Introduction to Spiritual Warfare Eph 6:10-18

This scripture is the classic spiritual warfare reference and while Paul was well acquainted with this sort of combat, and was himself a seasoned veteran in the army of the Lord, the battle to which he refers to in these verses did not originate just some 1940 years ago with a group of Ephesian believers, but rather has subsisted throughout the ages.

• Not 3 full chapters into the Word of God you’re introduced to the battle when the greatest deception ever was perpetrated against humanity. It was a deception that ushered sin into the world, a deception for which mankind is still for today and it is all carried out at the hands of an evil spirit being that inhabited the body of a serpent.
• Further study of the Old Testament, namely Isa 14 and Ezek 28 will reveal that this garden, but rather in the throne room of heaven with a creature called Lucifer, the cherub that covereth, in who’s heart pride was found.
• Since his casting out, Satan and his minions, have at every juncture sought to wreak havoc upon mankind with special attention toward ruining the purposes and obedience of God’s elect.
• He has dispatched his fallen angels to pollute and lineage of God by having them cohabitate with the daughters of men in Genesis 6.
• He has inspired leaders and kings, to persecute God’s people just as he led Pharaoh to persecute the children of Israel in Exodus. And he has provoked men of God to disobey Jehovah’s instructions such as when he provoked David to number the host of Israel recoded in 1 Chron 21.
• He is a very real enemy, with very real power and authority, with a very powerful hierarchy of servants in the principalities found in the air just beyond our atmosphere right down to rulers of darkness of this world.
• The good news for us is that for every supernatural agent of Satan at work in the spirit world God has his own forces at work for good. And I assure you for whatever can be said of that general which heads the dark spiritual forces of this universe there is no power or authority in the heavens, in earth, or under the earth that can compare to the captain of the host to which the forces of good answer to. This heavenly spiritual force has an hierarchy which is equally as impressive at that of Satan’s and far more effective.
• The Apostle John spoke of each church as having its own angel.
• Elisha in 2 Kings 6 prayed the eyes of his servant be opened to behold the angelic host of chariots and horses of fire surrounding the army surrounding them.
• In Daniel 10 the answer to Daniel’s prayer for his people had been interfered by the prince of the Kingdom of Persia, but Michael the archangel came to fight on behalf of the messenger angel so that Daniel’s answer arrived at last.
• Again in Jude the Archangel confronted Satan over the body of Moses, and you can imagine who won that battle, not for the might of Michael, but for the weapon he employed when he said, Satan, the Lord rebuke thee.
• And doubtless even in our day to day lives angels have influence in our protection and provision, a comforting thought considering the size of our enemy.
• When we study the hierarchy of those spirit beings faithful to the devil and his lieutenants we’ll find that we likely cope more frequently, on an immediate level with unclean spirits. There is still in this day a constant battle right here on the ground a perpetual battle between the Holy Spirit of God and the unclean spirits of hell.
• In Jesus earthly ministry he confronted regularly all manner of unclean spirits and likewise all throughout the book of Acts you’ll find the Apostles frequently engaged with these unclean spirits.
• The Bible speaks of the spirit of infirmity, the spirit of whoredoms, the spirit of jealousy, the spirit of divination, deaf and dumb spirits, foul spirits, and lying spirits. And while you won’t generally see these manifested as regularly today as when Jesus encountered them in the Gospels they are still just as real and significantly active.
• You say, Bro. Lee do you really believe all that stuff, I thought that that was just an uneducated explanation for mental illness? No sir. That’s wrong. I do believe in that stuff. There are real mental illnesses and there is real demon activity and they are not the same although it can be that they are occasionally related.
• For all the merits of Science and Psychology the reality of unclean spirits far better address the question of why some people act the way they do. It may even address more satisfactorily why you do some of the things you do. Besides, the Bible is a lot more scientific than the latest edition of Popular Science and if God said it, I believe it.
• The most significant players, believe it or not, in the overall scope of the present day battle being waged between Good and Evil are individual believers. If it were not for the body of Christ present on this planet, Satan would have nothing to fight against, he would have unfettered reign as the god of this world; for the activity of the heavenly angels in this dispensation are almost exclusively directed toward providing protection for and serving the purposes of the bride of Jesus Christ, the Church.

• When you were saved you were ultimately enlisted in an army. God himself commissioned you to the most noble of military causes ever known to man. He provided you with the authority you would need to fight and he’s equipped you with the armour you’ll need to be successful. The unfortunate thing is that the average believer never exercises the authority they’ve been given and they’ve rarely ever put on the armour they’ve been provided.

Armour and Authority. If you’re attempting to fight the devil without them you’re destined to fail. And if you’ve forget they’re in you arsenal the word of God serves to remind us this morning.

Paul gave 6 necessary pieces in the passage we read and implied a 7^th.

• The first in the girdle of truth a leather piece which would protect the loins. This is the first to put on and to be found without in the heat of the battle is especially embarrassing. You can not fight a Devil that is the Father of Lies without truth. The greatest source of strength in your body is in your loins. (Abraham/Eleazer example) and you will not so much as be able to stand if it is stripped from you.
• The Breastplate of Righteousness is a matter of putting on in your personal experience something the Lord Jesus gave you in a supernatural way. We have been made the righteousness of God in him and as such we should carry that out before an enemy that seeks to devour us and a world that seeks to accuse us.
• The Preparation of the Gospel of Peace is proper covering for our feet. Paul said Beautiful are the feet that carry the gospel of Peace. If you can’t call on the grace of God that makes peace between God and man you’ll be dead on your feet in the battle we’ve been called to fight.
• The Shield of Faith that Paul speaks of is perfectly able to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy and this shield as it was used in combat among roman soldiers in Paul’s day could cover the entire body. When the fiery darts of doubt and despair began to rain on the saved of God the only thing that will keep you from burning up is the faith that God is on his throne and that he’s looking out for you and your eternity despite your circumstances and your feelings.
• The Helmet of Salvation serves to cover your most important body part to continue the fight. Your head. You may be able to press on with a limb missing, but you can’t continue anything if your head’s been shot out. You’re a non-issue to the devil if you don’t know for sure if you’re saved or not.
• The sixth thing listed here is the Sword of the Spirit. It is the one and only offensive weapon to your charge. It is sharper than any two edged sword and while a natural sword gets duller with each cut, this supernatural sword gets sharper with each new use. That which the sword of the Spirit represents is actually what makes any of the other pieces of armour of any use at all.

§         Your loins are girt about with truth of which the Lord Jesus said, Father sanctify them by truth, thy word is truth.

§         Your organs are covered over by a breastplate of righteousness, a righteousness which God imputed to you when your soul was saved which was accomplished when you received with meekness the engrafted word.

§         Your feet are shod with a gospel that is no gospel, but that, as Paul said, according to the scriptures Christ died, was buried, and rose again.

§         That which quenches the fiery darts is a shield of faith and of course faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. In fact the thing which made this shield resilient to those fiery darts was the fact that prior to battle the soldier would dip that leather shield in water as we are to prepare ourselves by the washing of the water of the word.

§         And that which protects your head is a helmet of salvation, salvation which Paul told Timothy was wrought by scriptures that are able to make thee wise unto salvation.

The LORD told Hosea, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge and I’m convinced that our ultimate shortcoming in lacing up for this great battle is rooted in the Church’s ignorance of the Word of God; because for all that one might make of truth, or righteousness, or the gospel, or faith, or salvation, all are of none effect outside of the power of that inerrant book.

The Roman “dogface” had one piece of armour which Paul doesn’t list and those are grieves or leather leg coverings. But this soldier doesn’t need’em, for he’s already got his covered for he’s praying with all prayer and supplication.

All of this works because we have been delegated heaven’s authority to be victorious over the enemy. We are the Ambassador’s of Christ on this planet and as such we have a responsibility to send the Devil packing when he tries to steal our joy, ruin our testimony, and force us to walk in defeat. We can accomplish this by referring the adversary to one great event in history. There is a defining moment that hangs in history that appeared as a victory for Satan at first, but in actuality, it spelled his defeat.

• In John 16:11, just prior to the Lord Jesus going to the cross, he declared that the prince of this world is judged. Calvary handed down a death sentence that Satan didn’t see coming. He’s out on bond for the season in which we live, but sometimes he needs to be reminded we own the victory and his day is coming, just as Paul told the Romans in closing, in which God will bruise Satan under our feet shortly.
• In the mean time, there’s one recollection that makes Satan so nervous it commands his exit. Those martyrs in the 12^th chapter of Revelation were said to have overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony. “Satan you’re a liar, in the name of Jesus and by His precious blood shed for my sinful soul, get thee behind me.”
• We begin the preparations for battle not with putting on the whole armour but with verse 10 by being strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Even the great Archangel Michael knows where his power lies, when he declares to Satan, The Lord rebuke thee. That’s how we’ll be successful in this battle, by being strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

• Satan might have pitched his throne high, but God has placed his higher. Satan is mighty. But God is Almighty. Satan can destroy. But God can destroy the destroyer. Satan may command principalities, but according to Colossians 2:10, the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of all principality and power.

How does it end? Revelation 19:11-16