Ephesians 6:16-17 "The Armor of God" pt.4

Introduction

Remember the principle that should always govern or spiritual warfare: Our battles should not dominate our perception of Christ but Christ should dominate our perception of our battles.

If our battles dominate our perception of Christ that is an exercise in unbelief.

If Christ dominates our perception of our battles then that is an exercise of life in faith.

This is why a high view of God and His work in Christ as reflected in all that Christ is in all of His glory is not a futile exercise of no benefit for the Christian. As a matter of fact it is paramount for life in faith. This is why the Apostle Paul prays for the Ephesian Christians as he describes in Ephesians 1:16-17: “16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,”

Paul knows that the vitality of the Christian life rest upon the Sovereign power and Majestic sufficiency of the eternal Son of God.

This is why the Armor of God is an allegorical description of the God’s spiritual provisions to us in Christ. Last Sunday we looked at the Belt of Truth and the Breastplate of Righteousness and the Shoes of Readiness and we saw that all of them tie back into Christ and His provision of grace to us as believers.

And as we look at the three descriptions of the Armor of God we will see that they too are rooted in the provisions of grace to us in Christ. Look at the Shield of Faith in verse 16:

I. The Shield of Faith (16).

Notice that Paul assumes that the Christian warrior will have need for the shield of faith in all circumstances. This shield is not the round shield that was common for the average Roman soldier. This shield was rectangular and about 2 ft wide and about 4 ft long. It was referred to by one ancient writer as being like a “barn door.” This was a heavy piece of defensive armor for a soldier. It could defend against anything the enemy could launch against you on the battlefield.

In verse 16 Paul has in mind the coming assault of the flaming darts of the evil one. As long as the warrior was behind the shield flaming darts were of little consequence to doing harm.

The shield is allegorical of the faith of the Christian warrior. Why is faith such a powerful defense? Faith as merely a human manifestation of belief is not powerful at all. Every last single belief system on planet earth exercises faith. But faith as merely a human expression of belief is powerless to defend.

Paul is not using faith in this way. He is using it to remind us that faith an object that it is rooted in from a biblical understanding. God is the one that our faith is in. And the Old Testament is full of references describing God as being a shield for His people:

Genesis 15:1- After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Deuteronomy 33:29- Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs.”

Psalm 3:3- But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

Psalm 5:12- For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 18:2- The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Proverbs 30:5- Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

There are actually many passages that I could reference but the context of the Old Testament provides ample evidence, along with the context of Ephesians 6 to show that the shield of faith that Paul has in mind is God and His provision to us in Christ.

The point is Christian that our place in Christ has fortified our defense in His grace. The flaming darts are certain to come but all they do is test the legitimacy of our defense in Christ. No one withstands the darts of the devil without being fortified in Christ by sovereign grace! No one!

It is God that gives the shield of faith its armor plating fortification in Christ.

This is why it is so helpful when the devil, who is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), starts to make his accusations and remind us of our past.

Or when he uses our insecurities to paralyze us in the present.

Or when he lies to us about our future by conjuring up false imaginations. And before we know it we are so terrified of our future that we become hopeless.

Christian the devil loves to use fear to manipulate us into unbelief any way he can. 2 Timothy 1:7- for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

When you are being manipulated by fear that is contrary to your life in Christ it is not God that is doing it. It comes from the evil one and he is doing it to rob you of your spiritual vitality. You need a biblical worldview that is consistent with your salvation. Look at the Helmet described in the first half of verse 17: and take the helmet of salvation,

II. The Helmet of Salvation (17a).

This helmet covers and protects the mind. You will process information from a mental perspective according to how useful you deem it to be. I took Algebra in high school but I have forgotten most all of it. I have a cousin that is razor sharp on Algebra and uses it to this very day like it is a vital part of his life. I am so thankful you don’t have to know Algebra to be a pastor. I don’t even think I spell it right.

But biblical truth is in a whole other category because you can’t have the defense of the mind without biblical truth. And if the bible is not guiding and informing your worldview then what is? Or maybe a better question is, who is?

In the Old Testament during the days of the Judges the Bible describes the people of Israel this way in Judges 17:6- In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Everyone did as they personally deemed to be right. No king in the land to hold up the truth of the law of God. In those days God usually used other nations and people groups to enslave and oppress His people to teach them how desperately they needed Him.

Today God has given us a new King and a new Kingdom made up of people, not necessarily real estate. And our King commands us to live as His disciples and to make disciples as they Church in the world. As disciples we have a new mandate. Romans 12:1-2 - 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Christian to ear the helmet of salvation is to say goodbye to your secular worldview. And I know it is hard because we think in our secular worldview that we are so wise and we have so many things right in our own eyes that we think we have mastered life because we have so much gray hair how could we be wrong and be so wise.

Christian, real wisdom from a biblical perspective is to have your belief system in line with God. Everything else is vanity. Just read Ecclesiastes which is one of the last writings of King Solomon of Old.

The final piece of the Armor of God is found in the second half of verse 17: and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

III. The Sword of the Spirit (17b).

There is debate here regarding what this sword is. Is this a sword that is worn on the side that men fight each other with or is it referring to the small knife or dagger that was often wore by a soldier as well. The Greek term could be used of both. But I don’t think it matters so much as does what the sword illustrates. The sword is the word of God.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

When I was a teenager this was my favorite piece of the Armor of God. I imagined myself dressed in God’s Armor and quoting Scripture fighting off the devil like a Christian version of Zorro.

But when you read Hebrews 4:12 regarding the word of God and its function it seems more like a surgical instrument that does spiritual heart surgery. That wasn’t near as easy to romanticize in my mind of being a spiritual Zorro.

Christian, God’s word is to primarily fight the battle in the inside of us. The sword of the Spirit is the sword that the Spirit uses to sanctify us in truth. We are learning to die to self and the Holy Spirit is doing us a favor by going all the way down to the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.

Conclusion:

Unbeliever the Holy Spirit is here to do surgery on your heart today too. Only He can open your eyes to the truth of your need for the gospel of Jesus Christ. God commands us to believe and to put our trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Believe the gospel!

Christian the Spirit is here to do surgery of a different kind on our hearts. He is here to call us away from our sin back into fellowship with God. This table is the Father’s invitation to us to come to Him in full reliance on His grace to confess our sin to Him. And to rest in His provision of grace to us in Christ.

Let us examine our hearts in preparation for this table today. Let’s Pray!