Sermon Tone Analysis

*Series: Why Are We Wearing Armour If We’re Not In A War –part 2*

 

Passage: Ephesians 6:10-20

 

Message 2- Ephesians 6:14-20

 

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains.

Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

*Recap*

 

Do we really consider that we are in danger as believers, that this is not peacetime for Christ followers?

The war that we are in is spiritual in nature.

Awareness that we are involved in a cosmic battle which is supernatural, personal, and futile if fought with natural weapons is the beginning of conquering wisdom.

We must be convinced of these things if we are to succeed.

We must go beyond evangelical lip service to a deep-souled conviction which bursts our simplistic religious shackles.

–Hughes pg.

214

 

 

Exegesis:

 

*What the best dressed Christian wears*

 

Paul’s mind is full of unseen war, and as he reaches for metaphors to describe further realities necessary for the battle, a Roman soldier unwittingly sits for his portrait (very possibly the one to whom Paul was chained).

That soldier’s armor became the vehicle for teaching us what is necessary to win the invisible war.

Though a Roman soldier wore other essentials for war, such as protective greaves on his shins (like a baseball catcher), Paul focuses on six indispensable items: his belt, breastplate, sandals, shield, helmet, and sword, to which Paul adds a seventh non-clothing item, prayer, thus emphasizing the completeness of such an outfit for spiritual battle.

–Hughes pg.

223

 

*1.

A belt* (starting from the middle)

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

 

Traditionally it has been noted that when a soldier tightened his belt he was ready for combat, because in the process of tightening he drew up his tunic and cinched it so it could not impede him as he charged into battle.

It also firmly fixed his sword in place.

(Note: Carson argues for the leather apron that goes on before everything else)

 

Either way, Paul says that truth performs a crucial function in spiritual warfare.

Truth holds the spiritual armor in place or is the first thing we put on in preparation for everything else.

To what truth is he referring?

*Objective Truth*

Some commentators, especially ancient ones, think this is the eternal, Biblical truth revealed in the Scriptures.

This is certainly true.

Jesus proclaimed to those in the bonds of false teaching,

“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32; cf.

John 8:43–45).

Later he said,

“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

Paul refers in 4:21 to

“the truth that is in Jesus” (cf.

5:9).

There is objective, spiritual truth in Jesus and his Scriptures: truth about God, ourselves, history, and the future.

Without it we do not have a chance in the spiritual battles which come our way.

Without cinching ourselves tightly with the truth of Scripture, the other weapons of our warfare will clatter in disarray.

Those who have stood firm as great warriors for Christ have been men and women of the Word and so were filled with the eternal truth of Scripture.

-Hughes

 

*Living Truth*

But having agreed on the importance of objective truth, it is important to see that Paul has been emphasizing “living the truth” in this letter.

5:8-9,

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)

 

Notice that he mentions two things that are to be put on as armour in Chapter 6.

 

Paul’s point is that /truthful character/, (not ignoring /knowledge of the truth/), enables one to stand firm in the fight.

Knowing truth is not enough.

We must live it.

To rephrase Pilate’s question for our day- Where is truth?

Charles Colson in his book /Who Speaks For God?,/ uses the term “moral AIDS”.

He writes that, “The inability to make moral distinctions is the AIDS of the intellectuals: an acquired immune deficiency syndrome … moral blindness of this caliber requires practice.

It has to be learned.”

Such widespread moral blindness is having an affect on believers too.

Those who would claim to know the truth are sometimes being caught with their belts down.

In a conversation here last week I spoke with a person who investigates claims for Worker’s Compensation.

He shared how the worse situation is one where the person defrauding the government is a professing Christian.

He spoke of going into a home of a Christian and knowing the person was guilty and giving the person every chance to change their story and come clean and they continued to lie.

What do you say?

 

Knowing the truth and telling the truth are essential elements of our armour.

Paul wrote: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body” (4:25)

 

One of the benefits of being truthful is a good conscience.

Someone has quipped that if you tell the truth you don’t have to have a good memory.

 

1 Timothy 1

18 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience.

Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.

When you are filled with God’s truth and living it, you will have a good conscience, and having that you can face anything.

How’s the spiritual battle going?

If you are having trouble, it may be that you need to tighten your belt — to regird yourself with truth.

We can’t say we know the truth until it has taken hold of our lives and changed us from the inside out.

*2.

A Breastplate*

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

 

-Breastplate (as we often picture it) or mail?

 

-is the emphasis on Imputed righteousness or righteous living?

“The breastplate of righteousness” is God’s own righteousness freely given to those who truly believe in Jesus Christ.

It is not something which we generate on our own.

Carson,

Truth and righteousness are often taken as references to the gospel and to its offer of righteousness-by-faith.

But the terms here (as in Is. 11:5; 59:17) denote quality of character, and they stand alongside ‘holiness’ at 4:24–25 and ‘goodness’ at 5:8–9.

Paul is saying that the church’s basic equipment in the spiritual battle is integrity and righteous living, and they are effective because these qualities bear the stamp of Jesus and the new creation he brings (see on 4:17–24).[1]

*3.

Proper Footwear*

15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

These boots served for marching, especially in battle.

Their function was like today’s cleated football shoe.

They gave the foot traction and prevented sliding.

Much ancient battle was hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot, like on the line of scrimmage, so these boots gave the Roman soldier an advantage over ill-equipped foes.

The “readiness” of our text pictures us being ready with our /caliga/ firmly planted on solid ground.

Thus established, the enemy is not going to be able to push us back.

Rather, we are set to advance.

The spiritual lesson here is clear.

It is “the gospel of peace” — the peace that comes to us in and through the gospel and makes us immovable in battle.

The Scriptures present two aspects of this peace.

First, it is peace with God.

Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Life apart from Christ has no deep peace, and all people are aware of this vacuum to some degree.