Spiritual Battle Series

The Spiritual Battle

12 For 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. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Eph 6:12-14

Some years ago Donna and I bought our own version of a money pit. It looked a lot like a house but unfortunately it required a lot of work. The floor in the kitchen moved up and down when you walked across in front of the refrigerator so I built a closet in the room below in the basement so I could support the floor joists. The windows were drafty so we spent $4000 on new windows. The carpeting was orange shag in the living room and green shag in the dining room (You would have had to have seen it to believe it) so we had to get new carpeting throughout the house. The furnace was an oil fired boiler that weighed around 60,000 lbs and blew sooty air all over the basement. There was no air conditioning and the whole house fan was so powerful that it would have made the interior of the house a low pressure area – except the windows were so drafty all it did was make the house into a big convection oven. The laundry room was a closet in the kitchen and the bathroom had a mirror that opened up into the master bathroom. If had a guest in the house who was brushing their teeth you could go into the other bathroom, open the medicine chest and knock on the backside of the mirror. When they nervously opened it to see what was inside – it was you. I had a lot of fun with that one. There was a carport made of pre-stressed concrete that I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to cover, hide, teardown, and try to get it to stop leaking. We lived in that house for 12 years – and it was a 1.2 decade long war.

If you haven’t had a money pit in your life – I congratulate you. Even so, you are in a war today. There is a real battle going on in your world today… the battle is not to make a home out of a house and it’s not about paying down your credit card debt or a battle to get a college education and a good job. This battle is for your soul. It is a spiritual battle for your life.

That is the reason for this series – to help you become a transformed man or woman of God. This is week five…

So??? How are you doing? Have you been working on the Transformations book? Is it harder than it looks? Have you made some decisions and changes in your life? Tyler and I both hope that you’ve seen some good things start to happen in your life. We hope that you are enjoying the new family, that you’re spending more time connecting with God, and that you’ve been breaking down some strongholds.

Today we’re going to change up a little. While the direction is the same the tone is going to be a bit different. Today we’ve got some good news for you that you will find encouraging, challenging, and supportive.

We’re going to look at what the Apostle Paul said to the church in Ephesus about the spiritual battle that every Christian fights. You’ll find it in Ephesians 6:12-14. (Read)

But there is some very important information in these verses. There is counsel here that is encouraging, challenging, and establishes a very simple goal that everyone can reach.

How does that sound to you? Are you ready? We’re going to give it to you in three short and simple commands… Here is the first one:

Sit

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Ephesians 6:10

12 For 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.

Ephesians 6:12

Every aspect of the Christian life -- salvation, sanctification, everything -- is ours because Christ’s work is done.

What this text says is very simple. It’s not about you – it’s about Jesus. It’s about God. It’s his battle not yours!

Do you remember what Jesus said just before he died on the cross? He said, “It is finished.” It’s done.

Do you remember our Hebrews study of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross? His sacrifice was made, “once, for all.” It’s done.