“and they lived happily ever after.” That’s the way a fairy tale ends “happily ever after” describes what so many of us really want. If truth be told, that’s even what we want when we become a Christian: a carefree life. That is what we expect from a church: no problems, everyone getting along, no issues: and they lived happily ever after.
Here’s one woman describing her feelings of living in a state of bliss: I wake up every morning feeling happiness and love in my heart. I have found my true soul mate and the person who can understand me and a wonderful person who works at making things better and better. I have everything I have ever wanted and I spread the light of my love and my happiness out to the world. My positivity and warm smile is contagious. I am amazing and everyone and everything around me is amazing. I am so very thankful to have a wonderful life full of love and hugs. We live in peace and harmony in togetherness. The world is a colourful place with colourful people. There is love and kindness all around us. I am so very happy to be alive.
Isn’t that great! Peace and contentment is one thing, in spite of problems. A carefree world is another. The problem is that evil in the world is real. Bad things do happen. People get so frustrated with churches that all is not perfect, yet that should be no surprise... The Bible clearly teaches that Satan is alive and active: “take your stand against the devil’s schemes” we are told in today’s scripture. Paul assumes Satan is real. We have been talking about different images of the church, some assembly is required!. One of the tough images: The Church is an Army! When you think of Army, think of assembling together to fight an enemy. The enemy is Satan.
This is the message I really don’t like preaching, because I don’t really like talking about Satan, but if I am responsible in my role, I also believe it is part of the Christian message. A number of years ago when I was a young pastor, I remember reading a criticism of one of the tv preachers. The criticism wasn’t so much what was said, but what was left out – Sin and Satan…I understand the temptation… God does not promise us a carefree “happily ever after” life, he says we are to be part of the army of God: v. 12 is incredibly significant: 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.
* Paul assumes there will be struggles. That’s part of the Christian community…when you become a Christian, problems do not go away.
* We fall into Satan’s trap when we make our fighting personal. I am not excusing personal responsibility and behavior. Clearly there is sin and bad choices. Yet the Bible clearly says that there is an umbrella of evilness: “our struggle is not against flesh and blood…” It helps me to be able to step back and understand that Satan wants us to fight, Satan wants us to duke it out, separate, work against each other. I like the way John Stott says it: “Beneath surface appearances an unseen spiritual battle rages.” And it’s true…
I don’t understand Satan or demons and how they are interelated. I have never forgotten what one of my professors said when I was in school: in Systematic Theology we spent a whole year topic by topic the great themes, with the major ideas presented. When it came to Satan and Demons the lecture was very short. He said, “For those of you who want to study Satan and Demons, I recommend that you don’t.” He then explained how serious he took the issue, and while some are called to know more than others, it is enough to know Satan is real. Our ultimate fight is not flesh and blood. When we fight with other people in the church, other Christians, outside the church, that is only a battle in the larger war, an unseen spiritual battle rages, and we need to understand Satan is the out of site general at work…
The Church is called to be an army…Ephesians is written to the Church. This scripture is Paul’s final warning to the church. In the book Paul details what it means to be the people of God, but then it is as if he warns with this final section, don’t get any thoughts of living happily ever after, for Satan is going to war against us.
One of the reasons I speak of the reality of Satan is that I think of our own mission team…in my limited experience, it seems that in other countries we see Satan manifested in ways we don’t see in our own cultures, “devil’s schemes” refers to how Satan will do whatever it takes to undermine our work, different manifestations in different times and places… I believe this message is important because as we see “success” in our own church, in our own community, we are going to run into temptations, clashes…
Paul references the war against the principalities, powers, world rulers of this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. This is why we need to be an army, not try to defeat Satan alone. Evil is too big, too hard to understand… I don’t know what all these categories mean exactly, but we can say they are powerful, cosmic and worldwide…they are beyond our limited comprehension. From v. 11 that the devils methods are cunning, “schemes”. The devil prefers darkness to light, seldom operating in the open. In other places we learn the tactics include masquerading as an angel of light, deception, sometimes Satan roars like a Lion, but more often he is as subtle as a serpent, preferring to seduce us into compromise and deceiving us into error. Today, many well meaning Christians doubt Satan’s existence…
I’ve changed over the years. When I was young, I too often assumed people were the problem, and if I could only win over a few people to my way of thinking, that I could conquer the world. Today, I try to step aside and let God conquer the world, and I am only a foot soldier in the vast army of God, and if I can do my bit in service to him, then that is more than enough. How do we overcome the principalities, the powers, the world rulers of this present darkness, the spiritual forces? Be strong in the Lord, Paul says. We aren’t called to defeat the world, we are called to be strong in the strength of his might. Confident, strong people. Strength of character. So the solution to fight Satan is not in what we accomplish, not called to conquer the world, but who we are in Christ Jesus.
How do we overcome the principalities, the powers, the world rulers of this present darkness, the spiritual forces? “Be strong in the Lord” is the first answer. The second: 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. Stand. A tower of strength. I like the way John Stott says it: “Wobbly Christians who have no foothold in Christ are an easy prey for the devil.” We are called to have stability and firmness in the face of attacks.
Piece by piece Paul goes through the equipment of the solder. BTW, Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter, and if it was typical, any guesses as to who he was chained to? A roman soldier. Probably not in full armor, but fascinating that his captor became the symbol of strength…
With the exception of the sword, the equipment of a solider is passive, for defensive purposes. That tells us a lot about how we are called to stand firm against Satan/evil…not to go out looking, but to continue serving God while standing firm against Satan. I love the image in Nehemiah of rebuilding the walls….because of the enemies, with one hand building the wall and the other hand a sword…
** Belt of truth…ever ran with your pants falling down…the belt is only noticed when it is not working. The other day at McDonald's (I know I sound like an old guy saying this), the young man in front of me started adjusting his pants…he contorted, bent over, until his waste was a foot down his legs… Truth girds everything together... If Christianity remains in your head, the truth of the deity of Jesus Christ may seem abstract, but when you are attacked, you don’t want your pants falling down. If all Satan has to do is get you to doubt the basic teachings of Christianity, you are not likely to be a faithful witness that will go to the ends of the earth for Christ. Truth gives confidence. That’s why we study, read, small groups, s.s…knowing the truth of who Jesus Christ is, having confidence in what you believe, is vital to stand firm…
** Breastplate of righteousness…righteousness is practicing a Christian life and being right with God. Cultivating righteousness prepares you to resist temptations. Watch a runner and you can tell how much preparation…watch a Christian under persecution and you can tell how much depth there is in the disciplines of the Christian walk to stand firm…
** Boots of the gospel…a soldier in battle never takes off the boots. Always ready for the long march and for a solid stance. Ready at all times to tell the story of your faith. How do you battle the devil – you talk about God’s faithfulness.
** Shield of faith… shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Head to foot shield, two layers of wood glued together and covered with layer of hide, bound with iron at the edges. Designed to protect from the arrows of the enemy dipped in pitch and lit on fire. Satans darts are deflected, put out one by one with faith, to believe God will protect you… Perhaps it is the darts of doubt, moments of fear, temptations to abandon your commitment to the Lord. Faith can overcome Satan’s darts…
** Helmet of salvation…helmets were decorative as well as protective. Confidence to know your salvation, we know the end of the story.
** Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. I believe this is talking about the Bible as well as the Spirit of God speaking to you, which will never contradict the Bible. The Spirit makes the Bible the living word of God, the Bible gives confidence and substance to the Spirit of God impressing our feelings and thoughts.
Here are the six pieces that make up the equipment, to be equipped, to stand firm against Satan. Paul then abandons his metaphor and adds one more: Prayer… Prayer is to invade all our spiritual warfare.
Prayer… pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. At all times. All kinds of prayers. Keep alert. Pray for each other. A good soldier sees the protection of fellow soldiers as vital for the health of the whole. It is a mutual prayer partnership. The army of God works together as one, praying for each other to stand firm, all kinds of prayers, at all times. I imagine that collectively, there is somebody praying in our church body through-out the waking hours of the day. Together the prayers are many & diverse.
We are an Army! The churches together are a greater army. Some assembly is required as we are called to fight Satan. The primary posture/strategy is defensive. We fight Satan by standing firm, grounded in truth, practicing right living, ready to tell the story of Christ at all times, a confident faith, a delight in salvation, fighting with the Spirit of God and the Word of God. And over all spiritual battles is prayer. For it is in prayer that we remain alert and watchful, focused on Christ Jesus.
Isn’t that great! Peace and contentment is one thing, in spite of problems. A carefree world is another. The problem is that evil in the world is real. Bad things do happen. People get so frustrated with churches that all is not perfect, yet that should be no surprise... The Bible clearly teaches that Satan is alive and active: “take your stand against the devil’s schemes” we are told in today’s scripture. Paul assumes Satan is real. We have been talking about different images of the church, some assembly is required!. One of the tough images: The Church is an Army! When you think of Army, think of assembling together to fight an enemy. The enemy is Satan.
This is the message I really don’t like preaching, because I don’t really like talking about Satan, but if I am responsible in my role, I also believe it is part of the Christian message. A number of years ago when I was a young pastor, I remember reading a criticism of one of the tv preachers. The criticism wasn’t so much what was said, but what was left out – Sin and Satan…I understand the temptation… God does not promise us a carefree “happily ever after” life, he says we are to be part of the army of God: v. 12 is incredibly significant: 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.
* Paul assumes there will be struggles. That’s part of the Christian community…when you become a Christian, problems do not go away.
* We fall into Satan’s trap when we make our fighting personal. I am not excusing personal responsibility and behavior. Clearly there is sin and bad choices. Yet the Bible clearly says that there is an umbrella of evilness: “our struggle is not against flesh and blood…” It helps me to be able to step back and understand that Satan wants us to fight, Satan wants us to duke it out, separate, work against each other. I like the way John Stott says it: “Beneath surface appearances an unseen spiritual battle rages.” And it’s true…
I don’t understand Satan or demons and how they are interelated. I have never forgotten what one of my professors said when I was in school: in Systematic Theology we spent a whole year topic by topic the great themes, with the major ideas presented. When it came to Satan and Demons the lecture was very short. He said, “For those of you who want to study Satan and Demons, I recommend that you don’t.” He then explained how serious he took the issue, and while some are called to know more than others, it is enough to know Satan is real. Our ultimate fight is not flesh and blood. When we fight with other people in the church, other Christians, outside the church, that is only a battle in the larger war, an unseen spiritual battle rages, and we need to understand Satan is the out of site general at work…
The Church is called to be an army…Ephesians is written to the Church. This scripture is Paul’s final warning to the church. In the book Paul details what it means to be the people of God, but then it is as if he warns with this final section, don’t get any thoughts of living happily ever after, for Satan is going to war against us.
One of the reasons I speak of the reality of Satan is that I think of our own mission team…in my limited experience, it seems that in other countries we see Satan manifested in ways we don’t see in our own cultures, “devil’s schemes” refers to how Satan will do whatever it takes to undermine our work, different manifestations in different times and places… I believe this message is important because as we see “success” in our own church, in our own community, we are going to run into temptations, clashes…
Paul references the war against the principalities, powers, world rulers of this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. This is why we need to be an army, not try to defeat Satan alone. Evil is too big, too hard to understand… I don’t know what all these categories mean exactly, but we can say they are powerful, cosmic and worldwide…they are beyond our limited comprehension. From v. 11 that the devils methods are cunning, “schemes”. The devil prefers darkness to light, seldom operating in the open. In other places we learn the tactics include masquerading as an angel of light, deception, sometimes Satan roars like a Lion, but more often he is as subtle as a serpent, preferring to seduce us into compromise and deceiving us into error. Today, many well meaning Christians doubt Satan’s existence…
I’ve changed over the years. When I was young, I too often assumed people were the problem, and if I could only win over a few people to my way of thinking, that I could conquer the world. Today, I try to step aside and let God conquer the world, and I am only a foot soldier in the vast army of God, and if I can do my bit in service to him, then that is more than enough. How do we overcome the principalities, the powers, the world rulers of this present darkness, the spiritual forces? Be strong in the Lord, Paul says. We aren’t called to defeat the world, we are called to be strong in the strength of his might. Confident, strong people. Strength of character. So the solution to fight Satan is not in what we accomplish, not called to conquer the world, but who we are in Christ Jesus.
How do we overcome the principalities, the powers, the world rulers of this present darkness, the spiritual forces? “Be strong in the Lord” is the first answer. The second: 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. Stand. A tower of strength. I like the way John Stott says it: “Wobbly Christians who have no foothold in Christ are an easy prey for the devil.” We are called to have stability and firmness in the face of attacks.
Piece by piece Paul goes through the equipment of the solder. BTW, Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter, and if it was typical, any guesses as to who he was chained to? A roman soldier. Probably not in full armor, but fascinating that his captor became the symbol of strength…
With the exception of the sword, the equipment of a solider is passive, for defensive purposes. That tells us a lot about how we are called to stand firm against Satan/evil…not to go out looking, but to continue serving God while standing firm against Satan. I love the image in Nehemiah of rebuilding the walls….because of the enemies, with one hand building the wall and the other hand a sword…
** Belt of truth…ever ran with your pants falling down…the belt is only noticed when it is not working. The other day at McDonald's (I know I sound like an old guy saying this), the young man in front of me started adjusting his pants…he contorted, bent over, until his waste was a foot down his legs… Truth girds everything together... If Christianity remains in your head, the truth of the deity of Jesus Christ may seem abstract, but when you are attacked, you don’t want your pants falling down. If all Satan has to do is get you to doubt the basic teachings of Christianity, you are not likely to be a faithful witness that will go to the ends of the earth for Christ. Truth gives confidence. That’s why we study, read, small groups, s.s…knowing the truth of who Jesus Christ is, having confidence in what you believe, is vital to stand firm…
** Breastplate of righteousness…righteousness is practicing a Christian life and being right with God. Cultivating righteousness prepares you to resist temptations. Watch a runner and you can tell how much preparation…watch a Christian under persecution and you can tell how much depth there is in the disciplines of the Christian walk to stand firm…
** Boots of the gospel…a soldier in battle never takes off the boots. Always ready for the long march and for a solid stance. Ready at all times to tell the story of your faith. How do you battle the devil – you talk about God’s faithfulness.
** Shield of faith… shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Head to foot shield, two layers of wood glued together and covered with layer of hide, bound with iron at the edges. Designed to protect from the arrows of the enemy dipped in pitch and lit on fire. Satans darts are deflected, put out one by one with faith, to believe God will protect you… Perhaps it is the darts of doubt, moments of fear, temptations to abandon your commitment to the Lord. Faith can overcome Satan’s darts…
** Helmet of salvation…helmets were decorative as well as protective. Confidence to know your salvation, we know the end of the story.
** Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. I believe this is talking about the Bible as well as the Spirit of God speaking to you, which will never contradict the Bible. The Spirit makes the Bible the living word of God, the Bible gives confidence and substance to the Spirit of God impressing our feelings and thoughts.
Here are the six pieces that make up the equipment, to be equipped, to stand firm against Satan. Paul then abandons his metaphor and adds one more: Prayer… Prayer is to invade all our spiritual warfare.
Prayer… pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. At all times. All kinds of prayers. Keep alert. Pray for each other. A good soldier sees the protection of fellow soldiers as vital for the health of the whole. It is a mutual prayer partnership. The army of God works together as one, praying for each other to stand firm, all kinds of prayers, at all times. I imagine that collectively, there is somebody praying in our church body through-out the waking hours of the day. Together the prayers are many & diverse.
We are an Army! The churches together are a greater army. Some assembly is required as we are called to fight Satan. The primary posture/strategy is defensive. We fight Satan by standing firm, grounded in truth, practicing right living, ready to tell the story of Christ at all times, a confident faith, a delight in salvation, fighting with the Spirit of God and the Word of God. And over all spiritual battles is prayer. For it is in prayer that we remain alert and watchful, focused on Christ Jesus.
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