(ephesians 6:10-13) standing firm in spiritual warfare

7/24/2019 (Ephesians 6:10-13) Standing Firm in Spiritual Warfare

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Standing Firm in Spiritual Warfare

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you cantake your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but

against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against thespiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. herefore put on the full armor of God, so that whenthe day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything,to stand.!phesians "#1$%1&

ow can we stand firm in spiritual warfare(

ere in this te)t, Paul begins to talk about the spiritual war every *hristian is in. +hen a person accepts*hrist as avior, he crosses over from the realm of darkness to the realm of light . e enters a spiritualwar including demons and angels over the souls of men.

adly, many *hristians live without any real awareness of this battle and therefore are losing it. here aretwo wrong views of this battle; some see Satan and demons in every cough, problem at work, orwith their car. atan gets way too much credit in many *hristian circles. owever, in other circles, they actas if Satan doesnt really exist.hey know he is there, but they live without any true awareness of hisactivity in their lives.

+e must recogni-e that atan is real. e is an enemy of God and an enemy of the church . e tempts,traps, deceives, and kills, and nobody is exempt from his wrath. +ith that said, !aul writes this in thecontext of living the Spirit"filled life.n !phesians /#10, he calls believers to be filled with pirit, and thenin the following verses, he looks at the results of the filling, including the Spirit"filled marriage, home,

and workplace. believer who is living a life of power2one that affects and changes people#willreceive special attention from the evil"one. e doesn3twaste his best resources on those far awayfrom $od, but the closer a person gets to $od and his call, the more the enemy attacks .

t is not uncommon for me to talk to men and women who experience more problems the closer theyget to $od.he more they read their 4ible, the more involved they get in church or ministry, the moreproblems they encounter. n fact, remember one young man sharing the constant problems hee)perienced when faithfully reading his %ible, it made him not want to read at all . his is e)actly how ourenemy works.

&s seen with Satans temptation of &dam and 've in the $arden, he wants people to doubt $od and

to turn away from following him. here is no greater 5oy for the enemy than when a believer is angry at$od or cursing him. hat was his ob5ective when attacking (ob2he wanted 6ob to curse God and that istrue with us as well.

n this te)t, Paul talks about standing firm in this spiritual war. he phrase stand firm 78from histmi9, whenused in a military sense, had the idea of holding a critical position while under attack.:1e mentionsour need to stand three times in this text8v. 1$, 1&9 and one more time in verse 1;. !ssentially, he says

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thewobbly )hristian#the one not serious about $od and trapped in sins#cannot standin this war.e will be destroyed. adly, many fail to stand in this battle.


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& powerless )hristianity is a vulnerable )hristianity#in danger of being enslaved and destroyed bythe enemy. his is what we see in most churches and most *hristian lives2a powerless *hristianity. +emust constantly pray to know the power that is in us, to be strengthened by it, and to be continuallyfilled with it. hat is what Paul again calls for in this te)t. %e strong in the ord and in his mighty power#the same power that raised )hrist from the dead and seated him in heavenly places over the

enemy. Put on the full armor of God so you can stand against the enemy.

ince the verb 7strong: is passive present, the verse could also be rendered,///Strengthen yourselves inthe ord or 01'%2 /Find your strength in the ord.t is the same construction as in @ imothy @#1 wherePaul e)horts imothy to Atake strength from the grace of God which is ours in *hrist 6esus3 8B!49.3:&

)lothing throughout Scripture often refers to character traits 8cf. *ol @%1;, !ph ;#@;%@/9, and it3sthe same in this passage about the armor $od. he armor of God is $ods clothing for it representshis character.saiah /=#1> says, 7e put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvationon his head! he put on the garments of vengean"e and wrapped himself in #eal as in a "loa$.: *herefore,preparation for battle is putting on $ods power and $ods character.

%nterpretation Question: ow can we be strong in the Lord 8God3s power9 and put on his armor 8God3scharacter9(

1. +e must recogni-e our weakness.

f we don3t recogni-e our insufficiency for this battle, then we wont put on $ods strength and character.herefore, to prepare us for a lifetime of battle , often what God will do is allow us to go through pain,trials, and failure to show us our weakness.Paul said this in @ *orinthians 1@#=%1$ about $odsresponse to his prayer to take away his thorn in the flesh#

4ut he said to me, 3y grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect inweakness.4herefore will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that *hrist's powermay rest on me. hat is why, for *hrist's sake, delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, inpersecutions, in difficulties. For when am weak, then am strong.

Cften trials are meant to reveal our weakness so we can have more of $ods power and character.

@. +e must be dependent.

gain the te)t can be translated, &'ind your strength in the Lord.: +e need God to win this battle. Sadly,too many )hristians are independent.Dou can see this in their lack of desire to read the %ible, pray,or even go to church and small group . +hy is this so common( t is because they are tooindependent. *hey feel like they can make it through the day without being in $ods Word, withoutprayer, etc.

owever, the very opposite is true. We can do nothing without )hrist. We are like sheep without ashepherd#lost. We are like branches apart from the vine#dead . 6ohn 1/#/ says this, &(% am the vine!

& tott, 6. E. +. 81=>=9. God)s new so"iety: the message of Ephesians8pp. @""?@">9. owners Grove, L#nterarsity Press.


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you are the bran"hes. %f a man remains in me and % in him, he will bear mu"h fruit! apart from me you "ando nothing.*

re you abiding in *hrist( re you drawing near him daily( Cr are you independent and therefore losingthis spiritual battle(

&. +e must be disciplined.

he present tense of the verb 3be strong4 means that it is not a once and for all#be strong#but aconstant strengthening through $od.5 he implication of this is that we need discipline. f it were a one%time event, we could stop, but it is not. +e need to continue to strengthen ourselves in the Lord.

*his is not only true to be empowered by $od but also to put on his character#his armo r. Firstimothy ;#> says, 7dis"ipline yourself unto godliness: or it can be translated 7e+er"ise yourself untogodliness.: +e need to daily practice spiritual disciplines to become holy#prayer, %ible reading,fellowship, serving, solitude, giving, etc.

*he )hristian with poor spiritual discipline is like the soldier without discipline#unprepared andvulnerable to attack.

;. +e must be thorough.

Paul says put on the 3full armor4 of $od8v.119. his means partial preparation will not do. f there areany chinks in our armor2which symboli-es our character#that is exactly where the enemy will attack.f we commonly struggle with unforgiveness, lust, anger, lack of self"control, or discipline, the enemywill attack in those areas.+e must be thorough in this battle. -n a real war, little compromises can getsomeone captured or killed, and it is the same in our spiritual battle. We must constantly repent ofsins and seek to get right. +e must be thorough2putting on the full armor of God.

f we are going to stand in this battle, we must be prepared by knowingour weakness, depending onGod, being disciplined, and being thorough.

ppli"ation Question:ow is God calling you to seek his power and character in your life( +hat are yourspiritual disciplines like( ow can you strengthen them(

*o Stand Firm, %elievers ust 6now *heir 'nemy

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our

struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against thepowers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.!phesians "#11%1@

; Foulkes, F. 81=0=9. Ephesians: an introdu"tion and "ommentary8ol. 1$, p. 1>/9. owners Grove, L#nterarsity Press.


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crucial part of every army is the intelligence department. hose who work in intel gather informationabout the enemy so the army can be e7uipped and prepared. n !phesians "#11%1@, !aul gives intelabout our enemyso we can be eHuipped to stand firm in this war.

Paul mentions the devils schemes8v.119. he word 7schemes: in the $reek is 3methodia,: from which

we get the !nglish word 7method.: t carries the idea of craftiness, cunning, and deception. t was used of a7wild animal who cunningly stalked and then unexpectedly pounced on its prey. atan3s evilschemesare built around stealth and deception.:/

Paul said this about the devil3s schemes in @ *orinthians @#11, 7 in order that -atan might not outwit us. 'orwe are not unaware of his s"hemes.*n order for believers to not be outwitted and to stand firm, theymust know their enemy and his schemes.

%nterpretation Question:+hat are some of the devil3s schemes2his methods(

1. he devil uses accusation.

he name devil means accuser. Cne of the devil3s primary tactics against believers is using accusationand condemnation.e a""uses God to our ears#slandering his goodnessand his faithfulness.


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enough, tall enough, tan enough, light enough, etc. +e live in a world of discouragement#messedup priorities and death instead of life.his is because theworld is based on the lies of the devil.

e also de"eives people aboutthe ord of God. he church is full of false teachings and cults becauseof the lies and deception of the devil. econd *orinthians 11#1;%1/ says, 7nd no wonder, for -atan

himself mas/uerades as an angel of light. %t is not surprising, then, if his servants mas/uerade as servantsof righteousness. 0heir end will be what their a"tions deserve.*e and his servants twist $ods Word#creating false teachings#or lead people to doubt $ods Word all together. hey doubt that its divineand believe that it is full of errors#which ultimately leads them away from believing in )hrist and$od all together. he devil works through deception.

&. he devil uses persecution and fear of persecution.

hough the devil3s favorite tactic is using deception as a serpent, he often shows up as a lion seekingto incite fear and to destroy. First Peter /#0 says, 7Be self1"ontrolled and alert. 2our enemy the devilprowls around li$e a roaring lion loo$ing for someone to devour.*

n many nations around the world, he works to 7uiet believers or turn them away from $od throughfear of persecution.e roars so believerswill be 7uiet about their faith instead of being the boldwitnesses they are called to be.*hrist describes the end times as a time of persecution and a timewhere many fall away from the faith because of it.


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opens the door for the enemy in our lives . !phesians ;#@> talks about howanger gives the devil afoothold. 4ut this is also true about lying, stealing, lust, ungodly talk, ungodly thoughts, andunforgiveness. he devil works through our flesh.

+e get a good picture of this in the story of )hrist rebuking Satan while talking to !eter.


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he important point is that our battle is not against human beings . t is against spiritual powers.+e arewasting our time fighting people when we ought to be fighting the devil who seeks tocontrol people and make them oppose the work ofGod he advice of the Ming of yria to hissoldiers can be applied to our spiritual battle# 7Fight neither with small nor great, save only with

the king4 0 6ings


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he spiritual forces of wickednessare possibly those demons who are involved in the mostwretched and vile immoralities2such as e)tremely perverse sexual practices, the occult, Satanworship, and the like.11

+hat else can we discern about our enemy(

>. he devil wants to kill us.

+hen Paul said our 7struggle is not against flesh and blood,: the word 7struggle: was used of hand tohand combat#especially wrestling. owever, wrestling in the ancient world was often a fight to thedeath.1@his wrestling isn3t for sportJ it is a deathlycombat. he devil and his demons dont want to @usttempt and lead us into sin; they ultimately want to kill and destroy us . 6esus said this about atan in6ohn 1$#1$, 70he thief "omes only to steal and $ill and destroy! % have "ome that they may have life, andhave it to the full.:

When he leads people into ungodly language, secular thinking, selfishness, or compromise, though

these may seem harmless, he ultimatelywants to lead people into their destruction or others. he devilis nobody to play with#he is a destroyer.

he only reason he has not killed us is because $od is the ultimate sovereign. s in the story of 6ob,$od sets the boundaries on how far the enemy can go. f he cannot kill us, he is content to attackour body, our sleep, our @oy, our peace, our testimony, and our callings#with the hope ofdestroying them. Cur enemy is a murderer, and our only hope is our hepherd26esus.

0. he devil often attacks in an overwhelming manner.

Paul says for us to put on the full armor of God so that we may stand in the 7day of evil4 or the 3evil day:8v. 1&9.


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herefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able tostand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.!phesians "#1&

s mentioned, Paul mentions standing firm three timesin this passageJ however, it must be rememberedthat this standing is not a passive defensive stance. t is, in fact, active and offensive. !phesians "#1>and 1=, tells us so. *onsider these verses#

ake the helmet of salvation and the sword of the -pirit, which is the word of GodPray also for me,that whenever open my mouth, words may be given me so that will fearlessly ma$e $nown themystery of the gospel,

*he sword was not primarily a defensive weapon but an offensive one. s we share the +ord of Godwith others, we are being offensive. n fact, Paul prays for grace in sharing the gospel with others.

t has been said that the best defense is a great offense. +hen the enemy is constantly being attacked,it is hard to mount an effective offense because they are focused on defense. Similarly, when !aul wasgoing throughout the $entile world spreading the gospel, he was fighting against darkness . e wassetting captives of atan free by leading them to *hrist. e was exposing the Aoman world to light sothat darkness began to flee, and it must be the same for us.

+e also see this offensive illustration in )hrists words about building his church in atthew 9+B.t says, 7nd % tell you that you are Peter, and on this ro"$ % will build my "hur"h, and the gates of ades willnot over"ome it.: he gates of ades not prevailing is an offensive picture of the church. hey aretaking the battering ram of the gospel and breaking down the gates of ades in communities, cities,and nations. his is a proper picture of God3s will for the church in this war.

ppli"ation Question:ow can believers properly fight this spiritual battle(

1. +e must know what we are fighting for.

n war, a soldier fights to protect his home, his family, his country, and his freedom.hose thingsmotivate him. t must be the same for believers. Without knowing what we are fighting for, the spirituallife often becomes dreary and lifeless.

ppli"ation Question:+hat should believers fight for(

4elievers fight to save the souls of the lost.

6esus said this to Paul about his calling as an apostle in cts @"#1>%10#

will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. - am sending you to them to opentheir eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to $od, so thatthey may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among thosewho are sanctified by faith inme.3


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imilarly, *hristians must recogni?e that they are on a rescue mission to save the lost from eternaldarkness.

4elievers fight to please $od and be rewarded by him.

*onsider these verses#

+atch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.@ 6ohn 1#0

Bo, beat my body and make it my slave so that after have preached to others, myself will notbe disHualified for the pri-e.1 *orinthians =#@>

6ohn called )hristians to be careful to not lose their reward2but to seek a full reward fromGod.

imilarly, Paul was not afraid of losing his salvation, but his reward and ultimately his usefulness to$od. +e fight to please $od and to be rewarded by him. 4elievers with no desire to please $od willnot fight#they will remain spiritually lethargic.

4elievers fight to glorify $od with their lives.

First *orinthians 1$#&1 says, 7-o whether you eat or drin$ or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.:!ven this war is for the glory of $od. +hen *hristwent into the temple and turned over tables, ?ealfor $ods house consumedhim 86ohn @#1>9. e was consumed with the glory of $od. imilarly, wefight because we are consumed with the glory of God as well. & person not consumed with $ods glorywill not fight.

ow else can believers fight this battle(

@. +e must know the war is won and fight with *hrist3s authority.

nother important reality that every believer must understand when fighting this battle is that the waris already won. herefore, we are not fighting to win, but because weve won.+e see this taught inmany te)ts#

pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope towhich he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably

great power for us who believe. hat power is like the working of his mighty strength, which hee)erted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in theheavenly realms far above all rule and authority power and dominion and every title thatcan be givennot only in the present age but also in the one to come. nd God placed all thingsunder his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,!phesians 1#10%@@


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&nd having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them,triumphing over them by the cross.*olossians @#1/

*his is important to understand so that we dont 7uit and dont become discouraged in the spiritual

battle. *hrist already won this battle on the cross. atan2the serpent#bit his heal but (esus crushedhis head in his death and resurrection8cf. Gen @#1/9. e disarmed the powers and authorities andwas raised up in authority over them. *hristians must remember this.

his is why when Paul encountered those possessed with demons, he cast them out in (esus name8cts 1"#109. e declared )hrists authority over them. We must walk in this reality as well . *hrist isseated in authority over the demonic; he disarmed the devil, and he has placed us in authority overthem as well#because we are in )hrist8!ph @#/9.

s Paul did, there may be times where you need to rebuke the devil in (esus name#in his authority .Dou may have to pray this over people stuck in spiritual depression 0 Sam 9+C2, habitual sins 0'ph

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(ephesians 6:10-13) standing firm in spiritual warfare

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