08092020 Ephesians 6:13-17 Put On...(Pt. 2)
Introduction - A World Beyond
Many of you are familiar with a writer by the name of CS Lewis the author of many books about apologetics and a series of books we know as The Chronicles of Narnia.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the story of four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, who unexpectedly enter the land of Narnia as they are playing hide and seek in a large house.
Lucy is the first one to enter the wardrobe is in an otherwise empty room. Edmund comes later, but eventually all four of them end up in Narnia.
While they are in Narnia, they have a great adventure which takes place over an extended period of time. Interestingly, though, when they come out of Narnia and back through the wardrobe into the house, no time has past. It’s as though the two worlds, Narnia and the “real world” of the Professor’s house, are existing side by side, but in totally different time zones.
But, this book is about more than just those two worlds.
There’s a third world to the story that gets only brief mention on the very first page of the book. Let me read you how the book begins.
“Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids. They were sent to the house of an old Professor who lived in the heart of the country, ten miles from the nearest railway station and two miles from the nearest post office.” (p.1)
There is more to the world than meets the eye...
The world is at war in a great World War. But the world also contains the Professor’s house with the wardrobe, where there is also access to a whole other big world, the world of Narnia.
There is more to the world that the children live in than meets the eye. That truth is really real not only for Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. It’s also really real for us. Our limited vision and perception tends to see only this world, our immediate surroundings. At the very least, we get absorbed with what goes on right around us – homes, jobs, neighbors, school, church, family, friends – and that tends to be as far as we can see.
But the Bible clearly teaches that there is something more to our lives than just what we see or physically experience.
This letter to the Ephesians speaks several times of a reality that is beyond our immediate perception, but which is still really real.
Our passage this morning speaks of “principalities, powers, world rulers of this present darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.”
Do you ever think about that part of reality? Here we are reminded there is something greater going on beyond the wardrobe of our world.
Ephesians 6:12–17 NASB95
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Our God of Peace
The Apostle Paul often refers to our Triune God as a God of Peace, i.e., Roman 15:33 “May the God of Peace be with you all. Amen.” He says to the Thessalonian church “Live in peace with one another” (1 The 5:13). Jesus is the Prince of Peace and Lord of Lords...
And yet Jesus says I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Matthew 10:34 NASB95
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
We are called to be peace loving people and “so far as it depends on you to be at peace with all people (Rom 12:18) but at the same time we are called to be fighting soldiers in our Lord’s Army.
So we read here:
“Therefore....Take Up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist and stand firm (Eph 6:13)” This full armor includes...
We considered last week the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness...
The Belt of Truth (6:14a)
Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:14a, “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth….” The Christian’s belt is truth. This refers to “God’s truth” (that is, Christian doctrine) and to “truthfulness” (that is, sincerity of heart).
Christians must know and understand biblical truth our only rule for faith and practise. They must grow in “grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18) - understanding doctrine of the Bible so we might go about doing that doctrine day to day.
Then there is the breastplate of righteousness...
Breastplate of Righteousness (6:14b)
The righteousness here is both the“imputed righteousness” (that is, the righteousness of Jesus that is credited to a Christian so that he is able to stand before God). AND it is also “actual righteousness” (that is, specific acts of personal obedience) our growth in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - the work of his Spirit sanctifying us - making us holy that we might be called the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21)
Putting on the breastplate of righteousness has to do with daily, moment-by-moment obedience to God. As a soldier in the military is issued full battle gear, so the soldier of Christ is told to put on the Armor of God...
The Belt of Truth > A Breastplate of Righteousness > Shoes of the Gospel of Peace > A Shield of Faith > The Helmet of Salvation > The Sword of the Spirit
The ultimate end of this War and the putting on of this armor is that there would be peace with God and peace with our brethren - that in turn impels us to share that gospel with others because we want others to experience that peace with God and that peace with others.
So Paul is saying here that to resist the devil we must have experienced that peace with God and with others that only the gospel can effect; and that peace, in turn, prepares us and motivates us to share the gospel with others so they will enjoy that same peace.
So, he continues the list of this armor as he describes something that we are to have on our feet...
Ephesians 6:15 NASB95
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
The Shoes of the Gospel
The image Paul may have in mind here comes from the Roman soldier’s war boost, the caliga or half-boot which the legionnaire regularly wore while on duty. It was an open-toed leather boot with a heavily nail-studded sole which was tied to the ankles and shins with straps.
These were not shoes for running….These boots served for marching, especially in battle….Much ancient battle was hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot, like in football on the line of scrimmage, so these boots gave the Roman soldier an advantage over ill-equipped foes.
The Christian’s feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Here’s the question? Are our feet to be shod with the gospel, with peace, or with the readiness to make the truth known?”
The answer is...YES to all!
The Gospel is Good News
As believers we should know what the gospel is - the good news (εὐαγγέλιον)…But this is more than just knowledge or apprehension of the gospel.
He’s saying be prepared with this good news at all times - be prepared “in season and out” (like he says to Timothy 2 tim 4:2).
Paul links the gospel to shoes so that just as shoes carry us from place to place, so we are to share the gospel as we go from place to place. Paul echos Isaiah’s words...
Isaiah 52:7a NASB95
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!”
This spiritual warfare involves sharing the good news of the gospel. Are you able to do this?
Do you know who God is, and how your sin has cut you off from God, and how God has provided a remedy so that you may be reconciled with God.
Do you know that you are reconciled to God through faith alone in Christ alone by God’s grace alone. And this ability to share the good news is not only for sharing with others but it is something we must remind ourselves of as well.
Jack Miller (an American Presbyterian Pastor), the founder of World Harvest Missions (now known as Serge), is well-known for saying, “Preach the gospel to yourself!” He knew that Christians often forget the good news of the gospel, and we slip into thinking wrong thoughts about our sin and our total inability to save ourselves, and God’s amazing grace and mercy to save sinners such as ourselves.
So, we constantly need to preach the good news of the gospel to ourselves.
“Cheer up, you’re a lot worse off than you think you are, but in Jesus you’re far more loved than you could have ever imagined.” (Jack Miller)
Ephesians 6:16 NASB95
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
The Shield of Faith
In our spiritual struggle against our terrible enemy Christians are exposed to “all the flaming darts of the evil one.”
What are these “flaming arrows”?
John Stott says, “The devil’s darts no doubt include his mischievous accusations which inflame our conscience with what (if we are sheltering in Christ) can only be called false guilt.
Other darts are unsought thoughts of doubt and disobedience, rebellion, lust, malice or fear.”
Satan continually bombards God’s children with temptations to immorality, hatred, envy, anger, covetousness, pride, doubt, fear, despair, distrust, and every other sin.”
Roman soldiers used several kinds of shields, but two were the most common. The first was a rather small round shield, perhaps two feet in diameter, that was secured to the arm by two leather straps. It was relatively lightweight and was used to defend against the blows of an opponent’s sword in hand-to-hand fighting.
The second kind was the thureos ( θυρεός), to which Paul refers here. This shield was about two and half feet wide and four and a half feet high, designed to protect the entire body of the soldier—who was considerably smaller than the average man today.
The shield was made of a solid piece of wood and was covered with metal or heavy oiled leather.
The Christian’s Shield of Faith
The soldiers who carried these shields were in the front lines of battle, and normally stood side by side with their shields together, forming a huge phalanx extending as long as a mile or more….Anyone who stood or crouched behind these shields was protected from the barrage of enemy arrows and spears often flaming.
But remember, Paul is not speaking of a physical shield here, but the Christian’s shield of faith.
Paul is saying that our faith should be like that full bodied roman shield. It should do three things:
(1) it should cover us so that not a portion is exposed,
(2) it should link us up with the faith of others to present a solid wall of defense, and
(3) because it covers our entire person and links up with the faith of our fellow soldiers, it should be able to strike down whatever fiery arrows the enemy hurls at us.” (Boice)
There is strength in numbers....
The Shield of Faith
Notice Paul doesn’t say that Christians are to “take up the shield of THE faith,” as if referring to a specific body of truth.
Paul has already mentioned that when he said that we were to fasten on “the belt of truth” (6:14a).
No, here in verse 16 Paul SAYS that Christians are to “take up the shield of faith,” which James Montgomery Boice says, “[means] a general confidence in God.”
Our shield against Satan’s arrows is this kind of faith.
It is faith that God can be trusted.
It is knowing that when God says what he says, he does what he says - that he is able to keep us from falling and present us before his presence with exceeding joy, he means exactly that and will do it.
So, we do not need to fear when we advance into battle because the commander of our Lord’s Army, our Savior Jesus Christ has gone before us and has conquered both his and OUR enemies.
Confidence in the Promises of God
The faith Paul refers here is not the body of Christian beliefs (for which the term is used in 4:13), but basic trust in God—the faith that he gives us by his grace to trust in Christ for our salvation and continues to trust even in the midst of difficult moments knowing that whatever God has ordained is right.
“God himself ‘is a shield to those who take refuge in him’ (Proverbs 30:5), and it is by faith that we flee to him for refuge.
For faith hangs onto the promises of God in times of doubt and depression, and faith lays hold of the power of God in times of temptation.”
This shield of faith is general confidence in God - assurance of his preserving love for those he has equipped and called into our Lord’s army.
In other words, we must have a living active trust in God if we are going to be able to stand against the evil one.
In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Pilgrim has an encounter with Apollyon, when Apollyon says to Pilgrim, “I’m going to spill you on the ground!” And then he launches one of his fiery darts, and what does Pilgrim do?
John Bunyan tells us that he happens to have—guess what?—a shield. And he lifts up that shield and it deflects the darts of the evil one against him. Of course Bunyan is pulling that right out of Ephesians 6:16.
So the point is, that to resist the devil we must have faith in God. We must have trust and entire confidence in God. And we must remember that faith is a gift of God. Our confidence is established in the work of Christ on our behalf - there is nothing we do to save ourselves. We are constantly being drawn back to the work of Christ on our behalf and God’s grace.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God:
Ephesians 6:17 NASB95
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The Helmet of Salvation… (v. 17)
The fifth piece of God’s armor is represented by the Roman soldier’s helmet, without which he would never enter battle. Some of the helmets were made of thick leather covered with metal plates, and others were of heavy molded or beaten metal. They usually had cheek pieces to protect the face.
The purpose of the helmet, of course, was to protect the head from injury, particularly from the dangerous broadsword commonly used in the warfare of that day.
John Stott writes, “But whether our head piece is that measure of salvation which we have already received (forgiveness, deliverance from Satan’s bondage, and adoption into God’s family) or the confident expectation of full salvation on the last day (including resurrection glory and Christ-likeness in heaven), there is no doubt that God’s saving power is our only defense against the enemy of our souls.”
Now interestingly here, I think he is especially concerned to point us to the assurance of salvation. That is, Paul is saying that if we’re going to stand firm in the day of evil, we must have a vital hope, a vital sense of God’s having saved us—of our present and future security in that saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
This is the knowledge that we are safe and secure, it is the knowledge that nothing can snatch us from God’s hand, it is the knowledge of Romans 8:35
Romans 8:35 NASB95
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
The knowledge that we are God’s, that we belong to Him, that we are kept by Him, that we are saved by Him, that we are safe and secure with Him is the blood that courses through the Christian’s life.
Two of Satan’s most powerful schemes against believers are doubt and discouragement. He wants us to doubt God’s personal love and care for us so that we become discouraged about our standing with HIM and grow weary in our work for HIM.
The Helmet of Salvation
Think about this “the helmet of salvation” placed on our heads by the nail-pierced hands of Christ at our conversion.
The helmet assures us that whatever happens we will be saved and experience victory in Christ.
“For it is by grace you have been saved” (perfect passive participle—you have been saved, and the results continue on) (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
The helmet infuses optimism about the course of the battle in this world. “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
The helmet also instills an irrepressible hope—“the hope of salvation as a helmet,” as Paul terms it in 1 Thessalonians 5:8—a bounding hope of future salvation and glory with Christ. (Kent Hughes)
So, the helmet of salvation assures us that God will bring us safely to glory.
Philippians 1:6 NASB95
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Our Struggle is Not Against Flesh And Blood
In our struggle against the schemes of the devil we must know biblical doctrine, practice daily obedience, share the gospel, preach the gospel to ourselves, believe God’s promises and power, and trust God to bring us home to heaven.
Even the reminder that we should do all these things is a reminder that we can’t do any of these things without the power of God and the strength of his might:
There is an old story about a pastor traveling on a bus down a very bumpy road. A college student was seated next to him.
Out of the blue, the pastor asked the student: “Are you spiritually ready for the temptations that you are going to face in college?” The young man answered: “I don’t have a problem with temptation. I have strong willpower.”
The pastor then took a pencil out of his pocket and said: “I can make this pencil stand up on the cover of this Bible even though the bus ride is bumpy.”
The young man said, “I’ll believe it when I see it. I don’t think you can do it.”
Then the pastor placed the pencil on top of the Bible and held it there. “Look, I am doing it,” the pastor replied.
The college student chuckled and said, “Yeah, but you didn’t tell me you would hold the pencil up with your hand.”
The pastor responded, “I shouldn’t have had to tell you. Have you ever seen a pencil stand up on its own without someone holding it?”
Then the pastor let go of the pencil. Of course, it instantly fell over and the pastor said:
“The only reason you stand, is because God is holding you up with His hand.”
Brothers and sisters, this is where our strength comes… from God. This armor is God’s armor and is a reminder that our salvation and security is found in one place....
What does he say? “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” (Eph 6:10)
Ephesians 6:10 NASB95
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
Be strong… Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. He doesn’t tell us to stiffen up our backbone, or to dig deep, or to reach out to the world for help…
he says, “be strong in the Lord” as you put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the methods (schemes of the devil) and remember, the only reason any of us stand is because God, in Christ, is holding us up with his hand.