- Ephesians 6:5-22 5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; 7 With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: 8 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. 9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 21 But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: 22 Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.
In the world, people are always competing and contending with people around them in order to be successful and are jealous and envious of each other. In the world, when ‘the top person’ is being chosen, people are made to compete, contend, and defeat one another whether it is 100 people or 1000 people. People who [fight their way] up by doing that are chosen as 1st place, 2nd place, and 3rd place winners.
That is why people are always ‘competing’ and ‘contending.’ Losers say, “I lost because that person is strong.” And winners gloat saying, “I am strong. I have done well.”
The losers say, “I’m going to win next time.” And the winners say, “You have no chance next time either. I’m going to win.” So they become ‘enemies to each other.’ It is like that because that’s the way the world is. People are sensitive about who wins and who loses, and thus, awkward situations occur often. People end up contending with each other while harboring grudges. When their emotions run high, they even hit and beat each other up.
They hate each other and even become enemies. Sometimes people have to contend with even friends and people they love. So they feel sorry and are unable to show their abilities fully. It is truly a contradiction.
God’s world and the world of faith are completely different from the way things are done in the world. When you look at Isaiah 55:9, God said: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts are higher than your thoughts right? God’s ways are ‘higher ways just as heavens are higher than the earth.’ God is fair.
Therefore, ‘God’s ways‘ are ways in which everyone succeeds according to their individuality and abilities. They are ways in which everyone succeeds and wins by taking action regardless of what other people do. It is for each person – according to each person’s individuality and on the path of each person’s life – to win by listening to and keeping God’s Word, fighting against Satan, fighting against the people who tempt, people who deceive, people who block their faith, and the slanderers and succeed by doing deeds of ‘righteousness’ with all their heart, will, and life.
When you look at Ephesians 6:12 in today’s main scriptures, it says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil.” It is to achieve victory, succeed and win by fighting against ‘Satan’ and ‘evil’ while doing the work you should do using ‘the Word of the time period’ and ‘goodness’ that we received from God and the Lord. It is not to succeed and win by defeating and bringing down your brothers. Since it is ‘the good fight’ in which you win by contending against and competing with yourself through doing the work you should do in God’s Will, each person will succeed and win according to what each person does. Our fight is not ‘a fight against flesh and blood.’ Nor is it ‘a fight against our brothers.’
It is purely to ‘win by fighting against yourself while doing the work you should do,’ and it is ‘to win by fighting against evil and unrighteousness.’ It is for each person to win in the one-on-one fight against the world, Satan, unrighteousness, evil, and your physical nature. Therefore, as long as you are willing, you will succeed and win. It is not the kind of success and victory in which you win by bringing other people down like in sports, running, or competitions of the world. I hope that after listening to today’s message you will have a correct perception of who you are fighting and struggling against, and work diligently without being wary of each other.
Man’s ways are ‘unfair ways.’ Since people win by bringing people down by competing against them, win by force, win by [having] backers, and win with money, even after [the winners] succeed or win by taking action, the losers may feel they were cheated. God’s ways are not competition, [having] backers, or corruption. It is for you to ‘win by fighting the situations of life’ that lay before you while doing the work you should do. In other words, it is to protect yourself and win by fighting against the temptations of the world, greed, physical love, misunderstandings, laziness, materialism, Satan, unrighteousness, slanderers, and those who deny the Lord.
Therefore, you must not say, “I couldn’t do it because the person next to me oppressed me. I lost because that person is strong but I am weak. I couldn’t do it because of that person.”
If leaders treat the lives and rank them like competitions in the world, God will hold the leaders responsible. It is for each person to achieve victory in the world of faith. Therefore, all people are valuable and all people are winners and successes. I want you to know that and treat each other valuably. If some people do that and other people don’t, then problems will occur again as a result of that. In the world, only 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners are chosen even if everyone is faithful. In God’s history, things are done according to God’s ways. Therefore, everyone becomes successes and winners according to what each person does regardless of the number of people. God did things this way in the past, He is doing things this way in the present, and He will do things this way in the future also until the earth disappears.
Only God and you, yourself know who won in ‘the fight against the world, Satan, unrighteousness, evil, and your physical nature.’ Only God and you, yourself know if you prayed and gave thanks at the right time, right? Everything else is like that too.
I hope that all of you will now live perceiving things according to God’s ways and taking action. I hope that the whole will take action according to God’s ways like this so that the whole will feel at ease and live their lives of faith joyfully.