Ephesians, in chapter 6, and verse 12.
We were considering in our last study something
about spiritual warfare.
In the Old Testament, they never had any
fighting with Satan.
They only fought with the Philistines, and the
Amorites, and the Hittites, and the various ites
like that.
But they never fought with the devil.
They fought with human beings.
Throughout the Old Testament, God's people fought with
human beings.
As soon as you come to the New
Testament, it says, here, since the day of
Pentecost, we don't fight with human beings anymore.
It's finished.
Completely finished.
This is one of the distinctives of the
New Covenant.
We do not fight with human beings.
Then what do we do?
We still fight, but now we fight with
Satanic forces in the second heavens.
In the heavenly places.
Now, human beings are fought.
We fight against human beings with words, with
hands, with weapons.
Some with physical weapons and things like that.
Weapons that can hurt their bodies.
But when it comes to fighting against Satan,
these are not the weapons.
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but spiritual.
Mighty through God to the pulling down of
spiritual strongholds and fortresses that the devil has
established in many places.
So, these spiritual fortresses that the devil has
established, you know, from which he attacks, he's
established them in churches, he's established them in
homes.
That's why you find some homes, they're always
fighting.
In some churches, there's always tension.
There's immorality.
So many things going wrong.
There's a deadness about the meetings.
There's no power, there's no anointing.
There's no grace upon those who minister the
word.
What's the reason?
Satan's established a fortress there and there's nobody
able to break down that fortress.
They come along to the meetings and they
pray and they sing and go through the
ritual and they break bread and do all
that, but Satan's just living comfortably there.
His God is thrown there.
God needs people who are committed for spiritual
warfare, who have made a decision in their
life never to wrestle with flesh and blood,
who are going to keep their conscience absolutely
clear, who recognize that Satan was defeated on
the cross of Calvary.
If you are not convinced that Satan was
defeated on the cross of Calvary, don't ever
get into spiritual warfare.
You don't have to defeat Satan.
He was defeated 2,000 years ago.
You've got to just establish Christ's victory in
the name of Jesus, in your home, in
your church, in your office, wherever God places
you.
Our position is as members of the body
of Christ.
When Jesus Christ was on earth, He used
the members of His physical body to resist
Satan.
For example, He used His tongue to speak
to Satan, saying, Get behind Me, Satan.
Get away from here.
Today, we are His tongue.
We are the members of His body.
He still wants to use His tongue.
And we are to resist the devil, just
like Jesus resisted Satan.
And in order to do that, it says,
Take up the full armor of God, that
you may be able to resist in the
evil day, and having done everything to stand.
The evil day is the day of warfare
and battle, when the devil comes at us
headlong with all his forces.
And in that day, you should be able
to stand firm after having done everything.
You've done everything, and you stand firm.
That means you don't fall.
You don't collapse.
You don't get discouraged.
Stand firm, therefore, verse 14.
And then it goes on to speak about
seven weapons or pieces of armor that we
must have in order to fight this battle.
Now, Paul uses the imagery, the picture of
a Roman soldier, equipped for battle against the
enemy, and he uses that picture for spiritual
truths that need to be found in our
lives if we are to overcome Satan.
First of all, he says, you must have
the belt of truth to hold all the
pieces of armor together.
The Roman soldier had the belt of truth,
the loins girt about with truth.
Truth is one of the most important things
in the Christian life.
After having been a believer for 42 years
and watched believers in many parts of the
world, I'm absolutely convinced of one thing, that
the first thing God looks for in us
is honesty.
Not perfection, but honesty.
Your children must see you not as a
perfect father, but as an honest father, one
who will admit when he's done something wrong.
Your church members must see you as an
honest leader, not a perfect leader.
There is no perfect leader.
Only Jesus was the only one.
But honesty, that means you don't pretend.
You don't try to give an impression to
people which is not true.
Truth is number one.
If you don't have this, you don't have
your belt.
Things are not tied together.
They're all going to fall apart.
The Bible says that those who don't love
the truth, God himself will allow them to
be deceived.
By whom?
By Satan.
That's a clear word like that, a threat.
In 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 10 and 11,
if you read there, 2 Thessalonians 2, 10
and 11, it says that those who did
not receive the love of the truth, God
allowed them to be deceived by what is
false, so that they believe a lie.
This is how so many people go into
cults that lead people away from Christ.
Why does God allow them to be deceived?
Because they don't love the truth.
So, love the truth with all your heart.
Let your belt be tied around you at
all times.
Never try to give people an impression about
yourself that is not true.
Let your yes be yes and your no,
no.
Be known as a man of truth.
When you are reporting something, if you report
just one side of it, you're a liar.
If you don't give a fair picture, you're
telling a lie.
It's very difficult to report accurately.
But those who love the truth pursue that
accuracy in their life.
It's very important.
A true Christian is one who seeks to
be accurate in everything.
He seeks to be honest in money matters,
in keeping accounts, absolute truthfulness, down to the
last paisa.
Secondly, it says here, we must put on
the breastplate of righteousness.
Now, in the New Testament, there are two
types of righteousness.
One is that which God imputes to us,
and the other is that which God imparts
to us.
Imputed righteousness means the righteousness which is put
to our account as soon as we are
born again.
As soon as we are born again, the
righteousness of Christ is put to our account.
We are clothed with a dress from heaven,
like Adam was clothed with animal skins.
His fig leaves were thrown away.
Our own righteousness thrown away.
We are clothed with the righteousness of Christ.
Put to our account.
We stand before God, accepted with the righteousness
of Christ, just as Christ Himself.
But, once God has done that, over a
period of our lifetime, He seeks to impart,
to make us partake of that righteousness of
God through the Holy Spirit.
So, this refers to both.
The imputed righteousness through faith, and the imparted
righteousness, which is the love of God.
And that is why this righteousness, this breastplate
rather, is called the breastplate of faith and
love in 1 Thessalonians 5.8. That is
the same thing.
The righteousness imputed to us by faith, and
the righteousness manifested through us by a life
of love.
So, that is the breastplate of righteousness.
Never should we try to stand before the
devil with our own righteousness.
No.
That's like having no breastplate.
He'll just shoot you down.
Stand in the righteousness of Christ.
And at the same time, don't ever try
to confront the devil if you've got a
bad conscience.
Don't say, well, I'm clothed with the righteousness
of Christ.
You need to have the imputed as well
as the imparted.
If your conscience bothers you, you don't have
confidence before God, and you cannot have boldness
before the devil.
That's impossible.
Righteousness.
That means, as far as you know, things
are right between you and God, between you
and your fellow men.
You can't fight the devil if you've had
a fight with your wife or a fellow
believer, and you haven't said it right.
The devil will come right into your situation,
take advantage of you.
Righteousness means that as far as you know,
everything is clear in your life.
You've paid back your debts.
You've given back money that is taken wrongfully.
You haven't cheated anybody.
You haven't done anything wrong.
It gives you a breastplate that protects you.
All the attacks of Satan can be defended
with that breastplate.
And then thirdly, it says in verse 15,
our feet must be shod, the shoes of
the preparation of the gospel of peace.
That means we must always be ready to
share the gospel with other people.
Do you know that this is part of
the armor?
Do you know that those who are always
looking for an opportunity to preach the gospel
to others are protected from many attacks of
Satan?
It's true.
Those who are always seeking to be ready
to share the gospel with others, that readiness
itself protects them from numerous temptations.
It strengthens them.
Think, for example, if you are tempted to
lust after a girl.
And if you look at that girl, not
as an object of lust, like the world
looks at her, but as a soul that
is lost and on her way to hell,
however pretty she may be, a soul that's
lost, a soul for whom Christ died, a
soul that Jesus came to save, it would
be very difficult for you to lust after
her if that's the way you looked at
her, because your feet are shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace.
It's a protection.
And the Lord fills us with the Spirit
and makes us His witnesses.
If that longing to witness to others, to
share a word for Christ to other people
has gone from your life, you'll find that
you're not so strong in your battle with
Satan.
So think of these three things that we've
looked at now, the belt of truth, the
breastplate of righteousness imputed by faith and imparted
in a life of love, and the readiness
to share the gospel of peace, peace with
God, peace with men, with others.
We turn to Ephesians 6, verse 16, continuing
our study in the whole armor of God
with which we are to resist the devil.
We saw in our last study the first
three pieces of that armor, the belt of
truth, verse 14 of Ephesians 6, the breastplate
of righteousness, imputed righteousness by faith in Christ,
and imparted righteousness through the Holy Spirit, producing
in us a life of love, a breastplate
of faith and love, or a breastplate of
righteousness.
And the readiness to share the gospel with
others, the shoes of the preparation of the
gospel of peace, the good news of peace
with God and peace with men.
The fourth piece of armor is supposed to
have a special quality.
It's the shield of faith, a living faith
in God.
Faith is basically an assurance that God loves
you as much as He loved Jesus, like
it says in John 17, 23.
He loves you, and He will never leave
you, nor forsake you.
That He's always on your side against the
devil, even when you have misbehaved, even when
you have fallen.
That God's love is unchanging, eternal, abiding.
If you believe that, you've got faith.
And He says, if you have this faith,
it will be like a shield.
There are parts of your body that the
breastplate may not protect, the shoes may not
protect, the belt may not protect, the helmet
may not protect, and even the sword may
not be quick enough to defend.
But the shield of faith, you can move
your hand around and put that shield left
side, right side, up, down, wherever the arrows
are coming from, and protect yourself from an
arrow that comes from any direction.
The shield of faith.
That's why it says, with it you'll be
able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of
the evil one.
The devil not only fires arrows, they are
arrows set on fire, aimed at you.
And if you have faith in God, it's
like a shield.
You know, when the devil came to Eve
and said to her, why don't you eat
of this tree?
And implied in his question and suggestion was
the thought that, well, you know, God doesn't
really love you.
If God loved you, He'd allow you to
take part of this.
Why doesn't He allow you to take part
of this wonderful tree, so tasty, so attractive,
so good, something that can make you wise?
Why doesn't God allow you to do that?
Because He doesn't love you.
And Satan began to think.
And the devil went on to say, he
doesn't want you to be like him.
It was a lie.
And Satan believed it.
And began to think, perhaps God doesn't love
me.
Lost faith.
And as soon as faith was lost, her
shield was gone.
And the flaming missile went straight to her
heart and knocked her out.
And that's how Adam was knocked out too.
The shield of faith would have protected both
of them in the Garden of Eden.
And the shield of faith in the perfect,
unchanging, eternal love of God and assurance that
God's plans for you are the best.
His wisdom and His power to protect you.
If you can believe that, that will protect
you from every single, it says all, you'll
never be knocked down by Satan.
And then the fifth piece of the armor
is the helmet of salvation.
Now salvation, when we looked at Ephesians chapter
2, we were saying has three tenses.
Past, present and future.
We have been saved from the guilt of
sin and the penalty of sin.
We are being saved from the power of
sin.
And we will be saved from the presence
of sin.
And the salvation spoken of here is the
future salvation.
We know that from 1 Thessalonians in chapter
5 and verse 8 where the helmet is
called the helmet of the hope of salvation.
So it's not talking about being saved from
the penalty or the power of sin.
When we compare Scripture with Scripture, we see
this is referring to the hope of salvation.
Future salvation.
The hope that Jesus Christ is coming back.
It's such an exciting thing.
These sorrows, these trials, they are only for
a short while.
Christ is coming back.
I want to be ready for that day.
I want to be faithful.
I want my life to count for God
before He comes back.
And that protects you.
The hope of Christ coming and saving you
completely from this wretched sinful world is like
a helmet that protects your mind from getting
discouraged by Satan's attacks.
From your mind from getting depressed and having
nervous breakdowns by Satan's attack.
The hope, Christ is coming.
He is going to establish His kingdom on
the earth.
Keep that helmet on always.
The devil is seeking to attack the minds
of God's people these days.
And the mind must be protected with this
helmet.
Christ is coming back soon.
I look forward to that.
This world is not my home.
I'm looking forward to an eternal home with
Christ.
A lot of things may go wrong on
this earth, but my home is in heaven.
The hope of salvation, the hope of becoming
like Jesus.
We don't get discouraged in our minds even
though we haven't overcome sin completely because we
have the hope that one day we will
be like Him completely.
And sixthly, the sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God.
This is what Jesus used every time He
was tempted in the wilderness.
He never argued with Satan.
He never discussed with Satan.
That was Eve's mistake.
Contrast the way Eve reacted to Satan and
the way Jesus reacted to Satan.
You can see a big difference.
Eve discussed with Satan.
They went back and forth.
Jesus never bothered to talk to Satan at
all.
Don't talk to Satan.
The Bible says resist him, rebuke him, quote
the Word of God to him when he
comes at you with a temptation.
Say what Jesus said.
It is written.
It's written, man shall not live by bread
alone.
It's written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God.
It's written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, in Him only shalt thou serve.
That's all Jesus said.
Three times He quoted Scripture, never added a
word of His own, and said, get behind
me Satan.
That's it.
And so, that's how we are to fight
Satan to the sword of the Spirit.
And the word here, the Word of God,
there are two words in the original Greek
language for word.
One is for the whole Word of God
or what's called the Logos.
The whole Word of God means the entire
Scripture is called the Word of God.
That's not the word used here.
It's the word rhema, which means one specific
word, a saying.
We can say the Bible contains many swords.
This is not just one sword, it contains
many swords and Jesus used a different sword
for each temptation.
And there's a specific word in the Scripture
somewhere for each temptation.
That's why we must meditate on the Scriptures
regularly and have our mind filled with these
numerous swords so that the Holy Spirit can
pick out the right one for a particular
temptation.
A particular saying, a particular verse, a particular
promise, a particular assurance from God.
That is what we are to use in
our battle against Satan.
This particular verse, the Word of God.
Then, seventhly, the last weapon is called all
prayer.
It's one phrase, all prayer.
All types of prayer.
With all prayer and petition, pray at all
times in the Spirit.
The Bible never says pray every day.
It never says pray for 15 minutes or
half an hour every day.
Jesus said in Luke 18, verse 1, men
must pray always.
The Holy Spirit says in Ephesians 6, verse
18, pray at all times in the Spirit.
In the Spirit does not mean in tongues.
It means the opposite of in the flesh.
That means don't pray carnal prayers.
Prayer in tongues is opposed to praying with
the mind.
But whether you pray in tongues or pray
in the mind, we must pray in the
Spirit always.
That means not in the flesh, not with
carnal requests, seeking God's glory first.
Prayer.
Prayer is the expression of our dependence upon
God.
God, give me wisdom to protect me against
the wiles of Satan here.
Ask God to help us in a different
situation.
Praying at all times.
And not only praying for ourselves, but praying
for our fellow believers.
Being alert with all perseverance and petition for
all the saints.
And here it says that one way to
keep awake in prayer is by praying for
other people.
We just pray for ourselves.
We go to sleep.
But it says keep alert with all perseverance
and petition for all the saints.
God places certain people on your heart.
And if you are sensitive to the Holy
Spirit, sometimes God may burden you to pray
for one particular person.
And when you feel a burden to pray
for a particular person, pray for that person
till that burden lifts.
Sometimes God may burden you to pray for
your children.
Or a brother in the church.
Somebody who is facing some pressure.
Pray for that person.
If we love one another, we'll pray for
one another.
We don't pray for those we don't love.
And it's because we don't love so many
people that we never pray for them.
So, pray for all the saints and especially
for God's servants.
It says in verse 19, Pray on my
behalf that utterance may be given to me
in the opening of my mouth.
Sometimes we may think, well, particularly mighty anointed
servants like the Apostle Paul, we don't need
to pray for him.
That man just always has a word whenever
he stands up.
He is so anointed.
He keeps his conscience clear and he is
walking with God.
No!
Those are the people who are the biggest
targets of Satan.
And we need to pray for them.
We need to pray for those who are
on the front lines, fighting the battles of
God.
We need to pray for those who are
God's servants.
And especially those who are being specially used
by God in the ministry of the Word,
like the Apostle Paul.
He says, pray on my behalf that I
may have utterance.
Now, you would think that Paul doesn't need
help for utterance.
No, he says, I need to be able
to have strength to open my mouth and
to make known with boldness.
You would think Paul doesn't need boldness.
He needs boldness.
And he says, you must pray for me,
he says to the Ephesian Christians, for which
I am an ambassador in chains.
And a second time he says, pray for
me that I'll speak boldly as I ought
to speak.
Boldness!
You know, God's servants can sometimes be frightened.
And I believe one of the most important
prayers that you must ever pray for a
servant of God is that he'll be bold
to preach the whole truth without being afraid
of any man, without seeking to please any
man, and without being afraid of anything the
devil may do to him.
If we put on this armor, this is
part of the armor it protects us too
when we pray for others.
So here are the seven pieces of the
armor.
The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness,
of faith and love, the feet shard of
the preparation of the gospel of peace, forth
the shield of faith, the helmet of the
hope of salvation, the sword of the Spirit,
specific sayings of God, and finally, prayer, all
prayer at all times for all saints and
especially God's servants.
We now come to our concluding study in
Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
In the last 31 studies, we have been
looking at various truths, wonderful truths that are
revealed in this wonderful episode.
And in our last study, we saw the
armor of God fighting against Satan, keeping our
position, standing in our position in Christ, overcoming
Satan.
We cannot do this alone.
Jesus said, If two of you are agreed
concerning anything, it will be granted by them,
for them by my Father in heaven.
Because where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the
midst of them.
Matthew 18, verse 18 to 20, And whatever
two such people bind in my name will
be bound in heaven.
That is in the heavenlies.
That's where the devil is.
And so, in Ephesians, this wonderful truth of
the body, we must remember that it's as
a body that we resist Satan.
Don't fight with flesh and blood.
Never fight with believers.
Don't accuse believers.
Leave that to the devil.
Don't judge the believers.
Leave that to God.
What are we supposed to do?
Pray for the believers.
Fight against Satan.
If we would only obey these exhortations, think
what a different church we would have in
our land and on the earth.
In conclusion, he says in verse 21, Ephesians
6, verse 21, But that you also may
know about my circumstances, how I am doing,
Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in
the Lord, will make everything known to you.
Think that the Apostle Paul had faithful servants,
people whom he could refer to as faithful
servants of the Lord.
I believe God needs many people like Tychicus,
beloved and faithful.
Just these two words.
Just think if you can take that as
a challenge to yourself.
Someone whom Paul had the confidence to send.
I have sent him to you for this
very purpose, so that you may know about
us.
He may comfort your hearts.
Another time in Philippians, he talks about Timothy,
who was another man like that, whom he
had confidence to send.
Think if you could be a young brother
whom an older brother would have confidence to
send into a particular situation to solve a
problem.
Peace be to the brethren, verse 23, and
love with faith from God the Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace is a great word.
Grace and peace.
New Testament words.
Love with faith.
May God fill your heart with love for
one another.
May God fill your heart with faith and
perfect assurance of His love for you from
God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace, another wonderful New Testament word.
Be with all those who love our Lord
Jesus Christ sincerely with an incorruptible love.
There is a special grace on those who
are sincere in their lives, sincerity, whose love
for Jesus is transparent.
My brothers and sisters, that's how it must
be with our life.
When people look at our lives, they see
there is a transparent love for Jesus in
our lives, that we do things because we
love the Lord.
And thus we conclude this wonderful episode.
Let me just review this in the time
that is left.
What did we see in the beginning?
That Ephesians was divided into two parts.
The first doctrinal chapters 1 to 3 and
the second practical chapters 4, 5, and 6.
And as we have studied through the episode,
we have seen that.
The first three chapters have no exhortations at
all.
And chapters 4 to 6 are full of
exhortations.
Chapters 1 to 3 tell us how we
are blessed by God in Christ.
And chapters 4 to 6 tell us how
we are to live through the power of
the Holy Spirit in our personal life, in
our home life, in our work spot, and
in our attitude towards Satan.
All of this is possible only if we
are firmly established on the foundation of chapters
1 to 3.
I have repeated that many times throughout this
study.
And I need to repeat this again at
the end of this study because this is
where I have found most Christians fail.
There are many Christians I find at one
extreme and some at the other extreme.
God has given us two legs to stand
on.
And there is beauty when there is balance.
And Ephesians 1 to 3 is like one
leg.
Ephesians 4 to 6 is like another leg.
Both legs should be equally long.
Otherwise you cannot walk straight.
It's like the two halves of our body.
What God has done for us is one
side.
What we are to do for the Lord
is the other.
What God has done for us in Christ
and what we are to do in the
power of the Holy Spirit.
Both are needed.
Today we have Christians who emphasize all the
time whenever they come together they only think
about what God has done for them.
And they become unreal.
There are all types of sin in their
lives.
They never take their Christian life seriously.
There is a lot of activity perhaps but
no purity very often.
A lot of sin, deadness in their meetings
because they only think of what God has
done for them.
And then there are others who are always
emphasizing the human side.
What we must do, what we must do,
what we must do.
And there is deadness in their midst too
because very often what we must do ends
up as legalism.
And very often there is not an emphasis
in the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, in many, many areas as we look
at it we see the beautiful balance in
Ephesians.
What God has done for us in Christ
blessed us with every blessing, spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places in Christ.
And we now must be filled with the
Holy Spirit and walk in love, resist the
devil, love our wives, be subject to our
husbands, bring up our children in godly ways
all because of what God has done.
Out of gratitude for what God has done
and being placed on that foundation in Christ
what God has done for me, I live
my life.
Why do I work honestly, uprightly, not to
please men in my office?
Because of Ephesians 1 to 3, what God
has done for me.
Why do you love your wife?
Because of what God has done for you.
Why are you subject to your husband?
Because of what God has done for you.
Now, a lot of you have problems in
your home being subject to your husbands or
loving your wives because you are not founded
in Ephesians 1 to 3.
You have problems fighting the devil because you
are not founded in Ephesians 1 to 3.
You can't bring up your children right because
you are not founded in Ephesians 1 to
3.
I want to encourage you who are having
problems in these areas.
Go back to Ephesians 1 to 3 and
see what God has done for you in
Christ.
It's He who did it all.
It's He who pulled you up from the
pit, made you alive together with Christ, raised
you up, and placed you in the heavenly
places.
I really believe you need to pray that
God will open your eyes to see that
you are in the heavenlies.
Seated in the heavenlies.
Ask God to give you a revelation.
Think of that prayer in Ephesians 1.
That God will give you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of
Him.
That you may know the hope of your
calling.
And how rich God has become because He
has got you.
How precious you are to God.
All that is very important.
And the tremendous power that's available to you
through the resurrection, which you've got to claim.
It's for those who believe.
He's blessed you already.
Don't ask Him to bless you.
He's already blessed you.
Just claim that blessing in Jesus' name.
He's already blessed you with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly place in Christ.
What more do you want?
Well, either this is the Word of God
or it's a lie.
It is the Word of God.
And those who accept it as God's Word
find it is to be true.
And think of that prayer of the Paul.
That the power of the Holy Spirit will
so empower you.
Ephesians 3, verse 14 onwards.
That you'll be unshakable in love.
Rooted and grounded in love.
Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
And in view of all this which God
has promised and done for us, He says
in chapter 4, Walk.
Because we are seated in the heavenly places,
we can walk in love towards people who
hate us.
Because God can love people who hate Him.
Now, if you are not seated in the
heavenly places, you can't do that.
You can't walk in love.
You'll have an illusory holiness.
And because we are seated in the heavenly
places, we can build the body of Christ.
We can function together with others in fellowship.
Because we are seated in the heavenly places,
we have a tremendous hatred for falsehood.
We overcome all anger, verse 31 of chapter
4.
All bitterness.
All wrath.
Put away all gossiping.
Because we see ourselves as seated in the
heavenly places.
You see the tremendous problems that believers have
if they just go into all the exhortations
in chapter 4, chapter 5, and chapter 6,
without seeing they are being seated in heavenly
places in Christ.
This is so very, very important.
And it's because God has already blessed us
with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
in Christ that we can come to Him
and ask Him to give us the fullness
of the Holy Spirit.
We can ask Him to make the glory
of God manifest in our homes so that
our homes become like a little heaven on
earth.
We are seated in the heavenlies.
Think of a husband who is seated in
the heavenlies in Christ.
A wife who is seated in the heavenlies
in Christ.
Their home is going to be a heavenly
home.
Think of a father who is seeking to
bring up his children seated in the heavenlies
in Christ.
He is going to try and reflect God
to his children.
And his children are going to see something
of heaven in the way their father behaves
to them.
Everything is based on chapters 1 to 3.
And it's when we stand on that position
that we have in Christ that we fight
against the devil.
If I don't take my position with Christ
in the heavenlies it's useless trying to fight
the devil.
I won't be able to overcome him.
But when I recognize what God has done
for me in Christ He has defeated Satan
on the cross.
I can stand against him.
I can resist him.
And in Jesus' name he will flee.
I can dislodge him from the different places
where he has established himself.
Root him out.
Think of the blessing you can be on
earth if you are established in the truths
found in Ephesians 1 to 3.
And you can build the body of Christ.
As an ordinary saint, remember the building of
the body of Christ is not the work
of the apostles and the prophets.
You read very clearly in verse 12.
It's the saints, and you can be one
of them, who builds the body of Christ
and prepares it for that day when Jesus
will come as the bridegroom to be married
to His bride.
Amen.