A Call to Battle

Most of us live our lives completely unaware of the fact that there is all around us of spiritual conflict occurring a battle taking place today on Truth for Life. Alister Ben continues to study in Ephesians 6 and explains how our friendship with God puts us at odds with a significant enemy here. We are just two versus. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. If you like me always hear music playing in the background of things, then you would perhaps agree with me that as we come to this final section, it would certainly not be taps that would be playing in the background a single bugle call signaling desk in certain cases, signaling the end of life that would not be a but rather would be at reveille and signaling for the Army to be up and to be alert and to be ready for the day. That's the kind of sense of it as we come to it up always make it very very clear that it is important for everyone who reads this letter, which includes eyes add to be awake, alert, aware of the enemy and suitably armed with the resources that are provided for the believer in Christ ends his exhortation in verse 10, you're not going to bail to do this on your own.

Therefore, he says find your strength in the Lord and in the strength of his might know Paul is himself not giving any indication of the fact that he's thinking about shutting up shop or relaxing or going off to Crete to Seo for a little while. You can see that in verse 19. His concern is that as the readers of his letter engage in prayer and making supplication as he says in verse 18. For all the saints, he very specifically asks that they will pray for him and they don't pray for him that he might be able to get out of jail. They don't pray for him that his life might become a little easier. None of those things they might've been legitimate prayer requests, but he actually praise you will notice that words may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel is that I want to make sure that whatever I wherever I am and whatever my circumstances may be.

Here I am imprisoned that I might be bold in continuing to make this wonderful gospel message.

No.

So if he is not to be and they are just relaxing and throwing in the towel as well. Neither must they, and it is for that reason that he is alerting them to the reality of the enemy that they face. They are up against one who is powerful, who is wicked who is cunning, deceitful, described variously throughout the Bible as the devil Satan is the evil one, and so long, and he is making very clear to them that it is because they have become the friends of God that they are now the enemies of the devil himself, that they are inevitably placed in the forefront of a battle and he is exerting them to take seriously the challenge that is there now. The reason that they are now his enemy is because they were once his friends, and I need to add you to backtrack with me so that we might set the context properly.

If you go back to chapter 2 for just a moment you discover there at the beginning of chapter 2 Paul has outlined for us.

We might refer to as the human condition outside of Christ. The human condition what what what are we like or what where we like he's writing to believers. Remember, well, he says we were actually at the walking dead at we were physically alive but spiritually dead, very nice way to describe things in our friends would not like it if we suggested to them that that was the case. That is what the Bible actually says that we are making our way through the world and that we are by nature dead and that's why he begins in that way. Verse one of chapter 2 you where dead in the trespasses and in your sins in which you once walked in other words, it was the it was the habitual activity of your life. And then he identifies it in this way. Three things.

First of all, following the course of this world. In other words, I just going downstream with the way in which the world goes it within the courage you to do anything other than that, following the prince of the power of the air, namely the evil one, and it is that spirit, which is now at work he says in the sons of disobedience is not a peculiar about this. Amongst whom we all once lived when we were in the passions of our flesh, carrying out if you like, or following the desires of the body and the mind. What is this this is a description as I say, of the inner disposition of man and it expresses itself both physically and she says the body and it expresses itself intellectually hands the mind so he says to them you know you were alienated from God in the darkness and foolishness of your response to his truth, and as a result of that are you just went along with the crowd wittingly or unwittingly, you were engaged in these activities, but he says gloriously, this is no longer the case. You're no longer the living dead. You are now going to die one day you are spiritually alive and this is because chapter 1 he says you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation you believed. And you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. In other words, you have just been radically changed. In fact, if your Bible is actually open at that page you look at verse nine of chapter 1 it a what Paul is doing here in this opening section as you know is is just like giving is this huge symphony of praise for the wonder of God's purpose for maternity and he says in verse nine that he because of his grace is lavished upon us according to his the mystery of his will and making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. This is of great importance, especially in light of what we going to see we have an enemy who is diametrically imposed opposed to the purpose of God, which is a purpose. As stated, for the fullness of time. When he finally wraps things up to unite all things in heaven and on earth underneath the jurisdiction of Jesus, the evil one hates the idea is opposed to the idea is opposed to Christ and his opposed to the followers of Christ. That is what Paul is pointing out here know you realize when he states that is the purpose from all of eternity that the balance of the book of Ephesians then bears this out. You you suddenly see that the closing section which is our snow from the stair that the closing section is not a new idea tacked on at the end of the letter is often regarded in that way people do series into Garneau has a very famous book on on the Christian and complete warfare and it is it is a tempting thing to do but it's not right to do because what Paul is pointing out to them when he begins.

Finally, in some of the and some of the sources that give to as our English translations but with the word is not translated.

Finally, it's translated. Hence, forward. So in other words, I'm not just saying I finally here's a few thoughts about the devil before I wrap this up know what he saying is this now on from now on. Between the two comings of Jesus. There will be no cessation to these facilities. There will be no cease-fires until it is all wrapped up.

Finally, you need to know that the evil one seeks to come and disrupt all of that which God establishes for unity, not just track back through the right in the church was the biggest problem in churches disunity while I'm annoyed you're annoyed she's annoyed I didn't like that I don't like that only the next thing we these are all natural, unhelpful responses. But behind them is a work of evil one when you see the receipt of the breakdown between races is the work of the evil one when you see a marriage that is beginning to crumble.

It is ultimately the work of the evil one. It is not simply that I like to sleep with the windows open and you like to sleep with the windows closed.

So goodbye goodbye goodbye know it is something far more significant than that. I may not be in the forefront of our thinking. But that's what the Bible says in the real question is, we will see in a moment or two as we finish is you actually believe the Bible as a request. See Paul is not writing here to stimulate their curiosity about the notion of satanic involvement know he is actually writing to make them clearly aware of the hostility that they face. They are facing the challenge as he is already outlined of the world in which they live there, not only in Christ there in Ephesus in Ephesus remember what was Ephesus all called Artemis great is Diana of the Ephesians. Great is our team. It would've been impossible to live in Ephesus without being confronted by that, but now you become a new person in Jesus hasn't removed you from Ephesus has removed you from that context and the same is true for all of us.

We live in a world in Christ. But in Cleveland and the inner disposition of our hearts is drawn into that which is opposed to Christ.

That's why Paul says in Romans seven of the good that I want to do.

I don't do the bad I don't want to do I end up doing all the world as I keep because the inner disposition of our hearts.

Although new renewed sin no longer rains but it remains and the work of the evil one is to bring the attractive nature of the world in its orientation against God and opposed to God and come to us and say look is far more fun over here. You don't have to do to hoodies with these people around about the law of God, who believes the law of God, who pays any attention to the commandments of God. That was another time. It was another place was another era of the Pilgrim fathers. I was whatever it was. See and if you're not careful. He said that's a good point that maybe marriage is not just what marriages maybe it doesn't really matter the Dylan say that's it. That's the way to think that's it. Now you see this reality and it is a reality is not something that Paul is introducing out of the blue, but it is they are from the very beginning of the Bible and it is there from the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus the same devil who opposed Jesus in the wilderness is entirely opposed is the enemy of all who are in Christ and this enemy is not an inanimate force.

So let's be perfectly clear that what Paul is talking about here is a personal being a personal being who does not act alone. That's why as you go down in your text, you will see that we are up against.

He says certainly not flesh and blood rulers, authorities, cosmic powers of the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places will come back to this, but for now note this, the devil is not a solitary power. He has his agents and he has his agencies are, how would we ever arrive this if we were not just studying the Bible because after all, let me let me pause and acknowledge the voice is going round and at least a few heads and minds is at least one or two people out there going come on back come off as this this is that the this is not the case. Now we we've outgrown these things.

This is not Little House on the Prairie all wear materialists or rationalists were scientists, you might as well ask us to believe in fairies at the bottom of our garden as to believe what you are saying right now concerning a personal devil and his agents and yet in other something very interesting, at least to me maybe to you were told all the time. The post-enlightenment we have now been living in the great age of reason. Reason is now opposed to anything that would challenge it in terms of faith. Faith is regarded as a leap into the dark leap into oblivion.

It is a conjecture. It is there is a wishful desire are designed to grab hold of something that will make sense of our journey through life, whereas if you would stick with the teary list. Then you you would be a lot better off. In fact it goes further than that. And the idea is that, essentially, science has delivered a death blow to religion that now we no longer need to pay attention to this and any talk of Angels on the good side and demons on the bad side is simply dismissed as a superstition of a bygone age when people were up four mythology and glad to embrace it for wee while I may be missing the point. But I think that I picked that up pretty clearly just in the day-to-day routine and yet, despite that here the facts here is one description of the circumstances in America written 11 years ago. A growing number of supposedly super rational men and women now subscribe to a range of new age cults paganism, witchcraft and belief, and psychic phenomena such as reincarnation, astrology and parapsychology.

What previously belonged to the province of the quack and the charlatan have become mainstream treatments and therapies. Wicca or witchcraft and paganism constitute the fastest growing religious category in America between 500,000 and 5 million adherence and if you add new age spirituality to it, which you should, then the number reaches nearly 20 million people and growing, it's quite amazing is it's amazing. No, it's only amazing if you don't understand the were up against the schemes of the receipt humanity doesn't even know how to handle history, past history, why did everybody kill everybody.

What's the point of that stuff present history people just have a nice conversation and a cup of tea and just get it all sorted out my Mom and dad just teach can this child chose to has she's told see you finally lost her mind. You've got your Bible in front of you.

There is in our culture. A profound widespread irrationality is pervasive.

Don't you find that you every so often have a conversation with somebody who is totally angry at God, I'm so mad at God pleasing. But just last week you told me you don't believe in God, the person is I don't believe in God but does mean I can be matted said doesn't man is alienated from God thumbs his nose at God turns his back on God, and that disunity and that disruption represented in the chaos of our universe ecologically but also morally, definitely, spiritually, and that's what Paul is saying what all these great powers at work in the world. Where do they come from, how have the ever come into being.

How can a perfect God create a perfect universe and we find ourselves in this reality. What happened that led to the serpent in the garden that led to the fall of man that led to disruption and death. What really matters in this and where it finally has resolution is it confronts us with this question. Do I believe the Bible am I actually prepared to believe what the Bible says our submission to the authority of Scripture is a necessary consequence of our submission to the Lordship of Christ Jesus believe the Bible was listen to this final quote and and and will be done. We believe in Jesus.

That's true of the genuine Christian where convinced that he came from heaven and spoke from God. So we are prepared to believe what he taught for the simple reason that it is he who taught therefore we bring our minds into submission to his mind. We want to conform our thoughts to his thoughts is from Jesus that we derive our understanding of God and ourselves of good and evil of Judy and destiny of time and eternity of heaven and hell. Our understanding of everything is conditioned by what Jesus taught and this everything means everything it includes is teaching about the Bible, we have no liberty to exclude anything from Jesus teaching and say I believe what he thought about this but not what he thought about that. What possible right. We have to be selective. We have no competence to set ourselves up as judges and decide to accept some parts of his teaching while rejecting others all Jesus teaching was true. It is teaching of none other than the son of God. So the question is straightforward. Do I believe in Jesus and if I believe in Jesus than I believe in the words that Jesus spoke and therefore I believe the Bible. Therefore, when it says strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might and I say that's a tremendous encouragement because I am weak. I'm prone to fall and prone to failure. I have no strength in myself to take on the onslaught against a wall that eludes me an inner disposition that drives me the devil who opposes but actually he promises me, the resources what a gracious and good, we are able to withstand opposition because of the resources made available by our good God your listing to Truth for Life with Alister Greg as Alister pointed out in today's message our unity with Christ makes us Satan's enemies and targets of his attacks. That's why it's absolutely necessary for us to know how to put on the armor of God, and to better understand what that entails. Were recommending the book the whole armor of God, how Christ's victory strengthens us for spiritual warfare. This book walks you through the specific pieces of spiritual armor so you can learn how each one functions the whole armor of God will leave you well-equipped for battle. We encourage you to request your copy today when you join our important team of truth partners partners give a donation each month and it's that support that brings this daily program to us each day. In fact, we're praying that God will add a large number of the crew partner team during the month of June so if you have benefited from the Bible teaching on Truth for Life to please pay it forward and become a truth partners today.

You can do so by visiting Truth for Life.org/crew, partner, or by giving us a call at 888-588-7884. Don't forget to request the book about Lapine. Enjoy your weekend as you worship together with your local church family and then join us again Monday, as will learn how to stand firm against the attacks of the enemy.

The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life Learning is for Living