Be Strong in the Lord | Ephesians 6:10-17
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole of armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this 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.
Stand 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.
—Ephesians 6:10-17
The apostle Paul wants us to understand that we – all of us - are in a fierce spiritual battle. You may not have realized it. Or maybe you are very much aware of it. But we are all involved in a fierce spiritual battle. And the aim of this passage is to teach us how to win – not just survive – but win this spiritual battle. And the three points of my outline are 1) The Strength, 2) The Struggle, and 3) The Six pieces of armor. First,
The Strength
Paul starts right off in v. 10 instructing us what to do to win!
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole of armor of God.
—Ephesians 6:10
Paul doesn’t just say, “Be strong.” He says “Be strong in the LORD.” He doesn’t say, “Be strong in your strength.” He says, be strong “in the strength of his might.” And Paul doesn’t say, “Put on your own armor.” He says, “Put on the armor of God.”
So, Paul wants us to understand that we do not possess, in ourselves, the strength to win. We do not have armor sufficient to fight much less win. We’ve got nothing! What we need is the Lord’s the strength and the Lord’s armor which, and this is the great thing, which the Lord gives to us.
Let’s say that you’ve been experiencing some symptoms. You’ve had some discomfort, some pain, some unusual weakness, and maybe an occasional dizzy spell. And you put things off for a while, but eventually, you go and see a Dr. And you receive some unwelcome news. There’s a problem. And it’s more serious than you had thought. And you feel anxious. You’re anxious about the ailment. You’re anxious about the treatment. You’re anxious about the cost. You’re anxious about what it means for your employment, your family, your plans, your savings account. And you say to yourself, “Don’t be anxious. Anxiety is an expression of unbelief. So, stop. Stop being anxious.” Now, if that’s all you do, you are relying on your own strength. You’re trying to put on your own armor. And it’s not going to be enough. And that’s why Paul says, emphatically, “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God.” Why? Because of,
The Struggle
Why isn’t our own strength enough? Why do we need God’s strength and God’s armor? Paul tells in vv. 11-12,
Put on the whole of armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
—Ephesians 6:11-12
The reason we need to be strong in the Lord is because our struggle is against the devil who has schemes against us. You see, there is a real devil. There are spiritual forces of evil that a far more powerful than we are in ourselves. But here’s what is so important for us to understand. God is infinitely more powerful than the devil. The devil and the spiritual forces of evil – Oh they are far more powerful than we are in ourselves. But God is infinitely more powerful than the devil and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. That’s why Paul prays in Eph. 1:19 that the eyes of our hearts would be open to see and know –
What is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.
— Ephesians 1:19
Yes, there is a devil. Yes, there are demons. Yes, they are far more powerful that we are in ourselves. But there is no ceiling to the measure of the greatness of God’s power.
Now, Eph. 6:11 says, that the devil has schemes. That means that the devil has plans for you this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, and this coming week. The devil has plans by which he is hoping to turn your heart away from Jesus Christ. There are schemes in the devil’s mind by which he aims to turn your heart away from Jesus, undermine your trust in Jesus, diminish your love for Jesus this coming week. Maybe he’s scheming to bring to your mind, this afternoon, some sin you committed recently or even years ago. And as that sin comes to your mind, you begin to feel self-preservation, or shame. And that feeling of shame increases until you’re overwhelmed with discouragement. And you think – “How can I possibly be forgiven by God? How can I be free from that guilt? I can’t believe what I did.” And so, in despair, you gradually drift, or flat out walk away from fellowship with Jesus. Maybe that’s one of the devil’s schemes against you this afternoon or tonight.
Or maybe the devil’s scheme is to get you to love money so much that when a catastrophe hits and wipes out your savings – and all your financial resources – and your love of money causes you to despair over that loss. And you turn angry at the Lord, and harden your heart toward him, and walk away from fellowship with him. “If this is the way Jesus is going to treat me, then I’m not interested in him.”
The point is – there is a REAL STRUGGLE. The devil has real schemes against you – today, right now, this week – by which he aims to turn your heart away from Jesus Christ. And this struggle will not end as long as we are alive in this world. And this side of eternity, we cannot resist those schemes in our own strength, with our own armor. Why not? Look at v. 12 again.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
—Ephesians 6:12
The word “wrestle” is a very important word to understand. It’s a word describing hand to hand combat. Like two wrestlers grappling back and forth. Headlocks, throwing one another down, sweating, throwing punches, pummeling, bleeding, and fighting to the death. That’s the picture we should have in our minds when we read this word “wrestle.” This is no game.
And Paul says that our wrestling is NOT against flesh and blood. And what I believe Paul means is that our struggle is not merely against human thoughts, or our human weaknesses, or our human habits, or our human tendencies. Our struggle is NOT against the human patterns of our families of origin. If we were fighting that, then maybe our own strength could potentially prevail. But we’re not wrestling against flesh and blood. We’re wrestling against – just look at this list. “Rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Paul wants us to tremble at what we are up against. But more than sober us – Paul’s long and appropriately intimidating list is so that we will be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
So, we’re not wrestling with our own thoughts, or weaknesses, or personality or bad habits. We’re wrestling against demonic, spiritual powers that are much stronger than we are. I picture it like this. A couple months ago Laurie and I had the joy and privilege of visiting Rome, Italy. And we were able to go into the coliseum – the massive stadium where tens of thousands of people would go – like people go to NFL stadiums to watch professional football – they would go to the coliseum to watch gladiators fight and kill each another. So, picture it like this – every day we’re in a gladiator ring – on that stadium floor – and in front of us is this hoard of powerful, supernatural demonic beings – like orc demons. And they are intent on destroying our faith. They’re plan is to destroy us spiritually.
Now if these supernatural demonic forces are aiming to destroy us spiritually, it raises a question. Does this mean that someone can be saved by faith in Jesus Christ, born again, forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit – SAVED at one point, and then end up not saved later on? I believe the answer to that question is “no.” That’s because when God saves you, one of the things He does is change your heart. God changes your heart so that you take to heart Scriptures like Eph. 6:10-12. And because you take to heart Scriptures like Eph. 6:10-12, you’ll be trembling at this point, saying, “Oh man! I need to be strong IN THE LORD. I need to be strong in the strength OF HIS MIGHT. No more relying on my own abilities. I need to put on HIS ARMOR.
If God has changed your heart, you are taking this passage to heart. And because you’re taking this passage to heart, listen, NONE of these demonic attacks will harm you. And that’s because you are strong in the Lord, and in the strength of HIS might. So, no! You cannot be saved at one point and not saved later. But that doesn’t mean you can take Eph. 6:10-12 lightly. “O that’s a relief. I don’t need to worry about the devil attacking my faith. I don’t need to be concerned about demons destroying my faith because once saved always saved.” No. The reason you know you’re once saved and always saved is because God changes our hearts so that we pay heed to passages like this. So, heed this passage. Remember every day and throughout the day, we are in a gladiator ring. Remember you are facing real demonic powers far stronger than you. Remember their plan is to destroy your faith in Jesus, your joy in Jesus, your love for Jesus. But Jesus has broken their power. And our Lord is immeasurably stronger than they are. And he has given us weapons which, if we use them, will thwart every attack, and destroy every temptation and conquer any and every way they are trying to deceive and mislead and draw you and me away from loving and trusting Jesus.
So, how do we be strong in the LORD? That’s where the armor described in vv. 13-17 comes in. Look at v. 13,
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.
—Ephesians 6:13
So, if you take up the whole armor of God, what will be true? You WILL withstand in the evil day (and of course we know that the days are evil). You WILL stand firm. So, there you are in the gladiator ring – today – at noon – tonight – tomorrow. And you’re facing these supernatural, demonic beings who are more powerful than you are. And Jesus Christ says, “Hold everything! Here. Put on this armor.” And Jesus himself hands us the armor we need to enable us to withstand every attack. And there are –
Six Pieces of Armor
What are they? And what are we to do with them? According to v. 14, the first thing we do is –
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.
—Ephesians 6:14
And the belt of truth is the truth about God revealed in the Bible. And how do we fasten on the belt of truth? By reading God’s Word, thinking about God’s Word, studying God’s Word, memorizing God Word. So, an ancient gladiator would have had a belt. He would have some tunic, and scabbard. And the belt holds it all together. So, think about what the Bible does for us. When we know the Scriptures, learn and understand the Scriptures, then we’re able to tell when we’re being deceived. We can tell when we’re being tempted. We’ll be able to understand truths that will empower us and embolden us – truths like, God is sovereign. God is faithful. God is powerful. God never changes. There’s no need to worry or lose heart. Trust the Lord. The truth of God’s Word shows us that pleasure in God is better than the puny little pleasures of sin. God’s Word changes us so that we desire God more than we desire sin, and so that we rely on God more than we rely on ourselves. God’s Word is like a belt that holds everything together.
So, here you are in the gladiator ring. And you’re facing demonic beings more powerful than you. Their plan is to destroy your faith. But if you’re wearing the belt of truth, you can withstand all their attacks. But what if you walk into that gladiator ring without the belt of truth firmly fastened? Do you see how vulnerable you are? This is why it’s so crucial that we start the day opening the Scriptures, reading the Scriptures, pondering the truth of who God is as He has revealed Himself in the truth of His Word. And as you do, the belt of truth will be there. And you’ll be steady and strong and able to withstand the attacks that come. So, put on/fasten the belt of truth. 2nd, v. 14
Put on the breastplate of righteousness.
—Ephesians 6:14b
Some scholars believe that the breastplate of righteousness is your own righteousness. Your own obedience to the Lord. Your godliness. And it is important to be obedient and godly. It’s crucial. But I don’t think that’s what the breastplate of righteousness is. I don’t believe the breastplate of righteousness is our righteousness. Rather it is the righteousness of another. It’s the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
The amazing truth of the gospel is that when you put your trust in Jesus as your Savior, as your Lord, as your treasure – at that moment, 2 amazing exchanges take place. 1st, all the guilt of your sin – past, present, and future – is put upon Jesus. And on the cross, because of his love for you, Jesus was punished for your sin. What an exchange! And 2nd, Jesus’ perfect, sinless, obedient life – as a man, the God-man, fully God and fully man – the only man who ever lived a sinless life – his perfect righteousness is at once given to you, to cover you, once for all. That happens when you put your trust in Jesus. All your sin and guilt is credited to him and punished in him. And all his perfect, sinless righteousness is credited to you and covers you. It’s NOT by works of righteousness that you have done. It’s by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone that God the Father looks at you and sees perfect righteousness. He sees you as blameless. He delights in you. Is there still sin in you? Yes. Are you weak in faith sometimes? Yes, we’re all weak in faith sometimes. But because of what Christ has done, God sees you perfectly righteous IN JESUS. That is the breastplate of righteousness.
So, there you are in the gladiator ring, facing demons that are more powerful than you. And one of the attacks they will launch at you is to fire accusations against you. “Look what you did - 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 5 hours ago. Look at that! You are disgusting. You are filthy. You are stained for life. There’s no way God can love you for what you’ve done!” Gotcha! How do we fight that? One way. And that’s to have the breastplate of righteousness, Jesus’ righteousness – which is yours through faith alone – covering you. Because when you’re covered with the breastplate of Jesus’ righteousness, you know – you know that even though you did sin grievously 20 years ago, or 10 years ago, or 5, or 1 or yesterday, by grace through faith in Christ you are completely forgiven. God accepts you through Christ alone. He loves you. He has forgiven you. He cares for you. And when you’re wearing the breastplate of Jesus’ righteousness, those spears of accusation will just go clunk and glance right off of you.
But what if you go into that ring without the breastplate of Jesus’ righteousness and you are facing demons? And the accusations come? Shame? Guilt? Maybe despair? What if you don’t take the time at the start of each day to thank the Lord? “Oh Jesus, thank you. You lived the perfect life I could never have lived. And you died the death I should have died. Thank you that I am covered with a perfect righteousness – not my own, but yours.” Put on the breastplate of righteousness, and be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. 3rd v. 15,
And, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
—Ephesians 6:15
Some scholars believe this has to do with being ready to share the gospel with people. And of course, we should be ready to share the gospel with people. But I don’t believe that’s what Paul is talking about here. These shoes involve being ready for anything that comes your way. And you’re ready because you are trusting the gospel of peace. That’s means you’re ready for anything that crosses your path, any circumstance that you encounter in life. And because of Jesus’ death on the cross, because you’re trusting Jesus, you know that God is sovereign over everything and is working all things according to the purpose of his will (Eph. 1:11). To say it another way, because of Jesus dying on the cross to pay for your sins, God has now promised that he will orchestrate every event in your life – past, present, and future – every good and wonderful event, and every hard and painful event – God will orchestrate them in such a way that will most greatly display His glory and give us our greatest joy. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS! Whether it’s getting a great job or losing a job, getting a big pay raise or pay reduction, staying healthy or getting sick. Whether it’s the best thing or the worst thing, IN Christ we know that God is in sovereign control over everything, and therefore, no matter what happens, God is working in it and through it to display His glory, glory which will bring us the greatest joy.
Therefore, we can look ahead to the future with peace. This is how the gospel functions to diminish anxiety, and worry, and fear, and frustration. Those shoes, they’re ready for anything, because you are trusting the gospel of peace. You can just keep right on walking on the road toward heaven, because nothing is going to derail you from the purpose of God’s will for you.
Now, we can’t forget that this takes some wrestling. It’s not without some degree of combat. Let’s say you’ve been saving up to get a new vehicle. And you’ve been patient and disciplined (sacrificing those expensive macchiatos, going out to eat). And finally, you found a deal on a good-looking, used SUV. An answer to prayer. And you get it home, and you drive for a month, and there’s a problem. Some indicator light goes on. You take it in, and you’ve got an unanticipated $1500 issue. You suck it up, get it fixed, pay the bill. Another month goes by, and you’ve got another problem. This time it’s going to take 2 grand to fix it. Before you know it, you discover you bought a “lemon.” And you’re feeling angry, and discouraged. You tried so hard to do it right – saving, sacrificing. You prayed. But you’re also wrestling. You’re praying and wrestling over the truth that because Jesus died on the cross, and you’re trusting him alone. And you know you’re forgiven. You know God has made you His own. He is your heavenly Father, and you are God’s adopted child. And you know, from the Word of truth, that God will make whatever happens in your life an occasion for His greatest glory, which is also your greatest joy. And though it doesn’t happen instantaneously. It takes some intense wrestling. But peace begins to rise because you have these shoes, shoes of readiness – readiness given because you’re trusting the gospel of peace.
So, imagine you’re in the gladiator ring. And those demons are coming at you with swords and battle axes – and other sharp things. And instead of shoes of peace, all you’ve got on are a pair of rubber flip flops. You’d be crazy. So, start your day getting on those shoes of trusting the gospel of peace. Get ‘em on – trusting that God is sovereign over everything, and will turn all things for His glory and your joy. 4th piece of armor – v. 16,
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.
—Ephesians 6:16
Now, the bad news of this verse is that the devil is constantly firing flaming darts at you. Do you realize that? There may be some coming at your right now. Some of you realize it – and it feels like all hell has been unleashed against you. But the good news is that God has given us the shield of faith which can extinguish. How many flaming darts can you extinguish? Some? No! Most? NO! How many? ALL the flaming darts of the evil one. What a shield! Every flaming dart Satan will ever fire against you – will be extinguished – WHEN we lift up the shield of faith. Oh the love that God has for us. Do you see it? The mercy. The care. The compassion. The power of such a weapon. How do we “take up” the shield of faith?
For Paul, faith is always focused on an explicit promise in God’s Word. It’s never vague. It’s never a cliché. Like, “Just believe.” In other words, to lift up the shield of faith is to have in our minds a specific promise from God’s Word that deals with the specific flaming dart that is coming at us.
So, you’re in the gladiator ring. You’re facing hoards of demons. And they are far more powerful than you are. And they are launching volley after volley of fiery darts at you. Flaming darts of worry about your children’s future, or they’re education, or your finances, or your health, or how to care for aging parents. What do you do?
What you don’t do is just say to yourself – “Don’t worry. Not supposed to worry. Disciples of Jesus don’t worry.” The shield of faith is nowhere if that’s all you do. And without lifting up that shield, you are going to get nailed. Instead, you pick a specific promise from God’s Word – say, Is. 41:10,
Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
—Isaiah 41:10
And you lift it up by quoting it to yourself. Thinking about it. Praying it. And don’t forget – it involves wrestling. It’s not like that volley of fiery arrows just suddenly stop. Anxiety doesn’t just instantly lift. There’s wrestling, grappling. You’re on knees crying out to the Lord, “Strengthen my faith!” “Help me to see you’re here! Help me to trust this promise!” But as you battle, and pray, and preach that promise to yourself, the fiery dart WILL BE EXTINGUISHED! EVERY SINGLE TIME! 5th, v. 17,
And take the helmet of salvation.
—Ephesians 6:17
What is that? In 1 Thess. 5:8, Paul expands on this phrase and calls it –
A helmet of the hope of salvation.
—1 Thessalonians 5:8
In other words, taking the helmet of salvation means filling your heart with the hope of heaven. When was the last time you were filled with the hope of heaven? Of being in the very presence of Jesus? “Oh Lord Jesus, being with you – I’m hoping for that. I’m waiting for that. You are my joy. You are my reward. You are my prize. You are my treasure. In you is all my delight.” When was the last time your heart was filled with hope of being in Jesus’ presence forever in heaven? If it’s been a long time, then you are walking into the gladiator ring without a helmet. Without the hope of heaven, our hearts become empty. And we begin to look to other things to fill us and satisfy us. And that’s when we start to get tempted. It’s because we’ve lost the hope of heaven. Can you imagine walking into the gladiator ring and going, “Oh, what did I do with that helmet? Oh well that’s ok.” OK? What are you thinking? With fiery darts whizzing past your ears, and spears flying at your head? And you’re not going to wear your helmet? Put the helmet on!
And how do you get that helmet on? First thing every morning, pray over – pray for – pray to filled with the hope of heaven. Pray Eph. 1:17-18.
Father of glory, make me to know what is the hope to which you have called me. Give me a taste of what are the riches of the glorious inheritance you have promised is mine. Fill me with the joy of what it’s going to be like when I’m finally with you forever. Finally, v.17,
And take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
—Ephesians 6:17
The “sword of the Spirit” is our one offensive weapon. And the point of that is, when you see a temptation coming toward you, when see some demonic power bringing a temptation of, say, pride, or lust, or envy, etc. against you, don’t just say, “I’m not supposed to do that. I shouldn’t do that. Christians don’t have to sin, so don’t sin.” That is all your own armor. That will do nothing. PULL OUT THE SWORD! Why fight temptations leaving the sword in the scabbard? Taking the sword of the Spirit means pulling out verses of Scripture you have in your heart and mind that will kill that temptation. Engage with God’s Word. Make reading it, thinking about it, saturating yourself in it a priority. Some of you need to hear that loud and clear today. If there is an overall implication of Ephesians 6:10-17, it is that we must know God’s Word and be growing in our understanding of God’s Word. It is absolutely vital for your spiritual survival that you be taking in God’s Word, and digesting God’s Word. Pull out the sword!
So, there you are in the gladiator ring. And you are under attack. Maybe those demons are launching fiery darts, or a spear, say, a spear of the “love of money.” It’s likely safe to say that this would be a typical temptation we all face. The love of money, when we have more than enough of it, can easily turn our hearts luke-warm toward Jesus. Or the love of money, when we find it running out like oil through our finger-tips, can crush our love and devotion to Christ. How do we fight it? Don’t just say, “Oh Christians shouldn’t do that. Christians shouldn’t be in love with money.” That’s like trying to battle demons with a peashooter. Pull out the sword! We need the sword of the Spirit, the word of God to slay that temptation. Look at Hebrews 13:5,
Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
—Hebrews 13:5
Quote that Scripture to yourself. Preach that Scripture to yourself. It will more than likely involve some wrestling. Pray the Lord’s promise of the nearness of his own presence to us at all times and forever. What could be more valuable than God’s presence? What could be more satisfying than God’s presence? How often do we face temptations without drawing our sword? You haven’t put on the armor of God until you oppose that temptation with the sword of the Spirit. How do we fight against the temptation to love money? Don’t just stand there. Pull out the sword! Fight with the sword. Learn the sword. Love the sword. Use the sword.
So, start every day putting on the armor of God – by opening and reading the Scriptures, and by praying and confessing, “Lord Jesus, I am trusting that because you lived the perfect life I could never live, and you died on the cross the death I deserve to die, by grace alone, and through faith alone, my sins are forgiven. I am accepted by God covered in your righteousness, loved, and accepted forever to the praise of your glorious grace.