Armored with Christ

Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 to 24.

Ephesians 6:10–24

If you're wondering why we're in Ephesians 6 when we should be in Matthew 22, it's because

! Todd Bourne, one of our pastoral interns, was supposed to preach today from Matthew 22.

He was scheduled to preach.

But all of our pastoral team, we were at the Regional Assembly of Elders, which happens

twice a year in Pennsylvania with our denomination.

And I think he caught some kind of stomach bug because he was hurling on the way back

yesterday, and he was not able to make it to church today.

So I am pinch hitting.

I had to pull back from an old, old sermon maybe seven, eight years ago that probably

most of you have never heard.

I looked through it, and I was like, okay, this needs a lot of work.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to put in as much work as I would like, but the Lord's

going to help us in my weakness.

He's going to speak to us.

So Ephesians 6, verses 10 to 24.

Ephesians 6:10–24

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Amen.

Heavenly Father,

Heavenly Father,

Heavenly Father,

it's so easy, we confess, Lord, to be conditioned by our surroundings, by this simple world,

to think like the world,

to live and believe as if this world that we see with our eyes is all there is.

But we ask, God, that from your Word in Ephesians 6 this morning, that you would expose to us

spiritual realities, that you would open up the eyes of our hearts

so that we might live with the urgency, with faith, with hope and love that your Word calls forth from us.

For the Lord who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have done that from us who have

his word, Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 to 24. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength

Ephesians 6:10–24

of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of

the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the

authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of

evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand

in the evil day and having done all to stand firm. Stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of

truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and as shoes for your feet,

having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield

of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet

of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit

with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for

all the saints. And also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim

the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly

as I ought to speak. This is God's holy and authoritative word. Please be seated.

In wartime, everything changes. During World War II, many everyday industries and institutions and

civilians were all redirected toward wartime needs. Automobile companies like Ford and General Motors

stopped making cars and started making tanks and bombers instead. Typewriters and cash register companies

started producing rifles and ammunition. The clothing industry, instead of putting out fashion items,

started focusing on making military uniforms and parachutes and tents. Food companies started

focusing on making combat rations, powdered eggs, canned goods for the troops. Civilians participated in a

number of austerity measures. They collected tin cans and pots and pans so that they can be used to make

ammunition. They collected bike tires. Rubber was hard to come by. Gasoline was rationed out,

and people conserved their fuels in their homes, lest the tanks and the fighter jets and the naval ships

run out of fuel. Volunteers held blood drives all over the city. Schools and universities became research

hubs for military technology and theoretical physicists who were working previously on abstract quantum problems

like J. Robert Oppenheimer started working on the Manhattan Project, which produced a nuclear bomb.

The British luxury ocean liner, the RMS Queen Mary, which used to ferry 1,000 people at a time on cruise trips

in spacious, luxurious suites, was converted into a troop carrier with cramped bunk beds up to 10-story high

and ferried Allied soldiers, sometimes over 16,000 soldiers at a time.

The United States became what historians often call a total war economy, total war society,

where nearly every aspect of the civilian life was transformed and harnessed toward war efforts.

In wartime, luxury gives way to austerity. A profit mentality gives way to sacrifice mentality.

And complacency gives way to readiness and alertness.

Do you know that we are in the middle of a spiritual war?

At the end of his life, Paul says in 2 Timothy 4, 7,

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.

Why does he talk like that?

Because keeping the faith in this life is a fight.

It's a battle.

If you think he can scurr through life while avoiding conflict with the enemy,

you're gravely mistaken.

We are surrounded by enemies without and assailed by enemies within.

Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 9, 26,

I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air,

but I discipline my body and keep it under control,

lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

The Christian life is a boxing bout.

We're ducking and weaving.

We're stepping in and throwing jabs.

We're punching and being pummeled.

And if we're not paying attention, we will get knocked out cold.

17th century English theologian John Owen wrote in his famous book,

The Mortification of Sin,

There is not a day but sin foils or is foiled,

prevails or is prevailed upon.

Let no man think to kill sin with few easy or gentle strokes.

I think I have this next quote up there to project for you.

You must always be at it while you live, killing sin.

Do not take a day off from this work.

Always be killing sin or it will be killing you.

Does that sound extreme to you?

He's just echoing Romans 8, 13.

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.

But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,

you will live.

Another 17th century English pastor, William Gurnall, similarly writes,

The Christian must always be at war.

If he has peace with sin, he is at war with God.

Does that sound extreme?

He's just echoing James 4, 4.

Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Brothers and sisters, we are at war.

Do we walk in the flesh?

It says in 2 Corinthians 10, 3.

We are not waging war according to the flesh.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,

but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

And that's what this passage is about.

Those weapons of spiritual warfare.

And I want to remind you that this language of spiritual warfare,

this is not a metaphor.

It's not a metaphor.

Therefore, there is a literal spiritual war going on.

It's not a physical war, yes, that much is true.

But it's nonetheless a real spiritual war with invisible, evil, hostile forces.

There are real casualties in this war.

Real damage and death in this war.

Some of us might not make it.

The scope and consequence of this war far exceed any world wars history has ever known.

It's a matter of eternal life and eternal death.

And even just getting this what's at stake this morning would radically change our lives.

So if that's the case, how much more should we be vigilant in this spiritual war?

And this is my main point this morning.

We must put on the whole armor of God so that we can stand against the schemes of the devil.

I'm going to address that in three main points.

First, know your enemy.

Two, put on God's armor.

Three, pray for your comrades.

In order to be victorious, we must know our enemy.

As the famed 6th century BC Chinese general Sun Tzu wrote in his book, The Art of War,

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat.

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

Paul begins in verses 10 to 11.

Finally, Paul is now tying the bow at the top and wrapping all of the epistle to the Ephesians together with this passage.

And this is his urgent, final closing exhortation.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Likewise, for that same reason, the armor that we put on is not our own armor.

It is described as the whole armor of God.

So this is the main exhortation of this passage, verse 11 and verse 13.

Take up the whole armor of God.

Put on the whole armor of God.

And what's the purpose, the goal of that putting on?

Verse 11 and verse 13 tell us that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

Verse 11.

Verse 13, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand firm.

That verb occurs again and again in this passage.

Stand, stand, withstand.

Stand, if we don't resist and stand firm, we will be swept off our feet by his overwhelming force.

And the devil doesn't merely rely on brute force.

It says in verse 11 that the devil has schemes against us.

Paul used that same word in Ephesians 4.14 and warned believers to no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine,

by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Schemes of the enemy.

Cunning, craftiness.

The devil's designs on us are not haphazard.

It is methodical.

It's strategic.

The devil is not some abstract force of evil.

He is a personal, intelligent being that is scheming against us.

He ambushes us.

He ambushes us.

Catches us off guard.

He waits for us to feel safe, secure, and complacent.

And then he pounces from behind.

Isn't this why 1 Corinthians 10.12 warns us,

Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Our enemy seeks to divide and conquer.

He sows division within the body of Christ.

He stirs up unforgiveness and resentment in our midst

because he knows that we are stronger when we stand together and lock arms and stand against him.

So he divides us, isolates us, to pick us off one by one.

This is one of Satan's trademark attacks.

2 Corinthians 2.10-11 says,

Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive.

Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything,

has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,

so that we would not be outwitted by Satan,

for we are not ignorant of his designs.

What are the designs of Satan that we must not be ignorant of

so that we are not outwitted by him?

He makes us not forgive one another.

Have you ever thought of forgiveness in that light?

Consider Ephesians 4.26-27.

It's related.

Be angry and do not sin.

And do not let the sun go down on your anger.

And give no opportunity to the devil.

If we let the sun go down on our anger,

if we harbor bitterness and resentment,

if we refuse to forgive and release the offender from our hatred and vengeance,

we give opportunity to the devil, he says.

And that word opportunity in Greek is literally a word that means place.

We give him a place.

John Calvin comments on this same verse, Ephesians 4.27,

I have no doubt that Paul was warning us to beware,

lest Satan should take possession of our minds like an enemy-occupied fortress

and do whatever he pleases.

Sinful anger gives the devil a foothold,

a beachhead in our spiritual warfare,

where he could set up his base camp and from there to launch his vicious attacks.

Unforgiveness,

unforgiveness,

harboring anger and resentment,

destroys relationships,

divides communities,

devastates homes and marriages,

deadens our souls to joy and gratitude and mercy.

So are you aware of the schemes of the devil?

John 10.10 tells us,

the devil's aim is to steal,

kill and destroy.

And to that end,

he employs various schemes

and all of his schemes can be categorized into two overarching categories.

One is deception,

the other is accusation.

That's what his name,

devil or Satan,

means.

He's the accuser.

He's a slanderer.

Revelation 12.9-10 describes both of these satanic functions.

And the great dragon was thrown down,

that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan,

the deceiver of the whole world.

He was thrown down to the earth,

and his angels were thrown down with him.

And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

now the salvation,

the power and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Christ have come,

for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down,

who accuses them day and night before our God.

Satan deceives us and accuses us.

That's what he did, right,

in the Garden of Eden,

in Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

when God tells him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,

he slanders God's character,

saying he's being stingy toward you.

If you eat this,

it's only going to do good for you.

It's going to open up your eyes.

You're going to see.

Like God does,

eat it.

He lies.

2 Corinthians 11 tells us that he makes people preach a different gospel,

imparts a different spirit,

as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning.

2 Thessalonians 2, 9-10 teaches us that Satan's activity will be characterized

by all power and false signs and wonders

and all wicked deception,

because he is a deceiver.

For he is a liar and the father of lies.

He's also an accuser.

He's our adversary in court.

He's our prosecutor,

the relentless prosecuting attorney.

In the book of Job,

Satan accuses Job before God,

contending that the only reason Job fears God and worships him

is because God has pampered him with all these blessings.

Deprive him of these things,

and he will curse you to your face.

So Satan takes away Job's wealth.

He takes away his children.

He takes away his health.

All of it in order to produce counter evidence

that he can use to accuse Job before God.

It's like what we read in Zechariah 3, 1-2,

in the assurance of pardon earlier.

He accuses Joshua, the high priest,

of his filthy garments.

I found in pastoral ministry

that many Christians don't know how to distinguish

the accusations and the slander

and the condemnation of the enemy

from the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 2, 4 tells us,

do you presume on the riches of his kindness

and forbearance and patience,

not knowing that God's kindness

is meant to lead you to repentance?

Satan's condemnation

always comes with this crushing sense

of burden and condemnation.

The Lord's conviction,

the conviction of the Holy Spirit

always comes with an invitation,

with the gentleness and the patience of the Lord,

the kindness that leads us to repentance.

Psalm 130, 3-5 says,

if you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness

that you may be feared.

God does not make us cower in fear of him

by his exacting righteousness and justice.

He makes us fear him by his forgiveness,

by his grace and mercy.

So if you're wallowing in your guilt

and your shame

and you're feeling condemned

and you're not believing the promise

of Romans 8, 1

that there is therefore now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus

and you're feeling that weight of condemnation

crushing you, putting you down,

that is not of the Lord.

Know to distinguish the condemnation

of the enemy from the conviction

of the Holy Spirit.

We must be knowledgeable

about the devil's schemes.

For it says in verse 12,

we do not wrestle against flesh and blood

but against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers

over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces of evil

in the heavenly places.

Notice the language that Paul uses

to describe this fight.

He uses the word wrestle,

which is very intentional.

That's the language of hand-to-hand combat.

Don't think that this spiritual battle

is happening far away.

It's right at our doorsteps.

It's right in our face.

It's right in our hearts.

If you watch old war movies,

of which I enjoy those too much,

there's a phase in the battle

where you're done shooting arrows from afar

or you're done shooting muskets from afar

and now there's a command

from the general to charge

and then everybody is clashing with each other

in free-for-all, hand-to-hand melee.

That's the kind of spiritual battle we are in.

Wrestling.

We're not playing video games.

We're not controlling drone strikes

from a safe bunker hidden under some camouflaged place.

We're in hand-to-hand combat war zone.

And whom are we wrestling against?

Paul says we're not wrestling against flesh and blood.

That represents humans, mortals.

Instead, we are wrestling against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces of evil

in the heavenly places.

He's referring to spiritual forces of evil

in the invisible realm of spirits.

The devil and his minions,

they are warring against us.

This is so insightful and instructive for us as Christians.

Our world is full of antagonism

and conflict between humans.

And of course, because we are physical beings,

we do sometimes have physical, natural enemies.

But the ultimate enemy that we face

is not fellow humans, flesh and blood,

but it is those in the realm of spirits,

spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Our ultimate enemy is not Iran or China.

It's not liberals or conservatives.

It's not Jews.

It's not Gentiles.

It's not men.

It's not women.

Our ultimate enemies are the rulers,

the authorities,

the cosmic powers over this present darkness,

the spiritual forces of evil.

This spirit,

this evil spirit,

the prince of the power of the air,

he is the spirit that is now at work

in all the sons of disobedience,

it says in Ephesians 2.2.

This is such a subtle deception

that we succumb to.

How many marriages have fallen apart

because husband and wife

think of the other person as their enemy,

not recognizing that they're fighting side by side

against another enemy?

How many church splits have happened

because church members don't recognize

that they're fighting side by side

against a common enemy

instead think that they're fighting against each other?

We wrestle against the rulers,

the authorities,

the cosmic powers over the...

I mean, think about it,

because if our country is very divided,

people with all kinds of different opinions,

they fight and bicker over all kinds of things,

but imagine if we just got bombed by somebody.

They're trying to wipe the United States of America out.

You think we're going to be bickering about those things?

No, we forget those things for the time being

because if we don't fight this enemy,

we don't survive.

We forget that as Christians sometimes.

We have a real enemy.

It's not us.

But who would be so foolhardy

to fight against the devil,

the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places?

So we need to put on God's armor.

This is the main point,

and sometimes people,

I've seen people go into really detailed analysis

of the full armor of a Roman soldier,

going into the details of,

you know,

that this is what this means,

the belt of truth,

this is what that means.

I'm not going to do that

because I don't think the spiritual armor in view here

is that of a typical Roman soldier.

The armor that's in view here

is rather God's armor,

it says.

And there is extensive Old Testament background

for learning about the armor of God.

So I'm going to give you first

a kind of bird's eye overview

of these different pieces of the armor,

and then we're going to go

and see how the robber meets the road,

what it actually looks like.

In verse 14,

it says,

to have fastened on the belt of truth.

That comes from Isaiah 11,

where the coming Messiah

is described in this way.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

The word translated faithfulness there

from the Hebrew

is the same word

that's translated as truth in Greek.

It's the belt of truth

that God himself wears,

that God's Son,

Jesus Christ,

the Messiah,

wears.

Paul also says,

stand therefore having put on

the breastplate of righteousness,

and in verse 17,

tells us to take the helmet of salvation.

Those two expressions

come from Isaiah 59, 17,

which depicts God, Yahweh,

as the divine warrior

who will deliver his people,

and it says that he put on,

God,

a righteousness as a breastplate

and a helmet of salvation on his head.

So it's, again,

God's armor.

In verse 15,

Paul writes,

as shoes for your feet,

having put on the readiness

given by the gospel of peace.

Gospel,

the word that means good news,

likely in allusion to Isaiah 52,

Isaiah 52:7

verse 7,

which speaks of the messianic messenger

of God's peace this way,

how beautiful upon the mountains

are the feet of him

who brings good news,

gospel,

who publishes peace,

who brings good news of happiness,

who publishes salvation,

who says to Zion,

your God reigns.

Again,

God's shoes,

gospel of peace.

Likewise,

when Paul exhorts us

to take up the shield of faith

in verse 16,

it recalls numerous occasions

in the Old Testament

where God himself

is described

as the shield of his people.

Fear not,

I am your shield,

God says to Abraham,

Genesis 15,

2.

2 Samuel 22,

31,

this God,

his way is perfect.

The word of the Lord

proves true.

He is a shield

for all those

who take refuge in him.

And finally,

he mentions the sword

of the Spirit,

which is the word of God.

Paul's referring to Isaiah 11,

4,

the same passage

where the belt of truth

comes from.

He says that Messiah

shall strike the earth

with the rod of his mouth,

or more literally,

the word of his mouth.

It's,

and with the breath

of his lips

he shall kill the wicked.

The word of his mouth,

the breath,

the Spirit

from his mouth

shall strike the earth.

That's the sword

of the Spirit

that God himself wields.

So the whole armor

points back

to God's armor.

We are to put on

God's armor

that God offers to us

his own armor

that he wears

as the divine warrior,

the invincible God.

That's the armor

we're invited to put on.

And to put on

the whole armor of God

is akin to what

Paul said earlier

in Ephesians 4,

22 to 24,

put off your old self

which belongs

to your former manner

of life

and is corrupt

through deceitful desires

and to be renewed

in the spirit of your minds

and to put on

the new self

created after the likeness

of God

in true righteousness

and holiness.

So then to put on

the whole armor of God

is to be united

with Christ

in his life,

death,

and resurrection

and ascension.

How he's reigning

and to reign with him

in our faith

and to cultivate

the virtues

in keeping

with our new identity

in Christ.

So Galatians 3, 27

says,

for as many of you

as were baptized

into Christ,

you have put

on Christ.

To put on

the armor of God

then is to put

on Christ.

That's the bird's eye view.

Now let's see

what it looks like

when the rubber

meets the road.

Verse 14,

Paul says,

stand therefore

having fastened

on the belt of truth.

What is the belt of truth?

In earlier

in Ephesians 1,

13 to 14,

he talks about

the gospel.

When you heard

the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation

is the truth of God

in his word

but more specifically

it's the truth

of the gospel.

And it's the function

of the belt

or the girdle

is to bind

all of your clothing

together.

If the belt

is loose,

the whole thing

falls apart,

comes undone.

So it is imperative

that we fasten

this belt of truth

around us.

What is it

that holds

your life,

your purposes,

your priorities,

and your preferences,

and your opinions

all together?

What is it?

Is it the belt

of God's truth?

Or is it the lies

of the enemy,

the falsehoods

of this world?

Satan will often

lie and say,

yeah,

God says that.

Yeah,

you've heard

your pastor say that.

But it's really,

that sin

is not a big deal.

That sin,

that disobedience,

it's not a big deal.

Everybody does it.

It's okay.

What that does

is it loosens

the belt of truth.

And soon

you find your armor

coming loose,

coming in undone,

and there's all kinds

of vulnerabilities

exposed by it.

you've got to

fasten on

the belt of truth.

Having done that,

we must put on

the breastplate

of righteousness.

Satan is the accuser,

remember that.

He's ever accusing us

of our sins

and shortcomings

to drive us

to despair.

Oh,

how many times

in my life

that the breastplate

of the righteousness

of Christ

has saved me

from mortal danger?

You can't rely

on your own

righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5,

21 says,

For our sake,

God made Christ

to be sin

who knew no sin

so that in Him

we might become

the righteousness

of God.

We must put on

the Lord Jesus Christ,

as it says

in Romans 13, 14,

for He is

our righteousness.

Are you relying

on your own

righteousness?

Your own

obedience.

Remember that song

that we sang,

Come ye weary sinners.

Weary sinners.

Don't be deluded

into thinking

that you can make

yourself fit enough

to have righteousness

enough to withstand

all the schemes

of the enemy.

You cannot withstand it.

You put your own

armor on

and your own

righteousness on,

it's porous.

All kinds of chinks

and rust it through

and He will thrust

His spear right through.

straight to your heart.

You must put on

the righteousness

of Christ,

the breastplate

of righteousness.

Thomas Wilcox

wrote this.

I just realized

I'm quoting a lot

of 17th century

English pastors today.

It was not intentional.

Yeah.

He says,

In all doubting,

fears,

storms of conscience,

look at Christ

continually.

Do not argue

with Satan.

He desires

nothing better.

Bid him go to Christ

and He will answer him.

It is His office

to be our advocate,

His office

to answer law

as our surety,

His office

to answer justice

as our mediator,

and He is sworn

to that office,

put Christ upon it.

Isn't that why

He died on the cross?

So that our sins

can be imputed

to Him on the cross

and His righteousness

can be imputed

to us

so that we could

have a clear conscience,

so that we could

be forgiven,

so that we could have

an armor,

a breastplate

without any chinks

in it.

The perfect

righteousness

of Christ.

in the heavenly court,

it's the same

as it is

in the earthly court.

It's better for us

to shut our mouths

and let the lawyers

do the talking.

Let your

undefeated lawyer

defense Christ

do the talking.

You rely on

your own righteousness

and the devil

will poke holes

in your argument.

And His accusations

will expose you

as a hypocrite

and a fraud.

But behind

the breastplate

of righteousness

of Christ,

we are safe.

In verse 15,

Paul writes,

as shoes for your feet,

having put on

the readiness

given by the gospel

of peace.

I mentioned earlier

this is probably

an allusion

to Isaiah 52, 7.

The peace

that we have

with God

because of Christ,

the peace

that we have

with one another

Gentiles and Jews

reconciled

in Christ.

That peace

is what

enables us

to go

as messengers

and ambassadors

of the gospel

with the gospel

of peace

as shoes

for our feet.

Having put on

the readiness

given by the gospel

of peace,

we must also

put on,

it says in verse 16,

in all circumstances

take up the shield

of faith

with which

we can extinguish

all the flaming darts

of the evil one.

flaming arrows

were greatly feared

in ancient warfare

not only because

the arrow is sharp

and can pierce

but also because

once it pierces

and gets lodged

it spreads the fire

and the destruction

is far greater

than what a single

arrow could do.

And in response,

well-constructed shields

in those days

were covered

with calf skin

on the front

so that the flaming arrows

would be doused

by the moisture

in the leather.

in a similar way

the shield of faith

extinguished

all the flaming darts

of the evil one.

When we raise up

the shield of faith

we are taking hold,

grasping hold

of the promises

that God has given us

in his word

and interposing

those promises

between the enemy's

accusations

and slanders

and lies

and us

and our own hearts

and minds.

when Satan

accuses you

of all your failings

when he lies to you

and says that you are

good for nothing

that God doesn't love you

that he doesn't care

for you

if so,

why are all these

hard things happening

to you?

When he lies

you raise up

the shield of faith

and interpose

the promises

of God

his care for you

and his love

for you

and his protection

over you

and his sovereignty

over you

and put it right

between Satan

and his mouth

and between your heart.

Don't let those

fiery darts

pierce and burn you.

When you're paralyzed

by anxiety

and fear

hold up

the shield of faith

and the promises

of God

that he is your

heavenly father

who provides for you

and cares for you

and that if you can

cast all of your

anxieties on him

put that between

Satan

and his accusations

and your heart.

Similarly,

verse 17

tells us that we

must also take

the helmet

of salvation.

Salvation is a gift

we freely receive

from God

as it says

in Ephesians 2.8.

It's not up to us

but up to God

and since we

never merited

salvation

with our own

righteousness

we can never

demerit it.

we need

this assurance

of salvation

in order to

oppose the

powers of darkness.

Put on that

security that

comes with that

helmet of salvation

upon your head

to guard your

heart and your

mind in Christ

Jesus.

And finally

in verse 17

Paul mentions

the last piece

of the armor

the sword of the

spirit

which is the

word of God.

The word of God

and the spirit

of God

are inextricably

connected

because the word

of God

proceeds from

the mouth

of God

and the spirit

is the breath

that carries

forth the word

of God.

2 Timothy 3

16 says

that word

of God

is breathed

out by God.

The special

sword

reminds me

of Anduril

the lord

of the rings

the special

sword

which only

the king

of Gondor

can wield

and the

evil lord

Sauron

fears

because he

has been

defeated by

it in the

past

and it's

the only

sword

that can

defeat

him

again.

Similarly

there is

only one

sword

that can

stand

against

the real

spiritual

forces

of evil

in the heavenly

places

and that's

the sword

of the spirit

is the word

of God.

This is the sword

Hebrews 4

12 tells us

is living

and active

sharper than

any double-edged

sword

piercing to the

division of soul

and of spirit

of joints

and of marrow

and discerning

the thoughts

and intentions

of the heart.

Think about it.

How do you fight

spiritual forces

of evil?

You need

a spiritual

weapon.

A gun's

not going

to do it.

You need

something that

can cut

through the

division of

soul and

of spirit

and that

is the

word of

God.

The sword

of the

spirit.

William

Gurnall

in his

book on

spiritual

warfare

really

maybe one

of the

best books

ever written

on the

topic of

spiritual

warfare

called

The

Christian

Incomplete

Armor

says this

a pilot

without his

chart

a scholar

without his

book

and a soldier

without his

sword

are alike

ridiculous

but above

all these

it is absurd

for one to

think of being

a Christian

without knowledge

of the word

of God

and some

skill

to use

this weapon.

Do you

know God's

word?

Do you

read God's

word?

Do you

meditate on

God's

word?

Do you

memorize

God's

word?

This is

the only

weapon in

the arsenal.

How do

you expect

to fight

without it?

How do you

expect to

defend yourself

without it?

How can

we be

Christians

who go

without

reading

God's

word?

In a

spiritual

war.

Psalm

119

11

says

I have

stored

up your

word

in my

heart

that I

might

not

sin

against

you.

The

sword

of the

spirit

is what

protects

us from

the

temptations

and keeps

us from

sin.

It is

the sword

of the

spirit

that

pierces

through

and

exposes

the

errors

and the

lies

of

the

enemy

and of

this

world.

We

must

put on

the

sword

of

the

spirit

so that

we

can

stand

against

the

schemes

of

the

devil.

And then

we come

to Paul's

conclusion

in verses

18 to

20 that

we now have

to pray

for our

comrades.

Paul says

in verse

18,

prayer

is

prayer is not merely the seventh armor or weapon in the Christian's armory,

but it's rather that which enables us to put on the whole armor of God.

Look at verse 18. He tells us when to pray, how to pray, what to pray, and for whom to pray,

when to pray at all times, at every opportunity to pray without ceasing. You can think of it like

being on the phone with somebody. You might put them on hold for a bit. You might be distracted

for a bit. You might do other things, but there's someone on the other line always.

Be on the line with God always. Pray without ceasing. Pray whenever you have the opportunity.

Set aside time to pray. Make it a regular habit to pray, and don't let anything else intrude with it.

Prioritize it. Second, how to pray. Paul says pray in the Spirit, because our prayers must be guided by

the Spirit of God who alone comprehends the thoughts of God, who knows the mind of God.

Third, what to pray. Pray with all prayer and supplication, all types of prayers.

Prayers of adoration, confession, thanksgiving.

Prayers of supplication, all kinds of prayers. And why to pray. Paul says to that end, keep alert with

all perseverance.

Because apart from prayer, we cannot put on the full armor of God.

In his book, Desiring God, John Piper writes this, he said,

Prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie. It is not domestic intercom to ring up the butler to bring

another comfort to the den where we are already more secure than we should be.

Sometimes prayer malfunctions in our lives because we don't see its true purpose, that we are in a

spiritual war and that this is our direct line to the command center, to the general who alone sees

the full picture and who alone can send aid. Instead, we see it as another way to ring up the butler

for what we want, for more comforts.

So persevere in it. He says, keep alert with all perseverance.

If you've tried praying for five minutes, it didn't work, try again.

If you tried praying for one day or one week and it didn't work and you couldn't, didn't last, do it again.

Persevere.

Fifth, for whom to pray? For all the saints.

Do you pray for the church?

For your brothers and sisters in the church?

We need each other.

To put on the whole armor of God.

And then Paul finally asks them to even to pray for him.

In verses 19 to 20, also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to

proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly

as I ought to speak.

Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles.

He wrote most of the New Testament.

He's seen the Lord Jesus Christ personally in a vision.

He's acted by this point.

He has been proclaiming the gospel for 30 years.

He had been caught up to the third heavens and seen things that most men have never seen.

Perhaps he's the most fruitful and productive missionary that Christianity has ever seen.

And yet he asks the Ephesian believers to pray for him.

Because it doesn't come naturally for him to be bold in sharing the gospel.

He says, pray for me that I might open my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.

That I might declare it boldly as I ought to speak.

So if you feel not bold in sharing the gospel, you're in good company.

But we need prayer.

We need to pray for each other.

Don't fear being judged by people who think that you are too bold to share the gospel with them.

Fear rather being judged by Christ for our cowardice and not sharing it.

And not sharing it.

Do you see the spiritual realities?

Do you see that there's no hope of salvation apart from Christ?

That the whole armor belongs to God?

Then let's put on Christ together this morning as a church.

And not lose sight of this important truth as we battle together for the gospel.

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father.

Lord.

Lord.

Jolt us out of our spiritual complacency, Lord.

Make us aware of the grave threats we face all around us.

Make us vigilant.

Equipped.

With the full armor of God.

Lord, I pray for those who feel weak.

Downtrodden.

Heavy laden.

Who feel beaten down in the battlefield and don't feel like they can get up again.

Lord.

Encourage them.

Fill them with your spirit.

Help them to stand and persevere again in prayer.

To rise with the armor of God.

Rise up, O Lord.

Scatter your enemies.

When you can do it.

Help us to rely on you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.