Nov. 7, 2021 - The Armor of God (The Shoes of Readiness)
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Here we go Brownies - Here we Go!! Woof Woof!!
Here we go Brownies - Here we Go!! Woof Woof!!
Did you watch the game last Sunday??
It was GREAT wasn’t it??
Our first DIVISIONAL game this year!
AT HOME - against the STEELERS!! - - We DESTROYED them last year in the playoffs!
Big Ben’s LAST GAME in Cleveland -
ALL the DRAMA - ALL the BUILD UP to the game!!!...
SURELY - we would - BE READY to PLAY!!??
Were we READY to play?
Dropped pass - after dropped pass - after dropped pass!!
We weren’t READY!!
For the past several weeks - the Apostle Paul has been unveiling for us - THE ARMOR of GOD....
The armor of God that we are to ADORN ourselves with - in order to FIGHT our TRUE ENEMY in this world...
The Spiritual forces of evil at work in this fallen world!
A couple weeks ago Paul highlighted for us - the Belt of Truth!
God’s TRUTH...
And we saw how God’s TRUTH...
Anchors Our Souls in the Promises of God (emboldening us to live for Christ)
Reveals the Worth of Christ Over Creation (fixing our eyes on our King)
Elevates Joy in Jesus Over Joy in the World
Preserves the Eternal Glory of God
Paul then FOCUSED in on the Breastplate of Righteousness...
A piece of God’s ARMOR that...
Secures Our Justification
Judges the World
Upholds the Trustworthiness of God
Preserves the Eternal Glory of God
And so let’s quickly get our eyes on this LIST...
Look at ALL that GOD DOES to prepare us for BATTLE...
SLIDE:
Anchors Our Souls in the Promises of God
Reveals the Worth of Christ Over Creation
Elevates Joy in Jesus Over Joy in the World
Secures Our Justification
Judges the World
Upholds the Trustworthiness of God
Preserves the Eternal Glory of God
This is the God we SERVE - ALL of these things - DONE BY GOD...
AND YET!!
TODAY - we see that we are called to what??
Sermon SLIDE:
Put on the Shoes of READINESS!!
And so we can AGREE - and SHAKE our HEADS “YES” - all day long to these truths...
But if we DON’T PREPARE ourselves...
..If we don’t GET OURSELVES - READY!!
Will it matter?
The Browns - SINCE THEY had played the Steelers LAST year in the playoffs and DESTROYED them IN PITTSBURGH...
They’ve been PRACTICING - waiting for the rematch - at OUR place...
Well - last Sunday finally came....
They weren’t - READY!
And it - SHOWED
And so today - I want to look at this READINESS that we’re called to ADORN ourselves with… In order to fight the battle we’re in...
And I’m not sure if we fully comprehend how important this piece of ARMOR is in this battle...
The first thing I want us to look at is WHY we need to be - READY...
SLIDE: The Shoes of Readiness: Needed Because the Enemy is Ready
The Shoes of Readiness
The Shoes of Readiness
Our ENEMY - is NOT - an amateur
We’re not dealing with JV here!
We’re dealing with a Professional Assassin...
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Now I’m the kind of guy that loves to go out to eat… (new places / dives)
I like to go out to lunch...
I’d rather GO OUT to lunch - THAN TO BE lunch for an APEX Predator!
What does this verse say - it’s a popular one...
The devil - OUR ENEMY....is - READY
Ready to DESTROY you!!
NOW - how does the devil DEVOUR people??
How does a LION HUNT?
Lions hunt by:
sneaking up on their prey
So the prey doesn’t know it’s there...
Stays low
Slowly creeps in - closer - and closer...
And then when it’s in striking distance…it attacks!
SIN will often do the same thing to us...
Listen to how Job describes the wicked…the unrighteous...
10 A rope is hidden for him in the ground, a trap for him in the path.
11 Terrors frighten him on every side, and chase him at his heels.
12 His strength is famished, and calamity is ready for his stumbling.
TRAGEDY - is - READY for his stumbling!
1 “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me.
The GRAVE is READY for us....
Listen to what awaits the WICKED man....who does NOT fear God...
2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good?
4 But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God.
5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips testify against you.
7 “Are you the first man who was born? Or were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself?
Jump down to v11
11 Are the comforts of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your eyes flash,
13 that you turn your spirit against God and bring such words out of your mouth?
20 The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.
21 Dreadful sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.
22 He does not believe that he will return out of darkness, and he is marked for the sword.
23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;
24 distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.
a DAY of DARKNESS - is READY for us...
29 Condemnation is ready for scoffers, and beating for the backs of fools.
Condemnation is - READY
Suffering is - READY for the fool
And so when we think about the fallen world… and the Spiritual forces at work IN IT...
We know that:
SLIDE
Tragedy
A Day of Darkness
Condemnation
Suffering
The Grave
All of these things - are READY for us…in a fallen world!!
And you might think - How are they READY for us?
They’re READY for us - just like GRAVITY is always READY for us to trip…to stumble....to fumble what we hold
Gravity is always ready!
I read a story this week of a guy working at a San Diego Zipline park...
Who got pulled out onto the line by the rider…and...
The guy working thought the harness might not hold both of them so he let go...
He feel about 70 feet and ended up dying.
Gravity is ALWAYS ready - is it not?
My dad fell off scaffolding one time - shattered his heal...
Gravity was - READY!
When I was young - I was upstairs playing - and there was a half-wall that wrapped around where you could look down and see the steps going down to the first floor.
Well - THAT DAY - we had a chalkboard laying flat on that half-wall...
I moved it to see who my brother was talking to - and the chalkboard fell down - and cracked him on the head...
Stitches needed
Gravity was READY!
We ALL could tell stories of how - Gravity is ALWAYS ready!!
Ready for us to - TRIP
Ready for us to - stumble
Ready for us to - Drop something
Ready for us to - make a dumb decision!
It’s ALWAYS ready!!
Our ENEMY - is - ALWAYS READY!
Ready for us to - trip
Ready for us to - stumble
Ready for us to - Drop something
Click the mouse
Say the words
Look that way
LET our GUARD down!
We’ve ALL been there - and done that!
WHICH is WHY - EVEN - WITHIN the call for us to PREPARE for battle....Paul tells us to ADORN ourselves with the shoes of READINESS!!
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
So this is essentially saying - Prepare yourself - to PREPARE yourself
Prepare yourself - to BE READY!
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
And so JUST as we’ve seen the DEVIL is READY to DESTROY US…we TOO must be READY...
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
This doesn’t JUST TELL US something about the DEVIL...
YES - it tells us that the DEVIL is - - READY to devour you…!
But BECAUSE it says that - it also tells US - BE READY!
BECAUSE the devil is READY to KILL you!! - - BE READY to battle!!
Be watchful!!
Be - ON GUARD!!
And so - THIS READINESS is a piece of God’s ARMOR - for the battle we face!
Let’s go to our text again...
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
Where does this READINESS come from?
The Gospel of Peace...
It comes from the Gospel of Jesus
Let’s NOW look at some characteristics of this READINESS...
SLIDE: Gospel Readiness: Dies to Self
Gospel Readiness
Gospel Readiness
This doesn’t mean that Readiness ITSELF dies...
It means that - Gospel Readiness can only EXIST in a person who has - DIED to SELF
39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Coming to Jesus...
Embracing Jesus...
BELIEVING in Jesus...
FAITH in Jesus...
Is connected with the LAYING down of ones own life...
NOW - what kind of DEATH - leads to ETERNAL life?
Of course - the DEATH of Christ!
But - as Paul said...
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
7 For one who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
A BELIEVING Christian - is a person who has DIED - with Christ!
Now that’s INTERESTING isn’t it??
BECAUSE - we know - that as UNBELIEVERS - we are - Spiritually DEAD!
YET - we see here -
Even BEING DEAD - it takes a DEATH for us to FIND LIFE!!
Being Spiritually DEAD - Christ AWAKENS US - to FAITH...
And BY FAITH - we are UNITED to Christ’s DEATH!
His DEATH - becomes OUR death! - Spiritually!!
And BECAUSE we are UNITED with Him in His death - we are ALSO united with Him in His resurrection!!
And now WALKING in the newness of life - We are called to BE READY!!
And PART of dying to SELF - is this:
Laying down Self-Righteousness!
Any kind of READINESS that springs from the GOSPEL - which ITSELF - put on display the RIGHTEOUSNESS of GOD...
…THAT readiness is going to CALL for the LAYING down of SELF-Righteousness!!
Part of the Battle we face is - the PURSUIT of the world to try to GET YOU - to trust in your own GOODNESS...
And so we as Christians may even - FALL BACK INTO trusting in our own goodness...
IF SO - we need to lay down our own Self-Righteousness!!
4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.
We MAY EVEN think that NOW THAT we’re saved - We live out our days in our own power by obeying the law!
Paul spoke specifically to this idea in Galatians...
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Having been BORN AGAIN by the Spirit - are you NOW growing in Holiness based on the flesh?
Based on the LAW?
Has your TRUST now shifted back to the LAW?
NO Paul says - you’re NOT being perfected BY THE LAW...
v10 begins talking about - The Righteous now LIVE BY - FAITH!
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
Gospel READINESS - Dies to SELF!
And Paul says it perfectly when he says this:
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
We’re called to BE READY to FIGHT our ENEMY!
And Self-Righteousness is OUR ENEMY!
BEING READY entails - laying down SELF-Righteousness! (Dying to Self)
But that’s not all...
SLIDE: Gospel Readiness: Fears the Lord
Gospel Readiness
Gospel Readiness
If we want to be READY to FIGHT our TRUE enemy in this world - it will take us...
Fearing the Lord
Not man
And this term FEAR can have several meanings in Scripture...
It can refer to the terror one feels in a frightening situation (Deuteronomy 2:25).
It can mean “respect” in the way a servant fears his master and serves him faithfully (Joshua 24:14).
It can refer to the reverence or awe a person feels in the presence of greatness (Isaiah 6:5).
The fear of the Lord is a combination of all of these.
And yet...
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Now the WORLD reads this and laughs...
They would actually flip this verse...
The world would say this...
Slide:
The pursuit of knowledge is the beginning of knowledge; Christians despise wisdom and instruction.
This is how the world thinks...
And THIS mindset - DOES NOT Fear the Lord - it fears man
WHICH tells us a very important point about the WORLD and WISDOM...
What does God say about this...
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
And so this here is a description of people who try to obtain wisdom while ignoring God—
it cannot be done for the simple reason that God is the source of wisdom.
And so those who DO NOT FEAR God - CANNOT and DO NOT hold wisdom...
If we want to BE GOSPEL READY - in this world - we must Fear the Lord!!
And [I] fear - that so many church goers do not...
And that renders us - NOT READY - for the battle!
I think most ALL Christians - walk through life - Fearing Gravity
SOME fear Gravity more than God
SOME respect Gravity MORE than God
And so we really need to consider - Is the FEAR of GOD - part of my decision making process?
It’s the BEGINNING of knowledge - and so it needs to be!
And so this CALL today...
Gospel Readiness:
Dying to Self
Fearing the Lord
SLIDE: Gospel Readiness: Lives to Christ
Gospel Readiness
Gospel Readiness
And we HEARD this from Paul earlier...
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
What is Paul saying here?
He says - I NO LONGER LIVE…But CHRIST LIVES in ME!!
Our LIVES should MIMIC the life of Jesus...
WHY?
Because He LIVES - in - THRU - US
So if we just go up and take a 1000 ft. look at the life of Jesus...
What do we see?
We see a life where Christ:
Emptied Himself - took on the form of a SERVANT (Phil 2)
He did the WILL of His Father in heaven
He brought TRUTH to the world thru WORD and DEED
He LAID down His life for the sake of the world!
He was ALWAYS - READY
THESE things were PRIORITY in His life… EVERYTHING else fell beneath
SO - Are YOU ready?
NOW? - Are you READY?
Have you been PREPARING yourself to....
Take on the form of a SERVANT?
Our ENEMY doesn’t WANT you to do this!
Are you ON the LOOK-OUT for opportunities to SERVE others / those around you?
If Christ is now LIVING IN US…then....
28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
…does our life REFLECT the same?
Have you been PREPARING yourself to...
2. Do the will of our Father in heaven?
Do we seek HIS will with our time on this earth?? OR, do we seek our own agendas?
If Christ is now LIVING IN US…then...
30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Can we SAY the SAME?
I seek not MY own will, but the will of Him above?
HAVE you been PREPARING yourself to...
3. Bring TRUTH to the world thru WORD and DEED??
Are you READY - to SPEAK for Christ...
at home? IN your marriage? TO your kids?
Jesus wants to have conversations in your home (HE does - thru you)… are YOU ready?
at work?
Jesus wants to have conversations at your place of employment....are YOU ready?
in your neighborhood?
Jesus wants to have conversations in your neighborhood....are YOU ready?
Are you READY - to SING for Jesus…
at church?
Jesus wants to display his WORTH - THRU your joyful noise - at church…are YOU ready?
at home?
Jesus wants to display His WORTH - thru your joyful noise - at home… NOT on Sunday morning at church… Are YOU ready?
Are you READY - to LEAD for Jesus...
at home? IN your marriage? Over your family?
Jesus DESIRES to lead your home - THRU you (men)…are YOU ready?
Sons/Daughters -
- Are YOU READY - to Honor your Father and Mother
Jesus DESIRES to HONOR your mom and dad - THRU YOU! - Are YOU ready?
Are YOU READY - to lay down your life…for the sake of others?
In other words - Are we READY - to VIEW people as SOULS…for Jesus?
Are you READY - to forgive?
So OFTEN we’re READY to RETALIATE....HOLD a GRUDGE
Think of this...
SLIDE:
So often we are ready to respond to others like the devil responds to others. So often we are ready to devour.
And YET - our call is this
Are we READY - to forgive?
to forgive the OFFENDER!
Not only that…but...
Are we - Ready to Suffer Long for others?
See - Gospel READINESS - LIVES for Christ...
it LOOKS like - Christ
Remember - In this battle - we’re on a rescue mission - and those we’re looking to rescue are FIGHTING AGAINST us...
The ones we’re trying to rescue are the SAME ones looking to DEVOUR us…!
THEREFORE -
Are you READY!?
SUMMARY
Gospel Readiness
Dies to Self
Fears the Lord
Lives for Christ
Dies to Self:
Being READY entails laying down ANYTHING in me that hinders my pursuit of Jesus...
It entails laying down any thoughts that I an ANYTHING BUT in need of Christ.
I must DIE to SELF
Fears the Lord:
Gospel READINESS entails growing in wisdom (the wisdom from above)
Seeking God in this world of idols
Readiness entails STANDING - AGAINST the world - FOR Christ
not fearing man - but God
Lives for Christ:
Gospel READINESS - displays JESUS to the world
Living by FAITH - walking by FAITH
READY to take the GOOD NEWS of Jesus - to the LOST of this world
I’d like to close today - by having you stand....and I’d like to read Luke 12:
35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning,
36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.
37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.
38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!
39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.
40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
41 Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?”
42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?
43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.
45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,
46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.
47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.
48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
May we PREPARE to BE READY...
And HELP each other PUT ON - the Shoes of Gospel Readiness
Let’s Pray!!