Lesson 88 November 23, 2003

*** There are 3 major passages in Eph. that deal with this power.

#1 1:18-20

#2 3:16-19

#3 6:10

From these 3 passages there are at least 6 clear concepts of power;

1. Power is clearly available to the believer in his life. 1:18-20

2. This power is free, 3:16, "He would grant you"; its a gift but not automatic!

3. This power is limitless, "according to the riches of His glory" and therefore out of the source of His character. [3:16]

4. This power is internal, inner man, the new self; its not ext. fireworks but an inner dynamic. [3:16]

5. This power is productive, provides proper grounding, foundation, comprehension of truth; knowing the love of Christ. [3:17-19]

6. This power is mediated through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. [3:16]

How can we miss this provision in our own lives?

#1 Ignorance of truth;

#2 Unconfessed Sin

#3 Unbelief;

So vs:10 Paul instructed us that we have the strength the power available to us for the battle; and it is related to our position in Christ.

With verse 11 we pick up the next point;

The imperative of power, or how do we realize the power just spoken of vs:10.

The Cmd: "Put on the full armor of God,"

"full armor" panoplia; > pasj oplon; full, complete armor; In classical Greek it was used to describe a heavily-armored soldier.

* Because the spiritual battle is so important, so serious, we cannot afford to be without any one of the pieces of armor; whether it be the shield, the shoes, the breastplate, the helmet, or the sword; all are necessary;

But the emphatic aspect is that you need all the armor, not just some of it; but you need the equipment in its completeness.

* Here you have contrasted the divine and human aspects of the battle:

#1 you can count on the reality of the armor from God being at your disposal; "part of His riches His glory."

#2 Our responsibility to take the necessary steps to put on; to array ourselves in the complete armor of God.

Next a purpose clause; "in order that you may be able to stand firm,"

3 times we find this verb in the immediate context;

- here in vs:11 to have the ability to stand firm against the deceptive stratagems of the devil, the commander in chief of the opposing forces;

- In vs:13 take up the complete armor so that you may be able to resist in the evil day;

- In vs:16 that you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.

- "to stand firm" histhmi to stand firm; [another key word for this context]

* The interesting aspect of this is that you cannot take the offensive, to gain ground until your able to hold fast, to stand firm against the enemy and not give ground;

* This standing firm against the schemes of the devil is an echo of what Paul earlier had said in 4:27.

** What will happen, what is the result, if you follow these instructions??

This passage doesn't tell us, but Jas 4:7 does.

The Nature of the Struggle: 6:12

- It is the word "struggle" that defines this for us the nature;

To the Ephesian believers when Paul uses this term, hh` palh, it presented to them a very stark picture; one that points to the intensity and desperateness of the struggle, the seriousness of the warfare against the spiritual forces of darkness described here!

So to them this term would have great impact; so that they would clearly see the reason for the urgency in putting on the full armor of God; so that they are able to appropriate the victory, the victory won by Christ.

This metaphor (struggle = wrestling match) puts the warfare in an individual context; you must be prepared spiritually yourself for the spiritual battles you will face in life;

- The point is that this goes right to the heart of the issue and that is this; who and what power is actually behind the false teachers, the opposition to God and His word out there?

It is Satan and his operatives;

It is Satan who is ultimately behind their strategies.

Look back at John 8

- First in vs:41 "you are doing the deeds of your father."

- 2nd in vs:44 really drops the boom on the them;

"For our struggle [our wrestling] is not against flesh and blood,"

- Point is that combatants; believers on the one hand; and these unseen spiritual forces on the other hand are not operating on equal terms at all.

It's the believer engaging forces of a superior strength and power to his own and therefore the struggle, the battle puts demands on the believer that he is unable to meet that is from his own natural weapons.

Here in this context we are being instructed on just how to appropriate that victory in our lives!

* Next we find a listing of the opposition in this spiritual struggle:

The unseen forces arrayed against God and those that are His, the believer;

#1. "rulers" avrch,; first ones; preeminent ones, leaders;

#2. "powers" evxousi,a basic, denotes authority, those with the right to govern;

#3. "world forces of this darkness" kosmokra,twr pl.; kosmoj + kratew

world-rulers; world-dominions; world-mighty ones;

#4. "spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places."