Ephesians 6:10-18 Immortal Combat
Introduction:
Most popular video games in recent years have been violent hand-to-hand combat games. Mortal Kombat, the most popular, pits a single warrior against an increasingly hostile force of talented and often magical attackers. The challenge is to defeat and often kill the opponent. At least one of the more advanced battles in Mortal Kombat ends when either the player or the computer pulls his opponent’s heart out his chest and holds it up to celebrate his victory.
This is extreme in the most gentle sense. But there is indeed a war of sorts going on today. We may not see the hand-to-hand side of it, but the reality of its existence is not diminished. Paul says in today’s passage, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.” We Christians are engaged in combat of another kind. I call our battle, Immortal Combat.
There are four imperative commands for the one who would engage in Immortal Combat. Each is stated plainly in the Scripture, and each carries with it specific requirements for our lives as Christians.
1. Be strong.
This comes from the same word in Greek we translate as dynamic. It is also the same word we use to derive the word dynamite. When Paul says “be strong,” he implies a sense of power which is potentially devastating to the enemy. We must be strong, but notice also the how of our strength: “in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
How can we be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might? If we are to build our physical muscles, we do it through diet and exercise. I believe that our spiritual muscles in the same way. Listen to what Jesus said:
“My meat is to do the will of Him that sent
me, and to finish His work.” (John 4:34)
“I am the bread of life.” (John 6:48)
“If any man thirst, let him come to me and
drink.”
(John 7:37)
Paul captured the type of spiritual exercise necessary to building stamina for the fight in 1 Corinthians 9:25-27. (READ) In Philippians 3:12-14, he pictured the Christian as a runner in a race, pressing on toward the mark.
We just got a new computer this past week, for which I am very grateful. It is a powerful tool and very useful to me as I work on sermons and serving the church effectively. But as great as it is, unless I learn how to exercise its full potential and develop my skills in using it, it is nothing more than another electronic gadget good for playing Solitaire and listening to music.
Our Christian lives are much the same. We must train our skills and develop our strength and perseverance in order to be effective against the onslaught of the devil.
2. Put on the whole armor of God.
There are six pieces of armor mentioned in this passage:
1- The Belt of Truth When Paul told his reader to gird up his loins with truth, he literally
said, “Shore up everything in truth.” Not unlike the words of 1 John which advise us to test the spirits and see if they are true, or the earlier words of Ephesians encouraging us not to be blown about by every wind of doctrine. The Bible says that Satan is the Prince of Lies and an Angel of Light who deceives many. We must know the truth in order to defend against his attack.
2- The Breastplate of Righteousness Beneath the breastplate of an ancient soldier’s armor lay the heart and vital organs. The breastplate had to be strong and durable to prevent injury. The only righteousness suitable to prevent injury to us is the righteousness we receive through Jesus Christ. Isaiah said our righteousness was as filthy rags. Jesus was and is and ever shall be the perfect, sinless Son of
God. God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. That is the perfect standard for our breastplate.
3 - The Shoes of the Preparation of the Gospel
This piece of equipment is for all, especially those who need motivation to witness about Jesus. We need to be ever ready to take the message of Christ to the
world. Don’t be misled: the world is waiting to hear about Jesus. Our motivation to tell them is not worked up or fired up. Our motivation to tell them is the direct result of the work of God in our lives.
4 - The Shield of Faith There is an old hymn in our hymnal entitled, “Faith Is the Victory” which points to the necessity of faith in waging war. We see in Hebrews 11 the great hall of fame of faith. The first line of defense in our battle is our faith.
Remember the illustration of faith where I looked at a chair and made observations about the chair and stated my belief in the chair? But when did faith come into play? When I sat down in the chair! The shield of faith requires us to trust God to handle the outside attacks.
5 - The Helmet of Salvation Where does your
mind live? I think mine lives inside my head. I would say the core of our intellect lives there. When Paul wrote to the Ephesians regarding the helmet of salvation, he was telling them not to allow the devil to place doubts in their minds. Can I be honest? There are some moments in time when I take my helmet off and I begin to feel the doubts creep in. Did I
really get saved? How can I say what I said and think what I thought and still be aChristian? Remember John 10:28,29!! Nothing can snatch us out of the Father’s
hand! Salvation is more than a feeling: it is a fact! Don’t ever doubt it.
6 - The Sword of the Spirit The only offensive weapon we have in our hands is the Word of God. This is one reason I stress the inerrancy of Scripture as I teach and preach. I would not want a gun with a flawed barrel or a bow with a weak string
any more than I would want a sword with a dull or cracked blade! The devil is coming at us with the demonic hosts of hell, and I want to be ready to lay him low. Don’t you? When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, did he zap the devil? No! He met every temptation with Scripture. And the Bible says the devil finally left him alone. I’ve told several people recently that we ought to be absorbing as much
Bible as we can. I encourage you to pray the words of Scripture, and I encourage you to meet the attacks of the devil with Scripture. Remember these two passages?
(PSALM 119:11 & 105)
Are you wearing the belt of truth? Are you wearing the breastplate of righteousness? Are you wearing the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel? Are you carrying the shield of faith? Are you wearing the helmet of salvation? Are you wielding the Sword of the Spirit? If not, you won’t be able to do the following:
3. Stand firm.
We used to play a game on the playground when I was growing up called “Red Rover.” The object of the game was to break through the chain of kids on the other side when they called your name and bring back the strongest kid on their team. I used to always look for the weakest link in the chain, especially two girls holding hands. They would usually let go when they saw me coming. It was a lot of fun.
Paul tells us we must stand firm through demonic attack. He tells us we must hold our ground, even when the world around us appears to be going to hell. He tells us to withstand the onslaught of the devil, to stick it out until the end.
I thank God for Hickory Baptist Church. In a time when so many churches are spritually anemic from compromise and moral impurity, this fellowship remains spiritually strong at its core. There is within these walls a commitment to biblical Christianity, godly living, and Christlike behavior. We must never let our guard down here, never compromise on the essentials, never allow tolerance to take the place of righteousness. May we continue to stand firm as we seek to obey God in the days ahead. When it comes to evil and the war in which we are engaged, let’s never let our guard down.
4. Pray.
“No man stands taller than when he is on his knees.” These words remind me constantly of my responsibility before God, my family, and this church to be a man of prayer. When I wrote the words of William Carey in the bulletin this week, I wasn’t just waxing philosophical. I do believe God will do great things here when we attempt them and expect them! But God will do no more than we ask Him to.
I have spoken often of the need for prayer. I covet your prayers for my family and me as we seek to obey God as a pastor’s family. I make it my business now to pray for each of you by name every day. There are lost people we have begun to pray for in our morning prayer time. I pray for sister churches and their pastors now. We are beginning a minister’s prayer group for the express purpose of praying for Spiritual Awakening in Whitakers. Pray, friend, pray. When you’ve finished praying, pray again.
Stephen Curtis Chapman wrote the theme song for the National Day of Prayer a couple of years ago. The chorus goes something like this:
Let us pray, let us pray
Everywhere and every way,
Every moment of the day is the right time.
For the Father above, He is listening in love
And He wants to answer us, O let us pray.
Be strong. Put on the whole armor of God. Stand firm. Pray. What are these behaviors and requirements? Are they some new way of living? Are they some amazing new strategy of defense for Christians? Do they have some mystical significance? No.
The facts are simple: We are under attack. The war has already been won. We are on the winning side. The enemy is attempting to lessen our margin of victory. We can stop his attacks if we will arm ourselves and meet him head to head. The question is: when will we do it?
