The Whole Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

Ephesians 6:10–20 NKJV

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Prayer

Message

I want us to study the Whole Armor of God over the next few weeks on Wednesday nights. The truth is that we quickly realize that when we leave a service like a week ago from tonight and we all left unified, cleansed, strengthened in our relationships with each other, His church and strengthened, filled to capacity, that Satan knew it and went on the warpath.

It is amazing how Satan can even enter the car on the drive home or the moment you get to work on Thursday morning. Satan can use things as unexpected breakdowns, an unexpected bill, an irate customer, a frustrated parent at the school, a bizarre neighbor, your child’s off the wall thinking, a relative ’s opinions that are at the opposite end of the spectrum of life’s experiences and their opinionated attitudes. Need I say more. And, if that is not enough, a complaining church member that has no real sweat equity in where the church is heading and their thoughts are off the wall. Need I say more?

God’s Word reminds us constantly that walking circumspectly in the Lord is not for spiritual wimps. Living a life that the Lord would say “well done, thy good and faithful servant” is not for the faint of heart.

Tonight, we read from the letter to the greater churches of Asia, the letter to the Ephesians that was a circular letter. Meaning the letter is applicable to us today. You may remember from our other times of study that the letter of Ephesians focuses on doctrine in Chapters 1-3. Understanding the spiritual bank we have in Christ. “Adoption, acceptance, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, the seal of the Holy Spirit, life, grace, citizenship, in other words every spiritual blessing we enjoy in Christ Jesus.”-found in the NKJV opening of the letter.

IN chapters 4-6, Paul writes as to how to live out the Christian life given those vast assets we have in Christ.

Tonight, in Chapter 6 he states the word “finally.”

Finally, has much meaning in this letter. It names is important for two reasons:

1. He is capitulating every detail he has mentioned in the letter and he is recapping the highlight points he has mentioned all through the letter. He is placing emphasizing on the high points, the major themes of the letter.

2. Sending us home with the most important take home message. When we depart from Paul’s side as we read his letter, what does he want us to leave with as we crank our cars tonight to face the world.

1. The Call for Strength

I want you to think again about a service such as last Wednesday night, but the format changes slightly. We are sitting under the great preaching and teaching of the Apostle Paul. We are pumped in the riches we have in Christ Jesus. He begins in Chapter 4 and reminds us that we can use those riches in the new man to be manifest in an the ideals of marriage, parenting, and in the workplace. We do not have to allow that mountaintop experience, enjoying those rich blessings in Christ to reside strictly in the church house, but with us everywhere we go. But, as you crank up your car, Satan is going to attack you the moment you leave the parking lot tonight. Here is how I want you to deal with it.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong.” A life in Christ live out daily calls for strength. Sheepishness, weakness and faint hearted living will not survive in the Christian life lived out in the ideal as Christ would have us live it.

“My brethren”-He is speaking to us, the church, those who have been saved by grace, not of works, lest any one should boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

He is speaking to the redeemed. Well, if we are redeemed, if we are His and been blood bought, I thought the battle had already been won and it has. But, it does not mean that we still do spiritual battle here daily until we go to glory.

Jesus was God and He was tempted in the Wilderness.

Hebrews 4:15 “15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

“be strong”-22x

“strong”-189x

“strength”-222x

Moses writes:

Joshua 1:7-9 “7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.””

Deuteronomy 11:8 “8 “Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess,”

Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 16:13 “13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.”

2 Timothy 2:1 “1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

Joab speaking to his brother Abishai:

2 Samuel 10:12 “12 Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.””

We tend to think many times that when we battle with Satan that it may have to do with our wayward living or the fact that we have sin in our lives. There are times we will battle with Satan when we are the closest we have ever been to God.

In fact, the saddest commentaries I hear is when a family gets on fire for the Lord and they become faithful and then Satan hits them with every battle imaginable.

-In Rolling Hills, not for from where Terry Brooks lives, there is a family that I dearly loved that such happened.

1 Samuel 30:6 “6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

The Core of our Strength

The theme of our time over these next few weeks as we look at the reality of spiritual warfare and the fact we need the whole armor of God to meet the wiles of the devil. The theme is the battle will be won in the strength of the Lord and the Lord alone. You and I have no power in and of ourselves to match up to Satan.

“be strong in the Lord in the power of His might.”

ἐνδυναμόω endynamóō, en-doo-nam-o'-o; from G1722 and G1412; to empower:—enable, (increase in) strength(-en), be (make) strong.

Power here is not dynamos

κράτος krátos, krat'-os; perhaps a primary word; vigor ("great") (literally or figuratively):—dominion, might(-ily), power, strength.

Our power alone does not have the match up, the dominion to battle with Satan.

Might

ἰσχύς ischýs, is-khoos'; from a derivative of ἰς is (force; compare ἔσχον éschon, a form of G2192); forcefulness (literally or figuratively):—ability, might(-ily), power, strength.

Notice something in this Greek definition. God has the ability, not just power, but the wit to outwit the wiles of the devil.

And that leads to our third aspect of the strength we find in God.

The Completeness of His Strength

Ephesians 6:11 “11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

We need to understand who and what we are battling against.

“the wiles of the devil”

Wiles

μεθοδεία methodeía, meth-od-i'-ah; from a compound of G3326 and G3593 (compare "method"); travelling over, i.e. travesty (trickery):—wile, lie in wait.

Methodia sounds like the word methods. The Devil schemes and devises trickery, deception, the Scriptures state he is the “father of lies.”

JOhn 8:44 “44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

The ability we have to stand up against the devil’s schemes is in the power of God and God alone, His strength.

What we are going to be studying over the next few weeks is the importance of “putting on” the whole armor of God. We can win the battle if we put on our full battle array. Partial armor will not suffice. Our armor must be complete. You may ask the question why?

We know who we are battling, but do we all know what we are battling?

Ephesians 6:12 “12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Ill. Many of us enjoy action movies and we learn so much from action movies, military aspects of warfare, but law enforcement tools to bring justice and find the bad guys. I am always amazed how advanced technology has come to either find someone to bring justice or to use in warfare from a reconnaissance standpoint.

Military I am sure have had for years, but the civilian community has night goggles and night scopes that will see animals and humans in the total dark. They work by heat transmission. I have been totally enclosed in what was my gun vault at work for the store and put on night goggles with the entire room pitch black and read the tags on the firearms or be able to tell specifically what fun was on the shelf. Amazing. We all are tracked by our phones, our cars today, our apple watch and a myriad of other devices that can pinpoint our location.

Why do I bring that up?

Notice that in spiritual warfare, we are not battling against the obvious, flesh and blood, people and working in a physical power. We are battling against those things we can’t touch, feel, taste.

-principalities

ἀρχή archḗ, ar-khay'; from G756; (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concretely) chief (in various applications of order, time, place, or rank):—beginning, corner, (at the, the) first (estate), magistrate, power, principality, principle, rule.

Are we not experiencing that today? Do we not see our secular leaders voting on matters contrary to the things of God?

Share some laws that are contrary to Biblical teaching?

-powers

ἐξουσία exousía, ex-oo-see'-ah; from G1832 (in the sense of ability); privilege, i.e. (subjectively) force, capacity, competency, freedom, or (objectively) mastery (concretely, magistrate, superhuman, potentate, token of control), delegated influence:—authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.

-Laws are enforced and then powers are at work that cause us to compromise our beliefs.

Ill. Cake maker-making cakes for Gay couple.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake to celebrate the marriage of a same sex couple because of a religious objection.

The ruling was 7-2.

📷 READ: Supreme Court decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission

The court held that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission showed hostility toward the baker based on his religious beliefs. The ruling is a win for baker Jack Phillips, who cited his beliefs as a Christian, but leaves unsettled broader constitutional questions on religious liberty.

-rulers of the darkness of this age

Satan has his recruits

-spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places

2 Corinthians 4:4 “4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”

Romans 8:38 “38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,”