Standing Strong in the Lord's Power for Battle

This is so important as we think about our church’s theme this year… Building on Our Heritage…

- God in His grace has given us a wonderful heritage hasn’t He?

As we’ve walked through our series in Ephesians, we have seen more recently what it is like to be Strengthening Unity in Our Relationships …

Please turn to page _____ in the bible under the chair in front of you.

We will be looking today for what Paul tells us about how we continually Standing Strong in the Lord’s Power for Battle and how we are to be extremely aware of the reality that there is an unseen battle happening around us… please follow along as I read Ephesians 6:10-13

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

As we continue with our series, today we will be looking at 2 actions we must take to stand strong when we face spiritual battles.

First, as we face spiritual battles, we must…

I. Depend on the strength in the Lord. (v.10)

As the book of Ephesians comes to a close, Paul begins this last section by saying “Finally”

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

In other words, he is giving a final exhortation…a final encouragement that will allow you to go forth and accomplish everything that he has said before amidst a spiritual battle that we are fighting daily.

Our parenting, our marriage, our daily Christian walk is all accomplished by being strong in the Lord and being strengthened in His might… As we go through the daily struggles and we fear that we are not enough, we must recognize that we need to be strengthened by our Lord Jesus.

Now take note here… in the Greek… this is a passive imperative… Be strong does not mean that we make it through our own strength… there is no magic workout routine that allows us the ability to face our everyday struggles.

That is why that small, two letter preposition is so important for us to take note of… in the Lord. We can only be strong in the Lord and can only be strengthened by His might.

This is a glorious truth! We do not have to rely on our own strength to fight these battles. We can solely trust in the Lord and His strength to carry us.

You may be asking yourself, how am I able to enjoy such a blessing, or why would a Great and Holy Creator grant me the ability to fight daily spiritual battles?

Well, that is…

Because our identity is “in the Lord”

Many times in Ephesians, we are reminded that our identity is in the Lord and that we belong to Him.

Ephesians 2:10 -¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Ephesians 2:21–22 -²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 3:12 -¹² in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.

As you can see, it is evident that, because we belong to Him, our Lord will provide what we need. Not because of how pretty we are or how smart we are, but because we belong to Him and are IN Him.

It is our reconciled relationship with our God that we are able to enjoy this strengthening in our times of weakness… And our God maintains and sustains what is His.

In other words, IN Him we have every spiritual blessing because, as Matt 7:11 says, our Father who is in heaven gives what is good to those who ask Him.

Therefore, we gladly depend on our Good Lord to give us strength… In our weakness, He is strong, and makes us strong…

Because of “the strength of His might”

We can trust in our Lord’s might because it surpasses life and death…

Ephesians 1:19–20 -¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might ²⁰ which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

The same might that raised Christ from the dead is the might that is strengthening us to overcome.

And it is granted to us through His Spirit…

Ephesians 3:16 -¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be

strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

These are glorious truths that should lead us to trust in His might! We must clothe ourselves in Christ and trust in His might to get us through our battles.

Take the example Paul and Silas.

Acts 16:22–30 (NASB95)

²²The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.

²³When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;

²⁴and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

²⁶and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

²⁷When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas,

³⁰and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

It would have been easy for Paul and Silas to believe that God had abandoned them, or that they should give up their ministry… instead, what was their response?... They trusted that their identity IN Christ meant that they were clothed IN Him and that His might would strengthen them… whether they made it out of prison or not… they were steadfast in the truth of Christ and instead of worrying, they prayed and sang praises to God.

That even ended up in a gospel opportunity!

We must trust in God’s strength and His might regardless of the outcome… Because we know that, whatever the outcome, our Lord will be victorious!

So we understand that our identity in the Lord and His might give us strength… but what does that strength look like? How do we know that we are strong? When the battle comes, how do I know that I am prepared?

The way we are to be strong is by putting on…

II. Put on God's Powerful Resources Like Complete Weaponry (v.11-13)

Verses 11 and 13 tell us to…

“Put on the full armor of God” (v. 11)

"Therefore put on the full armor of God” (v. 13)

Although these verses are simple and plain, it takes a bit more to understand how to apply them.

We won’t get into what the armor of God is today, that will come next week, but let’s dive into how we can put on that armor and enjoy all the resources that have been given to us in Christ.

Romans 13:12 tells us…

Romans 13:12 - “Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

So a way that we put on the armor of God is by doing away, laying aside, completely ridding ourselves of the deeds of darkness.

In other words, we are told to “take off” something and “put on” something in its place. Where else have we heard that?

Well, a couple of chapters ago we learned something similar… Ephesians 4:24 says…

Ephesians 4:24 - "and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

As well as in Colossians we are given a list of these deeds of darkness to put off and are given deeds of righteousness to put on.

Colossians 3:8–14 (NASB95)

⁸But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

⁹Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

¹⁰and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—

¹¹a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

¹²So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

¹³bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

¹⁴Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

Why are we drawing attention to this?

Well, we believe Peter O’Brien put it well when he said…

"Essentially, then, to "put on the new self" is the same as donning the armour of God." - Peter T. O'Brien, PNTC

To help us better understand this concept, Clinton Arnold says this…

"In other words, knowing the truth of who we are in union with Christ, cultivating the virtues of this new identity, and using the resources available through this new relationship are at the heart of what it means to put on the armor of God." - Clinton E. Arnold, ECNT

Essentially, what we are doing when we say that we are putting on the armor of God is that we are clothing ourselves in His righteousness, His truth, His love and putting off the evil deeds that have died along with our “old self”.

And if we feel like that may not be enough… just look at David… the king’s armor didn’t fit him… but he decided to face Goliath with just a sling and a stone because God was his strength.

It is not by what this world has to offer… it is not by the power of men that we can be strong… It is only through the power and might of our Lord Jesus Christ!

He is more than enough!

Now by this point you may be wondering, what is all this talk about a battle… what is it that I need to be prepared for?

You need to be prepared…

Because you are in a spiritual battle (v.11-12)

This is a battle we need to be awake to…

Our text tells us that this battle is…

“against the devil’s schemes”

What are the devil’s schemes you may ask… Well, let’s first understand who the devil is…

The name Devil means “accuser,” because he accuses God’s people day and night before the throne of God (Rev. 12:7–11).

The devil wants to trick you to believe that your identity is not tied to Christ but must be tied to your own work, your own performance, your own goodness…and then what follows is guilt and shame because everyone falls short of the Glory of God.

Satan means “adversary,” because he is the enemy of God, he is against all that God is for….

His goal is to not glorify the Son, but to seek to glorify man and devour people with their own desires and pride and foolish self sufficiency.

He wants you to put your trust, your security and your pleasure in anything except God… anything except the person and work of Jesus Christ. Sports, Beauty, popularity, politics, wealth, intelligence…anything but Christ.

He is also called the tempter (Matt. 4:3), and the murderer and the liar (John 8:44). He is compared to a lion (1 Peter 5:8), a serpent (Gen. 3:1; Rev. 12:9), and an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:13–15), as well as “the god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4, niv).^[1]

let’s put it this way…

he is wanting to turn everything that he can against you so that you may turn away from God.

You have a family? – he’ll tempt in order to turn y’all against one another

You have friends? – temptations will linger

You have a church family?... how about coworkers? – he’ll emphasize weaknesses in order to pit you against one another

You have inner struggles and wrestle within yourself? – he’ll throw temptations at you

This is what the early church experienced… the schemes of the devil were no stranger to the early church martyrs… Tertullian put it this way…

“The prison is undoubtedly the Devil’s house. His gang of household slaves lives there. But you have arrived in the prison so you can crush him underfoot in his own home. Of course, you have already stepped on him when you met him in spiritual warfare outside those walls. So don’t let him say, “Aha! Now that they’re in my domain, I’ll tempt them with petty quarrels, or their own weaknesses, or arguments between them!” Let the Devil flee from your sight [James 4:7]…Don’t let him prosper in his own kingdom by setting you against one another. Instead let him find you well protected and armed with harmony–for peace among yourselves makes war against him.” Tertullian, To the Martyrs

We need to understand that this battle is not one that is against our brother or sister, our spouse, our children, our neighbor… When our kids choose to disobey… it is not our child that we are struggling with… when your spouse angers you… do you give way to the devil by letting the sun set on that anger?

when a neighbor builds a fence on your property line… when your boss is being unreasonable…

These are not struggles that we have with that person… these are the schemes of the devil…

We just got done doing a whole series on Marriage and family, and relationships with others under your authority or those who have authority over you….it is not a mistake that the very next passage after all these relationships is about the spiritual battle that is against the devil and spiritual forces of darkness.

You see the greatest scheme and distraction is to seek to get you to fight flesh and blood and not resist the spiritual battle in order to exalt Christ …Satan wants you to focus on building your physical kingdom and fight people here on earth that get in the way of doing what you want to do…that is one key way he is seeking to deceive us…get us to fight for our name, our preferences, our exaltation and our comfort, and our desires….Rather than fight in the name of the Lord for the glory and exaltation of Jesus Christ.

As a side note…I want to be clear… I am not saying that the devil is possessing these people or controlling them in any way… what I am saying is that we can be easily deceived into allowing the devil to work his schemes if we are not willing to put off our old selves and lay aside the deeds of darkness.

This is why this battle is so crucial and we must be prepared…

Our text indicates that this is a battle that has a great deal of adversaries that we cannot see, let alone fight on our own.

[NOTE: All bold quotes fit on one slide].

• “our struggle is not against flesh and blood”
• “against the rulers”
• “against the powers”
• “against the world forces of this darkness”
• “against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places”
• “the evil day” (v. 13) (Eph 5:16)

This text is alerting us that there is a battle we cannot win on our own… So we must put on the full armor of God… We must…

So that you can stand firm and resist (v.11, 13)

Our text concludes that we must take up the full armor of God…

"so that you will be able to stand firm"

The reality of all of this is that we already know the outcome of the spiritual war we are in…

We have a scope that allows us to see how this ends… that is because Christ has already won… the victory is His!

Ephesians gives us this glorious truth…

Ephesians 1:19–23 –

¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might ²⁰ which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. ²² And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

We can stand firm on that truth and trust that our Lord is with us… We can trust that whenever we are faced with a battle… we will be able to…

"so that you will be able to resist"

You cannot win a battle if you don’t know to fight, not willing to fight, and won’t trust the resources God has given you…remember… God has given us all the resources we need… remember, He has already WON the war… we must fight the battle.

Christian… it’s not a matter of if, but when the battle comes and is in full force… when you are tempted to retreat or surrender… who do you turn to? Who do you depend on for strength?

I urge you to go to the Word… go to our Lord Jesus… He will help you resist… remember the words in James…

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

Whenever we are faced with a battle… the purpose is so that we can resist… so we can hold firm…

To my unbelieving friend… I’d like for you to understand, likewise, that there is a battle being fought… and that battle is for your soul… we are taught to resist the devil… are you willing to do that… we are also taught that Jesus wants all of you… your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength… so that He can strengthen you, care for you, love you, and help you resist the devil.

Brothers and sisters, the interesting thing is that Jesus has already won the victory…already defeated sin and death, and he will one day cast Satan and all his demons into the lake of fire once and for all…what we need to do is stand firm, wait, and hold fast while the Lord finalizes His victory that we get to be a part of….

We mustn’t fear… for even in our weakness… the Lord is strong… even in our loneliness… the Lord is there… even in our hopelessness… the Lord is our Hope!

Let’s stand firm on that, trust that, and clothe ourselves in all that God has provided for us.

^[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 57). Victor Books.