Ephesians Part 93

INTRO: We have come now to the conclusion to the letter. It begins with the word "Finally." The word "finally" introduces a subject entirely different from anything in the letter. It seems there is some reason in the Ephesian church why Paul gives this additional point. Paul must have known something about the Ephesian believers that caused him to tack this onto the end of the letter. So he says, "finally my brethren."

What he deals with in this final, unrelated point, before he concludes is a most important subject. What Paul does here is he opens a large window into the spiritual world that is arrayed against God and against the Christian. What a large window into the spiritual world of darkness we would be missing if it was not for this passage.

The main reason why Paul opens this window is that from it he might instruct the Christian how to overcome the fierce enemy that is seeking to destroy God and the true believer. It might shock you to know that a large percentage of evangelicals do not believe there is such a thing as the devil. How many evangelicals then believe there are demons all over the world? The Bible pictures the forces of good, God's people, and the forces of darkness as armies in opposition to each other. It is this picture that is given in our passage.

If one of the most important things to know for an army facing another army is to know their enemy, then Satan is having a field day in the Church today, and that is what we see. I just read that according to Gallop 70% no longer oppose same gender marriage. That is staggering. Robert Jeffress, an evangelical pastor that was popular with Donald Trump was asked to respond and he said the Church dro