I’ve been vaccinated and boosted, does that mean I am safe from contracting the COVID 19 virus?? No – I know by experience that despite vaccinations I can still get the disease!!
What do we have to do to try and prevent getting COVID?
I’ve got my special N95 mask, my personal sanitiser and my measuring tape to keep my 1.5 meter distance! I can’t see the disease so I don’t know when and where it might be floating around…I need to be alert and careful.
As we come to the end of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he says we need to be alert and armed against another invisible evil…the devil and his schemes, the dark spiritual forces…
I hope you’ve been encouraged by this letter where Paul has reminded us of our position as God’s children, chosen, loved, and blessed with every spiritual blessing, saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus, raised, and seated with him in the heavenly realms. Paul went on to instruct us how to live as new creations in the body of Christ, encouraging unity, purity, and harmony. This is our ideal and the desirable goal for the Church.
As he wraps up his letter, he doesn’t say; “off you go, I’ve told you how you should live, it’ll be easy, all the best!”.
No, he says finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand again the devil’s schemes.
He says we are going to face opposition as we live as Christians in this world. There is an unseen spiritual battle we need to be prepared for. There are hostile, dark principalities and powers that will seek to destroy this new society called the Church, Christ’s body.
Some suggest that instead of “finally”, it is more appropriate to interpret the beginning of this message as “henceforward” or “for the remaining time”, indicating that the interim period between the Lord’s first and second coming will be characterized by conflict.
As Paul writes in chapter 1 of this letter, Jesus has defeated the evil one on the cross, he has been raised to sit in the heavenly places at the right hand of God. God has placed everything under his feet. We are raised with Jesus in new life, and we can experience his grace and peace now…but until he comes again the evil one is still present. The peace we are given is what we hold on to in the midst of struggle and conflict. We need his strength and his power and his grace to stand firm in this world.
Who is this evil one, the enemy we need to be alert to and stand against?
Paul clearly states that 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.
We don’t talk about this a lot, and it is good not to focus too much attention on the devil, but neither is it wise to totally dismiss the evil one! He likes it when we are not aware of his presence or don’t believe in him at all. That is his most cunning trick. We only need to read the gospels to hear of demons being cast out by Jesus. Jesus could clearly see the evil forces in the spiritual realm.
The devil is scheming and wicked and longs to draw us away from the light into his darkness. He seduces us into compromise, to not fully follow God and his ways. He will present himself as very attractive as he tries to lay hold of our thoughts and move our convictions. As Peter says in 1 Peter:5, Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…
How do we stand against such an adversary? Well, we can’t – not in our own strength, we are too weak and can easily be led astray…But Paul doesn’t tell us to stand in our own power – rather, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Paul tells us to put on the full armour of God, so that we can take our stand. It’s God’s armour, not ours. Without it we shall be exposed and unprotected.
The armour we put on is so that we can stand firmly. The instruction to stand is repeated in this passage. We are to stand our ground and to stand firm. To stand in God’s victory, remembering what he has done and who God is. Paul wants us to be stable in our faith. In chapter 4 he had talked about the danger of being tossed about by the waves if we remained as ‘infant’ Christians not growing into maturity of faith. He encouraged us to grow up into him who is the head, that is Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows, and builds itself up in love.
We stand with Christ holding us together as our head and with support from the whole body of Christ. We do not stand alone.
Paul then describes the armour we are to put on. He uses military images as these would have been familiar illustrations to his audience. They are metaphors, and we need to be careful not to think that Paul is in anyway telling us to go and fight physically against flesh and blood. Sadly, as we know Christians throughout history have made the terrible mistake of attacking those they have seen as enemies of Christ, misunderstanding the message of the cross. The Crusades, in the medieval period are a very sad example of this.
The armour Paul describes is for defense, not offense. The sword is the only offensive weapon, and this is the word of God.
Stand firm says Paul in God’s armour. He tells us firstly to buckle on the belt of truth. The belt in the Roman’s armour would have been made of leather and worn under the armour, gathering the tunic together and holding the sword, ensuring the wearer was unimpeded when marching. The belt gave hidden strength and confidence. A belt holds us firm. It holds our clothing in place.
The belt Paul tells us to put on to guard against the devil, is the belt of truth. Jesus declared that he is the truth, he is the son of God. We are to hold firm to that truth, as well as always speaking in truth. Being a person of integrity and sincerity. To be deceitful or hypocritical or scheming is to play the devil’s game. We are not to do this for he will surely beat us at this game! The devil does not like it when we live in transparent truth and light.
Next Paul says to put the breastplate of righteousness in place. The breastplate often covered the soldiers back as well as his front and was his major piece of armour protecting his most vital organs. For a Christian, there is no greater spiritual protection than putting on the righteousness of Christ. It is not our righteousness; we are only righteous when we accept Christ, who through his death makes us righteous. Having said that, as we mature as Christians we grow in holiness as we seek to grow in Christlike character. But it is his righteousness we put on. Only he can save us and protect us.
We are then to fit our feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. The Roman legionary wore a half boot made of leather, the toes were free, the soles were heavily studded and equipped their wearers for long marches preventing their feet from slipping. The gospel of peace gives us a firm footing to fend off the evil one, the devil hates the gospel which is God’s power to save.
In Isaiah 52:7, we read this of feet bearing the good news of peace…
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion your God reigns!
Spiritual victories are often won as we refocus upon the gospel and share its good news of peace.
In addition to all of this, says Paul, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
The shield was an indispensable addition to the Roman armour. The Roman shield was much larger than the medieval shields we think of, they were oblong in shape and could cover the whole person. They were especially designed to put out the dangerous missiles and arrows dipped in pitch, lit, and fired while burning.
What are the devils arrows we need to deflect? His accusations which inflame our conscience causing false guilt, also doubts, temptations to disobedience, rebellion, lust, malice, and fear – not trusting God.
The shield of faith can deflect and extinguish these arrows. God is our shield. Proverbs 30:5 says that God is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
In times of temptation, depression, doubt, and fear, we are to take refuge in God, hold up the shield of faith…faith in his promises and power.
Next, we put on the helmet of salvation. The Romans helmet was made of a tough metal like bronze or iron, and it was both decorative and protective. It of course protected the head, an essential part of our body housing our brain, our eyes, our ears, and our mouth, it controls what we see, hear, say, and do.
Knowing of our salvation in God is our ultimate protection for today and for eternity. Standing firm in the truth of our salvation is our ultimate defense against the enemy. We have a sure and certain hope of our future salvation which will come after our earthly death. Let us never forget that. That thought and reality can defeat many spiritual battles.
The final illustration is that we take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. This is the only offensive weapon Paul describes. Jesus models this for us when he was being tempted by the devil in the desert for 40 days before he began his earthly ministry. He resisted the devil and his only engagement with him was to quote scripture. Hebrews 4:12 says that the word of God is sharper than a 2-edge sword. We need to soak ourselves in scripture so that we, like Jesus, can deflect the devil with God’s word.
As well as arming ourselves with truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God…we are to pray in the Spirit on all occasions. Our prayer and requests are to be all kinds, don’t limit what you pray for!
Ephesians has been full of prayer and Paul always encourages his readers to pray. In Philippians 4 Paul says, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul says we are to pray without ceasing, or pray continually.
Prayer is vital in our communication and relationship with God. And prayer will protect us from the evil one. If we are praying and focusing on God, then the devil won’t be able to get in our ear!
And we know that as we pray, Jesus is interceding for us at the right hand of God. In our reading from John 17 today we heard how Jesus prays for us, asking the Father to protect us from the evil one. When you’re feeling the devil coming near and you find it hard to pray yourself, remember that Jesus is praying for us. How comforting is that! Or just say the name of Jesus out loud.
As Paul comes to the close of his letter, as he has prayed for the Ephesians, he asks that they pray for him also. We are to pray for one another, supporting one another that we may all stand firm in faith.
He finishes his letter with the usual ‘final greetings’, and as he began, he ends with a blessing of peace and grace and love in Christ Jesus.
I hope you have enjoyed our journey through Ephesians as much as I have. I encourage you to re-read it this coming week, perhaps find time to read it in one sitting as a letter is usually read. May it remind you of the rich blessings we have in Christ, may it encourage you in how you live as members of his body, may you be equipped to defend the evil one as you put on the armour of God and may you pray in the Spirit on all occasions, staying close to the Father and growing in maturity of faith, standing firm, and being spurred on to share the gospel of peace.
Let us finish with Paul’s prayer from 3:14-21
Let us pray:
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.