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Ephesians 6:10-24 - Stand and keep standing

13 March 2011

Worship – Ben Johnson

Introduction

In the last while I’ve seen two movies about American soldiers in the war in Iraq. In The
Hurt Locker, the movie featured a leader of a bomb squad. They get called out to diffuse
explosives that have been set up, mostly in public places, in cars, buildings, under ground
and even on the bodies of both dead and living people. For his job he wears a special
bomb suit that looks a bit like deep-sea diving outfit. It is like working in an oven in the
Middle Eastern heat, and it seriously limits movement, but is designed to give him the
best possible protection and a chance of survival in the case of a bomb going off while he
works at diffusing it.

In the movie The Green Zone, Matt Damon plays the role of the leader of a squad that
moves into highly volatile situations to clear areas in Bagdad that are suspected to house
weapons of mass destruction. These locations are often filled with angry, looting crowds,
guarded by snipers and are likely to be booby trapped. They need to be as protected as
possible but very mobile, and as they work as close teams in very noisy, high pressure
fast moving situations, their communications need to be beyond question. In contact
situations there is a great sense of urgency. There is no time to repeat instructions. Their
equally high-tech uniforms look decidedly different to that of the bomb diffuser.
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One of the themes we recognised as we’ve been studying the book of Ephesians is the
perspective that we are living in a war-zone, and that the war is not against other people
but against evil spiritual beings in the spiritual realm. Sometimes we will find Christians
who are very uncomfortable in talking about these things. NT Wright writes that he
“noticed, over the years, that the topic of spiritual warfare is itself a topic of spiritual
warfare.”1 The gospels describe dealing with the demonic realm as an integral part of
Jesus’ ministry.

In the first part of Ephesians Paul provides the bigger perspective of this battle. Its
outcome has already been fixed, with absolutely all things in both the material and
spiritual realms of creation coming together under Christ’s headship. He then goes on to
explain the role of the Church in this outcome of history; in God’s kingdom coming. The
second half of the book is dedicated to how we are to engage – how are we to play our
part faithfully as “children of light”. In today’s section of our study we’ll look at the
spiritual uniform that is tailor-made for the hostile contact we will certainly encounter in
the war zone we are living in. Whether we recognise it or not, we also live in a reality
that requires a great sense of urgency – a real battle where there are real risk, real
victories and real casualties.

Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making
the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” Eph 5:15

Reading – Eph 6:10-24

Study (Using NIV)

:10
• This command reminds of Deut 31 where God commands Joshua to be strong and
courageous against the odds on the grounds that God is with him. There is an
important paradox however to be seen. We are called to be strong but it is clear that
we cannot rely on our own strength to be that. We must “be strong in the Lord and
in his mighty power.” This thought sets the tone for the whole passage that is to
follow. Let’s think of it as a theme to run through the verses relating to warfare and
armour.

:11
• When Paul writes about spiritual armour he is not introducing an unfamiliar concept.

Read: Isa 11:4-5, 49:2, 52:7, 59:17. In donning this battle gear we are following in
the footsteps of Jesus who found need for it himself.

Wearing armour is not for display purposes. The rationale for having to wear
armour is firstly that there is a devil, and secondly, he has schemes. We are also

1
Tom Wright, 2002, Paul for Everyone; The Prison Letters, p73
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instructed to wear the full armour. If a medieval knight entered a battle wearing his
full armour – all except his helmet – which is the part of his body that will attract the
most attention?

:12
• This is one of those verses in the Bible that is radically important for us to
understand the universe we live in. It provides a basis for spiritual warfare. How
radically different our lives would have been if this bit of information was not given.
We also find it spoken of in 2Cor 10:3-5. Jesus instructed us not to live with an “eye
for an eye” mentality, but to love our enemies and to bless them. How would that be
possible if the foundational personality of the antichrist was found in people? The
foundation for human value is that each individual - born or unborn, whole or
broken, useful or useless, good or evil – is made in the image of God. We are called
not only to value each person, but to love them. This would be impossible if our
battle was aimed against them.

Some people attempt to figure out how the hostile hierarchies in the spiritual realm
work, and I suppose there can be value in that. I however don’t want to focus on
that. What is real important to see from the vocabulary used in describing these evil
entities is that they have the means to influence what happens on earth, words like
rulers, authorities, powers and forces. That means that they are able to assert their
wills. They can make stuff happen. To ignore them is like a Zimbabwean
attempting to ignore Mugabe’s influence in Zimbabwe. They are powerful, and part
of the reason that we are called to stand in the mighty power of God is that they are
more powerful than us. We are not able to resist them in our own strength, but in
Christ, they are already defeated, and they know it.

:13
• Because of the presence and activity of these beings, and because of the magnitude
of their power and our consequent vulnerability, we need protection. This comes in
the form of spiritual armour. In every one of our lives there will be days of evil,
times when we are under assault by these hostile forces. They will oppose the
gospel and its fruit in any way they possibly can. They will come to distract or
depress, to blow off course by false teaching or temptation. They will motivate
disobedient people to oppose us or to bring destruction and loss in our lives. They
will come to lure us to invest time, energy and resources on irrelevant side issues or
to become fascinated by distorted teaching. They will come with ungodly offers of
money, sex and power. These and other things are coming in various forms to each
one of us, but the good news is that the armour at our disposal is sufficient to protect
us. The critical element is for us to actually wear it.

Paul urges us to stand our ground, but then, once we finished what was ours to do, to
still be standing. The implication, I think, is that it is possible for Christians to loose
the ground they had won in the course of the battle. We have all seen people like
that, growing up together with us in the Lord, but somehow they don’t come out the
other side with their faith in tact. Or some who managed to keep their faith, but they
retreated into a privatised form of spirituality, their influence for God’s kingdom
essentially being neutralised. Some are lured away by other attractions. Some
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become proud. We are all vulnerable to attack in one form or the other.

:14-17
• The belt of truth: “The primary thing about the Christian message is that it is true.
If it isn’t, it is meaningless. Never give up on the sheer truth of the gospel. It is the
belt that holds everything together.2 It is the means by which we interpret and
understand the universe.

A belt also relates to our dignity – it’s the important little accessory that keeps your
pants in its place. Truth is like that. Not only should we tell the truth, we should
also live the truth that we confess. There should be coherence and integrity between
what we believe and proclaim and what we live – both publically and privately. For
our failings – and we will fail – God has provided us with the gifts of confession and
forgiveness. Otherwise, if there is a lack of truth in our lives, it may happen that we
get caught with our pants around our ankles.

• The breastplate of righteousness: The breastplate is the article that protects the
heart. In one sense, the knowledge that we are justified and righteous before God in
the light of our salvation is what gives peace to our hearts. In another sense we have
a deep confidence if we know that our lives increasingly demonstrate righteousness.

What is represented by ‘the heart’? Read Rom 10:10, Prov 4:23. The heart is the
wellspring of our passion, motivation, our inner strength and our joy. It is also the
seat of real relationship. It is the place from which we love. What would life be
with a heart that has been so distorted and damaged that it’s been closed up? “Our
success in the spiritual life depends on maintaining a right relationship with both
God and man.”3 For us to stand in the battle and to keep standing, our hearts need to
be protected. We need breastplates.

• Feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. It is a bit hard
to think about this one as a defensive weapon, and people interpret it in different
ways. One important element we can glean from the imagery is that we need to be
willing to go at the Lord’s command. To refuse God’s call – in our personal and
family lives, in our places of work and play – is to put ourselves in harms way, a bit
perhaps like Jonah. Our willingness to move at God’s command – like Abraham did
- is an attitude that will protect us and produce results in establishing God’s kingdom
on earth.

Another element to note is that the gospel spoken of here is one of peace. First and
foremost, it makes peace possible between Holy God and sinful people. On top of
that, although it can bring division in families and communities, the gospel draws
diverse peoples together into one united family.

2
Thoughts from NT Wright, p74
3
Derek Prince, 2006, Rule of Engagement, p158
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• The shield of faith. Our firm and deep-seated belief in Jesus Christ our risen Lord
and in the fact that he holds all of creation and history and me and my family in the
palm of his hand will protect us when the enemy comes at us with flaming arrows.
Flaming arrows are not only designed to wound but also to set on fire. Whatever the
form of the attack may be – doubt or depression, terrible circumstances, severe
temptation or unrelenting disappointment – faith can oppose these realities by
confronting them with the higher reality - the truth of the gospel and its implications.

• The helmet of salvation. If the breastplate protects our hearts, the helmet protects
our minds. So much time in Ephesians is dedicated to emphasising the importance
of our understanding and right thinking. If our thinking, our understanding and our
reasoning is faulty, chances are that we can be at risk. That is why the book of
Ephesians was written, that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened that we may
know what we should know. Saved people must start thinking differently, “no
longer as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking and with darkened
understanding and sensitivity, but made new in the attitude of their minds.” Now
this thinking needs protection.

Furthermore, 1Thes 5:8 speaks of the helmet as “the hope of salvation”. Derek
Prince explains that this hope speaks of an attitude of the mind – an attitude of
optimism rather than pessimism. Our salvation includes justification (an event) and
sanctification (a process). Our hope is that God will accomplish in and through our
lives what He set out to do, and we are to use Scripture to bolster and strengthen this
hope (Phil 1:6). This godly hope helps us not to give up on ourselves.

• The sword of the Spirit, the word of God. The Bible contains rich imagery of
Jesus, the Word become flesh, with a potent and dangerous sword coming out of his
mouth (Read Rev 19:11-6). We, as followers of Jesus, must also learn to use God’s
living word. It should be easy and comfortable in our mouths, not unfamiliar. We
should learn to use it, like Jesus, to great effect.

• Prayer. The overlooked weapon. God arranged his universe in such a way that
when his children pray, stuff happens. However, the inverse is necessarily true as
well. If they don’t pray, that which is supposed to happen does not. Prayer is a great
privilege, a great responsibility and actually also hard work. It takes discipline. We
are told to pray “with all kinds of prayers and requests.” These would include not
only the intimate talking to God in our quiet times, but also intercession, petitioning,
spiritual warfare, giving thanks and more. Prayer is mysterious, but somehow it
makes the way in the spirit for things to happen as God intends.

In a moving little detail at the end of the book, Paul asks these people to pray for
him. Through the book he prays for his readers, and he gives account of how he
regularly and passionately prays for them. Now he ends by asking for prayer. We
all need one another. It is one of the keys of true unity, of true Christian community.

So for us to stand our ground and to remain standing to the very end, we need to:
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1. Speak and live truth

2. Grow in God’s righteousness
3. Be willing to move at God’s command
4. Live with great, active faith
5. Be deliberate in how and what we allow ourselves to think
6. Know God’s word and know how to use it
7. Be bold and faithful in prayer

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