Well-Equipped for Battle

WELL-EQUIPPED FOR BATTLE Spring Valley Mennonite; August 22, 2021; Ephesians 6:13-15 One of the most tragic pages in the history of Christianity was that of the Crusades. Beginning in 1095, over the next 400 years, thousands of would-be warriors from Europe made their way toward the Holy Land to free Jerusalem from the Muslim occupation. There were actually 8 or 9 official crusades, "official" meaning sanctioned by the Catholic Popes, as well as many unofficial ones. One motivation for participation in a Crusade for the common peasant surf population was a promise of freedom. Few of these common people were equipped for battle; they were motivated but ill-equipped. Many were slaughtered in battle. The realities of war quickly smother the enthusiasm of participants. This often applies to believers, all of which are involved in the fight of our lives. There is a spiritual war going on, a great battle in which Satan seeks to block and obstruct God's plan of redemption. Being self-deceived, our enemy apparently thinks he can win. This battle rages on a cosmic scale, but also affects each one of us personally. All of us are warriors; there is no possibility of passively standing on the sidelines. We are daily involved in the struggle. Unlike the ill-equipped common folk of the Crusades, God has provided a full set of protective armor for this battle. And great news! The result of the war has been decided! God won, and so have we. But the enemy has not accepted defeat. As the time of Jesus' return draws near, Satan seems to have intensified his battle plan. This is the war in which we find ourselves. We are victorious only when we fight in the strength and might of our King. In this amazing book to the Ephesians, we find that Paul has prepared us for spiritual warfare. While we have been studying this book off and on for almost a year, the church at Ephesus would have read it at one setting. They would have connected the threads of spiritual warfare and spiritual provision. Our method of study encourages segmenting the Christian life: "Here is my position in Christ", "Here is the Spirit-filled life", "Here is how I am to relate to my husband or wife", "Here is the armor of God." We need to integrate such truths together for that is how real life works. So, before we get into God's specific defensive and offensive provisions for battle, look with me at a couple of crucial principles we must apply before we can successfully defeat Satan in his attacks. The first principle we must apply is: I. OUR AUTHORITY OVER SATAN COMES FROM OUR NEW IDENTITY Turn to chapter 1, verse 18. (READ) Paul is praying that we would wake up to our new identity in Christ. Few of us grasp the magnitude of the changes which Christ has made in our basic identity. We are a totally different species that before we were regenerated. That is a great word, isn't it? Regeneration: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; behold old things have passed, all things have become new." Realize part of the spiritual battle is related to this truth: Satan does not want us to realize who we now are in Christ. As the Father of Lies, he is a master of disinformation. His strategy is to question and challenge the truth of what God tells us in His Word. He constantly feeds us deceptive lies: he whispers, "You are not really any different than you were," "A real Christian wouldn't think such thoughts," "Christianity may work for others, but not for you." Ever have such thoughts? Understand that Satan is the source of doubt; he is a liar. He makes us think that such thoughts are our own; they are not. How do we counter such doubts? By truth. We'll speak in a moment of the belt of truth but understand we must firmly stand on what the Word of God says about us, not what we think or worse, what we feel is true. Look at verses 18-23 (read). Christ, having died for our sins, was raised up, demonstrating God's exceeding great strength and power; and then having raised up Christ, God seated Him in the position of power and authority at His right hand. Notice now-this is vital in importance-notice where Christ is in relation to all the powers of darkness: He is far above them-not just a little bit, but FAR above them. Listen to me: this battle is not between two equal rivals or even almost equal rivals. Satan's power is tiny, miniscule, puny-next to the power of God. He is a defeated foe, awaiting his eternal imprisonment. Yet compared to our own human, fleshly power, he is terrible and powerful foe. So, Christ sits far above Satan in authority and power, and notice this: Look down to verse six of chapter 2. "And (He) raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus!" This is the basis of our victory over Satan. This is why we can smile in the battle and why we need have no fear of Satan. We are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. A second crucial thing to understand is: II. WE ARE PROTECTED IN BATTLE UNLESS WE GIVE SATAN GROUND TO STAND ON June 6, 1944: the allied troops invaded occupied France in WW II, landing on Normandy beach. Until troops had established a beachhead on the continent of Europe from which to move forward, Hitler could not be defeated. Satan cannot defeat us until we voluntarily give him room from which to operate. Look at Ephesians 4:27 (READ): In the context of our anger, God warns us to not give Satan an opportunity. The literal Greek is "don't give place to the devil," don't give Satan a place from which to operate. How do we do that? The most common way we give him ground is by willfully refusing to deal with an area of sin. Now we all sin-sometimes multiple times in a day. Is that giving Satan ground? No, not until we are convicted of the sin and then refuse to confess it. Right here in Ephesians 4, we are warned about letting anger ferment and sour and grow. That gives Satan a beachhead in our life. Bitterness is another toehold of Satan. Unforgiveness gives a wide place for Satan to operate. And having given place to the enemy, we wonder "Where is the spiritual victory in my life?" Take a moment to consider: Are you giving ground for Satan to operate? If you have, until you deal with that area in your life, it will be impossible to have spiritual victory in the battle. These are two principles God has given us to prepare for spiritual battle. You see, we can't go into the study of the spiritual armor expecting victory, thinking "If I can just understand what this armor thing is all about, I can be triumphant in my life..." Unless you deal with those areas in which you are giving Satan maneuvering room, the armor will lack its full effectiveness. The armor can't heal a would we already have. Having laid that framework, we can begin examining our armor. Listen to verse 13 and the first part of verse 14 (READ) III. THE BELT OF TRUTH-STAND FIRM IN THE TRUTH Notice that the armor is divided into two different categories: first are those pieces of armor previously put on. These are identified by verbs in the past tense: this tells us that every Christian is already wearing these items, although we must learn to appropriate their protective qualities. Having girded your loins; having put on the breastplate; having shod your feet. If we are a believer in Jesus Christ, we have already responded to Jesus Who is the truth; we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ; we have peace with God which comes from responding to the Gospel. Unless those things are true, you aren't a believer. They are part of our new identity in Christ. Because of that we are secure in our relationship with God. But realize that Satan the liar tries to convince us that these things do not exist, and that we are vulnerable. The other category consists of those parts of armor that we take up at the present moment: the shield of faith, the sword of the Word and the helmet of salvation. Paul is writing this letter from prison where he is chained to a Roman soldier. We can imagine his study of this soldier, drawing analogies to spiritual warfare. If we think about it, such a soldier wouldn't be wearing the helmet, or holding his shield or sword. They would be close by, in case of need. But the first category of armor would be worn all his waking hours. In an emergency, there would be no time to put on shoes, breastplate or belt. These verbs in the past tense point out items we put on once and never need to put on again. They are part of our identity in Christ. When we decided to follow Jesus, the first thing that happened was we responded to the truth. God spoke to us "telling it like it is." We think of a belt as a narrow strip of material which goes through belt loops and holds up our trousers. The belt of a Roman soldier was much different, it was a wide leather affair, providing support as well as protection. Think of a wide weight-lifter's belt. The belt provided a means to secure the breastplate at the bottom and provided a place to hang the sword and dagger. It also supported the soldiers backpack, distributing weight to the hips. For added protection, it often was reinforced with brass plates. The soldier wore a long tunic the ends of which were tucked into the belt when going into action. To "gird up your loins" meant to take this tunic and tuck it into the belt, putting one in readiness to work or fight. Think of a football player tucking his jersey into the waist of his pants to keep from the danger of someone grabbing it. Knowing and appropriating God's truth about who we are in Christ is like the belt which keeps it all together, making us ready to do battle with our adversary. Satan always attacks with deception and error. His first recorded words in Eden were "Has God really said?" The only way to counter the lies of the enemy is through knowing and walking in the truth. Truth always neutralizes error. Satan floods our minds with messages of error about God's character, about our standing in Christ, about God's provision for us, about the goodness of God's ways, about our future-if we listen to these lies, we become discouraged, cold toward our Father, and we stop making progress down the road. We must keep our minds flooded with the truth from God's Word. Jesus said, "I am the truth." As we are filled with the Holy Spirit, He leads us into all truth. Jesus demonstrates that He is the truth right here and now by what He has done in our lives. What has Jesus done for you? Look back on your own life: what or where would you be if you didn't know Christ? Has He delivered you from any destructive patterns of sin? Has He ever delivered you from danger? Think of this: there are many great men who have walked this earth, and you could appeal to them if you fell into trouble. You could call out to Leonardo De Vinci for help, but no help would come. "Shakespeare, come to my assistance!" Nothing. But for over 20 centuries, men and women in trouble have called out to Jesus Christ and have received help: He is a very present help in time of need. He is the truth. There is a story of a man who visited his old friend who was a music teacher and said to him in sort of a flippant manner, "What's the good word for today?" The old man never said a word. He walked across the room, picked up a hammer and struck a tuning fork. As the note sounded out throughout the room, he said, "That is an 'A'; It is 'A' today, there was an 'A' 5000 years ago, and there will be an 'A' 10,000 years in the future. The soprano upstairs may sing off key; the tenor across the hall flats his high notes, and the piano downstairs is out of tune." He struck the note again and said, "That is true 'A', my friend, and that is the good news for today!" That is what Jesus Christ is, unchanging. He is "the same yesterday, today, and forever." When you are under attack, when doubts come flooding over your soul, remember that Jesus is the absolute truth. And truth extinguishes non-truth. Like a wide belt, truth holds everything together. We also have already put on: IV. THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS The second piece of armor was put on when you trusted Christ as the basis of your right standing before God. 2 Corinthians 5:21: "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Paul spoke of righteousness being part of the new nature we receive in Ephesians 4:24: "And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." Like the belt of truth, to utilize the effectiveness of the breastplate, we must understand how to maintain it. The breastplate protects the heart, lungs, liver, stomach, bowels and other vital organs. For the Roman soldier, a wound in this area meant a sure death. The heart in scripture is the seat of our emotions as well as the conscience. Mark Bubeck, in his book Overcoming the Adversary, says this about the heart: "The heart is a part of us that is often subject to defeat. One reason for that is our awareness of our failures, sins, and transgressions. If we do not feel guilty for sins of commission, we certainly know that we are guilty of sins of omission. Who of us can claim to meet God's standard, loving Him with all of the heart and mind and soul? Who of us ever comes close to always loving his neighbor as himself? Then there are the other sins of omission so common to God's own: neglect of prayer, careless attention to the study of God's Word, lost opportunities for witnessing to friends and fellow workers or forgetting to pray for someone we promised to remember." Satan attacks us in the seat of our emotions making us feel unworthy or a failure as a Christian. He tells us that God is disappointed in us and we are worthy of rejection. He tells us that God is ready to give up on us-unless we get our act together and clean up our act; God is angry with us, and we must really try harder to be righteous! This is Satan attacking our emotions. How do we respond to such an attack? We remember that we have on the breastplate of Jesus' righteousness. We remember that our standing with God is dependent upon His righteousness, not our own. We don't stand on our own merits, but on the basis of Christ alone. Romans 8:1: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." When you believe God is angry at you, you are believing Satan's lie! We are "accepted in the Beloved" Eph. 1:6. Paul asks in Romans 8:33, "Who can accuse us?" We maintain our breastplate by walking in the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to control our lives producing the love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control. Our attitude of "hungering and thirsting after righteousness" keeps our breastplate in place. Lastly, we have: V. PUT ON THE SHOES OF THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE Can you imagine a soldier without shoes? Instead of confidently striding forward, able to be on the lookout for danger, he would be constantly looking down to avoid stepping on something harmful. Such a warrior would soon be out of battle. When our feet hurt, our whole body is thrown out of sorts. The word "preparation" means "readiness" in Greek. Our feet have been shod with the readiness produced by the good news of peace. Christ is our peace: Romans 5:1 "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." A soldier with sturdy shoes moves easily through rough ground. He is ready for anything. By application, no ground is too rough for Christ-and we have Christ. Satan tries to steal our peace through inciting us to fret and worry as we go through the trials of life. In addition to our positional peace, coming from our right standing with God, we can have experiential peace. Philippians 4:6-7 reads, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God will guard you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Bubeck says this about peace: "If peace with God is an intellectual peace, the peace of God is an emotional and experiential peace. We can know all the facts about God's peace, but if emotions do not support our knowledge, we will not be able to act upon what we know to be true. The peace of God applies a balm of inner serenity to our emotions." Notice that prayer is to be our response to anxiety producing crisis. These three pieces of armor speak of our identity in Christ. The order given in the description is significant, corresponding to God's work in our lives. First, we believed the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, and that in Him alone is the key to reality: He is the truth. As our mind has come to understand and believe that Jesus is the truth, we then trust Him and learn that we stand justified on His merit, His righteousness; NOT based on our good works, but on what He alone has done. And the result of this is peace with God and the provision during the conflict of the peace of God. God has provided victory in the battle. We are well-equipped for battle. 2