49-51 The Armor of God, Part 1
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Ephesians 6:14-17
Ephesians 6:14-17
Our Sufficiency in Christ 8: The Quest for Something More
A STORY IS TOLD ABOUT WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST, the late newspaper publisher. Hearst invested a fortune in collecting great works of art. One day he read about some valuable pieces of art and decided that he must add them to his collection. He sent his agent abroad to locate and purchase them. Months went by before the agent returned and reported to Hearst that the items had at last been found—they were stored in his own warehouse. Hearst had purchased them years before!
This is similar to what many believers are doing today. They’re on a quest to seek out spiritual resources that they’re already in possession of. This is what largely what Eph has been speaking about—the vastness of spiritual resources you have in Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
From there Paul expounds on the reality of your great salvation which has been purposed by the eternal decree of the Father, accomplished by the perfect sacrifice of the Son, and guaranteed by the permanent indwelling presence of the HS.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about 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 every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Paul then explains how you (who once were dead) were made alive, brought near, and were united with Jewish believers in the body of Christ—which Paul says in Ch 3 is a profound mystery (not previously revealed) but now:
so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
In light of the vast wealth of spiritual resources you are in possession of, we are admonished to preserve unity in the church, to use our spiritual gifts for the edification of other believers, to put aside immorality, corruption—the “old self”
and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
In Ch 5—every Xn is called to imitate God (Christ) by walking in love, light, in wisdom. Having explained how these principles are fleshed out in godly families, and even though your spiritual resources are unlimited, we are reminded that the Xn life is a battleground.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
Our struggle is against our own flesh, against the world and against the one who uses those things against us—the chief enemy of God, the devil.
But God has made provision for every believer, not only to wage war but to win the spiritual war, which every person here is enlisted.
Paul says “take up the full armor of God” (vs 13). Vs 11 “put on...”
Now, I believe that the provision of the full armor of God is the provision of Christ Himself.
The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
The purpose of putting on the LJC, the armor of God (vs 13) “so that...”
The evil day is when Satan attacks with temptations, discouragements, enticements to sin. When we give in to these attacks, we lose a little bit of ground. When we fall into temptation we’ve neglected the spiritual resources that we have in Christ. When we are discouraged, we lose sight of all that Christ has accomplished (including winning the spiritual war). When we are enticed to sin and give in, we momentarily take up the old self and live as we once were.
That’s not who you are—for it is God’s will that you stand firm. As we’ve studied earlier, this idea is not related to advancing as an army, b/c the Lord has conquered all. The idea of standing firm is to hold the ground that Christ already conquered—not retreating but resisting in this evil day.
We find may examples of saints standing firm (and as many of those who didn’t)...
Jospeh when he was seduced by Potiphar’s wife—he ran away
Daniel when confronted by the decree of Darius that any man who makes a petition to any god or man besides the king, for thirty days, is to be cast into the lions’ den. What did Daniel do? once he knew the edict was signed he went back to his purpose of praying to God 3x day.
David & Peter examples of not standing firm (and yet they were restored).
This is what it means to stand firm and in Christ (with Christ) every believer is able to hold the ground that has been conquered by our Lord.
for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.
So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.
through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
God’s provision of His armor is what enables you to accomplish this command. Isn’t that like God? He gives us a command that expresses His will for us (His children) and then He gives us the resources for obedience. Paul is is going to highlight 6 specific pieces of the armor of God. you have to remember that Paul is writing this letter while being chained to a Roman soldier. That soldier’s armor would become an inspired illustration of what we need to wear in order to stand firm.
I’ll go back to this idea that the armor is the provision of LJC. What I think was in Paul’s mind as he penned this illustration was Is 59:17
He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.
This is the “divine warrior” that would come and deliver His people and take vengeance on His enemies and ultimately changes Israel’s condition thru His own sacrifice. But notice the similarities. Paul sees this in the soldier and highlights it here, beginning with...
1. The Belt of Truth
1. The Belt of Truth
Technically, the belt was part of the soldier’s dress more than his armor, yet indispensible if the soldier was to wage war effectively. The typical clothing for men during NT times (Jews & Romans) was the tunic. The tunic was a robe-like piece of cloth that hung loosely over the body, generally went to below the knees. You would have to imagine what that would be like to go into battle with a flowing robe, where your feet and legs would get tangled up in it. You would be greatly disadvantaged. So prior to battle and putting on his armor (or running a race, or working, etc.), the soldier would pull their robes above the knees, gather all the folds and tuck them tightly into his belt. This was really the first step to be ready for battle and the indication that the soldier was serious about his participation in war. This preparation and readiness was essential for the soldier to wage effective war.
Paul’s analogy is that this belt for the believer is truth (lit “having girded your loins in truth). So the first step of preparation for spiritual war is to be equipped with truth. What is truth? That was the question Pilate asked Jesus (Jn 18:38).
Commentators have differed on the meaning of truth here. Some say Paul is referring to the truth of God’s Word. Others say truth (since there is no definite article) is speaking about truthfulness, sincerity, trustworthiness. John Stott says “we do not need to choose between the alternatives.” For every Xn, truthfulness, trustworthiness (inner truth) always begins with the knowledge of God (who is truth) and knowledge of the truth of God revealed in His Word.
Your readiness for spiritual war begins with the knowledge of God’s truth. Biblical teaching is essential if you are to stand firm against the varied schemes of Satan. If you don’t have that knowledge and grounding you are like the person
As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
This is one of Satan’s effective strategies against believers. Since he is a liar (Jn 8:44), he loves to promote error which for the ungrounded believer puts him into a dangerous position:
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
Harry Ironside says...
In the Heavenlies: Practical Expository Addresses on the Epistle to the Ephesians (Lecture XXV: The Whole Armor of God (Eph. 6:13–18))
I wish Christians would come back to the Book...Andrew Bonar many years ago was speaking on heaven and the great reunion of loved ones over there, and in his eloquent way he pictured the believer newly come from earth walking along the golden street and suddenly coming right up against a group of Old Testament sages and prophets. In a moment he recognizes them and says, “Why, this is Ezekiel; isn’t it?”
“Yes,” says Ezekiel, “I am so glad to meet you.”
“And this is Micah and Zechariah and Amos.”
And then Andrew Bonar said, “And just imagine Ezekiel saying, ‘Oh, you knew about me; did you? How did you like the book I wrote?’
‘Book? What book was that?’
‘Oh, surely you remember my book! Did you enjoy it?’
‘I am sorry to say I never read it.’
“And then Micah would say, ‘And what did you think of my book?’
‘Let me see; was that in the Old Testament or in the New Testament? It seems to me I remember there was such a book.’
“How would you feel to have to meet these men when you never have read their books?”
Some of you had better get busy.
Ironside, H. A. (1937). In the heavenlies : practical expository addresses on the Epistle to the Ephesians. (pp. 319–320). Loizeaux Brothers.
Now, truth also pertains to inner truthfulness and integrity. The believer must gird himself with a genuine commitment to that which is truth. The opposite of this is duplicity (deceit, hypocrisy).
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
A hypocrite (an actor) was one who would wear a mask to cover his true identity and give a false appearance. If we attempt to focus our minds and hearts on God and on worldly pleasures at the same time we live a double life. As such we cannot have two goals and win the battle. The Xn must prepare his mind with the truth and for truthfulness. This should be the mark of readiness in each of us. We should be so consumed with God’s Word and intentionally living it with integrity that Satan would never have a foothold—to tempt us with something that is anti-truth. As we put this belt of truth around our waist—we stand firm in our integrity and enter the battle knowing our enemy is powerless against us.
2. The Breastplate of Righteousness
2. The Breastplate of Righteousness
The breastplate is the piece of armor Paul mentions next. It was essential and no soldier would consider going into battle without it. There were 2 types of breastplates in NT times, one was made from leather or several layers of linen on which was sewn slices of animal hooves or horns. The 2nd type was metal (generally brass). The purpose is obvious—to protect the vital organs during battle. The primary organ is the heart. In Jewish thinking, the heart was “mission control center.” It represents the mind, will, seat of emotions, feelings. It is the organ that Satan will attack most frequently and ardently. He clouds the mind with false thinking (false doctrine, false principles, false information), he confuses our emotions, he perverts affections, morals, loyalties and commitments, and seeks to undermine pure living by corrupting it with greed, immorality, envy, hate and every other evil vice.
The protection God provides is righteousness. In Scripture, there are 2 features of God’s righteousness that are noteworthy.
Imputed righteousness: The perfect righteousness of LJC that is put on the sinner’s account when he trusts in the atonement made by Christ. This is the only means of justification (standing right before God) that God places the only righteousness that He recognizes on you—making you acceptable to Him.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
Christ is our righteousness.
Practical righteousness/personal holiness as we live in purity in this world.
Now, I don’t think Paul is referring to imputed righteousness since the command is to put on the breastplate of righteousness. Imputed righteousness is not what you put on but what God puts on the believer. But there is a really good illustration of the relationship to the 2 in Zechariah.
Zechariah 3:1-7;
(filthy garments represent the sin of the people; clean turban/garments symbolize the righteousness JC making one acceptable to God who is righteous---then the admonition in vs 7)
Imputed righteousness cannot be separated from practical righteousness. Those who are made righteousness b/c they have put faith in JC must live righteously—this is Xn obedience to God’s truth.
This is the breastplate that protects you against the attacks and accusations of Satan. You know the charge:
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
2 Corinthians 6:7 Spiritual Virtue is what combats Satan and his accusations
in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Before we come to the Lord’s Table—let me ask you 3 diagnostic questions:
Have you been clothed with Christ’s righteousness? Have you been justified (by faith alone)?
Have you put on the breastplate of righteousness—walking in truth, practicing righteousness, actively resisting the attacks of the devil, mortifying the deeds of the flesh?
It has been said that the devil had nothing, no sin in Christ on which to take hold but he has plenty on us. What areas of your life does Satan have handles to cause you to stumble?
As we observe communion—those who believe on LJC are invited to join in our remembrance of Christ who gave His body for us and shed His blood that we might receive the forgiveness of the massive debt of our sin deserving eternal wrath...
Consider the sufficiency of JC—by His life and death He has secured redemption for everyone who trusts in Him. The promise of God’s Word:
For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”