In his Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis says that there are two equal and opposite errors that people fall into regarding the dark powers. One mistake is to disbelieve in their existence, the other is to believe in them to excess.

In Ephesians 6:10-12, Paul the Apostle writes: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power… For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places…

Paul takes the reality of conflict in the world to another level: ‘our struggle’, literally, ‘our wrestling’, is not so much against ‘flesh and blood’ but ‘principalities and powers’. In Ephesians 1:10 Paul speaks of the day when all things, ‘in heaven’ and ‘on earth’ will be brought under the rule of Jesus Christ. However, as we read in chapter 6, for the present there’s a war between the two spheres of darkness and light.

Spiritually speaking, God’s people live in enemy occupied territory. The epic that the Gospels reveal and Ephesians 2:4-7 picks up, is that the true king of the universe slipped into our world without fanfare to rescue people enslaved by the dark powers. As Jesus said to Pilate, he could have brought a great and powerful army (John 18:36) but, knowing that only he could defeat the prince of darkness, he came alone. At great personal cost his mission was accomplished. His resurrection authenticates this.

However, for the present the dark powers, although mortally wounded, continue to do their worst, attempting to destroy God’s sure plan to glorify his people.

Against this background we learn from Ephesians 6:10 that God’s people are caught up in a spiritual conflict as individuals and together. It is here that we are often naïve, thinking that people are the only obstacle to spiritual progress in the world. No, Paul warns. There are formidable supernatural forces at work – powers that will not respond to reason. We are in a spiritual conflict that involves dark powers and human choices.

Put on the whole armor of God, we read in verse 13, so that you may be able to stand your ground. There will be times when the dark forces press us morally – everybody’s doing it; sometimes they press us intellectually – you’re too clever for that; sometimes they press us psychologically – your faith is so intolerant; and sometimes we are physically persecuted. The aim is always the same: to silence God’s people.

Stand firm, Paul says. Be alert. Don’t give in. Put on the inner protection of a godly life-style. Our loins need to be girded with God’s truth; we need a breastplate of righteousness; our feet need to be shod with the commitment to spread the gospel of peace, and we need the headpiece of salvation. Our lives are most at risk when our inner defenses are broken through. We need the qualities of integrity, of righteousness, of gospel readiness, and the deep assurance of God’s ultimate victory.

The dark powers will do their worst to discredit our integrity, prevent gospel outreach through lethargy and infighting, and demoralize us by discouraging us.

And so we need protection – the shield of faith with which we can quench the flaming darts of darkness. We can’t cope on our own. We need to trust Christ, for when we do, the darts of darkness will fall useless. ‘The victory that overcomes the world,’ John tells us, ‘is our faith’ (1 John 5:4).

The sword of the spirit. While Paul hasn’t spelled out the meaning of his metaphors up to this point, he wants us to know that the sword is the Word of God. Unlike communism or any other -ism or ideology, there is no place in Christianity for a literal holy war. God’s new society is not brought in by act of Congress, still less at the end of gun.

The Word of God is not a message of the freedom fighters, but one that focusses on personal repentance and God’s forgiveness. The victory of God’s Word will have eternal outcomes.

Prayer. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints… (Ephesians 6:18).

In any battle, communication is vital. For God’s people prayer is our field telegraph. So Paul urges us to pray constantly, to persevere in prayer, and to be vigilant in prayer. We are to pray in the Spirit.

Romans 8:26f helps us understand this, for Paul tells us there that the Spirit works with us in our prayer. In the midst of suffering we’re often at a loss to know what we should say. In those times, Paul says, the Spirit comes to our aid, putting our inarticulate thoughts into meaningful prayer, speaking to God on our behalf.

God’s work is continuing to make inroads on the kingdom of darkness. When Jesus stood on the hills of ancient Israel with a handful of his followers, he said, ‘On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not stand against it’. His words were spoken to humble, un-influential men.

Christ is the legitimate ruler of this universe. Nothing in all creation will prevent the return of God’s King.

As we move towards a new season, let’s hold on to the shield of faith, wield the word of God with greater confidence, and most of all, pray – for one another and for others – that we will stand firm, not failing to live under God’s gospel, nor failing to take his gospel to those around us. Have you checked out: www.word121.com?

A prayer. Almighty God, give us grace so that we may cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light now in the time of this mortal life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came amongst us in great humility: so that on the last day, when he comes again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

How are we to reach a world that insists there are no absolutes? In his recently released, Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World, Dr. Greg Sheridan comments, ‘Popular culture has turned against God, especially against the Christian churches, and pretty often against Christians themselves, over the last 50 years’ (p.171).

In Ephesians, chapter 5 verse 15, Paul the Apostle says to every generation of God’s people: Be careful how you live, not as unwise but as wise,…

Commenting on these words, FF Bruce notes that Paul’s readers are ‘a small minority, and because of their distinctive ways, their lives will be scrutinized by others: the reputation of the gospel is bound up with their public behavior. Hence the need for care and wisdom, lest the Christian cause should be inadvertently jeopardized by thoughtless speech or action on the part of Christians’ (The Epistles to the Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians, p.378).

Significantly Paul continues in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15, …making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. Don’t be foolish. Understand what the Lord’s will is.

We all know how time flies. Paul knew this too: ‘Learn to use it well,’ or ‘Buy up the present opportunity’, he says. We need to understand that although God has opened a door for men and women to enter the new era of his kingdom of light, the present age continues to be shrouded in darkness. The toppling of a democratically elected government in Myanmar and the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, are just two examples. How much we need to pray for peoples everywhere where there is injustice, and especially for God’s people who face persecution for their faith in Christ.

Our awareness of the injustices around us should prompt us to understand God and his will. He has not simply wound the spring of his creation but is personally and vitally committed to rescue the lost. ‘To buy up the present opportunity’ involves, not only our living a new life as God’s people, but also our witness. For the present time has an end – a terminus ad quem. God will draw together all his people from throughout time to himself and close the great doors of the new era on this present age.

And, if you are beginning to think that all this is heavy and burdensome and rather joyless, it’s time to take in verses 18 through 20. Paul begins: Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit,…

The Spirit of God is not a fluid with which we may be filled up. Rather, as Paul points out in Romans chapter 8 verse 9, when we turn to Christ, the Spirit of Christ takes up residence within us. So, instead of being under the influence of alcohol we are to be under the influence of God’s Spirit, the Spirit of Christ within us.

Paul’s contrast here is striking. Alcohol can lead to drunkenness and debauchery, dehumanizing us. We become the reverse of what we were meant to be — no longer the glory of God’s creation, made in his image, but beasts. On the other hand, Paul is saying, when the Spirit of God fills our lives, he enables us to live and run as God’s people with love and joy in our hearts.

Two interesting exhortations follow – singing and thanksgiving.

Singing. Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,… singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts… (5:19).

We don’t often think about the reality that the earliest churches expressed their joy in music and singing. The Psalms were their hymn book. FF Bruce also points out that one of the ancient testimonies – Pliny’s report of antiphonal singing ‘to Christ as God’ – has a bearing on two aspects of this verse: the singing is antiphonal, ‘addressing one another’, and is offered ‘to the Lord’.

This tells us that amongst God’s people, from the earliest times, praise has been offered alike to God and to Christ. One of the ways we worship God and build relationships with one another is through singing God’s truth.

Emotions are a very important part of our makeup. When the Spirit of God is at work in us our singing will have the rich sound that comes from people who have that deep joy which comes from knowing their God.

Thanksgiving: Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ  (5:20).

Nothing brings about tension and division more than ingratitude. To have a thankful spirit is to accept the situation in which you find yourself in the loving providence of God. A thankful heart trusts God, not just in good times, but also in tough times. Thankful people know that in every situation God is working out his good purposes for them – as we read in Romans 8:28-30. Thankful people are more likely to be happy people, because they know the Lord is in control.

God’s ‘spirit-filled’ people who display a great sense of indebtedness to his grace, are people who know peace, harmony and joy.

Be filled with the Spirit … addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,… singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts; … always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

Here we have a response to the cacophony of voices of our day – voices of people who know not love and joy and peace, because they have not yet found the God who loves them with a greater love than they ever dreamed.

Don’t be drunk with wine; don’t be afraid. Rather, be filled with the Spirit and sing songs and hymns with gratitude to God in your hearts.

A prayer. Almighty God, we thank you for the gift of your holy word. May it be a lantern to our feet, a light to our paths, and strength to our lives. Take us and use us to love and serve all people in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In his recently released, Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World, widely respected Australian journalist, Dr Greg Sheridan writes: ‘In the West… religious belief has been in serious decline in recent years. The loss of faith is part of a broad movement in the culture. It is also partly, … related to a shocking loss of knowledge’ (p.40).

‘The West,’ he continues, ‘is a culture willing itself into amnesia and ignorance, like a patient carefully requesting their medical records and then burning them, so they and their physicians will have no knowledge of what made them sick in the past, and what made them well. … If you believe, as I do, that the Bible is true, this is our society willfully depriving itself of truth’ (p.40).

In his Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 17 Paul the Apostle pulls no punches when he writes: Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds, darkened in their understanding, separated from the love of God, because of the ignorance within them…

Paul is not saying that people who seek to live without God can’t be academically smart. Rather, he is saying that no matter how clever a person is, they need to be taught about God. For no matter how sharp or developed human reasoning might be, it won’t find answers to the meaning of life.

Paul speaks about the futility of our minds without Jesus Christ. Ignorance moves from the mind to produce various moral symptoms. In verse 19 he says: They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

The original word for loss of sensitivity is the word from which we get analgesic. Paul is saying that people who don’t believe in God are in a state of self-administered spiritual anaesthesia. Having no spiritual sensitivity, they have a mental block as far as the revealed truth about God.

Now Paul is not saying every non-believer is a libertine. Rather, he is pointing out that over time this is the direction in which our fallen human nature takes us. Yes, there are social inhibitions that check our desires – good families, schools, and social conventions. But, given time, a mind without God will invariably slide in the direction of self-indulgence and sensuality. And, if we’re honest when we look into our own heart, we will surely agree.

That said, Paul goes on to reassure his readers who have come to know God through the Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks of them as having learned Christ and being taught in him (verses 20, 22).

It’s very easy to criticize people around us. But let me ask, how many have had the opportunity to learn about God and Jesus Christ? Are you praying for them?

How many people you know understand that the light of Jesus’ righteousness and justice shines through the New Testament into the growing darkness of our world today? How many know that he was someone who could out-think his opponents? Who at a word could heal the sick and even raise the dead? Who could control the forces of nature with a sharp command? Who, following his harrowing crucifixion refused to stay dead in a tomb?

How many realize that the cross of Christ is central to Christianity? How many know that in choosing to die this way – yes, he chose to do it – Jesus took on to his shoulders the death we deserve before God? Jesus’ death reveals a God who loves us far beyond our imagining. Jesus is the hinge of history.

People around us need to be aroused from their ignorance or amnesia and introduced to Jesus Christ through one of the Gospels. The Anglican Connection is planning seminars on October 22 and 23 about an effective way to introduce Jesus to friends through reading John’s Gospel. Details to come next week.

Returning to Ephesians chapter 4, Paul goes on to say that there is even more to knowing Jesus. He is at work transforming our moral living. This is not about a set of rules and regulations. Rather, having a new mind-set about God and the world, we now want to live in a way that honors our new relationship with him.

New Life. Verses 22 and 23 tell us that we should put off the old self,… be renewed… and put on the new self. Being dependent upon God doesn’t mean that we are passive. Being dependent upon God for our daily food doesn’t mean we don’t work for our living, get our food, and make our meals. In the same way, while God in Christ puts a new mind in us, there is the part that we must play.

This is why we are exhorted to struggle against sin, to fight the good fight, and to run the race. We’re not in a spectator sport where we watch God at work in our lives. Rather we are in a long grueling race that requires effort. God’s work is not to save us the effort; rather the Holy Spirit’s work is to enable us to run.

Knowing Christ – and not just knowing about him – means we have a new nature within us, counteracting the virus of self-interest and sin. Slowly and surely, through our reading of God’s Word and the work of God’s Spirit, we are being transformed into what God intends us to be – heirs with Christ in all the glory of the coming kingdom.

Let’s not be overcome with spiritual amnesia but rather live with joy in our hearts and look for ways to bring the truth of God’s good news afresh to those around us.

Be imitators of God… Paul writes in chapter 5. Live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…

A prayer. Blessed Lord, you have caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, so that, encouraged and supported by your holy Word, we may embrace and always hold fast the joyful hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

A question sometimes put to me is this: ‘Why are many non-churchgoers nicer than some who say they’re Christians?’ Shouldn’t we expect God’s people to be living lives reflecting Jesus’ teaching?

Certainly Paul the Apostle expects this. In Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1 he says: I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, urge you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called…

His exhortation is more far-reaching than a specific set of rules, for it applies to areas of life that might be difficult to define. So, just as members of a family respected for its integrity, will want to uphold the good name of the family God’s people will want to live for the honor of God’s name.

Paul continues: … with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Concerned with how God’s people relate to others, he gives some specifics.

Humility and gentleness: the flip side is conceit and insensitivity. Conceited people tend to be so wrapped up in themselves that they rarely think of others. Indeed, sadly it is true that there are people within the church who are so consumed with their own interests that they are indifferent to others. Yet as we learn elsewhere, humility is needed if we are truly to experience God in our lives. We need to be honest with ourselves and with God about the self-interest that dominates our lives. Once we know the reality of God’s love what should be more natural than putting aside self-interest and indifference and practising humility and gentleness?

To this Paul adds, patience – literally longsuffering. The converse of longsuffering is a quick-fire temper that explodes at the least provocation.

A psychotherapist once observed that we all have sensitive areas in our personalities where our response is out of all proportion to a situation. It’s as though we have mine-fields in our lives. Some have very few mines and are much easier to relate to. However, there are others who have mines everywhere. Their ‘mines’ may be occasioned by a lack of self-confidence or a point of view, such as political correctness, that is so strongly held that no discussion will be tolerated. These people are not easy to get on with. And so, if a group of ten people come together for an enterprise, it only takes one person who is a walking mine-field to destroy the morale and endeavor of the group.

Unity. God’s people are also to bear with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (4:3).

In 1 Corinthians 12:3 we learn that God’s Spirit awakens us and draws us to the Lord Jesus. And in 12:13 Paul tells us that all God’s people, whether Jewish or non-Jewish, slave or free, are baptized into one body. While the Spirit imparts a unity among God’s people within churches and across churches, we are responsible for working this out in practice. And here we have a resource and a model that no-one else has: the character of God. God is not without his points of conflict with us, but he is patient and has provided the example of bearing with us in love. In his love he doesn’t hold grudges and he doesn’t let his anger turn into bitterness. Rather, he is willing to forgive us when we fail him and turn back to him.

And so we are called upon to be willing to forgive one another when we have wronged one another. It is inconsistent with our calling to be argumentative, resentful, and complaining.

That said, we mustn’t misunderstand Paul. He is not saying that we should put up with anything. He goes on to write: But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,… (4:15). To be long-suffering doesn’t mean that that we never rebuke, admonish, or exhort one another. We are called to be non-judgmental. The quality we are to adopt is the spirit of love: love for God and love for people.

Furthermore, Paul has already said in this Letter that our relationship with God is not based on our ‘niceness’ or our good works, but strictly on the grounds of God’s grace: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast (2:8-9).

As there’s no room for pride or boasting in our relationship with God, so there’s no place for arrogance and aggressiveness in our relationships with one another. ‘Be humble and gentle with one another,’ Paul says. This is not weakness but strength. It is only the strong person who can be humble, only the strong person who can be tender.

Niceness. To return to the question of ‘niceness’. Wonderful though it would be if everyone in the world was ‘nice’, God has a greater interest. He is committed to rescuing and creating a new people whom he knows as ‘sons’ and ‘daughters’ and who know him as ‘Father’. People around us may seem ‘nice’ but none of us are ‘good’ in God’s eyes. Our rescue involved Jesus’ crucifixion.

And so there will be ‘nice’ people, and countless others who aren’t necessarily nice at all, who need to be aware of their need to turn to Christ Jesus with repentant hearts. On the other hand, all of God’s people are, in varying ways and varying degrees, a work in progress.

Let’s pray for God’s grace that we may lead a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called…

A prayer. Teach us, gracious Lord, to begin our works with reverence, to go on in obedience, and finish them with love; and then to wait patiently in hope, and with cheerful countenance to look up to you, whose promises are faithful and rewards infinite; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

As I write just under 200 million people throughout the world have been infected by Covid-19 and over 4 million have died. Yet in the midst of this pandemic some who claim to be Christian insist that God will look after them – they don’t need to wear a mask, let alone be vaccinated.

Rightly, we pray for ourselves and for the millions whose health and welfare is at stake, and for the millions who grieve. What expectations can we have when we pray?

In Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 through 21 we read one of the rich prayers of the Bible. Paul the Apostle begins, I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.

While Genesis 1 says that God created all men and women in his image, the Bible reveals a special relationship between God and those who turn to him. Paul is taking up what Jesus says to his people: we can call God, ‘Father’.

What an extraordinary privilege! There is no higher honour God could give us. It means that we stand in a very special relationship with the supreme Lord who transcends space and time. Significantly in his prayer, Paul prays that we might increasingly experience this reality in our lives. We can identify three great expectations.

Inner strength. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit,… (3:16).

The work of the Spirit goes to the heart of our being. Despite what cosmetologists want us to think, the truth is that our physical bodies are wasting away. The time will come, when as far as our physical body is concerned, there is little hope for the future. But Paul wants us to understand it’s not all downhill.

If God is at work in our lives, changes for the better to our inner being can occur. It’s here we see the counter-cultural way God works as opposed to the way that the world expects him to work. The world expects God to work with great displays of power. Tempted to think this way too, we might say that God’s power is to be expressed in self-confidence, self-assertion, and success – there’s no need to wear a mask or be vaccinated.

However, Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit will strengthen our appetite for God. He prays that in the riches of his glory the Spirit will so strengthen our relationship with the Lord, that our confidence and loyalty to him will grow. We see evidence of this power at work when God’s people cope with life’s stresses and pressures with serenity, wisdom and grace.

Transformation. That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love (3:17).

This is the only place in the whole of the Bible that speaks about Christ dwelling in our hearts. Dwell means ‘settle down’, or ‘putting down roots’. Mixing his metaphors Paul prays that God’s people will be well-rooted trees withstanding droughts, and well-built houses that can withstand hurricanes.

There will be many things in us with which Jesus Christ will not be comfortable. Repairs and renovation are needed in our lives. And anyone who has done house renovation and repairs knows it takes longer and costs more than originally expected.

Knowing that this kind of life-changing transformation is what God wants and knowing that it requires God’s power in our lives, Paul prays that God will do what is necessary to make our lives a fit home for his Son.

Now these changes can hurt, for the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God as a scalpel to cut through to our thoughts, words and actions. For as we read in 2 Corinthians 3:16-17, God is committed to change us into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ— from one degree of glory to another. And to follow this through, it means having a neighbor love that with the Covid-19 pandemic we will want to be vaccinated and, as needed, wear a mask.

Grounded in Christ’s love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length, and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (3:18-19).

Early in the 19th century Napoleon’s army opened prisons used in the Spanish Inquisition. They discovered the remains of a prisoner in a deep underground dungeon. The prisoner had suffered a grim death, but he had left a witness. On the wall a cross had been sketched and words written at each corner. At the top of the cross was the word, height, at the bottom, depth, on one side, length, on the other, breadth. In his great suffering this man had known and felt God’s love.

I pray, says Paul, that with all of God’s people you experience the power of God’s love in your hearts, and knowing that experience the fullness of joy with the transcendent Lord.

Benediction. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen (3:20-21).

Paul’s words here startle and encourage us. Our thoughts and imaginations are lifted beyond time and space to the Lord himself. Significantly, the focus of God’s powerful work is amongst and through his people.

To return to our expectations in prayer. Too often we forget God’s awesome cosmic purposes; we focus too much on ourselves. Maybe we are content to swim in the shallows of faith rather than in the deep, crystal clear waters of God’s love. For in his love God has far greater expectations for us than we can even begin to imagine.

A prayer. Almighty God, who taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending them the light of your Holy Spirit: so enable us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things and always to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.