Sermon Tone Analysis
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Paul in this section of scripture is writing about God’s armor.
He must have had in view a Roman soldier that was all prepared for battle.
He had no doubt seem many soldiers.
One thing that they had in common was their uniform.
I remember when I first joined the Air Force and was in basic training.
On the second or third day we got our uniforms.
This was back in the early 1980s and we were wearing the uniform style that they wore during the Vietnam war.
The uniforms we wore were called the utility uniform.
It was green pants and green shirts.
The day we got our uniforms all of our civilian clothes were stored away.
We were referred to as rainbows because there was all sorts of different styles of clothing.
When we got those new uniforms we went from being rainbows to being pickles.
We all looked alike, we didn’t have name tags or any rank, just plain green uniforms.
Eventually we got our name tags sewed on the uniforms and at the end of basic training we had our rank sewed on if we had received a promotion.
Even with the addition of name tags and rank we all looked alike.
Sure some were taller or shorter, whiter or darker, but we all looked alike whether we were in our utility uniform or in our dress uniform.
When we come to faith in Jesus we all look different.
We come with different experiences.
We come with different habits and hangups.
We come with different addictions.
Some are a little taller or shorter, skinny or not so skinny, lighter skinned or darker skinned.
When we come to faith in Jesus we all put the same clothes on.
This second piece of our clothing is literally tied to that first piece, the belt of truth.
I really like the imagery of the Roman soldier and the breastplate that they wore.
Look at that breastplate, it covers him from his neck to his waist.
You can see the belt just below providing him protection down to his thighs.
The breastplate goes up over his shoulders and down his back.
If you were a Roman soldier you were involved in hand to hand combat.
You needed this type of protection because you didn’t know if someone was going to try to stab you in the chest or come at your back.
Armor was an absolute necessity.
If you were a Roman soldier you would never even think about going into battle without your armor on.
I feel like this is part of the point that Paul is making.
We must be ready for battle.
Just like the Roman soldier, and just like when I was in the Air Force, I did not get to choose what I wanted to wear.
I was told what I had to wear.
I wore what was provided for me.
Do you realize that when you came to faith in Christ that you got dressed in brand new clothes?
Well you got dressed, but it wasn’t in clothes made by man.
You got dressed in Jesus.
Paul wrote
There are two important points in the passage.
The first is about baptism.
There is the assumption that all believers are baptized.
If you haven’t been baptized, then why not?
The most important point is that in baptism we are clothed with Christ.
I like the Passion Translation that renders this verse this way:
You are covered and clothed with his anointing.
Oh how we need to see that visible anointing at work in our lives.
How we need to see that empowerment of the Holy Spirit at work today in our lives.
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of yesterday.
Do you know what I mean?
I’m tired of remembering when the pews were full.
I’m tired of being told about when the Sunday School rooms were full.
I’m tired of hearing about brother or sister so and so testifying about the miraculous healing that they received.
I’m tired of hearing about how the altars use to be lined.
I’m tired of hearing about revival services that were filled with people seeking the presence of God.
I’m tired of that because we act like the Holy Spirit is not available to us.
We act like it was all about yesterday and we dare not expect anything for today.
We remember the past and we look forward to the day that we see Him face to face.
I’m tired of that because we live today.
God has given us everything that we need for today.
Keith Brooks in his outline of this chapter of Paul wrote:
The Lord Jesus has met Satan at every point and defeated him.
It is therefore dangerous for us to be strong except in Him Who is the Victor.
Our natural courage is perfect cowardice; our natural strength is perfect weakness, but our sufficiency is always in Him 1
Jesus has already defeated the enemy and he has given us everything we need as we are covered and clothed in Jesus.
Paul took it step further and wrote:
We are not who we once were.
Look at that verse - fully immerse yourselves into the Lord Jesus.
Fully immerse means that there is not one part of you that is not in Christ.
There is no holding out or holding back.
It is all or nothing.
That is the thing about the breastplate, it is designed to cover all of our vital organs.
The breastplate though that Paul is writing about is something greater.
Ephesians 6:14 (NIV)
14 Stand firm then... with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
As I said earlier it is easy to picture that Roman solder with that impressive uniform consisting of that metal shell that goes around him, protecting his vital organs.
I mentioned last week the belt that the Jewish priest wore as a part of his outfit.
The high priest wore a breastplate.
God gave the directions on how it was to be made.
This breastplate looked something like this
This breastplate was worn by the high priest.
In Hebrew it was referred to as the Avnei Hoshen.
It does not look like it would protect anyone.
It was a square piece of cloth with precious stones attached to it.
How would that type of breastplate protect anyone?
Further on in that passage from Exodus we read
Exodus 28:29 (NIV)
29 “Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the Lord.
This was to be worn as a continuing memorial before the Lord.
In other parts of scripture this breastplate was simply referred to as the Memorial.
I don’t want to skip over an important point about this.
God referred to this breastplate as the breastpiece of decision.
It was a reminder that we are making a decision to put God’s will before our will.
It was a memorial, it was remembering all that God had done for them.
When we put on that breastplate we are reminding ourselves of all that God has done for us.
When we put on this clothing that God has provided us we are reminding ourselves about all that God has done.
Putting on the full armor of God is not just covering ourselves, it is about a radical transformation of our lives.
That is why Paul could write in his letter to the Galatians:
Galatians 2:20 (CEB)
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