Sunday School Lesson

1. Ephesians 6:10-20
Walking to Battle
November 24, 2019
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA
What’s the number one thing?
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The glory of God!
1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God.
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2. Father,
Teach us Thy statutes (v12),
Open our eyes (v18),
Stir our hearts (v2,32,36) and
Enlighten our minds (v 27,34,73,125).
Psalm 119
Ephesians 6:10-20 NKJV
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.
Wiles of the devil
1. Challenging God’s Word.
2. Challenging our identity.
3. Twisting Scripture.
4. Offering a tempting alternative to obedience.

3. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual
hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole
armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the
breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace;

4. 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked one.
17a And take the helmet of salvation,

5. 17b and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to
this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth
boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel, 20 for which I am an
ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Ephesians 6:10-20 NKJV

6. Since before the first Adam, God has desired to have man as a partner, to co-
rule the universe with Him.
Adam/Eve are a picture of Christ (the second Adam) and the Church.
God did not make a man out of Adam’s rib; He made a woman.
Adam and Eve became one flesh, well, Adam and Steve can’t do that.
The Bride of Christ needs to know how to overcome evil as she rules with Christ in
the millennium and beyond!
What forces to be overcome in the eternal ages, we do not know.
The primary purpose of the present universe is the production and preparation of
the Eternal Companion for the Son of God.
She will share the throne of the universe with Jesus and she must be trained,
educated and prepared for her role.
Her crown is only for the conqueror, the overcomer (Revelation 3:21) so she must
learn the art of spiritual warfare.

7. Revelation 3:21 NKJV
21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
She must learn the techniques of overcoming through the program of believing
prayer.
Prayer is not primarily for getting things done but prayer is God’s way of giving
the Church on-the-job training in overcoming the forces hostile to God.
Those destined for the throne are learning how to overcome Satan and his
hierarchy.
Redeemed humanity outranks all other created beings in the universe.
Angels are created, not born from above, but redeemed humanity is both
created and regenerated (born again), thus uniquely bearing His image and we
become members of His family.
We are already legally on the throne.
Through the use of her weapons of prayer and faith, she holds the balance of
power in world affairs.
The Church is the mightiest force for civilization and social consciousness in the
world today.

8. The only force that is contesting Satan’s schemes is the Church.
Imagine if he were unopposed.
If we were not the salt of the Earth, the fabric of all that we call civilization would
disintegrate.
We have already entered our rulership with Christ.
The Church wields the
1) balance of powers in world affairs and
2) in the salvation of individual souls.
Intercession releases the Spirit of God on the nonbeliever’s soul to the point it is
easier for that soul to yield to the Spirit’s tender wooing and be saved than to
continue in its rebellion.
God does nothing but in answer to prayer because He will not go over the
Church’s head to do things in spite of her.
That would abort His plan to bring her to full maturity in the Son.
In order to enable the Church to overcome Satan, God entered the stream of
human history in the Incarnation!
God could easily put Satan away, but He allows Satan to carry on guerrilla
warfare to use him to give the Church training in overcoming.
God has chosen prayer as the means to partner with us.
Jesus legally destroyed Satan at the cross, but God has given the Church the
power of attorney, has made her His deputy but this delegated authority is
wholly inoperative apart from the prayers of a believing Church.

9. Any church without a well-organized and systematic prayer program is
operating a religious treadmill.
A program of prayer without faith is powerless.
A loving bride (the Church) has faith in and believes in her husband (Jesus).
The missing element that is necessary to energize triumphant faith is praise -
praise is the highest form of prayer.

10. Praise is the spark plug of faith and praise gets faith airborne.
Praise is the detergent that purifies faith and purges doubt from the heart.
The secret of answered prayer is faith without doubt.
Faith without doubt is praise.
Mark 11:23 NKJV
23 “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and
be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those
things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”
The universe was created to provide a suitable habitation for the human race,
and the human race was created to provide an eternal companion for God’s
Son.
Israel was born to bring in the Messiah.
The Messiah came to give birth to the Church to become His bride.
The Church is the central object of all of human history and there is no such thing
as secular history.
The Old Testament is the account of a nation.
The New Testament is the account of a Man.
The nation (OT) was founded and nurtured of God to bring the Man into the
world.
One major purpose of the Man is to claim His Beloved.
Prophecy is history written in advance.
It’s all about the wedding of God’s Son.

11. Luke 12:32 NKJV
32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the
kingdom.”
Revelation 3:21 NKJV
21 “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
God could not become incarnate in angels because they were not created in
the full image of God.
No other created being approaches the capacity of human beings to “contain”
God.
Because angels were not made in the full image of God, He could not therefore
become incarnate in them, the fallen angels cannot be redeemed and there is
a lot about salvation that they do not know.

12. 1 Peter 1:12 NKJV
10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who
prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what
manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To
them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the
things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached
the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels
desire to look into.
Genesis 1:27 NKJV
27 So God created man in His own image, in the (full) image of God He created
him; male and female He created them.
Since male and female are part of God’s full image, it follows that angels were
not created in his full image regardless of other attributes they may have in
common with humans, i.e., spirit nature; intellectual, emotional, and moral
endowments; original holiness.
See last week’s lesson from Ephesians 5:22-33 concerning the analogy of human
marriage as a picture of Christ and the Church.
Ephesians 5:25-27
25 Husbands, love your wives (angels don’t have wives), just as Christ also loved
the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her
with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should
be holy and without blemish.
Satan and the demons are fallen angels and they hate the distinction between
male and female.
No angel can ever become a member of the family of God.
Angels can never be partakers of the divine nature and none can ever become
a member of the Bridehood.

13. No angel can say “we shall be called the sons of God” and no angel can say
“when He shall appear we shall be like Him”. (1 John 3:1-2)
Hebrews 2:10-11 NKJV
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in
bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect
through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being
sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them
brethren,
John 1:12 NKJV
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of
God, to those who believe in His name:
The new birth is the only way to get more family members into the family of the
Trinity.
Physical brothers and sisters would encourage each other to live pure lives, to
live up to the family name and make the Father proud, not disgruntled.
Disgruntled ‒ Angry or dissatisfied.
1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV
9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

14. Listen to Paul’s prayer for us to see something of the future God has called us to
share in.
Ephesians 1:18 NKJV
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all
the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my
prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of
your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of
His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
This is God’s way of giving the church on-the-job training in overcoming the
forces hostile to God.
Prayer is how we learn to overcome Satan and his hierarchy.
The Bride of Christ needs to know how to overcome evil as she rules with Christ in
the millennium and beyond!
What forces to be overcome in the eternal ages, we do not know.
Revelation 3:21 NKJV
21 “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
The prayer closet is the arena that produces the overcomer!
God does not really need any help.
God has bound Himself not to act without man.
Ezekiel 22:30 NKJV
30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the
gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no
one.
Why doesn’t God go over our heads and carry out His will without us?

15. Why did He set up a system where He does nothing without us?
Over and over God urges us to pray.
He also commands us to pray.
Matthew 9:38 NKJV
38 “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
God also binds Himself to answers.
His part is already done.
Prayerlessness falls completely on us.
There is no fine print in God’s prayer contract.
Through the plan of prayer, God offers redeemed man full partnership with Him,
not in making divine decisions (His will) but in implementing those decisions (His
will) in the affairs of man.
He allows us to fail in order to learn.
God sets His will and then the Church is to carry it out.
Matthew 16:19 NKJV
19 “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 18:18 NKJV
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Luke 10:19 NKJV
19 “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and
over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
John 20:21-23 NKJV
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also
send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to
them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven
them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

16. We are His proxies with the power of attorney to do His bidding.
We are His deputies with full authority to enforce, through prayer, the divine will
and program.
Why did God place His authority on the shoulders of the redeemed and why did
He choose prayer as the system to get things done?
Ephesians 5 – marriage between Christ and the Church.
The Church occupies almost the highest position in the universe, second only to
the Trinity.
We govern with Christ with authority over the nations.
1 Corinthians 6:2-3 NKJV
2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be
judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not
know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
Prayer is God’s way of training us to rule with Christ.
Revelation 2:26 NKJV
26 “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give
power over the nations—"
Revelation 5:9-10 NKJV
9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the Earth.”

17. Prayer grooms us for the Groom.
We must learn the art of spiritual warfare, of overcoming evil forces.
God devised the scheme of prayer to defeat the schemes of the devil.
We are to be enforcing His will here on Earth now as training; practicing His
presence through prayer.
Prayer helps the Bride acquire character (for example: patience) she will need
as she reigns with Christ.
No angel (they do not have the full image of God) can share the throne (they
don’t have the right genetics).
God’s prayer program is His method of preparing the Bride for her future role,
grooming her for the crown.

18. It’s all about the Groom!
This is why God never goes over the head of the Bride to enforce His will, He will
not take things out of her hands because it would sabotage His training plan.
It ain’t gonna happen!
The weight of the responsibility of enforcing His will brings her to maturity.
That is why: when she fails, He will wait.
That is why He will do nothing, not take the responsibility out of her hands, until
she exercises her privilege and prerogative of intercession.
If she will not pray, God will not act because He would be aborting His purpose
to bring her to full potential.
He will let the whole world go to destruction before He will abort, He will not
override His Church.
His eternal purpose is to prepare an Eternal Companion to enter full partnership
with His Son and govern the universe together.
That is why prayer is the main business of the Church.
S. D. Gordon said, “The greatest thing anyone can do for God and for man is to
pray.”
Prayer is striking the winning blow; service is gathering up the results.

19. The more praying there is in the world, the better the world will be, the mightier
the forces against evil.
A. J. Gordon said, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you
cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”
Some businesses require the signatures of two individuals to make a check
valid.
One signature is not enough, both parties with authority must sign.
This illustrates God’s method of operating through prayer and the faith of His
people.
His promises are His checks, signed in the blood of His Son, but no promise is
made good until a redeemed man enters the throne room of the universe and,
by prayer and faith, writes his name beside God’s name.

20. It is like a safety deposit box that requires two keys to open the box.
Prayer is not overcoming reluctance in God nor is it persuading Him to do
something He is unwilling to do.
Prayer is implementing His decisions.
Prayer is enforcing His will on Earth.
Prayer makes possible God accomplishing what He wants.
The content of all true prayer originates in the heart of God.
He inspires the prayer in the heart of the believer so the answer to every God-
inspired petition is already prepared before the prayer is uttered.
When we are convinced of this, the faith for the answer is easy – far easier than it
would be otherwise.
No angel has ever been invited into this high privilege.
Not even an archangel has ever been invited into the throne room of the
universe.
Do you realize Who is inviting and where He is inviting you to join Him?
Only redeemed humanity is issued these invitations!
How can we say we are too busy to accept God’s invitation into the throne
room?
What else is more important?

21. How can we say that we don’t have time to pray?
We have more leisure time than we have ever had before yet we say that we
just don’t have time to pray.
We cheat God, the world and ourselves when we don’t pray.
We frustrate God’s high purpose when we don’t pray.
How do you feel about being responsible for frustrating God?
We are limiting our rank in eternity when we don’t pray.
Not praying leads to missed opportunities.
Satan has never been able to stop God from calling out the Church.
God loves unity among the body of Christ and that is why Satan fights (spiritual
warfare) so hard against it.

22. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
John 3:16-17 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him
might be saved.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me.”
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this life to
pay the penalty for our sin.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the “second death” explained in
Revelation 21:8.
Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
• Anyone who’s lifestyle is one or more of the sins listed in Revelation 21:8,
will experience the “second death,” if they do not repent.
• To Repent means to turn around, to go in the opposite direction, to turn
away from sin and to come to Jesus.
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be
My son.”
• Romans 10:9-10 explain to us how to be overcomers.

23. Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Do you have questions?
Would you like to know more?
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-949-1900 or
http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/