The Forever War

As I said, we've come to the last of our readings, of our sessions, and in a voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy

in. It is language which is foreign to us, but I think in the end we have to grapple with,

and I think we're feeling this very much at the moment, that we're having to grapple with

the ongoing issues of the fallenness of our humanity. And it's a very critical kind of

existential question which occurs to me in the 21st century, and that is a question that I think

Christians have asked throughout the whole of Christian history. Why is the world the way that it is?

What is the world the way that it is? Politicians since the Enlightenment have talked about what they call continuous progress.

And at a lot of levels, we can tick that box. Why is it the world is the way that it is?

I want to read to you some words. I mean, I always think, you know, I do it, we all do it a little bit,

you know, we complain about the world as it is, and that's fully intelligible to me. But it shouldn't

surprise us in a way if we know our scriptures. Let me just give you one passage of scripture,

one of many I could have read. And this is from 2 Timothy chapter 3. And Paul writes these words,

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves,

lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love,

unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous,

rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness,

but denying its power, have nothing to do with such people. I mean, you read that stuff and you think,

and Paul never actually had read a word of social media. And yet he's talking about what I think is

the natural outflow of our fallenness as human beings. And I made this point on Sunday in church,

I'm going to use slightly different words today, but I think what's great about Ephesians chapter 6 is

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

it reinforces this idea, not just a philosophical concept, but also a theological concept,

that when we think correctly, when we believe correctly, the likelihood is that our actions

will be more appropriate. Wrong thinking, and in the early church, this is a massive issue, you know,

the early patristic fathers of the church, spent their time trying to weed out orthodox faith from heresy.

And you can imagine, they had to do that without a copy of the New Testament.

The canon of the New Testament probably wasn't formed until the end of the fourth century.

And so for the first years of the church, they're trying to sort out these issues.

And the only text they had in front of them was the Old Testament.

And as Paul points out in Ephesians 6, the devil is in the detail.

It refers here to the various forms of spiritual oppression that might, well, not might, but will befall Christians in all ages.

And Paul says here, you know, our response to this is to put on the full armour of God.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 13 and 14, we read this.

2 Corinthians 11:13

It talks about men being false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

Basically, what he's saying here is that Satan himself, this is verse 14, masquerades as an angel of light.

That is, that Satan, I never saw the movie The Exorcist, and I hope you didn't either, because I gather it's awful.

But the big deal with it is that at one point, apparently, this young teenage girl who is possessed of the devil,

she's kind of, her head is spinning through 360 degrees, whilst at the same time she's vomiting green bile.

And you kind of think to yourself, well, if that's the work of the devil, frankly, I'm quite keen to avoid it.

But the devil masquerades as an angel of light.

And that means the devil is in the detail of Christian living today.

What can appear to be good can, in fact, be the devil masquerading himself.

So what's going on here?

The first word of this reading is, finally, in the version, the NIV, the English version, it says, to end.

Actually, that doesn't really carry what Paul was intending to communicate here, I don't believe.

Finally, Paul was saying, in the light of everything I've written to you,

here's something you really need to take note of.

You need to take note of the fact that life is not going to be uncomplicated.

Even if you believe the right things and you adhere to the teaching I've given you

in Ephesians 4 and 5, in the first bit of Ephesians chapter 6,

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

you need to be aware of this.

And Paul's reading of the problem is very clear.

Our fight is not against people on earth.

See, I think that one of the big confusions is that in the church today,

we kind of have this dichotomy.

And the dichotomy is this, that some people don't even think about this fight

that's taking place in the heavenly places.

And some people, thankfully I believe a minority in the church, are obsessed by it.

And every stone they turn over in church life, the devil they see at work.

I mean, I think you have to be very, very careful with that kind of approach to faith.

So the finally is connecting this important section of Paul's teaching here with what's gone before.

And his reading of the problem is, this is not the fight that many of you imagine that you will be in.

And Paul's solution is in chapter 13.

This is why you need to get God's full armour.

I'm going to talk about that in a bit more length.

But his reading of the problem is challenging to us.

And what it means is that all of Christian history will be messy.

And some of you will be, I apologise for a little bit of repetition for what I said in here on Sunday morning.

But Paul's, it's messy.

Because the general teaching of scripture is that on the cross of Calvary and the resurrection of Jesus,

the devil has been defeated once and for all.

And you say, well, if he's been defeated once and for all.

Paul wrote this kind of stuff, you know, talks about being more than conquerors in the Corinthian literature.

If the devil's already defeated, well, how come the way the world is the way the world is?

And I used an analogy from the world of farming.

And I said that what I think is happening here.

Is, you know, I'm told this.

I mean, I don't know.

I've never seen it.

And really, I never want to.

But I'm told if you chop the head off a chicken in the farmyard,

the chicken will race around the farmyard three or four times before it collapses dead.

And I think that that's what's happening in the era in which we live.

Satan has been defeated forever, but with his head chopped, metaphorically,

he's still able to race around creating carnage.

And we see some of that carnage every day in our newspapers.

And Paul's great solution is you need to put on the full armor of God.

And anybody who thinks that becoming a Christian and being in a church is like a free pass into la-la land

is amazingly mistaken.

I mean, you should know this because you know that in churches we have some of the same problems that people out there have.

So Paul's diagnosis is that we need to put on the full armor of God.

Wear God's armor, says Paul, so that you can fight against the devil's clever tricks.

This is subtle.

As I say, if the devil's subtle tricks were people with their heads revolving 360 degrees whilst vomiting bile,

we'd have no problem avoiding that.

We wouldn't want that, it's clear.

But the devil's clever tricks, his wily tricks, it says in some of the older translations,

our fight is not against people on earth.

Well, I think that's kind of complicated.

Paul goes on to say here that we're fighting against rulers and authorities.

And I think what Paul would say to us

would square with a Chinese military general

is a person who's name is

Sanju.

And Sanju wrote this.

He said,

Know your enemy and know yourself

and you will not be in danger

in a hundred battles.

See, I think what this general understood was

that understanding your enemy

is critical in any engagement

of that enemy.

But at the same time,

understanding yourself

is important.

If you think that

because you're a Christian,

you are totally immune

to being influenced

by these malign powers

that Paul understands

lie behind

a lot of difficult

issues in our world today,

I think you might be deluded.

And Paul here says

that the bottom line is

that

he describes

four kinds of enemy.

the first one is

the rulers

and the authorities.

And normally in Scripture,

when rulers and authorities

are

referred to,

Paul's talking to

earthly government,

talking about

earthly government.

And I think

what Paul would tell us

about this is

that

the problem

with the subtle work

of the devil

is that

he very often

employs human agency.

and

again,

forgive a little repetition

from Sunday,

but

you know,

what do we live through

in the 20th century?

We live through

Nazism.

This is,

you know,

not just

a kind of

bit of a grouse

that Adolf Hitler

had with Jewish people

and Roman Catholics

and gay people.

this was

systemic

brutality

on a horrendous scale.

And we

tell ourselves,

you know,

as we did

after the

Second World War,

there was this

literature

that came into play

which is called

utopian literature.

And it was

basically

based on the premise

the world

must never allow

this kind of thing,

i.e.

world war

to occur again.

I don't know,

you know,

I think it probably

would be exaggeration

at this point in time

to say that

we stand on the edge

of nuclear war

at the moment.

I don't honestly

believe that myself.

But there are

several commentators

who think

that the only way

this kind of

standing up

against

Vladimir Putin

and the

Chinese government.

The only way

that that can get

resolved

is through

nuclear war.

And I think,

you know,

we all know enough

about nuclear war

to know

there are no

winners

in that kind

of scenario.

So one of the

tricky things is,

I mean,

governments have

always been

vaguely incompetent,

haven't they?

And I wouldn't

basically,

you know,

that's not,

that's an

apolitical statement.

I mean,

it's just that

actually government's

a really difficult

thing.

And authorities

are going to make

kind of natural

mistakes because

sometimes

their policies

have unintended

consequences.

That's not what

Paul's talking

about here.

He's talking about

when the devil

influences through

his wily tricks,

rulers and

authorities who

dream up awful

things,

genocide,

Nazism,

you know,

Stalin in

Soviet Russia,

you know,

starved up to

six million

Ukrainians

during his

attempts to

implement

communism

across the,

across

what became

the Soviet

Union.

And then

Paul talks

about

the powers

of this

world's

darkness

against the

spiritual

powers of

evil

in the

heavenly

places.

I find it

difficult to

describe this

to you because

Paul doesn't

go into a

great description.

And I

wouldn't blame

you if you

were sitting

there saying,

well,

come on,

Mike,

you know,

this is just

a kind of

ancient

cosmology that

we don't

have to

take seriously

today.

Well,

let me tell

you,

Jesus took

it seriously.

The early

church took

it seriously.

The Roman

church today

takes it

seriously.

The Orthodox

church today

takes it

seriously.

So just be a

little careful

if you want

to dispose

of this in

the trash

can of

history.

history.

These powers

are at work

in the world.

The powers

of this dark

world and the

spiritual forces

of evil in

the heavenly

realms.

I suppose,

you know,

the nearest

way we can

get to

describing it

is the

concept of

fallen angels,

people who,

beings that

have fallen

below what

God expected

of them.

know your

enemy.

Our enemy

is not

human agency

first rate,

but it is.

Evil can

permeate

human

agencies.

His tactics,

very subtle.

2 Corinthians

11, 14,

he masquerades

as an angel

of light.

And in

1 Peter

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

and verse

8,

this is why

church history

is constantly

messy.

Because

those malign

forces at

work in

our world

are not

going to

give up

easily.

1 Peter

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

and verse

8,

Peter says

to the

Christians

that,

be self-controlled

and alert.

your enemy

the devil

prowls around

like a

roaring lion

seeking

whom he

may devour.

Now I

want to say

to you

something that

I hope will

be liberating

for most

of you.

If you

are,

as Paul

would put it,

in Christ,

if you

are a

believing

Christians,

if you

accept what

Jesus did

on the

cross of

Calvary

for you

in grace,

that your

sins are

forgiven

and that

God has

gifted you

the promise

of eternity,

I want to

say to you

that you

can never

be possessed

by the

devil.

I have

in my

pastoral

ministry

come across

Christians

who think

they might

be possessed

of the

devil.

And it's

interesting,

isn't there

two bits

of advice

here for

Christians

that Peter

is writing

to.

He doesn't

just say

be alert,

he says

be self

controlled

and alert.

Sometimes

some of

the

Christians

I've met

who think

they might

be possessed

by the

devil have

lost all

sense of

self

control.

They're

doing stuff

they really

know they

shouldn't

be doing

and they

continue to

do it.

I don't

believe even

their salvation

is up for

grabs.

So these

malign forces

are constantly

on the

prowl.

like a

roaring

lion.

Some years

ago now

Anthony and

I were

on a

game

hunt in

Uganda

and

we came

across these

lions and

they seemed

so playful.

You know

they were

just a few

yards away

from the

Land Rover

where we

were hiding

and they

were just

plain

naturally

rolling over

he almost

wanted to

get out

to the

Land Rover

and tickle

their tummies

like you

might with

your domestic

cat.

The guy

that took

us said

that wouldn't

be advisable.

Then suddenly

one of them

let out this

most blood

curdling

roar.

I'm a bit

into

tell you

I'm very

sensitive to

noise

and it was

so loud

and so

scary

I almost

wanted to

tell the

guy

right

start the

engine

let's go.

So

this is

reality

reality

you know

the devil

prowls

around

seeking

whom he

may

divide

if you

are in

Christ

you don't

have to

worry

about the

devil

possessing

you

but I

do believe

that these

malign forces

and the

captain of

their team

the devil

can't

possess

you

but they

can influence

you

and we

see

Christians

all the

time

I mean

I

you know

I want

to go

on about

this

but we

have seen

in the

last 12

months

some

amazing

church

leaders

dragged

into

terrible

sexual

scandals

goodness

knows

what

people

who seem

rock solid

to us

you know

suddenly

undermined

by their

shocking

behaviour

I suppose

the one

that

you know

really

kind of

sticks in

mind

is

the

Ewan

minister

camp

and this

man

John

Smythe

who

apparently

evangelical

Bible

believing

Christian

taught

the

Bible

took

pleasure

in

beating

boys

with a

cane

don't

tell me

that we

Christians

can't be

influenced

by it

so

what

1 Peter

5

8

tells

us

is

that

this

malign

influence

is

persistent

that's

why

Paul

says

you know

we need

to be

strong

in the

Lord

and in

his

great

power

leave it

to my

great

power

we're

all in

trouble

leave it

to his

great

power

and there

is

hope

for us

and

Paul's

advice

is

very

simple

in a

way

it is

put on

the

full

armour

of

God

obviously

it's

an

analogy

in

Paul's

mind

and

one

of the

things

about

the

well

three

things

about

the

full

armour

of

God

is

one

it

prepares

us

for

this

battle

two

it

protects

us

from

attack

and

thirdly

the

main

outcome

of this

putting

on

this

armour

is

that

it

helps

us

stand

our

ground

and

so

just

to run

through

what

the

armour

is

constituted

of

the

belt

of

truth

the

breastplate

of

righteousness

in

place

says

Paul

the

readiness

that

comes

from

the

gospel

of

peace

the

shield

of

faith

the

helmet

of

salvation

the

sword

of

the

spirit

and

consistent

prayer

in the

spirit

the

belt

of

truth

has

truth

been

relativized

in

modern

culture

that

is

a

question

that

is

constantly

in front

of us

these

days

in the

media

usually

forms

around

people

who

are

woke

with

what

they

call

woke

mentality

and

between

people

who

think

that

woke

mentality

is a

load

of

bunkum

that

needs

to

be

avoided

and

oddly

enough

the

idea

of

truth

being

relative

has

been

around

since

the

5th

century

BC

a

Greek

philosopher

by the

name

of

Protagoras

who

had a

big

influence

on

Plato

Protagoras'

idea

is

probably

one of

the

most

successful

though

ultimately

wrong

political

theories

of all

time

the

kind

of

driving

thought

behind

relativism

is that

different

opinions

can be

equally

true

relative

to

different

standards

think

about

that

for a

moment

that

really

means

there

is

no

such

thing

as

statements

of

truth

that

can

be

removed

from

their

context

so

I

mean

first

up

I

mean

you

can't

rip

the

Ten

Commandments

up

because

they

arrived

in

stone

but

actually

if

you

start

to

take

the

Ten

Commandments

and

you

say

thou

shalt

not

kill

and

you

say

yes

but

in

certain

circumstances

you

really

need

to

kill

the

problem

with

relativism

is

that

there

is

an

element

of

truth

about

it

but

once

it

undermines

the

idea

that

there

is

anything

that

might

be

called

absolute

truth

you

end

up

I

think

with

a

house

built

on

sand

so

what

does

it

mean

to

put

on

the

belt

of

truth

I

love

these

speakers

who

come

up

with

clever

ways

of

structuring

their

sermons

this

has

nothing

to do

with

what

we're

talking

about

tonight

but

I

once

heard

Sal

when

you

speak

and

he

was

talking

about

Samson

and

his

three

points

were

prayerless

careless

and

hairless

and

I

heard

another

preacher

say

trouble

is

if

you've

not

got

the

belt

of

truth

on

you're

going

to

end

up

with

your

trousers

around

your

ankles

I

didn't

like

to

think

about

that

for

too

long

but

he

did

say

that

truth

is

really

important

I

mean

!

Christians

not

so much

these

days

may

be

but

traditionally

I

don't

think

this

is

a

bad

thing

as a

matter

of

fact

I

mean

in

lots

of

churches

these

days

the

last

thing

you'll

ever

hear

is

a

creed

I

think

to

myself

actually

it's

good

for

us

to

recite

together

the

things

we

think

are

non

negotiable

I

mean

I

think

there

are

other

non

negotiables

that

are

not

mentioned

in

the

creed

the

it

that's

just a

ranting

of an

old

buffer

but look

truth

is

important

and I

was telling

somebody

this

morning

I

had

this

I

was

for a

while

I

mean

don't

laugh

I

was

for a

while

a hospice chaplain.

And one day,

the people who ran this hospice

said to me,

would I go and visit this family?

And the man had very bad stage four brain cancer.

And I said,

so, you know, what's the issue with him?

So they said, well,

the family keep pretending

he's going to get better.

And they've made us,

the medical profession,

caring for him,

swear that we won't tell him the truth,

that actually his days on planet Earth are numbered.

So I went and I met with the family

and they said,

don't judge us harshly for this.

You know, we know old Harry.

It wasn't his name,

but I'll call him Harry.

We know old Harry.

If he told,

he'd just be fall apart in pieces.

So I said, well,

your moral basis for telling him a lie is what?

They said, well,

it's a white lie.

I don't think there is such a thing as a white lie.

I think there are a few grey lies,

but maybe not so many white lies.

So I said to them,

look,

if he talks to me about it,

I'm a minister.

I'm not going to tell him a lie.

So we're talking together

and he said,

when I get out of here,

I said,

you think you're going to get out of here?

He said, don't you?

I said,

I'm not so sure about that,

Harry.

You know,

you've got stage four

and they've stopped treating you.

His family

phoned me up

a week later

and they said to me,

Harry seems a lot better in himself.

I said,

what did you say to him?

I said,

it's very simple.

What was it?

They almost thought

somebody changed his drug regime.

What did you do?

I said,

I told him the truth.

And the truth set him free

from anxiety.

And I remember

praying a prayer of commitment with him

at his bedside.

And all it left me with

in all of that

was just this thinking that

do we persuade ourselves

that white lies are acceptable?

You know,

I mean,

we,

you know,

we didn't do anything about this.

But for instance,

I kind of felt

a bit nervous

about

promoting the white lie

of Father Christmas.

You know,

I was engaged

with one of my grandchildren

who,

they said,

in this place

we've just been staying with them

for the week,

there was a wood burner

and it's a very thin chimney

goes up

and the first question

what my grandson said

is,

how did Father Christmas

get down there?

And,

you know,

I didn't say to him,

you idiot,

there is no such thing,

you know,

grow up.

And he said,

oh,

I think he probably

parks up outside

or something,

you know,

obviously he can't

get down there.

And,

he seemed satisfied

with that explanation

and so,

you know,

we left it there.

But,

you know,

I have an uneasiness

about that.

And the problem is,

if the message of Christmas

is about the birth

of Jesus Christ,

and that is true,

and the message

of Father Christmas

isn't true,

how are kids

going to work out

the difference

between what I can know

is truth

and what is just,

you know,

I mean,

don't get me wrong,

you know,

I'm not,

you know,

I'm not Oliver Cromwell

and the Puritans

are,

you know,

dressed up in

modern clothes,

well,

not that modern clothes,

but,

you know,

I kind of get it

in one way,

but I do feel

uncomfortable with it

in another way.

I hope that's not

too weird.

But the belt of truth

is,

it's not just about

the issue of truth,

though it is about

the issue of truth,

but it's about

living the truth.

speaking the truth,

avoiding falsehood,

gossip,

and slander.

I think some of

the worst gossipy

stuff I hear

is in churches.

Living in integrity,

aligning our actions

with words,

that's Paul's

consistent message.

If you believe this,

this is the ramifications

for the way

you should behave.

Pursuing righteousness,

seeking justice,

honesty,

and fairness.

It seems reasonable

to me

to be expected

of a Christian.

And,

discerning deception.

That is,

recognizing

and rejecting

false teaching

and temptations.

Friends,

you need to buckle up

with the belt of truth

in this fight

against these

malign influences.

on the second,

the breastplate

of righteousness.

What's a breastplate

designed for?

Well,

as it tells you

in all the books

about breastplates,

it says it's designed

to protect your vital organs.

I mean,

I can think of one,

I don't think it does

protect too well,

but anyway,

you won't go there.

But what is a breastplate?

It's designed

to protect

your vital organs.

And the breastplate

of righteousness

is the way

that you live

your lives

because righteous lives

turn back the enemy.

Nothing the devil

hates more

than people

who claim

the righteousness

of Jesus

in their lives.

righteousness.

And we have to remember

that wearing

this breastplate

reminds us,

I mean,

I think Paul

in other parts

of the scripture

talks about

what he calls

sanctification.

That is being

transformed

in holiness.

In 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

and verse 1,

just let me give you

a flavour of this,

just so you know

this isn't my idea,

it's Paul's writing.

And

in chapter 4

verses 3 through 8

he says

this

Sorry,

I'm just about to read

1 Timothy to you.

Hang on,

give me a minute.

Okay,

here we go.

Anybody else

have this problem?

The older I get,

the harder I find it

to split pages.

Is that just me?

Come on,

own up.

So,

Paul says this,

it's God's will

that you should be

holy,

that you should

avoid sexual immorality,

that each of you

should learn

to control

his own body

in a way

that is holy

and honourable,

not in passionate

lusts like the heathen

who do not know God.

In verse 8

he says,

therefore,

he who rejects

this instruction

does not reject man

but God

who gives you

his Holy Spirit.

You sit there

and you think,

oh my goodness,

sanctification,

you know,

how am I doing with that?

What's my progress on that?

And the answer is,

thank God

you're not left alone

to battle with this

because God

has given you

the Holy Spirit

who will convict you

of sin

and show you

what is right

from wrong

and give you

the strength

to withhold

temptation.

So,

we go on

to the,

sorry,

I can't split

my notes up here.

Okay.

Put this down.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Paul talks about

wearing,

somebody put it like this,

choose sensible shoes.

And,

one of the things

about shoes is,

you know,

to say,

we wear

different kinds of shoes

for different jobs,

don't we?

So,

you know,

you don't go,

I imagine you don't go

running in six-inch

high heels.

You don't go

and work

in a factory

where there are

heavy weights

being shifted around

in open-toed

sandals.

No,

we choose the right

shoes for the right

job.

And Paul says

in

Ephesians chapter 6

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

that

the shoes

that we should

be wearing

in the light

of the spiritual

warfare

are the shoes

that are fitted

with the readiness

that comes

from the gospel

of peace.

And Paul tells us

what the gospel

of peace is

in Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

and verse 14.

It means primarily

peace with God.

God

and the gospel

is a way

that rebellious

sinners

can find peace

with God.

And again,

I would say

the proclamation

of the gospel

is what the devil

hates.

One of the

not so wily

tricks of the

evil one is

that if you

read through

scripture

you will see

that so often

God sorts

out

key people

in God's

purposes

for special

treatment.

You see that

in the life

of Elisha

in the Old

Testament,

Elijah,

all these

people.

And you can

see it in the

New Testament.

When Paul is

talking about

his qualifications

for his role

in churches

which doubt

his

apostleship,

he doesn't

say,

I went to

the University

of Antioch

and took

a double

first in

theology.

No, he

goes on about

I've been

beaten with

rods,

I've been

shipwrecked,

I've been

just this

whole kind

of chapter

of the

sufferings

that he's

gone through.

And so

in relation

to that,

the gospel

I think

being preached

turns back

the malign

influences

of

these

forces

of

evil

that

Paul

writes

about.

I

love the

idea of

that,

but then I

suppose I

would,

but I do

love the

idea of

that.

And that's

why

preaching the

gospel of

Jesus Christ

is so

critical.

You know,

if you go

to a church

and the

gospel is

purely to

do with

social action

or purely

to do with

the fight

for justice,

these are

good things,

these are

concomitants

of the

gospel,

but they're

not the

gospel.

The gospel

is about

Jesus' death

on the

cross of

Calvary,

what we're

going to

talk about

remember

on Good

Friday.

Paul then

says you've

got to

take up

the shield

of faith.

And so

the Roman

army had

a shield

which is

called a

scutum.

And a

scutum was

as large

as a

door.

You've

probably

seen

pictures

of

riot

police

today.

And you

know they

have those

big

shields.

And those

shields have

two primary

functions.

One is

they protect

the body,

the whole

body.

And secondly

they can be

used

offensively

to push

back the

enemy.

That's the

way riot

police

primarily

use them.

And again

one of the

things the

devil hates

is people

who are

faithful.

You know

if you

think about

that of

course he

would hate

that.

He would

hate people

who

recklessly

trust God

even when

the circumstances

might dictate

that that would

be the last

thing you

would think

of doing.

The devil

hates that.

And he'll

do what he

can to

undermine

him.

we go

on to

the

helmet

of salvation

and the

sword of

the spirit.

And the

helmet of

salvation

is the

closest bit

of protection

that's near

your head,

the seat

of your

learning.

And we

need to be

clear in our

minds that

we are in

Christ,

that we are

saved by

grace,

not by

our

effort.

Save for

good works,

not by

good works.

A big

message in

Ephesians.

And we

need to be