Saved For Warfare (Ephesians 6:17)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 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 firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

B. The Conclusion

We have been—for the past few Sundays—exploring Paul’s concept of the Armor of God. What we have seen so far is

It’s called the Armor of God because it is—first of all—God’s Armor. It is the armor that God Himself puts on. It’s not just armor that God has in stock. It is his armor that he puts on.

The Armor imagery comes from Isaiah We know this because Paul is using imagery from the book of Isaiah, as all the pieces of the armor of God (or allusions to them) show up in Isaiah, and it’s all things that Yahweh himself is putting on.

God’s Armor gets put on Christ’s Body (the Church) Paul has consistently spoken about the church as this one man, this one body of Christ. And since he keeps borrowing this imagery of Yahweh’s armor for Yahweh’s fights in Isaiah, now that armor is being put on the church so that we can fight.

We have covered

The Belt of Truth

The Breastplate of Righteousness

The Shoes of the Readiness of the Gospel of Peace

and the Shield of Faith, which is for extinguishing the enemy’s arrows.

Today we look at the last two pieces of armor: The helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God)

So there are at least three things I want you to see from our text this morning.

1 The Body is Saved 2 The Body is Armed 3 The Body Marches Forward

I. The Body Is Saved

(Or “The Helmet”)

Let us return to verse 17

Ephesians 6:17 (ESV)

...and take the helmet of salvation...

So, I won’t trouble you with a long description of helmets in the first century. They’re round, they’re strong, they protect the head. I think we all got the basics for that one.

But the imagery here for a helmet of salvation is drawn from—Guess where?—Isaiah. A passage from Isaiah we have quoted before, when we touched on the breastplate of righteousness. That is, Isaiah 59:17.

Isaiah 59:17 (ESV)

He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.

The imagery here is God preparing for war. Wrapping himself with his own vengance and zeal for his clothing because he is intent on keeping his promises to save his people Israel, and judge their enemies.

In fact these two things go hand-in-hand so often in the Scripture, that O. Palmer Robertson famously summarized it into a principle in his book The Christ and the Covenants. Robertson said,

The deliverance of God’s people always comes through the destruction of God’s enemies. O. Palmer Robertson The Christ and the Covenants (P&R, 1980, pg.102)

This has been God’s way since the garden. God promised a day of salvation for Adam and Eve (the seed of the woman), and promised a curse of death on the serpent.

He delivered Noah and his family, and flooded the world. He delivered Moses and the children of Israel, and drowned Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea. He rescued Israel by David’s hand, and brought Goliath to the ground. The deliverance of God’s people always comes through the destruction of God’s enemies. Either the destruction of their rebellion by saving them, or the destruction of their rebellion by judging them. This is the common way and work of our God in Scripture. So much so that he gives us songs to sing about it so that we will expect it.

The idea that “God will not be mocked” and that "Evil men get caught in their own traps"—this is one of the most common refrains across the entire Psalter.

And the reason God put it in the Psalter again and again is so that in singing about it, we would grow to assume it. God means for his people to get a firm grasp of this basic principle of divine justice. To know it, to sing it, to expect it, and to identify it whenever it happens.

Now let’s get back to the helmet. If the helmet is salvation, then that means the helmet is given by God (as are all the other parts).

But the fact that the church is called to put this helmet on might at first cause some confusion. Don’t forget that salvation (in Ephesians) has so far been described as something believers already have, not something they need to put on.

Ephesians 2:5–8 (ESV)

even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

What I am saying is that so far—in Ephesians—salvation is a reality firmly established in the past with numerous implications in the present. But this sort of leads us to the question—well, if it’s established in the past, why do we have to put it on in the present?

We are not waiting to be saved. Paul said by grace you have been saved. We have been transferred from this dominion of death into the heavenly places where Christ rules.

Hebrews 10:14 (ESV)

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Now wait a minute. Sit with those words for a moment. By the work of Jesus Christ, our God has perfected for all time…those who are being sanctified (are being perfected) well which is it?

It is both of these.

If you are a Christian, you are in Christ, and He is in you. You are saved. Your sins are forgiven. You are rescued from death and hell. You have been seated with Christ.

To quote Charles Hodge,

“...that which adorns and protects the Christian, which enables him to hold up his head with confidence and joy, is the fact that he is saved.” Charles Hodge Quoted in John R.W. Stott, The Message of Ephesians (IVP Academic, 1979, pg. 282)

But it’s no secret to you, Christian, that there is still a great deal of remaining sin to be dealt with. So he is growing you, he is guiding you, he is sanctifying you, and in a real sense—everyday—is saving you. The helmet goes on our head, because our salvation enables us to hold up our heads with joy.

And there will come a day, the very Last Day when final salvation is announced. You will stand before the judgement seat of Christ. The books will be opened, and your life will bear all the marks of grace and struggle and fight and good work, and failure, and repentance, and growth, and the staggering mercy of God, and he will say “Well done” and on that day, in a real sense you will be saved.

The reality for the Christian, is that he or she can say

I have been saved I am being saved And one day I will be saved.

This is why the Church is called to

Ephesians 6:17 (ESV)

...take the helmet of salvation...

Do you already have it?

Yes. You do, Church. So put it on together. Proclaim God’s good work together. This is part of what we are doing every Sunday morning in our worship service. When we confess our sins, and again hear Christ’s words of forgiveness in the assurance of pardon, we are putting on the helmet of salvation. When we should Hallelujah at those words together, we are putting on the helmet of salvation. When we sing “We will glorify the Lamb of God who is the Great I AM” we are putting on the helmet of salvation. When we hear Christ’s words in the Scripture, we are putting on the helmet of salvation. When we celebrate our Lord’s sacrifice for us with his body and blood at the Table, we are—by God’s grace--putting on the helmet of salvation.

When your family gathers around the kitchen table or in the living room for family worship to hear God’s words and to pray and to sing, you’re putting on the helmet of salvation.

And in a day to come, God will fit you finally with this helmet. That’s what Paul said to the Thessalonians when he wrote

1 Thessalonians 5:8 (ESV)

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

The helmet is the salvation we already have. It is the salvation we are putting on. It is our hope for our salvation on the last day.

This Body is saved, this body is being saved, and by the grace of God this body will be saved on the last day.

II. The Body is Armed

Ephesians 6:17 (ESV)

and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

The first mention of weapons in this section was not the sword. It was in the previous verse when we heard about darts. The fiery darts of the enemy. That’s what the shield of faith is for. But he’s not the only one with weapons.

We have been given a Sword. The Greek term here is the word for a short sword, giving the picture of close quarter combat.

The Greek construct here is interesting, because when Paul calls this the Sword of the Spirit, he does not mean that the Sword is the Spirit. We know that because he tells us what the Sword is. The sword is the Word of God. But there’s enough grammatical evidence in the way the phrase is constructed in Greek to say that what Paul means is that this sword is empowered by the Spirit. Sharpened by the Spirit. Made ready for war by the Spirit.

I think our catechism is especially helpful here:

The Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q. 89. How is the Word made effectual to salvation?

A. The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation.

The Holy Spirit’s primary work in this world is to illuminate the Words of God in the Scripture. When you read the Word and it cuts through you and you realize “That’s my sin being named. That’s me being corrected. That’s my pride and ego being laid low. That’s my lust being called out. That’s my cowardice being judged. That’s my harsh tempter and bad attitude and whinny complaining spirit being indicted. That is God, speaking to me, addressing me, convicting me. That’s my sin that’s being forgiven. That’s my failure that’s being redeemed. That’s my hopelessness that’s being answered with hope. That’s my dead end of a life being given a new way. That’s my death that’s getting transformed into resurrection.

That is the Holy Spirit’s primary work—to illuminate the words of God to our hearts.

And this is why the Spirit-Sharpened sword is the Word of God.

And maybe you caught that word in our catechism—especially. The Spirit makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners.

What’s that about?

Well there’s something really cool going on here in this text. Because—now stay with me here. In Greek, there are two words for the word “word.”

Everybody got that? There are two words for the word “word.”

One you might already know. It’s the word Logos which is the most (we might say) generic and common word.

And the other is rhema. And typically rhema is more closely associated with spoken word.

We can draw from this text a principle that should shape our counsel to each other, our encouragement of each other, and our evangelism to our neighbors and that is the Spirit-Empowered Word is a spoken Word.

If you want to know what makes Christian speech unique it is that we are in the business of repeating God’s Words after Him.

This is why we try to saturate our worship services and our education with God’s Word. Because God’s Words are better than anything you have to say. Better than any psychological construct you’ve read about. Better than any Evangelistic method you’ve learned. Better than any bit of wisdom you’ve gathered about theology or habits or tone. God’s Words are the best of what you have to say.

This is why we teach and preach all God’s Words, all of what God has said. This is why we encourage Scripture memory. This is why we learn the catechism (which is a summary of what God has said). This is why we learn creeds which are summaries of what God has said and done.

I remember I was once counseling a man whose relationship with his adult son was greatly troubled. And he couldn’t figure out why. And so as we started talking I said “Have you told him you loved him?” Well sure. All the time. Ok, have you told him you are proud of him? Have you told him you are pleased with him? Have you said it to other people, in his hearing, making sure he knows? Has he heard you turn to someone and say “That’s my boy. And I’m proud of him”?

And he said “Is that really that important?”

And I said, well, it seemed important enough that the Perfect Father said it to his perfect Son.

Matthew 3:17 (ESV)

and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

And the Lord really did a wonderful work in that moment. The Word of God was empowered by the Spirit of God, not by my eloquence or power, but by God’s very words, and he said “My son has never heard that put like that.” And he said “If God’s Son had to hear it, my son needs to hear it.”

He realized that his son needed to hear those words. I love you. I’m pleased with you. I’m proud of you. Unqualified. Not I love you, even though you’re a lot. I am proud of you, even though you’re really difficult. If God the Father saw fit to bless God the Son with such unqualified affirmation, how much more do our children need it?

So speak the Word, Church. Use the Sword. That’s where all the power is. Not in your eloquence or cleverness or training. Except perhaps the training you find in the daily work of reading and learning and speaking the Word of God. Speak it. Speak the Word in Evangelism. Speak it to your husband, your wife, your kids, and your co-workers. Sing the word to yourself and your family around the kitchen table. God’s has put his power in His words, so use them.

The Word of God is meant not just for reading, but for speaking, and by the Spirit’s power, it is the Sword that does its cutting Heb 4:12

Hebrews 4:12 (ESV)

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.

This is how God uses his Word. To awaken us by cutting us open. To cut through our spiritual fog and laziness and fear and rebellion and running from him, and to wake us up.

As John Stott says

"Still today it is his sword, as he uses it to cut through people’s defenses, to prick their consciences and to stab them spiritually awake.” John R.W. Stott, The Message of Ephesians (IVP Academic, 1979, pg. 282)

And just like the other pieces of the armor, this one is mentioned (or at least alluded to) in Isaiah.

Isaiah 11:4 (ESV)

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

It is God’s Words that do the righting.

New Testament Scholar Peter O’Brien writes that

The Isaiah passage is referring to the future smiting of the nations by the Messiah as depicted in Revelation…[And] here in Ephesians it is the ongoing warfare with evil powers in the heavenlies that is in view, and once again a weapon carried by the Messiah into battle is available for Christians to use. Peter O’Brien The Letter to the Ephesians, Pillar NTC (Eerdmans, 1999, pg. 482)

This means that in our warfare with the powers of darkness, we are to take hold of the word of God, the gospel, and proclaim it in the power of the Spirit.

And this Sword is to be used for both self-defense and attack. It’s for self defense (encouragement of our own souls, encouragement of each other, prayer for each other), because that’s how Jesus used it, right? Satan comes to tempt him, and he starts quoting Deuteronomy.

It’s for defense, and it is for the times when we go on the attack and make new conquests in God’s cause. It has a cutting power, to awaken souls, so dear Saints, learn it, and use it. Let it season all your speaking and thinking and praying and work. Our confidence is in the Word of God in the Scriptures. It is all sufficient for all our work.

When we speak of the Sword of the Spirit, we are not talking about addressing Satan and making threats against demons. This is rather, (to quote O’Brien again), the faithful speaking forth of the gospel in the realm of darkness, so that men and women held by Satan might hear this liberating and life-giving word and be freed from his grasp” (O’Brien, 482).

Which is nothing short of love of neighbor, right? I love my neighbor so I want to see his chains broken. I love my neighbor so I want to see his repentance blossoming. I love my neighbor so I want to see God raise him from death to life. I love my neighbor so I want him marching by my side.

III. The Body Marches Forward

This is less of a third point and more of a brief conclusion. But I want you to think about this overview that we have of the armor. We have a belt. We have shoes. We have a breastplate. We have a shield. We have a sword.

Do you know what’s missing?

There’s not one single scrap of armor for our backside.

The Lord Jesus has not budgeted for our retreat.

The armor listed here is all forward facing. Because our Father means for the Body of Christ to charge.

In other words, I submit to you that one of the main purposes of this passage is to fill you with such holy confidence in your work, that you say with the Psalmist

Psalm 27:1 (ESV)

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

The Lord Almighty, the Lord of hosts—that is, Yahweh of the Armies—has given us his armor. Whom shall we fear? Let’s charge the gates.

So where are the gates? Start nearest to you.

Is there sin in your life that needs to be confessed. Get it out. Charge forward. Husbands and Fathers, are you failing to love and lead your families? Confess that and charge forward. Mothers, stop wearing fear and complaining like a helmet. Put on the helmet of salvation and charge forward with gladness and hope. Children and young people, are you honoring and obeying Mom and Dad or are you resisting them constantly and trashing them? Say you’re sorry, and charge forward with a big smile for the sake of Jesus’s Kingdom. You’re part of this march just as much as I am, my little brothers and sisters.

Those of you who are unmarried and want to be, are you drowning in self pity? Rise and be fitted. Grow in the grace and knowledge (and words!) of the Lord Jesus so that you’re ready to join hands with a spouse someday soon and keep charging the gates of hell together, alongside your brothers and sisters.

There is a blood stained cross above us as our banner. “Christ crucified and risen!” is our cry, we have already died in Baptism, so we know we cannot be killed, and we laugh loudly as we fight the good fight, because all things are working together for our good.

So this body marches forward together.

Elect from ev’ry nation, yet one o’er all the earth, her charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one birth; one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food, and to one hope she presses, with ev’ry grace endued.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

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