In the High King’s Service
Ephesians 6:10-17
HFBC Sunday, May 24, 2015
Introduction: Sacrifice is indeed an admirable and biblical action that should be embraced by every believer just as it was embraced by those who fell in the defense of freedom. Those whom we honor each year on Memorial day.
And as we remember their sacrifice, their bravery, and the conflicts of this world, we shouldn’t forget that we too are soldiers and that we are involved in a spiritual battle, a spiritual war, and that we are entering this battle every day. And this spiritual battle, like those of this world, also requires bravery, sacrifice, faith, perseverance, and for some even the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom and death.
Take for example one of the most famous and well known of all Christian soldiers, the Apostle Paul. Paul understood the call to spiritual warfare. He understood the fact that every day he was going to face the enemy. He understood what it meant to make sacrifices in order to win the battle. And as he fought he endured beatings, imprisonment, isolation, being shunned, and ultimately he sacrificed his life as a martyr for Christ.
Paul was an experienced and successful Christian soldier. And today I want us to look at his battle strategy so that we too can be mighty and victorious soldiers in the army of our Great High King Jesus Christ.
Paul’s battle strategy is found in a very familiar passage of Scripture. Turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 6. Beginning in verse 10 we find what is referred to as the passage about the Armor of God.
But this morning I want to look to these verses a little differently, I want to look at them as our instructions for engaging in our daily spiritual battle. As a kind of “basic training” for believers as we prepare ourselves for spiritual warfare.
So this morning as we look at this text I want to point out three instructions that are essential to success in spiritual warfare.
The first essential instruction for success in spiritual battle is that we must…
Recognize Spiritual Warfare (10-12) Look at verses 10-12…
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, 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 rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Don’t miss what Paul is telling us here. He is telling us that spiritual warfare is real. I know that this is a concept that has really fallen out of vogue in today’s world because it is supernatural and because anything supernatural is looked at as fantasy and or even worse as uneducated and simple-minded.
But Paul warns us in Scripture, and if we believe Scripture to be the true, inerrant and infallible Word of God we had better take notice of what he says, Paul warns us that we will “wrestle”, fight, or war against a “spiritual host of wickedness” that is not flesh and blood. What does that mean?
It means that everyday and at all times we are being targeted by a host of unseen demons and their leader Satan.
Folks, we live in a fallen world and Jesus tells us in John 14:30 that Satan is the ruler of this fallen world. And if he has been given temporary dominion over this world you can be sure he is going to do all the damage he can do as he tries to take as much of God’s creation with him into his miserable fallenness as he can.
So we can be sure that we will be faced everyday with difficulties, temptations, and hardships that are designed to cause us to stumble and fail in our mission to follow Christ and to cause us to lead others far away from Christ.
Satan is not omniscient or all knowing and he is not omnipresent or in all places at once, but he is a keen observer with legions of demons in his service ready at every moment to capitalize on the weaknesses he has seen in us. He knows were we are easily tempted and he is always ready to strike hoping to catch us by surprise. So it is no coincidence that we find ourselves facing the same temptations over and over. It is not by accident that we face our greatest temptations in our weakest moments. We are always being stalked by a cunning and ruthless enemy that is always ready to strike.
Dr. Russell Moore tells a personal story of temptation and spiritual warfare in his book Tempted and Tried. He tells the story of how he found himself in a hotel lobby somewhere in Tennessee when he realized the truth and subtlety of spiritual warfare. He was caught in a rainstorm with a minivan full of arguing children when he pulled into the hotel where he found a desk clerk who was friendly, understanding, and interested in what he had to say. Nothing unseemly happened in Dr. Moore’s encounter but listen to what he realized as he reflected on the moment.
I mentally reassured myself that everything was okay. I hadn’t done anything; not even close. But for some reason I had paid attention to that woman, and worse, I hadn’t noticed myself paying attention to her until my kids interrupted me.
Now on the one hand nothing happened. I hadn’t—to use the biblical language for it—“lusted in my heart” for her. I’d just engaged in a minute of conversation. I’m afraid you’ll think of me as some kind of leering, pervertlike preacher when, although I don’t know all my own weaknesses, I don’t think I’m particularly vulnerable at this point. I don’t “check women out” as they pass by (and I roll my eyes when I see other men who do). Moreover, this woman’s interest in me was nil. If she read about this, she would, I’m quite sure, not remember it. And if she did remember it, she would probably say, “You mean that little guy who looks like a cricket? Well, bless his heart.”
But it scared me. I was scared not by what actually happened but by a glimpse into what could have happened, What if I hadn’t been on a road trip with my family but on a business trip alone, as I often am” What if she’d been interested in me? For a moment, just a moment, I’d forgotten who I was, who I am. Husband. Pastor. Son. Christian. Daddy. I was struck by the thought, “It starts like this, doesn’t it”?
It starts like that. A moment of weakness where the unseen enemy strikes because we are not aware that the enemy is even around. Just like ignoring an enemy in an earthly war does not mean the enemy isn’t there and ready to strike. So it is with spiritual warfare, just because we don’t take it seriously does not mean that it is not constantly raging around us seeking to bring us down.
So folks, it is important if we are going to succeed in spiritual battle, if we are going to be good soldiers, we must recognize the war we are fighting. We must recognize the enemy. We must recognize the awful reality of spiritual warfare.
After we accept and recognize that we are daily at war the next thing we must do is…
2. Prepare for Spiritual Warfare 14-17 Look with me at verses 14-17…
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
Here Paul says, “GET READY!” Don’t be caught unprepared. Once we recognize the seriousness of our situation we must prepare ourselves to do battle.
No soldier runs into war without first preparing himself. A soldier arms himself with weapons, he plans for the best offensive and defensive positions, he dresses himself in the most protective items available, and he thinks ahead so as not to be outflanked.
Paul reminds us that we must do the same. He tells us to pick up the weapon of God’s truth, which by the way is a powerful weapon precisely because it is true regardless of whether you believe it or not, it is unchangeable, solid, and unfailing. He also tells us to wield the weapon of the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The Bible is a powerful weapon in our spiritual war. When temptation comes, when sin is knocking at the door we must be able to, as Donald Whitney says, “throw open our arsenal of Scripture” and fiend off the attack. That means we must be trained in the Word of God we must read it, know it, and meditate on it. So that when the time comes we can go to the “gun cabinet”, if you will, and find more there than a John 3:16 and a Genesis 1:1. We must be like Jesus when he was tempted in Matthew chapter 4 and able to rely upon the Word of God for strength as we remember the truth of Scripture.
Paul also reminds us of the protective gear we have to help us endure the attacks that come our way. He says to put on “the breastplate of righteousness”, the gospel of peace, and the “shield of faith”. All of these are protective garments available to every Christian. Bro. Todd likes to remind us that when we become Christians we are covered in the righteousness of Christ, that we are covered by it like a garment that never comes off.
And that is what Paul is talking about here as well. He is saying remember “Whose you are!” Remember that you march under the banner of the one who has already won the victory for you. Look to him for protection. Run to him in times of trouble and temptation says Paul and he will protect you. We cannot be intentionally sheltering ourselves under the protection of Christ and fall to the darts of the evil one. We must first step out from under his protection. Paul says stay close to Christ and you will be protected and prepared to do spiritual battle.
So if we are to be successful in spiritual battle we must recognize the reality of spiritual warfare, we must be prepared for spiritual warfare, and finally if we are to be successful in spiritual warfare we must…
3. Expect Victory in Spiritual Warfare (13). We see Paul tell us this in verse 13…
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
I like that verse in the New Living Translation because I think it better captures what Paul is saying. Listen to what it says…
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.
Paul is reminding us that we can expect victory in spiritual warfare. That we can expect to win the war even when the battles are fierce and even when we are wounded or occasionally taken prisoner in our sin.
He is saying remember who you serve. Remember in whose righteousness you are clothed. Remember in whose army you are marching.
Paul is saying remember that you are a soldier of the Warrior King who has already defeated Satan. Who has already insured that the war is won and who will one day return and put an end to every battle. He is telling us to remember that we can have faith to stand strong in the face of temptation, discomfort, and for some even persecution because we are being led in battle by our Great High King Jesus as he is described in Revelation 19: 14-16:
14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.
Folks, that is the King, Lord, General, Father, and Friend that we follow into battle. And that is why we can fight our spiritual battles everyday with the knowledge and assurance that victory will be ours.
Prayer