Eph

Eph. 6:10-20
1/7/2006

“Be Strong in the Lord”

Stand firm. Stand firm. Stand firm. In the span of just four verses (vv. 11-14) Paul uses this phrase three times (vv. 11, 13, 14). He sounds like a captain in the battlefield, issuing the same command, again and again and again, urging his men to stand firm and hold their positions in the face of the enemy’s relentless onslaught.

Can you hear the urgency in his voice? Or does it sound too distant and muted as you sit comfortably in your pews?

There is nothing imaginary about this urgency. Ephesians is a prison letter, written when Paul was in prison. Why was he in prison? Because of his gospel ministry. Everywhere he went to preach the gospel he faced opposition both from his countrymen, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. There was hardly any success he enjoyed without encountering some form of persecution and tribulation. More often than not, the greater his success was, the greater also was the persecution he received. He knew that he was right in the middle of an on-going spiritual battle.

Spiritual battle was no abstract concept, or just a romantic notion, to Paul. It was as real as the men and women, whose lives had been radically changed by the gospel he preached concerning Jesus Christ. It was as real as the solid walls of the prison that incarcerated him, as real as the stinging, flesh-ripping scourging of the Roman whip that he had to endure time and again.

But those were not the only reminders of the spiritual battle that constantly hovered over him. There were the mocking faces of the cynics and the disdaining looks of the skeptics. Some avoided him like a plague and others would not give him the time of day. But that was nothing. There were many who could not hide their intense loathing and revulsion against Paul and his message. Some--more than forty Jews--even “made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul” (Acts 23:12, 13).

You may say that Paul was at the frontline of the battlefield. But did he see himself alone in the battlefield? Was it his unique lot because he was an Apostle? No! He reminds the Ephesian Christians--and all Christians--of the spiritual battle facing them: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil…, against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (vv. 11, 12). Obviously Paul did not see the Ephesians’ situation as any different from his. That is the reason for the sense of urgency in his words. He was in prison and they were not. Even so, they were in the same boat with him, facing the same battles and the same enemies.

These words of Paul could not have sounded strange and distant to the Ephesian Christians. While Paul’s ministry in Ephesus was successful (Acts 19:20), there, too, it was not without tremendous difficulties. Paul himself told the Ephesians, “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you [despite the trials] anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house…” (Acts 20:18-20). Watching Paul, the Ephesians could not have harbored any unrealistic, idyllic notions of Christian life. The city of Ephesus was famous for its cult of Artemus (or Diana), the virgin goddess of hunting and childbirth, and as such it had a powerful guild of craftsmen who made idols and shrines of Artemus. Paul’s ministry caused a great damage to their business (Acts 19:25ff), which must have hurt its local economy in no small way. So the Christians there probably were not in favor with the locals, especially with the members of the powerful guild. The guilders caused a great riot against Paul’s ministry there and there was no guarantee that it would not happen again. And it could not have been an accident that Paul should tell them to be strong in the Lord and stand firm, using a military imagery. The urgency of his words must have struck a chord in their hearts.

Paul’s words come to us in America across the mountains and oceans, across the distance of two thousand years. Can you still hear the urgency of his words? Or does it come to us only as a faint echo from a distant past? After all, we live in a different place, in a different time, in a different environment, don’t we? Or do we? But I am certain that, if anything, Paul is speaking to us with an even greater urgency. For, while the external circumstances may have changed, the spiritual battle continues, wreaking all kinds of havoc and devastation all the same. In fact, the changes that have transpired--the relative tranquility and civility in our society--have made the battle all the more deceptive and thus all the more dangerous. It is like the recent switch we experienced from the conventional warfare fought by the military to the war on terrorism. There are no uniformed troops to fight against: any ordinary looking man (and even woman) can blow up a building and crash the airplane. There are no clearly drawn battle lines: any building, any shopping mall, any power plant is a fair game. Civilians are no longer protected by the distance from the battlefield: wherever he is, wherever he goes, is a potential battlefield. Isn’t this already a daily reality in Israel and Iraq and other places?

How about our spiritual battle? In this country we don’t have to worry about being physically abused or politically oppressed for our faith--at least not quite yet. When we think about what our brothers and sisters are put through for their faith in many parts of the world, we must be thankful for the freedom we have to exercise and practice our faith. However, this blessing, just like any blessing, can be a stumbling block if we are not careful. The relative tranquility of our life makes it easy for us to forget about the reality of our spiritual battle. To many of us in America, Christian life is just “between God and me”. We forget that there is a third party to our Christian life--Satan, our enemy--and that we are in the midst of a fierce battle. We don’t want to be obsessed with Satan as some Christians are and see everything bad that happens to us as Satan’s work--from getting into a car accident to getting a cold or bumping into a chair. Satan is only a creature and he cannot be everywhere at the same time--although there may be more demons than we think. But Satan is not just a mythical figure or a figment of our sick human psyche. He is real. He came into being long before we did and he has been in existence much, much longer than any of us have, with superior powers and intelligence.

Do we dare think that Satan has been completely destroyed and is no longer a viable threat to us? Or do we think he has somehow changed for the better? “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour,” warned Peter 2,000 years ago (1 Pet. 5:8). Do we think he no longer harbors the malicious will to devour us and destroy us in any way he can? Do we think that his hatred against God and His people has somehow faded away, his resolve to wreak havoc in our Christian life diminished? Has he grown tired of the battle and does he want truce with us now? You can see how ridiculous such thoughts sound. Satan is the incarnation of hatred. His sole purpose of existence is to oppose God in everything and destroy His people. So great is this hatred that it makes him deny the obvious and inevitable--the futility of his evil endeavors and God’s ultimate victory. What evil scheme of his has ever succeeded without it being turned on its head and used by God for His glory? All we need to do is to look at the cross of Jesus Christ see the wonderful wisdom of God. Yet does Satan ever give up? No! With every failure his hatred against God grows more intense and with his ever-growing hatred he steels his resolve all the more to keep on fighting. He will not give up until he is thrust into hell to suffer there forever in unbreakable chains, never to bother God’s people again. He is hopelessly crippled but he is not done in yet.

Can you see why Paul calls us to be strong in the Lord and stand firm? Can you see why he cannot just give you “encouraging” and “comforting” words that make you feel warm and fuzzy? He speaks like a watchman, blowing the trumpet of warning. Why? Because of the reality of the fierce spiritual battle that is ours. And our enemies, Satan and his demonic hosts, are formidable foes. Satan is a formidable enemy because he is powerful. He is a supernatural being with supernatural powers. Earlier in the letter Paul described him as “the prince of the power of the air” (2:2). And his hosts? Paul calls them “the rulers”, “the authorities”, “the cosmic powers over this present darkness”, “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (6:12). He is smarter than we--our intelligence is no match to his. He knows much more than we--what is our knowledge compared to his? He has been in existence for thousands and thousands of years. Imagine all the things he must have experienced in all those years. Imagine all the lessons he must have learned from his innumerous battles with God and the saints, honing his strategies and skills along the way more and more, getting more and more crafty. He is stronger than we: he doesn’t grow weary as quickly as we do and he may not even need sleep. He is more powerful than we: as a supernatural being he is endowed with supernatural powers and abilities.

We have to make it clear that Satan is still only a creature and is no match to God. He cannot do anything unless God allows it out of His infinite wisdom and sovereign will. But when allowed, he can do amazing things. Just think about how he afflicted Job. He was able to move the Sabeans and the Chaldeans to attack and raid Job’s servants and steal his cattle. He made a fire fall from heaven and a great wind to blow and bring destruction to Job’s family. Heb. 2:14 refers to him as “the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.”

Add to this all his malice and hatred, viciousness and ruthlessness. Satan our enemy is not just powerful but he is also malicious and unscrupulous beyond our imagination. What a fatal combination! Do not be deceived: he is not just a mischievous elf, playing around. He is deadly serious about his intent to kill and destroy anything and anyone associated with God. He is pure hatred. He has no mercy. He doesn’t feel bad for the sufferings and miseries he causes in people’s lives. Rather, he delights in them with his sick delight. Imagine what it would be like to be in his grip! He will not hesitate to do to you what you fear the most. He will pierce you deep where it is most painful. He will cut your unhealed wounds. He will be only too eager to kick your broken bones, again and again and again.

That is our enemy. That is the enemy facing us, staring us with his blood-thirsty eyes, breathing murder through his nostrils, ready to strike us at any moment. That is the enemy we must face. And Paul says, “Stand firm! Keep your positions! Do not fall back! Do not back down!”

But what’s the point? We are no match against the devil and his minions!

But, ah, here is the good news. We are not to stand alone. We don’t stand alone. We are to be strong “in the Lord”! We are to be strong “in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (v. 10)! As Martin Luther said, “Did we in our own strength confide, / our striving would be losing; / Were not the right Man on our side, / the Man of God’s own choosing: / Dost ask who that may be? / Christ Jesus, it is He; / Lord Sabaoth, His Name, / from age to age the same, / And He must win the battle.” And He did win the battle for us!

Who is Jesus our Champion, our King? Lord Sabaoth is His Name, the Lord of hosts! He is the divine Warrior: “The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name” (Ex. 15:3). When Israel was trapped between the Red Sea and the chariots of Pharaoh, Moses encouraged them by saying, “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Ex. 14:14). And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you” (Num. 10:35). “[H]e makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire” (Ps. 104:3, 4). He was the One, who destroyed the chariots of Pharaoh. He was the One, who defeated the Canaanites. Who can stand before this divine Warrior? He subjects all things under His feet. All creatures and all their actions are under His sovereign lordship. Even the devil and all his minions are not outside of His sovereign control. And the hosts of heavenly angels under His supreme command number twice as many as the fallen angels (cf. Rev. 12:4).

But Jesus our Champion fought the mortal combat all alone against Satan and his hosts. Was it to show that He could take on all of His enemies alone? True. But there was more to His single-handed campaign: He alone was qualified to go out to the battle for us. Were it only a contest of strength and power, even the angels could have done the job. But Jesus could not just overpower His enemies. He had to save sinners and save them justly. That meant He had to pay the proper ransom. And this ransom had to be paid with His life, for the wages of sin is death--not just the physical death but also the eternal death in hell. Who can pay this infinite price except the infinite God Himself?

So Jesus our Champion fought the battle all alone. How did He fight this battle? He went all the way to Golgotha, all alone. There He exposed Himself fully to the direct and full-fledged attack of the satanic hosts. He was jeered at and humiliated. He was beaten and tortured. In the end He was stung with the sting of death, which slowly and fatally pumped its lethal venom into His body and soul. Jesus subjected Himself to all this for you and me. He allowed Satan to unleash all his pure, unmitigated hatred on Him, to vent all his nasty and vicious anger against Him. And He finally gave up His life for our redemption.

Praise God that that was not the end of our Champion? No! God’s wisdom is higher than the greatest of the devil’s evil schemes. It was God’s will that Satan should taste the sweetness of his greatest triumph ever, only to taste the worst and bitterest gall of defeat right after that. Imagine having that one brief taste of an unimaginable sweetness followed by the most nauseating bitterness lasting through all eternity and worsening by every moment! How much more torturous must be the bitterness because of that one brief lick of the sweet triumph! His defeat was complete, for he gave his best shot in Jesus’ weakest and most vulnerable moment and he lost. When Jesus rose again from the dead on the third day, Satan’s most powerful and destructive weapon was rendered totally ineffective. Death had lost its sting, the grave its threat, when Christ rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of God far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come (Eph. 1:20, 21).

We are to be strong in this triumphant King and in the strength of His might. If we were on our own, we would not stand a chance. But we can stand firm against the devil because we stand in Christ, our triumphant King. We can stand firm and not fall back, we can hold our positions and not back down, because we stand in the strength of His might, not our own. We can resist the devil and he will flee from us (James 4:7) because we have put on the full armor of God, not of man.

The armor of God, which represents the strength we possess in Christ. Grammatically “the armor of God” can mean three things: “the armour that God supplies, his own armour which he wears, or even the armour that is God himself” (O’Brien, Ephesians, p. 463). All three seem to be valid, not exclusively but cooperatively. As the armor does not come from ourselves, it is something that God must supply. And certain passages in Isaiah (such as 11:5, 52:7, 57:19) describe God as wearing the armor Himself. But it is ridiculous to think that God should wear an armor to protect Himself: His armor, then, is none other than His own divine attributes (such as truth, righteousness, etc.).

Do you realize that you are the mighty warriors of God? In Jesus Christ you are the fulfillment of what God promised by the prophets! Zechariah said, “On that day the LORD will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the LORD, going before them.” What is it like to be like David? After he defeated Goliath the people sang, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Sam. 18:7). You are the mighty warriors of God and each of you can take on ten thousand of the enemies! In Jesus Christ the weakest of us have become like David. Can you be anything less if you have put on the full armor of God? As the Lord says in Joel, “[L]et the weak say, ‘I am a warrior’” (3:10)!

We are not what we say we are but what God says we are. Not what our past says, not what our successes or failures of the past say but what the word of God declares about us. What God says of us in Christ Jesus may sound too good to be true. “Me? A mighty warrior of God able to defeat ten thousand of my enemies?” But that’s what the gospel is all about, isn’t it? If we accept the free offer of the gospel as a matter of fact, we have lost all the wonders of God’s grace. Whenever we think about this grace of God, it must sound too good to be true, not just when we first received it but the more we think about it. The more we think about even the very basic of the gospel--that God by His grace forgave our sins--should our joy of salvation diminish? Should the wonder of His grace diminish the longer we live as Christians or should it increase? The depth of God’s grace is so deep that, no matter how wonderful your first experience of His grace was, you have yet to taste and experience something even better! Faith is to accept this which is too good to be true. This is not just about our forgiveness. It is about who we are now in Christ and what kind of people we ought to be.

Be strong in the Lord, therefore, in the strength of His might, oh mighty warriors of God! Stand firm and resist the devil! Your enemy is great but greater still is the Lord. But do not be so arrogant as to underestimate and dismiss Satan’s power. He is mortally wounded but not done in yet. Like the final spasm of a wounded bear, his desperate measures may prove to be even more fatal. We dare not take our enemy lightly.

Are you ready to stand firm against the onslaught of the devil? What does his attack look like? Maybe not so physical and external but more internal and spiritual. Do you realize that our true battle is not with those who persecute us? Our true battle is more against our fear of men. What can men do to us? Who are they before God? Our battle is not against the mighty men of this world, but our fear of men, our lack of faith.

Satan’s attack comes to us also in his subtle temptations to sin--subtle but still malicious and deadly. Yet how do we respond to temptations? We flirt with them. We treat them like our bosom buddies. What would be the outcome of our battle if we treat our enemy as our bosom buddy? Are we prepared to face our enemies as such, to destroy them utterly? How intense is our desire to fight and win? Our enemy stares at us with a murderous hate. Can we stare back at him with the same intensity, with an indomitable resolve to fight--to finish him off, to mortify our sin, our bad habits, our sinful thoughts and our sinful deeds? Oh, mighty warriors of God, be strong in the Lord and stand firm against the devil. Do this for the glory of our Lord, the triumphant King!

And do this for one another! For we stand together as a unit. Paul’s command is in the plural, addressing all of us together. We are not to stand alone but with one another. We are to protect one another. And it would be well for us to remember, “A chain is as strong as its weakest link.” No matter how strong some of us may be individually, if there are any who are too weak to hold their positions, the line of defense can easily be destroyed. We cannot afford any of us to fall back. We cannot afford any of us to be lazy and careless, to neglect their duties and abandon their posts. I urge you, therefore, with the very urgency of Paul’s words, to take your spiritual battle seriously but with hope. For you do not stand alone. You stand in the Lord and with one another. You stand in the strength of His might, in the strength of the One who conquered death and defeated Satan. May the Lord be pleased to build us up as His strong army, worthy of the banner of Christ flying over us, worthy of our future when we shall reign together with Christ even over the angels, glorying in the triumph of our King and Lord through all eternity! Amen.