08162020 Ephesians 6:13-17 Put On...Pt. 3)
Dr. Mark C. Spellman
Ephesians - Practical Christian Living • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 43:04
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Introduction
Introduction
A little over 75 years ago on August 6, 1945, the U.S. Army Air Force dropped a five-ton uranium gun-type fission bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The blast was equivalent to the power of 15,000 tons of TNT and reduced 4 square miles of the city to ruins immediately killing 80,000 people.
Three days later, on August 9, the U.S. Army Air Forces detonated a plutonium implosion-type fission bomb nicknamed "Fat Man" over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. This blast was equivalent to 22,000 tons of TNT. It took the lives of an estimated 60 - 80,000 people.
The ethics of these bombings and their role in Japan's surrender are today still subjects of great debate.
What can’t be denied is the power of those weapons of mass destruction.
What can’t be denied is the power of those weapons of mass destruction.
Over the centuries people have figured out how to harness the potential energy of ocean tides with turbines, moving water with dams, air current with windmills....Power can be destructive, but it can also be used for good.
There is no denying there are powerful things in this world - but there is nothing more powerful than the Word of God...
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Read Ephesians 6:10-17
Prayer of Illumination
Prepare for Battle...
Prepare for Battle...
We have been preparing for battle the past few weeks as we consider Ephesians 6:10-17
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.
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The Belt of Truth
The Belt of Truth
This refers to “God’s truth” (that is, Christian doctrine) and to “truthfulness” (that is, sincerity of heart). Christians must know and understand biblical truth our only rule for faith and practise. Christians are called to grow in “grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - understanding doctrine of the Bible so we might go about doing that doctrine day to day.
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The Breastplate of Righteousness
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The righteousness here is both the“imputed righteousness” (that is, the righteousness of Jesus that is credited to a Christian so that he is able to stand before God). AND it is also “actual righteousness” (that is, specific acts of personal obedience) our growth in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - the work of his Spirit sanctifying us - making us holy that we might be called the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21)
Putting on the breastplate of righteousness has to do with daily, moment-by-moment obedience to God. As a soldier in the military is issued full battle gear, so the soldier of Christ is told to put on the Armor of God...
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Shoes of the Good News of the Gospel
Shoes of the Good News of the Gospel
Ready to share the good news of the Gospel of peace to all people and especially to ourselves as we are reminded that “We are a lot worse off than you think, but in Jesus we are far more loved than you could ever imagine.
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Shield of Faith
Shield of Faith
Standing behind the knowledge and assurance that gives us confidence in God’s promises to those he calls into the Lord’s army that we are safe and secure in the midst of the battles.
We need not fear for the Lord our God is with us - Christ has gone before us and has conquered both his and our enemies.
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Helmet of Salvation
Helmet of Salvation
That protects us against Satan, the deceiver who would attempt to confuse us and confound us if that were possible.
All of these piece of armor we are told to put on as God’s armor in order to defend us against the wiles and the ways, the methods and the attacks of the enemy so we will be able to stand firm, able to resist in the evil day.
But there is one more piece of battle equipment.
It is the only weapon that is both defensive and offensive
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The Sword of the Spirit
The Sword of the Spirit
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Paul lists only one weapon here that is both defensive and offensive weapon.
This is interesting in light of the fact that a typical Roman soldier usually carried two weapons—a sword and a spear. Paul would have known this, yet he names only one weapon, because one is all the Christian Soldier needs - the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.
Paul could have used another word here for the long sword ῥομφαία, but he chose this word μάχαιραν - This is not the long Thracian broadsword, but is a smaller double-edged weapon used for close hand-to-hand combat - the sword that was used for combat in which those engaged in battle deal with the enemy “up close and personal”.
The Roman soldier kept this weapon in a sheath and used it to advance and defend against the enemy. What good is a sword if it is stays in its sheath? Is it enough to simply possess an effective weapon? What good is the sword if the soldier is sleeping?
What good is this sword of the Spirit, the word of God, against the attacks of the devil if it lies unopened on your bedside table or gathers dust on a book shelf?
It’s not enough to possess a sword, one must also know how to use it. It is not enough to own a Bible, one must be familiar with its contents, and know how to apply its truths.
This is necessary because, as Richard Baxter reminds us,
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"The devil is a greater scholar than you"(Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, 74).
In order to understand how we are to use this offensive weapon - “the word of God” - against the enemy we need to know something about the Greek word Paul uses here for the word - “word.”
The Word of God - logos
The Word of God - logos
The most common word for “word” in the New Testament is λόγος,
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1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
All Scripture points us to this Word become flesh and tell us about Him.
It is in this sense all Scripture is Christocentric.
But the word that Paul uses here is not that word. Where logos refers to all the Scriptures, ῥῆμα rhema refers to specific, particular portion of God’s written revelation.
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John 3:16 is a ῥῆμα rhema.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
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Romans 3:23 is ῥῆμα rhema.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
When Paul tells us that the sword of the Spirit is the word of God, he uses the word ῥῆμα rhema. ῥῆμα Rhema literally means “a saying”.
rhema refers to a particular portion of God’s written revelation (Boice, Acts, 252).
What this means then, is that we are to stand against the evil one by taking the sword of the Spirit out of its sheath and applying the sword of the spirit - the word of God - to each particular situation that confronts us.
We are to apply the word of God calling to mind specific portions of Scripture.
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The Living Word used this Word...
The Living Word used this Word...
This is exactly what Jesus did when He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness.
Luke 4, Matthew 4:11; Mark 1:12, 14
Each time Jesus was tempted, He responded with a quote from the Scriptures - particularly from Deuteronomy
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3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
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5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
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8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ”
“It is written . . . It is written . . . It is written” (Luke 4:1-13)
“It is written . . . It is written . . . It is written” (Luke 4:1-13)
Jesus drew upon specific portions (sayings, words) of the Scriptures to attack the advances of the devil.
Here is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God - the one in whom Satan could find no wrong, whose eyes were always on the glory of God the Father.
If Jesus drew the sword of the Spirit, the word of God against the enemy, how much more should we soldiers in our Lord’s Army be equipped with specific words of God as we take an offensive stand against the enemy.
You might be saying, “I have a general idea about what the Bible is about and what it says.” “I believe that the Bible is God’s Word” - and that is good. But is it enough?
According to Ephesians 6:17, we must know the specific sayings of Scripture - taking those words into our hearts and minds in order to have them so the Holy Spirit can draw them to our minds at the proper time..
Illustration: My call as a Ruling Elder - the organizing pastor of the church plant had been a Navigator - emphasis on Scripture memory - Scripture memory has a great emphasis in Evangelism Explosion - Bible memory.
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18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
There are many powerful things in this world, but there is nothing more powerful in all the world than the specific words of God.
It has the power to convict of our sin
It has the power to convert sinners
It has the power to compel us
It has the power to console us
Friends, if the sword of the Spirit is to be of any use to us, we must commit ourselves to 3 things.
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The first thing we must do is... BELIEVE THAT THE WORD OF GOD IS THE WORD OF GOD AND BELIEVE IN THAT WORD.
The first thing we must do is... BELIEVE THAT THE WORD OF GOD IS THE WORD OF GOD AND BELIEVE IN THAT WORD.
Unless we believe that the sword of the spirit - the word of God - is an an effective weapon in our battle gear for warfare we will never pick it up.
We need to begin with passages like,
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20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Paul says much the same to Timothy...
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15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
The first step in applying this offensive weapon, is BELIEVING IT IS an EFFECTIVE OFFENSIVE WEAPON
The second step we must take is...Meditate upon the Word of God
The second step we must take is...Meditate upon the Word of God
If you are like me, your memory may be good, but short.
Playing bagpipes - having to memorize the music - repetition, repetition, repetition
How many repetition does it take to store something in long-term memory (muscle memory) > memorizing Hebrew vocabulary or learning any language - the key is repetition
Unless we meditate upon the truths of God’s Word, those truths will soon depart from our memory like water running through a sieve.
In C.S. Lewis’ book, The Screwtape Letters, a senior devil writes to a junior devil, saying,
“It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out” (Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, 25).
Our prayer should be that of the Psalmist who writes,
1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
97 O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
97 O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. 98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine.
meditate, ponder, give serious thought and consideration to selected information, with a possible implication of speaking in low tones reviewing the material (Jos 1:8)
Believe . . . Meditate...
The third step we must take is to...APPLY THE WORD OF GOD to Every Situation
The third step we must take is to...APPLY THE WORD OF GOD to Every Situation
Knowing the Bible, inside and out, front-wards and backwards, is not enough
Bringing Scripture to bear on every decision before you...
Our only rule for faith and practise is the word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament
11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
Friends, be comforted by the fact that we are standing on ground already won for us by Jesus Christ. The war has been won. Battles are still fought until He returns.
What is required is that we take the sword of the Spirit out of its sheath. BELIEVE IN THE WORD. STUDY THE WORD. AND APPLY THE WORD . . . and know that as we take up the full armor of God…we are more than conquerors through Christ who strengthens us.
The Word of God is Living, Active, and Sharp
The Word of God is Living, Active, and Sharp
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
There is nothing in the world (seen or unseen) that is more powerful than the word of God - so prepare for battle - put on the full armor of God…"be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Eph 6:10) our strength comes in acknowledging that when we are weak, then we are strong because we realize our salvation is a work of our Triune God from beginning to end, first to last.
In one sense, the “whole armor of God” is a picture of Jesus Christ.
Christ is the Truth (John 14:6)
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
He is our righteousness (2 Cor 5:21)
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
He is our Peace (Eph 2:14)
“For He himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall...”
Christ is our salvation (Luke 2:30)
“For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel.”
He is the Word of God (John 1:1, 14).
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”
This means that when we by God’s grace trusted in Christ, we received the full armor of God in Christ. But it is our responsibility to take it up, to put it on so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.