please open once again to the text that was just read to us a few minutes ago in Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. I read earlier this week that every preacher remembers his first sermon. I'm an exception to that. And though I have tried to recall I've even gone up to the attic and rummaged through boxes to see if I could find the notes from which I preached from. I did not find them. I cannot recall what I preached the first time ever behind a pulpit at the age of 15 on a church, at a church in Newark, New Jersey, right there at Five Corners on Ferry Street. Church still there. Maybe my notes are still there, I don't know. I do recall this about the sermon, though. It had something to do with God wins and the devil loses. I remember that. It had something to do with God being good and the devil being bad. I do recall that. In fact, I think every sermon has something to do with that, doesn't it? Certainly, that is our text this morning. Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 20 is where we're going to land in the next few weeks. I want to start a series on Christian warfare. I want to take a look at two particular verses this morning. In fact, the first two introductory verses, verses 10 and 11, and then build up from there. And I believe these two verses will set the stage for our conversation on what spiritual warfare is. on what this Christian warfare is. And what we're going to take a look and see in these two verses is, first of all, that God calls on us to be prepared. That's one. And then I want you to see how we are to approach this spiritual warfare. And then finally, number three, is God's provision in order for us to be involved in this Christian war. Verses 10 and 11 read this way once again 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 Let me pray Lord and God we do ask That you would give to us the ability to comprehend what you are saying for these are vital words for the daily life of every Christian We thank you, Lord, that despite the fact that there is a raging spiritual war around us, that you are the victor, and that we are in you. But we pray, O Lord, that we would comprehend the extent of this war and the threat it is to us, and that, Lord, we would begin to comprehend what we need to do in order to endure and to take ground, in order to withstand and remain standing. Teach us, Lord, we pray. Help us, Lord, to be aware, to comprehend. And with joyful and determined souls, find our peace and solace, our refuge, our strength in you. Amen. Well, let's take a look once again then. Verse 10. First point is this. When it comes to Christian warfare, each one of us need to be prepared. I think that's common sense, but the verse makes it very clear that it needs to happen. Be prepared. In a very true sense, what John Calvin said in summarizing this one verse here is very true. This is what Calvin said. He said, be courageous, but at the same time, remind them to ask from God for a supply of their own deficiencies. Be courageous, but at the same time, ask God to provide for you whatever it is that you are deficient in in order for you to fight this good fight, in order for you to be able to fight the spiritual warfare that exists around us. And so Paul begins by saying, finally, Finally well obviously he's coming to the end of the book. It's chapter 6 Ephesians has six chapters He says finally, but it's not a finally like well. I finally came to the end I often do that in my sermons right and I sometimes hear some of you breathe a sigh of relief I Say things like my last point or as I come to an end. I see your faces and That's not what Paul is doing here. He's not saying, wow, this was a really long letter, so finally. No, what he's saying is, what remains for you to do, finally, what it remains for you to do is verse 10. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. It's very similar to what he wrote to the Corinthian church in his first letter, chapter 16, verse 13. Be watchful, he said. Stand firm. Firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. That's what he said. My friends, what we see here in terms of being prepared for spiritual warfare is that the Christian life is empowered not by our own abilities, not by our own strengths, although you may be a very capable person, listen, it will not, your abilities will not see you through this Christian warfare. Rather, it is through the strength of God and the strength of God alone. The Christian life and a life of serving in ministry to Christ, to God, to his church, is dependent fully on the enabling power of God, not your own. I can't tell you how often it is so easy for me to get behind this piece of furniture here and try to speak to you for my own ability. I mean, I've been doing this for over 30 years. I've learned something or another. It's so easy for me to get here and say, well, let me show you what the Bible says, and not be dependent on God, but be dependent on my own skills and how dangerous that is for you, but also for me. It gets nowhere, nowhere. It hits your head and it flies away. leaves my lips and it goes nowhere. If it is not from God himself, I am totally and always enabled alone, not by my skill, but by God's ability, the Holy Spirit's implanting his truth in your heart. Whatever it may be that you are involved in whatever kind of Christian warfare you are involved in you are enabled only only by the power of God whether you're talking to your children about Christ or standing behind a pulpit and teaching to a Congregation it is only done It is only effective. It is only useful If it's done through the power of the Holy Spirit Again, verse 10, being strong in the Lord and in his might, that guarantees that God's power for daily victory is going to be yours. You see, if you are indeed strong in God, If it is his might in you, you are guaranteed from day to day to be victorious in whatever it is you're facing. I'm not saying that you will have no problems. I'm saying that whatever may come your way, you will be victorious. Take away the power of God, and you also take away your victory. None of us here are a match for Lucifer. Away with the notion that you can rebuke the devil, and he runs away. I saw a bumper sticker not too long ago, and it said, not today, Satan. I kind of chuckle. I get what she's saying. He's saying, it was a woman in a car. I get what she's saying. I'm going to repel the devil. But listen, my words do not have strength against the devil. He chuckles, too. It is the Holy Spirit through you that gives you victory. It is the strength of God, not the strength of your words, that will give you victory in whatever it is you're facing from day to day. Take a look at what Paul says in chapter 1, verse 20 of Ephesians. If you're looking to be prepared, look at what Paul says. This is the same power that is on our side, that God says, if you want to be victorious, here is God's power. It's the same power that we read of in chapter 1, verse 20. It says that it was the power of God that worked in Christ when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Christ at the right hand of the heavenly places. That power right there is available to you. Take a look at chapter 2, verse 1. This is the same power. That when we were dead in the trespasses of sin, that is the power that took us from being spiritually dead to now being spiritually alive. That's God's power. That's a lot of power. Earlier, Paul had explained to the church at Ephesus. That's where young Timothy was a pastor. He had told him that, listen, you really need to first be built up internally. You need to be ready internally. Look at what Paul says to Timothy. He says in chapter 4, verse 12, he says, Timothy, it is your job to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Jesus Christ. Be ready internally within yourselves. Be ready. Look at what he says in verse 16, 4, 16. from whom the whole body, the whole church, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped. When each part is working properly, it makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Church, you need to be internally ready. And now, in chapter 6, he talks about not an internal battle, but an external battle. Challenges that are going to come our way stemming from not within but from outside external forces And so here in chapter 6 verse 10 Again, he says finally be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might be strong in the lord That's the source of your strength How is this strength appropriated? How do we get this strength from the Lord? Well, one is through faith in Jesus Christ. And the other is fidelity. Faith and fidelity. Belief and obedience. If you want to be strong in the Lord, you need those two aspects, those two elements. You need to believe in the Lord, you need to be obedient to the Lord. If what you have is doubt and disobedience, I assure you there will be no strength equipping you either. This, my friends, is a call to arms. And a call to arms is exceedingly frightening if we are not equipped, if we do not have the strength of God. You should shake in your boots if you do not have the strength of the Lord on your side. through faith and obedience, faith and fidelity. In fact, to try to engage or to live in this warfare without the strength of God would be like going to battle naked and with a Nerf gun. You're in great danger. You're in great danger. There exists around us an ongoingly War for your soul. A war for your soul. And if Satan cannot have your soul, he will settle for your mind. And if he cannot have your mind, he will fight for your family, or for your church, or for your relationships. Certainly he fights ongoingly for your heart. Point number two, spiritual war and the Christian. How do we approach this warfare that we unwillingly are engaged in? I say unwillingly because it comes to us. We don't go looking for it. It comes to us. That's what Satan does. That's what Beelzebub does. Whatever you want to call him, that's what he does. And that's what his minion of demons do as well. They are part of that entourage, that army that simply wants to inflict wounds on you, or your family, or your relationships, or your church. Well, there are three wrong approaches to understanding spiritual warfare. Three wrong approaches that I know of you could probably add to this list. I'm thinking of another one now. We won't touch it, but I'll give you three. Here's the first one. It's the idea that upon having come to Christ and receiving saving work of Christ in us, the Christian exits battle instead of entering the battlefield. The idea that as soon as I become a Christian, I leave the battlefield, when in reality, when you become a Christian, you enter the battlefield. So many people say, well, now I am in Christ. There's no longer any worry. The fighting is done. The battle is won. I like what Dr. James Boyce writes. He says, they see it as the solution to all of their problems. If you are sick, Jesus will make you well. If you are discouraged, Jesus will make you happy. To believe in Jesus for them is to enter upon a smooth path and to enjoy a smooth sailing perpetually. And my friends, if you have been in Christ for any period of time, you know that's not the case. You know how challenging the Christian life is. And part of that challenge is because of the spiritual warfare that exists around us. That's the first wrong approach. Here's the second one. The belief that the battle is already won, and so all I have to do now is defend myself. The battle is won. All I have to do now is defend myself. And this is based on the theological belief of Christus victor. In other words, that Jesus Christ is the victorious one. And there's a lot of truth there, isn't there? Jesus Christ indeed is the victorious one. But here's the problem. So many believers, they say, well, Jesus Christ is the victor, therefore I don't have to do anything else. He's already won the battle. All I have to do is make sure that I don't get tangled in anything. I don't have to, that I don't get tripped up along the way. Just defend myself and I'll be okay. The emphasis being on let go and let God. Maybe you've heard that. Maybe you've said it. Just let go and let God. And listen, there are certain areas where let go, let God is true in the Christian life. This is not one of them. When you find yourself not trusting in God, well, then let go and let God. But when it comes to spiritual warfare, it's not a matter of let go and let God. Rather, it should be let God and then pass the ammunition. There's a lot of work to do. This is warfare. You're not huddled in a fortress, but rather you're on a battlefield, Christian. There's a fight to be fought. There's a battle to be won. Now, the victory is Christ. And if it is Christ, then it is also eventually ours. But that victory is not yet here. There's a fight to fight. Battle for God's way in you. Don't cross your arms. Don't just stand there and say, I need to defend myself. But rather, I need now to engage in this battle and battle for God's way in me. Here's a third one. The third one is the other end, the other extreme. The third wrong approach to spiritual warfare is the conviction that there is a demon behind every bush. Have you run across those people? who they see everything as demonic, everything as the work of Satan, everything is because the devil made me do it. So whatever goes wrong, it's because there's a demon involved. For example, you might be lustful. Well, that was the demon of lust that made me do it. Or maybe it was the demon of thievery instead of your poor ethics and greed. So you blame the devil for everything that comes your way. I remember a fellow here who was a new believer, and he had a toothache. And unfortunately for him, he got caught up in some televangelist who was teaching this sort of thing. And as a result, he really bought into it. It wrecked his life. The last time I talked to him, he was still wrecked spiritually. And he believed he had the demon of tooth decay. That's why his teeth were hurting. He was serious. And another brother here who has since moved to Colorado said, well, then, brother, you need the spirit of flossing. Here's the problem with this idea. It gives credit to Satan where it is not due. And it removes responsibility from yourself for the wrong that you're willfully committing, ignoring your own heart, and it blames the devil instead. My friends, the truth is, often the devil doesn't have to work very hard because we do it ourselves. We're more willing than the devil to commit sin. All he has to do is smile and watch. And if you blame everything on the devil, there's never then any reason or any room for you to repent and change your behavior. You can't blame the devil. The devil made me do it is never an acceptable answer to God. Just ask Eve. Begin to view your life as one that is responsible for your own actions. Otherwise, you will always see everything as being supernatural and there will be no physical perspective or ramifications from your own mind for how you live your life. Theologian John Stott took the book of Ephesians and he broke it down and he said the first five chapters, in the first five chapters we see the purpose of God. And now when we get to this portion of chapter six, We see the devil's determination. We see what the devil has as his aim, as his goal. My friends, keep this in mind. If it is God's purpose to bring about friendship in your life and harmony and love, it is the devil's aim to destroy your relationships, to tear down peace and brew hatred in whatever situation you may find yourself in. If it is God's purpose To build up his church? Well, then it is the devil's purpose to tear it down. If it's God's purpose to heal and to restore, then it is the devil's goal to injure and to alienate. You see, the devil works diametrically in opposition to God. And this is not a matter of yin and yang. Which says, well, sometimes God wins, sometimes God loses, but it maintains a balance in the universe. No, this is not what we're talking about at all. Far from it. God is sovereign. What we're talking about here is a relentless effort on the devil's part to undo whatever God is doing. Now, yes, he will lose. The devil will eventually lose. But the battle still needs to be fought. And it is being fought. And you're in the battlefield. The question is, will you be victorious with Christ now? Ultimately, yes, I know. If you're in Christ, you will be. Praise God for that. But what about today? What about now? What about a year from now? Spiritual warfare is about this, look. It's about understanding that the devil is very much alive and well and active on planet Earth. I remember a man who said to me, standing right here, and he said, do you really believe this stuff? I said, well, it is in the Bible. He goes, I don't believe any of it. Just for the record, today all three of his children have abandoned Christ, and now he has abandoned his wife. Looks like the devil's a real schemer. It looks like the devil very subtly won this man's It looks like the devil won this battle and this family's life. The devil doesn't come in with flags and saying, I'm going to attack and raid your life. No, he does it very quietly, very subtly. He comes in through the back door, but he does want to have you. And if he cannot have your soul, he will have your mind or your relationships. He will take charge wherever you allow him room. He's very able. He's very capable. Listen, he's been at this for thousands of years. He knows what he's doing. He also knows that ultimately he has lost. But until then, he will bring about as much destruction as he possibly can. Spiritual warfare is about understanding that the devil is very much alive, active, and well on this earth, and it's also about the reality that through Jesus Christ's resurrection, through his death and then resurrection, by the fact that he is now in his proper place in heaven, seated alongside of his father, we do have ultimate victory. It has been secured for us through Christ. And now we have access to the power of God. Our strength is his might. That is good news. However, the battle still needs to be fought my friends. Can I say that too often? We need to understand that this is a battle and we are all if you profess Christ You are in a battle. It is not a choice It is a dearly and relentless battle At times it may be grueling and even crushing It is a difficult battle I like to compare it to the battles that were fought after the Civil War treaty, after Appomattox on April 9, 1865, where now the war was over. But there were various places, especially down south, where the battles were still being fought. And although The victory was already had. There were still people ducking bullets. There were still people dying, even though the war was over. That's us today. So beware. Christian warfare is an ongoing spiritual conflict between believers and the forces of darkness, as described here in Ephesians chapter 6. And those forces of darkness are led by Satan himself. Do you believe that? It's in the Bible. It's clearly in the scriptures. We do not have demons behind every bush or under every rock. But Satan is a formidable foe. And he is willing to do whatever he needs to do in order to capture your life and make you insignificant for the kingdom of God. Unfortunately too often is successful Let's take a look at verse 11 God's provision Now the spiritual battle affects every aspect of the believers life it may affect your habits and or even your large decisions that you need to make. It will affect the relationships that you have. Certainly it will impact the relationship you have with God himself. So here's God's provision, verse 11. How are we to fight this battle? Well, take a look at what God has provided for us. Verse 11, once again it reads, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. Here God issues a warning. He's given us a heads up. If you take a look at the context once again of the book of Ephesians Let me break it down once again for you a little more detail chapters 1 2 & 3 Paul tells the Christians there He says this is what the true church is this is what the true church looks like now you come to chapter 4 and half of chapter 6 and he says this is what the Christian life looks like if you are faithful to God this is what the Christian life looks like and And now, here in chapter 6, he says, therefore, expect warfare. Expect it. It's coming. And so he gives to us an understanding of the armor of God. These are not man-made ideals. These are not human innovations. But rather, they are sourced in God himself. It's the armor of God. It's not only provided to us by God, but you'll notice that it's actually what God wears. This is the armor of God. This is the shiny armor that radiates from God. Truth, righteousness, peace, and so on. These are the attributes of our God himself. relates to what he wears, it's what we should be wearing. And it is God's provision, but notice something here, verse 11. God provides it, but it does require personal action on our part. Each believer must put on the armor of God. God doesn't come and put it on you, but rather you need to pick up God's provision And you need to clad yourself with his armor. You need to put it on. Each believer must do so. You could compare it, if you have time, with what we read a few months ago in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 8, about how we are to put on this armor of God. And together, as the army of God, we are to be attired fully, as a church, together, as a community of saints and believers, We are to be together the army of God wearing the armor of God His armor needs to be a lifelong companion for you Now if you go over to first to second Timothy chapter 1 You'll notice there that Timothy The pastor pastor that Paul is writing to here in Ephesians Timothy had grown weary from the battle and Have you ever felt that way? At times you just get tired of fighting, and everything is such a struggle. You just want to raise your hand and say, whatever happens, happens. Well, Timothy was growing weary. So Paul urges him to stay in the battle for which he was given this armor. Look at what we read in 2 Timothy 1, beginning of verse 6. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you. He goes on, for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord. Don't grow weary in putting on the armor of God and engaging in battle. But you'll notice that putting on the armor of God does not happen automatically. It's something you must do. The Christian who does not put on the armor of God will be exposed to very grave dangers. God provides the armor, but I must appropriate that armor. I must put it on myself. And notice one more thing about this armor. God says here, put on the whole armor of God, the entirety, the whole uniform, if you will. We cannot piecemeal it. We cannot take pieces of that armor, those that are lighter and more comfortable, and put only those on. We cannot set aside the more cumbersome parts of God's protection. Partial armor is never safe enough. Christian, you live that way saying, well, I know, I know I have these hidden sins, but I'm safe enough. I know I don't always speak the truth and lying is, well, part of my problem. But listen, I do have the breastplate of righteousness and the gospel of peace around my feet. I have the helmet of salvation. My friends, do not piecemeal the armor of God. God calls on you to put the entirety of his armor, the whole armor, Keep in mind that when you just wear part of the armor of God, you will walk out into battle thinking you are safe. Eventually, you'll convince yourself that you are safe, but Satan will find your weakness and he will attack there. He will attack there. Beware. Be careful. Some of you are wounded right now. Here's the purpose of the armor as we're coming to a close. Purpose of the armor look at what it says here verse 11 that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil Put on the whole armor of God so that you will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil Believe it my friends The Satan is alive and he is scheming If you do not believe that Simple truth that Satan the devil is alive. He is scheming. He is fighting against you You will not be able to one be victorious But even engage in the battle Martin Lloyd-jones said that you cannot believe even your own sin without believing that the devil exists Six times in verses 11 and 12 and just beyond Paul refers to fighting against. He uses the word against. There's a battle. There's a foe. The devil is a master strategist. He uses stealth methods and deceptive methods in order to take down the Christian, in order to make the Church of Christ collapse. Have you ever wondered why there are so many empty churches? The devil was very able. Have you ever wondered why there are so many churches that at one time believed and preached the gospel of Christ, and today they are part of the mainline church? They don't believe the Bible. They don't believe anything about the scriptures. Well, it didn't happen overnight, but there was a battle raging, and Christians were not wearing the full armor of God. On occasion in urban places, you see these grand buildings that at one time were filled with people who believed the scriptures, with pulpits that preached the scriptures. And today are no more. Why? Ephesians chapter 6. We are not exempt. The Christian goal is to first withstand the blows, the schemes, and the methods Satan So we are to hold on to our position There should be a an ability for us to defend ourselves and hold our ground Why So that then we will be able and ready to take more ground that we would then be able to take on Saying that we would then be on the offensive for the sake of the kingdom of God We'll see that as we move through the text. We are not just trying to protect ourselves, waiting for Christ to return and say, whew, that was hard. But no, we are to defend ourselves so that then we can attack and take ground for the kingdom of God. And yes, we are to do this individually, but we are also supposed to do this as a family, to the best of our ability. And certainly we are to do this corporately as a church. In fact, throughout Ephesians, Paul speaks not so much about the individual, but about the church, the people of God, the Christian home, yes, but also the church. Satan would be very happy to silence you, but he'll be extremely happy to silence the church. How does he do that? By taking one at a time down. Understand he's flinging his arrows at me, too. Pray for me. And little by little, he succeeds, if we are not wearing the armor of God, the whole armor of God. And one of the ways that Satan is so, so Proficient and taking down the Church of God is what we see in Ephesians chapter 3 and then again in chapter 4 various verses Satan is able to this Disassemble the church by breaking down its unity This unity is what Satan does and it makes it makes the church ineffective and Paul speaks of it again and again in the book of Ephesians Well, my friends, when it comes to living out the Christian life, there needs to be a constant expectancy and alertness to the ongoing schemes of the devil. This is a call to arms. Put on the whole armor of God. Keep in mind that for 40 days, Jesus Christ battled the devil in the wilderness. It's more than a month, day after day. And as we saw just a few weeks ago, or a couple of Fridays ago, in the Garden of Gethsemane, the battle with Satan was so intense that Jesus Christ experienced a medical condition where the capillaries in his face burst and he began to bleed or sweat blood. That's how intense it was. In Daniel chapter 10, verse 13, we read that the archangel Michael battled the devil, saying himself, for the body of Moses. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 18, Paul says that Satan thwarted his plans. Let me read to you from Acts chapter 20, beginning of verse 29. Paul wrote, I know that after my departure, Fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. That's called spiritual warfare, Christian warfare. These are the schemes of the devil. And next week, we'll begin to look more in depth as to what the devil does how we are to protect ourselves, keeping in mind, my friends, that Ezekiel chapter 28 describes the devil as having been a guardian cherub at one point. And now Lucifer, Satan, bells above himself, the deceiver, the liar, the tempter. Beware, put on the whole armor of God. Let me pray. Our Lord and Savior, we do ask that you would make us shrewd enough, wise enough, to see the danger that surrounds us, and not to run in fear, but rather, Lord, take on your might, put on the whole armor of God, that we would be able to withstand the schemes of the devil, and take ground for your kingdom, for your glory.