The Art of Spiritual Warfare
“How to Protect Your Identity ”
Ephesians 6:10-15
It was recently in the news that in November of 2013 one of our leading retailers in America, TARGET was a victim of a very large security breach. Roughly 40 million credit and debit cards were nvolved as well as 70 million records containing addresses and mobile phone records. All the while as Target is working with the FBI and the US Secret Service, all of this information is floating around on the black market and the separate identities of these millions of people are at risk of being stolen and their credit cards being used. And now Neiman Marcus has had a similar event occur.
These individuals now known as CyberCriminals have learned that if they can just steal the credentials of one vendor who had access to the system they are then able to move into a larger system and access millions of files. And that is exactly what they did.
We don’t shop at TARGET very often and this didn’t affect us. However we had an event take place about 5 years ago where someone was spending funds from our account and it took us about two months to get to the bottom of it. Identity theft is a terrible thing.
The OT tells of us 3 men who this happened to. Let me briefly describe them.
1. Solomon. He was known as the wisest man in the world. He had great power. Built the temple. He had wealth. God gave him understanding that was like sand on a seashore…it was endless. Could not be measured. His fame spread to all of the surrounding nations.
2. Samson. Known as the strongest man who ever lived. He took a jawbone from a donkey and killed 1000 men with it. Alone he pushed apart the pillars of the temple apart causing it to collapse killing about 3000 men.
3. David. Loved God. Wrote the book of Psalms. King of Israel. Called a man after God’s own heart. So what did these three men share in common? Great knowledge. Great wealth. Superior strength. They all loved God and they all fell. All of them down, spiritually.
So here we have the most godly man alive, the wisest man and the strongest man and in all 3 cases Satan went after their identity, stole it for a period of time and all 3 fell into deep spiritual trouble and sin and suffered tremendously.
Solomon lived a life of polygamy; get this… he had 700 wives and 300 other women in his life. He was a busy guy. He was full of wisdom but he fell into idol worship. Samson, with all of his strength could not resist the persistence of one woman named Delilah who discovered the secret to his strength. It was his hair and she cut it. Samson fell. David, one of the most prominent leaders in the OT, a King, a great military leader became consumed with his desire for power and he fell into sin with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed.
As Paul was writing this letter we know that it is one of 4 letters he wrote from jail. At least 4 different times he was thrown in prison…...we think he spent about 6 years of his life total in prison. Many other times under house arrest and all because of his faith in Christ. The book of Ephesians is one of these. As he is writing this he would have been chained to a Roman guard and the guard would likely have been wearing the very pieces of armor Paul is describing. He identifies 6 pieces of armor.
The first one we looked at two weeks ago was the belt of truth. It was an important part of the uniform. They put it on first. I told you there were several clips on the belt so that no matter how the soldier moved about…climbing, running…the belt was always in place and the weapons were always ready. If the belt was not on straight then everything would be out of place for the soldier and he of course would be defeated.
Then there is the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate was key because it protected vital organs ---the heart and lungs. A wound to the chest could be deadly. For the average Roman soldier the breastplate was either made of very thick leather or from bronze. A Greek word sometimes used to describe this piece of equipment literally translates as “heart protector”. And that was the main purpose of the breastplate – to give protection to the heart and other vital organs. If it was leather it might have pieces of metal or bone attached for added protection. This was the heaviest piece of weaponry the soldier wore. Some weighed 40 pounds, others as much as 70 pounds. The one Goliath wore was 125 pounds. Each one was custom made to fit each individual soldier. They were not produces on an assembly line. Built for the soldier by a skilled craftsman.
One of the things the soldier knew was that although he was a soldier he was not a craftsman. He couldn’t make the breastplate. He had to depend on someone else. But still it fit perfectly and protected him. I believe that is why Paul uses this as a picture of God’s righteousness. Just as the breastplate belonged to the soldier, righteousness belongs to the believer. But the soldier didn’t’ have anything to do with acquiring it. Here’s the point. You and I have nothing to do with creating our own righteousness. When we give our lives to Christ the Bible says we are then covered in the righteousness of Jesus.
Romans 10:3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. NIV LB Romans 10:3 For they don’t understand that Christ has died to make them right with God. Instead they are trying to make themselves good enough to gain God’s favor by keeping the Jewish laws and customs, but that is not God’s way of salvation.
Christ fashions/designs our breastplate. He knows our exact measurements. He knows right where our heart is located and so he molds his righteousness into a piece of armor that will cover us and protect us. When we trust Jesus He places that breastplate on us. He clothes us in righteousness. But listen now. Even though the craftsman built and fitted
This armor---even though he carefully and skillfully placed it on the soldier-the soldier still had to do something very important---he had to wear it. He was still responsible for wearing it daily. In the same way Jesus gives his righteousness—all the righteousness we will ever need is credited to our account and once He clothes us with it, all we have to do is accept it and wear it.
Look at this passage with me…. Listen carefully. Here it is. (screen) Zechariah 3:1-7. Then the angel showed me (in my vision) Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan was there too, at the Angel’s right hand, accusing Joshua of many things [2] and the Lord said to Satan, “I reject your accusations, Satan; yes I, the Lord, for I have decided to be merciful to Jerusalem---I rebuke you. I have decreed mercy to Joshua and his nation; they are like a burning stick pulled out of the fire.” [3] Joshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood before the Angel of the Lord. [4] then the angel said to the others standing there, “remove his filthy clothing.” And turning to Joshua he said “See I have taken away your sins and now I am giving you these fine clothes.” [5] Then I said, “please could he also have a turban on his head?” so they gave him one. [6] then the angel of the Lord spoke very solemnly to Joshua and said [7] The Lord Almighty declares: if you will follow the paths I set for you and do all I tell you to then I will put you in charge of my temple, to keep it holy and I will let you walk in and out of my presence with these angels.
This is a picture of what happens when we receive forgiveness. And only when we are wearing it are we properly equipped to stand before the enemy.
I like the story about a teacher who had injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast around his upper body. Fortunately it fit under his shirt and so it wasn’t noticeable at all. On the first day of the new semester, still with the cast under his shirt he found himself assigned to the toughest kids in the school. Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window as wide as possible and then got busy with some work at his desk. When a strong breeze came through and it made his tie flap in the breeze, he took the stapler off his desk and stapled his tie to his chest/cast.
After that he had no trouble with discipline that term. Listen, here is the perspective we need to come from when we do battle with Satan---righteousness is more than just a good example. It’s a God thing. But people who know we’re believers; they expect us to do the right thing. But what do you do when someone hurts you. When someone is just plain mean or they say something hurtful or what about this…what about when we fail like Samson or David or Solomon. What then? Righteousness is also about knowing how to deal with failure in e biblical way. We must be people who say to the world, God does not allow failure to stand in the way of His amazing grace. If you have that breastplate in place then you are protected. Sin is still sin. Failure is still failure but through the blood of Jesus Christ we can overcome both.
Every piece of armor was important. The armor was not complete until the warrior had every piece in place. Because Satan knows when we aren’t properly protected.
4 reasons we need it:
1. Satan accuses us. Revelation 12:10
2. We accuse ourselves. Some Christians have the problem of perpetual introspection. It's self-examination gone wild… it becomes self-accusation...which is unhealthy, because Satan will convince you to put yourself on the shelf. He uses feelings and memories to condemn you. He works on your mind. If God has forgiven and forgotten, then so should you. Satan is the accuser before God, and so God doesn't need you chiming in, reminding Him of your past. If you get run down, sleepless, or beat down emotionally, Satan will capitalize on your feelings, fueling the fire in order to get you to forget that you are wearing the breastplate of righteousness!
3. Others accuse us. Anybody who serves God will be falsely accused. From Nehemiah to David to Jesus Himself, it is God's job to silence these liars. Paul said that many false charges were brought against him. How could he stand it? He answered in...
2 Corinthians 6:7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness.
4. Circumstances accuse us. We get a case of the 'if onlys'. If only I had lived a different life, this wouldn't be happening to me. If only I were a better Christian, God wouldn't be punishing me now. That’s what Job’s friends tried to pull on him. Listen, the last thing you need when you are hurting is guilt over the very thing that is hurting you.
Satan will use all four of these to bring real trouble into our lives…and all for one purpose…He wants you to forget who you are in Christ. He wants you to completely lose your identity. He is the great deceiver and this is a full time job for him. 24/7.
And so for you and for me we must remember we cannot do this alone.
You and I are sinners. All have sinned. ALL. But we have been declared righteous in His eyes.
Our righteousness is as filthy rags. We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall and our sins sweep us away like the wind. Isaiah 64:6
So what do we need? Two things. We need Jesus and we need to accept what He has already done for us. In Arkansas a state trooper was out on routine patrol when he spotted a car driving a bit fast and the car then caused a minor traffic accident. Fortunately no one was hurt. Doing his job he pulled over and got out to write a report when he realized that the driver who caused the accident…. was actually his wife. Now I don’t know how you would handle that but he did the difficult thing. He wrote her a ticket. I can imagine he probably wasn’t very popular for a few days. When the time to go to court came, his wife stood on one side of the court and officer stood on the other. The judge declared her guilty and then issued a fine for her to pay. At that point the officer walked out with his wife, went upstairs and HE paid the ticket.
It’s a wonderful picture of what Christ has done for us. We sinned. The judge pronounces us guilty. Nothing we can do but admit it. But then Jesus steps in, walks us to the foot of the cross and there He pays our debt. And gives us His righteousness.
