FINALLY...

Ephesians 6:10-24

Stuart Olyott

We now come to the last paragraph of Paul's great letter, which begins with the word, 'Finally...'

The letter's first three chapters have told us of the marvellous blessings we have in Christ. We are no longer what we used to be. We are radically different. And we are infinitely rich. The next three chapters have made one overall point: being different, we should live differently. We have been taught how to do this in the church, in the world and at home.

But such Christian living is not easy. In fact, it is a real battle. Paul would not have anyone believe otherwise. So it is that he closes his letter with his well-known teaching on the Christian's armour. As he dictated this paragraph, under house arrest at Rome, the apostle probably had a Roman soldier in the same room. He may even have been chained to him. The first person to hear the epistle to the Ephesians, other than Paul's secretary, was this living visual aid! What did he think as Paul described each piece of his armour and showed what was its spiritual equivalent? Did he also notice that Paul's style as he signed off his letter was rather like that of a general briefing his troops before battle?

I am very well aware of how great preachers of the past have tackled Paul's teaching on the Christian armour. Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached for months on these verses and we are privileged to be able to read his rich teaching in his multi-volume exposition of Ephesians. The thoughts of the great Puritan William Gurnall are encapsulated in his immense book The Christian in complete armour, and all who take the time and effort to read this magnificent classic will be rewarded a hundred times over. Yet it remains sadly true that many people who have read these wonderful books have missed the real point of what Paul is saying here. They have never got hold of his main message.

This slim volume will never rival the great books we have just mentioned, though it might prepare someone to get into them. All we are going to do here is to consider the main thrust of Paul's closing words. We will summarize it under four headings.

When I was in my teens, and still at school, I was a very keen army cadet. Each Thursday evening I would clean and press every part of my uniform, and on Friday I would go proudly through the streets of Chester to the parade. I looked like a soldier, was conversant with military procedures and discipline, could operate the latest weapons and signalling devices, and occasionally had to put myself out. But my military life was never dangerous and never lasted more than a few hours at a time. During most of the week I had no contact with the army at all.

How different is the life of a soldier at war! He is under arms both day and night. His every waking thought is concerned with the conflict in which he is engaged. There may be an encounter with the enemy at any moment. All his work is directly connected with the war effort. His eating, sleeping and relaxing serve only one purpose – to strengthen him for warfare. There is no time when he ceases to be a soldier and there is no limit to what he may be required to do. His life is one of sacrifice, difficulty, danger, pain, tears, frustration and, perhaps, death.

This is the picture which Paul uses to speak of the Christian life! Being a Christian is not a hobby. It is not something in which we can get involved for only part of the week. It demands all that we are, all of the time. It is our life. We are soldiers at war. Everything is difficult and dangerous. It is a battle. All that we do is worth it, as we have so constantly seen in Paul's letter. But this does not lessen the reality of the war.

Look at the language the apostle uses. It is all so military. He calls us to 'be strong' (6:10). He tells us that we need divine strength for the conflict (6:10). We have something to 'stand against' (6:11), and to 'wrestle against' (6:12). Flaming arrows are being shot at us (6:16), but we are to stand our ground (6:13-14), to take up our swords (6:17) and go to war!

It is time to stop misleading people when we present the gospel to them. The blessings of the Christian life are indescribable. Chapters 1-3 have made that more than clear. But every day and hour bring us new hardships and difficulties. This is a fact of which we are only too well aware. It is dishonest to hide it from those who are not yet believers. Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke openly of the cost of discipleship to those who were thinking of following him. So must we.

What is the main aim of war, of any war? It is to hold your ground and to capture that of your enemy by defeating him. War is both defensive and offensive. We, as Christian believers, have ground to hold, both in the realms of what we believe and how we behave.

Who can count the enemies plotting against us in the area of belief? Roman Catholicism has so captured the media that the average person is coming to believe that it represents authentic Christianity. Liberalism has successfully invaded the major denominations so that the Bible is no longer submitted to as the inerrant Word of God, and man is the centre of all things. Ecumenism proclaims that doctrine is not as important as was once thought, and that churches should play down their differences so as to present a united front to an unbelieving world. The charismatic movement devalues the Bible by saying that God speaks outside it. Neo-evangelicalism believes that it is possible to hold on to the true gospel without insisting on truths which embarrass modern people, such as the six-day creation, or the conscious everlasting punishment of the unconverted.

The list is endless. Cults which deny the eternal deity of Christ knock on our doors or stop us in the street. Whole nations are still enslaved by false religions. The West abandons its Christian heritage a little more each day, opening its doors ever wider to atheism, nihilism, materialism and the theory of evolution – God is an influence, man is an accident produced by time plus chance, life has no meaning, so set your heart on living as comfortably as possible. These are just some of the views which are taking over people's minds. Modern thinking is increasingly hostile to the gospel. It is in this context that we have to hold our ground, and win people from these false views by defeating them.

Not only so, but we must also hold our ground in the realm of behaviour. What God's Word defines as sexual sin is now regarded as normal conduct. Human life is no longer sacred -- society approves of the killing of unborn boys and girls, refuses to condemn the 'merciful' killing of its chronically ill and elderly citizens, and does not think that deliberate murder is horrific enough for the murderer to be deprived of his own life. Hard work is for fools. To have strongly held principles is to be a fanatic. And the culture which has surrounded so much pop music has persuaded two generations that almost any behaviour is legitimate, as long as it leaves you feeling 'great'. All this, and much more, is an assault upon what God has revealed about how we are to live. Everything we believe in this area is under threat. How can we hold our ground? And is advance still possible?

Yet the ideas and practices we have mentioned are not our real enemies. 'We do not wrestle against flesh and blood,' insists Paul (6:12). We are not at war with Roman Catholics, liberals, Jehovah' s Witnesses or evolutionary scientists. We do not fight adulterers, gays, pop stars or the managers of abortion clinics. We are not in conflict with any man or woman. So who, then, are our enemies? We are 'against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places' (6:12).

Why do people believe ideas which are not true7 Why do they persist in behaving in a way which God condemns? It is because their minds are controlled by other personalities.

Who, precisely, are these personalities? The Epistle to the Ephesians has already spoken of the existence of the devil (2:2, 4:27). He is a personal, invisible and powerful spirit who controls the minds of the unconverted (2:2). He docs this by means of his countless agents mentioned in verse 12. They, like him, are evil spirits. They are organized into various ranks, some of the names of which are given here. The devil himself is over them all. The darkness of this age is to be attributed to these awful beings. The invisible dimension is infested with them.

Why do so many scientists teach evolution as a fact, when it is only a theory? How can anyone be callous enough to extinguish human life in the womb? What leads people to suppress their innate knowledge of God and to declare themselves atheists? From where do men and women get the idea that there is no absolute right and wrong, when their conscience tells them otherwise? The gospel is true and can be known to be true – so what leads people to ignore, reject or oppose it?

There is only one answer to these questions, and to all questions like them. Men and women have been blinded. Their thought processes and powers of reason have been perverted by evil powers. Our real quarrel is not with our fellow human beings, but with the satanic spirits who have degraded and enslaved them. Diabolical personalities control their minds.

Battle is joined, and that battle is for the mind. Will God liberate it, or will it remain in enemy hands? We are to gain ground from the devil without giving in to him ourselves. He will do all he can to make us stand down on our beliefs and standards, while we will do all we can to bring people out of error and oppression into the glorious liberty of the gospel. The battle is on. It rages every day, every hour and everywhere. We are always in the thick of it. Everything we have, and are, and do, is to be part of the war effort. It is to occupy our thoughts, direct our energies, and be the consuming passion of our lives. We are soldiers at war, and our warfare is spiritual.

God himself has provided us with a complete protection, so that nothing the devil throws at us might bring us down. All we have to do is to put this armour on (6:11,13).

We do not need to fear the enemy. There is nothing about modern beliefs and behaviour which should cause us to turn tail and run. Far from it! We are, rather, to square up to the adversary, to get our courage from God, to join battle, and to trust that God's almighty power will cause us to prevail (6:10). We must have a mind to fight. If we do not, not even the complete armour which God has supplied will do us any good. But if we face the troops ranged against us, with every piece of armour in place, the devil will get nowhere with us (6:13).

There were five pieces of armour that no Roman soldier ever dared to neglect. If he did, he knew that he was virtually certain to die in battle. Paul now mentions these five pieces of protection in the order that a Roman soldier would have put them on (6:14-17).

The first thing a soldier donned was his protective apron, or girdle (6:14). It was like a thick leather belt from which hung down a number of thongs, often with metal plates attached to them. This girdle protected the lower part of the soldier's body while at the same time giving him freedom of movement. It was particularly effective against horizontal swipes of the sword.

In the same way the Christian believer is to bind himself round with 'truth' (6:14). It is the first thing he must be sure of before he goes to battle. What is in mind here is the objective truth of the Bible. God has revealed to us all that we need to know of him, and what duty he requires of us. This revelation has been written down and constitutes the Holy Scriptures. God's Word is truth (John 17:17). We are to know and believe all that God has said. Who can enjoy protection from error, and who can advance against it, without being protected by truth?

Once his girdle was secure, the Roman soldier fitted on his breastplate (6:14). This was a very tough leather smock which covered his chest, and sometimes his back as well. As often as not, the front part was reinforced with metal. If the breastplate was not securely fastened, the soldier knew that he was unlikely to survive even the briefest encounter with the enemy.

The Christian's breastplate is 'righteousness' (6:14). In the New Testament this word has two meanings. It is possible that the apostle Paul has both of them in mind here. It can refer to right living. To know that something is fight, and not to do it, is to leave a gaping hole in your armour. The Christian is to be sure to 'put on' righteousness (6:14). How else will he be able to stand true in a world where there is so much ungodly behaviour?

But there is more to it than that. 'Righteousness' also refers to the perfect life of Christ which is put on the account of every believer. The devil is always telling us that we are 'no good'. We know he is right and we fall into discouragement. The fight goes out of us. What are we to do? We are to remember that our acceptance with God does not depend upon how well we are doing in our Christian lives. It is in no way linked to our performance. We are welcomed by the Father because our sins were all punished when Christ died for us, and his righteousness imputed to us makes us glorious in his sight. When we 'put on' such a way of thinking, all the devil's attempts to discourage us come to nothing.

After his girdle and breastplate, the Roman soldier puts on his footwear (6:15). In most climates he wore hobnailed sandals, attached to his feet and ankles by intertwining strips of leather. The secure fastening and the nails combined to give him the firm footing which is so essential in combat. A man fighting for his life does not want to slip and slide!

We, too, must have a firm footing if we are going to fight well in our spiritual warfare. We find it in 'the prepared foundation of the gospel of peace', as we can translate the end of verse 15. We need to reflect on the fact that we are at peace with God. We should treasure it up in our minds. We believe God' s truth, we are righteous in Christ, and so we are at peace with God! There is nothing between me and him. All obstacles to my enjoying him have been removed. He was angry with me, but that anger has now been turned away, having been carried by the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace prevails. Nothing can destroy it. No, there is nothing in the whole creation which is able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:39). However fierce the conflict, the person who stands on the peace which the gospel brings will never be moved. He is more than prepared for battle.

What came after the girdle, breastplate and sandals? It was the shield (6:16). Different regiments of the Roman army used different sorts of shields, but Paul has in mind the design which was used by the majority. From the front it appeared rectangular, but it was curved in such a way that it also protected a good deal of the soldier's sides. About four feet high, and thirty inches across, it completely obscured a crouching man from view. Often the enemy would shoot arrows whose bitumen-covered shafts were a mass of flame. Soldiers who hid behind their shields had little to fear from these burning missiles, which burned out fairly quickly. Groups of soldiers could put their shields together in such a way that they carried a protective roof which resembled a giant tortoise. Whatever the enemy fired at them had no effect. It came to nothing. The 'tortoise' was even able to go right up to the walls of enemy cities without much fear of harm. Such was the value of the Roman shield and the skill of those who bore them.

Faith is the Christian's shield. The devil can do nothing against it. His worst attacks are frustrated. Faith offers complete protection and makes advance possible. Where there is faith, there is nothing to fear. And what is faith? It is believing what God has said, for no other reason than that he has said it. It is taking God at his word. It is accepting his teaching, obeying his commands, heeding his threats and laying hold of his promises. Where there is faith, defeat is unknown. The soldier who has it is never floored by anything. Faith is invincible.

Last of all, the soldier put on his helmet. In the same way, the Christian believer is to 'take the helmet of salvation' (6:17). But what does this mean? Isn't the Christian already saved?

To answer this, we need only to remember that God' s Word uses the word 'salvation' in three ways. It is used of what God has done for us in the past, where it refers particularly to Christ' s saving work on the cross and our experience of it. It also refers to what God is doing for us now: he is treating us as his children and is changing us in heart and behaviour by his Holy Spirit. But the word 'salvation' is also used of what God is certainly going to do for us in the future. Raised from the dead, acquitted at the £mal judgement, we shall spend eternity in the new heavens and earth. There, in perfect holiness and happiness, we shall fully enjoy God for ever. This is what the apostle is talking about here. The helmet is to do with the head, and he is telling us to keep the coming salvation in mind. We shall not be on the battlefield for ever. The conflict will soon be over. Before long, we shall be in heaven. It is not hard to fight well if you keep thinking about that.

What, then, is the complete armour which God gives to the Christian? How shall we sum it all up? It is believing correctly, behaving as God desires, remembering that I am at peace with him through Christ, trusting his promises and looking forward to heaven. It is, in short, filling my mind with thoughts of what God has revealed in his Word. To stand firm in battle, I must feed my mind. It must be nourished by divine truth. To stand against the enemy, I must feed my mind. I must see things as God sees them. The battle is for the mind – for mine, as well as for everybody else's. But God' s armour is more than enough. There is no need to be overcome by any of the evil forces that threaten to crush us.

In addition to the armour which perfectly protects us, God has given us two weapons to attack with. It is not enough to remain on the defensive. It is not sufficient to hold our ground. We must invade and capture the enemy's territory. We must go forward.

Our first attacking weapon is the sword – 'the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God' (6:17). The hands which hold it are ours, but strong invisible hands are placed over them. We wield the sword as best we can, but it is the invisible hands which give it force, direction and cutting power. God's work is not done without us. It is none the less God's Spirit who does God's work.

The Spirit's sword is the Word of God. How are the devil and his agents brought to release their grip on the minds they have captured? How are error and ungodliness put to flight? How are people brought to submit to Christ? How are victories won in the spiritual dimension? How are we to advance?

Signs and wonders will not do it. Nor will clever arguments. All God's work is done by God's Word; and what is not done by God's Word is not God's work. The devil cannot stand against the Holy Spirit working through the Scriptures. It is by the proclamation of God's Word that minds are enlightened, lives are changed, and conversions take place. Spiritual work is done by spiritual weaponry. This is obvious, but we need to be reminded of it. The declaration of the Bible's message must always be our great priority. There is no true spiritual advance where the Bible does not lead the way. The Holy Spirit bas no other sword apart from the book which he has inspired. Those who believe this will give themselves to spreading the biblical message. What happens on the battlefield will not disappoint them.

But God has also given us a second attacking weapon (6:18-20). As Paul talks about it his Roman soldier fades from view, for this spiritual weapon has no earthly equivalent. We have a secret weapon which bas no human parallel. It is prayer.

Our armour must be worn, and our sword wielded, in a spirit of prayer. There are many sorts of prayer at our disposal and we are to use them all (6:18). We are to let the Spirit lead us in this, and we are never to stop. Our prayer life is never to become sleepy or intermittent, and we are to intercede for all believers everywhere. We cannot wage successful spiritual warfare without becoming prayer experts.

There are some people for whom we should be particularly careful to pray (6:19-20). They are gospel preachers. It is for this reason that Paul asks his readers to pray in a special way for him. As he uses the Spirit's sword, he needs to be able to speak as he should. The gospel requires bold proclamation. The 'mystery' which it reveals (and of which he has spoken at length in chapter 3) is open to misunderstanding, and needs to be made very clear indeed. It is his preaching of the gospel which has landed him in prison, and there is always the temptation to soft-pedal its message in order to avoid even worse suffering. So they must pray that he may be as bold as ever. No other sort of ministry will do.

Gospel preachers are not supermen. Left to themselves, they are unable to persuade men and women to believe the message, and they certainly cannot present that message both boldly and fittingly. Without God's help, they are nothing. It is essential that believers everywhere storm heaven's gates and beseech God to accompany such preachers in a remarkable way. Prayer thrives where those who pray know as much as possible about the preachers for whom they are interceding. This is why Paul has sent Tychicus to the Ephesians (6:21-22). This exemplary Christian worker will tell them in detail about Paul's present situation, which will also prove to be a considerable source of encouragement to them. We pray for those with whom we have a sense of fellowship. That sense of fellowship is greatly strengthened when we have personal news of them.

Paul, then, has not left us in any doubt. The gospel will advance in this world if we will but use the weapons God has given us. We need to proclaim the Word of God and pray. This must not be done in fits and starts, but with constancy and determination. This is the way forward. This is the way which God pledges to bless. Who will go that way?

The difference between real soldiers and part-time ones is that real soldiers use their weapons. It is not enough to clean weapons, to use them in drill and to generally admire them. They must be turned on the enemy! Not until then can we even begin to imagine what is their true power.

Who will take the Word to the unconverted? Who will let it loose in this darkened world? Who will preach, or print, or write to others, or speak to them personally? Who will gather boys and girls, to tell them the gospel? Who will give out biblical tracts? What will you do to bring rebellious thoughts into captivity to Christ?

Who will pray for those who spread the Word? Who will intercede for gospel preachers nearby and across the world? Who will do it every day, and several times a day? Who will implore God to bless Sunday School teachers, youth leaders, home visitors and all personal witnesses? We need to advance. Holding our ground is not enough. There is territory everywhere waiting to be snatched from enemy control. It can be captured – it really can – if we will do things God's way.

And so Paul comes to the end of his magnificent letter. He does so in the same spirit as he opened it (6:23-24). His love for his readers is as obvious as ever. His desire is that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ may grant that their faith should be accompanied by peace and love. And what he wants for them, he wants for all Christians. He prays that God will strengthen and bless all who love his Son with an incorruptible love.

Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ, so wondrously unveiled in the Epistle to the Ephesians, and especially in its first three chapters? Will you live for him in the church, in the world, and at home– even if every single day is a difficult battle?