Therefore Be Strong in Him

Eph. 6:10-17

Good morning! Today we continue our series through the book of Ephesians, looking at the middle portion of chapter 6. As we have gone through Ephesians, we have seen that chapters 1 through 3 focus on the incredible blessings we have in Christ, on the gospel, and on the supreme value of knowing God and the love of God more personally, more deeply, and more intimately, a blessing that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and is only possible because Jesus willingly went to the cross for our sins. 

And in the start of Chapter 4 Paul says “therefore”, a pivot that splits the entire letter effectively into two halves. The rest of Ephesians focuses on how we should then live. We are to be humble and gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love. We are to join with other believers, availing ourselves of the spiritual leaders that God gives us. We are to put off our old selves and put on the new, forsaking deception, loving one another, building one another up, abounding in compassion and forgiveness, and living by the power of the Spirit with continual thankfulness. 

And then we are told to submit to one another out of love for Christ, and specific instructions are given to wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves, and masters. And this brings us to today’s passage, starting in Eph. 6:10.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. – Eph. 6:10-11 

Now, Paul likes to use the word translated “finally” not as the last few words he says, but as the last major topic. It is interesting to look at the various letters that he uses this word, as what comes across is that what comes next is very much customized to the people he is writing to; that is, what comes after “finally” is always different. When he uses it in 2 Cor 13:11, he tells them to be of one mind and live in peace with one another.  When he uses it in Phil. 4:8, he tells them to focus their thoughts on true, honest, just, pure, good, virtuous things. In I Thess. 4:1, he tells them to abound in the works of God in accordance with what they have learned. And in 2 Thess. 3:1, he asks for prayer, that the gospel would go forth from him. 

But here in Ephesians, he tells them to be strong, to stand against the schemes of the devil. But of course, that is not exactly what Paul says. I have left some critical things out.

First, Paul tells them to be strong in the Lord. Before we explore what that might mean, let me point out that throughout the New Testament we are told to be strong in the Lord, never to be strong in our own strength. Phil. 4:13 says that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. In I Tim. 1:12 Paul says that he thanks the Lord Jesus who has strengthened him. In 2 Tim. 2:1 Paul tells Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 

What does it mean to be strong in someone else? I think it means to rely on the other person for things that you yourself cannot do well, if at all. In a marriage, the husband and wife are supposed to rely on each other in this way, and together they are to rely on God for what neither of them can do. I am reminded of this passage from Ecclesiastes:

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. – Eccl. 4:9-12

This passage will always mean a lot to Mimi and I because it was one of the passages that was expounded upon at our wedding. And in the passage the picture is given of two people who are strong in each other. Although it does not specifically refer to a husband and wife, it certainly applies to marriage relationship, but it could also apply to a relationship between siblings or business partners, for example. As for the cord of three strands, I do not think this is an unconnected thought from the verses preceding it. And I also believe that the three strands refer to the two people that depend on each other plus the Lord. 

And so, coming back to the Ephesians passage:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. – Eph. 6:10-11 

When two people are dependent on each other, there is an expectation that each one will pull their own weight, that in some situations they will rely on the strength of one person, and in other situations they will rely on the strength of the other. But it would be ludicrous to think that the same is true when it comes to a person depending on the Lord. Our strength is nothing compared to His. And not only does the Lord not take offense when we rely continuously on Him, He expects it. He wants it. If you had powerful oxen and a plow, it would be foolish to only use the team half of the time and spend the other half struggling to clear the field with your bare hands. Our desire and intent should be to 0% depend on our own strength and 100% depend on the Lord’s. 

And in the following verse, Paul begins to explain to us how we do this, and he also explains what we need to be strong against. We are to be spiritually clad in the armor of God, and Paul will give us details shortly. As for what we need to be strong against, it is the schemes, the plans, the methodeia of the devil. This Greek word is the word we get “method” from. Literally, it means something like “travel over” and the picture is that of someone lying in wait at a blind spot on a road so as to surprise the traveler and overcome him when he least expects it.  

Who is the devil? Who is diablos as it says in the Greek, from which we get the word diabolical? He was first an angel. Isaiah 14:12-15 gives his name as Lucifer, meaning bearer of light. He is described in Ezek. 28:12-14 as being created as one of the cherubim, but he became discontent with his exalted position, and wanted to sit on a throne over God Himself. God punished Satan for this sin by removing him from his position. 

Satan became the ruler or lowercase g god of this world in 2 Cor. 4:4 and John 12:31. He is also called the prince of the power of the air here in Ephesians (Eph. 2:2). He is called the tempter in Math. 4:3 and even tries to tempt Jesus to worship him. He is called the accuser in Rev. 12:10. And he is also known as the great deceiver, deceiving Adam and Eve in Gen. 3, and in 2 Cor. 4:4 he is also described as the one who has blinded the eyes of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the glory of God. Indeed, he has deceived humanity throughout its history, leading to endless idolatry, cults, and false religions. He loves what God hates, and he sows discord and conflict, leading to endless wars. His “blinding the eyes of the unbelievers” led to the persecution and murder of God’s prophets and even to the Jews murdering their own Messiah. And in the future, he will deceive countless people into believing that the anti-Christ is the true Messiah. 

Apart from the Lord’s strength, we have no ability to stand against this. So what are we supposed to do? Trust in the Lord, and in faith, wear the “armor” that we will see in the coming verses. But first, we have this:

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. – Eph. 6:12

The word translated “struggle” here is literally “wrestling.” Wrestling was practiced in Greece and Rome and was not that different than the amateur wrestling you see today. The sentence begins with “for” which means it is an explanation of what came before. The point of the passage is not that we do not wrestle against people – although there is a kernel of truth in that idea, in that people, even unbelievers, are not really our ultimate enemies; they are simply deceived by Satan and are doing his bidding. But the real point of this passage is that we do not merely wrestle against flesh and blood where we might have a chance of winning using our own strength; instead, our enemies are far more overwhelming, far more untouchable, far more numerous. Apart from the Lord, we don’t have a hope of a chance. 

There are four types of entities mentioned here. The first are rulers (arche), and the Greek word is associated with being first, so these are demonic beings in positions of authority, first. The second are authorities (exousia), and the word implies those who have been given power to do things, to judge, or to carry out judgments. The third is powers (kosmokrator), world-rulers, and the fourth is spiritual forces of evil (poneria), which means depravity, wickedness, malice, it is not so much even a being but a vague spirit-like force. I feel like these terms are not well-defined in Scripture, but I don’t think that is the point Paul is trying to make. Instead, I think he is listing them in order of increasing hopelessness of our ability to attack them in our own strength. How are we going to wrestle against a world-ruler? And even worse, how do we physically wrestle against a force? So again, the point is that we need to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, which we spiritually appropriate through the yet-to-be-explained armor. So let’s continue and look at this armor. 

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. – Eph. 6:14-17

Let’s talk about the belt of truth. Does Satan attack us by trying to get us to doubt God’s word? Absolutely. Think back all the way to the Garden of Eden, when Satan said, “Did God really say…?” 

How does Satan attack you in this area? Well, first, He tries to get you to stop getting into God’s Word. Now, your flesh also betrays you in this area, as it does in every area. Read first thing in the morning? It would be so much easier to veg out on your phone, or just sleep a little longer. Read at night? It would be so much easier to veg out on your phone, or just go to sleep. With regards to your flesh, it is no different than trying to get yourself to go exercise. But it is not only your flesh. It is also Satan. He can also attack you while you are reading the Word. You come across some passage you don’t fully understand, and he will attack you saying, “You see, it isn’t reliable. Maybe it’s not really the Word of God, but just stuff men made up.” Or if you are sensitive enough to reject that outright, he might say, “You see, you aren’t smart enough to really get much out of these times.” And if he can get you to not spend time in God’s Word, then it is much easier to attack you in this area during the day, when situations come up and the truth of God’s Word seems inconvenient, or maybe not quite squaring with reality. That’s a lie of Satan, compounded by the world. It really is the world, the flesh, and the devil. 

He also works in this area to cause division. He makes you convinced you are always right. He makes you believe that a minor issue is a major issue. He makes you believe that a major issue is a minor issue. This goes for matters of behavior as well as matters of doctrine. The truth is that there is a hierarchy of doctrines, both with regards to their importance and with regards to their degree of certainty. That Jesus is God is at the top of both lists, the list of importance and the list of certainty. How the end times will exactly play out is low on both lists, especially the list of certainty. (But all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” I’m not saying that you shouldn’t read the book of Revelation. I’m saying that you won’t fully understand it, and it isn’t essential that you do. But reading it, along with all the rest of Scripture, will still be a huge blessing in your life.) 

And so what is the belt of truth? It is spending time with God’s Word, hopefully daily. It is memorizing Scripture. It is asking the Lord to help you apply what you read to your daily life. It is going to the Lord in prayer when applying His Word seems inconvenient or difficult. It is coming to church and hearing God’s word explained. It is going to Bible studies. It can be reading or listening to good Bible teachers online or (gasp) in books. 

Next is the breastplate of righteousness in place. How does Satan attack us in the area of righteousness? In so many ways! First, he tempts us. He chooses our moments of greatest weakness to do so, when we are tired, discouraged, or proud. Then when he gets us to give in to temptation, he takes one of two extremes. He can tell us how worthless we are and tell us that God hates us and won’t forgive us anymore. Or he can tell us that it is no big deal, that everyone does it, to forget about it, or that He loves you unconditionally so it doesn’t matter. But whichever approach he takes (and he can use both on one incident, depending on our mode in the moment!), the one thing he will try to keep us from doing is going to the Lord in prayer, confessing our sin, and repenting, telling the Lord that we turn away from this sin and towards Him. He will hide from us the fact that our unconfessed sin separates us from God, and he will try to hide the fact that when we now feel more distant from God, that it is completely unrelated to this incident. 

A breastplate is not effective if it is not in place. Dragging your breastplate behind you along the ground isn’t going to help you. To have your breastplate in place means that you are keeping short accounts with God – and with other people, another activity that Satan will try to keep you from. Instead, he will foster disunity, and separation. He will try to get you to forget that thing you did wrong against someone else. But if someone else did something wrong against you, he will do everything he can to remind you of it every day. If we keep short accounts with God and with each other, confessing our sins to God and to the people we hurt or offend, then Satan cannot gain a foothold, as we were told back in Eph. 4.

…with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. What does this mean? Let’s talk about shoes and feet. After years upon years of problems with my feet including repeated ankle sprains and plantar fasciitis, I made the decision to switch, gradually, to barefoot shoes. These shoes have less support than regular shoes, and one would think that makes them bad. But what they do is force your feet to become stronger, more able to support themselves. And after going through a gradual transition, so that my feet had time to adjust, I have had fewer problems than in the past. That is, until last month. I had thought I had a stress fracture, but it turned out to be a more manageable soft tissue injury. But it has taken a long time to heal – we are 6 weeks in, and although it is much better, it is still nowhere near 100%. What caused the injury? I am convinced it is because I did not wear the shoes properly. When I run with these shoes, I lace them tightly at the ankle, but keep them loose near the toes. But over time, the tightness at the ankle drifts downward and makes the toe area tight. For reasons of laziness, I guess, I didn’t spend the time to restring the shoes to get the looseness near the toes that I normally have, and I believe that this is what caused my injury. 

Now the phrase here is interesting. It is not so much about the shoes, which by the way, for Roman soldiers were called caligae, which were thick-soled sandals with hobnailed soles, soles that had nails screwed or hammered into the soles. These soles protected you against spikes placed in the ground to wound soldiers and to protect against rough terrain. But it is not so much about the shoes, but about the fitting of the shoes for the feet. For, just as happened to me, if you do not ensure your shoe is well-fitted to your foot, bad things will happen. 

So what fits these spiritual shoes? Readiness, or preparation, that comes from the gospel of peace. Now this passage does not mean that we are to go out and preach the gospel. We are to go out to preach the gospel, and I have no question that this also protects us from Satan’s attacks in some ways, as it fires us up and gets us to depend on God as we go. But that is not what the Greek is saying here. What this passage is saying is that our understanding of the gospel should go far beyond mere intellectual understanding. It should be the core of the intimacy we should have with God. Recall earlier in Ephesians, when Paul prays that the Ephesians would grasp the depth and breadth of God’s love for them. This is what we are talking about here. The gospel isn’t just “Jesus died for our sins.” It is “Jesus died for me. He loves me. He is with me, always, literally, every step I take. My understanding of His love for me, demonstrated by what He did on the cross, is like a perfectly fitting boot. This protects me from all kinds of attacks from Satan. He cannot tell me that God doesn’t love me. He cannot tell me that I am alone. He cannot tell me that my salvation depends on my works. Because of what Jesus has done, I am at peace with God. I know Him, and He knows me. I love Him, and He loves me. And Satan is powerless to intrude or split apart that relationship. When Satan tells me that I am weak, I agree. But when I am weak, I reply, Christ is strong. 

Next is the shield of faith. The Greek word here refers to a large oblong (literally, door-shaped) shield, as opposed to some smaller shields. These shields were heavy, and arrows could not go through them. In addition, soldiers would line up and make an impenetrable defense. The arrows would sometimes have something attached to them that they would light before they were sent out. If they landed on a person, they could set their clothing or hair on fire. But the shields prevented this, as they were wood covered by metal. 

Now the flaming arrows come from Satan, but the passage does not specifically tell us what they are. Presumably they include all of the things we have discussed already. But it doesn’t really matter – the idea here is that faith overcomes Satan’s attacks, whatever they happen to be. And it is important that the core of most, if not all, of Satan’s attacks is actually an attack on faith. Faith in God is about believing what God’s Word says about God. When Satan tempts you, he is trying to get you to believe something else about God – that He doesn’t see everything, or that what He said is big deal isn’t that big a deal, or that maybe you misunderstood His word, or that His promises don’t work, or any of countless additional lies. This is why faith is like a huge shield – it doesn’t really matter what lie he says – a simple childlike faith that says “I know my Father, and you are wrong about Him” causes his attacks to just bounce off of you.  

Next is the helmet of salvation. Now the Roman helmets were made either entirely of metal, or of leather with bits of metal throughout it. Some had plumes, that were for identifying officers and regiments. In any case, the Roman helmets had a different purpose from the everyday helmets we see today, helmets for bicycle riding, or motorcycle riding, or skiing, for example. These modern helmets are designed to protect your brain from rattling around too much when you hit your head in an impact. But the Roman helmets were primarily designed to protect you from a broadsword, a very large sword wielded with two hands, often while on horseback. 

So what does Paul mean by a helmet of salvation? I don’t think it means that he is telling his readers or listeners to get saved. That has already happened. This entire letter is addressing saved people, people that have already repented and trusted in Christ for salvation. Now the life of believer starts with justification, which means we no longer await the due penalty for our sin, as Jesus has paid the price for us. And it continues with sanctification, which is the process of helping us to become more like Him, and helping us to restore our relationship with Him when we continue to sin. This is the idea behind Jesus’ washing people’s feet. Recall how Peter asked for all of himself to be washed, but Jesus told him, effectively, you have a full bath once, and from then on, you only need your feet washed. And then the life of the believer moves to glorification, which occurs when Christ returns. The “problem” with the word salvation is that it is not precisely defined. It can refer to the first step, justification, but it can also refer to all three steps as a whole. 

I believe the helmet of salvation refers to this broader meaning of salvation. It means that we know from where we have come (justification), we know where we are (sanctification), and we know where we are going (glorification). All of these together are salvation, and all of these together help us to stand against Satan, who can attack each of these three aspects of salvation. 

An attack to the head with a broadsword is serious, and likewise, Satan’s attacks on our salvation could also be quite serious, if we were not protected with the helmet of salvation. This helmet protects us from believing the lie that we don’t have a relationship with God, and never had one, if we ever fall to sin, it protects us from believing the lie that our present sins separate us from God in such a way that there is nothing we can do about it, and it protects us from believing the lie that we will never change. The helmet of salvation keeps us from despair. And it helps us to echo Paul’s words that to live is Christ and to die is gain. 

And last but certainly not least is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. I have heard it said in many messages that the sword is an offensive weapon, unlike the rest of the armor. And while I agree that is true in principle, I don’t believe that this is the way that Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is describing it. Paul is describing the sword as part of the armor. And although it is true that a sword can be used offensively, it is also true that a sword can be used powerfully as a defensive tool. As the opponent swings his sword at you, you parry, you block his move with a countermove. If you did not have that sword, or did not use it, every strike of his would hit your armor, and even if your armor held, your body would feel the force of every blow. The “defensive” sword makes a huge difference. 

I can think of no better illustration of the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, than that of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. We don’t have time to read the passage, but you can read it in Matthew 4 and in Luke 4. Jesus had just gone through 40 days of fasting in the desert wilds, and he was very hungry. Jesus, as God incarnate on Earth, was continually submitting His will to the will of the Father, and each of Satan’s temptations were ultimately about tempting Jesus to break out from His Father’s will and do His own thing. Although the details of the temptations were different from the temptation of Adam and Eve which led to the fall, and also different from the temptations we face, they were similar in that the core purpose of Satan is always the same. But returning to Jesus in the wilderness, we see Satan even use Scripture incorrectly applied in an attempt to get Jesus to sin. But Jesus responds in kind with Scripture, correctly applied, sword parrying against sword.

Satan will tempt us with things that, in our own wisdom, we will not even be able to tell are sin. He may even misuse Scripture to confuse us, or to get us to self-deceive ourselves and justify actions that are clearly wrong. The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, will help us to see through Satan’s deceptions and defend his attacks with Scripture properly used. To wield the sword we need to be regularly in God’s Word, learning what is good and proper and true and correct from God through God’s love letter to us. That is a necessary first step. But a second, I believe, is why the sword is called the Sword of the Spirit – we also need to bathe our lives with prayer that God’s spirit would guide us in the midst of the battle, that He would bring scriptures to mind as we need them, that we be able to wield the sword effectively, parrying against Satan’s attacks.  

And so these are the six incredible tools God gives us for our defense: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, well-fitting shoes with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We are not left undefended. We are not meant to live a defeated Christian life. We are equipped by God so that we can stand firm. We need to put our armor on and keep it on. And by God’s grace, as we do so, we will indeed stand firm.

I want to close with something I stumbled across while preparing this message, the story of Reuben “Uncle Bud” Robinson. He was born in a primitive log cabin in 1860 in the mountains of Tennessee. His father died when he was sixteen, and his mother moved with him to Texas. At the age of the 20, at a revival meeting, he gave his life to Christ, and from that moment he felt that the Lord had called him to preach. He had no education and a severe stutter. But he became an evangelist, and during his long ministry until he died at the age of 83, he travelled over two million miles, preached over 33,000 sermons, and was responsible (along with the Lord, of course) for more than 100,000 people coming to faith in Christ. The reason I bring him up is because of what he told people he prayed every day, a prayer that seems to embody the essence of our Ephesians 6 passage. Before we go through what he prayed, I will need to “translate” some of the “country” terms he used as they may be unfamiliar to many of us. 

1. A sawlog is a full-sized tree log large enough to saw into lumber.
2. Sleepers under a floor are a raised sturdy construction on a dirt floor used to keep a floor lifted away from the ground. They often span out from a central piece kind of like ribs.
3. Iron shoes are a term for horseshoes, and horseshoes last a long time, since they are metal. But I don’t think he means horseshoes in his prayer. Instead, I think he simply means shoes that last forever. He may have been thinking of Deut. 33:25 in which Jacob blesses Asher and says “Your sandals shall be iron and bronze. As long as your days, so shall your strength be.”
4. Galvanized breeches are metal-studded sturdy pants worn when riding horses.
5. A gable is the triangular section on the exterior wall of a house or barn immediately below the roof. On a barn, there are often doors on the gable opening out into the air, and there is often a pulley system for pulling heavy items directly up to the upper floor.

And here is what he prayed:

 

“O Lord, give me a backbone as big as a sawlog and ribs like sleepers under the church floor, put iron shoes on me and galvanized breeches and hang a wagon-load of determination in the gable-end of my soul, and help me to sign the contract to fight the devil as long as I have a vision, and bite him as long as I have a tooth, and then gum him ‘til I die. Amen.”