It is only at Calvary that a
burdened soul finds liberty at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That hymn is one of my favorites. It has so, so well written, I
believe, at Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Grace is always free. It's not
grace if it's not free. Unmerited favor. Let us turn
tonight again to Ephesians chapter six. We're looking at the last section
of this letter, beginning with verse 10. Finally, my brethren,
Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on
the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil. 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. Wherefore, take unto you the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having
your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate
of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked. and take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching there
unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Last week, we looked at two things
in verses 10 and 11. The two things that we looked
at were the Christian strength and his enemy. The child of God's
strength is his Lord and Savior. Be strong in the Lord. One of the common emblems to
show forth the strength of the Lord in the Old Testament is
the emblem of a rock. a rock which pictures the strength
of the Lord God. The Song of Moses, as recorded
in the last few chapters of Deuteronomy, begins, ascribe you greatness
unto our God. He is the rock. His work is perfect. Ascribe ye greatness unto our
God. He is the rock. His work is perfect. And you know the song which they
sang as they crossed over the Red Sea. It begins by singing
of the strength of the Lord, that the Lord is our strength,
or our Lord is our strength. Martin Luther expressed this
in that song that we sometimes sing, a mighty fortress is our
God, a bulwark never failing. But the second verse goes like
this. Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing. We're not the right man on our
side, the man of God's own choosing. Thus asked who that may be, Christ
Jesus, it is he. The believer's strength, and
we need strength as we live in this world. All of us need spiritual
strength. Be strong in the Lord and in
the power of His might. How are we to have that strength? That strength which we know that
is in Him. But how does that help us? The fact that He is full of strength,
but how do we receive that strength? How does that help us as we live
in this world? Well, we should first of all
read and hear about the Lord, about Him and His strength. And
we should meditate on the fact that He is our strength and the
fact that we are in union with Him. We are one with Christ. And so his strength becomes our
strength. We should meditate upon this
truth and we should pray and ask the Lord to give us strength. I noticed the Apostle Peter in
the closing chapter of the first letter that he wrote. He said,
but the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus after you have suffered a while make you
perfect establish, strengthen, settle you, strengthen you. Peter prayed that God would strengthen
these believers. And we should pray and ask the
Lord to strengthen us, to strengthen us. That strength that is in
him, and we all know he is strong. We don't doubt that. We don't
question that. We see that giant rock and we
know how strong that rock is. And we know that's nothing in
comparison to the Lord our God. But we should meditate on the
fact that that strength that is in Him is given unto us. And that's the reason the Apostle
Paul could write and say, I can do all things through Christ,
which strengtheneth me. We can do all things through
Christ, which strengtheneth me. We must rely upon Him and receive
from Him that strength that is in Him. So the first thing we
saw last time is the child of God's strength. Be you strong
in the Lord. We have no strength in ourselves,
not spiritually. Our Lord said, without me, you
can do nothing. We are absolutely dependent upon
Him for the strength we need. as we would live for His glory
as we walk through this world. The second thing that we saw
last week is the child of God's enemy, that is the devil. And
we looked at the walls, the walls of the devil and what that means.
You know, the first time in the Bible that we see Satan mentioned
is there in Genesis chapter 3 and he appeared to Adam and Eve as
a serpent and the Word of God tells us there that a serpent
which is more subtle than any beast and right there in the
very beginning the first mention the law first mentioned in the
Word of God reveals unto us that our enemy is very subtle, the
walls of the devil. Very seldom are you going to
face him or encounter him and do business with him face to
face. That's not the way he works. No, he comes from behind and
he sets traps. And as I pointed out last week,
an example that was given is a man is walking along his path
and from behind, from behind, he is accosted by thieves, by
enemies, all of a sudden. And that's the way Satan works.
I like to think of him as a serpent. As a serpent, sly, subtle, and
as we walk through the woods, we don't see him, but quickly,
the serpent, the snake, he strikes. It strikes and it's poison is
put into our bodies if he is a poisonous snake. The walls
of Satan. So we looked at those two things,
the believer's strength, the Lord God, the believer's enemy,
and that is Satan. Well, tonight I want to call
our attention to three truths that stand out to me At least
they stand out to me in verses 11 and 12. First, the repetition
of the word stand, stand. We say the word stand two times
and withstand one time in these two verses, verses 11 and 12. Put on the whole armor of God
that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
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. Wherefore, take
unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand, the repetition
of the word stand. Now, this passage, of course,
deals with believers, with God's children, as soldiers, as soldiers. And that's what we are. We're
not only children in the Word of God, we are the children of
God, but we are also in the army of God. We are the soldiers,
as this passage of scripture speaks to us of. When you think
of a soldier, it matters not whether he's on offense or defense,
he's going to be standing, right? He's not going to be sitting
in an easy chair if he's on offense or if he's on defense. And so
the admonition to all believers is, that we are to take the whole
armor of God that we may be able to stand. I want you to turn
back with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 16. 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse
13. As the apostle closes this first
letter of Corinthians to the church at Corinth, Verse 13,
he says, watch you, stand fast in the faith. Quit you like men,
be strong. Quit you like men, be strong. Matthew Henry commented that
a good soldier, a good soldier must be stout hearted. And he
went on to say, let a soldier be ever so well armed without. Let him have all of this armor
on the outside. Let him be ever so well armed
without. If he have not within a good
heart, his armor will stand him in little stead. So the admonition
is, watch therefore. Quit you like men. Be strong
in the Lord. How are we to stand? Well, in
verse 11, the apostle, back in our text, how are we to stand?
The apostle tells us that it is in putting on the whole armor
of God. Notice that in verse 11. Put on the whole armor of God
that in order that you may be able to stand against the walls
of the devil. And verse 13, wherefore take
unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand. We see that word, it's prominent
here. And as soldiers, we are to stand. Stand. And how are we to stand? By putting on the whole armor
of God. If we fail to do that, most likely,
we're not going to stand. The second thing that I see here
is the enemy with whom God's children are engaged. In verse
12, we read of, 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. You notice Paul begins by saying
that it is not against flesh and blood that we wrestle, that
our warfare is not with flesh and blood. But the writers all
mention that he's not saying that believers do not have enemies
and do not suffer because of men, flesh and blood, that men
do oppress, men do a war against the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You know, the Christian life
is a warfare. And you've often heard this or
read this, I'm sure, but the blood of the martyrs is the seed
of the church. And the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ has been persecuted by men. by men. So when he says we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, he's not saying that our enemies,
those that would oppress us and do us harm, are not men, because
they are. But some of them are, at least.
Paul uses the Olympian games, the Greek Olympian games here,
as he did in 1 Corinthians 9. And his readers, those to whom
he was writing, they would have been very familiar with these
games. And in those games, we know for
sure there were runners. Now in the Olympics today, they
have a number of different contests, don't they? They have a number
of different contests that people compete. But we know from the
word of God, at least, that these two events were in those games,
and that is racing, running. and also wrestling or boxing
maybe. And Paul tells us there in 1
Corinthians chapter 9 that those people that entered into those
games, they were all striving to win because only the winner
was crowned. They were all striving to win
and they were striving for a corruptible crown, rather. They were all
striving for a corruptible crown. Now, from what I've read, It
was a crown made out of some kind of ivy or some green plant
of something like that. It certainly wasn't anything
like Olympic gold medals that we think of today. But it was,
after everything is said and done, it was a corruptible crown. Now the Christian life is not
a game. Those were games that they competed
in. But living for Christ and serving
Christ, being a child of God, is not a game. We're not playing
at church. It's not a game. And the crown
that we desire, that we run for, that we fight for, is not a corruptible
crown, but it is an incorruptible crown, even eternal life. But notice he breaks this down
into principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world. Now most of the writers, most
of the commentators believe that this shows that there is a certain
order or hierarchy among the fallen angels with the devil
at the top. But underneath him, different
ranks, different powers of fallen angels. Look back here in Ephesians
chapter one. Ephesians chapter one, beginning
with verse 18. Paul is praying here for the
believers. this last part of his prayer
in verse 18, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and
what is exceeding greatness of his power to us were to believe
according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places." Now notice, notice verse
21, far above. He said it, he's seated at the
father's right hand far above all principality and power and
might and dominion. So we see that obviously there
is ranks among the angels, fallen angels, yes, and good angels,
those that did not fall. But the point that Paul is making
is here that Christ is above all. He's seated at the Father's
right hand, and He's above all the ranks of angels, the principalities,
the powers, the might, whatever they might be. He hath put all
things under his feet, that is Christ, all things are put under
his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the
church, to the church. In other words, he is ordering
all things for the good of the church, for the calling out of
his people, the saving of his chosen people, which is his body. the fullness
of him that filleth all in all." Now back in the text here, when
Paul says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities and against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. I think we should understand
this, all of these things here, as what Paul in Colossians called
the power of darkness. He says, giving thanks unto the
Father who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, having translated us from the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of his dear So all of these ranks,
principalities, powers, rulers, all of these things that are
mentioned here would be included, I'm convinced, in this power
of darkness, this kingdom of darkness. You know, darkness
is an emblem. It's an emblem of sin. And this
is Satan's kingdom, a kingdom of darkness, a kingdom of sin,
a kingdom of error, a kingdom of misery, and a kingdom of death. That's his kingdom. We've been
translated from that kingdom of darkness into the kingdom
of God's dear son. His kingdom is a kingdom of light
and light is an emblem also. but not of those things that
darkness, darkness is an emblem of sin and error and misery and
death, but light is an emblem of righteousness, truth, peace,
joy, and life. That's the kingdom in which we're
in, but we wrestle against this kingdom of darkness. A Christian's warfare then, the
Christians' warfare, should say, will be with the portions of
this kingdom, that kingdom of darkness, to which we come in
contact. When a believer comes in contact
with this kingdom of darkness, that's the kingdom against which
we wrestle. Albert Barnes, he listed five
areas in which we as God's children come in contact. with the kingdom
of darkness. Number one, to our own sinful
propensities. Our own sinful propensities. In other words, the flesh, the
old man. That's all part of that kingdom
of darkness. And the flesh is not going to
improve. Now I know there are people who
teach that believers, you know, they get better and better and
more holy and more holies. as they live, but that's just
not so. That's not my testimony. Is it
yours? What I found as time has gone
by, I see my depravity more, my sin more today than I ever
have. We don't grow the flesh. Our
Lord said that which is born of the flesh is flesh. It's sinful,
it's evil, it's wicked, and it's not going to improve. But that
which is born of the Spirit, that's the new man. Then we are
to subdue and we are to mortify the deeds of the flesh, the deeds
of the body. So when we come in contact with
the kingdom of darkness, number one, our own sinful propensities. We're to do warfare. The second
thing, with the evil passions of others. Their pride, ambition,
spirit of revenge, which are also a part of that kingdom. We're to do warfare with that,
with the pride and the ambition and the spirit of revenge. Number three, with the evil customs,
laws, opinions, employments, pleasures of the world, which
are also a part of that dark kingdom. And number four, with
error, superstitions, false doctrine, which are a part of that kingdom
of darkness. And number five, lastly, with
the wickedness of the pagan world, the sins of the benighted nations,
also a part of that kingdom. Then with these words, he concluded,
Albert Barnes did, whenever, whenever we come in contact with
evil, with evil. And yes, there is evil, isn't
there? There's evil in this world because there are evil individuals.
Whenever we come in contact with evil, whether in our own hearts
or elsewhere, there, there we are to make war. We're not just
to accept it and just make peace with it. No. we encounter evil,
there we are to make war. So first of all, the word stand,
and then second, we've looked at the enemies, now here's the
third, the last thing, the importance of putting on the whole armor
of God. You see in these three verses,
verse 11 and verse 13, Paul two times tells us, put on the whole
armor of God. He doesn't say just put on one
piece of this armor. Don't just put on the breastplate
of righteousness. Don't just take the shield of
faith. No, put on the whole armor of God. Every piece of this armor. And most of the writers believe
that Maybe Paul was actually in prison when he wrote this
letter. We know that's so. Maybe he was looking at one of
the Roman soldiers and he saw the armament that that Roman
soldier had on and he spiritualized every piece of that armor. And
so we are to put on the whole armor of God. Do you have a Bible
that has a marginal reading? Do you? I want you to look in
verse 13, Ephesians 6 in verse 13. Wherefore take unto you the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having, and I've got a little number there, do
you? And having done all to stand. And when I look in the margin
of my Bible, It tells me that it could be translated, and maybe
a better translation is overcome all, having done all. It says in the translation we
use, but in the marginal reading, it is overcome all. God's children are overcomers. We are overcomers. You know,
that verse that we use quite a bit, and we love to preach
from it, Matthew 121, for he shall save his people from, from,
from their sins. And that, we often say, is from
the penalty of sin, and yes, and from the power of sin also. And one day, thank God, from
the very presence of sin, but from the power of sin, God's
children Putting on the whole armor of God are overcomers. Overcome, have overcome all. You know, in 1 John and also
in the book of Revelation, we read that God's children overcome
the devil. That's who we've seen as our
main enemy, the wiles of the devil. But we are told in both
of those those places, 1 John and Revelation, that God's children
overcome. And how do we overcome? By the
blood of the Lamb. By the blood of the Lamb. And then turn with me in closing
to Romans chapter eight on this idea of believers being overcomers. In Romans chapter eight, Paul mentions what some people are called to go through, beginning
with verse 35. He said, Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress,
Persecution, famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, as it is
written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are
accounted as sheep for the slaughter, nay, in all these things." Notice
that, all these things. Persecution, persecution. Tribulation, distress, famine,
nakedness, peril, the sword, being put to death, nay, Paul
says, in all these things we are more than conquerors through
him that loved us. For I'm persuaded that neither
death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers, there's
those same order. that we see here in Ephesians,
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. God's people, we're soldiers,
but we must, we must put on the whole armor of God. And God willing, next time we'll
look at several pieces of this armor. I pray the Lord would
bless this word that's steady to all of us here this evening,
and encourage us and challenge us as soldiers, as soldiers to
fight the good fight, having done all to stand, to stand. All right, Bill, if you will,
let us sing a hymn in closing.