Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School class, September 16, 2023.

Main Theme: In composing Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul prays for an enhanced vision for believers so that they will be able to see the full reality of the great controversy and to draw hope from what it reveals to them.

Read in Class: Ephesians 6:10-20. Define the key thought in this passage.

Study: What does Paul’s battle cry mean to us today, as combatants in the great controversy?

Apply: What should Paul’s warning that we fight not against flesh and blood but against supernatural enemies teach us about where our only hope of victory is?

Share: Your friend asks, how can we be praying always? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Romans 13:11-14. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: How does this passage compare to Ephesians 6:10-20?

Apply: What are some of the ways that you personally have experienced the reality not only of this cosmic conflict, but of the victory we can claim for ourselves in Jesus? Why is understanding His victory for us so foundational to our hope and experience?

Share: Your friend tells you he is trying to stop smoking, but keeps a cigarette in the cabinet “just in case.” How might Romans 13:14 help you answer your friend?

Read in Class: 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: Out of all the armor mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-20, why do you think Paul chooses to repeat breastplate and helmet here? Are they more important than the other pieces of armor?

Apply: How do you apply verse 6 not to sleep as others do? Don’t we all need sleep?

Share: Your friend asks, ” how does putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation keep us sober?” What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. Define the main idea of this passage.

Study: What does it mean that we walk in the flesh but do not war according to the flesh? How might Ephesians 6:12 help us answer this question?

Apply: What are some of the arguments in the great controversy, and how do you cast them down and make them obedient to Christ?

Share: Can you think of a friend who would be encouraged by something in this week’s lesson? What you can you do to plan to share it with them this week?