Stand Firm! Ephesians 6:10-17 Adapted from a Jim Black sermon http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=56621

1. Adapted from a Jim Black sermon
http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_frien
dly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=56621

2. Ephesians 6:10 NET Finally, be
strengthened in the Lord and in the strength
of his power. 11 Clothe yourselves with the
full armor of God so that you may be able to
stand against the schemes of the devil. 12
For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the
powers, against the world rulers of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavens.

3. 13 For this reason, take up the full armor of
God so that you may be able to stand your
ground on the evil day, and having done
everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm
therefore, by fastening the belt of truth
around your waist, by putting on the
breastplate of righteousness, 15 by fitting
your feet with the preparation that comes
from the good news of peace,

4. 16 and in all of this, by taking up the shield
of faith with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take
the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God.

5. In his concluding exhortations to the
Ephesians, Paul calls Christians to be
strengthened and stand firm…so that you
may be able to stand against the schemes
of the devil.
Christians are called to active service
against the evil of our world by trusting in
the power of God.

6. Just imagine the hot sun blazing down on
the barren landscape of the Middle East.
The commander had told his people that
they would be moving out in three days to
begin their mission to take the city by force.
Two Special Forces Operatives were sent
into the city to scope it out, to find out if the
people within the city were really as afraid
of the impending battle as the commander
had been led to believe.

7. They should have been. This was going to
be no ordinary battle in a very
unconventional war with very
unconventional weapons, unlike any ever
seen!
And as the army no doubt anxiously
prepared for invasion, Joshua, commander
of the Israelite army, heard from Central
Command as recorded in Joshua.

8. Joshua 1:6 NIV "Be strong and courageous,
because you will lead these people to
inherit the land I swore to their forefathers
to give them. 7 Be strong and very
courageous. Be careful to obey all the law
my servant Moses gave you; do not turn
from it to the right or to the left, that you
may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do
not let this Book of the Law depart from
your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so
that you may be careful to do everything
written in it.

9. Then you will be prosperous and
successful. 9 Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous. Do not be
terrified; do not be discouraged, for the
LORD your God will be with you wherever
you go.” Like a high ranking General to his
troops, as they were about to face war, God
wanted to exhort Joshua and his men to „Be
Strong & Courageous‟ because He would
be with them through it all!

10. What reassuring words those must have
been to men about to march into harm‟s
way!
Paul has the same thing in mind in today‟s
text.
10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and
in the strength of his power. 11 Clothe
yourselves with the full armor of God so that
you may be able to stand against the
schemes of the devil.

11. Remember, as we‟ve moved through
Ephesians over the last few months, we‟ve
seen Paul describe the wonder and
privilege it is to be in Christ AND how he
has implored his readers to live lives worthy
of that calling of Christ!
Ephesians 4:1 NET I, therefore, the
prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live
worthily of the calling with which you have
been called,

12. He urged them to live worthily of the calling
in several ways:
1. by preserving unity;
2. by being different from the world around
them;
3. and by being pure, avoiding any hint of
sexual immorality!

13. In 4:21, he began emphasizing that part of
this call involved „submitting to one
another‟; we submit to one another as a
family of God, in our marriages, in our
families, with our parents and in our work
places. And now, as he begins to wrap it up,
he sets forth both an effective summary and
a great challenge!

14. As if preparing for battle, Christians need to
be prepared for what the world has in store
for us! „Right living‟ doesn‟t happen by
accident! It takes diligence and training! It
takes a ready knowledge of the weapons of
battle! And it takes a healthy respect for the
enemy!

15. Paul is saying in this text, “Folks, don‟t you
know, there‟s a war on!” This is a Call to
Battle! Why are Christians called to „be
strengthened‟ and in verse 14 to „stand
firm‟? Because there‟s a war on and
Christians are to stand up and fight; not sit
idly by and watch the enemy take one
victory after another!

16. There‟s a war on, but it‟s not a war over
land or politics or power, it‟s a war for the
souls of men and women. The word for
„struggle‟ in verse 12 is a word used
nowhere else in the N.T. but is used in other
writings to refer to wrestling and can be
used to mean „fight‟ or „battle.‟

17. Paul doesn‟t want to leave the wrong
impression, living the Christian life (living
worthy of our calling) CAN be a difficult
struggle! The world doesn‟t necessarily help
us out very much! We hear the
words, „there must not be either sexual
immorality, impurity of any kind‟ but then
we‟re bombarded with sexual images on
our televisions and movie screens. We hear
the words, „husbands love your wives‟, but
then we see people we know openly
cheating on theirs;

18. We hear the words, „Children, obey your
parents in the Lord for this is right,‟ but kids
are taught to be adults long before they‟re
ready; and parents can be tempted to be
their kids friends before being their parent.
The call to the Christian life; the call to
Christ; is a radical Counter-Cultural Call!
And it‟s a struggle!

19. This is a Call to Know the Enemy!
Any good military strategist will tell you that
part of winning a war is learning all you can
about the enemy. The last thing you want in
battle is any surprises!
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the
powers, against the world rulers of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavens.

20. Here we find out who our enemy is NOT, &
you might be surprised. NOT „flesh &
blood‟- a euphemism for mankind. Our good
soldiers this very moment are in the Middle
East tracking down terrorists and defeating
what by all accounts are truly terrible and
evil, repressive regimes.

21. We‟re SO proud of them and are constantly
lifting them up in prayer as they face the
enemy on the battlefield. But, you know
what? Ultimately, Saddam Hussein, Usama
Bin Laden, the Taliban, the Republican
Guard . . .they aren‟t the root of evil . . . they
aren‟t REALLY the enemy!

22. The REAL struggle, the REAL war, is
against the „spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.‟ Don‟t misunderstand!
When we hear „spiritual‟ we tend to think
„not real.‟ We think in terms of „real‟ vs.
„spiritual‟. That‟s FAR from the truth!
Something that is described as „spiritual‟ in
Scripture is FAR more REAL than the
physical! So, just because something is
spiritual and not physical doesn‟t make it
any less real!

23. Quite the opposite! It‟s said that as many as
75% of people who „claim‟ to be Christians,
don‟t believe that the devil is real? 52% of
„conservative Bible believing‟ Christians
don‟t believe Satan to be a real being.
Satan is real! Don‟t take my word for it, take
Paul‟s. And he says that the devil is out
„scheming‟. Satan is real; he is crafty; he is
deceitful; the „father of lies‟; and he is evil!
We mustn‟t forget that!

24. As Christians, we spend an awful lot of
energy battling each other & unbelievers in
our world . . . but we must remember that
not only are fellow Christians not the
enemy, unbelievers are NOT the enemy
either! They are „prisoners of war‟ so to
speak; taken captive by the wiles of the
devil.

25. Now, I understand they CHOSE to do so (I
don‟t mean to imply some kind of „devil
made me do it‟ theology) But this is to
remember that Satan is at the root of this
evil that is present in our world today, and
just because we can‟t see him with our
physical eyes doesn‟t mean he isn‟t real!
This is a REAL war with a REAL enemy.

26. And Satan is that Enemy! He is that old
serpent from Garden of Eden who tempted
Adam & Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. He
is the father of lies who told Jesus „Jump
and I‟ll give you all of this Kingdom.‟ He is
the prince of this world who rules through
deceit and subterfuge. He is the roaring lion
looking for someone to devour!

27. There is no doubt, the devil is an evil and
destructive force against which we must be
vigilant. BUT on the other hand, we must
remember that he has already been
defeated!

28. There is NO DOUBT about this war! The
Outcome is certain! We may not know how
long each of us will be engaged in this war;
either until the Lord comes back or we go to
be with him. We may not know how each
battle will go; whether we will win every one
or whether we‟ll sometimes fall and allow
Satan a victory in our lives. But we DO
KNOW THIS! Satan will be and has been
defeated ONCE & FOR ALL!

29. Notice, Paul doesn‟t exhort the Ephesians
to „be strong because of their faith‟; or
„because of their works‟; or „because of their
position as Christians,‟ Rather, he reminds
them of where their POWER is from that
assures them of this victory! „be
strengthened in the Lord and in the strength
of his power!‟ That‟s why he prayed way
back in Chapter 1 that they would KNOW
his power.

30. Ephesians 1:19 NET and what is the
incomparable greatness of his power
toward us who believe, as displayed in the
exercise of his immense strength. 20 This
power he exercised in Christ when he
raised him from the dead and seated him at
his right hand in the heavenly realms

31. THAT power that is from the Lord is what
empowers the Christian to live worthily; to
be strengthened, to stand firm… so that you
may be able to stand against the schemes
of the devil! The power is not within US, it is
within CHRIST who has won that victory for
us!

32. 1 Corinthians 15:54d NET “Death has been
swallowed up in victory.” (Isa 25:8) 55
"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?“ (Hos
13:14) 56 The sting of death is sin, and the
power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to
God, who gives us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ!

33. A Military has got to be equipped with
the latest and best weapons of battle in
order to be fully prepared for battle!
Think about all the different types of
weapons mentioned on the news. SCUD
and PATRIOT missiles. There are
Bradleys and MOABS (Massive
Ordnance Air Blast) and WMDs
(Weapons of Mass Destruction.)

34. There are the bunker buster bombs and the
B-2 bombers. There are protective suits
against chemical warfare and our men &
women in uniform rely heavily on all of this
equipment.
In the old days, armies relied on horses and
chariots. But the old warrior, David, got it
right when he wrote Psalms 20

35. Psalms 20:6 NIV Now I know that the
LORD saves his anointed; he answers him
from his holy heaven with the saving power
of his right hand. 7 “Some trust in chariots
and some in horses, but we trust in the
name of the LORD our God. 8 They are
brought to their knees and fall, but we rise
up and stand firm.” 9 O LORD, save the
king! Answer us when we call!

36. Ultimately, Christians win the victory in THIS
war because our trust is in the Lord!
That‟s the point of his exhortation to put on
the full armor of God!
13 For this reason, take up the full armor of
God so that you may be able to stand your
ground on the evil day, and having done
everything, to stand.

37. 14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening the
belt of truth around your waist, by putting on
the breastplate of righteousness, The armor
can be understood as the armor that God
provides us; or the armor that God himself
wears; or even the armor that is God
himself! That‟s interesting, isn‟t it? Notice
the equipment again, „truth‟, „ righteousness‟
– characteristics of God, himself!

38. We are to clothe ourselves with God! To put
on His characteristics! These are the
weapons of war on which we can FULLY
RELY! How do you put on these
characteristics? 15 by fitting your feet with
the preparation that comes from the good
news of peace, The gospel provides the
footing for everything we do. However
powerful the rest of your body is, if you are
wounded in your feet you are easy prey for
the enemy. (Guzik)

39. 16 and in all of this, by taking up the shield
of faith with which you can extinguish all the
flaming arrows of the evil one.
Faith is represented as a shield, protecting
us from the flaming arrows of the evil
one, those persistent efforts of demonic
foes to weaken us through fear and
unbelief. (Guzik)
I believe the shield of faith is faith in the
good news of peace.

40. 17 And take the helmet of salvation…
1Thess. 5:8 speaks of the helmet of
salvation in connection to the hope of
salvation. The helmet of salvation protects
us against discouragement, against the
desire to give up, giving us hope not only in
knowing that we are saved, but that we will
be saved. It is the assurance that God will
triumph. One of Satan's most effective
weapons against us is discouragement.

41. When we are properly equipped with the
helmet of salvation, it's hard to stay
discouraged. (Guzik) Isn‟t the helmet of
salvation founded in the good news of
peace?
…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God. The armor before described is
to protect; the sword to assail. It is the
Christian soldier who is to wield the sword
of the Spirit. That is, the Spirit conquers
through him.

42. Thus Peter conquered on Pentecost, and
Paul in his labors. Thus always and
everywhere. The Christian soldier filled with
the Spirit must "preach the word." (PNT) The
word of God is where the good news of
peace is found. Can we see how all this
armor comes from knowing The word of
God?
Well, how‟s the war going? How‟s it going
for you?

43. Have you put on this armor? Are you
reflecting the characteristics of God in your
stand against the enemy?
This is not a conventional war, by any
means! It‟s not a war that we‟re used to
fighting. The enemy is deceitful, wily, and
crafty! And He will do anything, will stoop to
any level; will try every dirty trick in the
book; violate all Geneva Conventions, in the
battle for YOUR SOUL!

44. But YOU have a God who is more powerful
than even the devil! While you may not be
able to stand firm against the devil on your
own, you don‟t have to! You can stand firm
in the power of God! Christ has already
defeated him; the victory is ours; the
outcome is certain!
Are you „in Christ‟ this morning? Have you
taken your STAND at all?

45. If you‟ve never committed your life to
Christ, turned away from your sin, and had
it washed away in the waters of
baptism, Our Commander in Chief is calling
you today to STAND UP and be counted!
He wants YOU more than Satan does and
he will also do anything to win you (like
sending his son to die on a cross so that
your sins could be forgiven.)

46. We‟ll look at Paul‟s final words next week,
but today hear his concluding exhortation
loud & clear.
“Be Strong!”; “Stand FIRM!” God will be with
you regardless of what you face in this
spiritual battle!
Will you STAND as we sing our invitation
song?