OUR CONSTANT STRUGGLE - Eph
OUR CONSTANT STRUGGLE - Eph. 6: 10-17
I. A WRONG IDEA.
1. People have the idea that when they become a Christian all their problems are going to
automatically come to an end.
2. When it doesn’t happen they are disillusioned, they abandon Christ, and consider Christianity to
be a “hollow” religion.
II. THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER; VS. 12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood…”
A. “Struggle” comes from a word that literally means “to wrestle.”
1. When you wrestle you grab, pull, push, shove, twist, squeeze, strain, exert, etc.
2. You try to get the advantage and come out on top….make your opponent submit or give up.
B. Paul says that “our struggle is…”
1. “Is” makes this an ongoing, continuous struggle.
2. The idea that the Christian life is a problem free life is wrong.
3. As a Christian you may endure even more hardships than before because notice who Paul
says your struggle is with.
C. “Our struggle is not with flesh and blood…”
1. Our on going struggle isn’t a “man against man” struggle.
2. It seems like it is because it is people who most often attack us.
3. That is not, however, where the real problem lies.
D. Paul says our real struggle is: “….against the rulers, against the powers, against the world
forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
1. Paul sums up all these different entities when he says in verse 11 that our struggle is against
the “schemes of the devil.”
2. The devil, the great liar, the great slanderer, the great deceiver is involved some how in every
situation that comes up…hoping to come out on top of you.
3. The devils “wiles and schemes” are many and he will use them all to try and beat you.
a. He influences someone to discourage you from coming to church.
b. He influences someone to insult you, causing strife.
c. Your child dies…and the devil is there to convince you that God doesn’t love you because
“if He did He wouldn’t have let this happen.”
d. You are stricken with a terrible disease and Satan steps in immediately and tells you that
“you must have done something wrong” or “God doesn’t love you because if He did He
would take this away from you.”
4. In every situation, Satan is close at hand to try and make you give up and submit to him.
5. So, our struggle is not a “man against man” struggle. It is a constant struggle against Satan.
* Let’s be careful about accusing God of things He doesn’t do. Often when something bad
happens in our lives we are angry with God, “God, why did you do this?” We need to
remember that there is another force at work in this world and we need blame him for the
things he does instead of blaming God.
III. IF WE ARE GOING TO “STAND FIRM” AGAINST THE DEVIL THEN WE MUST…
A. “…be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.”
1. If you are going to stand firm against the devil you are going to have to be a strong,
dedicated Christian.
2. Being weak, on again off again, wishy-washy, inconsistent, undedicated makes you
extremely vulnerable for Satan to defeat you.
B. In verse 12, we must “put on the full armor of God.” That armor consists of:
1. Your “loins girded with the truth.”
a. The devil is a liar…that is his nature; Jn. 8: 44.
b. He is convincing with his lies.
c. If you are going to keep him from “getting on top of you” with his lies then you must
“gird yourself with the truth.”
d. How do you know what the truth is?
e. In Jn. 17: 17 Jesus says that God’s word is the truth.
f. It is critical then that we learn and study our Bibles so that we can’t be lied to.
2. “…a breastplate of righteousness.”
a. Because of our faith and obedience to Christ, God has reckoned us as “righteous.”
b. This may be referring to the fact that Satan is continually trying to tell us that we do not
have right standing with Christ in an effort to get us to look somewhere else for our
righteousness. If he can do that he has won.
c. However, this may have more to do with our conduct…we must have a desire…a
determination to do what is right.
i. You can know the truth but it will not protect you unless you are willing to do what it
says…willing to do what is right.
ii. Righteousness is doing what the truth says and unless we have it in our hearts to do
what is right then Satan will easily defeat us.
3. Vs. 15; “…shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
a. One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to divide and conquer.
b. If he can separate you from God, from Christ, and from your brethren, he will win.
c. But “peace” here speaks of having a right relationship with God, Christ, and with each
other…and the “gospel of peace” is going to maintain that unity and it will prevent Satan
from being able to divide and conquer.
4. Vs. 16; “…take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish the
flaming missiles of the evil one.”
a. One of Satan’s most powerful weapons is doubt.
b. He doesn’t necessarily have to convince you that something is not true…all he has to do
is get you to doubt it. (Ex. Adam and Eve.)
c. To keep him from coming out on top of you, you must “take up the shield of faith”…you
must trust in God, His word, and His promises.
5. Vs. 17; “…take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
a. What will this piece of armor do for you? Notice 1 Cor. 6: 9-11. Notice the “unrighteous”
people listed.
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
b. But now notice verse 11: And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you
were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in
the Spirit of our God.
i. How did this happen?
ii. What changed these people?
c. Rom. 1: 16: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
- The word of God has the power to keep each of us faithful and strong.
- It also has the power to change even the vilest of sinners.
- That is why it is an essential part of our armor. We must learn it.
IV. Conclusion: The Christian life is not a trouble free life. Satan sees to that. He is always on the attack using all of his schemes in an effort to try and defeat us. We are in the fight of our lives. It is a fight we cannot afford to lose. Are you strong in the Lord? Or are you weak? Have you put on the whole armor of God, all of it and not just bits and pieces? If you haven’t put on the whole armor of God you are vulnerable and may have already been over come by Satan in some area of your life. Only you can change the way things are. It is not too late because you can “take up” this armor at any time. Will you do that today? For your sake I hope so.