and blood, but it's a spiritual battle. Forces of wickedness, Satan and his army. Man-made laws actually can't stop evil. Our battle is much greater than against flesh and blood. It's against something much bigger, much stronger, and it can only be conquered with spiritual weapons. And that's why the laws of our land were formulated on biblical truths and commands of God. And we need to know who our enemy is. It's not people. And we need to make sure that we are fighting the right battles. We need to fight the right battles. January 22nd, 1973, over 50 years ago, our Supreme Court legalized abortion from the moment of conception to the moment a child is completely outside of the womb. Since then, according to the internet, there's over 62 million United States American babies that have been aborted, killed in their mother's wombs. Some Christians have sinfully attacked with guns and bombs, attacking the doctors and the nurses and the abortion clinics where these are performed. But you know what the Word of God says? That's not what we're called to do. We've been called to preach the gospel. We've been called to battle against the spiritual forces of wickedness, not flesh and blood. And the only real way to win a war against any evil is that we need to stop those evil doers by sharing the Word of God and letting the Holy Spirit grow inside of them so they would live for Jesus Christ. It's kind of like trying to stop a suicide bomber. How do you stop a suicide bomber who's wanting to kill himself anyway? Laws and wars and safety measures might prevent some, but it's not going to stop them. It's like putting a band-aid on a cancer patient. It's not going to stop it. The only real solution is to reach people with the gospel, getting them to change their mind and to become Christ-like. Anybody ever read about the infamous battle between the Hatfields and the McCoys? It wasn't stopped by each side killing more of the other side. But it could have easily been stopped through the gospel message of love and forgiveness. If both sides had been willing to live as Christ called them to live, it could have been stopped quickly. The battle we're in is not a physical, earthly battle, it's a spiritual battle where our enemy is spiritual and we need to stand firm against the devil's schemes. We need to know who our enemy is and is not. And third, according to verses 13 through 20, we need to do everything. Everything. I love how verse 13 states, therefore, based upon what I just told you about our enemy is, who he is, who he is not, based upon the need to take a stand, he says, therefore, take up the full armor of God. Wow, I thought we already heard that. Yes, and we're being told it again. Take out the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. We can't skip these things. If we want to win this spiritual battle we're in, we need to do it all. Do everything he tells us here. Starting with, we need to put on the full armor of God. Yes, I know I've already had this biblical point. I've already had this, but Paul brings it up again. And to be more biblically correct, I needed to word it, take up the full armor of God. Because Paul actually changed the wording here, even in the Greek. In verse 11, where he tells us to put on the full armor of God, it means to clothe ourselves with that armor, to put it on. Verse 13, he says, take it up. He's actually stating, receive the full armor of God, receive it from God. God is offering it to us. Will you receive it and put it on? My nephews, I have a couple of them that served in the war on terrorism in Iraq. They told me that even though body armor was supplied to them, they had a lot of fellow soldiers who refused to wear the body armor. It was too heavy, too hot, too cumbersome. And that got me to thinking about Christians today. Here God is supplying us, giving us this armor. Are we receiving it and wearing it? Did you put it on today? Did you wear it yesterday? Have you worn it every day of your life? I mean, this armor is to cover us from head to toe. Do we cover ourselves completely with this armor? Or do we think it's too hot? It's summertime. I don't want to wear anything on my feet. I want to be barefoot. I don't want to wear heavy armor. I want to have no hat on. I don't want this. Scripture asks us, did you submit yourself? Did you surround yourself, your gird your loins with truth? Did you make certain that everything you have done is truthful, so you won't be tripped up and stumble when people ask you questions? In Paul's day, a soldier going into battle would gird up his loins. Basically, they were wearing kind of like a skirt-like thing, and they would pull it up and they'd use a rope and tie it around to make sure that their legs could be able to run forward and backwards, not having to stumble and trip over their garments that they were wearing. In today's world, we might look at the kind of in today's world, might look at the teens who are wearing their saggy jeans, you know, their saggy pants way down here. You ever watch any of those shows where the police are chasing some teen who's got his pants hanging way down, the teen is tripping up and falling down because he can't run? What he needs to do is tie those pants up so he can run. And in a spiritual sense, we need to be people who tell the truth all the time so we're not tripped up on our lies. Tell the truth. Live the truth. Have you put on this piece of God's armor today? Did you put on the breastplate of righteousness? Do you live so righteously that others can see we're on God's side, just as soldiers could look at the uniforms and tell which side somebody was on? Do we protect ourselves from the fires of hell by living righteously just as Christ called us to? Have we made righteousness the very first thing people would see about us, just like you would see this breastplate of righteousness? You would see that first? Have you put on this piece of God's armor? Do you protect your stance by standing upon the gospel of peace? Have you shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace? Even though we are in a battle, our stance, our ability to stand firm is built upon starting out with the gospel of peace, of love, kindness, mercy, grace, forgiveness, gentleness. We aren't called to be caustic people who try to condemn everyone around us. Jesus didn't come to make sinners feel even worse than they already did. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 11 through 22, we had that. He taught us that Jesus is our peace who came to break down the barriers that excluded us from fellowship with God and one another. He came to preach peace to those who are far away and peace to those who are near. And when you take the gospel message to the lost, are you trying to share the good news of Jesus and his love and his willingness to forgive? Are you preaching peace through the gospel of Jesus? Or are you trying to divide people and split them up? Have you put on this piece of God's armor? Have you taken up the shield of faith? Is your faith large enough that it's like a door that you can stand behind to protect from Satan's onslaughts? Do you have enough faith to stay faithful even in the midst of horrible persecution? Have you put on the full armor of God? Have you taken up the helmet of salvation? Do you know? Do you know that you are saved, as 1 John 5, verse 13 assures us of? Is your mind protected because you have committed to your full trust in the authority and the character of Christ Jesus, the Son of God? Have you put on this helmet of salvation? Have you taken up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God? Have you hidden it in your heart that you may not sin against God? Have you treasured it within you so that you can share it with other people? Can you use God's word to defeat the enemy? Are the empty deceptions and the lies of those who are opposed to God's word? Have you put on the full armor, God? Have we done everything? We need to put on the full armor, God. We need to resist in the evil day. Why is it there's this cry to remember the Alamo? Did the soldiers who fought for Alamo, did they win? If I remember right, they lost. They died. Well, why do we remember it then? Because they resisted. They did their very best to stand firm against an army that way outnumbered them. They didn't just give in and surrender. And even though many people in the world are surrendering to the evil around us, we as Christians need to resist all the way to the end. And Jesus Himself told us in Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3. He wrote to the churches there and he told them to be faithful until death, and then he gives them the reward. Let's realize that in this battle we're in, we're to resist in the evil day, and we also need to pray at all times in the Spirit. Verse 18, with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit. Don't go into battle without prayer. Prayer is our way to keep in constant contact with the commander, Jesus Christ. It amazes me when I read throughout the Old Testament and discover the places where kings would go to God in prayer before battle. And what would happen? God would give them the victory. And then you can read of other kings who went into battle and they talked to other people and they tried to get other kings to go in an association with them. They relied on their own military strength and they lost. Don't try to fight this spiritual battle we're in without first clothing and talking with God in prayer. Pray at all times. Pray in the Spirit of God. Desire His will in all things. Pray. Pray. Scripture lets us know we need to do everything. We need to put on that full arm of God. We need to resist in the evil day. We need to pray at all times in the Spirit. And we need to be on the alert with all perseverance. Many people in the face of immediate danger are fully alert. But the problem is, is when we don't see immediate danger, we often let our guard down. There's a real funny video on YouTube where a boxer who didn't see his opponent as much of a threat at all walks out there taunting him, puts his hands down, taunting him, give me your best shot. And the boxer, his opponent, gives him his best shot and knocked him out with one good punch. If that boxer had known the strength of his opponent, he would have put his arms up for protection. But he didn't think he needed it. I've got this covered. And he lost. Don't ever think that you are a strong enough Christian that you will never fall into temptation from the enemy. Don't ever think you've got it made and I don't need God's armor. Be on the alert all the time, with all perseverance, putting on the full armor of God, that in having done everything, you can stand firm. In fact, it goes on here. We need to pray for one another, verses 19 and 20. We need to pray for one another to be bold. Why? Because we are in a battle together. We are fellow soldiers. We need to pray for one another. We need to pray for one another to be bold enough to proclaim the gospel message. I can't win the battle alone. I need you. You need me. We need each other, and we need to remember to be praying for one another. Pray for one another, to be bold enough to speak God's word with other people. Let's win this battle we're in. It's not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces. Put on the full armor, God, and pray for the win. Lord, I thank you for this passage and I ask, Lord, that you would help us to be faithful to you. Help us to remember to put on the full armor every single day. Help us, Lord, not to get so believing that we are perfectly fine, that we don't need this armor. Help us to trust you always. Let's take a stance for you. Let's stand faithful and holy to you in all things in Jesus' name. Amen.