A Redeeming Fight.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Go to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6, we’re going to start in verse 10 today. [0:04] Now, this is the final week of Ephesians. We did it in 18 weeks. Praise God. We’re blessed. [0:12] Next week, all right, do not plan on not being here next week. Pastor Nate’s going to be [0:18] preaching a sermon that goes so well with Ephesians about taking everything that we [0:23] know about what God has called us to, about what God has done for us in the gospel, and [0:28] really doing something with it. It’s going to be a great message. You need to plan on

[0:33] being here for that. You need to plan on bringing someone with you like you did today, all right? [0:38] Now, in chapter 6 of Ephesians, Paul is bringing the book to a close, and he starts this whole [0:44] text off with the word finally, which is just his way of closing it. But what he doesn’t just [0:49] summarize everything he’s talked about. That’s not what he’s going to do. What he does is he [0:55] finishes the book of Ephesians with a battle cry. He finishes the book of Ephesians by taking [1:00] the great vision that God has given us throughout this book, and he says, now, fight. Live this.

[1:07] Live in light of this before you live in light of anything else. Reconciliation with God’s the [1:12] greatest gift you could ever have. A relationship through Jesus Christ is the greatest thing that [1:18] can ever come into your life, and he’s going to finish with some very strong words for us. [1:24] He’s going to finish with some very enlightening as well as convicting elements as to how we view [1:31] ourselves and how we view what we exist for. So let’s jump in. In verse 10, he says, finally, [1:39] be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may

[1:46] be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, [1:53] but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present [1:58] darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the [2:05] whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, [2:11] to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the [2:17] breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given

[2:22] by the gospel of peace. Now, what I want you to realize in this first passage here [2:30] is that Paul is calling his church to take responsibility for using the gospel in their [2:38] lives. Quite often, we can get ourselves into a situation where we see the wonderful riches [2:44] of God’s grace. We see what he’s done on the cross. We see what he’s done through the cross, [2:50] and we pray, and we pray, God, give me the whole armor. God, give me this great blessing that [2:55] you’ve called me to. God, give, God, give, God, give. And what the scriptural response is constantly

[3:00] to that is, he has. He’s given it. It’s yours if you trust in Christ. Notice that it says, [3:10] put on. And the language there, it is this realization that you have it, you must just [3:15] take it to yourself. Take it as your own. You must embrace the vision that God has given for [3:22] what his gospel can and will do in your life, and you must take that faith up and make it your own. [3:31] No one can do it for you. I cannot live the mission of Jesus for you this morning. [3:39] No one else can. Only you can. Only you can take that responsibility. Only you can fight

[3:45] for this vision that God gives. Living for the mission of Jesus requires a fight. [3:53] Requires it. And oftentimes in our lives, what we see as fighting is this great negative term [4:00] that’s going to bring turmoil. It’s going to bring a lack of peace in our lives. And what we think [4:04] what we see in scripture is we see throughout everything is that the gospel is something that’s [4:09] supposed to bring peace. The gospel is supposed to be something that just gives me no turmoil. [4:13] The gospel is supposed to be something that doesn’t bring anything that causes me to have

[4:17] to put forth any effort whatsoever. And throughout this entire book, Paul is saying no.

[4:24] That peace that the gospel brings is something you must fight for.

[4:30] That life where there’s no turmoil is the turmoil between you and God. [4:36] That all that Jesus has done has brought peace in your relationship with God. But the fact of the [4:41] matter is, is as long as you are in this life, as long as you are in this world, everything else is [4:47] going to bring turmoil into your life. The gospel is not an absence of turmoil from sin and evil. [4:55] The gospel reconciles you with God. The gospel gives you peace with God. The gospel gives you [5:00] the vision and the strength and the ability to live life as He designed for you to live.

[5:06] But it will bring a fight. And in this text, really, for the first time most specifically, [5:15] but for the second time in what is kind of a specific way, he also talks about it in chapter [5:20] 4. But what Paul is doing here is he’s identifying the source of turmoil in the life of the unbeliever. [5:28] And the term there is diabolos, or the adversary, the devil. The evil and injustice do exist. [5:37] That there is going to be a fight with sin in your life if you are going to have faith in God. [5:44] And he says that this fight is something you must take on to yourself, and you are fighting

[5:49] a specific adversary. Someone that truly does exist. Someone that is engulfed in evil, has been [5:56] condemned for eternity, and is unwittingly upon in the plan of God, but will fight you and determine [6:04] to keep you off of the road that leads to discipleship. And notice in the text that he says [6:10] that the devil will use schemes. In the original language, the word is schemes, but what that word [6:16] means is a strategy or methodology behind what Satan is going to bring in your life. [6:25] His desire is not to have your head spin around and spit pea soup out.

[6:30] All right, that is not the scheme. If it will distract you from the gospel, I’m sure he [6:34] would try to do that. But in the book of Job, we know that he can’t do anything that God does not [6:40] do. And so what is working in God’s plan to bring him glory is that there will come temptation into [6:47] your life, and we know and we have identified for us the source of that temptation to keep us off [6:52] of the path that God would have us on, and it is the devil. But what he’s going to do is, is he is [6:58] going to bring into your life a realization of weakness. And because of the work of sin in your

[7:06] life, you have weaknesses. And what his schemes are, are to take advantage of those weaknesses [7:15] to discourage you from the life of discipleship that God has called you into. It could be anything. [7:21] In our culture, the greatest success that Satan has is to use that which is the weakest about you [7:27] to distract you from the mission of Jesus to believe that God cannot use you, does not want [7:31] you to use you, or you do not want to be used by God. Maybe it’s that you’re not a people person. [7:38] Maybe it’s that you don’t like reading scripture. Maybe it’s that when you pray,

[7:42] your mind wanders off. Maybe it’s that you don’t feel like there’s any giftedness that God can use [7:47] in you. Maybe it’s that you love money. Maybe it’s that you really just want to work and work and [7:54] work and make as much money as possible, and you don’t want anything to distract you from that. [7:58] I don’t know what your weaknesses are. Maybe it’s some kind of besetting sin that you don’t think [8:01] you can have any victory over. Maybe it’s something as small as you get into a crowd and you feel left [8:06] out. Maybe it’s something as big as a giant sin that’s ruining your marriage or a temptation

[8:13] that’s in your life that’s going to take you off of the path that God has in your life. I don’t know [8:17] what it is, but whatever it is, understand that Satan is a strategist. Understand that Satan does [8:27] have schemes, and his desire is to come into your life and work as a spiritual force, [8:34] not by possessing you, not by doing something crazy, because he doesn’t need to.

[8:42] All he needs to do is find that one area, and he whispers into your mind, [8:49] follow that. He whispers into your mind, God can’t use you. He whispers into your mind, [8:56] they don’t appreciate you. He whispers into your mind, choose to fall into that sin. [9:04] Take it. Take it. It’s what he did from the beginning. It’s what he did to Adam and Eve.

[9:09] Revelation chapter 12 verse 10 calls him the accuser of the brethren. [9:16] John 8.44 says that he is the father of lies.

[9:22] Because we do have an adversary, because God has revealed who that adversary is, that he will, [9:28] because of Ephesians 1, we know that he will have victory over it. We must fight to trust [9:36] the gospel. We must fight to trust the finished work of Jesus Christ. There’s a few areas that [9:41] I want to talk about briefly before we get to point number two about where we need to fight [9:47] against the spiritual forces. The first one this morning is that we need to fight for joy [9:53] in God’s plan. The very first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul unfolds what he calls in

[10:00] chapter one the mystery of God’s will, that in Jesus everything that God wants to do has been [10:07] totally revealed to us. His will is not a mystery any longer. It is the mission of Jesus [10:13] to redeem the church. And we see that in that there’s this temptation because of our sin to [10:20] look at God’s plan and then look at what we want, because oftentimes they’re different. [10:26] And there’s this temptation to say God’s plan is a lack of joy. God’s plan is something that’ll [10:31] take me away from what’s really going to make me happy. That’s not faith. That’s not trust.

[10:39] True joy is found in living as you were designed to live and that is as a child of God redeemed [10:46] through the blood of Jesus Christ. Fight to find joy in the plan of God. Secondly, fight to trust [10:54] the grace and justice of the cross. See there comes into our lives this weakness that Satan will [11:01] find and it is either a sin on our part or a sin that someone’s done against us.

[11:07] There have been huge periods in my life and I think everyone struggles with this [11:11] where I will feel accused and feel guilt for sins of my past. For sins that I’m not necessarily [11:19] even struggling with but I know that I did this. God can’t use me. I’ve ruined everything. I can’t [11:28] have the life that God wants me to have because of the sin that’s in my life.

[11:35] It’s true you cannot measure up to God’s standards. You cannot obey his law. Try as you will. You will [11:42] never measure up but praise be to God that he has grace through the cross of Jesus Christ and there [11:49] is no barrier. He’s in chapter two. It says that the barrier of hostility that sin brought has been [11:55] torn down and you have access to the plan of God not by your hand but by the work of Jesus Christ. [12:01] There is no sin greater than God’s grace. You must preach the gospel to yourself. You must [12:10] trust in his grace. You must fight to believe that you have been forgiven and you must fight

[12:18] to believe that his cross is great enough to find justice for the sins that have been done [12:25] against you. It’s not just a place where you receive grace but it’s also a place where you [12:32] give grace because you find justice for those who have wronged you. Oftentimes Satan will find this [12:39] offense that someone has done against us. Maybe even unwittingly they did it and they don’t even [12:44] know they did it but they have offended you. How dare they? Well I’m done with them. I’m done with that.

[12:53] You must fight to find justice in the cross because you will not find it anywhere else. [12:59] Ephesians 4 26 says to be angry and do not sin and then in verse 27

[13:07] it says and give no opportunity to the devil. So one of the greatest weaknesses that many people have is anger.

[13:19] The book of Ephesians specifically says that your anger is a path to allow Satan to work in your life. [13:27] You must find your justice in the cross and forgive. It’s often been said that the prison that [13:34] anger and a lack of forgiveness will cause is not for the other person but for you.

[13:41] Thirdly in this great list you must fight for discipleship and change. Ephesians 2 and 4 [13:47] reveal that at one time we were dead in sins and following the course of this world which leads [13:53] to hell but God has given us life and transformed us and brings real change. We must fight to deny [14:00] the temptation to allow the things of this world to keep us from that which will empower true life. [14:08] Ephesians chapter 2 says that at one time we were following the course of this world. We were [14:14] children reserved for wrath but God has transformed us in that great text that says he has joined

[14:21] our life with Christ’s. That they’re inseparable. That he’s put us on a new path. Ephesians 2 8 [14:27] says and in verse 10 it says for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good [14:32] works that he has prepared beforehand for us to walk into. You must fight for that discipleship. [14:39] You must fight for that change because there will be a temptation to look at your life and say I [14:43] don’t need to change. Accept me as I am. God does accept you where you are but he does not leave you [14:50] there. Quite often you settle for where God found you and you don’t trust him for where he wants to

[14:58] take you. You will not have the life that God desires for you until you trust in him for change [15:06] and accept that you need to change. That’s pride when you say I don’t need any change. [15:13] The moment that I stop needing change is the moment that I’m face to face with God in heaven [15:18] and I’m not dead yet. That hasn’t happened yet so I still need to change. There still needs to be [15:23] repentance in my life. Thirdly fight for unity. We must fight to come together as his people [15:34] around the plan of God. See it’s not just unity so that we can feel good about ourselves feel

[15:39] good about the group that we’re with. No it’s unity for the sake of the mission of Jesus. [15:44] But see when we’re angry with each other when there’s discord when there’s gossip when when [15:49] we’re just getting offended by everyone when we’re not giving forgiveness and getting forgiveness [15:53] there can’t be any unity there can’t be any joining together for the mission of Jesus. [15:57] We must fight to love each other. You know some of you are hard to love and some of you will say [16:04] I’m hard to love but guess what love isn’t really based on me it’s not based on you guess what it’s

[16:14] I’m fighting all right I’m just messing with you and some of you are like yeah me too right back [16:19] at you. I look in the mirror I know my wife reminds me often because she tells me my shortcomings [16:26] I’m hard to love. She doesn’t really do that she should she’s very forgiving. I’m honest about who [16:33] I am are you? All right yeah you’re honest about who I am too aren’t you? Anyway all right and [16:39] in this list fight to keep the gospel at the forefront fight for that fight for it. [16:48] There will become so many different things in our lives that will fight for our allegiance.

[16:55] John Calvin once said that the human heart is an idol factory. [17:01] Once we stop worshiping one thing it’s replaced by another. All right I’m doing really well I’m [17:06] being generous I’m not worshiping money boom there’s another god right beside it.

[17:12] We have so many competing passions for our allegiance and our lives and it’s shown in [17:19] how we use our time our talent and our resources. See that’s where we know our passions are being [17:27] consumed is how are we using all of those things? We must fight to keep the gospel there we must [17:34] fight to keep furthering the mission of Jesus. We must fight not to become religious people who [17:41] worship pomp and circumstance and all the different religious activities that can come into our lives [17:46] where I’m spending one month on this and next month I’m going to spend on that and I’ll get

[17:50] to pushing the mission of Jesus forward as soon as I feel really good about all these areas and [17:54] in the meantime you can’t grow because in John chapter 20 verse 21 Jesus says as the father sent [18:00] me so I am sending you go. We’re to be a sent people we’re not to be a sedentary people we’re [18:07] to fight to keep the vision of the gospel’s progression in our lives and in the lives of [18:12] others and when we cease to do that Satan is exposed to weakness and we’re going to try to [18:17] cover it up with something else either another false god another religious activity but it’s

[18:23] all the same it’s all idolatry it’s all our unwillingness to change it’s all sin

[18:30] but sometimes we say well that’s just I’m not very good at that thing so don’t touch that don’t [18:36] expose that we’ll see what that’s wrong and because of this fight we have to understand [18:43] that this is not about us just all right I’m gonna toughen up all right I’m gonna fight it oh yeah [18:51] I’m ready I’m tough enough all right so you just depend on yourself you’re gonna get more moral [18:56] you’re gonna get more religious you’re gonna go to church more you’re gonna do 17 different [19:01] good deeds every week and you’re gonna you’re gonna begin to measure up to god’s standards

[19:06] good luck good luck because that’s not what it’s about it’s about trust see the fight demands [19:16] gospel saturation there’s this tension between the grace of god and me doing things well god’s [19:25] grace is unconditional so I shouldn’t have to do anything it’s true but because god’s grace is [19:33] unconditional he changes you to do things I don’t obey him so that he’ll love me I obey him because [19:39] he loves me I don’t do anything nice for my wife anymore to earn her love I don’t everything I do [19:49] now is because I know she loves me there’s a big difference there it’s a big difference there

[19:54] because if I thought I was still earning my wife’s love after a while I’m gonna burn out [19:59] I’m gonna burn out but the day I tell you the day she told me she loved me [20:06] that changed everything from that day on it wasn’t pressure it was joy because I knew she loved me [20:15] I knew it because that I was free I was free to love her unhindered I’m free to be her husband [20:23] I’m free to be one with her now because of the cross you are free to love god the pressure’s off [20:32] love him live for him unhindered unchained be saturated with the truth of god’s love and god’s

[20:42] plan for your life it is not just about being tougher it is about realizing where strength [20:48] really comes from because what happens in your life is in the fight you realize how weak you are [20:55] so then you truly have to depend on god here’s where where he goes notice in the text if I can [21:03] bring that back up on the screen if we can start back in verse 13 he says therefore take up the [21:08] whole armor of god that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all [21:11] to stand firm stand we’ll get to that in a second but he’s gonna give the whole armor of god maybe

[21:18] you’ve heard about this you’ve been to a sermon where a guy comes out in centurion outfit or he [21:23] shows some gladiator clips and I didn’t feel like doing that so and they can’t find a gladiator [21:28] outfit big enough for me those guys were in really good shape I’m not so uh so so what I [21:34] want you to understand is that when Paul’s writing this he’s in a roman he’s in a roman prison [21:38] all right we know he’s at least under house arrest possibly in a jail cell probably different [21:44] than what we have but he is being guarded and so I imagine I don’t know that this is what happened

[21:50] but I imagine that at the pinning of this he’s finishing the book of aphesians and he’s writing [21:55] and he’s looking at a centurion and he’s preparing himself first to believe the gospel and second to [22:03] preach the gospel to that centurion he’s going to contextualize I believe that because in Philippians [22:08] one and two he marks that his success at reaching the praetorium or the different soldiers with the [22:16] gospel of Jesus Christ and he’s going to give us what’s called the whole armor of god but what is [22:21] special is not the specific pieces of armor what is special about is about what he’s drawing us

[22:28] into he’s using a military metaphor for us to understand that this is a fight all right and [22:35] he’s going to unfold the truths of the gospel one piece at a time and if you can grasp the real [22:43] meaning of the whole armor of god it will equip you to live for the gospel of Jesus Christ because [22:49] what he does is he starts at the base layer and he works his way out to offensive weaponry all [22:54] right the first thing that he talks about is the belt of truth the belt of truth and in king james [23:02] unless he says loins girded with the truth and what this is talking about is not really just a

[23:07] belt like we wear but rather he’s talking about an entire piece which is the undergarments of a [23:13] soldier and it would be a little bit like an undershirt and underwear but in one piece all [23:18] right and sometimes it would be like a tunic that goes from your shoulders all the way down to your [23:23] ankles now when they were getting ready to fight if you know anything about the book the books that [23:27] wrote and he said gird your loins and what happened in a battle is is they would take that [23:33] that garment piece that was the base layer of their of their outfit and they would take the

[23:39] him and they would bring it up and there would be a belt that they would fasten around their waist [23:43] to hold it up while they’re fighting all right because you can’t fight in a skirt very well that [23:48] goes down to your ankles all right you might trip over it all right and so so what what he’s saying [23:54] here is is that you’re getting ready for battle you need the belt of truth and that which is the [23:59] base layer is truth he’s going to constantly bring us to our mind he does it here he does [24:08] it in romans he does it in colossians that what we believe about god will determine how we serve god

[24:17] are you saturating your life with the truth of god that which he’s revealed generally through [24:23] this world and that which he has revealed specifically through the gospel but most [24:28] specifically through the person and work of jesus christ so because if you don’t know truth you [24:34] cannot trust if you don’t know about god how can you have a relationship with god [24:42] if you’re not learning about god how can you grow in god and so he says that the base layer of what [24:50] we are is all that god has revealed to us and we must fasten it in our lives so that we can know

[24:56] and proclaim truth so we can live our lives based on truth rather than falsehood [25:02] that’s why when people say well it doesn’t really matter what you believe it just matters what you [25:07] do what that will lead you to all sorts of errors and it will get you tripped up [25:16] you have more potential for learning than you think if you can order a drink at starbucks you [25:22] can learn about the bible all right because man some of the stuff i hear people i go out coffee [25:28] all right and finally you know i say grande i remember when it first opened you’d go say

[25:34] medium or something they’d look at you like you’re an idiot like i’m sorry then i go to another [25:39] coffee shop and i say grande and they look at me like i’m an idiot and i’m like what in the world

[25:46] is that but if you can do that you’re going to learn the bible you learn about god you can grow [25:51] in him but if you do not do that you are going to get tripped up because you may become very [25:59] religious where you’re following god’s moral law rather than living in light of his grace [26:05] or you’ll just become sedentary and lazy because you don’t know about the great calling that he’s [26:09] called you to secondly the breastplate of righteousness this was the centerpiece of a [26:16] soldier’s protection this is what covered his entire torso this was a piece of armor

[26:22] and what he’s talking about here is the righteousness of jesus christ second current theans 521 says [26:29] that he who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of christ it’s a [26:34] great exchange that he took my sin and gave me his righteousness he emptied my account of sin and [26:41] he filled it up with his righteousness i didn’t do it he did he gave it anyway without that we [26:47] cannot know god without trusting in the righteousness of jesus christ that he’s imputed it to my [26:53] account which means he’s given me that which i don’t deserve i’m not righteous he is but he

[27:04] got that you got nothing you’re fully exposed you’re an easier target

[27:13] shoes of readiness by the gospel of peace paul writes here so brilliantly the one piece that [27:20] oftentimes we overlook is one of the most important pieces so when you were a soldier in that time [27:25] you would have to march for miles sometimes days on roads that were not paved but roads that were [27:33] dirty filled with rocks filled with debris you had nothing covering your feet you could get a cut [27:41] you get something that would really make you so ill that you could die from infections and many [27:46] people did in that day so what he’s talking about here is his shoes that are built on the

[27:52] readiness of the gospel in other words that you’re preparing your life to go with a vision of the [27:58] gospel to take the gospel to move to march to stop sitting there to just do something [28:06] but you’re prepared and you go for the purpose of the gospel in romans chapter 10 i’m not going to [28:13] go through the whole passage but it’ll be up on the screen in romans chapter 10 it says that anyone [28:17] that calls on the name of the lord will be saved but how will they know if no one tells them and [28:23] will anyone tell them if no one is sent we must go with the gospel it is our calling it is our

[28:31] mission we must find our identity in going not just sitting there we don’t grow so that we can [28:38] sit and then grow a little more so we can sit and grow a little more so we can sit and grow a little [28:41] more all that’s going to happen there is you’re going to get fat spiritually right obesity is not [28:46] healthy i know all right you’ll get that later

[28:54] you need to be spiritually going so that you can be growing in the right ways

[29:04] and he talks about and then he says here’s the here’s the important thing i want you to look [29:09] in verse 16 he says he kind of pauses because if you’re not living these things the next stuff’s [29:16] not going to do you any good you’re not going to need them if you’re not going what are you going [29:21] to need a shield for what are you going to need a sword for you don’t need them you’re going to [29:27] need that helmet for you’re not going to be repelling anything you’re good all right then [29:32] he says in these circumstances when you are going then you need the shield of faith because it takes

[29:38] no faith to sit there how long have you just been sitting there how long have you not been in the [29:43] light you know faith isn’t doing you any good see faith is likened to a shield and in this age [29:51] what he’s doing is oftentimes i think what he’s talking about because he says that then it will [29:55] repel the fiery darts of the devil because if you’ve seen any movies maybe robin hood gladiator [30:01] braveheart one of his older movies where they would just have the archers stand way back which [30:06] was a great position not very dangerous that’s where i would have been and and they they shoot

[30:11] arrows up into the air and they were very skilled because they could just kind of estimate at what [30:16] angle they shot at and they would shoot it up and they would just become hundreds of arrows [30:20] and what they had in the roman army were these things it was a shield called a thurios it was [30:25] about two and a half feet wide four and a half feet tall and what the soldiers would do is as [30:30] they’re marching in battle is they would lock their shield side by side and sometimes lock their [30:35] arms and they would walk with these shields in an elevated position so that when the fiery arrows

[30:41] sometimes would light the arrows on fire it would hit the shield and sometimes they would dip their [30:45] shields in water so that it would just extinguish the flame what paul is saying is is that when you [30:52] are in battle you need a shield and i think he’s giving more of an analogy here and this is just my [30:56] opinion i think he’s giving the analogy of discipleship that your shield is great your faith [31:04] is what’s going to really give you strength but how much more would it have when you’re locked [31:08] arm in arm with another believer teaching each other showing each other how to live a life of faith

[31:19] and you’re repelling those arrows you are scared you are fearful of what god is calling you to [31:27] but you’re risking it all and you’re growing you’re locked arm in arm with other believers doing the [31:34] same thing i was reading a book on the on the military of rome and what it said is that sometimes [31:40] they would lock their shields and the marching procession would be sometimes up to a half mile [31:46] wide that’s how rome conquered the world because there’s strength in numbers is there not

[31:56] you’re not called to just take your shield and run into the battle

[32:02] by yourself you won’t make it that’s not how god designed it it doesn’t even reflect who he is as a triune god [32:11] arm in arm shield of faith up because a shield is made to march forward and faith is made to move

[32:22] the helmet of salvation

[32:26] see you trust in god with your mind you trust him with your mind roman chapter 12 said that this is where we need to conform ourselves to christ jesus in the way that we think if he’s in chapters four and five [32:37] talk a lot about the way that we think we’re not to see ourselves in light of our sin but we’re to see ourselves in light of god’s grace and if the satan is going to come with his schemes and his his strategies oftentimes it’s going to be in the way that we think [32:51] he’s going to accuse us of our sins he’s going to accuse us of not loving other people [32:58] this is put on the helmet of salvation may all of your thoughts be filtered by the truth of god’s word [33:04] may all of your thoughts be filtered by the truth that god has revealed in jesus christ and finally the sword of the spirit you know this is the only offensive weapon [33:13] it says it’s sort of the spirit which is the word of god so you combat satan what’s most with the word of god but what’s most interesting about this is oftentimes in the scripture the term that is used for word of god is the term logos

[33:27] okay it’s the same term that was referring to jesus in john chapter 1 he was the word all right and what that means is the general revelation or the ultimate revelation of who god is logos but that’s not the word used here the word used in this text is the word rima [33:43] which means specific words you can carry your bible all you want to and it’s not going to do you any good [33:52] this is not some magical buddha statue that’s going to keep your house safe it’s not doing you any good sitting there in the corner when i was in high school i was so stupid that i thought that if i kept the bible in my car it would keep me from getting speeding tickets

[34:09] all right you know you don’t know what was really going to keep me from getting speeding tickets not speeding [34:14] all right you’re laughing but you’ve probably thought the same thing there’s at least one other person in here that’s had that idea at least all right don’t judge me guys all right [34:26] but here’s the key what he’s saying is if you want to combat the fiery darts of satan know the promises of god

[34:35] be able to speak the truth when he’s trying to deceive you revelation 12 9 says that he’s the deceiver of nations [34:46] you want to know the greatest way not to be deceived you want to know the greatest way to know the gospel know his word see oftentimes what you want is you want a strategy you want to start with a checklist of how do i do how do i do how do i do and what god says no this is about a healthy soul this is about a renovation of the heart

[35:05] read his word and just his promises and then when he comes against you because if he’s not coming against you guess what you’re sitting still and you’re not doing anything

[35:16] and when you’re marching when you’re moving if he comes against you the only weapon you have because it’s the only weapon you need is the reality of ephesians one that you know who holds the future [35:26] and you know what he’s promised you and you know he can’t do anything to undo that promise that in that light he’s just a pawn he’s strong he’s deceptive he’s got strategy but guess what he was created by god he’s not god [35:43] do not fear him more than you fear god when you fear him trust in your fear of god that is greater know his word preach the truth to yourselves so often i get so discouraged and i see the work of satan and i see the temptations that he brings into my life [36:01] i hear his deceptions i hear his accusations i do it too guys and the tool that gives me the greatest weaponry against him is that i have spent 30 years because i had parents that raised me that way memorizing scripture

[36:20] and when he wants me to be condemned i say roman’s eight one there is now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus you can’t condemn me satan this is your sword we’ve created environments here is the church for you to walk into to learn his word there’s discipleship groups there’s community groups guys that’s where you learn this

[36:47] if you’re not taking the responsibility as an individual or as a family if you’ve got one as a family fathers know the word lead your family in the word they need this you need this know his word the fight demands gospel saturation finally this morning as we close building god’s church calls for endurance

[37:13] this is not a sprint this isn’t a hundred yard dash this is a mega marathon this is a race that sometimes will get exhausting verses 13 and 14 he uses great terminology he says first in the text he says that you need to withstand and then he uses another word and he says and having done all stand

[37:39] stand therefore he repeats it because there are going to come times in your life where those weaknesses are uncovered where satan is tempting you to not have this great vision that we’ve seen in the book of ephesians in those moments do not quit

[37:58] sometimes when a weakness is exposed and i’ve got tons of them so i can speak to this weakness is like my expertise when those weaknesses are exposed you’re going to want to quit

[38:10] when you feel down when you feel like you can’t do it or there’s something better than the gospel you’re going to say i got to choose that other thing i just can’t do it i’m weak [38:22] paul says in that moment that is when you need to stop depending on yourself and understand that the only hope for you is depending on god

[38:32] the armor is not something that you’ve made the armor is something that god has given you it’s been supplied put it on

[38:44] the calling to build god’s church which is the ultimate message of ephesians the blueprint for god’s church is the greatest calling in your life what you will be tempted to do is when you find something that is weak an area of sin an area of doubt [38:59] you will want to cover over it so that no one else in the church will know about it no one else in your life will know about your struggles

[39:08] you’ll just cover over it and you’ll hide it and it’s going to cause you to eventually quit when you do that or you’re going to use it as an excuse [39:16] you’re going to say god can’t use me or you’re going to worship that weakness those are really the three possibilities but here’s the key do not cover over do not hide do not reason your way out of it [39:28] do not convince yourself to worship that weakness expose it what did he say in ephesians chapter 5 he said that let the light of the gospel expose the darkness [39:40] each and every one of us have places in our lives where we need change and that’s what paul is ultimately bringing to light here he’s saying when you do not think you need that change satan is already in your life working and tempting

[39:58] fight to build god’s church it calls for endurance look at how he finishes this passage [40:04] it says in verse 18 praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end keep alert with perseverance making supplication for all the saints [40:17] the ultimate posture of realizing your weakness and realizing what you’re dependent upon is prayer

[40:24] if your prayers are dry if you just can’t do it understand that it is the life behind that prayer that gives it such fruitfulness in your life

[40:34] are you doing anything where you’re depending on god if not prayer may be dry in your life

[40:42] but paul is calling us here to a life in which we’re depending on god or we’re risking it all or out there on a limb or like god if you don’t step in there’s no way this is going to work out [40:54] that’s the life of prayer just keep alert keep your eyes open persevere and he says ask make supplication what that means is ask [41:06] when you’re living for god you know what to ask for and you ask often but then he says something very interesting he says pray for me [41:15] the apostle paul looking to regular people because i think sometimes we think he’s like spiritual superman [41:22] but he looks at other believers because he knows the truth he’s just as weak as they are he says pray for me [41:28] i believe when paul wrote this he was discouraged because notice what he says

[41:34] he says that words may be given to me and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel but notice he says [41:40] for which i am an ambassador in chains that i may declare it boldly as i ought to speak

[41:51] paul didn’t write much more he wrote half the new testament this is the guy that wrote half the new testament saying [41:56] i need words

[42:01] because it wasn’t long after he wrote this that paul was executed for the gospel [42:09] paul writes to effesus and he says i just need words

[42:16] guys i look at at the fight that paul calls us to and look at the fight that he wants and we know in [42:24] the philippians chapter one and two that he kept fighting he kept preaching and they had to finally just kill him [42:31] he wouldn’t stop i don’t want to stop i want to fight i want to push the gospel forward i want to see people redeemed [42:44] i want to experience what he unveils for us in this blueprint i want to see a church that is growing [42:49] not just wide i want to see a church that’s growing deep that’s learning the word of god that’s growing in faith

[42:59] that’s boldly speaking and then coming to group and saying guys pray for me i need words [43:05] that i may boldly speak the truth that i may find strategies to reach people who are in darkness that [43:14] i may be a light to expose the sin of this world not in judgment but so that they can know the redemption that i know [43:22] and the reason you know it is because you’re living it you admit that you’re weak [43:28] second corinthians chapter 12 verse 9 paul reveals he says when i am weak god is strong and he uses [43:37] my weakness to bring himself glory gospel is not something for the toughest guy in the room the

[43:43] gospel is for the person that knows that they’re not tough your weakness isn’t a reason not to live [43:53] for god your weakness is the reason that you can live for god if you’re discouraged today if you’re [44:04] weak number one you’re not alone

[44:10] but number two that qualifies you for the grace of god

[44:15] this isn’t only the strong survive this is only the weak ever find real strength [44:22] because they find it in the one who will endure you to the end but here’s the key [44:26] are you enduring or are you just sitting there

[44:32] the vision of aphesians is the work of god to build his church through his redeemed people [44:37] this is the identity of the believer taking all of life captive to faith in god through the work [44:43] of jesus to spread his redemption and disciple the growth of his church this is our mission [44:50] and we must stand and then keep standing because our strength is from god and for god

[45:05] jerry fallow once said to a huge crowd that i was in he said don’t ever ever ever quit

[45:14] there’s going to come a lot of moments this week probably if not this week it’s coming [45:21] where you’re going to want to stop standing remember the words of paul when you’ve done [45:27] everything you can to stand stand using the gospel of god’s grace for you as your strength [45:41] as the band comes up

[45:46] we have a high calling in christ jesus do we not if you’re in here this morning

[45:56] and you’ve trusted in jesus what we’re going to do right now is we’re going to move into a time of [46:01] reflection on the cross through communion that we do every week if you’re in here and you’re a [46:05] believer in jesus these tables are open they haven’t been opened by me they’ve been opened [46:09] by god he wants to have fellowship with you if you haven’t trusted in him if you haven’t [46:15] trusted in jesus if you don’t believe everything that i’ve talked about today is available for you [46:22] if you’ll trust in christ if you’ll follow him with your life if you want to trust today

[46:30] if you haven’t trusted before as you come talk to me or go to the back talk to someone back [46:34] there before you come take communion but don’t come forward today guys as strong people [46:42] come forward as people seeking strength because it’s in your relationship with jesus that you’re [46:48] going to find the strength that you need you do not have it on your own but the scripture says [46:53] in ephesians chapter 320 that he is able to do far more abundantly than we can ever ask or expect

[47:03] to follow him today his tables open