The Armor of God (Ephesians)

Appleton Gospel Church

The Armor of God (Ephesians): Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. How can we stand firm and fight our spiritual battles? By putting on the full armor of God: truth, righteousness, the gospel, salvation, faith, God's word, and prayer. Recorded on Jul 28, 2024, on Ephesians 6:10-24 by Pastor David Parks. Our series, Ephesians: The Gospel in Life, serves as an epilogue to Finding Life in Jesus’ Name from John’s gospel. The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reveals much about how the life found by faith in Jesus actually works. This series will touch on themes of grace, identity, purpose, family, the church, spiritual warfare, and more. If you’re considering the life of Jesus or if you’re ready to follow him today, this series is for you. Sermon Transcript This summer, we’ve been working through the book of Ephesians in a sermon series called The Gospel in Life. We’ve seen that Ephesians is a powerful little letter from the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus in modern Turkey that is all about how the gospel and our union with Christ changes everything — our identity, direction in life, relationships…everything. I hope this series has been helpful to you and to your faith and your understanding of what it looks like to apply the gospel to every area of life. Next week, we’ll start a new sermon series on the OT book of Ruth, which is all about finding the faithful love of a redeemer in a world full of bitterness and tragedy. But first, today, as we bring this series to a close, Paul ends his letter by considering the spiritual battles that we face and how we might stand strong in the armor of God. 25 years ago, there was a huge sci-fi movie that came out called The Matrix. The basic idea of the plot was that this computer hacker discovers the secret reality behind what everyone else thought was real life. Neo took the red pill, and his eyes were opened, and he came to see the dark forces keeping humanity in this virtual reality simulation called the Matrix. Neo joins the rebels who are fighting back against the machines using kung fu (obviously), which made a lot more sense back in the 1900s. But, try as I might to find a less conspiratorial reference for our text today; I kept coming back to The Matrix. Because for all who have the eyes to see, the Apostle Paul pulls back the curtain today on the hidden reality behind what everyone thinks is real life. At the end of his letter, Paul reveals that there are dark spiritual powers at work in the world. It’s not just that people can choose good or evil and sometimes choose evil (although, that is true). And it’s not just that sometimes bad things happen because our world is broken (which is also true). But also, there are spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms in opposition to God and enemies of God’s people. If we ignore this, it won’t change this reality. It only makes us more vulnerable to their manipulation. But as alarming as this might sound, we don’t have anything to fear. In Christ, and because of the armor of God, even the weakest one of us can be strong and stand firm against these powers — even when the day of evil comes. If you have your Bible/app, open it to Eph 6:10. We’ll unpack this as we go. Ephesians 6:10–13 (NIV), “10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” For the last three weeks,