The Ephesians Connection

Ed  Corley

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man~Ephesians 3:15.

Ephesians Truth is important in any realm of spiritual battle. In it Paul reveals The Connection we believers have that enables us to overcome satanic harassment. The Ephesians Connection emphasizes our joining with the Lord Jesus Who has taken us to the cross with Him, and then, through His resurrection, on to His Throne. One of Paul’s most clear and precise statements regarding this is found in Ephesians 2:4-6. I place here my own interpretation of this passage from the Received Text of the Greek New Testament.

But God, being bountiful in mercy, through His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in transgressions, 1)HAS MADE US ALIVE TOGETHER with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and. 2)HAS RAISED US UP TOGETHER with Christ, and 3)HAS MADE US SIT TOGETHER in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.

These verses speak of three of the “connections” we have with Christ Jesus. We have been made alive together with Him. We have been raised up together with Him. We have been made to sit together with Him in the heavenlies.

    Let’s look at the three Greek words Paul used to express these connections. (Don’t try to pronounce them but do take note that each one begins with the same three letters—sun.) They are: sunezoopoíeese, suneégeire and sunekáthisen. The little prefix sun—pronounced “soon,” is a Greek Preposition that means “together with.”

To emphasize its importance as a prefix to the above words, let’s consider three other Greek words that also mean “with,” but each from a different angle. One of them is meta which means “in company with.” Another is pros which means “face to face with.” Another is para which means, “parallel with.” But, sun has a special meaning. Paul was particularly fond of it.

Imagine a line drawn on a chalkboard, with another line drawn precisely over it, in the same place. There you have two lines, but you only see one. They are “together with each other” in exactly the same place.

    Paul used this little word sun (soon) to say:

Romans 6:6— We were crucified together with Christ.

Romans 6:8—We died together with Christ.

Romans 6:4—We were buried together with Christ.

Romans 6:5—We have been planted together with Christ.

And, to see these again in Ephesians:

Ephesians 2:5—God has quickened us together with Christ.

Ephesians 2:6a—He has raised us up together with Christ.     

Ephesians 2:6b—He has made us sit together with Christ.

What grace! Learning what they mean, means we can keep watch over our own souls. How do we really learn what they mean? We let our hearts embrace them first—by believing. Our understanding can then follow. If we will do this, we won’t  always have to run to someone else to “pray us through.”

We simply need enough knowledge of God’s Word to enable us to deal with the seducing spirits.They are always hanging around, like buzzards smelling for some carnality in us on which they might land. So, the first thing for us to do is to bring our carnal ways to the Lord. (We will pursue this matter in the May “prayer starter” booklet.)

Then, see this powerful statement near the close of Ephesians. In some of the most important instruction Paul gives us, we learn that ...we wrestle •not against flesh blood, but •against principalities, •against powers, •against the rulers of the darkness of this world, •against spiritual wickedness in high places—Ephesians 6:12.

It‘s very enlightening to observe that the word against, used five times in the above verse, is from the Greek word pros. It means “face to face with.” Oh, how bold and daring is the confrontation when we meet these forces of evil on the field of battle!

And where is this field of battle? Right outside our own spirit, in our own “inner man.” We come at them in the Name and in the triumph that has been given us in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Early one morning, a friend at whose house I had spent the night, came down from the roof where he had been praying and asked if I had ever exorcised myself. I thought he said “exercised” and I said that I didn’t as often as I should. He proceeded to tell me that while he was praying that morning, he had to deal with several unclean spirits that had found their way into him.

When he said he had been dealing with spirits, I knew I hadn’t understood what he asked me. He was inquiring if I had ever engaged in a personal exorcism. The wording of that question then became strange to me. I thought of exorcism as something rather bizarre that only took place in rare cases of demon possession. This man was a bright, open, friendly person, respected by all who knew him. He was an associate Pastor in one of the most well known churches in the United States. And he spoke to me of a personal exorcism?!

Although the way he asked his question was unusual and only spoken between two close friends, I have since found that the thing of which he spoke is in fact very real and it is very practical.

As a practice it is supported in three different ways: First, it has foundation in the Scriptures; Second, there is a need for it, even in the lives of many believers; Third, when understood and put into practice by a person who knows his, or her, place in Christ, it works!

There are many believers who don’t believe such a practice is reasonable, or even possible. How can Christians have something like a seducing spirit working in them? But that brother had a different understanding.

What he had done, quietly and privately that morning while on his roof, was to command the expulsion of some spirits that had been causing him trouble, especially in his mind and emotions. They had, for a while, been holding him in a place of spiritual weakness. But, the Holy Spirit had made him aware of what was going on inside him and with the authority that he knew was his in Christ, he took command of the situation.Something right took place in him that morning as he dealt with those spirits.

We gain additional support for this in Ephesians 6:10-12, a passage that is already familiar to many of you. We’ll look at it later in my own translation  from the Received Text of the Greek New Testament.

It’s apparent that the Apostle Paul understood the work of demons. He saw that, if given legal ground, seducing spirits will push their way in toward the spirits of believers. In II Timothy 2:26 he spoke of people recovering ...themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. This comes from a Letter Paul wrote while he was in prison in Rome. It was addressed to his “spiritual” son, Timothy, who was caring for people Paul could no longer be with.

He was telling the young man how to minister to those who need help in getting the government of their lives into order—and then, to keep them in order. To see more of what Paul was saying to Timothy, let’s expand II Timothy 2:24-26.

And the servant of the Lord must not strive (The bondservant of the Lord must not be contentious, quarrelsome or always involved in some controversy); but be gentle unto all men (but be mild and kind in the way he treats all people), apt to teach (qualified to teach, having given himself to the diligent pursuit of truth), patient (able to endure evil, injustice or injury while remaining patient and kind), in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves (admonishing with a gentle demeanor those who have taken up an opinion that leads to what is wrong for themselves); if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth (all this is to see if God will give them—and if they will receive—a change of mind that will lead them to the acknowledgment that what they have taken on is wrong); and that they may recover themselves (and that they may regain a sobriety of mind) out of the snare of the devil (that will help them get free from the skillful strategy the devil has used to entrap them), who are taken captive by him at his will (those who have been captured by Satan, like prisoners of war, for his own evil intention).

Paul was letting Timothy know that he would  minister to people who had taken the bait set out for them by the devil. That wicked one’s artful determinations are always aimed toward regaining the hold he has lost in us.

Many who find personal deliverance and freedom for a while, still need, from time to time, to deal with spirits that gain access to their inner man. By my own experience, by the testimony of others, and by the knowledge still growing within me, I am convicted this is so. If we allow some trait of character to take lodging in us that belongs to the realm of darkness—some lust, some obsession, some nasty carnality—then, some spirit is going to try to take advantage of it. They regard the dark stuff as giving them legal right to enter or reenter.

At the beginning of our freedom, very few of us are aware of the many grounds that might attract seducing spirits. That’s the reason we often have to deal with spirits later, sometimes years later. But, if we know who and where we are in Christ, we need not ever have fear of any spirit when we become aware of their work. This is so, even, if it has worked in us for years.

   That’s where Ephesians Truth—about which we speak so often—comes in.

Let’s observe—again and again—what Paul said in II Corinthians 2:14. Now thanks  be to God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place.

This means that God leads us from triumph to triumph in the train of Christ’s triumph. It means that He makes our life a constant pageant of triumph in Him. Whether dealing with a principality at the border of some nation, or with a spiritual ruler of darkness set to watch over a neighborhood, or with a spiritual power ruling some company or institution or gang, or with some “buck private demon” trying to lay hold on some carnality resident in us, so as to throw us personally out of the race—we do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But what about the carnality? It’s quite simple. We take it before the Lord and repent. When our heart has embraced our connection with Him, the knowledge that begins working its way into our understanding will steady us as we withstand the enemy that is trying to overthrow us. Let’s pray right now!

FATHER, I renounce the dark thing that has tried to rule my inner man. I acknowledge that when Christ died, I died with Him. I am ready now to tell the unclean, seducing spirit to depart from me in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

VILE SPIRIT, go from me in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am in Him and He is in me. There is no place in me for you!

That brother up on the roof knew who and where he was in Christ. This means he knew the first three chapters of Ephesians pretty well. He also had a walk with the Lord that was clean. Because he knew his place in Christ, he had a deep desire, and he also had the ability with Christ’s help, to maintain a pure walk. But, he was still human.

Things sometimes worked in him that weren’t good. Spirits watched him. They waited for his weak moments. Some of the spirits slipped in and set about to seduce him. That’s when he realized he had to deal with them. He went where he could be alone, and  commanded them to get away from him. He could do that because he had studied what Paul had laid out for us in the last part of Ephesians.

I want you to look at this Ephesians passage with me. This is my own interpretation from the Greek text beginning with Ephesians 6:10-12.

10As to what we’ve been leading up to, my brethren, I want you to be empowered in your relationship with the Lord and in the mastery of His might. 11Clothe yourselves in the full armor of a foot soldier of God, so you can be strengthened to the point that you are able to stand face to face against the cunning devices of the devil. 12The fact is we’re in a wrestling match. But, it is not a combat with flesh and blood. It is a face to face combat •against the principal spirits that rule where we live. It may also be •against the spirits that try to rule where we work, or go to school. We’re also in a contest •against the spirit rulers of this present world darkness. And it is •against the spirits of wickedness that oppose us personally as we are trying to serve Christ Jesus.

The word wrestling in verse 12 is a very important word for us to understand in this passage. You will find it also in the King James Version. This word lets us know what the contest is like between us and the spirits that oppose us. The word translated wrestling is from the Greek pale’ (pronounced pah-LAY). It describes an ancient athletic contest between two men in which each endeavored to throw the other. The event was decided when the victor was able to lay his antagonist out and apply  pressure to hold him down. The usual method was to put a hold on his neck. This would stop his speech, shut off his flow of air and immobilize his body.

This is the same as shutting up the speech of the enemy. Victory is close when we can finally discern  a seducing spirit who has been making  suggestions to our mind. This speech of his can be stopped.

There were two factors in the wrestling match that were important. One was the overthrow; the other was the hold. When we understand this, we can begin understanding what the seducing spirits are attempting to do to us. And we can begin living in the triumph Jesus won for us.

Many of the people we reach through this ministry also minister to others. Many  are also in need of ministry. I didn’t just learn this from that brother in whose home I stayed overnight; I‘ve learned it from my own needy self. Also, mine and Glenda’s learning grew while ministering to countless people with whom we prayed throughout many years of ministry together.

How much better it is if we can keep watch over our own souls and deal immediately with any spirit sent to do its dirty work in us. We need not let any unclean or seducing spirit remain—at all. Nor is it necessary that we wait till we can find some “anointed” minister to lay hands on us and cast out whatever spirit has gained access to our inner man.

Just know this! If we are beginning to know the Government of Christ, then we can begin exercising the authority He gives us and demand the withdrawal of any spirit that belongs to the realm of Satan.

This month, in our discipline, we’re  praying about things that try to exercise control in our inner parts. We’re learning to pray that we, and others, might be set free from a troublesome inner government. We learn of this in Ephesians 3:16 where we find that the word strengthened is from the Greek kratéo. This means to come under the government of something. Read the passage at the beginning and interpose the word governed in the place of strengthened. 

Oh, but we have looked together at Ephesians 3:16 so much! It’s just too powerful for us to leave alone.  Get it well planted in your heart and mind so it can remain in your meditation and prayer all through this month of disciplined praying for others and ourselves.

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