Spiritual Warfare
Text: Ephesians 6:10-20
Core Idea: We are at war. The devil who is powerful, evil, and crafty will continue to do everything in his power to ruin our walk with the Lord. Therefore, we must put on the full armor of God by learning to internalize the whole gospel through the Word and prayer.
INTRODUCTION
Well, today, we’ll take a break from the Book of Ruth and will look at the Book of Ephesians – following the curriculum that the Tugboat ministry is currently going through. So, please turn your Bibles to Ephesians 6:10-20. And I will invite Grace to the front as she’ll be reading the passage for us. This will be her last time reading the Scripture as a Tugboat student as she’ll be moving up to Anchor in September. We’re really thankful that we get to journey with our children – and witness the wonderful works of God in their lives. After she reads the passage, Pastor Cindy will come up to share a message for our children.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 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. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Thank you, Grace, for reading the passage for us. And thank you, Pastor Cindy, for reminding us that we can be victorious over the enemy because Jesus already won the war for us. Now, to better understand our passage, let me tell you a little more about this book in general. Pastor John Stott says, “The letter to the Ephesians is a marvelously condensed version of the Christian good news and its implications.” In other words, this book is a summary of the whole gospel – in that, Paul describes what the gospel is in the first half and how we should apply the gospel in the second half. Now, as the first word in verse 10 tells us (“finally”), our text signals that Paul is about to share his concluding thoughts – and here, he’s going to warn us of the challenges and oppositions we will face as we aim to live a life worthy of the gospel. This is somewhat thought-provoking because, throughout the letter, Paul has been emphasizing the point that through Christ, we have peace with God and peace with one another. Then why would there be more struggle and hostility as we do life with God? It’s because peace with God means enmity with the devil. To put it differently, siding with God means that we’ll be at war with the devil. Unfortunately, too many of us forget this reality – and we continue to live as if we’re in peacetime not realizing that this is crippling our Christian discipleship. Think with me. Imagine that you’ve been thrown into a war zone without being told that you’re in a war zone – no weapon, no protection, no awareness. What would happen? You would be killed right away. You won’t stand a chance. But this is exactly what’s happening to many of us. We’re oblivious and unconcerned about the war that is taking place. So, we let our guard down. We allow ourselves to be consumed and distracted with unimportant things. There’s no urgency and determination to resist sin – instead, we continue to compromise and look for ways to justify our actions. Of course, this doesn’t apply to all of you as many of you are flourishing in life and growing with the Lord. But the point I want to make is that if we forget that we’re at war, we will fall, we will drift away, and we will be destroyed. Then my prayer for you is that the Spirit of God will use this text to open your eyes to see this reality and cause you to be vigilant against the threats. So, with that in mind, let me share three things.
· THE ENEMY
· THE ARMOR
· PRAYER
1) THE ENEMY
Verse 12, “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.” The first thing we notice is that this war is not against flesh and blood but against supernatural evil powers. This is interesting considering that Paul was stoned, beaten, flogged, and imprisoned not by evil spirits but by people – those with flesh and blood have cost him dearly and tested his faith to the limit. And yet Paul tells us that there’s something bigger, more sinister, more destructive, and more dangerous than people – namely, the devil himself. Now, the truth is that we don’t really know a lot about the devil – our knowledge of him is often vague and limited. And unfortunately, this one sermon is not going to be sufficient to cover everything about the devil – but Paul does give us some insights into understanding who he is and what he can do. So, let me share them with you – three things.
First, we learn that the devil is powerful. It’s interesting how Paul doesn’t just say, “Our struggle is against the devil” – instead, he uses words like, “the authorities, rulers, and powers of this dark world.” This is intentionally done as Paul wanted to illustrate that the devil is not alone. He has forces of evil, and they’re structured and organized – which means that their dominion and influence are far more extensive and pervasive than we could ever imagine. This is crucial to remember because it tells us that on our own, we don’t stand a chance against him. He is more powerful than us – so, without Christ, we will always suffer defeat.
Second, we learn that his forces are evil. In verse 12, Paul refers to them as “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” What does this mean? It means that they hate everything that is holy and pure – they’re immoral and rebellious. But in essence, it means that they hate everything about God because He alone is good – so, they hate what God loves and they love what God hates. Now, what does this have to do with us? A lot more than you think because it means that the devil will do everything in his power to ruin what God wants to do in our lives. So, he wants to destroy our faith and crush our fruit. He wants to make traitors out of us. He wants to frustrate and devastate all our efforts to walk in the light of the gospel. He wants to corrupt our worship, spoil our marriage, mislead our children, and poison our workplace. All that to say, the devil is working hard to promote evil and lead us astray because he hates God and hates those who love. Isn’t that what the serpent was doing to Eve? He was telling her that God is a killjoy and that her life would be better if she would just turn away from the Lord. And the truth is that that’s exactly what he’s doing in our lives as well – he is constantly tempting you to turn away from God.
Lastly, we learn that the devil is insidious and crafty. Paul says in verse 11, “Take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” This is important to point out because it tells us that the devil has plans and tactics. Now, it’s true that the devil can most definitely attack openly. When I led a mission team to India many years ago, after witnessing a demon-possessed boy, I remember one of the members commenting that the spiritual warfare here is fierce – and I agreed. But I reminded the team that the spiritual warfare back home is as fierce as here in India – it just may look different. In fact, the Bible reminds us that the main way the devil works is through his lies as he is called “the father of lies” (John 8:44). So, for example, in Genesis 3, the serpent doesn’t come with a direct assault – he doesn’t tell Adam and Eve, “You can’t trust God; don’t believe Him; worship me!” Rather he sows a seed of doubt – “Did God really say…” (Gen. 3:1). In his book, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, Thomas Brooks wrote, “Satan doesn’t leave fang marks on your flesh; he leaves lies in your hearts.” Now, this book, which was written in 1652, is incredibly helpful for us as it offers an extensive list of the lies the devil uses against us. In fact, he shares that the devil’s lies often come in two ways: temptation and accusation. Simply put, temptations are lies that the devil uses to make you think that you can get joy, pleasure, and meaning through something other than God while accusations are lies that the devil uses to make you think that you will never get joy, pleasure, and meaning no matter what. Then let me give you some examples of both. First, temptation. Brooks said the devil tempts us:
1. By showing you the bait and hiding the hook – in that, he’ll get you to look at the short-term pleasures while hiding the long-term misery that will follow.
2. By getting you to rationalize sin as a virtue – so that you say, “I’m not greedy; I’m just frugal.” “I’m not gossiping; I’m just concerned.”
3. By showing you the sins of Christian leaders – so that you say things like, “Clearly, nobody’s perfect; if he did it as a pastor, it should be understandable if I fall into the same sin.”
4. By overstressing the mercy of God – so that you say, “God’s mercy is bigger than my sin; He’ll always forgive me. So, I’ll give in today.”
5. By making them bitter over suffering – so that you say, “God will understand if I do this because I have been suffering for too long.”
6. By showing Christians how many bad people seem to be having great lives – so that you say, “I might as well live like them since playing by the rules doesn’t seem to pay off.”
7. By getting you to compare one part of your life to another – so that you say, “I’m doing really well in this area; so, He’ll understand if I do this there.”
Second, accusations. Brooks said the devil accuses us:
1. By causing us to look more at our sin than our Savior – making us think that we’re never good enough for Jesus.
2. By causing us to obsess over past sins and think that they can’t be undone – making us think that we’re not redeemable, that we’ve gone too far.
3. By making us think that troubles we’re going through must be punishments – causing us to think that God is angry at us.
4. By making us think that the inner struggles and feelings we have point to the fact that we’re really not saved – causing us to doubt our salvation.
Then let me ask you, “Are you struggling through these lies today? Are you being lured away by these temptations? Are you crushed by the weight of these accusations?” If so, let me remind you that they are not from the Lord. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” Sadly, too many of us doubt the truth and believe the lies. Then my prayer for you is that God will teach you how you can doubt the lies and believe the truth. We must learn to do this well because the devil will not stop – we need to stand against him. Well, how do we do that? That leads to our next point.
2) THE ARMOR
Verse 10 tells us that we’re to “be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” To put it simply, we are called to depend on God. The implication is that though the devil may be powerful, though we may be powerless on our own, God is stronger. Our God is more powerful than the devil, which is why we don’t have to live in fear – we can be confident and courageous. Now, it’s true that the idea of depending on God could sound somewhat passive – it sounds like we’re called to sit back and let God do everything. But we must recognize that dependence is not inactivity. No, being strong in the Lord always involves our actions. For example, that was the case at the Red Sea – in that, God divided the sea, but the Israelites had to cross it. That was the case in the desert – in that, God provided the manna, but the Israelites had to pick them up. That was the case on the cross – in that, God provided a way for us through Jesus, but we had to believe it. God does all the work, yet we must receive it in faith. Then what are we called to do in our passage today? Verse 11, “Put on the full armor of God.” Now, it’s important to note that the command verb for “put on” is in the aorist form. What this means is that we’re not called to put on the armor over and over again – but rather it should be worn at all times. The trouble comes when we try to put the armor on only when we’re in the thick of battle. In fact, too many of us are spiritually coasting or spiritually asleep because it feels like things are going okay in our lives. You’re not dealing with great disappointments or failures; you’re not committing grave sins; you’re not being persecuted for your faith. It just feels like life is normal – mundane. So, you begin to think that it’s okay to skip a day, a week, a month from spending time with God. We don’t have much of a prayer life. Our reading becomes very superficial. We don’t work out the Scripture to apply it. We become less other-centered and more self-centered. Then, all of a sudden, flaming arrows are coming at you in the form of temptation and accusation. Swords are clashing to break you down and discourage you. And there you are, still trying to put on your armor – frantically looking for your sword and shield. No wonder we continue to find ourselves feeling defeated and discouraged. Friends, we must learn to put the armor on before the battle and be ready at all times.
Now, what is the armor of God? Paul offers six things to describe it. Then let’s briefly go through each of them. First, the belt of truth. As you know, a belt goes around your core. It holds all your weapons and the rest of your armor in place. But a belt that you wore in the war did more than that. It also protected your midsection – the most vulnerable and exposed part of your body. So, Paul took that image to tell us that that’s exactly what the truth of God does for us – it keeps all our armor up and protects our body. This completely makes sense because, as I said before, the devil’s greatest weapon against us is his lies. The only way for us to defend ourselves from lies is to root ourselves in the truth of God. Now, here’s something interesting to consider. When we think of truth, we often think of it primarily as a “what.” But the Bible tells us that it’s first a matter of “who” – which is why Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Then here, Paul is basically saying, “Gird yourself up with Jesus. Make Christ the center of your and shape your life in light of who He is and all that He said.”
Second, the breastplate of righteousness. Now, this could be referring to the righteousness of Christ that becomes ours when we become Christians, or it could be talking about the life of righteousness that we ought to live out when we become Christians. So, which one is it? Well, I believe that this refers to the latter because the righteousness of Christ will be represented through the helmet of salvation. So, with that said, what Paul wants us to know here is that we need to cover our lives in righteous behaviors so that there won’t be a place in our lives where the devil can use it to penetrate and destroy. Paul said in Ephesians 4:27, “Do not give the devil a foothold.” A part of life that you haven’t given to God can become a pathway for the devil to invade. It could be a bad habit you’re not willing to break free of, a temptation that you find yourself giving into over and over again, some sinful fantasy that you love to entertain, a part of your life that you’re not willing to surrender (it could be money, career, or children) – but all that to say, these things can allow the devil to attack and lead us astray. Then let me ask you, “Is there an area in your life that has not been brought under obedience to God’s Word?”
Third, the shoes of the gospel of peace. Your feet are what carry you forward into battle – and Paul tells us that we should cover them with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. What does that mean? It means we should be ready to share the gospel wherever we go. Some have argued that there’s only one offensive component to the armor of God (the sword of the Spirit) – but I want to argue that these shoes are also offensive for two reasons. First, because it reverses the work of the devil in the lives of the people around us. When we’re able to win people back to Christ, we’re diminishing the devil’s influence in the world. Now, the truth is that we only want to share the gospel with those who have open hearts and are interested in Christianity. But Paul makes it clear in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Salvation belongs to God – so, all we need to do is faithfully preach. Then let’s stand against the devil by recruiting others to fight with us. Second, not only does evangelism thwart the enemy’s work in others’ lives, but it also stops Satan’s work in ours. We’re the easiest prey for the devil when we’re bored. In fact, that’s exactly what happened to King David when he fell into adultery – when everyone else was off at war, he was at home, disengaged from the battle. And sadly, some of you are sitting ducks for Satan just because you’re bored. Then get engaged in God’s mission because Satan won’t have so much opportunity to invade your life.
Fourth, the shield of faith. One of the most important uses of the shield was to protect the soldier from these flaming arrows that were dipped in this explosive fuel. Then in the same way, the devil takes lies, lights them on fire, and hurls them into our consciousness. I shared before that we need to doubt the lies and believe the truth. But how do we do that? We do it through faith. In other words, our faith in the truth of God and the promise of God will guard us against the lies. For example, if the devil tells you, “You’re ugly – no one will ever love you,” we should respond by saying, “No, I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14). I know the plans that God has for me – plans that will give me hope and a future (Jer. 29:11).” If he says, “God has forgotten you,” we should respond by saying, “No, He said that He will never leave or forsake me (Heb. 13:5) – and that He has engraved me on the palms of His hands (Isa. 49:16).” If he says, “You’ve been abandoned,” we should respond by saying, “No. God promised me that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, can separate me from His love (Rom. 8:38-39).” All that to say, we need to learn to differentiate the voice of our Shepherd from the voice of the enemy. When the devil speaks to us, it’ll always feel like chaos, condemnation, and despair. The enemy always points out our failures and makes us feel hopeless about them. But that’s not the voice of our shepherd. When Jesus speaks to us, it’s always in the context of unconditional love, hope, and forgiveness. He always desires to breathe new life in you. Then if you are suffering from these lies, hold up the shield of faith and hide under the truth of God.
Fifth, the helmet of salvation. As I mentioned before, this is the righteousness of Christ that becomes ours when we become Christians. This is so important for us because one of the things that the devil always aims to do is use his lies to question our salvation – to make us doubt if we’re truly saved or not. He’ll remind us of the sins that we commit, and he’ll tell us that we’re undoing the work of Christ, that we’re not worthy, that we couldn’t be saved because we’re constantly falling into the same sin over and over again. But the Bible is clear on this – we’re saved not by our own works but by the work of Christ on the cross. Jesus has done everything necessary to save us – and we’re simply called to believe. Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Not might be saved, or could be saved, but will be saved – no wonder the gospel is the good news. Then trusting in the power of the gospel and the sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross is how we put on the helmet of salvation – and this can have a huge difference in the way we perceive life. We can be always confident, always secure, always courageous, and always joyful no matter the circumstances in life – all because we know that He holds us in His hands. Then let me ask you, “Is preaching the gospel to yourself the first thing you do in the morning?” What we call “quiet time with God” is not some kind of ritual to bring God’s blessing to our day – rather it’s a way to reorient ourselves to the Lord knowing that the flaming arrows will be coming our way soon. So, if the first thing you look at when you get up is your phone, then the foundation of your whole day is going to be about the demands others have of you, all that needs to be done, what social media thinks about you, all that you’re missing out on, and so on. Brothers and sisters, nothing but Jesus should shape our thoughts. Then try this this week – no social media before Scripture, and no breakfast before the Bible.
Lastly, the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. I won’t spend too much time here since the Word is evident in every aspect of the armor but the point that I want to make here is that we must know the Word to do battle with the devil. If Jesus did that in the wilderness, that’s what we should do as well. Then think of it this way – your ability to overcome Satan is directly proportionate to your knowledge of the Word of God. Your kids’ ability to overcome Satan is directly proportionate to their knowledge of the Word of God. Then can we be more intentional to learn the Word? We must memorize it, study it, and meditate on it (and help others to do the same) knowing that it’s directly connected to our victory. Let’s be so saturated with the Word that when life cuts us, we’ll bleed the Word of God.
So, this is the armor of God. Then let’s take the truth of God, the righteousness of Christ, peace of the gospel, salvation by grace, and faith in His Word – and let’s allow them to transform our minds, hearts, and lives knowing that this is how we stand against the devil every single day. This is how we wear the armor of God.
3) PRAYER
Now, after going through each piece of the armor, Paul talks about one more thing – prayer. Although prayer is not part of the armor, Paul wants us to know that they go hand-in-hand. It’s how we prepare for the battle but it’s also how we engage in the battle. Prayer is where we put into practice what we believe about the gospel. It’s where we say, “God, I believe You are as compassionate and powerful as You say You are. Help my life to reflect that reality right now.” Listen to what Samuel Chadwick said, “The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from prayer. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray. Prayer turns ordinary mortals into men of power. It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings life. It brings God. There is no power like that of prevailing prayer.” If this doesn’t tell you how important prayer is, I don’t know what will. Then, friends, we must learn to pray like Paul. Look at verse 18. He calls the people to pray “on all occasions” (which means regularly and constantly, in all seasons of life), “with all kinds of prayers and requests” (which means in many forms – not just supplication but praise and confession too), “always keep on praying” (which means that you should never give up even if He doesn’t answer or answer in the way you desired), and “praying for all the Lord’s people” (which means you don’t just pray for yourself but you pray for others at home, workplace, church, neighborhood, and around the world). Is this how you’re praying? If not, start today. Cultivate this kind of prayer life in you by being intentional and disciplined – and the Holy Spirit will help you to do just that. Let me just remind you again – if Paul needed prayer, how much more do we? Brothers and sisters, prayerlessness is a clue to our self-reliance. Then let’s learn to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power by relying on Him through prayer.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, we are at war. The devil who is powerful, evil, and crafty will continue to do everything in his power to ruin our walk with the Lord. Therefore, let’s put on the full armor of God by learning to internalize the whole gospel through the Word and prayer. Let’s continue to “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Tim. 6:12) as we trust in the Lord
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) We talked about various ways the devil deceives us through temptation and accusation. Which of these strategies do you find most challenging in your life, and how can you guard against them?
2) Being strong in the Lord is not passive but involves active dependence on God. What does it mean to practically put on the full armor of God in your daily life? Reflect on each piece of the armor.
3) Prayer is both preparation and engagement in the spiritual battle. Then how can we cultivate a prayer life that is in line with Paul’s exhortation to pray “on all occasions,” with “all kinds of prayers,” and for “all the Lord’s people”?
4) Reflecting on your own life, in what areas do you feel most vulnerable to spiritual attack? How can the teachings from this passage help you to strengthen those areas? After understanding the importance of spiritual armor and prayer, what is one specific change or action you will take this week to apply these teachings in your life?