I remember a time when a friend of mine was struggling. I didn’t know about it at the time, but my wife found out about it. And she was determined to connect with her. I remember we prayed for her and I assumed that was enough. But my wife took it to the next level. And while I was in the bedroom she invited her over and they talked for about two hours.
Then my wife came in the bedroom and said come out and pray for her. And I said surely you can do that, right? But she convinced me that spiritual warfare prayers were needed, and those kind of prayers are at a different level.
I was so grateful for the moments that came next. We anointed our friend with oil. And we prayed over her. She renounced the enemy, and the demon fled. The core of the issue was hit by the Lord, and victory came as a result.
If you’re feeling trapped in something, some hidden sin, there is a remedy that is very powerful, go to a Christian friend you trust, and confess it all. Let it all out. Or go to your pastor and let it out. It loses it’s power, when it’s brought into the light. And the fellow believer can pray for you, and you will find deliverance.
What if my wife hadn’t been so intentional? What if I hadn’t done my part? What if we just felt lazy and didn’t really reach out? God uses people. We in the body of Christ have to be much more intentional about talking to each other, praying together, making a phone call, visiting someone’s house, and anointing each other, fasting for each other, and overall, just being a community who supports each other one on one. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today.
Over the last few weeks we’ve examined spiritual warfare, and how to fight and win the battles against demonic forces. The last four messages have all been internal, meaning we’ve looked at how to fight the battle inside ourselves, the battle of the mind.
We discussed declaring the truths of scripture over our lives, we’ve discussed our authority in Christ as a believer, we’ve discussed following God’s leading, and last week we discussed being empowered by the love of God.
Today, we begin to take the spiritual battle to the external realm, that which goes on around us.
The first challenge today comes in verse 1 which says, “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.”
You have been called to this battle by God. Paul understands the battle, he’s in prison writing this letter, he knows how spiritual battle goes. And he tells us today, lead a life worthy of your calling.
So my challenge to you today is this: Live up to your calling. The battle is going on all around you every day. Either your aware of it and fighting it or you’re an ignorant dope who is swept along by life and ruined.
Many of you here have decided to arm yourselves with truth and engage in the battle. That’s wisdom. Some of you are still ignoring it. That’s a road to disaster.
But what we’re going to see today is that we need each other. I can’t survive this life as a solo Christian. I’ll get picked off easy. But if I have believers surrounding me, then I’ll be protected.
So we’re a family of believers, together, on the road to heaven. How do we help each other?
Verse 2: “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.”
If you present yourself in a way that is humble and gentle, other believers will realize that they can trust you. That you are a safe person. And they will confide in you. They be able to honestly share what’s going on. Be patient.
Make room for each other’s faults. We all have issues here, and we have to simply let that be the case, and be ok with it, and still be a family together.
If you allow yourself to be humble, open, and vulnerable, you become a safe person. Someone others can come to and confess their sins, and be prayed for.
Next, verses 3-6: 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.
5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all,
who is over all, in all, and living through all.”
One word: Unity. The body of Christ must stand united, if we’re divided, we’re doomed. That doesn’t mean we don’t disagree, we all disagree on many things, but in the faith we stand united.
Next, verses 7-8: “7 However, he has given each one of us a special gift[a] through the generosity of Christ. 8 That is why the Scriptures say,
“When he ascended to the heights,
he led a crowd of captives
and gave gifts to his people.”[b]
Despite the fact that we are called to be united as believers, yet at the same time, we all have very unique gifts. These gifts are intended to help each other and serve each other.
My guess is you already know your gift. If you don’t, ask God. If you do, use it. And keep using it. Make it your thing. The thing you’re good at it in the body of Christ, whether it’s being encouraging, or praying with people, or challenging people to grow.
Next verses 9-10: “9 Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.[c] 10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.”
It’s important to remember that Jesus is no longer on the cross. He’s no longer dead in the grave. He’s no longer simply risen from the grave, he is ascended to heaven. He is seated on a throne in heaven. Yet he is also at the same time with every single person on planet Earth who is born again. In fact he holds the universe together by his mighty power.
That’s why Jesus has all power and at His name demons must flee, because Jesus fills all the universe. He is with us. And he holds reality itself together.
Yet Jesus also gave us each other. And God works through people. So in the battle of spiritual warfare, God has given us a team approach.
Today is the super bowl, and like any team, we can’t win by ourselves. If it was just Patrick Mahomes vs the Eagles, Mahomes would lose. But with the whole team, plus the refs, they’ve got a pretty good chance.
Similarly, in God’s kingdom, we have leaders who speak truth into our lives.
Next, verses 11-12: “11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”
This is what theologians call the five-fold ministry. The church is led by these five categories of leaders. Look for ministers and Christian leaders who can speak into your life from these areas of leadership.
I’m always looking on YouTube for leaders who may have the calling as an apostle, or a prophet, or an evangelist, or a pastor or a teacher. An apostle plants churches and shakes things up in the body of Christ. A prophet tells us about the future and calls us to repentance from sins. An evangelist spreads the gospel to unbelievers. A pastor leads a congregation. And teachers are gifted in explaining the word of God to others.
In spiritual warfare we need the five fold ministry. I have friends who are gifted teachers, I have friends who have a prophetic gifting, I have friends who are gifted pastors. They all speak into my life in unique ways. Seek that in your walk with Jesus. Find people and ministries that will speak into your life.
This Sunday morning service should not be the only connection you have to Christianity. You should be listening to Christian radio. You should have a group you attend where you study the Bible. You should have ministers and prophets you listen to online. You must be actively seeking sources of truth and life and Spirit.
I’ve known many Christians over my time in ministry, and the ones who are growing the most, they’ve found prayer calls they tune in to. They’ve found discipleship programs that they attend, conferences they go to, events they attend, outreaches they participate in, they have places they volunteer during the week, they literally fill their lives with Christian practice.
If you’re trying to build that but don’t know where to look, talk to me and we’ll figure out some options for you.
I’m a part of the five fold ministry. The five fold’s job is to equip God’s saints, that’s you, to do His work. Sometimes we wrongly assume that the congregation’s job is to cheer the pastor on as he serves God, wrong, the pastor’s job is to equip you to do the work of ministry yourself. You are the minister. My job is to give you what you need to do it.
All this builds up the body of Christ, makes it grow. And the gospel message goes out everywhere then. But if we don’t, the church declines, and the gospel doesn’t go out. And people die without Jesus.
The goal is that we would be a network of believers, united across the globe, helping each other, encouraging each other, praying for each other, protecting each other, and blessing each other with our gifts, and as we do that, the enemy is on the run, in retreat, because if the church is united, the enemy can’t stand against that.
Next, verse 13: “ 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”
As we live what we’re learning, our identity in Christ is firm, rock solid, and we are exercising our authority in Christ to crush the enemy, and we’re learning to hear the Spirit and do what God says, and we have the love of God rushing through our veins like living water, and we’re also seeing ourselves as part of a family fighting force, serving God together, then, we will grow in such unity in our faith and knowledge of Jesus, that we will be mature in the Lord.
We will look like Jesus, in how Jesus lived. Our lives will finally match our savior, in our love and service to others.
That’s the goal in all this growth we’re seeing in our lives. The goal is that we would continue to grow and grow until we really do measure up to the full stature of Christ.
Does that sound crazy or way too big and scary to do? It’s not. It’s something God is doing in us. So as long as we’re cooperating with God and seeking to grow, it will happen, as God builds us. And the five fold will help. And fellow believers will help us.
Remember the example from the beginning. We need each other. And when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, and really ask for help, and have other believers pray over us, and confess whats really going on, we can and will protect and serve each other. And the enemy will have to flee.
Next, verse 14: “Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.”
Christians early in their walk with Jesus are easily blown around here and there by different teachings. I’m a Calvinist, no I’m an Arminian, I believe in spiritual gifts, no I’m a cessationist, Pentecostal, charismatic, Baptist, Anglican, back and forth, always blown back and forth with different teachings.
Christians who are new, or who lack discernment, are also very easy targets for worldly arguments, and ending up on the wrong side in political stuff, and watching things on TV and movies and music they shouldn’t be listening to, but they don’t see how evil it is, so they end up caught in it. Then the Holy Spirit convicts them and they realize, oh wait that was wrong.
Christians who are new are an easy target to be manipulated by the news media, and always dragged between different opinions on complex issues.
The goal is that by slow and steady growth we would grow in our journey with Jesus in such a way that we would no longer be easily manipulated by the world system, or by theological debates in the church.
A lot of that is all based in pride. And as we humble ourselves, truly humble ourselves, study the word carefully, and ask God for discernment, and ask the Spirit for guidance, we will naturally know, from an inward instinct, what is right and what is false.
Lastly, verses 15-16: “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.
16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
These last two verses help us pull this all together.
I don’t know a better way under heaven to say our Christian faith better than this: “Speaking the truth in love.” If we speak the truth without love, it comes off as obnoxious and empty. If we speak lovingly without truth, it comes off as empty and vacuous and pointless.
Jesus is the king and leader of our army.
The five fold of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are the equippers of the movement.
And the saints, the Christians, are the foot soldiers, being led by Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and being equipped by the five fold, they study the word, disciple each other, lift each other up, pray for each other, and bring the gospel to the lost world.
If we isolate ourselves, thinking we’re Lonewolf Christians, we won’t succeed. We’ll be destroyed, and fall away. But, if we stay in formation, in unity with other believers, guided by Jesus, and equipped by the five fold, then we’ll prosper, and be there for each other in critical moments, when we’re feeling weak, and need support. Praise God for the wisdom of God’s plan. We need each other. And if we stand united, nothing can stop us. And the enemy will flee in defeat.
Review of Main Points:
1. Live up to your Calling – the spiritual battle is real, it’s time to fight
2. Be Real– being vulnerable & humble shows others its safe to confide in you
3. Unity is Vital – seek at all costs to stand united with other believers
4. Use your gift in the Church – the other believers need it desperately
5. Jesus ascended – he upholds the universe, he is with every believer, in power and authority
6. The Five-Fold Ministry exists to equip the saints to serve God
7. Maturity is the goal – as you grow keep your eye on the goal of maturity
8. Maturity means stability – If we are mature we will not be easily deceived by the world system
9. Speaking the truth in love – we learn to balance truth and love
10. The Battle Plan – Jesus is King, the five fold equips, and the saints are the soldiers discipling, encouraging, and spreading the gospel everywhere
