July 16, 2025 • 40 mins
In this message from Ephesians 6:10–13, David Platt reminds us that followers of Jesus belong to the One who has conquered Satan through his life, death, and resurrection.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
If you have a Bible and I hope you or somebody
around you does that you canlook on with.
Let me invite you to open withme to Ephesians, chapter 6.
Feel free to use the table ofcontents if you need to.
It's near the back of the Bible.
I want to start today by askingyou a couple of questions and I
want to encourage you to reallythink about the answer to them.
(00:29):
So, first, how is Satancurrently attacking you and
others who are close to you?
Now, this question presupposesthat Satan is real and that he
is currently attacking you andcurrently attacking others who
(00:55):
are close to you, all of which.
I'm about to show you a momentto consider this question,
knowing there are countlesspossible answers to it, in light
of Satan's varied schemes.
So if I could put those schemesor those strategies in general
categories, how is Satan mosttempting you to sin in your life
(01:22):
right now?
You to sin in your life rightnow, in your thoughts, your
desires, your words, youractions.
How is Satan most enticing yourflesh?
Maybe one way to put it whatsins are besetting you?
What sins do you find yourselfcontinually struggling with?
(01:50):
Statistics would say that lustand pornography would be on that
list for a large percentage ofpeople in this gathering.
Or maybe it's pride or anger,or greed, or envy or gossip, or
any number of sins of omission.
So things God is calling you todo, but Satan is tempting you
(02:13):
to not do, or so here's anothercategory how is Satan attacking
you with doubt or discouragementor despair?
I was reading 1 Kings 19recently, where Elijah, this
prophet, this man mighty withGod, was weary of life itself.
(02:36):
And I am confident that, amidsta gathering this size and all
these different places, some ofyou, maybe many of you, are
either there or on the verge ofbeing there, weary, wondering
how or if you can go onwondering why this is happening
(02:59):
or when this will end.
1 Kings 19 is a reminder thatnot one of us is beyond being
overwhelmed with disappointment,anxiety, worry or fear that can
lead us to despair of lifeitself.
Or how is Satan attacking youremotional or mental or physical
(03:23):
well-being?
Or how is Satan attacking someof your closest relationships,
which then leads to the secondpart of this question how is
Satan attacking others who areclose to you?
Because he is not content justto come after you?
Particularly, if he cannot getto you, he will come after those
who are closest to you.
(03:43):
So how is Satan currentlyattacking you and others who are
get to you?
He will come after those whoare closest to you.
So how is Satan currentlyattacking you and others who are
close to you?
And then, to broaden thequestion how is Satan currently
at work in the world around us?
Knowing Satan is not justfocused on you and me right now,
but on the entire world.
So what are some specific waysyou see Satan at work in our
(04:09):
nation, in other nations, inworldly ideologies and
institutions and injustices andidolatry, in various
manifestations of evil in theworld?
And the reason I'm asking youthese questions today is to help
(04:32):
open your eyes to the spiritualwar that we live in in this
world.
So today we're beginning aseries that we're calling how to
Fight in the Dark.
So today we're beginning aseries that we're calling how to
Fight in the Dark, and the planis for the next eight weeks to
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explore how all of us live everysingle day in the middle of
spiritual battle it's raging inus and around us, and we're
specifically going to walkthrough one passage in the Bible
Ephesians 6, 10 through 20,just verse by verse, phrase by
phrase, to see how to fight thisspiritual battle.
So let me read it to you, thewhole passage you can follow
along in your Bible or I'll haveit up here on the screen.
God says to you and me, startingin Ephesians, chapter six,
(05:21):
verse 10, finally, be strong inthe Lord and in the strength of
his might.
Put on the whole armor of Godthat you may be able to stand
against the schemes of the devil, for we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but against therulers, against the authorities
, against the cosmic powers overthis present darkness, against
(05:45):
the spiritual forces of evil inthe heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the wholearmor of God that you may be
able to withstand in the evilday and having done all to stand
firm.
Stand, therefore, havingfastened on the belt of truth
and having put on thebreastplate of righteousness and
as shoes for your feet, havingput on the readiness given by
the belt of truth and having puton the breastplate of
(06:05):
righteousness and as shoes foryour feet, having put on the
readiness given by the gospel ofpeace In all circumstances,
take up the shield of faith withwhich you can extinguish all
the flaming darts of the evilone, and take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of thespirit, which is the word of God
, praying at all times in thespirit, with all prayer and
(06:28):
supplication to that end, keepalert with all perseverance,
making supplication for all thesaints and also for me the words
may be given to me, and openingmy mouth boldly to proclaim the
mystery of the gospel, for forwhich I am an ambassador in
chains, that I may declare itboldly, as I ought to speak.
(06:50):
There is so much here, but whatI want to do today is show you
just a few foundations in thefirst few verses of this passage
that I believe are critical forus to realize, and I'm
convinced many, if not most,christians are completely
missing on a daily basis.
So, if you're taking notes, Iwant to show you six truths that
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you need to know in light ofthe spiritual battle that is
raging in and around you rightnow, and I want to encourage you
to write these truths down soyou can go back to them and look
at them later, discuss themwith others, whether it's a
family or friends or churchgroup.
So here we go.
Truth number one we live in aspiritual world, so,
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grammatically, this truth is theground of this entire passage
Like in can just a minute, we'llget to these commands to be
strong and stand firm.
But notice that these commandsexist because of what we read in
verse 12, for so we must bestrong, stand firm, for because
we live in a world that's notjust flesh and blood.
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Yes, it's a physical world andit's a spiritual world, filled
with rulers and authorities andcosmic powers over darkness and
spiritual forces of evil inheavenly places.
Therefore, in light of all ofthat, do these things.
Four, in light of all of that,do these things.
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But here's the problem Most ofus don't see this world or our
everyday lives in it this way,particularly here in Western
culture.
We have a glaring blind spot,an area that we don't see.
There's a sense in which whatwas obvious when this was
written in Ephesus 2,000 yearsago and, quite frankly, what's
obvious to many people in manyparts of the world today is not
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obvious to us.
We're like Elisha's servant in2 Kings, chapter 6.
So you can turn to this to markit in your Bible, or I just put
it up here on the screen.
But at one point, the entireSyrian army was surrounding the
prophet Elisha and his servant,and the servant was panicking,
saying what are we going to do?
And remember what Elisha saidto him 2 Kings 6, 16,.
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Elisha said to his servant donot be afraid, for those who are
with us are more than those whoare with them.
Now think about that.
There were two guys in thehouse, elisha and his servant.
An entire Syrian army withhorses and chariots surrounding
them.
If you're Elisha's servant,you're thinking.
The old guy has lost his mind.
He may be a prophet, but he'sno mathematician.
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There's two of us and a ton ofthem.
But what happens Then?
Elisha prayed and said oh Lord,please open his eyes that he
may see.
So the Lord opened the eyes ofthe young man and he saw and
behold, the mountain was full ofhorses and chariots of fire all
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around Elisha.
So in this moment, elisha'sservant got a glimpse of the
spiritual world and realizedthat the Syrian army was indeed
outnumbered, not physically, butspiritually.
And in this moment, when theinvisible became visible,
everything changed.
Listen to what happens next.
(10:23):
When the Syrians came downagainst him, elisha prayed to
the Lord and said please strikethis people with blindness.
So the Lord struck them withblindness, in accordance with
the prayer of Elisha, and Elishasaid to them this is not the
way.
This is not the city.
Follow me and I will bring youto the man to whom you seek.
And he led them to Samaria.
He led them straight to Samariato be captured by the king of
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Israel there.
How did that happen?
They saw the spiritual worldand they fought with a spiritual
weapon.
All he did was pray.
Do we believe this?
Do we believe that our prayershave power to affect the
movement of armies in this world?
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That's what the Bible is sayingright here.
Why are we prayerless?
Why do we struggle to pray whenwe have been invited to pray
and God will work in accordancewith the prayers we pray.
God, give us eyes to see withthe prayers we pray.
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God, give us eyes to see.
Help us to see that right now,at this moment, a spiritual,
invisible world exists around usthat is just as real as the
physical, visible world we see,yet it's far more powerful.
The Bible teaches that thereare vast numbers of angels and
rulers and authorities andcosmic powers and spiritual
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forces, both good and evil, thatexist all around us at every
moment.
Right now, there are gloriousbeings that would take our
breath away if we could see them.
Just ask Daniel in the Bible.
He saw one of them and he fellon his hands and his knees,
shaking, barely able to breathe.
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And he saw one of the good guys.
Right now there are evil beingsall around us that would
immediately send the toughest ofus terrified and trembling to
the floor if we could just seethem, and to most of our minds
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that sounds crazy.
We live with a worldview thatexplains everything by what we
can see, touch, taste, smell,hear.
To say that you believe in theexistence of angels and demons
and rulers and authorities andpowers and spiritual forces is
like saying you believe indragons and elves.
But God tells us from beginningto end in the Bible, and he's
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shouting to us in the text, thistext you live in a spiritual
world.
Open your eyes, which leads totruth.
Number two we are involved in aspiritual war.
Look at the language here.
Paul says we are wrestlingagainst he says this language
five times Against rulers,against authorities, against
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cosmic powers, against spiritualforces of evil.
What we're reading here is nota command, it's a statement of
fact.
We are in a wrestling match.
The word describes a fight withrulers and authorities and
cosmic powers over darkness atwork in this world Like.
(13:47):
This is the water we'reswimming in every day.
Right where you are sittingright now, you are in a
wrestling match with spiritualforces of evil in the heavenly
places.
All of this is happening allthe time, whether you realize it
or not.
You may not have realized it,but you woke up this morning in
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a wrestling match.
That's what the Bible is sayingright now that you will go to
sleep tonight in a wrestlingmatch.
You'll spend all day today in awrestling match.
This is happening in your home.
It's happening in your work.
It's happening in this church.
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Everywhere you go, when you arealone, when you are with others
every second you're scrollingthrough your phone there is a
spiritual battle raging for yourheart and mind.
And it's not just algorithmsthat people in this world have
created.
It's algorithms that spiritualforces of evil in the heavenly
realms are working at everymoment.
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And it's not just in your life.
The spiritual war involveseveryone.
There's a war raging not justfor your soul, but for the souls
of every single person in yourhome and in your family, in this
church, in this city and in theentire world.
(15:15):
All of the world and all ofhistory is a story of spiritual
war, going back to Genesis,chapter three.
Now I obviously wanna becautious in using this imagery
of war, because of how God'sword has been misused and abused
, from crusades in the past tocultural wars in the present.
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And obviously this doesn't meanthat there aren't physical
implications of this spiritualwar, as flesh and blood are
where this spiritual war playsout, but that's just it.
Underneath everything that'shappening in this flesh and
blood physical world let thissoak in there is a spiritual
adversary who is activelyworking right now to destroy
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your life.
He wants to wreck your familyand your future.
He wants to hold you captive toyour past.
He wants to tarnish your purity, to attack your integrity.
(16:23):
He's working on a global scaleto distract and deceive and
divide, to harm and to hurtthrough hatred and war and
injustice and oppression, andhe's working at all costs to
keep the good news of liberationthrough Jesus from spreading in
the city and to all the nations.
We are all involved daily in aspiritual war that we need to
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see underneath every newsheadline and underneath every
detail that's going on in ourlives and not be surprised by
spiritual battle around us.
I was talking with somebody thisweek who asked me why is it so
hard to do such simple thingslike read the Bible and pray?
You think this would be easy.
I said no, that's never goingto be easy, because there is an
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adversary who really does notwant you to do that and he knows
if he can keep you from doingthat he can affect everything
else in your life.
So he's he knows if he can keepyou from doing that he can
affect everything else in yourlife.
So he's doing everything he canto keep you from doing that.
We live every moment in aspiritual war with an adversary
who wants to destroy us andeverybody around us, which leads
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to truth number three.
Our adversary in this war isindescribably strong.
So who's our spiritual war?
Against the devil?
Diabolos in the Greek, fromwhich we get diabolical here.
His name means the slanderer.
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Elsewhere he's called theaccuser, the liar and the
destroyer.
God, in his word, does notdescribe the devil.
Elsewhere he's called theaccuser, the liar and the
destroyer.
God, in his word, does notdescribe the devil as a wimp
wanting to harm you, but as alion looking to devour you and
others.
So let's just believe God onthis one.
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Let's realize that if ouradversary was a man and if he
possessed nothing but humanstrength, ingenuity or craft,
then we would be okay fightingwith human means.
But he is not human and in ourflesh we are no match for him.
(18:45):
The reality is, if you or Iwere to face the devil on our
own, we would be overpowered andoutsmarted in a split second.
Just look at the description ofhis minions here.
They are rulers, potentateswith authority to attack cosmic,
worldwide powers over darkness,spiritual, supernatural forces.
Are we hearing this?
Are we hearing Jesus?
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He tells us the devil is theruler of this world in John 12,
31.
God tells us he is the little gGod of this world in 2
Corinthians 4.4.
1 John 5.19,.
God tells us the whole worldlies in the power of the evil
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one.
The Bible doesn't say thatabout you or me.
God says this about the onewho's coming after you and me.
See his stranglehold on thisworld in sin.
Think about wicked evil schemeslike I saw in Southeast Asia
recently, where women andchildren are being trafficked
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for incomprehensible sexualexploitation to meet the demand
for pornography in millions ofpeople in countries like ours,
including multitudes ofprofessing Christians, who are
gorging their flesh at theirexpense as Satan has a hold on
their minds.
And that's on top of millionsof other evils.
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Our adversary in in this war isinfinitely stronger.
So now to the commands in verse10.
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So we got the ground.
So what is God saying to us?
Finally, be strong in the Lordand in the strength of his might
.
You cannot fight this war alone, and you don't have to.
You can only fight it in thestrength and the might of the
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Lord.
So the language here is soamazing on a couple different
levels, so one.
The verb here is so amazing ona couple different levels, so
one.
The verb here is actuallypassive Means.
It's literally be strengthenedby someone else.
So this is not strength youmuster up from inside you,
because you don't have it.
We've established that You'reweak, I'm weak, we don't have
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this strength, which means weneed to be strengthened by
someone else, and the Lord isready to strengthen us.
And now here's the second place.
This language is amazing.
So Paul uses.
If you'll just follow me for aminute, I'm going to nerd out
with a little Greek and Ipromise you it's gonna be worth
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it.
It's not just for fun, it'sjust following.
There are three words in theoriginal language of the New
Testament here that Paul useswhen he talks about strong,
strength and might.
That's three different words.
First time he uses it isdunamis, so it's a word.
I mean it means pow.
It's what we get dynamite from.
It's where we get dynamite from.
So strong in the Lord and inthe strength.
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So this is kratos.
Hang with me Of his might.
This one is ischus, so he usesthree words to describe the
strength that we're supposed tohave from the Lord.
Now, those same three words heused Paul was writing this
letter to the church at Ephesus.
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He used those same three wordshe used.
Paul who's writing this letterto the church at Ephesus.
He used those same three wordsone other time in this book.
The Holy Spirit inspired him touse it back in chapter one.
So I wanna show this to you.
Turn back with me to Ephesians,chapter one.
You gotta see this.
We'll start in verse 17.
Paul's praying a prayer overthese followers of Jesus in
Ephesus, and he prays that theGod of our Lord, jesus Christ,
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the Father of glory, may giveyou the spirit of wisdom and of
revelation and the knowledge ofhim.
Having the eyes of your heartsenlightened, you may see, you
may know what is the hope towhich he's called you.
What are the riches of hisglorious inheritance in the
saints?
Now watch this verse 19.
And what is the immeasurablegreatness of his power?
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That's dunamis toward us whobelieve according to the working
of his great.
That's kratos.
Might, that's iskos Same threewords he used back here in verse
19 when he was talking aboutfollow this, the supernatural
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power, strength, great mightthat he worked in Christ when he
raised him from the dead andseated him at his right hand in
the heavenly places.
Watch this far.
Above all, what Rule andauthority and power and dominion
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, and above every name that'snamed Cut off with a name.
He's above it, not only in thisage now, but in the one to come
forever.
He put all things under hisfeet, gave him his head over all
things to the church, which ishis body, the fullness of him
who fills all in all.
Are you seeing this?
Yes, our adversary in thisspiritual war may be
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indescribably strong, but ourally in this war is infinitely
stronger than him.
Then, all of them, they're allunder his feet.
That's where they are, allthese rules, powers, authorities
, cosmic powers, spiritualforces under his feet.
This is not some dualistic StarWars battle between two equal
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but opposing forces, good andevil.
This is not dualism, this isdomination, and don't miss it.
The dominator is on your side,and not just on your side, he's
inside you, he fills you.
So let this soak in whereyou're sitting right now and
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wherever you find yourself inthis spiritual war at this
moment, in your battles withtemptation and sin, with doubt
and discouragement, in everyattempt of the adversary to
bring you down, christian, youare not alone.
You are never alone.
The Christ who was raised fromthe dead we saw this a couple
months ago in Colossians,chapter 2, who disarmed the
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rulers and authorities, put themto open shame by triumphing
over them.
You have his fullness dwellinginside of you.
So be strong in the Lord and inthe strength of his might.
The might of the one who hasconquered sin and Satan and the
grave dwells inside of you rightnow.
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So how do you do this?
How do you do this?
So I practically okay.
What do I do?
How do I get strengthened inthe Lord?
How do I fight in the strengthof his might?
Well, look at the next commandput on the whole armor of God.
So what we're going to do overthe next seven weeks, lord
willing, is, unpack every pieceof this armor.
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But here, at the start, you'vegot to see this.
Do not miss the significance ofthis phrase.
It's the armor of who?
Now that's like, okay, that'sobvious.
But think about that for aminute.
But think about that for aminute.
This is God's armor and it'snot the first time the Holy
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Spirit inspired language likethis.
Hundreds of years before Paulwrote this, the Holy Spirit
inspired Isaiah to write aboutthis armor belonging to God
himself.
Look at this.
Isaiah, chapter 59, verse 17.
He put on righteousness as abreastplate and a helmet of
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salvation on his head.
You know who that's talkingabout.
That's God.
God has righteousness as abreastplate, a helmet of
salvation on his head.
That's amazing, god putting onthis armor.
Isaiah 11, five righteousnessshall be the belt of his waist,
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faithfulness the belt of hisloins.
That's talking about theMessiah, jesus, the Christ to
come.
Isaiah 49 says the same thingabout the Messiah.
He made my mouth like a sharpsword.
His word, the shadow of hishand.
He hid me.
Isaiah, chapter 52, verse seven, talking about the Messiah.
He made my mouth like a sharpsword.
His word, the shadow of hishand, he hid me.
Isaiah, chapter 52, verse 7,talking about the return of the
Lord, says how beautiful on themountains are the feet of him
who brings good news.
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These feet who publish peace,who bring good news of happiness
and publish salvation, who sayto Zion your God reigns, don't
miss the point.
When we're commanded to put onthe armor of God, what we're
being commanded to do is put onthe very life of Jesus himself.
This is what Paul wrote just acouple of times before this, in
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Ephesians, chapter four, wherehe said put off your old self,
the flesh, put on the new self,his spirit, dwelling in you.
This is how you fight spiritualbattle in the Lord, in your
ally.
By what?
By taking his truth and fillingyour mind with his truth,
combating the lies anddeceptions of the devil.
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His righteousness, guarding youagainst all the devil's
accusations against you, hisgospel of peace filling your
feet, guiding your steps as youlive by faith in him,
extinguishing all the flamingdarts of the evil, one that he
hurls your way With his helmetof salvation on your head as his
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child, his word as the sword ofhis spirit in you.
It's his armor, he is yourarmor.
I wanna tell you a quick storyfrom a few years ago, when we
were walking through somechallenges in our church family,
spiritual attacks against ourchurch family and leaders.
Without going into all thedetails, there was one point
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that was just particularlytraumatizing, involving somebody
coming at me physically withpolice coming after them.
Thankfully, I was able to getout of that situation, but the
next morning Heather and I werein a small gathering of brothers
and sisters in Christ outsideour church, many of whom I
didn't personally know, and atone point somebody I did know
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knew that we were walkingthrough some hard days and asked
the group to just pray overHeather and me.
We got on our knees and theywere concluding this time
praying for us, and a sister inChrist that I did not know, I'd
never met, said I don't know youguys, I don't know anything
about what you're walkingthrough.
I'm not.
I don't even know why we'repraying specifically for you
Nothing.
She had no context and shedefinitely didn't know what had
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happened the night before.
But she said when you walkedinto the room today, the word
that immediately came to my mindwas direct attack and I had a
picture in my mind of somethingcoming at you physically.
And these were her words.
She said Jesus himself, dressedin complete armor, stood in the
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way to protect you, but it wastraumatizing and I just feel led
to read to you from Isaiah 59.
She started reading from theexact verses we just looked at
how God, with righteousness as abreastplate and salvation on
his head, is a defender for hispeople.
Now there's a lot more I couldsay here and wanna dive into
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there, especially when all kindsof people come up with all
kinds of words that may or maynot be from God.
But that's the point.
This word was directly pointingto God's word and this truth
that I want to encourage everyfollower of Jesus with right now
.
So I do not know what attacksSatan is coming at you right now
with in your life, but I doknow this, for all who are in
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Christ God is saying to you inhis word right now.
Hear him speaking saying I amyour armor and you can trust in
me.
I will be, no matter what youface.
I will be your defender, yourprotector, your provider, your
deliverer, your vindicator andyour savior.
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You can trust in me and thearmor I provide to you.
Your adversary is indescribablystrong in this war, but your
ally is infinitely stronger thaneverything in this world.
So truth number five.
Our aims in the spiritual war,then, are clear, and they're
twofold, excuse me.
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First and foremost, stand firmin Jesus.
Stand firm Four times.
Be strong in the strength ofhis might.
Put on the whole armor of Godso that this is the purpose
clause so that you may be ableto stand against the schemes of
the devil.
All these strategies, therefore.
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Take up the whole armor of Godso that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day and,having done it all, to stand,
stand.
Therefore, we get the pointPaul Stand, stand, stand, stand.
That's what God, in his word,is telling us to do.
Stand firm in Jesus, hold fastto Jesus.
(32:11):
What we saw in Hebrews, chapter10, verse 23, a couple weeks ago
.
From the moment you wake up inthe morning to the moment you
lay your head on your pillow atnight, keep your eyes fixed on
him, trust in him, walk with him, meditate on his word, fill
your mind with his word day andnight, pray at all times in his
spirit, walk in his spirit,alert at every moment in battle,
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and don't say, yeah, put on thearmor every morning, no, why
take it off when you go to bed,sleep in it, wake up, wearing it
all the time close to Jesus,focused on Jesus, meditating on
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his word, walking in step withhis spirit.
The key to spiritual victoryover Satan is spiritual intimacy
with your Savior.
Let me say that one more timethe key to spiritual victory
over Satan is spiritual intimacywith your Savior.
That's, stand firm in Jesus andsecond, press forward with
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Jesus.
Clearly, paul's goal in thispassage is not to encourage
believers just to stand still.
We're pressing forward in abattle for souls with feet that
are spreading the gospel ofpeace, with prayer that God will
help us.
What does Paul say?
To boldly proclaim the mysteryof the gospel?
We have the greatest news in theworld In a world at war, we
(33:38):
announce peace with God to allpeople and all peoples
everywhere.
So let's live for this MBCfamily.
Let's engage in spiritualbattle that is raging for our
friends and our family membersand our neighbors and our
coworkers and our classmates andbillions of people around the
(33:58):
world whom cosmic powers havekept in the dark from ever even
hearing the gospel.
Let's battle in prayer andlet's battle with our feet
fitted with the gospel of peace,knowing we're followers of the
one who has all authority inheaven and on earth.
So let's go and make disciplesof all the nations, knowing he
is with us always, every step ofthe way, knowing the more we
(34:23):
press forward, the harder itwill get and the more attacks we
will face.
Amen, don't you want your faceon a wanted poster in hell?
He she makes trouble for thecosmic powers of darkness,
(34:48):
proclaiming light and liberation, freeing souls from captivity
through the proclamation of thegrace of Jesus Christ.
Press forward with the gospel,knowing the more you do that,
the harder it will get, the moreforces you will face.
Remember Paul is riding this inchains.
(35:11):
He's in prison because he'sproclaiming the gospel.
Mark it down.
The more you press forward withJesus in this world don't
believe the lie, it's not theeasier it will get.
No, the harder it will get inthis world that is opposed to
Jesus, when the God of thisworld does not want people
(35:33):
standing firm in Jesus andpressing forward with the gospel
.
You can know when you're doingthose things you're facing the
force of hell.
But that leads to truth.
Number six the outcome of thisspiritual war is inevitable.
(35:54):
I have really good news Thanosis not inevitable.
This is inevitable.
Check out the very last verse ofEphesians, chapter 6, verse 24.
Grace be with all who love ourLord Jesus Christ, with love
incorruptible.
Is that a good way to end?
No, all passes.
(36:15):
This whole Bible book ends witha picture of a people who love
Jesus more than life itself anda love relationship with him
that is incorruptible, immortal,everlasting, never failing,
which then leads us toRevelation, chapter 12, verse
(36:36):
nine through 11.
Listen to this.
This is how the whole story isgoing to end.
That great dragon was throwndown.
Who's that, that ancientserpent?
Who's that?
Who is called the devil andSatan, the deceiver of the whole
world?
He was thrown down to the earth, his angels thrown down with
him, and I heard a loud voice inheaven saying now the salvation
(36:59):
and the power and the kingdomof our God and the authority of
his Christ have come, for theaccuser of our brothers has been
thrown down.
Who accuses them day and nightbefore our God?
And they have conquered him bythe blood of the lamb and by the
word of their testimony, forthey love, not their lives, even
(37:19):
unto death.
Ladies and gentlemen, this warhas already been won.
Jesus, our King, has conqueredsin and Satan.
He has risen from the dead.
He is reigning on high rightnow and one day he is coming
(37:42):
back and Jesus is going to curlthe adversary and all his
minions and deceptions andaccusations into an abyss, and
we are going to live in perfect,pure, eternal, incorruptible
love, relationship with Godhimself forever.
So, brothers and sisters, standfirm and press forward amidst
(38:06):
all the spiritual attacks ofSatan against you and around the
world, because you know howthis story is going to end.
So here's the deal.
As we close today, I want toinvite you, like part of me
wants to spend the next sixhours just praying, but I want
to invite you if you are afollower of Jesus, especially
(38:30):
here, at the beginning of thisseries, I want to invite you to
spend a couple of moments justasking Jesus for specific help
to stand firm and press forwardamidst specific spiritual
battles in and around you rightnow.
So identify a couple of thoseways you see Satan attacking and
(38:52):
ask for his help, and identifya couple of steps you can take
this week to engageintentionally in spiritual
battle.
They saw the spiritual world in2 Kings 6, and they prayed.
So how do you see Satanattacking?
And then, what's your spiritualbattle plan?
Starting when it comes to yourtime alone with God and prayer
(39:15):
and his word, and then how thatoverflows into your life in this
world.
What's your battle planspiritually?
And then, while followers ofJesus go ahead and start doing
that now, I want to urge you, ifyou are not a follower of Jesus
today, to trust in Jesus Today.
(39:35):
To trust in Jesus to save youfrom the penalty and the power
of sin and to lead you foreternal life.
It's the greatest news in theworld God has made a way for you
to be not only forgiven of allyour sin against him, but free
(39:55):
from its power and penaltyforever, to be in relationship
with him, the author, the giverof life, forever If you've never
put your trust in Jesus.
What is keeping you fromtrusting in the only one who can
save you from sin, who can giveyou eternal life?
(40:18):
That transcends death itself.
So I wanna invite you, justtake a few moments between you
and God.
If you're a follower of Jesusin this first couple ways, and
if you're not a follower ofJesus, I invite you Put your
trust in him just in your heartright now.
Say to God yes, save me from mysin.
(40:38):
I believe I trust in what youdid on the cross, your
resurrection, to make itpossible for me to have eternal
life.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
If you have a Bible and I hope you or somebody
around you does that you canlook on with.
Let me invite you to open withme to Ephesians, chapter 6.
Feel free to use the table ofcontents if you need to.
It's near the back of the Bible.
I want to start today by askingyou a couple of questions and I
want to encourage you to reallythink about the answer to them.
(00:29):
So, first, how is Satancurrently attacking you and
others who are close to you?
Now, this question presupposesthat Satan is real and that he
is currently attacking you andcurrently attacking others who
(00:55):
are close to you, all of which.
I'm about to show you a momentto consider this question,
knowing there are countlesspossible answers to it, in light
of Satan's varied schemes.
So if I could put those schemesor those strategies in general
categories, how is Satan mosttempting you to sin in your life
(01:22):
right now?
You to sin in your life rightnow, in your thoughts, your
desires, your words, youractions.
How is Satan most enticing yourflesh?
Maybe one way to put it whatsins are besetting you?
What sins do you find yourselfcontinually struggling with?
(01:50):
Statistics would say that lustand pornography would be on that
list for a large percentage ofpeople in this gathering.
Or maybe it's pride or anger,or greed, or envy or gossip, or
any number of sins of omission.
So things God is calling you todo, but Satan is tempting you
(02:13):
to not do, or so here's anothercategory how is Satan attacking
you with doubt or discouragementor despair?
I was reading 1 Kings 19recently, where Elijah, this
prophet, this man mighty withGod, was weary of life itself.
(02:36):
And I am confident that, amidsta gathering this size and all
these different places, some ofyou, maybe many of you, are
either there or on the verge ofbeing there, weary, wondering
how or if you can go onwondering why this is happening
(02:59):
or when this will end.
1 Kings 19 is a reminder thatnot one of us is beyond being
overwhelmed with disappointment,anxiety, worry or fear that can
lead us to despair of lifeitself.
Or how is Satan attacking youremotional or mental or physical
(03:23):
well-being?
Or how is Satan attacking someof your closest relationships,
which then leads to the secondpart of this question how is
Satan attacking others who areclose to you?
Because he is not content justto come after you?
Particularly, if he cannot getto you, he will come after those
who are closest to you.
(03:43):
So how is Satan currentlyattacking you and others who are
get to you?
He will come after those whoare closest to you.
So how is Satan currentlyattacking you and others who are
close to you?
And then, to broaden thequestion how is Satan currently
at work in the world around us?
Knowing Satan is not justfocused on you and me right now,
but on the entire world.
So what are some specific waysyou see Satan at work in our
(04:09):
nation, in other nations, inworldly ideologies and
institutions and injustices andidolatry, in various
manifestations of evil in theworld?
And the reason I'm asking youthese questions today is to help
(04:32):
open your eyes to the spiritualwar that we live in in this
world.
So today we're beginning aseries that we're calling how to
Fight in the Dark.
So today we're beginning aseries that we're calling how to
Fight in the Dark, and the planis for the next eight weeks to
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explore how all of us live everysingle day in the middle of
spiritual battle it's raging inus and around us, and we're
specifically going to walkthrough one passage in the Bible
Ephesians 6, 10 through 20,just verse by verse, phrase by
phrase, to see how to fight thisspiritual battle.
So let me read it to you, thewhole passage you can follow
along in your Bible or I'll haveit up here on the screen.
God says to you and me, startingin Ephesians, chapter six,
(05:21):
verse 10, finally, be strong inthe Lord and in the strength of
his might.
Put on the whole armor of Godthat you may be able to stand
against the schemes of the devil, for we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but against therulers, against the authorities
, against the cosmic powers overthis present darkness, against
(05:45):
the spiritual forces of evil inthe heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the wholearmor of God that you may be
able to withstand in the evilday and having done all to stand
firm.
Stand, therefore, havingfastened on the belt of truth
and having put on thebreastplate of righteousness and
as shoes for your feet, havingput on the readiness given by
the belt of truth and having puton the breastplate of
(06:05):
righteousness and as shoes foryour feet, having put on the
readiness given by the gospel ofpeace In all circumstances,
take up the shield of faith withwhich you can extinguish all
the flaming darts of the evilone, and take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of thespirit, which is the word of God
, praying at all times in thespirit, with all prayer and
(06:28):
supplication to that end, keepalert with all perseverance,
making supplication for all thesaints and also for me the words
may be given to me, and openingmy mouth boldly to proclaim the
mystery of the gospel, for forwhich I am an ambassador in
chains, that I may declare itboldly, as I ought to speak.
(06:50):
There is so much here, but whatI want to do today is show you
just a few foundations in thefirst few verses of this passage
that I believe are critical forus to realize, and I'm
convinced many, if not most,christians are completely
missing on a daily basis.
So, if you're taking notes, Iwant to show you six truths that
(07:15):
you need to know in light ofthe spiritual battle that is
raging in and around you rightnow, and I want to encourage you
to write these truths down soyou can go back to them and look
at them later, discuss themwith others, whether it's a
family or friends or churchgroup.
So here we go.
Truth number one we live in aspiritual world, so,
(07:41):
grammatically, this truth is theground of this entire passage
Like in can just a minute, we'llget to these commands to be
strong and stand firm.
But notice that these commandsexist because of what we read in
verse 12, for so we must bestrong, stand firm, for because
we live in a world that's notjust flesh and blood.
(08:03):
Yes, it's a physical world andit's a spiritual world, filled
with rulers and authorities andcosmic powers over darkness and
spiritual forces of evil inheavenly places.
Therefore, in light of all ofthat, do these things.
Four, in light of all of that,do these things.
(08:29):
But here's the problem Most ofus don't see this world or our
everyday lives in it this way,particularly here in Western
culture.
We have a glaring blind spot,an area that we don't see.
There's a sense in which whatwas obvious when this was
written in Ephesus 2,000 yearsago and, quite frankly, what's
obvious to many people in manyparts of the world today is not
(08:53):
obvious to us.
We're like Elisha's servant in2 Kings, chapter 6.
So you can turn to this to markit in your Bible, or I just put
it up here on the screen.
But at one point, the entireSyrian army was surrounding the
prophet Elisha and his servant,and the servant was panicking,
saying what are we going to do?
And remember what Elisha saidto him 2 Kings 6, 16,.
(09:15):
Elisha said to his servant donot be afraid, for those who are
with us are more than those whoare with them.
Now think about that.
There were two guys in thehouse, elisha and his servant.
An entire Syrian army withhorses and chariots surrounding
them.
If you're Elisha's servant,you're thinking.
The old guy has lost his mind.
He may be a prophet, but he'sno mathematician.
(09:38):
There's two of us and a ton ofthem.
But what happens Then?
Elisha prayed and said oh Lord,please open his eyes that he
may see.
So the Lord opened the eyes ofthe young man and he saw and
behold, the mountain was full ofhorses and chariots of fire all
(10:01):
around Elisha.
So in this moment, elisha'sservant got a glimpse of the
spiritual world and realizedthat the Syrian army was indeed
outnumbered, not physically, butspiritually.
And in this moment, when theinvisible became visible,
everything changed.
Listen to what happens next.
(10:23):
When the Syrians came downagainst him, elisha prayed to
the Lord and said please strikethis people with blindness.
So the Lord struck them withblindness, in accordance with
the prayer of Elisha, and Elishasaid to them this is not the
way.
This is not the city.
Follow me and I will bring youto the man to whom you seek.
And he led them to Samaria.
He led them straight to Samariato be captured by the king of
(10:45):
Israel there.
How did that happen?
They saw the spiritual worldand they fought with a spiritual
weapon.
All he did was pray.
Do we believe this?
Do we believe that our prayershave power to affect the
movement of armies in this world?
(11:06):
That's what the Bible is sayingright here.
Why are we prayerless?
Why do we struggle to pray whenwe have been invited to pray
and God will work in accordancewith the prayers we pray.
God, give us eyes to see withthe prayers we pray.
(11:27):
God, give us eyes to see.
Help us to see that right now,at this moment, a spiritual,
invisible world exists around usthat is just as real as the
physical, visible world we see,yet it's far more powerful.
The Bible teaches that thereare vast numbers of angels and
rulers and authorities andcosmic powers and spiritual
(11:50):
forces, both good and evil, thatexist all around us at every
moment.
Right now, there are gloriousbeings that would take our
breath away if we could see them.
Just ask Daniel in the Bible.
He saw one of them and he fellon his hands and his knees,
shaking, barely able to breathe.
(12:12):
And he saw one of the good guys.
Right now there are evil beingsall around us that would
immediately send the toughest ofus terrified and trembling to
the floor if we could just seethem, and to most of our minds
(12:32):
that sounds crazy.
We live with a worldview thatexplains everything by what we
can see, touch, taste, smell,hear.
To say that you believe in theexistence of angels and demons
and rulers and authorities andpowers and spiritual forces is
like saying you believe indragons and elves.
But God tells us from beginningto end in the Bible, and he's
(13:00):
shouting to us in the text, thistext you live in a spiritual
world.
Open your eyes, which leads totruth.
Number two we are involved in aspiritual war.
Look at the language here.
Paul says we are wrestlingagainst he says this language
five times Against rulers,against authorities, against
(13:26):
cosmic powers, against spiritualforces of evil.
What we're reading here is nota command, it's a statement of
fact.
We are in a wrestling match.
The word describes a fight withrulers and authorities and
cosmic powers over darkness atwork in this world Like.
(13:47):
This is the water we'reswimming in every day.
Right where you are sittingright now, you are in a
wrestling match with spiritualforces of evil in the heavenly
places.
All of this is happening allthe time, whether you realize it
or not.
You may not have realized it,but you woke up this morning in
(14:11):
a wrestling match.
That's what the Bible is sayingright now that you will go to
sleep tonight in a wrestlingmatch.
You'll spend all day today in awrestling match.
This is happening in your home.
It's happening in your work.
It's happening in this church.
(14:33):
Everywhere you go, when you arealone, when you are with others
every second you're scrollingthrough your phone there is a
spiritual battle raging for yourheart and mind.
And it's not just algorithmsthat people in this world have
created.
It's algorithms that spiritualforces of evil in the heavenly
realms are working at everymoment.
(14:54):
And it's not just in your life.
The spiritual war involveseveryone.
There's a war raging not justfor your soul, but for the souls
of every single person in yourhome and in your family, in this
church, in this city and in theentire world.
(15:15):
All of the world and all ofhistory is a story of spiritual
war, going back to Genesis,chapter three.
Now I obviously wanna becautious in using this imagery
of war, because of how God'sword has been misused and abused
, from crusades in the past tocultural wars in the present.
(15:37):
And obviously this doesn't meanthat there aren't physical
implications of this spiritualwar, as flesh and blood are
where this spiritual war playsout, but that's just it.
Underneath everything that'shappening in this flesh and
blood physical world let thissoak in there is a spiritual
adversary who is activelyworking right now to destroy
(16:01):
your life.
He wants to wreck your familyand your future.
He wants to hold you captive toyour past.
He wants to tarnish your purity, to attack your integrity.
(16:23):
He's working on a global scaleto distract and deceive and
divide, to harm and to hurtthrough hatred and war and
injustice and oppression, andhe's working at all costs to
keep the good news of liberationthrough Jesus from spreading in
the city and to all the nations.
We are all involved daily in aspiritual war that we need to
(16:48):
see underneath every newsheadline and underneath every
detail that's going on in ourlives and not be surprised by
spiritual battle around us.
I was talking with somebody thisweek who asked me why is it so
hard to do such simple thingslike read the Bible and pray?
You think this would be easy.
I said no, that's never goingto be easy, because there is an
(17:12):
adversary who really does notwant you to do that and he knows
if he can keep you from doingthat he can affect everything
else in your life.
So he's he knows if he can keepyou from doing that he can
affect everything else in yourlife.
So he's doing everything he canto keep you from doing that.
We live every moment in aspiritual war with an adversary
who wants to destroy us andeverybody around us, which leads
(17:32):
to truth number three.
Our adversary in this war isindescribably strong.
So who's our spiritual war?
Against the devil?
Diabolos in the Greek, fromwhich we get diabolical here.
His name means the slanderer.
(17:53):
Elsewhere he's called theaccuser, the liar and the
destroyer.
God, in his word, does notdescribe the devil.
Elsewhere he's called theaccuser, the liar and the
destroyer.
God, in his word, does notdescribe the devil as a wimp
wanting to harm you, but as alion looking to devour you and
others.
So let's just believe God onthis one.
(18:14):
Let's realize that if ouradversary was a man and if he
possessed nothing but humanstrength, ingenuity or craft,
then we would be okay fightingwith human means.
But he is not human and in ourflesh we are no match for him.
(18:45):
The reality is, if you or Iwere to face the devil on our
own, we would be overpowered andoutsmarted in a split second.
Just look at the description ofhis minions here.
They are rulers, potentateswith authority to attack cosmic,
worldwide powers over darkness,spiritual, supernatural forces.
Are we hearing this?
Are we hearing Jesus?
(19:06):
He tells us the devil is theruler of this world in John 12,
31.
God tells us he is the little gGod of this world in 2
Corinthians 4.4.
1 John 5.19,.
God tells us the whole worldlies in the power of the evil
(19:27):
one.
The Bible doesn't say thatabout you or me.
God says this about the onewho's coming after you and me.
See his stranglehold on thisworld in sin.
Think about wicked evil schemeslike I saw in Southeast Asia
recently, where women andchildren are being trafficked
(19:49):
for incomprehensible sexualexploitation to meet the demand
for pornography in millions ofpeople in countries like ours,
including multitudes ofprofessing Christians, who are
gorging their flesh at theirexpense as Satan has a hold on
their minds.
And that's on top of millionsof other evils.
(20:10):
Our adversary in in this war isinfinitely stronger.
So now to the commands in verse10.
(20:32):
So we got the ground.
So what is God saying to us?
Finally, be strong in the Lordand in the strength of his might
.
You cannot fight this war alone, and you don't have to.
You can only fight it in thestrength and the might of the
(20:54):
Lord.
So the language here is soamazing on a couple different
levels, so one.
The verb here is so amazing ona couple different levels, so
one.
The verb here is actuallypassive Means.
It's literally be strengthenedby someone else.
So this is not strength youmuster up from inside you,
because you don't have it.
We've established that You'reweak, I'm weak, we don't have
(21:18):
this strength, which means weneed to be strengthened by
someone else, and the Lord isready to strengthen us.
And now here's the second place.
This language is amazing.
So Paul uses.
If you'll just follow me for aminute, I'm going to nerd out
with a little Greek and Ipromise you it's gonna be worth
(21:38):
it.
It's not just for fun, it'sjust following.
There are three words in theoriginal language of the New
Testament here that Paul useswhen he talks about strong,
strength and might.
That's three different words.
First time he uses it isdunamis, so it's a word.
I mean it means pow.
It's what we get dynamite from.
It's where we get dynamite from.
So strong in the Lord and inthe strength.
(21:59):
So this is kratos.
Hang with me Of his might.
This one is ischus, so he usesthree words to describe the
strength that we're supposed tohave from the Lord.
Now, those same three words heused Paul was writing this
letter to the church at Ephesus.
(22:19):
He used those same three wordshe used.
Paul who's writing this letterto the church at Ephesus.
He used those same three wordsone other time in this book.
The Holy Spirit inspired him touse it back in chapter one.
So I wanna show this to you.
Turn back with me to Ephesians,chapter one.
You gotta see this.
We'll start in verse 17.
Paul's praying a prayer overthese followers of Jesus in
Ephesus, and he prays that theGod of our Lord, jesus Christ,
(22:40):
the Father of glory, may giveyou the spirit of wisdom and of
revelation and the knowledge ofhim.
Having the eyes of your heartsenlightened, you may see, you
may know what is the hope towhich he's called you.
What are the riches of hisglorious inheritance in the
saints?
Now watch this verse 19.
And what is the immeasurablegreatness of his power?
(23:02):
That's dunamis toward us whobelieve according to the working
of his great.
That's kratos.
Might, that's iskos Same threewords he used back here in verse
19 when he was talking aboutfollow this, the supernatural
(23:24):
power, strength, great mightthat he worked in Christ when he
raised him from the dead andseated him at his right hand in
the heavenly places.
Watch this far.
Above all, what Rule andauthority and power and dominion
(23:45):
, and above every name that'snamed Cut off with a name.
He's above it, not only in thisage now, but in the one to come
forever.
He put all things under hisfeet, gave him his head over all
things to the church, which ishis body, the fullness of him
who fills all in all.
Are you seeing this?
Yes, our adversary in thisspiritual war may be
(24:08):
indescribably strong, but ourally in this war is infinitely
stronger than him.
Then, all of them, they're allunder his feet.
That's where they are, allthese rules, powers, authorities
, cosmic powers, spiritualforces under his feet.
This is not some dualistic StarWars battle between two equal
(24:31):
but opposing forces, good andevil.
This is not dualism, this isdomination, and don't miss it.
The dominator is on your side,and not just on your side, he's
inside you, he fills you.
So let this soak in whereyou're sitting right now and
(24:54):
wherever you find yourself inthis spiritual war at this
moment, in your battles withtemptation and sin, with doubt
and discouragement, in everyattempt of the adversary to
bring you down, christian, youare not alone.
You are never alone.
The Christ who was raised fromthe dead we saw this a couple
months ago in Colossians,chapter 2, who disarmed the
(25:17):
rulers and authorities, put themto open shame by triumphing
over them.
You have his fullness dwellinginside of you.
So be strong in the Lord and inthe strength of his might.
The might of the one who hasconquered sin and Satan and the
grave dwells inside of you rightnow.
(25:41):
So how do you do this?
How do you do this?
So I practically okay.
What do I do?
How do I get strengthened inthe Lord?
How do I fight in the strengthof his might?
Well, look at the next commandput on the whole armor of God.
So what we're going to do overthe next seven weeks, lord
willing, is, unpack every pieceof this armor.
(26:02):
But here, at the start, you'vegot to see this.
Do not miss the significance ofthis phrase.
It's the armor of who?
Now that's like, okay, that'sobvious.
But think about that for aminute.
But think about that for aminute.
This is God's armor and it'snot the first time the Holy
(26:23):
Spirit inspired language likethis.
Hundreds of years before Paulwrote this, the Holy Spirit
inspired Isaiah to write aboutthis armor belonging to God
himself.
Look at this.
Isaiah, chapter 59, verse 17.
He put on righteousness as abreastplate and a helmet of
(26:46):
salvation on his head.
You know who that's talkingabout.
That's God.
God has righteousness as abreastplate, a helmet of
salvation on his head.
That's amazing, god putting onthis armor.
Isaiah 11, five righteousnessshall be the belt of his waist,
(27:06):
faithfulness the belt of hisloins.
That's talking about theMessiah, jesus, the Christ to
come.
Isaiah 49 says the same thingabout the Messiah.
He made my mouth like a sharpsword.
His word, the shadow of hishand.
He hid me.
Isaiah, chapter 52, verse seven, talking about the Messiah.
He made my mouth like a sharpsword.
His word, the shadow of hishand, he hid me.
Isaiah, chapter 52, verse 7,talking about the return of the
Lord, says how beautiful on themountains are the feet of him
who brings good news.
(27:26):
These feet who publish peace,who bring good news of happiness
and publish salvation, who sayto Zion your God reigns, don't
miss the point.
When we're commanded to put onthe armor of God, what we're
being commanded to do is put onthe very life of Jesus himself.
This is what Paul wrote just acouple of times before this, in
(27:49):
Ephesians, chapter four, wherehe said put off your old self,
the flesh, put on the new self,his spirit, dwelling in you.
This is how you fight spiritualbattle in the Lord, in your
ally.
By what?
By taking his truth and fillingyour mind with his truth,
combating the lies anddeceptions of the devil.
(28:10):
His righteousness, guarding youagainst all the devil's
accusations against you, hisgospel of peace filling your
feet, guiding your steps as youlive by faith in him,
extinguishing all the flamingdarts of the evil, one that he
hurls your way With his helmetof salvation on your head as his
(28:31):
child, his word as the sword ofhis spirit in you.
It's his armor, he is yourarmor.
I wanna tell you a quick storyfrom a few years ago, when we
were walking through somechallenges in our church family,
spiritual attacks against ourchurch family and leaders.
Without going into all thedetails, there was one point
(28:55):
that was just particularlytraumatizing, involving somebody
coming at me physically withpolice coming after them.
Thankfully, I was able to getout of that situation, but the
next morning Heather and I werein a small gathering of brothers
and sisters in Christ outsideour church, many of whom I
didn't personally know, and atone point somebody I did know
(29:17):
knew that we were walkingthrough some hard days and asked
the group to just pray overHeather and me.
We got on our knees and theywere concluding this time
praying for us, and a sister inChrist that I did not know, I'd
never met, said I don't know youguys, I don't know anything
about what you're walkingthrough.
I'm not.
I don't even know why we'repraying specifically for you
Nothing.
She had no context and shedefinitely didn't know what had
(29:40):
happened the night before.
But she said when you walkedinto the room today, the word
that immediately came to my mindwas direct attack and I had a
picture in my mind of somethingcoming at you physically.
And these were her words.
She said Jesus himself, dressedin complete armor, stood in the
(30:00):
way to protect you, but it wastraumatizing and I just feel led
to read to you from Isaiah 59.
She started reading from theexact verses we just looked at
how God, with righteousness as abreastplate and salvation on
his head, is a defender for hispeople.
Now there's a lot more I couldsay here and wanna dive into
(30:21):
there, especially when all kindsof people come up with all
kinds of words that may or maynot be from God.
But that's the point.
This word was directly pointingto God's word and this truth
that I want to encourage everyfollower of Jesus with right now
.
So I do not know what attacksSatan is coming at you right now
with in your life, but I doknow this, for all who are in
(30:46):
Christ God is saying to you inhis word right now.
Hear him speaking saying I amyour armor and you can trust in
me.
I will be, no matter what youface.
I will be your defender, yourprotector, your provider, your
deliverer, your vindicator andyour savior.
(31:09):
You can trust in me and thearmor I provide to you.
Your adversary is indescribablystrong in this war, but your
ally is infinitely stronger thaneverything in this world.
So truth number five.
Our aims in the spiritual war,then, are clear, and they're
twofold, excuse me.
(31:30):
First and foremost, stand firmin Jesus.
Stand firm Four times.
Be strong in the strength ofhis might.
Put on the whole armor of Godso that this is the purpose
clause so that you may be ableto stand against the schemes of
the devil.
All these strategies, therefore.
(31:50):
Take up the whole armor of Godso that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day and,having done it all, to stand,
stand.
Therefore, we get the pointPaul Stand, stand, stand, stand.
That's what God, in his word,is telling us to do.
Stand firm in Jesus, hold fastto Jesus.
(32:11):
What we saw in Hebrews, chapter10, verse 23, a couple weeks ago
.
From the moment you wake up inthe morning to the moment you
lay your head on your pillow atnight, keep your eyes fixed on
him, trust in him, walk with him, meditate on his word, fill
your mind with his word day andnight, pray at all times in his
spirit, walk in his spirit,alert at every moment in battle,
(32:32):
and don't say, yeah, put on thearmor every morning, no, why
take it off when you go to bed,sleep in it, wake up, wearing it
all the time close to Jesus,focused on Jesus, meditating on
(32:52):
his word, walking in step withhis spirit.
The key to spiritual victoryover Satan is spiritual intimacy
with your Savior.
Let me say that one more timethe key to spiritual victory
over Satan is spiritual intimacywith your Savior.
That's, stand firm in Jesus andsecond, press forward with
(33:15):
Jesus.
Clearly, paul's goal in thispassage is not to encourage
believers just to stand still.
We're pressing forward in abattle for souls with feet that
are spreading the gospel ofpeace, with prayer that God will
help us.
What does Paul say?
To boldly proclaim the mysteryof the gospel?
We have the greatest news in theworld In a world at war, we
(33:38):
announce peace with God to allpeople and all peoples
everywhere.
So let's live for this MBCfamily.
Let's engage in spiritualbattle that is raging for our
friends and our family membersand our neighbors and our
coworkers and our classmates andbillions of people around the
(33:58):
world whom cosmic powers havekept in the dark from ever even
hearing the gospel.
Let's battle in prayer andlet's battle with our feet
fitted with the gospel of peace,knowing we're followers of the
one who has all authority inheaven and on earth.
So let's go and make disciplesof all the nations, knowing he
is with us always, every step ofthe way, knowing the more we
(34:23):
press forward, the harder itwill get and the more attacks we
will face.
Amen, don't you want your faceon a wanted poster in hell?
He she makes trouble for thecosmic powers of darkness,
(34:48):
proclaiming light and liberation, freeing souls from captivity
through the proclamation of thegrace of Jesus Christ.
Press forward with the gospel,knowing the more you do that,
the harder it will get, the moreforces you will face.
Remember Paul is riding this inchains.
(35:11):
He's in prison because he'sproclaiming the gospel.
Mark it down.
The more you press forward withJesus in this world don't
believe the lie, it's not theeasier it will get.
No, the harder it will get inthis world that is opposed to
Jesus, when the God of thisworld does not want people
(35:33):
standing firm in Jesus andpressing forward with the gospel
.
You can know when you're doingthose things you're facing the
force of hell.
But that leads to truth.
Number six the outcome of thisspiritual war is inevitable.
(35:54):
I have really good news Thanosis not inevitable.
This is inevitable.
Check out the very last verse ofEphesians, chapter 6, verse 24.
Grace be with all who love ourLord Jesus Christ, with love
incorruptible.
Is that a good way to end?
No, all passes.
(36:15):
This whole Bible book ends witha picture of a people who love
Jesus more than life itself anda love relationship with him
that is incorruptible, immortal,everlasting, never failing,
which then leads us toRevelation, chapter 12, verse
(36:36):
nine through 11.
Listen to this.
This is how the whole story isgoing to end.
That great dragon was throwndown.
Who's that, that ancientserpent?
Who's that?
Who is called the devil andSatan, the deceiver of the whole
world?
He was thrown down to the earth, his angels thrown down with
him, and I heard a loud voice inheaven saying now the salvation
(36:59):
and the power and the kingdomof our God and the authority of
his Christ have come, for theaccuser of our brothers has been
thrown down.
Who accuses them day and nightbefore our God?
And they have conquered him bythe blood of the lamb and by the
word of their testimony, forthey love, not their lives, even
(37:19):
unto death.
Ladies and gentlemen, this warhas already been won.
Jesus, our King, has conqueredsin and Satan.
He has risen from the dead.
He is reigning on high rightnow and one day he is coming
(37:42):
back and Jesus is going to curlthe adversary and all his
minions and deceptions andaccusations into an abyss, and
we are going to live in perfect,pure, eternal, incorruptible
love, relationship with Godhimself forever.
So, brothers and sisters, standfirm and press forward amidst
(38:06):
all the spiritual attacks ofSatan against you and around the
world, because you know howthis story is going to end.
So here's the deal.
As we close today, I want toinvite you, like part of me
wants to spend the next sixhours just praying, but I want
to invite you if you are afollower of Jesus, especially
(38:30):
here, at the beginning of thisseries, I want to invite you to
spend a couple of moments justasking Jesus for specific help
to stand firm and press forwardamidst specific spiritual
battles in and around you rightnow.
So identify a couple of thoseways you see Satan attacking and
(38:52):
ask for his help, and identifya couple of steps you can take
this week to engageintentionally in spiritual
battle.
They saw the spiritual world in2 Kings 6, and they prayed.
So how do you see Satanattacking?
And then, what's your spiritualbattle plan?
Starting when it comes to yourtime alone with God and prayer
(39:15):
and his word, and then how thatoverflows into your life in this
world.
What's your battle planspiritually?
And then, while followers ofJesus go ahead and start doing
that now, I want to urge you, ifyou are not a follower of Jesus
today, to trust in Jesus Today.
(39:35):
To trust in Jesus to save youfrom the penalty and the power
of sin and to lead you foreternal life.
It's the greatest news in theworld God has made a way for you
to be not only forgiven of allyour sin against him, but free
(39:55):
from its power and penaltyforever, to be in relationship
with him, the author, the giverof life, forever If you've never
put your trust in Jesus.
What is keeping you fromtrusting in the only one who can
save you from sin, who can giveyou eternal life?
(40:18):
That transcends death itself.
So I wanna invite you, justtake a few moments between you
and God.
If you're a follower of Jesusin this first couple ways, and
if you're not a follower ofJesus, I invite you Put your
trust in him just in your heartright now.
Say to God yes, save me from mysin.
(40:38):
I believe I trust in what youdid on the cross, your
resurrection, to make itpossible for me to have eternal
life.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
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