The Church’s Spiritual War: God’s Armor: Part 1

Introduction:

Today we are going to look at the resources that the Christian is equipped with to fight the spiritual war in this life, supplied at the all powerful Lord of all.

Paul began with summary commands to “Be Strong in the Lord and in the Strength of his might” with the accompanying command to stand firm/resist the devil’s attacks. Paul’s words were to exhort and encourage the church to realize and utilize the power of God. In essence, he was saying “I will never leave you nor forsake you in the battle against evil. Instead, we looked to Jesus, who went before us to accomplish vicoty in his perfect life, atoning, death, resurrection, ascension and glorification.

It was alos necessary last Lord’s Day to study the enemy in this war. This war with the We saw the evil schemes and wickedness of our enemy, the devil which included lies and deception, accusation, temptation, and physical attacks. All of these points were not to lead us to fear of the devil, but an alertness of his ways of attack.

How do we respond to the attacks of Satan?

Maybe as a child, you were taught to be a person of peace. If someone wants to start a fight with you at school, you turn around and walk away. Maybe the theory of such instruction was that this would lead to a de-escalation of the conflict. Satan will not permit you to walk away. He is a relentless enemy who will not give up.

Therefore, instead of ignoring these attacks, you engage in the battle. What Paul will show us in these verses is that the armor of God is both defensive and offensive in its nature. Paul’s view of these pieces of the armor are rooted in the character of God and the work of Christ that the believer already possess. This armor is not soemthing to aquire, but has already been given in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

What we are commanded over and over agian in these verses: Put on the Lord Jesus.

Notice the command of “stand firm” in v 14 is the foundational verb and all the rest is the explanation of the standing firm. This is why it doesn’t say “gird yourself” but it instead says “having gird yourself” or “having put on the breast plate.” We could say that he Christian armor is applied at salvation positionally but must be practically put on daily.

As we look at these items, I want us to consider two aspects of each. The foundational source of the doctrine and the practical use of it for the believer.

Before we begin with looking at these, this metaphor for God’s armor is not new to Paul’s creative mind. He is drawing this imagery from the OT prophet Isaiah. As a matter of fact, much of Ephesians is Paul recalling Isaiah’s prophetic look at the messianic images of God’s power manifest through Him as a warrior for God’s people. As one example, let’s look at Isaiah 59

Now we have this summary statement in Isaiah 59:1–2 “

1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”

Isiaiah goes on from v 2-15 to describe the wickedness of man, how that evil separates him from God and the ultimate need of man for God to send salvation. Simply put, man needs God to win the battle against sin on his behalf.

Look at v 11-13

Isaiah 59:11–13

“11 All of us growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We hope for justice, but there is none, For salvation, but it is far from us. 12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know our iniquities: 13 Transgressing and denying the Lord, And turning away from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words.”

Now comes the glory and beauty of God’s helping the helpless….

Isaiah 59:16–20

“16 And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. 17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. 18 According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. 19 So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the Lord drives. 20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.”

It is the Lord who manifests this metaphorical armor as the Savior of the hopeless. He doesn’t actually wear armor because it is simply his character on display for the world. Alec Motyer writes,

The Prophecy of Isaiah Situation and Reaction: Divine Commitment to Salvation and Vengeance

Clothing is always a metaphor for character, commitment and enduement for the task. Righteousness, salvation, vengeance and zeal are all aspects of the divine nature. When the Lord dons this clothing he is publicly revealing what he is. But he is also declaring what he intends to do and that he is able to do it. It is a work which will display and satisfy his righteousness, save his people, repay his foes and be carried through to completion by the driving motivation of divine zeal

What we will see in this God’s armor for the church today is that this is what Christ manifested and displayed for us and when we are found at rest in Jesus, we will have what we need for battle.

Let’s look at a few of these today and we will finish them up next week.

1: Gird oneself with Truth v 14a

When I say the word girdle most people have some idea of something you wear on your lower abdomen. In the football world, teh girdle are padded shorts worn under the uniform pants. For the average person, a girdle might be used to as tight fitting clothing worn as an undergarment to present a form fitting look.

For the early church, the term Gird up meant something different. We should understand that in Jesus and Paul’s day, men would wear long tunics that today we only see modern day Arabic men wear. But with these ankle length robes can a need to prepare themselves to run or even battle. The process to gird up their loins was a way to prepare their tunic by pulling it up tight around both legs and tying it in such a way that the clothing did not hinder them. The term to “gird up” began to simply mean to prepare for something.

Peter uses this term in 1 Peter 1:13 in reference to preparing the mind “13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Peter literally means “gird up the loins of your mind.”

But Paul is going a step more in his metaphor because he is not simply just restating the preparation needed. He is adding the character of truth to our preparation by ascribing it to the belt or girdle of the soldier.

Isaiah 11:5

“5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

We are not quite sure what part of this protective armor Paul is referring with the soldier. There was a the leather apron which hung under the armour which protected the thighs, the belt which held on the belt, or the protective girdle worn over the armor. What is important is the call for the Christ to put on the truth found in Christ.

FOUNDATION: Truth is Found in Jesus

Paul has already given the foundational element of truth that Christ has brought into the world and provided for the Christian life.

Ephesians 4:21–24 “21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

Jesus tells us himself in the gospels, John 14:6 “6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Jesus is the source of truth for all of life and godliness. His word is the sources of truth for life and godliness and this combats the lies and deceptions that are propagated by the devil.

For example, our world is swallowed up in the post modern movement which says truth is relative to the individual. This idea denies the existence of an absolute standard of truth which the only absolute standard of truth that exists is God’s word. When people say truth is relative, they are saying that what may be wrong to you is not wrong to me. What is right for you is not right for me. Truth is determined by the individual and circumstances. We see this in the unborn life of innocent children in teh womb where the truth of human existence is changed to debate about when life rttuly begins. We see the destruction of the truth of gender being assigned by God in their creation. We see the truth of marriage between one man and woman as the fabric of the covenant marriage. This is a direct attack by Satan against God and his Word. If we harbor those philosophies in our minds, we have been deceived by the evil one.

Notice in the temptation of the Jesus by the devil, that the truth of the word of God is twisted by our enemy.

Matthew 4:6–10

“6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ””

Jesus stood his ground on the unchanging, incorruptible word of God thus giving us a clear picture of how we combat the devil in his power.

PRACTICE: Put on Truth

We must be committed as God’s people who are saved by the power of Christ to reflect in our lives a theology of truth and a morality of truthfulness. Our daily walk with Christ must reflect a rootedness in the truth of God’s word in order for us to survive the battle. Putting on truth is first being immersed in the understanding of God’s word.

Colossians 3:16

“16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

Paul again states in Ephesians 4:22–25 “

22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.”

In our study of Eph 4, we looked at three commands for our Christiain lives:

Think Truthfully

Speak Truthfully

Live Truthfully

2. Clothe Yourself in Righteousness (14b)

RIGHTEOUSNESS-having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (Isaiah 59:17) The breastplate was metal, with an option for chainmail if one could afford it. this only covered the torso of a soldier. Most importantly, it covered his heart.

Righteousness is both a legal standing before God and morality with stems from such a position. To understanding righteousness, we must consider man’s position before God as guilty. The law of God is given to man and in the law, it exposes the sin nature within each of us. Paul states that if not for the law, he would not have known sin to be sin. The law of God, or all of God’s word condemns man because we fall short of obeying it perfectly. Man is legally and morally guilty before God and doomed to his judgment against sin.

When Jesus comes into the world, he obeys or fulfills the law in every respect. He lives the perfect life on earth and displays his eternal righteousness. He does not earn righteousness, he merely displays that perfect righteousness that he always has possessed.

Romans 3:21–26

“21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

With his death and resurrection, Jesus provides a salvation that includes his righteousness being imputed to all who believe in him. Imputed means that appplied to our person as a holy exchange with himself. Jesus took our sin upon himself and we clothed us with his righteousness. We sing this doctrine of justification in the hymn, His Robes for Mine

His robes for mine, O wonderful exchange Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered 'neath God's rage Draped in His righteousness, I'm justified In Christ I live, for in my place He died

2 Corinthians 5:21

(NAS) 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

This is the foundation of our breatplate of righteousness as we consider all that Jesus accomplished for us in his mighty powerful act of justification where sinners are made right in the eyes of God. The foundation of the breatplate of righteousness is that WE ARE CLOTHED IN HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS

Practical

There is also the practical aspect of this doctrine. It is one thing to rest in the righteousness of Christ but we are also called to action in these verses. To stand firm having put on the breatplate calls us to liver righteously in this world.

Ephesians 4:22–24 (NAS) 22 in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

This last verse in Eph 4 is so important… put on righteousness…holiness…truth. This is the daily act of living lives in which we practice righteousness in this world. This is a moral action of obedience to the world of God whereby we reflect the imputed righteousness of Christ.

In all areas of our life, we have been given the righteousness of Christ at our salvation and now we must live out that righteousness in our daily lives. We must lay aside the sinful desires that still inhabit our flesh. We strive daily to walk in God’s ways knowing that we will not be perfect in Christ until we are glorified with Him in heaven. But in Christ’s righteousness, we will be transformed through Christ power. We will be changed into the likeness of God which represents righteousness, holiness and truth.

What we need to understand about out enemy is that he seeks to accuse us before God that we are unrighteous and still guilty in our sins. He also stands to incite our thoughts towards evil and accuse us towards shame in our sins and failures. We must resist him by first cling to the finished work of Christ. We must fight against him with the truth that Christ work is complete, grace has been applied and forgiveness is unlimited for us. Secondly, we must live in such a way to display righteous living before men so as not to give anymore opportunity to the devil.

3. Lace Up with the Gospel of Peace (15)

Ephesians 6:15 “15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”

How we move from the upper and lower abdomen to the feet. Paul mentions the soldiers footwear, which were a vital part of his gear. The footwear, most likely the half boot of the Roman soldier is one that gives me a sure and steady footing and one which allows him to travel long distances while protecting his feet.

What is the gospel of peace? The good news of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is the foundation of peace for the believer. We have a “peace that surpasses all understanding” when we focus on our minds and preach daily to ourselves the finished work of Christ.

Romans 5:1

“1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Our peace with God is that we are no longer under condemnation as we just previously learned under righteousness. This truth brings peace to the heart of every believer because we can know that we have been delivered from his wrath against sin and welcomed into the family of God.

Now we then consider what is the connection with the boots of the soldier and the gospel of peace

The foundation of this item of the armor seems to be connected in the OT passage of Isaiah:

Isaiah 52:6–8

“6 “Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’ ” 7 How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, They shout joyfully together; For they will see with their own eyes When the Lord restores Zion.

Isaiah is speaking about way that God’s people respond to the salvation that has been provided to them. They hear the good news and they share that good news with others. They carry that good news across mountain passageways, declaring that salvation has come.

What has challenged interpreters of this verse is the Paul does not say put on your feet the gospel of peace. He says put on your feet the READINESS of the gospel of peace. This term means to be prepared to stand firm and therefore connected to the footwear of a soldier, have the imagery of a steady footing. Which could Paul mean?

It possible that Paul means that our footing in the battle remains steady and sure when we have properly adorned ourselves with the gospel of peace. I lend to this interpretation because of the existence of the term “readiness” which has the meaning of a sure footing. Defensively, the gospel of peace is what keeps us from stumbling and losing footing in the war.

How will you stand firm and resist the devil in spiritual attack?

You will be clothed in truth that combats his lies

You will be clothed in righteousness that deflects his accusations of your condemnation

You will be ready with a sure footing rooted in the gospel of peace that ensures that you are at peace with God.