Good morning, church. The New Testament reading today will be from the book of Ephesians, and we'll be reading through all of chapter six. Ephesians chapter six, starting in verse one for the rest of the chapter. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Bondservants obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling with a sincere heart as you would Christ Not by the way of eye service as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ Doing the will of God from the heart rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to man Knowing that whatever good anyone does he will receive back from the Lord whether he is a bondservant or is free Masters do the same to them and stop your threatening knowing that he who is both their master and yours in heaven and that there is no partiality with him. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 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 firm. Stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all of the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me. that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. I have sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts. Peace to the be to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. I want to introduce our speaker this morning. Some of you were here for the conference yesterday, but for those who weren't, Vodi Bakam is our speaker. He has been for the last 10 years in Zambia, right at African Christian University, helping them there. His family is just moving back from Zambia to mystery. But apparently, Hawaii is on the way, so that's good. But more so than all of that, he's a man, as many of you have noted to me even, that is just absolutely skilled in the word and who, it's obvious, loves our Lord and is qualified to bring the word before God's people. And we ask, Voti, will you come and preach to us now? Well, good morning. It is indeed a delight to be with you. It's been a delight to be with you this weekend. We had a wonderful day on yesterday. How many of you were here? on yesterday. OK, excellent, a good number of you. The rest of you just sit there and look guilty. But no, we had a wonderful experience yesterday. And we were in the Book of Ephesians on yesterday, and we'll be back in the Book of Ephesians today. But before we do that, I would be remiss if I didn't thank you on behalf of myself and my family for your incredible hospitality. Bridget and I had been to Hawaii a number of times. Somebody asked me how many times we've been to Hawaii. And it's got to be five, six times or so that we've been for most of the children who've come with us. We have nine children. Seven of them came with us. We have a couple who are already out of the house and some grandkids and things. But of the seven who came with us, All but one of them, I think, had never been to Hawaii before. So this was a great trip for us. And we've been here for three weeks. We started out on Oahu, and then to Kauai, and now here. And it's been wonderful. And one of the things that I've always so appreciated, and there's just a tangible difference You guys call it that aloha spirit, right? There's just a tangible difference in the warmth and hospitality of the people here, and I'm grateful for it. And I say that as a Texan. I always say, my wife says I'm not truly a Texan. She was born in Dallas, I was born in Los Angeles. But I wasn't born in Texas, I just got there as quick as I could, right? But as someone who really has lived in and enjoyed Texas hospitality, there's something else going on here and we're grateful for it. We leave today actually heading to Dallas to spend Christmas with family there. So please pray for us as we journey in that direction. And then please continue to pray for us as we We always intended for this to be our furlough from December through February. And now that this has become our transition back, that means that after February, we'll be making some decisions about where we will finally end up. So pray for us as we continue to walk through that as well. All right, if you have your Bibles with you, open them to the book of Ephesians. Very quickly, for those who weren't here on yesterday, we talked about the fact that the book of Ephesians is unique in that it's divided right in half. There's a dividing point right there at the end of chapter three, the beginning of chapter four. And if you look there with me, look at Ephesians 3, 21. Ephesians 3, 21. And you'll see that divide. Clear as day. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever, amen. That is a doxology. and an amen, right? That says I'm done, I'm finished. And then chapter four verse one starts with I therefore. That's a new beginning. Just a clear division between the first three chapters and the last three chapters of the book of Ephesians. There's also a clear division in what Paul is doing biblically, theologically in the first half and in the second half. The first half of the book is all about our calling. It's all about who we are in Christ. It's all about what Christ has done on our behalf to the Father's glory through the cross. The second half is about our conduct. It's all about the way that we live in light of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. One of the ways that it's divided is through what's called indicatives and imperatives. It's just grammar, right? An indicative indicates what something is. This is a microphone. That's an indicative statement, right? I indicated what this is. An imperative tells you to do something. Speak into the microphone. That's an imperative statement. In the book of Ephesians, there are no imperatives in the first half of the book. We're not told to do anything in the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians. All the imperatives are in the second half of the book. And not only do we have imperatives in the second half, we also have more indicatives in the second half. Why is this important? This is important because all of the things that we're called to do, and by the way, this is not just Ephesians, right? This is the way that we read the New Testament in general. When we see commands, when we see imperatives, They're always rooted in indicatives. They have to be because of the difference between what the gospel produces and what the gospel requires. Now, what does the gospel require? All the gospel requires is repentance and faith. Nothing else. Let me say that again. All the gospel requires is repentance and faith. Now, unfortunately, that makes us uncomfortable. Because we're kinda going, yeah, but you know, you gotta obey, there's holiness, and there's gotta be, you're absolutely right. But that's what the gospel produces. That's not what the gospel requires, it's what the gospel produces. And we must not mix those two things up. Because if we do, then we get mired in works righteousness, right? And we are trying to achieve in and of ourselves that which only the gospel can produce in us. And there are many who get caught up and mired in that. There is no liberty in that. There is no freedom in that. There is no true salvation in that. We have to understand the difference between what the gospel requires, repentance and faith, and what the gospel produces. There's another reason for this. If we confuse what the gospel produces with what the gospel requires, and if we say that the message of the gospel requires obedience of us, well then we have to also say that we are capable, in and of ourselves, apart from the work of Christ, of true obedience. And folks, that just ain't so. Amen? If it is, Jesus died for nothing. If it is, the father crushed and killed his son when there was another way. But there wasn't. So we have to keep those two things separate. And when we do that, and we go back and we look at these imperatives in the second half, we see them in a different light. The other thing is, when we look at what Paul is saying in these first three chapters, there are three overarching ideas, and you see these when you look at the end of each of the first three chapters. For the sake of time, I'll just give them to you. The first one is Christ's headship over his body. The second is unity in Christ's body. And the third one is the glory that the body brings to its head. These are the three big ideas. And on yesterday, we looked at the letter as a whole in the first session, and in the second session, we went to the household codes and just saw how, even in the instructions to wives and husbands, those instructions were parallels to those first three chapters, right? Wives submit to your own husbands as, you know, the church does to Christ, because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, excuse me. What was that? That's about Christ's headship over his body. And then the instructions to the husband about, treating his wife in such a way because she is a member of his body, right? What does that have to do with unity in Christ's body? Washing her with the water of the word so that he could present her to himself without spot or wrinkle or any blemish. What does that have to do with the glory that the body brings to its head? All of that, all of that centered in the first three chapters of the letter. So we have a better grasp and understanding on these imperatives when they're rooted in the indicatives that come alongside them, but also the indicatives that we find in the first half of the book. Now, we spent our time there in the household codes, the teachings to wives and to husbands and to children. It is the most complete expression of the household codes in all of the New Testament. But right after the household codes, comes Paul's instructions on spiritual warfare. And we have here the most comprehensive instruction related to spiritual warfare, I would argue, in the New Testament. So that's what we're gonna look at. It comes right after the Household Code. Remember, the second half is all about practical Christian living, right, in light of and as a direct result of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. When we understand who we are in Christ and what we have in Christ, then we understand that we are enabled and empowered to do that which is required of us. Amen? It is God who works in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure. That's what God is doing in us. He changes that which delights us even. Well, at the end of all of this about practical Christian living, Paul reminds us that we are not just like a team practicing against the air, but we actually have an adversary. There's a game on, amen? And when we talk about spiritual warfare, it's very important that we address it from a biblical perspective. What do I mean by that? So many of us, when we talk about spiritual warfare, we don't think about spiritual warfare biblically. What we do is we bring our presuppositions and worldview to bear. And then we take whatever the scripture says about spiritual warfare, and we just kind of put that on top of whatever our worldview is, and we've got this crazy commingling of things as it relates to spiritual warfare. There are two mistakes that we make with spiritual warfare, depending on our worldview and our presuppositions. One is to overestimate the significance of spiritual warfare. Everything becomes spiritual warfare. Not everything, everything, right? That's more than everything, okay? It's just all spiritual, all of it, all of it, all of it is spiritual warfare. I remember my family, this is many years ago. We were visiting a church in Houston where we used to live. And I don't remember why we were visiting this particular church, particular church in our neighborhood. We came in, and I guess we were a bit late. Plus, we had a bunch of kids. At that time, we had a bunch of little kids. We sat in the back, just in case we had to deal with anything. And we're sitting there in the back, and they were having problems with the sound. And they were having significant problems with the sound. And then, you know, they started, you know, to pray. And then they started to cast out demons from the sound equipment and all this other kind of stuff. And we're just kind of looking at each other, you know. And then, you know, they would go on. And then this stuff would happen again. And then they would get more agitated and they're casting out more demons. And then the guy up front told somebody to open the back doors. Everybody's gonna chase these demons out of the and saw I'd look at Bridget. That's it, babe Let's go. She's like, where are we going? I'm like we're going with the demons like we're We're out of here. We're not staying in this place, right? That was not a healthy situation. Okay, but that's one mistake that we make is we overestimated everything that happens Right is is spiritual warfare the other mistake that we make to ditch on the other side of the road is that we underestimate spiritual warfare. We live as though there is no spiritual realm. So that's the problem on the other side. We act as though we don't live in the midst of a world that was created by God. Who is spirit? We act like us being made in the image of God does not include the fact that we are spiritual beings. Our salvation is a spiritual reality. Our sinfulness is a spiritual reality. And so we don't want to be on either side of that. We also want to make sure that we're not overly influenced by the culture at large. For the last 10 years, as you've heard, we've lived and served in Zambia, and in Zambia and much of sub-Saharan Africa, very similarly to parts of Hawaii, animism is the sort of underlying worldview. Animism comes in many different forms, but generally speaking, the animistic worldview views reality as these intertwined realms. There is the realm that we occupy, and then there is, in many animistic cultures, the realm of the ancestors. Now, the ancestors are occupying another realm but influencing our realm. So we have a relationship with the ancestors and we have to appease the ancestors. If we don't appease the ancestors, bad things can happen. So we have to make sure that we're keeping the ancestors happy because they are interacting with and influencing the realm in which we live. Then there's the realm of spirits. Now, depending on the type of animism you have, whether it's pantheism, panentheism, whatever, the realm of the spirits can just mean that there are spiritual beings around us that are involved with us and influencing us. Or in a more panentheistic sense, it can be the Pocahontas idea, right? You know, the Disney movie, Pocahontas, right? When you see every creature has a spirit, has a name, right? The animals have a spirit, so when we kill the animals, we must acknowledge their spirit, right, and their sacrifice so that we can eat, and the trees have spirits, and everything else has a spirit. In some forms of animism, it's more that kind of thing. In other forms of animism, it's not necessarily that all of these things have spirits, but there is a spiritual realm. And then there's the realm of the gods. or the realm of God. By the way, just as a quick aside, this is one of the reasons that both Catholicism and Word of Faith theology are very popular in the animistic parts of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, places that are more animistic. And think about it, because in these animistic cultures, you have the ancestors and the spirits who are doing things, right? And we need to learn how to appease them. Sometimes we don't know how to appease them. When we don't know how to appease them, what do we do? You have to find a medicine man, a witch doctor, a strong man. How do you know who he is? He dresses funny. and he has charms that he can give you, incantations that he can give you, so that you can go and fix things. Now, the Roman Catholic Church comes and the priest dresses funny. He has charms that he gives you, incantations that he gives you. He can tell you the name of particular ancestors for you to reach out to in certain circumstances. This ancestor is the patron saint of So in animistic cultures in sub-Saharan Africa, South America, people see Catholicism and they go, I can relate to that. And they run to it. Same with Word of Faith theology. Word of faith theology, you know, whatever. What is it that's going on in your life? Well, there's a spirit of this, there's a spirit of that, and you need the man of God to be able to tell you what spirit that you're dealing with and what incantation you need in order to deal with that spirit. Sometimes what you need is a breakthrough. What is that? Well, if you live in an animistic culture, you understand that. I need to get not just to the realm of the ancestors or the realm of the spirits, I need to break through to the realm of the gods. and I need the medicine man who can help me do that. Here comes Word of Faith theology and an animistic worldview says, I get that. Now stop me if none of this is relevant to your setting, right? I know it is, I absolutely know it is. So now people come to faith in Christ, They come out of animism and they hear the term spiritual warfare and they go, oh yeah, I absolutely know about that. But the assumption is that what we're talking about here is the same thing that whatever version of animism we come from is talking about, right? And it's not. So, with all that, let's look at our text here in Ephesians chapter 6, beginning verse 10. It's already been read for you. And what you're going to see here is there's seven things that Paul is going to present for us. I divide them up into two areas. The first one is our field, and the second one is our fight. In our field, he's going to tell us what our resources are. who our adversary is and what our goal is, okay? And then in the fight, he's gonna tell us about our uniform, our weapons, our partners, and our victory. Let's look at these in turn. First, let's look at our resources. And as we look at this, here's what we're gonna do, just what we did yesterday, right? Instead of us reading this and reading our worldview into it, or reading our presuppositions into it, we're gonna read this and let scripture interpret scripture. We're gonna let Paul, based on what he has written in this same letter, explain to us what he means by these things. Amen? Okay. Don't get mad at me. I don't write the mail, I just deliver it, right? Look at Verses 10 and 11. Finally, again, when he says finally here, remember, at the end of chapter three, you get a doxology and an amen. I'm done with something. The beginning of chapter four, you get I, therefore. I'm beginning something new. I start with the indicatives, I get to the imperatives. I start with our calling, I get to our conduct. I start with right believing, I get to right behaving. Now, at the end here, he says, finally. This is his summation, right? He's wrapping all of it up. So this undergirds everything that he said. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Our resources twofold. One, the Lord's power. Two, the Lord's armor. That's it. Those are our resources in spiritual warfare. One, the Lord's power. Be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. Two, the Lord's armor. Put on the armor of God. Spiritual warfare is not about you being mighty. Spiritual warfare is not about you taking on the adversary. Listen to me carefully. the adversary will chew you up and spit you out. He's seen you a thousand times. In fact, the adversary's not worried about you at all. Zero zip zilch, not worried about you. Why? Because we're already introduced in chapter two to the idea that we're dealing not just with the devil, but the world and the flesh. And can I just burst your little bubble for a moment here? Satan doesn't have to assign spiritual adversaries to you or to me. Why? Because the world and the flesh do such a job on us that he doesn't have to dispatch special forces. If you can't say amen, you ought to say ouch. Not worry about you. He just not. He's just not. So no, this is not about your power, your might, you don't have it. This is not about your tools, it's not. It's about the Lord's power and the Lord's armor. The minute we begin to think that this is about us, about us becoming strong enough, significant enough, the minute we do, the minute we do, Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. That's the kind of pride that will get you eaten alive. Secondly, our adversary. Verse 12. For, by the way, this is why we need the Lord's might and the Lord's armor. Four, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. That's where this battle is. It's a spiritual battle. That's why you need the Lord's power and the Lord's armor. Because it's a spiritual battle. You don't win a spiritual battle by temporal means. Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work. in the sons of disobedience. That was your dark spiritual reality. But this idea of the heavenly places is not new in Ephesians. Ephesians chapter one and verse three, because oftentimes when we hear this, right, that there are these forces and they're in the heavenly places, we think that Paul is telling us this so that we can be afraid, right? Ephesians chapter one, verse three. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing, where? In the same place where our adversary is. So my adversary is in the same place where I've already been blessed with every spiritual blessing. Is Paul telling me that my adversary is there so that I can be fearful? Let's look at more chapter 2 verses 4 through 7 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. And raised us up with him and seated us with him, where? In the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So now, I'm seated there, I'm blessed there, and I'm seated there. So whoever my adversaries are, they are in the place where I'm blessed with every spiritual blessing and where I'm seated, not by myself, but with Christ. So that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Look at chapter three, verses eight through 12. So you notice, he mentions it in chapter one, he mentions it in chapter two. Chapter three, verse eight. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. So, here's what's happening. Our adversaries are in the heavenly places. I, however, am blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, seated with Christ in the heavenly places, and am part of the church. through which the manifold wisdom of God is being made known to those same rulers and those same authorities in those same heavenly places. No, Paul did not tell us that our adversaries are in the heavenly places so that we could be fearful that they're gonna fall down on us. He has already shown us in chapter one, chapter two, and chapter three, that Christ rules and reigns in the heavenly places, that our God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places, and that the church is manifesting God's glory in those same heavenly places to those same rulers and to those same authorities. By the way, this is also an important point to be made here. The teaching on spiritual warfare in Ephesians chapter six is corporate and not individual. Let me say that again. It's corporate and not individual. He makes it clear here. He'll make it clear later as well in this text. What about our goal? We see our resources and our adversary, but what about our goal, as we sort of set this field? 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 firm. There's our goal. To stand firm. That's it. That's our goal in spiritual warfare, to stand firm. Hold your ground. That's your goal. Hold your ground. Wherever the Lord has called you to be, hold your ground. Whatever the Lord has called you to do, hold your ground. Hold your ground. If by God's grace, you had the opportunity to take some new ground, amen. Hold your ground, right? Hold your ground. That's it. That's what we're doing. And again, when we talk about spiritual warfare, we always wanna talk about, you know, we're gonna charge hell with a water pistol, right? Nope. Nope. Nope. Hold your ground. That's more than enough. Hold your ground. That's more than enough challenge in the midst of this onslaught, in the midst of this spiritual reality, this adversarial spiritual reality. Hold your ground. And by the way, it's a glorious thing when you hold your ground, saints. Chapter 4, look at chapter 4, verses 13 and 14. until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness, by deceitful schemes. What's the opposite of being tossed to and fro? and carried about by every wind of doctrine, standing firm. Standing firm, holding firmly to the truth that God has entrusted to us. Speaking of truth, what about our uniform? It's the first piece of our uniform. Look at verse 14. Stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth. Having fastened on the belt of truth. Notice he doesn't say stand and then fasten on the belt of truth. Stand, having fastened on the belt of truth. It's a wonderful picture that he's painting here. It's a picture really that anyone in his audience would have understood. Anyone in the world at that time that was receiving these letters would have immediately understood that he's talking about a Roman centurion, the most feared fighting man in the entire world at the time. You know, when I think about this, I think about, you know, somebody describing, and I don't care what branch of the military you were in. I don't care what branch of the military your family was in. I don't care what branch of the military is your favorite. everybody in the world acknowledges that the baddest, most intimidating, sharpest uniform in the world is that of the United States Marine Corps. Guys in the Army are like, yeah, we don't like them, but that You know, that's it, right? The bloodstripe on the pants, the white, come on, y'all. Now imagine if somebody is sort of describing, right, warfare and they talk about the elements of this iconic, most well-known uniform in the world. That's what Paul's doing here. That's what he's referring to here. Because that's what the Roman centurion was in his day. Ephesians 4, 15 and 16, rather, speaking the truth in love. We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head and to Christ from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. That's the truth that we've been introduced to earlier in the book. So we stand. By the way, it's the truth of the gospel. It's not just any truth. It's the truth of the gospel. It's the truth of the message that calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light. By the way, that is the most aggressive act of spiritual warfare known to man. Where God goes into enemy territory and snatches someone out of the enemy camp. And doesn't just snatch them out of the enemy camp, but turns around and places them into his own. So stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth." That holds everything else together, by the way. And, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. You got your belt, you got your breastplate. Have we seen this? Yes, we have. 4.22-24. To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life, and discorrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. What is this putting off and putting on? It's salvation. It's salvation. So first, there's the gospel, the truth of the gospel, the message, and then there's the righteousness that we receive as a result of repentance and faith, as a result of believing the message. It's the gospel. And as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. There it is. By the way, all three pieces of our uniform come from the same source. It's the gospel. It's the gospel. It's the truth of the gospel. It's the righteousness that belongs to everyone who receives the gospel by faith turns from sin, turns to Christ, puts off the old self, puts on the new self. It's an alien righteousness. It's not our own righteousness. It's the righteousness of Christ. And then we have our feet shod with the readiness that comes from what? The gospel of peace. All of this, all of our uniform comes from the same source. Let's move from there to our weapons. What are our weapons? Verse 16. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith. Take up the shield of faith. With which you may, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. Again, another clear piece of this uniform. And again, the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, this is at distance, right? And they're coming all the time. They're coming from all over the place. By the way, the Roman centurion was not safe from arrows by himself. The only way he could be safe from arrows by himself is if he could see all the arrows and individually knock the arrows down with his shield. But if he was part of a unit and they put their shields together, they could all stand behind and be safe. And take up, and take the helmet of salvation Take the helmet of salvation. Again, all of this has to do with the gospel. Take the helmet of salvation. Most important, peace. And the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Interestingly enough, that shield is for arrows that are coming from afar. That sword is for up close. Praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. So four weapons here. Faith, salvation, the word of God, prayer. Faith, salvation, the word of God, prayer. Listen to this. and the other place where Paul talks extensively about spiritual warfare, 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians 10, beginning at verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete. Well, we've seen our resources, adversaries, our goal, our uniform, our weapons. What about our partners? We've alluded to our partners, but it becomes even clearer at the end of verse 18. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. Remember what I said earlier? Paul's instruction on spiritual warfare is not individual, it's collective. He's not saying you as an individual need to go out and engage in spiritual warfare. You as an individual need to go out and fight the devil. You as an individual, nothing could be further from the truth. He's alluded to it in a number of ways here. And here he gets very specific. Remember, that last weapon, that fourth weapon, right? It's the weapon that really activates all the other weapons, is prayer. And specifically he says, to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. Because this is not a special forces mission where you get dropped behind enemy lines to go do whatever it is by yourself and then come back. And that's not what's being referred to here. We are an army. We're an army. And our adversary goes around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. It's really interesting. Lions, and whenever people would come and visit us over in Zambia, we'd always have to take people on safaris, and so we've been on so many safaris, our kids will never be able to go to the zoo again. But it's an interesting thing, is every once in a while on the safari, you get to see, you get to see a lion, you get to see a takedown, you get to see a kill, and you know, even the most, you know, animal-loving person in the world, When a lion starts to stalk something, the most animal-loving person in the world is going, oh, no, he's going to kill that little dududududu. And just waits for it to happen. You know an easy way for something to get eaten by a lion? To be a straggler. to be off isolated by yourself. I think about this especially in terms of like zebras. I always think of zebras when they, because you know, you think zebras, zebras, they look like they have the worst camouflage in the world, right? It looks like a zebra is saying, please, I'm over here, come eat me. But when a group of zebras are running together, a lion can't pick one out. He just sees lines moving. Oh, but if he gets by himself, our partners are essential in spiritual warfare. And one of the great ironies of all the spiritual warfare talk of our day is that it's all individualistic. It's all about you doing battle. It's basically inviting you to put yourself in the most vulnerable position imaginable, outside of the body, away from the church, by yourself. Finally, our victory. Again, we think about spiritual warfare, most people get scared, they think it's scary. Look at verse continuing from the end of verse 18. And also for me, that words may be given to me. Again, prayer is the most important weapon because it's activating the other weapons, right? So now we're about to see what these weapons are being activated for. What is this potent act of spiritual warfare that Paul is referring to? that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. Again, our boldest, our most effective, Our most aggressive act of spiritual warfare is the proclamation of the gospel. Period. Full stop. That's what Paul's talking about here. The proclamation of the gospel. Look at it in context. Go back again to chapter two. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins. in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Now, remember those three things this is all about. Christ's headship over his body. You were not under Christ's headship. You were under the headship of the prince of the power of the air, right? Unity in Christ's body. You didn't even belong to Christ's body, therefore there could be no unity in Christ's body. What's the third one? The glory that the body gives to its head. No, you were following the course of this world. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. You were doing the opposite of bringing glory to Christ. You were an enemy. We were all by nature enemies of God, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. We were arrayed in battle formation on the other side of the field at war with Almighty God. And then what happened? And then what happened? The gospel is proclaimed. The truth of the gospel is proclaimed by somebody who's wearing it as a breastplate. The truth of the gospel is proclaimed by somebody who's got their feet prepared with it. The truth of the gospel is proclaimed by somebody who's got their helmet and their shield and their sword The truth of the gospel is proclaimed. And you, as an adversary, are not killed. You're stolen. We don't just eliminate one of yours. We turn him into one of ours. That's our war. That's spiritual warfare. There is nothing more significant in the spiritual realm than that. And so here are our adversaries in the heavenly places, and all of a sudden, we, who were under the influence, gladly going along, gladly, gleefully living our lives in service to and under the influence of those adversaries are snatched away by the truth of the gospel. We turn from sin, we turn to Christ, and then what happens? We're blessed with every blessing in spiritual places, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. We're then seated with Christ in the heavenly places. And we're united to his church that is manifesting his glory to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. That's the epitome of spiritual warfare. The most audacious act of spiritual warfare It is not learning incantations to cast demons out of sound equipment. The most audacious act of spiritual warfare is planning a church. Whose job is to do what? Stand. Call people out of darkness into marvelous light. Bring them into the kingdom of the sun. Put on them the uniform of the kingdom. And equip them to stand so that we can stand together and continue to be a beacon in the midst of a dark and dying world. that says another king rules here. You don't have to like it, but there's nothing you can do about it, because our king is king. What a different picture of spiritual warfare. Well, is this enough? What about demon possession? What about demonic oppression? What about all this other stuff? What about all that, you know? So, listen to this. Matthew 12. Matthew 12. We'll close with this. Matthew 12, beginning at verse 43. Jesus talks about a demon being cast out. When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself. And they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first. So what if I become adept at finding people who are possessed with evil spirits and casting the spirits out of those people? It's fine. Those spirits will come back, find the house clean, and they'll bring more spirits. But guess who spirits can't possess? They can't possess those who are possessed by the Holy Spirit. How do people come possessed by the Holy Spirit? Through the proclamation of the gospel. So do I want to learn incantations to make spirits run from person to person, or do I want to learn to proclaim the gospel so that salvation can come? And those spirits have no place or authority in the lives of those who have been claimed by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. How fascinating is it that our adversary, number one, has us believing that spiritual warfare is about us going off individually to do things, opposite of the truth, and number two, about us learning how to use incantations to make demons flee from people, When in reality, our warfare is being equipped with the gospel. Transformed by the gospel. Proclaiming the gospel. And watching God do his work as his people stand firm and his kingdom grows. Right in the midst of the enemy camp. Listen, our resources are sufficient. Our adversary is spiritual and powerful. Our goal is simple. Our uniform is supplied. Our weapons are supernatural. Our partners are substantial. And our victory is guaranteed. Let's pray. Gracious God, our Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you for your matchless goodness, for your awesome power, for your unfathomable glory, and for the richness of your grace. We thank you for the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. who lived the righteous life that we could not live and who died a sinner's death that he did not deserve so that you might be both just and the justifier of the one who places faith in Christ. Grant by your grace that we might see Christ in all his glory. Grant that we might also see our sinfulness and all of its reality, and that in doing so, we might turn from our sin, repent of it, and flee in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, and find salvation, redemption, and righteousness. Father, I pray for this church, that it might be a place that stands full of people who stand. And that as they stand, they would stand on the proclamation and the truth of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because we are not ashamed of the gospel. Because it is the power of salvation to all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Grant us victory, we pray, not for our sake, but so that Christ might indeed have the fullness of the reward for which he died. For we ask these things in his name and for his sake, amen.