Ephesians Pt. 8 (6: 10-24)
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Today we’re going to read through a portion of Scripture that maybe all of us have read before. We are going to read about this suit of armor that Paul tells us about in the last chapter of Ephesians. As we read this, I want to ask you a question. Have you ever worn a suit of armor? Probably not right?
What kind of suit have you worn before?
Bathing Suit
3 Piece Suit - for weeding and special occasions
Scuba diving Suit
Why do we wear these kinds of suit? I mean, would you wear a Scuba Diving suit to go into Walmart? or would you wear one outside in 98 degree weather? Or, would you wear a 3 piece suit to go swimming here at the pool? or would you wear one to go deep diving?
you probably wouldn’t wear any of these types of suits to the wrong thing. Could you imagine if you and I went to eat to a fancy restaurant and I showed up with my bathing suit? You’d probably ask me to go home and change.
So why do we wear these type of suits when we go places? Why do I wear a bathing suit when I go to the pool? Because the bathing suit is designed to prepare you to swim.
Why do you wear a 3 piece suit to church or a fancy dinner? Because that suit is what prepares you the most for that dinner.
Why do you wear a scuba diving suit when you go diving deep into the ocean? Because that suit is what prepares you the most for diving deep into the water.
As we read this portion of Scripture I want us to be able to see that Paul is asking you and I to put on a suit of armor. What is a suit of armor used for? It’s used for war. And if a suit of armor works like every other suit, then a suit of armor is what prepares you the most for war. And you may not understand this, but life is war, there is a huge battle going on and the only way to be prepared is to put on this suit of armor. So why don’t we take a deep dive into what the Bible says and by the end of it we would have answered 2 things:
Who are we fighting against
What is this suit of armor?
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
When you think of war, you probably think of one army lining up and fighting against another army right? But every time war has been fought in our history, people have died. Someone gets hurts, and families lose loved one. People die. But Paul says this:
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
This war, this fight that Christians have, is not a fight against people. But its against someone else, The bible tells us this fight is against satan and all of his power. How do we know that satan has any kind of power? Because the bible tells us that he does. And I know that when we think about it, it can be a scary thought, the devil has power.
If you remember about this weekends sermon we heard on Friday, the speaker said:
“satan’s greatest tool against humanity has always been the same. he has learned to take God’s truth and manipulate it so that it becomes easier for us to sin against God.”
I don’t want to give the devil more credit, but we can’t walk around this world believing that satan isn’t strong, the bible calls him the adversary. he is always in opposition to God, and that is who we are supposed to fight against.
The issue today is that Christians have decided that people are the enemy. So we read this and think:
“Our fight is against other people who don’t think like us” So Christians have started fighting against other people, and sometimes Christians fight amongst themselves.
This is definitely another tool the devil uses against us, but lets read what Paul says here:
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Paul tells us that you and I have the ability to fight back against the devil and all of his nonsense. I don’t want us to walk around this earth underestimating the devil, but I also don’t want us to walk around this earth believing that we should be afraid of him either. God has given the tools we need to fight back against him (more on this later)
Paul tells us to put on what he calls the full armor of God so when the day comes when we do have to fight against the devil we may be READY.
Can you say READY?
Of course, being ready for something takes some prep work. How do you get ready for a test? you prepare. How do you get ready for your next soccer game? You prepare. How do you get ready for a zombie apocalypse? you get ready! of course, we won’t need to get ready for a zombie apocalypse, but in order for us to succeed in most areas of our lives, we must be prepares and being prepared takes work.
putting on this armor, is going to take some work. And in the same way that the devil has tools he can us against us, Gd has provided us with tools of our own.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Today you and I are going to look at 6 tools that God has placed in our arsenal in order to be able to defend ourselves and others from the devil and his power.
Belt of truth
if you remember back a few chapters ago we read this:
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
I hope you can see what Paul is doing in this book, he is teaching us about a bunch of little things we should learn how to do as Christians, and then he is taking them and putting them all together so we can practice them all at once here at the end of the book.
As Christians, we need to see that truth is not just some nice thing we do, but more than anything its a powerful tool that will lead to other people’s freedom. Including your own. People lie to themselves all of the time, how? People all over the world have believed the lie satan has told eve in the beginning of the bible. Whats that lie? that you and I know better than God, that we know more than God, and that we are like God.
satan believes that himself. And that lie is what has separated him from God and now he hates God, so in order to hurt God he wants to separate you from God.
The truth is:
We are sinners.
Sin separates us from God and heaven.
We need Jesus to fix that relationship between us and God.
This simple truth is enough to save people and to set the world free from this lie that a life of sin is better than an eternity with God. Our world focuses so much on the minor things. That includes us sometimes. I saw this video once of a man who said that our life is so short and small but we focus so much on this part of our lives that we forget that we still have an eternity to live after we die.
The average life of a man in america is: 73.5 years.
The average life of a woman in america is: 79.5 years.
So yes, women in fact do live longer than men. But if you see, 80 years feel like a long time to us. But in heaven, we will live that many years times infinity. That’s so much longer! We need to stop putting so much emphasis in this world, and start preparing ourselves for the world that is to come when we live with Jesus.
Our job is to put on the belt of truth so that we can prepare ourselves for satan and his lies.
Belt of Truth
Breastplate of Righteousness
What’s a breastplate? It’s a piece of metal that protect your chest. The Mandolorian wears one, I’ve seen it on the show. There was one scene in that show in which the Mandolorian gets some new metal to put on his breastplate, and he takes it to a person to make him a new one, so that his new armor is much stronger.
Well, Paul is telling us to protect our heart. Protect your heart from specific sins that effect your heart. Lust, greed, impurity, and injustice. God wants your heart to be protected, so let’s live a life that celebrates God in obedience to Him.
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Belt of Truth
Breastplate of Righteousness
Gospel Shoes
Shoes are important. Why are your shoes important? We want our shoes to be comfortable, Some of us don’t care for comfort we want our shoes to look good. But not every shoe you wear is the same. Some of us love our crocs, you guys know I don’t really care for crocs. But I bet you wear crocs because they’re comfortable. It is so nice to wear shoes you are comfortable in. But if you go hking, you can’t wear crocs. You’ll tear them up. And if you wear hiking shoes to the pool, you’re gonna get them wet and ruined.
Paul is telling us something vitally important when it comes to Gospel shoes. shoes are important, because they take you places. Shoes are so important because they protect our feet wherever we go. And with this, Paul is saying:
Be prepared to share the Gospel everywhere you go. Are you ready to share the Gospel with people? If you aren’t have you heard of the 3 circles I’ve shared with you in the past? That is such a convenient tool used to share the Gospel with people. Use it, draw three circles and share the Gospel with others. If you need to, practice it. Practice with me, practice with your friends in the cottage and practice with you house parents.
Let me ask you a question: have you ever shared the Gospel with anyone before? I sure hope you have. If you haven’t I think it is time for our church to put on these Gospel shoes, the Gospel 11’s, and walk around sharing the Gospel with others.
Why? because Paul says the Gospel brings peace and friends our world is in chaos. What the world needs is Jesus and Jesus has chosen your shoes to be the ones that carry you with the message of the Gospel everywhere we go.
Belt of Truth
Breastplate of Righteousness
Gospel Shoes
Shield of Faith
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Now, we are wearing a belt, some chest protection, some really really cool shoes. And the devil know we are fighting back, but we can’t be naive and think he won’t fight back too. So we need some protection, the devil will fire back at you, so how do we defend ourselves?
With faith. What do we believe in? the Gospel. Who do we believe in? In Jesus. Jesus is our shield, Jesus is the one who will be our shield when satan fires back at us. Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s not going to get hard, but it does mean that whatever you are feeling when you are being attacked by the devil, Jesus will feel too. And He will hold you close, and protect you from things you won’t even notice sometimes.
Belt of Truth
Breastplate of Righteousness
Gospel Shoes
Shield of Faith
Helmet of Salvation
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The helmet of salvation is what we can lean on in our times of need. Salvation is on our head because it is a reminder that life is hard, but heaven is waiting. Life will bring hurt, paind and suffering, but salvation is the hope that Jesus is waiting for you and I in heaven. We need to remember that Jesus is our salvation and no matter how bad or hard life is, Jesus is preparing a home for us. Jesus has promised us that He would, remember that.
Belt of Truth
Breastplate of Righteousness
Gospel Shoes
Shield of Faith
Helmet of Salvation
Sword of the Spirit
the last tool in our arsenal is actually a weapon. Have you noticed that all of the other things we are going to wear are there to prepare and protect us, but the last thing we get is a sword. This is the only weapon that will work on the devil. Nothing else you do will work. You can’t use your own sword that you bought somewhere else, and if you like guns they might work on deer and elk, but they won’t work against the devil.
The devil is bullet proof, and he knows you can’t do anything to him. He knows you need Jesus to protect you but he does not count on the fact that we are now armed and ready with God’s Word in our hands. God’s word is in our hands becuase our hands are the most versatile parts of our body. You’re hands can be used for almost everything, as a matter of fact some people that don’t have legs have learned to use their hands to walk. It is easier to cook, clean, write, hug, and hold things with your hands. God’s word is perfectly fitted to be held in your hands and a weapon, but also a sense of security, and so that we can hold up God’s light for the rest of the world to see.
Now that we’ve seen who the enemy is, and what these tools are, how do we obtain these tools? We get them from God, but we have to ask God for these things.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
You might find yourself in a position in which you’re having an easy time sharing the gospel with people by putting the shoes of the Gospel on, but you each time you have a hard time you forget that you’ve been saved by God and you unintentionally take off the helmet of salvation. If that’s you, then reach out to God and ask Him to put people in your life that will work as a reminder of that fact.
Ask God to provide for all of those things. And He will.
Finally, You might be someone who doesn’t have any of these tools in your arsenal, and it’s because you don’t even have Jesus in your life. Friends, I don’t want us to pretend for a second that life is easy. Life is hard, life is the hardest thing you will ever do in your life. And you know what makes it harder? When you try to get through it by yourself.
God is the author of life. What is an author? An author is someone who writes or creates something. If you walk into a giant hospital for the first time in your life, will you know how to get to other side of the building? You will not. And you might go in and take a right turn, a left turn, a few other turns and go up some stairs and down an elevator and before you know it, you are lost.
But what if you walked into the building with the guy who drew up the blueprints? Would you be able to get lost if they’re with you? you can’t. The guy who drew up those blueprints knows everything about that building. he knows the public spaces and even knows extra rooms that other people don’t even know existed.
God drew up your life and the life of every person in this room and every person on earth. And when we walk around in life you will always be lost, and you will always be hurt. It does not matter if you have Jesus or not, life will hurt you and you will be lost. But the difference between us who have Jesus and those who don’t is that we have hope. We have hope that no matter what happens, we will be with Jesus one day. And Jesus will comfort in those moment sin which we feel hurt or lost. If you don’t have Jesus, you loose out on hope and it will be easier for the devil to trick you, attack you, and hurt you.
For those of you that weren’t with us this weekend the preacher said this:
“If the devil could, he would kill you. But Jesus takes on death and the grave so that satan can’t hurt you physically.”
but don’t think for a second that satan wont attack your heart or your soul because he will. But if you have Jesus, you have a giant force field that covers you and he stamps you with the Holy Spirit so that the devil can’t even approach you. If satan wants to get to you it has to be from a distance.
My question for you today is this:
Will you allow Jesus to protect you?