The Believer's Warfare, Part 2

This is war and every child of God is a soldier and we've all been drafted and you can't dodge the draft and there are no deferments. And if you don't know that there's a war, you just lost the battle. We have so much in Christ. We have so much in the Word of God to give us direction. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit and yet we can't stand on our own confidence. We can't smugly say, well, I've got all of this going for me, I'm all right. And we have to recognize that we're in a war. Perhaps you know that Babe Ruth, baseball's legendary home run hitter, first came to fame as a pitcher.

But you may not know that in his earliest days as a pitcher, Ruth unconsciously stuck out his tongue only when he threw curve balls, which warned the batter and gave him a terrific advantage. Now think about your life. What might you be doing or not doing that gives the world, Satan and your own flesh, an advantage over you and what can you do about that? Find out today on Grace to You as John MacArthur continues his study from Ephesians 6 titled, The Believer's Armor. And now here's John with the lesson.

In our Bible study this morning, we're going to worship the Lord together as we learn more about him. By hearing His Word in Ephesians chapter 6, and we're just kind of now looking at verses 10 to 13. We're talking about the believer's armor. As Paul closes the letter to the Ephesians, he speaks of a great struggle which lies before every believer. And we told you last time that Paul is very clear about the fact that the world is a battleground, that the whole universe in fact is at war, there is a war between God and Satan. We see it in many places in Scripture, perhaps no more clearly than in the book of Job where Satan and God are in conflict verbally. The conflict between God and Satan comes down to the holy angels and the evil angels and they are at war. It comes down another step to good men and evil men and they too are at war. The whole thing since the fall of man, since the curse entered into the earth is a warfare. Christian life is a struggle, a battle, a wrestling match as Paul calls it in verse 12. And so we literally exist as believers in a life and death struggle. And frankly, people, I don't think everybody understands this. This is war and every child of God is a soldier and we've all been drafted and you can't dodge the draft and there are no deferments.

This is war. And if you don't know that there's a war, you just lost the battle. We have so much in Christ. We have so much in the Word of God to give us direction. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit and yet we can't stand on our own confidence.

We can't smugly say, well, I've got all of this going for me, I'm all right. First Corinthians 10, 12 says, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he what? Lest he fall. Now we have to recognize that we're in a war.

Now where do we turn for our resource in this war? The hymn writer said, the arm of flesh will fail you, you dare not trust your own. We don't turn to ourselves. Isaac Watts wrote, from thee the overflowing spring, our souls shall drink a fresh supply while such as trust their native strength shall melt away and droop and die.

We can't trust ourselves. And so verse 10 says this, finally, brethren, if this is war and if to win you have to be a soldier, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. That's God's half. That's God's hundred percent, really. That's God's part.

His strength is the issue. God is our strength. From thee the overflowing spring, our souls shall drink a fresh supply.

He is the resource. The arm of flesh will fail us. And so we must know then that to win the battle there is a divine energy. There is a divine resource and a divine power that gives us victory. But verse 11 says we have to have a part too. And verse 11, as we saw last time, says, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Listen, there is that same divine paradox.

The strength is God's and yet the commitment must be ours. We see it in the Christian life. The Apostle Paul simply says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.

Yet not I, but Christ. So it is my life and yet it is Christ in me. This divine paradox we see in every revelation of God's Word to man. We see it even in the Scripture itself.

The book of Ephesians is written by Paul and yet it's written by the Holy Spirit. You were saved by God and His sovereignty alone and His grace alone and yet you committed yourself to Christ. You must live the Christian life with diligence and commitment and yet it is God's power and God's power alone living through you. And so we see both sides. And so it's there together here. We are strong in the Lord and it is the power of His might.

And yet we must appropriate the resources. Cromwell said it right. He had great theology. He didn't know it when he said, trust in God and keep your powder dry. I remember when I was a little boy watching television with my father and it was a boxing match and the fighter was standing in his corner, you know, going through the little ritual and kicking his feet and getting the rosin on his shoes and all of a sudden he knelt down and crossed himself.

And I said to my dad, Dad, does that help? And he said, it does if he can punch. The fact of the matter is if he can't punch it won't do a bit of good. You see, that's the way it is in the Christian life. The strength is God's and the might is God's and the power is God's.

And does it help? It does if we can punch. It does if we put the armor on. You see, it's a question of availability and appropriation. Beloved, no first, it's war.

No second, the power is there and no thirdly, you've got to appropriate it. Now let me go back to verse 12 where we left off last time. I want you to understand how important it is to put on the armor. It's important because of our enemy. Look at verse 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Man is not our enemy. Man is not our enemy.

That's a good reason why we shouldn't hate men. That's the reason Jesus hated sin and loved sinners because the sinner was not really the one. It was what was behind the sinner. You see, the God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the glorious light of the gospel should shine unto them.

The thing you should feel about sinners is pity, a loving, sympathetic, gracious, merciful pity because they are the dupes of Satan. If you're going to hate, then hate him and his forces. He's the enemy. And don't be so foolish as to think that if you've outwitted men, you've accomplished the victory. Men are not the enemy. We're men.

We can cope with men. Our enemy is beyond the human. And the point that Paul is making here is you cannot do this on your own. You cannot fight this battle on your own. It is not a human battle. You as a human being are fighting against a superhuman force and not just one of them. Satan is not a solitary enemy. He has amassed a force of demon beings that are so vast they're beyond our ability to know. Now, how does he define them? Let's look back where we left off with the terms of verse 12. And you will notice that the word against appears before each of these separate items against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies.

Now, you'll notice the use of the word against separates each of the categories. You have principalities, you have powers, you have rulers, and you have wicked spirits literally. Now, these are simply categories of demon beings. Here is Paul's statement.

We are fighting a superhuman foe, highly, intensely organized. In God's governmental order, you'll notice that as you study God and the holy angels, God had the angels organized. God created all the angels, I believe the Bible says, all the angels at one time. Angels do not procreate, so they were all created at some point in past eternity. They were all created at one point in time.

They have existed since that time. They were created differently, just like people are different. Angels are different. They're all different kinds of angels. For example, we read in the Bible about archangels, and then we read about cherubim, and we read about seraphim, and we read about principalities and powers and thrones and dominions and those that are even called strengths or mites. And you want to look at that, look at first chapter of Ephesians, verses 20 and 21, where you have some of those terms. So God has organized this whole angelic force from the top down, you've got the archangels and then you've got the principalities and then the powers and the thrones and the dominions and the mites and the cherubim and the seraphim and they all have different functions, all have different capacities.

For example, you read the book of Daniel and you go back into chapters 9 and 10 and you get some insights into this. God gave orders perhaps to the archangels, and the archangels would then disseminate the orders to the host of angels who would carry them out. And in Daniel's case, some angels on the way to assisting Daniel. This angel's on his way to assisting Daniel. He gets confronted up into heaven somewhere by a demon who holds him up.

Now I don't know how that works, they're spirit beings, but that's not for me to know, someday maybe I will. But anyway, this demon holds up this holy angel from accomplishing his purpose. And so God then dispatches Michael, who is super angel, archangel, he comes down, gives a shot to the demon and sends the angel on his way, which means that one angel apparently has greater resources in dealing with the foe than another, which simply points out the distinctions in angelic beings. Now there are among the demons distinctions also, whereas you have the principalities and the powers who may be more involved in higher operations. And then you have, look at the phrase, the rulers of the darkness of this world literally should be translated the world rulers of this darkness.

These would be demons that infiltrated the political structure of the world. They are called world rulers of this darkness. The term darkness refers to hell and the pit and the dominion of Satan. When you are saved, Colossians 1 13 says you were taken out of the kingdom of darkness. You are translated out of the kingdom of darkness. The Bible says that hell is a place of darkness where there's weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

It's called outer darkness. And so darkness is synonymous with the dominion of demons, with the abode of Satan. And so what we're saying is this, beloved, that we are in a warfare that is very sophisticated. There are high ranking and powerful demons who are principalities and powers.

There are others who have found themselves to be occupying places of world leadership as they literally indwell the world rulers. And so the battle lines are drawn. It is against this incredible force that we fight. We are pitted against an enemy that is beyond us. We can't see, we can't touch, we can't outthink, outwit that is deceiving, that is lying, that is powerful, supernatural, superhuman. And that's where the battle lies.

And the sooner you realize it, the better off you're going to be. That's where the battle lies. And if you don't know there's a battle, as I said, you probably lost one along the way because you really haven't taken time to think it through. Now what is the object of our warfare? What is our part?

What are we supposed to do? Verse 13, and we're just going to talk about this for a minute. Wherefore, and that's the word you need to notice. Listen, if the strength is in the Lord, verse 10, and if we have all the available armor, verse 11, and if the enemy is this strong, if the enemy is this comprehensive, if the enemy is this powerful, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God. I mean, you better get it on if it's this serious. If God is so powerful and armor is so necessary and the enemy is so formidable, then get it on.

That's what He's saying. You can't be indifferent. You can't lose, put your armor on, so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. You say, when's the evil day? Today? Today's the evil day.

That's right. So will tomorrow be. And so has every day been since Satan usurped the throne of the world. This is the evil day.

From the time the usurper took over until he is cast into the bottomless pit, it is the evil day. And evil assaults the kingdom of God. And he says that you may be able to withstand, you must have the armor, and having done all, to stand. Oh, I like that. To stand.

Boy, you know, I like to see when the shock of battle is over and the dust settles and the smoke clears that somebody stands. I was in Scotland, a man came to me in Fraserborough and he had on a backwards collar, as some of them do up there in the church. He said, I am a minister, and I have been for many years. He said, is your father named Jack MacArthur?

And I said, yes. He said, your father came to Ireland 30, at least 30 years ago, and he said he came with two other men to hold a revival in Ireland, Belfast and all around Ireland. And he said, at that meeting, I went to hear your father and I received Jesus Christ and dedicated my life to the ministry. And he said, I'm a pastor now because of the Lord using your father. I just wondered if it was indeed your father, and would you do me a favor and tell him that when you see him?

And I said, I will. And he said, let me ask you a question. He said, where is your father now? I said, oh, he's pastoring, ministering, teaching the Word like he always has. He said, is he still faithful to the Word?

And I said, yes, he's still faithful to the Word, still carrying on, still standing. He said, good. He said, what happened to Chuck? I said, oh, he became an apostate, denied the faith, forsook the truth, denied the Word of God. He said, oh, oh, he said, that's so sad, he had so much potential. He said, what ever happened to Chuck? I said, oh, he died an alcoholic.

He said, oh, no, I said, yes, he did. I don't relish telling you that, but you want to know something? Three men went to Ireland 30 years ago, and they did it all, and lots of people have done it all. But when the battle's over and the dust clears, they're not all standing, you see, they're not all standing.

There are people who do it all. A letter from a lady, she said, you know, I've been at Grace Church for several years and I've been very involved, but she said, I'm leaving because I've decided to marry a non-Christian. Having done it all, she's not standing anymore. Paul says, you know, I'm willing to preach, I'm willing to fight, I'm willing to run to win this race, 1 Corinthians 9, I'm willing to do everything I can for the cause of Jesus Christ, but down deep in my heart I have one gnawing fear that in preaching I myself, I myself might become a what?

A castaway. Listen, there are lots of people who did it all, did it all. Pastored a church, taught a class, had a Bible study, led people to Jesus Christ, but when the battle got hot and the smoke cleared, they were down.

You know why? Didn't have the armor on, didn't have the armor on. I've had people in churches say, you know, our pastor, so-and-so, terrible things happen and it's like, why? Didn't have his armor on, didn't realize how strong the foe was, but what about God's power? Couldn't God protect him?

God's power can protect him, but he didn't appropriate it, see. Listen, we don't chase the devil around. Doesn't say find the devil and get him. Doesn't say you go find those demons and you call them by name and chase them around.

Send them to the pit and all that. Doesn't say that. What the devil says is when they come to you, you just stand. And by the way, the word stand here is the same word used in James 4, 7 where it says resist the devil and he'll flee from you. Exactly the same word used in 1 Peter 5, 8 and 9 where it says the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and verse 9 says, whom resist steadfast in the faith.

Same word. Standing and resisting is what we're called to do. Listen, Satan will be there making his attack constantly if you're living for God.

You don't have to find him. Just stand against him with the armor on. Oh, God help us. You know, if you live foolishly without your armor on and you don't live the kind of life God wants you to live and you're not in the middle of the battle equipped and ready to be what God wants you to be, appropriating the resources, someday you could fall. And when you fall, it's so sad because it's such a terrible collapse.

The world sort of climbs over you and watches you lying there in gloats, you know, in your failures. And you forfeit your reward, you know. In John verse 8, look to yourselves that you lose not the things which you have wrought, but that you receive a full reward. You know, you can amass a reward that to receive in heaven to place at the feet of Jesus Christ and lose the whole thing by falling. I look at my own life and I see all the things that God has given me, a godly heritage, all those preachers in my background, I'm the fifth generation of preachers. And I see all the godly heritage and I see all the education God gave me and the ministry here and how He's blessed my life and enriched it with friends and people who stand by me in prayer and how He's given us fruit beyond anything we ever imagined. And I see all of this and yet I know deep down in my heart that this is all of the grace of God and were I to stumble and fall, I would forfeit all of those things and I would lose in terms of victory in this life. Oh, I'd be saved because no man could snatch me out of the Father's hand.

I'd forfeit the blessing and the fruitfulness and the reward. So we're standing. That's what He said. Now, beloved, listen. If you're going to stand, you've got to have the armor on.

That's the whole point of what I want you to get. You've got to have the armor on. Look at the armor with me for a minute, would you? I'm just going to read from verse 13 to 17 so you'll get it in your mind. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand, stand therefore, having your loins girded about with truth or truthfulness, having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. On top of all that, taking the shield of faith with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

What a tremendous thing. We're going to find out what every single one of those things means. But listen to me now, and I want you to get this.

It isn't easy. And I think the more we stand for Christ and the world, the hotter the battle's going to get and the better we're going to like it because the greater God is going to be glorified. I think we need to be ready.

But there's one thing I want to add. The Lord has the strength, verse 10. Verse 11, we put the armor on because verse 12 says the enemy is so strong. Verses 13 to 17 define the armor. But even when we get it on, now watch this, even when we're all ready and the armor is on, He says in verse 18 this, praying always.

Why? Because even when we're equipped, we're dependent on God, you see? And so, beloved, we covenant together to pray for each other, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication. And who are we praying for? For all saints. You praying for each other in the battle?

Are you really? You know, when we get together for a prayer meeting, we talk about somebody's broken leg and somebody's medical treatment, all of that kind of stuff, and I wonder whether we really pray about the needful things. Instead of praying to God to repair bodies, we ought to pray to God to give strength to spirits and souls. That's what our prayer life ought to be.

You ought to be picking out people first in your own family. You pray for your children that they'll win the battle? Husband, do you pray for your wife that she'll win the battle, that she'll have her armor on? Wife, do you pray for your husband? Instead of nagging each other, why don't you pray for each other?

I mean, maybe that's the solution. If we would begin a network of prayer for each other, that we would stand firm in the strength of God, I believe God would hear and answer our prayer. If we're willing to fight the battle the way God wants it fought and willing to pay the price, I think God will give us victory that will absolutely give us an ecstasy that we've never known. Greatest joys come in the greatest victories.

I think down in my heart there's so many people who just don't understand that this is a war. This is a battle. You only got one shot at it. It's just one game.

When the final gun goes off, it's all over, and what you did is in the record. So I ask God to give us His strength to win. Let's pray. Father, just preserve us from the stupidity of the flesh, the ruse and deceit of Satan, the subtlety of his demon hosts, the line the world pumps at us.

God help us to come out and be separate. Help us to have our armor on. Help us to live with boldness according to Your principles. Make us a great army, O Lord, a great army. Raise us up to fight. May the old hymn, Onward Christian Soldiers, not just be an old hymn, but may it be a right now marching order. Onward Christian soldiers going on to face the foe.

We recall the words of the hymn writer who said, shrink not, Christians. Will ye yield? Will ye quit the painful field? Will ye flee in danger's hour?

Know ye not your captain's power? God help us to dedicate ourselves to live for You at all costs. This is Grace to You with John MacArthur.

Thanks for being with us. John's titled his current look at Ephesians 6, The Believer's Armor. And John, our theme in this series has been spiritual warfare, and anybody who looks around at the culture today can see that things are unraveling.

Our culture, our government, everything seems to be moving further and further away from biblical truth. And so my question is, how directly do you think Satan is involved in, say, government or the world of entertainment or education or business? Is he personally and directly involved in and orchestrating a conspiracy? Of course.

Of course. He is the god of this age. He is the prince of the power of the air who now works in the children of disobedience. This is his kingdom, right? He is the one who is the ruler of this world.

Jesus said that again and again and again and again in John's Gospel, chapter 12, chapter 16. Satan is behind all of this. This is the world. It's the word cosmos.

It means an ordered system. But when we talk about Satan's world, we're talking about the system of evil, which he perpetrates relentlessly, relentlessly. Look, James simplifies this by saying it this way. Friendship with the world is enmity against God. If you're a friend of the world, you're an enemy of God, you've joined the darkness to fight God, and the darkness belongs to the prince of darkness, Satan himself. So when people say, oh, you know, you're coming up with a conspiracy theory, that's no theory. That's no theory.

I can't necessarily connect the dots politically all the time. But I can tell you, everything that's anti-God, everything that's anti-Christ, everything that's anti-Scripture, everything that's anti-Gospel is a conspiracy reality. It is a satanic conspiracy being operated. You see it in politics, crystal clear, godlessness and increasing blasphemy toward the Lord himself. You see it in entertainment, how could you miss it? All the filth and pornography and garbage that's pumped out. You see it everywhere in our society.

You see it in human relations, you see it in the destruction of children and the destruction of marriage, family. This is not a conspiracy theory. I need people to understand, this is a real satanic conspiracy, and if you have any discernment, you have to see it for what it is.

So these aren't theories, these are realities. Satan is at work, and he's behind it. Yeah, thank you, Jon. And friend, even if Satan's influence increases in the world, if you know the Bible, you will know peace. That said, a reminder about our free Study Bible app. It's designed to put biblical truth at your fingertips or on the go, wherever you are. To get the Study Bible app, go to our website today. You'll find our website at GTY.org. The Study Bible app gives you the text of Scripture along with access to all of our online resources, and for a modest price, you can add the notes from the MacArthur Study Bible.

Again, to download the app, go to GTY.org. And thanks for letting us know how Jon's teaching is helping you grow. Perhaps you've been encouraged by the daily devotionals at GTY.org or the recent radio series on God's plan for giving may have helped you trust the Lord more with your finances. Or a sermon or book by Jon clarified a portion of Scripture that always confused you. However God has used grace to you in your life, please let us know when you mail us at letters at GTY.org or write to us by regular mail at Grace to You, Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412. And now for Jon MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson. Look for Grace to You television this Sunday on DirecTV channel 378, that's NRB-TV. And be here Monday when Jon examines the Belt of Truthfulness, it's a critical piece of the Believer's Armor, and it's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.