Well, for our study this morning, you can turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. I realize there's a large fly of sorts, or bug, that's sort of making its way up here, so if I see you all following it, I may suggest that you forget about the fly and pay attention to the Word of the Living God. Ephesians 6, we're going to look at the whole armor of God this morning, so I want to read verses 10 to 20.
Paul brings his letter to a conclusion, and he says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. 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.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth. having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. 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, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.
Amen. Well, let us pray. Our blessed God and our Holy Father, we acknowledge that you are most high and most glorious, and that you are most loving and kind and gracious, and you are good to your people. We rejoice with Ari and Marie, and we praise you for the healthy birth of Thea Joy.
We pray for this little one, that she would be healthy and strong physically, and one day would, by grace, be conquered. One day, by grace, she would confess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that for all of our children. We pray that for our young people, that they would be able to take up the whole armor of God, because it has been purchased for them by the Lord Jesus Christ.
We would ask that you would just guide us as we study this, your word. We pray for the ministry and the power of the Holy Spirit. For certainly we need Him to overcome our darkness and our ability to wander so quickly from the truth. We ask that He would cause us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord, and do wash us and cleanse us and purify us from all sin and unrighteousness.
Be with us now, we pray, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Another high point for me when I go to these conferences or to the General Assemblies is to see old pastors. It encourages me to see men of God who have walked with God for many, many years. I've also shared recently it's encouraging to be around the older folks in our church. There's something about the hoary head that has long walked in faith with the living God, that deserves our respect and our admiration, and as well should cause us to consider, how is it that old pastors become old pastors?
How is it that the old brethren in our church become old brethren? It's because they've been faithful. It's because they've been consistent. It's because they've been diligent.
Several weeks ago, we considered Paul's statement in 2 Timothy chapter 4, when he says, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. And I suggested there that the Apostle's ability to say that in the eleventh hour was directly connected to his having lived it in hours one to ten. In other words, the Apostle Paul lived the way that he preached, and that is necessary for each and every one of us. And I think that this is the heartbeat of the Apostle here at the end of the letter to the Ephesians.
He wants the people of God to persevere. He wants them to be consistent. He wants them to be diligent. He wants them to run the race that is set before them.
He wants them to achieve that hoary head that faithfulness before the living and the true God. Now, I think the analogy should suggest itself pretty easily. Remember, when Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians, he was in prison in Rome. Certainly, as a daily habit, he would see these sorts of soldiers. he would see the men ready to go out and defend the Roman Empire.
Men wearing their belts, and wearing their boots, and wearing their helmets, and having their shields, and having that sword that is on their belt. So the analogy is obvious. The man is in prison, and the man takes this martial imagery, and he applies it to the spiritual militia, which is Christ Jesus Church.
Command: Be Strong in the Lord
So I want to look at verses 10 to 18, specifically this morning, under three considerations. First, Paul's command to the Ephesian Christians, and by extension, obviously, to us. Secondly, the reasons given for the command. And then thirdly, a description of the armor, the whole armor of God.
But note first, the command stated, verses 10 and 11a, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. This is everywhere held forth by God to His people. You are to be strong. Not passive, not weak, not a whiner, not a sniveler, not a runner, but rather you are to be strong in the Lord.
This was God's mandate to General Joshua before they went on the conquest. Joshua, in order to kill Canaanites and dispossess the land of the Canaanites, couldn't be weak. He couldn't be passive. He had to be strong.
He had to be courageous. If you remember our studies in 2 Samuel, when Israel goes into battle against the Ammonites and the Syrians, what does Joab exhort them with? Well, you know, I hope everything pans out. I hope that everything goes well.
I hope that we're lucky. No, he says, be strong and be of good courage. You don't dispossess the land of Ammonites and Syrians by a passivity, but rather you must be courageous, you must be strong. And it's not a strength that is native to you, as Paul further declares.
He says, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. It is in Christ. And this whole armor shows that or demonstrates that. None of the things that are given to us by the Apostle are things that are inherent to us.
It's not that we have some greater willpower or some greater degree of survivability. It is by virtue of our union with Jesus Christ that this armament is provided to us. We are called to take it up, we are called to employ it, but we are called to do that by virtue of union with the Lord Jesus. E.D. says that soldiers have an invincible courage when they have confidence in the skill and bravery of their leader.
Isn't that awesome? And so He is telling us that we are to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Not in the power of your elders, not in the power of your church, not in the power of whatever gifts and abilities you may think you have. No, you're to be strong.
You're to be a courageous man or woman. You are to act like men, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16. But it's by virtue of your union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice, he highlights the essentials.
He says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God. And he'll describe that in just a moment. But we ought to observe here that the text calls, or the text describes, both defensive elements and offensive.
In other words, you are, as a soldier, to go into battle properly defended, because people are trying to kill you. That's what they do in battle. They try to kill you. You're not out there exchanging recipes, you're not out there sipping tea, you're not out there trying to...
They're trying to kill you! So you need to have those defensive elements rightly in place, but as well, you don't go into battle simply defensive, but you go offensive. You take your sword with you. You go in prayer, and Paul highlights both aspects.
We have defensive elements, we have offensive elements, and as well, this text indicates the necessity to engage. Have you ever seen those pictures of these sorts of third-world dictators or these men that lead countries? How do they show up for their photo ops? They're in all that regalia.
They've got their dress uniforms on and they've got more ribbons than their little chests can hold. That's not what's in view here. It's not for simple adornment. It's not so you can look good.
It's not so that you can just show what you're... It's for battle. It's for engagement. It's to throw down.
It's to not get killed while you kill the enemy. That's what Paul is speaking of in this passage, and we ought to value and prize and highlight the martial element involved. Paul sees these soldiers defending the Roman Empire, coming in and going out from the Praetorium. Paul sees them in the very prison that he is sitting in, and it suggests to his mind what Christianity is all about.
We're involved in the same sort of exercise. It is a fight to the death. It is life and death. It is highly valuable.
It is our everlasting souls that are in view. So certainly, Paul enjoins upon the people of God that they put on this whole armor of God. And then notice what he goes on to say in verse 11, that you may be able to stand. That's the goal of your Christian life, is to stand.
You go, well, I want to be a pastor that preaches like Spurgeon and see everybody get saved. I want to be a missionary like the great William Carey. You ought to want to stand. You ought to want to make it to the end.
You ought to want to have a hoary head as a pastor, as a churchman. You ought to want to finish the race that is set before you. I think far too often we are way too ambitious. I remember when I was called to come up here, you know, I got to admit, and you're going to probably think less of me, oh, I'm going to go to Chilliwack and preach, and God's just going to save thousands of people.
We can dream, right? Guess what? That didn't happen. My ambitions are much more modest now.
I want to be faithful. I want to finish the race. I want to keep the faith. I want to fight the good fight in a way that honors the Master who purchased me.
Brethren, it ought to be a priority in your life to stand, to resist temptation, to fight against the devil and his spiritual forces. The passage is not calling us to consider the intricacies of spiritual warfare. The passage is not calling us to do a detailed sort of survey on every element that's given to us. The passage is calling upon us to stand.
You may go home today with a different view of the breastplate of righteousness than what I present to you this morning. That's okay. If you go home resolved to stand, you got the text. You understood what the Spirit of God intended.
To stand involves standing firm, holding one's position, resisting, not surrendering to the opposition, but prevailing against it. Charles Hodge says, the believer has not only to defend himself, but also to attack his spiritual enemies. And the latter is as necessary to his safety as the former. It's good to stand, but you better take that sword of the spirit out and start hacking away.
It's not only defensive elements, but there are offensive elements as well, and we have to be ready and able to use those things. In other words, if you were with Israel, and you were facing down Ammonites and Syrians, it would be nice to have that defensive outfit that kept their spears from piercing you through, or that kept their arrows from taking out your life. But in order to repel the Ammonites and the Syrians, you have to take that sword and you have to lop off heads, spiritually speaking. And you have to do that consistently, perseveringly, tirelessly, till the very end of your life.
That's what's involved in Christianity. That's what God calls us to, this whole idea of, I've become a Christian and now I can just sort of sit back and let angels walk me into the heavenly... No, no, no, no. You need to get up every morning, you need to don the whole armor of God, you need to be ready to defend yourself, and you need to be ready to take that sword of the Spirit and hack the enemies of God Most High.
That's what Paul says. Note his reasons, twofold. First, the wiles of the devil. He says, put on the whole armor of God, verse 11, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, his machinations, to use a good old puritanical word, his schemes, his devices, his plans, his literally methods.
And they're not just one, he's got a whole slew of things at his disposal to try and catch up God's people. You need to be aware of that. Paul is able to say to the Corinthians, we are not ignorant of his devices, plural. There's not just one thing out there that the devil wants to try and stop you up in.
There's a whole host of things and he will work to do that. You've heard my analogy. It's like when you play that game at the circus. I don't ever go to circuses.
Or circi, is that the plural of circuses? That whack-the-mole game. The way I look at sin, you're whacking one mole, and you're pushing it down, and then other moles just keep popping up. Or if you're not at the circus and you're in your front lawn.
Isn't that what happens? You just whack a mole and off they go? No, they keep popping up! That's the Christian life.
Why have you ever thought for a moment that if you just beat and defeat this one sin, it's easy street? That's just not reality. You beat down the sin of sexual ungodliness, and then pride, or arrogance, or worldliness, or possession loving, all that pops up. It is a life of non-stop mole-whacking, and you need to be prepared for it.
Or in the language, better, of the Apostle Paul, you need to gird yourself up with the whole armor of God. Not bits and pieces, but the whole armor of God. A good soldier doesn't go into battle leaving behind defensive or offensive elements. These things work together as a unit.
You put on each part, you don the whole, you go into battle. Why? Because you have an enemy, and it's the devil. And then Paul describes something of the nature of our enemy.
He describes something of what this looks like fleshed out. Notice what he says, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, now explanatory, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. The word wrestle there means struggle or wrestle, and it refers particularly to a hand-to-hand fight. A hand-to-hand fight, hand-to-hand combat.
It's great to be able to snipe someone with a high-powered rifle from however many yards off, but you've got to be able to hold your own when you're smelling his breath in battle. And that's what Paul is saying. This is the type of fight we're engaged in. It's not just snipers.
It's not just flybys. You're not going to carpetbag the enemy. There are times you're going to see the sweat on his face. You're going to feel the breath on your face, and you need to be able to fight.
And the things that God provides to His soldiers, to His spiritual militia, will enable them to do that very thing. But Paul describes it. He says, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. It'd be easier to, wouldn't it?
Wouldn't it? I mean, let's, you know, you and Cam fight is what I would say to my enemies. It's funny, whenever we go to these Arbca gatherings, they all say, oh, you brought your bodyguard, speaking about Cam. Actually, someone said to Pastor Barcelos, I see you had both your bodyguards.
Sorry about me and Cam. I got to fit in on that one there. But, you know, if it was just flesh and blood, that'd be easy, wouldn't it? Just take him out.
Now, I'm using martial military imagery. Do not anyone think to go out today and buy a rifle and go dispose of their enemies. I'm not suggesting that. But it would be easier, wouldn't it?
We just took out the one enemy, we whacked that one more, we cut its throat, and it was all done. But that's not the nature of the battle. That is not what characterizes the battle. What you finish today, you're going to probably have to start again tomorrow.
What you accomplish tomorrow, you're probably going to have to do in 30 years from now. Walking this morning, considering, you know, all things being equal, unless I get hit by a truck, I may have another 35 to 40 years on this earth. Thinking in terms of this sermon, I want to make it. I better don this armor.
And you better as well. He says, 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. A couple of things that we ought to observe before we proceed. First, this instruction is given to promote diligence, not to engender fear.
Paul doesn't say this so all the Ephesians can go, oh man, this is going to be so hard and so difficult. I'm just going to hide. I'm going to lay in my closet. I'm never going to go outside.
I'm going to just suck my thumb and hope the world passes. No, he doesn't do this to engender fear, but to promote diligence and faithful response. Calvin says that Paul describes our enemy as formidable, not to overwhelm us with fear, but to quicken our diligence and earnestness. By speaking of the power of the enemy, Paul labors to keep us more alert.
You don't read this and go, wow, it's just unable to do it. There's too many moles, too many soldiers, too much opposition. That's not what it's given for, and that's not my intention or purpose this morning. But you need to know your enemy.
You need to know something of his characteristics and of his nature. And you need to be prepared to fight him as God defines fighting in this passage. We learn as well the instruction is given in order to help us understand the enemy. And when he says our wrestle or our hand-to-hand combat is not 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, he does not mean that these wicked foes do not manifest themselves in human agencies.
What do you think is behind Planned Parenthood? It's the devil. How does Jesus describe the devil in John 8? You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.
How does Jesus describe the devil? He was a murderer and a liar from the beginning. When we see an agency like Planned Parenthood, what ought we to conclude? There are forces unseen that are driving these people to butcher little babies and sell those pieces.
I mean, because we can't imagine just how horrific this stuff is. They must have some sort of diabolical age. So yes, it manifests itself in the physical realm. Godless governments, atheistic governments, governments that oppress the people of God.
We know that behind these lie these malevolent forces. So it doesn't mean it's all just up there. In fact, Paul describes earlier that the church is now in the heavenly places, in Christ. So where the church abides, there the church battles with these forces, these unseen forces.
The instruction is given to underscore the spiritual nature of the enemy, and hence, it underscores the spiritual armament that we are to employ. It's not a matter so simple as just purchasing ammo. We're dealing with unseen forces, and the things that we are given by God are not carnal, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, but they are mighty for the pulling down of strongholds. The things that the Lord gives to His church are sufficient to enable His church to fight manfully onward against these spiritual forces that oppose her.
And then the description given should cause the reader to consider the earlier portions of the letter. I mean, if we just jump into Ephesians 6 and we read verse 12, it sounds pretty ominous. There are these forces. There are these unseen things.
There are these, you know, principalities and powers. But we've already been told that God has stationed Christ at His right hand. He has given Him a name above every name. He has given Him authority over these principalities and powers.
In other words, we are to stand in the Lord, knowing that He has conquered this foe, knowing that He provides to His weary pilgrims those things most necessary for their battle. Now note thirdly, the armor described. Calvin makes this recommendation. He says, Again, Paul's sitting in the prison, seeing the guards moving and shuffling in and out.
He sees, you know, what they're wearing. He sees. I mean, you've got a lot of time in prison, right? I say that as if we've all been there.
I would imagine we would have a lot of time in prison. You would take notice of what they're wearing. You would see belts. You would see boots.
You might even muse and say, wow, I could use those boots when I'm going into the nether regions to take the gospel to some people. You know, Paul was a bright man. You'd see these things, and they alerted him to the realities that existed. Brethren, Calvin says, "...now follows a description of the arms which they were enjoined to wear." He says, "...we must not, however, inquire very minutely into the meaning of each word, for an allusion to military customs is all that was intended." In other words, you don't need to go through each one and, you know, try to find every possible idea that's involved.
But if you happen to want to, may I suggest William Guernal's The Christian Incomplete Armor. That will serve you well for a long time to come. I told Pastor Porter at the conference there was a book table and, you know, the Puritans could take the epistle of Jude and do a whole systematic theology. Well, they could take verses 10 to 20 from Ephesians 6 and do a whole system.
I'm not kidding. William Guernal is that. It's huge. There's a daily reading version.
There's an abridged version. So, if you want to really jump in and do a detailed study on what each piece of this armament means, then please, by all means, secure Guernal and read him. you will be a happy camper for having done so. I haven't read the whole thing. The bits and pieces I've read have been quite edifying.
So, if you're looking for Gernal this morning, you're getting Butler, and I suspect that might disappoint some of you. But let's look at this. Paul reiterates the command in verse 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. Take up the whole armor of God.
Note the timing that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. You don't need defensive and offensive pieces of military equipment in peacetime, do you? You need it for the evil day. We ask the question, what is the evil day?
Some commentators point to the future, that time just prior to the second coming of Jesus. Paul does describe this age as this present evil age. I would suggest the evil day is probably each and every day that evil men are in the world. So, in other words, every day take up the whole armor of God.
I remember when I first got converted, there was this picture of a soldier wearing all of his accoutrements, and you were to put it up next to your mirror so that when you were shaving or doing your hair or whatever, you could be reminded to put on that whole armor. You could certainly do that. I'm not suggesting not to, but have in your mind what Paul is emphasizing here. Sort of get the big overarching concepts.
Understand what is necessary to fight the devil. to fight this world, to fight your own remaining corruption. That's the purpose for which Paul sends these things forth. Notice, verse 13, before we proceed, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all... There's that pesky word again, to stand.
That's what Paul wants from you and I. He wants us to stand. He wants us to be faithful. He wants us to be persevering.
He wants us to do this till our dying day. See, I think at times we come into the Christian life and perhaps are surprised at what it is. You know, somebody perhaps led us to Jesus. Come to Jesus and all your cares will vanish.
We become a Christian and our cares don't vanish, do they? In fact, we multiply cares in some instances, don't we? Remember Bunyan's Christian. He loses that burden at the cross.
He goes through the wicked gate, he comes to the cross, and that burden of sin is gone. Is he burdened less in the remainder of the story? Is he burdened free in the remainder of the story? Not a chance.
Consider King David of Israel. He's shepherding the flock. He's tending to sheep. I mean, certainly it's a tough job.
David has. I mean, he has to kill a bear and he has to kill a lion with his bare hands, so I'm not going to write him off as a Nancy boy. He was having a difficult go with it. But in chapter 16, when God tells Samuel to anoint David, the Spirit comes upon David, what happens next?
David's standing in the valley of Elah looking at an uncircumcised Philistine that wants to destroy David. After David returns successfully from that battle, what is he looking at? He's looking at the king of Israel who can't stand him and who will hunt him down and try to persecute him and destroy him as if he's nothing better than a dog. Consider David's greater son.
What happens to Jesus after he is baptized? We have that beautiful declaration of the triune God there at the River Jordan. Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit comes down upon him in the form of a dove, and the Father says, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. What could be better, right?
Chapter 4, the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. You see, the Christian life at times can be a surprise to the adherents. I thought when I got saved, my wife would be nice to me, and my children would love me, and the cat wouldn't run from me. But I haven't found it to be the case.
I thought when I became a Christian, I wouldn't contract cancer. I wouldn't have car wrecks. I wouldn't have all these things. That's not the Christianity spelled out in the Bible.
That might be Benny Hinn's version. That might be gleaming teeth Joel Osteen's version. But that's not Hebrews 11 version, is it? It's not the Apostle Paul's version.
For Paul says to Timothy, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will what? They'll suffer persecution. What does Jesus instruct His disciples? If they hate me, they're going to hate you.
Just going to break it to you. Jesus is a very gracious master. He tells His disciples what's in store for them. If they hate me and they want to crucify me, guess what they're going to want to do to you?
You see, persons come to Christ thinking that once I'm saved, all my mornings will be just beautiful. I don't have to don armor. I don't have to put this stuff on. If I do, it's just for some sort of military display, we'll just walk along and everybody will gaze at us and say, doesn't he look good in that uniform?
And we can go home and take it off and get back to our normal... No. You need to take up that armor daily, you need to stand, you need to fight, you need to be faithful, you need to be persevering, you need to be consistent, you need to guard against the tendency to whine, to run, to snivel, to complain. I mean, I think this is part and parcel of the Christian church.
It's part and parcel of my heart. Instead of fighting the enemy, I want to whine about the fact that there are enemies. Instead of taking up the whole armor of God, I want to say, Lord, don't you just want to fly over with a nuke and, you know, destroy them once and for all? It's not that way, brethren.
If you think the Christian life is just, you know, bunnies and fairies attending your way to the heavenly Jerusalem, you haven't understood the Scriptures. If Jesus is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, what's that mean for Jesus' people? If Jesus, in His humanity, learned obedience through suffering, do you think you and I are going to learn obedience through pleasure, through joy, through nothing but happy? No, we're going to learn it through suffering.
God knows how to conform His people onto the image of His beloved Son. And that is God's goal. He predestined us, He foreknew us, and predestined us in order to be conformed to the image of His Son. He wants you to be like Christ.
Do you know how you become like Christ? It's by being faithful, day in and day out. You say, well, I don't always feel like it. That doesn't matter.
Go to one of the modern universities. They'll coddle you and put you in a safe space. You're not going to get coddled by Paul. You may not want to, but you have to.
There's something more about you than your feelings or your emotivity. It is your standing before a thrice-holy God, and you need to understand that, and you need to take up this panoply, which means armament, the whole panoply of God, and put it on. Note what Paul says. Well, before we move, Edy says, the Christian armor is not worn for idle parade or as holiday attire.
The enemy must be encountered. Note first, the belt of truth. Standing therefore, verse 12, having girded your waist with truth, When Paul presents this list, now, is it all prioritized? Is there an order that, you know, I can't leave the house until I put the belt of truth on first?
I don't know about all that, but it is intriguing that Paul speaks to something which I think we all inherently know. If you don't have your belt sort of holding everything together, it's just not good, is it? You can run out swinging that sword, but if your trousers fall down, you're not going to be good in battle. Paul may have foreseen something that we know today in terms of health and fitness.
What are they constantly preaching to us now? The core! The core! The core!
Tighten your core! Build your core! Strengthen your core! Why?
Because the core holds everything together. If you don't have the core in place, if it's not strong, you can have the guns of Schwarzenegger, but you're not going to be good in battle. And it is intriguing that Paul speaks of truth. What is the belt?
What is this that holds it all together? What is it that provides the rhyme and the reason? Truth. I thought, and this is a bad analogy, but if you had to fight with somebody whose power lay in their belt, it would be best to take their belt off them, right?
Again, the analogy is bad because the person's an authority, typically a police, and they wear that belt, but that belt is the source. And I get the badge that indicates who they are, but if you've got their belt, which includes their gun, then you've bettered them in this exchange. Truth, brethren, how are you going to go out and fight against these principalities and powers? How are you going to go out and fight against these unseen forces of evil?
By not knowing truth! Do you think, for a moment, that you're going to make it to the end without knowing the truth, without being girded up with truth, without having it all fastened together by truth? Do you think that you're going to persevere, that you're going to get up every morning, that you're going to be faithful every day, that you're going to do hours 1 to 10 so that you can successfully say on the 11th, I have fought, I have finished, I have kept, without the truth? What is it that guards God's people?
What is it that God's people desperately need? It is truth. What does Jesus pray in His high priestly prayer in John 17? Sanctify them by what?
By Thy truth. Thy Word is truth. You cannot go into battle without truth. You cannot go into battle without this belt.
You've got to cinch it on. You've got to study the book. You've got to learn its doctrines. You've got to appropriate them.
You've got to meditate on them. You've got to contemplate on them. You've got to think God's thoughts after you in order to fight God's enemies in a way that is consistent. Put the belt of truth on.
Notice what he says next, the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness. Now there's probably a couple of ways that we can interpret this. We've got that belt cinched on, now we've got this breastplate.
Now we've got a shield to be sure, but if somebody gets beyond that shield, we want to breastplate a righteousness that's going to keep them away. What is this righteousness? Is this my righteousness and yours? Is this because we did good deeds yesterday?
Is this because we successfully read our Bible every day? I don't think so. I think it's the righteousness of Christ. How do you go into battle against these unseen enemies without the righteousness of Christ?
In other words, do you want to go into battle with your righteousness against the devil? What about when he takes those shots at you? How in the world can you battle against me? You've often done the things I've suggested.
How in the world could you ever pursue me now with that sword when you know very clearly that you have succumbed to my devices on several occasions? In fact, if we continue to talk any further, you will be mine. Those are the accusations leveled against God's people. What is the devil?
He is an accuser of the brethren. This is what we learn in Revelation 12. What's Paul doing in Romans chapter 8 when he is setting before us the beauty and the glory and the majesty and the excellency of Christ crucified? Who is it who condemns?
Well, the devil, certainly. He'll whisper in your ear while you're singing hymns of praise on Sunday. How in the world could you be here after the week you've had? How do we repel him?
It's not our righteousness, it's the righteousness of another. It is the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. That is the breastplate that I certainly prefer rather than the good things that I've done or the good things that you've done. Gil explains it this way.
He gives a couple of meanings and then lands correctly. He says, in allusion to Isaiah 59, meaning not works of righteousness done by men, though these are a fence when rightly used against the reproaches and charges of the enemy, as they were by Samuel, but rather the graces of faith and love, though faith has another place in the Christian armor, afterwards mentioned. He says, Wherefore, it seems best to understand this of the righteousness of Christ, which, being imputed by God and received by faith, is a guard against, and repels the accusations and charges of Satan, and is a security from all wrath and condemnation. That's beautiful.
You see, I think you'll appreciate, as we move through this armament, God doesn't send us out unready. We're not facing, you know, the onslaught of a nuclear arsenal with a pea shooter. We're coming out with a nuclear arsenal that far excels and far exceeds what the devil has. We have a righteousness not our own.
We have been clothed in that garment that we will be presented before God in. We have received through the doctrine of justification, by faith alone, both the forgiveness of sins and righteousness, imputed to us and received by faith alone. Brethren, that's how you fight this enemy. That's what you ponder, that's what you contemplate, that's what you consider.
I am not my own, I am bought by another. I have, I am, I have received the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You're able to stand in that frame. Notice, he moves down to the feet.
He says, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, verse 15, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The ESV has it, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. I love that. It's called the gospel of peace by which you wage war.
Does anybody see the irony there? It's the gospel of peace by which we wage war. And what's the recurring emphasis in our passage? You better get this right.
It's to stand. You don't stand in this battle unless your feet have been readied by the Gospel. You see, this is for Christians. If you are an unbeliever here this morning, and you want to fight the devil, and you want to resist temptation, and you want to fight manfully onward, you cannot do it in your own strength.
There may be small victories. You may pound the one mole down, but several others will come a-popping up. It is by grace, through faith in Christ as a result of this gospel of peace by which you stand. If you do not have that, you will not stand.
The readiness or the preparedness for combat and for standing in the battle that is bestowed by the great gospel of peace. If we are to stand in the spiritual battle, it necessarily follows that we stand in the gospel. Beautiful, isn't it? It's glorious.
He prepares us. He sends us out, not naked. but with what we need. And you reflect upon each of these things, all stuff we would need. If we were soldiers in the Roman Empire going out to battle, you would not leave without these things.
I read once that in Vietnam, one of the things that really reduced American soldiers was jungle rot in their feet. I mean, just imagine, you're in a swampy environment, you're trudging through swamp all the day. What happens to your feet? You want to take out a soldier?
Clip him in the feet. You can't fight. If you can't stand, you can't fight. You may do nobly for a time, you know, headbutting or crawling over there, trying as you may, but you are a defeated enemy if you cannot stand the wisdom of the apostle and the appropriation of the gospel of peace.
You don't fight these diabolical foes in your own strength. You do it through the gospel of peace. It is the gospel of peace that sends men into spiritual battle. It is the gospel of peace that sends you to victory.
Notice. Paul continues. He says, above all, verse 16. This is probably not above all.
It's the most important. It's probably an in addition to. In addition to, because as I said, you need this whole armor of God. If it's this above all priority, then arguably we could wander into battle simply with this shield of faith.
But that's not what's going on. In addition to, I think, is how it ought to be rendered. In addition to taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Faith.
You see a Pauline theme here? What is he emphasizing? truth, righteousness, peace, faith. These are all concepts that Paul oozes from his body when he writes. He's giving them analogously in terms of this soldier imagery, but there's nothing surprising in Ephesians 6, 10 to 18.
Are you shocked? You say, wait a minute, Paul, you want us to be girded with truth? You want us to have this breastplate of righteousness? You want our feet to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace?
Of course we've heard such concepts. He is bringing them from the Roman soldier to the spiritual militia that serves the risen Christ. And he is telling us that as those men march into battle fully equipped, that's the way you march into battle, fully equipped. Do not leave your shield of faith.
You make sure that you have that shield of faith, because when you get to the battleground, the devil is going to launch fiery darts. And when the devil launches fiery darts, yes, you have the breastplate of righteousness on, for sure, but isn't it wonderful to keep them far away, even from the breastplate? It's a little too close for comfort, isn't it? I mean, fiery darts anywhere near my person gives me a bit of a scare, and I think that's what he's saying.
Take that shield of faith and keep it out in front of you, and make sure that you hold it up so that you can stay off these darts. Listen to Hodge. This is an extended quote, but I think he nails it, so please pay attention. He says, as burning arrows not only pierced, but set on fire what they pierced, they were doubly dangerous.
Yes. You've got to think, brethren, when you come to a passage like this, where the Apostle structures the entirety in this physical analogy, you've got to let your mind run a little bit and start to think, yeah, I don't want darts near my person, let alone fiery darts. How do I make sure this doesn't happen? Well, you've got the shield of faith, so make sure you hold that up.
Hodge says, they serve here therefore as the symbol of the fierce onslaughts of Satan. He showers arrows of fire upon the soul of the believer, who, if unprotected by the shield of faith, would soon perish. It is a common experience of the people of God that at times horrible thoughts, unholy, blasphemous, skeptical, malignant thoughts crowd upon the mind, which cannot be accounted for on any ordinary law of mental action, and which cannot be dislodged." Can you resonate with Hodge? Don't nod.
Don't raise your hand. Don't stand up and say, Hodge is dislodged. No, but have you ever had that? Thoughts jump into your head from you know not where.
I mean, you in your own strength are pretty able and capable to hatch some pretty wicked thoughts, but some of them even surprise you. Where did that come from? Why would I think like an atheist? Why would I act like there's no God?
That's not typical behavior. He says they stick like burning arrows and fill the soul with agony. They can be quenched only by faith, by calling on Christ for help. These, however, are not the only kind of fiery darts, nor are they the most dangerous.
There are others which enkindle passion, inflame ambition, excite cupidity, pride, discontent or vanity, producing a flame which our deceitful heart is not so prompt to extinguish, and which is often allowed to burn until it produces great injury or even destruction. You see the fiery dart, you know the fiery dart's burning, and yet you still don't dislodge it immediately. What's happening? He goes on, again, these most dangerous weapons of the evil one, the only, or against these most dangerous weapons of the evil one, the only protection is faith.
It is only by looking to Christ and earnestly invoking His interposition on our behalf that we can resist these assaults which inflame evil without the warning of pain. You see, we ought to add something here. When we talk about faith in Christ, looking to Christ, that doesn't mean you do that from your couch. The Christ to whom we look in faith is the Christ who tells us to cut off right hands and gouge out right eyes.
You see, in the life of sanctification, it's not passivity. He who is most passive wins. That's not right. Faith in Christ is not a passive position.
Faith in Christ is not only laying hold of him by virtue of all that is written concerning him, it is doing what he says. It is abiding by his truth. If it is an excitation to cupidity, to use a hajism, cut your hand off, gouge out your eye. Again, spiritually speaking, The Christ to whom we look has given instructions on how we are to fight.
I think sometimes there's a mistake about, well, you know, faith in Christ just means I sit on my couch and I'll be sanctified. No. You stand by faith in Christ. You fight the way this Christ you're believing in has told you to fight.
And this is one of the passages that Christ tells you how to fight. Take up these defensive elements. Repel the devil. And now notice the helmet of salvation.
I mean, if we had all this stuff, right? We've got our belt, we've got our shoes or boots, probably not shoes, probably boots. We've got our breastplate, we've got our shield of faith. We've got to protect the head, right?
It'd be easy to take us out on the field of battle. Just aim for the head. But Paul takes care of that. He tells us to don the helmet of salvation.
Again, John Gill. And such an hope of salvation by Christ is a defense of the head against false doctrines. For the helmet is a piece of armor for the head, and it is an erector of the head in times of difficulty, affliction, and distress. And it covers the head in the day of battle, when engaged with Satan, the enemy of souls.
The helmet of salvation Again, I think a very helpful corrective against the enemy. He might suggest to you, why are you even on the field of battle? Because I'm saved by grace through faith in Jesus. Because I've been redeemed through precious blood.
Because I have been bought with a price. I belong on this field of battle, and I'm going to fight against you. Now, I'm not sure that we have these sorts of conversations with the devil, but you get my drift. We are saved men.
We are saved women. We're on the field of battle where we belong. We have a right and entitlement and privilege to the good fight, because our blessed Savior has secured for us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. In other words, He has saved us.
And we have that helmet of salvation, so we will fight our foe. We will fight our enemy. Those are the defensive elements. Now notice, He closes with the offensive.
Verse 17b, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. You've been properly accoutred with your defensive elements. Do not forget your sword.
You need the sword. Not only do you need to defend yourself, you need to vanquish your enemy. You need to destroy your enemy. When you are facing down Ammonites and Syrians, it's good to be able to repel their darts with your breastplace.
It's better to cut them up and to win the battle. Again, I trust that you take that spiritually. I know some of you are going to say, you know, we get home at lunch and our kids ask us about some of those images. You know, Paul presents them, though.
We all know what swords do. You see, for Paul, the battle against the devil, against the world, and against the flesh is so serious that he will offend our sensitivities to present to us how important it is that we fight, that we fight faithfully, and that we fight perseveringly. One final quote from John Eady. This reference to taking up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
E.D. says, the captain of salvation set the example. Didn't he? Can you remember a time in our Lord's history? Our Lord's ministry, rather, on earth, where he set the example for us?
Matthew 4, the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. How did Jesus deal with his enemy? It is written, It is written. It is written.
Edi says, the captain of salvation set the example and once and again and a third time did he repel the assault of the prince of darkness by three brief and simple citations from scripture. I love this. He says, diplomacy and argument, truce and armistice are of no avail. The keen, bright sword of the Spirit must be unsheathed and lifted." We're not here to have a discussion.
We're not here to speak about your issues. We are here to take the sword out and to defeat the enemy. I love that. What was Israel commanded when they went into the Promised Land?
Just make peace with the Canaanites. Let your kids marry their kids. Let go, let bail. Is that what they were instructed?
No. They were instructed to go in and utterly destroy them and to dispossess the land. We ought to learn from Israel. They didn't do that.
They left their places of worship. They left them intact. And it wasn't long before they started bowing with them and confessing faith, not in Yahweh of Israel, but in Baal, in Molech, in Asherah. Well, brethren, then Paul says that we ought to pray.
There he transitions. I think there is a bit of a transition beginning with verse 18, obviously praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. That certainly underscores everything. The use of the defensive elements, the swinging of the offensive element, the implementation of these things ought to be prayerful.
Isn't prayer the way that we express that faith in Christ? Isn't prayer the way that we acknowledge our dependence upon the Lord? Isn't prayer the way that we are fortified and strengthened by our God? You know, He's the General, our Lord Jesus.
He's up in heaven, and He sees us on the battlefield. He doesn't leave us to ourselves. He gives us walkie-talkies, to use a Piper analogy. He gives us walkie-talkies wherein we communicate directly with headquarters.
We get to call upon our Christ. We get to ask Him for assistance. We get to pray to Him that He will provide victory to us. So praying always in the Spirit.
And Paul then highlights the necessity to pray intelligently and to pray for the Apostle himself. Well, brethren, I hope that at least we've learned in the first place the necessity to stand. The believer must stand in the Lord. The believer must stand in the Lord the way the Lord describes.
Again, I don't want you on Monday morning to, you know, rattle through these things and have this visible picture of you. I mean, if that's your process and that helps you, then by all means. But look at the major thought. Truth. righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, those concepts which ought to be part and parcel of your daily vocabulary, those concepts which should be so woven into your soul that you just know fundamentally the way I enter into this day is not naked, It's not by leaving the belt behind, it's not by leaving my breastplate behind, it's not by going without my head protected or going without my shield.
No, all these things inherently I know because of the grace of God. I read my scriptures, I appropriate these things, and I know that this is the way these battles are fought and won. Brethren, take these concepts to heart and realize you need to employ them earnestly, faithfully, consistently, perseveringly, to the very end. You're not supposed to just stand when you're 30.
He's come to Christ, he's made a profession, he's a good guy, 30, 40, but by the time we get to 50, 60, 70, 80, we just want to lay down. No. You may be physically incapacitated to the point where you can only lay down, but you still need to stand spiritually. You all remember Johnny Farese, don't you?
Remember reading his testimony or hearing his testimony about what a great sinner he was? The man couldn't move. I suspect that some of us would think that, wow, if I couldn't move, that would greatly inhibit my ability to sin. No.
It's an unfortunate reality. What enables us, what facilitates us, is the heart. And insofar as Johnny had a heart, Johnny was a sinner. Brethren, you are never given, in the Scripture, the permission to lie down and relax.
You say, wow, that's tough. You're given Sabbath days to rest. You're given refreshment from on high. If you come to the supper tonight, you'll get a meal for weary pilgrims that the Lord of the Church designed for our good.
So you get all those things. But you've never been given permission to take a holiday. You've never been given permission to not stand. You've never been told that it's okay, just relax.
No, you need to stand. You must do this until your dying day. As well, we ought to consider the reality of spiritual warfare. The temptation to love the world is a spiritual battle, isn't it?
I don't want to like iPhones anymore. I don't want to like cars anymore. Brethren, it's about spiritual relationships and connectivity and about love for Christ and love for God. The way to wean a love for the world is through this armament.
What about the temptation to love money? It's a spiritual battle, isn't it? How does Jesus reduce the love of money in Matthew 6, 24? It's idolatry.
It is the exchange of the true and living God for that which does not live. Money. Again, I'm not suggesting that you should go clean out your bank accounts today and liquidate your assets and give them away and walk around in a sheet. But I am suggesting that if you have a heart that is covetous, that does tend toward a love for money, realize the spiritual element involved.
What about sexual immorality? Do you ever muse on the text in 1 Peter 2, verse 11? Peter says, abstain from fleshly lusts, which do what? They war against the soul.
It's spiritual, brethren. How do you fight these spiritual battles? Yes, there's helpful means, there are things, to be sure, that you can put in place. You can get rid of your computer, you can get rid of your money, you can do all those things.
But the Lord God Most High has given to us this panoply, this armament, these defensive and offensive elements that we must employ. We can get rid of our computer, to be sure. But we must don this armor. We must put on this whole armor.
We must unsheathe the sword. And then finally, we need to understand the means employed for combat, and we need, by the grace of God, to get better at it. The soldier that Paul saw go out in the morning and come back at night, was a good soldier, wasn't he? And as long as Paul was in prison, perhaps he saw the same soldier, day in and day out, coming back.
They'd go to battles. This guy just kept coming back. He was probably getting better at soldiering. New believers, do not get discouraged.
Sometimes new believers, they want to be Paul. Well, you're probably never going to be Paul, but you're certainly not going to be Paul a year in. I hate to break that to you. Try to be, Paul.
Yes. You get discouraged. You say, I'm not good at this. Of course you're not good at this.
You've just learned to crawl. Keep crawling. And eventually you'll pull yourself up at the table and you'll toddle a little bit. But hopefully 40, 50, 60 years in, You're taking that sword out of its sheath, and you're carving up and dicing up your enemies like you didn't do when you were newly converted.
Of course, the goal is here, but brethren, take the small steps that are necessary. Perhaps you've been negligent, perhaps you've not cultivated this, perhaps you've not put on this armament, perhaps you've been walking, unclothed, dare I say naked, in a godless world. Don't go home today and say, well, I'm done, it's all over. Go home today and say, God, help me.
Help me to think in terms of truth, in terms of righteousness, in terms of faith, in terms of salvation. Help me think in terms of the gospel of peace, Lord, so that I may be an effective soldier in this spiritual militia. Help me to take my part alongside my brethren to fight these unseen forces, and give me the grace to cultivate, to love, and may it be a matter of routine that I do not leave in the morning without first putting that stuff on. I imagine when soldiers are new, They start to run out the door, and an older, more seasoned soldier says, ''Dude, you need your shield.'' ''Oh, yes, I forgot it.'' ''Isn't that what the church is about?'' ''Look at that guy, he's going out without a shield.'' ''Tell him to pick up his shield.'' ''Hand him his shield.'' ''If his trousers are falling down, tell him, ''Put your belt on.'' It's what older soldiers are supposed to do for the newer soldiers.
It's a wonderful dynamic. And you younger soldiers have a responsibility to learn from the older ones. Go to the hoary head man and say, how in the world have you made it for 30, 40, 50 years as a Christian? Well, by the grace of God, I think about truth, I think about righteousness, I think about the gospel of peace, I think about salvation.
I think about faith, or I have faith in the living Christ. This is what it's about. You're not going to get some amazing answer. Well, here's my secret.
Every third day, I wake up and I have a cup of orange juice, and it's not like that. It's do what God says every single day. Without the romance, without the pizzazz, without the sensationalism, without everybody gazing at you saying, what a wonderful soldier. Just be faithful.
And if you're not a believer here this morning, it may be a good thing. Well, it is a good thing. If you want to fight certain sins, certain temptations, give up certain terrible habits. but ultimately you're going to have to do it through sheer force of your will. And as I said, sin doesn't happen in a vacuum.
It's not like you kill alcoholism and then everything is just easy sailing. You find out there's all these other things that you've got to deal with as well. There's only one place There's only one remedy, there's only one hope for the dealing with all sin, and that's through the blood of atonement. That is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is through the One who came into this world, sinners to save. And all those who by God's grace look to Him in faith will be saved. And once you're saved, go to Ephesians 6, 10 to 20, put on the whole armor of God, and live like a saved person lives. Well, let us pray.
Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we pray that You would help us to self-consciously consider such passages as these. And our God, help us to fight the good fight, to finish the race, to keep the faith, For we know in this, Lord God, You are glorified. Certainly, when we make it to the end, all honor and all glory and all praise goes to our God. It's not our sheer force of will, it's not our ability or our giftedness, but it's a triune, sovereign God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who keeps those whom He saves.
Go with us now, we pray, and we ask through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.