Sunday
Morning Bible Study
September 17, 2006
Introduction
Illustration
A Super Bowl Story
Coach Bobby Ross had put together the perfect Lions team for ‘99. The only
thing he was missing was a good quarterback. He had scouted all the colleges,
and even the high schools, but he couldn’t find a ringer quarterback that would
ensure a Super Bowl win. Then one night, watching CNN, he saw a war zone scene
in Bosnia. In
one corner of the background, he spotted a young Bosnian soldier with a truly
incredible arm. He threw a hand grenade straight into a 15th story
window a good 200 yards away - ka-boom! He threw another hand grenade into a
group of about 10 soldiers over 100 yards away - ka-blooey! Then a car passes,
going around 90 miles per hour - bulls-eye! Right into it. “I’ve got to get
this guy,” Ross said to himself. “He has the perfect arm!” So, he brings him to
the States and teaches him the great game of football and the Lions go on to
win the Super Bowl for the first time in history. The young Bosnian is lionized
as the Great Hero of football, and when Ross asks him what he wants, all the
young man wants to do is to call his mother. “Mom,” he says into the receiver, “
I just won the Super Bowl”. “I don’t want to talk to you,” the old woman says. “You
deserted us. You’re not my son”. “I don’t think you understand, Mother” the
young man pleads. “I just won the greatest sporting event in the world. I’m in
the middle of thousands of adoring fans.” “No, let me tell you,” the mother
implores. “At this very moment, there are gunshots all around us. The
neighborhood is a pile of rubble. Your two brothers were beaten and came within
an inch of losing their lives last week, and this week your sister was mugged...in
broad daylight”. The old lady pauses, in tears, “...I’ll never forgive you for making
us move to Detroit.”
We are in a war.
The war isn’t just in Bosnia
or even Iraq,
it’s all around us.
If we choose to ignore the war, we’re finished. We’ve lost.
If we aren’t equipped properly for the war, we’ll be defeated.
But if we do what our commander-in-chief asks, and take the things He
equips us with, we will not only survive, we will be victorious.
:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His
might.
be strong – endunamoo – to
be strong, strengthen; to receive strength, increase in strength; related to
the word dunamis, “power”
power – kratos – force,
strength; power, might; in the NT chiefly of God
might – ischus – ability,
force, strength, might
Paul uses three different but similar words used for “strength” here.
Lesson
The right power
We need strength to face the war we’re in.
But our strength is not enough. We
need God’s strength.
We live in a world that knows a lot about fuel. We have vehicles that run on regular
gasoline, others that run on premium.
Some vehicles run on diesel, others run on propane. Electric vehicles are starting to come into
their own and there is talk about one day having a hydrogen car.
But with each vehicle, you need to have the right fuel.
You can’t run a gasoline engine on hydrogen.
The battle we’re in requires the right kind of fuel. I believe Paul is talking about the power of
the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said,
(Acts 1:8 NKJV)
"But you shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the
earth."
power – dunamis
– the ability to follow God.
We need to learn more and more to yield our lives to the
Holy Spirit and allow Him to overflow us with His power.
:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against
the wiles of the devil.
may be able – dunamai – to
have power; to be able to do something (the verb form of dunamis)
the wiles – methodeia (our
word “methods”) – cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery
We have an enemy who has a plan, a strategy to defeat us.
Paul had written to the Corinthians in his first letter about a situation
where Paul he asked the church to remove a person from the church because of
their rebellious, open and unrepentant sin (1Cor. 5). But eventually the person
came to their senses and turned around, so Paul wrote back to the Corinthians
to forgive this person and receive them back into the church because …
(2 Cor 2:11 NKJV) lest Satan should take advantage of
us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
devices – noema – thought;
an evil purpose; literally a “working of the mind”
Apparently one of the “wiles” is to trick us into bitterness and
unforgiveness.
We too should not be ignorant of Satan’s “wiles” or “devices”
Illustration
Joe Lewis was the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. He fought, if I
recall correctly, 71 times professionally; he lost only once. During the decade
and a half he held his title, he defended it 25 times. Bill Stern, the voice of
American sports on radio, decided toward the end of the Brown Bomber’s career
that he would interview him and find out the technique or the secret that Lewis
employed in fighting his opponents and how he could win over people who were at
times much larger than he. His answer was very simple “I study my opponent, I
plan my fight very carefully. The results are always the same. 1) I’m never
surprised and 2) I stay on the offensive”.
the devil – diabolos –
false accuser, slanderer
He is the “slanderer”, the “accuser”.
This title for the devil contains a hint to more “wiles” of Satan. One of Satan’s strategies is to keep us under
condemnation, so riddled with guilt that we feel like we could never do
anything for God.
Lesson
The right weapons
We need to use God’s weapons if we’re going to survive this war against
Satan.
God offers us His armor – which we’ll be looking at over the next couple of
weeks.
When we talk about the strategy of Satan to discourage us through accusation
and condemnation, God has a weapon designed to fight this.
(Rev 12:10-11 NKJV) Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
"Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of
His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before
our God day and night, has been cast down. {11} "And they overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love
their lives to the death.
Satan is called the “accuser of the brethren”.
One of the elements of the victory was the blood of the Lamb.
How does that work?
Satan’s accusation and condemnations work so well because
most of the time we deserve all the condemnation he heaps on us. We are guilty. We did do something horrible.
But Jesus came to bring forgiveness and healing.
He bled and died on the cross in order to be a sacrifice,
a substitute for us. He died in our
place. We were the ones deserving of
death because of our sin. But instead of
us paying the price for our sins, Jesus paid it for us.
We can overcome this “wile” of the enemy when we come to
accept God’s forgiveness.
(1 John 1:9 NKJV)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
A word about “armor”
David and Saul’s armor –
David went into battle to face the giant Goliath, he was
offered King Saul’s armor. But he didn’t
use the armor because it wasn’t his, it wasn’t comfortable, he wasn’t used to
it.
That was a wise choice for David.
Make God’s armor your own – this isn’t an optional thing to us like it was
for David. We MUST get comfortable with God’s armor.
You have to have the right weapons for the enemy you face.
Illustration
I went to the Troy football game on Friday. They
have a fullback named Derrick Coleman, 6’2”, 220 pounds. He can run, and he can
run right over his opponents. There was one run where he swung over to our side
of the field and went charging down the line. You could hear the crunch as he
ran right through the first couple of tacklers. I’d hate to have been that
first guy trying to tackle him, but even more if I didn’t have any of that
“armor”, the bulky football padding. Ouch!
Illustration
A Civil War soldier, who had lost his bayonet, whittled one from wood so
that he could pass inspection. He hoped he would not be discovered until the
regiment had gone into battle, where he planned to pick one up from a dead
soldier. At inspection, an officer asked to see his bayonet. The soldier
stated, “Sir, I promised my father I would not unsheathe my bayonet unless I
intended to kill someone with it.” The Officer insisted that the soldier hand
over the bayonet. Taking it out, the soldier looked skyward and said, “May the
Lord change my bayonet to wood for breaking my vow.”
In seriousness, that soldier wasn’t ready for a real battle. He had something that kind of looked like a
bayonet, but it wouldn’t do in a real battle.
We need to become familiar with and skilled at using the weapons that God
wants us to use.
:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
wrestle – pale –
wrestling; it’s from an old Greek word (pallo),
which meant to throw or swing, and described a contest between two men where
they throw each other around until one can hold the other down with his hand on
the opponent’s neck. I’m not sure if they broke chairs over each other, fought
in a cage, wore makeup, or had someone yelling, “Let’s get ready to RUMBLE!!!!”
Actually, the Greek idea of wrestling was a little bloodier than WWF. The
looser of the match would have his eyes gouged out and be blind for the rest of
his life. It doesn’t sound like a little friendly wrestling match, does it?
The battle we face is for keeps.
It’s dangerous. Lives are at
stake. Eternal lives are at stake.
Paul now gives us a list of who some of the soldiers are we wrestle
against. The list describes various rankings of angelic beings.
principalities – arche –
beginning, origin; the “first ones”, the leader; the first place
powers – exousia – power
of choice, the power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege); the “authorities”.
rulers – kosmokrator – (“world”
+ “power”) This obscure Greek word is “found in the Orphic Hymns of Satan, in
Gnostic writings of the devil, in rabbinical writings (transliterated) of the
angel of death, in inscriptions of the Emperor Caracalla” (A.T.Robertson)
age – aion – for ever;
period of time, this “age” we live in; Paul uses this word in one of his
descriptions of Satan as the “god of this age” (2Cor. 4:4)
spiritual hosts – pneumatikos –
relating to spirit; The word “hosts” is not in the Greek. The phrase could be
translated “against spiritual things of
wickedness in the heavenlies”
heavenly places – epouranios –
existing in heaven
As we saw in Rev. 12:10, Satan and his rebellious angels still have access
to heaven where they accuse us before God.
There will be a day when they will be kicked out of heaven, but for now
they are in the “heavenlies”.
Lesson
The right enemy
We have an enemy and his name is Satan.
But the problem is that because we can’t see Satan, we fall into the
mistake of thinking that some of the people around us are our enemies.
Who are the people who cause you the most trouble? Who causes you the most
heart-ache? Who would you identify as the “enemies” in your life?
For some of us, those “enemies” might look like people we work with. For
others, it’s a person at school who gives us a hard time. For others, it may be
a little closer to home – some of us might be tempted to say our spouse is our
enemy, others might say their kids or their parents.
If your enemy is a person that has “skin” on, could I
suggest you’re fighting the wrong enemy?
Illustration
Before Andrew Jackson became the seventh president of the United
States, he served as a major general in the Tennessee
militia. During the War of 1812 his troops reached an all-time low in morale. As
a result they began arguing, bickering, and fighting among themselves. It is
reported that Old Hickory called them all together on one occasion when
tensions were at their worst and said, “Gentlemen! Let’s remember, the enemy is
over there.”
What do I do about the “flesh and blood” people I have trouble with? Jesus
gives us four things we can do:
(Mat 5:43-45 NKJV) "You
have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.' {44} "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse
you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you
and persecute you, {45} "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;
for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the
just and on the unjust.
1. love – this may sound pretty impossible when you
have a real mean person staring you in the face, but this is what God wants us
to do. We can’t do this on our own strength, but God can help us.
2. bless – I think the issue here is the words that
come out of our mouth. Don’t respond with mean things, respond with good
things.
3. do good – God wants more than words, He wants
actions. Do good things for the people who hate you. Very practical.
4. pray for – you may wonder how you could ever do
these things for the people you’ve considered your “enemies”. It starts with
prayer. I find it very hard to “hate” people that I pray for regularly, at
least if I’m praying the right way for them.
:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
take up – analambano – to
raise; to take up (a thing in order to carry or use it). This is just like salvation – God offers us
salvation, but it doesn’t do us any good unless we receive God’s gift of
salvation. In the same way, God offers
us His weapons of warfare, but they won’t do us any good unless we learn to use
them.
you may be able – dunamai –
to have power, strength, ability
to withstand – anthistemi (“against”
+ “to stand”) – to set one’s self against, resist
having done – katergazomai (“according
to” + “to work”) – to perform, accomplish,
achieve; to work out
It seems that it takes some effort on our part in this battle.
It’s not our “strength” (vs. 10) that counts.
It’s not our weapons (vs. 11) that we use.
But we are required to “do all” in the battle. We have to take advantage of what God offers
us.
to stand – histemi – to
stand; to stand immovable, stand firm; continue safe and sound, stand unharmed,
to stand ready or prepared; Same word used in verse 11, also related to “withstand”
in verse 13.
Lesson
Stand
As we’ve worked our way through the book of Ephesians, we’ve been reminded
of the overall outline of the book: Sit
– Walk – Stand.
Paul starts off the book showing us the wonderful things that God has done
for us – these are the things we are to learn to be “seated” with in
heavenlies, to learn to receive what God has done for us.
Then Paul talked about our “walk”, what it’s like to follow Christ – how
our lives are changed, the work that the Holy Spirit does in our lives, and how
God changes all our relationships – marriage, family, and work.
But now it’s time to “Stand”.
We are in a battle and we need to stay on our feet.
In the wrestling match, you try to throw your opponent down keep him down.
Our goal is to stand.
If you haven’t noticed, you have an enemy who hates you.
Every time you make a stand for Christ, you will find opposition.
For some of you, you remember what it was like when you began to think
about following Jesus. All sorts of things went wrong. There were all sorts of
things to distract you from making that decision.
For others of you, the moment you made that decision, things went bad. You
thought that following Jesus would end all your problems, but they got worse.
For others of you, you’ve found that each time you take a step of growing,
a step of following Jesus more, a step of serving Christ, you have seen
opposition. I’ve talked with people who have come to the conclusion that they
are better off not getting too serious about the church thing, because every
time they do, trouble happens.
Illustration
In his book, Fuzzy
Memories, Jack Handey writes, “There used to be this bully who would demand
my lunch money every day. Since I was smaller, I would give it to him. “Then I
decided to fight back. I started taking karate lessons, but the instructor
wanted $5 a lesson. It was cheaper to pay the bully, so I gave up karate.”
Too many Christians believe it’s easier to pay the bully
than learn how to defeat him.
I’m not reminding you of these things to scare you away from Jesus. I’m
trying to remind you that there is an enemy who wants to either keep you from
turning to Jesus, or at least keep you from getting too serious about Him.
And our call is to stand. Don’t quit. Don’t lay down. Don’t turn away.
Stand.
Get back up
(Prov 24:16 NKJV) For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise
again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.
Stand.
His strength.
His weapons.
Against the right enemy.