EPHESIANS 6

EHESIANS -- FINAL.

I want to try and bring our study in Ephesians to a conclusion this morning.

I’m going to do that by looking at the final key word of the epistle.

Let me remind you of the first two key words –

1. ‘SIT.’

Chapters 1-3 have to do with our identity.Paul wrote to these Ephesian believers to let them know who they were, what they are, and to show them how they have become what they are.

He showed them that they have been – chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, forgiven, quickened, raised and seated with Christ, made part of the household of God, made individually and corporately the temple of God and filled with the fullness of God.

We have to learn to rest in what God has done for us. We have been ‘seated with Christ.’

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This issue of identity is crucial for from it flows confidence, security and trust.Without these elements ministry will not happen in a sustained manner.

It is not ministry that secures identity, but rather the reverse. What we do flows from who we are and not vice versa.

2. ‘Walk.’

The second section of the epistle runs from chapter 4-6.This is a call from Paul for the believers to walk worthy of their calling.

Live in a manner commensurate with your calling.The call and the walk need to balance.

In this section Paul talks in very practical ways about how they are to walk out their identity.

In corporate Church life. In their family life. In their place of employment. In relation to the unbelievers around them.

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In relation to the spiritual forces in this evil age.

It is this last aspect that I want to look at in more detail as we conclude our study.

It brings us to the last key word of the epistle.

3. ‘Stand.’

Ephesians 6:10-18.“Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand . Therefore stand, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of

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salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

The word ‘stand’ is used four times in these few verses.The Greek word has the idea of being ‘Established, fixed, staunch, kept intact, one who doesn’t hesitate or waiver.’

I’d like you to see the relationship between these three key words of Ephesians.

Sit – walk – stand. They build on one another like Lego blocks.

No believer can hope to enter into and survive the warfare of the ages without learning first to rest in what Christ has done for us.We have to learn to ‘sit’ before we can ‘stand.’We have no victory outside of His victory.

Note in verse 10 how Paul starts this portion,“Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might…”

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This isn’t about your ability to stand, but His ability to make you stand.

After sit we have walk.

We must walk out in a practical way this victory that Christ has obtained. We are to do this in the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit.

If either of these two key concepts is absent or deficient then we won’t be able to stand in the inevitable conflict.

If you don’t know who you are and what Christ has done for you then the enemy will overwhelm you. There will be no place of confidence, security or trust.

If you know intellectually what Christ has done, but don’t practically walk it out, then you will not be able to stand.If there is no holy life to match the holy calling then the enemy will have grounds to condemn, intimidate and accuse you.Ephesians 4:27 calls this ‘Giving place to the devil.’

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The Greek word for ‘place’ is ‘topos,’ from which we get our English word ‘topography.’If you fail to live out who you are then you give topography to the devil; he will take it and you will be left no place to stand.

Success in spiritual warfare, your ability to stand, depends on sitting and walking.

Let me look at ‘standing’ a little more closely.

We don’t like to think about this too much, but the reality is that we are at war.

The Christian life is, in the first place, a warfare; a struggle.

We are strangers in an alien land.We live in enemy territory.

God has an arch enemy who is hell bent on destroying and marring everything that carries God’s image—

Man in general since he is made in the image of God.

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Believing man in particular since, having been redeemed he is now a partaker of the divine nature.

In this passage we are looking at, Paul actually presents two different images of conflict –

A wrestling match – ‘We wrestle…’ Armies and armoured soldiers confronting each

other across the battlefield.

One is more corporate – the other distinctly individual.One is the general, the other the particular.One is at a distance, the other face to face, hand to hand.

There are times when we are aware of the battle, but seem slightly removed from its heat; there are other times when it is intense, hand to hand, eyeball to eyeball conflict; very stressful, very personal; fighting for our lives or the lives of our loved ones.

Thayer defines wrestling as,“A contest between two in which each endeavours to throw the other, and which is decided when the victor is able to press and hold down his prostrate antagonist, namely hold him down with his hand upon his neck.”

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Kenneth Wuest adds in his dictionary,“When you consider that the loser in a Greek wrestling match had his eyes gouged out with resulting blindness for the rest of his days, we can form some conception of the Ephesians reaction to Paul’s illustration.

This ‘wrestling,’ is against “principalities and powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places.” [verse 12]

Paul isn’t talking about evil and fighting evil in abstract terms. He is talking about evil that is personal.‘Spiritual wickedness in high places,’ is literally ‘Wicked spirits in the invisible realm.’

These evil forces are personal; their nature is evil; their commission is evil; they are evil in object and purpose.

The phrase ‘high places,’ is the Greek word ‘ep-oo-ran-ee- os.’ It is used 5 times in this epistle and is usually translates, ‘heavenly places. [1:3, 20; 2:6, 3:10 and here.]

This is the sphere that Christ has ‘blessed us in.’ It isn’t about heaven when we die.

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It is the invisible realm.It is the spiritual realm.The realm that is real, eternal rather than that which is visible, transitory, fleeting. [2 Cor. 4:18]

The area of our conflict is not the ‘flesh and blood,’ tangible; visible realm.So often it is this visible realm that captures our attention and in which we expend all our energies.

We see domestic issues, political systems, economic inequalities, sociological problems, psychological problems, individual evil and we mistakenly think if we can address these issues then we might be able to resolve the problems.

We fail to see that behind the physical, here and now realities there are larger spiritual realities.One of our greatest demands is to discern between spiritual struggle and the other – personal, domestic, political, social difficulties that we face.

If we get this wrong then we end up detoured, wrestling with and creating adversaries that aren’t the real deal.

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Paul informs the Ephesians that in order to be able to stand in this warfare they need to make preparations for the battle.

Verse 11 “Put on the whole armour… so that you be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

The Greek word for ‘wiles,’ is ‘methodiah.’It’s the word from which we get our English word ‘method,’ ‘methodical.’It conveys the idea of a master strategist at work.The powers of darkness aren’t slack or haphazard. They are evil, methodical, and intentional.

Add to this passage the words, ‘wiles,’ ‘snares’ from 1 Timothy 3:7 [In the Greek it has the idea of a trap concealed, camouflaged, with the express idea of catching your feet.] and the word ‘devices’ from 2 Corinthians 2:11 and you have the idea of how methodical and intention Satan and his hordes are.

Friends, you ignore the invisible realm at your peril.

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We are at war with a cunning, crafty, wicked, vicious adversary. The very last thing we need is lax, undisciplined saints strolling around the battlefield in shorts and a tank top.

Paul says that if you plan on standing during the ‘evil day,’ you had better be prepared. [The idea of the ‘evil day’ is a season of intense trial.]

Verses 14-18 outline the preparations that are required.This is the famous passage on the armour of God.I have done a series of teaching on this in depth.

Paul spent a good deal of time chained to Roman soldiers during his prison sojourns. It was probably during these times as he considered their armour that he saw the parallels between natural armour and spiritual protection.

Let me very briefly look at this spiritual armour.

1. “Having your loins girt about with truth.”

On the Roman soldiers armour, the belt held the breastplate in place and secured the sword as well.

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The ‘truth’ referred to here, in my opinion is the Word of God.

John 8:31-32. “Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed on Him, If you continue in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 17:17 “Sanctify them through Your truth. Your Word is truth.”

Some respond that the sword is the Word – which it plainly is, however I suspect that it refers to a different aspect of the Word.The sword refers to the quickened word; a word from the word.The belt is the general word; the sword is the particular; the specific application of the word.

We need both.

2. The Breastplate of Righteousness.

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Moffat translates “Wear integrity as your coat of mail.”

I think this is what refers to that truth in the inward parts that David speaks of in Psalm 51.

It is learning to live in the power of an ungrieved Spirit. [Ephesians 4:30] When we listen to and obey that inner voice of integrity it brings protection to us.

Psalm 25:21 “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.” [Guard, protect, watchman]

3. “Feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace.”

The feet were shod with sandals that were strapped on and had the soles studded with nails which allowed firm footing.

This gave the soldier a firm footing to fight off.

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The enemy will come against us with accusations seeking to dislodge you and put you off balance. His basic intention is to do everything he can to berate and demean you and make you seem less than significant.

The power of the Gospel of peace is that it gives us a firm place to take our stand.

Romans 5:2 “Through Him we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice on the hope of the glory of God.”

4. “Above all [in addition to] take the shield of faith…”

This wasn’t a small round shield. It was more like a small door.They were about 1.37 meters long and .75 meters wide. The intention was that they would cover most of the body. It had a fire-proof metal lining.

Paul says that the shield is our faith.

1 Peter 5:8-9 says the same thing.

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“…your adversary the Devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking someone he may devour; whom firmly resist in the faith…”

Faith in the Lord Jesus; in His victory through the Cross.This kind of faith is ‘trusting in the Lord with all your heart and not leaning on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledging Him and letting Him direct you path.’ [Proverbs 3:5-6.]

5. The Helmet of Salvation.’

Just as the breastplate protected the heart area, the helmet protects the mind.The enemy aims so many of his fiery darts at our minds.He wears us down with –

Doubts. Confusion. Torments. Lies. Weariness. Hopelessness. Despair. Depression.

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In 1 Thessalonians 5:8 Paul says we should put on the “Helmet which is the hope of salvation.”

Hope is a wonderful thing. A very necessary thing in times of war.Don’t allow the enemy to steal your hope of deliverance; of salvation.Things may be hard, but there is a world of difference between hard and hopeless.

Don’t let the helmet be dislodged during the battle.Keep your hope alive.

6. The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

The Greek word for ‘sword’ is ‘makh-ahee-rah,’ which was not the large broadsword, but a small knife or dagger.

It was designed for intense hand to hand combat.

There are two main word in the Greek used for the ‘Word’ of God,’ – Logos and Rhema. The word used here is Rhema.’

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I could spend a lot of time talking about this word and the difference between ‘Logos’ and ‘Rhema.’

Generally speaking Logos is used to describe the Christian proclamation as a whole, while Rhema is used to describe individual words or utterances.

W. E. Vine states,“Rhema is not a reference to the whole Bible as such, but to individual Scriptures which the Spirit brings to our remembrance for use in times of need.”

Ironside in his Greek lexicon states,“Logos is the ‘said Word of God’ while Rhema is the ‘saying Word of God.”

We use the Sword in intense hand to hand conflict.This is when we use the Scriptures that God has given us by way of promise.

Verse 18 rounds off this passage by telling us that prayer is essential in this battle.“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit …”

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If the Kingdom is going to advance in this battle it will do so as we invite its entry into earth’s circumstances.

We are responsible to ask. It will not come without invitation.

We are the resident presence of Jesus in the earth. We have been resourced with all that is needed to win the battle in this invisible realm. It will not come without contention. Satan will not simply give up ground because we arrive in the vicinity.We contend for it in prayer and we resist his counter attacks by using the armour we have been issued with.

There is so much more that could be said on Ephesians. I hope that these last weeks in this precious book have encouraged you to look a little deeper.

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