Amen. If you would please take out your Bibles at this time as we come to the exposition of the Word of God. And we want to turn back in our text to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6 as we continue through this exposition of the book of Ephesians. And we are looking in these days at this portion here in the latter section of chapter 6 dealing with the subject of spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare. Let me just read in your hearing Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10. The Apostle Paul writes and he says in verse 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Let's now join together before the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this privilege to be here in this place on this your day with your people and to be privileged by your grace and mercy to be called to serve you as high priests, those who serve in that priesthood under our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, as we come, we do come with a desire that we would receive the precious word of truth, receive it gladly and humbly, receive it with a spirit of teachableness, and with a desire by your grace to not only receive it and understand what it says, but we would be enabled and we would be earnest to obey what it teaches. Father, we pray that we would be found faithful to You and Your Word. Lord, that You would draw sinners to Yourself, that we would see those apart from Jesus Christ. By Your merciful, sovereign, electing grace, be brought to a saving awareness of Him. And this all for Your honor and for Your glory. as you extend your kingdom, add to your church, and receive all the praise and honor. Father, we pray this all in Jesus' holy name, amen. As we continue here, we have said that this passage, beginning in verse 10, deals with the subject of spiritual warfare. We recognize, and we have been over the last few weeks talking about how it is that in this warfare that we wage, We have a threefold front that we are concerned with. Already we have talked about that warfare as it relates to the world. We are in the world, but we are not to be of the world. We are not to love the world, nor the things of the world, the apostle declares. Last time we said that we also have as a second front this warfare with the flesh. warfare with the flesh. We talked about the biblical words for the body and flesh in the New Testament. There are two primary Greek words. The word soma, which is the word used for the physical body, but then there is that other Greek word which is sarx. And sarx can either refer to the physical body But it also often refers to that remaining sin, that sin nature that remains and that we deal with and we battle up against on a daily basis. This idea of dealing with the flesh, we acknowledge this is a reality whether you are saved or whether you are lost. The unbeliever is enslaved to the flesh and can do nothing other than serve and delight in pleasing fleshly concerns. We who have been emancipated by the grace of God and have been given the power to overcome sin and Satan, we still nevertheless have a daily battle with the flesh. There is this remaining corruption. There is still this warfare that goes on with remaining sin. The difference is, with the unbeliever, it is reigning sin, that it is reigning over their lives. With the believer, it is remaining sin. Still pockets that need to be subjected to the honor of the Lord. We said that our confession, the 1689 confession, affirms this very struggle on that chapter on sanctification. And it uses language very striking. It calls this warfare with the flesh quote, a continual and irreconcilable war that we are engaged in. And that is a reality that all of us are fully aware of if we have lived the Christian life more than one day. We said, how is it that we are to battle with the flesh? We said three things by way of application. Number one, we said that we are to mortify sin relentlessly. We are to be putting sin to death. We're not to be having any kind of truce or peace treaty with our remaining sin. Amen? We're to be killing it. We're to be identifying it and we are to be eliminating it. And yet that is an ongoing battle. Secondly, we said that we are not to give sin an opportunity. We're not to make provision for the flesh. And thirdly, we said that we are to be controlled by the spirit continually. It is not our own strength, but it is that strength of the Lord and the power of Christ that gives us the victory over the flesh. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory. Now, as we look at our text today, we continue, and I want us to consider now, we've looked at those two fronts, the world and the flesh. That basically sets the stage for what we see in Ephesians 6. Because in Ephesians 6, beginning in verse 10, he, the apostle, is dealing specifically with that warfare we have with the devil and with demons. So, as you look at this text by way of a broad overview, kind of flying over it from 30,000 feet, you see here that it is a movement, verses 10 through 20, that has three different parts. In verses 10 through 12, we see our adversaries, our adversaries, the devil, principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, these spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. That's our adversaries. Then beginning in verse 13, running down to verse 17, we find here our armament against these enemies, the devil and demons. And we have, beginning in verse 13, these various elements, these accouterments that make up the panoply of God, the armor of God. And we are to take up, verse 13, the whole armor of God. Then beginning in verse 18, running down through verse 20, we move from our adversaries and our armor to our activity. He says up to this point, what are we to be doing? We are to be standing. And in verse 18 through 20, he says, we are to also be doing something else. What is our activity? We are to be praying. And so the emphasis in those verses are on that subject of prayer. We are to be engaged in prayer. We are in a spiritual battle. It is a spiritual warfare. And so we are to be engaged in the spiritual discipline of prayer. Listen to what R.C. Sproul says as he speaks about this threefold warfare, the world, the flesh, and the devil. And I quote him. He says, quote, the world, the flesh, and the devil of this triad of enemies, the most formidable foe that we have is the devil. Satan is not merely our enemy, he is our arch enemy. He is called the Prince of Darkness, the Father of Lies, the Accuser of the Brethren, and the Beguiling Serpent. The Apostle Paul warns us that our battle against the devil's forces transcends the visible and tangible elements of this world. 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 heavenly places. Ephesians 6 verse 12. That is, in our lives of trying to please a holy God, we are warring against not only our own petty desires, but some fearsome, terrifying forces." So congregation, when we think about this issue of spiritual warfare against the devil and demons, we acknowledge that the devil is not some figment of someone's imagination. It isn't like leprechauns or unicorns or mermaids. The devil and demons are real forces, real realities that we must be aware of, forewarned about, and forearmed in our warfare against. But congregation, when we think about this, what I find interesting is that when Paul takes up this subject in verse 10, the first thing that he addresses as he talks about our adversaries is the wonderful reality that we are already victorious in the power and the resources that Christ has made available to us. The devil is a fearsome foe, but let us never forget, he is a defeated foe. Amen? He is a defeated foe. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, you know, after the fall, God spoke to the serpent and said, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. And there is in that Proto-Euangelion, that first declaration of promise and the good news of the gospel through the Messiah, Jesus Christ, that serpent, that ancient evil serpent, Satan of old, yes, he will indeed bruise the heel of our Savior. But Christ will crush the head of the devil. Listen to what Matthew Henry says in this half. He says, Christ baffled Satan's temptation. He rescued souls out of his hands and by his death he gave a final blow to the devil's kingdom. A wound to the head of his serpent, this serpent that cannot be healed. So I think it is very important and very appropriate as we look at this passage, Paul is going to be dealing with our adversaries in verses 10 through 12, and they are formidable. But he begins with a declaration of our victory is indeed secured. through the devil and through the power of the Lord, rather. Notice, if you will, reading verse 10 again. This victory over the devil by Christ is found, he says, finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. We might ask the question, how will we secure victory over our adversary? How can we defeat the devil in our own personal life? How can we have victory over these horrible, powerful, supernatural foes that are arrayed against us? And they are formidable. Well, our source of victory is in the Lord Jesus Christ, amen? And that's why we read in verse 10, be strong in the Lord. and in the power of His might. John MacArthur says this in his commentary, he says, quote, ultimately Satan's power over Christians is already broken and the great war is won through Christ's crucifixion and resurrection which forever conquered the power of sin and death. We have victory in the power, the strength, the enabling that is found in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why Paul could say in Philippians 4 and verse 13, I can do all things through who? Christ, who strengthens me. We have that power, we have that strength, and it is not in ourselves, it is in the Lord Jesus. As we think about this reality, how is it that Christ defeated the devil? I want to talk about that today as we think about our source of victory in the Savior. And Joel Beakey, in his systematic theology, lays out three lines of statement regarding the question, how did Christ conquer Satan? He answers it with three things. And I want you to turn with me, in your Bibles, back to John's Gospel, chapter 4. John's Gospel, chapter 4. He says, how did Christ conquer Satan? He says, number one, by Christ obeying the will of the Father, by Christ laying down His life for the elect, And number three, by Christ completing the work that God gave him to do. So first of all, in the references that Joel Beakey gives on this regard, Christ defeated the devil by obeying the will of the Father. It's found here in John 4, of the many places that we could look. In John chapter 4, I want to pick up our reading in verse 31. John 4 in verse 31, it says, in the meantime, his disciples urged him saying, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. Therefore, the disciples said to one another, has anyone brought him anything to eat? And Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. more than any physical comfort, more than even physical necessities. What drove the mission and the ministry of Christ always in his humiliation was this commitment to fulfill and do the will that his father gave him to do. I have come to do the will of him who sent me and finish that work. Look with me, please, just a page over in your Bibles. Turn over in chapter 5. We see this again. John chapter 5 and verse 30. Jesus said this. He says, I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me." He says, I have come not to do my own will, but the will of my Father. Notice in chapter 6, verse 38. This is a continued repetitious reality in John's gospel. And we read the Lord in chapter six, verse 38, say these words. He says, for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Congregation, Christ obeyed the will of our heavenly father. Amen. In his passive and active obedience, he obeyed everything perfectly and always, and this was to the defeat of our adversary. Look with me, please, if you will, still in John's gospel. Turn over to chapter 10, just a few page over. And again, following Joel Beeky's consideration of this subject, how did Christ conquer Satan? Christ conquered Satan by obeying the will of the Father. Secondly, he defeated and conquered Satan by laying down his life for the elect. And listen to the words of Jesus. John 10 and verse 14. Hear that great I am statement, I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and I am known by my own. As the father knows me, even so I know the father and I laid down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, and other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore, my father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down. of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from my father." How did Jesus defeat Satan? He did so by laying down his life on the cross in order that we might be redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. Then finally, if you will, turn with me over, still in John's Gospel, look over in chapter 17. Again, following Dr. Beeky's consideration of this, how did Christ conquer Satan? He did so by obeying the will of the Father. He did so by laying his life down for the elect. Thirdly, he did so by completing the work that God gave him to do. And so Jesus here in John 17, this is what we call Christ's high priestly prayer. We might call this the Lord's prayer. Sometimes you talk about the prayer found in the Sermon on the Mount. That's not the Lord's prayer as many call it. That's the disciples prayer. That's what we are to be praying. Here we see the Lord's prayer in his high priestly intercession for his own. And in verse 1 it says, Jesus spoke these words and he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that your son also may glorify you as you have given him authority over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. There's that idea of sovereign election. God in eternity passed in that covenant of redemption, gave as a grace gift, and elect people among all of humanity, the elect of God, to the Father, gave to the Son. And this is what Jesus is speaking of here. Those that you have given Me, verse 3, and this is eternal life. that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished The work which you have given me to do." There's that idea of finality. I have finished this work. This is how this victory over Satan was accomplished. The fateful work of Christ in his humiliation. This reality was indeed put on display during Christ's earthly ministry. Turn back to Matthew's gospel, the first gospel, Matthew chapter 12. And Matthew chapter 12 is this record of Christ as He exercises someone who was demon-possessed. And then there is this discussion about the true significance of this act. And so we read in Matthew 12, verse 22, it says, then one was brought to him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute, and he healed him so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed and said, could this be the son of David? The crowds were starting to see the reality here. This is that promise, predicted, prophesied Messiah of which we have been longing and looking for. And they said, this is the fulfillment. Could this be the one? I think it may be. Look at what he's doing. Look at the signs that he is accomplishing. He is exercising demons. Notice in verse 24, it says, now when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. But Jesus knew their thoughts. There is a statement. about the supernatural knowledge of the Lord. He knew their thoughts. What an amazing thing. And he said to them, verse 25, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? That is where the deliverance is the same, but the judgment should be the same. You're being inconsistent. Notice verse 27, part B, therefore they shall be your judges. They shall be your judges. And then notice verse 28 and following. He says, but if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. For how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad." Jesus here, of course, He begins by showing the incongruity and the ludicrousness of this accusation. He's casting out demons by the power of the devil that is ludicrous on its face. And then he says in verse 29 these words about entering the strong man's house, plundering his goods, and binding the strong man. By Christ's victory over Satan in the wilderness, in the temptation, and by His very evident power over the demonic realm in these exorcisms of those demon-possessed, He was demonstrating in His ministry that He bound the strong man. Amen? It was a great and glorious victory. Satan was powerless to prevent the coming of the kingdom. This idea of the binding of the strongman, which is referring to the devil, is symbolic of the coming of the messianic age. That's why people were saying, could this be the son of David? Why? Because he's binding the strongman. Yes, indeed, the devil is a defeated foe. He has been bowed, yet he still is a foe in this life, as the scriptures are very clear. The source of our victory, however, is not in ourselves, in our strength, in our might, nor in our power. It is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, thinking about these words here that Jesus speaks, I want us to look in the New Testament at some passages. Turn with me first of all to Colossians. I want to look at just two or three passages of Scripture. And we see in Colossians, the Apostle Paul, as he speaks to this issue of victory, the great victory that is ours through the victory found in Christ, that indeed, this is the ministry of the Lord Jesus. Colossians chapter one, look with me in chapter one at verse 13 and 14. Paul writes and he says, he has delivered us, he's speaking to believers here, he has delivered us from the power of darkness. and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." Here we see this great victory and this great defeat, the great victory of Christ, the great defeat of the devil. He says in verse 13 that for believers, those who are regenerate, We have been delivered. We are delivered from the certain doom of our own depravity and of the sentence of death that comes as a result of that. But here Paul says, we are delivered from the power of darkness. And he states this not as a future hope, but a present reality. We have been, as he has delivered us from the power of darkness. He has, notice verse 13, part B, he has conveyed us or transferred us into the kingdom of the son of his love. There's this idea of the kingdom of Christ. It is not that we will someday be translated into the kingdom of His dear Son, but that we are as those who have been delivered, we are in the kingdom of God's Son. Congregation, this is this great victory that is won in verse 14, that redemption through His blood. that we have this victory over the devil. So we see here in verse 13 that there really are only two different categories of all humanity. You know, we are very good about kind of putting people in certain categories, aren't we? We can say, well, you know what? They're a Cowboys fan. Now, if that's true of you, I'm sorry. I'll pray for you if you're a Cowboys fan. Or, you know, I'm a Chiefs fan. You know, well, you've got more hope there. Or, well, you know, we are Americans. Or, well, we are from England. We put ourselves in all these different categories. We are Texans, or those other states. You know, all these different ways we categorize ourselves. But congregation, when it comes to spiritual issues, There's only two different categories of all humanity. You are either in the domain and dominion of the devil, or you have been delivered from that and you're in the domain of the Lord Jesus Christ. Regardless of any other differences that we may share, any other peculiarities or particularities that may be true, that is the dividing line of all humanity. You're either in the devil or you are in the Lord Jesus. And here we see this glorious deliverance, this glorious emancipation from the power of darkness, and it has been secured by the Lord Jesus in his death. Now that's not all. Look with me please in Colossians chapter 2. In Colossians chapter 2, we see another statement about this great deliverance and the defeat of the devil. And here, Paul is very explicit. Chapter 2 of Colossians, beginning in verse 13. He says, And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." Praise be to God. We were sinners, we were lawbreakers, we were depraved, we were dead, and we have been, verse 13, made alive and forgiven, and all of this is because of the cross of the Lord Jesus. All of our indebtedness, all of our wickedness, all of our depravity, verse 14, has been nailed to the cross. Praise be to God. It's all there in Christ, and He has died in our place. But then notice in verse 15 what he says as it relates to this defeat of the devil. He says, still speaking about the work of Christ on the cross, he says, having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. He says, not only have we been saved from death and depravity, our indebtedness to the law, we have been delivered from the devil himself. Notice three things in verse 15, real quickly this morning. First of all, note the devil was disarmed, the devil was displayed, and the devil was defeated. The first phrase there, very straightforward, is that the devil was disarmed, having disarmed the principalities and powers. Now, of course, that phrase, principalities and powers, that's a common language that we find in the Apostle Paul's writings, speaking of these spiritual adversaries that we engage in. And here we read that they have been disarmed. in the great victory that Christ has accomplished on the cross. The King James uses the word spoiled there. The idea is that they have been disarmed and that it's been stripped away from them so that we who are in Christ We do not have to go down in defeat just because they are our adversary. Because Christ has won the victory and our adversary, these principalities and powers, they have been disarmed. Secondly, notice in verse 15, not only have they been disarmed, they have been displayed. He says he made a public spectacle of them. The idea here is that he exposed them to public disgrace. They have been shown for who they are and what they are, and how impotent they are as it relates to the power of Almighty God and the work of redemption found in the Lord Jesus Christ. The devil was disarmed. The devil was displayed, made a public spectacle, and then notice at the end of verse 15, he was defeated. triumphing over them in it. Now the language here, historians will tell us, is that it is the language of a Roman general. Whenever they defeated another army and humiliated them in that defeat, they then would have this victorious march and this parade. And as they had this parade of victory, the defeated army would be a part of that procession. And they would be humiliated. They would be shamed. They would be seen to be defeated and in a horrible state of shame and humiliation. That's the picture that Paul is painting in verse 15. The devil has been disarmed, displayed, and he has been defeated. Listen to the words of Joel Beakey again. I quoted from him earlier. He said, quote, Christ stripped away the great weapon that Satan had against his people, the death they deserved. That is the great weapon, and it has been stripped away so that he no longer has that power. Turn with me, please, in your Bibles over in Hebrews, and let's look at another passage as it speaks of this great defeat of the devil, so that we do indeed have victory in Jesus Christ. And in Hebrews 2, I just want to read a couple of verses, verse 14 and 15. Hebrews 2 and verse 14, inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death. He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. There again is that language of bondage and being delivered. This idea of the power of death and this death of Christ destroying, verse 14, the power of death that is the devil. And this is the great victory that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. So now turning back to Ephesians chapter 6, what we want to see in our text is that when Paul takes up this subject of spiritual warfare, he is in no way downplaying the reality of our adversary. He is in no way saying that, well, you know what? It's almost comical to even think we have to do battle against spiritual forces. No, he's not doing that at all, as we will see in our subsequent expositions. But what we do see in verse 10 is he begins with the reality of our victory. And that victory is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Spiritual warfare can only be waged by Christ's strength, Christ's power, and Christ's might. He has already won the victory. Amen? The devil is a defeated foe. Christ is our strength. The first Adam was conquered by Satan. The last Adam, praise be to God, has conquered Satan. Listen to the words of John Owen in this regard, that great Puritan. He said, quote, he, speaking of Christ, he died for our sins, took that death upon himself which was due unto us, which being conquered thereby, and our obligation thereunto ceasing, the power of Satan is therewith dissolved." Praise be to God. This is the victory found in the Lord Jesus Christ. The victory is already certain, and that was secured in Christ's coming, His humiliation. His death, whereby we have strength in the battle against our foes. Congregation, not only do we see here the source of our confidence, and that is in the Lord, but finally and secondly this morning, we see this call here is a call to dependence in our spiritual warfare. It is a call not merely to have a confidence but a call to a very real dependence. It is not in our strength, it is in the strength of our saviors. We are not to seek to do spiritual warfare based upon our own wisdom, our own abilities, our own ingenuity, our own desire to defeat it in our own strength. As the Prophet declared, it is not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. We are to recognize this warfare is not something that we can wage on a physical level, and it cannot be waged by our own ability. And so what we see in verse 10 is a confidence that we have, and that is we are to have strength in Christ But it is a call that we would humble ourselves, take serious this very real warfare, but realize we must be absolutely dependent on Christ, reliant on our Redeemer every single step and every day. My friend, what are you relying on today? Are you relying on Jesus Christ who has won the victory over Satan, death, and the devil? Are you relying on your own power to live and get by and have a life that's meaningful? Well, my friend, that may be in your imagined experience something that you're pulling off, but you're in for a very rude awakening. There is only one hope. that we can truly have confidence in. And there is only one person who can truly give us that victory over our foe, and that is Jesus Christ. The call of the gospel is to trust in Jesus Christ. He came. He died. He offered up himself as the Lamb of God. and took away the sin of the world. Are you trusting in Him? Are you resting in Him? Are you dependent upon Him? Trust in Him today and find in Him a Savior who will truly deliver you from death, your own depravity, and yes, the devil himself. Let's bow together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word today. As we see here in verse 10, this reminder that we are to be relying on the Savior, we are to take spiritual warfare seriously, and yet we are to recognize that it is not our strength or our power But it is the strength and power of Jesus Christ that secures the victory. Thank you for that great reality that on the cross, Christ, He has defeated our foe, the devil. And may we be resting and relying in Christ. for our victory over our adversary. Father, I pray that you would draw sinners to yourself. Those apart from Christ, may they see their need for a Savior. And may you be pleased, in accordance with your sovereign mercy, to draw them to your Son. and give them that life whereby they too will be delivered and saved by Jesus Christ. Father, we pray that you would grant this all for your honor and all for your glory. And we pray this all in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Amen. Let's all stand together now as we prepare to be dismissed. And we do so with the words of Holy Scripture. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And all of God's people said, amen, amen.