We continue in our series on Discovering our Destiny, and our focus in recent weeks has been on Conquering our Fears, and this morning we are thinking about the Armour of God.
The Armour of God....
We are in a spiritual battle and we don’t wrestle against this physical world, but against the forces of darkness.
That sounds like a quote from a sci-fi or horror movie doesn’t it, but it was a reality long before it was a movie script.
There is a spiritual battle which goes on everyday and The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:10-18 we have spiritual armour that we are able to put on to protect us. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God’s armour 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 armour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armour of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
Spiritual warfare is very real in the life of the believer, but we have not been left helpless or without defence.
God has given us specific tools to use in our daily spiritual battle.
The devil tries his hardest to disrupt our discipleship with Christ, he looks for a small break in our armour, he seeks out the weak spots, he looks for where we are most vulnerable and that is where he begins his assault.
Do you ever find a spider or a bug in a strange place in your home and wonder how it got there?
Maybe it found it’s way in through a small hole somewhere, maybe it crawled in through a window that was only open a little.
Or maybe you left a door wide open and it could not resist your invitation to enter in and take up residence.
The Devil works in the same way. He searches and looks for a small hole, a crack, a door we have left open and takes the opportunity to attack.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians to not give Satan any access, any way in to disrupt our lives, Paul tells us to “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power” and to “Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.”
In John 8:44 Jesus says this about the devil, He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Satan is a liar, he will whisper to you that you are weak,
he will try to convince you that a lie is the truth,
he will tell you it’s okay to do what you want to do even if it is wrong in the site of God,
he will prod you and poke you and try to make sure that you don’t use your full spiritual armour.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that Satan even disguises himself as an angel of light.
We need to know the truth of the Word of God so that we are not swayed by his lies
Satan CAN be resisted, James tells us in James 4:7
humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Satan is a defeated foe, his fate is certain,
God already has the victory and if we are in Christ we also have the victory through the strength and power of God.
Praise be to God, who gives us the strength to resist Satan and cause him to flee!
Listen to Ephesians 6:13 again, put on every piece of God’s armour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.
Today, have you put on all your spiritual armour, the full armour that God has already given you?
Ephesians 6:14, Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armour of God’s righteousness.
Today, belts are a fashion accessory so the importance of the belt of truth is perhaps a little unclear to us in the modern world.
Paul’s understanding of the use of a belt is a little different to ours. For Paul the belt was a piece of armour that denoted readiness.
The Roman soldier wore a tunic or outer garment that served as his primary clothing.
Most of ancient combat was hand-to-hand, a loose tunic was a hindrance and a danger.
Before a battle, the tunic was carefully secured by a heavy leather belt, the same belt that also held the soldier’s sword.
Our Spiritual armour is not a leather belt, it is the belt of truth.
In Greek, Alethia, which we translate as “truth”, refers to the content of that which is true.
The Word of God, the Bible is truth.
The truth of God’s Word is essential for every Christian in our battle against the Satan.
We need to know the truth of Scripture, when we know what the Word of God really says, then Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:14 We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching.
We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
We must know the truth, and to know the truth we must read it, study it.
Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armour of God’s righteousness.
The body armour is for our protection and help.
This body armour is never to be removed.
The body armour or breastplate of righteousness as it is sometimes translated, is an important piece of armour.
A Roman soldier would never go into battle without his breastplate, a tough, sleeveless piece of armour that covered his full torso.
It was often made of leather or heavy linen, stitched onto it were overlapping slices of animal hooves or horns or pieces of metal.
Some of the breastplates were made of large pieces of metal moulded or hammered to fit and protect the soldiers body.
The purpose of the body armour is obvious,
it protected the heart, lungs, intestines, and
other vital organs.
Here’s an interesting fact for you, in ancient Jewish thinking, the heart represented the mind and the will,
while the bowels were considered the place of emotion and feelings. Strange but true!
The mind and the emotions are two areas where the devil seeks to attack.
He tries to tempt us to think wrong thoughts and to feel wrong emotions.
He tries to cloud our minds with false doctrine, false principles, and false information.
He seeks to undermine the importance of pure and holy living and encourages immorality, greed, envy, hate, and every other vice and sin.
Many in the modern world would rather embrace sin than mourn over it, too many people rationalise sin rather than confess it and never ask God for forgiveness.
Do you see the need for the body armour, the breastplate of righteousness in your own life?
Some people misunderstand the use of the word righteousness, Paul is not speaking of self righteousness, or the imputed righteousness we receive when we repent and turn to Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
We are permanently dressed in His righteousness, throughout our lives on earth and throughout all eternity.
God’s imputed righteousness is the basis of our Christian life and our Christian living.
It protects us from hell, but it does not, in itself, protect us from Satan in this present life.
So what is the righteousness Paul is speaking of here?
The breastplate of righteousness is what we put on as spiritual armour against our adversary, this is the practical righteousness of a life lived in obedience to God’s Word.
This righteousness is living moment by moment in obedience to the Heavenly Father.
To put it another way, this part of the armour is for living the Holy life God has called each and every one of us to live.
Living the right way in the sight of God, the right way of living that protects us and blesses us.
Think of it this way, if when I drive my car, I keep within the speed limit, I will not be fined for speeding, I will not have fear when I see a speed camera or police car, there is less of a chance that I will be in an accident, and I am obeying the law that the authorities have put in place.
Right living protects and blesses us.
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.
Are you allowing worldly desires to wage war in your life?
Is there something in your life that does not reflect right or holy living?
It could be movies you watch, books you read, internet sites you visit, music lyrics you listen to or sing.
Whatever the activity, don’t allow a weakness in your armour, don’t let the devil influence you, don’t give him a foothold.
In Romans 13:12,14 the Apostle Paul wrote “The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armour of right living. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.”
Today choose to live righteously, wear the body armour of righteousness.
It’s a battle out there. God gives us weapons of war.
There is the belt, the breastplate, then in Ephesians 6:15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.
There are dress shoes, work shoes, leisure shoes. There are also special shoes for every sport,
a tennis player might wear one type of shoe on clay and another on grass.
Football players wear different shoes to play on different surfaces.
The purpose of shoes is primarily to protect our feet.
Roman soldier’s shoes had a different purpose to the shoes you have on, a soldier’s life could depend on them.
Marching on rough, hot roads, climbing over jagged rocks, trampling over thorns, and wading through streams with jagged stones, his feet needed protection.
A soldier with blistered, cut, or swollen feet cannot fight well and may not even be able to stand up.
The Roman soldier’s shoes were tough and durable to protect his feet, and impregnated with bits of metal or nails to give him traction as he climbed a slippery cliff and stability as he fought.
Our spiritual footwear is equally important.
For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.
In Romans 5 Paul explains that we were enemies to God, but because of Christ’s death now we are reconciled or at peace with God.
The Good News of the Gospel is that we now have peace with God.
These Spiritual Shoes give us the ability to stand firm knowing that we are at peace with God.
Standing in the Lord’s power means we need not fear any enemy, when attacks come, our feet are rooted firmly on the solid ground of the gospel of peace.
The first three pieces of armour, the belt, the body armour, and shoes were for long-range protection and were never taken off on the battlefield.
Then in Ephesians 6:16 Paul tells us In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.
Roman soldiers used several kinds of shields, but there were two that were most common.
The first was a small round shield, two feet in diameter, secured to the arm by two leather straps and it was relatively lightweight.
This shield was used to block the sword blows of the enemy in hand-to-hand fighting.
The second shield was the thureos, which Paul refers to here.
This shield was about two and half feet wide and four and a half feet high, it was designed to protect the entire body of the soldier.
The shield was made of a solid piece of wood and covered with metal or heavy oiled leather.
The soldiers who carried these shields were in the front lines of battle and normally stood side by side with their shields together, forming a horizontal wall extending as long as a mile or more.
This kind of a stance would strike fear in the enemy because from a distance it looked like a solid wall.
The Roman archers stood behind this protective wall of shields and shot their arrows as they advanced against the enemy.
Anyone who stood or crouched behind the shields was protected from the barrage of enemy arrows and spears.
Why does Paul equates the shield with faith?
Paul is speaking about trust in God, the kind of Faith that trusts in God’s promises.
Our faith and trust in God is our shield against the enemy and his fiery darts.
In New Testament times the tips of arrows would often be wrapped in pieces of cloth that had been soaked in pitch.
Just before the arrow was shot, the tip would be lit and then shot at the enemy troops.
The pitch burned fiercely, on impact it would spatter burning bits for several feet, igniting anything flammable it touched.
The arrow not only pierced the soldier’s bodies, it could inflict serious burns and destroy clothing and gear.
The shield had a covering of metal or leather soaked in water, reliable protection against flaming missiles to deflect or extinguish them.
Every day we are faced with a continuous bombardment of temptation, temptation to immorality, hatred, envy, anger, covetousness, pride, doubt, fear, despair, distrust, and every other sin.
Every temptation, directly or indirectly, is the temptation to doubt and distrust God.
1 John 5:4 says every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.
The shield of faith protects us from the lies of the enemy.
Paul then explains that God has given us a piece of armour to protect the head.
Ephesians 6:17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The Roman soldier would never go into battle without his helmet.
Some helmets were made of thick leather covered with metal plates, others were of heavy moulded or beaten metal and they usually had cheek pieces to protect the face.
Why does our head, spiritually speaking, need protection?
It is in our head that we formulate doubt and discouragement.
The fact that the helmet is related to salvation indicates that the devil directs his attacks at our security and our assurance of the free gift of salvation that is ours through faith in Jesus.
The devil loves to whisper doubt and discouragement into our ears, maybe it’s his favourite weapon against us, using our own fears or insecurities to attack us
Satan discourages us when he points out our failures, our sins, our unresolved problems, our health issues, or anything else negative in our lives to make us lose confidence in the love and care of our heavenly Father.
Doubt can separate us from truly knowing and following Christ with all our heart.
The helmet of salvation protects us from doubt and discouragement in two ways.
There is a real sense of protection in that we are saved and sealed.
If you know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour then you are a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
You have been set free from the bondage of sin and you God is with you.
The second protection is in the future sense.
The certain hope of salvation, the knowledge of the victory that we have in Jesus now and in the age to come.
Strength from discouragement and doubt because our future is secure.
Let your helmet of salvation be protection for you.
Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The other parts of the armour are to withstand the attacks of the enemy, but the weapon we carry is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.
In the first century, when the Roman foot soldiers were involved in hand-to-hand combat, a sword was the central weapon for victory in warfare.
The sword in Paul refers to here is the machaira.
This sword varied in length from six to eighteen inches and was carried by Roman foot soldiers.
This sword could be pulled out quickly and thrust into an enemy and then quickly pulled out to attack another.
Hebrews 4:12 the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
In Matthew 4 Jesus uses the Word of God in his battle against Satan in the wilderness.
Jesus used Scripture to defend himself and to strike back at Satan.
Friends, we must be familiar with God’s Word.
The more familiar we are with the weapon,
the better equipped we are to use it correctly,
to keep it in good working condition and keep ourselves safe.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
As I close, let me ask you, have you put on the full armour of God?
Are you dressed and ready for battle?
Are you wearing the belt of truth to keep your motives pure in your heart and in your mind?
Are you wearing the body armour, the Breastplate of righteousness so that you can boldly go into battle full of confidence?
Are you wearing the shoes of the good news of the gospel of truth to aid your movement and your defence?
Are you carrying the shield of faith to deflect and extinguish the fiery darts of the enemy?
Have you put on the Helmet of salvation to protect your mind, your intellect, your or reasoning?
Is the Sword of the spirit in your grasp? The sword made of the Spirit and the Word.
We have everything we need for spiritual warfare.
God has given us Spiritual armour, armour that will protect and defend us.
Armour that will keep us safe in our weak moments, safe in our darkest hours.
Armour that will sustain us in the heat of battle.
May each of us daily put on and use the full armour of God.
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The audio of this sermon can be downloaded from http://sermons.estuaryelim.church/20170319_aam_dean_courtier(armourofgod).mp3
