Bible Commentaries
Ephesians 6

Now, we come to this last one, the sixth thing. We are to walk in submission, chapter 5:22 to 6:9. And this has to do with relationship one to the other—for example, the relationships of husbands and wives, relationships between parents and children, relationships between masters and ser­vants. Walking in submission is one of the pur­poses that the Spirit of God wants us to recognize. It’s true we may have different positions in the body of Christ, but nevertheless we are in Christ and we are here to walk in submission. Before I take it up, I think it might be well for me to sug­gest something here from verse 22 where it says:

Ephesians 5:22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own hus­bands, as unto the Lord,

Ephesians 5:23. For the husband is the head of the wife... .

Ephesians 5:25. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church.

In Ephesians, the Church is looked upon from a different angle with respect to its relationship to Chr­ist. For example, in chapter 1 the Church is looked upon as the body of Christ. And that speaks of life. In chapter 2, the Church is looked upon as a temple. And that speaks of worship. And then the Church is looked upon as a new man. And that speaks of a new life and a new race of people. And then the Church is looked upon as the bride of Christ. You find that in Corinthians and you find that here in the relationship between the husband and the wife in chapter 5.

Paul speaks of the bride. He’s talking about the relationship and the affections between Christ and His people. Will you keep that in mind now as we come to chapter 5 of Ephesians with respect to husbands and wives, reading from verse 22 through verse 33. He’s talking about the relation­ship between husbands and wives. I believe he’s talking here, of course, of Christians. You have a Christian husband and a Christian wife. If one or the other is not saved, then I wouldn’t come to Ephesians 5:1-33. I would go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. But here we have in verses 22 to the end of the passage in chapter 5 the case of a Christian hus­band and a Christian wife. What is to be their re­lationship, the one to the other?

I would like to ask you to turn to 1 Peter 3:1-9 and Colossians 3:18-19. And I want you to notice that each believer has a particular place in the body of Christ. Re­member this, will you? Each one has a particular place in the family, the husband and the wife. And may I suggest that when the husband takes his place and the wife takes her place, then you’ve got a time of real joy and real blessing.

And it’s a sad thing that I find Christian families where the husband takes a certain attitude and the wife takes an attitude and you’ve got trouble, trouble galore. And the poor kiddies are the ones who suffer. Now there’s no reason why, in Christian families, you can’t have a foretaste of heaven on earth. I know I’m living in a day when there’s an awful lot of looseness. And a lot of, shall I say, false ideas about this question of the relationship between a husband and a wife.

I had a lady in my home yesterday telling me that her whole life is ruined. The whole family is ruined because the husband is cruel. He claims to be a Christian. He’s supposed to be a Christian leader; and he’s not only bossy, but he’s cruel. And there’s no place for this in the Bible. No place for this in the Bible! God wants us to be happy, and He’s made provision for us to be hap­py. But both husband and wife have a responsibil­ity.

I want you to read this over and over together with 1 Peter chapter 3, the first nine verses. The hus­band has a particular place in the family, and nobody can take his place. And the wife has a particular place, and nobody can take her place. And then Peter goes on to speak of the relationship between parents, especially the father and the children. The father has the place of responsibility. This is what headship means. He’s not the boss. He’s not the pope. He’s not an autocrat. He’s the one who is responsible to God for his family. God does not hold the mother re­sponsible. God holds the father responsible.

Now I’m talking to Christian parents. And, my friend, if you take your place of responsibility before God concerning your family, I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with any of them. And I’m sure that God will make it a wonderful place of joy, of blessing between the husband and the wife and the children, so that people will know here indeed is a Christian family. And if ever we needed Christian families, it’s today. Wherever we live, in your neighborhood, among your friends, we have a tremendous need for Christian families living in a place of peace and joy and of blessing. And as we take up these verses in Ephe­sians 5 I pray that the Lord will make it very, very precious to us.

I know some of you are not going to like it. I’m going to say some things I’m sure you won’t like. But let’s be real about it. Let’s be honest about it. What says the Scriptures? Never mind what I say. What does the Bible say? I know that Christ said He wants your joy filled full (John 15:11). And how can your joy be filled full when you’re fighting and spat­ting and not taking your place? I tell you, my Chris­tian friend, if ever there was a need for Christian families, for Christian homes, where the Lord is magnified and where love is manifested, it’s today! It’s today!

First of all, each one has a particular place in the family. The husband shouldn’t be the boss, and the wife shouldn’t be the boss. No bosses.

“Well, what do you mean by headship?”

Verses 1-9

We come now to the last chapter of this amazing epistle. We’ve been dealing with the walk of the believer in the unity of the Spirit. We are to walk in the power of a new creation. We are to walk in love even as He loved us. We are to walk in the light because God is light, and then we are to walk in wisdom. And you remem­ber that the wise believer is the one who under­stands the will of the Lord, who walks carefully, who redeems the time, and who is Spirit-filled. And then we walk in submission.

And we were dealing in our last lesson with the relationship between husbands and wives in chapter 5.

Now we continue this question of relationship.

I would like to read from verse one down through verse nine—those first nine verses where we have the relationship manifested between par­ents and children and between masters and ser­vants.

Ephesians 6:1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Ephesians 6:2. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;

Ephesians 6:3. That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

Ephesians 6:4. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:5. Servants, be obedient to them that are your mas­ters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sin­gleness of your heart, as unto Christ;

Ephesians 6:6. Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

Ephesians 6:7. With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:

Ephesians 6:8. Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

Ephesians 6:9. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

Now we come to this question of the relation­ship between parents and children. The division of this portion from chapter 5:22 to 6:9 is dealing with the believer walking in submission. And hence, when we come to parents and children, it’s very obvious that the Spirit of God has laid down the relationship between the two.

He takes up children first of all. Children are to obey their parents in the Lord for this is right. Under the law of Moses, the one who honored father and mother was blessed of the Lord and lived long on the earth. It was the first commandment given to them that had any promise.

I often think of that when I think of our Sa­vior. You remember in the gospel of Luke, chap­ter 2, Joseph and Mary had gone up to Jerusalem with Jesus when He was a boy, 12 years of age.

The time had come when He must stand upon His own feet under the Law of Moses, recognized as a son of the Law. And you remember they went back and left Him in Jerusalem. They thought He was somewhere in the crowd with their friends and relatives. But they couldn’t find Him so they went back to Jerusalem. And they found Him sit­ting in the midst of the doctors in the temple, ask­ing and answering questions, which by the way was a common thing.

The elders of Israel would sit, and they were asked questions and they would answer the ques­tions. Our Lord as a boy 12 years of age went in there and asked questions and answered questions. And He astounded them with His knowledge of the things of God.

You remember how Mary rebuked her son for this and how He said, “Don’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). And then the amazing statement was that He went back to Nazareth with them and was subject unto them (Luke 2:51).

Did you ever stop to think of this? That the Sa­vior who had just astounded the doctors of the law in Israel went down with them to Nazareth and was subject unto them. And you remember, if I may quote from that verse, “His mother kept all these say­ings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (verses 51- 52 of Luke 2:1-52). Obedience always brings its reward.

I’ve often thought about this. Sometimes the boys and girls of this generation have the attitude that they know more about things than their fa­thers and mothers. Yet our Savior, a boy of 12 years of age, was subject unto Joseph and Mary and was until He was thirty years of age. You hear nothing more of Him until He’s 30 years of age when He came out and was baptized by John and went into His public ministry. He was subject to His parents.

As I said a moment ago, obedience always brings its reward. I am sure of one thing that if we Christian parents were to instruct our children on this question of obedience, it would always bring a re­ward. God will see to that. And the exhortation is, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father. Honor your mother. This is the first commandment with promise.”

We said in Ephesians 5:1-33 that the father, the husband, is the head of the family. He’s the head of the wife. He’s in the place of responsibility. And God holds the father responsible for the fam­ily with children that are obedient unto their par­ents. They are to honor their parents because of who they are and because of what they are.

Now he says a word about the fathers.

Verse 4

Ephesians 6:4. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

In other words, don’t stir them up; don’t rile them. And may I suggest something, and I’ve seen this so often, please don’t take your anger out upon your child. Someone has well said that a parent should not chasten the child in anger be­cause you go beyond that which you originally planned to do. Chastisement is very needful; there’s no question about this. One only needs to read the book of Proverbs to realize that this is so. God expects us to chasten our children, but not to do it in anger and not to stir them up, not to rile them.

I’ve thanked the Lord numbers of times that I had a father and a mother who chastened me. I often times told my mother later on in years that she raised me on the end of her slipper. And she could give me a crack with that slipper and have it back on her foot before the first yell got out. Of course, practice makes perfect. It never did me any harm. It was a good thing for me. I’m sure it’s good for your child­ren.

So we have this relationship between parents and children. For a child to obey the parents in the Lord is right, and it brings great reward. And remember the Lord Jesus, the eternal Son of God, when He took His place in the human family, was subject unto His father and mother. And let me say again, I believe right on down through His teen years, from 12 years of age on, He was sub­ject to His parents.

Oh, in some way I wish I could bring this into the hearts of our young people and into the hearts of our parents. I think sometimes the parents are re­sponsible for the disobedience of the children. And I do believe that we have a tremendous responsibility as parents before God to train our children. As somebody has well said, “Count ten before you strike them first.” My mother didn’t get a chance to count ten.

Verses 5-9

Then you have in verse 5 through 9, servants and masters. And this is a rather remarkable thing. In verses 5-8, you’ll notice how much time he gives to the servants.

Ephesians 6:5. Servants, be obedient to them that are your mas­ters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sin­gleness of your heart, as unto Christ;

Ephesians 6:6. Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

Ephesians 6:7. With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:

Ephesians 6:8. Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.

Just a word here about this. I think it’s apro­pos at this time. It’s no honor to the Lord when Christians do not serve correctly, do not give their all to the job they have. I tell the students at Multnomah School of the Bible, that if they have a job, they should be the best, the best fellows and the best girls that man has ever had. And if you don’t like your wages, then quit your job. But if you take a job, you give your time. They tell you what the wages are, and then you give the best for those wages. You do it as unto the Lord.

Now here’s a new motive for service. You serve the Lord Christ primarily even in the jobs you do. You say, “I don’t like my job.”

That’s neither here nor there. You’ve got a job. You do it as unto the Lord, and the new mo­tive is that God will repay you. It says here that “the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free” (verse 8). In other words, the Lord will take care of the rewards of it if you do it as unto the Lord.

Now I tell you, my friend. Even though they may not give you what you think you should to get for the job you are doing, if you’re doing it as unto the Lord, you’ll have joy in doing it. You’ll have blessing in doing it. And you’ll receive praise from men because you’ve done a good job. And even though they do not pay you enough, God will see to it that your reward will be there if you are doing it as unto the Lord.

You see, there are more rewards than just dollars and cents. There’s the real thrill of doing a good job. I know what I’m talking about. I spent many of my early days in a machine shop. I was a tool and die maker in a machinist business. There was a real thrill, real joy, real fellowship in doing a good job and doing it right. There’s pleasure to this. Now if I was worrying about my wages and worrying about the job, there’s no joy in that. It would become a chore. But if I do my job unto the Lord, irrespective of how much I think I should get, the Lord will take care of me and will reward me.

Now what about the boss? Well, in verse nine, Paul talks about those who are masters, and those of you who hire people.

Ephesians 6:9. And ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening.

Don’t you threaten them. Remember, when Paul wrote this, the master as a rule had bond slaves. And the danger was when a man had slaves, he could be very rough with them and sometimes abuse them. To Christian masters, he’s saying “Now let’s be different from everybody else. Let’s be different from the other bosses.” Don’t threaten them, knowing that “your master also is in heaven.” You also have a Master and you serve the Lord Christ, too. And if God has put you in the place of being a master or a leader or an executive or a boss, remember that you also are to do your job as unto the Lord. And there’s no respect of persons with Him.

You think you might be superior to the one who works for you? Before God there is no dif­ference. You have a Master in heaven and there’s no respect of persons with Him. And if the one who works for you is faithful to God and faithful to you, then you are to be faithful to the Lord and faithful to those who work for you.

You see, Paul is talking here about a kind of a life with different motives. And the great motive is to serve the Lord Christ, to bring glory and to bring honor to Him. Now this is what we have here in Ephesians 6:1-24—the relationship in the beginning of the chapter between parents and children and now be­tween masters and servants.

Verse 10

Look at this verse 10.

Ephesians 6:10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

It doesn’t say, “Be strong in yourself.”

The man of the world today, if he has some temptation or if he has something he’s fighting against, will set his jaw and put his will to it. He is sufficient unto himself. He’s the captain of his own soul. Well, that’s good bravado. But, my friends, I tell you, I can speak here of men who have taken that stand; and the very thing they thought they were strong against became the straw that broke the ca­mel’s back.

You know, there’s only one place where Chris­tians can be strong. That’s in the Lord and in the power of His might. The Lord is not only sufficient for our joy, but we are to rejoice in the Lord. He’s not only sufficient for our peace of mind and peace of heart, but the Lord is also sufficient for all our enemies. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

You remember Hebrews 2:9-10. “We see Jesus . . . crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffer­ings.” In Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith and finisher of our faith (the captain of our salvation).” All that I need to stand against the enemy is found in Chr­ist.

Why is it, Christian friend, we try everything under heaven except Him? And when we get des­perate and we see no way out, we run to the Sa­vior. This is true of all of us. We’ve got an idea in our own minds that we’re self-sufficient. We say, “I don’t need the Lord, you know, for these small things. The Lord takes care of the big things, I’ll take care of the little things.”

But, my friend, listen. It’s not the big things that really bother you. It’s the little things. That’s where you fail. If I’m faithful in the little, I’ll be faithful in the much. I need God for the great, I need God for the little. I just need Him period. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. And why? Be­cause we have terrible enemies.

I wonder if this was in the mind of the Lord in John chapter 17, verse 18, when Jesus said, “Father, as thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through truth.” Jesus Christ today is not occupied so much with keeping the universe running in its order. He just speaks a word about that. Hebrews 1:1-14 says He upholds all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). Colossians 1:17 says, “By Him are all things held together.”

What is the great job the Savior is doing today? He’s caring for you and for me. He’s praying for us. You see, the Lord Jesus knows what the world is like. He knows the power of the devil. He knows the insidiousness of people being under the bondage of sin.

You see, our Captain’s been ahead of us, and He knows the world in which we are. He knows its subtleties; he knows its power. And He says, “Because I know what’s in the world, Father, for their sakes I sanctify myself.” The trouble is that we Christians fail to realize the enemies that we have. We have a three-fold enemy: the world, the flesh and the devil.

Verses 10-18

Now we come to the last great division of the book of Ephesians. The book of Ephesians chap­ter six, and I’m going to take the time to read from verse 10 through verse 18. Here you have our warfare.

Did you know that the Christian is in a war­fare? He’s always at war. As long as we’re on earth, we have three implacable enemies. We have a real war going on. And believe me, it’s a real war. But I’ll tell to you too the war’s going to be won. He’s guaranteed that. We might lose one or two battles. But the war’s going to be won, and we’re going to be victorious. As Paul could say in Romans chapter 8:37, “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Now, let me read Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6:10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

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

Ephesians 6:12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers ofthe darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6:13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Ephesians 6:14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with

truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Ephesians 6:15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the

gospel of peace;

Ephesians 6:16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

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

Ephesians 6:18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

Let me just stop here where you have this great picture of our warfare. I would suggest the 27^th Psalm to your thinking. When you read this sixth chapter of Ephesians, read the Psalms 27:1-14 and 2 Timothy 2:3-4. You re­member, it says we are to “endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” No man goes to warfare at his own charges, and a man who goes to war is a separated man. He’s obedient. He’s a marked-out man, and victory is guaranteed. Who wouldn’t want to be a soldier of Jesus Christ? Enduring hardness. That means the path may be rough. We’ve got to be strengthened and fitted for the task of warfare.

I’m afraid in these days that too many Christians are just lying down on the job. They’re not facing the warfare that’s before them. And the result is they’re not taking a stand for the Savior. They claim it costs too much. No, my friend. It costs you more not to take a stand for the Savior. Hence, endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. And a good soldier is an obedient soldier. That’s one of the first lessons to learn when you go out to boot camp. Learn to be obedient. That’s what boot camp is for. When you go to war and the government calls you up, you’ve got to go to boot camp. You learn to be hard, physically hard. You learn to be obedient. You don’t question your officers. You obey them when they speak.

And if I’m a good soldier of Jesus Christ, I’ll be an obedient soldier.

And then a soldier is a separated man. He’s one who leaves his home. He leaves his job. He leaves his family, and he goes into the armed forces of our country. He’s a separated man. He’s leaves the path and goes into a new way of living.

I tell you, my friends, would to God that we had some real soldiers of Jesus Christ today—separated men unto God, men of God filled with the Word of God, obedient men, men who know something about the path that’s rough, who face up to the issues of the day, who face up to the antagonisms and the wiles of the devil and are able to stand in the world that has no place for Him—obedient, separated, separated men.

And if I were to go back to the Old Testa­ment, you remember the very first step in a walk with God is separation unto Him. It is a strange thing in this day that Christians are afraid of the word “separation.” Yet, my friend, it is impossi­ble for a Christian to go on with God without se­paration. You go to the 12^th chapter of the book of Genesis 12:2-4) or Acts 7:2-4 where the God of glory appeared unto Abraham and said, “Get out.” And he got out. He obeyed, not knowing where he went.

If you follow through every part of the life of this man Abraham or the life of Moses or the life of David or the life of Elijah, of Jeremiah and follow it through to Paul, Peter, all of them, the very first step with God was a step of separation. And until I’m se­parated unto God, I’ll not be found very useful. In fact, we need to hold ourselves available to God that he might find us useable.

So I say, a good soldier is one who is a sepa­rated man. He’s a marked- out man. You see a marine going down the street in his dress uni­form, you don’t question what he is. He’s a ma­rine. If he belongs to the air corps, he’s got that which marks him out as a man who’s a pilot or who works with the air corps. Or, if he’s a sailor, he wears a special uniform and you know he be­longs to the Navy.

Why shouldn’t we as Christians be marked men and marked women?

I remember one. Mr. Harvey Farmer of Afri­ca had come home, and he was in Great Britain. He was going down the streets in the strand of London, and they have there what they call “Pork Shops” where you go in and order a hamburger.

It wouldn’t be a hamburger, but a hot sandwich where you get either roast beef or roast pork.

And standing outside, looking in the window with steam rolling up from these big pork and beef roasts, was a little ragamuffin boy from the streets. Dirty, ragged, hungry, he had his face up against the window just looking at the wonderful bones and meat.

And Mr. Farmer, as he saw this little fellow, came to him and said, “Sonny, would you like one of those sandwiches?”

He said, “Oh, governor, would I! Would I!” He said, “Come on in.”

And he took the little fellow in and said to the man, “I want you to give him the biggest bun you’ve got. Dip it well in the gravy. And you put, not only a little bit of beef, but you put some beef in it and a good slice of pork and you give it to this boy and I’ll pay for the extra.”

So the little fellow stood with his eyes bulging as this man cut off meat and put it between the bun and handed it over to the boy. And before the little fellow took a bite of that wonderful sandwich, he turned and looked up to Mr. Farmer with the tears running down his cheeks and he said, “Governor, be you God?”

My, I couldn’t help but think of that.

This little fellow had been used to being smit­ten and buffeted and kicked, living in the streets, living in the gutter and here a man comes and does a little sweet favor for him and he thought he was God.

Oh, that we had Christians today, as we walk among men and women, who will manifest that we belong to the Savior. We’re good soldiers, marked-out men and women for God. Among your neigh­bors, with your family, wherever you are, where you work, do they know you belong to the Savior? Are you a marked-out man?

Now I like this word of Paul’s in 2 Timothy 2:1-26— therefore be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. and no man who goes to war goes of his own charges. Of course not.

If I might be allowed, I just feel like reading you that verse. “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for maste­ries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive law­fully” (2 Timothy 2:3-5). Paul also says, “Re­member that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead” (verse 8).

Ah, the captain is Jesus Christ, raised from the dead. Man’s greatest and last enemy has been de­feated. Victory is guaranteed. Of course it is. The captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ, hath not only put away our sins, but he has also defeated Satan and he has defeated death and the grave. He guarantees eternal, resurrected life to those who put their trust in Him. Now in view of that, let us be good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Do you know we’ve got power, we have an enemy, we have armor, and we have some re­sources. God hasn’t left us to our ingenuity. Oh, no. He has made the provision for all that we need—for personal victory, for personal deliver­ance. My, what a Savior we have! He’s the cap­tain of our salvation. In that amazing 46^th Psalm, God is our refuge and strength, a great help in time of trouble; therefore we will not fear though the earth be removed and the mountains be re­moved and cast into the sea. Do you ever think that we have a God who is sufficient for us?

Verses 10-24

Starting in at verse 10 and running through to the end of the chapter, we have the third great division of the book of Ephesians.

Now I would like to review for you this whole business of Ephesians chapter 1 through chapter 6 verse 9. I would like to refresh your memory of the wonderful way in which the Spirit of God talks to us and instructs us through His servant Paul.

In the first three chapters, you remember, we had our position in Christ. And sometimes I feel like going back over these chapters verse by verse be­cause of the tremendous, tremendous revelation there is.

First of all, concerning the God whom we worship and the God whom we trust, the Savior who has bought us for Himself, let us rehearse the relationship we have to Him and then the rela­tionship we have to each other.

You remember in the first chapter we had our position in Christ as being redeemed. The Father chose us before the foundation of the world. He chose us to be holy and He blessed us. He adopted us as His sons, and He accepted us in the Beloved. The Lord Jesus purchased us with His own blood. He forgave us every sin. He brought us into fellowship with Himself, with His purpose and plans, and made us coheirs with Him in the inheritance. And then the Spirit of God came and He sealed us in Christ. The Father chose us, the Son paid for us, and the Spirit of God possessed the possession bought.

Isn’t that wonderful? And that was followed by the prayer of Paul, a prayer for knowledge.

Then in chapter two, we have this great doctrine of reconciliation, of how God took those of us who were dead in trespasses and sins. We were children of wrath like the rest. And then together with the Jewish people, for he’s dealing here with Jew and Gentile, He reconciled us both together in Christ, proving that God was rich in mercy and great in love. And, when we were dead in sins, He raised us up and made us sit together, Jew and Gentile, in the heavenlies in Christ. And then we see God’s purpose in the ages to come—to show forth the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us by Christ Jesus. And the ground for that is from verse 14 on through.

Then in chapter 3, we have the great revela­tion of the church, the body of Christ. This was something that was purposed by God away back in eternity. It was hidden from everybody, from all principalities. It was hidden in the heart of God that, when God sent His Son into the human family, it was to bring into being a new people, a new race of people called the Church, joined to Him, made one with the Son of God. Think of it.

Think of it! Made one with the Son of God in a relationship that’s eternal and perfect. And then this is followed by the second prayer of Paul, a prayer for power and for the intimacy of fellow­ship.

Then starting in chapter four down through chapter 6 verse 9, we have our walk in Christ in a new creation. God has no confidence in the old crea­tion. God expects nothing from the old creation. It’s incurably bad. So He brought us into a new creation, and He made us one in the unity of the Spirit. We’re told to walk in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.

The second thing is He seals us by the Spirit of God until the day of redemption. Then He tells us how we can grieve the Spirit and how not to grieve the Spirit.

And then in chapter five, that amazing chapter, we are to walk in love, just as Christ loved us and manifested His love for us by sacrifice. We manifest our love for God by our obedience to His Word, and we manifest our love for each other by our sacrifice the one for the other.

Can I repeat that? We manifest our love for God by obedience to His Word (John 14:21; John 14:23). And we manifest our love for each other by sacrifice. You find this in 1 John chapter 3:16 and 17. And then we have to walk in light. And remember that God is light. This is where we walk. And you remember what the Apostle John says that if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with the other (1 John 1:7). And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:9).

Then we walk in wisdom. There are four as­pects of walking in wisdom. We walk carefully, we redeem the times, we understand the will of the Lord, and we are filled with the Spirit. And then we walk in submission. And here we have this amazing relationship presented to us, the re­lationship between husband and wife. The hus­band has the place of headship. That means re­sponsibility. The woman has the place of honor, being the weaker vessel. When both take their place, you have a foretaste of heaven on earth, each one having a place of responsibility before God—no bosses, no popes, but equally filling their place before God.

And then you have the children in relation­ship to parents in chapter six. The parents are to take care of the children and the children are to be obedient to their parents. And then the ser­vants have their part—a new motive for service— to serve the Lord and not just men. Masters are to recognize their servants and treat them right because they too have a Master in heaven.

What God expects of husbands and wives, par­ents and children, masters and servants is faithful­ness to Him and faithfulness to each other. In- deed, we manifest our love for each other by our faithful­ness to each other and by our sacrifices for each oth­er. Children, for example, manifest their love for their parents by obedience. And parents manifest their love for their children by sacrifice. It’s very simple, isn’t it? It’s just wonderful.

Well, you say, “Mr. Mitchell, that’s a superna­tural life. You don’t know my circumstances.”

No, I don’t need to know them. A Christian life is a supernatural life. And the wonderful thing is that God has made provision whereby you and I can hold onto the resources of God. They’re for us to use in our lives so we may show forth His love, His grace, His mercy. It’s a won­derful thing to be a Christian, and it’s a wonder­ful thing to act like one in our relationship the one to the other. I prove what I am to God by how I treat my fellow brother. Remember that! It is a folly for me to talk about the Savior if I don’t love His people, and that love for His people is to be by sacrifice.

Isn’t it wonderful that you and I can sit down to­gether and hear and meditate and think about the Word of God and the wonderful revelation He has given to us in the scriptures. How glad I am that God has not left us to our own ingenuity or to our own mentality. God has given to us the Spirit of God and the Word of God. The revelation of His person and His purpose is given to us in the scriptures. The Spi­rit of God has come to lead us and guide us into all truth. And so it’s a real joy to me—I get a real bless­ing just sitting down here talking to you about the wonderful things of Christ.

You know I received a card the other day, and it kind of tickles me in a way. I’m going to report this to you. A dear brother who wrote to me said, “You must have one foot already in hea­ven.” I’m glad he didn’t say one foot already in the grave. But one foot already in heaven. Well, it may be so. I know I’m bound for heaven. I know what the Lord has in store for us for all eternity, and He’s revealed this to us in the Word of God. I just trust that your heart is full of love for Him, your Savior and your Lord.

Verses 11-12

Now notice in this verse 11.

Ephesians 6:11. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Ephesians 6:12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood (things that you can see, feel, and handle), but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Please never underestimate your enemy. The devil hates Christ and the devil hates you and me, if you’re in Christ. The Apostle Paul could say, “We are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11). James says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). I suggest 1 Peter 5:8-9. Believe me, Satan is a subtle one.

You take Genesis chapter 3, the first few verses when the devil came to our foreparents, Adam and Eve. He came with subtlety, with deceit. You know what he said to Eve, if I could put into my own words? “Eve, do you really believe God loves you? If He really loved you, He wouldn’t withhold the fruit of that tree from you. Why can’t you eat the fruit of that tree if God loves you? Love withholds nothing.”

You see, the first thing that he did was to get Eve occupied with Eve. Because the very next statement shows that when she said, “Oh, God says, if we eat of it, we’ll die.”

And Satan raised the issue, “You think God really meant that? Did God really say you would die? Why, if God loves you and you are His crea­ture, You’ll not die. He loves you too much for that. You won’t die.”

Just like men say today, when they hear the gos­pel of Christ, “I don’t need a Savior. I can save my­self.” That’s the devil’s lie. And Satan not only deceived Eve after the grace of God and deceived Eve after the Word of God, but he also said, “Why God knows that if you eat of the fruit of that tree, you’ll be like God. You’ll be like God.”

Just think of the subtlety of it. He not only at­tacked the grace of God and the Word of God, but he attacked the person of God. And Eve was so occupied with Eve, “I’ll just be like God,” that she went and took the fruit of the tree and gave it to her husband and he also did eat. And sin came into the human race. Through what? Through the subtlety of Satan.

My friend, don’t you for one moment underes­timate the subtlety and the power of Satan. I’m talk­ing about a great subject here. He doesn’t come with horns and hooves and long tails. If you want to know what he’s like, you read the 14^th chapter of Isaiah and the 28^th chapter of Ezekiel. He’s perfect in beau­ty. He’s full of wisdom. He’s powerful. He ascribes to be just like God. The great passion of Satan’s heart is to be worshiped. That’s what he wants men to do. And men follow suit. Men today worship themselves instead of God. They worship men in­stead of the Savior. They’re being caught up in the trap of Satanic subtlety.

My Christian friend, you and I have no wis­dom, no power against such authority. Hence, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Don’t you underestimate the enemy. Don’t you be ignorant of his devices. If I were to take the book of Exodus, you remember, Satan opposed the command of God through Moses. First of all, through violence and then by imitation and then by compromise. This is Satan’s tactic. We’re not ignorant of his devices.

You take the history of the Christian church from the first century, A.D. He tried to defeat the purpose of God in the church through the martyrs by violence and persecution. And then he did it through the centuries by imitation. They took pagan temples and made them Christian churches by imitation. And then Satan comes along and does it by compromise.

And today, in our country we have so com­promised the gospel and so compromised the things of God that even Christians don’t know the difference between the real gospel and the per­verted gospel. It’s high time we believers got down to our Bibles. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. We wrestle against principalities and the wiles of the devil.

Oh, my Christian friends, let’s not be ignorant of Satan nor of his devices. May I repeat it, he always attacks the grace of God first and then the Word of God. Is the Word of God to be trusted? Then he at­tacks the person of God. Is He worthy of worship? And he comes against you first of all with violence and then with imitation and then with compromise. This is the day in which we live.

And when I think of these things and the number of souls that have been led astray, I plead with you Christians to get down to business with God. Get down into the Word of God. Know what God’s Word has to say. Know His purposes. Know the Savior you’re trusting. And then be a good soldier for Jesus Christ. I plead with you to get to know your Bible and to walk in fellowship with your Savior. And the Lord make it very, very real to you today for His name’s sake.

And may I again read from verses 10 down through verse 13.

Ephesians 6:10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

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

Ephesians 6:12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6:13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Verse 12

And now we come to verse 12, and not only do we have the devil to contend with, but we wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiri­tual wickedness in high places, wicked spirits, demons. Remember this. And I oftentimes say, it is a good thing that we can’t see some of our ene­mies. We’d be scared stiff.

On the other hand, for your comfort may I sug­gest the last verse of Hebrews chapter 1 where we read that holy angels have been sent forth to minister unto us who are the heirs of salvation.

There are two real kingdoms. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. And just as we have the Lord of glory with his heavenly hosts, righ­teous, holy, obedient, we have the kingdom of dark­ness ruled over by the devil and his hosts and princi­palities and powers and wicked spirits. And just as God uses men for His glory and the exaltation of His Son, so Satan uses men to thwart the purpose of God, to defeat the will of God, and to bring men into sub­jection to sin and darkness and hell and despair.

Look at this. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities.” Oh, that we might have eyes to see and to look out for these fifth columnists who come as angels of light. Let me read a verse to you.

Paul says, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is trans­formed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the mi­nisters of righteousness; whose end shall be accord­ing to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

God uses men and women today as channels for the display of His character, for the display of His grace and love. As God is working out a plan in the gathering out of a people for His name called the Church, as God is redeeming men and women and fitting them for eternal glory, you have Satan using men and women to thwart the purpose of God, to defeat God’s plan in the hu­man race.

I repeat it, we have two great armies, two great kingdoms. And my Christian friend, you belong to Christ. Stand therefore with your loins girt about with truth. Don’t run away because of principalities and powers, but take unto you the whole armor of God and having done all to stand. Don’t run away. Stand!

Too often today, Christians are running away from the battle. They’re running away from the enemy instead of standing with God. When I think today of the fast moving of the enemy of our souls in this land and in the world, we see evil men and seducers waxing worse and worse, de­ceiving, and being deceived (2 Timothy 3:13). We see men being lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, being reli­gious, but having no power (2 Timothy 3:4-5), no gospel. We see ecclesiastical leaders, denying the deity of our Savior and His wonderful love and grace for men and women, denying the work of Christ on the cross, denying the physical resur­rection from the dead, denying His exaltation.

My, how Satan is doing a work. He knows that his time is short. And the more we see this, the more we believe we ought to stand for God and for His Word and for His Son. Take unto you the whole ar­mor of God because we have implacable enemies, wicked spirits, rulers of this darkness. And they come with subtlety; they come with trickery. They come as ministers of righteousness. They come as preachers.

You remember in Matthew chapter 7 our Lord said that many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? have we not done many wonderful works in Your name, have we not even cast out demons in Your name? And Jesus will say to them, De­part from me you workers of iniquity! I never knew you. You don’t belong to me (Matthew 7:21-23).

Is it possible that a person can be a preacher and be full of good works, be very, very religious and not be in the kingdom of God? Yes, yes! I read to you a moment ago from 2 Corinthians in which the Apostle Paul says, In that day (I think he’s talking about to­day) Satan’s ministers will come as ministers of righ­teousness. For what purpose? That they might dece­ive the elect of God, that they might deceive God’s people. He’s always come with deception. He’s called the deceiver. He’s called the serpent. He’s also called a dragon.

And God would that we Christians may not be ignorant, but rather that we might know the subtlety of Satan, that we might not be ignorant of his devices as he seeks to thwart the purpose of God in the world and he seeks to thwart God’s purpose in you. Why, you remember in Matthew chapter 16, our Savior for the first time in His public ministry reported to the disciples that He was going to suffer and die and be raised again from the dead.

Then Peter said, “This be far from thee, Lord. Get this idea out of your head.”

And Jesus said to Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savour­est not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 16:21-23).

Now Peter was not Satan. But Satan was us­ing Peter to thwart God’s purpose in His Son. I say this was the first time in the New Testament where the Lord Jesus declared and revealed to His disciples why He came. He’s going to build a church. That’s His purpose. Then He reveals His program—how He’s going to carry out that pur­pose. He’s going to suffer and die. And He’s going to be raised again.

And back in Peter’s mind you can see Peter say­ing, “Well, Lord, I’ve just declared that you are the Christ, the Son of God. You can’t die. You’re going to reign.”

“No,” said Jesus. “Get thee behind me.”

You see, the very moment that the purpose of God was revealed in His Son, you have Satanic, devilish opposition. When the purpose of God is revealed in your life and my life, we’re going to expect Satanic opposition. Quite often, when young men and women dedicate their lives to the Lord, as young Christians, and they feel led by the Spirit of God to give themselves, to make themselves available to God for a job to be done, possibly right after that they will often have hard times, some very critical tests and trials. Why is that? It is Satan’s seeking to thwart the purpose of God in that young man, in that young woman.

Let me remind you that Satan never goes to sleep. Neither he nor his cohorts sleep. They don’t go on vacations. They’re always on the job, trying to thwart the purpose of God in Christ and in His people.

So it is here. You have Satan and his cohorts. Believe me, my friend, this is no fiction of the im­agination. We have a real enemy. It was a real devil who came and tested our Savior in the wilderness. And he tested our Savior on the grace of God, the Word of God, and the person of God. You take those three temptations of Adam and Eve in the garden and you have the same three temptations of Christ in the wilderness. They epitomize the opposition of the de­vil to God’s people and to God Himself.

I wish in some way I could put it in words the way I feel about this. The scripture is very clear that we are in a warfare. But God hasn’t left us helpless. He has given us the privilege of His re­sources. It is a wonderful thing, is it not, that you and I can pull on the resources of God in our war­fare against the enemy.

Verse 13

Ephesians 6:13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and

having done all, to stand.

Ephesians 6:14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with

truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 6:15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the

gospel of peace;

Ephesians 6:16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

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

Ephesians 6:18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

Now I’ve read that portion because He tells us how we can stand. You’ll notice as you read these verses that there is no armor for the back. Now from verses 13 unto 17 we have the armor given to us, and it’s all for defensive warfare. When you come to the end of verse 17 and into verse 18, then we have some aggressive weapons. We not only have armor, but we have weapons. Now will you please notice our armor.

Ephesians 6:13. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armour of God.

And may I say, my Christian friend, you can’t afford to be without any of it. It is not enough to have a helmet or a breastplate. You need the whole business. Otherwise it wouldn’t be in the Book.

Now you’d better come on into the armory of God and be shod with the armor of God. You re­member Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan and Christian in his fight with Apollyon, the enemy of our soul. He had his armor on. They equipped him. And God has for us our equipment so that we can stand against all the wiles of the devil.

Verse 14

Let’s look at verse 14.

Ephesians 6:14. Stand therefore.

Don’t run! Don’t run! As the Apostle says, “Res­ist the devil and then he will flee” (James 4:7). It does not say, “Resist the devil and then run to beat the band.” No, no. You stand and he runs. Listen to it.

Ephesians 6:14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.

Your loins, your tender parts, your vital parts, girded about with truth. You see, we need truth. When a person is grounded in the truth of God, the enemy hasn’t got a possibility of reach­ing his very vitals. It’s because God’s people have not been grounded in the truth of God that they fall victims to the subtleties of Satan.

You take all the various cults of the day with their false doctrines. They don’t feed upon pagans. They feed upon untaught Christians. They feed upon those who possibly have made a profession of salva­tion. They come along with their subtleties and they lead the lambs after the fables, the doctrines of men, the philosophies of men.

Read Colossians 2:8 where the Apos­tle warns the Colossian church of the vain philosophies and words of vain deceit of men, the folly of legalism and false mysticism and asceticism and traditions that are not after Christ. Your loins must be girded about with truth. You re­member, we’re to have our loins girded and our lamps shining (Luke 12:35). Our vitals are to be guarded with truth.

The enemy is wily, and he’s very slick. And be­lieve me, I’m scared for God’s people these days. Do you know why? Because they do not get into the Word of God. And the tragedy is that in too many of our churches our preachers are not feeding God’s people upon the Word of God.

And here you have in 2 Corinthians 13:8, “We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” God wants us to be full of the truth—so that, when the enemy comes along with his subtleties and his false doctrines, we’d be able to say, “This is what God says. This is what the Book says”—and thus be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Read Paul and read Peter and John and even our Savior in Luke chapter 12. They continually warn us about these things—let your loins be girded and your lamps shining. And our loins have got to be girded about with truth.

The very innermost recesses, the very vital parts of our being, must be girded with truth. And Jesus Christ said, “Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17). He could say, “I am the truth” (John 14:6). But He also said, “Thy Word is truth.” And when you and I fill our minds and our hearts and our lives with the truth of God, then there is less possibility of our failing when the enemy comes in like a flood.

Now the second thing also is not only to have your loins girded about with truth but also to have on the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness. You know Paul speaks of this in Philippians 3:9 when he says, I’m going to “be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

The breastplate guards the heart and guards other vital parts of our body or in this case, spiritualizing, guarding our very souls. We need to be covered with the very righteousness of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 6:6-7, the Apostle Paul speaks again of this very thing when he says, “By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.”

May I repeat that verse, verse 7 of 2 Corinthians 6:7. Paul is talking here about all that he went through, his sufferings for the Savior and how he lived. And then he goes on to say, “By the Word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.” This is how he approved himself as the mi­nister of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. It’s an amazing thing, this.

And I think it has a lot to do with practical righ­teousness. You remember Titus 2:1-15, starting at verse 11, the grace of God which hath appeared unto us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world; looking for our Savior.

See, it’s a heart occupation with Christ. We must have right motives if we are to defeat the enemy of our souls. We’re to have our loins girded about with truth and have on the breastplate of righteousness. That right motive of life is a heart occupation with Christ and occupation with the righteousness of God.

I tell you, you can hardly go down the streets today and not see things that are offensive to God. Everything is an appeal to the sexual emotions of men and women. I say you can’t go down the street without seeing it. You see it in pictures; you see it in magazines. God cover us with His righ­teousness. How Satan has caught so many pro­fessing Christians in the swirl of an unclean, cor­rupt generation. And instead of standing out as Christians with righteousness manifested in our lives, so many have been caught in the subtlety of it.

I know what I’m talking about because I’m deal­ing with people continually. I haven’t been a pastor for 37 years in the city of Portland without realizing this. And it’s becoming worse year after year after year. The whole trend of our society is toward moral corruption. And the only thing that can cause a Christian to stand in these days for God is to put on the breastplate of righteousness.

I’d appeal to you young people. Saturate your mind with the Word of God. Have your loins girt about with truth. Put on the breastplate of righ­teousness—not only imparted and imputed righ­teousness, but a practical righteousness in your own life where your motives and your very life will be led and directed and guarded by the Spirit of God through the Word of God. I would plead with you today.

I would plead with you Christians, you par­ents. Oh, if you value the life of your boys and your girls, surround them with right living. Sur­round them with the wonderful teaching of the person and work of Christ. Let them see some­thing of the beauty and the pureness and the sin­lessness and the righteousness of your Savior, so that when they go out into the world and see the corruption, they see the contrast. Remind them that there are two kingdoms, the kingdom of God where righteousness reigns and the kingdom of darkness where death and hell reign. And you can’t straddle the fence.

May God grant to those of us who are supposed­ly mature Christians to have that patience and ten­derness, that desire, that yearning and that passion and hunger for our young people to walk before God in holiness.

Let your loins be girt about with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness and may your day be one filled with the joy of His presence and the joy of His fellowship for His name’s sake.

Verse 15

And then, the third thing. I ought to have my feet, in Ephesians 6:15 shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. You remember in Ephesians 2:10, we have that wonderful verse, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Je­sus unto good works, which God hath before or­dained that we should walk in them.” We’re His workmanship. Let’s prove it!

In Romans 10:15, Paul says, “How beautiful (blessed) are the feet of them that . . . bring glad tidings.” We carry to the world the gospel of peace, and our feet are to be shod with the prepa­ration. They are to be ready. Our lives should corres­pond with our message.

I take it, my Christian friend, if you and I love the Savior and testify what the Lord can do for us and what He has done for us, that the prac­tice in our lives will correspond with what we teach, with what we say, with what we profess. And let our feet always be ready. May our lives always be useable. May we be available to God to bring the gospel of good news of peace to men who are under such affliction, such deceit and such sin.

The amazing thing to me is that God should trust us with the gospel of His wonderful grace, which is, of course, the gospel of peace. You remember in Ephesians 2:14-18, we read that our Lord is our peace, that He made peace for sinners, that He preached peace; and the moment a man accepts the Savior, he has peace with God as he walks with the Savior. He enjoys the peace of God. And now our feet are to be shod with the prepa­ration of the gospel of peace.

In other words, we are to be God’s messen­gers to bring the blessed message to others. And you know, the more righteousness that is prac­ticed in our lives and the more we bring the gos­pel of peace to men, the less possibility there is for us to fail God because our heart is being occupied with our Savior. And what we have in Christ will keep us from being occupied with sin.

I confess to you that everything on the outside world tends to pull us down, to thwart God’s pur­pose, to make us unclean in our thinking, unclean in our speech, unclean in our action. What can hold me back from this? Again I repeat, the Christian life is a supernatural life. But God has made provision for that to be wrought out in us. So let your loins be girded about with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, and let your feet be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Verse 16

Now that you’ve got your loins girded, your breastplate of righteousness on, and your feet shod, what else do you need?

Ephesians 6:16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Ah, here it is. Take the shield of faith. I think I can’t do better than go to Matthew chapter 4 and show how the Savior Himself, as a Man in the midst of men, met the attack of Satan in the wilderness. What did He do? He just put up the shield of faith. He believed what the Bible said was true, and He used the Bible as His shield. “It is written.” “It is written.” We’ll use this in a few moments when we come to the sword of the Spirit. But He used the shield of faith.

You see, this is one of the things young Chris­tians are to have. At first, they’re full of the joy over what they have in Christ; and then one day they fail God. They didn’t intend to fail, but they failed God. They’re still in the flesh and they failed God.

Immediately Satan comes along and says, “Huh, I thought you were a Christian. I thought you were redeemed. I thought you were forgiven. Christians don’t act this way. Christians don’t act this way. So you see you’re not a Christian after all. You’re just deceived.”

Listen, you stand upon the Word of God which is a shield of faith. Take the Word of God and say, “This is what God says. This is what God says. This is what God says.” I don’t care what Satan says. He is a liar, a liar from the beginning. You take what God says. Comfort your heart and take the Word of God. This is what God says. Take the shield of faith.

The Word of God says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). Believe it! Take the shield of faith and when Satan says, “You’re not a Christian,” tell him what the Book says, what God says. You take the shield of faith and believe God, not the devil.

Verse 17

And then Paul says in Ephesians 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation.” Have your mind covered with the assurance of salvation. This again comes through the Word. You see, salvation is a matter of relation­ship. Did you hear what I said? Salvation is a matter of relationship. But assurance is the matter of know­ledge. This comes through the mind. And the more you know the Word of God, the more sure you are that you are saved.

Why are so many Christians full of doubts. It’s because they need to put on the helmet of sal­vation. They need to have their minds clear on what Christ has done for them. You know, if Christians were established in what Christ has done for them on the cross, they wouldn’t have any doubts about their salvation at all.

I’ve had men say to me, “Why, Mitchell, you talk as though you really know you’re saved.”

I say, “I am saved!”

“Well, that’s taking too much for granted.”

Oh, no. Oh, no. I’m just believing what God says. I’m believing what God says. I have assurance of salvation because of my knowledge of the Word. You see, in 2 Peter where we have false teachers brought before us, the guard against false teachers is the Word of God, to get to know the Word of God, knowledge. How do they get the knowledge of the Word of God? Through the mind, through the head. That’s what God has given you a head for, to know things. To know things. I’m not saved by my emotions. I’m not op­posed to emotions. I’m not saved by my experiences. I’m saved by my putting my trust in the Savior. And the more I see this, the more sure I am that I belong to Him. Put on the helmet of salvation.

My friend, have you got these things? Have you got your armor on? Look at it again: “Have your loins girded about with truth, have on the breastplate of righteousness, have your feet shod with the prepa­ration of the gospel of peace. Take the shield of faith wherewith you can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation.”

The helmet of salvation means assurance, the certainty of redemption in Christ. I tell you it’s a won­derful thing to be saved. And it’s a glorious thing to know that you’re saved and that you are sure of it.

You say, “Mr. Mitchell, you’re talking about se­curity.”

I’m talking about assurance. If Christ died for me, then He died for the whole man. He knew what I was before He saved me. He saved me with a per­fect, eternal salvation; and He guarantees it to me in resurrection. He makes it sure to me personally by the Spirit of God.

Oh, the marvelous provision that God has made for all men and women worldwide to be saved. And, oh, the treasures that God has stored up for every believer in His Son. Aren’t you glad you’re a Christian, friend? Isn’t it wonderful to know Christ is your Savior. And also isn’t it marvelous that God has made provision for you in the midst of a world that is corrupt? in the midst of a world that is under the sentence of death? in the midst of a world where Satan, the devil, rules and reigns in the hearts and lives of men? Isn’t it wonderful that you and I can know the Savior and then can be fitted to stand against the world, the flesh and the devil?

Verses 17-18

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

Now here we’re dealing in verses 17 and 18 with the Word of God and prayer. Here are our weapons, our aggressive weapons. Now we come to our ag­gressive weapons.

Ephesians 6:17 b. And (take) the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Ephesians 6:18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.

My, what a combination of tools or weapons God’s given to us! The Word of God and prayer are the two weapons that we have to defeat the enemy. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. And I’m reminded of what the Apostle Paul could say in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.”

Oh, I tell you, Christian friend, let us not be de­feated believers. Let us be victorious, delivered be­lievers, available to God to be used by Him.

You see, the trouble is we’re not acquainted with our sword. I confess again to you I’m ap­palled at the ignorance of the people of God who are living in the world and are not able to use the sword of the Spirit. I am amazed that they do not know a thing about the helmet of salvation. They know so little about the breastplate of righteous­ness. They do not gird their loins with truth, and they are absolutely defenseless when it comes to the usage of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

You remember, and I come back to this passage in Matthew chapter 4, and by the way this account is written in the three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John doesn’t record the temptations of our Sa­vior. You remember, John is the gospel of God ma­nifest in the flesh and God is not a man that can be tested. But in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you have Him where He is tempted by the devil—and how did He defeat the devil?

How did He use the sword? He just said, “It is written” three times. It is written. It is written. And the devil left Him. The devil did the running, not Jesus. Why didn’t Jesus say, “As the Son of God, I rebuke thee!” Why didn’t He call for a le­gion of angels? Why didn’t He call for Michael, the archangel?

No, no, no, no! As a man in the midst of men, He did what you and I can do or ought to do. It is to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. He just said, “It is written.” He didn’t say, “If you understand the Word of God.” He just said, “It is written, it is written, it is written.”

Satan says, “You’re not a Christian. You wouldn’t do that if you were a Christian.”

You can say, “It is written that the man who puts his trust in the Savior is a child of God.”

May I plead with your heart, Christian friend? The more corrupt the world becomes, the more you and I should get into this blessed Book and know it.

Can you give a reason for the hope within you?

Can you say the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they’re mighty through God?

Can you take the sword of the Spirit and wield it and use it and defeat the powers of hell? I plead with your heart to get to know the Word of God.

You say, “Mr. Mitchell, I’m an old man. I’m an old woman, and my mind doesn’t retain things.”

That doesn’t hinder you if you can read at all. Read the Word of God. I didn’t ask you to under­stand it. Read it and read it and read it and read it, and it will do something more than you realize. Read the Word of God. Didn’t David say, “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalms 119:11). He didn’t say the understanding of the Word of God is going to clean you and cleanse you. It’s the word of God itself.

I don’t understand the power of the Word of God. It’s beyond me. It’s so powerful. It’s so mighty. It so cleanses the life. I just plead with you, my friend. And young people, start now to fill your minds and saturate your life with the Word of God. Be able to wield the sword of the Spirit in this gener­ation that is already under the control of hell. Satan comes in the garments of righteousness to deceive. Take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Learn to wield it and to use it.

Verse 18

And then verse 18 you have your resources.

Ephesians 6:18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

Oh, listen, friends, praying and watching, these are our resources. It’s like a sentry on duty. It’s war­fare. Paul uses a military term. Watch, be on the watch. Sentry duty. Be on the alert. We have an enemy. Don’t fall asleep. Be vigilant.

This is what Colossians 4:2 says. This is what 1 Thessalonians 5:6 says. This is what 1 Peter 4:7 says. Praying and watching. With all persever­ance. Oh, my, it’s so easy, it’s so easy to give up. It’s so easy to fall asleep. I know. I know what I’m talking about. Just like dear old Peter. He was a good sleeper. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching, guarding the­reunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Why? Because we’re all at battle.

Just like when all our men went overseas. Those that were at home were at war, too. We were at war, too. We were praying for our boys. We were giving for our boys. We were giving for the national defense, and so all had a part in the war. You just didn’t get away from it. In one way or another it affected you. So it is in spiritual war­fare. We need to pray for each other—not to damn each other, not to criticize each other—but praying always with all prayer with perseverance and supplication for all saints.

Verses 19-20

Ephesians 6:19. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

Ephesians 6:20. For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Even Paul yearned for the saints of God to pray for him that he might be bold in the midst of an enemy world to proclaim the gospel of peace. People say, “Well, Mr. Mitchell, what should we pray for?”

Listen. You could spend two hours on your knees and not get through praying for God’s people or the world outside and its sin or your missionaries in every part of the world. One of the reasons why the world doesn’t know the Savior is because the Church of Christ has ceased praying.

You remember Matthew 9:36 where Jesus said at the end of the chapter, He had compassion on the people for they were sheep having no shepherd (verse 36). And then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38). There is a harvest to be reaped and the lack is for laborers. So why don’t we pray?

May I say to those of you who are shut in, you older ones who are shut in and who can’t go very far. While you’re shut in on your backs possibly, won’t you enter the ministry of prayer and supplication for missionaries? Won’t you pray for the church of Christ? Won’t you pray for God’s people? Won’t you pray for the young people? Won’t you pray that God will send forth laborers into His harvest?

Oh, grant that you may do this. The sword of the Spirit, the word of God, praying always with all prayer, these are your resources in a mighty and eternal God. Even Paul needed the prayers of God’s people.

Won’t you pray for all who read this book? Won’t you pray for every believer, every pastor, every Bible teacher, every minister of the Word of God, every missionary, every Christian teacher? Oh, friends, let’s not stop praying! Help us by prayer that in some way we might reach our gen­eration with the Word of life.

Now, we’ve come to the end of Ephesians. And at the end of Ephesians you’ve got the salutations, and I won’t take any time on them. This closes our study in the book of Ephesians.

And the Lord wonderfully bless you.