Stay Alert
Ephesians 6:10 – 18
Great Expectation
Matthew Sullivan
It is said that most Christians in 2007 would almost see these verses as null and void. The most popular of preachers today tell us that becoming a Christian leads to all things positive and peace on earth. Many teach that Christianity is an exit from warfare and not an entrance to it. If you are sick Jesus will make you well. If you are discouraged Jesus will make you happy. If you are poor Jesus will make you rich. You get the impression from those who talk like this that to believe in Jesus is to enter upon a smooth path and to enjoy smooth sailing.
Another approach says this: Christianity begins by sitting with Christ in Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), that is you rest with God’s achievement. It continues by walking out the Christian life (Ephesians 4:1), that is living Christianity practically. Finally it involves standing on ground that Christ has already won (Ephesians 6:11; 13-14). Watchman Nee says that because of Christ’s victories our battles are always defensive in nature.
I believe there is some truth in that. But that has led to the belief that as Christians there is very little for us left to do. “Let go and Let God” some say. The battle is not ours. Let go and let God do the fighting. All you need to do is stand your ground. It is true that Paul uses the word stand four times. But when he speaks of the armor he speaks not only defensive such as helmet, shield, and breastplate but also our offensive weapon, our sword. And regardless of whether he is talking about offense or defense he is talking about fighting against one of the most powerful and cunning foes.
John Stott shows that this struggle is inevitable. This is shown in the first five chapters of Ephesians and God’s purposes against chapter 6 which shows the existence of Satan and his opposition to those purposes.
Stott “Is God’s plan to create a new society? Then they (the hostile spiritual forces) will do their utmost to destroy it. Has God through Jesus Christ broken down the walls dividing human beings of different races and cultures from each other? Then the Devil through his emissaries will strive to rebuild it. Does God intend his reconciled and redeemed people to live together in harmony and purity? Then the powers of hell will scatter among them the seeds of discord and sin”
The very fact that Paul follows his beautiful and uplifting portrait of peaceful Christian homes and happy Christian relations with this stark description of warfare indicates that even these things will not be achieved without conflict. Clearly the victories of the Christian life are to be achieved by a relentless and lifelong struggle against evil.
However even those who realize this need to be reminded.
The Law of Familiarity reads: “All things of value will, with the passage of enough time, be taken for granted.” It is very difficult to keep intensity for a long period of time.
This is true in driving a car. When we first drive, we are so cautious. We keep our hands at 10 & 2. But it’s not long before we are turning on the radio, reading the newspaper, or talking on the phone. Someone saw a bumper sticker that said, “Hang up and drive!” They also saw another bumper sticker that said, “Cats, the other white meat.” (If you stay alert it is amazing what you’ll see.)
The same is true for relationships. It is difficult to keep intensity for a long time. When couples first go out, or when they are first married, each partner is very alert to the other’s needs, and they are thoughtful and sensitive to each other. But as time goes on, people get careless and thoughtless and the marriage can head for a crash.
The military can suffer from lack of intensity. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor succeeded in part because our guard was down.
Ephesians 6 teaches that God expects us to “Stay Alert” in the Christian life. For the past several weeks we have been studying through the last 3 chapters of Ephesians looking at the Great Expectations that God has for His children. We have seen that God wants us to Grow Up, Be Distinctive, Keep Pure, Get Smart, Honor Marriage, and Respect Authority.
The last expectation from this book is that we stay alert. That is not easy to do over the long haul because being a Christian is like being in a relationship. Maybe you’ve been in church since you were little. You’ve heard all the songs. You’ve heard most of the sermon topics. You know a lot of Scripture and your life has been pretty smooth, so it’s easy to just turn the auto-pilot on and not pay attention to what we are doing.
But as we will see, our text today says that we are to keep a level of intensity everyday because we are dealing with life and death matters. We must keep a high level of alertness because we are dealing with.
A Cunning Enemy- Verse 10 of Ephesians 6 says, “10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For 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.”
In a battle the intelligent corps plays a vital part in warfare because it enables the officers to know and understand the enemy. Unless we know who are enemy is, where he is, and what he can do, we will have a difficult time defeating him. Not only in Ephesians 6, but throughout the entire Bible, God instructs us about the enemy, so there is no reason for us to be caught off guard.
When Paul says we do struggle against flesh and blood he is not suggesting that we do not at times have struggles on a human level. It is obvious we do. He is saying our struggle is not just on that level. We do have a visible physical struggle but over and above what we see there is an invisible spiritual struggle going against the devil and his forces. We cannot see the devil and his legions. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8). If we are going to be successful we need to know he is out there even if we can’t see them.
Here is something that sets Christianity apart from other philosophies. The world is secular and it operates only in the categories of this age. Our world is materialistic, which means that it considers as real only what it can see or touch or measure. For our contemporaries our world is a closed system. People still talk about God he does get some love but not Satan, “You can’t be serious! A little man in red underwear with a tail and horns? Is that your enemy? He and his little demons?” People laugh at any suggestion that our warfare is spiritual and accuse us of neglecting the real battle which in their opinion should be waged against such tangible things like poverty, oppression, hunger, and various forms of injustice.
We don’t want to deny that those are real problems and we should work to abolish them. But we have to ask if the real problems are physical then why are they not solved already. If we cannot master something lets admit it and realize there is something bigger behind it.
FDR and Lydon Johnson did not eliminate poverty even with their pure intentions.
These verses teach us that our primary fight is not against flesh and blood. Our enemies are not the liberals in Washington or the pornographers in California or the drug dealers. Paul tells us we are fighting against the powers of this dark world. Beneath the surface there is a spiritual battle raging.
We won’t really understand the need to stay alert or to keep the intensity up unless we realize we are facing an awesome spiritual enemy. Just look around for evidence of this enemy. People are claiming psychic powers to tell the future. People claim to be able to speak with the dead. Many TV shows deal with the paranormal.
While we are facing a strong enemy, let’s remember that Satan is limited. He masquerades as an angel of light. He can do some minor miracles that will deceive people. Many people are toying with mediums, Ouija boards, psychic hotlines and astrology. There is a fascination with the paranormal, but the Bible warns us against going to the witch and the psychic and the astrologer because when we do, we are struggling against the powers of this dark world.
Satan is very ambitious. John 12:31 calls him “the prince of this world.” Satan does more than just try to get people to sin. His goal is to gain control of all the influences in this world.
Satan took Jesus to a high place and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. Satan promised that if Jesus would bow down and worship him, those kingdoms would be given to Jesus. Temporarily, that would be true. Satan is seeking to control many influences in this world.
He is seeking control of the educational kingdom. I am thankful for good Christian teachers, but it does seem like there are so many others who push for the removal of Christian values from the classroom.
Satan is controlling the entertainment kingdom. There certainly are many good Christian musicians and entertainers. But why do so many movies have to blaspheme God and ridicule Christians, as well as promote immoral life styles and violence? Experts even tell us these movies are not the best money makers. Why keep making them?
Satan is always at work seeking to gain control. We are engaged in a battle with an intimidating foe. “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.” That ought to motivate us to be intense, to stay alert.
I like the way Paul repeats the word “against” in this sentence. It is not the way to write a sentence.
“…against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Paul knew what he was doing and the Holy Spirit do as well. It is a way of saying that in Christian warfare we are up against it. It is just a string of things that we should be concerned about. There are enemies and we must fight against them. We must fight against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms.
While Satan is an intimidating enemy, God has provided…
Armor for Victory- Ephesians 6:10 – 11, “10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
God does not send us out into battle without the necessary resources for victory. Satan is a strong enemy, but God has given us armor for the fight. Always remember that “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world!” But we need to remember that victory is not always automatic. This is why Paul says to put on the full armor and be prepared to stand your ground.
Have you ever wondered where Paul got this idea? Was it because he was chained to a Roman Soldier? This may have had something to do with it but maybe his idea comes from the word of God. Isaiah 59 has a picture of God putting on his own armor. Part of it says;
“He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head” (Isaiah 59:17).
Since those phrases are the exact ones we see in Ephesians 6 I think that Paul got his idea here. When Paul speaks of the “armor of God” as he does here, he is not thinking of it only as the armor that God supplies but also the armor that God wears Himself.
What do we need to fight against Satan? Is it Truth? Yes but not just any truth, but God’s truth we find in the Scriptures. Do we need righteousness? Yes but not human righteousness. We need the righteousness of God. The Gospel? Its is God’s gospel, God’s good news. Peace? It is God’s peace. Faith? It is faith from God, a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Is it Salvation? God is salvation. We must be armed with Him.
