In this week’s episode, we revisit the essential principles of faith, exploring the profound truths revealed in Ephesians chapter 6. Aaron guides us through understanding the true nature of spiritual conflict and the symbolic representation of the Armor of God. Emphasizing the necessity of aligning with the truth as revealed by God, the conversation challenges listeners to reflect on their spiritual lives and to stand firm in their faith.
Join Aaron now as he reveals the reality foreshadowed and the new life we can now experience because of what the Lord Jesus accomplished for us.
SPEAKER 01 :
I’m presenting a verse-by-verse study through Ephesians, and in the previous message, I was in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 7 through 9. This is towards the end of the letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesians. In this program, I’m going to proceed into verse 10, where he says, “…finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” He gets into the subject of the armor of God. But before I proceed into verse 11, I need to spend some time in verse 10 where he speaks about the power of his might. that there is the power that God has. He has a form of power that he exercises here in this world on a regular basis, something that we can definitely connect with and understand and appreciate, and that is found through the truth. The power of God has to do with his use of the truth. And I spoke about this a lot in Ephesians chapter 3. In Ephesians chapter 3, beginning in verse 6, Paul is speaking about the gospel, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel. of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of his power. His power as it relates to the gospel and the grace of God has to do with what he did and the revelation of the truth is concerning what he did. His power is experienced through his use of the truth in the world that he is participating in. And I made a comparison in chapter 3 of the power of God versus the power of the devil in in that the power of the devil had to do with the power of the lie, the power of dishonesty. And so going back into Ephesians chapter 6, when he proceeds into verse 11 and speaks about the wiles of the devil, That’s what he’s saying. He is continuing from chapter three, the importance of understanding the truth that God has given and to be strong in the truth that he has revealed. Again, looking back at Ephesians chapter three, verse 16, he says that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his spirit and in the inner man, which was a conclusion to the tribulations that Paul spoke of in verse 12. But that the strength has to do with our spirit. It has to do with our inner person. And this is real as we believe and trust in the truth that God has revealed to us. And it had better be the truth, because if what you think is the truth is not really the truth, then you’re that you don’t have the strength that you certainly would expect to have. And this could be a wonderful opportunity. If you find yourself in a circumstance where you just can tell that you are not strong in the Lord for whatever reason, and this is usually going to show itself in the tribulations of life, and you discover that you simply do not have the kind of strength that In the Lord, as you would expect or you would think that you would have, that you do not rest in the power of his might. You may have no idea what the power of his might even is. And this will be a wonderful opportunity for you to revisit that. The fundamentals of the faith effectively start right from the beginning with what is the gospel? What is the good news? How is it the solution to the bad news? And what does that mean for you personally? How will that change your relationship between you and your God? And so the strength that we are able to have is very much dependent on the truth that we believe. Now, when it comes to a conflict that is taking place between God and the devil and us, when it comes to this conflict. that Paul describes in verse 11 and beyond, when he does this, he is speaking about a conflict that exists and that has always existed, and that we are in this conflict, whether we like it or not. It is just simply a part of being in this world, in this existence. You are going to be a target of the devil, and he is going to invade your life for the purpose, of course, of separating you from your God. And what is the weapon of the devil? It is, of course, the lie, but it is utilized through what is referred to as the law, which is just a general description of any expectation that a person will live by the knowledge of good and evil. that the decisions of life are made, the problems of life are solved through the knowledge of good and evil, which means you just do that which is right. Do not do that which is wrong. And the promise is that you will effectively be like God, whether it is said explicitly or implicitly. People try to soften it up a little bit by saying you can be like Jesus or you can be a good Christian. No matter how it’s described, it still comes down to the same fundamental issue that of the law is the power of the devil. Because when a person fails, when a person fails to live in obedience to the expectations of whatever system of law they are living by, they will be separated from the love and acceptance of God. And when you are separated from the love and acceptance of God, you are weak. You are not strong. You have nothing to be strong in. You have nothing to be strong with. You have nothing but the rejection of God, which will definitely weaken you if you will be honest about the conclusion to the beliefs that tend to be propagated that encourage this kind of stuff, so that a person is effectively separated from their God by the things that they believe. And this is a part of the conflict. And so… This part of the conflict has to do with the destructive nature of the devil trying to get people separated from God. The other part of the conflict has to do with God participating in people’s lives, and we also get to participate in people’s lives to try to get them to see reality. to try and help them to understand and believe the truth that God has revealed so that they can be made into a new person, so that they can be made into a new creation. And so the conflict that exists from God’s point of view is that he is engaging the world to create a disruption, to effectively make people feel uncomfortable, right? but not for the purpose of causing destruction and despair and to weaken people, but for the purpose of creating life. That is what he’s after. He’s after the creation of life. And in this case, it’s the creation of a child of God who would be born again by the indwelling presence of his spirit. So going back to Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10, he says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. We will be strong in the power of his might if what we believe is consistent with what he believes. If what you think is the truth is consistent, it’s the same as what God thinks is the truth because he stands and lives in reality and he remains strong in the reality that he defines, that he declares when it comes to what is real and what is not. And so your only hope for stability is is going to be found in him, is going to be as you are in greater alignment with the way that he sees the world that you’re a part of, with the reality that he has declared, that he has defined. You must know the truth of God because that is the power of God. It is through the utilization of the truth that he exercises his power in this world and And his strength is very well understood through that. You will be able to stand strong in this life if you are believing the truth that he has revealed. So then moving forward into verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. These are the demonic powers. And you can also include the people who are influenced by these demonic powers. You will have conflicts with them as well. But it’s not going to be against flesh and blood. It is against the spirits, the demonic spirits and the spirits of those people who have rejected the living God. There will be conflict there as well. But it’s not the same kind of conflict or war that we are accustomed to in the flesh. In the flesh, the conflict is over the destruction of things that are in the world and the death of people. In this case, we have a conflict. We have a war that is taking place. such that God can create new life so that he is not destroying something, but that he is creating something new. And this is happening in the spirits, in the spirits of people who live in this world generation after generation. Every generation has a whole new group of people to participate in this conflict. And when you become a believer, when you become a child of God, when you become a representative of the living God, you are going to be in this conflict unless you decide to simply not participate in it at all, which is a way that the devil can have some sense of victory and in this conflict that’s happening because you give in, because you decide that you’re not going to participate in the work of God. And there are, of course, a lot of people who decide to live that way, and there’s nothing that we can really do about that except to hope that maybe one day they will awaken and realize that there is more to life than just the indulgence of their flesh, which tends to be the way that people live when they make those kinds of decisions. But continuing in verse 11, put on the whole armor of God. Now, he doesn’t give us some specific suit of armor. He’s not giving us all of these things in an actual, real way as we would experience in this world in the flesh. In this world in the flesh, we can obtain armor, we can obtain swords and all kinds of weapons that are available to us today. He’s not talking about some specific kind of armor. This is a symbolic representation of something else. And this is important to keep in mind because I’ve encountered a lot of people who decide to visualize in some way the idea of them putting on the armor of God as if it is some kind of meditation or or it’s a ceremony of some kind that they engage in in prayer. And, you know, if the Lord inspires you to do that, then, of course, I don’t want to cause a disruption to whatever he may be inspiring you to do. But I personally just don’t think that that has anything to do with what he’s talking about here. I would suggest you go somewhere else in order to find some alternative passages to support your view that putting on the whole armor of God has to do with some kind of visualization technique. What this is, is it is a symbolic representation of something else. It is the something else that we need to pay attention to, that we need to know, understand, and utilize. Not the symbol itself, but what the symbol represents. So when it comes to putting on the armor of God, we have to distinguish between between the symbol, the symbolic representation, and the reality. Continuing, for example, in verse 13, Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” which is a continuation from verse 11 when he said that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Now, what happens if you don’t stand? I mean, what is that going to look like? Well, it means that you are no longer engaged in the conflict. How could you disengage from the conflict? You can disengage from By believing that your life is a life of living by the law. That is how you are disengaged from the conflict. Because when you decide that you’re going to live by the law or a system of good and evil, you’re going to live by repentance and obedience, you’re going to really get your flesh under control. When you decide to engage that way of life, no matter how sincere you may be, no matter how strongly you may decide to pursue holiness, if that is the direction that you decide to go in, then you are no longer a part of the conflict because you are lost in yourself. You are lost in yourself. You’re standing in yourself trying to get yourself out. together, trying to get your holiness, trying to get your righteousness, trying to be right with God or sustain your right standing with God by what you do and by what you don’t do, you become separated from the love of God. You become separated from the acceptance of God, from the righteousness of God, because you are occupied. You’re busy. With your own, with your own righteousness, your own holiness, your own flesh, in this way, you are no longer a participant in this conflict. And so when the devil and these powers and principalities, when these rulers and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, when these spiritual beings get someone to live this way, In a religious context, you know, they get them bound into this system of bondage of trying to live a life that they can’t, trying to be a person that they can’t, hoping that they can get as close as possible. Even so, they still get lost in the pursuit of the restraint of the flesh. They are no longer a part of the conflict because they’re too busy with themselves. So if you’re going to be able to withstand that, What you’re going to be hit with, it’s only going to be real when you are standing in the truth that God has revealed. And Paul gives some additional details for us to work with, starting in verse 14. Stand, therefore, having girded your waist with truth. having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Now, you certainly don’t have a belt of truth. You don’t have an actual belt, at least not one that’s been made by God. It’s not about the belt or what is girding your waist. It’s about the truth. It’s not about a breastplate, you know, some kind of armor that you can put to protect your chest in some way. That’s not what he’s talking about. He’s referring to righteousness, that the breastplate is nothing more than a symbol of righteousness. And it is righteousness that we need to understand, that we need to live in. that we need to embrace and that we need to understand from God’s point of view. So again, in verse 14, you have the truth. You have righteousness. Now, what is the truth concerning righteousness? What is righteousness? Righteousness is a complex word that means something very simple. It just means that you are right with God. Now, how do you become righteous? right with God. Are you going to become right with God because of what you do or because of what you don’t do? Is that how it’s going to work? If that’s the case, then you are never going to do enough. And there will always be something that you shouldn’t do that you will do. And so if that is the standard for righteousness, if that’s the definition of of getting right with God, you know, getting your flesh under control, well, then no one will ever have righteousness. No one will ever have this part of the armor, and they certainly will have no truth. The only way that a person can be right with God is if he makes us right with him. There is no other way. And he did that when he died for the sins of the world and offered his spirit to resurrect people from the dead. When he invoked the new covenant according to the gospel. You see, when you are forgiven and you are made spiritually alive, you are now a new person who is right with God because he no longer holds your sins against you and you have been made into a new creation, a child of God. You are now right with him because you have surrendered to the gospel. That’s what makes you righteous. Your righteousness depends on what he does for you, not on what you do for him. If it did depend on what you do for him, then of course you would never do enough and you would never be righteous. So the truth that relates to this righteousness is must exist. You must have the truth that relates to this righteousness. Unfortunately, it has been a huge obstacle in the church ever since the beginning, the obstacle of being right with God, because there has been a continual struggle of people continually trying to live by a system of law, continually trying to get their flesh under control, thinking that it is only through them getting their flesh under control that they will be right with God. And that’s a common phrase that people use, to get right with God. What does that effectively mean? It means get your flesh under control. That’s what it means. And if you don’t, then you will not be right with God. So it’s important to keep in mind that our righteousness with God is strictly determined by what he has done for us. righteousness has to do with believing and trusting in what He has done for us. And what did He do? He provided us with complete forgiveness, such that He no longer holds our sins against us. We need to accept that. We need to believe that and understand that He did that so that He could restore to us the Spirit of life, the Holy Spirit, His Spirit, Restore that to us. Give his spirit to dwell within our spirit. which will make us spiritually alive so that we are made into a new creation. And when he does this, there will be no sin left unforgiven that would cause the Holy Spirit to depart from us ever again. It is on this basis, according to this truth, that we are right with God. There is no other way. And I will continue with this in the next program.
SPEAKER 02 :
Send your contributions to Living God Ministries, P.O. Box 3831. That is livinggodministries.net.
