Well, good morning, St. Paul's, and welcome to Commitment Sunday.
We have arrived at the end of our Commitment series for this year.
We have arrived at the end of our Partners 2020 weekend.
And what a time it has been as we have progressed through this letter to the church at Ephesus.
We have had unfolded before us God's grand purposes from eternity to eternity.
God's purpose, as we have seen, is to create a new single humanity through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God's plan is to unite His universal church and, in fact, all of creation under the Lord Jesus' feet.
That, my friends, is God's agenda for His world.
It's His agenda for history. It's His agenda for your life.
In Christ, we have seen that the old days of division are gone.
God the Father has one family.
The Lord Jesus has one people.
The Holy Spirit has one body.
And what beauty we have seen in these chapters.
The mystery of election.
The wonder of salvation.
Peace with God.
Unity amongst believers from every cultural background.
Giftedness to serve God and people.
We have had a call to demonstrate our unity in the Christian fellowship,
while at the same time rejoicing in the diversity of gifts and ministries.
We have been called to put away all the uncleanliness of our pre-conversion behavior and live a life of holiness.
We have been called to submit to one another in every kind of domestic relationship and promote harmony in the home.
Unity, diversity, purity, and harmony.
These are some of the characteristics of the new life and the new society under Christ.
And what a beautiful ideal.
Such exalted thoughts that we have seen in the first five chapters of this book.
And just when you think Paul's about to end his letter with,
and they all lived happily ever after,
he slaps us across the face and wakes us up from our dreamy reflection.
Because this letter closes with the ugly blood and grime of warfare with our enemy.
The beautiful life, as we have seen for five chapters,
is lived out while cant in the trenches of war in the enemy's territory.
Verse 12.
In your Bibles, Ephesians 6.
Pick them up and have a look at it.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world,
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Brothers and sisters, we are at war.
We're at war.
A long and protracted war.
Verse 10 opens with the word finally.
That is not signaling for Paul and for his readers.
I'm nearly at the end of my letter.
The word finally is better translated for the remaining time.
Paul is indicating here that the whole of the remaining time before Christ returns
will be characterized by warfare.
It will be characterized by conflict.
The peace which has been made through Christ on the cross
is to be experienced only in the midst of a relentless struggle against evil.
Verse 12 says that it is not a war against flesh and blood.
It is a supernatural war.
And so conventional weapons and tactics are useless.
It is a personal war too.
The word struggle indicates hand-to-hand combat.
Smart bombs aren't being dropped from silent drones 50,000 feet above the earth's surface.
This is a swaying back, locked in hand-to-hand combat with the evil one.
It is mortal combat.
Sweat on sweat.
Breath on breath.
It is also a futile war if it is fought in and by our own strength.
We are involved in a battle with a formidable enemy
where conventional tactics are useless.
If we attempt to spread the influence of the kingdom of God in this world
by using conventional wisdom, human wisdom and tactics of this world,
trading with them, strength with strength, cunning with cunning,
manipulation with manipulation, anger with anger,
we will lose for our opponent is too great.
And Paul is quite specific about our opponents.
Our struggle is against the rulers,
against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Our war is against powerful forces
who have the run of the heavenly realms.
Now they do not have the run of the highest heaven
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God
as we saw that in chapter 1 verse 20
and where believers are seated with him
as we saw in chapter 2 verse 6
but they do move freely about the rest of creation.
The consensus of scripture is this world is Satan's domain.
1 John 5 verse 19 says,
We know that we are children of God
and the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
2 Corinthians 4.4
The God of this age, referring to the evil one, Satan, the devil,
the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers
so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ
who is the image of God.
And even in Ephesians 2.2
the devil is called the ruler of the kingdom of the air,
the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
This is the devil's world.
And that is why he was able to make a genuine offer
of all the kingdoms of the world to the Lord Jesus
if only he would bow down and worship him in Matthew chapter 4.
The devil and his angels are a great demonic enemy
with a defined and disciplined chain of command.
Satan is terribly powerful.
He doesn't possess anything like the power of God.
He can only be in one place at one time.
But with his army of evil spirits
he imitates God's omnipresence and omnipotence.
He desires to be God more than anything else.
In fact, his desire to be God
is the very centre of his terrible total spiritual evil.
Verse 12 alludes to this
in describing the enemy
as the powers of this dark world
and the spiritual forces of evil.
Now of course we know from Romans 1 to 3
that we are evil.
We are totally depraved.
Which means that every part of our beings
is tainted by sin.
But it doesn't mean that we're as bad
as we possibly could be
because there's always room for deprovement.
And yet
even those who throughout history
who have gone very low in acts of evil
do not match Satan's evil.
Satan, our enemy
the one in whom we are bound together
in mortal combat
has no conscience
no compassion
no remorse
no morals.
He feeds on pain
and anguish
and filth.
There is nothing in Satan
which is redeemable.
There is no virtue
but only a dark
cannibalistic void.
He is also supremely cunning
verse 11 speaks
of the devil's schemes
or the devil's methods
and he has been honing
his schemes
and his methods
for millennia.
He is an accomplished philosopher.
He is an accomplished theologian.
He is an accomplished psychologist.
He has studied
for thousands
and thousands of years
enough time
to be astonishingly brilliant
in every area of discipline.
He is the ultimate manipulator
subverter
and actor.
2 Corinthians 11 says
that one of his deadly methods
is to masquerade
as an agent of light.
He is that cunning
that accomplished
that he can pull off
being a servant of God.
And so we should expect
that his servants
would masquerade
as servants of God
as well.
Satan specializes
in many dirty techniques
to win the battle.
He is not governed
by a Geneva Convention
of Spiritual Warfare.
He desires to win
and in winning
he desires to destroy.
One technique
is to mix
just enough truth
with falsehood
to make the falsehood
seem plausible.
Another is sensuality.
Many souls
have been sold out
to accommodate
a downwardly spiralling morality.
Another is to instill doubts
about God's goodness.
Whatever his tactic
he seldom
seldom
attacks openly.
His strategies
administered by
his evil spirits
are nearly always unseen.
They are virtually
always shrewd
and perfectly tailored
for you
and for me.
that we might come
under the influence
of his schemes.
He operates best
when he can convince people
that he does not exist.
He persuades us
that life
that we are living
right now
is not a battle.
That we are not
in warfare.
He is evil
beyond our comprehension
and without conscience
or principle.
He is diabolically cunning
and he is after us.
He hates
Christ.
He hates
God's children.
He hates
the church.
He hates
the mission
and vision
of St. Paul's
Chatswood
that we
as a people
would know
Christ,
treasure Christ
and represent Christ
so that the people
in our area
are rescued
from his evil clutches.
He hates it.
And therefore
he desires
to destroy
the work
of the Father
to make one society
in Christ
that brings glory
to him
and he will do
whatever he can
to destroy
the work of the gospel
in your life.
He will do
whatever he can
to destroy
the work of the gospel
at St. Paul's
Chatswood.
He will do
whatever he can
to distract us
to make the small
things big
and the big things
small.
He will cunningly
labor to put up
the walls of division
that the cross
removes.
He will labor
to subvert
our witness.
He will labor
to downplay
the spiritual war
and lead us
into a full sense
of all is at peace
and comfort
and safety.
This my friends
is Paul's
cosmic perspective
with all
its chilling
implications.
And all
would be despair
except that's only
part of his
cosmic perspective.
On earth
amongst mortals
Satan
has no equal.
evil.
You are no match
to him.
But in the heavenly realms
he is far exceeded
by a triune God.
There is no dualism here.
Satan is not
the counterpart
of God.
Satan is finite
and God is infinite.
In fact
Colossians 1 and 2
says that the entire
spiritual realm
owes its existence
to Christ
including
thrones
powers
rulers
authorities
both visible
and invisible
both in heaven
and on earth.
But Christ
is not only
more powerful
by virtue
of being
Satan's creator
but because
he defeated
Satan at the cross.
Satan
and all
his cronies
are under
the feet
of the Lord Jesus.
He has sealed
their doom
although
in this present
age
they still
exercise
control
over those
who have not
found freedom
in Christ.
If we are
filled with the
spirit
Satan's forces
cannot subdue us
but those
who neglect
Christ's
resources
those who do
not take up
the weapons
that he has
given us
and take on
this devil
and all his
schemes
with human
wisdom
and conventional
tactics
they place
themselves
in harm's
way
as do
those
who give
the enemy
room in
their lives.
In Christ
there is
always
victory.
So what
then are we
to do?
Paul
leaves
two commands
for us
that dominate
his advice
in the last
final verses
of this
letter.
The first
is verse
10
finally
be strong
in the
Lord
and in
his
mighty
power.
This
command
is in
fact
a passive
command
it is
literally
be made
strong
in the
Lord
that is
we cannot
fight
Satan
ourselves
we are
totally
dependent
upon
Christ
the power
is his
and without
his strength
we will
falter
and we
will fall
and yet
the command
here is
that we
still need
to be
strong
in him
and Paul
here I
think
expresses
the proper
combination
of divine
enabling
and human
cooperation
he does
it again
and again
throughout
this letter
and he
does it
here with
his second
command
in verse
11
put on
the full
armor
of God
so that
you can
take your
stand
against the
devil's
schemes
it is
God's
armor
it is
his
armor
and without
it we will
be fatally
unprotected
but we still
need to take
this armor
up and put
it on
God has
made provision
for us to
stand so
that we
will not
fall and the
provision is
his armor
God is able
to keep us
from falling
according to
Jude
and the way
he keeps us
from falling
is by fitting
us out for
successful
spiritual
combat
and so
my friends
if your
aim is to
persevere
in the
Christian
life
and not
be defeated
by the
schemes
and the
methods
of the
evil
one
then you
must put
on the
armor
that's
described
here in
these
verses
we are
told four
times in
these
verses
of the
need
for us
to
stand
Paul
is
concerned
here for
our
stability
as the
battle
rages
wobbly
Christians
who don't
have a
firm
foothold
in Christ
are easy
prey
for the
evil
one
and so
Paul wants
to see
Christians
so strong
and stable
that they
are even
stable in
the face
of Satan's
schemes
and stable
when
verse 13
says
when the
day of
evil
comes
or the
day
of
very
special
time
pressure
and so
the full
armor of
God
here is
essential
it's
described
in the
following
verses
the
belt
of
truth
verse
14
held
the
sword
in
place
it
didn't
just
hold
the
sword
in
place
but
it
held
up
the
soldier's
tunic
so
that
the
soldier
was
not
hindered
as
they
charged
into
battle
to
stand
firm
in
the
battle
you
must
be
a
person
here
filled
with
truth
filled
with
the
truth
of
the
revelation
of
God
in
the
scriptures
and
you
must
be
transformed
by
that
truth
so
that
you
will
become
a
truthful
person
not
just
to
know
the
truth
but
for
that
truth
to
transform
you
so
that
you
are
a
person
of
truth
not
half
truths
not
a
bleak
language
truth
fullness
secondly
the
breastplate
of
righteousness
verse
14
was a
metal
piece
that
covered
the
front
of
the
body
to
protect
the
vital
organs
and
especially
the
heart
翻
loose
face
which
says
λιi
will believe what God says and not the messages of the evil one.
Five is the helmet of salvation in verse 17, which is the assurance of salvation and resulting
confidence that it brings to us.
The helmet assures us that no matter what happens in this battle, no matter what happens,
I am saved.
I am rescued.
I am secure in Christ and I have victory in him.
Lastly is the sword of the spirit in verse 17 and we are told here that it is the word
of God.
What we are to understand about the sword of the spirit is that when we take it up, we
we have in our hands the word of God, the supreme weapon for defensive and offensive battle.
The word of God cuts to the heart.
It lays open the heart so that people would believe, so that they would repent, so that
they would be rescued from the clutches of the evil one and made alive.
We are at war and our razor sharp weapon is God's word and we would be fools to lower it just
simply because our culture says it can't cut.
We would be fools to lay it to one side because our enemy wants us to believe it is irrelevant, it
is archaic, it is not understandable.
We would be fools to have ministries that minimize the word of God and to push it to one side.
It is the only weapon that cuts the heart.
The weapons that we fight with are not the weapons of this world according to 2 Corinthians 10.
And so my friends, take up the word of God and read it and meditate upon it and memorize
it and study it and love it and speak it and speak it.
You can have great conversations with people.
You can have warm, beautiful conversations with people, but unless the word of God is spoken,
the heart is not cut to see the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Do not lower that weapon.
The Christian warrior dressed in full armor, the full armor of God is a formidable picture.
I hope you get the sense that these verses here are calling us to action, to wake us up
out of a comfortable stupor.
That if you are there in the enemy's battlefield, in the trenches with your deck chair out and your
umbrella up and your cocktail in your hand, throw it to one side and put the armor on and
get into the battle is what it's saying.
Get ready.
The Christian warrior here gets ready.
He tightens his belt.
His heart pounds under the breastplate.
He scuffs his feet at the earth with his studded boots to get a firm grip.
He takes up his shield in anticipation of the fiery arrows that are coming for him.
He repositions his helmet and he tests the edge of his sword.
His heart pounds.
The sweat falls.
And the warrior stands motionless as the enemy charges at him.
And then he does the most amazing thing.
He falls to his knees in deep, profound prayer.
Make no mistake, there will be action.
There will be hand-to-hand combat.
He will rise and he will use his sword, but it will all be bathed in prayer.
And this is the picture as you read into verse 18.
Prayer isn't added as another part of the armor.
It actually pervades all of the spiritual warfare.
The scriptures and prayer belong together as the two chief weapons that the spirit puts in our hands.
The sword of the spirit.
The most effective weapon for both offensive and defensive battle and prayer.
That gives the sword all its power.
The prayer referred to here is comprehensive.
We are to pray on all occasions, both regularly and constantly.
With all kinds of prayers and requests, for it takes many and varied forms.
Because being alert and always keep on praying because you don't want to ever give up.
And you don't want to ever fall asleep.
For all the saints.
Since the unity of God's new society, which has been the preoccupation of this whole letter to the Ephesians.
Must be reflected in our prayers.
Most Christians pray sometimes with some prayers.
With some degree of perseverance and for some of the people.
But to replace some with all.
In each of these expressions would be to climb to a new dimension of our prayer life.
And my friends, we need it here at St. Paul's.
If the gathering on a Sunday afternoon once a month is the extent of our prayers.
I'm amazed at how few people gather.
And when we do gather, how much we struggle to pray for God's agenda for his church.
Against the prayer that is described here, the principalities and powers are helpless.
Without prayer, we are much too feeble and much too flabby to stand against the might of the forces of evil.
So let me remind you again, St. Paul's, brothers and sisters, friends.
We are in cosmic battle.
We're at war.
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
And the basic spiritual weapons of our warfare are the word and prayer.
And so my simple challenge to you is to rethink your priorities in these two areas.
Commit today, on Commitment Sunday, commit today to a new resolve to be a Christ-centered, Bible-saturated warrior
who's devoted to prayer.
As per two of our core values, commit today to a new venture with God.
My second simple challenge is to take on a wartime mindset in regard to the spiritual war that we're engaged in.
Timothy reminds us that the soldier doesn't get entangled in civilian affairs.
He doesn't get entangled with civilian affairs.
The soldier has a job.
And that's to fight an enemy.
We're encamped in enemy territory, so it doesn't make sense to construct mansions and build up treasures.
Let us stand together with a wartime mindset, firmly trusting in the mighty power of our Lord Jesus.
The wartime mindset is where you pour your resources into winning the battle.
We work together in giving our time and our prayers and our energy and our money to winning the war.
And that is what I'm calling you to do today.
People are going to hell right now just metres from us under the influence of our enemy.
That is the battle that we're involved in.
And one of our enemy's great seductions is to lure us into a comfortable, distracted life.
This year, Nellie and I have increased our giving to St. Paul's to $700 a month for the ministry here.
You know my pledge as I do each year.
Together, the staff and parish council have already pledged so far $6,738 a week for the battle here.
And so I now call you to follow them by having a wartime mindset and setting your resources to the battle.