Right Living In A World Gone Wrong…Studies in Ephesians
Final Words: The Armor
Ephesians 6:14-18
[ FDR “Day of Infamy” Speech to congress after Dec 7 1941]
On December 8, 1941, Franklin D Roosevelt stood before the Congress of the United States and asked them to declare war on Japan. But in fact, he presented it in such a way that made it clear that despite their action, a state of war already existed with Japan, and had been in effect since the first torpedo struck a ship at the Pearl Harbor Naval Station.
In 1987. Ronald Reagan, who had been battling communism his entire political life, went to Berlin, a city separated by a wall of concrete and barbed wire. He went to Checkpoint Charlie, a gate in the wall where a white line on the street marked the entrance into the Communist East Sector of the city. Reagan saw a few captive citizens of the east waving to him from windows –and returned the wave. He looked at the armed guards on the east side of the wall – not there to keep invaders out, but to keep their own people from escaping – and in an act of daring, defiantly placed one foot across the line. He later made a speech at the wall, and called on the leaders of the Soviet Union to “tear down this wall!” Two years later, they did.
In Matthew, chapter 16, Jesus took his disciples to Caesarea Philippi, the regional capital of the Roman Empire. He took them to this pagan city, where Caesar was worshiped as God, where 14 alters to false gods littered the city. Jesus took his disciples to the mythical birthplace of the Greek god Pan, the god of fear, for a momentous declaration. There in the heart of enemy territory Jesus declared, in Matthew 16:19 “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it.” In that defiant statement, Jesus declared war on the forces of Satan, and he declared that it was the church that would engage in the battle.
We are at war, ladies and gentlemen, and I don’t mean in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. While the battle that rages there is deadly serious, it pales in comparison to the war that rages all around us in the spiritual realm. For while the wounds and losses there are terrible, they are physical, while the consequences of the spiritual battle are in the souls of human being and are eternal. In his closing remarks to the church at Ephesus, Paul addresses the war in three stages: our enemy, our armor and the battle. Last week we talked about the enemy we face, Satan, and his legions. Today, as we resume our study in Ephesians 6:13, we read these words,
Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, so that whe the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
“Therefore,” Paul says, in light of the formidable power and might of the enemy we face, “you must take the whole armor of God.” No soldier, marine, airman or sailor would think of going into battle without his gear. When the airborne troupes of the allied forces prepared for their invasion of Normandy in June of 1944, they parachuted behind enemy lines with over 100 pounds of equipment and supplies – for some of the men the gear weighed more then they did! But they carried it all, not for their comfort when they landed behind enemy lines, but for survival! They knew they would need every piece of equipment – they didn’t leave any necessary piece behind, and they didn’t take anything that was useless.
Paul tells us that our goal in this war is to be found, “after we have done everything,” standing. We face a powerful and relentless enemy, and we must take the whole armor of God if we are going to be found on our feet when the fight is over.
Then Paul begins to describe the armor God has given us. If you can, try to imagine the scene. Paul, at this time is under house arrest in Rome. He is chained, 24 hours a day, to a Roman guard. So as he writes this paragraph, I can imagine him looking at the guard who is chained to him, and describing each piece of equipment, and it’s spiritual equivalent. He describe our armor in the same order that a Roman soldier would have put on his armor.
In verse 14, Paul commands us to “stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.” The belt, or “girdle” in the King James version, was not actually part of the armor, it was a belt that was worn under the armor to hold the robes under the armor in place. The flowing robes would be wrapped tight around the body, and the belt would hold it in place, while the rest of the armor was put on over it. It allowed the soldier to move freely without being tangled up in the flowing undergarment.
It could be said that the belt “held the foundations together.” The truth of God becomes the under girding of the rest of our lives in the war. We must have a firm foundation of absolute truth on which to stand. That is not real popular speak these days – much of our culture will tell us that there are no absolutes – that each of us can decide for ourselves what is right, wrong, acceptable and unacceptable – even what is true and what is not! But the Bible proclaims, “Your Word is truth!” We must live in this truth – we must have a knowledge of the truth, and it must be what holds everything else together for us!
Secondly, as Paul writes, he notices the soldiers breastplate – a piece of armor that covered the body from the neck to the waist, both front and back, covering the vital organs of the soldier, heart, lungs, liver and the rest. For the believer, the breastplate is righteousness. Righteousness on two levels – our righteousness before God is something that we do not do – it is something that is imputed to us by God when we trust in Jesus. The Bible tells us, “all our own righteousness is like filthy rags to God.” That same Bible assures us that,
21 …now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3)
Our righteousness is a position we have before God by His grace, but we are also called to live lives of righteousness as believers in Jesus Christ. In chapter 4, verse 24, of this same letter, Paul calls on us to “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” He calls us in verse 1 of that same chapter to “live a life worthy of the calling we have received.” It is not enough to simply be forgiven – we are to practice righteousness in our daily lives. When we fail to, we leave a gaping hole in our armor, and we are vulnerable to the attack of the enemy. The writer of Hebrews tells us that we must “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” A soldier of Christ is engaged in a daily pursuit of right living in a world gone wrong.
Next we are to have our “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” Man, the right shoes make all the difference. Some of you remember me telling you about my Marathon training, and how I had lost a couple of toenails in my training. I just assumed it was part of the price to be paid. I had talked to other runners who had the same thing happen to them. But two weeks ago, I got a new pair of running shoes – my old ones had literally hundreds of miles on them, and had lost all shape and support. When I put on the new ones, my first thought was, “these are too small!” But they were the right size – they were simply supporting my foot the right way and I wasn’t used to it. This week I ran a 13 mile race, with no blisters, and no toenail injuries. For runners, the shoes are obviously very important.
The same is true for a soldier. Roman soldiers wore sandals with hobnails in them, little spikes to allow them to maintain their footing in the mud of battle. If we are going to do battle against the forces of Satan, and be found standing at the end, then our footwear is paramount. We need the shoes of the gospel. The gospel gives us peace, which allows us to face the battle with confidence. But we are also to be prepared to share the gospel with the lost world. Some have said that the sword is the only offensive weapon in Paul’s armor listed here – but in reality, the shoes are an offensive piece of equipment, too – because we are called to be advancing the kingdom of God against the gates of hell – and they will not be able to withstand the advance of the church. Sometimes when we are called upon to wear these gospel shoes, it’s uncomfortable, and it feel kind of restrictive – but if we will just get out there and put one foot ahead of the other, and share the gospel with others, we will find that it is an amazing and victorious part of the battle.
Next, Paul says, “in addition to all this (vs 16)” we are to take up the shield of faith. The shield was a large oblong piece of wood, shaped kind of like a door, about 4 feet tall and two feet wide, which covered the rest of the armor and body. Roman enemies had begun to use flaming arrows, so they had covered their shields with leather to extinguish the flames. In addition, Roman shields were shaped in a way that allowed a line of soldiers to interlock their shields and form a solid wall as they marched forward. We do not fight alone, our brothers and sisters in Christ surround us on every side in the battle, and our shield is our faith. As we stand against the attack of the enemy, with his flaming arrows of lies, impurity, selfishness, doubt, fear and disappointment we must be able to rely fully on the Lord and keep our hope and faith fully in Him.
Next Paul calls on us to take the helmet of salvation. Satan just loves head shots. They are nearly always debilitating in physical combat, and they will quickly immobilize us spiritually as well. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 that we must be transformed in our minds so that we will not conform to the world. Unfortunately, far too many Christians do not take the intellect seriously. But as a faithful soldier of Christ, we need to be strong in our minds as well as our faith. We are challenged to “always be ready to give an answer, and a defense of the gospel that we believe.” We need to be studying the Word of God, and be ready to engage the enemy on the intellectual front. We need to be fluid in understanding the flaws of postmodernism, the false religion of evolutionism, and the heresies that attack the truth. Folks, that doesn’t happen accidentally or by sitting in church one hour a week – we need to be intentional in our personal study, reading, and small group curriculum to educate ourselves and be prepared to win the battle of the mind.
Lastly, Paul commands us to take up the Sword of the Spirit. The sword is a weapon, an offensive weapon, that pierces the body – but the word of God pierces the heart. The Bible is said to be “quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.” (Heb 4:12) When the word of God was proclaimed in the book of Acts it was said to cut to the heart (Acts 2:37; 5:37). This sword is so powerful and effective because it is, quite literally, the “Sword of the Spirit.” Empowered by and inspired by the Holy Spirit, made alive by the Spirit in the hearts of humanity. While a physical sword is intended to cause injury and death, the Sword of the Spirit brings healing to the spirit and eternal life to the soul.
In battle, the sword is used as much for defense as for offense. When Jesus was tempted, he used the word of God to defend himself and turn back the temptations of the enemy. The better trained we are using the word of God, through the discipline of our minds, the better we will be able to defend against and defeat our enemy.
A sword is more than a weapon, however. It is also a symbol. You may have seen the Marine advertising that shows a Marine non-commissioned officer’s sword accompanied by the words, “Earned, Never Given!” Last week Carol, John and I were in Madison to attend or son, Andrew’s Spring Review for the Navy. As the battalion stood in formation, broken into Companies and Squads, at the head of each company stood a company commander with a sword. The sword is awarded to an officer or NCO to signify the responsibility and duty of the bearer. When our boys turned 18, we gave them each a sword to symbolize their entry into manhood. From ancient times to today, a sword is given to one who has proved himself in battle, and it represents position and responsibility.
God has entrusted to us His holy, inspired word. He does not bestow it lightly to us. Jesus told us that “heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” The eternal word of God has been presented to us as a trust – it is an incredible honor to carry this sword! We should always bear in mind that truth, and remember the awesome responsibility that is ours, as disciples of Christ, to study it, obey it, teach it and proclaim it.
Today 60 years after Pearl Harbor, our nation once again finds itself in a war against an enemy that attacked suddenly and without warning, killing thousands of innocent people in carefully planned schemes. The battle rages and the war against terrorism is unlike any war this nation has known before. But you and I, as followers of Jesus Christ, are engaged in a battle that is unlike any battle fought on any battlefield on earth – it is the battle of the ages – the ultimate engagement of the forces of God against the forces of Satan. You are already in the battle, in enemy territory. Are you ready? Are you wearing your armor? Are you ready to advance the kingdom of God forward against the very gates of hell? Have you done your part? Put on the armor, strapped on the belt, taken up the shield, helmet and sword? Are you ready to meet the enemy? You’d better be – because the battle does not wait for you to get ready. Next week we examine the battle plan. In the days between now and then, I urge you, I challenge you, to read these verses every day this week, put on your armor and be ready for battle!