May 20, 2018 Sermon - The Armour of God - Ephesians 6:10-18
At the beginning of world war II, France believed they had a solution to a potential German invasion.
They built what was called the Maginot line. The Maginot line was a defensive line built in the 1930’s that stretched for over 200 miles on the NE border of France.
You can see on the map, the strongest fortifications were along the German border.
It was state-of-the-art, built of thick concrete with living quarters, heavy guns, store houses and underground rail lines.
There were 45 main underground forts, 97 smaller underground forts, 352 large guns that could rise out of the ground.
They were connected by an underground railroad system and underground corridors.
French soldiers enjoyed state-of-the-art living conditions.
It was designed to hold off a German attack.
However, the Germans defeated the French by simply going around it through Belgium and through the Ardennes forest, which the French considered impenetrable.
The French were not prepared for the manner in which the Germans overcame this defensive line, simply by avoiding it.
In the end, the Maginot line was useless and France surrendered. France fell because they underestimated their enemy and relied on the wrong weapons.
They didn’t anticipate the attack their enemy used. They thought they were protected, but weren’t. Pause
God knows us in our weakness. He knows how easily we are tempted. He knows when we’re needy, when we’re afflicted, when we’re sick.
He knows that we can be let astray. He knows that we are sometimes emotionally weak, sometimes physically weak, sometimes mentally weak. Sometimes it’s the unexpected sorrows of life that simply take the wind out of us.
We need to understand God’s compassion toward us. God is full of lovingkindness and compassion toward you.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. Psalm 63:3
Just sit with that for a moment. Close your eyes and consider God’s love toward you. His deep understanding of your needs, your challenges, your weaknesses.
Now open your eyes.
Paul wrote the letter of Ephesians, which we’ve been studying now for many months, to people just. Like. you. Just. Like. Me.
And as the book wraps up, we are presented with a bold statement of encouragement. It is a call to courage in the face of fear. To joy in this world of sorrow. To strength even though we struggle with weakness.
Today’s message will be a teaching message, and we will look verse by verse at what the Word is saying to us.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power
This is all about being strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. But it’s not like a motivational poster. Just. Do it.
This ends end up being pretty empty because there’s no clue given how to do it.
But in our Scripture today we are commanded, actually, to be strong - in Jesus and in Jesus mighty power. We’re commanded by God, and then we’re given the HOW.
The fact that God commands us to be strong means that we actually can be strong. u have that ability as a follower of Jesus, as one who has given their life to Christ, because God dwells in you be the Holy Spirit.
We church, are the dwelling place of God and so we church can be strong in the Lord.
Strong in faith. Ever feel weak in your faith? Just say to God: “Lord, I’m feeling weak in faith.
“I pray that you would strengthen my faith”. I’ve found that God delights to answer that prayer when prayed sincerely.
And it specifically says “Be strong in the Lord”. That is both choosing to live with confidence in Jesus and in His power and it’s also about DOING those things that help you to be strong in the Lord.
What’s something that helps you to be strong in the Lord? Gathering with God’s people.
Maybe you come to one of the Bible studies or the Way of Jesus class or one of the Bridges classes that we run on the weekdays. That’s part of it. Bring with the people of God. You are here, so that’s a good thing.
In my experience, going to church is helpful. Getting involved more deeply in serving the congregation makes you stronger. Using your gifts to encourage others makes you strong.
What can you do personally that can help you to be strong in the Lord? Develop healthy daily rhythms in your day where you give God the time one-on-one with you to grow in your relationship with God.
What are some healthy daily rhythms you can develop to help you be strong in the Lord? Read the Word of God. Let God speak to you through the Bible so you get to know His heart, His will, His character.
Pray. Talk to God about your life. Spend time in reflection and repentance. Tell God what you're sorry for and ask for strength and grace to change to become more like Jesus.
I’ve mentioned before a great collection of prayers that I’ve used for years that can be a guide for prayer. It’s this (show on screen).
And make sure you pray for others. Make a prayer journal and put the names of people who over time come to your mind.
And pray for them daily. I find that to be extremely important. The more I pray for you, and I pray for this church and you individually daily, the more I feel connected to God. That's because you're on God’s heart.
And you also feel connected to the people you pray for.
All of those things - with the body of Christ, and then on your own in your prayer closet - those are things that you can do to be strong in the Lord.
Put on the full armour of God
11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
We’re commanded to put on the full armour of God. This is after being told to be strong in the Lord. Do those things which prepare us for the battle.
What happens if you put body armour on a well-conditioned soldier (photos?).
First, they can bear the weight of the armour. Second, they can fight and make advances on the enemy, making strong offensive action.
Third, the armour protects them from the enemy so that their progress is not halted or compromised.
What happens if you put body armour on someone who is not well conditioned?
First, they might not be able to bear the weight of the armour, so that thing that’s meant to protect them works against them.
Second, they can’t fight as they need to so will not make advances on the enemy.
Third, they will spend all their time in a defensive posture, so even the armour they have on them will eventually fail as they are constantly receiving blows.
So first we grow strong in the Lord. We do that by doing our healthy daily rhythms so we get a solid spiritual workout.
Then we put on the armour of God. Why? To cower and faint at the devil’s schemes? To live in shock that bad things happen? To run away in fright?
Nope. Quite the opposite. We put on the full armour of God, which we’re about to look at in some detail, so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes.
Take Your Stand
The devil, Satan, has schemes. He has plans. What’s that about?
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, 1 Peter 5:8-9a
A lion prowls because he’s hungry. It’s his nature. And when he hunts and captures its prey, it is merciless. Doesn’t even consider mercy. Just captures and eats. It’s not pleasant to observe. Satan prowls around because he’s hungry. He’s eager to destroy. Mercilessly. To be blunt, He wants you dead.
Before you came to Jesus and trusted in Him for your salvation, you were no threat. Not even on Satan’s radar. Generally without knowing it, we were on his side.
Without hope in the world. Our sins still condemning us. Living unreconciled with God. Dwelling in a very dark place. Scripture speaks of this when it talks about what we have been rescued from through faith in Jesus Christ.
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1
That dominion of darkness is no longer our home. Our home is the kingdom of the Son of God, in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins.
And so we take our stand against the schemes of the devil in our own lives and wherever we observe chaos and evil at work. But we do so with wisdom and understanding. The wisdom that comes from God.
12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
It’s easy to see those on the attack against us as the ones we are struggling against. Other humans. Paul wrote this letter and this portion of this letter when the Roman Empire was the enemy of the church.
It was so easy for those early Christians to mistake the pressure they were under from the Roman state, which eventually included being fed to the lions in the colosseum for sport, as simply the work of evil men, flesh and blood.
But the words which Paul uses, powers, authorities, world-rulers, are all names for different classes of evil spirits. There is a sense in which the whole universe is a battleground (Barclay).
For us, when we see injustice, when we see institutions that are suppose to be designed to help people in reality hurting them, when we hear of nations threatening war,
we have to remember in those cases and probably in more personal cases, that our struggle is not against other people, flesh and blood.
Without being paranoid, we just need to be aware of Satan’s schemes. And as James says in 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”.
As we’ve mentioned earlier in this series on the Book of Ephesians, Paul wrote this letter from prison. As he writes he is likely chained by wrist to a Roman soldier.
Night and day a soldier was there to ensure that he would not escape. Paul was literally an envoy in a chain, attached to or at the very least guarded continually by a Roman soldier.
As he writes, the soldier's armour suggests a picture to him. The Christian too has his armour; and part by part Paul takes the armour of the Roman soldier and translates it into Christian terms.
14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
We’re equipped by God to take our stand. And first we’re told to stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around our waists. For the Roman soldier, the belt held his tunic. Kept him together, so to speak.
The belt also held his sword. It was the belt which held up in the soldier's tunic and from which his battle sword hung and which gave him freedom of movement.
Others may guess and grope; the Christ-follower moves freely and quickly because he knows the truth.
Our source of truth is the Word of God, through which we know Jesus Who is also referred to as the Word of God.
How is your belt? How familiar are you with the Bible? The Bible reveals the mind and heart of God.
To know your Bible is to understand all that God intends you to understand about Him, about yourself, about life and about humanity.
We always run groups to help you grow in your knowledge of the Bible. Marjorie is running a group right now after our services on Sundays.
They are exploring the book of Mark. I hope you participate. We all, myself included, need to grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Bible.
Knowledge of the Bible gives us freedom of movement. We’re free because we’re clear on what God says. If we’re guessing and groping, we’re not grounded in the Word.
If we feel pulled in numerous directions when it comes to right and wrong, to justice issues even, we’re not likely particulaly grounded in and obedient to the Word of God.
Which is not where we want to be. We move freely and with authority and with speed in dealing with challenges because we know the truth.
Both the Words of Scripture and He Who is the Truth, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
We have the belt of truth around our waist. Then we have the breastplate of righteousness.
The breastplate on a soldier protects what? The heart and other vital organs.
When a person is clothed in righteousness he or she is impregnable. Words are no defence against accusations but a good life is.
Once a man accused the ancient philosopher Plato of certain crimes. "Well then," said Plato, "we must live in such a way as to prove that his accusations are a lie."
I have a friend in ministry who years ago was accused of something terrible.
His reputation in general was stellar, and when the investigation into the accusation was conducted, dozens of people that he worked with or worked around were questioned in detail about him.
They all responded that they had never seen or experienced anything but good from the gentleman. None could fathom that the accusations were true.
He was put on hold for 6 months, unable to work directly with people while the investigation was carried out in great detail.
There was found to be no truth in any of the accusations.
After he was cleared of the accusation, the person who created the accusation called and left a message on his machine confessing the whole sordid set up.
Confessing that he had been jealous and bitter toward my friend and confessing all the details of the set up.
You’d think the average victim of a false accusation would use that to finally prove his absolute innocence, or maybe use that recording to sue the person who caused him such grief. But no. My friend just played it for me and tossed it in the garbage.
This was and is a righteous fellow who has gone on to serve God and God is doing great things through him.
A good life, one that reflects the goodness and love of Jesus, is the only defence against lies and falsehoods.
How’s your breastplate? Is it solid? Is your life protected by living well? By making a lifestyle of the way of Jesus? If it’s not, it can be. Learn the attitudes, behaviour and character of Jesus by reading the Bible.
Draw close to Him. Really let your relationship with Him grow. He’s closer than your own breath.
Become like Jesus, which can also be understood as becoming the best version of yourself. Become like Jesus as my friend seeks to be, and then your breastplate of righteousness will always be in place, come what may.
15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the grow gospel of peace.
There are the sandals. Sandals were the sign of one equipped and ready to move. The sign of the Christian is that they are eager to be on the way to share the gospel with others who have not heard it.
16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
There is the shield. The word Paul uses is not that for the comparatively small round shield; it is that for the great oblong shield which the heavily armed warrior wore.
One of the most dangerous weapons in ancient warfare was the fiery dart. It was a dart tipped with tow dipped in pitch. The pitch-soaked tow was set alight and the dart was thrown.
The great oblong shield was made of two sections of wood, glued together. When the shield was presented to the dart, the dart sank into the wood and the flame was put out.
Faith can deal with the darts of temptation. With Paul, faith is always complete trust in Christ. When we walk close with Christ, we are safe from temptation.
17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
There is salvation for a helmet. Salvation is not something which looks back only. The salvation which is in Christ gives us forgiveness for the sins of the past and strength to conquer sin in the days to come.
How does the helmet of salvation protect us? Thanks to Michael Deutsch for this insight.
Your knowledge of who you are in Christ should protect your mind from lies, corruption, doubt and deception. Satan’s greatest weapons are his lies. He’s the architect of lies.
He will attempt to fill your mind with rationalizations of why you can sin and why you can engage in acts that are obviously contrary to the Bible.
He loves to point out our failures and faults and anything else that seems negative.
He wants us to doubt our salvation, to doubt God’s goodness, to doubt God’s word, to be just generally depressed. satan will try by every means at his disposal to discourage and defeat us.
When the enemy is trying to fill your head with lies concerning God’s love for you and for the salvation we have received, we need to believe and trust in our salvation as a fact.
The helmet of salvation gives us confidence in Christ. We have been saved by what Christ did for us on the cross.
No one can take that away. The helmet of salvation protects our minds from the attacks of our enemy.
There is the sword; and the sword is the word of God. The word of God is at once our weapon of defense against sin and our weapon of attack against the sins of the world.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
This comes back to our earlier insights on healthy daily rhythms. I won’t repeat those, but it’s amazing to know that God always wants to hear from us.
God always wants to be in conversation with you. All occasions. All kinds of prayers. Requests without limit.
Always be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. I’ve developed a structured approach to praying for the Lord’s people in this church, in this mission, in this city, and around the world.
It’s the only way I’ve been able to maintain a consistent practice of intercession, which is praying for others.
Whatever helps you to be faithful to this command, to always be praying for the Lord’s people, you need to do it.
This might be for me, among other devotional practices, the thing that keeps me feeling the most connected to God, and to you guys. What do I mean?
When I pray for you, no matter how well I know you, I pray for your whole being. I pray the blessings of God, the blessings of the gospel upon your life.
I pray for your healing if I know you need healing. I pray for your families, because all our families need God.
And this practice honestly keeps me feeling very connected to you. I meet with dozen of people each week, but I can’t meet with everyone.
But by praying for you, that keeps you in my heart. When I see the names on our prayer sheet, those names, those people go with me. It’s a remarkable thing.
May we consciously and intentionally live mindful of God, aware of His presence, being wise in life by always putting on the armour of God.
And may Jesus continue to use and and bless us as He seeks to bless the city through His church. In His name we pray. Amen.
[Some references and quotes from Bible expositor William Barclay included in this sermon]
