Our Spiritual Defense

Introduction

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, sending the issue of abortion back to the states instead of the federal government, I’ve heard a continuous refrain from pro-abortion people. They basically say something like this:

This Supreme Court has ignored the Constitution and taken away a woman’s right to determine her own health choices with her doctor because of religious extremists.

There’s a lot I could parse in that statement, but the part I want us to focus in on is the “religious extremist” part.

This phrase is used a lot today. It used to be reserved for people who blew things up and hurt people to push their religious dogma.

Now, however, it’s used for anybody who holds a religious view that conflicts with modern secular leftist thinking.

This means, if you are a Bible believing Christian; someone who believes that God’s Word is both true and trustworthy and the “supreme standard by which human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried,” then a segment of this country considers you an extremist.

What should we do about this?

Nothing.

See, throughout Christian history the church has used two terms that have largely been lost in our day: the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant.

The Church Triumphant focuses on those who are in glory with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church Militant are all of us who are still alive, locked in spiritual warfare with the “cosmic powers of this present darkness.”

Today, many churches have moved away from this kind of terminology in order to appeal to a lost world that bristles at the language of warfare and church members who want to feel good about their religion, then get back to their pleasant lives without all this warfare talk.

Yet, the church militant is an excellent phrase for what we as Christians are called to each and every day, as we saw last week.

Last week we started our study on spiritual warfare from Ephesians 6:10-20 focusing on our battle. We learned from the text that:

Followers of Jesus will surely experience spiritual warfare;

Our battle is never with each other or with people outside the church;

Most importantly, our strength for the battle comes from the Lord alone.

This week we will look closer that the strength that He gives us as we consider our spiritual defense.

Body: Ephesians 6:10-20

In verses 11 & 12, Paul introduces the concept of the whole armor of God, then quickly tells why we need to put on the whole armor of God and who the enemy is.

It’s likely that Paul was actually being guarded by a Roman solider while in prison and began to use his armaments as examples of the spiritual warfare we face.

The term “put on” is an imperative verb in the Greek, meaning that it should be interpreted as something that is urgent.

Spiritual warfare is always an urgent issue facing the church…unless the church is not in the battle or too busy battling ourselves!

William MacDonald – “The more effective a believer is for the Lord, the more he will experience the savage attacks of the enemy: the devil does not waste his ammunition on nominal Christians.”

Does Paul say “the whole armor” for a reason?  For instance, can someone put on part of the armor of God?

Because a couple of pieces won’t do.  The devil will attack from many angles.  Only when fully girded for battle, can we withstand his offensive attacks.

The idea behind the “whole armor” it both it’s adequacy and quality.

The only adequate and useful armor for the follower of Christ is the whole armor of God.

Notice that Paul tells them they must stand against the schemes of the devil.

We talked about this last week, learning that the “schemes” comes from the Greek word we get the word “methods” from. The devil will use whichever methods to attack God’s people he believes are effective for his purposes.

Therefore, a spiritual battle can only be won with spiritual defenses.

In verse 13 Paul explains the whole armor of God more fully and what the desired outcome is:

The goal of putting on the whole armor of God is to stand firm in the face of worldly and spiritual struggles.

What is “the evil day”?

Any time that the powers of evil seem to be winning.

However, in truth, we all have “good days” and “bad days,” but every day we are not present with the Lord is an evil day.

Before we get to the different pieces of equipment individually, let’s understand that in it’s totality, this is a call to preparedness in the life of the believer. 

A preparedness to stand firm in the face of the attacks by the devil.

So, when the people saw a Roman soldier, prepared for battle it caused great fear. 

So it should be in the spiritual realm.  The forces of Satan should quake at the sight of God’s people.  Not because we are ourselves armed for defense, but because we are armed in the strength and might of the Lord!

Colossians 2:13–15 ESV

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Each piece of defensive equipment has to do with things that the Lord alone provides for His people:

Truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, and salvation.

How do we “put on” the armor?

As we will see, the different pieces of armor are actually provided by God to all believers.  The challenge is, many in the church would rather either fight their battles on their own, fight with each other, or refuse to fight all together.  This is a problem!

What is the belt of truth?  How does one put it on?

What did a belt do for them?

It held their loose fitting robes close to their body, so it didn’t hinder movement.

In the case of a soldier, quick movement could be the difference between life and death.

Thus, keep the truth of the gospel around yourself as a belt, holding you together as you move about your life.

Truth should be what holds the believer together and puts away everything that might hinder us.

Our sins; our doubts; our fear; our unbelief...

This is why the offensive weapon of the Word of God is so important…it gives us the source of truth that it outside of ourselves and outside of the fallen world.

What is the breastplate of righteousness?  How does one put it on?

As a breastplate protected the vital organs of the body, so righteousness protects God’s people from critical damage.

While it is tempting to think this simply means the imputed righteousness of Christ, it is more he’s focusing on our righteous actions, which are made possible through the working of the Holy Spirit.

Remember, he is writing to believers, so they already had Christ’s imputed righteousness.

Right-living guards the heart better than anything.

John MacArthur – “A pure, self-disciplined life comes from being saturated with the Word of God.”

This is a lifestyle of always seeking to do God’s will.

Why the mention of shoes here?

Many messengers were barefooted, but here we don’t see the gentle picture of messengers, but warriors, ready for battle.

Readiness for what?

To bring the gospel into potentially hostile places.

William MacDonald – “When we relax in our tents, we are in deadly peril.  Our safety is to be found in following the beautiful feet of the Savior on the mountains, bearing glad tidings and publishing peace.”

One of the ways we can most successfully combat the forces of evil is by sharing the gospel in spite of the spiritual battle.

One of the satanic forces goals is to silence the gospel.

What is the shield of faith?  How does one take up the shield of faith?

Ancient historians tell us that the shields of this time were large, two-plied wooded pieces that were covered with flame resistant hide which would protect against flaming arrows.

This is what our faith is for us: a shield, defending against the flaming arrows of the evil one!

What is the helmet of salvation?  How does one “take” the helmet of salvation?

Notice how Satan loves to attack our heads, not just with temptations, but with fears and doubts.  He even causes us to doubt our salvation.

The helmet of salvation is a reminder that our salvation, given by God, is secure and protects us against the attacks of the evil one.

Now, this is cool!  In the ancient world, the soldier’s helmet and sword was given to them by an attendant or armor bearer.

Now, think about that in light of our salvation.  We didn’t put on our own helmet, it was put on us by the Lord Himself!

As the breastplate protected the vital organs, the helmet protects our most valuable body part: the head.

So What?

We must recognize that we are soldiers in the Lord’s army.

Many modern Christians would rather be hippies, refusing to fight because peace is more desirable.

The problem with that is, our enemy is at war with hippies and soldiers alike!

We must utilize the defensive armor that He has supplied for us.

Only the defensive armor supplied by our Lord will suffice!

That armor is:

The truth of the Gospel, that we are saved by grace through faith, so we have a hope of the future!

That God has made a way for us to live lives of righteousness, guarding us against the methods of the evil one!

The Gospel of peace, which we can use to combat the darkness by bringing it to a lost and dying world.

Faith that God has given us the victory, even when we face various set-backs.

Salvation that was bought for us by Christ and kept for us by His love and grace.