Foundation: Equipped for Warfare Ephesians 6:14-17

Bible Passage: Eph 6:10–17

Battle Ready: The Armor of God

Bible Passage:

Eph 6:14–17

Introduction

We Need the Armor of God

Last week, we had a call for spiritual readiness as we realize that theres a price to pay to follow Jesus, and that though we’d like for all things in our Christian walk to be beautiful we know that we are in a constant battle with spiritual beings that are out to destroy us. In being aware of our constant spiritual war Paul instructs us in this beautiful letter to the Ephesians that we are not powerless in this fight. We have been given the tools necessary to defend ourselves against these spiritual attacks with the Armor of God.

Each piece of armor represents essential places in the your spiritual body that are crucial and need to be protected so that you can continue standing firm against the onslaught of evil. Rather than focusing solely on abstract spiritual battles, this passage highlights the practical implications of being daily equipped with God’s armor in order to protect your heart and mind. We see a focus in protecting these vital organs by spiritually equipping ourselves with all of the pieces of the Armor of God. God has provided the essential pieces of armor so that we can survive every attack that the enemy throws our way.

Why does Paul write this to the church in Ephesus? Thank you for asking. Now I’d like to provide foundation and context to the text so that we can understand that our church was not different than the church of Ephesus.

Ephesus was a church in commercial port full of merchants that made a lot of money off the worship of idols, occult practices and witchcraft. Paul’s visit to Ephesus brings something new to the area, something that had a superior power to what was there. Paul brings the power that stands behind the name of Jesus.

We write Jesus’ name upon our banner, for it is hell’s terror, heaven’s delight and earth’s hope. Jesus Christ Himself, Volume 23, Sermon #1388 - Ephesians 2:20

Charles Spurgeon

Paul visits this place in his third missionary journey and establishes a church in a place that was challenging to say the least. Ephesus was not willing to let go of what they had easy to the point that as the church grew those who profited from sale of the occult and idols by selling the images and statues grew angry to the fact that there was a church that was now renouncing the worship of the God Diana. Paul knew that in a place where people were people were surrounded by the demons of idol worship the church would be in a state of spiritual warfare.

Today Christian Refuge church and all of our disciples understand that we are under spiritual warfare and as we said last week we are not fighting a physical war against our brothers and sisters, no it is not against flesh and blood. We understand that there are powers at work in the attack of our spirituality and that we need to utilize the tools that God has put at our disposal in order to defend ourselves against the powers and rulers of hell.

We need the whole Armor of God

Every piece of the armor is just as important as the next that is why the Apostle Paul was specific when he said put on the whole armor of God. An incomplete armor allows exposed areas of attack and know that your enemy is crafty

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 4

27 nor give place to the devil.

We must understand each piece of the Armor of God and what it’s useful for, most importantly what it’s meant to protect:

1. The Belt of truth

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 6

14 Stand therefore, girding your waist with truth

Imagine a superhero getting ready for battle. He reaches for his belt, not just any belt, but the Belt of Salvation! It’s not just a fashion statement; it holds all his gear, his faith, and his hope. Just like that superhero, we must 'belt up' with God’s truth every day. It’s our fashionable armor that keeps us ready for whatever life throws at us!

The Belt is one of the most essential components of the Armor. This piece of the armor provides a central point where other pieces can attach themselves to.

It provides a central point of truth in God

Those who are founded in the word know that the other components of the armor will stay securely attached to us because the truth of the word is solid.

The enemy seeks to distort the truth, leading you to believe a lie and stray from being centered in God through Jesus.

 - A “godly” person is one who ceases to be self-centered in order to become God-centered. Charles Swindoll So You Want to Be Like Christ? (2005)

Chuck Swindoll

Proverbs 3:5

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

Our Foundation is in our understanding of Gods truth.

King James Version Chapter 4

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Your truth is where everything you believe in and all of the other elements of the Armor of God are attached to. If your truth is not solid then your armor is weak and penetrable.

It is not armor as armor, but as armor of God, that makes the soul impregnable.

William Gurnall

The Belt reveals your truth.

When we are under the pressure of battle, we see who is truly ready to fight. The way we wear our belt will reveal the truth of our readiness.

The reality is that some attacks catch us off guard, showing our unpreparedness. But losing one battle does not mean you have lost the war.

Once the truth about our readiness is revealed, we have two choices: quit or adjust.

Ask your brother or sister next to you:

“Are you quitting, or are you adjusting?”

Now that we’ve established that the Belt will keep us in place and reveal all of our truths and how essential it is to all of the other components, we can now talk about the

King James Version Chapter 6

and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

2. The Breastplate of Righteousness

Protects the Vital organ of the Heart

The one place your enemy wants to attack is your heart. Your heart also represents your soul and your emotions. If the enemy can destroy your heart he knows that you will bleed out your spiritual life force. This is the importance of protecting this vital organ is crucial when you are at war. This is one of the most important pieces of in the armor of God.

Protects any attack to your Character

The Breastplate of Righteousness defends against the enemy’s accusations, temptations, and attacks on our character.

It gives us boldness and confidence to stand before God and resist the devil (Proverbs 28:1 – "The righteous are as bold as a lion.").

Practical Righteousness (Right Living)

Righteousness also means living in obedience to God’s will and resisting sin.

One important aspect of the Breastplate is that it fully protects you from a head on attacks but what will you do when the enemy doesn’t play by the rules and attacks you from behind. All of the attacks that we’ve spoken about would be easy to defend against if they all came head on, but has anyone ever been hit with an unexpected attack from behind?

For this reason it is important that we always understand the power of Community in warfare. This is a subject all on to its own but all I want to say is that two fighting together are better than one.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NKJV)

9 Two are better than one,

Because they have a good reward for their labor.

10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.

But woe to him who is alone when he falls,

For he has no one to help him up.

You need to find yourself a prayer partner that will have your back. Your ride or die person that when you need help guarding your back you have one person that will keep you righteous.

There is a connection with the imagery in this text with the imagery in Isaiah 11:5.

5 And righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,

and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

3. The Shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of Peace.

Shoes provide stability and mobility

Stability means that you can stand still when the situation requires it.

There are places that the Holy Spirit does not want you to to and the Shoes of your armor are trying to hold you back but because they are holding back you are ready to take them off.

Mobility means that you have the ability to move towards where the battle requires you to be.

Some people have the wrong shoes on for the situation that they are in. (The outfit can be ruined by the wrong shoes)

The shoes provide grounding

In Coned there are special shoes required for the work being done becase the provide protection from the injury that can come as the result of the work being done.

You cannot go to war with the wrong shoes on.

You cannot wear the shoes you want to wear because there are required shoes for the task that God has called you for.

The shoes displays the fact that you are prepared to share the Gospel.

Knowing the gospel and being at peace with God (Romans 5:1) prevents fear and instability.

Being ready to share the gospel (1 Peter 3:15) ensures believers are always prepared for spiritual engagement.

3 Parts of the Armor done and 3 to go.

We protected the heart, our character and our movement. Now we focus on the mind, our thoughts and how to fight back.

Proverbs 4:23 - With all vigilance, keep your heart, for from it comes the source of life.