Spiritual Warfare
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This study of spiritual warfare I am sure is a puzzling one. Its a topic that may be overlooked, or a topic that we honestly do not give much thought too.
To understand why Paul discussed this topic, we need to see what Paul has discussed in the book of Ephesians.
is Paul telling these believers the basis of their salvation. You see the language of chosen and election that he knows us individually. The Spirit seals us
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
In Ephesians two, we see the nature of our spiritual condition of our nature, but God intervened.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
You get to the next section and we see how we are all united in Christ. We are one in Christ.
the mystery of the gospel revealed to us that we may have access and confidence in Christ.
Later in the chapter we see him praying for their spiritual strength which is a prayer I think we all should learn from, but not our study.
he hits the topic of unity today. Unity is important for the Christian, but then the new life of the believer,
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Then you get to chapter 5 and there’s more truth
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
We get to how we are to be full of the Holy Spirit and how husbands are to treat wives.
And then there is chapter six. A bunch of theological truth just then for this.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 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. 13 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.
Then this. The ugly slap of reality. The war with the devil. The beautiful life to be lived out in Ephesians is in the middle of a war with the devil.
This is a necessary reality for us who want to live out the truths of the Bible.
The question is for us is do we live in a unconscious disbelief of the war we are in?
Do you believe that life is a battle? How have you experienced that recently?
As this passage teaches
The Preparation
The Preparation
Ultimately, strength in the Christian life comes from God.
Our own strength is never sufficient to oppose Satan.
It is not the amount the strength, but where that strength comes from.
The Provision: The Armor of God
The Provision: The Armor of God
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
God has given us his armor to stand against the devil. We will go over each piece of armor over the coming months, but two points here.
Put On
Put On
The verb here carries the idea of permanence. This armor is not to be put on and then taken off when we feel like it. We put it on and we keep it on.
Stand against or stand firm
Stand against or stand firm
You will hear many different military illustrations as Paul when writing this is chained up on house arrest to a Roman soldier. He has the visual picture right in front of him as he is writing this letter.
The Enemy: Satan
The Enemy: Satan
The truth and reality of it is that Satan hates God, and he will attack his people.
This struggle is supernatural
This struggle is supernatural
Its as if it is a hand to hand fight swaying back and forth. This struggle is personal, and it is fought in and by our own flesh.
Look at verse 12
12 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.
Here’s the issue, these spiritual evil forces inhabit the heavenly realms. They do not go where Christ is seated, but under that.
The devil and his servants are the rulers of the air.
12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia,
12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia
Bottom line Satan is terribly powerful.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
Do you take seriously the reality of Satan’s role in the conflict? How does that impact the way you approach difficult situations?
Does Satan more effectively tempt you by showing you the seductive attractiveness of sin or by threatening to overpower you? How have you experienced these different modes of temptation?
Satan’s strongest desire is to be like God. He is not omnipotent and omnipresent like God, but he tries to. His lieutenants there are positioned in the world’s culture to be most effective.
Here’s another important point to be made about Satan. We know that that we are fully sinful. There is no one good no not one. Every part of our nature is tainted by sin, but this does not mean we are as bad as we could be.
Some humans fall deeper into depravity than others.
Satan cannot. There is no conscience, no compassion, no remorse, no morals. He feeds on pain and anguish and filth.
The enemy we wrestle there is nothing redeemable.
Verse 11 talks about the “schemes of the devil”
He has been honing his methods for thousands of years. He has visited the different councils, churches, cultural centers of the world.
He is accomplished. He is the best philosopher, theologian, psychologist. He knows more about humanity than we do, and he has had thousands of years to study us. He is the ultimate manipulator.
Its bad enough that our flesh is set against us, but Satan against us makes the fight harder.
What are Satan’s methods today?
Its bad enough that our flesh is set against us, but Satan against us makes the fight harder.
To wrap up thought I want to focus on the armor that God has given us.
We believe that Jesus who was fully God and fully man. He lived a life with no sin, and he did relying on everything we have today to fight sin. He submitted himself to the Holy Spirit. He went to the synagogues to listen to preaching of the law. He read the law, and he would pray and fast. He also had the armor of God.
The book says, “What God clothes us with is nothing less than his own armor, the same armor that Christ has already worn on our behalf in his lifelong struggle with the mortal enemy of our souls, Satan, and himself.”
“You are called to wear God’s armor because that is what Jesus has already done, wearing God’s armor all the way to the cross.”
The armor we are called to wear was worn by our Lord and Savior Jesus. He stood against the schemes of the devil, the temptation of sin.
The power of Satan is great, but the power of God is greater.
The same Spirit that was within Jesus empowering him to live the way he did, and that same Spirit rose Jesus from the dead.
Why does it matter that the power God has equipped us with is the same power that raised Christ from the dead?
What difference does it make to the sanctification process if we really believe that it is God’s work from beginning to end? Why it is important that Jesus wore spiritual armor first?
Preaching the Word: Ephesians—The Mystery of the Body of Christ The Heartening Realities of Paul’s Cosmic Perspective
First: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” (v. 10). This is a passive imperative: be made strong in the Lord, find your strength in him. We cannot fight Satan ourselves. All our own doing will be in vain. Nevertheless there is something we can do, and that is to avail ourselves of the Lord’s strength.