Armor by which to stand
Notes
Transcript
Ephesians 6.10-18
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
The Word of God opens with the command “put on”. Funny instruction for an armor that is spiritual and not material isn’t it. If I had a collection of football pads in the back and asked each of you to put them on… the instruction may seem weird and a little out of place for a Sunday Morning and for some of you a welcome break from the norm.
But the instruction to put on the whole armor of God can seem a bit confusing. When left with this instruction we are left with a series of responses.
We don’t know what put on the armor means so we will give you a series of instructions that are vague and are in fact generally good but not the exact point the author was trying to make.
We end up praying each element into place with no regard for the specific help this passage was meant to bring. Understand that this passage is meant to serve primarily in the arena of description. Secondarily it is prescriptive. In other words this passage is not given as a manual for warfare but rather a description of God’s gracious provision for the war that many already raging.
True: Many of us take the beginning of verse 12 litterally and simply “wrestle not”. But this passage is not written primarily to motivate you to Stand. Paul presupposes that you wish to Stand for our Savior.
So then how do we do this clearly metaphoric work of putting on the armor of God. I have heard many ways.
Pray your armor on piece by piece. maybe good not what the text is describing.
Just know that it’s there. No there is clearly an outfitting required.
Remain constantly on edge to the slightest hint of evil that needs struck down.
Instead let us look to the other places where Paul considers this command.
First, it’s immediate context...
vs 11 - put on
vs 13 - take unto you
vs 14 - having your loins girt
vs 15 - feet shod
vs 16 - taking
vs 17 - Take the
Each of these verses point out where your connection to each of these elements is made.
Each of these words are being used in the same way the word “put on” is being used.
Harmony of the Book.
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Here in this passage we find a familiar refrain from Paul. That is that we should put on the new man.
Same Greek word is being employed that we should put on the new man. This helps us to understand that when speaking he is asking us to “count it so”.
Notice verse 22
“put off” - cut free of the old man and his conversation.
Literal definition:
Word: enduow
Pronounce: en-doo'-o
Strongs Number: G1746
Orig: from 1722 and 1416 (in the sense of sinking into a garment); to invest with clothing (literally or figuratively):--array, clothe (with), endue, have (put) on. G1722
Use: TDNT-2:319,192 Verb
Heb Strong: H2296 H3847 H5414 H5927
1) to sink into (clothing), put on, clothe one's self
How does one put on the new man
25.we put on the new man by putting away lying and speaking the truth.
26.And being angry but sinning not.
27.by not giving the devil a place in your life.
28.not stealing.
29.don't use corrupt communication.
30.grieve not the Holy Spirit.
Let us say it clearly.
Putting on the armor of God is accomplished through the grace of God in the believer who will reckon true what God says about Him.
So armed with this command to put on the description of our weapons make a little more sense.
III. According to a recent Barna survey, when asked, "Is there absolute truth?" Amazingly, 66 percent of American adults esponded that they believe that "there is no such thing as absolute truth; different people can define truth in conflicting ways and still be correct." The figure rises to 72 percent when it comes to those between the ages of 18 and 25. - Christianity Today, October 26, 1992, p. 30
Standing as an Army
As we demonstrated last week. These instructions were not given to the church at Ephesus as a self help addictions program. Instead they were given to a group who knows that one soldier is of little consequence in war. Instead we are an equipped army. And it will behoove us to put ourselves in that army called the church and faithfully engage with that army so that the cause of our savior will march forward.
The Equipment of our Standing.
What are the Loins
Please understand that Paul was not using the belt to tell you to interact with your waist. Instead Peter uses the same greek phrase and we find that girting your loins is actually to hold to your faith in spite of delayed realization.
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Loins girt about with truth is to say that you should cling to the Word of God even when it doesn’t seem like his word will come to pass.
They are our spirits and minds which must wear this girdle, and very fitly may our spirits and minds be compared to the loins. The loins are the chief seat of bodily strength. Of behemoth it is said, 'His strength is in his loins,' Job 40:16. The loins are to the body as carina navi—the keel to the ship. The whole ship is knit to that, and sustained by it. And the body is knit to the loins; if the loins fail, the whole body sinks, hence to 'smite through the loins' is a phrase to express destruction and ruin, Deut. 33:11; weak loins and a weak man.
― William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour
Feet shod with the Gospel
This is to picture the church that takes to heart the commands of the army of God. This church takes its marching orders from Scripture and will march to the gates of hell to see their masters will accomplished.
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The church is not in the business of self description. You can turn a group of people into a club. You can do all kinds of good works in your church, but the moment the people of God are not engaged the growth of the kingdom of God through the effectual work of the gospel they have ceased to be a church defined in Scripture.
Shield of Faith
Do not for a moment second the protection that comes to the Believer that choses to place their faith in God’s word. They become unshakable. They become impervious to the deception of Satan. What we have is a country of Believers that take in so much that is not the Bible that we don’t even realize what is Bible and what is not. Or we are illiterate about what the Bible says and then we march off to good things instead of God’s things.
Believer place your faith in “thus saith the Lord” not thus sayeth Jeremiah, or deacon so and so or Grandma. IF you can show me from God’s Word. I’m in… If not then I’m out.
The protection is from the Faith, you begin to shore up the areas that you are most vulnerable.
Helmet of Salvation
Faith cleaves to the promise as a true and faithful word, and then hope lifts up the soul to wait for the performance of it. Hope is the tower that holds the soul about the rushing waters of circumstance.
Hope's Object - "Both hope and faith draw their lines from the same center of the promise, but there is one important difference between them. Faith believes evil as well as good; hope will not talk about anything but good.
1. We would be tempted to say that faith is more important than hope, might I remind you:
CAPH.
My soul fainteth for thy salvation:
But I hope in thy word.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield:
The Lord will give grace and glory:
No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
f. Faith is the present tense "We are conquerors" Hope is the Future I shall.
“Armour becomes earth, but robes heaven. Hope goes into the field and waits on the Christian till the last battle be fought and the field cleared, and then faith and hope together carry him in the chariot of the promise to heaven door, where they deliver up his soul into the hands of love and joy, which stand ready to conduct him into the blissful presence of God.” ― William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour
Warfare Prayer is Requesting in the Spirit
Explanation: A. Prayer is not just the laundry list of to dos or the Christmas wish list. Prayer is requesting from God that which God has already desired to Give. B. You say how is that possible. Oswald Sanders says, "The Spirit is the atmosphere for the Christian life." Therefore as we remove sin in our life and draw our affection on things above we open ourselves to the impressions of the Spirit. Therefore when we pray we can pray the requests of the Spirit. "The Spirit does this by giving clear conviction that a particular prayer request is part of God's will for us, or not." Argument: A. How do I know.
• The Spirit will never take you outside the
revealed Word of God.
• It will never serve and improper motive.
Warfare Prayer is Watching in Perseverance
Explanation: A. There are three things that we must remain watchful of:
Habit: There is nothing wrong with having a habit of consistent regular prayer, but we must watch that it does stay truly spiritual not ritual. Snares: Spend time in your prayers asking the Lord to reveal any area that Satan is tripping you up or that there is danger in the road ahead.
Conclusion: I set out this morning with the simple purpose of calling all God’s people to rely more on the grace of God than ever before. To do this I wanted to demonstrate to you a claim that I made last week.
All of the elements of the Armor of God hinge solely on the written word of God. The weapon is the same no matter what the enemy throws. It is you and your dependence on it that decides its effectiveness.
This is excercised in:
• Seaching out the Truth of God’s Word
• Living the Righteousness described God’s Word
• Sharing God’s Word
• Place your Faith in nothing but God’s Word.
• Looking forward with Hope in God’s Word.
• Quoting the promises of God’s Word
• Praying in obedience to God’s Word.
The soldier is not soldier who goes foward without God’s Word.