08022020 Ephesians 6:13-17 Put On... (Pt. 1)
Notes
Transcript
What you don’t know can’t hurt you...
What you don’t know can’t hurt you...
Remaining ignorant or uninformed about something will allow someone to not have to worry about, feel responsible for, or get upset by it.
When it comes to this matter of preparing for battle - won’t you don’t know CAN hurt you. We could even say what we can’t see can hurt you as well.
Last week we looked at the 1st three verses of this section where Paul is emphasizing that our “struggle is not against flesh and blood” but instead is against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
As we have been Preparing for Battle -
As we have been Preparing for Battle -
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First is this Call to Arms to be Strong in the strength of His might - his power;
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Second is the nature of the struggle.
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Third, the armor necessary for that struggle; and,
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Fourth and finally, we are going to hear a call to vigilance - never underestimating the enemy.
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Read Ephesians 6:13-17
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Prayer of Illumination
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Paul begins with this word - “Therefore..”
Paul begins with this word - “Therefore..”
take up (command)...
...so that…(purpose)
The war may have been been won, but the battles continue - similar to the continued fighting after the declaration of peace in World War II. The question though is this?
Do You believe this?
Do you believe that what you believe is really real?
Even though we can’t see this enemy, do you believe that we are in the middle of a spiritual war. . . that our struggle is not against what we see, but instead is against what we can’t see? Do you believe the apostle Paul when he states that we are in the midst of a serious spiritual battle?
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12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
What is amazing about what Paul is saying here is not what he affirms (says is), but what he denies - what he says is not.
We shouldn’t be surprised to hear him say we are fighting against things we can’t see - wicked, supernatural, powers.
Jesus told Peter that “Satan demanded permission to sift you like wheat”(Luke 22:31). And, Peter himself warns us in his epistle, “Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1Peter 5:8).
Jesus himself said, “In the world you have tribulation....” (Jn 16:33)
So, we shouldn’t be surprised to hear that we, because of our union with Christ and our identification with him we are going to be attacked and are called to be actively engaged in these spiritual battles.
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What is surprising to hear, is what Paul denies - what he says “is not”.
What is surprising to hear, is what Paul denies - what he says “is not”.
He is adamant when he says...
“Our struggle is NOT against flesh and blood”.
We have become so much like the world, trusting in what we can only see that we forget this struggle is NOT against flesh and blood. What we do know is where the Word meets the world there is going to be a struggle. That’s the way it has been from the beginning and it will be till the end. So we ask, “How can I fight what I can’t see?”
This idea of spiritual warfare was never so real to me as when I was called into the ministry (example of spiritual confrontation in Marion, AL) . . . There are spiritual battles in ministry as the Word is faithfully preached and taught. The pastor might as well have a bullseye painted on his chest and back. Anyone in the ministry knows that this battle is not, against flesh and blood.
Whether you recognize it or not, whether you accept it or not, whether you can see it or not, we are in the middle of a war – a spiritual war.
Ignorance about these things can hurt you.
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Soldiers are people prepared for battle
Soldiers are people prepared for battle
Those who go onto the battle field are assigned equipment to prepare them for battle.
The soldier of Jesus Christ must not expect to find ease in this world: it is a battlefield. And what is implied by Paul’s words in Ephesians 6 is that if we do not recognize this, we are going to suffer at the hands of the evil one.
So we are told, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes, the methods of the devil” (6:11). What is implied here is that if we do not put on the full armor of God, we are not going to be able to stand firm against these evil schemes and methods of Satan and his minions.
Thankfully, God has made provision for us.
If it is your aim to mature as a Christian; if it is your goal to withstand the attacks of the evil one, then you must put on the armor described in these verses. Not just the individual pieces, but the FULL ARMOR. This is how God means to keep us safe until the day of salvation. It is not enough to simply pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”, because God answers that prayer by giving us His armor, and so we must put it on.
The Full of Armor of God is . . .
Belt of Truth
Breastplate of Righteousness
Shoes of the Gospel
Shield of Faith
Helmet of Salvation
Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
Therefore, Put on...
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“Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth....”
“Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth....”
A Roman soldier always wore a tunic, an outer garment that served as his primary clothing. It was usually made of a large, square piece of material with holes cut out for the head and arms. Ordinarily it draped loosely over most of the soldier’s body. Since the greatest part of ancient combat was hand-to-hand, a loose tunic was a potential hindrance and even a danger. Before a battle it was therefore carefully cinched up and tucked into the heavy leather belt that girded the soldier’s loins.
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What is this truth?
What is this truth?
Is this truth in the sense of doctrine, or does this mean truth in the sense of integrity or faithfulness? The answer is - “YES”
Commentators wrestle with this question, but which ever way we take it, it’s important for us to understand that it is truth worked deep down into the inner parts of the Christian that produces integrity of life and faithfulness of service. This word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is our only rule for faith and practice.
In other words, we must have truth worked into our hearts, and that truth produces a sincerity of mind and heart – wholeheartedness, integrity – if we are going to be able to stand in the day of evil.
Doctrine has to be worked right down to our bones so that it becomes a part of us and it affects everything that we are and all that we do, so that we are people of truth and integrity, and then we will be able to resist the devil in the evil day.
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Have you ever wondered why truth comes first in this list of battle equipment? Could it be that successful spiritual warfare begins with fixing the great doctrines of our faith firmly in our minds.
Or to put it another way: It is dangerous to rush into battle without having those doctrines of the faith fixed firmly in our understanding….In Christianity truth comes first, then action follows.”
James Montgomery Boice writes:
I think it was Andrew Bonar who first imagined a situation in which a Christian dies and goes to heaven and there meets some of the authors of the biblical books: Ezekiel, for example, and next to him Malachi and Amos and Habakkuk, and maybe Isaiah. They manage to strike up a conversation, and the Christian is glad to meet these men God used to write the Bible.
The man says, “Ah, Ezekiel, what a pleasure to meet you!”
“I am pleased you are glad to meet me,” Ezekiel replies.
“Tell me, what did you think about my book?”
The Christian answers, “I’m afraid I didn’t really read it.”
Malachi is there, so he chimes in. “Well, my book is a lot shorter than Ezekiel’s. Certainly you read it! What do you think of what I said?”
Again the Christian has to admit that he has not read it. “Malachi? Is that in the Old Testament or the New Testament?”
In our spiritual warfare against our terrible enemy the first piece of armor that God provides us is the belt of truth.
Let me encourage you to read God’s Word daily. To study it prayerfully. To meditate upon it mindfully.
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11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
Stand firm there, Having girded our loins with truth and...
“...Having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”
“...Having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”
No Roman soldier would go into battle without his breastplate, a tough, sleeveless piece of armor that covered his full torso. It was often made of leather or heavy linen, onto which were sewn overlapping slices of animal hooves or horns or pieces of metal. Some were made of large pieces of metal molded or hammered to conform to the body. The purpose of that piece of armor is obvious—to protect the heart, lungs, intestines, and other vital organs.
Soldiers in the United States Army are issued handguns, combat uniforms, boots, protective gear including a modular scaleable vest, a ballistic combat shirt, a blast pelvic protector, and a load distribution system, an enhanced combat helmet, and combat helmets.
And here the Apostle Paul is saying that in order to stand firm in the day of evil, we are issued this breastplate of righteousness...
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What kind of righteousness is Paul talking about?
What kind of righteousness is Paul talking about?
The Apostle Paul loves to talk about the imputed righteousness of Christ - Christ’s righteousness placed to our account and received by faith alone - that righteousness placed to our account when we are saved through faith by God’s grace.
Is he talking about that righteousness, or is he talking about that righteousness which the Holy Spirit is working in us so that we are being sanctified - morally transformed?
Once again, the answer is “YES”
Once we were sinners; now more and more by God’s grace we are becoming Christ-like through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. What is sanctification?
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The Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 35
What is sanctification?
Sanctification is the work of God’ s free grace, (2 Thess. 2:13) whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, (Eph. 4:23–24) and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness. (Rom. 6:4,6, Rom. 8:1)
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Our growth in grace is never separated from the imputed righteousness of Christ to us, so that as we are grounded and accepted by God because of a righteousness that is not our own, so also more and more we grow by the work of the Spirit into being like Christ - dieing to self and living to righteousness - laying aside the old self and putting on the new (Eph 4:22; Col 3:9)
So Paul is telling us that out of that righteousness of Christ that is credited to us - so that we are accepted not because of what we have done, not because of what we deserve, but because of what Christ has done - out of that imputed righteousness flows a life in which we are serious about growing in godliness, so that a devout and holy life, moral upright life, is essential for this battle.
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To put on the breastplate of righteousness is to live in daily, moment-by-moment obedience to our heavenly Father. This part of God’s armor is holy living, for which God supplies the standard and the power but for which we must supply the willingness and the submission.
As John Maxwell once said, we cannot engage in ‘cafeteria Christianity’ and survive. We cannot, in other words, mix our own morals, choose our own values, pick our own commandments, and top it off with pursuing our own will.
There is one menu and it calls for spiritual discipline.
Do you know why the lives of so many young men and women are turned around for the better when they serve in the Armed Forces? It’s because they’ve learned discipline and obedience.
Should they ever go to war, it is the only way they can ever hope maintain an advantage over the enemy. It is no different for Christians. To survive in the battles of life, we must be disciplined and obedient - well trained and ready.
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At Scott Air Force base in Bellville, Illinois, there hangs a sign that states,
“An Untrained Soldier Is Just a Target.”
Followers of Jesus – an unarmed, undisciplined Christian is just a target. Since we are living in enemy occupied territory, we must maintain a life of discipline – of worship, prayer, and studying the Word of God.
These disciplines cannot be sporadic if we hope to remain strong in the Lord in the strength of His might.
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13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
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We are not fighting to win the war
We are not fighting to win the war
- the war has already been won through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. In Him we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:37). There is a wonderful depiction of this in Joshua 5...
13 Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”
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14 He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?”
This one coming from Jericho met Joshua saying, “I’ve not come to take sides; I’ve come to take over - the enemy has already been conquered, no go in a subdue what is already yours.”
So Joshua bowed in submission - ready to be obedient - with the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness - he was told to walk around the city of Jericho once a day for a week, and seven times on the last day. Then he was to blow the trumpets and shout, and God promised to flatten the walls and give Joshua the victory.
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An Untrained, Unprepared Soldier is Just a Target
An Untrained, Unprepared Soldier is Just a Target
Jesus has come into this world as the commander of our Lord’s Army. As King of Kings he subdues us to himself. He rules and defends us. He restrains and has conquered all his and our enemies.
He has entered onto the battlefield on our behalf. The enemy has been conquered. Before us is a land of promises, a life flowing with milk and honey - a land with divine blessing and great potential.
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15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
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57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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The War has been won, but battles still must be fought as the enemy continues to seek someone to devour (1 Pet 5:8)
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.