In the Strength of His Might

 Okay, brothers and sisters, you have a chance would you take your Bibles and open with me to Ephesians chapter six. There are Bibles that will be underneath your feet, so you can use whatever assets you have to God's word to look at. Ephesians chapter six, we're coming to the end of our series in Ephesians.

We'll close Mark. Pastor Mark will close this next week in our series. These many months we have learned how the church is a beautiful mess. It's beautiful. It's beautiful because we are redeemed by the one who is beauty himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has saved us dead in our passes and sins. And he has brought us into the church, the beauty of his church, mark the signs and seals of baptism and coming into the Lord's table.

And as Paul gets to the end of this passage, reminds him finally, he says one more thing. And oh, how important. Is, and sir, if you and Abel, would you stand with me if you read Ephesians chapter six, verse 10 through 20.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strengths of his life. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the of the devil. For, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers, over these present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the 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 and 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. So that, and people merch with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me, with the words will be given to me and opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I, I'm an ambassador in change and I need to declare it boldly and that.

The congrats withers and the flowers fade. The God's words changed forever. This is the word of the Lord. Thank to God. We may be seated

for George W. Bush Presidential Library opened when I was a student at Texas a and m. All of the living presidents were on campus being from around the world. Flew into the center of the universe called Station and there are a few students who have the privilege of being able to see behind the Be with all the security details.

And they came and told us that there were on the roof, that there were a missile. Batteries that were stationed at strategic points on buildings across the campus, that there were agents in plain clothes who were dressed by college students to just blend into the crowd. I mean, the whole place was electric.

It was historic. Now, the day in the event had eyes to see. You had to look, but you could actually see some of the security details around the presidents and all the presidents men, and you could be able to see, even if you look closely, you could even see, you see the shadow of someone on a roof. Watching, guarding those who are most important.

Normally, the pre the presidents and the world dignitaries and something like that. Scene is what Paul shows us in Ephesians chapter six. He takes us behind the scenes to show us a very real and important world, mainly the understand world of the spiritual forces of good and its people.

But we live in a world that's very disenchanted these days, don't we? The Canadian philosopher tribe Taylor has said that our age is a a disenchanted age. So we explain everything through psychology and through politics and through biology. We have no fight to see the security details that are really stationed across or invisible.

And even those who don't believe the gospel, who feel pulled into this invisible world at moments in time. And some of you who are here who don't believe you feel this soul. And maybe when you go to a wedding or when you go to a funeral, perhaps even more, you feel what Charles Taylor calls cross currents.

Those are moments in our space and time when you see something transcendent, something beautiful, maybe you even experienced it here in these moments together. Those moments are moments blended with place and with doubt that they there something bigger, something going on that is just as real as what we see here today.

The trouble of my heart and with yours is we underestimate both the reality and the urgency of spiritual warfare. We life unaware.

For when Paul says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, he is pulling back the curtain to show us that behind what we see are real forces of good and evil, a victory and resistance Christ and his enemies. And so Ephesians chapter six, ants us us into the beauty of crisis protection over us. And that brings up.

To the first point. The way the notes are arranged in the book me this week really is mostly for the kids who like take notes. So there's lots of blanks we're to be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his mind. It says in verse 10, what are we to do? Verse 10, we are to be strengthened. Notice what Paul says.

He says, be strong in the Lord and in the. The verb be strong in the ESD is a middle passage in Greek. It could be translated. Allow yourself to be strengthened or be strengthened. It's passive. You're strengthened how? By the strength of the might of the Lord. And we need to remember that scripture does not show us as the warrior who is going battle against Satan.

If you grew up like I did, you read Ephe chapter six and you were like, I need to dawn the armor of God and go to battle with Satan. No, no, no. Remember, Jesus has already fought that battle for us. Hasnt thing. Where did he fight it? He fought it at the cross and e from claim in the resurrection. That battle has been won.

In fact, isn't it interesting that in Revelation chapter 19, Jesus doesn't even. Against statement who fight statement in Michael the Archangel. Why? 'cause Jesus is harder defeated ourselves. And so when we come to Ephesians chapter six, Paul says, oh, we strengthened because the battle has Ben one. Do you remember in Exodus 14 when Israel, the story in the Bible of the battle, new you in Exodus chapter 14 was running from Egypt, out Egypt where they were playing and they're at the edge of the sea.

And the Lord part, the red steam and they walk through on dry ground and utterly helpless people who walk through on dry ground because the Lord moved by the saint of his might to make the waters part real, waters real in history part before them. And we walk through on dry land in the same way. It's as though Paul uses some of that imagery in the way that he says that we are on this beach, but we are not begging God to park the waters.

We are dead on the beach in our trespasses sins. And God revives us and he breathes D life into us and he gives us the new nature in Christ. And he parts the waters of sin and death, and he himself walks in and the waters come down upon him. He suffers for us so that those waters will internally stay open for us to cross.

Land so that one day at your funeral, we will be grieving and as we grieve in hope, because while we still suffer death in this life, the REIT of sin remains. We know that Christ himself as conquered death for us as our great enemy. Hallelujah. We strengthened. How are you? He says, you were to put on the whole armor of God to put on these to close yourself.

Kiddos, you hear your parents probably say, time, you go to bed, put on your pajamas, and what do you do? You go and you take your clothes off and you put your pajamas on. You're preparing for bed. And the same way Paul uses this language, he's it throughout Ephesians, if he.

He says to put on, put off your old self, which will your former man of life, and to put on the new self, created an after the lightness of God. All throughout scripture, we use this language of changing, of rain, the changing of clothing. Why are we to put on the whole armor of God?

In the next passage in verse 11 B, we are the on the ome of God that you may be able to stand against the king of the devil you put on the, because we have a team devil, we have one who is always trying to upset, to get in, to destroy, to know relationships. Some of you, um, know that, um, our beloved youth director, Nathan Duke, has shared his own story.

And one of Nathan's, um, uh, great avenues of sanctification in his life is that he suffers from Crohn's disease. And whenever Nathan and I go out to eat, I'm always trying to think that I don't, and don't do a great job of cooking into restaurants that are best for his diet. We, we, we go to a restaurant and Mason has to be able to look out for dairy products and he has to look out.

Some of you do too. You know what this is like, you look out for the greasy foods, you look out for the spicy things, and so making to avoid these foods, you know, avoiding the foods is not the real issue, is it? The real issue is that he has a systemic condition where his body fights against, though there are.

Body to inflame his system, his body, the real issue is his Crohn's disease. In the same way, oh, children of God. Your real issue is not Satan who has been defeated. Your real issue is the disease that we call and it's deep. But Satan has where he tries to in, he tries to infl.

Pastor Kent Qs tells a story where, uh, he says, if let's say that I was, um, uh, Kent says, if I was a mass uh wizard and you gave me 10 years to think about how much math I could learn, I would be a pretty good mathematician. What if you gave me a hundred years of a math? Oh, I would probably be the greatest competition that has ever lived, even greater than Einstein.

What if he gave me a thousand years untouchable. He gave 10,000 years. I would know so much math that I would be the essence of what math is for. State has lived for longer than 10,000 years and he's studied consuming

species for eon eons to know exactly how to make new, and he knows you better than you know yourself. And he seems to take your personality, your, the idols of your heart, your tendencies, and he just loves, just loves to tip you over the edge all the time and it doesn't take much. Some of us have friends to it took less one year's time to go from the height of an example in public to.

Someone who has tarnish his reputation forever because which cook

A little nudge. And that's why Earth Trinity is so important for us to recognize that there are security forces that are aiming at us and they are reel. But the confidence we have is that we are strengthened and you're not strengthened in your own mind, you're strengthened. And the Lord's. And we are to put on his armor why?

So that we may be able to stand and being able to stand. When he repeats it in Greek, he repeats the same verb in verse 14, we're to stand firm in the armor of God and he gives us a mandate. He says in verse 14, A, therefore, therefore, therefore, we ask. When he says, therefore, stand. And then he gives us all these participial phrases about the armor of God himself, and we're to stand, we're to hold our ground.

Notice Paul doesn't say so that you may attack. He doesn't say therefore charge he stand. Why did he say stand? You already didn't given everything. Possibly once he gave you, you. You to rest in your identity and them, all of us as schoolchildren in Oklahoma, learn about the Oklahoma land run. And if you're like me and you're an ex into Oklahoma, then you see whenever you see the sooner, sooner come across that field every Saturday during college football season.

And we learn about the land run and how we started in Kansas and we ran to try to claim the Indian parcels that were available to us. But you know what? We don't hear a lot about. Have you ever read the biographies of men who claim the land and the way that they had to been stand for their land?

Because just because they planted the flag does not mean that battle had ended. People were armed who came across to take families out to take their land, to steal their land. In the same manner. It says, though deeper has given us the need of salvation. He has purchased it by his blood and he has given it to you.

And he says, would you stand in pit? Stand in what I have given you in the world, and if the raid might are always trying to take you out, they come on your land and they look at you and they try to threaten you. But Satan, the great enemy to not take your land. It's yours. We have the deed to it. What he can do is he can make you forget that that land was given to.

And how easily we forget the greatest tool that we have, the application of the gospel quote, end to the most intimate areas of our family and of our lives. Satan's main strategy cannot be to reclaim your nature if you're in Christ because you've been given a new nature. But he is. Incredibly brilliant at how he helps you to retreat from the gospel as the primary modus mode of operation in your, see, he gives us a mandate that is the way you, the method with the method.

Verse 14 B down verse, he says, you are,

you are to arm yourself. Connected is to arm yourself and how do we arm ourselves? Now, when I was growing up, I always was taught that the armor of Donna is because Paul been chained to a Roman soldier who is next to him. And that may partly be true. He elaborate on some of the details of Roman soldier, but to really makes that Paul gets this design warrior is the image that Hazel.

Today in Isaiah 59, in Isaiah 59, Isaiah says, where are those who are trust all the kings to the world? Where is the one who will you up, Judah? And then the Lord himself, Don Armor, he divine warrior. And Paul takes the equipment, Isaiah, Isaiah 11, and he blend it with the Roman armor. He says, take. This is a means of you remembering your identity in him.

You were to be strengthened by putting on by picking up. Well first belt the truth. Have Ted your waist with truth often. I'm a belt of truth. Ski box in a house that we've had for 20 years. We had it. We had it when you were in campus ministry and we would use it for skits. You'd on different, you know, you've got shields and rigs and clothing from the seventies and eighties and maybe, maybe some of my kids have actually taken the clothes and run 'em to school 'cause they're back in style now.

But we had the ski box. You dressed up in the ski box because everybody moves with you. But we often as people who live in this country in this time period. We think about the way that we consistently dress up to try to protect ourselves. Some of you may have spent so much time thinking about your investment as the way to protect yourself.

Some of you have thought so much about the way that you position yourself with your great. Some of us have positioned ourselves with the way that our children behave. We put our value in so many things. It's like a, it's like a, it's like a, Satan has put a spit box for us just to dress up, to pretend like we're really being strengthened in the Lord.

And Paul comes into us and says, don't be unaware of the Devil's team. George, suit up. You were to suit up in the armor that Christ himself has won and provide for you. You are to wear the belt of truth. Because you are to not say, well, I must always be the one who's proclaiming the truth to a world who doesn't.

Yes, yes, we should do that, but use first of all, word that built the truth because Christ came full of grace. And what does John 14 say full of grace and truth, and he describes himself and 14 as I'm, I'm the way the truth. On the line, Jesus is the embodiment of truth. How do you put on the delta truth?

You see that Christ himself and what Christ has proclaimed is truth. Amidst a world that is spinning rule of lies, you are to set the delta truth upon your waste.

The world's truth can't hold anything up. Only Christ Truth fastens us in a way. It gives us a confidence to the world, and it's all.

His weight and seductive as lying. Isaiah 11 five says, Jesus is bringing in the cosmic truth that he has come to disarm all the rulers, authorities, and powers. He has done it. Do you believe O church this truth? If you believe that truth, how might it change the way that we operate this week? Does this land on you?

He is the truth.

Secondly. Put on the breath plate of righteousness. This is almost directly from Isaiah 59, verse 15. The world believes in its own righteousness. It just calls itself being a good person or being on a right sided history. We hope for moral righteousness through activism, through image, through outrage, and we have a sense of collecting approval and arming ourself with.

And so protects ourself from the world,

but for the salvation of the people. Isaiah says, the Lord himself in our righteousness apl. He did this because all our righteous des are like polluted garments. They're like Sophie racks. And the fulfill of that promise happened when Jesus became our unrighteousness on the cloth and he died for us. He who new know indication.

So that in here we might become the righteousness of God. How do you gone to breath of righteousness? You look and you see, and you admit and you say, I'm covered of the righteousness. It's a righteousness. It say you have no claim on me. It's his self of truth. It's his righteousness, the God of peace. RA puts on shoes and we run to therapy hours, and we run to vacations, and we run to all kinds of positive energy and experiences to give us peace.

After the Messiah of Jesus came heralding the day of salvation, he says, Isaiah 52, how beautiful a plum Mountains are the feet of him who remains good news. And then Isaiah says, accomplishments.

Jesus. Do you know him?

You put on take up a shield of faith, a modern shield, and the ED world and technological progress. I had a friend who asked about 70 or 80 people. Tell me how you think the world gets fixed. Pastor North Carolina. And he said, I was shocked by the number of people who said the role fit state ai. We think, we think that a show of protection is technological progress,

but it fails if evil pierces our illusions with death and tragedy and come out. Our shields of technological progress are nothing more than cardboard shields from the fit box. God told me, Abraham, that he redeem the people as vast as the SARS with the stand as the thus, and he said, Abraham, be not fear.

I'm your shield. Genesis 15, one. Your reward will be very great. And God didn't really give us the shield that y'all himself as a provision of protection. That Abraham and need and that you and I need the Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart thank in him and he helps me. Psalm 28, do you believe that Who that your shield is?

See the difference between picking up the armor as though you are battling mono man and arresting and the worth and glory and grandeur. A dribble divine warrior, Lord Jesus Christ. Who has won this armor for us. He wore it as he went through the cross for you and he took it off piece by piece by piece.

So he be cut down to be raised up and he rose again, Andron, and now he the Armor of humanity for all the Trinity to be your rightful representative at the Father Jack hand to entertain for you, which he does this very moment, even with the host of angels around them or you. For what you're going through at work this week.

He's your shield of faith. He's your breath righteousness. He's your shoes of peace. He's your belt of truth till you see it.

He's your home of salvation in our distance. You today, this productivity and profit that we run through to be our salvation, protecting the next generation.

Leaving one more than we had when we began. The salvation is not a means of self-protection. It's a divine rescue. It's a helmet of salvation. Isaiah 59, as the Fs read earlier, it says Salvation is on his head, and the Lord has already waged a successful roar against evil and he has one. Hallelujah. I wondered if you live like that.

Who and Jesus are hidden all the s of the wisdom of God. You know that he who began a work in you will be faithful to complete it. Why? Because he has given you his helmet of protection and you can have assurance that what he has given you can never be reclaimed. You're his, he's given you to be. He holds it secure for you.

You are this. Do you see the duties of your sin? Stands in strength of his right and in his power put on the armor, meaning he says, take up the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And our Ted's words have been completely stripped of their glory. We live in a world full of rhetoric that is completely.

Hollow. We use words for branding. We use it for self-expression, all good and right things. As we point people to the truth, so often we brand it in our own names. We use words to one argument so that we can win the room. Rhetoric replaces Revelation Cone. Replace this truth. Reality in our direction, and we use wordsmith carefully.

It's the oldest illusion there is. Satan is the great wordsmith that said that God really say

speaking before his incarnation, the Messiah declared through Isaiah that the Lord made my mouth like the sharp sword. Isaiah chapter 49 for the.

Becoming a Messiah. God said that he shall strike the earth with a rod of his mouth. And then he, that the author Hebrew says that God's word is living and active. It's sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing the division of soul and spirit joints from, and it returns the gods and intentions of our heart, such as the power of the word.

And when God is thinking of how do I communicate to humanity, follow in sin the truth of who I'm all I'll be I'll. So my son, who will be the embodiment of the log off.

So as we take up the sword of the spirit, we look again and incarnation every single word we say. A reflection of the one who is the word. That's why it's important to use the right kind of language, because it's a reflection of God. He is the true word. And in the very end of the Bible, in Revelation chapter 19, he speaks eternal judgment on evil and he speaks eternal delight over you, his bride.

And Jesus, as I said earlier, doesn't even shoot up against is one little word. With him. So friends, each piece of this armor is not something that you put on to fight statement. Each piece of this armor is what Christ has worn and is wearing and has a picture of his character and his righteousness for you.

And as you recognize that the armor of God is not a set of techniques, but it's a set of truth that we to believe about. We are equipped to be able to withstand Satan and his scheme and we're equipped to be able to stand his ground for his glory's sake. And lastly, he talks about what's the manner in which we persevere in wearing this armor.

If in grief you were to read this says 14 stand. Therefore, then he gives all these clauses having on the different pieces of the armor. And then when you get the verse 18, there is the. Praying at all times stand. Therefore, how do you stand? Praying is a method of your perseverance at all times. In this spirit is all prayer and in supplication, this is the how that we are to stand

at all times. Continu dependence, all kinds of prayers varied, express. With all perseverance there, endurance. And for all the saints, there's our community. Just prayer, not your life.

And we gotta be aqua people. We gotta pray as though it was our native heir and our vital breath. Don't pray because it's some box to check over the course of the week. You ought to be our default, nor would you please guide me as they're walking through this meeting. Would you please help me as they shepherd my children?

Would you please help me as I appear to preach a sermon? Would you please help me as I lead us in worship? Would you, father, would you guide me? Would you help me to remember that it's not my righteousness, it's yours. Would I walk through a confidence into a room of people that I may not know? Some of you were asked even this week at work to speak into a room of people, and it's the most frightening thing you can think of.

And that you stand in his confidence because he has covered you with a righteousness that is not dependent upon your performance. Though of course, you like to be able to honor him and speak well. His righteousness covers you because you have a belt of truth passing upon you. You have a breathed righteousness that is not your own.

You walk with choose of peace. You are given a shield of faith. You have a helmet of salvation that has been run for you and you take out. Sort of the spirit, the word of God, and you see that every word is true because he's the living word. As you look to him and maybe be a people who pray.

In closing, if you've ever been to Germany, you know that in the castle the, there was a famous room in the Burg castle where there ain't stain the wall. Where in the 16th century when Martin Luther, he was kidnapped to be protected from, uh, at the time. That a raid of the Castle Army who was kidnapped by Rederick for Wise, who was taken to the bts, unbeknownst who was kidnappers war.

He was facing in the T castle where he spent a year translating the Bible into German. And one day he is in the BT castle. He has this intense of SAT's presence and he picked up his ink wheel and in famously throws it against the wall at Staple. And if you go to the bookwork house today, you can still see where the ink.

Parole, they tried to show the spot where they believe he actually threw it. And it's amazing that if you go there today, Fort has been completely disenchanted because you'll see in the very corner of the castle a little effigy of Satan hanging on the ceiling. It's just, it's like, it's like, uh, the hard to know if it's a mockery of Satan or it, the mockery of those anti

devil. Around like a roaring line as Peter says, seeking whom he made a bow. And don't think that he's not after every one of you king, who think he stands, takes you by people. And it was Luther who was able to pin the beautiful of him, the mighty fortresses our God. And he wrote for us to ing and go. The world with devil's filled should threaten to undo.

We will not for God. Through us, the Prince of Darkness Grim. We tremble not for him. His rage we can endure below his in is your one little word

and in Christ tense, one little word from our warrior King Jesus o Church is all it will take.

Father, would you help us to be people who have eyes succeed? The spiritual forces of darkness in our very world who are keeping our culture and bending it away from your truth? Would you help us to be a people who are able to stand in your truth in it's a hostile world with grace and truth and incredible nuance for the good.

Of our communities and of our cities and of our families. Would you help us to be people who pray at all times with all prayer implication that we would keep alert of perseverance, and would you help us in our community groups and our Bible studies and our friendships to pray for each other in this church?

You can know as Paul has caught us in Ephesians, that we are all intricately connected. No, none of us. And man on an audience and a woman all in violence, would you help us to see the beauty of your corporate community in the church? Would you help us to rest in you? A warrior king who is fought and won the battle over Satan at the cross for claiming victory in the resurrection and re await your return returned being.

Putting it on. Little tip, the kids putting it on pajamas. Preparing, oh Lord, may have made for your return. We pray in the strength your.

Sermon transcript is computer generated.