Title: Being Battle Ready This morning, we’re continuing to look at how we are to live in light of the truth of
who we are in Christ.
And we’re focusing in on what should be our source of strength for following Christ.
We’re also focusing on who our enemy is as well as who is NOT our enemy.
All of this is the beginning of getting battle ready, which involves standing in the full armor of God.
We start learning about how to get battle ready in Ephesians 6:10-12
* 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you
may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 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.
This begins the closing section of the letter as is noted with the word “Finally.”
These closing instructions both tell us of the battle that we face and the power that can be ours for it.
As one writer puts it, “Even though victory is secure, it has to be won through battle.”
So, let’s talk about being battle ready.
I’ve read a book called “Survive & Thrive: How to Prepare for disaster without ammo, camo, or eating your neighbor.”
But I’m not so sure that I wouldn’t just go into the fetal position.
Similarly, every husband has had that moment at night where he hears a mysterious sound in the house.
I know some of you guys would probably be thinking, “This is my chance to use my night vision gear!”
But in that moment, most of us aren’t gonna be clearing rooms like Navy SEALs.
We’ll be standing at the top of the stairs in gym shorts hoping that turning a light on will scare the person off.
And every sound suddenly becomes terrifying.
The ice maker drops one cube and we’re like, “Every man for himself!”
Even prepared people might respond differently when they know a threat is real.
Ephesians 6 tells us the threat is real.
This is not a drill.
Our verses also remind us that spiritual strength doesn’t come from confidence in our abilities.
It comes from confidence in God’s power.
So, the first point we need to get settled in our minds is that we must -
1. DRAW POWER FROM OUR ALL POWERFUL GOD.
* 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
The previous verses address what it looks like to live their relationships unto the Lord or in the Lord.
Now, the letter turns to focus on what sort of power it requires for us to live as God designed.
What is introduced in this section is that living in obedience to the Lord requires strength.
While we read it as “be strong,” the mood of the verb would be translated “be strengthened.”
This would mean that we’re the recipients of the necessary strength.
And the tense points to the fact that this strength isn’t a one-time experience like getting bit by a
radioactive spider.
The tense of the verb points to it being a constant strengthening that we’re to be empowered by.
Living what we’ve learned requires the very strength of God that is “in the Lord” and only in the Lord
This is not meaning that we’re strengthened “by the Lord” but as a part of our relationship with Christ
Jesus, our Lord.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary states, “All the resources that the Christian soldier needs are drawn
from Christ and his mighty power.”
Jesus told us about the vital necessity of our drawing from His power in John 15
In these final instructions, we were told just how dependent we are on Him as He says,
* John 15:4–5 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it
abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do
nothing.
There’s been some strange ideas of how to power cars.
Of course there’s the garbage-powered DeLorean from Back to the Future.
Garbage power works in movies. It doesn’t work in spiritual warfare
Still, we might try to fuel ourselves with emotional leftovers, motivational quotes, or shallow inspiration.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, steam-powered automobiles were thought to compete with gas engines.
But hey took a long time to start, required constant water, and lacked practical endurance.
During WW II, gas shortage caused some Europeans to power cars by burning wood in attached gasifiers.
But they were bulky, dirty, weak, and inefficient.
When people are desperate, they’ll run almost anything for power.
Spiritually, we sometimes try to run on fear of failure, strength of our personality, or caffeine.
But just because something moves you doesn’t mean it can sustain you.
Like hand-cranked emergency flashlights, some Christians think they’re just supposed to strive harder.
Our passage tells us that there’s only one sufficient source of strength for the Christian life: “be strong in
the Lord and in the strength of His might.”
God’s Word doesn’t say, “Generate strength.”
It tells us, “Be strengthened in the Lord.”
Who is this being, the devil, and where did he come from.
As Lucifer, he was one of God’s highest created angelic beings.
But he rebelled against his creator and took one third of the angelic beings with him in his destruction.
He remains a defeated foe of God’s who wants nothing more than to ruin God’s creation.
And his #1 target is the pinnacle of that creation - mankind, who is made in God’s image.
Let me share with you some thoughts from the book Your Story Has a Villian by Jonathan Pokluda.
Satan cannot defeat God, so he targets believers’ intimacy with God.
Satan’s strategy is not merely temptation but distraction, deception, and discouragement.
The Enemy’s lies often sound believable because they are mixed with partial truth.
The devil wants believers spiritually numb, rather than spiritually alert.
3 of the devil’s top strategies:
1. Distraction
Preoccupied Christians are easier to trip up.
Exhausted Christians are easier to get to stop praying.
Entertained Christians stop watching for his snares.
2. Desensitization
Pokluda describes sin as opening “footholds” for the Enemy:
“Each sin cracks open a door… each subsequent sin opens it wider.”
3. Isolation
Satan wants people “isolated, powerless, discouraged, and defeated.”
I don’t think we need to make more of the devil than our passage makes.
But we do need to know that he tries to keep people from coming to Jesus for Salvation.
And when people are saved, he tries to steal away their understanding of who they are in Christ.
This is why the second step that will help us to be battle ready is to -
2. STAND GUARD AGAINST OUR ENEMY’S DIVERSE SCHEMES.
* 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
While we’ll be diving into the armor of God next week, today I think we should notice what we’re specifically
told about it in v.11.
The word for 'whole armor' meant every single piece of a soldier's gear.
The point is that a wise soldier is going to suit up with every one of his defensive and offensive tools.
The emphasis is on the WHOLE armor of God.
So, the point this morning is that we need all of what God gives us to serve Him well in all parts of our
lives.
The intention of our whole-life approach to following Christ is that we might be prepared for the devils
schemes.
The emphasis is also on what we’re responsible to do - to stand.
To stand against an enemy means to hold your position under the onslaught of an enemy.
Lastly, what’s emphasized is what we’re to stand against - the schemes of the enemy
The same term being used in 4:14 to describe deceitful false teaching by which immature Christians are
tossed back and forth.
Jude warns against such doctrinal scheming in Jude 4 as he writes -
* Jude 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this
condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only
Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
These strategies are warned against specifically in chapter 4 as attacking the unity of the local church.
Thus, ensuring that we are prepared with the whole armor of God for every sector of our lives is how we
best prepare for the attacks of Satan.
I take from these 3 areas of emphasis that we are to be especially weary of poor teaching that focuses us
on singular areas of the Christian life, leaving us vulnerable to falling in other areas.
The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, “The devil’s most devilish when respectable.”
In other words, Satan gains more ground when he masquerades his work as something that need not
concern us.
This was the strategy that we see from the very beginning in the Garden when Adam & Eve were tempted.
The devil didn’t hand Eve a “Fruit User Agreement” and say,
“Sign here that you’ve read this disclosure and are aware that you’re going to change yourself and humanity
for all of time and eternity.”
Instead, He simply sowed confusion over what God said.
He sowed doubt that God’s way was best for them and that God really cared for them.
He actually came across as a liberator and friend rather than the scheming enslaver that he is.
We’ve seen a lot of lies become mainstream ideas in our western Christianity.
These lies deny the reality of gender or undermine the sanctity of marriage or even justify abortion.
And they’re lies told twisting Bible verses like Jesus command to “love thy neighbor.”
Deceptive teaching also tempts us to point our fingers at other people as the problem in the world.
If we can just keep pot outlawed, clean up all the fraud, get the illegal immigrants out of our country or
get everyone homeschooling their kids then we can make some progress in our nation.
I’m a proponent of all of these issues.
But we need to recognize that we’re called to put on the WHOLE armor of God.
This helps us to stand guard against the devil’s scheme to get us focused on singular issues of life.
Next week, we’ll look more closely at the whole armor that we’re to be putting on.
For now, we need to recognize how we’re tempted to stop short and we do so by not taking the devil’s
scheme’s seriously.
We can stop short by sacrificing holiness for comfort and pleasure and figure all that matters is that I’m
being loving.
We can stop short by deciding that our pet issue is all we need to be equipped for - as if the devil can’t
reach us up on our soapbox.
Incomplete spiritual armor and weapons will leave blind spots that can give the devil access to corrupting
our hearts without our even noticing it.
Am I concerned with putting on the “full armor of God” and cover my blind spots?
Where might I tend to leave myself open to the devil’s schemes?
a. not being yielded to God’s truth
b. not having full assurance of salvation
c. not being ready to use God’s Word
d. not being on gospel-mission
Action movies have kind of ruined our understanding of the impact of the battlefield.
In movies, the hero walks calmly away from explosions without a scratch, PTSD, or losing any hearing.
I have a friend who was 50 feet from an IED explosion in Iraq almost 20 years ago.
And he’s had physical and emotional struggles ever since.
It doesn’t help those who suffer from PTSD that the rest of us think nothing of their traumatic experiences because
the TV hero just brushes himself off, lights a cigar, and moves on to the next mission.
So, my point is there’s a real gap between real warfare and the way that it’s portrayed in the movies.
There’s also a real gap between our understanding of spiritual warfare and what’s really going on.
Paul says every Christian is already in a very real spiritual conflict whether we feel prepared or not.
And it does us no good to get confused over who the true enemy is.
So, lastly this morning, I encourage you to -
3. REMEMBER WHO OUR ENEMY TRULY IS.
* 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.
“For” tells us this is an explanation of the schemes of the devil and our need for the whole armor of God.
We need to have the whole armor of God because we wrestle with spiritual beings.
The term “wrestle” described very personal, hand-to-hand combat.
I think the important information here is WHO we’re in a struggle against.
It’s easy for us to think that our enemies are those who stand directly opposed to our God and the gospel.
But the truth is that there’s a very real unseen enemy that we’re to be wary of.
And those we tend to think are our enemy are actually captives of our true enemy.
So, rather than fighting against people, we are to stand firm against the spiritual forces of the devil.
The list given here seems to represent the general rankings of demonic forces which are organized against
God’s purposes and His people.
It’s thought that the cosmic powers over this present darkness could represent those demonic forces that
are involved in the various political and social systems.
And the spiritual forces of evil could be involved in the wickedness that so often drives worldly culture.
We certainly do not need to worry about these wicked warriors as if they might remove us from God’s
protection.
We’re comforted in Colossians that they were disarmed through the exaltation of the risen Christ.
* Colossians 2:15 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by
triumphing over them in him.
Earlier in this letter to the Ephesians, we read of how Christ’s resurrection power is at work on our behalf
as Paul prayed that we might know -
* Ephesians 1:19–21 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who
believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him
from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but
also in the one to come.
With these truths, we should note that nowhere is a Christian called to research, name, or battle against
these evil entities and certainly not to think that they could do so in their own power.
As we’ll cover next week, our battle involves standing firm in the truth and turning to God in prayer.
Two strategies which are employed by the devil and are helpful to note are these.
1. He gets a lot of mileage out of acting as if he doesn’t exist or isn’t at work in the world.
About this, John McArthur writes,
“One of Satan’s most effective strategies, and therefore one of a believer’s greatest dangers, is the
delusion that no seriously threatening conflict between good and evil is really raging in the invisible and
supernatural realm.”
2. Conversely, when Satan’s work is acknowledged, he makes a lot of hay by us thinking he’s too powerful
for us to resist.
This sort of deception is why we read the important instruction in -
* 1 Corinthians 10:13 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful,
and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide
the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Overall, the important point is that there is a vast, well-organized demonic army at work doing more than
we could ever imagine.
But they’re not all-powerful or all-knowing because they’re not God.
He has every ability and plan to keep them under control.
Our responsibility is to not give them permission to have sway in our lives through disobedience, fear, or
anger.
Anger that can give the devil a foothold in our lives is often aimed toward those that we think are our
enemy.
And people who mock the gospel and righteousness are not the devil’s minions.
They are his captive slaves.
They need to be rescued from the domain of darkness and to be transferred into the kingdom of God’s
beloved Son.
The Bible character Job lost everything in one day.
Part of his life was destroyed by a whirlwind and part of it was stolen away by raiding bandits.
Both of these tragedies are described as having been brought by the devil and allowed by God.
But which of these situations do you think it’d been easier for Job to angry with
- the whirlwind or the bandits?
I think it’d be easier to be angry with the bandits because they’re people who made choices.
In the same way, it’s easier for us to consider the people in our lives to be our enemies.
If you’re thinking that the people in your life are what’s causing you trouble, when you think you’re winning,
you’re probably losing.
What do I mean by that?
I mean that, if you finally win an argument, you think you bested someone, you’ve likely been bested
by your arrogance and self-reliance.
If you think your children are the problem with your peaceful little world and you finally get them to
behave, you’ve likely allowed your selfishness to gain ground in your heart.
If you got your spouse to admit that they’re the problem and you’re not, you’ve likely allowed Satan to
convince you that you’re not prideful.
You’re just a longsuffering realist.
Who is someone in your life who, right now, you tend to think of them as “the problem” in your life?
a. family member?
b. neighbor?
c. coworker/boss?
d. person with an opposing viewpoint?
How might you think you’re winning against that person but losing against your true enemy?
How is it different for you to recognize that the devil and his forces are actually your enemy rather than that
person?
In these verses on spiritual warfare we’ll see that we’re not called to called to go Conan the Barbarian on
spiritual forces and anyone who get sin our way.
We’re called to put on God’s armor and report to Him.
We’re called to stand firm on who we are in Christ.
And we’re to do so being strengthened with GOD’s power - not our own.
And we’re to remember and take comfort in promises like what we read in –
* 1 John 4:4b he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
