Commitment Sunday 2011

Well, good morning, St. Paul's, and welcome to Commitment Sunday.

We have arrived at the end of our Commitment series for this year.

We have arrived at the end of our Partners 2020 weekend.

And what a time it has been as we have progressed through this letter to the church at Ephesus.

We have had unfolded before us God's grand purposes from eternity to eternity.

God's purpose, as we have seen, is to create a new single humanity through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God's plan is to unite His universal church and, in fact, all of creation under the Lord Jesus' feet.

That, my friends, is God's agenda for His world.

It's His agenda for history. It's His agenda for your life.

In Christ, we have seen that the old days of division are gone.

God the Father has one family.

The Lord Jesus has one people.

The Holy Spirit has one body.

And what beauty we have seen in these chapters.

The mystery of election.

The wonder of salvation.

Peace with God.

Unity amongst believers from every cultural background.

Giftedness to serve God and people.

We have had a call to demonstrate our unity in the Christian fellowship,

while at the same time rejoicing in the diversity of gifts and ministries.

We have been called to put away all the uncleanliness of our pre-conversion behavior and live a life of holiness.

We have been called to submit to one another in every kind of domestic relationship and promote harmony in the home.

Unity, diversity, purity, and harmony.

These are some of the characteristics of the new life and the new society under Christ.

And what a beautiful ideal.

Such exalted thoughts that we have seen in the first five chapters of this book.

And just when you think Paul's about to end his letter with,

and they all lived happily ever after,

he slaps us across the face and wakes us up from our dreamy reflection.

Because this letter closes with the ugly blood and grime of warfare with our enemy.

The beautiful life, as we have seen for five chapters,

is lived out while cant in the trenches of war in the enemy's territory.

Verse 12.

In your Bibles, Ephesians 6.

Pick them up and have a look at it.

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.

Brothers and sisters, we are at war.

We're at war.

A long and protracted war.

Verse 10 opens with the word finally.

That is not signaling for Paul and for his readers.

I'm nearly at the end of my letter.

The word finally is better translated for the remaining time.

Paul is indicating here that the whole of the remaining time before Christ returns

will be characterized by warfare.

It will be characterized by conflict.

The peace which has been made through Christ on the cross

is to be experienced only in the midst of a relentless struggle against evil.

Verse 12 says that it is not a war against flesh and blood.

It is a supernatural war.

And so conventional weapons and tactics are useless.

It is a personal war too.

The word struggle indicates hand-to-hand combat.

Smart bombs aren't being dropped from silent drones 50,000 feet above the earth's surface.

This is a swaying back, locked in hand-to-hand combat with the evil one.

It is mortal combat.

Sweat on sweat.

Breath on breath.

It is also a futile war if it is fought in and by our own strength.

We are involved in a battle with a formidable enemy

where conventional tactics are useless.

If we attempt to spread the influence of the kingdom of God in this world

by using conventional wisdom, human wisdom and tactics of this world,

trading with them, strength with strength, cunning with cunning,

manipulation with manipulation, anger with anger,

we will lose for our opponent is too great.

And Paul is quite specific about our opponents.

Our struggle is against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the powers of this dark world

and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Our war is against powerful forces

who have the run of the heavenly realms.

Now they do not have the run of the highest heaven

where Christ is seated at the right hand of God

as we saw that in chapter 1 verse 20

and where believers are seated with him

as we saw in chapter 2 verse 6

but they do move freely about the rest of creation.

The consensus of scripture is this world is Satan's domain.

1 John 5 verse 19 says,

1 John 5:19

We know that we are children of God

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

2 Corinthians 4.4

The God of this age, referring to the evil one, Satan, the devil,

the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers

so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ

who is the image of God.

And even in Ephesians 2.2

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

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

This is the devil's world.

And that is why he was able to make a genuine offer

of all the kingdoms of the world to the Lord Jesus

if only he would bow down and worship him in Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

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 God.

He can only be in one place at one time.

But with his army of evil spirits

he imitates God's omnipresence and omnipotence.

He desires to be God more than anything else.

In fact, his desire to be God

is the very centre of his terrible total spiritual evil.

Verse 12 alludes to this

in describing the enemy

as the powers of this dark world

and the spiritual forces of evil.

Now of course we know from Romans 1 to 3

that we are evil.

We are totally depraved.

Which means that every part of our beings

is tainted by sin.

But it doesn't mean that we're as bad

as we possibly could be

because there's always room for deprovement.

And yet

even those who throughout history

who have gone very low in acts of evil

do not match Satan's evil.

Satan, our enemy

the one in whom we are bound together

in mortal combat

has no conscience

no compassion

no remorse

no morals.

He feeds on pain

and anguish

and filth.

There is nothing in Satan

which is redeemable.

There is no virtue

but only a dark

cannibalistic void.

He is also supremely cunning

verse 11 speaks

of the devil's schemes

or the devil's methods

and he has been honing

his schemes

and his methods

for millennia.

He is an accomplished philosopher.

He is an accomplished theologian.

He is an accomplished psychologist.

He has studied

for thousands

and thousands of years

enough time

to be astonishingly brilliant

in every area of discipline.

He is the ultimate manipulator

subverter

and actor.

2 Corinthians 11 says

that one of his deadly methods

is to masquerade

as an agent of light.

He is that cunning

that accomplished

that he can pull off

being a servant of God.

And so we should expect

that his servants

would masquerade

as servants of God

as well.

Satan specializes

in many dirty techniques

to win the battle.

He is not governed

by a Geneva Convention

of Spiritual Warfare.

He desires to win

and in winning

he desires to destroy.

One technique

is to mix

just enough truth

with falsehood

to make the falsehood

seem plausible.

Another is sensuality.

Many souls

have been sold out

to accommodate

a downwardly spiralling morality.

Another is to instill doubts

about God's goodness.

Whatever his tactic

he seldom

seldom

attacks openly.

His strategies

administered by

his evil spirits

are nearly always unseen.

They are virtually

always shrewd

and perfectly tailored

for you

and for me.

that we might come

under the influence

of his schemes.

He operates best

when he can convince people

that he does not exist.

He persuades us

that life

that we are living

right now

is not a battle.

That we are not

in warfare.

He is evil

beyond our comprehension

and without conscience

or principle.

He is diabolically cunning

and he is after us.

He hates

Christ.

He hates

God's children.

He hates

the church.

He hates

the mission

and vision

of St. Paul's

Chatswood

that we

as a people

would know

Christ,

treasure Christ

and represent Christ

so that the people

in our area

are rescued

from his evil clutches.

He hates it.

And therefore

he desires

to destroy

the work

of the Father

to make one society

in Christ

that brings glory

to him

and he will do

whatever he can

to destroy

the work of the gospel

in your life.

He will do

whatever he can

to destroy

the work of the gospel

at St. Paul's

Chatswood.

He will do

whatever he can

to distract us

to make the small

things big

and the big things

small.

He will cunningly

labor to put up

the walls of division

that the cross

removes.

He will labor

to subvert

our witness.

He will labor

to downplay

the spiritual war

and lead us

into a full sense

of all is at peace

and comfort

and safety.

This my friends

is Paul's

cosmic perspective

with all

its chilling

implications.

And all

would be despair

except that's only

part of his

cosmic perspective.

On earth

amongst mortals

Satan

has no equal.

evil.

You are no match

to him.

But in the heavenly realms

he is far exceeded

by a triune God.

There is no dualism here.

Satan is not

the counterpart

of God.

Satan is finite

and God is infinite.

In fact

Colossians 1 and 2

says that the entire

spiritual realm

owes its existence

to Christ

including

thrones

powers

rulers

authorities

both visible

and invisible

both in heaven

and on earth.

But Christ

is not only

more powerful

by virtue

of being

Satan's creator

but because

he defeated

Satan at the cross.

Satan

and all

his cronies

are under

the feet

of the Lord Jesus.

He has sealed

their doom

although

in this present

age

they still

exercise

control

over those

who have not

found freedom

in Christ.

If we are

filled with the

spirit

Satan's forces

cannot subdue us

but those

who neglect

Christ's

resources

those who do

not take up

the weapons

that he has

given us

and take on

this devil

and all his

schemes

with human

wisdom

and conventional

tactics

they place

themselves

in harm's

way

as do

those

who give

the enemy

room in

their lives.

In Christ

there is

always

victory.

So what

then are we

to do?

Paul

leaves

two commands

for us

that dominate

his advice

in the last

final verses

of this

letter.

The first

is verse

10

finally

be strong

in the

Lord

and in

his

mighty

power.

This

command

is in

fact

a passive

command

it is

literally

be made

strong

in the

Lord

that is

we cannot

fight

Satan

ourselves

we are

totally

dependent

upon

Christ

the power

is his

and without

his strength

we will

falter

and we

will fall

and yet

the command

here is

that we

still need

to be

strong

in him

and Paul

here I

think

expresses

the proper

combination

of divine

enabling

and human

cooperation

he does

it again

and again

throughout

this letter

and he

does it

here with

his second

command

in verse

11

put on

the full

armor

of God

so that

you can

take your

stand

against the

devil's

schemes

it is

God's

armor

it is

his

armor

and without

it we will

be fatally

unprotected

but we still

need to take

this armor

up and put

it on

God has

made provision

for us to

stand so

that we

will not

fall and the

provision is

his armor

God is able

to keep us

from falling

according to

Jude

and the way

he keeps us

from falling

is by fitting

us out for

successful

spiritual

combat

and so

my friends

if your

aim is to

persevere

in the

Christian

life

and not

be defeated

by the

schemes

and the

methods

of the

evil

one

then you

must put

on the

armor

that's

described

here in

these

verses

we are

told four

times in

these

verses

of the

need

for us

to

stand

Paul

is

concerned

here for

our

stability

as the

battle

rages

wobbly

Christians

who don't

have a

firm

foothold

in Christ

are easy

prey

for the

evil

one

and so

Paul wants

to see

Christians

so strong

and stable

that they

are even

stable in

the face

of Satan's

schemes

and stable

when

verse 13

says

when the

day of

evil

comes

or the

day

of

very

special

time

pressure

and so

the full

armor of

God

here is

essential

it's

described

in the

following

verses

the

belt

of

truth

verse

14

held

the

sword

in

place

it

didn't

just

hold

the

sword

in

place

but

it

held

up

the

soldier's

tunic

so

that

the

soldier

was

not

hindered

as

they

charged

into

battle

to

stand

firm

in

the

battle

you

must

be

a

person

here

filled

with

truth

filled

with

the

truth

of

the

revelation

of

God

in

the

scriptures

and

you

must

be

transformed

by

that

truth

so

that

you

will

become

a

truthful

person

not

just

to

know

the

truth

but

for

that

truth

to

transform

you

so

that

you

are

a

person

of

truth

not

half

truths

not

a

bleak

language

truth

fullness

secondly

the

breastplate

of

righteousness

verse

14

was a

metal

piece

that

covered

the

front

of

the

body

to

protect

the

vital

organs

and

especially

the

heart

翻

loose

face

which

says

λιi

will believe what God says and not the messages of the evil one.

Five is the helmet of salvation in verse 17, which is the assurance of salvation and resulting

confidence that it brings to us.

The helmet assures us that no matter what happens in this battle, no matter what happens,

I am saved.

I am rescued.

I am secure in Christ and I have victory in him.

Lastly is the sword of the spirit in verse 17 and we are told here that it is the word

of God.

What we are to understand about the sword of the spirit is that when we take it up, we

we have in our hands the word of God, the supreme weapon for defensive and offensive battle.

The word of God cuts to the heart.

It lays open the heart so that people would believe, so that they would repent, so that

they would be rescued from the clutches of the evil one and made alive.

We are at war and our razor sharp weapon is God's word and we would be fools to lower it just

simply because our culture says it can't cut.

We would be fools to lay it to one side because our enemy wants us to believe it is irrelevant, it

is archaic, it is not understandable.

We would be fools to have ministries that minimize the word of God and to push it to one side.

It is the only weapon that cuts the heart.

The weapons that we fight with are not the weapons of this world according to 2 Corinthians 10.

And so my friends, take up the word of God and read it and meditate upon it and memorize

it and study it and love it and speak it and speak it.

You can have great conversations with people.

You can have warm, beautiful conversations with people, but unless the word of God is spoken,

the heart is not cut to see the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Do not lower that weapon.

The Christian warrior dressed in full armor, the full armor of God is a formidable picture.

I hope you get the sense that these verses here are calling us to action, to wake us up

out of a comfortable stupor.

That if you are there in the enemy's battlefield, in the trenches with your deck chair out and your

umbrella up and your cocktail in your hand, throw it to one side and put the armor on and

get into the battle is what it's saying.

Get ready.

The Christian warrior here gets ready.

He tightens his belt.

His heart pounds under the breastplate.

He scuffs his feet at the earth with his studded boots to get a firm grip.

He takes up his shield in anticipation of the fiery arrows that are coming for him.

He repositions his helmet and he tests the edge of his sword.

His heart pounds.

The sweat falls.

And the warrior stands motionless as the enemy charges at him.

And then he does the most amazing thing.

He falls to his knees in deep, profound prayer.

Make no mistake, there will be action.

There will be hand-to-hand combat.

He will rise and he will use his sword, but it will all be bathed in prayer.

And this is the picture as you read into verse 18.

Prayer isn't added as another part of the armor.

It actually pervades all of the spiritual warfare.

The scriptures and prayer belong together as the two chief weapons that the spirit puts in our hands.

The sword of the spirit.

The most effective weapon for both offensive and defensive battle and prayer.

That gives the sword all its power.

The prayer referred to here is comprehensive.

We are to pray on all occasions, both regularly and constantly.

With all kinds of prayers and requests, for it takes many and varied forms.

Because being alert and always keep on praying because you don't want to ever give up.

And you don't want to ever fall asleep.

For all the saints.

Since the unity of God's new society, which has been the preoccupation of this whole letter to the Ephesians.

Must be reflected in our prayers.

Most Christians pray sometimes with some prayers.

With some degree of perseverance and for some of the people.

But to replace some with all.

In each of these expressions would be to climb to a new dimension of our prayer life.

And my friends, we need it here at St. Paul's.

If the gathering on a Sunday afternoon once a month is the extent of our prayers.

I'm amazed at how few people gather.

And when we do gather, how much we struggle to pray for God's agenda for his church.

Against the prayer that is described here, the principalities and powers are helpless.

Without prayer, we are much too feeble and much too flabby to stand against the might of the forces of evil.

So let me remind you again, St. Paul's, brothers and sisters, friends.

We are in cosmic battle.

We're at war.

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.

And the basic spiritual weapons of our warfare are the word and prayer.

And so my simple challenge to you is to rethink your priorities in these two areas.

Commit today, on Commitment Sunday, commit today to a new resolve to be a Christ-centered, Bible-saturated warrior

who's devoted to prayer.

As per two of our core values, commit today to a new venture with God.

My second simple challenge is to take on a wartime mindset in regard to the spiritual war that we're engaged in.

Timothy reminds us that the soldier doesn't get entangled in civilian affairs.

He doesn't get entangled with civilian affairs.

The soldier has a job.

And that's to fight an enemy.

We're encamped in enemy territory, so it doesn't make sense to construct mansions and build up treasures.

Let us stand together with a wartime mindset, firmly trusting in the mighty power of our Lord Jesus.

The wartime mindset is where you pour your resources into winning the battle.

We work together in giving our time and our prayers and our energy and our money to winning the war.

And that is what I'm calling you to do today.

People are going to hell right now just metres from us under the influence of our enemy.

That is the battle that we're involved in.

And one of our enemy's great seductions is to lure us into a comfortable, distracted life.

This year, Nellie and I have increased our giving to St. Paul's to $700 a month for the ministry here.

You know my pledge as I do each year.

Together, the staff and parish council have already pledged so far $6,738 a week for the battle here.

And so I now call you to follow them by having a wartime mindset and setting your resources to the battle.