Throughout July, we worked our way through Ephesians 6:10-20. We saw four major movements in the text:

1) We have an enemy who we cannot see. The enemy is Satan and all his demons. The enemy’s power is immense.
2) The enemy attacks us and rarely misses, which is why we must be equipped with the defensive armor of God. We need to suit up for battle, daily.
3) We get to do more than play defense. God has given us a weapon to drive back the enemy into hell. The Word of God is our Weapon.
4) Always call for backup.

The 4th movement is all about prayer. Unfortunately many people agree with proposition #1, #2, and #3, but they neglect #4. Some may think that as long as they have the right tools, they can go into battle without prayer. This reminds me of a scene from “The Lion King” where Simba thinks he can face the enemy without the presence of his dad, since his dad has taught him the tools to be king.

The bottom line is, we can’t do anything of value without the presence of Jesus (John 15:4). Prayer is where we connect with the Father and Son by the power of the Spirit. We are in a battle. Prayer is how we call for backup.

Always call for backup!

Throughout July, we’ve been working our way through Ephesians 6:10-20. Last Sunday, we arrived at the significance of the Word of God when it comes to spiritual warfare. The facts are:

1) We are in a life-threatening battle against unseen forces, not people.
2) Our enemy is real good at being real bad. His power is immense. His attacks rarely miss, which is why we must have on the full armor of God (suit up for battle).
3) God has also given us an offensive weapon.

In the Bible, the very first time Jesus uses the word “ekklesia” is in Matthew 16:18. He says that the gates of Hell will not stand against His “ekklesia” (church). This tells us something about the mission of the church. Gates are not an offensive weapon. They are a defensive structure, designed to keep the opposition out. The mission of the church is not only to go on the defensive against the enemy, but we are given the call to take up our Sword and push the enemy into the gates of Hell, until the day we storm it and annihilate Hell’s authority.

The Word is our weapon against the enemy. The Word… God’s Word… the Bible. Unlike human words, the Bible is completely true in its entirety. The enemy cannot contradict it. Whenever he tries, we must use it against him. The more we know the Word… The more we understand the Word… The more we use the Word… The more we will advance… The more we will “Be disciples and make disciples.”

This is our battle cry: “Be disciples. Make disciples.” This is our calling. The enemy will do anything he can to push us back, to hold us down… But the Word is our weapon, and we will wield it wisely against the wiles of the devil.

1-2-3 The devil’s after me
4-5-6 he’s always throwing sticks
7-8-9 he misses every time
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Amen.

This is an old children’s song. If Paul would’ve heard these words from the lips of anyone in the first century, he would have interrupted them long before they got to the first syllable of “Hallelujah.”

In Ephesians 6:10-17, we learn that it’s absolutely true, “The devil’s after me.” But, 4-5-6, he’s throwing a lot more than sticks. Paul says we’re in a “struggle.” In Greek, this word carries the imagery of someone trying to choke someone else to death. 7-8-9, he doesn’t miss very often at all… which is why we must suit up the fight.

If we put on the full armor of God, then we can stand. After we’ve done everything, we will stand. As Jesus says, we will advance against the gates of hell (Matthew 16:18).

Let us put the belt of truth around our waists-by having an absolute commitment to telling the truth, and nothing but the truth.
Let us wear the breastplate of righteousness-by doing the right thing, even when we don’t feel like it… even when it doesn’t look like it will benefit us.
Let us fit our feet with the readiness of the Gospel of peace-by forgiving everyone who wrongs us, and by finding our full-satisfaction in Christ.
Let us wear the helmet of salvation-by knowing that we are saved by grace, through faith, even when we don’t “feel” God.
Let us take up the shield of faith-never doubting the goodness of God… believing that God is good, all the time.

Without the shield, all other pieces of armor are useless against the flaming arrows of the evil one. It was doubting the goodness of God that led Adam & Eve to take life into their own hands, thinking God was withholding pleasure from them, thinking God didn’t have their best interests in mind.

The day of evil is here. Let us then suit up for battle, with the full armor of God!

We’re spending the entire month in a series called “Satan Hates Ekklesia.” Some people may see this as counterproductive. Maybe they think Satan enjoys us talking about him. Maybe they think we should just ignore the spiritual forces of evil… act like they don’t even exist…

Well, God disagrees. In Ephesians 6:10-20, we learn that our enemy has a life-threatening stranglehold on us. Our enemy is able to weal immense power and influence. Whether we like it or not, our enemy is studying us, seeking to determine which strategies will bring about the greatest havoc. The less we know about him, the more effective his schemes will be.

So, we’d like to learn from you. If you’re up to it, would you share a story or two with us?

What are some of the strategies that Satan has used against you?

Our Video Contest has drawn a tremendous amount of attention. Since we launched it, the “SatanHatesEkklesia” site got over 6,800 hits, from all 50 states, and 46 countries around the world. Also, we received more than 60 video entries!

The submission deadline has passed, and we’ve chosen what we believe are the top 20, best-suited Films. Now it’s your turn to blog and vote. Whoever gets the most votes by July 31st is gonna get the $700. You can vote only once on each video. So rally up your friends, family, and enemies, and get ‘em to show their love.

Also, we’re hoping to get some great blog discussion going, so I encourage you to help make this happen. Please don’t bash anyone’s video. That would be quite lame. Hopefully, it was never about the money for our contestants. If it was… ok… But here are our real goals:

1. to increase interest in Jesus
2. to break down Christian stereotypes, especially for the benefit of non Christ-followers
3. to develop an online community of creativity that will continue to do more projects like this in the future
4. to inspire other churches to artistically proclaim the Kingdom of God in ways that will engage unreached cultures/subcultures

May we be more in awe of Jesus today than we were yesterday!
-Chris