Pastor Roger Feenstra
"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..." Ephesians 6:13-18
In the city of Ephesus, there was a battle going on for the souls of the new Christians there. The city itself was full of gods and goddesses and there was a spirit of religious tolerance among the people for whatever anyone wanted to worship. In fact, people typically worshipped more than one deity (or god). The city of Ephesus also had a reputation for magic, shamanism (following someone like a witch doctor or medicine man), and occult arts (that is devil worship). Magic was a means for the people to harness spiritual power through rituals, incantations, and invocations. And Luke writes in the book of Acts many of the believers in Ephesus gathered their magical books together and burned them (Acts 19:19). Christians in Ephesus had a difficult time turning completely away from their former practices in the process of discipleship, as a battle for their souls was being waged against them through the forces of evil.
Whether or not you know it, or whether or not you like it, there is a battle going on for your mind and ultimately, your soul too.
The Battlefield
From the very beginning of time, mankind has been on a battlefield. Ever since Satan uttered the words to Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis;
If you eat this fruit, "you shall not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4).
All of the battles that have been faced throughout all of history; all of the temptations and struggles that you face each day as you determine to live your life for Christ, are a result of this first battle. It is a spiritual battle between, "God said", and "Satan said." Hand to hand, face-to-face, and toe-to-toe spiritual conflict and every believer in Jesus Christ is thrust into the battlefield. When you enter into the Christian life, you are not set free from the conflict. In fact, when you make a decision to follow Jesus Christ more closely, the battle intensifies. The battle is intense, fierce, extreme, serious and real and perhaps deadly. At times, it may seem as if the battle is too overpowering and that all may be lost.
Be Strong in The Lord, The Commander of The Lord's Army
But there is hope for us in this struggle between the "rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places." Our hope lies in Ephesians 6:10, to "Be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might."
In the Old Testament book of Joshua 5:13-15, Christ appeared to Joshua (this is called a Christophany-a visible appearance of Christ in the Old Testament) as the "Commander of the Lord's army." To fight this spiritual battle, you have Jesus Christ as your Captain or Commander and He has promised to lead you into battle if you simply depend on him and his power.
But how do you do that? How do you fight the temptations that so easily come upon you day after day? Last week I told you that Scripture says that you are to "Put on the Lord Jesus" (Romans 13:14) and the passage today in Ephesians shows you how to do that: It's called putting on the "whole armor of God" and the purpose of the armor is to be able to "withstand" the evil that is around you. Do you know what "withstand" means?
"John Lambert lived in England in the 1500's. He was a teacher of Greek at Oxford and he was a Christian. In the 1500's, the church was controlled by the King, Henry the 8th. Therefore, whatever the King said was the truth, even if it contradicted the Bible. King Henry the 8th approved all of the sermons that were preached in England in the 1500’s. Since John Lambert was a scholar and had studied the Bible carefully, he knew that some of the teachings of the Church of England were wrong. They were not teaching the truth about Jesus Christ, so John spoke out against the Church of England to protest.
He was put on trial before the archbishop of Canterbury and the King himself. The King asked John Lambert, "Will you give up your foolish talk about Jesus Christ and believe the way the Church believes?" John Lambert replied that he could not do that. So, King Henry had him sentenced to death! He was tied to a stake and a small fire was lit underneath him. As the fire slowly consumed his feet and legs, he was left hanging from the stake with only his bloodied, burned stumps, and while in extreme agony, he was still alert. With nothing but stumps left, his accusers tied rope under his arms and lifted him into the air. As he hung there they again asked him, will you renounce your false teaching! Withstanding the torture and pain, John Lambert cried out his last words, "None but Christ, None but Christ!" At that point they dropped him into the fire where he died shortly after."
Here are the words the dictionary uses to help us understand what it means to withstand:
Resist, weather, survive, endure, cope with, stand, tolerate, bear, stomach, defy, brave, hold out against, tough it out, bear up against, stand up to, face, and confront.
The only way you can withstand the battle over temptation and sin and the troubles that drag you down is to "Put on the whole armor of God." The key to this passage is that you are to put on the "Whole" armor. One piece of the armor won't allow you to win the battle. Just picking up the "Sword" which is the Word of God isn't enough to fight the battle. It might help you get a few swipes at the enemy, but the battle is so fierce it is impossible to fend of all of the enemy’s blows with just the sword - more on that later. So let's look at each piece of God's armor, and as we do, ask God to help you wear that piece of armor each day.
Belt of Truth
Paul begins to describe the "whole armor" by instructing you (through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) in verse 14 to "Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth..."
When you hear people talk about the "Whole armor of God" you hear a lot about the "Sword" but not a lot about the "Belt of truth." Now we all know what a belt is used for. It's used typically to hold up your pants! In the Biblical world, the belt was used for a similar purpose. An athlete or a worker would tuck his tunic into his belt so that he could run faster and not get tripped by his loose clothing.
You've seen those people today who walk around without a belt -- we say, "Hey, you're sagging!" And many guys have been caught by the police because they were sagging and their pants tripped them up when they were being chased!
Turn to the book of 1st Peter1: 13. In the book of 1st Peter it says this:
"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1st Peter 1:13)
If you look at the little footnote at the bottom of the page of your Bible it says "Greek girding up the loins of your mind” To gird your loins in the Roman era (which is when Ephesians and 1st Peter were written) meant to draw up your garment into your belt to increase your mobility or agility. By doing so, the athlete or the soldier would be less likely to be tripped up by loose clothing.
So our passage is saying that the "belt of truth" is what prepares your mind for action. And if you are not prepared for action; if you're not prepared for this spiritual battle, the battle will be lost -- that's why the belt of truth is mentioned first in this list of armor in Ephesians. You can't fight the battle without being prepared for it. So you must keep your "belt of truth" in good shape, you can't let it get corrupted by the sin you commit or tolerate in your life. When you do, you will start "sagging" and surely get tripped up and fall. So you need to recognize and examine the things that cause you to stumble and fall in your Christian walk. The Bible doesn't give us one specific list, but as we saw last week we stumble and fall because of the "schemes" of the devil -- Remember that a scheme is a "secret underhanded plan." And Satan is constantly trying to trip you up.
That's why Peter said to "Prepare your mind for action" and Paul says, "fasten on the belt of truth." The battlefield of sin begins with the people and activities around you that will trip you up. Therefore, the belt of truth requires focusing your mind on Jesus Christ -- allowing your thoughts to be saturated by the truth of His word and not the secret underhanded lies of the world, placed there by Satan to trip you up: "You'll feel much better if you get high" the enemy whispers in your ear through the voice of a friend, but God says, "Be sober minded." "You can go to church next week, your family says" "We have family things to do, don't you care about your family?" But God says, "Do not turn your back on going to church." "That girl is much hotter than my wife" as the devil entices you to think and even act out on sexually immoral thoughts, but God says, "Rejoice in the wife of your youth and reject sexual immorality." No, you are to "fasten the belt of truth" to keep you from the things that will trip you in your Christian life.
When I was a child, my dad had a belt of truth. Whenever I would disobey or do something that was wrong, my dad would get out the belt of truth and use it on my backside to correct me! The belt of truth in my house got my mind off what I was doing wrong and helped me think of ways to do things correctly in the future!
You see, The Belt of Truth corrects you and helps you train your mind to be saturated with truth from God, rather than the lies of the world. And believe me the lies of the world are so intense at times that they will aim right for your heart. That is why the next piece of armor is so important.
The Breastplate of Righteousness
"Put on the breastplate of righteousness" (vs. 14)
The Roman breastplate was typically made of bronze, backed with leather. It was designed to protect the vital area. You can imagine that without a breastplate, or in today's world a bullet proof vest, one arrow or bullet to that area would be deadly.
So with the whole armor of God, you are protected by Christ's breastplate of righteousness. If you are wearing that "breastplate," you can rest assured that your heart, your emotions, and your will are securely guarded and adequately protected against attack.
Listen to what one pastor said about the breastplate and the spiritual attacks that come to you:
"Your heart and emotions are perhaps the most frequent ground of attack against Christian faith. Christians often feel they lack assurance (or confidence in their faith). They feel unworthy of God. They feel they are a failure in the Christian life and that God is certain to reject them, that He is no longer interested in them. They are so aware of their failures and shortcomings. Growth has been so slow. The first joy of faith has faded, and they feel God is angry with them or that He is far off somewhere. There is a constant sense of guilt. Their conscience is always stabbing them, making them unhappy. They feel God blames them. This is simply a satanic attack."
He continues...
"How do you answer an attack like this? You are to remember that you have put on the breastplate of righteousness. In other words, you do not stand on your own merits (or, worth). You never did. You never had anything worthwhile in yourself to offer to God. You gave all that up when you came to Christ. You quit trying to be good enough to please God. You came on His merits. You came on the ground of His imputed righteousness—which which He gives to you. You began your Christian life like that, and there is no change now. You are still standing before God on that basis.”[1]
What this is saying is that you don't fight this spiritual battle alone; Christ's righteousness is the source of your protection from Satan.
And when you finally realize that you are covered by Christ's righteousness and not your own, you are able to stand firm in the spiritual battle that is being waged in your life.
So you put on the "belt of truth" to keep from getting tripped up by your sins, you put on the "breastplate of righteousness" in order to allow what Christ did for you on the cross to protect you and not rely on your own works of righteousness, which are worthless.
Shoes For The Gospel of Peace
When you depend on our own works to help you, when you determine to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, you'll never overcome the sin in your life. Why? Because you don't have the right boots on! Look at verse 15:
"And as for shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace."
There are many different types of shoes. I could never get Carol to understand that whenever I took up a new sport, I had to have the proper shoe to go along with it. When I was into running, I needed running shoes, when I play tennis I need tennis shoes, when I ride my bike I need biking shoes, when I just want to kick back at home, I need sandals. Carol's comment is, "Why can't you just use the same pair of shoes for all the sports?" The truth is, each type of shoe has a particular purpose and each pair will give you a slight edge on your competition.
Shoes of peace are what Paul is talking about. The idea here seems to be that you are not to look for a spiritual battle, it's going to be there regardless, but you are to seek peace, not looking for a fight, rather seeking peace.
Ephesians 2:14 says, "Jesus is our peace. Therefore, we can only experience peace through Jesus Christ. See, peace is not passive it is powerful. You may think that to be a man of peace, it means you're weak. That is a lie of Satan and you couldn't be more wrong! Jesus said this about peace in John 16:33:
"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
In fact in John 14:27 Jesus said,
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."
God's peace is strong, it overcomes the powers of the world, it keeps us from fear - The peace of Jesus is powerful!
Do you want to be able to fight the "schemes of the devil" and be ready to move quickly when the attacks come? Then God says, "Seek peace which only comes through Jesus Christ."
Shield of Faith
But take caution, when you seek peace, the devil is going to continue to attack you. He is going to muster all of his weapons against you and his attacks are going to come fast and furious. So Paul writes that you are to,
"In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one." (vs.16).
In all circumstances...never let your guard down. Never! And yet this is probably what you tend to do the most. Jesus Christ rescued you from the power of sin and death and things started looking pretty good in your life. You were reading your Bible, you were praying, you were interested and passionate about growing in Christ, so you dropped your shield for a while. After all, you say, this shield is heavy, it's not always easy to hold it up -- you just needed a little rest so you dropped your guard for a minute. But you forgot that you were in the battle still - and when you dropped your shield Satan fired at will; Pow,pow,pow,pow,pow,pow... Suddenly, you didn't have time to read your Bible, you stopped praying and your spiritual growth just stopped -- as each "flaming dart" hit you got weaker and weaker in your faith and Jesus took a backseat. He became an afterthought.
But where does faith come from? How can you be assured that you're not going to drop your shield of faith? Fortunately, the Bible is clear on this matter of faith:
Turn with me in your Bible to the book of Romans 10:17. So often the pastors at Hope Now hear this, "I'm just not growing in my faith." And usually, we hear this from those who never attend church; who never sit through a Bible study; who never seek out Godly teachers. Look at what it says in Romans 10:17:
"Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God."
You will never be able to continue holding up the shield of faith unless you are hearing the Word of God being taught clearly and accurately. "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God." That's why you need to attend church and when you do attend, you must attend a church that teaches the Word of God: Not some place that just tells a bunch of good stories that are funny or interesting; but a church that honors Christ and teaches only Christ. It is clear that you will not grow in your Christian life without taking up the shield of faith which only comes through hearing the world of God.
You see, when we preach each Sunday we are not preaching our own words. Right now, these are not my words that I am preaching. You're thinking, "Well it sure sounds like your voice!" That is because God is using me as his tool, and when John speaks next week, and Vanna and Bryce on other weeks, God will use them as his mouthpiece too. All week, I have spent time in prayer and study of God's Word, asking Him to show me exactly which words to share with you -- and my prayer this week has been that the Holy Spirit would speak through me and that you would be convicted by God's Word and your faith strengthened as it is preached. If you have attended here long enough you know that our preaching is only from the word of God. Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 1:17:
"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel"
What is the gospel?
"That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15)
The gospel or good news is that Jesus Christ promises you eternal life because of his resurrection.
So the Shield of Faith involves trust and reliance on Jesus Christ through his Word and even more specifically, the preaching of His Word.
The Helmet of Salvation
"And take the helmet of salvation..." (vs. 17)
A wound to the head is a serious matter. Since the head is vital part, you need to protect it well. While your heart needs the protection of the breastplate of righteousness, your head needs protection too.
So many messages, true and false, enter into our heads today.
- The sheer volume of knowledge is doubling every five years now ~ Bill Clinton, 1998
- A weekday edition of the New York Times contains more information than the average person was likely to come across in a lifetime in seventeenth-century England . . . . ~ Richard Wurman
- By the time a child is eighteen years old, he or she will witness on television (with average viewing time) 200,000 acts of violence including 40,000 murders (Huston, et al, 1992)
And by the way:
-Young children who see media violence have a greater chance of exhibiting violent and aggressive behavior later in life, than children who have not seen violent media (Congressional Public Health Summit, 2000).
The great preacher of the 1800's in England, Charles Spurgeon said, "If you have the right doctrine (or teaching) in your head, and then set the soul on fire, you will soon win the world [for Christ].
The head is the place where Satan can persuade you and manipulate your mind. That's why you are to be sober-minded and not drunk. When you are drunk, your mind is open to the schemes of the devil. One time a young man said to one of our pastors, "When I'm high, I am much closer to God and the Bible is easier to understand." Of course, that's also lie of Satan. If he can get you to doubt you have a helmet he'll strike your head to get you to believe a lie.
It is of great importance to have a helmet that will not be knocked off but understand this, if you are already wearing a helmet it cannot get knocked off by Satan. It's a helmet that he cannot get off. The devil himself cannot drag the Christian's helmet off, once it is buckled on.
The world can neither give nor take away the salvation of a Christian. Salvation comes from God, and He will never withdraw it, for His gifts and calling are irrevocable (final, carved in stone) (Romans 11:39). Once his helmet is put on Satan will lie to you to make you doubt that you have the salvation of God and when he does, you need to be ready with the only weapon that comes with the armor.
The Sword of the Spirit, Which is the Word of God
"And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God..." (Vs. 17)
The Word of God!
It is only through His Word that we can actually fight the schemes of the devil and to withstand evil. In this verse, "the word of God" does not necessarily refer to the complete Bible.
The "sword of the Spirit" is the saying of God applied to a specific situation. This is the only great weapon placed in the hands of a believer. Perhaps we have experienced this in some moment of temptation or doubt, when we we're attacked by what Paul calls here "the flaming arrows of the evil one" (v. 16). But the temptation has been answered immediately by a passage of Scripture that flashed into your mind, something you had not been thinking of at all, but which supplied the needed answer. That is why this is called "the sword of the Spirit," because it not only comes from Jesus as the author of the Word, but it is also recalled to mind by the Spirit and made powerful by Him in our lives. The Word of God is His answer to the attack of the devi who comes to discourage you, defeat you, lure you aside, deceive you, or mislead you in some way.
The more you are exposed to Scripture, the more the Spirit can use this mighty sword in your life. If you never read or study your Bible, you are terribly exposed to defeat and despair. You have no defense; you have nothing, no weapon, to put up against these forces that are at work. Therefore, read your Bible regularly. When you neglect the reading of the Scriptures you are in disobedience to the will of the Lord. And what is the responsibility of the Christian when the Spirit places one of these sayings in your mind on some appropriate occasion? The apostle says, "Take it! Heed it! Obey it! Do not reject it. Take it seriously. The Spirit of God has brought it to mind for a purpose; therefore, give heed to it, obey it."
Peter, in his 1st letter, says that people "stumble because they disobey the word." (1 Peter 2:8).
Prayer, The Substance That Holds it All Together
Paul concludes his analogy or metaphor of the whole armor of God with the substance that holds all of the armor together:
"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." (Vs. 18)
Do you want to "Be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might"? Then put on the armor of God - and to keep your armor well-oiled and strong Paul says to remember to do three things:
1. Pray at all times. In the book of First Thessalonians Paul says it this way, "Pray without ceasing." Praying keeps your mind focused on God. It takes your thoughts off of what is evil and places your hope and trust in the Savior. The tendency is to pray only when you have a need or a problem, but you are told here to pray at all times, in fact, it doesn't say to pray for your own problems at all.
2. Supplication. Supplication means to plead and Paul says to plead for other Christians. Focus on building others up in Christ and your armor will stay strong.
3. Keep alert. And remember, you are in a spiritual battle. Don't drop your guard, don't give up, keep your armor on and fight the good fight.
Let me assure you today, you are going to be under attack. From the moment your day begins, it is on! Satan will use everything in his arsenal to knock you down. He's going to throw drugs at you, abuse of alcohol, temptations to lie, cheat, and steal, the urge to strike back when someone strikes out at you; in fact, he'll set other Christians in your path who might fail right in front of you and you'll become discouraged. When you leave here today, you'll be tempted to fight with your spouse or girlfriend or boyfriend, you'll face financial problems, illnesses, perhaps death, but remember, remember your calling this week when all of those things try to cover you like a wave...shall we give in to the forces of Satan this week?
No. God tells you this as you finish reading this today:
"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39).
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith..." (1 Peter 5:8,9) "Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil...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."
"And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."
[1] Pastor Ray Stedman
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