Sermon Tone Analysis

!!! Armed For Warfare

Ephesians 6:10-20 (NIV)

!!! Introduction

Understanding the invasion of the enemy, the battle instructions from God and the equipment in your inventory to defeat the enemy.

The NT does have a developed doctrine of Satan, and he comes with a whole list of names: Satan (Hebrew for “accuser”), devil (the Greek translation of Satan), Beliar, Beelzebul, the Adversary, the Dragon, the Enemy, the Serpent, the Tester, and the Wicked One.

Satan is pictured as the ruler of a host of angels (Mt 25:41) and the controller of the world (Lk 4:6; Acts 26:18; 2 Cor 4:4), who especially governs all who are not Christians (Mk 4:15; Jn 8:44; Acts 13:10; Col 1:13).

He is opposed to God and seeks to alienate all men from God; therefore he is a specially dangerous foe of Christians (Lk 8:33; 1 Cor 7:5; 1 Pt 5:8) who must steadfastly resist him and see through his cunning (2 Cor 2:11; Eph 6:11; Jas 4:7).

Satan works his evil will by tempting persons (Jn 13:2; Acts 5:3), by hindering God’s workers (1 Thes 2:18), by accusing Christians before God (Rv 12:10), and by controlling the evil persons who resist the gospel, (Rv 2:9, 13 esp.

the anti-Christ, 2 Thes 2:9; Rv 13:2).

Most importantly, however, the NT teaches us that this being who has been evil from the beginning (1 Jn 3:8) has now been bound and cast out of heaven through the ministry of Jesus (Lk 10:18; Rv 12).

While Satan is still a dangerous enemy, Jesus himself prays for us and has given us the powerful weapons of prayer, faith, and his blood.

Satan can still cause physical illness when allowed by God (2 Cor 12:7) and persons can be delivered over to him for chastening (1 Cor 5:5; 1 Tm 1:20), but that can be for our good in God’s providence.

Satan’s end is sure (Rom 16:20; Rv 20:10).

!!!

The Allurement of the Enemy

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

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 the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

/~~Ephesians 6:12~~/

When the apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church at Ephesus, he was being held prisoner in Rome for proclaiming his faith.

In fact, in verse twenty Paul calls himself, "an ambassador in chains."

Paul was placed under arrest by the roman government.

He was permitted to receive guests and to correspond with his friends, many of whom were members of house churches he had planted.

Ephesus was one of those churches.

\\ \\ As he wrote his letter to his friends he could peer through the whole in the roof of his cell and see his captors.

He could hear the guard's conversations with each other and the "war stories" they would tell.

And every so often he would see their armor as a bit of light would shine on the metal covered soldier.

\\ \\ To convey his message of encouragement, Paul warns his readers about an spiritual attack.

But he is not talking about a human army.

However, he uses the Roman soldier as an analogy.

His readers would immediately be able to understand the intended message because they were accustomed to seeing Roman soldiers in their midst.

For us to gain a better appreciation of his message it will be necessary for us to explore the armor he describes and what each piece was intended for.

\\ \\ He had a choice to make.

He could allow himself to become overwhelmed and talk himself into deep depression or he could allow God to speak to him in the midst of his struggle.

Paul choose the latter for he reminds the Ephesians and himself that no matter what problem he faces, no matter what others may do to him: \\ \\ 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.

\\ \\ Too often, the believer convinces himself there is no hope, no way out, and they'd might as well just except their lot in life as being a life going from one crisis to the next.

We slip into the attitude of the Old Hee Haw song:

/Gloom, despair and agony on me.

\\ Deep, dark depression and excessive misery.

\\ If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!/

Paul would say, no.

No. No. "Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

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

Pay attention, Paul did not say put on one or two pieces of your spiritual armor.

A soldier's protection would be incomplete if he entered battle with only part of the resources that were available to him.

If just one piece of armor was missing that would be the area he would be vulnerable in and you can bet his enemy would strike that area.

It is no different for us today.

\\ \\ Today the believer must recognize that we are involved in spiritual battle.

We too have an enemy!

If we are not careful we will dismiss the spiritual dimension of some of our struggles.

If we are not sensitive we will discount all of our problems as "the way the cookie crumbles" or "just part of life."

Paul recognized that evil and a deceiver existed.

We tend to view:

* family strife as a result of personality differences

* see dishonest business practices as just part of doing business in America

* espouse moral lapse and failure in government & church as routine occupational hazards

* attribute violence in our schools & workplaces as a result of stress and poor role models

* excuse diminished vitality and lack of growth in church due to the competing activities that via for our time

Paul would warn us about such resignations and beliefs.

He would exhort us to examine the spiritual dimension of our struggles and battles and not just blame our coworkers, relatives and friends for the problems we encounter.

And at the same time he would encourage us not to blame everything on the devil by saying, "the devil made me do it."

\\ \\ Illustration: driving to church!

\\ \\ Paul warns us that we must beware of the devil's schemes.

The KJV calls it the wiles of the devil.

The word used in this verse to describe the schemes of the enemy is from the same word we get the English word "schematic" or "blueprint."

\\ \\ Electrical Circuit Schematic \\ \\ According to Paul, what are the schemes of the devil?

Paul suggests there are four prime methods of attacking the Christian?

First, he tries to get into your head.

Second, If he can't get into your head he will try to seduce your heart.

If this fails his third scheme is to turn up the heat.

And last, he will attempt to knock you off your feet.

\\ \\ We do not need to be fearful or allow ourselves to become overwhelmed, but we need to realize the enemy has a plot, blueprint or scheme to destroy your life.

He will look for any weakness and use it to its fullest!

As a soldier of the Lord you must keep yourself in spiritual shape.

You must keep your armor in good working order.

\\ \\ The enemy has come to "steal, kill and destroy."

His goal is to destroy your family, to work on your emotions, and to cause you to estrange yourself from God.

He wants to use every situation possible, every argument in the church, every problem on the job, every spat with your spouse and children to get you to throw in the towel and:

* quit messing with that church or synagogue

* get a divorce, get out of this marriage

run to another job, they do not pay you enough to put up with this stuff quit giving to charity

* give in to hardship and struggle

* end the friendship

We are not just contending or struggling with people.

Our fight isn't really with flesh and blood, relatives, coworkers or the people at the church!

Many times there is a spiritual dimension to our battle that we overlook.

Paul offers his friends some instructions about conquering the attacking army.

Their assignment is to do three things when they are attacked.

!!!

The Assignment of the Soldier

/~~Ephesians 6: 10, 11 & 13~~/ \\ \\ Although our enemy thinks he has a plan that will destroy us, Christians are not to run, hide or retreat from spiritual battles and conflict.

Just the opposite, our assignment is to storm the gates of hell.

We are to stand and fight.

\\ \\ All soldiers are given orders or instructions to follow before they engage in battle.

Paul reminds us that God gives us three orders:

#.

Be strong in the Lord - don't try and do it in your own strength.

#.

Put on the full armor of God - equip yourself with all of God's resources... don't allow yourself to become vulnerable in any area of your spiritual life

#.

Stand in place - don't run or retreat... deal with the problem until you have defeated it and become an over comer.

When we encounter problems in the church, our family, on the job; when we our faith is questioned and our integrity is assaulted ... that's when we must:

* draw a circle around us

* dig in and stand firm

* don't let anything persuade you to give up