We come today to the end of our series of sermons on the book of Ephesians. One of the things I hope you’ve noticed as we’ve gone through this book is the breadth of Paul’s horizons. He began by pointing us back to before the beginning of time, when God established his plan to create a single new human race through the death and resurrection of Christ. He then pointed us forward to the culmination of that plan when all peoples and races will finally be united in peace and unity under Christ. He’s shown how that plan has begun to take shape with the inclusion of the Gentiles along with the Jews in the new people of God. He’s encouraged us as a church to work towards bringing that plan to fulfilment in the way we demonstrate unity in our relationships with one another and in the way we grow in holiness of life. He’s shown how God has gifted and equipped the Church to develop in unity as we grow to maturity in Christ. And he’s encouraged us to see that unity as a church involves not just unity of the group, but also unity in our personal relationships.
So the major characteristics of the church in Paul’s mind are things like unity in diversity, purity of life, and harmony. It’s an excellent ideal, a very desirable goal, and one that sounds achievable. But now Paul brings us back to earth. This isn’t an idealised church he’s talking about. It’s the real church, that’s called to live in the real world. That is, in a fallen world, a world that’s opposed to God. As we saw when we looked at Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians in ch 3, Paul knows how difficult it will be to achieve this ideal. If all we had to do was to work on unity and holiness as a church, without any outside interference, it mightn’t be so difficult. But the reality is that we face opposition from the spiritual forces around us.
In fact there are dual truths at work here. The first is that we ourselves are weak. We find it hard to obey God, even when we’ve set our minds to do so. The second is that we have an enemy whose sole aim is to thwart our efforts at every point. Peter in his first letter says: "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Pet 5:8) Here Paul warns us of the wiles of the devil. He says "our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." He doesn’t expand on who these evil forces are, but he does warn us of their evil intentions.
What are those intentions? They’re to thwart God’s plans. Is God’s plan to create a new society? They’ll do their best to break it down. Has God, through the death of Christ, broken down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile, indeed between all people independent of gender, race, or culture? Then the devil and his agents will try to raise them up again. Does God intend his new people to live together in harmony and purity? Then the powers of evil will sow the seeds of discord and sin in our midst. We must never underestimate the danger. Never take for granted the victory over sin. Never stop fighting temptation. Never give up in our efforts to overcome it. In fact the word that’s translated finally in our translation, could easily have been translated ’from now on’. That is, there’s a continuing aspect to this. Until Christ returns to take us to the Father we will always be fighting these spiritual battles. The Peace which Christ has bought by his blood, is still a promised peace. It’s a peace which we enjoy in the midst of a relentless struggle against evil. The war is won but the battles continue to rage.
So never underestimate the devil. Paul describes him and his followers as powerful, evil and cunning. They’re the rulers and authorities, the cosmic powers of this present darkness. That is, they have a certain power in this created world that hasn’t yet been taken away from them. Christ has won the victory but they continue to fight, and will continue to do so with more and more desperation, until the last day. And make no mistake, their intentions are evil. They’re the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Don’t be fooled by some Hollywood image of benevolent spirits helping us mortals to solve our difficulties. The reality is that we’re opposed by the spiritual forces of evil, of darkness, whose desire is to conquer us and to rule us, to lead us astray from following Christ.
Thirdly the devil is a wily opponent. That is, he combines tactical shrewdness with ingenious deception. Jesus called the devil the "Father of lies" (Jn 8:44). He’s described as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He even disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). If he finds one strategy isn’t working he’ll try another. And of course one of his great strategies in this day and age is to convince people that he doesn’t exist. People don’t talk about the devil any more do they, except as a laughing point. "Oh, the devil made me do it!" But do you see that that’s one of his great successes. If you don’t believe in the devil, you won’t be worried about his lies and temptations. Dr Martin Lloyd-Jones once wrote: ’I am certain that one of the main causes of the ill state of the church today is the fact that the devil is being forgotten. All is attributed to us: we have all become so psychological in our attitude and thinking. We are ignorant of this great objective fact, the being, the existence of the devil, the adversary, the accuser, and his "fiery darts".’ (Warfare, p292) So don’t be fooled. The devil is real. His opposition is something to be reckoned with. What we’re fighting against isn’t just human weakness. Psychological counselling and self help groups won’t solve all our problems, even if they might help with some of them!
But having said all that, let’s not be overwhelmed by the situation. Let’s remember that the battle we fight, we fight for the Lord. Let’s remember that God fights with us. We fight in his power and with his armour. Paul says "From now on, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Notice that this is a 2-pronged strategy. Be strong in God’s power, and join the battle wearing the equipment he provides.
There’s a balance needed here. Some Christians are so confident in themselves that they don’t bother to ask God for his help. They just assume that they can go through life victorious over all the temptations that the devil throws at them. On the other hand, some forget that they have a part to play. Some of you may have read the stories of Frank Peretti, where he describes the spiritual battles that rage around a small group of Christians in a town in the US. What happens there is that when the Christians pray, their guardian angles are empowered to fight the spiritual battles on their behalf, but if the Christians don’t pray the angels begin to lose to the evil spirits. So all the Christians have to do is to organise a prayer meeting and everything works out OK. But that is only half the battle isn’t it? As we find at the end of this chapter, we need prayer to underpin everything we do, but there’s 2 parts to our struggle. We need to rely on God’s power alone, but we also need to put on the armour of God so we can stand firm ourselves.
Notice too, that the instruction is to stand firm. This isn’t a battle where we’re on the attack. Rather the image is that of a siege, where we’re defending a position. In fact, think about the instructions that precede this. What were they about? Weren’t they about how to order the household of God? So it’s as though Paul has extended that analogy, to the idea of the household now being under attack from outside, and our task is to defend it from that attack: to stand firm so the attacker can’t get in and wreak havoc in our midst. In fact, look at how he repeats the phrase "Stand firm." (vs 11,13,14) This is a word for today if ever there was one. We’re beset on all sides by those who would have us waver in our faith and confidence in Christ. From within and without we’re told not to trust the word of God or the gospel; not to believe the stories of the bible; not to be satisfied with the religious systems of Christianity; to look for a deeper spirituality than the gospel presents. But don’t be led astray. Stand firm!
But God is gracious to us. He doesn’t ask us to stand naked before superior forces. Rather he equips us with armour for the battle. Now this idea of the Roman soldier’s armour is a bit foreign to us today. But think of our modern day equivalent: the cricketer’s outfit. There’s the pads, and the rib guard and thigh guard, and batting gloves, etc. All designed for a specific purpose: to protect the batsman from a cork and leather projectile fired at him at about 100 kph. But this isn’t just armour. It’s the armour of God. It’s a bit like the ritual that’s gone through before each Commonwealth or Olympic games. All the athletes go and get measured up for their uniforms. They don’t wear their own, or their local club’s or their state’s uniform. They’re provided with a new uniform that identifies them as Australian athletes. It’s the same with us. We don’t stand in our own strength, nor do we wear our own uniforms. Rather we wear the uniform, the armour that God provides, that both carries the power of God, and identifies us as part of God’s team.
Well, what is this armour that God supplies. First, it’s the full armour. That is, it covers all of us. The word is panoply. It was used of the full battle kit of the Roman soldier. And here’s what it consists of.
A belt: the belt of truth. Now we use a belt to stop our trousers falling down, but in those days the belt was used to tuck your tunic in so you could move freely without tripping over. So when Paul talks of the belt of truth I guess he’s thinking of the way we can be so easily tripped up by the devil’s tricks if we’re not firmly anchored in truth. Satan is the father of lies and truth is the best defence against lies. Again, this isn’t a simple matter any more. There was a time when everyone would acknowledge the truth of a matter. But these days truth is all relative. What’s true for me won’t necessarily be true for you. It depends how it makes you feel. So we can so easily get tripped up by people who put forward a view of the truth that’s contrary to God’s word. The only way to stand firm is to be convinced that the truth is contained in that word and keep going back to it.
Next put on the breastplate of righteousness. That is, both the righteousness that Christ has given us, and our own righteous living. The breastplate is that part of the armour that protects the vital organs, but in the Christian’s armour what is it protecting us against? Primarily, I think, it’s protecting us against the false accusations of the devil, who will try his hardest to convince us that we’ve failed. And the best defence against those accusations is to remember the righteousness we have by faith in Christ’s death and resurrection.
Next, "As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace". Roman footwear was designed to provide strength with flexibility, so the soldier could stand on rocky ground without stumbling no matter what came at him. So we need to be prepared with a clear understanding of the gospel, to share it whenever the situation demands, or the opportunity arises. And in the context of a quest for unity in the church, notice that it’s the gospel of peace that we’re talking about. So when disputes arise, be ready to apply the gospel of peace to the situation.
"With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one." The Roman shield described here was made of two layers of timber overlaid with linen, then with leather and bound with iron. It was specially designed to stop flaming arrows and put them out. So what are the flaming darts of the evil one that our faith is meant to stop? Well, no doubt they’re the accusations that the devil fires at us, that inflame our consciences with false guilt. But also, they’re the temptations to doubt and disobedience, to rebellion, to lust and envy and malice and fear. So how does faith help us? In 2 ways at least. First it lays hold of the promises of God in moments of doubt or depression. It reminds us that Christ has died to bring us forgiveness; that Satan’s accusations won’t stand up. And secondly, it lays hold on the power of God in moments of temptation. It says, God has promised to be with me, to remind me of all that Jesus taught, and I’ll believe that and rely on his help to see me through this crisis.
This is related to the next item, the helmet of salvation. Just as the soldiers helmet gives him a sense of confidence on the battle field, it’s our knowledge of the salvation that Christ has given us, that no-one can take away, that gives us confidence as we face our enemy, the devil.
The last and the only weapon in our armoury that can be used for both defence and attack, is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. Now there’s two things to be said about this sword. First it’s a short sword. So it was designed for hand to hand combat. But secondly it was also designed for use in a battle column, shoulder to shoulder with other soldiers. Now Paul doesn’t make a lot of this, apart from using the illustration itself, but think about it for a moment. The word of God is a powerful weapon for both defence and attack, but it’s also something that needs to be read with others. Paul talked in ch 4 about the way God gives gifts to the church that allow for the word to be taught and expounded so that we all grow to maturity, and elsewhere we find similar teaching about learning together. In fact almost all the New Testament is addressed to churches rather than individuals. Even those parts written to individuals are written in a way that indicates they were meant to be read by the church as well. So it’s not going too far, I think, to say that the sword of the Spirit is meant to be wielded in conjunction with others. And what does it do? Well, Hebrews 4 tells us that "the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb 4:12). So it cuts through people’s defences, pricking their consciences, throwing light into dark places, and bringing truth to the situation. Don Carson at the recent Preachers’ School, suggested that one of the best ways of communicating the gospel to people in our culture is to tell them the stories of the Bible, because as they hear the stories, the message of the gospel comes out.
Finally, he says pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. Prayer isn’t another weapon, but rather the thing that keeps us going as we do battle. And notice how we’re to pray:
In the Spirit, that is, guided and prompted by him;
at all times or on all occasions as the NIV puts it. That is, it doesn’t matter how important or otherwise the situation seems to be. God loves us to pray to him. St Philip’s Deep Creek has a prayer chain like ours, but they changed its name to a prayer circle, because they didn’t want people to think it was only there for crisis prayers. Rather they wanted people to pray for all sorts of situations and needs.
similarly we’re to pray with all kinds of prayer and request. Don’t think that your need is too small for God. He’s a God of detail as well as of the big picture. So go to him with whatever need you have. Pray long prayers and short prayers, depending on the situation. And don’t forget to go to him with thanks when you find your prayers answered, or when good things happen to you, when you have a victory in the battle.
pray with alertness and perseverance. Be aware of what’s going on around you. Be alert! And keep on praying even when things don’t seem to be going well.
Pray for all the saints.
It’s easy enough to be like most Christians and pray on some occasions, some sorts of prayers, with some perseverance, for some of the saints, but here we’re told to pray at all times with every prayer and supplication, for all the saints, always persevering. I can’t help but feel that on this rests our hope of victory. Not our final victory of course. That depends on Christ’s victory alone, but our ability to stand firm, and our success in achieving all that God has planned for us as a church, as the new people of God will depend on how much we make prayer a priority.
So never take for granted the victory over sin that Christ has won for us. Never underestimate the devil. He’ll oppose us at every opportunity. Never give up in the fight against sin and evil. But always remember the power of God and the armour with which he’s equipped us. Someone once suggested that you start each day by putting on each piece of armour to prepare you for the day. And finally pray on every occasion that you’ll stand firm
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