Here we are in the last episode of Series 2 of Ephesians. It is the 12th episode, and some of you will have been listening all the way through and putting together Paul’s arguments and ideas in your mind as you have listened to the episodes. If you haven’t done that, can I encourage you to go back over the previous episodes and try and see the book as a whole.

Recap and Background

In Ephesians 6:10 onwards, Paul starts a discussion of a completely new topic. He starts it with one very interesting word: “Finally”. Maybe he had in mind to talk about spiritual warfare from the very beginning. Maybe he planned that he was going to give us a big picture of God’s plan for the Church in the gospel and a big picture about discipleship, before he came to this incredibly important topic. This will undoubtedly be one of the most important passages, and perhaps one of the most important talks, that you have engaged with in your Christian life, because Paul gives us incredible insight into the spiritual battle that we are involved with. He brings this teaching at the end; it is not the first thing we should be thinking about. The first thing that Paul wanted us to think about was the greatness of God’s plan for salvation. In chapters 1 and 2 we have an incredible view of the greatness of God: he predestined, he planned, in advance your salvation, the coming of Jesus and His death on the cross, the formation of the Church, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, that the door would be opened to the Gentiles and the gospel would spread to all parts of the earth and every different nation would have people honouring and worshipping Jesus. That is the picture Paul paints at the beginning of this book.

Then, as we have seen in Series 2, he talks very specifically about practical discipleship. How do we live this life out? How do we live it out in Christian community and more recently, in the last two episodes, how do we live it out in our homes, with our family and the other people with whom we live?

The Spiritual Battle

Having said all that, Paul now comes to a very important passage. He talks about the spiritual battle that you and I live in. He is quite realistic all the way through his teaching, like Jesus, in explaining where necessary that there is a personal, real spiritual opponent of the Church whose name is Satan or the Devil. He has many other names as well, in the New Testament. A spiritual power of darkness is working in this world, and Paul has already mentioned this spiritual power of darkness in earlier chapters. How we understand this spiritual power of darkness is very important, because many people in different parts of the world, in different religious and tribal cultures, live in great fear of evil and the spiritual powers that are too big for them that they can’t control, which can curse them, make them sick, or destroy their lives. This is why people often turn to witchdoctors and others to help them take away the power of evil spirits that might be coming to attack them.

Paul has a different view. His view places God and Jesus at the centre. His view of the spiritual warfare that Christians are involved with, has three different time dimensions. The first is: Jesus defeated the powers of darkness on the cross. He says this very clearly in Colossians 2:15: “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” The enemy, Satan, always wanted to prevent people being saved, but the cross opened the door to salvation for all peoples, and therefore satanic power was disarmed; it was weakened. When you hear many preachers, they will preach on this theme in a very positive and triumphant way and what they say is true but Paul adds in a second dimension. He points out, in this passage in Ephesians 6, that there is still a spiritual battle going on in the present - a different kind of spiritual battle for Christians. He also says, in other places, that the spiritual battle ends completely when Jesus comes again. We have a future hope that we will be freed from all evil spiritual pressures. But currently, as we live as Christians in this world, our salvation is secure, Christ has won that for us in the past, but the satanic powers are still operating. That is absolutely clear from this passage.

The Present Battle

“Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

Ephesians 6:10-11, NIV

Paul says, in the present, Satanic powers have ideas and plans of how to disrupt and destroy the Church if they can find a way of doing it. However, we should not be afraid. Unlike people without Christ, who often fear evil powers and are controlled by that fear, we do not need to fear because Paul says, “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”. If there is a battle, we are on the winning side, because we have the power of God with us. We have weapons, which Paul describes here as the full armour of God. Whilst he is thinking about this, remember that Paul is under house arrest - in prison, in effect. Roman soldiers are guarding him. Every day Paul was talking to the Roman soldiers because they were guarding him. They came and went when they were on duty. It came into his mind as a very good analogy, or explanation, to describe the armour of the Roman soldier as a way of describing the armour that God gives us.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Ephesians 6:12-13, NIV

Our battle is not ultimately against people, “flesh and blood”. People oppose us. People sometimes persecute us. People ignore us. People can trouble us. But Paul is pointing out that we should not focus as much on those people as on the spiritual powers that lie behind that opposition, which he describes as “the rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” What does he mean by that?

Heaven

The Bible describes ‘heaven’, or ‘the heavens’, in three different ways. First, it could mean the heavens in the sense of the atmospheric heavens - what we see when we look up into the night sky, when we see the stars. That is the heavens as in Psalm 19, for example.

Paul was not describing that here. He was describing ‘heavenly realms’ as a spiritual environment where Satan operates, as it were, above the earth, looking down on the earth. Paul, in Ephesians 2:2, described “the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” Notice -“The ruler of the kingdom of the air.”

Paul saw that above the atmospheric heavens there is a spiritual realm where satanic hierarchies are operating. and they are trying to influence the earth by sending demonic forces to the earth. That is the second sense in which we use the word heaven. First, the atmospheric heavens, secondly, what we might describe as the mid-heavens where satanic forces are operating.

Then the ultimate sense in which the Bible talks about heaven is the highest heaven, where God Himself and his angelic forces reside, where the new Jerusalem is, and where the redeemed go. That is what we as Christians think of as heaven. There is this other realm, which we can’t see with our eyes, but we can discern with our spirits, where dark forces are operating, trying to influence and undermine the Church on the earth. That was how Paul saw it. I am describing to you his way of understanding - an Apostolic way of understanding spiritual warfare. That is what our struggle is against. Therefore, take up “the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground”.

Paul introduced the idea here that this spiritual battle is not something we experience all the time in a negative way. Far from it. We often experience great peace, great joy, and a sense of the presence of God, especially when we are worshipping and gathering together, or reading the Bible or praying. God is with us. He is powerfully with us. But there are moments when the spiritual forces will try and undermine us. Paul described such moments here as “the day of evil”. Notice it is not a month or a year – it is a day. It is a short period of time when something negative may happen. An evil process may be at work against us. This is very important to understand because we need to keep our focus on God - His power, our resources and the presence of the Holy Spirit - and know that we are safe in him. We should not be afraid.

Paul wanted us to discern, to understand, that sometimes there is a counterattack against the Christian life. The Ephesian Christians had had an actual experience of this when Paul was with them. This is an example of “the day of evil”. In the book of Acts we find that Paul very successfully preached in Ephesus for at least two years. Thousands of people were saved. There were many miracles. Many occult products and scrolls were burnt. Many people were delivered from the power of evil. The church grew quickly and spread to the other areas around. It was very successful. Then, quite suddenly, in Acts 19 some of the tradesmen in Ephesus, who were losing trade because of the Christian faith, gathered a crowd that started rioting in the city and came together in the main auditorium, shouting and chanting against Paul and against the church. This was a riot against the church, as if to destroy the church. Paul wanted to go in and speak to them, but his friends said, “No, you can’t go in because you will get killed if you go into that assembly”. Fortunately, the civic leaders calmed everybody down and said that if there were any complaints, they should go to the law courts, and it all calmed down, but it was a very dangerous moment, created by those who followed the local goddess and made silver medals and products, in honour of the local goddess. There was a demonic element to it. It was a day of evil. That is what Paul was talking about here. There are times when the enemy, demonic forces, are seeking to undermine your faith and Paul says, all you must do on that day is to stand. Don’t change your convictions. Hold your ground. Trust God. Don’t give in to your emotions of fear and anxiety. Stand your ground. It is rather like if you are walking, maybe on a hill, and the wind is against you, and a very strong wind gathers for a time and is coming straight at you. It is so strong that you can’t walk forward. I wonder if you have ever had that experience - here is an incredible wind and all you need to do is stand. Don’t fall over with the wind. Don’t try and press ahead because there is too much wind at that time. But the wind will subside, it will ease off and you can walk again.

The Armour of God

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Ephesians 6:14-17, NIV

These are familiar words to many Christians. I wonder what Paul had in mind when he used the expression ‘the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness.’ Probably moral integrity, living by the truth and having righteousness in your life. The first and most powerful weapon we have is that we are not living a sinful life. That makes us spiritually strong when difficult times come.

Then he speaks about feet fitted with ‘the shoes of the gospel.’ This talks about witnessing and sharing our faith. Part of the spiritual battle is to keep open, to share your faith and give your testimony whenever you have a good opportunity to do so. One of the things the enemy wants to do is to stop us sharing our faith.

Then comes the “helmet of salvation.” On our head comes the helmet, and the head speaks to us about our thinking and our mind. It is so easy to be defeated in our thinking. It happens to all of us. It is such a common experience. We may be overwhelmed with depression, or with negative thoughts, or with suffering, which so often creates huge pressure for our thinking. Paul encourages us to keep our thinking focused on God’s resources, God’s power, God’s love, God’s grace and everything that Christ has done for us. One of the best ways of doing this is to be regularly in fellowship; to be built up by the Word of God and by worship; to read your Bible regularly.

Then he speaks about the “sword of the Spirit”. The sword is the only weapon that is described here. Everything else is defensive. But what is that sword of the Spirit? It seems to me it is a combination of the Bible - the Word of God - and the power of the Spirit. This is our great weapon. We need the Bible and biblical truth far more than we realise. One of the greatest ways of being strong in the spiritual battle is to be consistently reading, studying and meditating on the Word of God. In fact, that is one of the motivations for the Word Online project - to enable you to be able to do that easily for any passage across whole books of the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is the power within us. He is the one who gives us discernment, spiritual energy and draws us to God in those times of difficulty that we all experience.

Paul mentions. the ‘flaming arrows and the shield of faith’. Faith is incredibly important - a living faith based on the Word of God. But what are these flaming arrows? What sort of things happen to us that are dangerous for us and make us very vulnerable? Paul doesn’t tell us what they are. What sort of things would he have in mind? Perhaps sudden doubt. Is it all true? Can I really trust God? Does God really love me? Did Christ really die for me? Or perhaps the negative thoughts that come from times of depression or anxiety. These can be very destructive. They can be like flaming arrows. Perhaps also Paul has in mind opposition to the faith. The enemy uses people who oppose us, and you may experience people who directly oppose you in your own life. For many years I had a distant elderly relative who opposed my faith all the way through my Christian life until she died. She would do so by talking to other people against what I believed and also challenging me directly. She once phoned me and challenged things that I had said publicly in a church meeting, describing them as a load of rubbish. She was a complete opponent, and that can be very undermining. We can all have people who are against us. These can be like the flaming arrows. The flaming arrow can also be a terrible event which shakes your faith: a tragedy, a loss, a bereavement, a sudden death.

A flaming arrow can also be a sudden temptation to fall into - a major sin. You find yourself very close to doing something you really don’t believe is right, but you have more or less done it, and then you are very close and almost there. A friend of mine contacted me once and said, “I am married to my wife; we have been married for many years, but I am attracted to a lady at work. I think I am going to start an affair with her.” He was a day or two away from making the decision and I said, “Don’t do it. Turn back. It is an enemy distraction.” He turned back. 20 years later, today, he is still married to his wife. A flaming arrow came his way on that day. There can be many different things that constitute the flaming arrows. As I am speaking, some of you are thinking, that you know what that flaming arrow has been in your life that vulnerability, that event, or that process which has caused you great vulnerability. Paul says, use faith, trust in God, come back to him, lean on him, and call on him. Ask the Holy Spirit to come and help you. Read his word. Seek the help of other believers to escape from that danger. All the way through Paul’s teaching, he says there are plenty of resources. God is mighty and powerful, and you have the full armour of God. You have just got to use them. Don’t be intimidated by the day of evil and the flaming arrows.

Prayer – a Powerful Weapon

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Ephesians 6:18-20, NIV

Here we have the other final, powerful weapon - prayer.

We can pray anywhere, with anyone, on our own. We can use short prayers, long prayers, formal prayers, informal prayers. We can pray with speaking in tongues, which is often described as praying in the Spirit. If you have the gift of tongues, you can use that in prayer. We can pray ‘on all occasions with all kinds of prayers.’

Prayer is the greatest and most powerful resource that we have to stand in the evil day and resist the flaming arrows of the evil one. Recently, I was on a train journey with not much to do and a lot of time, and I found myself praying all kinds of prayers for a continuous period as I was sitting there on my own on the train. Why not? On all occasions in all places? You don’t have to be in church. You don’t have to be at home. You don’t have to be in a quiet place. You can be in the field, tending your animals, driving a car, at a place of work, travelling on a long journey - you can always pray. God is always accessible from any place that you find yourself, and you can call on him. This is a great resource in the spiritual battle, and many things are resolved simply by calling out to God, and the day of evil quickly passes.

Final Words

“Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”

Ephesians 6:21-24, NIV

In these final words, Paul introduces yet another of his many coworkers who appear in his letters. Here we have Tychicus, who came from the Ephesus area, had travelled with Paul in the past, and was visiting him in Rome while he was in prison. He was obviously the person given the job of taking the letter from Rome to Ephesus. He also took a letter to the Colossians at the same time, He had the letters read in those churches. Isn’t it wonderful how Paul worked in such diverse teams with so many people? That is how Christian ministry should be. We are always working together in teams.

Reflections

As we conclude our studies in Ephesians and conclude this Collection, here are some reflections:

First, there is no armour for the back in the Roman soldiers’ world. We face the enemy head on. If we turn and run, if we run away, we are in a very vulnerable position. We need to be strong in the Lord and overcome whatever enemy we find.

Secondly, how do you use the power of prayer? Can I encourage you to be more creative, more flexible, more focused - to pray on all sorts of occasions, in all sorts of places.

Finally, let me come back to the power of the Bible itself. “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” There is no substitute for the Bible. Remember, when Jesus was tempted, when he had his day of evil, in the wilderness for 40 days after he had been baptised. Satan came to the earth for that time to try and destroy the work of the Son of God at the very beginning of his ministry. Jesus overcame every temptation with Scripture - with the Bible - and you can do the same. Use the Word of God, use the power of prayer, use the Holy Spirit’s presence within you to stand firm on every day of evil that you may face. Do not be intimidated, because you are on the side of victory if you are obedient and humble and use the resources that God has given you.

Thank you for joining us for this Collection in Ephesians.

I hope that you will join us for some of our other studies in the different Collections through the books of the New Testament. Thank you again.