Spiritual Fighting

Take your Bibles, if you would please, and turn to Ephesians chapter 6. Chapter 6, verses 10 through 20, are our text for the spiritual warfare series.

A brief word to our online audience: I enjoy spiritual checkups with our flock here in person, and as a means to continue my duties well as a pastor — according to Acts 20:28 to guard myself and the flock, and to shepherd the flock willingly according to 1 Peter 5:2, and to keep watch over souls according to Hebrews 13:17 — I want to do well to interact with you personally, and I have been superbly encouraged by these meetings. I found that if we set aside time once a year to talk about your spiritual growth, and perhaps provide a listening ear or an encouragement, it has been immensely meaningful. So thank you for doing that. We started at the beginning of this year, and we have gotten through these spiritual checkups with our own membership. I think we have maybe six or ten more meetings to go before our current flock has been able to meet with me personally.

But I wanted to extend that online to our viewers as well. We have many people who watch online who do not have a spiritual church home they are able to go to, and so they are faithful here, and I appreciate you. So if you would like a spiritual checkup as well, just email the church at beubap@aol.com. That's B-E-U-B-A-P. We will get a FaceTime meeting set or a phone call set. I would love to check in with you as well.

But as we continue in this spiritual warfare series, I have noticed that we are able to irritate Satan. A couple of things up front that I would like to mention to you after we read the text: Satan hates your happiness, and he hates you hindering him. We will talk about that and then dive into the text.

So let's read Ephesians 6:10 and following together and think on this subject of spiritual warfare and how personal it really is. Ephesians 6:10 says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord" — and that is to be strengthened by the Lord — "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers and against the powers and against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith, which will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, with all prayer and petition. Pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, and that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak."

Let's pause for just a moment of prayer. Lord, thank You for this text, and I pray that You would help us to live out this spiritual warfare life daily with our armor on, so that we can fight against the schemes of the devil effectively, bring You glory, and continue in Your will for our lives. We do love You, and it's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.

If you like to title today's message, it's simply going to be "Spiritual Warfare, Part Five," as we continue in this section. There are certain truths that we need to extract from the text, but first of all I'd like to talk to you about the happiness of God, which Satan hates. Satan hates your happiness. He hates it. And if you like to fight against Satan, then just smile. That's one way that you can fight against him — to smile when you have some type of opposition. Whether it's car trouble on a Sunday morning, you can just smile. Or whether he throws some type of scheme your way, you can be happy in Christ. Satan hates that you're happy in Christ. He hates that you're Spirit-filled, and he hates that you are rejoicing despite difficulties. He hates that Paul wrote to the church in Philippians chapter 4, verse 4 — while he was in prison — "Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice."

Satan hates that as well. In Psalm 16:11 the Bible says, "In Your presence is fullness of joy." Satan hates it when you are living with the understanding — with the mental awareness — that God is present, that He is in control. He does not want you living in communion with Christ. He doesn't want you living with the understanding that God is in control. He doesn't want you dwelling upon Scripture. He doesn't want you in the shelter of God's wing. He wants you out of the presence of God. He wants to separate you and destroy you. And so stay in the fullness of His presence. Psalm 16:11 says, "In Your presence is fullness of joy." It's wonderful.

Satan not only hates your happiness in Christ, but he also hates when you hinder him. Turn to Matthew chapter 12, verse 26. Hold your place in Ephesians. Matthew chapter 12, verse 26 — Satan hates that you are hindering what he is doing. His objective is to build a kingdom. He tries to copycat the Lord and to copycat God. He wants to be God. Satan wants to build his own kingdom. And when you are sharing the gospel and making disciples, when you are growing in Christ, you are building the kingdom of God. When Christ is established in your heart more and more, fuller and fuller, truer and clearer — and you are helping to do that in other hearts and minds — you are spreading the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is being established in the hearts and minds of believers. But Satan hates that. He is wanting to build his kingdom.

In Matthew chapter 12, verse 26, Jesus is attesting: "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?" So you see that Satan is trying to build a kingdom — that's a scriptural point. And he hates it when you are hindering his ambition.

Now Satan also has many other different tactics. As we warm up to the text back in Ephesians chapter 6, I want you to know that Satan employs writers. He has authors on staff. He has ones who are spreading his evil message. And so in my humble opinion, I would like to make you aware of one of the members in our congregation who, I believe, sees Satan's activities the most out of all of us — who deals with the most spiritual warfare anguish. I'm talking about daily. Our dear sister Nancy, here in front of me, fights daily against Satan's schemes. Satan has not only schemed, but he has truly made paved inroads to re-educate our next generation through an evil education system — a corrupted, perverted curriculum and books that are simply out of the pits of hell.

And you would never read from cover to cover what is there for our elementary school and middle school children. You just could not stomach it. Your heart couldn't handle it. Your spirit would be so grieved you'd be bawling your eyes out to read, from cover to cover, materials that are step-by-step guides leading little ones into prostituting themselves, step-by-step guides into same-sex conditioning, step-by-step conditioning into leading children into gender transformation and confusion on these subjects. The attack from Satan and his paved roads — these inroads into robbing and stealing the hearts of our little ones — is spiritual warfare. And I commend you, Nancy, for your work in this area, to fight against the evil schemes that are after all the little ones here in Orange County and around.

You know that just as bugs and insects and rodents do not eat rotten fruit, don't eat stale vegetables, don't eat dried-up crops — so Satan does not attack non-fruit-bearing Christians, stale and silent Christians, dry and lifeless Christians. Satan eats fresh fruit. Satan attacks those of us who are bearing fruit. Satan comes after those of us who are truly walking with Christ, working hard, and fighting the good fight. This is Christian warfare. This is Christian spiritual warfare.

Satan doesn't mind if you are aloof from God — he's going to leave you alone. Satan doesn't mind if you are on the couch and not participating in the Great Commission. Satan doesn't mind at all. In fact, you're on his team and fighting for him if you are not spreading the gospel and making disciples. The Great Commission is for all Christians. This is not something that we have a choice in. We cannot pull out of the battle and leave our teammates hanging. We're all in this together.

So in your sphere of influence — just as we heard with our missions update — we all have our areas where God has planted us to be effective for the gospel. And so whether your spiritual warfare is happening at home, at your job, or abroad, it matters. We all have our places where we need to be working, and that is evidenced by the opposition that you're going to be facing. And so this is normal. The attack upon Christians is verifying for us that we truly are Christians. The opposition is verifying. And it's a real personal battle.

Look with me in your Word if you would, and see with me this personal struggle. In verse 10 and following it says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God." And so this is not for an army to suit up that's elsewhere. This is not for a different army somewhere else to train and get ready for battle. This is a personal battle — your personal battle. You have a personal battle against evil, a personal battle that is waged in your home.

And so one of the first things given to us is the belt of truth. There are six metaphors, and the seventh is a weapon that we see in the text in regards to spiritual warfighting. We're not going to get to all of them today. The first metaphor is the belt of truth. Continue reading in verse 11 and following. "Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and the powers and against the world forces of darkness and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to stand — stand firm, therefore — stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth." And when you gird your loins with truth, that's putting on the belt of truth.

Point number one is: the belt of truth combats deceitfulness. Truth combats the lie. So standing strong against the lies is not only an external fight but also an internal fight. Have you lied recently? Boy, that's an inner battle to deal with. Have you told a lie recently? Listen to me — not only have you told a lie, but have you believed a lie recently? These are internal spiritual warfare battles. I don't want you to tell lies, but even more so I don't want you to believe lies.

And this concept is one of sincerity of heart and mind. If you would remove all the hypocrisy from your heart — if the motives and intentions of your heart would be pure — then you are spiritually warfighting. You're purifying your heart. As David said it best: "Create in me a clean heart, O God." This internal spiritual war battle against the flesh is very important. Psalm 51:6 says, "Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being." In your innermost being, God desires truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. If you extinguish the truth, then your life will be dimmed, your light will be dimmed, your love will be dimmed. All of these things start to become dimmer in your life.

And so it is very important to keep all of these things vibrant. "Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being." Praise God that He is able to purify your heart if you confess. 1 John chapter 1, verse 9 says that if you confess your sin, He is faithful and just to forgive your sin — forgiveness — and then to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. And so, if I sin against you personally, I say sorry to the Lord, I apologize, I repent and turn from that, and then I go and apologize to you. I've been forgiven by God, forgiven by you. That's forgiveness. And that's the right thing to do.

But there's still this inward thing that needs to be dealt with. If you confess your sin, not only will you be right with God and others, but you will also be purified from the guilt and the shame. It's the lingering, nagging element of unconfessed sin that drags good men down. Do not let unconfessed sin rule and reign in your heart. Christ must rule and reign. He is truth. And so in your innermost being, you should be one who desires to be wholly pure.

If you harbor sin and iniquity in your heart, you will not prosper. I don't care how much money you make — you're not going to prosper if you are actively sinning. I don't care how secure you are with an endowment of a billion dollars. Christ wants your heart purer than anything else in this world. The riches of England, the wealth of Egypt, the wealth of this world — Satan tempts us with all of these types of kingdoms. Christ wants nothing to do with it. That's nothing. But you're everything. Your soul matters. Your soul is priceless. Your heart must be pure before God.

And if there is unconfessed sin in your life and you have not waged war against that sin and rooted it out of your life — I'm telling you, whatever the cost, Christ will do whatever it takes to make you repent. If it costs you that endowment, if it costs you your marriage, if it costs you your family — whatever it takes to get you down on your knees to confess, He will allow it. So make it easy. Confess sins as you do them. Don't let them build up in your life. Truly confess your sins as you do them.

The Holy Spirit of God will bring your soul into a grieved, heavy state when you sin against Him. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:30, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit." And that's your first indication that something is not right. Now, the Holy Spirit inside of you can be grieved when you think of something that is not pleasing to the Lord — like if you hear of trafficking or some other grieving situation. You can have a sorrow that is actually fellowship with the grieving of the Holy Spirit. Your heart can be made heavy because you are hearing of the sin happening in the world around you, and you can agonize in that. It doesn't mean that you've done anything wrong. But if that Holy Spirit burden is because of your own sin, you had better check yourself, confess it right away. It's worth just pausing — pull over on the side of the road if you need to, stop your work, call, repent, pray — whatever it takes to be right with Christ.

This is the first element of being able to fight spiritually: put on the belt of truth. Keep that belt of truth on. Make sure it's true. If it's inside of you, it's got to be true. If it's not true, don't let it get inside of you. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." If it's true, if it's of the Lord, then embrace it. If it's not true, you've got to reject it.

Now, you may think your life could be a little bit better if you lie just a little bit, if you compromise a little with the world — especially in business. There's a lot of pressure to make just a little compromise. That's the way Satan works: a lot of pressure, a small compromise, little by little, incremental. If he can whittle you down to where you compromise little by little by little — "just give a little bit, right? Just retract what you said" — that's what the Catholic Church said to Martin Luther.

And yet Martin Luther responded: "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, I do not accept the authority of the popes and the councils, for they have contradicted each other. My conscience is captive to the Word of God." So Martin Luther, at the Imperial Diet of Worms in 1521, was told to recant his scriptural stance or perhaps die. And yet he stood strong because it was true. The popes were not preaching the truth. They were contradicting Scripture. And Martin Luther defied the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, by taking up the belt of truth.

The first piece — the belt — Satan wants you to take it off and throw it to the side, to compromise and partner with the world. But the Bible says friendship with the world is to be at enmity with God, to be an enemy of God. So we must be of the truth, no matter the cost. And so brothers and sisters in Christ, do not take off the belt of truth and try to fight in your own flesh. You'll lose every single time. In fact, you will come out from underneath the umbrella of protection of a holy and pure and true Father in heaven and come back underneath the father of lies. John 8:44 says the devil is a liar and the father of lies.

Do not participate in half-lies, half-truths, or anything of the sort. Spiritual wars are won and lost based upon lies. That is one of the main spiritual warfare tactics today — propagating lies. Lies, lies, lies. If you believe everything that's in the news, I'm just telling you, it's not all true. Lies sway. But the belt girds the body together with truth. Truth holds it all together. And so the body armor is going to fall apart and get loose if you abandon truth. Your organs would then be exposed in actual fighting if your armor is loose, and obviously Satan sees a weakness and he's going to attack in that weakness.

The second piece of armor that we see is the breastplate of righteousness. So number two: the breastplate of righteousness combats wickedness. The breastplate of righteousness combats wickedness. In Ephesians chapter 6, you'll see that the breastplate of righteousness is put on as well — "having put on the breastplate of righteousness" in verse 14. And I want you to know that without a holy and righteous life, there's no defense against the devil. Without a holy and righteous life, you are literally defenseless, because all of your other armor means nothing — all Satan sees is a green light straight through to your heart. This breastplate of righteousness is meant to protect your vital organs, especially your heart, and it's going to do that if you have it. And if you abandon righteousness, then you will be defenseless.

Satan has deadly arrows aimed at your heart. And so without the breastplate of righteousness, without living a righteous life, without having the imputed righteousness of Christ in you — without righteousness, Satan's deadly accusations, like arrows that are on fire, can strike straight to the heart.

2 Kings chapter 6 describes how God provided an army of angels to protect Elisha. This is for a man of God. Elisha was a righteous man, a man of God. And if you're a man of God, if you're living godly, then you have the protection of God. God has angels — but so does Satan. Don't you want God to employ all those angels to be protecting you? Well, be a man who is after God's own heart and living righteously. It's not worth hanging on to any sin in your life. No hidden rooms in your house. No hidden accounts online. No sneakiness in the dark with your cell phones. No engaging with TikTok in private, looking at perverse things, nakedness, and all kinds of these strategies. Let me tell you — that is a bear trap. It's not a mousetrap; it's a bear trap. And it will ruin your life. It will mess up your psyche. It will pollute your heart. It will mess up your marriage. And if you're not married, it will mess up the marriage to come. It will warp your mind to where you can't think straight.

This pornography issue in our country and around the world is ruining men and ruining women and ruining marriages and ruining families. It's one of the most effective tools that Satan has today — removing righteousness. And you are doing it. You're letting your guard down. You're taking off the breastplate of righteousness. You cannot mix darkness and light and think that it's going to work. You just can't do it.

Satan will make you feel like you can. A testimony from someone who recently said that they thought they could get away with pornography for years and years and years — Satan actually implanted this impression, this real idea, that there was some weird type of protection around them so that they could continue to engage in private in pornography and get away with it. It's a lie, a lie, a lie right out of the pit of hell. Satan will trick you and lie to you and make you think that you can continue to live in an unrighteous way and yet pretend to be a child of God, to be one who is holy and righteous. Listen — God will gladly forgive your sin, and He wants you to come and be in fellowship with Him. But to make a mockery of the church, to make a mockery of your prayer life, to make a mockery of your family, to make a mockery of all that God has designed by putting down righteousness is simply self-destructive.

It is placing harm on yourself on purpose. It is so terrible to think that a Christian would believe they could set aside their breastplate of righteousness and yet still participate in wickedness and call themselves a Christian. Sin not only steals your strength, but it is the very weakness that Satan will exploit. Satan will allow you to think that you can get away with your sin. And that sin is going to creep in like the silent killer of cancer, and once it has you, then it's going to destroy you. Satan is going to allow you to get away with it for a season — but I'm telling you, God's Word has made us a promise: your sin will find you out.

This is very clear. God's Word is solid. It's written. It's settled in heaven. It is not changing. His rules are fixed. God is. These things are true. God will not be mocked. And so we had better fear Him and respect Him and walk in holiness, walk in humility, and walk in purity. 1 Peter 1:16 says, "Be holy, for I am holy."

And so in spiritual warfighting, you had better be memorizing Scripture to help train your life to remain pure and holy. Run from evil, see it for what it is, cling to Christ. You can't pretend to love God and fiddle with the devil. In Romans chapter 12, verse 9, it says, "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good." So sincere love has a hatred to it. Did you know that? If you will sincerely love God, you will have an inner hatred for your personal sin — not a flirtatiousness with personal sin, not an excuses mentality. Holiness demands you to be right with Christ, to walk with Him.

In 1 John chapter 1, verse 5 it says, "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." It's not just a theological statement about the deity of who God is. It is a challenge for you to walk in the light. And I promise you, if you walk in the light and do what's right, it'll be all right. All you've got to do is take care of your relationship with Christ and be faithful in these areas, and God is in control of the results. Don't compromise and lie for pragmatic reasons — perhaps to try to get a raise at your job or to get away with something. Don't take off your breastplate of righteousness and let down your guard in regards to walking with Christ. I'm telling you, if you give Satan an inch, he will skillfully hit that spot.

If you give him an inch, if you take off that breastplate of righteousness just a little bit and compromise just a little bit, he sees that. He's got binoculars. He's got good aim. And he's a master of his trade at destroying people's lives. Christ-like conduct will make you battle ready. Righteousness will make you battle ready. Righteousness and holiness will have you as one who can stand strong.

Now, you know — perhaps from personal experience or observation — that those who dabble in sin, it's almost like the light has turned off. The light in Christ is not exuberant, it's not bright. Those who dabble in sin, perhaps by observation or personal experience, you know that your love for the saints just isn't there. Those who dabble in sin just don't have inner strength and fortitude. They have not been strengthened by Christ because they have offended Him.

And so it is up to us to put on this righteousness, to put on this breastplate of righteousness. This is not a picture of you going off to a foreign land to war. This is your life. Ephesians chapter 6 is the climax of the book — all of what you've learned theologically in chapters 1, 2, and 3, and all of what you've learned in chapters 3, 4, 5, and now 6, about how to behave in light of what you have believed — this is your life. This is not a side-note subject. This is how you live.

And so as you are living in fellowship with Christ, brothers and sisters, you are battle ready. As you are one who is living the righteous life, you're battle ready. As ones who are of the truth, as ones who are living righteously — you are battle ready.

And so the readiness of the gospel is essential for you to be ready. Check out the text in verse 15: "Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace." The preparation of the gospel of peace. Point number three is: shoes-on readiness combats death with life. The gospel combats death with life, but this is pictured metaphorically as your shoes being on and ready for battle. So if the belt of truth combats the lies, and the breastplate of righteousness combats the wickedness, then the gospel combats death and lostness with life. Shoes-on readiness.

If you have ever lived around California, or anywhere there are forest fires, and perhaps there's been a forest fire close to your neighborhood — you know that people have a go bag. Just because at any moment that forest fire could be within range of their house, and they have to be able to evacuate right away. So their shoes are already picked out. They've got water. They've got food. They've got extra clothes. They've got fuel in the tank. They are ready.

And for the Christian to be battle ready, that means you've reviewed the gospel. You know the gospel. You are ready to share the gospel at a moment's notice. Whenever that conversation presents itself, you're ready. Your shoes are on. You have gospel readiness. You have an eagerness to be able to share the light of Christ. You're not caught off guard when you meet a Mormon on the street, or a Jehovah's Witness on the street. You're ready. When you meet someone who does not know Christ but is living like they think they do, you're ready to share the gospel.

Gospel readiness means that you're battle ready. And so selecting and laying out your clothes for the next day means you're ready — kind of like we do for church. We set our clothes out, we're ready, we pick out our clothes and our shoes and everything we're going to wear. We wake up the next morning and we're ready. We've prepared our hearts. We've prayed for the service, prayed for the people, prayed for everything. We are ready. We set aside time on Saturday nights to prepare our hearts and minds to worship God. We're ready. And the same thing with the gospel — gospel readiness.

You know, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar's successes in military battles were in part due to their focus on their soldiers' shoes. Seriously. These men who conquered the world focused on their soldiers' shoes. And because their soldiers had shoes in which they could travel long distances, they were able to catch their enemies off guard and win battles. So turn that back around — Christians are to be ready to go for the gospel.

Those who are trapped need to be rescued. You must be gospel ready — shoes on, gospel ready. Those who are trapped need you to be ready, because there is oftentimes just a window of opportunity to share the gospel. Oftentimes there's just a window of opportunity where a heart is open for just a moment. You've got just a few words to squeeze into that hour-long belaboring conversation. Oftentimes there's just a window of opportunity for you to be able to impart Christ and bring light to the lost. Often there's just a small opening, and you've got to be ready.

The readiness of the gospel saves lives. But when we are not ready, when we haven't reviewed those gospel tracts that we love so much, when we have not thought about the substitutionary death of Christ for the lost, for those who would repent and believe — and we're not ready to share the gospel — opportunity slips right by.

And so prepared Christians, readied with the life-saving gospel, go. They go. They're Great Commission Christians who are going, who are ready to go, and they also go to hard places. They go far and they conquer and they spread and they love and they reach. This is ready-to-rescue — ready to go, ready to rescue at a moment's notice.

You know, rescuers will be rewarded for being ones who win souls for the gospel. I read recently that President Trump awarded the Medal of Honor to Army Sergeant Major Thomas Patrick for liberating over 70 hostages from an ISIS prison in Iraq. And I thought — the Lord Jesus will award soul winners crowns for rescuing the lost.

Back up just a few pages — or forward a couple pages — to Philippians chapter 4, and see where Paul likens the Philippian believers not only to his joy but also to his crown. And obviously that could be a metaphoric crown for eternity, to be able to see what he had been used of God to do in the area of Philippi. Philippians chapter 4, verse 1: "Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved." And so they are truly a crown, an award. Paul will be rewarded for his gospel work. And so you too should be looking forward to that reward from Christ — to be able to hear "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Now, as we wrap up here, I want to give you a few things to remember. This may run longer than I think, but nevertheless — we fight not against flesh and blood. Remember that. People are not the enemy. Write that down. People are not the enemy. In verses 10 to 12, we see that we fight not against flesh and blood, and this is definitely a reference to people. In Galatians chapter 1, verse 16, it says, "I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood." So when Paul received the call to preach the gospel, he did not first consult with flesh and blood, or people around him. He did not want verification from people, nor from the apostles. He went straight to the Lord when God called him to preach, and then he went later and got verification. So people are not the enemy. Remember that — we fight not against flesh and blood. That's what the text says in verse 12.

But also — people are not always the source of the problem. Remember that too. There are evil demons and spirits, and there's a devil himself waging war against God and His children. These evil entities and beings are characterized in general categories in the text, and there has been a lot of labor over the years to try and detail and analyze out these general categories. But it's just descriptions of evil. There's no need to try and get overly detailed on this. These evil beings are simply generally characterized as powers and forces of darkness, spiritual forces of wickedness, principalities, authorities, and world rulers.

And some of these general areas — such as principalities — you should know that Christ is above all of this anyway. Turn back to Ephesians chapter 1, verse 21, and see that all of these evil entities are subject to Christ and are even at His feet in terms of authority. In chapter 1, verse 21: "Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things — not some things, but everything He has created — all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." And so Christ is over all and in all.

And then also, back in Ephesians 6, he's talking about the general category of authorities. Sometimes we get all bent out of shape when world rulers make decisions that we think they should not. But in Proverbs chapter 21, verse 1, the Bible says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord." And so the king's heart, the ruler's heart, the authority's heart — they're swayed by God. Satan is God's devil. And we look to God for help to sway people back to Him. And so remember — all powers are subject to God's providence. All the powers, all the rulers, all the authorities, everything — they're all subject to God and His providence.

And you say, "Well, what is providence?" Well, you might ask, "Is God guiding everything providentially? If God is good, how is there so much evil? How is there so much bad?" The answer is very simple. In Romans chapter 8, verse 28, it says that God causes all things to work together for good. And so as the primary cause of all things working together for good, He is not culpable for the secondary causes — the decisions that mankind makes. He does cause all things to work together for good to those who love God. The condition here is "for those who love God." And so for those who do not love God, all things are not working together for good. God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

The subject of God's providence is so freeing. It's almost like the sovereignty of God is something you can sleep and rest upon — like Charles Spurgeon said: "The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which I sleep." You can rest in the sovereignty of God. You can be at peace.

Now, right now we have just witnessed that our country has struck Iran, and you may be at peace. But I'm telling you — what if it were the other way around? Do you still believe in the providence of God? You need sound doctrine before the emergency. You need to know who God is before the bomb hits, before the family member dies, before the pet dies, before you lose the job, before anything. Your response to everything should be, "To God be the glory." You don't have to understand it, but somehow, some way — to God be the glory. And I am thankful that it is going to be ultimately to the benefit of His children and His kingdom. And I'm so glad to have been saved by His grace. Praise God. So I'm sticking with the Lord. I'm not going to abandon Him by second-guessing Him. I'm not going to get all frazzled and worried about world affairs. God is in control. Proverbs 3:5 says to trust in the Lord.

And so how do you trust in the Lord? You be at peace. You be confident in God. What is it to be God except to be in control? And when we see all of these invisible spiritual wars happening, don't lose it. Don't come unraveled. Don't let your nerves get the best of you. Pause and pray and reel this lying heart in. You know that your heart can lie to you. Emotions can rage. And you can think something is true when it actually isn't. Don't believe a lie by accident and lose your peace. Pause and pray and come right back into the sovereignty of God and His providence.

In the classic work on divine providence, Stephen Charnock wrote — and I quote — "Providence is mysterious because God's ways are above human methods. Dark providences are often a smoldering groundwork laid for some excellent design that God is about to reveal." Oftentimes the trials of our faith turn out to be more precious than gold. You have never counted a trial of your faith as more precious than gold in the middle of the trial. But in the rearview mirror of time, when you look back upon the providence of God and His wonderful hand in your life, you can see how He has cultivated through the strain, through the trial, something that is beautiful that could not otherwise have been made.

Like a diamond — without the pressure, without the time, without the hardship, you cannot have a diamond. And the same thing for the trials of your faith. They can last years, oftentimes. The trials of your faith will produce a gratefulness and a gratitude and a purity that could not otherwise have been had if you had not gone through that trial. And a lot of times our spiritual warfare battles are simply God not only refining us, but developing something in you that is priceless. I promise you that it is worth the battle. Don't shrink back into being unfruitful for Christ. Don't shrink back into being silent in regards to the gospel. Don't become scared of Satan. Fear God and smile, knowing that God is in control.

This is important to be able to do these things. You know, lions are eating lambs now, but not until we get to heaven will the lion lie with the lamb. Right now, Satan as a lion is pursuing the lambs, but it's not out of God's control.

So where are the spiritual battles being waged? A couple more things. In verse 12, there is an interesting location change in the text. In verse 12: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and powers and against the world forces of darkness and against these things." The Greek word for "struggle" here is to wrestle. And the wrestling brings the idea of being in a gymnasium. So the author here, Paul, has moved you from the armor of God being used in a warfield to now a gymnasium. A location change has occurred right here in the midst of verses 11 and 12.

Why is that? It's simply an indication as to where spiritual war happens — here, there, and everywhere. Spiritual war happens here, there, and everywhere. There's no singular location where spiritual war happens. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. This war is not only here, there, and everywhere — it's even from the television all the way to trafficking, and everything in between. It's in your room and it's across the world. It's in your mind. It's just here, there, and everywhere.

And so parents would do well to teach their children how to continue in the Word, how to take their thoughts to the Word. Satan will whisper a lie in a little one's mind and try to warp and pervert even their self-image early in life. And if they believe that lie, it can affect who they believe they are. And so we need to tell ourselves — and we need to tell our children — who they are in Christ. Let not evil information pervert their self-image. Let not evil information make them think that perhaps they're worthless, that they might as well be abused, or participate in sin. "I'm just a pervert anyway," or "I'm destined to be gay," or "I'm a sinner — my father was an alcoholic, my mom's an alcoholic, I might as well be one too. It's in the blood." It's not true.

So many little lies can affect a whole life, and so how much more should we be about the belt of truth — talking about the truth, not wasting time on senseless subjects, but being about the truth and implanting the truth in our lives.

And so remember that the war is here, there, and everywhere. And I also want you to remember not to allow the devil to find you defenseless. This change of imagery indicates that spiritual war happens everywhere. It's not a distant battle — this is a personal battle. And as we wage this personal battle, verse 13 instructs the reader to personally put on the armor. And this has been repeated, and if you study the Bible, you know that any repeated concept is repeated for emphasis. So it's important. It has been mentioned twice to put on the full armor of God.

In the sister book of Colossians, it talks about putting off and putting on. In the book of Ephesians, it talks about putting off and putting on. These are Christ-like character attributes. This is your daily life. This is how you fight as a Christian. This is how you live as a Christian. This is how you are battle ready. And if you are battle ready, then you will not be found defenseless.

And so remember that this is a personal battle. Don't be found defenseless because you think it is for someone else. The reality is that you cannot stand against even one of Satan's minions on that minion's worst day. One of the weakest little satanic minions could affect our entire life if we are caught off guard. So there are many spiritual battles waged against you personally. They happen not only here, there, and everywhere, but in the night and in the day. A lot happens at nighttime. I recommend, by the way, that you sleep with your armor on. Be ready. Don't let your guard down.

So as well, I want you to remember this: frontal armor means to move forward. This armor is all frontal. We are not ones who retreat. And so we are holding our ground and moving forward. We are Christian soldiers who are moving onward — onward, Christian soldiers. You're going to make progress spiritually in your own life, in your children's lives, in the lives of the people around you, with the gospel, making disciples, and teaching the Word. You're going to keep moving forward. Just because there's a bomb, and just because there's a war, and just because there's a battle, doesn't mean you turn and run or shrink back. All of this armor that you see is frontal. There's not a back plate — there's only a breastplate. And so as you continue in the Word, you are a true disciple.

Sometimes you've got to put it in first gear instead of fifth gear, and that's fine. But just continue marching. What I mean by that is: don't stop reading the Bible and studying the Bible. Don't stop going to church. Don't stop participating in the ordinary means of grace. God works extraordinarily through the ordinary means of grace. We are to be diligent. We are to be faithful.

And so the ordinary means of grace that God has designed for the local church to have and do will truly keep you safe. One of those is fellowship. True fellowship is a byproduct of trials. And as you have gone through some spiritual warfare battles and you've got some scars on you from fighting for the gospel, or Satan has come after you because you've been faithful — oftentimes there is true fellowship between the flock because of the fighting. You have both fought that battle and now you are buddies, war buddies. Fellowship around Christ — koinonia around Him — it's true fellowship, because did not Christ go before us and fight all these battles? These things are just an example of what is to come.

And so if you would lean upon these ordinary means of grace, you will not need to go outside the church to try and pacify your needs. You need nothing else than Jesus. And Jesus has given us the local church to meet all of our needs. And He's a brilliant designer, by the way. So how you have been designed — with your heart, soul, mind, and strength, all of who you are — couples together with the ordinary means of grace within the local church.

If you would remain dedicated to the church, remain dedicated to prayer, remain dedicated to the Word of God, remain dedicated to fellowship with the saints, remain consistent and dedicated in keeping the ordinances, remain dedicated to serving and giving in the local church — as Acts 2:42 and following commends — if you will be committed and dedicated to the ordinary means of grace, continue in the Word and pray and do these things, I guarantee you'll be battle ready. And at the same time you will not need all the parachurch means that are fabricating grace.

Obviously, for those who do not have a local church that is focused upon being an authentic, New Testament local church, they would need to go find true fellowship somewhere else. But how important are these things? Just to give you one example: fellowship is, according to Colossians chapters 1 and 2, a strengthening agent within the church. And as one individual starts to engage with something they're struggling with, Galatians chapter 6, verse 1 says we are to bear one another's burdens. And so through fellowship, through the interaction with one another, through conversing about Christ, through talking about these things, through confessing your faults to one another, through working through how to continue through spiritual warfare battles — through fellowship, you can overcome the obstacles.

But if you isolate yourself — say you show up at the last minute when church starts and you bolt, say you don't engage relationally, you're closed off, you don't have anybody's cell phone number, you're not talking after church, you're not in Bible study, you're closed off — well, true fellowship is not happening. Fellowship takes time. And if you're engaged relationally, then you're able to overcome obstacles.

I'm telling you, I can't tell you how important this is. If Satan is going to isolate you and pounce upon you, you can overcome the wiles of the devil by simply being faithful to the ordinary means of grace and continuing in Christ and being battle ready through these basic things. It is not something that you have to go off to some major training camp to accomplish. You have all that you need for life and godliness right here in the Word of God. And so continue in these ways. Just remember — this is frontal armor. Continue in the right direction and it'll be okay.

And as you are doing that, the best defense is always offense. Continue walking in the Word. Don't shrink back and sit on defense. 1 Corinthians 16:13 says, "Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."

And so as we continue to look at these metaphors in the Bible, we'll look at perhaps the next three next week. And we have looked at the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shoes prepared to spread the gospel today. I pray that this has been a blessing to you.

Pray with me if you would. Father, I pray that everyone here has been listening closely, as there may be some who are not saved. And if they have heard these things and are thinking to themselves, "What is the gospel?" — well, the gospel is that You died for sinners. We have all been guilty of sin. We have all broken Your law. To break just one part of the Ten Commandments is to break them all. And dear Jesus, thank You, Father, for dying on the cross in our place. We don't have to pay for that. We don't have to endure the punishment. We don't have to endure Your wrath upon sin, because You did it for us.

And so by faith, Lord, we believe. If one may be here who has never truly understood the gospel before — may they comprehend afresh and anew today that yes, they have in fact sinned and broken Your righteous law. And now if they would repent and believe the gospel, they can be saved. Father, I pray by the power of Your Holy Spirit that You would bring that lost soul low to comprehend that their sin has been against You and You alone, and that it is You and You alone who can wholly save them. And I pray, Lord, You grant them repentance, and then that they could confess that that is true and say, "Be the Lord of my life. Save me."

I pray, dear Jesus, that not only would they be saved, but they would also continue in believer's baptism and join this church — if not this church, a good local church — and continue to learn how to study the Bible and make disciples. This is my prayer. I ask You these things in the wonderful and priceless and matchless name of Jesus.

Father, I pray Your blessings upon all the saints here who have continued in Your Word and who truly believe that what we're doing is right and holy and pure. We love You. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.