Battling to Serve

throughout the church calendar. So we're coming to an end of that, as Nick has indicated.

I'd be grateful if you had Ephesians 6 in front of you, that Bible reading. Also, we also have a

service outline, which has the Bible passage in front of it, and a very brief outline of where

I'm heading. But also, there's St. Paul's app, so you can get it on there as well to follow along.

One other little shout out. I don't normally do this, but we've indicated that it's,

or highlight the fact that it's Ruby's birthday today. From my understanding,

according to Facebook, it's also Ali Rowe's birthday today. Is that correct, Ali? Is that correct?

That is correct. Happy birthday, Ali, as well.

That's the only value of Facebook, as far as I can tell. Let me pray. Father God, as we launch into

your word, we ask that you would reorientate our worldviews. Amen. World War I, while it was raging

in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, the United States maintained a policy of neutrality.

At the time, millions were dying in Europe. Life went on pretty much as normal for people in the United

States. There were some that were aware that there was a big war in Europe, but the majority of the

population just kind of cruised on with everyday life as if it didn't happen. It didn't really impact

them at all. The intention of the United States was to stay out of World War I. President Woodrow

Wilson's efforts to maintain neutrality, however, was totally disregarded by German submarines.

3rd of February, 1917, the USS Housatonic was sunk by German submarines. Three more ships, US ships,

were torpedoed in the following weeks. And on the 6th of April, 1917, President Wilson signed the

declaration of war against Germany. A couple of other sort of events tipped him over, such as the

possible invasion from Mexico into the United States. From a nation that had an intention of

staying out of World War I and to live in peace and quiet and to get on with life, they very quickly

shifted into a full-blown wartime mindset. Within two and a half weeks of declaration of war, Congress

passed the Liberty Loan Act to raise funds from the war effort, and $20 billion was raised for American

citizens in the next two years. Six weeks after the declaration of war, Congress passed the Selective

Services Act. 24 million men between 21 and 30 were registered. Three million were drafted immediately

into service. A month later, the Espionage Act put a 21-year prison sentence on anyone who hindered the

war effort or aided the enemy. On the 3rd of October, the War Revenue Act increased corporate and personal

income taxes and established excise, excessive profits and luxury taxes. On the 5th of April, 1918,

the War Finance Corporation is formed with capital of $500 million to support the war industry. From the

moment of declaration of war in April, 1917 to armistice in November, 1918, so 18 months, 4.744 million Americans

fought in the war. But the whole nation was engaged in it. The whole nation changed from the moment of

declaration of war. Now, all this is just simply to say that during times of war, everything changes.

Everything changes. Everything changes. And I want us to see from Ephesians 6, that passage in front of us,

that a war is in fact raging that is far more devastating than any world war we've seen.

The stakes are infinitely higher. World War I and World War II were devastating for the planet.

120 million deaths. And the war that we are currently involved in is a spiritual war that sees over 50 million

souls slip into a Christless eternity every year. And over the past seven years or so, we've been

reforming what we've been reforming what we do as a church to get higher and higher engagement in our

local area, especially, but beyond us in that battle. For me, what we're doing here, and as we've been

reinforcing it throughout this vision series for us, it flows out of a biblical conviction more so than

effective strategy, although strategic thinking is part of what we're doing. This biblical conviction

is for what we've seen throughout the book of Ephesians as it's unfolded before us.

It's God's grand purposes for all people on the planet, no matter what culture, what generation,

what people group you belong to. His purposes for his people, the church, and this world from

eternity past to eternity future. Ephesians chapters 1 and 2 and 3, as we have already been there,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

reveals what God is doing about the mess that this universe is in because of human sin and our

rebellion and rejection of God. The disintegration and disorder and the chaos and the brokenness

is sold by God coming into this world himself, God the Son, the person of Jesus Christ, being made king

over all things. Under his kingship, all that is disintegrated and broken gets integrated. God's purpose

is to create a single new humanity through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The death

and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the core fact and hope of the Christian faith, and it is the solution

to the sin, the evil, the brokenness, the chaos of this world. And if you've never heard the term

gospel before, on the back of the service sheet, I've given you a brief explanation in English, and

there's one in Chinese and one in Korean. And what the Bible declares, what the Christian faith declares,

is that there is no other way to find salvation forever than in the blood of Jesus Christ. And

that's what we've seen in Ephesians 1 to 3. And Ephesians 4, 5, and 6 is how you live in accord

with that grand reality of all things. The reality of who we are as Christians, as a church, who are now

united in Jesus Christ. And so Ephesians is rich with the mystery and the wonder of salvation,

of peace with God, and unity among believers, and giftedness to serve God's human society.

Unity, diversity, purity, and harmony, these are some of the characteristics of the new life

and the new society in Jesus Christ. And they are exalted thoughts. They are wonderful thoughts.

And just when you think that Paul's going to end his letter with, and they lived all happily ever after,

which is kind of what you think he's going to get to, the conclusion he comes with, he basically

slaps us in the face and wakes us up from our dreamy reflection. He says the beautiful life

of the united and yet diverse new society is lived while camped out in the trenches of war

we're in the enemy territory. That is, Christian, you need to know you're in a battle.

It's a battle for souls. J.C. Rye was the first Anglican bishop of Liverpool.

He once preached a sermon about the war that Christians are involved in, and he said this,

true Christianity, true Christianity, and he says, mind that word true.

There is a vast quantity of religion current in the world which is not true, and it's not genuine

Christianity. There are thousands of men and women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday

and call themselves Christian, but you never see any fight about their religion.

Of spiritual strife, exertion, conflict, self-denial, watching and warring, they know literally nothing at all.

Such Christianity may satisfy man, but those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable,

but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. True Christianity is a fight.

The true Christian is called to be a soldier and must behave as such from the day of his conversion to the day of his death.

He is not meant to live a life of religious ease, indulgence, and security.

He must never imagine for a moment that he can sleep and doze along the way to heaven,

like one traveling in an easy carriage.

Ephesians 6.12, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and against the authorities,

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

Verse 10 opens with the word finally.

It's not, you know, like towards the end of this, I say, and finally, you go, oh, morning tea's on.

That's not what Paul's thinking here.

The word finally is not signaling his final thought.

The word is better translated for the remaining time.

Paul is indicating that the whole of the remaining time before Jesus Christ returns from when he left to when he returns

to hold all of history and humanity accountable is going to be characterized by this battle.

The peace which God has made through Christ's death is to be experienced only in the midst of relentless struggle against evil.

Verse 12 says it's not a war against flesh and blood.

It's a supernatural war.

That is, it's not just a war in the physical world with our own sin.

It's against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world,

against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Now, some of you may be sitting here going, what?

Tell me, Steve, you know, you're educated, sort of, and you read stuff.

How could you possibly believe in this day and age, in this spiritual stuff?

And surely you're not actually saying that there is actually a bloke called Satan or a devil.

You don't really believe in a personal being who's evil.

Do you?

Yes.

Yes, I do.

The thinking of our world has changed dramatically.

And when I say our world, I mean the Western world.

So we're representing about 20% of the world.

It has changed dramatically.

Greek philosophers in the centuries before Jesus saw the material world, including the physical human body,

as subordinate, unimportant, and unreal.

And it's Greek philosophy that the Western society is built on.

The ancient world was dramatically changed by Christianity.

Christianity.

Because Christianity was the first of the religions that actually saw the physical world as a good creation of God.

Christianity was the first to capture the value of the physical world and human life.

To put value on individual freedom.

And the Christian worldview of a world crafted by a rational, personal God was a contributing foundation for the development of modern science.

Modern science would not exist if it wasn't for Christianity discovering the value of the physical world.

And what the modern secular world has done is taken Christian worldview, removed God from it, and amplified it to say that only the natural world matters now.

It's the only reality.

This world's view suggests that everything has a physical cause and explanation.

Even suggesting that love and moral feelings are functions of a brain, functions of chemistry.

This worldview is the basis of a power, very powerful consumer and technology culture,

with the view that all of the world's problems will eventually bow to a scientific solution.

In other words, human reason can solve what ails us because they are only material things that ail us.

Psychology and medicine will help us adjust and overcome emotional and physical problems.

We don't need spiritual resources for that.

Sociology will help us to create a just society.

We don't need divine virtue for that.

And so, what I've just read out there seems hopelessly naive.

Almost like a fairy tale.

And yet the belief that everything has a scientific explanation and a technological solution

is in fact the naive response.

It's hopelessly naive.

These verses are saying that everything...

And I would love more time to unpack that for you, but unfortunately I can't.

These verses are saying that every day there's a bigger battle at play

than the many battles that we face in this physical world.

And it's a battle for the soul.

That is, there's more to us as human beings than simply matter.

There is more to us than the bucket full of chemicals.

80% of our world's population still recognise that humans have a material part and an immaterial part.

We are both body and soul.

The soul doesn't die, but the body does.

And when we think about it though,

it's impossible to live consistently with the view that humans don't have souls.

If humans don't have souls,

then we are simply no different than just all the other buckets of chemicals.

There's no difference between a tree and a cockroach and you.

No different than a blade of grass.

Why then do we treat humans different to the blade of grass?

Or at least I do when I'm cutting it.

I don't lie my kids up out there as well.

Why give a human being dignity and respect that nothing else is given?

Even if we don't intellectually believe that we've got souls,

we inherently live it.

Because there's something more to us than just buckets of chemicals.

So Christianity, it's not naive.

It's not simplistic.

It hasn't got all the answers, but it's not naive and it's not simplistic.

Christianity sees that our problems are multidimensional.

Multidimensional.

And the consensus of the Bible is that human beings are involved in a spiritual war for souls

while we live in the physical world.

While we think that our problems are just flesh and blood, just material,

and we can fix it with better education and better technology and better police

and better social programs,

we will always be defeated.

We have these things in increasing measure in our world

ever since the dark ages.

And our world is not getting any better.

We're in a much more complex battle.

And what this passage and what the consensus of the Bible is,

is this is the world that Satan does his work.

1 John 5.19 says,

We know that we are children of light

and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

Ephesians 2.2, just a little bit early, we've looked at already,

the devil is called the ruler of the kingdom of the air,

the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

And so the devil and his angels are a great demonic enemy

with a defined and disciplined chain of command.

Satan is terribly powerful.

He doesn't possess anything like the power of the infinite God,

though he can only be in one place at one time.

For instance, with his army of evil agents,

he imitates God's omnipresence and his omnipotence.

He desires to be God more than anything else.

And in fact, his desire to be God more than anything else

is at the center of his terrible, total spiritual evil.

And it's what he'd led humanity to,

which is what the Bible declares.

It led his humanity into wanting to be God also,

just like him in his deception.

And verse 12 alludes us to this,

describing the enemy as the powers of this dark world

and the spiritual forces of evil.

Even those throughout history who have gone very low in evil

in what they perpetrate against humanity

do not in any sense match Satan's evil.

Satan has no compassion,

no conscience,

no remorse,

no morals.

He feeds on pain and anguish and filth.

There is nothing in Satan

which is even remotely redeemable.

There is no virtue.

There's only dark void.

That's it.

He is supremely cunning.

Verse 11 there speaks of the devil's schemes

and he's been honing his methods of deception for millennia.

He's an accomplished philosopher and theologian and psychologist.

He has studied for thousands of years

and enough time to become astonishingly brilliant

at every single discipline

directed in order to deceive humanity.

He is the ultimate manipulator and subverter and actor.

2 Corinthians 11 says that one of his deadly methods

is masquerading as an agent of God's.

And this technique is just mixing enough truth with falsehood

to make it seem plausible.

Another one of his is sensuality.

Many souls are sold to accommodate a downward spiral in morality.

And another which is just instilling doubts about God's goodness.

Whatever his tactic,

he seldomly attacks in the open.

His strategies administered by his agents

are nearly always unseen.

They are shrewd

and they're perfectly tailored for you

and for me.

He operates best when he can convince us

that he doesn't even exist.

He's done a great job of that in the Western world

and to persuade us

that the Christian life is in fact not a fight.

He is evil beyond our comprehension

with our conscience,

without principle.

He's diabolically cunning

and he is after us.

He hates God.

He hates God's children.

He hates the church.

He hates the mission and vision of this church

to see the Lord Jesus treasured

together by us

in such a way that more and more people

from every culture,

tribe and language

is rescued from his evil clutches.

He hates it.

He hates our plan to be united,

multi-ethnic and socially diverse church.

He desires to destroy

the work of the Father

to make one society in the Lord Jesus forever.

He will do whatever he can

to destroy the work of the gospel

of the Lord Jesus Christ

in your life

and in the life of this church.

This is Paul's cosmic perspective.

And if you're sitting there going,

no, no, no,

there is no spiritual realm,

can I ask you not to be so naive

and dig deeper?

Now, all would be despair

except I've only described

part of Paul's cosmic perspective.

Among mortals like us,

Satan has no equal,

but he is far exceeded

by the God of the Bible

who's revealed himself,

the God of the universe,

the God who's created all things.

Satan is nowhere near God's evil.

Sorry, equal.

Let me just retract that.

Equal, equal, equal.

Nowhere near, he's equal.

Okay.

Not even close.

Not even close.

And this is different

between the Greek philosophy of old

that saw good and evil as a dualism.

Both Satan and God are fighting together

and hopefully one will get the upper hand.

Not even equal.

Satan is finite,

God is infinite.

In fact, Colossians 1 and 2

says that the entire spiritual realm

owes its existence to Jesus Christ,

including the thrones,

the powers,

the rulers,

the authorities,

both visible and invisible,

both heaven and on earth.

Christ is not only more powerful

by being virtue of Satan's creator,

but because he defeated Satan on the cross.

That's what the early chapters of Ephesians

have already declared to us.

He has sealed their doom.

Although in this present age,

they still exercise a control over those

who have not found freedom in the Lord Jesus Christ

just yet,

as we have already sung this morning.

If we are filled with the Holy Spirit,

Satan's forces cannot subdue you.

In Jesus Christ,

there is always victory.

But,

be realistic.

Real Christianity is a fight,

but the fight is the Lord Jesus' fight.

That's the good news.

The fight is his.

The battling's ours.

Paul leaves two commands that dominate,

and I want to do this real quick,

that dominate his advice

in these last two verses of the letter.

The first is in verse 10.

Finally,

be strong in the Lord

and in his mighty power.

It's a passive command.

Be made strong.

Jesus Christ has the victory,

and Ephesians 1 and 2

declare that he has given us

the resources

to stand and flourish.

We cannot fight this evil

by ourselves.

We are totally dependent upon Jesus,

and Paul expresses here

what you might see,

a proper combination

of divine enabling

and human cooperation.

He does it again

in the second command,

in verse 11.

Put on the full armor of God

so that you can take your stand

against the devil's schemes.

God has mercifully made provision

for us in Christ

so that we can stand

and not fall.

And the provision is his armor.

It's a picture of a soldier

in a battle.

So if your aim

is to persevere

in the Christian life,

not to be defeated

in the greatest sense

that is in a spiritual battle,

then you must put on this armor

described in these verses.

And we're told four times

in these verses

that the need to stand,

to stand our ground.

Paul is concerned

about our stability.

Wobbly Christians

don't have a firm foothold

in the gospel of the Lord Jesus

are easy prey.

Easy prey.

Paul here wants to see Christians

so strong,

so stable,

that they're stable

in the face,

able to stand

in the face

of all of Satan's schemes

and stable

even when the day

of evil comes,

as it says.

So this armor is essential.

It's described

in the following verses.

Let me just quickly

touch on it.

The belt of truth,

verse 14,

basically held

the sword in place.

And to stand firm

in the battle,

you must be a person.

The sword here

is the truth

of the revelation of God

in the scriptures,

in the Bible.

And for that truth

to have transformed you

as a person

into truthful character.

Essentially,

important,

that's really essential.

It's so important

in a world

where absolute truth

is rejected.

The irony of that statement

that there is no such thing

as absolute truth

is that that in itself

is an absolute truth statement.

That's the irony of it.

And we're saying

our absolute truth

is in the scriptures,

be filled with it.

Secondly,

the breastplate of righteousness,

verse 14,

the breastplate of righteousness

is God's own righteousness,

his own goodness

and right standing

freely given to those

who believe in Jesus Christ.

This is the good news

of the Christian gospel

as we've seen

in Ephesians 1 and 3.

It's written on the back

of your service sheet again.

Jesus Christ,

perfect life,

right standing before God

has become yours.

You don't earn it.

You don't work for it.

You don't contribute

to your right standing

before God

at all.

It's Jesus.

He's achieved it

and given it to you

as a gift.

And not only that,

he's taken my unrighteousness

to the cross

and dealt with it.

A great protection

against the thrust of Satan

which remind us constantly

of our own unrighteousness

and our own unworthiness

before God

is the gospel

to hold it close.

Thirdly,

feet fitted with the readiness

that comes from

the gospel of peace.

Verse 15,

the peace with God

that comes to us

in and through

the gospel of the Lord Jesus

firmly plants our feet

and gives stability

in battle.

A gospel

that declares

that you are not

at war with God.

God.

He's not your enemy.

You are not at war

with him

but in fact

at peace with him

through Jesus.

Number four

is the shield of faith.

Verse 16,

as we are locked

in this battle

with the enemy,

this is the battle

that you will experience

deep in your soul

day in and day out.

Repeated volleys

of temptations

and rejection

and criticism

and hypocrisy

and deception

and doubting

of God's goodness

and doubting

of the truth

of his word,

doubting even

his existence.

That is the battle

that you fight

constantly

in your soul.

But up comes

the shield of faith

against a thousand

of those fiery arrows

as we believe

and trust

what God

has revealed

about himself

in his word

that in Jesus Christ

you are his son

as we have already sung.

Five is the helmet

of salvation

which is the assurance

of salvation

and the resulting

confidence it brings.

This helmet

assures us

that no matter

what happens

in this battle

we will be saved

and we will be

we will experience

victory

forever

in Jesus Christ.

that's the outcome

of this battle.

Lastly

the sword

of the spirit

we are told

that it is

the word of God

the word of God

cuts to the heart

it lays it open

so that people

would believe

and repent

and be made alive

in Jesus Christ.

We're at war

and what this verse

tells us

as does the rest

of the New Testament

in fact all the Bible

is our razor's

sharp weapon

is God's word.

That's how

Jesus

when he was

tempted by Satan

in Matthew 4

he used the word

of God

to repel him

and our razor

sharp weapon

is the word

of God

and we would be

fools to lower it

simply because

our culture

says

it can't cut.

Our enemy

wants us to believe

that our weapon

is irrelevant

in the modern age

that it's archaic

that it's not

understandable

so keep it

in its sheath.

So friends

we must read it

we must meditate

on it

we must memorize it

we must study it

we must love it

the weapon

that we fight

with are not

the weapons

of this world

which brings us

to verse 18

and the importance

of prayer.

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 saints.

Prayer isn't

an added element

like another part

of the armor

it's the thing

that perviates

if you like

the whole war.

The prayer

referred to here

is comprehensive

pray on all occasions

regularly and constantly

with all kinds

of prayer and requests

for it takes

many and varied forms

being alert

and always keeping

on praying

because we don't

want to fall asleep

in a battle

for all the saints

since the unity

of God's

new society

which has been

the preoccupation

of this whole

letter of Ephesians

must be reflected

in our prayers.

Not

simply God

give me

a better job

but God's

agenda

being reflected

in our prayers.

And so my first

and my simple

challenge to us

at the end

of our vision series

is to rethink

your priorities

in these two areas

right now.

Commit to a new

resolve

to be a Christ

centered

Bible saturated

follower of Jesus

who's devoted to prayer

as we move into 2020.

Be committed to that.

Commit to a new

venture with God

today to pray

for this church

for its leadership

for its ministries

and its mission

and for the souls

the souls

of people

that they would

trust Jesus Christ.

My second

simple challenge

is to take us

back to the beginning

and for us

to take on

a wartime

mindset

in regard

to the spiritual

war that we're

engaged in.

A wartime

mindset

is where we

pour our resources

into the battle

to win the battle.

The thrust

of this whole

series

over the last

six weeks

is about

engaging

our time

our talents

and our treasures

our prayers

and our energy

to see

God's global

vision

advance

here in your

own life

but also

in the lives

of those

who are not

here at the

moment.

Our collective

response

is dependent

upon every

individual

response.

We want

each one of us

first and

foremost

to sign up

to serve.

We also want

every one of us

to give

financially.

as we do

each year

we pledge

to the work

that we're

doing a year

ahead

to engage

in this

battle

to see

many souls

won for

Christ

and as we

do each

year

our pledging

and our

leaders

that is our

parish council

and our

staff

they do it

in advance

as a sign

that we are

leading you

as a church

into this.

Now in a

moment they're

going to come

up

even though

they've already

done that

they've already

all pledged

to me

they're going

to come

up in a

moment

they're going

to also

put cards

in here

just as a

sign of

partnership

with us

as a church.

The reason

why we

pledge in

advance

is because

we want

to lead

the church

in this

matter.

So I'm

really happy

to declare

and I'm

going off

script here

John

or whoever's

up there

I can't

see

sorry

is that

Owen

it is

Owen

and Adrian

thank you

I'm happy

to declare

that our

leaders have

already

pledged

this is 27

people

staff and

parish council

have pledged

$4,321

a week

that's

slightly

over

than

40%

of our

budget

next year

they have

also

on top

of that

given

$29,600

towards

the target

of $75,000

that

likewise

is 40%

of that

target's

already been

hit

when we

hit here

this morning

so what

I'm calling

you today

is to

follow them

and to

make a

sustained

effort

not just

with a

one-off

response

but a

sustained

effort

to resource

the war

into 2020

right now

I'm going

to invite

John

is Ash

here as

well

Jake

Aaron

come on

up

these

guys

are

our

four

interns

Christians

and

right

now

we've

got

30

grand

to go

towards

the

battle

engaging

these

guys

in

that

but

I want

to pray

for them

because

they're all

here today

and I want

to pray

for them

that

they would

be used

by God

to be

effective

soldiers

and

servants

as we

even

just

prayed

for our

two

sisters

in

baptism

they

would

be

effective

soldiers

and

servants

for the

Lord

Jesus

in

this

battle

and

that

we

would

resource

them

as

well

let's

do

that

gracious

heavenly

father

I want

to thank

you

that

you

spread

your

gifts

ashore

to

all

of

your

people

thank

you

that

the

Lord

Jesus

has

given

his

gifts

to

his

church

he

held

them

all

and

he's

given

them

and

dispersed

them

amongst

us

so

that

we

might

continue

his

work

in

the

world

we

pray

for

our

four

brothers

and

sister

here

in

the

Lord

Jesus

who

have

been

impressed

by

you

to

be

set

apart

for

the

war

in

this

church

but

also

beyond

this

church

to

live

a

life

of

vocational

service

we

ask

that

you

would

fully

equip

them

for

that

work

that

as

they

battle

not

just

with

the

devil

beyond

and

the

world

from

the

outside

but

their

own

hearts

within

the

flesh

within

Lord

I

pray

that

they

would

hold

your

gospel

close

that

they

would

know

always

that

they

are

your

much

loved

children

and

that

you

would

continue

to

equip

them

for

this

battle

and

as

a

result

of

what

they

do

that

we

would

see

many

souls

won

for

you

for

the

glory

of

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

Amen