The Armor Of God | Part II: The Source Of Our Authority | Ephesians 6:10-11

THE ARMOR OF GOD | PART II: THE SOURCE OF OUR AUTHORITY | EPHESIANS 6:10-11

INTRODUCTION

As we learned last week, there is a being called Satan, and he controls the evil kingdom of demonic forces in this world. He and his demons are doing all they can to undermine the work of God.
However, in (v. 10) we see the word, “Finally!” That word indicates the last major section of the book of Ephesians. As Paul nears the end of this book, he closes with a final series of admonitions and challenges his readers to open their eyes to spiritual warfare.
He calls them to be sure they are on the right foundation and right relationship, wearing the right spiritual garments, fighting the right enemies, and trusting the right Lord.
The passage tells us how to avoid falling prey to the schemes of the devil and his demons, and how to achieve success in the spiritual battles of life by being strong IN the Lord and IN His mighty power!

I. The SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH: (v. 10)

If we are going to be victorious in spiritual warfare, we must face them in the power of God and not in our own power. This verse tells us the source of our power and strength.
This verse says, “be strong in the Lord.” That means that any spiritual strength we can ever hope to possess must come from Christ. Spiritual power can only be ours through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
This means that just as we trust Jesus to save us, we must trust Him to give us the spiritual power we so desperately need. Just as we need His righteousness to enter Heaven, we need His power of we are going to stand against the attacks of the devil.
The word “mighty” (NIV) has the idea of “force and strength.” It speaks of someone who possesses “absolute ability.” The word “power” refers to “dominion.” It speaks of the power to “complete and perfect” something.
These two words describe the kind of power we need if we are going to experience victory in the spiritual battles we face. If we try to stand against Satan and his forces in our own power, we will fail.
What happens when we fail to have a personal relationship with Jesus and take on spiritual warfare? (Acts 19:13-16). Therefore, we can conclude it is not the Name of the Lord Jesus alone that has power, but the relationship with the Name of the Lord Jesus there is power!
Where do we get this power? When Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead, He defeated Satan and all his works. That means this war is already over, and Jesus has already won it!
Our power comes from simply being “in” Jesus and doing things “through” Jesus! When we are “in” Jesus by faith, saved by His grace, and we become a partaker of His power, His strength, and His ability, we can do anything!
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13), “we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Rom. 8:37), and “thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57).
If there is to be any spiritual power, any spiritual victory, it must come from the Lord Jesus. It is His strength and His power! It must be given to us by the Lord.
True spiritual power will only come to those who are “strong in the Lord and in His mighty power!”

II. The SOURCE OF OUR STABILITY: (v. 11)

This verse teaches us the truth that it is possible for us to “stand” against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
When Paul says, “put on the full armor of God”, (illus. pic of full armor) it literally means “to take up the whole armor of God.” It is the image of a soldier being presented with everything he needs to fight the battle.
The armor is arrayed about him, lying at his feet, all he needs do is pick it up and put it on. Everything he needs has been provided, but it must be appropriated, if that soldier expects to fight well and if he expects to survive the conflict.
If we expect to “stand” against the schemes of the devil, we must “resist,” and tap into a reserve of power greater than ourselves and greater than the devil.
The devil is the source of evil schemes, and the armor of God is our source of our stability when attacked with those schemes (Gr. Schemes or wiles = Methodia or methods).
Evil scheming came when an angel named Lucifer became prideful of his beauty and determined that he would be god, and that he would exalt himself above the throne of God (Isa. 14:12-17).
Satan was defeated and cast out of heaven, along with one-third of the angels (Isa. 14:12; Rev. 12:3-4). Those fallen angels are demons, and Satan still does all he can to dethrone God and to rob God of His glory.
The devil is very cunning and deceptive. He has had 6000 years to perfect his trade, and with the heart of mankind fallen, it is rather easy and predictable for him to trick us with his wiles, schemes, and methods.
Here are seven schemes of the devil with unbelievers: 1) blinds their minds (2 Cor. 4:4), 2) snatches away the good seed of the Word (Matt. 13:19), 3) sets traps for the unsuspecting (2 Tim. 2:26a), 4) takes them captive to do his will (2 Tim. 2:26b), 5) masquerades as an angel of light and his servants as servants of righteousness (2 Cor 11:13-14), 6) leads the whole world astray (Rev 12:9), and 7) mixing truth with error (Matt. 13:25-8).
Here are seven schemes of the devil with believers: 1) to neutralize the witness of the church from within with lies, pride, and deception (Acts 5:1-6), 2) to bring persecution to the church from the world (Acts 8:1-3), 3) to disturb the unity of the church by creating discord and division (2 Cor. 12:20), 4) to cause the church to become apostate (1 Tim. 4:1a) 5) to infiltrate the church with false teachers that teach doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4:1b), 6) to cause the church to no longer endure sound doctrine (2 Tim. 4: 1-3), 7), and to have false teachers exploit the church with fabricated stories (1 Peter 2:1-2).
The devil has his many schemes, but ultimately they can be summed up in 4 categories: 1) to diminish the work of God, 2) to discredit the Word of God, 3), to deceive the Church of God, and 4) to destroy the creation of God.

CONCLUSION

A man had a 2-story house. He heard a knocking, opened the door, and found Jesus there. So, he invited Him to live in the house and gave Him a room on the top floor. Jesus will only take what you give Him. That night the man was sleeping and heard a pounding on the door, cracked the door open and the devil barged in. He had a terrible fight, trying to resist the devil and his temptations, yelling out to Jesus for help all the time. Eventually, he managed to throw the devil out.

In the morning, he said, "Why didn't you help me last night? Couldn't you hear me calling for help?" Jesus said, "The problem is, you've got this whole big house to yourself, and I've only got one room." The man said, "Ah, I see your point. You can have the whole top floor, and I'll keep the bottom floor."

The next night the man was sleeping and heard a pounding on the door, cracked the door open and the devil barged in again. He had another terrible fight, trying to resist the devil and his temptations, yelling out to Jesus for help all the time. Eventually, he managed to throw the devil out.

In the morning, he said to Jesus, "Why didn't you help me last night? Couldn't you hear me calling for help?" Jesus said, "The problem is, I have the top floor, but you still have the bottom floor to yourself." The man replied, "Ah, I see what you mean. From now on, the whole house is yours."

That night, the man was asleep, and there was a pounding at the door again. This time Jesus went to the door, opened it wide, and stood in the doorway. The devil looked at Jesus and said, "Oh! I am sorry, but I think I knocked on the wrong door."

The victory is ours in spiritual warfare! When the devil comes a knocking, we just have to “be strong in the Lord and stand in His mighty power”. Amen?