ΠΡΟΣ ΕΦΕΣΙΟΥΣ Ephesians 6:10-20 The power of prayer.

ΠΡΟΣ ΕΦΕΣΙΟΥΣ

Ephesians 6:10-20

The power of prayer

Ephesians 6:10-20

• "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 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 the heavenly places. 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.

Ephesians 6:10-20

• 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; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."

Prayer

• Paul himself models prayer for his readers (1:15–23; 3:14–21). – 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love

for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, NKJV

– 3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named. 16 I pray that according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, NET Bible

• 13% of the verses in Romans relate to prayer• 20% of the verses in Ephesians relate to prayer• I see the aim of putting on armor is for spiritual battle in prayer. All the

boys I know love a good fight; we have a daily opportunity to do battle against the spiritual hosts of wickedness with the Lord of hosts on our side.

Walk the Talk

• ְך ַל� Hebrew verb to walk [/halak /haw·lak] ָה�– How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel

of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! Ps 1:1 NASB95

– When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; And if you run, you will not stumble. Pr 4:12 NASB95

• Believers display this in a walk of unity (4:1–16), holiness (4:17–32), love (5:1–7), light (5:8–14), and carefulness to be filled with the Spirit (5:15—6:9). James E. Rosscup . Master's Seminary Journal Vol. 6:59.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. V.10 NKJV

• In the preceding verses the focus was how to live, now the focus is in whom to rely.

• ‘Be strong’ is in the passive sense, that is God makes us strong not we yourselves.

• We are made strong by his supernatural power.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. NKJV 6:11

• The armor is that of a foot soldier, much like one that would be standing next to Paul in his imprisonment while this letter was written (cf. Acts 28:16, 20).The greaves and javelins are not mentioned though part of traditional soldier garb.

• The word behind ‘stand’ means stable and unchanging.• This is a defensive stance, making ready for the attack of

the adversary. As a good soldier we wait for the commands from our conquering King.

• The devil διάβολος [diabolos /dee·ab·ol·os/] is Satan (cf. Rev. 12:9; 20:2).

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 the heavenly places. 6:12 NKJV

• Wrestling (πάλη [pale /pal·ay/] ) is a close individual confrontation, a more common word for military battle could have been used, but the emphasis is on a personal battle.

• The struggle is not merely our mind over our passions (Jam 1:14-15), but a real spiritual battle.

• The spiritual powers have a hierarchy, are multiple, and are wicked.

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. 6:13 NKJV

• This is the active voice and in an imperative which indicates urgency, and the Christian warrior is responsible for so doing.

• The ‘evil day’ refers to the daily conflict in the believer’s life, and the more intense struggles that will come. (Hoehner, 834)

• Having done everything, the Christian is prepared to stand; he is not to overcome or subdue, but to stand firm.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, Eph 6:14

• Paul has exhorted believers that if they are to stand they must put on the armor of God; now he again commands them they must put on that armor.

• The loincloth attached to a belt would be the first element the soldier would put on, and for the Christian our foundational truth is Christ. We can be faithful and true as is Christ.

Breastplate of Righteousness

• Probably a metal protection over the heart; some did use chain mail, but this is less likely.

• “He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing. . .” Is 59:17 NASB

• This is purely defensive, but compare this with 2 Cor. 6:7

• “in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left”

6:15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 6:15 NKJV

• As most of the commands for putting on the armor, this is in the middle voice which means the individual is responsible for preparing for the gospel. (Our next study will focus on evangelism).

• The spikes were to give sure footing, and were good for holding one’s ground while facing forward, but were not good for retreat or running.

• We are to be prepared to stand and present the gospel by word and deed in the day of trial, this is not an offensive weapon but defensive.

Caliga, replica costume

An example of defensive gospel

• Tacitus records that during the first major Christian persecution, by Nero in 64 A.D., Christians were covered in animal skins and torn to death by dogs or attached to crosses and set on fire.11 Accounts of martyrdom indicate that Christians defied authority, showed no terror and even pulled lions toward themselves. St. Ignatius, killed in the Colosseum early in the second century, wrote: “Let there come on me fire and cross and struggles with wild beasts, cutting and tearing asunder, rackings of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of my whole body … May I but attain to Jesus Christ!”12 Christian defiance and fervent faith in resurrection apparently enraged spectators and led to especially harsh abuse. Rome’s failure to humiliate powerless martyrs was very humiliating! Tacitus, Annals 15.44.3–8. Ignatius, Epistle to the Romans 5.3, Archaeology Odyssey 03:01.

above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 6:16

• 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul tells his son in the faith to fight the good fight. Here Paul exhorts the Ephesians to actively take up the shield of faith. This is not salvation faith, but one that delivers as we are trustworthy with what God has entrusted us.

• The shield was made of wood and would cover the whole soldier. The shields were covered with animal skins, and were soaked in water to extinguish the fiery darts.

The large shield

An early second Century Legionary, wearing the famous lorica segmentata armour, a gallic type helmet, a typical cingulum belt with attached pugio dagger, and a gladius type pompeianus on a thin balteus sword belt over his shoulder. The rectangular shield (scutum) is of the type shown on Traian's column and based on the examples found in Dura Europos on the Euphrates river

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; Eph 6:17

• The helmet, which would be hot and uncomfortable, would be put on last in battle.

• The middle voice again stresses the believer’s responsibility.

• Salvation being deliverance from the present distress, as Isaiah 59:17.

• Word (ρήμα) -- the sword of the Spirit is the only offensive weapon, and Christ resisted Satan through citing the Word of God (Matt 4:1–11), and Isaiah 11:4 speaks of Christ smiting the earth with the word (logos).

• We are to speak God’s Word in our defense and against our attackers

OT Reference• Paul having the concept of God in the OT makes an analogy to the

Roman soldier and then relates these concepts to prayer.• God revealed himself in the Old Testament as a warrior: “The LORD is a

warrior; the LORD is his name” (Ex 15:3). But the passages in Isaiah have a more specific focus.

• Isaiah 11 is Messianic and focuses on God’s concern for righteousness. “But with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. (Is 11:4–5).”

• In Isaiah 59 the background is a lack of justice. God is able to hear and save his people, but they have alienated themselves from him by their sins. Therefore God moves into the situation wearing “righteousness as his breastplate” and “salvation” as his “helmet” to deal with his enemies. (Is 59:17)

• As for the verse about the beautiful feet of “those who bring good news” (Is 52:7), this occurs in the section that immediately precedes the famous passage of Isaiah 52:13–53:12, which describes the Messiah as a suffering servant.

6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— v. 6:18 NKJV

• The whole context of this passage, the taking up of the armor, should be in a state of prayer.

• Certainly as we go into battle we need to pray, and in a crisis situation we usually do pray.

• However, it is necessary to make preparation before the day of battle, and that should include prayer. The putting on of the spiritual virtues so listed is only accomplished by obedience and prayer.

• We should pray for all the saints in persevering and supplication.

Colossians 4:3-4

• At the same time pray for us too, that God may open a door for the message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may make it known as I should. NET Bible.

• In Colossians the prayers were not just for Paul but also for those who were with him as well.

6:19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, Eph 6:19 NKJV

• Paul asked for prayer, a good sign that when he wrote this he was still alive, and not by someone else after he was dead.

• Is Paul concerned about evangelism?• Or is his request to be equipped to do battle against

the spiritual forces of wickedness, and then to speak as he ought to speak in public – perhaps at his hearing before Caesar or the accusers from Jerusalem?

• Certainly the mystery here is that both Jew and Gentile are one in Christ.

6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Eph 6:20

• Paul was imprisoned in Rome, but as he mentioned in Timothy (2 Tim 2:9) the Word of God was not imprisoned.

• Paul looked at his imprisonment as an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel and to bear a good testimony while suffering sorrow (cf. Phil 1:12-13).

Summary

• We must stand in the power that God supplies.

• We must secure what God has given us.

• We must supplicate for the sake of the gospel and all the saints.

Application

• Read the Word – the Sword of the Spirit

• Trust in God

• Prayer in preparation, presentation and penetration of the gospel

• We must be good soldiers exercising truth, faithfulness and prayer before our gospel message will be effective.

• We put on our armor not for our glory but for the one who enlisted us.