Ephesians 6:18-20: Intercessory prayer
Outline Praying for saints Praying for missions Praying for preachers Introduction We come to the last message on spiritual warfare. We have covered some of the loopy ideas that spiritual warfare is not; the nature...
Ephesians 6:18: Persevering Prayer
Outline Who God is Why God delays Introduction We are lingering over the issue of prayer because it is so needed in our lives. We have reminded ourselves of the nature of prayer, the different...
Ephesians 6:18: The discipline of prayer
Outline Praying at all times Praying in the Spirit Praying with all prayer Introduction Prayer is the easiest thing and the hardest thing for the believer. It is easy for Christ has opened up the...
Ephesians 6:18-20: The Nature of Prayer
Outline What is prayer? Must we pray? How is prayer possible? The mysteries of prayer Introduction What is prayer? 17th century Anglican minister George Herbert has written a famous poem that multiplies the images of...
Ephesians 6:18: Praying and temptation
Outline Christ’s praying in Gethsemane Christ’s teaching in Gethsemane Introduction The greatest spiritual warrior to have walked the earth is Christ. He never gave in to one temptation; He faced greater temptations than anyone will...
Ephesians 6:17: The Sword of the Spirit: Part Two
Outline The sword that dispels darkness The sword that answers temptation Introduction ‘The word,’ acts 6:4; ‘the implanted word,’ James 1:21; ‘the prophetic word,’ 2 Pet. 1:19; ‘the word of God;’ ‘the word of Christ,’...
Ephesians 6:17: The Sword of the Spirit: Part One
Outline The sword that gives life The sword that transforms character Introduction In Pilgrim’s Progress in the Valley of Humiliation on Christian’s journey to the Heavenly City he encounters Apollyon, i.e. the devil. Here is...
Ephesians 6:17: The Helmet of Salvation
Outline The certainty of hope The fight for hope The effect of hope Introduction The typical picture of hopelessness is one taken from WWII. In the concentration camps the soldiers would give the prisoners menial...
Ephesians 6:16: The Shield of Faith
Outline Living by faith Quenching darts Introduction In the book of Hebrews Jewish Christians are being persecuted, imprisoned and facing possible death for being believers. There is immense temptation to throw away Christianity to escape...
Ephesians 6:15: The Shoes of Gospel Peace-readiness
Outline Ready to stand Ready to run Introduction It was Napoleon who said, ‘An army marches on its stomach,’ as true as that is, it is also true that an army marches on its feet....
Ephesians 6:14b: Justification and the Breastplate of Righteousness
Outline Interpreting accusations Interpreting circumstances Introduction At different times, with different audiences I have had to adjust how I have preached the gospel. When I was involved in high school ministry I usually started with...
Ephesians 6:14b: Sanctification and the Breastplate of Righteousness
Outline Counterfeit holiness True holiness Introduction Western Christianity, of which we are a part, can best be described by Christ’s words to the churches of Sardis and Laodicea, Rev. 3:1b-5, ‘I know your works. You...
Ephesians 6:14a: The Reliability of the Bible
Outline The self-attestation of the Bible The unity of the Bible The prophecies of the Bible The archaeology of the Bible The transmission of the Bible The Spirit’s testimony to the Bible Introduction Do you...
Ephesians 6:14a: The Belt of Truth
Outline Worldview Doctrine Introduction The belt of truth that the Christian is to employ in order to stand against the devil and his schemes is under attack. In particular it is under attack from two...
Ephesians 6:12-13: Wrestling against the spiritual forces of evil
Outline What we are up against How we are to react Introduction What are the real problems in the world, who are the real enemies, and how are we to respond? If we ask this...
Ephesians 6:11: The purpose of Spiritual Warfare
Outline The devil His schemes Introduction Satan, the devil, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Belial, the serpent, dragon, strongman, adversary, angel of light, Apollyon, Abaddon, antichrist, wicked one, enemy, god of this age, father of lies, prince of...