Holy Heroes: Iron-Man
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 11/3/2013
Good morning and welcome to Blooming Grove. If you are visiting with us today, I hope you feel right at home—like a part of the family. These past several weeks I’ve been preaching about superheroes—using the stories of these fictional comic-book characters as modern-day parables that illustrate spiritual lessons.
What I love about this stuff is that it shows our un-churched neighbors that you can praise and glorify God, and have fun doing it. You may or may not have noticed, but there is one particularly popular superhero missing from our line-up: Iron-Man. Unfortunately that’s because I don’t have an Iron-Man costume. Iron-Man has one of the coolest costumes in comic-books, but because it’s an actual suit of armor, instead of spandex or some other fabric, it’s incredibly difficult and painstaking to make. Some fans have actually sculpted a life-size Iron-Man suit out of clay, then molded it and cast it in resin. Others have used cardstock or quarter-inch foam to replicate the look of the armor. No matter what method you choose to use; it’s a long and arduous process that I just haven’t had the patience for. I do plan on building one of these someday, but that day may be a long way off.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the story of Iron-Man, his alter ego is Tony Stark—a genius inventor and billionaire owner of the technology company, Stark Industries. Tony made much of his fortune by designing weapons for the military, until one day, when he was kidnapped by a terrorist organization that wanted him to build a weapon of mass destruction for them. Rather than build the weapon, however, Tony secretly built a suit of armor to help him escape. Inside his armor, Tony Stark became the Invincible Iron-Man. Not only did Tony escape captivity, but he continued using his armor—and built newer and better versions of it—to fight evil and injustice! Outside of his armor, Tony is vulnerable; but inside his hi-tech Iron-Man armor, he’s virtually invincible!
Unlike Iron-Man, you and I don’t battle terrorists or super-villains in a hi-tech suit of armor. But like Iron-Man, we do have a battle to fight and, as Christians, we’ve been given a suit of armor that makes us invincible against our enemy. Listen to what God’s Word has to say about that:
“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” (Ephesians 6:10-13 NLT)
We have a very real enemy. The Bible calls him the devil and he is the face of evil. This means that you are in a spiritual battle, whether you want to be or not. It’s a battle between good and evil, and you are the prize! His target is your spirit. Satan’s whole mission is to keep you from trusting in Jesus as your Savior and cause you to turn your back on God. And the devil has an arsenal of weapons at his disposal.
Just think about Job. God pointed Job out to Satan saying, “Have you noticed my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him. He is an honest and innocent man, honoring God and staying away from evil” (Job 1:8 NCV). From that moment on, Job became Satan’s primary target. Satan whispered in the ears of some menacing marauders, convincing them to slaughter Job’s camels and herds. He arranged for lighting to strike his sheep and servants, burning them to ashes. He caused a great wind to crush the home of Job’s oldest son with all of his children inside. And, when nothing else worked, he assaulted Job’s body, inflicting him boils—all of this in order to achieve one goal: to make Job curse God to his face.
If you think Job is the only one on whom the devil has set his sights, you’re wrong! Satan—or one of his many underlings—will do everything he can to undermine your relationship with God. He’ll attack your reputation in order to corrupt your witness. He’ll target your marriage. He’ll steal your peace, your passion, and your sense of purpose. He will do whatever it takes to destroy your faith and your future.
Thankfully, in his infinite grace and wisdom, God has designed a suit of armor that will make its wearer more invincible than Iron-Man! The book of Ephesians goes on to describe six pieces of armor essential in overcoming our enemy.
• ARMOR OF TRUTH
Our first piece of armor is truth! Paul writes this: “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…” (Ephesians 6:14 NIV). Remember when God pointed out Job to Satan? God said that Job was an honest man. Without even realizing it, Job had donned the first layer of protection against the enemy’s attacks.
Unfortunately most of us are not as well armed. According to the book, The Day America Told the Truth, 91% of people surveyed admit they lie routinely about matters they consider insignificant. The other 9% probably lied when they answered the question. 86% of those surveyed lie to their parents on a regular basis; 75% lie to friends; 73% lie to siblings; 69% lie to their spouses; and 21% admit that they lie to their pastor!
The more we lie, the more we fall into Satan’s trap. In fact, Jesus called Satan “the father of lies” (John 8:44). But the belt of truth encapsulates more than mere honesty, it also symbolizes our ability to recognize truth when we see it.
We live in an age were lies spread half-way around the world before truth can lace up its shoes. For example, Popeye, another comic-strip character, is famous for eating spinach. Whenever he pops open a can of spinach he gains super-strength. In the 1890’s German scientists had shown that spinach contains the same amount of iron as meat. Since iron is one of the essential vitamins in building muscle, the US Government employed Popeye during World War II to promote the idea of eating spinach in place of meat, which was a rarity during war time. But the facts were wrong. The German researchers did prove that spinach contains iron, but when they published their results they put the decimal point in the wrong place and accidentally reported a result that was 10-times too large! They eventually caught their error, but thanks to Popeye’s good—but false—publicity, sales of spinach had already shot up by thirty percent in America.
The whole episode just underscores how easily and quickly misinformation can be accepted as truth. That’s why Christians must learn discernment especially when it comes to spiritual issues. Satan will peddle his lies through false teachers, false assumptions and even false feelings.
Earlier this month a friend of mine posted this on Facebook: “I hate it when my feelings don't line up with Truth. It’s gonna be one of those days...” When another friend commented on her status, recommending that she trust her feelings, she replied, “If my feeling go against what God says about me, then I'll not entertain them. They’re going down!” Folk, that’s the armor of truth in action!
Believers must equip ourselves with the truth—remembering that all truth is God’s truth and that truth itself is aspect of God’s eternal nature.
• ARMOR OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Our second piece of armor in spiritual warfare is the armor of righteousness. The Bible urges, “So stand ready… with righteousness as your breastplate” (Ephesians 6:14 GNT). The breastplate of righteousness is one of the most important pieces of armor we wear because it guards our hearts.
Put simply, righteousness means doing what’s right—it is walking and living according to what is right before God. This isn’t self-righteousness we’re talking about. Self-righteousness is all about me. Self-righteousness is thinking you’re better and morally superior than others. But the truth is—apart from God, none of us are righteous. We all sin and fall short. So the Bible says this: “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.’” (Romans 1:17 NIV). In other words, if we want to be righteous, we have to put our faith in God and trust him to empower us to do what’s right. Job is, again, a good example. Remember that God describe him as “a man of complete integrity… [who] stays away from evil” (Job 1:8 NLT). That’s the kind of life God wants each of us to live, but we can’t do it on our own. We need God’s help—God’s righteousness.
In Iron-Man the movie, the centerpiece of Iron-Man’s breastplate is his arch-reactor, which not only powers his suit but also keeps him alive. When Tony was abducted by terrorists, he was caught in an explosion. The resulting shrapnel—small metal shards—torn into his chest and were slowly working their way into his heart. One of his fellow captives called him the walking dead, because soon the shrapnel would penetrate his heart and kill him. In designing his armor, Tony included a miniaturized arch-reactor and electromagnet which attracts the shrapnel, preventing it from crawling any deeper. If his arch-reactor were shut off, those tiny shards of metal would again creep into his heart and kill him.
In the same way, the breastplate of righteousness protects our hearts. With God’s help, we can make right decisions and do the right thing in any given situation—protecting our hearts from Satan’s attacks. Without the righteousness of God guarding our hearts, we’re just as vulnerable as Iron-Man without an arch-reactor.
• ARMOR OF PEACE
The third piece of a Christian’s armor is peace. Paul goes on to say, “For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared” (Ephesians 6:15 NLT). The Gospel gives us peace on multiple levels. First, it gives us peace with God through the blood of Jesus, his Son. Furthermore, it gives us peace with each other, which, as we learned from the Fantastic Four, is an important part of getting along with God’s family. Finally, it gives us peace within—a calm assurance, knowing that our lives are in God’s hands. And it’s this inner peace that I think Satan targets most frequently. He wants to steal your peace of mind.
I saw a Peanuts comic-strip once where Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “I hate everything. I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!” So Charlie says, “But I thought you had inner peace?” Lucy replies, “I do have inner peace. But I still have outer obnoxiousness.” A lot of us can probably relate to Lucy, but I think she has it backwards.
If you truly have inner peace—if you’re wearing the armor of peace—then outer obnoxiousness is just a minor annoyance. That’s why the Bible urges, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which transcends all understanding. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT/NIV).
There may be some of you who came to church this morning without a care in the world, like everything is just going your way. But chances are—most of you don’t feel that way on a daily basis. Most of you are probably worried about something right now. Maybe there’s turmoil in your marriage. Maybe you’re anxiously awaiting some test results or an upcoming surgery. Maybe you’re worried there will be too much month left at the end of the money. Maybe you’re living with guilt over some sin that you just keep falling back into. That’s exactly what Satan wants! Because when you are worried about everything, you are accomplishing nothing.
Don’t worry about everything; instead pray about everything. Prayer is the laces on the shoes of peace. And in addition to the armor of peace, Christians also need to equip themselves with the armor of salvation.
• ARMOR OF SALVATION
The helmet of salvation is the fourth piece of armor we need for spiritual warfare. Scripture instructs, “Put on salvation as your helmet” (Ephesians 6:16 NLT).
The only piece of Iron-Man’s costume that I’ve managed to build is his helmet. It’s made of plastic, fabric, foam, wire mesh, and a whole lot of duct tape! But it wouldn’t offer much protection in real life. In the movie, Iron-Man’s helmet is made of a gold-titanium alloy, and includes a heads-up display and voice activated controls. The primary purpose, of course, is to protect his head from injury.
The helmet of salvation serves the same purpose. Satan likes to get inside your head. He sits on your shoulder, as it were, whispering his lies. The helmet of salvation reminds us that we have a Savior—a Hero in heaven who sacrificed himself to save us and give us eternal life. But one of Satan’s insidious tricks is to plant seeds of doubt. Doubts about your salvation—maybe I’m not a true Christian, saved people don’t sin so much. Doubts about your Savior—maybe Jesus isn’t really the Son of God, maybe he was just a good man and moral teacher. There are a lot of other religions out there… how can I be sure about Jesus?
If Satan can get inside your head, he’ll steal the joy of your salvation. Without the knowledge that Jesus came to rescue you from this evil world, you’ll end up living at the edge of discouragement, despair, and disillusionment. You’ll be plagued by insecurity, fear and frustration.
That’s why the most important thought to keep on your mind is the truth that Jesus is my Savior! Or, as I like to put it, Jesus is my Superhero! If you are 100% convinced that you have a Hero in heaven, then you have a limitless capacity for hope, you know there is something better on the horizon, and you’ll have compassion for others who are in need of a Hero.
• ARMOR OF SCRIPTURE
In addition to the armor of truth, righteousness, peace, and salvation, God also gives us the armor of Scripture. Finally, the Bible says, “In addition to all of these… take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:16-17 NLT).
In my opinion, the most powerful weapon Iron-Man wields isn’t his repulsors or his uni-beam or his tank missiles—it’s Jarvis. In the comic-books Jarvis is a dotting butler, but in the movies, Jarvis is an artificial intelligence—a computer program capable of performing diagnostic tests on the armor, running weather and ATC checks, listening in on ground-control, calculating flight trajectories, scanning enemies for weaknesses, accessing terabytes of information through the internet, and even operating the armor by remote control. What makes Jarvis so essential is that it speaks to Tony, providing him with all the technical information he needs for whatever mission or battle he’s engaged in.
That’s what Scripture does for us.
It is the weapon that pushes back against the attacks of the unseen world. It’s the weapon that shines light into the darkness. It’s the most powerful weapon we have in defeating the devil. Paul describes the Scriptures as a two-edged sword, useful for both offence and defense.
When Jesus was preparing for his public ministry, he spent forty days alone in the wilderness readying himself for the challenges ahead. Isolated and hungry, Jesus was at his most vulnerable. And that’s when Satan attacked. The Bible records three specific temptations that the devil waved in front of Jesus attempting to entice him to forsake his mission. Each time, Jesus responded with the same words, “It is written…” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) and then he proceeded to quote Scripture to Satan!
No matter what temptation you’re faced with, God’s word will speak to that issue. If you’re struggling with materialism, look up verses about covetousness. If you’ve got difficulty watching what you eat, search for verses about self-control. If you have trouble with your temper, read some verses about anger. If you have a problem with pornography, listen to what the Bible says about lust.
Let God’s Word speak to you. Memorize some verses that relate to your life and struggles. Then, when temptation comes your way, respond immediately by speaking God’s Word aloud from your arsenal of Scriptures!
Conclusion:
Once you’re suited up in the full armor of God, all you have left to do is stand. Stand ready. Stand strong. If you’re not in the midst of spiritual warfare right now, it won’t be long before the battle comes to you. Without the full Armor of God you are a guaranteed casualty; but with it you become invincible! There’s one last piece of armor that we haven’t talked about, which is the shield of faith. But we’re going to save that one for next when I talk about Captain America.
Invitation:
Meanwhile, maybe you’re in the middle of a spiritual battle right now. Maybe the devil has been assaulting your assurance, making a massacre of your marriage, of sowing seeds of doubt about your salvation. Whatever your struggle, we’re here to help. The benefit of belonging to God’s family is that you are not a one-man-army. You’re surrounded by fellow soldier who love you and stand ready to help.
