Sermon Tone Analysis

The Christian Life As Warfare: Background

* *

*Illustration**: *A person owned a hummingbird feeder with four feeding stations.

It became popular with the hummingbirds living in the area.

Two, three, or even four birds would feed at one time.

The feeder was refilled at least once a day.

Suddenly, the usage decreased to almost nothing.

The feeder needed filling only about once a week.

The reason for the decreased usage soon became apparent.

A male bird had taken over the feeder as his property.

He became the only hummingbird who used the feeder.

He would feed and then sit in a nearby tree, rising to attack any bird that approached his feeder.

Guard duty occupied his every waking hour.

He became an effective guard.

The only time another bird gets to use the feeder was when the self-appointed owner was momentarily gone to chase away an intruder.

By choosing to assume ownership of the feeder, he forfeited his freedom.

He was no longer free to come and go as he wished.

He became tied to the work of guarding his feeder.

He was possessed by his possession.

His freedom of action is as circumscribed as if he were in a cage.

He was caged by the situation he created.

When we entangle ourselves in sin, we become captives to our situation.

Spiritually, we are living in a cage.

God desires us to "soar" on wings like an eagle's (Is.

40:31), but instead, we become entrapped to sin, unable to live in freedom as God desires.

Our enslavement is cause by one thing: Deception by our enemy: Satan.

When you take away the devil's "power" to deceive, he is then rendered powerless.

Indeed, Satan is engaged in a full scale war to deceive us, so that we will spend eternity separated from God.

Because Satan is waging war against us, we are daily involved in spiritual warfare.

Yes, we are in a battle -- we are soldiers -- drafted into this spiritual warfare, whether we want to or not.

Therefore, I would like to present a series on "Spiritual Warfare," that will help us to defeat Satan in battle and to live a victorious Christian life.

In this first sermon, I will set the stage, by looking at Ephesians as an orientation about the Christian life as to why spiritual warfare is essential.

Then, in the next three sermons, I will present our spiritual weapons and equipment, that we, as good soldiers can equip ourselves and take into battle to enable us to defeat our enemy.

Finally, I will talk about the "payoff," that is, what is our destiny -- our reward for winning this battle, and what is the destiny of those who loose the battle.

*Theme: In this message, I will cover three areas that provide a background to Spiritual Warfare.*

The text I will be using is Ephesians 6:10-18.

Let's read all of it to get an overall picture, then go back and look at verses 10-12.

*Eph 6:10-18: 10  "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

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

12  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 the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

13  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

14       Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  15  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

16  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  18  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

(NIV)*

 

*I.

City: Ephesus*

 

Ephesus was the capital city a population of at least a quarter million people.

It was a religious center and had strategic influence over all of Asia Minor.

It had also been Paul’s base of operation during his nearly three-year stay in the province.

Ephesus: Had a reputation for being a center for magical practices.

Ephesus was also a city famous for its patron deity, Artemis of Ephesus.

The Ephesian Artemis was worshiped as a goddess of the underworld.

She was also believed to wield effective power over the spirits in nature* *and wildlife.

The signs of the zodiac on her cultic image reassured her worshipers that she was a cosmic deity who had influence over the astral spirits who controlled the unfolding of fate.

Ephesus was not only the city of Artemis; at least forty-four other deities were worshiped in this city.

It was precisely these kind of people -- magical practitioners and worshipers of Artemis and countless other gods -- who were becoming Christians and joining the churches in the area.

It is too easy to read the book of Ephesians through our own cultural lenses and fail to grasp the nature and magnitude of the issues facing these young first-century Christians.

Although the Ephesian Christians would have longed to give their devotion to Christ, the pull to syncretize their Christianity with other practices and beliefs would have been intense.

With regard to the issue of the demonic, the Ephesian readers had far more in common with non-Western cultures than they do with those in the West.

The basic issues were the same throughout these western Asian churches.

These new believers needed help in developing a Christian world view.

They especially needed to know how to respond to the gods and goddesses they had formerly worshiped and the var­ious astral, terrestrial and underworld spirits they had feared.

Paul wanted his readers to entertain no doubt that Christ is superior to the powers they feared and had once served.

Knowing that his readers would be tempted to doubt the superiority and all-sufficiency of Christ,

Paul prayed that God would open their eyes so they could see the incomparably great power of the God of the Lord Jesus Christ.

His prayer became an elaboration on the mighty power of God: “/That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms/.”

(1:19b-20)

 

Paul did not stop here.

He went on to draw the implications of the exaltation of Christ to the status of the powers.

Christ is “/far above all rule and authority, power and domin­ion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come/.”

(1:21)

 

The powers are especially in view when Paul says, “/God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church/” (Eph 1:19-22).

*II.

**Conquest: Christ is exalted and we are able to have conquest over the enemy.*

* *

Anticipating his summons to spiritual warfare, Paul prayed for God’s strength to be imparted to all of his believing readers.

He prayed that “/out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being/” (Eph 3:16).

Having prayed for them, he can then admonish his readers at the end of the letter to “/be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power/” (Eph 6:10).

God’s power is essential not only for resisting the influence of the powers of Satan, but also for manifesting love in the Christian com­munity and living according to the ethical standards that Paul laid down.

The mighty resurrection power of God is available to believers.

* *

* *

*Illustration: *In his book Forever Triumphant, F.J. Huegel told a story that came out of World War II.

After General Jonathan Wainwright was captured by the Japanese, he was held prisoner in a Manchurian concentration camp.

Cruelly treated, he became "a broken, crushed, hopeless, starving man."

Finally the Japanese surrendered and the war ended.

A United States army colonel was sent to the camp to announce personally to the general that Japan had been defeated and that he was free and in command.

After Wainwright heard the news, he returned to his quarters and was confronted by some guards who began to mistreat him as they had done in the past.

Wainwright, however, with the news of the allied victory still fresh in his mind, declared with authority, "No, I am in command here!

These are my orders."

Huegel observed that from that moment on, General Wainwright was in control.

Huegel made this application: "Have you been informed of the victory of your Savior in the greatest conflict of the ages?

Then rise up to assert your rights.

Never again go under when the enemy comes to oppress.

Claim the victory in Jesus' Name."

Huegel observed, "We must learn to stand on resurrection ground, reckoning dead the old-creation life over which Satan has power, and living in the new creation over which Satan has no power whatever."

Paul encouraged Christians to draw on this power for daily living -- to stand on resurrection ground and live a life where Satan has no power!

In Asia Minor the believers had to develop an entirely new perspective on divine power.

Their perverted understanding of the supernatural needed to be purified by growing in the knowledge of the one true God and why He would impart His power to people.

*First*, the source of this power is new.

They have been reconciled to Yahweh, the “one God and Father of all” (Eph 4:5).

He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but also the God of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is supreme and has no competitors.