Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20031005.htm

EPHESIANS: GOD'S SURE PLAN FOR INSECURE TIMES
Part VIII: Mutual Edification In The Church By God's Power
G. Relying On God's Spiritual Provisions For Angelic Conflict Victory
(Ephesians 6:10-20)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Years ago, mentioning the subjects of demons and the angelic conflict even in Church produced awkward glances from fellow Christians, but not anymore; when Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12 that we "wrestle" against principalities, powers and rulers of darkness, he was writing on a subject that has become increasingly relevant to people living in today's world:

(1) Several secular television shows openly present demonic figures in violent, physical conflict with other "good" human beings or angelic figures.

(2) The Christian world today openly discusses the subject; in a current catalogue on Christian books, the following works on the angelic conflict are listed: "Rumors of Another World," "Victory over the Darkness, 10th Anniversary Edition," "The Bondage Breaker," "Beginner's Guide To Spiritual Warfare" and "Stomping Out the Darkness." Frank Peretti's books on the angelic conflict are no longer the hottest rage, but they introduced many Christians to the subject of the angelic conflict.



Well, in a CONCISE manner, WHAT is involved in the angelic conflict, WHAT do I have to KNOW about it, and HOW do I live VICTORIOUSLY in the angelic conflict?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "I know there IS an angelic conflict and that God wants us to have victory in it! Can you BRIEFLY describe how to DO that?"
  1. The Apostle Paul revealed we believers in Christ "wrestle" in the spiritual realm with evil spirits under Satan's rule, Ephesians 6:12.
  2. Examining other Scriptures reveals HOW Satan attempts to get us to be spiritually defeated in this conflict as follows:
    1. In Eden, Satan tried to lure Eve and via her, Adam to sin so they would die in God's judgment against sin, Genesis 3:1-7 with 2:16-17.
    2. In Zechariah 3:1-7, as sinfully needy Israel needed shielding from God's judgment by the intercession of the high priest, Joshua, Satan stood beside Joshua to accuse him of sin so God would have to destroy both Joshua and unforgiven Israel with him.
    3. Satan thus tries to ruin man by luring him to sin and then accusing him of that sin so God must destroy man in judgment, cf. John 8:44.
  3. Yet, GOD in GRACE has made provision for MAN to overcome Satan's wiles by APPLYING God's SPIRITUAL ARMOR:
    1. In Isaiah 59:16, God saw no one stood to mediate effectively for Israel's sins, leaving her vulnerable for His destructive judgment.
    2. Appalled at this dreadful state of affairs, God planned for Christ to supply by His substitutionary atonement deliverance for Israel from His own wrath , Isa. 59:17. This deliverance is anthropomorphically described as God donning the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation for Israel's defense, Isa . 59:16-17; Bib. Know. Com., O.T., p. 1114; The Wycliffe Bib. Com., p. 650.
    3. Other armor God might be said to have to aid His people in the Old Testament are the loins of truth and the sword of the Spirit, His word in Isa . 11:4-5, and God sends His messengers with beautiful feet in Isa. 52:7 to herald the gospel, UBS Grk. N.T., p. 679, footnotes.
    4. So, in Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul referred to these items as God's armor that WE Christians might put on to gain victory over Satan!
    5. Now, we also know that as Satan stood to accuse Joshua of sin in Zechariah 3:1-7, Satan also accuses us before God, cf. Rev. 12:10.
    6. We also know from 1 John 1:8-2:2 that Christ desires to shield us from similar Satanic accusations when we confess our sins to God.
    7. Thus, we sketch God's following plan for us in the angelic conflict:
      1. When we trust in Christ as Savior, we are SAVED from God's ETERNAL wrath against sin, cf. Isa. 59:16-17 and Rom. 3:24-25.
      2. However, when a Christian sins in his LIFE, he deserves God's TEMPORAL discipline, so Satan stands before God in heaven (until he is cast out of access to heaven in the Great Tribulation, Rev. 12:9-10, 13) to accuse the believer of sin in order to get God to punish him (ultimately in physical death), 1 John 1:8-2:2; 5:16.
      3. Christ stands ready to defend the believer from Satan's charges like He stood as the Angel of the Lord to help Joshua in Zechariah 3:1-2; yet, the believer must confess his sin to God to be forgiven and rescued from God's temporal discipline, 1 Jn. 1:9; 2:1-2; 5:16.
      4. Now, once the believer is cleansed, he lives ABOVE Satan's destructive "wrestling" efforts to ENTICE him to SIN as he uses God's armor in Eph. 6:13-20 [in "practical use" order] as follows:
        1. He confesses his sins for immunity to Satanic prosecution, Eph. 6:14b and "breastplate" with 1 John 1:9 and Rev. 12:10; Ibid.
        2. He speaks and lives only what is true in his life, Eph. 6:14a and "loins;" cf. Bible Know. Com., N.T., p. 643.
        3. He trusts Scripture to counter adopting errant ideas that lead to sinful failure, Eph. 6:16 and "shield of faith;" Ibid., p. 644.
        4. He cites Scripture while under Satanic attack to diffuse Satan's works, Eph. 6:17b and "sword . . . the word (hrayma, or spoken word) of God," Ibid.; Christ's example in Matt . 4:2-4, 5-7, 8-11.
        5. He hopes in God's help while under Satanic attack, Eph. 6:17a and "helmet of salvation" or "deliverance," Ibid.
        6. He prayerfully intercedes for all believers, Eph. 6:18-20, Ibid.
        7. He holds firmly to the true, powerful Gospel for headway under Satanic opposition to evangelistic outreach, Eph. 6:15 and "feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace;" Ibid.
Lesson Application: To overcome in the angelic conflict, we must (1) believe on Christ as Savior to be justified and eternally saved from God's wrath, Jn. 3:16; Rom. 3:24-25 in view of Isa . 59:16-17. (2) Then, to live above Satan's effort to lure us to SIN and get us DISCIPLINED by God to our temporal harm, (a) we CONFESS to God our sins to escape Satan's accusations before God, (b) we use truthful words and acts, (c) we trust Scripture versus all other ideas, (d) we cite Scripture when the opportunity presents itself to offset Satan's efforts, (e) we hope in God for deliverance from Satanic attack while under attack, (f) we pray for all believers and (g) hold firmly to- and ready with- the true, powerful Gospel for victory in spiritual resistance to evangelism.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 To show how victory in the angelic conflict occurs in a very practical way by heeding Ephesians 6:10-20, here is an example from an actual event:

One day years ago as I was working in my office, I answered a knock that came on the door that opens to our Church's west parking lot. Several young, well-dressed men and women met me and asked if they could present a ministry idea they had.

I let them enter the Conference Room where they proceeded explain how they were trying to develop a fellowship with various area churches. They wondered if I would join them in their effort.

I asked them what Christian church or group they represented, and they replied they were only trying to develop a fellowship among area churches. Their evasion of my question led me to doubt their intentions, so, as politely as I could, I declined their ministry offer on the basis of 1 John 4:1-4 where we are told to test the spirits of those who come to us with ministries. I told them I had to certify their origin prior to getting myself or our Church involved in any such ministry.

In a short while, they cordially thanked me and left.

Some weeks later, the cult we know as the "moonies"-- those who follow the Reverend Sun Myung Moon in the Unification Church and deny Christ succeeded in physically redeeming man -- this cult arranged for a large regional gathering of pastors. Many of the pastors who attended this gathering later claimed Reverend Moon had tried to deceive them to produce a false, entrapping fellowship for Christians!

I then recalled the details of my discussion with the group of young people who had met with me prior to this gathering and discerned they had been followers of Reverund Moon; they had come to me under false pretenses to seek to involve us in a fellowship for their own ends. By heeding section "III, F, 4, c" of these sermon notes so as to rely on what SCRIPTURE in 1 John 4:1-4 revealed we were to do about NEWCOMERS who had a ministry, the LORD protected me from entanglement with cultists even though I didn't KNOW they were CULTISTS!

The angelic conflict wages all around us, though sometimes we are not even AWARE of HOW it does. We must thus stay armed with God's spiritual armor described for us in Ephesians 6:10-20 that we might live above the beguiling efforts of Satan!