At the time Paul was writing the letter to the Ephesian church, he was a prisoner of Rome. Jewish leaders that hated him and the Gospel that he preached, had brought false accusations against him. He had a strong case for his innocence, but had appealed to see Caesar in Rome because political pressures in the Judean region were preventing him from getting a fair trial. This resulted in a lot of waiting and a lot of time in jail or under house arrest. Throughout this difficulty he came to know what it meant to stand strong in the Lord, what it meant to have a conspiracy against you, and what it was like to stir up the forces of darkness against you by faithfully doing God's work.
Paul also became very familiar with Roman soldiers and probably saw one in full battle armor every day. These factors, combined with the spiritual battles he knew the Ephesian Christians would be facing, living in one of Satan's strong holds, led him two write Ephesians 6:10-20 based on the image of Roman battle dress. Paul wanted the Ephesians to realize not just the nature and extent of the battle they were in but also the incredible armor of God they had at their disposal. To stand strong, however, they couldn't just know about it, they needed to put it on!
While Paul was writing this letter to Ephesians, God was supernaturally guiding every word and preserving it for us today. We too, are in a battle and God wants us to Stand Strong. We live in the last days as described in 2 Timothy where Paul wrote:
"But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power."*
We are either fighting to stay holy and advance the Gospel of Christ or else we are right where Satan wants us. I hope you will join in today and consider your situation right now and be inspired to put on Christ and stand strong.
Please note, this is part of a series of messages on this passage. The first message can be found here and the second message here.
I pray that God will use these to help and bless you.
