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"For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it, it will certainly come and will not delay."
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Be Strong in the Lord
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Be Strong in the Lord?
The Invisible War # 6 Ephesians 6:10-18 Pastor Tom Mitchell
On March 13, 2009 the ABC program Nightline sponsored a debate on the topic “Does Satan Exist?” in which New Age author Deepak Chopra and Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church faced off. Deepak said, "Healthy people do not have any need for Satan. Healthy people need to confront their own issues, understand themselves and move towards the direction of compassion, creativity, understanding, context, insight, inspiration, revelation and understanding that we are part of an ineffable mystery. …So I would say be done with Satan and confront your own issues.
Driscoll opened by saying that " the essential belief of Christianity, is that Satan is real but so is Jesus, and Jesus works out all things for good and ultimately he will redeem all that has been lost through Satan, sin and death."
So let me ask you, Do you take Satan seriously? If you are a new Christian or if this is the first time you ever heard the words from Ephesians 6, you may find it a bit amusing. The image of Christian soldiers dressed up in ancient armor doesn’t really do it for you especially when you are used to seeing the images of a modern soldier fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan. Today, we think militarily different than this passage’s image.
So before we look in depth at this passage let me share three truths that will help us understand it.
1. Know that God is a warrior. The O.T. frequently portrays God as a Warrior and His followers as His troops in need of His strength. This passage draws from that O.T. tradition.
-Isaiah 42:13 The Lord will march forth like a mighty hero; he will come out like a warrior, full of fury. He will shout his battle cry and crush all his enemies.
-Ps 35:1-2 “Lord, battle with those who battle with me. Fight against those who fight against me.Pick up the shield and armor. Rise up and help me. (NCV)
In many places Gods troops are presented as His helpers,Ps 18:34 “He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” The picture of God engaging in a struggle and His followers joining Him is a theme in the Bible. God is a warrior.
2. Know the Armor Symbolism. Don’t let the old fashioned armor throw you. The description of the armor is part of the symbolic or metaphoric language of the times. It must be understood and looked at in that light. We cannot just replace the pieces of armor with contemporary parallels and make much sense. The flack jacket of righteousness or the radar of faith or the m-16 of the spirit or the tank treads of the gospel of peace, don’t work very well. We must look at the ancient armor in and of itself.
Almost all of these pieces of armor get their meaning from the O.T.
Isaiah 11:4b-5 “He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”
Isa. 59:17 “He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head… ”
We are to read Eph 6 against the background use of these terms in the O.T. Both Paul and his readers would have had that background in mind.
3- Know the Context . We must also see that Eph. 6:10-20 is part of a long argument. The first three chapters of Eph. are a theological argument and the last three chapters are the practical implications of the argument presented in the 1st three chapters.
So the practical implications of chapters 4-6 are structured in four parts.
1st – 4:1-16 speaks about living life with Jesus in church.
2nd- 4:17-5:4 speaks about living life with Jesus in society.
3rd - 5:15-6:9 speaks about living life with Jesus in the family.
4th- 6:10-6:20 speaks about living life with Jesus in the world in
the face of the invisible world evil.
Paul, the writer is giving us the implications of his theology, given in the first part of the book, as to how to live life with Jesus in our society, our family, and in the face of an invisible world of evil. So he says we must;
1- Be Strong in the Lord. 6:10
V10 “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power… WHY? ….. so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes..” The source our strength, the strength we need to win this invisible war is none other than Jesus. We are no match for Satan and his demons. Only when we rely on Jesus strength can we hope to defeat this powerful invisible enemy.
At the beginning of the Book of Ephesians Paul wrote this prayer: “I pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.” Now we see why Paul prayed these words. Our invisible enemy is strong and his attacks are relentless. We will fail if we try to do life in our own strength, because Satan is sneaking around trying to bring us down. But the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to everyone who has put their trust in Jesus as savior and received Him by personal invitation. Be strong in the Lord!
2 - Know Your Enemy. 6:11-13
Before we look at the armor he tells us WHY the armor is needed in the first place. v11-12 …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.”
We are told here that the Devil has vast armies of helpers and world powers. When Paul uses this expression, he means spiritual power, demonic forces behind the political order of the day. There are invisible powers that work in this world and the heavenlies.
Hear this: Our ultimate struggle is NOT against flesh and blood.
This is important for all of us to remember and reflect on. Let’s say, someone in your home, your school, your work place or your church develops an attitude. Someone says something or does something that hurts you. Is this merely a failure in personal relationships and then we respond with our own personal attitude?
I don’t think so. The Bible tells us there is a organized demonic group that loves to see division, that loves to cause hurt, that loves to feed bitterness, that loves to encourage hate in your home, your school, your work place or your church. We need to look beyond the person with the attitude and see that we are dealing with a far more serious enemy.
The church is not just engaged in a secular drama, we are engaged in a spiritual drama. This is not to lessen human responsibility and accountability but we need to know that “flesh and blood” is not the main area of our operation. We struggle against “the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
One of the most powerful passages in the NT written in apocalyptic (prophetic) language is Revelation chapter 12 that speaks to this theme. In Rev. 12 we are introduced to the ancient serpent or dragon called the Devil who leads the whole world astray. In apocalyptic imagery, the dragon and his angels fought back and the dragon was not strong enough and lost his place in Heaven. There is a mighty conflict in which Jesus wins.
Some of you are old enough to remember and others have studied the closing two years of WWII. The Russians were moving into Germany from the east.
The allies had cleaned out North Africa and were advancing up through Italy and then there was the landing on Normandy. In three days they landed 1.1 million men countless tons of material most could see that this was the beginning of the end of the war, in terms of numbers, equipment, logistics, energy, and money. The war was all but over, but did that mean that Hitler quit and said “Wow I guess I should call for a peace conference?” No some of the ugliest fighting of the war came next like the Battle of the Bulge.
Whatever you think of the war in Iraq, it was obvious after a few weeks that Saddam Hussein was finished. Did that mean he quit?
No! Because they know their time is short they are filled with anger. That’s what Rev. 12 says. Because the Devil has been cast out of heaven and defeated in principle he knows that his time is short, therefore he is angry. And that’s why we have to deal with him, that’s why we still have an invisible war being fought. There is a scene in the Bible which tells us that the Devil is a defeated foe. In principle Jesus has already conquered him. Our sins have been forgiven; but that doesn’t mean he quits.
Satan is going to try to attack us, stir up hate and opposition. What he can’t conquer through dictatorial leaders and punishing persecution, he will try other means. And if we view the battle as merely political, or merely intellectual, or merely economic, or merely personal, then we do not understand the depth of the invisible war we are in.
One of the reasons Paul’s imagery focuses on “standing” and “withstanding” is because Paul understands that the principle battle has already been won by Jesus! We are not called upon to fight the main battle, we are called upon to “stand firm”, until the final blow has been thrown.
V10 “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power… WHY? ….. so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes..” WHY? “Because your adversary, the devil, goes about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1Pet. 5:8).