Are You Ready For War?

All right, well, good morning.

Thank you, choir.

Would you take your Bibles and turn to Ephesians chapter 6?

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

I appreciated our children's minister, Sarah Ferris' example of the power of God

and the difference that that can make in our lives,

and that certainly goes along with our passage today.

Anyway, Ephesians chapter 6, we're concluding, just about concluding our series

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

through the book of Ephesians.

And just by way of reminder, you see the resources that were used for much of the study in this series.

The background of the book was written by Paul in AD 62 from Roman imprisonment

to a church with which he was very familiar, having pastored there for three years.

And the breakdown of the book, the first part, first half of the book,

first three chapters, who we are in Christ, second three chapters, how we live for Christ.

So let's stand together if you're able to, and let's read Ephesians chapter 6, beginning in verse 10.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil spiritual forces in the heavens.

For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day,

and having prepared everything, to take your stand.

Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist,

righteousness like armor on your chest,

and your feet sandaled with the readiness for the gospel of peace.

In every situation, take up the shield of faith by which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer request.

And stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.

We're going to focus on verses 10 through 17 today,

and our topic will be,

Are you ready for war?

Are you ready for war?

Let's pray together.

God, I pray that you would speak to us from your word today.

I pray that everything that

you have for us today

would be absorbed by our minds and our hearts,

that we would leave here having heard from you,

and it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Floyd, for some reason, I just lost the power of this.

It doesn't seem to be advancing through the slides anymore.

So I don't know if you can,

Lee, if you can click through,

maybe as I go along.

So this doesn't seem to be connecting anymore.

I apologize for that.

So number one,

in your bulletins today,

in your outlines,

number one,

know your enemy.

There are two things we need to understand

when we are going to war,

and that is our enemy

and our equipment.

Our enemy and our equipment.

It's important to know who the enemy is.

Is it not?

We certainly don't want to shoot anybody

with friendly fire.

And so in verses 10 through 12,

we see here in Ephesians 6,

be strengthened by the Lord and his vast strength.

Put on the full armor of God

so that you can stand against the schemes of who?

The devil.

That's right.

So he is our enemy.

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers of this darkness.

Against evil.

Against spiritual forces in the heavens.

James.

Okay, that just worked.

We may be connected again.

James 4, 7.

Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Resist the devil,

and he will flee from you.

So this is our enemy.

It is the devil.

And the devil then will flee from us.

Now, Jesus has to remind us

who the enemy is frequently.

John 10, 10.

The thief.

He calls him the thief.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

By contrast,

Jesus came not to steal, kill, and destroy,

but he came to give life

and to give it abundantly.

So we can have life.

And we can have that abundant life

that only Jesus offers.

Luke 19, 10.

The son of man came to seek and to save the lost.

That is the purpose of Jesus coming.

Why are we tying this in?

Because frequently,

you and I can start to see the enemy

as flesh and blood.

You and I can start to see the enemy

as each other.

You and I can start to see the enemy

as the lost outside these walls.

But those are the very lost

that Jesus came to seek and to save.

So they are not and never will be the enemy.

The enemy is very clear.

He is the devil.

He is the thief.

He is the thief of joy.

He's the thief of eternal life

because he tries as hard as he can

to keep people from placing their faith in Christ.

That is his end goal.

That is what this spiritual war

that is waging all around us,

that's what it's about.

Acts 26.

Jesus brings the mission back to us.

He says,

I am sending you to them, the lost,

to open their eyes

that they may turn from darkness to light,

from the power of Satan to God,

that they may receive forgiveness of sins

and a share among those

who are sanctified by faith in me.

Here is the battle.

It's between darkness and light.

Here's the battle.

It's between the power of Satan and God.

And the enemy is darkness.

The enemy is Satan.

And we are warriors in this battle.

We must know who our enemy is.

So as my way of reminder,

our enemy is not those outside the church.

It's easy to look and say,

we are the sanctified ones,

we're the holy ones,

we're the chosen ones,

and it's us against them.

Truth is,

that's a very flawed way of looking at it.

Truth is,

oftentimes you and I

do not at all act like

the sanctified, holy chosen ones.

Often we act just as wicked and lost

as anyone else.

We have to remember,

our enemy is not those outside the church.

And secondly,

our enemy is not those inside the church.

Oftentimes we'll treat one another

inside the church like the enemy.

If you don't like my decision,

or if you don't like

my way of doing things,

or if you don't like

the role that I have

and you wish you had,

whatever it is that can bring up strife

within a church,

believe me,

our church is not exempt.

And we have to continually

remind ourselves

that the enemy

is not inside the church.

It's also not outside the church.

Our enemy is not politicians,

Washington, D.C.,

or the media.

How many of you are happy?

How many of y'all are happy

with the last several administrations

in the White House in America?

How many of y'all would say,

we love the job that we're getting

out of Washington, D.C. these days?

I don't think there's a whole lot of hands

that would go up, right?

But they are not our enemy.

The media,

fake news,

that's still not our enemy.

We don't have to agree

with what we hear.

We can recognize the harm being done

in the political system, etc.,

that comes out of Congress

and comes through our televisions,

through the media.

But we must remember,

as we vote according to how we believe

God wants us to vote,

as we make the decisions

to lead our families

in the way we believe

God wants us to lead them,

we must remember that those

who don't see it like us

and those who we believe

are not living their lives

according to Scripture

or making decisions

or legislating

or reporting according to Scripture,

they are not the enemy.

They are deceived by the enemy.

They are swayed by the enemy.

Oftentimes.

But they are not the enemy.

They are the ones

that Jesus came to save.

Our enemy is not people.

It's not politics.

It's not problems.

It's not pressures.

It's not the liberals in Hollywood.

This is not our enemy.

Our enemy

is the spiritual darkness

of lostness.

It's lostness.

Being lost without Christ.

That is our enemy.

It's embodied by Satan

and all his forces.

It's a spiritual battle we are in.

It is not a battle against people.

That's why we can still pray for the president

whether we like what he's doing or not.

That's why we can still pray

for the lost people in our community

who don't live like Jesus

and oftentimes oppose

what we want

to do for God in this community.

However,

we can still pray for them.

We can still love them.

We can still show grace

and the love of God to them

because they are not the enemy.

The enemy is lostness.

And the eternal fight,

the eternal struggle

will be God against lostness.

Will be God against the dark.

Will be God against Satan.

And I don't know about you

but I don't want to be on team lostness.

I want to be on team Jesus.

So know your enemy.

Number two,

know your equipment.

Know your equipment.

Here's the famed

armor of God passage

that we've been looking forward to

ever since we started Ephesians.

One of the most familiar

in the Bible

if you've been studying the Bible

for any length of time.

So, number one,

the belt.

The belt.

Let's look back at the scriptures.

For this reason,

take up the full armor of God

so that you may be able

to resist in the evil day

and having prepared everything

to take your stand.

Prepared everything.

What are we talking about?

We're talking about

putting on this armor of God

and we begin with the belt.

Verse 14.

Stand therefore with truth

like a belt around your waist.

The Roman soldier's belt

supported his sword,

supported his breastplate,

and provided these protective plates

that hung in front of him.

So, the Roman soldier's belt

was absolutely crucial

to the rest of his armor.

Even though it was one of the

smaller pieces of armor he wore,

everything else hinged on that.

If that belt failed,

his sword would fall.

If that belt failed,

his breastplate would fail.

So much else hinged on this belt.

So, the point for us today,

Satan wants to tear down

the core truth

that holds everything else up.

He wants to tear down

that belt of truth.

What truth are we talking about?

The number one truth

that holds everything else together

that God loves us.

If God did not love us,

then he would just be

a tyrant in the sky.

But he loves us.

The Bible has been called

God's love letter to mankind.

The overarching theme

from the Old Testament

to the New Testament,

from creation

all the way to Revelation,

is that God loves us.

The most famous verse in the Bible,

John 3, 16,

for God so loved the world

that he gave his only begotten son.

He loves us.

That is the truth

that holds everything else together.

So, the belt of truth

is absolutely crucial.

Secondly, the breastplate.

The Roman soldier's breastplate

protected his vital organs.

His breastplate protected

his vital organs.

Obviously, the most vital,

the heart, right?

But so many other vital organs

around that stomach and chest area,

the breastplate would protect.

The Roman soldier depended

crucially on it.

When you're in hand-to-hand combat,

fighting with the enemy

as they did in those ancient times,

they wouldn't stand back

behind their lines

and shoot at one another.

Obviously, with swords and spears,

they would march forward

and intermingle,

fighting hand-to-hand

with one another.

So, the breastplate

was absolutely crucial.

And for us,

for the Christian,

for the believer,

our spiritual heart

is protected

by the righteousness

we have received

by faith in Jesus.

The breastplate

is righteousness.

So, number one,

the belt of truth.

We must remember

that God loves us.

He is the way.

He is the truth.

He is the life.

But number two,

we must remember

our righteousness

comes by faith in Jesus.

Our righteousness

does not come

through anything

that we can do

or achieve ourselves.

Ephesians 2

says it is not

by works of righteousness.

I'm sorry,

that there are no

works of righteousness

that we can do

to achieve any grace

from God.

There is no works

of righteousness

that we can do,

but it is only

by God's mercy

that He saves us.

The Bible actually says

God calls

all of our righteousnesses

filthy rags.

He uses that plural.

All our righteousnesses,

all our righteous efforts,

all our righteous deeds,

all our best

that we can offer,

God looks at it

and says,

no,

not good enough.

But when you

clothe yourself

with His righteousness,

with the righteousness

that comes

by faith in Jesus,

then God can declare you

to be righteousness.

It's this doctrine

of imputation

or God placing over you

His righteousness.

righteousness,

nothing that you

can achieve

on your own.

But our spiritual heart

is protected

by the righteousness

we have received

by faith in Jesus.

Otherwise,

you have no armor.

You have no breastplate.

You can try

to look the part.

You can try

to dress up

like a Christian soldier,

but you're missing

the breastplate.

And the first time

the enemy comes at you,

you'll crumble.

There's no protection.

So have you placed

your faith in Jesus?

Do you have

that breastplate

of righteousness

that His faith provides?

Thirdly,

the boots.

The boots.

I like to call this

the gospel boots.

The gospel boots

of readiness.

The gospel boots

of readiness.

What are we talking about?

The Roman soldier's footwear.

His boots

kept him

ready

for warfare.

I'm probably

going to mispronounce this,

but they were called

the caligulae.

Something along those lines.

If anybody knows Latin well,

you can correct me on that,

but

it was pretty close to that.

And you can see

a little picture there.

These boots

were unusual

for their day,

and they were unusual

throughout the history

of warfare, really,

but they proved

incredibly effective.

So you can see

they were made of leather,

and on the bottom

they had this hard,

hard sole.

And the Roman army

would provide these boots

for their soldiers,

but then the soldiers

were on their own

to go have these nails

put in the bottom.

They would have

these metal studs

or nails hammered

through the bottom

of their shoes.

The bottom layer,

that provided grip

and traction

when they were going

over uncertain ground,

but then additionally,

when they were fighting

a battle,

sounds a little gruesome,

but they would use

the bottom of those

metal studs

to stomp on their enemies.

Now,

the interesting thing

about this footwear

is they would be able

to walk for miles

and miles and miles,

and their feet

would be sore and hurt,

but they would have

no blisters.

So what's the difference there?

Sore,

soreness and hurt,

that's a temporary condition

that will pass, right?

Go stick their feet

in the nearest water

and let that soreness

ebb away.

But a blister,

that's going to become

a problem.

That's a long-term

medical problem

that then needs

to be dealt with.

So these shoes

were constructed

not for comfort,

but for durability

and for protection

of their feet.

Because at any moment

on that 20, 30, 40,

50 mile journey,

they might have to stop

and fight.

So they had to be ready

at a moment's notice

to fight.

And that's why

Paul admonishes us

here in Ephesians 6.

Your belt around your waist,

your belt of truth,

your righteousness

like armor on your chest.

And then verse 15,

your feet sandaled

or shod,

your Bible might say,

with readiness

for the gospel of peace.

At any moment,

you and I

might be called upon

to share the gospel

with someone else.

And we must have

intimate knowledge

of the message

of truth,

of salvation,

that gospel message,

so that we are ready.

The Bible says,

always be ready

to give an answer

for the reason

for that faith

that lies within you.

Always be ready.

So the gospel

is both our motivation

to not grow weary

and our message

that can break

hard hearts.

See how we tied

in those studs?

That's a terrifying thought

in hand-to-hand combat,

having those metal studs

on the bottom

of the shoes.

But the truth is,

the gospel message

of Jesus,

that can break

the hardest hearts.

I've seen it happen.

You might have

seen it happen

when someone

who for years,

for their whole lifetime,

said,

I don't believe

in that Jesus stuff.

I'm not a religious person.

I've got no interest.

And then something

happened in their life

and God got their attention.

Boy, we saw it happen

to the Apostle Paul,

didn't we?

He was an enemy

of the church.

He killed Christians.

I dare say

that none of the family members

that you have

that have no interest

in God or church,

I dare say none of them

have been out

making it their daily business

to go out

and kill Christians,

have they?

And yet we saw

that exact thing

happen with God

and His attention

that He got from Paul.

He shook him.

On the road to Damascus,

He appeared

before Paul

in a vision

and He got His attention

and He spoke to him

and He changed

the entire trajectory

of Paul's life.

So the gospel message

can break hard hearts.

And the gospel

is our motivation

to not grow weary.

Though we walk

many miles

of this life,

of this journey

with Jesus,

though time and time again

it seems like

Satan doesn't just,

he won't let up.

our feet

sandaled with

the gospel of peace

can be that motivation

to say,

I'm going to take

another step

in Jesus' name.

I know that the gospel

is enough.

I know it's what I need

to take another step.

I know it's

the truth

that my sister

or my brother

or my parents

or my kids

or my friends

or my co-workers,

I know it's what they need.

So I'm not going to grow weary

in well-doing

because I know

that when the time

is right

in due season,

I will weep,

reap,

I will reap

if I don't give up.

The gospel boots

of readiness

to share

the message of Jesus.

And then the shield.

Then the shield.

Verse 16,

In every situation,

take up

the shield

of faith

with which

you can extinguish

all the flaming arrows

of the evil one.

Isn't it that

interesting

that this passage

mentioned

flaming arrows?

Why do you think

that is?

We got any students

of history out there

that have an idea?

Why flaming arrows?

Well,

the Roman soldier's shield

was for personal protection

but also for group protection.

What are we talking about?

Look at this picture.

You see all these shields together?

The Roman soldiers,

their legions,

would join together

when they were advancing

on a city

or an enemy battalion

and they would group

their shields together

like you can see

in front

and on the sides

and even on top.

So the guys in the middle

would hold their shields up.

Why?

Because from the castle

in front of them

they would be shooting

flaming arrows

at them.

So those shields,

those large,

long shields,

almost the full body height

of a Roman soldier

and they would

carry them this way,

they would then

form

this protective shell

around the Roman soldier

and his brothers.

So you see

where we're going

with this?

This was actually

called a tortuga,

basically a tortoise shell.

Our common faith

is what binds us together

for protection

from the evil one

and for the advance

of the gospel.

our common faith

is what actually

provides us

this protection.

Now if one Roman soldier

would break off

and try to advance

on his own,

then he was exposed.

He was vulnerable

to attack

from the enemy.

Brothers and sisters,

can I remind you

that if one of you

breaks off

from the body

of Christ

and tries to live

this life

on your own,

you are vulnerable

to attack

from the enemy.

Far more vulnerable

than if you stay

in the fellowship

of the believers.

God commanded

that for us.

He designed us

that way

to need each other

in this Christian

community

of faith

and fellowship

and it is our

common faith

that unites

us together.

Jude

in verse 3,

would you turn

very quickly

to the book

right before Revelation,

second to last book

in the Bible.

Look at Jude,

only one chapter.

Look at verse 3.

Dear friends,

although I was eager

to write to you

about the salvation

we share,

I found it necessary

to write appealing

to you

to contend

for the faith

that was delivered

to the saints

once and for all.

To all saints,

this faith,

this common faith,

was delivered

to us

and he says,

he reminds us,

we share

a common salvation.

We share

a common salvation.

Philippians 1.

Next book over

from Ephesians.

Probably from Ephesians 6,

you can just turn

the page.

Philippians 1

in verse 27.

Just one thing,

as citizens of heaven,

live your life

worthy of the gospel

of Christ.

Then,

whether I come

and see you

or am absent,

I will hear about you

that you are standing firm.

Here we go.

In one spirit,

in one accord,

contending together

for the faith

of the gospel,

not being frightened

in any way

by your opponents.

Boy,

that sounds like

a Roman soldier,

a legionnaire,

joined together

with his brothers

in arms,

advancing,

protected by his faith

from the front,

from the top,

from the sides.

You know,

the only spot

that they weren't protected

was from behind.

Why?

Because there was

no retreat.

There was never

any plan

for retreat.

They were always

advancing.

When you and I

break away

from the family

of faith

and you quit

going to church

and you quit

your class

and you quit

fellowshipping

with your fellow

brothers and sisters

in Christ,

then you are vulnerable.

You are unprotected

by that body

of believers

that God designed

for you

to be a part of

and designed you

to be a part of.

We rely

on each other.

We need

each other.

It's what

binds us together

for protection

from Satan

and

for the advance

of the gospel.

This is Southern

Baptist Church.

We're part of

Texas Baptist.

We're part of our

local Wichita

Archer Clay

Association.

Christian,

we have this idea,

we believe it,

we ascribe to it

that we are

better together.

Let's say it

together.

Ready?

Better together.

That's right.

We do believe

that we are

better together.

So what does

that mean?

That means

that joining

our forces,

our resources

together,

we can accomplish

so much more

for God

than we could

all by ourselves.

One church

all by itself

can do great

things for God.

But if churches

get together,

if they unite

in one accord

and doctrine

and say this is

what we believe

about the Bible

and this is

what we believe

about the message

of Jesus Christ

and that message

is what we are

going to take.

And even though

we disagree

about other things,

we're not going

to let that

divide us

from the greater

good,

the greater message

of sharing Jesus

with the nations.

So that is why

our church

and that is why

individually

we decide

to not live

this life

on our own,

to not live

this life

as a maverick

just going out

by ourselves

and trying to

accomplish

whatever we can.

We need each other.

We rely on each other

and then nothing

can stop us.

Nothing can stop

the advance

of the gospel

when God's people

get together

united

by our common

salvation,

by our common

faith,

striving together

with one faith,

with one accord

for the gospel.

and then the helmet.

Let's look back

at Ephesians 6.

Take the helmet

of salvation.

The Roman soldier's

helmet provided

full protection.

You see,

in the front,

in the back,

they had this

extra back plate

so nobody could

come up behind them

while that

hand-to-hand

fighting was happening.

It would protect

their neck

all the way down

to their breastplate.

Not only did it

provide protection,

it also provided

identification.

There were many

different types

of these red plumes,

these red feathers

that would come

out of their hats,

their helmets.

But that was

the sight

that made

the enemies

of Rome

made their blood

run cold,

struck fear

in their hearts,

seeing those

gleaming metal

helmets

with the red

feathers advancing

toward them.

No army was feared

like the Roman army.

And those feathers

were there

to provide

identification,

I am a Roman soldier,

I am a Roman legionnaire.

Friends,

God's gift

of salvation,

His free gift,

it identifies us

as His children

and it secures us

from the enemy.

That is what

the helmet of salvation

does for you

and for me.

When God

sealed us,

He provided us

with eternal

assurance

that no one,

as Romans 8

reminds us,

can ever pluck us

out of the Father's hand.

No one can harm us

once we are

signed,

sealed,

and someday

will be delivered.

on this earth,

the Bible says

you will have

tribulation.

But then Jesus

said,

fear not

because I

have overcome

this earth,

I have overcome

the world.

So you walk

as a child

of the King.

You walk

not only

as a child

of the King,

but as a soldier

of Christ.

You walk

surrounded

by His armor

and that helmet

of salvation

protects your head.

It protects

anything

that Satan

can throw at you.

And it identifies

you.

I am

a child

of the King.

There's a song

that says,

I am

who you

say I am.

Everybody

has their opinions

on you,

don't they?

We have our opinions

of ourselves,

don't we?

Sometimes we're

high on ourselves,

sometimes we're

kind of low

on ourselves,

aren't we?

Sometimes there

might be dark

days or nights

when we look

in the mirror

and say,

man,

how could you

be such an idiot?

What were you

thinking?

Why won't you

ever change?

We can be

our own worst

enemy.

We can beat

ourselves up

mercilessly.

And others

are certainly

good at that

too.

But despite

all that,

our identity

should not come

from our own

mind.

Our identity

should not come

from the lips

of others.

Our identity

should only

come from

the King

of Kings

who bought

us,

who saved

us,

who is our

master,

and he says,

you are my

child.

You are valued.

You are an

heir to my

throne.

God says,

you

are mine.

You belong

to me.

just like

Rome

practically

owned

those

soldiers.

God

owns us,

but it's

such a

wonderful,

joyous

relationship

when he

is our

master.

So it

identifies us

as his

children,

and it

secures us

from the

enemy.

And then

finally,

we have

the sword.

Verse 17,

take the

sword of

the spirit,

which is

the word

of God.

The Roman

sword,

it was a

small sword.

They used

to use the

broad swords,

and pretty

quickly,

the broad

swords were

those huge

long swords

that you

would see

back in

the old

King Arthur

days,

etc.

But pretty

quickly,

they went

away from

those,

and as

the legionnaires

would advance

and take

over countries

and their

empire would

grow and

grow,

it became

very apparent

quickly on

that they

needed a

small,

agile,

fierce weapon,

and so the

gladius was

born.

It was

double-edged,

and it was

easy to wield

in combat.

What are we

saying with

that?

Our Bible

is the

living word

of God.

Would you

go with me

to Hebrews?

Hebrews?

The book

of Hebrews,

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

and verse

12.

The word

of God

is living

and effective

and sharper

than any

double-edged

sword,

sharper than

any gladius,

penetrating as

far as the

separation of

soul and

spirit,

the joints

and marrow.

It is able

to judge or

discern the

thoughts and

intentions of

the heart.

God's word

is our

gladius.

It is our

double-edged

sword.

Nothing can

stand before

it.

Nothing can

stand against

it.

You might

have someone

resist and

resist and

resist,

but God's

word will

win.

The spirit

of God

is alive

and well

and present

with us

in,

within us.

The Bible

says for those

who place

their faith

in Christ,

we are

indwelt by

the Holy

Spirit of

God,

but also

he is

present in

the living

word of

God.

We believe

that this

book is

alive.

It is not

just paper

and ink

with a pretty

binding.

God's

word of

God.

It can

puncture

us,

it can

reveal to

us the

truth about

ourselves,

and it can

do the

same to

those.

So we

must learn

to wield

God's word

skillfully,

just like a

Roman with

his gladius.

Our Bible

is our

weapon.

But let's

not use the

Bible as a

weapon to

hurt.

Let's not

use it as

a weapon to

harm,

because that

was never

God's

intention,

was it?

There are

ways that we

can take

individual

verses out of

Scripture,

and we can

try to use

scriptural

principles to

attack others,

to make them

feel worse

about themselves,

to try to

hurt, to

harm, to

undermine, and

that is not

what God

intended.

God intended

to reveal to

us our own

sin nature,

the truth about

our own sin,

but then to

offer us

hope, to

show us that

He loves us,

to show us

that He

cares.

So that's

why we must

learn to

wield it

skillfully.

Some of the

most knowledgeable

Bible scholars

have done some

of the most

damage in the

name of Jesus.

Hurt more

people than

those who

don't know a

tenth about

Bible.

about the

Bible as

those wise,

learned men,

who aren't

living wisely,

who aren't

living with

the wisdom

that comes

from God.

So just

because you

know a lot

about the

Bible doesn't

mean that you've

learned to

wield it skillfully

as God

intended.

So, by way

of conclusion,

I want to share

this quote with

you.

God, we

just got done

talking about

the armor of

God, didn't

we?

We went

through every

piece listed

here in Ephesians

6.

It was an

outstanding summary

from Paul.

After giving us

all this

instruction,

here's who you

are in Christ,

here's how you

should live in

Christ.

Now, here's how

you equip yourself

for the battle.

Here's who the

enemy is, and

here's how to

win the battle

that God's

already won.

But I want to

share this quote

with you.

We must not

confide in the

armor of God,

but in the God

of this armor,

because all our

weapons are only

mighty through

God.

That was said

by William

Gurnall, wrote

one of the

greatest books

called The

Christian in

Complete Armor,

one of the

greatest books

on this topic

that's ever

been written.

How many of

you all have

ever heard the

name Charles

Spurgeon?

Anybody?

Yeah, if you've

been around

church for a

while, he was

a great pastor

in England,

wrote a lot of

books.

They called him

the Prince of

Preachers.

Very, very

famous, and

well, well

used by God.

Charles Spurgeon

said, the man

who said this

quote, wrote

this book,

The Christian

in Complete

Armor, he

said that that

was the most

thought-provoking

book in his

library.

So if Spurgeon

says something

like that, I

want to sit up

and take notice.

And I took

that, I

actually found

that book

online this

past week and

read quite a

bit of it in

preparation for

this sermon.

And I took

this quote out

and wanted to

share it with

you today.

it is easy to

find bits and

pieces of

scripture and

make that bigger

than God in

our minds.

Sometimes we

can take

something that's

not God and

elevate it to

the place of

God.

We do that

with our family

sometimes.

We do that

with our careers.

Do that with

our love of

money or

success or

comfort.

But I'm

telling you it's

also possible

to depend so

much on

something that's

not God that

it begins to

take the place

of God in

your life.

And these

very weapons,

this very

armor that is

supposed to

protect us,

they're only

mighty, they're

only empowered

when God is

behind it all.

When our

focus is on

him and not

so much these

weapons or

this armor.

We must not

confide in or

place all of our

trust in this

armor.

What are we

saying?

Look at

Romans 13.

Romans 13,

it's on the

screen.

Let us

discard the

deeds of

darkness and

put on the

armor of

light.

That's great.

That's the

armor we're

talking about.

Let us walk

with decency

as in the

daytime, not

in carousing

and drunkenness,

not in sexual

impurity and

promiscuity, not

in quarreling and

jealousy, but here

we go, verse 14,

put on the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

That is the

overarching command

here.

That is what

putting on the

armor of God is

all about, putting

on Jesus and

make no provision

for the flesh to

gratify its

desires.

So the takeaway

for this morning,

we prepare for

war by putting

on Jesus.

Say, man, that's

quite a checklist

that I have to

run through.

I've got to do

the belt and I've

got to do the

breastplate and I've

got to do the

shield and the

helmet and the

shoes and the

sword and all

these things.

You've got to put

on Jesus.

Every day, put on

Jesus.

This breakdown in

Ephesians 6 shows

what that looks

like.

You can do an

inventory.

Have I put on

Jesus?

Well, am I putting

my faith in him?

Am I reminding

myself of the

truth that God

loves me?

Have I picked up

the word of God

and used it today?

There are many

ways to discern

whether or not we

have put on

Jesus, but our

command is to

put on Jesus.

That's how we put

on the whole

armor of God.

So our question

for ourselves

in our homes,

have we put on

Jesus today?

Let's pray

together.

God, I pray that

we would put you

on.

Thank you for

simplifying it for

us.

We understand

that we are in a

battle.

Sometimes it

might feel like

we're losing.

But as that

songwriter said,

we're fighting a

battle you've

already won.

God, I pray that

we would put on

the victor, put on

Jesus every day.

It's so clear when

we haven't.

Our spouses know

it, our kids know

it, our friends

know it, our

employees or our

bosses know it,

everybody knows when

we haven't put on

Jesus.

God, I pray that

every morning when

we wake up, every

night before we go

to bed, we would

fall to our knees,

we would take the

time to put on

Jesus.

Whatever that looks

like for us, we'll

give you the glory

for it.

In Jesus' name we

pray.

Amen.