Ephesians - God's Armor for the Battle - Part 1 - Ephesians 6:10-20

We are told to get the gospel to the ends of the earth. And if we are not wearing the armor and depending on the energy of God, that job is not going to be done. We're fighting a serious battle.

And now let's bow to pray. Gracious Father, we always need the work of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, or else the word of God does not come alive to us as it should. And so help us today, fill with your Spirit. Beyond the sacred page we seek thee, Lord. Our spirits pant for thee, thou living word. Nurture us and challenge us and convict us and cleanse us as we open your word, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. That's Ephesians 6:10 and he's writing to Christian people. And from Ephesians 6:10 down through Ephesians 6:20, Paul is describing for us what we call the whole armor of God. In fact, Paul calls it that, the whole armor of God. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. That word wiles means the schemes of the devil, the devices of the devil, the strategy of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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.

Now you notice the emphasis on standing. Ephesians 6:11, stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:13, withstand in the evil day, and then when that phase of the battle is over, having done all to stand. Then Ephesians 6:14 he says, stand therefore, and he begins to describe the various parts of the armor that God provides for us.

Now in these verses, Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul gives us the three essentials for spiritual victory. Now they're very simple: we must know the enemy, we must depend on the energy, and we must use the equipment. Now it's not hard to remember because this is the way it works in any battle. If you're a soldier, a sailor, a marine, coast guard, whatever it is, if you're out there in a battle, there are three essentials for victory. Number one is intelligence; you must know the enemy. Number two is you must have the energy, the strength to be able to fight and to stand. And thirdly, you must use the equipment that is provided for you.

Now he tells us who the enemy is in Ephesians 6:10-12. And of course, in the rest of the verses tells us more about the enemy as we study the parts of the armor. You see, the parts of the armor meet the attacks of the devil. Because the devil is an accuser, we need the breastplate of righteousness. And because he is a divider and an attacker, we need the gospel of peace, the shoes of the gospel of peace, and so on. We must know the enemy, we must depend on the energy that God provides. Ephesians 6:10, be strong in the Lord. Ephesians 6:13, take up the whole armor of God. And then down in Ephesians 6:18, praying always. That's where the energy comes from, doesn't it? We must know the enemy, we must depend on the energy, and we must use the equipment God gives to us. Without the equipment that God gives to us, we are vulnerable and we are defeated. We cannot stand and withstand in our own strength.

Now at this point it might be good for us to review the position of the Christian in the book of Ephesians. In the first three chapters, he's talked about our position with Christ in the heavenlies, seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Our position is one of victory. Far above all principality and power and above every name that is named, says Ephesians 1:21. We are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. That's our position of victory. We do not fight for victory, we fight from victory. We have already defeated the foe through our identification with the Lord Jesus Christ. All we have to do now is follow him in victory, and this is the victory that overcomes even our faith.

Now in chapters four and five, the emphasis is not on being seated with Christ; rather, it is on walking in Christ. Walk in love, Ephesians 5:2 tells us. Ephesians 4 says walk worthy of your calling, walk as children of light, walk in wisdom. The emphasis in chapters four and five is on our walk in Christ. Now chapter six, it's our stand. We take our stand against the wiles of the devil. It's also important to remember in chapter three that Paul bowed his knee. Ephesians 3:14, for this cause also I bow my knees. Now the way that you and I translate our position into our practice is through prayer. I can't emphasize enough that prayer is the means by which we put on the whole armor of God. In fact, Ephesians 6:18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, should be translated, "by means of praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." How do you get the energy to fight the devil? Through prayer. How do we get the equipment on our spiritual being? How do you put on the armor of God? Through prayer. And therefore, it is important that we better understand what this is all about.

Let's begin now with Ephesians 6:10-12. We must know the enemy. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Here's a surprise: he's writing to Christians about the devil. He's writing to believers in the assemblies in Ephesus about the devil. Why? Why not write to the people who were in the occult? There were plenty of those in Ephesus. Magic and the occult was a big thing in the city of Ephesus. You'll recall when Paul ministered there, the believers brought their books of magic and all of these special omens and things that they had and they burned them. Magic was a big thing. Why not say to these Christians, now you brethren in Christ, you sisters in Christ, watch out for these outsiders because the devil is working in their lives. No, he writes to Christians. Why? Because Satan works in the church when believers are not obeying the Lord.

Now that may shock you. Oh, you say, how could Satan ever work through a believer? Well, he worked through Peter. The Lord Jesus told his disciples that he was going to go to the cross and die. And Peter got him off to one side and said, pity yourself, Lord, this will never happen to you. And what did Jesus say to the apostle? The number one apostle on the list, what did he say? Get behind me, Peter, get behind me, Simon? No, no. He said, get behind me, Satan, adversary! Satan was thinking and speaking through Peter.

That shocks people, but Satan can go to work in the lives of unbelievers. Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira undoubtedly were believing people. They were Christians. But they lied to the Holy Spirit and they listened to the devil and they became deceivers, and of course God disciplined them by taking their lives. Satan works in the church through the people of God who don't understand the wiles of the devil, who are not yielded to the Holy Spirit, who are not wearing the armor of God. As long as Satan is outside the church, I'm not going to worry too much. But when he gets inside the church, into the pulpit, into the choir loft, into the board meeting, then we're going to have trouble. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Now here's another surprise: our problem is not human beings, it is spirit beings. Ephesians 6:12, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood.

There's a pastor listening to me now who has some problem members in his church, and you say oh, I just wish they'd leave. Well, where do you want to send them? Is there some other church in town you want to send them to? Then you just transfer the problem. Your problem is not that man and woman or that board member or that staff member. Your problem is Satan who is using that person. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood. And confronting the problems in the church only on the basis of flesh and blood will never solve those problems completely. We have to go over their heads and deal with them in the realm of the spirit. We're not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age.

Satan is identified with darkness. When they arrested the Lord Jesus, he said this is your hour and the power of darkness. Satan filled Judas and Judas went out and John tells us, and it was night. Hell, the home of the devil, is outer darkness. The devil keeps people in the dark. When you have the light of the word of God shining into your mind and your heart, then Satan has a problem getting into your system and leading you astray. Whenever you and I believe a lie, Satan is in control. When we believe God's truth, the Holy Spirit is in control. If we doubt the Bible, Satan moves in, we give him a beachhead. If we obey and believe the Bible, the Holy Spirit moves in and gives us power.

Ephesians 6:12 tells me that Satan has a whole army, a hierarchy of spirit beings and they are in the heavenly places. Now here's another remarkable surprise. Surprise number one, the Lord writes through Paul to the Ephesian church and says your problem is not people, it's spirit beings. It's in the church, not outside the church, and it's in the heavenly realms, not on earth. Oh, people say if we could just straighten things out on earth.

Wait a minute, there's a battle going on in the heavenly realms. Now Satan has access to heaven, and Job tells us that, Job 1 and Job 2. Satan has access to heaven. Zechariah 3, Satan accuses us in heaven. Revelation 12:10, he's the accuser. There's a battle going on not in the board meeting but in the heavenlies. And you and I are not going to win that battle simply by confronting flesh and blood on earth. We have to deal with spirit beings in the heavenlies, and we're not capable of doing this ourselves. We must know who the enemy is: Satan. We must know where the enemy is: he's working through the church when people will not surrender to the Lord. He's working in the heavenly realms.

Paul's not writing about abstract evil, he's writing about a real person, Satan, who hates us. He's a murderer, he's a liar, he's an accuser, he's a roaring lion, he's a hissing serpent, he's the prince of darkness, he's the god of this age. He is our enemy and he uses people to accomplish his purposes. He's strong, he's subtle, he's organized, he's wise. No wonder he's winning the battle, because the church today doesn't know its own strength, the church does not follow the wisdom of the Lord, the church does not take its stand. The church is divided, it's not well organized. Can you imagine an army going out to battle with a hundred different generals telling them what to do? The church today needs to be following the Captain of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ, as he leads us on to victory. We must know the enemy.

Now secondly, we must use the energy, depend on the energy that God gives to us. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. Not strong in yourself, not strong in your experience. Peter was so strong in himself. He'd been walking with the Lord now for several months and he was strong in himself and he was sure that he could go through the experiences and win the victory, and he failed miserably. He denied the Lord three times. Don't be depending on your own strength. When we are weak, then God is strong in and through us.

Now it's God's power, not our power. And we need to be strong. Why do we need to be strong? Because the enemy is strong. We are dealing here with Lucifer. We are dealing here with that roaring lion who is strong, with that hissing serpent who is subtle. He has wiles and strategy that you and I know nothing about. The enemy is strong and the day is evil. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. Everything in this world cooperates with the devil to bring about our defeat, except the people of God who are walking with the Lord.

Remember one of the themes of Ephesians is God is putting things together. Ephesians 1:10, God in Jesus Christ is putting things together. He's reconciling sinners to God, he's reconciling Jews and Gentiles, all races, all nationalities, all colors in the church. He's reconciling husbands and wives and parents and children. There's one place where there is no reconciliation, no truce, no peace, no agreement. That's in Ephesians 6. We stand against the wiles of the devil.

Why should we be strong? Because the enemy is strong, because the day is evil, because the outcome is serious. Oh, do you realize what a serious thing it is to be a Christian in this evil day? I meet these Christians who are sauntering through life instead of marching. They're lounging their way through life, wasting their time, wasting their energy, wasting their money. There is a battle going on, and far too many of God's people are either victims on the battlefield or spectators watching everybody else who is fighting in the battle. That's tragedy.

The outcome is serious. We are told to get the gospel to the ends of the earth. And if we are not wearing the armor and depending on the energy of God, that job is not going to be done. We're fighting a serious battle. There's a battle going on in the minds of men. We have to tear down the walls of prejudice and superstition and spiritual ignorance. We must bring light into the dark minds and hearts of people. And some of God's people are just lounging their way through life. They've retired from the battle, and they are the ones who are working for the enemy. The outcome is serious to God and to you and to other people. And the victory has been paid for very dearly. In order for us to have this armor and this energy and to be able to stand against the enemy, we had to come to the cross and Jesus had to die on that cross. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. And the only victory we have is the victory that comes through the Lord Jesus.

Now he talks about this energy in Ephesians 6:18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Always, that means you keep on praying. All prayer, different kinds of prayer: prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of adoration, prayers of supplication, prayers of petition. Always, all prayer in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is the spirit of prayer and supplication. He is interceding according to Romans 8:26-27. He's interceding according to the will of God. As we pray in the Spirit, there's a fire on the altar that burns and we're able to pray with power. Praying with our eyes open, watching and praying, being careful. Why? Satan can invade the prayer closet. We've got to be very careful how we pray. Praying for all the saints.

Notice the universals here: praying always, praying with all kinds of prayer, praying for all the saints, not just all the Baptists or Presbyterians, all the saints. Why? Because all of us are involved in this battle. The devil loves selfish praying. Well, we must know the enemy and respect him. We must depend on the energy that God gives us, and that energy comes from prayer. As we pray, God's power goes to work in our lives. And we must use the equipment that God provides. That will be our next study. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.