Themes of the Bible: Warfare (Ephesians 6)

 

Themes of the Bible: Warfare (Ephesians 6)

For next week, we’ll be in the 11th chapter of Hebrews. It’s the great faith chapter of Hebrews. This week though, we’re in Ephesians chapter 6. That’s the powerful passage telling us to put on the full armor of God. Let me start off this way. I want you to stop and think about the last war movie or some of the great war movies that you've seen. Now for some of you, you watch war movies regularly. You're into them. Then there's others of you that maybe don’t watch war movies. You don't really like the blood and the guts and the gore. But the truth is that you've heard war stories. You've gone to events where somebody has told their story. Maybe you've heard a veteran’s story at a veteran's event or maybe even in a sermon. So, whichever it is for you, whether you personally experienced a war or heard the accounts of war, I want you to think about that for a second. And tell me if I'm wrong in saying that almost all of those are an account a story of a person or a group of people that overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and loss, and that these are heroic stories that we tell of unlikely figures who become champions under very difficult circumstances and even if they perish in the movie, it's always for a greater cause. And it's always Valiant. Now, I'm not suggesting that every account of war is that way. But what I'm suggesting is that the ones that we watch in movies, the ones that we retell, the ones that we hear, the point is that's why we tell those particular stories. I think of the movies that I've seen recently that would factor in here, like Hacksaw Ridge. It’s the movie about a soldier who doesn't endorse the war. Desmond Doss is the only conscientious objector to war that ends up winning the Congressional Medal of Honor in war. Before him, you go back to Alvin York. Sergeant York was a pacifist from Tennessee who feels like God is leading him into conflict. And he goes over there and captures over 100 Germans by himself, (kind of like I would if I was in the conflict), then you've got every year on June 6 we commemorate D-Day. The brave men who overcame insurmountable odds, and terrible loss while storming the beaches of Normandy. This is the way we portray warriors in war stories. What I'm going to suggest to you is that this is the cultural lens that we bring to a passage like this one in Ephesians 6. That's what you you're putting on, that understanding of warfare and the way that we view it when you read a passage like this.

If you got your Bible, make sure you're in Ephesians chapter 6. We’ll start in verse 10. [Read Ephesians 6:10-17]. That's the lens that we bring when we read a passage like that. It's our mindset. When we read the armor of God, we have that imagery that we are putting on God's armor to go out as grand warriors to engage the enemy and slay him. Many believers in the United States grew up singing the song, “Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before.” That's the mindset. Now, I'm not suggesting that the song is bad. And I'm not suggesting that you're to blame for having that mindset. I just want to stress to you that we all read Scripture through a cultural lens, and that this is our lens. We have this Crusader imagery. That's what we think of when we read a passage like this, that we have become God's crusaders out doing conflict with the forces of evil in the world. My mind goes there when I read about the sword of the Spirit, or the shield of faith, that's what I'm imagining, that I am strapping up with all of this armor to go out and to conquer Satan and all of his foes and all of his demons. I see myself as the champion. I'm a spiritual commando going out to slay the enemies of the Lord. And I don't think I'm alone in that because I've grown up with it. This is the imagery, even back to my childhood, and maybe Walt Disney did this to me. . . Remember the clip from Sleeping Beauty? Prince Philip is fighting the evil witch turned fire breathing dragon, who says, “You shall deal with me and all the powers of hell!” To which the fairies bless Philip’s sword saying, “Sword of Truth, fly swift and sure that evil die and good endure.” Even his shield had a cross on it. So I see this, and you’re probably the same way, and you think, ‘well, I'm Prince Charming in this story.’ That's the way I see that. What if, contextually, I tell you that isn't quite right. That this isn't what Paul is saying in this passage. What if I tell you that you and I in this account are not Prince Charming? You aren't Prince Charming and I'm not Prince Charming you know who we really are in this story? We're not Maleficent, hopefully we’re not the fairies,  but we're the tired girl that's laying there waiting to be rescued. That's who we are. We're the 16 year old girl who sees sin over there in the form of a spindle of the spinning wheel, and she walks over to it, touches it, and then she falls into a deep sleep at the total mercy of the enemy waiting to be rescued by the prince. That's our role in this story as Paul presents it. That's who we are in this story. And I know we don't necessarily like that, but if you're going to use this analogy, that you and I are not Prince Charming, then who is? Jesus is Prince Charming in this account. That's what we're reading in this passage. And I know you say well, wait a minute, Paul doesn't mention Jesus in this account. But, look at the analogy. He's telling us to suit up as soldiers. It's clear right there. That's what he's suggesting and he's using the imagery of a Roman soldier, right? Is that really what he's doing? To be fair, that's how I learned it in Sunday school. And so it makes sense if you stop and think about it, because Paul, who was he? He was a Roman citizen, and he's writing to people who are also Roman citizens. And so he's using something familiar to them to make the point. I understand that argument, and I'm not going to disagree with you that Paul is using something familiar to them to make a point. What I'm going to suggest to you is that that ‘something familiar’ is a Roman soldier. I don't think that's the familiar object he's using to make this point to them. Remember who his audience is. These are Christians, who, many of them used to be Jews who are now Christians, they know the Old Testament well.

So, I want to share with you a few passages from the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah who was prophesying about a coming king, a coming Prince Charming, a coming Messiah. That's what Isaiah is doing in these passages. And as you hear them or read them with me, tell me if they don't sound a little bit familiar to what I just read.  Isaiah 11:4-5, “But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.” Do you see any similarity in this? Isaiah 11, righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the belt around his waist? How about this one in Isaiah 52, verse 7, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation. . .” How about Isaiah 59, verse 17, “He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.” So, Paul is using something familiar to his audience, but it isn't a Roman soldier. Who is this warrior king that is to come that Isaiah is talking about? It's Jesus. That's who he's referencing in this passage, and that is what Paul is echoing to the believers here. So, what is this armor of God that you and I are to put on? Well, it's very apparent that we are to resist Satan by putting on Christ. That's what you and I are being commanded to do in this passage.

Remember, the book of Ephesians is really a letter. It's a letter that didn't come with chapters and verses. If you go a little bit earlier in this letter, here's what Paul is writing to the same group of people, [Read Ephesians 4:22-24]. What does that mean to put on the new self, to put on Christ? That is the new self. That is who we are to put on. He is the belt of truth. He is the breastplate of righteousness. He is the promise of salvation, and we find our refuge in Him.

When all of the flaming arrows of Satan come at us, we find our refuge in Christ, not this idea that we're going to strap on our armor and go out and in faith, we're going to combat the enemy ourselves. This enemy of our wants to capture our soul and drag it to hell. He wants us to drown in our sin. And that is what Paul is saying here. That's why he says what he does in verse 10. Look at verse 10. [Read Ephesians 6:10]. If you trust in yourself, you aren't going to be able to resist the enemy. You find your strength and refuge in Christ. Literally, strengthen yourself in the Lord. That's where you'll find your strength. That's your refuge. That's your defense against the evil. And you might say, ‘whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Paul is telling us to put on all this equipment and go engage this battle. That's what he's saying right here. He's saying, Go out and storm Satan's kingdom. Involve yourselves in this spiritual war that's going on. He's telling us to get off the bench put our armor on and go out and defeat some enemies. He wants us involved in this game.’ Well, that's not actually what he's saying. Look closely at verse 12. This is what he writes, [Read Ephesians 6:10]. So, Paul is not saying, ‘go engage,’ that's not what that is. What is Paul saying to us? He's saying that you're already engaged. You may not know it, but you are in the midst of spiritual warfare already. It's going on all around you. He's not saying to go out and get involved in spiritual battle, because you already are in spiritual warfare. He's not saying go into it, but that you are already caught up in it. You are actively under attack. The evil one is coming at you. You may not see it, because these aren't earthly forces. These aren't men that are coming at you. But these are unseen forces that are going after your soul. That's why you need to put on Christ. That's what he's saying. Our struggle, not the struggle that I want you to engage in, but the struggle you are currently in is not against flesh and blood. And I'm going to suggest to you that if you don't know that you are in the midst of spiritual warfare. You're probably losing the war. If you are blind to the fact that you are caught up in spiritual warfare, then you are not taking the proper defenses to it, and you're probably losing.

I started off by mentioning all of these examples of warriors that we think of when we think of warfare. I mentioned Desmond Doss from World War II and Sergeant York from World War I and the D-Day soldiers and I want to stress that this is what we're tempted to do. We are inclined to think similarly about spiritual warfare, that this is going to be our role in spiritual warfare. It's the way that we're going to see it we take that lens to a passage like this. What Paul writes to the Corinthians, is that the weapons that we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power. Our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds and fortresses. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10). I take a passage like that with a warrior mindset. And I see that it's my job to go out there and take captive every bad thought that everybody else has and run it through with the sword of the spirit. It's my job to go aggressively after all of those people telling Satan's lies and defeat them all while armed with God's power. That's how I see it. That I'm the warrior. And I'm going out to do this. And when we take that mindset, we're distorting its meaning. We're distorting it unintentionally, but because of our cultural lens, we're distorting what's being said here, and we're thinking about outward conflict, but that isn't what Paul is talking about. He's warning about the inward attacks that we are facing, and we need to be on guard against that. We take captive every thought that enters our mind that will lead us in the wrong direction. We make it obedient to Christ, with all of these weapons that God gives us, and through that we are protecting ourselves from the evil one.

When we think of spiritual warfare, what do we think of we think of, often we think of accounts like The Exorcist, where a faithful priest is using a cross to defeat violent demons. But, when you think of spiritual warfare, don't think about the exorcist. Don't think about people levitating off of their beds and guardian angels. You know what you should be thinking about?

Here’s a story from a Christian counselor. This is what spiritual warfare is all about. He writes,

“We were sitting in a restaurant sipping coffee politely, being ignored by the other patrons who were enjoying living. Though still breathing, her heart beating within her, Jane was as dead as if she were wearing a shroud. Jane spoke to me of the child in her womb, the first to have been there in her 40 years, but she spoke without warmth or love, just detachment. Smiling, vacantly looking past me. She told her story, in a voice I could have vanquished with a whisper. ‘My husband's happy. All these years he's wanted a child and now I'm pregnant. I don't want to destroy him. So, I've decided not to tell him that the child isn't his.’ Because of the timing of the conception, she was positive: the child was her lover’s. He wasn't her first lover, but she was in love with him, as in love with him and she ever could be with anyone, at least as much as with the lovers who had preceded him. Parts of her story were routine, any counselor could have told it for her, missing few of the details. She had married young escaping an unhappy childhood home, not really in love with the man who proposed, but craving deliverance, she convinced herself that this man was God's blessing and the answer to her prayers. So, she said yes. The first affair had come within the year. Others followed, but no one, especially her husband had ever known. The single exception was her closest friend at the time of each affair, and since each affair had happened while she lived somewhere new, she always had a new best friend with whom to share. Sometimes, it was someone from church, sometimes someone from work, depending on where she lived and whom she felt she could trust at the time. Her current best friend was from her church, and it was she who insisted that Jane see me. I asked Jane about her view of God, Jesus, the church, and many of the other things we Christians hold dear. And then I asked her about our commitment to our Christianity. How could Jesus be the Lord of her life, if she continued to go from one sinful relationship to another? And how could she possibly justify the decision she was unemotionally revealing to me? She was planning to leave her husband and marry her lover just as soon as he divorced his wife. Finally, in exasperation, because she seemed to feel no guilt or shame for any of her sins, I asked, ‘What do you think would happen if this building split open right now and Jesus stood in the sky ready to pronounce judgment? What do you think he would say to you?’ In the same lifeless, quiet voice, she replied, ‘he would say, ‘I understand. It's okay. I want you to be happy.’”

 

Okay, that right there has so much more to do with spiritual warfare than anything about angels and demons and all of that stuff we imagine for ourselves when thinking of spiritual warfare. This passage has more to do with that than anything to do with you and I being warriors and Prince Charming in the battle against the devil and his demons. The very essence of spiritual warfare is this. It's lies versus truth. That's what spiritual warfare is, and Satan's objective is to convince us to love his lies more than we love God's truth. That's what spiritual warfare is, and it's very hard. He can't make us love his lies. So, he deceives us. That's what he's always done. It's always been his plan. The spiritual war is an effort on the part of Satan to confuse our mind and capture our hearts. The exact thing that happened with these people to confuse their minds. ‘Well, he's saying the right things, everything I've been praying for, he's fulfilling those things. Obviously, this is of God.’ Okay, so you're going to ignore all of the sin involved in this and take what you want? It’s a confused mind and a captured heart, that Satan's move. It always is. How do you defend against that? With the armor of God. That's what this passage is about.

Where does Paul start? Look at verse 14. [Read Ephesians 6:14]. That's where all of this begins. Satan is a liar, who convinces us to believe that the lies that we believe are the truth. He convinces us that we're going to live happily ever after with our adultery and unfaithful lover. He convinces us that, ‘Well, I know, divorcing with young kids, that's pretty bad on them, but kids are resilient. And honestly, it wouldn't be good for kids to grow up with two parents in the home that are fighting. So really, in the end, this is better for them. . .’ Satan is convincing us the lies that we believe are the truth. That's what spiritual warfare is. That's what you and I are engaged in on a daily basis. He's been doing this for a very, very long time. He started in Genesis 3. That's what he did with Eve. He confused her mind and then captured her heart. And it's the same strategy all the time. Look at what Paul wrote earlier in this letter. Chapter 4, verse 18, “. . .being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness” (Ephesians 4:18-19). That's the pattern over and over and over. Hopefully you see the pattern, and it all starts with darkened understanding, the confusion of our minds, the abandonment of truth. That's where it begins. And where does it end? It ends with complete and utter spiritual destruction. That's what the armor of God is all about protecting us against. It's what he writes to the church in Thessalonica. “. . .with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). They perish because they refuse to love the truth and be saved, and will be condemned, delighting in wickedness, because we human beings, allow Satan to convince us that the lies he's telling are the truth. That leads to us being spiritually destroyed and we end up delighting in wickedness. That is the point of the armor of God, so that you and I can choose to not live by lies.

 

Last week, we talked about the church and I suggested that this church needs you. Many of you have gifts and you're using those gifts, maybe in your workplace, and all of that is wonderful, but the church was Jesus's idea for you to use your gifts and build one another up and then this body reaches the lost world for him. Now, let me express to you, that you need the church. You need the fellowship of believers. I understand circumstances are such that some people can't make it to the weekly gatherings, but if you can, online churches are not the same as real fellowship. It's great that we have that as an option, and part of our ministry is even making that an available option for people, but it's not the same. You may get the information in your head, but what do you not get? You don't get to fellowship with believers. You're not surrounded by like-minded people, you don’t get to share testimonies and you give encouragement to one another. That's why you get into these small groups so that the voices in your head when you are tempted in this way, the people that you're speaking to, they're providing you the counsel of God and not counsel of the world. This is what the body of Christ is all about. This is why you get involved and serve in the various ministries of the church.

To close, remember what Paul says in verse 17. [Read Ephesians 6:17]. What is the sword of the spirit? The sword of the Spirit is God's word. Hebrews tells us that it's living, active, and sharper than any double-edged sword. You remember when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness? Three times Satan tempted Jesus and three times Jesus resists it and defeats that temptation. How? By properly quoting God's word. We need to be in the truth and understanding it, study the word, memorize the word, dwell in God’s word. And he mentions also the helmet of salvation. I love how he describes it in a different passage. This is back in Thessalonians when he says to them, “But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Some of you have dealt with the discouragement of life, that spiritual warfare, Satan attempting to discourage you so that you feel isolated and on your own. Satan thrives with that kind of discouragement, and how do you combat it? How about these words from the Savior? “. . .for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also (John 14:2-3). Those are the words of Jesus. If that's the promise that awaits us, those of us in Christ, what is it that man can possibly do? What arrow of Satan can possibly strike us on this earth that takes that joy away? The hope of salvation is everything, so let me remind you that our Prince Charming is on his way. And those of you that may be thinking that that's too girly of an analogy, fine. Let me give you another promise from Scripture: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” (Romans 16:20). That is my prayer for you.