Spiritual Warfare - Ephesians 6

In the book of Ephesians this evening, we're

going to primarily be in Ephesians chapter 6,

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

but we're going to be jumping around just a bit.

I want to start in Ephesians chapter 1. As you're

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

turning there, consider the life of Grace Fellowship

Church. Grace Fellowship Church that started

in Grayville. in a small conference room, and

moved to Fortney United Methodist Church. The

Lord seemingly brought families together and

men together to lead the congregation. And I

forgot to turn my mic on. And the Lord seems

to bless it and grow it. It's obvious and clear

the Lord is working in our midst. And we think

about the location of Grace Fellowship Church.

Southeast Illinois. Right now we're in Browns.

What's the population of Browns? 200, I think.

An estimate. Somewhere in there. Who is there

to stop us from growing and doing the work of

God out here? Right? God's going to bless the

church. God's going to bless His people. He'll

grow His church. He's going to grow His kingdom.

Who is there to stop us, brothers and sisters?

Can men stop the work of God? Can people stop

the work of God? Can there be a hindrance and

a stumbling block to it? Are there enemies afoot?

as the work of God continues, as the church is

established and blessed? The answer is yes, there

are enemies, though they are not men. They are

not people that oppose the church, that are the

greatest threat to the people of God and the

church of Jesus Christ. They are spiritual forces.

Of wickedness. Spiritual forces of darkness.

That do not want. A healthy. Vibrant. Growing.

God blessed church. In southeast Illinois. There

are forces. Afoot. Brothers and sisters. That

hate. This church. There are forces afoot and

surrounding us and at work opposing the church

of Jesus Christ and this local expression of

the church of Jesus Christ that despise and strategize

how to cause the downfall of grace, fellowship,

church. So when we talk about Spiritual warfare.

We have to understand we're not talking about

bedtime stories and fairy tales. If we believe

in the Apostle Paul, we have to believe in the

spiritual forces of wickedness that the Apostle

Paul teaches us. so clearly about. The Bible

is abundantly clear regarding the nature of true

opposition to the church of Jesus Christ. Tonight

we're going to consider the reality of spiritual

warfare. We're going to consider the supernatural

nature of this warfare, or just the nature of

it. And then we're going to consider the need

for Christians to resist. and stand firm against

these principalities, these powers that be, that

are against the church of Jesus Christ. So first,

the reality of spiritual warfare. Now, we can

see its reality because it's implied in the cosmic

need. for the reconciliation of the universe.

In Ephesians chapter 1, verses 9 -10, we read

Ephesians 1:9–10

these words. He made known to us the mystery

of His will, according to His kind intention,

which He purposed in Him, with a view to an administration

suitable to the fullness of the times, that is

the summing up of all things in Christ. Things

in the heavens and things on earth. Things in

the heavens and things on earth. There's times

where the Bible uses that language to talk about

the sky. To talk about the stars. But there's

also times in the Bible where it's used in a

cosmos sense. Meaning everything. Every realm.

Every order of creation, every sphere of creation

that God has ever made, that's the idea here.

The whole creation that God has made, the whole

cosmos, the invisible realm that Colossians 1

talks about, and the physical or earthly realm

that we live and exist and we breathe and we

touch things and we're material people. That

realm. So everything needs to be reconciled.

Everything needs to be brought under the unity

and the headship of Christ. It implies, brothers

and sisters, that even the spiritual realm that

God made needs to be reconciled as a result of

the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not just the earthly

world and realm that we live in, but the invisible.

unseen spiritual realm where these forces and

these powers, these angels or demons exist and

oppose the church. It needs to be reconciled

and brought under the headship of Christ. But

we also see in the book of Ephesians that the

work of Christ has reference To the spiritual

realm. Which God has made. Consider the end of

chapter 1 in Ephesians. Specifically. Starting

in verse 19. And what is the surpassing greatness.

Of his power toward us. Who believe. These are

in accordance with the working of the strength

of his might. Which he brought about in Christ.

And listen, here it is. When he raised him from

the dead and seated him at his right hand in

the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority

and power and dominion and every name that is

named, not only in this age, but also in the

one to come. And he put all things in subjection

under his feet and gave him his head over. all

things to the church, which is his body in the

fullness of him who fills all in all. The death

and resurrection of Christ isn't just with reference

to the earth and the world of men. But Christ

is raised. He's exalted above every spiritual

authority and every spiritual power that exists

in the created order. So his exaltation and his

resurrection is not just with reference to men.

It has reference to the spiritual realm. We also

see that the work of redemption, as seen in the

church, is witnessed by the spiritual realm and

the spiritual forces that exist in that realm.

We see this in chapter 3. Verses 8 -11 To me,

the very least of all saints, this grace was

given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable

riches of Christ and to bring to light what is

the administration of the mystery which for ages

has been hidden in God who created all things.

And here it is. so that the manifold wisdom of

God might now be made known through the church

to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly

places. So, the spiritual realm is exposed to

the work of redemption as it's portrayed and

pictured and displayed in the church of Jesus

Christ. John Calvin refers to the church as the

theater of redemption. And that begs the question,

who's watching the play? Who's observing the

acts of redemption? Who's admiring the manifold

wisdom of God that's being displayed in redemption

being accomplished? Well, it's spiritual powers.

It's spiritual authorities. It's spiritual rulers

that are looking on at the work of God, whether

they be good or bad. Whether they be angelic

beings that serve the living God, whether they

be demons that hate the living God and follow

the father of lies, Satan himself. But they see

the work of God and the work of Christ on display

in the church. There's no mistaking the meaning

of these texts. There is a spiritual realm that

witnesses, is conscious of, notices, and observes

the realities concerning redemption. And it's

evidenced in the life of the church. So finally,

we see that the work of redemption, as seen in

the church, is opposed. By spiritual forces.

In and from that realm that observes the work

of Christ. We see this in Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

And this is where we'll spend the majority of

our time. We read in Ephesians chapter 6 starting

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

in verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and

in the strength of his might. Put on the full

armor of God so that you will be able to stand

firm against the schemes of the devil. For our

struggle is not against flesh and blood. It could

not be any clearer. But against the rulers, against

the powers, against the world forces of this

darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness

in the heavenly places. Therefore, take... Up

the full armor of God. So that you will be able

to resist in the evil day. And having done everything.

To stand firm. Stand firm therefore. Having girded

your loins with truth. Having put on the breastplate

of righteousness. And having shod your feet with

the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition

to all. Taking up the shield of faith. with which

you will be able to extinguish all the flaming

arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of

salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which

is the word of God, with all prayer and petition.

Pray at all times in the Spirit. And with this

in view, be on the alert. And with all perseverance

and petition for all the saints. And pray on

my behalf. That utterance may be given to me

in the opening of my mouth to make known with

boldness the mystery of the gospel. There are

spiritual forces of wickedness which oppose the

work of redemption and oppose the church of Jesus

Christ in the world. Spiritual warfare is real.

Spiritual warfare exists. There is more than

what meets the eye, brothers and sisters. We

can't live only thinking about the world in which

we exist. Christians have to be those. Who look

behind the events. Christians have to be those

who look behind the men. Who look behind the

agenda. Who look behind the chaos and the disunity.

Who look behind the pain and the suffering. And

look for the source. And what's bringing it about.

Something deeper. Something unseen. Spiritual

forces which oppose the church of Jesus Christ.

Now, consider the nature of this warfare. We

see this in these verses. The first thing we

see clearly is that it's a non -physical warfare.

It's non -material. Meaning, we wrestle not against

flesh and blood. The battle which rages against

the church is with unseen, invisible, spiritual

forces, powers, rulers, and authorities. That

means, and we'll get to this, that our warfare,

our fighting, Our resisting, our standing has

to be in accordance with the nature and the character

of the battle. Carnal weapons have no effect

against spiritual warfare. The arm of the flesh

does nothing against the devil, brothers and

sisters. Our warfare must be waged in accordance.

with the nature and the character of the battle.

Spiritual in nature. So it could be summed up

in the words, the schemes of the devil. We see

this term here in verse 11. Stand firm against

the schemes of the devil. That word schemes in

the Greek is the word methodeia. Methodea. It

means that there's a methodical approach. There's

strategy. There's a craft to it. There's intent.

There's organized strategic planning involved.

And who is the head of this? The devil. Many

churches have, in their statement of faith, a

lot of fundamental Baptist churches especially,

have a section regarding the literal personality

of Satan. And the reason being, they want to

clarify that he's not the personification of

some idea, which is becoming fairly popular in

our day and age. The idea that the devil is symbolic

of evil and wickedness and all that is opposed

to humanity and man and God. This principle almost.

But the Bible is clear that Satan is a real,

literal being that hates God and opposes the

church. And that he... methodically plans and

schemes and organizes how to produce chaos, suffering,

and the downfall of the church in the world.

Now, consider the diversity of the enemies that

oppose the church. Look at this in verse 13.

We won't go into every single... So we'll consider

a few implications. For our struggle is not against

flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against

the powers, against the world forces of this

darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness

in the heavenly places. Now, just think about

the title. What does it convey about the enemy

of the church and the enemies of the church?

There's order. There's structure. There's a corporate

character to it. There's localized. And there's

worldwide forces and groups all actively working.

Why? And how? And what for? To what end? To hinder

the church of Jesus Christ. To hinder the gospel

in the world. To do harm to the body of Christ.

It's not as though these forces randomly seek

their own agenda in the world. We don't see that

in this text. There's organization against the

church within these enemies of the church. Now,

we consider these enemies and the diversity of

them. We consider the nature of this. we might

ask, well, how do they attack the church? How

does the spiritual warfare manifest itself? How

is it seen in evidence in this world, in this

life, in the life of Christians? How do we see

this warfare? Well, the Bible talks about a lot

of different ways that it does this. We can't

look at all of them. We can think about the life

of Job. Consider Job and the church in the world

in Job's day. Job. The devil waged war against

the church in that day, in that age. What were

the manifestations? Of the warfare in Job's life.

The loss of everything. The destruction of his

home. He was nearly killed. The Lord permitted

Job. To be sifted and tried and tested. And purified.

By the devil. This was warfare brothers and sisters.

It was not accidental. The devil wanted to harm

Job. He wanted to bring disrepute and accusations

against the living God. And he still does the

same thing today. He's still out with the same

purpose to accuse the saints and slander the

church and bring disrepute to the name of Jesus

Christ. This is his purpose in the world. And

he does it in a bunch of different ways. But

I think there's a few that are... Most common,

especially in certain scenarios and situations,

one is through or by appealing or alluring the

flesh, the carnality of man. We see this in chapter

2 of Ephesians. And you are dead in your trespasses

and sins. in which you formerly walked according

to the course of this world, according to the

prince of the power of the air, of the spirit

that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

And here it is, among them we too all formerly

lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the

desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were

by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

How does the devil keep unregenerate, unbelieving

men under his thumb? By indulging their carnal,

wicked desires. He controls them through their

desires and through their longings and through

their wants and through their minds, brothers

and sisters. And he still does the same even

in the life of believers. By luring them through

temptation. By appealing to their carnal lusts.

And the remnant of sin that remains within them.

This can manifest itself in all kinds of ways.

We can think about James chapter 3. And the earthly

James 3 · chapter mention

wisdom that's full of jealousy, vain ambition,

disunity and disharmony. It's demonic is what

James says. So pride and vain. Vain ambition

that doesn't glorify God, that is self -serving.

It's demonic. It's devilish. We can think about

Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5. Peter

Acts 5 · chapter mention

says, why has Satan so filled your heart? What

did they want? They had greed that filled their

hearts. That was the devil appealing to their

carnality. I think the devil works a lot in this

way. in the life of churches, to oppose churches,

in the life of Christians, by luring them through

temptation in their flesh. But I think there's

another way, and this is a predominant way. And

this is through, this is by influencing the mind

and the understanding of people. Their thinking.

Their beliefs. Their faith or their ignorance.

We can think about 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Where

2 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

Paul is talking about the power of the gospel

to open the eyes of the unbelieving. And he talks

about how the devil has blinded the minds of

those unbelieving. And how has he done that?

What is that veil? It's ignorance. It's unbelief.

It's hard -heartedness. But we also see this

in Ephesians as well. If we look at chapter 4

and verse 14, we see this and we read this. As

a result, we are no longer to be children tossed

here and there by waves. And carried about by

every wind of doctrine. And listen. By the trickery

of men. By the craftiness. And deceitful scheming.

Now who else is crafty? Who else is deceitful?

The devil. The devil works through false doctrine.

False preaching. There's a reason Paul says in

Galatians 1, even if an angel from heaven were

to preach another gospel, let him be anathema.

Because angelic beings influence preachers to

preach false, erroneous, heretical doctrine that

hurts men and women. That keeps them under the

thumb of the devil. That overcomes them and defeats

them and brings ruinous ideologies and practices

into their lives. It's not a little thing, brothers

and sisters. And it's real. This is why there

are so many false teachers. Timothy is told by

the Apostle Paul, I believe in 2 Timothy 4 .1,

about the doctrines of demons. And how demons

influence doctrine and truth. I believe this

is very, very prevalent in our day and our age.

Could this not be why there's so many possibly

genuine believers whose lives are in complete

chaos and living in madness in their lives in

a sense? with no power, with no vitality in their

Christian life, because they believe the wrong

things. Because they believe false, erroneous

doctrine and truth. They are being overcome by

the devil. They are giving in to the devil's

work. because they've not put the belt of truth

around their waist, brothers and sisters. The

devil works in many, many ways. But we can't

go into all of them. I believe those are the

most prominent ways that we see. Now, the last

thing we have to consider, not just the reality

of spiritual warfare, or the nature of this warfare,

but the need for Christians to resist, End this

warfare in the right way. Now, we've already

said that if we're going to be successful in

this battle, in this fight, then we have to fight

and we have to take up arms in accordance with

the nature of the fight itself. If we use the

wrong resources, if we seek to wage war in the

wrong way, if we seek to resist and defend ourselves

in the wrong way, we will be defeated in our

lives. We will be overcome. But we see that God

has not left us to ourselves. Praise be to his

name. God has given us resources. God has given

us the means. To stand firm. God has given us

the means to resist. God has given us the means

to fight back. God has given us the means to

make advances in the kingdom of darkness and

to bring forth the kingdom of light in His beloved

Son. What are those means? Well, it's the armor

of God. It's equated with the power of God in

Ephesians chapter 6. We see Paul says, finally,

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

be strong in the Lord and in the strength of

his might. Then immediately he says, put on the

full armor of God. These are the resources that

God has given us to stand firm, to resist in

the evil day. So the way that Christians stand

firm, the way that we pick up our weaponry in

a sense, is like this. We stand firm by cultivating,

utilizing, and appropriating the resources and

the virtues that God has given to us. And we

see these in the armor of God. So what are they?

Well, we're given six things, and then an extra,

which is kind of in a different category, but

potentially the most significant. So the first

is truth as a belt in verse 14. People of God

ought to be of the truth. They ought to live

in the truth. They ought to be people of the

truth and people who speak the truth. The book

of Ephesians talks a great deal about this. Truth

undergirds and holds everything else up. If a

Roman soldier didn't put on his belt, everything

else would not function. So we see that truth

is essential. Then we see righteousness as a

breastplate. This most likely means the righteousness

that is reckoned to us on behalf of Christ, but

also the acquisition and the development Of moral

integrity and uprightness in our lives. It's

growing in our understanding. Of Christ's righteousness.

And what that means. But it's also growing. In

practical daily righteousness. And upright living.

And moral living. In accordance with the law

of God. So it's a breastplate of righteousness.

We see that he's given us the gospel of peace,

that we can be prepared and ready to do battle

and to stand firm. I think it's interesting that

he says he includes the word peace or the word

peace in this. Oftentimes, I believe that spiritual

warfare results in anxiety, worry. Stress. Chaos

of the mind. Rampant worry and fear in our hearts

and our minds. Unknowns and the unknowable. But

God has given us the gospel. The gospel of peace.

Which enables us to have peace because the Spirit

of God dwells within us. And because we have

peace with God as a result of... Christ's work

in justification. He's given us faith as a shield

so they can be protected at all times, even when

we're out and about. We can trust and we can

believe. He's given us salvation as a helmet.

Most likely, this is not talking about future

salvation, but he's probably talking about Ephesians

2. And the reality that God has saved us. And

we have this positional status with Christ. We've

been made alive together with Christ. Who we

are and what is true of us in Christ. Because

of our union with Him. And then finally, He's

given us the Word of God as a sword to make advances

in the kingdom of darkness. We stand firm by

appropriating and taking up the armor that God

has given to us. And Paul says, take up the full

armor of God. We don't want to be caught without

a piece of the armor on. We need it all on so

we have all the protection and all the defenses

up and we're able to stand. As we ought to. The

word of God. Seemingly. In this text. Is the

only one. That is the offensive. Weapon that

God has given to us. To make advances. And to

do damage. To the enemy's kingdom. Teaching.

Preaching. Instructing. Instruction in the word.

Brothers and sisters. There's no other act that

brings about spiritual ramifications like teaching

and preaching the Word of God, whether it be

in church, whether it be in our homes, whether

it be in our families or with our friends. The

only way that we can make advances with regards

to the demonic and devilish work around us It's

by being committed to the word of the living

God. Now, this is the armor that he's given to

us. This is the armor that he tells us and commands

us to put on and to take up and to stand firm

in it. There's one other thing that he tells

us. And this is in verses 18 through 19. He says,

with all prayer and petition. Pray at all times

in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the

alert with all perseverance and petition for

all the saints. Now, prayer is still to be included

in this warfare. It's separate in some ways,

but he's making sure that it's still a part.

There's still the battle language. Be alert.

Be vigilant. and persevere in prayer. And then

Paul gives this example, and he requests prayer

in his own life for his preaching. So what is

different about prayer with regards to spiritual

warfare? Well, I think what Paul is telling us

is that prayer is the essence and the basis.

for all these other things being effective and

powerful and full of life and vitality in the

Lord. So, there is the possibility of reading

the Word of God, but not benefiting from the

Word of God. There's the possibility of preaching

the Word of God, and then not being beneficial.

If I never prayed, If I didn't pray over my messages,

if I didn't pray for the preaching of the Word,

if I didn't pray for its reception, then, brothers

and sisters, the preaching of the Word would

be flat and lifeless. It would be dead, useless,

vain, and pointless. This is why the Apostle

said in Acts chapter 6, but we'll give ourselves

Acts 6 · chapter mention

to the ministry of prayer. and the Word. Prayer

is what clothes the Christian's acts in power,

in life, in vitality. So if we want to take up

the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of

God, and to effectively slash at the devil's

throat, Then I need to have a life that is saturated

and soaked in the Word of God so that there's

power present. And the same must be true for

the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of

truth, and the gospel of peace for the shield

of faith. Brothers and sisters, prayer is what

energizes it. It's what supports it. Prayer is

essential. for the effective working of all the

other armor. It's the basis and the foundation

of the Christian's warfare in life. Now, the

Christian life is not uneventful. The Christian

life is not boring. Paul here pictures the Christian

life as a perpetual battle. A perpetual war with

the enemies of the darkness. Brothers and sisters,

that's what the Bible teaches. That's what your

life is about as Christians. That's what the

church is in the midst of. We can't talk about

these things. We can't discuss these things.

We can't be around these things and think of

them as ordinary and think about them as insignificant

or boring or light or superficial. These are

the realities that God tells us are true. The

goal of our warfare, our resistance and our standing

as believers is to stand firm in the evil day.

Now, many, I believe, have been defeated. But

I am confident, because of the work of the Lord

Jesus Christ, and because every single individual

here knows the armor of God, I am confident that

none of those present will be defeated or overcome

by the... Flaming arrows of the devil. Because

you know you can take up the shield of faith.

Your life isn't just living, brothers and sisters.

It's not just breathing and getting by. Every

morning you wake up. You wake up to warfare as

a believer in Jesus Christ. So my exhortation

and my admonishment. to every single one here,

is get in the fight. Take up the sword. Get on

your knees. Do some damage to the darkness. Don't

cower. Fight the devil. Stand firm. Resist. And

stand in the power of the Lord. Be strong in

the Lord. and in the strength of his mind.