Ephesians 6:10-13 | "Standing Firm in the Fight"

This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Good morning again, and happy Mother's Day.

Pastor Jason gave me a few months to prepare and said, You're preaching on Mother's Day.

And so I said, perfect.

I'm going to preach on something that moms of every stripe and color are going to love.

We're going to preach on, examine warfare.

Yes, yes.

You're welcome, ladies.

You're welcome.

Please join me in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10.

Ephesians 6:10

We'll be camping out in verses 10 through 13.

And while you're turning there, I want to tell you about a man named Louis Burwell Puller.

If you're not familiar with that name, that's okay.

But he is the most decorated Marine in American history.

He was so decorated by medals and ribbons that he is often not known as Lewis Puller.

He is known as Chesty Puller because of all the ribbons and medals that he wore on his chest, on his uniform.

He entered the Marine Corps as a private in 1918 and he retired as a lieutenant general in 1955.

And if you spend any time around Marines, they know Chesty Puller.

He's a bit of a legend in their eyes.

He's the kind of guy that is revered so much that in boot camp, as you're laying down before you go, before it slides out, you slap the bed twice and you say, Good night, Chesty Puller, wherever you are.

He's the kind of guy who's probably could do a push-up with no hands.

He's the guy who, if he were alive today, he would not be afraid of catching coronavirus.

Coronavirus would be afraid of catching chesty puller.

Okay, he was just a legendary figure, a warrior in every sense of the word.

He's the kind of guy that when a grenade would land next to him, this is a true story, at least mostly true, I think.

A grenade landed next to him, and he's with a group of other Marines, and grenade lands there.

Everybody jumps for cover, but not Chesty.

Chesty stands his ground, he looks at it and says, Oh, that's a dud.

It was during the Korean War, and more specifically during the Battle of the Chosen Reservoir, that Chesty Puller is known to issue some of his most memorable quotes.

He was just a walking-talking quote machine.

It was during the battle of the chosen reservoir that Chestey, in addressing his Marines, famously said, We've been looking for the enemy for some time now.

We found him, men.

We're surrounded.

That simplifies things.

They're in front of us, behind us, and we're flanked on both sides from an enemy that outnumbers us 29 to 1.

Great, now we can shoot in any direction that we like.

It was at the Battle of the Chosen Reservoir that Polar and his men found themselves holed up in the town of Kotori, completely surrounded by 10 full divisions of Chinese infantry, completely bent on destroying every single American troop they could find.

Heavily outnumbered and fighting in sub-zero temperatures.

Polar's troops broke the enemy lines, smashed through seven enemy divisions.

A division is a huge amount of troops.

Seven enemy divisions.

And then stayed behind as a rearguard bearing the brunt of the Chinese onslaught so that the rest of the Marines and American forces could make their retreat.

The 1st Marine Division withstood fierce attacks by hordes of communist soldiers, but held their position, inflicted tremendous numbers of casualties on the enemy, and managed to provide time enough for the Allies to evacuate all of their wounded and all the uh salvageable equipment.

And sheer bravery in the face of intense fire and seeming in a seemingly windless situation earned Chesty Puller his fifth Navy Cross.

If you know anything about Marine or Navy uh decorations, the Navy Cross is the highest award any sailor or Marine can get aside from the Medal of Honor.

He had five.

That's a lot.

He got his fifth at the Battle of the Chosen Reservoir, an unprecedented accomplishment that has never been equaled.

Now you know kind of what made him such a legend.

What made what made Chesty Polar such an exceptional Marine?

Was he bigger?

Faster, stronger?

If you would see pictures of him, you would be quite surprised that he's not very a very imposing figure.

He's more of an average person.

Was it his intelligence?

I'm pretty sure Chesty would tell you that he's not the most uh he's not the brightest bulb in the bunch.

He's not the smartest Marine to ever have lived.

So what was it that made Chesty Polar such an exceptional Marine, especially in times of combat?

I'm convinced that it was his recognition and exceptional uh reflexes to where he was and what needed to be done.

In short, Chesty Puller knew exactly what needed to be done based on the situation of where he was.

If he was in combat, it didn't matter what needed to be done.

He knew how to react because in combat you only have a certain number of options, and what he did is he reacted based on what was happening around him.

He knew the situation and responded accordingly.

He didn't sit around asking questions, second guessing himself.

He just did it because he knew where he was and what he was supposed to be doing.

My question for our time here this morning is do we know where we are and what we are supposed to be doing?

Do you and I know where we are and what we're supposed to be doing?

And I'm not talking about sitting here Sunday morning in the church service listening to me yell at you for the next 40 minutes.

First service was short, so maybe not quite that long, but I made adjustments.

Don't worry.

Don't make the same mistake twice.

What are we supposed to be doing?

Where are we?

What I'm referring to is the spiritual realities that are going on all around us at every moment of our lives.

Right now, there are spiritual realities, spiritual forces at work that you're not even aware of.

They interact with even me when things end up being awkward during announcements, and I go down to the stairs and I'm second guessing myself and like, oh, I'm such a dummy.

I should have said this rather than that.

It's constantly at work.

We second guess ourselves when we preach.

We get emails that discourage us.

It's active in your homes, parents, moms.

It's that force at work that is attempting to discourage you in your attempts to raise your children.

There's spiritual realities all around you when you're laying on your bed at night and you got your phone pulled up.

It's happening rather than rather than investing in your kids, you're just going to go watch TV.

Rather than sharing the gospel with your coworker, you rather just ignore them.

These are all spiritual realities at work.

The Apostle Paul says in this text that we are in a struggle, a fight, a battle.

And this isn't the only place the Apostle Paul says this.

He says that we are in a spiritual struggle in other places, but with this mindset, I want us to begin our study by looking at the context of our warfare and kind of unpack what I mean by this reality that's constantly at work around us.

We have to understand what's going on around us because you guys are familiar with the armor of God more than likely if you've spent any time in church.

Probably had lots of VBS, Sunday school, all that stuff, lots of learning on the armor of God.

But if you don't know where you are and what you're supposed to be doing with that armor, it doesn't make a lick of difference.

And so this morning I want to focus on those first three verses, 10 through 13, so that we could just grasp the reality of what's happening in our lives.

The context of our warfare.

Look at verse 11.

He says, put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

And then again in verse 12, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

There are spiritual forces at work that don't always take on a fleshly form.

We are not in a fight against flesh and blood.

We are not in a fight against people.

Our ultimate fight is against these realities that you and I cannot see.

Now, people have been fighting for years.

Since the beginning of time, people have been constantly fighting.

They fight over land, they fight over possessions.

Sometimes they fight in self-defense.

Christians are different because we don't fight over what is seen, the physical realities.

That's not what we fight over.

We don't care about physical safety or what tribe you're from.

We don't want land or possessions.

Rather, the battle that we fight is these spiritual realities.

And here's what Paul mentions.

First, he mentions the schemes of the devil.

The devil is actively scheming against you.

He is plotting and devising plans to ruin your life.

Now, we make a big deal about Satan or we minimize him.

There's two errors there.

If you make too big of a deal about Satan, you almost make him as if he's equal with God.

And that's simply not true.

Satan is very finite in his power and abilities.

But if you minimize Satan's importance, then you slip into complacency of who he really is.

We'll talk about complacency in a little bit.

Satan is actively scheming.

He is roaming the earth, 1 Peter 5, 8.

He is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for anyone he can devour.

He is actively looking to devour people, particularly Christians.

He is looking to make a mess of your life so that you would just curse God and die, just as he did with Job.

Satan is scheming, and then verse 12.

Our fight is against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

It says rulers and authorities, and you and I, our minds immediately go towards governmental authorities, but that's not necessarily what Paul intends here.

These are people, or actually rather beings who have power and authority in unseen places that you are unaware of.

They are the cosmic powers of this darkness, evil spiritual forces in the heavens.

It's essentially an elaboration of what those rulers and authorities are.

It's active at all times and is influenced by these powers and forces that you cannot see.

It's a frightening reality if you think about it.

Again, at this moment, there are forces at work in your life to convince you that God is not real, Jesus is fake, your Bible is worthless, and that Christianity is a hateful and tolerant belief system.

There are forces at work tempting you to unplug with what I'm saying right now and pointing you towards the text and say, you know what, you don't really need to hear about this right now.

There are forces at work trying to get you to not trust Jesus Christ.

They want to tear you away from God's goodness and grace.

And if they can't tear you away from that, they seek to make your life as miserable as they possibly can, or even draw you into sin and bury you with guilt and shame.

This is spiritual warfare.

These are influential forces that convince people to murder those they hate, to take that which doesn't belong to them, and to seek self-satisfaction in material things.

And I'm not talking about when you do something, when you sin, it's the devil made me do it.

No.

But there are forces at work to influence you and convince you of what you ought to do.

It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden where Satan, disguised as a serpent, lied to Adam and Eve so that he could ruin them.

Satan wasn't in charge of Adam and Eve's choices.

They made their own choices, but what did he do?

Did God really say?

Did God really say?

He's holding back on you.

Don't you want to just take it?

Eat it?

Do you really think God has your best interests in mind?

Satan is incredibly powerful.

In fact, Ephesians 2, it says that he is the ruler of the power of the air.

You think about what happens in the air.

The air is where we communicate.

That's where we talk.

You are hearing my voice because my sound is traveling through the air.

And now we have access more than ever to nonstop information, streaming services, social media.

There are constantly forces at work to convince you to believe certain things and think certain ways.

I'm not saying Satan's under every single walk, but he's close by most of the time.

1 Corinthians 10, 14 tells us, so then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

But I do say that what they sacrifice, that is, the idols that people worship in idolatry, they sacrifice to demons and not to God.

Why?

Because the demons have convinced people to worship something other than God.

Think about how bland that can be.

Your cell phone can become an idol, and it seems so innocuous, but guess what?

If you are convinced to give all your time and attention to that little device, you have been deceived into idolatry, and ultimately you're not worshiping a cell phone.

You have been convinced by Satan and his demons to worship that.

Spiritual warfare.

That's what I'm talking about.

2 Corinthians 10 tells us that although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds.

Strongholds, those ideas and attitudes that hole up in people's hearts to convince themselves to hold on to anti-God and anti-Christ idea ideas and philosophies.

We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God.

Anything that is convincing you that something that God has told you is not true is something at work during uh as a result of spiritual forces.

And we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

We understand the reality that we live in.

It's at work all the time.

And I I'm realizing this more and more.

I think it's interesting that Paul closes the book of Ephesians with this spiritual warfare.

And all the time when he's talking about the implications throughout the book, the implications for the Christian life in light of the gospel, he's constantly talking about be careful about how you walk, walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

Walk, be careful how you walk.

He talks about how husbands are to interact with their wives, how wives are to interact with their husbands, how children ought to interact with their parents, how uh slaves and masters are to interact with one another, and that's that's more akin to an employee and employer relationship.

If you don't get it and think that sounds hateful, let's talk after service.

I don't have time.

But all these, all these really kind of these very bland situations, these normal situations that we might encounter, he ends it with spiritual warfare.

I'm convinced that there is so much happening even in the mundane events in life.

Your regular interaction with your kids, the shows you choose to watch, the music you choose to listen to, the people you associate with.

I think there is so much behind it rather than just, well, this is just a friendship or that's just a TV show, or I'm just tired.

There's so much more behind it.

Do we understand the reality that we're living in?

That's my question.

I want you to imagine this.

Living in Syria.

Living in Syria, if you don't, if you're not familiar with Syria, over the last 10 years there's been a civil war happening in Syria.

And during that time period, the country has been devastated by a bloody, ruthless civil war.

Entire cities have been reduced to rubble.

400,000 lives have been lost.

400,000 lives have been lost.

There's not a square inch of that country that has not been affected by this war.

An average day would probably consist of gunshots, bombs, and screams filling the airwaves every single day.

And if you paid no attention to the fact that you lived in Syria, things would probably end up pretty bad for you.

There are places you don't go at certain times of the day.

There are certain people you don't hang out with.

There are certain things you do and do not do.

Why?

Because a wrong move could cost you your life.

And that's the consequence of living in a war zone.

I'm afraid that we don't believe that we live in the midst of a constant struggle.

I don't think we believe that.

I think we believe we live in the spiritual suburbs where I have my latte, I have my church and my big Bible that I go to church once a week.

I have my Bible study that matches my needs and fits my needs, and I do that, and I'm good.

I don't need to do anything more, and life is good for me.

There's no requirement of sacrifice, no requirement of giving of myself.

There's no requirement of me to encourage or or try to bless others.

No, it's just all focused on me.

Why?

Because I live in the spiritual suburbs.

My fears, that mentality has captivated the American church, and I'm afraid it might be making its way into this church.

Do you understand the reality that you live in?

The struggle that's constantly at play.

The war that is raging around you.

If you're not aware of the war, you're gonna slip into complacency.

Some of you know I I served in the Marine Corps for four years.

I deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as an infantry rifleman.

And one thing I noticed in both tours is that any base you step foot on, you will see, it seems almost a hundred times over.

Everywhere you go, everywhere you turn, you see this phrase spray painted on the wall.

And the phrase says, complacency kills.

Complacency kills.

Meaning the moment you get comfortable is the moment you lose your life because you stop caring.

The enemy is not taking a break.

The enemy is not complacent.

They are constantly on the move, constantly making their next, moving to their next position, constantly watching you and waiting for you to get comfortable.

Complacency kills.

You drop your guard.

And when you drop your guard, the enemy is just waiting to ambush you.

I think of Cain when when Abel and Cain offered their sacrifices.

Abel offered the best that he had, and Cain kind of offered God the leftovers.

And he got frustrated at Abel because Abel's sacrifice was accepted, but his was not by God.

And what was God's admonition to Cain?

Sin is crouching at the door.

And its desire is for you.

Your sin is crouching at the door of your heart, supported by a spiritual enemy that you cannot see, and it is just waiting for the moment to take you.

Do you know?

Do you realize the reality that you live in?

The struggle that we are constantly engaged in.

It all seems kind of bleak when I put it that way, doesn't it?

Thanks.

Mother's Day.

Encouragement.

Appreciate it, Pastor Jeremy.

You're welcome.

It's not the end of it.

Look at verse 10.

How do we stay vigilant about the war that we're in?

If complacency is going to end us, is going to lead us to be casualties.

If we have to be vigilant, how do we stay vigilant?

How do we fight this war?

And luckily for us, God doesn't say, well, muscle up, buttercup.

Let's just get in there and give it your best effort.

No.

In verse 10, we see this: be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

I'm going to read that again slowly for those of you in the back.

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

That's the preface to the reality of spiritual warfare.

In other words, the power in this fight that you're in does not come from you.

It comes from God.

There's a significant difference between strengthen, being strengthened by an external power and trying to muster up the strength that you already have.

Being strengthened by God means that there is power outside of you needed for engagement in this battle.

And God has an eternal supply to give to you.

The strength that Paul is speaking of is a strength that is given to you and actively working through you.

The only problem is that we often don't want what God has to offer when it comes to this battle.

We think we can do it ourselves.

I'll stop looking at those websites.

I'll just try to be gentler with my kids.

I'll try and stop watching that show.

We think the power lies within us.

I'll stop being more prideful.

It doesn't lie in you.

The strength for this fight does not lie in you.

It lies in God.

And that's why he says, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Look again in verse 13.

He says, Therefore, take up the whole armor of God.

So God strengthens you and provides you the resources needed for this battle.

You only need to submit yourself to what God has given to you in order to engage.

He's given you everything you need for the fight.

Ephesians 1:3.

Ephesians 1:3

Paul opens up this entire book with this beautiful promise.

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.

Every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

Where is your struggle?

Where is your battle?

It's in the heavenly places.

Where is the blessing that God has given you?

It's in the heavens.

God has given you everything you need.

And if you don't believe that, go to 2 Corinthians 10, 3 through 4.

Again, Paul says, we live in the flesh, we don't wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through not you, but through God for the demolition of strongholds.

The Apostle Peter would say that God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.

My friends, if we are failing in this fight, it's not for a lack of resources.

God has supplied everything and more than what you need.

Every moment that we choose not to trust God in what he has given us for the war that we are engaged in, we are surrendering ground to the enemy.

We are giving him a foothold in our lives and allowing him space to set up shop and form those strongholds that Paul is talking about.

My friends, don't be deceived into thinking that you are the solution.

You are not.

If you were the solution, you would fail.

If you needed your own strength, you would fail.

But God, He has supplied you with strength and resources and blessings for the fight.

That brings us to our third point this morning.

The goal of our warfare.

We have the context of our warfare, the power of our warfare, and third, the goal of our warfare.

Look at verse 11.

Put on the whole armor of God, take up those resources, utilize that power that God has given you, so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

Look at verse 13.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day.

Verse 14, stand, therefore.

Before he gets into the armor of God, he talks about standing, which is the goal of your battle.

He doesn't call you to take charge, charge headlong into a fight in order to gain ground for his kingdom.

He doesn't give you a charge to take back culture, take back countries, or take back any earthly institution.

No.

Your goal, my goal, is not to make advancements for the kingdom of God, but rather to stand firm where God has you.

God will advance his kingdom.

Stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

Resist and stand firm in the evil day.

Take your stand.

The picture here is one of who's digging in rather than charging out.

He's probably thinking about typical warfare of the day, the Apostle Paul is, where armies would line up on opposite sides and they would just charge at each other.

And that's different for you and I because we don't line up on the opposite side and charge and try and go as far as we possibly can.

No.

You and I are digging in, standing our ground with the power of God at work in our lives and trusting in Him.

Do you realize how much pressure has been taken off of you?

Parents, moms, since it is Mother's Day, you have not been called to make advancements in the salvation of your children.

You have been called to stand firm in discipling your children.

God takes care of salvation.

You have not been called to transform things and make them Christian.

You have been called to be a faithful Christian where God has you.

God wants you to stand firm.

Stand firm.

And that doesn't sound very inspiring, but listen to this.

James chapter 4, verse 7.

James 4:7

This is what happens for those who trust in God, relying on his power and resources.

James chapter 4, verse 7.

James 4:7

Therefore, submit to God.

Submit to what he has given to you for the fight.

And he says, resist the devil and he will flee.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Satan will flee and retreat when he realizes that you are depending on God's strength and standing firm in his promises, and he's not going to gain any ground on you.

That doesn't mean he's going to relent completely.

He'll be back.

He'll bring more friends.

But there you will be with the eternal resources that God has given you to stand firm once again.

We're called to stand firm.

Stand firm, not because the battle is waiting to be won, but because it already has been won.

The war is over, folks.

The war is over.

Here's what I mean.

John 16, 33, Jesus, before he even goes to the cross, before he makes atonement for sins, he gathers his twelve together.

He has a little pow-wow with them.

He's given them some final instructions and some final teachings before he goes to the cross.

Listen to what he says in chapter 16, verse 33.

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.

You will have suffering in this world, because there's evil spiritual forces actively working against you.

But be courageous, he says.

Whatever hardship you may experience in this life, Jesus has conquered it.

Colossians chapter 2, when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

This is the natural condition of every single person in existence.

You are dead in your sins.

You might have life and breath in you, but you're a walking, talking corpse.

The Apostle Paul says, you were dead in your trespasses, but God made you alive with him and forgave you all of our trust all of your trespasses.

He erased the certificate of debt with its obligations that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

So you were dead in your trespasses, and you were dead in your sins.

Christ took that from you.

Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14.

Hebrews 2:14

Since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.

The wages of sin brings death, which is every single person, but Jesus Christ has conquered death, so that those who used to fear death are no longer held in slavery to it.

You're still not convinced.

I don't think you're convinced.

1 Corinthians 15.

Where death is your victory, where death is your sting.

Listen to this.

You all seem really excited about that one.

The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.

The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the devil's works.

That's 1 John 3, 8.

Are you getting the picture yet?

Jesus is not calling you to withstand a battle that's just a losing fight.

No, he's won.

Jesus Christ has won the war.

It's over.

It's over.

And now while we're here in the present, in every context of your life, with those spiritual forces at work, we stand firm with the resources God has given us, knowing that victory has been won.

Jesus has defeated sin.

He has defeated Satan.

He has defeated death.

And for those who trust in Him alone for the forgiveness of their sins, the question is not who will win the war, but rather who will stand firm in the battle.

For those of you here today, you're in a fight of some sort.

Some of you are in the fight that I've just described, but there are others of you who are in a different fight because you're fighting against God.

You're fighting the wrong battle.

And I gotta tell you, that is a losing battle.

That is a losing fight.

You will never have victory in your life over those forces at work until you trust in the one who has conquered your sin.

Who has conquered sin, death, and the devil.

My final call this morning for all of us, and especially those of you who are fighting against God, repent, believe in the gospel, and stand firm in the promises of Christ.

Be strengthened by God's power in Christ, and grab hold of the infinite resources at your disposal so that as the arm uh as the enemy charges at your soul, you can stand firm in the victory of Jesus Christ.

Let's pray.

Father God, I beg.

What great love you have for sinful people.

What great love you have for sinful people that you would send your son to be betrayed into the hands of lawless men, to be beaten and hung on a cross.

What love you have for lawless people.

You had every right to hand us over to our enemy, and thus suffer the defeat that he has suffered.

But you saved us.

You offer us salvation.

And Holy Spirit, I pray this morning that you would transform our hearts, enlighten us, give us the sight to see this reality that's at work around us, and not just be aware of it, but help us to trust in the resources and provision that you have given to us so that we would stand firm in this battle.

May we not be deceived that it's not happening or that we can't do it on our own, or that we can do it on our own.

And help us to look to Christ, the victor over everything.

Jesus Christ has won.

Amen.

That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.

Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.

You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.