Introduction
Chapter 6, we’re going to begin this morning the section beginning with verse 10 on the Christian’s armor. We will just approach the passage this morning. And because of the hour, I will try to hurry through it. But our intent this morning is just to approach the passage. And then in the coming weeks, I’d like to work through it in a little bit more detail. An important passage, in a way finishing out the Apostle Paul’s instruction and exhortation that he’s given us through this letter.
Ephesians chapter six, let’s begin our reading with verse 10.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak.
Let’s bow together. Our Father, as we come to this important passage in your Word, we pray that you would give us an understanding of it, and we pray that you would give us a right application of it to our own hearts and lives. We pray that you would instill in our minds and hearts a sense of the greatness of your provision, a sense of the need for them, a sense of the seriousness of the struggle. And we pray that you would help us, enable us by your spirit and by these provisions that you’ve given to stand in the evil day. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
One of the more, I think, surprising ways in which the New Testament writers describe the work of Christ is that of a battle—a battle in which the Lord Jesus triumphs over Satan. Now that’s a theme that was often highlighted in the theologians of the early church, in the early centuries of the church. We don’t hear it as much today, although contemporary theologians are picking it up again a bit. But it’s not an uncommon theme in the New Testament as well.
For example, if you’d like to turn over a page or a few pages to Colossians chapter 2, just quickly, you’ll see one expression of it. Colossians 2 verses 14 and 15. I’ll begin with verse 13: “you who are dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh. God made alive together with him having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to his cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them.”
So in Christ’s cross work, he defeated Satan. We have other passages that speak to that as well. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14, that by Jesus’ death he destroyed him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil. And in fact, in 1 John chapter 3 and verse 8, we have it expressed as the very reason for our Lord’s incarnation—the reason he came, the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
I say it’s somewhat of a surprising kind of a theme, and it is surprising. It’s a bit ironic, in a way, that our Lord’s death would be described in terms of triumph. After all, even the Apostle Paul would write in 2 Corinthians that Jesus was crucified in weakness. If crucifixion is anything, it’s a demonstration of weakness and defeat. And you may be sure that Satan was rejoicing on that Friday. But the death of Christ was in fact Jesus’ victory because there he won the salvation of his people.
And we read this marvelously portrayed to us in the New Testament that our Lord came and died. He came for the purpose of dying, and in dying he did not die simply under the unjust treatment of men, and he did not die just because of the schemes of the devil, although it was all of that. But he died in the fulfilling of a divine saving purpose, that in his death he would stand in the place of sinners and bear their sin, and taking their punishment, release them from their sin.
And so Jesus’ death is referred to for us in the New Testament as, in fact, his moment of victory. And the older theologians used to speak of Jesus reigning from the tree, that here he hangs on the cross in defeat and in agony, and yet at the same time, it is his triumph, because there he secures the salvation for all of his people. And so, for example, in the Gospel of John, Jesus’ death is referred to as his moment, his hour of glory, the moment of his success, the hour for which he came. It’s the moment of his glory and the moment of his great success.
And so because Jesus has stood in our place, because he has taken the penalty of our sin, and because in taking our place he has rendered satisfaction to God, propitiating him, averting his wrath from us, thereby removing our sin, he has therefore destroyed the grip of the devil whose hold on us was due to our sin. And so Jesus, in this moment of seeming weakness and defeat, triumphs over the devil and releases us from his grip. And so there is a sense in which, as he says in Colossians, that when Jesus died on the cross such a shameful death, he made an open mockery of the devil and brought him his complete defeat.
And in fact, that is something that should not be surprising if we’ve been reading our Bibles carefully since the very beginning. In Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, this champion is promised that he will come. And although the devil will bruise his heel, he, in fact, will crush the serpent’s head. Well, this victory over Satan, of course, is something that will not be brought to final culmination until the return of the Lord Jesus. We read of it in great terms in the book of Revelation, where Jesus comes in glory and in majesty—not like he came the first time. But he comes in glory and in power and in majesty, and it’s described for us in terms of this great conflagration, this great battle in which Jesus wins, and Satan is utterly defeated, finally thrown into the abyss, and then finally into the lake of fire.
We have a glimpse of that in the Gospels. You might remember what I think is just a fascinating expression. Matthew chapter 8, we read it where Jesus comes on the scene where this man is possessed of the demons, and the demons recognize Jesus. “We know who you are.” And then you can just feel the terror in their voice: “Have you come to destroy us before the time?” And they recognize that their time is coming. They see the Lord Jesus, recognize who he is, and think that that time has come. Well, Jesus has come and he has done that decisive work that defeats the devil. It awaits its final culmination in the end at his return.
And meanwhile, we still live in Satan’s territory. The Apostle John calls it that in 1 John chapter 5: “the whole world lies in the evil one.” We have difficulty translating that, and so the version I have, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one,” and that’s certainly right. That’s what’s going on. The idea, I think, is a little more like the whole world lies in the lap of the evil one. This is his territory. He runs it. This is his territory to rule, his kingdom as it were. And so Paul can say in Galatians chapter 1 that we live in this present evil world.
And in fact in Genesis chapter 3, when God speaks in judgment against the tempter for his ruining of humanity and bringing them into sin, he says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed.” That is, there is this divide, this conflict in humanity where Satan has set out to destroy humanity. We catch glimpses of it throughout the Bible. We see, of course, a vivid depiction of it in the book of Job, where Satan comes to God with his accusations about Job and so on, and then takes after Job to ruin him and to ruin his faith in God. We find a glimpse of it in Luke chapter 22, where Jesus, with the cross looming in front of him, says to Peter, “Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you like wheat.” That is, this awful event coming will try your faith, and it is in fact the activity of the devil against you.
Paul speaks of it in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 when he speaks of this affliction that he had; he identifies it as “the messenger of Satan to buffet me.” He speaks of it in 1 Thessalonians: “I would have come to you sooner but Satan hindered us.” And then of course the famous one in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8 where the Apostle Peter warns us that Satan goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
So our Lord has come. He has fought that initial battle, that decisive battle in defeating Satan. It will be brought to culmination at his return. That’s what we’ve described before. It’s been famously described as the difference between D-Day and V-E Day. Christ has fought the decisive battle. He is coming to bring it all to grand consummation, but for now, we live in this in-between time. And until our Lord returns for us, we are left to fight in these seeming to us major—but in the big scene, in the big picture of things, minor—skirmishes until our Lord comes to bring in complete triumph.
And all of that, I think, is the larger theological context that we have to have in mind when we come to Ephesians 6 verses 10 and following. Now, with regard to its context in Ephesians, I think it’s important to see that as well, because on one level, you might think that Paul has already said all that he needs to say. After all, in chapters one through three, he expounded the gospel for us in marvelous ways, telling us how God has set out and finally accomplished our salvation. From eternity past to the present, God has set out to save us, and he has done it in marvelous ways. Through the work of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Jesus Christ. And he has expounded that in richness in chapters 1 through 3.
And then beginning with chapter 4 and verse 1, he begins his exhortations telling us now not only about our standing in Christ, but exhorting us with regard to our behavior as Christians. If God has, through Christ, saved us, how ought that to be reflected in the way that we behave? And so beginning in chapter 4 in verse 1, he tells us about, as he calls it, the Christian walk, or the Christian life—what we are to do, what kind of people we are to be. And so he’s told us about our wealth in Christ. He has told us about our walk in Christ.
And there’s a sense in which he’s not really yet done at all. Because there remains this very important warning or alert, this caution, and with that an exhortation. And the warning is, when you set out to live as he has just instructed us to live, when you set out to be in your behavior what you are in Christ already, you can expect opposition. You can expect it to be difficult. And so the exhortation: be alert, be strong, and then coming to these pieces of armor that he mentions, be prepared.
Satan himself, with all of his demonic hosts, will be there to oppose us from front to back, carrying out all of these responsibilities that he’s given to us. We can expect satanic opposition, and we can expect a struggle. So, for example, in chapter 4, look at verse 26: “Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” And now notice the comment, verse 27: “and give no opportunity to the devil.” Don’t nurse your anger. Be careful about that. And if you are not careful with it, it becomes an opportunity for the devil himself to exploit and to ruin you.
And we have to think then in that context that it’s not just this matter of anger that Paul has in mind with that exhortation, but the exhortation in the previous verse about lying, the exhortation in the next verse about theft and honesty, this exhortation in verse 29 about unwholesome talk, relationships in the home in chapter five, verses 22 and following, relationships in the workplace that we’ve seen in early chapter six. In all of these ways, there are temptations that are unique to those circumstances—temptations in the moral realm, temptations to behave and to think in ways that are inconsistent with the gospel. And in that respect, they become occasions for the devil to exploit his purpose and to ruin God’s purpose for us.
And all of these kinds of situations then are our own spiritual battles, our own skirmishes with the devil, if you will, as we fight against him as he seeks to destroy us. Or again, as Peter would put it, he’s like a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour. And so the Apostle Paul here has in view the Christian life in broad perspective, if we might even say in cosmic perspective, that we don’t just live an isolated life on our own, but there are spiritual forces at play. And we would be wise to be aware of them, to be on caution against them, and to be prepared against them.
Now there are two broad areas of emphasis that I want to look at just quickly here this morning.
The Reality Of An Enemy And The Inevitability Of Struggle
First of all, the reality of an enemy and the inevitability of struggle. Now those are two different things, but they are so closely bound together that I state them the same. The reality of an enemy, and the inevitability of struggle.
This picture, this allegory that the Apostle gives us in these verses of the Christian as a soldier in battle, is actually a rather familiar one in the New Testament. For example, Romans 13 verse 12: “the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light.” 2 Corinthians 10 verses 3 and 4: “the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” This warfare imagery. 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 18: “war a good warfare,” Paul writes. 1 Timothy 6 and verse 12: “fight the good fight of faith.” 2 Timothy 2 verses 3 and 4: “suffer hardship as a good soldier.”
And so it’s a familiar picture that we have, all intended to stress this point, that your life as a Christian, seeking to live it out in obedience to Christ, will involve struggle, conflict. In other places the Apostle uses the athletic metaphor. In either case, the idea is that of the Christian life—seeking to live in obedience to our Lord will necessarily involve struggle. And so he says here in verse 10, “be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might.” Verse 11: “put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Verse 13: “take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
He’s not simply then calling us to live a life that reflects the gospel. He’s calling us to engage in all of the struggle necessary in order to live a life that reflects well on the gospel. Be strong, stand, put on the armor. And when the apostle here warns us to be strong, to put on the armor, when he warns us that we struggle against spiritual forces all around us, we would do well not to be naive. He’s telling us that there is an enemy.
And I suspect that many Christians are very naive on this point, that we tend to forget that we live in enemy territory. We tend naively to view this world as somehow neutral. “Well, they’re not one of us,” but we tend not to view it as something set in opposition to us and determined to our ruin under the control of Satan. As our Lord told us, we are not citizens of this world. “You are not of this world,” Jesus says to his disciples. “I’ve chosen you out of this world. If you were part of this world, the world would love you. But I’ve taken you out, and because I’ve chosen you out of this world, the world hates you.”
And under the control of the devil, the world is set against the Christian in his faithfulness in living out the gospel. And if we are not careful, we’ll be caught off guard, we will not be alert, and we will be easily deceived and easily distracted from the struggle that is necessary in living in obedience to Christ. So this is the first assumption of the passage, that the Christian life, by the nature of it, demands struggle. There is remaining sin in each of us, with its self-deception, a self-deceiving heart. There are the counsels and the attractions of the world, which are corrupting at every point. And there’s the adversary himself who has at his disposal not only great wisdom and great strength, but a host of demonic forces at his bidding.
And so by the very nature of the situation, there must be struggle in order to survive and in order to succeed. And Paul here writes this so that we will go from it with a new resolve to enter that fight faithfully. Faithfulness to Christ leaves no room for spiritual apathy. The first emphasis of the passage then is this, that the Christian life demands an earnest struggle.
So, for example, in the context of what we’ve just been seeing in chapter 5: wives, to be a faithful wife, to be the kind of wife God has called you to be, to reflect the gospel as a Christian wife, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. Do you think that might involve a little struggle? Do you think that this might be an occasion for the devil to exploit things, to ruin your happiness, to ruin your home? Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Do you think that in order to love your wife like that, it might involve a little work? And do you think that this might become an occasion for the devil to ruin you? And so in all of these kinds of contexts, he’s telling us: recognize the enemy, recognize that it requires struggle, go to the effort, and work it out.
Now this is extremely important at this point in history because at this point in Christian history we’ve inherited a teaching which, if you’ve grown up in RBC, you’ve been wonderfully sheltered from it, and you can be thankful for that. But dominant in the evangelical world today is this idea that’s been around for more than a century: that we should not struggle. And in fact, the reason we fail in the Christian life is that we struggle. And we should “let go and let God.” And we can’t fight; we should let God fight for us. Surrender to the Spirit and let Him do it. This mystical kind of thinking that somehow we are passive and God does the fighting for us.
And there’s just enough truth in that, of course, to be very deceptive. Because we find that he tells us here, “be strong in the Lord and the power of His might” and so on. But he still says, “be strong!” And he still says, “fight the warfare!” This is not one or the other, but this is both/and. And a passage like this makes it so plain, you wonder how a teaching like that of “let go and let God” and be passive and let God do the… you wonder how it ever survived.
And so we read in the New Testament things like, “be sober, be vigilant,” “resist the devil,” “fight the good fight of faith.” “If you live after the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” “Endure hardness as a good soldier.” Or again, the athletic metaphor, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Passages like that have no meaning whatever except to say that Christian living necessarily involves attention and struggle.
There is indeed divine provision and there is strength for the struggle and we are going to see that in the coming weeks. But it requires effort. Growing in righteousness, growing in faithfulness does not just happen. We are not sanctified by zaps. Wouldn’t that be nice? You repent and believe you’re saved and God zaps you and you’re instantly holy. It would be nice, one day.
I think, I think that some Christians, perhaps just subconsciously, tend to think that way. And I think that because I think I see reflections of it in the way some talk. “I’ve been saved for a year, I’ve been saved for two years, ten years. How come I’m not better yet?” Like they’re waiting for something to happen. “I’ve waited long enough, where is it?” And you wonder if we’ve ever thought, “we’ve got to engage this struggle.” And if I’m going to overcome lust, if I’m going to overcome greed, if I’m going to have a relationship with my wife or your wife with your husband that you ought to have, it’s going to involve some struggle and some effort and attention on your part.
Yes, in the power of Christ. Yes, the strength that he gives. If we’re going to overcome temptation, if we’re going to be faithful in the evil day that he mentions, it is going to require strength and resolve and struggle with the strength that God provides. As Isaac Watts wrote in that hymn that is seldom sung anymore, “Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas.”
Now it may be of what Paul calls here the “evil day” in verse 13. That we’ll be able to stand in the evil day. It might be that that evil day signifies some kind of specific occasions of struggle. Specific temptations, struggles with doubt, struggle with depression, struggles with anger—it might be particular occasions that he has in mind. But in fact, this is the world you live in. A world with a ruler called Satan. Yes, a world in which God rules sovereignly over all, but a world in which God has given Satan on a long leash. A world with an enemy. A world with sin and a world then marked by struggle.
So we have then first the reality of an enemy and the inevitability of struggle.
Human Weakness And Divine Provision
Second emphasis here, just broadly speaking about the passage, is that of human weakness and divine provision. Human weakness and divine provision.
Now I’ve already bumped into this a lot, so we can just be brief here. But did you notice the command? “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” And take then the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes for the feet—that is, shoes with the preparation of the gospel—the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit. This is his strength that he provides for the struggle. He does not say “let go and let God,” but he does say that for our struggle against sin, God has provided every resource necessary.
Now this brings up an important theological point that reformed theologians in particular like to emphasize. And we can start it by saying this, that the process of sanctification, the process of progressive sanctification is a supernatural one. We all love to say that every believer is, in fact, a walking miracle. That God has come and supernaturally arrested our souls and turned us to him. And all through the Christian life, there’s this divine energizing through the indwelling spirit.
And here’s the point that likes to be emphasized: that whereas in regeneration, we are passive—God comes and sovereignly brings us to life and there’s no cooperation on our part, we’re just passive in it—with sanctification, with this process of sanctification, the word the theologians like to use is, it is a cooperative effort. God works and we work. I’m not real thrilled with the terminology of “cooperative effort.” It almost sounds like he does his half and I do my half and there’s one and one and together we can probably accomplish. I like more the language of participating. Participating in this great work that God has undertaken in us already. Or as one title of one book states—a new book a couple of years ago—”Act the Miracle.” Act the miracle. God has come to work in you in a wonderfully supernatural way. And our participation in that is what is required.
And that is what Paul is emphasizing here. Our human weakness—we don’t have what it takes—but God has provided all that is necessary. And so in verses 10 and following, he points out all of the divine resources that we’ll look into in the coming weeks. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and so on. And so Paul reminds us of our own responsibilities and of divine provision.
That shouldn’t surprise us. This is where the Bible brings us all the time from start to finish. From the first day of the Christian life, we’ve been made to know that our inability is more than matched by divine grace and divine provision. And on through the Christian life it continues. “Be strong,” “resist,” “hold up,” “live as Jesus lived,” “fight the good fight.” And just when we feel like, “how in the world can I ever do that?” passages like this remind us that all that God requires of us, He provides for us in grace.
So for example, chapter 1 and verse 19, which we’ve already said: this same power that God exercised in raising Jesus from the dead is the very power at work in us, bringing us to faith and bringing us to accomplish his purpose in us. This is what Jesus had in mind in John 15 when he said to his disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” This is what Paul says in Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This is what Paul says to the Thessalonians, “faithful is he who calls you who also will do it.” Our sufficiency is of God. God works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. He who began this good work in you will finish it. Having given us his Son, God will with him surely give us all things. He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
Or in the words of chapter 1 in verse 3, where Paul sets up the theme for the whole book, we have been “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.” Surely this is a great part of the burden of Paul’s exhortation, not merely calling us to engage the struggle, but calling us to engage the struggle, he couples it with a reminder of certain success. That standing in God’s strength and in God’s power and taking the armor that he has provided, we will certainly, certainly emerge successful. This is, this is the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. The church militant will become the church triumphant.
And so Paul gives us not just an exhortation, he gives us an encouragement. Take on this full armor of God. Take the belt, take the breastplate, the shoes, the helmet, the sword, the shield. God has made every provision for our success. Recognize the provision, recognize the responsibility, and get at it. Engage the struggle. Engage the struggle with an eye to the prize that will surely be ours. Amen.
Let’s pray. Our Father, we thank you for the grace you have given to us in Christ. We’re grateful for the fullness of this salvation that you’ve won for us in Jesus. Encourage us, Lord, with a reminder that our Lord has triumphed over our adversary. Encourage us with a reminder that he will come again and bring it all to completion. And encourage us with this reminder that in this in-between time, he has given us every provision to live for him successfully. We pray that you will use this to keep us faithful until he comes. We pray in his name. Amen.
Please take out your Trinity hymnal. Open up to number 490. Christian soldiers, number 490.
♪ O gracious Lord, how sweet the sound ♪
Oh, oh I’m the master of dreams, I’m the lord of dreams I’m the lord of dreams, I’m the lord of dreams For it’s only fair Board dismissed.