Right we'll turn with me then
to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6 and I want
to focus on verse 10 down to verse 13 this morning. We've been looking at the ways
that Paul encourages those who are true believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ to behave in respect of one another. And we could
spend a long time looking at children and parents and masters
and servants and indeed husbands and wives. People spend a lot
of time talking about these things. But I don't want to do that,
I just want to sum it up in this. It's all about true faith, true
working faith submits one to another. True working faith is
faith which is based on repentance of sin, that gift of repentance
which God gave to the Gentiles as we read. in Acts, I forget
exactly where it is, but God has given to the Gentiles repentance
and that's clear that it's his gift and he gives that gift and
your attitude to sin is one of, you know that you sin but you
hate that sin And you have faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. You
look to him and to him alone. That's where your trust is. You're
not looking to anything else. Not, oh, maybe he'll accept me
because I've... No. No. Faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I know it is well with my soul
because he has done this for me. He has done that for me. I am in him, so I am counted
in him. and therefore accepted by God.
And so it's submission to one another, and in all these relationships,
did you notice, I put emphasis on it when we read it earlier,
do it as unto the Lord. Now that's hard to do, I know
it is. I know in your flesh it's very,
very hard to do, but this is the aspiration, as unto the Lord. That other person that you're
dealing with, it says submit to one another. esteem more highly
than yourself, submit to one another, and in your relationship
with them, do it as unto the Lord, as if it was the Lord.
As if it was our Lord Jesus Christ embodied there. That's how to
interact with them. Wouldn't we behave differently?
If we always, whoever we were interacting with, if we saw him
and did it as unto the Lord. That's the aspiration. And I'm
just going to leave that as it is. But I want this morning to
look at this idea of being strong in the Lord in verse 10 because
all of a sudden it seems as though Paul changes his tack. He's been
talking about relationships and then we get this word finally.
If you read Paul's epistles you'll note that he regularly uses the
word finally. In fact which epistle is it where
he uses the word finally and it's only halfway through because
he goes on saying finally and then finally and finally again. Well here we have a finally verse
10. Finally my brethren be strong in the Lord. and in the power
of his might. Be strong in the Lord. You know
the purpose of Christ? Do you know what the purpose
of Christ is? He came, he said, to do his Father's will. And
then, so that we're not in any doubt, he tells us what his Father's
will is. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that of all that he gave me before the foundation
of the world, I should lose nothing but raise it up at the last day.
He's going to save all of his people. This is the purpose of
Christ. Now contrast that with the purpose
of Satan. You know what the purpose of
Satan is? The purpose of Satan is that none of God's elect should
be saved. He knows that those who are not
elect are not saved, but his purpose is that those who are
God's elect should not be saved. And there's this constant battle.
We read of it in the scriptures. The forces of good versus the
forces of evil and of course you know it's reflected in much
literature. It's reflected in you know, some
of the standards of English literature and also some which is quite
pagan in its thinking. Think about the Lord of the Rings
and that sort of literature of J.R. Tolkien. It's clearly got
its roots in ideas of scripture and the ideas of good versus
evil and it's a constant theme in literature. But this is the
point. Satan's objective is the destruction
of my soul. He is utterly opposed to my soul's
salvation, to the salvation of all of God's people. You know,
you go right back into Exodus, when Moses was getting the law
on Mount Sinai, and you know, he was away some time, and the
people, being fleshly people, though they were the symbolical
people of God, though they were symbolical, they were Israel,
they were the ones who were the chosen people of God in symbol, When he was gone for quite some
time, they said, oh, we haven't got a god anymore. And they said
to Aaron, make us a god. And Aaron said, well, give us
all your gold. And he made a golden calf and they bowed down to it.
And Moses came down the mountain and saw what was going on and
asked Aaron for an explanation. And it says, Moses saw that the
people were naked. for Aaron had made them naked
unto their shame among their enemies. You know they were stripped
of any claim to be the people of God. Even in symbol they were
stripped of any claim to that. They were in their shame, naked
in their shame. Doesn't mean they'd stripped
all their clothes off, it means that they were laid bare, their sin
was laid bare. And Satan must have felt so triumphant
in that. There he was, he triumphed in
that, because there were the people absolutely as exposed
as completely unfit to be the people of the living God. And
that's Satan's purpose always. Just as it was with those Israelites
then at the foot of the mountain, Satan's objective now throughout
all ages has been to legally prove that God's justice must
condemn his elect, must condemn his people. You know what one
of Satan's names in the book of Revelation chapter 12 and
verse 10 He's called there the accuser
of the brethren. This is what he does, he accuses
them before God. Look at them, look at them, they're
not fit to be called your people. Just as those who'd made that
golden calf, in their shame, there they were, they were stripped
naked in their shame. And they were shown up for what
they really were, unfit to be called the people of the living
God. This is Satan's objective. To be saved To be saved I must
be justified before God. Job's question. How can a man
be just before God? I must be justified before God. In the court of God's justice
it must be declared that I am righteous. That I am holy, that
I am fit for the presence of God, for God is of purer eyes
than to behold iniquity, and cannot look upon sin. I cannot
be there unless I am justified. And I must be sanctified, I must
be set apart for His holy use and His holy purpose. He must
have given me a holy nature. I must have that sanctification
which is from Christ, for Christ is the sanctification of His
people. And not only that, I must be
regenerated. There must be a new man inside. There must be that
new man of the Spirit of God, for except a man be born again,
he cannot see the Kingdom of God. And I must, to summarize
that, I must be amongst the elect of God. And how do I know I am? What gives me, a sinner, any
right to say I'm among the elect of God? Just this. I know what
it is to repent of sin. He's given me that gift of repentance.
I hate my sin. When the charge sheet is read
out, the ones without true faith go, ah, but, but, but, but, this,
that, and that excuse, and no. But the child of God goes, guilty. I confess. I'm guilty. There's
nothing I can say that every mouth may be stopped is what
it says in Romans. Every mouth may be stopped and
all the world become guilty. I'm guilty. I know I'm sinful. And then he gives me faith. And
he points me to the Lord Jesus Christ. And imagine the symbology
of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. You know, who's burdened with
sin, and he's conscious of sin, and he's weighed down, and he
knows he's in the city of destruction, in Vanity Fair. He knows all
of these things, and they think he's mad because he's got this
burden of sin. And then he comes to the cross
and he sees there a man crucified for him and that burden falls
off his back and in faith he looks to Christ who has dealt
with all of his sin. It's evidenced by repentance
and faith. Not by feeling good in yourself
that you're sufficiently sanctified but by knowing that you the sinner
have found a ransom As God said in his word, let him go free
for I have found a ransom and you know a ransom has been found
for your soul in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it leads to fruit,
it leads to fruit, it leads to the fruit of self-denial, denying
yourself, submitting to one another. And it's not that now I don't
sin, but I repent of sin. I flee from sin. I avoid it. I fall into it, but I hate it.
I seek righteousness. I seek graciousness. I seek charitable,
loving behavior to my brethren. And Paul has been exhorting this
fruitful living in chapters 4, 5, and now in chapter 6. Exhorting fruitful living in
behavior, in relationships, in a lifestyle that's consistent
with the grace of God. And we've looked at marriage,
and then briefly at families and work, and it's all about
self-control and spiritual awareness, speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord. He's been exhorting this fruitful
living. These things don't produce salvation. They're not the cause
of salvation, but they're essential evidence of salvation. Because
we're told earlier in chapter 5 not to be deceived. Look at
verses 5 and 6 of chapter 5. For this ye know, that no whoremonger,
and you can substitute any sins for these, because as James tells
us, he who thinks he's kept every single law in the word of God
but is guilty of one, is actually guilty of all. For this ye know
that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, because
that's actually idolatry, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain
words You know, this is true antinomianism, being deceived
with vain words, that you can believe yourself to have a part
with Christ, a saving part with Christ, and yet there be no fruit
of repentance or faith, or of that spirit of submissiveness
one to another, or of that quickness to confess that I am a sinner. No, he says, let no man deceive
you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath
of God upon the children of disobedience. Any who claims to have faith
without works, be not deceived, says Paul. Don't be there, don't
be deceived. You see, many think that they
are saved. Jesus tells us this in the Sermon
on the Mount. He says, many, many think that they are saved.
These are some of the most chilling words in the scripture to the
hypocrite. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, didn't we do this in your name? Didn't we do that
in your name? Haven't we done, haven't we done all of these
things in your name? And he will say to them, depart
from me. I never knew you, you workers
of iniquity. You see, depart from me. I never knew you. Many will think
that they're saved, but he will say that. Do you profess faith
in Christ? Do you profess an interest in
the kingdom of God? Do I? Do you have the strength
to maintain a credible profession? Because I'll tell you what, Satan's
objective is to rob you of that assurance. That's his objective,
is to take that assurance from you. Do you have faith? Do you
claim to have faith? Well, do you have the strength
to maintain a credible faith and profession in the face of
that satanic accusation? Will Satan be justly able to
say of you, you're an idolater, you're a covetous man, you're
deceived, all of these things prove that you're not real, you're
an unclean person, a whoremonger, and whatever else it might be.
And this is what Paul is dealing with now in chapter 6. He's talked
about all of these evidences. Now Satan's going to come and
try and rob you of assurance. He's going to come and try and
tell you that you're no better than those Israelites who made
a golden calf the moment that Moses' back was turned up the
mountain. He's going to come and tell you
that you're not fit to be a Christian because you don't match up to
any of these things. And so there's a threat to your
faith. And so I want to look at the threat and then I want
to look at the strength because I've called this message Strong
in the Lord. There it is in verse 10. Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his
might. What is the threat then that
we face? You say you have faith. You say you believe, as we've
already seen, even the devils say that they believe and they
tremble, knowing what they know. But you say you have faith. Well,
do you have a credible faith? Do you have any credible evidence
that you are truly Christ's child? And there's a threat to you having
that confidence and that assurance. And the threat comes in these
ways. Look in verse 12, verse 12. He says, for we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. Two threats I see there. You
see, although our text says we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, I think what is really behind the meaning of that, there's
a word only missing in our modern English rendering. I think what
he really means is And I'll tell you why in a moment. He really
means we wrestle not only against flesh and blood, though we certainly
do wrestle against flesh and blood, but also against principalities
and powers. And the reason I say that is
because of what he's written in other places about the weakness
of the flesh. You see, it's not only flesh
and blood that we wrestle against, but it definitely is flesh and
blood, because flesh and blood, the old man that you have with
you until the day you depart this life that old man will always
degenerate towards sin and that old man will always give you
evidence that you're not amongst the people of God and he will
always give ammunition to Satan to say look at them, look at
them, look at what failures they are You see there's a constant
conflict, we've seen that several times recently. Paul himself
says in Galatians chapter 5 and 17, he says that the flesh wars
against the spirit, two natures in the man of God, in the child
of God, two natures, the old flesh and the new spirit of God. And the one wars against the
other, they're in opposition to one another. And in Romans
7 he's much more explicit takes an entire chapter of Romans to
spell out how the old man does those things that the new man
doesn't want to do and vice versa. And the two are in conflict and
he finishes up that chapter by saying, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death? I thank God through Christ Jesus
my Lord. Flesh and blood there's constantly
conflict between the two. The camp of two armies as we
read in the Song of Solomon. What do I see in the Shulamite?
What do I see in the people of God? I see a camp of two armies.
The old man of the flesh and the new man of the spirit warring
against one another and the flesh will always be used by Satan
to try and Dent to try and damage your assurance that you are amongst
the people of God We need to understand this we need to understand
it clearly. We read earlier one John just
turn over there. I want to reinforce a couple
of verses in one John chapter 1 starting at verse 7 One John
chapter 1 starting at verse 7 and reading down to chapter 2 and
verse 1 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
this is the light of spiritual truth and knowledge and righteousness,
if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship
with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth
us from all sin. Now don't go saying you have
no sin because verse 8, if we say that we have no sin we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us but if we confess our sins
Let's not try to hide them. Not to a priest, we don't confess
them to a priest. Who do you confess them to? The
Lord Jesus Christ. Confess them to him. If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Why is he faithful and, notice
he's faithful and just. How can he be just? God cannot
God cannot excuse sin. God cannot sweep it under the
carpet. How can he be faithful and just? Because, verse 7, the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. His blood has
been shed. The legal penalty has been paid.
The price has been paid. He cleanses us from all unrighteousness,
and that's how he's faithful and just to do it. And if we
say we have not sinned, You know, the higher life living, you know,
I'm living such a holy life and so sanctified. If we say we have
not sinned, we make God a liar and his word is not in us. My
little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin
not. I'm writing these things that
ye flee from sin, is what John is saying. But, if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. Read on your bulletin the little
piece by Joe Terrell, The Advocate. Very, very simple, but very profound. Think about it. Meditate upon
it. Think about that court of law of divine justice. And think
about that situation where all that would condemn you is a raid
against you. but see by faith that for the
child of God, for his people, our Lord Jesus Christ sits there,
stands there as the defense advocate. We have an advocate with the
Father who says, all of these things may be true, but look,
they've been paid for, the debt has been cleared, let them go
free. I have found a ransom, let them go free. There's the
first threat, the first threat of the flesh, flesh and blood,
flesh and blood. conspires to bring us down, to
rob us of our assurance and Satan uses these things. But then worse,
much worse. Look in verse 11, put on the
whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against. Now
here come the threats, the wiles of the devil, the schemes of
the devil, the subtle plans of the devil. And then in verse
12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against,
here we go, principalities. against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places. The picture there is of a spiritual
reality which is opposition to the people of God, the wiles
of the devil, A sort of a hierarchy is what is portrayed here. A hierarchy of spiritual evil. Evil spirits that are seeking
the downfall and the condemnation. of the people of God. The loss
of salvation of the people of God. And they're rulers of the
darkness of the world. They're high-ranking in spiritual
wickedness, in opposition to the grace of God, is what it
says. If you turn back to Ephesians 2 and verse 2, Satan himself,
and anybody that says you're talking myths and legends if
you believe in devils, the scriptures believe in a devil, I think you'll
agree. There's no doubt in the scriptures
that there is a devil. Look in verse 2 of chapter 2,
the spirit, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. The prince of
the power of the air. As far as Paul was concerned,
Satan, the devil, is real. A real evil spirit. And this
is the other one of the threats that comes against the people
of God. He's subtle. And all of his legions of devils
are subtle. They're all subtle in the way
that they come to the people of God. We read a lot about scams,
of the way that people try to cheat, especially old people,
of their money by coming to them with a deal that sounds too good
to be true, and looking for people who are gullible enough to believe
them. Well, Satan is the father of all lies. He's the best scammer
of them all. Think right back to the Garden
of Eden, where Satan came to Eve and said, has God really
said? You know, just, not full on attack,
but a seed of doubt. Has God really said that? Is
that really the case? Oh, seed of doubt. You see? He's very subtle. He's very scheming. He's the prince of all false
teaching. We read in 2 Corinthians 11 and
verse 14 about false teachers, about those who were coming and
opposing The teaching of the Apostle Paul. False teachers.
We've still got plenty of them in our day. They don't ever go
away. We need to be aware of them.
We're told constantly to be on the lookout. Pastors and teachers
and preachers are told to warn the people of God about wolves
in sheep's clothing who will come and strip them of their
assurance. and be aware of them and watch
out for them. That's why you hear me going
on so much about fullerism in its modern day manifestations
because we need to be aware of it and not be sucked in by it.
It's a great pernicious evil. Things and organizations that
stood squarely for the truth of God 25 years ago today are
utterly compromised with those errors and it's because Satan
is so subtle. that he comes, it says there
in 2nd Corinthians 11 and 14 he says don't be surprised that
there are all these false teachers who try to make out that they
are the apostles of Christ when they're not really because they're
scam, they're false he says no wonder he says no don't be surprised
at all even Satan appears as what? a terribly fearsome, terrifying,
horrible spirit that you're going to be terrified of and run...
No, no, no, no, no. Satan comes and appears as an
angel of light. Did you hear that? As an angel
of light. That's how subtle he is. J.C. Philpott said this, Satan's threat
is not so much open violence, but rather secret craft. That's
the threat that we face. that's a threat and all of this
plots and schemes to rob us of our insurance to sow doubt that
we be amongst those who are the children of God who have faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ and so in the face of that Paul says
this this is this is how this links to all of this practical
stuff that we've been looking at in verse 10 be strong in the
Lord and in the power of his might and put on the whole armor
of God and what I see here is a threefold strength. There's
a threefold strength that we have, and we have to infer some
of it, and the armor of God is very open and explicit. We're
to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. You
see, the strength to resist the threats, remember the threats
were the flesh and blood which was being used by Satan to take
away our assurance. And all of the satanic powers
that will come and trick us and delude us into walking out on
Christ. The strength to resist that is
what this scripture says is in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord
and the power of his might, not in yourself. Many teach obedience
to law in our day, sanctification through legal obedience. They
talk about the law being the believer's rule of life. And
they say, this is the way to be strong. You will be strong
if you rustle up all of this extra sanctification for yourself.
And that will make you strong. No, it says, be strong in the
Lord and the power of His might. Not in your own strength. You
see, what they say is this. They say, how do you measure
up against the rule of life? To see whether you're strong
in the Lord. How do you measure up? Have you kept a good Sabbath
day recently? How's your Sabbath day been?
Have you kept a good Sabbath day? Well if you're going to
go down that road you ought to start asking when is the real
Sabbath day if there is a Sabbath day in our day and you ought
to look at not your interpretation of the law of the Sabbath day
but the scriptural requirements for the Old Testament law of
the Sabbath day. And if you see anybody picking
up sticks on your Sabbath day you better pick up stones and
start casting them at them. Otherwise, your Sabbath day is
a complete and utter sham, however holy you think you're being in
doing it. Or, have you strictly tithed
your income? 10% of everything, and given
it to the church. Have you strictly done that?
Oh, these people are antinomians, they don't tithe their money.
The true people of God give what is necessary when God prompts
them to give what is necessary. And tenths have got nothing to
do with it. Nothing at all. Have you abstained? You see,
when I first made a profession of Arminian faith, there was
only one thing with two aspects that marked you out from everybody
else. This showed that you were a true
Christian. You didn't drink alcohol and you didn't smoke tobacco.
Simple as that. That was it. Absolutely. You
didn't drink alcohol and you didn't smoke tobacco. You see,
you were marked as either a Christian or not as to whether you drunk
alcohol and smoked tobacco or not. And then there are all the
ones about abstaining from certain foods and television, when you
can and when you can't watch television and so on and so forth.
I don't, I don't, you know, we're warned of being judgmental to
weaker brethren who have scruples about certain things in some
areas and in others, but take account of the fact that there's
a lot of what used to be called regional sanctification. I don't
know whether that's a good term, but I think we know what it means.
It varies from place to place. There are states in the southern
half of the United States of America where, I don't know if
it's still the case now, but very recently, not very long
ago, it was almost against the law not to smoke tobacco because
it was such a staple of the local economy. But they make these
rules and regulations. And do you know what it leads
to? That form of measuring your strength, that form of measuring
your strength by your own sanctification, it leads to one of two things.
It leads to an awful lot of hypocrisy of those who strut around and
think they're living such lovely sanctified lives and how good
is going to be their reward when they get to heaven because of
all the tithing and all the other things that they've done and
the Sabbath keeping that they've done. It's either going to lead
to a lot of hypocrisy or in those that are truly God's children
and who are warring with sin in the flesh it will lead to
despair. as to how can I ever match up
to the requirements. No, it's not be strong in yourself
and your own sanctification, but be strong in the Lord. That's
what the scripture says. Strong in the Lord. The strength
to resist the subtle attacks of Satan lies in the Lord. Isn't that the case with salvation
itself? You know, in Isaiah 45 and verse
22, God says this to his people, Look unto me, all ye ends of
the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is no other.
Look unto me, not unto yourself. This is the message of scripture.
Now here are three aspects to this strength. First one here,
how can I be strong in the Lord in the face of these attacks
which are going to seek to rob me of my assurance? The first
one is this, that Christ keeps his people. I know it's inferred,
it's not explicitly here, but be strong in the Lord because
know this, Christ keeps his people. Now there's a foundation for
strength, isn't there? How's Satan going to take your
salvation from you? Christ keeps his people. You
don't keep yourself. Be strong in the Lord. He's promised
he's going to keep his people. In Psalm 89 and verse 29 we read,
his seed also will I make to endure forever. And then in verse
33, nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from
him. That's a promise of God back in the Psalms. that God
will never lose his people. He will always keep his believing
people. And then explicitly in John's
Gospel, Jesus says this in chapter 10 and verses 28 and 29, I give
unto them eternal life, his people, those whom the Father had given
to the Son before the beginning of time. I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man, and no devil, and no Satan is
able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." Now then, be
strong in the Lord. Be strong in the assurance that
God will not lose one of his people. It's not up to you. It's
not down to your ability to sanctify yourself, it's down to Him. For
He's promised, if He's given you repentance and faith, you're
His child, He will not lose you. He's given you that strength.
In John 17 and verse 11, Jesus prays to his Father. Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me. And
in verse 24 of that same chapter, Father, I will, and if Christ
wills, it will be done, for he does all his holy will. I will
that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am,
that they may behold my glory. Child of God, Christ has prayed
to his Father for you. The God-man has prayed his father
for you. He will not lose you. He will
keep you for all eternity. Death will take away your flesh
and bring your life to an end, but Christ will preserve his
people. He's prayed for you. You know
Christ prays to his father. He said of Peter, he said to
Peter in Luke 22, he said, Peter, Satan has desired to sift you. Satan's desired to have you,
but Jesus said this. These are remarkable words. He
says, but I have prayed my father for you. I've prayed for you,
and you'll be preserved. I've prayed for you, Peter. Christ
prays for his people. Christ has done all to keep his
people. The second thing, be strong in
the Lord. How are you going to defeat Satan? How are you going to have the
mastery over Satan? in Christ, because Christ has
had the mastery over Satan. Christ has mortally wounded Satan. Christ has totally disarmed Satan. He's made his threats just empty
threats. In Hebrews chapter 2 and verse
14, just turn over there and look at this scripture, Hebrews
chapter 2 and verse 14. we read this for as much then
as the children that's his people are partakers of flesh and blood
you and me if we're the children of God we still have flesh and
blood as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood
he also himself our God himself likewise took part of the same
took part of flesh and blood he became a man that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil. Through Christ's death, he's
destroyed the power of him who has the power of death, that
is, Satan. He's destroyed him through his
death, through the very thing where Satan thought he'd finally
triumphed over the Son of God. In that very moment, he was totally
and utterly disarmed. For Christ a body was prepared,
we read that in the Psalms, a body was prepared and then a body
was broken for us and we in him that sin might be punished. And
then he was raised from the dead to newness of life that his people
might be raised to newness of life in him and Satan was disarmed. All of Satan's accusations were
found groundless Because true though they were, they've all
been paid for. And this is why this is a reminder when we break
bread and drink wine, we're remembering the fact that our salvation is
not some airy-fairy metaphorical thing, it's an absolutely solid
thing. The Son of God, God himself became
flesh that he might destroy him that had the power of death,
the devil. Because in him Sin was punished. He made him who knew no sin to
be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. And so the sin debt was paid, the price for the sins
of his people was paid in full at the cross of Calvary. But
he didn't stay dead. He was raised to newness of life
and his people in him. And so therefore Satan is totally
disarmed. for there is a people who will
be in glory behold I and the children whom he has given me
that's the verse just before the one that we read in Hebrews
2.14 behold I and the children whom he has given me Satan has
been disarmed so that I know I quoted often Romans 8.33 who
then can bring any charge against God's elect Christ has died redemption's
price has been paid precious blood has been shed and we remember
it in communion bread and wine we read in Matthew chapter 12
Jesus said there about spoiling the strong man's house ruining
the strong man's house and the strong man is the prince of the
power of this world the prince of the air the one who governs
this world in that sort of sense and he says how is he going to
enter the strong man's house and spoil his goods except he
first bind the strong man and Christ came and in his death
on the cross and his resurrection he has bound the strong man he
has bound Satan and he will spoil his house Christ became flesh
he resisted the devil the devil came to him to tempt him Matthew
chapter four all those temptations and we in him with union with
Christ we were in him And so all things were done that were
necessary to defeat Satan on the behalf of his people. So
that now you say well who carries the work on? You know some people
say the devil's dead and gone but who carries the work on?
Well yes but he's on a lead. He's on a lead of God's determining. God determines how long that
lead will be. And so we're told in Psalm 23
that we walk through the valley of the shadow of death yet he
is with us. And you read in Pilgrim's Progress
that picture of Pilgrim going through that narrow, narrow place
with roaring lions on each side. And a terrifying prospect it
was and yet he walked straight down the middle and the chains
were just long enough so that although they were a threat they
couldn't actually get him. That's lovely symbology of what
God has done. Because Christ has mortally wounded
Satan. We read in Colossians 2.15, having
spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them in it. He led them in humiliating bondage. This one Satan whom we wrestle
with, he's already defeated. Be strong in the Lord for he's
already defeated. He's already defeated him. will
be kept by our God. Our enemy is mortally wounded.
He's stripped of his power over God's elect. But there's more
than that, and I'm only going to mention it because our time
has gone. But here's the third one, and
we'll come back to this and look at it in more detail next time,
which will be in three weeks. And it's this. Take unto you
the whole armour of God, verse 13. You see, three things. Know
that Christ keeps his people. Know that Christ has mortally
wounded Satan. But the battle goes on day to
day. And the storms of this life come day to day. So put on this
armor. For God has provided armor. And
we'll look at it in much more detail. Satan fights on, prowling
as a lion. Okay, on a leash that is determined
in length by God. He's seeking whom he can destroy.
But verse 13, there is the armor, take it and wear it, for God
has given armor. He's given armor, loins girt
about with truth, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace, the shield of faith wherewith you'll be able to withstand.
and quench all the fiery darts of the wicked that will come
your way, the helmet of salvation on your head, the sword of the
Spirit of God which is the Word of God in your hand, praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. See, all these
things are for that daily practical walk with God. This is for practical
living now. All around protection from attack,
from the fiery darts of Satan. Be strong in the Lord and in
the power of his might. Be strong in this, knowing that
Christ keeps his people, that Christ has disarmed our enemy,
that Christ has given armor for this part of the journey before
we come to glory. Amen.