A study of Ephesians 6:10-23.

Introduction from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ sermons on Ephesians 6 (The Christian Warfare). “Finally” engages the attention of the reader, calling for a review of all that has been said before in the book of Ephesians. The statement in 6:10 is the summary of the entire argument.

The last section is divided into two parts, 11-12 and then verse 13 to the end, the specifics.

Chapters 1-3 lay out the fundamental themes of the Christian faith. Those chapters describe Who a Christian is, What a Christian is, and How they have become who they are.

In the second half of Chapter 3, it is, quoting Lloyd-Jones, “The glory and the exalted character of the Christian life,” (12). That you might be filled with the fulness [the British spelling] of God and experience the privileges that belong to such a life (12).

What follows is the appeal to live in a manner worthy of your calling. Continuing in Chapter 4, “walk worthy of the calling by which you have been called.”

Chapter 4:1-16 is the Church. Then practical instructions through 6:9.

The final section is broken simply down into two sections: 6:10-13 a General Exhortation. 6:14 to the end, the Particulars of how to go about doing what is set forth in 10-13.

Chapter 6:10-13. The battle is not about teaching people to live moral lives. The battle is not about raising children who are successful and responsible. The church is not to be engaged in matters touching simply on race relations or poverty or women’s rights or social justice. Rightly understood, all these matters are impacted by the Christian faith. But apart from the fulness of Christ, there is no point to engage in any programs of societal betterment, or social improvement. Families or businesses cannot be helped by moral instruction apart from the life-giving Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. To propound that the church is just an agency of societal management or a force to restrain human evil is to do great harm to the glorious vision of the Church of the Living God. We are much more than a society for the improvement of civilization. But where the Gospel is proclaimed and believed more nations have been rescued from the effects and consequences of sin than any other influence in human history.

Notice that the instructions given in Ephesians are not a curricula but a series of commands.

Chapter 6:10 — the life of the Chirstians must be lived in the strength that God provides. Our frailty is profound. We sin and slip, then we soar and reign. The heart of Ephesians (to choose one verse) is 3:18, “that we may be filled with the fulness of God.” His power is working in us (3:7). We are “alive together with Christ,” 2:5. The “power that raised Christ from the dead” is at work in us who believe. Therefore, we are to “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” Our strength is not sufficient to stand. Our power is not able to engage the enemies of God. Our abilities are not able to withstand an assault on those who would scheme to destroy our assurance, fill us with fear, throw us into confusion, deny the power of God, or disconnect us from the presence and power of God.

The command to be strong in the Lord contains a calculation regarding the strength that the Lord has and a comparison of his strength with our own. We would not, in our moment of trial, want to depend on another human being who was as weak as we are. We would want someone who was capable, able, sufficient for the moment of trial to deliver and to give us aid and assistance. We do not trust God like we would trust in or admire another human being. The strength of the Lord is without limits. It is holy and wise, pure, kind, full of grace, redeeming, and great (and much, much more).

The reason we need the strength of the Lord is that our adversary, the Devil, is working schemes that are designed to hurt and to maim us, our faith, and our standing before God. The Devil works by schemes, he orchestrates events, he stacks the blows to your heart so that there is no light impact on you, rather it is that the blows become all you can do to endure them and to survive their assault.

It is when we are being attack by the schemes of the evil one that we need God’s power, if we are to survive. The easy-to-face-and-conquer temptations need no additional strength. You manage them well. But those are not in view. It is the powerful succession of events, one after another, that requires the power and presence of God in your life to live through them to the glory of God.

Not all sorrows are schemes. Not all problems come from the Devil. Not all sin is originated from the Evil One. Some of our sin comes from within us. Some of our problems come just by the nature of our fallen world and the mistakes of people, governments, politics, or leaders. People are fallible and they sometimes fail and fall and it can fall on us.

The schemes of the evil one last for enough time to accomplish their work. They are not easily dismissed. They are not settled in a day. You are tempted to give in, to give up, and to stop trying. Your obedience is severely challenged. Your heart is at risk of losing hope. There is a challenge that comes against the promises of God, the goodness of God, and the love of God. There is offered to you something you desire, something you long for, hope for, something precious in your heart, that is put at risk, but if you will deny, pull away from, or reject the promises of God, they will be yours.

The temptation is tremendous at this point, you cannot stand in your own power and strength. You are not able to reason or to have wisdom needed to see through the schemes. The schemes always contradict, contravene, or conflict with the will of God for your life. And the confrontation is deeply felt and terribly divisive within your heart and soul.

Schemes can be in the form of relationships that discourage you and that wound your heart. Such relationships may be held apart from your heart for a while, be over time the incessant power of the discouragement, the negative frame of mind, the insipient evil behind the words and promises of the relationship, bring hurt and sorrow that is deeply felt and that is difficult to overcome. It is a scheme.

Schemes work against the way your think about your life and about you see God and his place in you. Ephesians 2:2 reminds you that you know what it was like to “walk in darkness.” You know full well what it was like to live apart from God, to disobey his will, to be separated and alienated from God. But no longer. Now you are brought close, you are filled with the fulness of God. You know the power of the resurrection, and much more.

The Devil seeks to blind your eyes (2 Corinthians 4:4). Blinding the eyes means that we cannot see nor can we trust in, the truth of God, his presence, his power and redeeming love. People who are blind (who live in darkness) live their lives apart from God. They deny the God who made them and they live as though there were no God (a-theists, “no-god”).

Schemes can appeal to our pride as in 1 Chronicles 21:11, where David was stirred by Satan to “count the number of his people” when God specifically instructed him not to. David wanted to measure the strength of his army and the size of his nation. But God wanted David to trust in the God. The simple admonishion to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” is contrary to any trust in the size of an army or in the strength of the nation. But David ordered the nation to be counted and God was very displeased with him.

Lloyd-Jones summaries the schemes of the evil one in these areas: Assurance of faith (doubting one’s faith is true, or holding a false faith while thinking you are a Christian); Cults (false teaching); Self (the seat of human sin); Quenching the Spirit (wilful disobedience that offends the Spirit of God within) ; Temptation and Sin; Discouragement; Worry and Anxiety (fear is a great power in the evil one’s hand); Truth versus False Zeal (doing wrong things for the right reasons, or doing good things without the proper motive-set); and Worldiness. These topics are broad and very diverse, and you can see how varied the schemes may be. They can fall in many areas of the heart, the mind, the spirit. They can come from a misunderstanding of the Gospel (zeal). They can be fed by worry and fear. They can entice us to embrace the things of this world instead of pleasing God in how we live our lives. Be on guard!

In chapter 6:13ff Paul gives us the specifics on how we are to be strong in the Lord. The list includes these matters:

Truth, Righteousness, Gospel, Faith, Salvation, the Word of God, and Perseverance. These are matters that do not require great learning to understand. They rest at the center of the Christian faith and they can be understood as to the meaning of each term, by a young child.