I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Ephesians 6:10-18
Ephesians 6:10-18
(NIV)
10 Finally, be strong
in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full
armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
-- Last July, Sylvester Police
Officer Jonathan Luna was assisting another officer in serving a routine arrest
warrant when the suspect fled on foot -- Luna gave chase and caught up with
44-year old Johnny Ben Simms, tackling the man and throwing him to the ground
-- the two grappled with one another, when suddenly, Simms grabbed Luna's
service revolver and fired a shot directly into Luna's chest -- Simms jumped up
and took off running again, sure that he had killed the police officer, but he
was shocked when he looked back and saw Luna coming after him again
-- You see, Luna was wearing a
special type of body armor designed specifically for law enforcement officers
-- And, although he was struck at point blank range by a bullet from a large
caliber handgun, Luna survived with only a few bruises.-- In a news story on WALB, Luna said that bulletproof vests are hot and sweaty in south Georgia summers, but that is a small price to pay for lifesaving security -- since 1972, body armor and bullet proof vests have become standard gear for law enforcement officers throughout the United States and even for the military -- and since that time, over 3000 officers have been saved because they were wearing their armor -- in fact, in many precincts, it has become policy that officers are not to go on patrol until they are fully suited up and protected by body armor1
-- sadly, though, it is common practice for most Christians to go through life unprotected from those who seek to harm us -- as we talked about last week, we are in the midst of a battle -- a spiritual battle -- with unseen enemies who want nothing more than to destroy us and kill us and annihilate us to prevent God's message from saving lives for eternity
-- Satan knows that if he can take down one Christian, then he can keep that Christian from being an effective witness for Christ and from growing in grace in their own life
-- but God did not leave us unprotected -- in John 17, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that we would not be taken out of this world, but that the Father would protect us from the evil one and sanctify us by His word
-- and it is that protection that we read of here in Ephesians Chapter 6 -- this is our Kevlar -- this is our body armor -- this how we can stand unharmed against everything that the devil and his minions would throw against us
-- so, let's take some time this morning to look at this passage in more detail
II. The Full Armor of God
-- if you
would look back at verses 10-11
Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
-- now here Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God and then in the rest of these verses, he's going to go over each piece of armor that we need to put on -- but, I want to caution you here -- the key to understanding this passage is verse 10 -- "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power"
-- this armor is spiritual armor -- and it only exists through the power of the Lord -- it is only through Him and His grace that we are given this spiritual protection
-- think of this armor as another type of spiritual gift -- we're all probably familiar with spiritual gifts -- the Bible says that when we come to Christ, we are given spiritual gifts to build up His church and to do His will
-- but, contrary to what a lot of people think, these spiritual gifts are not some new talent or skill that is suddenly given to us and that is always with us
-- instead, the Scriptures say that spiritual gifts are the manifestation of the Spirit within us -- meaning that when we exercise a spiritual gift, such as faith or speaking in tongues, it is not us doing the act -- it is the Holy Spirit working through us -- it is not us, but Him, who is doing it
-- and it's important to understand this, because if we walk outside of the grace of God -- if we live with unconfessed sin -- if we backslide -- then the Holy Spirit is quenched in our lives and the spiritual gifts cannot be made manifest through us -- in other words, we are not able to function spiritually and exercise these gifts as we used to be able to
-- it's the
exact same way with spiritual armor -- this armor isn't something that is just
given to us and that we can just carry around with us from now on because we
are Christians -- spiritual armor is dependent on our relationship with Christ
-- and, if we walk outside of that relationship -- if we walk outside of His
grace -- then we lose the power that protects us
-- verses
12-13
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark
world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the
day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have
done everything, to stand.
-- as we
talked about last week, we are in a spiritual battle -- our struggles are not
against flesh and blood, but against an unseen enemy who is actively scheming
against us, as individual Christians, and against God's church
-- so Paul
tells us here to suit up -- to put on the full armor of God -- to stand firm in
God's mighty power -- so that we can resist the devil's schemes and stand our
ground against his attacks-- the image that we are given here in verse 13 is of a warrior who has been attacked -- who has been beaten down -- who looks down for the count -- who has given everything he has and done everything in his power, but who rises from the field of battle and grips his sword again and stands firm in God's power wearing the full armor of God to protect him
-- I haven't used a movie reference in a while, so let me have that opportunity -- remember the movie "Rocky" -- classic boxing movie with Sylvester Stallone -- remember what happened to Rocky in his first fight with Apollo Creed -- he kept getting knocked down -- he kept getting pounded and pulverized -- and just when you thought it was over -- just when you knew Rocky was down for the count -- that he wasn't going to get back up from the mat -- he remembered -- he remembered the words of his manager -- "when you get knocked down, get back up, and keep moving forward"
-- that is the exact picture of what Paul is telling us here in this verse -- after you have done everything, stand -- when you get knocked down -- when you feel like you've given all you can -- get back up and keep moving forward
-- one
thing I want you to see here is Paul's command to put on full armor of God --
you can't go into battle unless you are fully protected -- you can't go into
battle with chinks in the armor -- gaps where we can get hurt
-- do you
remember the story from Greek mythology about Achilles? -- according to the
story, when Achilles was born, his mother tried to make him invincible -- she
dipped him into the river -- however, there was one part of him that didn't receive the protecting power -- Achilles' heel -- the place where his mother was holding him when she dipped him in the river -- later, during a battle in the Trojan wars, an arrow pierced Achilles' heel -- he bled to death because he had a chink in his armor -- he was not fully protected
-- we need to make sure we are fully suited up -- that we have all the armor on and are standing in the power of God because the day of evil is coming for all of us -- Eph. 5:15-16 says we should be careful how we live because the days are evil -- even though the sun is shining -- even though all looks peaceful outside -- know that we live in evil times and we need to be wearing the full armor of God
-- Paul is now going to get into the specifics of what the full armor of God looks like -- remember that when Paul wrote this, he was in prison in Rome, chained to a Roman soldier with another Roman soldier standing on a ledge overlooking Paul's cell -- the armor that they were wearing inspired this passage, and we can learn a lot about the protection that is given from God's armor by picturing in our mind the armor of a Roman soldier
-- look at verse 14a
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around
your waist
-- the belt
of truth -- the belt was the foundation of a Roman soldier's armor -- the belt
held the other armor -- it was used to cinch down the armor and it was where
the sword was carried -- without the belt you could not fight -- it is
foundational -- so the first piece of armor that we are told to take up is the belt
of truth
-- remember
who our enemy is -- remember how he is described in scripture -- in John 8:44,
Jesus said that Satan is a liar and the father of lies-- there is nothing more insidious than someone who lies -- who uses just enough truth to hide their deception and who want people to believe something that is not true
-- how do you fight a lie? -- how do you come against false teaching and false beliefs? -- you combat lies with the truth -- you combat lies with the truth
-- in John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life" -- the truth is a Person -- the truth is Jesus -- and when Paul tells us here to put on the belt of truth, he is telling us to put on Jesus -- that Jesus is the protection against the lies of the enemy
-- let's
read vs. 14 again
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
-- the next piece of armor that we
are told to take up is the breastplate of righteousness -- the breastplate for
a Roman soldier was analogous to the Kevlar vest worn by police officers -- the
breastplate covered the heart and the vital organs
-- this is symbolically putting on
the righteousness of Christ to protect our spiritual hearts -- one thing that
we always need to keep in mind is apart from Christ, we have no righteousness
-- when He died on the cross, the very righteousness of Christ -- the right
relationship He had with the Father -- the right lifestyle and holiness that He
possessed -- was transferred to us -- so, once again, we see that by taking up the breastplate of righteousness, we are taking up Christ -- we are putting Him on -- we are standing firm in a righteousness and a holiness that is not our own -- but that was given to us to protect us from evil
-- verse 15
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes
from the gospel of peace.
-- here we're told to fit our feet
with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace -- what Paul was
envisioning here was the footwear that the Roman soldiers wore when they headed
into battle -- more like boots than sandals -- they laced up to protect the
shins as well as to give the feet purchase on slippery ground
-- there's one thing about shoes --
they're not "one size fits all" -- you can only wear shoes that fit
you
-- there's a saying among hikers on
the Appalachian Trail -- "Hike your own hike" -- that's what Paul is
saying here -- we all need to put on shoes -- we all need to protect our feet
-- our Christian walk -- our Christian witness -- but we need to wear shoes
that fit us and us alone
-- each of us were given different
spiritual gifts and talents -- we all have different personalities -- different
likes and dislikes -- there are certain things that we do well -- and certain
things that others do better than us
-- when we walk forward ready to
enter the battle and to carry the gospel of peace into this world, we can only
do it our way -- we can't copy anyone else and expect success -- we must run
our own race and live out our faith and our own lives as Christ demands -- our
footwear must be designed to protect our feet and our walk, or it will not be
effective
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
-- "in addition to all
this" -- King James says "above all" -- take up the shield of
faith
-- it all comes down to faith --
faith leads to salvation -- faith leads to walking with Christ -- faith leads
to believing the truth -- faith informs our Christian lives
-- Paul likens our faith to the
shield that the Roman soldiers used to protect them during battle -- the Roman
shields were large -- a soldier could hide behind them and keep all parts of
his body protected -- the Romans would also link shield together -- forming
what they called a phalanx -- an impenetrable wall of protection -- that would
keep the entire army from being overrun
-- one other thing that is
interesting about their shields is that they were often wrapped in leather --
they would soak the skins in water before a battle so if flaming arrows were
shot at them, the arrows would hit the water-soaked shield and be extinguished
-- nothing could get past a Roman soldier's shield
-- in the same way, by standing
firm behind our faith, there is nothing that this world or that Satan can throw
at us that will ever harm us
-- Laura Story has a song out right
now called "What a Savior" -- the other day on K-Love I heard her
telling the story behind the song -- she said that she had a college professor
that was just hammering her beliefs -- everyday he would come in and try to
destroy the Christian faith -- there was nothing she could say that would
defeat his scientific arguments
-- finally, Laura said that all she
could fall back on was her faith -- on her belief in Christ and Him alone --
the chorus of this song speaks to that faith -- "Jesus, You are stronger
-- more than any other -- Jesus you are higher -- my soul's deepest
desire"
-- Laura stood behind her faith --
as the fiery darts streaked towards her from the evil one, Laura stood
unscathed because she took up the shield of faith
17 Take the helmet of salvation
-- what do helmets protect? -- they
protect your head -- a Roman soldier would no more go into battle without a
helmet than he would without a sword because the surest way to be killed on the
field of battle was to be struck in the head
-- it's the same way with us --
where do spiritual attacks originate? -- where do temptations begin? -- they
begin in your mind -- they begin in your thoughts
-- our enemy knows that if he can
control our mind -- if he can sway our thoughts and get us to believe lies
about God or entertain thoughts of disobedience, then he can get us to fall
-- the helmet of salvation protects
our minds from the attacks of the enemy and enables us to get back up when we
fall -- the helmet of salvation makes us sure of our salvation and the
forgiveness of our sins
-- and 1
John 2:1 says "if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father
in our defense -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One."
-- if we fall -- if we choose to sin
and disobey God -- then we can rise again from our failure and move forward in
victory because of the salvation that Christ gave us on the cross
-- the
helmet of salvation reminds us that it was not by works that we were saved --
but by the atoning sacrifice of Christ -- we stand, not in our own strength,
but in the mighty power of the Lord and His grace and mercy which was poured
out on us at the cross of Calvary
-- above
all else, we have to protect the mind -- and we do that by remembering who we
are and that the battle has already been won
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.
-- so far, all of the pieces of
armor that we have looked at have been defensive -- they have been given to us
to protect us from the enemy's attack
-- this next piece of armor -- the
sword of the Spirit -- is both defensive and offensive -- it not only protects
us from the devil's schemes, but it can be wielded with great power to regain
the ground that the enemy has taken
-- the sword of the Spirit is the word of God -- there is no
doubt about this -- you need to know this Bible -- you need to learn the word
of God and make it a part of you in order to protect yourself and to do what
God has called you to do
-- The
Greek word that we translate as "word" here is "Rhema" -- a
Rhema refers to a specific word or "saying" -- In this case, it means
a specific portion of God's written revelation -- John 3:16 is an example of a
rhema
-- when
Paul says we are to take up the rhema of God, he is saying that we should use
Scripture to defend ourselves and to resist the devil in our spiritual battles
-- think
about Jesus when He was being tempted in the wilderness after His baptism --
every time the devil came against Him, what did Jesus do? -- He used scripture
-- He quoted God's word to the devil saying, "It is written"
-- what
this means to us is that we have to memorize scripture in order to engage the
enemy
-- think
for a moment about a real sword -- could any of us just pick up a sword and be
able to use it? -- no -- in order to effectively use a sword, we would have to
be trained -- we would have to spend time with it -- be instructed in how to
use it -- and then practice and practice and practice
-- it's the
same way with the sword of the Spirit -- Satan is not afraid of your Bible --
he's especially not afraid of a Bible that just sits around and gathers dust --
that's no different from having a rusty sword
-- in order
to wield the sword of the Spirit, we have to be in the word -- we have to read
our Bible -- know our Bible -- and memorize verses -- rhemas -- that we can use
in battle
-- Psalm 119:11 says, "I have
hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you"
-- when the devil attacks, we have
to have immediate access to the sword of the Spirit, and the only way to do
that is to make it a part of us -- to hide God's word in our heart so we can
use it when we need it -- this is the way we wield the sword of the Spirit
-- vs. 18
-- in fact, we have two -- the
second weapon at our disposal is prayer -- think about the power of God that
comes about through prayer -- the mightiest acts ever done -- the greatest
miracles ever performed -- the greatest revivals ever seen -- all came about
because of prayer
-- Satan doesn't want you to pray
-- try to pray and see how many distractions come up -- the Bible tells us that
the prayers of a righteous man availeth much -- prayer is powerful -- it can
bring hope to the hopeless and light to a dark and dying world
-- even though we know that God hears
the prayers of our hearts and knows our thoughts before we ever speak them, we
should get into the practice of praying out loud -- our spiritual enemies can't
hear our thoughts, but when we speak out in the name of Jesus -- when we pray
out loud in the Spirit -- evil flees
-- Paul writes in this verse, "with
this in mind" -- with what in mind?
-- Paul is saying keep in mind who
you are and who you are standing with -- you are not alone -- you are standing
in the full armor of God and in His mighty power
-- Paul tells us to be alert and to
always keep on praying for all the saints -- be alert because our enemy is
sneaky -- sometimes he comes as a roaring lion -- other times he comes in the
back door through divisiveness and jealousy -- anger and unforgiveness -- be
alert because we know he is coming -- be alert and be ready to take action
-- let me close with one last
thought -- think for a moment about the armor that Paul says we should put on
-- notice that we have our feet covered -- we have our chest covered -- we have
our head covered -- and we are holding a shield to protect us from anything
that comes against us
-- but notice what is missing --
there is nothing to protect our back -- that means two things for us
-- first, God has our back -- we
don't have to worry about what might come behind, because God has already
fought that battle -- our past is in the past -- our sins have been forgiven --
and we don't have to worry about them any longer
-- secondly, God didn't give us any
armor for our back because He didn't intend for us to turn around -- a
Christian is never to retreat -- never to surrender -- never to give up -- we
are do what Rocky said, "Get up and move forward"
-- Jesus said that the gates of
Hell would not prevail against His church -- against us -- now let me ask you
this -- where do you find gates? -- do you find gates coming against you on a
field of battle? -- no -- the gates surround that which you are attacking
-- in other words, when Jesus said
that the gates of Hell would not prevail against us, He was saying that He
expected us to move forward and launch an all out attack on the kingdom of Hell
-- we were not saved to fight a defensive battle -- we are called to carry the
battle forward into Satan's turf -- suited up in the full armor of God and
standing in His mighty power -- in order to reclaim this earth and set free the
captives that Satan is still holding
-- Finally, be strong in the Lord
and in His mighty power -- put on the full armor of God so that you can take
your stand against the devil's schemes -- stand firm -- be valiant -- and win
souls for Christ
-- let us pray
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1Illustration
derived from WALB news story: http://www.walb.com/story/15724572/sylvester-police-officer-honored2Sinclair
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