Sermon Tone Analysis

Put on the whole armor of God

Put on the whole armor...

Eph.

10-20, 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.11

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

12 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.

13Therefore 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.

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

The passage this morning falls into three sections: (a) vv.

10–13 teaches us that we must put on the whole armor of God to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, (b) In vv.

14–17 teaches us necessary requirement which, is to put on the whole armor and Stand firm, (c) Finally, vv.

18–20 focus on our need to put on the whole armor of prayer, praying constantly standing for all believers, especially for those who fearlessly proclaim the mystery of the gospel.

Let us pray…

1.

Put on the whole armor of God … be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, 6:10–13

Now we see Paul, having concluded his instructions to the various groups within the Christian household, now he addresses all them and all of us and exhorts us to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

The reason for this call to arms is that they as well as us as well are engaged in an ongoing spiritual battle with the powers of darkness.

Paul sets the tone for his transition with the one word ‘finally,’ which introduces v.10.

Now he gives the first command, ‘be strong’, which is best understood as a passive, meaning ‘be made strong, be strengthened’.

This command fits with the corresponding passive in the prayer of 3:16, ‘that may grant you to be strengthened with power through this Spirit in your inner being.’

Indicating that we believers cannot empower ourselves!

Rather, our inner strengthening comes from an external source, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ is the person with whom believers have been brought into union.

, So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.”

It is Christ alone who gave them their strength!

They are no longer under the tyranny of the prince of the power of the air, but have now come under Christ’s loving rule and headship.

For this reason the call is to ‘be strengthened in him’: For Christ supplies all they need for their spiritual warfare.

The call to be ‘strong’ in the midst of a battle has a number of Old Testament precedents, Joshua, was told to ‘be strong and of good courage.’

David, also, ‘found strength in the Lord’ (), then later when God’s people were gathered home from exile, God said ‘I will make them strong in the Lord’ ().

Our strength is only found in God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit.

The source of this strengthening is described more specifically as ‘in the power of His might.’

This dynamic phrase has already been used in relation to God’s all-powerful strength, which raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to the place of honor, far above all rule and authority.

The apostle prayed that they might understand and experience the extraordinary power of God working on their behalf, that they know, ‘what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to his great might’.

Now he calls upon them to appropriate this might, that Jesus has already given them to overcome powerful, diabolical opposition.

11 Paul now explains why believers need to be strong in the Lord, and how his mighty power is to be appropriated: they are engaged in a deadly spiritual warfare on the side of God against the devil, and if they are to prevail they must put on God’s full armor.

The imperative here, is to put on the full armor of God which explains the warning of v. 10, Be strong in the Lord, is to be carried out.

It is only by putting on the armor that believers can be properly equipped against the devil’s attacks.

This call to put on God’s armor recalls the earlier instruction about ‘putting on the new self’, which was ‘created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness’ (4:24).

Paul wants us to put off our old humanity, and now by detailing the armor to be worn, he is telling us how to put on the new.

Essentially, then, to ‘put on the new self’ is the same as putting the armor of God.

This phrase ‘full armor’ refers to ‘a complete set of weapons to be used in defensive or offensive warfare.’

This armor was worn by heavily armed foot soldiers.

Though not all the weapons are mentioned here, Paul suggests the ‘whole armour’ be used to protected us fully in this spiritual warfare.

, by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise.

We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.”

The ‘armor of God’ is the armor that God supplies, God’s armor, which he wears, the armor that is God himself.

It is God who provides this weaponry for believers.

Look at the description of the armor of Yahweh and his Messiah in

, Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.”

Isaiah’s references depict the Lord of hosts as a warrior fighting with his own armor in order to vindicate his people.

The weapons we believers are to wear, are namely, truth, righteousness, and salvation, suggest that we put on God himself, or at least his characteristics.

, ‘Be imitators of God…’.

The reason for which believers are to be clothed with the armor is so that they ‘might be able to stand against the schemes of the devil’.

Four times over (vv.

11, 13 [twice], and 14) the apostle uses the language of standing, standing firm, or withstanding.

The first reference to ‘standing’ involves resisting or holding their position against the devil’s ‘schemes.’

We are not to surrender to his evil opposition, but prevail against it.

This phrase ‘schemes of the devil’ here used in the plural suggests attacks that are constantly repeated and of great variety.

The varied natures of these diabolic attacks come out again in v. 16, in slightly different language: the ‘evil one’ launches his ‘flaming arrows’ against the saints.

This suggest not only inner temptations to evil but also ‘every kind of attack and assault of the “evil one.”

According to 4:27, Satan tries to gain a foothold and exert his influence over the lives of Christians through uncontrolled anger (v.

26) as well as falsehood (4:25), stealing (v.

28), unwholesome talk (v.

29), indeed any conduct that is characteristic of the ‘old way of life’ (v.

22).

Further, the evil one is committed to hindering the progress of the gospel and the fulfillment of the divine plan of summing up all things in Christ.

He will attempt by his ‘schemes’ to turn believers aside from pursuing the cause of Christ and achieving this goal.

Snodgrass’s is worth quoting here in full:

The mention of the “schemes” of the devil reminds us of the trickery and subterfuge by which evil and temptation present themselves in our lives.

Evil rarely looks evil until it accomplishes its goal; it gains entrance by appearing attractive, desirable, and perfectly legitimate.

It is a baited and camouflaged trap.

The apostle’s intention, however, in urging these Christians to put on God’s armor is that they might prevail against the stratagems and tactics of this evil enemy.

Paul wants Christians who are strong, stable, and robust so that they remain firm against the devil’s schemes.

The notion of doing battle with Satan and the powers of darkness ‘may seem a frightening prospect’, and indeed to take on such formidable foes simply with ‘one’s own resources would be to court disaster.

But this passage does not foster an attitude of fear.

The entire passage is suffused with a spirit of confidence and hope and we are left, not with a feeling of despair, but with the sense that Satan can and will be defeated.

As believers we must not be fatally unprotected and exposed, that why we must put on the whole armor of God!

Our reason for this confidence is that God in Christ has already won the decisive victory over the evil powers.

,“That he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.”

Not only has the authority of the powers been broken, but also their final defeat is imminent.

This is seen through the very existence of the church, comprising Jews and Gentiles being reconciled through the death of Christ to God and to one another in the same body.

This is clear evidence that the purposes of God are moving triumphantly to their climax.

The evil powers cannot finally hinder the progress of the gospel, and all things will ultimately be subject to Christ.

It is because of God’s victory in his Son that believers are in the battle at all.

We are not urged to win the victory; rather, to stand and withstand the devil’s schemes and to stand firm, a posture that will involve both defensive and offensive positions.

Believers live in the overlap of the ages, between the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet’.

Think about it, Christ is already seated in the heavenly places far above every rule and authority; God has placed all things under his feet (1:21, 22), and we have been raised and made to sit with him (2:5, 6).

But Christians need live what has been won for them, and in the present context this means putting on the armor of God and standing firm in the midst of the battle.

12 Paul explains further why believers need God’s mighty armor if they are going to stand firm.

It is because the battle being waged is not against human flesh and blood but against evil spiritual powers of great authority (v.

12).

The supernatural, powerful, and cunning nature of the opposition makes the use of God’s armor absolutely necessary.

The word used to describe this struggle is a term found nowhere else in the Greek Bible.

The word is “palay” and it means to wrestle, which is a contest between two men in which each endeavors to throw the other and which is decided when the victor is able to hold his opponent down with his hand upon his neck.

Paul uses this word particularly because he intends to ‘heighten the closeness of the struggle with the powers of evil.’

In contrast to flesh-and-blood wrestling with which these Christians would have been familiar, the apostle asserts that ‘the true struggle of believers is a spiritual power encounter which requires spiritual weaponry’.

In this close struggle, hand-to-hand combat is in view, not the firing of computer-guided missiles from a distance!