MESSAGE TEXT
Ephesians 6:10-17
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INTRODUCTION
Watchman Nee’s study of Ephesians entitled "Sit Walk Stand". Christianity begins by sitting with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6), that is, resting in Christ’s achievements. It continues by walking out the Christian life (Eph. 4:1, kjv), that is, living Christianity practically. Finally, it involves standing on ground Christ has already won for us (Eph. 6:11, 13–14).
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Regarding Ephesians: Ruth Paxson has it Wealth (1–3), Walk (4–6:9), and Warfare (6:10).
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CONTEXTUALIZATION
If we are going to be a “small working model of what it looks like to live out new Creation in Christ” (N.T. Wright) – then armor up, because this will be challenged by unseen forces and powers. The church is a bride with armor on.
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Does God speak a new identity over us in Eph.1 and place us in a brand-new spiritual status “seated with Christ”? Then there are spiritual powers that want to convince you to take your identity from something other than Christ – to unseat you.
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Has God rescued and saved the world by His grace in Eph. 2? Then there will be forces to convince you that it can’t be that easy; that you have to merit it and until you do, you’re not really saved.
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Is God’s plan to create a small working model of new creation life - Eph.3? Then the hostile spiritual forces will do their utmost to destroy it.
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Has God through Jesus Christ broken down the walls dividing human beings of different races and cultures from each other – Eph.3? Then the devil through his emissaries will strive to rebuild those walls - Eph.3.
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Does God intend his reconciled and redeemed people to live together in harmony and purity – Eph.4-5? Then the powers of hell will scatter among them the seeds of discord and sin.
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Is someone called by God to champion the work of the local church and write letters to guide them, i.e. Apostle Paul – Eph.6? Then minions and demons will see to it that he’s imprisoned and will use this incarceration to discredit his work.
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Is Ephesians a “u-turn” letter, where we go in a totally new direction? Then nefarious forces will keep you from making this personal u-turn. That’s a central point made in Ephesians 6:10-13.
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MAIN POINTS
Three spiritual warfare PRINCIPLES that convince us to allow Jesus to be strong in our life:
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The Principle of Struggle (Ephesians 6:10-11) - the Christian life is a fight.
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The Principle of Standing (Ephesians 6:12) - the overall fight is the Lord’s.
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The Principle of Strength (Ephesians 6:13) - the daily battling is ours.
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APPLICATION
Here are 6 satanic schemes you have been tricked to live by (from Evan Anderson):
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1. Numbness disguised as rest. You “relax” by drowning your spirit in dopamine. Every scroll dulls your discernment. We’ve been given more access to truth than any before us. Sermons in our pocket. Scripture at your fingertips. But we’re distracted. Comfortable. Numb.
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2. Lust normalized as masculinity. Every time you feed it, you weaken your authority (Prov 6:32) The dopamine scrolling for women is off the charts.
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3. Passivity disguised as peace. You think being quiet keeps the peace, but silence in the face of sin is rebellion.
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4. Greed disguised as goals. You chase “the bag” like Judas - but ignore the Bread of Life.
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5. Compromise disguised as love. We call it “grace” when it’s really cowardice. Real love tells the truth even when it costs us.
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6. Comfort disguised as blessing. We think ease means God’s favor, but the narrow road is rarely comfortable. The enemy will throw everything at you… lust, laziness, old friends, even your own flesh, to drag you back to Egypt.
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CONCLUSION
We fight an invisible war against an invisible enemy in an invisible sphere, but it affects us in our earthly realm. What Paul has tried to convey in Ephesians, is that in the spiritual realm, we have a Somebody in the heavenly places Paul says, who knows that realm better than we do, whose job it is to operate in that realm on behalf of us, who has soundly defeated all powers and dominions that can harm us, and has provided tools for standing in the victory He’s already won.