Week 13 Assignment: Read pages 375-385 in MacArthur on Ephesians 6:18-24. Read and comment on the two posts (Parts 1-2) for our final week.
Three statesments leap out to me from these verses!
1. The Christian life is a battleground.
Tozer captured the worldview of the worldly: “Men think of the world, not as a battleground, but as a playground. We are not here to fight, we are here to frolic” (A. W. Tozer in God Tells the Man who Cares). Paul writes a military strategy for the local church in Ephesians 6:10-20 that portrays the Christian life as a war that God has equipped us to win.
2. Satan is our opponent. Not “flesh and blood” or our co-workers, neighbors, mates, parents, children, the government, etc. Our enemy is supernatural.
3. God is our Commander-in-Chief. He has armed us adequately to do battle. “Nuclear wars cannot be won with rifles” (Harold W. Hoehner. Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002, 859). God has supplied a supernatural arsenal for us which includes prayer. We use this supernatural weapon against our supernatural enemy.
Napoleon had a military philosophy that an army travelled on its belly. In other words, you must keep your soldiers fed. Paul’s military philosophy was that the army of Jesus Christ travels on its knees. James must have practiced this technique because he known as “Camel Knees” because he prayed so much.
Paul concludes the entire epistle of Ephesians, the theme of which is The Unity that Love can Bring, and this final section, How to Resist the Devil, with a charge to God’s people to pray.
How can our local church be united in resisting the Devil?
1. By Depending on God’s Strength (Ephesians 6:10-11a)
2. By Knowing our Enemy (Ephesians 6:11b-13)
3. By Putting on God’s Spiritual Armor (Ephesians 6:14-20)
Paul now commands the local army of God after we have put on God’s spiritual armor to go to battle on their knees. How can we do battle on our knees?
1. By Always Being Able to Pray “Praying always”
A. In the OT, there were prescribed times of daily prayer (Psalm 55:17).
B. Now, we can pray any time (1 Thess 2:9, 3:10). In these verses, Paul told the Thessalonians that he both labored and prayed “night an day” which obviously does not mean 24/7 but as he had the opportunity he worked and prayed. “When we are tempted, we hold the temptation before God and ask for His help. When we experience something good and beautiful, we immediately thank the Lord for it. When we see evil around us, we pray that God will make it right and be willing to be used of Him to that end. When we meet someone who does not know Christ, we pray for God to draw that person to Himself and to use us to be a faithful witness. When we encounter trouble, we turn to God as our Deliverer” (MacArthur, 380).
I read this description of true prayer somewhere. Prayer is not an intercom system on a cruise ship where we order more food. But prayer is a walkie talkie on the battlefield where we get our next command for war. Which way do we think of prayer?
In my last post I give four other ways to do battle in prayer.
Week 13: The NEW Bible Institute on Ephesians: The Spiritual Warfare of Prayer, Part 1
Posted: March 4, 2010 in Ephesians ClassTags: A. W. Tozer, Harold W. Hoehner's Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary, John MacArthur
Week 13 Assignment: Read pages 375-385 in MacArthur on Ephesians 6:18-24. Read and comment on the two posts (Parts 1-2) for our final week.
Three statesments leap out to me from these verses!
1. The Christian life is a battleground.
Tozer captured the worldview of the worldly: “Men think of the world, not as a battleground, but as a playground. We are not here to fight, we are here to frolic” (A. W. Tozer in God Tells the Man who Cares). Paul writes a military strategy for the local church in Ephesians 6:10-20 that portrays the Christian life as a war that God has equipped us to win.
2. Satan is our opponent. Not “flesh and blood” or our co-workers, neighbors, mates, parents, children, the government, etc. Our enemy is supernatural.
3. God is our Commander-in-Chief. He has armed us adequately to do battle. “Nuclear wars cannot be won with rifles” (Harold W. Hoehner. Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002, 859). God has supplied a supernatural arsenal for us which includes prayer. We use this supernatural weapon against our supernatural enemy.
Napoleon had a military philosophy that an army travelled on its belly. In other words, you must keep your soldiers fed. Paul’s military philosophy was that the army of Jesus Christ travels on its knees. James must have practiced this technique because he known as “Camel Knees” because he prayed so much.
Paul concludes the entire epistle of Ephesians, the theme of which is The Unity that Love can Bring, and this final section, How to Resist the Devil, with a charge to God’s people to pray.
How can our local church be united in resisting the Devil?
1. By Depending on God’s Strength (Ephesians 6:10-11a)
2. By Knowing our Enemy (Ephesians 6:11b-13)
3. By Putting on God’s Spiritual Armor (Ephesians 6:14-20)
Paul now commands the local army of God after we have put on God’s spiritual armor to go to battle on their knees. How can we do battle on our knees?
1. By Always Being Able to Pray “Praying always”
A. In the OT, there were prescribed times of daily prayer (Psalm 55:17).
B. Now, we can pray any time (1 Thess 2:9, 3:10). In these verses, Paul told the Thessalonians that he both labored and prayed “night an day” which obviously does not mean 24/7 but as he had the opportunity he worked and prayed. “When we are tempted, we hold the temptation before God and ask for His help. When we experience something good and beautiful, we immediately thank the Lord for it. When we see evil around us, we pray that God will make it right and be willing to be used of Him to that end. When we meet someone who does not know Christ, we pray for God to draw that person to Himself and to use us to be a faithful witness. When we encounter trouble, we turn to God as our Deliverer” (MacArthur, 380).
I read this description of true prayer somewhere. Prayer is not an intercom system on a cruise ship where we order more food. But prayer is a walkie talkie on the battlefield where we get our next command for war. Which way do we think of prayer?
In my last post I give four other ways to do battle in prayer.
Like this: