Ephesians 6:10-End
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The Armour of God
The Armour of God
Firstly Paul commands the Ephesians ‘Be Strong.’
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
He says be strong ‘in the Lord and in the strenght of His might.’
All your strength is ‘in the Lord’. All of our victories on this battlefield are won ‘in the Lord.’
Why do we need to ‘be strong?’ because, just like Joshua, there is a battle ahead of us. There is an enemy encamped in the promised land and we must drive him out.
So just like a good soldier we must prepare properly. A strong man is no use on a battlefield unless he is properly prepared. He must be appropriately dressed, in armour.
Remember the classic story of the great hero, Achilles, who seemed to be invincible. The legend is that his mother, when he was a baby, dipped him into some kind of magical potion that coated his entire body with an invincible shield. But when she dipped him into this substance, she held him by the tip of his heel, so that one portion of his body was not covered with the magic solution. It was there that, in the course of a great battle in the Trojan War, Achilles was struck in the heel by an arrow and was slain. He had one uncovered point on his body where he was vulnerable.
A helmet on it’s own won’t do, neither will just a shield, the soldier must put on the whole panoply of body armour in order to be effective in the battle.
A good soldier must also be able to identify his foe. If he is unable to identify who he is fighting then it doesnt matter how well equipped he is, or how strong he is, he will lose the battle!
Christians, our foes are not of flesh and blood. Our fight is not against people, whether politicians, or followers of other religions, or even people who persecute us but with dark spiritual forces, evil rulers and authorities in heavenly places.
And the enemy doesn’t fight honestly - they ‘scheme’, they ‘plot.’ They want you to think they’re the good guys, they want you to misidentify your true enemy.
Therefore - take up the whole armour of God...
This is reminiscent of the language of ephesians 4:22 and 24 where Paul encouraged the Ephesians to put off the old man and put on the new man.
He then immediately went into a discourse about how they were to behave ‘putting away falsehood, speaking the truth.’ Interesting that the first part of the armour is truth! So the putting on of the new man meant living in a particular way through the power of the Spirit.
The same idea is present here; putting on the armour of God is more than just a ‘belief thing’, it’s not a spiritual practice that is detached from our actions, it’s done by faith yes, but it’s faith that walks itself out into action.
So to put on the armour of God is a faith and works thing. All our good works are done by faith, and true faith is proven by good works.
The Belt of Truth
The belt was the first piece of armour to go on. It would gird up the mans long robe around his waist so he was able to move about with agility.
To hate falshood and to love truth is to gird ourselves up, to strengthen ourselves. It does make us more agile. Have you ever noticed how a liar traps themselves within their own web of deceit?!
Without the belt, the rest of the armour wouldn’t hang together properly
Let us then love nothing like falsehood, all our duties let us pursue with truth, let us not lie one to another. Whether it be an opinion, let us seek the truth, or whether it be a line of life, let us seek the true one. If we fortify ourselves with this, if we gird ourselves with truth, then shall no one overcome us.
- Chrysostom
The Breastplate of Rightousness
The breastplate protects the bodys most vital organs.
Our new self is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (eph 4:24). So a Christian is protected by righteousness.
by righteousness here he means a life of universal virtue. Such an one no one shall ever be able to overthrow;
The righteousness of Christ which is meant to be lived in and walked out by faith. As we walk out His rightousness in our lives by faith we are putting on the breastplate and protecting our vital organs from enemy attack.
A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God. - McCheyne
A Christian who is living in unconfessed, hidden sin is in an extremely dangerous and exposed place.
Feet Shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace
Story of the messenger, who would run to proclaim news from the battle to those at home.
Are we prepared to preach the gospel?
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
The Shield of Faith
Describe the Roman shield and it’s purpose in the phalanx.
The enemy is firing fiery darts at us - accusations and temptations that don’t just wound us but set fire to our armour, damage other parts of us. Damage our ability to keep fighting. scar us.
We extinguish these darts with faith. Trusting in the one who has saved us, not just believing in Him, but actually believing Him in real time, when the trials come, when the accusations fly at us, when we are pressed hard.
20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
The Helmet of Salvation
The helmet protected both the cranium but also the eyes, the ears, the face. So your ability to see, to think, to act in battle was dependent upon your helmet.
Christ is your helmet - He is what crowns your life.
When enemy accusation comes your salvation is what keeps you safe from harm.
The Sword of the Spirit
The roman sword was used to thrust at the enemy and was an extremely effective weapon.
The sword of the Spirit is the word of God.
We want to keep our sword unsheathed, ready and clean, we want to be trained and equipped to weald the sword when the enemy comes. The Bible is the word of God through the Spirit - is that word alive within you? Are you trained to handle the sword, is it well known to you? Is it your friend? This is how we slay the enemy, not with our own words but with the word of God.
Jesus in the wilderness.
Praying Always
Then we come to the thing that holds everything together - prayer
Praying at all times
With all prayer
With all perseverance
For all the saints