17 November 2024
SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION: Ephesians 6:10-24
SERMON REVIEW:
Ephesians 6:10-20
Standing Against the Enemy!
Paul’s Mission Briefing-
What is our mission?
Objective 1 - Awareness – vs. 10-11
Defining the enemy:
Who it is not – vs. 12
Who it is – vs. 12
Cosmic powers
Spiritual forces of evil
Defining the Battle:
Spiritual
What is our mission:
Objective: 2 - To stand – vs. 11,13,14
Equipment needed:
Belt of truth – vs. 14
Breastplate of righteousness – Vs.14
Shoes of peace – vs. 15
Shield of Faith – vs. 16
Helmet of salvation – vs. 17
Sword of the Spirit – vs. 17
Desired outcome:
Continual Prayer
Constant Alertness
Courageous proclamation of the Gospel
QUESTIONS:
Life Application:
Resting in the Finished Work of Christ
Satan is called the “accuser of our brothers” (Rev. 12:10). He stands ready to whisper venomous accusations to us in our quiet moments and hurl demonic defamations in our busy ones.
“You cheap hypocrite!” he hisses. “You worthless loser,” he rasps. “You try to talk to people about Jesus, about righteousness, about faithfulness, and all the while, you have immoral thoughts, sinful attitudes, and inconsistent behavior. Who are you to talk about forgiveness? You have no right to talk to anyone about Christianity. Why don’t you come back into your old life where you belong?”
And we believe him! Doing so, we go down in flames. The secret to withstanding Satan’s accusations is not what we do; it is what Christ did on the cross. The secret to withstanding Satan’s accusations is to rest consciously in what Jesus did on the cross. If we truly understand it, we can stand against Satan’s accusations. If we don’t, we might not be able to.
As John White wrote in his book The Fight:
God’s answer to your guilty conscience is the death of His Son. Your answer to a guilty conscience is usually something you do, like confessing harder, praying more, reading your Bible, paying more than your tithe in the offering, and so on. Do you not understand? The Father does not welcome you because you have been trying hard, because you have made a thoroughgoing confession, or because you have been making spiritual strides recently. He does not welcome you because you have something you can be proud about. He welcomes you because His Son died for you. Are you blasphemous enough to suppose that your dead works, your feeble efforts can add to the finished work of a dying Savior? “It is finished!” he cried. Completed. Done. Forever ended. He crashed through the gates of hell, set prisoners free, abolished death and burst in new life from the tomb. All to set you free from sin and open the way for you to run into the loving arms of God.
Now do you understand how ‘the brethren’ overcame the Accuser by the blood of the Lamb? They refused to let his accusations impede their access to God. A simple confession was enough. They face the Accuser boldly saying, “We already know the worst you could ever tell us, and so does God. What is more the blood of Jesus is enough.” Therefore, when you find the grey cloud descending, whether it be as you pray, as you work, as you testify or whatever, when you find the ring of assurance going from your words because of a vague sense of guilt, look up to God and say, “Thank you, my Father, for the blood of your Son. Thank you, even now, that you accept me gladly, lovingly in spite of all I am and have done—because of His death. Father and God, I come” (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1976, 87).
Resist the efforts of Satan to accuse you, to bury you with guilt, to make you feel worthless and unqualified to come to Christ again. It is part of his warfare strategy to make you ineffective as a witness and unhappy as a disciple. Be on guard against his schemes. Recognize them. Stand firm against him in the strength which God provides.
When we are faced with the temptation to sin or feel buried by guilt, we are facing spiritual warfare. At that moment, we must be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. We must take up the armor of God and stand firm against the schemes of the devil.[1]
Digging Deeper:
A. The schemes of the devil (vv. 10–20)
Ephesians 6:11 teaches us that if we put on the full armor of God we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. The word schemes in the Greek is methodia, from which we get the English word method. It has the idea of craftiness, cunning, and deception.
The apostle John summarizes the attack points of the devil in his first epistle: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:15–16).
By ourselves, we certainly are no match for his spiritual weapons.[2]
B. Provisions for Our Security in the Battle (6:14–17a)
i. Protection for What We Sow (6:14a)
“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.”
The Roman soldier’s belt or girdle held in place the armor that protected the lower part of his body—the seat of vital organs and the organs of life-creating force. We need truth’s protection at the source of spiritual procreative power so that Satan cannot tamper with what we sow. Truth is vital.
We must be sure that the seed we sow is the truth of God. Often we say, “Thus saith the Lord,” when we do not communicate His truth. We just express our own opinions, or we misrepresent truth because of our failure to understand it. How often have we heard well-meaning preachers proclaim erroneous teachings with all their hearts? Such men seek to persuade people to do this or experience that, but they are teaching error. Preachers and Bible teachers need to have their loins girt about with truth. They must master the principles of hermeneutics, study the Scriptures in depth, know the mind of the Lord, and be filled with the Spirit of truth. Otherwise, they may teach as God’s truth what is not God’s truth at all.
We all must be careful with what we sow because “that which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). Nowhere is Satan more active than where we sow. That is why truth is the first piece of armor we must put on. The devil is the father of lies; deception is his business. He wants us to sow error sugar-coated with truth. We must be absolutely sure before God that we are wearing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We must not preach opinions; we must preach God’s truth. We must sow His truth. Sincerity is not enough; we must also be right.[3]
C. “The helmet of salvation.”
Soldiers wore helmets because a blow to the head could be fatal. The head is the site of a person’s intellectual powers, the faculty that sets him apart from the beasts—in his origin, his development, and his potential. Only a human being can think and express thoughts in an organized, verbal, and articulate way. Only a human being can state his thoughts in terms of music or mathematics, physics or philosophy, anthropology or astronomy. The head has to be protected at all costs.
God gives us a helmet to protect our thoughts from Satanic influence and interference. Satan usually goes after the mind. Paul told his friends at Corinth that “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The protection God gives us from Satan’s deceptions, denials, and distortions is the helmet of salvation. Without this protection, our thinking—brilliant as it may be—is open to the damning influence of Satan’s rulers of darkness.
Apart from God’s salvation, man cannot reach correct conclusions about psychological, social, philosophical, and spiritual phenomena. He can orbit spacecraft and journey to the moon. He can split atoms and tinker with the genetic code. But sin impairs his thinking about his relationship to God and his fellows. His first sin separated him from God. His second sin separated him from man. Satan tries to ensure that he is kept in bondage and blindness in both relationships.
Satan’s lies are diabolically clever. Under the influence of demonic insinuation and suggestion, man deliberately sets aside divine revelation in favor of human reasoning. Satan’s deceptions appeal to the unregenerate mind. They seem to make lots of sense and they appeal to human pride. To the unsaved, the theory of evolution is more plausible than the story of creation. Communism used to seem much more practical than Christianity (especially Christianity as distorted and disseminated by Satan’s dupes). A creed demanding works seems more logical than the cross. Humanism is more attractive than holiness. Psychology seems more reasonable than salvation. Satan never gives up his attacks on thought processes.
Satan would like to undermine our belief in the Bible as the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. He would like to distort our doctrines so that we base our beliefs on erroneous or inadequate hermeneutical processes. He would like us to think wrong thoughts about God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Lord Jesus. He would like us to be mistaken about the plan of salvation and the daily practice of Christianity. He would like us to espouse cultish absurdities. He would like us to dilute God’s demands that we be like Jesus—that we be holy, loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, kind, and self-controlled. He would like us to emphasize service at the expense of worship. He would like us to be occupied with the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches so that we lose sight of the world to come. He would like us to lower our standards and allow the world to pour us into its mold, or go to the other extreme and mistake isolation for separation. Satan has ten thousand wiles—all aimed at influencing what we think.
God’s protection for us against all these attacks on the mind is the helmet of salvation. God’s salvation must encompass what we think. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans gives the most complete exposition of that salvation, so Romans is one book we should master—that is, we should put it on. Actually we need to explore the whole Bible, so that our understanding of the salvation God has provided for us will be comprehensive.
As we put on the helmet of salvation and learn to appreciate its worth, we will use it to test all our thoughts. For instance, the thought that a certain movie would be good to watch or a certain book would be good to read may enter your mind. Before you translate that thought into action, you will test it with the helmet of salvation. Would watching that movie or reading that book be consistent with living a holy life, with becoming more like Jesus? Would the philosophies and ideas presented win the approval of God? We have to see or read some things in order to be stirred to holy indignation and wrath. We need to hear some arguments so that we can study them and refute them. But these subjects must be allowed to occupy our minds only with the Holy Spirit’s approval.
We must always remember that the mind is Satan’s domain. He goes after the mind to influence our thoughts, words, and deeds. God goes deeper; He goes after the heart. Because our minds are vulnerable, they must be protected by God’s salvation. The more we wear the helmet of salvation, the more we will think about the things of God, fill our minds and memories with God’s Word, and dwell on the enormous cost of our salvation and its ramifications in our lives. Therefore, the more we wear the helmet, the more we will be protected against Satan’s lures and lies.[4]
D. Provisions for Our Success in the Battle (6:17b)
“The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
So far each piece of armor that the Holy Spirit has named has been for defense, not offense. Now He names the Sword that enables us to attack the enemy. Napoleon once said, “The best form of defense is attack.” Neither principalities, nor powers, nor the rulers of the world’s darkness, nor wicked spirits in high places, nor Satan himself, can withstand the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The powers of earth and Hell have no defense against it.
God’s Word is like a sword. Hebrews 4:12 says that it is “quick [living], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The best answer to secular humanism is the Word of God. The best answer to dialectical materialism is the Word of God. The best answer to behavioral psychology, liberal theology, cults, and false religions is the Word of God.
Because the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, it cuts through all Satan’s ranks, deceptions, and devices. The devil is no match for the Holy Spirit. God’s Word is the breath of God. It is the Holy Spirit’s creation and partakes of His life. It is alive with His authority.
We should wield the Sword of the Spirit when we pray because it will cut through Satan’s hindering hosts. We should quote it when we preach because our power does not lie in words of man’s wisdom, but in words the Holy Spirit supplies. We should use the Sword of the Spirit when we face our problems, our circumstances, our needs, our temptations.
The same “almighty word / Chaos and darkness heard, / And took their flight” in the dawn of creation. The word of God spoke worlds into being. The word of God rang from the lips of Jesus in magnificent authority when He cast out evil spirits, cleansed loathsome lepers, and raised the dead. The Word of God is God-breathed. The same breath made man a living soul and quickens his spirit.
Are you downhearted? The prophet said, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16). Are you perplexed? The psalmist said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). Are you tempted? The Holy Spirit says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9). Are you in trying circumstances? Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 to the devil when He was famished with hunger: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word … of God” (Matthew 4:4). Do you find it hard to pray? Ephesians 6:17 says, “Take … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Our armor is complete. We are ready to wage war, and the next verse tells us how.[5]
Discussion Questions:
PRAYER:
[1] Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians, vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 193–195.
[2] Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians, vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 200.
[3] John Phillips, Exploring Ephesians & Philippians: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Eph 6:14–17a.
[4] John Phillips, Exploring Ephesians & Philippians: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Eph 6:17a.
[5] John Phillips, Exploring Ephesians & Philippians: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Eph 6:17b.
SERMON REVIEW:
Ephesians 6:10-20
Standing Against the Enemy!
Paul’s Mission Briefing-
What is our mission?
Objective 1 - Awareness – vs. 10-11
Defining the enemy:
Who it is not – vs. 12
Who it is – vs. 12
Cosmic powers
Spiritual forces of evil
Defining the Battle:
Spiritual
What is our mission:
Objective: 2 - To stand – vs. 11,13,14
Equipment needed:
Belt of truth – vs. 14
Breastplate of righteousness – Vs.14
Shoes of peace – vs. 15
Shield of Faith – vs. 16
Helmet of salvation – vs. 17
Sword of the Spirit – vs. 17
Desired outcome:
Continual Prayer
Constant Alertness
Courageous proclamation of the Gospel
QUESTIONS:
- What did the message teach me about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit?
- What did the message teach me about the human condition?
- Is there anything I need to confess, repent, or be grateful for, because of this passage?
- How do I need help in believing and applying this scripture to my life?
- How can I encourage others with this passage?
Life Application:
Resting in the Finished Work of Christ
Satan is called the “accuser of our brothers” (Rev. 12:10). He stands ready to whisper venomous accusations to us in our quiet moments and hurl demonic defamations in our busy ones.
“You cheap hypocrite!” he hisses. “You worthless loser,” he rasps. “You try to talk to people about Jesus, about righteousness, about faithfulness, and all the while, you have immoral thoughts, sinful attitudes, and inconsistent behavior. Who are you to talk about forgiveness? You have no right to talk to anyone about Christianity. Why don’t you come back into your old life where you belong?”
And we believe him! Doing so, we go down in flames. The secret to withstanding Satan’s accusations is not what we do; it is what Christ did on the cross. The secret to withstanding Satan’s accusations is to rest consciously in what Jesus did on the cross. If we truly understand it, we can stand against Satan’s accusations. If we don’t, we might not be able to.
As John White wrote in his book The Fight:
God’s answer to your guilty conscience is the death of His Son. Your answer to a guilty conscience is usually something you do, like confessing harder, praying more, reading your Bible, paying more than your tithe in the offering, and so on. Do you not understand? The Father does not welcome you because you have been trying hard, because you have made a thoroughgoing confession, or because you have been making spiritual strides recently. He does not welcome you because you have something you can be proud about. He welcomes you because His Son died for you. Are you blasphemous enough to suppose that your dead works, your feeble efforts can add to the finished work of a dying Savior? “It is finished!” he cried. Completed. Done. Forever ended. He crashed through the gates of hell, set prisoners free, abolished death and burst in new life from the tomb. All to set you free from sin and open the way for you to run into the loving arms of God.
Now do you understand how ‘the brethren’ overcame the Accuser by the blood of the Lamb? They refused to let his accusations impede their access to God. A simple confession was enough. They face the Accuser boldly saying, “We already know the worst you could ever tell us, and so does God. What is more the blood of Jesus is enough.” Therefore, when you find the grey cloud descending, whether it be as you pray, as you work, as you testify or whatever, when you find the ring of assurance going from your words because of a vague sense of guilt, look up to God and say, “Thank you, my Father, for the blood of your Son. Thank you, even now, that you accept me gladly, lovingly in spite of all I am and have done—because of His death. Father and God, I come” (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1976, 87).
Resist the efforts of Satan to accuse you, to bury you with guilt, to make you feel worthless and unqualified to come to Christ again. It is part of his warfare strategy to make you ineffective as a witness and unhappy as a disciple. Be on guard against his schemes. Recognize them. Stand firm against him in the strength which God provides.
When we are faced with the temptation to sin or feel buried by guilt, we are facing spiritual warfare. At that moment, we must be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. We must take up the armor of God and stand firm against the schemes of the devil.[1]
Digging Deeper:
A. The schemes of the devil (vv. 10–20)
Ephesians 6:11 teaches us that if we put on the full armor of God we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. The word schemes in the Greek is methodia, from which we get the English word method. It has the idea of craftiness, cunning, and deception.
The apostle John summarizes the attack points of the devil in his first epistle: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:15–16).
By ourselves, we certainly are no match for his spiritual weapons.[2]
B. Provisions for Our Security in the Battle (6:14–17a)
i. Protection for What We Sow (6:14a)
“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.”
The Roman soldier’s belt or girdle held in place the armor that protected the lower part of his body—the seat of vital organs and the organs of life-creating force. We need truth’s protection at the source of spiritual procreative power so that Satan cannot tamper with what we sow. Truth is vital.
We must be sure that the seed we sow is the truth of God. Often we say, “Thus saith the Lord,” when we do not communicate His truth. We just express our own opinions, or we misrepresent truth because of our failure to understand it. How often have we heard well-meaning preachers proclaim erroneous teachings with all their hearts? Such men seek to persuade people to do this or experience that, but they are teaching error. Preachers and Bible teachers need to have their loins girt about with truth. They must master the principles of hermeneutics, study the Scriptures in depth, know the mind of the Lord, and be filled with the Spirit of truth. Otherwise, they may teach as God’s truth what is not God’s truth at all.
We all must be careful with what we sow because “that which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). Nowhere is Satan more active than where we sow. That is why truth is the first piece of armor we must put on. The devil is the father of lies; deception is his business. He wants us to sow error sugar-coated with truth. We must be absolutely sure before God that we are wearing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We must not preach opinions; we must preach God’s truth. We must sow His truth. Sincerity is not enough; we must also be right.[3]
C. “The helmet of salvation.”
Soldiers wore helmets because a blow to the head could be fatal. The head is the site of a person’s intellectual powers, the faculty that sets him apart from the beasts—in his origin, his development, and his potential. Only a human being can think and express thoughts in an organized, verbal, and articulate way. Only a human being can state his thoughts in terms of music or mathematics, physics or philosophy, anthropology or astronomy. The head has to be protected at all costs.
God gives us a helmet to protect our thoughts from Satanic influence and interference. Satan usually goes after the mind. Paul told his friends at Corinth that “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The protection God gives us from Satan’s deceptions, denials, and distortions is the helmet of salvation. Without this protection, our thinking—brilliant as it may be—is open to the damning influence of Satan’s rulers of darkness.
Apart from God’s salvation, man cannot reach correct conclusions about psychological, social, philosophical, and spiritual phenomena. He can orbit spacecraft and journey to the moon. He can split atoms and tinker with the genetic code. But sin impairs his thinking about his relationship to God and his fellows. His first sin separated him from God. His second sin separated him from man. Satan tries to ensure that he is kept in bondage and blindness in both relationships.
Satan’s lies are diabolically clever. Under the influence of demonic insinuation and suggestion, man deliberately sets aside divine revelation in favor of human reasoning. Satan’s deceptions appeal to the unregenerate mind. They seem to make lots of sense and they appeal to human pride. To the unsaved, the theory of evolution is more plausible than the story of creation. Communism used to seem much more practical than Christianity (especially Christianity as distorted and disseminated by Satan’s dupes). A creed demanding works seems more logical than the cross. Humanism is more attractive than holiness. Psychology seems more reasonable than salvation. Satan never gives up his attacks on thought processes.
Satan would like to undermine our belief in the Bible as the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. He would like to distort our doctrines so that we base our beliefs on erroneous or inadequate hermeneutical processes. He would like us to think wrong thoughts about God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Lord Jesus. He would like us to be mistaken about the plan of salvation and the daily practice of Christianity. He would like us to espouse cultish absurdities. He would like us to dilute God’s demands that we be like Jesus—that we be holy, loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, kind, and self-controlled. He would like us to emphasize service at the expense of worship. He would like us to be occupied with the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches so that we lose sight of the world to come. He would like us to lower our standards and allow the world to pour us into its mold, or go to the other extreme and mistake isolation for separation. Satan has ten thousand wiles—all aimed at influencing what we think.
God’s protection for us against all these attacks on the mind is the helmet of salvation. God’s salvation must encompass what we think. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans gives the most complete exposition of that salvation, so Romans is one book we should master—that is, we should put it on. Actually we need to explore the whole Bible, so that our understanding of the salvation God has provided for us will be comprehensive.
As we put on the helmet of salvation and learn to appreciate its worth, we will use it to test all our thoughts. For instance, the thought that a certain movie would be good to watch or a certain book would be good to read may enter your mind. Before you translate that thought into action, you will test it with the helmet of salvation. Would watching that movie or reading that book be consistent with living a holy life, with becoming more like Jesus? Would the philosophies and ideas presented win the approval of God? We have to see or read some things in order to be stirred to holy indignation and wrath. We need to hear some arguments so that we can study them and refute them. But these subjects must be allowed to occupy our minds only with the Holy Spirit’s approval.
We must always remember that the mind is Satan’s domain. He goes after the mind to influence our thoughts, words, and deeds. God goes deeper; He goes after the heart. Because our minds are vulnerable, they must be protected by God’s salvation. The more we wear the helmet of salvation, the more we will think about the things of God, fill our minds and memories with God’s Word, and dwell on the enormous cost of our salvation and its ramifications in our lives. Therefore, the more we wear the helmet, the more we will be protected against Satan’s lures and lies.[4]
D. Provisions for Our Success in the Battle (6:17b)
“The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
So far each piece of armor that the Holy Spirit has named has been for defense, not offense. Now He names the Sword that enables us to attack the enemy. Napoleon once said, “The best form of defense is attack.” Neither principalities, nor powers, nor the rulers of the world’s darkness, nor wicked spirits in high places, nor Satan himself, can withstand the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The powers of earth and Hell have no defense against it.
God’s Word is like a sword. Hebrews 4:12 says that it is “quick [living], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The best answer to secular humanism is the Word of God. The best answer to dialectical materialism is the Word of God. The best answer to behavioral psychology, liberal theology, cults, and false religions is the Word of God.
Because the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, it cuts through all Satan’s ranks, deceptions, and devices. The devil is no match for the Holy Spirit. God’s Word is the breath of God. It is the Holy Spirit’s creation and partakes of His life. It is alive with His authority.
We should wield the Sword of the Spirit when we pray because it will cut through Satan’s hindering hosts. We should quote it when we preach because our power does not lie in words of man’s wisdom, but in words the Holy Spirit supplies. We should use the Sword of the Spirit when we face our problems, our circumstances, our needs, our temptations.
The same “almighty word / Chaos and darkness heard, / And took their flight” in the dawn of creation. The word of God spoke worlds into being. The word of God rang from the lips of Jesus in magnificent authority when He cast out evil spirits, cleansed loathsome lepers, and raised the dead. The Word of God is God-breathed. The same breath made man a living soul and quickens his spirit.
Are you downhearted? The prophet said, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16). Are you perplexed? The psalmist said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). Are you tempted? The Holy Spirit says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9). Are you in trying circumstances? Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 to the devil when He was famished with hunger: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word … of God” (Matthew 4:4). Do you find it hard to pray? Ephesians 6:17 says, “Take … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Our armor is complete. We are ready to wage war, and the next verse tells us how.[5]
Discussion Questions:
- Why use the word “finally” here?
- How can we be strong?
- How can we put the armor on?
- What is the purpose?
- What is the real war taking place in the world?
- Who is it between?
- Who or what are the rulers/powers/world forces/spiritual forces of wickedness?
- What is their goal?
- What is the purpose of the armor?
- What does it mean to stand firm?
- Against what should we stand firm?
- What is the significance of assigning certain characteristics to certain parts of the body?
PRAYER:
[1] Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians, vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 193–195.
[2] Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians, vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 200.
[3] John Phillips, Exploring Ephesians & Philippians: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Eph 6:14–17a.
[4] John Phillips, Exploring Ephesians & Philippians: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Eph 6:17a.
[5] John Phillips, Exploring Ephesians & Philippians: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Eph 6:17b.