In the book of Ephesians this evening, we're
going to primarily be in Ephesians chapter 6,
but we're going to be jumping around just a bit.
I want to start in Ephesians chapter 1. As you're
turning there, consider the life of Grace Fellowship
Church. Grace Fellowship Church that started
in Grayville. in a small conference room, and
moved to Fortney United Methodist Church. The
Lord seemingly brought families together and
men together to lead the congregation. And I
forgot to turn my mic on. And the Lord seems
to bless it and grow it. It's obvious and clear
the Lord is working in our midst. And we think
about the location of Grace Fellowship Church.
Southeast Illinois. Right now we're in Browns.
What's the population of Browns? 200, I think.
An estimate. Somewhere in there. Who is there
to stop us from growing and doing the work of
God out here? Right? God's going to bless the
church. God's going to bless His people. He'll
grow His church. He's going to grow His kingdom.
Who is there to stop us, brothers and sisters?
Can men stop the work of God? Can people stop
the work of God? Can there be a hindrance and
a stumbling block to it? Are there enemies afoot?
as the work of God continues, as the church is
established and blessed? The answer is yes, there
are enemies, though they are not men. They are
not people that oppose the church, that are the
greatest threat to the people of God and the
church of Jesus Christ. They are spiritual forces.
Of wickedness. Spiritual forces of darkness.
That do not want. A healthy. Vibrant. Growing.
God blessed church. In southeast Illinois. There
are forces. Afoot. Brothers and sisters. That
hate. This church. There are forces afoot and
surrounding us and at work opposing the church
of Jesus Christ and this local expression of
the church of Jesus Christ that despise and strategize
how to cause the downfall of grace, fellowship,
church. So when we talk about Spiritual warfare.
We have to understand we're not talking about
bedtime stories and fairy tales. If we believe
in the Apostle Paul, we have to believe in the
spiritual forces of wickedness that the Apostle
Paul teaches us. so clearly about. The Bible
is abundantly clear regarding the nature of true
opposition to the church of Jesus Christ. Tonight
we're going to consider the reality of spiritual
warfare. We're going to consider the supernatural
nature of this warfare, or just the nature of
it. And then we're going to consider the need
for Christians to resist. and stand firm against
these principalities, these powers that be, that
are against the church of Jesus Christ. So first,
the reality of spiritual warfare. Now, we can
see its reality because it's implied in the cosmic
need. for the reconciliation of the universe.
In Ephesians chapter 1, verses 9 -10, we read
these words. He made known to us the mystery
of His will, according to His kind intention,
which He purposed in Him, with a view to an administration
suitable to the fullness of the times, that is
the summing up of all things in Christ. Things
in the heavens and things on earth. Things in
the heavens and things on earth. There's times
where the Bible uses that language to talk about
the sky. To talk about the stars. But there's
also times in the Bible where it's used in a
cosmos sense. Meaning everything. Every realm.
Every order of creation, every sphere of creation
that God has ever made, that's the idea here.
The whole creation that God has made, the whole
cosmos, the invisible realm that Colossians 1
talks about, and the physical or earthly realm
that we live and exist and we breathe and we
touch things and we're material people. That
realm. So everything needs to be reconciled.
Everything needs to be brought under the unity
and the headship of Christ. It implies, brothers
and sisters, that even the spiritual realm that
God made needs to be reconciled as a result of
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not just the earthly
world and realm that we live in, but the invisible.
unseen spiritual realm where these forces and
these powers, these angels or demons exist and
oppose the church. It needs to be reconciled
and brought under the headship of Christ. But
we also see in the book of Ephesians that the
work of Christ has reference To the spiritual
realm. Which God has made. Consider the end of
chapter 1 in Ephesians. Specifically. Starting
in verse 19. And what is the surpassing greatness.
Of his power toward us. Who believe. These are
in accordance with the working of the strength
of his might. Which he brought about in Christ.
And listen, here it is. When he raised him from
the dead and seated him at his right hand in
the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority
and power and dominion and every name that is
named, not only in this age, but also in the
one to come. And he put all things in subjection
under his feet and gave him his head over. all
things to the church, which is his body in the
fullness of him who fills all in all. The death
and resurrection of Christ isn't just with reference
to the earth and the world of men. But Christ
is raised. He's exalted above every spiritual
authority and every spiritual power that exists
in the created order. So his exaltation and his
resurrection is not just with reference to men.
It has reference to the spiritual realm. We also
see that the work of redemption, as seen in the
church, is witnessed by the spiritual realm and
the spiritual forces that exist in that realm.
We see this in chapter 3. Verses 8 -11 To me,
the very least of all saints, this grace was
given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable
riches of Christ and to bring to light what is
the administration of the mystery which for ages
has been hidden in God who created all things.
And here it is. so that the manifold wisdom of
God might now be made known through the church
to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly
places. So, the spiritual realm is exposed to
the work of redemption as it's portrayed and
pictured and displayed in the church of Jesus
Christ. John Calvin refers to the church as the
theater of redemption. And that begs the question,
who's watching the play? Who's observing the
acts of redemption? Who's admiring the manifold
wisdom of God that's being displayed in redemption
being accomplished? Well, it's spiritual powers.
It's spiritual authorities. It's spiritual rulers
that are looking on at the work of God, whether
they be good or bad. Whether they be angelic
beings that serve the living God, whether they
be demons that hate the living God and follow
the father of lies, Satan himself. But they see
the work of God and the work of Christ on display
in the church. There's no mistaking the meaning
of these texts. There is a spiritual realm that
witnesses, is conscious of, notices, and observes
the realities concerning redemption. And it's
evidenced in the life of the church. So finally,
we see that the work of redemption, as seen in
the church, is opposed. By spiritual forces.
In and from that realm that observes the work
of Christ. We see this in Ephesians chapter 6.
And this is where we'll spend the majority of
our time. We read in Ephesians chapter 6 starting
in verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and
in the strength of his might. Put on the full
armor of God so that you will be able to stand
firm against the schemes of the devil. For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood. It could
not be any clearer. But against the rulers, against
the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly places. Therefore, take... Up
the full armor of God. So that you will be able
to resist in the evil day. And having done everything.
To stand firm. Stand firm therefore. Having girded
your loins with truth. Having put on the breastplate
of righteousness. And having shod your feet with
the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition
to all. Taking up the shield of faith. with which
you will be able to extinguish all the flaming
arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God, with all prayer and petition.
Pray at all times in the Spirit. And with this
in view, be on the alert. And with all perseverance
and petition for all the saints. And pray on
my behalf. That utterance may be given to me
in the opening of my mouth to make known with
boldness the mystery of the gospel. There are
spiritual forces of wickedness which oppose the
work of redemption and oppose the church of Jesus
Christ in the world. Spiritual warfare is real.
Spiritual warfare exists. There is more than
what meets the eye, brothers and sisters. We
can't live only thinking about the world in which
we exist. Christians have to be those. Who look
behind the events. Christians have to be those
who look behind the men. Who look behind the
agenda. Who look behind the chaos and the disunity.
Who look behind the pain and the suffering. And
look for the source. And what's bringing it about.
Something deeper. Something unseen. Spiritual
forces which oppose the church of Jesus Christ.
Now, consider the nature of this warfare. We
see this in these verses. The first thing we
see clearly is that it's a non -physical warfare.
It's non -material. Meaning, we wrestle not against
flesh and blood. The battle which rages against
the church is with unseen, invisible, spiritual
forces, powers, rulers, and authorities. That
means, and we'll get to this, that our warfare,
our fighting, Our resisting, our standing has
to be in accordance with the nature and the character
of the battle. Carnal weapons have no effect
against spiritual warfare. The arm of the flesh
does nothing against the devil, brothers and
sisters. Our warfare must be waged in accordance.
with the nature and the character of the battle.
Spiritual in nature. So it could be summed up
in the words, the schemes of the devil. We see
this term here in verse 11. Stand firm against
the schemes of the devil. That word schemes in
the Greek is the word methodeia. Methodea. It
means that there's a methodical approach. There's
strategy. There's a craft to it. There's intent.
There's organized strategic planning involved.
And who is the head of this? The devil. Many
churches have, in their statement of faith, a
lot of fundamental Baptist churches especially,
have a section regarding the literal personality
of Satan. And the reason being, they want to
clarify that he's not the personification of
some idea, which is becoming fairly popular in
our day and age. The idea that the devil is symbolic
of evil and wickedness and all that is opposed
to humanity and man and God. This principle almost.
But the Bible is clear that Satan is a real,
literal being that hates God and opposes the
church. And that he... methodically plans and
schemes and organizes how to produce chaos, suffering,
and the downfall of the church in the world.
Now, consider the diversity of the enemies that
oppose the church. Look at this in verse 13.
We won't go into every single... So we'll consider
a few implications. For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly places. Now, just think about
the title. What does it convey about the enemy
of the church and the enemies of the church?
There's order. There's structure. There's a corporate
character to it. There's localized. And there's
worldwide forces and groups all actively working.
Why? And how? And what for? To what end? To hinder
the church of Jesus Christ. To hinder the gospel
in the world. To do harm to the body of Christ.
It's not as though these forces randomly seek
their own agenda in the world. We don't see that
in this text. There's organization against the
church within these enemies of the church. Now,
we consider these enemies and the diversity of
them. We consider the nature of this. we might
ask, well, how do they attack the church? How
does the spiritual warfare manifest itself? How
is it seen in evidence in this world, in this
life, in the life of Christians? How do we see
this warfare? Well, the Bible talks about a lot
of different ways that it does this. We can't
look at all of them. We can think about the life
of Job. Consider Job and the church in the world
in Job's day. Job. The devil waged war against
the church in that day, in that age. What were
the manifestations? Of the warfare in Job's life.
The loss of everything. The destruction of his
home. He was nearly killed. The Lord permitted
Job. To be sifted and tried and tested. And purified.
By the devil. This was warfare brothers and sisters.
It was not accidental. The devil wanted to harm
Job. He wanted to bring disrepute and accusations
against the living God. And he still does the
same thing today. He's still out with the same
purpose to accuse the saints and slander the
church and bring disrepute to the name of Jesus
Christ. This is his purpose in the world. And
he does it in a bunch of different ways. But
I think there's a few that are... Most common,
especially in certain scenarios and situations,
one is through or by appealing or alluring the
flesh, the carnality of man. We see this in chapter
2 of Ephesians. And you are dead in your trespasses
and sins. in which you formerly walked according
to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, of the spirit
that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
And here it is, among them we too all formerly
lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were
by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
How does the devil keep unregenerate, unbelieving
men under his thumb? By indulging their carnal,
wicked desires. He controls them through their
desires and through their longings and through
their wants and through their minds, brothers
and sisters. And he still does the same even
in the life of believers. By luring them through
temptation. By appealing to their carnal lusts.
And the remnant of sin that remains within them.
This can manifest itself in all kinds of ways.
We can think about James chapter 3. And the earthly
wisdom that's full of jealousy, vain ambition,
disunity and disharmony. It's demonic is what
James says. So pride and vain. Vain ambition
that doesn't glorify God, that is self -serving.
It's demonic. It's devilish. We can think about
Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5. Peter
says, why has Satan so filled your heart? What
did they want? They had greed that filled their
hearts. That was the devil appealing to their
carnality. I think the devil works a lot in this
way. in the life of churches, to oppose churches,
in the life of Christians, by luring them through
temptation in their flesh. But I think there's
another way, and this is a predominant way. And
this is through, this is by influencing the mind
and the understanding of people. Their thinking.
Their beliefs. Their faith or their ignorance.
We can think about 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Where
Paul is talking about the power of the gospel
to open the eyes of the unbelieving. And he talks
about how the devil has blinded the minds of
those unbelieving. And how has he done that?
What is that veil? It's ignorance. It's unbelief.
It's hard -heartedness. But we also see this
in Ephesians as well. If we look at chapter 4
and verse 14, we see this and we read this. As
a result, we are no longer to be children tossed
here and there by waves. And carried about by
every wind of doctrine. And listen. By the trickery
of men. By the craftiness. And deceitful scheming.
Now who else is crafty? Who else is deceitful?
The devil. The devil works through false doctrine.
False preaching. There's a reason Paul says in
Galatians 1, even if an angel from heaven were
to preach another gospel, let him be anathema.
Because angelic beings influence preachers to
preach false, erroneous, heretical doctrine that
hurts men and women. That keeps them under the
thumb of the devil. That overcomes them and defeats
them and brings ruinous ideologies and practices
into their lives. It's not a little thing, brothers
and sisters. And it's real. This is why there
are so many false teachers. Timothy is told by
the Apostle Paul, I believe in 2 Timothy 4 .1,
about the doctrines of demons. And how demons
influence doctrine and truth. I believe this
is very, very prevalent in our day and our age.
Could this not be why there's so many possibly
genuine believers whose lives are in complete
chaos and living in madness in their lives in
a sense? with no power, with no vitality in their
Christian life, because they believe the wrong
things. Because they believe false, erroneous
doctrine and truth. They are being overcome by
the devil. They are giving in to the devil's
work. because they've not put the belt of truth
around their waist, brothers and sisters. The
devil works in many, many ways. But we can't
go into all of them. I believe those are the
most prominent ways that we see. Now, the last
thing we have to consider, not just the reality
of spiritual warfare, or the nature of this warfare,
but the need for Christians to resist, End this
warfare in the right way. Now, we've already
said that if we're going to be successful in
this battle, in this fight, then we have to fight
and we have to take up arms in accordance with
the nature of the fight itself. If we use the
wrong resources, if we seek to wage war in the
wrong way, if we seek to resist and defend ourselves
in the wrong way, we will be defeated in our
lives. We will be overcome. But we see that God
has not left us to ourselves. Praise be to his
name. God has given us resources. God has given
us the means. To stand firm. God has given us
the means to resist. God has given us the means
to fight back. God has given us the means to
make advances in the kingdom of darkness and
to bring forth the kingdom of light in His beloved
Son. What are those means? Well, it's the armor
of God. It's equated with the power of God in
Ephesians chapter 6. We see Paul says, finally,
be strong in the Lord and in the strength of
his might. Then immediately he says, put on the
full armor of God. These are the resources that
God has given us to stand firm, to resist in
the evil day. So the way that Christians stand
firm, the way that we pick up our weaponry in
a sense, is like this. We stand firm by cultivating,
utilizing, and appropriating the resources and
the virtues that God has given to us. And we
see these in the armor of God. So what are they?
Well, we're given six things, and then an extra,
which is kind of in a different category, but
potentially the most significant. So the first
is truth as a belt in verse 14. People of God
ought to be of the truth. They ought to live
in the truth. They ought to be people of the
truth and people who speak the truth. The book
of Ephesians talks a great deal about this. Truth
undergirds and holds everything else up. If a
Roman soldier didn't put on his belt, everything
else would not function. So we see that truth
is essential. Then we see righteousness as a
breastplate. This most likely means the righteousness
that is reckoned to us on behalf of Christ, but
also the acquisition and the development Of moral
integrity and uprightness in our lives. It's
growing in our understanding. Of Christ's righteousness.
And what that means. But it's also growing. In
practical daily righteousness. And upright living.
And moral living. In accordance with the law
of God. So it's a breastplate of righteousness.
We see that he's given us the gospel of peace,
that we can be prepared and ready to do battle
and to stand firm. I think it's interesting that
he says he includes the word peace or the word
peace in this. Oftentimes, I believe that spiritual
warfare results in anxiety, worry. Stress. Chaos
of the mind. Rampant worry and fear in our hearts
and our minds. Unknowns and the unknowable. But
God has given us the gospel. The gospel of peace.
Which enables us to have peace because the Spirit
of God dwells within us. And because we have
peace with God as a result of... Christ's work
in justification. He's given us faith as a shield
so they can be protected at all times, even when
we're out and about. We can trust and we can
believe. He's given us salvation as a helmet.
Most likely, this is not talking about future
salvation, but he's probably talking about Ephesians
2. And the reality that God has saved us. And
we have this positional status with Christ. We've
been made alive together with Christ. Who we
are and what is true of us in Christ. Because
of our union with Him. And then finally, He's
given us the Word of God as a sword to make advances
in the kingdom of darkness. We stand firm by
appropriating and taking up the armor that God
has given to us. And Paul says, take up the full
armor of God. We don't want to be caught without
a piece of the armor on. We need it all on so
we have all the protection and all the defenses
up and we're able to stand. As we ought to. The
word of God. Seemingly. In this text. Is the
only one. That is the offensive. Weapon that
God has given to us. To make advances. And to
do damage. To the enemy's kingdom. Teaching.
Preaching. Instructing. Instruction in the word.
Brothers and sisters. There's no other act that
brings about spiritual ramifications like teaching
and preaching the Word of God, whether it be
in church, whether it be in our homes, whether
it be in our families or with our friends. The
only way that we can make advances with regards
to the demonic and devilish work around us It's
by being committed to the word of the living
God. Now, this is the armor that he's given to
us. This is the armor that he tells us and commands
us to put on and to take up and to stand firm
in it. There's one other thing that he tells
us. And this is in verses 18 through 19. He says,
with all prayer and petition. Pray at all times
in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the
alert with all perseverance and petition for
all the saints. Now, prayer is still to be included
in this warfare. It's separate in some ways,
but he's making sure that it's still a part.
There's still the battle language. Be alert.
Be vigilant. and persevere in prayer. And then
Paul gives this example, and he requests prayer
in his own life for his preaching. So what is
different about prayer with regards to spiritual
warfare? Well, I think what Paul is telling us
is that prayer is the essence and the basis.
for all these other things being effective and
powerful and full of life and vitality in the
Lord. So, there is the possibility of reading
the Word of God, but not benefiting from the
Word of God. There's the possibility of preaching
the Word of God, and then not being beneficial.
If I never prayed, If I didn't pray over my messages,
if I didn't pray for the preaching of the Word,
if I didn't pray for its reception, then, brothers
and sisters, the preaching of the Word would
be flat and lifeless. It would be dead, useless,
vain, and pointless. This is why the Apostle
said in Acts chapter 6, but we'll give ourselves
to the ministry of prayer. and the Word. Prayer
is what clothes the Christian's acts in power,
in life, in vitality. So if we want to take up
the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God, and to effectively slash at the devil's
throat, Then I need to have a life that is saturated
and soaked in the Word of God so that there's
power present. And the same must be true for
the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of
truth, and the gospel of peace for the shield
of faith. Brothers and sisters, prayer is what
energizes it. It's what supports it. Prayer is
essential. for the effective working of all the
other armor. It's the basis and the foundation
of the Christian's warfare in life. Now, the
Christian life is not uneventful. The Christian
life is not boring. Paul here pictures the Christian
life as a perpetual battle. A perpetual war with
the enemies of the darkness. Brothers and sisters,
that's what the Bible teaches. That's what your
life is about as Christians. That's what the
church is in the midst of. We can't talk about
these things. We can't discuss these things.
We can't be around these things and think of
them as ordinary and think about them as insignificant
or boring or light or superficial. These are
the realities that God tells us are true. The
goal of our warfare, our resistance and our standing
as believers is to stand firm in the evil day.
Now, many, I believe, have been defeated. But
I am confident, because of the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and because every single individual
here knows the armor of God, I am confident that
none of those present will be defeated or overcome
by the... Flaming arrows of the devil. Because
you know you can take up the shield of faith.
Your life isn't just living, brothers and sisters.
It's not just breathing and getting by. Every
morning you wake up. You wake up to warfare as
a believer in Jesus Christ. So my exhortation
and my admonishment. to every single one here,
is get in the fight. Take up the sword. Get on
your knees. Do some damage to the darkness. Don't
cower. Fight the devil. Stand firm. Resist. And
stand in the power of the Lord. Be strong in
the Lord. and in the strength of his mind.